Beacon of Hope: Helping Heal the Wilds

[lewiscroberts]

Hi,

While working on Reformation Coalition military units, I thought the RC needed more NGO (non-governmental organizations) like Doctors without Borders, or the Red Cross. This could lead to a different type of campaign or interesting encounters in the Wilds.

Lewis

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Beacon of Hope

Beacon of Hope was founded in 1202 by Spartak Kozlov, an Oriflamme technarch who had recently retired. He realized that to achieve the Reformation Coalition’s goals of integrating the surrounding territories won't be done with only hard power, the RC must use soft power. He also realized that getting something done quickly in the Assembly of Worlds with its constant debate and committees would be near impossible. Instead he did what most technarchs do and took action. He used a sizable fraction of his personal fortune to set up an endowment for Beacon of Hope. This has gone to hiring staff and buying equipment.

Beacon of Hope mounts missions to the Wilds, but instead of snatching relic technology, it provides medical treatment and humanitarian assistance. Many worlds in the Wilds do not have access to modern medicine and aliments and illnesses that would be trivial to cure on Oriflamme or Aubaine, kill millions each year. Beacon of Hope can assist with this by providing visiting medical clinics which treat chronic conditions.

Khamyannah Arsto, the RCSA Commisioner for External Development (see the "Star Vikings" Sourcebook) is a strong advocate of Beacon of Hope and has set up a permanent liaison with the organization: Mai Pham. Mai provides Beacon of Hope with the names of planets that would welcome medical missions. She also provides as much background information as the RCSA or RCES has. Mai is headquartered on Aubaine and sends the information to Beacon of Hope on Oriflamme via any available RC ship heading towards Oriflamme.

Beacon of Hope missions are usually headed by a team of physicians and nurses with a variety of specialties. The team members are not overly specialized; there isn't usually enough specialists to go around and everyone is cross trained to at least a minimal level. In addition to the core medical staff, there are a number of assistants who set up tents/generators, make deliveries and all the other tasks that need to get done to make things work. Many of these people are slowly picking up some basic medical skills to help out the medical staff. Finally, since this is the Wilds; there is a security team. They tend to keep a low profile, but this depends on the world and the circumstances. They try to not be perceived as a threat to the locals.

In the latter half of 1202, Beacon of Hope is planning on month long missions to Phoebus, Ra and Helios. These will serve as dry runs of the missions being sent out into the Wilds; they will also expose more people in the RC to Beacon of Hope helping with recruiting and fund raising.


Adventure Hooks:

Beacon of Hope could be the focus of a different type of campaign the stereotypical RCES Smash and Grab campaign. A Final War bioweapon was accidentally released by relic hunters (RC or Guild). It is now sweeping through the area and the players must identify a cure and destroy the remaining bioweapons. A TED or terrorist organization could have located a pre-collapse bioweapons laboratory and be trying to brew up a weapon to achieve their goals. The Beacon of Hope team would have to do their best to shut the facility down, without releasing a deadly plague.

The players are serving as security for a Beacon of Hope mission. A doctor and or other personal are kidnapped; the players must get them back. Or maybe they are the kidnap victims and they were kidnapped to provide medical attention to a dying rebel leader, or someone the RC might want to know.

The players could also encounter Beacon of Hope while working in the Wilds. A group of Beacon of Hope workers on break, wandered into a set of ruins which are considered taboo and the players need to negotiate with the locals and rescue the party.

The players launched a smash and grab mission in the same area as a Beacon of Hope medical station. Or they caused some great social upheaval by decapitating the local government. The natives are upset at the visitors from the stars and might lash out at the Beacon of Hope personal. The players would hopefully protect the Beacon staff and work to find a peaceful solution.

The players could also encounter Beacon of Hope while working in the Wilds. A group of Beacon of Hope workers on break, wandered into a set of ruins which are considered taboo and the players need to negotiate with the locals and rescue the party.

Another possibility is that the players launched a smash and grab mission in the same area as a Beacon of Hope medical station, or caused some great social upheaval by decapitating the local government. The natives are upset at the visitors from the stars and might lash out at the Beacon of Hope personal. The players would hopefully protect the Beacon staff and work to find a peaceful solution.

