Some background on the setting, written as if the Captain is narrating.
SIX DEGREES OF SEPERATION: a D20 Future one-shot
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this."
"It’s the year 2308, near as we can tell, and here’s how it is: Old Earth got used up, so we terraformed a whole new galaxy of Earths, some rich and flush with new technologies, some not so much. The central planets formed the Alliance and decided all the planets had to join under their rule. There was some disagreement on that point. After the War, many of the Independents who had fought and lost drifted to the edges of the system, far from Alliance control. That was a whole mess of years ago, and history has lost much to time, but there are facts to be known. There’s no more Alliance, just a bunch of big-name corporations that run the show, while scrappers like us scrape to make it day to day. You got a job, we can do it, don’t much care what it is. Out here, people struggle to get by with the most basic technologies; a ship would bring you work, a gun would help you keep it. I’m Nathan Reynolds, captain and pilot of the Molly Haggard. Got a good crew too: fighters, co-pilot, mechanic. We even picked up a doctor, on the run from some big corporation, so he’s keeping a low profile. We fly the black, transporting everything from Old Earth relics to people."
Some interesting facts about this setting:
No one truly knows what year it is, nor even where Old Earth or the central planets are. History has been lost almost completely to time, and the galaxy uses relics from Old Earth as actual historical references. People honestly believe that shows like Firefly and Starship Troopers have actually happened and are part of their history lessons. In fact, Firefly has been redone and is now called The Chronicles of Jayne Cobbs: A Documentary of the Earth That Was and is shown in almost every sort of schooling imaginable. People sincerely claim descent from these characters, and archeologists still search the stars for relics of old.
Corporations, not governments, run the planets, with some of the largest corporations as follows:
Bishop Technologies and Industry (BTI): Specializes in military applications and robotics/cybernetics. In fact, the Engineer’s arm is a BTI Series Two, an older and outdated model that is no longer in production. BTI is known to be ruthless competition in regards to most other businesses, and cares little about scrappers (little guys). It is said that they maintain their own standing army, but BTI claims they only have a dedicated security force.
Blue Sun Corporation: Typically a foodstuffs company, their big sellers are the Super-charged Coca-Cola, Solar Sugar Blast Skittles, and the immensely-popular Mountain Rain Black Wire (think of Orange Mountain Dew mixed with Purple Mountain Dew, with about 5x the caffeine). They claim that their company originated before the Alliance/Independent War, and they certainly have been around for longer than anyone can truly remember (plus, there is “evidence” in the Firefly dvds).
Typically, the Progress Level is around 7, but instances of PL6 are quite common. Anything of PL5 or lower are considered relics and PL8+ is cutting edge and normally prototype. Laser pistols and rifles are common, and cybernetics/genetic engineering is considered the norm. Mutations do happen, especially if your linage includes some of the first colonists. Psionics, while rare, are known to exist – most are viewed with distrust and those with the special powers normally keep such information concealed. There are no humanoid aliens that have been discovered, but there have been a large amount of “monstrous” aliens encountered throughout the centuries. In fact, one of the reasons the movie Starship Troopers is considered a documentary is because of the discovery of the Arachnids – more commonly called the Warrior Bugs, or just Bugs. These bugs, and so far only the one type – warriors – have been discovered, have destroyed many colonies; most notably the colonies of Para 1 and Patience. Hovervehicles, starships, and the like are commonplace as well. Common languages are Chinese, English (most common), Russian, Spanish, and German. Many others exist as well.
SIX DEGREES OF SEPERATION: a D20 Future one-shot
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this."
"It’s the year 2308, near as we can tell, and here’s how it is: Old Earth got used up, so we terraformed a whole new galaxy of Earths, some rich and flush with new technologies, some not so much. The central planets formed the Alliance and decided all the planets had to join under their rule. There was some disagreement on that point. After the War, many of the Independents who had fought and lost drifted to the edges of the system, far from Alliance control. That was a whole mess of years ago, and history has lost much to time, but there are facts to be known. There’s no more Alliance, just a bunch of big-name corporations that run the show, while scrappers like us scrape to make it day to day. You got a job, we can do it, don’t much care what it is. Out here, people struggle to get by with the most basic technologies; a ship would bring you work, a gun would help you keep it. I’m Nathan Reynolds, captain and pilot of the Molly Haggard. Got a good crew too: fighters, co-pilot, mechanic. We even picked up a doctor, on the run from some big corporation, so he’s keeping a low profile. We fly the black, transporting everything from Old Earth relics to people."
Some interesting facts about this setting:
No one truly knows what year it is, nor even where Old Earth or the central planets are. History has been lost almost completely to time, and the galaxy uses relics from Old Earth as actual historical references. People honestly believe that shows like Firefly and Starship Troopers have actually happened and are part of their history lessons. In fact, Firefly has been redone and is now called The Chronicles of Jayne Cobbs: A Documentary of the Earth That Was and is shown in almost every sort of schooling imaginable. People sincerely claim descent from these characters, and archeologists still search the stars for relics of old.
Corporations, not governments, run the planets, with some of the largest corporations as follows:
Bishop Technologies and Industry (BTI): Specializes in military applications and robotics/cybernetics. In fact, the Engineer’s arm is a BTI Series Two, an older and outdated model that is no longer in production. BTI is known to be ruthless competition in regards to most other businesses, and cares little about scrappers (little guys). It is said that they maintain their own standing army, but BTI claims they only have a dedicated security force.
Blue Sun Corporation: Typically a foodstuffs company, their big sellers are the Super-charged Coca-Cola, Solar Sugar Blast Skittles, and the immensely-popular Mountain Rain Black Wire (think of Orange Mountain Dew mixed with Purple Mountain Dew, with about 5x the caffeine). They claim that their company originated before the Alliance/Independent War, and they certainly have been around for longer than anyone can truly remember (plus, there is “evidence” in the Firefly dvds).
Typically, the Progress Level is around 7, but instances of PL6 are quite common. Anything of PL5 or lower are considered relics and PL8+ is cutting edge and normally prototype. Laser pistols and rifles are common, and cybernetics/genetic engineering is considered the norm. Mutations do happen, especially if your linage includes some of the first colonists. Psionics, while rare, are known to exist – most are viewed with distrust and those with the special powers normally keep such information concealed. There are no humanoid aliens that have been discovered, but there have been a large amount of “monstrous” aliens encountered throughout the centuries. In fact, one of the reasons the movie Starship Troopers is considered a documentary is because of the discovery of the Arachnids – more commonly called the Warrior Bugs, or just Bugs. These bugs, and so far only the one type – warriors – have been discovered, have destroyed many colonies; most notably the colonies of Para 1 and Patience. Hovervehicles, starships, and the like are commonplace as well. Common languages are Chinese, English (most common), Russian, Spanish, and German. Many others exist as well.
