[Scenario Seed] The Trunk, an out-of-place artefact.

[Catsmate]

Gandalf Grey looked at the "steamer trunk" sitting on the large table in one of the club's basement rooms. It'd been passed on by Reggie deVere, not a member of the club but someone who knew enough to refer certain oddities to a couple of members whom he did know. It'd been found in the remains of an old inn near his family place that burned to the ground a week before. Reggie and his family had viewed the burned reside of the seventeenth century stone and wood building and Reggie had been smart enough to realise there was something odd about the trunk.

And indeed there was. For a start it was untouched by a fire hot enough to crumble stone, and obviously constructed of materials far more advanced that those native to 1910. A quick examination showed that it wasn't plastic or metal, let alone canvas or wood. A composite of some sort? he thought.

There were no visible external hinges or fasteners, just an unusual octagonal plate in the front and recesses for folding handgrips. No mounts for a lock either. An unusual yellowish colour, with dark grey trim that was actually the same material. About 240 litres in volume and weighed about eight kilos (nearly nine cubic feet and eighteen pounds his implant automatically translated) so there probably wasn't much inside.

Curious.

The trunk was an oddity in another time-travel RPG campaign but one that could easily fit into a Who based one.

It looks like a pretty standing luggage trunk of the type used by travellers well into the twentieth century, about 1m x 60cm x 40cm with a flat top, though examination shows it's construction is of material far more advanced that was usual. It's opaque to x-ray and ultrasonic scans, and to most sensors below TL8. Really advanced examination shows a thin mass of circuitry embedded between two layers of molecularly-bonded material (Armour 10 in game terms). Breaking it open requires TL8 cutting tools, and disables the trunk's special properties. It's watertight (and airtight as someone who tries to hide inside will find).

• In theory a 60kg human who can fold themselves inside and sleeps has about 1.5 hours of oxygen. In practice 30 minutes if they remain conscious and calm is more likely. Then hypoxia sets in...
  

Unlike most such trunks it has no interior dividers, though such can be added.

The front has an octagonal panel with two concentric sets of recessed studs; the inner set are used to input the locking code (currently 17436258) but the outer set control a more interesting feature, which interior is exposed when the trunk is opened. The trunk has 2⁸ or 256 different interior dimensions, selected by binary input from the studs. Thus it's useful for carrying large amounts of equipment or cargo compactly (only the weight of the currently selected interior is apparent) and discreetly (the selected interior can contain innocuous items for examination).
In game terms it's got Bigger on the Inside at Special+ level.

Where did it come from?
Well in the original campaign it was one of a number of emergency kits secreted away by a time traveller in various locations, "just in case". Each compartment or interior held a particular category of equipment. It's owner relied on the lock to keep out the criminally inclined or inquisitive.

What's inside?
Well it could be anything really, that depends on your campaign. Some suggestions are below.

Fitting it into a campaign.
This is a classic mechanism for starting trouble that the PCs need to fix. Someone finds and manages to unlock the trunk, and discovers it's secret. Depending on what they find, the time period and their inclinations this could cause major problems.


Sample contents.

Compartment	Contents
11	Tools:  comprehensive set of basic hand tools, prybars, shovels, axes, hammers, screwdrivers, saws et cetera
29	Money: this compartment is fitted with dividers and holds two hundred 20x10x5cm plastic boxes, each with a year or period marked on the top; each box contains money (coins, notes, cards et cetera) for the period listed. All are for Earth or the solar system.
40	Food: 96 advanced 'meal packs', multi-course ration packs capable of heating/chilling their contents.
56	?: a set of sixteen 1m long poles and a large box. Some experimentation (or appropriate skills) will reveal it's a force-field generator system for protecting campsites.
79	Camping: assorted modern day camping gear for 4-8 people; tents, plastic sheets, sleeping bags et cetera.
93	Drones: seven 21st century recon drones, five palm sized (battery powered, 5km range) and two seagull (alcohol fuelled, 40km range) sized. Also contains containers of alcohol fuel, spare batteries and control gear.
106	Gold: 124 ingots of bullion grade gold weighing about 25kg (800 troy ounces) each
111	Water: twelve plastic jerrycan type containers (40x30x15cm) each filled with 15 litres of water.
127	Underwater gear: advanced mid C21 equipment including polymer wet and dry suits, weight belts, face masks (incorporating depth gauges, dive computers and sonar-coms) and synthetic fibre air tanks. Plus an alcohol fuelled compressor.
143	Generator: a portable fusion survival generator. Produces about half a megawatt (660hp) of electric power and can also synthesise edible food paste ('glop') from organic materials.
203	Clothing: male, various items for a 1.75m/70kg man. Styles are 1860-1910.
222	Books: various English language volumes published in the period 1680 to 1760.

