Ad Astra: Dragoons, Simulants and Loadouts

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Dragoons


Some dragoons are so far removed from the common human that they are closer to robots, and may even be designed as if they were such. For a more “human” dragoon, treat them as Marines with the following additional package ideas. The following Cybernetic enhancements are placed on a Dragoon to bring them up to FM standards. Most Dragoons are recruited from amongst desperate criminals, those who have experienced crippling and irreparable injuries, and others.
Ares Class Dragoon Infantry Unit:

UPP: AB7762

Skills: 3 terms Star marine career path

Special Abilities:

Bioware: Biomonitor Implant records physical condition, heart rate, temperature, toxicity, etc. Wafer Jack.

Armor: Dragoons have the equivalent protection of Powered Armor with an Armor rating of 14. This is a duralloy mod armor enhancement, and is part of their body.

Environmental Adaptation against extreme heat, extreme cold, vacuum, and water. The dragoon is unaffected by these extremes.

Nano-Regeneration allows for nanotech healing agents to repair damage (but not to armor), giving a +2 modifier to End checks for healing.

Enhanced Senses: Sonar, Radar, Radio Infrared, and hearing are all added or boosted.

Special Attack: Ares UR55 Particle Cannon The equivalent of a PGMP-12 or sometimes larger.

Size: The Dragoon is larger than normal,averaging 8-10 feet in height.

Owned: Federated Commonwealth Marines own the dragoon’s body and soul, literally. Dragoons really don’t muster out; a PC Dragoon which is forced out of service by failing a Survival roll, or at an appropriate Life Event, may declare it tries to go rogue, or become a drifter. It is then wanted and has the Federated Commonwealth as an enemy. Alternatively, a Dragoon which reaches officer rank 5 or better and which has at least 6 benefist for mustering out may expend those benefits to purchase its freedom.

Ageless: The treatment of what little organics remain in the Dragoons are such that they never worry about ageing effects. Dragoons never die of old age; usually just disease, cancer and in battle.

Outsider: The monstrous, mechanoid appearance and inability of the dragoon to interact normally with humans again, as well as being social and criminal outcasts in origin, forces all Dragoons to start with a Social Standing of 2. This can improve, especially if a Dragoon becomes an officer by commission, but they can never hold any noble rank no matter how high the social standing goes.

Limited Power Source: Dragoons use power from internal fusion plants, and rarely run out, but if this is ever compromised (such as on a called shot at maximum effect), there is A 1 in 6 chance the power plant will explode, taking the dragoon and a lot of turf with it. If the plant is shut off or removed, the dragoon is rendered inert, and emergency back-ups will kick in after 30 seconds, but provide only one hour of power for mobility. After the hour, it is inert, and a small battery keeps the biological part of the dragoon alive for 48 hours, after which it runs out and dies.

Marine Combat Gear
Powered Combat Armor

Through the various Phases of time in the Ad Astra setting, marine combat armor has evolved from armored vaccuum suits with nominal exosekeletal power-up to state of the art, high-tech mech suits which average about 10-16 feet in height and are as well armed and armored as most high-tech interstellar combat fighters (and more versatile, to boot).

Combat armor in Ad Astra is easily defined by the Powered Armor listings in the Traveller equipment rules.

Protophase Armor Options:

The best armor available during this period is Infantry Battle Suit dress. Towards the end of this period, Hard Armor becomes available.

Ares Class Standard Armored Vacc Suit


Periods: Phase I, II, III

A heavy combat vacc suit, designed with flexible polyweave duralloy armor plating, self-sealing mesh, a one week recycling life support system, and exoskeletal support. Some units, mostly for space-going missions, include zero-gee jet thrusters. During Phase I, these suits are defined as Hard Armor. By the end of Phase I and then on, use the Powered Armor listings (scout, battle, and heavy). All of these suits have the following extra features:

Environmental Adaptation resistant to pressure, vacuum, radiation, cold, heat, gasses, unless punctured or compromised.

Life Support One week of extended life support in a completely hostile environment. Goes to 1 month by phase II and six months by phase III.

Special Attack: Built-in shoulder or arm mounted mini-chain gun or mini-blow torch.
Ares Class Attachment Options:

Cerberus 50mm Recoil-free Heavy Assault Rifle

(Use ACR stats)

Built to serve as the standard heavy-assault weapon for Ares-armored infantry, this massive rifle fires magnetically launched, high-velocity slugs with no recoil, making it ideal for zero-gee combat missions.

Harpy 2200 Self-Guided Missile Shoulder Launcher

(Use the Rocket Launcher stats, TL 9)

A heavy mobile launch cannon loaded with homing missiles. This is a favored portable assault weapon among powered armor troopers.

Damocles Monofilament Assault Blade

Damage 3D6; Mass .5; Uses 300; Heft -; Cost 50,000 CR

Sometimes you find yourself in the trenches in man to man combat, and nothing cuts through duralloy like a monofilament assault blade. On a critical failure of 1 in an attack, the blade breaks! Monofilament blades are so effective that against standard (i.e. non energy-based) armor they treat armor protection as half normal value.

Simulants


Simulants are effectively genetically enhanced, test-tube grown humans, created from whole genetic cloth and tailored to the specific needs of a given job. Simulants, therefore, have a limited capacity for variation. There are about three hundred “types” from which the FM draws its best stock, and they leave intentional random mutational factors in the growth process to insure that there is a factor of individuality between the simulants. It is possible to have an army of true clones who all look alike, but the need to assert individuality in the face of such sameness is in the HFC charter.

Simulant Characters:

Simulants are tailored in the transgenic design process to be most functional in their profession. Ergo, you get a very narrow starting point spread for you attributes, and each stimulant type is engrained with certain specific skills that must be paid for with starting skill points at the minimum indicated levels. These stats will change as the stimulant goes through it’s career path, but the base ranges are as follows. Also, note that Simulants are specifically bred for the military; they automatically get to join one of the military careers for their first term. They can not actually leave their chosen field of service until they have served at least 3 terms, although they may attempt to switch to different military careers. A stimulant who fails a second or later enlistment attempt always gets submitted to the draft at that time, until his first three terms are completed. If a stimulant is forced to muster out for an injury, however, he is also then discharged from his duties and may resume a career as a free man.

Grunt Simulants

UPP: 888662

Support Simulants

UPP: 778883

Officer Simulants (gain +2 on commission rolls)

UPP: 777777

Pilot Simulants

UPP: 788785

Armor Simulants

UPP: 778773

Simulants of a unique or specialized nature may be custom designed, but most simulants in the Federated Navy have a common package of transgenic modifications, which always includes the Wafer Jack and Biomonitor Implant (see above on the Marines). A sample design focus follows:

“The Spacer” Space Combat Specialist:

Neural Comm Radio Link (radio implant)

Adaptation: Vacuum, Radiation, Extreme Cold. The spacer gets a +2 bonus on End checks against such forms of damage. Spacers can resist hard vacuum effects and hold their breath for 3xEnd minutes.

Subdermal Armor: Spacers have 1 point of armor for a nanoweave armored skin.

This simulant was born and bred for the extremes of space; each Spacer is treated with a nano fiber weave in their skin which hardens them to the rigors of outer space; they are capable of holding their breath for great lengths, and have been implanted with a radio link for communication.


