Custom setting: The Parsec Universe

[Iago_Smith]

EDIT: FWIW Candid critiques on anything and everything in this thread is more than welcomed. Lore, numbers, narrative choices. ANYTHING. I've got very thick skin. I've published in academic journals; those cats can more cruel than thrid graders on a playground.

I've been doing some work on a custom setting I posted earlier. I'm a huge fan of all science fiction, and GURPS is so flexible that I find it difficult to focus on one sub-genre. With that, I eventually plan on building my universe in four volumes; one each for different time periods.

Vol. I 50 AU – AU for astronomical units. Taking place entirely with the Sol System. Inspired by Transhuman Space and The Expanse
• Period: 2105 to 2205
• Campaign Date: 2150
• Tech Levels: Transportation TL10, Weapons & Armor TL9, Power TL9, Biotechnology/Medicine TL10

Vol. II 30 Parsecs – Inspired by ST:TOS and Traveler 2300
• Period: 2300 to 2500
• Campaign Date: 2332
• Tech Levels: Transportation TL11, Weapons & Armor TL10, Power TL10, Biotechnology/Medicine TL11

Vol. III 2000 Parsecs – Inspired by ST:TNG and The Orville
• Period: 2500 to 3000
• Campaign Date: ???
• Tech Levels: Transportation TL11, Weapons & Armor TL11, Power TL11, Biotechnology/Medicine TL11

Vol. IV Parsec Imperium – Big time Niven-esque space opera.
• Period: 3000+
• Campaign Date: ???
• Tech Levels: Transportation TL12, Weapons & Armor TL12, Power TL12, Biotechnology/Medicine TL12

For now, I'm going to focus on 30 Parsecs, as it's the one that I'm really interested in.

The entire setting revolves around an idea called the Star Seed Hypothesis, published in the 23rd Century in an attempt to explain the similarities between life on Earth and other worlds...

>>>> Encyclopedia Terra

Star Seed is a hypothesis concerning the connections between galactic biological evolution and the cosmic diaspora of life. The life’s work of Human geneticist David S. Wagner (2183–2279), the hypothesis states “that at distinct points in Earth's past, an unkown intelligent extraterrestrial party or parties visited Earth, collected diverse samples of flora and fauna, and then transplanted those samples on numerous M type worlds.” Developed in response to the lack of genetic diversity discovered in the galaxy, Wagner first offered the hypothesis in his monograph Star Seed: The Terrestrial Origins of Galactic Life. In the first edition of Star Seed, published 2221, Wagner drew heavily upon the sequencing of Homo sapiens eridhanensis DNA. The fourth edition, published in 2262, contained an addendum in which Wagner discussed the implications of both Neanderthal/Korvala and Denisovan/Arakka genetic overlaps. Wagner’s work has been both received as “the only concise argument of diaspora which relies on present evidence” and rejected as a “transparent work of speciesism and dogmatic (almost religious) Human supremacy.”

[Iago_Smith]

EDIT: I increased the ST of the Arakka from +2 to +8 and their FP to +2 (They've got great hemoglobin).

Here are the player races I put together. Any criticism and advice is welcome. I'm not sure If I did things correctly, especially for the Neuli.

>> Species

Humans h. Sapiens
Humans are bipedal apes from the planet Earth. Though not noted as a species for being particularly wise, they are very clever, can be highly gregarious, and are extremely adaptable. They tend to pack bond not only with fellow humans, but with other species (sentient and non-sentient).

All of the Gengineered Human Racial Templates (GURPS Bio-Tech pg. 66) are available. Although some less than others.

Chimpanzees & Bonobos p. Troglodytes superior & p. Paniscus superior
Uplift was first developed in Brazil in the early 22nd Century as a military technology designed to train chimpanzees as soldiers. Soon thereafter, extra-national corporations made use of chimpanzee slave labor in manufacturing and agriculture. Within 30 years, all chimpanzees experienced uplift. Around the world, animal rights groups and civil libertarians demanded recognition of chimpanzees as persons with the same rights as humans. The matter came to a head when riots broke out across Earth and Mars in 2196. Individual incidents grew out control and became the Hominid Uprisings. After months of violent insurrection, the United Nations passed the São Paulo Accords and ended the conflict, and extend the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to all hominids.

