Shattered World

**AlHazred** · Feb 23rd, '03, 06:28 PM

I recall someone mentioning something about this on the old boards, but most of the details have been lost in the dim recesses of my atrophying brain...

I remember a description of a campaign setting. It is the far future. People inhabit the shattered (?) remnants of a Dyson Sphere that has been constructed around the sun. Some people seem to have strange magical powers, but this is due to still-functioning ancient technology, involving nanotechnological robots that respond to genetic (?) markers; if one of your ancestors bought a "service contract" with the company that made one kind of nanotechnological robots, then they would do certain things for you if you wanted them to.

That's it. Memory fades. Can anyone tell me what this is so that I can rekindle the guttering spark?

**Syberdwarf2** · Feb 23rd, '03, 08:12 PM

Doesn't ring any bells, but maybe that's a good thing. I say take the idea and run with it.

**Space Cadet** · Feb 23rd, '03, 09:04 PM

The only thing like this that I've seen that was remotely similar
to what's been described here was a campaign setting for the
FUZION game system, with the only difference being that it was
set on a near-future Earth.

Space Cadet

**AlHazred** · Feb 24th, '03, 05:06 AM

And that campaign was called...?

**Mavnn** · Feb 24th, '03, 05:57 AM

This is almost identical to a campaign idea I had 2ish years ago. Whether I posted it to the HERO boards or not, I can't remember, and my version didn't include a Dyson Sphere. If what you remember was something I posted, the campaign in question never got off the ground, and so there wasn't much further developement.

Having said that, I'm not the only person to have come up with this idea, and I was much less active on the boards at that point, so it might well be someone else's post you remember.

Michael

**AlHazred** · Feb 24th, '03, 09:13 AM

Could very well have been your posts. I remember there was a lot of development of the "services-oriented technology" idea. I'd be interested to hear more...

**Space Cadet** · Feb 24th, '03, 07:16 PM

Originally posted by AlHazred
And that campaign was called...?

I believe that it was also called "Shattered World"... but it's been
a while since I last scoped out the FUZION websites, so it's
possible i've got the name wrong.

Space Cadet

**Mavnn** · Feb 24th, '03, 11:40 PM

Originally posted by AlHazred
Could very well have been your posts. I remember there was a lot of development of the "services-oriented technology" idea. I'd be interested to hear more...

As I said, my idea never really got developed to my knowledge. Having said that, my internet connection was a bit ropey at that point, so I probably missed any discussion of my idea if I did post it

.

Mine was originally developed as a 'Dark' fantasy world, a sort of Mad Max background with 'nanomages'. The secrets of gunpowder had been lost (I had some excuse I can't remember), and almost all power sources had run down, leaving a muscle powered society scavenging high tech materials. The nanomages, as suggested above, were the descendents of those who had bought family licenses for their nanotech. Of course, over the years the nanite programming had decayed somewhat, making actually using them somewhat risky. As far as I remember, I hadn't actually decided what the nanites could do, but rapid healing and extreme craftsmanship seem good starting points. I'm not sure I was thinking of giving them any flashy 'combat' abilities at all.

Hope this sparks some ideas,

Michael

**AlHazred** · Feb 25th, '03, 04:12 AM

Originally posted by Mavnn
Hope this sparks some ideas

Sir, I believe it was your post I was remembering.

My brain coughed it up when I was talking with a friend of mine who runs GURPS. We were lamenting the fact that players tend to get stuck in a rut, and were brainstorming ideas. We basically pooled all the most over-the-top, unusual, interesting campaign ideas we could come up with, with the goal of stringing complementary ones together to form something very different and unique. This is the idea that got us going.

Many thanks for the inspiration!

Roland

**Mavnn** · Feb 25th, '03, 06:53 AM

L33tness! I have caused inspiration!

Michael

**BasilDrag** · Feb 26th, '03, 10:42 PM

Originally posted by AlHazred
Sir, I believe it was your post I was remembering.

My brain coughed it up when I was talking with a friend of mine who runs GURPS. We were lamenting the fact that players tend to get stuck in a rut, and were brainstorming ideas. We basically pooled all the most over-the-top, unusual, interesting campaign ideas we could come up with, with the goal of stringing complementary ones together to form something very different and unique. This is the idea that got us going.

Many thanks for the inspiration!

Roland

The "nanotechnology as magic" bit and the "almost forgotten" bit and the "only some can control it" bit sound sorta-kinda like the Flux and Anchor series by, um, by, errr..

By Wossname.

**Mavnn** · Feb 26th, '03, 11:52 PM

I'd be interested if you remember the author of these. I've never heard of them and it would be fun to see what other people did with similar ideas. I might have to have a look at the shattered world background mentioned above if I can find it.

Michael

**AlHazred** · Feb 27th, '03, 04:10 AM

Oh, Lord, where to begin.

The Flux and Anchor series (more correctly the Soul Rider series) by Jack Chalker comprises five books: Spirits of Flux and Anchor (1984), Empires of Flux and Anchor (1984), Masters of Flux and Anchor (1985), The Birth of Flux and Anchor (1985), and Children of Flux and Anchor (1986).

Mr. Chalker has been quoted as saying, "SOUL RIDER is probably the best saga, and the most complicated thing I ever did, but it was very controversial and you either got it or you didn't." That's putting it mildly. Many people put him in the same category as John Norman and Piers Anthony as a writer of fiction aimed at pubescent young men; he's somewhat stronger than Anthony, but not as out there as Norman.

Definitely not the sort of thing I recommend to female acquaintances who ask for Sci-Fi recommendations, although the men don't really come out much better in most of his books.

Where Chalker differs from the other two is that he has some really good, eminently game-usable ideas in most of his series.

Haven't been able to find the "Shattered World" background yet, even on the best remaining Fuzion sites I could find. Maybe it was called "Shattered Sky?"

**AlHazred** · Feb 27th, '03, 11:30 AM

In relation to my last post, I found this today. Wonder how my brain conflated this with Mavnn's post...

The Shattered Sky
1st ed by Paul Lucas (1997) Propaganda Publishing
A science fantasy RPG set in the shards of a Dyson Sphere which was broken 5000 years ago, with distances measured in "Earths". It includes aliens, centaurs, talking dolphins, and orcs: all created using genotech and "uplift." The magic is ostensibly based on nanotechnology. The system is percentile-based.

Propaganda Publishing
Cape Girardeau, MO (USA)
Former makers of The Shattered Sky (1997): science fantasy in a broken Dyson sphere. In 1997, they announced that they were making Aun J'nu, a manga-based roleplaying game by Alison Stroll (unpublished?). Later they licensed with Gold Rush Games to produce the DarkTown: The Apocolyptic Cycle RPG. Headed by Philip Reed.

Anybody out Missoura way? Is this company still around?

**Mavnn** · Feb 27th, '03, 11:36 PM

Don't know if they're still around, but if they're not I might have to look for some of these as OOP books. I always find it both scary and fascinating when I have what I consider a great, really unusual idea and then find out someone else is already working with it...

Makes me wonder if my idea was triggered by about something like this, rather than being as original as I thought. While imitation is the highest form of flattery, it's somewhat embarrising to do it by accident.

Michael