Where & When
The story takes place in and around the eponymous base, an unnamed international station located on the Moon. The year is given as 2070, which later stories will confirm is at a time when mankind has expanded through at least the inner solar system (Waters of Mars is set in 2059), but has yet to develop faster-than-light travel.
Setting
The Moon is obviously a hostile environment. On the potentially positive side, the gravity is a little under one-sixth that of Earth, so characters should be able to leap six times as far and lift weights six times heavier than they normally would. In the serial, this only seems to apply outside of the Moonbase but, since the latter uses gravitational manipulation for its primary purpose, it’s entirely possible that that’s intentional.
More significant is the vacuum out on the surface. By some definitions, the Moon does have an atmosphere, but it’s more accurately described as an exosphere. This is a region of space where atoms spalling off the surface due to solar radiation or radioactive decay have not yet had time to escape the gravitational field and are therefore more common than they would be in true space. Specifically, it’s worth noting that the ‘atmosphere’ is so thin that NASA couldn’t detect it when they were actually there and had to wait for the development of sophisticated astronomical equipment in later decades. The difference between it and a vacuum is entirely academic.
The lack of an atmosphere also means that radiation is a hazard, with direct exposure to the solar wind and cosmic rays. Temperatures cannot even out, so that shadows can be much colder than the illuminated ground around them. Even away from the poles, where some craters are in permanent shadow and thus even colder, temperatures range from -170 to +120 °C (-270 to +250 °F). In which respect, it’s worth remembering that days on the Moon last 29.5 Earth days, half in sunlight and half in darkness, except for any Earthlight.
The dust on the Lunar surface is also a problem, consisting of what are effectively sharp and super-finely ground fragments of glass, electrostatically charged by cosmic rays so that they end up sticking to everything.
It’s for all of these reasons, of course, that you need good space suits, with thermal insulation and radiation protection as well as an air supply. Fortunately, these will be standard equipment in any space-based RPG, allowing us to forget about many of the hazardous surface conditions.
Since it’s a real place, we can also ask where on the Moon the Moonbase is intended to be. While this is obviously not stated in the story, and there is therefore no one correct answer, there are a couple of clues that can narrow down the options. Firstly, the terrain is flat, with just a few ridges and plenty of craters. Thus, we are likely on one of the maria rather than in the mountains, with the ridges either being the rims of larger craters or rilles (valleys) formed by ancient lava flows, although the border of some highland region is also possible.
The other clue is the placement of the gravitron, which is pointed towards the Earth. Since the Moon always faces the same side towards the Earth, the position of the latter in its sky only changes very slightly over time, with that position being determined by where you happen to be. The gravitron is directed upwards at an angle of about 45°, so we’re about halfway between the centre and the edge of the Moon’s disc as seen from Earth.
This location could be within, or more likely on the edge of, almost any of the Moon’s visible maria, with Fecunditatis, Crisium, and Frigoris being the only exceptions. One possibility that’s likely to be familiar to players is Mare Tranquillitatis, aka ‘The Sea of Tranquillity’, where Apollo 11 landed, although it would have done so hundreds of miles west of where the Moonbase would have to be. But one could equally well go for somewhere less familiar.
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| Possible locations of the Moonbase |
There is no direct indication of any other base on the Moon at the time the story is set, and any that are present are too distant and/or small to provide any assistance. Perhaps in relation to this, the base is never given a name other than ‘Weather Control, Moon’, although whether that’s enough to imply that there are other moonbases doing other things may be a matter of taste.
The base is accessed via an airlock that leads down to an underground chamber. It appears that most of the rest of the base is at least dug into the rock, although it is covered by a roof just above ground level rather than being a series of tunnels. The latter would make more sense, were it the case, since it would help protect against cosmic rays and other radiation, and has been proposed for some real-world moonbase concept designs.
Instead, however, we have an approximately semi-circular roof covering the bulk of the base. There appear to be three airlock access points and two disc-shaped structures on the periphery; the latter may be the ceilings of atria or other larger spaces. The only structures that rise more than a couple of metres above the regolith are a pair of domes, the larger of which houses the gravitron.
