setting primer

Setting

Ancient Precursors - The original Bastards were hyper advanced beings who came into the universe when it was created. Their grasp of science was so great they were almost god-like. In their apocalyptic war they shaped the cosmos and set the future of Bastard Galaxy in motion. The modern galaxy lacks the technology of the bastards and must live in their shadow.

A crowded galaxy - Civilization has existed since the beginning of the universe, and has spread throughout it. Truly barren planets are rarities; most have at least simple life or machine ecologies. The galaxy is dotted with cosmopolitan settlements, cities of the cosmos where dozens or even hundreds of different sapients rub shoulders. Even in the remotest worlds you might find indigenous tribes or lost ruins

A multi-polar system - There are dozens of strong polities locked in a delicate détente. Most major states are aligning together against the Agredeem God Emperor and their insidious mind control but old grudges run deep. Rapacious Mega-Corps like Mother Corp and the Intergalactic Candy Company consume all they can in the name of greed while colonial powers like the Neo-Floozies absorb smaller polities. There is a divide between organic and machine life, with some machine nations being extremely mecha-chauvinistic. Living gods like Molsheen the divine tumor lord over their own private theocracies while ancient powers like the Republic of Sea Serpents and the Gas-Bags scheme through the centuries. The nomadic Empire of Friends is pushing into the local region, bringing conflict with it. The pirates of the Under Sphere wish to create their own realm and will plunder others to build it. Only the fear of war keeps the tenuous peace, but even then cold conflicts sometimes boil over.

Humanity Divided - Human beings came into the universe either as servants of the Bastards, or as Bastards themselves. They spread like few other races have, and now humans can be found across the galaxy. In the past the human Empire of Dirt ruled them all but that time has past. The human home world of Dirt has spawned another polity, the Seeder initiative seeks once more to unite humanity. But humanity is no longer interested in being united. Many humans belong to alien polities.  Centuries of isolation have split them into hundreds of sub species. They have adapted to live in extreme and strange environments, like dreams or virtual worlds. Perhaps the most divergent are the Canine-forms, humans who were long ago spliced with dog DNA. Ancient injustice caused them to rebel and to this day there is a grudge between them and the rest of humanity.

Themes

Cosmic - The Bastard Galaxy is full of wonders. There are alien jungles, bustling space ports and crumbling ruins. Space is full of ships, stations and ancient mega structures, each unique and idiosyncratic. Each of the galaxy's millions of worlds offer a different vista. There is always somewhere unexplored and undiscovered, full of mystery and danger.

Psychedelic - The Bastards unleashed the realm of the mind onto the world. Psionic powers, astral realms, living memes, these are just part of the world now. The galaxy has become a place where will and imagination can overwrite reality. Seekers of the psychic world find power, transformation and sometimes madness.

Evolution - The galaxy is an ancient place. It has become strange and gnarled with time. Ecosystems have advanced over millions of years to become intricate and powerful things. The technology of the Bastards has become feral, infusing nature with elements of vanished civilizations, the scars of the past become the fruits of the future. Machine ecologies carry on the work of their vanished masters and new gods are born from the corpses of the old ones. The brutal, elegant logic of evolution carves everything into weird and terrible new forms. 

Odd Jobs promos

These are session promos for the Bastard Galaxy campaign I have been running. 


You're a freelancer doing odd jobs on the planet dirt  when you get an offer that's too good to refuse. It's a simple courier job but the pay scale is out of this world. All you have to do is take a glass of milk from an aristo to his nephew  on the aquatic colony world of Glishar. But can anything really be that easy? Find out in Odd Jobs: Milk run

 Your new client is the Coven of Bad Water and they have unusual taste. They want a bottle of fermented Drongus sauce from the city of Ix. The catch is that Ix was destroyed thousands of years ago. Fortunately, they have lead on the last bottle in existence. Unfortunately, its deep in the Undersphere, in the collection of the mad baroness Tubulla. Your job is to break into her sprawling larder complex in the boreal region of the Mansion Baronies and steal the goods. Along the way, you can help yourself to any of the Baroness's rare consumables. But watch out for the locals and the Baroness's henchmen that Stand between you and a successful Odd Jobs: Fridge Raid.

The planet Lover has always been Dirt's twin. Humanity used to live their long ago, until the wars that scorched them both. Where Dirt regrew twisted and strange, Lover became fierce and verdant. The Dentata world next door was ignored for ages until a new industry popped up: ecotourism. Now you have a gig guiding galactic aristos across the sea of flowers, so that they might witness the majesty of the slug whales. But slug whales are far from the only creatures in the floral sea. Do you have the wiles to survive Odd jobs: Boat Tour?

You find yourselves in the dubious employment of Mother Corp on the compost moon Heap. You have been hired on as Delvers, foolhardy souls who explore the moist and rotting depths  in service to Mother Corp's soil mining operations. Unbeknownst to your vegetative employers, you all have a hidden motive. You're double agents, working for the resistance group the Glade. Your mission is to hijack one of Mother Corp's cyborg mole machines and pilot it to a hidden Glade base deep in the anaerobic sea. But what else lurks among the refuse and the rot? Find out in Odd Jobs: Turn Over.

You find yourself stranded in the buried city of Discardia. The surface is embroiled in a mass revolt and Mother Corp is blockading the moon. Fortunately, the Glade has a secret route off world; the interplanar lens, an ancient artifact that can open dimensional portals. However, the only plane "close" enough to Discardia is the Trail, a vast and confusing dimension that threads its way through astral space. Your hosts tell you that a group of guides will be arriving soon, and that they will be looking for laborers to help with some kind of harvest. Translation issues make the details spotty but your hosts think it was something about…Eels? Find out more in Odd Jobs: Dream Gig.

Deep within the labyrinth of Quidious Halc in the bowels of the planet Arlot, the Spined  Oracle has spawned once more. The great and the good of the Neo Floozy empire are gathering in the depths, preparing for the oracular hunt. The one who slays the beast will see their future etched into it's spines. A frontier town has formed on the outskirts of the labyrinth, where all the guides and guards and camp followers congregate. It is into this managed chaos you arrive, ostensibly to seek employment under the neo floozy worthies. But you already have a secret employer, and a hidden objective. You have been contracted by the Fandorian resistance, and your target is the Neo-Floozy  governor of Fandoria, the Pond Scum city state of Goba. The oracular hunt is dangerous, and accidents happen out in the labyrinth. Your true mission is to make Goba's luck run out. But will your own luck see you out of the labyrinth. Find out in Odd Jobs: Rat Trap.