Robotech: Long Range Patrol

[MikelAmroni]

Image: http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff24 ... Patrol.jpg

Map: http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff24 ... chmap1.jpg

Welcome to Robtech: Long Range Patrol

In the aftermath of the reclaiming of the Sentinel Home Worlds and the reclamation of Tirol, the UEEF and its allies began the process of preparing for its final assault on Earth. In the meantime the colonies need defending, and the best gear isn’t always available for it. You make due and get by with what you have, and make the pirates, Invid, and enemy pay.

Your training is current and you all represent the best and brightest of the colonies and the fleet, but you are making due with older equipment where newer gear is in short supply. Some comes from stores left over from Earth, others come from the UEEF’s Sentinel allies, and the rest comes from the colonies themselves. Protoculture use also varies. SMLH is widely used in the colonies, as it is easier than having to wait on the UEEF to ship out Protoculture made by the Matrix aboard the SDF-3 itself. Some items, like Alphas, Betas, and Cyclones are common enough, but others like the new UEEF SPARTAS-2A, the new replacements for the ASC battloids and UEDF Destroids, and the new Shadow Fighters are in extremely short supply. Because of this an attitude of kitbashing has taken over the techs who will combine older mecha with newer mecha to great effect.

You will be the part of the Barton Battle Group, a collection of older five Tau Redir Scout ships that have been remodeled to accomodate a completely micronized crew of humans, zentraedi, tirolians, and sentinel races that have joined the UEEF proper. You will serve either on the UES Brisby Bay (Nicknamed the “Old Gent”) or the UES Optera Defiant (”Bug Beater”). The flagship of the fleet is a masters made Command ship that the UEEF found sitting in dry dock needing final touches and a power plant (which was salvaged from a battle damaged Command ship that had been declared a loss). The factory satellite it had been sitting in had lost all power due to protoculture depletion and nothing inside had survived. The mecha and most of the ammunition had long since been scavenged, but the UEEF was able to salvage the production facilities as well.. The ship has since been salvaged and refurbished to a fully micronized crew and christened the UES Breetai’s Fury. With the amount of space available, the recovered factories were installed in the superstructure and modified so it can fully support its own battle group. So far only Alphas, Betas, and Cyclones are being produced, as well as munitions, small arms, and personal equipment. Despite this massive reallocation of space, the ship maintains its projection power, though it is slow by normal standards due to the salvaged power core, and must remain well away from the fighting unless it is an important target.

A secondary objective of the battlegroup is to supply the colonies with updated gear in the form of cyclones, body armor, and small arms. A selection of other mecha (a squadron of Alpha/Beta pairs, a few of the new destroids, etc) are also on the docket for colony drop off. A small selection of freighters (refit Tau Redir sloops with most of their deck spaced refit for cargo) follow the battle fleet, and hand resupply, delivery, and other tasks. The fleet uses Horizon-T shuttles and fighter escorts to keep these lifelines safe from pirate and bandit activity.

[MikelAmroni]

Four Corners
Map
The colony of Four Corners is on a world orbiting a Yellow Giant some 100 LY from Tirol and 180 LY from Earth. It was once a Robotech Master manufacturing colony with bountiful geothermal energy sources to supplement the protoculture power sources. While decommissioned, a good amount of the hardware and assembly lines (and some amount of raw materials) was left behind and found when the UEEF Colonists arrived on their Angel colony ships. Four ships arrived, each holding the collected materials and citizens of four major metropolitan areas from Earth.

There are numerous places they could have settled, but they finally decided upon where the Robotech Masters had established their manufacturing complexes. They were large, reinforced and easily defensible. All "ground" trafffic is handled by low altitude hovercraft due to the rocky terrain. A large part of the defense force is either battloid or fixed wing hover jets brought from Earth.

Four colonies, one from each ship were established in a ring of mountains surrounding one protected valley and the lake in the middle of it. New Denver, with most of the inhabitants being from Denver was founded first, and has become the major spaceport for the entire colony. A month later New Canaan was set up on the site of the most intact factory complex, and a month after that Santa Fiero and Star Corners were established after that.

At first it was thought that they would be able to plant grains in the valley, and therefore be able to produce food as well as mine and manufacture goods, but the salt content of the ground and the river and lake at the center of the valley makes this impossible. They did get lucky in that the local grass seems to have similar traits to wheat, and with some amount of processing, can be made into a decent tasting, if salty, flour that can be easily made into a variety of foods. It is now called Kyane (l. neatriticum kyaneos), a bastardization of the Tirolian word for the plant.

Water remains plentiful, though it is quite salty once it hits the ground. Rain water collection remains the best form, though in the low lands desalination technology helps considerably. Other foods must be grown hydroponically, as any plant that can survive the ground ends up being choked out by the kyane grain. The colonists thought they would have a good food source to sell to Tirol with Kyane, but as it turns out something the Robotech Masters did has made the Tirolians deathly allergic to the plant. It gives half Tirolians and anyone with zentraedi heritage gas, but aside from that, no other effect.

Of course finding an edible grain only encouraged some of the colonists to explore other avenues for the grain, including alcohol. Within a year of discovering the edible nature of the blue grain, two breweries had sprung up, each creating a different alcohol based on the blue grain. The first, a beer simply called "Blue Beer," is a widely popular thick beer known for it's frothy blue-white head. The other is a grain alcohol called "Old Blue Fire" that is highly prized for how easy it is to metabolize, and therefore causes few hangovers, assuming the drinker also consumes at least as much water as he does alcohol. A common preparation method is to simply cut it one for one with water and poor it over ice. Now, some five years since the colony's founding, ten breweries and twenty variations of those two drinks exist.

