Second and final installment of the timeline:
2729 CE Management on Svarog regains control and incorporates into the Svarog Mining Incorporated (SMI).
2741 CE First Fanja-Kanja scouts enter the Alkonost sector and set up an outpost on the devastated world of Iele.
2761 CE Perimeter Agency re-organized on Laana, albeit at a lower tech level.
2777 CE Fanja-Kanja tribes land on Iele and claim the world as their own, except for the few remaining Human enclaves.
2803 CE Fanja-Kanja colonize the graveyard world of Zariya.
2817 CE Rufus Zubara takes over the major city of Alubar on Atargatis, crowning himself King Rufus I
2832 CE Unity Party re-established on Laana and makes the unification of the world its aim.
2854 CE Inheritors enter orbit around Pazuzu and claim the world as their own due to the Precursor ruins on it.
2885 CE Order of the Mind established on Laana, attempting to reclaim the lost knowledge of Psionics.
2896 CE Kedesh regains full TL3 manufacturing capabilities.
2898 CE Psionic Academy established on Chernobog.
2902 CE The Revered Mothers on Baba Yaga find out how to use psionics without burning out and, consequently, rise to power.
2927 CE Humbaba regains primitive industrial production and reaches TL2.
2956 CE Alkonost launches its first satellite since the Scream.
2961 CE Incunbalis begins massive asteroid mining.
2964 CE Alkonost builds an outpost on one of its two moons.
2998 CE Space Age reaches full bloom on Alkonost; industrial-scale asteroid mining started.
3000 CE Order of the Mind on Laana manages to learn the rudiments of controlled psionics.
3013 CE The city of Hiba on Atargatis revolts against King Rufus III, forming the Hiban Republic.
3033 CE Inheritors from Pazuzu attack the Fanja-Kanja colonies on Zariya; Inheritor-Fanja-Kanja War begins.
3061 CE Inheritor-Fanja-Kanja War ended with a Fanja-Kanja victory.
3065 CE Incunablis launches its first Spike Drive ship.
3070 CE Incunablis sets up an outpost on Imprimatur.
3078 CE Incunablis conquers Sikrik.
3079 CE Incunablis conquers Laana.
3081 CE Alkonost launches its first Spike Drive ship.
3087 CE Alkonost surveys the entire Alkonost Cluster and makes contact with the locals.
3096 CE Unity Party, Perimeter Agency and Order of the Mind unite on Laana to form the United Liberation Front (ULF).
3099 CE Restored Alkonost Republic established.
3101 CE Incunablis Machine Empire launches its first raid against the Restored Alkonost Republic.
3111 CE Incunablis turns Osiris into a world-wide laboratory in biology, cybernetics, psychology and sociology.
3129 CE Committee on Psionics established in the Republic to regulate psionics use.
3142 CE Kedesh builds its first Spike Drive ship.
3146 CE Incunablis conquers Novy Murmansk.
3143 CE Johar Saleh elected Chairperson of the United Liberation Front on Laana.
3151 CE Incunablis bombs Alkonost, killing tens of thousands; the Republic decalres war. Incunablis War begins.
3156 CE Republic fleets raid Laana, weakening the Machines' grip on that world; Republic liberates Novy Murmansk.
3160 CE Kedesh conquers Ashera.
3169 CE ULF fighters destroy both IME space-stations in orbit of Laana; Chairperson Saleh killed in action; Ameena Miran elected Chairperson.
3174 CE ULF victoriously enters Startown on Laana, renaming it The Liberated City; ULF becomes ruling party on Laana.
3188 CE A united Alkonost-Laanese force attacks Sikrik during the Sikrik Campaign, with the aid of fanja-Kanja mercenaries.
3194 CE United Miners of Svarog (UMS) established on Svarog to combat the abysmal work conditions and low wages.
3195 CE Sikrik liberated; control given to Laana; Liberated Worlds established.
3196 CE Treaty signed between the Incunablis Machine Empire and the Restored Alkonost Republic; Incunablis War ended.
3200 CE Present Day.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Timeline of the Alkonost Sector - Part 1
As I'll soon write up the history of the Alkonost Sector in detail, I thought that it would be wise to first outline the timeline of events from the days of the Precursors to modern times. All dates are using the Earth calendar.
So here is the first installment:
~1600 BCE Precursors colonize Pazuzu, their first outpost in the sector.
~1550 BCE Precursors set up bases on Zariya, Nadezhda and Pigulim.
~1500 BCE Height of the Precursor civilization; exploration of most worlds in the sector.
~1200 BCE Fall of the Precursors. Evidence suggest a mass-scale war.
