Per Ardua Ad Astra
Basic information about the game.
Who is who in the Known Worlds.
A little about the game universe.
Handouts, rules and amendments unique to the campaign
Non-Player and Player characters of note.
Out of Character resources
Technology
In the days of the Second Republic, technology had reached quite amazing heights. Terraforming was not uncommon, medical technology verged on the miraculous and even the poorest citizen could expect a standard of living beyond the dreams of all but the richest or most priveledged in the Imperial era.Whilst it is true to say that some of the highest achievements of that technology were based on alien designs (The jumpgates have forever been the unique creation of the Ur and much of human field-tech was 'borrowed' from the Vau), the Second Republic was still pushing the frontiers of knowledge right up until the point at which the Republic collapsed.
Technology was, during the Republic, almost a religion - Genetic engineering and cybernetic enhancement became fashionable in certain circles.
The Church teaches that it was this love of technology that led to a spiritual decline and that in turn this led to the fall of the Republic. Church doctrine forbids the wanton pursuit of such dangerous knowledge and the possession of technology is deemed dangerous to the soul of the people. Only the Church, Nobles and Guilds may possess the higher technologies and even then (so it is taught) this is only so that they might protect and serve the innocent souls of their lower-tech vassals.
Everyday Technology
The vast majority of the population live at a level of technology that falls somewhere between the medieval and Victorian eras in 'real world' terms.The rural peasantry tend to live in hovels, using animal powered agricultural machinery if they have it at all. For them, a 'magic lantern' show by a visiting Guildsman is the height of novelty and it is unusual to find a peasant who can do more than scrawl his own name.
The urban population fare slightly better. The average city in the Known Worlds resembles Victorian London, a nod in the direction of sanitation, some electricity or gaslight and a higher level of literacy.
Only the nobility, clergy or guilds are likely to have anything approaching what we would consider a modern level of technology and even then, it is dependent on their wealth and influence. There are more than a few nobles who can boast little more than a flush-toilet, an electric light and central heating.
Weapons and Armour
The nobility do not approve of the peasantry being armed outside of their service as part of a levy in time of war. Hunting weapons are about the most advanced weapons that a peasant can expect to possess and even then, it's more likely that it is a longbow or a musket rather than a laser-rifle.Hand weapons range from old fashioned black powder pistols, through revolvers to automatic pistols to lasers and fusion blasters. All but the most primitive of these are the exclusive product of one or more of the weaponsmith Guilds.
One of the items that marks out a well-to-do noble is the 'Energy Shield', a device that dissipates the energy of incoming objects or weapons fire, only allowing through objects that are below a certain threshold.
Body armour is also equally varied. Some Second Republic 'synth silk' is still available, a material with the stopping power of lower tech fabrics such as kevlar but with the weight of silk. Heavy armour is available, although the powered suits of Ceramasteel favoured by the elite of the Brother Battle order are worth a small fortune and are almost impossible to obtain on the open market.
Transport
Outside of Guild holdings and the richer noble estates, animal powered transport is the predominant method of getting around on land. Many watercraft still rely on sails rather than untrustworthy technological systems and aircraft are rare in the extreme. It is sometimes quicker to travel from orbit around one world through a Jump-gate and into orbit around another world than it is to travel from the star-port to an outlying estate.Starships are the most amongst the most precious of commodities. Many of these ships date back to the Second Republic and are lovingly maintained by their Guild trained crews. They possess reactionless drives to propel them through space, artificial gravity and inertial dampeners to maintain a comfortable environment as they accelerate but they cannot travel faster than light. To travel between the stars requires an Ur Jump-gate. A ship wishing to travel from one system to another must approach the gate and transmit a stream of digital information to the gate, which will open a connection to the destination system. These data-streams are specific to the destination and point of origin and jealously guarded by the Guilds. The data is encoded on special 'keys' and most star pilots do not allow these 'keys' off their person.
Due to their extreme value, it is rare for ship to ship combat to be fought to the point at which one ship is wrecked, usually an attempt is made to board and capture a damaged vessel.