oldgamergeek
SOC-9
I am planning some adventures around the PC's helping in disaster relief but what disasters call for interplanetary aid is stumping me. These will take place in milieu 0.
I need some disasters
- Thread starter oldgamergeek
- Start date
Rigel Stardin
SOC-13
the 9.0 earthquake they have been predicting for Calf. for years followed up by a cat. 5 hurricane over the same area before during or after the quake.
Plague.
Plague.
LiamKerrington
SOC-12
Hello there,
Supervolcanoes, earthquakes, super-sized storms, and asteroid-impacts have already been mentioned. Another cosmic-sclaed disaster could be a remarkably huge eruption on the next star or a rogue planet/ super meteorite disturbing the planetary system in such ways that life on the given planet is in huge danger.
What about man-made disasters? Like super-huge chemical facilities exploding and thus poisoning the atmosphere? Would work on small planets only, I guess. Same with nuclear facilities exploding.
Or what about a giant transport vessel which holds toxic material in its hold and crashes into a planet?
Something else would be a political turmoil of an extra-class. But would this be a disaster? Probably not.
All the best!
Liam
Supervolcanoes, earthquakes, super-sized storms, and asteroid-impacts have already been mentioned. Another cosmic-sclaed disaster could be a remarkably huge eruption on the next star or a rogue planet/ super meteorite disturbing the planetary system in such ways that life on the given planet is in huge danger.
What about man-made disasters? Like super-huge chemical facilities exploding and thus poisoning the atmosphere? Would work on small planets only, I guess. Same with nuclear facilities exploding.
Or what about a giant transport vessel which holds toxic material in its hold and crashes into a planet?
Something else would be a political turmoil of an extra-class. But would this be a disaster? Probably not.
All the best!
Liam
Read the newspapers, I don't think we could match them...:devil:
Now seriously:
Space:
a) Lineer colliding with space debris. Not enough vacc suits for everyone (or some of them damaged in the collision). If you want to make it more dramatic, a children group among the passage (less disciplined, less conscieus to the danger, more prone to panick, less fitting in vacc suits...)
b) Comet in collision route to a planet (as critical vector, JTAS 20, page 6).
c) Space station with malfunction life support (or terrorist attack).
d) Rogue satellite in unstable orbit (as the meteorite menace, but bonus pay if they recover the satellite intact).
Dirtside:
a) Nuclear PP meltdown
b) Terrorist attack into a crowd (a sports stadium would be nice)
c) After unsuccesful (by another team, of course
) b or d space options.As told in space a option, adding some children (and their hysteric families) to the victims gives a plus of dramatism, and adding some high officers among them adds a political dimension.
Hope that helps
O
Omnivore
Guest
No longer a contributor to this board.
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Another day at job...
This (otherwise light) solar flare has sent an EMP that has caused damaged in communications and wreaked havok in the gravitic equipement, causing too many grav accidents across the planet...
As incoming calls for help flood the HQ (you told the Governor your service shuld be spared from budget coutrails, but he didn't listen), who will your team priorize?
Your fellow team that was on their g-carrier answering a former call, and now doesn't respond to the radio (after all, their help will be useful)?
This public school bus crashed?
The young never-do-well brat who nobody will miss except his father (that just happens to be the Imperial representative in the planet)?
And don't forget about the nuclear power plant whose electonic equipment is working erratically...
This (otherwise light) solar flare has sent an EMP that has caused damaged in communications and wreaked havok in the gravitic equipement, causing too many grav accidents across the planet...
As incoming calls for help flood the HQ (you told the Governor your service shuld be spared from budget coutrails, but he didn't listen), who will your team priorize?
Your fellow team that was on their g-carrier answering a former call, and now doesn't respond to the radio (after all, their help will be useful)?
This public school bus crashed?
The young never-do-well brat who nobody will miss except his father (that just happens to be the Imperial representative in the planet)?
And don't forget about the nuclear power plant whose electonic equipment is working erratically...
* Sophonts on a TL8 world have irresponsibly polluted their world to the point of causing a massive thermohaline circulation failure which, in combination with an industrial accident believed to be responsible for a tectonic event releasing a massive natural store of methane into the atmo, has triggered a catastrophic global oceanic anoxic event. Seven billion souls will soon be without breathable air and available food within weeks, not to mention battling severe weather extremes and global forest fires...
