A Dark Secret Lurks in the Mindscape…

The Rausen Array: A haven for New Traders and cut-throat corporacies, its planets have stubbornly resisted Commonality integration. And now the Security and Cultural Integrity Instrumentality SCI Force has learned that one of the planets in the Rausen Array has been smuggling advanced weapons technology through the Commonality embargo with the help of someone inside the Commonality. Where are the weapons going? And what dastardly goal are they destined for? Join SCI Force in this hotbed of intrigue on the Commonality frontier.

Raygun52 is collecting raygun concepts for ‘The Company’ in 2258.

Check out the contributors page to see the 52 designers and illustrators lending their skills to the initiative.

RAYGUNS!

I do miss the hours of making maps and diagrams with Inkscape. So here’s a wallpaper dedicated to Dr. Rotwang, who, if he isn’t a Tangerine Dream fan, ought to be.

Cheers for now.

Synopsis by Gina Swensen.

As the crew prepares to leave Geburah, they find that someone has snuck onboard Pandora when they find Typhon disabled and the cargo bay’s sensors blown out. The crew splits up to search the ship – David & Kenichi go to check on Sirena, Zeen and Amelie head to the bridge. Zeen & Amelie find the intruder, a bounty hunter named Gnosis of the Janissar race. He was interrupted stealing data. The fight was brutal and brief, with Amelie being knocked unconscious, Kenichi joining the fight, and he and Zeen forcing Gnosis to surrender.

They escort Gnosis to the brig, find out his name, mission and who sent him. After some banter they find out he was sent to extract all data the crew collected from Geburah, their mission logs, and travel data. He was also supposed to kill the crew and destroy the ship. He revealed that he had no intention of killing them. Pandora takes the data files and modifies them to report that they only found broken artifacts of no real value, that the machine holding the Artifact piece was broken beyond repair and their travel data would show that they came to Geburah after traveling thru parts of space that would be uncomfortable for others to follow and get information from.

Gnosis also let them know that he was hired by the Miraluhn Collective and would likely be hired again to continue to follow them. Zeen advises Gnosis that if we ever see him again, he’d better be carrying 40,000 Kirishima marks for us or he’ll be killed. Pandora also secretly adds a modification to Gnosis’ ship, so if it’s within range of her, it will notify her.

They let Gnosis go, a days walk on Geburah back to his ship.

The crew heads back to Clandestine where they pick up Mrs.  Tarkk and her son. As they depart, Pandora gets a reading of a HUGE ship coming out of 2-space. It’s as large as a space station, bright red, shaped like a 10-pointed star. The Pandora is directed to dock inside. Kenichi, Zeen, Amelie and David all debark to meet the ships inhabitants – the Koga.

The inside of the Silence is hollow, housing a 3-space anchor that the crew is asked to use to meet their hosts. The crew is transported via 3-space to meet with the Koga Skobra Kibra that they were contracted for the artifacts. Arrangements are made to collect the items from Pandora by the Koga’s servants as Skobvakebra explains why he met them early – their timetable has been moved up due to the success of the Pandora’s crew and they need to collect and run, so to speak.

While meeting with the crew, Amelie has a private mental communication with Skobra Kibra about why she left one of the Fen with him when she visited before. She expresses how she and the Fen want to learn about other species and Skobra Kibra offers to let her and the Fen know more about the Koga. Amelie has a seizure as the information is transferred via the Fen and the crew is forced to end their delivery, returning to the Pandora where she is able to be treated.

Doctor Verlaine gets drunk, singing very, very loudly in a vent about his sister that annoys Pandora. As the crew returns, Pandora treats Amelie and discovers she’s attempting to speak in about 14-20 languages at the same time from the experience she just had.

The Pandora leaves the Silence and they head back to Vacuum Hell, while the Koga ship heads back to their homeworld.

Zeen gets a strange message from Regs about why he’s left Hedros, gotten married to 2 women and may be in need of help.

The crew leaves Mrs. Tarkk and her son on Vacuum Hell, where she can contact the Silver Citadel to get a scientific grant and continue to do her work.

The crew discusses where to go next. They talk about going to the Tangu Forest, the nearest area where a piece of the Artifact may be, but also a space where the Miraluhn Collective knows they will go and may be setting a trap for them. They decide to venture into the Core to the Vesper Whirlpools, 16 days travel via 2-space, where they may be recognized, so decide to take the long way around by heading to the Kiroshema Collective to get help masking Pandora better.

To be continued…

Custom Fudge Dice at Dicecreator

Now could be your chance to get your hands on some unique-looking specimens. I actually use Fudge dice rather than two d6s in my SbA game, so I’m always salivating for some new dice.

At the very least, you should go check out some of the awesome custom-made dice on the Dicecreator blog, because they’re awesome.

The project is still in its early stages and I could definitely use some feedback on the project, so if you’d like to download the PDF and have a look, and maybe drop me a comment or two, I’d appreciate it!

I would definitely like to thank The Convenient Skill at the C7 forums for inspiring this idea.

