SN 1054

For approximately 2 Terran Standard years starting in 1054, the populace of the small blue world, in an orbit 93 million miles around the star called Sol, were witness to a stellar event. From the surface of their world, the inhabitants would have seen one of the pinpoints of light in their night sky grow very bright. A few of the humans noted the event. Several hundred years later the descendants of those humans developed the technology to see beyond the confines of their planet's immediate vicinity, and they discovered that the source of increased brightness of that particular pinpoint of light, that which now called stars, was a star gone supernova. Several hundred years after that, the humans of Terra had discovered the secrets of interstellar travel. As a species humans have an unparalleled curiosity. This curiosity drove them to the location of the supernova. Many years before they had named the cloud of gas left by it the Crab nebula.

What the humans discovered was what was left behind. Since it's discovery so many years ago, Terran scientists have been unable to determine what turned an entire star system with numerous planets,  into an asteroid field. The star at center, the source of stability had been crystallized. A star, an enormous ball of burning gas, crystallized. Current science cannot fathom how this was accomplished. Measurements approximate the span of the star system at 400 billion kilometers. What remains is a field of rocks spanning that distance. The humans that discovered it named it Alghumud, the mystery.

Important locales of the Alghumud asteroid field

Fortuna Refinery: Hollowed out of the Rhombus asteroid, one of the largest in the field, this is a high capacity refinery and smelting facility. Taking in raw material from the independent miners across the field, this facility produces some of the purest metals and gemstones in the TCS.

Spaceport Gloria: Located on the coreward edge of the field, the spaceport handles all commercial and private traffic for the Field. Gloria is a Class A spaceport capable of refueling and repair of any space craft manufactured with the TCS.

Crystal Core: At 1500 kilometers across, Crystal Core is the largest crystal structure in the known universe. Currently TCS PhySCI is the only department allowed to have facilities on the massive crystal. This is a purely scientific station run by the TCS authority.

Fortuna Refinery - No Hex reference - C000435-11
Spaceport Gloria - No Hex reference - A000513-13
Crystal Core - No Hex reference - ??00?9?-??


As with all things in the TCS, this is a work in progress. I'll be adding to it the farther I get into building the TCS setting.

Happy Gaming!

New Traveller Equipment

   I am still working on the finer points of Close Aboard Combat repeaters, but I got the rest of my special additions done.

   I don't use standard jump drive or gravity plating in my Traveller setting.


                                                Keflen Tachyon Tunnel Drives

Keflen Tachyon Tunnel Drives are bought on externally fastened pods. The pods weigh 20% of the ship’s tonnage.

Keflen drive pods expend Lorentzium with every jump. After travelling 100 light years the drive must be refueled. Refuelling can be done at any Class C or better spaceport.
Private/Consumer drive pods can only be used on ships of less than 10,000 tons.

Commercial drive pods can only be used on ships of less than 50,000 tons

Military drive pod weight capabilities are unknown.

Super heavy ships cannot use KT drive pods, they must use conventional drives and the crew must hibernate during transit.

Super heavy transport modules include: Automated refinery modules, Gas hauling tankers, terraforming modules, Navigation buoy construction/placement/repair modules, Automated Space station construction modules.

Due to the nature of how a KTT drive works, a “Spin Up” and “Spin Down” cycle is required for correct operation. Before FTL travel, the booms of the KTT drive must be spinning. This process takes 3 hours for the Lorentzium booms reach the correct speed. Spin Down procedure only takes 1 hour. All space ports require spin down to be complete before docking or landing. In order to replenish the Lorentzium slugs, a cool off period of 1 hour must also be allowed. This process cannot be combined with the Spin Down period.

 

Graviton Dam

A Titanium Osmium alloy surrounds a Promethium Oxide plasma field that runs the length of ship’s keel. The reaction between the casing and the plasma field generates gravitons. By varying the density of the casing to allow a less dense alloy along a line across the bottom of the casing, the escaping gravitons create artificial gravity in a ship equipped with such a device.

Gravity plating does not exist in my universe. Just in case there are any rules lawyers out there thinking they could exploit that loophole.

A graviton dam weighs 2% of the total ship’s weight.

Ion Cannon

One of the most devastating weapons ever developed is the Ion Cannon. Not only can disable an enemy’s screens, if used in double fire mode, it can temporarily disable a ships’ drive field.

An Ion Cannon works by overloading the electrical control systems of an opposing ship’s screens, thereby shutting them down and allowing weapons that would normally be reduced by screens to be more effective.

All Ion Cannons are only available in spinal mounts. All ion cannons must have their own power source. The single shot version requires a K size power plant a double fire version requires a Q size power plant.

A single shot ion cannon weighs 50 tons and uses 3 hard points, a double shot ion cannon also uses 3 hard points and weighs 70 tons. A single shot can only disable a ship’s active screens, the double shot version takes out screens first, a ship’s drive fails on a successful second hit. An ion cannon has a range of very long.

