Octant Beta Notes

Ghost of Jupiter Subsector: Octant Beta Gamemaster Notes

This is the place where all the secret GM stuff goes for Octant Beta! A lot of this is just questions that I need to answer at the moment.

(β:04:2) M-Class Main-Sequence

This system contains two benign worlds and one marginal, all uninhabited. Is someone using them?

VERZUI (β:12:2:A:1) Gas Giant

Verzui has a a biosphere that is as yet undetected.
BIOSPHERE
High Biodiversity; Paradigm = Exotic; Primary Energy Source = Radiosynthesis;
Sessile1: Scale = Medium (+0); Symmetry = Bilateral; 8 limbs; Endoframe; Segments = 0:
Motile1: Scale = Micro (-2); Symmetry = Biradial; 32 limbs; No Frame; Segments = 3: Frame1,Frame2,Limb3,
Motile2: Scale = Micro (-2); Symmetry = Bilateral; 2 Limb2; Endoframe; Segments = 2: Frame1,Body2

OBOSLUPTA (β:12:2:A:2:15) Small Benign Moon

This colony is in free fall due to warfare. Little Howard is maintaining a low profile in the system, but is increasingly concerned about the morality of simply allowing people to die, especially people off the main colony world (in space stations, bases on other moons, etc.) Little Howard will ask the cooperative to assist in saving as many of these individuals as possible, but can they do it stealthily? Does the cooperative care? What do they do with those saved?

(β:13:-1:A) K-Class Main Sequence

This system contains an uncontacted lost colony, Tech Index 7. It has population 10^11 (hundreds of billions of inhabitants) living in an anarchic bucolic society ("Agri-World"). What the heck does THAT look like? Maybe they are like high-tech space Amish? That is a hell of a lot of people on a Small world. At Tech Index 7 they will have certainly expanded to occupy the whole system.

(β:31:3) White Dwarf

This system contains a species of sessile exointelligence, tech index 1, very contemplative. If communication can be established, they seem to have very deep memories stored in waxy structures within their bodies. Within these memories are data about predecessor activities in the Subsector. What data? How can contact be achieved? What do such beings want in exchange?

(β:36:3:A) M-Class Main Sequence

This system contains multiple marginal worlds with low/pre-human exointelligence.

Autumn Tidal Flow STOP 14 (42 months). Final stop. The bioship is still present in this system. It has begun replicating itself at rapid speed, attempting to "uplift" all of the species in this system with the intent to create a solar system wide "System Intelligence" that exceeds the capabilities of the Planetary Intelligence.

(β:43:2) M-Class Cool Subdwarf

This system contains an uninhabited Marginal world. Is someone using it? Who and for what?

(β:55:3) M-Class Main Sequence

Autumn Tidal Flow STOP 13 (36 months). The bioship "calved" off a large portion of its substance in this system, leaving it behind in Orbit around the marginal world, after spending six months targeting comets in the systems OORT cloud to impact on that world. The expectation was to terraform that world to agreeable within several hundred years, and then create a new instance of the Planetary Intelligence. However, shortly after leaving the system a final collapse in ethics occurred, and most of the crew killed each other in an orgy of destruction. The new vessel itself was heavily damaged, and now is occupied by the insane cannibalistic remnants of the original crew.

(β:70:4:A) M-Class Giant

This system has to have some kind of Predecessor or Predecessor-like ruins on it, how cool is it to have to try to study those ruins while risking an eruption from the companion variable?

(β:71:-3) K-Class Subgiant

Autumn Tidal Flow STOP 12 (17 months) stopped here briefly but didn't even leave a beacon. The easily followed trail ends here, essentially.

(β:73:3:A) M-Class Main Sequence

This system contains THREE different human standard exointelligences. Within the past 400 years these three civilizations have contacted each other, and are in the process of establishing a joint tech level 6 civilization of unique character. This society calls themselves the Servants of Mud and Water. Although upon initial contact centuries ago there was some warfare, essentially they have formed a stable and general peaceful interplanetary society. It consists of...

• a Large 4 limbed bilateral oxygen breathing species from Planet 1, that looks somewhat like a fungal snake with four grasping appendages.
• a Medium 6 limbed spherical species aqueous species from Planet 3, that looks something like a beholder.
• a Large 8 limbed biradial oxygen breathing species from Planet 4, that looks somewhat like a cross between a spider and a squid, with a mollusk like shell.

also, the Servants have begun "uplifting" a Large radial 3-4 limbed acid breathing species from Planet 7. The Servants have fully exploited their planetary system.