Zone Board for SbA (30 kb PDF)

Stargazer’s World pointed me to this terrific gallery of starship art by Charles Guan at io9. Cruise over, check it out, and get inspired.

If the following sounds like a giant plugola, it pretty much is, but it comes from a place of genuine enthusiasm: I adore Ryan Wolfe’s work. When I started putting together my campaign for Starblazer Adventures, one of the first things I went looking for were some good deck plans — mostly so I could avoid having to make my own. I did a lot of searching and bought a lot of products, but for my money, there’s Ki-Ryn and then there’s everyone else.

So with that in mind, here are my top six favorite Ki-Ryn starships, and why. I should note that I really only buy these products for the floor plans: since I play FATE and not d20, the stats are meaningless to me, and although the crew and history write-ups are very serviceable, I prefer to make up my own. I should also note that narrowing my choices down to six was not easy.

6. Talon

I fell in love with the Talon’s design the instant I saw it. The predatorial lines, the rotating wing configuration, the cross-shaped cockpit — I knew right away that I’d found the perfect vessel for the villanous ISO, the chief antagonists of my game world. While the Talon listed as a bounty hunter’s vessel, I’ve put it to military use in my game.With any luck, my players will be groaning with dread every time it shows up.

Why it rocks: My love for this design is pretty simple: it looks badass. And it has a detention center. Oh yeah, you know I’m going to find a use for that in the future. Plus, the Talon comes with lots of extra goodies.

5. Lakota

There’s something about the Lakota’s straightforward, utilitarian design that I dig. The Lakota doesn’t strike me as being especially pretty — it’s workmanlike and sturdy, designed to do one job and do it well. I used the Lakota’s deck plans for a one-shot a long time back, and look forward to using it again in the future.

Why it rocks: Like many of Ki-Ryn’s ship designs, the Lakota is perfect for a small group of players to use as a home base or transport. It will accomodate a crew of five, has plenty of cargo space, and a lounge — you know, for lounging. I notice there’s a trend in Ki-Ryn’s ship designs of putting the escape pods in the lounge area. Do the ship crews of the Ki-Ryn universe spend a lot of time bumming around playing table tennis?

4. Drake

The Drake was another early contender for a World Without Syn “home base,” but was eliminated early on for simply being too big. Able to carry a crew of eighteen, the Drake has four decks and more room than my group of six would ever need to move around in. If I ever ran a game with a more exploratory, Trek-ish bent and a bigger crew, though, the Drake would be perfect.

Why it rocks: I like the slick black design, remniscent of the Talon or the Gryphon. And the tiny Sparrowhawk fighter is a nice bonus.

3. Mercury Prototype

When I asked my players which of several deck plans they preferred for the upcoming Starblazer Adventures campaign, the sleek, alien-looking Mercury Prototype came in a close second. Its egg-shaped design sets it apart from the other Ki-Ryn plans, giving it a softer, cleaner, more Utopian feel. Unfortunately, the Mercury as designed simply didn’t have enough crew accomodations to fit my group.

Why it rocks: The Mercury Trio is actually not one ship, but three: The Mercury Prototype, the Valkyrn interceptor, and the Remora boarding craft. I’ve yet to find a use for the Mercury or the Remora in my game, but the Valkyrn design has found its place as Nakai Kenichi’s scout ship, the “Rin.” But most of all, I just like the Mercury Prototype because it’s like nothing else in Wolfe’s lineup.

2. Exeter

I have a special fondness for the Exeter because I used it in the first Starblazer Adventures game I ever ran. It was a testbed one-shot to see if my players would go for the game system and enjoy this half-assed game world I’d come up with. It turned out to be a hit, and we went on to start the actual campaign. Sadly, the Exeter didn’t quite fit the flavor of the new game — but it was never mothballed from our hearts.

Why it rocks: It has a horticulture bay. If that alone doesn’t sell you, I don’t know what will. But seriously, the Exeter is roomy without being overly expansive, and the second passenger deck makes for lots of room. There’s also a conference room and a crew lounge, how cool is that? One of the things I like most about the Exeter is that it has a Firefly sort of feel to it, but a little less so than the Jo Lynn, which to me is just a tad too remniscent of Serenity.

1. Gryphon

This choice would be obvious to anyone who knows my game — the Gryphon was the inspiration for the Pandora, the home base of my current campaign. There’s a giant printout of the ship on the gaming table where we play weekly, and I often enjoy just moving miniatures around the ship while people are roleplaying.

Why it rocks: It’s sleek, fast-looking, and has a cargo bay and a launch bay, making it easy to bring on crew or passengers. The central crew quarters hub is an inspired bit of design. The environment is close without being too cluttered, and it’s just the right size for a group of 5-6 individuals, making it a perfect setting for a starfaring RPG. Plus, it has a brig. Aw yeah.

If you like what you see here, you should check out Future Armada at RPGNow. I don’t get a kickback or anything. I just think his stuff is cool.