2289 CE Mandate scouts from the Russian Commonwealth discover the world of Alkonost.
2292 CE Terran Mandate outpost built on Alkonost, staffed by Russian citizens.
2299 CE Outpost set up on Novy Murmansk.
2300 CE Scouts from the American component of the Mandate set up an outpost on Incunablis.
2308 CE First Russian colony ship arrives at Alkonost.
2309 CE Explorers based on Alkonost scout the entire Alkonost Cluster.
2327 CE Intellectual exiles from Russia set up an academic settlement on Nadezhda.
2328 CE Dissidents and intellectuals from the Middle East form the Neo-Cnaanite Revival Movement (NRCM).
2332 CE Mandate colony ship settles Incunablis, carrying American and British colonists.
2345 CE Chernobog, Poludnitsa and Novy Murmansk settled by Russian exiles.
2373 CE Precursor ruins discovered on Nadezhda.
2411 CE NRCM reaches its height at the Core.
2415 CE NRCM forms its own exploration and colonization wing.
2422 CE NRCM scouts explore the Laana Reach.
2434 CE NRCM-influenced colonists settle Laana and Kedesh.
2450 CE Russian prison ship crashes on Svoboda; convicts revolt.
2452 CE Sikrik settled.
2453 CE Domovoi, Zariya and Iele colonized.
2458 CE Outposts established on Madmena, Ashera and Pigulim.
2461 CE Isis and Osiris colonized; outpost built on Imprimatur.
2466 CE The Svoboda Campaign launched by the Mandate fails; former convicts have the upper hand.
2677 Mining facilities built on Svarog.
2482 CE Precursor ruins on Pazuzu discovered by scouts from Laana; research outpost established.
2490 CE Resheph and Ashtoreth colonized.
2501 CE Jump Gate built in orbit of Alkonost; the Alkonost Golden Age starts.
2526 CE The Mandate builds an advanced biological research center on Ashtoreth.
2549 CE Alkonost, Novy Murmansk, Poludnitsa, Chernobog, Nadezhda, Zariya and Iele set up the Alkonost Republic; adherence to the Mandate is purely a formal matter.
2555 CE Tehom Cluster mapped by Kedeshian scouts.
2560 CE Terran Mandate launches the abortive Alkonost Pacification Campaign but fails miserably.
2569 CE Tehom Cluster colonized by a coordinated Laana-Kedesh effort.
2572 CE Dazbog Cluster heavily colonized by an ambitious drive of the Alkonost Republic.
2583 CE Unbraked AIs developed (in secret) on Incunablis
2586 CE Laana Reach becomes, for all intents and purposes save for the formal allegiance, an independent state called the Canaanite Commonwealth.
2590 CE First Perimeter Agency probe into Incunablis technology fails to find anything substantial.
2595 CE Unity Party established on Laana; rejects Commonwealth formal recognition of Mandate authority.
2600 CE Tehom Cluster declares independence from the Commonwealth, forming the Tehom Combine.
2612 CE Second Perimeter Agency probe into Incunablis technology fails to find anything substantial.
2622 CE The laboratories on Ashtoreth reach unprecedented technological breakthroughs in bio-technology.
2637 CE Incunablis sets up a secret Unbreaked AI research lab on Baba Yaga.
2642 CE Third Perimeter Agency probe into Incunablis technology fails to find anything substantial.
2665 CE The Scream.
2666 CE Canaanite Commonwealth explodes into a multi-sided civil war over remaining technology.
2671 CE AIs establish new order on Incunablis and stabilize the technological base.
2684 CE Ahron Garnus win the Kedeshian Civil War and creates the Kedeshian State.
2688 CE Despite heroic efforts, the Alkonost Republic collapses due to the lack of Pretech starship components formerly supplied by the Core.
2691 CE Situation stabilizes on Laana, forming a loose order of independent city-states.
So here is the first installment:
~1600 BCE Precursors colonize Pazuzu, their first outpost in the sector.
~1550 BCE Precursors set up bases on Zariya, Nadezhda and Pigulim.
~1500 BCE Height of the Precursor civilization; exploration of most worlds in the sector.
~1200 BCE Fall of the Precursors. Evidence suggest a mass-scale war.
2289 CE Mandate scouts from the Russian Commonwealth discover the world of Alkonost.
2292 CE Terran Mandate outpost built on Alkonost, staffed by Russian citizens.
2299 CE Outpost set up on Novy Murmansk.
2300 CE Scouts from the American component of the Mandate set up an outpost on Incunablis.
2308 CE First Russian colony ship arrives at Alkonost.
2309 CE Explorers based on Alkonost scout the entire Alkonost Cluster.
2327 CE Intellectual exiles from Russia set up an academic settlement on Nadezhda.
2328 CE Dissidents and intellectuals from the Middle East form the Neo-Cnaanite Revival Movement (NRCM).
2332 CE Mandate colony ship settles Incunablis, carrying American and British colonists.
2345 CE Chernobog, Poludnitsa and Novy Murmansk settled by Russian exiles.
2373 CE Precursor ruins discovered on Nadezhda.
2411 CE NRCM reaches its height at the Core.
2415 CE NRCM forms its own exploration and colonization wing.
2422 CE NRCM scouts explore the Laana Reach.
2434 CE NRCM-influenced colonists settle Laana and Kedesh.
2450 CE Russian prison ship crashes on Svoboda; convicts revolt.
2452 CE Sikrik settled.
2453 CE Domovoi, Zariya and Iele colonized.
2458 CE Outposts established on Madmena, Ashera and Pigulim.
2461 CE Isis and Osiris colonized; outpost built on Imprimatur.
2466 CE The Svoboda Campaign launched by the Mandate fails; former convicts have the upper hand.
2677 Mining facilities built on Svarog.
2482 CE Precursor ruins on Pazuzu discovered by scouts from Laana; research outpost established.
2490 CE Resheph and Ashtoreth colonized.
2501 CE Jump Gate built in orbit of Alkonost; the Alkonost Golden Age starts.
2526 CE The Mandate builds an advanced biological research center on Ashtoreth.
2549 CE Alkonost, Novy Murmansk, Poludnitsa, Chernobog, Nadezhda, Zariya and Iele set up the Alkonost Republic; adherence to the Mandate is purely a formal matter.
