 March 4, 2014 - 6:56am | RE: http://www.starfrontiers.us/node/3557 This project started as a place for me to work on stuff for my local table top running of the Volturnus campaign. when that campaign ended I openned the project to the community for simply working on issues with Volturnus in general but with a goal toward openning up the setting for more use ie latter adventures. Part of this was expressed as the possibilities of writing some fan modules or even recrafting the originial modules and updating them. With the founding of the Frontier Explorer the fan license prohibts publication of modules so we generally produce the support material for an adventure as separate articles and suggest adventure seeds for the adventure (Saurian Cycle) or serialize and adventure (Mooks Without Number) to adhere to this. I want to start a thread to bash around the possibility of a community effort to develope Volturnus after the Volturnus campaign. It would largely be individual articles that would support a referee in using Volturnus as a setting for adventures. In SFman 16 I examined 5 possibilities for the government of Volturnus after the classic campaign and while I'd lean toward the one that can claim greater canonicity all possibilities are possible. For example We should describe a star port (map and some details) for Volturns and this material should work for whatever direction an individual referee might take with the government of Volturnus issue. A rebuilt Volkos could use a map and details Attached to the star port might be corporate enclaves for various mega corps. corporate mining locations a sample map of one of these wouldn't hurt. I started a thread on eorna politics which examines 3 distinct segments of the eorna population (the 150, the Children of Doom, and the New Generation) as well as proposed some parties vying for controll of the direction of their society. Its open to imput and I'll pull it together into an article latter. We could agree to use the "canon" UPF territory and governor of Zebs as a default baseline and develop the setting a little for use I think we should also assume that the "egg ship" was found and treat this as baseline as well. (note my new speculation on the egg ship was that it was a colony expedition in the process of setting out when the sathar arrived). So anyone is welcome to develop new Volturnus material and I'd like to see an issue of the FE with a Volturnus revisited theme. Feel free to use the Volturnus Revisited project for developing material. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 March 4, 2014 - 2:08pm | Who controls the mineral wealth of Volturnus, outside interests or the locals themselves? |
March 4, 2014 - 3:39pm | Who controls the mineral wealth of Volturnus, outside interests or the locals themselves? That's a great question and I think we as a community should establish that. A lot will depend on who controls things. If its a UPF territory how much control do the eorna still have? Are the mineral rights awarded by the UPF or do the eorna get to sell them off to the mega corps? I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 March 4, 2014 - 4:23pm | Personally, I'd go with the Eorna. I see the UPF as being very limited in it's powers, kind of like the UN. They have Spacefleet, Landfleet, and Star Law but they are primarily an anti-sathar organization. Spacefleet patrols the spacelines to monitor interstellar traffic and provide pirate defense when there is no Sathar around but the other two organizations I see as specificly aimed at fighting Sathar. Baring an actual war, I see Landfleet as stripped down to a few core units. They are highly trained and possibly the best at what they do but are small in number. Their primary role is to provide rapid response if necessary and train other units if fighting with the Sathar breaks out. Star Law has been covered in detail other places but it's mission is finding and rooting out sathar agents. For the most part, I see the authority of all three of these entities ending at the top of the planetary atmosphere expept in the case of known sathar activity. At least that's the model. And of course there are always people pushing the limits and overstepping bounds. So I don't see a UPF governor of Volturnus as something that can really happen except maybe as a temporary stop-gap if requested by the Eorna to help them make a transition into the UPF and keep the rest of the Frontier at a bay a little bit. By it's charter, the UPF can't control a planet. At least that's my read on the matter. So in the end, I'd probably play out Volturnus as a wild west free for all. The Eorna have prior claim, the Ul-mor, Kurabanda, and Edestakei have superior numbers (at least initially) and the mega corps have the advanced technology and resources to try to muscle everyone else out and the ability to bring in lots of people. Toss in the Mechanons and it would get pretty crazy. The Eorna would ask for assistance in asserting their claim and the UPF would be like "sorry, we can't interfere in planetary politics". This is actually a chance for PGC to maybe be the "good guys". Streel is based out of Truane's Star and has the shorter supply line but PGC could approach the Eorna govenment and offer it's services in protecting their rights for certain concessions. Or maybe one of the other Mega corps. Regardless of who it is, I see the Eorna eventually losing control of the planet unless someone helps them as they don't have the resources to enforce their rule over the planet. 