New Canaan, was set up on one of the most salvageable of the factories and has set about making some of the items they brought with them, including a bevy of old ASC and early UEEF weapons, body armor, and some mecha, battloids and power armor mostly. The Satyr battloid and Unicorn power armor are the most commonly made, though they sometimes produce limited runs of Basilisk, Manticore and Kraken Power Armor, as well as Salamander and Dryad battloids. All of the Southern Cross battloids and power armor are able to be produced. Because of the mountainous nature of their cities, few cyclones are in use on Four Corners.

Star Corners produces shuttles and aerospace and hover jets, especially AHR-15 and EHR-15 Phantoms, SC-32 Rocs, AS-14 Pegasi, and FA-112 chimeras. It also has the best access to the highest peak on the planet, where an observatory and listening post has been constructed on the ruins of a Robotech Masters built complex that was destroyed in some conflict ages ago. It is connected by means a very sturdy and wide tunnel, easily able to move two vehicles side by side with room to spare. The base was named Fort Deitrich after the commander of the Angel the colonists from Phoenix came over in.

The base has since been expanded to a vast military complex easily able to respond to threats from off-world, despite not having a true fleet of star ships aside from the small escort fleet of four Tristars they were allowed to keep. The colony also has two retrofitted Tau Redirs, but those have been made into massive cargo ships, supplied by shuttle and protected by Manitcores, Spartan 2As, Alphas (both bought from the UEEF), and Chimeras, as well as their own weapons. In an emergency they could be pressed into colony defense, but anything more vast than a pirate attack is usually handled by Task Force Barton.

New Denver, the first of the cities, does small scale manufacturing, mostly replacement parts and consumer goods, as well as being the center of hydroponic technology in the Sector. With the bounty of manufacturing, military, and mining facilities elsewhere, they reconfigured most of their vast space into warehousing and hydroponics bays. Because of this and their large commercial star port, they have become the economic heart of the colony.

Santa Fiero has some manufacturing, mostly civilian grade vehicles, armor, and gear, but their main export is actually a wide variety of ores, as they were founded on the ruins of the mining facilities the Robotech Masters had abandoned ages before. Refined ore and precious metals and minerals are exported both to the other cities and off planet to other colonies.

Out system from Four Corners is an early warning and refueling space station, called Space Station Independence, that serves as a regional base for the UEEF and is where recruits from Four Corners go to train and be inducted into the UEEF. This base and it's stationed Garfish Transports are one of the few static bases in the Sector that the UEEF has. Task Force Barton will often make stops here and then transit to the planet via shuttles and other smaller craft to avoid clogging the skies of Four Corners with UEEF military ships. This is a decade old arrangement meant to help keep order within the colony.

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Traxon
Early History
While most colonies in the Sector are either surviving Tirolian colonies, alien colonies, or those settled by human refugees from Earth and other colonies, Traxon is a special case. Once a Tirolian resort that served the elite of the Empire in this area, Traxon is a planet of great natural beauty. The planet is a temperate one that is currently going through a mini ice age. It has a large continent in the Northern hemisphere that dips down to the equator and three small continents in the southern hemisphere. There are several large island chains around the planet that would indicate the presence of hot spots but no major volcanic activity anywhere else on the planet. Traxon has a thriving ecosystem with a large variety animal and plant life. The animals are very similar to the ones found on Earth during the last ice age. The northern continent even has large herds that look a lot like Buffalo and Woolly Mammoth. The largest herds number in the thousands. Traxon could supply food to a large number of planets if fully colonized.
The uniqueness of the colony comes from its inhabitants. By luck an all zentraedi refugee colony ship surveyed the planet and was heading to colonize when they were confronted by a sizeable female zentraedi force based out of Gnerl fighters, shuttles and rentry pods. Although possessing a great many mecha, they had no ship. This didn't stop them from effectively blockading the planet, however. The half-zentraedi commander of the vessel, Kyra Baldwin, transporting the colonists knew she was outgunned and couldn't escape without significant losses from her escorts. She helped broker a cease-fire and eventually a deal with the giant female warriors guarding the planet.
The women had come to Traxon twenty years before to escape the destruction offered by Dolza's demise. The commander, Donza, had ordered an emergency fold when she rightly realized what was happening. The fold was not clean at all, and knocked out most of the crew due to the events from where they left. The ship appeared in the upper atmosphere of Traxon and because most of the ship was still out cold from the abrupt and ugly fold, it crashed into some mountains, embedding it into the rock. Most of the ship is intact, but it is no longer space worthy, and the engines are blown. The fold drive is simply gone. The ship could be salvaged, but at such a cost as to make it economically unwise. However between it's position in the mountains and it's already beefy armor, it makes for a rather powerful base of operations on the planet. With over 1200 mecha still operational and active, Donza has one of the most powerful neutral armies in the Sector.
The planet they landed on was rich with resources that had never truly been tapped, but also nothing of great importance either. It had been abandoned when the Regent attacked simply because it wasn't worth defending. Follow up patrols by the Invid after the women of the Deathbringer Ascendant arrived were wiped out to the last inorganic, and so the Invid never really threatened them. The UEEF patrols had simply gotten lucky as the women deemed them too powerful to attack and they wisely noted the ships seemed intent only on surveying the planet. They shut down their mecha and had long since hidden their ship under rock and earth. Detecting nothing but massive amount of wildlife and seeing no signs of active colonization, the UEEF commander had recommended it for colonization. It was pure luck that the ships assigned to the effort were full of zentraedi refugees.
While the refugees had a few human family members, spouses mostly, 80% of the people on the refugee ships were zentraedi or half zentraedi. They had come from many of the containment zones, tired of fighting and just wanting a place to live in peace. Many were ambivalent about the UEEF. They offered better freedom than the Masters ever had, but they still treated the zentraedi poorly as a matter of course. Despite a few notable exceptions, like the Hunters, the Sterlings, Breetai, and the like, most of the UEEF High Command was strikingly pro-human, sometimes to the point of discrimination, especially when it came to high ranking positions in the military. This didn't mean they turned away their former enemies, but rather they limited their advancement, much as the Robotech Masters had done, though admittedly not on the same scale as the former masters of Tirol.
So it was that Captain Baldwin saw an enormous opportunity and went after it hard. The once planet conquering force of zentraedi women now represented an impressive defensive force. Further, the refugees counted among their numbers former Russian and South American engineers who had helped convert the ships they were in. Those same engineers were well acquainted with Zentraedi mecha and could repair them quite well, especially with access to the scraps left from the non-combat capable mecha the females had. Further, using some of the weapons from the wrecked ship, they could rearm their colony ships while having them remain cargo haulers, allowing them to act as armed merchantmen with their own force of defenders, namely the women of the Deathbringer Ascendant.
It took some time, but eventually an accord was reached. The Traxon Zentraedi, as they are referred to in the UEG Charter for the colony, are recognized as natives of the planet and a neutral armed force. By treaty the women cannot fire on UEEF military vessels without risking open war. The same goes for the UEEF. The UEEF aligned colonists are still allowed to produce their own gear and have a standing militia, but their space forces are limited to the three Tau Redirs they started with, and about a dozen picket ships, plus the transports of the Deathbringer Ascendant. The women of the Deathbringer Ascendant are allowed to act as security forces for hire for other UEEF aligned colonies, but may have no more than half their total force deployed at any time. They are also tasked, by treaty, to defend the world of Traxon, including the UEEF colony. The UEEF maintains only a small refueling base on the edge of the system manned by about four dozen soldiers and officers from Fleet Support, and have only a single Garfish at their disposal for pirate interdiction, as well as five unarmed shuttles for ferrying supplies and personnel to the colony proper for R&R and resupply. Furthermore, UEEF fleet vessels are not allowed in system without express permission of the Colony government of Traxon, or by exercising war powers rights in the pursuit of enemy combatants, which had better be able to be substantiated when Colony Affairs reviews the action.