Uplifted Chimpanzee 56 Points
Attribute Modifiers: ST+1 [10], DX+2 [40], IQ-2 [-40], HT+2 [20]
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: Per +2 [10]
Advantages: Arm ST, Both Arms [15], Brachiator [5], Damage Resistance 1 [5], Teeth, Sharp Teeth [1]
Disadvantages: Stress Atavism, Mild [-10]

Uplifted Bonobo 50 Points
Attribute Modifiers: DX+2 [40], HT+1 [10]
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: SM -1
Advantages: Brachiator [5], Empathy [15]
Disadvantages: Gregarious [-10], Stress Atavism, Mild [-10]

Dhani h. Sapiens eridhanensis
In 2216, when the Earth scout vessel Tasman first arrived in the Dhani home world, Ecarro, the Dhani civilization was pre-industrial and several nation states were involved in a global religious war. Several factions attempted to enlist the aid of the Tasman, and while its captain managed to remain neutral while on Ecarro, the crews of other vessels that visited later were not so scrupulous. A lucrative arms trade began, and once armed with advanced weapons, the Dhani religious war escalated and millions died. The United Nations dispatched a peace-keeping force along with diplomats and managed to end the conflict. The Eridhani system and Ecarro is now a United Nations protectorate under the governance of the International Space Directorate.

The Eridani are nearly genetically identical to humans. Within twenty-three pairs of chromosomes, only differences in the ectodysplasin-A gene (giving the Eridani scales and feathers in lieu of skin and hair) separates the two species.

Korvala h. Sapiens neanderthalensis
One of the great mysteries present throughout interstellar space is the lack of genetic diversity of life. When exploration began, no one was sure what travelers would find, but nobody predicted finding oak trees on Chara-e, dinosaurs on Tau Ceti-d, or megatheriums on Sigma Draconis-b.

Possibly the greatest surprise was encountered in 2252 when a number of vessels claiming to represent a polity called the Korvala Unity attacked the ISD science ship Dyson two days after it entered the Tacescu system. An away team was also attacked on the ground on Tacescu- 4. The team successfully lifted off and rendezvoused with the Dyson.

Outnumbered and outgunned, the Dyson managed to escape the system and report that the belligerents had physical characteristics similar to Neanderthals. Incredibly, video provided by the away team lent evidence to the assertion. A seven-year war between Earth forces and the Korvala confirmed it.

The war provided a vast amount of information about the Korvala beyond their Neanderthal heritage. Their technology lagged behind Earth’s, lacking innovation. However, their equipment proved more robust than Earth gear. Likewise, Neanderthal tactics seemed sound, but they failed to adapt to evolving Earth doctrine.

Korvala 11 Points
Attribute Modifiers: ST+2 [20], DX-1 [-20], IQ+1 [20]
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: Will -1 [-5]
Advantages: DR 1 (Skull Only, -70%) [2], Temperature Tolerance (Cold) 1 [1]
Disadvantages: Hidebound [-5], Congenial [-1], Humble [-1]

Arakka h. Sapiens denisovanensis
The events that occurred in the Tacescu system were a precursor of events to come. As Earth’s ships ventured further afield and rimward, they stumbled upon and were drawn into an interstellar war between the Korvala Unity and another species calling itself Arakka. Only a few months after the Tacescu incident, Arakka raiders attacked the MNDP colony Medvedevgrad on Zeta Herculis-4.

The MNDP cutters Ureysk and Gorny repulsed the highly aggressive but reckless attack and recovered the bodies of several Arakka from the vacuum of space. Physically massive, the Arakka averages 2.4 meters in height and 225 kilograms in weight; with dark complexions, coarse hair ranging from platinum blond to dark red, and eyes ranging from light blue to dark green. Furthermore, just as the Korvala are genetically identical to Neanderthals, sequencing Arakka DNA reveals they are genetically identical to the more obscure Denisovians from Earth’s Paleolithic Age.

Strategically and technologically, the Arakka are polar opposites from the Korvala. Their equipment is often ad hoc, and their tactics are limited to attacking en masse and throwing caution to the wind.

Arakka 89 Points
Attribute Modifiers: ST+8 [72, (-10% for SM+1)]; DX+1 [20].
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: SM +1, Per+1 [5], HP +2 [4], FP + 2 [6]
Advantages: DR 1 (Skull Only, -70%) [2]
Disadvantages: Bad Temper [-10], Impulsiveness [-10]

Neuli
The twenty-third century was a period of first contacts for Earth. After stumbling upon the Dhani in 2216, and encountering the Korvala and Arakka in 2252, the Sol system became the locus of first contact in 2295. Early warning satellites detected a vessel of unidentified configuration and origin within the orbit of Neptune on a vector for Earth. The International Space Directorate dispatched the carriers NA3 Achilles and MNDP Vladimir Putin to intercept. This was the first contact between Earth and the Neuli, a civilization of artificial lifeforms constructed along roughly humanoid dimensions. These peaceful explorers and scientists originated from the 37 Geminorum system, 17.3 parsecs years from Sol. Created and left behind by a civilization that had perished in an ecological disaster more than a thousand years ago, the Neuli carried on the society of their makers. In their hundred-year exploration of interstellar space, Sol was the first system they encountered with intelligent life.

