Matt Frisbee Posted November 25, 2005 Report Share Posted November 25, 2005 Hello and welcome to the thread, This probably isn't new, but I'm offering up a piece of my brain for public inspection and commentary, so please be honest, but tactful in your responses. That being stated, here goes... Exodus 2025 This is to be a science-fiction campaign primarily for human characters from an alternate earth which was contacted by an alien interstellar government in the past and has been guided to the current day by representatives of this government. Humanity is not only not the dominant race, but is one of a couple dozen races in this government, and the new race in the cosmos to enter interstellar society. The "new kids on the block" will have to find their place in the bigger picture, as the PC's cope with learning how to live in a diverse multicultural cosmos. Background: Around 1800, the first scouts of the Interstellar Commonwealth of Planets (ICP or Commonwealth, which are working names for now) enter Sol system and survey it. The inhabitants are deemed worth studying, despite the fact they are still fairly warlike. By 1825, the Delarans (the race closest in appearance and biosphere compatability) began integrating the various human cultures of the planet while terraforming efforts were begun on Venus and Mars. Reports from the cultural infiltrators were very encouraging, and it was felt that Earth's inhabitants could be (with the usual education efforts) assimilated into galactic civilization. Around 1860, it is decided that Earth will be invited to join, provided its inhabitants can make the adjustments necessary. Steps are taken to prepare the population for the announcement, by the introduction of several key public figures that turn the public's attention from worldly matters, to the possibilities of space. The announcement is made in 1925 by the kidnapping of all of the earth's leaders to the equitorial island of Nauru in the Pacific (via a teleportation device, unless I can think of something better). There, they are told of the impending announcement to the world population at large and how they should respond to it in order to lead their people into space. Many of the leaders of Europe, the Middle East and Northern Asia object, but most of the leaders in North America, South America and Africa embrace the idea. Hours after the leaders are returned to their respective countries, the announcement is transmitted over radio frequencies, as well as telegraph and telephone lines the world over. "People of Earth, rejoice in the knowledge that you are not alone in the cosmos! We, the united races of the Interstellar Commonwealth of Planets, announce to you that we exist and we want you to become part of our society. To do this, your race must undertake great challenges -- social, economic and scientific -- in order to be ready to be part of an organization which has embraced the myriad ideas and philosophies of over a score of races and nearly a hundred worlds. "During the next five years we will present our case as to who we are, what we represent, what benefits we believe your society will gain and what we expect in return from you, if you wish to become part of us. We hope that you are ready to do great things and dream of a golden future with endless possibilities for yourselves and your offspring. If you are, we look forward to getting to know all of you better as we all work toward that bright and boundless tomorrow. "But if you are not ready to embrace that dream with all of your heart and desire, if you don't trust our motives or value your worldly concerns more than those of the future, then we shall leave you in peace and to whatever future you can forge on your own. Your world leaders have been contacted by us beforehand, and await the decision of you, the people of earth." Humanity pressured their governments to learn more about the aliens, and many of those governments which resisted were either overthrown or lost uncounted numbers of people as they escaped the borders to become parts of governments which were embracing the ICP proposal. In 1930, roughly 75% of the human population who could do so, expressed their acceptance of the ICP proposals to help earth begin the process toward interstellar integration. The ICP representatives, the Delarans, then revealed they have been living among us for over a hundred years, and outlined the plan for a long-term improvement in the human condition that would eventually lead to space, the planets and then the stars. Over the next 90 years, human society was directed by an influx of alien technology, the arrival and settling of alien teachers to educate the people of earth as to the knowledge of the Commonwealth, and the uneasy insertion of ICP Peacekeepers to teach the various factions of the planet to let go of their hatred and devisive ways. In 1955, significant advances in technology opened up near orbit to humanity. By 1975, Venus and Mars were ready for human habitation, and the technology for creating permanent colonies on the moon and asteroids