This is a list of Humanx adventure seeds derived from the wonderful article "RPG plots" by S. John Ross .
Any Old Port in a Blizzard
The PCs are seeking shelter from a snow storm on the planet TranKyKy, and come across a potential place to hole up: apparently a scientific outpost . They find that they have stumbled across something dangerous and secret : a criminal organization determined to sell high tech weapons to an indigenous tribe of Tran. the PCs must then deal with it in order to enjoy a little rest.
Twists & Themes : The shelter contains the cause of the threat the PCs were trying to avoid ( criminals use a storm generator device to hide their operations). The PCs must not only struggle for shelter, they must struggle to survive ( weapons smugglers are not friendly...). The place IS a legitimate shelter of some kind ( it's a United Church intelligence base disguised as a criminal base, mission: to capture REAL weapons smugglers), but the PCs are not welcome, and must win hearts or minds to earn their bed for the night. (you can use Kitten Kai-Sung as PC or NPC ).Better Late Than Never
Drallar, capital of the planet Moth: Some bad guys ( Aann ) have arrived and done some bad guy things ( stolen blueprints of a new S.C.C.A.M. missile ) . The PCs ( U.C. secret or security agents ? ) were none the wiser. The bad guys have now made good their escape, and the PCs have caught wind of it in time to chase them down before they make it back to their empire.
Twists & Themes: The bad guys escaped by stealing a conveyance ( the starship of one of the PCs!) that the PCs know better than they do,( maybe the ship's computer will still work for the PCs ). The bad guys duck down a metaphorical (or literal) side-road, trying to hide or blend into an environment (often one hostile to the PCs) ( Aann fugitives could hide on a hot and desert planet similar to their homeworld, if the PCs reach them).Breaking and Entering
PCs are peacekeepers or mercenaries; mission objective: enter the Qwarm base on Moth, and retrieve the only Hyperion tree seeds still existing ( from Hyperion trees derives the infamous drug Bloodhype ). Overcome the area's defenses to do so.
Twists & Themes: The goal is not to extract the seeds, but to destroy them or interfere with a process (qwarms are going to deliver the seeds to their client ). The pocket with the seeds has moved. The goal is information ( where there are Hyperion seeds and how to extract Bloodhype ) which must be broadcast or otherwise released from the area as soon as it is found. The job must be done without alerting anyone. The PCs don't know the place is dangerous ( apparently is only a shop in the marketplace of Drallar, capital of Moth ).The Seven Street Samurai
Acluc , a class IX-b planet ( general colony ): the PCs are civilians accidentally involved in a big trouble : they are the best available experts in their trade ( pilots, security systems engineers, skilled survivalists etc.) and the Resident Commissioner of the colony has a mission for them : they must secure a Meliorare Society base ( a group of criminal genetic scientists ) for the good guys. There are bad guys there that prefer NOT to be secured ( and they have robot bodyguards ) . The fundamental tactical scenario.
Twists & Themes: The PCs must assemble and/or train a force ( few hydroponics farmers ) to do the job with them.Clearing The Hex
There is a place where bad things live in a forested plain in the still unexplored eastern continent of Luminar, ( a pack of razor-hyenas, native predators approximately a cross between a hyena and a Komodo dragon ) . The PCs must make it safe for nice people ( peaceful colonist and exobiologists), systematically clearing it of danger.
Twists & Themes: The bad things can't be beaten with direct conflict ( they are very fast ). The PCs must learn more about them to solve the problem ( these reptiles are so aggressive because a disease similar to rabies, but not difficult to overthrow ). The Alien Infestation, ( convert the plot of Alien ): an aggressive and infected razor-hyena is hidden in the Tramp-freighter of the PCs, be careful: this particular disease is transmissible to humans ! .Cry For Help
On the earth like planet Largesse , (a Commonwealth associate member), the merchant Xavier Salazaar, a human , is in a hazardous situation ( he has violated a taboo of a clan of Largessians, a sapient seal-analog ) ,and he can't survive without rescue. The PCs are on the job ( hired by Salazaar's relatives or boss ).
