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Blue Giant:Campaign Sector Star Index

2022-05-08T17:01:12Z

TrapperZ: /* BAKER STAR */

==STAR INDEX==

{|
|align="center" |'''Star'''
|align="center" |'''Planet'''
|align="center" |'''Settlements'''
|align="center" |'''Affiliations'''
|align="center" |'''Notes'''
|-
|align="center" |[[Blue Giant:Campaign_Sector_Star_Index#Damocles and Dionysus|Damocles]]
|align="center" |Damocles 1
|align="center" |[[Blue_Giant:Scenario_Kong_Tiki|Damocles 1 research station]]
|align="center" |N/A
|align="center" |Red Giant at the heart of the Damocles cluster
|-
|align="center" |[[Blue Giant:Campaign_Sector_Star_Index#Damocles and Dionysus|Dionysus]]
|align="center" | --
|align="center" | --
|align="center" |N/A
|align="center" |Black hole companion to Damocles
|-
|align="center" |[[Blue Giant:Campaign_Sector_Star_Index#Gunners Grave|Gunners Grave]]
|align="center" |[[Blue Giant:Campaign_Sector_Star_Index#Li-Bos|Li-Bos]]
|align="center" |[[Blue Giant:Campaign_Sector_Star_Index#Reunion|Reunion]]
|align="center" |Gordon-Cedar
|align="center" | --
|-
|align="center" |Zophos
|align="center" |Langdon
|align="center" |Gordonshome, Churchill
|align="center" |Gordon-Cedar
|align="center" | --
|-
|align="center" |Osada III
|align="center" |Porter
|align="center" |Bradley
|align="center" |Gordon-Cedar
|align="center" | --
|-
|align="center" |Shiawase
|align="center" |Redhall
|align="center" |Knatch, Terrace City
|align="center" |S.Y.L.A
|align="center" | --
|-
|align="center" |Webb-Taylor
|align="center" |Bossa Nova
|align="center" |Kinghorn
|align="center" |Independent
|align="center" | --
|-
|align="center" |Marino
|align="center" |Poon Tang
|align="center" |Thackery City
|align="center" |S.Y.L.A
|align="center" |''Never name your planet by public lottery''
|-
|align="center" |Osada IX
|align="center" |San Leone
|align="center" |Heretic City
|align="center" |Independent
|align="center" |''Named after its savior''
|-
|align="center" |Munro
|align="center" |Pancake
|align="center" |Mirandon
|align="center" |Independent
|align="center" |Blank Planet - Make your own.
|-
|align="center" |Iron Content
|align="center" |Newland
|align="center" |Newland City
|align="center" |S.Y.L.A
|align="center" | --
|-
|align="center" |[[Blue Giant:Campaign_Sector_Star_Index#Durge|Durge]]
|align="center" |[[Blue Giant:Campaign_Sector_Star_Index#Morrow|Morrow]]
|align="center" |[[Blue Giant:Campaign_Sector_Star_Index#Slough Research Station|Slough Research Station]]
|align="center" |N/A
|align="center" |''It's like a swamp, only wetter.''
|-
|align="center" |Gladstone
|align="center" |Utopia 7
|align="center" |Utopia 7
|align="center" |Utopians
|align="center" |''Come to Utopia 7, we've got golf, and real swans!''
|-
|align="center" |Osada V
|align="center" |Ko-Loy
|align="center" |Sorathia HQ
|align="center" |Sorathia
|align="center" |''Former [[Blue_Giant:The Astræ'an Empire Fleets|Grand Imperial Fleet HQ]]''
|-
|align="center" |Osada XXII
|align="center" |Intersector
|align="center" |Midway
|align="center" |Sorathia
|align="center" |''Crossroads between the [[Blue_Giant:The Federated Territories|Federation]] and [[Blue_Giant:Interstellar_Nations#The Astræ'an Empire|Empire]].''
|-
|align="center" |Koyama
|align="center" |Tatara
|align="center" |Tatara Base
|align="center" |Sorathia
|align="center" |''You there, let's see some ID.''
|-
|align="center" |Laura's Smile
|align="center" |3K
|align="center" |?
|align="center" |Sorathia
|align="center" | --
|-
|align="center" |[[Blue Giant:Campaign_Sector_Star_Index#Baker Star|Baker Star]]
|align="center" |[[Blue Giant:Campaign_Sector_Star_Index#Hangover|Hangover]]
|align="center" |[[Blue Giant:Campaign_Sector_Star_Index#Town|Town]]
|align="center" |Independent
|align="center" |''The whole planet looks hung over.''
|-
|align="center" |Newstar
|align="center" |Breda
|align="center" | --
|align="center" |?
|align="center" |Blank Planet - Make your own.
|-
|align="center" |Cesity Star
|align="center" |Cesity Too
|align="center" |[[Blue_Giant:Scenario_Brain_Food|Canyon Town]]
|align="center" |Independent
|align="center" |''Our planet? It's called Cesity too.''
|-
|align="center" |[[Blue_Giant:Campaign_Sector_Star_Index#DANIV|Daniv]]
|align="center" |Daniv 1 Alpha
|align="center" |Daniv 1 Research Station.
|align="center" |N/A
|align="center" |''The Blue Giant. Fourth brightest star in the galaxy.''
|-
|align="center" |No Go
|align="center" |Bone-Ring
|align="center" |Bone-Ring
|align="center" |Roach
|align="center" |''Hum-ans are not welc-ome here.''
|-
|align="center" |Petros Major
|align="center" |Petros 1
|align="center" |Gifted City
|align="center" |Independent
|align="center" |''Five moons and a green sun.''
|-
|align="center" |Petros Minor
|align="center" |Magnifico!
|align="center" |Magnifico's Throne
|align="center" |Petros
|align="center" |''I am Petros Magnifico! Welcome to my worlds.''
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==STARS==

===BAKER STAR===
Baker Star is a smallish K type yellow star situated just a few light years off the central plane of the Milky Way. There is nothing particularly remarkable about it, except for the high death rate of rocky inner planets in the inner solar system. There are six distinct asteroid belts surrounding the star, all rich in unexploited metal wealth and only one small gas giant in an orbit too far out to disturb the orbit of the rocks in the inner solar system. In between the asteroid belts are five small inner planets.

Baker’s Star 1 is a heavily cratered metallic world with no atmosphere.
Baker’s Star 2 – 4 are heavily cratered high metallic content planets with an even mix of metal and rock and hot thick carbon dioxide atmospheres.

====Hangover====
Hangover is one of five inner planets to have survived to adulthood, but it didn't survive unscathed. Sometime in the planets recent history, a huge object, possibly a small moonlet, struck the planet punching a crater in the surface covering a thirtieth of the planets surface. From space the crater looks like a huge black circular continent, surrounded by a moat of red lava. Canyons of lava radiate out through fractures in the massive crater wall and the whole region is surrounded by a thin blue sea. To the settlers it resembled nothing more than a single huge bloodshot eye, floating in space.

The rest of the planet consists of forty separate continents that fit together like crazy paving, separated by deep and stormy water filled channels between one and sixty kilometres wide. It is slightly heavier than Earth at 1.1g and richer in heavy metals. The cataclysm warmed the surface of the planet enough to make comfortable life possible, and completely wiped out the larger indigenous animal life, although some of the local plant life survived. Almost nothing is known of the previous conditions of the planet as the eighty settlers who live there do not have the luxury time required to investigate.

