Dead Space

When is a door not a door? When it's an open doorway DOHOHOHOHOHO

Rav pried off the panel, his dirty fingers aching from the pressure against the sharp material. Darkness leaked out until the wire in his hand found the maintenance sensor. Bright light soon flooded the cramped duct- the first time in a thousand years that it had been accessed. The other two peered in as Rav pushed himself into the duct, sliding on his back head-first.

"Knew it. Knew there'd be bugs in 'ere," he muttered. "They collect leaking reef up -- up somewhere where people can't get at. Then they eat it and shit out these nice little clumps." The sound of scraping followed his voice. Shan balked at eating something that came from another living creature, but he had eaten the green powder before, and calories were calories.

Tarah looked around to make sure no one had spotted the diviner forcing open the panel. She was less worried about adjuncts than half-crazed locals. This place was worse than the last few stops she had been through. There had been the fresh remains of a person left in the hall- they had passed it on their way here. What worried her most was that not all the bones were there, and the ones that were had been gnawed soft.

Shan kept his eye on the empty corridor. These people made him sick. Living as they did had driven them all inward, into a kind of violent ennui. He thought it was the stations. Evolution had long ago weeded out the worst claustrophobes, but it seemed to him that people had really just pushed their fear of the vac down and pretended they didn't have to think about it.

---

Dead Space is a setting for GURPS that was first posted on /tg/ in February 2008. The concept behind it is that in the distant future, the bulk of humanity lives in huge self-sustaining space stations of incredibly advanced technology. Most of the people living there have no idea how to work the machines, and thus society has reverted to an almost feudal state. Food and water are exuded from machinery, but these oases form the source of power for groups within the stations, so their availability is not a given.

The stations are connected by teleportation doorways that are locked into a single destination - things like spaceships are almost unknown here, as most of the people have a deep fear of the vacuum of outer space.

Dead Space has nothing to do with the vidya gaem of the same name, aside from the unfortunate coincidence of sharing its title.

Character backgrounds

The players are members of the Periphery - the term for the majority of humans that live in ignorance within the stations. The ruling class is called the Hierarchy, but their existence is known only through rumors and the actions of their employees. There are no aliens in the setting, but there are mutants (which are really only deformed albino humans with great flexibility and a penchant for cannibalism) that the players can choose to play.

Other character backgrounds are:

• Adjunct: Someone that deals directly with the minions of the Hierarchy. Think police officer meets stool pigeon.

• Box Baby: A leftover from the time before the New Dark Ages. Fish out of water.

• Diviner: Autistic station savant. These people know where to find food and water that others probably don't know about.

• Jez: HOORS!

• Marketeer: The merchant class. They start off with some food!

• Molly-tov: People that have some idea how energy weapons work.

• Seeker: Bounty hunters.

• Tapper: Tech-heads that can override station machinery.

• Vac-head: "Hey guys, check out this space suit that I made".

• Vagrant: Wanderers.

External Links

Dead Space rulebook.