Science Fiction Campaign

Back when Hero Games was between their first and second edition rules, and long before there was Star Hero(www.herogames.com), I was running my first science fiction campaign using the Hero Games character creation, and some of the starfaring rules from Traveller, adapted for use in the champions rule set. I even started a story loosely based on their adventures.

Premise:
This game is set in a world very much similar to the one found in the Heinlein novel "FRIDAY". I based it on that world because the novel intrigued me. Friday is a novel which is at once startlingly dark and challenging ethically, but which is beautifully written and stirs compassion for the protagonist, even though she may not be human. The story is set on earth in the not so distant future--Perhaps 100-200 or so years. The world is run by mega-corporations, and military factions.

There is no energy shortage thanks to the biggest corporation of all-- Shipstone-- that produces the Shipstone power source (cheap and limitless energy). There are several interstellar colonies, a half dozen Earth space stations, a city on the moon, and an orbital elevator. People can travel the around the world or to the moon like we travel from town to town. Starships use hyperdrive to get to the colonies, although the trip still takes several weeks. Computers are much more powerful, but have no artificial intelligence. Medicine is highly advanced, but diseases are still prevalent. Genetic engineering is widespread, and though legal, is only marginally accepted.

Friday is a genetically engineered "superwoman". To quote from the book: "her mother was a test tube, and her father was a knife". She was raised in a crèche environment, where she was led to believe that she was not human because she was not born of a woman, even though she was in many ways superior to humans. She is constantly seeking answers to questions that cannot be answered easily. In fact, the underlying question of the novel is: "What defines human?".



		Back when Hero Games was between their first and second edition rules, and long before there was Star Hero(www.herogames.com), I was running my first science fiction campaign using the Hero Games character creation, and some of the starfaring rules from Traveller, adapted for use in the champions rule set. I even started a story loosely based on their adventures. Premise: This game is set in a world very much similar to the one found in the Heinlein novel "FRIDAY". I based it on that world because the novel intrigued me. Friday is a novel which is at once startlingly dark and challenging ethically, but which is beautifully written and stirs compassion for the protagonist, even though she may not be human. The story is set on earth in the not so distant future--Perhaps 100-200 or so years. The world is run by mega-corporations, and military factions. There is no energy shortage thanks to the biggest corporation of all-- Shipstone-- that produces the Shipstone power source (cheap and limitless energy). There are several interstellar colonies, a half dozen Earth space stations, a city on the moon, and an orbital elevator. People can travel the around the world or to the moon like we travel from town to town. Starships use hyperdrive to get to the colonies, although the trip still takes several weeks. Computers are much more powerful, but have no artificial intelligence. Medicine is highly advanced, but diseases are still prevalent. Genetic engineering is widespread, and though legal, is only marginally accepted. Friday is a genetically engineered "superwoman". To quote from the book: "her mother was a test tube, and her father was a knife". She was raised in a crèche environment, where she was led to believe that she was not human because she was not born of a woman, even though she was in many ways superior to humans. She is constantly seeking answers to questions that cannot be answered easily. In fact, the underlying question of the novel is: "What defines human?".

		The year is 2212 Earth Governments: There is no "one world" government yet. Most of the earth is divided up into republics and empires governed by mega corporations and despots, but the Colonial Congress of Interstellar Worlds, and the Space Board of Interstellar Law do hold some sway. The map of earth is divided in such a way as to be unrecognizable today. The North American continent is divided into the Alaskan/Yukon Free Territories, the Quebec/Winnipeg Republic, the California Confederacy, the Chicago Imperium, the Lone Star Republic, the Montezuma Central American Syndicate, and the Union Alliance of Eastern Free states. South America is controlled by the LeCabra Cartel, the Cortez Imperium and the Brazilian Economic League. Europe is divided into the Greater British Isles, the Union of Eastern European Nations, and the European Economic Union. Asia consists of the Great Russia, the Peoples Imperium of China, the Japanese Empire, the Prussian/Indian Confederacy, the Canton/Manchuria Protectorate, the Scandali Nations, the Free Arab Nations, and the Israeli Protectorate. The African continent consists of the Kenya Orbital Union, and the Afrika United Free Nations. Australia and the south islands now form the ANZAC Free Territories Travel: Travel from place to place on earth is achieved by 3 means: Anti-grav Passenger Vehicle (APV), Super Ballistic Transport (SB), or Maglev Travel Tube (TUBES). Maglev Tubes are the most common means of travel. The primary tubes are: Mombassa/ Nairobi Line Salt Lake/Omaha/Gary Line San Diego/ Dallas/ Vicksburg/ Atlanta Line London/Paris/Rome Line Vegas/ Phoenix/Dallas Line St. Louis/ Omaha/ Winnipeg Line Vancouver/ San Diego Line Hong Kong/Sri Lanka/Moscow Line Travel between continents is usually done by SB aerospace transport. Local area travel is handled by APV.