The Situation Today
Today, more than a decade later, the covenant seems to be working. The Traxon Zentraedi keep to themselves, but contract repair and refit work from the colony proper. Payment for this comes in the form of weapons for the colony's ships, and escort services for ships out of Traxon, Four Corners, and Stone Belt. Only Holiday doesn't use their services, for cultural reasons. The colony exports food, mining equipment, ore, and some consumer goods. they've also managed to rehabilitate the former Tirolian resorts on the planet and make a hefty profit from tourism and UEEF fleet personnel on leave. This is a bit of a dichotomy within the system. The women of the Deathbringer Ascendant have no patience for any UEEF craft they don't recognize, but the colony not only welcomes, but encourages UEEF soldiers to spend their leave on planet, shopping at their malls, and enjoying the savage beauty of the planet. Strict controls on where mining and manufacturing were established early, as well as controls on hunting and herding. Skiing, hiking, mountain climbing, and other such activities in the craggy mountains around the main colony are great draws for the colony. Some refuse to come because of the perceived racism of the protectors of the colony (they have little trust of humans), but for the most part, tourists forget that when they see the vistas or taste the cuisine of the world.
Despite it's cultural appeal, immigration by full humans is strictly controlled (though not outlawed or un-allowed entirely). The colony was established as a safe haven for zentraedi fleeing persecution, and that remains the majority of who the colony admits. Some of the half-zentraedi leaders of the Traxon Assembly point out the ridiculousness of this, for now the policy is unchanged, for now. It remains a hot button issue, and many local election campaigns are fought over these core issues. The colony does indeed provide many recruits for the UEEF and more than three battalions of troops were folded out of Traxon's colony defense force during the build up for the Mars Division attack force.

The Traxon Zentraedi or the Deathbringer Ascendancy
The women of the Deathbringer Ascendant reorganized themselves after the treaty, and began referring to themselves as members of the Deathbringer Ascendancy, turning their ship name into a type of national identity. They are officially recognized as neutral natives of the planet, and allowed to maintain their forces, and even upgrade them at full cost. They are not, however, allowed by treaty to make their ship spaceworthy again. They doubt it ever will be, so this is hardly a concern for them. It grates these powerful and proud women they cannot traverse the stars at will anymore, but they make due. Their soldiers are well respected by those organizations that use them, and feared by the likes of the Dark Nebula Pirates. Traxon has never suffered from their predations, and rarely are the vessels they are known to protect attacked more than once. Their utter lack of restraint when fighting these scum is the reason why. They don't simply drive off the pirates, but hunt down their command and control vessels and destroy them. Having been unable to engage in normal ship to ship combat, the women of the Deathbringer Ascendancy have become exceptionally good at boarding techniques. They actually use a combination of full sized mecha carrying squads of micronized commandos ready to wreck havoc on the enemy. Given that the majority of their mecha are Queadluun-Rau, this makes them an exceptionally deadly combatants.
They also recruit from the zentraedi women of the colony. Some even come from other colonies to join them. This is permitted by the treaty, though they are restricted to no more than eight thousand active duty personnel at any time by treaty. Given their current numbers are only four thousand (out of the original fourteen thousand on the ship), this has not proven to be a hindrance. A few have left the Ascendancy to join the UEEF, but not many. They have kept a small number of allied males, mostly as micronized commandos. The Ascendancy is a purely military operation, however, with only female zentraedi in command. They have a few micronized males working to gather resources (food mostly). The herds of large creatures native to the planet have proven to be exceptionally good eating, and the cooks of the Ascendancy are quite adept at making quality food out of them. They will accept half-zentraedi in support roles, thanks largely to the O.L.E.I.'s meddling.

