Thursday, December 24, 2009

[Future Perfect] Character Background Paths I

Inspired by the old Lifepath tables from several games by R Talsorian (most notably Cyberpunk 2020), I decided to add my own variant of Lifepath into Future Perfect. This table is Part One of the Character Background Paths, showing the general background of a character.

The table will allow a basic framework picture of a character's background to be built, indicating what region of space he calls home, whereabout he grew up, what his family did, what he wears, his general attitude and outlook, etc. In short, there is enough information to give a player some idea of who his character is and with a little more thinking on the matter, where he might be going.

Part Two will go into detailing specific events that were turning points in the character's life.

Anyway, here is a JPG image of Part 1, because blogspot wont let me post PDFs.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

[Future Perfect] Shuttles by Zero-G



Hobgoblin Combat Shuttle

Manufacture: Zero-G Innovations
Size: Small
Power: 10
Acc: 220 Top: 1200 Handling: +2
FTL: Gate Beacon
Crew: 1 Hull: 16 (4) [Armor 4]

Ship Systems:
  • Basic Computer with Autopilot, Target Acquisition/Control System, Pattern Recognition
  • Starship
  • Security Cells or Passenger Compartment (Buyer’s Option: 1 Space, 1 Power)
  • Atmospheric (Climb: 55)
Weapons:
Light Rail Gun [2 Spaces, 1 Power; Modular Turret Mount]
200/400/800; 3d8 AP12; RoF1

Other Options:

[Armed Response]
  • Medium Double Beam Cannon Array [2 Spaces, 3 Power; Turret Mounted]
    100/200/400; 4d10 AP8; RoF1
  • Security Cell
[Torpedo Delivery]
  • Hunter Medium Torpedo [1 Space; 1 Power to Fire any number of torpedoes
    275/550/1100; Tracking (Range 6600); Speed 1100; 4d10 AP40; Medium Burst
  • (6) Additional Torpedoes [1 Space]
  • Mark I Deflector [1 Space; 1 Power]
  • Cells/Passenger Compartments are removed to house the Deflector Transmission & Control Systems
Notes: Updates and makes combat ready the old Gremlin shuttle design from StarJourney once Zero-G acquired their assets. It is a combat oriented hybrid of the Gremlin and early Goblin shuttle designs designed for short range patrol, support, and security use. Too small and much too expensive for use by the pirate clans, the Hobgoblin’s modularity and ease of customization has made this craft a big hit among bounty hunters and regional marshals alike.





Goblin Advanced Transport Shuttle
Manufacture: Zero-G Innovations
Size: Small
Power: 12
Acc: 220 Top: 1200 Handling: +2
FTL: H-Space Drive [1 Space; 1 Power]
Crew: 1 Hull: 14 (4) [Armor 4]

Ship Systems:
  • Basic Computer with Autopilot, Library (General Knowledge), Knowledge: Astrogation, Pattern Recognition
  • (2) Passenger Spaces (6 Passenger; 2 Spaces; 2 Power)
  • Mark I Deflector Screen [-1 to Target Locks: 1 Space, 1 Power]
  • Starship
  • Atmospheric (Climb: 55)
Weapons:
None

Notes: Designed for civilian use, this craft replaced the old Gremlin shuttle originally made by StarJourney Transportation

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

[Future Perfect] Outrigger Freighter



Outrigger Class Colonial Freighter


Manufacture: Alliance
Size: Huge
Power: 72
Acc: 83 Top: 540 Handling: -2
FTL: Alliance Standard Hyperdrive (16 Power)
Crew: 24 Hull: 58 (33) [Armor 33]

Ship Systems:
  • Starship
  • Atmospheric (Climb: 21)
  • Cargo Pods (8x2 Spaces per Pod; 16 Spaces)
  • Large Cargo Pods (4x4 Spaces per Pod; 16 Spaces)
  • Emergency Medical Bay (3 Spaces)
  • Workshop (Repair Facility) (1 Space)
  • Alliance Advanced Sensors (+2 Notice)
  • Computer with Basic AI (d6 Smarts, Power 8, Spaces 8):
  • Piloting d6, Shooting d6, Knowledge (Planetary Navigation) d6, Knowledge (Astrogation) d6, Medical d6, Notice d6(+2), Autopilot, Target Acquisition and Control, Fire Control, and Pattern Recognition
Weapons:
  • (2) Twilight Gunworks Twin Medium Pulse Cannon Turret (Forward, Turret Mounted) 125/250/500, 3d10 AP8, RoF2 [2 Spaces each, 3 Power each]
  • (2) Predator Medium Torpedo [1 Space each; 1 Power to Fire one or both; Forward Mount] 300/600/1200; Tracking (Range 4800); Speed 1200; 5d10 AP50; Medium Burst
  • (6) Additional Predator Torpedoes [1 Space; 6 Torpedos]
Notes:
The Outrigger is a common sight in Frontier space, as most recent colonial expeditions mounted by the Alliance have used one or more of these ships. Designed to travel alone, or to complement a long range colony train, the Outrigger holds vast amounts of freight and offers a means of extended support to colonists in the form of ready-made Medical facilities and a small machine shop. These vessels are often programmed to remain in service to a colonial community for a set amount of time -- either prepaid or depending on certain specified conditions being met -- at which point the ship's AI sets a return course for Alliance space to be repaired, re-outfitted, and returned once more to the Frontier colonies. More rarely, this vessel can be seen in Faction space, usually with a heavy escort of fighters and gunships.

This ship has a military variant which is considered a Heavy Assault Transport, which is designed to transport Marines to a battlefield and remain there in service as a locus for field operations.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Alternate Experience System - Final Notes

You may recall that I'd been working on an alternate experience system for Savage Worlds in order to better suit the needs of my play group. Well, the system has been done for a while, but I finally got around to making it vaguely understandable to anyone else. In short, this system provides a different method of character advancement based -- to a great extent -- on what a character actually does in the course of a game. Skills and Characteristics earn distinct experience points called IXP - Improvement Experience Points. General Experience Points (XP) also are earned, and may be spent on Edges or be used as IXP to round out points to improve one or more traits.

[Assigning Experience]

Every Skill and Characteristic gains its own set of Improvement Experience (IXP) that may be spent only on improving that particular ability. General Experience, however, may be spent on anything, provided the GM approves an improvement. It is spent as IXP when a character is improving a Skill or Characteristic and is used to purchase Edges and Action Cards.

[Improvement Experience]

The Skill or Characteristic was:

IXP

Used unsuccessfully

0

Used successfully in an unimportant way

1

Used successfully multiple times, in unimportant ways

2

Used successfully in an important or unique way

3

Used successfully multiple times in important or unique ways

4

Used in a way that had significant impact on game events

5

Used in a way that changed the course of the game

6+

Use of a characteristic is considered to be any time in which:
  • A character is called upon to make a Characteristic roll
  • A characteristic is actively tested or trained
  • A characteristic is used during role-playing narrative
A characteristic is NOT considered used when:
  • A skill roll is made
  • A characteristic roll is made for general knowledge or to default a skill test
  • A damage roll is made

[General Experience]

The Character:

XP

Was active/present in the game

+1

Contributed meaningfully to the game

+1

Had an outstanding contribution to the game

+1

Overcame a major personal obstacle

+1

Met a major personal goal

+1

The Group:

XP

Was successful in their efforts

+1

Succeeded admirably due to skill and ingenuity (not sheer luck)

+1

Overcame a major long-term obstacle or

+1

Achieved a significant long-term goal

+1

Completed a minor storyline

+2

Completed a major storyline

+5

The average General Experience issued per session should be somewhere between 3-5 points. More points should be granted if important Character goals are met. The resolution of story-lines may even offer double, or even triple that amount if it is a long-running story arc.

[Unified Experience Costs]

Skills

Edges

Characteristics

XP Cost

New Skill (d4)

New Edge

---

40

d6

Seasoned

d6

60

d8

Veteran

d8

80

d10

Heroic

d10

100

d12

Legendary

d12

120

For non-humans, consider each improvement value as the basic die before racial modifiers are added. For example, Dwarves, who would gain a +1 Vigor Die and suffer -1 Agility Die (from their maximum), treat Vigor as being one step down the table, and Agility as one step up. So, a Dwarf increasing Vigor from a d8 to a d10 would pay 80 (instead of 100) XP and increasing his Agility from d6 to a d8 would pay 100 XP (instead of 80).

