Alternate Locations

"Alternate Locations" (Steven Marsh) is an article in Pyramid 3/11: Cinematic Locations. It provides a lot of idea springboards for settings and how to make them a little more interesting.
== Some Variable Tables ==
Roll 1d and 1d to use the table below!
Roll 	Variation 	Description
1-2, 1	Deathtrap! 	This location is completely unsafe. Handrails are missing. Dangerous materials are lying about. Perhaps there's a giant sawblade wandering back and forth across the floor. Villainous "smoke and fire factories" and robot-only mining complexes are likely to have this problem, as well as the regulation-free factories of Gallatin.
1-2, 2	Safe Haven! 	Someone built this facility with a massive attention to safety. Shelves might be fully enclosed or have netting for items. Windows are sturdy but can be pushed outwards in case of a fire; fire extinguishers and escape routes are clearly marked.
1-2, 3	Secure 	Sturdy doors, reinforced walls, metal shutters, spotlights and camera systems. Any good heist has a place like this. Outworld outposts of the Infinity Patrol should certainly have this trait.
1-2, 4	Insecure 	Heisting something here would be pretty easy. The locks are unimpressive, the cameras cut out, perhaps the doors are merely stuck in their frames and not locked at all. This location may be the result of cutting corners with security, or simply decayed over time.
1-2, 5	Compact 	This location is built remarkably compact, using every bit of space available for storage and practical use. While this may just be an issue of scale (SM+0 people in a SM-1 house, for instance), it's also common in dense metropolitan areas. Undercover facilities built into backrooms or fake boulders may also have this trait! Furthermore, it may be difficult to have a private conversation here, if there's any strangers in the same room.
1-2, 6	Sprawling 	This area had plenty of room to grow wide, tall, or both. A brisk walk separates places from one another. This could represent a massive multi-building complex, or an incomplete construction yard. This area makes searches more challenging, and chases more interesting.
3-4, 1	Advanced TL 	This place is state-of-the-art, with facilities or tools that that narrowly branch into a higher tech level. This could a TL4 smithy in a medieval setting, or a TL11 physics lab in a TL10 starship.
3-4, 2	Reduced TL 	This place is behind the times. Perhaps it's a lonely motel that hasn't been upgraded in a while, perhaps it's a Infinity Patrol safehouse, lit by gaslight or oil lamps. At any rate, it's rather low-tech in some aspect.
3-4, 3	Divergent TL 	This location's technology seems to have branched in a remarkably different direction. Perhaps it's powered through alchemy, or djinn, or bottled angels. Perhaps it's a factory that churns out machines that don't exist on Homeline.
3-4, 4	Haunted 	This location is simply haunted. It may not be ghosts, but this location has critically important, unfinished business, and it cannot forget its past.
3-4, 5	Inviting 	This location has a certain enchanting charm to it. Maybe it's possessed by a benevolent genius loci, maybe the proprietor is some urban spirit. Perhaps this building is really a small shard of the heavenly realm of Huy Breasil, which smells of sweet apples and cinnamon.
3-4, 6	The Wrong Calling	This place was built for one thing, but ended up doing something very different. Perhaps it used to be a salt mine before the Cabal turned it into a demon prison. Perhaps it's a weapon shop that used to be a restaurant. A setting with the wrong calling always has some old quirks that might surprise you.
5-6, 1	Inconvenient 	Getting into (and possibly out of) this location is a great undertaking. Monasteries on mountaintops, plantation houses full of puzzles, and anywhere that has remarkably frustrating pathways. If this location is a business, it's only managed to stay alive through a very mobile or specially selected clientele--such as Polyhymnia.
5-6, 2	Convenient 	This location is so accessible even those with Altered Time Rate and Short Life Span find it useful. The doors are greased, the elevators are fast, and the pathways are ample. A chase through this area will end rather abruptly, but at least the PCs will find the snacks or information they're looking for.
5-6, 3	Incompetent 	This location is remarkably bad at whatever it's supposed to be doing. Perhaps the employer is missing the Teaching skill, or place is still in business because it's the only one around. While this location won't penalize anyone's skill rolls, it may be hard to negotiate a business deal if your contact gets food poisoning.
5-6, 4	Artistic 	This location was built with a great artistic vision. If done right, its occupants may find some odd inspiration from working within it. If done poorly, it may be a bit of an eyesore. A place can be in poor shape and still be highly stylized--Samuel Luke Station is an excellent example of a decaying but artistic location.
5-6, 5	Opulent 	From the penthouses of Shikaku-Mon to the exclusive restaurants of Fifth Wave Montreal, this place was certainly made with an extravagant amount of money. These locations can be remarkably fun for players, whether they're sneaking into a Hellfire Club to contact a vampire, or looking for Centrum spies in the Palace of Tiberius.
5-6, 6	Underfunded 	Whatever this building was meant to do, it isn't getting paid enough to do it. The tech is fine, but there's not enough of it. The staff might be competent, but there's just not enough of them. This location can often represent the aftermath of villains using economic means to do damage.
==References==
*Pyramid 3/11: Cinematic Locations
Category:Steven Marsh
Category:Pyramid Vol 3 Articles
Category:Buildings