World and Adventure - Stars Without Number

1

Bubble Cities

Whether due to a lack of atmosphere or an uninhabitable climate, the world’s cities exist within domes or pressurized buildings. In such sealed environments, techniques of surveillance and control can grow baroque and extreme.

Native dreading outsider contamination, Saboteur from another bubble city, Local official hostile to outsider ignorance of laws

Local rebel against the city officials, Maintenance chief in need of help, Surveyor seeking new building sites

Bubble rupture, Failing atmosphere reprocessor, Native revolt against officials, All-seeing surveillance cameras

Pretech habitat technology, Valuable industrial products, Master key codes to a city’s security system

City power core, Surface of the bubble, Hydroponics complex, Warren-like hab bloc

2

Primitive Aliens

The world is populated by a large number of sapient aliens that have yet to develop advanced technology. The human colonists may have a friendly or hostile relationship with the aliens, but a certain intrinsic tension is likely. Small human colonies might have been enslaved or otherwise subjugated.

Hostile alien chief, Human firebrand, Dangerous local predator, Alien religious zealot

Colonist leader, Peace-faction alien chief, Planetary frontiersman, Xenoresearcher

The alien numbers are huge and can overwhelm the humans whenever they so choose, One group is trying to use the other to kill their political opponents, The aliens are incomprehensibly strange, One side commits an atrocity

Alien religious icon, Ancient alien-human treaty, Alien technology

Alien village, Fortified human settlement, Massacre's site

3

Abandoned Colony

The world once hosted a colony, whether human or otherwise, until some crisis or natural disaster drove the inhabitants away or killed them off. The colony might have been mercantile in nature, an expedition to extract valuable local resources, or it might have been a reclusive cabal of zealots. The remains of the colony are usually in ruins, and might still be dangerous from the aftermath of whatever destroyed it in the first place.

Crazed survivors, Ruthless plunderers of the ruins, Automated defense system

Inquisitive stellar archaeologist, Heir to the colony's property, Local wanting the place cleaned out and made safe

The local government wants the ruins to remain a secret, The locals claim ownership of it, The colony is crumbling and dangerous to navigate

Long-lost property deeds, Relic stolen by the colonists when they left, Historical record of the colonization attempt

Decaying habitation block, Vine-covered town square, Structure buried by an ancient landslide

4

Alien Ruins

The world has significant alien ruins present. The locals may or may not permit others to investigate the ruins, and may make it difficult to remove any objects of value without substantial payment. Any surviving ruins with worthwhile salvage almost certainly have some defense or hazard to explain their unplundered state.

Customs inspector, Worshipper of the ruins, Hidden alien survivor

Curious scholar, Avaricious local resident, Interstellar smuggler

 Traps in the ruins, Remote location, Paranoid customs official

 Precious alien artifacts, Objects left with the remains of a prior unsuccessful expedition, Untranslated alien texts, Untouched hidden ruins

Undersea ruin, Orbital ruin, Perfectly preserved alien building, Alien mausoleum

5

Altered Humanity

The humans on this world are visibly and drastically different from normal humanity. They may have additional limbs, new sensory organs, or other significant changes. Were these from ancestral eugenic manipulation, strange stellar mutations, or from an environmental toxin unique to this world?

Biochauvinist local, Local experimenter, Mentally unstable mutant

ocal seeking a “cure”, Curious xenophiliac, Anthropological researcher

Alteration is contagious, Alteration is necessary for long-term survival, Locals fear and mistrust non-local humans

Original pretech mutagenic equipment, Valuable biological byproduct from the mutants, “Cure” for the altered genes, Record of the original colonial genotypes

Abandoned eugenics laboratory, An environment requiring the mutation for survival, A sacred site where the first local was transformed

6

Anarchists

Rather than being an incidental anarchy of struggling tribes and warring factions, this world actually has a functional society with no centralized authority. Authority might be hyper-localized to extended families, specific religious parishes, or voluntary associations. Some force is preventing an outside group or internal malcontents from coalescing into a power capable of imposing its rule on the locals; this force might be an ancient pretech defense system, a benevolent military AI, or the sheer obscurity and isolation of the culture.

Offworlder imperialist, Reformer seeking to impose “good government”, Exploiter taking advantage of the lack of centralized resistance

Proud missionary for anarchy, Casual local free spirit, Curious offworlder political scientist

The anarchistic structure is compelled by an external power, The anarchy is enabled by currently abundant resources, The protecting force that shelters the anarchy is waning

A McGuffin that would let the possessor enforce their rule on others, A vital resource needed to preserve general liberty, Tech forbidden as disruptive to the social order

Community of similar-sized homes, Isolated clan homestead, Automated mining site

7

Anthropomorphs

The locals were originally human, but at some point became anthropomorphic, either as an ancient furry colony, a group of animal-worshiping sectarians, or gengineers who just happened to find animal elements most convenient for surviving on the world. Depending on the skill of the original gengineers, their feral forms may or may not work as well as their original human bodies, or may come with drawbacks inherited from their animal elements

Anthro-supremacist local, Native driven by feral urges, Outside exploiter who sees the locals as subhuman creatures

Fascinated genetic researcher, Diplomat trained to deal with Normals, Local needing outside help

The locals consider their shapes a curse from their foolish ancestors, Society is ordered according to animal forms, The locals view normal humans as repulsive or inferior

 Pretech gengineering tech, A “cure” that may not be wanted, Sacred feral totem

Shrine to a feral deity, Nature preserve suited to an animal type, Living site built to take advantage of animal traits

8

Area 51

 The world’s government is fully aware of their local stellar neighbors, but the common populace has no idea about it- and the government means to keep it that way. Trade with government officials in remote locations is possible, but any attempt to clue the commoners in on the truth will be met with lethal reprisals.

Suspicious government minder, Free merchant who likes his local monopoly, Local who wants a specimen for dissection

Crusading offworld investigator, Conspiracy-theorist local, Idealistic government reformer

The government has a good reason to keep the truth concealed, The government ruthlessly oppresses the natives, The government is actually composed of offworlders in valley

Elaborate spy devices, Memory erasure tech, Possessions of the last offworlder who decided to spread the truth

P Desert airfield, Deep subterranean bunker, Hidden mountain valley

9

Badlands World

Whatever the original climate and atmosphere type, something horrible happened to this world. Biological, chemical, or nanotechnical weaponry has reduced it to a wretched hell-scape. Some local life might still be able to survive on its blasted surface, usually at some dire cost in health or humanity.

Mutated badlands fauna, Desperate local, Badlands raider chief

Native desperately wishing to escape the world, Scientist researching ecological repair methods, Ruin scavenger

Radioactivity, Bioweapon traces, Broken terrain, Sudden local plague

Maltech research core, Functional pretech weaponry, An uncontaminated well

Untouched oasis, Ruined city, Salt flat

10

Battleground

The world is a battleground for two or more outside powers. They may be interstellar rivals, or groups operating out of orbitals or other system bodies. Something about the planet is valuable enough for them to fight over, but the natives are too weak to be anything but animate obstacles to the fight.

Ruthless military commander, Looter pack chieftain, Traitorous collaborator

Native desperately seeking protection, Pragmatic military officer, Hapless war orphan

The war just ended as both sides are leaving, The natives somehow brought this on themselves, A small group of natives profit tremendously from the fighting

A cache of the resource the invaders seek, Abandoned prototype military gear, Precious spy intelligence lost by someone

Artillery-pocked wasteland, Reeking refugee camp, Burnt-out shell of a city

11

Beastmasters

The natives have extremely close bonds with the local fauna, possibly having special means of communication and control through tech or gengineering. Local animal life plays a major role in their society, industry, or warfare, and new kinds of beasts may be bred to suit their purposes

Half-feral warlord of a beast swarm, Coldly inhuman scientist, Altered beast with human intellect and furious malic

Native bonded with an adorable animal, Herder of very useful beasts, Animal-revering mystic

 “animals” are very heavily gengineered humans, The animals actually run the society, The animals have the same rights as human

 “animals” are very heavily gengineered humans, The animals actually run the society, The animals have the same rights as human

 Park designed as a comfortable home for beasts, Public plaza designed to accommodate animal companions, Factory full of animal workers

12

Cheap Life

Human life is near-worthless on this world. Ubiquitous cloning, local conditions that ensure early death, a culture that reveres murder, or a social structure that utterly discounts the value of most human lives ensures that death is the likely outcome for any action that irritates someone consequential.

Master assassin, Bloody-handed judge, Overseer of disposable clones

Endearing local whose life the PCs accidentally bought, Escapee from death seeking outside help, Reformer trying to change local mores

Radiation or local diseases ensure all locals die before twenty-five years of age, Tech ensures that death is just an annoyance, Locals are totally convinced of a blissful afterlife

Device that revives or re-embodies the dead, Maltech engine fueled by human life, Priceless treasure held by a now-dead owner

Thronging execution ground, extremely cursory cemetery, Factory full of lethal dangers that could be corrected easily

13

Civil War

The world is currently torn between at least two opposing factions, all of which claim legitimacy. The war may be the result of a successful rebel uprising against tyranny, or it might just be the result of schemers who plan to be the new masters once the revolution is complete.

Faction commissar, Angry native, Conspiracy theorist who blames offworlders for the war, Deserter looking out for himself, Guerrilla ban

dit chieftain

Faction loyalist seeking aid, Native caught in the crossfire, Offworlder seeking passage off the planet

The front rolls over the group, Famine strikes, Bandit infestations are in the way

Ammo dump, Military cache, Treasure buried for after the war, Secret war plans

Battle front, Bombed-out town, Rear-area red light zone, Propaganda broadcast tower

14

Cold War

Two or more great powers control the planet, and they have a hostility to each other that’s just barely less than open warfare. The hostility might be ideological in nature, or it might revolve around control of some local resource

Suspicious chief of intelligence, Native who thinks the outworlders are with the other side, Femme fatale

 Apolitical information broker, Spy for the other side, Unjustly accused innocent, “He’s a bastard, but he’s our bastard” official

Police sweep, Low-level skirmishing, “Red scare”

List of traitors in government, secret military plans, Huge cache of weapons built up in preparation for war

Seedy bar in a neutral area, Political rally, Isolated area where fighting is underway

15

Colonized Population

A neighboring world has successfully colonized this less-advanced or less-organized planet, and the natives aren’t happy about it. A puppet government may exist, but all real decisions are made by the local viceroy.

Suspicious security personnel, Offworlder-hating natives, Local crime boss preying on rich offworlders

Native resistance leader, Colonial official seeking help, Native caught between the two sides

Natives won’t talk to offworlders, Colonial repression, Misunderstood local customs

Relic of the resistance movement, List of collaborators, Precious substance extracted by colonial labor

Deep wilderness resistance camp, City district off-limits to natives, Colonial labor site

16

Cultural Power

The world is a considerable cultural power in the sector, producing music, art, philosophy, or some similar intangible that their neighbors find irresistibly attractive. Other worlds might have a profound degree of cultural cachet as the inheritor of some venerable artistic tradition.

Murderously eccentric artist, Crazed fan, Failed artist with an obsessive grudge, Critic with a crusade to enact

Struggling young artist, Pupil of the artistic tradition, Scholar of the art, Offworlder hating the source of corrupting alien ways

The art is slowly lethal to its masters, The art is mentally or physically addictive, The art is a fragment of ancient technical or military science

The instrument of a legendary master, The only copy of a dead master’s opus, Proof of intellectual property ownership

Recording or performance studio, Public festival choked with tourists, Monument to a dead master of the art

17

Cybercommunists

On this world communism actually works, thanks to pretech computing devices and greater or lesser amounts of psychic precognition. Central planning nodes direct all production and employment on the world. Citizens in good standing have access to ample amounts of material goods for all needs and many wants. Instead of strife over wealth, conflicts erupt over political controls, cultural precepts, or control over the planning nodes. Many cybercommunist worlds show a considerable bias toward the private interests of those who run the planning nodes.

Embittered rebel against perceived unfairness, Offworlder saboteur, Aspiring Stalin-figure

Idealistic planning node tech, Cynical anti-corruption cop, Precognitive economist

The pretech planning computers are breaking down, The planning only works because the locals have been mentally or physically altered, The planning computers can’t handle the increasing population within the system

Planning node computer, Wildly destabilizing commodity that can’t be factored into plans, A tremendous store of valuables made by accident

Humming factory, Apartment block of perfectly equal flats, Mass demonstration of unity

18

Cyborgs

The planet’s population makes heavy use of cybernetics, with many of the inhabitants possessing at least a cosmetic amount of chrome. This may be the result of a strong local cyber tech base, a religious injunction, or simply a necessary measure to survive the local conditions.

Ambitious hacker of cyber implants, Cybertech oligarch, Researcher craving fresh offworlders, Cybered-up gang boss

Charity-working implant physician, Idealistic young cyber researcher, Avant-garde activist

The powerful and dangerous come here often for cutting-edge implants, The cyber has some universal negative side-effect, Cyber and those implanted with it are forbidden to leave the planet as a tech security measure

Unique prototype cyber implant, Secret research files, A virus that debilitates cyborgs, A cache of critically-needed therapeutic cyber

Grimy slum chop-shop, Bloody lair of implant rippers, Stark plaza where everyone is seeing things through their augmented-reality cyber

19

Cyclical Doom

The world regularly suffers some apocalyptic catastrophe that wipes out organized civilization on it. The local culture is aware of this cycle and has traditions to ensure a fragment of civilization survives into the next era, but these traditions don’t always work properly, and sometimes dangerous fragments of the past emerge.

Offworlder seeking to trigger the apocalypse early for profit, Local recklessly taking advantage of preparation stores, Demagogue claiming the cycle is merely a myth of the authorities

Offworlder seeking to trigger the apocalypse early for profit, Local recklessly taking advantage of preparation stores, Demagogue claiming the cycle is merely a myth of the authorities

The cycles really are a myth of the authorities, The cycles are controlled by alien constructs, An outside power is interfering with preparation

A lost cache of ancient treasures, Tech or archives that will pinpoint the cycle’s timing, Keycodes to bypass an ancient vault’s security

Lethally-defended vault of forgotten secrets, Starport crowded with panicked refugees, Town existing in the shadow of some monstrous monument to a former upheaval

20

Desert World

The world may have a breathable atmosphere and a human-tolerable temperature range, but it is an arid, stony waste outside of a few places made habitable by human effort. The deep wastes are largely unexplored and inhabited by outcasts and worse.

Raider chieftain, Crazed hermit, Angry isolationists, Paranoid mineral prospector, Strange desert beast

Native guide, Research biologist, Aspiring terraformer

Sandstorms, Water supply failure, Native warfare over water rights

Enormous water reservoir, Map of hidden wells, Pretech rainmaking equipment

Oasis, “The Empty Quarter” of the desert, Hidden underground cistern

21

Doomed World

The world is doomed, and the locals may or may not know it. Some cosmic catastrophe looms before them, and the locals have no realistic way to get everyone to safety. To the extent that the public is aware, society is disintegrating into a combination of religious fervor, abject hedonism, and savage violence.

Crazed prophet of a false salvation, Ruthless leader seeking to flee with their treasures, Cynical ship captain selling a one-way trip into hard vacuum as escape to another world

Appealing waif or family head seeking escape, Offworld relief coordinator, Harried law officer

The doom is false or won’t actually kill everyone, The doom was intentionally triggered by someone, Mass escape is possible if warring groups can somehow be brought to cooperate

Clearance for a ship to leave the planet, A cache of priceless cultural artifacts, The life savings of someone trying to buy passage out, Data that would prove to the public the end is nigh

Open square beneath a sky angry with a foretaste of the impending ruin, Orgiastic celebration involving sex and murder in equal parts, Holy site full of desperate petitioners to the divine

22

Dying Race

The inhabitants of this world are dying out, and they know it. Through environmental toxins, hostile bio-weapons, or sheer societal despair, the culture cannot replenish its numbers. Members seek meaning in their own strange goals or peculiar faiths, though a few might struggle to find some way to reverse their slow yet inevitable doom

Hostile outsider who wants the locals dead, Off-worlder seeking to take advantage of their weakened state, Invaders eager to push the locals out of their former lands

One of the few youth among the population, Determined and hopeful reformer, Researcher seeking a new method of reproduction

The dying culture’s values were monstrous, The race’s death is somehow necessary to prevent some grand catastrophe, The race is somehow convinced they deserve this fate

Extremely valuable reproductive tech, Treasured artifacts of the former age, Bioweapon used on the race

City streets devoid of pedestrians, Mighty edifice now crumbling with disrepair, Small dwelling full of people in a town now otherwise empty

23

Eugenic Cult

Even in the days before the Silence, major improvement of the human genome always seemed to come with unacceptable side-effects. Some worlds host secret cults that perpetuate these improvements regardless of the cost, and a few planets have been taken over entirely by the cults

Eugenic superiority fanatic, Mentally unstable homo superior, Mad eugenic scientist

Eugenic propagandist, Biotechnical investigator, Local seeking revenge on cult

The altered cultists look human, The locals are terrified of any unusual physical appearance, The genetic modifications- and drawbacks- are contagious with long exposure

Serum that induces the alteration, Elixir that reverses the alteration, Pretech biotechnical databanks, List of secret cult sympathizers

Eugenic breeding pit, Isolated settlement of altered humans, Public place infiltrated by cult sympathizers

24

Exchange Consulate

The Exchange of Light once served as the largest, most trusted banking and diplomatic service in human space. Even after the Silence, some worlds retain a functioning Exchange Consulate where banking services and arbitration can be arranged

Corrupt Exchange official, Indebted native who thinks the players are Exchange agents, Exchange official dunning the players for debts incurred

Consul in need of Offworld help, Local banker seeking to hurt his competition, Exchange diplomat

The local Consulate has been corrupted, the Consulate is cut off from its funds, A powerful debtor refuses to pay

Exchange vault codes, Wealth hidden to conceal it from a bankruptcy judgment, Location of forgotten vault

Consulate meeting chamber, Meeting site between fractious disputants, Exchange vault

25

Fallen Hegemon

At some point in the past, this world was a hegemonic power over some or all of the sector, thanks to superior tech, expert diplomacy, the weakness of their neighbors, or inherited Mandate legitimacy. Some kind of crash or revolt broke their power, however, and now the world is littered with the wreckage of former glory.

Bitter pretender to a meaningless throne, Resentful official dreaming of empire, Vengeful offworlder seeking to punish their old rulers

Realistic local leader trying to hold things together, Scholar of past glories, Refugee from an overthrown colonial enclave

The hegemon’s rule was enlightened and fair, It collapsed due to its own internal strife rather than external resistance, It pretends that nothing has happened to its power, It’s been counter-colonized by vengeful outsiders

Precious insignia of former rule, Relic tech important to its power, Plundered colonial artifact

Palace far too grand for its current occupant, Oversized spaceport now in disrepair, Boulevard lined with monuments to past glories

26

Feral World

In the long, isolated night of the Silence, some worlds have experienced total moral and cultural collapse. Whatever remains has been twisted beyond recognition into assorted death cults, xenophobic fanaticism, horrific cultural practices, or other behavior unacceptable on more enlightened worlds. These worlds are almost invariably quarantined by other planets.