[Edge Tracks]

Any Edges that build upon each other directly in sequence are considered part of a Track. Most of the time, Edges further along in a Track may be identified by the inclusion of “Improved” in their name. For example, Rapid Recharge and Improved Rapid Recharge are edges comprising the Rapid Recharge Track.

The first edge in a track costs its normal value. However, improving to the next Edge in a track – e.g. to an Edge’s Improved form – costs only the difference between the two point costs. If there is not a difference in point cost (likely because both edges have the same rank prerequisites), then ¼ of the point value for the edge must be spent to make the improvement.

There are some cases where an edge track lacks the inclusion of an “Improved (X)” form; in the SW:EX rulebook, the only such examples appears among the Legendary Edges – for example, the progression under the Professional Track from Expert to Master.

As per the rules for point expenditures on Edge Tracks with no cost differences between edges, all Legendary Edges after the first one in a particular track cost 30 Experience Points.

[Bennies (optional)]

While SW:EX did away with the old rule of converting unspent bennies into experience points, the Experience Improvement System outlined herein can easily accommodate either preference. If you do not like bennies included in potential experience, then simply do not offer the option. However, if you wish to allow bennies unspent at a session’s end to be used to augment character experience, then have every one so spent count as a single point of General XP.

I’d recommend removing the old mechanic that required dice rolls for unused bennies in order to determine if they convert. Experience points in this alternate experience system do not mean as much individually. Also, to promote dramatic game play and to reward player contributions, I’d also recommend allowing only those bennies earned during the course of the game session to be spent as experience at the end of the session. Thus, normal bennies, luck-derived bennies, and bennies earned from being a kid would not apply – there would be no “free” experience.

[Example of the Experience Improvement System in Use]

Dick Daring, Cavalier of the Spaceways has survived another session of adventuring. It was an active session in which Dick thwarted his rival, the nefarious Nick Nasty, in his attempts to seize control of a backwater spaceport (for reasons still unknown). Dick had a pretty nasty running gun battle with Nick and his cronies, he had a short and pointless brawl, stealthily researched the port manifests (discovering Nick’s presence before Nick could spring an ambush!), and pumped the locals for information before sneaking into the old warehouse on the outer docking ring where Nick and his cronies were hatching their schemes.

The Game Master decides that Dick:
  • Used Fighting in an unimportant way: [1 IXP]
  • Used Firearms multiple times in important ways: [4 IXP]
  • Used Investigation in a way that had significant impact on the events: [5 IXP]
  • Used Piloting in an unimportant way when he landed his ship at the Spaceport: [1 IXP]
  • Used Stealth multiple times in important ways: [4 IXP]
  • Used Streetwise in an important way: [3 IXP]
  • Did something important by forcing open an old airlock with a Strength roll: [3 IXP]
  • Did something important by sneaking through the airless ducts while holding his breath (a Vigor roll): [3 IXP]
Furthermore, the GM grants the following General Experience:
  • Dick was active in the game: [1XP]
  • Dick’s actions contributed meaningfully: [1XP]
  • Dick met a major personal goal (thwarting Nick Nasty!): [1 XP]
  • His group was successful: [1 XP]
  • His group used skills and good thinking to overcome problems: [1XP]
  • His group completed a minor storyline: [2XP]
At a total of 7 General XP, in addition to all those IXP he earned... It looks like a good day for Dick!

Friday, October 23, 2009

[Future Perfect] The Pirate Clans

[The Pirate Clans]

Originally born in the wake of the Imperium’s first colonial war, the nine merchant families who controlled the Bellgraeve System fled before the destruction of their home worlds. Hunted and marked as criminals and fugitives from justice, the Clans took to hiding themselves in clusters of whatever starships they had available to them out in the furthest recesses of known space. In time, the need for resources, new ships, caused some of them to venture into Imperial space to acquire what they needed.

No one seems able to agree about who began the first altercation, some sixty years after the end of the first colonial war. Children of the Red Dragon clan insist they were assaulted by Imperial Security Forces when simply attempting to broker a deal for spare parts, water purifiers, and assorted dry goods. Imperial Forces claim the Red Dragon ships were attacking a freighter convoy and that Security Forces were deployed in response to a distress call. The freighter captains, unfortunately, never were able to comment – their ships were destroyed at some point in the altercation, and most of the debris seemed just to disappear. The result, however, was that the Imperium redoubled its efforts to hunt down the fugitives from Bellgraeve and placed a bounty on the heads of all such “pirates”.

Without a means to challenge the Imperium’s claims, the Clans were driven to desperation. Beset on all sides by bounty hunters, law enforcement, and military assaults, the Clans were forced to do whatever was necessary to ensure their own survival. Many Clans simply folded family members back into Imperial society with false identities, hoping that these individuals could be of service to their Clans at future dates. Others in the Clans, however, became the very types of criminals they were accused of being – better a thief than to starve, and better a murderer than a dead man. Most of the younger generations, born after the flight from Bellgraeve, saw piracy as a viable answer to their problems. In time, more and more among the Clans took to that vocation in order to provide for their families and the hope of building a better future.

To this day, the merchant families who ruled Bellgraeve refer to themselves as the Merchant Clans. While each Clan is an autonomous entity, and many Clans have been known to war against each other from time to time, they are quick to put aside their differences in order to come against a common foe – the Imperium and the Powers who, in time, grew out of them. The Clans adopted articles of general law to help see to their mutual, long term survival, and within each Merchant Clan, family laws have been drafted. People who break these laws are subject to a range of penalties including fines, public humiliations, penance activities, execution, and exile.

The “Freespace” concept first was implemented by the Clans, referring to areas of space were no aggression or predatory action was to be instigated so that representatives of the Clans could come together and trade, share news, mingle and marry, resolve disputes under general law, and plan for their collective futures. Such locales would remain for only a limited amount of time before the assorted Clan vessels would scatter and return to their normal business.

Clanners tend to spend their lives in space, dwelling on ships, often formed into small fleets, that travel together across the void. Clan vessels tend to be tight knit communities, with larger ships often resembling small cities. While the Clans are referred to as families, in truth they are composed of multiple familial bloodlines. These families form sub-units within the clans, and the larger ones may even be broken down further still. Inbreeding is frowned upon among the Clan folk, though most individuals do tend to marry within their Clans, and thus it does happen from time to time. Men may take multiple wives, though only the children born from the First Wife remain with the father’s family. The children born from other wives are presented to that wife’s family for them to raise if they desire. Children are raised by the family community, and parents may have as much or as little contact with their children as they desire.

Culturally, most Merchant Clans are rather similar. They share a common language, have been known to intermarry, and share a common religion. They are very much a scattered, itinerant Nation in space, with each Clan analogous to its own State or Region within that Nation. Unlike the various criminal syndicates who undertake many of the same illegal pastimes, the Clan’s focus less on profit and more on the continuance of their way of life.

Merchant Clans may have been the first pirate clans, and remain to this day among the most prominent of that ilk, they are by no means the only ones. Many smaller piracy groups, noting the successes of the fugitives of Bellgraeve, have adapted over time to follow a similar structure, swelling their numbers from the ranks of volunteer and assorted other methods of recruitment. Laws among these “true pirate” clans tend to be simpler and punishments more brutal. The Merchant Clans have recognized a few such pirate organizations as worthy Clans, and sent offers of inclusion provided they accept the articles of general law. Merchant Clans and those other pirates who’ve adopted the Articles tend to frown on “lesser” pirates.

This is not to say that the Pirate Clans present a solidly unified front, or that they are always successful in ensuring their own survival. The Star Tiger Clan, one of the original Merchant Clans, simply fell apart after several hundred years of struggling. Their members split apart, some folding themselves into Imperial society, and others joining other Clans who would have them. The Green Jade clan – a true Clan tragedy – was cast out from unity with the other Clans and the protection of the Articles after growing increasingly more aggressive. They attempted to wrest control of a new space station in a free territory, and much of their Clan fleet was destroyed when they failed. Furthermore, because they had been cast out from the protection of the Articles, the other Clans would offer them neither aid nor sanctuary when the corporate owners of that station hired soldiers to hunt down and exterminate the Clan. Most recently, the White Dragons – another of the original refugees from Bellgraeve – had an internal schism resulting in many of their families failing in an attempt to seize a Gateway from Regency control. Thousands of that Clan’s members were slaughtered by Regency soldiers and hired mercenary companies when the Gateway was reclaimed.