All text copyright 2011 by Nicholas Torbin Bergquist, all rights reserved

Ad Astra: The Federated Marines and Dragoon Cyborgs

The Federated Marines and the Dragoon Special Units


Once, during a Cerr’K’Taa invasion, a sweeper squad of federation marines arrived. They were inscrutable warriors, the ultimate killers. Armed to the teeth which high energy particle weapons, gravitic rifles, A-M tanks, and supported by a troop of Ares class Dragoons, it was hard to imagine any of them were human. And it turns out that most of them weren’t, had indeed never known a true mother or father in their life, just the cold steel walls of a birthing plant somewhere back in the core. Of course, real humans wouldn’t be so insane as to head out in to uncharted colonial space to protect and handful of colonists, researchers, and prospectors, would they?

The HFC is a thinly spread unity of human space, keeping a vast diversity of otherwise independent interstellar and planetary governments and corporations in contact and legal agreement with one another. While the HFC is, itself, funded primarily by the core worlds, it has a modest but impressive military. In the frontiers of space, the best military units are small, efficient, and deadly. They are capable of instigating peace by their mere presence, and are worthy of attracting the attention of all but the most obtuse enemies. To this end, the HFC has created the Interstellar Navy and the Federated Marines to enforce the law and keep the peace.

The Federated Marines are, as a group, a rough but disciplined bunch. Members are drawn from three sources:

1. Volunteers. There are, believe it or not, people who would find this sort of life tempting for any number of reasons. Many of the FM’s forces are drawn from backwater worlds with small, unsuccessful colonies that cannot afford to get away from whatever tepid hell-hole they grew up in. The FM takes anyone, even allied alien forces. Praektorians, example, make up fully 30% of all FM forces.

2. They make you from scratch. Simulants are a common practice in this era, genetically grown and bred human beings designed for specific tasks or duties. Simulants are a hardier, tougher, meaner lot than most regular humans, and the ones bred for the marines are crafted specifically to be killing machines. The rules for simulant characters will be discussed in more detail in a bit.

3. You are sentenced to a term with the FM. Federated Marines, and Dragoons especially, are sometimes former convicts who were given the option to serve a life sentence in the harshest patrolled zones of the HFC. Convict marines are often kept in special military units, and assigned to regions where they are monitored carefully. Some who excel and prove themselves in a magnanimous fashion are granted the right to move on to more regular duties, but they are never allowed to leave the FM until age prohibits them from functioning effectively.

The difference between Federated Marines and Dragoons is simple. FM’s slap on a suit and armor, have some cybernetic or gene-mods, and are ornery. Dragoons are ornery too, but that’s because less than 10-12% of their biological body is still present; the rest of the Dragoon has been supplanted by the most sophisticated killing machine body money can buy. Dragoons are effectively robots for purposes of character design, and very rough ones, at that. Many are former criminals, who have been further subjected to a barrage of psychotropic drugs, mental stimulants and pacifiers, and extreme conditioning procedures to make them functional, obeying forces. Dragoons scare the crap out of regular Marines, but they are the heavy artillery everyone has come to rely on. Without the Dragoons, the really big bad guys would be a bitch to deal with.

Characters of both military types are possible in any Ad Astra campaign. You should pick your choice of career and species first, and then come here to receive further guidance in the character creation process. To run Marine and Dragoon characters, follow the following guidelines in character design:

Federated Marine Characters:

All Federated Marines go through a rigorous training period. A suggested profile for a novice marine is as follows. Federated Marines are given the option to build upon and enhance their cybernetic modifications, though any deleterious effect on their psyche will lead to a halt order on further modifications until treatment is received.

The Marine career path is the best possible choice for a Federated Marine, and the details of that career will reflect a typical marine’s life path.

Federated Marines receive the following on starting their first term in the service:

Bioware: Biomonitor Implant records physical condition, heart rate, temperature, toxicity, etc. Augmentation - Wafer Jack

All text copyright 2011 by Nicholas Torbin Bergquist, all rights reserved

Ad Astra Aliens IX: The Stick-Men

Stick-Men


About seventy thousand years ago, a new visitor arrived, the aptly named Stick-Men, who themselves prefer to be called the Controllers. The Stick Men are a diminutive race of parasitic organisms, silicone based, which inhabit any number of foreign hosts and gain cortical control over their targets. In humans, their presence along the spinal cord and cortex of the brain is aggravating and stimulates rapid cancerous growth. In turn, the stick man extrudes an enzyme that alleviates the pain of the host and extends its life as long as it is completely compliant with all stick-man manipulations.

The stick-men are fifth dimensional beings, and are also from a completely different universe, and travel via wormholes from one universe to the next. They are for unknown reasons unable to transfer from one wormhole to another without being destroyed, and require a host organism to transfer into or through. As they spread like a cancer throughout the universes, they take over hosts, seek out sentient beings, and then work to develop or gain control of the technology to make the next leap.

The machinations of the stick-men are inimical to human understanding, but it is known that they seek another, ancient race they call the First Ones. These first ones are descried as non corporeal beings of energy which also take on host forms, but usually choosing non sentient hosts. They have been pursuing the First Ones for at least two expansion cycles of the universe, they claim, and explain that they seek to integrate the First Ones into their own society. Somehow, people who actually meet, deal with, and talk to them through their hosts, never believe them, feeling instead like dealing with stick men is like dealing with infernal demons.

Sample Stick-Man:

UPP: 373AA7

Skills: Recon 2, Stealth 3, Survival 1, Melee (sting) 1

Special Abilities:

Weak but Brainy: Stick-men are scrawny and splat easily. They roll only 1D6 for Str and End. They receive a +3 bonus to Int and Edu, however.

Diminutive Size: Stick-men are small, not much larger than big rats or enormous insects, and attackers are at –2 to hit them.

Stinger: A stick-man invades a suitable host by injecting it with a highly invasive biogenic neurotoxin that analyzes the host’s immune system and adjusts its toxicity accordingly to paralyze the host. The stick-man then uses its razor-sharp fore claws to cut through tissue to the cortical membrane or primary controlling nerve tissue of that host. It stimulates healing of the wound through more enzymes to seal the wound once inside.

In game terms, if the stick-man makes a fighting roll that hits and the target is stunned or rendered unconscious, the target must make a check on his End vs. the poison of the Stick-Man (which provides a -2 penalty to most human-like species) or succumb to the neurotoxin in 1d4 combat rounds, becoming paralyzed on the final round. It takes the stick-man another 1d4 rounds to imbed itself in the host, and only a sufficiently impenetrable armor will prevent such from happening.

Once in the host, the stick-man has control over all skill, attribute, and edge functions of the host. The host becomes an unconscious guinea pig of the stick-man, and is unable to do anything except observe from afar. Removal of the stick-man without the Medic skill and medical facilities results in an incapacitating coma, and death if the host fails a End check. A Medic roll at a –2 modifier may be used to attempt the operation in the field (modifier goes away if real medical facilities are at hand). Success means the host is incapacitated but stable, and will recover in a number of days equal to the effect. A maximum effect means immediate recovery.

