ANNIC NOVA: Balance of Power Shift?

[Laryssa]

Originally posted by Eduardo:
I don't see how they could lose money with it. It's essentially free, even if they have to borrow for to pay for the salvage rights, a 150 ton hold can make that up in a month or less just on freight charges. A long range freighter that kick butt on speculative 'express' runs, five parsecs in two weeks. Even a jump 3 run puts you in the running with subsidized type M's operationally; you have no payments, and cut throat on freight charges.

Beyond that, they have shops already stocked with parts, no less, and can do their own maintenance and repairs. The hydroponics help out, too, though there are no 'canon' rules on their output circa 1980 that I'm aware of, it's safe to assume they could feed some 16 people.

Also, they could 'charge up' from a power plant at a space station in civilized space. The rules just say it takes 1D weeks for the solar array to charge it up, depending on the spectral class of the nearest star.

As far as a dungeon adventure goes, the ANNIC NOVA is rather empty. I thought, when I do my T20 version, why not stock the various rooms on the ship with "monsters" and traps, just to make it more challenging for the PCs. For instance, on the Bridge. I placed 4 Percy Personal servant robots and altered them a bit. Instead of being humanesque, they are human form robots disguised as pirates. 17th century pirates with eye patches, peg legs, and hooks replacing their right hands. All four robots barge into the Bridge area when the PCs turn on the power, the robots go, "Arrrgh!" and they attack the PCs with their hooks and their snub pistols.

Also waiting for the PCs on the Quarters deck is a Pseudosaur in the galley, its been rumaging through the pantry looking for food, when the PCs suddenly enter the scene. The Pseudosaur decides that the PCs definitely look more appetising than what the kitchen has to offer.

I had an idea for a trap, a grav plate that suddenly reverses itself, causing the PCs to hit the ceiling when they step on it. The ceiling is 3 meters above the floor so the PCs should take 1d6 points of damage if they fail their Reflex roll. How do these ideas strike you?

 

[jrients]

Laryssa,

I think those are great encounters. The pirates are over-the-top but that's how I like my games. How long has the pseudosaur been aboard? Was it a crew pet? Has it been living off of spacerats since the crew died? Or eating hydroponic fruit, if it's omnivorous?

 

[Laryssa]

Can you think of any? The robot pirates are the work of a deranged individual living in the machine shop. I want to put some dangerous animal in the hydroponics garden, and got to think of some more traps as well.

 

[jrients]

A plant monster in the hydroponics section is an easy sell. Give it some attack vines and have it try to drown the PCs in big vats of nutrient-filled water.

Are the doors on the ship the kind that "swoosh" like on Star Trek? If so, a malfunctioning door sensor could cause it to close before someone is all the way through.

 

[parmasson]

How about the whole ship being run by “a brain in a jar’?

 

[Black Globe Generator]

Originally posted by Kurega Gikur:
How about the whole ship being run by “a brain in a jar’?

Mmmmmmm...brain in a jar...*drooling noises*

 

[Black Globe Generator]

Oh, and I like that idea, Kurega Gikur - I wrote up a starship that was basically a psionic focus for a "brain in a jar," allowing it to teleport across interstellar distances.

 

[Laryssa]

Teleport is too fast. I like Warp Drive better.
Start out at Warp 1, 1 PC per week, go up to Warp 7 1 PC per day.