The Hyades, the closest star cluster to the original Core Worlds, was naturally an early target of Federation colonization. Even before the Federation Charter was signed, a magsail was boosted from the Alpha-Proxima line towards the Hyades. After the Secession War on Schwartzwelt was resolved the surviving rebels were loaded onto a torchship bound for the Hyades. And as the wormhole network was just reaching out to the second wave of colonies, a linelayer was already bound for the cluster. By the time the Hyades’ stargate was built in 1473 PX, there were already colonies approaching a century old in the cluster.
Continue reading “The Hyades Cluster”Crepusculum: Planet of Twilight
Crepusculum (Twilight): X555772-3 (No spaceport, Mars-sized, thin atmosphere, 50% water coverage, tens of millions of people, balkanized, low law level, Steam Age)
A planet within the habitable zone of a red dwarf star, 0.1 AUs in this case. Originally tidally locked, Federation terraformers could have sped up its rotation to Terran standard but decided to try something new. At present the planet has a fully breathable (if a bit thin) atmosphere with a fully developed ecosystem, adapted to a year-long day.
While it orbits its tiny sun once every 25 Terran days, Crepusculum takes 365 days to rotate now. A given location will spend half the year facing the sun, and half facing away, with a “noon” and “midnight” each lasting a month on average. The atmosphere, fortunately, has managed to moderate the temperature somewhat, with most regions having a variation of only 50 degrees Celsius, but is still prone to severe storms.
The planet’s fauna, including sapient ones, have adopted two primary strategies for coping with the extreme seasons. Nearly all plants are hardy and starchy, building up their energy stores during the long day and going dormant during the night, and many animals living in the middle latitudes do the same. In contrast, those nearer the poles and the equatorial desert prefer migration, keeping just ahead of the searing sun or the frigid night.
Continue reading “Crepusculum: Planet of Twilight”WorldAnvil
I’ve started copying articles from this site over to WorldAnvil, a website designed specifically for developing and sharing worldbuilding projects for authors and gamemasters.
So far I’ve got the timeline, history, core cultures, notable star systems, and technology. I’ll probably add some of my prose fiction too.
You can follow the project using the RSS feed or open a free account on WorldAnvil, it’s a lot easier to reference than WordPress.
GenAsI
The General Assembler Intellect, typically installed on fabricators, is but one example of the many varieties of Persona programs that were ubiquitous at the height of the Federation. Intended to be usable by users with a wide range of skill levels and backgrounds, they instead proved so aggravating that the majority of professionals preferred “manual” controls.
Ideally, when a Persona is activated a parahuman figure is projected into the user’s augmented reality or an attached volumetric display, sometimes even using a swarm of utility fog. The user then explains what they want the non-sentient AI to do and it performs the task. In the case of GenAsIs they are supposed to pick the fabricator blueprint that best matches the user’s request from their database, or develop an approximation from the compiled data. In practice, unless the user is very specific with what they want GenAsIs tend to produce the most expensive version that the user can afford, or a ramshackle kludge that breaks or even explodes when used.
GenAsIs in Scavenger: Any FedTech Fabricator of TL 9 or higher has a 50% chance of containing a GenAsI. Like most Personas (as detailed in Ch.15: High Technology) they have 2D in every mental characteristic (INT, EDU, and SOC) and 1D skill ranks spread between Engineering and Repair. A user can command the GenAsI to fabricate items using its own characteristics and skills instead of the users’ as normal. But the user needs to succeed on a Liaison or Engineering check with a TN equal to the desired item’s TL, on a failure the GenAsI fabricates the wrong item. If commanded to make an item that isn’t in the GenAsI’s library roll 1D after fabrication is complete, on a 2-4 the item breaks after one use and on a 1 the item explodes (dealing 1D damage to the user) before use.
Field Fabricator (TL 12): A cylinder about half a meter long and ten centimeters in diameter, when the endcap is removed a swarm of advanced utility fog spills out and forms the avatar of the device’s GenAsI. When commanded to fabricate the UFog scavenges local raw materials to assemble the desired item. A Field Fabricator can produce one major item of personal gear or three minor items per day before needing to recharge.
However, because FFs were usually intended for military use, they tend to have security protocols in place and because of their UFog they actually have a “body.” The FF’s avatar has a STR of 1D and DEX and END of 2D, however it has Protection 10 against kinetic weapons, energy weapons (fire, lasers, plasma, etc) deal full damage. In addition to the standard GenAsI skills it also has the Technomagic skill of Telekinesis with 1D-2 ranks and 2D Power.
Felis et Canis ch. 3
The Slipstream continued on its path through empty space as if nothing had happened. But onboard, the small crew were making preparations. As the pirate ship began to burn and maneuver closer to the Slipstream, a badger and lion were busy tying a crude armature to the inner airlock.
“Are you sure this’ll work?” Orlando inquired.
Kailyn snorted, “we lost so many men to these things at the pole, they are effective.”
“Yeah,” the badger admitted. “But that was in gravity. How do you know it’ll work in null-g?”
“Springs don’t rely on gravity,” she tweaked a spring stretched taut between the lever and a brace.
“Hey,” Jarlan called over the intercom. “Our visitors just cut their drive and switched to cold jets. They’ll be here in a couple of minutes at most. If you want to see them visually, head on up to the bridge.”
