"Criminal, you have been found guilty on multiple counts of murder, grand theft, petty theft, littering, vandalism, and jaywalking. You are hereby sentenced to life without parole aboard the colony ship Genesis."
And so it begins. The Genesis is a converted asteroid approximately 15 km in diameter that's heading to alpha centuri to establish a colony. It's a generational ship funded by most of the megacorps, will take centuries to reach its destination, and is the setting for a campaign idea I've had.
The concept is fairly simple: the setting's very nature has the PCs start stripped of their gear, locked in a confined space with limited viable options for escape, ect. Magic isn't the 'I win' button it would normally be in a "no tech" environment because of the mana void, putting everyone on a roughly equal footing to start off with. As the PC's manage to steal better gear and possibly cyberware the hydroponics will start to come into their own, reducing the mana void and allowing magic to become more viable. The matrix will be pretty much a self contained system within the ship as it will be too far from earth to remain part of that system.
Why?
Well, the system allows for street-level play with large scale consequences within the setting, and is a fairly different style to the average shadowrun game, so I figured the idea might hold some interest for people.
Full Version: Campaign idea
Who's in charge aboard the Genesis? What's the crew makeup? How many of them are convicts? What measures are in place to maintain control over them?
The major problem that leaps to my mind with crewing a generational ship, partially or otherwise, with convicted criminals is that it pretty much nixes the possibility of forming a stable society. Unless they're heavily outnumbered, Genesis goes full-on "Lord of the Flies" within a year or two. Then what happens to the whole colonization plan?
The major problem that leaps to my mind with crewing a generational ship, partially or otherwise, with convicted criminals is that it pretty much nixes the possibility of forming a stable society. Unless they're heavily outnumbered, Genesis goes full-on "Lord of the Flies" within a year or two. Then what happens to the whole colonization plan?
QUOTE (Tanegar @ Nov 17 2013, 06:13 PM) 
Who's in charge aboard the Genesis? What's the crew makeup? How many of them are convicts? What measures are in place to maintain control over them?
The major problem that leaps to my mind with crewing a generational ship, partially or otherwise, with convicted criminals is that it pretty much nixes the possibility of forming a stable society. Unless they're heavily outnumbered, Genesis goes full-on "Lord of the Flies" within a year or two. Then what happens to the whole colonization plan?
The major problem that leaps to my mind with crewing a generational ship, partially or otherwise, with convicted criminals is that it pretty much nixes the possibility of forming a stable society. Unless they're heavily outnumbered, Genesis goes full-on "Lord of the Flies" within a year or two. Then what happens to the whole colonization plan?
Australia in space.
QUOTE (DeathStrobe @ Nov 18 2013, 10:09 AM)
Australia in space.
They'll need to be pretty badass to even get close to us
QUOTE (DeathStrobe @ Nov 17 2013, 09:09 PM)
Australia in space.
Not really. Australia was only a few months from England by ship, and was an integral part of the British Empire. Alpha Centauri is far enough to make rule from Earth completely unfeasible. If the corps' goal is to extend their dominion across the stars, and I think we can assume that it is, this is a pretty bad plan.
I could see this working at least to some degree. The population of the ship would need to be large to start with to enable the ship to survive the initial fighting and maintain a proper genetic base.
If the prisoners are supposed to also be the maintainers, you’ll need either skilled or skill wired prisoners. This would have to include teachers for most basic maintenance and survival skills.
Once the initial fighting has subsided and a state of quiescence achieved, then you would likely have gangs that control key sections of the habitat. I would suggest breaking up the habitat into at least the following sections: Hydroponics/Aquaponics (food/water/oxygen), Power Generation (electricity/lighting), HVAC (heat/oxygen movement), Reclamation (waste disposal of all types), and Medical (more advanced medical equipment than just med-kits). The gangs would each have one section, and would have to share and barter resources; this would create a forced sense of uneasy community. No one group can survive without the others. Make appropriate skill-softs only available within their area. For the first generation this would work, after that training/teaching would be important. Magic would be most available around hydroponics and waste disposal; the other areas wouldn’t be as alive.
This is just my thoughts on the idea. I actually like the though of this. Having the players run through the initial fighting and the set-up of a society. The PC’s would likely migrate to a group where their skills are best suited, but not necessarily. You may want to discuss with the players what other non-ShadowRun skills they may want to pick up before the game starts, so that the characters have something useful to add to what ever group they band with (or control).
As always, this is just my 2¥
If the prisoners are supposed to also be the maintainers, you’ll need either skilled or skill wired prisoners. This would have to include teachers for most basic maintenance and survival skills.
Once the initial fighting has subsided and a state of quiescence achieved, then you would likely have gangs that control key sections of the habitat. I would suggest breaking up the habitat into at least the following sections: Hydroponics/Aquaponics (food/water/oxygen), Power Generation (electricity/lighting), HVAC (heat/oxygen movement), Reclamation (waste disposal of all types), and Medical (more advanced medical equipment than just med-kits). The gangs would each have one section, and would have to share and barter resources; this would create a forced sense of uneasy community. No one group can survive without the others. Make appropriate skill-softs only available within their area. For the first generation this would work, after that training/teaching would be important. Magic would be most available around hydroponics and waste disposal; the other areas wouldn’t be as alive.
This is just my thoughts on the idea. I actually like the though of this. Having the players run through the initial fighting and the set-up of a society. The PC’s would likely migrate to a group where their skills are best suited, but not necessarily. You may want to discuss with the players what other non-ShadowRun skills they may want to pick up before the game starts, so that the characters have something useful to add to what ever group they band with (or control).
As always, this is just my 2¥
So what is the interior like.
Are we talking a cylinder cut out of the interior, maybe leaving half a klick of rocky outer shell and spinning the whole thing ala babylon5 style or are we handwaving in ultra tech with full on artificial gravity for each level to give you the layered felling with normal society in the higher levels with subsystems down below with the wilder parts in obscure corners like Warhammer 40k and some of there worldships.
Are we talking a cylinder cut out of the interior, maybe leaving half a klick of rocky outer shell and spinning the whole thing ala babylon5 style or are we handwaving in ultra tech with full on artificial gravity for each level to give you the layered felling with normal society in the higher levels with subsystems down below with the wilder parts in obscure corners like Warhammer 40k and some of there worldships.
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