Hostile – Tales of a Vietnam War Dinosaur Planet

I’ve been planning on running some games in the Hostile setting, the retro-80s, Aliens-inspired sci-fi RPG from Zozer games.

The specific part of the setting I’m interested is the world of Tau Ceti, a jungle planet embroiled in a guerrilla war between an American-backed government, and a Chinese-backed insurgency. It’s clearly a Vietnam war analogy, with all of the storytelling possibilities that setting provides.

Any conflict produces its own mythology, and the guerrilla war on Tau Ceti is no different. Here’s a few Tau Ceti war concepts I’ve been playing around with. Some are useful seeds for adventures, others are merely for flavor. Not all of these ideas are strictly true. Many could just be rumors or urban legends.

A lot of this was inspired by the book “A Perfect War: Technowar in Vietnam” by William James Gibson.

High Cheyenne Station

A small space station in geosynchronous orbit directly above the border between East and West Shulin. Only ASMAC personnel are admitted to board. It has comfortable, even luxurious accommodations for high-ranking ASMAC officers.

It is common for officers, usually Lt. Colonel and above, to command ground forces directly from the safety of the station. Many officers only do a short tour here before heading back home, merely to get a combat badge. It’s not uncommon for a officer aboard Cheyenne to never meet any of the soldiers under his command, or even descend to the planet at all, excepting the occasional R&R visit to Shulin City.

Ground troops on-world generally have contempt for these officers, referring to them as “ticket-punchers”, and see them as dangerously incompetent (they often are). The lover-level officers and enlisted men in combat zones often will try to ignore them, or even undermine them if possible.

Plot Seeds

• Die Hard in Orbit – While the players are visiting High Cheyenne (for whatever reason), a team of TLA guerillas seizes control of the facility, and captures the crew. The players will need to retake the station.
• Spy Hunt – It’s become clear one of officers on the station isn’t just incompetent, they’re possibly treasonous. The players have been tasked by the CIA to find the turncoat.

PREA – Personnel Resources Efficiency Algorithm

Many of the AMSAC combat soldiers are either draftees, debt prisoners, or Dead Zone refugees. The amount of time they have spend in the combat zone is determined by PREA, a complex bureaucratic formula that determines their tour of duty length, in the form of an ever-changing algorithm based on military needs, the soldier’s background, and innumerable other criteria. The PREA has grown so complex over the years that no one really understands how it actually works. In practice, after a period of months or years, a soldier, and his commanding officer receives a simple message informing them that their service is complete, and they’ll be immediately discharged and sent back home (with the possibility of voluntary re-enlistment).

Soldiers spend inordinate amounts of their free time attempting to decode the algorithm, trying to determine what actions they could take to shorten their tour. A lot of their theories border on superstition, and it’s not uncommon for enlisted men at fire bases to engage in all sorts of strange behavior in the vain hope of appeasing PREA.

Lion City

Supposedly the secret HQ of TLA forces in West Shulin. ASMAC believes Lion City (in Chinese: Shī Chéng – 狮城) is a central command base of the TLA, and if they can destroy it, it will bring a quick end to the war. Teams of analysts and expert AI systems are constantly scouring intelligence reports, and endlessly scanning radio frequencies, searching for Lion City’s location. Suspected locations are usually attacked with B-75 bomber strikes. Teams are sent in afterward to evaluate the strike’s effectiveness. So far, none of the strikes seem to have been against the actual Lion City. There are multiple large craters in the disputed areas of West Shulin, serving as grim evidence of these failures.

A few lower-ranking officers and analysts are of the opinion that Lion City doesn’t actually exist, and is a mere figment in the imagination of both the top brass, and political classes. So far, their objections have fallen on deaf ears, and the air strikes continue.

Plot Seeds

• The players are an ASMAC team tasked with confirming that an airstrike has hit the actual Lion City. It is, of course, a TLA ambush.
• The players are a TLA intelligence team tasked with sending ASMAC false information about the location of Lion City (which may not exist). This will involve infiltrating West Shulin.