(I.e. they recklessly mucked up their world jeopardizing their biosphere and thus their oxygen - bring your breathing equipment and air fresheners gents...)
o:
====================================
* An x-boat has recently entered the PC's system and relayed a fantastic long range sensor recording of some type of massive biosphere event on the primary of the system it jumped from.
PCs are accosted by an ISS scientist who insists there must be some correlation with the exploitation of an Ancients site on the primary. He believes officials of Khan Industries Amalgamated may have carelessly activated an artifact he was researching (before they barred him from the site) which he refers to as 'The Genesis Device' ... :devil:
Have Fun!
(I.e. they recklessly mucked up their world jeopardizing their biosphere and thus their oxygen - bring your breathing equipment and air fresheners gents...)
o:====================================
* An x-boat has recently entered the PC's system and relayed a fantastic long range sensor recording of some type of massive biosphere event on the primary of the system it jumped from.
PCs are accosted by an ISS scientist who insists there must be some correlation with the exploitation of an Ancients site on the primary. He believes officials of Khan Industries Amalgamated may have carelessly activated an artifact he was researching (before they barred him from the site) which he refers to as 'The Genesis Device' ... :devil:
Have Fun!
For the trully apocaliptic (yet not Millieu 0):
After this off planet disaster relief mission your team's ship finally exits jump, all of them looking forward for some post-mission R&R...
- Something is wrong...- EO says- No beacon wellcomes us, and EM bands are strangely silent...
- You sure you gave the right coordinates? - asks Skipper to Navigator
- Sure, Sir - Navigator answers.- I also wanted to return Darrian for our free time...
Date... few days after Maghiz scorched Darrian...
After this off planet disaster relief mission your team's ship finally exits jump, all of them looking forward for some post-mission R&R...
- Something is wrong...- EO says- No beacon wellcomes us, and EM bands are strangely silent...
- You sure you gave the right coordinates? - asks Skipper to Navigator
- Sure, Sir - Navigator answers.- I also wanted to return Darrian for our free time...
Date... few days after Maghiz scorched Darrian...
Garyius2003
SOC-13
Camperdown accident. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Victoria_(1887)
Earthquake leading to dome breach.
Toxic release
Flu similar to 1918 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu
Earthquake leading to dome breach.
Toxic release
Flu similar to 1918 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu
epicenter00
SOC-13
In the twilight of the Rule of Man, two rival worlds had warred over the right to become subsector capital (really, because the Ramshackle Empire was collapsing, they both knew they'd really just be successor state capitals). The two sides warred extensively, and as the curtain of the Long Night came down, both regressed technologically, helped along by their wasteful war.
However, even in the twilight days of their war, the High Command, driven on by spite, even with tens of thousands rioting in the streets demanding food they imagined the military still had, had located an experimental TL13 gravitic impeller of amazing power. They used to it to launch a planetoid the size of a small moon at the enemy world.
Thousands of years later, in Milieu 0, Cleon's explorers rediscover the world. They're barely back to TL3 or 4. However, they're overjoyed at the arrival of high-tech people, because they've never forgotten the doomsday device they launched which should be arriving at the other world, according to prophecy, in nine months...
However, even in the twilight days of their war, the High Command, driven on by spite, even with tens of thousands rioting in the streets demanding food they imagined the military still had, had located an experimental TL13 gravitic impeller of amazing power. They used to it to launch a planetoid the size of a small moon at the enemy world.
Thousands of years later, in Milieu 0, Cleon's explorers rediscover the world. They're barely back to TL3 or 4. However, they're overjoyed at the arrival of high-tech people, because they've never forgotten the doomsday device they launched which should be arriving at the other world, according to prophecy, in nine months...
Or the flare could be at the level to cause a disaster such as that described by Larry Niven in his short story Inconstant Moon. Trying to evacuate survivors in the resulting hyperstorm would be tricky.
There are so many good adventure starters that I hesitate to add ideas, but you could look at Everything is Going to Kill Everybody as a source. The Amazon.com preview includes the bibliography.
The other thing is that you're all thinking high-pop worlds, becasue you want a planet-wide disaster.
