As promised I will now share some information on the only corporate state in the Omega Centaury cluster:

The SpaceCorp Corporate State (Quick Facts)

Main World: Kobe, 4th planet of the Kansai System
Government: Corporate State
Head of State: CEO Moriann Sakata
Official Language: Japanese
Official Currency: Yen
Military: Professional Army/Navy
Major Religions: Buddhist 62%, Atheist 28%, Other 10%
Major Worlds: Kobe, Toshima, Nerima, Shinjuku, Arakawa, Kanto, Chiba, Kyoto

“Contrary to the vulgar belief that men are motivated primarily by materialistic considerations, we now see the capitalist system being discredited and destroyed all over the world, even though this system has given men the greatest material comforts” – Ayn Rand 20th century writer

One of the corporations that took part in the colonization efforts in the 22nd century was the Japanese SpaceCorp Corporation. SpaceCorp not only supplied a lot of the space ships but also sent thousands of highly trained and qualified workers, engineers and managers to the new world beyond the wormhole.

The mainly Japanese employees of SpaceCorp clinged to their langauge, tradition and work ethic even after the wormhole collapsed. The Gaian branch of SpaceCorp survived all hardships and as the first Gaian space ships travelled to the stars they were built by SpaceCorp engineers.

In 387 NR the newly elected CEO of SpaceCorp Ken Watanabe convinced the Gaian government to grant extraterritoriality to his corporation. A few decades after that SpaceCorp bought the Kobe colony from the Gaian Republic for an undisclosed sum. Until today the SpaceCorp Corporate State is the largest supplier of space ships and heavy machinery.

As a corporate state, SpaceCorp is not governed but managed. Minor rules and regulations are set by corporate bureaucrats at all levels. The major day-to-day operation is handled by the CEO. The board of directors, which advises and directs the CEO is directly elected by the stockholders.

The standard of living in SpaceCorp is very high, especially in higher branches of the management.

SpaceCorp is the faction of the Ad Astra campaign setting that changed the most from my initial ideas. In the beginning it was just another corporation. And it was still American. In a later version I made it a Japanese-Americam corporation with extraterritorial rights (much like the megacorps in Shadowrun). When I was leafing through GURPS Space for inspiration I reread the section about corporate states and decided to remodel SpaceCorp into a fully-fledged corporate state. While doing so I made it Japanese to give it a more unique flavor. But there are still a few details I have to work out. But since my campaigns focus will probably be on the Gaian Republic and the Tovenaar Empire, this can still wait a few more weeks.

SpaceCorp tries to stay neutral in all conflicts but has several trade agreements with the Gaian Republic.

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Any good SF or Space Opera setting features an evil empire. The scourge of the Star Ocean is definitely the Tovenaar Empire, a expansionistic, militaristic and faschistic nation ruled by the iron fist of Arbach Tovenaar, heir to the throne of General-Emperor.

The Tovenaar Empire (Quick Facts)

Main World: Tovenaar Prime, 1st planet of the Tovenaar system
Government: Military Dictatorship
Head of State: General-Emperor Arbach Tovenaar
Official Language: English
Official Currency: Tovenaari Denar
Military: Universal Conscription
Economy: Free Market Economy
Major Religions: Atheist 90%, Neochristianity 6%, Other 4%
Major Worlds: Tovenaar Prime, Ayasi Secundus, Bethalor, Turondro, Outback, Serpentus V

“Not everyone was happy with how things worked in the Gaian society. One of these people was Alexander Tovenaar, a young and brash Gaian career soldier. He believed democracy to weak, to slow to solve the problems the Gaian Republic faced at that time. In 317 NR Tovenaar and his followers tried to overthrow the Gaian government. The coup failed and they were forced to flee.” – From a Gaian history textbook

After their flight from Gaian space, forces loyal to Tovenaar conquered a colony world on the rim. They called the planet Tovenaar Prime and made it the capital of their fledling empire. Today the Tovenaar Empire is one of the superpowers of the Star Ocean.

The Tovenaari Empire is ruled by the General Emperor and the Tovenaari Senate who has only advisory functions. All members of the Senate are drawn from the higher echelons of the military. In fact the whole Tovenaari society is highly militaristic.

