Epithail Hawk in "Random Encounter"

“Welcome to your end young pup,” the voice behind him said.

Epithail turned just in time to see the hulking beast of a man swing a rather solid looking pipe at his skull. His years of dealing with the untold number of horrors the forces of the Wyrm had thrown at his Sept had prepared him for exactly this type of moment though.  Ducking out of the way, he reached into an inner pocket of his brown trench coat and pulled out a small glass jar. The giant of a man was a little off balance from his previous attack missing when he swung again. He dug deep into his anger and tapped into that reserve of power making this one an easy dodge that  left his opponent wide open, so Epithail responded the only way he could; by smashing the jar of caustic liquids into his face.

His opponent screamed in rage as the solution inside made his skin boil. Epithail drew his Glock and put 4 rounds into the man’s chest sending him to the ground. That’s when he finally heard the other sound coming from his collapsed opponent. A very familiar sound, the cracking and reshaping of bones as a werewolf shifted.

“Shit!” he yelled as he bolted away from the now rising Crinos form werewolf.

Running away he was able to find a good spot to hide in the storage lot for the chemical plant. Looking out from his hiding spot he was able to see his opponent rise. The beast was over 10 feet tall, built of muscle, teeth, and claws, and coated in black, greasy, matted fur. Tribal glyphs glowing a sickly Balefire green dotted his hide. Obviously scar fetishes of his tribe, the Black Spiral Dancers, enhancing his already formidable strength. The Beast’s Rage was barely contained as his body tried its best to repair the damage done to his face with the caustic substance. Fortunately it looked like the substance did a number on the Beast’s eyes and nose giving Epithail a slight time advantage.

The combat training his packmate taught him kicked into high gear and he took stock of his situation as quickly as he could. He had his Glock, his Colt Python, his sawed-off lever action shotgun, and his Kabar-esque Klaive. His Glock was in his hand but would be useless against a werewolf in their warform. He had a quick loading clip with silver rounds for the Colt revolver but he’d have to risk reloading it with a pissed off werewolf within earshot. He had a silver slug at the end of the lever action’s tube, but he wasn’t sure he could get through the other 4 rounds quick enough. His Kabar-style Klaive was a combat knife made of silver infused with a spirit of war and was a very capable weapon in its own right, but he’d have to close in against a werewolf who he’d only gotten lucky against in his earlier melee.

His only chance would be to escape to his car, but it was parked two blocks down and on the wrong side of an anger-fueled furball. To do that he was going to have to make a move of some type, and do it quickly before his opponent regenerated his sense of smell. He holstered the Glock and pulled out the revolver and his silver filled reloader. He opened the cylinder and attempted to eject the rounds into his hand as quietly as possible.

A couple of very brief metallic clinks made the Dancer’s ear’s twitch in his direction. It had heard him. Epithail quickly snapped the chamber the chamber shut, drew his Klaive and began to stand up while he touched the primal Rage inside of himself.

He felt the change take place, he only needed a bit of Gaia’s gifts at the moment. His bones hardened and lengthened, he felt the heat as his muscles grew, he felt that damn itch when the hair pushed its way out of his skin. His head clouded with more anger as he let the Wolf take over a piece of himself. He rose from behind the concrete barrier he was hiding behind in his Glabro, the Near-Man form looking and feeling like the primitively strong and excessively hairy man he now felt like with his weapons drawn in a basic CQC pose.

The Beast’s eyes locked on him and he swore he saw the fucker smile before the mountain of muscle and claws charged him. Epithail squeezed the trigger twice before trying to dive out of the way. Two measured pulls of a professional. The first shot his target was expecting and he adjusted just out of the way, but he wasn’t expecting the second.

The pure silver .44 Magnum round slammed into the beast’s shoulder, shattering the bone and releasing the horrid stench of burning flesh as the round fragmented and buried itself into the werewolf’s body. The Black Spiral Dancer fell to the ground screaming in pain within arms’ length of Epithail.

“That’ll teach you to fuck with me, asshole,” Epithail yelled as he leveled the revolver to finish the job.

That’s when the second one tackled him and tried to rip his face off.

There was no time left for thinking, Epithail let the Rage take control. Gaia had gifted all of her warriors with Rage for a reason, and this was it. The Wolf and the Rage would see him through this and the world disappeared into shades of grey and red as his body made the shift to his War Form, the mighty Crinos.

Epithail’s brown fur covered form wasn’t nearly as muscular as the other two werewolves and he was sometimes a funny sight since he liked to get his combat gear Dedicated to him so it wouldn’t rip when he shifted, but that had never been a problem for him before, especially when he already had his blade in hand. As the second Dancer clamped down onto Epithail’s shoulder, he slammed the Klaive into the betrayer’s neck and pushed it forward hard, severing the spine with the silvered blade. Epithail could practically see the spirit of War inside of the blade glowing with pride as it was able to fulfil its purpose.

He kicked the corpse off of himself and stood up. The first Dancer, the Beast, was nowhere to be seen. The Wolf called to him to hunt it down and finish the kill, but his human instincts barely kept that urge in check. Instead he ran for his car. He holstered his revolver since it was useless to him in this form.

His senses were on high alert. The Wolf in him wasn’t as strong as other Garou, but he was still better off than any human would be in the same situation. If there were two, there are very likely more. In a perverse way he knew he should feel honored that they were using a whole pack to try and take him down. He was just some lowly little Glass Walker computer nerd that somehow warranted a full pack of Black Spiral Dancer’s to be taken down. That would have to count for something to the Sept, right? If only his sixteen year old self could see him now.

The wind shifted and he caught scent of something rancid, a hideous and wrong smell. The smell of a Dancer.  He kept moving and dodged the attack aimed at him from behind a parked truck. He clumsily slashed the third member of the Dancer pack across the side as the Beast revealed himself from the shadows with one more Black Spiral Dancer in tow. He was surrounded.

The Wolf demanded that he go out in a blaze of glory, it snarled for him, challenging his opponents to close and finish him. Epithail almost agreed with it. He didn’t like where this was going. Dancers never killed you if they could help it. It was far better to drive you mad and recruit you. A Glory filled death would be preferred to betraying all you know and care about. Fortunately though his rational mind was able to reign the Wolf back in before he caused more trouble. Epithail forced the Wolf back down and forced himself to resume the Near-Man as he sheathed the Klaive.

“Hey guys, come on. We don’t have to do this,” Epithail said in the gravelly almost growl of the Near-Man, “Go pick up your fallen and I’ll let you leave to nurse your wounds.”

The Beast let out a laugh and cringed a bit as his bullet wound reminded him of its existence. He then lowered his head into a snarl and continued to circle. Epithail began looking for his options. He had put his weapons away. His Klaive was going to be useless here, he wasn’t that good of a knife fighter and there were three of them in Crinos. Granted one was decently slashed up and another had a wrecked shoulder, but he was still out numbered.

“Do you really think you can take, me? I mean, really? I’m Epithail, Silentsurge, the mutha-fuckin man, Hawk.”

The third one was still healthy, that was the priority target. He still had four rounds left in the Colt.

“I’m a legend here. Do you know what and who I’ve done?”

Still circling, looking for that moment of weakness so they can keep me from being crippled. Still have the silver slug in the shotgun, but the other 4 shells are worthless.

“I’ve killed leeches stronger than you. You really think you have a chance against me?”

“Enough talk!” the uninjured Dancer yelled in the barely understandable growls of Crinos as it lunged at Epithail.

Barely getting out of the way of the claw Epithail reached deeply into his inner Rage. He channeled the primal energy his race’s mother-god granted them into his movements. Time seemed to slow as he sped up. His practiced quick draw motions produced the Colt revolver in a fraction of a second. He leveled the gun with supernatural speed and put two rounds into its skull.

He saw the Beast and its companion coming in and dodged two swipes from the Beast before taking a painful slash down his leg from the claw of the companion. Epithail tried to keep standing on it but it refused to support his weight as he came crashing down, screaming in pain. The Wolf tried to take control. He felt his Rage build and his vision started to turn red, but he quickly got it under control before he shifted. A quick once over showed him that his calf was completely torn. That was going to be a painful one to heal.

Tapping into his last reserves of Rage, Epithail rolled out of the way of another of the companion’s attacks at supernatural speed, racking a shell into the shotgun’s chamber. He fired the twelve gauge buckshot into the kneecap of the companion temporarily stopping it in its tracks. He already saw the wound starting to mend as he fired his last two silver .44’s into its chest. It collapsed to the ground struggling for breath as its lungs filled themselves. It was then he was hit by a kick that sent him sprawling.

He looked up in time to see the Beast very slowly, very deliberately walking towards him. Epithail, with as much strength as he could muster, racked another round and fired at his opponent who easily side stepped the shot.

He racked another round, fighting the Wolf and the pain. His body wouldn’t let him get up, but he could still work the action. The shotgun roared and the shot caught the Beast in the chest forcing him to stumble back. The Beast turned back to face him with an approximation of a grin.

“You fool, do you really think that pitiful human weaponry is going to save you?” the Beast asked.

Another series of metallic clicks, the hollow plastic sound of an empty shell hitting the hard ground, and another roar of the gun with the sickening wet sound of lead ripping flesh to pieces. It was followed by more laughing as the wounds closed themselves. The Beast stepped over Epithail and grinned.

“Any last words, you smart ass?” the Beast asked.