Attack rolls for each shot of a double shot ion cannon must be made separately. Only M drive fields are effected by an ion cannon, and on a successful hit the ships drive is inoperative for 1d6/2 rounds. For a maximum of 18 minutes.

Origins of the TCS (Terran Combine States)

   Late in the year 2068, in what was to become the last mission for the United States program called NASA, the U.S.S. Mongol remote space probes were launched from the Space Station Gateway to conduct an extremely detailed gravitational survey of the solar system. The NASA researchers were beginning an intensive study of the Sol star system, in hopes of refining the technology of interstellar travel. Due to an upcoming planetary and gravitational alignment of the planets in the Sol system, and an increase in X class solar flares, this allowed for the detection of lanes or channels of never before detected particles radiating out from the sun. A scant four months of research revealed these lanes revealed them to be composed of Tachyons. Scientists had been unable to prove their existence up until then.
   In 2070 Dr. Emille Keflen made the breakthrough. He had found the lanes of tachyons radiating out from the sun acted like focused channels. If an energy infused frame were introduced into one of the lanes it was accelerated to near light speed. This breakthrough open up the solar system to commercial exploitation, and soon after that, extra-solar exploration.
   The United States ended their government space program in 2073. The Euro-Asian compact formed in 2069, reorganized itself and renamed itself the Terran Combine Nation states, or The Terran Combine for short. The Combine would pick up exploration where The United States had left off. In 2075 it christened the TCS Mobius, it's first exploration survey ship capable of interstellar travel using the newly developed Keflen tachyon drive.
   Rampant overpopulation and advancements in medical life extension technologies fueled the next 150 years of colonization. Now, 393 years after Dr. Keflen's breakthrough, the Combine has colonized nearly 40 star systems.  It now takes a mere eight days to reach the farthest settled system from Sol. Trade between star systems is commonplace, lucrative, and quite frequently a dangerous enterprise.

Edit: Apparently, no one was interested. Whatev.

Happy Gaming!

Ode to Pat's CoC game.

Due to a description of some mysterious events relayed by a Twitter friend this morning. I feel compelled to tell you of a great game and great CoC Keeper.

Sherman, set the Wayback machine for the mid eighties.

   Gathered around a dining room table, lights turned low, Wagner player low on the stereo. 3 adolescent boys huddled over one of the earliest editions of Call of Cthulhu. One keeper and 2 players. Now, being the adolescents we were back then, we had wild flights of fantasy. The two players, One Mr. Steve Martin (NO not that Steve Martin) and yours truly, Temmogen Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse and all around good guy. Of course I went by a different name back then. A name that wasn't so grandiose. The keeper was an older guy by about 6 or 7 years. That's a testament to his patience that he would actually play with us lunatics. Pat was probably my oldest friend. I knew him since I first started high school. Pat died a few years back from complications due to diabetes, and I do miss him. But I digress...
   Anyway... We two boneheads had decided we wanted to play ourselves in the game. Yes yes, this shows a stunning lack of maturity and imagination, but we were young and we had a plan. If we played ourselves, we could take all of "so called" knowledge from current day and defeat any threat thrown at us. Remember I did say we were young. Among the entertainments Steve and myself pursued irl, was shooting out streetlights with his bb gun. Just. Don't. Ask. Idiocy runs in in the age group. Anyway, Pat knew of this and had a little surprise for us.
   There we were, sitting is Steve's Camaro down at the Castle Pines exit of the highway. Loading the bb gun in preparation of some prime glass shattering. We pulled up stealthily under our intended victim, when all of a sudden the streetlight sprouted arms and a pair of baleful red eye stalks. Panic ensued. At the table and in the game. We started looking frantically for anything to kill off the newly dubbed "Lamploths". Steve blew one drive skill check, and that was all our devious keeper needed. We ended up driving into a ginormous propane tank and getting blown back through time. We awoke to the face of a very befuddled looking professor from one Miskatonic University. He was about to start dissection procedure on the two strangely dressed humanoids that had been discovered at the site of an oil well explosion in New Jersey.
   We had to revise our plan. In case anyone is wondering, it is considerably harder to steal dynamite in the present day world. Back in the 20's and 30's, they weren't so strict with it. During the course of that game, Steve and I managed to blow up 5 cars and at least 2 multi story domiciles. Much to the chagrin of our NPC handlers. We never did get those Byakhee.
   Yes we died in a construction site explosion while attempting to steal more dynamite (The Arkham police had started locking it up because of our antics) but for 3 months, we had a blast. Very few games have been that much fun since. I miss Pat. But he did give me the gift of many pleasant gaming memories. Remind to tell you about Alastair Carstai's adventures in Algeria one day...

Happy Gaming!

More questions for Return to the Barrier peaks

Trite: (of a remark, opinion, or idea) overused and consequently of little import; lacking originality or freshness.