 

[LeperColony]

I've honestly never been a fan of the RC, but I can see arguments for and against an NGO-like structure you've proposed.

On the one hand, source materials like Smash and Grab make it clear that the RCES is a "whatever works" organization, willing to work with people outside the formal chain of command. This makes some sense, when you think about the relative scarcity of high tech resources and, just as important (if not more so), people with the skills, training and inclination towards such assignments.

But there's another angle that makes the loosey-goosey system of the RC questionable. Given the profound implications of Virus infection, you'd think the RC would be more concerned than it is with who is going where and bringing back what.

For gameplay and setting stability purposes, we know that Virus has receded by 1201, but realistically speaking, any planet in the Wilds would have innumerable opportunities to carry infection back to civilization, especially with Virus's ability to lay dormant within devices that themselves lack the computing power to sustain a fully sentient AI.

The RC materials is written in such a way as to leave the impression that Virus infection is no longer a routine concern for its member worlds. But I would tend to think that's unrealistic (though much of TNE is), and that a better model would be biological infections during the Middle Ages. There's just not much you can do. Plague is omni-present and going to kill people all the time, with occasional large flare ups every 30-50 years.

 

[lewiscroberts]

>On the one hand, source materials like Smash and Grab make it clear that the >RCES is a "whatever works" organization, willing to work with people outside >the formal chain of command. This makes some sense, when you think about >the relative scarcity of high tech resources and, just as important (if not more >so), people with the skills, training and inclination towards such assignments.

>But there's another angle that makes the loosey-goosey system of the RC
>questionable. Given the profound implications of Virus infection, you'd think
>the RC would be more concerned than it is with who is going where and
>bringing back what.


The RC is definitely a very lassiz faire society. According to Path of Tears, the RCES mounts expeditions into the Wilds, but so do corporations, Individual member worlds, and private individuals. (That's all good since it provides plenty of room for player characters to act.) All expeditions need to account for any items they recover in the Wilds. Path of Tears doesn't specify any penalties for violating that policy, but I've always assumed the penalties are severe and the importation of undeclared computer systems and other high risk items would carry the death penalty on the worlds with higher law level such as Ra.

>For gameplay and setting stability purposes, we know that Virus has receded
>by 1201, but realistically speaking, any planet in the Wilds would have >innumerable opportunities to carry infection back to civilization, especially with >Virus's ability to lay dormant within devices that themselves lack the >computing power to sustain a fully sentient AI.

I think the RC can't institute the same Quarantine that the Regency can. It doesn't have the resources to patrol and doesn't have a border region that acts as a buffer. Also, the RC has less infrastructure to reinfect. The Core Regency worlds haven't been touched by Virus, but every RC world was infected (except for the Imperial era low tech ones) and the life loss was high. Their systems were rebuilt to be Virus resistant and can probably tolerate Virus more than the Regency worlds, which have not rebuilt their entire infrastructure. Their attitude may be more relaxed (in a relative fashion) because they saw so much of it, while the average Regency world has only heard of Virus. The RC attitude towards Virus provides a contrast to the Regency, especially after they make their accommodation with Sandman.

Cheers,

Lewis

 

[jcrocker]

It would have been interesting to see what would have happened when the RC met the Regency.

 

[mike wightman]

According to Dave Nilsen there would have been conflict initially due to the RC use of Sandman derived ship AIs.

They would eventually put aside their differences due to the apocalyptic threat of the opening of the black curtain.

The combination of Regency TL16 ships, Sandman based ship AIs and free Ithklur troops still wouldn't stand a chance vs the ships and cyborged armies of the black Imperium.

It is my belief that the ultimate Star Viking mission is to send teams through the black curtain to introduce a Hiver designed doomsday virus into the black Imperium.

No grand fleets, just PC scale action that has the potential to bring an end to Lucan and his madness, but at a great moral cost.

Result - death and genocide on a scale that makes the Rebellion and initial release of Virus look like a winter flu epidemic...
a necessary evil to ensure the enslavement and cyborgification of all life doesn't come to pass.