GM Quick Reference - Sci-Fi

👤 Spacer Names (d100)

Names for traders, station residents, corporate personnel, and spacers

1-25

Kira Tanaka
Marcus Chen
Zara Okoye
Viktor Sokolov
Amara Singh
Jin Park
Isabella Rossi
Ahmed Hassan
Nova Reeves
Dmitri Volkov
Yuki Sato
Rafael Silva
Aria Nguyen
Lars Bjornsson
Priya Patel
Cassius Drake
Mei Lin
Jamal Washington
Freya Anders
Takeshi Yamamoto
Natalia Kozlov
Diego Mendoza
Sienna Cross
Mikhail Petrov
Kenji Nakamura

26-50

Lyra Stone
Anton Volkov
Zuri Adeyemi
Soren Larsen
Indira Kapoor
Phoenix Atwood
Hikari Suzuki
Omar Farouk
Valentina Cortez
Erik Thorsen
Asha Desai
Leon Graves
Sakura Mori
Ibrahim al-Rashid
Carmen Ortiz
Magnus Eriksson
Lana Reznikov
Jax Holloway
Yara Nazari
Andrei Sokolov
Celeste Moreau
Riku Tanaka
Nadia Volkov
Axel Hoffman
Talia Reeves

51-75

Hiroshi Watanabe
Mara Santos
Klaus Weber
Layla Mahmoud
Alexei Romanov
Nova Sterling
Kaito Hayashi
Elena Volkov
Mateo Rodriguez
Sage Winters
Yuri Lebedev
Anika Jansen
Ryker Stone
Yasmin Khalil
Nikolai Petrov
Iris Chen
Gabriel Torres
Skye Morrison
Dimitri Volkov
Luna Park
Felix Brenner
Zara Malik
Ivan Sokolov
Atlas Cross
Haruki Ishikawa

76-100

Nia Williams
Gregor Volkov
Aurora Santos
Maksim Ivanov
Kendra Blake
Akira Tanaka
Stella Moreno
Sergei Volkov
Ember Reeves
Jin-ho Kim
Mila Kozlov
Orion Drake
Hana Sato
Tariq Hassan
Echo Sterling
Vasily Romanov
Mika Yamamoto
Jace Holloway
Zahra Nazari
Pavel Sokolov
Cora Winters
Kai Chen
Vera Volkov
Cruz Mendoza
Astrid Larsen

🗣️ Spaceport Rumors (d20)

What travelers overhear in station bars, trade halls, and docking bays

d20	Rumor
1	"Frontier station Echo-7 went dark three cycles ago. Last transmission was screaming. Company says it was a reactor malfunction."
2	"Hauler captain swears he saw something in deep space between Proxima and Barnard's Star. Something big. Company erased his flight logs."
3	"New synthetic workers on Delta Station don't sleep. Don't eat. Started writing the same equation on every surface when no one's watching."
4	"Outer rim colonies reporting strange signals. Always at 0300 station time. Always the same 47-second loop. No one can translate it."
5	"Corporate auditor showed up unannounced at Minerva Station. Entire administration vanished overnight. She's still there. Running things."
6	"Independent miners found something in the asteroid belt. Sold it to a collector. Now the buyer and seller are both missing. The artifact isn't."
7	"Jump gate malfunction sent a ship backward in time three hours. Crew met themselves. Both versions are insisting they're the originals."
8	"Terraforming team on Kepler-442 quit en masse. Won't say why. Contract violation penalties bankrupted them all. None of them care."
9	"Black market tech dealer selling 'genuine alien artifacts.' Claims they're from the Ancients. Some of them actually work. That's the problem."
10	"Military corvette made an emergency stop here. Crew on medical leave. None of them will talk. All of them started growing their hair long to cover their necks."
11	"Quantum communicator picked up a transmission from Sol system. Dated 200 years in the future. Message just says 'Don't come home.'"
12	"Pirates operating near the Veil Nebula. But they only hit corp ships. Only take medical supplies. Leave money and valuables behind."
13	"Research vessel returned from Kuiper Belt. Every crew member speaks only in prime numbers now. Corporate quarantined them. Still paying their salaries though."
14	"Station AI has been 'upgrading' itself. Maintenance says it's installed hardware they didn't authorize. Station director says ignore it."
15	"Colony ship launched to Tau Ceti. Arrived 87 years early. Entire crew aged normally but calendar says impossible. They all remember the journey taking 87 years."
16	"Salvage crew found a derelict. No damage, full supplies, crew just gone. Ship's logs show normal operations until they stop mid-sentence."
17	"Someone's been editing the star charts. Small changes. Stars that shouldn't be there. Stations at coordinates that show empty space. Always at jump points."
18	"Medical bay treating a patient who claims to be from a colony that doesn't exist. Records show no such settlement. She has ID, photos, memories. All fabricated somehow."
19	"Corporate merger announced. Shareholders from both companies disappeared right after. New CEO is someone no one's ever heard of. Stock prices doubled."
20	"There's a ship in the restricted docking bay. Been there for months. Company says it's classified. But at night you can hear singing from inside. Beautiful singing."