Decadent noble, Mad cultist, Xenophobic local, Cannibal chief, Maltech researcher

Trapped outworlder, Aspiring reformer, Native wanting to avoid traditional flensing

Horrific local “celebration”, Inexplicable and repugnantly social rules, Taboo zones and people

Terribly misused piece of pretech, Wealth accumulated through brutal evildoing, Valuable possession owned by luckless outworlder victim

Atrocity amphitheater, Traditional torture parlor, Ordinary location twisted into something terribl

27

Flying Cities

Perhaps the world is a gas giant, or plagued with unendurable storms at lower levels of the atmosphere. For whatever reason, the cities of this world fly above the surface of the planet. Perhaps they remain stationary, or perhaps they move from point to point in search of resources.

Rival city pilot, Tech thief attempting to steal outworld gear, Saboteur or scavenger plundering the city’s tech

Maintenance tech in need of help, City defense force pilot, Meteorological researcher

Sudden storms, Drastic altitude loss, Rival city attacks, Vital machinery breaks down

Precious refined atmospheric gases, Pretech grav engine plans, Meteorological codex predicting future storms

Underside of the city, The one calm place on the planet’s surface, Catwalks stretching over unimaginable gulfs below

28

Forbidden Tech

Some group on this planet fabricates or uses maltech. Unbraked AIs doomed to metastasize into insanity, nation-destroying Nano warfare particles, slow-burn DNA corruptives, genetically engineered slaves, or something worse still. The planet’s larger population may or may not be aware of the danger in their midst.

Mad scientist, Maltech buyer from offworld, Security enforcer

Victim of maltech, Perimeter agent, Investigative reporter, Conventional arms merchan

The maltech is being fabricated by an unbraked AI, The government depends on revenue from maltech sales to offworlders, Citizens insist that it’s not really maltech

Maltech research data, The maltech itself, Precious pretech equipment used to create it

Horrific laboratory, Hellscape sculpted by the maltech’s use, Government building meeting room

29

Former Warriors

The locals of this world were once famed for their martial prowess. They may have simply had a very militaristic culture, or were genetically engineered for combat, or developed high-tech weaponry, or had brilliant leadership. Those days are past, however, either due to crushing defeat, external restrictions, or a cultural turn toward peace.

Unreformed warlord leader, Bitter mercenary chief, Victim of their warfare seeking revenge

Partisan of the new peaceful ways, Outsider desperate for military aid, Martial genius repressed by the new dispensation

Neighboring worlds want them pacified or dead, They only ever used their arts in self-defense, The source of their gifts has been “turned off” in a reversible way

War trophy taken from a defeated foe, Key to re-activating their martial ways, Secret cache of high-tech military gear

Cemetery of dead heroes, Memorial hall now left to dust and silence, Monument plaza dedicated to the new culture

30

Freak Geology

The geology or geography of this world is simply freakish. Perhaps it’s composed entirely of enormous mountain ranges, or regular bands of land and sea, or the mineral structures all fragment into perfect cubes. The locals have learned to deal with it and their culture will be shaped by its requirements.

Crank xenogeologist, Cultist who believes it the work of aliens

Research scientist, Prospector, Artist

Local conditions that no one remembers to tell outworlders about, Lethal weather, Seismic activity

Unique crystal formations, Hidden veins of a major precious mineral strike, Deed to a location of great natural beauty

Atop a bizarre geological formation, Tourist resort catering to offworlders

31

Freak Weather

Freak Weather

Criminal using the weather as a cover, Weather cultists convinced the offworlders are responsible for some disaster, Native predators dependent on the weather

Meteorological researcher, Holodoc crew wanting shots of the weather

The weather itself, Malfunctioning pretech terraforming engines that cause the weather

Wind-scoured deposits of precious minerals, Holorecords of a spectacularly and rare weather pattern, Naturally-sculpted objects of intricate beauty

Eye of the storm, The one sunlit place, Terraforming control room

32

Friendly Foe

Some hostile alien race or malevolent cabal has a branch or sect on this world that is actually quite friendly toward outsiders. For whatever internal reason, they are willing to negotiate and deal honestly with strangers, and appear to lack the worst impulses of their fellows.

Driven hater of all their kind, Internal malcontent bent on creating conflict, Secret master who seeks to lure trust

Well-meaning bug-eyed monster, Principled eugenics cultist, Suspicious investigator

The group actually is as harmless and benevolent as they seem, The group offers a vital service at the cost of moral compromise, The group still feels bonds of affiliation with their hostile brethren

Forbidden xenotech, Eugenic biotech template, Evidence to convince others of their kind that they are right

Repurposed maltech laboratory, Alien conclave building, Widely-feared starship interior

33

Gold Rush

Gold, silver, and other conventional precious minerals are common and cheap now that asteroid mining is practical for most worlds. But some minerals and compounds remain precious and rare, and this world has recently been discovered to have a supply of them. People from across the sector have come to strike it rich.

Paranoid prospector, Aspiring mining tycoon, Rapacious merchant

Claim-jumped miner, Native alien, Curious tourist

The strike is a hoax, The strike is of a dangerous toxic substance, Export of the mineral is prohibited by the planetary government, The native aliens live around the strike’s location

Cases of the refined element, Pretech mining equipment, A dead prospector’s claim deed

Secret mine, Native alien village, Processing plant, Boom town

34

Great Work

The locals are obsessed with completing a massive project, one that has consumed them for generations. It might be the completion of a functioning space yard, a massive solar power array, a network of terraforming engines, or the universal conversion of their neighbors to their own faith. The purpose of their entire civilization is to progress and some day complete the work

Local planning to sacrifice the PCs for the work, Local who thinks the PCs threaten the work, Obsessive zealot ready to destroy someone or something important to the PCs for the sake of the work

Outsider studying the work, Local with a more temperate attitude, Supplier of work materials

The work is totally hopeless, Different factions disagree on what the work is, An outside power is determined to thwart the work

Vital supplies for the work, Plans that have been lost, Tech that greatly speeds the work

A bustling work site, Ancestral worker housing, Local community made only semi-livable by the demands of the work

35

Hatred

For whatever reason, this world’s populace has a burning hatred for the inhabitants of a neighboring system. Perhaps this world was colonized by exiles, or there was a recent interstellar war, or ideas of racial or religious superiority have fanned the hatred. Regardless of the cause, the locals view their neighbor and any sympathizers with loathing

Native convinced that the offworlders are agents of Them, Cynical politician in need of scapegoats

Intelligence agent needing catspaws, Holodoc producers needing “an inside look”, Unlucky offworlder from the hated system

The characters are wearing or using items from the hated world, The characters are known to have done business there, The characters “look like” the hated others

Proof of Their evildoing, Reward for turning in enemy agents, Relic stolen by Them years ago

War crimes museum, Atrocity site, Captured and decommissioned spaceship kept as a trophy

36

Heavy Industry

With interstellar transport so limited in the bulk it can move, worlds have to be largely self-sufficient in industry. Some worlds are more sufficient than others, however, and this planet has a thriving manufacturing sector capable of producing large amounts of goods appropriate to its tech level. The locals may enjoy a correspondingly higher lifestyle, or the products might be devoted towards vast projects for the aggrandizement of the rulers.

Tycoon monopolist, Industrial spy, Malcontent revolutionary

Aspiring entrepreneur, Worker union leader, Ambitious inventor

The factories are toxic, The resources extractable at their tech level are running out, The masses require the factory output for survival, The industries’ major output is being obsoleted by offworld tech

Confidential industrial data, Secret union membership lists, Ownership shares in an industrial complex

Factory floor, Union meeting hall, Toxic waste dump, R&D complex

37

Heavy Mining

This world has large stocks of valuable minerals, usually necessary for local industry, life support, or refinement into loads small enough to export Offworld. Major mining efforts are necessary to extract the minerals, and many natives work in the industry.

Mine boss, Tunnel saboteur, Subterranean predators

Hermit prospector, Offworld investor, Miner’s union representative

The refinery equipment breaks down, Tunnel collapse, Silicate life forms growing in the miners’ lungs

The mother lode, Smuggled case of refined mineral, Faked crystalline mineral samples

Vertical mine face, Tailing piles, Roaring smelting complex

38

Hivemind

Natives of this world exist in a kind of mental gestalt, sharing thoughts and partaking of a single identity. Powerful pretech, exotic psionics, alien influence, or some other cause has left the world sharing one identity. Individual members may have greater or lesser degrees of effective coordination with the whole.

A hivemind that wants to assimilate outsiders, A hivemind that has no respect for unjoined life, A hivemind that fears and hates unjoined life

A scholar studying the hivemind, A person severed from the gestalt, A relative of someone who has been assimilated

The hivemind only functions on this world, The hivemind has strict range limits, The hivemind has different personality factions, The hivemind only happens at particular times, The world is made of semi-sentient drones and a single AI

Vital tech for maintaining the mind, Precious treasure held by now-assimilated outsider, Tech that “blinds” the hivemind to the tech’s users

Barely tolerable living cells for individuals, Workside where individuals casually die in their labors, Community with absolutely no social or group-gathering facilities

39

Holy War

A savage holy war is raging on this world, either between factions of locals or as a united effort against the pagans of some neighboring world. This war might involve a conventional religion, or it might be the result of a branding campaign, political ideology, artistic movement, or any other cause that people use as a substitute for traditional religion.

Blood-mad pontiff, Coldly cynical secular leader, Totalitarian political demagogue

Desperate peacemaker, Hard-pressed refugee of the fighting, Peaceful religious leader who lost the internal debate

The targets of the war really are doing something diabolically horrible, The holy war is just a mask for a very traditional casus belli, The leaders don’t want the war won but only prolonged, Both this world and the target of the war are religion-obsessed

 Sacred relic of the faith, A captured blasphemer under a death sentence, Plunder seized in battle

Massive holy structure, Razed community of infidels, Vast shrine to the martyrs dead in war

40

Hostile Biosphere

The world is teeming with life, and it hates humans. Perhaps the life is xenoallergenic, forcing filter masks and tailored antiallergens for survival. It could be the native predators are huge and fearless, or the toxic flora ruthlessly outcompetes earth crops.

Local fauna, Nature cultist, Native aliens, Callous labor overseer

Xenobiologist, Tourist on safari, Grizzled local guide

Filter masks fail, Parasitic alien infestation, Crop greenhouses lose bio-integrity

Valuable native biological extract, Abandoned colony vault, Remains of an unsuccessful expedition

Deceptively peaceful glade, Steaming polychrome jungle, Nightfall when surrounded by Things

41

Hostile Space

The system in which the world exists is a dangerous neighborhood. Something about the system is perilous to inhabitants, either through meteor swarms, stellar radiation, hostile aliens in the asteroid belt, or periodic comet clouds

Alien raid leader, Meteor-launching terrorists, Paranoid local leader

Astronomic researcher, Local defense commander, Early warning monitor agent

The natives believe the danger is divine chastisement, The natives blame outworlders for the danger, The native elite profit from the danger in some way

Early warning of a raid or impact, Abandoned riches in a disaster zone, Key to a secure bunker

City watching an approaching asteroid, Village burnt in an alien raid, Massive ancient crater

42

Immortals

Natives of this world are effectively immortal. They may have been gengineered for tremendous lifespans, or have found some local anagathic, or be cyborg life forms, or be so totally convinced of reincarnation that death is a cultural irrelevance. Any immortality technique is likely applicable only to them, or else it’s apt to be a massive draw to outside imperialists.

Outsider determined to steal immortality, Smug local convinced of their immortal wisdom to rule all, Offworlder seeking the world’s ruin before it becomes a threat to all

Curious longevity researcher, Thrill-seeking local,

Immortality requires doing something that outsiders can’t or won’t willingly do, The immortality ends if they leave the world, Death is the punishment for even minor crimes, Immortals must die or go offworld after a certain span, Immortality has brutal side-effects

Immortality drug, Masterwork of an ageless artisan, Toxin that only affects immortal

Community with no visible children, Unchanging structure of obvious ancient age, Cultural performance relying on a century of in-jokes

43

Local Specialty

The world may be sophisticated or barely capable of steam engines, but either way it produces something rare and precious to the wider galaxy. It might be some pharmaceutical extract produced by a secret recipe, a remarkably popular cultural product, or even gengineered humans uniquely suited for certain work.

Monopolist, Offworlder seeking prohibition of the specialty, Native who views the specialty as sacred

Spy searching for the source, Artisan seeking protection, Exporter with problems

The specialty is repugnant in nature, The crafters refuse to sell to offworlders, The specialty is made in a remote, dangerous place, The crafters don’t want to make the specialty any more

The specialty itself, The secret recipe, Sample of a new improved variety

Secret manufactory, Hidden cache, Artistic competition for best artisan

44

Local Tech

he locals can create a particular example of extremely high tech, possibly even something that exceeds pretech standards. They may use unique local resources to do so, or have stumbled on a narrow scientific breakthrough, or still have a functional experimental manufactory.

Keeper of the tech, Offworld industrialist, Automated defenses that suddenly come alive, Native alien mentors

Curious offworld scientist, Eager tech buyer, Native in need of technical help

The tech is unreliable, The tech only works on this world, The tech has poorly-understood side effects, The tech is alien in nature

The tech itself, An unclaimed payment for a large shipment, The secret blueprints for its construction, An ancient alien R&D database

Alien factory, Lethal R&D center, Tech brokerage vault

45

Major Spaceyard

Most worlds of tech level 4 or greater have the necessary tech and orbital facilities to build spike drives and starships. This world is blessed with a major spaceyard facility, either inherited from before the Silence or painstakingly constructed in more recent decades. It can build even capital-class hulls, and do so more quickly and cheaply than its neighbors.

Enemy saboteur, Industrial spy, Scheming construction tycoon, Aspiring ship hijacker

Captain stuck in drydock, Maintenance chief, Mad innovator

The spaceyard is an alien relic, The spaceyard is burning out from overuse, The spaceyard is alive, The spaceyard relies on maltech to function

Intellectual property-locked pretech blueprints, Override keys for activating old pretech facilities, A purchased but unclaimed spaceship.

Hidden shipyard bay, Surface of a partially-completed ship, Ship scrap graveyard

46

Mandarinate

The planet is ruled by an intellectual elite chosen via ostensibly neutral examinations or tests. The values this system selects for may or may not have anything to do with actual practical leadership skills, and the examinations may be more or less corruptible.

Corrupt test administrator, Incompetent but highly-rated graduate, Ruthless leader of a clan of high-testing relations

Crusader for test reform, Talented but poorly-connected graduate, Genius who tests badly

The test is totally unrelated to necessary governing skills, The test was very pertinent in the past but tech or culture has changed, The test is for a skill that is vital to maintaining society but irrelevant to day-to-day governance, The test is a sham and passage is based on wealth or influence

Answer key to the next test, Lost essay of incredible merit, Proof of cheating

Massive structure full of test-taking cubicles, School filled with desperate students, Ornate government building decorated with scholarly quotes and academic images

47

Mandate Base

The Terran Mandate retained its control over this world for much longer than usual, and the world may still consider itself a true inheritor of Mandate legitimacy. Most of these worlds have or had superior technology, but they may still labor under the burden of ancient restrictive tech or monitoring systems designed to prevent them from rebelling.

Deranged Mandate monitoring AI, Aspiring sector ruler, Demagogue preaching local superiority over “traitorous rebel worlds”.

Idealistic do-gooder local, Missionary for advanced Mandate tech, Outsider seeking lost data from Mandate records

The monitoring system forces the locals to behave in aggressive ways toward “rebel” worlds, The monitoring system severely hinders offworld use of their tech, The original colonists are all dead and have been replaced by outsiders who don’t understand all the details

Ultra-advanced pretech, Mandate military gear, Databank containing precious tech schematics

Faded Mandate offices still in use, Vault containing ancient pretech, Carefully-maintained monument to Mandate glory

48

Maneaters

The locals are cannibals, either out of necessity or out of cultural preference. Some worlds may actually eat human flesh, while others simply require the rendering of humans into important chemicals or pharmaceutical compounds, perhaps to prolong the lives of ghoul overlords. This cannibalism plays a major role in their society

Ruthless ghoul leader, Chieftain of a ravenous tribe, Sophisticated degenerate preaching the splendid authenticity of cannibalism

Sympathetic local fleeing the fork, Escapee from a pharmaceutical rendering plant, Outsider chosen for dinner, Reformer seeking to break the custom or its necessity

Local food or environmental conditions make human consumption grimly necessary, The locals farm human beings, Outsiders are expected to join in the custom, The custom is totally unnecessary but jealously maintained by the people

Belongings of a recent meal, An offworlder VIP due for the menu, A toxin that makes human flesh lethal to consumers

Hideous human abattoir, Extremely civilized restaurant, Funeral-home-cum-kitchen

49

Megacorps

The world is dominated by classic cyberpunk-esque megacorporations, each one far more important than the vestigial national remnants that encompass them. These megacorps are usually locked in a cold war, trading and dealing with each other even as they try to strike in deniable ways. An over-council of corporations usually acts to bring into line any that get excessively overt in their activities.

Megalomaniacal executive, Underling looking to use the PCs as catspaws, Ruthless mercenary who wants what the PCs have

Victim of megacorp scheming, Offworlder merchant in far over their head, Local reformer struggling to cope with megacorp indifference

The megacorps are the only source of something vital to life on this world, An autonomous Mandate system acts to punish excessively overt violence, The megacorps are struggling against much more horrible national governments

Blackmail on a megacorp exec, Keycodes to critical corp secrets, Proof of corp responsibility for a heinously unacceptable public atrocity, Data on a vital new product line coming out soon

A place plastered in megacorp ads, A public plaza discreetly branded, Private corp military base

50

Mercenaries

The world is either famous for its mercenary bands or it is plagued by countless groups of condottieri in service to whatever magnate can afford to pay or bribe them adequately

Amoral mercenary leader, Rich offworlder trying to buy rule of the world, Mercenary press gang chief forcing locals into service

 Young and idealistic mercenary chief, Harried leader of enfeebled national army, Offworlder trying to hire help for a noble cause

The mercenaries are all that stand between the locals and a hungry imperial power, The mercenaries are remnants of a former official army, The mercenaries hardly ever actually fight as compared to taking bribes to walk away

Lost mercenary payroll shipment, Forbidden military tech, Proof of a band’s impending treachery against their employers

Shabby camp of undisciplined mercs, Burnt-out village occupied by mercenaries, Luxurious and exceedingly well-defended merc leader villa

51

Minimal Contact

The locals refuse most contact with offworlders. Only a small, quarantined treaty port is provided for offworld trade, and ships can expect an exhaustive search for contraband. Local governments may be trying to keep the very existence of interstellar trade a secret from their populations, or they may simply consider offworlders too dangerous or repugnant to be allowed among the population.