“Maybe someday I’ll have some, but it won’t be today,” Epithail said as he racked the last round into the chamber and pulled the trigger.

The shotgun roared and the slug flew out, blowing a fist sized hole through the Beast’s torso. He screamed as best he could as he fell backward. Epithail sat up slowly, propping himself up with the empty shotgun as he looked around for more threats as his body’s supernatural metabolism repaired his injuries.

Space Opera: Alien Profiles Part 2

Continuing my posts about alien races for the Space Opera setting:

 

Name: Krayanans

Home-World: Lorkub

Description: A race of small but aggressive bi-pedal reptiles. They are highly intelligent and resourceful. They live on hot planets, preferring a temperature of approximately 80 degrees Celsius. Their average height is 1 meter, and their average lifespan is only 60 years.

 

I don’t like the 80 degrees Celsius thing for this race because I got a different idea while reading this entry. Space Kobolds!!!

 

Seriously, these are space Kobolds. They can still go ahead and prefer a warmer climate due to being cold blooded, but for seriously, these are space kobolds. What would their world be like?

 

I’m running with this idea, and screw all you who don’t like it! Anyone know where I can find a picture of a Kobold in a space suit?

 

Primary: Bizarre

 

Name: Nalaavites

Home-World: Soleer Prime

Description: A race of venomous amphibians who are governed by a committee of prominent businessmen.

 

Well I guess sentient humanoid poison dart frogs are the race that runs the biggest and most prosperous planet in the Star Cluster. They likely wear some type of body suit that helps them stay out of the water longer. It is a pretty vital piece of equipment for a space faring race since starships are going to be kept climate controlled for lower atmospheric water levels.

 

The suits also protect those not of their species from the poisons their bodies secrete. When stressed or in danger their bodies reflexively produce a powerful contact cardio/neurotoxin. They are able to train themselves to suppress this reflex, but it’s not always effective. A few sentient species in the universe who evolved from animals that eat similar species of animals may have an immunity to this toxin.

 

The entire race is of extremely varied and bright colors. They take the brightness, colors, and patterns of their skins very seriously. It is very much tied to desirability for mating.

 

Primary: Bizarre

 

Name: Pavongans

Home-World: Hetoo 4

Description: A race of inventive mollusks. They have no concept of written language. They are divided into two competing nation-states, each of which controls territory on their home-world, as well as several off-world colonies.

 

Mollusks, eh? Okay, so that gives me a lot of things to choose from. Let’s go classic and assume some type of Cephalopod-like critter. Maybe a kind of mostly humanoid shape, but with 4 tentacles acting as legs and 4 tentacles as arms. They have a head with a large brain, octopus looking eyes, and a beaked mouth. They can also change their skin colors at will. Their ancestors could do it to match the environment, but this mostly just coincides with emotional states and aesthetics now. Their bodies are made of soft tissues and cartilage and decay rapidly after death with the body taking only a couple of weeks to be near completely decayed. Each arm tentacle has a very delicate looking end that is used for fine manipulation of things while the leg tentacles are much larger and stronger.

 

If they have zero concept of a written language, how would they be able to share ideas over the course of their evolution into a space faring society? They either have to live a long time, have insanely awesome memories and brain power, or they transfer information in a different way. I like the last one. Maybe they exchange ideas concepts and memories by exchanging chemical signals of some type. A form of memory swapping telepathy, and possibly a form of ancestral memory built into each and every member of the race.

 

This would mean their society is very much based upon honoring their ancestors. These long memories would easily be passed on to their young. Each and every one of them would have memories leading back countless generations. Maybe these more distant memories can only be accessed through deep meditation or something similar. And clearly not everything is going to be passed on. If a parent lives a long life after having children those later memories aren’t going to be passed on unless they share them via whatever their biological sharing mechanism is. (Chemical cocktails seem about right for this, and these aren’t just a different form a writing, these are actual recreations of the things that make the memories exist)

 

This would very likely lead them to be a contemplative and deep thinking race with a respect for tradition. They would never be rash or quick to jump to a decision. The loss of someone before their memories can be passed on is a very grave thing to happen to this race.

 

Now, why the hell are there two competing nation-states? Easy, ancient rivalries that just cannot seem to die. These have been the dominant nations for thousands upon thousands of years in one way shape or form. Ancient conflicts and the horrors inflicted upon each other are still able to be vividly recalled. Ever experience someone else’s PTSD cause before? They can! So they don’t get along well. Memories from the long dead cloud the judgments of the living.

 

Primary: Bizarre

Secondary: Mysticism

Space Opera: Alien Profiles Part 1

Time for 3 more alien species. As before I’ll include the Randomly Generated Description from scifiideas.com first and then follow it up with my expansion of the species. I may or may not change the names of the species and home-worlds at some later date. I am planning on fleshing out each species some more, these are just general ideas of who/what they are.

Species #2
Name: Dolanans
Home-World: Gorder VI
Description: A race of thrifty therapods who wear chainmail and wear blue body paint.

Therapods are your quintessential bipedal dinosaur. When you think Velociraptor, Tyrannosaurus, or anything like them you are thinking of Therapods. So this mean they are warm-blooded, possibly covered or partially covered with “primitive” feathers and likely from predator or omnivore anscestors.

Thrifty implies that they are a frugal and mercantilism inclined race, so they will likely have a strong inclination for free-trade and shrewd negotiating.

The chainmail and body paint may represent a warrior history. The chainmail could be ancestral or handmade and part of their maturation rituals. The body paint will definitely be a religious symbol.

All in all, this sounds like a race that encourages their people to become mercenaries. A tribal or clan family/social structure with an emphasis on strength of arms would be the most common culture on the planet. Their chainmail is more than likely purely ceremonial at this point, especially when dealing with high tech weapons. It may still really be chainmail, but it’s more of a symbol of their status rather than actual protective material.

Primary Type: Warrior
Secondary Type: Religious

Species #3
Name: Sheromi
Home-World: Luminar 3
Description: A race of three-fingered mammals who are able to survive up to eight weeks without food or water and are easily insulted and quick to judge.

Mammalian species with three fingers. Okay, so appearance wise just go with generic Star Trek humanoid alien with different facial structure plus Ninja Turtle hands. Got it.

Survival with no food or water for eight weeks at a time implies they come from a harsh world with scarce safe resources. Their society could potentially live in a Hunter-Gatherer mode for a very long time before they decide to transition to agriculture. The transition to agriculture would likely be due to a weakened ecosystems or a sudden population boom. They could have even had an issue in their biosphere that made hunting and gathering a less than sustainable or effective tactic. The species would still have a great respect for the hunting and gathering lifestyle though and may choose to keep it up whenever they can, supplementing with farmed foods only when necessary.

Survival being their top priority they would concentrate on technological advancements. Let’s also assume that their ability to go weeks at a time without food and water also translates too little need to sleep and a longer life expectancy. Say a 300-500 year range. They tend to take things a little bit slower than everyone else but can also concentrate on tasks a lot easier. They like to plan ahead.

Their society may like to encourage a minimalist approach to sustenance intake, maybe consuming a meal once a month at most. Each meal is a feast though. It’s almost a religious event where they thank each animal for its sacrifice and are thankful for the bounty they are able to reap. When they can, they prefer to only consume food that they or their companions have hunted or gathered. It isn’t a requirement, as modern life has made this difficult to maintain, but when given the opportunity the species tends to take it.

When it comes to protective, environmental, and survival gear the Sheromi make some of, if not the, best. They are also all at least competent in hunting and wilderness survival as it’s required skills for them to learn while growing up.

They believe very strongly in the tradition of guest’s rights and helping travelers even if they are bitter and sworn enemies.

Primary: Tech
Secondary: a dash of Mysticism and Warrior

Species #4
Name: Basa (Bah-Sah)
Home-World: Jittania VI
Description: A race of fury (sic) marsupials. They evolved on the same world as a race of semi-intelligent mammals which they use as slaves. They share their homeworld with beings of pure energy, whom they worship as gods.

I don’t know if that’s supposed to be “Fury” or “Furry”. I’m just going to assume it’s okay to use a simile of “fury”. Passion or Rabidity sound good for beings that can physically see and interact with their “Gods”.

Passionate Marsupials. Hmmmm… all that’s popping into my head are disgusting images of humans in religious garb with kangaroo pouches. Something like a Mobi Wrap, but made of skin. *shudder* Okay, maybe I’ll just leave the appearance alone for the moment before I make myself sicker…

This entry is a little bit more complex. I need to include two more races.

Clearly the energy beings are controlling everything in this society. The enslaved, semi-intelligent mammals may not know they’re enslaved and they may be common enough that everyone has one, buys one, or is given one. It could very well be an important piece of their culture too. How well you treat your slave reflects upon your character, and so on and so forth.

Why do the energy beings allow the enslavement? Were the Semis intelligent beforehand? How long has this been the standard?

Okay, clearly they need to be fleshed out more. I’ll post them after this entry as minor/related species.

The Basa worship the energy beings as gods. Their gods clearly exist. Their religious devotion is going to be nearly unshakable. Maybe there are dissenters here and there, but I’m sure it’s heresy to speak of such things.

Everything the species does will be in service to these Energy Beings whom they will defend with only a passion that religious zealots only can.

