Limitations:

• Spells have a specific range, duration and a consistent effect. Inventive unicorn can find secondary uses for spells by using their environment
• Spells can be created with time and research, but adhere to the same limitations as established spells
• Spells come in two forms: Stored and Active. Stored spells are those imbued into objects that are dormant and can be triggered to become active. Active spells are those that are cast onto a target or an area. Stored spells generally have a finite use per day, and may or may not recharge on their own
• Anti-magic is the absence of magical energy, its strength is measured in magic damage absorbed. Active spells cannot traverse Anti-magic fields, but stored spells can. Stored spells that produce an ongoing active magical effect are suppressed. Once enough magic damage has been absorbed by Anti-magic, it wanes
• Magic has specific laws dictating its use, certain spells are illegal to cast, others have social stigma attached

Cost:

• Spells require mana as a resource to cast, overcasting is possible but costs the caster strain. Items can recover mana, but only a finite amount per rest
• Spells require time to cast in the form of actions in combat
• Spells require material components sometimes, especially in crafting
• Spells only use the magic in the area as their fuel. For example, fire spells will work in a vacuum, as it is the magic that is being consumed, not oxygen.

Weaknesses:

• Spells can be counterspelled by the same or opposing school, or by Akyromancy
• All magic can be dispelled by targeted Anti-Magic spells or fields, which are readily available to anyone, not just other casters
• All spells originate from the horn, therefore removing the horn permanently prevents casting magic. Inhibitor rings worn on the horn temporarily prevent all casting and can be very difficult to remove
• Spells can be dodged and partially or outright resisted. No spell has a guarantee to land on a target
• Spells that are area of effect do not distinguish between friend or foe
• Spells provoke attacks of opportunity and can be interrupted if concentration is broken
• Stored spells are volatile and explosive if destroyed or triggered by Akyromancy

Limitations of Spell Ranges

• Ranged attacks: You may roll a ranged arcane attack roll as you cast this spell against the target’s dodge roll. You must have line of sight to the Target.
• Ranged buffs: Casting on an ally automatically hits unless they otherwise resist, goes through armor if applicable. You must have line of sight to the Target.
• Touch attacks: You may touch a target as you cast this spell by making a light melee attack roll against the target’s dodge roll, or charge your next touch attack to activate this spell until end of combat. The spell will state if the attack bypasses armor. Touch attacks bypass Anti-Magic fields.
• Touch buffs: Touching an ally automatically hits unless they otherwise resist, goes through armor if applicable. Touch buffs bypass Anti-Magic fields.
• AoE attacks: This is an area of effect attack, it requires line of sight to the target center of the area. All targets in that area are affected and require a saving throw of the type listed against the DC listed. This spell does not differentiate between friend or foe.
• AoE buffs: This is an area of effect beneficial spell, it requires line of sight to the target center of the area. All targets in the area automatically receive the benefits of the spell unless they otherwise resist. This spell does not differentiate between friend or foe.
• Self: This spell affects only the caster, you may willingly cease any spell you’ve cast on yourself at any time, as can any ally with a beneficial spell.

Alpha Stage (Complete):

• Welcome page
• Table of contents
• Creating a Character
• Complete design and description of Ability scores
• Complete design and description of Races
• Complete all Skill descriptions
• Start Talent Chapter
• Complete background generator
• Complete Equipment Chapter: Credits, armor, armor upgrades, weapons, weapon upgrades, packs, potions and stims, deployables, poisons and diseases, general equipment
• Complete Combat basics: Health & Dying, Initiative, Actions, Spread weapons, Aim, EMP, Antimagic, etc
• Start Magic Chapter: Counterspelling, How Magic Works, etc.
• Start Vehicle Chapter: Crafting, stats, rules
• Start GameMastery Chapter: Environmental rules, tips for GMs, creating a campaign, rewards, etc.

Tasks to complete for release of first Beta (levels 1-5):

• Add Light levels and how they affect perception to Environment section of GameMastery Chapter, or to Combat section (None/Dim/Normal/Bright)
• Add Stances section to Combat (Lean/Prone/Crouch/Stand/Defend), explain how they affect cover and concealment rules
• Streamline EMP rules on electronics, Anti-Magic on ongoing magic effects, stored spells on targets (loaded touch spells), magic items
• Saves for ongoing effects end the effect, clarify which types of ongoing effects give saves every round. Saving throws against spells are vs Caster’s mental score or opposed arcane skill check depending on type
• Standardize rules on creating new spells, add to Magic Chapter
• Reorganize Combat section
• Redesign spread weapon rules, simplifying it
• Add rules for aid another action based on skill rank to Combat chapter
• Design Suppressive Fire rules
• Provide battle map picture examples in the Combat Chapter
• Organize and Alphabetize all lists, especially spell tables
• Add terrain types to Game Mastery guide and explain them
• Complete 5th level spell long descriptions
• Transcribe talent list into rule book, add more, reorganize into talent trees
• Complete Racial artwork for Horse and Nocturnal
• Design fillable PDF character sheet, or excel spreadsheet character sheet
• Create Artefacts for levels 1-5 in the Magic Chapter (Soft Magic)
• Design rules for relationships, influence and reputation for the GM Chapter
• Explain Precision damage in Combat Chapter, cannot get precision bonus on barriers
• Fix spelling mistakes
• Design optional rules for addiction and add common drugs
• Complete rules for environmental destruction

Tasks to complete for release of second Beta (levels 6-10):

• Complete Spell levels 7 and 9, both tables and long descriptions
• Complete talents for levels 6-10
• Complete book cover artwork, start working on Chapter title artwork
• Complete design of Vehicle crafting, Vehicle stats, Vehicles in combat, Vehicle movement in space/air/underwater compared to terrestrial
• Complete Random Encounter Generator
• Complete Random Planet Generator (possibly)
• Complete Game Mastery chapter
• Start working on Bestiary (with artwork!)
• Continue sample campaign for beta testers for levels 6-10 (possibly)
• Adjust/Add rules and stats based on previous beta stage feedback

Tasks to complete for release of third Beta (level 11-15):

• Complete Spell levels 11, 13 and 15, both tables and long descriptions
• Complete talents for levels 11-15
• Finish Chapter title artwork, add random artwork throughout
• Complete Random Campaign Generator (Possibly)
• Complete Bestiary
• Complete sample campaign for beta testers for levels 11-15 (possibly)
• Adjust/Add rules for stats based on previous beta stage feedback
• Complete Glossary
• Add final touches (Special fonts for titles, etc)
• Complete Custom Fonts for Griffon, Zebra and Nocturnal, tidy up Equine
• Complete thank you list to beta testers/supporters

Now that I am writing up the spell descriptions, I’d like to share the general rules for spell design that I am following. Spells have a level, a mana cost, a range, a duration, an applicable saving throw, an action cost and a long description.