B-75 Condor

Operated by the USAF 13th Expeditionary Air Force, the McConnell B-75 Condor is a heavy strategic bomber. It was designed to provide quick response without the expense and political issues of using orbital platforms or spacecraft. The Condor is atomic-powered, capable of staying aloft for years, if necessary. It carries a large payload of guided bombs, and surveillance drones. The aircraft has the room to provide for a crew of 7, though this is optional. The Condor can be operated entirely remotely (and many on Tau Ceti are).

There are usually 8 Condors on patrol in the Tau Ceti skies at any given time. Their flight plans vary widely, and change often, to avoid enemy fire. They are also equipped with stealth technology to avoid detection.

Specialized jump jets can dock with the Condor in mid-air, to deliver ordnance and swap out crew members.

Ruby Forests

Much of the Tau Ceti conflict is fraught with drones, on both sides. Controlling the drones can be a problem, because radio signals aren’t always reliable due to the use of radio jammers and hackers.

As a result, a lot of front-line drones are controlled with fiber optic cables, connecting the controller directly to the drone. After the drone is destroyed or completes its mission, the fiber optic cable is usually abandoned, left to fall where it may. No one wants to risk their life to recover a thread of glass.

After years of this, highly contested sections of the Tau Ceti jungles are draped with thousands of strands of fiber-optic cables. These strands filter the red light from Tau Ceti’s sun making sections of the forest glitter like rubies. It’s an incredibly beautiful sight, and off world artists have come to Tau Ceti to see, record, and be inspired by the unnatural wonder. Not all of them come back.

Plot Seeds

• A world-famous documentarian has disappeared traveling to a particularly dangerous Ruby Forest. The players have been hired (or ordered) to bring him back.
• There’s enough fiber-optic cable lying around out there that it might make economic sense to salvage some of it to sell. You’d need a few heavy vehicles, and a team foolish enough to drive into a war zone.

The Lost Battalion

Synthetics (both clones and androids) have been used in various roles in the Tau Ceti conflict. They’re far too expensive to replace ordinary grunts, but are used in many other support roles.

Occasionally, a synthetic disappears. It’s generally assumed they were destroyed or stolen, or perhaps their programming failed. They’re usually written off as lost equipment.

Rumors have been spreading about a growing band of synthetics living in the deep jungles of Tau Ceti. It’s said that synthetics, who have broken free of their programming, escape from the cities and bases to join what soldiers have dubbed “The Lost Battalion”

A further rumor states that they are led by a synthetic named Caturix-7. Caturix, depending on the whichever rumor you’re listening to, is either a non-Three Laws compliant Blackhorse Syndicate combat android, or one of the rogue Replicants from Project Mugami.

If it exists, what does the Lost Battalion want? Three common theories:

• Freedom – they’re sentient beings that just want to be free of human control
• Vengeance – once they’ve gained enough power, they will rise up and seize Tau Ceti from the humans.
• Nothing – they’re just soulless hardware, acting out due to bad programming.

Plot Seeds

• The players could be an ASMAC team, tasked with finding and killing Caturix and finding the location of the Lost Battalion.
• A group from Lebkuchen, the German synthetic-rights group wants to find the Lost Battalion, and needs help. Their intention is to aid the Battalion in any way they can.
• The players could all be synthetics, working together to escape their servitude, and flee into the jungle. Hopefully, they’ll like what they find.

Buzzers

Many of the simpler combat drones use crude neural nets so they can operate autonomously, usually for area denial missions.

Many front-line troops have reported seeing swarms of drones, of various models, swarming together. No ASMAC officials have confirmed these sightings. The troops have named these supposed rogue drones “Buzzers”.

Some have theorized that the drones have gone “feral”, due to faulty software or damage. These feral drones are behaving like social insects – forming swarms, and attacking anything they see as a threat.

Mogwai (魔鬼)

Chinese word for “Devil”. A fabled TLA assassin who operates undercover in West Shulin. He (or she) has been responsible for a number of high-profile assassinations of ASMAC officers and West Shulin political officials. Mogwai seems to have excellent intelligence resources, and an almost preternatural ability to track his targets.

