B5 Galactic Guide HardCover slated for february 2005
- Thread starter redlaco
- Start date
lastbesthope
Mongoose
I'm still drooling in anticipation of the first one, never mind any future releases.
LBH
LBH
Just the systems on the map could easily fill volumes. The Sol alone and the other core system have plenty of stations.
Wierd question- Do the systems on the map represent just the major stars on the map or are they ment to incompase most of them? Always wondered this one because the EA stars are recognizable and close the B5 listed distances to the four capitals isn't more than 100 light-years. We are talking a small region of space.
One other note is what is beyond the 4 borders. Presumably the rim isn't terribly far rimward as Z'had'dum is on the rim. Of course it could be like Star Wars where the Outer Rim Territories are huge. From the AoG Dilgar Wars (a source that Mongoose won't necessarily follow) the abtispinward direction had burnt out stars on no real interest (to the Dilger). Coreward are the Tal'Kona'Sha (powerful unfriendly organic aliens), and Spinward is the Orieni sector which is open to the future should Mongoose wish it.
To cut a long query short will the space beyond the borders be discussed in nice vague but tantalizing detail?
Wierd question- Do the systems on the map represent just the major stars on the map or are they ment to incompase most of them? Always wondered this one because the EA stars are recognizable and close the B5 listed distances to the four capitals isn't more than 100 light-years. We are talking a small region of space.
One other note is what is beyond the 4 borders. Presumably the rim isn't terribly far rimward as Z'had'dum is on the rim. Of course it could be like Star Wars where the Outer Rim Territories are huge. From the AoG Dilgar Wars (a source that Mongoose won't necessarily follow) the abtispinward direction had burnt out stars on no real interest (to the Dilger). Coreward are the Tal'Kona'Sha (powerful unfriendly organic aliens), and Spinward is the Orieni sector which is open to the future should Mongoose wish it.
To cut a long query short will the space beyond the borders be discussed in nice vague but tantalizing detail?
Thats a good question.
I remember the episode where Morden shows Londo the holo-projection of the galaxy and devides it between the two of them. I always wondered if that meant the whole galaxy was explored (basically) or whether there was a ton of unknown regions that our established races knew nothing of. And if so, why did it appear that the Shadows and Vorlons were only interested in this one tiny corner of the galaxy.
I remember the episode where Morden shows Londo the holo-projection of the galaxy and devides it between the two of them. I always wondered if that meant the whole galaxy was explored (basically) or whether there was a ton of unknown regions that our established races knew nothing of. And if so, why did it appear that the Shadows and Vorlons were only interested in this one tiny corner of the galaxy.
The thing is, the series was often....inconsistent....with things like distance. At one point, Lyta implied the entire region of the B5 "known universe" was only seventy light years across; later on, it was stated the Brakiri homeworld was "100 million light years" from Babylon 5. Neither figure makes much sense. "The Rim" can mean the "rim of the galaxy" or "the rim of explored space", but I tend to go with the former. The fact there's no 1-to-1 correlation between hyperspace and realspace also makes mapping difficult.
There are other inconsistencies...the Pak'Ma'Ra are supposed to have only one world, but the Centauri were later reported to be seizing worlds on the fringes of Pak'Ma'Ra territory to create buffer zones. Hard to do that if they only have one world. Etc, etc, etc.
My opinion is that the worlds on the map are the "major" worlds, and that there are likely many more minor worlds, outposts, and so on, scattered throughout the galaxy.
One difference between something like the B5 universe and a typical game setting is that Babylon 5 was created piecemeal as needed for stories. Outside of a general "sense" of things, the universe was not created first and then stories written to take place in it. Given 20-odd pages of background and a firm idea of what the universe was like, Babylon 5 episodes started being written, with details being filled in as they came up. So "Beta Colony" was used in several contradictory ways, then it was retconned in the Psi-Corps novels to be a generic term -- there's a LOT of Beta Colonies out there. And so on.
It's important to realize JMS didn't create a universe and then decided to tell stories in it, ala Tolkein. He started with the story he wanted to tell, and built the universe to support that story. The further from the story, the less the universe was built. Now, as roleplayers, we want to tell other stories in the universe, so we have to take the hints and implications and build on them, to fill in the gaps as best we can.
There are other inconsistencies...the Pak'Ma'Ra are supposed to have only one world, but the Centauri were later reported to be seizing worlds on the fringes of Pak'Ma'Ra territory to create buffer zones. Hard to do that if they only have one world. Etc, etc, etc.
My opinion is that the worlds on the map are the "major" worlds, and that there are likely many more minor worlds, outposts, and so on, scattered throughout the galaxy.
One difference between something like the B5 universe and a typical game setting is that Babylon 5 was created piecemeal as needed for stories. Outside of a general "sense" of things, the universe was not created first and then stories written to take place in it. Given 20-odd pages of background and a firm idea of what the universe was like, Babylon 5 episodes started being written, with details being filled in as they came up. So "Beta Colony" was used in several contradictory ways, then it was retconned in the Psi-Corps novels to be a generic term -- there's a LOT of Beta Colonies out there. And so on.
It's important to realize JMS didn't create a universe and then decided to tell stories in it, ala Tolkein. He started with the story he wanted to tell, and built the universe to support that story. The further from the story, the less the universe was built. Now, as roleplayers, we want to tell other stories in the universe, so we have to take the hints and implications and build on them, to fill in the gaps as best we can.
Aramanthus
Mongoose
I think we can all agree about sending our entire pay check to Mongoose for B5 Stuff! I'm so looking forward to this book.
emperorpenguin
Mongoose
Lizard said:
There's actually 2 rims mentioned in B5 and this confuses people.
There is the galactic rim as talked of by Lorien with the first ones travelling off beyond it into the distance between galaxies.
Then there is the "rim of known space" as evidenced by Captain Maynard of the Cortez who talks of "the new rim now that sector 900 is mapped"
Aramanthus
Mongoose
Either one could reference the same thing. But it is ok if there is actually two seperate rims. But I can wait and find out which one they mean.