Suggestion: ORSA / Courier Tutorial NPC

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Akkamaddi
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Suggestion: ORSA / Courier Tutorial NPC

Post by Akkamaddi »

(Due to length, this post is is multiple segments.)

The purpose of this is to add a new “late-ish” tutorial for new player to explain both ORSA extraction and the Courier system. While the first two quests are resolved by taking goods to the NPC in the ship store, the remainder are treated like Courier deliveries. This means the player must have the goods in the ship store, go to the settlement, and then go to the mission and click the Complete button.

The NPC is affiliated with the ORSA faction and Courier faction. The initial two fetch-me quests give a small ORSA faction bonus, while the remaining courier quests give both a small ORSA and Courier faction bonus.

The location of the NPC should be in central Sphere, on or near the central Feris/Descartes run. Either a settlement with an ORSA field or a starbase would make the most narrative sense.

Besides being a fun exercise in creative writing (I had two Project Terran NPC arcs in my head a year ago), players have asked about an ORSA NPC, and this would be a good tutorial. The fuller write up would also help Coops not have to create something entirely.

Everything is a suggestion, and everything is changeable.

The NPC K0USK1-602214, or Kouseki, is a machine intelligence. If there is not an unused droid in stock, a PT Melar would be a good choice.

The descriptions also follow a model used in Project Terran, where the requirements are explicitly spelled out of the player. I rather like this difference.

If the courier version of the missions cannot be done, then revert these to the standard fetch-quests.

I do not know good numbers for faction standing for quest rewards. Credit and IP rewards are estimates. (I have not done a quest in a very long time.)

The language of K0SK1 is overly formal and stilted, due to being a multi-species protocol droid.

:: Splash Screen

The office is open and well lit. A soft noise control system drowns out the presence of the settlement without leaving silence in its place. The office appointments are simple. Three seats surround a table, all made of chromed steel and contoured microcrystaline plasteel plates. A display case of the same plasteel and Naristro plasglass hold a selection of awards. On the opposite wall hovers a holo display, cycling through resource prices and stock information in multiple languages. While the appointments of the room are sparse, they are tasteful and to the trained eye, quite expensive.

A small service drone, dutifully dusting the pristine environment to look busy, turns and drifts forward. It says in four languages, “Are you here for business with K0SK1?”

:: Mission 1

A cybernetic automaton enters the room, looks at you, and bows slightly. Its movements are fluid, indicating elaborate social programming. It then speaks in an equally smooth and fluent voice.

“Greetings, biological sentient! If I may have the honor of an introduction, my designation is K0SK1-602214. I am also addressed at Kouseki, a play on the designation letters in Terran Basic which I find charming. I am a designated officer of the ORSA corporate faction, and in my duties overseeing orders and transport am also a licensed logician of the Courier guild faction.

“If my information surveys are correct, the one I address owns a ship. Is that correct? May I address one as Captain? Splendid, noble Captain. My algorithms predict a business relationship of value.

“Is the Captain familiar with the function of the ORSA fields? They are areas designated in a planetary settlement in which a captain such as yourself can place machines called Extractors to remove renewable resources from the environment. The smallest such Extractors are called Personal Extractors.

“Would the Captain be interested in operating one or more Personal extractors? Yes? Excellent! This office has access to automated crafting facilities. If you could return with ten units of Refined Ore, the facilities could craft multiple Personal Extractors, and should have the first ready quickly. You should also develop a basic grasp of the skill Survey.”

REQUIREMENTS: Captain level 5, Survey Skill 5, 10 units Refined Ore

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The Captain must return at level 5, have 5 points of Survey skill, and return to the NPC with 10 units of Refined Ore in the ship hold.

Reward: ORSA faction, Personal Extractor (Minerals)


:: Mission 2

“Greetings and Salutations, Captain! Gratitude of the ORSA Corporate Faction is extended. The Refined Ore is currently being processed, and momentarily a Personal Extractor (Mineral) will be delivered to your ship. Extractors are designed to acquire specific categories of resources. A Gas Extractor will gather and contain gasses like Oxygen and Traylon Gas. Flora Extractors will gather resources like Rice or Wood.

