Amber Zone - Fast Forward
Last Updated
12 November
2003.
------------------------------
1996 #642
Date: Fri, 1 Nov 1996 19:07:02 -0500
From: Marc Miller
Subject: Re: Fast Forward
In a message dated 96-11-01 04:45:40 EST, you write:
> Hey, this would be a really great way to solve the problem of how to
> run a campaign using more than one Milieu setting without forcing the
> players to roll up whole new sets of characters for each one (or resorting
> to hocus-pocus "reincarnation"), and seems especially appropriate for T4.
> I hope this sees print someday!
That was the idea. Here is the basic draft as it was proposed:
Fast Forward
The crew of the starship Traveller is contaminated by a slow acting poison
with no known cure. Captain Mark Leonard has put them all into cold sleep;
they come out every century or so to see if a cure has been found.
Brief Summary
Commander Mark Leonard's exploration squadron, exploring the depths of the
just conquered Vilani Empire, has discovered an abandoned naval base on a
remote world, and in a repair facility: a huge Battle Cruiser. While
preparing to take it back to base, they are attacked and all of Commander
Leonard's crew are contaminated by a deadly, slow acting poison.
They'll all die within five years unless an antidote can be found. They do
some searching, but they find no one has the answer.
So he puts everyone into cold sleep, and a skeleton crew comes out every
century or so to see if the answer has been found. As they Fast Forward
through the future, they have a long list of adventures.
During the next 2000 years (about 2300 AD to 4500 AD) the crew of the
Traveller will come out of cold sleep every so often in search of a cure.
Along the way, they will witness the broad expanse of history as The Rule of
Man collapses and the Long Night begins. Much later, the Long Night ends and
the Third Imperium begins. At every important point in history, Leonard is
there helping, shaping, creating history:
- The Rule of Man 2317 AD to 2745 AD
- The Long Night 2745 AD to 4521 AD
- The Third Imperium 4521 AD to...
Threads for Adventures include:
- The Medical Research Foundation
- The Archives
- The Ship
- Grandfather
- Unfolding History
The Foundation
Commander Leonard loads up equipment from the abandoned base and sells it to
generate money. He uses that money to create and endow a medical foundation
(Lishun, meaning Health) to research the cure. While he and his crew sleep,
they should be working feverishly for the answer he needs.
Options
- Leonard visits the foundation and finds it has committed its limited
resources to an environmental problem on Sternin, and within a few years they
will have a cure that will save millions of lives. But not the crew of the
Traveller.
- Leonard visits the foundation and finds that its investments have gone sour
with the collapse of the Rule of Man. The foundation will have to close its
doors.
The Archives
The Vilani Empire maintained massive archives (by which it controlled access
to knowledge). This AAB has repositories on many worlds. By visiting the
archives, Leonard may be able to find clues to a world which already has the
cure he seeks.
Options
- An archive visit leads to a world with faith healers.
- The opportunity to transcend physical bodies and become one with the
universe. Some of the crew will take that option rather than face certain
death.
- An archive visit leads to a world with non-corporeal solutions. Those who
choose it become disembodied and move on to the next level of existence.
- An archive visit leads to a world with robotic solutions. Those who choose
it have their minds transplanted into artificial bodies.
- Transplant personalities into a computer universe.
The Ship
Initially, Leonard and his staff think the ship was built by the Old Empire
as a secret project or a prototype.
Options
- They discover the ship does not match any ship in the records of the Old
Empire. It is not a Vilani ship, but instead created by someone else.
- They discover the ship's computer has artificial intelligence, and slowly
puzzle out its memory.
- Discordant signals within the ship prompt Leonard to explore a vast hidden
closed off area and find new properties for the ship.
The ultimate answer: the Traveller (the huge ship) was originally created by
the Ancient Yaskoydray (Grandfather) for a special project. It is controlled
by an artificial intelligence that [missing text?]
Grandfather
The being that put humans on many worlds is Grandfather. He still roams space
and interacts in the lives of humans from time to time.
Options
- Find an Ancient Site... a massive, high-tech place on a world, now
destroyed by some long-ago war. Establish who the ancients are.
- Find an ancient ship drifting in space. Note some similarities with the
Traveller.
- They are enlisted by a robot emissary of Grandfather to ....
Unfolding and Shaping History
As time passes, the current government and society collapses. Leonard and his
staff can see it coming, and they want to help delay that until the cure is
found. Although they are unsuccessful, they have a hand in several key events
in history.
Restatement
INTROM Commander Mark Leonard's Deep Space Squadron 489, exploring the vast
territory of the just conquered Vilani Empire, discovers an abandoned naval
base on a remote world, and in a repair facility: a huge Battle Cruiser.
While Cdr Leonard's squadron crews prepare to take it back to base, they are
attacked by armed raiders from TTT (Terran Trade and Transport), a shady
combine with more regard for profit than for morals. Leonard drives them off,
but the BC is damaged and his entire crew (with the exception of Leonard) are
contaminated by a deadly, slow acting poison.
Faced with the certain death of his entire crew within five years, Leonard
puts them in cold sleep, keeping out only a few dozen out to help run the
ship. His initial strategy is to search the empire for an antidote, but that
plan soon changes: Leonard finds a world, brings in a cargo worth a lot of
money, and uses the funds to endow a medical research foundation to research
a cure. He takes the ship and hides it, coming out every 100 years or so in
hopes that a cure has been found.
------------------------------
#642
Date: Fri, 01 Nov 1996 19:37:35 +0000
From: Amused to Death
Subject: Re: Fast Forward
CardSharks@aol.com wrote:
> Restatement
[snip]
Now THAT is a macro-campaign.
I doubt I would use it directly, but there are a lot of potential good threads coming out of
this. Perhaps one might be the reasoning (as far as a human can comprehend) of
Grandfather's master plan, or plans.
It also has a great value as a pocket history of the local galactic powers, giving out stuff
like the Spinward Marches campaign, showing where, who, was, & when.
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