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Old 12-24-2017, 07:42 PM   #9
YankeeGamer
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Default Newope: The Rogue Planet

I wrote up this planet long and long ago, for a Star Wars campaign using the old D6 system. Change the name and file off a few serial numbers, and it works in any far ranging interstellar campaign with mystic powers. File a bit more, and it works even without mystic powers.

Feel free to use, adapt, and edit; I would love to know what people think of it.

In times long ago, long before the great Sith war, a small group of settlers set off from the Core World of Terak Nor, seeking a less hectic pace of life. Unlike the colonists that became the Expansion Region, these colonists wanted to insure that they would remain isolated, and went further into the unexplored areas of the galaxy than anyone else would have considered. The voyage took over 5 years using the primitive hyperdrives of the time, while fast scouts ranged on ahead. Eventually, a rich planet was found in a vast abyss, and the people landed.

Technology was deliberately allowed to regress, and the ships were cannibalized—all but one scout, which left to register the colonist’s claim on Coruscant. It never returned.

As the decades and centuries passed, Newope’s population began to increase, and the planet progressed from a late medieval technology level to a late 21st century technology. Like most worlds, there were occasional wars, and eventually 2 superpowers emerged. It was at this time when Republic scouts found them, and some limited trade began. The scouts also discovered that Newope’s sun was gradually cooling off; the increased CO2 was masking the changes from the locals. By this time, Newope had developed extensive in-system space flight, and rudimentary force fields. Newope’s studies of physics had gone in different directions from the Republic’s, due to isolation. There was only a short period of contact with the Republic before the Sith Wars began, but Newope did become the furthest flung member. Some technical assistance came for building a planetary sun shield, keeping more of the sun’s heat inside. The great shield towers were placed across the planet, and were working well, but were not trusted.
Meanwhile, in a secret lab devoted to teleportation, a major breakthrough let to a way to actually move the planet, and preparations were begun. This was kept secret from the republic, as well as from the general population of both nations. The drive worked, but a Sith saboteur destroyed the massive installation needed to shut it down. Without that facility, the energy release would have smashed the planet into debris, so the planet continued to slowly accelerate. There was only a little time to prepare, and the civil defence shelters filled as the sun shrunk. By the time the drive was safely shut down, it was too late—Newope was a loose planet. When the Sith war was over, the Republic was baffled by Newope’s disappearance. It became a legend of the spaceways, but it was never found
The shelters had been designed for decades occupancy after a nuclear war, and some managed to become self sufficient, eventually expanding downwards. The Republic and the Jedi are only legend now, thousands of years later, and the surface is only known through holovids from that distant era. A few maintain the traditions of the military and orbit watch, but it’s a ritual, not reality. There is no combat more vigorous than a boxing match—there are no grounds to risk damage to the life support, and there’s always room to expand. There are no weapons—even the military’s ceremonial rifles can’t fire.
There is now a thriving society of several billion, perhaps tens or hndred of billions of people living their lives beneath the surface, secure in their peaceful lives, unaware of the great war raging, and not aware that they have technology that may turn the course of the war drastically. (A planet is BIG; a planet where civilization can tunnel down for miles anywhere is VERY big! High tech power, or just thermal converters from the heat of the core, will last for a million years or more…likely MUCH more.)


Technology
Newope’s technology has gone in a different direction from the rest of the galaxy. Teleportation was discovered before the Cataclysm, but its limitations prevented it from becoming practical for most needs.
A practical disintegrator has been developed, and it has made tunneling cheap, and also has useful applications for mining and power generation. Weaponizing it might not be too difficult.

Power Groups

Air Corps
This is a highly prestigious group that goes up certain special tunnels to gather frozen air and water as the tunnels expand. Some rare few have even reached the surface and seen the unearthly beauty of the stars and the frozen landscape, although some have gone insane from the experience, and Corps regs discourage it. They have the most mysterious job on the planet, and have the “Fighter jock” mindset. The job isn’t extremely dangerous by standards elsewhere, but it IS the most dangerous job on the planet,
and the Air Corps bases have a few new names engraved on the wall of heroes each year.

Army
The Army is the actual world government of Newope. This dates from the Cataclysm, when the Army ran the shelters, and as they re-established contact, the senior officer assumed command. Today, it is largely ceremonial, although it does resolve issues of who owns which volume of space (Which shelter, not which person) Each community has a senior officer, who reports up a conventional chain of command. The army also runs the mag-lev lines that tie the world together, and the communication system, keeps the census, and coordinates between the shelters.
The High Command is almost uninvolved, Colonels and lower doing the work. The High Command is almost a priesthood, keeping the history of the ancient times alive, carrying out rituals that have little meaning, such as the hourly orbit status report, even though most of the skywatch positions are non-functional. Almost every citizen makes a pilgrimage to Planetary Defense Command at least once in their life, and the heroes who kept the shelters sealed when the sun started to fade are honored every day—the fact that they annihilated thousands in defense of the shelter has been forgotten.

Sons of the Jedi, et al
These groups preserve the history of Newope, and keep it popular. There are always remakes of the films and books of the grand old days, and these people do most of them. They are dedicated to keeping them accurate, and do a reasonable job. The ancient tales are of many sorts, including some about the great Sith war, daring interstellar explorers and traders, to stories of Knights in shining armor, castles and magic. These tales are loved by a certain portion of the population, much as science fiction and fantasy are on Earth. Some among the Army and Air Corps are even interested in seriously trying to colonize the surface, or build new space ships—plans for sublight craft, and even hyper capable craft are in the old libraries, but no one has done so—yet. Some have built new simulators and used ancient software, so they might be able to maneuver a ship without crashing.

The True Defenders
This is a splinter of the Sons of the Jedi. They believe that the old tales are more important than any realize, and secretly prepare for the day when they will have to defend their home against the dread Sith. Some are actual Jedi, maintaining the old tradition, while others drill for combat in the tunnels. The disintegrators used for mining have been converted into infantry small arms as well as crew served weapons. Their tactics are questionable, since they haven’t had to fight, and learned from books only, but they do know the tunnels well, and their weapons are deadly.

Conservative Association
These people see the ancient myths as dangerously wasteful of time and resources. They want to disband the army and put practical people (themselves) in charge. They consist of two main groups. The first one is people who have power and wealth, and want more of both.

The second group is of the poorer folks, who the wealthy and powerful have convinced would do better if the regime changed.

Newope Residents will universally have poor nightvision, as the tunnels and caverns are all well lit. They are almost all at a penalty for any action done at a range of over 100 yards or thereabouts, as it is rare to find unobstructed sightlines that long, except for the occasional stadiums and auditoriums,

They are also sensitive to temperature changes; this is a cavern environment where a change of 3 degrees is unusual.
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