Myosho-Shintar Experiment
Contents
Player Characters
- Rook, Impoverished Military Scoundrel (Soldier of Fortune)
- Case, Advanced Technocratic Consul (Hacker)
- Nasweret, Augmented Occult Fanatic (Shintar Honor Guard)
| Name | Archetype | Mettle | Physique | Influence | Expertise | Interface |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rook | Soldier of Fortune | +2 | +1 | +1 | +0 | -1 |
| Case | Hacker | +0 | -1 | +1 | +1 | +2 |
| Nasweret | Shintar Honor Guard | +2 | +1 | +1 | +0 | -1 |
Advancements
- A problem is solved with firepower
- A broken law goes unpunished
- An abuse of power is resisted
- A system’s security is breached
- An injustice is rectified
The Ship
- Facade: False identification/registry, disguised as something else. Crawlspaces, hidden compartments, false walls.
- Observer: Advanced, multi-band sensors, capable of long-distance scans. Probe launchers. Recording equipment, shielded data storage.
- Shrine: A deeply personal space entirely devoted to your obsession, filled with samples, inspirations, trinkets and memorabilia.
The Sector
Myosho Consortium
The Myosho Consortium is a corrupt corporate meritocracy, distrustful of 'outsiders', and which puts a high standard on the ideal of courage. Twenty-seven (once thirty) technocratic families/clans rule over three hundred lesser families, the latter organized into constantly-shifting groupings of guilds, trade groups, and service associations. An individual can climb through the clan ranks through 'merit', leaving behind one family to enter another, including the twenty-seven families that rule (though movement between the Twenty-Seven, once that social strata is attained, is extremely rare). In addition to the Eda system, the Myosho Consortium has a presence in many other systems, where society is not always as rigidly stratified as it is in the core system. The people of the Consortium are of many ethnicities, but the culture at the root of their society is very loosely Japanese.
Eda System
The capital system of the Consortium, Eda, has three settled celestial bodies: a gas giant and two of its moons.
- Nara, the capital and cultural center of the Myosho Consortium, is a luxury moon of Kumamoto, and is where the twenty-seven families make their home.
- A gas giant, Kumamoto features cities that float in the upper stratosphere of the gas clouds. Once a prison colony and later a key naval base, Kumamoto is important for resource extraction and its shipyard, and the entire settlement functions as a militarized society.
- Aomori is the other settled moon of Kumamoto, and is the ancient seat of the Naru religion. An animistic religion at the roots of Myosho culture and civilization, its priests and most devout adherents experience genetic mutation that causes them to take on the features of various animal clans. Simultaneously revered and shunned by modern society, the Naru find sanctuary and haven on Aomori. In an orbital anomaly, the moon's orbit is constantly within the solar shadow of Kumamoto, making it a society eternally shrouded in night. Aomori is also the seat of the Kurimoto Academy of Psionic Science.
Shintar Republic
The Shintar Republic is a representative theocracy ruled by the God-Empress Neithikret. The Republic is welcoming of outsiders, though citizenship is predicated on conversion to the Shintar religion, which is a worship of the Ancients and their genomic technology. A hedonistic society, they put a high standard on the ideal of loyalty. The Shintar command fewer worlds than their neighbors, but they have advanced technology, stemming from their study of the Ancients. The Shintar Republic has a presence Coreward of the Myosho Consortium. Welcoming of outsiders, the people of the Shintar Republic are of many ethnicities, but the culture at the root of Shintar society is loosely Ancient Egyptian.
Pakhet system
Heset and Satet are both water worlds riddled with ruins of the Ancients, with floating cities. Satet, the smaller of the two, is less hospitable to life, yet serves as the celestial seat of power of the God-Empress.
Factions
Myosho Consortium
The Twenty-Seven Families
A central thematic element in the Myosho Consortium is the tension between families. In addition to the Twenty-Seven, there are many lesser families that form shifting alliances with each other and their patron families. I'm thinking a bit of Tékumelyani society, where there are many clans belonging to specific social strata defined by status. In Tékumel, those allegiances are very much along religious, political, and historical lines, and tend to be more rigid. With the Myosho Consortium, I'm imagining the allegiances are more fluid, though there is certainly history there which can make for tense bedfellows. For another reference point, we can continue to turn to the Killjoys show, where there is much scheming and intrigue between the elite governing houses.
For simplicity, we can associate families or clans with specific interests. Technology, the military, religion, politics, various mercantile interests like shipping, mining, specific manufacturing, etc. Each of the Twenty-Seven has material control over some aspect of society, with some families operating as rivals (multiple technology families, or military clans, etc.). Beneath the Twenty-Seven are lesser clans who are similarly associated with the many spheres of influence in Myosho society. So, one of the Twenty-Seven might specialize in personal defense, manufacturing weapons and defense systems for individuals, and have close relationships with lesser families involved in raw materials, factory manufacturing, and distribution networks, as well as a lesser family that specializes in providing security personnel for personal defense. That one clan of the Twenty-Seven may have a rivalry with another weapons-system manufacturing member of the Twenty-Seven which is seeking to expand its personal armaments division, and it might have an alliance with a political faction that seeks to expand into Shintar space, where personal armaments will be in high demand.
