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Your party sneaks about in their VF's disguised in Zent uniforms. Looking for intel, you open one door after another to reveal...

01: Zents having an argument over Minmei's bust size
02: Grel fishing through war bounty chests looking for booze
03: A posh study, taxidermy invid with googly eyes line the walls.
04: A puddle of "huh??? don't you guys do maintenance?"

(help me out here boys and girls, do me proud)

I would think of a warship, destroyer or submarine. What would the sailors and marines do? Not much of anything. They are likely doing assigned task. Working out is some type of physical training gym, a shooting range. Maybe some kind of dice game with simple rules, as they were not allowed to really experience culture. otherwise they are likely just sitting around chatting with their friends or sleeping.

Lt Gargoyle wrote:I would think of a warship, destroyer or submarine. What would the sailors and marines do? Not much of anything. They are likely doing assigned task. Working out is some type of physical training gym, a shooting range. Maybe some kind of dice game with simple rules, as they were not allowed to really experience culture. otherwise they are likely just sitting around chatting with their friends or sleeping.

i suspect they watched gun camera footage and sensor replays of battles for entertainment. especially footage from other fleets and task forces, or major historical battles. stuff that would help spread knowledge of various potential enemies and tactics around.

would certainly explain why they thought that the film 'little white dragon' was real.

glitterboy2098 wrote:

Lt Gargoyle wrote:I would think of a warship, destroyer or submarine. What would the sailors and marines do? Not much of anything. They are likely doing assigned task. Working out is some type of physical training gym, a shooting range. Maybe some kind of dice game with simple rules, as they were not allowed to really experience culture. otherwise they are likely just sitting around chatting with their friends or sleeping.

i suspect they watched gun camera footage and sensor replays of battles for entertainment. especially footage from other fleets and task forces, or major historical battles. stuff that would help spread knowledge of various potential enemies and tactics around.

would certainly explain why they thought that the film 'little white dragon' was real.

Well I can fully see that since many of my shipmate on the processing ships i have worked on did that in the galley. well they watched movies. there was not alot to do on the ships, there is no extra space. and i do not see the Zentraedi of the masters empire being like humans and adding rec stuff to entertain themselves.

we also know they gamble (kyrons crew betting on how many ships they'd crash into for example)
i suspect that they bet shift rotations, or ration access, or something like that.

the zentreadi don;t seem ot be completely culture deprived, so much as having developed their own in isolation and within a specific framework allowed by the masters.

i would not be surprised if they had a sort of 'underground' culture of retelling epic battles to each other in semi-poetical form, abstract/lowkey artwork (growing out of repainting their mecha.. we did see a skull and crossbones on one ship of the grand fleet), and so on. stuff that would not immediately see them purged by the masters, but providing an outlet for their more artisitic and creative impulses.

glitterboy2098 wrote:we also know they gamble (kyrons crew betting on how many ships they'd crash into for example)
i suspect that they bet shift rotations, or ration access, or something like that.

the zentreadi don;t seem ot be completely culture deprived, so much as having developed their own in isolation and within a specific framework allowed by the masters.

i would not be surprised if they had a sort of 'underground' culture of retelling epic battles to each other in semi-poetical form, abstract/lowkey artwork (growing out of repainting their mecha.. we did see a skull and crossbones on one ship of the grand fleet), and so on. stuff that would not immediately see them purged by the masters, but providing an outlet for their more artisitic and creative impulses.

They collect war trophy according to the game books. Which is what i use when discussing game options.

I can see gambling being a part of their daily life. Especially since they would have down time which would be boring. But I do not see to many random encounters on a ship. there is rarely unused space so if you start popping off crew it wont take long for someone to notice and set off an alarm.

Also, note that the masters, and even the fleet commanders, aren't micromanaging things. My bet is that zentraedi "Ship culture" varies wildly. Breetai's crew is going to be lot different then Khyron's crew.

