Stargate: Non-SG1 Campaign

[Tom Kalbfus]

What if we had a setting without starships initially, starting out very much like the television series Stargate SG1, but it is not that setting. Basically an alien artifact is discovered in a pyramid in Egypt in the 1930s, it is brought into a warehouse until someone discovers the key to operating it in contemporary time. After an initial period of exploration the gate secret is opened to the public, it has a dial device with links it to several different worlds spread throughout the galaxy. It was first kept in an Army Warehouse, but later transferred to NASA when it is discovered that it is the key to several worlds, lets say the discovery is first publicized in 2017. NASA sends robotic probes at first and then astronauts in space suits later on. decontamination procedures are exercised at first, later on as the environment is certified to be safe for humans explorers are sent through without spacesuits. The gate itself is about 6 meters wide and forms a circular ring. The government wants to put this gate to use to benefit the United States, since there is only one, a debate in congress ensues on how to best use this thing. Nobody knows who build the stargate network, and there is much caution because no one knows the agenda of whatever aliens constructed it. But after a while more and more missions are sent through the gate, and parts of several worlds are explored, most of them have breathable atmospheres. The gate has a membrane that prevents gases from passing through, but if a solid object approaches, it allows it to pass through, although the air pressure and atmosphere may be different on the other side. Astronauts prefer to wear their pressure suits with passing through and then slowly equalize pressure with the atmosphere outside. Stepping from an atmosphere of 6 to an atmosphere of 5 can be painful! After a while an airlock is established, it can be extended through the stargate and te air pressure equalized.

What happens next? Any guesses?

 

[Rick]

Well for a start, if it was found in 1930's Egypt and stored in a warehouse until recently, then that warehouse would either be in the UK (in which case it would be a UK/ESA mission) or still in Egypt (in which case it might be an Egyptian/Russian mission); the chances of it being a US/NASA mission are slim unless they took it by force during WW2 (or after perhaps?) or were invited to join by another country postwar.

I think a joint SAS/LeCRAP/KSK team sent through for the benefit of the UK and EU might well be a very fun and interesting campaign - their base could be in a cave complex under Snowdonia (or perhaps the Alps). Opportunities for a great multinational team of explorers, with specialists from various EU organisations and militaries.

 

[Tom Kalbfus]

You remember this fellow don't you from Raiders of the Lost Ark? There is some truth to this storyline. The Nazis were all over the place looking to Artifacts and antiquities before World War II. So my presumption is the Nazis ran an archeological expedition in Egypt before World War II of a similar nature to the one featured in Raiders of the Lost Ark, except in this case instead of finding the Lost Ark, they found a stargate instead. The stargate was smuggled out of Egypt and into Germany. Lets say some Germans figured out how to operate the stargate during World War II, and some of them managed to use it as an avenue for escape as the Allied forces closed in on their position. During some bombing attacks, the records of how to operate the gate were lost, but the Stargate itself was recovered. The Germans in the meantime managed to establish some colonies on other worlds. Many Germans went missing during World War II, some of these were colonists, and when the Third Reich fell these colonists were cut off. Lets say about 500,000 Germans went through the Stargate during World War II, all member of the supposed "Master Race" There are other humans on the other side of the gate dating back to the Egyptian Empire. The population grew at an annual rate of around 3%, so over 73 years the population grew to 4,326,009 people of German descent by 2016, The Germans had superior technology to the natives descended from the Egyptians, so they basically too over and used them as slave labor, the natives have a population close to around 150,000,000, the Germans have industrialized them, and there is a race based social structure, the technology is the equivalent to the 1990s. Lifespan has improved considerably for the natives in spite of their servile status due to the technology the Germans introduced, there has been a sort of population explosion in the native population due to better sanitary conditions and improved medicine, the atmosphere is sort of like a modern Third World country in the 1990s. There is a bit of resistance to German occupation, and there are a number of guerrilla groups roaming around countryside causing all sorts of mischief for the occupying Germans. This is what the PC's encounter when they step through the gate.

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

Whatever you want to do with it.

You have colonization, exploration, First Contact - a bit of everything, including the various nations/UN fighting for access. My guess it will eventually be opened up to everyone somehow, perhaps after the threat of war - the potential is too high for any nation to allow others to control it. If the US has it, then Russia, China, the EU etc. are going to fight to get access; if the UK/EU has it (may be the real reason for Brexit???) then the US will fight to get access along with anyone that doesn't have it already.

Likely a UN section will eventually be formed with some kind of treaty (similar to the Melbourne Accords in 2300AD). Worlds might be designated for certain countries/regions for example with multi-national teams formed for exploration.

A lot depends on how many addresses are initially available and how many get added later.

A galaxy of possibilities await.

 

[Tom Kalbfus]

Whatever you want to do with it.

You have colonization, exploration, First Contact - a bit of everything, including the various nations/UN fighting for access. My guess it will eventually be opened up to everyone somehow, perhaps after the threat of war - the potential is too high for any nation to allow others to control it. If the US has it, then Russia, China, the EU etc. are going to fight to get access; if the UK/EU has it (may be the real reason for Brexit???) then the US will fight to get access along with anyone that doesn't have it already.

Likely a UN section will eventually be formed with some kind of treaty (similar to the Melbourne Accords in 2300AD). Worlds might be designated for certain countries/regions for example with multi-national teams formed for exploration.

A lot depends on how many addresses are initially available and how many get added later.

A galaxy of possibilities await.

Its a bit like the atomic bomb project a number of World War II allies would be collaborating on the project, once it becomes apparent that it is a technological artifact. The United States, The United Kingdom, Canada, France, and Germany later on Probably NATO countries because of experts on Egyptology, hieroglyphics. The Soviets won't be trusted, but just like the atomic bomb project, they have spies. What's holding them back are the miniaturized electronics in the artifact, it takes a while to examine and reverse engineer, the alien languages need to be translated, the Soviet agents are reporting developments to Moscow. The Soviet Union collapses, but the Russians do some poking around a bit later and find another Stargate in China, the Chinese allow them access to it in return for expertise on the artifact learned through decades of spying in the West, otherwise the Chinese wouldn't know what to do with it.

 

[Rick]

What's holding them back are the miniaturized electronics in the artifact, it takes a while to examine and reverse engineer, the alien languages need to be translated, the Soviet agents are reporting developments to Moscow. The Soviet Union collapses, but the Russians do some poking around a bit later and find another Stargate in China, the Chinese allow them access to it in return for expertise on the artifact learned through decades of spying in the West, otherwise the Chinese wouldn't know what to do with it.

You might be being a bit too dismissive of the post Soviet collapse Chinese; their espionage efforts appear to be far superior to the Soviets and their capabilities in some fields quite advanced. Frankly, if they can obtain plans for the F-35, reverse-engineer it and get a (ok, simplified) working aircraft out faster than the US can work out the bugs in their prototype to get it operational, then I would say that if the Chinese had a Stargate, they might well have it running themselves. Of course, there is likely to be an intense espionage war going on to obtain viable gate addresses, the Chinese may not have access to address cartouche's and be very limited in the scope of their exploration.