PDA

View Full Version : d20 Future. Ideas?



Ponderthought
2010-08-15, 11:52 PM
Ok, so, i threw out my last idea, with the superheros and the other nonsense. Futuristic characters are practically superheros in their own right.

So ive cooked up a a pretty good idea for setting: Earth's atmosphere has been worn away to a paper thin envelope incapable of filtering out solar radiation. Humanity has moved out into the solar system establishing colonies on Mars, in the asteroid belt, and the moons of Jupiter and Saturn. Hard Science is the rule of the day mostly.

So, I need ideas for adventures. And im tapped out right now. So I come to the playground for inspiration.

Applicable Sci-fi:
No FTL, humanity can barely manage even half the speed of light, and thats pushing it. It would take roughly 10 years to reach the nearest system.
Aliens are a go. they make up roughly 5% of the population of the Sol system, with most of these being expatriates and exiles from their own systems.
Cybernetics and robots are go, as are A.Is . As are rail based weapons and primitive energy weapons.
Psionic style powers are go. I have an explanation for telepathy, the rest is iffy.

Zodiac
2010-08-16, 12:18 AM
With enough phlebotinum anything can be justified. If you are asking Teleportation (rearranging of quantum particles across 4 dimensional space), fireball (manipulating air molecules to create a new flammable vapor that is then mentally ignited), and precognition (temporarily being able to parse massive amounts of cosmic flux to determine useful information).

Basically I recommend using psionics as programs that "hack" the universe and have the explanation being redistribution of energy and alternation of matter for evocation, abjuration and conjuration effects, illusions being a combination of the former and your solution for telepathy, spatial altering effects (like teleport) involve tapping into 4 dimensional space, and divination effects being related to more unconscious telepathy.

Darius Rae
2010-08-16, 12:19 AM
Two things for hard sci-fi to remember, and you may already know these. The asteroid belt is not like the ones in movies, if you are on one asteroid, you probably can't see any other asteroids. Also, .5 C is very fast, but I don't know your tech level so it might fit in with your other technology.

Aroka
2010-08-16, 12:27 AM
Kuiper belt/asteroid belt pirates, smuggling rings, species tensions and riots, colony separationist movements, general politics, rogue AIs, spying, hostile takeovers, new colonies, scientific or technological breakthroughs, extractions, protections, rackets...

You should probably come up with a campaign idea before planning adventures. You've got a setting, but the campaign defines what you do in the setting. Are the PCs surveyors, salvagers, pirates, mercenaries, police, security, smugglers, or what?

Ponderthought
2010-08-16, 12:32 AM
The asteroid belt is not like the ones in movies, if you are on one asteroid, you probably can't see any other asteroids

Indeed, thats why I thought it would be possible for a number of mining colonies to spring up in the belt. In the pop culture solar system, it'd be dangerously insane, but ive brushed up abit on local astronomy for this.

Im really not sure what an appropriate maximum speed for space craft would be..FTL angrys up my intellectual side. I need a speed that makes system to system travel possible, but extremely inconvenient.

As for psy matters, im thinking of restricting it to less flashy powers. Telepathy (modeled on a sort of radio wave) and precog (subconscious analysis of probabilities)

Edit: Im thinking my PCs will be thrown together by a pirate raid on the ship their traveling in. The pirates make off with loot and slaves and disable the ships systems. So in other words their normal folk thrown together in the struggle to survive and escape the floating space hulk. It gets foggy after that..Im hoping theyll want to track down the pirates to reclaim their possessions and or relatives.

Urpriest
2010-08-16, 12:37 AM
How are you getting aliens without FTL? Did their people have access to FTL, but they themselves are stranded without it/unwilling to share? Or are they the result of long, long journeys? If the latter, it seems highly unlikely that more than one species arrived in our solar system in this way.

Also? Space Elevators.

Edit: If you want FTL to be existent but limited, consider Wormholes. If stable wormholes must be naturally occurring and are insanely rare, aliens could arrive from preexisting colonies established near wormholes. The wormholes themselves could be very dangerous and tricky to use. One in the boundary of the solar system might have not been discovered until some time in your setting's recentish history if it was sufficiently small.

Aroka
2010-08-16, 12:40 AM
Indeed, thats why I thought it would be possible for a number of mining colonies to spring up in the belt.

It's really one of the most basic SF concepts ever. Check out Transhuman Space for a pretty standard overview of how the solar system could be colonized and utilized.

Ponderthought
2010-08-16, 12:41 AM
Some aliens would reasonably have faster ships than humanity, but nothing exceeding lightspeed. Should work out to have a 2, maybe 3 alien races from the closer systems, but farther than that is beyond reach.

Yes space elevators. just begging to be cut at the base just as it comes down, prompting a race to save the passengers from certain death, fantastic.

Kupiter belt pirates, also good. Possibly alien.