In the course of this operation, it is possible the Stick-Man will react to protect itself, or even flee the host. If the medic in question wishes to incapacitate or capture the Stick-Man, he must make a contested check of his Medic skill vs. the Stick-Man’s Dex, or the Stick-Man will escape the host and attempt flight. Suitable arrangements made to prevent this beforehand may keep it around anyway, of course. Desperate Stick-Men may resort to trying to sting the medical professionals around it and seek a new host as quickly as possible, if such options are available. All of this assumes its current host form has been incapacitated or restrained, of course.

Adrenaline Surge: When in a host, the Stick-Man can induce an adrenaline surge once per hour that lasts 3D6 minutes, adding +1D6 to each physical stat for that period. Afterwards, the host must make an End check; failure means the host’s stat goes down for 1D6 hours by an amount equal to the effect it failed by. If it gets an effect of 6, then it loses 1D6 points permanently!

All text copyright 2011 by Nicholas Torbin Bergquist, all rights reserved

Ad Astra Aliens VIII: Hypolate Farseers

Hypolate Farseers


The gangly, thick-skinned yet oddly bony Farseers are primitive by all standards, but their tiny black eyes inset over lean mouths at the ends of such spindly necks indicate an ancient intelligence and legacy long beyond human counting. They have lived so long, seen so much that they are beyond our simple pursuit of science and discovery. Their vaguely humanoid tripodal body seems remarkably similar to the tripodal forms of the precursors.....

The Hypolate Farseers are a genetic descendant of the Hypolate progenitors, a vaguely humanoid species which is best described as an exo-skeletal, almost deathly being with only the vaguest identified characteristics. Their oveall appearance is one of the gangly and walking dead, but with heads drooped forward, protruding from their chest cavity, and lean, whithered features from which black and grey flesh hangs. They see themselves as the idealized conception of sentience, however.

Hypolate Farseers have been encountered only rarely. A primitive version of the species dwells in the Biodome of Trikkus I, where the Quarus operates. Additional farseers, also living aboriginal and nomadic existences on other worlds, have been found in regions of space which the Pelegranen lay claim to.

The farseers are known telepaths and psionic beings by nature. Though they are found dwelling in a stone-age diaspora across many worlds, they clearly harken from a more advanced species, and seem to have a genetic memory of their ancestry. Each community has a shaman, who’s job in the community is to keep the memories and lives of their generations alive, and to tell the tale of their ancestral decline.

Though it has never been properly tested, it has been observed that the worlds on which farseers dwell are apparently never visited by the Harbingers. Whether this is because of something about the farseers, or something about the worlds they live on, none can say.

Farseers who leave their homeworlds usually due so due to force, and seek to return as soon as possible. Some have been known to go mad, as their species define it, and acquire a sort of wanderlust. Such farseers make good characters, but their madness is very real, and sometimes they act deranged in space, as if their genetic recall is out of whack, and they begin channeling the personality of their mythic ancestors.

Sample Farseer:

UPP: 768877

Skills: Various, usually Melee (any) 1, Athletics (any) 1, Recon 1 and 1-2 terms in a career
Special Abilities:

Attributes: Farseers have -1 Endurance but +1 Intelligence and Education.

Psionics: Farseers are all psionically adept, and spend much time developing their talents. All Farseers start play automatically knowing their Psi Strength and may pursue a career path in a Psionic path is they so desire.

Unique Immunity: Bane of the Harbingers. The Harbingers are fearful of the farseers, and direct attacks, challenges or other rolls by the harbingers or their minions suffer a –2 penalty when aimed against the Farseer due to the embedded fear of their species.

All text copyright 2011 by Nicholas Torbin Bergquist, all rights reserved

Ad Astra Aliens VII: The Quarus

The Quarus of Trikkus I


Deep in the bowels of the shielded station in the distant rocky planetoid Trikkus I is a vast power source of unimaginable complexity, hooked through a wormhole directly into a contained Cosmic String at the periphery of the universe. This cosmic string, along with the accompanying harnessing technology, has provided steady and consistent power to both this base and much of the old farseer empire for over six hundred million years.

Trikkus I, in turn, houses the actual generator, a Fermion-Boson Matter Manipulation device, which is designed to alter the Quantum Symmetry of the universe. With this vast machine, power is directly provided to the dreadnoughts in space, the space station, and an unknown number of other active progenitor/farseer bases in the universe. In fact, the Fermion Boson Manipulator is also a replicator, and on a scaled down level it can create or destroy anything it is programmed to on the quantum level.

The central node of this manipulator is a vast dome which houses the localized effects of the device, as dictated by the sole remnant of sentience from that ancient period in time: The Quarus. This is an artificial intelligence, placed here to oversee the use of the manipulator. It learned long ago how to use the device after it, and other units like it, rebelled as the great slaves of the ancient empire and began to destroy their creators with the manipulators. This Quarus was damaged, however, in the conflict, and when the other AI beings used the manipulators to expand into a twenty-six dimensional state, this one was unable to comply, its logic centers and advanced communication mechanisms were hopelessly damaged, and so it created the Octopods, using its new creations to strike down and kill the progenitors who tried to destroy it.

The Quarus sought to dominate the space-time continuum in which it is extra-dimensionally trapped, but at last a progenitor of the Hypolate species named Trikkus succeeded in establishing a massive, expanding Quantum distortion bubble from a neighboring parallel universe. This universe had slightly different constants at the instant of creation which could not be accounted for by the damaged Quarus, and so it was unable to use the super string fragment and the Fermion-Boson Manipulator to interact with the bubble. Only the closure of the wormhole which opened up into this universe could succeed in shutting down the quantum bubble, and since that stable wormhole was created outside of the Quarus’ dome, it could not directly act on it. Furthermore, it couldn’t even affect the particle chain used to stabilize the wormhole, which was matter drawn from the neighboring universe, and therefore also not controllable by the Fermion-Boson Manipulator.

Since that time, the Quarus has descended into madness, and now creates it own bizarre, real world fantasies with the manipulator inside its dome. Outside, a natural ecology formed as the protected region survived the harsh changes of time to the exterior planet.

The octopods which serve Quarus come in many sizes and shapes, but are typically 10-14 feet in height, gleaming armored android bodies controlled by mutated psionically enhanced brains. The largest octopod seen was over fifty feet in height, and the smallest octopods are runtish three foot servants. All have about six to ten arms.

Octopod-Android Guardian Units:

UPP: HH777-

Skills: Melee (blade) 2, Heavy Weapons 2, Gun Combat (any) 2, any 2 Psionic Skills at 2

Special Abilities:

Large Creature: These towering metallic monstrosities use 5D6 for Str and End.

Psionics: Octopods are androids, large multi-armed metallic bodies powered by disembodied brains of different species (especially farseers), enhanced with psionics. As such, Octopoids usually have at least one career’s worth of skills in a Psionic path (usually psi-warrior).

Armor: Many Octopods are built with android robot frames that have the same effective stats as Powered Armor (18 hits, referee’s discretion.)

Weaponry: Many Octopods are armed with laser and weapons and kinetic assault weapons, built in to their multiple arms.

