Radioglyphs & Talking to Aliens

Tchklinxa's picture
Tchklinxa
December 7, 2013 - 12:52pm
I fell down one of the internet's Rabbit Hole again... and stumbled across "Radioglyphs" and various pulse code languages for communication with E. T. N.  (Extra-Terristrial Neighbors) and this got me thinking. As a hook Radioglyphs could be fun. I honestly do think for game purposes a Ref would not need to learn a code or one of the languages (unless you are slightly addled like me and enjoy torturing yourself with reading, and analysising various lectures) because based on my shallow crash course findings you could go a couple ways for game play...

a) No images just descriptive narrative that the ships' communication array is picking up a weird repeating signal on an archaic communication band, language or code unknown, but when the PC's finally crack the code they realize it is in "radioglyphs". I suggest using the Dah-di-dit type formula in Morse Code if you want to describe what they are hearing or go with repetitive shapes such as square, triangles etc for a visual angle.

b) You could have several prepared pictures, some that are gibberish and some that clearly form images and have structure... I would make the structured pictures first on graph paper, and then do the gibberish pages by just mixing up the same number of graph blocks on a second page. 

c) You could use an existing code or make up your own based on an existing code that you can get info on... the easiest in my opinion to mess with would be Morse or one of it's related foreign codes. You could use the Chinese or Japanese version. 

Anyhow depending on how the PCs do and how you want to use the hook they can get curious and follow the transmission to the adventure without really decoding it or successfully decode portions or all of the message or totally mistranslate something important.

How you use the radioglyphs would be up to you the Ref as far as what race is sending/sent them, or for example are the glyphs part of an archaic navigation system that if decoded opens up to the PCs a whole new (hopefully safe) Jump Way or Ways, or is it a hello, a plea for help, a warning to stay away, the history of a dead race, a SOS of a ship and so on.

So what is a radioglyph? As best I can gather in it's most basic form is a series of short pulses, long pulses and silent pauses that convey math, vocabulary and syntax (first purposed language Astraglossa by Hogben... which is suppose to be based on the Mayan Calendar but seems to me to be Space Morse Code.) In more complicated forms such as Philip Morrison suggested used shapes such as squares and triangles (not a bad idea). In addition a second language is said to have formed called Lincos out of Astraglossa (I have done no in depth research on this language yet or Philip's shape based system.) Keep in mind I am no expert on space transmissions this is my understanding of what few lectures I have read and articles I have found on the net. I am attempting to actually understand Astraglossa based on what I have been able to find on it but I think there are transcription errors in the formulas. Most of the latter ideas that seem to have been used or suggested seem to involve an "easy" math clue that allows the receiver to figure out how to decode the message and get a actual picture (thus the suggested graph paper idea above as many of these space messages finnish with a sort of bit or dot matrix image). The clues have turned out not to be easy, one scientist gave his human peers the message they failed to decode it so I do not think an alien would figure it out either. (I think we actually sent that message into to space if I remember what I read correctly). Apparently the folks coming up with the codes are not following the KISS rule well. Personally I would give the lessons to people without Phds to decode to see if it was indeed simple enough. If a regular person can solve the puzzle then maybe E.T. has I better chance. 

Of interest for Sci-Fi buffs Hogben seems to suggest an Entrance Examination as part of the first lessons... a reoccurring theme in Sci-Fi from aliens to us. He also suggested that the exercise in trying to figure how to communicate with an unknown species and teach them a language, might give us insight into how they would try to do the same. 

My Thoughts on the subject of Astroglossa:
I personally find devising a message that is intended not to be simple as part of your attempt to communicate and teach a language indicates an insincere desire on the part of the sender to be understood. Hogben also seems to jump steps in the learning process that might appear unnecessary to him but are in fact absolutely necessary for teaching and learning.

Hogben also appears to despise people who educate children thus ignores any research on that, felt how adults learn a new language irrelevant, and he made no attempt to consider how other species communicate or inter-species communication occurs and how humans train/teach other species (dogs, horses, birds, seals, dolphins etc all came to my mind). I do not know if other researchers have continued in this vain of thought that pure math with limited learning process is best.  

Seeing how Morse Code is in basic principle similiar to Astraglossa I find it odd there was no mention of it in his work. I investigated how Morse is and was used and for all intents and purposes it has radioglyphs of the sort purposed by Hogben and I am sure a code could be devised to use it to create images as well as purposed by others. Morse further has the advantage of being experiemented with in use for a long period of time. 