[grinch]

If you’ll permit me Catsmate, I may borrow this as being on the strange artefacts in the new PROBE’s Archives.

[soultaker666212]

Oct 6, 2014 13:42:43 GMT Catsmate said:

Gandalf Grey looked at the "steamer trunk" sitting on the large table in one of the club's basement rooms. It'd been passed on by Reggie deVere, not a member of the club but someone who knew enough to refer certain oddities to a couple of members whom he did know. It'd been found in the remains of an old inn near his family place that burned to the ground a week before. Reggie and his family had viewed the burned reside of the seventeenth century stone and wood building and Reggie had been smart enough to realise there was something odd about the trunk.

And indeed there was. For a start it was untouched by a fire hot enough to crumble stone, and obviously constructed of materials far more advanced that those native to 1910. A quick examination showed that it wasn't plastic or metal, let alone canvas or wood. A composite of some sort? he thought.

There were no visible external hinges or fasteners, just an unusual octagonal plate in the front and recesses for folding handgrips. No mounts for a lock either. An unusual yellowish colour, with dark grey trim that was actually the same material. About 240 litres in volume and weighed about eight kilos (nearly nine cubic feet and eighteen pounds his implant automatically translated) so there probably wasn't much inside.

Curious.

The trunk was an oddity in another time-travel RPG campaign but one that could easily fit into a Who based one.

It looks like a pretty standing luggage trunk of the type used by travellers well into the twentieth century, about 1m x 60cm x 40cm with a flat top, though examination shows it's construction is of material far more advanced that was usual. It's opaque to x-ray and ultrasonic scans, and to most sensors below TL8. Really advanced examination shows a thin mass of circuitry embedded between two layers of molecularly-bonded material (Armour 10 in game terms). Breaking it open requires TL8 cutting tools, and disables the trunk's special properties. It's watertight (and airtight as someone who tries to hide inside will find).

• In theory a 60kg human who can fold themselves inside and sleeps has about 1.5 hours of oxygen. In practice 30 minutes if they remain conscious and calm is more likely. Then hypoxia sets in...
  

Unlike most such trunks it has no interior dividers, though such can be added.

The front has an octagonal panel with two concentric sets of recessed studs; the inner set are used to input the locking code (currently 17436258) but the outer set control a more interesting feature, which interior is exposed when the trunk is opened. The trunk has 2⁸ or 256 different interior dimensions, selected by binary input from the studs. Thus it's useful for carrying large amounts of equipment or cargo compactly (only the weight of the currently selected interior is apparent) and discreetly (the selected interior can contain innocuous items for examination).
In game terms it's got Bigger on the Inside at Special+ level.

Where did it come from?
Well in the original campaign it was one of a number of emergency kits secreted away by a time traveller in various locations, "just in case". Each compartment or interior held a particular category of equipment. It's owner relied on the lock to keep out the criminally inclined or inquisitive.

What's inside?
Well it could be anything really, that depends on your campaign. Some suggestions are below.

Fitting it into a campaign.
This is a classic mechanism for starting trouble that the PCs need to fix. Someone finds and manages to unlock the trunk, and discovers it's secret. Depending on what they find, the time period and their inclinations this could cause major problems.


Sample contents.

