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space_rpg_setting_world_building [2015/10/21 16:12] – Mike Holmes | space_rpg_setting_world_building [2024/05/26 20:55] (current) – [The Builders] mike_holmes | ||
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====== Setting Basics ====== | ====== Setting Basics ====== | ||
- | ===== Earth ===== | + | ===== History |
- | Earth exists in the setting, but it is burnt out, having been "used up" ages ago. Few planets have the sorts of resources that Earth once had. | ||
- | ====== | + | |
+ | ==== Earth ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | Earth exists in the setting, but it is becoming burnt out, having been "used up" in efforts to achieve expansion in the galaxy. Few planets have the sorts of resources that Earth once had. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Earth has no gate or wormhole, the first being discovered by colonists arriving on Alpha Centauri Prime. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Non-human Sapients ===== | ||
+ | |||
+ | There are a number of types of non-human sapient beings. Below are just a few of them. Note that there are many " | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== The Tuskegar ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | Clouds of interdimensional gas, essentially, | ||
+ | |||
+ | To the extent that communications have been established with the Tuskegar, they have been a great boon to humanity, allowing advances in several technologies. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== The Builders ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | No homeworld has ever been found for these beings. Instead, all that remains of their culture are the gates, the building of which is what gives the builders their name. Though there is no clear homeworld there are many other sites built either in space or on planets that are of a similar age and technological level as the gates. | ||
+ | |||
+ | What happened to this culture is a mystery to be discovered in play. Many hypothesize that the Tuskegar were the builders, which seems a bit outlandish in some ways, unless you suppose that they intentionally evolved to become something that couldn' | ||
+ | |||
+ | === Builder Extinction Ideas === | ||
+ | |||
+ | Below are some ideas the GM can use, but clever GMs will come up with a solution to the mystery that is both consistent with the facts, and yet fits their campaign well thematically. | ||
+ | |||
+ | == Gate Failure == | ||
+ | |||
+ | The gates failed for some galactic-level reason, stranding all of their cultures, which were largely unable to survive the isolation. In this case it's possible that some few have survived on particularly habitable systems, remaining to be discovered. | ||
+ | |||
+ | == Evolution == | ||
+ | |||
+ | In this case, the beings in question evolved to a higher level of existence, becoming energy or something else. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Uplifts ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | There are several species of Terran fauna that humans have uplifted to full sapience. Some of these have inhabited systems all on their own. Their origins, however, are clear. A common uplift trait is to have made them humanoid to some extent, though there are as many uplift types that are not humanoid as ones that are. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Uplifted Terran species include dolphins, octopuses, chimpanzees (bonobos), dogs, and crows which are only sapient in hive-mind flocks. | ||
+ | |||
+ | There have also been a couple of uplifted species found on other worlds. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ====== Technology | ||
===== Travel ===== | ===== Travel ===== | ||
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== Worm Hole Drives == | == Worm Hole Drives == | ||
+ | Normal FTL drives can be modified to ensure survival of transit of naturally occurring wormholes. This is an expensive addition, and few craft have such modifications. More often smaller craft have to be carried by ferries specifically designed for such transit. But there are exceptions, typically military ships. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Worm holes are fairly common in high population inhabited systems, if only because systems without them tend to be relatively inaccessible. | ||
== Gates == | == Gates == | ||
+ | Gates have been found created by the beings referred to as the Builders. Humans have not been able to replicate this technology (they have only just begun to understand how to activate these gates). Any craft (even those without any other FTL drives) can transit such a gate. | ||
=== Intra-System === | === Intra-System === | ||
- | Even small craft may have FTL drives, but any FTL drives | + | |
+ | Even small craft may have FTL drives, but the fastest speed of any FTL drives | ||
+ | |||
+ | These drives vary in some specifics, but all have the following in common: | ||
+ | |||
+ | == Hyperspace Bubble == | ||
+ | |||
+ | All such drives create a hyperspace bubble around the craft. This bubble places it out of contact with all normal space-time and matter, but energy can pass in and out of the bubble. Generally the larger the bubble, the more space-time distortion it causes, and the more energy it takes to fight that distortion. So smaller craft with smaller bubbles | ||
+ | |||
+ | == Energy Shields == | ||
+ | |||
+ | As a side-effect | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Starblades ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | Weapons forged in part from Archaeo-metal. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ====== Psionics ====== | ||