Dwarf Planets, Giant Problems (Content)

Something I talked about earlier - and I will talk about again - is the idea of "potential energy" for the setting of TDE.  What I mean by the phrase is that I want the setting, as written, to be a snapshot of a very dynamic place with a lot of things going on.  TDE should be a setting in motion once the players are introduced.  Like a held drawstring, there is a lot of energy waiting to explode once the right catalyst is added -- and the right catalyst should always be the PCs.

So, here is an example of that potential energy: the Huns.  The Huns present the PCs with a number of heroic (and challenging) things to do.  There is a looming natural disaster, a refugee crisis, and while not mentioned int he entry below -- some very dire political machinations that could mean social upheaval on Mars.

Its up to the PCs to resolve one or more of those crises -- for good or ill.


The Huns: Venus, which is the most recently settled inner planet, was just starting to hit its stride in 2126 when it was positively identified that a massive collection of migratory asteroids are heading right for Venus.  The asteroids, nicknamed the "Huns," were originally detected in the Oort cloud as early as the 2080s -- slightly off the ecliptic.  The significance of the discovery was not, at first, identified.  The odd behavior of the distant Huns was attributed to an eccentric orbit around the sun.  In the end, it was their unusual positioning helped mask the Huns until they began transiting close to the core system.  The danger the Huns present was finally confirmed late 2180s when scientists revealed that the Huns would travel into the inner system.  Numerous trajectory analyses were made, with most indicating that the Huns would miss the inner planets or possibly hit fast-moving Mercury.  Scientists were initially more concerned about the Huns’ gravitic influence on settled space.  Further study as the Huns started to transition past Pluto raised a number of concerns, as newer trajectory estimates had the likelihood of the Huns hitting Venus jump into the more-likely-than-not range.  

The primary Huns (Genghis and Attila) acts as sweepers for smaller planetary objects like asteroids and comets -- which are called "kith-warriors."   The leading theory on the appearance of the Huns is that they were larger planets that were ejected from a supernova explosion.  Their expulsion, many millennia ago, put them on a trajectory near to the Sun, which captured them and brought them into its gravity well.  

As of 2191 the Huns are between Jupiter and the main belt and continuing to head in-System.  There are about 4 years before the intersection of Venus and the Huns.  Thus, the System now struggles with a growing refugee crisis as a large number of Venusians seek new homes.  Of course, Earth doesn't want them (it maintains a very carefully controlled population numbers) and Mars/Mercury/Jupiter can only absorb a certain amount.  Cue low-level conflict by the desperate refugees, food shortages, looting, and whatnot on selected stations and aerostats.  

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I want a lot of bits of potential energy seeded throughout TDE.  Wars, political crises, hostage situations, peace keeping, social upheavals... they will all be in there.  I want to give the PCs and the GM a lot of ideas on what they can, and should, do with the setting.

Oh, and Canada? Where you at?  Since I am basically an honorary Canadian by now - more of you should be reading this blog.  Over the weekend I think I got 3 total pageviews from your great country.  Booo.

Deciding What the PCs Do. (Mechanics)

What do the PCs do in TDE? 

This is a pretty common quesrion when I end up talking about the setting with some of my friends who have designed games.  Its one of those core questions that good designers build their game around.   Jared Sorensen, who is a bit like the mafia don of the indie rpg movement, has done a lot of thinking on what makes a good rpg.  Some of his conclusions can be found here:  http://memento-mori.livejournal.com/288677.html

Each test, a challenge.  

Of note are his “3 Questions?”  These questions, once answered, help hone a game’s concept to a razor (and playable) edge.  What does the game do?  Why does it do this?  Is it doing what it is supposed to? 

When designing and exploring other games, I have struggled with Sorensen’s three questions – which is reflective of the quality of my ideas rather than the utility of the questions.  To be frank, I haven’t done a lot of thinking about the three questions in regards to TDE.  Instead, I focused on the depth and plot points of the setting.  Now that the setting is taking on a life of its own, its high time to runt to Sorensen’s three questions.  It’s time to really think about the PCs, their role in the game, and how to build the game to support my goals.