05 Rats. Not Terran rats, but rats from some unknown corner of the galaxy the size of Great Danes.

06 Giant Insect or Arachnid like creatures
07 An old Zentreadi sized arcade machine (hey Miryia saw the arcade as a training center), specifics are left to you
08 Zentreadi arguing over Minimei OR some other singer/band being better (there can't possibly be only one singer/band on the SDF-1 for entertainment, even recordings must exist I would think)
09 Tractor Feed Printer Printout bursts from a sealed door spilling out into the hallway, contents of the printed material...
10 Zentreadi napping in the hall (Vermillion's guard when they are captured was drowsy), must be guarding something behind that door
11 Zentreadi "drag race" (either foot race, or some type of "assisted" race) in the corridor
12 Artificial Gravity is on the fritz, "down" is now (the ceiling or one of the walls to the right or left)
13 Artificial Gravity is now off line in this section... What is that floating in the air...
14 Micronian escapees

micromanaging ? no. but if you think they'd let the zents operate without oversight you'd be wrong. this is a group that won't even let its own civilians do anything other than what the leadership says.

the zent ships are probably recording the crews 24/7, upload that footage to the factory sats when they visit, and then the masters run it through recognition programs to catch the obvious cultural contaminations.. and we know that the zentreadi police themselves when it comes to the major stuff, given what Dolza tried to do when word of the minmei cult in Breetai's fleet got out.

15 A trail of dirty Zentreadi Laundry
01-48 Start/End
49-96 Going off in two directions
97-00 Correction just a pile of
16 Zentreadi carrying so many items (or a single big item) they can't really see you
17 (in Zentreadi) a No Running in the Halls Sign (strictly enforced zone?...)
18 Zentreadi Language Sign for...
19 ... Oh wait that's form another intellectual property never mind, pay no attention to .... (insert some vague reference)
20 The sound of some passing gas (or for variety a squeaky toy), really loud coming from behind the party, 25% chance of followup comments (in Zentreadi of course)

21 A squad of Zentradi soldiers holed up behind a makeshift fort made out of their bunks with a "No Girls Allowed" sign on it. They seem suspiciously wary.
22 A female Zentradi sneaking about in a man's uniform snickering to herself about ultimate victory
23 Janitor's closet
24 A collection of Contraband books on a desk, the cover on top reads "Effortless Success: The Zentradi Lance Corporal's Guide to Skating."

25 A group of Zentraedi officers trying on female undergarments. (Best to close the door and forget what you saw)

26. Alien Spaceprobe similar to Earth's Voyager, only this one has a robotic AI meant to communicate with anybody it meets. The probe itself is about the size of a large desk, is powered by a nuclear power cell of advanced design, but it's strictly a STL coaster, and most of its hull and solar panels have ben shorn away. Its scientific payload is still intact, and is in fact 50-500% more accurate than a Destroid or Veritech's sensors, particularly for mapping energy fields and environmental conditions.
The probe basically got caught up inside the Zentraedi warship, or smacked into its side and got embedded in the 2nd or third layer of inner hull, and seems to have been overlooked by poor Zentraedi maintenance.
The AI is an eager beaver type that will enthusiastically attempt to greet anything registering to its preprogramed parameters as a potential intelligent lifeform, and will broadcast a first contact package of mathematics and basic linguistics, and if sensing establishment of understanding, will start communicatiing messages of friendship, chumship, and a cultural package...which has been somewhat scrambled by time. The AI doesn't know how long its been adrift(it can't get a position fix embedded as it is inside the Zentraedi ship, but it may have been traveling for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years), nor where its point of origin is.
The probe is basically a loud, friendly, virtually useless chatterbox, though it may inadvertently drop nuggets of useful information("OH! I sense additional lifeforms approaching from directional heading erzat at thirty-five foon about three thousand mep away! More friends? Hurray!") using its advanced scientific sensors.

27. A tribe of EShemarions!?! "Are you sure we're not lost?"

28. Metallic cord hanging from a ceiling panel. Anybody taking hold of the cable and giving it a tug will feel a bit of tension, then hear a sharp pop, then a rising gurgling sound, followed by the section they're in being flooded with gray water overflow. Apparently somebody was attempting to do some juryrigged plumping and was interrupted.

29. Loose Deck Plate---Any mecha stepping on it will drop through to the next floor, with a 50% chance of hitting several service conduits on the way.

30. 1d8 large metal blades smack into the lead mecha/character. Turns out several bored Zentraedi are playing throwing knives using an improvised target the PCs have stumbled in front of. The Zentraedi have lots more knives and their sidearms.

