Sea Scorpion for LEGO RPG Setting Jam
My entry for Summer Lego RPG Setting Jam is inspired by the set I got one Christmas as a child and me with my mom built it and dismantled it each Christmas for a few years. It was 6160 Sea Scorpion
I think I got additional sets with it like 6140 Sea Crab and 6107 Recon Ray but I don't really recall the others, Sea Scorpion got burnt into my mind.
So when thinking about the setting I wanted to go the underwater way and went through a few iterations. In the end I decided on the thing below. Unfortunately opposite to other contributors I wasn't able to back my ideas and locations by existing LEGO sets so I include some sets as an inspiration. My ambition was of course way bigger but the time constraint made me scale down on the whole thing. So you are a crew of Sea Scorpion in a world where the surface is unlivable. I specifically wrote it with two options in mind - either it is postapocalyptic Earth where people to survive went underwater and underground (I don't know, ozone layer or climate change happened) or it is a planet in space settled by some humans and then probably abandoned as a colony (Traveller?). For certain the technology is above current human ability.
Each time characters are in a ship portray their surrounding as tight, hot and humid, uncomfortable. When characters are out in open waters portray it as vast, cool and lively. There are animals constantly swimming in and out of visual range, things can swim insanely fast and their camouflage can be almost perfect. If your players are cool with it you may play with feeling of thalassophobia - pumping up their fear of the deep.
The most common way of communication in open waters is radio. It is an open communication so at any time someone can find the channel and eavesdrop. Aside of that characters can communicate underwater with simple gestures or speak directly to each other once inside a ship.
The depth of the ocean here is in Epipelagial (Sunlight) Zone with still visible night and day.
Each ship is an independent vessel equipped with air filter, desalination plant and a fusion reactor capable to run for another few centuries. Each person has their own underwater radio-communicator, diving suit, lamps and harpoons. With these basic necessities secured crews mostly have to take care of feeding themselves and surviving in open waters.
Your vessel, Sea Scorpion, is rather large ship that can hold up to 5 (or the amount of players at the table if more than 5) people. It has a semi-independent arm that can be operated from main bridge of the ship or be detached and turned into quick and small boat; it has grippy arms able to manipulate objects precisely. The other arm is large claw meant for crushing. Sea Scorpion also has a tail which makes it easier to maneuver.
You are a part of the Free Cloud - a group of democratically ruled ships that travel together. Recently you encountered a Titan - underwater city-station ruled by the dictator who wanted to take you into submission, yet your elected leader was able to outmaneuver Titans forces. Some say the Titan won't stop chasing you. Clouds current leader decided they don't want to lead anymore as it takes too much strain on them. So in eight days there will be an election on who is going to be the new leader.
For the time being there are three contenders - from A-star, Aqualung and Axolotl ships. It seems that Axolotls want to run away from Titan to deeper waters, on the verge of Mesopelagic (Twilight) Zone. A-stars want to join the ships together and set up a floating city for other underwater survivors to visit and gather and possibly become different political pole to Titan. Aqualungs are said to want to prepare some weapons and gather supplies in case Cloud needs to run but some say they are in contact with Titan and actually want to force Cloud to join in.
I didn't want to clutter too much in one post so this one is the setup and these two are more actionable materials.
Locations: https://vdonnutvalley.bearblog.dev/sea-scorpion-for-lego-rpg-setting-jam-locations
Crews: https://vdonnutvalley.bearblog.dev/sea-scorpion-for-lego-rpg-setting-jam-crews