The Tovenaari industry is totally focussed on war production, shortages of non-military products are common and the standard of living of civilians is pretty low. Only members of the military and industrialist enjoy a higher standard and have a lot more freedoms than the ordinary citizen.

The Tovenaari government has almost total control over the lives of its subjects. The second most important person in the Tovenaari Empire is the propaganda secretary. The indoctrination of young Tovenaari begins in early childhood making sure they don’t fall out of alignment.

The Tovenaari maintain the largest military of the Star Ocean. In the last centuries they invaded their neighbours repeatedly. Currently most of the imperial forces are trying to quell an uprising on several imperial frontier worlds.
Relations with its neighbours are tense to say the least.

That concludes another installment of my “Ad Astra” series. Stay tuned for the next episode when I will reveal some details on the corporate state of the Star Ocean: SpaceCorp! As always I am interested in your comments, so don’t hesitate to post your thoughts.

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Welcome to the next installment in my “Ad Astra” series. Today I provide you with some details on the Gaian Republic:

The Gaian Republic (Quick Facts)

Main World: Gaia, 2nd planet of the Halley system
Government: Representative Democracy
Head of State: AdministratorArlen Coronaar
Official Language: English
Official Currency: Gaian Credit
Military: Professional Army/Navy
Economy: Social Market Economy
Major Religions: Atheist 78%, Neochristianity 12%, Other 10%
Major Worlds: Gaia, Alexandria, Asgard, Paris, Hephaistos, Aeon, Nifelheim, Sanctuary, Tannhauser

“Freedom, Equality and Fraternity. These are not just empty words from a world lost to us, these are the ideals we want to build our republic on!” – Tycho D’Arellien, first Administrator of the Gaian Republic

The Gaian Republic is the oldest nation in the Omega Centauri Star Ocean. Port Liberty, its capital city, was founded at the place where the first colonists from Lost Earth set foot on a new world. After contact to Earth was lost the Gaians struggled for centuries until they finally returned to the stars.

The Gaians are proud of their achievements, their freedom and their ideals, and sometimes are regarded as arrogant by other humans.
The common Gaian citizen has a high standard of living. The Republic’s education, healthcare and social welfare system is on a very high standard. Even the Republic’s frontier worlds are often better off than e.g. the major worlds of the Akkathon Federation.

The Gaian economy is almost second to none, because of the resource rich planets Hephaistos and Nifelheim, and the vast industrial plants in the orbit of Tannhauser. The Gaian industry is known for high-tech equipment and psitech devices.

The Gaian Republic maintains a small professional army and navy in order to defend its member worlds against aggressive neighbours like the Tovenaar Empire. Although the Gaians don’t have as much ships and troops as other nations the Gaian forces are well-trained, well-equipped and highly motivated.

The Gaians have several trade agreements with both the SpaceCorp Corporate State and the Akkathon Federation, but are in a state of cold war with the Tovenaar Empire.
They are on friendly terms with the Psitech League and it is rumored that they have special ties with the Twilight Star.

That concludes part 3 of my “Ad Astra” series. Stay tuned for more. If you have any comments, questions or criticism, feel free to speak your thoughts in the comments below!

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Last time, you learned how thing came to pass, now I want to give you some details on one the major factions of the Omega Centauri cluster.

THE STAR OCEAN OF OMEGA CENTAURI

In the 8th century NR (New Reckoning) the Gaians and their descendants have colonized hundreds of worlds all over the Omega Centauri cluster which they now call the “Star Ocean”. In the last hundred years several factions have emerged that now coexist more or less peacefully.

The Gaian Republic

The Gaian Republic is still the most influential nation in the Star Ocean. The Gaians are a peaceful people who value science and philosophy but they are not afraid to take up arms if their liberty and peace is at stake. The Gaian Republic is currently ruled by Administrator Arlen Coronaar of the Technologists party.

The Tovenaar Empire

The Tovenaar Empire is the complete opposite of the Gaian Republic. It’s a militaristic state that is ruled with an iron fist by the General-Emperor Arbach Tovenaar. Currently the empire is struggling with an uprising along their rimward border but it’s only a question of time until the Tovenaari start expanding again.

