Looking for a potential RPG adventure, I consulted the colony rules in the Building Better Worlds sourcebook (Free League Publishing, 2023) for ALIEN: The Roleplaying Game (Free League Publishing, 2020).
UNNAMED FRONTIER COLONY
- Location – Frontier, Grid 5,9
- System – Trinary (3rd Star – G-Main Sequence), 2x Rocky Planets, 2x Gas Giants, 2x Ice Planets, 0 Asteroid Belts.
- Colony Planet – Outer Moon of Gas Giant
- Size – 7,000 km diameter
- Gravity – .7G
- Atmosphere – NONE
- Climate – Frozen
- Hydrosphere – Arid (Permafrost)
- Day Length – 600 hours
- Orbital Period – 10 days
- Axial Tilt – None
- Global Feature – World spanning super canyon
- Planetary Personality – BROODING
- Colony – Located in Southern Hemisphere West
- Plains (Resource Potential -1)
- Sponsors – Union of Progressive Peoples (UPP) and Jǐngtí Lóng Corporation
- Mission – ‘Farming’
- Development – Expanding
- Policies – (2) Collectivism (Eco), Mass Productivity (Pro)
- Installations – Tooling Workshop (Eco), Recreational Facilities (Spirit)
- Projects – Relaxed Safety (Science)
- Attributes (Start/Current)
- Economic – 4/3; Team UPP led
- Potential – 12/10; Team UPP led
- Productivity – 8/10; Team JL led
- Maintenance – 7/8; Team JL led
- Science – 6/8; Team JL led
- Spirit – 9/8; Team UPP led
Although an ice moon, the deep scar (canyon) that runs from the North to South Poles affords access to the interior of the moon which has yielded surprising geothermal pockets that can be sealed and allows for farming.
The origin of the scar valley is unknown. Some geologists insist it was not naturally formed as the planet lacks a history of atmosphere for erosion. The deep, wide rift valleys of the North Pole turn to cliffs in the Northern Hemisphere East that then connect to steep gorges along the equator and South Pole. A second branch of bizarrely eroded badlands in the Northern Hemisphere West connects to the equatorial gorges. Both the Southern Hemisphere West and East are gentle plains that geologists insist are the “natural” state of the moon.
The sky is dominated by the gas giant and not the trinary star of the system. The brooding feel of the colony comes from the gas giant sitting above the horizon for 300 hours (~12 Earth Days), and then getting sunlight the other 300 hours. As a result, few colonist actually enjoy going to the surface preferring instead to stay underground where the light is regulated in a more Earth-like manner.
While the colony continues to grow, there is disagreement between the UPP and JL Corporation over the use of ‘Working Joe’ synthetics. JL wants to bring in more Working Joes from their partner Seegson but the UPP prefers their own people workers.
A new shipment of Working Joes just arrived. Rumors are the inhibitor chips in this latest batch were removed. People are concerned that these new “Hard Working Joes” will outperform and replace workers. Accidents seem to be happening more and more. There are also rumors of a vast, alien cave complex found in the badlands but the Mayor’s office denies any such discovery. Interestingly, the local Space Operating Forces detachment (about platoon strength) left for “training” in the badlands just after the reports surfaced. Coincidence?
Feature image courtesy Sci-News.com
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