 June 28, 2015 - 3:40am | Or more specifically, I had a dream last night and I have clearly been doing too much working on my Star Frontiers project (the results of which will appear here eventually). I was in a games shop with a big second hand section, bit like Leisure Games (in Finchley, North London) but even bigger and better. In a cardboard box on a low shelf I spotted some familiar looking purple boxes and yes, here was a treasure trove of old Star Fromtiers material. BUT IT WAS ALL NEW STUFF!!! None of the familiar rule sets or modules! AND I CAN'T REMEMBER CLEARLY WHAT THEY WERE!!! It's so frustrating. There was nothing even resembling Zebulon's Guide, so it was pre that (or it never existed) but were at least two new boxed rules expansions. Two copies of one of them in fact. I vaguely recall that one was called "The *something* Reach", or "Expanse" and opened up a whole new region of space with new playable races. I think some of the modules were a Pirate campaign but I can remember none of the names of them. The only thing I do remember clearly was the name of one module which was the start of another three-module campaign. It was called "The Sathar Inheritance" and had something to do with the reason the Sathar can hypnotise other races so easily. Aargh. Two new rules expansions and at least two three-modules campaign sets, with possibly a few stand-alone modules too and all I have is a few poorly remembered fragments. Well, we can dream... Set course for the 80's... (My Livejournal) |
 June 28, 2015 - 3:54am | I like the Sathar Inheritance. Clearly you've had SF on the mind and it came out in your dream. Perhaps we should harness that and get you writing for the magazine? BTW there is a very good novel by CJ Cherryh called Serpents Reach and it explores a human/hive bug society on a planet The presentation of the bugs is really good. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 June 28, 2015 - 5:30am | Well we definetly need more map. LOL I was just looking at the map and deciding to expand it as I have planets & civilizations that need homes. I have always felt the Sathar see themselves as inheritors of the remnants of a vast culture & empire, that they where enhanced, genetically modified to do a specific job with in that empire/society and they survived something bad that happened to the whole empire & their overlord race/s or the race/s that uplifted them & they are trying to copy what the other race/s did, put the empire back together, become like the race/s they hold sacred, but they are not as good at it as their masters of old, and have been learning new ways to do so, but it goes slowly... if they are following a set group of rules that are near sacred to them because the ancients gave them the commandments change would be slow. "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
 June 28, 2015 - 2:02pm | Was it "The Vast Expanse"? That is a term from the game that could have been running sround in your sub conscious. -iggy |
June 28, 2015 - 2:37pm | Into the Expanse would make a great title. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
June 29, 2015 - 5:12am | I've not read much of Zebulon's Guide, so I don't think it has influenced me to any great extent. I think it was called something like "The Corbold Expanse" after the pilot that first successfully navigated his way into it (which might very well fit into the "Vast Expanse" concept already existing). "Into the Expanse" would probably have been the introductory adventure included in the rules expansion. Tchklinxa- Yes, that's very much it actually. The Sathar are essentially biological robots, servitors of the Precursor Civilization that established the beginnings of the four main races (and maybe others). They were ordered to keep things on schedule and eliminate any deviation from the plans of their masters by hypnotic manipulation (which the main races were made susceptible to) or force if necessary. When the Precursor civilization collapsed they were thrown into chaos and near extinction, but have recovered and somewhat outgrown their original programming. However they are still driven to follow their former master's primary directive, and the existence of the UPF is seen as a massive deviation from the original plan, hence their total, seemingly unthinking opposition to it by any means possible. The campaign might have led to a means of re-programming the Sathar, or at least cancelling the primary directive, something the Sathar themselves would be totally incapable of doing of course. Set course for the 80's... (My Livejournal) |
June 29, 2015 - 7:26am | "Into the Expanse"; " Beyond the Expanse" and "Death by Starlight"- three titles for you. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
June 29, 2015 - 7:51pm | I've not read much of Zebulon's Guide, so I don't think it has influenced me to any great extent. I think it was called something like "The Corbold Expanse" after the pilot that first successfully navigated his way into it (which might very well fit into the "Vast Expanse" concept already existing). "Into the Expanse" would probably have been the introductory adventure included in the rules expansion.
Tchklinxa- Yes, that's very much it actually. The Sathar are essentially biological robots, servitors of the Precursor Civilization that established the beginnings of the four main races (and maybe others). They were ordered to keep things on schedule and eliminate any deviation from the plans of their masters by hypnotic manipulation (which the main races were made susceptible to) or force if necessary. When the Precursor civilization collapsed they were thrown into chaos and near extinction, but have recovered and somewhat outgrown their original programming. However they are still driven to follow their former master's primary directive, and the existence of the UPF is seen as a massive deviation from the original plan, hence their total, seemingly unthinking opposition to it by any means possible. The campaign might have led to a means of re-programming the Sathar, or at least cancelling the primary directive, something the Sathar themselves would be totally incapable of doing of course. Nice... I like my "bad guys" to have motives and not be always bad... makes them more interesting. "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
July 1, 2015 - 11:16am | "Into the Expanse"; " Beyond the Expanse" and "Death by Starlight"- three titles for you.
Actually the "Expanse" supplement wasn't the origin of the three-module campaigns I dreamed of, but if we were going that way, after the introductory "Into The Expanse" module included with the box set you'd have three modules to play as a campaign- "First Encounters", "Enemy or Ally" and "The New Frontier" dealing with finding and approaching the sentients of the Expanse, the political shennanigans to try and persuade them that you are not a threat and that the Sathar (who are already here) are, and helping the Commonwealth of Worlds (their version of the UPF) with some of the threats they face to cement the new alliance. Or something like that. Perhaps that Pirate Campaign was set in the Expanse and they are the primary threat there, I just can't remember. Annoying. Set course for the 80's... (My Livejournal) |
