The Campaign Builder's Guild

The Archives => Homebrews (Archived) => Topic started by: beejazz on March 04, 2007, 09:07:58 PM

Title: Beejazz's Science Fiction Theater
Post by: beejazz on March 04, 2007, 09:07:58 PM
So far, this is more or less just a placeholder/teaser for my ultimate sci-fi setting of doom. Later, this'll be a central discussion thread.

It'll be cyberpunk. There'll be psionics. There'll be horrible biological technologies. There'll be spacial anomalies and horrible quasi-real masterminds from other realities. There'll be bat and frog people and mecha. This'll pull from anime and pulp and transrealism alike. And as in anything I make, there'll be a conspiracy to blow your mind.

Inspirations include old Flash Gordon comics, back issues of Heavy Metal Magazine (more or less my inheritance), Starcraft, Halo, Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop, Big O, Ghost in the Shell, and some inspiration by SA.

The campaign is set in the far future. Humanity escaped the explosion of the sun in seed ships in forgotten days. Several of these ships were crashed on the three habitable moons of a gas giant planet. Lifeforms called Titans existed prior to the human migration, but are forgotten and thought to be extinct today. Other intelligent life was evolved or engineered from earthling life (including humans, as well as bats and frogs), and artificial intelligence has also come about in reent times thanks to quantum computers. Technology developed more rapidly here thanks to learning from the Titans and the crash sites, but still hasn't progressed very far past what we today would call "near future."

And on top of all that, I'm actually going to publish it.

Titans (http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?27259.last)

End and Beginning (http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?28309)

Strange Sky (http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?29355)

Horde (http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?30060.last)

Host (http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?30339)

Mutants and Psychics (http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?30746.last)

Player Options (http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?30071)
Title: Beejazz's Science Fiction Theater
Post by: beejazz on March 04, 2007, 09:55:40 PM
Also, future book names and concepts.



Flesh and Blood: Mutants, the Horde, and all things bio.
Steel and Circuits: Droids, Mobile Suits, and all things mech.
Sight and Spirit: Psychics, the Host, and all things psi.
Hubris: Crime, politics, and the underground.
Nemesis: Ineffable horrors.
Title: Beejazz's Science Fiction Theater
Post by: Matt Larkin (author) on March 05, 2007, 10:11:39 AM
Cool description of the titans.  I would say the first part makes it sound like they can fly through space, but the detailed description sounds like they would need ships.  I assume the later is the case?

What do they want?  How do they feel about mankind?  What do they eat?
Title: Beejazz's Science Fiction Theater
Post by: Captain Obvious on March 05, 2007, 12:30:11 PM
Oooh! me likey!
This looks wicked. About the titans...
they still existed once humans got there right? at first it seemed like they had been wiped out when the humas arrived or something (at least that how it sounded to me), but once i went to see the titan's description, it seemed otherwise.
Title: Beejazz's Science Fiction Theater
Post by: beejazz on March 10, 2007, 03:25:50 PM
Titans have crazy awesome setup where they don't have to breathe, can move by the power of their wills, and can change their bouyancy in a gaseous atmosphere. Hooray for gas bladders. Anyway, they can move about freely on gas giants, ordinary planets (regardless of atmosphere), or in space. In terms of interstellar travel, though... that's a question of technology no matter how you slice it. Human seed ships used cryogenics. Titan technology (whethter it's for storage, travel, weapons, or cooking) is heavy on spacial anomalies and not entirely physical. I'll get into the M-theory mechanics of psychic constructs later, but I think you get the picture. Anyway, I'm pulling another 70 hour workweek, but I'll update when I can.

Oh, and the extinction of the titans proper was post human arrival. A few titan bloodlines do still exist, but I'll be getting to that in my description of the Host.
Title: Beejazz's Science Fiction Theater
Post by: beejazz on March 19, 2007, 07:08:08 PM
Titan Tech is updated... more later on "rapture weapons," infinite energy, and the extinction... after that I may move on to describe the Ancients or the Host. Anyway, enjoy!
Title: Beejazz's Science Fiction Theater
Post by: Raven Bloodmoon on March 20, 2007, 04:08:53 PM
Cool stuff, beejazz.  What was titan culture adn society like?  Did they leave any ruins or traces behind?  If so, what were they?  You mention they can exist in the atmospheres of gas giants; what pressure range can they survive?
Title: Beejazz's Science Fiction Theater
Post by: beejazz on March 26, 2007, 05:35:24 PM
I'll get more on culture and society later, but you can imagine what a society composed of individuals capable of roaming all of the universe on a whim might be like... to say the least, it'd be spread out.

As for ruins and traces, the most basic thing is that they might (emphasis on might) have invented psionics, in the form of very simple psychic constructs available to "lesser" beings.

And for atmospheric pressure ranges, they did colonize a gas giant with three or four earth-sized moons (these moons being the focus of the setting), so I'd say they can survive some pretty damn high pressures.
Title: Beejazz's Science Fiction Theater
Post by: beejazz on April 02, 2007, 03:56:24 PM
Entries to be added which will explain rapture weapons, infinite energy, and why the titans just ain't what they used to be.

