MerakSpielman
First Post
Original thread was lost. Found a cached version, reposting with an update.
Hi. I've been away from ENworld for some time. But I thought I'd pop back in to share some notes I'm making for my upcoming NEW campaign.
This is my first time running a sci-fi game. The rules seem fairly straightforward, but I want to make sure I'm striking a good tone for the setting, making it sound interesting, etc.
Feedback and suggestions are more than welcome.
The Revelation of Tomorrow
Sci-Fi Campaign Notes
Merak Spielman
In the year 2350, much of what early “science fiction” had promised had become realized – even commonplace. From simple devices like hand-held scanners, to more complex ones like zero-gravity backpacks. Of course, being only human, we couldn’t resist developing tools of violence as well – disruptor rifles, microwave sniper rifles, and even a handheld energy weapon with the cheerful moniker “darkswarm disintegration system.” AI-controlled robots lobbied successfully for equal rights. We could – and did – develop space ships that carried humans across the solar system at significant fractions of the speed of light. We set about colonizing and exploiting our solar system, but one promise of science fiction continued to elude us – the ability to travel at speeds beyond that of light. We sent sub-lightspeed probes to all reasonably nearby systems, but alas, they found nothing but lifeless husks and gas giants. Fascinating from a scientific perspective, but nothing worth the economic cost of actually travelling there in person.
We had more or less resigned ourselves, as a species, to living in our home system forever.
But then came what could only be described as a miracle – or more commonly, the Revelation.
A burst of energy swept over our system, causing widespread confusion as electronic devices malfunctioned. Tens of thousands of robotic citizens perished. When the worst of it was over, we didn’t know how to interpret what our sensors and satellites were telling us. There were now currents, or conduits, of some sort of mysterious force connecting our star to others. With fairly simple technology, these currents could be entered, and travelled along, to other star systems so distant we had no way of knowing where they were relative to our own Sol.
We called these currents “Hyperlanes” and developed ships to explore where they led.
-------
Eighty years have passed, and the world has changed. 44 new systems have been explored and surveyed – at great danger to the explorers. Many ships returned, but many, many more did not, and certain Hyperlanes were simply deemed too dangerous to explore further at this time. Resources beyond measure were at our fingertips.
But something even more world-changing occurred. We met others – explorers like ourselves, traveling the Hyperlanes in vessels of their own making. Some friendly, some… more difficult to get along with. All of them thinking, like us, about how to use these worlds for their own purposes.
Diplomacy and trade have been established, and most people have now seen aliens in person with their own eyes.
Worlds have been colonized, and all the races have begun to spread closer to each other.
Most of the 44 systems are uninhabited, or at least, lacking worlds even capable of supporting life. But even so, what initially seemed like a universe of limitless bounty has quickly come to feel… much more limited.
Tensions have flared. Disputes have arisen. And many feel that, sooner or later, Interstellar War is inevitable.
But for now, at least, the Hyperlanes between the 44 systems seem safe enough to travelers.
But there is still so much to learn and explore.
There are rumors of ancient ruins on some of the more fringe worlds – which would indicate civilizations that rose and fell before our own.
The new businesses of piracy and smuggling are struggling to get off the ground, but as trade gets more commonplace and lucrative, they can only grow more powerful.
The six known civilizations with Hyperlane technology have begun to design larger and more powerful navies to defend their worlds.
And looming over everything is the Revelation itself. What caused these Hyperlanes to open? What is keeping them open? Some attribute them to natural, but as-yet unexplained, phenomena. Some say they were opened by divine intervention. Still others worry that they were somehow created, perhaps by alien technology we cannot grasp. They opened up the possibility of exploration and expansion, to be sure, but the spacefaring races have also never felt so vulnerable.
They are, after all, no longer protected by the vast wasteland between the stars.
Hi. I've been away from ENworld for some time. But I thought I'd pop back in to share some notes I'm making for my upcoming NEW campaign.
This is my first time running a sci-fi game. The rules seem fairly straightforward, but I want to make sure I'm striking a good tone for the setting, making it sound interesting, etc.
Feedback and suggestions are more than welcome.
The Revelation of Tomorrow
Sci-Fi Campaign Notes
Merak Spielman
In the year 2350, much of what early “science fiction” had promised had become realized – even commonplace. From simple devices like hand-held scanners, to more complex ones like zero-gravity backpacks. Of course, being only human, we couldn’t resist developing tools of violence as well – disruptor rifles, microwave sniper rifles, and even a handheld energy weapon with the cheerful moniker “darkswarm disintegration system.” AI-controlled robots lobbied successfully for equal rights. We could – and did – develop space ships that carried humans across the solar system at significant fractions of the speed of light. We set about colonizing and exploiting our solar system, but one promise of science fiction continued to elude us – the ability to travel at speeds beyond that of light. We sent sub-lightspeed probes to all reasonably nearby systems, but alas, they found nothing but lifeless husks and gas giants. Fascinating from a scientific perspective, but nothing worth the economic cost of actually travelling there in person.
We had more or less resigned ourselves, as a species, to living in our home system forever.
But then came what could only be described as a miracle – or more commonly, the Revelation.
A burst of energy swept over our system, causing widespread confusion as electronic devices malfunctioned. Tens of thousands of robotic citizens perished. When the worst of it was over, we didn’t know how to interpret what our sensors and satellites were telling us. There were now currents, or conduits, of some sort of mysterious force connecting our star to others. With fairly simple technology, these currents could be entered, and travelled along, to other star systems so distant we had no way of knowing where they were relative to our own Sol.
We called these currents “Hyperlanes” and developed ships to explore where they led.
-------
Eighty years have passed, and the world has changed. 44 new systems have been explored and surveyed – at great danger to the explorers. Many ships returned, but many, many more did not, and certain Hyperlanes were simply deemed too dangerous to explore further at this time. Resources beyond measure were at our fingertips.
But something even more world-changing occurred. We met others – explorers like ourselves, traveling the Hyperlanes in vessels of their own making. Some friendly, some… more difficult to get along with. All of them thinking, like us, about how to use these worlds for their own purposes.
Diplomacy and trade have been established, and most people have now seen aliens in person with their own eyes.
Worlds have been colonized, and all the races have begun to spread closer to each other.
Most of the 44 systems are uninhabited, or at least, lacking worlds even capable of supporting life. But even so, what initially seemed like a universe of limitless bounty has quickly come to feel… much more limited.
Tensions have flared. Disputes have arisen. And many feel that, sooner or later, Interstellar War is inevitable.
But for now, at least, the Hyperlanes between the 44 systems seem safe enough to travelers.
But there is still so much to learn and explore.
There are rumors of ancient ruins on some of the more fringe worlds – which would indicate civilizations that rose and fell before our own.
The new businesses of piracy and smuggling are struggling to get off the ground, but as trade gets more commonplace and lucrative, they can only grow more powerful.
The six known civilizations with Hyperlane technology have begun to design larger and more powerful navies to defend their worlds.
And looming over everything is the Revelation itself. What caused these Hyperlanes to open? What is keeping them open? Some attribute them to natural, but as-yet unexplained, phenomena. Some say they were opened by divine intervention. Still others worry that they were somehow created, perhaps by alien technology we cannot grasp. They opened up the possibility of exploration and expansion, to be sure, but the spacefaring races have also never felt so vulnerable.
They are, after all, no longer protected by the vast wasteland between the stars.