Customs official, Xenophobic natives, Existing merchant who doesn’t like competition

Aspiring tourist, Anthropological researcher, Offworld thief, Religious missionary

The locals carry a disease harmless to them and lethal to outsiders, The locals hide dark purposes from offworlders, The locals have something desperately needed but won’t bring it into the treaty port

Contraband trade goods, Security perimeter codes, Black market local products

Treaty port bar, Black market zone, Secret smuggler landing site

52

Misandry/Misogyny

The culture on this world holds a particular gender in contempt. Members of that gender are not permitted positions of formal power, and may be restricted in their movements and activities. Some worlds may go so far as to scorn both traditional genders, using gengineering techniques to hybridize or alter conventional human biology.

Cultural fundamentalist, Cultural missionary to outworlders, Local rebel driven to pointless and meaningless violence

Oppressed native, Research scientist, Offworld emancipationist, Local reformer

The oppressed gender is restive against the customs, The oppressed gender largely supports the customs, The customs relate to some physical quality of the world, The oppressed gender has had maltech gengineering done to “tame” them.

Aerosol reversion formula for undoing gengineered docility, Hidden history of the world, Pretech gengineering equipment

Shrine to the virtues of the favored gender, Security center for controlling the oppressed, Gengineering lab

53

Night World

The world is plunged into eternal darkness. The only life on this planet derives its energy from other sources, such as geothermal heat, extremely volatile chemical reactions in the planet’s soil, or light in a non-visible spectrum. Most flora and fauna is voraciously eager to consume other life.

Monstrous thing from the night, Offworlder finding the obscurity of the world convenient for dark purposes, Mad scientist experimenting with local life

Curious offworlder researcher, Hard-pressed colony leader, High priest of a sect that finds religious significance in the night

 Daylight comes as a cataclysmic event at very long intervals, Light causes very dangerous reactions in native life or chemicals here, The locals have been gengineered to exist without sight

Rare chemicals created in the darkness, Light source usable on this world, Smuggler cache hidden here in ages past

Formlessly pitch-black wilderness, Sea without a sun, Location defined by sounds or smells

54

Nomads

Most of the natives of this world are nomadic, usually following a traditional cycle of movement through the lands they possess. Promises of rich plunder or local environmental perils can force these groups to strike out against neighbors. Other groups are forced to move constantly due to unpredictable dangers that crop up on the planet.

Desperate tribal leader who needs what the PCs have, Ruthless raider chieftain, Leader seeking to weld the nomads into an army

Free-spirited young nomad, Dreamer imagining a stable life, Offworlder enamored of the life

An irresistibly lethal swarm of native life forces locals to move regularly, Ancient defense systems destroy too-long-stationary communities, Local chemical patches require careful balancing of exposure times to avoid side effects

Cache of rare and precious resource, Plunder seized by a tribal raid, Tech that makes a place safe for long-term inhabitation

The only island on the planet, Floating spaceport, Deck of a storm-swept ship, Undersea bubble city

55

Oceanic World

The world is entirely or almost entirely covered with liquid water. Habitations might be floating cities, or might cling precariously to the few rocky atolls jutting up from the waves, or are planted as bubbles on promontories deep beneath the stormy surface. Survival depends on aquaculture. Planets with inedible alien life rely on gengineered Terran sea crops.

Pirate raider, Violent “salvager” gang, Tentacled sea monster

Daredevil fisherman, Sea hermit, Sapient native life

The liquid flux confuses grav engines too badly for them to function on this world, Sea is corrosive or toxic, The seas are wracked by regular storms

Buried pirate treasure, Location of enormous schools of fish, Pretech water purification equipment

The only island on the planet, Floating spaceport, Deck of a storm-swept ship, Undersea bubble city

56

Out of Contact

The natives have been entirely out of contact with the greater galaxy for centuries or longer. Perhaps the original colonists were seeking to hide from the rest of the universe, or the Silence destroyed any means of communication. It may have been so long that human origins on other worlds have regressed into a topic for legends. The players might be on the first offworld ship to land since the First Wave of colonization a thousand years ago

Fearful local ruler, Zealous native cleric, Sinister power that has kept the world isolated

Scheming native noble, Heretical theologian, UFO cultist native

Automatic defenses fire on ships that try to take off, The natives want to stay out of contact, The natives are highly vulnerable to offworld diseases, The native language is completely unlike any known to the group

Ancient pretech equipment, Terran relic brought from Earth, Logs of the original colonists

Long-lost colonial landing site, Court of the local ruler, Ancient defense battery controls

57

Outpost World

The world is only a tiny outpost of human habitation planted by an offworld corporation or government. Perhaps the staff is there to serve as a refueling and repair stop for passing ships, or to oversee an automated mining and refinery complex. They might be there to study ancient ruins, or simply serve as a listening and monitoring post for traffic through the system. The outpost is likely well-equipped with defenses against casual piracy.

Space-mad outpost staffer, Outpost commander who wants it to stay undiscovered, Undercover saboteur

Lonely staffer, Fixated researcher, Overtaxed maintenance chief

The alien ruin defense systems are waking up, Atmospheric disturbances trap the group inside the outpost for a month, Pirates raid the outpost, The crew have become converts to a strange set of beliefs

Alien relics, Vital scientific data, Secret corporates exploitation plans

Grimy recreation room, Refueling station, The only building on the planet, A “starport” of swept bare rock.

58

Perimeter Agency

Before the Silence, the Perimeter was a Terran-sponsored organization charged with rooting out use of maltech, technology banned in human space as too dangerous for use or experimentation. Unbraked AIs, gengineered slave species, nanotech replicators, weapons of planetary destruction… the Perimeter hunted down experimenters with a great indifference to planetary laws. Most Perimeter Agencies collapsed during the Silence, but a few managed to hold on to their mission, though modern Perimeter agents often find more work as conventional spies.

Renegade Agency Director, Maltech researcher, Paranoid intelligence chief

Agent in need of help, Support staffer, “Unjustly” targeted researcher

The local Agency has gone rogue and now uses maltech, The Agency archives have been compromised, The Agency has been targeted by a maltech-using organization, The Agency’s existence is unknown to the locals

Agency maltech research archives, Agency pretech spec-ops gear, File of blackmail on local politicians

Interrogation room, Smoky bar, Maltech laboratory, Secret Agency base

59

Pilgrimage Site

The world is noted for an important spiritual or historical location, and might be the sector headquarters for a widespread religion or political movement. The site attracts wealthy pilgrims from throughout nearby space, and those with the money necessary to manage interstellar travel can be quite generous to the site and its keepers. The locals tend to be fiercely protective of the place and its reputation, and some places may forbid the entrance of those not suitably pious or devout.

Saboteur devoted to a rival belief, Bitter reformer who resents the current leadership, Swindler conning the pilgrims

Protector of the holy site, Naïve offworlder pilgrim, Outsider wanting to learn the sanctum’s inner secrets

The site is actually a fake, The site is run by corrupt and venal keepers, A natural disaster threatens the site

Ancient relic guarded at the site, Proof of the site’s inauthenticity, Precious offering from a pilgrim

Incense-scented sanctum, Teeming crowd of pilgrims, Imposing holy structure

60

Pleasure World

This world provides delights either rare or impermissible elsewhere. Matchless local beauty, stunningly gengineered natives, a wide variety of local drugs, carnal pleasures unacceptable on other worlds, or some other rare delight is readily available here. Most worlds are fully aware of the value of their offerings, and the prices they demand can be in credits or in less tangible recompense.

Purveyor of evil delights, Local seeking to control others with addictions, Offworlder exploiter of native resources

Tourist who’s in too deep, Native seeking a more meaningful life elsewhere, Offworld entertainer looking for training here

A deeply repugnant pleasure is offered here by a culture that sees nothing wrong with it, Certain pleasures here are dangerously addictive, The prices here can involve enslavement or death, The world has been seized and exploited by an imperial power

Forbidden drug, A contract for some unspeakable payment, Powerful tech repurposed for hedonistic ends

Breathtaking natural feature, Artful but decadent salon, Grimy den of desperate vice

61

Police State

The world is a totalitarian police state. Any sign of disloyalty to the planet’s rulers is punished severely, and suspicion riddles society. Some worlds might operate by Soviet-style informers and indoctrination, while more technically sophisticated worlds might rely on omnipresent cameras or braked AI “guardian angels”. Outworlders are apt to be treated as a necessary evil at best, and “disappeared” if they become troublesome.

Secret police chief, Scapegoating official, Treacherous native informer

Rebel leader, Offworld agitator, Imprisoned victims, Crime boss

The natives largely believe in the righteousness of the state, The police state is automated and its “rulers” can’t shut it off, The leaders foment a pogrom against “offworlder spies”.

List of police informers, Wealth taken from “enemies of the state”, Dear Leader’s private sta

Military parade, Gulag, Gray concrete housing
block, Surveillance center

62

Post-Scarcity

The locals have maintained sufficient Mandate-era tech to be effectively post-scarcity in their economic structure. Everyone has all the necessities and most of the desires they can imagine. Conflict now exists over the apportionment of services and terrestrial space, since anything else can be had in abundance. Military goods and items of mass destruction may still be restricted, and there is probably some reason that the locals do not export their vast wealth.

Frenzied ideologue fighting over an idea, Paranoids local fearing offworlder influence, Grim reformer seeking the destruction of the “enfeebling” productive tech

Offworlder seeking something available only here, Local struggling to maintain the production tech, Native missionary seeking to bring abundance to other worlds

The tech causes serious side-effects on those who take advantage of it, The tech is breaking down, The population is growing too large, The tech produces only certain things in abundance

A cornucopia device, A rare commodity that cannot be duplicated, Contract for services

Tiny but richly-appointed private quarters, Market for services, Hushed non-duped art salon

63

Preceptor Archive

The Preceptors of the Great Archive were a pre-Silence organization devoted to ensuring the dissemination of human culture, history, and basic technology to frontier worlds that risked losing this information during the human expansion. Most frontier planets had an Archive where natives could learn useful technical skills in addition to human history and art. Those Archives that managed to survive the Silence now strive to send their missionaries of knowledge to new worlds in need of their lore.

Luddite native, Offworld merchant who wants the natives kept ignorant, Religious zealot, Corrupted First Speaker who wants to keep a monopoly on learning

Preceptor Adept missionary, Offworld scholar, Reluctant student, Roving Preceptor Adept

The local Archive has taken a very religious and mystical attitude toward their teaching, The Archive has maintained some replicable pretech science, The Archive has been corrupted and their teaching is incorrect

Lost Archive database, Ancient pretech teaching equipment, Hidden cache of unacceptable tech

Archive lecture hall, Experimental laboratory, Student-local riot

64

Pretech Cultists

The capacities of human science before the Silence vastly outmatch the technology available since the Scream. The Jump Gates alone were capable of crossing hundreds of light years in a moment, and they were just one example of the results won by blending psychic artifice with pretech science. Some worlds outright worship the artifacts of their ancestors, seeing in them the work of more enlightened and perfect humanity. These cultists may or may not understand the operation or replication of these devices, but they seek and guard them jealously.

Cult leader, Artifact supplier, Pretech smuggler

Offworld scientist, Robbed collector, Cult heretic

The cultists can actually replicate certain forms of pretech, The cultists abhor use of the devices as “presumption on the holy”, The cultists mistake the party’s belongings for pretech

Pretech artifacts both functional and broken, Religious-jargon laced pretech replication techniques, Waylaid payment for pretech artifacts

Shrine to nonfunctional pretech, Smuggler’s den, Public procession showing a prized artifact

65

Prison Planet

This planet is or was intended as a prison. Some such prisons were meant for specific malefactors of the Terran Mandate, while others were to contain entire “dangerous” ethnic groups or alien races. Some may still have warden AIs or automatic systems to prevent any unauthorized person from leaving, and any authorization permits have long since expired

Crazed warden AI, Brutal heir to gang leadership, Offworlder who’s somehow acquired warden powers and exploits the locals

Innocent local born here, Native technician forced to maintain the very tech that imprisons them, Offworlder trapped here by accident

Departure permits are a precious currency, The prison industry still makes valuable pretech devices, Gangs have metamorphosed into governments, The local nobility descended from the prison staff

A pass to get offworld, A key to bypass ancient security devices, Contraband forbidden by the security scanners

Mandate-era prison block converted to government building, Industrial facility manned by mandatory numbers of prisoners, Makeshift shop where contraband is assembled

66

Psionics Academy

This world is one of the few that have managed to redevelop the basics of psychic training. Without this education, a potential psychic is doomed to either madness or death unless they refrain from using their abilities. Psionic academies are rare enough that offworlders are often sent there to study by wealthy patrons. The secrets of psychic mentorship, the protocols and techniques that allow a psychic to successfully train another, are carefully guarded at these academies. Most are closely affiliated with the planetary government.

Corrupt psychic instructor, Renegade student, Mad psychic researcher, Resentful townie

Offworld researcher, Aspiring student, Wealthy tourist

The academy curriculum kills a significant percentage of students, The faculty use students as research subjects, The students are indoctrinated as sleeper agents, The local natives hate the academy, The academy is part of a religion.

Secretly developed psitech, A runaway psychic mentor, Psychic research prize

Training grounds, Experimental laboratory, School library, Campus hangout

67

Psionics Fear

The locals are terrified of psychics. Perhaps their history is studded with feral psychics who went on murderous rampages, or perhaps they simply nurse an unreasoning terror of those “mutant freaks”. Psychics demonstrate their powers at risk of their lives.

Mental purity investigator, Suspicious zealot, Witch-finder

Hidden psychic, Offworlder psychic trapped here, Offworld educator

Psychic potential is much more common here, Some tech is mistaken as psitech, Natives believe certain rituals and customs can protect them from psychic powers

Hidden psitech cache, Possessions of convicted psychics, Reward for turning in a psychic

Inquisitorial chamber, Lynching site, Museum of psychic atrocities

68

Psionics Worship

These natives view psionic powers as a visible gift of god or sign of superiority. If the world has a functional psychic training academy, psychics occupy almost all major positions of power and are considered the natural and proper rulers of the world. If the world lacks training facilities, it is likely a hodgepodge of demented cults, with each one dedicated to a marginally-coherent feral prophet and their psychopathic ravings.

Psychic inquisitor, Haughty mind-noble, Psychic slaver, Feral prophet

Offworlder psychic researcher, Native rebel, Offworld employer seeking psychics

The psychic training is imperfect, and the psychics all show significant mental illness, The psychics have developed a unique discipline, The will of a psychic is law, Psychics in the party are forcibly kidnapped for “enlightening”.

Ancient psitech, Valuable psychic research records, Permission for psychic training

Psitech-imbued council chamber, Temple to the mind, Sanitarium-prison for feral psychics

69

Quarantined World

The world is under a quarantine, and space travel to and from it is strictly forbidden. This may be enforced by massive ground batteries that burn any interlopers from the planet’s sky, or it may be that a neighboring world runs a persistent blockade

Defense installation commander, Suspicious patrol leader, Crazed asteroid hermit

Relative of a person trapped on the world, Humanitarian relief official, Treasure hun

he natives want to remain isolated, The quarantine is enforced by an ancient alien installation, The world is rife with maltech abominations, The blockade is meant to starve everyone on the barren world.

Defense grid key, Bribe for getting someone out, Abandoned alien tech

Bridge of a blockading ship, Defense installation control room, Refugee camp

70

Radioactive World

Whether due to a legacy of atomic warfare unhindered by nuke snuffers or a simple profusion of radioactive elements, this world glows in the dark. Even heavy vacc suits can filter only so much of the radiation, and most natives suffer a wide variety of cancers, mutations and other illnesses without the protection of advanced medical treatments.

Bitter mutant, Relic warlord, Desperate would-be escape

Reckless prospector, Offworld scavenger, Biogenetic variety seeker

The radioactivity is steadily growing worse, The planet’s medical resources break down, The radioactivity has inexplicable effects on living creatures, The radioactivity is the product of a malfunctioning pretech manufactory

Ancient atomic weaponry, Pretech anti-radioactivity drugs, Untainted water supply

Mutant-infested ruins, Scorched glass plain, Wilderness of bizarre native life, Glowing barrens

71

Refugees

The world teems with refugees, either exiles from another planet who managed to get here, or the human detritus of some local conflict that have fled to the remaining stable states. The natives usually regard the refugees with hostility, an attitude returned by many among their unwilling guests.

Xenophobic native leader, Refugee chief aspiring to seize the host nation, Politician seeking to use the refugees as a weapon

Sympathetic refugee waif, Local hard-pressed by refugee gangs, Clergy seeking peace

The xenophobes are right that the refugees are taking over, The refugees are right that the xenophobes want them out or dead, Both are right, Outside powers are using the refugees to destabilize an enemy government, Refugee and local cultures are extremely incompatible

Treasures brought out by fleeing refugees, Citizenship papers, Cache of vital refugee supplies, Hidden arms for terrorists

Hopeless refugee camp, City swarming with confused strangers, Festival full of angry locals

72

Regional Hegemon

This world has the technological sophistication, natural resources, and determined polity necessary to be a regional hegemon for the sector. Nearby worlds are likely either directly subservient to it or tack carefully to avoid its anger. It may even be the capital of a small stellar empire.

Ambitious general, Colonial official, Contemptuous noble

Diplomat, Offworld ambassador, Foreign spy

The hegemon’s influence is all that’s keeping a murderous war from breaking out on nearby worlds, The hegemon is decaying and losing its control, The government is riddled with spies, The hegemon is genuinely benign

Diplomatic carte blanche, Deed to an offworld estate, Foreign aid grant

Palace or seat of government, Salon teeming with spies, Protest rally, Military base

73

Restrictive Laws

A myriad of laws, customs, and rules constrain the inhabitants of this world, and even acts that are completely permissible elsewhere are punished severely here. The locals may provide lists of these laws to offworlders, but few non-natives can hope to master all the important intricacies.

Law enforcement officer, Outraged native, Natives lawyer specializing in peeling offworlders, Paid snitch

Frustrated offworlder, Repressed native, Reforming crusade

he laws change regularly in patterns only natives understand, The laws forbid some action vital to the party, The laws forbid the simple existence of some party members, The laws are secret to offworlders

Complete legal codex, Writ of diplomatic immunity, Fine collection vault contents

Courtroom, Mob scene of outraged locals, Legislative chamber, Police station

74

Revanchists

The locals formerly owned another world, or a major nation on the planet formerly owned an additional region of land. Something happened to take away this control or drive out the former rulers, and they’ve never forgotten it. The locals are obsessed with reclaiming their lost lands, and will allow no questions of practicality to interfere with their cause.

