Main Topic

We talked about different adversaries that were NPC’s but there can be other types of adversaries. Not all of them are people. Adversaries can fall into a few other categories as well. Part of what we are going to talk about are those this time. 

Stat Blocks

Zendead

Ruin

This sounds kind of strange to include on a spaceship. This ship is old and not having been unkempt for a long time is starting to show signs of age. This is a very real thing when you think about a ship sailing between stars. The crew can not be put into a hibernation sleep or anything like that. 

Toxic Locales

So not every location characters will adventure on will be nice and sunny earthlike planets. Actually none of them really should be. The worlds are and should be radically different from the planet we call home. Just think about your home solar system. There are planets that rain sulfuric acid that is almost boiling, to planets that rain diamonds. This is just the beginning of the hellscapes out there. 

Joules

Hyper Virii

On earth, the ozone layer protects us from harmful high energy radiation.  However that protection is absent in the cold void of space.  One of the side effects of radiation on organic life is mutations.  And some of the expected protections were either in part or wholly missing.  People were herded onto the ship without going through the standard medical scan and quarantine. That, combined with insufficient medical supplies and staff, was, for lack of a better word, a petri dish for disaster.  Under normal circumstances virus mutations, while relatively rapid, do follow a general expected timeframe.  While mutations can be accelerated (gas attacks during WW 1 were blamed for the increased lethality of the flu pandemic), interstellar radiation caused mutations to go haywire.  Trying to sequence the genome of the rapidly evolving viruses was a sisyphean task.  Creating retrovirals, antibiotics, and even palliative treatments have been nearly impossible.  Deep disinfecting and maintaining a sterile environment isn’t possible.  We can only hope that as the Hyper Virii continue to mutate, that our own immune systems develop mutations that allow us to fight off whatever we may contract, as well as prevent the possible cytokine storm that may result from a hyper reactive immune response.

Shifting Zeitgeist

The ship’s mission, when it launched, was to transport humanity to a possible new home.  The journey would take time and those that first left earth wouldn’t live to see humanity’s new home.  But over time, new generations of humanity wouldn’t know what it was like to live on a planet, to see a sunrise, to live in relative security and comfort.  All they would know is a nomadic existence, a subsistence existence.  The drive and intent to find a new home for humanity initially was born from the desire of the initial passengers aboard the ship.  However with each subsequent generation, the drive and intent slowly gives way to myth and tradition.  “Why are we headed to this star to settle a planet”?  “Because that is what we’ve always done.”

Over time the mission itself may be challenged, or even abandoned.  Why keep making your way towards a planet?  There’s a cool nebula over there and we’ve never seen one shaped like that before.

Closing remarks 

Zendead – Take time for yourself. Rest and recover. The holidays are over but rest might have been in short supply. 

Joules – Good Eats/Alton Brown’s Youtube Channel/Quarentine Quitchen

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

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