GM Quick Reference - Sci-Fi

👤 Spacer Names (d100)

Names for traders, station residents, corporate personnel, and spacers

1-25

Kira Tanaka
Marcus Chen
Zara Okoye
Viktor Sokolov
Amara Singh
Jin Park
Isabella Rossi
Ahmed Hassan
Nova Reeves
Dmitri Volkov
Yuki Sato
Rafael Silva
Aria Nguyen
Lars Bjornsson
Priya Patel
Cassius Drake
Mei Lin
Jamal Washington
Freya Anders
Takeshi Yamamoto
Natalia Kozlov
Diego Mendoza
Sienna Cross
Mikhail Petrov
Kenji Nakamura

26-50

Lyra Stone
Anton Volkov
Zuri Adeyemi
Soren Larsen
Indira Kapoor
Phoenix Atwood
Hikari Suzuki
Omar Farouk
Valentina Cortez
Erik Thorsen
Asha Desai
Leon Graves
Sakura Mori
Ibrahim al-Rashid
Carmen Ortiz
Magnus Eriksson
Lana Reznikov
Jax Holloway
Yara Nazari
Andrei Sokolov
Celeste Moreau
Riku Tanaka
Nadia Volkov
Axel Hoffman
Talia Reeves

51-75

Hiroshi Watanabe
Mara Santos
Klaus Weber
Layla Mahmoud
Alexei Romanov
Nova Sterling
Kaito Hayashi
Elena Volkov
Mateo Rodriguez
Sage Winters
Yuri Lebedev
Anika Jansen
Ryker Stone
Yasmin Khalil
Nikolai Petrov
Iris Chen
Gabriel Torres
Skye Morrison
Dimitri Volkov
Luna Park
Felix Brenner
Zara Malik
Ivan Sokolov
Atlas Cross
Haruki Ishikawa

76-100

Nia Williams
Gregor Volkov
Aurora Santos
Maksim Ivanov
Kendra Blake
Akira Tanaka
Stella Moreno
Sergei Volkov
Ember Reeves
Jin-ho Kim
Mila Kozlov
Orion Drake
Hana Sato
Tariq Hassan
Echo Sterling
Vasily Romanov
Mika Yamamoto
Jace Holloway
Zahra Nazari
Pavel Sokolov
Cora Winters
Kai Chen
Vera Volkov
Cruz Mendoza
Astrid Larsen

🗣️ Spaceport Rumors (2d10)

What travelers overhear in station bars, trade halls, and docking bays

2d10	Rumor
2	"Frontier station Echo-7 went dark three cycles ago. Last transmission was screaming. Company says it was a reactor malfunction."
3	"Hauler captain swears he saw something in deep space between Proxima and Barnard's Star. Something big. Company erased his flight logs."
4	"New synthetic workers on Delta Station don't sleep. Don't eat. Started writing the same equation on every surface when no one's watching."
5	"Outer rim colonies reporting strange signals. Always at 0300 station time. Always the same 47-second loop. No one can translate it."
6	"Corporate auditor showed up unannounced at Minerva Station. Entire administration vanished overnight. She's still there. Running things."
7	"Independent miners found something in the asteroid belt. Sold it to a collector. Now the buyer and seller are both missing. The artifact isn't."
8	"Jump gate malfunction sent a ship backward in time three hours. Crew met themselves. Both versions are insisting they're the originals."
9	"Terraforming team on Kepler-442 quit en masse. Won't say why. Contract violation penalties bankrupted them all. None of them care."
10	"Black market tech dealer selling 'genuine alien artifacts.' Claims they're from the Ancients. Some of them actually work. That's the problem."
11	"Military corvette made an emergency stop here. Crew on medical leave. None of them will talk. All of them started growing their hair long to cover their necks."
12	"Station administrator doubled security rations and rotated every guard shift. No announcement. Nobody's asking questions out loud."
13	"Passenger liner arrived three weeks late. Captain claims the route was clear. Manifest shows everyone aboard when they left. Count doesn't match now."
14	"Corporate lab on Helix Platform sealed its lower decks. Environmental hazard, officially. The hazard team that went in requested twice the pay to go back."
15	"Scout probe came back from the uninhabited system. Someone had already been there. Structures. Recent. No known faction claims them."
16	"Fuel depot near the rim is offering below-market prices. Has been for months. Nobody understands how. Nobody's asking too loudly either."
17	"Cargo hauler docked with an extra crewmember. Nobody aboard can explain where she came from. She insists she's always been there. Logs agree."
18	"Diplomatic vessel from the inner systems ran silent for six days. When they reestablished contact, their positions on three pending treaties had completely reversed."
19	"Two rival megacorps issued a joint statement. No explanation, no context, no prior contact. Legal teams on both sides say they didn't draft it. Both seals are genuine."
20	"The old derelict in sector nine moved. Not drifted. Moved. Repositioned itself eight degrees off its established drift vector. Engines have been cold for thirty years."

