 June 20, 2015 - 2:34pm | As a number of you guys know, I really like the ideas presented in Alien Worlds, and as such, they shape the way I play as of late. Basically, there are five core races: the "core fore" plus the worm-like S'sessu. With that, some minor elements that were dropped can make a comeback: Dralasite shape humor would compliment their shapeless form and love of bad jokes; Vrusk could suffer "artistic rages" at the sight of ugly things or creatures. (Such an impulse would require a PER check to resist; used in place of Willpower.) Additional changes could be that Ability Insight, Comprehension and Lie Detection abilities provide an (5e D&D-styled) "advantage" with any ability test (as opposed to their own d% roll) that requires judging the strengths and weaknesses of opponents, figuring out the nature of a social dealing, or figuring-out if someone is lying or not (respectfully). Yazirian Battle Rage could trigger at slights, insults and/or stress, requiring a PER check to keep oneself in check. The inclusion of S'sessu as a core race (not as presented in Dragon Magazine were they were shoehorned in the published setting, but as longstanding members of the Frontier Sector) would mean giving them some worlds to call their own, namely in the north-west area of the Frontier Sector map (with Zebulon pushed further out to make it actually feel like a remote backwater system), including Outer Reach. The Sathar would not look like, nor need look like they do in the AD rulebook. Imagine a race of aliens so mysterious, no one knows what they look like — not even to those who investigate Sathar activity. All actions done by them within the Frontier were done by captured and brainwashed agents and by creatures who were rebuilt and reprogrammed to become Sathar Attack Monster?s. Much of their actions would be clandestine in nature, opting to have the Frontier turn on itself, than to engage in open, direct conflict. The Sathar Scare alone would also turn people and organizations against each other like the Rad Menace of the 1950s. Here is another crazy idea: What if me gave planetary governments their own fleets of full-sized military-grade warships in place of having just a Patrol Group of small secondhand warships? That is, most of the planets would have a sizable defense fleet that can be called upon to form a large coalition fleet in times of emergencies or external threats. This would also mean that the UPF would not be in the power to already use their fleet to stop internal conflicts within the frontier, less it escalate into a large conflict, like it did with WWI/The Great War. In that case, national and corporate wars being more frequent. I do like the idea of the mysterious Tetrach race/culture, but not the idea of them transplanting races into the Frontier Sector as some sources are noting. I like the idea of them being a once prolific culture within and beyond know sapce that died out long before the core races settled the frontier. I'm more inclined to have it so that they leave behind ruins and relics of highly advanced design and manufacture, that are also so alien in appearance and application, that they cannot be figured out, even by the best scientists and engineers within the frontier. If one was to make a "Tetrach" on the spot, the only thing that would make sense are those Elder Things, or even the Great Race of Yith of Lovecraftian mythos. The benefit of their inclusion would be to add some Gamma World-like elements with regards to finding and figuring out the use of ancient artifacts that are far beyond the understanding of the players (who would more likely use it to make themselves more powerful instead of sharing their findings to benefit society as a whole). How does that all sound? Any more ideas? |
 June 20, 2015 - 2:47pm | Surely the Sathar appearance would be known, given the planet-based battles they've engaged in? Or did they not happen in this scheme of things? As for Battle Rage, it doesn't make sense to me to have it as being so volatile. I would've thought that the Yazirians have had long enough to absorb it's use into the way they act. Instead perhaps what may be the case is that they set great store in it's non-use, and in having the ability to know the right time in which to invoke it. It gets more philosophical, in a way. It's broadly similar to the concept of only using martial arts when absolutely necessary, and that the path one travels getting to that point is what's more important. |
 June 20, 2015 - 3:06pm | Re: mysterious race so mysterious no one knows what they look like: sounds like the tetrarchs. And your use of the tetrarchs could be relabeled progenitors.
