Welcome to TiddlyWiki created by Jeremy Ruston, Copyright © 2007 UnaMesa Association
This sub-section includes links to several different types of adventure resources for use with ''Thousand Suns''.
* [[Biletoj]]
A Belter is an asteroid miner, whether working for a megacorporation or independently as a prospector. Early drafts of ''Thousand Suns'' included this Career Package, but it was eliminated, partially due to space considerations and partially due to the belief that the idea of an asteroid miner doesn't make much sense. The meta-setting's economics section on pages 253-254 assumes that the extraction of resources from stellar bodies is mostly done robotically, for example. However, the Belter is a common character archetype in many Imperial SF stories and settings and should be added to the options available to players. After all, no two ''Thousand Suns'' settings will be the same. Like psionics, the existence of Belters is entirely optional, but the option should nevertheless be there -- and so it is.
''Novice'': Acrobatics 2, Athletics 2, Computers 1, Engineering 2, Observe 2, Piloting 2, Physical Sciences 2, Profession (Belter) 2, Streetwise 2, Technical Sciences 2, Vehicle Operation 2 and 2 additional skills as individual specialties (each at Rank 2)
''Experienced'': Acrobatics 4, Athletics 3, Bureaucracy 2, Computers 3, Engineering 4, Observe 3, Piloting 4, Physical Sciences 4, Profession (Belter) 4, Streetwise 3, Technical Sciences 4, Vehicles Operation 4, and 2 additional skills as individual specialties (each at Rank 4)
''Veteran'': Acrobatics 6, Athletics 4, Bureaucracy 4, Computers 4, Engineering 6, Observe 4, Piloting 5, Physical Sciences 5, Profession (Belter) 6, Streetwise 4, Technical Sciences 6, Vehicle Operation 6, and 2 additional skills as individual specialties (each at Rank 5)
The term Lingua Terra term ''bileto'' literally means "ticket," as in a ticket used to secure passage aboard a passenger starship. Colloquially, the term has come to mean an employment opportunity -- a "meal ticket," so to speak. In ''Thousand Suns'', biletoj are short adventure write-ups that contain multiple variants from which a GM can choose based on his current needs or for which he can roll randomly if he has no obvious preferences. In principle, many biletoj can be re-used if different variants are chosen with only a small amount of which, although some will take more work than others.
* [[Mysterious Passenger]]
Provided here are a number of new and altered Career Packages for use with ''Thousand Suns''. Those that are wholly new are listed as such, while that are altered versions of existing Career Packages are listed as variants.
* [[Belter]] (New)
* [[Law Enforcer]] (Variant)
* [[Missionary]] (New)
This sub-section provides players and Game Masters alike with a veritable rogues gallery of characters to use in their ''Thousand Suns'' adventures and campaigns.
* [[Non-Player Characters]]
* [[Player Characters]]
This website is © 2008 [[Rogue Games, Inc.|http://www.rogue-games.net/]] The Rogue Games logo, "Games so good they sneak up on you.", Colonial Gothic, "Whose side are you on?", Fourth Millennium, Future Imperfect, Thousand Suns, Kitchen Kombat, Encyclopedia Galactica, 12° and their respective logos are TM and © 2008 of Rogue Games Inc.