2555 CE Tehom Cluster mapped by Kedeshian scouts.
2560 CE Terran Mandate launches the abortive Alkonost Pacification Campaign but fails miserably.
2569 CE Tehom Cluster colonized by a coordinated Laana-Kedesh effort.
2572 CE Dazbog Cluster heavily colonized by an ambitious drive of the Alkonost Republic.
2583 CE Unbraked AIs developed (in secret) on Incunablis
2586 CE Laana Reach becomes, for all intents and purposes save for the formal allegiance, an independent state called the Canaanite Commonwealth.
2590 CE First Perimeter Agency probe into Incunablis technology fails to find anything substantial.
2595 CE Unity Party established on Laana; rejects Commonwealth formal recognition of Mandate authority.
2600 CE Tehom Cluster declares independence from the Commonwealth, forming the Tehom Combine.
2612 CE Second Perimeter Agency probe into Incunablis technology fails to find anything substantial.
2622 CE The laboratories on Ashtoreth reach unprecedented technological breakthroughs in bio-technology.
2637 CE Incunablis sets up a secret Unbreaked AI research lab on Baba Yaga.
2642 CE Third Perimeter Agency probe into Incunablis technology fails to find anything substantial.
2665 CE The Scream.
2666 CE Canaanite Commonwealth explodes into a multi-sided civil war over remaining technology.
2671 CE AIs establish new order on Incunablis and stabilize the technological base.
2684 CE Ahron Garnus win the Kedeshian Civil War and creates the Kedeshian State.
2688 CE Despite heroic efforts, the Alkonost Republic collapses due to the lack of Pretech starship components formerly supplied by the Core.
2691 CE Situation stabilizes on Laana, forming a loose order of independent city-states.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
New Warrior Training Packages for Stars Without Number
Barbarian
Warriors of the lower tech levels differ greatly from their higher-tech peers, though they, too, can be amazingly lethal in combat. These lostworlder warriors bear the (originally derogatory) nickname of "Barbarians" with pride, denoting their brute force and raw endurance on the battlefield.
Skills: Athletics, Combat/Unarmed, Combat/Primitive Weapons, Culture/World, Survival, Tactics
Combat Hacker
These pathetic creatures of meat and bones dare to challenge even the most perfect and immortal machine with their combat prowess and hacking skills. Also called electronic warfare specialists, these men and women are often included in crack military teams to provide electronic coverage and attack enemy information systems.
Skills: Combat/Projectile Weapons, Combat/Energy Weapons, Computer, Security, Tech/Pretech, Tech/Postech
Combat Medic
Almost any military formation contains military personnel to attend the wounded and save the lives of casualties of incoming enemy fire. They are trained both in modern combat and in caring for the wounded.
Skills: Athletics, Combat/Projectile Weapons, Leadership, Perception, Stealth, Tech/Medical
Company Man (or Woman)
The vast megacorporations need strong and clever men and women to enforce their boards' will, to deal with any trouble that arises and to 'deal' with unwanted competition. These Company Men (or Women) mix the skills of a business executive with those of an assassin and industrial spy.
Skills: Bureaucracy, Business, Combat/Any, Security, Stealth, Vehicle/Any
Cyberninja
The way of a Ninja is an old and well-respected way, but these cyborg assassins do not belong to it or to its philosophy, but rather adapt some of the Ninjas' old techniques to use with extensive cybernetics.
Skills: Athletics, Combat/Unarmed, Combat/Primitive Weapons, Perception, Security, Stealth
Hunter
Vast alien beasts roam strange worlds beyond the few known stars, and the Hunter's job is to hunt them, whether for food, trophies, defending a beleaguered colony or simply entertaining a visiting dignitary. The Hunter, consequently, is stealthy and skilled with hunting rifles, as well as with survival in the wilds.
Skills: Athletics, Combat/Projectile, Culture/World, Navigation, Stealth, Survival
Perimeter Agent
The Perimeter Agency was once a branch of the old Terran Mandate tasked with monitoring technological progress and enforcing technological regulations, particularly where Maltech was concerned. Today, some of the Agency's local branches still exist, their agents restlessly fighting against dangerous technology, eugenic cults, deranged AIs and mad scientists.
Skills: Combat/Any, Computer, History, Perception, Science, Tech/Maltech
Pugilist
Not al warriors fight with guns, lasers or even swords; some hone their body into a deadly weapon. These pugilists, or martial artists, can fight extremely well with their fists and kicks, and endure much pain and damage.
Skills: Artist/Martial Art, Athletics, Combat/Unarmed, Culture/World, Culture/Any, Gambling
Secret Agent
The secret world of espionage and counter-espionage requires capable men and women with a license to kill. In addition to being highly efficient with their gun, they must also flawlessly blend into enemy society and, of course, penetrate enemy facilities.