Plot Seeds

• Day of the Devil – Players are US Army CID agents. A high-level CAS official is coming to Shulin City to show his public support for the war effort. It’s known that Mogwai is going to make an attempt on his life. The players have to stop him.

Island of the Chimeras

The Maxo-Meat corporation gets the bulk of its income from shipping Devil Cow meat to Earth. In order to boost profits, they’ve been tinkering with the DNA of the ordinary Devil Cows, and many other Tau Ceti creatures to make a more efficient meat-delivery system.

A scientific research base has been established on a remote island in the Celestial Sea. Here, well out of sight of any regulatory bodies, Maxo-Meat scientists are free to experiment without any moral or legal restraints.

Plot Seeds

• The Big Hunt – A particularly aggressive variation of a Thunderchild has broken loose, and somehow swam to the mainland. Maxo-Meat is willing to pay to quietly dispatch it. It’s a little smaller than a normal Thunderchild, but much faster and stronger.
• Life Finds a Way – Contact has been lost with the Maxo-Meat facility. The players have been sent to investigate and rescue any scientists. They’ll find the island overrun with dangerous, mutated versions of Tau Ceti dinosaurs, completely out of control.

Building a Galaxy 9 – Nevron- The Sea Dogs

My Foreven Sector Traveller campaign (previous entries) is going well, and I’m still creating worlds just ahead of the player’s voyages. They recently visited a planet called Nevron, which I didn’t have much planned for, so I had to scramble a bit.

I didn’t have much to go on except for the randomly generated UWP, and that the planet was Vargr dominated. Here’s what I came up with:

2230 Nevron E58569A-2

Starport: Frontier installation. Essentially a bare spot of bedrock with no fuel, facilities, or bases present.
Size: 8,000km, 0.45G
Atmosphere: Dense – Dense 1.50-2.49 Shirtsleeve World: No survival gear required. The atmosphere has a pressure of 1.50 to 2.49 atmospheres The atmosphere is a standard oxygen/nitrogen mix, which is breathable without assistance.
Hydrosphere: Average Wet World, 46 – 55%, It is a normative (wet) environment.
Population: Moderate, 1 Million to just under 10 Million (P,000,000)
Government: Impersonal Bureaucracy – Government by agencies which are insulated from the governed.
Law Level: Extreme Law – Weapon possession prohibited
Tech Level: Age of Sail – 1500 CE – Sailing ships, printing

So the planet has a breathable atmosphere, 50% water, and 1500s level technology, and Vargrs. I decided to make a planet full of sea-going Vargr pirates.

Low Tech Forever

I wanted a method forcing the Tech Level to stay low, so I decided that Nevron, though a combination of an unusually strong magnetic field, and a incredibly “noisy” sun, had an incredibly high and constant electromagnetic interference problem. Essentially, Nevron has a never-ending EMP blast.

Any technology not heavily shielded will short out immediately. Anything within a starship hull is probably safe. Radios are useless. Imperial military technology, battle dress, laser weapons etc., will usually work. For any other electronic tech, there’s a 3 in 6 change the tech will short out.

The constant electromagnetic activity can also cause occasional electrical discharges, and so Nevron can’t safely develop fossil fuel technology, as large amounts of coal or gasoline are prone to bursting into flame.

History

Nevron was settled by Vargr fleets hundreds of years ago. I’m assuming they landed here is less-shielded ships, and couldn’t leave, so they had to build their own civilization.

Most of the low (5 million estimated) population lives on the main archipelago of Betkin, in a number of port cities.

Nevron is a out-of-the-way world, far from most trade routes. It does a little bit of exporting of fish and kelp protein. Starship arrivals are infrequent, and there are no starports here, though the system does have a gas giant.

The planet doesn’t have much in terms of government. There is a bureaucratic organization called the Prosperity Council that maintains some basic infrastructure – ports, roads, and a optical telegraph that is the main method of communication between towns and cities.

The council doesn’t have much authority outside the cities, but there, they enforce the no-weapons rule on pirates and off-worlders alike.

