Friday, April 3, 2015

93. Static Wind

Mars is a windswept planet, and the TITAN Quarantine Zone is no exception. Mars' atmosphere, even after many years of terraforming, is thin, and wind rarely has the power to be dangerous, but in the TQZ, nothing can be taken for granted.

Experienced stalkers know to take note of the color and shine of any windswept dust in the distance. Too grey and too gleaming means a static wind, get out of its way. A static wind carries a massive static charge, powerfully shocking anything in its midst. The winds seem somehow faster than their mundane counterparts, and moves towards possible targets with an accuracy that is slightly higher than random. The TQZ's denizens are not immune: if wastewalkers, ny’knikiin or exsurgents are found dead, with no visible wounds, watch for a static wind that may still be scouring the area.

Scientists have speculated that static wind is generated by the damaged power systems of destroyed TITAN nanoswarms, but samples contain no more dead swarms than any other TQZ dust storm. Stalker common wisdom is that the winds are loose TITAN weapons, or perhaps a cleaning system. No one knows much for certain.

Mechanics

Static winds move quickly: characters can be caught within them for a maximum of 1d4 turns. Every character caught within a static wind is damaged as if by a stunner every turn.

1 comment:

  1. This will definitely come to haunt my players in Million Year Echo.

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