Some a bit beyond PC-scale?
Many lo-pop worlds exist, where a local (small-scale) disaster would be just as disastrous to the few inhabitants as a widespread disaster on Earth. Heinlein's "Farmer in the Sky" comes to mind, when the terraforming plant on Mars get taken out (meteorite? can't remember) and the atmosphere cools down to below -50 deg C.
In other words, the PCs may be able to help out even more readily in the same sorts of localised disasters as occur on Earth - Haiti, Samoa, east coast USA? Battledress can be used to rescue trapped people, rather than as a weapon, for once. (IR sensors, acute hearing, strength to lift rubble, etc). Now imagine a merc company in S&R mode...
Some a bit beyond PC-scale?
Many lo-pop worlds exist, where a local (small-scale) disaster would be just as disastrous to the few inhabitants as a widespread disaster on Earth. Heinlein's "Farmer in the Sky" comes to mind, when the terraforming plant on Mars get taken out (meteorite? can't remember) and the atmosphere cools down to below -50 deg C.
In other words, the PCs may be able to help out even more readily in the same sorts of localised disasters as occur on Earth - Haiti, Samoa, east coast USA? Battledress can be used to rescue trapped people, rather than as a weapon, for once. (IR sensors, acute hearing, strength to lift rubble, etc). Now imagine a merc company in S&R mode...
Crack in the World
(old sci-fi disaster movie)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crack_in_the_World
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059065/
(old sci-fi disaster movie)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crack_in_the_World
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059065/
The part I bolded is why you're stumped. It's also why most of the suggestions made in this thread won't work.
By interplanetary I'm sure you mean interstellar. Interstellar in Traveller means jump drive, jump drive means a two week comm lag, and a two week comm lag means most of the locals effected by a disaster are either have A) already died or 2) already saved themselves.
Jump drive means the Thunderbirds aren't going to show up in the nick of time with a plug to stopper the volcano.
Because your PCs are going to be showing up well after the fact, they're going to be dealing with basic issues like water, food, and shelter. The PCs won't be digging people out of the rubble or plucking people off roofs because those people have already been dug out, plucked to safety, or died. The PCs won't be moving people out of harm's way, the harm has already occurred, but they could be involved in relocating refugees.
Given my experiences in the Gulf after Katrina and the BP spill, the locals are going to want your players to drop off whatever supplies they may be carrying and then get the hell out of the way.
Enoki
SOC-14 1K
The other thing is that you're all thinking high-pop worlds, becasue you want a planet-wide disaster.
Some a bit beyond PC-scale?
Many lo-pop worlds exist, where a local (small-scale) disaster would be just as disastrous to the few inhabitants as a widespread disaster on Earth. Heinlein's "Farmer in the Sky" comes to mind, when the terraforming plant on Mars get taken out (meteorite? can't remember) and the atmosphere cools down to below -50 deg C.
In other words, the PCs may be able to help out even more readily in the same sorts of localised disasters as occur on Earth - Haiti, Samoa, east coast USA? Battledress can be used to rescue trapped people, rather than as a weapon, for once. (IR sensors, acute hearing, strength to lift rubble, etc). Now imagine a merc company in S&R mode...
You have some backwater world that is primorial in nature but inhabitable by a very diverse set of life....All of it vicious and wanting to eat you.... There is a team of (fill in the blank) on this world in a "secure" base that isn't and they need to get the .... out before being eaten / killed / etc.
Fritz_Brown
Super Moderator
I'm going to disagree slightly. They won't work if you plan on hiring the PCs somewhere else and sending them to where they're needed after the fact. The way to play it is that the PCs pop back into normal space and are immediately confronted with pleas for help/the need to do something. It's not that the situation is so desperate that relief agencies or some such are contracting any scow with a crew and breathable air in the cargo hold; it's that the PCs are Johnny-on-the-spot. They might not be the only ones helping, but their help is needed - just because they are there.
Read the OP again. He's looking for adventures about disasters. Not a one-off and not "We just happened to in the system...", but multiple events that will involve the PCs in disaster relief.
He's setting it in M:0 so he's most likely looking at a series of adventures centered around a "hearts & minds" campaign conducted by the young Third Imperium to highlight the Benefits of Membershiptm.
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