Under the Dome: Shopping Day — Deals, Desperation & Digital Chaos

Under the Dome: Shopping Day — Deals, Desperation & Digital Chaos

December 1, 2025

Cyber Monday under the Dome isn’t about discounts.
It’s about survival.

In a world where chaos storms erase supply lines, food spoils in hours, and tech is older than the domes themselves, getting your hands on gear is less “retail therapy” and more “dangerous side quest with a receipt.”

Some domes call it Ration Monday.
Some call it System Requisition Day.
Most just call it The Rush.

Because for one day each cycle, the dome’s central systems reset their inventories, open their vendor networks, and allow purchase orders from the public.
Which means everyone with grind, a badge, or a well-placed bribe is lined up, desperate to buy what might keep them breathing until the next storm.

And nothing says “holiday tradition” like being trampled for discounted air filters.

Here’s what shopping really means when your world is dying—plus how to bring that chaos to your table.

💸 **1. What Shopping Feels Like Under the Dome**

Shopping isn’t leisurely. It’s frantic.
Violent.
A test of reflexes, connections, and dumb luck.

Imagine…

The hiss of ancient vending machines waking from sleep.
A line wrapped around the outer ring, full of people shaking ration chips like rosary beads.
Flashing holo-screens displaying “LIMITED STOCK — 90% CORRUPTION FREE.”
Merchants screaming over one another about “freshly de-mutated meat slabs!”
A salvage tech auctioning acid-resistant boots with one good sole.
A kid holding a glowing chaos crystal toy that absolutely should not exist.

Shopping is a dungeon: loud, crowded, and full of things that want your money—or your life.

DM Tip: Build shopping sessions like encounters, not downtime.
Crowds. Noise. Time pressure. Shortage. Competition.
Make players roll for deals.
Make them fight for them if needed.

🧠 2. Cyber Monday, Dome-Style: The Digital Hunger Games

For one glorious cycle, the dome’s network offers:

rare ammo
cheap filter masks
recon drones
spell-stabilizing charms
chaos-proof rations
black-market healing kits
questionable cybernetics
“gently used” weapons with scorch marks

And because the domes run on failing tech, the system is glitchy as hell.

The “Cyber” in Cyber Monday?
A corrupted interface that randomly:

discounts an item by 80%
multiplies its price by 10
swaps your order with someone else’s
adds a cursed artifact to your cart
sends your purchase to the wrong district
demands a CAPTCHA written in ancient runes

Player Tip: If the system says “Buy Now,” ask your party:
“Do we really want a chaos-infused grappling hook for 3 grind?”
The answer is probably “yes.”

📦 3. Types of Shops You’ll Find Under the Dome

🧰 The Salvage Bazaar

A sprawling junk market where vendors rebuild ancient tech with duct tape and prayers.
Nothing here has a warranty, but everything has a story.

🩹 The Street Medic’s Cart

Half healer, half chemist.
Sells potions made from questionable organics.
May ask questions like:
“Left arm or right arm for the injection?”

🔮 Chaos Trinket Stalls

Small booths run by people who speak in riddles.
Sell one-of-a-kind magical items grown in chaos storms.
Every purchase comes with “side effects.”

⚙️ Dome Supply Depots

The closest thing to a reliable shop.
Clean floors. Fluorescent lights.
Inventory that disappears in minutes.

🛡️ The Quiet Trader

A single figure in a hooded cloak.
Doesn’t bargain. Doesn’t haggle.
Knows exactly what you need before you speak.
Scariest merchant in the dome.

🔧 4. Running Shopping Sessions — DM Style

Make shopping feel like the setting, not a spreadsheet.

A. Time Pressure

Put a timer on everything.
“Next chaos surge hits in one hour. Buy what you can.”

B. Competition

NPCs buy items in real time.
If players hesitate, items vanish.

C. Skill Challenges

Persuasion to haggle
Perception to spot hidden stock
Sleight of hand to “acquire” extras
Insight to avoid scams
Arcana to identify chaos artifacts

D. Consequences

Shopping success changes future sessions.

Better gas masks → survive acid fog
Cheap ammo that misfires → disaster
Chaos trinket → wild magic in the next encounter
A deal with the Quiet Trader → plot hook delivered

E. Make the Price Hurt

If everything is affordable, why live under a dome?
Make players choose between gear and other needs—rations, bribes, healing, shelter.

💬 5. Advice for Players

Don’t hoard grind. You can’t eat it, and you can’t bribe a storm.
Buy weird items. Chaos gear changes everything—for better or worse.
Invest in mobility. In this world, running is as important as fighting.
Share the load. If one player buys all healing items, guess who gets targeted first?
Expect scams. If a deal is too good to be true, it probably is.
Or it’s cursed.
Or it’s alive.

🕯️ Closing Thought

Shopping under the Dome is an adventure of its own—
a battlefield of bargains, a dungeon of desperation,
a holiday where everyone fights over scraps and calls it tradition.

Cyber Monday in your world is a page refresh.
Cyber Monday under the Dome is a death race with coupons.

And remember:
Whatever you buy today…
the storms can take tomorrow.

Thanks for reading. Until Next Time, Stay Nerdy!!