Skills: Combat/Any, Culture/Traveller, Gambling, Persuade, Security, Stealth
Vehicle Specialist
Modern combat is typically fought with mixed-unit forces, where tanks, APCs, AFVs, helicopters and grav-sleds complement and support the infantry fighters. The Vehicle Specialist specialized in operating such a combat vehicle, be that as a tanker, a jeep driver, or a helicopter or grav-sled pilot.
Skills: Combat/Gunnery, Combat/Projectile, Navigation, Tactics, Tech/Postech, Vehicle/Any
Warriors of the lower tech levels differ greatly from their higher-tech peers, though they, too, can be amazingly lethal in combat. These lostworlder warriors bear the (originally derogatory) nickname of "Barbarians" with pride, denoting their brute force and raw endurance on the battlefield.
Skills: Athletics, Combat/Unarmed, Combat/Primitive Weapons, Culture/World, Survival, Tactics
Combat Hacker
These pathetic creatures of meat and bones dare to challenge even the most perfect and immortal machine with their combat prowess and hacking skills. Also called electronic warfare specialists, these men and women are often included in crack military teams to provide electronic coverage and attack enemy information systems.
Skills: Combat/Projectile Weapons, Combat/Energy Weapons, Computer, Security, Tech/Pretech, Tech/Postech
Combat Medic
Almost any military formation contains military personnel to attend the wounded and save the lives of casualties of incoming enemy fire. They are trained both in modern combat and in caring for the wounded.
Skills: Athletics, Combat/Projectile Weapons, Leadership, Perception, Stealth, Tech/Medical
Company Man (or Woman)
The vast megacorporations need strong and clever men and women to enforce their boards' will, to deal with any trouble that arises and to 'deal' with unwanted competition. These Company Men (or Women) mix the skills of a business executive with those of an assassin and industrial spy.
Skills: Bureaucracy, Business, Combat/Any, Security, Stealth, Vehicle/Any
Cyberninja
The way of a Ninja is an old and well-respected way, but these cyborg assassins do not belong to it or to its philosophy, but rather adapt some of the Ninjas' old techniques to use with extensive cybernetics.
Skills: Athletics, Combat/Unarmed, Combat/Primitive Weapons, Perception, Security, Stealth
Hunter
Vast alien beasts roam strange worlds beyond the few known stars, and the Hunter's job is to hunt them, whether for food, trophies, defending a beleaguered colony or simply entertaining a visiting dignitary. The Hunter, consequently, is stealthy and skilled with hunting rifles, as well as with survival in the wilds.
Skills: Athletics, Combat/Projectile, Culture/World, Navigation, Stealth, Survival
Perimeter Agent
The Perimeter Agency was once a branch of the old Terran Mandate tasked with monitoring technological progress and enforcing technological regulations, particularly where Maltech was concerned. Today, some of the Agency's local branches still exist, their agents restlessly fighting against dangerous technology, eugenic cults, deranged AIs and mad scientists.
Skills: Combat/Any, Computer, History, Perception, Science, Tech/Maltech
Pugilist
Not al warriors fight with guns, lasers or even swords; some hone their body into a deadly weapon. These pugilists, or martial artists, can fight extremely well with their fists and kicks, and endure much pain and damage.
Skills: Artist/Martial Art, Athletics, Combat/Unarmed, Culture/World, Culture/Any, Gambling
Secret Agent
The secret world of espionage and counter-espionage requires capable men and women with a license to kill. In addition to being highly efficient with their gun, they must also flawlessly blend into enemy society and, of course, penetrate enemy facilities.
Skills: Combat/Any, Culture/Traveller, Gambling, Persuade, Security, Stealth
Vehicle Specialist
Modern combat is typically fought with mixed-unit forces, where tanks, APCs, AFVs, helicopters and grav-sleds complement and support the infantry fighters. The Vehicle Specialist specialized in operating such a combat vehicle, be that as a tanker, a jeep driver, or a helicopter or grav-sled pilot.
Skills: Combat/Gunnery, Combat/Projectile, Navigation, Tactics, Tech/Postech, Vehicle/Any
New Psychic Training Packages for Stars Without Number
Machine Empath
Some rare psions excel at interfacing not only with the minds of men and women but also with the minds of machines. They are particularly favoured by anti-Machine polities such as the Liberated Worlds, who use them as weapons against the enemy AIs.
Skills: Combat/Energy Weapons, Computer, Tech/Pretech, Tech/Postech
Mentant
Not everyone is content with letting high-grade computers run their societies; some, such as the Liberated Worlds, prefer to keep a human mind in charge of information processing. These specially-trained Mentants are human computers, capable of performing amazing mental feats with their minds and managing massive amounts of information.
Skills: Bureaucracy, History, Science, Tech/PsiTech
Psi Enforcer
Rogue or deranged psychics are a risk to civilized society and it takes a psychic to catch a psychic. Enforcers are trained and employed to use the powers of their minds to enforce the laws of the Committee on Psionics in and around the Alkonost Republic.