was feasable. Soon after learning the techniques used on those two world, many of both Jupiter's and Saturn's moons were made habitable by humanity. By 2005, the first interstellar FTL drive systems were being tested, and soon after, with permission of the ICP, missions were undertaken to nearby starsystems. As more of the starship systems were mass produced, the cost of construction fell to the point where small businesses could affort the outlay for a spacecraft and the space trucking boom began. In 2020, the ICP announced that in 2025, humanity would be allowed free access to interstellar space and would be granted a voice in the Commonwealth. When the day of the announcement came on February 6, 2025, no less than 15,000 stardrive capable ships left earth, and mankind has left its mark on the cosmos. However, the road to the stars is still fraught with myriad dangers, and humanity is just starting to take its first few steps onto the celestial stage. There will be more later. Please let me know what you think. Matt Frisbee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost-angel Posted November 25, 2005 Report Share Posted November 25, 2005 Re: Exodus 2025: A campaign idea looking for input! Looks good, the only problem I forsee is usurping so much of our "known" history could disorient Players. They can no longer rely on recent history as a basis for creating characters and character backgrounds. Things like the Jim Crow laws of the first half of the 20th, or even little things like the Sci-Fi rags of the 30s and 40s. Moving things further ahead can leave all that in place for the players and allow them to build on the undocumented history of the near future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clsage Posted November 25, 2005 Report Share Posted November 25, 2005 Re: Exodus 2025: A campaign idea looking for input! I'm slightly reminded of a novel from 1978 entitled "And Having Writ" by D.R. Bensen. In the novel, the Tunguska Meteorite event becomes a divergence point when the crew of an alien craft "displaces themselves" to prevent their demise. The ship they are in crashes into the ocean and they, by their very presence, begin to alter what we know as history. It's been too long since I have read the text to give much in the way of examples but I recall it was a "solid read". -Carl- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Frisbee Posted November 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2005 Re: Exodus 2025: A campaign idea looking for input! Looks good, the only problem I forsee is usurping so much of our "known" history could disorient Players. They can no longer rely on recent history as a basis for creating characters and character backgrounds. Things like the Jim Crow laws of the first half of the 20th, or even little things like the Sci-Fi rags of the 30s and 40s. Moving things further ahead can leave all that in place for the players and allow them to build on the undocumented history of the near future. Interesting point, and a valid one. My thought was that so many of these "Future Histories" have been done in past science-fiction games that it would be an interesting take to have the big event to have already happened, and let the players play truly different humans (possibly even alien to ourselves). My other big take on this idea was that the big cosmos out there isn't perfect either -- more advanced, certainly, and more tolerant, but the Commonwealth has been preparing for humans to enter the cosmic community as much as humans have. Which would indicate to me a very old structure of government that requires these periodic infusions of new blood to keep from stagnating. Yeah, I didn't mention these things on the opening post -- but I'm feeling my way through this and certainly appreciate the input. Thanks for posting. Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Frisbee Posted November 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2005 Re: Exodus 2025: A campaign idea looking for input! I'm slightly reminded of a novel from 1978 entitled "And Having Writ" by D.R. Bensen. In the novel, the Tunguska Meteorite event becomes a divergence point when the crew of an alien craft "displaces themselves" to prevent their demise. The ship they are in crashes into the ocean and they, by their very presence, begin to alter what we know as history. It's been too long since I have read the text to give much in the way of examples but I recall it was a "solid read". -Carl- I'll have to put this one on my list of books to read, and thanks for mentioning it, Carl. The Delarans, as currently envisioned, are more or less like us, though a number of physiological and psychological differences distance them from being just another Star Trek race. One of the big conceptual hurdles on the project will be not falling into the stereotypical trappings of other games and stories of alien societies. Add to the mix that all of them have been changed in some fashion by their interactions with the Commonwealth (just as Humanity has) and it's starting to sound like I still have a lot of conceptual work to think out. Thanks for posting. Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Frisbee Posted November 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2005 Re: Exodus 2025: A campaign idea looking for input! Characters for Exodus 2025 The characters can be any number of types, but the initial idea was to have the group be part of a corporate exploratory trade mission from Earth to one of the other worlds of the Commonwealth. According to information supplied by the Delarans (the race which undertook our initiation into the Commonwealth), the destination world has a number of raw resources the corporation requires to take the lead in its field on Earth. The corporation has given the group specific instructions to return with a trade agreement with an alien supplier that makes the corporation the only one on Earth to receive their raw materials for the next 20 years. The Problem: Rival corporations are also trying to get the same thing, so it is now a contest in bitter earnest between rivals and a supplier that may actually know how desperate the Earth corporations are to get its raw materials. (Ain't nothing like an "Everybody wants it" scenario to really bring a group together, right?) The Solution: Since the corporation is aware of its rivals' intentions, they are sending a group of diverse individuals so that any contingencies might have some chance of being solved to the corporation's satisfaction. Some of the character types conceptualized so far: Combat Specialists (Veterans of any of the brushfire wars around the solar system the Peacekeepers deemed too minor to stop.) Executives (Corporate ladder-climbers with the influence and power needed to forward the goals of their organizations as well as their own.) Spacers (Seasoned astronauts who are at home living and working in The Big Black.) Choppers (Skilled designers, builders and repairers of the various levels of technology needed to make things work or work even better.) Healers (The flesh mechanics who work not only on their own race, but others as well.) I'm thinking there will be others, but this should do for a start. In general, characters will be all sorts from Earth who have managed to finance a starship and are willing to take a chance on making money in The Big Black. What they don't seem to understand is that the other races of the Commonwealth have been doing this sort of thing for hundreds of years, and they know the rules while the humans are just learning them... Thanks for taking the time to look over this. Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sinanju Posted November 26, 2005 Report Share Posted November 26, 2005 Re: Exodus 2025: A campaign idea looking for input! My first impression is that in some ways, your proposed timeline reminds me of David Brin's "Uplift" universe. In those novels, humans didn't join the galactic civilization until we'd already left earth on our own and stumbled across one of the member races. But otherwise it sounds similar, so looking thru his novels might give you some ideas. Two of the biggest features of the galactic civilization are that a) It's mind-bogglingly old--literally billions of years old. Countless species have come and gone over those endless years, but the civilization has endured. How old is your galactic commonwealth supposed to be? That decision will influence a lot of other things. The civilization has maintained a library of all the knowledge that all those races have acquired. There is almost _nothing_ they can't just look up in the library. Is that the case in your timeline? If so, be prepared for ultra-mega-tech level leaps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manic Typist Posted November 26, 2005 Report Share Posted November 26, 2005 Re: Exodus 2025: A campaign idea looking for input! Characters for Exodus 2025 Combat Specialists (Veterans of any of the brushfire wars around the solar system the Peacekeepers deemed too minor to stop.) In general, characters will be all sorts from Earth who have managed to finance a starship and are willing to take a chance on making money in The Big Black. What they don't seem to understand is that the other races of the Commonwealth have been doing this sort of thing for hundreds of years, and they know the rules while the humans are just learning them... Matt Brings a point from your original post: How did the ICP deal with the long, long, LONG standing blood feuds in the Middle East and Africa? Also, what did the brushfires consist of? Rules? Those poor aliens won't even know what hit them, hehe... Has there ever been a resistance movement? Are there any nations out there that still aren't members? I guess WWII is ruled out of history, unless you change it to Hitler interning everyone who worked with the aliens, or something along those lines. How FAR are these negotiators allowed to go? Are there space pirates? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale A. Ward Posted November 26, 2005 Report Share Posted November 26, 2005 Re: Exodus 2025: A campaign idea looking for input! In 2020' date=' the ICP announced that in 2025, humanity would be allowed free access to interstellar space and would be granted a voice in the Commonwealth. When the day of the announcement came on February 6, 2025, no less than 15,000 stardrive capable ships left earth, and mankind has left its mark on the cosmos.[/quote'] In other words... there goes the neighborhood! Seriously, though... I like the concept, although I have to agree with ghost-angel that there is a timeline problem. My beef with the timeline is that there doesn't seem to be sufficient reason (especially in 1860) for the ICP to decide that Humanity is worthy. From that moment to the present, I don't believe there has been more than a week straight that there has not been a war in progress somewhere on the planet. Hell, if I were on the ICP committee in charge of the decision, I think I would have voted for a massive reduction in Earth's population first. Then, give them another few decades to think about the consequences of their rancor. So, here's how I would work it. The ICP keeps their silence through WW1... allegedly the "war to end all wars". Basically, give humanity the benefit of the doubt. As soon as the ICP discovers that yet another war is in the offing, they would release a virus into Earth's atmosphere that would gradually sterilize as much as two thirds of the population. Over the next few years, as the remaining population dwindles from the ravages of war, humanity would be slapped in the face with the realization that they'd better stop shooting each other and start making babies again. Those that still can would pass on their immunity to the sterility virus. Those that can't would continue to die off, further highlighting the need. With any luck, the close call with extinction will have shocked these militant monkeys into a more peaceful lifestyle. Give them about 40 or 50 years to reestablish their society, then the ICP makes its presence known. I figure the kidnapping of the world leaders would come in about 1985-1995, with humanity's acceptance of the offer coming at or near the beginning of the new millenium. Personally, I think I'd avoid telling humanity that there had been aliens among them during the dark years... would raise too many awkward questions (but might make a pretty good plot hook). And, since human society is a lot more sophisticated in 2000 than they were in 1930, I'd think it would take a lot less time and effort to bring them up to speed with the rest of the Commonwealth. You may even be able to stick with your 2025 schedule. Of course, this is just how *I* would do it. YMMV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manic Typist Posted November 26, 2005 Report Share Posted November 26, 2005 Re: Exodus 2025: A campaign idea looking for input! Only problem with a virus is the risk that humanity will just nurse its anger until it can get its sweet, sweet revenge. Not that that's a problem from the perspective of the humans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThothAmon Posted November 27, 2005 Report Share Posted November 27, 2005 Re: Exodus 2025: A campaign idea looking for input! Looks OK so far. I'll make a few suggestions that may be redundant if you've perhaps already gone down the literary road... I'd strongly suggest that you'd get mileage out of the David Brin novels / tales that begin with Sundiver, a nice wee SF novel in the Golden Age tradition. Their central premise is rather similar to your own except that the time of Uplift by patron aliens is 20th century. The first three stories play increasingly heavily on SF politics of bringing species into an intergalactic society. Also, interestingly, humans are not the only species from Earth that get Uplifted by the aliens, a potential character-generation option for your players Similarly James P Hogan's classic trilogy featuring the Giants of Ganymede has some juice of this nature. Perhaps less relevant to the background you propose but still covers the Contact aspects rather well. And the interfering alien aspects... I'd also recommend a wee look at the SF novel The Hormone Jungle by Robert Reed. It has rather good background relative to human adaptations for non-Terran biospheres e.g. heavy volcano-worlds. Regards your proposed campaign background I think it's a brave step to miss out on most of the 20th century. Whilst it does have potential issues it also allows a historical Utopian rewrite, giving the kind of positive internationalist background favoured by many SF authors who play with this kind of premise. I assume you want the angle that human internal affairs would look fairly pithy by comparison to all things intergalactic? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hopcroft Posted November 27, 2005 Report Share Posted November 27, 2005 Re: Exodus 2025: A campaign idea looking for input! I'm sorry, but aliens who value peace would not welcome us into their community, preparation or otherwise. They would view us as a potential threat and extreminate us to the last infant in such a way that we would have no idea what happened, without revealing their presence. That we are alive is proof relativity works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sinanju Posted November 27, 2005 Report Share Posted November 27, 2005 Re: Exodus 2025: A campaign idea looking for input! I'm sorry, but aliens who value peace would not welcome us into their community, preparation or otherwise. They would view us as a potential threat and extreminate us to the last infant in such a way that we would have no idea what happened, without revealing their presence. That we are alive is proof relativity works. Christ, where do you get this stuff?! Yeah, aliens who value peace should employ genocide against a planetful of people who are no threat to them. THAT'S logically consistent and rational. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manic Typist Posted November 27, 2005 Report Share Posted November 27, 2005 Re: Exodus 2025: A campaign idea looking for input! Christ, where do you get this stuff?! Yeah, aliens who value peace should employ genocide against a planetful of people who are no threat to them. THAT'S logically consistent and rational. Actually, it can be. It depends on what sort of weighing mechanism they use to evaluate the results of their values. For instance, if they favored a more..... mathemateical means of telling a "right" action from a "wrong" action, then they could justify slaughtering humanity by calculating that the temporary and minor death of 6 billion is far outweighed by the future deaths that would be caused when humanity came to the stars. Thus, it is more right to kill in this case. However, these sorts of value systems are usually extremely awkward and don't last too long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost-angel Posted November 27, 2005 Report Share Posted November 27, 2005 Re: Exodus 2025: A campaign idea looking for input! I'm sorry, but aliens who value peace would not welcome us into their community, preparation or otherwise. They would view us as a potential threat and extreminate us to the last infant in such a way that we would have no idea what happened, without revealing their presence. That we are alive is proof relativity works. pesky Vogons.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThothAmon Posted November 27, 2005 Report Share Posted November 27, 2005 Re: Exodus 2025: A campaign idea looking for input! I'm sorry, but aliens who value peace would not welcome us into their community, preparation or otherwise. They would view us as a potential threat and extreminate us to the last infant in such a way that we would have no idea what happened, without revealing their presence. That we are alive is proof relativity works. Not a POV that I share (except on my darker days) and it doesn't really help the original poster either - it presupposes that any species with a history of violent competition (predatory species or even semi-predatory) would be ineligible for galactic inclusion - that seems to be self-defeating. In riposte I'll offer up potential solutions to two of the 'negatives' above. Firstly, aliens would welcome humanity if their intergalactic community was founded on the principle of species being mentored by older, wiser patron races. An SF genre staple is the mysterious Ancients / Progenitors / Old Ones / Whatever who seeded life throughout the universe. You could follow on by suggesting that the galactic community was founded to encourage species diversity as the mysterious Ancients saw fit to create so many different life forms. Secondly, the 'angry humanity' idea could be nullified by the practice of preselection or preceding, a concept stolen from Ian Banks SF novel The Algebraist. This occurs when alien races take an early sample of a 'primitive' species and breeds/seeds them in a bunch of systems many light years away. Thus when the 'native' primitives finally reach the stars they discover that they are not the first of their species to get out there into the intergalactic community. The transplanted intergalactics introduce the 'natives' to the intergalactic community, easing the transition and showing that inter-species cooperation is possible. And there is also the debt - patronage relationship to provide extra plot goodness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sinanju Posted November 27, 2005 Report Share Posted November 27, 2005 Re: Exodus 2025: A campaign idea looking for input! Secondly' date=' the 'angry humanity' idea could be nullified by the practice of preselection or preceding, a concept stolen from Ian Banks SF novel [b']The Algebraist[/b]. This occurs when alien races take an early sample of a 'primitive' species and breeds/seeds them in a bunch of systems many light years away. Thus when the 'native' primitives finally reach the stars they discover that they are not the first of their species to get out there into the intergalactic community. The transplanted intergalactics introduce the 'natives' to the intergalactic community, easing the transition and