Carta Galaxia Development Update #21
Not much to report book-wise this week. I’ve got a lot of writing done, but I want to keep it as a surprise. I hope to have it ready to unveil next week. It’s a lot of fun.
Playtest Report
This past weekend I got to playtest the Campaign Design rules (that I posted last update) with some friends of mine to start up a campaign. I’m happy it worked so well, the scenario came together quite organically, with everyone at the table contributing to it. And it’s definitely a scenario that I wouldn’t have come up with on my own, so I’m super interested to see where it’s going.
Scenario:
It is an age of galactic peace, prosperity, and advancement. The race is on to be the first faction to develop trans-galactic travel.
Aesthetic:
Gold and chrome. Heavy ornamentation, artistic decorations, luxurious fabrics, tall spires, shining surfaces, synthetic chimes.
Factions:
– Arkology: populist, enthusiastic, crowd-funded engineering initiative.
– The Institute: government agency, regulates dangerous technology.
– Avrys Industries: bombastic megacorporation, owns entire worlds.
– Raven’s Guild: Crime syndicate, organised, loyal, plays all sides.
Characters:
– Information Broker (Advanced Augmented Psychic)
– Retired Engineer (Rustic Industrial Explorer)
– Drug Dealer (Crowded Academic Scoundrel)
I’m interested to see if things go more intrigue-based or more scientific-experiment (possibly branching into exploration?)
Community Question
If you folks have a bit of spare time, I’d love to know what combination of Scenario/Aesthetics you’d like to play in. (https://www.dropbox.com/s/r4q0tex0linqshr/Campaign%20Setting.docx?dl=0)
Coolness, will have to check out that link tonight.
I intend to make my first game a Star Trek one 🙂 So definitely Near Future!
Still working on the scenario though
Well I recently read a sci-fi book called Revenger and inadvertently ‘made’ the setting(or very close to it) with your toolbox there.
Scenario: Civilizations are built on the broken remnants of once great empires. The race is on to seize and exploit a rare, impossibly desirable resource.
Aesthetic: Steampunk. Plasma-steam engines and solar-sail frigates. Bronze, glass, gears, and lightning in jars. Clockwork contraptions. Victorian clothing.
As far as I what I would want to play, this is what stands out to me right now.
Scenario: Ancient, unfathomable beings rise from the dark beyond. Diplomats struggle to maintain the brittle peace forged between alien civilizations.Newfound faith draws the broken, the hopeless, and the lost into the fold.
Aesthetic: Gothic.Overly ornate style. Heavy stone cathedral-like architecture, pillars, buttresses. Filigree, scrolls, wrought iron. Abundance of skull motifs, superstitions, and religious trappings.
We got ourselves unknowable beings, religion, and a tense political landscape. All fancied and decorated up.
Nice setting doc. It’s a bit amusing that the more elements you present the more hesitation I have to just pick one. I’m tempted to say that each cultural group has its own aesthetic and that many hub worlds are a chunky slop of several types combined. Too bold, too loud, everyone crowded together because garden worlds are rare and colonies are too small.
Oooo, I could play test this in the next day or so if I only could get the draft hint hint