Across a Thousand Dead Worlds: Session 1- Sign Away Your Life

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Nolan glances over the contract supplied by the administrator of the orientation session, a smug smirk on his face. "Drake industries is not liable for any bodily harm, including loss of limb, life, or psychiatric issues developed during excursions into Arsaidh sites... By signing this agreement you agree to payment of daily taxes for air, temperature control, administrative and other services... Yada yada yada... Ah! Yes the important part. In exchange for recovery of Arsaidh technology, artifacts, and information you will be compensated at a competitive rate. There we go. That's what I was looking for! He laughs quietly to himself, giving the Drake industries staff looking over the small orientation class a sarcastic glare "And with this pen I shall sign my life away to the corporate overlords."

Nolan signs the contract without second thought. His life was already dangerous on Earth. Working as a mercenary for the seedy underbelly that pulled the strings of most of the functional governments left on Earth or delving into strange alien ruins. Not a drastic lifestyle change for him in the long run. But after getting blacklisted by a spurned contractor, Nolan's work dried up. Drake industries was a last resort, and after a few months of trying to clear his name, Nolan found himself at the end of his rope. For just a moment, he looks down at the contract with his signature in fresh ink scrawled across the bottom of the page.

But just a momentary pause. He stands walking to the front of the small conference room, throwing the contract onto the desk in front of the administrator. They look up at Nolan with a calm, unreadable expression. "That was rather quick. Most new recruits take at least a day or two to decide on signing. We do allow for lodgings at the Karum Hotel for those who would like to take some time before signing."

Nolan laughs, giving a lazy salute. "Nothin' really to think about. Consider me in."

"Very well. Report to Human resources and they will get you squared away with lodging options and give you information on the services you will have access to on Karum Station. Welcome aboard Diver." With that the administrator collects Nolan's contract and then looks back to the other prospective diver's struggling through the many pages of the legal agreements in front of them. Feeling like he's been rather quickly dismissed, Nolan stands in front of the administrator for a moment. Uh... So when can I take my first job?"

A slight smile crosses the administrator's face. She calmly looks up at Nolan. "Oh well, HR will fill you in on the details. But you can take your first job as soon as tomorrow if you would like. Though it usually takes new recruits a week or two to build up the nerve to take on their first mission." She goes back to looking over Nolan's contract, obviously dismissing him this time. Nolan exits the conference room into his new home. Karum Station.

Nolan reports to Human Resources as the administrator mentioned. They give him further documentation regarding the services available at the station, as well as defining the process of taking on jobs and purchasing gear. They layout several options for housing, ensuring that at any time he can move up or down housing packages if he is unable to keep up with the weekly charges. Nolan opts for the standard package, hoping that he'll be able to score a big sum of Drake Coins quickly from his first mission. They charge him for his first week, 50 coins, and provide him with a map and keys to his accommodations. Nolan quickly finds his room, a small dingy room with minimal furnishings but at least it's private. "No way I'm sharing a place like this with three other divers. Plus, I'll need to keep my marksmanship chops up. Unlimited shooting range access. Ya that's a must."

Weekly Accommodation Charge: -50 DC; Nolan has 850 DC remaining.

Nolan sits in his room, lost in thought for a moment. The gravity of his new situation finally setting in. The lights in the room programmed to mirror a standard cycle of daylight. By the glow in the room, he estimates its still mid morning and he's got nothing to do. "Well I know for a fact, tomorrow I'll be getting underway. I'm not sitting around this place wasting away my time. Might as well get some time in at the shooting range and get my head right for that."

Nolan heads out his mind made up, at least for the moment, that he'll be departing on his first dive tomorrow. He spends several hours at the shooting range, feeling more comfortable with a gun in his hand than twiddling his thumbs in his room.

GM Note: A character can take a downtime activity once per day (called a cycle on Karum Station). There are different benefits for each activity, but Nolan will go for training. Rolling over his ranged combat skill will give him advantage on all ranged combat rolls in his upcoming mission. Rolling under penalizes him with disadvantage.

Downtime: Training (Ranged Combat 11) -> 13; Success - Advantage on all Ranged Combat for the next mission.

At first the guns supplied at the shooting range feel awkward in his hand. Nolan is very particular about his gear, customizing all the minute details for his exacting specifications. When he showed up to board the Karum station shuttle just yesterday, the Drake Industry employees informed him that he would not be allowed to take any of his own gear with him. Reluctantly he packaged up all the guns, knives, and tactical gear he had so diligently packed to take with him on the trip into a shipping box with a hasty note to possibly one of the few friends he has left on Earth.