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|''Description:''|Support for cryptographic functions|
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return str;
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// Convert an array of big-endian 32-bit words to a hex string
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var hex = "0123456789ABCDEF";
var str = "";
for(var i=0;i<be.length*4;i++)
str += hex.charAt((be[i>>2]>>((3-i%4)*8+4))&0xF) + hex.charAt((be[i>>2]>>((3-i%4)*8))&0xF);
return str;
};
// Return, in hex, the SHA-1 hash of a string
Crypto.hexSha1Str = function(str)
{
return Crypto.be32sToHex(Crypto.sha1Str(str));
};
// Return the SHA-1 hash of a string
Crypto.sha1Str = function(str)
{
return Crypto.sha1(Crypto.strToBe32s(str),str.length);
};
// Calculate the SHA-1 hash of an array of blen bytes of big-endian 32-bit words
Crypto.sha1 = function(x,blen)
{
// Add 32-bit integers, wrapping at 32 bits
add32 = function(a,b)
{
var lsw = (a&0xFFFF)+(b&0xFFFF);
var msw = (a>>16)+(b>>16)+(lsw>>16);
return (msw<<16)|(lsw&0xFFFF);
};
// Add five 32-bit integers, wrapping at 32 bits
add32x5 = function(a,b,c,d,e)
{
var lsw = (a&0xFFFF)+(b&0xFFFF)+(c&0xFFFF)+(d&0xFFFF)+(e&0xFFFF);
var msw = (a>>16)+(b>>16)+(c>>16)+(d>>16)+(e>>16)+(lsw>>16);
return (msw<<16)|(lsw&0xFFFF);
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// Bitwise rotate left a 32-bit integer by 1 bit
rol32 = function(n)
{
return (n>>>31)|(n<<1);
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x[len>>5] |= 0x80 << (24-len%32);
// Append length
x[((len+64>>9)<<4)+15] = len;
var w = Array(80);
var k1 = 0x5A827999;
var k2 = 0x6ED9EBA1;
var k3 = 0x8F1BBCDC;
var k4 = 0xCA62C1D6;
var h0 = 0x67452301;
var h1 = 0xEFCDAB89;
var h2 = 0x98BADCFE;
var h3 = 0x10325476;
var h4 = 0xC3D2E1F0;
for(var i=0;i<x.length;i+=16) {
var j,t;
var a = h0;
var b = h1;
var c = h2;
var d = h3;
var e = h4;
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w[j] = x[i+j];
t = add32x5(e,(a>>>27)|(a<<5),d^(b&(c^d)),w[j],k1);
e=d; d=c; c=(b>>>2)|(b<<30); b=a; a = t;
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for(j=16;j<20;j++) {
w[j] = rol32(w[j-3]^w[j-8]^w[j-14]^w[j-16]);
t = add32x5(e,(a>>>27)|(a<<5),d^(b&(c^d)),w[j],k1);
e=d; d=c; c=(b>>>2)|(b<<30); b=a; a = t;
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for(j=20;j<40;j++) {
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t = add32x5(e,(a>>>27)|(a<<5),b^c^d,w[j],k2);
e=d; d=c; c=(b>>>2)|(b<<30); b=a; a = t;
}
for(j=40;j<60;j++) {
w[j] = rol32(w[j-3]^w[j-8]^w[j-14]^w[j-16]);
t = add32x5(e,(a>>>27)|(a<<5),(b&c)|(d&(b|c)),w[j],k3);
e=d; d=c; c=(b>>>2)|(b<<30); b=a; a = t;
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h0 = add32(h0,a);
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h4 = add32(h4,e);
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return Array(h0,h1,h2,h3,h4);
};
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//}}}
/***
|''Name:''|DeprecatedFunctionsPlugin|
|''Description:''|Support for deprecated functions removed from core|
***/
//{{{
if(!version.extensions.DeprecatedFunctionsPlugin) {
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No game is perfect and ''Thousand Suns'' is no different. This entry includes a listing of the errors, mistakes, and unclear parts of the rulebook.
Like most species in the Thousand Suns, the Hen Jaa employ Naval Infantry troops to launch quick assaults both on enemy starships and ground installations. Here are the game statistic for a typical Veteran Hen Jaa Marine:
''Body:'' 7 ''Dexterity:'' 6 ''Perception:'' 6 ''Presence:'' 5 ''Will:'' 6
''Vitality:'' 35 ''Resolve:'' 30
''Species Traits:'' Armor Restriction, Equipment Restriction, Extra Limbs (x2), Hypersenstivity, Scent, Weak Immune System
''Skills''
Acrobatics 4
Athletics 4
Bureaucracy 3
Computers 2
Culture (Hen Jaa) 2
Defend 5
Dodge 5
Driving 2
Intimidation 4
Language (Hen Jaa) 2
Medical Sciences 3
Melee 5
Profession (Marine) 6
Shoot 6
Survival 5
Tactics 6
Technical Sciences 2
Unarmed Combat 6
Vehicle Operation 3
(and one of the following at Rank 6, depending on the role the Marine plays in the game: Gunnery, Heavy Weapons, Piloting (if an officer), Stealth, or Technical Sciences)
''Basic Equipment:'' Space Combat Armor (AV 45), Pulse Rifle (DV 7/90), 20 grenades of varying types, depending on mission
…but the size of the Great Armada was also its greatest weakness. The bulk of the fleet wasn’t even proper warships at all. In order to transport his massive invasion force, Emperor Aditya had commandeered nearly every vessel within a month’s travel of Uhlanga. Some of the ships thus acquired were barely spaceworthy; it’s estimated that fifty such vessels, with crews and soldiers numbering as many as thirty thousand souls, never completed the journey to Gering’s Star. Most of the warships arrived in fairly good order, but the troop carriers were horribly strung out by the journey, some arriving as many as two weeks after the battle of Kobold was over. Even after taking a week to gather her fleet together, Admiral Nokukhanya still estimated she had only three-quarters of the troops necessary to pacify the entire system.
