Aliens of Charted Space Vol. 3 - Pre-Order & PDF

MongooseMatt

Administrator
Staff member
There are five new exciting alien species to explore as you travel the stars now, in Aliens of Charted Space Volume 3.

You can grab your own copy right here: https://www.mongoosepublishing.com/products/aliens-of-charted-space-vol-3

View attachment 262724

Aliens of Charted Space Volume 3 explores five races – the pacifist Darrians, the enigmatic Geonee, the playful Dolphins, the aloof Orca, and the bureaucratic Bwaps. Within these covers you will discover the culture and society of these races, as well as their physiology and their psychology.



Darrians

The Darrians are known to be a pacifistic race who value excellence in scientific and artistic endeavours. Many believe the Darrians an easy target, or that their outlook makes them inconsequential on the galactic stage. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Darrians are heirs to some of the most advanced technology available in Charted Space, and their advancement continues. For those who believe they can conquer this race of pacifistic scientists and artists, the Darrians have a feared weapon capable of causing a star to go supernova –the Star Trigger.



Geonee

The Geonee claim to be the decedents of the Ancients, and have the ruins and remnant technology to support this. When first contacted by the Vilani, they were thought to be a Major Race until it was discovered they had reverse engineered their jump drive, causing the retraction of their position and relegating them to become a Minor Race. The Geonee have struggled to have their achievements recognised by the greater interstellar community ever since.



Dolphins

Dolphins where gifted sophoncy by GenAssist, a genetic engineering corporation founded on Solomani principles. The project was a success, and Dolphins have become recognised as a Minor Race in their own right. Their communities are based on principles of total freedom and equality, but they owe a debt of honour to the humans who gave them reasoned thought.



Orca

The Orca are another race granted sophoncy by GenAssist, but this time grudgingly. The project to raise them suffered a serious setback which nearly ended the programme if not for the generosity of the people of Sufren. Matriarchal and aloof, the Orca are far less friendly than their Dolphin cousins, and do not share their outlook, instead holding principles of matriarchal veneration and mindfulness.



Bwaps

Evolved amid the swamps of an alien world, Bwap civilisation grew slowly though cooperation and the universal belief that they all have an individual and unique place in the universe to fulfil. Their obsession with minutia and fine detail placed them in the perfect position to make themselves indispensable to the bureaucracy of the Ziru Sirka, granting them access to technology denied to others.



This book contains rules for creating Travellers from each of these alien races, High Guard additions and new ships, and Central Supply Catalogue entries for their new equipment.
 
I always enjoy the setting material and world-building sourcebooks the most, so I'm very happy with this one. Very pleased to find so much new, expanded information on Geonee, Dolphins, Orca, and Bwap -- really fleshes them out while being consistent with what we know. Good stuff.
 
Darrians

The Darrians are known to be a pacifistic race who value excellence in scientific and artistic endeavors. Many believe the Darrians an easy target, or that their outlook makes them inconsequential on the galactic stage. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Darrians are heirs to some of the most advanced technology available in Charted Space, and their advancement continues. For those who believe they can conquer this race of pacifistic scientists and artists, the Darrians have a feared weapon capable of causing a star to go supernova –the Star Trigger.
I have the 1st edu of the Darrians book how much different is this book to that? are there upgraded ships? does it talk more indepth of the types and tech of their tech 16 ships, antimater, black globe generators, since Hop drives are prototype in tech 16 now in the 2022 HG book did they have those, did they have Santa Claus boxes etc...?
Or is it just a slight revamp of what was RAW in 1st edition. thanks
 
Even the vaunted Darrain TL16 almost 17 in some areas had not made the breakthrough required for hop drives, they remain something for the Galaxiad era of the OTU or possibly something to be found with a yet to be encountered alien race.

In the Third Imperium of 1105 Darrain was barely able to construct to TL13 according to most canon sources, the TL16 ships are relics that have survived to the present, which the Regency would use when making the advance to TL16 during the pre-TNE days.

I only bought the book for the Bwaps and the Geonee, I have yet to read the Darrian entry in detail.
 
