# UNOOSA, ## United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs Welcome United Nation’s employees! You’ve been chosen as a prime application because of past experience and outstanding references. You’re about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime, as one of the key decision makers in our latest venture into the stars! This is a GMless game in which the players portray the board of directors for an interstellar project. The purpose of this game is to place characters in positions where their motivations to do good are placed in a situation where they must still cause harm to innocent people. The minimum number of players for this game is three, and it would be difficult to play with any amount of players beyond five. ## Setting To start, you need to create the colony. It needs a name, a brief description, and a purpose. Colonies are always reasonably remote, and must be largely self-sufficient but are not restricted to biodomes. Examples: > Riloos VII, facility orbiting a gas giant, asteroid mining > Royal Ashland, company pleasure cruise through the Medusa Nebula, scientific expedition funded by on board profit > Portentia, sprawling settlement on a barren world, colony/housing To add flavour to your colony. Go around the table and add one advantage about the colony as well as one negative thing. The negative aspect will probably be the most helpful and should inspire you to come up with problematic issues later on. An example could be that the atmosphere cleansers create crisp, fresh air for everyone inside the bunker but at the same time the process used to clean is heavily polluting the outside atmosphere. ## Cast Each player has a main role within the project. Some choices include: - Finance - Marketing - Human Resources - Production - Resource Management - Security / Law enforcement - Scientific Endeavours Other roles can be created if they are fitting and vital to the challenges the colony takes. One character will need to be nominated to be in charge. They have final arbitration in disagreements, and bear the brunt of the responsibility for results. Introduce yourself to the group by naming your character as well as giving them a bit of a backstory. Also tell the rest of the players which country from the united nations you represent. This is the future so any country, including one’s that may have formed since present day are valid choices. This country, depending on the session, will have little consequence or may end up causing more problems as you are conflicted not only between moral choices but political ones. Each character also has two personal concerns. These are the causes that mean the most to the character. These causes are also issues that the player personally believes in. Players, when selecting a cause for their character, should offer one sentence of explanation that connects their character to it. Two characters can have a concern in common, but not both. Possible Concerns: - Environment - Vulnerable Fellow Employee - Honesty / Integrity - Family Values - Humanitarianism - Free Market - Worker Conditions/Salaries - Public Health Your characters don’t have a simple, easy life. Going around the table, the two players to your right will be creating antagonism for your character. This will not necessarily be caused by their characters. Their task will be to collaboratively decide in what way your character will be challenged regarding their personal concerns, and creating a scene in which that challenge is introduced. ## Play There are five phases of play, and in each the colony is addressing a critical problem. The Five Critical Problems are; 1. Expansion 2. Mortality 3. Shortage 4. Breakdown 5. Dissent The players decide very briefly what the current Critical Problem is represented as. Try to make each of these five problems aimed at the roles taken by players. If another role is introduced, one of the critical problems can be changed to match. Before getting into character any persistent problems from earlier phases are updated. To do this decide on some detail of what is now happening with this issue. To start each of the Five Critical Problems phases the person who is in charge starts with the following line so that everyone knows they must now act entirely in character. “Star date, [Calendar date], [Colony name]. [Describe the Critical Problem that the colony is facing]. [Character name] has promised me that they will personally see to this problem and have headed over to [Location].” Each player will receive a spotlight scene but the person in charge decides which character gets to act first. In each spotlight scene a problem is introduced which relates to one of their personal concerns. This should be a brief scene, but can give a slice of life for that character and establish some motivation for them. When the scene is over try to flow naturally into another character's scene. The current player always gets to choose which character goes next out of the remaining characters. Once all the characters have been given a personal concern through a spotlight scene, it is time for a meeting. The character in charge leads the meeting. The major problem is discussed, and the characters are given the chance to present their own concerns to the group. How the meeting is run is up to the players, some players may like it too be a democracy of intellectuals whereas others may want to roleplay a power struggle of diplomats. Regardless, there is always a budget constraint that affects the outcomes. Each player is given §1,000,000. That's one million celestial sovereign credits, the base currency for all transactions throughout the inter-planetary system (depicted as one token). This represents their departmental budget, resources, and personal clout. There is also §2,000,000 placed in the centre which represents government resources. Every problem the colony faces, including the Critical Problem, requires §2,000,000 to address correctly. A description should be given that describes how this problem was rectified. If the Critical Problem isn’t resolved, government resources (§2,000,000) are not provided in the following phase. Departmental resources (§1,000,000) are always received regardless though. If a problem is left unresolved, every player who has a personal concern that connects to it takes a Fine (this is represented as another token, preferably in another colour). That problem will also persist until the next phase. Write it down and place it in the centre of the table. Critical Problems do not persist if unresolved, but they will cause damage to the colony, and the next round’s problems will likely be related. For example if in the Expansion phase, a space station is required to enlarge its structure for a new housing quarters but fails. Then in the next phase the players will have to contend with overpopulation and crowding. Families shouldn’t expect to share lodgings with complete strangers. If a problem needs solved but no one has enough resources, it can be outsourced to a third-party company for §1,000,000. An outsourced problem usually takes longer than expected, especially when dealing with government contractors but will not persist into the next phase. Every player with a personal concern connecting to it will still take a Fine. You may wish to give a brief description of your involvement with the third-party company. Do you leave them too it? or watch over them like a mother hawk watching its nest? If a problem is resolved personally by the players, any player with a concern related to it can return a Fine to the pile. Some employees may feel guilty for their past transgressions and choose to keep a hold of a fine. This can be useful for the fifth phase. When the fifth phase begins, any player with three Fines will be siding with or leading the dissent within the colony. This can also include the current leader, as the dissent is with the Government. ## Example of play It can be sometimes difficult to come up with a Critical Problem for each phase so we have included an example of play to get you started quickly. ### Colony The colony is Dust Haven, a bio-dome situated on the human inhospitable planet PH-00429. Its primary concern is the alien lifeform that calls this toxic planet home. ### Players The project board consists of; - Ki Hyeon, Korean, Human Resources manager Personal interest in Worker Conditions / Salaries and Public Health. - Dr. Koralia Efrosyni, Greek, Head of interspecies communication (Scientific Endeavours) Personal interest in Vulnerable Fellow Employee (In this case is the native lifeform of the planet) and Environment. - Srg. Lenox Cathan, French, On site military liaison (Security / Law enforcement) Personal interest in Public Health and Vulnerable Fellow Employee (Took an oath to protect the facility) - Alex Hanne, Norwegian, Finance Personal interest in Worker Conditions / Salaries and Integrity ### Phase 1 - Expansion - The generators are only temporary and therefore a tunnel will have to be dug into the ground in order to collect geothermal energy. - A security fence needs to be pitched around the complex to protect the scientists and also to protect the aliens from coming in contact with anything extraterrestrial that maybe harmful to them. ### Phase 2 - Mortality - The United Nations would like you to capture and hold some of the aliens for more up close testing. These aliens could then also be referred to as prisoners. - Some scientists were attacked while taking rock samples outside the facility. Is it acceptable to arm them? ### Phase 3 - Shortage - Energy, food, oxygen shortages? - Shortage of patience? The United Nations expected results! Its seems they have the Military leaning over them. ### Phase 4 - Breakdown - Breakdown of technology keeping the people alive - Scientific experiments down without the lead scientists say. Breakdown of trust. ### Phase 5 - Dissent - Alien cages released onto unsuspecting citizens. - Calm the population while retreating to spaceships leaving many hundreds of employees to die.