CCP + White Wolf = Awesome

Turn the way back machine to about 2005 and you'll find me kinda giddy that Eve Online creator's CCP purchased up RPG producer White Wolf wholesale. I always admired the World of Darkness setting over others in my teen years. And even though the setting has changed a bit after White Wolf holding true and actually putting out splat books that cover the actual end of their world, a feat that is impressive by itself for commercial reasons alone let alone creatively, I still like how the WoD does Vampires, Werewolves, and everything in between.

The Underworld movies owe themselves to their RPGs as much as they might owe Anne Rice.

And yet my favorite MMO producer and all around good company purchased my favorite RPG producer. Awesome things should have happened, but they didn't. Things got quiet and faded from my immediate memory.

Color me impressed that they are doing something with the property.

Edit: Woah, wait, what. I just noticed this: The game is set against the MASQUERADE setting and not the newer Requiem. Wow. Nostalgia goggles go.

Campaign Log

I've moved the campaign log off to a site for itself : Spinward Traveller.

Separated out from the usual tedium.

Map! - Spinward Marches 'Trane'

Trane, as a colony, started simple enough. It was the calmest, albeit radioactive, place to setup a fuel refinery. The vast ice reserves below the surface proved easy to access and refine. Primitive native life even eeks out a living deep below Trane's icy crust that attracts the occassional tourist. And while it continues to be a robust refinery, Trane has grown considerably since then. Since its founding it has sprawled out uncontrollably to what it is today- a sort of perpetual keg party gone horribly wrong for the ships and their crew capable of navigating to the planet. Of which, used to be a somewhat significant feat of piloting made moot by automated landing beacons and other advances of space faring technology.
Trane exists on a perpetual cusp of chaos with its people either inebriated or ambivilant. It's government outside the refinery consists of whomever looks the most responsible and changes daily.

Though the TAS has not formally declared Trane to be amber, it is advised that all passing travellers be aware of changing political situations and to keep visits short. Popular rumor has it that the TAS has not issued an amber warning because it would devestate the local economy, though this is completely unsubstantiated.

Map! - Spinward Marches 'Craw'

For most people, ideal retirement is a trip to one of Craw's idyllic rural communities. For the people that live there; it's anywhere else. Craw's atmosphere has a helium contaminant that easily remedied locally through pharmaceutical means.

Map! - Spinward Marches

Here is the Spinward Marches map stitched together. This is just a rough just to get an idea on how things are going. As you might be able to tell, there are some problems. Trade routes don't always line up for one. And secondly the hex template is off. Though the later I knew about and didn't spend to much time fretting over it. When you cut it out and piece it together, that little anomaly won't be noticed.

Map! - Spinward Marches 'Egypt'

Egypt is a unique world in that it's thought to be an ancient remnant of a transient gas giant or some other super massive debris. It's core is so incredibly radioactive as to be a radiation hazard through out the planet and well within 100 diameters. So intense is both the gravity well, radio interference, and radiation that the world makes for a natural orbital storage location where munitions and other military hardware spend time. Anyone attempting to steal anything would need not only need to know the location of the object in excruciating detail, but also have a ship capable of navigating the gravity well quickly, and have a death wish.
Because if the radiation doesn't shorten the lives of the crew, the orbital military supply posts will likely finish the job.

Map! - Spinward Marches 'Aster'

Lying on the border of frontier space the rather tropical water world of Aster is home to a rather elaborate fuel refinery and subsidized space port. LSP holds an interest here in the form of a hydrogen research facility that is long rumored to anything but.

Map! - Spinward March 'Horosho'

Horosho is a world in change for better and worse. As a byproduct of terraforming the world is remarkably more green than it used to be. Vast ice deposits that laid below the crust were melted to provide the planet with the thin atmosphere and vast lakes it now enjoys. However the terraforming did not go as well as initially projected and it eventually crushed the Horosho government under its financial burden. The terraforming project now sits half completed as the world slowly slides back to its natural state. Strong sudden storms are common with atmospheric pressure dipping dangerously for hours at a time.
Though the current regime enjoys public support for disposing of the former government pork projects, it sits on a precarious position of watching the world slide back into being uninhabitable to the less developed parts of society that grew up depending on the terraformed Horosho.