The SpaceCorp Corporate State

SpaceCorp Industries is the largest manufacturer of space ships and heavy machinery in the Star Ocean. Eventually they were granted “extraterritoriality”, which means that any land owned by the corp is sovereign territory and immune to any laws of the nation within. Its employees are corporate citizens. With the acquisition of the Kobe colony SpaceCorp became another sovereign state. Current CEO is Moriann Sakata. SpaceCorp tries to stay neutral in most conflicts, but has cordial relations with the Gaian Republic.

The Akkathon Federation

The Akkathon Federation is a loose alliance of worlds in the space between the Gaian Republic and the Tovenaar Empire. They have lost several systems during the last Tovenaari agression.

The Federation doesn’t meddle in internal affairs of their member states and every world has its own laws, customs and military. But all member states work together in times of need.

The Psitech League

The Psitech League started as a worker’s union for espers. In the 8th century NR almost all espers or psitechs as they prefer to be called, are members of the Psitech League. Some of the best space ship pilots and explorers are members of the League.

The Twilight Star

The Twilight Star is a privately funded secret agency that is believed to have some ties to the Gaian Republic. Usually they intervene in order to restore peace and balance to the Star Ocean. The Twilight Star operates from a secret headquarters somewhere in neutral territory.

By the way, if you have followed my Dungeoncraft articles you’ll notice that I’ve recycled some names from my Asecia setting. That has several reasons: a) I am really bad at coming up with original names, b) I like to have some eastereggs in all my campaign and c) Asecia is currently on the backburner, since I am focussing on the SF campaign I want to run soon-ish…
As always your comments are appreciated!

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For the last weeks I have been working on a science-fiction campaign setting that I call “Ad Astra!”. I have finally finished writing down the background story and descriptions of the various factions and I want to share a few bits with you. Please let me know what you think. Every comment is appreciated.

21^ST CENTURY

The first manned mission to Mars is a success and a semi-permanent research base is established on Mars. A couple of years later the remains of an alien space ship are found under the surface of the red planet’s desert.

The alien technology salvaged from the derelict ship is far beyond human technology. The leader of the research team calls the unknown aliens Elohim. Nobody knows what happened to them and why they crashed on Mars.

A international research team finally uncovers another alien artifact. A huge Elohim jumpgate orbits the Mars moon Phobos. Using alien technology and human ingenuity the scientist and engineers manage to start the millenia-old gate opening a wormhole to the far away Omega Centauri star cluster. Several probes are sent through the wormhole and return with information about several habitable worlds.

22^ND CENTURY

Huge colony ships are sent through the wormhole to establish colonies and research outpost on the other side of the wormhole.

The data crystals found in the Elohim ship indicate that the Elohim have tampered with human genome in order to give them abilities like telekinesis and ESP. Using alien technology it’s possible to identifiy people with a latent ESP ability and awake the dormant gene. This is called the “Prometheus Effect”. Over the coming centuries hundred thousands of people are identified as “espers”.

Among the abilities of espers is the capability to attune to Elohim technology. At the end of the 22nd century millions of humans live in the Halley II colony thousands of lightyears away from home, when suddenly the Elohim jumpgate is destroyed.

A NEW BEGINNING

For several hundred years the human colonists fight for survival far away from Earth. There are wars, famines, natural disasters, but in the end the former colonists build a new civilization. In memory of the world left behind they call themselves Gaians and their new homeworld Gaia.

Several hundred years after being stranded on Gaia the former colonists start building space ships again to explore the Halley system.

On Halley III aka Alexandria they find Elohim ruins and more artifacts that allow them to build their first psitech devices. Psitech devices can either be used to grant some basic esper abilities to ordinary humans or greatly enhance the abilities of a talented esper. This technology leads to the first hyperdrive. But even after extensive research the Gaians scientists are unable to build another jumpgate.

If you like to read more about the world of “Ad Astra” let me know in the comments! Then I will post more details on the factions of the Omega Centauri star cluster. And by the way, when you still remember my “Ad Astra!” posts from a few months earlier, you’ll notice that I changed the backstory a bit. The “we don’t know where we come from” idea was perhaps a bit too much to handle.

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