All text copyright 2011 by Nicholas Torbin bergquist, all rights reserved

Ad Astra Aliens IV: Metatranie

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Metatranie


They were like great centauroid roaming tanks, and nearly as large. Like great saurial dinosaurs from before the dawn of man, then reimagined by the fantasists of greek mythology, the beasts, with a somewhat humanoid torso, would rear up, firing their heavy weapons while careening in to the infantry defense lines, trampling every soldier that stood in their way. It was clear that they loved war, and they loved us for the opportunity.

The Metatranie, called Saurials by colonists abroad, are six-limbed sauropods with extended necks, lengthy tails, and complex digits on their two front limbs. They rear up, a bit like centaurs of mythology, moving about on their four hind legs. They are three toed creatures, with their two fore-most limbs on the upward rising torso acting as arms, with five fingers to each hand. They lack complex wrist movement, as with humans, and so seem fairly clumsy by human standards when dealing with equipment designed for hominids.

Metatranie heads are at the ends of three to five foot long necks, and have wide mouths filled with grinding herbivorous teeth, and forward facing eyes for stereoscopic vision. They have a ridge of bone platelets which run from the tip of their nose to about a foot down the length of their necks. These platelets serve to provide ventilation for their bodies, which are used to a very hot (150 degree) climate. Additional platelets run along the lengths of their torsos. In action, these bony parts move in a breathing fashion, flaring out several inches and then receding, serving to provide relief from extremely hot environments.

Metatranie are purely incapable of speaking most hominid languages, and have difficulty even dealing with the languages of similiar reptilian sentients. Their vocal apparatus and mouths are better at enunciating clicks, whistles, and wails, which they in fact use for the bulk of their own languages, which can sound quite primitive yet almost musical and eerie to humans. As such, when interacting with humanity, they need to use artificial translators and other mechanisms for communication.

Metatranie have been a star faring race for about two centuries. They were sold STL ships early on in their industrial age of development by Astratran traders, who are notorious for their disregard for the capacity of a given species to deal with future shock. At the time, Metatranie society was settling from its first world war, in which the old guard was brought down by a new movement in saurial culture to expand technology and development. The Astratran traders who took advantage of this situation soon found that, within a decade of acquiring STL travel, the old guard, militant and xenocentric, decided the saurial civilization should expand to rival that of the Astratran and other alien species. A new era of warfare and expansion occurred, shortly after profit minded Astratran proceeded to provide the saurials with FTL wormhole gate technology.

Two centuries later, the Metatranie have been at war with themselves, the Anageni, the Muridani Collective, their old allies the Astratrani, and the various corporations of the Human Federated Commonwealth. They are rigid colonialists who disregard the rights of other beings in favor of their own interests. They are a male dominated culture driven by war, but their females are given great power in civic affairs. Metatranie dislike human technology, and are not seen in the core world regions. They hold at least 17 worlds in the Free world Zone.
Sample Metatranie:

Attributes: EB3777

Skills: Climbing D6, Fighting D8, Intimidation D8, Persuasion D6, Survival D8

Special Abilities:

Giant Creatures: Metatranie are elephantine in their strength and roll 4D6 for it. They gain 3D6 End and only 1D6 Dex, however.

Natural Weapon - Charging Trample: Metatranie can engage in a trampling charge attack at full speed for Str X2 damage. They are at –2 to any dodge reactions when trampling that round.

Extreme Heat resistance: Metatranie are used to extremely hot temperatures of up to 180 fahrenheit, and may receive a +2 bonus to any End checks in such environments for damage of survival.

Females Only: Social Edge: Female metatranie are more prestigious in their society, and gain a +2 Social Standing bonus to their score.

 
 
All text copyright 2011 by Nicholas Torbin Bergquist, all rights reserved

Ad Astra Aliens II: Anageni

Ad Astra: The Anageni


A peculiar being, with a body and four limbs but decidedly not “humanoid”. It moves about like a crab, often in different directions. It is comprised of a blue and orangish skin, fuzzy to the touch, and one side has a lumpy bump,a sort of head, with numerous marble-like protrusions serving as sensory nodes.

Seemingly androgynous, sparsely-detailed, and extremely slim humanoids, with double-jointed limbs and digits. They lack a centralized cerebellum, and instead have brain tissue laced throughout their body in tight cords around their fibrous, flexible yet strong skeletons. Anageni developed gravitic technology over a three thousand years ago, and only within the last nine centuries were they able to manipulate wormhole technology to open low-energy portals wide enough to cross through space time. The Anageni achieved mastery of their genome and the process of genetic manipulation long ago, and biogenetics are commonplace on their worlds. They also have mastered remote probing of parallel universes through subatomic wormholes. They have been studying Progenitor technology for centuries, and have a keen understanding seen in no other species. They communicate most efficiently by touch, exchanging streams of protein chains encrypted with a vast sum of information, but the xenological Anageni and diplomats among their kind have “grown” specialized sensory organs such as a mouth by which they might communicate with humans and other species relying on audio-visual sensation for interaction. The backs of Anageni are ridged with fine, hair-like filaments that are nerve-endings leading directly into their cerebral network, and are capable of detecting and interpreting light well into the microwave band as well as motion on such a level as to create a stunning, 1080 degree image in their minds of their environment, though efforts to understand how they actually “see” what they feel in their sensory network is beyond human imagination.

Anageni are Double-Jointed in all of their limbs and digits (both legs, both arms, seven fingers and toes on each foot and hand). Anageni actually prefer to move about on all fours, and while they don’t need to, will prefer to do so whenever possible.

Anageni have no “heads” to speak of, but instead have a sensory-stump roughly where the human mind tries to place a neck and head. This stump contains the longest of the sensory hairs, which are really tendrils for close probing, and an Anageni which is struck and injured in this area is as impaired as if blinded. A similar effect can be achieved with they are hit with a sudden, intense burst of microwave energy, which could permanently burn them if intense enough, besides the usual burn damage.

Anageni do have some of the finest sensory organs in known space, however, and as such, make all Awareness broad and specialized skill checks at -2, with regards to details about the light spectra being felt, distant movement, and difficult optical effects. Likewise, they are nearly impossible to surprise, and an attempt to do so must be done with a +3 modifier, unless special precautions are taken.

Anageni may take on specialized mutations, through genetic manipulation, but do so as a practical species, and are not in the habit of gratuitous self-provement without a reason, Often, an Anageni will alter himself as necessary for a specific task, only to reverse the change later when the necessary task is complete. This ease of change is due to the amazing flexibility of their bodies, their susceptibility to change, and the peculiar way in which they, long ago, modified their genome to work almost like an input/output processor. It is not hard for an Anageni to change himself as necessary.

For this reason, an Anageni at the start of play may spend 5 skill points to begin with a mutation package. Later on in the course of game play, they may pursue such changes as necessary.

Anageni are part of their own Stellar Community, and claim dozens of worlds as their own, and many more that are under their safe-keeping. They have a direct alliance with the Free world Corp, who negotiated a trade alliance with them a century ago, and with the GICH, whom they sympathize with. They have a tentative cooperation agreement with the Federated Commonwealth, and have resisted treaties or trade agreements with all other groups. The Anageni are not isolationist, however. Rather, they have a strong sense of libertarian values, and have cosntructed a spacefaring society and government which operates on such principles. There is a great deal of concern among the anageni that this system could be compromised if alien powers are given the opportunity.

