Sanitation Bugs Run Rampant!!

[Kilgs]

http://www.wired.com/2014/12/new-yorks-ants-help-keep-streets-clear-food-waste/

Bio-engineered sanitation insects run rampant!! Conceived as natural method of waste removal for a community, the insects work quite well until... they cross-breed with native bug... they achieve mass population and decide to MIGRATE... they achieve mass population and get HUNGRY...

Honestly, this wouldn't be that bad of an idea. Think of an isolated colony in 2300, or a planet in regular traveller. Maybe a former community that was abandoned and the bugs were left to exponentially increase?

Just thinking out loud...

 

[Timerover51]

That is quite an interesting idea. It would be interesting to see what you come up with if you run a bit farther with it.

 

[Ulsyus]

Nice. Well, not nice, pretty horrifying actually.

If they somehow gained a few hundred % in size as well, that'd turn them into something particularly gruesome.

Or not, if you think of it form the perspective of them almost being an organic hungry wave. Hmm.

 

[aramis]

Nice. Well, not nice, pretty horrifying actually.

If they somehow gained a few hundred % in size as well, that'd turn them into something particularly gruesome.

Or not, if you think of it form the perspective of them almost being an organic hungry wave. Hmm.

A 7mm ant is a nuisance in numbers. A 15 mm ant can cause major issues in numbers. At 45mm, they're still in the plausible range, and can actually cut skin readily. Even one is a major issue.

 

[Timerover51]

A 7mm ant is a nuisance in numbers. A 15 mm ant can cause major issues in numbers. At 45mm, they're still in the plausible range, and can actually cut skin readily. Even one is a major issue.

Based on what I have read of African Army Ants, a large number of 45mm ants would be highly dangerous.

 

[Ulsyus]

A 7mm ant is a nuisance in numbers. A 15 mm ant can cause major issues in numbers. At 45mm, they're still in the plausible range, and can actually cut skin readily. Even one is a major issue.

Maybe at 7mm they may not be up to doing much damage, but if there's swarms of them then any little breach or opening in a suit could be deadly. Not an issue if vacc and hostile environment suits are up to scratch. But, if there's anything wrong with them...

Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull may have had it's issues as a movie, but I do remember the scene where the KGB officer gets picked up by some ants for lunch!

 

[Ran Targas]

think of the damage they could do to a station or colony before they ran out of food and the hive went dormant?

The players find a facility an empty metal shell, devoid of organic matter, even plastics. Systems can't be powered because key components are missing. Atmosphere has leaked away when door seals were consumed. There's no sign of the inhabitants at all (they've been entirely consumed too) and computers fry when powered as all the wiring cross connects and shorts out. Even dead bugs have been consumed. No way to tell what happened unless they delve deeper and closer to the hive. Maybe some incentive is needed to lure them down the access tunnels and atmosphere ducts but in the end they'll want to go.

Then comes the trip wire event that wakes the queen's guard and game on!

 

[Timerover51]

A bit like Chamax Plague in miniature, without the acid, but a lot harder to kill the horde.

 

[Ran Targas]

Yeah, I thought that too. Unfornately hive insect like critters are pretty one dimensional so their utility as a plot device is limited.

 

[Timerover51]

Hmm, that depends. Using them to harass the players while they are having to deal with other issues might not be a bad idea. The idea would be to always have the players looking over their shoulder to see what just might be creeping up on them.

 

[Kilgs]

Hmm, that depends. Using them to harass the players while they are having to deal with other issues might not be a bad idea. The idea would be to always have the players looking over their shoulder to see what just might be creeping up on them.

That was definitely a thought of mine. One of my favorite scenarios is where the players are stuck on the wrong side of town from their vessel when a rival nation/tribe attacks the city. Basically, they're just trying to get away while war rages around them.

Make the war crazy-garbage-bugs!

 

[Ulsyus]

You could throw in a customs/quarantine lockdown when they get to their next destination from the world/system where the garbage bug outbreak had occurred. No-one else wants to have that problem break out on their home, so quarantine services are likely to be rather careful about checking out and clearing a vessel before it's permitted to engage in normal port interaction. That could take some time and effort...

 

[infojunky]

I saw the title and thought someone had just discovered Schlock Mercenary...