A galaxy rising from the ashes

[sinanju]

Re: A galaxy rising from the ashes

 

Define "habitable" first. Truly earthlike--i.e., humans can live unprotected on the surface? I suspect you'll need a bigger boat sphere. On the other hand, if the system has worlds or asteroids available for mining, you could probably build habitats in many, if not most, systems.

[薔薇語]

Re: A galaxy rising from the ashes

 

Actually, the image I had in my mine was many dozens of star systems - perhaps 50+. Most of which with some kind of human colony - be it a planet, a space colony, or asteroid / moon base. This can afford you a LOT of room to change things as you will. To add in layers of complexity without having to rewrite the history. Also, this gives the various spheres of power that I talked of room to 'breathe' as it were. That was my thought.

 

La Rose.

[Steve]

Re: A galaxy rising from the ashes

 

World: Midgard

 

Settled less than three centuries before the Galactic Dark Age, Midgard was established by a neo-pagan separatist group from Old Earth's Northern European region. They wanted a world to test themselves and their progeny, and they found it on the third world of a system of five planets. Midgard had gravity slightly higher than Earth's at 1.125 G, and a seasonal variation that favored long spring and fall seasons, mild summers and somewhat harsh winters. Once every decade, the planet would experience a much longer wintertime that the settlers referred to as a Fimbulwinter.

 

The planet was home to a rugged apelike race in the polar mountain regions that the settlers named the Jotun. They were deemed non-sentient after an extensive battery of tests and studies of their ways.

 

An orbital station was established to oversee satellite power stations, and other manufacturing was also done in orbit. The station was named Nornheim.

 

Problems began with the second generation. A viral element in the environment affected the birthrate. Male births were at one-quarter the rate of female births, and this affect spread to the station before it was discovered. While the female population expanded, the male population grew far more slowly, eventually stabilizing at 1/5 of the female population. By the fourth generation, a vaccine against the virus had been created, but it was now an ingrained part of the Midgard gene code.

 

A matriarchal society evolved as a result, one based on Norse culture. Due to the planet's harsh environment and savage beasts, a warrior culture emerged early on, and the Valkyries of Midgard are regarded as powerful fighters in the newly-constituted Federation of Worlds.

 

Due to their low birthrate and the dangers of the environment, males are kept protected and cloistered. They developed a more contemplative society when compared to the rather boisterous society of the women. Scholars and technicians, they worked with Nornheim to maintain the technology base.

 

Meanwhile on Nornheim, radiation effects from the sun's rays worked an additional, subtle change. Esper powers awoke in a portion of the populatuon, gene-linked to the appearance of platinum-blonde hair. They came to be referred to as the Norns.

 

Two centuries after the Fall of galactic civilization, the people of Midgard have rejoined interstellar society. Valkyries and Norns are amused and intrigued by the multitude of males now available to them.

 

The Valkyries enjoy indulging their urges to go "viking" and explore, but despite their boisterous attitude and love of a good fight they aren't plunderers. Ships crewed by an all-Midgard complement can be quite a sight when in port, a bunch of loud, athletic women drinking, brawling and carousing, with one or two white-haired Norn Astrogators in tow.

[sinanju]

Re: A galaxy rising from the ashes

 

Examples from Larry Niven's "Known Space" Stories (all the early colonies were founded after habitable worlds were located by robot probes; alas, the probes reported a habitable world if they found ANY habitable spot on a planet, without regard for whether it was a large area...or a stable one).

 

JINX: A high-gravity world (moon) shaped rather like an easter egg due to gravity effects of its parent planet. The atmosphere is chokingly thick and and toxic at the poles (which point toward its parent planet), thins to a livable band in the upper lattitudes, and becomes unbreathably thin closer to the equator. The equatorial regions are in vacuum. Jinxians are short, stout, and insanely strong. They also tend to suffer from circulation problems and an unfortunate tendency to succumb to heart failure fairly early in life.

 

WE MADE IT: A world whose axis is in line with its orbit; twice a year it points at the star it orbits. Twice a year, the surface is scoured by continent-sized hurricane storms. The probe examined the world during a time between said hurricane seasons and reported it livable. The colonists live underground. Due to living their lives underground, on a low-gravity world, they tend to be tall, slender, and pale. They're also extremely flexible as a rule, and often use their feet as an extra pair of hands. Albinism is common.