Relations betweem the Deathbringer Ascendancy and the Office of Law Enforcement and Intelligence
O.L.E.I. has a checkered history with the Deathbringer Ascendancy, due to their habit of keeping tabs on the force by use of espionage and covert surveillance. The group no longer accepts half-zentraedi after discovering a half dozen who were spies. They subsequently ejected all half-zentraedi suspected of UEEF loyalty from their organization, and put the rest to work in support roles away from the base itself. Given their extensive ranches and trading houses, this was not an unforeseen ending. Colony Affairs formerly chastised the O.L.E.I., but it's unclear how far up the chain the orders for the surveillance went. Most assume it was at the behest of Colony Affairs and snort in derision at the farce of how they "punished" the O.L.E.I. Many of those who were fired moved to Holiday, where they currently work for one of the primary competitors for defense contracts that the Ascendancy usually goes for.

[MikelAmroni]

Held for future use

[MikelAmroni]

The first three in this thread are going to be updated as I have more information, but now starts the actual reason I am making the thread. I need some assistance. I am going to make up a sector of space near, but not in the Local Group (as I understand it) for the Robotech Masters. Basically a part of space the Masters conquered, filled with new and interesting life, and many many worlds colonized by the Masters and their Zentraedi, and a few colonized by the UEEF since (colonies that died out, etc). It will have quite a few worlds controlled by remnants of the regent's empire (Stage 4 invid with the will to survive and thrive on their own, with the means of survival), and even a few portions of the Regis' force come to reclaim their wayward brethren. PCs will be pulled from human, tirolian, zentraedi, and some sentinel races. I have stats for those I intend to use (Garudans, Karbarans, and Praxians).

What I don't have is a good idea of what stars to use. Yes I can come up with stars and planets whole cloth and put the whole thing together out of thin air (I have SpaceMaster at my disposal, so they can even be very well defined). I don't particularly want to at this point. Problem is I can't figure out precisely where Valivarre is to get an idea of where to put the rest

[Tiree]

Take a look here: http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/southern-cross/3

I like "The Coal Sack" - it reminds me of where Pirates (Hapes Consortium of Star Wars) would go hide. A great place to kind of be a lost colony. Have transmissions in and out be a little troublesome due to the Nebula.

[Lt Gargoyle]

I have enjoyed this so far and hope to see more soon. what occ are you gonna let the humans be?

[MikelAmroni]

Everyone will be UEEF trained (or "re-trained" in some cases), no matter what race. - so standard UEEF O.C.C.'s I will be retooling a few MOS choices, including a few formerly ASC specific MOS choices that have more universal appeal. I'm not there yet, working on world building more first. Character stuff is easy

[Arnie100]

This will be interesting to see fleshed out! A new SPARTAS 2-A? Hmmmm...

[Alpha 11]

Interesting.

[Tiree]

Everyone will be UEEF trained (or "re-trained" in some cases), no matter what race. - so standard UEEF O.C.C.'s I will be retooling a few MOS choices, including a few formerly ASC specific MOS choices that have more universal appeal. I'm not there yet, working on world building more first. Character stuff is easy

I would probably retool the ASC OCC's into a UEEF structure one. Or try and incorporate the ASC MOS system into the UEEF OCC's.

One thing I found was odd - and pissed me off to no great end. The fact that ASC OCC's and MOS's placed bonuses in different spots than TSC did. Stick with a format, and go with it. Is SDC based on MOS or is it based on OCC. Is there a starting Base for everyone, or just roll?!?! I have heard folks using the Starting base SDC from the old game.

[glitterboy2098]

Take a look here: http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/southern-cross/3

I like "The Coal Sack" - it reminds me of where Pirates (Hapes Consortium of Star Wars) would go hide. A great place to kind of be a lost colony. Have transmissions in and out be a little troublesome due to the Nebula.

gonna hide out in the coal sack? watch out for moties


keep in mind that just because a constellation looks to all be in the same spots for us, doesn't mean they are astrographically similar in location out there. one of the southern cross stars is only 88ly away, most are 300+, and one is almost twice that. the coalsack is over 600lyaway, and so on.

[glitterboy2098]

actually, i have a refit zentraedi landingship turned mobile colony from the old RPG i could contribute to this.. it would need to be overhauled to use 2nd ed mecha lists and such, but it would make an excellent mobile base for this kind of thing. it is large enough you could carry a fairly large amount of SLMH fuel for mecha aboard, along with other supplies, and it had enough room to carry as many people as the SDF-1 did, plus tons of repair shops and such.

[MikelAmroni]

Feel free to PM me the content or links you can't post here. Or if you have (or want) my contact info (I prefer either gtalk or msn/yahoo) PM me and we can set that up too. As much as you can, post here though. Namely because I am setting this up as a resource for all kinds of folks to grab from if they are so inclined, kinda like Taalisman's homebrew thread over in the Dimension Books forum, or all of the organization charts here in the Robotech Forum.

[MikelAmroni]

actually, i have a refit zentraedi landingship turned mobile colony from the old RPG i could contribute to this.. it would need to be overhauled to use 2nd ed mecha lists and such, but it would make an excellent mobile base for this kind of thing. it is large enough you could carry a fairly large amount of SLMH fuel for mecha aboard, along with other supplies, and it had enough room to carry as many people as the SDF-1 did, plus tons of repair shops and such.

That's pretty much what I had in mind. For the actual game, when I need deckplans I'll probably use the ones from Macross II, simply because they actually take micronians into account, but otherwise, use new stats (again, where necessary, the nice thing about mobile bases for the PCs is that unless it comes into direct conflict, you don't have to worry about its stats).