31. With a hum, the lost Fold generators of the SDF-1 suddenly appear. Anybody attempting to investigate them(getting close to them, touching them, climbing up on them) risks disappearing along with the generators when they suddenly vanish again.

32. Lost Veritech Pilot---Mecha is in terrible shape, and the pilot is clearly not much better. Claims to have been separated from his or her unit. When asked, the pilot will reply they're with Mauve Squadron. Bonus points if the GM's campaign doesn't have a Mauve Squadron and the PCs are utterly baffled by mention of a unit that doesn't exist. The pilot will vehemently assert they DO exist. If the PCs are associated with Skull Squadron and identify themselves as such, there's a 50-50% chance the character will either suddenly become wary and paranoid of them, or will start foaming at the mouth and attack them, screaming accusations of various misdeeds at them.

33. Corridor Filled With Ice---Making a way through it has a 10% chance of finding a flash-frozen Zentraedi in it, 30% chance of being attacked by a giant furred something or other.

34. Zentreadi amusing themselves with an improvised flame-thrower they made with a loose waste gas pipe and an ignition source. They can fill the corridor with a burst of flames up to five times per melee.

ShadowLogan wrote:snip...
11 Zentreadi "drag race" (either foot race, or some type of "assisted" race) in the corridor
12 Artificial Gravity is on the fritz, "down" is now (the ceiling or one of the walls to the right or left)
13 Artificial Gravity is now off line in this section... What is that floating in the air…
…snip

These sound like they can go together.

35. A single Zent soldier sitting in a room having a loud and very fretful conversation with himself, full of flashing experssions and changing, very distinct voices, as if many different people in his head are all chatting in a very animated way. Attempts to calm the soldier will result in being attacked (that's the zentradi way!). If the PC's defeat the soldier, they'll find a manual on the ground that reads, "Rakugo for Beginners."

36. Ominous Curvature----The goth-punk rock band Ominous Curvature. They're looking for work and were told that the renegade Zentraedi paid well for 'micronian culture'. If questioned, they'll be insistent that they got a gig, they're on the rise and going to make it big among the 'big ones'. If pressed on the issue, they'll admit they got tossed out of the last dozen places they were booked for various offenses, including vomiting on the audience and mistaking diaretics for qualudes they were passing out to audience members.

taalismn wrote:36. Ominous Curvature----The goth-punk rock band Ominous Curvature. They're looking for work and were told that the renegade Zentraedi paid well for 'micronian culture'. If questioned, they'll be insistent that they got a gig, they're on the rise and going to make it big among the 'big ones'. If pressed on the issue, they'll admit they got tossed out of the last dozen places they were booked for various offenses, including vomiting on the audience and mistaking diaretics for qualudes they were passing out to audience members.

Random UEDF Soldier: "We're better, cause the UEG booked Sabaton."

37. Petit Cola Machine....Of COURSE one was going to show up! Though the machine will approach the PCs with the entreaty to buy a satisfying cold drink, any attempt to actually approach it will cause it to move quickly into the shadows. Anybody following it has a 50% chance of being led into a Zentraedi ambush.

38. UEDF Escape Pod---Escape module off an Earth ship. It's apparently been used and abandoned, as there's nobody aboard, and no sign of anybody around, yet the pod doesn't seem to have been automatically launched, so somebody else might be on the Zentraedi ship......

39. Staggering Zentraedi----Zentraedi officer looking rather green around the gills as he staggers down the hall. Any attempt to apprehend and question him will result in the front row of approachers being covered in a disgustingly impressive amount of vomit, whereafter the alien will collapse semi-conscious, groaning in gastrointestinal distress, possibly food poisoning.

40. Impression of a Zentraedi's face embedded in one wall. SOMEBODY's got both a very hard head and enough unluck to hit the wall with considerable force.

