Rebellion and Dominion
Premise
Welcome to the Alliance – well, technically the Alliance, not that they seem to care much about us anymore. Out here on the Fringe, we’ve been on our own for generations. Yeah, we’ve tried to get our independence from the Alliance, but that was a disaster; we got trounced like a ten-year-old backtalkin’ his pa. But we kept on keepin’ on. We may not be as advanced as the Alliance, but we still manage to get by. We may not be as educated as the Alliance, but we still know a good piece of cropland from a bad one. We have our industries. We have our spaceports.
Well, I should be saying, “had.” We had all of that before the Dominion came. I guess the Alliance doesn’t think we’re worth fighting for. Yeah, they put up a show of resistance against the Dominion’s forces, but they hardly fought at all. They just let those alien hundan kill us, enslave us, or otherwise conquer us. They set up shop with the humans who collaborated and formed the Overwatch, a paramilitary police force to keep the public obedient. They used secret police to route out conspirators against the Dominion, but many of us still held out. Even today, a growing resistance movement is alive and well, though we—I mean, they don’t have the strength to cast off the shackles of oppression. Yet.
In GURPS terms, this corner of the galaxy has a mixed and varied tech level. On average, planets range from TL 5 to TL 8, depending on local wealth and resources, but elements through TL 9 and in the case of space travel, TL 10, exist in pockets. Common equipment is usually of the local TL, although higher TL items are typically available to those willing to do their research and pay the right fees.
The Dominion maintains relatively lax control on weapons. It is unclear as to their motive, but the overall affect, after thoroughly defeating humanity, has been to give the false impression that humans retain some degree of freedom. Some theories maintain that Dominion technology is advanced enough that human weapons cannot harm them. Either way, no one really shoots at the dominion anymore. The Overwatch has a way of making everyone you love vanish if you do.
Well-meaning people trying to survive on the cut-throat, backwater, alien-conquered dump of a planet named Mnemosyne. Characters may choose be members of a local resistance movement or merely be profiteers who harbor a healthy dislike for their government. Either way, they shouldn’t carry too great of a respect for the law (unless you want to play That Guy), and be willing to occasionally bend rules to accomplish your goals. Have a reason for being in Novamrica City. The game will begin with characters answering an underground advertisement for help with questionable morale, willing to travel, willing to work.
Books in Use
Action Series
Basic Set
High Tech
Ultra-Tech
Character Generation
Characters should be 250 CP. While the templates from Action are not mandatory, they make life easy and serve as a nice guide. You may want to start with one of these and modify it to your liking. Remember that this Is a combat-heavy game, so make sure you can handle a firefight.
PCs should strictly be human and within human physical norms, despite the cinematic nature of the game. This shouldn’t prove very limiting. If you have questions about whether something is within the human norm, ask me. If I lack a good answer, I’ll get one from SJG.
Again, while it is not a requirement, the party would be best suited to contain an investigator, face man, wheel man, wire rat/mechanic, shooter, and medic (or at least fill those roles somehow). Combining roles is certainly a possibility. Again, it never hurts to pick up some combat capability.