NPCs
Rumors and Leads
Notable Posts
House Rules
Asset Standard: Energy Weapons
Weapons that fire physical projectiles have been entirely phased out and replaced by energy weapons. All firearms and heavy weapons automatically gain Laser as a free upgrade. The following archaic upgrade replaces Laser and can be purchased for firearms and heavy weapons.
- [Bullets] Fires fast-moving physical projectiles rather than energy. Good against shields.
Cargo: Fuel Shortage
Out on the fringes of known space, beyond the refineries of civilization, lies a frontier where decent fuel is vanishingly scarce. Communities are forced to subsist on a smattering of inferior, unrefined fuels harvested from mines, asteroids and local gas giants. Taken for granted in the core worlds, fuel is the lifeblood of commerce, exploration, safety, and colonization on the ragged edge of space.
Fuel Shortage is a variant set of rules for frontier settings in campaigns where scarcity plays an important role. Adopting this rule set will make a campaign feel more desperate, with tighter profit margins and a greater focus on trade and profitability to stay aloft. Ships will need to refuel between trips, and it’s possible for a ship to stall or even become stranded if its fuel supply runs out. Fuel itself becomes a much sought-after commodity.
Fuel as Cargo
In a Fuel Shortage campaign, units of fuel count as a special type of Cargo (UW core book, p 126). Like any other Cargo, fuel is graded from Class 0 to Class 4. A fuel’s value depends on its source, purity and level of refinement. Some, like hydrogen, are plentiful but inefficient. Others, like dark matter or cordeliarite, are incredibly powerful but rare.
- Fuel units can be used as part of a Barter to gain Cargo units, and Cargo can be used to Barter for Fuel. Fuel can also be sold as part of Acquisitions.
- Fuel takes up as much space as a vehicle or unit of Cargo, and must be transported in the cargo space of starships and aboard vehicles with the Transport upgrade.
Running on Fumes
Starships must always have a unit of Fuel loaded into their reactor. Once loaded, the unit of fuel doesn’t take up Cargo space anymore, but is not recoverable. Reactors can only accept one unit of Fuel at a time, and old Fuel has to be jettisoned before new, better Fuel can be added.
While routine starship operations can be maintained for a very long time, taxing maneuvers may result in a ship running out of fuel during the attempt. Taxing maneuvers include overuse of energy weapons, heavy use of shields, extended atmospheric flight, and of course Wild Jumps.
When pushing a ship in these situations, use the Run On Fumes custom Move. Failures and Partial Successes will reduce the class of the Fuel loaded into the reactor. Should the Fuel’s class fall below 0, the Fuel is expended.
A starship without Fuel is effectively dead in space, drifting powerlessly with only emergency life support.
RUN ON FUMES (+Fuel Class) When you push your ship in a Fuel- scarce situation, Roll + the loaded Fuel's Class.
- On a 10+, the Fuel supply holds.
- On a 7-9, reduce the Fuel's class by 1.
- On a 6-, reduce the Fuel's class by 3.
SectorNet
SectorNets handle the information traffic for an entire star-system, linking planets, space stations, and outposts, all with minimal communication lag. All but the most backwater star-systems have at least some version of the SectorNet that coordinates everything from traffic to crop harvests to Jump Point priorities to school testing schedules.
Common SectorNet Activities: *Seeking common information is an Assessment using +Interface. *Social interactions requires +Influence, as if the participants were face to face. *Minor purchases are still based on the character’s wealth, but are anonymous. *Major purchases made over the SectorNet are Acquisitions, as per normal.
Modifications
Cybernetics are available in the Myosho Consortium. Bio Mods are available in the Shintar Republic, and are common amongst Shintar citizens. The Naru of Aomori (in the Myosho Consortium) also make use of bio-modification.
Market Types
The Assets chapter of Uncharted Worlds assumes a similar level and style of technology across the galaxy. The potential for greater variety and sheer alien oddity in Far Beyond Humanity necessitates markets that are just as varied. Use this section rather than the Minor, Standard, and Major Markets from Uncharted Worlds.
When introducing a new market, an Origin will be selected that most closely expresses its general tone, spirit, and technology level. This will provide a narrative guideline as to what the characters can expect to find. A particularly important and complex market space could be expressed through a combination of two Origins.
Market Distribution
The frequency of new markets should depend on the scope of the game. The further and faster the characters are expected to travel, the more space each market takes up. In a standard Starship game, where players are free to fly from star system to star system, they can expect to find a single market per planet or space station. In a City game, each district of the city would have its own unique market that matches the district’s motif. And so forth.
Secondary Markets
Sub-markets can exist within a major market. These secondary markets tend to be exclusive, secretive, dangerous, and/or illegal. Characters can risk seeking them out if the primary market can’t provide them with the kinds of Assets they need. Note that the Commercial career’s Marketing skill (Uncharted Worlds core book, page 81) allows characters to find secondary markets with ease.
Evolving Markets
Markets will change as the story progresses. Major events and shifts in the balance of power will change the Market type. If the Scientific Cabal faction takes over a space station that was once Crowded, that market will probably be Advanced or Galactic the next time the characters visit. Wars and great catastrophes can turn any market into an Impoverished or Brutal market.
Group Career
Group Career is in play, with the PCs using the Starfarer career.