We see three locations inside the base: a food store, the sick bay, and the gravitron dome. There are evidently many more locations, and the base is just about small enough that an enterprising GM could come up with a sample plan of the entire structure. In addition to what we see, there must be living quarters, a kitchen and refectory, possibly other recreational areas such as a gym, electrical stores, laboratories, life support equipment, and the power supply (which we’re told is “thermonuclear”, perhaps meaning fusion power).
In addition, the commander states that visitors must spend some time in a ‘sterile room’ before entering the rest of the base, although in practice this doesn’t happen. There is also an external radio array just beyond the airlocks, which is used for communication with Earth. We are told that the array uses the 5 cm radio band, a high-bandwidth microwave frequency that, in the real world, is sometimes used for bouncing long-distance signals off the Moon to reach distant parts of the Earth.
The food store is significant as the point where the Cybermen enter the base, but otherwise not very interesting. We are told that supply ships visit once a month, and there’s likely enough food here to last longer than that, in case of problems. The moon is, on average, about 384,000 km (238,000 miles) from the Earth, so you’d expect this to be a long journey – it took the Apollo spacecraft three days to reach Lunar orbit. However, it appears that the spacecraft of the day are faster than this, since it apparently takes the relief ship only a few hours to get there after the alarm is raised. It’s possible that it’s being launched from a space station orbiting the Earth, rather than from the surface, which would cut down on some of the process, but not much of the travel time.
On the subject of the relief ship, we’re told that it would be launched automatically were Earth to lose contact with the Moonbase for over 12 hours, which could be relevant in a scenario if things go more slowly than in the serial. It can also be summoned by firing sodium flares from the base in the event of a communications failure. It’s said to be ‘heavily armed’, although what with, and why, is not apparent.
The sick bay is equipped with a small medical laboratory. It also has a device for monitoring breathing, pulse, and body temperature, and for automatically administering medicine. In many modern science fiction settings, of course, that may be quite basic…
The gravitron dome contains three rooms, including the main control centre for the base, with multiple stations for communications, viewing weather on the Earth, monitoring life support, and presumably also for other vital systems. Emergency air masks pop down from the ceiling when there is a sudden pressure drop, although they would be only a short-term measure, giving time for somebody to plug the leak (not that there seems to be any specific emergency equipment for doing that…) It’s likely that these are also located in other areas of the base although, in fairness, the main dome is especially vulnerable.
Off to one side is a separate enclosed chamber that controls the servos that aim the gravitron. This, for no apparent reason, produces ‘intense sonic fields’ that will drive unprotected humans insane in about twelve hours. In the serial, the ear protection used is a sort of bobbly foam shower cap, although protective earmuffs might make more sense – it’s used in the serial because there is a scene that relies on the crew not being able to identify the man wearing it when he is facing away from them.
The third room is the main dome chamber, housing the gravitron assembly. This can be pointed at the Earth and alter the strength of gravity on the target area in order to control the weather. The way this is described is that the gravity change affects the tides, and that changes to the tides alter the weather. In reality, tides have no effect on the weather, but an alternative explanation could be that it alters air pressure, which surely would. For instance, hurricanes are caused by tropical depressions, so raising air pressure could at least redirect them, and possibly prevent them from forming in the first place.
If you’re going to have weather control at all, stopping hurricanes seems a good use for it.
All of the crew are described as scientists, although they double up as cooks, handymen, and lookouts, among other duties. Looking at real-world Antarctic bases for comparison, having everyone be a scientist does not seem a wise idea. You really want specialists in fields such as life support and power engineering, and even the smallest Antarctic bases tend to have mechanics, professional cooks, and even plumbers. Inevitably, there will be some sharing of duties, but not to the extent that nobody is an expert in the systems keeping you alive.
In fact, we don’t see evidence that the scientists get to do any science. Instead, they are just operating the gravitron and other key pieces of equipment. For that, you would need physicists and meteorologists, both of which are in evidence, with the former including the base commander and his deputy.
However, there are also at least three geologists and two astronomers, not including the eleven staff whose roles are not elucidated. While it makes sense to have these two specialities on the moon, the gravitron would seem to be outside of their fields, implying that the base must carry out other scientific work and exploration in addition to what we see.
At least there’s a medic.
