Today, we are presenting a bit more detail on the locations described. Each definition also has a T-level based on the Diaspora RPG's standard descriptors for Tech level. Occasionally, the E-scale for Environmental conditions is also referenced.
Location Descriptions
Iceball - This cometary habitation was tunneled out of an ice comet. It typically travels at sublight speeds, and stays a safe distance away from its system's sun. The comet's ice can be used as propellant for maneuvering. Typically such locations are T1, but are often escorted by T2 or T3 vessels, and have hangar facilities for shuttles from those vessels.
Cluster of Small Rocks - This Comet Barbarian clan location is in fact an archipelago of small cometary rocks equipped with thrusters. It is usually accompanied by one or more conventional space vessels as armed escorts. The rocks comprising the Cluster may be equipped with either STL or FTL drives. Rocks with STL drives will usually be T1; however some Rocks have very crude T0 to T1 tech; they are armed with crude atomics and are powered by leaky, aging reactors. FTL-equipped rocks will typically be T2, but may go as high as T3 if equipped for the construction/repair/salvage of FTL vessels.
Rogue Planet - The majority of planets in the galaxy are wandering the depths of interstellar space as Rogue Planets. Most are entirely natural. A few are constructs such as the Shell Worlds found in Star Trek's Yonada, Iain M. Banks' novel Matter, and Fritz Leiber's SF classic The Wanderer. Comet Barbarians have settled numerous such worlds, digging elaborate tunnel complexes under their surfaces to conceal their true purpose. The majority of such worlds have T1 or T2 technology, and are E-1 or E-2 with respect to habitability. Most Shell Worlds will be somewhere between T1 to T4, and are generally E-1 to E4.
Fleet Cluster, Active & Mobile - Some Comet Barbarian clans travel in fleets of FTL vessels. Few of the vessels are physically connected, but they often make FTL jumps in tethered electronically to a command ship. Such fleets are typically T2.
Sargasso Fleet Cluster, Mobile - A Sargasso Fleet Cluster is a cloud of individual space vessels. Comet Barbarians in a Sargasso Fleet are limited to one solar system (or one location in interstellar space). Many ships are physically connected to each other, but with mobile fleets some local maneuver is possible; for example, a mobile Sargasso Fleet Cluster change its relative location from another object in the system by 1-8 AU. Mobile Sargasso Fleet Clusters are typically T1, but may contain one or several T2 vessels.
Sargasso Fleet Cluster, Immobile - A Sargasso Fleet Cluster is a cloud of individual space vessels at a fixed location in a solar system or in interstellar space. Many ships in such fleet clusters are physically connected to each other, and damaged, in disrepair, and/or heavily jury rigged. Such immobile fleet clusters have very little local maneuver capability: typically just enough to maintain a fixed position and not collide with other objects such as planets. Some immobile Sargasso Fleet Clusters are located near jumpgates or slipknots to facilitate interstellar travel and raids. These locations are typically T0 toT1, but may contain one or several T2 vessels.
Ancient Temple Planetoid - A Comet Barbarian clan has made their home on a planetoid with an ancient temple ruin. The planetoid may be an active pilgrimage site providing an additional revenue source for its new guardians, or a long-forgotten place of worship built by a Forerunner race. The technology level may be anywhere from T-1 to T4. In the latter case, the temple itself may be a jealously guarded secret or a weapon of unimaginable power.
Human Generation Ship - Gigantic, long-abandoned STL generation ships make an ideal haven for Comet Barbarians, and still-inhabited generation ships also have their advantages. The original inhabitants of a generation ship may have evolved into Comet Barbarians after making contact with FTL cultures. Alternatively, the original inhabitants may have intermarried with a Comet Barbarian clan as insurance against exploitation or attack by outside parties, or by rival groups within the great ship. Such vessels are most often T1, but may have degenerated since launch to T0 or T-1; any lower on the tech scale than that and they will not be very desirable base locations for Comet Barbarians. Such generation ships are typically protected by one or more T2 or T3 vessels. Once Project Generations is completed, there will be many new resources for FATE-based generation ship games.
Alien Generation Ship - Gigantic, long-abandoned alien STL generation ships sometimes make an ideal haven for Comet Barbarians, while still-inhabited alien generation ships present their own unique opportunities and risks as home bases for Comet Barbarians. Alien generation ships often hide great mysteries and can confer secret advantages upon the clan that possesses one. Like their human counterparts, most alien generation ships will be T1, and may have degenerated since launch to T0 or T-1; any lower on the tech scale than that and they will not be very desirable base locations for Comet Barbarians. Such generation ships are typically protected by one or more T2 or T3 vessels.
Alien Space Fortress - This may be a fixed position in space, or a mobile battlestation of some kind. It may be long abandoned by its original inhabitants, retain a secret enclave of those inhabitants' descendants, or have a thriving alien population that is allied with or subservient to the Comet Barbarians. Tech level may be anywhere from T-1 to T4. Alien Space Fortresses at T3 and T4 often possess incredibly powerful secret weapons, which may confer great advantages on the Comet Barbarian khan or princeling who possesses the fortress. Such locations are often protected by T2 or T3 Comet Barbarian support vessels, and may even have vast hangars to accommodate those ships.
Alien Megafauna - The galaxy is a very big place, and filled with strange things. Some Comet Barbarian tribes have managed to find and colonize the bodies of gigantic alien space creatures. Whether these are the corpses of ancient space monsters, creatures from beyond time and space, or benevolent creatures making very slow migrations across the galaxy, the Comet Barbarians who inhabit them and burrow deep within their flesh and bones tend to be very strange barbarian clans indeed. With extra organs, weird pets and familiars, and odd mutant powers. Best beware and steer clear. Such clan locations tend to be much lower tech: anywhere from T-4 to T1 is typical. When such settlements have an escort fleet, it is almost always crewed by an allied clan.
Ripple Bethorm - This is a pocket universe on the move. A Ripple Bethorms navigates space at one fixed speed, either STL or FTL. They often follow predictable courses through the galaxy. Almost anything may be on the inside of a Ripple Bethorm, from a vast hollow world environment to an entire solar system suspended in a starless void. T4 technologies are required to create and sustain such spaces, but those technologies are usually operating in the background, well beyond human control. The entrance to a Ripple Bethorm is a very small fracture in space-time. Often Comet Barbarians will protect this opening with a T2 or T3 ship located just inside the fracture. Clans living within such pocket universes may be at any level of technological development, from T-4 to T3, but whatever the general level of development there will always be a T2 to T3 elite capable of crewing Comet Barbarian ships.
No comments:
Post a Comment