The level of the spell determines what caster level you must be in order to learn it, which is important as there are ways to increase your caster level higher than your actual level. Also when determining the strength of the spell for dispelling and the like, the level of the spell is used. It is also assumed that items are enchanted with the level that the spell is.

Mana cost is fairly straight forward, sometimes recasting is required since duration is limited. Spells that have a greater effect will have a higher mana cost to them.

Spells can come in a variety of ranges, which include: Self, Touch, and in Feet. Self means that a spell can only be cast by the caster, onto the caster. Touch behaves a little differently, as touch can be for an ally or for an enemy. Generally, if a spell deals damage, the target can dodge the attack, but if hit they receive no save, instead the damage is mitigated by their Spell Resistance (which is damage reduction), if the touch attack is an all or nothing effect, the target can obviously dodge the touch, but they can also make a save to negate the spell. Touch is also made with a light melee (natural) attack roll, sometimes cannot be blocked and almost always bypass armor entirely. Spells with a footage listed are ranged, and use an arcane skill attack roll against the target’s dodge. These act like any weapon attack and typically can be blocked, and deal damage to the armor first before the target themselves. Spell Resistance still comes into play and for all or nothing spell effects, the target definitely gets a save attempt to negate it. Ranged or centered on caster area of effect spells always initiate a saving throw roll instead of a dodge roll. Area of effect spells are like traps in this regard, and will have both a range that the caster can send the spell out, and the diameter in feet of the spell’s effect.

Duration is how long the spell lasts, it can be instant, a round, the length of a battle, several minutes, to hours, to until the target of the spell rests, to day(s), to permanent. Some spells are listed as permanent when the spell may be instant but leaves behind the spell effect, like ice objects in cryomancy and illusions for photomancy.

The saving throw is the target’s ability to negate the effect or halve the damage. The saves are from Ability Scores: Physical, Agility, Mental, Spirit, Presence. Physical saves protect against things like being pushed by telekinetic attacks. Agility saves protect against area of effect damaging spells or anything where reacting quickly could avoid the effect. Mental saves protect against spells that affect the mind, or to realize something is an illusion. Spirit saves protect against all or nothing debilitating spells effects by resisting the magic itself. Presence saves protect against charms and spells meant to seduce or otherwise change your personality or feelings of another. Not mentioned here but built into your character is also Spell Resistance, which is magical damage reduction against all forms of magical damage.

Action costs can be: quick, standard, full, and full round. Full round completes at the beginning of your next turn. There will never be a free or move action spell. Quick action spells are typically detection spells, movement spells, spells that toggle something on and off, or minor spells. Standard spells are typically attacking spells that allow you to move and cast. Full spells are your buffs and more powerful spells. Full Round spells are your serious or all day spells that are riskier to cast in combat, and should be deliberately cast beforehand if possible.

The long description will have some flavor text, but also important identifying descriptions of the spell, like whether the spell can be seen, if it leaves something behind, etc. It will also have the nitty-gritty details that explain what can and cannot be done with this spell, which could be helpful to casters to come up with inventive new uses with their spells.

Just wanted to share the look of the book design quickly and some of the artwork that will be going into the rulebook. Plus a sneak peak at the race pages and the logo for SFRPG.

• 

• 

I’ve yet to finish the cover art, and the chapter art pages. I may try to find some nice fonts for the headers like most RPG books have, and make a nice table style (So many tables…). I wanted there to be a legend on the margin of every page so you always know where you are at in the book. Also, faintly in the background is a custom font for the equine language. I’ll be creating custom fonts for all the languages for GMs to use if they wish.

The Limbus sector is not much more than hidden colonies, pirate dens, rebellion bases, prisons and restricted space. It has a number of worlds currently undergoing automated terraforming or that have been recently finished terraforming but Minetech has not yet started any projects. A couple small Minetech space stations offer refueling and scraps of supplies along the border to the Austellus sector, but the rest of the sector remains generally unexplored or ignored for now. Rumor has it that experimental research is conducted somewhere in the restricted part of the Limbus sector, but those who were brave enough to explore it and came back out claim to never have found anything of importance, or their tall tales aren’t believed.

The Colonies

“The Colonies” refers to the 11 small settlements across 11 planets in 7 solar systems in the middle of the Limbus sector. These solar systems aren’t in restricted space, but their location is very well hidden from pirates and Minetech. Most settlers along the Colonies are part of the Colonial Resistance, but all colonies have those who just wish to live in peace free of Minetech. The majority of the colonies are small, ranging from 30-1000 inhabitants, the larger settlements being sponsored by Red Horizon to test clean energy technologies or to get a head start on claiming the planet’s resources away from Minetech. The smaller settlements often rely on supply runs by a select few who they can trust, and great care is taken to keep their home hidden from pirates. Altercations do happen when pirates poach supply runs, and if a settlement is ever discovered and survives, it is relocated. Pirate bases and rebel bases sometimes also exist on the same planet, making thing difficult for everyone. Small colonies are usually democratically governed by a single mayor, though a communist colony does exist. Larger colonies typically lead by council, though a few sponsored colonies are run by the corporation, as the majority of the town are employees and their families. Minetech is aware of their presence, and occasionally sends ships to scan the planets to arrest or wipe them out, but without much effort. Their stance being that when they head to develop the planet, they’ll eventually find them and either hire or incarcerate them.

Pirate Lords

Pirates exist along the borders of most sectors where they can jump quickly to the safety of the uncharted, but no sector has a pirate problem as bad as the Limbus sector. Pirates will prey on anyone, including other pirates, but most adopt a code of ethics they themselves follow. The Pirate Lords seldom work together, and when allegiances are made they are quickly broken, when a Lord dies, another immediately replaces them. So, the different factions are in a constant flux of power, wars and allegiances, just the way they prefer it. The following are the different Pirate factions:

Redbeards: Originally led by Captain Redbeard, a rusty colored horse, the Redbeards have a long history of ruthlessness and bloodshed even among themselves. At his prime, Captain Redbeard was feared in both Limbus and Austellus, and would often prey on Minetech transports and the colonies. They often showed up to conflicts between any factions and only fought for themselves, waiting like vultures until the opportunity to strike presented itself. In his later years however, Redbeard accrued many health issues and spent most of his time in his cabin in a drunken stupor. Leadership fell to his second, a unicorn mare even more ruthless and calculating than he ever was, and business carried on as usual until Minetech caught up with them. In response to the high number of pirating of their transports in the Austellus sector, Minetech dispatched a special ops team to locate and eliminate Captain Redbeard. When the Redbeard flagship docked at MI6, Minetech SpecOps infiltrated the ship and executed Redbeard, as well as dehorned and captured his second in command. In the ensuing firefight, the flagship and the station docking bay were severely damaged, most of Redbeard’s flagship crew were killed. Since then, the Redbeards have been scattered and broken, with a dozen or more ruthless Captains vying to take control. They haven’t been a significant presence since, and their reputation and sightings have since dropped considerably. Currently their fleet comprises of no more than a few dozen ships of middle class or lower.

