 August 1, 2011 - 6:28pm | The Following list is a brainstorm to be followed latter with a narrowing of the list. 1. Star Devil and pirates exploiting Volturnus illegally 2. Sathar's prior visit, destruction of the planet, obelisk and threat of return. 3. Eorna's "Great Plan" to evolve a replacement species for their doom race. 4. Evolution of mechanons (evolution of mechanons is back story really but they play a significant role in the climax) 5. Exploration of alien world. 6. Dangerous environment 7. Repeated 1st contact with primitive species (the 3 races of the eorna plan) 8. major campaign to eradicate the pirates 9. major battle to save the planet from sathar I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
August 1, 2011 - 6:47pm | I cant see it being the Volturnus series without the Sathar and Pirates. The sathar are what they are but the pirates could/can be tweeked for something much more original. The Volturnus Connection article hints at a corporate connection. What if there was a serious corporate connection? Streel? or PGC trying to undercut Streel? Could the sathar be be tweeked in this module? perhaps revealing some of the details being discussed in the sathar project on this site; the 3 different castes perhpaps though the details of the caste system that have been discussed actually explain some of the details in the modules: like some of the sathar being sent out with one weapon and a clip or two of ammo. I'd like to tweek the details of the sathar to reflect some of this new thinking in the sathar project. For instance the encounter when the sathar have to swap out parabatteries on the cybodragon would be middle caste while the other cannon fodder sathar would be lower caste. However I think that even when lower caste sathar are sent out there should be at least one middle caste sathar in charge that will be more capable and better equipped. I like the encounters in SF-1 that involve the pirates but not so much the "en media res" openning of Crash on Volturnus that rail roads the PCs. In fact while I'm on the subject of rail road vs sandbox, perhaps we should discuss that issue too. Should the Volturnus series be rewritten to be more sandbox-ish? Could Volturnus be more sandbox-ish I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
August 1, 2011 - 7:08pm | Primitive Races: man I hate the ABC quest in the beginning of the 3rd module: mechanon mounds is too linear, and the kurabanga quest is too D&Dish, and the edestakai quest is under developed. But you need the 3 no actually 4 quest with the evolved races to determine what happens in the big battle at the end. I think the way the big battle was handled in SF-2 was good. but if you cut the primitive races in anyway it neccessitates reworking the ending. Do we "buy" the eorna evolving 3 races in the 900 years since the sathar first visited Volturnus? On one hand I say no but on the other I say, "Well, it could be possible with their advanced medical tech." I like the Ulmor as a race, can even roll with the edestakai but I could "leave" the kurabanga. As for the Ul-mor the whole 9th tentacle that is shorter than the other ones and that they insert into another individual to initiate telepathic contact has too many sexual overtones- they need to be simply touch telepaths like Mr. Spock was. And would it be Volturnus without 1st contact? Yet the unspoken issue of "Why does this world have more than 1 sentient species?" maybe aught to be addressed. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
August 6, 2011 - 5:29am | So the question I suppose is should a re-write of Volturnus pay homage to the original or chart new waters? Should the rewrite take the basic ingreditents and try to forget the original cake and start from scratch writing a new recipe for adventure? To be sure Shadowshacks twist on Volturnus with the PCs being among the pirates, while I didn't play in that game sounded awesome- but I'm unsure if I want to outright copy shadow's game because the idea is sort of something new and fresh. It seems the major ingredients are 1.a prior sathar visit and a climatic return 2. Pirates exploiting resourses 3. Devestated eorna attempting to repopulate Volturnus with new species believing their race is doomed. The major themes are meeting new life and civilizations, saving the galactic sector from the sathar, I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
September 2, 2011 - 3:57pm | OK. Since I personally dislike the big pause at the beginning of the module to do the ABC quest what if the quest associated with the 3 primitive races are moved to the time of meeting the races and its just part of gaining the primitives confidence. The at the beginning of SF-2 its simply a quest to bring the mechanons on board. Just make the mechanon defense mounds less linear. This takes way the ABC quest feel of the beginning of SF-2. Naturally character actions at time of first contact will determine if the primitive groups heed the call to battle latter. Note any primitivemeans race notoff showing at thethe battle oflatter volturnus cost the PCs a 10% of their chance to win the battle of volturnus. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 August 17, 2016 - 11:20am | I would vote for adding some more drama and background with the Mound of the Mechanons encounter. It involves another bad dungeon crawl until you encounter the "boss" character -- page 7, room 11, with the higher level Mechanon. Granted, I like the idea of it acting Borg-like, and ignoring the characters unless they try to harm it or talk to it. But the characters may never find this figure. Or there's the meeting with the council... I know these modules are character driven, but wouldn't be helpful if Col. Jameson was along for the ride or have another survivor from the first expedition? Then there is the problem of trying to reconcile the module with that bastard Zebs timeline. In Starspawn, the Mechanons have "limited basic knowledge of the universe" (page 16) and "lost all record or memory of their creation." But later we have the Mechanon revolt and suddenly the "peaceful" robots have the ability to construct Void-capable ships to leave the planet and found their own planet. I like the fan-created idea of having a few old Eorna defense installations that the players can find first including the proto-Mechanons created by an deranged Eorna. That should be a set-up before going to the Mound of the Mechanons. And, it might be helpful to introduce a "kinder and gentler" Mechanon sometime around the PC's encounter with the Council of Elders or at least soon afterwards. These might be the ones who realize that biologicals aren't their enemy. Anyway, that's a few oddball ideas for you... I'll go back to doing my Eorna research. I'm trying to look at all of these discussions to come up with a idea of what the dino's original civilization was like to go along with the Volturnus maps I made. Joe Cabadas |
