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fedorasaurus · 6 years

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Sci-Fi D&D Idea: Setting

I will be writing up a series of ideas for the science-fiction “campaign” that I want to run for Dungeons & Dragons (5th edition). I say “campaign” in quotes because it will be more of a series of episodic oneshots rather than a single, ongoing adventure. As such, each session doesn’t necessarily have to include the same players and characters (or DM!), although there could be recurring locations, villains, and NPCs, and as the episodes will generally be chronological, the results of one group’s mission may play a part in future missions. Or, it could be something small, like rumors in the mess hall, “did you hear about Jane’s squad apprehending those outlaws on Planet X last week?”

This first post will cover basic information about the star system in which the campaign begins: the Bahamut System, home of the Chromatic Dragonborns and some other draconic species.

Part 1: Origin Story

According to legend, there was once a void where nothing existed but two immortal dragons: the kindly Bahamut and the wicked Tiamat. Tiamat, who wished to hoard the infinite void all to herself, challenged Bahamut to a duel. She was ultimately defeated, each of her five heads removed and sealed in great rocky spheres. Bahamut, gravely injured in the fight, his metallic scales shed in what was to become an asteroid belt, used the last of his magic to become a formless ball of fire in the center of the void. From here, he slowly heals and watches over the system, protecting it from Tiamat, whose entombed heads quietly plot their revenge. It is believed that her magic and trickery bubbled to the surface of each planet, manifesting as the Chromatic Dragonborn people in her image (although, if they embrace enough of Bahamut’s light, they are not destined to be filled with Tiamat’s wickedness).

Part 2: Star System Map

The Bahamut System is composed of five planets, each named Tiamat. For the sake of clarity, they are also named for the color of Tiamat’s head said to be at their core. Between the planets are artificial Space Stations built by sentients of the Bahamut System. The planets and space stations are listed below, in order by their proximity to Bahamut.

Tiamat-Red: An extremely hot planet, habitable by only the most heat-resistant species. The landscape is dry and with many canyons, but few mountains. T-Red is the Homeworld of the Red Dragonborns.

Space Station GOLD: Between T-Red and T-Green, it is the dwelling and official meeting hall of the High Elf Council (see Part 3 for more information on the Council). It is lavishly decorated and well-maintained, constructed from all-magical materials, with both form and function in mind.

Tiamat-Green: A lush, easily habitable planet with varied weather and ecosystems, primarily dense forests. T-Green is the Homeworld of the Green Dragonborns, although many sentient offworld species have colonized here as well, namely the Elves of the Feywild Galaxy. Although the High Elf Council handles matters that are strictly in a jurisdiction between planets, those who choose to live on Tiamat or its satellites are known as Wood Elves and Moon Elves, respectively, and have adapted over time to suit the environment.

T-Green has two moons inhabited by the Elves: Fey and Lolth. Fey has many beautiful city-structures powered by magic and imported resources from Tiamat, and is essentially a shopping hub. It is famous for its low rate of crime. Lolth, on the other hand, has few towns on the surface, but a vast network of underground structures. Here, magic and technology are closely intertwined in a complex, web-like network overseen by an artificial intelligence called LOLTH, who manifests as a spider-like feminine hologram. Although Lolth was originally established as a prison moon were criminals from Fey were banished, it has since become its own, free nation of “Drow” Elves, descendants of the original prison population. The people of Lolth are on peaceful but distrustful terms with the High Elf Council.

Space Station COPPER: Interplanetary Police Headquarters between T-Green and T-Blue. Also the location of the system’s largest entertainment venue, hosting a number of concerts, banquets, and conventions.

Tiamat-Blue: Electrical storms perpetually surround this planet, making non-magical access and communications difficult, but the planet itself is quite habitable, with a comfortable, static climate. A popular retreat and hideout spot for those who wish to live “off the grid.” T-Blue is the Homeworld of the Blue Dragonborns.

