Table 3: Disaster Strikes the Ark!

After leaving their home system for the great interstellar deeps, generation ships often experience disaster. Sometimes multiple disasters. The following table is intended to inspire disasters on YOUR generation ship.

You can easily generate Aspects from these disasters.

Please feel free to post additional disaster ideas in the comments.

Table 3: Disaster Strikes the Ark!

Role a D30, 1D3 times to determine what disaster(s) strike the Ark:

1. Collision with near-C velocity particles damages ship
2. Radiation events harm ship and/or crew
3. Crew mutiny damages ship and/or leaves too few crew to maintain ship
4. Civil war and/or armed conflict among supercargo/crew factions
5. Catastrophic computer network failure
6. Runaway AIs take over sections of the ship
7. Runaway AIs repurpose parts of the ship, maintenance drones, or  crew/supercargo
8. Runaway maintenance drones damage ship
9. Runaway maintenance drones attack crew and/or supercargo
10. Loss of reserve crew from hibernation system failure
11. Seemingly random systems failures (drive systems, airlocks, migration controls, environmental management, navigation, dedicated/expert systems. etc.)
12. Runaway pests (space rats, space roaches, fungi, bacteria, etc.) disrupt agricultural systems
13. Automated hydroponic systems fail, increasing crew/habitat conflicts over food
14. Runaway hydroponic systems flood vital ship levels or habitats
15. Population explosion due to failure of regulatory technologies
16. Population explosion due to rejection of cultural norms regulating reproduction
17. Population crash due to mutation
18. Population crash due to disease
19. Mutations wreak havoc with human populations and/or animal populations
20. Mutations wreak havoc on plant life and/or agricultural system
21. Runaway nanotech devastates/reformats/transforms ship technology and systems
22. Runaway nanotech devastates/reformats/transforms living systems on ship (animals, plants, humans)
23. Inter-habitat/crew area industry damages ship ecology
24. Inter-habitat/crew area trade creates political and economic conflicts among supercargo and crew (wars for territory/resources, access to ship systems/resources, slavery, etc.)
25. Alien invasion threatens supercargo and crew
26. Alien invasion from energy beings destabilizes ship reactors
27. Alien AIs attempt to take over the ship
28. Inexplicable horrors from the Planes Beyond invade the ship
29. Humans in FTL ships threaten supercargo and crew
30. Biological contamination from interstellar clouds