Skills: Bureaucracy, Combat/Energy Weapons, Persuade, Security
Psychic Assassin
Some factions, such as the Liberated Worlds, make use of psionics to power their secret agents and assassins, using the powers of the mind as a dagger against their enemies. These agents are highly skilled in hand to hand combat with and without PsiTech weapons, as well as entering and leaving enemy compounds undetected.
Skills: Combat/Unarmed, Combat/PsiTech, Stealth, Security
Psychic Navigator
Not all worlds entrust the navigation of their starships to ordinary navigation computers; some, such as the Liberated Worlds, prefer to leave Psionic humans in charge. These navigators use their precognitive abilities to give their ships an edge when crossing interstellar distances.
Skills: Culture/Spacer, Navigation, Tech/Psitech, Vehicle/Space
Some rare psions excel at interfacing not only with the minds of men and women but also with the minds of machines. They are particularly favoured by anti-Machine polities such as the Liberated Worlds, who use them as weapons against the enemy AIs.
Skills: Combat/Energy Weapons, Computer, Tech/Pretech, Tech/Postech
Mentant
Not everyone is content with letting high-grade computers run their societies; some, such as the Liberated Worlds, prefer to keep a human mind in charge of information processing. These specially-trained Mentants are human computers, capable of performing amazing mental feats with their minds and managing massive amounts of information.
Skills: Bureaucracy, History, Science, Tech/PsiTech
Psi Enforcer
Rogue or deranged psychics are a risk to civilized society and it takes a psychic to catch a psychic. Enforcers are trained and employed to use the powers of their minds to enforce the laws of the Committee on Psionics in and around the Alkonost Republic.
Skills: Bureaucracy, Combat/Energy Weapons, Persuade, Security
Psychic Assassin
Some factions, such as the Liberated Worlds, make use of psionics to power their secret agents and assassins, using the powers of the mind as a dagger against their enemies. These agents are highly skilled in hand to hand combat with and without PsiTech weapons, as well as entering and leaving enemy compounds undetected.
Skills: Combat/Unarmed, Combat/PsiTech, Stealth, Security
Psychic Navigator
Not all worlds entrust the navigation of their starships to ordinary navigation computers; some, such as the Liberated Worlds, prefer to leave Psionic humans in charge. These navigators use their precognitive abilities to give their ships an edge when crossing interstellar distances.
Skills: Culture/Spacer, Navigation, Tech/Psitech, Vehicle/Space
New Expert Training Packages for SWN
I've decided to create a few more Expert Training Packages for Stars Without Number. Feel free to use them!
Belter
The wealth of a star system's asteroid belts is the bread and butter of interstellar civilization, and the Belters are the hardy people who eke out a living out of mining them. Naturally enough, they are highly skilled in anything related to living and working in space, but they also know their way around complex sensor systems and can defend themselves with their fists in the rowdy bars of the belts.
Skills: Combat/Unarmed, Computer, Culture/Spacer, Exosuit, Vehicle/Space, Navigation, Profession/Miner, Tech/Astronautics
Detective
These individuals, be they police inspectors, secret agents or private investigators, are experts in searching for clues and piecing together the solution of mysteries, usually ones of criminal or political nature.
Skills: Bureaucracy, Combat/Any, Culture/Criminal, Culture/World, Perception, Persuade, Security, Stealth
Doctor
The human body, like any other machine, might break down, and, like a machine, it can sometimes be repaired. This calls for a medical professional who possesses the skills and knowledge necessary to mend wounded or sick humans (or aliens!). These experts are highly sought after in space and on the ground for their medical capabilities.
Skills: Bureaucracy, Culture/Any, Instructor, Perception, Science, Tech/Medical, Tech/Postech, Tech/Pretech
Engineer
Machinery has to be designed, maintained and tended. The Engineer is the master of both machine, starship and structure design and their maintenance and repair, an expert in applied science and an asset on board any starship.
Skills: Computer, Culture/Any, Exosuit, Profession/Engineer, Science, Any three Tech Skills
Entertainer
Brining joy and interest to other's life can be a profession, a leading job in the entertainment industry. Whatever art they have mastered, Entertainers know how to captivate an audience, and also know how to manage an entertainment outfit in the cut-throat market of ShowBiz.
Skills: Any two Artist skills, Business, Any two Culture skills, Persuade, gambling, Profession/ShowBiz
Executive
The vast bureaucracies of an advanced society, be they a mega-corporation or a government bureau, need capable men and women to lead them. The Executive training package reflects a character who has spent time in such a high-level managerial job, involved in business and bureaucracy as well as in human management.
Skills: Bureaucracy, Business, Culture/Any, Leadership, Persuade, Profession/Any, Steward, Vehicle/Any
Hacker
Computer science, especially at Tech 4 and beyond, is a very complex science, allowing for much specialization and requiring cutting-edge professionals to maximise its use. The Hacker is a general term for an elite computer scientist, be that an expert programmer, a crackshot technician or the professional computer criminal.
Skills: Computer, Culture/Any, Perception, Persuade, Security, Science, Tech/Postech, Tech/Pretech.
Free Merchant
Unlike the desk-dwelling executive of the larger shipping lines, the life of a Free Merchant crewman is both more interesting and more dangerous. These intrepid men and women reach distant stars and blaze new drill routes in search for new business opportunities, working as a tightly-knitted crew on board a small, often rickety, starship.
