 October 24, 2010 - 7:18pm | This is the Timeline I had developed for my Star Frontier's campaign, a while back, and after making a few corrections I thought you guys might find it interesting. This campaign has been ongoing for about 25 years, though at present I decided to retcon it, since I had created a new version of my houserules (long story there). Certain things are absent (Like the Sathar wars) because in the new campaign they have not happened yet. so here goes. The following section is a list of major events in the history of the Frontier. 100,000 pf. the Illiminati seed the known universe with Chimera which bonds with evolving proto-matter to create a myriad number of life forms in the universe. 10,500 pf. (Pre-Frontier) Last remnants of the mysterious Tetrach Societies die out. 950 pf. Heliopes left on Sollas by Klikks after a Klikk military exploration vessel is forced to jettison unnecessary cargo. 950-940 pf. the Last war is fought on Earth, resulting in the complete destruction of the ancient world, During the last war biochemical agents (weaponized form of Chimera) produces many mutations among Earth’s life forms. 930 pf. Many human colonies on other planets in Sol star system are left to fend for themselves, and many Pure-strain Humans die out. John Carter commander of Martian colony sends teams of humans on the stations three space worthy systemships on a desperate mission to secure hydropnic supplies, and life saving materials from Earth’s orbiting agricultural stations. 929 pf. First post war settlements appear on Earth, civilization on the brink of extinction. 928 pf. Year of falling death, named after many satelites crash to the earth. First Agricultural space station resumes operation 927 pf. Revolt on Mars colony as food stores run low and rationing is imposed on colonists. revolt ends when contact with Agricultural station confirms that two of the three missions is successful, and first supply ship will be sent to Colony within 3 months. 926 pf. Aldorian/Andorian war begins on Andoria 924 pf. Second revolt on Mars, as agriculture station supplies arrive, martial law imposed on colony. Survivors of missing space flight, crash land near moon base, and manage to get moonbase life support working, allowing the few survivors to begin restoring base. 923-918 pf. Mars, and Lunar colonies resume full operations, as supplies and crews are ferried back and forth . 917 pf. Lunar colony begins building next generation of system ships to replace aging ships still being used. 910-905 pf. The Reunification, under John Carter the colonies on Mars, Jupiter’s moons, and Earth’s moons unite signing the Thesian accord, and become the first Human government in Space. Earth is deemed still too contamninated to be reclaimed. 902 pf. Aldorian/Andorian war ends. Aldorians to be exiled from Andoria to a far off Star System. 900 pf. Construction begins between Mars and Jupiter on Farpoint Station, an enormous city in space that will allow ships from the inner systems to refuel and resupply for journeys to the far reaces of the Star system. 882 pf. Aldorians arrive in Aldoria 860 pf . Farpoint Station completed. 855-820 pf. The Human wars on Earth begin as Pure Strain Humans from Eath’s colonies return to Earth to reclaim it from the survivors of the great war. During this time millions of mutated species deemed a threat to humanity are hunted to extinction. 820 pf. Humans become the dominant species on Earth, after the last remnants of the great war have been swept away. The few surviving mutant species not exterminated in the purge are relocated to the space colonies on Mars after signing a modified version of the Thesian Accords. Unbeknownst to most of Humanity samples of DNA from many hostile mutations collected during the Human Wars remain in storage in hidden facilities to be used as bio-weapons. 821-710 pf Recolonization. During this time Humans begin recolonizing the Earth. New governments, and new countries emerge. It is a period of great human achievement, and sometimes great human despair as wars over resources, territory and technology reminiscent of the time of before the Great War continue to plague humanity. 709-801pf. The Faction Wars. Earth is plunged into another World War by factions trying to gain control of the planet. The war ends on December 21, at 3 minutes to midnight when the Thesius the first Terran warship from Jupiter enters Earth’s atmosphere and threatens to unload its complement of nuclear warheads on any country who doesn’t immediately stop fighting. 800 pf. The evolution of the Mechanon race begins on Volturnus. On Earth all global leaders under threat from the Thesius give up soverignty rights to the Council of United Planets and the planet is renamed Thesius. 799-600 pf. During this time Thesius undergoes a cultural and ideological change, as the old forms of government end, and a new planetary democracy emerges led by a grand council of elected representatives led by a Prime Minister appointed by the Council of United Planets. During this period great achievements in science, genetic research, and agriculture heal the damage wrought by centuries of Human existance. 540 pf. Having reclaimed their planet and prospering Humanity turns its attention towards the Stars and begins to experiment on technology that may one day allow them to bridge the gap between Stars. 410 pf. First Vrusk/Dralasite contact via Subspace radio. 409-349 pf- Dralasite and Vrusk share cultural, and technological information and both species are enriched by their new partnership. Technological advancements are made towards the creation of the first propulsion systems able to bring space craft within 1% of the speed of light, but not yet fast enough to make star travel possible. Humans though having a head start on the other races are achieving roughly the same level of progress as the other races, though it has taken them longer to do so on their own. 350 pf. First Vrusk/Human contact via Subspace radio. Technological information traded between the three races begins solves many of the problems each race was having in developing its own interstellar spacecraft. At far point station work begins on the first interstellar starship, which is named the Venture. At the same time Vrusk, and Dralasites begin working on their own interstellar ships, and begin seeking a place in space where they will all come together to meet for the first time. 349-330 pf. Construction of the Venture starship is plagued with many problems, as several terrorist organizations, which fear the looming meeting of the three races try desperately to destroy the Venture, and also to whip the fears of the Thesians into a frenzy. Dralasites, and Vrusk starships are progressing at a much faster rate then human ships. 