		Using the Hero Games character creation process: 100 point base 175 point max Game Limitations: 1. VERY Limited Psionics (GM discretion) 2. No Magic (GM discretion--in the original campaign I let one character have an alien artifact that had limited control of reality. In essence it gave him extreme luck) 3. No Energy Blasts from a person -- This is not a superhero game! 4. All super human capabilities (IE: antigravity, flight, blasters, lasers, life-support) need to be bought through devices and Foci. 5. No "Transformer" type robots. 6. All non-standard alien races need to be logically laid out by the player and the GM before game play begins. Anything obviously unusual will be regarded with Xenophobia and distrust by the general public. All Characters must choose one of these character racial groups: o Human: This is your standard normal human being. o AP (artificial person/genetically engineered person): This is a genetically engineered individual that looks human, but can have some superhuman qualities, such as enhanced senses, enhanced intelligence, enhanced speed and dexterity, enhanced strength, or enhanced awareness. This race also includes cloned individuals. o Self-Aware Robots: Robots are automatons that appear distinctly mechanical (such as the droids in the "Star Wars" saga). Self aware robots are only just now coming into being on Earth. Most self aware robots in the game would be left-overs from some advanced star faring race. o Self-Aware Androids: Androids are automatons that have been designed and built be very similar or identical to humans (such as the synthetics in the "Aliens" saga). Self aware Androids are only just now coming into being on Earth. They are in the first stages of design and tend to be a bit quirky and unpredictable. Unlike Robots, there are no self aware androids left over from previous space faring races. o GA (Genetic Artifact/Living Artifact): This is a genetically engineered individual that looks non-human or partially human, but can have some superhuman qualities, such as enhanced senses, enhanced intelligence, enhanced speed and dexterity, enhanced strength, or enhanced awareness. o Cyborgs: (cybernetic Organism): Cybrorgs are humans that have had some part of them replaced with a cybernetic replacement part. This could have been done for many different reasons: To prevent a disease, to repair damage from an accident, to enhance mental or physical characteristics, to gain a power or skill not innate to the human condition. o Halcyons: The Halcyons are a race of shape changing humanoid. They were the first, and only, humanoid race that the human race has encountered in its reach for the stars. The major population of the halcyon race was killed off by a flu virus which they contracted from the first human settlers in their space. Out of the original 12 trillion, only a handful survives. Humans treat halcyons like criminals and pariahs. o Psionic Humans: A very small portion of the general population of Earth has psionic powers. These powers are very limited in adaptability, usability, and strength. o Other Aliens: Other aliens will have to be governed by the GM. All non-standard alien races need to be logically laid out by the player and the GM before game play begins.

		Capt. McNeil: Augustus McNeil (Gus) is an asteroid miner and captain of the group's merchant vessel. He was maimed in a mining accident and now has bionic legs and a bionic arm.
		DAR (Data Acquisition Robot): DAR is a sentient robot left over from an earlier space faring race.
		Tony DiNicola: Tony is a super-lucky Italian with, connections to the criminal underworld and the black market. His nickname is Score, as he is able to appropriate or "score" just about anything he needs. He has haggling and trading skills which would put Radar O'Reily to shame.
		Serena Torrez: Serena is an AP (artificial person). She was genetically engineered to be a courier and spy for one of Earth's major corporations. She now works freelance.
		Jade (Jaddus): Jade was a Psionic Healer who started out with the crew but died early on in the campain.
		Fred: "Fred" is a predator (as in the "Predator" movies). The other characters in the game saved Fred from suffocation when his life support device failed. In return he joined the crew as the security and black ops agent.
		Denise: Denise Trebuchet was orphaned at the age of 6. She had been born in the Chicago Imperium and was placed in a foster/work home. After years of being handed off from one work home to another she became the adopted daughter of Trend Starfarer, a humanoid alien from a highly advanced culture, who was on Earth to study mankind. When he died he bequeathed to her a small fortune and a vast library of advanced technological data. Fearing that mankind was not yet ready to have this technology, she fled Earth.