Continue reading “Felis et Canis ch. 3”Scavenger Now In Print!
My new roleplaying game based on the Para-Imperium setting I’ve been developing for over a decade and the Cepheus Engine is finally available in print! The book contains a complete game that is fully compatible with other Cepheus and Traveller products.
Wanna play a wolf-person pirate or a Skiltaire belter? With the modular phenotype designer you can build whatever “race” you want to play.
With an expansive campaign setting that covers thousands of stars you can choose one of four pre-made star systems or roll up your own!
Salvage the wreckage of a fallen Federation or make a living your own way in one of the many successor states striving for the stars!
Go to DriveThruRPG to buy Scavenger: Caches and Prizes for only $30 in print, or get both print and PDF for just $2 more!
Felis et Canis ch. 2
The morning after the card game Kailyn strode down the station promenade to the docking ring. Ships were nestled into the two outermost decks of the station’s habitation ring, clamped into adjustable sockets with boarding ramps for loading passengers on the upper deck and cargo on the lower. As she walked, pushing her luggage cart in front of her, she noticed someone dressed as a M’Kusan noble amidst an entourage of servants. Kailyn reflexively turned away, he was a jaguar, not a lion, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t know her pride.
Fortunately he seemed unable to notice anyone hauling their own luggage. Once he passed she was able to focus on the docking bay numbers, E-7, 8, 9, 10… There it was, E-11.
She checked the display next to the airlock to make sure. The Slipstream, operated by Slipstream Shipping, this was it. She tapped the intercom and waited. After thirty seconds with no response she buzzed it again. After just a couple more moments a high-pitched voice crackled through the comm, “yes?”
Kailyn groaned, “passenger waiting to board.”
“What?” the voice on the intercom asked, confused. “Oh, right, the game. Just let me unlock the door quickly.”
She heard some pumping and clanking noises, after about a minute the light on the door turned green and she turned the handle. On the other side of the door she stepped out onto a metal gangplank extended through a clear plastic tube that led to the most dilapidated spaceship she’d ever seen.
Continue reading “Felis et Canis ch. 2”Felis et Canis, Ch. 1
A new serial story, using the rules for Scavenger and giving my patrons the opportunity to influence character decisions.
Scavenger Character Creation Example
I thought it would help to include an example of character creation in Scavenger: Caches and Prizes. Since Horizon’s story takes place in the same time period as the game’s default setting I used her.
A player decides they want a raccoon pilot named Tanya Loter. For characteristics they roll a 9, 5, 7, 6, 3, and 7, they decide to assign the 9 to Intelligence, since flying a spacecraft would presumably require a lot of smarts, giving her a +1 DM to INT throws, 5 to STR, 7 to DEX and END, 6 to EDU, and 3 for SOC, her player’s not that concerned with social standing (577963). The campaign takes place in the Tiere system (Ch. 14), so taking a look at the planets in the system the player decides that the Orbital Alliance of Jord sounds like a good origin point for Tanya. As a Pallene culture she can choose between Aircraft-1, Computer-1, or Streetwise-1 for an upbringing skill, the player decides on Aircraft.
Next, it’s time to design her phenotype. Jord is a temperate Terra-sized world but Tanya spent much of her early life on space stations orbiting the planet. So while her favored atmosphere and temperature are Terran and Temperate, her player chooses a Light gravity to represent the limited access to spin gravity on such post-Federation stations. There is a list of common Procyon traits and Tanya’s player consults it to pick the Climb, Iron Stomach, and Notable (DEX) traits, increasing her DEX to 9 (597963); and picks the Increased Metabolism adaptation in order to compensate for the third trait.
Now for her career. Tanya’s player thinks Navy would help build her piloting skills so they throw INT to qualify, they roll a 7, modified to 8 with the DM, which is enough to succeed. They’re using the basic training variant rule so Tanya gets all the Service skills at rank 0 and then throws 1D on the Specialist table, getting Piloting at rank 1. Advancement is next and a failure, but not that big a deal. Next she throws survival, and comes up snake eyes, fortunately they’re not doing hardcore mode so she just roll on the Mishaps table. With a 4 Tanya is dishonorably discharged from the Navy. Her player isn’t quite ready to start yet, so they try for Belter this time. Qualification is easy enough, for skills they get Piloting again on the Service table, bringing her rank in that skill up to 2. This time they’re successful on advancement, gaining the skill Zero-G-1 and making another skill throw, gaining Engineering from the Specialist table. Survival is close, with a roll of 6 they wouldn’t have made it without the Notable DEX trait.
At this point Tanya’s player is ready to go adventuring. They lost their Mustering Out Benefit throw for the Navy term but they still get one for Belter. The dice come up 6, meaning Tanya starts out with a 40-year old Prospector.
Looking for Playtesters
As you may have noticed from following my Kickstarter, Scavenger: Caches and Prizes successfully funded in April. Since then I’ve been working on the rulebook, writing rules and systems and commissioning illustrators. I attempted to get a playtest started, but then I started a new day job which was second shift, when most people play TTRPGs.
So I’m opening Scavenger up to public playtesting, you don’t have to be familiar with the Para-Imperium setting or the Traveller system to GM but it would help. If you’re interested contact me on Discord.
To fill out the rest of this post, here’s some of the illustrations I’ve received so far:
Continue reading “Looking for Playtesters”