"Can't take this shit with me. Hold onto it for me. If I come back down here, I expect every bit of this gear to be in the same shape I sent it to you. See you. -Nolan"

After the first hour at the range, Nolan started feeling more comfortable with the Karum station guns. All standard fair. No flair to the equipment but it would suffice. He sorely missed his own gear, but he was an excellent shot regardless. Feeling happy with his performance, he departs to check in with mission control. Nolan notifies them that he will be ready for a mission asap. They let him know that tomorrow they will have a mission sorted out for him. He can report here tomorrow to start his first mission. Nolan retires to his quarters. "Well not much else i can do. Tomorrow's the day. Can't get to comfortable here. Gotta make a living"

The next morning Nolan reports to Mission Control. He chose to explore a previously visited site, just to get his legs under him for now. Less reward, but hopefully he'll still have quite the haul. The mission control employee lays out a dossier from the previous mission group...

Mission 1 Site

GM Note: Since Nolan is departing for a previously visited site, there are several things that we'll know even before he arrives. I'm going to layout the information that the previous crew discovered before Nolan buys gear and gets underway. This also means that there are only half of the remaining resources, artifacts, and possible encounters

Generating the expedition site

Name (3d100) -> 100/42/82; Kalgho-432099
Purpose (d20) -> 3; Bioresearch and Containment
Story (d10) -> 1; Overrun by creatures
Description (d12) -> 3; Covered in a strange moss substance
Size (d4) -> 4; Huge
Resources and Artifacts (d20+40 x2) -> 2; 21 out of 42 Resources 5; 22 out of 45 artifacts
Activity (d6) -> 5; Busy (3 out of 5 possible encounters)
Hazard (d8) -> 1; Psychic disturbance
Voyage Time (d6+1) -> 1; 2 weeks travel time
Arrival (d100) -> 63; An outpost orbiting a moon.

Nolan studies the report from the previous team. The mission control employee smirks as he looks over the documents only the original team has been assigned this site so far. There should still be plenty to find, especially since its so large. And one of the original team even survived and returned to Karum station! Thankfully they didn't come back empty handed. Their report of the site's dangers were very thorough wouldn't you say?" Nolan begins to interject as the task seems almost insurmountable. The mission control employee cuts him off with a wave of their hand. "Sorry, missions are assigned randomly to avoid favoritism amongst the divers. You can take this mission or you can leave Karum Station. Choice is yours." At that, Nolan is dismissed to make his preparations.

Preparations

Nolan needs to sort out his gear. Karum station supplies each Diver with a Basic Gear Bundle that include the following:
1x Hazmat b Suit
1x Vacc suit
5x Oxygen pellets
5x Batteries
1x Alprazolam
1x Pistol
1x Combat Knife

He will purchase access to the following gear:
5x Oxygen pellets
10x Ammo
5x Batteries
1x AW&S Assault Rifle

GM Note: Initially I was planning to have Nolan's first mission be a solo journey, but after rolling up that expedition site I've decided that Nolan is going to need some backup. This will be a 3 man mission, so I'll need to roll up 2 NPC crew members to accompany him. NPCs function a bit different than normal characters. They don't have skills, and just roll on the generic attributes for each action. They also don't have stamina, they only take 1 action and 1 move for each turn of combat.

NPC Crew members

Nolan needs to track down someone with a bit of intelligence so that they can actually identify things. The other NPC will be a medic to keep everyone fit for the mission. Here's the NPCs for this one!

Bernard Granier
Str: 5
Dex: 10
Con: 10
Wil: 13
Int: 15
Cha: 7

Talent -> Tech Savvy; Advantage on technology rolls
Gear -> Hacker Kit; KSA body armor, Lockpick, Tool kit, 10x oxygen, 10x ammo, 10x battery + Basic Gear Bundle

Stacy Roberts
Str: 10
Dex: 15
Con: 10
Wil: 13
Int: 7
Cha: 5

Talent -> Field Medic; Advantage on Medical Aid checks
Gear -> Support kit; KSA body armor, 2x Medical kit, 2x Anti-Rad, 10x Oxygen, 10x Ammo, 10x Battery + Basic Gear Bundle

GM Note: Last thing to take care of before the crew departs is the ship!

Ship Details

Ship Class -> KRM-03; "Triangle" fits 3 crew and 150 gear slots (96 are free)
Name (d100/d20)-> 97/8; "Smooth Discovery"
The ship is stocked with the following:
1x Survey Scanner
1x Medical Kit
1x Thruster Pack
1x Survival Kit
6x Oxygen Tanks per crew member
6x Food/Water per crew member

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And with that Nolan's first mission, ship, and crew are all sorted out! Next time we'll get the expedition under way!

Across a Thousand Dead Worlds Session List