'''Town'''

The town was founded by settlers who crashed there in 3080. Most of the settlers live within a day's travel of the town, with a few scattered by choice or necessity onto neighbouring continents. The settlers are independent but originate from a SYLA (federation) aligned colony world. The town and the crash are developed further in the [[Blue_Giant:Scenario_Hangover|Hangover scenario]].

Baker’s Star 6 is a small cold gas giant responsible for steering many many comets into the inner solar system.

===CESITY===
Cesity is a large K type yellow star with a single Earth-like world in the Damocles cluster. It is a main sequence orange star in the prime of life. It has one inner planet - Cesity Too which has one large moon and two outer gas giants Cesity 2 and Cesity 3. They have the usual menagerie of small moons.

====Cesity Too====
Cesity Too is the only planet in the star system. Cesity Too has a rich variety of terrains but no seas larger than a four hundred kilometres across. There are several continental plates, but they are not particularly active. The edges of the continents tend to be delineated by rift valleys and small, broken mountain ranges. The north and south poles are chilly, but not frozen and the equator is an unpleasantly hot desert region. The weather consists of rain, dust storms, tornadoes, thunder and fog. Big spectacular typhoons and hurricanes would require more ocean to build up strength, so they never occur.

'''Canyon Town'''

The settlers are of [[Blue_Giant:Interstellar_Nations#The Camby|Camby]] stock but are sociable enough to outsiders. Most of the settlers live on a vast plain in the southern half of the planet bordered on the north and south by two small seas, on the east by an arid super-canyon and the west by mountains. The settlers who live there chose a small peninsula surrounded by canyon in order to better protect themselves from an indigenous creature called an Agrosaur. The main settlement is called Canyon Town. It is a typical dusty settlement with two law enforcement officials (Sheriff and Deputy) and a few bars to cater for the locals and the cattlemen.

'''O.R.C Headquarters'''

A corporation - The Offworld Ranching Corporation, has recently set up business, leasing land from the settlers to breed cattle on. The corporate headquarters sit in the lea of the western mountains. The plains in the middle are perfect cattle country. The corporation has access to some fairly modern technology, but being a business, money is tight and the place looks a bit shabby.

The planet has a number of native life forms most of which can consume organic chemicals in one form or another. The most notable creature on the planet is the [[Blue_Giant:Scenario_Brain_Food#Agrosaur|Agrosaur]] a giant crocodile the size of a jumbo-jet.

===DAMOCLES AND DIONYSUS===

Damocles A is a Red Giant that has an eccentric orbit around a fairly average black hole called Dionysus. The black hole is drawing matter from the star at an irregular rate depending on how close the two objects are to each other. As a result Damocles pulses and bulges alarmingly and unpredictably. Astronomers cannot predict exactly when Damocles will go super-nova and guesses range from three hundred to three hundred thousand years. 'Not in our lifetime.' they say with confidence before leaving on the next ship out.

Damocles B: Dionysus is a black hole. Seventy five years ago it was a red giant that went supernova destroying every planet in the binary system except one. It’s still settling into its new role and redecorating the system with a new nebula. A combination of a hydrogen stream from Damocles to Dionysus and a lot of debris makes the system a navigation hazard. The shell of the Dionysus super-nova is now one hundred and fifty light years in radius and not only makes for a very pretty backdrop to the inhabited planets night sky, but a surprisingly bumpy ride for any spaceship passing through it for the first time.

Damocles A1: The iron core of a huge metal rich world still orbits Damocles A. There is a Federation research station there, studying both the binary and the recently exposed core of the planet.

====Damocles Cluster====
The Damocles binary is at the centre of a cluster of main sequence orange stars which suspiciously all have earth-like inhabitable worlds orbiting them. This is known as the Damocles Cluster.

===DANIV===

Daniv A is a blue hypergiant of approximately 510 solar masses, orbited by a much smaller blue giant star and a single planet. Daniv attracted a lot of attention, even before the sector was settled. A ridiculously large star, it has long been the subject of scientific study. Probes were sent to study it as early as 2660, and the research team led by future emperor John Braxen studied it in 2691. The sometimes inhabited research station on Daniv 1 is the oldest surviving human site in this part of the galaxy.
One of the most interesting things about Daniv is that the star itself is less than a million years old. It is in an area devoid of other stars, leading to the theory that it has either swallowed up all the stars around it or that it was somehow an only child in a vast interstellar nursery of hydrogen gas.

Daniv B is an O type blue giant star of approximately 180 solar masses.

====Daniv 1 Alpha====
Daniv A1: '''Daniv 1 Alpha''' is a crazy mixed up kid of a planet that foolishly chose to orbit Daviv. Or it could just be a rogue planet caught in its gravity. It orbits Daniv at a range of 1.8 billion KM (further than Saturn from the Sun) and Daniv still fills up half the sky. The planet has a clear nitrogen atmosphere, the nitrogen is produced by the respiration of the plants on the planet. The oceans of the planet resemble water but consist of superheated long chain polymer molecules. The oceans maintain a balmy 500 degrees centigrade whereas the atmosphere varies from 590 degrees C at midday (190 in the shade) to 90 degrees C at midnight. The planet has a twenty hour day and a two thousand day year. The planet consists of two main continents, one takes up most of the northern hemisphere and the other lies in a crescent around the south pole.

The life forms on Daniv 1 Alpha are highly energetic creatures made of metal, heat resistant ceramics and highly volatile liquid chemicals. They are usually highly polished or have a very thick crust of blackened plastic skin, which looks white anyway because of the amount of light. Napalm, thermite, plasma and nitrogen-based explosives are typical defence mechanisms.

'''Daniv 1 Research Station'''
Daniv 1 Research Station is a heavily insulated, solar powered research facility built on the coast of the northern continent near a deep shadow filled canyon which is large enough to land medium sized spaceships in. The research station is usually automated but has emergency supplies and a [[Blue_Giant:Starship_Attributes#S.P.I.K.E|S.P.I.K.E]].

===DURGE===
Durge is a small and relatively cool orange star in the vicinity of Damocles. It has a number of rocky inner planets with no atmosphere and two large brownish black gas giants out towards the edge of the system.

====Morrow====
Morrow is the fourth planet in the Durge system. It has a single small ice cap on the south pole of the planet and a fairly temperate climate. Most of the planet is swampy lowlands filled with swamps, marshes, jungles, rain forests and more swamps. The climate is unpleasantly humid neer the equator, ranging through foggy up to wet and windy in the cooler regions. Rain lashed mountain ranges and hills offer slick muddy slopes and wet highland moors for contrast. You could settle there, but you wouldn't want to.

There are many bug, amphibians and slithering things, but the only things of any danger are the slough. Slough are long wood skinned segmented beasts like tree limbs connected by universal joints, each joint having one grasping limb and each slough having between 5 and 10 segments. When crossing open terrain they have all the speed and grace of a deck chair falling down stairs. In forested swamps they brachiate though the trees, and they swim like clumsy water snakes. Greater slough are huge, each segment the size of a person. Lesser slough are sentient and each segment is about the same size as a human arm.

'''Slough Research Station'''
An Imperial university and a flarin laboratory have set up a joint research station (a set of prefabricated aluminium huts on stilts) in the northern hemisphere to study the lesser slough. There is a patch of dry land nearby large enough to land a supply ship and there are a couple of canoes.

===GLADSTONE===
Gladstone is a typical orange star about the same size and age as the sun. The planet has three rocky inner planets and three large ringed gas giants.

====Utopia 7====
Utopia 7 is the third planet in the system. It is earth-like, has two small northern oceans and one large southern ocean. There are two large northern continents and a small southern one. It has two small moons.

