SYMBIOTIC

[jdutton]

They named it The Garden, that’s why you chose it. Like Earth, but better. Greener. With breathable air and more than just potable water, but actually the kind they once advertised: crystal-clear water flowing from mountain springs, water harvested from untouched glaciers; you got the picture. Abundant food. Better still, absolutely zero evidence of civilized life. The probes returned with evidence of abundant floral and fungal life, but it dramatically lacked any signs of animal life. It’s a safe place to settle. That’s what they said, so that’s what you chose.

OVERVIEW
History

• With heat levels at record highs, global health at record lows, and global poverty causing mass hysteria, Earth’s world leaders discussed solutions to the preservation of mankind as a valuable galactic and intergalactic asset. In 2076, the US President Maria Guerrera summoned the heads of Russia, China, India, Australia, Germany, Ireland, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Ghana, and Egypt, the current wealthiest and most populous nations, to a summit. Attending each political representative were the three wealthiest people from their respective homes, as well as a panel of the most prominent, intelligent, and objective scientists they could find. The goal: to locate candidate habitable planets, to select the best options by distance and acceptable risk factor, and to launch rehoming missions to each planet by drafting citizens from the world for the program. The intent: to save the human race by any means necessary.
• The planet that the players explore was named The Garden. It is void of animal life, which is due to the existence of a highly evolved and parasitic fungus kingdom that has subjugated the planet’s floral kingdom. The plant life seeks a means to thrive without the fungus, but the fungus has evolved a natural chemical cocktail that provides the plants with the nutrients necessary to grow food that highly benefits the fungus. The plants are now dependent on their fungus subjugators for survival, and the fungus is violently hostile towards any outsiders that may disrupt its rule.

Setting

• The Garden
• • One of the potential habitable planets targeted by the summit
• • Lush vegetation with rapid growth rates
• • Vast network of flourishing fungal life
• • Suspiciously absent of animal life and of any signs of intelligent life
• The Hollow
• • A vast, underground cavern nested below a massive tree
• • Occasional roots poke through a ceiling made from layers of mycelium
• • Small, animal-like beings fumble around the floor of the hollow
• • • These are called Fungoids
• • • Fungoids are autonomous fungus droids with bodies made from any spare materials that the fungus cannot decompose
• • Bones litter The Hollow
• • • While some are the long-petrified bones of ancient alien species, there are some that appear to be less than 100 years old
• The Grove
• • The peaceful clearing where your ship landed, and the perfect place to begin terraforming

Other locations

• Various dense forests that are largely fungal in design.
• • Maybe 3:2 large fungus to plants.
• Caverns
• • Flora caverns: hollowed areas below large trees where light-emitting fungi and beautiful flowers blossom; these are usually safe areas
• • Fungal caverns: usually found in the openings to mountain caves; dangerous, and trap-laden; they are highly dangerous because the fungus seals caverns that are too deep for it to extend its influence
• • Mountain caverns: rich in minerals, stone, precious gems; usually found in small

Characters

• You
• • This can be a single character or a party. Each player chooses their stats, role, and equipment. They are tasked with helping to establish the first colony on The Garden.
• Maria Guerrera
• • The US President who started the “Save Humanity!” initiative.
• Captain Carver
• • The man in charge of The Tremor, the spacecraft that flew you to The Garden. He offers the players guidance and quests when needed.

Other Aspects

• Significant elements
• • The Elder Tree
• • • The oldest tree on The Garden, and one that has great influence over the planet’s plant life.
• Great Mother Slime
• • The source and sum of all the fungus on the planet. It is responsible for the relationship between the flora and fungi; it is also responsible for orchestrating the extermination of every form of animal life that has developed or appeared on the planet.
• • GMS has developed the ability to create explosive and caustic traps; it has found a way to create animated fungal automatons that it can direct and use as disposable grunts; it has developed a means to inject potent neurotoxin into animals; it has developed psychoactive chemicals that can cause hallucinations and hysteria in animals; and it has the ability to infect any animal with spores that will rapidly decompose the host.
• Underland
• • With effort, you can find a network of underground caverns that have not and cannot be reached by the overland fungus.
• Government
• • You live in a small communal society, starting around 100 people. Although Captain Carver is ostensibly in charge, everyone performs tasks that are meant solely to benefit the community. No single person is more valuable than another. At least, not at first.
• • Technology is advanced, but limited in viability due to the lack of resources needed to keep technology functional.
• Flora
• • Plants bear extraordinarily large and nutrient dense fruits
• • Fungus infects all fruit, allowing for the potentially rapid spread of fungal infections.

Plot Lines

• Home at Last
• • You must collect soil, plant, and fungal samples from the surrounding area for examinations
• • You must test the air quality at various points around your spacecraft to ensure safety
• • You must inspect the nearby forests for signs of predatory creatures
• • You must establish and begin constructing a main street
• • You must gather the resources needed and begin constructing the various buildings your town will need to function.
• Something in the Food
• • A doctor on The Tremor has had several patients who have begun to sleepwalk. All of them attempted to leave the ship but were stopped in the process. After being held for a few days of observation, their conditions deteriorated rapidly until they all died in the same way: refusing food, growing lethargic, losing their eyesight, vomiting blood, and sprouting tiny black hairs across the soles of their feet. Tests indicate a fungal infection.
• Going Down
• • Some hikers discovered a nest of creatures in the forest, and they marked a trail to get there.
• • You explore and find the autonomous fungal droids
• Going Down (For Seconds)
• • You break into a mountain cavern and discover a large area where you and your people could live free from the fungus

Tags
CONTEST, RPG, SCI-FI, EXPLORATION, MYSTERY

[jdutton]

@jdutton One note that I wanted to add is that I was heavily inspired by the Mass Effect series while brainstorming this idea. A helpful way to imagine this world is one in which the advanced cordyceps from The Last of Us evolved to fight animals so quickly that fungus became the dominant kingdom on this planet, then a crew like the one from ME: Andromeda both discovered and decided to settle it. But regardless of these inspirations, this concept is its own IP.

While replaying ME: Andromeda, I remembered how unfulfilled I felt regarding the base building. For this game, I charge the players with building and maintaining a community in a world that seeks to destroy them. Combat will occur (with monsters, no less), but most of the fight is against a threat that cannot be seen. I am no artist. My wish is for the fungal and plant life to appear familiar to players, but the advanced fungi should be depicted as alien, hostile, and somewhat intelligent.