[MikelAmroni]

I think most of the new aliens I will introduce will be completely new (made with AU and Phaseworld), but there's always the reskin possibilities (make a new race, new back story, and tack it onto existing races to speed up conversion). AU, AU: GG, Manhunter, and Phaseworld will all see something used, even if its only for visual effect.

[glitterboy2098]

actually, i have a refit zentraedi landingship turned mobile colony from the old RPG i could contribute to this.. it would need to be overhauled to use 2nd ed mecha lists and such, but it would make an excellent mobile base for this kind of thing. it is large enough you could carry a fairly large amount of SLMH fuel for mecha aboard, along with other supplies, and it had enough room to carry as many people as the SDF-1 did, plus tons of repair shops and such.

That's pretty much what I had in mind. For the actual game, when I need deckplans I'll probably use the ones from Macross II, simply because they actually take micronians into account, but otherwise, use new stats (again, where necessary, the nice thing about mobile bases for the PCs is that unless it comes into direct conflict, you don't have to worry about its stats).

i'm thinking i should probably take the UES Freedom and modernize it anyway. i need to compare the macross II deckplans for the Zent landing ship to the 1st ed RPG zentraedi sourcebook to see how different they are.. if the macross II deckplans are better i'll adjust the layout to conform to them instead.

it was mainly a case of pulling the zentraedi quarters and replacing them with apartment complexes and similar human sized facilities (you can fit lots of people into a room that could house one zent), though the core troop spaces of the ship were stripped and made into an SDF-1 style city-in-a-ship. likewise most of the hold space was fitted as repair and construction shops for parts, as well as hydroponics bays for food.

there were a number of smaller refits too..

[Lt Gargoyle]

the thing i like about the Zentraedi ship as a colony vessel is it can be a one way trip. once it lands it becomes the fondation of the new city and as it is being dismantled it can be recycled into more material. or you can land unload and go back for another trip.

[MikelAmroni]

keep in mind that just because a constellation looks to all be in the same spots for us, doesn't mean they are astrographically similar in location out there. one of the southern cross stars is only 88ly away, most are 300+, and one is almost twice that. the coalsack is over 600lyaway, and so on.

Saw this from earlier: That is actually why I am asking for help. Astronomy is not my strong suit, despite my love of constellations. Is there any sort of galactic map somewhere I could use? One that allows me to use the direction of constellations as a means of pointing the way, and measuring light years? If I had something like that, I'd be okay. After all, if I have the center of the Robotech Empire, figuring out the bounds is a much easier task.

[MikelAmroni]

Also, anyone who wants it, PM me and I will give you the link to my wikia which has my Praxians and Karbarrans. Several folks already have it. I can't post it here because of the stats thing.

Also made this change to the jack of all trades special ability:
Fast Learner and Jack of Many Trades: You gain 2 additional secondary skills at level one, and one additional secondary skill at leach level you would gain a secondary skill through your O.C.C. You also gain 1 additional O.C.C. Related Skill at level one, and one additional skill at each level you would gain a skill through your O.C.C. You also gain an additional +5% to all OCC Skills, where applicable.

[glitterboy2098]

keep in mind that just because a constellation looks to all be in the same spots for us, doesn't mean they are astrographically similar in location out there. one of the southern cross stars is only 88ly away, most are 300+, and one is almost twice that. the coalsack is over 600lyaway, and so on.

Saw this from earlier: That is actually why I am asking for help. Astronomy is not my strong suit, despite my love of constellations. Is there any sort of galactic map somewhere I could use? One that allows me to use the direction of constellations as a means of pointing the way, and measuring light years? If I had something like that, I'd be okay. After all, if I have the center of the Robotech Empire, figuring out the bounds is a much easier task.

none that i know of off the top of my head. at least one that would be useful. programs like Celestia for example let you look at stars from all sorts of angles while preserving their real locations, but that program doesn't really have a lot of specific details for something like this, and isn't easy to use.

i'll ask around on some of the space battle/fiction sites and mailing lists i'm part of and see what pops up though.

you might want to consider checking out this site by Winchell Chung, which has some sample maps and goes into some details about the difficulties of mapping space.
that said, i doubt that anything you need would be found on his maps.. he's largely constrained himself to within 30 lightyears of earth, and the robotech master's empire is found way farther away than that. plus his maps aren't free.

[ShadowLogan]

i'm thinking i should probably take the UES Freedom and modernize it anyway. i need to compare the macross II deckplans for the Zent landing ship to the 1st ed RPG zentraedi sourcebook to see how different they are.. if the macross II deckplans are better i'll adjust the layout to conform to them instead.

M2DP vs 1E RPG ship maps. I have found that 1E deckplans are generally more complete/detailed than the ones in M2DP series which come across as spartan IMHO. Though 1E does have a few exceptions.

[MikelAmroni]

Actually one of them he linked is a 150 light year pdf map for only $15 I may get that, if I can swing the money this week or in two more.

http://www.scifi-az.com/astronomy/astro ... ndbook.htm

Thanks for the links, that actually helped.

[glitterboy2098]

honestly, i think earth's colonies and the former tyrolian republic need to be very different places, though perhaps in the same rough direction from earth.

the earth colonies would work well as being concentrated within 300 ly of earth, perhaps most of them focused in the direction of the trans-coalsack region. though i'd toss a few on the other side of sol (in the direction of Alpha Centauri, rimward and spinward) as well, for adding more interesting options, and because of the ideals behind gloval's original colony idea of preventing humanity being wiped out.. being on the other side of sol from the master's empire would be an extra bit of protection.

the master's empire itself i'd place farther away, perhaps near the Jewel Box cluster, perhaps 2000+ lightyears farther away. heck, given the speed fold drives are implied to be capable of in the show you could probably put it in the jewel Box cluster or nearby, which is 6,800 ly away, and still justify travel times of only a few days or weeks.

this would also help justify the de-emphasis on protoculture in the human colonies, since with the stockpile on earth no longer available, and the new supply from the SDF-3's matrix being at the end of a lengthy logistical chain, the protoculture they have would need to be earmarked for starships before anything else, since there isn't really an alternative power supply available to run FTL.

