Repost of Previous
Repost of previous messages:
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by Steve Cole (Stevecole) Tuesday, January 15, 2002 - 9:49 am
Bruce Graw is already at work on this module, which (obviously) provides data for the Omega races in GPD. I am sure he would welcome your requests, comments, and suggestions.
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by Kenneth Peters (Tzeentch) Wednesday, January 16, 2002 - 9:42 pm
Could we get a brief rundown of what is currently going to be covered so we know what to suggest?
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by Steve Cole (Stevecole) Thursday, January 17, 2002 - 10:17 am
You'd have to ask Bruce.
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by Brent Eric Reiersen (Cochrane) Thursday, January 17, 2002 - 5:58 pm
I want maps of individual empires and planets. I want standard GURPS writeups for planets and star systems. I want appropriate attention paid to language and religion. I want to know just how far away Omega is: directly across the core? a third of the way around? I want descriptions of new minor races, if there are any. I want good illustrations of the major races. I want to know about the political systems. I want detailed, wide spanning history with much more to it than war.
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by Steve Cole (Stevecole) Thursday, January 17, 2002 - 6:43 pm
Maps of empires would certainly be included in MPO.
Maps of planets will be done in many products, and MPO will have several.
I don't know what "GURPS standard write-ups" are but then I'm not the one who will write them. I'm just the one who will tell someone to write them.
Appropriate attention to language: sci-fi languages are made up gibberish, so appropriate attention would seem to be zero. Just my theory.
Appropriate attention to religion: I'm sure somebody will write up something.
How far away Omega is: You cannot get there from here without a journey lasting decades.
Descriptions of new minor races: Part of the plan.
Good illustrations of major races, yes we plan on having art superior to SJG products, and MPO will be no exception.
Political systems: Oh, we've already printed a ton of that in the omega modules and will expand it majorly in MPO.
History: We've printed a vast timeline in the Omega rulebooks. If more history is wanted, somebody can write it up and send it to us for approval.
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By Jule Jay DuBois Jr (Jjd) on Wednesday, February 27, 2002 - 09:15 pm: Edit

Hi
Of all the PD2 modules this is one I am looking forward to the most
Unlike Alpha we have only breif descriptions of the omega races hopefully this module will have more detailed ones and maybe drawings of them
Also I hope that exactly what fed races became the FRA will be included

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Wednesday, February 27, 2002 - 11:54 pm: Edit

What fed races do you want in the FRA? We're easy. Make a good case and it might be the right answer.

By Robert Gilson (Bobcat) on Thursday, February 28, 2002 - 10:16 pm: Edit

The ones I would want to make sure are there are Humans, Vulcans, Rigellians,Alpha-Centaurans, Cygnan, Andorians. Hopefully when the planet jumped over to Omega sector there was enough population of each of these races that their gene pool remained viable.

By Tim Longacre (Timl) on Thursday, February 28, 2002 - 10:49 pm: Edit

Otherwise you will get hideous freaks with pink skin, no overbite, and 5 fingers on each hand...
AAHHH!

By Matt Carlson (Mcarlsn82) on Thursday, January 30, 2003 - 05:37 pm: Edit

A small gene pool might be interesting, too--as long as the races are genetically compatible, you could end up having a lot of ppl who are half-this, quarter-that, etc. As the FRA ages, its citizens might become more and more mixed, until (many generations down the road--probably more than the Omega timeline would cover) you have a race of Alpha-muts.
--Matt

By Robert Herneson (Rherneson) on Wednesday, July 30, 2003 - 05:28 pm: Edit

It's about this time that a decision needs taken about whether every species can cross breed or who can or is genetic lab help needed.
Now before anyone goes jumping up yelling about our favorite pointy end fellow, consider that a large part of fandom believes that Vulcans and Humans cannot naturally mate, but the child was made in a lab, a genetic fusion.
This if explained as part of the reason why there are so few half Vulcan - half human mixes and also why the Vulcans didn’t accept him very well.

Talk now.


RH

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Wednesday, July 30, 2003 - 05:39 pm: Edit

This is not a priority issue.

By Lars Fausnacht (Larsfausnacht) on Friday, July 28, 2006 - 03:51 am: Edit

For those of us new to PD D20, and not having EVERY supplement in SFB, perhaps some info about the three star systems that "disappeared" from the Alpha Octant and reappeared in the Omega Octant.