Don Francisco Mondragón, tasked with the defense of Gering’s Star, had his men commandeer every hulk in the shipyards that could be made to fly. Cramming them with extra reactors and then layering their forward hulls with additional armour, he launched these “radiation ships” in small waves at the gathering armada. None, of course, reached the Imperial fleet, but were instead used to blind the Atqiyan ships as they exploded, filling the surrounding space with radiation and junk, allowing Don Francisco’s swift corsairs and frigates to swoop in, get off a few hits, then flee. The armada lost few ships to this tactic, but that was not the point.
When Admiral Nokukhanya finally gave the order to attack, and spread her column into a parabolic wall, Don Francisco countered by grouping his fleet into five smaller groups. It is estimated that the Atqiyan ships-of-the-line had a greater displacement than the entire León fleet by as much as 30%. Again, Don Francisco sent rickety hulls, bleeding radiation and utterly lacking in even the most meager lifesupport systems, at the enemy fleet, aiming for one particular quarter of the edge. Expecting these to be more of the less-than-effective “radiation ships” they’d seen before, Admiral Nokukhanya had her ships in the area retract their sensors behind armour to prevent their being blinded. Thus, they were completely unprepared when the hulks instead jettisoned their armour and spat out thousands of torpedoes. With the Imperial frigate and destroyer screen thus smashed, Don Francisco’s corsairs, frigates, and torpedo boats swept into the Atqiyan formation. “Like tigers loosed amongst cavalry,” Don Matsuo would later write, “we ripped and tore at their bellies, while panic and fear killed more than our fangs.”
Her formation shattered, Admiral Nokukhanya was unable to concentrate her fire properly and her fleet was dismantled piecemeal. Thus was Aditya, Emperor of the Atqiyan Star Empire, Defender of the Sacred River of Light, Maharaja of the Guilleen Horde, and King of Quazi, Mbingu, and Valhalla denied the chance to add the Star Kingdom of León to his vast empire. The Atqiyan Star Empire, reeling from the shock of defeat, needed to replenish its fleet, and swiftly. The promise of the Xibalba Cluster was thus transformed from an unexpected gift to a desperate necessity.
Things were nearly as desperate in the Star Kingdom of León. Atqiyan had lost less than a quarter of its total tonnage in capital ships; León had lost more than half. Both nations threw themselves into a frenzy of shipbuilding. In this, León quickly gained the upper hand. Emperor Aditya took advantage of the situation to redesign his empire’s basic ship-of-the-line. His advisors quickly settled on a bold new design that was a marvel of flexibility. The new galleon-class capital ship included massive storage bays that could be used to ferry troops, equipment, or raw materials within the body of the warship. It was also the largest ship since the days of the Republic to be able to land on a planet’s surface, and perhaps the largest warship ever to do so. (Apparently, nobody questioned the wisdom of putting your ships-of-the-line on a planet’s surface, where they would be unable to maneuver without lifting off first.)
Queen Elisa put the construction of a new fleet into the hands of the victorious Don Francisco. Unlike the Emperor, Don Francisco had little interest in redesigning capital ships. His passion was with the smaller, swifter frigates, corsairs, and corvettes he’d grown up on. Beyond a few improvements in sensors and damage control, the new, Victoria-class dreadnaughts were hardly different at all from the old Castile-class they replaced. While Atqiyan’s shipyards were fallow for nearly three months to allow the Emperor’s court to finalize the new designs, and then underwent refitting themselves to be able to build the new galleons, León’s shipyards were building the new fleet within weeks of the Battle of Kobold. Even more telling, while León’s dreadnaughts displaced only three-quarters the mass of a galleon, the more specialized warships carried more weapons than the versatile galleons.