It is a wide park-like planet. Every building surrounded by clear open verdant ground. Cities are vast and usually about 30 km across with populations of about 50,000 people. Roads are frequented by automatic ground cars and open sided tram-like vehicles. Monorails link cities as does an underground heavy transport network. Everything is designed to be perfect. Ponds, parklands and open savannah describe it best.

Utopia 7 has the best hospitals in the sector. Gene technology is a given, resurrection is possible as long as the brain is intact (or recently scanned) and dead less than a couple of weeks. The planet has some extremely high tech but not much heavy industry. There is quite a tourist industry especially from Imperial officers who used the planet for shore leave during the war. It has the best golf courses in the treaty zone.

The Utopians are utter pacifists who regard negative emotions as 'probably quite healthy but not really for us'. The greatest political crisis they suffered in recent years was when the councillors of the southern continent got a bit huffy with the northerners on account of not having enough pool digging robots to keep up with the water park fad which was sweeping the planet. They even stopped answering their calls for a day or two. It took a good few friendly visits and coffee mornings to sort that one out I can tell you.

'''Welcome'''

The spaceport is a nice glass building surrounded by trees, in the tourist city of Welcome, only a short distance from a major hospital complex (which has a lake with real swans in it). The nearby town hall is a château and the main street is, according to the locals 'a bit cramped and squalid' with small mansions every hundred meters or so. The catfish club is a bar in the middle of the lake in the centre of Welcome. It's where offworlders go for crowds and to bitch about the locals. There are a few other places on the same small island, a mall, garage, restaurant and boat shop.

===GUNNERS GRAVE===
Gunners Grave is a smallish orange star still suffering from heavy sunspot activity from a supernova blast wave that passed through the system a few years ago.

====Li-Bos====
Li-Bos is a picture postcard planet of rolling mountains and deep verdant valleys which has been settled by the Gordon-Cedar corporation. All the cities are built on snowy mountain ranges high above the clouds. The farms in the valleys are fully automated, operated by robots designed after tanks. A hostile species called the Chandlers live below the snow line and there are strange tales of scouts who venture down there being turned into zombies. While the cities could probably deal with the menace, there are bureaucratic and insurance difficulties with getting the necessary army together.
(The scout who named the beasts had been trying to say "Chandler's still down there!", but she died before she could finish.)

'''Reunion'''
Reunion is a typical Gordon-Cedar city made up of several districts, each five kilometres wide with a one kilometre high hexagonal curtain wall (ironically hiding some superb mountaintop views). Reunion has four districts.
The spaceport is made up of many hexagonal landing pads, all at slightly different heights (like the giants causeway), a control tower building, a customs building and a warehouse district. Residential Area One is a combined residential and business district, as is Residential Area Two. The last district was a farming district, but with the new automated farms in the valleys now up and running, it is slowly turning into a heavy industry zone.

===IRON CONTENT===
====Newland====
'''Newland City'''

===KOYAMA===
====Tatara====
'''Tatara Base'''

===LAURA'S SMILE===
====3K====

===MARINO===
====Poon Tang====
'''Thackery City'''

===MUNRO===
====Pancake====
'''Mirandon'''

===NEWSTAR===
====Breda====

===NO GO===
====Bone-Ring====

===OSADA III===
====Porter====
'''Bradley'''

===OSADA V===
====Ko-Loy====
'''Sorathia HQ '''

===OSADA IX===
====San Leone====
'''Heretic City'''

===OSADA XXII===
====Intersector====
'''Midway'''

===PETROS MAJOR===
====Petros 1====
'''Gifted City'''

===PETROS MINOR===
====Magnifico!====

'''Magnifico's Throne'''

'''The Flying Cities'''

===SHIAWASE===
====Redhall====
'''Knatch'''
'''Terrace City'''

===WEBB-TAYLOR===
====Bossa Nova====
'''Kinghorn'''

===ZOPHOS===
====Langdon====
'''Gordonshome'''
'''Churchill'''

[[Blue_Giant|Main Page]] / [[Blue_Giant:Index|Index]]

Blue Giant:Sector 229 99621

2021-11-13T23:10:21Z

TrapperZ:

=Sector 229 99621=

The snappily named [[Blue_Giant:Sector_Map|Sector 229 99621]] is one of the most important sectors in the Treaty Zone. It is one of two sub-sectors located exactly in the centre of the outer zone of galactic sector 5. It is in the upper half of the galactic plane. (Sector 129 99621 is the corresponding sub-sector on the lower plane).

The main locations of interest are the blue giant star Daniv, the Petros systems, The Nogo system, the Damocles cluster, and the Sorathian systems.

(For details of individual star systems see the [[Blue_Giant:Campaign_Sector_Star_Index|campaign sector star index]]

==[[Blue_Giant:Campaign_Sector_Star_Index|Daniv]]==
Daniv attracted a lot of attention, even before the sector was settled. A ridiculously large star, it has long been the subject of scientific study. Probes were sent to study it as early as 2660, and the research team led by future emperor John Braxen studied it in 2691. The sometimes inhabited research station on Daniv 1 is the oldest surviving human site in this part of the galaxy.

One of the most interesting things about Daniv is that the star itself is less than a million years old. It is in an area devoid of other stars, leading to the theory that it has either swallowed up all the stars around it or that it was somehow an only child in a vast interstellar nursery of hydrogen gas.

==The Petros Systems==
The Petros systems consist of two star systems, [[Blue_Giant:Campaign_Sector_Star_Index#Petros_Major|Petros Major]] and [[Blue_Giant:Campaign_Sector_Star_Index#Petros_Minor|Petros Minor]]. Petros Major is unique in the galaxy for being a green sun. Most stars that emit light strongly in the green spectrum appear white, because they also emit light to either side of green in the spectrum, but Petros Major has some sort of energy field / space warp / 'hell knows what' surrounding it. There is a theory that Petros Major is actually energy leaking from hyperspace, but to find out someone would have to get inside the star, which is currently impossible. The other odd thing about Petros is that it has a quintet of planets in the same orbit around the star and each planet has a number of large moons. The system should be very unstable but isn't. There are a number of Cheem ruins on Petros 1.

Two hundred years ago, the original inhabitants of Petros Major leased their planet (Petros 1) from a man called Petros for the sum of one bunch of bananas. Petros told them he had staked his claim on both systems (Major and Minor) before they arrived and that the lease was for one planet in that system. He also mentioned that he preferred Petros Minor because 'the light was more Earthlike'. The settlers humoured the madman, signed the contract and let him fade into history.

Petros 1 is also noted for the truly terrible dress sense of the locals. The green light from Petros Major washes over the planet every day and affects the colour judgement of the locals. Colours that look good there look dreadful in normal light, and you can always spot a tourist from Petros 1 by their bright metallic taupe/lime/maroon shirts with flared collars, and corduroy bathing shorts.

Petros Minor is an orange star identical in every meaningful way to Earth's sun. It has one planet, very earth like, and one moon, similar in size to Earth's moon. The planet is inhabited (as far as anyone can tell) by a race of tall, beautiful people who are unfailingly polite but who do not want visitors. The two hundred drone ships which surround the planet in a net, plus the fifty or so super-heavy plasma turrets based on the moon help them keep their privacy.

Blue Giant:Scenario Hangover

2021-10-24T17:52:11Z

TrapperZ: /* Action */

==Synopsis==
The PCs receive a twenty year old distress call from a settler ship. The settlers crashed on a planet that looked like a bloodshot eye and were barely able to survive. Two years ago one of the settlers apparently went mad and murdered his family, but his home was three thousand miles away from the main settlement. The settlers do not have the resources to pursue the crime and have done nothing about it. The victims sister asks the PCs to investigate. The killer is still alive and symbiotically linked to a sentient alien weapon. The merging of minds has sent them mad.