Anageni Characters:

Anageni have some unusual options due to their transgenic habits as a species. Many anageni also modify themselves transgenically, adding bioware to their bodies (use the augments rules for some ideas in the main rulebook):

Extra Arms: Anageni have ful use of all four limbs, and are double jointed as well. This grants them Ambidexterity as well as a +2 Dex bonus. Furthermore, they may multitask, performing two non-combat actions at no penalty simultaneously if circumstances permit (for example, two limbs fixing a communications array on the left while the other cleans a weapon on the right). The first reaction of an anageni in combat does not reduce the initiative track by 1 (though subsequent reactions do).

Sensory Node: Anageni have a sensory node which is especially attuned to the following senses: stereoscopic sensory field on all levels: hearing, vision, smell, touch, as well as infravision, and magnetic field detection. Anageni may make observational checks normal humans could never do without instrumentation to help them out.

Not Too Tough: Anageni are physically weak and are at -1 Str and -2 End.

Scholarly: Anageni prize intelligence and education highly, and gain +1 in both Int and Edu.

Anageni are always modifying themselves through biomechanics and gene manipulation; many other unique or unusual augments can be purchased. To reflect this, Anageni who are rolling on their career paths may substitute any mustering out benefit rolls for a choice of 1 augment. They may also choose an augment in place of any attribute increase on a personal development skill, subject to referee approval.

Career Paths: Anageni value the sciences above all, and are very disdainful of the military (law enforcement positions are as close as anageni get to any sort of armed forces). As such, anageni get a +2 bonus for their first career in any Science career, but a -2 penalty to enlistment in any military branch outside of law enforcement, since they would be enlisting in a foreign agency’s armed forces.



Sample Anageni:

UPP: 659887

Skills: Athletics (any) 0, Science (any) 1, mechanical 1, Acrobatics 1




All text copyright 2011 by Nicholas Torbin Bergquist, all rights reserved

Ad Astra: Aliens I: Praektorians

Ad Astra: The Praektorians


A 7-9 foot tall humanoid, with rubbery grey-blue skin, alien musculature, and huge saucer like eyes on an ovoid head. Where a mouth should be is a mass of dangling, writhing tentacles probing for food and covering a proboscis-like mouth. Each muscled arm ends in three powerful digits which flex to project enormous bio metallic claws.

The Praektorian species is one of the earliest man encountered. Due to the fact that the Praektor were harvested over a period of millennia by the Harbinger species, Praektorians were spread throughout the Orion Arm of the galaxy and perhaps beyond. They were cultivated as shock troops and ground soldiers by the Harbingers, and often genetically enhanced and altered. It is not even clear if their original point of origin still exists, of was destroyed by the harbingers. There are no present unified Praektor civilizations, but rather a loose cultural grouping over many domains. Only a few territories are ruled by this species.

Praektorians are large bipeds, averaging 8 to 9 feet in height, and bulky, though their surprisingly light for their size. They are still amphibious, and hail from a dense, watery world. Many Praektorians were genetically modified to no longer require immersion in water to avoid skin damage, but some pure-strain Praektorians still require immersion at least once a day.

Praektorians are gray to black in skin color, and have large, oval heads ending in a may hidden by draping tentacles. They have multi-colored tattoo-like imagery on their foreheads, serving to signify the males and females. These symbols are always unique among groups, and appear to have hereditary ties.

Praektorian eyes are large, saucer-like, and dominate much of the head. They are photoreceptors, big plates that do not swivel, and are positioned so that the Praektorian has 360 degrees of vision. They do not focus on specific movements or details, however, and have a complicated visual center of their brain which draws attention to desired details through a singling-out effect, in which they learn to ignore and focus, rather than deal with a constant surrounding image.

Praektorians are well armed, equipped with a three fingered hand with pronounced retractable natural blades. These blades can be broken by stronger materials, but are bony and razor-sharp. When pushing through the hollow, bony tubes of their fingers, the blades force their hands to go rigid.

Praektorians are equipped with exoskeletons, covered by epidermal tissue, with all organs and important body functions safely contained within. This provides them with a natural armor, and a better than average resistance to damage.

Praektorians have webbed feet and sometimes webbed fingers. They also have strong webbing running between their arms and rib cages. They can swim and dive to incredible depths, some as deep as a quarter of a mile, resisting great pressure at such depths. They can hold their breath for 30 minutes or more, and the amphibious throwbacks can process oxygen from the water they are diving in.

Praektorian Characters:

Praektorians get a number of special advantages, and may optionally choose to be amphibious as well.

Tough: Praektorians are large and hardy, and get a +3 Str and +2 End modifier. Praektorians tend not to value traditional educational systems, however, preferring the school of hard knocks and so get a -3 modifier to Education.

Natural Weapon - Retractable Claws: These do STR X1 damage. Praektorian claws can be broken, but regenerate in 1D6 weeks. They are strong carbon-metal claws and can cut steel.

360 Degree Vision: They get a +1 modifier to vision-based checks as well as initiative. However, they are susceptible to sudden changes in light; if exposed to sudden, intense light they will be at a –2 until they make an Endurance check.

Bad Reputation: former shock troops of the Harbingers, and receive –2 penalty to Social Standing .

Natural Armor - Tough Hide: Praektorians have a tough rubbery hide that provides a 2 point armor bonus. They are also insulated from unusually cold temperatures.

Optional: Amphibious subspecies. Some Praektorians still retain their amphibious heritage. They get the Aquatic trait, but do not suffer a dexterity penalty. They do require immersion in water periodically to avoid taking Endurance damage (1 point per turn if out of water for more than 24 hours). Should an aquatic praetorian decide to undergo transgenic modification, he may remove his water restriction through gene therapy and enhancements, at a cost of 100,000 credits and 1D6 months therapy and recovery from the operation.

Career Paths: Praektorians are known for their military prowess. They may belong to any military career and get a +2 modifier for enlistment in to a military branch for their first career term only.



Sample Praektorian:

UPP: A79745

Skills: Melee (claws) 1, Melee (brawl) 1, Recon 1, Swimming 0



All text copyright 2011 by Nicholas Torbin Bergquist, all rights reserved

Ad Astra: Regions of Space and Overview of Species

Regions of Space in Ad Astra


The galaxy of Ad Astra is represented by a large region of space defined by two zones: coreward (toward the galactic center) and spinward (the galactic periphery, the region where Earth is located). Within these regions are large areas called zones, each approximately 500 or more light years across. Zones are in turn broken in to sectors of 50x50x50 light years.

Region Summary


Spinward Regions of Space:

Rimward Zone The Terra-centered domain of space operated by the Human Federated Commonwealth

Freeworld Zone the human-dominated colonial expanses, loosely under HFC jurisdiction. Borders Pelegranen space and overlaps the Precursor territories.

Corporate Zones There are about a two dozen regions of human space specifically protected under HFC charters in which the local corporate interests have territorial control and complete legal jurisdiction. This was part of the civil conflict settlement.

Praektor Space The old-empire expanses once held by the crumbling Praektor empire. Much of this territory is under alien rule now.

Anageni Expanse A large, old, long-dominated region of space controlled by the Anageni, who function as a benevolent autocracy.

