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Distant Atmospheres – A GURPS Sci-Fi Campaign
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| A Watcher. Watching. |
The Boy made a genetically enhanced attack dog that can talk. It's a German Shepard. It's name is Commander.
Commander Shepard. Yup. ;)
Summary
Distant Atmospheres
is a science fiction game set in the late 24th century. After receiving a dire warning about
impending galactic doom from alien refugees, Humanity began to prepare to flee
their homeworld. As time progressed,
however, Humanity chose not to flee, but to explore, settle, and dig in to
their interstellar neighborhood. Nowadays,
no one really thinks about the warning of doom – except the occasional
religious zealot and odd historian.
Space looks fine - just fine.
Timeline
The Century of
Contact (2001-2100)
The Heralds contact Earth,
announcing the Tribulation and gifting the Starseed to Humanity. Most of the century is used to debate whether
to trust the Heralds and initiate Exodus.
The OSA is given the mandate to research the Starseed on Jupiter.
The Century of
Exploration (2101-2200)
After Crestrider spacecraft are
developed, the OSA initiates plans for the Exodus, exploring nearby star systems
and attempting to chart an escape route outside the Milky Way. As research outposts become colonies and the
peaceful, primitive aliens know as the Associates are discovered, the idea of
Exodus becomes less popular.
The Century of
Colonization (2201-2300)
Midas 2212, an asteroid made
almost entirely of gold, is discovered near Sol. In order to avoid warring over the find, the
United Nations claims control over Midas 2212.
Power shifts to the UN, while countries, corporations, and non-profit
groups begin to stake claims via the OSA throughout interstellar space. Exodus is officially written out of the OSA’s
charter, in favor of subsidized exploration and colonization.
The Century of
Conflict (2301-Present Time)
Colonization continues
successfully, and the increased wealth and technological advances bring about
unheard of prosperity for humanity.
However, in the middle of the century, mantis-like aliens called the
Watchers attack human settlements, conquering them and holding them. War rages for years until the Empathy
Interface is developed, eliminating the need for Rigging and allowing Reachers
to be much more maneuverable and deadly in combat. A Peach Treaty is signed, but the remaining decades
prove tense, as the Watchers appear to not be interested in peace.
Glossary
Associates – Small, fuzzy, arboreal aliens
that resemble bush babies, but are intelligent and tool-using.
Crestriders – Reachers who have been
altered to travel through space.
Desecrators – Genocidal aliens located
towards the center of the Milky Way galaxy, per the Heralds.
Exodus – A plan mentioned by the
Heralds to evacuate the Milky Way Galaxy to escape the Tribulation.
Heralds – Aliens that contacted
humanity, warning them of the Tribulation and giving them the Starseed.
Makers – The hypothetical ancient alien
race that originally developed the Reachers.
Martyrs – An alien race of bepedal,
crab-like creatures. Most of the race
was enslaved by the Watchers.
OSA – The UNOOSA, or United Nations
Office for Outer Space Affairs, shorten colloquially to OSA. A group established by the United Nations in
1958 to help promote peaceful uses of outer space.
Reachers – Giant, squid-shaped
intelligent aliens that manipulate space-time.
It is believed that they did not naturally evolve – but instead were
created by the mysterious Makers during the distant past. With manual augmentation, they can be formed
into Crestriders.
Rigging – The process of lobotomizing a
Reacher and rewiring it’s central nervous system to completely control it. Such Reacheers are called Rigged Crestriders.
Starseed – A small, dense genetic package
used to grow Reachers.
Tribulation – A time of chaos and destruction
to be brought on by the Desecrators.
Watchers – Ten foot tall mantis-like
aliens with no ability to empathize with aliens and a abnormal interest in
horrific genetic experiments.
Earth
Earth is the birthplace of
humanity and the most populous planet in Human Space, with 14 billion
inhabitants. After years of
mismanagement of the biosphere, Earth is finally returning to a healthy state –
thanks in part to atmospheric scrubbers, weather control satellites, and bioplastics.
Many languages have disappeared
over the centuries. The core languages
spoken on Earth are now Arabic, English, Hindi, Malay, Mandarin, Russian, and Spanish. Most people know at least one of these, even
if it is not their home language.