The thing about the three questions is that it really focuses on the “game” part of roleplaying games.  RPGs are composed of a number of elements, but the mechanics and setting are the two foundations.  

I am favor setting over mechanics.  Ever since  I got into rpgs back in the late 80s, I defined games not by their mechanics, but by how much I liked the setting.  Good setting could trump crappy mechanics in my book.  My focus on setting makes the three questions a bit of a hurdle for me – the answers they prompt do not come as easily to me as for others.  That said, the best rpgs are the ones where mechanics and setting support one another.  So, just because its hard, or I don’t get the essence of the questions in my first answers, doesn’t mean I can shy away from the questions.

One important caveat (and CYA) before I get into it – answering the three questions is an ongoing process.  It’s a thought exercise that can, and should, continually evolve as the game takes more shape.  So, my expectation is that I will need to revisit the three questions from time to time. 

Q: WHAT IS YOUR GAME ABOUT?
Jared Says:  If you write a D&D clone, your game is not about "adventuring in a medieval fantasy world." Your game is about characters advancing in efficacy in order to meet greater and greater challenges.”  Do not confuse the genre, setting or color details with what's most important: the premise and structure of the game.

A: What TDE Is About:

The game is about characters (Jammer Pilots) using ever more advanced technology – black ops and experimental stuff – while being given tougher and tougher missions in order to affect positive and significant change in the setting. 

Q: HOW DOES IT GO ABOUT THAT?
Jared Says:  If you're designing that D&D clone and you put in a lifepath system as part of character creation, what does that accomplish? In order to fufill the requirements set by the first question, you must "put your money where your mouth is" with the discrete game elements. If that lifepath is purely cosmetic and doesn't affect the character's abilities or the game mechanics, then why is it in there?

A: How TDE Gets There:  

TDE will use the One Roll Engine as the baseline.  Its is mechanically sound, easy to learn, quick to execute, and offers interesting modification options.  Building from the ORE, TDE will create mechanics that allow the players to “requisition” advanced technologies to tailor their equipment loadout to the mission at hand.  TDE will offer the GM and players opportunities to mechanically change setting elements. 

Q: WHAT BEHAVIORS DOES IT REWARD AND/OR ENCOURAGE?
Jared Says:  The obvious game element to focus on as a "reward" is some kind of character advancement system. But this can go the other way as well; what behaviors does the game punish and/or discourage? If the ultimate goal of Call of Cthulhu is to die or go insane, does the game encourage this? Do insane characters get special abilities? Or is running/fighting rewarded and encouraged (as it is in Dungeons & Dragons)?

A: What Behaviors TDE Will Reward:

I want TDE to encourage cinematic moments. I want the system to encourage players to have their PCs take chances – and go for the big win – the type of win that shakes the foundation of the Solar System.  

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I need to do some thinking about the mechanics, me thinks.  

Join the Party -- The Utility of Jammers (Content)

A Wanzer, from Front Mission -- an inspiration for the Jammers. 

One thing I have discovered about my writing is that I do my best stuff when I am working with someone.  I find new energy when I can bounce ideas off of people, and my prose is more direct when someone else can call out my crazy ideas and pull them back.  Part of the reason I am doing this blog, and airing my ideas for all to see, is that I am hopeful a handful of you out there will see merit in The Difference Equation and decide to help out.

Luckily, I have had a number of people step up so far and help.  I pitched my core setting concept to a bunch of friends, and they gave me initial feedback.  Since then, I have asked a couple published rpg writer friends to look over the core catalog and timeline to see what they had to say.  The setting has evolved considerably since those first few collaborations, to the point where I think many of the original group would be surprised to see how far things have progressed.  Its a better, more exciting setting specifically because of those first key pieces of feedback.