329 pf. The remaining mutant races on Mars seeing the Venture as the means for them to eventually find their own homes among the stars rise up against the terrorist organizations. 328-326 pf. The second factions war is fought on Thesius, between the Terrorist organizations, and the Pro Venture forces. Pro-Venture Humans cooperating with mutants finally repair the long standing feelings of ill will that exist between the two races. Dralasite scientists translate fragments of communication intercepted via subspace radio and determine that there must be several other near star races who may be technologically at at the same level as they are. 321 pf. Having completed the first interstellar spacecraft Vrusk begin test flights of the newly created ship, and begin construction of several more interstellar ships. 320 pf. Dralasite and Humans complete their interstellar ships, and begin test flights as well. This activity does not go unnoticed, and the Rian begin discussing the impending meeting of the three races and how that will affect the future of this area of space. 317 pf. Three interstellar ships of unknown origin enter the Frontier and begin looking for a suitable planet to deposit their precious cargo (the Yazirian race are one of three species being transported by these ships). 314-312 pf. Humans begin discussing whether or not they should arm the Venture, in case the other races are misrepresenting themselves. The discussion is long and furious, but in the end it is decided that the venture should not be armed as a sign of goodwill. 311-306 pf. The third faction war on Thesius is fought as the date of first contact approaches, the war is long and often brutal, as the paranoid factions use every means short of nuclear strikes to stop the impending launch. In the end the terrorist factions serve only to strengthen the resolve of the Thesian people to see the mission through. The Vrusk, and Dralasites at this point are also struggling with their own misgivings about meeting with the human race, who seem a little to violent for their tastes. In the end the two races decide to go through with the meeting after an impassioned plea from the Dralasites who seem to understand the fear that must be gripping a race who up to now believed itself to be the only sentient race in the universe, and whose long held spiritual beliefs reinforced this notion. 300 pf. Vrusk, Dralasites, and Humans meet for the first time. This year long exchange between the races produces many treaties and rules which define the rights, of each sentient species to coexist with the other races and establishes the rules and guidelines for the creation of a coalition government to settle disputes between the races. This governing body is named the Coalition of Worlds 299-290 pf. The newly formed Coalition government allows the three Frontier races to share technology and information which leads to a decade of great advancements in technology, medicine, and the sciences for each race. 289 pf Yazirians begin communication via subspace radio with Humans. 282 pf. After years of communication between Humans and Yazirians, Humans petition the other races to accept Yazirians into the coalition of Worlds. Yazirians become the first race who are allowed to join the Coalition government on probation, and are considered a protected species. 270 pf. Yazirians admitted as a full fledged member of the Coalition of worlds. 270-125 pf. The Age of Expansion. During this period the coalition races explore the area of space known as the core, and begin to claim many uninhabited star systems. During this time many new races are encountered (The Adrainians, Andorians, Belphans, Ghed’yan, Keltarians, and Rian ). 230 pf. Pan-Galactic Corporation started on Gran Quivera. 150 pf. The Pan-Galactic language accepted as a common trade tongue. 125-10 pf. The Age of Adventure. The discovery and exploration of new planets slows down for the next century while the major races concentrate on mapping the hazards and boundries of the Frontier. Hundreds of exploration vessels and brave spacers are lost during this time. Meanwhile, the discovered planets begin to develop. Thousands of fortunes are made and lost during the Age of Adventure. 124-78 pf. The Greater Morass is mapped. 77-57 pf. The Xagyg Dust Nebulae is mapped. 57 pf. Professor Zebulon founds the University of Zebulon. 56-40 pf. The White Light Nebulae are mapped. 39-33 pf. The Yreva Nebula is mapped. 37 pf. Pan-Galactic becomes the first mega-corp in the Frontier. 32-26 pf. Thirty-two exploration vessels are lost trying to map the Lessere Morass. 25 pf. A small pirate fleet under Hatzck Naar raids the Cassidine and Prenglar systems. The first Common Muster is called. 22 pf. Hatzck Naar's pirate fleet is defeated off Timeon. Naar is ejected into space and slowly boils inside his spacesuit as he falls toward Timeon. The muster is dismissed. 19-8 pf. The area beyond the Greater Morass claims hundreds of exploration vessels. Exploration of the area ceases and it is named the Vast Expanse. 10 pf. Representatives of the four major races request that all explorations cease while delegates meet to form a unified defense and mutual interest organization. 1 pf. The "Grand Meeting" of leaders of all the known races takes place on Morgaine's World. 1 f.y. (Federation Year) The United Planetary Federation, a mutual defense organization, is established. Allmost all the known races join except the Andorians who remain allied, but separate and the Adrainians who were insulted that their demands were not met by the other races. Under UPF authority, Spacefleet becomes a permanent defensive force. 2 f.y. The Streel Corporation is founded on Pale. 3 f.y. The Brotherhood of Spacers becomes the first cadre on the Frontier. 5 f.y. Star Law is established by the UPF. 6 f.y. The First Dramune War is fought. 