Example Militaries

Here are a couple example militaries from the various StarCluster Settings. First The SaVaHuTa Navy from the Classic Setting - SaVaHuTa is a huge military-Economic alliance with many worlds in many star systems

Second, the Rasi SWAT Police from The Necklace Setting - The Necklace is a gigantic breathable gas torus in space around a neutron star with a billion mile long gravitic ring-river looping through its immense volume. I have a bunch more here.

Military Dicta

Working on Military Dicta for In Harm's Way: StarCluster 4 today! A Dictum is a saying which encapsulates an important principle. For designing a military in IHW:SC4 you would choose which Template Trees work in your setting, then choose a number of Dicta to define the reasons a military does what it does. Some example Dicta:

Sapient Slavery

Sapient Slavery is forbidden within the state. Any attempt to subvert this concept by importation of slaves or institution of slavery in any way must be prevented and punished by the military.

Unlicensed Environmental Manipulation

Terraforming must be licensed and controlled, with proper safeguards applied.

One State, One People

There is only one state. The existence of any polity considering itself outside the state is strictly forbidden, and any attempt to establish such will be rigorously opposed.

Primitive Worlds Must Be Allowed To Develop

Technologically retarded worlds must not be interfered with if they are to develop properly.

Each Dictum you select defines not only your military, but your society, so you can choose Dicta for your military which reflect your military's culture, or define your culture as you define your military.

The New Military

For In Harm's Way - StarCluster 4, we have re-imagined the military from the ground up. AS Klaxon said, "with space travel, the Space Navy will eventually encompass everything else. The Navy == the military." So we divided that giganto-navy up by function into six internal services:

Deep Space Service - (Offense) These are the people and ships that go to other stars to project force as required

There are 5 branches of DSS: Fighters,Cruisers, Fleet, Scout, and Specwar
Fighters are the small, highly armed but replaceable ships dispatched in swarms to destroy opposition

Cruisers are those ships typically dispatched in small squadrons

Fleet are the big ships, held for a smashing blow

Scouts are small ships sent out to explore and reconnoiter

Specwar are the Special Warfare ships, sent out to do irregular missions

Expeditionary Force - (Offense) These are the people and craft used to take and hold the world surface in other systems

There are five branches of EF: Drop Troop, Vehicles, Infantry, Recon, and Intruder
Drop Troops are the highly armored shock troops dropped from orbit

Vehicles are grav vehicles of various sorts, including drones, suitable for any environment

Infantry are those who take and hold ground

Recon are the ones how find out what is where

Intruders are those who go beyond enemy lines and disrupt, destroy, and blow shit up

System Defense Service - (Defense) These are the people and ships that protect the home systems

There are five branches of SDS: Defense Pilot, Line, Stationer, Military Police, and Sapper
Defense Pilots are the small, highly armed but replaceable ships dispatched in swarms to destroy fighters

Line are the big defensive ships built to protect against system invasion and intrusion

Stationers are the stationary defenses built to protect resources and worlds

Military Police keep everyone in line

Sappers lay out minefields and other passive defenses

Ground Defense Service - Defense) These are the people who protect each world in the home systems

There are five branches of GDS: Aerospace, Surface Craft, Militia, Artillery, and Enviro Troops
Aerospace are the swift and agile aircraft that protect the skies

Surface Craft are the ground and/or water based craft that fight invaders and intruders

Militia are defensive troops for holding ground

Artillery are large rail guns and missiles used in point defense

Enviro Troops are those trained to work under the specific environmental conditions of the world

Logistics & Repair - These are the people and ships who support all the others with supplies and fixing things

There are five branches of L&R: Engineering, Repair, Allocation, Transport, and Medical
Engineering builds facilities and counter environmental problems

Repair fixes broken things

Allocation distributes items and vehicles where needed

Transport brings things and people from one place to another

Medical fixes broken people

Intelligence Service - These are the people who figure out what is going on in other places and disseminate propaganda

There are five branches of IS: Humint, Sigint, Analysis, Osint, and R&D
Humint are the field agents, working under cover

Sigint are those who intercept communications and encrypt and decrypt as needed

Analysis are those who collect, collate, and route information where needed

Osint are those who use available public resources to inform on culture and disseminate propaganda

R&D researches and develops weapons, vehicles, armor, ships, and anything used by the other services

It's Decided!

It's decided. I am doing In Harm's Way: StarCluster 4.

Music and Roleplaying Blend

Weirdest thing yet. I ended up writing a song in character about another character, both NPCs. It's like my two worlds have overlapped! :D Song

General News

I released my third album, Kaiju Love, this month. Here's a link to the youtube playlist if you are at all interested. I assume not! :D

I have 10 songs recorded intended for a fourth album, Plush Universe, but two of them are cover songs, and that's a hassle to get rights, so figure 8 songs finished out of about 12.

StarCluster 4 - In The Beginning is in beta, waiting for feedback from the beta testers. I examining my options for what I do next gaming wise. There is nothing burning a hole through my skull trying to get out, so I have several major possibilities:

1: I could do a new version of In Harm's Way: StarCluster using the StarCluster 4 mechanic.

2: I could work on converting the Blood Games trio of games (Blood Games II, OHMAS, and Outremer) using the new Psionics toolkit to create a magic system.

I have been running on Discord a mash-up of Volant and Sabre & World which has been going great. I may make that a published thing!

I also need to begin changing all my In Harm's Way games over to StarCluster 4. Most of them are SC 2E, with a couple being SC 1E! Yikes! That will be a huge task!

Anyways, for anyone still listening after my forgetting about this blog once again, thank you! You rock! :D

Beta Testers Needed!

I'm looking for Beta playtesters for the RPG StarCluster 4 - In The Beginning and the board game The Great Game. Beta playtesters run the games themselves, not playing with the designer, as in Alpha testing. The Great Game starts in 2020 and ends in 2120, playing through decade by decade as space is colonized. Players use a deck of normal playing cards for play. In The Beginning starts in 2120, using the end condition of The Great Game as its start condition, though there is also a random generator that can be used instead. The GM/playing group is intended to expand the end condition of The Great Game into a playable setting, using included rules. Please contact me by reply or PM.