Buccaneers: Led by Captain Song Glider, a vibrant pegasus mare with a cybernetic peg-leg and who dresses the part of a pirate of the old seas, the Buccaneers are the epitome of fairy-tale pirates. Strict followers of the code of ethics and religious adopters of pirate speech, they are quick to make temporary allegiances and prefer to parlay over pillaging. Often times, those who are raided consider themselves lucky to be facing a Buccaneer over the other factions, as negotiations typically end favorably in a trade or not a total loss of cargo. Captain Song Glider often takes in stow-aways, colonists, non-violent criminals and outcasts like branded zebra as her crew, and regards everyone like family. The Buccaneers target resistance and mercenary ships, as well as corporate transports, and will trade with colonists but not raid them. They are also often seen at refueling stations in the Limbus sector, but avoid MI6 as mercenaries would undoubtedly exact revenge. Their flagship is The Golden Songbird, a stolen United Stella large corvette, modified and painted to look like a wooden sail ship with gold accents. Captain Song Glider leads a fleet of 30 stolen or donated ships, all modified and painted in some way.

Rum Runners: Led by Captain Straight Shooter, an openly gay stallion who favors expensive suits, collector revolvers and fine liquors, the Rum Runners have their influence in a lot of markets. They prefer to extort, steal and blackmail before open conflict as their fleet is small; They also make a lot of alcohol, drugs and other contraband to sell on black markets. OccasionallyThe Rum Runners will do business with, and screw over, anyone. The crew culture is rumored to be very merry and close however, despite being a criminal gang and a lot of recruitment happens as crew become friends with down on their luck mercs and other rogues. Captain Straight Shooter loves to push the leader of the Corsairs’ buttons over a long standing feud and has on more than one occasion reneged on a deal with her. He also leads a fleet of 52 ships, a lot of which are transports meant for smuggling. His flagship is The Flight of Fancy, originally a large pleasure cruise spaceship.

Scarlet’s Corsairs: Led by Captain Scarlet, a cunning no-nonsense griffoness who leads by example and runs a tight ship. The Corsairs are a fearsome, but not cutthroat group that keep their word to the letter and no more. Scarlet stems from the Stella sector where griffons are more honor bound, and it is rumored she has an inner circle of all female crew on her flagship, The Stiletto, the largest warship in the sector. They have been the most successful pirate group, and the largest since the scattering of the Redbeards, who heavily favored following the best loot: Corporate vessels. Corsairs often ransom corporate employees, and if paid return them peacefully, but otherwise have no issue with killing those who stand in their way. They rarely involve themselves with the colonies and occasionally war with the resistance who tend to have second rate loot, and they have a mixed relationship with the other pirate lords. Scarlet has a soft spot for Song Glider and trades mostly with the Buccaneers, and absolutely loathes Straight Shooter, but has occasionally done business with the him when she has absolutely had to. Currently the Corsairs are the largest pirate fleet with well over 150 ships, and have now come under Minetech’s radar as the biggest threat in the Austellus and Limbus sectors aside from the resistance.

Traitors: Nicknamed “The Traitors”, this ex-corporate special forces group turned mercenary were originally under Mantel Security Enterprises, until they took over the transport they were supposed to defend and sold the cargo. Now, they go by different aliases and different company or group names, and they rotate their “face” of the company so they are hard to recognize. One thing is certain, they always pose as a mercenary firm for security, they target cargo or VIP transport, and they steal the ship, the cargo and either ransom employees, or airlock them. They are regarded as a pirate group and typically hang out at MI6, or deeper into civilization on Kepler, but tend to disappear for a while somewhere in the Limbus sector while slowly selling off their stolen cargo anywhere they can. MI6 is their biggest buyer. Due to their turncoat practices and dishonorable ways, literally no one likes them, and no one knows much about them besides hearing about their next victim.

Resistance

The Colonial Resistance has a number of different factions, some are peaceful, others a ragtag guerrilla army of freedom fighters, and yet some who are downright terrorists or religious fanatics. As a whole, they are a chaotic group with a disorganized goal of simply defeating Corporatocracy. How to do that is a matter of constant debate among members. The Resistance extends from the remote colonies all the way to Kepler, and they have hideouts, fortified bases and safehouses all over Limbus and Austellus. They usually show up on the news every other day for some violent act, whether they actually committed the act or not. The Resistance factions are:

Separatists: Separatists are mostly peaceful colonists or citizens on “free” planets that just want to be left alone and live freely. While most citizens may feel this way, separatists go the extra mile and try to avoid having any identity or hoofprint with which to track by Minetech or the Authority. They deal with credits on chits or unlinked comms, or trade goods. They will avoid leaving any kind of electronic hoofprint. Successful Separatists tend to be good hackers, suave computer users or live in remote areas and do everything locally or by proxy.

Anarchists: Anarchists are those that fight the corporate system, they sabotage factories, rob from Minetech and the Authority or its subsidy companies. Some anarchists choose a non-violent method to irk the system through illegal means, while others believe that the only way to bring down the system is to kill the heads of the company.

Revolutionists: Revolutionists either want the democratic republic to return, or some form of democratic government to replace the current authority. Some revolutionists believe this can be achieved by using the system against itself, by doing what the Authority did and creating a group of companies to overthrow Minetech, and one day the Authority, then rewriting the laws. Others believe that a true revolution can only be achieved by wiping out Minetech and the Authority completely and re-instituting a democracy on the ashes of corporatocracy. Either way, most hold onto this pipe dream of a belief and do what they can to needle Minetech and the Authority either violently or not.

Terrorists: Extreme anarchists who deem any and all corporate employees as acceptable targets. Anarchists have no plan to institute a replacement, whether they believe it is possible to overthrow the current government or not. What these terrorists want is to cause the most harm to corporations, any of its employees, by any method including bio-terrorism, and innocent lives are an acceptable trade.

Paladins: Paladins are a religious sect who have twisted the tenets of God that believe greed is the galaxy’s sin that must be cleansed. Paladins make no differentiation between corporate employees or innocents who are forced to live by credits, they are all part of a sinful system. Paladins will sometimes work with the resistance when it suits them, but are not above killing resistance members during conflicts should their resolve waver. Paladins are few, but each member is heavily equipped and have no fear of dying or sacrificing themselves to their cause.

