Four hundred and fifty plus years is a long time for a colony to be isolated. A lot of funny things happen to people when they are isolated from the rest of humanity for that long. What will become of these people?
Humanity left the Sol system in 2113, when it discovered natural rosenberg-einstein bridges created by gravitic lensing between solar systems. Not all solar systems had these RE-Points, but Sol had 2, each of which led to other solar systems. It was discovered in 2085, and took several decades to develop a ship capable of traversing them and coming back.
Humans spread out rapidly in the next 200 years, and encountered other species. Some encounters led to war, others to just confusion. Science progressed apace, and a vast galactic empire was formed, ruled from Sol.
But that much power was hard to exercise over such great distances, and the Solamani empire eventually fractured. Some humanity had so far diverged from the root stock, from a combination of genetic modifications and adaptation, that they were all but a new race, such as the Vilani (the first successful extra-solar colony expedition) and the Zhodani (humans who have tinkered with their own genes to enhance their mental abilities), or the Luriani (genetically engineered for amphibiousness).
Other races, such as the Vargr, Aslan, Droyne, Hivers, and k'Kree were careful to avoid getting involved in the civil wars that followed. Yet others, such as the uplifted Ursa, Dolphi, and Orcan took the chance to break free of their corporate owners and found their own colonies on back water worlds.
The planet Telthani was simply too far away from the core worlds to matter in the civil war. The agricultural planet was actually relatively close to Sol, galactically speaking. But to get to it via jump point required going through 14 systems before reaching The Hub. The Hub was the name given to Gamma Velorum, a massive 5 star constellation of stars, all within a few light minutes of each other. The brightest, Gamma 2 Velorum, a massive wolf-rayet star and Gamma 1 Velorum, a blue-white type O supergiant. Along with their lesser brothers, the Hub represents a massive gravitational lense effect that resulted in the constellation having no fewer than 87 jump points. Telthani was 8 jump points from the Hub, making it a true backwater. Although even it had a backwater planet to look down on, the small colony of Milthana was on the other side of Telthani's only other jump point, and that system had only one jump point. The heavy metal planet was moderately habitable, but rich in heavy metals and transuranics.
Telthani is not rich in heavy metals. It is roughly 40 percent larger than Earth, but has only 94 percent of it's gravity. It's core is nickle iron, like earth's, but significantly less massive. However, the planet's spin is roughly 3 times that of earth, giving it a day only slightly longer than 14 standard hours long. The increased spin causes the core to generate a magnetic field slightly stronger than that of Earth's.
The Telthani (Solomani Mix descendents) usually have a 28 hour 'day' with 'noon' corresponding to 'second rise'. Telthani takes 428 local 'days' (two revolutions) to complete a single orbit. Each local year is approximately 1.38 years standard long.
Culture:
Telthani culture has become very laid back, and very much individualized. There is a strong code of honor amongst the colonists, born from having to survive having been cut off for so long. A man's word is his bond. Laws are simple and straightforward, don't cheat anyone, don't kill anyone unless they're trying to kill or steal from you. Even in the city, regulations like drivers licenses and such are unheard of. If you can't drive well, you don't drive, or you pay for the damages you incur.
The government is extremely decentralized, with each major 'Holding' (which can be up to 5000 square miles) having a council. That council (made up of land holders) is elected by the people living in the Holding. The council then assigns one of their number as leader, and another is voted to represent them at the Planetary Council, which meets in Tentatha. Tentatha itself has it's own council and is it's own Holding.
Holdings are usually named for either the family that founded them, or some bit of local color. Hanson's Holding or Red Mountain Holding, for example.
Technology:
It's local population was a nice stable 850 thousand when the warp point vanished, 452 years ago. The planet was cut off, not just from the Empire (or what was remaining of it), but also from Milthana. Despite only being a single jump away, Milthana was 150 light years away, paradoxically closer to the core, in absolute terms, than Telthani was.
The colony had made it's money by selling off wood from the massive Mubara trees, each one hundreds of feet tall, and most dozens of feet thick at the base. The thick hard dense wood was a pleasing chocolate brown, with a high natural wax content that gave it a silky smooth feel when even lightly sanded. It also held up well to hard use.
But with the loss of trade, the colony was thrown back on it's own for the last 452 years. Since that time, the population has expanded to a little over a million in the intervening 450 years. The technology level has dropped to a solid 7, although Tentatha, the capital city, maintains a solid 8, and has managed to keep the old space station active as well. Mostly it's used for air traffic control over Pangea (the main continent), and for weather tracking. Tentatha has a population of just over 300,000 people, with the rest of the population spread out over the rest Pangea. Tech levels in the less populated areas of Pangea can drop as low as 4.
