d20 Future: Enhancement Group Project 'The Consortium'

[Coan]

Greetings dubious patrons,

I was wondering, as a kind of pet project, if anyone would be interested in developing a d20 campaign setting, extra rules and website with me for d20 Future?

This is kind of a spur of the moment thought and I'm gauging the reaction. But I have a few ideas and was thinking of creating an internet consortium for its expansion.

Anyone interested?

Here is the System Reference Document for d20 Modern and its d20 Future expansion.

SRD d20 Modern and Future

[ScS of the Fraternity]

Did you have any ideas so far? A genre you wanted to emulate?

Did you want something Space Opera, like Star Wars?
Or something in the genre of Mecha, like MechWarrior?
Or something more gritty, like Alien?
Or something future-nolstalgia, like Firefly?

[Coan]

Ideally for me it would be a more gritty future with close ties to the way the world is run to today. VRNets abound, cybernetics would be well known and huge corporations and companies would near control some weaker governments.

Sort of taking what we have on Earth in 2005 and emphasizing certain points. Some planets would also be coloninized but not to the far reaches.

[ScS of the Fraternity]

So perhaps something around the tech level of Aliens? Modern type tech, with some improvements?

I guess such a level would be a 6 on the Alternity tech calander.

Was there supposed to be a lot of interstellar travel? Or was everything going to center around a single system?


How about Government?
Perhaps something more contemporary, where the line between corporate interests and governing is merely blurred - a governemnt that offically represents the people, but in reality is run by mega-corporations?

The Confederated League of States is the mightiest of the nation states, but all of its elected officals pay secret homage to one of the "Big Three". Kilmarny, Path-tech and Hallicom are the masters of all commerce, ruling the consumer world through their networks of franchises and shell companies. All companies can be traced to the Big Three, from Power Stations, to the Music Industry, even to Funeral Homes.

[The Nightmare Man]

Well, I would . That is to say, that I am interested in the possibility of helping out .

I'm in the process of developing a campaign setting which derives themes from many different game genres... including a sci-fi-esque/futuristic styled world and setting.

I've tinkered around with some of the elements discussed so far, but one of the conditions that I set at the very beginning of creation was the adherence to "hard" science. So, before I commit myself completely to your project I would like to know exactly how you intend to utilise the laws of physics in your setting.

For example, are you intending on following the tech and science path exemplified by such sci-fi shows as Star Trek, were all it takes is a little callibration and reconfiguration and the laws of physics can be pushed aside. Or, do you follow the slightly-more-in-tune-with-established-laws-of-physics model illustrated quite accurately throughout most of the Babylon 5 series? The last model, which is the model I've tried to stick to (there have been times when divergence is necessary), is the setting for hard science displayed by the fantastic work being down by those guys on the Orion's Arm setting?

[Coan]

Easy on the ideas ScS I haven't even got the community set or even formed

However this world and project would possibly be best described as semi-cyber punk (something missing from d20 in many ways). But input is more than welcome.

Nightmare Man, hard physics rules are the goal however I need people who know about physics. I myself (knowing little of advanced physics and only so much on biology without research) shall be trying to enforce (and pardon the reframing of your term) 'Hard sociological rules'.

'Why' something exists is just as important to me as 'how' it exists. Why is cloning banned or legal? Why did people switch to cybernetics? What court cases and world events caused the public to endorse such technology. This will hopefully help define and strengthen the world's and setting's history.

One of the hopeful goals of The Consortium will be to develop a time line for world events leading to the present. As well as rules and add ons.

But back to your question. Though I am not so familiar with Babylon 5 (I know of it, not about it) I can however say this will not be Star Trek style. Physics and laws must be kept in check as we will be trying to advance Earth -not re-invent it.

Yeah that works. Behold one of The Consortium's mottos:
'Advancing Earth -not re-inventing it.'

[The Nightmare Man]

Nightmare Man, hard physics rules are the goal however I need people who know about physics. I myself (knowing little of advanced physics and only so much on biology without research) shall be trying to enforce (and pardon the reframing of your term) 'Hard sociological rules'.

Well, I know a fair amount about the most current thinking and theories in physics. Part of my job requires the writing of computer programs for a scientific institution here in Australia. So it helps to have a little (sometimes a lot of) background knowledge about the subjects we're configuring these programs for.

'Why' something exists is just as important to me as 'how' it exists. Why is cloning banned or legal? Why did people switch to cybernetics? What court cases and world events caused the public to endorse such technology. This will hopefully help define and strengthen the world's and setting's history.

One of the hopeful goals of The Consortium will be to develop a time line for world events leading to the present. As well as rules and add ons.

But back to your question. Though I am not so familiar with Babylon 5 (I know of it, not about it) I can however say this will not be Star Trek style. Physics and laws must be kept in check as we will be trying to advance Earth -not re-invent it.

Yeah that works. Behold one of The Consortium's mottos:
'Advancing Earth -not re-inventing it.'

What you're proposing looks like it will be very interesting, as well as a lot of fun. If you'd like me to join in with some ideas, general writing, more ideas, or whatever else you want to create for this project... consider me ready to assist .

[ScS of the Fraternity]

Any ideas so far?

Every sci-fi setting needs a special technology that "makes it go", and a kind of portal technology might be a good idea. This idea harkens a little close to StarGate, but with suitable adaptations can remain original.

We all know about relativity and the trouble with moving space-craft at anything even near the speed of light. As well, many people are aware of the growing field of quantum teleportation - a phenomeon that is a mere curiosity now but is surely destined to become significant later.