Just some thoughts and maybe a fun idea to use in the game.









 "Never fire a laser at a mirror."
Comments:

jedion357's picture
jedion357
December 7, 2013 - 5:16pm
Hhhmmm sounds like a first contact set up. Investigative openning decode the glyphs to locate a system much like the puzzle in tge war machine module.
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

Tchklinxa's picture
Tchklinxa
December 7, 2013 - 7:13pm
I was thinking something like that.

But the glyphs could be more... what if the handshake message is also a virus or an alien navigation aid for ships with damaged navigation systems, so as the PCs are decoding what seems to be a harmless message with the ships computer, a new Navigation system is also being down loaded and when it kicks in the ship goes into auto pilot mode and jumps to who knows where, digital displays turn into alien gibberish, all sorts of systems could be affected. Maybe the Navigation system is so messed up that the ship can no longer handshake UPF or Rim Navigation devices or all records of them are done... no star charts in a code anyone understands. Maybe it's a trap or ancient tech that has been waylaying ships to a long dead system of a long gone culture. 
 "Never fire a laser at a mirror."

Jaxon's picture
Jaxon
December 8, 2013 - 12:00am
nice concept Tch!

jedion357's picture
jedion357
December 8, 2013 - 6:29am
Not sure that the Frontier has a network of nav devices that KHs ships need to hand shake with but I do like the idea of the effort to decode results in a downloaded virus.

As to a virus taking the ship somewhere- it takes time to accel to jump speed and the PCs would reasonably make every effort to shut the engines down manually or if all else fails take to the lifeboats. If the answer to PC efforts is "You cant do that the virus is preventing it" then the players will decide the adventure is a rail road and the fun quotient goes down. If you are going to rail road them into a "troll cave" then don't play it out simply open the session with a 2-3 paragraph discription of the rail road event of decoding the signal and it turned out that it was a virus and it did x & y and now they find themselves in a strange land- they'll understand that they were rail roaded but wont resent it as they didn't play out actions to stop it only to have all their moves and actions were completely ineffectual.

On the other hand...what if the virus was the alien equivalent of a spider's venom. You know, how spiders immobilize prey so they can have their way with them? Virus might even activate radio or subspace radio to call the spider. PCs could of course lobotomize the radio with little more than a bullet in the right spot. If done in time all this does is buy the pc's some time since the "spider" knows that something has entered its web by attempting to decode the signal (feed back carrier wave or some other sci fi explanation for that). So the spider will eventually show up.

Now the viruse could activate the com devices with the only purpose being to trigger a response from the crew with the logical response being to pull the plug on them. It also activates the drive, not to take the ship somewhere but to make the crew think its taking the ship somewhere. They manually cut off the engines. It might also do some other hi-jinks in the same vein. So after all this the PCs have disabled the radio and the engines and the virus has crashed most of the computer core and now the ship is unable to call for help or run away when the spider shows up to collect its victim and the best part is it was the PCs that pulled the plug on the radio and the engines. They can of course undo what they did but that takes time and the "spider" is in the act of collecting the ship.

So where do you go from here? Note the radio glyphs have simply become an adventure hook a pretext for the adventure. Is there something more to them? If the PCs figure something out with them will it open up communication with the "spider"? Does the spider collect the ship and jump back to its layer? Does it begin to take the ship appart, invade it, or otherwise have its way with it in place?

The phsycology of this attack suggests a cautious species to me so I'm favoring the collect the ship and take it back to its layer scenario. This is pretty much the pilot episode of Star Treck Voyager.
That suggests some possibilities:

1. anything and everything ever suggested in a Dragon, Ares, Polyhedron, SFman or Frontier Eplorer magazines can be found there because the PCs have been taken away from what they know and are familiar with to a place where things have been collected from all over the galaxy. Thus they could encounter a mechanon, sathar, zethra, saurian, Races from the Rim and UPF, pirates, zuraquor, and so on. Non KHs deck plans can and should be used. New and strange alien tech should be found.

2. You now are ripping off the Star Trek Voyager series for a campaign idea and over the course of the campaign encounters could result in a zethra or mechanon joining the crew or even some other alien android. Lots of scripts from many of the star trek properties can be raided for plot hooks.

