Forays in the Future: Seditious Synths (Vault #31)

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In this edition of Forays, our exploration of The Future expansion, we’ll provide 20 plot ideas for the new Encounter Type found in the expansion. Here are your plot ideas for Synths. We can’t wait to see where you take these adventure seeds. Enjoy!

  1. _Esoteric Explorers_ (#Explorers) You’re the first organics encountered by a race built and abandoned long ago. They’d like to examine your “hardware” and “CPU”s.

  2. _Mining the Homeworld_ (#Miners) The glittering skyscrapers of your homeworld’s surface are easily accessible silos of material.

  3. _Nanomission_ (#Nano) The swarm insists they wish to provide us with an upgrade. Some paranoid few fear we won’t be “us” anymore.

  4. _Lockdown_ (#Lockdown) The government has imposed draconian measures in the wake of losing a democratic election. They’ve placed automated turrets and sentries in the streets. Will you fight with the rebels? Even if you don’t, you’ll be forced to venture forth when food supplies dwindle…

  5. _Virus_ (#Virus) Local automated systems have gone haywire in the wake of devilry by the infamous hacker “El Loco Biologico”. You may have to defend yourself from haywire machines, but the surveillance state ensures you’ll be charged for any property damage…

  6. _Proving Grounds_ (#Grounds) Synths on this planet run gladiatorial games where the finest organic specimens are tested. Victory brings freedom and luxury.

  7. _ Synthesized Life_ (#SynthLife) They printed you in a lab in an effort to restore an extinct species. Your masters debate whether you’ll pass the “Turing Test”. Maybe you can do so by escaping…

  8. _Starjackers_ (#Starjack) They’ve come to take our Star and transport it to their home system. The only advantages we have are numbers and desperation.

  9. _Imperators of Order_ (#Imperators) Established to maintain ecological stellar environments, they systematically decimate civilizations that become too aggressive in terraforming systems.

  10. _The Replacements_ (#Replacements) Command has deemed you obsolete. You can consent to experimental cybernetic upgrades or be ‘“retired”, whatever that means. You’ve noted discrepancies in the vidfeeds from Command…are organics still in charge?

  11. _Total War_(#Total) You’re on a diplomatic mission when total war breaks out between your hosts and an unknown species. Whose side do you take? Will the invaders perceive you as hostiles?

  12. _Regrets of the Flesh_ (#Regrets) In the wake of cybernetic replacements, you must contend with phantom limb syndrome and specters of your biological past. * You may choose between a Persona card or a permanent Loot upgrade. If you took the Loot, anytime you’d gain or lose persona, take 1 health damage instead. If you chose Persona, suffer -1 to all rolls whenever Loot is in your inventory.

  13. _Dystopia_ (#Dystopia) As one of the last surviving members of an endangered species, you’ve been deposited on this lush “zoo planet”. Will you accept your imprisonment? Conspire with the other “preserved species”? Will the zookeepers even let you die?

  14. _Belter Brigade_ (#Belter) You help guard the worlds of the inner system by manning an outpost in the asteroid belt. Your sensors have gotten strange readings, and now a cat-and-mouse game with an unknown force is set to ensue amid the debris.

  15. _Omega Watch_ (#Omega) As elite operatives of the Omega Watch, you investigate the worst of threats—anything that’s killed a planet or solar system. Your task is to discover the culprit of such existential threats, then, if the havoc was caused by an intelligent source, ensure culprits are brought to heel or eliminated.

  16. _Unified Field_ (#Field) The successor to cyberspace has been populated by the shades of trillions of organics downloaded before biological death. There are rumors the denizens of the Darkweb may have found a way to merge digital and physical reality using quantum physics. What if they succeed? What if they are wrong?

  17. _Brainjacked_ (#Bjacked) The captain and the rest of the First Contact delegation have returned from a meeting with the Synths. But they’re acting suspiciously. Will you relieve the officers of command? Then what?

  18. _Synthesization_ (#Synth) During combat with Synths you’ve been injected with nanites. You fear your body and mind may not be yours much longer. * During the initial combat, any adventurers who take damage are injected. If their Skill or Persona falls to minimum, the next ability must be played against the best interests of the party.

  19. _Damage Control_ (#Damage) True AI brought unparalleled societal upheaval. As officers in a law enforcement agency, you’ve been partnered with synthetics in a new war on cybercrime. But who is friend and who is foe?

  20. _Infiltration_ (#Infiltration) Vastly outnumbered, you’ve been dropped behind enemy lines with the mission of uploading a quantum virus into the Synth army. If you succeed, you’ll turn the tide of this engagement.

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