New Sci Fi Setting Seeds

[Astromancer]

This idea follows several of the tropes I use alot but I think it goes somewhere new.

Basically, the middle and late 21st century is an ongoing crisis. The 2035-2060 period is often called the Plague War (although the evidence for biowarfare is ambiguous, but definitely interesting). Climate change forced mass migrations in Eurasia and Africa. Smaller scale problems created vast horrors too. The Water Wars between Egypt and Ethiopia ultimately caused a famine of amazing brutality and duration in Egypt.

The USA, relatively isolated from most of the worst of the crisis was the only source of regular aid and relief. Less because other nations were unwilling than that they were unable.

The setting of this campaign is Egypt. This is a fairly dangerous cyberpunk/biopunk Egypt. The Arab countries have been in serious crisis since the 2030s and the present year is 2114.

The population of Egypt is lower now than it was in the 17th century AD. The Nile Delta, always the agricultural powerhouse of Egypt, is ruined. Between being cut off from fresh supplies of silt for a century and a half, because of the Aswan dam, the delta is seriously eroded. The eighteen inch rise in world sea levels, which would have been brutal under normal circumstances, and is greatly magnified by the erosion, has totally salinated the delta. Egypt is dependent on food hand-outs from nations they despise.

The PCs are working for cultural NGOs. They are here to rescue the surviving antiquities and monuments. They also hope to arrange lucrative deals for the local people to be paid to preserve their heritage sites and ancient treasures. However the PCs must navigate an unstable cyberpunk environment filled with smugglers, fanatics, violent radicals, local mafias, and new age mystics.

Sometimes the PCs will have to track down stolen art treasures, other times they'll need to broker a peace between different factions to prevent turf battles that could destroy ancient monuments.

So, save the relics of the past, and promote a hope for a decent future.