But it was Don Francisco’s policy of aggressively recruiting privateers that made the greatest difference. Leónese privateers attacked shipyards and smashed incomplete hulls. They captured galleons during their shake-out cruises, allowing Leónese ship builders to study the designs in intimate detail. They raided the helium-3 mining facilities on the many gas giants of the Xibalba cluster, disrupted shipping, and even plundered Imperial orbital stations and colonies on the habitable worlds. They smuggled weapons to the natives of the Xibalban worlds, and supplied orbital support to their revolutions. They disrupted Imperial attempts to smash or capture the tenuous footholds León had in the cluster. And it was the privateers and other, non-aligned freebooters who preyed Xibalba’s spaceways who would make the bulk of the discoveries about Xibalba’s mysterious past.
That there had been an ancient, starfaring race living in the Xibalba cluster at some point was undeniable. Nearly ever inhabitable world in the cluster showed some signs of terraforming, and each supported a common collection of plants and animals. The Haanas, a sentient race of warm-blooded, fog-like amphibians, were found on nearly all of the inhabitable words of the cluster, but had only achieved stone or iron-age technology on most, and hadn’t quite mastered atomic energy on even the most advanced of their worlds. Most assumed that the ancestors of the Haanas had been the ones to do the terraforming, but there were disturbing signs that said otherwise, such as ruins that appeared ill-suited for habitation by humanoid lifeforms such as humans or the Haanas. And if the Haanas had, in fact, fallen from greatness, they’d fallen a very, very long way. The asteroids of three of the Xibalba systems included remnants of what were clearly ringworlds. Some even speculated that the large number of gas giants producing exotic elements in their atmospheres could only be explained by an engineering project of unimaginable proportions, something beyond even the abilities of the Republic at its height. And most disturbing of all to some, why did the natives on every single one of their worlds, no matter what languages were spoken locally, call themselves “Haanas”, a word meaning “Their Cattle”? In the shadow of ancient powers that dwarfed both to the size of ant hills, the Empire of Atqiyan and the Kingdom of León struggled for control of the Xibalba cluster.
''Contributor:'' J. Brian Murphy
''Species:'' Terran ''Gender:'' Male ''Age:'' 38
''Homeworld:'' [[Meridian]] (Upper class, Core)
''Careers:'' Aristocrat (Novice), Trader (Experienced)
''Rank:'' Owner and captain of "Uncertain Prince"
''Body:'' 5 ''Dexterity:'' 5 ''Perception:'' 7 ''Presence:'' 7 ''Will:'' 9
''Vitality:'' 30 ''Resolve:'' 40
''Action Points:'' 5
''Hooks:'' Risk Taker, Silver Spoon, Fall from Grace, The Future Lies in the Marches, Both Sides Against the Middle
''Benefit Points:'' 3 (at least one of which must be spent on the mortgage on his starship)
''Skills:''
Bargain 5
Bureaucracy 6
Computers 2
Cultures (Terran) 4
Culture (Hen Jaa) 3
Diplomacy 8
Empathy 6
Gaming 2
Intimidation 2
Language (Lingua Terra) 4
Language (Hen Jaa) 4
Observe 6
Piloting 5
Profession (Trader) 4
Shoot 3
Socialize 6
Social Sciences (Archeology) 2
Streetwise 3
Technical Sciences 4
''Background and Personality:'' Kventino Navare was born into a declining aristocratic family on [[Meridian]] (whether the family is titled or not depends on whether your version of the meta-setting includes nobility). Though he wanted for nothing in his youth, it soon became clear to him that the Navare's fortune was rapidly disappearing, because of poor management by Kventino's parents and grandparents, who'd failed to adapt to the changes that occurred in Terran society in the wake of the [[Civil War]]. By the time he reached the age of majority, Kventino's family was effectively destitute and the young man decided to leave the Core and seek his fortune in the Marches. He signed on to a merchant crew as a deckhand and headed into an unknown future. Over the course of many years traveling from world to world along the border with the Hen Jaa Hegemony, Kventino established himself as a good pilot and an even better trader. He acquired just enough money to purchase an antiquated fast freighter, which he christened "Uncertain Prince." He now travels the jumplines of the Marches, hoping to turn enough sols to pay off the mortgage on his starship and perhaps one day return to the Core to reclaim his family heritage.