I like the idea of each planetary government having full up fleets. And giving Rim space to the sessu worms. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
June 20, 2015 - 4:09pm | Yes, more ships sounds sensible - this is how I've always had things. It seemed odd otherwise. I have used the Tetrachs in one adventure, but only in the form of a crashed ship that had over time been aborbed by the planet's thick 'forest'. The dominant (and somewhat intelligent) creatures on the planet living near the ship had been taking pieces from it that they found interesting. The most common of these was cresecent-shaped metal objects from the ship's drive which they'd reworked as throwing weapons. Mind you, my players didn't figure this out, despite finding the ship  |
June 20, 2015 - 6:36pm | Surely the Sathar appearance would be known, given the planet-based battles they've engaged in? Or did they not happen in this scheme of things? Yeah, they don't need to be active combatants in this scheme of things. Brainwashed henchmen and cybernetic attack beasts could do all the work, and they can watch safely form the shadows; reaming their evil little fingers (or equivalent) with a big sinister grin (or however they display cruel adulation). As for Battle Rage, it doesn't make sense to me to have it as being so volatile. I would've thought that the Yazirians have had long enough to absorb it's use into the way they act. Instead perhaps what may be the case is that they set great store in it's non-use, and in having the ability to know the right time in which to invoke it. It gets more philosophical, in a way. It's broadly similar to the concept of only using martial arts when absolutely necessary, and that the path one travels getting to that point is what's more important. Fair enough. The (Cook?) interview related to Alien Worlds made the Yazirians sound like short-tempered teenagers. The idea I had was to give them a racial disadvantage in battle, were they can get goaded into braking rank. Another idea is to have it so that they can snap in social situations. Basically a fumble in a PER or LED test could provoke a Yazirian in some way, that could induce an "disadvantage" with any further social-based rolls. A PER or INT roll can be used to regain composure. In combat, a opponent can taunt a Yazirian into braking formation or to expose himself to gunfire. (A PER needed to ignore the taunts.) None of this would not induce Battle Rage: That would require a successful PER test with maybe a special (racially exclusive) skill bonus related to the ability. A Yazirian Rage skill could also improve ones rage-based benefits. Re: mysterious race so mysterious no one knows what they look like: sounds like the tetrarchs. And your use of the tetrarchs could be relabeled progenitors. They could be the same; related; or two completely different races. They would not be all cool and enigmatic if we know too much. Progenitors... Humm...? Progenitors are usually used to write-off the problem of "Why do all the aliens encounter so far look like human-folk with bumpy foreheads?" on television sci-fi. The SF setting feels unique for the sci-fi RPG genre for having alien races that look like evolve outside Terrestrial norms. I would rather avoid the implications. |
 June 20, 2015 - 7:29pm | Since I am in the process of backing up the timeline, to pre-UPF times: So I decided the planets, races and corporations are very fractured. A lot of scrambling is going on to put the proverbial flag in the ground, get tech form each other by hook or crook if necessary, there are trade agreements, but pirates are a problem, and mistrust and most importantly though know one has "seen" a Sathar though present & are thus unknowns to the Core 4. So they are lurking around doing the puppet master thing. I need to make the 4 missing colonies from before the Blue Plague and make them places that will be missed when that hits too. "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
June 21, 2015 - 1:31am | If Yazirians are that tempermental, I doubt anyone would want to play them because they suffer from too many disadvatages. The whole point about the special abilities is to give some small advantage - not much, but enough to add some flavour. Perhaps also to encourage players not to default to playing humans all of the time As for the Sathar, it would make them massively reliant on third-party factors to get anything done. All conflicts would be fought by proxy, which has various limitations. One of the interesting things for players about the Sathar is that they're already mysterious. Sure, their physical appearance is somewhat a known factor, but various other things are a complete mystery. |
June 21, 2015 - 9:20am | I ended up thinking 3rd party is their preferred M.O. of sathar too. I think the Art Rage & Battle Rage are things that have to be triggered and can not be too big of liabilities for PCs but need to be there to help define the alieness of the creature the PC is, they are maybe bigger issues for NPCs not used to other races though. I think too it might explain some colony patterns, the Yazi & Vrusk maybe are going slower because their own folks in charge are worried about large scale interaction between the races going wrong, you can't have your population tearing all the clothes off of humans 'cause half of them find human fashion ugly and expect to have good relations, or part of your Yazi population flying into battle rage over stupid stuff either with other races and expect trade ships from other worlds to drop by. I know humans alive right now that if a Vrusk came down the hall, even knowing the Vrusk is a person, even knowing it means no harm to them, will go running and screaming down the hall in total phobia freak out mode. So my thought is a sort of controlled socialization process had to happen, to cut down on these