==Setting==
The story is set on the planet of [[Blue Giant:Campaign_Sector_Star_Index#Hangover|Hangover]], an almost empty planet circling [[Blue Giant:Campaign_Sector_Star_Index#Baker Star|Baker Star]]. There are five principle locations, a damaged settler ship in orbit called the Daisy Green, the homestead of Brett and Babs Ramsay, the main settlement 'Town', the settlement of Sam Thorne and a crashed alien spaceship.

==Main Characters==
'''Brett Ramsay''' is a settler who specialises in engineering and cultivating medicinal plants. He is thirty eight years old. He is married to Babs Ramsay. He's a big placid farmer who is relieved to see the PCs.

'''Babs Ramsay''' is a mineralogist and soil botanist. She is thirty nine years old. She will be extremely happy to see the PCs.

'''Josh Baker''', at forty nine he is the oldest surviving settler. He is the de facto headman of the community because no-one can be bothered arguing with the big windbag.

'''Glenda Baker''' is his forty two year old wife and the real political power on the planet. She is pragmatic almost to the point of callousness. Without her guidance and matchmaking the colony would not have survived.

'''Rose Alexander''' is the bereaved sister of Heather Thorne and Doctor Ferdinand Alexander. She's forty. She has been harassing the townsfolk to do something about the deaths of her family and she sees the arrival of the PCs as a way to get some answers.

'''Derry Phillips''' is a fourteen year old boy. He witnessed some of the events two years before and has been working on his own investigation since then.

'''Sam Thorne''' is thirty six years old. He's a loner who never got on well with the rest of the townsfolk. Two years ago he killed his wife Heather and his two daughters Daisy and Maisie and later killed Heather's brother Ferdinand.

'''Heather (Alexander) Thorne''' was thirty four when she died. She was the loyal and loving wife of Sam Thorne and mother of Maisie and Daisy.

'''Maisie & Daisy Thorne''' were eight and four years old respectively when they died.

'''"Doc" Ferdinand Alexander''' was thirty five years old when he died. He was the only medical doctor the settlement had.

'''Billy Wu, Jacob Fletcher, Franklin Griffin, Tiffy Gallagher & Linzi Gallagher''' are all fine strapping young settlers, they're about eighteen years old and they hang around Town adding to the crowd scenes. Billy is really smart, the other four are just big dumb bags of teen hormones.

==Theme==
The point of the story is to introduce the players to the role of the characters as not just officers of the law and investigators. The settlers need help surviving and the characters are capable of helping. How the players treat the settlers and the killer should help define the style of the campaign.

==Events==

===Action===
There are only three areas of physical action.

Investigating the wreck of the Daisy Green in orbit inside an unstable debris belt of asteroids and ejecta from the planet. Various skill contests involving moving from ship to ship and opening hatches.

Fighting Sam Thorne in a gouge in the terrain made by the crashing alien spacecrafts. Sam will ambush the party as they move towards the craft. There's plenty of cover for all involved and after taking a hit or two, Sam will retreat to the choke point of the starship's entrance.

Confronting Sam within the alien vessel. He has cover, several retreat points and is close enough to start ranting and raving.

===Role Play===

Brett and Babs Ramsey will be overjoyed to meet the PCs and will drop the story of how they crash landed on the planet and as much exposition as the players can stomach. The first contact should be an overwhelmingly positive experience for the players, who will be made to feel wanted.

Glenda and Josh Baker will greet the PCs with enthusiasm but will want to know what the PCs can do for the colony. They will try to secure information about the surrounding region, some form of fabrication and communication technology and an agreement for the PCs to assist in the return of the Daisy Green. They will prioritise this over any potential murder inquiry.

Rose Alexander will interrupt the PCs negotiation with the Bakers and demand a murder inquiry over the death of her sister and nieces, and the disappearance of her brother. She will with a great deal of barely repressed anger, demand the death of Sam Thorne.

Derry Phillips will add material to the investigation. He is a young teenager and the rangers are the most exciting thing he's ever seen. Any positive reactions from the rangers will cause him to become their biggest fan and he is anxious to share his data about the weather satellite images with them.

Sam Thorne is insane and befuddled. His consciousness has been merged by an alien weapon that is suffering from PTSD. Their combined memories are thoroughly scrambled and Sam believes himself to be under attack from Imperial forces, forces (and a war) that the settlers should know nothing about. Once trapped in the spaceship, he will accuse the PCs of war crimes and confusingly babble and weep at the death of his family. He should jump from one topic and accusation to another, completely reverse his position of things and be fairly easy to talk down if made to analyse his behaviour. Violent actions are close to the surface.

===Problems===
The Daisy Green is still broadcasting a distress call from a hazardous location, inside an unstable asteroid belt. The rangers job is to board the abandoned ship, turn off the distress beacon and log the event in all relevant star charts and with all local authorities as a 'solved' problem so that no-one else responds.

The Daisy Green is salvageable. It needs a new cockpit screen, some patches on the hull and straightforward repairs to a damaged power generator. It can then be landed.

The Daisy Green was towing two chains of eight re-entry capable cargo pods. The cargo pods contained vital settlement equipment and families. One of the chains of pods has been cut free by a crewmember who died while trying to cut the second set of pods free, presumably so they could de-orbit and land. There is no sign of the pods in the asteroid field. The crew member died when a cable under tension that they cut sliced through their spacesuit. The eight remaining pods have dead settlers inside. They froze to death because the Daisy Green was not powering them.

There is a second, fainter signal detectable from orbit. It is coming from a settler dome on the Ramsey stead. A year ago, the Ramseys lost communication with the main town and tried to use an emergency comms system built into the dome to communicate with town. They failed and now the system broadcasts static. In order to switch it off, Brett is demolishing the dome with a sledgehammer when the PCs arrive.

The Settlers are surviving and the colony is growing, but they lost a lot of supplies and are building resources from the ground up. The colony needs help, communications and trade.

Sam Thorne is infected with two alien lifeforms The first is a very young sentient living gun that was forced into a war with the Empire before it was mature. It is in shock and regards humans as enemies. The second is an alien living interface, meant to merge several species together as a gestalt entity. the interface is not sentient, it just links alien brains together. It has even found a way to link Sam's brain to the weapons. Sam's memories are extremely confused as his trauma at killing his own family is mixed with the alien's trauma of the war.

The aliens are a gestalt race of oddly shaped creatures, some sentient, some not, and older, wiser parts teach younger replacement parts skills and control the combined personality. There are many different dead body parts (actually full creatures) on the spaceship. There are parts that look like cockroaches, headless monkeys, hammerhead shark heads, spiders and other tube-like weapons and many more. The aliens assembled parts as needed and no two were quite the same shape. This species are called Puppeteers and the Empire fought them secretly at the same time as they warred with the Federation. The Empire is paranoid about Puppeteer infiltration and spies. They will act with extreme prejudice to destroy possible sources, perhaps even breaking terms of the treaty. The Puppeteer ship that crashed was investigating the Daisy Green signal and was struck by debris. It was a medical spy ship on it's way home after discerning the war was over. The ship is also organic and it's records were lost when it died. If the ship is reported to the treaty organisation, the Imperial rangers will get wind of it and be requested to check the planet for infection, leading to another scenario of hostile rangers and a possible purge of the colony.

