Working on genres to apply for multiple tech levels

[garrowolf]

I am working on a list of campaign sets for future tech levels. I have already defined the tech levels in general and worked up the basic technology of each tech level. Now I am working on different "flavors" to each tech level.
For instance: Post-Apocalyptic. This would apply to any tech level. The main civilization has been destroyed and this is the technology left behind.
Then I can apply that to each tech level and get a specific type of setting out of it. I will add magic to it later but I need the no mana versions to start with.


I am currently working on pre-FTL future settings:

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]TL 15: Cyber Age[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif](2030 – 2110 CE)[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] Advances in nanotechnology, biology, and computers open up cybernetic interfaces between humanity and our tools. Exosuit power armor develops. Various kinds of fuel cells become common. There are a large number of developments in robotics. Dangerous viruses are explored. Personality recordings are now possible but it doesn't have the spark of the original. The mind is being explored and abused. VR is common.[/FONT]




[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]TL 16: Fusion Age (2110 – 2200 CE)[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] Humanity fully explores the solar system. Space is no longer just the realm of megacorps and nations. The asteroid belts are filled with people in a population explosion. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] Mechs become common combat vehicles; Bioroids so close to human that you can't easily tell are common. Genies are being engineered. Cloning organs is common. Brain in a jar tech is available. Animal uplift explored. Droids become common. Full AI is available.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] Single stage to orbit vehicles becomes common. A considerable number of space stations are built. Wars expand to other planets. Underground cities develop on other planets and moons. Habits are the new village. Small single man fighters are mostly replaced by drones however they are sometimes used as personal vehicles. They are good in ship to ship combat at the civilian or pirate level but fleet combat doesn't use them at all because they can't really keep up. Space stations will usually have a number of personal craft, largely modified workpods, to function as port security.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] This is a time of early large scale underwater colonies, mostly scientific and military. Hyper-cavitation vessels are developed. The aquatic whisperjet is developed.[/FONT]






[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]TL 17: Colonial Age (2200-2300 CE)[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] Humanity sends manned missions to other solar systems using cryosleep. Large rotator motherships are developed. The various colonies develop into different cultures. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] Asteroid cities hold most of the people in the Sol System now. Terraforming is being carried out on several planets. Huge space stations, similar to Babylon 5, and arcologies are being built using new materials. Things have an enormous scale to them now.[/FONT]



The campaign sets that I have so far are [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Post-Apocalyptic – End of humanity/civilization at that tech level. [/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Increased Social Equality – People work together[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Decreased Social Equality – Corporations/Rich take all rights away from people [/FONT]


any other ideas?

 

[Dethklok]

I'll comment that the scenarios you've given already seem rather sanguine. Whether you consider environmental issues, economic problems, peak oil, downbreeding, or the simple model of an aging civilization written about by Carroll Quigley, there are reasons to think that current rates of expansion will taper off, leaving us not in a postapocalptic setting but in an aged world civilization - comfortable and over-ripe.

Just taking a few existing trends and extrapolating 100 years forward, we see:

* Global temperatures are up around 5 degrees F
* Computers will be incredibly powerful
* Society will be largely religious
* Oil reserves are almost gone; solar power will take up the slack
* World population will be high, but so will the average age
* Obesity will be the norm

Of course, there are reasons to think that nonlinear effects will kick in to moderate these trends - as obesity rates continue to rise, the issue will be taken increasingly seriously, for instance.

But the higher rate of reproduction in the religious community is more interesting to me, since it will likely accelerate rather than tapering off. Impressionistically, it suggests something different from a high-tech explosion; devoutly religious groups are seldom enthusiastic about technology, as we see from the case of Hassidic Jews banning cell phone use for women, or the Amish banning everything use for everybody.* Both of these groups, like virtually every devoutly religious group, have very high fertility and have therefore been growing exponentially.