SS-SP-131N

Name: Space Station Supermax Prison 131N “The Bin”
Type: Space Station
Period: N/A
Gravity: 1 x HW
Hydrosphere: N/A
Atmosphere: Artificial
Biosphere: N/A
Population: 72,573
Demographics: 38% Griffon, 30% Equine, 2% Hippogriff, 20% Zebra, 10% Nocturnal
Resources: None
Exports: Intelligence documents
Imports: Foodstuffs, Base Materials, Criminals

The Bin is a remote supermax prison orbiting a lone dwarf star alongside gas giants and asteroid belts. Its location is secret and it is only visited by a transport once a week at varying specific designated times each visit, to deliver criminals and supplies and to pick up intelligence gathered from inmates. On the exterior, it has one docking bay and is covered in defenses, the interior is filled with tight corridors, small rooms, automated defenses and security doors. The Bin is commanded by an elite security firm from the homeworld who’s loyalty cannot be compromised. Every member of the security firm has accommodations befit of a CEO, and does several month stints at a time, in rotation. Anything coming in and going out of the prison is strictly controlled and inspected, as are the on-goings of every prisoner. Inmates wear metal shoes that can be activated to secure them magnetically to the floor. Failing that, gravity can be adjusted per floor to unbearable levels to further prevent inmates from acting out. Thousands of anti-magic emitters set into the floors prevent all spells, and every unicorn wears an inhibitor ring (or arrives to the prison already de-horned). Inmates are some of the worst criminals of the galaxy according to the Authority: Resistance and pirate members, fraudsters, loan defaulters, corporate spies, and the like. So far, no one has escaped from The Bin, though there are rumors as to its location floating around among resistance and pirate members.

Restricted Space

A corner of the Limbus sector has been mapped and surveyed during the initial scouting attempts, but all data has been redacted from navigation systems, which also actively prevents one from setting a course there or entering data into the navigation system in that location. However, it is possible to turn off the navigation system, or hack into it for the particularly skillful, and go there. Many boast they’ve explored the restricted zone over drinks in dark bars on MI6, claiming there is a utopian planet the Authority controls with the elite of the elite living in sinful excess. Others claim there’s simply more prisons, experimental research bases, or some anomaly that destroys ships when approached too close. Some of the religious claim it is where God or Deanne are, sealed away or sleeping. In truth, the desolate planet Deanne sent the Hive to is there, and those who discover its secret location never come back to make the claim.

The Hive are a sentient race that arrived through the void portal along with a number of other creatures and have survived two genocide attempts: The first when the equine races hunted down and exterminated all the void creatures when they closed the void portals, the second when the Hive was rediscovered in a remote land centuries later when a queen had grew an army. Deanne herself mass teleported their entire race off of their world, using a random destination in the night sky. Luckily for the Hive, Deanne miscalculated that the Hive required the same things to survive as an equine would. The world they ended up teleported to was hospitable to them, but food was scarce. Thousands of years of cannibalism, survival and evolving to adapt to this new planet, the Hive was nothing like they were before when the first explorers landed on the planet. With the means to explore the galaxy, and a map to every colonized planet, the current queen started a new conquest of slow revenge, infiltrating her drones into nearly every corner of the galaxy.

The Hive is reminiscent of other Hymenoptera in how they are structured, they have a queen who breeds different kinds of offspring. In this case, drones, sentinels and other queens. Drones are used to infiltrate and collect intelligence, they have a racial magical ability to transform their body and create an illusion to resemble whatever they want roughly the size and shape they are. They have some magical abilities as well, and they have access to akyromancy (void) spells. They have a head, thorax and abdomen, 6 legs, segmented eyes, mandibles and a chitinous exterior. Drones and queens have 2 pairs of wings made of their exoskeleton that allow them to fly. Sentinels are large beetle-like creatures without wings, thicker and harder chitin, incredibly strong and their front legs contain large claws. They are unable to use magical abilities and are far less intelligent than drones or queens, but can perform heavy labor and serve as excellent guards to their colony. Queens resemble drones but are the size of sentinels with a large abdomen. Their role is to lay offspring, but also serve to direct the colony as they see fit. All of her offspring have a natural instinct to serve her, and the queen can link her mind to a single drone and act through them. The queen also has magical abilities similar to that of a drone, though she cannot hide herself as easily being of a larger size. Her magic is far stronger than that of a drone. Young queens who have not left the colony of a ruling queen are unable to create offspring, when they are far enough away, the link to the reigning queen fades and she may start producing offspring. All Hive members have redundant organs for increased survive-ability and as a genetic leftover that wasn’t expressed when their role was chosen during their egg stage.

The Hive do not breathe, are resistant to low and high pressure (but still susceptible to extreme or no pressure), are resistant to extreme cold, but vulnerable to fire. They are invertebrates with yellow/green colored haemolymph. They do not eat food, but drain the life essence from their prey in as a spell-like ability. Prey requires being within inches and mostly immobile in order to feed off of. Feeding need not kill the prey in this process but the prey can die if fed off of too much, and any amount of feeding makes the prey feel weak for a time.

While drones and queens are intelligent and can learn languages and skills, their hive-mind nature limits all creativity as there is no individualism. Sentinels have intelligent barely above a common animal, they understand language and can speak simple sentences, and can barely think for themselves due to their service to the queen. Queens and to a lesser extent drones have been known to rebel against a reigning queen. With enough time and distance, a rogue queen or drone may no longer feel the influence of the hive and start to become an individual, and reintroduction into the hive would be easy, or resistance difficult. Generally, the longer the rogue drone or queen is away, the easier it is to resist being reintroduced into the hive. The current queen does not tolerate rogues and drains any that are found.

Hive culture is extremely monarch-centric, as drones have nothing but praise for their queen, and are instructed not to trust any other race. When drones and sentinels are young they are effectively brainwashed, and taught what they need to know for their mission, but are adept at posing as other races and learn quickly. A drone can mimic any voice, transform into any other race or creature their size, including those without wings and fewer legs than they do. They are fantastic pretenders and like to stick to the outliers of social groups when incognito, and spend even years living a fake live, learning and growing, while secretly feeding off of whatever living creature they can to get by. Drones will live this life until they’ve either learned what they need to know, or are recalled back to the hive to share their information. Drones will often develop a relationship with another race and feed from them while they are asleep to survive, then one day disappear on their partner. A drone also knows that they are unable to disguise their blood while incognito, and will go to great lengths to not be injured, or hide their injuries at all costs.

The Hive view the other races as the enemy, as food, and with contempt, but most drones are not sure why. Sometimes drones kept in the field for too long will begin to question and develop individuality and will need to be re-educated as to the prejudices their queen still holds for other races. Also, the Hive will go to great lengths to keep their existence secret, and when other races do discover one of the Hive, they are killed or brought in for food before their claims of “aliens” are taken seriously.

Currently there are hundreds of millions of the Hive, half of which living among the populace, and several thousand that have gone rogue. Their homeworld still is home to around 1/3 of the Hive, and is still hidden in the Limbus sector.

I think this would be difficult and a lofty thing to create, especially when campaigns really should be hand tailored and often never survive initial contact with players, but I feel as though it would be a great resource just to get ideas for GMs since this system and setting is brand new.