[MikelAmroni]

Well the area I am trying to develop is a region that the Masters once fully controlled. All of the UEEF colonies are relatively new, and based in the ruins of former RM colonies. Of course those colonies died for a reason, but that's for the game to explore. I was going for more or less a homogenous sector of space with plentiful enough resources to warrant holding, but not as strategically important as say Earth and the colonies near her. Close enough that colonization and relations with the local populaces are not just feasible, but desirable, but far enough that funneling supplies away from the conflict at Earth is just counterproductive - hence they are making due with old gear, except for what they can produce themselves (the aforementioned Alphas, Betas, and Cyclones - I'm probably going to include at least a few small runs of Silverbacks as well).

Basically the UEEF and their allies are trying to assert itself as the successors to the Robotech Masters, but not as conquerors, but as liberators. And the PCs get to be in the middle of all of that political hoohah. Fun ensues. Some places will have developed into more or less self-sustaining just developing new FTL technologies. Others will have nearly collapsed with the absence of regular supplies from Tirol and the Robotech Masters. Some will be holdouts intent on destroying the upstarts, fighting a guerrilla war because they don't have the numbers to wage effective war. Some will have gone to piracy, stealing what they could. There are some of the paroling Zentraedi left, and not all of them are ready to lay down and surrender, no matter how much the UEEF claims the Masters have been beaten. And I mentioned the Regent has forces in the area that were already working independently, as does the Regess. it's one big mess, and the PCs have to protect their supply lines as they keep their colonies afloat and support those they have gotten to work with them.

[MikelAmroni]

So per my post in the UEG Colonial Efforts Thread - The citizens of Denver were evacuated and relocated to a planet (The settlers call it New Colorado; it has a Tirolian name) and they have rebuilt New Denver. I'm open to other names besides New Colorado - it's just the first one that came to mind. The Tirolian settlement was actually built into the side of a mountain and uses geothermal vents to provide power to the colony. All the settlers had to do was some basic repairs and run new power transmission cables that were compatible with their gear. The Tirolian engineering was actually quite sturdy, and during the first earthquake to hit the site showed it's true strength. The mountains are active, with two volcanos within a few hundred miles each direction in the mountain range that holds the colony. A secondary colony location has been set up to grow food down in the rich fields. Some of the native grasses are actually quite like wheat, only blue. The flour and bread made from it varies from a light blue to a purple. It also grows like a weed, choking out all other vegetation. The few Tirolian records available show that the grain was developed by Tirolian scientists, but choked out all other vegetation they tried to grow in the area. The residents of New Denver have therefore set up extensive hydroponics facilities to keep growing other foods, although the blue wheat is both common and fast growing. It is the chief export of the colony, shipped out throughout the Sector, and even to the UEEF fleet itself.

[glitterboy2098]

blue grain? you know this means they'll be brewing a blue ale... might as well make the most famous brewery name itself "romulan" something or other, so you can have romulan ale..

[Tiree]

You can call the planet "Four Corners"

But I do like the writeup concept that you brought forth here.

[MikelAmroni]

blue grain? you know this means they'll be brewing a blue ale... might as well make the most famous brewery name itself "romulan" something or other, so you can have romulan ale..

I'm guessing you're referring to Andorian Ale - I hadn't actually considered that. Honestly blue was just a random color choice. I could just as easily use orange or purple - I wanted something that looked weird, but otherwise acted as wheat.

Though I should note I specifically hadn't mentioned what happens when you make alcohol from it

You can call the planet "Four Corners"
But I do like the writeup concept that you brought forth here.

Hmm, Four Corners - I could make it not just the survivors of Denver, but also that entire four state region! Awesome. The colonies are actually all arranged around a single huge valley. That is where the blue wheat grows. It is also the location of a huge salt water lake. The blue wheat thrives on the salt water content. As such the blue wheat is a bit salty when made into flour or bread, even after all the blanching.

There were a total of seven ruins in the area, but only four, aside from the one set up for farming, were habitable, especially after the first few earthquakes or eruptions. Colonies include New Cannan, Santa Fiero, New Denver, and Star Corners.

[glitterboy2098]

blue grain? you know this means they'll be brewing a blue ale... might as well make the most famous brewery name itself "romulan" something or other, so you can have romulan ale..

I'm guessing you're referring to Andorian Ale - I hadn't actually considered that. Honestly blue was just a random color choice. I could just as easily use orange or purple - I wanted something that looked weird, but otherwise acted as wheat.

Though I should note I specifically hadn't mentioned what happens when you make alcohol from it

Kirk:
"Romulan Ale. Why, Bones, you know this is illegal."
McCoy: "I only use it for medicinal purposes."

[MikelAmroni]

I never did realize the blue stuff was Romulan Ale, awesome! But no, there will be a blue beer, but it's salty, and a salty beverage isn't all that appealing.

[glitterboy2098]

depends on how you brew it i suppose., and the preference of the drinker.

[MikelAmroni]

I stand corrected - hmm, I suppose it would appeal to the Kabarrans. Who else you think (aside from anyone desperate enough to get drunk)?

[glitterboy2098]

honestly it would depend on what traits you gave the drink. something similar to Trek's synthehol, where the alchohol (or similar chemical) breaks down faster or breaks down differently in the body might make it very popular, even if it is an acquired taste, because you could drink more of it and not be as intoxicated, or not suffer hangovers.

one would expect that the blue grain (properly sterilized) would become a popular novelty item for shipment offworld too.. for making blue bread, blue pasta, etc.

