[Torg] Star Sphere and Kadandra (was Magic Axiom: Conversions)

[Jasyn Jones]

On Feb 2, 2010, at 1:13 PM, Chad Dickhaut wrote:

> --- On Tue, 2/2/10, Jones Jasyn <jasynj at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> I still think the Akashans have to be 0, however. This
>> isn't bad, as it gives them another reason to favor the
>> Living Land (as they did in the official campaign).
> 
> It makes sense in a lot of ways, especially since you took Kadandra in a different direction than I did.  I made Kadandra the "classic sci fi meets cyberpunk" cosm: much of society is a rationalist technocracy, but there is a relatively seamy underbelly populated with those who don't, can't, or won't fit in with the rest of society.

Actually, that's pretty close to what I was going for. Sort of "Brave New World" crossed with "Neuromancer." Nominal world government technocracy, so we qualify for Galactic membership, that hides a three-way ideological struggle between blocs of nations. Much of the time, the world is advanced, clean, efficient, but there's a lot of ugliness swept under the rug. Normal people do pretty well, but there's heavy pressure to conform to the technocrat's exams and genetic tests (which give you your career).

It's a dystopic utopia, in part, not a fast-paced, Nilish "good, clean fun" reality. (The terms I used may have been misleading.)

The pulpiness comes in because actual cyberware, the metal implants, cannot be added to everyone, only exceptional individuals. The galactic races, in particular the Zinatt, have had fewer and fewer people born who can be implanted (in spite of cloning), so they depend on Earth recruits to lead the battle against Coar incursions. The World Council drafts those people who can be implanted and presses them into military service.

I'm sure there's a lot of differences, but (in my mind) taking the rationalist sci-fi into space makes it space opera (or opera-ish).

Jasyn Jones
jasynj (at) gmail (dot) com

"To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."
Ulysses, Alfred Lord Tennyson

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darleyconsulting.com/games/stormknights/