“The Extractor that is being moved to your ship is a Personal Extractor for Mineral resources. A simple test of your skill is the traditional way of business, and will assist my needs.

“You should be able to find at most ORSA sites a resource called Turbocite. This inexpensive mineral is easy to extract in abundance. A common radioisotope source for crafted items requiring power, a shrewd captain can watch the Galactic Buyers Market for large contracts by crafters.”

“Please acquire fourty units of Turbocite, and return to me with the Turbocite in your ship. Turbocite can be acquired by many means, but extraction with your new device is free. Find an ORSA field on a planetary settlement, look for Turbocite, activate the slot, and select this or another Mineral Extractor.”

REQUIREMENTS: Survey skill 5, 40 units of Turbocite

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The Captain must return to Kouseki with 40 units of Turbocite in the ship hold.

Reward: ORSA faction, 300 credits, Personal Extractor (Flora)


:: Mission 3

“Greetings, skilled Captain! The Turbocite was quite sufficient, and will be processed into power cells. I trust the compensation was adequate, and a second Extractor is being moved to your ship.

“What can be acquired with an extractor is based on the development of the Captain’s Survey skill. Oxygen cylinders and most agricultural grains can be gathered with a very rudimentary grasp of the Survey skill.”

“The new Extractor being moved to your ship is a Personal Extractor (Flora). Your basic skill is still sufficient, though you should consider expanding it. At the moment, what is required is the common agricultural grain Rice. Fifty units of Rice will be required.

“But, Captain, this is not for me. Obviously. I believe most humans would consider that statement humor. No, this is a mission contracted through the Courier guild faction. This means that the rice must be acquired and then delivered. Specifically, it must be delivered to my business contact on the Kilfoyle Research Station in Palham. With the Rice in your ship hold, dock at Kilfoyle Research Station, and open your ship mission registry (View Tasks > NPC Missions). When viewing the missions, simply click the button on your screen to notify the port authorities with the contract’s cryptographic code sequence, and the rest will be handled. The fifty units of Rice will be unloaded and you will be rewarded.”

REQUIREMENTS: Survey skill 5, 50 units of Rice to Kilfoyle Research Station

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Rewards: ORSA faction, Courier faction, 500 credits
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Akkamaddi
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Re: Suggestion: ORSA / Courier Tutorial NPC

Post by Akkamaddi »

:: Mission 4

“Greetings, enterprising Captain! The Rice was well received, and will feed many biological entities. Your promptness is appreciated.

“For now, your grasp of the Survey skill is likely minimal. At this time, those skills are sufficient to the task at hand, but more skill shall be required of you in the near future. You have already acquired Turbocite. The autonomous unit I control now is using a charge cylinder made from that supply, and I thank you for my mobility. As it is easy to extract, it can be continuously extracted and sold for a meager though reliable source of income.

“A contract a McAlisters Ship Yard in Feris requires fifty five units of Turbocite. This will require a cargo expander on your ship, as that is beyond the cargo capacity of a Marauder. You may already have Turbocite in stock, which would help satisfy my client quickly. Once again, dock at McAlisters Ship Yard, go to your mission control window, and complete the mission with fifty five units of Turbocite in your ship hold. This contract should pay well.”

REQUIREMENTS: Survey skill 5, 55 units of Turbocite to McAlisters Ship Yard

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Rewards: ORSA faction, Courier faction, 600 credits, Personal Extractor (Liquid)


:: Mission 5

“Greetings, Captain! My heuristic meta awareness processing routines indicate your arrival could lead to profitable outcomes.

“Would the Captain care to consume a glass of spring water beverage to refresh your biological form?