Please?

By Gary Plana (Garyplana) on Friday, July 28, 2006 - 12:26 pm: Edit

All of them are mentioned in the Timeline, Lars. PD20 page 162+, Y112 and Y130, Y171, and Y178.

Kraknora gets covered briefly in KLINGONS, and Aurora will be covered in FEDS.

The pieces won't be put together until we do the Omega Sector book, and that's not on the schedule right now.

By Lars Fausnacht (Larsfausnacht) on Friday, July 28, 2006 - 01:42 pm: Edit

Thanks, Gary, for the info. It was actually the listing in the timeline that caught my eye. Entire systems disappearing and showing up in Omega?

••••, I guess I should invest in the SFB Omega modules even though I will not play them, they must be good reading.

While I am asking silly questions, what about these darned Xorkaelians?

By Stacy Brian Bartley (Bartley) on Friday, July 28, 2006 - 02:53 pm: Edit

Lars
Yes-what about them? SVC won't tell! (Much)

How about it Steve isn't it time to throw us another itsy bitsy bone?

regards
Stacy

By Loren Knight (Loren) on Friday, July 28, 2006 - 09:44 pm: Edit

Lars, check in SFB Proposals, the X-Files. I think there is a Xork thread there.

By Gary Plana (Garyplana) on Friday, July 28, 2006 - 10:54 pm: Edit

If there is, it will probably be under X2, because the Xorks are not scheduled to appear before that.

By Lars Fausnacht (Larsfausnacht) on Saturday, July 29, 2006 - 01:12 am: Edit

Gary, I read most of the topic but just do not hold any hope to find out anything "concrete" until ADB is ready to deliver it. And since teh SFB X2 is (apparently) a long way off, especially given the time devoted to FC now, I will just file the Xorks away until the RTN has been found and dealt with.

But I am now hunting for a good eeal on the Omega modules for reference purposes.

Man, I love ADB. These games are total crak for me. I think I have more SFU stuff than any other game universe/systems I have collected, even Eden Studios' Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG.

By F. Douglas Wall (Knarf) on Wednesday, August 02, 2006 - 03:08 pm: Edit

That's because the SFU has been around much, much longer than Buffy.

By Loren Knight (Loren) on Wednesday, August 02, 2006 - 03:33 pm: Edit

I think the writers of Buffy were just kids when the SFU began.

By Stacy Brian Bartley (Bartley) on Wednesday, August 02, 2006 - 05:59 pm: Edit

But Buffy is a LOT hotter than SVC (Sorry Steve-you're better in so many OTHER ways).
regards
Stacy

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Sunday, July 06, 2008 - 08:21 am: Edit

Back in CL 22, there was a preview done for a number of Omega races, with stats done up for the original edition of PD.


Could it be possible to do a similar preview for a future Captain's Log, or some other publication, for a select number of Omega species?


(I was thinking that the Iridani, Bolosco, Probr, Wallimi, Tazol, Vulpa and some of the minor Mæsron Alliance member races could be good choices - since they are races on fairly good terms with the Aurorans, and thus anyone role-playing a citizen of the FRA would spend time interacting with - well, in the case of the Vulpa, things might get complicated, but one could assume there are some ethnic Vulpa who remained loyal to the post-Collapse Alliance.)

By Loren Knight (Loren) on Sunday, July 06, 2008 - 12:00 pm: Edit

It's certainly not impossible but I would not bother to do any campaigning for this until PF Feds is released. Then make sure to ask again, then.

By Joseph E. Uzel (Joseph_Uzel) on Monday, October 11, 2010 - 05:46 pm: Edit

"Descriptions of new minor races: Part of the plan. Good illustrations of major races, yes we plan on having art superior to SJG products, and MPO will be no exception."

You sold me on this product right there.
Half the reason I've never used Omega is that I don't really know what the ships or species look like. I guess I'm very visual...

By Jean Sexton (Jsexton) on Monday, October 11, 2010 - 10:22 pm: Edit

Joseph, please be aware that this is likely far in the future -- possibly when I move to Amarillo.

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Friday, July 19, 2013 - 09:36 pm: Edit

Since I seem to be on something of a roll Omega-wise, I wanted to try and work out which Omega empires have species that could be covered in a Prime Directive context.