Twists & Themes: There is a danger that any rescue attempts will strand the rescuers with the rescuees, compounding the problem. The rescuees aren't people, but a robot, or something else . The "victim" doesn't realize that he needs rescuing; he thinks he's doing something reasonable and/or safe.Delver's Delight
The PCs are treasure-hunters, who have caught wind of a treasure-laden ruin on the jungle planet of Alaspin. They go to explore it, and must deal with a big tribe of ape-like semi-sentient Otoids to win the treasure ( an Alaspinian artifact ) and get out alive ( this Otoid tribe use the Alaspinian ruined temple as stronghold ).
Twists & Themes: The treasure itself is something dangerous (it's a still functioning explosive device, used by ancient Alaspinians to sink wells ....very BIG wells ).Don't Eat The Purple Ones
The PCs are stranded in a strange place, Midworld, a planet covered by an immense jungle, hosting an incredible variety of plant and animal life--all of it unknown and all of it deadly , and must survive by finding food and shelter, and then worry about getting back home.The collaboration of the natives will be very useful.
Twists & Themes: This is a common "hook layer" for Running the Gauntlet . The PCs must survive only for a short period of time, until help arrives, the ship is repaired, or some such thing.Elementary, My Dear Watson
Loser's world: A crime has been committed ( the daughter of a very powerful landowner from New Paris was killed near a holo-casino ) ; the PCs must solve it. They must interview witnesses (and prevent them from being killed), gather clues (and prevent them from being stolen or ruined). They must then assemble proof to deliver to the authorities (if the PCs are law-enforcers or P.Is ), or serve as personal ministers of justice .
( Who is the murderer and why? there are many possibilities: a) the girl was involved in an illegal and dangerous gambling game and lost. b) further analysis reveals that the girls is a never-alive clone , c) the girl is still alive and used this trick to go away with a lot of money , stolen from daddy . d) Everything GM can imagine.
Twists & Themes: The PCs are working to clear an innocent already accused ( possibly themselves).Escort Service
The PCs have a valuable person ( the son of a thranx diplomat , tri-eint Ervohzatmex from Willowane ; the baby is a 4' sentient larva !) which needs to be taken to a safe place . They must undertake a dangerous journey in which a Qwarm ( a ninja-like assassin ), tries to deprive them of the thing in their care.
Twists & Themes: The larva is troublesome, and tries to escape or sidetrack the PCs. The destination has been destroyed or suborned by the enemy , and the PCs must take upon themselves the job that either the destination or their charge was meant to do when it got there. Safe arrival at the destination (the father's house on Willowane) doesn't end the story; the PCs must then bargain with their charge as their token (exchanging money for a hostage, for instance).Fugitive
Someone ( Myla ,a red-haired girl with psionic powers: Telekinesis and Suggest, and Split Personality disadvantage ) is gone, and wants to be gone. She is dangerous and umpredictable; she escaped from a facility designed to protect the public ( the Nuaman's Research Hospital on New Tokyo, Terra ) , and escaped from a facility designed to keep him "safe". The PCs must locate the fugitive, and capture him.
Twists & Themes: The fugitive is actually a Missing Person who didn't want to escape. The fugitive has a reason for leaving that the PCs will sympathize with ( she's a good girl, imprisoned by Nuaman Enterprises scientists who want to know the source of her powers ).Good Housekeeping
Drallar, capital of Moth: The PCs are placed in charge of a large operation ( the famous House Malaika , one of the best commercial enterprises ) and must, despite lack of experience in such things , make it work and thrive.
Twists & Themes: . The PCs are resented by the employees and clients because their method of inheritance looks outwardly bad and everybody loved the old boss ( the incredible Maxim Malaika from ADF's "The Tar-Aiym Krang" novel ).Help is on the (Milky) Way
The PCs must go to the assistance of a group of asteroid-miners ( the belters ) extracting rare minerals ( they are under siege by enemy forces ( Mu'Atahl mercenaries with a KK transport and a lot of weapons, hired by Nuaman Enterprises ) , and get them out the system and/or break the siege. ( Nuaman Enterprises want the mining rights of the asteroid belt )
Twists & Themes: The group under siege can't leave ( the lode is very big ). The PCs begin within the siege, and must escape and gather forces or resources to bring back and proceed as above.Hidden Base
The PCs, while traveling on the ocean world Cachalot, come across a hornet's nest of bad guys ( a hover submarine ), preparing for Big Badness (they want to hunt sentient cetaceans and sell their victims to unscrupulous collectors ) . They must either find some way to get word to the good guys ( humanx or cetaceans ), or sneak in and disable the place themselves, or a combination of both.