Campaigns are commonly separated into modules following a theme of some sort and I’ve noticed from the modules I’ve played that they revolve around types of objectives like: Find (and maybe eliminate) a target, accomplish specific task, get from point a to point b, explore region, etc. Some of the most fun I’ve had was exploring in Kingmaker, and some of my least favorite was crossing the crown of the world in Jade Regent. Mixing these up or even combining these objectives in a module makes things interesting. But, there needs to be something that connects these modules together, and the more interconnected the modules around player actions, the better. What you need is a story and an overarching theme for the entire campaign, I’ll give you a good example.

Avatar: The Last Airbender, Dishonored and Mass Effect 2. Not 3. 2.

The entire point of the campaign in ATLA was told to the viewer very early, the fire nation/firelord has to be stopped. Aang is the avatar but wasn’t taught how to bend the other elements, so the 3 chapters are based around him learning these elements. The first is them having to cross the entire world to the south pole, where Aang is rediscovering what’s changed in 100 years. They have a destination to get to, but they’re also exploring, they’re also escaping Zuko and the fire nation. Chapters 2 and 3 are fairly similar in this regard, so I would suggest mixing it up unless the point of the entire campaign is exploration. I would also suggest not making the entire campaign around one character, as it makes for a good tv show but not so much for a rpg with several players (Apologies to my wife who wants to be a background character). The point is that there is an ultimate goal here that the characters are pushing towards for the entire story, this drives the story and gives the players purpose and once they reach it they feel as though they accomplished something great. So to start, just like writing a book, you gotta come up with the ending first. What is the whole point to the campaign?

To help GMs with this, several layers of randomized table rolls could generate possible story lines that fit with the setting. This could be anywhere between stopping a natural/unnatural event, defeat the BBEG or BBECorporation, strike it rich as mercenaries and more. Once we have that, set up a timeline, separated by modules. Come up with what steps need to happen or can happen for the players to get from their starting point to their goal: The objective of that module. Put in events that aren’t related to the players in there, and some that are player dependent. Keep in mind that nothing is linear and there’s multiple solutions to every problem, as your players will have different play styles, and a lot of what you’re planning might never happen because that NPC accidentally got killed, or a mission was failed. Plan for what happens if the players fail a task, set that up as a new potential timeline for the following modules. Insert player background NPCs as much as possible, and have earlier module outcomes come back up in future modules as much as possible. Have twists and turns in your campaign to catch your players off-guard, and always remember that coincidences should get your players into trouble and never out if it.

A good example of this is in Mass Effect and Dishonored. In Mass Effect, you could miss entire sections of the game because you let the best space bro Garrus die. All 3 games are full of your prior actions coming back to either haunt you, or help you, giving you tons of replayability but also a sense that the choices you made matter (Ignore Mass Effect 3 ending). Dishonored had a little bit of the same of this, *how* you played determined the outcome for future missions. If you ghosted and were a pacifist, the later stages of the game had less environmental problems and less enemies. Since it was a computer game, its less fluid than an RPG, so you cannot have examples of the story continuing if the player failed a task. But imagine you have a task to kill the 2 brothers and one gets away, that definitely has to come up later in the campaign. Say the players are tasked with killing someone but instead let them go free once they hear their story. That should come back up later. Say a VIP is killed under their watch, that should change the end result of the campaign if possible. Never reset for failure at any step, adjust the story. What happens and how the players made it happen are both important. All this being said, have multiple outcomes for the endings to your modules, and choose a theme to it, fill it with missions and events. Have encounters, have chases, have random exploration, have item aquisitions, just mix it up. Use whatever makes sense.

Where the campaign generator could help is to set up encounters and randomized events for you, generic enough that you could simply insert your NPCs into it, or put a spin on it that’s relevant to your campaign. These would be tailored to your final goal, and that’s why this generator would need to be complex and it would still need some input from the GM to tie it all together. Even if GMs wanted to just make up some random events or encounters with a certain theme to add into their module as side quests, this would be perfect for that.

Here’s an example: The Campaign is about stopping a particular BBEG from obtaining a piece of tech that would make them unstoppable. In a previous module, the players find out about this new piece of tech, they encounter a dude working for BBEG who is trying to find the tech and find out the tech designer who has the plans. In this module, they get a lead, the tech designer has a brother who might know where he is. The first stage of the module is them exploring to find this brother, it might have some random encounters or encounters with the BBEG’s henchdudes, but they manage to find the brother quickly, so they find him before the bad guys do. But, brother isn’t coming willingly, the second part of the modules involves a foot chase, if the players can’t obtain him quickly enough, it turns into a vehicle chase where the bad guys also start the chase. This can go all sorts of ways, they get him and find the location of the tech designer, they lose him to the bad guys and it becomes a rescue mission, the brother escapes and they have to explore for him again or find alternatives to finding the designer, or the brother dies and they’re forced to find more clues. Say they eventually obtain the brother and mistreat him, well that’s not gonna do well with the tech designer in later modules, but if they treat the brother well, convince him that they just want to protect the tech designer from the bad guys, maybe he leads them to the designer willingly and the designer regards the players far more favorably, maybe even giving the players the designs for the new tech. From there, do they kill the designer and keep the plans? Do they protect the designer and help him disappear? Do they use the designs against the BBEG to put an end to it by killing him? Do they destroy the design plans? There’s multiple solutions here, where the following module can be about obtaining the designs for the tech, and all sorts of different encounters associated with it. It’s a pretty simple example that I hastily came up with while at work, but you get the idea. The generator might have randomly come up with the module being “Find a target to provides information” and the events that it came up with were “exploration” and “chase encounter”. It was up to the GM to tie these together. Repeating this process a few more times to come up with multiple ways of finding the tech designer would be highly recommended. For instance, perhaps a skill hacker could find the whereabouts of the tech designer without bothering to find the brother, at which point the bad guys automatically captured the brother and had leverage over the designer. Then once the players find the designer, he won’t cooperate until his brother is freed. Tie the events together, have lots of things happening without the players that are caused by the players they might not find out about, and make sure it’s complex and interconnected.

Talents, like Pathfinder/3rd Ed. Feats, are special abilities or characteristics to define your character. In SFRPG you get 2 per level and you can create your own Unique Talent at 1st level. The Unique Talent idea is from 13th Age and I find is a great idea, it allows the player to better come up with their character idea, except in this, it’s not limited to non-combat! A player can also wait to come up with their Unique Talent until later. Basically, think of something non-game breaking that your character can do, determine its limits, how often they can do this, get GM approval, and there you go! Bonus points if it’s tied to your background in some way.

