Gentlesophonts:
Here's the first installment of Earth Colonies campaign material. I'll
wait for response to this before I post anymore.
COLONIES SPHERE OVERVIEW
The Colonies Sphere is a region of charted space centered on the Sol system.
The Sphere measures 30 parsecs in diameter and consists of over 500 systems
scattered among 56 subsectors. Each subsector is eight parsecs wide, ten
parsecs long and nine parsecs high, containing 720 cubic parsecs. Three
dimensional locations are similar to standard Traveller conventions with
the addition to the standard four-digit hex notation of a two-digit decimal
notation for the z-location (vertical).
Coordinates in the z-plane increase from `upward' (zenith) to `downward'
(nadir), just as standard x-coordinates increase from spinward to trailward
and standard y-coordinates from coreward to rimward.
[The Earth Colonies Sphere system locations are based upon the `real' locations
given for the *2300AD* "Near Star Map". The three-dimensional Cartesian
coordinates given in lightyears (cyr) have been manually entered into an
Excel (Macintosh) spreadsheet where they are converted to parsecs (pc) and
translated to three dimensional hex grid locations. I will be more than
happy to provide an electronic copy - you can figure out how to convert it
from Mac Excel to your favorite application - to anyone who sends me an
unformatted 3.5-in disk and sufficient postage to return it to you. Overseas
folks contact me first so we can work out currency exchange details.]
Many worlds in the Colonies Sphere have been settled by Humans and Dolphins
from Earth during two major migrations. The first occurred before the advent
of jump drive and the second from several different worlds after jump drive
was invented. Two other sophont races, the Aeroi and the Meren, have
settled worlds on the fringes of the Sphere from their own regions of space.
The Earth Colonies campaign occurs at the beginning of the 31st Century AD.
While several independent worlds exist most worlds claim some sort of
allegiance to one of the major Terran insterstellar states in the Sphere.
These major states are:
*Commonwealth of Earth (Earth/Sirius 1720.19 A867988-D): Homeworld to both
Dolphins and Humans, Earth is also the capital of the largest state in the
Colonies Sphere.
*Abrahamic Synod (New Canaan/Gaea 2215.10 A865999-D): Settled by followers
of the Abrahamic faith who fled Earth during the Sundering. New Canaan
sends missionary vessels throughout the Colonies Sphere and beyond.
*Empire of Aztlan (Aztlan/Procyon 0911.20 A9879A7-D): The strongest military
power in the Sphere, the Empire of Aztlan seeks to expand its control among
the many independent worlds of the Colonies Sphere.
*Federation of Nyanza (Nyanza/Nyanza 1531.12 A86898A-D): Nyanza's settlers fled
the African continent and surrounding oceans during the Sundering. The worlds
of the Federation are the most cosmopolitan (`multicultural' in PC Newspeak)
in the Colonies Sphere.
*Ouroran Community (Amazonas/Ourora 1934.24 A766955-D): By far the major
economic power in the Colonies Sphere, the Ourorans often find themselves
in fierce competition with the Aeroi.
The two extraterrestrial races encountered so far have established outposts
and settled several worlds in the Colonies Sphere.
*Aeroi Worlds (hvi-Unapfi/Auriga 1909.09 A893847-D): The Aeroi are native to
a world far beyond the Colonies Sphere. Aeroi merchants, based at hvi-Unapfi,
travel to every major world in the Sphere.
*Meren Worlds (Dedn/Europa 2934.30 AA6A865-D): The Meren are also from beyond
the Sphere. Their expansion into the Sphere, including sometimes violent
competition with the Aeroi, has lessened recently as their attention has
mysteriously turned inward.
In addition to the major Colonial States, several smaller states have been
established by settlers from Earth. Most of these lag a tech level or two
behind the major Colonial States. These states include the Republic of
Kiangsi, the Rajasthani Confederacy, the Dolphin-dominated Theridian League,
the isolationist Republique Quebecois, the Empire of Shinnihon based at
Ehime and the Kingdom of Hejaz.
COLONIES SECTOR
Subsectors in the Colonies Sphere follow the same Traveller convention with
the addition of a Roman numeral to denote the `level' of a particular
subsector. Levels run vertically `downward' from I to IV. An asterisk (*)
indicates the subsector is unexplored by the Commonwealth Scout Service.
(Other subsectors may only be partially explored.) The subsectors of
Atlantis, Susanowo, Sarasvati, Chalputepec, Siva, Jaxartes, Missisquoi and
Europa, while part of the Colonies Sector, are technically not included in
the Colonies Sphere.
A-I Atlantis* I-I Quetzalcoatl*
A-II Oh-kuni-nushi I-II Arcturus (Nouveau Quebec)
A-III Muntu I-III Kiangsi (Kiangsi)
A-IV Siva* I-IV Theta Centauri
B-I Ehime (Ehime) J-I Bootes
B-II Castor J-II Jagannath (Rajasthan)
B-III Santa Fe J-III Siddhartha
B-IV Oceania* J-IV Southern Triangle
C-I Auriga (hvi-Unapfi) K-I Cepheus
C-II Brahma K-II Vega
C-III Orion K-III Fomalhaut
C-IV Pacifica* K-IV Tunghai
D-I Susanowo* L-I Shang-ti
D-II Lorelei L-II Hejaz (Hejaz)
D-III Ptah L-III Vishnu
D-IV Jaxartes* L-IV Amaterasu
E-I Hyrcania M-I Sarasvati*
E-II Denebola M-II Isauria*
E-III Alpha Crucis M-III Gilgamesh*
E-IV Tanagra M-IV Missisquoi*
F-I Ursa Major N-I Mercia
F-II Pollux N-II Nyanza (Nyanza)
F-III Procyon (Aztlan) N-III Wanganui
F-IV Draconis N-IV Masada
G-I Capella O-I Hibakusa*
G-II Gaea (New Canaan) O-II Aquila
G-III Sirius (Earth) O-III Ourora (Amazonas)
G-IV Alpha Hydri O-IV Xanadu*
H-I Cassiopeia P-I Chalputepec*
H-II Pegasus P-II Zarathustra*
H-III Theridia (Therid) P-III Cinnabar
H-IV Phoenix P-IV Europa
*****
That's all for now, except for the following pitch:
EARTH COLONIES DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE (ECDL)
Only the most rudimentary of structure has been developed to date for the
Earth Colonies campaign - basic system locations have been determined,
a few central subsectors have been mapped and UWP data generated, major
Colonial States have been identified, general technology levels set, and
major non-human races created. The remainder of the campaign environment
will be developed by the Earth Colonies Development League. The League
is responsible for creating, coordinating, maintaining and publishing all
campaign background material.
The primary mechanism for the League's activities is the newsletter *Melbourne
Times* (MT#4 is due out shortly). All newsletter subscribers become *de facto*
members of the League. Other information of a more specific nature will be
published in a series of Working Papers available from the *Melbourne Times*
at a minimal cost.
So churn up your creative juice and become a developer. Developers will be
responsible for individual subsectors (an 8pc x 10pc x 9pc region), for
individual states, and for individual non-human races. General purpose
developer positions are possible too.
Happy Travelling,
David Johnson
Houston, Texas, USA