America 1600 Campaign setting
- Thread starter Madarin Dude
- Start date
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
There are some pretty interesting ideas in there Tom
Madarin Dude
SOC-13
Your system makes perfect sense. Instead of making an artificial limit. I get so used to seeign thing sliek trillion credit squadron and thinking of the massive ships in fighting ships and the real limits of the less financially well off micro empires.
In order to have a Trillion Credit Squadron, you need a trillion credits to spend. Those Capital Ships were afforded by an interstellar government composed of 11,000 worlds. Earth is only one world, in this scenario, it has only just entered the interstellar arena. My sources tell me that the Vilani Empire is about 1,600 years old. If the Vilani reached its height 800 years ago, then the stranded colonists have had 800 years to sink to TL2. Most likely the colonists here were mining something. The substance mined in this case is a crystal that facilitates nuclear fusion at low temperatures or ordinary hydrogen atoms into ordinary helium atoms. this crystal facilitates the fusion process and allows the creation of small fusion reactors that can be used in starships. These crystals are only found on New America among all the planets surveyed by the Terrans so far. The crystals tend to grow slowly of their own accord, and they are made of a nanomaterial that is of a synthetic origin and has so far defied all attepts at duplication by terrans. So the only way of obtaining them is by mining them and cutting them, this was the activity of the original Vilani colonists before they were cut off from their empire. This colony was fabulously weathy in its time, and imported most of the high tech luxuries and equipment that it needed. With loss of contact, the Vilani humans here were unable to maintain and repair their equipment, they were all miners and not used to manufacturing things. The crystals themselves facilitated nuclear fusion, but only under certain circumstances in specially designed fusion reactors, without those fusion reactors, they crystals became worthless to them and mining of them ceased. The colony grew in population over time, various bands spread all over the planets surface, but they failed to pass on their knowledge and lived a hand to mouth existance with declining tech. At a certain population level the decline ceased and stabilized, but by that time, the natives were speaking many different languages and most could not read the writings on the old tomes.
The terrans rediscovered the usefulness of the fusion crystals, although they already had fusion reactors, the crystals allowed them to build much smaller and cheaper fusion reactors than they could previously. The terran colonies grew quickly and expanded rapidly, but at this point they are still small. Crystals are exported to Earth, while mining equipment and all the modern essenals of life are shipped from there to the New America Colonies. Competition of mining sites is fierce between the 5 powers and the corporations they represent. Some piracy goes on here and some crystals are stolen. Fusion is of primary concern in powering starships, most of Earth's energy needs are met by a constellation of Solar Power Satellites orbiting the Earth. Governments are primarily concerned with the Solar System, devoting only small amounts of resources to the interstellar colonies. Private companies and corporations are more interested. Private security firms are hired and they operate small warships under 1,000 tons of displacement. Mercenary cruisers and patrol cruisers are employed. Nuclear weapons are unavailable and are controlled by the governments that keep them in the Solar System Various actions however occur at the sites of the colonies. Pirate bases operate on New America, and without an established authority on this planet, they mostly operate unmolested except by other pirates, and merchant companies fighting back. Since many pirates have been in combat alot, it is common to see some of them missing various body parts, such as arms and legs, cyborging is vary common among the pirate bands. Their are whole towns that earn a living by providing all the essentials that pirates need, in fact they wouldn't exist without the patronidge of pirate crews and various other unsavory characters. Brawls are common here as is dueling, and sword fighting. Mining the crystals is hard work, many people find it to be more lucrative to steal them. Natives on the planet are most often employed in these mining operations, as they work cheap compared to anybody who might be shipped from Earth. opportunity abounds here however.
On other parts of the planet colonies are planted in less economically promising areas, the interests of these colonists are less to get rich quick than to establish new societies and isolate themselves from the old, many of these colonies are religiously based, and have their own ideas which the wish to try out without interference from the societies in the Solar System, so they come here so they can start anew. There has been frequent conflict between them and the natives, though some coorperation as well. Many societies wish to get back to basics and relive those simpler times of the good old days, othen relying on beasts of burden and human muscle to plant their crops rather than on machines, which break down and for which they often do not have the money for.
The terrans rediscovered the usefulness of the fusion crystals, although they already had fusion reactors, the crystals allowed them to build much smaller and cheaper fusion reactors than they could previously. The terran colonies grew quickly and expanded rapidly, but at this point they are still small. Crystals are exported to Earth, while mining equipment and all the modern essenals of life are shipped from there to the New America Colonies. Competition of mining sites is fierce between the 5 powers and the corporations they represent. Some piracy goes on here and some crystals are stolen. Fusion is of primary concern in powering starships, most of Earth's energy needs are met by a constellation of Solar Power Satellites orbiting the Earth. Governments are primarily concerned with the Solar System, devoting only small amounts of resources to the interstellar colonies. Private companies and corporations are more interested. Private security firms are hired and they operate small warships under 1,000 tons of displacement. Mercenary cruisers and patrol cruisers are employed. Nuclear weapons are unavailable and are controlled by the governments that keep them in the Solar System Various actions however occur at the sites of the colonies. Pirate bases operate on New America, and without an established authority on this planet, they mostly operate unmolested except by other pirates, and merchant companies fighting back. Since many pirates have been in combat alot, it is common to see some of them missing various body parts, such as arms and legs, cyborging is vary common among the pirate bands. Their are whole towns that earn a living by providing all the essentials that pirates need, in fact they wouldn't exist without the patronidge of pirate crews and various other unsavory characters. Brawls are common here as is dueling, and sword fighting. Mining the crystals is hard work, many people find it to be more lucrative to steal them. Natives on the planet are most often employed in these mining operations, as they work cheap compared to anybody who might be shipped from Earth. opportunity abounds here however.
On other parts of the planet colonies are planted in less economically promising areas, the interests of these colonists are less to get rich quick than to establish new societies and isolate themselves from the old, many of these colonies are religiously based, and have their own ideas which the wish to try out without interference from the societies in the Solar System, so they come here so they can start anew. There has been frequent conflict between them and the natives, though some coorperation as well. Many societies wish to get back to basics and relive those simpler times of the good old days, othen relying on beasts of burden and human muscle to plant their crops rather than on machines, which break down and for which they often do not have the money for.