Demagogue whipping the locals on to a hopeless war, Politician seeking to use the resentment for their own ends, Local convinced the PCs are agents of the “thieving” power, Refugee from the land bitterly demanding it be reclaimed

Realist local clergy seeking peace, Politician trying to calm the public, Third-party diplomat trying to stamp out the fire

The revanchists’ claim is completely just and reasonable, The land is now occupied entirely by heirs of the conquerors, Both sides have seized lands the other thinks are theirs

Stock of vital resource produced by the taken land, Relic carried out of it, Proof that the land claim is justified or unjustified

Memorial monument to the loss, Cemetery of those who died in the conquest, Public ceremony commemorating the disaster

75

Revolutionaries

The world is convulsed by one or more bands of revolutionaries, with some nations perhaps in the grip of a current revolution. Most of these upheavals can be expected only to change the general flavor of problems in the polity, but the process of getting there usually produces a tremendous amount of suffering.

Blood-drenched revolutionary leader, Blood-drenched secret police chief, Hostile foreign agent seeking further turmoil

Sympathetic victim accused of revolutionary sympathies or government collaboration, Revolutionary or state agent who now repents, Agent of a neutral power that wants peace

The revolutionaries actually do seem likely to put in better rulers, The revolutionaries are client groups that got out of hand, The revolutionaries are clearly much worse than the government, The revolutionaries have no real ideals beyond power and merely pretend to ideology

List of secret revolutionary sympathizers, Proof of rebel hypocrisy, Confiscated wealth

Festival that explodes into violence, Heavily-fortified police station, Revolutionary base hidden in the wilderness

76

Rigid Culture

The local culture is extremely rigid. Certain forms of behavior and belief are absolutely mandated, and any deviation from these principles is punished, or else society may be strongly stratified by birth with limited prospects for change. Anything which threatens the existing social order is feared and shunned.

Rigid reactionary, Wary ruler, Regime ideologue, Offended potentate

Revolutionary agitator, Ambitious peasant, Frustrated merchant

The cultural patterns are enforced by technological aids, The culture is run by a secret cabal of manipulators, The culture has explicit religious sanction, The culture evolved due to important necessities that have since been forgotten

 Precious traditional regalia, Peasant tribute, Opulent treasures of the ruling class

Time-worn palace, Low-caste slums, Bandit den, Reformist temple

77

Rising Hegemon

This world is not yet a dominant power in the sector, but it’s well on its way there. Whether through newly-blossoming economic, military, or cultural power, they’re extending their influence over their neighbors and forging new arrangements between their government and the rulers of nearby worlds.

Jingoistic supremacist, Official bent on glorious success, Foreign agent saboteur

Friendly emissary to the benighted, Hardscrabble local turned great success, Foreign visitor seeking contacts or knowledge

They’re only strong because their neighbors have been weakened, Their success is based on a fluke resource or pretech find, They bitterly resent their neighbors as former oppressors

Tribute shipment, Factory or barracks emblematic of their power source, Tech or data that will deal a blow to their rise

Rustic town being hurled into prosperity, Government building being expanded, Starport struggling under the flow of new ships

78

Ritual Combat

The locals favor some form of stylized combat to resolve disputes, provide entertainment, or settle religious differences. This combat is probably not normally lethal unless it’s reserved for a specific disposable class of slaves or professionals. Some combat may involve mastery of esoteric weapons and complex arenas, while other forms might require nothing more than a declaration in the street and a drawn gun.

Bloodthirsty local champion, Ambitious gladiator stable owner, Xenophobic master fig

Peace-minded foreign missionary, Temperate defender of the weak, Local eager to learn of offworld fighting styles

The required weapons are strange pretech artifacts, Certain classes are forbidden from fighting and require champions, Loss doesn’t mean death but it does mean ritual scarring or property loss

Magnificent weapon, Secret book of martial techniques, Token signifying immunity to ritual combat challenges, Prize won in bloody battle

Area full of cheering spectators, Dusty street outside a saloon, Memorial for fallen warriors

79

Robots

The world has a great many robots on it. Most bots are going to be non-sentient expert systems, though an AI with enough computing resources can control many bots at once, and some worlds may have developed VIs to a degree that individual bots can seem (or be) sentient. Some worlds might even be ruled by metal overlords, ones which do not need to be sentient so long as they have overwhelming force.

Hostile robot master, Robot greedy to seize offworld tech, Robot fallen in love with the PC’s ship, Oligarch whose factories build robots

Data-seeking robot, Plucky young robot tech, Local being pushed out of a job by robots

The robots are only partially controlled, The robots are salvaged and originally meant for a much darker use, The robots require a rare material that the locals fight over, The robots require the planet’s specific infrastructure so cannot be exported

Prototype robot, Secret robot override codes, Vast cache of robot-made goods, Robot-destroying pretech weapon

Humming robotic factory, Stark robotic “barracks”, House crowded with robot servants and only one human owner

80

Seagoing Cities

Either the world is entirely water or else the land is simply too dangerous for most humans. Human settlement on this world consists of a number of floating cities that follow the currents and the fish. These city-ships might have been purpose-built for their task, or they could be jury-rigged conglomerations of ships and structures thrown together when the need for seagoing life become apparent to the locals.

Pirate city lord, Mer-human raider chieftain, Hostile landsman noble, Enemy city saboteur

City navigator, Scout captain, Curious mer-human, Hard-pressed ship-city engineer

The seas are not water, The fish schools have vanished and the city faces starvation, Terrible storms drive the city into the glacial regions, Suicide ships ram the city’s hull

Giant pearls with mysterious chemical properties, Buried treasure, Vital repair materials

Bridge of the city, Storm-tossed sea, A bridge fashioned of many small boats.

81

Sealed Menace

Something on this planet has the potential to create enormous havoc for the inhabitants if it is not kept safely contained by its keepers. Whether a massive seismic fault line suppressed by pretech terraforming technology, a disease that has to be quarantined within hours of discovery, or an ancient alien relic that requires regular upkeep in order to prevent planetary catastrophe, the menace is a constant shadow on the fearful populace.

Hostile outsider bent on freeing the menace, Misguided fool who thinks he can use it, Reckless researcher who thinks he can fix it

Keeper of the menace, Student of its nature, Victims of the menace

The menace would bring great wealth along with destruction, The menace is intelligent, The natives don’t all believe in the menace

A key to unlock the menace, A precious byproduct of the menace, The secret of the menace’s true nature

Guarded fortress containing the menace, Monitoring station, Scene of a prior outbreak of the menace

82

Secret Masters

The world is actually run by a hidden cabal, acting through their catspaws in the visible government. For one reason or another, this group finds it imperative that they not be identified by outsiders, and in some cases even the planet’s own government may not realize that they’re actually being manipulated by hidden masters.

An agent of the cabal, Government official who wants no questions asked, Willfully blinded local

Paranoid conspiracy theorist, Machiavellian gamesman within the cabal, Interstellar investigator

The secret masters have a benign reason for wanting secrecy, The cabal fights openly amongst itself, The cabal is recruiting new members

A dossier of secrets on a government official, A briefcase of unmarked credit notes, The identity of a cabal member

Smoke-filled room, Shadowy alleyway, Secret underground bunker

83

Sectarians

The world is torn by violent disagreement between sectarians of a particular faith. Each views the other as a damnable heresy in need of extirpation. Local government may be able to keep open war from breaking out, but the poisonous hatred divides communities. The nature of the faith may be religious, or it may be based on some secular ideology.

Paranoid believer, Native convinced the party is working for the other side, Absolutist ruler

Reformist clergy, Local peacekeeping official, Offworld missionary, Exhausted ruler

The conflict has more than two sides, The sectarians hate each other for multiple reasons, The sectarians must cooperate or else life on this world is imperiled, The sectarians hate outsiders more than they hate each other, The differences in sects are incomprehensible to an outsider

Ancient holy book, Incontrovertible proof, Offering to a local holy man

Sectarian battlefield, Crusading temple, Philosopher's salon, Bitterly divided village

84

Seismic Instability

The local land masses are remarkably unstable, and regular earthquakes rack the surface. Local construction is either advanced enough to sway and move with the vibrations or primitive enough that it is easily rebuilt. Severe volcanic activity may be part of the instability

Earthquake cultist, Hermit seismologist, Burrowing native life form, Earthquake-inducing saboteur

Experimental construction firm owner, Adventurous volcanologist, Geothermal pro

The earthquakes are caused by malfunctioning pretech terraforms, They’re caused by alien technology, They’re restrained by alien technology that is being plundered by offworlders, The earthquakes are used to generate enormous amounts of energy.

Earthquake generator, Earthquake suppressor, Mineral formed at the core of the world, Earthquake-proof building schematics

Volcanic caldera, Village during an earthquake, Mud slide, Earthquake opening superheated steam fissures

85

Shackled World

This world is being systematically contained by an outside power. Some ancient autonomous defense grid, robot law enforcement, alien artifact, or other force is preventing the locals from developing certain technology, or using certain devices, or perhaps from developing interstellar flight. This limit may or may not apply to offworlders; in the former case, the PCs may have to figure out a way to beat the shackles simply to escape the world.

Passionless jailer-AI, Paranoid military grid AI, Robot overlord, Enigmatic alien master

Struggling local researcher, Offworlder trapped here, Scientist with a plan to break the chains

The shackles come off for certain brief windows of time, The locals think the shackles are imposed by God, An outside power greatly profits from the shackles, The rulers are exempt from the shackles

Keycode to bypass the shackle, Tech shielded from the shackle, Exportable version of the shackle that can affect other worlds

Grim high-tech control center, Factory full of workaround tech, Temple to the power or entity that imposed the shackle

86

Societal Despair

The world’s dominant society has lost faith in itself. Whether through some all-consuming war, great catastrophe, overwhelming outside culture, or religious collapse, the natives no longer believe in their old values, and search desperately for something new. Fierce conflict often exists between the last believers in the old dispensation and the nihilistic or searching disciples of the new age

Zealot who blames outsiders for the decay, Nihilistic warlord, Offworlder looking to exploit the local despair

Struggling messenger of a new way, Valiant paragons of a fading tradition, Local going through the motions of serving a now-irrelevant role

A massive war discredited all the old values, Outside powers are working to erode societal confidence for their own benefit, A local power is profiting greatly from the despair, The old ways were meant to aid survival on this world and their passing is causing many new woes

Relic that would inspire a renaissance, Art that would inspire new ideas, Priceless artifact of a now-scorned belief

Empty temple, Crowded den of obliviating vice, Smoky hall full of frantic speakers

87

Sole Supplier

Some extremely important resource is exported from this world and this world alone. It’s unlikely that the substance is critical for building spike drives unless this world is also the first to begin interstellar flight, but it may be critical to other high-tech processes or devices. The locals make a large amount of money off this trade and control of it is of critical importance to the planet’s rulers, and potentially to outside powers.

Resource oligarch, Ruthless smuggler, Resource-controlling warlord, Foreign agent seeking to subvert local government

Doughty resource miner, Researcher trying to synthesize the stuff, Small-scale resource producer, Harried starport trade overseer

The substance is slow poison to process, The substance is created by hostile alien natives, The substance is very easy to smuggle in usable amounts, Only the natives have the genes or tech to extract it effectively

Cache of processed resource, Trade permit to buy a load of it, A shipment of nigh-undetectably fake substance

Bustling resource extraction site, Opulent palace built with resource money, Lazy town square where everyone lives on resource payments

88

Taboo Treasure

The natives here produce something that is both fabulously valuable and strictly forbidden elsewhere in the sector. It may be a lethally addictive drug, for bidden gengineering tech, vat-grown “perfect slaves”, or a useful substance that can only be made through excruciating human suffering. This treasure is freely traded on the world, but bringing it elsewhere is usually an invitation to a long prison stay or worse.

Maker of a vile commodity, Smuggler for a powerful offworlder, Depraved offworlder here for “fun”, Local warlord who controls the treasure

Reformer seeking to end its use, Innovator trying to repurpose the treasure in innocent ways, Wretched addict unwillingly prey to the treasure

The treasure is extremely hard to smuggle, Its use visibly marks a user, The natives consider it for their personal use only,

Load of the forbidden good, Smuggling tech that could hide the good perfectly, Blackmail data on offworld buyers of the good

Den where the good is used, Market selling the good to locals and a few outsiders, Factory or processing area where the good is created

89

Terraform Failure

This world was marginal for human habitation when it was discovered, but the Mandate or the early government put in pretech terraforming engines to correct its more extreme qualities. The terraforming did not entirely work, either failing of its own or sufferings the destruction of the engines during the Silence. The natives are only partly adapted to the world’s current state, and struggle with the environment.

Brutal ruler who cares only for their people, Offworlder trying to loot the damaged engines, Warlord trying to seize limited habitable land

Local trying to fix the engines, Offworlder student of the engines, World-wise native survivor

The engines produced too much of something instead of too little, The engines were hijacked by aliens with different preferences, It was discovered that an Earth-like environment would eventually cause a catastrophic disaster

Parts to repair or restore the engines, Lootable pretech fragments, Valuable local tech devised to cope with the world

Zone of tolerable gravity or temperature, Native settlement built to cope with the environment, Massive ruined terraforming engine

90

Theocracy

The planet is ruled by the priesthood of the predominant religion or ideology. The rest of the locals may or may not be terribly pious, but the clergy have the necessary military strength, popular support or control of resources to maintain their rule. Alternative faiths or incompatible ideologies are likely to be both illegal and socially unacceptable.

Decadent priest-ruler, Zealous inquisitor, Relentless proselytizer, True Believer

Heretic, Offworld theologian, Atheistic merchant, Desperate commoner

The theocracy actually works well, The theocracy is decadent and hated by the common folk, The theocracy is divided into mutually hostile sects, The theocracy is led by aliens

Precious holy text, Martyr’s bones, Secret church records, Ancient church treasures

Glorious temple, Austere monastery, Academy for ideological indoctrination, Decadent pleasure-cathedral

91

Tomb World

Tomb worlds are planets that were once inhabited by humans before the Silence. The sudden collapse of the jump gate network and the inability to bring in the massive food supplies required by the planet resulted in starvation, warfare, and death. Most tomb worlds are naturally hostile to human habitation and could not raise sufficient crops to maintain life. The few hydroponic facilities were usually destroyed in the fighting, and all that is left now are ruins, bones, and silence.

Demented survivor tribe chieftain, Avaricious scavenger, Automated defense system, Native predator

Scavenger Fleet captain, Archaeologist, Salvaging historian, Xenophilic native survivor

The ruins are full of booby-traps left by the final inhabitants, The world’s atmosphere quickly degrades anything in an opened building, A handful of desperate natives survived the Silence, The structures are unstable and collapsing

Lost pretech equipment, Tech caches, Stores of unused munitions, Ancient historical data

Crumbling hive-city, City square carpeted in bones, Ruined hydroponic facility, Cannibal tribe’s lair, Dead orbital jump gate

92

Trade Hub

This world is a major crossroads for local interstellar trade. It is well-positioned at the nexus of several short-drill trade routes, and has facilities for easy transfer of valuable cargoes and the fueling and repairing of starships. The natives are accustomed to outsiders, and a polyglot mass of people from every nearby world can be found trading here.

Cheating merchant, Thieving dockworker, Commercial spy, Corrupt customs official

Rich tourist, Hardscrabble free trader, Merchant prince in need of catspaws, Friendly spaceport urchin

An outworlder faction schemes to seize the trade hub, Saboteurs seek to blow up a rival’s warehouses, Enemies are blockading the trade routes, Pirates lace the hub with spies

Voucher for a warehouse’s contents, Insider trading information, Case of precious offworld pharmaceuticals, Box of legitimate tax stamps indicating customs dues have been paid.

Raucous bazaar, Elegant restaurant, Spaceport teeming with activity, Foggy street lined with warehouses

93

Tyranny

The local government is brutal and indifferent to the will of the people. Laws may or may not exist, but the only one that matters is the whim of the rulers on any given day. Their minions swagger through the streets while the common folk live in terror of their appetites. The only people who stay wealthy are friends and servants of the ruling class.

Debauched autocrat, Sneering bully-boy, Soul-less government official, Occupying army officer

Conspiring rebel, Oppressed merchant, Desperate peasant, Inspiring religious leader

The tyrant rules with vastly superior technology, The tyrant is a figurehead for a cabal of powerful men and women, The people are resigned to their suffering, The tyrant is hostile to “meddlesome outworlders”

Plundered wealth, Beautiful toys of the elite, Regalia of rulership

Impoverished village, Protest rally massacre, Decadent palace, Religious hospital for the indigent

94

Unbraked AI

Artificial intelligences are costly and difficult to create, requiring a careful sequence of “growth stages” in order to bring them to sentience before artificial limits on cognition speed and learning development are installed. These “brakes” prevent runaway cognition metastasis. This world has an “unbraked AI” on it, probably with a witting or unwitting corps of servants. Unbraked AIs are quite insane, but they learn and reason with a speed impossible for humans, and can demonstrate a truly distressing subtlety.

AI Cultist, Maltech researcher, Government official dependent on the AI

Perimeter agent, AI researcher, Braked AI

The AI’s presence is unknown to the locals, The locals depend on the AI for some vital service, The AI appears to be harmless, The AI has fixated on the group’s ship’s computer, The AI wants transport offworld

The room-sized AI core itself, Maltech research files, Perfectly tabulated blackmail on government officials, Pretech computer circuitry

Municipal computing banks, Cult compound, Repair center, Ancient hardcopy library

95

Urbanized Surface

The world’s land area is covered with buildings that extend downward for multiple levels. Such worlds either have a population in the trillions, extremely little land area, or are largely-abandoned due to some past catastrophe. Agriculture and resource extraction are part of the urban complex, and there may be an advanced maintenance system that may not be entirely under the control of present natives

Maintenance AI that hates outsiders, Tyrant of a habitation block, Deep-dwelling prophet who considers “the sky” a blasphemy to be quelled

Local yearning for wild spaces, Grubby urchin of the under levels, Harried engineer trying to maintain ancient works, Grizzled hab cop

The urban blocks are needed to survive the environment, The blocks were part of an ancient device of world-spanning size, The blocks require constant maintenance to avoid dangerous types of decay

Massively efficient power source, Map of the secret ways of a zone, Passkey into restricted hab block areas

Giant hab block now devoid of inhabitants, Chemical-reeking underway, Seawater mine full of salt and massive flowing channels

96

Utopia

Natural and social conditions on this world have made it a paradise for its inhabitants, a genuine utopia of happiness and fulfillment. This is normally the result of drastic human engineering, including brain-gelding, neurochemical control, personality curbs, or complete “humanity” redefinitions. Even so, the natives are extremely happy with their lot, and may wish to extend that joy to poor, sad outsiders

Compassionate neurotherapist, Proselytizing native missionary to outsiders, Brutal tyrant who rules through inexorable happiness

Deranged malcontent, Bloody-handed guerrilla leader of a rebellion of madmen, Outsider trying to find a way to reverse the utopian changes

The natives really are deeply and contentedly happy with their altered lot, The utopia produces something that attracts others, The utopia works on converting outsiders through persuasion and generosity, The utopia involves some sacrifice that’s horrifying to non-members

Portable device that applies the utopian change, Plans for a device that would destroy the utopia, Goods created joyfully by the locals

Plaza full of altered humans, Social ritual site, Secret office where “normal” humans rule

97

Warlords

The world is plagued by warlords. Numerous powerful men and women control private armies sufficiently strong to cow whatever local government may exist. On the lands they claim, their word is law. Most spend their time oppressing their own subjects and murderously pillaging those of their neighbors. Most like to wrap themselves in the mantle of ideology, religious fervor, or an ostensibly legitimate right to rule.

