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Hero's Terran Empire setting and Firefly


Steve

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I've lately begun eyeing Hero's Terran Empire setting and thinking how I could merge aspects of Firefly into it. A PC group wandering the stars on the fringes of Imperial control in their own ship should be quite doable.

 

What border zones of the Empire might work best for such a mashup?

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Wedged in between Terran, Perseid, and Conjoined Civilizations space is a region claimed by none of those governments. Known as "Drago's Reach" after an infamous (and probably mythical) space pirate of the twenty-fourth century, this is lawless territory where an unusual mix of explorers, renegade scientists, daring traders, cocky smugglers, and ruthless criminals mingle freely without having to worry (much) about the ISP or other such organizations.

 

The Reach contains several inhabitable worlds, some of them already the home of native species unaffiliated with any major Galactic government. There are also supposedly several independent space stations where "space scum" come together to do business and plan jobs. (Terran Empire p. 74)

 

The rumors about independent space stations where criminals and their ilk can meet to do business free from the threat of arrest are true. Two of the most prominent are:  Drago's Retreat, a junkpile built up over the centuries from discarded ship hulls and the like, and kept running thanks only to the dedicated efforts of a corps of talented (and well-paid!) engineers; and Morgathrie Station, build 30 years ago by a mysterious patron who supposedly gets a cut of every deal made there. (TE p. 200)

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Ya gotta have Reavers. So, Xenovores. Also, smuggling. So, the Ackálian/Mon'Dabi frontiers.

 

In between Terran, Mon'dabi, and Ackalian space lies a narrow corridor of space known as the Vorsan Expanse, a name supposedly deriving from a Xenovore word meaning "uninhabitable." The Expanse was once part of Xenovore territory, but the Xenovores established few successful colonies there and left even fewer ruins. It remains a lawless place, often used as a source of refuge by pirates and smugglers because it allows them to reach nearby inhabited regions easily, then escape back over the border. (Terran Empire p. 75)

 

The Empire has done a pretty good job of cracking down on pirate ports within Imperial space, but a few neutral systems outside the borders turn a blind eye to ships bringing in obviously stolen "salvage." Besides Drago's Reach in general, the most notorious such port is the Venwordien system, located in the Vorxan [sic] Expanse. A hot planet with extensive jungles, Venwordien IV is inhabited by a mix of Mon'dabi, Humans, rascals from across the Galaxy, and the occasional Malvan. Venwordien's law enforcement ignores complaints of piracy as long as visiting raiders pay a stiff fee to register their ship with the local government. Unregistered pirates get arrested and extradited back to wherever wants them. The local government plays the Humans, Ackalians, and Mon'dabi off against each other diplomatically, and so far that's kept the pirates free of interference from hostile fleets. (TE pp. 102-3)

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BTW Venwordien IV is described in considerable detail in Worlds Of Empire. It's "government" is actually the Captains' Council, an alliance of the most powerful pirate captains operating on the planet. "Law Enforcement" amounts to gangs serving each captain called the Captains' Men, and a "magistrate" appointed by each captain.

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I'm toying with a sci fi setting to run games in that basically steals from... everything.  The universe is a very big place, and even one galaxy has enough room for thousands of huge, barely- or never-interacting cultures.  One galaxy could easily contain Star Trek, Star Wars, Andromeda, Dune, Firefly, Babylon 5, Rama/Ringworld etc, Starship Troopers, and every other sci fi setting you can imagine.  And a good, unifying setting that finds a way to blend this all together would be an easy way for GMs and players to plug into that setting quickly. Plus imagine all the story opportunities you can have.  And a character team made up of a Vulcan, a Jedi, a Mentat, and a Kzinti warrior could be... interesting.

 

My thumnail sketch right now treats all odd supernatural type abilities as psionics; some humans and other species have minor latent psychic ability which when introduced to a symbiotic organism (the... wait for it... midichlorian...) can be greatly enhanced.  Jedi and Sith turn this into some sort of religious thing, while others like Vulcans train it as a quasi mystical discipline.

 

The tech varies a lot, but that's perfectly reasonable.  Each different culture came up with its own way of getting around.  The Cowboy Beebop setting has those inner-system gates that accellerate travel, while Dune culture has those wonderful navigators that fold space.  Some use jump drives, some use warp engines, some have phasers, others have electrothermal rifles, and on and on.

 

Most of the time these cultures don't interact or meet.  But in some areas, its really wild and wooly and you can watch a Jawa fight a Hynerian (Rygel from Farscape) with knives and shields from Dune.

 

The concept seems intriguing, at least.  And it would greatly limit tech.  Sure, you can use a phaser, but it runs out of power and when you're in Terran Empire starship troopers space, they don't have the power cells let alone the tech to fix it.  But they have those kickass battlesuits...

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As far as Hero Universe PC races go, both Drago's Reach and the Vorsan Expanse are havens for misfits and lowlifes from half the galaxy, so pretty much any species with a template is fair game. I would recommend sticking with aliens of roughly humanoid configuration and not too disparate in size, just to simplify the logistics of everyone sharing the same space (as it were) and working together. I suggest being wary of a few races, such as the Ackalians or Nan, who come with psychological/social quirks which can make them difficult to work with.

 

If you have Champions Beyond, that book describes (and sometimes stats) alien species not covered in the Star HERO line. It would be fair to update the timeline of those to fill roles in your campaign that the SH aliens don't.

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Yes, a Firefly-esque crew would likely be a collection of misfits, but some races would be reserved for NPC/villain roles: Xenovores, Ackalians, Korundarians, Malvans, Mandarians and some others I can't recall right now.

 

A Fassai or a Thorgon would make a good "honorable Klingon" warrior type. A Hzeel would likely have lots of criminal connections that would be useful for getting jobs.

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How about adding Blake's 7 into the mix? While the Firefly types are content to live in the fringes of society, the Blake's 7 types are fighting the central government.

 

I'm afraid I've done the "Rebels Against The Empire" theme too many times before. My plan is to do something a bit more in the line of small-time heroes.

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