🔍 Tech Salvage & Loot (2d10)

Items found in derelicts, on bodies, or during searches

2d10	Item Found
2	Data chip labeled "Project Lazarus - Eyes Only". Encrypted. Last access date is three weeks from now.
3	Prototype multi-tool with corporate logo filed off. Works perfectly. Repairs itself. Has one function that's locked with biometric no longer available.
4	Personal effects: photos, letters, wedding ring. DNA scan shows they belonged to someone who died 10 years ago. Items are only weeks old.
5	Damaged cybernetic implant. Military-grade. Removed recently - still has tissue attached. Serial number traces to active-duty soldier currently on deployment.
6	Unregistered credit chip. 50,000 credits. Transaction history shows single deposit from account that doesn't exist. Funds are clean. Too clean.
7	Alien artifact (or very good fake). Museum-quality. Authenticates as 2 million years old. Also authenticates as manufactured last Tuesday.
8	Encrypted message cylinder. Old-style physical security. Opening it triggers quantum transmission to unknown location. Can only be opened once.
9	Medical scanner showing strange readings. Detects six life signs in empty room. Points to specific coordinates. Readings suggest "human but wrong."
10	Ship component that shouldn't exist. Would improve jump drive efficiency by 200%. Violates three laws of physics. Probably works anyway.
11	Personal AI assistant. Owner deceased. AI insists owner is still alive, just "between bodies right now." Knows things it shouldn't. Very helpful.
12	Survey drone with corrupted memory. Last recorded coordinates lead to an uncharted system. Footage before the corruption is mostly static. One frame isn't.
13	Locked strongbox, corporate markings stripped. Contains three unmarked vials of a clear liquid and a handwritten note that just says "don't."
14	Decommissioned security badge. Access level: maximum. Expiry date: never. Employee photo is of no one on record. Badge still works on every door.
15	Emergency beacon, manually disabled from the inside. Logs show it was activated and then shut off. Registered to a ship that was declared lost five years ago.
16	Navigation computer, wiped. Partial recovery shows the last six destinations were all the same coordinates. Coordinates don't correspond to any known location.
17	Cargo manifest for goods that don't appear to exist. Shipping weight, volume, and customs tags all check out. Every item description reads "miscellaneous."
18	Experimental weapon prototype, safety mechanisms removed. Field notes suggest it works as intended. Notes also suggest the inventor was frightened of it.
19	Black-market neural archive containing someone's complete memories up to a specific moment. The final memory is of hiding this device. They were hiding it from something close.
20	Intact first-contact protocol module, used. Activation log shows a full exchange. Forty-seven hours of translated dialogue. Content classified at a level that shouldn't exist.

🎭 NPC Personality Quirks (2d10)