8 f.y. Casidine Development Corporation is founded on Triad. The creation and growth of mega-corps proceeds at an ever-accelerating pace. 17-27 f.y. The Blue Plague sweeps the Frontier. Scientists believe it was brought to the Frontier by an alien vessel that was intercepted by a Frontier survey team. Because of the Alien environment aboard the ship, the plague was not immediately detected and had a chance to mutate. It is believed that vermin aboard the survey ship became infected and since the ship made several stops in the Frontier the plague spread rapidly. It is called the Blue Plague because of its earliest symptoms -- large blue welts that appear about the face and extremities. These welts leave horrible black scars even if the victim survives the plague. 20 f.y. Four star systems become so infested with the Blue Plague that the Council of Worlds, the diplomatic organization of the UPF, requests all races to recognize a permanent quarantine of these four star systems. The systems are designated by Greek letters. A spaceship seen leaving one of these systems is to be destroyed by Spacefleet before it has a chance to spread the plague any further. 22 f.y. Many core worlds suffer massive population losses due to the Blue Plague with most planets that are infected being temporarily quarantined. 23 f.y. The Medical Services Organization is founded. Funding pours in from most of the Frontier worlds. Gretl Grohn is named as the MSO Chief Surgeon. 24 f.y. Vaccine for the Blue Plague is discovered at the MSO Center on Morgaine's World. 27 f.y. The Blue Plague is eradicated from inhabited planets in the Frontier. In total, nearly 1billion victims fell to the plague. 28 f.y. Very tough laws and penalties are laid down by both the UPF and the Council of Worlds concerning the intersystem transportation and handling of flora and fauna. Star Law is given jurisdiction over planetary imports and exports. 36 f.y. The Second Dramune War is fought. 50-60 f.y. Laco's War. PGC and Streel wage the first Corporate War on Laco. The UPF eventually steps in and empowers an inter-mega-corporate commission to resolve the differences. Other mega-corps study Laco's War as a possible legal precedent for solving disputes. 61 f.y. The Third Dramune War is fought. 63 f.y. Streel attacks CDC operations in various star systems. Star Law intervenes and averts a potential Corporate War. 64 f.y. Tough new guidelines for legal ownership of a system or planet are laid down by the UPF and the Council of Worlds. The guidelines are designed to halt mega-corp expansion. 65-172 f.y. Second age of exploration. With the new guidelines forcing mega-corps to play fair, most mega-corps turn to as yet unexplored star systems beyond the core as possibly new sources of both raw materials, and perhaps new markets to exploit. Within the next few decades the Frontier expands into the area known as the central systems and the outer systems. During this period of expansion Frontier survey teams come into contact with many new races, some which join the UPF but many which choose to remain independent. 173-190 f.y. The Frontier/Aldorian war. During the last phase of the Frontier’s expansion they encounter the Aldorians, a race of beings who originally shared the Andorian homeworld, but who had been cast out after a brutal war. This warrior race felt threatened by the rapidly expanding frontier and chose to attack the Frontier rather than use diplomacy and the ensuing war, while devastating served to show the UPF and space fleet where its weaknesses were, allowing them to in the end become a much more capable Intergalactic organization, with a powerful space fleet that is more than capable of defending UPF territory. 191-193 f.y. The Ordanian Conflict. The Ordanian high council, decided to expand its borders into Aldorian, and frontier space, believing that the Aldorian war had sufficiently depleted their enemies resources to the point that they could not muster a defense against the Ordanian might, and while at first this seemed so, the two enemies managed to hold a truce long enough to help each other fight back the Ordanian invasion. 194 f.y. The Frontier worlds decide that a permanent UPF Landfleet force must be maintained at all times for the defense of the Frontier. 201 f.y. Frontier ships enter Rim space for the first time. 202 f.y. The Frontier acknowledges the Rim Coalition as a sovereign government. 203 f.y. Galactic Task Force and MercCo fight the a major Corporate War over settlement rights on a moon. Hostilities quickly spread to include all seven of planet’s moons and over a half dozen mega-corps. The Second Corporate Wars begin in earnest. 204 f.y. In an effort to stem the growing numbers of Corporate Wars, the UPF and Coalition worlds grant Star Law the authority to recruit and use mercenaries and to establish the Star Law Psi-Corps, a special branch of psionic officers. 205 f.y. Mega-corp recruitment doubles in non-enforcer professions. A trend of smaller and cheaper skirmishes or espionage missions to replace the larger, more expensive Corporate Wars begins to show. Over the next two years the term "Corporate War" comes to mean a war of intelligence gathering, tactical enforcement procedures, and industrial sabotage rather than full-scale military operations. 206 f.y. The Rim and the UPF enter into multiple defense treaties and economic trade agreements, but the Coalition gives severe warnings to all mega-corps that their militancy will not be tolerated in the Rim. Tourism between the UPF and Rim is established and is immediately successful. Many Rim Coalition Races are given Protected status under Frontier law, and several races within the Rim actually join the UPF. 207 f.y. Star Law is invited to the Rim to help the Coalition train their own planetary branches. 210 f. y. The first Star Law graduating class containing Ifshnits, Humma, and Osakar finish their training. The violent outbursts threatened by a few radical cults never appear. 212 f.y. The first Rim Star Law agents appear. The structure is identical to the UPF Star Law organization. 214 f.y. Star Law is given equal powers, rights, and jurisdiction in both the Rim and UPF systems for interplanetary and interstellar crimes. While it works mainly with the local law enforcement agencies, Star Law is recognized as the only law enforcement force with full authority throughout the entire Frontier. 215 f.y. A human assassin fails in his attempt to shoot Queanee Kloonanu, chairman of the Council of Worlds. A small bioform is found attached to the human's back. Scientific studies show it to be some kind of intelligent, parasitic organism with a genetic make-up never before encountered. See-through apparel becomes fashionable almost immediately. 216 f.y. The University of Zebulon publishes the first volume of Zebulon's Guide to Frontier Space, a multi-volume collection of confirmed flora, fauna, cultures, devices, customs, and history of the known Frontier. It is considered the definitive work on the Frontier and is immensely popular. 220 f.y. The Grand Celebration, commemorating 220 years of the UPF treaty is planned for the entire year. Gala social functions, parades, and celebrations are planned on every planet in the UPF and even some in the Rim. "Hey guys I wonder what this does"-Famous last words "Hey guys, I think it's friendly." -Famous last words "You go on ahead, I'll catch up." -Famous last words "Did you here that?" -Famous last words |
