Alien - Preview Chapter - A Hard Life Amongst the Stars.pdf

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“There are other worlds than this one, and if there is no air to breathe, we
will simply have to make it.”
—PETER WEYLAND
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Living in space ain’t pretty. Human life is
cheap and so are paychecks. There is always
someone worse off, willing to do your job for
even less, so you better not screw up and lose
the one you have. In most professions, having
dirt on your employer or becoming a certified
expert in a field are the only ways to maintain
any semblance of job security.
Aside from the luxury accommodations of
the corporate elite and the cutting edge weap-
ons of the Colonial Marines, almost everything
is grimy, used, and in need of repair. The only
colonists guaranteed to receive new parts and
equipment are the miners and atmospher-
ic processor support personnel on planets
consistently exceeding their corporate quo-
tas. In remote sectors, imported technologies
are overpriced and hard to come by, so most
equipment is jury-rigged, modified, and made
from recycled and refurbished materials. In
some territories, vehicles and starships are still
in use that are nearly a century old. Instead of
the expensive, three dimensional holograph-
ic displays of yesteryear, most spacecraft are
equipped with conventional monitors and
basic sensor packages. Over the past several
decades, MU/TH/UR computer systems have
become less about the sophistication of the AI
and more focused on utilitarian function. Even
spacesuits are bulkier and provide less protec-
tion than those produced during the golden
years of space exploration.
In essence, humankind as a technological
society is on the decline.
Humanity never would have left the cradle
of our solar system without the foresight of
visionary entrepreneur and businessman Peter
Weyland. Under his stewardship, the Weyland
Corporation introduced three things that en-
sured mankind’s dominance over the stars—the
capacity to travel at faster than light speeds,
the introduction of the hypersleep chamber,
and the ability to terraform whole worlds.
FA S T E R T H A N T H E
SPEED OF LIGHT
The ability to travel faster than light is the
lynchpin of mankind’s expansion outside our
own solar system. Without it, there would
be no extrasolar colonies and no corporate
star empires. First developed by Weyland
Industries in the 2030s, these engines are
sometimes referred to as
displacement
drives.
The system works on the principle of
an inverse relationship between velocity and
the flow of time. An FTL drive achieves these
speeds by displacing the volume of space
proceeding a spacecraft and drawing the
vessel forward with it. Accelerating to faster
than light speeds is not instantaneous. Ion
thruster build speed up to the point where the
displacement drive can take over, gradually
propelling starships to several times the speed
of light.
When they were first deployed a hundred
and fifty years ago, FTL engines could impel
a starship such as a Heliades class Space Ex-
ploration Vehicle at 10 to 15 times the speed
of light. Even though modern ships can travel
from 50 to upwards of 700 times FTL (read
more on page 167), that still means it can
take weeks or even years to travel the whole
of chartered space. To complicate matters,
prolonged travel at faster than light speeds
can cause a syndrome in mammals known as
Neurological Distortion Disorder—or the NDDs
for short (see the text to the right). To combat
this and to conserve resources on long trips,
space travelers spend most of their FTL time
in stasis.
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H Y P E R S L E E P I N G W I T H T H E S TA R S
Even before FTL was possible, hypersleep technol-
ogy was in development. As early as the 2020s,
Peter Weyland had ordered his scientists to find
a way to extend life indefinitely. While not exactly
what Weyland had in mind, the resulting technology
was a significant leap forward. The ability to slow a
life-form’s biological processes to a near standstill
was beneficial to both the medical industry and
deep space missions at sublight speeds. When FTL
became a reality, stasis was adapted as a solution to
resource management on space flights.
Hypersleep was soon found to offer other
benefits to man’s health in space. Traveling faster
than the speed of light can have a distortion ef-
fect on human perception. Known as Neurological
Distortion Disorder, this syndrome causes paranoia,
epilepsy, psychotic behavior and other adverse
effects. Worse than that, the faster one travels, the
worse the symptoms. Stasis protects space travelers
from the NDD, with the added benefit of arresting
aging on a cellular level.
T H E S L E E P O F A G E S :
The process of entering
hypersleep involves a mixture of gases and lower-
ing ones temperature significantly. While travelers
are not conscious when in stasis, they can—and are
encouraged to—dream. As brain functions are also
slowed during hypersleep, a single dream can last
months. In fact, an entire industry has been created
to take advantage of this (see page 163). Dreaming
in hypersleep promotes mental health and can help
a body’s natural regenerative healing.