“Captain, as you have extracted resources, you have no doubt noticed other resources on the ORSA fields. A more proficient mastery of the Survey will allow extraction of more valuable resources like Steel or Radioactive Stocks. Captains who devote themselves to the study can eventually acquire advanced ores like Dyterium Ore or Tessarine Gas.

“But for now, the resource pivotal to all Human and Alien settlements: water. A Personal Extractor (Liquid) has been delivered to your ship, in part crafted from the resources you have brought here. I have a contract from Alliance space. Port Vanling in Drakos has a contract for fifty five units of Water. The water processing system requires cyclic maintenance. The star base authorities maintain a stockpile of potable Water for these maintenance cycles, which your delivery will replenish.

“Please extract or procure fifty five units of Water and deliver to Port Vanling in Drakos.”

REQUIREMENTS: Survey skill 15, 55 units of Water to Port Vanling

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Reward: ORSA faction, Courier faction, 1500 credits, Personal Extract (Gas)


:: Mission 6

“Greetings, Captain! The delivery of Water was received by the port authorities, and this unit received confirmation that a Personal Extractor (Gas) was delivered to your ship.

“The astute Captain has likely noticed that several captains use the ORSA fields. Some captains may even draw the same resource. A resource has a measure of resource abundance, which is depleted by each Extractor drawing that resource. This means a resource being drained by multiple captains will deplete quickly, and that resource field will go fallow until a new resource is discovered. When that happens, all Extractors removed are returned to their owners, and resources in the hopper are moved to the Commercial Storage of the settlement. A Commercial Storage, though not always a CSTS, is on every settlement with an ORSA field.

“The next contract is for another resource key to biological life, Oxygen. In the Kell Expanse, the Gal Fed battleship GFS Hawk has placed and order for sixty units of Oxygen. This is a common order, as large ships must cleanse the air filtration regularly, and ship damage from peacekeeping missions leads to loss of atmosphere.

“Please procure sixty units of Oxygen and deliver to the GFS Hawk in Kell Expanse.”

REQUIREMENTS: Survey skill 20, 60 units of Oxygen to GFS Hawk

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Reward: ORSA faction, Courier faction, 1800 credits
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Akkamaddi
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Re: Suggestion: ORSA / Courier Tutorial NPC

Post by Akkamaddi »

:: Mission 7

“Greetings, skillful Captain! The GFS Hawk has confirmed receipt of the Oxygen, and closure of the contract. I trust your profit was satisfactory.

“The observant Captain may have noticed an oddity on some planets. In some specific locations, resources can appear as a unique form, sometimes called a regional variant. You may have noticed in schematics or trade references to Iron Ore (Messor) or Wood (Eden). These refer to the specific variants that can only be extracted at the settlement named.

“The variants are caused by several factors, including unusual isotope ratios, previous gamma burst bombardments, hyperspace anomalies, as well as other theories. While idle speculation, some captains think these resources are caused by quantum level terraforming fine tuning by a long forgotten precursor race of Sphere. But, that postulate has as much credence as the idea that an ancient creator deity named Coops simply got tired of coming up with names. Ah, the mysteries of the universe.

“Captain, of course this leads to a profit. In Con Fed space, in the system of Tomsk, is the planet Elista. A unique cultivar of Corn grows there. This request is small, but pays well. Please extract or otherwise acquire twenty units of Corn (Elista) and take it to Hexham, and dock at Starbase 23. Lt Stevens places this request. She claims that charred Corn (Elista) panzanella tastes slightly of walnuts, and frequently complains her commissary never carries it. I think it is, as humans say, her favorite dish, and this should make her happy.

Please acquire twenty units of Corn (Elista) and deliver to Starbase 23 in Hexham.”

REQUIREMENTS: Survey skill 15, 20 units of Corn (Elista) to Starbase 23

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Reward: ORSA faction, Courier faction, 1500 credits, +20 IP


:: Mission 8

“Greetings, brave Captain! It seems navigating Con Fed space was not difficult for you, and Lt. Stevens seemed quite delighted by fulfillment of her contract.