So what about a world where technology has stagnated, except in the areas of medicine, food production, and to some degree computers? What about a world where rival religions clash; where cities are filled with sectarian churches and secret societies struggling to sway local policies toward their religious ideals, some of them peacefully, some through the many-layered global Net, and some violently? It looks more like Paranoia than Cyberpunk or Heroes Unlimited... unless one of these religions genuinely is The Right One, in which case players may have to figure out which, before the demons claim them.

*Admittedly this is somewhat unfair. The Amish do allow their members to use roller blades.

 

[garrowolf]

That sounds like the makings of an interesting campaign, however that is a bit too specific for a genre.

I think that you are right about some of those points. I was thinking of some of that during the cyber age but then you would end up with a split going into the Fusion age. Those that are going to live in space would need more technical skills. People who would live in space you be the more intelligent parts of the population. I think that this would cause a cultural divide as the devoutly religious gain more and more power on Earth but there is a population explosion in space due to the amount of space in asteroids and on Mars. The conditions would limit growth at first but then it would explode.
One story idea I had followed this progression until religious fanatics damaged a major space station in Earth orbit which caused a nuclear winter on Earth. Most of the refugees were taken to a partially terriformed Mars and they started wars there. These events caused a general hatred towards all religious people in large portions of the belter population.

 

[Dethklok]

That sounds like the makings of an interesting campaign, however that is a bit too specific for a genre.

Didn't you say you were looking for a list of campaign sets? In any event, though the main idea may not have been very appealing, I do think it was quite general - a future world with modern technology and a highly religious bent. You could focus on subterfuge and religious conflict, on apocalyptic wars, or alternatively on paranormal investigations. And taking the perspective of the inhabitants of such a world seriously rather than cynically, you could include a wide array of spiritual powers, demonic foes, and holy items.

One story idea I had followed this progression until religious fanatics damaged a major space station in Earth orbit which caused a nuclear winter on Earth. Most of the refugees were taken to a partially terriformed Mars and they started wars there. These events caused a general hatred towards all religious people in large portions of the belter population.

Apropos of that, you may be interested to know that some scholars see religion as a necessary condition for space colonization. If William S. Bainbridge is correct, it would actually be religious fanatics who built that space station and terraformed Mars - just fanatics of an unusual sort, like scientologists or UFO cultists.

 

[garrowolf]

Don't get me wrong, I think that there are a lot of directions that things can go but I plan on leaving that mostly to the discretion of the GM. They would know how their gaming group would deal with religion in gaming better then I would. I don't even focus on religion in the game system. Priests with magic are just that - Priests with magic. Even if they believe that it comes from the Gods, it makes little difference in the game system.

I tend to think of my system as a toolkit for the GM to create what they want and not a specific setting.

 

[garrowolf]

This is what I have so far:

Information Age Campaign Sets




No Mana


Gangland
Characters are a part of a gang or syndicate that is trying to fight off other gangs and maybe take over the neighborhood.


Post-Apocalypse
Characters are survivors of some sort of apocalypse. They must survive and get resources together.


Red Dawn
The country has been invaded and the characters are resistance fighters.


Spycraft
Characters are a group of spies.


Men in Black
Characters protect the earth from aliens and keep people from learning about them.


Corporate Mercenaries
Characters are corporate espionage mercenaries that are hired by one corporation to attack another.


Low Mana


Dogboys
The characters are werewolves that are fighting in various wars. They encounter various supernatural threats along the way and they have to keep their nature from being discovered by too many people.


Hunters
Characters are hunters, killing various kinds of supernatural creatures.


Legacy
Characters are a part of an order that fights supernatural invasions into this realm. They are similar to Hunters but they are focused differently.


Mutant World
This is a post-apocalyptic world but all the nuclear activity raised the mana level. Instead of just dying the radiation caused strange mutations. Monsters abound.


Vampires
Characters are vampires living in the Modern Age.


Zombies!
Characters are under attack from Zombies! Either the area is surrounded or they are stranded without a way to get help easily.




Moderate Mana


Magical Apprentices
Characters are new wizards and they are about to begin their training. Magic may or may not be publicly known.


Magical Spies
Characters have a natural ability that the government wants. They recruit them into a secret program.