...and now there is Brandon.  Brandon is a buddy I met on the Dream Pod 9 forums.  I am convinced he is responsible for at least half the hits that come in to this blog -- and he single-handed carries on a conversation over on G+ that pushes me farther and farther into the setting and forcing me to make smart and critical decisions about the direction I am taking the game.

Brandon has been so helpful, he went so far as to start tentatively writing some content.  His stuff is really good.  Real good.  I am happy to have him and his insights on board.

So, I'd like this, the last content post for the week, to focus on one of Brandon's contributions.

The Best of Bad Options: Jammers in Modern Warfare:  The few major capital ships built by the SCEs and major powers of the Solar System are often leviathans that carry firepower strong enough to cause major damage to colonies and enough reaction mass for sustained combat burns.  Their downside, however, is their enormous mass and detection signature.  In space, it is nearly impossible to hide a ship due to the advancements of sensor technology.  Mass detection devices are used regularly by every colony and ship as a means of observing asteroids, comets, and other debris that might come dangerously close to impacting with stations.  The tremendous velocities of these naturally-occurring projectiles makes them a viable threat to all. The mass detection devices are also used by the powers to montior each other's naval shipyards, allowing nations to be made aware within hours of when a ship is departing from a specific area.

For this reason, any unannounced departure of capital ships from their dockyards is tantamount to an act of war by all powers concerned, and the space command structures often announce at least a day prior of any patrols in order to avoid provoking an international crisis.

With this current state of affairs, Jammers have become a vital necessity for the powers.  Their small mass allows them to be transported aboard most any ship available, and it is not uncommon for them to be given specialized ships designed expressly to be innocuous-looking, even ragged in appearance, while actually housing an entire team of Jammers and the facilities needed to maintain them.

Due to Newton's Third Law of Motion, mass-drivers and railguns using kinetic energy projectiles are limited in distribution among space-based Jammer squadrons, and their ammunition typically includes a self-destruct mechanism contained within their spikes so that if they do miss their target they do not present a threat to innocent travelers in the area surrounding a hot zone. Missiles, while slower on initial launch, are also safer, and include the same self-destruct mechanisms, often made tamper-proof so that industrious pirates do not attempt to retrieve the weapons after they have been armed and launched.  Lasers, meanwhile, have become the long-range weapon of choice, but their enormous power requirements typically mean that a Jammer must be equipped with an auxiliary power system to maintain the weapon for prolonged skirmishes.  To offset this, Jammers will also carry aerosol chaff that can be used to diffract the laser's intensity and lessen its pinpoint killing power.

Space-based Jammer squadrons on deep space missions typically use a highly-reflective armor skin, like silver, which helps to avoid visual detection when further away from the sun's light. Nearer to the gravity wells, this is changed for a brighter color scheme allowing visual recognition from friendly units and also from civilian ships passing in the area. Planet-borne Jammer squadrons will typically use a mimetic skin that can be charged or heated to change and adapt its colors to the surrounding terrain.  Due to the enormous firepower carried by most Jammers, deep space combat is short and vicious, with pilots using stealth and surprise to overwhelm their opponents. Any engagements that last longer usually occur near stations and other large objects that provide cover and concealment and also mask the mass of the Jammers from enemy sensors.

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Awesome, right?  I edited a bit, but not much.  90% of the above is his - and is the result of some very smart and intuitive mental leaps on his part.

If anyone else out there has ideas they want to contribute, please do so -- here, over email, or on G+.  If I can get this setting and game to a point where it gets published, I promise you will get the credit you deserve.  This isn't me just trying to steal other people's ideas -- this is me trying to open up my playground so other people can play on the jungle gym.

...and selfishly, like I said, the more interaction with others I have as I hash out ideas, the better my stuff becomes.  So, for that and many other things, welcome aboard Brandon!

The Consummation Of Empire and Others (Inspiration)

Now, for something different.  Inspiration.

