Tuesday, July 06, 2010

Stellar Quest: The Assumed Setting...

Good Evening, All:

In pursuit of creating an assumed setting for Stellar Quest, I started with the following generalization. This brief overview provides some explanation for ancient relics that offer great plot devices, and begins to describe the political situation around which the setting is based. This overview is not complete, but hopefully is the start of a simple yet useful section that will make it into the final rules for Stellar Quest:

Hundreds of thousands of years ago, an ancient humanoid civilization known to modern historians as the Progenitors passed through this region of space. In the process of settling many of the local habitable worlds, the Progenitors seeded these worlds with genetic material that would eventually lead to the humanoids that inhabit the worlds of this region. Very few remnants of the Progenitor civilization has survived to the modern day, and fewer of those artifacts still function, but those that do are noted for the apparent ease by which these relics violate our current understanding of physics.

As humanity evolved on Terra, rising from the anarchy of a primitive tribal existence on a slow rise to civilization, other species on distant worlds also evolved, albeit at different rates. Some species advanced more quickly than others, expanding from their homeworld to neighboring stars, only to collapse like a flash in the night. In some cases, these races would conquer and dominate other worlds, while other species would merely observe and rarely intervene with more slowly developing races. In time, however, some races would emerge as the dominant species of the region. Among them are the stoic Eridanites, the honorable Procyans, and the stubborn Cygnans, as well as the adaptable Terrans. In recent centuries, these neighbors have bonded together into an interstellar political alliance known as the Confederation of United Worlds. The Confederation is protected by an interstellar naval force known as the Stellar Patrol.

Beyond the local interstellar neighborhood, other races have emerged in their own regards, most of whom are antagonistic to the Confederation. These enemies include the reptilian Hadrons, the militaristic Cronosians, the felinoid Artathi, the blue-skinned Rromani marauders, the psychic Celerans and the enigmatic Magellans.

Any input you might have would be greatly appreciated.

With Regards,
Flynn

4 comments:

John Matthew Stater said...

I like it - it is simple and puts things where they need to be to so that you can hang an adventure on them. Too many games get so caught up in making the world/universe that they crowd out the ability to have fun playing in that world/universe.

Inferno! said...

I stumbled across this proposal apparently from J Michael Straczynski to reboot Star Trek back before the most recent movie.

(link here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/2191075/Star-Trek-Reboot-the-Universe)

It generally follows the line of thinking you propose, and offers an outline for a series that wouldn't be bad as a campaign outline. It was an interesting read, and a reboot I'd like to have seen.

BTW Flynn, you going the GenCon this year?

Trey said...

A nice Star Trek-esque set up.

Flynn said...

Thanks, guys. I appreciate the feedback.

As for GenCon, I will not be able to attend this year due to my newborn Zoe. This will be the first time I've missed since I started going ten years ago. :(

Next year, though, I intend to be there. :)

With Regards,
Flynn