Random Encounters: The Undersea City

Three-fourths of Earth's surface is covered by ocean, so it seems almost inevitable that people will someday try to live in the sea. This undersea city is funded by the inevitable eccentric billionaire, but is at least intended to become a self-sustaining, economically viable settlement. It's built in the shallow water atop an undersea plateau in the Indian Ocean, southeast of the Seychelles and due west from Diego Garcia. The city consists of a dozen large steel domes linked by travel tubes, with submarine docks, powerplants, and industrial facilities. Food comes from the sea itself.

ENCOUNTERS IN THE UNDERSEA CITY

(Roll d20 when moving, d10 when stationary.)

1. Roll twice and combine
2. Plot advancing encounter: Someone or something connected to the reason you've come to the Undersea City.
3. Crabs:Instead of rats, the undersea city is infested by crabs. Individually they're harmless and kind of cute, but sometimes they gather into a swarm of dozens of individuals, and can do real harm to an unwary visitor.
4. The Mosasquid: A bizarre hybrid of extinct reptile and giant cephalopod, the Mosasquid is huge, powerful, tentacled, and has human-level intelligence. Good thing it's kept inside an escape-proof enclosure.
5. Mystery: What do the strange symbols written in squid ink mean?
6. Researcher: Smart, enthusiastic, and a little naive. The Researcher will happily talk about the important scientific work going on in the undersea city, even though some of it is supposed to be secret.
7. Security: 1d4 security guards who seem to be trying to keep you out of a particular area. Inside the habitats they carry tasers, but out in the ocean they're armed with spear guns.
8. Sentient Dolphins: 1-4 dolphins with human-level intelligence and strap-on robot arms for manipulating objects.
9. Shark! Inside the city habitat sections it's a leopard shark or hammerhead in a laboratory tank. Outside, it's a great white attracted by the city's growing herds of fish.
10. Storm: The surface is lashed by high winds and heavy rain, but down here the water is calm. It does mean that nobody can leave via surface ship or aircraft for 1d12 hours.
11. Archaeological Site: In a realistic setting this is an ancient shipwreck being carefully studied. But it could be something stranger, like a sunken Lemurian city or even alien artifacts.
12. Davy Jones's Locker: Forget the fancy pubs catering to rich tourists. This rough dive is where the fish-herders and manganese miners hang out. You can find some of the best sub pilots in the ocean here, but watch your back.
13. Flood! There's been a hull breach in this compartment and the sea is surging in. Automatic doors slam shut — can you get out in time?
14. Moon Pool: This is an entry and exit point where divers and minisubs can leave the city.
15. Octopus: It's cleverly camouflaged and almost impossible to spot until it lunges out to grab prey. This could even happen in the air-filled sections of the city.
16. Pursuers: Roll again to see who's stalking you.
17. Strange Sighting: You could have sworn you saw a human swimming outside with no air tanks or diving gear. But that's impossible . . . isn't it?
18. Trap! Inside the city it's a knockout-gas bomb. Out in the ocean it's a forest of bioengineered kelp with sticky strands that trap the unwary.
19. Workshop: The grouchy technician who keeps the whole city running works here. There are tools and materials to fix or build just about anything.
20. Tracks or Traces: Roll again to see what left signs behind.

SITUATIONS IN THE UNDERSEA CITY

(Roll 1d6, then roll on the above table to see who and what is 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

REACTION TABLE

(Roll 2d6, applying bonuses or penalties based on the circumstances.)

2-3: Immediate attack!

4-5: Unfriendly

6-8: Neutral

9-10: Friendly

11-12: Very Friendly