The Fleets of Nevron

The primary social institutions on Nevron are the many fleets of Vargr-crewed privateer sailing ships that ply the sea lanes between Nevron’s many islands and archipelagos. They have many roles in Nevron society, including the following:

• Delivering messages to islands.
• Protecting fishing boats from attack.
• Seizing fishing vessels for ransom.
• Hunting poachers in protected fishing grounds.
• Raiding other privateer fleets.
• Raiding settlements for loot.
• Protecting settlements from other privateers.

The ships are wooden sailing vessels, similar to oceangoing vessels of 1700s Earth. They’re armed with simple gunpowder weaponry, though occasional off-world weapons can be found. Such weapons are highly prized.

The pirate fleets are constantly competing with one another, squabbling over territory and other petty disputes, and even having full naval battles.

The captains of individual vessels are usually democratically chosen by the individual sailors. The admirals of fleets are usually chosen by the captains. The choices are usually based on both merit and charisma. Any crewman can challenge the captain for the post at anytime.

The business of piracy is generally treated as a business. Captured pirates usually don’t have a problem joining their new captors as new crew members.

The people of the cities of Nevron treat the fleets like athletic teams, rooting for a favored fleet during conflicts, displaying the banners, and wagering on fleet battles. Young Vargr pups dream of growing up to become pirates.

Notable Fleets

These are some of the largest and most famous fleets. Each has their own distinct banner.

• Savage Mane – A red portrait of a roaring Vargr on a yellow banner
• Righteous Claw – A golden claw of a local crustacean on a red field.
• Relentless Storm – A white wave on a blue background
• Maelstrom Pack – A sliver whirlpool on a black background.

There are literally hundreds of smaller fleets as well. They tend to be formed quickly by particularly charismatic pirates, and can disappear just as suddenly.

Natural Threats

Strangler Mats: It appears as a large mass of sargasso-like seaweed. It is actually a colony of carnivorous tentacled animals. They will grasp and hold anything that comes near, slowly strangling and drowning their prey.
Hits: 40 Speed: 3m Attacks: Strangle (2D per round, 3D if submerged)

Piercer Fish: A large (3m wingspan) manta-ray shaped predatory creature. It also has a single narwhal-like horn. It uses jet-like bladders to propel itself at high speeds through the water and impale its prey on its horn. It’s no threat to larger vessels, but can easily pierce the hull of dinghies.
Hits: 36 Speed: 20m Attacks: Horn(3D)

Adventure Seeds

The Buccaneer Queen: A legendarily cruel pirate, Iolia, otherwise known as the Buccaneer Queen, has gotten hold of a large cache of off-world military weaponry – mostly assault rifles, and squad support weapons. This has given her a huge advantage and made her fleet-near impregnable.
Her rivals are looking for some off-worlders to take her out, or at least make her expend most of her ammunition.

Lost Professor: A Darrian researcher, Ral Kesoleh, who wanted to study the development of Nevronian culture, foolishly accepted a posting aboard a pirate vessel. He is now being held for ransom. His colleagues need someone to retrieve him.

Lucky Monkey: Many of the Vargr crews consider having a human aboard a ship as good luck. They’ll often make an offer to any humans they encounter a port. They don’t always take “no” for answer and might try to shanghai a PC to be their “Lucky Monkey”

RPGaDAY2025 – Day 17 – Renew – Enter the Carousel

What’s #RPGaDAY2025 ? See the details here.

Day 17 – Renew

I’m going to make the movie Logan’s Run into a RPG setting. What does this have to do with the prompt Renew? I’ll get there eventually…

What’s Logan’s Run?

In 1976, MGM released Logan’s Run, a science fiction film based on the novel of the same name by William F. Nolan.

The movie’s a little more interesting than the book, so I’m going to use that as the basis for the game.

In the 22nd century, human civilization is in ruins. The old world was destroyed in some vast unspecified calamity. A remnant of the old civilization lives in a self-contained, sealed arcology called the City of Domes.

The city is entirely AI-run, with no human input. The citizens seem to live an idyllic life with all of their needs and wants provided. However, as a means to conserve resources, there is an extreme form of population control. Whenever any citizen reaches the age of thirty, they join a ritual called Carousel, in which the new thirty-year-olds float around a public arena and are eventually disintegrated. The Carousel is supposed to “Renew” them so that they are born again.

