 June 5, 2009 - 12:20pm | Just a little bit of brain storming here: Question: You want to write an adventure/campaign set back in the time line to a period long before anything in the published modules and contact with the sathar, maybe even before the core 4 meet, what do you use for opposition? Note: there will be some technical issues like things breaking or not working right and some role play parts but you need some shoot 'em up stuff for excitement. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 June 5, 2009 - 12:44pm | hmmm. I have always thought about putting together a compaign like that for the humans. I took alot of inspiration from some of Ben Bova's works. Venus, The Rock Rats, The Silent War. et al No travel between star systems, decent moon colony, limited and expensive in-system travel when I first started reading. But then new breackthroughs in drive systems allow mining colonies in the asteroid belt. Earth is having nasty weather issues from global warming, there are eco-terrorists as well as religious terrorists, violent protests, anyone who gets nano-tech while on the moon is not allowed on Earth anymore. The new drives allow actual physical exploration of closer planets and a large colony/reasearch ship was launched to Jupiter - 10 month travel time, 2 year reasearch grant, will stay in the Jovian space to be used as a colony and exploration base. Territory disputes and claim jumpers in the Roids; individual fights, corperate takeovers, and finally the mining community fighting for independant status as an Extra-Solar State. Time flies when your having rum. Im a government employee, I dont goof-off. I constructively abuse my time. |
 June 5, 2009 - 5:04pm | There's nothing that says that the timeline is immutable. Maybe interstellar travel is discovered before subspace communications. Perhaps the first meeting of the core races isn't a warm and fuzzy thing. Any number of things can occur if two separate space faring races start to compete over the same star system. The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of
the strong. * Attributed to Mahatma Gandhi |
 June 6, 2009 - 3:53am | Hmm... a "system ships" only scenario. One could always fall back on the Dramune model and have two populated worlds that aren't in complete agreement. Even if the worlds are at peace with each other, there's always the possibility of space pirates that would disrupt trade between the two worlds (based on a moon or asteroid). Or you could always go the corporate route and have two major businesses duking it out for mineral rights on one of the unpopulated worlds. As far as system ships go, there really wouldn't be a need for anything larger than HS:10 unless you really want one world to be dominant by permitting a "system defense cruiser" or such mega-boats. Ideally, most craft would be HS:1-6, permitting system versions of frigates and destroyers at the high end of the spectrum, all boasting ADF:1 due to chemical drives (or optionally ADF:2-4 for smaller craft with additional drives, like fighters and scout class vessels). |
June 6, 2009 - 3:16pm | After a bit of brain storming, here's my background for such a plot using the "official" timeline from Zebs. Truane's Star, discovered and colonized in pf200, has flourished in the past century. Pale and New Pale are both lightly populated worlds, the former being an agricultural world and the latter an industrial one. Streel Incorporated has offices on both worlds, with Pale being their homeland office, under management of Jonathan Streel III, whose grandfather founded the company shortly after Pale was colonized. Streel, Inc. also owns the spaceship construction center orbitting Pale which is capable of producing ion driven starships but for the most part is entrusted to build the system ships in use within Truane's Star. An armed space station also orbits Pale, recently constructed and opened. New Pale has a docking station capable of supporting craft up to HS:14. By pf100 (the year the adventure would take place), mining has become the #1 business, exploiting the other 13 uninhabitable worlds (including the gas giant Cygnus Omicron taking the outermost orbit, exploited for fuel), various moons, and the asteroid belt for precious minerals. The two worlds trade peacefully, agro goods for industrial products, but minerals are needed to support New Pale's industrial production more than anything (as they have yet to tap their own resources per local government regulation). To this end, a Mining Guild has been established, with offices onboard orbital stations on both worlds. This Mining Guild is overseen by Pan Galactic Corporation, a large business that is poised to become the first "Mega-Corporation" (which actually happens by pf37). The Guild charges a flat rate of 5000Cr per officer grade or 25,000Cr per vessel, whichever is greater, for annual dues. In addition they recieve 5% of the sale of ore to New Pale's industrial complexes. It is deemed fair, but there are those that believe otherwise... As such, the Guild has influence over local militia craft from both worlds (who perform inspections on inbound cargo and may alert the Guild of non-guild members attempting to deliver ore). The Guild keeps a fair fleet of armed civilian craft on hand as well in order to "influence" membership. Still, there have been "blockade runners" that have successfully