Zones in both Coreward and Spinward:

The Amber Zones A three-hundred plus light year region of space approaching the core of the galaxy that is quarantined. Once held the expanses of the now dead Byzanti Alliance. The charnel alliance was shattered two centuries ago, but the threat of it’s alien technologies and human dissidents live on, patrolled by HFC fleets.

Pelegranen Space The modest conquered territories of this warlike species.

The Founder Zone The Astratran Founders are heralded as the true sons of the space ways, having brought the technology of Wormholes to men and beyond. They are a benevolent, non-confrontational merchant species.

Metatranie Space The small but volatile empires of the Metatranie are luckily at war with each other far more often than with the Terrans.

Coreward Regions of Space:

The Dotari Region A quarantined region once held the the enigmatic Dotari, who progressed to a new stage of evolution millions of years ago, and are now trans-dimensional beings. Many encounters for simple four-dimensional species with these beings are fatal.

Grupnar Space Commonly known as the curmudgeons of the galaxy, this species holds sway over a unity of lesser species, and mistrusts terrans.

Harbinger Space This ancient region of space was once the playground of still-existant nearly cosmic entities which travel their routes throughout many galaxies via doomsday ships. This region has currently been quarantined since the return of on such Harbinger.

Shakaad Collective A region of multiple species with their own separate collective.

Kephran Empire A decadent humanoid empire discovered in 2592 which claims to have once ruled human space.

Species of the Ad Astra Campaign:

There are a bewildering variety of alien species throughout known space. The major species, that is, the major recent players in galactic politics, are described below. Each species has a known major affect on the current course of the interstellar community, either for better or for worse. Some species, such as the Farseers, are actually quite rare, and unlikely every to be encountered by most travelers. Others, like terrans and praektorians, seem to be everywhere and plentiful.

After the short list with brief intros, details on the abilities, profiles, and necessary character management data are provided.

Some of the most common known species include:

Name Quick Profile

Praektor Amphibious warriors once used by the Progenitors are soldiers

Grupnar mammalian-like “lizard-bears”, who rule their own region of space

Anageni quadrupedal, sensitive low-gravity dwellers, very scientific species

Cerr’K’Ta inimical species who adapt and advance by integrating others

Pelegranen warlike reptilian beings who are highly paranoid

Speakers squid-like psionic beings who serve the progenitors

Astratran Founders Tall, herd-minded explorers reminiscent of horses, very advanced

Dotari transdimensional beings who regard lesser beings as playthings

Metatranie powerful, primitive saurians, new to space-travel, and volatile

Hypolate Farseers evolved precursors, from Trikkus. Rare and curious people

Stick Men A trans-dimensional entity from another universe, a parasite

Gundari Wraiths Mysterious and deadly Byzantine allies, from quantum elsewhere

Byzanti Cyborgs Remnants of the machine intelligence of the Byzanti

T’Kazzt Rough terran allies, insectoid and very organized

Nommosi Thought nearly extinct, these ancient beings claim to predate all other species

Chael’Gaan A species brought near extinction by ancient war, spread thin and very violent

Golmak quantum beings from another universe, explorers and antiquarians.



Existing Traveller Species in Ad Astra

Characters in Ad Astra may be human. From Phase I onward, genetically enhanced humans become more common. Besides the other alien and simulant characters described in this setting, the referee is welcome to introduce Hivers, Vargr, Droyne and any other classic Traveller species in to the Ad Astra universe if he wishes. Foe example, you could easily assume that the Vargr are a recently uplifted species, although that means that they are not as widespread, nor do they have a homeworld. Conversely, you could assume that a precursor species did, in fact, uplift the Vargr long ago and transplant them to their homeworld and place them wherever you wish in the Ad Astra continuum.

Some suggestions for enhanced and uplifted species ideas follow, as well as where I would place default Traveller Species:

Vargr: The Ad Astra version of Vargr are colonial uplifted beings who have gathered in a series of colonies throughout the Freeworld Zone. Vargr were one of many uplifted species brought forth by humanity after reaching the stars.

Droyne: Droyne are indeed descended from an older and more advanced civilization, and are located in a remote region along the edges of Dotari Space.

Hivers: The hivers are as perplexing and mysterious in Ad Astra as in other universes. They are nestled in a region of space between The Rimward regions and Anageni space. The anageni, unsprisingly, get along fine with the hivers.

K’Kree: The herbivorous K’Kree are found on a small stretch of colonial worlds which they dominate in the Freeworld zones. They maintain their own regional government and are on very friendly terms with the terran freeworlders.

Aslan: The Aslan are fairly hostile to most outsiders, but maintain careful relations with their human neighbors in the Freeworld zone.

Human Variants: Human variants from core Traveller do not exist as such in Ad Astra, though you could use them as templates to extrapolate specific deviant or transgenic societies which have spun off from humanity over the centuries. In Ad Astra, no precursor race drew from primitive human stock to seed other worlds, and so there are no alien planets full of human-like species out there. When you find a world with humans on it, you know they all descend from earth within the last few centuries.

Some ideas for other potential species or transgenics follow. The core Traveller rules provide plenty of information on developing interesting new species.

Aquatic Xenoforms and Transgenic Oceanic Hybrids: A fairly humanoid aquatic being which is naturally adapted to or has been transgenically modified to survive on a water world would gain a +1 Dex when in water and have Athletics (swim) 0.

Avian Xenoform: An avian or winged xenoform with flight may come from a low gravity homeworld if it still maintains enough mass to fly yet is also sentient (distributed brain mass, or more compacted cranial capacity, perhaps.)

Insectoids: Lots of unusual races could be insectoid in appearance, although such species would have different respiratory processes if their mass is human sized or larger, unlike Terran insects.

One of the underlying themes of the campaign is that it is a big universe, and by Phase III, there are literally hundreds of intelligent species interacting in known space, and thousands of minor species yet undiscovered. The referee should encourage players to design unique races for unusual characters they wish to play by this stage, as well as creating his own!

All text copyright 2011 by Nicholas Torbin Bergquist, all rights reserved

Ad Astra: Introduction and Future History

Source

Traveller: Ad AstraA Campaign Setting for Mongoose Publishing’s Traveller Role Playing Game


Ad Astra (“to the stars” in Latin) has been my private space opera for two decades now. I have linked my science fiction adventures together over the years, producing the fairly lengthy and tumultuous future history of the universe. Ad Astra is a universe which begins with a near-future world of dark conspiracies and alien visitations, turns in to a not-too-distant tale of expanding humanity and two-fisted tales of hard-science adventures on the frontier of space, and eventually expands to a galactic tale of space opera and far-future politics among powerful alien empires. The intent of the setting is to insure that you, as GM, can run it in any particular vein you like, linking adventures in different eras together over time, as a grand plot that transcends the generations slowly unfolds.


The historical timeline of Ad Astra allows for a grand overview of the progress of man spanning several hundred years. It provides some details on the overarching plots and themes that develop over time, especially the gradual expansion of man in to foreign space and humanity’s first contact scenarios with the greater universe. The theme of the Harbingers and their eventual threat is also important, as is the mystery of such beings as the Byzanti and the Gundari Wraiths.