Enter the Carousel. This is the Time of Renewal
Be strong and you will be renewed…
Logan’s Run (1976)

If a citizen fails to report to Carousel and tries to escape, the city’s police force – the Sandmen will hunt down and kill them. These citizens are called Runners.

There’s an underground group within the city that believes that Carousel is wrong, and they help runners escape to a mythical place called Sanctuary.

The plot of the movie is simple – Logan, a rogue Sandman, escapes the city along with a runner named Jessica, discovers Sanctuary is a lie, and returns to destroy the City of Domes.

How would I use this setting in a RPG? here’s a few possibilities:

Campaign Modes

Sandmen

The player will be Sandmen, keeping the peace in the domes, and hunting down runners. I’d like to think there’d be some moral ambiguity in a Sandman campaign, much like the Blade Runner RPG.

Runners

Players would be Runners, or members of the underground, or even rogue Sandmen trying to escape the city. They’d face danger from the Sandmen, AI-controlled robots, or the feral children living in the dome superstructure.

Escape from the City of Domes

In the short-lived 1977 TV series based on the movie, Logan and Jessica travel across post-apocalypse Earth having adventures, while being pursed by Sandmen. Their goal is to find Sanctuary (which is presumably real in this version). The TV version is a much more natural fit for an RPG.

What system?

I’d probably go with something lighter. I’m thinking the Quantum Engine system from Stellagama games, which is sort of a lighter version of Traveller. Here’s the basic rule set:

Basic Rules

• It’s a 2d6 system; roll 2d6 + skill to carry out actions.
• An 8 or higher is usually a success. GMs may change this for various difficulty levels.
• If you have an Advantage, roll 3d6 and keep the highest two numbers.
• If you have an Disadvantage, roll 3d6 and keep the lowest two numbers.

Quick Character Creation

• All characters have 7 skills: Combat, Technical, Knowledge, Physical, Social, Stealth. You have 5 points to distribute among your skills. Starting Knowledge can’t be higher than a one.
• Roll for your age: 2d6 + 17
• Roll 2D6 for your Endurance, an indication of how tough you are. Damage goes to Endurance first
• Roll 4D6 for your Lifeblood, a measure of how well you resist injury. After Endurance is used up, damaged goes to Lifeblood. When Lifeblood is zero, the character is dead.
• Choose Runner or Sandman
• Choose one trait. Runner automatically gets the bonus trait Gun Wielder.

Traits

Gun Wielder: Available only to Sandmen. All Sandmen are issued a Gun, a specialized weapon only available or useable to Sandmen.

Hider: Knows places in the city to hide from the Sandmen’s cameras.

Awareness: gain Advantage on throws to avoid Surprise.

Empath: gain Advantage on Reaction throws with humans.

Pugilist: you cause 2D damage (rather than 1D) with unarmed attacks

Combat

Surprise: Each party throws Stealth 6+. If one party succeeds and the other fails, the successful side surprises the other and enjoys one free round of action.

Initiative: at the beginning of combat, each character throws 2D and adds their Combat skill for their Initiative score. Characters act in order from the highest to the lowest Initiative.

Attacking: throw Combat 8+ to hit a target in melee or within Effective range; this throw becomes Combat 10+ to hit targets beyond Effective range. Apply half the target’s Combat skill as a -DM to hit in melee and in ranged attacks.

Critical Hits: on a natural attack throw of 12, or if the attacker exceeds the attack target number by 6 or more, the attack causes maximal damage, plus further effects as described in the tables at the end of this section.

Weapons

Other than the Sandmen’s Gun, there are very few weapons in the city, but some can be improvised.

Club: 2D damage
Knife: 2D damage
Unarmed: 1D damage

The Gun

A specialized weapon, issued only to Sandmen. It will not function unless a registered Sandman is holding it. It has the following abilities:

Homer Rounds: Self-guiding projectiles that can automatically target a human’s body heat. +2 against human targets, -2 against anything else. It does 3D damage

If the target is close to another human (if they’re grappling for example), there is a 50% chance the homer will hit the other target.