If Sam is captured alive, it will require very high tech surgery to separate the various organisms. Utopia 7 can do it easily, but other planets would need to put their best people on it.

===Flexibility===
This is an open ended scenario. The players could skip the Ramseys and go straight to town or Sam Thorne's settlement. They may or may not choose to file a report about the aliens. Sam may die in a firefight or get spaced by rangers worried about alien infection rather than being imprisoned or treated. They may or may not choose to help the settlers or recover the Daisy Green.

Story exposition can happen in town or at the Ramseys. Sam may or may not have time to rant, in which case the evidence of the crashed ship may lack context. If the PCs head straight for the crash site, the abandoned flier will contain a monologue from Doc Alexander about spying an alien shipnear the stead abd wondering if it had anything to do with Sam's violence.

If the PCs are wondering what to do with a captured Sam, you may want to introduce the Utopia 7 distress call from the second scenario early so the Utopians can make the PCs aware of their advanced medical technology that could be used to treat him.

===Presentation===
''This is a fairly linear scenario with a good deal of exposition before the PCs get to the good stuff. Individual sections can easily be skipped and added to the a different scene.''

==Resolution==
==Rewards==

Recover the Daisy Green & help the settlers: +1 CP
Investigate the murder: +1 CP
Save/cure Sam Thorne: +1 CP
Save the biogun and return it to its people: +1 CP but gain 1 point of Wanted or Skeleton in the Closet or Nemesis with the Empire.

==Scenario Order==

The PCs pick up the radio signal from the Daisy Green. The signal is on the route they have to take to reach the rest of the sector.

Two light years on they pick up a second radio signal from the Ramsey stead.

They reach the system, witness how dangerous it is and see the Daisy Green and weather satellite.

If they investigate the Daisy Green they find evidence of an accident and many dead bodies. The ship itself is repairable. The flight recorder confirms the accident, the launch of the satellite and the history of the expedition.

They may meet the Ramsay's who will be very excited to see them. If the PCs don't suggest it, the Ramsay's will beg a lift into Town.

Baker will greet the PCs, beg for supplies, and tell the PCs things are going fine. He may request help with the Daisy Green. As the PCs are about to leave, Rose will kick up a fuss and ask the PCs to find out what happened to her family, the missing aircraft and Sam.

The PCs travel to the Thorne stead, find the missing doctor dead, the flyer and evidence of the murder. There are some very odd energy weapon blast marks.

The PCs find the crash crater of the alien ship where they are attacked by Sam, who rants a bit then escapes.

The PCs pursue him to the ship and defeat him, he will fall down, but he won't die.

They then have to deal with Sam and the alien weapon and the parasite in his brain. They will deal with the alien spacecraft.

They will also have to deal with the settlers and the clean up operation.

==Statistics==

The Sam Thorne gestalt

Body 7, Mind 5, Soul 3,
ACV 5, DCV 5
Plasma Burst att 9 dam 30+5
Gamma Beam att 9 dam 45+5
Force Field 30 (note, adjust force field so whatever weapons the PCs have can do some damage through it)
Listen 9, scan 9, hide 7, camouflage 8, sneak 9
Heightened Awareness 1, Biogun- Item

Stealth (camouflage) 2, Wilderness survival (temperate) 2, Mechanics 1, Electronics 1, Biology (genetic engineering) 2
Wanted -2, Marked (bioweapon fused to r arm) -2, 1 arm 1, Recurring nightmares 2

BIOGUN
Toughness +20, Extra Attacks 1, Forcefield 30
Weapon attack Plasma Burst 6 (accurate, spreading, short range 50m)
Weapon attack Gamma beam 9 (accurate, penetrating 1 limited shots 6, slow)

==Actual Play==

''You are invited to record how the scenario went for you. Let's hear your variation of it.''

[[Blue_Giant|Main Page]] / [[Blue_Giant:Index|Index]]

Blue Giant:Scenario Hangover

2021-09-26T12:30:32Z

TrapperZ: /* Theme */

Blue Giant:Campaign

2021-09-26T12:26:24Z

TrapperZ:

==[[Blue_Giant:Scenario_Hangover|Hangover]]==

The PCs receive a twenty year old distress call from a settler ship. The settlers crashed on a planet that looked like a bloodshot eye and were barely able to survive. Two years ago one of the settlers apparently went mad and murdered his family, but he's three thousand miles away from town. The settlers decided not to take further action. The victim's sister asks the PCs to investigate.

==[[Blue_Giant:Scenario_Bank_Job|Bank Job]]==

A group of well organized pirates have been raiding ships and planets in the Damocles cluster. They're well trained and have local knowledge. They also just stole six decommissioned Imperial fusion turrets. Stop them.

==[[Blue_Giant:Scenario_Corporation_Games|Corporation Games]]==

==[[Blue_Giant:Scenario_Amazons|Amazons]]==

==[[Blue_Giant:Scenario_Space_Cathedral|Space Cathedral]]==

The PCs find an ancient artefact, twenty two miles high floating in space. What is it for? Why is it there? All they have to go on are the logs found on the bodies of an Imperial scout force that beat them to it.

==[[Blue_Giant:Scenario_Blue_Giant|Blue Giant]]==

Daniv is the fourth largest star in the galaxy. A blue hyper-giant of titanic proportions. The miner base on Daniv 1 Alpha has went quiet and the PCs have to find out whether it melted or not. Bring sunglasses.

==[[Blue_Giant:Scenario_Petros_Magnifico|Petros Magnifico]]==

Petros Magnifico has a squatter problem, thirty two million of them and he wants them off his planet Now! Or else! (And you really don't want to see the 'or else'.)

==[[Blue_Giant:Scenario_Bug_Hunt|Bug Hunt]]==

It's a bug hunt.

==[[Blue_Giant:Scenario_Kong_Tiki|Kong Tiki]]==

Around the Damocles binary is an iron moon that shouldn't be there, life forms that shouldn't be able to dwell in a vacuum but can, and a bunch of scientists who don't deserve the title. Rescue them from the Mask-apes that have invaded their base.

[[Blue_Giant|Main Page]] / [[Blue_Giant:Index|Index]]

Blue Giant:History

2021-08-29T18:01:58Z

TrapperZ: Spelling mistakes

=History of Space Flight in the Third Millennia=

Humans didn't really start exploring space until the third millennium. They pottered about in their own gravity well in the 1960's and 70's but nothing much came of it.

==The Wonder Years==

Rockets existed in the 20th century, Ion drives and Fusion drives came in to their own in the 21st. A few long-range space probes were sent out, the solar system was fully explored, Mars and Titan were colonised for a laugh. Everything you would expect to happen, did.

Thing kicked off around 2268 with the invention of gravity wave generators in India. Before the end of the 23rd century there existed working anti-gravity devices. Inertia was finally proven to be the combined effect of the gravity waves from the surrounding universe. The anti-gravity drive could reduce the effect of inertia allowing ships to travel at up to half the speed of light. The first deep space probes were built in 2285 and the first manned ships left earth in 2289. The [[Blue Giant:Starship Attributes#Inertialess Drive|inertialess drive]], which allowed objects to come within a hairsbreadth of the speed of light, was developed within 32 years and the first colony ships left earth soon after. The light barrier was still thought to be impossible to break until a bunch of Dutch cosmologists discovered subspace.

''[[Blue Giant:Starship Attributes#Subspace|Subspace]] is another universe formed at the same time as normal space (and [[Blue Giant:Starship Attributes#hyperspace|hyperspace]] , but more on that later). Subspace is very similar to normal space except that it contains far less matter and energy and as a result the speed of light is considerably faster.''