Only Telantha has managed to keep enough technology to maintain a University, which is simply called Telthani University, or more commonly, The University.
Character Creation:
Your characters will be 3rd level to start out. They should have some reason to be in Telantha City, and at the old Space Port, and possibly even the space station (Telthani Station, or just Station). This could be as simple as they work there (proper skills required), or they are consulting (academic, or even a ranger from the wilds who's helping with a planetary survey the High Council authorized to update the planetary scan records).
Races : Only Solomani Mix is available at game start (Humans in other words).
Characters will need to go through the Terms in various classes to reach 3rd. This may be one term, or multiple.
Classes Available : Academic, Army (Planetary Ranger), Barbarian (backwoods hick), Mercenary, Merchant, Navy (there's a very small navy maintained to keep the station active), Noble, Professional, Rogue,
Equipment : Unrestricted for TL 8 and below if you are not barbarian (TL 6 and lower for Barbarian). You must have Army, Noble, Merchant, or Navy to have TL 9 or 10 tech (and not all TL9 and 10 is available).
Skills : Use Alien Device is not available at start. Technical Skills require an appropriate background (you can't bulid energy weapons if you're a barbarian). K/Interstellar Law is only available with University Training.
Since we're pathfinderizing this, humans get a floating +2 to put into any one stat, in addition to +1 skill point per level, and bonus feat at first level. You can also add in any of the alternate human racial traits from Pathfinder for humans (so, trading out the bonus feat for the 3 skill focus's for example), or eye for talent, etc.
Additional Class Skills : Due to the tech level of the planet, characters add 3 class skills : Driving*, Ride, Handle Animal. In addition, everyone has the Knowledge Skill K/Homeplanet with 0 ranks. Note, this is considered trained, even with 0 ranks. You may put ranks into it as you wish, and it's considered a class skill as well (which means you get the +3 trained bonus for it, even if you leave it at 0 ranks).
Traits : You may pick 2 traits (Refluff as needed to fit the theme of the game, but mechanics and category must remain the same). Drawbacks are allowed (maximum 1 drawback for 1 additional trait).
House Rules : We will use Pathfinder Skill structures. That means you get the same amount of skill points per level, from 1st to 20th. However, class skills get a +3 trained bonus if you put a point into the skill. Additionally, instead of feats being granted every 3rd level, they are granted every other level. Spot and Listen are merged into the skill Perception (if the class has either, you get it as a class skill). Tumble, Balance, and Jump are merged into the skill 'Acrobatics'. Gather Information, Liason, Trader and Broker are combined into Diplomacy. Move Silent & Hide become Stealth. Read/Write, Speak Language, and Forgery are merged into Linguistics.
Prior History & Terms : For those without the actual book, I will roll Terms in the Recruitment Thread.
Character Stats:
Set 1
Stat (4d6 Drop Lowest): 4d6 ⇒ (2, 5, 6, 5) = 18 -> 16
Stat (4d6 Drop Lowest): 4d6 ⇒ (4, 3, 3, 5) = 15 -> 12
Stat (4d6 Drop Lowest): 4d6 ⇒ (1, 6, 3, 3) = 13 -> 12
Stat (4d6 Drop Lowest): 4d6 ⇒ (6, 6, 3, 1) = 16 -> 15
Stat (4d6 Drop Lowest): 4d6 ⇒ (4, 6, 6, 4) = 20 -> 16
Stat (4d6 Drop Lowest): 4d6 ⇒ (1, 2, 6, 2) = 11 -> 10
Stat (4d6 Drop Lowest): 4d6 ⇒ (1, 4, 4, 3) = 12 -> 11
Stat (4d6 Drop Lowest): 4d6 ⇒ (5, 4, 3, 3) = 15 -> 12
Set 2
Stat (4d6 Drop Lowest): 4d6 ⇒ (5, 4, 5, 6) = 20 -> 16
Stat (4d6 Drop Lowest): 4d6 ⇒ (3, 6, 2, 3) = 14 -> 12
Stat (4d6 Drop Lowest): 4d6 ⇒ (6, 3, 3, 5) = 17 -> 14
Stat (4d6 Drop Lowest): 4d6 ⇒ (6, 6, 3, 3) = 18 -> 15