41. Running Fight between two parties passes them by...
1. A fatman with glasses in fistie cuffs with a giant chicken (adjust as needed)
2. UEDF mecha (1d4) being chased by x10 that many Zentreadi
3. Zentreadi (1d4) being chased by a Zentreadi Officer (or higher rank)
4. Duelists (Zentreadi, UEDF mecha, etc) with improvised swords (are they quoting "Princess Bride"?)
5. A Zentreadi holding on for dear life to a fighter mode VF-1 that is rocketing through the halls at break neck speeds
42. Smashing through the wall (or was that a door?) comes...
1. An out of control (?) VF-1 in Guardian (or Fighter) Mode moving like a bat out of hell (hey Max's VF-1J can do it), what's that coming up behind it
2. An out of control AGAC Veritech/mecha of unknown origin (hey the thing appears in Ep37, well before its introduced as "new" does that mean there are AGACs that are now lost in the space time continuum?)
3. A well muscled Zentreadi and he (or she) looks pissed... (why did they paint themselves completely in body paint?)
4. Tentacles (hey the Masters have them on their ship)
5. Dinosaurs! If they trample over anyone one of them will stop and say "excuse me" as they continue on
43. Some white shapeless form(s) floating in the corridor (really just sheets with holes or stains but the PCs don't know that)
44. Zentreadi looking for people to convert to "the church of Minmei" (or some other religion they've fallen into)

45. Zentraedi stacking beer-filled tanker-trailers.

46. Tripwire attached to an IED(gimmicked UEDF missile warhead. Could be Zentraedi guerillas, or micronian saboteurs.

47. Zentraedi using the apparently abandoned room/corridor to 'dance like nobody's watching'...in the nude. 50% of being female. 50% chance, if approached by anybody ALSO dancing, of the Zentraedi simply letting the newcomers join the dance,

48. Orange red-spotted beachball bouncing down the hall. Closer examination reveals it has FEET.

49. Ninjas. Why is it ALWAYS goddamn ninjas?!

50. Zombie in fairly ornate armor riding atop a black winged reptile. Will creakily, but politely, ask if anybody in the party has seen the 'one ring', then fly off.

51. Cloning chamber of feminization. - cloning and microzation chamber that is malfunctioning. Changes users gender.

52. THree Zentraedi playing a card game. Upon seeing your disguised mecha, they invite you to pull up a chair and deal yourself in.
Unfortunately the game is strip poker.

53; Major Service Trunk Open---A panel in the corridor wall is open, and various wires and conduits are exposed. The rare Zentraedi technicians are doing some service work, which amounts to 'go where the computer tells you, disengage these components, and swap them for these new ones', and left this job unfinished to go and get more components. Closer inspection of the exposed systems, normally hidden behind thick armored plating, will allow a robotechnology expert familiar with Zentraedi systems to identify(roll for percentile; 01-25% environmental and lighting controls for 25% of the ship, 26-40% fire control for one side of the ship, 41-60% helm command, 61-80% communications feeds, 81-00% sensory array feeds for half the ship's sensor systems). 1d6 minutes after the panel is discovered(or while any of the PCs are trying to wire up something to take advantage of their discovery) 1d4 Zentraedi show up with replacement parts to finish the job.

54. Zentraedl Flying Platform...It's abandoned in a side corridor from one of the hangar bays. Anybody attempting to take it for their own use will discover WHY it was abandoned as it quickly and repeatedly tries to beat itself flat against the ceiling.

55. Zentreadi passed out drunk (1d4 for each Party member/mecha), what type of party (...). Can find still open (and partially filled bottles/glasses) in their hands.

56: 2d10 Zentreadi passed out drunk in a hold. Examining their cups, canteens, or what looks like a giant coconut shell with a straw......will discover a clear liquid. Smells and tastes like raw whisky (white lighting/moonshine). Those that searching the hold will discover a still and a zentraedi sized keg (half full) of more raw whisky. Roll another d4:
1-3 it is fine for humans to drink.
on a roll of 4 the whisky was made from The FoL and will have half the detrimental effects of FoL poisoning.

57. Group of Zentraedi near-passed out with bad cases of food poisoning(bad batch of synthesizer rations). Disturbing any of them will set off a chain-reaction of awakening and projectile vomiting. Roll to dodge or be slimed.

58. Red Shirt (NPC either with the group, or did you just meet up with them?) is yanked into the dark shadows by...
...58a. a body armored arm/hand
...58b. a power armor clad (or robotic) arm/hand
...58c. a bare arm/hand
...58d. a cloth covered arm/hand (tattered?)
...58e. a tentacle (?)
...58f. "laso"

Jefffar wrote:05 Rats. Not Terran rats, but rats from some unknown corner of the galaxy the size of Great Danes.

and those are the sickly, starving, crazy ones.