Science fiction settings inevitably include vacuum worlds, so finding something similar to our moon is likely to be simple. Here, however, a key element is that the Moon is being used as a launch point for an invasion of Earth, either destroying its population to remove what the Cybermen perceive as a threat or just to soften them up prior to cyber-conversion. To have anything like the gravitron, the world it is on probably does have to be a moon orbiting an inhabited planet, although not necessarily the Earth.
In Traveller, for example, we’re looking for a world with a tech level of at least 10 and probably 12, with a population large enough to be significant (say, rating 7+), with a moderately habitable surface and a moon with no atmosphere. Since subsector charts tend not to list moons, the last part should be easy to add – although not for, say, Regina, which we know already is a moon. Although it does have to be somewhere that our Cybermen stand-ins could plausibly invade, which would rule out the heart of the Imperium, for example.
Star Trek may have an even easier time of it, assuming that our ship is exploring outside the Federation. Here, the people being invaded may not be human, although they could be very similar. Star Wars makes less use of vacuum worlds, at least outside of the expanded media, but that they exist is hard to deny, and we often see what appear to be airless moons in the skies of inhabited planets, even if we never visit them. Tatooine, for instance, has three… although it clearly doesn’t have much in the way of weather control.
Scenario
The plot of The Moonbase is more or less the same as that of The Tenth Planet, at least in general terms. As with that story, if we’re running this as a one-off, the PCs can be base staff, perhaps with some journalists, inspectors, or the like thrown in to bulk it out. As part of a longer-running campaign, the moderately common spaceflight of the setting means that it isn’t any more of a problem than Antarctica in a modern-day game, but it isn’t any less of one, either.
Specifically, a party of randomly travelling adventurers in an old trading starship (or equivalent) have little reason to visit a small scientific and weather facility on an airless moon. As with The Tenth Planet, we have to find some way to entice them here. One possibility is having to make a special delivery of some kind – parts for the gravitron imported from a higher-tech planet, perhaps.
Alternatively, the gravitron, making an unscheduled target deviation as one of the operators falls suddenly ill, could divert the PC’s ship, forcing it to make an emergency landing and take some time out for repairs. The damage probably shouldn’t be anything too serious, just something that takes long enough for the PCs not to leave before the plot really builds. (They might, of course, take the Doctor’s attitude about evil having to be fought regardless, but, depending on the group, you might not want to rely on that).
Once they are on site, the initial stages of the story consist of the mystery illness and the subsequent disappearance of dead or dying crew. Asking the players which of their PCs take sugar in their coffee is going to immediately raise suspicions, unless, conceivably, you’ve managed to do it several sessions in advance.
Not that it needs to be the sugar; if your players are American and you want to make the Cybermen seem especially evil, it could be the coffee itself…
However, a bigger issue is that we probably don’t want the PCs falling ill and coming under the control of the villains anyway: we want them to be the ones still standing to fight off the bad guys. A way around this is simply to state that it’s a cumulative effect, requiring several doses to produce symptoms. That way, the PCs won’t have been there long enough to succumb, although they will need some sort of treatment to clear the poison from their system before leaving the Moon.
In many sci-fi RPGs, there is a good chance that some of the PCs may not be human, in which case a GM can declare them immune or resistant if it feels appropriate to do so. This is especially plausible if they have non-human biochemistries, and it is obviously going to be the case for robots.
From here on in, the Cybermen’s plan can simply unfold as it does in the story, without much need for modification beyond any response to the PCs’ actions. It may be worth noting here that the fact that the villains are Cybermen doesn’t really make much difference, as it did in The Tenth Planet, and will in some others going forward. Their motivation here is simply eliminating a potential threat, and any hostile and organised alien race could do that. They could be Borg or some similar cybernetic foe, but they could just as well be anything else that has the potential to be sneaky.
This also, of course, means that we don’t need to insist on the “Polly cocktail” as the only effective way to fight them; we probably want the players to come up with their own methods, playing to whatever the party’s strengths may be.
All of this can work well enough if the PCs arrived on a small starship, perhaps one that was damaged by the gravitron. It may, however, be harder to justify for something the size of the Enterprise. The way that the Cybermen dispose of the heavily armed rescue ship in the serial, for example, doesn’t make much sense, since you can’t simply “fall into the gravity field” of a star from far enough out that planets wouldn’t fall into it, too. And certainly not if you can just go to warp speed.