Neuli 141 Points
Attribute Modifiers: IQ+2 [40]
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: HP +2 [4]
Advantages: Absolute Timing [2], Digital Mind [5], Doesn’t Sleep [20]; Intuitive Mathematician [5], Photographic Memory [10], Immunity to Metabolic Hazards [30], Injury Tolerance (No Blood, Unliving) [30], Doesn’t Breath [20], Pressure Support 1 [5], Sealed [15], Vacuum Support [5], Doesn’t Eat or Drink [10], Sculpted Body [0]
Disadvantages: Electrical [-20], Pacifism (Self-Defense Only) [-15], Curious [-5], Clueless [-10], No Sense of Humor [-10]

[Iago_Smith]

And lastly, an edited draft of the timeline I posted earlier. Many thanks to everyone who offered help and suggestions on that thread.

2040 Vision Industries and NASA established the first permanent settlement on Luna.

2047 Alcoa Mining established the first asteroid mining operations on 433 Eros and 1036 Ganymed.

2051 Vision Industries acquired Alcoa Mining.

2052 Vision Industries and Sì Xiang.com joint expedition landed the first manned mission on Mars and established the first permanent settlement on Phobos.

2055 Vision Industries established Vision Dome, the first permanent settlement on Mars.

2059 Vision Industries established a mining operation on 8 Flora

2062 The terrorist organization, Freedom Club, detonated a 15-kiloton nuclear weapon in lower Manhattan and attacked internet infrastructure and data fortresses worldwide with malware.

2063 – 2071 The Mesopotamian War. Belligerents: Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Syria.

2063 – 2064 Fusarium head blight destroyed wheat and barley crops worldwide.

2064 – 2068 The Central Asia War. Belligerents: China, India, Kazakhstan, and Russia.

2064 – 2067 2nd U.S. Civil War and Commonwealth Intervention. Belligerents: Canada, Congressional forces, Presidential forces, and United Kingdom.

2065 Chenard’s Disease first appeared in Mexico City; The airborne hemorrhagic fever killed hundreds of millions globally.

2068 Canadian transnational Galant Pharmaceuticals developed a vaccine for Chenard’s Disease.

2072 The World Health Organization estimated the global population fell from 9.7 billion to 8.2 billion between 2060 and 2070 from war, famine, disease, and economic chaos.

2073 – 2075 Geopolitical reorganization and Poli-Blocs formed.

2074 SXY inc. developed the first practical fusion reactors.

2078 The Jupiter Rock Rush began as Vision Industries, SXY inc., and numerous smaller interests claimed individual Trojan asteroids and set up mining operations.

2080 International Space Directorate began terraforming Mars, established Guterres Station on Ceres, Hammarskjöld Station on Europa, and Ghali Station on Titan.

2093 Vision Industries established Houston Station on Triton.

22nd Century The Asteroid Belt and the Outer-Sol is settled.

2103 H&J Brastech developed uplift technology. Chimpanzees and Bonobos used as slave labor in agriculture, manufacturing, and mining. Over the next four decades, breeding and cloning programs cause the Chimpanzee and Bonobo population to grow by leaps and bounds. By 2150, their numbers combined exceed one billion.

2130 The entire Chimpanzee and Bonobo population experienced uplift.

2196 The Hominid Uprisings. The United Nations passed the São Paulo Accords and extended the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to Chimpanzees and Bonobos.

2205 Galant Technologies, SXY Areospace, and the International Space Directorate developed quantum jump transit.
 
2216 The NA3 scout vessel Tasmin made first-contact with the Eridhani System. Human-Dhani arms trade intensified Dhani internecine warfare.

2220 Earth’s United Nations dispatched a ISD peace-keeping force along with diplomats to the Dhani homeworld and managed to end the conflict.

2252 First contact made between Humans and Korvala when two Korvala vessels attacked the EF science vessel Dyson in the Tacescu system. First contact between Humans and Arakka made when Arakka raiders attacked the MNDP colony on Zeta Herculis-d. These events drew Earth into the Korvala-Arakka interstellar war.