Quick traits for spacers, traders, and station personnel

2d10	Personality Quirk
2	Spacer through and through. Uncomfortable with gravity. Constantly floating objects in low-g out of habit. Moves like gravity is optional.
3	Augmented to the point of post-humanity. More synthetic than organic. Refers to baseline humans as "legacy hardware." Not unkindly.
4	Paranoid about surveillance. Writes nothing down. Uses verbal code. Changes communication devices weekly. Probably justified given what they've seen.
5	Corporate through and through. Every decision through cost-benefit analysis. Refers to morality as "inefficient resource allocation." Dead serious.
6	Frontier colonist. Finds stations claustrophobic. Needs to see sky (even simulated). Talks about "real dirt" and "actual weather" constantly.
7	Jump-sick. FTL travel affects them badly. Sees things between jumps. "The spaces between spaces." Might be hallucinations. Might not be.
8	Military veteran. Can't break formation habits. Uses rank terminology for everyone. Tactical assessment of every room. Sleeps in shifts.
9	Synthetic rights activist. Treats AIs as people. Gets angry when others don't. Has strong opinions about "digital slavery." Making people uncomfortable.
10	Old-timer. Remembers "before the wars." Constantly comparing everything to "how it used to be." Usually right about the decline.
11	Religious in ways that make people uneasy. Worships the stars themselves. Prays to void. Says space "talks back if you listen." Disturbingly calm.
12	Medic turned trader. Still carries a full kit. Can't help stopping to assess everyone's health. Slips into clinical detachment at odd moments. Gives unsolicited diagnoses.
13	Obsessive record-keeper. Logs everything. Meals, conversations, atmospheric readings. Swears by the data. Occasionally the data is the only thing keeping them sane.
14	Runs on stimulants and guilt. Always apologizing for things nobody noticed. Incredibly competent under pressure. Falls apart when things are actually fine.
15	Former corporate drone who quit and is intensely proud of it. Brings it up constantly. Still uses corporate jargon without realizing. The habit is stronger than the ideology.
16	Quietly terrified of the dark but works in space. Has developed elaborate rituals for entering unlit spaces. Extremely fast once the lights are on. Never discusses it.
17	Collects other people's stories. Trades them like currency. Remembers every detail. Uses them at unexpected moments. Probably knows things they shouldn't.
18	Claims to have met a genuine alien intelligence once. Description is consistent and specific. No corroborating evidence. Eyes go strange when talking about it. Believes completely.
19	Black-site survivor. Refuses to say which one. Has skills that shouldn't exist at their apparent rank. Gets very quiet when asked direct questions. Scars are carefully hidden.
20	Every interaction is a test. Asks questions with known answers. Watches for inconsistency. Smiles at everything. Has not trusted a single person in years. Possibly justified.

⚠️ Space Complications (2d10)

When things are going too smoothly, roll for obstacles

2d10	Complication
2	System Malfunction: Critical ship system fails. Life support, navigation, or jump drive. Can be repaired but takes time you don't have.
3	Corporate Audit: Random inspection by authorities. Extremely thorough. Any contraband will be found. Refusal means instant suspicion.
4	Quarantine Lock: Station/ship placed under quarantine. Medical emergency, real or fabricated. No one in or out. Situation deteriorating.
5	Pirates Inbound: Radar shows ships on intercept course. Too fast to outrun. Too many to fight. Demands incoming. Options limited.
6	Jump Point Instability: FTL jump point showing dangerous fluctuations. Use it and risk getting lost in space-time. Wait and risk pursuers catching up.
7	Debt Called In: Someone you owe finds you. Payment demanded immediately. Can't pay. They're very creative about alternative arrangements.
8	Cargo Issues: Your cargo is illegal, damaged, or has developed sentience. Client won't accept it. Can't unload it. It's becoming a problem.
9	Witness: You witnessed something you shouldn't have. They know you saw. They're making sure you understand the importance of discretion. Permanent discretion.
10	Asteroid Field: Course takes you through debris field. Can't go around - no time/fuel. Navigation required. Damage likely. Alternative is worse.
11	Beacon Failure: Transponder offline. No one knows who you are. Stations treating you as hostile. Every ship is a potential threat. Repairs expensive.
12	Fuel Emergency: Calculations were off. Reserve tanks lower than expected. Nearest refueling point is not on good terms with you. Negotiations required.
13	Crew Conflict: Tension aboard ship finally breaks. Two crew members at an impasse. Mission can't proceed until it's resolved. Taking sides makes it worse.
14	False Distress Signal: Emergency beacon detected. Could be genuine. Could be bait. Ignoring it has consequences either way. The decision is yours.
15	Navigation Blackout: Charts for this sector are wrong or missing. The route you planned doesn't match reality. Flying on instruments and instinct from here.
16	Unexpected Passenger: Someone is aboard who shouldn't be. Stowaway, smuggled refugee, or something stranger. Destination is now a problem for everyone involved.
17	Communication Intercept: Someone is listening to your transmissions. Either they already have what they need, or they're still waiting. Either outcome is dangerous.
18	Sensor Ghost: Something is following you at the edge of scanner range. Matches course changes. Accelerates when you do. Vanishes when targeted directly.
19	Jurisdiction Dispute: Two factions both claim authority over your current location. Both want your cooperation. Complying with one means defying the other. Both have guns.
20	Anomalous Contact: Something hailed you. Responds to queries in perfect standard trade-tongue. Doesn't appear on sensors. Signal origin is ahead of you, behind you, and here simultaneously.

🎲 GM Quick Reference