Death Station: Props for the Drugs (spoilers)

[AlHazred]

If you haven't played/read the Death Station adventure, and intend to, read no further!

Spoiler:

So, I'm looking over Death Station for an upcoming episode of my Traveller game, and I thought the various drugs could use a little work. In one of the rooms, you find basic materials about the five drugs they have on the ship: generic Combat Drug, and four variants.

First off, I hate to just call it "Combat Drug." I don't go to the store and buy "Headache Drug" -- I get Tylenol, or Advil, or one of a hundred variations, all with similar but slightly different formulations and marketing. Combat Drug should be similar. Anybody have any idea on alternate brand names for Combat Drug?

Second, I'd like to provide my players with paper props for the drugs. Do you think they'd find Material Safety Data Sheets in the lab? What kind of info would there be on them?

Third, what kind of drug do you think Combat Drug is? From the description, it seems like a "safe" amphetamine of some kind, but I'd like to come up with something a little more high-tech sounding. Anybody with better chemical knowledge than I given it any thought?

Thanks in advance for your attention!

Thanks, aramis!

 

[Golan2072]

Spoiler:

Material Safety Data Sheets should definitely be there, as well as research logs, computer records, spreadsheets and so on - research is typically a paperwork-heavy undertaking. So whatever handouts you want to use, you could have them on board.

EDIT: Concerning the mechanism of how the combat drugs work, on possibility is for them to consist of a chemical capable of binding to the Myofibrils of the muscles and improve their ability to contract (and thus work with more strength); as this would also affect the cardiovascular system - heart and thoracic diaphragm - this increases Endurance as well (since it improves the body' ability to breath and to pump blood). The damage after the drug wears off is probably caused by over-contraction of muscles; in extreme cases, some of them might even be torn.

So a possible name would be "Myodyne".

EDIT2: The normal Combat Drugs might have little or no psychoactive effect, and instead work on the muscles directly. On the other hand, the drug in this adventure was probably altered to include a psychoactive component as well, probably in order to increase aggression and pain tolerance...

 

[Gadrin]

You might want to try GURPS Ultra Tech. The older 3 ed books each have several drugs in them with names.

I think one of the combat drugs was named "Shaker"


>

 

[AlHazred]

Spoiler:

Material Safety Data Sheets should definitely be there, as well as research logs, computer records, spreadsheets and so on - research is typically a paperwork-heavy undertaking. So whatever handouts you want to use, you could have them on board.

My thinking was to copy-and-paste a bunch of vaguely-relevant material from the Series of Tubes, then find-and-replace. I seriously doubt the players will have the urge to read too deeply, and none of them are chemists.

Concerning the mechanism of how the combat drugs work, on possibility is for them to consist of a chemical capable of binding to the Myofibrils of the muscles and improve their ability to contract (and thus work with more strength); as this would also affect the cardiovascular system - heart and thoracic diaphragm - this increases Endurance as well (since it improves the body' ability to breath and to pump blood). The damage after the drug wears off is probably caused by over-contraction of muscles; in extreme cases, some of them might even be torn.

So a possible name would be "Myodyne".

This is the kind of stuff I'm looking for! Thanks muchly!

The normal Combat Drugs might have little or no psychoactive effect, and instead work on the muscles directly. On the other hand, the drug in this adventure was probably altered to include a psychoactive component as well, probably in order to increase aggression and pain tolerance...

My thinking is that there would likely be psychoactive components in Combat Drugs, just to ensure that the super-soldiers remain manageable.

 

[Golan2072]

Spoiler:

My thinking was to copy-and-paste a bunch of vaguely-relevant material from the Series of Tubes, then find-and-replace. I seriously doubt the players will have the urge to read too deeply, and none of them are chemists.

I've only said that any scientifically-looking handout would be possible; of course there is no need for spreadsheets in actual play.

My thinking is that there would likely be psychoactive components in Combat Drugs, just to ensure that the super-soldiers remain manageable.

The way I see it the baseline combat drug keeps the soldier's personality and discipline as-is, just makes him stronger for a while; the advanced versions are supposed to make him also more pain-tolerant and far more agressive.

 

[AlHazred]

Spoiler:

I've only said that any scientifically-looking handout would be possible; of course there is no need for spreadsheets in actual play.

Whatever I use, I'll try to remember to post it so others can make their own modifications.

The way I see it the baseline combat drug keeps the soldier's personality and discipline as-is, just makes him stronger for a while; the advanced versions are supposed to make him also more pain-tolerant and far more agressive.

Originally that was my thought -- Combat Drug is like the "enhancement pharmaceuticals" of today, minus the heavy side effects. But then I got to thinking; IMTU, I postulate an Imperium very active in population control and social engineering, who have likely skeletons similar to the plot of the Serenity movie somewhere in their closets. Since they control interstellar trade, it makes sense that they keep tight controls over technology that has the potential to shift the balance of power. Combat drug, which makes soldiers super-soldiers is exactly the kind of thing they'll try to control. With the high-tech available to the Imperium/megacorporations, it seems likely that they have some psychoactive components to their commercial versions of Combat Drug.

The chemical company in Death Station is engaged in Combat Drug research, and orbits a TL 8 planet; this is unlikely to be the cutting edge of Combat Drug technology. Instead, this is probably a company engaged in reverse-engineering the components of Combat Drug to remove unwanted parts (the psychoactive components) while enhancing the desirable parts (the physical enhancements).

My thinking is that the explosion may have ruptured the tank where they stored the remains of the psychoactive components, which, since they were considered "waste products," may have been mixed with other contaminants. That being the case, who knows what contributed to the brain damage that afflicts the survivors?

I'm also considering that some of the other Combat Drugs may have been completely different formulations, which might have mutagenic effects. This would enable me to add some movie-style Aliens-style horror to the thriller.