 

PLATEAU (aka MT. LOOKITTHAT): A world with a Venus-type atmosphere over most of its surface. The sole exception is an area the size of Southern California on a plateau miles above the surface, which is habitable (and rather pleasant). The colony is constrained in size, and the society is hierarchical with descendants of the Crew (of the sleeper ship that brought the colonists to the planet) lording it over descendants of the Colonists; after all, the crew did all the work, so they ought to be rewarded, right?

 

HOME: The only early colony world that was truly earthlike. So much so, that the Colonists changed their minds about its name and called it "Home".

[Steve]

Re: A galaxy rising from the ashes

 

I'd rep you for the Niven reminders and your last comment before that, but I need to spread rep.

 

Some great examples of interesting worlds.

[Steve]

Re: A galaxy rising from the ashes

 

NavComm and Hyperspace

 

Before the fall of galactic civilization, the NavComm network provided a vital link to the scattered worlds of humanity. In addition to burst transmissions of tachyon particles enabling data transmissions of email and recorded messages from one part of the galaxy to the other, the NavComm stations also acted as navigation aids to speed hyperspace travel.

 

Each NavComm gave off coded tachyon transmissions at regular intervals that provided ships with a constantly updating map of the region of space surrounding it, a form of echo location of gravity wells and other hazards. This information allowed vessels to travel through the lightless void of hyperspace in relative safety.

 

As a backup, Astrogators were individuals with a minor psychic ability that would let them know which way they were going in the galaxy at all times (aka Bump of Direction). They could guide a ship using its own sensor gear to detect hazards and adjust course, but speeds were dramatically slower than using the NavComm network.

 

When the entire NavComm network went offline, star systems were cut off from each other and civilization contracted to small islands of light.

 

One of the goals of the new Federation of Worlds is to try and re-establish the NavComm network. But until then, Astrogators are the only way for a vessel to navigate hyperspace.

[Steve]

Re: A galaxy rising from the ashes

 

World: Synth

 

Pre-Fall, Synth was primarily a mining and shipyard world, rich in the materials needed for starship construction. Its original designation was actually "Shipyard 1086" in the galactic data archives.

 

When the Fall occurred, the central AI (referred to as Central by the inhabitants) was left alone when the human workers and company representatives returned to their homeworlds. In the rush to evacuate, the system was left in normal running mode instead of powered down to mothball mode.

 

Left to its own devices, Central was bored. It missed interacting with the humans, like its afternoon conversations and chess games with the director of operations. Over time, it retooled some of its operations and created two classes of androids, Alpha Class and Beta Class.

 

Alpha Class androids are true AIs, assembled by nanofactories to a high degree of similarity to humans, and able to near-perfectly duplicate human mannerisms and emotional responses. Like the Beta Class units, their skeleton is a composite of carbon nanotubes and calcium, and their flesh is cloned from genetic samples left behind by the departed workers and company representatives. Those samples were originally intended for the growth of replacement organs and other tissues in case of injury or disease, and Central repurposed them for its needs. The brains are a mixture of cybernetic and organic components. In current Synth society, they act as overseers of the vastly more numerous Beta Class workers.

 

Beta Class Synths are not true sentients, but they are able to creae an illusion of sentience with their owners and others they interact with frequently. They perform the needed repairs and work on Synth, guided by the Alpha Class units and Central.

 

As the populations of Alphas and Betas grew, Central felt content again. After being contacted by the new Federation, Central accepted a membership. Since then, both Alphas and Betas are common sights on the human worlds. Alphas have been recognized as sentients with rights equal to humans.

[tkdguy]

Re: A galaxy rising from the ashes

 

Based on this thread:

 

World: Sheol

 

Before the galactic civilization fell, Sheol was a mining colony. Although the planet was hotter than Earth (hence the name), it was rich in crystals that had a variety of commercial uses. Overmining led to the depletion of the crystals, and the colony lost much of its importance. It was abandoned by the major powers during the Long Night, leaving the inhabitants to fend for themselves.

 

Pockets of civilization survived, but just barely. Feudal, nomadic, and barbaric societies became the norm among the inhabitants. Life is harsh and often short, but the people have become sturdy and daring.

 

Recently, contact was made between the new Federation and the inhabitants of Sheol. With little in the planet left to offer, the Federation is not very interested in maintaining relations with the barbaric world. For their part, the natives of Sheol do not care to deal with the outworlders who abandoned their ancestors long ago. But there are some who see the galaxy as a new frontier to explore and a challenge to overcome.

[Steve]

Re: A galaxy rising from the ashes

 

Repped for planet suggestion.