[Sgt Anjay]

Isn't Zarayba blue? Or am I remembering that wrong?

[MikelAmroni]

honestly it would depend on what traits you gave the drink. something similar to Trek's synthehol, where the alchohol (or similar chemical) breaks down faster or breaks down differently in the body might make it very popular, even if it is an acquired taste, because you could drink more of it and not be as intoxicated, or not suffer hangovers.

one would expect that the blue grain (properly sterilized) would become a popular novelty item for shipment offworld too.. for making blue bread, blue pasta, etc.

Well one other thing the high salt content would do: Provide it's own shelf life boost! Okay, not really, but my intent here is that the grain has become so popular off world that it alone sustains the colony economically. It grows like dandelions, is easy to harvest and process, and aside from being a bit salty, is quite good when used as a wheat substitute.

I'm considering some strange effects if it reacts with protoculture (especially if eaten together), but that's more for story development within the game. I should note that Protoculture will not grow on the world, nor would any other plant life that feeds off of the chi/ppe/life energy of the world it inhabits. It's all being sucked up by the bluete (blu-eat as a single sylable).

As for its effects as an alcohol - well the most common form of it is a grain-beer that is both potent and thick. One of those beers you can eat. The other forms are grain-liquors with the kick of everclear, but that flushes through you quickly. Drink with water, get hammered quickly, wake up the next morning wondering why your mouth is dry, but otherwise feeling rested. How's that sound?

[Tiree]

As for its effects as an alcohol - well the most common form of it is a grain-beer that is both potent and thick. One of those beers you can eat. The other forms are grain-liquors with the kick of everclear, but that flushes through you quickly. Drink with water, get hammered quickly, wake up the next morning wondering why your mouth is dry, but otherwise feeling rested. How's that sound?

This right here should make the colony economically feasible

[taalismn]

I'm considering some strange effects if it reacts with protoculture (especially if eaten together), but that's more for story development within the game.?

You'd choke on the Protoculture Canister! Or break your teeth trying to force the issue!
I regard the organic glop inside as being properly referred to as Flower of Life(qualified variously as 'Chopped', 'Minced', 'Marinated', 'Shredded', 'Sun-dried', or otehrwise 'processed') unless actively canistered and working industrially.
Like fugu, dietary Flower of Life should be treated with extreme care with regards to preparation and consumption; Invid can scarve the stuff down without problems, but anybody else should be aware of any number of abreactions, ranging fom straight bellyaching, demnetia, to uncontrollable psionic power manifestations and accidental Ascension to a higher state of existance.

[MikelAmroni]

It should be noted that I don't expect that everyone who might have an issue in this thread or my wiki to actually play. Feel free to look in on it if you've just got an interest in new RPG information.

[Lt Gargoyle]

You have done a great job resurrecting the Sentinels so far on your site. I think to have only one source of income for your colony may be a dangerous thing for any economy but then it would be a good way to keep them under control. Since they don t have anything of high importance an embargo would literially kill them.

[taalismn]

You have done a great job resurrecting the Sentinels so far on your site. I think to have only one source of income for your colony may be a dangerous thing for any economy but then it would be a good way to keep them under control. Since they don t have anything of high importance an embargo would literially kill them.

Catastrophic crop failure, too, especially in monoculture agriculture, is a real risk too.

[MikelAmroni]

They'll have other products, but none as lucrative as the bluete (I really need a new name for it). I think one of the colonies will have a weapon manufacturer (probably New Canaan) that makes conventional and energy sidearms and longarms (ASC and UEDF designs mostly, some UEEF military ones though), as well as CVR-3, CVR-5, and a new hard suit made for civilian miners and prospectors with built in tools (stats cribbed from MiO or perhaps AU:GG, depending on what I end up finding/liking). I'll also probably include a new civilian soft suit, not unlike the one in Macross 2.

[Lt Gargoyle]

They'll have other products, but none as lucrative as the bluete (I really need a new name for it). I think one of the colonies will have a weapon manufacturer (probably New Canaan) that makes conventional and energy sidearms and longarms (ASC and UEDF designs mostly, some UEEF military ones though), as well as CVR-3, CVR-5, and a new hard suit made for civilian miners and prospectors with built in tools (stats cribbed from MiO or perhaps AU:GG, depending on what I end up finding/liking). I'll also probably include a new civilian soft suit, not unlike the one in Macross 2.

I like this, A colony that would provide weapons to other colonies and possibly mercs/pirates, But because they supply the UEEF with some of their weapons and armor they cannot do much to shut them down. They should have some military fire power even if its old modified Zentraedi mecha and ships for personal defense.

Civilian style hard suits is a good idea. Especially for miners and shipyards workers. But anyone exposed to the elements may benefit from them.

[Tiree]

I would use the NGR suits as a basis for your "Prospector" suits. With the tools for the Medic and Mechanic, I can see it working out really well. Even with the new exo-skeleton that is found in NGR-2 as an add on.

[MikelAmroni]

Well Robotech Master and Karbarran weaponry is still the most common in the sector, despite the influx of new weapons from the human colonies. The Karbarran weapons have a good reputation in squad based weapons, as well as support rifles (Heavy rifles for the massive ursine aliens), and the elegance and sturdy nature of the Tirolian weapons is well loved. But these new human weapons are a whole different level of utility. Easy to modify, easy to repair, parts in good supply, and easy to counterfeit - which is why the weapons end up in the hands of Pirates a lot, combined with captured gear.

I'll be writing up the Four Corners Colony tonight and tomorrow.

