Casting Shadows

This is the 27th day of #RPGaDay2026 and our long journey of positive reflections on our hobby is nearly done. Less than a handful of days remain. For most of those remaining days I will be responding using Space: 1999 by Modiphius. The weekly filter we will have until Sunday is Emotion. Today’s daily filter is brought to us by a traveler born on a Thursday who has thus found themselves with far to go, rather like our beloved but beleaguered Moonbase Alpha. Our prompt today is Hunger.

Born and raised on Earth there are several vistas to which one might be drawn in life, be it the sea, a range of mountains, or an expanse of desert in snow or sand, but the greatest hangs over the heads of all of us, beckoning us to rise up and plumb the star-filled depths of the seeming void.

What then happens, when a permanent assignment, not to exploration and discovery, but to routines and logistics transforms itself through disaster into an unplanned leap into the unknown? Does it stir those old hungers of wonder and desire which cause so many in the past to set themselves on paths away from the known and toward the unknown? Does it instead fire the deep craving for that which has forever been left behind?

Both?

Humanity is perverse enough for that.

To make such a character I might look at the Technical Department of Moonbase Alpha and among those in that group, I would look to the research scientists having expected to stand firm and reach out with their senses through their equipment to a universe forever out of reach now find themselves grounded on a tree of discovery which has been uprooted around them and cast beyond the range of their once Earthbound eyes.

As noted above, we can start with a loose concept of Research Scientist as we leap into chargen. That puts us, at least at the start of things on Alpha, with the Technical Department which is divided between maintenance and research. After following the muse of Hunger with a hint of emotion and a dash of Thursday, I arranged the character to be a little rough around the edges socially, good at their work, and focused on the opportunities to expand human knowledge that a free-falling Alpha provides. You can take a look at it below. I have chosen a gender-obscuring name, so if you choose to use the character in your own games, it’s up to you.

Sam was primarily tied to Nuclear Science and has a good grounding in the technical aspects of Alpha’s nuclear plant, but is more interested in Physics research – particularly after Breakaway. As a result of this disposition and background, Sam has access to a private lab and is generally trusted to work to the benefit of the base. Currently, Sam is studying the motion of Luna and hoping to develop an understanding suitable for developing better propulsion systems… perhaps much better.

Characters made for 2D20 are quite simple to make and with some exposure, easy to read at a glance. Sam is not going to be getting into fights, but at the same time is not going to be getting in the way, either.

Tomorrow’s prompt for #RPGaDAY2026 is ‘Devotion.’ Our weekly filter is Emotion. Tomorrow is Friday which is the domain of the loving and giving.

See you tomorrow!