showing that inter-species cooperation is possible. And there is also the debt - patronage relationship to provide extra plot goodness. There's also the series by James Aland Gardner. Four books so far: Expendable, Vigilant, Hunted and Radiant. In that series, humanity has been contacted by and joined the League of Peoples, a galactic civilization billions of years old, overseen by races billions of years old, with technology that might as well be godlike powers for we can figure out (or do against it). The League of Peoples leaves your planetary civilization completely alone--you can run it any way you want. But no Dangerous Non-Sentient is allowed to leave its homeworld. What's the definition of a dangerous nonsentient? That's easy--any thinking being who kills--or thru culpable negligence allows to die--another sentient being, directly or indirectly. Anyone who has ever killed another thinking person, or failed to be careful enough to avoid accidental deaths (humans in this universe tend to design tools and machinery and furniture like Niven's Puppeteers for this reason) is a dangeorus nonsentient. Stay on your birthworld and you're fine. Travel out of the atmosphere and you die. You just die. Nobody knows how or why. Go into space with the INTENT to kill others and you die. How does the League know? Good question. But it's been tested enough that nobody doubts it anymore. Starships don't carry weapons, not even personal weapons for self-defense--it's not like there'll be any threats from fellow passengers, crew or other ships you meet.... No warships, no instellar or interplanetary war. It doesn't matter how violent or deadly your racial history, if YOU are a peaceful, intelligent person, you're free to travel the universe. If not...better stay home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manic Typist Posted November 27, 2005 Report Share Posted November 27, 2005 Re: Exodus 2025: A campaign idea looking for input! Yeah, but I might undergo some sort of transformation once I leave my planet. Maybe something awful happens to me, and I become a psychotic murderer, take over a ship, and become a pirate. Yar. And to be honest, that sounds like a really sucky universe. I mean..... how can you even have a story? Where's the room for conflict, except against this totalitarian regime? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FeralWhippet Posted November 28, 2005 Report Share Posted November 28, 2005 Re: Exodus 2025: A campaign idea looking for input! Personally, I am tired of the "benevolent superiors making us all sing "kumbaya"" scenarios. I would rather see something with a "A Small Talent For War" kind of flavor to it But whatever you prefer: constraining humanity's warlike propensities; channeling our aggressions in more productive directions; weeding those namby-pamby peaceniks out of the gene pool; or whatever... a solution is to introduce a cultural code or codes. To limit the impact of wars as we gain greater levels of technology it could be a kind of bushido code as adopted by FORCE in the Hyperion novels, or to develop our talents for warfare without wiping us out something like the Ares Conventions in the Battletech universe, or many others. Could play into the notion that the Commonwealth needs stirring up from time to time to prevent stagnation. The cultural infiltrators could be there to guide us in a direction so that we introduce the right kind of chaos after our coming out party. The justification for starting at an earlier point in our history could simply be that at that time we are more... malleable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manic Typist Posted November 28, 2005 Report Share Posted November 28, 2005 Re: Exodus 2025: A campaign idea looking for input! Ah..... Battletech. Katrina Steiner was such a ho. Please tell me she got killed for her constant scheming. As you can tell,I was quite involved till I suddnely stopped reading it. What WAS the Ares Convention again? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt JT Kohonez Posted November 28, 2005 Report Share Posted November 28, 2005 Re: Exodus 2025: A campaign idea looking for input! "Personally, I am tired of the "benevolent superiors making us all sing "kumbaya"" I like that comment and I fully agree. I'm also tired of the "self-loathing all the evil in the universe is our fault" view taken in alot of "Sci-Fi" lately like the new Battlestar. Whatever happened to the happy medium where humanity can be scummy sure, but we can be great too. Look "Superior Aliens" we the human race had to to claw and fight our way to the top of the food chain over millions of years and yes we're very good at killing. So what?! But now the "Superior Aliens" conveniently forget the competition is not over and decide to nip things in the bud by "pacifying" or exterminating humanity. Just a tad hypocritical don't you think?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigdamnhero Posted November 28, 2005 Report Share Posted November 28, 2005 Re: Exodus 2025: A campaign idea looking for input! Personally' date=' I am tired of the "benevolent superiors making us all sing "kumbaya"" scenarios. [/quote'] Repped. “In space, no one can hear you sing Kumbaya.