Ok now for the bad news, the first two paragraphs of the Darrian section are wrong.
It reads as if the Darrians achieved their high tech then befell the star trigger tragedy and were then contacted by Solomani. This needs to be changed.

In the history section and the timeline they get this right. The Darrians were TL3 with some maths and sciences at TL8 when the Itzin showed up. It was the fusion of Solomani and Darrian that would lead to the rapid growth to TL16 almost 17.
 
Now I have more time I will highlight what I mean:
The Darrians achieved their pinnacle thousands of years ago, developing technology that even today is beyond the scope of what is possible by other interstellar nations.
This is backed up by prior canon and this book :)
A tragedy befell the Darrians when they experimented with one of their greatest inventions – the Star Trigger.
Yup, no problems so far.
This ecological and technological disaster plunged the Darrians into a pre-spaceflight level of technology.
I take it back, the first paragraph is fine.
But
The collapse of the Confederation followed, isolating
Darrian colonies and forcing them to prosper or fail
without assistance. Gradually the Darrians recovered,
recontacted lost colonies and re-established their
Confederation. Solomani fleeing the collapse of the
Rule of Man were absorbed into the Confederation and
added their diversity to the Darrians.
With time and
dedication, the Darrians have slowly reclaimed much
of their technology but are still unable to grasp the
technological heights achieved before the fall.
The bit in bold is just wrong, the Solomani are the reason for the Darrians TL advance in the first place, they did not arrive after the disaster but a thousand or more years before - as detailed in the history and timeline of this book.
 
To fix it cut the bold bit entirely and paste it into the first paragraph as:
The Darrians achieved their pinnacle thousands of years ago
thanks to Solomani fleeing the collapse of the
Rule of Man who were integrated into Darrian society and
added their diversity to the Darrians, spurring their achievements,

developing technology that even today is beyond the scope of what is possible by other interstellar nations.
 
Thanks Sigtrygg,
From your review it seems to be a bad cut and paste from 1st edition no new information on Darrians. I will pick this up latter on when its on a discount.
 
Now I have more time I will highlight what I mean:

This is backed up by prior canon and this book :)

Yup, no problems so far.

I take it back, the first paragraph is fine.
But

The bit in bold is just wrong, the Solomani are the reason for the Darrians TL advance in the first place, they did not arrive after the disaster but a thousand or more years before - as detailed in the history and timeline of this book.
Page numbers would be really helpful in fixing this error.
 
Thanks Sigtrygg,
From your review it seems to be a bad cut and paste from 1st edition no new information on Darrians. I will pick this up latter on when its on a discount.
No, not at all it was a mistake in ordering. There was no cut and paste used in this book.
 
Sorry I should have given the page number.

Yup, not cut and paste, just jumbled timeline. I thought it odd since the rest of the Darrian section is so good.

There are a couple of TL16 goodies, but they are easy to miss and more like the original intent - TL16 items PCs could get their hands on would be rare.

One suggestion - try to get energy shields as mentioned in The Third Imperium source book included somewhere.
 
I love these books, but I am a bit disappointed there was not a New race in any of these three books; just updating (and expanding!) the info on the old races. :(
 
I love these books, but I am a bit disappointed there was not a New race in any of these three books; just updating (and expanding!) the info on the old races. :(
Absolutely understandable, that Mongoose Publishing does cover old/known races first before introducing some completely new races. The JTAS may have some new races though.
 
Last edited:
Have you all ordered yours yet? How is everyone enjoying the PDF?
I haven't ordered/bought it yet, was getting a quick review of the Darrian's write up (wasen't really interested in the other older races rewrite's), will probably buy it sometime in the future when on discount on drivethrurpg.
 
Just received my copy, very nice.

I notice that the skill tables for Darrian Entertainer and Envoy have the same heading labels P42 & P44
ent.png

env.png


Additionally are the stat maximums for the Dolphin and Orca increased from 15?
 
Page 4, 20% of Darrians are ambidextrous and the remaining 60% evenly split between left and right handers. What are the missing 20%
 
Back
Top