The subspace theory languished in the journals until some bright spark decided to try to measure the speed of light in subspace by reproducing it on Earth. After a couple of accidents, the experiments were moved into interstellar space. Eventually, in 2391 it was discovered that a field that matched the characteristics of subspace could be reproduced and that if you made a strong enough field you could break the light speed limitations. In 2392 all the cosmologists became immensely rich and the first Dutch FTL spacecraft left Earth.

There was a brief and exciting period of mapping and charting, soon followed by a somewhat more exciting period when all the other nations ganged up on the Dutch and took the secrets of the FTL drive for “the good of all humanity”. As humanity began to expand across the galaxy there were a few territorial disputes and a couple of wars (including the famous 24/7 war in 2407). Then a few treaties got violated, there was another couple of wars. All the usual stuff that happens when people get rich and nations try to take their cut. Eventually, by 2440, the core worlds had been defined and for the next 140 years things settled down to standard imperialist expansion.

==The Cygnan Empire==

Then the Cygnans showed up. The “Evil Cygnan Empire” was a collection of the local galactic players of that time, technological alien races in the southern reaches of the Cygnus spiral arm. The first species encountered were an artificially created race of semi-sentient creatures that the Cygnans used to reform worlds to their liking. Because of the creature’s helpful and curious attitude and their habit of mimicking the colonists the human colonists got on astonishingly well with these creatures. They soon set the creatures to work building human colonies. The fact that these creatures, called ‘Hogs’ by the humans because of their vague resemblance to Armadillos (go figure) were found on several different planets didn’t bother the colonists as much as it did the nations and colonial authorities who didn’t have daily contact with them. The authorities launched an investigation and discovered the Cygnans.

==Cygnan Species==

The major Cygnan races consisted of;

[[Blue_Giant:Cygnans#Hogs|The Hogs]] - A race of semi-intelligent armadillos with prehensile hands.

[[Blue_Giant:Cygnans#Lattice|The Lattice]] – Creatures composed of silicon and radioactive materials. They grow like a giant fungal root system across the surface of whatever planet they inhabit. Their physiology acts, roughly speaking, like a giant semi-conducting computer chip. There is usually only one to a planet.

[[Blue_Giant:Cygnans#Rourkes|Rourke’s Spiders]] aka Rourkes - A bed-sized species looking roughly like “two headless tarantula spiders connected by a leather bag filled with bones”. Rourkes are a carbon-based species covered in a woody carapace. As you may imagine, first contact did not go well. (Especially not on [[Blue_Giant:Jack_Rourke|Jack Rourke’s]] farmstead.) Rourkes don’t do science, relying on the co-operation of other species for their technology. Rourkes compete with humans for territory and resources. Individual Rourkes commonly display phobias about Tumbleweeds (see below).

[[Blue_Giant:Cygnans#Slugs|Slugs]] – Giant slugs the size of a pickup truck with prehensile fronds at the front. A highly technological species, they also developed a subspace field drive. Slugs don’t communicate; they just do what Slugs do. The Rourkes hitch-hiked on Slug ships until they met the other species.

[[Blue_Giant:Cygnans#Tumbleweeds|Tumbleweeds]] – A perambulatory tangle of thorn covered wire with a central root-like stalk. Tumbleweeds are constrictors and are composed of shape memory metals that they can bend and flex at will. They are roughly the same size as tumbleweeds although on their home planet there are similarly formed non-sentient predators that can grow to the size of hippos. Tumbleweeds are most like humans in terms of psychology, reasoning and technological development. They obtained space flight technology from the Slugs and shared it with the Rourkes.

There were other races but they mostly stayed at home.

==The Cygnan War==

Anyway, the humans came into contact with the Cygnan civilisation in 2581, about 700 Ly from Earth. The Cygnans had a slow deliberate policy of expansion. They would set some Hogs down on a planet and let them decide which species the planet was most suitable for. The human corporations started settling worlds with Hogs on them. Since they didn’t recognise them as a sentient species, they also started digging up Lattices for resources and to clear their settlement areas of radioactivity. The Lattices demanded action; some Tumbleweed scientists undertook a study of human colonial culture and quickly came to some very accurate conclusions. The Cygnans started arming for war.

Diplomacy didn’t work because Tumbleweeds concluded that the Rourkes (nightmarish spider-monsters) would be a really good choice for ambassadors. The Slugs just ignored everything and continued their colonisation efforts - mostly onto planets already containing humans. Diplomacy eventually failed partially because the Rourkes tried to negotiate with individual human nations and partially because the Lattice demands for reparations were impossible to meet. War broke out by 2584.

During the war the humans developed [[Blue Giant:Starship Attributes#Wormholes|jump drive]] technology and the Tumbleweeds developed [[Blue Giant:Starship Attributes#Mass Thrust Drive|Mass Thrust Drive]] technology. When the Americans and Dutch got a hold of both they developed [[Blue Giant:Starship Attributes#Star Flight Attribute|Star Flight]] technology and promptly bombed the Cygnan civilisation into oblivion. The Lattices were wiped out and three major species of Slug were made extinct. The Rourkes lost their entire fleet of vessels and were thus trapped on their homeworlds and only the Tumbleweeds made it out with some semblance of an empire, having been restricted to a few core planets.

''[[Blue Giant:Starship Attributes#Star Flight Attribute|Star Drive Technology]] takes the starship out of normal space and places it in either a wormhole, subspace, or hyperspace depending on the type of drive.''

==The Settlers==

After the war ended in 2610 the humans, using the huge surplus of military vessels, slowly began to spread across the galaxy. Then, 20 years later, the [[Blue Giant:Starship Attributes#Wormhole|Hyperjump]] drive was developed just in time for the post war baby boomers to colonise the galaxy. Each generation after that followed a distinct pattern. Colonise a world, have babies, babies grow up and don’t just leave home, they leave planet to set up a new colony elsewhere. Within a couple of centuries, the colonists going clockwise were meeting colonists going anti-clockwise. And fighting about it.

Several political systems developed in this time. The old earth nations couldn’t keep up with the administration of all the new colonies. New star-spanning nations developed and follow the colonies around the galaxy. The old Cygnan Empire and the [[Blue_Giant:Interstellar Nations#The United Nations Protectorate (UNP)|United Nations bureaucracy]] left to watch over it were cut loose from the Earth colonies. This was due to cutbacks and ‘resizing’ as the Earth nations tried to re-focus on the new colony worlds. The UN/Cygnan areas became an independent territory which is still known as the [[Blue_Giant:Interstellar Nations#The United Nations Protectorate (UNP)|United Nations Protectorate]]. The various Cygnan races were finally granted access to the stars and being somewhat alien, they didn’t bear a grudge.

The colonists going clockwise around the western side of the galaxy encountered a few more alien species. The colonists either ignored them, dealt with them or were dealt with by them. Friends and enemies were made but no more star-spanning races were found. At least none with Hyperjump technology, that is. The colonies were too busy surviving to make war with each other and a loose trade federation formed.

Over on the anti-clockwise, eastern side of the galaxy no alien races were discovered. There was plenty of archaeology, but not much in the way of living beings. This was hardly remarked upon because the colonists didn’t really care. Then [[Blue_Giant:Astræ'an_Throne|The Throne]] was discovered by a colony scout called John Braxen. Who did care, and had done his archaeology homework.

