10 - Hospitalier Genetica

FIRST VISIT

A robotic recording instructs anyone entering to come back tomorrow, as all personnel are absent; emergency cases can report to MED 1 for attention. There are two adjoining rooms (Med 1, Med 2). The foyer doesn't seem to have power as the place is lit by candles in big three-pronged candlesticks - large enough to be picked up and carries about.

All of this will be in a totally incomprehensible language unless a translation device or spell is used. There are three undisturbed desks here, and a careful search (DC 18 Perception check) turns up a yellow access card, but as soon as a desk is touched, an alarm will sound, and a security robot (iron man - 1-4 mk I, 5-6 mk II) will appear in 1d4 rounds thereafter. This will only happen once. Other equipment in the place is either non-functioning or of small value - chairs, 2-wheeled cots, examination tables, etc.
Med 1 - Surgery. This is the emergency operating room, and a malfunctioning robot surgeon called "The Doctor" is on hand to “greet” anyone entering. It will also ask the nature of the medical emergency. No matter what the players say, it will say, “hmm, I see”, then he will attempt to grapple, anaesthetize, and operate upon whoever is grabbed first. If it overpowers any creature, it will anaesthetize them and begin operating in a single round. The victim will suffer 1d4 Constitution damage per round and die if reduced to zero. Assisting the doctor are a pair of medcaibots that will repeatedly tell the characters to stay calm and that “this is a kindness” while they both attack anyone trying to interfere with the operation. They are white orbs with LED-lit smiling faces.
Monsters

• Iron Man Mk. I (“Knight” Class Iron Man (MK. I))
• Iron Man Mk. II (“ORCUS” Class Iron Man (MK. II)), both iron men will say in English once arriving, "Intrusion detected. Initiating purge protocol 11-321. Please stand down and submit, intruders. Purge protocol 11-321 demands compliance per core Divinity Directive.” Iron men attack at once, focusing its attacks on one target.
• Surgeon Robot (malfunctioning) Surgeon Robot
• Medcaibots (treat as Priest) During Combat The medcaibots speak English in a metallic voice as it attacks, spewing phrases like the following: “Please remain calm; you are to undergo a medical procedure,” or “There is no reason to struggle, you are in safe hands,” or “The doctor will be with you shortly.”

Med 2 - Gene-Therapy Machine. The room contains the ship's gene therapy and splicing machine. The vats are two stories tall, glass tubes like a mad scientist might grow clones in. There are all manner of tubes and pipes going in and out. The whole thing is filled with a slightly cloudy pinkish or greenish liquid. There’s a hatch in the front, latched shut, big enough for a person to crawl through. There’s another little inlet valve, just big enough to poke your finger into. There’s a control panel, too, a brass and black-iron plate with five glowing/blinking gems on it. Using the gene-machine properly is difficult. The correct method works like this:

1. Open the hatch, drain the fluid, and put the new test subject to be spliced into the vat.
2. Press the correct button to fill the vat with amniotic fluid.
3. Introduce some genetic matter into the little inlet valve. Blood works fine; sap works fine; flesh works fine. Eggs and seeds will do, too.
4. Procedure A, B, C or D is selected, depending on the intended result. Perhaps a combination. Perhaps this is repeated.
5. The hatch is opened, and the newly modified creature comes out.

• A. Appearance. This procedure passes subtle traits from the donated genetic material onto the subject. So, put in a human’s DNA, and a human subject’s face might warp to look like them. Put in a tiger’s DNA, and a plant’s leaves develop tiger-stripes (red gem).
• B. Blend. This procedure morphs the subject into a half-and-half hybrid with the introduced DNA. So, put in an owl and a bear, select ‘B’ and get an owlbear. Put in a human and a butterfly, and get a pixie (blue gem).
• C. Capabilities. This procedure gives the subject a noteworthy trait from the genetic material introduced. Human DNA makes the subject sentient like a human. Spider DNA lets them spin webs. Bat DNA gives the echolocation. Mushroom DNA makes them spew reproductive spores. Elephant DNA makes them grow a trunk and tusks (yellow gem).
• D. DNA. This procedure makes the effects of any previous stuff done to the subject inheritable (green gem).
• E. Start the process (white gem).