 August 17, 2016 - 4:15pm | The Kurabanda are a better species than either the Edestekai or the Ul-Mor. Cephalopods in particular make absolutely no sense on land, let alone in a desert climate, and tri-sexuality has no evolutionary advantage, being an actual disadvange as it makes breeding more difficult. |
August 17, 2016 - 4:43pm | The Kurabanda are a better species than either the Edestekai or the Ul-Mor. Cephalopods in particular make absolutely no sense on land, let alone in a desert climate, and tri-sexuality has no evolutionary advantage, being an actual disadvange as it makes breeding more difficult. The poor Edestekai and Ul-Mor! Oh you cephlapod-a-phobe.  Oh the tri-sexuals shall revolt!  Well, they do beat the "forehead" of the week idea from Star Trek and they aren't humanoids, but I get your point.  Joe Cabadas |
August 17, 2016 - 6:30pm | Various forms of bilaterally symmetrical bipeds make a great deal of evolutionary sense for developing sapient life. One pair of limbs for locomotion, another for object manipulation (the finer the degree of control the better). Relatively large brain. It just all fits. |
 August 19, 2016 - 5:14pm | I've related this before but don't remember where. Here is some just for fun insider information. On Tracy Hickman's first day at TSR he walked into the room with the game designers and they asked him for an idea of an alien race. His response: "What if you had something roughly peanut shaped, trilaterally symetric with three legs that also worked like arms." And thus the Edestekia were born. 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 |
 August 20, 2016 - 5:30pm | The Edestakia don't match Volturnus biology too well. But then much of the Volturnus creatures don't seem to belong together. What if the Edestekia are transplants from Anker who were very primitive when they were abducted? -iggy |
August 20, 2016 - 5:43pm | Edestakai and queequig match each other well. They both are clearly from the same evolutionary branch. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
August 20, 2016 - 6:24pm | The Edestakia don't match Volturnus biology too well. But then much of the Volturnus creatures don't seem to belong together. What if the Edestekia are transplants from Anker who were very primitive when they were abducted? Now, that could work if Anker has a breathable atmosphere. Or, as Jedion once suggested the University of Zebulon and the zoo are actually under some sort of bio-dome. Joe Cabadas |
August 20, 2016 - 6:28pm | Edestakai and queequig match each other well. They both are clearly from the same evolutionary branch. Yes, they work together, but maybe they were from some Eorna zoo or wildlife preserve. Joe Cabadas |
August 21, 2016 - 12:06am | The edestakai are part of the eorna "Great Mission" to develop a replacement species to replace the eorna when they die out. This program is post the Day of Doom so it's highly unlikely that the surviving eorna were bringing in genetic stock or contemplated using limited gene stock previously brought from Anker. To me it seems more logical that they are natural to Volturnus. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
August 21, 2016 - 7:21am | The edestakai are part of the eorna "Great Mission" to develop a replacement species to replace the eorna when they die out. This program is post the Day of Doom so it's highly unlikely that the surviving eorna were bringing in genetic stock or contemplated using limited gene stock previously brought from Anker. To me it seems more logical that they are natural to Volturnus. That makes sense. But don't forget there are a lot of improbilities already baked into the Volturnus module, such as the large number of lifeforms still around after the Day of Doom while there were only 150 Eorna survivors -- about 10 elders of which are kept around at one time while some 49 are still in hibernation -- to help guide the Great Mission at a later date... I think it would probably be more like one or two elders are defrosted every so often to keep tabs on things for a few years and then it's back into the freezer for another 5-10 year period. The edestakai are very alien when compared to the other alien life on Volturnus, but I can accept that. We have some bizarre life here on Earth too when compared to "normal" animals, though maybe not so large. Joe Cabadas |
August 23, 2016 - 8:12am | That makes sense. But don't forget there are a lot of improbilities already baked into the Volturnus module, such as the large number of lifeforms still around after the Day of Doom while there were only 150 Eorna survivors -- about 10 elders of which are kept around at one time while some 49 are still in hibernation -- to help guide the Great Mission at a later date... True but the sathar go in for genetic and bio-engineering so they would not want to wipe out the biosphere. They may not even favor nukes at all. We can simply speculate that they were especially earnest about rooting out the eorna. That also leaves the question of 900 years of Volturnus lying fallow? Sure there is an obelisk installation wathcing over the planet but whats up with them letting the planet lie fallow all that time? My first instinct is that internal politics of the sathar clans has created this unusual period of time or that they simply cannot tollerate other space faring races and wipe them out when they find them and leave an overwatch just in case there were enough survivors to rebuild after the first visit. The edestakai are very alien when compared to the other alien life on Volturnus, but I can accept that. We have some bizarre life here on Earth too when compared to "normal" animals, though maybe not so large. well there is the queequig with obvious relationship and AD states native world is Volturnus. The STrangler chutes also have a similar symetry to body structure and would be related, distantly. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
