[Zozer Games] Horizon 100 ton Survey Craft

[Mithras]

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/109517/Horizon-Survey-Craft

The stated mission of the developers was to create a 'light scientific and reconnaissance craft' and in this respect the Horizon proved perfectly suited, able to take a small crew anywhere within the solar system to take samples from asteroids, photograph possible colony landing sites, intercept comets and so on.

With so many available it seemed only natural that the sensors aboard the Horizons would inevitably turned towards sensitive Earth Union installations and vehicles. In the same way that some Russian trawlers in the Cold War were actually spy ships, Horizons were renowned within the Union military for turning up when least expected, and when least wanted...

Horizon Survey Craft details a TL 9 spacecraft powered by a fission reactor and a nuclear thermal rocket. It was designed using the rules in Zozer Games’ setting book called Orbital.

Orbital is a science fiction role-playing setting that makes use of the popular Traveller rules with an overall Tech Level of 9 (but with the notable absence of gravitics, jump drive and anything related to psionics). Spacecraft use nuclear thermal rockets, fission powerplants and spin capsules in order to simulate on-board gravity. The world of Orbital describes a universe where humans have colonised the solar system but no further; where a Cold War rages and the people of Luna are engaged in a desperate political race against the Earth Union for domination of the solar system. Humanity has spread throughout the solar system, discovered life on several worlds, and confirmed the existence of intelligent life beyond our own little piece of real estate.

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

This setting sounds interesting to me. More so than 2300AD. Just one question I have. How did life on other worlds get discovered using TL 9?

 

[Mithras]

TL 9 allows manned exploration of the solar system; SETI in the next hundred years has been able to locate seven separate extra terrestrial signals of varying quality and usefulness. Humans can't get to those systems and at present (2100 AD) can only speculate as to the types of civilisations producing these signals.

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

Cool. That's what I thought.

 

[kermit]

Remember also that Orbital follows Outpost Mars, and so like that game is an alternate history where there are alien ruins on Mars and perhaps elsewhere in the solar system. Orbital also adheres to the idea that life is rather ubiquitous throughout the Universe. So besides the aliens on Mars there is native Martian life, very distantly related to Earth life through pan-spermia, and there is life within the clouds of Venus and the oceans of a few ice covered moons.

The nice thing about Orbital is that these more controversial elements are rather modular and can be added or removed as one sees fit. Also, unlike some of the more transhuman hard-scifi games out there, Orbital is easy to understand and jump into without worrying about the ethical / technological implications of what it means to be human. I'm not knocking those games, but sometimes the moral philosophizing can overwhelm the fun of gaming. And as I said before, being somewhat modular it is certainly possible to introduce transhumanist elements into Orbital as per your taste. A few hints regarding AIs, uplifiting and cloning exist within the setting to get you started in that direction. Add to that the fact that it is completely compatible with both Traveller and 2300AD and already has a long introductory adventure/campaign ready for Holiday gaming and Orbital should suit for most hard scifi gaming needs.

Ben

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

I'm just looking for some gritty sci-fi that works with Traveller's rules and is not 2300AD. I never cared for 2300AD's setting.