Horosho is also home to some of the most famous scout training facilities in the Glisten sector that value not only the data gained by the terraforming project, but by the 2 nearly hostile worlds from which they dispatch recruits for training.

Clarkson Class Deckplan

Clarkson Class Cruiser SXT

Clarkson Class Cruiser SXT (Refit at Glisten Shipyards) TL-F 332.92925Mcr

The Clarkson Cruiser SXT is a popular refit of the popular Clarkson Cruiser built by Omni Consumer Products. It removes the eponymous particle beam for more infantry, an upgraded Omni Consumer Products Intelli-Force Autonomous computer, and close support assets. It's a favorite of quick strike groups that can afford to field them. The 3 G/Carriers provide ample fire power for the ships that still have them as they tend to be hard to replace given their high tech military status - the ones on the ship are often part of the original refit package. Though it is not uncommon to see other grav platforms used in their stead. These G/Carriers are modified from the original design to easily fit in the Clarkson's hangars. However any G/Carrier will fit within, maintenance merely becomes more difficult while onboard (+1 DM). Altering a G/Carrier to Clarkson specs takes a successful engineering check and 12 hours. The SXT refit is found almost exclusively in kits or finished ships at the Glisten Yards when not in use by high profile military detachments. The refit from the base model tends to cost around 80Mcr with labor and 1 month dock time.

With the refit computer the Clarkson looses some of it's ability to cook delicate meals in the captains quarters but gains an otherwise charming and sincere personality that is typically exudes a concern for the troops it deploys.
This quirk wasn't intentional, as the Intelli-Force Autonomous Computer is infamous for being inhumanely calculated, and is thought of as a result of the expert medic and steward programs.
The Omni Consumer Products software development team strongly advises to not alter the software load out of the IFAC mainframe.

400t Streamlined 17.6MCr Hull 8/8
Fins 2Mcr 20t
Armor 8Crystal 3.52Mcr 40t
Reflec 1.76Mcr
Self Sealing 0.176Mcr
Maneuver-4 (H Drive) 15t 32Mcr
Jump-4 (H Drive) 45t 80Mcr
H Plant 25t 64Mcr
Bridge 20t 2Mcr
Comp/7(bis) 45Mcr
Jump-4 0.4Mcr
Expert(Pilot)-1 0.001Mcr
Expert(Navigation)-1 0.001Mcr
Expert(Remote Operations)-1 0.001Mcr
Translator-0 50cr
Security-1 200cr
Expert(Steward)-1 0.001Mcr
Expert(Comms)-1 0.001Mcr
Expert(Sensors)-1 0.001Mcr
Expert(Mechanic)-1 0.001Mcr
Expert(Medic)-1 0.001Mcr
Intellect 1Mcr

Advanced Sensors 3t 2Mcr
20 Staterooms 80t 10Mcr
20 Escapepods 10t 2Mcr
30 Low Passages 15t 1.5Mcr
Air Raft 4t 0.275Mcr
3 G/Carrier 30t 45Mcr
Fuel J-4 40t
2 Weeks Operation 16t
2 Fuel Processors 2t 0.1Mcr
TL-8 Triple Turret 2 Beam (Variable), 1 Sandcaster 1t 3.25Mcr
TL-8 Triple Turret 2 Beam (Variable), 1 Sandcaster 1t 3.25Mcr
TL-7 Triple Turret 3 Missile(Accurate) 1t 3.25Mcr
Ammo Magazine(48 missiles) 4t
Probe Drones (5) 1t 0.5Mcr