Primary: Religious
Secondary: None

Name: Basa Sa-ani (Bah-Sah Say-on-ee) which translates to literally mean The Gods of Basa
Home-World: Unknown
Description: Vaguely humanoid shapes of pure energy of varying colors.

The Basa religious texts speak of these benevolent beings descending from the heavens and delivering a great golden age to the Basa. No one knows where they came from or why they’re doing what they’re doing, but they protect and help advance the Basa. There are rumored thousands of these beings on the Basa homeworld. Very few, if any, outsiders have ever seen one let alone spoken to them.

Name: Vallo
Home-World: Same
Description: Mamallian, semi-intelligent. They have four eyes, a muscular humanoid build, and are placental mammals.

The Vallo’s origin has always been that of one growing up in the shadow of the Basa. Two sentient species with incompatible DNA typically do not show up together on a world due to the competition between primitive societies. It appears that the two species vied for control somewhere in the distant past and the Vallo lost. The became a domesticated, semi-intelligent species while the Basa went on to obtain a more “typical” intelligence level the universe is used to seeing. Vallo are used for labor and menial tasks. They’re bred for it, they are treated well, and seem pretty happy with their lot in life.

A Vallo is given to a Basa as part of their coming of age ceremony before the Basa is sent off on a pilgrimage. The care and respect a Basa shows his Vallo is a direct reflection of whom that Basa is. A goodly Basa is seen as one who treats their Vallo well, despite the fact that the Vallo are seen as little more than animals.

Edit: Post was unfinished when originally published, fixed that issue.

Space Opera: Aliens

I’ve been trying to come up with a general set of concepts to use to populate my Space Opera setting with alien races, because what’s a sci-fi setting without aliens, right?

 

The problem is that I’ve pretty much got nothing bouncing around in my head to start off from. Anything that I make is going to either end up being clichéd, too weird, or not make any sense whatsoever. Maybe I shouldn’t care and just go with it, but I can’t make myself do it. Whenever I try I just end up with a blank screen in front of me as I attempt to write.

 

Fortunately a little bit of Google based luck while searching for images to use as inspiration lead me to a website called SciFiIdeas.com (link: http://www.scifiideas.com/). In its writing resources section it has a random alien species generator. It has helped me get a massive list of ideas to springboard off of. The Generator provides a Name, a Home-World, and a basic Description using what appears to be a fill in the blanks format. Pretty much in the same way that any dice based randomly generated tables would work which was going to be my next option. Heroes Unlimited’s Alien section is really useful for that type of thing and I may still use it to flesh out what I get stuck on.

 

Most Sci-Fi settings have various Tropes associated with their alien species. Each race fills a niche or acts as a metaphor for an aspect of humanity or a segment of human history. Star Trek is really blatant about this type of thing. Entire cultures with tens of thousands of years of civilization seem to have a single unified culture with humanity being the only one with any variety in said culture. I’ve never been a big fan of that, but I do have to do it a little bit for the sake of gaming, at least a little bit. Setting the races up in categories can help establish their general “role” in the galaxy at large.

 

Generally you’re going to see 4 primary types of races in a sci-fi setting with multitudes of species. You have the Warriors, the Techs, the Religious/Mystical, and the Bizarre. Depending upon the setting and the species you can see some overlap in these categories.

 

Warrior species tend to be your Krogans, Klingons, Mandalorians, and other war-loving races. They may or may not have a special code of honor and they respect might and tests of strength over diplomacy/politics.

 

Tech species are those who rely heavily upon technology (who aren’t humans) and are well known to be very skilled with it, very close to it, or manufacture amazing things. Quarians, the Tau, the Borg and the Protoss fall into this category. Tech species can also include species that have used other species tech to improve themselves, like the Hutts and the Krogan.

 

Religious/Mystical species tend to stand in for earth religions somehow to make a point about how silly we can be or how powerful faith is depending upon the point the author is trying to make, or they could just be and excuse for a holier than thou group with mysterious powers. In this category you’ll see the Protoss, Bajorans, the Yuuzhan Vong, and the Asari.

 

The Bizarre are those being which are utterly alien to humans. Everything I’ve previously mentioned is generally (and very improbably) humanoid. This category is where the really weird stuff goes. Races like the Tyranids/Xenomorphs/Zerg, the Buggers/Formicans, Species 8472, the Reapers, the Daleks, and other species that are extremely difficult to relate with or speak to. Their bodies don’t tend to end up looking humanoid and their thoughts are completely and totally alien to most other races.

 

With this type of guidline combined with some of these randomly generated species I think I may be able to build a few alien races now. Let’s try one out. I’m going to transcribe the original description I got directly and then work from there with my thought process included afterwards.

 

Name: Hutiglurn

Home-World: Holiday

Description: A race of bovids with green skin and large tusks. They live in self-sufficient communities and prefer their food to be ground into paste. They are staunch Atheists and find all forms of religion and superstition offensive. Their home-world is connected to orbiting space stations by huge space elevators.

 

Okay, wow. That’s a pretty solid randomly generated start to a species I’d say. So, where to start here? Apparently a Bovid is a ruminant, cloven footed animal. Cows, Antelope, Buffalo and other unbranched horn herbivores belong to it. So they have horns, tusks, green skin, and likely eat plant matter. Being ruminants it makes sense for them to prefer their food be ground up, it means that they are less likely to need to chew their food more. Horns would evolve as a defensive/mating mechanism so they’ll have some warrior tendencies. Tusks are also useful for those things as well as rooting around for edible tubers and fungi.

 

Staunch Athiesm, self-sufficient communities, and space elevator accessible stations scream a technologically adept and intelligent society that values logic, reason, and personal/communal responsibility. They are likely to not have a very strong care for art or expression unless it has practical applications.

 

Primary Type: Tech

Secondary Type: Warrior

Space Opera: The Last Bunch of Random Planets

Time for the last 3 planets to be generated at random.

Planet 11:

8 Planets; 4 moons; Earth-like atmosphere; saturated hydrosphere; Earth-like Gravity; 16 hour day; 165 day year; Ocean/Volcanic terrain; Cataclysm establishment; Alliance government; Intolerant regulations, Alien Prejudice; High-tech; Imports: Service (Terraforming)/Education (Terraforming/Economic); Exports: Gems, precious metals, jewelry/Natural Resources; 600,000 population; no spaceport; trade backwater

Planet 11 is a primordial earth that has very minimal life on it. Mostly its life is simplistic creatures living in the ocean still. There are no native land or air dwelling organisms here. People came to this planet as refugees following the destruction/devastation of their homeworld a few decades ago. This planet was colonized because no one wanted to deal with terraforming it before these refugees showed up. The refugees have been working very hard to transform this barren planet into a human-like species compatible planet so they can rebuild their culture. They import experts in financial and terraforming matters so that they can make sure they’re doing it right.

Planet 11 is not without controversy though. Because of how pristine of a condition this primordial world was in before their arrival, scientists and preservation groups have heavily protested this colonization, but since it isn’t in a government controlled system, no one can really do anything about it. The people on this planet don’t really like many visitors, and begrudgingly accept trade from other planets. They just want to be left alone to rebuild their people.

Planet 12:

9 Planets, 1 Asteroid Belt; Earth-like atmosphere; Arid Hydrosphere; 0.8 Earth Gravity; 29 hour day; 390 day year; Jungle/Forest terrain; Abandoned colony; Anarchy; Informal regulations: Alien prejudice; High tech; Imports: Service/Natural Resources (Water); Export: Minerals/Entertainment; 20 Million population; No spaceports; Off Route Trade.

Planet 12 used to be a semi-prosperous corporate colony mining precious minerals and metals until their parent company went under. Corporate abandoned them on planet as economic collapse set in. Many years of conflict ensued while people tried to instill their own order onto the planet. None were successful and no central authority exists anymore. After many years a sort of order sprang up from the remains of the colony. The spaceports that once existed are dilapidated and are being reclaimed by the deserts.

The planet is primarily composed of deserts; most plant life takes the shapes of desert and savannah plants. They protect themselves and are extremely efficient with water absorption and use. Most animals are adapted to a desert lifestyle. Water is a major import for these people because of the lack of major sources of water outside of processing the plants. Planet 12 is known very well for a very specific style of dancing entertainer groups (of course made up of beautiful women) and less known for being the originator of a primary chemical in a very popular drug. The knowledge of this chemical’s origin is a well-kept secret. The only thing most know is that the chemical originates from this planet and it’s from an organic compound that no one can reproduce. Its distance from the main trade routes and the secretive nature of its origin have made it an extremely expensive and not cost-effective for criminal enterprises and governments to go after, so whomever is selling the chemical is making a fortune and is not in any danger of losing their business anytime soon.

Planet 13:

4 Planets; 3 Moons; Earth-like atmosphere; moderate hydrosphere; 28 hour day; 375 day year; Wetlands/Plains terrain; Independent colony; Govt: Bureaucracy; Moderate Regulations: Unbeliever prejudice; High tech; Imports: Service/Luxury Goods; Exports: Processing/Service; 500 Million Population; Minor Spaceport; Minor Trade

Planet 13 is a small planet in a small system orbiting a giant star. It is owned and operated by a Corporate interest and run by an autocracy. Has the single most convoluted and difficult to understand tax/regulatory/etc systems in the galaxy. It is impossible for even the most advanced brains in the galaxy to comprehend them. To speak ill of the planet’s convoluted systems is to invite fines upon yourself and possibly be forever expelled from the planet.