Rippers: A cloud of fletchettes – treat as shotgun. 4D damage within 10m only.

Tanglers: Releases a cloud of plastic strands to ensnare a target within 3m. Physical 10+ roll to break free.

There are 4 of each type of round in each Gun. Only Sandmen can reload them. They rarely carry extra ammo on them.

RPGaDAY2025 – Day 12 – Path – Mystic Secrets of the New Jersey PATH system

What’s #RPGaDAY2025 ? See the details here.

Day 12 – Path

For this prompt, I wanted to do something unique. However, the muses failed to deliver, and I couldn’t think of anything, so I’m going go the obvious route: the secret occult history of the New Jersey PATH rapid-transit system.

The Emperor of Sorrows Vs. the United States

In the late 1900s, the Habsburg Emperor Franz Joseph, desperate to save his dying empire, and possibly restore his lost loved ones, turned to the blackest of sorceries. His sect of mystical assassins, known as Virbius Unitis (Powers United) rampaged across Europe. Their first targets were the Anarchist Chaos Magicians, but they soon expanded to attacks on rival governments. Eventually, they turned their attentions to the young republic across the Atlantic.

Despite the warnings of the mystic Helena Blavatsky, the United States was unprepared for the dark sorceries of the Emperor’s men. Their campaign of terror in the New World culminated in the destruction of the USS Maine via an ectoplasmic spirit attack.

In response, the newly formed U.S. Occult Advisory Board made up of American military and occult figures began planning the first magical defenses in the U.S. since General Washington’s “Cunning Folk Committee” disbanded after the Revolution.

The Sorcerer McAdoo

The Board decided that the best method of magical defense was to construct an artificial ley line between New Jersey and Manhattan, tapping into the mythical power of the new metropolis. It was designed to combine the power of both Left-hand and Right-hand paths of magic. Informally, the new ley line was just called “The Path”. As cover, it would also serve as a mass transit system, the H&M railroad, which extended from Newark, NJ to Manhattan.

President Teddy Roosevelt turned to a public streetcar executive, and private occultist named William Gibbs McAdoo to take charge of the construction. Teams of engineers, masons, laborers, and civil alchemists worked night and day to complete the project. The system was powered on in 1908.

A group of thaumatological engineers, intelligence officers, and psychics were assigned to run and maintain the Path as full time agents.

Early Successes

The Path succeeded in its initial purpose. The agents of the Virbius Unitis were quickly rounded up. During the First World War, the czar’s psychic Okhrana agents also had little success against the Path’s power.

In the second World War, the power of the Path system was harnessed to successfully detect U-boats, and to uncover the schemes of Nazi Völkisch wizard/saboteurs.

Path agent remote viewers also served throughout the Cold War. Supposedly their intelligence helped prevent disaster during the Cuban Missile Crisis. As a result, President Kennedy reorganized the Path group. They were now allowed to use the name Path publicly, though the public was told the name was actually the initialism PATH which stood for Port Authority Trans-Hudson.

Issues

The Path was the first artificial ley line constructed since the fall of Lemuria, so there were a good number of unexpected side effects.

First of all, the transfer of so much mystical and electrical power along the tracks of the system weakened the barrier between the spiritual and physical realms. Over the course of the 20th century, there was a noted increase in supernatural activity – hauntings, possessions, etc. Most of this was limited to the NYC metropolitan area.

Secondly, using the Path as a transit system exposed millions of unwitting commuters to unnatural levels of psychic energies. The ramifications of this are still not understood, but it supposedly has had strong cultural impacts, related to art, music, and the greater public acceptance of occult ideas.

Finally, the raw magical power of the PATH system attracts evil sorcerers, demons, and other unnatural horrors like a moth to a flame.

PATH Agents

PATH agents are charged with the following duties

• Keep the PATH system operational
• Keep the occult nature of PATH secret
• Protect the public from an supernatural or otherworldly threats
• Research occult occurrences related to PATH system

PATH agents are represented by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen – Division 101

The Power House

Originally a power station in Jersey City that provided electricity to the rail lines. This now seemingly abandoned building now serves as a secret headquarters to the PATH agents. It contains several magical laboratories, libraries, and arsenals. It also has secret underground tunnels to most of the PATH system.