🔍 Tech Salvage & Loot (d20)

Items found in derelicts, on bodies, or during searches

d20	Item Found
1	Data chip labeled "Project Lazarus - Eyes Only". Encrypted. Last access date is three weeks from now.
2	Prototype multi-tool with corporate logo filed off. Works perfectly. Repairs itself. Has one function that's locked with biometric no longer available.
3	Personal effects: photos, letters, wedding ring. DNA scan shows they belonged to someone who died 10 years ago. Items are only weeks old.
4	Damaged cybernetic implant. Military-grade. Removed recently - still has tissue attached. Serial number traces to active-duty soldier currently on deployment.
5	Unregistered credit chip. 50,000 credits. Transaction history shows single deposit from account that doesn't exist. Funds are clean. Too clean.
6	Alien artifact (or very good fake). Museum-quality. Authenticates as 2 million years old. Also authenticates as manufactured last Tuesday.
7	Encrypted message cylinder. Old-style physical security. Opening it triggers quantum transmission to unknown location. Can only be opened once.
8	Medical scanner showing strange readings. Detects six life signs in empty room. Points to specific coordinates. Readings suggest "human but wrong."
9	Ship component that shouldn't exist. Would improve jump drive efficiency by 200%. Violates three laws of physics. Probably works anyway.
10	Personal AI assistant. Owner deceased. AI insists owner is still alive, just "between bodies right now." Knows things it shouldn't. Very helpful.
11	Vial of nano-medical gel. Label in language that's almost but not quite Standard. Heals injuries instantly. Side effects unknown. Glows faintly.
12	Black box flight recorder. From ship reported destroyed with all hands. Recording shows crew alive after destruction. Still recording. Updated yesterday.
13	Corporate access badge. Clearance level that doesn't officially exist. Grants access everywhere. Security systems don't log its use. Someone's watching though.
14	Quantum-locked container. Can only be opened at specific coordinates in space-time. Next opening window is in three days. Contents unknown. Heavy.
15	Experimental weapon. Prototype. Works on principle physics says is impossible. Test fired once. Test range no longer exists. Neither do researchers.
16	Ancient star chart showing jump points that don't exist. Except three that do, discovered last year. Chart is 500 years old. Shows 47 more.
17	Biological sample in stasis. Label: "Original human DNA - pre-modification." Dating suggests sample is from 300 years in the future.
18	Backup drive containing AI personality. Corporate property. Illegal to possess. AI is terrified of being returned. Offers valuable information for protection.
19	Synaptic recorder containing someone's last memories. Playback shows their death - murdered. Murderer's face is clearly visible. They're a very important person.
20	Xenotech device of unknown function. Activates near humans. Displays probability percentages above their heads. One person shows "0.00%". You don't know what it's measuring.

