Starport Layovers

From Star Frontiers Network

by Rum Rogue

When your characters are stuck on a starport, what do they see? Surely it’s not quiet. Spacers of all sorts, rubbing shoulders and doing whatever it is that spacers do when not shooting at pirates and Sathar. Referees can use the following table to add some depth to a group’s stay at port. Use this table as desired: once per day, once per stay at port, or just throw those dice whenever you think it’s a lull in the action and fun. Any of these could evolve into a subplot or entire adventure.

1. Starship being boarded by Port Security.
2. Mechanic removing access panel.
3. Quarantined alien ship.
4. Mysterious Vrusk selling information chip.
5. Two starship Captains arguing.
6. Starship under heavy guard.
7. Stow-away emerging from hiding place.
8. Starbase Guard searching cargo pods.
9. Bar fight spills out into street/passageway.
10. Group of fighter pilots heading for the bar.
11. Legendary fighter jock loading his ship.
12. Maintenance robot running amok.
13. Alarm/siren blaring in the distance.
14. Starbase Guard chasing a smuggler.
15. Drifter selling forged travel papers.
16. Ship on fire in the docking bay.
17. Deaf-mute Human talking with hand-gestures.
18. Exotic beast escapes its travel pod.
19. Mechanic examining laser damage on a ship.
20. Gunfight between guards and pirates in bay.
21. Merchant searching for his crew.
22. Bomb Squad searching corridors and bays.
23. Drifter looking for work for passage.
24. Wounded guard lying behind shipping crates.
25. Group of dock workers looking for a fight.
26. Crew members, apparently lost.
27. Vendor selling exotic plants and animals.
28. Father saying goodbye to his children.
29. Obsolete starship for sale. Dirt cheap.
30. Base Commander conducting and inspection.
31. Mysterious woman taking pictures of ships.
32. Dralasites haggling over the price of parts.
33. Prostitute.
34. Two starship pilots exchanging stories.
35. Yazirian bounty hunters closing in on their target.
36. Quarantined ship.
37. Ambassador preparing to leave.
38. Fugitive looking for passages on a ship
39. Group of drunken pilots.
40. Human beggar.
41. Group of crewmembers gambling.
42. Frightened woman running through the crowd.
43. Security scanning a ships hull.
44. Ground crew witting a ship with heavy weapons.
45. Custom official checking travel documents.
46. Expert gunner looking for work.
47. Woman looking for husband.
48. Mysterious figure selling access codes.
49. Individual painting mystic symbols on ship’s hull, while crew watches.
50. Priest blessing group of departing soldiers.
51. Vendor selling war contraband.
52. Two vendors haggling over a deal.
53. Stow-away sneaking on board a ship.
54. Soldiers crowded around a bulletin board.
55. Two soldiers carrying an ammo bin.
56. Mixed group holding a ceremony.
57. Bounty hunters checking arrival logs.
58. Dock guard chasing away on-lookers.
59. Beautiful woman waiting on someone.
60. Work crew installing new equipment.
61. Police officer serving a warrant.
62. Convicted felons being transferred to a shuttle.
63. Wounded soldiers being off loaded from a starship.
64. Foreign dignitary being escorted to his ship.
65. High-tech machinery sitting on dock unguarded.
66. Starship preparing to debark.
67. Dralasite con artists running a parts scam.
68. Vrusk Pilot interviewing a new crew member.
69. Tram hauling engine parts from a warehouse.
70. Yazirian Drifter selling star charts.
71. Repair bots rewiring a ship.
72. Salvage workers dismantling a starship.
73. Human computer specialist looking for work. Credentials are forgeries.
74. Dralasite artist painting portraits.
75. Scream coming from cargo hold on a ship.
76. Elderly Yazarian female in a wheelchair.
77. Vendor selling artifacts.
78. Pickpocket studying the crowd.
79. Group of people purchasing a ship.
80. Dralasite pilot cleaning his sidearm.
81. Crowded bar with patrons waiting in line to enter.
82. Explosion from a ships cargo hold.
83. Foreign dignitary arguing with his attaché.
84. Vrusk scholar looking for passage to dig site.
85. Bounty hunter checking ship registration numbers.
86. Mortician loading body bags into a ship.
87. Experienced navigator looking for work.
88. Group of children playing on a scrap heap.
89. Group of mechanics talking.
90. Bay chief on a stroll.
91. Maintenance crew welding a portal shut.
92. Work crew removing access panels from corridor.
93. Drifter selling drugs.
94. Emergency vehicle racing down corridor.
95. Quarantined ship: deadly virus.
96. Vrusk shopkeeper closing his shop early.
97. Soldiers betting on two dueling robots.
98. Strange green fluid leaking from a cargo tube.
99. Two soldiers talking in private.
100. Expert star pilot looking for work.