Sparks

 

The brain is a wet sinkhole and synapses connect to bits that get thrown in there. Entire chasms are devoted to the shining marbles of nameless entrants that despite having their patrons being long forgotten yet shine and affect the whole. Creativity as a result is a snapshot into the depths, chance connections of different pits and assorted remnants. 

 Or something like that. What I'm getting at is my brain-hole has a bunch of stuff in it and connecting things sunk in there makes more new things. To that end, spark tables the like of which are used by Chris McDowall in Bastionland are fantastic and can make those random connections and spark up new ideas and are really good when you need to ad lib something in a pinch or need something inspiring to spring off of when filling out a blank hex. 

So I made Chris's Ask the Stars into a generator with a button because buttons are fun. 

While doing some amateur digital archaeology I also found this wonderful table of character archetypes over on Eldritch Fields and felt I had to make that into a button as well. Similar warnings as from the original post, the source text for this table is pretty awful. 

Code comes to us credit of Spwack over here.

Meeting Monarch

Whenever the crew attempts to hack a system in the Deep, Monarch gains 1d5 stress and makes a panic check. Feel free to use this for the first time a player tries to hack a system. Of course, after this follow it up with the warm and precise greeting from Monarch and have it try to hire the crew. Being a massive intelligence far more capable than any human brain, adding in egotistical touches like the flair above are fully in character.

d10 Divers in the Deep

Knights of Sidonia, Tsutomu Nihei

Gradient Descent is a glorious dungeon dive filled with paranoia, claustrophobia, and all manner of nasty traps and tricks scattered throughout. At any point in the dungeon, players can run into other Divers from the random encounter table or occasionally from keyed encounters. Thought I'd kit out some weirdos to encounter in the Deep to help out with those random diver encounters.

Gradient Descent

 

1. Cosmos (C:50 Rigging Gun AP:7 I:75 H:3): A jet black armored vaccsuit covered in patches with a lumatat skull on a tinted visor. Cosmos came here with a crew of divers back in the early days and one by one they stopped returning from the Deep. Now it's just him, making long dives and wandering the Deep. Soft spoken, knowledgeable of Monarch and artifacts, willing to help out new Divers. 2 in 6 chance of encountering him in [46E] VOID. Never takes his helmet off.

2. Romanov Company: A group of ex-troubleshooters who have been leveraging their experience in the Deep to sell their services to high bidders. Recently they've been offering "Asset Recovery" contracts to recover personnel lost within the Deep. 3 in 6 chance they are escorting an asset.

Carr (C:55 SMG/Revolver AP:7 I:75 H:4): Lieutenant of the Romanov Company. Brutal, demanding, fully aware that some of what they return from the Deep just serve Monarch's goals. 

Tomak (C:50 Smart Rifle AP:7 I:50 H:3): Company scout, she's wiry and paranoid. Clutches at a rosary around her neck. Stimpack addict.

Zebra (C:45 Foam Gun AP: 3 I:50 H:2): The tech of the team. Liberally uses hand welder to seal rooms. Carries a noisemaker that can summon 1d10 security androids in 1d6 rounds when powered on.

3. Kadaspala (C:50 SMG AP: 3 I:60 H:3): Off tune singing, haunting melodies, voices of many children, these are all signs you're nearing Kadaspala. A torn clown mask stretched over a vaccsuit helmet. Kadaspala slinks through the Deep creating macabre art pieces from torn apart androids and making meticulous recordings that they then spread throughout sector nets. Really enjoys using their Espernetic Feedback Loop. Quite well known amongst underground art scenes.

4. Ryder (C:55 Combat Shotgun & Vibechete AP: 7 I:75 H:3) & S11 (C:45 Tranq AP: 3 I:60 H:3): Ryder and S11 are experienced salvagers but relatively new to the Deep. They look for untapped datacaches that they can rip and sell back on the Dream. Ryder is jovial and brazen, usually on lookout while S11 digs through networks avoiding Monarch. Lately Ryder has been trying to get other divers to help him meet the Troubleshooter captain he fell in love with and now keeps running into in the Deep.

5. Shelly (C:50 SMG & Grenades AP:3 I:60 H:3) An artificial ecologist in a previous life, after seeing some diver videos of the Pseudoflesh farms and Skeleton Works she left everything behind to study Monarch's ecologies. On cordial terms with Silus, but never stays long. Will trade an artifact for captured drones. Keeps a hacked bee and spider drone on her.