(This is purely a personal thing, and not meant to be anything "official", despite my name being dropped in other threads.)

For reference's sake, I will start with those species which which have a set of pre-existing stats in this document for PD1.


Mæsron Alliance:

The Mæsrons have seven named species which are listed in the CL22 file: the humanoid Tazol, bat-like Wallimi, and wolf-like Vulpa (the "big three"), plus the crab-like Chkikk, arthropod T'kai, balloon-like Floaters, and marsupial Crell. (Five of these species can be seen here.) As with the Federation, many other Mæsron minor members are said to exist, as do a number of newly-contacted species which declined the offer to join the Alliance (and which are usually isolated from the galactic community as a result).

The big challenge here will be to decide the fates of the various minor members (and isolated planets). It is possible that, given the ebb and flow of the Alliance's borders, a number of these planets may have fallen to an external invader (or perhaps have been successively occupied by several different ones). And it is also possible that some of those inside and outwith the New Alliance may have been placed under the Andromedan lash, or erased from existence by the predations of the Souldra, during the course of the Invasions.

Outside of the "big three" (whose stories are known about one way or another through the end of the Seventh Cycle), all bets are off.


Koligahr Solidarity:

The CL22 file looks at the aquatic Koligahr, as well as the ursine Ka-ma-ty-u. But the latter species is exceedingly rare, and will pretty much never appear in most PD campaigns.

The historical aspect of the Koligahr species might be interesting, in that their "history" as a species only starts when they get uplifted into true sapience by the Ka-ma-ty-u scientist Kor-an-uv. While there would be something to say about the pre-sentient "Ko-li-gahr", how much paleontological work can be done in an aquatic environment?


Trobrin Empire:

The silicate Trobrin species is in the CL22 file. The nature of their home biosphere will be an interesting challenge to consider; while they may have emerged in a very different environment to your typical "carbonite" species, the Trobrin seem to be in a better position than the Tholians in terms of being able to colonize new planets and not feel obliged to live on giant artificial planets.

Or, it could be that most Trobrin-occupied planets have large domed colonies on them. We don't quite know how many "open-air" colonies the Trobrin actually have, or how they can survive in a class-M environment. (There's nothing in the CL22 file that makes a statement on this either way.)


Vari Combine:

The arachnid Vari are in the CL22 file. Politically, the division of the Vari species into different cells will be a key dynamic to consider, but perhaps only the largest and most prominent cells (such as the Vriss) would need to be given much in the way of detail.


Probr Revolution:

The male and female Probr are listed in the CL22 file.

As with the Koligahr, the Probr "pre-history" is going to be severely truncated by the circumstances of their genetic tampering by THEM. But it will be made much worse by the sheer level of destruction broguht about by the Revolution, when the proto-Probr were consumed by a madness which only lifted once every trace of their former tormentors had been eradicated.

There seem to be a number of factions in Probr space, which are (for the most part) represented on the Supreme Council. There have been dissidents in the historical record, however.


Chlorophon Association:

Rules exist in the CL22 file for the anteater-like Keepers, as well as for an "immature" Phon (the only form of that being which is small and mobile enough to be accompanied by a Prime Team).

The Phons and Keepers are going to be a singulat challenge in PD terms. The Keepers thesmelves will have a very notable dependency on Phon sap, and will have certain limitations on their long-term ability to act independently as a result.

The Phons themselves will be something else entirely. Most of the Phons that matter (in terms of helping to run their star-faring civilization) will not only be immobile (due to their massive size), but will have to effectively compartmentalise its consciousness in order to actually run a ship.

But, for those who want to have a "bridge crew" which stands out from the rest of the ship, it's hard to find a better example of this than inside the alightly (ahem) nutty mind of a space-faring Phon!

If for nothing else, they would certainly make for some pretty unique RPG campaigns.


Drex Unity:

The CL22 file has a listing for the walrus-like Drexari, as well as a base template for the Drex robots themselves.

As with the Ka-ma-ty-u, the Drexari will simply not matter for most RPG campaigns, unless used as a lingering plot device (when certain Drexari decide to go "wandering" aboard a Drex warship).