Twists & Themes: The PCs must figure out how to use local resources in order to defend themselves or have a chance against the inhabitants.How Much For Just The Dingus?
Within a defined area, something important and valuable exists ( a damaged robot-probe, returning from a long exploration mission at the rim of the galaxy, fell down on the frozen surface of Tran-Ky-Ky ). The PCs (or their employers) want it, but so do one or more other groups ( the probe has valuable information about unexplored star systems in the rim ). The ones that get it will be the ones that can outthink and outrace the others (knowledge is power), deal best with the natives of the area ( a Tran tribe who discover the probe and wants to use the metal for tools ), and learn the most about their target. Each competing group has its own agenda and resources.
GM note: Tran-Ky-Ky is a low tech planet and trade and exchanges of information is highly restricted !
Twists & Themes: The natives require the competing factions to gather before them as pals to state their cases.I Beg Your Pardon?
Mediterranea Plateau ( the Hivehom only region inhabited by humans ), 556 A.A.: The PCs are minding their own business when they are attacked or threatened . They don't know why. They must solve the mystery of their attacker's motives, and in the meantime fend off more attacks. They must put two and two together to deal with the problem. PCs have to visit Leuqumu, a thranx hive-city , and talk with an old Thranx , who knows every aspect of the intrigue.
Twists & Themes: The PCs have something that the bad guys want ( a purple star medal, once owned by Ryozenzuzex , and stolen 32 years ago ) - but they don't necessarily realize it.Long Or Short Fork When Dining On Seni?
Planet Senisran, The PCs are a diplomatic vanguard, trying to open up (or shore up) political and trade relations with a strange culture , the Tuulabi clan ( they are Seni , a kangaroo-like sentient natives ) . All they have to do is manage for a day or so among the strange customs ( the KUSUM ) without offending anybody. . . and what information they have is both incomplete and dangerously misleading.
GM note: This adventure is set before the events of ADF's "The Howling Stones".
Twists & Themes: The PCs were chosen by somebody who knew they weren't prepared for it - an NPC trying to sabotage the works (pinning this villain might be necessary to avert disaster).Missing Memories
One or more of the PCs wakes up with no memory of the recent past, and now they find themselves in some kind of trouble they don't understand : someone wants to hire them to kill the Last Resort ( the president of the United Church ) and the local police wants to place the PCs under arrest ! The PCs must find the reason for the memory lapse, and solve any problems they uncover in the meantime.
Twists & Themes: The forgetful PCs voluntarily suppressed or erased the memories, and they find themselves undoing their own work ( they were criminals sentenced to be mindwiped by authorities, now are normal people with a normal live).Missing Person
Somebody is gone, or lost, or simply hasn't called home in a while ( Arnold Hatsumabus, a famous Tri-Dee actor ). The PCs must travel to where he was last believed to be ( his underwater house ) to solve the mystery of his whereabouts. Those responsible for the disappearance must be contended with.
Twists & Themes: The missing person is actually a Fugitive and He is either dangerous ( before becoming a star, he was a stingship navigator, i.e. a co-pilot of the deadly Humanx star fighter ; the PCs must find his colleague, the thranx pilot Japorha!vex , now an U.C. philosopher ). The missing person stumbled across another adventure (either as protagonist or victim), which the PCs must then undertake themselves. . The "missing" person is somebody that the catalyst NPC ( his manager ) have never actually met; the goal is to not only find the person, but find out why he's avoided meeting the catalyst.Most Peculiar, Momma Mastiff
Something both bad and inexplicable is happening in the forests and swamps of the winged world called Moth (all the trees are dying ), and a lot of people are very troubled by it ( Moth exports timber and the king doesn't want to lose this income ). The PCs must track the phenomenon to its source, and stop it ( a starship in orbit is in trouble and its polluting cargo begin to disperse in the atmosphere of the planet, it will be a disaster if the PCs do not discover the problem and inform the authorities ) .
Twists & Themes: The PCs think they are on another case entirely ( an invasion of native insects, very annoying but not involved in the problem ) . The PCs are somehow unwittingly responsible for the whole thing ( they know the captain of the starship, maybe they are the crew ! ) .No One Has Soiled The Bridge
A little mining corporation has found a little but valuable deposit of Ozmidine ( a super-hard gemstone ) in a distant mountain on Mantis. The PCs are assigned to guard the site, a mountain, from impending attack ( from other miners, and also from huge native multilegged arthropods: it's their nest ) . They must plan their defensive strategy, set up watches, set traps, and so on, and then deal with the enemies when it arrives.