Done, and spoilerized for your convenience.
Title: Beejazz's Science Fiction Theater
Post by: Xeviat on April 08, 2007, 04:00:21 AM
I'm liking your use of M-theory as a basis for Titan technology. Consider me hooked. I'll answer any specific inquiries you have, and I'll help however I can (I've read Green's books on M-Theory and Space/Time, so I may be able to help with the physics angles too).
Title: Beejazz's Science Fiction Theater
Post by: beejazz on April 09, 2007, 05:43:24 PM
Kewl... I read stuff a while ago, but I forget things quickly. I'm about down to "There is no matter or energy; only inconcievably wrinkly space." Maybe a bit more than that, but you get the idea.
Title: Beejazz's Science Fiction Theater
Post by: beejazz on April 23, 2007, 03:38:53 PM
Hoo-whee! Got a bit more on titans, for those who are interested. Gonna see if I can add or clean up on my "end and beginning" thread.
Title: Beejazz's Science Fiction Theater
Post by: Higgs Boson on April 23, 2007, 04:46:12 PM
looks very nice, can't wait to see what it looks like when finished, ill probably end up using it in one of my campaigns, more interesting than the regualr sci-fi world, where faster-than-light travel is freely available, empires conquer solar systems on a daily basis, etc.
Title: Beejazz's Science Fiction Theater
Post by: beejazz on April 23, 2007, 04:54:44 PM
Yeah... I was kinda trying to eschew the "bigness" of alot of sci-fi. I'm a big fan of both the near future and the far out, though, and I do try to seek a balance.
Title: Beejazz's Science Fiction Theater
Post by: beejazz on May 05, 2007, 11:42:52 PM
Strange sky is updated.
Title: Beejazz's Science Fiction Theater
Post by: Tybalt on May 07, 2007, 03:18:17 PM
I have to say that this is one of the few science fiction type campaign settings I've ever liked. I think that part of it is that you have shrewdly dealt with one of the major problems in such settings: the sheer SIZE of it. This tends to make descriptions of places rather vague since there is so much material to cover, and frankly I prefer to have a small region with depth to a large one with a veneer of interesting stuff. Keep it up, I'll keep reading.
Title: Beejazz's Science Fiction Theater
Post by: beejazz on May 07, 2007, 07:52:40 PM
I know what you mean. Besides the implausibility of so many worlds earth-like enough to be habitable, not to mention faster than light travel (the methods for which, while theoretically possible, require rare stuff, and seem more likely to be weaponized).

That and I'm too lazy to put together an entire galaxy.
Title: Beejazz's Science Fiction Theater
Post by: beejazz on May 14, 2007, 07:12:55 PM
New stuff on the horde.
Title: Beejazz's Science Fiction Theater
Post by: beejazz on May 14, 2007, 07:54:51 PM
I feel speshul... I can't even link two threads together in the short time it takes for people to comment.

I'm flattered, really! :D
Title: Beejazz's Science Fiction Theater
Post by: beejazz on May 15, 2007, 12:38:16 AM
And a little bit on character options. More options (and builds in Tristat) later
Title: Beejazz's Science Fiction Theater
Post by: beejazz on June 03, 2007, 02:25:59 AM
Totally linked (wasn't before). Look for me to finish playable options in the near future, plus updates on psychics, and a more down-to-earth look at the dark side of urban living on the third moon. I've almost got enough for that promised shiny new thread.
Title: Beejazz's Science Fiction Theater
Post by: beejazz on June 03, 2007, 02:25:59 AM
Totally linked (wasn't before). Look for me to finish playable options in the near future, plus updates on psychics, and a more down-to-earth look at the dark side of urban living on the third moon. I've almost got enough for that promised shiny new thread.
Title: Beejazz's Science Fiction Theater
Post by: the_taken on January 06, 2008, 04:49:37 PM
Review: Interesting, with potential for growth. I especially like the description for Titans, though I don't actually like them. Not that I hate them, I just don't like them.

Request: If you're going to include giant robots, would you be willing to consider using the game system I'm developing for giant robot fights?
Title: Beejazz's Science Fiction Theater
Post by: beejazz on January 06, 2008, 04:53:02 PM
What don't you like about them? I'm curious.

Also, I'm a system buff. I can't promise you I'd use the whole of the system, but I'd gladly cannibalize it.
Title: Beejazz's Science Fiction Theater
Post by: the_taken on January 06, 2008, 05:29:52 PM
Quote from: beeblebroxWhat don't you like about them? I'm curious.

It's just one of those things. Like there's nothing that I particularity don't get the feeling of "It's bad" but there's nothing there that gives me a feeling of "Nice". Neutral feeling, like the one you might have for a neighbor's cat. There is a cat, it's called Mr.Mittens. *Shrug*

What I do like the way that they're described. Basically what I'm saying is that I don't care about the titans, I might even forget about them, but I do like your writing style, and enjoyed reading about the titans, even if I don't like them.
Title: Beejazz's Science Fiction Theater
Post by: beejazz on January 08, 2008, 12:34:42 AM
And here I thought I was a bad writer. Maybe because I am bored by reading my own thoughts... maybe because they're predictable... maybe because I wrote them.

And that's where the feedback is good. Thanks man. I shall take this into consideration when sft returns as moons of megillot.