Another Seed

[Diveguy]

Tried writing this out as a full adventure, but got bogged down and frustrated.

So, I figured I'd share the seed and hope some others might be able to find a use in their own games.

Mix:

1 - lost colony starship, from the previous civilization (call it 2nd Imperium or whatever you want), with the last clones of a genocidal, despotic, evil dictator in cold sleep,
1 - ship's computer which first achieved sentience, and then went insane realizing the purpose the ship was built to carry on,
and 1 - high-tech android, hidden in cold sleep and doing her best to thwart both A and B above.

Add in the characters have a time delay to either solve the problems or escape the derelict vessel (I was planning to use a reactor overload on restart but choose what you will). A vast amount of wealth in the cargo holds, but only limited time and space in which to pick and choose. And the potential to find something forbidden, or malicious, or otherwise bad which follows them into later play...

 

[willtron3030]

A recipe similar in principal to /Allen Resurrection/.

Dibs on the Ron Perlman archetype.

 

[flykiller]

sounds like a good setting for space zombies.

 

[Grav_Moped]

sounds like a good setting for space zombies.

Then again, what isn't a good setting for space zombies?

 

[coliver988]

oddly enough that is where I went with the final (and not well written but apparently enjoyed by the group) Big Wreck Adventure. It is in the files section in the adventure area. As I had zombie aliens minis, that's what I ended up with as antagonists at the end. And the ship was from the 2nd Imperium

 

[flykiller]

what isn't a good setting for space zombies?

or space nazi zombies!

 

[Diveguy]

Interesting - I was specifically NOT doing the "space zombie" trope in my mind, and thinking more the understated/hidden spookiness.

BUT, that's why I wanted to share the seed idea - because the ideas you all have help shape it in new ways. So, thanks!

 

[Grav_Moped]

or space nazi zombies!

I did nazi that coming.

 

[whartung]

1 - lost colony starship, from the previous civilization (call it 2nd Imperium or whatever you want), with the last clones of a genocidal, despotic, evil dictator in cold sleep,
1 - ship's computer which first achieved sentience, and then went insane realizing the purpose the ship was built to carry on,
and 1 - high-tech android, hidden in cold sleep and doing her best to thwart both A and B above.

I find this a confusing mix.

A genocidal, despotic, evil dictator is just another angry nut job at Cheers if they don't have power. What's the plan for them to return to power once awakened?

Is the computer insane because, while sentient, it's finding conflicting information about its job to maintain the ship, and it's new found morals to simply not turn off the sleep chambers and become genocidal itself?

Is the android trying to protect the sleep chambers from the crazy computer while not allowing the timers to tick down and wake up the population?

 

[Diveguy]

I find this a confusing mix.

A genocidal, despotic, evil dictator is just another angry nut job at Cheers if they don't have power. What's the plan for them to return to power once awakened?

Is the computer insane because, while sentient, it's finding conflicting information about its job to maintain the ship, and it's new found morals to simply not turn off the sleep chambers and become genocidal itself?

Is the android trying to protect the sleep chambers from the crazy computer while not allowing the timers to tick down and wake up the population?

That's why it's a seed, not a complete adventure - you get to answer those questions for what fits in your universe. . .

 

[boomslang]

That's why it's a seed, not a complete adventure - you get to answer those questions for what fits in your universe. . .

I would replace the android with an enhanced biological sophont -- a super-powered, fanatical devotee and combat monster with the complete operational run of all the ship's systems (and its complement of once-high-tech combat drones large, small, and massive) who, once automatically awakened by the activities of the adventurers, will stop at nothing to see the Master's Children Resurrected and Triumphant.

The heuristic, primitive-AI computer, meanwhile, as part of its problem-solving and preventative-maintenance routines, has been listening to centuries of radio chatter leaking into the interstellar void while observing the political and cultural shifts, has assessed the aggregate historical picture to the point that the machine is now half-convinced it has been serving the Wrong Side lo these many decades. This makes it a potential ally for the PCs. Whether the computer or the adventurers make the first overture will depend on their respective personalities and problem-solving methods/algorithms. And of course, this will not sit well with the Fanatical Killer, who will severely punish the first hint of disobedience.

(The computer of course may or may not end up heroically sacrificing itself to stop the unleashing of a great evil upon the galaxy a second time; make the players shed a tear either way, for good measure.)

That's how I'd run it, anyway... YMMVIYTU.

 

[BRJN]

The heuristic, primitive-AI computer, meanwhile, as part of its problem-solving and preventative-maintenance routines, has been listening to centuries of radio chatter leaking into the interstellar void while observing the political and cultural shifts, has assessed the aggregate historical picture to the point that the machine is now half-convinced it has been serving the Wrong Side lo these many decades.

Until the AI absorbs the first few years' worth of Rebellion transmissions, and realizes there is only one individual who can work out a plan to challenge Lucan for the throne and win ...

 

[BRover]

sounds like a good setting for space zombies.

Then again, what isn't a good setting for space zombies?

Grandfather's Pocket Universe--where nothing you do can change the outcome, or bring out any artefacts, or data to convince anyone else? Why a whole adventure just so the Big Bad can monologue?