Some of the currently active Pirate Clans are:

  • Red Dragon: A very active Merchant Clan in what is now Alliance space, the Red Dragons have notable contacts among several Warlords in the Freespace. This clan is known for its tenacity and fast-attack, small unit tactical assaults on freighter convoys.
  • White Dragon: A once prominent Clan, it is now in decline after some of it’s members thought they could spit in the Regency’s eye without repercussions. They specialize in exotic trade goods, both legal and illegal. The White Dragons have moved into the recesses of Kokoran space to lick their wounds and, it seems, to examine a potential market for Kokoran products.
  • Black Star: Known as “gentlemen corsairs”, the Black Stars range far and wide across the Interzone, the Freespace, and what is now Coalition space. Black Stars tend to prey on Corporate vessels, and from time to time may hire themselves as Mercenaries to private interests.
  • Blue Diamond: A less aggressive clan rumored to have ties to various corporate and government interests in both the Coalition and the Alliance. The Blue Diamond clan deals with almost any trade goods they get their hands on.
  • Water Horse: Known for attacking unaligned pirates, the Water Horse can be found mostly among the Collective, the Freespace, and the Interzone. They are rumored to be key players in the human slave trade, picking up much of that activity after the Green Jade Clan’s destruction at the hands of Ragnarok Arms.
  • Double Star: Bold to the point of reckless, the Double Star Clan began as the Double-Star gang, before being brought under the Articles. Known for harassing the Imperium/Regency, they got their start during the Coalition’s period of transition. They are the only pirate clan ever to successfully mount an assault on freighters in orbit around New Terra. Most of their efforts focus on the holders of Imperial Charters for Mining/Ore Extraction, and they have a few solid contacts within the Freespace.
  • Sky Forger: Bouncing between Collective, Regency, and the periphery of Interzone space, the SkyForger’s tend to focus their efforts on technology. They will acquire and trade, both legally and not, all sorts of new technologies which they will use and put for sale. The Sky Forger Clan developed the Arc-Light Clan Ship.
  • Triple Mountain: An aggressive clan who tends to keep to the various regions of the Freespace, they will occasionally venture into Kokoran and Regency space to prey on freight carriers attempting to pass through their respective gateways into the Freespace.
  • The Colesons: Initially born from a single family and its hangers on, the Colesons became a highly effective organization of the criminal persuasion out in the regions of the Frontierspace. They were invited to join the Clans under the Articles after coming to the aid of the Double Star Clan in a pitched battle with Imperial Custom’s Officials.
  • Dark Eye: Well known for using drone ships and openly recruiting Mutants into their ranks, the Dark Eye pirates trade information and robots primarily. They are the most scattered of the Clans, with small, family-based fleets found in the backwaters of most of Faction space.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

[Future Perfect] The Regency (Part 1)

The Imperial Regency

I. The Rise of the New Terran Imperium

[Prologue]
The history of the New Terran Imperium stretches back almost nine thousand years, to the times of Koenig Prime’s second wave of space exploration. Where the first wave focused on travel to the moon and adjacent planets within the starsystem, the second wave was marked by a vast increase in scale. Begun to investigate potentially dangerous stellar phenomenon, the second wave was carried by the first discovery of an active stellar gateway. Indeed, the explorer’s from Koenig Prime had no idea what to expect.

They had long suspected they were not alone in the Universe, noting that no significant evidence of humanity or human impact could be found prior to about seven or eight thousand years before their early efforts at space travel. All evidence indicated a relatively high level of technical and social sophistication for the peoples of the oldest data. This sophistication receded fairly quickly into clusters of pastoral agrarian communities, many of which developed into cities as intercommunity trade routes were established along the coasts and waterways. These communities rose and fell due to a variety of social factors ranging from being conquered or razed by petty warlords to economic weakness to environmental upheavals. In time, these communities banded together regionally into national sovereignties, governed, at first, by the regional aristocracy. However, a warlord by the name of Rocco Condari would change everything.

[The Inception of Conquest]
Backed by his regional aristocracy by means of both intimidation and a desire for profit, Condari’s armies rolled over their home continent conquering and subjugating every regional authority under himself. Condari set himself up as Monarch, with council of Nobles picked mostly from his homeland and supplemented by those persons most useful and trustworthy from the conquered regions. In less than 50 years time, Condari had roads and travel-ways powered by steam engines spanning halfway across the continent. His descendants would see the task completed, and conquer another two continents within a handful of generations. However, the line of Condari was not to rule in perpetuity. After a long campaign to conquer a particularly troubling region, the council of Nobles was not pleased with the vast resources expended compared to the pittance gained. When Monarch Enzo Condari’s sexual debauchery resulted in the death of a Noble’s twin son and daughter (and countless other lives of persons not born to noble blood), the council decided to act. Enzo had no legitimate heirs of his own, and most of his immediate family was dead or far too young to assume the throne. A few of the Nobles were distant relatives of the crown, and it was among them that the Nobility sought a replacement. It was Finn Werkholt, a young, fairly quiet member of the council who’d served with distinction in the military, who was to enact the dissident Nobles’ plans and take the throne. Backed by the military, a coup was staged, Enzo killed, and Werkholt was named Monarch. The Condari family was to retain Noble status, though to its shame was ever after in decline (with no less than half a dozen failed attempts to reclaim the throne in the century that followed).

[The Rise of Bureaucracy]
The line of Werkholt proved to be a bit much for the Nobility to handle. Finn Werkholt himself never was as pliable and easy to control as some members of the council had hoped. Indeed, Werkholt was staunchly pro-military and less pro-aristocracy, and immediately set upon rearranging the structures of governance to fit a more hierarchical, even bureaucratic model. His hope was to streamline economic efficiency – and in Monarch Finn’s lifetime, he accomplished remarkable administrative changes which removed local control from the Nobility and placed it the hands of a civil service hierarchy. Finn strongly encouraged, forcibly, an educated and well trained Nobility. He required all persons of Noble and Common birth alike to serve a term of military service. Nobles who left the military were required to undergo an additional term as a civil servant and encouraged to retain positions of authority within the bureaucracy even after that term expired. Finn hoped to encourage a Noble class that understood it position in service to the common folk. Werkholt’s line ruled for several hundred years, before the civil bureaucracy bloated to a critical mass of inefficiency. Indeed, it was a popular uprising that forced the Noble’s from their own complacency and, utilizing the very lessons Finn Werkholt had hoped to teach the Noble class, eventually forced the Werkholt family from the seat of power. A three way civil war erupted between Loyalists – those who served the line of Werkholt – the Reformists - most of the progressive minded Noble caste who wanted both a new Monarch and a re-examination of the civil authority – and the Populists – those most prominent among the common folk who wanted to wrest control of government from the Nobility and place it into the hands of the people.

It was a young Noble and military officer by the name of Sven Koenig who eventually came up with an answer to the issues of civil unrest. From a predominantly Reformist family, he understood the need to both reexamine the structures of government, as well as his own place within it. He knew well the lessons of team building across faction lines, and made efforts to find common ground with leaders among the Populists. Over the next five years, Sven managed to unify prominent factions of both the Reformists and the Populists. The unified coalition of Reformists and Populists quickly seized power at most key locations on the planet, forcing the loyalists and much of the surviving Werkholt family to remote locations. When Sven’s forces overran even those locales, the Werkholt’s were forced into hiding.

[The Founding of a Dynasty]
Sven was a canny individual. He noted a popular religion among the common peoples and managed to insinuate himself into it. Once backed by the power of religion, even the less politically minded flocked to his banner. In short order the remainder of the Werkholt family was sold out and betrayed by their servants. In a public display, Sven offered the Werkholt family amnesty – but only under the condition that every one of them publicly pledge their support of the line of Koenig and their loyalty to the People’s government. Their refusal meant immediate execution. Sven Koenig was not playing any games.

In turn, representatives from each of the other Noble houses swore loyalty to the People’s government, starting with House Koenig’s declaration spoken by Sven himself. In addition to the Sovereign, who served as arbiter, final decision maker, spiritual leader and Commander-In-Chief of all Military forces, three councils were set up to handle most affairs of government. The Noble Council endured, but was refashioned to include the regional governors as well as the assorted house patriarchs. The Guild Council was formed from the leadership of assorted trade guilds and large, incorporated businesses. Last was the Common’s Council, populated by elected officials from among the common folk from region to region. Each council was to elect a Prelate who presided over it and was responsible for advising the Sovereign about council affairs.