Compartment	Contents
11	Tools:  comprehensive set of basic hand tools, prybars, shovels, axes, hammers, screwdrivers, saws et cetera
29	Money: this compartment is fitted with dividers and holds two hundred 20x10x5cm plastic boxes, each with a year or period marked on the top; each box contains money (coins, notes, cards et cetera) for the period listed. All are for Earth or the solar system.
40	Food: 96 advanced 'meal packs', multi-course ration packs capable of heating/chilling their contents.
56	?: a set of sixteen 1m long poles and a large box. Some experimentation (or appropriate skills) will reveal it's a force-field generator system for protecting campsites.
79	Camping: assorted modern day camping gear for 4-8 people; tents, plastic sheets, sleeping bags et cetera.
93	Drones: seven 21st century recon drones, five palm sized (battery powered, 5km range) and two seagull (alcohol fuelled, 40km range) sized. Also contains containers of alcohol fuel, spare batteries and control gear.
106	Gold: 124 ingots of bullion grade gold weighing about 25kg (800 troy ounces) each
111	Water: twelve plastic jerrycan type containers (40x30x15cm) each filled with 15 litres of water.
127	Underwater gear: advanced mid C21 equipment including polymer wet and dry suits, weight belts, face masks (incorporating depth gauges, dive computers and sonar-coms) and synthetic fibre air tanks. Plus an alcohol fuelled compressor.
143	Generator: a portable fusion survival generator. Produces about half a megawatt (660hp) of electric power and can also synthesise edible food paste ('glop') from organic materials.
203	Clothing: male, various items for a 1.75m/70kg man. Styles are 1860-1910.
222	Books: various English language volumes published in the period 1680 to 1760.

So Is the Trunk similar to Mary Poppin's bag?

[Catsmate]

Aug 14, 2022 13:48:50 GMT grinch said:

If you’ll permit me Catsmate, I may borrow this as being on the strange artefacts in the new PROBE’s Archives.

Absolutely, feel entirely free.
Several of them have popped up in our campaigns, varying from backpack sized through various sizes of trunk to wardrobes, with varying numbers of interior spaces (usually shown by a hexagonal/octagonal or other shaped mark somewhere).

[Catsmate]

Aug 14, 2022 13:54:19 GMT soultaker666212 said:

Oct 6, 2014 13:42:43 GMT Catsmate said:

The trunk was an oddity in another time-travel RPG campaign but one that could easily fit into a Who based one.

It looks like a pretty standing luggage trunk of the type used by travellers well into the twentieth century, about 1m x 60cm x 40cm with a flat top, though examination shows it's construction is of material far more advanced that was usual. It's opaque to x-ray and ultrasonic scans, and to most sensors below TL8. Really advanced examination shows a thin mass of circuitry embedded between two layers of molecularly-bonded material (Armour 10 in game terms). Breaking it open requires TL8 cutting tools, and disables the trunk's special properties. It's watertight (and airtight as someone who tries to hide inside will find).

• In theory a 60kg human who can fold themselves inside and sleeps has about 1.5 hours of oxygen. In practice 30 minutes if they remain conscious and calm is more likely. Then hypoxia sets in...
  

Unlike most such trunks it has no interior dividers, though such can be added.

The front has an octagonal panel with two concentric sets of recessed studs; the inner set are used to input the locking code (currently 17436258) but the outer set control a more interesting feature, which interior is exposed when the trunk is opened. The trunk has 2⁸ or 256 different interior dimensions, selected by binary input from the studs. Thus it's useful for carrying large amounts of equipment or cargo compactly (only the weight of the currently selected interior is apparent) and discreetly (the selected interior can contain innocuous items for examination).
In game terms it's got Bigger on the Inside at Special+ level.

Where did it come from?
Well in the original campaign it was one of a number of emergency kits secreted away by a time traveller in various locations, "just in case". Each compartment or interior held a particular category of equipment. It's owner relied on the lock to keep out the criminally inclined or inquisitive.

What's inside?
Well it could be anything really, that depends on your campaign. Some suggestions are below.

Fitting it into a campaign.
This is a classic mechanism for starting trouble that the PCs need to fix. Someone finds and manages to unlock the trunk, and discovers it's secret. Depending on what they find, the time period and their inclinations this could cause major problems.


Sample contents.

Compartment	Contents
11	Tools:  comprehensive set of basic hand tools, prybars, shovels, axes, hammers, screwdrivers, saws et cetera
29	Money: this compartment is fitted with dividers and holds two hundred 20x10x5cm plastic boxes, each with a year or period marked on the top; each box contains money (coins, notes, cards et cetera) for the period listed. All are for Earth or the solar system.
40	Food: 96 advanced 'meal packs', multi-course ration packs capable of heating/chilling their contents.
56	?: a set of sixteen 1m long poles and a large box. Some experimentation (or appropriate skills) will reveal it's a force-field generator system for protecting campsites.
79	Camping: assorted modern day camping gear for 4-8 people; tents, plastic sheets, sleeping bags et cetera.
93	Drones: seven 21st century recon drones, five palm sized (battery powered, 5km range) and two seagull (alcohol fuelled, 40km range) sized. Also contains containers of alcohol fuel, spare batteries and control gear.
106	Gold: 124 ingots of bullion grade gold weighing about 25kg (800 troy ounces) each
111	Water: twelve plastic jerrycan type containers (40x30x15cm) each filled with 15 litres of water.
127	Underwater gear: advanced mid C21 equipment including polymer wet and dry suits, weight belts, face masks (incorporating depth gauges, dive computers and sonar-coms) and synthetic fibre air tanks. Plus an alcohol fuelled compressor.
143	Generator: a portable fusion survival generator. Produces about half a megawatt (660hp) of electric power and can also synthesise edible food paste ('glop') from organic materials.
203	Clothing: male, various items for a 1.75m/70kg man. Styles are 1860-1910.
222	Books: various English language volumes published in the period 1680 to 1760.

