I think there will be at least one (and possibly only 1) put off by Granddad - and his incessant monologues
I think this is the best bit of the new campaign - replacing that bloody tract with the 'memory download' campaign mission.
The Secret (pardon the pun) of Antiquity is to understand the plurality of civilization. If each Ancient individual occupies a standard Imperial Sector which they use as a laboratory and draw the resources contained within - they can accomplish God-like things but care little for the small people Droyne and other races alike.
Sounds about right. The one key trick is that understanding of the sheer power of technology and intelligence that grandfather and the sons (and I suppose any race which is still vaguely on a par) has. Given time and resources, they can functionally speaking acomplish anything.
Teleporters? Small fry. Instantaneous communications? Fine. Non-Jump FTL? Yup. Star-killing weaponry? Nice touch.
It very much approaches the 'sufficiently advanced science' stage of 'telling the laws of physics to sit down and shut the hell up'.
narrative also must include some fairly powerful precursor races that are either as powerful as the Ancients or more powerful
either droyne empire or not, and you have the advantage of being able to bring in things from places inaccessible to the current 'generation' of races - Psion's alternate dimension stuff, for example, or some hypothetical prototype scout ship fired off through a discardable drop tank/drop jump-2x10^4 system to 'go have a look'.
And, yes, the early stages of the final war would be nothing short of devastating for the servants of the ancients. Grandfather and the sons would have their own secure hiding places, whilst primitive worlds could be ignored, but the higher servants would be just the sort of individuals who'd be hunted across space by battlefleets in search of archive worlds.
Failing that, a Dramatis Personae which lists the pages of key characters.
I actually like the way it's done at the moment - having them in the section they're needed in works better for me. A work this big is going to need a big soddoff index though.
I once had a manuscript for the Ancient times but it got fried in a Hard Drive fire. If I ever find time again, I might put a few words together for S&P or Freelance Traveller article.
That epic-scale adventure stuff isn't re-useable via the SRD, is it? I'd guess one would need to talk to Messrs. Sprange and Hanrahan.