Talents have prerequisites based on your ability scores, your skill ranks, your race, and other talents. I try to avoid flat bonuses when coming up with talents, but some are unavoidable. Some remove penalties, some allow for rerolls or roll 2 and take the better result. There are also teamwork talents where if two characters have the talent they both gain the benefit. We opted to have fun names like “Friends in Low Places” over generic names like some other systems have. Once again we tried to think of every possible role a player might want for their character and built talents around that concept. Also, we made several talent chains around weapon groups, ability scores and race.

I was a fan of dealing minimum damage on misses in 13th Age, to keep combat progressing to conclusion and to make players feel that a miss wasn’t a total loss, so these were included in weapon group talents. We wanted to avoid giving players too many stacking flat bonuses to hit and damage, so we looked for situations where characters could do things with their weapon that wasn’t ordinary, like burst firing with semi-auto pistols and revolvers, dual-wielding pistols, firing while moving without penalties, getting precision damage while using aim, getting attacks of opportunity where otherwise you wouldn’t, dealing a minimum damage to everyone in the path of your shotgun, firing into melee and ignoring cover bonuses, and more. These are the combat talents.

For racial abilities, not every specimen of a race is the same. Some unicorn don’t start with 2 schools, but only start with 1 at a higher caster level. Zebra and Nocturnals know what it’s like not to belong with other races and form better relationships with their own kind and each other. Some griffon talons are designed for climbing, others can swim easier, and some make no noise when flying. Alternate racial traits and bonus racial traits, basically, so in this system, racial talents.

Ability score talents mostly allow for rerolls of saves and trade-offs to the stats that ability scores gives you, and on occasion an ability you can use once per day. Ability talents.

The majority of talents based off of skills allow for fun out of combat situations that improve your skill, but not by a flat rate. For instance, as a computer hacker of some skill and a bit of conversation, you have a hacker group that you can send tasks to, freeing you up to do other things while the hack is happening. There’s restrictions like it only uses your flat rank for the roll, and you must provide a way for your team to access what you’re trying to hack (it has to be online, as your team might be elsewhere in the galaxy). This talent could also be used so you are free to hack something else simultaneously. This talent acts like a far better hacking tool that scales with your level, and gives you a roleplaying quirk to your character. The plan is to have talent chains for all skills that you can take as you progress in levels. Skill talents.

Finally, there will be generic talents that don’t fall into any category, which will likely be the flat bonus types.

We’ve got a bunch of ideas for talents, but this section of the rulebook needs a lot of work, the next step is coming up with talents for level 1-5 and balancing them with playtesting. Besides possibly spells, talents is going to be a lot of creative thinking, as it needs to fulfill the gap that removing character classes has left behind, and allow for players to design any kind of character they want in a balanced way.

Just wanted to talk a little about the corporate culture and the influences from other franchises that went into SFRPG. Since the fall of the republic and the 25 years after, the government has shifted from a democratic republic to a corporate oligarchy led by 7 individuals. The reason it is called a corporatocracy is due to how this group of 7 individuals have then set up how sectors and “government” is run.

First, there are no elections, term limits or any such thing. The corporation who owns the most resources/businesses/shares/markets of a sector become the ones in charge, so if that company is part of a group, or it’s a single CEO, they now control it. Since the Authority comprises the 7 biggest companies, they likely hold something in the high 90’s for total control of their sectors. If two companies are very close to the same percentage, control of the sector might change daily.

Now, the Authority still technically controls everything, they created the system and are the most powerful entity in the galaxy. Once you have power in a sector, there are rules you still cannot change. If you’re a company, no matter how small, you’re still allotted some rights. This is why a lot of mercenaries group together to create companies. With power of majority however, you can get away with a lot more. It’s easier to obtain ownership, rights to things, create monopolies, etc. Basically, a lot of checks and balances we have today (and don’t) are removed once you get into a position of power.

This corporate culture also allows for espionage and sabotage, and outright corporate warfare. Every corporation acts as a country in of itself in this regard. There are more rules to how to conduct business than there are to limiting espionage and sabotage. There is no time of peace, there is only wartime and spying/stealing/sabotaging one another.

Universal rights are a thing of the past, rights are afforded only to employees, more right being afforded to richer companies. Most citizens are slaves to debt, inherited from their parents or kin or built up just from living, and die never getting out of it. There are always promises to get out of debt through gambling, lotteries, contests and running man/hunger games televised competitions, with no way to actually win.

Prices for things are overblown to ensure you’re in constant debt, there is no socialist services to pay for things, not even basic services like fire/ambulance/police on most worlds. Security is for corporate employees, not for jobless citizens. Prices are also cheaper for employees buying from their own company, as it’s a way to keep money within the company.

Without working for a powerful company, it is next to impossible to survive.

There will always be those who resist, though. Who escape and form their own small communities ruled however they want, whether they be pirates or colonials or hermits. But it’s just a matter of time before they’re discovered and are either captured or have to move again. For most though, the cost of a ticket off planet when you’re so deep in debt means you’re stuck where you are and under constant monitoring.

And monitoring they do. The megacorporations also control the media and always have a believable spin on things to favor the megacorp or to hide the truth of what they’ve done. They may own all 20 media outlets, all spinning different kinds of lies and aren’t above silencing those who know the truth permanently. The internet and banking transactions are heavily monitored as well, and a lot of under the table work is done via unlinked throwaway comms and credit chits that leave no records.

The future is obviously a dystopian one where greed, money and corporations won. StarFire drew heavily from games like Syndicate Wars, its latest iteration being simply Syndicate. Syndicate especially showed life of a corporate agent at the top of the chain, speaking directly to the CEO and going on missions to steal corporate secrets or killing enemy corporate VIPs.

The Big Brother type of monitoring of citizens is very reminiscent of the book 1984, or the movie Equilibrium. The latter had agents that went around destroying culture that might induce free thinking.

• 

• 

A lot of this kind of culture is in the central systems where the Authority has complete control over everything. Everyone regards the homeworld as a complete shit-hole that has to import vast quantities of everything just to sustain itself. The populace being divided between the slums near the surface and the wealthy living in skyscrapers. You see this in Syndicate as well, where those who are “unchipped” basically live in the sewer-like early 2000’s past where everything is run down and abandoned.

This topic is nothing new in writing, movies and games and there’s a lot more I’m not referencing and haven’t yet seen or read. These are just some of the more direct inspirations behind the setting.

The Austellus Sector lies near the outer rim of colonized space and is commonly referred to alongside the Limbus sector as “The Fringe”. It is controlled by its majority owner Minetech by a large lead, a company formed very shortly after the Authority came into power in the central sectors. Minetech quickly rose to power and majority in the sector some 25 years ago, mostly due to the Authority ignoring it, as a Mining company that sold to the Authority, but then branched out into several dozen subsidiary companies that sell pretty much everything. The Austellus Sector is a bit of a wild west, with several planets verbally claiming they’re free of Minetech control, space stations led by criminal overlords who give Minetech bribes to stay out of their business, and with piracy rampant near the border to the Limbus sector. It was one of the last sectors to undergo terraforming, so populations outside of its capitol world Kepler tend to be low. Yet, it is a haven for mercenaries and trades work, criminals and pirates, as well as freedom fighters, since it is outside the direct control of the Authority.