Autumn Tidal Flow STOP 13 (20 months). The bioship arrived in this system about 5 years ago. On arrival, it recognized the unique character of the non-human society present in this system and initiated contact. Full contact was difficult to establish, but it was achieved after about 6 months. At this time, It then provided them with jump drive technology as a "gift" from the god that is the Planetary Intelligence with no explanation as to its use, and left. Since that time, this culture has established a presence on several neighboring systems.

(β:74:3) M-Class Subgiant

The Servants of Mud and Water have set up a presence in this system, and are "contacting" the low-human exointelligence.

(β:75:-1) M-Class Subgiant (Binary)

The two stars in this system are essentially identical in mass, something that is almost impossible by accident. I think that this was some kind of ancient experiment; one star is the experimental arm, one the control. But what was the experiment? Are the experimenters still present? There are multiple pre-human exointelligences and biospheres.

NDIKUYEMBEKEZA (β:82:-2:X:) Standard Agreeable Planet

This Beyonder faction is by Commonality standards, and probably by anyone's standards, completely bat-shit insane. They have made a religion around exponential population growth. Seed Network Jane is very concerned the collapse is imminent. Maybe Jane has found some lever to pull in the society to make a difference? Maybe the Cooperative are the ones to pull it? What is the lever? (assassination? Introduction of some new technology? Some kind of memetic bomb?)

(β:83:2) M-Class Subgiant

One planet in this system has a Exotic Radiosynthesis biosphere with Human Standard intelligence. I'm thinking Tech Index 4. They are micro exoscale, I'm picturing some kind of bizarre hivemind organisms that feed upon the gamma/x/cosmic ray consuming life forms and are in throes of whatever their equivalent of an industrial revolution would be. There would obviously be SOMETHING going on on the planet.

Another planet in this system has an uncontacted lost colony, Tech Index 2, Feudal, and 10^8 population.

This system has been contacted by the Servants of Mud and Water, who are attempting a ham-fisted contact procedure with both intelligences. This is not going well for some reason, but the Servants are sincere.

(β:84:0) M-Class Giant

The Servants of Mud and Water have entered this system and are trying to contact the species here.

(β:86:4) M-Class Main Sequence

One planet in this system has a uncontacted lost colony, 10^12 (TRILLIONS!!!), Balkanized dictatorship. Tech Index 7. What the heck does THAT look like? They have certainly exploited the entire system. I'm picturing almost Flash Gordon-esque Ming the Merciless-types each owning their own planet/moon and duking it out across the system. Talk about VENU-POTENTIAL!!

(β:90:2:A) M-Class Main Sequence

One planet in this system has a Tech Index 3, 10^11 pop, 100% liquid high seasonality, Representative Regressed Civilization. What does that look like? (I think I may need to shave an order of magnitude off a lot of these populations to add more variety). Maybe its a world with vast ice floes, and people live on those?

Autumn Tidal Flow STOP 11 (15 months). A contingent of Chembu crew mutinied and remained behind, terrified of what their bioship was becoming. They are living in a kind of menagerie of one of the most powerful leaders in the Lost Colony culture.

IEPENZEE (β:92:-3:X:2) Large/Standard Adequate Ocean Planet

Iepenzee is pretty much the perfect target for contact as lost colony worlds go. No strange memes to iron out, no weird biology, just people doing their thing, eager for a chance to meet some more people and explore the galaxy. Contact has proceeded very quickly. The only difficulty is that the Huge scale cetacean members of the society risk being left out of the benefits of contact. These are sentient whales, similar to blue whales. There are also sentient dolphin-like and orca-like genotypes.

SKOANDER (β:92:-3:X:4) Large Adequate Desert World

The Iepenzeers find this planet VERY uncomfortable, but they are toughing it out because they want to show the SCI Force types that they have what it takes. The installation is near one of the very few and very salty permanent bodies of water on the planet.

There is a low-human intelligence exointelligence on this world, 16 limbed, biradial symmetry. I think this species is causing problems for the installation; maybe violent problems?

(β:96:1) M-Class Main Sequence

This system contains a lost colony, Balkanized, tech index 6, pop 10^10, Feudal. What does that look like? Tech Index 6 means they have probably begun to exploit the entire system. What makes them interesting?