For whatever reason, the Law Enforcer Career Package on page 50 of ''Thousand Suns'' does not include the Profession (Law Enforcer) skill. By design, Career Packages are supposed to include this useful catch-all skill, but the Law Enforcer doesn't. To rectify this, here is an alternate take on the Law Enforcer, which shifts a few points around to make room for the Profession skill.
''Novice'': Athletics 1, Bargain 1, Bureaucracy 1, Defend 2, Dodge 2, Diplomacy 1, Empathy 2, Intimidation 2, Investigation 2, Observe 2, Profession (Law Enforcer) 2, Shoot 2, Streetwise 1, Tactics 1, Unarmed Combat 2, Vehicle Operation 1
''Experienced'': Athletics 2, Bargain 2, Bureaucracy 2, Defend 4, Dodge 4, Empathy 4, Intimidation 3, Investigation 4, Observe 4, Profession (Law Enforcer) 4, Shoot 4, Streetwise 3, Tactics 3, Unarmed Combat 4, Vehicle Operation 3.
''Veteran'': Athletics 3, Bargain 3, Bureaucracy 3, Defend 6, Dodge 4, Diplomacy 3, Empathy 6, Intimidation 4, Investigation 6, Observe 6, Profession (Law Enforcer) 5, Shoot 5, Streetwise 4, Tactics 3, Unarmed Combat 5, Vehicle Operation 4.
/***
|''Name:''|LegacyStrikeThroughPlugin|
|''Description:''|Support for legacy (pre 2.1) strike through formatting|
|''Version:''|1.0.2|
|''Date:''|Jul 21, 2006|
|''Source:''|http://www.tiddlywiki.com/#LegacyStrikeThroughPlugin|
|''Author:''|MartinBudden (mjbudden (at) gmail (dot) com)|
|''License:''|[[BSD open source license]]|
|''CoreVersion:''|2.1.0|
***/
//{{{
// Ensure that the LegacyStrikeThrough Plugin is only installed once.
if(!version.extensions.LegacyStrikeThroughPlugin) {
version.extensions.LegacyStrikeThroughPlugin = {installed:true};
config.formatters.push(
{
name: "legacyStrikeByChar",
match: "==",
termRegExp: /(==)/mg,
element: "strike",
handler: config.formatterHelpers.createElementAndWikify
});
} //# end of "install only once"
//}}}
[[Welcome]]
[[Characters]]
[[Rules]]
[[Technology]]
[[Setting Design]]
[[Meta-Setting]]
[[Adventures]]
[[Errata]]
[[Submissions]]
[[Thousand Suns|http://www.rogue-games.net/othergames2.html]]
^^(c) 2008 [[Rogue Games, Inc.|http://www.rogue-games.net]]
[[Copyright Information]]^^
As described on page 118 of the ''Thousand Suns'' rulebook, melee weapons deal damage based on the degrees of success achieved by the attacker using them, to which is added the attacker's Melee skill Rank. Used as written, this rule does not distinguish between weapons that rely on brute force to do their damage (such as clubs or axes) and those that rely on finesse (such as monoblades and thrown daggers). As an option, the Game Master could allow melee damage to be modified by Melee skill Rank only in the case of weapons that rely on finesse, while those that rely on brute force substitute the attacker's Body Rank instead of Melee. This optional rule benefits high Body characters who use certain types of weapons and is recommended where the distinctions between melee weapons are important to the feel of the campaign or setting.
''Contributor:'' Dan Davenport
Profile: Adminstration
Type: Terrestrial
Primary Terrain: Urban
Climate: Temperate
Atmosphere: Standard
Hydrographics: Moderate
Gravity: Standard
Native Sapients: None
Government: Representative Democracy
Population: 90 billion
Tech Level: Interstellar
Meridian is the central system of the Thousand Suns, the hub around which all of civilized space revolves. A true world-city, most of its surface is covered with durasteel buildings and other structures, some of them kilometers tall, although none surpasses the Capitol, where both chambers of the Concordium deliberate when in session. Most travel on Meridian is done via air, whether grav car, aerodyne, or other more exotic forms of transportation. Far below the below the spires lies the Strato, the true surface of the planet—a vibrant, riotous place where species and cultures from across the Thousand Suns mingle, brawl, and wheel and deal. Meridian is a diverse, almost timeless place, strangely insulated from affairs in the wider galaxy. Even at the height of the Civil War, as rebel and loyalist fleets engaged one another throughout Center Sector, the Opera House continued to draw the rich and the powerful, while gravball teams contended in the Arena, and megacorporations plotted how best to sell their goods to emerging markets in the marches. Not much has changed in the generation since the end of the war and, barring some unforeseen turn of events, not much is likely to do so.