United Nations
While there are still some 100 countries
(down by half from three centuries before,) Earth is governed by the United
Nations. The United Nations has evolved
over the years into a tricameral system of power-sharing between the people,
the countries, and the corporations, as so:
Parliament – The house of the people. There are 500 representatives – each one
representing 28 million people. On
certain issues, the parliament calls for direct voting by its constituents,
which is normally done on the fly instantaneously. Worldwide votes happen once a week, usually,
though many do not vote on matters that do not affect their daily lives.
League of Nations – There are roughly 100 seats – with each seat being
held by an officially designated country.
Each seat has a vote weighted by the number of people in that
country. This has caused some countries
to unify together, so as to have more legislative power. The current powerhouse countries are:
·
Anzac –
the union between Australia and New Zealand
·
Argentina
– the Spanish-speaking economic stronghold
of South America
·
Brazil
– the most powerful country in South America
·
China –
not communist anymore, China is a managed by a board of corporations
·
Europe
– no longer just an economic bloc, Europe is a cohesive cultural entity
·
Greater Congo
– forged during the Central Africa wars of the early 2100s
·
India –
virtually the same nation as 300 years before.
·
Pacific
League – a union of Eastern Pacific states including Japan, Korea, Malaysia
Vietnam, and the Philippines
·
Persian
Republic – an attempt at a secular government stretching from Turkey and
Egypt to Pakistan
·
Russia
– Officially the Eurasian Commonwealth, this is just the core of Russia with its
reclaimed Soviet Empire in tow
·
United
States – the central part of the failed North American Union when Canada
and Mexico seceded
Economic Council – The council was formed during the Enterprise
Revolt after lobbyists were banned from the United Nations Parliament and
League of Nations. Originally granted
status as an advisory board, the Economic Council was altered to become an
additional house in the legislative branch of the UN.
The current companies sitting on
the eleven member grand council are:
·
Andarta
Defense Combine – A European defense technology company.
·
Biotonics –
An interstellar conglomerate specializing in genetic technologies. The company owns most of Mars.
·
Bogati
Commodities – A Russian corporation that deals in commodities.
·
Corvodyne
– Formed from the United Nations Alien Technology Experimentation Group after privatization. Specializes in Reacher ranching and
augmentation.
·
Doppler Communications
– A communication and transportation company for data, passenger, and freight.
·
Exitation
– An American energy company, building fission, fusion, and anti-matter reactors.
·
Fukurokuju
Industries – A microelectronics and quantum technology company from Japan.
·
Gaṇēśa Mēḍikala
– A corporation out of India specializing in health care and cybernetic
implants.
·
PanPac
Zaibatsu – The largest minifac manufacturing firm on Earth, based out of
Japan and Korea.
·
Qǐng Ài
– A Chinese robotics and artificial intelligence company.
·
Santa
Montaña – The largest Agricultural production company in human space,
located in Argentina.
The United Nations also have
Executive and Judicial Branches; those are formed by appointees from the Parliament
and the League of Nations. There are
several special administrative units in the United Nations – the most powerful
being the Office of Space Affairs, a function of the Executive Branch.
Office of Space Affairs
The United Nations Office of
Space Affairs manages all off-world activities in Human Space. It is headed by the OSA Director General, who
oversees these departments:
·
United Nations
Colonization Services – This organization issues colonial charters and acts
as the go-between for colonial governments and the United Nations. Colonial Services is a huge bureaucracy, with
branches on every colony – be it planets, moon, or station.
·
United
Nations Space Forces – This is the military arm of the OSA, comprising both
Navy and Army branches. Given the
distance some commanders operate from earth, they are given a lot of room for judgment
calls.
·
United
Nations Exploration Bureau – The Exploration Bureau makes sure that maps
and charts of human space are accurate, investigates unexplored areas, and has
specialists trained in first contact scenarios.
·
United
Nations Space Transportation Authority – The STA is in charge of ensuring safe
and timely travel in human space. They
manage spacecraft safety inspection, oversee Reacher breeding and augmentation,
and operate fueling-station way-points.
A lone STA inspector carries a lot of clout on the frontier, as they are
backed up by the Navy.
·
United Nations
Attaché Corp - The Attaché Corp acts as ambassadors to the various
non-human sophonts in interstellar space.
For the most part, the OSA prefers that citizens do not contact aliens
on their own, preferring them to go through the UNAC to avoid problems and
misunderstandings.
- Ark
Friday, March 7, 2014
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
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