The worst of the worst are incarcerated in U.S.H.E.R.'s Rock City prison on Alcatraz Island. These are the 22 most dangerous men and women alive, criminals only one jail could hold.
The Terran Insterstellar Marine Force is the toughest
branch of the Unified Earth Military Command. In their storied 200 year history
as the infantry arm of the Terran Expeditionary Fleet, the Leathernecks had
battled the feral xenomorphs of Rigil Kentaurus, stormed the asteroid
fortresses of the Void Pirates and eradicated an uprising of the savage native
Vrish who threatened the Pleiades Colony. But
they had never faced a foe like the Fyr'Toll
Background: It is the year 2268 and mankind is locked in a bitter war of extermination with the Fyr`Toll, a frightening, inhuman blend of man and machine. Their first attacks came without warning and decimated the most powerful nations on Earth. The United States of Africa, the Indian Conglomerate, the Pan-American League and the Asian Coalition all lie in ruins.
Earth refused to surrender and after a desperate first year of conflict, managed to match the Fyr`Toll’s technological advantages through a series of daring boarding actions, capturing and reverse engineering enemy vessels. Once parity was achieved however, the war seemed to drag on indefinitely and has just entered its 25th year.
On a deep-space survey mission thought to be far away from the front lines, the player characters served on the UASS Johannesburg, searching out resources vital to the war effort. It is then they run across a Fyr`Toll survey ship, the Kra`Tep. After a brief, vicious firefight, both vessels crash on an uncharted planet below.
Two enemies, stranded on one planet on the edge of space. Neither able to overcome the planet’s natural magnetic field to call for help and watching as a fast-growing jungle constantly threatens to overrun their ruined vessels, as predators kill their crew one by one.
After several firefights, their numbers dwindling, the captain of the Kra`Tep meets with the senior surviving officer of the Johannesburg and suggests the two sides join forces to get free of the deadly planet. When the pact is announced, approximately 25% of the humans and Fyr`Toll strike out on their own, unable to overcome the hatred each feels for the other.
These attack each other, the opposing side and even their fellows, all in an
attempt to “convince” them that cooperation with their worst enemy is pointless
at best, dangerous at worst.
A game of exploration: This is the campaign of “stranded on a different star”. A hostile alien world must be explored and possibly tamed, at first for simple survival but eventually with the monumental task of pooling resources for a return voyage.
A game of character interaction: But the planet isn’t the only challenge players in the game will face. Can they manage to hold their unstable coalition together and overcome the hatred bred by decades of war? Can they bring their dissidents back into the fold?
A game of discovery: And even when the planet has been explored, there are mysteries left to solve. What about the planet hinders technology? What secrets wait to be discovered in alien ruins? And how closely will each side honor their agreements? If a powerful alien weapon is discovered, will its secrets be shared or will the discovering side try to hide it for return to their side in the war above.
A game of community: Stranded on a Distant Star will be financed by the “ransom” system, where gamers interested in the game will finance it and guide its direction.
If the $1,500 donation threshold is achieved, patrons will gain access to a special discussion group, where they will see advance drafts of the game and comment on its direction. The game will be designed by veteran OGL designer Charles Rice and its mechanics will be 100% OGL, though the setting will remain the property of Vigilance Press/Charles Rice.
Once the game is completed, the game will be made available for free on RPGNow in PDF form. All contributors will be credited in the final PDF copy.
Contributors of $20 or more will receive a POD-print copy of the game.
About the author: Charles Rice is an Ennie-nominated writer with over 100 credits. His books currently in print include: Modern20, Supers20, Darwin’s World (True20 Edition) and the Two Worlds RPG, included in the collectors edition of the Two Worlds X-Box 360 game.
Learn more or donate at the Vigilance Press blog, RPGDesign.
The Canterbury Isles are an idyllic region, once the western edge of the mighty Kingdom of Damask, they were set adrift when that empire descended into the flames of anarchy.Since then, the largest human settlement in the region, Bondaea, has become a city obsessed with order, dominated by the priests of lawful deities, the Duke has turned the city into a police state, with random identity checks and the gates separating the four quarters of the city locked at night.Worse, the Duke has fallen under the spell of Therran the White, god of racial purity and forced all demi-humans in the city into the slum quarter. This action, combined with the clear-cutting of human loggers on the island has move the humans and elves to the edge of a race war that will devastate the isles forever. Now is the time for heroes. But will they decide the conflict in favor of one side or the other or find a way to prevent a senseless war before it can begin?
Written by Bill Browne, this second installment in our retro 4C game coverage gives NPCs from the land down under, along with a new origin and some new powers.
If 4C is your game of choice, you should check this out.