Skills: Business, Combat/Any, Culture/Spacer, Exosuit, Navigation, Persuade, Tech/Astronautics, Vehicle/Space
Wanderer
Some rootless people wander the spacelanes, some for the sheer thrill of it, others due to an inability to call any single place home. These Wanderers are jacks-of-all-trades, people who hop from one odd job to the other and from one planet to the next.
Skills: Combat/Unarmed, Combat/Any, Culture/Traveller, Culture/Any, Language, Gambling, Stealth, Survival
Belter
The wealth of a star system's asteroid belts is the bread and butter of interstellar civilization, and the Belters are the hardy people who eke out a living out of mining them. Naturally enough, they are highly skilled in anything related to living and working in space, but they also know their way around complex sensor systems and can defend themselves with their fists in the rowdy bars of the belts.
Skills: Combat/Unarmed, Computer, Culture/Spacer, Exosuit, Vehicle/Space, Navigation, Profession/Miner, Tech/Astronautics
Detective
These individuals, be they police inspectors, secret agents or private investigators, are experts in searching for clues and piecing together the solution of mysteries, usually ones of criminal or political nature.
Skills: Bureaucracy, Combat/Any, Culture/Criminal, Culture/World, Perception, Persuade, Security, Stealth
Doctor
The human body, like any other machine, might break down, and, like a machine, it can sometimes be repaired. This calls for a medical professional who possesses the skills and knowledge necessary to mend wounded or sick humans (or aliens!). These experts are highly sought after in space and on the ground for their medical capabilities.
Skills: Bureaucracy, Culture/Any, Instructor, Perception, Science, Tech/Medical, Tech/Postech, Tech/Pretech
Engineer
Machinery has to be designed, maintained and tended. The Engineer is the master of both machine, starship and structure design and their maintenance and repair, an expert in applied science and an asset on board any starship.
Skills: Computer, Culture/Any, Exosuit, Profession/Engineer, Science, Any three Tech Skills
Entertainer
Brining joy and interest to other's life can be a profession, a leading job in the entertainment industry. Whatever art they have mastered, Entertainers know how to captivate an audience, and also know how to manage an entertainment outfit in the cut-throat market of ShowBiz.
Skills: Any two Artist skills, Business, Any two Culture skills, Persuade, gambling, Profession/ShowBiz
Executive
The vast bureaucracies of an advanced society, be they a mega-corporation or a government bureau, need capable men and women to lead them. The Executive training package reflects a character who has spent time in such a high-level managerial job, involved in business and bureaucracy as well as in human management.
Skills: Bureaucracy, Business, Culture/Any, Leadership, Persuade, Profession/Any, Steward, Vehicle/Any
Hacker
Computer science, especially at Tech 4 and beyond, is a very complex science, allowing for much specialization and requiring cutting-edge professionals to maximise its use. The Hacker is a general term for an elite computer scientist, be that an expert programmer, a crackshot technician or the professional computer criminal.
Skills: Computer, Culture/Any, Perception, Persuade, Security, Science, Tech/Postech, Tech/Pretech.
Free Merchant
Unlike the desk-dwelling executive of the larger shipping lines, the life of a Free Merchant crewman is both more interesting and more dangerous. These intrepid men and women reach distant stars and blaze new drill routes in search for new business opportunities, working as a tightly-knitted crew on board a small, often rickety, starship.
Skills: Business, Combat/Any, Culture/Spacer, Exosuit, Navigation, Persuade, Tech/Astronautics, Vehicle/Space
Wanderer
Some rootless people wander the spacelanes, some for the sheer thrill of it, others due to an inability to call any single place home. These Wanderers are jacks-of-all-trades, people who hop from one odd job to the other and from one planet to the next.
Skills: Combat/Unarmed, Combat/Any, Culture/Traveller, Culture/Any, Language, Gambling, Stealth, Survival
New Background Packages for SWN
I've decided to create a few more Background Packages for Stars Without Number. Feel free to use them!
Bureaucrat
Complex societies, especially ones with moderate technological capabilities, tend to require large quantities of paperwork to manage. On higher technology levels, this record-keeping work is done on computer networks, but usually these is still need for administrators to monitor it. a Bureaucrat is such an administrator, ranging from a Lostworld scribe to the administrative assistant of a modern world.
Skills: Bureaucracy, Culture/World, Persuade, Steward
Businessman
Whether a store-owner, a street vendor, a small-time accountant or an entry-level manager in a vast interstellar mega-corporation, the character conducts business and manages finances. not all businessmen are entrepreneurs, but all of them know how to conduct themselves financially and run a business.
Skills:Business, Persuade, Culture/Any, Steward
Colonist
The character has grown up on a remote, lowly-populated colony world, making a living out of the harsh wilderness and surviving many hardships.
Skills: Combat/Projectile Weapons, Culture/World, Navigation, Survival
Computer Specialist
Computers are highly important to a modern economy, and many professionals specialize in their production, programming, construction and repair. These specialists know their way through most computer systems, and are also invaluable for the operation of high-end shipboard communication systems and sensors.