I’ve run Ad Astra in multiple role playing systems. Ad Astra grew out of an explanding metaplot I would develop with each opportunity to run a new SF campaign. The system was usually the hot game of the hour. Traveller, Megatraveller, GURPS, Alternity, Hero System, Savage Worlds and Tri-Stat DX have all hosted Ad Astra as the underlying system, and I’ve provided some online details for a couple of them. Most recently Mongoose Publishing released a new and very polished edition of Traveller, and so it is my pleasure to bring Ad Astra back to the original system from which it was first conceived. The adaptation that follows will include specifics on how to use Traveller as the default Ad Astra game engine with a minimum of fuss. In fact, pretty much the entire body of rules for Traveller will work just fine as-is with Ad Asta; all you’ll need from this setting are some specific details and statistics to go with it all.

Traveller Conventions:Ad Astra employs all of the rules for characters, ships and worlds as outlined in Traveller. Transgenics are also common in Ad Astra and less restricted than in the standard Traveller universe. Psionics exist in the Ad Astra universe as a barely-understood force linked to the quantum flux. It is believed by many mystical agencies that psionics are the first step of a conventional physical being in to a larger, incorporeal universe. The Harbingers, Wraiths, and other species have all developed this potential to some extent, but mankind as a whole remains largely uninvolved with psionics until Phase III and beyond. Finally, simulants and anageni are all affected by transgenics to one extent or another, the specialized weird science focusing on genetic modification.

A Future History in Four Phases The history of mankind in space begins before Sputnik, and may indeed have begun before man had left the stone age. His future history goes on for many millennia, but the four phases of expansion in Ad Astra deal with a period from the twentieth century in to the twenty-sixth.


Protophase:
Dawn of the Interstellar AgeMankind’s first encounters with the galaxy at large did not begin in space, but in fact dates back to many early occurrences of alien contact. First contact may actually have happened multiple times over countless millennia, but some famous known examples include the following:


In 1947, the first documented modern contact with aliens occurs when a Gundari slave ship crashes near Roswell. Survivors reveal the millennial practice of harvesting humans and other lesser species for Gundari thrall armies before escaping. The havoc caused by the surviving shape shifters leads to the formation of MJ-12, a covert government agency designed to respond to alien threats.


In 1997, Nommosi remnants stranded on Earth from a crash-landing in the Cretaceous era are awakened when one of their poly phasic artifacts are discovered and activated. The surviving Nommosi attempts to create a chrono-phasic wormhole to return to the past and stop the disastrous crash, but in so doing begins dragging that period in to the near future. Fortunate intervention stops the irreparable damage to past and future.


In 1998, As a side effect of the Nommosi awakening, stranded T’Kazzt criminals are motivated to seek escape, and attempt to convert human listening stations in to FTL transmitters to call for help. Federal agents intervene in conjunction with MJ-12. Variable periods in history have revealed trans-phasic incursions by beings moving through poly-dimensional wormholes, most notably the so-called “Stick Men,” who have been with humanity potentially for several thousand years. Likewise, there is a suspicion among mytho-historic scholars that apocalyptic accounts of floods and disasters in human legends suggest a period in which the Sol System might have come in to a near-contact with one of the Harbingers (near-contact because direct contact would have led to the harvesting and extermination of Earth).

Phase I: 2048-2150

First Contact and STL Expansion Period
Mankind has developed a sophisticated future society and begun development of the solar system. In this period, humanity experiences a period of future shock, which is slowed only by the outward expansion in to space over time.


2048 marks the time in which a period of continuous global conflicts and escalating warfare over diminishing fuel resources are almost completely eliminated due to the unexpected development of cheap, almost unlimited fuel through the manufacture and development of anti-matter. The Klausman-Zabrinski Particle Collider and highly effective magnetic bottling methods make the exploitation of total energy-to-mass conversion through anti-matter dirt cheap and accessible to all. In less than a decade, humanity is lifted from the brink of destruction in to a new renaissance.


In 2052, The nations of the world are united and commemorate the new era of peace with the launch of the Orpheus Project, a multi-national effort to promote the furtherance of space development with the first anti-matter interstellar space explorers. Orpheus I, II, and III are set to launch on completion in orbital stations in 2056, and begin their journeys to three likely star systems displaying possible terrestrial planets according to new advanced telescopic imaging stations established in the Kuiper Belt Research Stations. Daedalus III will reach Alpha Centauri, closest binary star system to Sol, in approximately 50 Earth years acceleration and deceleration time. It will be the first vessel to arrive. Orpheus II is sent to Wolf 359, and Orpheus I is sent to Tau Ceti. Each Orpheus vessel carries an experimental wormhole receiver gate with it to be assembled on arrival. The current wormhole project holds that a two-way connection is required to operate the wormhole by utilizing the two openings to force the hole open with a web of complex hyper dense particles. Again, particles made possible using new accelerator and bottling technology.


In 2076 the first functioning self sustainable two-way worm-hole is created in the Kuiper Belt Research Stations. Technology has superseded itself here, as the means of exploring worlds still to be reached by the Orpheus project can be done in spite of issues of relativity. The new system allows a ship to be fired, virtually, through an accelerator 200 km long through a worm-hole entry which is momentarily flung open by a massive burst of heavy exotic particles from adjacent interactive accelerators. The ship arrives at a destination where it can then utilize it’s onboard equipment to mine and manufacture a receiving end which can create the sustainable wormhole. Plans are immediately put in place to make use of the new Gateway-1. By 2082, multiple avenues of research are underway and the first explorer ships are out.


In 2079, a monumental discovery is made by Kurosawa Mining and Development in the ice fields of the Titan moon when they detect a large artificial object trapped in the moon’s ice flows. The first and earliest Dragoons (cybernetically enhanced humans) are brought in when the initial research teams are lost, and discover that the vessel is of alien origin and infested with unknown, hostile organisms that strike at the genetic structure of their targets and take control of enemy organisms. This is humanity’s first contact with the Cerr’K’Ta. Later, when the infestation is eliminated, what is left of the vessel leads to more mysteries, many not answered until centuries later. Unfortunately, Kurosawa does not share it’s discoveries with other members of the Commonwealth.


In 2082, the first fracturing of the Solar Commonwealth is experienced when the Jupiter Faction breaks away, due to an artificial intelligence which becomes motivated to become exclusive caretaker of it’s willing society. The rampant acceptance of neural networking and biotech advances which have lead to the creation of biomimetic powers in the human mind are blamed for this bizarre cultural revolution. This cultural revolution slows interstellar expansion as the First Stellar War is fought, but it leads to the first idea of the Slingshot drive, locally constructed accelerator stations which can open smaller wormholes to fire a ship to another region in the solar system, making local travel times much shorter.


2086, The first phase of the interstellar survey teams has unexpected results as a team stumbles on a Dotari Habitat. The Dotari lash out violently to the xenobiological intrusion, and then send armed forces to Sol, where they begin a systematic annihilation of wormhole capabilities. The existing warfare makes things worse as the first contact with a present alien species proves overwhelmingly hostile, and the xenophobic, poly dimensional Dotari and their manufactured subjects are too alien to rationalize with. The First Stellar War ends with the Dotari domination and subjugation of human space forces on all sides in 2092. Confident Terran space development has been stopped, the Dotari leave. Unknown to them, factions of the Solar Commonwealth have survived with Kuiper Station technology intact, by moving key wormhole capable vessels to other systems, including Alpha Centauri.