Space Station BRONZE: Between T-Blue and the Scales of Bahamut, this is a checkpoint for all ships coming and going through the Asteroid Belt. Mainly used to check for contraband, but is also a hub of hotels, fuel stations, and repair shops. Sort of a “rest stop” for travelers on long space journeys.

Scales of Bahamut (Asteroid Belt): The so-called Scales of Bahamut is a grouping of metallic asteroids said to be debris from the fight between Bahamut and Tiamat. The abundance of materials make it worth the risk to explore and mine in the region, although some consider it a spiritual site not to be tampered with. A special permit issued by the High Elf Council is required to legally extract materials from the Asteroids, and even then there is a limit to how much can be collected.

Space Station BRASS: Between the Scales of Bahamut and T-Black, this is the checkpoint for all ships coming and going through the Asteroid Belt. Mainly used to check for contraband, but is also a hub of hotels, fuel stations, and repair shops. Sort of a “rest stop” for travelers on long space journeys. Famous for its array of long-range teleporters that can transport people and goods directly to and from T-White. Note that unlike BRONZE, this station has a seedier reputation, with a number of districts catering to those of a dangerous lifestyle.

Tiamat-Black: A mountainous, acidic planet encased in a shield of dark clouds. There is something supernaturally terrifying about it. Even flying too close to its orbit will disrupt navigation systems (think of it like the Bermuda Triangle but in space). In the night sky, it appears as an empty void, visible from all planets in the Bahamut system. All efforts to terraform here have failed. T-Black is Homeworld of the Black Dragonborns and of Necrotic magic.

Tiamat-White: Furthest from the star, this planet is bitter cold year-round. T-White’s White Dragonborns have built many cities above ground, while Dwarven off-worlders have constructed colonies below, using machines to generate enough heat to sustain their way of life. Most supplies to T-White must be teleported in due to the frequency of ships being lost while flying past T-Black.

Space Station SILVER: Final stop on the “edge” of the Bahamut system. It is not a large station, but it is packed with food, maps, and other resources, stockpiled for trading to travelers in need or in the event of a great emergency. As its robotic caretakers deal in trades rather than money, Space Station SILVER has collected a number of exotic objects from distant worlds. Tourists are known to come here to see the “Museum of Curiosities” and hear tales of far-off galaxies and bizarre alien cultures.

Part 3: The High Elf Council

Curiously, sentient life on Tiamat developed at the same rate and with similar “Dragonborn” people across all five planets. However, the five subraces did not meet until the technology for space travel was provided to them by old and wise aliens known as Elves. The Elves did some colonization on Tiamat, but now mostly maintain order in the spaces between, such as to apprehend Orc pirates on their way to pillage ships.

The High Elf Council is the main source of mission requests for the party within the Bahamut System. Despite their name, they also contain representatives from each of the Tiamat planets and are sort of a symbol of political unity between the worlds. The Council’s interest is mostly that of exploration and sharing space-travel capabilities with tech-savvy cultures who have yet to develop it. They have become more cautious with this second goal, however, ever since the Orcs chose to use space travel as a means of widespread theft, slaving, and other forms of cruelty.

The Council is made up of ten members: five Elves and five Dragonborn.

Final Notes

Player characters are not necessarily expected to be from the Bahamut System, but it is where they end up when they join the ship's crew. You could even play as a Dragonborn or Elf from a completely different galaxy or dimension, with no ties to the Bahamut System. It's space, man. There's infinite possibilities! This guide is more of a starting point for basic worldbuilding reference. The rest can be made up as we go along, based on ideas from players and guest writers/DMs.

My next post in this series will cover the fun stuff: the players' employment on the Starship Dragonlance.

#ideas #story ideas #D&D #Dungeons & Dragons #DnD #Dungeons and Dragons #science fiction #sci-fi #science fantasy #personal project #but feel free to use any of this stuff in your own campaigns!#tell me all about it #long post #image heavy #also feel free to ask me any questions about this if you are curious or unsure

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pieman1112 · 6 years

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An act of War! RP with i--gnis.