4x Armoury 8t 2Mcr
Luxuries 3t 0.3Mcr
Autodoc slaved to the Computer 0.04Mcr

Cargo 16t

Clarkson Class Cruiser

Clarkson Class Cruiser (Built in Glisten Shipyards, New Rome Yards) TL-C 254.93735Mcr

The Clarkson Cruiser is a by product of a design bid with the Imperium for a formidable high speed maneuver ship built for fast intercepts and light ground support in high contention areas with an emphasis on atmospheric maneuverability. It failed to gain traction within the Imperium largely due to its poor jump capabilities compared to the rest of the fleet and large particle beam that had little use in it's intended atmospheric troop support role. As imperial support for the project waned, it was endanger of being scrapped. Instead, with its initially governmental product placements it found great acclaim within corporate military and mercenary detachments for the stylish design and ability to fight and stand against starships much larger than itself. It was billed in these markets as a jack of all trades. Before production was finalized it was tweeked for those markets with the inclusion of an "advanced" computer system by a subsidary Haufell Light Industries (known for kitchen appliances, among other things) and luxuries for their captains that would otherwise be balked at on an Imperium Cruiser. Though the captains quarters are considered decadent for a cruiser of this size, the rest of the ship is incredibly spartan and is indicative of its functional military roots. The computer aboard the Clarkson however is reknown for its sloppy distracted AI that is neither capable of performing one task on it's own nor doing it efficiently with assistance. Stories abound of crews asking a Clarkson class to act on something menial only to see it divert power from something otherwise intrinsic, like life support or otherwise miss the point of the request entirely.
This is generally attributed to the primitive intellect program that it was given that is largely incapable of managing the starship without draining resources and even then it's almost completely ineffective without a crewman baby sitting it.
The computer is however, very capable of cooking meals within the Captains quarters where it applies its steward skill above par.

Since its debut, it has seen continued success and support ever since with the Clarkson Class being seen as far out as Antares.

400t Streamlined 17.6MCr Hull 8/8
Fins 2Mcr 20t
Armor 8Crystal 3.52Mcr 40t
Reflec 1.76Mcr
Self Sealing 0.176Mcr
Maneuver-4 (H Drive) 15t 32Mcr
Jump-4 (H Drive) 45t 80Mcr
H Plant 25t 64Mcr
Bridge 20t 2Mcr
Comp/5(bis) 15Mcr
Jump-4 0.4Mcr
Intellect-2 0.05Mcr
Expert(Pilot)-1 0.001Mcr
Expert(Navigation)-1 0.001Mcr
Intelligent interface .0001Mcr
Expert(Remote Operations)-1 0.001Mcr
Translator-0 50cr
Security-1 200cr
Expert(Steward)-1 0.001Mcr
Expert(Comms)-1 0.001Mcr
Expert(Mechanic)-1 0.001Mcr
Advanced Sensors 3t 2Mcr
20 Staterooms 80t 10Mcr
20 Escapepods 10t 2Mcr
20 Low Passages 10t 1Mcr
Air Raft 4t 0.275Mcr
Fuel J-4 40t
2 Weeks Operation 16t
2 Fuel Processors 2t 0.1Mcr
TL-C (+4 TL) Fixed Bay Weapon Particle Beam (Very High Yield) 45t 10Mcr
TL-8 Triple Turret 2 Beam (Variable), 1 Sandcaster 1t 3.25Mcr
TL-8 Triple Turret 2 Beam (Variable), 1 Sandcaster 1t 3.25Mcr
TL-7 Triple Turret 3 Missile(Accurate) 1t 3.25Mcr
Ammo Magazine(48 missiles) 4t
Probe Drones (5) 1t 0.5Mcr