Sven Koenig was the first Sovereign of this new regime, and his descendants have continued in the role ever since – though the title would come to change in a handful of generations. Shortly before Sven’s death, the first archaeological evidence was found to indicate that perhaps this world was not their home world. Human impact was measured and gaged, dating the point at which human activity began. There was a time prior to which no human artifacts could be located. Sven ordered the matter to be investigated, but died before its true significance could be discerned. His son, Lars Koenig had to bear that revelation to his people. The wreckage of an ancient ship had been found, and its outer hull – and much of its surviving interior – still bore markings in a language remarkably similar to Aroistech. From what they could understand, the ship had belonged to something called the “Terran Colonial Expeditionary Force.”

Sovereign Lars I did an excellent job managing the resultant social upheaval. History, Culture, Religion, Spirituality, Astronomy, Metallurgy, and even the politics of social identity were all turned upon their heads. Lars was clever, and quickly turned what he could to his advantage as more and more evidence seemed strongly to indicate that his people had come from the stars. “We all come from the same people”, he said, “possessed of one shared vision to colonize a new world. We cannot let the spirit of our heretofore unremembered forebears remain quiet. We have been delivered into a new era. And though now we are rendered small in the face of the Universe’s vastness, we must know now that greatness exists within each and every one of us. For they were our own ancestors, working together as one people with one mind, one vision, who could cross the stars.” Lars I provided a new identity for the people, gave them a fresh, shared sense of purpose that would grow to define the men of the Imperium. What Lars didn’t say, at least not publicly, was that the colonial vessel they’d unearthed contained not only untold hordes of information and technology far surpassing their own, but was likely only one of many such ships sent out into space. Better to let the people believe they held an exalted position in the cosmos, the progeny of the Terrans -- whoever they were -- and inheritors of a history that stretched out into space, than to expose them to the harsher possibility that they were an insignificant spec, no more than the descendants of survivors who’d crashed on the world ages ago. In truth, Lars had no idea what the truth was, but he knew damned sure what he needed the people to believe.

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

[Future Perfect] Naga Advanced Fighter



Naga Advanced Fighter

Manufacture: Collective/Zero-G Innovations
Size: Small
Power: 12
Acc: 200 Top: 1200 Handling: +2
FTL: Collective H-Space Lock (1 Power)
Crew: 1 Hull: 14 (4) [Armor 4]

Ship Systems:
  • Basic Computer with Autopilot, Target Acquisition/Control System, Pattern Recognition
  • Starship
  • Atmospheric (Climb: 50)
  • MkII Deflector Screen (-2; 2 Space, 3 Power)
Weapons:
Twin Medium Beam Cannons [Array; 2 Spaces, 3 Power]
100/200/400; 4d10 AP 8; RoF1

Notes:
The result of a joint venture between the Collective and Corporate Interzone up and comer Zero-G Innovations, the Naga is the future of Star Fighter designs. Fast, exceptionally maneuverable, well armed, and sporting state of the art MarkII Deflector Screen technology the Naga Advanced Fighter is truly a force on the battlefield. Due to contract agreements, this ship is only available to the Collective's government. However, Zero-G has already announced that a version of this ship, called the Viper, will be available once that contract ends.

Monday, June 01, 2009

[Future Perfect] Spectre Assault Drone



Spectre, Drone Assault Dart


Manufacture: Collective
Size: Personal (Small)
Power: 12
Acc: 250 Top: 1600 Handling: +1
FTL: None
Crew: 0 Hull: 10 (2) [Armor 2]

Ship Systems
:
  • DRONE System with Dynamic Metacoordination [Smarts d8; Piloting, Shooting, Stealth, Notice] (1 Space, Power 4)
  • Starship
  • Atmospheric (Climb: 63)
Weapons:
Medium Beam Cannon (Forward, Fixed) [2 Spaces, 2 Power]
100/200/400; 4d8 AP8; RoF1

Sunday, May 31, 2009

[Future Perfect] Kokoran Starships

I have a duo of Kokoran Union starships to round out the most commonly encountered Kokoran vessels abroad in Faction-Space. The first is a Star Fighter, the lighter cousin of the potent Hatamoto Superiority Fighter. The second ship is a Cruiser -- specifically, one of the few battlecruisers not only capable of atmospheric flight, but capable of underwater manuevers as well.





Ashigaru Star Fighter

Manufacture
: Kokoran Union
Size: Small
Power: 12
Acc: 200 Top: 1140 Handling: +1
FTL: None
Crew: 1 Hull: 18 (6) [Armor 6]

Ship Systems:
  • Minimal Computer; Course Plot Only
  • Starship
  • Atmospheric
Weapons:
(2) Medium Mount Pods (Weapon Mount; 1 Space Each)
Kokoran Blaster Array (Fire Linked, Array) [4 Power]
100/200/400; 5d10 AP 8; RoF1






Kappa, Kokoran Cruiser

Manufacture
: Kokoran Union
Size: Large, Heavy
Power: 50
Acc: 90 Top: 515 Handling: -1
FTL: Gate Key (1 Space, 1 Power)
Crew: 20 Hull: 51 (25) [Armor 25]

Ship Systems:
  • Basic Computer with Autopilot, Target Acquisition/Control System, Pattern Recognition
  • Starship
  • Hanger Bays (6 Small Vessels; 12 Spaces)
  • Sick Bay (2 Spaces)
  • Repair Facilities (2 Spaces)
  • Atmospheric (Climb: 23)
  • Submersible
Weapons:
4 Heavy Mount Pods [2 Spaces Each]
(4) Kokoran Type I Blaster Array Turrets [Each has: 3 Cannons; 7 Power]
100/200/400; 5d12 AP 8; RoF1

Saturday, May 30, 2009

[Future Perfect] Wolfhound Heavy Fighter



Wolfhound Heavy Fighter

Manufacture: Regency
Size: Small, Heavy
Power: 15
Acc: 200 Top: 1300 Handling: +1
FTL: None
Crew: 2 Hull: 18 (6) [Armor 6]

Ship Systems:
  • Basic Computer with Autopilot, Target Acquisition/Control System, Pattern Recognition
  • Starship
  • Atmospheric (Climb: 50)
Weapons:
  • Medium Beam Cannon Array [2 Forward Guns; 2 Spaces, 3 Power]
    100/200/400, 4d10 AP8, RoF1
  • Imperial Armories Quad Pulse Blaster Array [2 Space, 3 Power]
    100/200/400; 3d12 AP6; RoF3
Notes:
The Wolfhound Heavy Fighter replaced the Imperial ASP as a short range pursuit/patrol fighter. Deceptively fast for its size, and bristling with cannon arrays more befitting a full Gunship, the Wolfhound is a dangerous opponent.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

[Future Perfect] Additional Coalition Ships

Decided to post a quartet of Coalition ships. Two ships are Fighters, regular and heavy, and the other two vessels are cruisers of different sorts. This should round out the list of commonly encountered Coalition starships; of course, they have other ships, but they are seen irregularly at best.






Blitz Star Fighter

Manufacture: Coalition
Size: Small
Power: 12
Acc: 180 Top: 1200 Handling: +1
FTL: None
Crew: 1 Hull: 18 (5) [Armor 5]

Ship Systems:
  • Basic Computer with Autopilot, Target Acquisition/Control System, Pattern Recognition
  • Starship
  • Atmospheric (Climb: 45)
  • Deflector Screen (-1; 1 Space, 1 Power)
Weapons:
Light Triple Beam Cannon Array [2 Spaces, 2 Power]
100/200/400; 4d10 AP 6; RoF1

Notes:
The Blitz is the most common Coalition fighter encountered - It's excellent defense and potent Cannon Array makes it a strong contender among light fighter craft.






Equalizer Heavy Fighter

Manufacture: Coalition
Size: Small, Heavy
Power: 17
Acc: 162 Top:1080 Handling: +1
FTL: None
Crew: 2 Hull: 25 (10) [Armor 10]

Ship Systems:
  • Basic Computer with Autopilot, Target Acquisition/Control System, Pattern Recognition
  • Starship
  • Atmospheric (Climb: 40)
Weapons:
Rotary Assault Cannon Array [2 Cannons; 3 Spaces, 5 Power]
100/200/400; 3d12+6 AP6; RoF3

Notes:
This ship is the Coalition heavy hitter that first lead to the common adage: "Coalition ships leave the fighting to the Fighters." Like most smaller Coalition vessels, it packs some serious firepower and decent armor, and its twin Rotary Cannons can toss major damage to all but the most well armored ships.