 October 24, 2010 - 11:38pm | Very Interesting, I will read the whole thing all the way through a little later. I just skimmed through it catching the highlights, maybe you should submit this as a project here. |
 October 25, 2010 - 9:36am | Ah, so this is all pre-SW I. Intriguing angle. Although who are the Aldorians and Ordarians? |
October 25, 2010 - 10:54am | They are one of the 50+ races that dwell in the expanded Frontier of my Campaign. In my campaign the Frontier covers an area roughly 700+ light years in diameter using Prenglar as the center of the Frontier. and many of the Frontier Star systems that we know and love have been moved throughout this area of space. The invention of the Tachyon Stardrive has allowed Frontier ships to move at faster than light speed allowing them to cross one or more light years in a day (depending on the drive type they are using. As for those sneeky worms, they have recently appeared on Thesius, where they tried to destroy the first space Catapult that was being built, which would grant the Thesians a much more efficient way to send system ships into space then to use conventional rockets. "Hey guys I wonder what this does"-Famous last words "Hey guys, I think it's friendly." -Famous last words "You go on ahead, I'll catch up." -Famous last words "Did you here that?" -Famous last words |
 October 25, 2010 - 4:33pm | Deryn_Rys, I'm Larry Moore from DwD Studios and wanted to say welcome to the site. :-) To detail this much in the SF universe is awesome. Do you have a regular group that meets to play or do you play online? I'd like to know more about the catapult. How does it work and what are the known limitations. So the Yazirian's were dropped off? I wonder if the clan mentality was programmed in or if they were tampered with in some other way. |
 October 25, 2010 - 5:13pm | I like the added detail of pre FTL society. A little dark perhaps, but interesting. Where do you have Earth located? Do you have a Map? I would love to see it loaded Port loren library. Reasonable men adapt to the world around them; unreasonable men make the world adapt to them. The world is changed by unreasonable men. Edwin Louis Cole |
October 25, 2010 - 7:44pm | Actually my regular group disbanded 7 years ago, though that hasn't stopped me from continuing to develop material for my games in the hope of one day getting a new group together. Like you I love Star Frontiers and refused to let it die. My Star Frontier's rules have three core rulebooks (Player's guide, Administrator's guide, and Expanded Universe guidebook), as well as a Knighthawk's book that are play ready, and a slew of Zebulon's guides that are in the early stages of development (Zeb's guide to the known Frontier, Zebs guide to vehicles, Zeb's guide to races beyond the Frontier) and various Zebs guides to creatures of the Frontier with the Animal book being play ready. As for the catapult, it's basically a huge cylinder with magnetic casters along the inside that accelerate the projectile in this case a ship upward at incredible speeds, kind of like a giant rail gun but in this case it fires system ships, not projectiles. The Catapult thus eliminates the fuel needed for a system ship to escape from a planet's gravity field, allowing it to use that space for additional cargo, etc. The Catapult concept was a plot device, and is not fully functional So I haven't created Stats or rules for it yet. As for the Yazirian's Clan mentality, it depends on whether Yazirians are actually an evolved species that were somehow transplanted, or if they are an artificial species created by an as-yet undiscovered race of beings. "Hey guys I wonder what this does"-Famous last words "Hey guys, I think it's friendly." -Famous last words "You go on ahead, I'll catch up." -Famous last words "Did you here that?" -Famous last words |
October 25, 2010 - 5:46pm | There is no actual Map of the expanded Frontier. Each star system is given coordinates such as Prenglar at 0-000.0 and lets say White Light at 1-097.4 The first number is the sector tag (there are 8 sectors) the next 3 or more number including the decmal are the distance from Prenglar. When calculating a jump from two systems subtract the lower number from the higher one, and add 10/sector crossed like going from White light to Casidine (coordinates 2-038.5) would mean a jump of 68.9 days at 1ly/day. And Thesius (Sol) has the coordinates of 1-057.2 for reference sake. This system has worked great for my campaign since as a Referee/Administrator I'm usually the one figuring out how long a trip is even when my players had their own ships. "Hey guys I wonder what this does"-Famous last words "Hey guys, I think it's friendly." -Famous last words "You go on ahead, I'll catch up." -Famous last words "Did you here that?" -Famous last words |
October 29, 2010 - 6:04pm | Administrator is a really catchy title for GM or referee, I do like it |
 March 29, 2011 - 11:40pm | Nice,   The map would be nice to see, bit too quickly traversed for my taste, shame to loose The Worms to a homoginized culture, but I do like the idea of a larger frontier, does tend to feel a bit cramped behind all those nebula if you stay in there too long. Definitely some good stuff in the timeline tho'.... 125-10 pf. The Age of Adventure. 65-172 f.y. Second age of exploration. ...my favorite eras... When and how does the third one start, and where does it take place? Oh humans!!  We discover a galactic community filled with multiple species of aliens, and the first thing we think about is "how can we have sex with them?".~ anymoose, somewhere on the net... so... if you square a square it becomes a cube... if you square a cube does it become an octoid? |
