 February 1, 2014 - 10:17pm | Not sure how this will go over but here goes: Filling in a setting is really hard. Making up a detail is really easy. This thread is a forum game where you make up a tidbit about a planet, moon, or the inhabitants of one. Something that makes them stand out. It can be specific to one of the races or apply to all of them. It could be about a sub-culture on the planet, a notable natural feature, something about wildlife, a festival, or anything else you want. In general, go for things that would show up in a travel guide or maybe a briefing. There is really only one rule I'll ask that anyone contributing follow: Don't contradict anyone else's contribution and don't argue about them. I guess that's really two rules. If someone says that the Yazirians of Yast keep their patagium tied tightly to their sides with pink ribbons, just ignore it and go on. No one is going to make anyone use any of this. Obviously, it'd be great if we stuck to canon but I won't judge if you don't. If you want to make an Edge or Flaw, go for it! If you want to do a couple, go for it! And when you're done, post a planet as a challenge for the next person. I'm going to throw a couple out Tidbit: Cass (Devco) wasn't offered as a refugee home out of the goodness of anyone's heart. The heavy gravity and thick atmosphere make it difficult to leave without going through the authorities. The modifications needed for air travel make aircars and other transports expensive so Cass has the most extensive system of lighter than air vehicles in the Frontier. Tidbit: The Nagrunda class heavy cruiser is infamous for poor crew accomodation. Sleeping quarters are surrounded by the ship's radiator coolant wells, meaning that they are alternate between nearly unlivably hot to freezing cold. Firing the rocket batteries or ICMs will usually result in several of the ship's showers and heads being out of commission for days due to leaks. The most famous and worst incident, the Shemp Mutiny, occurred when the entire crew of the Admiral MH Horowitz abandoned ship near Circe, leaving Captain Howard, Major Fine, and Lt. Lester stranded in orbit around Ulysses until the Ag ship Soup to Nuts stumbled upon the stricken ship. Flaw: Hentz:"I need that in triplicate" Once per session, when you must follow an order the referee may call upon this flaw, causing you to bicker over trivial details. This may result in a delay, losing an action, or the failure of delicate negotiations. So tell me something new about the Frontier! |
 February 2, 2014 - 4:14am | Bay 51, When the trade association that eventually became the Capellan Free Merchants began to colonize the planet Faire, its rumored that they discovered the wreck of a space craft and bodies of its crew. This ship is rumored to be hidden in a high security area called Bay 51. The bay is off limits to all but special CFM security with the surface and subsurface well patroled by naval craft (including mini attack subs). The facility on the surface is docks and support infrastructure for the naval security contingent but the real Bay 51 is an underwater dome. There are no good images of the underwater facility as even passive scans from orbit are obscured by the water and the security screen around the bay is very tight. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
February 2, 2014 - 1:21pm | Neat! Kraatar has the largest impact crater of any habitable planet in the Frontier. It is entirely underwater and was not discovered until surveys of Kraatar's sea commenced. An easy way to annoy a Kraatar resident is to claim their planet's name should be Kraytar. |
 February 2, 2014 - 7:55pm | Circe, has an annual sporting event of vrusk vs humans played along the entire length of a 500km peninsula. The goal of the game is to relay an egg shaped ball from the opposing team's home to your own before the other gets there. Along the way the opposing team has squads of blockers to stop, impede, or even steal the egg. The game starts with a mock ceremony of stealing the opponent’s egg from the home with much fan fare and a flashy first mile run where the running squad is free and unimpeded to present its’ show. Then the race and battle begins. No tools, vehicles, or weapons are allowed, this is a test of teamwork, endurance, and skill. Every 5km the egg may be relayed to a new squad, thus 100 squads may make up a team that does not reuse squads by ferrying them forward. The action at the midway point where both eggs are crossing each other is very intense. The game started when human settlers were watching a vrusk re-creation of an ancient vrusk hive raid to recover a royal egg. Human youth mimicked the historical recreation as a neighborhood game which the vrusk started monitoring with much intellectual interest. When the CEO of a vrusk company enquired on a media talk show as to why humans would turn this into a game the host casually challenged the vrusk to compete against a human team. Tell me about Groth. -iggy |
