The Transpheric Wars
Apr. 22nd, 2009 06:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yelosonThat steampunk idea? Finally came to me.
1860. The first aetheric transmitter is built, aliens are contacted. Or rather, alerted to the presence of Earth, which is fortunate for them- their fleet fled their dying world and they're nearly out of supplies.
Less fortunate for Earth, for they observed from space for a few months, figured out what nations were the most powerful, and came down in their aetherships with nothing but cannons and fire. Britain, France, Spain, the Dutch, cities and ports blasted beyond hope. The Colonial Era is interrupted by a new colonization...
1861. Plans for the Ghazali Device are found and construction begins in secret, in several locations around the world. The aliens are taken by surprise as their ships fall from the sky due to aetheric disruption blasts.
They retreat to their Lunar base and regroup. Humanity demolishes nearly all of the alien outposts on earth, and spend the next several months scavenging technology from the fallen aethercraft wreckage and attempting to rebuild civilizations. Several colonized nations flip the balance of power, forming alliances and building their own Ghazali Aetheric Disruptors...
1862. The world begins to see a future. New technologies are being created everywhere- steamsuits of power armor, new metallic alloys, advances in medicine and chemistry, skyships, etc.
Nations begin looking to each other as prey, though everyone looks at the dark spots on the moon, the signs of the alien settlements spreading... Sometimes they do raids in remote places, out of sight of the many observatories and aetheric disruptors, and a few bases or survivors are found on earth, clearly part of some greater plan, though no one knows quite what...
Style & setting stuff
After blasting the colonial powers to hell, I'm thinking the colonies around the world are where we see the new centers of power rise. Places where people have fled and mixed, areas with natural resources or at least good trade routes.
I'd probably want a list of 3-4 good places to set a game- Shanghai, Cuba, Morocco, Bombay, etc.
Gamey Stuff
I've been thinking a bit about a modded version of Shadow of Yesterday. I'm thinking of four character archetypes - Scientists, Guardians, Leaders, and Rogues.
Scientists are anyone who's discovered some new invention or scientific principle. Maybe a player can choose from a list of Secrets and they're the only one in the game who has access to that (unless they teach it to someone else, or maybe if they have an arch-nemesis).
Guardians are the flip side of that- they're anyone who has a secret ability or knowledge which has been passed down for generations, of which they are the guardian. This could be a special martial art, hypnosis, clairvoyance, etc. Again, they're the only one with access to the Secret except maybe their teacher and if they have an arch-nemesis
Leaders are just that- folks who are have social power in some group and responsibility. This includes anything from head of a Beduin nation to the last English noble alive on Earth. They're effectively the only ones keeping things together in this new world...
Rogues include pirates, never-do-well gamblers, warlords, etc. Wherever there's a power vacuum, they' come in to fill the gap. In a world short on resources, those who specialize in procuring or protecting them never are short of work...
Anyway, more to think about later.
1860. The first aetheric transmitter is built, aliens are contacted. Or rather, alerted to the presence of Earth, which is fortunate for them- their fleet fled their dying world and they're nearly out of supplies.
Less fortunate for Earth, for they observed from space for a few months, figured out what nations were the most powerful, and came down in their aetherships with nothing but cannons and fire. Britain, France, Spain, the Dutch, cities and ports blasted beyond hope. The Colonial Era is interrupted by a new colonization...
1861. Plans for the Ghazali Device are found and construction begins in secret, in several locations around the world. The aliens are taken by surprise as their ships fall from the sky due to aetheric disruption blasts.
They retreat to their Lunar base and regroup. Humanity demolishes nearly all of the alien outposts on earth, and spend the next several months scavenging technology from the fallen aethercraft wreckage and attempting to rebuild civilizations. Several colonized nations flip the balance of power, forming alliances and building their own Ghazali Aetheric Disruptors...
1862. The world begins to see a future. New technologies are being created everywhere- steamsuits of power armor, new metallic alloys, advances in medicine and chemistry, skyships, etc.
Nations begin looking to each other as prey, though everyone looks at the dark spots on the moon, the signs of the alien settlements spreading... Sometimes they do raids in remote places, out of sight of the many observatories and aetheric disruptors, and a few bases or survivors are found on earth, clearly part of some greater plan, though no one knows quite what...
Style & setting stuff
After blasting the colonial powers to hell, I'm thinking the colonies around the world are where we see the new centers of power rise. Places where people have fled and mixed, areas with natural resources or at least good trade routes.
I'd probably want a list of 3-4 good places to set a game- Shanghai, Cuba, Morocco, Bombay, etc.
Gamey Stuff
I've been thinking a bit about a modded version of Shadow of Yesterday. I'm thinking of four character archetypes - Scientists, Guardians, Leaders, and Rogues.
Scientists are anyone who's discovered some new invention or scientific principle. Maybe a player can choose from a list of Secrets and they're the only one in the game who has access to that (unless they teach it to someone else, or maybe if they have an arch-nemesis).
Guardians are the flip side of that- they're anyone who has a secret ability or knowledge which has been passed down for generations, of which they are the guardian. This could be a special martial art, hypnosis, clairvoyance, etc. Again, they're the only one with access to the Secret except maybe their teacher and if they have an arch-nemesis
Leaders are just that- folks who are have social power in some group and responsibility. This includes anything from head of a Beduin nation to the last English noble alive on Earth. They're effectively the only ones keeping things together in this new world...
Rogues include pirates, never-do-well gamblers, warlords, etc. Wherever there's a power vacuum, they' come in to fill the gap. In a world short on resources, those who specialize in procuring or protecting them never are short of work...
Anyway, more to think about later.