Stat (4d6 Drop Lowest): 4d6 ⇒ (3, 6, 5, 1) = 15 -> 14
Stat (4d6 Drop Lowest): 4d6 ⇒ (4, 1, 1, 4) = 10 -> 09
Stat (4d6 Drop Lowest): 4d6 ⇒ (1, 1, 1, 6) = 09 -> 08
Stat (4d6 Drop Lowest): 4d6 ⇒ (4, 3, 5, 4) = 16 -> 13
Set 3
Stat (4d6 Drop Lowest): 4d6 ⇒ (1, 1, 4, 3) = 09 -> 08
Stat (4d6 Drop Lowest): 4d6 ⇒ (5, 3, 1, 3) = 12 -> 11
Stat (4d6 Drop Lowest): 4d6 ⇒ (3, 1, 3, 3) = 10 -> 09
Stat (4d6 Drop Lowest): 4d6 ⇒ (4, 4, 6, 2) = 16 -> 14
Stat (4d6 Drop Lowest): 4d6 ⇒ (5, 1, 6, 2) = 14 -> 13
Stat (4d6 Drop Lowest): 4d6 ⇒ (4, 4, 2, 6) = 16 -> 14
Stat (4d6 Drop Lowest): 4d6 ⇒ (3, 6, 3, 4) = 16 -> 13
Stat (4d6 Drop Lowest): 4d6 ⇒ (3, 6, 5, 5) = 19 -> 16
Cyber/Bio-ware:
Cyberware/Bioware : If this ever comes up in game, the rules in the book for cyberware are woefully underdeveloped, and the biological mods are pretty much the same. And, most of them didn't make it into the SF20 books.
So here's how I intend to handle it.
Wis Mod + Con Mod = Evolution Points
Cyberware or Bioware will be Eidelon evolutions (with me being the final arbiter on what can be gotten).
TL 10 : 1 pt Evolutions (with restrictions on a case by case basis)
TL 11 : 2 pt Evolutions (with restrictions on a case by case basis)
TL 12 : 3 pt Evolutions (with restrictions on a case by case basis)
TL 13 : 4 pt Evolutions (with restrictions on a case by case basis)
For example, let's say you found a hidden TL 10 medical center hiding out on an asteroid for the last 450 years (yes I know, assume it had android doctors or something), and you want implants to give you low light vision.
Cyberware : Obvious but can be programmed to transmit to a datapad on your body for later review. Picked up on scanners 100% of time.
Bioware : Non-obvious, even to scanners, without DNA testing.
So let's say you have a Wisdom of 10, and a Con of 10. Your body and mind just can't handle the modifications, autofailure of implant.
Let's say you have a Wisdom of 14, and a Con of 8. Your body is weak, but through sheer will you can handle 1 pt of modification. So those new low-light eyes are yours.
Let's say you have a Con of 16 and a Wisdom of 16. Your body is healthy and hale, and you have a strong mind, so you can handle 6 pts worth of modifications.
Note, these would be very costly modifications. Ranging from 20,000 to 2,000,000 credits. One point mods cost 20,000 to 40,000 depending on complexity (adding extra pair of limbs is more complicated than adding claws to your hands or changing out your eyeballs). Giving you fast healing is incredibly complex and invasive (4 pts) and would cost 2,000,000 credits. Prices may be adjusted down the road.
Skill Pre-Requisites:
Remove 3 from prerequisites, minimum 2.
If you encounter something that is 'per 5 ranks' then just keep it at ranks. It does penalize people a tiny bit, but it makes the math easier to keep track of. Psionics follows this ruling, so teleport requires 5 actual ranks in your skill to be able to use it at minimum effectiveness.
Tech by Class/Level:
Computers : The TL 7 computers are readily available.
The TL 9's are available if you have Merchant, Noble, or Academic Careers.
Weapons : TL 7 are readily available.
TL 8 are available if you have Merchant, Noble, or any Military Careers.
TL 9 are available if you have Noble or any Military Careers.
Vehicles : TL 7 are readily available.
TL 8 are available if you have Merchant or Noble Careers.
Midshipman - Ensign on their first assignment, usually their first year.
Bosun - Senior non-commissioned officer on a ship or station, usually a Master Chief Petty Officer, but not always. Despite not being an officer, Bosun's are generally given command rights over Midshipmen.
Captain - Senior officer on a ship, who's been given command of the ship. If Senior Officer holds the rank of Commodore or higher, then that rank takes precedence over the title of Captain.