February 3, 2014 - 3:43pm | It sounds like the Birdman game from Easter Island crossed with American football. Awesome and creative! Groth specializes in growing algae based foodstuffs along the shorelines of its numerous shallow seas. The planet is close to the inner edge of Fromeltar's habitable zone and that, combined with the high gravity, mean a warm, soupy, oxygen rich atmosphere with glass-like seas perfect for sailing. This has led Groth to become a major health spa and resort. Exotic oils and steam baths, kelp wraps, and mud treatments are common, while parasailing is popular among Yazirian visitors. Megacorps rent entire islands for corporate retreats, coming out relaxed and healthier, ready to face another year of backstabbing and intrigue. Somebody tell me what the deal with Moonworld is. Is it a super-earth? Is it the result of some ancient race that could literally make custom planets? |
February 3, 2014 - 9:22pm | Moonworld is a secret UPF base, well perhaps not as secret as we were lead to believe by Zeb's. All the support personnel in and out fo the system would lead to it being an open secret, like Groom Lake (Area 51). I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 February 4, 2014 - 1:56am | Both Moonworld and Morgaine's World are "super-earths", due to their great size. There is a Zethra bartender in Port Loren, on Gran Quivera. You can gain almost any piece of information from "it", as long as you have something interesting to tell it in exchange... The 4 moons of Morgaine's World (Grey, Gold, White & Black) are named for the color they appear to be from the ground when on Morgaine, or so the story goes. What many outsiders do not realize is that each of these 4 desert moons are covered with sand the color of their name. Grey looks like a vast grey desert, on Gold the rocks have a coppery color to them, the beautiful sands of White are popular with locals, and the ebony sands of Black are made of pulverized obsidian & basalt. On planets where the days are exceptionally long (30 to 40 hours or longer), it is normal for the population to take a midday nap. On some planets, the days are even longer, and the people will have an entire sleeping & waking cycle while it is still daylight, and then again while it is night. This affects everything from schools and businesses to the way people socialize. |
February 4, 2014 - 4:46am | @ Bossmoss: plus one on the zethra bar tender. This is something the players could use regularly if they were based in Port Loren- "New mission? Let's go check with Zeek to see what he knows." I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
February 4, 2014 - 2:24pm | Yeah, that's a good one. It would be a great contact for a party and a bunch of them would make a great article. Feel free to put them here or start a new thread. In that spirit: Zkit'Vit'Kishk is captain and owner of the Duty Free, one of the largest merchant traders in the Frontier. Shee specializes in low value bulk cargos that attract little attention from pirates. But the real reason she's never had any trouble with pirates is she runs a fencing operation and chopshop from her freighter and the small mining facilities that he owns. If she trusts you, you can find nearly any item, ship them between systems without customs finding out, or just store people or items while the heat is on. She's even been known to act as a bank, funding groups looking to acquire a starship. Whether these groups participate in her less-than-legal network is unknown. Zkit'Vit'Kishk can be found in nearly any Frontier system. |
February 5, 2014 - 2:02am | Thanks re. the Zethra. Just a little something from my own game. This is good stuff, guys. I'm taking notes here. Seriously.  |
February 5, 2014 - 6:00am | Thanks re. the Zethra. Just a little something from my own game. This is good stuff, guys. I'm taking notes here. Seriously. Write up a NPC profile and a stat block on this guy and maybe information on the bar (include a floor plan if you have it) and submit it to the zine we'll see about coming up with new art. This would be great stuff to include in a future issue. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
February 5, 2014 - 12:53pm | Ooh! Animux could do a great zethra I bet. -iggy |
February 5, 2014 - 11:56pm | I would love to see some new Zethra art. As fart as I know, we just have the one picture. Jedion, I'll see what I can do!  |