Warlord, Avaricious lieutenant, Expensive assassin, Aspiring minion

Vengeful commoner, Government military officer, Humanitarian aid official, Village priest

The warlords are willing to cooperate to fight mutual threats, The warlords favor specific religions or races over others, The warlords are using substantially more sophisticated tech than others, Some of the warlords are better rulers than the government

Weapons cache, Buried plunder, A warlord’s personal battle harness, Captured merchant shipping

Gory battlefield, Burnt-out village, Barbaric warlord palace, Squalid refugee camp

98

Xenophiles

The natives of this world are fast friends with a particular alien race. The aliens may have saved the planet at some point in the past, or awed the locals with superior tech or impressive cultural qualities. The aliens might even be the ruling class on the planet.

Offworld xenophobe, Suspicious alien leader, Xenocultural imperialist

Benevolent alien, Native malcontent, Gone-native offworlde

The enthusiasm is due to alien psionics or tech, The enthusiasm is based on a lie, The aliens strongly dislike their “groupies”, The aliens feel obliged to rule humanity for its own good, Humans badly misunderstand the aliens

Hybrid alien-human tech, Exotic alien crafts, Sophisticated xenolinguistic and xenocultural research data

Alien district, Alien-influenced human home, Cultural festival celebrating alien artist

99

Xenophobes

The natives are intensely averse to dealings with outworlders. Whether through cultural revulsion, fear of tech contamination, or a genuine immunodeficiency, the locals shun foreigners from offworld and refuse to have anything to do with them beyond the bare necessities of contact. Trade may or may not exist on this world, but if it does, it is almost certainly conducted by a caste of untouchables and outcasts

Revulsed local ruler, Native convinced some wrong was done to him, Cynical demagogue

Curious native, Exiled former ruler, Local desperately seeking outworlder help

The natives are symptomless carriers of a contagious and dangerous disease, The natives are exceptionally vulnerable to offworld diseases, The natives require elaborate purification rituals after speaking to an offworlder or touching them, The local ruler has forbidden any mercantile dealings with outworlders

Jealously-guarded precious relic, Local product under export ban, Esoteric local technology

Sealed treaty port, Public ritual not open to outsiders, Outcaste slum home

100

Zombies

This menace may not take the form of shambling corpses, but some disease, alien artifact, or crazed local practice produces men and women with habits similar to those of murderous cannibal undead. These outbreaks may be regular elements in local society, either provoked by some malevolent creators or the consequence of some local condition.

Soulless maltech biotechnology cult, Sinister governmental agent, Crazed zombie cultist

Survivor of an outbreak, Doctor searching for a cure, Rebel against the secret malefactors

The zombies retain human intelligence, The zombies can be cured, The process is voluntary among devotees, The condition is infectious

Cure for the condition, Alien artifact that causes it, Details of the cult’s conversion process

House with boarded-up windows, Dead city, Fortified bunker that was overrun from within

101

Ancient Temple

Humans and aliens alike cherish their holy places, but time and bitter circumstances sometimes conspire to grind these sacred sanctuaries away. This ancient temple is either an empty monument to a now-dead faith, or a near-deserted husk occupied only by the last desperate remnants of the original priesthood. In either case, the PCs will have significant obstacles to overcome if they're to pry out whatever treasure or secret they've come to take.

Leader of the last degenerate clerics Cryo-awakened temple guardian Ruthless local taboo-keeper Amoral relic-plunderer Rival sect's zealous inquisitor-purgatist Local determined to unearth the temple's "true faith" Immortal AI-powered techno-priest Politician seeking to plunder relics of legitimacy

Surviving priest eager to make converts Avidly curious archaeologist A local related to the priests, surviving or long-extinct Priest desiring to escape the shrine Heretic looking for outside help to advance their cause Priest convinced the PCs are god-sent Local wanting to "burn out" the danger in the temple Erratic AI temple manager who's mistaken the PCs

The temple collapses if the last priests die The temple is surrounded by very unfriendly locals Lethal traps kill those not versed in holy writ The priests splintered into two or more angry sects Locals think anyone who goes to the temple is a cultist Temple relics and furnishings are technologically "cursed" The real temple is hidden behind a false façade The reality of the faith is nothing like what is said of it

Wondrous alien tech-relic Original scripture of enormous cultural importance Culturally-priceless item of priestly regalia Rare product of dead priest-artisans Prize a living or dead convert brought with him Precious gift from a powerful believer Charter proving a surviving heritor-faith's legal rights Madness-inducing artifact that teaches holy paradoxes

Place of a potentially lethal divine trial Sacred relic-vault Altar circled by decayed splendor Dangerously decrepit priest cells Pen for a monstrous holy beast Huge collapsed idol Library filled with enigmatic holy texts Ornate baths for ritual purifications

102

Asteroid Base

The cold remoteness of distant space has many attractions for a certain type of man or woman. Aside from the soothing solitude of an AU-wide front yard, many asteroids are valuable repositories of useful construction materials, water ice, and industrial chemicals. With sufficiently powerful fusion reactors or a good set of solar panels, an asteroid base can provide an almost self-sufficient refuge for a isolationist community or industrial operation

Hostile alien awoken from its asteroid slumber Crazed space hermit Invidious pirate chieftain Cold-blooded corporate mining boss Leader of a degenerate isolationist sect Rapacious space-scavenger chief Alien intruder from a hostile species Government official seeking to seize the rock

Grizzled old space miner Xenophilic young spacer Hard-working far trader captain Peaceful isolationist group leader Stranded offworlder traveler Fugitive from an unjust law 7 Space-hermit devoted to an odd creed Friendly alien who requires the asteroid's environment

The asteroid is tumbling into danger The asteroid is starting to break up A hostile government is seizing control The locals have a delusional belief about outsiders Only a local can cope with the environment The locals mistake the PCs for illicit contractors Pirates are about to invade the asteroid The asteroid's basic infrastructure is failing

Critical chemical for mining Vital life support component Bomb sufficient to crack the asteroid Cure for a lethal space plague Luxury the locals would kill to have Pay for vital merchants or workers Stash of highly addictive but very useful drug Stolen government prototype stashed somewhere here

Radiation-blasted asteroid surface Warren-like mining tunnel maze Cramped spacer barracks with contraband stashes Vacuum-vulnerable docking bay Dangerous refinery zone with vast smelters Active mining area full of huge machines Fissure zone of cracked and dangerous rock Glacier pocket of carved ice tunnels

103

Barbarian Court

Venturing into the savage courts of primitive lostworlder monarchs is a staple of space-operatic adventure. It's not unlikely that your own campaign will find the heroes forced to deal with low-tech "savages" on their own terms, surrounded by the might of a primitive world's nobility and a degree of pragmatic cunning that would do credit to any planetary executive's conference room

Degenerate offworlder advisor Badly delusional monarch Scheming consort or queen Suspicious warband leader Zealous high priest Paranoid heir to the throne Ambassador from a rival barbarian power Offworlder "aid worker" jealous of rival influences

Reformer in search of allies Offworlder far trader Figurehead ruler seeking real power Local scholar wanting knowledge Secret leader of a rebellion Loser in a game of court intrigue Leader of a socially-untouchable caste seeking allies Religious leader convinced the PCs are divinely-sent

They've got a rational reason for shunning tech Use of tech trips lethal pretech suppression The monarch is incompetent yet irreplaceable New tech is causing riotous disruptions The locals have badly misunderstood a new idea An offworlder is trying to violently conquer them The last offworlder here caused a terrible problem It's impossible to blend casually into the local populace

Precious substance the locals produce Ancient pretech relic of power Regalia of the legitimate ruler Treasure taken from dead foreigner Treaty rights to a vital good or location Cache of dangerously disruptive tech Precious resource the natives don't realize is valuable Micro factory with tech-bootstrap programming

Barbarously splendid throne room Private quarters lacking in amenities Grand public spectacle Site of savage ritual to the gods Crudely primitive servant quarters Massive tomb of a dead king Repurposed structure of a more civilized age Taboo site of extremely dangerous pretech ruins

104

Bureaucratic Agency

It can be particularly difficult for a GM to make an interesting situation out of a bureaucratic conflict. In many cases, it seems the sort of thing to be best resolved by a quick skill check, and even then, players can sometimes resent the existence of the situation at all. If you mean to make a bureaucratic conflict part of your adventure, there are a few basic tricks you can use to help ensure that the players can find some practical way to involve themselves in the situation

Mob-owned mole in the agency Profoundly xenophobic manager Rapaciously corrupt official Incompetent who blames the PCs for his trouble Rival of the party in business or personal affairs Political hack useful only to their party Relentlessly upright official with unhelpful regulations Bureaucratic dragoman with insatiable cupidity

Affable lobbyist looking to make a PC ally Ex-employee of the agency Former victim of the antagonist Member of rival political group Deeply frustrated local Predecessor they forced out Vexed bureaucratic reformer Co-ethnic or co-religionist in the office

The agency really does have dirt on the PCs It's a set-up to pressure PC cooperation The PCs have been mistaken for someone else The antagonist has been set up as a PC target The PCs are accidentally given an ultra-restricted permit Granting the PC permit will produce a horrible event There's some kind of time limit on getting the permit A criminal gang wants to suborn the PCs for the permit

Ruinous blackmail material An already-signed permit to act The secret department handbook with vital info Addictive or vile substance craved by a bureaucrat The ID of the person who can fix this Backups of now-erased incriminating agency files Account passcodes to get at the agency's slush fund Root encryption code for all the agency's files

Department of Motor Vehicles, but in space Tower full of featureless offices Warehouse stuffed with old records Private club for senior bureaucrats Sleazy den for off-the-record meetings Ultra-secure agency headquarters Armory full of completely inappropriate agency weapons Data processing depot crammed with computers

105

Colonial Outpost

Far-faring space heroes are eventually going to end up on the edge of human civilization, and there they'll find the bold men and women who are colonizing new worlds. These colonial outposts are defined by being remote locations with limited resources and a fundamentally unknown world around them. They're the small seeds of a greater polity, and PCs being who they are, it's quite possible that the heroes will be the cause of either their ultimate success or gruesome failure.

Saboteur from a rival power Crazed martinet administrator Religious zealot seeking autonomy Profit-obsessed colony manager Ruthless, popular demagogue Hostile native alien leader Government viceroy with delusional expectations Agent from a rebel front against the parent government

Sympathetic refugee seeking a new life Friendly native alien Harried sponsor representative Far trader who deals with them Peaceful isolationist sectarian Unwilling exile stuck here Bright-eyed explorer of a new world Rich and friendly adventure tourist

The colony is totally illegal Pirates regularly raid the colony for supplies and slaves The colonists are disposable slave labor They recently lost survival-critical outside backing Their colonization plan is failing terribly They've been suborned by another planetary power Their leadership is lying to them to keep up morale 8 Old-world ethnic or religious strife has reignited here

Vital equipment for survival Cache of alien treasure Critical communications tech Pretech terraforming engine parts Precious substance the colony harvests Large stock of illicit small arms and ammo Cherished relic of a now-vanished cultural past Pretech colony tools and insta-building kits

Storehouse of irreplaceable goods Rough-hewn defensive outpost Prefab colony structure Repurposed abandoned alien structure Landing site for colony drop pod Cramped comm and control nexus Hidden zone outside colony government oversight Concealed area for illicit meetings

106

Derelict Orbital

Whether floating in the void of deep space or spinning just above the upper wisps of a planet's atmosphere, orbitals serve numerous purposes to their makers. Every purpose has its end, however, and many of these orbitals later become abandoned, ruined, or degraded into uselessness. Depending on the nature of their end, the final occupants may not have had time to extract everything of value from the station. Orbitals are useful adventure sites when you want to play up themes of isolation, dangerous decay, and perilous exploration. You can also place them as needed, from the deep void to high above a major city

Amoral ship-scavenger and their crew Still-active internal defense bot with lethal programming Degenerate chieftain of the heirs to the original crew Malevolent control AI operating the infrastructure Reawakened alien abomination Crazed survivor of the disaster that killed the orbital Vicious hermit who considers the orbital theirs Brain-in-a-bot "ghost" of a long-dead resident

Curious asteroid prospector Desperate cryo-awakened survivor Struggling repair AI craving usable materials Castaway trapped on the orbital Survivor from the last salvagers Treasure-hunter in need of help Exile hiding out on the orbital 8 Baffled legal inheritor of the orbital

The orbital will inevitably destruct very soon The orbital somehow changes those trapped there It's far harder to leave it than enter it The orbital's loot is extravagantly illegal Getting the orbital's best loot will destroy it rapidly The orbital's real purpose is disguised A government inspection team arrives soon after the PCs The orbital is full of a space plague or dangerous miasma

Data showing what happened here Keys to deactivate orbital anti-ship weapons Internal security control keycode Comm tech needed to call for help Priceless loot gathered by those now dead Tech to prevent the orbital from collapsing Bearer deed granting legal title to the orbital 8 Vital core component to ultra-illegal prototype weapon

Crackling, radioactive engine core Hab area full of corpses Command center with active defenses Sealed-off docking bay Heavily-protected data core Dangerously functional work zone Gunnery magazine full of unstable explosives Emergency safe zone that failed catastrophically

107

Disaster Area

Something horrible has happened here in the recent past. The locals haven't had time to muster an effective response to the disaster, though they might be taking the first steps toward dealing with it, and most of the victims are still struggling to cope with the calamity. The scale of the disaster is too large to be answered by conventional relief measures, and the PCs are certain to have to deal with the chaos of the aftermath. This situation presumes that the disaster has already happened. While it's both possible and traditional to run adventures that revolve around preventing a disaster from happening, entering into a circumstance where the worst has already happened gives the PCs the chance to cope with challenges that don't often crop up in a normal sci-fi society

Far trader plundering the locale amid the chaos Aspiring local warlord taking advantage Demented prophet of doom Agent of an opportunistic enemy power Ethnic or religious gang boss Revolutionary seizing their chance Government official taking the chance for extortion Oligarch who cares only for his own property

Desperate local with endangered kin Hard-pressed local official Grizzled survivalist Cassandra Waif who lost everything in the disaster Determined religious leader Exhausted civil engineer Hard-pressed government relief coordinator Refugee driven out by the disaster

Only the most societally-disposable are suffering The disaster is very advantageous to a major power Victims are blaming an unpopular group for it Rival powers are moving on the weakened group The disaster has revealed a priceless treasure The victims include very unsympathetic types Rebels are blaming the suffering on the government A fanatical group is preaching to the dispossessed

Supplies critical to surviving the disaster Data showing where the second wave will hit Arms cache to oppress or defend survivors Tech needed to repair vital infrastructure Proof of official malfeasance in the disaster Medical supplies needed for survivors Cache of wealth hidden by a now-dead victim Keys to open up a sealed pretech refuge structure

Habitation smashed by the disaster Refugee camp with inadequate supplies Site of a bloody massacre over vital stores Temple full of desperate prayers Ruins of a wrecked "safe place" Zone where the disaster is still in full effect Extremely unfriendly military forward base Hospital overcrowded with the sick and wounded

108

Doomed Habitat

Not every corner of the cosmos is friendly to human habitation. Sometimes a domed city, warren-hab, floating metropolis, or other fragile bubble of habitable existence is surrounded by an implacable sea of peril. Toxic atmospheres, landless world-oceans, lethal radiation, unstoppably violent alien ecologies, and a host of other unfortunate circumstances can compel a world to live within a sealed habitat. Naturally, sometimes these habitats die. With this adventure situation, the PCs find themselves in a hab that is currently doomed. It may be that there's a way to avert the impending destruction, or the PCs may just need to complete their business and get away before the clock runs out on the inhabitants.