3. The lair of the "spider" should have various damaged ships that will undergo some sort of processing and the PCs ship was just added to the cue. Thus the adventure would then open up into an explore and investigate against a ticking clock. I would thow the PCs one bone: there is a sathar ship in the cue before them. The sathar are famous for self destructing their ships rather than be captured- if they can trigger this at the moment that the sathar ship is about to be processed they could get away. (if the PCs become completely stumped at this point you could just let the sathar ship self destruct and free the PCs as well). There would of course be other paths to escaping processing including brute force by firing guns- maybe an alien hulk in the cue has a really big gun, perhaps the Pcs ship has torpedoes and they finally up plug the torpedo launcher from the main computer, format, reboot, and re-enter the program for the launcher's on mount targeting computer and fire their torpedoes into the heart of the lair.

4. After all of the above you have a sand box game, something new each session
the PCs need to scavenge what they can- plenty of hulks and bitz and pieces laying around but they will need to stop and recharge the LS from time to time so they will be looking to replenish water, O2 ect. (enforce lots of skill checks on the techs and engineer to keep things running)

the astrogator has a mission to figure out where they are. This is likely done by identifiying fixed points in space and doing some math. then doing some more observation to confirm location. Terl Obar might have some ideas on running this.

Then its the voyage home. Fuel is a huge problem. Will the PCs encounter an alien civilization that is advanced enough to help them with fuel? did they recover fuel pellets from a sathar ship and will the engineer be able to do anything with them for the PC's ship? Is the ship powered with ion engines and can it simply replenish its fuel from water? Should the ship actually be a "rock hound" or a mining ship so that the PCs can replenish fuel from comets and other kupier belt objects? What abot food? do they have a hydroponic deck? can they raise some food? expendable munitions will be a problem some you should ensure that the ship has laser weapons. if it has a masking screen the MS charge can be raided LS supplies and on an ION powered ship for fuel.

It certainly needs to be possible for the PCs to return to the Frontier. When and if they do they could become very rich from alien tech collected, accumulated navigation data, and just the story alone are all valuable.

EDIT: who is the "spider"? I was thinking the klikks might be interesting to use for this but also a B5 shadows mish mash with spider creature that is more mystery than anything else would be good.
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

Tchklinxa's picture
Tchklinxa
December 8, 2013 - 9:07am

Jedion357 nice flesh out and good point on the players feeling rail roaded. 

The Spider idea/Voyager-Lost In Space is a really good idea. I am glad this idea has potential for folks, right now I am prepping a game (getting my self up to speed again on the game) but the players have never played SF and 1 never RPG so I am going to work up to Big Ship, first teach the game, introduce them to the known universe first and the first 4 PC races first, but I know eventually they will want to be ship based more as they are all in a Sci-Fi club together. So I will at some point use this hook in some manner.

Radioglyphs as they seem to have developed from straight math code into lets draw a picture could be the space equivalent to "treasure map", so it is conceivable as well that there are fakes that have been collected and sold in known codes in frontier space, but always there is the possibility of someone finding or purchasing a real one that leads some place in an unknown code or known code. You would need I think to introduce the "treasure map" concept casually in some previous adventure, maybe there is an NPC that collects this oddity on the ship or died and his PC shipmates get willed his collection of radiographs, or maybe there is a mining company that is rumored to have hit the mother load by decoding a radioglyph so now every time the PCs make port that is the buzz or other spacers want to know have they heard weird codes in deep dark of space? Not as good as the Spider idea but still a viable bit of spacer lore, black market trade, if you want it to be a one time trip versus new unknown sandbox. 

Or heck maybe a PC or NPC on the ship thinks they will be able to make a few side credits by down loading the signal and selling it at the next Station to someone and that is how all the mayhem starts with the virus leading to the Spider.  Or maybe some rich treasure hunter complete with a vid network making a documentary hires the ship to explore a "decoded" message to a lost colony or ancient alien civilization or a famous lost shipwreck. Can you imagine how much in pain in the ass a network camera crew and egotistical host/reporter and the arrogant rich guy and his "experts" might be even before it all goes pear shaped, but that might be away to get extra equipment onto the ship for latter. 

Can't help but think of Geraldo Rivera (Jerry Rivers) and the whole safe of Al Capone special maybe the PCs just got through hell and back complete with the epic fail on the findings, or H2's Ancient Alien series, the Frontier could have a show like that ("aliens did it") I also seem to remember there was a show on a network that was a ship looking for shipwrecks. Story line wise you could set the PCs up for one type of adventure and then completely redirect to another scenerio, depending on the sort of campaign you want to run. 