2252 – 2259 The Interstellar War. Belligerents: numerous Arakka hordes under the command of War Leader Va’eng ta Neek, the International Space Directorate, and the Korvala Unity.

2260 Negotiated peace; The Korvala Unity, High Chief Va’eng se Varang of the Arakka, and the United Nations signed the Interstellar Accords. The Accords declared the rogue gas giant, Bumfuq as neutral territory and established embassies on Treaty, Bumfuq’s twelfth moon.

2295 First contact was made between Earth and the Neuli Consortium when the Neuli exploration vessel Goma arrived in the Sol system. Soon thereafter, the International Space Directorate and the Neuli Consortium began cultural and scientific exchanges.

2300 The Neuli Consortium established an embassy on Treaty.

2309 – 2332 With assistance from the Neuli Consortium, the International Space Directorate and GV Industries took up the terraforming of Mars with renewed vigor. GV Industries financed the placement of twenty-two atmospheric processors on the surface, ninety solar-wind satellites in orbit, and construction the Bifrost Space Elevator originating at Pavonis Mons caldera and terminating at Asgard Station 35,000 km above the surface.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Iago_Smith

Arakka h. Sapiens denisonensis
The events that occurred in the Tacescu system were a precursor of events toe, the Arakka averages 2.4 meters in height and 225 kilograms

Arakka 31 Points
Attribute Modifiers: ST+2 [20]; DX+1 [20].
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: SM +1, Per+1 [5], HP +2 [4]
Advantages: DR 1 (Skull Only, -70%) [2]
Disadvantages: Bad Temper [-10], Impulsiveness [-10]

An average ST of 12 for a creature that weighs 225 kg is unlikely. If yiou followed the guidelines in Bio-tech,(especially the ones about Size Alteration) you'd be startign with a ST of 15 and even that would not really be adequate for 1G. If you're trying to keep them genetically close to Human the standard +2 for Eugenic mods can be stacked onto the base 15 for SM+1 as a +20 % increase or ST 18 which may be enough.

Whatever ST you give them SM+1 qualifies for a -10% cp cost.

I'm also seeing more gigantopithecus than Denisovan but maybe they're an unknown type with kinship only seen in the genetics..

[AlexanderHowl]

Yes, I agree (though a low gravity race could get away with lower ST). A race from a 0.3g world could very well have an average ST 12 and weigh 500 lbs, as evolution could forgive low strength and high mass. Conversely, a race from a 3g world could have very high strength for their mass, as evolution would select for high strength and low mass.

[Iago_Smith]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

An average ST of 12 for a creature that weighs 225 kg is unlikely. If yiou followed the guidelines in Bio-tech,(especially the ones about Size Alteration) you'd be startign with a ST of 15 and even that would not really be adequate for 1G. If you're trying to keep them genetically close to Human the standard +2 for Eugenic mods can be stacked onto the base 15 for SM+1 as a +20 % increase or ST 18 which may be enough.

Whatever ST you give them SM+1 qualifies for a -10% cp cost.

I'm also seeing more gigantopithecus than Denisovan but maybe they're an unknown type with kinship only seen in the genetics..

Thank you for catching that. I keep forgetting GURPS is based on an approximation of reality. I also increased the Arakka FP. I remembered reading that their DNA showed their hemoglobin carried more oxygen than ours.

[Iago_Smith]

I envision the Arakka using macuahuitl like weapons with steel blades in lieu of obsidian. Though the old school warriors still prefer megalodon teeth.

[Iago_Smith]

Answering some questions from pg. 39 GURPS Space to get a grip on how FTL works in this universe...

Jump Drive

Where can the drive be used? At a nominal distance away from a large mass like a star or a rogue gas giant; 50 AU from 1 solar mass.

Narrative Choice: I like the idea of star systems being the ‘battlegrounds,’ where hostile ships can’t simply pull up next to a planet and bombard it without warning. Keeping jump drive exits and arrivals on the edge of a star system turns it into an operational area. With the possibility of star carriers, it provides a WWII Pacific theater feel, with fleets fighting for control of island groups. For smuggling stories, a star system provides a nice space for cat and mouse game of avoiding the authorities.

If there are jump points, how are they arranged? What happens if a jump fails? There are no fixed jump points. Instead, jumps occur between two large masses. Any ship with a Q-engine can make a jump distance in parsecs equal to the Q-engines rating. So, a R5 Q-engine could make jump up to 5 parsecs away.