So what if scientists perfect a means of quantum teleportation? The advance is limited, since to actually transport matter it is required that the object be broken down by one machine, reassembled by another, and that a complex stream of infromation and energy flows between both machines.

To keep the tech from spiralling out of hand, we could say that the machinery is limited by some factors.

For example, like with radio signals, the laws of physics limit the number of frequencies that can be safely used as carriers for matter transportation. If these carrier waves overlap, they interfer with one another and cause disasterous results (think of all the mass of a human body, converted completly into energy, blasting out of a hole in space). Thus, there can only so many portals in existance, in a given area.

There could be potentially some interesting adventures based on portals. For example, these portals allow humanity to send automated ships out into space. Once the probe arives on the surface, it can set up a portal and allow explorers to instantly arrive on a strange new world.

[Coan]

Well that does reflect the teleportation they are trying out, but I think one of the major technologies will have to be a new energy source.

Fossil fuels will run out within a century so we need a more practical method of powering things -attaching windmills to cars just isn't going to cut it.

[The Nightmare Man]

Every sci-fi setting needs a special technology that "makes it go", and a kind of portal technology might be a good idea. This idea harkens a little close to StarGate, but with suitable adaptations can remain original.

We all know about relativity and the trouble with moving space-craft at anything even near the speed of light. As well, many people are aware of the growing field of quantum teleportation - a phenomeon that is a mere curiosity now but is surely destined to become significant later.

Quantum tunnelling also seems to be gaining ground as a possible variant for transportation. Granted the technology to harness such quantum probabilities does not exist yet... but the theory exists in modern day physics... so it would only take some imaginative efforts to create a system we could use to incorporate this idea into the setting.

And since quantum tunnelling has a history going back to at least the 1970's, there more than enough support for it to be considered "hard" enough for inclusion in this sci-fi setting.

[Jason of the Fraternity]

Anyone interested?

I would say that you've caught my interest. I don't know how much help I'll be, but it would sounds like a pretty cool project idea, Coan.

[The Nightmare Man]

There you go Coan, you've got most of the Fraternity interested in this little project of yours now... .

[ScS of the Fraternity]

Well, two of the fraternity, anyway.

So, energy sources, eh? There are no shortages of different types of fictional power sources.

It is a known fact that there are nutrinos, an enimatic species of sub-atomic particles that appear to move faster than the speed of light. What if there was a means to harness their power?

Invented by some long-haired frinnge scientist and bought out by the mega energy company Westburton, is the N-gine, a device that slows down neutrinos, generating termedous energy from the particles. The "N-gines" were kept as the tightest secret, and through their connections with the local governments, they ensure that no "competitors" sneak a peak at their designs.

Environmental agencies, though skeptical, can find no apparent reason to distrust the E-gines. In fact, with fossil fuels and nuclear power finally out of the picture, Green activists hail the N-gines as the saviour of the planet and advocate its mass production. Soon Westburton claimed a near-global monopoly on energy. It is the hope of their ambitious cadre of executives tha Westburton become the greatest single power in all the world. But to do that, they need to expand beyond power generation.

As time passes, the energy-conglomerate Westburton finally begins the mass production of mini N-gines, begining what they hope will be the next industrial revolution. Imagine every appliance, every vehicle, every gadget and gizmo in the world running off of its own perpetual power source. Westburton knows that with its mini n-gines, they can literally take over the world market on every powered product known to man.

However, Westburton has concealed a terrible secret. While the N-gines were confined to the secure power generating facilities, its was discovered that the operation of an N-gine produced some "distressing" side effects. Employees and researchers describe seeing double images, hearing sounds that were not there, intense feelings of deja vu, sporadic bursts of intense emotions and even hallucinations. In one incident, several researchers for Westburton were killed horribly in the secure bunker-like-lab. The incident was hushed up, though afterwards employees were rotated in and out of proximity of N-gines. It was hoped that whatever effects the N-gine produced would be less pronounced in the mini-N-gines and thus unnoticible.

What is not known, say perhaps by the original inventor, is that the N-gins actually cause the weakening of the barriers between dimensions. Energy and even matter from other dimensions seep into areas bombarded with slowed nutrinos. Even extra-dimensional creatures might emerge from these weakened areas.

As the N-gines finds their way into more and more technologys, these areas of dimensional weakness will overlap and eventually cause a terrible crisis. Mass instances of madness and violence will ensue, perhaps paving the way for invaders from other dimensions.

[Coan]

I like that idea but would like to spread out energy forms (maybe two or three major forms of energy) or at least not have it so centralised to one firm. I do want major firms but a global firm controlling something so vital as energy seems less realistic.

As I intend on having quite a few threads on discussion is anyone adverse to shifting these conversations to thimblefulofthief.com?

The Sci-fi board there is fairly empty and we can have multiple threads for more organised discussion. Where as I dont think the Frat wants us clogging up the Roleplaying Games forums with different threads.

Also I expect to get to serious work on this starting this weekend and after I finish reading d20 Future. Until then are there any more ideas on energy or indeed major thoughts of discussion we should have/or you would like to see?

[Jason of the Fraternity]

As I intend on having quite a few threads on discussion is anyone adverse to shifting these conversations to thimblefulofthief.com?

I have no qualms with you having most of these threads based over at the Thimble. However, I cannot promise that I'll be as attentive over there as I am around here.

Okay, I'm not that attentive around here... Or am I?