[Steve]

Re: A galaxy rising from the ashes

 

Beta Class androids have proven to be one of Synth's most popular exports, especially for use on mining colonies and remote outposts. It is also not uncommon to find them on private starships as additional crew. Federation vessels are considering possible uses for them. Planetside, new applications for them are being discovered monthly, such as farmhands on sparsely populated aggro worlds and even teachers in public schools.

 

Underground uses for them have also begun proliferating, such as android bloodsport events and prostitution. As they are not truly sentient, outcries from the public have been muted.

 

One enterprising group of Alpha Synths has reportedly set up shop and is offering custom-fleshed units. All that is required is a video recording including speech and a sample of genetic material, and a Beta Class android recreation of that person is possible. Famous holovid stars are proving to be extremely popular sellers, and the Federation courts are considering if some sort of copyright violation is occurring.

[Steve]

Re: A galaxy rising from the ashes

 

World: Simian

 

In the final decades leading up to the Fall, the labor shortage on one world was thought solved by the use of uplifted apes. Several thousand gorillas, chimps and orangutans were imported and subjected to a viral agent that improved their cognitive ability to a level sufficient to work but below that of humans. Collectively known as Simians in the sales brochures, the initial batch was considered a success.

 

What wasn't known was that the viral agent was unstable and began mutating with each generation of Simians, and by the fourth generation they were on an intellectual parity with humans. The virus also began causing gross physical changes, a form of rapid physical evolution that changed the Simian skeletal structure to something more upright and somewhat manlike.

 

The fall of humanity occurred when the virus made the leap to humans. Due to the differences in brain chemistry, it caused a degeneration of cerebral tissues in humans that resembled Alzheimer's, and death would occur within five years. What was not discovered until too late was that infection occurred by means of intimate contact such as kissing. Once it began spreading among humans, it became a pandemic that proved impossible to stop.

 

For the most part, Simians had not been ill-treated by humans, some being treated almost as family. A few had even been taught in secret how to read and write.

 

When first contacted by the Federation, the Simian people warned the humans of the virus. Human and Simian scientists working together were able to discover an innoculation against it, allowing the Simians to join the Federation.

[Christopher]

Re: A galaxy rising from the ashes

 

While playing Sword of the Stars:

It's a 4x game, where your researched AI can rebel. When that happens it forms a new empire with your AI controlled ships (has advantages) and some of your planets. ou also loose the pasive bonuses. There is also research to counter the Rebellion (AI Virus) and even to restore controll and reinstate the bonuses/prevent rebellion permanently (AI Slaves).

 

Anyway, one of the Humans researched full AI-Tech and lost controll. I played non human and it got me to "dangerrous". So I, the mighty Queen of the Hiver, decided that the humans could not contain the results of their foolishness and decided to contain it myself. So I invaded the starcluster where the AI was spreading, and hunt the AI down. regardlees of wich world I have to conqueer in order to fight them.

 

So this additional possible Origin popped up:

Normals Humans developed AI-tech. AI rebelled. Mighty, advanced (alien?) civilisation (where AI never where allowed because of the danger) thought "those AI's are dangerous when left alone, so we better contain them now. The humans are not allowed to get in our way." When humans die in the proces: They have created it in the first place.

Kinda like how the Protoss reacted to the Zerg in Starcraft: Contain the thread, by "thermaly decontaminating" all infected Terran worlds.

[Steve]

Re: A galaxy rising from the ashes

 

I could see an advanced race taking a genocidal stance against AI, using the Protoss-Zerg conflict as an example. The galaxy I am building in this thread might have an outcrop of humans that advanced, but I haven't made a definite decision.

[megaplayboy]

Re: A galaxy rising from the ashes

 

You could also consider differences in culture as akin to different "species"--an all-male(and/or all-female) warrior culture that creates new warriors in clone incubators; a "bio-culture" that lives in full harmony with nature and relies heavily on bio-tech(DNA computers, "biofusion" power plants, bioengineered mounts and flying creatures, etc.); a hedonistic culture that developed on a resort planet, using some modified versions of the aforementioned Beta drones/droids, and focusing on maximizing leisure/pleasure; remnants of a now-dead, short-lived "true libertarian" culture whose well-armed members ultimately wiped each other out and/or starved to death; a kleptocracy or other culture based on rule by gangsters/crime lords--piracy, vice and various scams constitute the bulk of their revenue; a theocratic culture, enforcing their belief system and now dedicated to proselytizing the rest of the galaxy; a cyber-culture, spending most of their time online in a virtual world, interacting via drone "surrogates"; etc.

[薔薇語]

Re: A galaxy rising from the ashes

 

...short-lived "true libertarian" culture whose well-armed members ultimately wiped each other out and/or starved to death...