[[Blue_Giant:Astræ'an_Throne|The Throne]] is one of three artefacts Braxen discovered. It is a star faring city, a command centre and a throne room all in one. It has a dome 2 miles in diameter. Inside the dome are a city and the only hyperspatial jump drive known to humankind. One side of the dome has a concave section missing, slightly under a mile wide. In the concave section at the back, facing the opening is a throne. Whoever sits in the throne can control every function of the artefact and the function of the other two artefacts Brabxn discovered. The throne is more powerful than the entire human fleet of ships at that time. The second artefact is a giant crystalline starship / weapon. It was lodged on the surface of a dark star in the centre of the galaxy. The third is a device that manufactures permanent wormholes.

So Braxen used it to carve himself an empire and make himself an emperor. Braxen went to war against the rest of the galaxy and only ended when one of his Empresses assassinated him and took the throne herself. Braxen found the device in 2702, formed his empire, and then went to war in 2777. He was killed in 2780 and the [[Blue_Giant:Empress|Empress Astrae’a]] declared the war over and informed the victors of the terms of surrender she would allow them to impose on her. She seems to have discovered the secret of longevity as well as she still rules 220 years later.

The war with the empire galvanised the western worlds into forming the politically solid [[Blue_Giant:Federal_Alliance|Federal Alliance]]. Each world in the Alliance is given the status of Independent, Dependant or Colonial. Independent worlds get a say on the council, Dependants get to lobby via the Independent world they depend on and Colony worlds don’t get a say but tend to turn up for the arguments anyway.

==The Groombridge Accord==

The war with the empire also led directly to the development of the [[Blue Giant:Starship Attributes#Star Flight Attribute|subspace (warp)]] drive by the Earth nations. Once the war was over, the Earth colonies used this new technology to start hassling the Federal Alliance over territory and the Earth colonies that signed up for the Alliance. The Alliance, showing typical colonial independence, capitulated immediately. This bought them enough time to obtain a number of subspace vessels from the United Nations Protectorate. The Federal Alliance then sent copies of the ship designs to every one of their planets capable of building one. Within two years (in 2785) the biggest war fleet the galaxy had ever seen sauntered down to the border zone and re-liberated all their colonies, along with any others who expressed an interest in joining. The Federation got the Empire, the Earth colonies and the U.N.P to sign up to a galactic treaty (which co-incidentally left them with the biggest piece of the pie.) The Groombridge Treaty holds at least to the eve of the fourth millennium.

The most recent developments in star drive technology have been the [[Blue Giant:Starship Attributes#Star Flight Attribute|subspace (fold)]] drive and the highly theoretical [[Blue Giant:Starship Attributes#Hyperspace|Hyperspace warp drive]] .

''[[Blue_Giant:Hyperspace|Hyperspace]] is another universe, similar to ours just after the big bang. It is a place which can be tapped for near unlimited levels of energy. And while it is just as large as our universe, the distance between two points is far shorter.''

==The Federal / Imperial Treaty==

The Empire busied itself with expanding anti-clockwise around the galaxy, where it came into contact once again with the expanding federated treaty zone. Mucho violence and special effects ensued until, in 2992 the two sides settled down and hammered out the Treaty. The treaty called for no military presence in the treaty zone except for a multilateral force called the [[Blue_Giant:Space_Rangers|Space Rangers]], who would uphold the treaty and enforce common law. All four groups of the Groombridge accord can train and provide rangers. The rangers are only answerable to the Treaty Oversight Committee.

Incidentally, no-one on the Federal side is sure why the Empress stopped the war. Her stated reply was “Oh I couldn’t be bothered any more.” Rumour has it that her forces met with an alien presence in the treaty zone that she couldn’t defeat.

[[Blue_Giant|Main Page]] / [[Blue_Giant:Index|Index]]

Blue Giant:Interstellar Nations

2021-08-29T17:54:16Z

TrapperZ: Fixing some shocking spelling mistakes (TrapperQ)

There are a vast number of nations in the Milky Way. In the southern arms of the galaxy, planets can have dozens of nations clustered on them. Most of the old earth nations still exist in one (or two, three, or a dozen) form or another. Many nations command several planets. Most are not worth mentioning. Some nations though, span star systems, clusters or even entire quarters of the galaxy. In rough order of size, the human nations are;

===[[Blue_Giant:The Astræ'an Empire|The Astræ'an Empire]]===
The Astræ'an Empire covers over a quarter of the galaxy, and if it were not for the Groombridge Treaty and the Federation/Empire treaty it would probably cover a lot more. The Astræ'an Empire is ruled absolutely by the Empress Astræ'a, a former lover of the empire's founder and first ruler, Emperor John Braxen. The Astræ'an Empire is at its higher levels an aristocracy. A Duchy is a sector, Counties are star systems and Baronies are continents.

The Empire now is seeing its final days as an average life span of an Astraa'an through genetics is 350 years, and the duchess herself is nearing her end. Without an heir to bequeath the empire, they will have to become into a democracy. Not knowing what the future has for her empire the duchess decides to choose her own close confidants as the rightful aristocrats to the empire letting them make the decisions before her death.

===[[Blue_Giant:The Federated Territories|The Federated Territories]]===
Formally the Federal Alliance, the Federated Territories consists of most of the western half of the galaxy. Although larger by area than the Empire, it has about two-thirds the population. The Federated Territories are a planetary democracy with some of the worlds gaining a vote on the council. Each world is given the status of Independent, Dependant or Colonial. Independent worlds get a say on the council, Dependants get to lobby via the Independent world they depend on and colonial worlds don't matter. This means that other nations that have worlds in the Territories hold some sway over the Federation. The Camby, Shanshock, UPA, Dutch, Japanese, Gordon Freeholders, S.Y.L.A and the Visi hold blocks of votes on the Federation council (as do many, many others).

===[[Blue_Giant:UN_Protectorate|The United Nations Protectorate (UNP)]]===
The United Nations Protectorate mostly exists in the southern rim sectors of the galaxy. It was formed when all the old Cygnan Empire planets and all the earth colonial planets in the Cygnus and Perseus arm were put under control of a United Nations peacekeeping force. Later the UNP was cut loose to fend for itself as the Earth nations concentrated on expansion in other directions. The UNP became a nation proper with the signing of the Groombridge Treaty.

===The Camby===
The Camby nation evolved from a particular type of settler philosophy that put family first. The Camby are a semi-religious nepotistic meritocracy. Families are appointed positions of authority, not individuals. The Camby hold very definite views of the current galactic culture. If it isn't their culture then it's probably degenerate. The name Camby evolved from New Cambridge University, Massachusetts where the original Camby settlers learned their Biological and Physical sciences from the university settlers program. The Camby settlers were mostly from Midwest USA, but many settled on colonies abandoned by the Chinese during the Oceanic China / Shanshock civil war, and the Camby absorbed a lot of Chinese peasant culture. Camby planets exist in the Earth Colony zone, the Federated Territories, and the Treaty Zone. There are even a significant number of planets with Camby culture in the Empire, although the Empress, being a disenfranchised Camby settler herself, does her best to lead them into a less 'virtuous' lifestyle.

===The Shanshock===
The Shanshock are a modern, dynamic offshoot of the Oceanic Chinese Nation. The split came when, after the Groombridge Treaty, the Chinese colonies on the federal side of the border were given the choice between keeping ties with China or making new ties with the Federal Alliance. The Shanshock chose to become "Big Fish in a new pond rather than stay minnows in the oceans of Earth History!" The Shanshock are well on their way to becoming the biggest player in the Federal Territories. The Shanshock are a loose plutocracy although they prefer to think of themselves as a socialist republic.