So Is the Trunk similar to Mary Poppin's bag?

Conceptually yes, they're both variations of the Bag of Holding trope.

[soultaker666212]

Aug 14, 2022 18:39:17 GMT Catsmate said:

Aug 14, 2022 13:54:19 GMT soultaker666212 said:

So Is the Trunk similar to Mary Poppin's bag?

Conceptually yes, they're both variations of the Bag of Holding trope.

Thank you, does help, I like this idea though, do you feel it could hold living things though, like Newt Scamamders briefcase, Imagine a time agent carrying around his prisoner inside of the Trunk.

[grinch]

Aug 14, 2022 18:42:55 GMT soultaker666212 said:

Aug 14, 2022 18:39:17 GMT Catsmate said:

Conceptually yes, they're both variations of the Bag of Holding trope.

Thank you, does help, I like this idea though, do you feel it could hold living things though, like Newt Scamamders briefcase, Imagine a time agent carrying around his prisoner inside of the Trunk.

And imagine if a particularly careless Time Agent accidentally misplaced said trunk! Talk about remiss when you mistakenly leave a prison full of dangerous criminals on a passing starship.

Sounds like the sort of mess Mono - Monoid Time Agent would be charged to clean up.

[soultaker666212]

Aug 14, 2022 18:51:23 GMT grinch said:

Aug 14, 2022 18:42:55 GMT soultaker666212 said:

Thank you, does help, I like this idea though, do you feel it could hold living things though, like Newt Scamamders briefcase, Imagine a time agent carrying around his prisoner inside of the Trunk.

And imagine if a particularly careless Time Agent accidentally misplaced said trunk! Talk about remiss when you mistakenly leave a prison full of dangerous criminals on a passing starship.

Sounds like the sort of mess Mono - Monoid Time Agent would be charged to clean up.

Monoid Time Agents, okay that is a strange one. Yeah a careless Time Agent releasing dangerous criminals out into a city or location by mistake would make for a fun campaign, perhaps in good old London or 1920s New York if we borrow from Harry Potter, perhaps we get to see what Alien life is like during the prohibition era.

[grinch]

Aug 14, 2022 18:53:34 GMT soultaker666212 said:

Aug 14, 2022 18:51:23 GMT grinch said:

And imagine if a particularly careless Time Agent accidentally misplaced said trunk! Talk about remiss when you mistakenly leave a prison full of dangerous criminals on a passing starship.

Sounds like the sort of mess Mono - Monoid Time Agent would be charged to clean up.

Monoid Time Agents, okay that is a strange one. Yeah a careless Time Agent releasing dangerous criminals out into a city or location by mistake would make for a fun campaign, perhaps in good old London or 1920s New York if we borrow from Harry Potter, perhaps we get to see what Alien life is like during the prohibition era.

Yeah, Mono is a character I’ve had in the works for sometime and hope to finish some day. Safe to say, he’s an oddity among the Time Agency.

Alien criminals loose in the Prohibition Era could be a fun one. A few would probably be left to their own devices while others would probably fall under the sway of such larger organisations as the Sidewinder Syndicate.

[soultaker666212]

Aug 14, 2022 19:03:17 GMT grinch said:

Aug 14, 2022 18:53:34 GMT soultaker666212 said:

Monoid Time Agents, okay that is a strange one. Yeah a careless Time Agent releasing dangerous criminals out into a city or location by mistake would make for a fun campaign, perhaps in good old London or 1920s New York if we borrow from Harry Potter, perhaps we get to see what Alien life is like during the prohibition era.

Yeah, Mono is a character I’ve had in the works for sometime and hope to finish some day. Safe to say, he’s an oddity among the Time Agency.

