The Floating Labor Camps of the Now

Summary

February 21, 2009: In the United Kingdom, old prison barges have been converted to house Italian, Portuguese, Polish, and Lithuanian construction workers who work at a power station in Kent. These workers cannot leave these barges because they risk getting attacked by angry locals, and thus have to be transported in vans to their place of work.

Source

Bibliography

1. Original article

Game and Story Use

• These barges make interesting scenery for an adventure. They are extremely cramped, and if a fight or disaster breaks out it will be hard to move and get out. And communicating with the inhabitants will be difficult, as they will speak in a multitude of foreign languages.
  • Imagine a zombie outbreak in one of these barges…
  • Generally a good venue for 'cleanup team horror' as the PCs are sent aboard a floating derelict to find out what the hell happened to the crew … Event Horizon style…
  • Also a possibly target for The Resistance … and likewise a good way of protecting a worksite from infiltration or sabotage by them.
• In a Twenty Minutes Into The Future, cyberpunk, or otherwise dystopian setting, such barges might be a common sight in coastal towns to provide cheap shelter - especially since they can be moved cheaply to new locations once a particular construction site is finished.
• Also very useful for Black projects …
• Also converts well to [[sci fi]]], except that the barges are in orbit.