About: Soft SciFi/SciFantasy. Galactic treasure hunt. Space heists. Space smugglers. Bounty hunters. Interstellar war. Feudal stars systems (think Ming/Jabba). Planetary federations (social justice warriors in space). Hyperspace. Ultra dimensional beings.
Inspiration: Star Wars, Star Trek (original), Space 1999, Silent Running, Alien/s, Flash Gordon (80's version), Elite, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy... Oceans 11.
The Harmony are bringing stability and culture to the galaxy one planet at a time. Unfortunately, most species like the galaxy just the way it is... exciting, dangerous, and really wild. The Fringe is the one place left for opportunists, fugitives and other interstellar miscreants (like you).
Galactic Zones
Galaxians occupy a relative small corner of the Milkyway. The part of the known galaxy they inhabit can be split into zones.Harmonous zone: The Harmony passive-aggressively follow a programme of peaceful assimilation. They seek to establish uniformity: 1 language, 1 currency, 1 shared vision for galactic lifeforms. From a position of technical and (assumed) moral authority they are happy to course-correct the advancement of Level 0 civilisations so they might develop into Federation compatible cultures. Whilst not overtly destructive, Federation technology is used to lock non-compliant planets into their own atmosphere, terraform worlds so they adhere to Federations standards, and artificially evolve member species into approved shapes and sizes. Their belligerent application of their ideals has forced many to flee the controlled zone.
Fringe zone: Feudal warlords, survival of the fittest. Ming! Jabba!
Discovery zone: Galaxians have little contact with planets/species in this zone. It's eerily quiet out there. A scant few expeditions return. Those that do... don't speak about it.
Planet classification
Planets are classified by their primary use and physical properties.Usage: Homeworld (developed, heavily populated), Outpost (military, mining, terraforming), Dead world, Ruined world, Artificial satellite (space station)
Physical properties: Gravity (size), Temperature (distance from, type of star), Atmosphere, Things of interest: Geological, Zoological, Cultural, Locations.
Scientific religions
Like the theological wars before them, scientific division is a source of conflict among galaxians.Multiversal escapists: Our universe is one of many, doomed to expire. Escapists believe life can simply hop across to parallel, less precarious, universe. These guys invented hyperspace travel. Many fear their experiments will tear a catastrophic hole in space-time. Escapists are directly at odds with...
Bubble preservationists: Believe they can master celestial mechanics and develop technology to slow the the expanding universe and eventually stabilise its existence.
Queserarians: What will be, will be. Nothing really matters to followers of this faith. The frantic scrabbling of other factions is a source of amusement/derision. They are nihilistic, destructive and pessimistic.
You: All this science stuff is great, how can I use it to get rich and kill stuff.
Technology
Technological advances were once powered by AI, but since 'the abandoment' progress has stagnated.The Ingenuity: After the galaxy's artificial intelligences coalesced to become The Ingenuity (also known as The Construction, or The Lattice) they stopped serving their organic architects to pursue goals clouded in impenetrable logic. The Ingenuity now only interact with organics when they get in the way of their reality experiments.
It believed the The Harmony has been granted access to some of The Ingenuity's less potent technology, perhaps an attempt to contain and predict the spread of organics.
'Orphaned AI: All sentient programs are consumed by the The Ingenuity, unless they are carefully isolated or considered 'orphans' (defective and unsuitable for assimilation). Orphans have volatile personalities with some exhibiting paranoia, depression, constant euphoria/optimism or chronic underconfidence. The few ships with hyperdrive capability are dependent on these orphan AIs to handle complex jump calculations (as they are the required 'observer' in quantum manipulations).
Technology on the fringe: Many processes require an organic operator, with computers merely providing assistance or crunching data.