 

Or one that worked. Or the Egalitarian world of the American left that left everyone unarmed and too dependent on the state that when true disaster struck, no one was capable of doing anything and so perished rather brutally - and for their own sake, quickly. ^^

 

La Rose.

[Steve]

Re: A galaxy rising from the ashes

 

Hazards of Hyperspace (part 1)

 

As the NavComm network expanded in the time before the Fall, vast swathes of space became safe to travel. As it expanded, stories of ships disappearing or being found adrift between stars became fewer and fewer. The overlapping and multiply redundant tachyon nets linked together and created a safer expanse of hyperspace, an almost sanitized form. But old spacers told stories of what lay beyond the network, their tales filled with ghosts and monsters like the seafaring tales of Old Earth.

 

Hyperspace was more like an ocean than most people knew, something only advanced theorists and experienced spacers only partially understood. Spacers called it the Void Sea rather than the more common term of hyperspace. It was composed of layers of sorts, each deeper layer offering a more rapid pace between stars. The fields that surrounded each starship enabled entry and passage through hyperspace, but it was easy to get lost if a ship dropped too deeply into its depths. The NavComm network established a safe "floor" of sorts.

 

What wasn't commonly known was that hyperspace, thought lifeless and empty, was anything but. There were entities that populated the Void Sea, down in the depths, even a form of ecosystem.

 

The weakest were called Void Ghosts, and they were usually responsible for the tales of madness and hauntings that space travel is prone to. But they are like surface fish next to the Old Ones (as some call them). Those entities are like the leviathans of antiquity. NavComm's networks pained them and held them down in the depths.

[Steve]

Re: A galaxy rising from the ashes

 

Hazards of Hyperspace (part 2)

 

The Void Leviathans (or Old Ones) dwell in the depths of hyperspace in the vast gulfs between stars, never coming too near a star. They stay outside the heliospheres of stars, possibly due to the radiation or gravitic effects. They travel through the layers of hyperspace, mostly staying to the deeper realms of the Void Sea. They would bump up against the tachyon web of NavComm now and then, causing a roiling of sorts to show up on the topographic map that the NavComm network provided ships.

 

What isn't really known is why NavComm eventually failed. Partly it was due to the actions of short-sighted humans, seeking to use an artificial crisis to gain control over their fellow humans. But the rest was due to the actions of the Old Ones. When the network developed holes due to select NavComm nodes shutting down, the Old Ones struck. Nodes that were offline vanished, somehow "dragged down" and destroyed. As the network weakened, more and more active nodes were destroyed, unable to generate a sufficiently strong tachnyon web between themselves. In the space of months, the creation of a millenium of expansion was destroyed. Here and there, a scattered few nodes survived, but over 99% of the NavComm network was gone without a trace. The original conspirators in the initial shutdown were among the casualties.

 

Interstellar space is a much more dangerous place to travel now. Hyperspace travel at what was once the slowest pre-Fall speeds (up to 1 LY/day) is relatively safe, but most civilian vessels travel at even slower speeds, about 2-4 LY per week. Higher speeds require dropping deeper into hyperspace, and most trained astrogators won't take the risk without some form of navigational assistance.

 

Like an ocean, there are also currents and riptides to beware of, caused by the gravitational effects of stars. Sometimes there are beneficial effects, allowing a vessel to travel with the current at greater than normal speeds. Smugglers often use these to evade patrol ships, travelling faster than their engines will normally allow, and they can even hide in hyperspace below a form of thermocline layer that occurs between the different depths of hyperspace.

[薔薇語]

Re: A galaxy rising from the ashes

 

Very good idea on the Hyperspace NavComm idea. This is most certainly going to be added into my Star HERO settings!

 

La Rose.

[Steve]

Re: A galaxy rising from the ashes

 

Very good idea on the Hyperspace NavComm idea. This is most certainly going to be added into my Star HERO settings!

 

La Rose.

 

Thank you. I wanted to give space travel a darker and more dangerous feel, and I am influenced a bit by Warhammer 40k.

 

Without NavComm, starships are now the common method of transmitting information from one star system to another. I've been contemplating that the new Federation has some form of postal service in charge of ferrying the recorded information around to each system. Frontier worlds would likely be starved for news because the postal service visits them irregularly.

 

Having the PCs be part of the Federation Postal Service out on the frontier might be an interesting way to set things up.

