Some worlds in the Third Imperium setting are “garden worlds,” which means humans can survive on the surface ( mostly ) in shirtsleeves and without any kind of breathing apparatus. Many more worlds could be gardens but for the existence of a tainted atmosphere.
In the Universal World Profile ( UWP ) of such worlds the 3rd place-kept digit represents the atmosphere and several values here represent the presence of a “tainted” atmosphere:
2 – very thin/tainted
4 – thin/tainted
7 – standard/tainted
9 – dense/tainted
Overall in the Third Imperium setting, that’s expressed as a great many worlds with atmospheres having some variety of taint present.
Generally speaking, an atmospheric taint is something in the breathable gas that affects everyone taking it in, something that must either be filtered out with a mask or bypassed altogether with a breathing apparatus if you want to avoid the effects of the taint. Almost none of these taints are ever explicitly described in the setting write-ups; only their presence is noted.
Some worlds with a tainted atmosphere have indigenous life that can ignore the effects of the taint, having developed resistance or immunity over the long haul there. Visitors or transplants, not so much.
There’s a prevailing idea in gaming circles that a taint is a bad thing; but I think using the above definition that might not necessarily be true. Let’s take a closer look at taints.
Ways of mitigating the presence of an atmospheric taint
Typically, a taint can be filtered out. If it has a smell or some other effect, a filter will keep that out of a character’s lungs, sinuses, and mouths, but not off their clothes. I’d say most taints are colorless, some are odorless, and have no effect on physical items. I’d say that a taint cannot be corrosive or topically toxic or harmful; if there were such a thing in the atmo the planet would be assigned a different code – B for “corrosive” or C for “insidious.”
So most often, the taint can be filtered out with a wearable mask, or perhaps just nose-filters at TL 9+.
Further, I imagine some taints could be inoculated against. A one-time inoculation seems “too easy” from a game drama perspective – why have the taint at all? But it’s possible. Periodic inoculations make more sense to me as a Referee, perhaps with a dwindling effect. The other side of this idea is that a character ( or maybe just certain characters who make some kind of success roll ) establish a tolerance to the local taint over time.
Another option is to undergo a medical procedure, the removal of a sensitive organ or structure or ( more often ) addition of something – a filtering organ or an enzyme-producing gland surgically implanted in a character as an augmentation would nullify the effects of a taint. This seems serious, but for game drama where the characters are going to be local for a while or at higher tech levels probably is a nothing-thing. Maybe the procedure is performed as part of the deal for the assignment, but also as a way for someone nefarious to implant some tracking mechanism.
Always thinking like a Referee, here.
Anyway. There’s also the idea that the taint affects everyone. Or does it?
Who does the taint affect?
Maybe in fact it affects everyone who breathes “standard” atmo, which would mean any of the major and most of the minor detailed races of the Third Imperium. Great. Filter masks or surgically-implanted gills for everyone.
Or maybe it’s just mostly everyone. Not Droynes, and not one of the characters, for some bizarre reason. His red hair, some enzyme he has more of, or whatever.
Maybe it only affects some people; Droynes ( am I picking on them? ) or redheads, people with a tipping-point-level of some enzyme in their body. Everyone else gets a pass but these folks, yikes. A taint that didn’t affect Humaniti seems like not a real taint, but I could maybe see it in some game situations. Especially if the party had a non-human character.
Weaker ( from a game-effect view ) would be atmospheric taint that only affected some non-Humaniti-types. Again, why bother? Perhaps making the least sense of all but still possibly useful for a story is a taint that only affects locals born and raised there. From a story perspective, this pendulum might swing if the taint has a positive effect… but we’ll get to that in a minute.
When and where does the taint manifest?
The default answer to this question seems to be “everywhere on the planet not specifically protected or set aside against it.” Like, the taint ( mostly ) doesn’t show up in sealed environments, but everywhere you don’t take steps to keep it out, there it is. This is certainly one way of doing it.
Another intriguing possibility is that the taint only manifests when it’s in conjunction with something else. Oxygen is the easy one and gives rise to the above situation; it’s everywhere. But if it’s only with ( say ) water, that’d still qualify as an atmospheric taint, but you see how it might not always affect breathers. If the taint were a kind of pollen and existed only where plant life grew, or on a certain continent because the taint is duct from a particular kind of rock formation, then the taint might not be world-wide.
Again, at what point does it make sense that the atmosphere is not listed as “tainted?”
Most taints manifest immediately, or very soon. If you’re caught outside without a respirator, your character begins to suffer the effect of the taint, whatever that is. But this also is codified nowhere in the rules.
Perhaps the effect is very gradual. Or the effect is profoundly uncomfortable, painful, or damaging, but temporary.
What if the taint isn’t even harmful?
Technically, a tainted atmosphere is one where Humans require filter masks to breathe so as not to be affected by the taint. This strongly implies that the taint is bad, but this isn’t explicitly stated anywhere. Maybe the taint is non-bad? Or non-bad in moderate quantities or short periods. Some ideas for less-than-harmful taints:
- Causes mild euphoria ( addictive? )
- Changes color perception ( in time, permanently? )
- Affects a sense ( deadens or heightens )
- Affects circadian rhythm ( in time, permanently? )
- Changes skin pigmentation
- Causes hair loss
- Is an inert gas ( this is almost not even a taint. But technically qualifies )
- Dehydrating
- Slightly more oxygen ( qualifies as a taint )
- Slightly less oxygen ( also qualifies; effects as a thin atmosphere without pressure differentials )
- Very mildly hallucinogenic
- Just a ( very? ) noxious odor
- Produces wildly vivid dreams, which almost never come true
- Increases amorousness ( love is, truly, in the air )
Advantageous taints
These are almost certainly temporary or otherwise restricted; the effect only manifests on the planet ( the taint manifests in conjunction with some other only-local effect ) or only becomes a permanent effect after a years-long exposure.
- Increases focus
- Increases human healing
- Slows bleeding
- Increases endurance
- increases ( inhibits? ) fertility
- Increases sense
- Anagathac
Strange toxic effects
Commonly-described taints are some pollution that causes you to suffocate, or a type of toxin that makes you sick or attacks you. Off that beaten track but still quite negative, some other ideas for strange taint effects might include:
- Displaces oxygen – slow suffocation
- Increases pain – eventually more damage dice
- Increases paranoia
- reduces skin opacity
- induces allergic reaction
- induces skin luminosity or fluorescence
Sources of atmospheric taint
Where is the atmospheric taint coming from? There can be more than one source, but for simplicity’s sake there’s usually just one kind of taint, coming from one source.
- Inherently present on the atmosphere
- “The Ancients”
- A fine dust, from the planet’s crust
- Pollen from local flora
- Excrement from local fauna
- Outgassing from deep within the planet
- residue from a comet strike
- Pollution, current or past
- Industrial/scientific accident
- Misguided terraforming
- Alien contamination
- Unknown