Campaign Setting in Progress

[Strahd99]

I have begun building my own future setting. I will be using the d20 Mecha SRD to build the Armor, Weapons, and Vehicles.

I am having trouble with deciding which era of the planet to start with though. The basic idea is a mix of the movie Screamers and the video game Red Faction.

Major Players in the Setting

Federation of Intergalactic Planets- Basically the galaxy government. They are somewhat expansionist however and there do exist several other governments both planetary and interplanetary in nature. Those, however, play no significant role in the setting as the game is to be based on one planet.

New Economic Bloc - A multi-planetary corporation that has interests in every major industry. They are ruthless and very efficient. Recently they have taken security of thier own facilities out of the hands of the government in the area and created a private army of sorts.

Worker's Alliance - A sort of galaxy wide unionized labor force. When a company wants to employ the best they contact the WA. They are very loyal to the FED and this sometimes brings them into conflict with the NEB.

Now enter the point of contention......The planet Gelespin holds the largest deposits of Chrathanium which is the most potent fuel for spaceships and other devices. It is the fuel for the new prototype FLT ships being developed by the FED research scientists.

Here is where the problem arises. The NEB own the mining rights to the planet as a result of being the first public entity to set up base there. They started to mine the Chrathanium from the depths of the planet. Then they realized that they needed to bring in the WA to help with the project. After a few years and several attempts by the FED to build thier own enclave. The NEB denied them access. Three years later then NEB moved thier headquarters to the planet to help protect thier investment. In the meantime the working conditions became horrible after a new production control director was elected. The WA on behalf of its members who were working for the NEB protested and demanded that conditions improve or they would pull thier workers. When the NEB informed them that according to an obscure piece of galactic law concerning free persons who colonize a privatly owned planet even under contract. Basically they claim that the WA workers gave up thier rights and revoked thier membership in the WA when they took up full time residence on the planet.

All sort of cut and dry so far right....well here is where I am having the trouble. What area of this story arc do you think offers the best playable time. The three start points I see are as the rebellion unfolds as the WA attacks the NEB to attempt to break free from the slave-like conditions. Second, the rebellion has begun and the Fed have dropped thier military forces to fight the NEB on behalf of the WA(nevermind kicking them off the planet would corner the market on the ore). Thirdly, after the introdution on nukes to the planet and the FED have moved on to wage war upon a planet with natives who feel that Chrathanium is a holy object. The FED as a result pull most of thier forces and head to the other planet. While they publicly for the benefit of the people back home claim that the war on Gelespin is going well and should be wrapped up anytime. In reality there is a stalemate and the withdraw of FED support leaves the military shorthanded but still recieving supplies..they begin a guerilla war against the NEB.

Feel free to respond with positive or negative feedback.

[Strahd99]

I have identified the civillian armor and NEb security armor and built them both so far....next task vehicles.
For civ armor I have the: Personal Enviromental Suit, Worker's Alliance Protective Suit, and the Worker's Alliance Heavy Labor suit.

For the NEB Secutiry I have: NEB Off-Duty Officer, NEB Patrol-Duty Officer, NEB Heavy Duty Officer, NEB Swat Officer, NE Undercover Officer, and the NEB Medic Officer.

Stats for these will be forth coming.

The vehicles are a whole other issue. They are to be treaded vehicles for the most part.
Civilian vehicles: Personal Cycle, Economy Auto, Luxuary Auto, Personal Truck, Work Truck, and Cargo Truck.
Hovercraft: Skycar, Skycycle, and Skytruck.
The hover vehicles are very expensive and not a common item. Only the rich or the well connected have one.

NEB vehicles: Patrol Truck, Heavy Duty Truck, Swat Truck, and Medical Truck.
The tanks list for the NEB they will be getting an Urban Assault Vehicle, Armored Car, Light Tank, and a Heavy Weapons Tank. Pehaps a helicopter or a hover vehicle to fill the role. They will also get new vehicles once the campaign begins as supplies from home......Cheap knockoffs of the Fed perhaps.
There are hover versions of all NEB vechicles although they only make up about 20 percent of the total fleet.

Here is a tentative list of vehicles for the FED Military. Striker Tank, Assault Tank, Missle Battery, and Armored Personel Carrier. Also perhaps skyplanes...bomber, fighter, freighter, and perhaps even a tank buster.  I realize that I am short on FED vehicles but will cross that bridge when I begin to write them up.

Have I overlooked anything or is there something that jumps out and says "Wait a minute there fella." If so please let me know. I am not going to start on the FED military armor or vehicles untill these are finished up. One step at a time you know. However any suggestions about the military versions would be welcome.

[KeshFerrar]

I like the middle choice, the war's begun and they're in the thick of things. It offers a lot of campaign points: basic battle, espionage, deep insurgence, etc. You may want to consider moving the time to just before they introduce the first nukes. The tension would be growing high and it would permeate the campaign. Also the players could have a hand in the action of protection, building, deploying, stealing a nuke or the technology.

Just my thoughts. Hope they help.

[Ishmayl-Retired]

I'm not super familiar with futuristic settings (though I am a bit of a sci-fi buff).  I would like to hear more about the setting itself though.  For instance:

Is the setting based in our "real" universe?  -  meaning, will Earth, Solar System, Milky Way, etc have any parts to play?

What kinds of different species will you be using as sentient races?

I like that you're using a rebellion as the staging point of the campaign.  You may want to do some research on Firefly, which has a similar premise - it may give you some good ideas and may spark your creativity in ways that message boards can't.

Could you list some inspirational sources?  Sci-fi is different for just about everybody, and it would be nice to know where you come from.  For instance, I grew up watching Star Trek: The Next Generation, and I love Firefly.  I've recently read a bit of Aasimov, but I'm not overly familiar with him.

[Strahd99]

The setting is a created planet.  Not in the known universe.  For inspiration I am taking the burnt out/bombed out planet backdrop from the movie Screamers.  The video game Red Faction spurred the rebellion idea.  For playable races and options there are humans, cyborgs, and near humans from various planets.  A near human is a race that while being human in basis has a racial starting package based on the evolution of that race to their homeworld and its conditions.  


My person background into science fiction consists of years spent reading books, anime, and movies.  I am not a big fan of television series.  Just not a tv watcher.


However there are to be perhaps 8 cities planet side and then 4 mining sites two open and running and two that are played out.  The rebels will be using one of the mines as their base.  The players who are rebels will be filed ops living in a bunker or on the run in their vehicles.  No time to rest or relax.  The cities would all but one be NEB controlled and the last one being a bombed out ruin.