The planetary government can get away with this because of how much money they have and how high quality of a product they’re able to produce. This planet produces the best, cheapest, and most reliable starship replacement parts in this sector. Everyone relies upon their production facilities and wants to sell their parts or use them on their ships. The planet would have a more prominent role in the cluster’s trade routes but it’s out of the way and the costs of doing business there is extremely prohibitive. (Primarily because you’ll have to buy a native lawyer team in order to safely navigate their rules and regs.)

Truth time...

Okay, I’ll admit it. I’m a Speciest. In RPGs I am very partial to playing a Human to the exclusion of almost everything. When I create a setting or run a game I prefer to have it in a 90+% human population setting. I dislike Elves, Dwarves, Halflings, Gnomes and pretty much every single playable race in tabletop games. (Except for games in Sci-Fi settings for some reason)

Why is this? I have no idea.

In most settings I will only play a human, or something that very easily passes for human. There are some rare exceptions, but in the end it will primarily be human. This may stem from myself entering gaming through the Everway/World of Darkness route rather than DnD. Those settings are without out a doubt Human-Centric settings.

There’s also the fact that in DnD/D20 humans start off with a major advantage, and extra feat at first level and extra skill points. That’s pretty huge in that system. Plus there’s also the fact that it’s far easier to relate to the thoughts and feelings of humans because of familiarity with their way of thinking.

If I don’t count the various things that aren’t human but take human form from the World of Darkness as not being human (Garou/Werewolves, Vampires, etc.) then I’ve only played a handful of non-human characters. Blarg the Orc, an Elan Psion, I think there was a minotaur and a gargoyle back there somewhere, and possibly one more that I can’t remember. Not one was a memorable character or had very much effort invested in them.

The other races just don’t appeal to me, especially the Elves. Screw Elves, they suck. Nothing but haughty assholes.

My current character in the Orcanraytrel campaign isn’t human, but he’s the closest thing possible to it in the setting. Being of Fell Human decent with an “Inert Bloodline” racial trait really makes him statistically speaking a Human in Pathfinder terms so it’s good enough for me.

I don’t think there’s any real point to this post. I just wanted to say that humans rule and all other PC races suck… maybe?

Space Opera: Ship Categories

The next step for the Space Opera is Starships and their classifications. This one should be pretty easy to do since I was planning on initially just using ships from existing sources anyways.

Ships will be broken down into a handful of categories; Fighters, Freighters, Cruisers, Capital Ships, and Superships. Primarily this setting will be dealing with the first four categories. The Supership category is just there in case I feel a need to use it someday long down the road.

Fighters are small ships that tend to be fast, maneuverable, cramped, and tend to be short-range. This category also includes sub-categories that would be the equivalent of Naval PT boats, a ship like the Delta Flyer or a Danube-class Runabout in Star Trek, or an X-Wing or Skipray Blastboat in Star Wars. These are the smallest classes of ships and are usually armed with weapons that fire in a small, sometimes fixed arc. Almost everything in this class can be effectively flown with a single pilot. The larger ships may need two pilots, usually a pilot and gunner team, to be fully effective.

Freighters are larger than Fighters but smaller than Cruisers. Freighters are the most common ship type out there with the largest variety available. Large enough to actually have a “crew” and typically designed to not only haul cargo and passengers, they also fill many different roles in militaries. These are the types of ships that are based off of the Millennium Falcon and the Serenity. A hardy, independent, deep space transport vessel that has a lot of potential setting/story hooks. Some are combat oriented, some are scout ships, some act as personnel/cargo transports, other are smugglers, and so one and so forth.

Cruisers are larger than Freighters. Cruisers fill roles similar to the modern military equivalents of Frigates, Destroyers, Littoral Combat Ships, Cruisers, and other similarly sized vessels. This also includes your Bulk Freighters and other common large transport vessels. Equivalent ships would be Nebulon-B frigates and Correlian Corvettes in Star Wars, or the Defiant and a Klingon Bird of Prey in Star Trek. In a military sense these ships will fill an escort role or a specific niche in a larger fleet.

Capital Ships are your truly impressive ships. These are your Star Destroyers, your Enterprises, your Mimbari Sharlin Battleships, and your EVE Battleships. These have a very large variety of sizes (depending upon the series they originate from, with Star Trek’s being the smallest), but they all fulfill a similar role. They are the heart of a fleet. These are the big, important ships that will carry entire fighter command wings, massive invasion forces, countless weapons, and all the other cool things you expect from gigantic ships in a Sci-Fi setting. Civilian ships of this size tend to be the rarer Mega-Transports or Starliners. Those are essentially the Super Tankers and Mega-cruise ships of the sci-fi world and as big as civilian ships get.

The Superships category is reserved for the greatest ships of the types of ships you’d think of as Superships. We’re talking Ships about the size of a Super Star Destroyer and larger. If these types of ships exist in this setting they will be rare and restricted to the military almost exclusively. These are the engines of war that can bring ruin to entire fleets of lesser ships on their own. If I do include them for whatever reason in a story, they will likely be set-pieces with no real stats to speak of because there is no way in hell I’d let PCs have something strong enough to take something like this on…

Next time I think I might start looking at a couple alien race ideas.

Generic questions

So found this online, figured I'd fill it out for funsies. I didn't have a good answer for some of these so I just wrote something in to fill the spot.

I'm currently running (at home): Nothing

Tabletop RPGs I'm currently playing (at home) include: Nothing

I'm currently running (online): I ran about 1/3rd of the Tomb of Horrors a month or so ago

Tabletop RPGs I'm currently playing (online) include: Clint's Orcanraytrel Campaign (I have wanted to do more of the ones I've been invited to but my schedule sucks)

I would especially like to play/run: See my last blog entry

...but would also try: Pretty much anything that I can get

I live in: Western Massachusetts

2 or 3 well-known RPG products other people made that I like:

2 or 3 novels I like: Ender's Game, Monster Hunter International, Dresden Files

2 or 3 movies I like: Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Howling

Best place to find me on-line: Facebook

I will read almost anything on tabletop RPGs if it's: Interesting to me

I really do not want to hear about: Gender politics and other major socio-political issues unless they have something directly to do with the game at hand. Real modern politics in my adventures are a big no-no.

I think dead orc babies are ( circle one: funny / problematic / ....well, ok, it's complicated because....): It's complicated and problematic

Game I'm in are like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOUksDJCijw but there's also a lot of variety based on who I'm gaming with and the tone of the setting.

I talk about RPGs on Facebook

Space Opera: Small Arms

Because we’re talking Space Opera we can’t just talk about planets and the make-up of the star cluster. We need to have a full discussion on the subjects relating to what the PCs are going to be using relatively often, their weapons. I generally have a view on technology for sci-fi that variety is important to a realistic setting. Each species, planet, and culture is going to have its own preferences, capabilities, and resources that will determine what types of weapons are available to them. Each type of weapon will have its own strengths, weaknesses, and unique advantages. This will determine their usefulness in battle. With that being said, my sci-fi setting does not discriminate against most types of imaginary weaponry (I only discriminate against lasers because they’re lame in reality) and includes a wide variety to choose from because of the multitude of species, systems, and cultures.

The first type of weapon is the Particle Blaster. Typically referred to as a Blaster; this weapon essentially rips solid matter from its own barrel, superheats it, and projects it downrange using a magnetic field to push it into hypersonic speeds. It has the advantage of causing impact as well as energy damage to targets. It is the most common weapon type in the galaxy because it uses a simple power pack to fire (just called “Packs” for short). These power packs are easy to recharge pretty much anywhere power is generated and are highly reliable. They can even be adapted into power sources for other things in an emergency. The catch with Blasters is that after about 5 power packs worth of shots their barrels don’t have any more particles they can pull from and have to be replaced otherwise they suffer a meltdown. They have a very reasonable price point as far as weapons go and are a very good balance of Stopping Power and Range.

The second type of weapon is the Plasma Caster. Plasma weapons superheat special gasses inside of a magnetic field and then send the whole thing downrange. Plasma is a powerful energy weapon, but it is limited range. The Mag-field used by plasma weapons can only last a set amount of distance before it dissipates and releases the plasma to the air in a relatively harmless form. Typically considered a step above Blasters in terms of damage, but a step below in their range. They have the same amount of functionality as a blaster though, so they find their way to similar platforms. Plasma weapons use a combination Gas Canister and Battery to hold the gasses and generate the power required to make each plasma bolt. These are typically called “Cans” by those who use them.

The third type of weapon is called a Needler. Needlers are essentially scaled down railguns. They fire tiny metal projectiles with a magnetic rail at hypersonic speeds. They require very little power to operate and are capable of very high rates of fire. The ammunition is generated by the gun shaving a tiny, needle-like shard of metal off a block inserted into the weapon called a “Slab”. A one pound slab is able to generate about 100 or more rounds of ammunition. Some types of needlers are even able to use scrap metal found on the battlefield if it is inserted into its receiver (this could have a detrimental effect on the damage, range or accuracy depending upon the metal inserted) It is a very efficient and effective system but it can generate a lot of waste heat over the course of firing the weapon and the rounds are not as powerful as a comparable Blaster bolt. The rounds do have the advantage of being solid matter though, so they are able to go further than the rounds of most other weapons. Built-in cooling systems and external cooling enhancers help extend the amount of time a needler can function without hours long “rest” periods. (The Mass Effect series uses these types of weapons exclusively, outside of their heavy weapons.)