Desperado, Coalition Pursuit Cruiser

Manufacture: Coalition
Size: Large
Power: 40
Acc: 120 Top: 600 Handling: -1
FTL: Gate Beacon (1 Power)
Crew: 10 Hull: 51 (26) [Armor 26]

Ship Systems:
  • Basic Computer System (Auto Pilot, Target Acquisition/Control, Fire Control, Information Library: Knowledge [Military Vessels], Knowledge [Civilian Vessels], Knowledge [Planets/Colonies], Passive Scanners)
  • Starship
  • Marines (20; +2 Spaces)
  • Cargo (2 Spaces)
Weapons:
  • (3) Heavy Beam Cannons [Turret Mounted; 3 Spaces each, 3 Power each]
    100/200/400, 5d8 AP10, RoF 1
  • (2) Advanced AMCM [1 Space each]

Notes:
Almost identical to the old Imperial R-31 Escort Cruisers, the Desperado is an update to that venerable design. It added a third, independent Beam Cannon and improved upon the original's thruster design to allow for some additional push not usually found in Coalition starships. By no means a new design itself, the Desperado's high serviceability and general utility has kept it a mainstay in Coalition space. Adaptable, if not particularly powerful, weaponry is paired with high armor, good acceleration, and a full five fireteams of Marines makes the Desperado ideal for pursuit and boarding missions – a fact not lost on many of the more entrepreneurial criminals in Coalition space and among the pirate clans.





Wayfarer, Coalition Interdiction Cruiser

Manufacture: Coalition
Size: Large, Heavy
Power: 50
Acc: 80 Top: 540 Handling: -1
FTL: Gate Beacon (1 Power), Hyperspace MkI Drive (2 Spaces, 9 Power)
Crew: 20 Hull: 53 ( 28 ) [Armor 28]

Ship Systems:
  • Basic Computer System (Auto Pilot, Target Acquisition/Control, Fire Control, Information Library: Knowledge [Military Vessels], Knowledge [Planets/Colonies], Medical Database, Passive Scanners)
  • Starship
  • Hanger Bays (8 Spaces; 1 Medium & 2 Small)
  • Sick Bay (2 Spaces)
  • Repair Facilities (2 Spaces)
  • Marines (10; 1 Space)
Weapons:
  • Tractor Beam (Large; 6 Spaces)
  • Heavy Pulse Cannon Array (3 Cannons; 5 Spaces, 7 Power]
    100/200/400, 4d12 AP10, RoF2
  • (3) Micromissile Packs [1 Space, 1 Power, 4 Shots per Pack]
    200/400/600; 4d6 AP6; Small Burst Template
  • Additional Micromissiles (8 Shots; 1 Space)

Notes: Designed to control pockets of the battlefield, the Wayfarer is known for wandering through a fire zone and neutralizing other craft of its class. Its potent tractor beam capabilities make it an excellent interdiction vessel, slowing, or even halting, other ships in space and denying them flight from the battle. Decent guns, two fire teams of marines, and a good sized hanger deck make the Wayfarer a kind of Capital Ship in miniature – a level of adaptability that allows it to take control where necessary.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

[Future Perfect] ASP Imperial Fighter



ASP, Imperial Fighter



Manufacture: Imperial Armories
Size: Small, Heavy
Power: 13
Acc: 180 Top: 1300 Handling: +1
FTL: None
Crew: 2 Hull: 19 (6) [Armor 6]

Ship Systems
:
  • Basic Computer with Autopilot, Target Acquisition/Control System, Pattern Recognition
  • Starship
  • Atmospheric (Climb: 45)
Weapons:
  • Light Triple Pulse Cannon Array [Forward Mount; 2 Spaces, 2 Power]
    100/200/400; 3d10 AP 6; RoF3
  • (2) Hunter Medium Torpedo [1 Space; 1 Power to Fire any number of torpedoes]
    275/550/1100; Tracking (Range 6600); Speed 1100; 4d10 AP40; Medium Burst
Notes:
The Armed Short Patrol Fighter, or ASP, was a mainstay in the Imperial fleet for over three hundred years. Though the Regency replaced the ASP with the Wolfhound class fighter, this ship design still sees quite a bit of use in the assorted backwaters from the Frontier to the Freespace, and even a few mercenary companies continue to keep their ASPs in service. Fast and tough, this ship will likely be seen for years to come, despite no longer being manufactured.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

[Future Perfect] Imperial Light Freighter



ILF-731, Imperial Light Freighter


Manufacture: Generic Old Imperial
Size: Medium
Power: 21
Acc: 180 Top: 950 Handling: +0
FTL: Gate Beacon
Crew: 5 Hull: 25 (10) (Armor 10)

Ship Systems:
  • Cargo Bay (4 Spaces)
  • Medical Bay (1 Space)
  • Starship
  • Atmospheric (Climb: 45)
  • Basic Computer System (Auto Pilot, Target Acquisition/Control, Fire Control, Medical Library, Knowledge [Games])
Weapons:
  • Medium Pulse Cannon (Forward, Turret Mounted)
    100/200/400, 3d8 AP8, RoF2 [2 Spaces, 2 Power]
Notes:
Once the most common light freighter in service in Imperial space, the highly serviceable 731-Class freighter still makes its rounds through the second-hand shipyards despite no having been made in over 80 years. Popular with smugglers and pirates due to its cheap price and fast acceleration, many individuals reclaim the standard sickbay in favor of additional armament.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

[Future Perfect] Humpback Troop Transport



Humpback Troop Transport

Manufacture: Alliance
Size: Medium
Power: 25
Acc: 150 Top: 900 Handling: +0
FTL: Gate Beacon, Hyperspace MkI Hyperdrive
Crew: 5 Hull: 25 (10) (Armor 10)

Ship Systems:
  • Troop Transport Pods (40 Marines) [4 Spaces; 4 Power]
  • Starship
  • Atmospheric (Climb: 38)
  • Basic Computer System (Auto Pilot, Target Acquisition/Control, Fire Control, Information Library: Knowledge [War Ships] & Knowledge [Planets/Colonies])
  • Advanced Alliance Scanners
Weapons:
  • (2) Twilight Gunworks Twin Medium Pulse Cannon Turrets (Forward, Turret Mounted)
    125/250/500, 3d10 AP8, RoF2 [2 Spaces each, 3 Power each]
  • (2) Medium Missile Racks [1 Space each; 1 Power each; 4 Shots per Rack]
    250/500/1000; 5d6 AP9; RoF1-4

Saturday, May 16, 2009

[Future Perfect] Viking Gunship



Viking Gunship

Manufacture: Coalition
Size: Medium, Light
Power: 20
Acc: 160 Top: 960 Handling: +0
FTL: None
Crew: 3 Hull: 26 (10) [Armor 10]

Ship Systems:
  • Computer with Autopilot, Target Acquisition/Control System, Pattern Recognition
  • Starship
  • Atmospheric (Climb: 40)
  • Deflector Screen (Level 1; 2 Spaces, 2 Power)
Weapons:
  • Heavy Mass Driver Array (2 Mass Drivers; Fixed, Forward Mounted) [3 Spaces, 3 Power]
    100/200/400; 6d10 AP8; RoF1
  • Light Beam Cannon Array (2 Cannons; Fixed Forward Mounted) [1 Space, 2 Power]
    100/200/400; 4d8 AP6; RoF1
  • AMCM System

Thursday, May 14, 2009

[Future Perfect] Paladin Bulk Heavy Freighter



Paladin Heavy Freighter

Manufacture: Zero-G Innovations
Size: Huge
Power: 70
Acc: 90 Top: 495 Handling: -1
FTL: Gate Beacon, Hyperspace MkI Hyperdrive (16 Power, 3 Spaces)
Crew: 14 Hull: 65 (36) (Armor 36)

Ship Systems:
  • Cargo Bay (33 Spaces)
  • Smugglers Nooks (2 Spaces, Hidden)
  • Repair Facility (2 Spaces)
  • Ship Launch Bay (2 Small or 1 Medium vessels) (4 Spaces)
  • Starship
  • Computer with Basic AI (d6 Smarts, Power 8, Spaces 8):
    Piloting d6, Shooting d6, Knowledge (Games) d6, Knowledge (Astrogation) d6, Repair d6, Library Data (Common Knowledge; d8), Autopilot, Target Acquisition and Control, Fire Control, and Pattern Recognition
Weapons:
  • Medium Quad-Blaster Turret (Lower Forward Mount)
    100/200/400, 5d12 AP8 [4 Spaces; 6 Power]