This is an actual properly decoded Radioglyph example:

arecibo






 "Never fire a laser at a mirror."

Jaxon's picture
Jaxon
December 8, 2013 - 10:15am
Ok, but the hardest part of the jump is the actual calculations - it takes days. The engine jump is not that hard. 

Suggestion: the computer uses a sub-routine in the Navigation program to calculate the jump coordinates. Allow the Navigator to detect an increased activity in the computer ~ CPU usage. This starts questions as to what happens. You can start the detection with hours left; it started days ago. This will put the fun in it and give the PCs a chance. If they succeed - the spider comes...

"Why did the ship not arrive, Chegatchgook? 
I do not know, Sir. 
Then jump to their coordinates. 
Yes, Sir."

Alternative: A passenger/virus locks the navigation and piloting. The radio is taken out. The ship is on an unknown course.

The ship is heading to a pirate space station. Once it arrives, the airlocks will open and any remaining crew will be boarded and captured as slaves. The ship will be scuttled for parts or resold...idea from Serenity.

Tchklinxa's picture
Tchklinxa
December 8, 2013 - 11:14am
Good point and suggestion for game play Jaxon. Looking at the scenerios for this hook, a big part of the fun would be the PCs trying to puzzle solve, problem solve, stay ahead or play catch-up with program, and use their various skills and running all over the ship.  Basically I want to make sure ships and space stations etc are not just paragraphs or names, but part of the adventures better this time around. (Refed this game last in HS) 
 "Never fire a laser at a mirror."

Jaxon's picture
Jaxon
December 8, 2013 - 5:31pm
Watch Firefly ~ E6, "Our Mrs Reynolds"
The first part is about Mal getting married. The second part takes about bushwacking a freighter. 
I hope this helps. 

TerlObar's picture
TerlObar
December 8, 2013 - 8:02pm
Some great ideas here.  I'm in fact planning on using the ideas of a mysterious message in a scene in the sequel to my Discovery book.  I've been thinking about this for a while.

Personally, I don't think I could bring myself to use the "downloaded virus" angle, however.  I just don't see a way for an alien civilization, that doesn't know about the Frontier, to beam a signal that if processed would turn into a virus on the Frontier's computers.  Maybe the Sathar could.  But I don't see it happening for a completely new race. 

Look at computers today.  Write a virus for Windows and it won't run on a Mac or Linux.  Write one for Mac and it won't run on the other two.  And those are all operating systems running on the same hardware and written by the same race.  Now you're looking at completely different hardware and a completely differet intelligence, the chance of it being compatable are effectively zero. 

Plus the Frontier computers, if you go the spirit of the canon description, are as much hardware based as software.  You still write programs but there is a hardware component that goes with it.  That probably makes it more difficult for a virus situation.  If I were to use the virus idea, it would almost have to the sathar.  They've been studying the Frontier for decades and could probably come up with something, but I don't think it would be something completely alien.

That radioglyph Tchklinxa posted is one of the early ones beamed out by SETI back in the 70's.  I also like the glyph we sent out on the Voyagers.  It was an image etched into the gold record.  The image was spectra of various stars near the earth with the length and direction of the spectra relative to the center point was related to the distance and direction of that star to earth.  Thus if you could identify those stars and match their spectra, it is a map back to earth.  Of course that's how the Psyclos in Battlefield Earth found us and took over the planet Smile.
Ad Astra Per Ardua!
My blog - Expanding Frontier
Webmaster - The Star Frontiers Network & this site
Founding Editor - The Frontier Explorer Magazine
Managing Editor - The Star Frontiersman Magazine

TerlObar's picture
TerlObar
December 8, 2013 - 8:07pm
Also, you typically have a lot of Life Support on the ship to begin with.  A standard life support system refill lasts 200 days (half a year).  If you have a backup, you've got another 200 days.  And that assumes you've got a crew big enough to max it all out.  If your life support is rated for 12 and you've only got a crew of 8, they you've 50% more available and those 200 days last 300.  You'd still have to find resupply but it wouldn't be dire straights right off the bat.
Ad Astra Per Ardua!
My blog - Expanding Frontier
Webmaster - The Star Frontiers Network & this site
Founding Editor - The Frontier Explorer Magazine
Managing Editor - The Star Frontiersman Magazine

jedion357's picture
jedion357
December 8, 2013 - 11:25pm
The time on the LS is good- its a problem you have to get around to, fuel and ammo is almost certainly to be mission critical soonest.

