User:Bill/Hyperstructure Aurora

Status

Terminated

Overview

Hyperstructure Aurora is a vast, self contained, tower complex inhabited by the wealthy and powerful of a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Surrounded on all sides by desperate refugees the dictatorial regime within uses force to subjugate the terrorized masses huddled below its nigh indestructible walls. Ravaged by disease, poverty, and the predations of monsters both human and inhuman the desperate retches of the refugee shanty town look for any opportunity to gain entrance to Aurora.

Government

Aurora is presided over by an oligarchy composed of 13 appointed ministers called the civil governance council. These 13 men and women represent broad divisions, such as the military and public health, in the society of Aurora. It is intended to be a meritocracy, however many of these seats are gained at least as often through political maneuvering as they are by skill in the area that the minister is supposed to represent and manage. Ministers are appointed for life by a two-thirds majority vote of the other 12 ministers. By tradition, members of the civil governance council of Aurora step aside after a term of 20 years. The prime minister, who is empowered to act without council approval in emergencies and who's vote breaks ties in council decisions, is elected by simple majority every five years.

The civil governance council has been extremely conservative since the global disaster that caused the enormous loss of life on earth and the collapse of most governments. For the last 13 years it has been led by Prime Minister Konrad Brewer, a former general in Aurora's armed forces. Brewer is nearing the end of his 20 year term on the civil governance council. It's rumored that he's planning to break tradition and continue to holding his seat. Other members of the council are jockeying for support in their bid for his seat while simultaneously grooming candidates among the military to take Brewer's seat as minister of defense. This has some interesting consequences as high ranking officers in the military attempt to distinguish themselves by backing new hardware projects, engaging in sweeping counter terrorist operations, and otherwise pushing the boundaries of what would be considered normal and acceptable behavior.

Society

Within the hyperstructure one's status may be determined by his or her address. The more wealthy and powerful a person is the higher and more towards the center of the structure they live. The poor and recently admitted live in the lower, subterranean areas, close to the garrison and central power core. While that could represent a potential security risk, the waiting list for permission to enter Aurora is several years long and only those able to endure tremendous scrutiny make it through the process. Most of the workers of Aurora live at ground level and up to the first fifteen stories, along side the factories and hydroponic systems that sustain the population. Administrators and managers reside between levels sixteen and twenty-four while levels twenty-five to thirty are taken up by recreational facilities. Above level thirty are the living quarters of the highest managers and the ministers. At the very top of the titanic hyperstructure are the council chambers.

The existence of psychic abilities and the manipulation of arcane forces came to be accepted long after Aurora was constructed. The ministers have long upheld the conservative traditions of their forbears and thus the practice of magic remains outlawed within the hyperstructure itself. In the shanty-town that sprung up around Aurora over the last half century there is no such restriction. Similarly the use of psychic abilities is frowned upon in polite society though there is no law prohibiting psychics from living and working in Aurora. Psychics seldom rise above middle management or the rank of captain in the armed forces in this climate. Aliens are never permitted to reside in the hyperstructure, though they may apply for and receive work passes or enter with a special visitors pass.

While these notes were intended to support my Hyperstructure Aurora game I think they could be applied to virtually any cross-genre TriStat dX game where the players are empowered to create their own equipment and powers.

TriStat dX

While incredibly versatile, TriStat dX is almost crippled by its own flexibility. Without clearly defined ranges of minimum and maximum players flounder and often leave some bad loop-holes in their characters. This problem is easily resolved by defining some basic setting assumptions and some systemic limits though.

Characters

Character Creation

Player characters for Hyperstructure Aurora were permitted to have any imaginable background story as long as they could be created using 115 points plus 5 mandatory points of character defects. Players were allowed to have as many as an additional 3 points of defects, for an effective total maximum of 123 points.

Most stats are expected to fall within the normal range for human beings; with 4 being average and 12 being the maximum capacity normally attainable by humans.

At this point value characters also begin play with 30 skill points. Additional skill points are available by using the Highly Skilled Attribute. Skill ratings should not exceed 4 except in special cases.

Player Characters

Larry "DOA" Lebowitz	A master marksman and tracker armed with an almost endless array and variety of weapons.
Nailo	A draconic alien shape-shifter capable of amazing feats of strength.
Quintus Sertorius Valens	A wolf-like humanoid alien armed with psychic abilities and grafted armor, dedicated to enforcing justice and protecting the weak.
Seth Milan	Victim of a strange mystical ritual, Seth must struggle against the demon that has been bound inside him.
Sumrip	A humaniod alien assassin armed with an array of useful items including a cybernetic arm, an energy blade, and his powerful mind.
Turgon	A deadly combat cyborg.

Non-Player Characters

Didac	Two-headed mutant crimeboss.
Mechon	Cyborg drug dealer and smuggler.
Mistress Katrina	A psychic vampire involved involved in prostitution.
Marius	A strange tattooed preacher consumed by visions of destruction.

Setting Assumptions

Super-Science Weapons and Armor

Hyperstructure Aurora is set in the far flung future where technology has advanced considerably.

• Ray guns can easily destroy a person in a single shot and body armor exists that can absorb or deflect that kind of punishment. Likewise these armors are completely resistant against conventional weapons.
• To reflect this I establish the base damage rating for high-tech weapons to be 60 and the base rating of armor to be 40. This allows a successful attack that inflicts even 50% damage to cripple an unarmored human and an attack of at least 75% damage to harm an armored person or object.
• Bigger structures have a higher armor value.
• Bigger weapons inflict more damage.
• These weapons and armors should be purchased as Items of Power or Own a Big Mecha for balancing purposes.

Build a Gun

Build an Armor

Magic

Magic exists and can be used in either brief, combat effective, spells or longer more time consuming rituals. Living sacrifices increase the power of spell casters.

• TriStat dX can simulate this via individual Attributes purchased with appropriate PMVs and Defects, as a Divine Relationship, or Dynamic Powers.
• Most, if not all, Attributes intended to reflect magic should include the Burns Energy defect and Requires Skill Roll as a restriction.
• Attributes intended to reflect a "natural" magical ability may have no restrictions, but Burns Energy is still recommended.
• For balancing reasons magical abilities should not exceed the offensive or defensive guidelines laid out for Super-Science weapons and armor above.

Psychic Powers

The existence of extra-sensory perception and psychokinesis are readily accepted facts. These abilities are primarily genetic though most humans are capable of reaching deep within themselves to gain access to one power or another.

• TriStat dX simulates psychic abilities through a variety of Attributes.
• Attributes purchased as psychic powers should include the Burns Energy and Concentration defects. They may also require the Requires Stat [Mind] Roll Restriction.
• For balancing reasons psychic abilities should not exceed the offensive or defensive guidelines laid out for Super-Science weapons and armor above.

Alien Life

Strictly speaking anything not from Earth is an alien, regardless of whether it arrived via space-craft, summoning ritual, or extra-dimensional gateway.

• Virtually anything goes as far as the appearance and powers of any given alien. However, for balancing reasons they should not exceed the offensive and defensive guidelines laid out for Super-Science weapons and armor above.