Spaceship Minor Loot Table

Loot tables are staples of dungeon-crawl RPGs. But it can be hard to find anything equivalent if you are planning a game crawling through TL11^ spaceships.

I know I will need some random discoveries, both useful and useless. I thought I would be prepared by having a few ideas already on hand. If you want to use this like a loot table, roll 1d10. (Or just borrow any good ideas.)

This whole exercise is inspired by the Freelance Traveller ship’s locker contest winners. I wrote it for the Deeps of Lyrae campaign.

Loot Table

(Roll 1d10)

1. A small metal can of Dr. Brunner’s Ten-by-Ten^-7 Coefficient of Friction Nano-Engineered Lubricant. (Pronounced: ten-by-ten to the negative seventh power) This lubricant is so effective that a pencil coated with it can’t be held at any angle. If placed on a doorknob, no one will be opening that door again. If spilled on the floor it guarantees a fall for the unsuspecting. It can only be removed by a specially-engineered denaturing enzyme wash (this is included in a second can).  $90 14 fl. Oz. (ea. can)
2. As above but without the enzyme wash.
3. A scruffy toiletries bag that contains:
   • A large bottle of Crediline tablets (GURPS UT p. 205)
   • A large (250-count) bottle labeled “Novoglucomyophin,” with one remaining tablet rattling around in the bottom. The bottle has a variety of fluorescent orange warning stickers indicating that it is highly restricted. The codes on the label for the prescribing doctor are missing. Medical, pharmacological, or underworld knowledge will tell you that “Novo-G” is an illegal, rare, and expensive drug used in interrogations and confidence scams. It induces contentment and an extreme level of trust in anyone encountered while under its effects.
4. A large box of “Captain Jimmerson’s Military Surplus Ablative Hex Armor Tiles and Semi-Adhesive Ablative Paste (now mounted on a flexible wire mesh).” There are 16 1’x1’ sheets. Each sheet looks like a pattern of rigid 1″ x 1″ tiny hexagon flooring tiles like those you would use to tile your bathroom. The sheets can be wrapped around or pasted onto objects (including — very awkwardly — a human body) to provide temporary additional armor. They can also be joined together. There is enough for one application to an entire human body or to a large door. $600, 4 lbs. DR 24/4* (split DR: use first number vs. burn or cr damage, second number otherwise). * = flexible. Ablative: for every 10 points of damage that strikes it, remove 1 point of DR. See GURPS UT p. 173.
5. A battered and dented suitcase-sized Interstellar Survey Portable Meteorological Sensor Station, model 801, stamped “Por-MeSS.” This battery-powered device is designed to carried and set-up by hand. When turned on, it monitors atmospheric conditions (including temperature, atmospheric composition, pollution, rainfall/snowfall, clouds, light quality, UV radiation, barometric pressure, wind speed and direction). It also includes an amiable/zoomable camera with an IR lens, a microphone, and a motion sensor. Its built-in radio allows transmission of these data to orbit. It can also stream data in real-time. The Por-MeSS can operate for 80 days on battery power, or indefinitely on solar power. Corrosive atmospheres will destroy the device. 11 lbs.
6. Slightly broken unlabeled museum-grade holoprojector. This very heavy (9 lbs.) black electronic device, about this size of a fist, is designed to sit on a floor or table and is powered for 24 hours by a rechargeable battery. If repaired and turned on, it projects an impeccable hologram over itself. The projection is of such high quality that it cannot be distinguished from the real object unless the lights in the room are turned off (in which case the hologram glows) or someone tries to touch the projection (in which case there is nothing there). To project a hologram, it requires a memory chip with a data file taken by museum-grade holorecording equipment – normal cameras will not work. A memory chip is already in the device. This chip contains a holorecording of a 6’ tall sculpture of an unfamiliar alien shape. It is not clear if this is meant to be a sculpture of something that actually exists, or if it is the artist’s fancy.
7. As above but without the memory chip.
8. An adaptor that attaches to the seat of a toilet in order make it useful with an unknown physiology. You do not immediately recognize the physiology that would be well-served by this device. It is a strange shape, contains grips in strange places, and features retractable suction hoses and brushes. It requires wall power and a fresh water connection.
9. A data chip is wedged into the seam between two bulkheads. You discover it contains porn.
10. A very heavy blanket labeled “Level IIIA Ballistic Bomb Blanket.” Used by police, military, and demolition crews to contain suspect packages, small explosives (such as a pipe bomb) or malfunctioning demo charges. The blast suppression blanket is thrown over the suspect device until an EOD team can arrive. The blanket will absorb some of the blast, but is particularly designed to contain fragmentation.

Further suggestions welcome!

(Image Coda: Pictured is the TL8 Hobo U30-NRC-SYS-C portable meteorological station, which can be yours for only $1400.)