Magic Arrives
The mana level raises and this throws things into chaos. The cold war actually ends because of this. People start to develop powers and/or mutate into magical creatures.


High Mana




Fractured
There was a nuclear war but they included a bit of magical materials in them. They fractured the timelines and probabilities so that they are overlapping and moving around. Think of sliders but occurring to everyone on several worlds against their will. The mana level has become extremely high and many of these world fragments are high or dark fantasy. This is sort of a survival horror disaster world setting.


Cyber Age Campaign Sets


No Mana


Gangland
Characters are a part of a gang or syndicate that is trying to fight off other gangs and maybe take over the neighborhood.


Post-Apocalypse
Characters are survivors of some sort of apocalypse. They must survive and get resources together.


Red Dawn
The country has been invaded and the characters are resistance fighters.


Spycraft
Characters are a group of spies.


Cyberpunk
Characters live in a dystopic future where corporations are the new governments and the poor scramble along in lawlessness.


Outlanders
Characters live in the ground among factories and trash and the rich live in arcologies.


Upbeat Cyber Age
Characters live in an era of high technology and advancements that we are just starting to explore.


Cyber Ice Age
Characters live underground and in the oceans under the ice of a global ice age caused by climate change.


Corporate Mercenaries
Characters are corporate espionage mercenaries that are hired by one corporation to attack another.




Low Mana


Dogboys
The characters are werewolves that are fighting in various wars. They encounter various supernatural threats along the way and they have to keep their nature from being discovered by too many people.


Hunters
Characters are hunters, killing various kinds of supernatural creatures.


Legacy
Characters are a part of an order that fights supernatural invasions into this realm. They are similar to Hunters but they are focused differently.


Mutant World
This is a post-apocalyptic world but all the nuclear activity raised the mana level. Instead of just dying the radiation caused strange mutations. Monsters abound.


Vampires
Characters are vampires living in the Cyber Age. Just add vampires to one of the no mana settings.


Zombies!
Characters are under attack from Zombies! Either the area is surrounded or they are stranded without a way to get help easily.




Moderate Mana


Magical Apprentices
Characters are new wizards and they are about to begin their training. Magic may or may not be publicly known.


Magical Spies
Characters have a natural ability that the government wants. They recruit them into a secret program.


Magic Arrives
The mana level raises and this throws things into chaos. People start to develop powers and/or mutate into magical creatures.


High Mana




Fractured
There was a nuclear war but they included a bit of magical materials in them. They fractured the timelines and probabilities so that they are overlapping and moving around. Think of sliders but occurring to everyone on several worlds against their will. The mana level has become extremely high and many of these world fragments are high or dark fantasy. This is sort of a survival horror disaster world setting.



[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Fusion Age Campaign Sets[/FONT]




[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]No Mana[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Aquatic Post-Apocalypse[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]The surface is frozen and full of mutants. Humanity survives under the oceans. The orbital colonies were destroyed. No one knows what happened to everyone else. [/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Post-Apocalypse [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] Characters are survivors of some sort of apocalypse. They must survive and get resources together. This could be from nuclear warfare or robot uprisings. [/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Star Marshals[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] Characters are Marshals keeping an eye on the asteroid frontier. Humanity has a centralized government and high social equality. Most crimes are out there now. [/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Spycraft [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] Characters are a group of spies fighting in a solar system wide war. [/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Corporate Mercenaries[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] Characters are corporate espionage mercenaries that are hired by one corporation to attack another. Humanity is fractured and there is a large amount of social inequality. Governments barely function. Megacorps are in control. [/FONT]




[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Low Mana[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Dogboys[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] The characters are werewolves that are fighting in various wars. They encounter various supernatural threats along the way and they have to keep their nature from being discovered by too many people. [/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Hunters[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] Characters are hunters, killing various kinds of supernatural creatures. [/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Legacy[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] Characters are a part of an order that fights supernatural invasions into this realm. They are similar to Hunters but they are focused differently. [/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Mutant World[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] This is a post-apocalyptic world but all the nuclear activity raised the mana level. Instead of just dying the radiation caused strange mutations. Monsters abound.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Vampires[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] Characters are vampires living in the Fusion Age. Just add vampires to one of the no mana settings. [/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Zombies![/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] Characters are under attack from Zombies! Either the area is surrounded or they are stranded without a way to get help easily. This is even more interesting in a space station. [/FONT]