The fourth type of weapon is a Gyrojet. A Gyrojet is essentially a miniature rocket that shoots out of a small arm. They are self-propelled, explosive tipped bullets. People familiar with Warhammer 40k know who the Space Marines are and know what their iconic weapon, the Bolter, is. That weapon is essentially a Gyrojet. In this setting they’re smaller than bolters, they have a low rate of fire (I’m thinking semi-auto for the handheld stuff), and have powerful explosive heads relative to their size. So when compared to a Blaster, they’ll be stronger, longer range, more expensive, have a lower rate of fire, and a very limited magazine.

The last type of weapon is called a PlasCart. (The name needs work, shut up) This name is short for Plasma Cartridge. PlasCarts are self-contained cartridges that allow someone using an old slugthrower to fire plasma bolts. They are cheap, one-time use items that people on the frontier like to keep around. You don’t have to spend a ton of money on a modern weapon, you don’t have to have fancy recharge machines, and you don’t have to have high tech tools to maintain the weapon. Old slug throwers tend to be far more resistant to environmental wear and tear than most modern weapons so people who spend a lot of time exploring might keep one on them when exploring. These plasma rounds have about the same punch as a Needler, the range of a Blaster, and are dirt cheap to buy. They come in various calibers to fit whatever weapon you’re using them in and are highly praised for their reliability. Due to the nature of the design, these rounds are also undetectable by most modern sensors. No one knows why that is, but people are starting to take advantage of this feature more and it is making some places paranoid.

The typical small arms platforms you see in the galaxy fit into the following categories; Pistols, Submachine guns, Carbines, Rifles, and Heavy Weapons.

Pistols are pretty much anything that falls under the category of a handgun. They are typically small, concealable, semi-automatic, lower powered, and able to be held in one hand. All types of weapons are supported by this platform.

Submachine guns are typically larger versions of pistols that have a larger supply of ammunition and are capable of full-auto fire. They offer your normal pistol advantages as well. These weapons are typically heavily restricted in most civilized space and being caught with one can mean trouble. There are no Gyrojet submachine guns and loading one with PlasCarts is seen as impractical and unnecessarily expensive.

Carbines are shortened rifles. Traditionally used by ancient armies for use on horseback, the carbine found its way into regular military use by troops who needed the power of a rifle in tight spaces that others might use a submachine gun in. In the modern era, carbines are the primary weapons used in urban warfare and starship boarding actions. They have the power and capabilities of rifles, but with a shorter barrel and lighter weight to make them more maneuverable in tight spaces. Military models are capable of full auto. Supports all weapon types, Gyrojet weapons are not capable of automatic fire.

Rifles are the quintessential long-arm. These range from simple target practice rifles to the highest tech rifles carried by the military. They are accurate at long range and military models are capable of putting out an insane amount of rounds down range. The power of a rifle depends greatly upon its role. Same as Carbines.

Heavy weapons are anything that is big, bulky and able to wreak destruction above the norm. This is where you’ll see rocket launchers, machineguns, and other types of anti-material/anti-group weaponry. Weapon types expand here to also include small versions of vehicle/starship weapons as well as more powerful versions of small arms. Here is where you’ll be able to see Gyrojet weapons capable of fully automatic fire.

I’ve been thinking about adding a Shotgun category, if I do it will only work for Needlers since everything else uses an accelerated beam/energy source. Although Plasma Casters and Plasma Cartridges might be able to simulate something similar.

Planets of Random, Episode 3

Part 3 of the ongoing world-building for the Space Opera campaign.

Planet 8:

15 object system with 1 asteroid belt; 4 moon planet; atmosphere harmful over a long period of time; Saturated Hydrosphere; 0.6 earth gravity; 29 hour day; 285 day year; Common terrain: Mountainous/Wetlands; Establishment was a Recent or Past Cataclysm; Government is an alliance of groups, Informal regulations with tech/weapons restrictions; Imports: Finished goods, services;  Exports: Processing and Research; Population of ~20,000; Basic Spaceport; Off-route trade status

Planet 8, this one has been hard to think about. Nothing really jumped out at me about it. It is known about enough that it can’t really be a secret research base but it’s off the normal trade route so it only gets minimal or deliberate trade traffic. Exports processed materials and research on a world that is a world saturated with liquid water that has been devastated by some type of disaster.

Hmmm… How about it’s a world where various interests rent out spaces to do R&D and Raw Material processing that they can’t do elsewhere. Similar to a certain planet in the first Mass Effect game. This is a planet owned by one business, family, or species that rent out spaces to whoever can afford them to do what they feel like doing there away from prying eyes. The only real rules are a in regards to secrecy and keeping everything contained to your research area. Typically only people who have a good reason to be there fly out to it with the occasional trader flying out to try to sell some luxury goods, exotic foods, or similar things.

Planet 9:

12 object system, 3 annual comets; 1 moon; earth-like atmosphere; Dry hydrosphere; 1.2 Earth gravity; 27 hour day; 105 day year; Common terrain: Mountains and Forests; Established as independent colony; Democratic government; Moderate regulations, alien intolerance; Imports: Luxury Goods, Natural Resources; Exports: Services, Manufacturing; Population of 20 million; Basic Spaceport; Minor trade port

Planet 9 is a colony of people looking to get away from the rest of the galaxy. They live their own lives and try to leave everyone else alone. The government is a loose confederation of allied city-states in semblance of post-revolution, pre-constitution America. Most of the people just want to live their lives and be left alone. They trade mostly with each other and occasionally go to the markets to trade with off worlders. The government restricts where off-worlders can go unless they are purchasing property. They just don’t trust people whom they don’t know.

The planet itself is rather earth-like in nature. It’s a little bit large and closer to its star though so there is less liquid water and a little bit warmer, but it is perfect for raising most types of food plants and animals.

There is a city-state near the space port that specializes in manufacturing components from raw materials. They have contracts with many of the major businesses in the cluster for component supply due to their proximity to trade routes and the lack of taxes.

Planet 10

12 planets, 2 asteroid belts, 1 annual comet; 1 moon; Enviro-suits required on surface; Saturated Hydrosphere; 0.3 Earth Gravity; 30 hour day; 345 day year; Common Terrain: Jungle, Artificial; Established as Dependent Colony; controlled by single organization; Intolerant regulations, alien intolerance; Imports services and manufactured components; exports luxury goods and services; Population 300,000; Basic Spaceport; Major Trade Port

Planet 10 is a corporate owned world. There is a single Dome city that humans land on here to conduct business with the company. This is the primary manufacturing plant for a number of luxury goods that the Starliners that stop at Planet 1 like to stock their ships with. As such, there is always a high level of demand for these products and the company is always willing to let independent traders transport these items for them since it pads the company’s bottom line.

It’s also a great place to gain some experience and a reliable reputation for independent traders who are just getting started. You can prove you’re reliable and trustworthy by doing some of this transport work. It’s an easy route with lots of security. Basically it’s a great and boring way to make enough money to pay some bills and build up a reputation. You won’t get rich doing it but you aren’t going to get attacked by a pirate along the way.

The planet isn’t all happiness and sunshine though. There are many rumors about health, safety, and rights violations by the corporate owners but no one seems to speak much about it because of how popular the products are and how much money it brings in everywhere. It also doesn’t help that no one is able to actually confirm these rumors.

Wasted Potential or How I Wish I Had a Local Group

Current list of RPG Campaign Ideas that are actively running through my head or have been partially written out:

1)      The Eternal Seas campaign, my 3.5 and now being converted to Pathfinder high seas campaign/setting

2)      The Savage Plain, a Pathfinder campaign idea I had after seeing a picture. Basically Magical City, bunch of warring tribes, dinosaurs and unknown horrors beneath

3)      Dresden Files RPG, a San Francisco based campaign that I have a concept fleshed out for

4)      Werewolf The Apocalypse Chronicle that I’ve posted on here about before

5)      Werewolf The Apocalypse, Our Apocalypse with our group from high school. Sigh… I wish I could play in this one…

6)      FATE RPG, Geinrich The City of Merchants campaign I recently put together

7)      Star Wars (D20 or WEG D6), a campaign set in the New Jedi Order era centered around a young Jedi named Caleb Undertowner

8)      D6 Adventure based Mighty Morphin Power Rangers campaign. ‘Nuff said.

9)      D6 Space campaign that I’ve been playing around with.

10)   The Plague Campaign idea that just cropped up this past week

11)   A run through of The World’s Largest Dungeon.

12)   An Exalted Campaign based on our old dabbling in the setting back in high school.

13)   X-Crawl, because it’s awesome!

14)   A couple Iron Kingdoms ideas.

15)   A Werewolf/Dresden/FATE/whatever campaign idea that just needs to be “injected” into a system. Supernatural experiments are fun times.

Yeah, I really need a gaming group that meets up more than once a month in my life because these stories must be told dammit. At the very least I can see how awful they actually perform so I feel better about them not wasting space in my head anymore.