Of course, players will probably get this wrong.

• If they put genetic material into the tank in step 1, rather than a whole being, the vats produce a helpless foetus that dies when removed.
• If they put another living thing through the hatch in stage 3, any button press produces a horrible Cronenbergian mishmash monster.
• If there’s no amniotic fluid added in stage 2, then each alteration causes horrible wounds. 2d10 necrotic damage.
• Pressing buttons A-D without a subject results only in some splurting noises.

As a DM, you will have to homebrew some rules if the players do this to each other. Have fun with that!
NB: Only one splice can be applied at any given time. Newer changes override older ones.

Development

All medicaebots know the location of this hospital and can lead the PCs here if a human makes a successful DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check or a demi-human makes an Intelligence (Arcana) check with disadvantage. However, the robot will not stop and the depth difference will determine how long the PCs take to get here and how many random encounters will need to be checked.

Gene Therapy

If a medicaebot, nurse or doctor robot are made friendly and consulted, a new option called "Gene Therapy" is unlocked. This only works once per subject. The machine "cleans up" and optimises the creature's DNA. All ability scores below the racial minimum are raised to that minimum. For example, humans will have any ability score below 10 will be raised to 10, elves will have his or her's dexterity raised to 12 and so on. You can hint at hidden functions of the machine each time someone proficient in Arcana uses it.
Further creative uses of this machine can be used for other "optimisations" at the DM's discretion, including raising the level cap on demi-humans, increasing an ability score and so on. However, these should have some kind of increasingly difficult hurdle, even if it's as simple as making a CON saving throw.

A surgeon-robot will need to make a DC 20 Medicine Check to perform gene therapy. Each attempt increases the DC by 5. A natural 1 is a failure, and the target dies. Other failures trigger a DC 15 CON saving throw, or the target loses 1 CON point permanently. Options:

• Increase all attributes to the minimum of the race.
• Increase 1 attribute by 1 point.
• Remove a mutation (including reverting demi-humans to the basic human phenotype).
• Increase the level limit of demi-humans.
• Add an extraordinary ability - Aquan (swim speed, darkvision, amphibious), Healer (regen 3, stops at 0 hit points), Morphean (hibernate, sleepless), Nocturnal (darkvison, light sensitivity, +2 to stealth, gains the blind fight feat).
• Another trait that could feasibly be applied at a genetic level to a human (e.g., breath weapon - no; natural armour - yes).
• Add a class ability - needs to feasibly make sense that it would work or be influenced by genetics (e.g., spellcasting - no; rage - yes).

Half-Life. Traits can be added at half the DC value for a short term effect. Short-term effects last 1 gaming session.
Treasure. The following pharmaceuticals can be looted from this room. Though there are ample numbers of syringes and other injectors and pills, only the following still function:

• 1d4 azonite pellets - advantage on radiation saving throws for 1 hour,
• 1x Cureall injector- acts as a cure wounds spell (1d8+1) and a lesser restoration.
• 1x Universal serum - The serum has 3 options, but only 1 does - white (heals 2d8+2), red (+4 STR for 1 hour, 1 level of exhaustion until the next rest), blue (+4 CON for 1 hour, 1 level of exhaustion until the next rest) and green (+4 DEX for 1 hour, 1 level of exhaustion until the next rest).
• 1x Vive - Cures 1 level of exhaustion and all physical ability damage, but saps mental acuity (-1d4 to the highest mental stat until a long rest).

Each is worth 500 gp and 50 xp

SECOND VISIT

If The Doctor has been defeated he is replaced by a functioning surgeon robot called Dr. Zed (use the doctor from Borderlands as inspiration) and a medcaiebot named Nurse Lovejoy. Though both will give a slightly insane vibe, they are working perfectly and can assist in gene therapy treatment. If these replacements are attacked a MK II with two MK I support will arrive within 1d4 rounds to arrest the PCs. Dr. Zed may even give quests for the PCs to perform.