===The United Planets of America (UPA)===
Like the Shanshock, the UPA came about soon after the Groombridge Treaty when the colonies of the USA were given the chance of freedom from Earth. Unlike the Shanshock, the UPA managed to persuade a large number of independent planets to join them, including a number of worlds run by American corporations. (They promised better tax breaks.) The UPA has over 300 states and its own Federal Government which shouldn't be confused with the Federal Territories, but often is. The UPA is more or less democratic.

===The Netherlands===
The Dutch invented space travel, and for eight hundred years the motto has been, "If you want it to fly, get a Dutchman." Dutch colonies tend not only to control whole planets but they also have national areas on other peoples planets too. The Dutch exist everywhere in the galaxy. Their culture is mostly that of educators, engineers and service personnel. Dutch corporations run starship transport networks, space ports and so on. The original Dutch explorers independence of mind and technical know how was a big influence in the creation of the Oruc-Pang. The Nation of the Netherlands exists mostly as hearsay, but when the Dutch need to make a decision it is made democratically

===[[Blue_Giant:Oruc_Pang|The Oruc-Pang]]===
The Oruc-Pang are one of the larger civilizations in the galaxy, definitely the most spread out and number a little over a trillion people. They are fiercely independent nomads who wander space, and rarely, if ever, land on planets preferring space stations. The Oruc-Pang are the main rivals to the Dutch for control of the merchant space lanes. Unlike all the other nations, the Oruc make no territorial claims on any planet or region of space. The Pang are a different matter, although they claim no planets, they always stake out an area of space. Oruc-Pang culture evolved from settlers who didn't settle down, and just kept travelling. They can be found everywhere in the galaxy.(Although the Pang are outlawed in the Empire, they just shrug and pretend like they're Oruc.) The Oruc-Pang divide themselves up into groups, regional teams, families, clans, companies or any other damn way they please. Most Oruc-Pang have facial tattoos which distinguish which group they are part of. Some keep these tattoos for life, others change them daily.

===The United States of America (USA)===

The USA is an older, more sedate culture. It is one of the 'grand old ladies' of the cosmos. In the early days of galactic exploration, it was one of the biggest, fastest growing cultures but it suffered several major blows which reduced it to its current 'former empire' status. The first was its reliance on corporate contractors. [[Blue_Giant:Interstellar_Nations#Gordon Freeholders|Gordon Freeholds]] were a series of colonies sponsored by the US government who became too powerful to control. The eastern galactic colonies were annexed by the Emperor John Braxen, the Cygnus colonies were cut loose because they were not profitable enough and the western colonies became the [[Blue_Giant:Interstellar_Nations#The United Planets of America (UPA)|UPA]] after the [[Blue_Giant:History#The Groombridge Accord|The Groombridge Accord]] was signed. The USA retained its mid-twenty first century governmental style, but nowadays the spiritual aspects of the presidential office are mostly ceremonial. The USA is still a leader of the Earth colonies and wields a lot of power in the southern sectors of the galaxy.

===Japan===

Japan was for the most part a minor player in the colonization of the galaxy, however in the last hundred years or so it has come back onto the galactic stage with a burning vengeance. There are a number of reasons for this, foremost among them was a recent deregulation of genetic enhancement technology. Most nations have pottered about with the modification of the human genome, but this was outlawed in Japan. When the wall came down the Japanese took the dreams of nine hundred years and ran with them. This caused a cultural explosion which took them to the cutting edge of every major technology. [[Blue_Giant:Additional_Material#A.I. Cryptography|A.I. Cryptography]], the Rim Runners Rally (Once round the galactic rim in eight stages and eight days), antimatter particle beam weapons, Soft Genome Technology and so on. If you can't afford it but you want it, the Japanese make it.

===[[Blue_Giant:Gordon_Corporations|Gordon Freeholders]]===

When mankind went into space, the USA led the second charge. Every planet the USA settled had its own military base and the Gordon Fusion corporation was the government defence contractor who got the job of building them. The Gordon Fusion Corporation soon became the single largest legal entity ever to have existed and they were experts at 'Turning a world into your Homeworld'. They began to settle worlds through their subsidiary companies, for other nations. Eventually the company became so massive that it 'adjusted its corporate goals' effectively becoming a interstellar nation of its own. The new entity was called the Gordon Freeholds, each freehold being a separate region or corporation, within the umbrella of the new nation.

Famous freeholds include Gordon Fusion, Gordon-Olympus (the homeworld and headquarters), the Gordon-Hammer Corporation (destroyed by the Cat-tail Nebula Rangers for running an interstellar slave-ring), The Gordon-Fir, Gordon-Pine, and Gordon-Cedar settler corporations who exist within the treaty zone and the Gordon-Nishimura Conglomerate who sell spaceships you can't afford. There are many others.

===[[Blue_Giant:S.Y.L.A|Settler Youth League Armada (S.Y.L.A)]]===
SYLA has its origins in an number of independence movements on settler planets that were taken over by governments and corporations by force. SYLA came into being after the invention of the [[Blue_Giant:Starship_Attributes#S.P.I.K.E|Singularity Point Interstellar Kommunications Engine]], a faster than light communications system that didn't involve a mail man. SYLA members formed organised settler groups who stayed in touch and assisted each other. They had a common defence and economic policy. After colonising several planets, they members realised that they were effectively an interstellar nation unto themselves.

The political structure of SYLA worlds is somewhat vague and loose. Laws and governance tend to be sorted out at the city level. The only exception is, as previously mentioned, planetary defence. Every SYLA world had a mandate to create a number of armed vessels to add to the local sectors Armada. This colonization technique doesn't always work out well, and the SYLA Armada spends a significant percentage of its time policing itself.

===Oceanic China===

Oceanic China is the nation which evolved from the 21st century People's Republic of China. The nation became known as Oceanic China in the 22nd and 23rd century when it colonised much of the Pacific in vast floating island ships. China has always been one of the major powers in space from the 21st century onwards. During the [[Blue Giant:History#The Wonder Years|Wonder Years]] they held the greatest advantage of all the nations. They had experience colonizing Titan and they had a population bursting at the seams, desperate to expand. Oceanic China avoided most of the war with the Cygnans, having colonised in other directions. Oceanic China lost much of its territory after the [[Blue_Giant:History#The Groombridge Accord|The Groombridge Accord]] because of the breakaway of the [[Blue_Giant:Interstellar_Nations#The Shanshock|Shanshock]] republic. However it is still a major power of the earth colonies and has begun to colonise planets in the southern part of the galaxy that were previously considered unsettleable.

===The Visi===
The Visi are a culture rather than a nation. They originated as a group of welfare charities to help settlers who were struggling to survive or who had made mistakes in their choice of home. The charities were funded by Earth and U.N Colonies as well as the Cygnans. The methodology behind the help and assistance given was medical. The charities at first healed the sick. Later they began to promote the idea that only the truly healthy should try to colonies the new worlds. The charities formed into an organisation called VISI which was a great help to many settler worlds to begin with. However, when VISI tried to exert control over who should be allowed to settle new worlds there was a split. Those who allowed VISI to select settlers became VISI worlds, but most did not. The Visi are self-perfectionists. There have been a number of splinter groups, but most Visi are clones of their parents. Each generation's DNA is tinkered with to remove the flaws that the parent perceives within themselves. Visi are male or female and are for the most part regular people, but they take their asexuality and health very seriously. The Visi can be found in both the Empire and the Federation but don't really exist as a culture in the Earth Colony regions. Visi are generally very open to the Cygnan cultures and they can often be found sharing planets.

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