transported ores to New Pale's station or surface, albeit with rewards offered by the Mining Guild for preventing future occurances. As such, several piracy factions exist and have been ransacking shipments in order to deliver them in their own transport vessels under the guise of legitimate Guild memberships. Jonathan Streel III offers full value for ores shipped to Pale, and has a commissioned fleet of non-freight hauling vessels in which he smuggles loads to New Pale's production plants on the surface that are owned by Streel, Inc. This tension between Streel, Inc.'s production facilities and the Mining Guild can open the doors to many scenarios of oppoistion, both on the ground and in deep space. While the discovery of ion drives and void travel is an older one, atomic drives are still a long ways off and despite the possiblity of outer system vessels encounters (as well as non-human core four races present), Truane's Star is isolated enough to allow for many "homegrown" scenarios that are predominantly human in nature. That is not to say a Dralasite, Vrusk, or Yazirian character can't be incorporated...but those three can expect moderate to severe racial tensions amongst the human settlers in Truane's Star (this also defines future tensions between the later mega-corp rivals Streel and PGC). |
June 6, 2009 - 7:26pm | All good stuff but I should have typed more about what I was thinking: I was thinking of an adventure covering the first contact of Drals and Vursk meeting humans. not much of an adventure for the three races to meet and say, "Hi lets be friends." I was leaning toward only three of the colony ships from earth are still flying (but all are worse for wear- use the deck plan from 2001 module- the large cargo modules that attached to the center of the long body have long since been stripped away) and the one in the best condition is detailed to boldly go and seek out the vursk yada yada yada... Alpha section of the adventure involve the PCs readying the ship for the mission, which involves some maintenance and repairs and choosing equipment. their choices here determines the things that will or wont go wrong latter on. I presume that contact has been established by sub space radio but these radios are not as good as they are at the time of the Volturnus modules so communication is limited to slow Morse code type communication and after much trying to decipher each others language math is used to agree to meet in a designated system 1/2 way between the vursk system and New Earth. (use other systems I just chose to make the vursk home-world and the New Earth colony both future plague systems that will be quarantined) Beta Section is the arrival of the human crew at the designated system. But the Vursk and Drals don't seem to be there though clues turn up that they had been and it seems something may have happened to them. Gamma section: figure out what happened to the vursk and drall and work with them to put an end to the menace facing all of them. One idea would for the big conclusion is to use the atomic engines from one of their ships as an improvised nuke then they all sail off together in the other ship to live long and prosper. what I'm totally scratching my head on is what should be the menace- a new race, aliens like in the alien movie, a ancient Bermuda triangle in space left by the tetrachs? something automated or robotic I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 June 6, 2009 - 8:45pm | Sathar battle drones maybe? I'm thinking of something akin to seeker missiles that are activating and chasing down the races' ships. Maybe the Sathar passed through here centuries ago and left gifts behind in case anyone else came along. We know they have travel routes into the Frontier the core four don't know about (how else could they get ships into the Prenglar system without going through the others). The automated booby-traps don't have to be very good or even ever have to actually hit and do damage. When the first one detonates a little too close it will provide a warning that you want to keep whatever they are at arm's length. The simple threat of destruction of their ships would be enough to have everyone on their toes and on the move. Maybe they are clustered around a habitable planet and the Vrusk and Drals came in but got scared off and backed out into the far reaches of the system to stay away until the Humans arrived. The drones (or maybe a small installation on the planet, moon or asteroid, like a primitive version of the Sathar artifact on Volturnus) could have only sublight communication systems and although it broadcasts a message toward the Sathar homeworlds, it could take centruies for the message to arrive and the Sathar to decide to do something about it, hence the years of development of the Frontier before the Sathar finally arrive the first time. Ad Astra Per Ardua! My blog - Expanding Frontier Webmaster - The Star Frontiers Network & this site Founding Editor - The Frontier Explorer Magazine Managing Editor - The Star Frontiersman Magazine |