The Plague Campaign

A discussion on a Facebook group about Plague Campaigns piqued my interest. In it there were people talking about how they’ve run plague campaigns and the usual discussions of how societ will break down and blah blah blah. I gave my typical opinion and viewpoint where I don’t believe that a magical society really has to worry about these types of things because Magic and centuries of curative spell items and so on and so forth. Numbers were thrown around, references were made, and a grand debate was had. It was a wonderful discussion. It also inspired me to have another spark of an idea for a campaign that will likely never see the light of day. I also have an Pathfinder Adventure Path to look into called “Curse of the Crimson Throne”, specifically the 2nd book because it apparently breaks down the numbers in a very meaningful way. (Something like a city of 18000 people might have between 12-20 Clerics capable of casting Remove Disease at a time and maybe 180 Divine casters total)

The idea has to exist in a high-fantasy world like the Generic DnD/Pathfinder world. The specifics don’t matter much, but it must be a D20 based system for this to work. The society is a properly outfitted and prepared society where magic exists quite as clearly as science exists to us. This is because humans act like humans and recognize useful tools, even if they don’t fully understand the tools they’re using they will continue to use them and find new ways to improve their lot in life. In my opinion this means that humans will do everything they can to ensure that they can do the best they can to prevent bad things from happening (more or less). In this case it means that someone will use magic to prevent plagues from breaking out.

Imagine if you will a world where magic is real and there is a deity along the lines of DnD 3.X’s Pelor who is dedicated to healing people and preventing outbreaks of disease. The god grants people very real and very measurable amounts of his own power that his faithful can directly use to influence the world. They can fashion magic wands, rings, potions, scrolls, and various other implements that have the ability to help stave off diseases, bolster people’s immune responses, or just remove the disease entirely. They can create wondrous magical fountains that could be capable of performing these deeds for them too and provide it to those who come to their temple. This is in addition to other magics they’ll have at their disposal, like scrying magic that would allow them to detect where a disease is about to strike, or detect who is infected and who isn’t.

Some people countered my thoughts on those with “these are higher level clerics that would have to do this” “there’s no way there’s enough of them to do that” “why would they waste their time, money and spiritual energy (read: xp) on those things”. Which are legitimate points if you’re talking about people thinking rationally about their own benefits; not a millennia old religious order dedicated to the prevention and curing of disease. You look at real world example where our religious leaders aren’t able to coat themselves in glowing magical armor by reciting a prayer and what real humans sacrifice for their religions based upon faith alone. We argue about the existence of deities because we don’t see real, measurable results like “Remove Disease” “Call Lightning” or “Animate Dead”. Imagine what people in the real world would do if their god rewarded their faith with access to a couple 0-level spells. Hell, Jesus displayed abilities equivalent to an 8th or 9th level cleric in a 3.X setting and we proclaim him to be the son of God imagine the world if your region’s Catholic clergymen could perform that stuff on a daily basis.

My point is, that when I look at a potential for a plague campaign there has to be more wrong than there just being a plague that exists. Religions like those dedicated to Pelor would have stockpiles of items with Spell-Trigger completion (that would allow lower level casters to use a spell like Remove Disease) while constantly making a new supply, active plans for dealing with outbreaks, Scryers and Healers working around the clock watching for plague, permanent magical artifacts at their temples that provided some type of healing or disease resistance, monthly cleansing rituals at the temple, and countless other measures that we might not be able to comprehend because we live in the real world. In order for a disease to cause a plague or have a major outbreak would require something different to happen with the disease.

If a disease is to cause an outbreak it either needs to be unusually virulent (Bubonic Plague is “only” a DC17, easily within the power of a low-level caster to help out with), magical in nature (very possible because microbial evolution is a thing. Just think about MRSA and other treatment resistant diseases), or allowed to spread in some way by nefarious people for nefarious purposes.

And now that this groundwork is established, here’s where things get interesting. The campaign idea starts with the PCs being members of one such religious order. They are tasked with taking care of a potential outbreak of some disease. They are sent off by their order into a district quarantined per their standard rules, but something is wrong. Maybe the disease is spreading in an abnormal pattern, or its resists all magical treatment, or maybe something is actively trying to stop them from curing the sick. Eventually the disease will have to escape from the confines of the quarantine and maybe something else is discovered about the situation. Maybe the order’s stockpile of Remove Disease Wands was stolen, broken, or disenchanted. Their magical fountain may have been smashed. Maybe their god disapproves of the city and is damning it for its sins. Is it the work of a doomsday cult? A lich? A mutated bacterial infection that has gained hive-mind sentience? SO MANY OPTIONS!!!

The PCs don’t even have to be just Clerics and Paladins either. Churches have use for all kinds of people with a variety of skills. Maybe a nun used to be a rogue in her pre-convent life. The paladins may be supplemented by regular Fighters and Knights. Oracles and Bards could be there performing their normal functions. Alchemists could Easily supplement the healing supplies. The trips out to cure diseases and help the down trodden could easily be construed as pilgrimages and evangelizing. What better way to convert people than by performing good deeds and curing people of The Plague and promising them further protection by attending your sermons?

For the first time ever I think I actually would want to play a Cleric…

PS: Upon further reading it appears that the spell Remove Disease grants no future immunity to a disease. So if you catch a virus it appears that Remove Disease will cure you but doesn’t allow your body to produce anti-bodies against future exposure to the disease. Interesting but useless trivia!

Power Rangers The Campaign; Season 2

I’ve been thinking a bit more about that Power Rangers setting and playing with a few concepts since the last time I posted about it. I looked into a couple of systems, a few mechanics, and some narrative structures that I could use for it. Here’s the fruit of that labor.

First off I’d want to use the West End Games D6 Adventure system. It’s a versatile and easy to learn system with the mechanical crunchiness that such a setting would require. I’ll have to design each piece of equipment myself and that’ll take some balancing work, but in the end it won’t be that hard because even if things turn out to be overpowered or even underpowered it can easily be dealt with in a Power Rangers style fashion. Which is of course to say that it ends up never used again, only used against specific enemies, or the enemies get some type of immunity or strength boost from that point on.

I really like the Charge Point economy concept I came up with and will definitely be using that for this idea, I just have to come up with the specific costs and a table for the players/GM to follow. The actual Morphing and power-up structure is going to be a little bit tricky to initially build but should be easy to follow in game. Rangers usually follow a pretty standard pattern for the escalation of their fights in an episode/series: Pure Human, In-between form (think of the Ninja forms they got in MMPR), Morphed, Power Weapons, other special power-ups or vehicles, Zords, summon allies, Megazord/s, and finally the Ultrazord. This pattern makes it easy to setup the escalating costs and what power-ups will be available with certain amounts of charge once I figure out how much that charge may cost.

Character creation should be relatively easy. You make a teenager with attitude, or 20-something with attitude, whatever. You get the standard pool of resources for character creation and make a person. Each character should have a unique set of skills and everyone’s characters should know each other in some way. When they morph into their Ranger forms the characters will get various automatic boosts to their abilities depending upon their ranger color. Some will be generic boosts and some will be specific to their role on the team. Remember, each Ranger is specifically selected for their role based upon compatibility with the color they wear. Oh, and there must be 5 players. That’s a requirement

Now as for how the Narrative will play out, this one is easy. Treat every single session as a single episode of the series, including Theme Music and an introduction of the cast at the start every play session. If the plot of the episode isn’t resolved before the end of game session the GM is required to end the session on a cliffhanger and give a recap at the start of the next session before playing the theme music. The game is based off of a TV show for kids so the sessions will kept lighthearted and cartoony in some ways. Evil is evil, the only gray area villains will be the ones who can change sides or who are under the influence of a spell/plot device. There will always be something that has some type of moral lesson about teamwork that the rangers must overcome.

This shit writes itself!

Villains and monsters are going to be a little bit difficult to visualize without me being an artist, but I can probably find a way to photoshop some things together or find good visuals on the internet.

Now, what would the plot be based around? Each generation of Rangers has a command center and a theme they follow. I’m thinking of reaching back into the Power Rangers lore vaults and pull out some of the unused ideas for the TV show, specifically the Hexagon concept.

The Hexagon was an idea that was being built up to while Power Rangers was still under the control of Saban. It was a new type of command center that was publicly funded and well-defended. The idea was that Tommy Oliver (the former Green, White, and Red-Zeo Ranger) helped to found an organized resistance to the evil in the universe that kept finding its way to Earth. The Hexagon would be the command center for multiple Ranger teams and would be modeled after the Pentagon. Except, y’know, full of giant supertech/magic research departments. It was really going to be a way that they could just use multiple series at the same time, sell more toys, and not worry too much about a constantly consistent plot with a single season of stock footage. It was never used because they decided to go a completely different direction with the series because they were under the assumption they were ending the series.

For me, the Hexagon represents a great alternate timeline option that allows me a stepping off point for the “series” I’d be running. It can be its own thing without running into dealing with canon issues and all that crap. Plus, Tommy Oliver as the equivalent of a Chief of Operations for a military branch.

Of course I could also go with the ultra-realistic interpretation of everything including what access to that tech means for humanity, the death and destruction of such battles taking their toll on the world economy, and all the fun stuff that goes along with that stuff. I’d rather keep it a light-hearted and campy romp with people abusing the shit out of the word “Morph” in more exotic and unlikely ways though. We have enough darkness in all the other settings I pay attention to that this one should be allowed to be enjoyed for what it is.

Space Opera: Planets of Random 2; The Randoming

Okay more randomly generated planets for the Star Cluster.