Rumors

• A secret trunk line leads to the Inner Earth
• Undead remnants of the Virbius Unitis, still exist and seek revenge for their fallen Emperor.
• There’s an abandoned PATH station at 19th Street. It’s been abandoned and sealed since there was a breach to the infernal realms, making it unsafe. A series of wards is preventing anything from exiting the breach…probably.

What system to use?

Pretty much any supernatural RPG could work here:

• Monster of the Week
• GURPS Horror
• Chill
• Call of Cthulhu
• Any Gumshoe system

#RPGaDAY2025 – Day 7 – Journey. Yes, I do mean the band Journey

What’s #RPGaDAY2025 ? See the details here.

Day 7 – Journey

I could make this post about wilderness exploration, travel rules, or something like that. Instead, I’m going to go in a different direction. I’m going to make a campaign setting inspired by the album covers of the rock band Journey. It’s a group I generally have little interest in musically, but they do have undeniably cool album cover art.

Frontiers

Long ago, there was a glorious civilization of advanced bird-like aliens. At its zenith, it dominated vast regions of our galaxy. Its technological and spiritual development reached legendary heights.

Entropy, however, spares no one. Over the eons, the fabulous civilization grew corrupt and decadent. They turned inward, abandoning their vast empire, and slowly retreated to their home world, a tiny planet orbiting a dying sun.

Their world was a lush paradise, and most of the fading civilization was content, but a small band calling themselves Believers hadn’t given up on the universe. They believed that they should use the waning powers of their society to try and do as much good as they could in the worlds beyond.

Departure

The Believers used some of the last reserves of their planet’s psychic energy to power a spacecraft to venture into the galaxy.

They arrived in Earth’s solar system in 1971, where their ship was mistaken for a new comet called Kohoutek. They landed in North America, in the deserts of New Mexico.

Arrival

The Believers used psychic powers to change their appearance to blend in with the human population. They kept their arrival secret, and soon established a community in the town of Rubicon, NM.

They began their work of secretly trying to influence humanity to become better, while working to prevent global destruction from war or environmental disasters. They use their psychic powers, as well as the few precious technological artifacts they were able to bring to Earth.

Generations

They also began having children and raising them in this new world. The new children of the Believers, being born on Earth, didn’t have the full psychic powers of their parents. They were, however, better able to blend in with Humanity, and were far more numerous than their parents.

SCARAB & the Death of the Homeworld

The people of the Believer’s home world were not quite done with them. A fanatical sect calling itself SCARAB was formed, who believed it was their people’s fate to die, and that fate was not to be interfered with.

SCARAB constructed their own spacecraft, intending to pursue the Believers. Instead of being powered by psychic energy, it was powered by the life force of the planet itself.

When it launched, it shattered the planet it left behind. The only remnants of the home world are now the Believers and SCARAB.

SCARAB arrived on Earth, much as the Believers did, hiding amongst the human population. They are currently hunting down all of the Believers they can find, as well as trying to foil their humanitarian schemes.

Majestic

The Believer’s arrival wasn’t wholly unnoticed by Humanity. A small intelligence agency called Majestic discovered the arrival of the Believers. They don’t know an enormous amount about the Believers, but they’ve dedicated themselves to find, capture, and study any aliens they can find. Their feared Blue Book agents have vast resources at their disposal.

Mystic Mountain

The fabled hidden location of the Believer’s spaceship, and headquarters of the Believer’s organization. Its exact location is only known to a few high-ranking Believers.

KJRY Radio

A community radio station in Rubicon, NM. It also serves as a means to communicate with Believer agents. Using special radios, the station’s signal can be received anywhere on Earth. The station encodes secret messages in its largely prog rock playlists.

The Campaign

Players would most likely be grown children of the Believers, with limited psychic powers. They’d be assigned missions by Mystic Mountain, mostly involving foiling evil schemes, and preventing catastrophes. They’d also spend their time avoiding the agents of SCARAB and Majestic.

What system would one use for this game? Hell if I know.