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 - 1:51am | It is possible that some high-ranking individuals in the UPF and Spacefleet might acknowledge the Volturnians' contribution in the 2nd Sathar War, and be willing to thank them by formally recognizing Volturnus as an independent world. Much of that will depend on how things ended in each GM's game. Even if they are formally recognized, that still does not protect them from the predations of megacorps and others. |
March 5, 2014 - 5:17am | I think there is a lot of possibilities of how Volturnus could end up. I'm all for making little changes in the setting when it suits me. However I would like to reconcile some of the canon statements in a reasonable explanation that works and acts as Zero on a number line from which everyone's individual campaign deviates by a plus or minus. I've contributed a lot to 3 different fan zines and that makes me aware of the fact that we are a global community of fans from all walks of life and many different countries and yet we gather around this funny little game.The game is the Pan Gal that we all speak and while some have some interesting dialects like Shadow's Dominion game where a Star Wars like dictator rises and ravages the Frontier, we all sort of know what the language is in the dictionary and it facilitates communication within the community. The original game materials become the ground zero and that we all look to and thus I often try to reconcile canon statements, if possible, and admittedly Zebs Guide is the biggest single cause of reconciliation problems. So Bring on alternate interpretations of the Volturnus problem but.. How can we reconcile the statement of : 105 FY An Altered mechanon assassinates the Governor of Zebulon 54 FY Mechanons on Volturnus revolt. Only through quick action on the part of Star Law is a full scale war avoided. What if the UPF Governor is for the Zebulon system, as stated, and the eorna control the planet of Volturnus. this arrangement was set up in the aftermath of the Volturnus campaign. It lingers for nearly 100 years. Like American military bases located in Japanese territory since WW2 the territorial/protectorate status of Volturnus is similar. It was determined that Zebulon is the system that the sathar use to invade the Frontier at Truane's Star and thus it becomes a secturity concern of vital importance to the UPF. when contact with the Rim happens its also determined to be one line of advance on Rim territory by the sathar as well. Thus there is alway a high number of ships here. Perhaps Truane's star, at the time of the Volturnus campaign, was making grumblings about annexing the system for its own security. Only Terledrom has an extra solar colony that it controls but this situation existed prior to the formation of the UPF. However Pale's police actions and apparent desire to become an interstellar power and the power vacuum in Zebulon made everyone nervous. The arrangement was territoryial/protectorate status for Zebulon appeased everyone concerned. To some degree the mega corps do get away with a lot on Volturnus but eorna have walked a delicate dance of playing one against the other while trying to rebuild their society. They are more than happy to have their defense against the sathar paid for by the UPF (at one point they were down to 150 individuals), they cant really do it themselves. Despite what happened at the battle of Volkos it wouldn't take more than one or two sathar destroyers to wipe them out. This situation means that they dont have voting status on the Council of Worlds but for the most part they are focused inward and not worried about the larger stage of the Frontier as a whole as long as the sathar are not a Sword of Damoclese hanging over their head. As to Star Law, I believe that their mandate was expanded to include interstellar criminals not just sathar agents. Its not in the timelime but I'm sure I remember it from somewhere. Thus they will have an office on Volturnus and other comments in the timeline indicate that investigating the mechanons becomes a major thing for Star Law. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 March 5, 2014 - 8:16am | The United Planetary Federation Space Fleet, created to drive out the Sathar, fights to keep order in the space lanes. Pirates and outlaws have learned to fear the deadly effectiveness of the space fleet and the Star Law Rangers. View my profile for a list of articles I have written, am writing, will write. "It's yo' mama!" —Wicket W. Warrick, Star Wars Ep. VI: Return of the Jedi "That guy's wise." —Logray, Star Wars Ep.VI: Return of the Jedi Do You Wanna Date My Avatar? - Felicia Day (The Guild) |
