Need Help Populating a Sci-Fi Map

[Steerpike]

So what do you think? I'm sure figuring out where they came from and how they came to be will be extremely helpful, but I am completely blanking on any ideas, and I don't want to lose the race as a PC race. Help?

I'm a little confused as to why the Autons don't have any kind of society. They're sentient, self-aware life-forms, albeit biomechanical ones, right? Presumably they came to the system on ships, and have had to settle somewhere, even if it's into other beings' societies. They must have material needs, especially if they have biological components, but even if they were purely mechanical they'd need some kind of energy to keep themselves running. If they need energy and we're not dealing with truly post-scarcity societies that've done away with poverty, that means Autons need to work to keep themselves running. So why couldn't an Auton be a gangster or a bounty hunter or mercenary or whatever?

One way to approach them might be to make them kinda like homeless people or gypsies - itinerent nomads and drfiters who'll do whatever dirty jobs need doing to keep themselves in energy units, or whatnot. Maybe they're viewed as second-class citizens or seen as nothing more than machines and thus abused, exploited, and excluded from positions of power. I suppose this is fairly close to the District 9 situation, but the prawns had a very well-defined society.

Despite being self-aware machines the geth don't seem like a good comparison if you want to resist the idea of a formal Auton society, since the geth had a pretty distinct social structure (albeit an unusual one) complete with religion, heretics and dissidents, a unique form of collective decision-making, etc. I get the feeling you're envisioning Autons as discrete individuals rather than some kind of hive-mind, too.

You should definitely figure out where they come from and what their original purpose was - maybe a slave-race that survived the Blackout, though their masters didn't? Perhaps they're all very subservient by nature due to their programming and so are forever running about looking for people to give them orders.

[Tensen01]

You know, you're right. I guess, even though I included them because they weren't, I was still thinking of them as Emotionless Machines. I think it's probably because of the Art I chose to represent them.

I mean, sure they're not going to be present in every occupation(probably not allowed to be athletes) but that doesn't mean they aren't in the work force in other places, that's the whole reason I decided to do the backgrounds differently in the first place.

Thanks, guess I just needed someone else to say it and kick me in the butt.

[Tensen01]

Okay, so I was working on something else when the idea just popped into my head...

The Autons, as far anyone can tell, were the very first to arrive in system... In fact, the Autons were always there. They were made by the Creators, and their memories of arriving were implanted(Or they have no memory of arriving at all). They were created as a kind of Caretaker race, which is why they can be found on every planet. They are highly adaptable and don't care about atmosphere or anything like that. They don't really have their own society because they were designed to integrate themselves into whatever society they found themselves in.

The reason they can't reproduce/there aren't any more being made, is that the automated factory (P1) is no longer operable.

[LoA]

You know I don't know how much of Pathfinder you checked out, but they actually have an android race that fits the flavor of your setting a bit better if you care to check it out.

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/races/other-races/more-races/advanced-races-11-20-rp/android-16-rp

[Gamer Printshop]

Rite Publishing has a better one, also for Pathfinder, called Ironborn, it comes with a complete backstory and culture.

[Tensen01]

You know I don't know how much of Pathfinder you checked out, but they actually have an android race that fits the flavor of your setting a bit better if you care to check it out.

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/races/other-races/more-races/advanced-races-11-20-rp/android-16-rp

Hmmm, interesting, thanks for that. I think it will be a help for sure.

[Tensen01]

So, I was talking to a good friend of mine and I asked him what he'd look for in a game/setting that billed itself as a Sci-Fi game using Fantasy Gaming tropes. Most of what he came up with I'm already including, but one of the things was something I had completely overlooked... Treasure.

The acquiring of Treasure in all it's forms is a big part of Fantasy games, and as such should factor into my game as well. The problem I'm hitting is just what is Sci-Fi treasure? Obviously there's money, that's a given, but what are the Sci-Fi Equivalent of Magical items? +1 Swords? Etc.?

So far I have the "Magic Wand" which is basically a piece of tech that allows the Player to access "The Void"(Imagine Mass Effect Biotics), as well as a modification of the "Runes" mechanics from the Dragon Age RPG (Basically weapon and armor mods). But what else can you think of? It should be something where its utility outweighs its value as a rare artifact of the Forerunner/Precursor race, assuming it is an artifact. WOuld love to hear suggestions

[Tensen01]

Okay, so in thinking on it and talking with some folks I came to the conclusion that, the best way to implement "Magic Items" is to crib an idea that, despite my dislike for the system they came from and their use in that system, will be the perfect analog. Cyphers (Numenera, The Strange, Cypher Core). One, or at most a couple, use items that allow the PCs to do something extraordinary in some way. The difference is that in my setting they'll be fairly rare instead of so common you have to artificially limit how many a character can carry.

But this will open the way for a "belt" that allows the wearer to pass through solid objects, or that can allow someone to lift a building. And once they're burnt out (going to adapt the Numenera Artifact Depletion rules) they'll still likely be worth something to collectors/scientists.

I'm also going to have to come up with a good general equipment list and Bionics/Cybernetics stats.

[Tensen01]

So, In the process of statting out the Autons and figuring out their society I figured out where the creators (Now Officially being called The Magratheans or Magra for short by the Humans, after an piece of ancient Earth literature, and simply as "The Designers" by most other races) went...

They didn't go anywhere. Every Designer is alive and well... In the body of an Auton. They knew that in their original form they'd end up likely being worshiped as gods and they didn't want that. So instead they created the Autons and downloaded their consciousness into them. Autons do not, however, have any memory of this. All Autons instead carry the momeories of arriving in-system and landing on the planet closest to their arrival point, eventually spreading out to explore the system until the other races began arriving.

When an Auton "dies" their consciousness is immediately beamed back to the Factory World and implanted into a new Body with memories of a quiet life on P1 and are then free to stay or venture back out into the system. There is a small Governing body on P1 that has access to all of this knowledge and oversees this process.

[Tensen01]

Completely reworked the map... Instead of a Trinary/Quadruple system I made it a Singular system with several brown dwarfs acting as smaller suns.

Also added names to every planet. I figured even if they weren't inhabited they'd still be named. Names are primarily in Vries.

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