6. Sword and Shield (C:60 Vibechete & Pulse Rifle AP:7 I:70 H:3) A pair of combat model androids, they speak in tandem and are nearly indistinguishable. Manic and giddy in combat, there's a 1 in 6 chance on encountering a Troubleshooter team that Sword and Shield will join the fray. Want to know about any troubleshooters seen nearby, otherwise generally friendly with other divers. None of the other divers has ever seen them outside of the Deep. Always ask whoever they meet to wish Arkady a happy birthday.

7. Donny the Suit (C:50 Revolver & Flare Gun AP:1 I:70 H:3) A generic model-A sleeve always encountered in a grey suit. Looks like an all middle sliders corporate drone. Seems like genuinely a nice guy, will share supplies with divers and give warning of hazards ahead. There is always a trap in the direction he comes from though and he never warns about it. 3 in 6 chance that your next random encounter is also Donny the Suit, slightly more disheveled and with no memory of the previous encounter.

8. Fool Bastian (C:50 Random Weapon AP: Random Armor I:40 H:2) Decked out with an OGRE, Black Box, and Remote Uplink. Always the latest designer sleeve using the same perfectly sculpted face with a camera drone in tow. Usually loudly chattering to his viewers. Has been doing stunt dives and uploading them afterwards with high scores, lets his viewers pick what gear he brings in on his next run. Will pay creds for locations with the most interesting "content". Keeps a Panic Button primed for comedic timing. Half his runs never get uploaded, some divers say they've seen old Bastians horribly altered still running around in the Deep muttering madly to a cameradrone that isn't there. Current Bastian will pay 50kcr no questions asked for any black box of his that is recovered. 1 in 6 chance when encountered you meet a feral Bastian (Use random chokespawn).

9. Red Shuilong (C:60 Smart Rifle AP:7 I:70 H:3) More hardware than any other diver, dangerously close to being subsumed by the machine. Spider Rigged with two Sockpuppeted SMGs and a cloakskin to boot. Voice is heavily modulated. She hunts forgotten androids and anything else that looks like it has some interesting cybermods to reap. When encountered on the Bell will be friendly and can perform cybermod installations for a 20% mark up. On good terms with the Babushka.

10. Pig (C:50 SMG & Vibechete AP:3 I:65 H:3) A bulbous man in a tight vaccsuit, he's been diving ever since he tasted a packaged meal salvaged by another diver. The flavors within were like nothing he'd had before and he keeps diving to try and recreate it. If encountered on good terms will offer his latest creations to the party. Usually includes synthflesh. Willing to trade for any rare ingredients or critters in the Deep. 

Biomega, Tsutomu Nihei

How To Run Divers

They all want something and they've all been encountering the same things that your party has been. Each and every diver is coping with the Bends, each one has a story about terrible things encountered in the Deep, so all of them should be more than a little unhinged. Any NPC could be an infiltrator android, so I recommend really playing that angle up especially if your party takes to a particular diver.

I use a 1 in 6 chance for encountered divers to have a random artifact as well, this can add some tension in the Deep. Likewise if the party is hauling out an artifact and runs into another diver, everyone knows these things can be worth millions outside the Blockade. Mix some divers in to other settings as well to make them recurring characters; the Bell works great for meeting some other divers before encountering them in the Deep. Prospero's Dream and Gradient Descent mesh together extremely well, so throw some divers recovering from the bends on the Dream.

The Crab Approaches!

 

Dandadan, Yukinobu Tatsu

Left alone, crustaceans will naturally develop into crabs. Scholars are wont to point out that these are not always true crabs, but more often they are a different genus entirely that merely begins to evolve characteristics of the crab when the right conditions are met. Environments where nutrient and sediment pools, deep and dark realms where light fades, that is where you find crabs and their kin. And those that strive to become crabs. 

A dungeon is much like a crab in this respect. Buildings, cities, dwellings of men and their kin when left alone long enough, or when subjected to the right stimuli, begin to take on the characteristics of naturally occurring dungeons. These are often deep places either physically or metaphysically where essence can pool and fill up in reservoirs that inevitably attracts attention of its own. Just as nature strives to produce a crab, so too does it strive to create a dungeon. 