  • (4) Advanced AMCM Systems (Side Mounts) [1 Space each; 2 Power each]

[Future Perfect] Hatamoto Superiority Fighter



Hatamoto Space Superiority Fighter


Manufacture
: Kokoran Union
Size: Small, Heavy
Power: 15
Acc: 180 Top: 1026 Handling: +1
FTL: None
Crew: 2 Hull: 20 (6) [Armor 6]

Ship Systems:
  • Computer with Autopilot, Target Acquisition/Control System, Pattern Recognition
  • Starship
  • Atmospheric (Climb: 45)
Weapons:
  • (2) Medium Mount Pods (Weapon Mount; 1 Space Each)
    - Kokoran Blaster Array (Fire Linked, Array) [4 Power]
    100/200/400; 5d10 AP 8; RoF1
  • (3) Light Mount Pods (1 Space Each)
    - (3) Kokoran Tri-Missile Systems (Fire Linked) [1 Power Each]
    200/400/800; 7d6 AP12; RoF1-3; 3 Shots each

[Future Perfect] Bully Heavy Fighter














Bully Heavy Fighter


Manufacturer
: Ragnarok Arms, Corporate Interzone
Size
: Small, Heavy
Power: 15
Acc: 162 Top: 1080 Handling: +1
FTL: None
Crew: 2 Hull: 23 (9) (Armor 9)

Ship Systems:
  • Computer with Autopilot, Pattern Recognition, and Advanced Targeting Control System
  • Starship
  • Atmospheric (Climb: 40)

Weapons:
  • Ragnarok Arms HEX Cannon Array (Forward Mounted; 4 Hex Cannon Array)
    100/200/400 4d12+4 AP6 ROF1 Small Burst [2 Spaces; 6 Power]
  • Ragnarok Arms Pugilist Mass Driver Array (Forward Mounted; 2 Mass Drivers)
    50/100/150 4d10+4 AP10 ROF2 Spaces [2 Spaces; 3 Power]
  • Anti Missile Systems [1 Space; 1 Power]

    Tuesday, May 12, 2009

    [Future Perfect] Tigershark Heavy Fighter















    Tigershark Heavy Fighter


    Manufacture: Alliance
    Size: Small, Heavy
    Power: 15
    Acc: 180 Top: 1080 Handling: +1
    FTL: None
    Crew: 3 Hull: 18 (6) [Armor 6]

    Ship Systems:
    • Computer with Autopilot, Target Acquisition/Control System, Pattern Recognition
    • Starship
    • Atmospheric (Climb: 45)
    • Alliance Advanced Sensor Suite
    Weapons:
    • (2) Twilight Gunworks Twin Pulse Cannon Turret [1 Space each; 2 Power each]
      125/250/500; 3d8 AP6; RoF2
    • (2) Light Missile Rack [1 Space each; 1 Power each; 4 Shots per Rack]
      250/500/1000; 4d6 AP6; RoF1-4
    • (2) Predator Medium Torpedo [1 Space each; 1 Power to Fire one or both]
      300/600/1200; Tracking (Range 4800); Speed 1200; 5d10 AP50; Medium Burst

    Monday, May 11, 2009

    [Future Perfect] Mongoose Medium Fighter

    Just about finished with the updated Ship Construction System and I've been building a variety of smaller craft. This is the first of a handful of fighters.


    Mongoose, Medium Fighter

    Manufacturer: Regency, Imperial Armories
    Size: Small [Power 1]
    Spaces: 4 Power: 12
    Acceleration: 220 Top Speed: 1200 Handling: +1
    FTL: None
    Crew: 1 [LS Power 1]
    Hull: 14 (4)

    Ship Systems:
    - Basic Computer with Autopilot, Targeting Acquisition/Control System, Pattern Recognition [Power 1]
    - Starship
    - Atmospheric (Climb: 55)

    Weapons:
    Imperial Armories Twin Light Pulse Blaster Array (Firelinked, Array)
    100/200/400; 3d8 AP6; RoF3 [1 Space; 2 Power]

    (2) Micromissile Packs (Firelinked)
    200/400/600; 4d6 AP6; Small Burst Template [1 Space per Pack; 1 Power per Pack; 4 Shots per Pack]

    Advanced Guidance System (AGS)
    +2 to hit with Micromissiles with a successful target lock (1 Space; 1 Power)

    Notes:
    The Regency's Mongoose medium fighter is well known for its fast acceleration, and like other Regency Fighters in its class, specializes in controlling regions of the battlefield. Armed with multiple packs of Micromissiles aided by Imperial Armories' advanced missile guidance systems, the Mongoose can lay out an explosive kill zone than makes even gunships hesitate. And the Mongoose is no slouch as a Dogfighter, either -- bearing a pair of Imperial Armories' rapid pulse blasters linked to fire in tandem.

    Friday, April 24, 2009

    [Future Perfect] Arashi Sinclair, Ace Pilot

    The daughter of a Kokoran expatriate who died young and a Corporate Freightrunner for Ragnarok Arms, Arashi grew up as just another clever Zone-rat. Very quickly, she fell in with some of the local zone gangs -- clusters of disaffected youth who often did little more than fight among themselves. In and out of lockdown for vehicle theft, she was on a first name basis with many of the Corpsec forces. When she was only 16, Arashi's life changed radically. Having stolen a Corpsec assault shuttle for a joyride, She responded when a general distress call went out from a Ragnarok Arms Freighter being pursued by a dozen unidentified fighter craft and a larger Perseus-class gunship of Alliance design. A sudden realization struck her -- it was her father's ship that was in danger. Running half on instinct and half on adrenaline, she rushed out to defend the beleaguered freighter. She took out three fighter craft on her own before missiles knocked out her maneuvering thrusters and targeting systems. Two more ships had missile locks, and she knew she was a dead woman. Resolving to die a death that mattered, she kicked her shuttle into full acceleration on a dead run for the Perseus-class vessel that had linked to her father's freighter in an attempted boarding. There was flash of light and a moment of jarring agony when he shuttle collided with the command compartment of the gunship.

    She awoke six months later in a hospital bed. She had sustained extensive damage to one of her arms, but her medical care was limited due to her being under Corpsec custody. At first the Medics would tell her nothing, at least until a corporate suit flanked by two Corpsec officers arrived. She learned that her father had died in the attack, and that there were charges pending against her for the theft and misuse of Corpsec property. However, a Corporate recruiter offered her an alternative. He represented Ragnarok Arms, who had been impressed by not only the young woman’s general aptitude but by her fighting spirit. She was offered a job with Ragnarok’s own security forces which, if she accepted, would cover her medical bills and likely make her legal troubles disappear. Arashi wasted no time accepting the offer, however, she did not want her arm regrown. Instead, she opted for a cybernetic replacement to serve as a constant reminder of the event.

    Arashi Sinclair rose through the ranks of Ragnarok’s security teams, training in work as both an investigator and combatant. Indeed, she now is considered one of Ragnarok Arms’ top agents, independent operatives given broad mission parameters and left to accomplish the tasks as they see fit. To this end, she has been known to work with a variety of other people with allegiances different from her own. In addition, she is quite possibly Ragnarok Arms’ top pilot, with the recent “Bully Fighter” designed around what she indicated she would want from her ideal fighter craft. When operating within the Interzone or the Freespace, Arashi often can be found leading several Ragnarok Security Pilots.

    Arashi is loyal to Ragnarok Arms because of the training and benefits they’ve provided her over the past ten years, they are her home and family. However, she is neither blindly loyal nor particularly idealistic. She can be cold and cunning, and demands a high level of general acumen from her associates. Arashi also maintains a number of contacts in the Freespace, and has been known to hire herself out for “independent fieldwork” on occasion.