Station Commander - Senior officer on a station, who's been given command of the station. If Senior Officer holds the rank of Commodore or higher, then that rank takes precedence over the title of Station Commander.
Brevet - Prepended to a rank. This prefix indicates the rank is either temporary or pending. This might be done by a Captain to temporarily place a junior officer in charge (usually to give someone rank of someone with more time in service at the same rank), or to indicate a temporary assignment (such as Brevet-Captain when someone is temporarily given command of a ship outside the normal chain of command).
Army/Marine Ranks:
Army/Marine Enlisted Ranks
E1 : Private
E2 : Private First Class "PFC"
E3 : Corporal
E4 : Sergeant
E5 : Master Sergeant/Gunnery Sergeant
E6 : Master Gunnery Sergeant
XX : Sergeant Major of the Army/Marine Corp*
There is only 1 Sergeant Major of the Corps at any time. This individual is considered the highest ranking NCO in the military. They are generally considered a specialist and assigned where needed. Legally, they are still an NCO. Realistically, they usually have rather broad authority often including authority to give orders to higher ranking officers.
A Master Gunnery Sergeant in the Marine corp who gains a promotion gains an officer's Warrant. They do not however, gain a Commission. Instead they become a Chief Warrant Officer. Further promotions gain them the title of Marine Gunner. Further promotions gain them Gunnery Stripes. Informally, these are referred to as Junior Gunny's, Gunny's, and Senior Gunny's. The army does not have a similar role. Marine Gunners are the special forces of the Marines, and are expected to excel even above normal Marine expectations. Warrant Officers are treated like Officers for purposes of muster out, promotion checks, and so on. A WO who gains a commission becomes a 1st Lieutenant if they are a W01, and a Lieutenant Major if they are W02 or higher.
Army/Marine Officer Ranks*
01 : 2nd Lieutenant "2nd"/"2nd Louie"
02 : 1st Lieutenant "Louie"/"Lieutenant"
03 : Lieutenant Major "LM"/"Louie Major"
04 : Major
05 : Lieutenant Colonel "LC"/"Louie Chuck"
06 : Colonel "The Bird"
XX : Brigadier General "BG"/"Brigadier"
XX : Lieutenant General "LG"/'Louie General"
XX : Major General "MG"
XX : General
*Note that the ranking of LG being junior to MG is correct.
Martha McTavish stats:
Class : Armed Courier/Scout
EP Output : 40
Tech Level : 13
Agility : 4
Size : 250 tons
Initiative : +4
Streamling : Airframe
AC : 18 (+4 Agility, +4 Armor)
Jump Rating : 4
Repulsors : None
Acceleration : 400G
Nuclear Dampers : None
Fuel : 50 tons
Meson Screesn : None
Duration : 40 weeks / 20 jumps (1.25 tons/week, 2.5 tons/jump)
Black Globes : None
Crew : 3-17
AR : 4
Staterooms : None
SI : 115
Small Cabins : 9
Main Computer : Model 7 (AI)
Bunks : None
Sensor Range : System
Couches : None
Comm Range : System
Low Berts : None
Cargo Space : 29.5 Tons
Cost : 435 MCr
Atmospheric Speeds :
NOE : 1400 kph
Cruising : 4200 kph
Maximum : 5600 kph
Other Equipment : Fiber Optic Backup, Fuel Scoop, Fuel Purification System, x2 Pop-Up Turrets, x2 Pulse Lasers, Autodoc, x4 Freshers, 2 airlocks, High Autonomous Logic Program (Int +4), Full Verbal Command Program (Int +2), Datastorage (Holographic) (Computer Int Total : 12), Personality Interface Rating 12 (assume most programs are in storage as well)
Hera's Folly Stats:
Class : Utility Freighter
EP Output : 9
Tech Level : 10
Agility : 0
Size : 300 tons
Initiative : +0
Streamling : Streamlined (Flattened Sphere Hull)
AC : 10
Jump Rating : 1
Repulsors : None
Acceleration : 100G
Nuclear Dampers : None
Fuel : 80 tons
Meson Screesn : None
Duration : 53 weeks / 8 jumps (1.5 tons per week / 10 tons per jump)
Black Globes : None
Crew : 3-16
AR : 4
Staterooms : None
SI : 130
Small Cabins : 8
Main Computer : Model 3
Bunks : None
Sensor Range : Medium
Couches : None
Comm Range : Medium
Low Berts : None
Cargo Space : 155 Tons
Cost : 114 MCr
Atmospheric Speeds : 1-G
Class : Grav Vehicle
EP Output : 200 EP
Cost : 1.92 Mcr
Agility : 2
Tech Level : 9
Initiative : 2
Size : Huge (15,000 vl)
AC : 19 (+7 Armor + 2 Agility)
Streamlining : Standard
AR : 7
Pressurized? Yes
SI : 75
Climate Control? Yes