March 29, 2011 - 11:59pm | As you can see the Sathar are not even mentioned in the timeline because the Sathar are introduced for the first time in "The Rise of the Sathar" Introductory Module for the Star Frontiers (URS) system, which means that Sathar wars I and II haven't happened yet in the Campaign, so eventually (After both wars) several specially constructed long range recon ships (One is called the Challenger if I recall) will be sent out to the badlands beyond the Rim in search of the Sathar. The area covered by the expanded Frontier is about 700 light years centered on Prenglar, and I've got details covering an area about 3,000 light years centered around Prenglar. Because there is so much space involved I had to devise a whole new way of charting the planets based on coordinates, and a new way of calculating jumps between worlds which eliminated the need for a map, though if anyone is ambitious enough to try to chart the thousand or so star systems in the Star Frontier's (URS) universe I'd be facinated to see it. "Hey guys I wonder what this does"-Famous last words "Hey guys, I think it's friendly." -Famous last words "You go on ahead, I'll catch up." -Famous last words "Did you here that?" -Famous last words |
March 30, 2011 - 12:17am | 1,000 Parsecs in a 1024x1024 grid would make each star 1px... Oh humans!! We discover a galactic community filled with multiple species of aliens, and the first thing we think about is "how can we have sex with them?".~ anymoose, somewhere on the net... so... if you square a square it becomes a cube... if you square a cube does it become an octoid? |
March 30, 2011 - 12:46am | It's easier to look at the list of Star Systems in the back of each core Star Frontier's (URS) book or in the upcoming Zebulon's guides to the Frontier, look up the world of interest and then do a bit of adding and subtracting and presto you have your travel times. Then just have your navigator make a Skill check, and if he succeeds you'll get to your destination. Otherwise....well you know how much fun a misjump can be. "Hey guys I wonder what this does"-Famous last words "Hey guys, I think it's friendly." -Famous last words "You go on ahead, I'll catch up." -Famous last words "Did you here that?" -Famous last words |
March 30, 2011 - 1:44am | That was something I disliked about the early WEG:SW all the stars were ploted on hyperspace time tables, and few maps were ever given. Untill the finnal edition it was a sadly overlooked element, when the Tipani Sector Boxed Set Came out (a bit too late to save the company, or the awesome and much missed stystem they provided), Eveyone jumped on it, couldn't get enough, cried begged and pleaded for an expasion to the mentioned but never provided nehigboring sectors. But they continued to play Tipani Sector games and recruit new players long after the game died...... (in the belly of the megabeast of roleplaying's benevolent allpowerful corporate despot, in the realm where all forgotten games go.... sigh.... anyway....) Tipani Boxed set had something no other Starwars Game had before, and really only one thing........ A MAP! The SF map is used, and cherished, even if it is one third the size of the Tipani Sector, and often feels cramped... because it says 'I am here!' every time you look at it. Large enough to go somewhere on, but not so big you get lost looking at it... moral of this is, players LOVE maps, even if they only see it on rare occasions, even if it is grossly inacurate, just knowing it's there. They have a value that can't be quantified. I think that has been why most of the popular games get to avoid the issue with 'It's Earth, grab an Atlas.' as lame and cheated as most say that makes them feel, it works, for that reason. 'I have a map, I know where I am!'.... Even if, as in many of those games, that dosn't mean anything, because of how much has CHANGED! from that map you have. Gama World, says all this specifically, somewhere in an editorial, and there was a dragon artical where someone discused all the psycho-bable on it, but I don't remeber specifics. Apologies if it sounded preachy, but I've had a DM that didn't believe in them once or twice, and heard the discussions from the other players, and it has regularly come up in the fly-blind vs. over planned debates. Seeing merits in both, I am usually the one offering middle grounds and being ignored, like any good arbitrator ultimatly becomes.... Small bite sized maps that detail the regions around the core systems, those would be well established areas, recognizable by your average Naval Cadet, and (at least in basic layout) many basic-grade public students. I recognize the 10ly region around sol from memory, and 20ly to 30ly when I see it. Simply because I live there, grade-school education, that started before I started playing sci-fi games. Just as a quick add, to that the frontier sector, a rough layout of Tipani, and the geographic borders of Battletech, Star Trek, and an over-view of the galaxy because I have a passing with these in my hobby. If I lived in an interstellar scociety, and it was a formal education issue? ....... this isn't about timelines.... unless you equate that to how much one knows about historic details in the same way..... Timelines are Historical Maps, I love them too...  Oh humans!! We discover a galactic community filled with multiple species of aliens, and the first thing we think about is "how can we have sex with them?".~ anymoose, somewhere on the net... so... if you square a square it becomes a cube... if you square a cube does it become an octoid? |