February 6, 2014 - 11:54am | Urm-mol are small Volturnian omnivores similar in appearance to Ul-mor but smaller and less intelligent. Weighing only 1 kg, their ability to squeeze into tiny places has made them a major pest aboard starships. They have a tentacle that holds a stinger that when inserted beneath the skin of most organisms, causes neural block, killing small predators and stunning even man sized ones for a short time. Urm-mol Tiny Omnivore (.25-1kg, adults 30 cm including tentacles) Number 1-10 (Nests are home to 1d5 adults, 1d10 subadults (2 stamina) and 1d10 x 1d5 young (harmless) Speed Medium 50m/turn IM/RS +8/80 Stamina 7 (1d10+2) Attack 40 Damage 1d5 bite Special Attacks: Stunning tentacle: Sta check or stunned 1d10 turns for PC races. An anti-shock implant will stop this. Urm-mol can bite and sting in the same turn but only against the same target. Urm-mol will not generally attack unless diseased or cornered. They are scavengers but will attack and kill other small animals. Extremely clever, they can open small jars and get into most containers sealed with clips or fasteners. They're also prone to carrying off small (up to a kilogram) objects to line their nest or chew on. Power clips are preferred chew toys. |
February 9, 2014 - 11:08pm | The standard architectural plan of urban centers on Kdikit is for all roads to be underground. This has roots in vrusk design but with strong human modifications. The purpose and popularity of the concept is that the surface is free and unobstructed for walking, parks and open space, as well as environmental concerns. All buildings are surrounded by decorative walkways, parks, pools, promanades, etc. Skyscrapers are common and often linked with walkways as well. The roads and monorail systems are placed underground. This seperates the traffic from beings for safety and has the environmental benifit of managing heat and pollution from the vehicles. The air down bellow is processed to collect pollutants and waste heat which is utilized as an energy resource. High above the cities aircars have access to rooftop car ports. Only police and emmergency air cars are allowed down to the surface. -iggy |
February 10, 2014 - 5:07am | The Yalto Shrine on Gran Quivera is a yazirian shrine dedicated to the continuity of yazirian history stretching back 1000s of years. It's run by a yazirian bard (as head priest) and a staff with daily rituals involving song and dance. Its become a cultural center in the heart of Port Loren, attracting may tourist to witness and feel yazirian culture. Donations, a gift shop, yazirian barbeque resturant and the function facility all contribute to keep the shrine running. The shrine's director is a shameless promoter and organizes tours and performances with any organization and has added banquet rooms for catered functions. anyone can book these rooms including the Grand Clan Hall for private functions. (weddings, corporate meetings, etc.) The gardens at the shrine are a favorite meeting place and many a clandestine meeting occurs here. Its not so much that any religion is practiced here as being yazirian is celebrated here. this means that any yazirian with any form of religious belief is welcome here: Fo1, Brotherhood of One, Balorite, or old school traditional elder worship from before the Star Exodus. The shrine has a dojo that teaches traditional yazirian fighting techniques: zamra throwing, kah'dan honor sword and "Yaz Fu" (yazirian forms of martial arts) can all be studied here by anyone, not just yazirians. The cultural center has yazirian language courses, and cultural studies and so on The Family of One, wishes that the shrine would be pro Fo1 to the exclussion of every other form of religious belief but the popularity of the shrine in Port Loren means they have to play nice with it and support its programs. This includes providing botanical samples for its gardens as well as some fish and avians. the shrine is a whole complex a short distance from the down town area of Port Loren and its gardens provide a peaceful respite from the ceramcrete and federanium of the overdeveloped mega city that Port Loren has become. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
February 11, 2014 - 1:02pm | the vrusk developed a math game, like suduko, except its involves geometric shapes, its calle z'nch but a common bastardization of that name in Pan Gal is "Cinch". Ironically its not a cinch to solve a game of z'nch and the harder levels can drive you to frustration. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 February 11, 2014 - 3:59pm | On New Pale the local shuttle service is called New Pale Red Box Haulers. Headquartered out of Simeon's Rest, New Pale's capitol and largest city. Red Box Haulters will carry cargo to and from orbit or point to point on the planet. The company operates dozens of shuttles ranging from hull size 1 to 3 to carry different sized loads. The ships are white with a large stack of red moving boxes emblazoned on the fuselage. Cost for a one way transport contract varies on the ship size but is the same whether ground-to-orbit, orbit-to-ground, or point-to-point on surface. Red Box Haulers handle about 85% of all shuttle transport runs on New Pale.