Skills: Computer, Culture/World, Security, Tech/Postech
Law Enforcement
Complex societies have accordingly complex laws, and they usually need armed men and women to enforce them. The character may be anything from a corporate security guard to a beat cop to a private eye, but all specialize in similar skills.
Skills: Combat/Any, Culture/World, Perception, Security
MedTech
From the Lostworld herbal healer, through the mid-tech nurse or paramedic to the Postech medical technician, these individuals is a healthcare specialist.
Skills: Bureaucracy, Culture/World, Science, Tech/Medical
Rebel
It is hardly surprising that the many tyrannies of the stars give rise to rebels and malcontents who oppose their oppressive rule. These hardy men and women take guns into their hands for the cause of freedom (or, indeed any cause they see worthy), risking their lives in the streets, sewers, mountains and forests for what they believe in.
Skills: Combat/Projectile Weapons, Culture/World, Stealth, Survival
Bureaucrat
Complex societies, especially ones with moderate technological capabilities, tend to require large quantities of paperwork to manage. On higher technology levels, this record-keeping work is done on computer networks, but usually these is still need for administrators to monitor it. a Bureaucrat is such an administrator, ranging from a Lostworld scribe to the administrative assistant of a modern world.
Skills: Bureaucracy, Culture/World, Persuade, Steward
Businessman
Whether a store-owner, a street vendor, a small-time accountant or an entry-level manager in a vast interstellar mega-corporation, the character conducts business and manages finances. not all businessmen are entrepreneurs, but all of them know how to conduct themselves financially and run a business.
Skills:Business, Persuade, Culture/Any, Steward
Colonist
The character has grown up on a remote, lowly-populated colony world, making a living out of the harsh wilderness and surviving many hardships.
Skills: Combat/Projectile Weapons, Culture/World, Navigation, Survival
Computer Specialist
Computers are highly important to a modern economy, and many professionals specialize in their production, programming, construction and repair. These specialists know their way through most computer systems, and are also invaluable for the operation of high-end shipboard communication systems and sensors.
Skills: Computer, Culture/World, Security, Tech/Postech
Law Enforcement
Complex societies have accordingly complex laws, and they usually need armed men and women to enforce them. The character may be anything from a corporate security guard to a beat cop to a private eye, but all specialize in similar skills.
Skills: Combat/Any, Culture/World, Perception, Security
MedTech
From the Lostworld herbal healer, through the mid-tech nurse or paramedic to the Postech medical technician, these individuals is a healthcare specialist.
Skills: Bureaucracy, Culture/World, Science, Tech/Medical
Rebel
It is hardly surprising that the many tyrannies of the stars give rise to rebels and malcontents who oppose their oppressive rule. These hardy men and women take guns into their hands for the cause of freedom (or, indeed any cause they see worthy), risking their lives in the streets, sewers, mountains and forests for what they believe in.
Skills: Combat/Projectile Weapons, Culture/World, Stealth, Survival
Friday, April 29, 2011
From the Writings of Chairperson Ameena Miran, 3198
"I can already hear you, my future critics, sharpening your pens, growing fat in your soft couches of whatever comfortable future you will live in, pouring out tons of bleeding-heart arguments against my work, against my dream, against what I had to do.
But I do not live in that hypothetical prosperous, peaceful future; I live here, in the thirty-second century by the outdated Terran calendar. Imagine yourself for one, my future critics, in these times, in my place.
Have you ever been forced to choose to which cryo-compartment to divert the remaining power of a failing starship, knowing that whatever you do, half of the cryo-passengers would die, and all you could do is choose who lives, and who dies?
Have you ever found yourself ordering your ships to fire on a fleet of large civilian transports carrying refugees from Sikrik, knowing that if you will spare the refugees, you will most likely be infected the deadly AI Core residing in the transports' computers?
Have you ever faced, as an administrator, a massive, world-wide food shortage? Have you ever faced hoarding, speculation and black-marketeering of the few remaining food supplies, knowing that these hoarders, speculators and black-market men are profiting over the very lifeblood of untold masses? Could you imagine yourself sticking to the usual, long-drawn democratic procedure of investigation and trial of these criminals when the masses starve? I used force; I used what you'd call Draconian methods. But the speculators were dead in short order, and the masses were fed.
Have you ever faced the pressing and urgent military need to eliminate the command center for one of your bitter enemies when the only thing you had in your disposal was a small raiding force only capable of a single hit-and-run attack, alongside with some foreign support? I used nuclear weapons against Sikrik, a planet which also had a large civilian population. But otherwise the Machines would have done worse things to my people.
How do you think it feels to fight all your life for the right of the masses to freely elect their leaders, and then suspend the elections because you are fighting a desperate war on at least two fronts, are facing shortages of almost every possible crucial resource, and know for certain that traitors and spies lurk beneath every stone in your territory, and thus your polity simply doesn't have the time and resources for the complex process of world-wide elections?
How do you think it feels to lie in your bed at 5:00 AM local time, after a sleepless night, scared of what the next day will bring, scared of what you will have to do, and then get up because you know that there are so many things that have to be done?
I have killed people. I have used what you can call tyrannical methods. So much blood is on my hands. But the most important thing, my motherworld of Laana, survives as a single flame of hope against the night of decay and barbarism. I did what I did because there was no other choice. The people have voted me into the office of Chairperson, they have entrusted me with the task of coordinating their fight for survival against the forces of the encroaching night. But I had so little time, so few resources, to do the job with which I have been entrusted. I had no other choice.
