[Serenity] Earth-that-was

[Tetsubo]

Has anyone set a campaign on the Earth in the Serenity universe? I know that the official line is that Earth "got used up"... but that sounds like a political statement... Sure the Americans and Chinese picked and fled but there are probably many, many humans left on Earth. Not to mention the High Colonies within the Sol system.

One question I had was why did they even leave the Sol system? Mars, the asteroid belt, the many gas giant moons plus the L5 point... why would you leave?

 

[Committed Hero]

This should probably be in the main rpg section, but I suspect the answer is because they could. A faster-than-light drive made it possible.

 

[ValhallaGH]

Has anyone set a campaign on the Earth in the Serenity universe? I know that the official line is that Earth "got used up"... but that sounds like a political statement... Sure the Americans and Chinese picked and fled but there are probably many, many humans left on Earth. Not to mention the High Colonies within the Sol system.

Implied by the source material is that when Earth "got used up" they mean that everything was burned, chemicals were dumped into all the water and other ecological disasters that make it a death trap that no one has ever gone back to. Not even the grimly desperate have gone back to Earth that Was. The only possible reason is that going there is like going through Reaver Space; suicide for 99.9% of the galaxy.

One question I had was why did they even leave the Sol system? Mars, the asteroid belt, the many gas giant moons plus the L5 point... why would you leave?

Because Earth is the only nice planet in our system. Everything else sucks; you need to import (or manufacture) air, let alone water, food and the other necessities of life. If you have a choice between living on an airless rock or travelling for three months and living on a nice planet (with no apocalyptic catches), choose the nice planet.
Or as CH said, "because they could."

 

[buzz]

One question I had was why did they even leave the Sol system? Mars, the asteroid belt, the many gas giant moons plus the L5 point... why would you leave?

So the writers didn't have to compete with the known solar system. "They terraformed Jupiter? That's not possible!"

 

[drothgery]

Not even the grimly desperate have gone back to Earth that Was. The only possible reason is that going there is like going through Reaver Space; suicide for 99.9% of the galaxy.

They don't have FTL (and we know they don't have FTL, or only have slow FTL, because the Serenity/Firefly universe is one solar system). Going back to earth takes a generation ship (and as many sci-fi writiers have noted, if you can maintain a generation ship, your need for planets is pretty low), cyrogenics, or travelling at near-light-speed and taking advantage of relativity. Months-long travel times between planets suggests that they can't do the last one.

 

[librarius_arcana]

They don't have FTL (and we know they don't have FTL, or only have slow FTL, because the Serenity/Firefly universe is one solar system). Going back to earth takes a generation ship (and as many sci-fi writiers have noted, if you can maintain a generation ship, your need for planets is pretty low), cyrogenics, or travelling at near-light-speed and taking advantage of relativity. Months-long travel times between planets suggests that they can't do the last one.

You're right there is no FTL travel, thats why they chose to set up home in a large system (converting most of the moons (some didn't take though))

They got there via STL and cyrogenics

 

[Committed Hero]

the Serenity/Firefly universe is one solar system

Has this been stated somewhere? Given that they have a little more than 5 centuries to locate the place, get where they're going, and set things up enough, that's a quick trip from Earth to there.

And, why call it "the 'verse?" A little grandiose for one star system, even if "galaxy" has been taken?

 

[kenobi65]

Has this been stated somewhere? Given that they have a little more than 5 centuries to locate the place, get where they're going, and set things up enough, that's a quick trip from Earth to there.

Yup. It's in the very beginning of the movie, and also in the RPG book. One system, gotten there via generation ships.

And, why call it "the 'verse?" A little grandiose for one star system, even if "galaxy" has been taken?

You'd have to ask Joss. Sounds cool, and, as far as people in that system are concerned, it is the "universe", for all intents and purposes.

 

[drothgery]

Has this been stated somewhere? Given that they have a little more than 5 centuries to locate the place, get where they're going, and set things up enough, that's a quick trip from Earth to there.

Serenity/Firefly really makes a lot more sense in an FTL universe. Unfortunately, the opening sequence of the movie explicitly says otherwise.

 

[Meloncov]

Yup. It's in the very beginning of the movie, and also in the RPG book. One system, gotten there via generation ships.

Actually, the RPG says that it takes place in a small cluster of solor systems, which makes more sense to me.