The Difference Equation (TDE) was born of a number of inspirations - from a lot of different media.  I studied political science in college and practice a form of it in my day job.  So, of course politics and the study of politics would play a big role (and you can see it in the types of things I focus on while developing the setting).  Music has also been important - I turned to edgy, experimental stuff that is a bit out of my comfort zone in a couple instances to see what emotions they brought on and where it would drive my writing.

And art.  Obviously paintings/illos and graphics are an important part of the inspiration process.  When I am stuck at work and need some time to myself, I often lean back and explore what the Jammers and ships and planets of the setting look like.  Similarly, I will pop on DeviantArt, find a pic I like, and follow the links to see where it takes me.

And art.  There are a series of painting by Thomas Cole - some of my favorites really.  They depict the rise and fall of the an empire though the lens of an ancient civilization through the lens of American-centric sentiments.  Its wonderfully complicated, with imagery and themes that fold in on themselves.  Its an imaginary city - not unlike Tarshish or the remnants of smoldering Haifa.  It also depicts the roll of time, and a critical aspect to the Difference Equation where the introduction of the PCs to the setting should have immediate and significant consequences that unfold over time.

The setting of TDE is an exploration into a lot of things -- power politics, the ascendancy of economics, dominance, identity, ethnicity, the cost of independence, hope, the march of history, unintended consequences... and more.  These are things, I believe, the Course of Empire series deals with - and when I look at them, they inspire me to new directions with the setting.  If you can, take the time to view each in the Course of Empire series and see if it draws out the same thoughts/ideas/emotions in you.

The series, in order:  The Savage State, The Arcadian State, The Consummation of Empire, Destruction, and Desolation.

The Savage State

The Arcadian State

The Consummation of Empire

Destruction 

Desolation 

Want to know a bit more about the series or Thomas Cole?  The wikipedia article is
here:  The Wiki Entry 

Next up, lets do a bit more on the Jammers.

The Defining Moment of a Future History (Content)

Lets move on to a bit of history for The Difference Equation.  I'm designing this setting from the gorund up - starting with the modern day and advancing it to 2191.  I'm a detail and history guy, so burying into the details is where I like to work. That said, I got some great advice from a writer friend of mine that told me not to get too buried in the minutiae of the project -- too much detail will stymie the players creativity and, at some point, too much detail yields diminishing returns.  So, my struggle is to focus on generating new content for the setting and ignore my burning desire to go into the monthly updates of the future-history.

I've seen a lot of timelines as a roleplayer, and many of them leave a lot to be desired.  History defies easy categorization - so when I see a timeline that arbitrarily has one major event per year - the historian in me reels back in disgust.  Likewise, too many events bunched up and appears like the writer got lazy.  There is a happy middle ground out there, and the middle makes a lot of sense.  Why some rpg designers ignore history class and their instincts to create wonky timelines I will never understand.

Where does that leave me?  It leaves me working on the broad brushstrokes of the setting, and dropping hints here and there of the deeper history (with the intention to get back to it later - if all goes well).  That said, there are a handful of periods where I treat myself and dive in - spending some time to detail the specifics of the hows and whys.

One of the most important events in the future-history of The Difference Equation is the devastating Population Overshoot of the 2090s.  Looking back on how the setting has come together, the Malthusian Crisis is the major event that defined the future of The Difference Equation.  The legacy of that event lasts well into the starting date of the game, and provides a useful macguffin for the colonization of the System.

Without further adieu:

The Population Overshoot of the ‘80s:  In the end, Thomas Malthus was (mostly) right.  The rapid population growth of the 2060s and 2070s brought with it a sudden catastrophe in the 2090s as food stores and crops proved insufficient to maintain the population level.  Anagathics and improved medicine made it so fewer and fewer people did.  Much of the world focused on the financial impacts that the "Methuselah" generation created, and few paid attention to the handful of scientists warning of a pending ecological disaster.  With estimated yearly growth worldwide of nearly 5%, the estimated census recorded the population at just over 20 billion people in 2099 -- about the maximum the planet’s food and water resource could handle.  Unfortunately for humanity, it had to learn the hard way the upper end of the population that Earth could support.  