The sector consists of 16 solar systems with 23 colonized planets and space stations. Unlike the central sectors, it is still full of uncharted areas, resources to mine, and places to build or hide. This sector is primarily where campaigns would start, as the diversity of planets and factions and the proximity to the unknown allows for lots of adventure.

Factions

Authority: Comprised of the leading companies: Bank of Equus, Iron Hoof Armaments, United Stella Ship Manufacturing, Last Whisper Communications, Event Horizon Applied Sciences, Rimor Mass Mining, and Galactic Textiles. The Authority hired a private army and organized a quick and bloody coup of the republic. A mass exodus followed and hundreds of thousands of migrants found themselves on new worlds with only what they could escape with. In the decades since, they’ve wrestled complete control of the central sectors through trade or violence and established themselves at the top of the new interstellar corporatocracy.
The Authority takes commerce very seriously and protect their assets vehemently, if you can manage to work for them, they pay ludicrously. While the Authority is not the majority owner of the sector, its presence is still felt everywhere. Agents and spies keep an eye on everything and everyone, and Minetech would never dare stop them from doing what they want unless it was a direct attack on them. In the Austellus Sector, the freedom to speak ill of the Authority is far more common, as listening devices still aren’t everywhere. Yet, the news will occasionally report mass murders, entire buildings of citizens simply disappearing, or mysterious unmarked ships passing through, that are quickly blamed on the Authority.

Minetech: Originally a mining company in what used to be the outer reaches of the galaxy, Minetech became the main importer of raw materials to the Authority and became extremely wealthy. Now Minetech has their hooves and talons in almost everything from medical research to weapons manufacturing to food processing. Launching them into power of majority in the Austellus and Limbus sectors. Many work for Minetech as they pay very well and provide a security no other companies can, and for years Minetech has been petitioning to be the seventh corporation to be included into the Authority. Minetech routinely hires mercenaries as security, engages in corporate espionage and sabotage against their rivals, and changes what laws they can for their benefit, or skirts around the Authority’s laws.

Red Horizon: Minetech’s biggest competitor, Red Horizon mainly deals in renewable energies, medical research, mining and personal protective equipment. Red Horizon has begun expanding into Limbus sector, where Minetech has yet to establish, hoping to get a foot-hold on the market before Minetech can. They engage in espionage and sabotage with Minetech where they can get away with it, using mercenaries primarily. But, Red Horizon likes to hire on employees for everything else.

Colonial Resistance: An armed volunteer group of fringe colonials to combat piracy and Minetech’s laws, the Colonial Resistance is seen as heroes to some, terrorists to others. Some of its members focus on helping the colonies and rallying support to fight against corporatocracy, while other members are more concerned with bombing Minetech’s facilities and offices. The Authority and Minetech have labelled the group as a terrorist faction and actively hunts its members down, often times placing bounties for their capture, dead or alive. One sub group of the colonial resistance that even other resistance members label terrorists are the Paladins. A fanatical religious group that still believe in God, and that only God’s law applies to them. Anyone else, including most resistance members, are viewed as sinners and need to be “cleansed”, which often involves murder. They are the group responsible for biochemical terrorist attacks in recent history.

Mercenaries: Viewed as law enforcement or contract killers depending on where you go, mercenaries are plentiful throughout the galaxy as there will always be need for those trained to kill for money. Very few mercenaries work alone, instead banding together to form their own small companies, and thus obtaining more rights and security.

Pirates: Predominantly in the fringe, pirates like to prey on other mercenary groups and the colonies. They will take anything and everything, including children, by force. Some of their members were captured and raised as pirates, a better fate than being sold as slaves or worse. Occasionally, pirates will be bold enough to raid Minetech’s transport vessels, which will elicit a forceful response, but pirates seem to have an endless number and an ever changing rotation of lords ready to lead ruthless attacks.

Planet: Kepler

Name: Kepler Prime
Type: Medium Arable
Period: 0.91 x HW Years
Gravity: 0.94 x HW
Hydrosphere: 19% Water, 5% Ice
Atmosphere: Breathable
Biosphere: Forests, Plains, Desert, Mountains.
Population: 656,145,000
Demographics: 53.5% Griffon, 40% Equine, 6% Hippogriff (Traces of Zebra, Nocturnal)
Resources: Varied
Exports: Varied
Imports: Varied

Kepler is the capitol of the Austellus sector and is one of the oldest and most populated planets this far from the homeworld. A major center of trade, manufacturing and processing for Minetech, the sector’s headquarters is located here. Mercenary guilds flock to Kepler to establish a name for themselves as Minetech prefers to hire bounty hunters and law enforcement outside the company, where rates are cheaper. Trades can also find easy employment as mining ships return to Kepler to process raw materials to either use for manufacturing or to transport back to the central systems to sell to the Authority. Kepler mostly comprises of urban and suburban areas, but small towns and remote rural areas do exist. Many comment that Kepler is like the homeworld before it was stripped of all resources and natural beauty.

Planet: Glaciers

Name: Montes “Glaciers” Glacies
Type: Large Tundra
Period: 1.7 x HW Years
Gravity: 1.15 x HW
Hydrosphere: 17% Water, 69.3% Ice.
Atmosphere: Breathable
Biosphere: Conifer Forests, Plains, Tundra, Mountains.
Population: 2,320,000
Demographics: 48% Griffon, 40% Equine, 12% Hippogriff
Resources: Water, Wildlife, Wood
Exports: Meat, Pelts, Bonecraft, Water, Wood, Alcohol
Imports: Fuel, Metal, Alcohol, Base Materials

Glaciers has long days, and is frozen over for most of its year. During the summer, the equator warms up enough to melt the ice, and life resembles a little of back in the countryside of the homeworld many years ago. In the infancy of the terraforming project, this planet was chosen as a prime candidate as its atmosphere and soil could already support life. The planet was seeded and left to grow on its own over several decades before the first settlers landed. Now, Glaciers is favored by Griffon for its hunting, and the land can be farmed provided crops can be harvested after a few short months. It is also a popular destination for winter resorts and hunting lodges, and you can find a bar nearly anywhere. Glaciers is also a “free” planet, holding its own government and local police force despite being under the jurisdiction of Minetech, due to Minetech’s diminished presence on planet. As a result, local and fledgeling companies like Red Horizon thrive, and universities are plentiful. During the winter the planet doesn’t shut down, but it certainly slows down, as many will travel to another planet until spring arrives to Glaciers again. Those who stay behind make due, and it is always recommended to stock up on food, supplies and alcohol to ride out the winter.