Armoury 2t 0.5Mcr
Luxuries 3t 0.3Mcr

Cargo 12t

Note on the Computer: It can only apply one skill or activity at a time. It is completely capable of self diagnosis and providing rudimentary functionality to comms and the probes. It's even a capable navigator. But it frequently misses key details when left to itself or executes commands too literally. It also effectively has an autopilot though it has great difficulty (-4 Dm) in any area that is not well mapped or traveled, as in going anywhere that does not have an explicit landing beacon. It flies almost blindly in these areas and when presented with hazards that a pilot would be unconscious to have not seen (as referenced by its ability to use Pilot but not comms at the same time. It cannot even see what the sensors might pick up).
As stated before it has a repertoire of skills related to cooking and puts them to use in the captains quarters (but not the general mess). However, asking it to do so will cause the ship to halt doing whatever it was doing before, like piloting, etc.
It is a good conversationalist that unfortunately with long discussions tends to drag the computer to a halt causing it to stop doing whatever it was before until instructed to do so again.
Some crews go so far as to disconnect the microphones to the computer from any location other than the bridge to avoid it from accidentally crashing the ship while it attempts conversation.

I'll make a deck plan for it later.
edit: I noticed a horrible discrepency in the software load out, so I wrote it into the backstory.

Map! - Spinward March 'Callia'

Callia is the home of the Thillian, a race brought to the stars in 643 when Imperial frontier scouts began translating their language.

This has widely been considered a mistake as the Thillian are little more than miscreants and criminals when outside the inscrutable gaze of the law. The Thillian were on the brink of extinction despite maintaining a modest TL3 civilization when the Imperial scouts arrived. The local predators were so well adapted to Callia's environment that the diminutive Thillian were forced to eek out an meager living in the shadows of near omni present and imminent death. Shortly after contact and rudimentary trade began, the tables turned for the Thillian as they immediately armed themselves and, bent on genocidal revenge, systematically devastated the local fauna.

And when the local predators were no longer a challenge they turned on each other. Brutalizing a long held culturally accepted value of "might makes right" that had previously been mostly bloodless. As value within Thillian society was often determined inversely by it's legitimacy, with theft being a common trade practice. The more difficult to secure and prized the item, the more it was valued and the more heroic and virile the Thillian was thought to be.

The Thillian have made grand paintings and epic songs of 'Heroes' that managed to steal the contents of cribs, family heirlooms, and more recently, cars and weapons - often from unwary travellers. The most songed hero is that of "Tuelin". He stole the livestock from his neighbor and adultered his wife. Many years later, poor and destitute, when the farmer realized that his son is not his own, he attempted suicide only to find that the family knives were taken as well- taking from him the ability to end his own life.

With the typical life of a Thillian often being incredibly brutal and short anyway, the occasional automatic weapon and laser carbine did nothing to satiate this cultural standard.

Contact became sporadic for many decades after state warfare became the norm and wasn't reestablished properly till a frontier ship from Omni Consumer Products arrived and formally established a work program with the, then balkanized, Thillian governments. This would be the beginning of many such agreements as the Thillian proved to be willing and able to do a great deal of dangerous and menial labor other sophonts refused to do.

The Thillian are rarely welcome off world as their unfortunate reputation precedes them.

Map! - Spinward Marches 'Sorel'

In MTU Sorel is something of a rustic backwater protected by the Imperium's developing civilizations and ancient historical site laws. Though its legal status is frequently abused for various reasons by the natural inhabitants, the Sorel. The Sorel are little more than cold blooded parasitic pseudo-vines capable of speech and high thought but very little else. It is unclear how they came to be originally, but some evidence suggests Ancient involvement occurred in their past in either a genetic or purely social role.
Found strictly on Sorel, At birth they are attached to a fruit bearing tree (or bushes, in the case of the poor), from which they will gather nearly all their nourishment, that the Sorel then grow with as much as they grow onto it. The type of plant that they are bonded too often determines their social status and role in Sorellian society.
They are almost completely immobile and bound to the fate of the plant they host with. As such they welcome travellers and other humans that are capable of assisting them and reward them with choir songs and fine wooden crafts, often grown into the shape they are presented in from the vessel that they host. Such crafts are considered the finest honor that they can bestow and their choir routines are thought of as the most enchanting in the sector.