Planet 5:

Planet 5 is part of a 9 planet system; Has 2 moons; Atmosphere is harmful to humans over a long term; moderate amount of oceans (earth-like); 0.9 Earth gravity; 20 Hour day; 390 Day year; Primarily an Ocean and Jungle environment (Primitive Earth-like); Abandoned Colony; Criminal Government; Intolerant regulations w/ restricted Tech/Weapons; Mid-High tech level; Imports Natural Resources and Finished Goods. Exports 2 Major types of manufactured goods. Population of 50,000,000. Considered a Trade backwater and has a Minor spaceport.

The planet itself resembles a primordial earth with a similarly composed atmosphere. The hypersaturation of O2 in the atmosphere causes many medical complications in humans exposed to the atmosphere over a long period of time. The planet was once a sort of biological preserve and natural world observation project in addition to being a pretty solid trade port. The site was abandoned a long time ago by the company/group that originally owned it after their funding ran out. Criminals moved in to fill the power void left by the government’s departure. The criminal enterprises set about using the land available to them to put up assembly factories that keep the current population employed. Most of what they produce are chemicals and weapons components for use in items that are known to be illegal. The population is pretty tolerant of the Criminal rulers because they viciously protect the planet and bring in plenty of money. They rule in a relatively fair fashion too, it just isn’t exactly a representative government with the population’s best interests at heart (think more of a Mafia type family).

Planet 6

7 Planet System; Has a Ring or many small moons; Earth-like atmosphere, Moderate hydrosphere; 1.1 Earth Gravity, 22 hour day; 390 day year; Primarily Volcanic and mountainous terrain (Very Primordial Earth-like); Abandoned settlement; Criminal Government; Informal Regulations, Tech/Weapons restrictions; Mid-High tech; Imports Luxury Goods/Natural Resources; Exports processed materials and Services; population ~6,000,000; Minor Spaceport; Major Trade Route.

Planet 6 was part of a young mining corporation’s attempts to expand into the Cluster. This planet was to be used as a processing and storage facility for various ores in preparation for shipping. Unfortunately the company was plagued by poor management and bad luck. It had to abandon Planet 6 many years ago and, as is wont to happen in the area, the criminal elements moved in to take what they could. Most of the processing facilities warehouses and mines still exist on this planet and are still worked by various individual crime lords and their gangs. The planet is well known to be a great place to buy pretty much anything you could ever want. The lack of a real government lets people do what they want, when they want, and where they want. Unfortunately this also means that there’s slave trades and lots of smuggling operations that base themselves out of this area. There is a single marketplace in the inhabited area of this planet that is used as basically a 100% free-trade area. The crimelord who runs it is notoriously brutal to anyone who violates his simple rules, but is otherwise fair and keeps his cut of things very low.

The planet itself is in a Primodial Earth-like state. It is very similar in size, shape, and rotation to the Earth as well as having a very similar hydrosphere. It is still extremely volcanically active and most of the planet just has very primitive lifeforms across it. Really only one area about the size of an American State is inhabited.

Planet 7

11 Planets, 1 Asteroid Belt; 2 moons; Hazardous atmosphere, enviro-suits required; Arid Hydrosphere; Earth-like gravity; 23 hour day; 120 day year; Desert/Glacier terrain (Little-to-no atmosphere, frozen gas glaciers, corrosive soil); Important military outpost; Military Government; Intollerent regulations, Tech/Weapon restrictions; High tech level; Imports Services and Entertainment; Exports natural resources and services; Population 30,000; Major Spaceport; Trade Hub

Planet 7 is a frozen desert planet covered in various frozen gasses and rare rocky elements. The planet itself is of very little interest to most people, but the location of this solar system in the cluster is very important. Multiple orbital and asteroid based space stations exist here and it is a very popular marketplace and it is also the only connection to half of the cluster. Everyone must travel through this system at some point. Unfortunately Planet 7 is the single most habitable planet in the system so it has never become a truly influential system in the Cluster’s politics. A relatively small mercenary company calls this planet home. They are a very skilled and specialized guard force for merchants and are the primary force defending and patrolling this entire system. They finance themselves with exports of the rare materials on the planet and with general mercenary work. They are officially the “ruling power” of the system and enforce their regulations with extreme prejudice directly in line with the letter of the law. They always have the absolute top of the line ships, weapons, tech and training. There are rumors about some type of unknown bypass to this system that smugglers and pirates have been using to get around the heavily regulated and patrolled system.

Halloween

So it's October once again. Probably my favorite month of the year. Why you may ask? Well most people probably know why. I'm originally from the town of Half Moon Bay and it's famous for its pumpkins. Every year they hold the Pumpkin Festival and it is the single biggest tourist draw for the area for most of the year.

Obviously most people in the town get in on the action. Lots of arts, crafts, pumpkin flavored items, and Halloween colors/themes are seen. The town takes its Halloweens very seriously and people setup some of the most elaborate haunted houses and decorative displays in their own yards.

In our little hamlet known as Montara, a very small community north of Half Moon Bay proper, a block near the elementary school setup barriers and went super insane decorating and preparing their area for Halloween. Massive displays, tons of candy, jello shots for the adults. Amazing stuff. I got the joy of taking my daughter around there during my short time back in my hometown after I was discharged from the navy.

It was stupendous.

It's a very magical and wonderful time of year for people from the Coastside. I never realized how much I would miss it either after I moved away by joining the navy.

Now that I'm a homeowner in a small New England town though I have an opportunity. The community I'm in has a bit of the Halloween spirit, but they don't really have the same type of spirit coastsiders have.

Maybe I can do something small to change that.

Since this blog is supposed to be about nerdom and my creative pursuits it seems fitting to talk about this here.

I'm wanting to start trying to encourage a Montara style block party where I now live. The only way to start doing that though is to start by decorating our house properly and encouraging the neighbors to do the same by do so.

I don't have that much time left this year to do much, if anything. Plus money can be a factor here, but I'm willing to put in some effort for this and am planning on making most of the props myself. This will help keep the costs down and help make it a memorable event.

If I start doing any projects I'll catalogue them and the process I'm using on here.

Power Rangers, the Campaign

I’ve always had a typical for my age and gender reaction to the Mighty Morphing Power Rangers; I watched the episodes religiously, I wanted all of the toys, and thought the entire concept was really freaking cool. I’m a boy who loves his cheesy, Japanese inspired (okay, stolen footage from Japan), shows and movies with people in ridiculous outfits fighting people in rubber suits with their own rubber suited beasts and models.

If you look at the original show while ignoring the extremely cheesy… um… everything… about it, you can see the makings of a really deep setting begging to be exploited by the creative. The original Power Rangers were just some kids with some exceptional talents recruited by a powerful interdimensional being. The Interdimensional being grants these teens access to their Power Coins and Morphers. Each of the 5 members receives a power coin with a totem that complements/is complimented by their own abilities. Each Ranger also has a “DinoZord” of their totem animal for when they have to face down gigantic threats.

The Power Coins seem to have some type of mysticism in their origin while the Morphers, Zords, and other bits and pieces of the command center seem to be based around alien/super tech. The command center has faster than light communications, matter-to-energy teleportation, interstellar starships, advanced sensor technology, and many other examples of super-tech. The Rangers themselves use a combination of technology and mysticism in their weapons and abilities as well. None of it is specifically explained as to why these things appear to be a combination of magic and technology, but who cares. It sold toys.

The lack of explanation was probably really done for the ease of writing convenient plot devices that appear out of nowhere from the original Japanese footage and to pad episodes with unnecessary drama. You would hear references to things like “The Morphin Grid” (Yes, the proper spelling is without a “g”, did you expect any different?) or the Rangers would go on a quest for some weapon they might only use once.

So anyways, the point of this rambling is that I’ve been convinced for a very long time that the Power Rangers would make a wonderful RPG setting. You have a team of people thrust into greatness by powers greater than themselves. They have to struggle against the seemingly endless forces of evil while protecting the innocent. Evil is constantly growing in power and ability which requires the rangers to go on quests for more powerful artifacts or abilities to fight the forces of evil. They also have magic powers and giant super-tech robots. What else do you really need for an RPG?

I’ve been playing around with this concept for quite a while and the biggest thing stopping me from running it was the lack of a way to effectively engage players during a megazord fight sequence. What would you do? Just give the controls of the megazord to a lone player while the others watched? Do you have each of them coordinate a different limb? Do they all have their own turn? Do they have to vote on each move before they perform it? The answer to the question escaped me until yesterday (or a few days ago depending on when this gets published.

The idea is to give a specific role to each of the Rangers when they’re in the cockpit. One ranger controls one of the following stations; sensors, defensive/power, ranged weapons, melee, and the pilot. Each Ranger gets to make a control roll/skill challenge or something similar and depending upon their success or failure can generate what I’m calling a “Charge point”. The charge points can be kept in a pool until the team decides to use them for one of their many uses. Maybe calling the Power Sword requires 15 Charge Points or they can spend a few points for extra attacks and a free ranged attack with some extra damage. Maybe it allows the Dino-Megazord to call up its Shield, or allows them to summon an ally like Ninjor, Titanus, or the Dragonzord. I’m still working out the specifics, but the general concept is sound and now it’s just a matter of refining it.