Blandly deceitful government executive Wildly hedonistic crime boss Delusional security chief Demagogue blaming an unpopular group Agent of an enemy power Ideologue who hates their own home Corp exec who plans to profit by the doom Obsessive scientist who helped catalyze the doom

Engineer struggling against doom Far trader trying to extract friends Civil defense officer keeping order Scientist experimenting with solutions Relief worker trying to help Offworlder diplomat attempting to aid Local religious leader trying to organize people Wild-eyed but correct survivalist

The locals refuse to believe the doom is coming Stopping the doom would depose the ruling group People are using the doom to justify attacks on rivals The initial stages of the doom are very helpful Outsider rivals are encouraging the doom Stopping the doom would cost a sub-group everything The doom's certain conquest has been widely prophesied The PCs are among a handful to know the doom exists

Evidence of who or what caused the doom Tech that would fix the impending doom Bribe sufficient to buy space transport for the populace Key to refuge intended for the hab's rulers Precious byproduct of the doom Mothballed AI core that could solve the problem Abandoned armory full of milspec hardware Cold-sleep pod with a VIP occupant in it

Locus of the most recent doom activity Plaza full of panicked locals Bloody site where "the guilty" were lynched Starport overrun by the desperate Survivalist bunker for the elite Civil engineering site overtaxed by the doom Remote nook where frightened people are hiding Infrastructure substation collapsing under the doom

109

Hellworld Settlement

Sealed habitats are necessary on some worlds. This particular planet might benefit from such hermetic protection, but it's just semihabitable enough or its colonizers are just cheap enough not to go to that extent. The locals are forced to deal with a quasi-habitable world that hates them, and a lot of the inhabitants can expect very short, unpleasant lives because of that pitiless world

Cannibal survivor chieftain Utterly amoral group leader Brutal local seeking escape offworld Cult leader of a world-worshiping sect Heartless corporate exploiter Monstrous product of this world Government warden-viceroy with a sadistic bent Survival-obsessed xenophobe leader

Relative innocent seeking escape Thrill-seeking offworlder tourist Curious scientist exploring the world Grim but upright local leader Outworlder trying to rescue a friend Engineer building an escape or refuge Stoic religious leader Zealous environmentalist seeking a modus vivendi

The world's only hellish because of the local industry The natives can't readily survive offworld any more The natives think they're morally obliged to stay Its sponsor uses it as a prison or dumping ground The sponsor lies about the real nature of the world The hellish trait of the world is going to get much worse The hellish conditions spawn some precious substance The locals live under prison-like police-state conditions

Vital supplies to survive the danger Terraforming plans to pacify the world The precious substance the locals extract Weapons to overthrow overseers Cure for a plague of this world Tech necessary to escape the planet Proof of the viceroy's malversations Cache of precious luxury the locals desire desperately

Locus of the world's horrible traits Wretched habitat of locals Work site for holding back the danger Cemetery for the myriad unfortunates Heavily-defended corp sponsor base Shrine to a red-handed god of survival Harshly summary courtroom and gallows Cyst of hidden danger spawned by the world

110

Merciless Desert

An alien sun scorches this pitiless place, league on league of stones and sand to surround the hapless heroes. The ridiculously-hostile desert has an honored place in sci-fi history, and there are times when you might plant the PCs in some spicy situation amid the dunes. While it might seem a little difficult to make an endless wasteland of lifeless sand all that interesting, there are a few tricks you can use to worm some excitement out of the setting

Ruthless raider chieftain Deceitful desert guide Ancient pretech guard bot Desert-dwelling alien warlord Avaricious slave trader Crazed religious demagogue Amoral offworlder mining boss Foreign rebel leader using the desert as a base

Grimly-honorable tribal guide Offworld engineer trying to dig wells Far-seeing tribal sage or priest Friendly if slightly-deranged desert hermit Curious alien native Avid offworld planetologist Wealthy tourist in search of thrills Anthropologist studying the local people

The desert's creation was relatively recent Tremendous sandstorms make travel almost impossible The desert becomes lethal at times; radiation, heat, etc. The desert changes those who dwell in it very long The desert's harshness is profitable to a powerful group All the desert's inhabitants are bitter refugees or exiles The desert inhabitants survive by raiding outsiders The desert gets killing rainstorms at random times

Water-finding or water-extracting tech Cache of raider-stolen treasures Key to unlock a pretech ruin in the sands Offworld crop strain that requires almost no water Religiously-important relic of the nomads Weapons to crush a rival group Plunder from an unfortunate caravan or cargo shuttle Control codes to a forgotten pretech defense grid

Plane of hard-fused, glassy sand Perilous zone of shifting dunes Ancient preserved pretech ruin Hidden well within the rocks Bustling oasis-village Camp of desert nomads Ancient dry river bed prone to flash floods Structure long since buried beneath the sand

111

Planetary Starport

There's hardly a sci-fi campaign in existence that hasn't passed through a standard-issue planetary Starport. Sometimes it's referenced only long enough to confirm that the PC's ship has landed, while other times it's a fully-developed hive of intrigue. If you plan to make a Starport the centerpiece of an evening's adventure, there are a few things you can do to make the most of its possibilities

Hopelessly corrupt postmaster Thieving local customs inspector "Accident-prone" longshoreman boss Chiseling ship maintenance tech chief Xenophobic local official Competition-averse offworlder far trader Local religious leader who despises infidels Crime boss who enjoys looting offworlders

Local innocent seeking offworld adventure Native needing to get offworld fast New hire with stubborn integrity Local law enforcement looking for evidence Stranded far trader seeking help Tourist in trouble with the locals Missionary trying to enlighten the natives Offworlder engineer disappointed in local culture

The locals have recently come to hate offworlders The Starport locks down just after the PCs arrive Most locals won't publicly interact with the PCs The repairs made here are extremely failure-prone All dangerous or hard work is done by slave labor The PCs are mistaken for a crime boss' partners Nothing gets done without extortionate bribes Offworld credits aren't legal tender here at the moment

Crates full of smuggled goods Proof of Starport corruption Treasure confiscated from a dead offworlder Codes to safely unlock a confiscated ship Cache of incredibly illegal goods Forbidden starship weapon or fitting Info on secret stashes made by a dead far trader Ship with ultra-concealed pretech smuggler hold

Reeking Starport bar Shabby brothel for the spacers Tense customs office Isolated ship maintenance bay Heavily-guarded Starport gate Warehouse full of bonded cargo Cramped utility corridors around Starport machines Discreet military monitoring bunker

112

Prison Colony

This adventure site is a prison colony, a settlement surrounded by so much wilderness or bubbled in such a hostile planetary environment that the terrain itself is more effective than any wall. Aside from the physical isolation of the site, it is also cut off from the conventional protections of law and civilization; the inhabitants are convicts, exiles, and outcasts, people due no more legal consideration than their jailors see fit to give them. Bad things happen in a prison colony, and the PCs are going to get an up-close view of these events.

Sadistic prison warden Scientist conducting vile experiments Psychotic prison gang boss Obsessed vigilante seeking revenge on prisoners Monstrous criminal with inhuman genius Coldly self-interested politician Secret feral psychic prisoner with inhuman powers Callous government official signing mass death warrants

Unjustly imprisoned innocent Reforming local official Redemption-seeking lifer Relative of a prisoner Political prisoner of an unjust polity Amoral convict who sees profit in helping the PCs Relative or old friend stuck in the prison Investigative reporter

The convict population is almost entirely loathsome Dangerous aliens are among the population The prison is the safest place in society for some here The prisoners are kept here by non-physical inducements prisoners The prisoners are needed for vital work here The prisoners include children born here "Thought correction" tech is used to "help" prisoners

A pardon concealed by staff from its subject Cache of convict-made weapons Proof of the warden's malfeasance Tech that allows escape from the prison Bomb big enough to ruin the prison Vast stash of illicit drugs Object containing a concealed stasis-drugged prisoner Written list of snitches or secret political revolutionaries

Convict-farmed crop fields Dangerous convict-labor workshop Grim solitary confinement block Lethal wilderness that surrounds the colony Hidden tunnels dug by convicts Heavily-guarded staff complex Infrastructure tunnels around dangerous power plants Informal arena for prisoner fights

113

Savage Jungle

The merciless alien jungle is a well-loved trope that's been applied to everything from Venus to the interior spaces of long-forgotten generation ships. Jungles offer the environmental peril of bogs, poisonous plants, beast-infested undergrowth, rivers full of carnivorous fish, and extremely unsociable natives combined with the exploration prospects of forgotten cities and the remains of unfortunate explorers.

Jungle-mad hermit Ruthless industrial exploiter Savage tribal chieftain Violent fugitive from justice Monstrous alien creature Murderous isolationist sect chief Jungle bandit leader Corrupt government official

Friendly jungle tribal Grizzled wilderness guide Foolhardy tourist thrill seeker Hard-bitten scientific researcher Weathered jungle colonist Determined government surveyor Over-optimistic land developer Gone-native anthropologist

The jungle is of inorganic but growing substance The jungle covers a formerly-urban area The natives have extremely high-tech resources The jungle is holy to a violent sect Humans can't survive the jungle atmosphere for too long Multiple groups are fighting for control of the jungle High-tech weapons are dangerous to use in the jungle The jungle is semi-sentient and malevolent

Cure for a jungle poison or plague Tech to survive a jungle peril Deed to valuable jungle land Priceless relic lost by a victim of the jungle Treasure of the native inhabitants Map to a hidden treasure cache Key to unlock an ancient pretech jungle vault Evidence of government malfeasance

Quicksand-infested riverside River full of lethal creatures Primitive jungle settlement Ruins of a failed colony Scarred industrial extraction zone Paranoid colonist outpost Hidden bandit encampment Sinister shrine to a forbidden deity

114

Tomb City

Nobody lives here any more… at least, nobody that matters. Something killed this city, whether it was hostile action, a collapse of supply lines during the Scream, internal warfare, or sheer cosmic misfortune. Enough of the ruin remains to still be explored, and there may yet be a few maddened survivors in the wreckage, but this city is dead as a real home of civilization.

Grief-stricken defensive AI Leader of the degenerate city survivors Piratical boss of a looter crew Foreign military mission officer Amoral research scientist Half-mad paranoid hermit-exile "Zombie" expert system defense bot Transhuman abomination made from a survivor

Friendly survivor youth Avid treasure-hunter Cooperative remnant AI Recolonization effort leader Carelessly curious scholar Non-sentient expert-system guide Last survivor of the most recent looter group Extremely foolish artist seeking inspiration

The city has been recolonized by dangerous things The city's defense grid is capriciously functional Some group maintains the city as a taboo zone The city is full of a lethal toxin or radiation The city's plunder is somehow dangerous to use Some power waits to rob those who come out Broken medical nanites animate corpses to attack others Travel through the city streets is extremely dangerous

Record of what exactly happened Semi-mythical treasure said to be here Cache of well-preserved ancient tech Key to shut down anti-ship defenses Fix for the thing that killed the city Remains of an important victim here Pretech disaster-rescue nanites that can heal amazingly Code to open a survival bunker for the elite

Empty plaza littered with relics of the dead Hab complex bearing signs of the end Incompletely-finished mass grave Transit hub choked with dead refugees Ruined governmental building Overrun supply depot Automated factory creating and destroying endlessly Starport with ships wrecked by dead rioters

115

Vicious Slum

Whether it's a towering tenement-arcology packed with writhing human life or a wide and wretched favela on some backwater planet, a vicious slum is a staple of sci-fi urban adventures. The vast crush of people and the general disinterest of law enforcement combine to create a very suitable environment for desperate adventure

Corrupt police chief "Social activist" gang leader Amoral mob boss Religious or ethnic demagogue Oligarchic boss who effectively owns serfs Monstrous brute who commits atrocities for fun Celebrity-crazed criminal seeking fame Malevolent slumlord with thug minions

Charmingly ebullient waif Local desperately determined to get out Reformed gang member Naively idealistic social worker World-weary police officer Uncorrupted local leader Prostitute with a heart of German silver Crusading reporter

The locals are unjustly oppressed but unsympathetic Local leadership has completely sold out their people The slum's misery is under subjective legal justification While miserable, the slum is somehow critical to the city Locals can't leave the slum without papers The slum somehow causes sinister changes in its inmates Oligarchs go on sordid rampages through the slum Slum structures tend to collapse without notice

Hidden cache of criminal spoils Proof of official malfeasance Stash of extremely illegal goods Relic of prime importance to the locals Money intended for local improvements Armory of guns for an uprising List of secret government collaborators Bomb big enough to blow up the slum

Riotous street market Desolate industrial shell Atrociously polluted riverbank Hive-like hab complex Gaudy gang headquarters Time-worn religious structure Secret sewer hideout Burnt-out zone of recent law enforcement response

116

War Zone

War is Hell, and the PCs have somehow gotten involved in one. They may be mercenaries for one of the sides, free agents hired to deal with a problem in a hot zone, or simply unlucky bystanders who were in the wrong place when diplomatic negotiations broke down. The PCs need to accomplish some task while bombs are going off around them, and it's up to you to give them an interesting battlefield to navigate.

Cold-blooded special ops leader Deserter bandit chief Bloodthirsty partisan organizer Native looter boss Indifferent infantry commander Local crime boss making good Agent of a hostile outside power Ruthless war profiteer

Frightened war orphan Idealistic young trooper Agent of a cooperative power Well-meaning military officer Stubborn local cleric Cynically cooperative survivor Aid agency physician Hard-bitten war reporter

The armies are treating all civilians as partisans The whole battlefield will be nuked shortly The civilians want to fight a hopeless battle Partisans are convinced the PCs are enemies A basic fact the PCs have is actually totally wrong Artillery strikes hit randomly with only brief warnings The battle fronts aren't where they're said to be A particular critical supply is totally unavailable

Important fake military credentials Large cache of military weaponry Recon info about an army Vital plans stolen by a spy Supplies needed by desperate locals Proof of a gruesome atrocity Secret military prototype weapon Loot seized by an unscrupulous officer

Bombed-out apartment hab Shell-cratered no man's land Half-depleted minefield Ruined bunker strongpoint Urban avenue covered by snipers Wilderness partisan base Blasted military forward base Plain littered with burning vehicles

1

The government is cracking down on the conflict

There’s a very sharp time limit for any resolution

2

One side seems invincibly stronger to the other

The sympathetic side is actually a bunch of bastards

3

Both sides have “doomsday” info or devices

There’s an easy but very repugnant solution to hand

4

A prior conflict ended horribly for both of them

PC success means a big benefit to a hostile group

5

Foreign participants are keeping things tamped

The real bone of contention is hidden from most

6

Elements of both sides seek accommodation

A sympathetic figure’s on an unsympathetic side

7

The conflict is only viable in a narrow location

There’s a profitable chance for PCs to turn traitor

8

Catastrophic cost of losing a direct showdown

The “winner” will actually get in terrible trouble

9

Each thinks they’ll win without further exertion

There’s a very appealing third party in the mix

10

They expect a better opening to appear soon

The PCs could really profit off the focus of the strife

11

Former ties of friendship or family restrain them

The PCs are mistaken for an involved group

12

Religious principles are constraining them

Somebody plans on screwing over the PCs

13

One side’s still licking their wounds after a failure

Both sides think the PCs are working for them

14

They’re building up force to make sure they win

A side wants to use the PCs as a distraction for foes

15

Their cultural context makes open struggle hard

The PCs’ main contact is mistrusted by their allies

16

They expect an outside power to hand them a win

If the other side can’t get it, they’ll destroy it

17

They’re still searching for a way to get at their goal

The focus isn’t nearly as valuable as both sides think

18

One side mistakenly thinks they’ve already won

The focus somehow has its own will and goals

19

A side is busy integrating a recent success

Victory will drastically change one of the sides

20

An outside power threatens both sides

Actually, there is no twist. It’s all exactly as it seems.

1

An Enemy seeks to rob a Friend of some precious Thing that he has desired for some time.

2

A Thing has been discovered on property owned by a Friend, but a Complication risks its destruction.

3

A Complication suddenly hits the party while they’re out doing some innocuous activity.

4

The players unwittingly offend or injure an Enemy, incurring his or her wrath. A Friend offers help in escaping the consequences.

5

Rumor speaks of the discovery of a precious Thing in a distant Place. The players must get to it before an Enemy does.

6

An Enemy has connections with offworld pirates or slavers, and a Friend has been captured by them.

7

A Place has been seized by violent revolutionaries or rebels, and a Friend is being held hostage by them.

8

A Friend is in love with someone forbidden by social convention, and the two of them need help eloping.

9

An Enemy wields tyrannical power over a Friend, relying on the bribery of corrupt local officials to escape consequences.

10

A Friend has been lost in hostile wilderness, and the party must reach a Place to rescue them in the teeth of a dangerous Complication.

11

An Enemy has committed a grave offense against a PC or their family sometime in the past. A Friend shows the party a weakness in the Enemy’s defenses.

12

The party is suddenly caught in a conflict between two warring families or political parties.

13

The party is framed for a crime by an Enemy, and must reach the sanctuary of a Place before they can regroup and find the Thing that will prove their innocence and their Enemy’s perfidy.

14

A Friend is threatened by a tragedy of sickness, legal calamity, or public humiliation, and the only one that seems able to save them is an Enemy.

15

A natural disaster or similar Complication strikes a Place while the party is present, causing great loss of life and property unless the party is able to immediately respond to the injured and trapped.

16

A Friend with a young business has struck a cache of pretech, valuable minerals, or precious salvage. He needs the party to help him reach the Place where the valuables are.

17

An oppressed segment of society starts a sudden revolt in the Place the party is occupying. An Enemy simply lumps the party in with the rebels and tries to put the revolt down with force. A Friend offers them a way to either help the rebels or clear their names.

18

A vulnerable Friend has been targeted for abduction, and has need of guards. A sudden Complication makes guarding them from the Enemy seeking their kidnapping much more difficult. If the Friend is snatched, they must rescue them from a Place.

19

A mysterious Place offers the promise of some precious Thing, but access is very dangerous due to wildlife, hostile locals, or a dangerous environment.

20

An Enemy and a Friend both have legal claim on a Thing, and seek to undermine each other’s case. The Enemy is willing to do murder if he thinks he can get away with it.

21

An Enemy seeks the death of his brother, a Friend, by arranging the failure of his grav flyer or shuttlecraft in dangerous terrain while the party is coincidentally aboard. The party must survive the environment and bring proof of the crime out with them.

22

A Friend seeks to slip word to a lover, one who is also being courted by the Friend’s brother, who is an Enemy. A Complication threatens to cause death or disgrace to the lover unless they either accept the Enemy’s suit or are helped by the party.

23

An Enemy is convinced that one of the party has committed adultery with their flirtatious spouse. He means to lure them to a Place, trap them, and have them killed by the dangers there.

24

An Enemy has been driven insane by exotic recreational drugs or excessive psionic torching. He fixes on a PC as being his mortal nemesis, and plots elaborate deaths, attempting to conceal his involvement amid Complications.

25

A Friend has stolen a precious Thing from an Enemy and fled into a dangerous, inaccessible Place. The party must rescue them, and decide what to do with the Thing and the outraged Enemy.

26

An Enemy has realized that their brother or sister has engaged in a socially unacceptable affair with a Friend, and means to kill both of them unless stopped by the party.

27

A Friend has accidentally caused the death of a family member, and wants the party to help him hide the body or fake an accidental death before his family realizes what has happened. A Complication suddenly makes the task more difficult.

28

A Friend is a follower of a zealous ideologue who plans to make a violent demonstration of the righteousness of his cause, causing a social Complication. The Friend will surely be killed in the aftermath if not rescued or protected by the party.

29

A Friend’s sibling is to be placed in a dangerous situation they’ve got no chance of surviving. The Friend takes their place at the last moment, and will almost certainly die unless the party aids them.

30

Suicide bombers detonate an explosive, chemical, or biological weapon in a Place occupied by the party where a precious Thing is stored The PCs must escape before the Place collapses on top of them, navigating throngs of terrified people in the process and saving the Thing if possible.

31

An Enemy who controls landing permits, oxygen rations, or some other important resource has a prejudice against one or more of the party members. He demands that they bring him a Thing from a dangerous Place before he’ll give them the goods.

32

A Friend in a loveless marriage to an Enemy seeks escape to be with their beloved, and contacts the party to snatch them from their spouse’s guards at a prearranged Place.

33

A Friend seeks to elope with their lover, and contacts the party to help them meet their paramour at a remote, dangerous Place. On arrival, they find that the lover is secretly an Enemy desirous of their removal and merely lured them to the place to meet their doom.

34

The party receives or finds a Thing which proves the crimes of an Enemy- yet a Friend was complicit in the crimes, and will be punished as well if the authorities are involved. And the Enemy will stop at nothing to get the item back.

35

A Friend needs to get to a Place on time in order to complete a business contract, but an Enemy means to delay and hinder them until it’s too late, inducing Complications to the trip.

36

A locked pretech stasis pod has been discovered by a Friend, along with directions to the hidden keycode that will open it. The Place where the keycode is hidden is now owned by an Enemy.

37

A fierce schism has broken out in the local majority religion, and an Enemy is making a play to take control of the local hierarchy. A Friend is on the side that will lose badly if the Enemy succeeds, and needs a Thing to prove the other group’s error.

