I'm trying to get a better handle on EP by looking at it from the point of view of someone who's nearly powerless, but has the chance to start defending themselves against a hostile universe - the kobold's point of view, to put it one way. I'm trying to work out just how much time and effort would be required to build a hab that's reasonable secure from a given level of threat. (The background I'm using in my imagination involves a private backup in a teeny synth or robot sleeve, with a desktop cornucopia, some solar panelling and batteries, punted off onto a random rock that nobody's using for anything yet; which failed to receive a 'still alive' signal on schedule (or, perhaps, is still getting said signal regularly, but the random number generator decided to wake up the backup anyway, in case the signal is being spoofed). Feel free to start from some other point if you prefer, like a pair of starry-eyed adolescents wanting to create the perfect love-nest where their families can't keep them apart, or a would-be mad scientist who has to create a lab from scratch, or a utopian idealist, or a survivalist who wants to hide from the next TITANs, or whatever else you want to come up with...) The lowest level of threat I can think of is something like a simple mugger - some idjit who'll happily squish your cyberbrain into wreckage and steal your nanofab, just because they can. The initial preparation against such a threat that comes to mind is the EP-tech equivalent of a spear or handgun - whatever lethal ranged weapon can be nanofabbed the fastest, most likely meaning a slugthrower pistol (since it only costs Low). The next priority would likely be sensors, to keep a better watch out for such a mugger - and, if possible, any ships heading in the direction of the rock that might carry such a mugger. A third priority, once the sensors are developed enough to see other rocks floating around in space, would be the creation of a new backup to discreetly launch off to a new anonymous location. And, of course, another priority would be to have the nanofab make more nanofabs, increasing the building capacity so everything can be built sooner. The next lowest level of threat I can think of... is a /band/ of such barbarians, say a dozen or so. The sensors would be just as useful for seeing them as a lone mugger; and while a single pistol could serve to make a single such minor predator think twice, more extensive defensive systems would be required to deter a group. Something like a building with walls to protect the nanofab and sleeve within, and a selection of weaponry to use if the muggers break out some crowbars, something equivalent to some home-defense shotguns or varmint rifles. Of course, once a hard point like that is made, then it itself becomes a potential prize for someone to try to take for themselves - and I've barely started getting a handle of all the ways described in the EP corebook by which one group can force another to do something they don't want. So... what methods of attack have you seen in EP games most often? What methods are available in EP that aren't usually used in other RPG settings?