Alien criminals loose in the Prohibition Era could be a fun one. A few would probably be left to their own devices while others would probably fall under the sway of such larger organisations as the Sidewinder Syndicate.

True, plus if New York City you do have the Daleks, perhaps some of these aline criminals lending their tech to the daleks? Defo a fun campaign idea all thanks to 1 bigger on the inside trunk. 

[grinch]

Aug 14, 2022 19:05:35 GMT soultaker666212 said:

Aug 14, 2022 19:03:17 GMT grinch said:

Yeah, Mono is a character I’ve had in the works for sometime and hope to finish some day. Safe to say, he’s an oddity among the Time Agency.

Alien criminals loose in the Prohibition Era could be a fun one. A few would probably be left to their own devices while others would probably fall under the sway of such larger organisations as the Sidewinder Syndicate.

True, plus if New York City you do have the Daleks, perhaps some of these aline criminals lending their tech to the daleks? Defo a fun campaign idea all thanks to 1 bigger on the inside trunk. 

Actually I could see quite a few of the alien criminals willingly giving themselves up should they discover evidence of Dalek activity in the city. 

The thought of their presence and the fear their reputation instills would be enough to frighten most. Better imprisonment in a nice prison than potential extermination!

[soultaker666212]

Aug 14, 2022 19:45:39 GMT grinch said:

Aug 14, 2022 19:05:35 GMT soultaker666212 said:

True, plus if New York City you do have the Daleks, perhaps some of these aline criminals lending their tech to the daleks? Defo a fun campaign idea all thanks to 1 bigger on the inside trunk. 

Actually I could see quite a few of the alien criminals willingly giving themselves up should they discover evidence of Dalek activity in the city. 

The thought of their presence and the fear their reputation instills would be enough to frighten most. Better imprisonment in a nice prison than potential extermination!

Or experimentation

[Catsmate]

Aug 14, 2022 18:42:55 GMT soultaker666212 said:

Aug 14, 2022 18:39:17 GMT Catsmate said:

Conceptually yes, they're both variations of the Bag of Holding trope.

Thank you, does help, I like this idea though, do you feel it could hold living things though, like Newt Scamamders briefcase, Imagine a time agent carrying around his prisoner inside of the Trunk.

Unlike most Bags of Holding the outside of the trunk is the same size as the interior, there are just multiple interiors.

The pop up occasionally in our campaigns; there's one aboard the Achronic Omnibus, Reilly Cydniehas one (and a little extra-dimensional hideaway), Emily Wilson has a smaller model and a few others are around.

My rule-of-thumb i the box can hold anything safely and anything in a compartment is in stasis until the lid is opened; so boobytraps with stinging insects, primed grenades, Bouncing Bettys et cetera are quite possible. Radioactives don't decay, perishables stay fresh, ice cream doesn't melt, wounds don't bleed and so on
So, if the box is 1.2m by 60cm a moderately sized human can fit in and remain safe indefinitely.
Of course if the person is alone there is the matter of closing the lid....

Who knows what oddities might be found inside? Try Niven's 'The Soft Weapon' for ideas on finding such a device.

[soultaker666212]

Aug 15, 2022 8:44:02 GMT Catsmate said:

Aug 14, 2022 18:42:55 GMT soultaker666212 said:

Thank you, does help, I like this idea though, do you feel it could hold living things though, like Newt Scamamders briefcase, Imagine a time agent carrying around his prisoner inside of the Trunk.

Unlike most Bags of Holding the outside of the trunk is the same size as the interior, there are just multiple interiors.

The pop up occasionally in our campaigns; there's one aboard the Achronic Omnibus, Reilly Cydniehas one (and a little extra-dimensional hideaway), Emily Wilson has a smaller model and a few others are around.

My rule-of-thumb i the box can hold anything safely and anything in a compartment is in stasis until the lid is opened; so boobytraps with stinging insects, primed grenades, Bouncing Bettys et cetera are quite possible. Radioactives don't decay, perishables stay fresh, ice cream doesn't melt, wounds don't bleed and so on
So, if the box is 1.2m by 60cm a moderately sized human can fit in and remain safe indefinitely.
Of course if the person is alone there is the matter of closing the lid....

Who knows what oddities might be found inside? Try Niven's 'The Soft Weapon' for ideas on finding such a device.

Smugglers using it as away to smuggle humans is certainly an interesting idea there.