“Captain, you may have noticed other regional resources. If the talented Captain has dabbled in crafting, you should make note of certain facts. First, regional resources cannot substitute for regular resources in crafting, or the requests of other individuals that may request tasks of you. The regional resources are too unique to be substitutions.

“Second, a request or schematic that requires a regional resource can only use that regional resource. A specific isotope balance, enzyme, or other property is required, and there can be no substitutes.

“That is the nature of the next queued contract. This will require travel more distant than before, to the distant system of Portal. There is the eponymous settlement on the planet Olivat. One cultivar of Rice there has a unique mutation in that some protein receptors in cells lacking cellulose walls, namely in germination cells, match those found in some mammalian species. This is close enough that Rice (Olivat) can be used as an inexpensive cultivation medium for the production of certain common vaccines. It is likely for this end that officials of Medical Station Gentry have placed an order for sixty units of Rice (Olivat). While humanitarian missions do not pay as well as other contracts, it does earn favor in the Courier guild.

“Please acquire sixty units of Rice (Olivat) and deliver to Medical Station Gentry.

REQUIREMENTS: Survey skill 5, 60 units of Rice (Olivat) to Medical Station Gentry

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Reward: ORSA faction, Courier faction (above normal boost), 1400 credits, +50 IP


:: Mission 9

“Greetings, Captain! The staff of Medical Station Gentry have acknowledged fulfillment of the contract.

“As the Captain may have noticed, regional resources can only be extracted at specific planetary settlements. Such resources that are ores are never found by asteroid mining, though combat pilots often find such resources in the hulls of enemy ships. Some regional resources are frequently used for common construction, while others are only rarely required. Observing the Galactic Buyers Market over time will grant some knowledge of what is frequently in demand.

“There is an additional contract for Medical Station Gentry that is categorized as a humanitarian mission. On the planet Karanor in Danar, Ore is sometimes found that is rich in heavy isotopes. This makes Ore (Karanor) valuable for electromagnetic shielding as well as, surprisingly, temperature regulation. The ore is used in some advanced sensors, as well as advanced Human and Alien ship passenger cabins. These properties are why Medical Station Gentry, which you helped previously, has requested sixty units of Ore (Karanor).

Please deliver sixty units of Ore (Karanor) to Medical Station Gentry in Feris.

REQUIREMENTS: Survey Skill 5, 60 units of Ore (Karanor) to Medical Station Gentry.

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Reward: ORSA standing, Courier standing (extra bonus), 1200 credits, +50 IP
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Akkamaddi
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Re: Suggestion: ORSA / Courier Tutorial NPC

Post by Akkamaddi »

:: Mission 10

“Greetings, Captain! May I say again that your work has the gratitude of the ORSA corporate faction and Courier guild faction?

“The Captain may have, at this point, traveled outside Sphere, to The Forge, Anvil, and perhaps even Verec Per. New resources can be found at those locations. While the resources could be valuable, the Captain must provide means of recovering resources extracted at distant locations. This is often done by direct travel and use of a Commercial Storage Transport System, though some captains acquire a Quantum Transfer Device to use quantum transference to ship remote resources.

“This could be worth a Surveyor’s time. The Forge and Anvil both have unique resources, as well as unique species of grains. Verec Per has additional resources not found in other galaxies near Sphere. The primordial Furnace galaxy has ORSA fields containing resources found in all other galaxies. Captains that have ventured into the alient territory of the Expanse claim that exotic material extractors are required for resources seen nowhere else.

“However, regional resource discovery is an event unique to Sphere, for entirely unknown reasons.

