Hook, Line & Sinker – Science Fiction Plots

In this week’s Hook, Line, and Sinker I am going to provide three plots centered on the vehicles that are used in anime and science fiction games.

One of the mainstays in science fiction and giant robot stories are the vehicles.  So much so that these spaceships and mecha become characters in the stories that they are part of.  I remember being stunned by the destruction of the Enterprise in Star Trek III.  It is not something you would have thought would have happened in Star Trek. The ship was not only the characters’ way to get from place to place, but it was their home.  Yet you almost never see the vehicles in an RPG campaign used to move the story along.  At best they are used to get from point A to point B and then the adventure begins or continues.

The plots that I am presenting here are not as drastic as leading to the destruction of the campaign’s home base, but ways to get the characters to think about the vehicle less as a tool or weapons platform and more as part of the team.

Idea #1

Hook – There is a race for a government contact for a light freight hauling through the local star systems.  This is a very lucrative contract for whoever wins it.

Line – If the players win the contract it will give them the cover that they need to do whatever other activities that they will be doing during the campaign.  If they character’s ship is supposed to be in an area the local customs agents and military will not give it more than a cursory look.

Sinker – Some smugglers have hidden a bomb on the ship.  If the players do not make a rendezvous with one of their ships during the race and take on board some illegal good to be dropped at the next destination, the ship will be blown up.  However if the players take the time to do this run for the smugglers, they will lose the race.

Idea #2

Hook – The player’s mecha start to malfunction during a mission.  The neural interface is not reacting as quickly as it should.

Line – The metal that the neural interface is made out of has somehow become corrupted.  The reaction speeds for the mecha will continue to deteriorate until eventually the mecha will stop following commands altogether.  Replacements are weeks away and there is an important mission that needs to happen on a specific timetable.

Sinker – There is a source for the ore that the metal is made of on a nearby planet that is occupied by the enemy.  If the players get ore, their mechanics may be able to cobble together some replacement neural interfaces for the mission.  The players must sneak onto the planet without the benefit of the mecha and find enough of the ore to make replacement interfaces without alerting the enemy to their presence.

Idea #3

Hook – There is an engine malfunction that causes the ship to drop out of hyperspace/warp in an uninhabited system.

Line – The players cannot repair the engine without certain parts that they do not have available.  The nearest port is now hundreds of year away at their current top speed and it seems that the system in not an uninhabited as they thought.

Sinker – The system is the home to pirates.  They have a weapon that can knock out the engines of a ship without causing it any damage otherwise.  They are looking to take the ship and its cargo.  They will dispose of the crew to get what they want.