[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Moderate Mana[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Magical Apprentices[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] Characters are new wizards and they are about to begin their training. Magic may or may not be publicly known. [/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Magical Spies[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] Characters have a natural ability that the government wants. They recruit them into a secret program. [/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Magic Arrives[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] The mana level raises and this throws things into chaos. People start to develop powers and/or mutate into magical creatures. [/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]High Mana[/FONT]




[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Fractured[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] There was a nuclear war but they included a bit of magical materials in them. They fractured the timelines and probabilities so that they are overlapping and moving around. Think of sliders but occurring to everyone on several worlds against their will. The mana level has become extremely high and many of these world fragments are high or dark fantasy. This is sort of a survival horror disaster world setting. [/FONT]



[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Colonial Age Campaign Sets[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]No Mana[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Bounty Hunters [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] The characters are bounty hunters tracking down their next prey across the solar system. [/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Colonials[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] The characters are early colonists on a plant that has been fairly well mapped but something the surveyors missed is hunting them. [/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Corporate Mercenaries[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] Characters are corporate espionage mercenaries that are hired by one corporation to attack another. Humanity is fractured and there is a large amount of social inequality. Governments barely function. Megacorps are in control. [/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Exploratory Popsicles [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] Characters are a part of an exploratory team that has been pulled from cryosleep to investigate something. [/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Martian Cyberpunk [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] Characters are gangers on Mars. Early Terraforming has changed Mars to allow cities to spread over the surface. Gangers have taken over the older underground tunnels and some parts of arcologies. This can be an Outlander type setting where the gangers have to steal food to survive. [/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Post-Apocalypse [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] Characters are survivors of some sort of apocalypse. They must survive and get resources together. This could be from nuclear warfare or robot uprisings. [/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Spycraft [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] Characters are a group of spies fighting in a solar system wide war. [/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Star Marshals[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] Characters are Marshals keeping an eye on the asteroid frontier. Humanity has a centralized government and high social equality. Most crimes are out there now. [/FONT]






[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Low Mana[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Dogboys[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] The characters are werewolves that are fighting in various wars. They encounter various supernatural threats along the way and they have to keep their nature from being discovered by too many people. [/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Hunters[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] Characters are hunters, killing various kinds of supernatural creatures. [/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Legacy[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] Characters are a part of an order that fights supernatural invasions into this realm. They are similar to Hunters but they are focused differently. [/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Mutant World[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] This is a post-apocalyptic world but all the nuclear activity raised the mana level. Instead of just dying the radiation caused strange mutations. Monsters abound.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Supernatural Exoplanets[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] Characters are a part of an exploratory team that has landed on a planet but it has a mana level and supernatural aliens![/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Vampires[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] Characters are vampires living in the Fusion Age. Just add vampires to one of the no mana settings. [/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Zombies![/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] Characters are under attack from Zombies! Either the area is surrounded or they are stranded without a way to get help easily. This is even more interesting in a space station. [/FONT]




[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Moderate Mana[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Artificial Mana Level[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] Someone has figured out how to access magical abilities using technology. This could be something aimed at changing the mana level for everyone and finding out who has magic or it could be some sort of drug or device that allows their user to access magic anyway. [/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Magic Arrives[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] The mana level raises and this throws things into chaos. People start to develop powers and/or mutate into magical creatures. [/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Magical Apprentices[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] Characters are new wizards and they are about to begin their training. Magic may or may not be publicly known. [/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Magical Spies[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] Characters have a natural ability that the government wants. They recruit them into a secret program. [/FONT]






[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]High Mana[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]High Mana Exoplanet[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif] Some planets have a high mana field and humanity just landed. Magic could be restricted to the natives or certain members of the team may discover new abilities. [/FONT]