I think one of the other colonies will actually be a mostly Zentraedi colony from Earth. Basically a bunch of Zentraedi settled in an area and due to the oppressive nature of ASC era politics against zentraedi, they decided to hop on the first colony ship out preserving as much as they could of the self sufficiency they had learned from their few micronian friends, as well as their love of order from their days as soldiers. The ship they came in was mostly dismantled, and the only fold capable ship they have is a converted Salan Scout that is effectively an armed freighter. They have a decent amount of technical know how from Zentraedi Auxiliary Specialists who became technicians in the UEDF, only to retire when the force took to the stars and the ASC no longer wanted them. As such they can maintain their ship quite well, and due to a couple dozen converted fighter pods and power armor suits, they can protect it too. Twice a pirate group has thought the ship a soft target, and twice their gear has increased the power and parts supply of this doughty colony. The colony's greatest asset is the mining the colony does, and its ability to move it to any market. They are self sufficient in terms of food and energy, only requiring protoculture for their ship, and that they have been able to scavenge from the ships that attacked them. One of the ships now acts as a planetary monitor, keeping the colony safe while the freighter is out system.

[taalismn]

They'll have other products, but none as lucrative as the bluete (I really need a new name for it). .

Zurgrain---(a)zur(e)grain?
Azhet--- Az(ure w)he(a)t?
Cyanicale----(Cyan+secale(rye))?

"We're NOT calling it bluegrass!"

[glitterboy2098]

the world was originally a robotech masters colony, right?
so go with "sitos glaukos". ancient greek for "blue grain". feel free to creatively alter the spelling to homophones in order to make it seem more alien.
humans could use the shorthand "glaukos" for the grain (which in ancient greek refers to a light blue color, but also could mean certain shades of light grey, green, or yellow)
the scientific name could even be Neatriticum glaukos, or blue new-wheat.

other ancient greek words for blue you could adapt are kyaneos(dark blue), and indikon (indigo, the term was originally used to refer to a specific dye the ancient greek imported from india.)
these you could use instead of glaukos, or you could use as names for different variations of the grain.


also, blue pigments in the plants would imply a slightly different spectrum than earth gets from the sun. (another article with more speculative detail)

[MikelAmroni]

Kyaneos - I like it! Hmm, the industrial name (What you'd see in ingredient lists) is Kyane Wheat/Flour/Bread. Shorthand for it is Kyane, and the scientific name is neatriticum kyaneos.

The beer is called Blue Beer, the grain alcohol is called "Old Blue Fire."

[taalismn]

By Jove, we seem to have a winner!
Now we start plastering it all over the marketplace.

Kyano-Krispies---The new breakfast cereal!

[Shawn Merrow]

This idea popped into my head last night and thought it might be useful for your game.



Earth Orbit – April 2011 – During the final assault by Lord Dolza.
Aboard a female Queadol-Magdomilla ship under the command of Donza.

With a startled look the Zentraedi manning the sensor console yelled out “Commander I'm detecting a massive energy surge from Lord Dolza fortress.”

Commander Donza hurriedly switched the main screen to see the fortress starting to bulge “Emergency Fold now!”

“Where to Commander?” was the puzzled question from the helm officer.

“Anywhere else, just fold ALREADY!”

They were in luck as they folded just as the blast wave reached them avoiding the destruction that befall so many Zentraedi ships that day. The fold was not perfect though and they came out in the upper atmosphere of a planet deep in space that used to be held by the Robotech Masters. With the crew unconscious from the rough fold the ship made a crash landing taking heavy damage.

The crash landing was in a mountain range on the northern continent and is no longer capable of returning to space. The engines were destroyed, it also has numerous large breaches to the hull. They have made attempts to contact fellow Zentraedi for help but have never received a reply.

In the years since the crash Commander Donza has done the best to keep her crew alive and eek out a living on this planet. It took the Navigation officer a few days to figure out their location, it was an abandoned resort planet from the height of the Robotech Masters empire. The reason being for its abandonment it was not worth the resources to defend it from the Invid.

The original colony on the equator had fallen into ruin over the centuries and is mostly ignored by the crew. A small city has arisen around the crash site. Its not very fancy made of granite quarried from the mountains. The main buildings are storehouses for food and an arena for fights to help the crew vent some of their aggression. They do though remain very local to their commander and hope to one day return to space.

They will gladly accept help from fellow Zentraedi but would have a hard time stomaching help from Humans. They still have their pride after all.


Ship Condition
The bow of the ship was torqued during the crash and can no longer separate from the rest of the ship. The main engines were also damages beyond repair, with the hull breaches she will never see space again. There is enough power to fire the weapons on the top half of the ship and operate all sensor systems. This will let them know of any ship folding into the system.

As they were in the middle of combat the majority of the fighting craft had been launched, some of the remaining took damage in the landing. Of the original crew of over 14,000 a little over 4,000 remain.

Remaining operational craft
105 – Regult
48 - Gluuhaug-Regult
7 - Quel-Regult
234 – Gnerl
891 – Queadluun-Rau


Planet Traxon

The planet is a temperate one that is currently going through a mini ice age. It has a large continent in the Northern hemisphere that dips down to the equator and three small continents in the southern hemisphere. There are several large island chains around the planet that would indicate the presence of hot spots but no major volcanic activity anywhere else on the planet.

Traxon has a thriving ecosystem with a large variety animal and plant life. The animals are very similar to the ones found on Earth during the last ice age. The northern continent even has large herds that look a lot like Buffalo and Woolly Mammoth. The largest herds number in the thousands. Traxon could supply food to a large number of planets if fully colonized.

[Lt Gargoyle]

By Jove, we seem to have a winner!
Now we start plastering it all over the marketplace.

Kyano-Krispies---The new breakfast cereal!

I knew corporations would be the bigh factor in space.