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 |
March 1, 2014 - 11:25pm | This is a great resource. I've written down everything mentioned on here so far. Honestly, this thread is as good as an issue of the Star Frontiersman. We should keep it going. Can we pin this so it stays? |
March 2, 2014 - 9:24am | Just made it sticky so it stays at the top of the "Game Talk" forum list. 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 |
March 5, 2014 - 8:14am | The Yohirra clan of Scree Fron symbol:a circlet crossed with a scroll and a quill worn as a medalion around the neck or as a brooch on a tunic or cape. The Yoshirra clan has carefully chronicled their ancestral heros for time inmemoriable and claims to have been the first clan to write down their oral histories. They take the honor code admonissions to remember the heroes of the past seriously. The clan culture has developed to the point that yazirians of this clan claim to feel the presence of their ancestors with them and may 1X/day call on the spirits of their ancestors to aid them. This may be a general call for help to apply to ability or skill checks and provides a +5% bonus to that one check. Yoshirra yazirians also choose a patron ancestor who was famous for some one thing in particular (like healing) and they may instead call on this patron ancester for aid with that one area of endeavor that they were famous for and this provides a +10% bonus to that skill check (or conceivably ability check if it was that the ancestor was famous for being quick to react in danger then the +10% bonus would apply to RS checks) The Yoshirra clan is ancient and large and has a long and varied history such that a yazirian character should be able to find a patorn ancestor for nearly any pursuit, skill or what have you. The only requirement is that the player create a name for the patron ancestor and write a short 1-3 sentence blurb on this honored ancestor. He should probably also role play the calling on the patron ancestor. Most yoshira yazirians like to grab their clan symbol when they call on their ancestors. The Yoshirra clan has only shown marginal acceptance of the philosophy behind the Family of One. This led to an incident where a Fo1 priest denegrated the ancestral worship of the Yoshirra clan and was beaten by offended clan members. This has put the Yoshirra clan on the map for investigation by Fo1 inquisitors but no direct action has been take against the Yoshirra. This could change should the priest in question ever rise to a position where he can exert the authority to take action against the Yoshira. A Yoshirra clan member by practice any form of religious practice he wishes but seeming ancestral worship is always in the place of primacy with these yazirians. They take very seriously the duty to honor their ancestral heroes. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
March 5, 2014 - 12:47pm | The Yoshirra clan has only shown marginal acceptance of the philosophy behind the Family of One. This led to an incident where a Fo1 priest denegrated the ancestral worship of the Yoshirra clan and was beaten by offended clan members. This has put the Yoshirra clan on the map for investigation by Fo1 inquisitors but no direct action has been take against the Yoshirra. This could change should the priest in question ever rise to a position where he can exert the authority to take action against the Yoshira. I'm surprised the offending priest even survived to have a chance to rise to a position of authority.   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 |
March 5, 2014 - 2:01pm | The Yoshirra clan has only shown marginal acceptance of the philosophy behind the Family of One. This led to an incident where a Fo1 priest denegrated the ancestral worship of the Yoshirra clan and was beaten by offended clan members. This has put the Yoshirra clan on the map for investigation by Fo1 inquisitors but no direct action has been take against the Yoshirra. This could change should the priest in question ever rise to a position where he can exert the authority to take action against the Yoshira. I'm surprised the offending priest even survived to have a chance to rise to a position of authority. As I was working on this I figured a leader would break it up. If the preist was killed the Fo1 would have to take formal notice right away. Since the clan is large and influential it was expedient at the time for Fo1 to look the other way. The priest who was beaten is a bit of a plot seed. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
March 18, 2014 - 12:49am | Hmm, that's good. Plot seed is right - you could build a whole module around that. |
March 18, 2014 - 4:45am | Hmm, that's good. Plot seed is right - you could build a whole module around that. I would go with the Priest is now in a place of power and is plotting revenge. the clan itself is in danger and the PCs get drawn in to help. If they succeed they will have a long term ally in the clan. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