Why don't you leave me alone to roll over in my grave in my eternal agony over my own choices, and go instead to investigate the leaders of the late Terran Mandate? Why don't you point your sharpened pens of scholarly criticism at those leaders who had almost unimaginable power at their hands, who ruled over so many sectors of space, who lived in a well-fed era of peace, who had all the potential to peacefully and gently solve the problems of their time, yet trusted their future in machines rather than in people? And for what? To die among the burning ruins of their Imperium?
In 3187, the Assembly tried to put a motion to build statues of me and place them in every major city of Laana. I used my power of veto to prevent this stupidity from being carried out. As long as the Liberated Worlds exist, it is a living monument for me and for my work, making any statute utterly unnecessary. If the Liberated Worlds will fall, what use would be shattered statutes of a woman who's dreams were all shattered?
When I die, bury me in the radioactive mass-graves of Sikrik along with my victims; do not build any mausoleum or monument for me; do not attempt to preserve my body after my death. Remember me by carrying on my work, by ensuring the survival of the Liberated Worlds, by spreading the light our Liberation further into the night.
And, to all of you who will end up leading your people, know that such leadership will bring you to betray the things you hold most dear, but also know that if you truly belief in these things you will have to take the position of leadership. I only hope for you that in your time the material conditions will allow you to betray your ideals less, to use more truly democratic methods to push your dream forward."
But I do not live in that hypothetical prosperous, peaceful future; I live here, in the thirty-second century by the outdated Terran calendar. Imagine yourself for one, my future critics, in these times, in my place.
Have you ever been forced to choose to which cryo-compartment to divert the remaining power of a failing starship, knowing that whatever you do, half of the cryo-passengers would die, and all you could do is choose who lives, and who dies?
Have you ever found yourself ordering your ships to fire on a fleet of large civilian transports carrying refugees from Sikrik, knowing that if you will spare the refugees, you will most likely be infected the deadly AI Core residing in the transports' computers?
Have you ever faced, as an administrator, a massive, world-wide food shortage? Have you ever faced hoarding, speculation and black-marketeering of the few remaining food supplies, knowing that these hoarders, speculators and black-market men are profiting over the very lifeblood of untold masses? Could you imagine yourself sticking to the usual, long-drawn democratic procedure of investigation and trial of these criminals when the masses starve? I used force; I used what you'd call Draconian methods. But the speculators were dead in short order, and the masses were fed.
Have you ever faced the pressing and urgent military need to eliminate the command center for one of your bitter enemies when the only thing you had in your disposal was a small raiding force only capable of a single hit-and-run attack, alongside with some foreign support? I used nuclear weapons against Sikrik, a planet which also had a large civilian population. But otherwise the Machines would have done worse things to my people.
How do you think it feels to fight all your life for the right of the masses to freely elect their leaders, and then suspend the elections because you are fighting a desperate war on at least two fronts, are facing shortages of almost every possible crucial resource, and know for certain that traitors and spies lurk beneath every stone in your territory, and thus your polity simply doesn't have the time and resources for the complex process of world-wide elections?
How do you think it feels to lie in your bed at 5:00 AM local time, after a sleepless night, scared of what the next day will bring, scared of what you will have to do, and then get up because you know that there are so many things that have to be done?
I have killed people. I have used what you can call tyrannical methods. So much blood is on my hands. But the most important thing, my motherworld of Laana, survives as a single flame of hope against the night of decay and barbarism. I did what I did because there was no other choice. The people have voted me into the office of Chairperson, they have entrusted me with the task of coordinating their fight for survival against the forces of the encroaching night. But I had so little time, so few resources, to do the job with which I have been entrusted. I had no other choice.
Why don't you leave me alone to roll over in my grave in my eternal agony over my own choices, and go instead to investigate the leaders of the late Terran Mandate? Why don't you point your sharpened pens of scholarly criticism at those leaders who had almost unimaginable power at their hands, who ruled over so many sectors of space, who lived in a well-fed era of peace, who had all the potential to peacefully and gently solve the problems of their time, yet trusted their future in machines rather than in people? And for what? To die among the burning ruins of their Imperium?
In 3187, the Assembly tried to put a motion to build statues of me and place them in every major city of Laana. I used my power of veto to prevent this stupidity from being carried out. As long as the Liberated Worlds exist, it is a living monument for me and for my work, making any statute utterly unnecessary. If the Liberated Worlds will fall, what use would be shattered statutes of a woman who's dreams were all shattered?
When I die, bury me in the radioactive mass-graves of Sikrik along with my victims; do not build any mausoleum or monument for me; do not attempt to preserve my body after my death. Remember me by carrying on my work, by ensuring the survival of the Liberated Worlds, by spreading the light our Liberation further into the night.
And, to all of you who will end up leading your people, know that such leadership will bring you to betray the things you hold most dear, but also know that if you truly belief in these things you will have to take the position of leadership. I only hope for you that in your time the material conditions will allow you to betray your ideals less, to use more truly democratic methods to push your dream forward."
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