CREDITS

Most of these pages contain artwork that was "borrowed" from web artists and subsequently modified for use in this program. No intent of ownership is implied, and the non-profit nature (and limited appeal) of this work means that it will have little or no pecuniary impact on the artist(s). Thanks to all the web artists everywhere for your support.

What this is, and Why I did it.

Reading an encyclopedia is pretty boring if you don't know something about the world it was written for. Please read some of the stories from the Narrative Archive section. It provides snapshots of the world that the players live in, and how everything relates.

Sci-fi games have a lot of problems for people weaned on your basic medieval AD&D dungeon crawl. For starters, that they're just too convenient. You can talk to each other over unlimited distances, high-quality medical care is universal, and hardly anyone ever has bad breath. Also, I wanted to create a universe where the players couldn't run out to the local game store, plop down a yuppie food coupon ($20 bill) and instantly learn everything about the universe. The easiest (and most ego-inflating) way to do that was to write my own game material.

Technology in this universe is like technology in the Babylon 5 or Star Trek milieus. It's there, it's very sophisticated, and it's also so complicated that it takes a team of engineers to figure it out, even with the help of a supercomputer. This helps control the "magic" of technology. As for the other aspects, the absence of FTL (faster than light) travel means that people and material move slower. That makes it easier for the GM to restrict gee-whiz items. I like to call it a "slow-tech" universe.

Someday I might put this material in a GURPS "worldbook" format, but to do that I would have to write down all the stuff in my head, which would take much too long. Who knows? If the amount of time I've wasted on this is any indication, I might just be fool enough to do it!