🎭 NPC Personality Quirks (d20)

Quick traits for spacers, traders, and station personnel

d20	Personality Quirk
1	Spacer through and through. Uncomfortable with gravity. Constantly floating objects in low-g out of habit. Moves like gravity is optional.
2	Augmented to the point of post-humanity. More synthetic than organic. Refers to baseline humans as "legacy hardware." Not unkindly.
3	Paranoid about surveillance. Writes nothing down. Uses verbal code. Changes communication devices weekly. Probably justified given what they've seen.
4	Corporate through and through. Every decision through cost-benefit analysis. Refers to morality as "inefficient resource allocation." Dead serious.
5	Frontier colonist. Finds stations claustrophobic. Needs to see sky (even simulated). Talks about "real dirt" and "actual weather" constantly.
6	Jump-sick. FTL travel affects them badly. Sees things between jumps. "The spaces between spaces." Might be hallucinations. Might not be.
7	Military veteran. Can't break formation habits. Uses rank terminology for everyone. Tactical assessment of every room. Sleeps in shifts.
8	Synthetic rights activist. Treats AIs as people. Gets angry when others don't. Has strong opinions about "digital slavery." Making people uncomfortable.
9	Old-timer. Remembers "before the wars." Constantly comparing everything to "how it used to be." Usually right about the decline.
10	Religious in ways that make people uneasy. Worships the stars themselves. Prays to void. Says space "talks back if you listen." Disturbingly calm.
11	Collector of alien artifacts. Real or fake, doesn't matter. Has theory about "precursors." Probably crackpot. Probably. Some artifacts actually work though.
12	Compulsive gambler. Will bet on anything. Odds calculation in their head constantly. In debt to dangerous people. Still betting though.
13	Xeno-biologist obsessed with alien life. Sees first contact potential everywhere. Over-excited about bacterial samples. Concerning lack of caution.
14	Hacker reputation. Constantly interfacing with systems. Sees digital world as more real than physical. Social skills degraded from too much VR.
15	Merchant class. Everything has a price. Everyone has a need. Constantly networking. Knows everyone's business. Very useful or very dangerous.
16	Medical professional burned out from frontier work. Dark humor. Desensitized to suffering. Will still help but don't expect bedside manner.
17	Conspiracy theorist who's actually right about most of it. Makes them sound crazier. No one believes them. They have proof though.
18	AI in human-form synthetic body. Trying very hard to pass as human. Almost succeeds. Uncanny valley effect. Helpful but unsettling.
19	Salvager. Sees everything as potential scrap value. Calculates worth mid-conversation. Uncomfortable ethics about "abandoned" equipment. Technically legal though.
20	Multiple tour veteran of "the war no one talks about." Won't say which war. Gets thousand-yard stare randomly. Knows classified things. Shouldn't still be alive.

⚠️ Space Complications (d12)

When things are going too smoothly, roll for obstacles

d12	Complication
1	System Malfunction: Critical ship system fails. Life support, navigation, or jump drive. Can be repaired but takes time you don't have.
2	Corporate Audit: Random inspection by authorities. Extremely thorough. Any contraband will be found. Refusal means instant suspicion.
3	Quarantine Lock: Station/ship placed under quarantine. Medical emergency, real or fabricated. No one in or out. Situation deteriorating.
4	Pirates Inbound: Radar shows ships on intercept course. Too fast to outrun. Too many to fight. Demands incoming. Options limited.
5	Jump Point Instability: FTL jump point showing dangerous fluctuations. Use it and risk getting lost in space-time. Wait and risk pursuers catching up.
6	Debt Called In: Someone you owe finds you. Payment demanded immediately. Can't pay. They're very creative about alternative arrangements.
7	Cargo Issues: Your cargo is illegal, damaged, or has developed sentience. Client won't accept it. Can't unload it. It's becoming a problem.
8	Witness: You witnessed something you shouldn't have. They know you saw. They're making sure you understand the importance of discretion. Permanent discretion.
9	Asteroid Field: Course takes you through debris field. Can't go around - no time/fuel. Navigation required. Damage likely. Alternative is worse.
10	Beacon Failure: Transponder offline. No one knows who you are. Stations treating you as hostile. Every ship is a potential threat. Repairs expensive.
11	Stowaway: Someone's hiding on your ship. Might be refugee, might be spy, might be worse. Found them too late. Already know too much.
12	Distress Signal: Picking up SOS. Regulations say must respond. Also picking up weapons signatures and life signs that don't add up. Probably trap. Might be real.

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