sort of issues between the races, even after the Core 4 are well into UPF years there are still clear cultural/phobia issues between the groups that they have not 100% over come. My thought is PCs are the sorts in their races that can better handle diversity issues in general, while most groundhogs are not and live in ethnic communities, and the colonies that have successfully integrated populations are probably made up of people who where vetted initially for the big experiment of co-existing, it has not been a smooth process, but I know there would have been one. So I tend to think about it like that and where are the PCs? If on a mostly human planet, and they are mostly Vrusk PC's, parents will be grabbing their children and scuttling away, the cops will show up and shadow the party. I had this happen to me & my husband in Utah, went to the mall for a walk while staying (in a less visited city by outsiders), husband had a black t-shirt, black jeans, and long braided hair black hair. I had blue jeans on, a tie dye t-shirt on & my long blonde hair covered in a bandana scarf that matched. All the shoppers grabbed their kids and scuttled away clearing the mall as we walked along like Moses parting the Red Sea. Then the cop showed up shadowing us, until we turned around and introduced ourselves to her. Turns out the cop was from same town & state as us before being hired in Utah, she confirmed the mall called 911! My point is same species as the mall goers but looking different was enough to trigger all sorts of weirdness, so aliens in a town not used to outside species will respond the same. Imagine a group of Yazi's going shopping or for a stroll of fresh air in some other race's town, they won't just send one cop they will send a bunch (everyone knows about that battle rage issue those Yazi's have!) Just some thoughts on how people act in RL. "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
 June 21, 2015 - 12:13pm | Here is another crazy idea: What if me gave planetary governments their own fleets of full-sized military-grade warships in place of having just a Patrol Group of small secondhand warships? That is, most of the planets would have a sizable defense fleet that can be called upon to form a large coalition fleet in times of emergencies or external threats.
Who said that planetary militia ships have to be second-hand? Warriors of White Light defines their ships as being new, toward theend of the module there are two scouts that can be made available as they are "on order". As in "they were ordered for construction". Let's face the facts here, the weak ship roster in the Campaign Manual was penned for game balance far more than a realistic application: ten out of 27 worlds are defended while the rest are at the mercy and whim of intruders. Yeah, right... As for the "paltry size" in terms of available militia craft, this is easily remedied as well with subordinate craft. For starters, fighters. There is simply no reason why a squadron or two or three of fighter craft can't be made available for any planet/system. Then there are "fighting ships" that can be incorporated, such as upgunned system ships. It's a planetary militia, they don't need to star-hop to the other end of the Frontier. That level-1 pilot can fly "system ships of any size" so that means the list of reasons is short to NOT have a dreadnaught (HS:20) system ship armed to the teeth with laser batteries and perhaps even a squadron or two of fighter craft. Or at the very least, a system ship of HS:12. Then there are support craft, such as armed freight transports (re: the confiscated Dark Shadow from WoWL), supply ships to rearm the war ships in deep space (assault scouts are pretty useless once their rockets have been depleted, more so for fighter craft...and even a torpedo-less frigate can be lame), as well as gunned fleet escorts & couriers desinged for auxilliary missions (ferrying auxilliary crews, troops, supplies, and/or cargo). In short, you can go far above and beyond the basic "two assault scouts" while not having a full fledged fleet of warships. |
June 21, 2015 - 12:22pm | I agree the need for armed ships that planetary governments control would occur... I figure the militias are not junky at all or weak. "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
June 22, 2015 - 6:25pm | RE: Plague systems and names: I think it would be cool to find common or classic sci fi system/world names that start with the letter used to identify the Plague system. this then makes the system name easier to remember Example: Epsilon "E" almost begs for us to go with Epsilon Eridani or just Eridani Alpha: Altair, Arcturus, or Antares comes to mind Beta: all I have is Betelgeuse Delta: Deneb Gamma: Gliese I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
June 22, 2015 - 6:33pm | Altair iV, is pretty darn tempting as a shout out to Forbidden Planet LOL Betazed "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
June 22, 2015 - 6:51pm | I agree the need for armed ships that planetary governments control would occur... I figure the militias are not junky at all or weak.
Far from weak, their ships are staffed by their own citizens who have something to fight for versus a random assembly of crew from everywhere who may or may not care about the particular system they are currently in via each mission. |
 June 23, 2015 - 1:18am | Hey, cool - that's what I did years ago - I gave the plague worlds names that started with their letter. |
June 23, 2015 - 2:59am | I've started a new thread in the Plague Worlds project to hash out naming and population for these stars as that seemed appropriate. there is a number of topics here already and the discussion is good but if we dont organized it could become confusing see thread here: http://sfus.starfrontiers.info/node/8709 I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