To get around the idea of some great Federation starship (or Azhanti class cruiser, etc.) blasting the Cybermen’s saucers into atoms, or at least turning the story into a space battle, we simply need to remove that element. In this case, we have the Cybermen already hiding out on the Moon, perhaps in a hidden lava tube. This doesn’t change much of the plot, but it does mean that the crew will have to beam down to the surface to deal with it, and the Cybermen can easily project shields or disruption fields to stop reinforcements arriving or defenders escaping once the base comes under siege.
When it comes to using the setting for other stories, the Moonbase shown here is somewhat limiting. It’s a small base with one purpose and, while one could imagine, say, a supervillain taking it over to hold the world to ransom by directing hurricanes at major population centres, that’s just a change of objective rather than a new plot. However, the Moon itself does present other possibilities, aided by the harsh reality of its airless surface.
A larger base could be the backdrop for political stories, murder mysteries, and the smuggling illicit goods. (The ‘80s British TV series Star Cops had this premise, for anyone who remembers it). There could be alien artefacts or other valuable resources hidden in caves or regions remote from the base, and there are other ways of having alien invaders use the Moon – it’s something the series itself will come back to. Even a search and rescue mission could be hazardous, especially if treacherous NPCs get involved.
Rules
The story is set at a time when Earth has begun the colonisation of the solar system, but not yet developed faster-than-light travel. This is tech level 8 in both GURPS and Traveller, and 5 in Doctors & Daleks. However, as noted above, the gravitron could affect this and, since it relies on fictional science, is likely to be higher in many game systems.
To get around this, we could simply raise the overall tech level of the setting, especially if we’re moving it to an alien star system. If we want to keep the builders of the gravitron non-starfaring, we could treat it as a ‘gimme’ – the one thing that they happen to be unusually advanced in, even though the rest of their technology is less impressive. Alternatively, it’s built with technology from elsewhere, whether retro-engineered alien artefacts or simply purchases from another star system. Either of these latter could provide plot hooks in themselves.
The Cyberman technology is specifically said to be ahead of that of humans, and a cut line from the original script indicates that they have FTL travel, placing them at at least TL9 in GURPS and Traveller, and 6 in Doctors & Daleks. On the other hand, they do not have access to the technology to build anything like the gravitron, or, as the Doctor says at one point, they would just have done so.
Assuming we keep the other technology as shown in the story, and that there are no other bases, the UWP for the Moon in this story is something like E-200166-8.
The gravitron itself is essentially a very long-range tractor/pressor beam and, other than being able to affect things over 384,000 km away, will use much the same rules as a typical ship-mounted sort. Of more significance may be the operations room with the unusual sonics, assuming we want to keep that. In most systems, this probably requires Willpower rolls (or equivalent) every hour or so for beings with human-like hearing and biology not to become incapacitated. In 5E, it may even do psychic damage.
The poison that the Cybermen use is referred to as Neurotrope X. If, as suggested above, we only want it to affect NPCs when it’s relevant to the plot, we probably don’t need rules, but, if we want to take a more simulationist approach, then each dose after the first few will require checks against whichever ability normally resists poison. A pass means the subject is safe until the next dose, while a failure sees them collapse; the need for the rolls explains why not everyone succumbs at the same time, especially if the Difficulty of the roll is low, so that it’s likely to take several rolls before the victim gets unlucky.
Once they are unconscious, the subject becomes susceptible to the Cybermen’s mind control effects, although this requires that they be fitted with a suitable headpiece.
As its name implies, Neurotrope X is said to attack the nervous system. As an artificial biological agent, it is probably tuned to the target organism – in this case, humans. How precise that would have to be is a matter of taste and plot contingency. It may only affect humans, or include races that are near-indistinguishable from them (e.g. Betazoids) and/or terrestrial in origin (e.g. Vargr). Races with differing physiology (Vulcans, Mon Calamari, Pachekki) may be resistant or immune, or it may just affect anything with a nervous system, leaving only robots/droids safe among likely PCs.
The Cybermen’s weapons in this story are not as distinctive as those in The Tenth Planet. They are electrical beam weapons, with a stun setting, whose only unusual feature is that they don’t work in vacuum. That aside, in terms of their effects, they are little different from phasers or laser/blaster pistols. We can easily replace them with whatever is appropriate for the game setting.
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