    Arashi Sinclair (WC), Ace Pilot
    Race: Human
    Gender: Female
    Born: Freespace
    Employment: Ragnarok Arms, Corporate Interzone

    Attributes:
    Agility d10, Smarts d8, Spirit d8, Strength d6, Vigor d8

    Secondary Characteristics:
    Charisma: +4
    Pace: 6+1D6"
    Parry: 7
    Toughness: 8/10 (6 Base, +2 Armor/+4 Armor in Right Arm)

    Skills:
    Notice d8, Shooting d10(+2), Piloting d12, Driving d10, Repair d6, Fighting d10, Streetwise d8, Intimidation d6, Taunt d6, Investigation d8, Knowledge (Battle) d6, Knowledge (Politics) d6

    Edges:
    Quick, Ace, Attractive, Very Attractive, Bioattunement, Command, First Strike, Level Headed, No Mercy

    Hindrances:
    Arrogant (M), Loyal (m), Vengeful (m)

    Reputations:
    Regency +0
    Kokora +0
    Alliance -1
    Coalition +0
    Collective +0
    Interzone +2
    Freespace +2
    Icon Syndicate -1

    Gear:
    • Cybernetic Arm (d10 Strength, Armor +4)[6]
    • Interface Jacks (May Link Mind to Properly Equipped Machines)[2]
    • Targetting Link (+2 Shooting)[1]
    • Ragnarok Arms "Bolt" Heavy Plasma Pistol (3d8+1, 15/30/60, RoF1, 15 Shots)
    • Light Armored Clothing (Armor +2)
    Vehicles:
    Whatever is Assigned for a Job
    Owns a personal RaHF-Bully (Interface Linked)

    --------
    -[ SUBNET Engaged... ]-

    >>[Lyra Bannon, Doctor – Order of Galen]->> I met Ms Sinclair once at a backwater station about 30 clicks out from Dust. She was happily pounding back drinks while an armed conflict tore up the bar around us. I urged her to duck for some cover. She just smiled and said she had the best seat in the house to watch the fight.
    >>[Kal Haverdash III, Romanov-Ikura Financial Union]->> On the job, Arashi is the consummate professional. But when she's off work? Well, lets just say she is REALLY off working somewhere else.
    >>[Ajax Stone, Sergeant - Greyjackets]->> You referring to the rumors that she's a freebooter in her spare time? I can tell you from experience, there ain't nothing free about her.

    -[ SUBNET Disengaged ]-

    Monday, February 23, 2009

    [Future Perfect] Kokoran Union

    The Kokoran Union
    Kokora


    Age: Roughly 500 years, confirmed.
    Planets:
    Kokora (6.75 Billion)

    Other Populations:
    Moon (250 Million)
    Arashi Station (1 Million)
    Ryoku Station (500 Thousand)

    Allies:
    None

    Enemies:
    Pirate Clans (minor; Many Clans have set themselves up in the periphery of Kokoran space without permission or consent).

    Attitudes:
    Far better to worry about what has yet to be done, than to wonder why others did what they did. Why waste time seeking to know what is unknowable when there is so much more that may be learned so readily? For our Enclave; For our People; For ourselves.

    Citizens:
    Tend to be calm, even placid. Very practical and pragmatic, they can be quite innovative when they need to be, provided they have a quantifiable hurdle that must be overcome. Are often very much defined by their local communities.

    History:
    Five hundred and forty seven years ago, the people of Kokora woke up. A thousand enclaves, each containing two-hundred thousand persons locked in cryostasis, suddenly activated and resuscitated their population. No one is certain how long they were in the freeze, since much of their memories were missing. The population was a diverse one, with persons ranging from early adolescence to middle age. Only young children and the elderly seemed to missing. Each individual’s stasis pod was marked with a name and a number/letter sequence – a unique identifier code – that would prove important later, when accessing enclave computer systems. Amnesia was not complete, persons retained a knowledge of language and of many basic motor skills. What seemed lacking was a knowledge of personal identity and personal history and the recollection of how they’d come to be present in cryostasis.

    With the awakening of the thousand enclaves, a series of prerecorded messages began to play. It was a first step toward building a civilization – or perhaps, rebuilding, since someone had placed the enclaves and its people. Strange voices and lights directed the populace of each enclave along preprogrammed paths, rotating between four cycles -- exercise and physical conditioning, food and hygiene, rest and rejuvenation, and socialization and reeducation. The unique alphanumeric coding for each individual determined the precise method of each cycle, with different persons having different regimens.

    The system was not particularly adaptive; accidents, deaths, and minor mishaps were managed, even anticipated. However, major deviations from “Core Planning” went unnoticed and unaccounted for. Some people even discerned a fundamental truth – the voices and core programming routines were not being guided by any kind of directed consciousness. Quite the contrary, they were like a voice from the past. In short order people began learning to adapt. Utilizing skills acquired through their core programming regimens, individuals slowly drifted certain vague social niches. After twenty years of core programming, suddenly everything changed.

    For the first two decades after reawakening, enclaves were locked down and kept in isolation. No one enclave even knew of the existence of the others until the Core programming system re-established the communication network between enclaves. And in one moment, the world became a whole lot larger. Core routines altered to include the addition of inter-enclave communication; socialization modes were adjusted to expand the nature of created social identities. First, enclaves were encouraged to name themselves. Once each enclave had a name, training records became compared, encouraging competition between enclaves, with each one becoming ranked in a variety of different skills. All this time, though, the Core Programming system was assessing individual performances. After ten more years came the major change – People were placed formally specific task functions. Where, previously, persons had congregated into general training cliques, these groups split further into a series of job positions based upon the aptitudes and abilities identified by the Core Programming system.

    Most job tasks placed individuals into one of the following groups:

    Administrators: Trained in managing resources, social interaction, and decision making.
    Technicians: Trained in the design, repair, and maintenance of technology.
    Craftsmen: Trained in design, creation, and repair of low technology objects.
    Entertainers: Trained in assorted methods of entertaining other people.
    Theorists: Philosophers and Scientists whose task is to raise questions, identify new problems, and come up with possible solutions.
    Educators: Trained in the operation of Core Programming modules and to assist others in learning.
    Healers: Trained in repair and maintenance of living things.
    Untouchables: Trained in no Core Programs, the untouchables began as peoples somehow damaged during cryostasis. They emerged knowing a different language, and had considerable difficulty understanding the training regimens

    The Core Programming system had obviously been designed to train these individuals in the skills necessary to forge a civilization, yet offered no information about who created the system or the enclaves. Though an incredibly complex computer program, Core Programming was not an AI in its own right, and had no capacity to expand beyond its own preset functions. When training had reached its end, fifty years after releasing the enclave populations from the freeze, it shut itself down and unlocked the enclaves themselves. Upon the entering the outside world, the emerging people noticed that upon every enclave was printed a single word – KOKORA – alongside a numerical enclave designation (from 000-999). The word means, roughly, “The heart of it all”.

    The enclaves were themselves vaguely egg-shaped, and each of which was, to some extent, embedded in the ground – leaving, in many cases, only a dome-like structure exposed. The planet itself was of mixed climates, with enclaves placed in all but the most inhospitable of regions. A vast ocean of salt water covered somewhat more than half the area of the world, showing signs of having once been significantly larger. Some wildlife inhabited the area, most prominently insect life. Plants, in some regions, thrived, while in others, there were much harder to find. However, it was their new home.

    In time, communities arose around the enclaves, sprawling fields and towns often built in concentric rings around the vast, exposed domes. Even as people left the security of the enclaves, their own particular enclaves remained with them as a clan identity. Indeed, this clan structure would, in short order, come to define Korkoran culture. Enclave inhabitants invariably met one another in person, and not all encounters were peaceful: contention became conflict; conflict became fighting; fighting became battle; and battle became war.

    The advent of inter-enclave conflict lead to the creation of a new vocation group among the Kokoran peoples, the Warrior. The trained soldiers of the Kokoran peoples, the Warriors draw their numbers from the other Core Vocations. Thus, each warrior brings with him his own skill base to better serve the military of his enclave. The Warrior vocation trains from the competitive games originally played between enclaves, allowing people to master several skills learned during cycles of physical conditioning and re-education.

    From a period of about 150 years after the end of cryostasis until nearly 320 years after cryostasis, the enclaves warred amongst themselves. And war was quite devastating – equipped with the technology gleaned from the teachings of Core Programming, they fought with both blades and plasma rifles. Those clans who adapted first, evolving their technology to meet the needs of battlefield security, survived. Those who were too slow – whether less inventive or less aggressive – were decimated. Stronger clans overran weaker clans; smarter clans tossed in their lot with larger or more battle-hardened clans. In time, the surviving clans banded together; some merged together, while others simply banded together for their mutual benefit. What began as 1000 clans became less than 400 by the time wars ceased. These 400 could be further subdivided into twenty or so “meta-clans”, called “Yamaji” who reflected assorted regional authorities. Persons of the administrative vocation within the clans most prominent in the Yamaji were appointed to serve as “Nobles”. The Nobles of each Yamaji met to discuss the advantages of scaling back their conflicts. Disagreements, they decided, could be settled by a series of games – much like the old competitions put forth by Core Programming. If one factor refused to yield to the outcome of a challenge, then they would risk repercussions from all the other factors. In short, each factor was accountable to the remaining whole. Of course, large conflicts arose again from time to time, but they were always short lived and never flared to the scale which they had known before.