March 30, 2011 - 10:09am | Believe me I'm all about a love of maps too. My 25+ year AD&D map for Angarde my camaign world is a hand drawn color penciled map that if laid out is about 5'x5' or so taking up 35 pages of connected hex sheets, detailing one entire super-continent of which the characters only explored one 8 1/2 by 11 sheet in my entire gaming history. With the Star Frontier's (URS) Project I tried several times to draw a map, or to acquire a near star map that I could use (I loved the one in traveler 2300) but 50 light years was just not big enough, and as the project grew to its current size that map wouldn't even cover everything. Also the advantage of a list of worlds is that an Administrator can easily add worlds, or delete them, and can even adjust distances without having to redraw any maps, which is a great advantage in customizing the campaign model which is one of the things that the Star Frontier's (URS) system is geared for. The 3000 light year boundry of the campaign setting is actually 3 distinct Campaign models that exist in the same universe. The Frontier sector covers about 700 light years and then there are several unexplored areas beyond that that buffer several small galactic empires, and beyond them is a large area of unexplored territory for Administrator's to fill, and a 300ly gap with no stars which buffers the area of a 2nd Campaign setting with it's own vast galactic confederacy, and it's bordering petty empires. Lastly there is a third campaign setting (actually two settings in one) which occur in a region beyond that in an area that is mostly unexplored. So devising all these different maps and all the other information for the Project is a Herculean task so the Star system lists in the various books works out best. As to this timeline...the final version which appears in the Expanded Universe book for the Star Frontiers (URS) is slightly different (or perhaps the word is fixed up), and when the timeline for Gamma World finished both put together should give a continuous history of Humans in the (URS) going from modern day Earth to the Stars. "Hey guys I wonder what this does"-Famous last words "Hey guys, I think it's friendly." -Famous last words "You go on ahead, I'll catch up." -Famous last words "Did you here that?" -Famous last words |
March 30, 2011 - 6:26pm | Might I have run across portions of this project in wildspace? starting to look familier. Oh humans!! We discover a galactic community filled with multiple species of aliens, and the first thing we think about is "how can we have sex with them?".~ anymoose, somewhere on the net... so... if you square a square it becomes a cube... if you square a cube does it become an octoid? |
March 30, 2011 - 9:54pm | I have looked at Traveller and used to play it a long time ago, but I don't believe that the ideas I have for this project came from my Traveller days. The ideas actually came from a 25 year Star Frontier's campaign that I ran, the thought of creatng a new campaign setting from scratch with whole new races that had nothing to do with the Frontier, and creating an updated version of Metamorphosis Alpha. As for creating a map of the Expanded Frontier I honestly wouldn't know where to begin, and just putting a bunch of zeroes on a hex sheet with lines looks too much like connect the dots to me. I don't have the time to learn to use one of those cool computer star chart creation programs with all the work I'm doing on the actual game material, which is why I gave up on making a proper game map for the campaign setting. Besides were looking at distances of lets say 68 hexes between Cassidine and and White Light at 1 light year/hex, or 23 hexes if we make each hex 1 parsec which still makes charting a 3000 light years in diameter area take up 1,000 hexes and then plotting each star system to correspond with the distances on the tables would probably end with me just changing all those distances and require reprinting all the books to include the new star data. These things would require me to stop moving forward in producing supplemental materials for the system, and reworking things I already worked on, which would probably start sapping my enthusiasm for working on the project. But if others want to try it I'd love to see what they come up with. I've seen some really talented people create maps of the Frontier here that I envy. "Hey guys I wonder what this does"-Famous last words "Hey guys, I think it's friendly." -Famous last words "You go on ahead, I'll catch up." -Famous last words "Did you here that?" -Famous last words |
March 31, 2011 - 5:35pm | Definitely parsecs then, check, I prefer that most times for large distances anyway. Not many do, metric over standard... check.... 10000x10000 pixel master map at 10px/hex, check, a bit large, can be broken into quadrents, then regions. four 5000x5000px master maps.... sixty-four 2500x2500px for bandwith and cpu friendly sizes. (knock off a few from the corners possibly? is it spherical from center or squared? no matter..) Master Map then wait for a data update from the Astrochartography Central Establishment... check. 2d x,y coord, or 3d x,y,z coord data? I prefer 3d space, I can understand if it isn't. I allways hated the 2d square grid map.... love the map, just not the map..... that made no sense...  I ment the style of map data as I described it seemed a bit like a Traveler Map, maybe keep a grid square look, with that nice rounded border style that is all over the Frontiersman then, keeps the feel. I think orange hexes on black space looks more Vrusk, and the radial chart looks more Yazerian... Dalasites just use Holo-Projection having done amazing things with prisim technology in thier bronze-age equivalent since without that they wouldn't have gotten far in chartography at all.... color-blind and shape/movement dependent vision, IIRC, they invented radio and kinda quit..... I hate those Dralasite tri-comps, so hard to get them to shut up.... anyway I digress... Oh humans!! We discover a galactic community filled with multiple species of aliens, and the first thing we think about is "how can we have sex with them?".~ anymoose, somewhere on the net... so... if you square a square it becomes a cube... if you square a cube does it become an octoid? |