Most ships carry Complexity 8 navigation computers (nav-comps) with software (also Complexity 8) that calculate the position of two large masses (the system where the ship is and the destination system) in relation to one another in space-time. The nav-comp allows an astrogator to calculate a jump with an Astrogation skill roll. State of the art nav-comps and software are Complexity 10 and give a +5 to the roll. Theses are usually only aboard flag ship corporate exploration ships and military vessels.

Things get different for exploration vessels making a jump to a large mass for the first time. The astrogation roll is -1 for every parsec being jumped. Selling telemetry readings from exploration jumps is one reason exploration vessels explore.

However, attempting to jump to a specific location nowhere near a large mass is very difficult. Without two large masses to serve as anchors, there are too many unknowns and Complexity 8 nav-comps won’t do it. To do so, an astrogator needs to make an Astrogation skill roll at -10.

In the event of a failed jump, the nav-comp and the Q-engine will conspire to do one of two things. On a failed astrogation roll, the nav-comp will calculate a jump to another known large mass within range and make the jump. On a critical failure, it will do what it’s designed not to do, and jump to a random location in the middle of nowhere within range. If this happens, the astrogator with will have to make an Astrogation skill roll at -2 to determine the ship's location in relation to a destination large mass, and then make another Astrogation skill roll at -1 per parsec to calculate the next jump.

How are jump points created? How is the jump drive triggered? Okay, it’s time for some handwavium gobbledyguck that sounds like it means something.

The Q-engine creates a point outside of space-time that connects with two other points in space-time: where the ship is and the destination. In simplest terms (which are still completely wrong, but still work for our purposes) the ship and everything inside it exists in two locations simultaneously. The Q-engine then ‘disconnects’ from the point in space-time where it ‘was’ and stays connected to where it ‘is.’ Jump made, everyone is happy and from the perspective everyone onboard, the event was instantaneous (although that’s not exactly true, but still works for our purposes). From the perspective of an observer outside the ship, the ship simply vanishes. No flash of light, no sparkle, no fade, no rainbow trail shooting off into the cosmos. Just gone. Here one instant, gone the next.

Q-engines are powered by TL10 Helium3-Deuterium fusion reactors. As a rule of thumb, 1Kg of fuel provides enough power from the fusion reactor for the Q-engine to jump 1 metric ton a distance of 1 parsec and costs $1. As another rule of thumb, after a jump need about 30 hours per parsec jumped to ‘cool off.’ The highest rated Q-engine is an R7 which can jump a maximum of 7 parsecs. After making such a jump, the Q-engine would need about 210 hours or nearly 9 days to cool off before making another jump. What are the consequences of trying to jump before the Q-engine cools off? I have no idea. The crew and passengers are exposed to deadly amounts of radiation? Increased chance for a failed jump? The Q-engine simply won’t jump? The ship explodes killing everyone on board?

Do jump points only cross space, or do they permit time travel? To keep things simple, jumps only cross space. No time distortion. No time travel. This is probably not realistic, but none of this probably is and who needs that headache?

Ship A leaves the Sol for Proxima Centauri. Two hours later Ship B makes the same jump. From Ship A’s perspective, Ship B showed up two hours after Ship A got there. A week later, Ship A makes the jump back to Sol from Proxima Centauri. From the perspective of everyone in the Sol System, Ship A has been gone one week.

[Iago_Smith]

>>>> Earth Space

The first three hundred years of the millennium were an era of turmoil, rebirth, and expansion for Earth. In the latter half of the 21st century, military conflicts directly affected the lives of billions, hundreds of millions perished from new diseases, and primitivist terrorists attacked and destroyed the global economy. The world that emerged in the 22nd century saw technology as a panacea for these tragedies. Advancement drove the exploration, settlement, and exploitation of the Sol system, and even redefined life through biotechnologies. On the edge of the 23rd century, Earth was a tightly coiled spring ready to be unleashed on the galaxy at large. The last hundred years has been a period of mass migration as the world’s populations embarked to the sixteen colony worlds (often simply collectively referred to as the Sixteen).

At present, Earth space at the onset of the 24th century is a binary culture and society. The population of Earth proper is roughly a mere five-hundred million made up of elites, a service population that lives in relative comfort, and revolving population of belters which takes up residence on Earth in ninety-day cycles in segregated ‘belter cities.’ Ecologically, Earth has rebounded in the last fifty or so years. There is nearly no demand on resources. Technology has helped reclaim the oceans and land from the effects of past pollution, and with almost no large-scale manufacturing left and the abundance of passive energy sources, the effects of two-hundred years of global warming have been reversed. Technologically advanced and verdant, Earth has become the ultimate gated community. As the economic and political center of Earth space, the elites of Earth are in many ways set apart from the those living in the Sixteen.