What if the virus is actually an AI that invades the computer system?

Good point on the hardware component of SF computers.
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

Tchklinxa's picture
Tchklinxa
December 9, 2013 - 5:54am
Well the ship would have to resupply that is a given.

Options:
1) Scavenging
2) Back hole dying colonies
3) Jerry Rigging from stuff on board
4) New Races & Places with tech good enough to be useful

5) If the ship's crew can get some sort of plant life growing it might actually help with LS at least atmospher wise.

 "Never fire a laser at a mirror."

iggy's picture
iggy
December 9, 2013 - 10:21pm
This has me pondering about how the humans first contacted the vrusk.  They started broadcasting their presence via sub-space and the vrusk heard them.  What were the humans broadcasting?  Who else heard it?  Where else did the humans go?  Who else came to visit?  Where the other races of the frontier, vrusk, dralasite, and yazirian interested in doing the same thing?  Are the humans still braodcasting?
-iggy

jedion357's picture
jedion357
December 10, 2013 - 7:56am
iggy wrote:
This has me pondering about how the humans first contacted the vrusk.  They started broadcasting their presence via sub-space and the vrusk heard them.  What were the humans broadcasting?  Who else heard it?  Where else did the humans go?  Who else came to visit?  Where the other races of the frontier, vrusk, dralasite, and yazirian interested in doing the same thing?  Are the humans still braodcasting?
Canon statements suggest that a vrusk mining colony /concern discovered the dralasites. This would excite them about the possibilities of interstellar exploration and cause them to pay eveb more attention to it IMO. So at the time of first contact with humans they would be actively looking and already have experience.
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

Jaxon's picture
Jaxon
December 10, 2013 - 12:42pm
Well Terl, look at Transformers - a race from a different planet created a virus that invaded a human system. If it had a living algorithem then it would be possible...like a living communication or program. It adapts itself to its victim. 

KRingway's picture
KRingway
December 10, 2013 - 2:10pm
Zeb's Guide, (if I remember it correctly), mentions the mysterious Tetrarch Society/Societies that vanished in the distant past before the Frontier was ever established. Perhaps they've left behind 'markers' as a paper trail to their route into uncharted space?

I mention this as a source of a plot device as I've used it a few times in homebrew adventures for my SF players. Well, by that I mean that the players discovered the remains of things that were left behind. I sort of took my cue from the backstory in 'Sundown On Starmist'.

Abub's picture
Abub
December 10, 2013 - 3:15pm
You could try to get the PC's to inadvertantly help the tranmission's AI get seated into thier systems by making the early attempts at decoding the message basically clear that it is some AI that appears is meant as a freindly first contact ambassador?   Paradnoid PCs would probably go to extreem lengths to try and issolate the program somehow (in disconnected systems or something).


-----------------------------------------------

jedion357's picture
jedion357
December 10, 2013 - 6:15pm
The breadcrumb markers left by the tetrarch may not be to where they went or anyplace nice ;)
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

Jaxon's picture
Jaxon
December 10, 2013 - 10:37pm
It could be where they came from...

Tchklinxa's picture
Tchklinxa
December 12, 2013 - 7:28pm
Good points... 

Do you guys consider "transit boxes" to be actual navigation aids or just a game term for playing purposes of moving ships about? The reason I ask is if transit boxes are physical game technology then they act as navigation buoy and could be tampered with, could be found, and an alien transit box could accidentally cause problems. 

Also a probe broadcasting back a message it had recieved, I believe one real contact aliens idea was to send out probes to systems and listen, then if they heard something they would send the message home and begin resending the recieved message back to source. So what if an alien civilization had done that but the message they recieved and resent was to end in disaster, and now PC/s pick it up and start following it from system to system of lifeless attacked worlds and destroyed cities, who destroyed them why, and having stumbled on the message is the Frontier next, is there something scarrier then Sathar?




 "Never fire a laser at a mirror."