“The next contract does not require such travel, but requires a slightly higher Survey skill than previous contracts. Inert Gas is a broad category of gasses that are nonreactive even at great temperatures and pressures. A form of Inert Gas found in the Welling settlement in Fieron has a slightly different interaction with gravitons due to a dark matter interaction with the planet millions of years ago. Inert Gas (Welling) is used to create ship Docking Collars, as well as larger Quantum Space Units. It is for such construction that the engineers of Dark Moon Shipping have contracted sixty five units of Inert Gass (Welling) to Kirby Station.

“Please deliver sixty five units of Inert Gas (Welling) to Kirby Station in Grantham.”

REQUIREMENTS: Survey skill 30, 65 units of Inert Gas (Welling) to Kirby Station

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Reward: ORSA standing, Courier standing, 6000 credits, +30 IP, Personal Extract (Metal)


:: Mission 11

“Greetings, Captain! I previously stated that your presence would be profitable. In expectation for additional contracts, a Personal Extractor (Metal) has been delivered to your ship. This will assist you with the next mission.

“Captain, my list of available contracts is dwindling. Your assistance has been exemplary. You have received accolades in both the ORSA corporate faction and Courier guild faction. Should you wish to continue such skills, you will find other officers of the Courier guild in numerous locations. They offer missions similar to those you have been completing. The pay is based on the value of the resources and distance that must be traveled. These missions can pay quite well, and with a large cargo expander can be combined with trade haulage.

“Additionally, the Captain may encounter officers of the CAMP guild of crafters. These officers request items of special schematics be crafted by the Captain and delivered to distant settlements. The reward is both CAMP and Courier standing, as well as tokens of mysterious value. The schematics needed by CAMP officers often require regional resources.

“A contract is available that does not require distant travel or crafting, captain. In the system of Tig on the planet Delphus, a regional variant of Alucite Ore appears that makes excellent radiation-hardened transistors. The corporate interests behind Coopers Schematic Supply have requested seventy units of Alucite Ore (Delphus) be delivered to their office on Lorat in Lorats Hold. You may have to upgrade your cargo expander for future missions, as well as your Survey skill.

“Please deliver seventy units of Alucite Ore (Delphus) to Lorat in Lorats Hold.”

REQUIREMENTS: Survey skill 60, 70 units of Alucite Ore (Delphus) to Lorat

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Reward: ORSA standing, Courier standing, 9000 credits, +30 IP


:: Mission 12

“Captain, again I welcome you, and offer you thanks of the ORSA and Courier factions.

“One mission remains, Captain.

“You have learned much. The Survey skill can be used to acquire resources of great value. This skill is not relegated to planets, however. With sufficiently advanced Survey skill, captains can even send harvester drones into the hearts of nebulas to search for dark matter resources! Harvesters require Dyzalithiaum Fuel to run, which, while rare, can be extracted in most human occupied settlements. Nebula Harvesters are difficult to operate. The Captain has no control over what resources a harvester will find, though with guidance of a Captain highly skilled in the Survey arts dark matter can be found. The Captain also requires great personal knowledge and approval through standing in the ORSA faction, but this is the source of dark matter resources such as Isotopic Calconite or Unstable Infernanium.

“The sentient who placed this final contract is the one who could help you with harvesters, if you are so inclined.

“The planet Toyila in Talsamar is known for being one of the first planets liberated from occupation by the A.I. forces. Irradiation from the local nebula has also caused interesting properties in some local resources. Some Refined Chemicals resources there can be used to harden metals and make them highly resistant to x-ray and gamma ray emissions. This makes Ref Chemicals (Toyila) a resource needed to craft advanced mining drones, mining barges, and even starbase chassis. Also in Talsamar
at Grivoc, Felise Dunar has requested eighty units of Ref Chemicals (Toyila) for prototyping experiments with new harvester designs. Please also relay my personal respectful salutations to them.

“Please deliver eighty units of Ref Chemicals (Toyila) to Grivoc in Talsamar.”

REQUIREMENTS: Survey skill 70, 80 units of Ref Chemicals (Toyila) to Grivoc.

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Reward: ORSA standing, Courier standing, 15000 credits, +30 IP
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