Visual : 4x Video, 2x HUD, 2x Monitor (2 front, one rear, one side door) IR Upgrade
Drive Train : Grav
Crew : 3 (Standard seats) 2 drivers + 1 Gunner
Passengers : 7
Sensors : Auditory
Cargo Space : 5000vl
Fuel : 300 vl
Range : 1 month (2 if one plant turned off)
Acceleration : 20kph
Offroad : N/A
Very Slow : 20kph
Slow : 50kph
Cruising : 100kph
Fast : 150kph
Max Speed : 200kph
EP Generated : 100/200 (53 required)
Other Equipment : 1 Fresher (With shower), Heavy Turret (2 Autocannons & 800 rounds of belted ammo), 2-Way Long Range radio, Str 25 Winch, 530 EP battery backup (10 hour emergency use)
People of Note:
CommodoreRear Admiral Martin Slayton Villiers : Rear Admiral Villiers is the first person to carry that rank in the Telthani Navy. The Navy has increased it's size by over 12,000% since the gates opened, and the navy simply needs to use those higher ranks.
Villiers is an old hand, and was next in line after McTavish. He's in his mid 50's, with a grizzled visage, thanks to his distaste for razors. The man is, despite being a navy man, heavily built, over 6 and a half feet tall and broad as an ox.
Mylthani Stats (15 RP):
Small (0 RP): Small races gain a +1 size bonus to their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –1 penalty on combat maneuver checks and to their CMD, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks. Small races have a space of 5 feet by 5 feet and a reach of 5 feet.
Normal Speed (0 RP): The race has a base speed of 30 feet.
Greater Paragon (2 RP): +4 Int, -2 Con, -2 Str
Standard Linguistic (0 RP) : Members of this race start with Galactic and Mylthani. Members of this race with high Intelligence scores can choose from any of these additional languages. (English, Spanish, German, Binary, Hexoganal)
Eternal Hope (2 RP): Prerequisites: None; Benefit: Members of this race gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against fear and despair effects. Also, once per day, after a natural roll of 1 on a d20 roll, members of this race may reroll and use the second result.
Shards of the Past (4 RP): Race has racial memory, Each member of this race picks two INT based skills. The member of this race gains a +2 racial bonus on both of these skills, and those skills are treated as class skills regardless of what class the member of this race actually takes.
Claws (2 RP) : Members of this race gain 2 1d3 claw attacks.
Low-Light Vision (1 RP) : Members of this race see twice as far in dim light as humans.
Quadruped (2 RP) : Members of this race posess four legs and two arms, granting them a +4 racial bonus to CMD against trip attempts and a +10 foot bonus to their base speed.
Hive Mind (2 RP) : Members of this race possess Telepathic ability allowing them to function as a hive mind. This has several benefits and drawbacks. A hive mind can only work up to a few miles in distance, but multiple hive minds can be connected together if they are in range, resulting in a large network.
Saves : While part of a hive mind, the member of the race gains a bonus to Will saves based on the number of minds in the hive mind.
Initiative : While part of a hive mind, all members of the hive mind use the same initiative roll (equal the average initiative of the hive mind), as well as a bonus based on the number of minds in the hive mind.
Skill Bonuses : While part of a hive mind, all members of the hive mind gain the benefit of 'Aid Another' checks, so long as the hive mind is focusing on the same task.
Drawbacks : If the character is not a member of a hive mind, or is a member of a hive mind with less than the minimal number of minds, and thus isolated within their own mind, they receive a -2 to d20 checks and all damage checks.
Bonuses
4-8 minds : +0
9-32 minds : +1
33-128 minds : +2
129-256 minds : +3
257-512 minds : +4
513+ minds : +5
Free World's Alliance:
The Free World's Alliance is an alliance between The Mylthani Collective, The Lisandran Empire, and The Telthani Republic. The three planets are not close to each other, but they are integrating their military and economic bases.
They have a peace accord with the Bandron Alignment, a planet of religious separatists that prefer not to be part of any group or alliance.