June 7, 2009 - 2:14am | Ah, I didn't realize you wanted to go that far back. When you said "maybe even before the core 4 meet" I took the maybe part the other way and simply brainstormed for an event between that point and the first sathar encounters. Cool, I'm gonna run with my plot in another scenario then LOL One idea would for the big conclusion is to use the atomic engines from one of their ships as an improvised nuke then they all sail off together in the other ship to live long and prosper. I don't think atomic drives would be found that far back in time (pf300 according to Zeb's time line...while I disagree with much of that time line 300 years before the first sathar war is a fair shake for such an historical encounter). In my eyes, a chemical drive is capable of attaining jump velocity given enough fuel. The ion drive filled that gap more efficiently, as such that drive would be the "innovative new" thruster of interstellar travel choice for way back then. To me, atomic drives wouldn't make an appearance until much later, say a decade or two before the first sathar war. That's the key for a pre-history type of game, it has to be lower tech. Not all those nifty gadgets we enjoy in the modern AD/KH settings are going to be available in the early days of Frontier exploration. Laser weaponry won't be as advanced (meaning shorter range). Tracking and guidance software won't be as advanced (e.g. lower chance to hit with a torpedo). Computers won't be as advanced, possessing fewer function points per level (re: multiple computers for more advanced settings like a city or massive starship rather than a single LVL:6 computer) and higher level programs taking up more space (re: more fp). And I daresay even the ion drives won't be as efficient, mandating double to quadruple fuel expenditure during a trip wouldn't be out of line (re: 2 to 4 units of fuel consumed for each ADF point expended instead of 1). The referee would ultimately have to decide which items would exist and how effective they would be for something set that far back in time. And the other item to touch on is the economy. Stuff isn't going to be priced the same. It wouldn't be out of line to charge half the book value for equipment, but then you would have to adjust the characters' income in a similar fashion (re: 5Cr/level instead of 10). Not to mention "stuff" isn't going to be as universal as there are no Frontier-wide mega-corp businesses in existance in order to effect a universal guideline...specs for an auto pistol from a human world may not be the same as specs for an auto pistol from a vrusk or dralasite world, the human gun might have a higher capacity magazine while the vruskan gun has a longer range. Bursts might be set to 5 rounds instead of ten for the dralasite gun. And a loan for that starship to make the journey to the dral/vrusk meeting place? Suffice it to say it's going to be financed at a helluva lot higher interest rate than the 4% listed in KH Campaign Book. 15% and a generous down payment wouldn't be out of line...moreso considering the nature of the expedition (good chance the bank will never see the ship again). |
June 7, 2009 - 2:59am | Good points Shadow- I was envisioning a scenario where the colony ships and most material is tacitly owned by the colony so this would be a "government" expidition and to a certain extent simplifies a lot of the finance & economy issues though I think I'll have to have some credit system in use. I had also envisioned that the colony ships that allowed humans to get to the frontier from earth might be more advanced than what was currently possible by any of the core 4 races at the time of the adventure- but they are really worse for wear. since the 2001 ship had a flywheel deck to simulate gravity; making fuel consumption a real issue would enforce the use of that deck. I just like the idea of an improvised nuke as I'm certain it would have a lot of appeal to certain players I know  - (How often do PCs get to detonate nukes in a RPG? it would have a bit of a cool factor when all the cool gadgets have been scaled back or eliminated for the sake of the timeline.)I'm going to go a different route with the weapons- only humans have auto pistols but vursk with their different hearing apparattus have devined and developed sonic weapons (sonic swords will be scaled down or elliminated) and the drals in their short association with the vursk have developed a mildly effective gyrojet weapon. some grenades and electric based stun weapons will be standard for all races at the start. I'll have to put some more thought into this as going to the extreme measure of destroying a ship when there are so few capable of intra system travel and therefore every one is precious, would require a menace that could threaten both the vursk home system and new earth. There might be a some new skills for the Phycho-social PSA: Linguistics, as there will be no polyvoxes. And language programs will be loaded onto mainframe computers. The linguist's tool kit might be a recording device to allow him to take samples of communication and then analyze them on the computer. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
June 7, 2009 - 3:10am | Sounds like a fair arrangement to me (re: weaponry versus species). The yazirians would probably have the monopoly on hand to hand weapons, what with their battle rage... P.S. with two fantastic plot hooks going on in this thread, I fired up a new project: http://starfrontiers.us/node/3677 |
June 7, 2009 - 3:39am | P.S. with two fantastic plot hooks going on in this thread, I fired up a new project: http://starfrontiers.us/node/3677 Saw that- great idea I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
