Random Encounters: The Golden Age of Deimos

In the 22nd Century, Deimos is the Solar System's hub of trade and finance. Linked to Mars by an orbital elevator, and occupying an enviable position requiring very little energy expenditure to reach both Earth orbit and the outer planets, Deimos is fantastically rich. Its wealth draws in talented people from across the Solar System — and opportunists hoping to siphon off a little of that wealth for themselves. The tightly-knit Deimos Community tolerates outsiders as long as they remember they are temporary guests, and ignores any behavior which doesn't threaten the safety or profits of the Community's members.

  ENCOUNTERS INSIDE DEIMOS

(Roll 1d20 when moving around inside Deimos, 1d10 when stationary.)

1. Roll Twice and Combine.
2. Plot-Advancing Encounter: Something related to whatever caused you to visit Deimos.
3. Gene-Collector: The Deimos Community is always working to improve its genome, and you've gained a reputation as a person of unusual qualities. The gene-collector would like a sample of your genetic material in exchange for a small fee. She won't give up easily.
4. Meteor Strike! Something big just hit Deimos — alarms are going off, all the pressure doors are sealed shut, and emergency crews are rushing to stop leaks and repair damage. Wherever you are, you're stuck there for a while.
5. Micromegas: An android body controlled by the artificial superintelligence which runs all of Deimos's systems. It can answer any questions, but will probably learn as much as it tells.
6. Military Contractors: Better known as mercenaries, these are the people who run the robots that fight Deimos's commercial wars across the Solar System. They are smart and tech-savvy, but without power armor are no tougher than anyone else.
7. Recruiter: Deimos always needs operatives, agents, and military contractors to go off across the Solar System to do the dirty jobs the Community requires. Are you in?
8. Security Drone: No bigger than a hummingbird, it's keeping an eye on you.
9. Space Squid: Genetically-modified squids patrol Deimos's zero-gravity environment, grabbing trash, hunting vermin, and cleaning every surface. But this one seems to be following you around.
10. Swindler: A temporary resident with a sure-fire business venture that just needs a little liquid capital to launch. The only thing being launched is the swindler, on the next Cycler ship to Earth.
11. Art Project: A surreal nightmare come to life, this edgy artwork could easily be mistaken for a deathtrap, an attack, or a supernatural occurrence.
12. Deimos Community Members: They act like they own the place, because they do. All are physically-perfect geniuses, shareholders in the wealthiest enterprise in human history. If they want something from you, they'll get it.
13. Flood! A twenty-meter globule of water got loose from one of the reservoirs, and now it's wobbling slowly through the corridors and open spaces of Deimos. It fills narrow passages, and in large open areas it's a floating sphere. People or objects may be swept along inside.
14. Holdouts: Some temporary residents try to stay beyond their allowed visit. Living in hiding, surviving on the underground economy, they are ripe for exploitation and quickly become ruthless survivors. You're either prey, or a rival.
15. Hopeful Applicant: A smart, talented, or physically-perfect individual who has crossed millions of miles of space to get here, and hopes to get accepted as a permanent member of the Deimos Community. He'll do anything to be accepted.
16. Martians: Deimos has their world on a string, and they aren't happy about it. These Martian guest-workers are feeling exploited and angry, and could easily be recruited for anything which will piss off the Deimos Community.
17. No Visitors: The area you're trying to enter is off-limits to anyone who isn't a member of the Deimos Community. If you go in anyway, polite but implacable robots will remove you.
18. Strangers' Club: A saloon catering to off-worlders and outsiders — though there's always a few Community members "slumming." Anything goes here, and usually does.
19. Vacant Sector: A series of tunnels and spherical caverns ready for the Community's next expansion. Lighting is dim and scattered, the air is stale — and there are no security monitors watching.
20. Tracks/Aftermath: Reroll to see what you just missed.

SITUATIONS INSIDE DEIMOS

(Roll 1d6 to see what the situation is, then roll on the table above to find out who the parties involved are.)

1. A desires B
2. A wants to capture B
3. A wants B dead
4. A wants to go somewhere
5. A wants to solve a mystery
6. A wants X

If you like stories which aren't set inside Deimos, check out my ebooks Outlaws and Aliens and Monster Island Tales!