Twists & Themes: The intelligence the PCs was given turns out to be faulty, but acting on the new information could result in greater danger ( competitive miners are hostile, but these arthropods are hundreds ) - but so could NOT acting on it, and the PCs must choose or create a compromise.Not In Kansastan
The PCs are minding their own business ( traveling Humanx space near the edge of the Orion Arm ) and find themselves transported to a strange place ( the fabled planet Quofum !!). They must figure out where they are, why they are there ( a spacetime distortion ) and how to escape ( the distortion will last two days , then the PCs can successfully try to go away from this planet if they modify the settings of the KKdrive ).
note: oceans average 9% alcohol, a real temptation for every PC with Alcoholism disadvantage.
Twists & Themes: They were brought there by accident, as a by-product of something strange and secret ( a white hole or the arrive of a strange time traveler ) . Some of the PCs' enemies were transported along with them (or separately) by the distortion, and now they have a new battleground.Ounces of Prevention
Hivehom, 549 A.A. , 1 year before ADF's "Orphan Star" story :
A villain or organization ( the Challis Company ) is getting ready to do something bad ( killing Paruboh , a tolian merchant, owner of a raw Janus jewel, a special hypnotic crystal ) , and the PCs have received a tip-off of some sort (Paruboh is a friend of one of the PCs). They must investigate to find out more about the caper, and then act to prevent it.
GM note:For consistency's sake, Conda Challis, president of Challis Company, must remain alive and free.
Twists & Themes: The initial tip-off was a red herring meant to distract the PCs from the actual caper.Quest For the Sparkly Hoozits
Macrohard ltd. , a computer company needs a dingus ( an alien device , recently discovered on Booster by a humanx archeological team, the device seems a sort of computer and a musical instrument at the same time ). The PCs must find the device ( it's in a thranx lab near Mexico City, Terra ). it's an old dingus (more than a half million years), a mysterious dingus ( no distinguishable component inside ), and a powerful dingus ( it's still functioning ). The PCs must learn more about it to track it down, and then deal with taking it from wherever it is.
Twists & Themes: The dingus is incomplete when found (one of the most irritating and un-fun plot twists in the universe) . The dingus is an information ( a report by the only scientist who analyzed the device before it exploded with everyone in a 20 miles radius ).Recent Ruins, Ancient Mysteries
A U.C. frigate is lying in ruins near the Analava system, no communications, no help requests, no crew. Very recently, it was just dandy. The PCs must enter the ship, explore it, and find out what happened.
Twists & Themes: Whatever ruined the ship (including mean people, weird radiation, monsters, a new race) is still a threat; the PCs must save the day. The crew destroyed themselves. The "ruins" are a derelict ship or spaceship missed centuries ago in the Pitar-Humanx war , and now mysteriously reappeared .Ocean Race
The PCs are participants in the famous surf race on the waterworld Dis. They must win or they lose all their money ( one of the PCs or a friendly NPCs has bet all the money of the party ). The other contestants are less honest, and the PCs must overcome their attempts to win dishonestly.
Twists & Themes: The PCs are competing for a deeper purpose than victory ( win enough credits to build something useful to their homeworld ) , such as to keep another contestant safe ( a PC's dependent ) or spy on one . The PCs don't wish to win; they just wish to prevent a villain from winning .Running the Gauntlet ( in the Market )
Planet Moth , 548 A.A.: The PCs must travel through an hazardous area ( the Drallar's Market district ), and get through it without being killed, robbed, humiliated, debased, diseased, enslaved by residents. The troubles they encounter are rarely personal in nature - the place itself is simply highly dangerous ( but fascinating ).
Twists & Themes: The party can be helped by Flinx, a redheaded 14-years-old kid with green eyes and a winged snake....( see ADF's "For love of Mother Not" novel for further details )Safari
Moth: The PCs are on a hunting expedition hired by an excentric scientist, to capture an adult Devilope ( a 30 foot long furry mammals ). They must deal with its environment ( Mothian forests ), and possibly its ability to fight them ( Devilopes are large and potentially dangerous herbivores ).
