A Fistful of Factions!
More Uncharted Worlds faction musing today, because outside it is cold and wet and icky and pretty much normal for an Emerald City December.
(And an idle thought, even as I glance over AARs for Ed's newest addition to his 5150 sci fi minis gaming line: Two Hour Wargames is to traditional miniatures gaming as Anything PbtA is to traditional tabletop roleplaying. They're both streamlined, emergent, organic...which may well be why I like both of them so much, as opposed to spending eleven hours to complete nine turns' worth of a Napoleonic meeting engagement. Some folks like their crunch and their dictionary-thick rulebooks full of painstakingly crafted simulations. I'm in it for the story, the fun, and the creative vibe.)
A couple more factions, following up a bit of table-chat with my regular gaming group last night in lieu of an actual session due to our GM's present holidaze-inspired fatigue and distraction. UW is not likely to be our next project, but many things become possible. Not all of these will be used, but I'm putting them downon paper in electrons for general reference.
These are all sketches, so to speak, to be more fully developed as inspiration strikes. It may well be that as more material is completed and released, some of these will have to be discarded.
STILL NOT YET NAMED TRONLIKE FACTION
Visual cues: sleek, dark, streamlined, neon highlighting. If you've seen the movies, you know what I'm talking about.
More details: got an Advanced background? You might hail from their territory. They might even border on post-scarcity transhumanism within their own borders. In my head they aren't particularly hostile to anyone else, and not overly interested in the squabbling of neighbors. Their focus is elsewhere. (This is not the same thing as saying that they don't have their own schemes and scams.)
FEISTY INDEPENDENT COALITION CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE
Visual cues: large tubelike starships like those from Albedo.
More details: somebody has to deal with those obnoxious imperialists, and traditionally that's a coalition of smaller groups who happen to be in their way. Probably a diverse mix of bioforms, whose general characteristic is a willingness to work together rather than hang separately. Also a willingness to turn a blind eye to minor unpleasantness between member states so long as the line is held.
NOT THE JURIAN EMPIRE
Visual: graceful wooden starships with sacred tree AI command cores.
More details: yes, I am a low plagiarist from time to time. Tenchi Muyo is one of my favorite anime, and Jurian tree-ships have an awesome all their own. If I'm going to borrow Verne-tech, it would be a crying shame not to bring these into it as well. But they ARE copyrighted, so let's just quietly file off the serial numbers...imperialistic, conservative, xenophobic, a little too full of themselves, and powerful enough to make that arrogant assumption of primacy stick. A perfect foil to counter the Covenant of Emrys, should they be in the same 'Verse.
CALL IT THE SOLOMANI COLLECTIVE
Visual cues: big, brick-like, blocky, over-engineered ships that bring the words Soviet Industrial Aesthetic to mind.
More details: this was pretty much the last to form in my noggin last night. These are the Warhammer 40K Human types. Not the best tech, not the prettiest ships, but awfully damn good at kicking tail-end and stopping fights. Got a Brutal or Regimented background? There you go.
So that's five in all. My personal preference, looking over the Departures chapter, would be to shoot for five or six factions--fairly political, plenty of opportunity for low-end 'opportunities' for the player characters, and no clear cut good guy versus bad guy simplifications. At the same time, I'd choose maybe two or three of these and let the table come up with the remainder.
(That said, it's also a LOT easier to have only two or three factions in a campaign! And Wizards versus Jurians with the PCs as a bunch of picaros y picaras just trying to make a slightly honest cred as the thunder of great houses rolls overhead has quite a bit to recommend it.)
(And an idle thought, even as I glance over AARs for Ed's newest addition to his 5150 sci fi minis gaming line: Two Hour Wargames is to traditional miniatures gaming as Anything PbtA is to traditional tabletop roleplaying. They're both streamlined, emergent, organic...which may well be why I like both of them so much, as opposed to spending eleven hours to complete nine turns' worth of a Napoleonic meeting engagement. Some folks like their crunch and their dictionary-thick rulebooks full of painstakingly crafted simulations. I'm in it for the story, the fun, and the creative vibe.)
A couple more factions, following up a bit of table-chat with my regular gaming group last night in lieu of an actual session due to our GM's present holidaze-inspired fatigue and distraction. UW is not likely to be our next project, but many things become possible. Not all of these will be used, but I'm putting them down
These are all sketches, so to speak, to be more fully developed as inspiration strikes. It may well be that as more material is completed and released, some of these will have to be discarded.
STILL NOT YET NAMED TRONLIKE FACTION
Visual cues: sleek, dark, streamlined, neon highlighting. If you've seen the movies, you know what I'm talking about.
More details: got an Advanced background? You might hail from their territory. They might even border on post-scarcity transhumanism within their own borders. In my head they aren't particularly hostile to anyone else, and not overly interested in the squabbling of neighbors. Their focus is elsewhere. (This is not the same thing as saying that they don't have their own schemes and scams.)
FEISTY INDEPENDENT COALITION CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE
Visual cues: large tubelike starships like those from Albedo.
More details: somebody has to deal with those obnoxious imperialists, and traditionally that's a coalition of smaller groups who happen to be in their way. Probably a diverse mix of bioforms, whose general characteristic is a willingness to work together rather than hang separately. Also a willingness to turn a blind eye to minor unpleasantness between member states so long as the line is held.
NOT THE JURIAN EMPIRE
Visual: graceful wooden starships with sacred tree AI command cores.
More details: yes, I am a low plagiarist from time to time. Tenchi Muyo is one of my favorite anime, and Jurian tree-ships have an awesome all their own. If I'm going to borrow Verne-tech, it would be a crying shame not to bring these into it as well. But they ARE copyrighted, so let's just quietly file off the serial numbers...imperialistic, conservative, xenophobic, a little too full of themselves, and powerful enough to make that arrogant assumption of primacy stick. A perfect foil to counter the Covenant of Emrys, should they be in the same 'Verse.
CALL IT THE SOLOMANI COLLECTIVE
Visual cues: big, brick-like, blocky, over-engineered ships that bring the words Soviet Industrial Aesthetic to mind.
More details: this was pretty much the last to form in my noggin last night. These are the Warhammer 40K Human types. Not the best tech, not the prettiest ships, but awfully damn good at kicking tail-end and stopping fights. Got a Brutal or Regimented background? There you go.
So that's five in all. My personal preference, looking over the Departures chapter, would be to shoot for five or six factions--fairly political, plenty of opportunity for low-end 'opportunities' for the player characters, and no clear cut good guy versus bad guy simplifications. At the same time, I'd choose maybe two or three of these and let the table come up with the remainder.
(That said, it's also a LOT easier to have only two or three factions in a campaign! And Wizards versus Jurians with the PCs as a bunch of picaros y picaras just trying to make a slightly honest cred as the thunder of great houses rolls overhead has quite a bit to recommend it.)
Comments
Post a Comment