59. 4-6 Zents clustered facing a section of bulkhead, arguing about who has the better accuracy. Closer inspection shows they are tossing sharpened spear-shaped pieces of shrapnel at two crude but somewhat accurate drawings of Khyron & Dolza (or Breetai & Exedore).

60. An empty storage closet. However, just as you begin to close it, the air snaps with a very loud POOOM! and a disc shaped hole opens up right in the middle of the closet. A humanoid person leans out, wearing some kind of strange sensor-bespeckled headgear, looks about, then pulls out a paperback-sized device, punches a few buttons, then says "Oh, sorry, wrong reality.", leans back into the hole, which slams shut with an equally loud POOOM!
As soon as your ears stop ringing, the sound of heavy footsteps on deckplating are getting louder.....

61. A Zent hunched over a desk, mumbling to himself. The tiny room is littered with pieces of crumpled paper. Seems he's trying to get his little piece of Minmei fan-fiction *just* right....

62. Zentraedi-sized chair with an attached dome-like apparatus that apparently drops over the head. A successful tech analysis will reveal it's an automated barber device. A more detailed analysis(or reckless experimentation) will reveal that it's malfunctioning: 25% chance of doing one of the following to somebody sitting in the chair:
01-50% Too Close a Shave...Multiple scalp lacerations. Not fatal, but head wounds bleed like bastards.....
51-65% Scalped----Unless you have handy surgeons handy to re-attach your pelt, or some means of regeneration, you're permanently bald.
66-75% Deaf---Either shaving blades have removed your ears, or sonic shavers have burst your eardrums
76-85% Got Your Nose---Nicked the end of your nose off
86-95% Blinded---Popped your eyeballs
96-00% Too Much Off the Top---Cut your throat.

63. A really long line of people (alive or slumped over dead) waiting for...
...63a to use the lavatory
...63b admission to a "club" (bouncer...)
...63c admission to an event (concert, sports, "speaker", someone signing autographs, etc)
...63d chow line
...63e no one knows, but they all want to find out
...63f suicide booth (or being pushed into a deep pit by some guys at the start of the line)
...63g Voting Booth (what they are voting for?...)
...63h their vaccine shots (or is it something more sinister?...)
...63i dancing line (conga or line?)
...63j tug of war

64. Line of UNdead people waiting in the corridor. Roll 1d8:
1-2 'Thriller' dance line
3-4 Justin Beiber fan line
5-6 'Make Tirol Great Again' voters
7-8 Brain line(and you just delivered)

65 A pipe bursts spraying the party with some type of fluid
...65a HOT Water (is it peeling my paint job?)
...65b COLD Water (is it me or did my mecha just shrink?)
...65c Waste Water (I need a bath)
...65d Flamable Liquid of some type (hold your fire don't light a match)
...65e Steam
...65f Hydraulic Fluid (from that door/hatch?)

66 Upon opening a hatch (to either a room or storage bin) out comes LOTS and LOTS of:
...66a cute fury balls
...66b laundry (type/specifics I leave to you)
...66c books/magazine/periodicals
...66d Sand
...66e garbage
...66f AOL (or CompuServe or some other mass distributed "free" CD) Disks still in the shrink wrapping
...66e "Grain" / Food stuffs

67 A Zentreadi "Garage Band" in the middle of a practice session, quick I need a name for them they seem to be (1d10 on a scale of 1-10) good. Genre of the band
...67a Rock (sub genre...)
...67b Blues
...67c Country
...67d Rap/Hip Hop
...67e Minmei Impersonators
...67f Classical/Orchestra

68. Closed Door. Opening the door reveals.... A Zentraedi who punches you in the face, then pulls the door closed again. Forcing the door open reveals....an empty room with no other exit from it.

69. The Spanish Inquisition.

70. The Swiss Acquisition----Space pirates claiming the ship in the name of the Gnomes of Zurich. Effectively bankrolled mercenaries working for a nationalist or corporate concern, and NOT the UEG. May cooperate with the characters, at least until it suits them to do otherwise and then....your back itching?