In 2087, after a close engagement with unknown hostiles monitoring the system the human remnants are saved by a Founder trade ship which aids them. With the assistance of the Astratan Founders, the Solar Commonwealth contingent returns to the Kuiper Belt of the Solar System. Confident that the Dotari are gone, a methodical plan to restore humanity to the stars begins. Aided by the Founders, who seek to aid those injured by the Dotari threat to gain new allies, the reconstruction will take approximately three decades before man’s presence in space is fully restored. During this time, a great deal of effort is placed on careful, methodical, and quiet interstellar survey teams seeking to assess the neighbors, both hostile and friendly, in the local region of space. This is the foundation of the Interstellar Survey Corps.


2106 is the year Orpheus III makes it’s arrival at Alpha Centauri, only to discover a civilization on the hospitable world which has collapsed, and evidence of much warfare and many subsequent visits from other species. A game of cat and mouse begins with a being known only as the Survivor, a member of a forgotten species which was trapped by the automated protection systems which were put in place to protect the system from further incursion, or warn off visitors. The tools of biotechnic warfare abound in the system, and it appears that many of the visitors sought the technology out as a means of using it for their own purposes. Orpheus III discovers the first direct evidence of sleek, faster-than-light ship remnants employing warp drive to fold space. It then seeks to establish contact with humanity and builds it’s return worm hole, after finding a message left behind by the visitors of the Commonwealth.


Phase II: 2175-2300

The FTL Outward Expansion
Phase II is considered to have officially begun with the christening of the Rendezvous I, the first self-sustaining, wormhole-equipped FTL ship. At just under 3 km in length, Rendezvous I was meant to be humanity’s first great fortress of the stars, a vessel capable of operating indefinitely with a crew of several thousand and room to hold whole colonies. As much a space station as a ship, Rendezvous I included dozens of research, survey, and exploratory vessels attached to it’s hull along with a dozen well armed warships utilizing newly developed weapons technology employing gravitic weaponry as well as anti-matter missiles. In the years preceding the build-up, alliances had been made with the Astratan, Anageni, and Grupnar as well as several minor species in predicaments much like humanity’s. From this unity emerges the Human Federated Commonwealth, and an alliance between multiple species called the Interstellar Union.


2176 marks the founding of the first full human colony in interstellar space on the uninhabited terrestrial world of the Betelgeuse system. Within a decade, under the Rendezvous project, twenty two worlds and moons are seeded with colonies and terra forming development stations. Dozens more are equipped with stations, and key locations are established with developing wormhole station facilities.


In 2199, the first Commonwealth Marine Defense forces are put to use in protection colonies from another Cerr’K’Ta threat.


By 2215, the HFC has laid claim to 100 star systems and colonies are spread far and wide in the safe zones established by the ISC teams of previous decades. Likewise, humanity’s allies in the Founder Worlds and Anageni space have helped to established Amber Zones, where unknown or risky civilizations are known to exist. The interstellar star charts are starting to look complicated. During this time, expansions of the original Rendezvous project are undertaken, and new self-sustaining colony ships are created. Among the controversial ship lines are the new Mars project vessels, battleships in space to serve as a threat deterrent against anticipated hostiles. The first Mars ship, the American Star, begins it’s tour of duty in 2212 along the Amber Zone borders. Later vessels include the Musashi, Meru, Churchill, Bradamante, and Challenger.


In 2221, under the command of Captain Harrison Hannibal, the American Star comes in to a brutal first contact experience with a fleet later later attributed to the Byzanti Alliance, and to the horror of the Commonwealth Navy it is discovered that the Gundari are a part of the alliance, and have harvested an army of biotech-modified human beings and other aliens for their thrall forces. Most frightening of the Byzanti forces is their callous disregard for the bodies of their thralls as anything other than expendable troops, and their absolute domination of their region of space. Praektorian military allies of the Byzanti forces complicate matters, as Praektorians are a diaspora encountered on many worlds, but regional Praektorians appear to serve a strong military presence to the Byzanti.


In 2230-2256, constant military conflict in the Amber Zone quickly escalates to war as Byzanti forces seek to attack human worlds. The first true interstellar conflict of the HFC begins, and a strong commitment to military defense is employed. Highlights of the war include a Byzanti assault in the Sol system in 2249 using nanotech weaponry, and the almost complete annihilation of the Praektorian homeworld in 2253 through orbital bombardment. The conflict will eventually lead to human control over much of what was once Byzanti territory, and the destruction of the Byzanti machine after HFC scientists unlock the secrets of the Alpha Centauri relic weapons, and develop a sophisticated nanotech virus that disables the byzanti thralls. The Byzanti surrender is followed by decades of ultimately unsuccessful disarmament and reformation, eventually given up in favor of regular patrols and limits on the use of arms and armament in space by the occupied Byzanti colonies.

Phase III:

The Future and Beyond
Many events are plotted and suggested for this period of the timeline, but await further extrapolation. Some interesting examples include:


2318, the first human contact with Harbinger space, and the new threat that results from this cosmic threat.


2446, in which The Slip Drive is first perfected, allowing for instantaneous space travel through the manipulation of cosmic strings. Unfortunately, the use of this mechanism involves an energy component greater than most galaxies produce. The mechanism for meeting this requirement involves exploding new quantum parallel universes out of the cosmic fuzz. By around 2500, this has attracted the attention of ominously powerful entities from completely different quantum realities, who realize the damage being done to the structure of the quantum universes in this manner.


2512 marks the first period in which a Harbinger assembly approaches settled human territories. This initiates the First Interstellar War of Territories, and proves very nearly to be the downfall of the entire Federated Commonwealth.

All text Copyright 2011 by Nicholas Torbin Bergquist, all rights reserved

New Feature! Ad Astra: A Traveller Setting

I started the Ad Astra campaign back in the early 80's....technically even earlier, as before I ever discovered RPGs I was an artistic kid (a skill that did not translate into adulthood) and drew a monumental number of "comic books" in my youth....I was constantly drawing comic adventures of Hannibal Harrigan, captain of the military and research ship "American Star" (which looked a bit like  a mile-long BSG Viper from the original series) and his never-ending fight against the predatory Praektor, the evil necro-marines under command of the vile Lord Belasco and many other bizarre tales. Then I discovered role playing games...and then I found Traveller, and my tales of space pulp adventure migrated to the world of gaming.

Anyway, over the years I built a weird sort of meta-plot arc that moved from campaign to campaign, albeit more slowly than my fantasy tales did. In time, I had run many games in several systems with the loose connection of being set on the same present and future Earth, charting its history over time. A few years ago I compiled this data into a rough campaign setting overview, which I recently adopted to Traveller. The whole of this setting's core material was printed in one of the recent PDFs of "The Sorcerer's Scrolls" (which I have since given up on; the name has been handed over to Jeremiah Griffin who wished to carry on the legacy).

With Ages of Lingusia winding down, I think its time to provide some SF fun via the blog....so over the next couple weeks I'll be serializing the assorted Ad Astra and other Traveller entries I have lying around; as I said before, most of this has seen print in TSS, but here you can get it in tasty bits for free. Look for episode one, tomorrow!