For the first time in over 1600 years, the world’s human population drastically retracted and decreased in a few chaotic years.  Along with the amazing strain placed on the environment, numerous animal and plant species, once thought relatively safe from environmental pressures, died off in mass extinctions – further endangering the biome.  All told, mass starvations and unchecked diseases claimed over 3 billion lives from 2099 to 2116.  It would be two more decades of concerted effort by numerous organizations to stabilize Earth’s environment.  Many cultures and ethnicities that had survived into the new millennium died out - unable to cope with the rapid planetary changes.  Still to this day the UN maintains a strict vigil over the environmental and agricultural resources of the planet and each nation and independent corporation employs strict financial and legal penalties for exceeding family growth quotas.  While the devastating threat of the turn of the century is no longer, its legacy lives on in a much more conservative mindset.  Interestingly, this Malthusian Crisis led to an increase in the reputation of farmers, nutritionists and pharma experts.

Another unintended effect of the Population Crisis was the rapid acceptance and advancement of off-world colonization.  Colonization is now seen, at worst, as a necessary process to relieve the population stresses on the planet.  In fact, more than any other single effort, the standardization of off-world colonization and the eventual affordability for much of the population was critical in drawing down the Earth population and giving the biome time to heal.

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Next up? I think its time to talk about inspiration. Its about to get heavy.

A Title- At Last!

The Difference Equation

There it is.  Thats the name of the setting-that-had-no-name.

I wanted something that emphasized the nature of the game - grounded in mundane science fiction, but surrounded by a plotline and vibrant world that is anything bu mundane.  A Difference Equation, according to wikipedia is:

"In mathematics, a recurrence relation is an equation that recursively defines a sequence, once one or more initial terms are given: each further term of the sequence is defined as a function of the preceding terms."

The Difference Equation RPG.  

Difference Equations are the root of Fibonacci numbers, and is a process used to calculate populations, digital communications, and economics -- all of which play a central role in the setting.

"Difference Equation" also harkens to a related term "Differential Equation" -- which is the hart of all sorts of maths that would make the setting go.  Physics, propulsion, engineering, biology, economics...

But, most importantly, is the inclusion of the word "Difference."  As I envision it, that is what the PCs are -- the difference between a static world and a dynamic one.  The difference between chaos and order, activity and entropy.  The PC's very existence is what will kickstart the setting into overdrive.  Ready/Steady/Rock!

So, yeah.  Love it.

There it is.

Finally.

The Fires of Faith and Science -- Mercury (Content)

I meant to stay away from the Blog one more day - to give myself some time to recharge.  But I can't.  I had a couple good writing sessions this weekend and I figure I should keep the content flowing.

Battered and Bruised, Mercury Still Has a Few Tricks Left...

So, next up is Mercury.  I really like Mercury and how it will play a pivotal roles in the politics of the Solar System.  The concept behind Mercury was developed partly as a reaction to the disservice too many other SF games give faith and religion.  I don't want to ram anything down anyone's throat, but all too often SF games simply do away with religion as a relic of the past.  Just as disappointing, many SF games decide to replace religion with science -- making it a zero sum game of belief.  I don't see it that way.  Discarding faith as point of an SF setting is boring, lazy and unrealistic   More importantly,keeping elements of faith and religion make for some wonderful plot elements to use for some challenging and fascinating stories.  Anything that helps drive good storytelling stays in this setting.  Done deal.

Just like any other element in the setting, I wont shy away from the bad and the good - and that includes faith.  Its a tricky subject, for sure, but I have never been one to back down from a creative challenge.

The closest planet to the sun has a lot going for it.  Its an amazingly tough place to live, but the rewards are enormous as well.  Heavy metals, antimatter, and harnessing solar energy have all played a role in making Mercury an economically attractive place.  How it became the second home of the Roman Catholic Church was due to an odd series of circumstances.  Now, the Church, which considered its introduction onto Mercury as a bit of a windfall, is discovering that nothing comes without a price.