March 31, 2011 - 6:46pm | How is the coordinate #-###.### brokendown? a range of 0.000.000 to 9-999-999? #.###.### | distance, radial degree, ? A mention of the breakdown is expected with the planet systems, where the average citizenries' general (~level-5 and up) education would include an elementary course on pythagorean triples in the basic stellar geograpgy classes, under all but the most despotic planetary governors. (based on the expectations of scholastic requirements in the 21st century.) Even in poorly educated rim worlds where the colonization history of the planet is still a fresh and recent event, such basic interstellar map recognition would be expected. Formal Public Education Benifits Social Studies: Basic Map Reading; Basic Local City Layouts, General Planetary Geographic Features, and Local Stellar and Interstellar Nighboorhood. (at least it did when I went to school. and what I have seen the kids bring home for homework has gotten progressivly higher in expectations, imho, yet somehow they manage to learn the advanced methods and subjects at earlier grades than I did.) Seen too many settings where simple map recognition (and therefore local navigation) was denied to the average player, in spite of this. Conversly and in direct inversion to this, many Feudal Fantasy games treat roving around the local vylds as an idyll outing in the countryside, with no respect to the superstitious and unworldly fears of the common knowledged, typically lacking in any form of formal education. Bass-ackwards imho... (PS. Disclaimer: not an accusation, just an observation, influenced as it is by personal expectations and gripes... hopefully worth something for the benifit of consideration.) Oh humans!! We discover a galactic community filled with multiple species of aliens, and the first thing we think about is "how can we have sex with them?".~ anymoose, somewhere on the net... so... if you square a square it becomes a cube... if you square a cube does it become an octoid? |
March 31, 2011 - 7:35pm | The coding as is explained in the rule books is as follows. The first number represents the sector that the system is located in. There are 8 sectors which on a flat map would represent the directions of a compass so 1 is north, 2 is north east, 3 is east and so on. of course in space we don't use compass directions but if you're plotting the planets on a map this might be useful. The next set of numbers is the distance that the system is from Prenglar in light years so Cassidine at 2-038.5 is in the second sector (or northeast of Prenglar on a flat map) and 38.5 light years from Prenglar, and say Dramune has coordinates of 6-090.1 meaning it is in the 6th sector (southwest on a flat map) and 90.1 light years from Prenglar. In order to determine how long it would take to jump from Cassidine to Dramune you subtract the lower light year distance from the higher one, in this case you would subtract .38.5 from 90.1 giving you a total of 51.6 and then you add ten for each sector of difference between the two systems (in this case 4 sectors of difference or +40 so the total distance for a ship traveling at speed on 1ly/day would require 91.6 days in Voidspace to make the trip. Of course a ship who's FTL rating allows it to move faser then 1ly/day would make the trip faster. For example a Knight hawk Starfighter can make that trip in 30.5 days since its FTL drive allows it to voidjump at 3ly/day. Of course the pilot would have to be in a freeze field since the small fighter only carries 1 weeks worth of consumables and 1 weeks worth of survival rations, or he's gonna arrive dead. The Osprey (Assault scout) however would make the trip in 13.1 day because it's FTL drive allows it to cover 7 light years/day and the crew would still have about a days worth of consumable's in their hold after the trip. Of course going from say Cassadine to Capella (2-536.4) in the rim would really be pushing it as that jump would take 497.6 days at 1ly/day (16.6 months) and most ships don't carry enough food for such a prolonged void jump, and the navigator calculatig such a jump had better be really skilled because the difficulty of successfully plotting that big a jump is very high (DC 40). "Hey guys I wonder what this does"-Famous last words "Hey guys, I think it's friendly." -Famous last words "You go on ahead, I'll catch up." -Famous last words "Did you here that?" -Famous last words |
March 31, 2011 - 8:49pm | It's on a 2d square grid (n, ne, e, se, s, sw, w, nw) with eight radians, not a hex with twelve radians, or a circle with 360 degrees? <a bit perplexed> That makes for some very wide arcs of uncertanty. an x,y,z radial would have been eaiser. and made pythagoras happy. A simple calculation would then produce a distance between any two coords also. Have to look at this set up a bit, inital impression is it is too difficult to use effectivly, but I could be missing something. Needs to be a bit easier to map if I am going to run it. Ambiguous maps in fantasy I abide, but not so much in sci-fi. My groups usually want to know whats is where, don't travel large distances without real good cause, and if i don't provide those details they shove thier own maps and campaign logs back in my face.  Can't fault the ships astrogator for keeping those astrogation logs, or the captain for keeping system dossiers, it is considered an exploration game after all, Volturnus and Sundown both set that theme firmly.Worst thing I ever did was let a OCD player test some robot rules, best set of setting expansion material I ever got. He kept his data files very well ordered and updated, fortunatly he saw the benifit of leaving it with me for the duration of the campaign. Oh humans!! We discover a galactic community filled with multiple species of aliens, and the first thing we think about is "how can we have sex with them?".~ anymoose, somewhere on the net... so... if you square a square it becomes a cube... if you square a cube does it become an octoid? |
March 31, 2011 - 9:21pm | The system works on the simple premise that the players just want a good adventure, and leave the details in the capable hands of the Administrator. it works like this.... Players: where are we going tonight? Administrator: Dramune Players: but we're on Cassidine. Player (Navigator): I'll start the calculations. Administrator: (checks his planetary list in back of the Administrator's guide and does a quick calculation)Okay the trip will take the Osprey a bit over 16 days to make the trip (checks Knight Hawks guidebook for Difficulty (91 light year jump has a difficulty of 16). Okay your difficulty 16. Player (navigator): rolls skill check (10 + Astrogation skill rank + Logic modifier) I rolled a 17. Administrator: Okay...just as your characters are starting to go a little stir crazy being couped up together in the cramped confines of the Osprey for a little over two weeks, the warning lights announce that you're about to revert to normal space. suddenly long range sensors detect the presence of several spacefleet battlewagons moving on an intercept course. Players: but were on the same side. Administrator smiles the twinkle of mischief in his eyes. and the adventure begins.... "Hey guys I wonder what this does"-Famous last words "Hey guys, I think it's friendly." -Famous last words "You go on ahead, I'll catch up." -Famous last words "Did you here that?" -Famous last words |