This is what I'm trying to avoid. I don't want the PCs t have to work their way up the Valley of the Mage, that's an exercise in attrition. Allowing them to start at the lair of the BBEG, might not prepare them for the fight. I don't think anyone really enjoys a tpk...

Do we have the BBEG's army march on some unsuspecting victim, thereby removing the majority of them as an obstacle?
Are they just apathetic?
Maybe there is a resistance among the population of the valley?

or maybe...

How about this?
   The Laird of the valley, has indeed made an army from the technology he discovered on the ship. However, when he abandoned the ship thinking he had unlocked all it's secrets, he didn't dispatch the Mind Flayer. The Mind Flayer phoned home, and now he has to contend with an Illithid conclave. He calls for those stout of heart to vanquish the illithid menace.
Will the players figure out the Laird is neutral evil?
Will they turn on him when they're done with the flayers?

Plans within plans... This could get very convoluted.

OK, so how about... The Laird hires the PCs thru a proxy, and wing it from there? I hate to say it, but this might have to be an improv game. Lay out the Laird's plan and his army, lay out the Mind Flayers conclave, and then turn the players loose.

Rode that one right off the rails, didn't I?

Existential designers crisis...

Hey, happy gaming anyway!

Return to the Barrier Peaks

Well.. Hello there.

   About a week ago, I posted about advancing the adventure Expedition to the Barrier Peaks 150 years into the future. I have answered some of the questions, others answers have been maddingly elusive...
While answering those questions, 3 possible storylines have presented themselves, and here they are.

#1: The Liard of the Valley of the Mage learned of the ship and has cleared it out and is utilizing the technology he discovered on board to create an army. The army will be Half-Clockwork Gnomes, magically animated clockwork skeletons of the long dead crew, and magically animated robots. He has moved into the ship and has been making it his new fortress.

#2: The Illithid on the ship did indeed survive. He managed to call the conclave from which he was taken. The conclave sent a Spelljammer ship to his location, and they started a new conclave with Mother Brain. I'm kinda partial to this one, as Illithids are some of my favorite monsters. Lots of potential for this one, though it will end up being a very high level campaign.

#3: The distress call was answered. Another ship has arrived and attempted a rescue. The new ship also suffered damage from the black hole transit, and is crashed a short distance away. This one will probably get converted into a Traveller adventure. It just seems to be a bit too similar to the original adventure to make it interesting. I dug out some notes I had made a few years ago about turning the original ships' demise into a Traveller adventure. I might start tinkering with that again.

   I've been playing with some other ideas as well. If this sparks anything, run with it. I'd love to hear any game ideas you guys come up with. This is a fun project for me, hopefully it's at least a little interesting for you guys too.

Happy Gaming!

Prophecies & Omens: The Dragon Orbs Prophecy

After writing my contribution to January's RPG Blog carnival, this month's host Tales of a GM commented and asked if I had rewritten the Dragon Orbs Prophecy. Guess what?

I did. During that process I revised the way it would be presented to the players. I have also decided to start tinkering with a campaign designed around it.

Here is the new version.

In the second great age of men and magic, eight signs will be revealed. The signs mark the march of the fates towards another war of Hearts and Armor.

First of the signs will be when the Grey Lord of the North dies without an heir. This will set the barbarians of the Dragon Tribes down the path of the rites of succession.
When the Shamans of the Dragon Tribes sets the royal candidates on the quest to obtain the Dragon Orbs, that marks the second of the signs of the inevitable march to war.
The lands of perpetual shadow has a role to play in the War of Hearts and Armor. Numbered third among the signs will be when the Oerking of the Dragon Rivers Valley falls to blade of a lone dark warrior from the shadow lands.
When the outposts of the northern frontier tell of sighting war parties from the Strange lands the fourth of the signs comes to pass.
Heroes with instinctive powers and legendary ability wage war against the Crellan Masters of Stealth for the welfare of the surrounding lands is the fifth of steps down the path to the next great war of men and their sorcery.
The exodus of the Elven nations across the Bright lands is the sixth fearful foretelling among the eight.
When the dwarf king of the western range, releases the Lord of the Cerulean Depths. The seventh lock is broken and evil shall rise once more to quest for ultimate power.
When eight heroes of worth undertake the summoning of the Dragon council to travel to Teferahnd Kendazhil, our world takes the eighth and final step and is engulfed in the war of Hearts and Armor.


   Instead of having the PCs try and stop the prophecy, I had thought instead to let them go about a normal adventuring career, and introduce the events of the prophecy along the way. This will serve to let the players decide when and if they wish to intervene. It also leaves me with options to run not only the prophecy campaign, but offers the chance to run a war campaign.

   Now the fun part starts. I get to write it. I may run a game again after this. Might have to do it online. The luddite in me is screaming obscenities. Maybe I can find in person players. Don't know, just have to wait and see how I feel when it's closer to being done. Yet another shiney chicken takes up residence in the Horseman's mind coop. Cluckity cluckity...

Happy Gaming!