Lore/Story
Crew Introduction
Whether you’ve had a chance to settle in or still have that anxious feeling of excitement, you’ve passed countless exams, got a degree, and your life working on board Space Station 13 is now a reality. The station is relatively new, and is one of the most advanced orbital stations ever constructed – it is said that Nanotrasen’s technological advancements close the gap between the Auri and Geminae systems, but you still can’t help but feel lonely out in the furthest regions of crewed space.
You awake for your shift, either flying in as a crew transfer from Space Station 13’s sister station, emerging from your skeleton crew bunk, or being thawed in the cryo-chambers of medical. The station will be approaching its full capacity and the skeleton crew trials have been in-line with Nanotrasen’s quality track record, yet you feel this shift will be anything but routine. With the sudden jump to a full crew there are bound to be some arguments and disagreements. You can talk out the drama later over some drinks in the bar, for now it is time to earn your keep.
Player Experience
A key element of the player experience are the various forms of interaction between different departments. As each department has their own resource pools, trade and negotiations are necessary between them to form a functioning station economy. Different departments offer individuals with different skill-sets, so services are a valuable commodity.
There is one resource that shines above all others in terms of usefulness – plasma. Plasma is the substance that the station exists to research, and this shows in the gameplay. Plasma is hard to come by, but is exceptionally useful for every single department in one way or another. It also happens to be the fuel source for the orbital thrusters, meaning that the lives of the crew are in the hands of this plasma resource.
Not everyone can be trusted however, you never know who might be a member of the Syndicate, the Tellune Purity Force, or an infiltrating creature disguised as your late coworkers. The crew will need to be careful to prevent plasma from falling into the hands of someone who could use it to its full potential, and even more careful of the parties that would be more than happy with the station falling towards the planet.
Throughout a round, there may be various emergencies that the crew face. An emergency requirement for additional plasma will be a common one, with it being the fuel for the orbital thrusters and a hot commodity between the departments. The command crew will be forced to organise explorations to off-station locations, looting and stealing any leftover plasma from either in-operation or abandoned bases scattered across Lavaland.
Almost all events outside of the periodic away missions will take place on the station itself, the story of the crew overcoming the challenges of plasma research are the important elements of the round, and the mechanics will be designed to encourage those interactions as much as possible.
Key Themes
- Struggle for survival.
- Trust nobody.
- The power of money.