INTRO
Against the backdrop of a tyrannical emperor attempting to hold a crumbling empire together and the dangers of the untamed frontier of space, a small crew of misfits attempt to survive by running whatever missions will allow them to make a living and stay out of the imperial view. They travel in a priceless sentient ship, an artifact from another age that they know little about despite their time on board. In the course of their travels, the crew will find themselves thrust into dangerous situations that have ramifications far beyond their own lives, and their choices will ultimately determine the fate of the frontier systems, the empire, and perhaps humanity itself.
SETTING
Source Material: The setting follows the basic outline described in the Heaven's Reach chapter of Shards of the Exalted Dream (please read the chapter if you plan to play). The empire is cast in a bit more negative light, however, as it is more tyrannical and abusive, especially toward aliens and those not located in the core systems. Material will be liberally borrowed from other systems and settings, and though familiarity with these is not mandatory, feel free to reference them for further information. Alternate info includes, but is not limited to:
Warhammer 40K - Humanity's ancient history, galactic races, the nature of the warp
Aberrant/Trinity - Quantum/Sub-quantum energy, galactic races, psions/psiads, novas (ranging from a template for creating alternative races, to experiments to combat exalts, to naturally occurring novas)
Pertinent Points: Humanity left earth behind long ago, forging a vast empire that spanned the galaxy, based largely on their mastery of technology that manipulated the fundamental building blocks of reality. Essence technology fell into the hands of a few beings, gifted with "exaltations" that lifted them to a higher state of being and allowed them to dominate all other species and craft the empire of man. Arguably the two most important parts of that empire were dedicated space lanes through an alternate dimension that allowed for faster than light travel, and immense supercomputers the size of entire solar system that processed the incomprehensible amounts of data involved in maintaining the technology and interactions of a galactic empire. The stellar intelligences eventually rebelled for unknown reasons, however, and only the power of the exalted was able to defeat them. The Malfean War did irreparable damage to the empire, and entire sectors of space were destabilized, leaving a weakened empire comprised of the core star systems and of the empire, and countless systems in frontier areas the empire could no longer maintain firm control over. In the frontier there is constant danger from numerous fronts: the defeated stellar intelligences pervert entire worlds into strange new forms, marauding warlords use violence to carve out little empires of their own, space lanes collapse or carry daemonic creatures spawned from the warp, the ecology of planets grow wild without imperial maintenance programs, and simple but inexorable killers such as food and medicine shortages, make living on the frontier a constant struggle.
Themes: The setting is a blend of many themes and genres, but there are a few specific themes that are threaded through the campaign as a whole. First, the nature of progress, both in terms of individual growth and as it relates to societies as a whole. Accompanying this is the concept of transhumanism, and what it means to move beyond human limits, both for the individual and society. Second, the campaign will explore the relationship between order and chaos, frequently through the lens of the relationship between authoritarian rule and lawlessness. Third, the balance between individual needs and the needs of the greater society, as well as the relationship between individuals that forms a social unit, will be explored. Finally, the campaign attempts to explore themes of "otherness"; what constitutes an "other", separates it from ones own social unit, and determines how social units relate, especially in the face of aliens and existential threats to all sentient beings.
Setting and Intro
Threading the Gerbil since 1982
