Okay, it's time to start thinking about the world this TTRPG takes place in. So far the only setting information dictated by the mechanics is that there's interplanetary travel, there's small fighter craft, and that players each have a small fighter craft of some sort. There are obviously a lot of directions you can go from there.
My goal here is not to dictate a story, but much as with my Density-based game Ebonmire, I will have a story in the back of my mind while I build out the setting, and that story will probably be included in the rulebook as a suggestion, or possibly published separately as a supplement to the base game. So the setting details will include things like information on prominent factions in the star system, the number of inhabited planets, stations, etc, and some details about the most prominent ones. Structural information players can use to inform their character's background, and which the GM can use to inform the story they want to build with their players.
You know... role-playing stuff.
So that's all gotta start with the biggest question right up front; where in space are we? Home turf? A galaxy far, far away? If we're not in the Solar System, how did we get to the system we're in? That would indicate some sort of interstellar travel, so how do we explain why we're only dealing with one star system here, given I don't have the time or inclination to turn this into a galaxy-spanning epic? If we are out in the galaxy somewhere, are there aliens? How do the aliens differ from the Humans, and does that affect gameplay at all?
Lots of big questions to answer. I'll admit the easy way would be to just set it in the Solar System, pull up some system maps of named objects maintained by NASA, and call it a day. But I actually really like the implications of setting everything in a different star system. Still within our galaxy, so we could conceivably use "generation ship" or "cryogenics ship" as our excuse for how humans got there but the story is going to take place all within the same cluster of planets, moons, asteroids, and stations.
The next big question is one of aliens; are there any? How do they get on with Humans? I think it might be really interesting to have at least one alien race sharing the system with Humans. Maybe the Humans stumbled across an industrialized society while looking for a nitrogen and oxygen rich atmosphere among the stars, so it's just the two societies bumping up against each other. So sure, let's say there's some aliens.
All right, so we've got a different star system Humans arrived at via slow-ship, which they share with a species of intelligent aliens so we can pretend that Humanity moved past skin-related bigotry but still leave room for game groups to explore some other bigotry if they want to. I feel like I need to specify that I'm not saying you should explore themes like that in your games. If you're playing your game to try and escape real life, it can be a real fun-sucking bummer to introduce bigotry into it. No judgement here if you want to leave that out in the real world.
I also feel like I should address the obvious elephant in the room; so how is this different from Firefly?
That is literally my biggest concern when writing up new sci-fi settings, which of my existing fandoms am I cribbing from this time? Because if you've read my webcomic and you came away thinking 'this is just Schlock Mercenary meets Firefly with a little Star Trek sprinkled on top' you're not wrong. To be absolutely clear I hadn't seen either Schlock Mercenary or Firefly when I started working on the conceit for the comic. And not two days ago I spent like three hours researching the Warhammer 40k universe just to make sure an idea I have for this game isn't going to feel like I just ripped off the Imperium of Man.
Canonically in the Cthulhu mythos the great old ones traveled through the stars to arrive on Earth. I kinda wanted to work that into one of my factions for this setting, but I wasn't sure if I was going to wind up stepping in whatever the Chaos Gods from 40k are. I think I can do it and still be fine, but holy snot if you haven't read up on what the Warp is in 40k lore you are missing out. That crap is a full-on trip.
So yes, this star system feels a little like Firefly from a high level. How do we differentiate it? The easiest is to simply not have an over-controlling pseudo-fascist government versus a band of plucky rebels. We'll avoid those factions all together, and I'm thinking governance will mostly be pretty local. We can also change the way they arrived from Earth, and de-mystify Humanity's ancestral home. Maybe ships periodically still arrive from Earth with new settlers. Our alien society that's been influencing the settling of Humanity in that system for at least a few decades should help as well.
So that's a start. Next I need to sketch out the makeup of the system and the primary sources of power at play within it. Back to work!
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