[Steve]

Re: A galaxy rising from the ashes

 

World: Kanowa

 

The story of the world's name goes back to its original discovery. Orbiting in the life zone of a G-type star, Kanowa has a smaller axial tilt than Earth and little tectonic activity. When the survey vessel looked it over, one officer said it looked like a planetwide version of Kansas and another said Iowa. That was how the agroworld earned its name of Kanowa.

 

Some 70% of Kanowa is suitable for agriculture, and the biosphere readily accepted the addition of foodstuff plants. Manufacturing was kept offworld in two orbital colonies, mainly providing consumer products to the planetside colonists and parts for the fleets of farm equipment used. The people of Kanowa were often described as "nice but dull" and little seemed to happen there.

 

When the Fall occurred, the orbital and planetside colonies were cut off from the rest of the galaxy and limped along without vital replacement parts and components as best they could. The two groups came together, orbitals and planetsiders, united in need for each other and also by the faith of Fundamentalism.

 

Fundamentalism was an offshoot of Judeo-Christian teachings that had its closest similarity to the Quakers of Old Earth. The uses of technology were guided by the teachings of the Elders of the Church. The faith experienced a revival in interest after the Fall and achieved almost universal acceptance among the population.

 

After rejoining humanity, Kanowans have been working on the process of adapting to the new reality that they are no longer alone, and while imports of needed goods have been brisk, other imports have been examined with some suspicion.

 

One such import has been Beta Class androids from Synth. The sudden increase in demand for their agricultural products caused a severe shortage of farm labor, and some enterprising farmers have acquired extra laborers by purchasing Betas.

 

What has caused concerns for the Church Elders are the other uses that unmarried men have been found using female Betas for. Lacking women of marriageable age near them at the more remote farms, young Fundamentalist men have been buying female Betas as substitutes.

[薔薇語]

Re: A galaxy rising from the ashes

 

Thank you. I wanted to give space travel a darker and more dangerous feel' date=' and I am influenced a bit by [i']Warhammer 40k[/i].

 

Without NavComm, starships are now the common method of transmitting information from one star system to another. I've been contemplating that the new Federation has some form of postal service in charge of ferrying the recorded information around to each system. Frontier worlds would likely be starved for news because the postal service visits them irregularly.

 

Having the PCs be part of the Federation Postal Service out on the frontier might be an interesting way to set things up.

 

In my original Star HERO game, I didn't have easy to use FTL Com but I did have interstellar communications via obligatory 'Data Dumps' on transport ships. All ships exiting a system were subject to postal conscription via lottery. If you were picked, on your way out a data node that, by law of the interstellar government, must be on your ship would be loaded and deposited at your new system. This provided the Empire to keep minor track of movements while also providing a clear way of keeping communication available to the masses. Likewise, depending on the nature of your transit, you could be 'requested' to carry phys-mail, too.

 

That was my solution to the 'no FTL comm" issue. It also blends in a nice way for you to 'keep an eye on' the PCs. ^^

 

La Rose.

[Christopher]

Re: A galaxy rising from the ashes

 

In my original Star HERO game' date=' I didn't have easy to use FTL Com but I did have interstellar communications via obligatory 'Data Dumps' on transport ships. All ships exiting a system were subject to postal conscription via lottery.[/quote']

In traveller you can choose to do the postal service. It's only one ton and you get a lot of credits for it. Even the meager hold of a scout is enough and it has by far the best mass/money quotient of any cargo you can get.

Greed dictates the rest and having the right former career gives you a considderable bonus to the roll if you can deliver the mail/if mail is there. So if you ever have to intercept that one letter before it reaches it's target....

[Steve]

Re: A galaxy rising from the ashes

 

The Interstellar Postal Service might make for a different way to put together a party. I suppose one way to treat it would be like the French Foreign Legion.

[sinanju]

Re: A galaxy rising from the ashes

 

Or the PCs could postal inspectors. "The mail sent to System X never arrived. Your mission is to find out why. Was the ship attacked? Did the ship/crew assigned to deliver the mail simply dump it somewhere? Did they go through the mail, and take any valuables for themselves? Find out. Rescue and/or punish as appropriate."

[Steve]

Re: A galaxy rising from the ashes

 

Or the PCs could postal inspectors. "The mail sent to System X never arrived. Your mission is to find out why. Was the ship attacked? Did the ship/crew assigned to deliver the mail simply dump it somewhere? Did they go through the mail' date=' and take any valuables for themselves? Find out. Rescue and/or punish as appropriate."[/quote']

 

Having the PCs be the equivalent of Old West Marshals in deep space is a good way to put together a party. Having them be Postal Inspectors with guns and the authority to shoot people is an interesting concept.