R U L E S :
After a number of days of FTL travel
equal to the FTL rating of the ship (a lower rating
means a faster ship), roll a D6 on the table below.
When the same number of days have passed again,
roll again adding +1 to the roll. Keep rolling with the
same frequency, each time adding an additional +1
to the roll. As stated above, stasis offers protection
from the NDDs, but being abruptly awakened from
hypersleep is dangerous. Disorientation, headaches,
chest pain, and nausea are all common side effects.
While uncommon, some severe cases have resulted
in death. In game terms, a rude awakening from
hypersleep counts as an attack against you rolled
with six Base Dice. Should you be Broken by this
damage, you must make a Death Roll every Turn.
In addition, hypersleep for any length of time
will make you Dehydrated (see page 106). The Hy-
dr8tion drug (see page 137), taken before stasis, will
counteract this effect ■
NEUROLOGICAL DISTORTION DISORDER
ROLL
EFFECT
NO EFFECT.
Yet.
PARANOIA.
You become convinced that someone or something on board the ship is out to
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get you. The effect, which lasts until the FTL travel ends, should be roleplayed.
EPILEPSY.
You suffer episodes of epileptic seizures, that will disable you for a full Turn.
Roll a Stress Die each Shift—rolling a ÅÅ means a seizure occurs.
DEMENTIA.
Your memory is a blank slate. You can no longer recall who you or the other
characters are. The effect lasts for D6 days after the FTL travel ends, and should be role-
played.
12+
PSYCHOSIS.
You must immediately attack the nearest person or creature, friendly or not.
You won’t stop until you or the target is Broken. Every friendly character who witnesses
your rampage must make an immediate Panic Roll.
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GRAVITY DRIVES
Corporate scientists are always working on
advances in FTL technology. A recent devel-
opment operates by generating waves of force
throughout the length of the vessel which
propel it past light speed without the aid of
thrusters. Called Gravity Drives, these systems
create a distortion in space-time, allowing
starships to enter Einsteinian Space—a relative
state of non-existence in the material universe,
allowing ships to travel much faster than con-
ventional FTL. The technology is a giant leap
forward, but the NDDs still require travelers to
enter stasis for prolonged journeys. The de-
tails of this process and the principles behind
it are currently classified by Weyland-Yutani.
Still in experimental trials, Gravity Drives are
mostly unknown on the Frontier, found only
on high-end company yachts and exploration
ships hailing from the Core Systems.
A fortuitous byproduct of the gravity drive
is that the fields generated by it provide pow-
erful protection against ballistic and energy
attacks. Gravity Drives are finely calibrated
and weight sensitive—any unaccounted for
mass aboard a starship utilizing the system
risks severe course deviations.
C H A R T E R E D
Welcome to space. You’re going to die here—and
when that happens, your relatives are going to
need to know where to pick up your body and
whether to burn it or shoot it back into the void.
The star map on the inside covers of this book
shows all of chartered space. The three largest
sections divided by government are the American
Arm of the United Americas, The Anglo-Japanese
Arm of Three World Empire, and the Collectivist
Block of the Union of Progressive Peoples. These
national domains cut through the Core, Veil, Outer
Rim, and Far Reach of known space.
T H E C O R E S Y S T E M S
are those closest to
Earth. They are the most prosperous colonies and
the playground of the elite. The 3WE and ICSC
dominate this region of space.
T H E V E I L :
Outside the core systems is the Veil.
Rich in resources for mining and cultivation, the
colonies of the Veil were terraformed and settled
by the 3WE over a century ago. Since then the
UPP has annexed many worlds here. Vast regions
S P A C E
of space in this region have been stripped bare
and made uninhabitable through unsafe mining
methods performed by both superpowers.
T H E O U T E R R I M :
Beyond the Veil is the Outer
Rim. Out here American and UPP explorers dis-
covered several resource rich planets that could
support human life without terraforming. The Rim
is the outer edge of civilized space.
T H E FA R R E A C H :
Extending from the Ameri-
can Arm of the Outer Rim is the Far Reach. This
area of claimed but mostly uncharted space
stretches through vast areas of the unknown
to a scattered group of terraformed lifeblood
colonies essential to the UA and 3WE. Space
truckers call this string of worlds the Pearl
Necklace.
T H E F R O N T I E R :
Along the edge of explored
space lies the Frontier. It is a free-for-all land of
opportunity constantly expanding the boundaries
of known space. Beyond that lies darkness ■
152

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