In the federal option, Meridian is home to the Presidential Palace, where the Federation president lives and works. The Palace is a grav sphere with several aeroports and its own traffic control system, owing to the intense security under which the president lives. Prior to the Civil War, the Palace was accessible to the public and guided tours were permitted. This is no longer the case, although there have been calls, both from the public and from delegates to the Concordium, to revert to the older practice as a testament to the "return to normalcy." Thus far, these pleas have met with no action and the only regular visitors to the Palace aside from legislators and foreign dignitaries are megacorp officials.
In the imperial option, the emperor is forbidden by law and tradition to step foot on Meridian, instead making his home a jumpline away on Pinnacle/Center. While this has sometimes made coordination between the Throne and the Concordium difficult, no one has ever seriously suggested changing the practice, lest the independence of the latter be called into question. The emperor instead relies on his own delegates to the legislature, who speak on his behalf on important matters.
This sub-section describes a wide variety of optional elements designed to work with the meta-setting described in Chapter 7 of the ''Thousand Suns'' rulebook.
* [[The Head of State]]
* [[History]]
* [[Planets]]
* [[Organizations]]
* [[The State]]
* [[Visions of the Thousand Suns]]
The ''Thousand Suns'' rulebook very rarely mentions religion or religious organizations, at least among Terrans. That's due, at least in part, because Imperial SF writers generally treat religion either as a relic of the past and thus of no concern to the futures they describe or as an object of mockery and derision. Many writers of Imperial SF were atheists or at least skeptics about religion, so this should come as no surprise. There are exceptions, of course, and writers like Poul Anderson, even though he was not a believer himself, was extremely interested in religion and religious belief. Anderson's stories frequently include positive and well-rounded characters whose outlooks were formed by their religious beliefs.
Consequently, the ''Thousand Suns'' rulebook did not include any Career Packages pertaining to religion and I think that's an oversight. Presented here is one such package -- the Missionary -- which describes a representative of a religion sent off to preach the teachings of his faith to individuals who have never heard them, in the hope of convincing them to adopt them as their own.
''Novice'': Perception +1, Presence +1, Culture 2, Diplomacy 3, Empathy 2, Language 2, Performance 3, Profession (Clergy) 2, Socialize 2, Social Sciences 3, and 2 additional skills as individual specialties (each at Rank 1)
''Experienced'': Perception +1, Presence +2, Culture 4, Diplomacy 5, Empathy 4, Language 4, Performance 5, Profession (Clergy) 4, Socialize 4, Social Sciences 5, and 3 additional skills as individual specialties (each at Rank 3)
''Veteran'': Peception +2, Presence +2, Culture 6, Diplomacy 7, Empathy 6, Language 6, Performance 7, Profession (Clergy) 6, Socialize 6, Social Sciences 7, and 3 additional skills as individual specialties (each at Rank 5)
''This bileto assumes the characters have a starship of their own.''
The characters are contacted by an individual who refuses to give his name, saying only that he is someone who, if his identity were to become widely known, it would unnecessarily complicate his intended journey to several worlds in this sector of space. For this reason, he wishes to avoid traveling aboard commercial star liners and would like to book passage aboard the character's starship. He is willing to pay 1000$ a week (paid upfront) if the characters will take him to four different worlds along the same jumpline as the one where he appraoches the characters. He asks that, while traveling aboard ship, he not be disturbed and, when visiting each of the four worlds on his itinerary, the characters allow him to undertake his own business without interference or questioning. If the characters agree to his terms he would like to leave for the first leg of his journey as soon as possible.
There are several possible explanation for the mysterious passenger's behavior. Roll 1D12 to determine which is the case here:
''1'' - The passenger is a disgraced government official whose actions while in office resulted in the deaths of several people under his authority. He is traveling to the homeworlds of each of the people who died because of his misconduct to seek the forgiveness of their families.