So, we have Mercury, the new Vatican (of sorts).

The Fires of Faith - Mercury:  Mercury is an isolated polity, dominated by a number of small and isolated mining and research communities that either stay in the planet’s shadow, huddle in the shadow of the polar regions (with its dwindling water reserves), or embedded well into the crust.  Many of the communities are examples of innovation married to cutting edge technology - the result of existing in such an extreme environment.  The largest city, Tarshish, is built on what amounts to huge rails, and travels along the sun-line eliminator at a leisurely 14 km/hr, staying within the very narrow band of hospitable temperature ranges.  

Tarshish has a population of about 100,000, well in excess of the next largest community which is a habitat in orbit in mercury’s umbra.  Tarshish serves as the nexus of Mercurian trade and society and is the only large downport that can handle bulk Trans-A freighters.  The history of Tarshish, and much of modern Mercury, began with a series of small venture mining firms who established a presence in the Mercurian well.  While most stayed conservatively in orbit and the poles or only set down on Mercury for a few hours at night to harvest heavy metals and trace He-3, the Moors Company successfully lobbied and purchased a large band of land circumnavigating the planet’s equator for a relatively inexpensive price.  

Plans were put in place for a traveling city that would serve as Moors’ headquarters for their expanding planetary interests.  However, shortly after the tracks were laid, Moors went bankrupt and the rights to its territory passed legally to the OCRI Administrator who would serve as trustee and arbiter on which bids would assume ownership of Moors’ Mercury holdings.  In a wholly unexpected move, the Administrator transferred the Moors’ land rights to the Roman Catholic Church (RCC).  Despite numerous legal suits against the Administrator personally, and OCRI in general, the transfer stood (largely due to the sweeping powers Administrators were granted by OCRI and the General Assembly).  

While the RCC had put in a bid as a pro forma exercise, it did not expect to win the Moors’ holdings.  Mercury had, through happenstance, a disproportionately large number of active Catholics and Catholic-friendly Orthodox Christians working the mines and research stations (which is theorized part of the reason the Administrator made his decision).  With the rights to the region, the RCC contracted the CSE BR/BP Distributions to continue construction of the Moors facility.  In 2085 the new city, Tarshish, came online and almost immediately became a significant economic windfall for the ailing Church.  

Besides the booming He-3 trade, Mercury enjoys a number of other economic windfalls.  It's the ideal place to build a near-solar power system.  Huge microwave antennas and solar-powered lasers clutter the space in Mercury’s umbra - beaming light to solar sailcraft and microwaves/radiation directly to the inner planets for ever-increasing energy demands.  Mercury’s close orbit is also a major strategic issue for OCRI, as the huge microwave antennas and powerful lasers could do some damage in the wrong hands.

During the fall of 2028 Tarshish-based geologists announced they had found evidence of fossilized life buried deep in the mantle of Mercury.  In 2030, biologists and paleontologists from four different Earth-based research institutions, sponsored by the Vatican, confirmed the recovered rocks did carry what was clearly bacterial and nematode-like extraterrestrial life.  

In 2031, Tarshish is a veritable boom town of scientists, the curious, and watchful priests.  back on Earth, the Vatican closely controls access to Tarshish, the fossil records, and the Moor’s holdings.  Thus far, despite significant efforts, no other fossilized records of life have been found on Mercury.  Tarshish also serves as the central hub and frequent downport for off-planet trade - especially in the increasingly valuable antimatter trade (for which Mercury is the largest supplier).  Successful large-scale testing of antimatter powered capital ship drives has recently driven up anitmatter prices particularly for antihelium.  
 
Notably, despite controlling access to one of the most profound scientific discoveries of all time, the RCC has refused to officially comment on the discovery of extraterrestrial life.

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I think I finally have a name for the setting.  I will sit on it for another day, to mull it over - but I think, finally, we have a winner.  Stay tuned.