Post by Elliot Kane on Dec 11, 2007 18:17:37 GMT
The Guardian Imperative - Background History
7000 years in our future. The human race has conquered the stars, with over a hundred planets terraformed to suit human purposes, including Venus and Mars, and over a thousand moons and planetoids mined for resources.
The human race is at last united as one, the old religions dead, and all of the races of Earth now interbred to such an extent that the very concept of distinct races is meaningless. Light polymers and cybernetic technology have rendered the differences between the sexes as near to irrelevant as can be. People are allowed to excel as people, with all prejudices disregarded in the race to the stars.
Humanity is ruled from Earth, the cradle of civilisation, in a loose confederation of planets that each have their own democratic government. 'Politician' has finally been treated like a real job, with candidates selected by a process suited to the rigours of each world. A minimum intelligence is required to work in government, and on some worlds there is also a minimum intelligence required to vote. This process is still controversial, and forms the largest debate currently interesting humanity as a whole.
Starships move between worlds, ferrying goods and people freely through star gates and hyperspace to ensure commerce flows freely. More new colonies are planned all the time, with giant starships sent out to terraform likely worlds.
There are no signs of aliens, which are believed by most to be merely a figment of old Earth fantasy. Earth has inherited the stars which are its birthright, and this is good and right and the way things should be. The future stretches to infinity, and age retardant drugs mean there is a fair chance that much of humanity will see most of it. Ask any citizen - humanity lives now in a golden age.
But ask the doubters and the dreamers and they they may tell you a different story. The UUU (The United Universal Uplink - successor to the World Wide Web) is abuzz with conspiracies in its darkest corners. Tales of elections rigged to bring certain groups or families to power on certain worlds. Tales of journalists who get too close to unpleasant truths vanishing along with those who protest a little too much or just think a little too freely... Tales of a prison planet in the darkest reaches of the universe where experiments are carried out that should never see the light of day...
Welcome to the year 3000 of the New Calendar, where the destiny of man is soon to be decided...
***
The Guardian Imperative will be my new RPG. Game notes follow:
The calendar system is divided into New Calendar (NC) and Old Calendar (OC). As everything that happens is NC, this isn't really relevant, but may be of interest.
UUU Use is indeed a skill, and a UUU Personal Interface - allowing you to link into it from any point - will cost 5 Humanity but give almost infinite access to the greatest database of human knowledge ever assembled. And porn, but that goes without saying ;D
Local laws vary from world to world. There will be a lot of player leeway there for reasons that a careful reader will already have worked out... ;D
Race & religion are gone as a matter of game convenience. There is bound to be inter-world prejudice and a whole host of new religions as humanity seems to need to believe in something. Onvent your own if it matters to you, or ignore the whole subject if you prefer. In context of the game it is unlikely to matter.
More information will follow soon. Ask any questions you may have in this thread for now, please.
7000 years in our future. The human race has conquered the stars, with over a hundred planets terraformed to suit human purposes, including Venus and Mars, and over a thousand moons and planetoids mined for resources.
The human race is at last united as one, the old religions dead, and all of the races of Earth now interbred to such an extent that the very concept of distinct races is meaningless. Light polymers and cybernetic technology have rendered the differences between the sexes as near to irrelevant as can be. People are allowed to excel as people, with all prejudices disregarded in the race to the stars.
Humanity is ruled from Earth, the cradle of civilisation, in a loose confederation of planets that each have their own democratic government. 'Politician' has finally been treated like a real job, with candidates selected by a process suited to the rigours of each world. A minimum intelligence is required to work in government, and on some worlds there is also a minimum intelligence required to vote. This process is still controversial, and forms the largest debate currently interesting humanity as a whole.
Starships move between worlds, ferrying goods and people freely through star gates and hyperspace to ensure commerce flows freely. More new colonies are planned all the time, with giant starships sent out to terraform likely worlds.
There are no signs of aliens, which are believed by most to be merely a figment of old Earth fantasy. Earth has inherited the stars which are its birthright, and this is good and right and the way things should be. The future stretches to infinity, and age retardant drugs mean there is a fair chance that much of humanity will see most of it. Ask any citizen - humanity lives now in a golden age.
But ask the doubters and the dreamers and they they may tell you a different story. The UUU (The United Universal Uplink - successor to the World Wide Web) is abuzz with conspiracies in its darkest corners. Tales of elections rigged to bring certain groups or families to power on certain worlds. Tales of journalists who get too close to unpleasant truths vanishing along with those who protest a little too much or just think a little too freely... Tales of a prison planet in the darkest reaches of the universe where experiments are carried out that should never see the light of day...
Welcome to the year 3000 of the New Calendar, where the destiny of man is soon to be decided...
***
The Guardian Imperative will be my new RPG. Game notes follow:
The calendar system is divided into New Calendar (NC) and Old Calendar (OC). As everything that happens is NC, this isn't really relevant, but may be of interest.
UUU Use is indeed a skill, and a UUU Personal Interface - allowing you to link into it from any point - will cost 5 Humanity but give almost infinite access to the greatest database of human knowledge ever assembled. And porn, but that goes without saying ;D
Local laws vary from world to world. There will be a lot of player leeway there for reasons that a careful reader will already have worked out... ;D
Race & religion are gone as a matter of game convenience. There is bound to be inter-world prejudice and a whole host of new religions as humanity seems to need to believe in something. Onvent your own if it matters to you, or ignore the whole subject if you prefer. In context of the game it is unlikely to matter.
More information will follow soon. Ask any questions you may have in this thread for now, please.