By contrast, the Sixteen have a combined population of nearly twenty billion. Though technically administered by the International Space Directorate (or simply the Directorate), the day-to-day reality is that each of the Sixteen is self-ruled; making and enforcing their own laws, collecting revenue to build and maintain infrastructure, and even contributing to defense (though the Directorate, Earth, and corporations provide the bulk military funding).

The Directorate administered the early exodus to the Sixteen on a nation by nation basis. This gave individual colony worlds and often individual settlements cultural identities that harken back to old Earth in ways not present on the home world today. And while the cultural boundaries of Earth’s past are present throughout the Sixteen, a life of rugged, pragmatic frontierism unites and separates them from Earth.

Perhaps the last remaining tie between Earth and the Sixteen is the need for mutual defense. In the aftermath of the Interstellar War between Earth, Korvala, and Arakka, Earth relies on the nine-parsec buffer zone provided by the Sixteen, and the Sixteen rely on Earth, the Directorate, and the corporations for their fleets.

In between Earth and the Sixteen are Mars, the Belt, and Outer-Sol. In the boom days of the 22nd century the off-Earth population of the Sol system was more than four billion. At present, this population is less than ten million.

Until the last twenty years, many experts regarded the terra-forming of Mars to be a failed experiment. Granted, during the 22nd century, Mars’ atmospheric pressure climbed to one third of Earth’s and liquid water existed year-round at the equator. However, until first-contact the Neuli and the technological exchange that followed, attempts to create an artificial magnetosphere and transplant self-sustaining biomass to the surface proved lackluster at best. As such, Mars was little more than muddy, cold, slushy rock with an atmosphere equivalent to the summit of Everest.

With manufacturing absent on Earth, and expanding in the Sixteen, belt mining in the Sol system is in decline. The Sixteen simply acquire resources within their own systems. Finally, the only settlements of Outer-Sol are a few dozen restricted research facilities run by the Directorate, the blocs, or corporations.

>>> Earth, The United Nations and the Political Blocs

In the last quarter of the 21st century, Earth’s nation states united into competing political blocs. By 2077, the United Nations issued a new charter which replaced the old Security Council with a new one comprised of the five blocs: the Asia-Pacific Coalition, the Atlantic League, the European Federation, The Moscow-New Delhi Pact, and the North American Anglo Alliance. The Security Council remained the executive body, but its members were stripped of veto power. The United Nations still exists in the 24th century, though on Earth it has become little more than a Machiavellian political playground for oligarchs and their personal grudges and ambitions. The only appendages of the U.N. that retain any real power are the Directorate and Delphi. Delphi is the organization that administrates and regulates the roughly three percent of Humans, Bonobos, Chimpanzees, and Dhani with psionic abilities.

[AlexanderHowl]

Really fast and really accurate FTL drives usually result in very short wars with massive number of casualties. Unless you want entire worlds to be completely defenseless against FTL spacecraft, I would suggest altering the parameters of the FTL drive.

For example, consider having Jump Drives being incapable of functioning with 10 AU * Mass(Sol) of an object. This would mean that a spaceship would have to journey beyond the orbit of Saturn to leave the Sol system and that it could not enter the Sol System within the orbit of Saturn. Important systems might have spaceports within 0.1 AU of the exclusion zone, allowing interstellar trade without requiring FTL capable ships to go far into the exclusion zone, but unimportant systems will likely not have anything like that.

I would also refrain from using 1 kg of D-He-3 per ton per jump. The fusion of 1 kg of D-He-3 produces 353 TJ of energy, but 1% of the energy is released in neutrons due to inevitable side reactions, meaning that a SM+8 spaceship would need to deal with the equivalent of 3.53 EJ of neutron radiation (to translate, an individual within 100 m of the engines would suffer the equivalent of 35.3 billion rads of neutron radiation before shielding). Since He-3 is ludicrously cheap in the setting ($1.66 per kilogram), I would just make the jump drives use pure He-3 fuel. Even if you do so though, there is also the issue of waste heat, as even a 0.1% inefficiency in the engines would result in 3.53 EJ of thermal energy (heating a SM+8 spacecraft to ~3,530 K).