In long arc matters, im thinking perhaps a story revolving around a sentient virus. Thoughts?

Altair_the_Vexed
2010-08-16, 05:30 AM
...
Earth's atmosphere has been worn away to a paper thin envelope incapable of filtering out solar radiation.
...
Hard Science is the rule of the day mostly.
...
How does this work?
Atmospheres are retained by massive bodies due to the speed of molecules at the temperature range for that body being lower than the escape velocity of the body.
Did the earth heat up enormously for some reason? (Like, hundreds of degrees, not the current global warming estimates). Did it get less massive?
(I'm only picking on this because you've mentioned hard science - if I'm calling it out, one of your players might, too.)

Back on topic: for adventures, you're looking mainly at human activity - the stuff people do to gain power and influence. Criminal activity makes for a good adventure - smuggling, assassination, and all that jazz: check out old film noir and detective pulp adventures. PCs can be on either side of the fence here: cops and / or robbers.
Or you can go with a larger scale power struggle - colonies violently asserting independence, alien settlements causing resentment and animosity among the humans struggling for the scant resources... draw parallels with 19-20th century real world history, the expansionism and genocide. Look at some of the golden age of pulp sci fi authors - they dealt with exactly these issues.
Or you can go with a wild frontier setting - very Firefly.

Lastly, if you've not done so already, check out Cowboy Bebop. It fits your setting relatively well, from the sound of it.

rojomoke
2010-08-16, 06:26 AM
Rather than the atmosphere thinning, say the ozone layer has been lost through pollution, resulting in too much radiation reaching the surface; and/or something's happened to the Earth's magnetic field, with much the same effect.

Ponderthought
2010-08-16, 12:15 PM
Actually theres a number of things that can eat away at a planets atmosphere, like increased solar winds or the planets orbit or rotation being perturbed by other masses, but that neither here nor there, I basically just need the earth to be uninhabitable, but possible to save if humanity got its (stuff) together. A gamma ray burst (my other absolution) seemed abit extreme.

Heh, Bebop was my main source of inspiration.

I see what your saying about human activity as adventures. Mars in particular seem like it would be a hotbed of political maneuvering, and I want at least on of the moon colonies to be a lawless collection of scum and villainy. It fits really well with the characters playing the role of victims looking for revenge on the pirates that left them to die. They could track the pirates back to their base and find their connected to much larger schemes.

I imagine the small population of aliens could lead to them being marginalized by human society. The call security when they have problems like everyone else, but security rarely shows up, leading them to ask the PCs for help.

Good stuff, keep it coming!

Darius Rae
2010-08-16, 12:28 PM
So ive cooked up a a pretty good idea for setting: Earth's atmosphere has been worn away to a paper thin envelope incapable of filtering out solar radiation.



A Coronal Mass Ejection would probably do to trick, or it would at least sterilize the what ever part of Earth was facing the sun at the time. Solar winds work too.

Ponderthought
2010-08-16, 12:47 PM
Coronal mass ejection eh? Link me to the science please, i dont think ive heard of that, sounds promising.

Ive figured out the travel problem: Humanity has developed engine technology somewhere between PL6 and PL8, allowing them to scoot round the solar system pretty well. Several alien races have developed types of Jump Gates that generate the effects of an Alcubierre Drive (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcubierre_drive) in linear paths, from system to system, but humanity lacks the ability to understand this technology.

Noodles2375
2010-08-16, 01:43 PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronal_mass_ejection

And pictures!
http://www.google.com/images?q=coronal%20mass%20ejection&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1039&bih=673

Urpriest
2010-08-16, 01:49 PM
Ive figured out the travel problem: Humanity has developed engine technology somewhere between PL6 and PL8, allowing them to scoot round the solar system pretty well. Several alien races have developed types of Jump Gates that generate the effects of an Alcubierre Drive (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcubierre_drive) in linear paths, from system to system, but humanity lacks the ability to understand this technology.

With this last bit, there's one question you may want to ask: do humans simply lack the knowledge to understand the technology at present, or are they literally incapable of understanding it? If the former, expect various human interests to pursue the knowledge ruthlessly. If the latter, you're introducing an interesting Kurzweil style "certain things are simply beyond human intelligence". In that sort of world, perhaps the aliens are also incapable of understanding the technology, which was invented by tightly controlled artificial superintelligences that are incapable of explaining it to lower minds such as ours.

Ponderthought
2010-08-16, 01:52 PM
Informative! I may go with that, in that with the lethal radiation would come beautiful auroras, making humanities exodus from earth all the more heartbreaking.

Edit: Humanity is theoretically capable of understanding the jump gates, but its going to take decades of study, and most of the Sol dwelling aliens dont properly understand the gates either, knowing them only as the tools of their exile. Companies ruthlessly pursuing said tech would make for some excellent adventure backgrounds.

Edit Edit: Im going to actually design some aliens soon, dammit all.