March 31, 2011 - 11:59pm | I see, that works, it just dosn't suit everyones style. I am used to seeing that as the prefered fantasy style, though as I mentioned in a previous post, the fantasy games are frequently more heavily filled with, discriptions, acurate maps, and a sense of all the details of an area are easily known to the players. However, I run fantasy like you said here, and everyone gives praise to the 'mysterious world' around them and it's uncertanties. I find sci-fi frequently lacking in the details that establish the sci-fi framework, based on the foundations of known science and charted geography, and that being one of the common complaints from sci-fi rpg fans. where they want more stable plausability, and expect that they should be able to rely on the expected. In my experiance if I run a Star Frontiers game as if it were a fantasy, I tend to loose players on those same complaints. My own experiances in playing can recount this also, I have been more satsified anf found it more memorable with a fantasy setting being mysterious and unknown, and a sci-fi seting being predictable and sure made it likewise more memorable and fun. This isn't a quantifiable aspect of the genres. My own experiances have reflected this tendancey, and I have frequently heard it repeated by others. I'll say no more however, I see where this division of expected and expressed desires and preferential treatment of style, can be debatable.... everyone who has an opinion on this topic is typically well entrenched in thier view. Your system is well thought out and capable, and there is alot to be appreciated in what I have been reading. I have respect for it, and I offer support if required. I have calculations: I saw a few mentions for a desire for a map. I thought I might look into it. 10px per hex, 114 concentric rings, around a central 0.0 hex, fits on a US-letter document and represents either, a 228ly wide hex of 1light year hexes, or a ~743.65ly wide region of 1parsec hexes, The small 10px hexes allow for an overview map of a region, though not much detail.. The stated size of 3000ly/~925.92pc for the entire (potentialy) mapable region would be 13 by 13 overview maps. It is plausable, and not too terriably difficult. A grid map would be about the same 13 x 13 - 225x225maps at about 10px squares. (This may have been more suitable in it's own thread, my apologies for the time used here under the Timeline Topic.) Oh humans!! We discover a galactic community filled with multiple species of aliens, and the first thing we think about is "how can we have sex with them?".~ anymoose, somewhere on the net... so... if you square a square it becomes a cube... if you square a cube does it become an octoid? |
April 1, 2011 - 4:58pm | I still like your term "administrator" a lot better than game-master. Though Referee is okay too it doesnt have that pretentious feel often associated with people who use the term game-master or dungeon-master. |
April 1, 2011 - 7:03pm | I like Administrator because it doesn't say that the person running the game has more knowledge than the others. I've seen too many people over the years take that Dungeon Master or game Master title too far, and they always fall back on that old Gygaxian Gem "I am the Final Arbitrator of....(fill in the blank)." "Hey guys I wonder what this does"-Famous last words "Hey guys, I think it's friendly." -Famous last words "You go on ahead, I'll catch up." -Famous last words "Did you here that?" -Famous last words |
 April 1, 2011 - 7:58pm | If you use, "Dungeon Master" it suggests a particular game, you know that 600 lb. gorilla sitting in the rpg market. Game Master and referee seem to be fairly popular; at least I've used them when playing any game system that isn't the 600 lb. gorilla. I hear what Deryn Rys is saying about power trip game masters but I dont think the problem is with the title but rather with the person. I'd hate to think that we might be getting politically correct where we need to call a game master an administrator lest he think he gets to arbitrate something. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
April 1, 2011 - 8:30pm | Yes but remember that not everyone that runs a game is as wise as you or some others who use this forum. Many a youngster that's just getting his feet wet in the gaming world loses his mind when they realize just how much they control for those few hours of gametime, so I try not to use Game Master or Dungeon Master. I like Administrator, Referee or Storyteller....Or as my friends say that crazy guy who has way too much time on his hands. "Hey guys I wonder what this does"-Famous last words "Hey guys, I think it's friendly." -Famous last words "You go on ahead, I'll catch up." -Famous last words "Did you here that?" -Famous last words |
April 1, 2011 - 8:39pm | perhaps an article on game mastering principles or advice for the sfman might be timely. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
April 1, 2011 - 8:41pm | I agree with the Administrator tittle too. Gives the impression of a star-spanning bureaucracy nicely, and that plays well within the Star Frontiers themes. Game sessions can be thought of as Briefing Room Sessions, where all the logistics planning and implementation of missions are conducted. I remembered where I had heard the use of the word, in that context before. from the Top Secret game I believe. Definatly think it has more to do with the person. Titles are just words one wears like hats, the impressions they leave on others are the responsability of the person wearing the hat. It is a bit difficult to extract a hat from the clutches of a 600lb. gorilla, best to just consign to using a different hat, however. Oh humans!! We discover a galactic community filled with multiple species of aliens, and the first thing we think about is "how can we have sex with them?".~ anymoose, somewhere on the net... so... if you square a square it becomes a cube... if you square a cube does it become an octoid? |
)