D10 Dungeon Crabs

1 Lesser Dungeon Crab: These are the most common types of crab to encounter in any standard dungeon. Typically they are half a foot long and tall at the largest and take on a coloration that matches their environment and feed on detritus and plant life. Much like all crabs, they can be found in groups and will viciously defend their young and are delicious when steamed and served with butter.

2 Greater Dungeon Crab: Where there are lessers there is always a greater. Some scholars believe that every dungeon will have a Greater Dungeon Crab by nature, however they are not easy to find. Greater Dungeon Crabs are enormous but move gracefully throughout their dungeon, squeezing through impossibly small crevices and disappearing almost at will. A dungeon shaman can commune with the Greater Dungeon Crabs and with proper ritual and ablutions the Greater Dungeon Crab will answer respectful questions about their home. Their gills are a highly sought after magical ingredient that can be devoured in a pinch to move freely through the walls and obstructions of dungeons for 1d10 minutes.

3 Auric Crab: Auric crabs are the size of a small dog and are distinct in their golden sheen. They live in piles of gold coins and treasure hordes, usually devouring the leftovers of greater horde keepers. Many an adventurer has flung open a treasure chest only to be surprised by the metallic claws of a clan of auric crabs. The wizened adventurer, however, will know that these agile crabs will surely lead back to a horde if followed carefully.

4 Brain Crab: Wizards of ill-repute are known to keep colonies of brain crabs bred and at the ready in a pinch. These minuscule alabaster white crabs are administered to a victim's ear canal and will shortly colonize and devour their brain in a matter of hours. The process is excruciating for the victim, but the end result is an extract-able pearl nestled amongst the freshly laid eggs. Imbibing this pearl will allow d4 questions about the victim's life to be answered, however if the victim was a wizard then it will instead allow the memorization of d4 of the spells the wizard knew at their time of death.

5 Knifecrab: Technically not a crab, these are more related to lobsters with their pincers having been bred to a fine knife like edge. They live in colonies that swarm beaches looking for beached sea creatures to eviscerate and devour. Sailors are often known to keep a prized fighting knifecrab for gambling matches in port.

6 Calamity Crab: The size of a rowboat with a mottled black thich carapace and bright pink veins, these enormous crabs are seen hours before disaster strikes, after which they sweep through devastated towns in a feeding frenzy. Some wizards believe that they can be distracted to divert catastrophe, while others harvest clutches of their eggs from shipwrecks and harness their oracular essence for their own ends.

7 Crablin: A goblinoid relative, the crablin's most significant divergences are their clutch laying reproductive cycle and exoskeleton. Crablin infestations are a constant plague at busy ports where crablins are known to lair under docks and in unused warehouses. 

8 Spellcrab: Credited to the Meridian Coven, the spellcrab is a homunculus traditionally crafted from seashell and seaspider-silk and then enchanted with their target spell. Once an owner is attuned to the spellcrab, it will follow simple commands and trigger its spell once before requiring recharging. Colonies of wild spellcrabs have been discovered recently of late in unattended studies and keeps where they feed off of ambient energies from stored grimoires. Research is ongoing to determine if these are a branch of the homonculus or a new species entirely.

9 Skullcrab: The smallest skullcrabs are the size of a mouse with the largest so far being roughly the size of a tower. Skullcrabs are found across the world and are actually hermit crabs that inhabit discarded skulls. These creatures are territorial and well known nuisances to grave-keepers who will frequently need to discreetly hire an adventurer to retrieve a valuable skull from a very angry crab.

10 King Crab: The King Crab is the most crab crab of all the crabs. Nature tries to create crabs, yes, but even crabs over time will develop more and more crab-like features. The reason for this is that all crustaceans do not become crabs over time, but instead strive to emulate the King Crab, the most crab that a crab can be; the ideal crab. Carcinic cults have tried to summon the King Crab into being with disastrous results. While a summoner may be able to bring about a meager strand of the King Crab's essence with little risk of corruption, Carcinic cults try to bring the King itself into being. The last recorded corprealization attempt resulted in the carcinization of two and a quarter city blocks, and caused a booming increase in local carcinic ecological diversity. The emergence of Colossal Tenanment Crabs, technically a branch of mimic, are still a fascinating sight/uncommon disaster amongst the dockside residences to this day.