Duplicant Survival

Lore & Background

The Duplicants are not born on the planet they inhabit. They are cloned, grown, and deployed by the player's expedition to establish a foothold on a world that is, by every natural measure, hostile to human life. The atmosphere is thin and toxic in places, the temperature swings between lethal cold and scorching heat, and the ground itself can be radioactive. In this environment, survival is not a given; it is an engineering problem that must be solved with pipes, generators, and careful planning.

Each Duplicant carries a small set of biological imperatives that never pause. They must breathe clean oxygen, consume food, drink water, and rest in a bed. Their mood—shaped by the food they eat, the company they keep, the cleanliness of their surroundings, and the success or failure of their work—acts as a multiplier on everything they do. A miserable Duplicant works slower, makes more mistakes, and is far less likely to survive a crisis. A happy one, by contrast, can push through grueling shifts and even perform emergency repairs under pressure.

The species roster reflects the expedition's need for versatility. Dwarfs squeeze into tight spaces and burn calories fast; Giants haul heavy materials but need more food and oxygen; T-Rexes shrug off heat that would cook a Human but shiver in the cold; Plants can photosynthesize in sunlight but are fragile in low light; and Robots need no food, water, or sleep at all, yet can shatter from a single hard fall. No single species is optimal for every task, and a well-run colony blends them, covering each other's weaknesses.

In Their Own Story

The alarm chirps at 0300 colony time. Duplicant Kira, a Dwarf with a chipped tooth and a permanent scowl, jolts upright in her 1×1 bunk. The oxygen gauge on the wall reads 81% and dropping. Somewhere below, a pipe has cracked and the air is bleeding into the magma layer.

She doesn't panic. Dwarfs don't have the luxury of panic; their metabolisms burn through reserves twice as fast as a Human's. She grabs her wrench, kicks open the maintenance hatch, and drops into the shaft. The air tastes like copper and burnt plastic. Her mood meter flickers red—she's hungry, she's tired, and the stench of leaking CO₂ is making her nauseous.

Forty meters down, she finds the rupture. A single gasket, swollen and black. She wrenches it free, slams in the spare from her belt, and seals the line. The gauge steadies. Kira climbs back up, belly empty, lungs aching, and drops into the cafeteria just as the first bowl of algae paste hits the tray.

She eats in silence. Her mood creeps from red to yellow. Outside, the planet's twin moons are rising, painting the glass dome in bands of amber and violet. She has another four-hour shift to go. She'll survive. Probably.

Reader's Guide

Duplicant Survival – Species Overview

Human: The baseline. Balanced stats across all categories. No extreme strengths or weaknesses. Standard metabolism, standard oxygen need, standard temperature tolerance. Mood is affected by food quality, social interaction, and work success. Versatile but unremarkable.

Dwarf: Small enough to occupy 1×1 spaces and fit through narrow tunnels. High metabolism means they consume food, water, and oxygen at an elevated rate. They work faster but tire and starve quicker. They cannot carry heavy items as easily as larger species.

Giant: Large frame grants high strength and the ability to move heavy materials. Higher food, water, and oxygen consumption to match their size. Slower movement speed. They need more space and their sheer size can block narrow passages.

T-Rex: Cold-blooded reptilian physiology. Excellent heat tolerance—far more resistant to high temperatures than Humans or Dwarfs. Poor cold tolerance; they shiver and lose efficiency in low temperatures. High strength. They do not need to sleep as long but still require rest.

Plant: Photosynthetic biology. Can generate oxygen from light and water in the presence of a light source, reducing their dependence on external O₂ supply. Fragile in darkness or low-light conditions. Lower strength. They need light and water to thrive; without them, their health deteriorates.

Robot: No biological needs—no food, water, sleep, or oxygen required. Immune to suffocation, starvation, and dehydration. However, they are vulnerable to physical damage: a hard fall or impact can destroy them permanently. They do not experience mood in the traditional sense but can still be affected by certain environmental hazards.

General survival rules apply to all: keep oxygen above critical levels, provide adequate food and water, ensure access to a bed for sleep, and monitor mood. Any Duplicant left without a core need for too long will begin losing health and eventually die. There is no respawn; a lost Duplicant is gone until a new one is cloned.

Did You Know?

• A Duplicant's mood directly multiplies their work speed, meaning a perpetually unhappy worker can be dramatically less productive than a happy one performing the exact same task.
• Dwarfs can fit into 1×1 grid spaces, allowing them to work in tunnels and shafts that would be completely inaccessible to Humans, Giants, or T-Rexes.
• Robots are the only Duplicant type that requires no food, water, oxygen, or sleep, making them uniquely suited to hazardous environments—but a single hard impact can shatter them permanently.
• Plant Duplicants can produce oxygen through photosynthesis when exposed to light, effectively acting as a living air purifier for the colony.