Terranova RPG: [OOC] Introduction to Terranova

There is a Wikispaces page for this setting. I don't expect everyone to read everything on it, but it does have a lot of good information.

Terranova

Two hundred years from now, science has solved many of the age-old problems of mankind. Humans are able to maintain a youthful appearance for nearly seventy years, with potential lifespans running an estimated two hundred years. Genetic augmentation can bring about abilities that humanity could have only dreamed of before. Most diseases have been wiped out.

Of course, there's a dark side to this, as well. To protect against unfit parents, the number of children a family is allowed to have is controlled through government permits and quotas, while the population has plummeted in many regions of the world as people decide not to bother fighting to have children. Most people are expected to have their children genetically engineered to avoid any undesirable traits and may in fact be denied the right to breed if they refuse. Biomechanical Androids or Mechs have been created to take over for the declining numbers of workers. The Earth has become a stressful place ruled by totalitarian governments. The space stations in orbit around her and the colonies on Mars share many of the same problems. It was in the year 2160 that war broke out between the world's superpowers, leaving huge portions of Asia and North America uninhabitable.

It was the fear that mankind might wipe itself out that led Adam Lombardo to put his wealth towards finding another world and a way to get there. It took twenty years to find a likely world and to prepare for the launch, leaving Earth behind forever. The two ships, named Espérer and Étoile, could approach the speed of light, not reach it, so that for those traveling thirty years would pass, while on Earth it would be millenia.

They dubbed the planet they found Terranova. That is where the story begins.

Society

The Terranovan colony is, essentially, a semi-feudal monarchy. All land and resources automatically belong to Adam Lombardo, the current Colony Governor and Head of State and Government. Sections of the colony have been divided up between different baronies, which are controlled by barons chosen by the Governor.

The economy of the colony is based on credits. During the journey, all adult colonists on both ships were considered to be in service to the colony itself and paid accordingly, along with being given claims to land and housing once they arrived at their destination. The value of the credits themselves is still fluctuating somewhat as services and resources on the planet are often seen as more valuable.

The Terranovan colony is fairly relaxed in many ways in regards to law. Disrupting the life of another is criminal, but anything short of this is generally tolerated.

Upon landing, the colony consisted of 15,812 individuals between the ages of 30 and 125 and 14,446 individuals between two and 28. Sixteen thousand of the colonists at landing were augmented, with ten thousand of these being Mechs. The DNA of thousands of people were kept in the banks of the ship, to be used as additions to the gene pool to increase genetic diversity.

All children are required to be educated by a Council of Education approved school from the ages of three to twenty-two. After this, further education is available to them, but not legally required. Nearly half of the original passengers on board Espérer and Étoile were given some training as educators and all of the second generation are required to achieve at a minimum a Bachelor's degree, so that there is no danger that the knowledge, history and technological advances from Earth might be lost.

At puberty, all colonists are chemically sterilized. After the age of 22, they may petition for childbearing permits. If they should agree to allow the Council of Population Management to choose an augment for their offspring, their chances or being given a permit are much greater.

Further information is on the society page.

Setting

Play begins on the day of landing. The ships will soon be completely cannibalized for use in construction of the colony's housing and buildings. The colony's population hovers just above 30,000 people, and will spread out over five regions called baronies, each serving a specific purpose. Most of the planet has yet to be explored and for their own safety the colonists are restricted to the 54 square kilometer block of land along the New Rhine River that has been settled.

Rather than try to create preserves for the native flora and fauna, they have instead created a "preserve" for Terran lifeforms. Implanted chips will deliver mild shocks to any Terran lifeform that attempts to leave the colony. If the shocks are ignored and the lifeform persists in going beyond the colony boundaries, the shocks will become lethal. Livestock, companion animals, and human beings are all subject to this. Plant life is controlled through bioengineering that makes it impossible for any Terran plant to germinate outside of specially treated soil.

Further information and a map is available on the setting page.

The Planet

Terranova is the second planet from a stellar class G2 main sequence star dubbed Freya. Of the seven planets in the Freyan system, Terranova is the largest terrestrial planet. Terranova is the only planet other than Earth which has been confirmed to support complex life without terraformation. A spectral analysis was able to confirm that its atmosphere was hospitable to human life before Espérer and Étoile left Earth.

The planet is largely forested or covered in grasslands, though only the area surrounding the planet's largest freshwater lake, dubbed Lake Virginia, has been explored as of yet. The grassland to the east of the lake was chosen as the landing zone for the ships, as it is a large, flat plain and is reasonably close to fresh water and potential farmland.

Further information on the planet and a map is available on the planet page.

Augments

These are super human abilities gained through genetic engineering. Any player is welcome to choose one for their character, though they aren't required.

Telepathy - By heightening intuition and altering certain portions on the left side of the brain, it becomes possible for a person to communicate nonverbally with others within a ten meter radius.

Empathy - A similar process to the creation of telepathy, this involves an enhancement of intuition and alterations on the right hemisphere of the brain. Empaths may pick up the emotions of others within a ten meter radius, but must have physical contact for the projection of emotions.

Enhanced Senses - The human mind would be incapable of handling every sense enhanced, but carefully choosing one enhancement can be highly beneficial. Usually, eyesight or hearing are enhanced, though some parents choose to enhance their children's sense of smell or taste.

Physical Augments - Enhanced strength, speed or endurance were popular among those on Earth who hoped to raise an athlete. The increased strain on the metabolism makes it impossible to push these abilities past a certain level, but it certainly made it impossible for the unaugmented to compete.

Biomechanical Androids ("Mechs") - Experiments forty-one years before the launch resulted in the Mechs: humans designed for interfacing with technology directly. They are raised in groups of five--called "broods"--and are bonded mentally through devices surgically implanted into their brains shortly after birth. Mechs typically have a difficult time forming bonds outside of their broods. Most people have difficulty relating to Mechs and see them as something other than human.

Further information on augments and the link to the page on Mechs are on the augments page.

Character Sheets

This is a fairly relaxed game and as I said elsewhere, it's more social than some of the other games we've been playing on this site. The sheets don't require stats and each player can more consider him or herself as part of a large, collaborative story than as the GM's unwilling pawn. (Though you may at times be pawns. :D)

Your sheet should consist of the character's name, age, augment if any, and the character's history, including educational background. If you wish your character to hold an important position--such as a baron, chair of one of the councils, etc--include that in the history.

If you're interested in playing a Mech, you should discuss it with me before writing your sheet as they're quite a bit different from the humans.

All characters should be 22 or up.

A little additional information on is on the application page.