71. A closet full of Minmei merchandise. A sign hangs over it, reading (translated from Zentraedi): "Corporal Grent's Super-Private Ultra-Secret Very Personal Collection. DO NOT TOUCH!"
72. Just an empty bunk-room.
73. Inside, the facing wall is covered with various scrawled notes, torn-out pictures of people in various costumes, and lengths of different colored strings held in by sharp metal points connecting the pictures & notes to each other in a web-like pattern.....but the pattern makes no discernible sense. At the center, where all the strings connect, is the Zentraedi word for "Protoculture?!" smeared in red ink (or at least you hope it's ink......)

74. Belgians---They're here to trade chocolate to the Zentraedi. In reality they're out to avenge the destruction of Belgium during the Rain of Death by slipping the Zentraedi drugged chocolates. One bon-bon is the equivalent of a Zentraedi-sized bong hit...lethal (not that the victim will care) to normal-sized humans, incapacitatingly stoning for a full-sized Zen.

75:A large room filled with male and female Zents in varying states of undress and engaged into a game of competitive strip poker and competitive drinking/drugs.

76. A Zentraedi noncom filling out hour after hour of digital paperwork. He or she takes no notice of you entering the room until you try to get their attention, at which point he looks at you, and if you aren't wearing Zentraedi officer insignia(and of a higher rank) he tells you to #### off and not interrupt him before returning to his work. A wastebasket full of discarded stim tabs and a mug whose inside bottom is caked with what appears to be a caffeine-analogue so dense it's actually smoldering in the cup explain his agitation and failure to recognize you . Any further attempts to get his attention will result in him throwing the mug at your head with enough force and accuracy to fracture even a destroid's optic sensors.

77:The ship's *medical bay* where a slight *misadjusted* archivists is trying to save the lives of his fellow crew members after combat by teaching himself *medicine* and there is numourse *signs* of his handi-work all around the *medical bay*

78. Apparently open door; anybody walking through it will discover strips of clear plastic film-wrap stretched tightly across it. Tearing through it just gets it tangled around yourself(-1 APM and -1 to initiative, parry, and dodge for 1 melee while trying to disentangle yourself). Since the stuff is common in use on both human and Zentraedi ships, it's unknown whether this prank is the work of a human or a Zentraedi.

79. Opening a door you find a creepy-disturbing type of Shrine to...
...79a. Minmei
...79b. Kyle (???)
...79c. someone you can't identify (male/female, human/zentraedi/alien)
...79d. An SDF-1 produced TV show (come on we know they had to fill broadcast time with something, and it likely isn't news/music and re-runs brought from Earth are likely limited), and not the good type of show
...79e. The VF-1, over two dozen assorted VF-1 heads (obviously salvaged) adorn the shrine. Or insert some other mecha's head unit, or even skulls
...79f. Khyron or Breetai or Dolza
...79g. Miryia (she was a well known pilot by indications from the spies when they learned she would be inserting them into the SDF-1)
...79h. Chuck Norris

80. You find a sign (in Zentreadi or human) that reads "Nothing Behind this door, Really" (or something along those lines). It either points toward a door or is hanging on a door. Attempting to open the door they find it locked shut.... Once they open the door they find nothing, just a wall (does it have graffiti on it, or maybe a full length mirror) or something else...

81. You find a shimmering portal that leads to...
...81a. The main engineering deck of the SDF-1
...81b. The Regess' boudoir
...81c. The shower on a female (or male, if you're on a female ship) ship
...81d. Kyle's bedroom
...81e. A Mossisaur's open jaws
...81f. Tommy's office
...81g. Kevin's office (starting to fluctuate)
...81h. An open pit
...81i. The Gargoyle!?!

82. You encounter several mecha. You really can't remember if they were yours or the enemy's, and the only recollection you have is that they may have been beige...or maybe grey. You seem to have expended some ammunition and been shot up a little, but the damage is relatively minor and non-life/mission-threatening. It all seems so very confusing, but the more you think about it, the less important it seems to be.

83: A group of zents gathered around two stage 1-4 invids out of their mech and betting on which one of them will kill the other after the zents have *conditioned* the invids to fight one another to the death.