Episode 154: Locales on the Eden ship

Seize the GM

00:00 / 43:59

Main Topic

Locales are a thing that you must have in a game. We are going to talk about a few in this episode. They can help to create backdrops for action as well as places that NPC’s push characters.

Stat Blocks

Zendead

Printing Bays

The printing bays are a series of places that have 3d printing bays. They can print anything from plastic junk all the way to parts for the ship. It is possible if the materials are present to print any part of the ship. The printing mediums are growing, they started with plastic and some aluminum. There was also concrete as well as some ceramic. Now they are able to do a few materials that Eden has run across since being out past the Kuiper belt. The bays stretch a big section of the area near the habitable section that is close to the outer shell of the ship.

While it is a big section and capable of creating huge things for the ship it is still bound by the greater needs of the ship. So corners have been cut and steps forgotten so now the shielding is suffering because of it. This has been how the printers were one of the first groups to show signs of mutation in the gene lines. In the early days after the ship first deployed it was a place on the ship that was almost constantly running to keep up with the demands of the crew. This was also why they have lost the least knowledge at least until recently.

Asteroid km5719

Asteroid km5719 or at least what is left of that rock is caught in the wake of the ship. It is being mined and used up for everything that it can supply to the ship. It is just too big to bring into the biggest bays at least for now. That is going to be where it sits soon though. Mining on a rotating and speeding rock is dangerous at the best of times and these are not those times. The center of this rock is something both new and scary.

Inside the center of this rock is the degenerated form of life that is not something humans would classify as life. It is liquid-like, more like a non newtonian fluid that is starting to wake up from its slumber in deep space. The after effect of so much motion on it is what is going to “wake” it up. The rock is one of the few things it is not capable of melting. There might be more but since no one has seen this life yet there are many mysteries. It looks like a silver fluid once the shell holding it breaks and it leaks out into the ship. Maybe sections will fall to it, maybe it will die from contact with humans. Only time will tell.

Navigation Sub bridge 1

Sub bridges are in a few locations on the ship mainly since a ship this size might have issues. So people created redundancies for some of the critical features of the main bridge. Also each sub bridge has a low functioning AI to network with the main bridges AI. This creates a way for info to be passed quickly even if the main bridge comes back up or goes down. While the main bridge has the best of the proper stations like Navigation the sub bridges do not get the second best they get a very low ranking person that knows how to do what needs to be done here.

The Nav Sub Bridge 1 is a perfect example of this. The best 5 navigators are on rotating shifts for the main bridge and the next 5 are on this bridge. The second nav sub bridge is the next 5 so we are seeing a rapid loss of skill and knowledge. This bridge runs usually a bare bones crew because there hasn’t been a need to have a full crew going in all the time. There are even times when it is empty so it could be a way to have a villain mess with things on the ship. More of these things will come later though.

Joules

The Quiet Room

No matter where in the ship you happen to find yourself, there’s always some background noise. The thrum of the engines, the small electric fizzling of debris being vaporized against the shields, the mild creak of the ship’s superstructure during velocity changes. However there’s one room in the ship that’s absolutely bereft of sound. No ambient ship sounds ever enter this room and no sound escapes the room into the ship proper. And no one knows why it’s there. Folks just call it “The Quiet Room.” The schematics for the ship were partially corrupted during its emergency launch. But this room’s existence is indeed deliberate. The placement is definitely strategic. The distance ratios between critical areas of the ship and this room are also seen in orbital harmonics, the golden spiral, and some well known Pythagorean triangles.

However the captain declared investigating the nature of the room carries too great of a risk. The standing orders are to leave the room alone except in the most dire of circumstances. No one wants to risk running a tensile strength scan which triggers a harmonic resonance that tears the ship apart. So the materials, construction method, tolerances and so forth are unknown. So the quiet room remains an enigma. This has given rise to a plethora of rumors, suppositions, and theories. Some have a more scientific nature. Like the room being a sort of universal vibration damper to prevent constructive interference. Others have a more esoteric bend, like the space being haunted by the souls whose voices have been silenced. Whatever the true nature of the “Quiet Room” is, the crew, either out of safety or superstition, gives it a wide berth.

Sense Dep

The rigors of space travel definitely have an effect on the crew. Both physically and psychologically. The medical team, driven by necessity, worked with the engineering team to build a set of zero gravity sensory deprivation pods. These pods are attached to the outside of the ship when not in use. When active, the pods are “dragged” behind and to the side of the ship. The pods are tethered to the ship with an umbilicus cable that powers and supplies the pod. The pod’s simple design, reduced shielding surface area, and lead infused carbon nanotube construction material offers supreme protection from cosmic rays, micro meteors, and the 3 degrees kelvin vacuum of space.

The pods also may be filled with a limited selection of liquids for additional therapeutic/medicinal effects. (for example: Saline, water, healing biomaterial suspended in hydrogel) Away from the artificial gravity of the ship, these pods provide a sterile, isolated, environment for risky surgical procedures (usually robot and AI assisted) or post injury convalescence. These pods also serve as sensory deprivation tank to provide necessary psychological treatment. They’ve also housed various scientific experiments from time to time.

The pods have extra shielding to stop random high energy particles from penetrating the pod, keeping the technology and occupant safe. Additionally, the pods have been used as makeshift bunks for extended EVA jobs.

While initially conceived to function as an off the ship therapy pod and medical theater, Sense Dep has become an indispensable location to many of the ship’s various roles.

Prototyping

After research and countless simulations, an idea gets physical form in Prototyping. (This is different from the fabrication bay where tested and approved designs are made on an as needed basis) Originally the space was used to build and test new tool designs, basic repair solutions, and improvements for the ship. Over time, the scope of the prototyping lab expanded to include integrating terran technology with alien technology. This carries an elevated risk since resources are scarce and the alien tech may be destroyed during prototyping and testing. Not only that, the various fabrication machines may be damaged trying to integrate or modify alien tech with our own. Standard procedure requires that each part of the fabricators have a replacement on hand. However these replacement parts have a tendency to “walk.”. Pilfered by less scrupulous individuals. (Thanks Jazz).

Even though the lab is under constant monitoring, the user must confirm that all spare parts are present and accounted for before and after using the lab. They also must test and calibrate each machine before and after prototyping. (Even the machines they don’t intend to use) Any variances and anomalies must be brought up immediately. (Honestly, the ship’s armory has less security than prototyping.) It’s become terrifyingly apparent over the years that the Prototyping Lab is vital to the continuing survival of Earth’s remaining organic life forms. Since survival is predicated on adapting, evolving, and overcoming.

Closing remarks

Zendead – Horrified a fun co-op board game where you hunt down the monsters of Universal Pictures. Played it with the family and we had a fun time.

Joules – Cult of the Lamb – You’re a cute little lamb. You’ve been ordered by a demon to start a cult and gain power. Then fight the bishops of the old gods and destroy them. A cute and horrific mashup of a roguelike dungeon crawler and resource management.

Music is courtesy of Sim on Twitter you can find him at @TheSimulacrae