†That said, it does sound like an interesting setting. My question is: were the other races all peaceful utopianites before they joined the ICP, or did they only become that way after joining? I think either way could work, but it makes a big difference in the aliens’ attitude towards humanity. As a related question, just how utopian is the ICP? Do all the member races agree on everything? Do they ever fight amongst themselves? And what does the rest of the galaxy look like outside of the ICP? Are there other alien races/governments that are not in the confed? Are any of them hostile? Given that you are considering soldiers as a character archetypes, I infer that the universe isn’t a completely safe and benign place, which is good IMO – I have to agree with Manic Typist that utopias are boring places to game in. (Sidebar, I have a vague memory of some sci-fi story – can’t remember name or author – where humans were invited into a peaceful utopian galactic society because that society was facing a strong external threat and needed someone who knew how to fight. Essentially, humanity became the galaxy’s mercs. A different direction than it sounds like you want to go, but might be something to think about.) Backstory question, how much resentment +/or resistance was there to the ICP Peacekeepers? Historically, peacekeepers have been resented more often than they’ve been welcomed, and that’s when the “interfering outsiders†were other humans. My suspension-of-disbelief has a hard time with the notion that all of humanity’s conflicts and hatreds are going to disappear overnight just because some aliens show up and tell us to play nice. (Unless their tech is truly god-like.) Lastly a cautionary note: I once played in a campaign where humans were the new kids in space, and were basically totally inferior to all other races. And it sucked like a vacuum cleaner on steroids. Being the underdog is one thing, but heroes need to be able to bring something to the table. That something doesn’t have to be technological, of course, and it’s fine if the other races regard humans as inferior… as long as the PCs get a chance to prove them wrong and show them that humanity does have something to offer. Otherwise, well, imagine running an epic high fantasy game where the PCs all play kobolds… bigdamnhero “I've never been this near to a woman before. It makes me want to do something. I don't know what it is, but whatever it is I want to do a lot of it!†Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackSword Posted November 28, 2005 Report Share Posted November 28, 2005 Re: Exodus 2025: A campaign idea looking for input! [quote=bigdamnhero(Sidebar, I have a vague memory of some sci-fi story – can’t remember name or author – where humans were invited into a peaceful utopian galactic society because that society was facing a strong external threat and needed someone who knew how to fight. Essentially, humanity became the galaxy’s mercs. A different direction than it sounds like you want to go, but might be something to think about.) Alan Dean Foster wrote a series, The Damned, where humanity was one of the few warlike races in the galaxy, they were recruited to help one side in a galactic conflict. The first book in the series was A Call to Arms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackSword Posted November 28, 2005 Report Share Posted November 28, 2005 Re: Exodus 2025: A campaign idea looking for input! Its an interesting idea, but like Ghost-angel said, there are a few areas that might be complicated due to skipping over human history. Assuming the Aliens made no major contribution to human society until their announcement in the mid-30s, what/when did civil rights movements begin. Also, if they made their announcement over the radio, many people would not have the chance to receive this. I am not a history major, and don't know the full extent of technology invasion, but I would think large parts of Oceania, Africa, South America and the Far East would not be able to receive a radio announcement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigdamnhero Posted November 28, 2005 Report Share Posted November 28, 2005 Re: Exodus 2025: A campaign idea looking for input! Also' date=' if they made their announcement over the radio, many people would not have the chance to receive this. I am not a history major, and don't know the full extent of technology invasion, but I would think large parts of Oceania, Africa, South America and the Far East would not be able to receive a radio announcement.[/quote'] Good catch. In 1925, a radio announcement will reach "rich folks" most everywhere, but only in the US and Europe will you be reaching a decent percent of the general populace. bigdamnhero "...and they made a very satisfying thump when they hit the floor." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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