These charge points can be added to every aspect of a Power Rangers episodic adventure. It helps maintain the pacing of the show and forces the players to mechanically follow the stages of escalation the rangers would have to follow in a story. Why don’t the rangers immediately whip out the Zords against the regular sized opponent? Because they don’t have the Charge points built up yet of course! Fighting the monster with blade blasters first? Not enough points to summon up the power weapons yet. Why is the red ranger not using the Dragon Armor? Lack of Points! Why are Bulk and Skull here? Because your GM hates you. I also think that the Rangers should be able to tap into the Morphin Grid if the need emergency charge points, but it should carry some level of danger and it should be a limited pool.

This pool wouldn’t just be limited to the Rangers though. Obviously the villains have their own pool as well. I was thinking that each of the different levels of villains would have their own ways to gain these points and use them.

You could have minions like the Putty Patrollers sent in to soften the rangers up in the first place be capable of earning charge points, but they can’t use them. They would create the initial pool of points for the Episode Monster to use. The Episode Monster would generate a certain number of Charge Points every turn based upon how powerful a creation it is. Minor Villains (like Goldar or Scorpina) would earn a certain number of points per round and be able to generate/use them in similar ways to the Rangers. Main Villains (Rita or Zedd) would generate their own points and/or suck off the power of the Villain Pool in order to generate their own energy for casting spells, using magic items, sending in minions, monsters, and etc to generally make life far more difficult for the Rangers.

I’m envisioning 3 Charge Point pools, the Ranger Pool, the Monster Pool, and the Villain Pool. The Rangers fill and draw from their own pool. Minions, the Episode Monster, and Minor Villains add to/willingly contribute to the Monster Pool which can be used by the Episode Monster to unleash hell upon the Rangers. The Villain pool is held by the Major Villain and is essentially a tax upon the Episode Monster’s pool, maybe a MV has a Siphon rate or some other specific rate at which their pool increases. The Villain Pool is used by the Main Villain to bring in more minions, monsters, magic items, etc into the battle.

Man, this system sounds awesome… okay, now I need to work on the charts for the things charge points can be spent on.

This charge point system is just a secondary system though. It can really be slapped onto any game system out there to allow a power rangers campaign to be run. The next question is, what system do I use to run the game? This is something I’m going to have to think about. Two immediately come to mind though, FATE and D6 Adventure. Before I can choose though I need to look into a few more systems.

Space Opera:The First 3 Planets of Random!

So I’ve been semi-randomly generating some worlds for this Space Opera star cluster. Nothing has a name yet and they’re only being referred to as “Planet #” with the # sign being replaced by the order it was created in. So the super-tourist planet I’ve mentioned is Planet 1, the next one will be Planet 2, followed by #3, and so on. I will profile Planet 1 at a later time, meanwhile here are the first 3 planets made through semi-randomness. (Semi-random means I may have altered or added something based on it making thematic sense or based off of inspiration striking me after seeing the dice fall) These are all the primary planets in their respective solar systems, there may be more inhabited in each system and there may be other deep space habitats (like colonized moons/asteroids or space stations) that I haven’t decided on creating yet.

Remember, these are the primary planets of 3 separate solar systems within the star cluster, not 3 planets in a single system.

Planet 2:
10 Planet solar system with 2 asteroid belts; The planet has 1 moon; The atmosphere is harmful to human life over a short period of time (This planet has a high concentration of CO2 and O2); The hydrosphere is super saturated making it almost entirely an ocean planet; 0.5 Earth Gravity; Most common terrain features are Jungles and Ocean; 36 hour day; 360 day year; established as a dependent colony and ruled by some type of monarchy-like system; Strict/Intolerant Regulations with specific weapon/tech restrictions; Imports some type of services and R&D; Exports a banking service and natural resources; Approximate population of 60,000; has a “minor” spaceport and is considered a trade backwater.

Planet 2 is almost entirely covered by liquid water with next to no landmasses poking up from its massive oceans. The world is absolutely covered by a kelp-like plant that is capable of growing out of the water and farming Mangrove-like jungles in the shallower waters. The atmosphere is harmful to humans in a matter of minutes due to the high concentrations of Oxygen and CO2 in the atmosphere. The planet is essentially setup as tax haven, with Banking and currency exchange being its primary industries outside of the planet’s vast ocean-based resources. It is ruled by the head of the Bank in a corporate monarchy. It has a decently well-equipped spaceport and is out of the way enough to make attacking it extremely difficult (especially considering how close the Bank’s mercenary support is to the travel routes.

Planet 3:
15 planet solar system with 2 dense asteroid belts; 3 moons orbit the planet; Earth-like atmosphere with an extremely arid hydrosphere; Gravity is 5x Earth; 26 hour day; 225 day year; Common terrain includes Glaciers, Forests, and Volcanoes; Established as an independent colony by a major business conglomerate; Moderate regulations with a strong alien prejudice; Imports Services and processed raw materials. Exports education and finished goods. Has a population in the 600-700 range; Basic spaceport on planet; considered a trade hub.

Planet 3’s arid environment is kind of a misnomer. It has a lot of water, but it is all frozen except directly around its very active volcanoes. Around these volcanoes individually developing forest eco-systems exist in steamy, tropical rain forests. There is a large trading station in orbit where the Conglomerate maintains a major trade outpost for selling the goods they produce on the surface. The manufacturing processes they are using work extremely well in such a high-g environment and enhance the quality of the products they make. The fact that they can use geothermal power and don’t have to worry too much about environmental impacts to the planet also helps a lot. Access to the planet is restricted to the factory workers and other conglomerate personnel as required for maintenance, inspections and such. The factory’s non-manufacturing spaces are maintained at about a 1.2 Earth Gravity environment with artificial gravity generators/compensators.

The spaceport services available to non-company affiliated ships are some of the most basic, just enough that they don’t fear reprisal by travelers. Company affiliated ships have access to a cutting edge facility with all the latest tech and reasonable pricing. Anyone caught using it who isn’t part of the company faces harsh punishments and fines.

Planet 4:
14 planet system, 1 asteroid belt; Planet has 12 small moons; Earth-like atmosphere, dry hydrosphere with some standing water; Earth-like gravity; 23 hour day, 135 day year; Artificial and mountainous terrain dominates the world; established as an important military installation, ruled by a bureaucracy; Intolerant regulations that punish “unbelievers”; Imports Luxury goods and entertainment; Exports2 types of services; estimated 4 Billion population; Major spaceport; Trade Hub

Planet 4 is a heavily populated world. It has quite a large number of cities dotting its surface. It was once a major military installation for the Terrans during the second to last major war with the Confederation. It was sold off to a Security/Mercenary corporation founded by veterans of that war who now maintain the government and infrastructure of the system. Most of the population are or are decedents of Refugees from major conflicts around the galaxy. The Mercs seem to take a very serious stance on protecting these refugees. This company is the most hired company in the known galaxy and most everyone in it appears to be volunteers from the refugee population. The world has very little natural resources and making a living on the surface can be hard without access to modern tech which easily makes its way into the system because of its close proximity to Planet 1.

I like where this stuff is going.

Space Opera 33 and 1/3

So this Sci-Fi thing won’t leave my head. So I found a ton of D6 Star Wars Resources free on the web that I can peruse at my leisure now. That’ll make the possibilities for personal gear, weapons/armor, and starships much easier to get a baseline to use. (Unrelated tangent: I find it really interesting how humans are typically the ones depicted as the individual classes in these WEG books while different species are typically represented as their species and not as a class. Humans are depicted in the entries like “Smuggler”, “Bountry Hunter”, and “Diplomat”. Meanwhile aliens are depicted as “Wookie” or “Mon Calamari”. Just an odd way to do things in my eyes. /Tangent)

I started thinking about the way this star cluster could be setup and how things would run more. First off we should have an idea of how many Stars are in the cluster and how many are inhabitable. [Rolls a D20 + 10] So 27 stars in this cluster, we’ll make half of them habitable which puts us at 13 or 14 systems with habitable planets. Let’s go with 13 because that number is far cooler than 14. The other 14 stars may or may not have planets or useful resources and they may even quite possibly have some people living in stations or other such things, but they will be few in number and living/trade will be hard for them. We’ll keep those areas uncharted and mysterious for the time being because no one in the habitable worlds are really going to give much of a damn about them.
Okay, so 13 solar systems in the cluster with habitable worlds. One of these systems will have a world that is a stop for Star liners and will be the primary trading hub/consumer of goods/tourist destination in this particular star cluster. Every other star cluster is going to primarily be exporting their goods and services to this system to be able to fetch the best price they can from their labor. I think I’ll use the Guild Council/Mercantile Republic style government I came up with for the Geinrich setting to run this main planet. The planet should be earth-like for the most part, nothing to make it difficult to adapt to over long periods of time for people who are visiting. What might make this a desirable tourist spot? Well, let’s see… how about vast, untouched swaths of natural Earth-like biomes, a very strong (for the area) and poorly regulated economy, and a unique set of rings surrounding the planet that make the night sky amazingly beautiful.

Every other system I’ll generate randomly using the planet generation charts included in the D6 Ships book and write them up separately.

How does this cluster deal with the two neighboring interstellar governments? What is their relationship to them both? Does either side give a rat’s ass about these systems? Does the cluster actively fight against annexation, incorporation, or any other versions of adding the planets into their government structures? What does each side call the area? Is it under any type of political contention?

These are all questions that need to be answered at some point. Maybe after fleshing out these new planets it will become super obvious how some of these will be answered. Here’s to hoping…