Setting Subsets

Summary:

Making an interesting setting through small combinations of civilizations.

Setting Subsets

Colin_Fredericks 13 Apr 2009 12:37

Though I love all the civilizations, I do occasionally have the urge to run the game with a reduced set of them. There's so much interesting flavor you can get by putting just a few of these weirdos into a game world instead of the whole mess of 14 (20 with Travelogue).

One of my favorites is: Old-Worlders, Logicians, Stardwellers. Old-Worlders become the default point-of-view characters, who have interactions primarily with the Logicians at first and the Stardwellers later on. The Logicians think so differently from the Old-Worlders that they might as well be aliens, and the Stardwellers look different enough to be aliens. There's a significant technological hierarchy here as well, with the lower utterly unable to comprehend the higher's tech.

Another one is: Masquerade, Union, Cargo Cults. It's a much more polarized universe, with each side trying to capture/convert the remaining cults and their planets. Any of these cultures' allies can be substituted as long as they have roughly equivalent tech - you could put in the Tao or Stardwellers for the Masquerade, or the Replicants for the Union. Things just get weirder when you do.

Any combinations that you like?

Re: Setting Subsets

TauCeti 21 Apr 2009 17:48

One of the major themes of SA is “When cultures collide”. I play off of this in my one shots and campaign sessions by picking two or three civilizations and focusing on the interactions between them. The rest of the universe is still out there somewhere, but it's not relevant to the immediate situation.

I tend to like a more morally ambiguous Union than the core rules present. One way to play off this is to toss the Union in with some “fallen” civilization, either the Cargo Cults, or the Mechanicans after a total society collapse. The Union has the tools to help, and (being the skilled metatechnicians they are) are entirely benevolent… in the short term. Obvious good guys, almost too perfect, and you know that someday you'll be paying for their involvement. It creates a wonderful situation when the inspectors are sent in to save a dying world, and know that the Union is always available to help.

Another possibility is to put some aliens where the civs currently are.

Maybe a sub-sect of the Skotadi are really involved in human affairs. Maybe they offer cheap computing time (if gravitic communication is faster than in cannon), or gravitic stellar manipulation for system-scale terraforming projects. Skotadi can end up filling in the role of the Stored or Mechanicans, while being utterly alien.

Similarly, the Aia can easily fill the shoes of the Union and Replicants, except substantially more terrifyingly.

Re: Setting Subsets

Pilgrim 31 Aug 2009 20:27

Shaper Mechanist setting, courtesy of Bruce Sterling

Shapers: Stardwellers, Tao (but much more manipulative), Daoine and Alchemists. Add in Hyperevolutes for common society. Less common Darwinians.
Mechanists: Nanori, Cyborn, Mechanicans and Stored. Add in Group Mind for a common group.

The vast middle: Spacers, The Weg, Heptagon.

Re: Setting Subsets

Pneumonica 24 Jun 2010 05:45

Transplanetary: Disciples, Stardwellers, Roamers (although I'm not a big fan of the Roamers as a Civ), Spacers, Daoine, Heptagons, and a number of the Cargo Cults. Also, you can go ahead and merge the Stored and the Unbound - they're functionally the same thing now.

The collective effect is to remove all dependence on planets. When humanity reached the stars, most of them never looked back. A number of other Civs can be adapted with little work, but several are too clunky. Gaians, Nanori, and Old Worlders won't fit at all, and it'd be a tough fit for Independents and Replicants. The concept I've always played with, the single-identity Replicant Group Mind, might be more interesting, but keep in mind you could very well be playing the entire crew of a ship. Then again, having a PC who plays the entire support staff for the group takes the burden of support NPCs off the GM and gives the player the unusual ability to play a "beta" character and still have "alpha" presence.

Which is even better - Group-Mind Replicant, Unbound starship, Daoine ecosculptor; a handfull of PCs could represent an entire autonomous block of the Patent Office.