[PBEM News] Lost Colony From: sharlene79@mindspring-dot-com.no-spam.invalid (sharlene79) Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2007 01:00:43 +0000 The Exodus began in 2087 with the first STL Patherfinder class starships bound for nearby stars on trips taking decades. 27 missions in all, none of which have established contact with Earth since their departure. Then, in 2129 the first ships with a viable warp drive departed. These were scout class vessels whose first missions were to determine the fate of the Pathfinders. Where the colony ships had taken decades, the second generation drives got the scouts there in a few years. Several colonies had failed. Most were barely surviving. But a few had managed to gain a foothold on their new worlds. Earth began to send cargo ships filled with more colonists, supplies � with the intent to return to Earth with precious resources. The old scouts began a new mission, cataloguing viable world for colonization. They were soon retired and replaced by faster scouts. In 2153 the first of the Pathfinder III�s was launched. The Pathfinder II�s had had the task of building up existing colonies. But the Pathfinder III�s would travel far beyond the inner systems, carrying colonies to distant worlds tagged as habitable by scouts. The first wave of these ships numbered 12. They were equipped with massive drives with more than enough power to pull a colony in hibernation to stars a hundred parsecs away and make the return trip. A round trip would take years, but was far from impossible. The Excalibur was the seventh of the Pathefinder III�s dispatched with 125 crew (of the ship intended to accompany it back to Earth) and 25,000 colonists (intended to remain on the new world). Something happened enroute. The Excalibur hit a hyperspatial anomaly. It slung them along at unprecedented speeds toward an unknown destination. The trip placed a terrible strain on the drives and consumed fuel up at an impossible rate. By the time the crew was able to break free of the anomaly the ship was far beyond the reach of Earth, hundreds of parsecs off course. Without fuel to return, drives not up for a return trip even if they did have the fuel, the Excalibur made for the closest star� Players may develop more than one character. Personal mass allowance is limited, so choose personal gear carefully. Weapons may not accompany personnel during the voyage, but that really won�t matter. The deorbiting process will be orderly, but hasty. The ship�s integrity was severely compromised. There was enough time to awaken the colonists, issue additional survival gear and prepare to jettison in lifepods. The lifepods will land in a relatively small area, scattered perhaps a mile apart each carrying 4 people. The shuttles will likewise launch carrying what gear they can for the trip down. The Excalibur will be nudged into a high orbit in hopes that the crew can salvage the ship later. Please no aliens. These are humans. Yes, there will be First Contact situations. You may develop more than one character (max two to start). Terran technology has not developed lightsabers, force screens, artificial gravity or the like. Laser weaponry is man portable as are some variations. Please remember that the colonists are intended to start a colony .. ie breed. That means no androids please. Colonists tend to be a cut above the average as the weak rarely survive. Sickly humans will not be accepted. Player characters should be among the top 1% of the colonists as they will end up representing humanity on the new world. Yes the game is diceless, a GM guided adventure. Creative writing is a must. Decent spelling and grammar please. Creative and intelligent players please. No children. This game will be rated R. (If you are an adult, no one should have to spell out what is going on behind that door.) When you first apply, you get a spamblock message, just follow up. Use the short form to help you develop your character. You don�t have to tell me a Chemist has a skill in chemistry. That kinda goes with the job. But if you want to be specific�. Name: Age: Gender: Physical Description: Civilian or Military: Background Information: (Character History) Skills: Languages Weaknesses Goals: Personal Gear: -- posted from PBEM News - PBEM listings and announcements Reply to this post at http://www.pbemnews.org Up