38

A former Enemy has been given reason to repent his treatment of a Friend, and secretly commissions them to help the Friend overcome a Complication. A different Enemy discovers the connection, and tries to paint the PCs as double agents.

39

An alien or a human with extremely peculiar spiritual beliefs seeks to visit a Place for their own reasons. An Enemy of their own kind attempts to stop them before they can reach the Place, and reveal the Thing that was hidden there long ago.

40

A Friend’s sibling is an untrained psychic, and has been secretly using his or her powers to protect the Friend from an Enemy. The neural damage has finally overwhelmed their sanity, and they’ve now kidnapped the Friend to keep them safe. The Enemy is taking this opportunity to make sure the Friend “dies at the hands of their maddened sibling”.

41

A Friend who is a skilled precognitive has just received a flash of an impending atrocity to be committed by an Enemy. He or she needs the party to help them steal the Thing that will prove the Enemy’s plans while dodging the assassins sent to eliminate the precog.

42

A Friend who is an exotic dancer is sought by an Enemy who won’t take no for an answer. The dancer is secretly a Perimeter agent attempting to infiltrate a Place to destroy maltech research, and plots to use the party to help get him or her into the facility under the pretext of striking at the Enemy.

43

A young woman on an interplanetary tour needs the hire of local bodyguards. She turns out to be a trained and powerful combat psychic, but touchingly naive about local dangers, causing a social Complication that threatens to get the whole group arrested.

44

A librarian Friend has discovered an antique databank with the coordinates of a long-lost pretech cache hidden in a Place sacred to a long-vanished religion. The librarian is totally unsuited for danger, but necessary to decipher the obscure religious iconography needed to unlock the cache. The cache is not the anticipated Thing, but something more dangerous to the finder.

45

A fragment of orbital debris clips a shuttle on the way in, and the spaceport is seriously damaged in the crash. The player’s ship or the only vessel capable of getting them off-planet will be destroyed unless the players can organize a response to the dangerous chemical fires and radioactives contaminating the port. A Friend is trapped somewhere in the control tower wreckage.

46

A Friend is allied with a reformist religious group that seeks to break the grip of the current, oppressive hierarchy. The current hierarchs have a great deal of political support with the authorities, but the commoners resent them bitterly. The Friend seeks to secure a remote Place as a meeting-place for the theological rebels.

47

A microscopic black hole punctures an orbital station or starship above the world. Its interaction with the station’s artificial grav generators has thrown everything out of whack, and the station’s become a minefield of dangerously high or zero grav zones. It’s tearing itself apart, and it’s going to collapse soon. An Enemy seeks to escape aboard the last lifeboat and to Hell with everyone else. Meanwhile, a Friend is trying to save his engineer daughter from the radioactive, grav-unstable engine rooms.

48

The planet has a sealed alien ruin, and an Enemy-led cult who worships the vanished builders. They’re convinced that they have the secret to opening and controlling the power inside the ruins, but they’re only half-right. A Friend has found evidence that shows that they’ll only devastate the planet if they meddle with the alien power planet. The party has to get inside the ruins and shut down the engines before it’s too late. Little do they realize that a few aliens survive inside, in a stasis field that will be broken by the ruin’s opening.

49

An Enemy and the group are suddenly trapped in a Place during an accident or Complication. They must work together to escape in time.

50

A telepathic Friend has discovered that an Enemy was responsible for a recent atrocity. Telepathic evidence is useless on this world, however, and if she’s discovered to have scanned his mind she’ll be lobotomized as a ’rogue psychic’. A Thing might be enough to prove his guilt, if the party can figure out how to get to it without revealing their Friend’s meddling.

51

A Friend is responsible for safeguarding a Thingyet the Thing is suddenly proven to be a fake. The party must find the real object and the Enemy who stole it or else their Friend will be punished as the thief.

52

A Friend is bitten by a poisonous local animal while in a remote Place. The only antidote is back at civilization, yet a Complication threatens to delay the group until it is too late.

53

A lethal plague has started among the residents of the town, but a Complication is keeping aid from reaching them. An Enemy is taking advantage of the panic to hawk a fake cure at ruinous prices, and a Friend is taken in by him. The Complication must be overcome before help can reach the town.

54

A radical political party has started to institute pogroms against “groups hostile to the people”. A Friend is among those groups, and needs to get out of town before an Enemy uses the riot as cover to settle old scores.

55

An Enemy has sold the party an expensive but worthlessly flawed piece of equipment before lighting out for the back country. He and his plunder are holed up at a remote Place.

56

A concert of offworld music is being held in town, and a Friend is slated to be the star performer. Reactionary elements led by an Enemy plot to ruin the “corrupting noise” with sabotage that risks getting performers killed. Meanwhile, a crowd of ignorant offworlder fans have landed and are infuriating the locals.

57

An Enemy is wanted on a neighboring world for some heinous act, and a Friend turns up as a bounty hunter ready to bring him in alive. This world refuses to extradite him, so the capture and retrieval has to evade local law enforcement.

58

An unanticipated solar storm blocks communications and grounds the poorly-shielded grav vehicle that brought the group to this remote Place. Then people start turning up dead; the storm has awoken a dangerous Enemy beast.

59

A Friend has discovered a partially-complete schematic for an ancient pretech refinery unit that produces vast amounts of something precious on this world- water, oxygen, edible compounds, or the like. Several remote Places on the planet are indicated as having the necessary pretech spare parts required to build the device. When finally assembled, embedded self-modification software in the Thing modifies itself into a pretech combat bot. The salvage from it remains very valuable.

60

A Complication ensnares the party where they are in an annoying but seemingly ordinary event. In actuality, an Enemy is using it as cover to strike at a Friend or Thing that happens to be where the PCs are.

61

A Friend has a cranky, temperamental artificial heart installed, and the doctor who put it in is the only one who really understands how it works. The heart has recently started to stutter, but the doctor has vanished. An Enemy has snatched him to fit his elite assassins with very unsafe combat mods.

62

A local clinic is doing wonders in providing free health care to the poor. In truth, it’s a front for an offworld eugenics cult, with useful “specimens” kidnapped and shipped offworld while ’cremated remains’ are given to the family. A Friend is snatched by them, but the party knows they’d have never consented to cremation as the clinic staff claim.

63

Space pirates have cut a deal with an isolated backwoods settlement, off loading their plunder to merchants who meet them there. A Friend goes home to family after a long absence, but is kidnapped or killed before they can bring back word of the dealings. Meanwhile, the party is entrusted with a valuable Thing that must be brought to the Friend quickly.

64

A reclusive psychiatrist is offering treatment for violent mentally ill patients at a remote Place. His treatments seem to work, calming the subjects and returning them to rationality, though major memory loss is involved and some severe social clumsiness ensues. In actuality, he’s removed large portions of their brains to fit them with remote-control units slaved to an AI in his laboratory. He intends to use them as drones to acquire more “subjects”, and eventual control of the town.

65

Vital medical supplies against an impending plague have been shipped in from offworld, but the spike drive craft that was due to deliver them misjumped, and has arrived in-system as a lifeless wreck transmitting a blind distress signal. Whoever gets there first can hold the whole planet hostage, and an Enemy means to do just that.

66

A Friend has spent a substantial portion of their wealth on an ultra-modern new domicile, and invites the party to enjoy a weekend there. An Enemy has hacked the house’s computer system to trap the inhabitants inside and use the automated fittings to kill them.

67

A mud slide, hurricane, earthquake, or other form of disaster strikes a remote settlement. The party is the closest group of responders, and must rescue the locals while dealing with the unearthed, malfunctioning pretech Thing that threatens to cause an even greater calamity if not safely defused.

68

A Friend has found a lost pretech installation, and needs help to loot it. By planetary law, the contents belong to the government.

69

An Enemy mistakes the party for the kind of offworlders who will murder innocents for pay- assuming they aren’t that kind, at least. He’s sloppy with the contact and unwittingly identifies himself, letting the players know that a Friend will shortly die unless the Enemy is stopped.

70

A party member is identified as a prophesied savior for an oppressed faith or ethnicity. The believers obstinately refuse to believe any protestations to the contrary, and a cynical Enemy in government decides the PC must die simply to prevent the risk of uprising. An equally cynical Friend is determined to push the PC forward as a savior, because that’s what’s needed.

71

Alien beasts escape from a zoo and run wild through the spectators. The panicked owner offers large rewards for recapturing them live, but some of the beasts are quite dangerous.

72

A trained psychic is accused of going feral by an Enemy. The psychic had already suffered severe neural damage before being found for training, so brain scans cannot establish physical signs of madness. The psychic seems unstable, but not violent- at least, on short acquaintance. The psychic offers a psychic PC the secrets of a unique psychic technique if they help him flee.

73

A Thing is the token of rulership on this world, and it’s gone missing. If it’s not found rapidly, the existing ruler will be deposed. Evidence left at a Place suggests that an Enemy has it, but extralegal means are necessary to investigate fully.

74

Psychics are vanishing, including a Friend. They’re being kidnapped by an ostensibly-rogue government researcher who is using them to research the lost psychic disciplines that helped enable pretech manufacturing, and they are being held at a remote Place. The snatcher is a small-time local Enemy with unnaturally ample resources.

75

A Friend desperately seeks to hide evidence of some past crime that will ruin his life should it come to light. An Enemy holds the Thing that proves his involvement, and blackmails him ruthlessly.

76

A courier mistakes the party for the wrong set of offworlders, and wordlessly deposits a Thing with them that implies something awful- med-frozen, child-sized human organs, for example, or a private catalog of gengineered human slaves. The courier’s boss shortly realizes the error, and this Enemy tries to silence the PCs while preserving the Place where his evil is enacted.

77

A slowboat system freighter is taken over by Enemy separatist terrorists at the same time as the planet’s space defenses are taken offline by internal terrorist attacks. The freighter is aimed straight at the starport, and will crash into it in hours if not stopped.

78

Alien artifacts on the planet’s surface start beaming signals into the system’s asteroid belt. The signals provoke a social Complication in panicked response, and an Enemy seeks to use the confusion to take over. The actual effect of the signals might be harmless, or might summon a long-lost alien AI warship to scourge life from the world.

79

An alien ambassador Friend is targeted by xenophobe Enemy assassins. Relations are so fragile that if the ambassador even realizes that humans are making a serious effort to kill him, the result may be war.

80

A new religion is being preached by a Friend on this planet. Existing faiths are not amused, and an Enemy among the hierarchy is provoking the people to persecute the new believers, hoping for things to get out of hand.

81

An Enemy was once the patron of a Friend until the latter was betrayed. Now the Friend wants revenge, and they think they have the information necessary to get past the Enemy’s defenses.

82

Vital life support or medical equipment has been sabotaged by offworlders or zealots, and must be repaired before time runs out. The only possible source of parts is at a Place, and the saboteurs can be expected to be working hard to get there and destroy them, too.

83

A Friend is importing offworld tech that threatens to completely replace the offerings of an Enemy businessman. The Enemy seeks to sabotage the friend’s stock, and thus ’prove’ its inferiority.

84

An Exchange diplomat is negotiating for the opening of a branch of the interstellar bank on this world. An Enemy among the local banks wants to show the world as being ungovernably unstable, so provokes Complications and riots around the diplomat.

85

An Enemy is infuriated by the uppity presumption of an ambitious Friend of a lower social caste, and tries to pin a local Complication on the results of his unnatural rejection of his proper place.

86

A Friend is working for an offworld corporation to open a manufactory, and is ignoring local traditions that privilege certain social or ethnic groups, giving jobs to the most qualified workers instead. An angry Enemy seeks to sabotage the factory.

87

An offworld musician who was revered as little less than a god on his homeworld requires bodyguards. He immediately acquires Enemies on this world with his riotous ways, and his guards must keep him from getting arrested if they are to be paid.

88

Atmospheric disturbances, dust storms, or other particulate clouds suddenly blow into town, leaving the settlement blind. An Enemy commits a murder during the darkness, and attempts to frame the players as convenient scapegoats.

89

An Enemy spikes the oxygen supply of an orbital station or unbreathable-atmosphere hab dome with hallucinogens as cover for a theft. Most victims are merely confused and disoriented, but some become violent in their delusions. By chance, the party’s air supply was not contaminated.

90

By coincidence, one of the party members is wearing clothing indicative of membership in a violent political group, and thus the party is treated in friendly fashion by a local Enemy for no obvious reason. The Enemy assumes that the party will go along with some vicious crime without complaint, and the group isn’t informed of what’s in the offing until they’re in deep.

91

A local ruler wishes outworlders to advise him of the quality of his execrable poetry- and is the sort to react very poorly to anything less that evidently sincere and fulsome praise. Failure to amuse the ruler results in the party being dumped in a dangerous Place to “experience truly poetic solitude”.

92

A Friend among the locals is unreasonably convinced that offworlder tech can repair anything, and has blithely promised a powerful local Enemy that the party can easily fix a damaged pretech Thing. The Enemy has invested in many expensive spare parts, but the truly necessary pieces are kept in a still-dangerous pretech installation in a remote Place.

93

The party’s offworld comm gear picks up a chance transmission from the local government and automatically descrambles the primitive encryption key. The document is proof that an Enemy in government intends to commit an atrocity against a local village with a group of “deniable” renegades in order to steal a Thing kept in the village.

94

A Friend belongs to a persecuted faith, ethnicity, or social class, and appeals for the PCs to help a cell of rebels get offworld before the Enemy law enforcement finds them.

95

A part on the party’s ship or the only other transport out has failed, and needs immediate replacement. The only available part is held by an Enemy, who will only willingly relinquish it in exchange for a Thing held by an innocent Friend who will refuse to sell at any price.

96

Eugenics cultists are making gengineered slaves out of genetic material gathered at a local brothel. Some of the unnaturally tempting slaves are being slipped among the prostitutes as bait to infatuate powerful officials, while others are being sold under the table to less scrupulous elites.

97

Evidence has been unearthed at a Place that substantial portions of the planet are actually owned by members of an oppressed and persecuted group. The local courts have no intention of recognizing the rights, but the codes with the ownership evidence would allow someone to bypass a number of antique pretech defenses around the planetary governor’s palace. A Friend wants the codes to pass to his friends among the group’s rebels.

98

A crop smut threatens the planet’s agriculture, promising large-scale famine. A Friend finds evidence that a secret government research station in the system’s asteroid belt was conducting experiments in disease-resistant crop strains for the planet before the Silence struck and cut off communication with the station. The existing government considers it a wild goose chase, but the party might choose to help. The station has stasis-frozen samples of the crop sufficient to avert the famine, but it also has less pleasant relics….

99

A grasping Enemy in local government seizes the party’s ship for some trifling offense. The Enemy wants to end offworld trade, and is trying to scare other traders away. The starship is held within a military cordon, and the Enemy is confident that by the time other elements of the government countermand the order, the free traders will have been spooked off.

100

A seemingly useless trinket purchased by a PC turns out to be the security key to a lost pretech facility. It was sold by accident by a bungling and now-dead minion of a local Enemy, who is hot after the party to “reclaim” his property… preferably after the party defeats whatever automatic defenses and bots the facility might still support.

1

Money

Money is owed to a ruthless creditor

Organized crime wants it

2

Money

Money was stolen from someone

Corrupt officials want it

3

Money

A sudden profit opportunity arises

A sympathetic NPC needs it

4

Money

There’s a hidden stash of wealth

The PCs are owed it

5

Money

Money is offered from an evil source

It will disappear very soon

6

Revenge

Someone was murdered

It was wholly justified

7

Revenge

Someone was stripped of rank

The wrong person is targeted

8

Revenge

Someone lost all their wealth

The reaction is excessive

9

Revenge

Someone lost someone’s love

The PCs are somehow blamed

10

Revenge

Someone was framed for a crime

Both sides were wronged

11

Power

An influential political leader

They’ve betrayed their own

12

Power

A stern community elder

Someone’s gunning for them

13

Power

A ruling patriarch of a large family

They made a terrible choice

14

Power

A star expert in a particular industry

They usurped their position

15

Power

A criminal boss or outcast leader

They’re oppressing their own

16

Natural Danger

A cyclical planetary phenomenon

Anti-helpful bureaucrats

17

Natural Danger

A sudden natural disaster

Religious zealots panic

18

Natural Danger

Sudden loss of vital infrastructure

Bandits and looters strike

19

Natural Danger

Catastrophe from outside meddling

The government hushes it up

20

Natural Danger

Formerly-unknown planetary peril

There’s money in exploiting it

21

Religion

Sects that hate each other bitterly

Charismatic new leader

22

Religion

Zealot reformers forcing new things

Mandatory state religion

23

Religion

Radical traditionalists fighting back

Heavy foreign influence

24

Religion

Ethnic religious divisions

Religious purging underway

25

Religion

Corrupt and decadent institutions

Fighting for holy ground

26

 Ideology

A universally-despised fringe group

Terrorist attack

27

 Ideology

Terrorists with widespread support

Street rioting

28

 Ideology

A political party’s goon squads

Police state crackdown

29

 Ideology

Dead-end former regime supporters

Forced expulsions

30

 Ideology

Ruthless ascendant political group

Territory under hostile rule

31

Ethnicity

A traditionally subordinate group

Forced immigration

32

Ethnicity

An ethnic group from offworld

Official ethnic ghettos

33

Ethnicity

A dominant caste or ethnicity

Rigid separation of groups

34

Ethnicity

An alien or transhuman group

Group statuses have changed

35

Ethnicity

 Two groups that hate each other

Rising ethnic violence

36

Resources

There’s a cache of illegal materials

Someone thinks they own it

37

Resources

A hidden strike of rare resources

The state is looking for it

38

Resources

Cargo has been abandoned as lost

It has its own protectors

39

Resources

Land ownership is disputed

Rights to it were stolen

40

Resources

A resource is desperately necessary

Offworlders want it badly

2

Cold worldsCold, dominated by glaciers and tundra

Some varieties of slime mold have managed to evolve forming a mucous-like outer shell against the atmosphere and then feeding and growing off the chemical byproducts of its erosion

Outpost

TL1, medieval technology

Inert gas, useless for respiration

3

Variable cold with temperate places

For one reason or another, life simply never evolved on these worlds, leaving them a blank slate for the agricultural

Fewer than a million inhabitants

TL4, modern postech

Airless or thin to the point of suffocation

4

Variable cold with temperate places

For one reason or another, life simply never evolved on these worlds, leaving them a blank slate for the agricultural

Fewer than a million inhabitants

TL2, early Industrial Age tech

Airless or thin to the point of suffocation

5

Temperate, Earthlike in its ranges

Substantial portion of the native life is biologically compatible with human nutritional needs.

Several million inhabitants

TL4+, postech with specialties

Breathable mix

6

Temperate, Earthlike in its ranges

Substantial portion of the native life is biologically compatible with human nutritional needs.

