The Harsh Existence of Space Pioneers
It is the start of twenty-fifth century, and with it comes an end to a century long period of warfare that had been fueled by an increasing scarcity in mineral and fossil fuels. The two things that allowed this period of fierce bloodshed to come to a close are the Third Russian-American Treaty that led to the establishment of the United Earth Peacekeeping Force, and the advancements in nuclear power generation brought on by Julias Garcia.
The Third Russian-American Treaty came about after the complete slaughter of three hundred thousand innocent civilians during the Fifth Siege of Moscow, a battle which occurred between the West American Union and the New Soviet Bloc. With this treaty all of the powers involved in the conflict agreed to fund the creation of a peacekeeping force that would enforce a law making all warfare illegal on the surface of Earth. This peacekeeping force became known as the United Earth Peacekeeping Force or UEPF, and it based itself in the remains of the territory that once was known as Great Britain.
With this treaty, and the realization that continued warfare would doom the human race's ability to survive on the currently fragile surface of Earth all nations turned their sights to the sole untapped source of land, and income. Space.
Dozens of factions began to ramp up research, and funding into space programs all of them vying to be the first into space and the first to acquire a source of power in this untapped domain. This sudden focus triggered the Second Space Race which would last nearly eighty-five years, and would encompass the very first of numerous conflicts that would occur in space. During this time an unrivaled genius appeared in the employ of the UEPF, one Julias Garcia who would single-handedly manage to advance knowledge on nuclear power generation and solar power by what surely would've taken three hundred years otherwise.
By the end of the period that would become to be known as the Second Space Race dozens of nations made it out into the depths of space, and established strongholds in that vast, endless reach. With these strongholds came a much needed influx of resources, and in some cases (like the West American Union's Lunar solar field) near endless power came the new Era and calendar. The new calendar was declared the Space Frontier Era, and would later come to be known as the era of Space Pioneers, brave men and women who set out into the darkness of space to establish small footholds for humanity. This is the tale of one such group, and their struggles to create a new life in space.
This was an idea born from a single sentence that I thought of the other day, the entirety of which was 'What if the New Soviet Bloc ended up causing war to be outlawed on Earth?'. I'll not go into how I came up with that idea, because my brain thinks in a pattern reminiscent or a can shot with a 12-gauge shotgun. Anyway the basic idea is that the players are a group of Space Pioneers who start out with some basic gear, a simple spaceship, and the rights to create some small outpost in their own corner of space whether that be on the Moon, Mars, or even the Asteroid Belt. The players must do their all to build an outpost, and create enough excess resources to survive and possibly even prosper in the frontier of space.
Every true group of Space Pioneers has two things, a Spaceship and a Prospecting Array which are musts if one wants to set out to forge their own outpost in the endless new frontier. Most Space Pioneers fine themselves in the possession of the most widely used Pioneer Ship known as the Void Ranger Mk. II which is a very basic cylindrical space vessel equipped with a pair of high-output nuclear powered thrusters, one of the legendary Julias Nuclear Power Generators, and a basic sensor array.
This ship is capable of both exit, and reentry (though what self respecting Space Pioneer would ever return to Earth) while being easy to maintain and repair. The Void Ranger Mk. II is capable of holding up to thirty people onboard though the optimal number is twenty or less, and a nominally stocked one is capable of keeping twenty passengers alive for roughly nine and a half months.
Along with the Void Ranger Mk. II all Space Pioneers will find themselves in the possession of a Prospecting Array, a general purpose device developed to assist Space Pioneers in finding mineral rich deposits and other such resources on planets, moons, and asteroids. It was designed to be easy to use though the machine itself requires a fairly advanced knowledge of mechanics to fix.
That is the basics of the backstory I have for the game though I'm still wondering how to handle the actual game, I could make it just a six player group of PCs setting up an outpost but that seems like a rather small group. On the other hand I could make it a group of NPCs led by the PCs, but then I'd have to figure out how I want loyalty and such to be handled for the NPCs. Any thoughts on the setting itself, or ideas on whether to go only PCs or PCs and NPCs are very much appreciated.
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Topic: Roller's Block (RTD Brainstorming Thread) (HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY) (Derm is 5k) (Read 696845 times)