The Drex themselves might be fairly limited in PD terms, due to their "nature" as robots and their extreme isolationism. Prime Team operations against Drex enemies (such as the Worb) or Drex survey operations against pre-spaceflight planets within the space controlled by the Unity (as described in the Drex PFQ's R-section) might be options, but...


Alunda Host:

CL22 lists the Mirn (the land-octopus species which operates the non-sentient Alunda Host ships). They are more or less usable in an RPG context, but will need toa account for their wholly biological technology base.


The Hivers:

The Hiver template in CL22 advises distinct options taken when representing each of the various castes and phenotypes of this species (which will be like the Seltorians and Maghadim in that regard).

Doing a Hive Queen as anything other than a massive plot device might be a major challenge, unless a player wanted to control the fate of an entire Hive.


Sigvirion Expansion:

Two Sig host species are listed in CL22 file: the Ashani and Cortlizan (both of which were infected in the earliest days of Sig spaceflight, and no longer exist as independent species).

Rules also exist governing how to handle the Sig infection of vulnerable species, which may need to account for various waves of vaccines (and Sig adaptations tailored to overcome them).

The ultimate Sig project, that of infesting the biological control mechanisms of Alunda Host ships, may lie beyond the scope of an RPG campaign. (Unless a Sig player wanted to be his own starship?)

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Friday, July 19, 2013 - 09:58 pm: Edit

Below are the factions not covered above, which exist as formally published empires in SFB.


Loriyill Collective:

The fæerie-like Loriyill were left out of CL22 due to their mysterious nature. I'm not sure if they really work as a playable species in RPG terms, but might make for viable NPCs in a Singer campaign.


The Souldra:

As with the Andromedans, the Souldra are simply too far "out there" to work in RPG terms. These dark energy vampires might be a serious challenge to handle as NPCs, for that matter. Doing work on them may not be a high priority, even as Omega factions go.


Iridani Questors:

The otter-like Iridani are great candidates for an RPG campaign. Their Quest operations are practically role-playing efforts as it stands, plus they have more "serious" actions to take on during the Grand Quest and the anti-Andromedan Crusades.

But then, given my efforts to champion this species in the past, that might not sound too surprising...


Ymatrian Horde:

The bone-armoured bear-like Ymatrians have two eras of involvement with other star-faring species, divided by long decades of isolation as scattered nomads on their Drex-devastated colonies.

They would either be able to run a campaign set before or during the winner-take-all war against the Drex, or show up as slave-soldiers aboard Paravian warships in the Seventh Cycle.


Worb Technocracy:

The division of the mushroom-like Worb species into numerous castes (and into fertile and barren members within each caste) makes for a strong opportunity for inter-Worb intrigue.

Despite their alien physiology, the Worb should work well with other species in an RPG campaign, too.


Federal Republic of Aurora:

Well now.

We have a number of Fed species who were there in Y130, a selection of Klingon Empire subjects who showed up with Kraknora in Y171, a ship full of Lyrans in Y173, and an ISC colony in Y178.

Teasing out exactly which list of species can be found within the FA might be fun to work out, and make for a good baseline for those coming into the Omega Octant for the first time.


Singer Protectorate:

The hummingbird-like Singers have a fairly back deck of cards, in all fairness. Labouring for several decades as Koligahr subjects, they only got to enjoy their Loriyill-sponsored independence for two decades before the Souldra came in for the kill.

The Singers as a species would be manageable as player characters, but the opportunities to do much with them might be more limited than most.


Ryn Enclave:

The felinoid Rynish are fairly strongly isolationist, so most of their campaigns will have little to do with "the outside" that doesn't onvolve chucking quantum phaser shots around.

They can be done, but may not be a top priority as Omega species go.


Bolosco Merhcant Guilds:

The amoeba-like Bolosco are good candidates for PD, due to their internal distinctions between sixteen surviving Guilds and their long tradition of going out and interacting with outsiders.

Notably, the Bolosco as a species may exist in other parts of the SFU. It was noted that only a sub-set of their ark-like Guildships made the voyage to the Omega Octant. Who knows where else this dauntless species might be found?


Qixa Amalgamate:

The rabbit-like Qixa will have to have racial stats strongly emphasizing their deep and abiding paranoia towards the Sigs.

Leaving those problems to one side, they should work well as player characters, thanks to the trade carried out with many other species.