Several million inhabitants

TL4, modern postech

Breathable mix

7

Temperate, Earthlike in its ranges

Substantial portion of the native life is biologically compatible with human nutritional needs.

Several million inhabitants

TL4, modern postech

Breathable mix

8

Variable warm, with temperate places

Immiscible biospheres are not friendly to humans. None of the local plants or animals are edible

Hundreds of millions of inhabitants

TL4, modern postech

Thick, but breathable with a pressure mask

9

Variable warm, with temperate places

Immiscible biospheres are not friendly to humans. None of the local plants or animals are edible

Hundreds of millions of inhabitants

TL3, tech like that of present-day Earth

Thick, but breathable with a pressure mask

10

Warm, tropical and hotter in places

Substantial portion of the native life is biologically compatible with human nutritional needs.

Billions of inhabitants

TL3, tech like that of present-day Earth

Invasive, penetrating suit seals

11

Warm, tropical and hotter in places

Engineered biospheres

Alien inhabitants

TL4+, postech with specialties

Both corrosive and invasive in its effects

12

Burning, intolerably hot on its surface

Substantial portion of the native life is biologically compatible with human nutritional needs.

Outpost

TL5, pretech with surviving infrastructure

Thick, but breathable with a pressure mask

1

Ocheran

2

UUUUUUU1

3

Control Inc

4

Arular

5

Prov #123

6

Julius Secundus

7

Franzappa

8

Galbenora

9

Glaive

10

Nekrós

11

317-242

12

Verticex

13

There

14

Pornia

15

Xlugfhu

16

Traveller

17

Morangor

18

Eden 43

19

Factory B-2

20

O

21

Christmas

22

Reficul

23

No Home

24

Vector Curve

25

Youradhere

26

DV8

27

Ladora's Tail

28

Nomrid

29

Last Rule

30

Facade

31

Zhùzhái

32

Carnalia

33

Outpost Thirty Six to D

34

Koyakatsi

35

Galfondur

36

Yorba

37

X

38

Forbidden-E

39

Delta Foxtrot Tango 8

40

Olympus

41

Mirage

42

Onix Orb

43

Randy's Egg

44

Talibront

45

Kritiktik

46

Gramothea

47

Treel

48

Zulu Minor Eta

49

Techthon

50

Crenal

51

Vaterlu

52

Antietam

53

Colihen

54

Galash

55

Sotalia

56

Naxssy

57

Terminus

58

Rottar

59

Lech

60

Aë

61

Echodrenal

62

Bubaworld

63

Girahelix

64

Marchalla

65

Tumbla

66

Fialak

67

Doema

68

Ragth

69

Joji

70

Topek

71

Purtil

72

Omnia

73

Tinazz

74

Portia

75

Yabarrar

76

Sigma Clony

77

Tadeganz

78

Rramok

79

Geyars

80

Abdormen

81

Dahrwm

82

Klagë

83

Nilemsk

84

Tenebre

85

Talion

86

Xonox

87

Rama

88

Kludekan

89

Mazord

90

Isis

91

Rivers

92

Tearland

93

Wankel

94

Miakedi

95

Dragon's Eye

96

Rockworld

97

Atlantis

98

Farout

99

Ssariga

100

Robis

101

Sofolk

102

Nova King

103

Navyn

104

Belugaland

105

Klandetu

106

Sanctum

107

Tila Terza

108

Tellusom

109

Kisarra

110

Dancala

111

Disado

112

Geidei Secundus

113

Xi

114

Tainka

115

Sulasu

116

Laxitel

117

Llach Wa Xi

118

Oko

119

Rresana

120

Shetha

121

Thenge

122

In Ha

123

Regalia

124

Solaria

125

Zotzcam

126

Exchil

127

Lurie

128

Tobany

129

Irate

130

Nerp

131

Red Flag

132

Beeytape

133

Jouse

134

Xinj

135

Plato

136

Light Ring

137

Here

138

Mote three

139

Newago

140

Covenia

141

Iglehill

142

Dayy An

143

Freeland

144

Taatsyfr

145

Mijee

146

Juknial

147

Souran

148

Tarpass

149

Kterina

150

Tinah

151

Regasm

152

Silverstone

153

Edghe

154

Gorbelza

155

Dyhros

156

Purmaji

157

Garmasia

158

Cepam

159

Virpata

160

Hobren

161

Superion

162

Aquafinita

163

Miwa Cove

164

Khum-Rayidh

165

Cauda draconis

166

Sha Ti

167

Sirassia

168

Kosbone

169

Pilaan

170

Ragi

171

Tronca

172

Volinda

173

Rak

174

Blusan

175

Gatorra

176

Gnadajil

177

Gonagor

178

Po He

179

Loenia D

180

Danpovra

181

Phant

182

Arcolor

183

Ruthenaï

184

Kshakar

185

Sulara

186

Gatora

187

Satie

188

Vladislava

189

Yilaia

190

Rada

191

Älkarina

192

Cirnal

193

Lemiraw

194

Lunal

195

Balum R

196

Naner

197

Aerial

198

Saidar

199

Introcamb

200

Bigga

201

Sywt

202

Donedur

203

Chaist

204

Dwalk

205

Máscara

206

Palnogarth

207

Smegpla

208

Biowolf

209

Grasin

210

Des Ha

211

Giles XIV

212

Soombar

213

Glabas

214

Cetynn

215

Gardover

216

Sickordd

217

Sordai

218

Renna

219

Rogg

220

Mrökav

221

Jileconia

222

Lnd'ho

223

Tisulania

224

Amazon.un

225

Hiilni

226

Aorthia

227

Ryppus

228

Riverae

229

Erg Nas

230

Shiangg

231

Shokastra

232

Tamita

233

Shotar

234

Rosso T

235

Luxferia

236

Lasattha

237

Famoratre

238

Eeeland

239

Antoonie-3

240

Gob

241

Boolg

242

Krog

243

Kom

244

Tragloop

245

Q-14

246

Razk

247

Roztran-9

248

Gozz

249

Kos

250

Groz

251

Mosbill

252

Breel

253

Ao

254

Gomo

255

Maxad

256

Dryad

257

Kroptyn

258

Maratan

259

Wogther

260

Astral

261

Oge

262

Kosmia

263

Kraler

264

Micronot

265

Robinas

266

Zihar

267

Gombo

268

Rapande

269

Forinia Fu 160

270

Piccoli Centauri

271

Ipsaloom 2

272

Mintbar

273

Rannaz'd'um

274

Pakrica

275

Klobo

276

Gouda Prime

277

Staree

278

Treemail

279

Zitus Alpha

280

Uoran

281

Horizonia

282

Trogobon

283

Irlaia

284

Dracorl

285

Frizaplana 78

286

Greisky

287

Nakassa

288

Kanem

289

Gevetta

290

Ixoglenn

291

Freyal

292

Rank

293

Mandois

294

Manos

295

Pladen

296

Rixocorafillipotorius

297

Skora

298

Vortex

299

Boob

300

Lachnarg

301

Brockdezee

302

Lindonium

303

Marinda

304

Showad

305

Sohnin

306

Etemal

307

Plude

308

Tanit

309

Dermia

310

Berillia

311

Sarri's

312

Bird

313

Gagi

314

Mound

315

Brizze

316

Clint

317

Darkia

318

Yvi

319

Gaga

320

Esmarelda

321

Trogh

322

Nebulansis

323

Planetee

324

Zpidah

325

Htrae

326

Rimmerol

327

Crematorium

328

Helioan

329

Ópera

330

Ritol

331

Aguada

332

Milius

333

Balor

334

Genesia

335

Monae

336

Connos

337

Romus

338

Ramola

339

Volcar

340

Nudixs

341

Randelaa

342

Pisben

343

Canturos

344

Bahgoda

345

Doner

346

Ohto

347

Makino

348

Kyshaak

349

Mustardfah

350

Nubaa

351

Onietat

352

Vinya 3

353

Zinde

354

Boi

355

Eathe

356

Gwirath

357

Amago

358

Zoman

359

Godya

360

Lerme

361

Vina

362

Girel

363

Slavh

364

Tras

365

Pinka

366

Dose N

367

Remesis

368

Razhad

369

Lopice

370

Belant

371

Taurin

372

Mahurd

373

Niobo

374

Nosig

375

Anne W

376

Lumeria

377

Rians

378

Totoh

379

Snom

380

Nuzitma

381

Millefa

382

Rimsesha

383

Vossta

384

Brechtsol

385

Kybaron

386

Yunk

387

Contessa

388

Unicrom

389

Lighterio

390

Nubal L-69

391

Ufort

392

Kangnia

393

Balt Na

394

Neckla

395

Golgota

396

Magna

397

Lava

398

Rab

399

Jerrme

400

Kaltar

401

Quadrant

402

Tax-moh

403

Mortalia

404

Alter

405

Salwa

406

Turiaxs

407

Chosa

408

Redema

409

Druidaa

410

Ducka

411

Flashtan

412

Nugru

413

Rink

414

Rujass

415

Kazebena

416

Mulen

417

Maitel

418

Marshmia

419

Selmac

420

Mor

421

Motalina

422

Banö

423

Kro

424

Pier Microno

425

Kulamer

426

Regal

427

Roliis

428

Rapaceball

429

Sinatra

430

Loth

431

Transula

432

Veguia

433

Vulula

434

Yagapotamia

435

Konraz

436

Zorgy

437

Ylore

438

Morwom

439

Ampirrah

440

Thalasud

441

Ruppert

442

Tigorva

443

Stridula

444

Oegom

445

Damp

446

Hodryss

447

Lussa

448

Tremor

449

Golidos

450

Didak

451

Crysta

452

Cordia

453

Vale

454

Sodia

455

Leesti

456

Quatrier

457

Crota

458

Tonjus

459

Deelas

460

Bitzwerg

461

Ravest

462

Nyxo

463

Rache

464

Lullaby

465

Octana

466

Tributa

467

Sanguinos

468

Casiom

469

Bolaha

470

Polama

471

Denesy

472

Drase

473

Rakha

474

Igaa

475

Suntin

476

Carnia

477

Cafta

478

Grage

479

Ethera

480

Broyy

481

Alyssea

482

Ronin O

483

Fazzia

484

Nollat VI

485

Ho Spapi

486

Ser 883

487

Bezes

488

Malpar

489

Vatima

490

Digoris

491

Rokry S

492

Cornea

493

Furtana

494

Fachina

495

Soraia

496

Bethma

497

Tatania

498

Vonem

499

Sennoz

500

Katania

501

Aldea

502

Helikope

503

Pexel

504

Forgett

505

Yatahi

506

Klosa

507

Mikolena

508

Nades

509

Karo

510

Xyts

511

Ranguav

512

Nidev

513

Fribula

514

Gnostia

515

Rokath

516

Vartiko

517

Homa

518

Birna

519

Nudal

520

Seder

521

Nuuol

522

Oole

523

Latille

524

Llav

525

Toly

526

Pob

527

Lup

528

Azoreh

529

Droenar

530

Gusar

531

Dronescarr

532

Kasani

533

Murdem

534

Telorah

535

Griaa

536

Ruia

537

Brixas

538

Rach

539

Khoral

540

Saramah

541

Romia

542

Foolsun

543

Kashura

544

Slany

545

Tarttona

546

Mojau

547

Rusze

548

Zoikab

549

Candescin

550

Tarra

551

Noarn

552

Paleshif

553

Matola

554

Spira

555

Grotossi

556

Rutha

557

Nonxe

558

Aïabok

559

Sorpa

560

Muoo

561

Uralia

562

Modea

1

Deep-space station

Dangerously odd transhumans

Systems breaking down

2

Deep-space station

Freeze-dried ancient corpses

Foreign sabotage attempt

3

Deep-space station

Secretive military observers

Black market for the elite

4

Deep-space station

Eccentric oligarch and minions

Vault for dangerous pretech

5

Deep-space station

Deranged but brilliant scientist

Supply base for pirates

6

Asteroid base

Zealous religious sectarians

Life support is threatened

7

Asteroid base

Failed rebels from another world

Base needs a new asteroid

8

Asteroid base

Pirates masquerading as otherwise

Hit a priceless vein of ore

9

Asteroid base

Wage-slave corporate miners

Dug out something nasty

10

Asteroid base

Independent asteroid prospectors

Fighting another asteroid

11

Remote moon base

Unlucky corporate researchers

Something dark has awoken

12

Remote moon base

Reclusive hermit genius

Criminals trying to take over

13

Remote moon base

Remnants of a failed colony

Moon plague breaking out

14

Remote moon base

Military listening post

Desperate for vital supplies

15

Remote moon base

Lonely overseers and robot miners

Rich but badly-protected

16

Ancient orbital ruin

Robots of dubious sentience

Trying to stop it awakening

17

Ancient orbital ruin

Trigger-happy scavengers

Meddling with strange tech

18

Ancient orbital ruin

Government researchers

Impending tech calamity

19

Ancient orbital ruin

Military quarantine enforcers

A terrible secret is unearthed

20

Ancient orbital ruin

Heirs of the original alien builders

Fighting outside interlopers

21

Research base

Experiments that have gotten loose

Perilous research underway

22

Research base

Scientists from a major local corp

Hideously immoral research

23

Research base

Black-ops governmental researchers

Held hostage by outsiders

24

Research base

Secret employees of a foreign power

Science monsters run amok

25

Research base

Aliens studying the human locals

Selling black-market tech

26

Asteroid belt

Grizzled belter mine laborers

Ruptured rock released a peril

27

Asteroid belt

Ancient automated guardian drones

Foreign spy ships hide there

28

Asteroid belt

Survivors of destroyed asteroid base

Gold rush for new minerals

29

Asteroid belt

Pirates hiding out among the rocks

Ancient ruins dot the rocks

30

Asteroid belt

Lonely military patrol base staff

War between rival rocks

31

Gas giant mine

Miserable gas-miner slaves or serfs

Things are emerging below

32

Gas giant mine

Strange robots and their overseers

They need vital supplies

33

Gas giant mine

Scientists studying the alien life

The workers are in revolt

34

Gas giant mine

Scrappers in the ruined old mine

Pirates secretly fuel there

35

Gas giant mine

Impoverished separatist group

Alien remnants were found

36

Refueling station

Half-crazed hermit caretaker

A ship is in severe distress

37

Refueling station

Sordid purveyors of decadent fun

Pirates have taken over

38

Refueling station

Extortionate corporate minions

Has corrupt customs agents

39

Refueling station

Religious missionaries to travelers

Foreign saboteurs are active

40

Refueling station

Brainless automated vendors

Deep-space alien signal

1

Social

An explosively temperamental VIP

An allied NPC breaks ties

2

Social

An unknown but critical social taboo

An enemy is alerted to them

3

Social

A case of mistaken identity

A new enemy is made

4

Social

An expectation for specific PC action

Cads think the PCs are allies

5

Social

A frame job hung on the PCs

An opportunity is lost

6

Legal

A regulation unknown to the PCs

Substantial monetary fine

7

Legal

A tax or confiscation

Imprisonment for the party

8

Legal

Vital gear is prohibited here

Confiscation of possessions

9

Legal

Lawsuit from an aggrieved NPC

Deportation from the place

10

Legal

A state agent conscripts PC help

Loss of rights and protections

11

Animal

Dangerous local swarm vermin

They have a ranged attack

12

Animal

A big predator lair

They’re venomous

13

Animal

Pack hunters haunt the area

Dangerously coordinated foe

14

Animal

Flying threats pounce here

Killing them inflicts a fine

15

Animal

Monstrous beast sleeps or is torpid

Their deaths cause an effect

16

Sentient

A group hostile to intruders

Immediate combat

17

Sentient

Trickster thieves and con-men

Treacherous feigned friend

18

Sentient

Hostile expert-system robots

Lead the PCs into a trap

19

Sentient

Secrecy-loving rebels or criminals

Demand payment or loot

20

Sentient

Another area-clearing group

Activate other area defenses

21

Decay

Crumbling floor or ceiling

Ruptures to release a peril

22

Decay

Power plant is unstable

Fires or explosions

23

Decay

Waste or heating tubes rupture

Toxic or radioactive debris

24

Decay

Dangerous standing liquid

Explosive decompression

25

Decay

Maintenance robots gone haywire

Invisible or slow-acting toxin

26

Environmental

Heavy background radiation

Catch a lingering disease

27

Environmental

A planetary sickness foreigners get

Suffer bodily harm

28

Environmental

Strong or weak local gravity

Take a penalty on rolls

29

Environmental

Gear-eating microbial life

Lose some equipment

30

Environmental

Unpredictable psychic power field

Psychic abilities are altered

31

Trap

Alarm system attached to a trap

Something set on fire

32

Trap

Snare left for local animals

Guards are summoned

33

Trap

Hermit’s self-defense measure

Fall to a new area

34

Trap

Long-dead builder’s trap-smithing

Equipment is damaged

35

Trap

New occupant’s defensive trap

Subject is injured

36

PC-induced

Activating a system causes a disaster

Horrible vermin are admitted

37

PC-induced

Catastrophic plan proposed by NPCs

Local system goes berserk

38

PC-induced

Removing loot triggers defenses

Something ruptures violently

39

PC-induced

Handling an object ruins it

Ancient defenses awaken

40

PC-induced

Leaving a thing open brings calamity

The PC’s goal is imperiled

1

Vanishingly rare or extremely new-found

2

Very uncommon, but not unknown

3

A rare profession, but a real one

4

As common as any other very skilled trade

1-6

1

Totally hidden, by careful invitation only

2

It exists, but there’s no easy way to find it

3

Known but very restrictive groups teach it

4

Groups take applicants, but are careful

5

Any semi-decent pupil can find a teacher

6

Open teachers exist almost everywhere

1

 a tool of traitors and rebels

2

 dangerous and must be contained

3

 currently a problem for our rule

4

 a tool of our political opponents

5

needs to be carefully regulated

6

a useful tool for our ends

7

needs to be cultivated for our use

8

has tremendous potential if studied

9

a right for those who can use it

10

vital to our future success

1

all make pacts with Shadow patrons

2

are mercenaries and criminals

3

turns you inhuman after a while

4

only look like they’re human

5

are all very spiritually-enlightened

6

is psychologically addicting

7

is hated by a prominent deity

8

is physically poisonous over time

9

causes brain damage and insanity

10

is associated with a particular faith

11

produces dangerous radiation

12

can do anything for the right mage/psychic

13

is a sign of a deity’s personal favor

14

is fake; it’s all really psionics

15

is for unscientific primitives

16

Meddling with magic/physic curses a user

17

are just incompetent psychics

18

are fearsome supernatural beings

19

is tied to particular bloodlines

20

are just naturally superior humans

1

are blamed for almost everything

2

profound mistrust of mages and magic

3

are uneasy distaste for magic and its users

4

have significant misconceptions about magic

5

are wary, but not particularly hostile

6

have positive attitudes, but with misconceptions

7

are respected and honor toward magic

8

are considered superior beings