Brainstorming a “Kitchen Sink“ Sci-Fi campaign

[Dannyalcatraz]

I would definitely include this if I was setting up a sci-fi game: FTL travel as Thing That Will Drive You Mad. You need drugs or to be comatose to not risk losing your marbles - but some people can stay awake without this risk, or without as much risk.

Naturally, things go pear-shaped now and then, and the not(?)-insane person has to wake up some comatose/drugged people to deal with A Situation.

I was thinking similar thought, inspired by that and Stephen Donaldson’s Gap novels- hyperspace jumps could make you go nuts,

Which brought me back to the cetacean pilots- perhaps they’re resistant or immune to that psychosis because they evolved in wide open 3D environments. And who knows, perhaps an analog of the spice comes into play as well...

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I’m thinking the jump gates will be extraplanetary only, so you won’t be able to go directly from planet to planet. That means any race using them must already have some kind of spacefaring capability.

In addition, instead of the way such gates are often depicted, they will not be big rings in open space. Instead, they will be embedded in the cores of large asteroids, hollowed out like immense beads. The gatemakers rationale is protection of the gates from both natural forces AND attack by hostile beings.

 

[Zardnaar]

I’m thinking the jump gates will be extraplanetary only, so you won’t be able to go directly from planet to planet. That means any race using them must already have some kind of spacefaring capability.

In addition, instead of the way such gates are often depicted, they will not be big rings in open space. Instead, they will be embedded in the cores of large asteroids, hollowed out like immense beads. The gatemakers rationale is protection of the gates from both natural forces AND attack by hostile beings.

Interstellar rail gun.

Here's a character sheet from fan made Star wars D6. Not hard to file the serial numbers off.

How do you build the gates though? By that do you need one at the other end?

If so it needs to be a pre existing system or they need some way to travel there to build it.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Borrowing from Stargate lore, the gatebuilders launched a fleet of robotic building ships to set points. The first gate was then connected to the more distant ones. Repeat for thousands of years.

Such a plan requires thinking and planning in deep time, societal stability, and cooperation. Probably a long lifespan as well. Because of that, it may be that the gate builders were the first mechanical species to exist in the galaxy. It may be that they’re still around, unknown to the other species, still building gates. Those gates may even be fully sentient members of that species themselves, gathering data on those who pass through them...

 

[MarkB]

I’m thinking the jump gates will be extraplanetary only, so you won’t be able to go directly from planet to planet. That means any race using them must already have some kind of spacefaring capability.

In addition, instead of the way such gates are often depicted, they will not be big rings in open space. Instead, they will be embedded in the cores of large asteroids, hollowed out like immense beads. The gatemakers rationale is protection of the gates from both natural forces AND attack by hostile beings.

The way Mass Effect does it is that there is FTL travel, but it's not massively much F than L, so it's practical for travel within a local star cluster, but not for traversing the galaxy. For longer range travel there is a network of Mass Relays around the galaxy, and travel between one Mass Relay and any of its nearest neighbours is instantaneous. They're spread out enough that you could traverse the galaxy in no more than half a dozen jumps.

The Mass Relays are precursor technology, and modern species won't know about one until they find it and activate it, adding it to the network. The result is that the star systems surrounding each Mass Relay are like an oasis, with large swathes of the galaxy left currently unexplored because it takes a long time to get anywhere too far from a Mass Relay using conventional FTL. As a result there's still a heavy element of frontiers and exploration in the galaxy as people push back the borders using newer, faster FTL technology, or send out expeditions in search of lost Mass Relays, and you never know when some formerly-unknown spacefaring civilisation may suddenly manage to activate their local relay and join the galactic community, for good or ill.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Back to the wandering “paladins”.

There’s lots of material to draw from: SW’s Jedi, Dune’s Bene Gesserit, DC Comics’ Manhunters and Green Lanterns, Bab5’s Rangers & techno mages...

I‘m probably going to do a lot of cherry picking, but- because I want them to be a player option- they won’t be so über as to be able to dominate the game. They’re powerful, but they’re not superheroes or gods.

In all likelihood, they’re going to be more like Sci-Fi special forces the the more mystic sources. They’ll have martial training and advanced tech, but any seemingly supernatural ability will either be racial/innate (and thus, not available to all members of the organization) or just hyper tech, not a result of the organization’s training.

One little non-Sci-fi element I definitely plan on including is to nod to the Pilgrim Adepts of MZB’s Lythande. The “paladins” will have a blue star symbol as their ”badge/ID/emblem” and their organizational name will be chosen from the names of a Class O star. Said star may even be their base of operations.

O-type star - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

The way Mass Effect does it is that there is FTL travel, but it's not massively much F than L, so it's practical for travel within a local star cluster, but not for traversing the galaxy. For longer range travel there is a network of Mass Relays around the galaxy, and travel between one Mass Relay and any of its nearest neighbours is instantaneous. They're spread out enough that you could traverse the galaxy in no more than half a dozen jumps.

The Mass Relays are precursor technology, and modern species won't know about one until they find it and activate it, adding it to the network. The result is that the star systems surrounding each Mass Relay are like an oasis, with large swathes of the galaxy left currently unexplored because it takes a long time to get anywhere too far from a Mass Relay using conventional FTL. As a result there's still a heavy element of frontiers and exploration in the galaxy as people push back the borders using newer, faster FTL technology, or send out expeditions in search of lost Mass Relays, and you never know when some formerly-unknown spacefaring civilisation may suddenly manage to activate their local relay and join the galactic community, for good or ill.

That’s kind of what I was thinking. The biggest ships can do short hops, but are mainly confined to sublight speeds. Ships under a certain size can’t go FTL at all without using the gates.

So gates are critically important for anything beyond regional travel, and as such, are carefully guarded. Losing access to your closest gate means being cut off for goodness knows how long.

 

[MarkB]

Back to the wandering “paladins”.

There’s lots of material to draw from: SW’s Jedi, Dune’s Bene Gesserit, DC Comics’ Manhunters and Green Lanterns, Bab5’s Rangers & techno mages...

I‘m probably going to do a lot of cherry picking, but- because I want them to be a player option- they won’t be so über as to be able to dominate the game. They’re powerful, but they’re not superheroes or gods.

In all likelihood, they’re going to be more like Sci-Fi special forces the the more mystic sources. They’ll have martial training and advanced tech, but any seemingly supernatural ability will either be racial/innate (and thus, not available to all members of the organization) or just hyper tech, not a result of the organization’s training.

One little non-Sci-fi element I definitely plan on including is to nod to the Pilgrim Adepts of MZB’s Lythande. The “paladins” will have a blue star symbol as their ”badge/ID/emblem” and their organizational name will be chosen from the names of a Class O star. Said star may even be their base of operations.

O-type star - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

As special forces, their main 'power' may simply be that they have the authority to act independently on behalf of whatever galactic 'government' is in place, giving them leeway with local law enforcement regarding their actions, and the ability to requisition local support if needed. Somewhere between a Wild West sheriff and a modern FBI agent.

 

[Dioltach]

Have you ever read Harry Harrison's short story "The Repairman"? It might give some flavour for the practical issues involved in maintaining interstellar travel.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

As special forces, their main 'power' may simply be that they have the authority to act independently on behalf of whatever galactic 'government' is in place, giving them leeway with local law enforcement regarding their actions, and the ability to requisition local support if needed. Somewhere between a Wild West sheriff and a modern FBI agent.

And as such, their police powers may vary from black ops with carte blanche to simple unsanctuoned bounty-hunter/vigilante action, depending on where they are.