When the colony aptly named ‘Spirit of Adventure’ had landed on an unknown planet, they weren’t expecting life to have been there before them. Before the colonists were two kingdoms created by, ironically enough, human or humanoid life. These kingdoms were known as the kingdom of Ylisse and the kingdom of Plegia. The rulers of the kingdoms were well respected and if you could believe what traders would say as they passed through the colony had worked together before to take down a dragon. It was an amusing story to the colonists as there were no such thing as dragons. During this time the UNSC and Spirit of Adventure would send diplomats to the two kingdoms. The diplomatic attempts could have gone better. They weren’t bad per say but the diplomats could have handled some of their passive remarks better. Trade between the kingdoms had been going well. The colonists would trade some of their goods such as sodas or medical supplies in exchange for handcrafted goods such as lances or swords. Scholars were also exchanged to trade information on scientific discoveries made by each faction. The Plegian scholars would show the wonders of tomes while the UNSC scholars would show their advancements in medicine.

Things changed ever since the Exploration Garden incident of 2620 UNSC time. A group of radicals had decided that these off-worlders would be the next Grima as they would bring about the end of King Robin and Queen Olivia and to the kingdom itself. This radical group has also heard rumors of some wanting to switch the kingdom to a democracy like the colony has. What heresy! They had to act fast. While the Exploration Garden was open to everyone they struck. Using illegally obtained tomes they struck down civilians with lightning and fire and wind. They made their escape during the chaos. Soon the colonists wanted revenge. A local militia formed and decided to take their revenge on a town that was unlucky had been in their path. With a spray of lead from shotgun and rifle, they took out many of the Plegian civilians.

Despite the diplomatic efforts of both sides, war was inevitable and so the Spirit of Adventure had prepared itself for war. Each UNSC colony was equipped with standard military equipment and a garrison of troops. This colony however was blessed with a Spartan. Spartan-197 was assigned to the protection of the colony during its early years. The colony was placed on high alert and would cease trade with the two kingdoms. They had two scorpions that would be converted to long range artillery vessels. The first battle of the war was the siege of Spirit of Adventure. An arrogant commander who wanted to prove to Robin that he was the better tactician had lead the charge with his forces of infantry and wyvern riders. What the commander didn’t account for was the Spirit of Adventure’s anti-air defenses. The targeting computers would lock onto the wyvern riders and would tear them to shreds. The infantry didn’t stand a chance against the makeshift artillery and the Warthog patrols. The commander had faced utter defeat and was forced to retreat with the remainder of his army.

Soon the UNSC would go on the offensive and would enact a quick strike tactics. First the Pelicans would soften up the hostiles with a bombing campaign then the ground forces would move in. The tactic was quick and effective. One problem the UNSC forces faced was that they could not engage with the Pegasus and Wyvern riders with the Pelicans as the Pelicans were too fast to engage them in air to air combat and resulted in more crashes for Pelican pilots than it was worth. The UNSC would counteract this with Anti-air vehicles. While the UNSC forces had the technological advantage the Plegian and Ylissen forces would have an advantage against the UNSC forces. The mages. With the use of lightning they would be able to disable the Warthog squads and use the fire spells to ignite the troopers inside.

After a battle near one of the local villages the Allied forces of Plegia and Ylisse had been able to route the UNSC forces. They even managed to capture some of the troops that they could integrate for more information they brought some of the captives to the capital and placed them in the dungeon. They dragged out a girl in pink armor that was similar to the other marines and brought her before Robin. Her arms and legs were bound in rope. “My lord. We had recently captured some of the enemy forces. This one was called Marine-276 by the others but some have called her Rebecca. What would you like us to do with them?” He asked. One of the other soldiers had knocked Rebecca to her knees in front of Robin. She looked up to Robin. There was no hint of malice or hatred in her eyes.

@i--gnis

#UNSC files #i--gnis

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