Random Encounters: The Floating City

Akmon is a city of a million people floating in the hazy blue-green atmosphere of Uranus. The city's held aloft by a ten-kilometer balloon made of diamond, filled with hydrogen superheated by a fusion powerplant which doubles as an artificial Sun. Akmon serves as a hub for atmosphere mining, a base for airships hunting the genetically-engineered skyrays and sky jellys that live among the methane clouds, and a center for scientific research. The inhabitants are a mix of humans, intelligent rats and corvids, and mechanicals. Administration is by a Senate of both biological and artificial intelligences, rife with factional intrigue and occasional violence.

ENCOUNTERS IN THE FLOATING CITY

Roll 1d20 when moving around the city, 1d10 when stationary.

1. Roll twice and combine
2. Cleaning Swarm: 3d6 small cleaning bots swarm through the area where the player characters are, removing any unattended small items and destroying all tracks or evidence of anything.
3. Drug-seller: Skeerit, Rat smuggler selling nanotech love potion. There's a 50 percent chance it's a fraud.
4. Ghost Image: Someone has set up a hologram of a dead political leader accusing rivals of murder and appealing for revenge.
5. Nosy AI: One of the artificial intelligences in the Senate has become interested in the player characters and what they're up to.
6. Obsessed Skyray-Hunter: Habba, a grizzled old human gathering crew to hunt a legendary giant skyray.
7. Plot advancing encounter: Someone or something related to the reason the characters have come to Uranus in the first place.
8. Rude Mechanicals: A group of 2d6 mechs who have leased your room to use as rehearsal space for a play. They won't leave, and will begin their rehearsal even if you're still around.
9. Storm! The city is rocked by one of Uranus's rare cyclones. Shuttle traffic shuts down and everyone is distracted by watching the lightning outside.
10. Vengeful Raven: Aarak Araa, Corvid ex-Senator recruiting followers to help regain power.
11. Assassins: A band of 1d6 hired rat thugs lying in wait for a member of a rival political faction (roll again to see who).
12. Bat-Bandits!: 2d6 rats wearing wing-suits who rob people quickly and then fly off. They are armed with stun-wands.
13. Fugitive Rebels: A group of rebels involved in an off-world conflict, looking for someone who can help them repair and rearm their ship.
14. Hydrogen Leak! The outer shell of the city is leaking, and hydrogen gas is getting in. Anything involving fire or energy weapons will set off an explosion.
15. Identical Clone: The duplicate of someone the characters have already encountered (roll again to see who). The clone has just arrived in town and has no idea who the characters are or what is going on.
16. Rescue Hangar: An emergency rescue station staffed by 1d6 skilled medical rescue flyers wearing jet wingsuits.
17. Riot! The street is crowded with angry supporters of one Senate faction. They'll assume anyone who isn't part of their faction is an enemy. A clever persuader might be able to target 2d6 rioters at a particular person or location.
18. Skyray-Hunter Hangout: A teashop catering to skyray-hunters. After a voyage in bitterly-cold winds under a starless sky, the hunters enjoy their downtime in a cosy setting with plenty of hot tea and sugary baked goods. Anyone who calls the decor "twee" is looking for a fight. Nevertheless, this place is home to some of the best atmosphere pilots on the planet.
19. Trap! Some high-tech prankster has put up an abstract image which hacks the visual cortex of any chordate organism who looks at it, causing blindness and paralysis for 1d6 minutes.
20. Tracks: Roll again to see what left traces for the characters to find.

SITUATIONS IN THE FLOATING CITY

Roll 1d6 for each situation, and use the table above to see who's involved.

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