Twists & Themes: There are other people actively protecting the creature ( the native Nomads, humans living in the forest and hunting Devilopes for living ), PCs have to negotiate with them.Stalag 23
aprox. 530 A.A. during one of the last Humanx-Aann brief wars : The PCs are imprisoned in an Aann prison camp, and must engineer an escape, overcoming any guards, automatic measures, and geographic isolation their prison imposes on them ( the prison is on Kraatiss , a desert hot planet in the Torsee provinces , behind the enemy lines.)
GM note: the PCs may be helped by Wolf, a young human prisoner of war, but he won't be able to follow them. Maxim Malaika will rescue him in the future and Wolf will be Malaika's bodyguard and assistant.
( see ADF's "The Tar-Aiym Krang" novel )
Twists & Themes: Something has happened in the outside world ( a Humanx victory ) and the prison security has fallen lax because of it . The PCs have been hired to "test" the prison ( they are Aann surgically disguised as humans !! )- they aren't normal inmates. Other prisoners decide to blow the whistle for spite or revenge.Take Us To Quofum And Don't Slow Down
The PCs are on board the "Star Princess" ,a Passenger Freighter with other 1000 passengers from Terra to New Riviera, when it is hijacked. The PCs must take action while the normals sit and twiddle.
Twists & Themes: The "hijackers" are Commonwealth agents pulling a complicated caper, forcing the PCs to choose sides ( there are Aann spies, surgically disguised as humans ) . The hijackers don't realize there is a secondary danger that must be dealt with , and any attempt to convince them is viewed as a trick ( the KK drive was overpowered too long, if the ship doesn't stop for a while .....KA-BOOM ! ).Troublemakers
There are other psionic humans other than Flinx , hiding in the Commonwealth : A psionic guy (and a group of human thugs ) is causing trouble, he "emolterates" (i.e. he uses the Suggest psionic skill) the inhabitants of a thranx mining outpost on Praxiteles, virtually becoming their king . The PCs have to go where the trouble is, locate the bad guy, and stop the party.
Twists & Themes: The PCs must not harm the perpetrator ; he must be bagged alive and well and escort him to the nearest U.C. scientific lab. The bad guys have prepared something dangerous and hidden as "insurance" if they are captured ( a chemical bomb , capable of destroying all life forms on the planet ). The "bad guy" is a monster or dangerous animal (or an intelligent creature that everybody thinks is a monster or animal ): an unknown psionic alien able to disguise himself as a human.Uncharted Waters
The PCs are explorers ( U.C. scouts or House Malaika explores ), and their goal is to enter an unknown territory ( an unknown sector in the Blight ) and scope it out. Naturally, the job isn't just going to be surveying and drawing sketches of local fauna; something is there, something fascinating and threatening : an automated military training center , build by the extinct race of the Tar-Aym, the training base computer is still waiting for recruits to train.....
Twists & Themes: Either the place itself is threatening (in which case the PCs must both play National Geographic and try to escape with their skin, sanity, and credit rating ) ( the atmosphere is corrosive! ) or the place itself is very valuable and wonderful, and something ELSE there is keen on making sure the PCs don't let anyone else know ( Aann, weapons corporations etc. ). Other potential conflicts involve damage to the PCs' conveyance or communication equipment.We're On The Outside Looking In
Any of the basic plots in this list can be reingineered with the PCs on the outside of it. Either the PCs are accompanying other characters in the midst of such a plot (often being called on to defend the plot from the outside, as it were), or they are minding their own business when the others involved in the plot show up, and must pick sides or simply resist. For instance, with Old Port In The Blizzard, the PCs could already be enjoying (or native to) the shelter when a strange group arrives ( maybe Tran PCs!). If the "the PCs are unwelcome" variant is employed, then perhaps the PCs will be the only voice of reason to still the religious fervor, racial prejudice, anti-monster sentiment, or whatever else is the source of conflict.
Twists & Themes: The PCs find themselves on the receiving end of the adventure. Take any of the plots here and reverse them, placing the PCs in the position where NPCs (often the villain, fugitive, etceteras) normally are.
last update august 2000
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© 2000 Riccardo Fregi .The original article "RPG Plots" is copyright © 1998 of S. John Ross and is published and adapted here with his permission.
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