    350 years after being freed from cryostasis, the peoples of Kokora began experimenting with space flight, after first noticing dozens of satellites placed in orbit around their world. Within a year, they had seized on of the satellites (also bearing the label KOKORA). Within five years they reached their moon. Within twenty years, they had probes surveying nearby planets within their solar system. Within thirty years, they had a lunar colony and the framework of an orbital station. And within forty years, they detected the presence of the Gateway. Immobile in space, though seemingly connected to nothing, it was an impossible novelty that immediately seized the attention of Technicians and Theorists alike.

    By 400 years after Cryostasis, the Kokora knew they were not alone in the universe. Some of the Theorists had devised some ideas regarding “subspace”, a paradimensional stratum mentioned briefly in the teachings of Core Programming. Working with the technicians, they devised a means of tapping into subspace – first to measure, and then, later, to receive and transmit. Strange modulations – waveform packets of identical frequency but differing amplitudes – were the first oddity to be detected. Further investigation revealed that these waveforms were emanating from the Gateway itself. Muted and garbled, it took nearly a year for the Theorists to figure out that the waveforms were language – transmitted communications, actually. Unwittingly, the Kokorans had tapped into the edges of the subnet, though not enough so to decode the language. Amplifying and recording the subspace signals became a priority. The constant, continued chatter worried some of the Administrators enough that a meeting of the Yamaji was called for the first time because of a possible danger from outside themselves. The Yamaji decided that the Kokoran peoples had to present a unified front against anyone who might come to their world; furthermore, the seemed sure that any assault on their region would come from that strange object in space just as the signals did. They outfitted several spacefaring craft with guns, bombs, and other assorted weapons with a plan of destroying it. Even after more than ten years of assaults and rapidly improving weapon technologies, their attempts failed.

    Strangely enough, it was not from the Gateway that their first contact would occur. A Collective cruiser malfunctioned when entering Hyperspace and emerged – five years after it entered it's hyperspace window, though less than a month had seemed to pass for the crew of the ship – in the busy space lane between Kokora and its Gateway. The people of Kokora attacked immediately, their potent weapons seriously damaging the Collective vessel. Sensing the nearby Gateway, the Collective transmitted every known gateway code, and luckily for them, managed a link to Nexus Gate One, positioned close to the planet Dust – a world only recently seized by an unaligned militia broken away from the Unified Independence Coalition. The Collective cruiser passed though the gate, followed by a handful of Kokoran gunships, and was destroyed before it could even finish hailing the planet for assistance.

    The Kokora Gateway was now illuminated, but the Theorists and Technicians had no luck reopening it after the umbra of light swallowed their gunboats and the alien craft they pursued. What they did not realize was that the Gateways required time between uses proportional to the amount of mass pushed through in its previous use. A Cruiser and a few gunships meant it was not going to stay closed for long. The Yamaji ordered a dozen more gunboats to stand ready in case the gateway opened again, ready to fire upon any additional alien ships that could pass through it.

    On the other side of the gate, the ragtag cluster of military vessels under the control of UIC breakaway militia leader (and former Regency officer) Ozkar Rheingold assembled to confront these strange, new ships that had so effortlessly savaged a Collective vessel several times larger than themselves. Commodore Rheingold himself was confused, if these strange ships were not from the the Collective, then they must be from either the UIC or the Enpire itself. Only those two other factions had links to Nexus Gate One. The fledgling Coalition had nothing even remotely similar to this level of military cohesion in small units; Rheingold assumed the aggressors to be experimental Imperial vessels.

    The Kokorans manning the gunships were confused – suddenly they were in a different place, near a strange world, with hundreds of alien craft approaching them. The Kokoran war-commander noted the lack of an immediately hostile posture, and instead decided to hold back by the gateway until communications could be attempted. No success was immediately forthcoming. It was a Theorist-turned-Warrior who presented the idea that subspace communication could be more fruitful, since it was from this side of the gate that they'd been detecting the bleedoff of other transmissions. Given a free hand to make the attempt, simple communications was established through subspace – overriding the local SubNet. It was just what Rheingold needed. He met the hail in kind, though he had anticipated hearing Imperial Standard, and not some alien tongue. However, before the palaver could continue, the Gateway opened. Back at the Kokoran Gateway, they'd managed to send the proper signal even as the time:mass delay ended. The Kokoran gunships took their opportunity to return home and report on what they had found. Meanwhile, Ozkar Rheingold spoke with some of his contacts in Imperial space, allowing them to handle the next contact with the Kokora.

    Subsequent meetings between the Kokora and the remainder of faction space were tentative at best. The Empire sent a diplomatic envoy to Kokora, who in time (once the language was decoded), met with representatives of the Yamaji. A lot of unanswered questions were found on both sides – each wondering where the other had come from, for example. The Empire offered to train the Kokoran people in the use of the gates (indeed, where those came from was also a mystery, since the Imperial peoples claimed that the Enclaves were not the same technology as the Gateways), in return for diplomatic favor.

    Though the Kokoran Union has since become a player in Faction space, it still remains at least partially on the outside. Most factions hail from the reaches of the old Empire, except for the Collective, who the Kokora eye with some measure of distrust. No good answer for how and why an exploratory vessel ended up in Kokoran space was ever given. Nor did the Collective’s government ever push very hard about the assault on their ship. Regardless, Kokora is very different culturally from the other Factions. First and foremost, it lacks any formal religions – indeed, such a concept is too abstract an idea for the self-reliant Kokorans. About the closest one may find among the Kokora are the philosophers among the Theorists and their questions about their own Progenitors. Certainly many Kokorans have wondered who made the Enclaves in which their people awoke, however, few obsess on the question. Most people simply accept it as a mystery, shrugging it off and moving to a topic about which they have information and control.

    The Kokoran Union of today maintains the general Vocation groups of the past. Indeed, modern Vocation Groups have changed little; aside from adding the warriors, and expanding the roles of administrators, they had only to provide for the oddness of another. While most of the original Untouchables either died in time, or found their way into other groups at the lowest job levels, a few managed to breed and survive, teaching their language to their children. Modern untouchables often train at low levels of more than one discipline group, or join the Warriors, where their strange history means nothing. They are “untouchable” because they are free to pursue any Core regimen at its lower training levels. However, they have somewhat limited social rights, as they do not fit neatly into the social structure. The Kokoran government’s official stance is an expressed desire to assimilate untouchables into the Warrior vocation, so as to eliminate any new generation of the classless.

    Core Programming was the most powerful computer system ever regularly utilized by the people of Kokora, and it is far from a fully functioning Artificial Intelligence. It is not that they could not have gone and created true AI, rather, it never seemed like an important or necessary thing to do. The Kokorans are self reliant, industrious, and so prefer to handle even the most menial task on their own, that using an intelligent machine is an almost insulting proposition. Why use a droid when a technician is more than capable of making any needed repairs on his own. Certainly, the Kokorans have machines as tools, but again, the key point is that they all lack true AI. They gladly use machines to aid their efforts, but no machine should do the work for them. Lastly, unlike the other Factions, only the Kokora lack ship-based AI and thinking droids.

    General Reactions to Other Factions:

    [Regency]
    “Are they conquerors? Are they concerned parents? The Regency must decide, because they cannot be both at once.”

    [Alliance]
    “Pointless wheedlers and petty politicians, the Alliance plays silly games with the lives of its people.”

    [Frontier]
    “Let others waste resources on finding new shores in the far frontiers of space. We will be only too happy to take what they leave unguarded or abandoned.”

    [Collective]
    “Soulless, without harmony – The Collective forgets that what began whole was differentiated for a reason.”

    [Coalition]
    “Others find them weak, a broken people. However, we understand the virtues of patience and subterfuge. We will be ready when the Coalition acts. Unlike the others, we will not be taken unaware.”

    [Interzone]
    “Methodical, Innovative, Ruthless, Dangerous.”

    [Freespace]
    “Calling it a Freespace is a misnomer. The petty fiefdom of a local warlord is no less a government than the bureaucratic labyrinth of Alliance or Regency space.”