Branthodon Regime:

The reptilian Branthodons are managaeable as player characters, but their cloned, lobotomized Dragonships are not.

They do have a limited amount of diplomatic exchange with the Hivers, but are otherwise fairly cut off from the rest of the Octant by their mortal enemies in the Alunda Host. Their story in CL40 seems to imply plenty of scope for intrigue within their own species, however.

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Friday, July 19, 2013 - 10:11 pm: Edit

And as for the "Omega's Lost Futures" empires yet to be published:


Vulpa Insurgency/Confederacy:

As ethnic Vulpa, this faction will have more social and political changes rather than biological ones.

Notably, the Confederacy has a number of non-Vulpa species, each of which obliged to recognise the Vulpa as being the ones in charge. So, it could be that one or more of the minor Mæsron planets (or formerly-isolated planets in old Mæsron space) might now be a part of (or be isolated by) the Vulpa Confederacy.


Nucian Clans:

The Nucians are ethnically Vulpa, but have even more diverse social and political norms in place (due to their division into numerous Clans, each of which exists in a state of near-constant tension with its fellows).

There may need to be notes governing the Yaskitor (Bloodfang) Clan's loyalty to the Vulpa Confederacy in the Seventh Cycle, as well as accounting for those opposing Clans driven into exile in Mæsron space in the wake of the Yaskitor-Vulpa conquest of the Nucian Cluster in Y210.


Paravian Jihad:

The big question for the Omega-Paravians in PD terms will be to work out what, if any, connection they may have to the Early Years Paravians back in the Alpha Octant.

While their player characters won't have any Gorns to kill any time soon, they will have no shortage of others to steal from. Plus they will get to enslave the Ymatrians in the Seventh Cycle, and engage diplomatically with the Trobrin during that same time period.


Echarri Dynasty:

This empire will have to be detailed in SFB before any speculation can be put in here, since no information on the Echarri as a society exists. (We don't even know if the Ehcarri are a single species, or a Mæsron-like collection of them.)


Scon:

The Scon might be a bit too "out there" (or rather, "down there") as PCs, due to their "nature" as beings native to subspace. But then, it remains to be seen exactly what it is they actually do once they manifest in "our" layer of reality.


Zosman Marauders:

The Zosmans make for the Omega Octant's answer to the Orion Pirates, but a lot of questions need to be answered before they can be worked up. (As with the Echarri, we don't know if there is one Zosman species or several.)

They should make for a pretty interesting set of protagonists once we know more about them.


Jindarian Freehold:

The Jindarians as a species will be no different to what you see in Alpha or the LMC.

The Freehold, however, could be an interesting place to role-play in (at least according the Bruce Graw, who had a few preliminary ideas as to what one might find in there).


(The Loriyill Splinter Collective and the Hiver Unihive would fall under their home species' templates, and don't really need to be listed outwith those sections.)

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Friday, July 19, 2013 - 10:15 pm: Edit

All in, it seems that, even if you subtract those Omega species which are simply not viable in RPG terms, you still might have too many left in the mix to do all at once.

Fortunately, not all of the ones that can be done would be rated equally, in terms of how high a priority they might be.


Whatever form a future Omega module (or set of modules) might take, it should not be a problem to send those "loner" species off to one side (Ryn, Singers, etc) and focus instead on the more active players (such as the Mæsrons, FRA, Iridani, Bolosco, and others).

There should still be more than enough to work with in order to give a PD player a good launchpad into the octant, should the day ever come when such a project would get its day in the sun.

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Friday, July 19, 2013 - 10:42 pm: Edit

Oh, and I forgot to note that the Phons would have a number of Mæsron and Probr "exile colonies" which were left behind after the Alliance and Revolution each pulled out of the Association. Those colonists would have a role to play in their adopted home, providing options and filling niches which neither the Phons nor Keepers can readily provide.


And there is an open question as to which non-Mæsron factions have subject (or quarantine) planets of their own. Would, say, the Trobrin or Koligahr treat a pre-spaceflight world in their space a certain way? Would they allow a minor warp-capable species to leave their home worlds? Or would they do something else with them entirely?

(If such a planet lay within Vari space, and happened to have a set of locals whose blood was edible by that particular species, I don't think the answer would be a pleasant one.)