However in addition to being know for their gifts of song and trinkets, they are frequently depicted as being loud, abrasive, passive-aggressive, and gabby. The scout retinues dispatched to Sorel never do so happily and freqently leave ahead of schedule.

Map! - Spinward March 'Blank'

A blank tile!

Map! - Spinward March 'Aki'

Poor Aki, must be a miserable place to live.

Map! - Spinward Marches

My latest work is mapping out the MTU Spinward Marches starting with the Glisten subsector as a sort of reprisal to the Ivanez map. As of now, these are to be used as tiles for a later work. But I'm aiming in the direction of cutting them out and laminating them(I suggest a Brother LX-900 'Cool Laminator' with magnetic backing) with each hex going to be around 3".

This of course would make the Spinward Marches take up a living room or so if laid out. So some sort of digital representation will not be ruled out.

If you've been following the other posts, you can see Almacen drifting out in the middle of nowhere in the Glisten tile; In addition to 2 other MTU orbital colonies. I'm not sure if I should explicitly name some of these entities. I'm afraid it will clutter it up.

Map! - Ivanez #3

(Click for Big)

This is actually the third iteration of Ivanez. This time rendered out into a full sector as opposed to a tiny subsector. I was still playing with how to render detail without being gaudy and in some respects this incomplete map does this.

However the limitations of the machine I was on at the time made working with the monstrous file an exercise of self inflicted torture. A comment by my brother Kenny mentioned the need to narrow down and bring out the detail rather than dilute the campaign map. That it is far more preferable to work with a well crafted and detailed campaign map than one so immense as to loose the scope of the players. And I agreed, thus dropping this project mid stream to work on bringing a fine resolution to an other wise astronomically broad canvas.

This was done in Gimp. Allot of copy/pasting was done for the frame work, but would have eventually been filled in.

Map! - Ivanez #1

(Click for Big)

This is the first digital iteration of the Ivanez map as woeful as it is. I used a generic RPG mapping program to render it. So disgusted with it, it made me delve into the nuances of mapping and the utilities used there in.

I eventually settled on using Gimp as it gave me the flexibility to do whatever I wanted.

Map! - Ivanez #2

(Click for Big)

It occurred to me that it is hard to gauge the value of the Ivanez map without knowing a little of it's evolution. Contained here is the second iteration of that map (with the earlier post being the fourth rendition). None of the Ivanez maps, aside from the last iteration and the first "Ivanez" post, was released to the players. You might notice little changes in the map make up between iterations.

It was done in Gimp and, aside from generating the hexmap, it was done entirely by hand.

It was also a move in the right direction. But ultimately I was dissatisfied with it. Although it clued in the spectral information of the planetary host stars, it did little to actually inform the players.

Map! - Icathia

(Click for Big)

Another map for a DnD campaign that never got off the ground. The concept revolved around the awakening of a sleeping formless trans dimensional god. The players were to be the animated avatars of that god of whom would form and act in accordance with their actions. The sole goal of the campaign was to spread the word of that entity (of which the players would decide). The players only really knew the name of their creator, "Orcas". (It's a homage to a beloved dead bubbletip anemone named "Oscar".)

I had in mind that even though the players were "human" in a natural form, it was only because it was the easiest and most common form for the diety Orcas to imitate. There was to be several favors and items that could be found and won that would have changed their abilities and form (wings... fur... horns... fire breathing... etc).

Again the idea being that by the end of the campaign, they would represent a Final Fantasy style esper more than anything else. But alas for reasons beyond the campaign concept, it never got rolling (I'm actually still interested in running it).

I even shared the map with a co worker of whom was very familiar with first edition DnD and I integrated some of his ideas into the mythos and history of the world.

On a technical note this map represents a significant leap forward in my map making skills. This map took all of maybe an hour or two to build. Made in Gimp, it relies heavily on creative filter use.

In general I like the map in terms of creation time and the colors (I'm a sucker for the Final Fantasy map style coloring).