''2'' - The passenger is the son of a powerful aristocrat in the sector who simply wishes to engage in sightseeing on nearby worlds without being harassed by the media.
''3'' - As 2, except that the passenger is a philandering playboy traveling to buy off the families of former paramours whom he jilted and who are now threatening to expose his conduct to the media.
''4'' - As 2, except the passenger has become a secret devotee of a religious sect that is either outlawed or considered scandalous by the sector's authorities. He is traveling to sites holy to his faith but wishes to ensure no one knows of his connection to the faith.
''5'' - The passenger is a journalist doing a piece on traveling the sector by means other than commercial space lines. The characters' conduct, both good and bad, will eventually be transmitted to many worlds in the sector once his piece is completed.
''6'' - The passenger is actually a criminal on the run from sector authorities. The four worlds he wishes to visit are all home to various contacts he has and home he hopes might shelter him from pursuit. He will jump ship as soon as he finds a world where he can lie low safely.
''7'' - As 6, except that the passenger is being followed by sector authorities. who will attempt to seize him as soon as he lands on the first world on his itinerary. These authorities show little regard for the characters and may threaten them with legal prosecution if they do not cooperate with them.
''8'' - As 7, except the passenger is being followed by former compatriots in a criminal organization.
''9'' - The passenger is an assassin traveling incognito on missions to eliminate one individual on each world he visits.
''10'' - The passenger is crackpot scientist who wishes to confirm his implausible theories by traveling to four worlds where he can collect samples he believes vital to vindicating himself before the scientific community.
''11'' - The passenger is a private courier delivering sensitive information.
''12'' -- As 11, except that the passenger is pursued by agents who wish to steal the information he is delivering.
This sub-section details characters suitable for use as allies, antagonists, and patrons of the player characters. In general, non-player characters have neither Hooks nor Action Points, although the Game Master is free to add them if he feels they are appropriate.
* [[Hen Jaa Naval Infantry]]
"It has been, by the reckoning of our most devoted and knowledgeable scholars, countless millennia since your kind and mine, sir, have left our mother planet: long enough for our mother, and the legendary Holy City, to recede into the mists of legend and myth. None know where mother Earth is, but where-ever she is, I am sure God protects her, as He protects me and you.
What we do know is that we have spread far and wide, in distances almost unimagined, I do not doubt, by our forefathers. Our kind have settled in so many worlds, some generous, some parsimonious, but all bounty provided by God under our care. There are many like me, men and women of the Stellar Umma, bringing the light of truth and civilization where we can, God willing, guided by the Recitations, the Path and the Law.
Ah. . . did I seem overly proselytizing to you? I apologize. It is, I suppose, rather rude. It is not to say that we are alone here, surrounded and united. Not even within the Umma are we united by cause; after all, scarcely fifty years ago the Umma was split, as caliph fought against emir, emir clashed against sultan, sultan beat back raja and raja squabbled with every kind emperor and warlord from here to Cordova.
And there are many who forswear the unity of the Umma -- some mere fly-specks, while others, like the damnable Myrmidons, almost equal to us in power. Not all are foes, surprisingly: some, like the Kingdom of Judah, are old friends, while others, like the Principality of Darwinia, are former foes. But, to be frank, sir? Had you been awakened two or three centuries ago, I might have killed you where you stood. But for now? There is peace; the Caliph Umar VII has decreed it so, and for as long as he holds Qutb, it is so, God willing.
But even so, times are turbulent. As you may well imagine, there has been word that the Court in Qutb is fragmenting, that the Ulema have begun agitating against the Caliph and secluded themselves away from what they see as the corruption of state. These are not the same ulema of perhaps your memory, no doubt; it is said that they hold
secrets unimaginable, or, at the very least, mythical.
Careless talk abounds, of course, and we hear whispers of words like, for example, "psionics" and "psychohistory". How many of these words are lies and how many are truth? Only God knows, and, to tell you the truth, my friend, he is not talking, ha ha!
But! That is perhaps, yet, in the future. Now, today, life goes on. We trade, we farm, we love, we occasionally fight amongst ourselves, we make merry. Many of us explore when we can, where we can. Life goes on, sir! Indeed, life goes on. It always will, one hopes. . . especially here, in the One Thousand and One Suns."
''Contributor:'' Tariq Kamal
This sub-section describes organizations operating in the Thousand Suns.
