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[John Archer]

The discovery of tunneling abilities, the ability of a person to generate wormholes and manipulate several forms of energy, quickly led to a dramatic change in society.  Though the exact cause of these abilities was unknown it was quickly discovered how to interface these people with technology, amplifying their capabilities.  Before long the suspicions of many scientists were confirmed; these people held the key to interstellar travel.

Humanity ventured out into the universe, only to find they were one of many species to develop faster than light travel based on these same principles.  A new era began as an organization, simply named the Alliance to ensure simplicity in translation, unified the galaxy with the promise of continued peace without the fear that one faction might secretly be building weapons of mass destruction.  For a time it appeared to accomplish this goal remarkably well.

Eventually, however, this government began to grow increasingly corrupt.  Though it seemed to represent every member species many of them accused it of favoring one over another, accusations which were true in too many cases.  In an effort to help unify the members the Alliance began focusing on colonies designed to support several species rather than just one.

In particular, a colony located far from the major centers of the galaxy was established as a sort of experiment.  The Alliance wanted to determine if it was possible to create a planet capable of sustaining all known forms of sapient life, thereby providing a place where they could all truly meet.  This colony was a closely guarded secret; if the project failed it could worsen interstellar relationships by making the voids between species seem even larger.

However, within two decades of forming the colony all contact with the rest of the galaxy was severed, leaving this world stranded.  It had become self sustaining by that time, though it did not possess the industrial capacity to build its own spacecraft.  All other attempts to communicate with anyone else in the galaxy failed.

Several decades later there has still been no contact with anyone, as if the rest of the galaxy suddenly disappeared.  However, the experiment succeeded beyond the designers' wildest dreams; within that time the lone colony was able to develop its own space program, launching faster-than-light vessels the instant it was able to.  However, none of them ever reported back.  A new vessel was launched, this time prepared for anything they could think of.  The Antares is a scientific and military cruiser built to determine why there has been no contact with the rest of the galaxy.  No one knows what to expect on this mission... but it can't be good.

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Dark Sky is a linear RPG based on a fairly large team of characters.  We will be the crew of the Antares and our mission is to figure out what the hell is going on out there.  The structure is similar to that of Cold Warriors but with less military emphasis and a much larger ship; more character types, particularly scientists and diplomats, will be available, though the troopers will be around too.

Technology is from the distant future.  If it is practical and not prohibited by the laws of physics it can probably be done here.  In addition a few people have tunneling abilities, allowing them to manipulate various forms of energy and use a mini wormhole to send it somewhere else.  Technology exists which can amplify this... a lot.  Weapons consists of guns and swords; the swords find renewed use on the battlefield due to the fact that most ranged weapons are somewhat ineffective against kinetic barriers.

There will be adventures on strange alien worlds and combat at just about every level of a warzone from the surface of the nearest planet to high orbit and beyond.  Expect lots of mayhem and gratuitous explosions.

I'm still working on the design of the Antares.  It's close but not ready yet.  Other than that I have the plot and mechanics pretty well figured out.  I should have this RPG ready to host in time for the next round of voting so feel free to state your opinions about it in the mean time.

[illuminaughti]

My secret order approves.

[John Archer]

UPDATE:  The RPG is ready to host, I'll just go without ship schematics for now.

[John Archer]

UPDATE again:  I'll be using this story to write a novel instead of having it as a text RPG here.  If there is enough demand for it I will try hosting something similar here.