Source GM Core pg. 95
In Starfall, “security” is everything from bored corridor cops and glitchy cameras to razor‑precise sentry turrets and drone swarms running on outdated firmware and bad Devotion.
How Starfall Secures Itself
Across the Starfall Galaxy, who protects you often depends on whose ledger you’re on.
Inner Sphere & Commission space: Municipal peacekeepers, Accord garrisons, and corporate security bureaus field uniformed officers backed by networked cameras, Metronome‑synced patrol schedules, and drone overwatch. Their compounds bristle with non‑lethal crowd gear on the outside and lethal turrets around vaults and labs.
Outer Sphere & Syndicate territory: “Security” often means mercenary outfits under contract, Syndicate enforcers, or local militias with semi‑official blessing. Surveillance is patchy; some blocks have nothing but human lookouts, others rely on cheap observation drones with bad IFF routines.
Frontier & Rift‑scarred zones: Settlements lean on volunteer watch, old war robots, and improvised systems—half‑functional turrets, motion sensors cannibalized from mining kit, and alarm spells daisy‑chained to cheap speakers.
What’s consistent is that important spaces—airlocks, Metronome chambers, data cores, vaults, high‑end markets—tend to have layered defenses: cameras or drones to see you, guards or bots to respond, and turrets or webs to punish those who keep coming.aonsrd+1
Common Security Elements in Starfall
Cameras & drones: Hard‑wired or wireless cams perched over doors, in ceiling corners, or built into streetlamps; observation drones hovering in plazas or drifting through corridors, some openly marked, others disguised as cleaning units.
Security rooms: Windowless hubs where guards watch feeds, control locks and airlocks, and dispatch drones or turrets—classic infiltration objectives or hostage‑standoff locations.
Turrets & webs:
Sentry turrets guard corridors, docks, and vault approaches; often tied to ID beacons so locals pass safely until the system glitches or gets reprogrammed.
Laser turrets and webs protect narrower chokepoints, server rooms, and inner sanctums; in Starfall they might project visible neon grids or nearly invisible beams only detectable with tools.
Robots & mechs: Station security may deploy tracked bots, bipedal drones, or repurposed industrial frames as roving hazards between static systems.
Applications
Access & bureaucracy: ID checks at gates, biometrics on elevators, and turrets that track but don’t fire without authorization all reinforce whose territory you’re in. PCs may need influence, forged credentials, or hacked tags more often than straight fights.
Surveillance state vs. blind spots: Inner Sphere cores leave few unobserved corners; finding or creating a blind spot is a mini‑mission. Outer Sphere and Frontier settlements have huge gaps—ripe for smuggling routes, clandestine meetings, or hidden communities.
Traps as deterrence: Even if never triggered on‑screen, the visible presence of a turret or laser grid can redirect crowds, shrink maneuver space, or force creative solutions (social, magical, or technical).
Economy & corruption: Contracts for private security, turret upkeep, and camera networks are lucrative; factions fight over who gets paid to “keep the peace,” and who gets to decide what that means.