Universe

Default Assumptions

Much of this world is left brief or vague to help you shape your own version of it. Below are some baselines that guided our vision; use, expand, or ignore them as you see fit.

SPACE KILLS Debris, radiation, gravity, vacuum; any of it can kill a crew. Ships crawl slowly across the black. Wherever you are, the odds of something going wrong are absolute.

WEIGHT IS SYNTHETIC Spin or ship thrust gives pull, but kill the power and everything starts to drift. Anything not buckled down becomes a bullet, including corpses.

TRAVELING IS SLOW OR RISKY Sublight burns devour fuel, so most ships drift on Cruise, taking weeks to go from A to B. As for FTL travel, you either need to get your hands on an expensive drive powered by fluid mined from nightmares, or risk passage through the UNSF-controlled Bell Gates.

NECESSITIES ARE SCARCE Air tastes like rust and mold. Filters choke, water turns sour, and food comes in blocks grown from algae or fungi. Every breath has a price, and when systems fail, you have hours, not days.

HUMANITY IS NOW A WIDE SPECTRUM The line between flesh and machine is gone. Limbs, organs, and minds are replaced piece by piece. No one asks who’s what; everyone just is.

CORPORATIONS ARE ETERNAL Megacorps own the stations, ships, and lives within them. Debt is permanent by design. Workers sign contracts because there’s no other way to live.

PLACES HAVE A PURPOSE Every planet, moon, station, and outpost exists to serve a function: mine, refine, research, tax, etc. They’re built for profit, not people.

THE UNKNOWN WAITS Derelicts drift with wiped logs. Ghost signals beckon from nowhere. Parasites learn and grow. The farther you drift into the void, the less sense it makes.

TECHNOLOGY FAILS Everything is patched, welded, or dying. Medkits and augments keep bodies moving until they don’t.

IT ALWAYS ENDS People die cheap. Bodies are stripped for biomass or cast out. Contracts budget for casualties, so luck and prep decide who’ll still be breathing the next day.