 

[Golan2072]

Spoiler:

I'm also considering that some of the other Combat Drugs may have been completely different formulations, which might have mutagenic effects. This would enable me to add some movie-style Aliens-style horror to the thriller.

Typically, chemical mutagens would cause cancer and little else in adult humans (they might cause fetal defects but won't cause morphological changes in adults except for maybe burns or cysts); if you want deformed human mutants you'd probably want a gengineered retro-virus deliberately inserting specific genes into the subjects' DNA, probably genes that are very actively expressed. You'll probably have to have a complex set of inserted genes in order to get the morphological changes expressed in an adult human (as you need to mobilize several systems in order to get the desired changes expressed). Not doable today, but theoretically possible.

It'll be easier (i.e. lower TL) to use a retro-virus to insert genes increasing or decreasing the production of certain neurotransmitters, thus causing long-term psychological changes.

 

[AlHazred]

Spoiler:

Typically, chemical mutagens would cause cancer and little else in adult humans (they might cause fetal defects but won't cause morphological changes in adults except for maybe burns or cysts); if you want deformed human mutants you'd probably want a gengineered retro-virus deliberately inserting specific genes into the subjects' DNA, probably genes that are very actively expressed. You'll probably have to have a complex set of inserted genes in order to get the morphological changes expressed in an adult human (as you need to mobilize several systems in order to get the desired changes expressed). Not doable today, but theoretically possible.

It'll be easier (i.e. lower TL) to use a retro-virus to insert genes increasing or decreasing the production of certain neurotransmitters, thus causing long-term psychological changes.

Good point -- if I'm going low TL, I need to go low TL the whole way!

I rather like that last bit. Loads of atmosphere possible there, especially if the ex-Marine starts losing it. Hmmm... This also seems like research that the Zhodani would be interested in, or that might be derived from stolen Zho psionics research. The party has already found a McGuffin that seems to be nanites that target specific areas of the human brain, then go dormant. Suspicion is that it's a Zho device for increasing their telepaths' ability to control the subject; as GM, I'm not even sure yet what I want it to do, but it occurred to me that it has better long-range potential if it is somehow used with something else the party hasn't come across yet. These drugs might be a good item to link to that, i.e., the nanites were developed to enhance the effects of the retro-virus, or somehow control its side effects.

Good thing it's Friday, I can see I'm going to be doing some serious ruminating here...

 

[Golan2072]

Spoiler:

Note that the low TL I've mentioned is still a bit more advanced than what we have today IRL. So it might be the cutting-edge tech of that TL8 world, maybe even involving some imported tech.

Also, a retrovirus doesn't work immediately - it has an incubation period and takes time to infect your cells. You'll probably get quite ill before the changes start - it has to penetrate enough cells in your body to have an effect, and this take time, especially if your immune system is strong.

 

[Gadrin]

Spoiler:

The party has already found a McGuffin that seems to be nanites that target specific areas of the human brain, then go dormant. Suspicion is that it's a Zho device for increasing their telepaths' ability to control the subject; as GM,

Interesting. One of the B5-Technomage trilogy books, the first, detailed that type of approach a bit, where during initiation the Technomages would stimulate the "temporal" portions of the brain (IIRC) to make the target see visions/illusions.

GURPS offers "micro-bot swarms" which are dust-sized flying swarms with the ability to inject drugs (or nano-bots) over a distance/range. Doses are tiny individually, but in aggregate...

I used this approach in a TL8 Technomancer campaign where a wizard used micro-bot explorer and disassembler swarms to map areas and zap the firing pins on opponent's weapons, or inject them with a sleep agent, etc.

 

[AlHazred]

Spoiler:

Interesting. One of the B5-Technomage trilogy books, the first, detailed that type of approach a bit, where during initiation the Technomages would stimulate the "temporal" portions of the brain (IIRC) to make the target see visions/illusions.

GURPS offers "micro-bot swarms" which are dust-sized flying swarms with the ability to inject drugs (or nano-bots) over a distance/range. Doses are tiny individually, but in aggregate...

I used this approach in a TL8 Technomancer campaign where a wizard used micro-bot explorer and disassembler swarms to map areas and zap the firing pins on opponent's weapons, or inject them with a sleep agent, etc.

I'm not sure what I want to do with it yet. I like to leave these little seeds throughout the campaign, then if I need one later, I have one ready-made. Also, my subconscious mind is a much better GM than my conscious mind, and comes up with these amazing plots that it reveals in daydreams -- I never know if any particular bit is part of some long-range plot that I've got cooking almost literally in the back of my brain.

Note that the low TL I've mentioned is still a bit more advanced than what we have today IRL. So it might be the cutting-edge tech of that TL8 world, maybe even involving some imported tech.

Also, a retrovirus doesn't work immediately - it has an incubation period and takes time to infect your cells. You'll probably get quite ill before the changes start - it has to penetrate enough cells in your body to have an effect, and this take time, especially if your immune system is strong.

Thinking about it, I've about decided that the Zhos use primarily psionic and sociological methods to control populations. The Imperium probably tries everything, in different areas and under different umbrellas of plausible deniability and political insulation. If I decide to use a retro-virus, it'll be Imperial in origin. The planet used in Death Station is very low-population, and relatively unimportant -- it seems to me that if you're going to do this kind of experimentation, that's the sort of place you're going to do it in, in order to minimize losses.

I'm still working on those MSDS sheets.

 

[AlHazred]

I've completed one, as a preliminary, tell-me-if-this-sucks sort of prop.

Check it out here: http://www.4shared.com/file/47954756/e1c1bc1b/MSDS_Combat_Drug.html
(Click on the link, then wait for the download link to show up; it'll be on the left side of the page, near the middle.)