* [[Sohay of Azure, the]]
This sub-section provides descriptions of planets found among the Thousand Suns.
* [[Meridian]]
This sub-section includes ready-to-use characters generated according to the guidelines in Chapter 1 of the ''Thousand Suns'' rulebook and suitable for use as beginning player characters.
* [[Kventino Navare]]
This sub-section is devoted to alternate and optional rules, including house rules designed either to better emulate a particular style of Imperial SF gaming or to correct perceived flaws in the published rules for ''Thousand Suns.''
* [[Career Packages]]
* [[Melee Combat Damage]]
This sub-section is devoted to options and variants relating to the design of Imperial SF settings in general through the use of the ''Thousand Suns'' rules, as opposed to development of the [[Meta-Setting]], which has its own sub-section.
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<<tabs txtMainTab "Timeline" "Timeline" TabTimeline "All" "All tiddlers" TabAll "Tags" "All tags" TabTags >>
A regularly updated resource for the ''Thousand Suns'' roleplaying game by [[Rogue Games|http://www.rogue-games.net/othergames2.html]]
The Sohay were warrior-monks of the Ichiban Sect on the planet Azure who gained notoriety during the [[Civil War]] as fierce fighters and astute tacticians. (Note that the name Azure has been given to several worlds; this entry refers to the one in the Ellipse Sector). In the decades leading up to the [[Civil War]], Azure was plagued with a weak central government. Wealthy landholders, influential religious orders and off planet interests both fuelled and benefitted from this weakness. The final blow came when the government failed to line up behind either faction in the [[Civil War]], lost what little confidence remained in the populace and fragmented into competing “governments in exile” or “temporary action committees”.
Attempting to fill this political vacuum were the very organizations which had created it. In the years leading up to the [[Civil War]], each had created its own private army, be it locally raised, hired off world or sometimes both. These armies became the instrument by which ultimate political power was to be secured. In the case of the Ichiban Sect, it fielded a force of lower level clerics trained in the military arts. Unfortunately for Azure, no one faction was able to field a decisive force and therefore a protracted series of conflicts followed which were marked by assassination, terrorism, commando actions and battles involving what amounted to light infantry. The Sohay fell into the last category and earned a fearsome reputation for tenacity and a ready ability to adapt to changes on the battlefield.
The conflict on Azure sputtered along but was decisively ended when Naval Infantry forces were landed to restore order and return Azure to “the community of civilized worlds”. Most Sohay chose to lay down arms for good once peace was imposed but a minority decided to ply their trade offworld or participate in a very brief, very fatal resistance movement. Over the intervening generation, rumors to the contrary, the Sohay have quietly faded away although some notable individuals still serve as advisors to individual worlds, teach strategy and tactics, or simply wander the jump lines.
''Contributor:'' Gregory P. Videll
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Would you like to contribute to the ''Encyclopedia Galactica''? If so, visit the [[Submissions Page|http://www.rogue-games.net/submissions]] to find out how. The Encyclopedia Foundation is always interested in adding talented individuals to our list of contributors.
This sub-section describes new equipment, vehicles, starships, and other bits of high technology suitable for use with ''Thousand Suns.''
* [[Personal Equipment]]
* [[Starships]]
* [[Vehicles]]
This sub-section includes links to other sites where fans of Thousand Suns describe their own interpretation of the game's rules and meta-setting.
* [[Kasumi's History of the Xibalba Cluster]]
* [[Living in Starlight|http://livinginstarlight.tiddlyspot.com/]]
* [[One Thousand and One Suns]]
* [[The Divide|http://www.scruffyco.com/divide/Main/HomePage]]
[>img[The Jump Gates are Open|http://www.rogue-games.net/logo_final_metal_mini.gif]]Welcome to the ''Encyclopedia Galactica'', your online source for information dealing with the myriad worlds and species of the //Thousand Suns//.
True to its name, the ''Encyclopedia Galactica'' is an ever-growing compendium that will allow you to explore a wide variety of information pertaining to game, written both its creators and contributors like you. From Rules, to Meta-Setting related issues, the ''Encyclopedia Galactica'' will be updated regularly, so that it can fulfill its purpose as the definitive source of ideas and inspirations for both players and Game Masters of ''Thousand Suns''.
To start, simply use the menu to the left to jump to the section you would like to explore.