Planet: Maré

Name: Maré Arénosum “The Sea of Sand”
Type: Small Desert
Period: 0.78 x HW Years
Gravity: 0.92 x HW
Hydrosphere: 0.01% Water
Atmosphere: Thin breathable
Biosphere: None
Population: 250,000 (95% Zebran, 3% Griffon, 2% Equine)
Resources: Rich in Metals, Silicates, Minerals, Mineral Crystal
Exports: Metal, Worm Oil, Fabrics, Pottery
Imports: Water, Perishables, Basic materials

Description: Maré was deemed uninhabitable by scouting parties, despite being a planet selected for automated terraforming procedures decades before, making it a prime location to avoid Authoritarian rule. Zebra settlers landed and quickly adapted to the extreme heat and biting winds on the surface, and later discovered the precious stones and metal below. Native to the planet are enormous worm-like lithovores that feed off of minerals below the surface. The Zebra have perfected the art of hunting these creatures when they breach the surface for their oil producing glands, undigested metals, crystallized minerals, and extremely durable shell. The hunt is heavily controlled so as to not render these worms extinct, as the oil has the highest viscosity rate in the galaxy and is widely used in manufacturing. Maré’s economy relies on the income generated from oil export to survive. Marian culture is respectful, strict, and divided by caste. Zebra are a close community and will treat foreigners with respect, so long as they do not harm the community. Foreigners may find their laws barbaric one way and lax in others. For instance, a common punishment for stealing is branding or death, while drug usage is openly tolerated, so long as it does not harm the community. Officially, Maré is in the Austellus sector which is under Minetech control, but Maré governs itself and only financially deals with Minetech because it must. Minetech has not pressed Maré to abide by their laws as they make obscene profits as the prime shipping contractor of Maré’s oil.

Zebras on Maré practice a caste system with distinct robe colors and patterns to differentiate between them. Each caste has certain privileges and respects bestowed upon the member, and the laws around the possession of caste robes are strict. Some of the more important castes are:

Helldivers: The military caste, their robes are specifically designed to drape over even heavy armor. They are a striking red with yellow accents. Embroidery on the robe denote rank and which branch of the military the owner belongs to, alongside scenes of battle.

Peacekeepers: The law enforcement caste, their robes are a dark blue with gold accents and bear the shield and spear crest of the Peacekeepers. Embroidery denotes the rank of the individual. A special robe of darker blue and silver accents mark the Commissar, the leader of the Peacekeepers.

Hunters: The worm hunting caste, their robe mimics the color and pattern of sand, giving them partial camouflage. Black embroidered worms, spears and rifles accentuate its borders.

Diggers: The worm digging caste, their robes are a dark green to match the innards of worms. Black embroidery show worms and drilling tools along its borders.

Merchants: The default robe for all shopkeepers, foreigners and those not belonging to any other caste. These robes are a simple brown and no embroidery to speak of.

Producers: The caste encompassing metal workers, engineers, smiths, junkers and recyclers. These robes are a dark purple with silver accents denoting the trade they belong to.

Beekeepers: The beekeeper and garden tender caste, these robes are bright yellow with black accents to match the look of bees. The zebra of Maré are passionate about their honey and most treats are made with it.

Sandballers: The athlete caste, these robes are sand colored but hold the city’s crest alongside an emblem representing the team the owner belongs to. Robes are not allowed during play however, as they can distract and also help shield the player from the sun.

Companions: The companion caste, these robes are a light pink with white embroidery and trim. Embroidery and trim for companions robes are complex and usually based upon city with hidden meanings that only those who frequent the Companion Hall would know.

Healers: The medical and faith based caste, these robes are white with red embroidery and accents. Certain symbols represent position in the medical field or of faith.

Scholars: The government and research based caste, these robes are grey with dark grey accents. If symbols are present, they represent position of government the owner holds.

Branded: The criminal caste, though rare, some branded are still allowed in society. These robes are jet black, symbols are in red embroidery representing all crimes committed and are attached to shackles the owner must wear at all times.

Sandball is a Marian sport that is widely popular to Zebra and has a small dedicated following on other planets too. The field comprises a circular domed pit dug into the sand. Two pairs of metal posts on either side of the pit mark goalposts. Pits can be anywhere from 50 to 100 feet in diameter, and the number of players in the pit can be anywhere from 3 to 8 per team. Reserves of players are usually double to triple that of the players in the pit. Each team is allowed one goaltender and one captain. The rest of the members can be placed either on offense or defense. Once placed, they must remain in that role until a goal is scored, then they may change positions. Goaltenders and Captains can also be swapped at this time, as well as current players can be swapped out for reserves. Captains are allowed to be both offense and defense during the game. Goaltenders may not leave their goals. Defense must stay on the half of the pit with their goal. Offense must stay on the half of the pit with the opponent’s goal. Games are played without robes and in the heat of the day, usually with very little or no clothing, and there are both stallion and mare leagues. A tough ball about a foot in diameter made of softened wormhide is used. Players are allowed to use any part of their body to get the ball between the goalposts of the opposing team, but they may not hold onto the ball, otherwise they incur a penalty. Kicking and Biting other players incurs a penalty, but bodychecking and tripping is allowed. Penalties involve losing your Captain or the offending player for several minutes of play or until a goal is scored. Should the ball be hit out of the pit, it is returned to the center and lowest point of the pit. In the event of a tie, the game goes into overtime and the win goes to the next team to score a goal. Goalies are removed from play during overtime. Sandball leagues last several months and are only once per year. Maré’s 6 cities also host smaller leagues to determine their best team of each gender to put towards the main Sandball league. The city who’s team wins gets prestige and bragging rights, and a large sum of credits. It is customary for the proceeds to go towards a celebration, usually adorning the city in flower petals, free honeyed treats and free mead for the adults. A city can win both the stallion’s and mare’s league in the same year.

SS36-007

Name: Space Station 36-007 “MI6”
Type: Space Station
Period: N/A
Gravity: 1.0 x Equus
Hydrosphere: N/A
Biosphere: N/A
Population: 1250 (Usually ~4,500 customers or temporary workers)
Resources: Fuel, Casinos, Merc Headquarters, Brothels
Exports: Services, Fuel, Black Market items, Armaments
Imports: Alcohol, Armaments, Foodstuffs, Vehicle parts, Base materials

Description: At one time, Space Station 36-007 was simply a refuel and resupply station, but it’s name wasn’t lost upon those who work there. As time passed, it became a hub for mercenaries, bounty hunters, prostitutes, and gamblers, and became known by it’s nickname “MI6”. While ships still stop by for minor repairs and fuel, most of those who stop by come to make contact with a mercenary group, take a chance at making some riches at a roulette table, or stay a night at one of the local brothels between jobs. The few MineTech guards who work there are all in the pockets of the casino owners, and MineTech hardly cares enough to verify the reports they receive. For those with an affinity for the less than legal, SS36-007 is a welcome sight.