TerlObar's picture
TerlObar
December 12, 2013 - 8:28pm
I consider the transit boxes on the second sathar war game board to just be a game aid to help in tracking time.  Actual navigation is just acceleration out and back and it's different every time as the planets and stars move in their orbits, thus the calculations have to be redone for each jump.  (e.g. the sun is orbiting the galactic center at ~250 km/s.  Thus after a single day, it has moved about 21.5 million kilometers from where it was the day before.  Wait a tenday and it's moved about 215 million kilometers).

Some people like the idea of beacons and navigation relays but I personally don't use them as they would always be changing.

As to something scarier than the Sathar, of course there is.  Why do you think the sathar are pushing into Frontier.  They're running (slowly) from something.  Smile  Or at least, that's one take you can have on it.  Personally, I've never given it much thought as there is plenty to do in the existing setting without adding in more.
Ad Astra Per Ardua!
My blog - Expanding Frontier
Webmaster - The Star Frontiers Network & this site
Founding Editor - The Frontier Explorer Magazine
Managing Editor - The Star Frontiersman Magazine

Jaxon's picture
Jaxon
December 14, 2013 - 3:37pm
I believe that is just the way the Sathar are. I am designing another race, to use a small piece of them in an adventure, and their mentality is similiar.

"Your planet has water in liquid form. We need water in liquid form. = We are going to take your planet - no discussion and no survivors!" end of subject.

Sometimes, there are things in life that cannot be reasoned with - not always but, sometimes.

jedion357's picture
jedion357
December 14, 2013 - 6:53pm
Jaxon wrote:
I believe that is just the way the Sathar are. I am designing another race, to use a small piece of them in an adventure, and their mentality is similiar.

"Your planet has water in liquid form. We need water in liquid form. = We are going to take your planet - no discussion and no survivors!" end of subject.

Sometimes, there are things in life that cannot be reasoned with - not always but, sometimes.


I'm glad you mentioned that, I've been thinking about this for a while and started a thread on building a baddie alien for SF here:
http://www.starfrontiers.us/node/7907
In the Alien Workshop project
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

rattraveller's picture
rattraveller
December 14, 2013 - 7:24pm
There is one series of stories I read in Analog about a race of beings who were anti-life. The evolutionary idea is that they evolved on a planet with so many predators they had to adopt a kill'em all life strategy which lead once they developed intelligence to destroy all life we find mentality. They care so little for life that killing themselves is no big problem. Reproduction was more of an in heat do it and forget it kinda deal absolutely ZERO romance.

Kinda think of the Sathar like that.

Or the genetically created warrior race of the real terror using them to weaken the Frontier and allowing the real terror colonize worlds with no competition.
Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go?

jedion357's picture
jedion357
December 14, 2013 - 7:44pm
yeah I dont see much in the way of romance for sathar, though we did discuss an aberant behavior on the part of some of the sathar involving sucking the fluids out of another being. which inspired the following picture which I still find creepy. The bottom line, doing this activity is considered abberant by the bulk of sathar society it must hold some attraction to those that do it- perhaps along the lines of an addiction to a drug. So while not really a romantic feeling it would involve something that would be a feeling, possibly pleasurable.

I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

bossmoss's picture
bossmoss
December 15, 2013 - 1:01am
Um... ew.

Tchklinxa's picture
Tchklinxa
December 15, 2013 - 9:07am
Maybe they scare other Sathar. 

Bob the Sathar was always the quite one, all the other Sathar said, "We never knew, he seemed so normal." But today the police discovered husks of aliens and other Sathar in his basement...  


 "Never fire a laser at a mirror."

Jaxon's picture
Jaxon
December 15, 2013 - 9:48am
SWEET! Plot twist - what if one Sathar pervert becomes a hermit on a planet and the PCs run into them. Let's say he rescues them. He does not go with them because he knows of the self-destruct hypnotism, so he just leaves and stays on the isolated moon. 

It could be a contact for them later. 

"S'thra, this is Bazil. We are coming down to visit in 2 hours. We have those fish you asked for...why do the Sathar have different tattoos. We saw two kinds - these and these. What are they?"

He would not give out sensitive info but, general stuff...for a PRICE!

"Did you get that bottle of K'aken-Kar wine, a human female, etc?" (the slaves would be a moral issue.)

Maybe he has a problem...a Sathar Destroyer shows up looking for him. The PCs need to sneak him out to another moon, loan him a shuttle and cover him or something.

What if the PCs are tailed? If it is determined that they are traitors?