StoryIdeas

Warning: this page contains spoilers. This is basically a list of plot ideas, either for side missions or for incorporation into one of the main story lines. None of this is "canon" - if you're writing a mission and you have a cooler idea than what is written here, feel free to ignore all of this.

Advanced alien civilizations

Once the whole galaxy is "populated" with alien species, nearly all of them will be technologically superior to humans. For example, even if the player is flying the best ship you can get in human / Hai space, they will be woefully outgunned when they first enter Korath space.

The military "strength" of each civilization also depends on how populous they are and how focused they are on warfare. For example, the Wanderers are more technologically advanced than the Korath but have focused very little of their energy on military technology when you first encounter them. And, the Quarg are probably "stronger" than the Drak just because there are trillions of Quarg with a huge number of ships.

The existing aliens are grouped roughly into tiers, where a heavy warship of a civilization on one tier is a match for a light warship of the next tier up:

• Tier 0.8: Gegno
• Tier 1: Humans
• Tier 1.2: Hai
• Tier 1.5: Coalition, Remnant, Korath Exiles and Efreti
• Tier 1.9: Bunrodea
• Tier 2: Wanderers, Korath Automata, Ka'het
• Tier 2.5: Heliarch
• Tier 3: Quarg
• Tier 4: Drak
• Tier ???: Pug (they have ships of different tiers depending on who they are fighting)

It is important to note that tiers are not a concrete way to say that "every ship or outfit from X must be better than every ship or outfit from Y because X is of a greater tier than Y." Tiers are instead a general guideline as to the strength of various factions. Lower factions may still have ships or outfits that are "stronger" in some respects than higher factions, and factions of the same tiers should not be neck-and-neck in all ways.

For example, the Wanderers have cooling outfits weaker than humans, so in that regard humans are "stronger" than Wanderers, but this is mainly due to the fact that the Wanderers do not have as much of a need for cooling.

Some factions don't fit as neatly into the tier system as others, either. The Exiles' shipbuilding may have fallen to a lower tier than that of the Automata they built at their peak, but they still retain many of the tier 2 outfits from their prime. The Remnant have technology that spans a wider range of tiers than most other groups, owing largely to some of that technology being based on more advanced technology they have acquired or found, rather than something they developed independently. The Coalition are entirely demilitarized, so although the technology they use is of tier 1.5, their only ships are civilian vessels and they don't produce any weapons, leaving them with no combat power at all.

Stagnation and limits

Every race seems to have its own technological plateau at which their development has flattened out. Where exactly this plateau is seems dependent on a variety of factors, not the least of which include how much space they have in the galaxy, what sort of threats they face on a regular basis, and their general mindset. As a general rule, most of the alien races are significantly more advanced than humanity, but they are to some degree stagnated at their current level of technology.

In mathematical terms, the technological level of a society appears to mimic a bell curve: slow to start, then picks up a lot of speed for the first while, then slows to a crawl again as they reach a point where they can comfortably sustain themselves and manage their threat environment. In some cases, they have even regressed somewhat. This is where we find most of the alien factions at the start of the game, in a stagnant state. As such, while the tiers listed represent the various races' and factions' approximate technological level at the start of the game, they are not fixed at those levels and may change over the course of the stories.

No faction exemplifies this idea better than the Hai. The Hai are among the oldest factions in the game, having been a major player in the galaxy for much longer than the Korath or the Coalition and Heliarchs. Even so, they are hardly more powerful than humanity, and have been this way for about 90,000 years. This shows both the stagnation of the Hai and the idea that they may have reached their technological limit long ago. This in part may be a result of a lack of necessity for the Hai to advance, for they have been generally peaceful for that 90,000 years outside of a short interaction with the Korath that seems to have lasted only a century or two, but may also be a factor of the mindset, motivation, or priorities of the Hai as a species; perhaps they have been able to discover the hyperdrive, but have not had the interest, perspective, or determination to make whatever discoveries have allowed the advanced technology of other factions such as the Korath or Wanderers.

Generally speaking, stories about choices and the consequences thereof are more interesting than having individuals or species that simply are innately better. For instance, the Korath should not be considered more intelligent than the Hai because they achieved greater technological achievements; they simply chose to focus their efforts in other areas. For example, the Hai have abundant resources, a high quality of life, and no visible concerns about scarcity, violence, or crime. In this light, it might be argued that the Hai are more intelligent than the Korath.

Hai diplomacy

Once you discover Hai space, there should be some sort of missions that involve diplomacy with human space. One idea I had was human bankers or other corporations essentially hoping to financially exploit the Hai (who can come across as somewhat naive). Another idea was to have a Hai alien who wants to be an actor in human videos and thinks a real alien would be infinitely more popular than a human dressed up as an alien (but who maybe isn't clear on the fact that in most human films, the aliens are the enemy).

Other major Hai plots could revolve around the Unfettered Hai and their quest for power or freedom (which is hinted at if you bribe your way onto one of their planets and ask them why they are fighting).

Alien artifacts

The Unfettered Hai indicate that human space was once occupied by at least two different species: the dragon-like Sheragi and the Hai themselves. Are there any alien artifacts or buried cities left in human space, or did the Drak or the Quarg go and sweep all those planets clean in preparation for humanity to occupy that space, once the Hai retreated and the Sheragi died off? And for that matter, are the Sheragi actually dead? And, are the Quarg really as peaceful and benevolent as they claim?

Korath raids

Occasionally on the coreward edge of Syndicate space you get attacked by Korath ships. My plan for the Syndicate early story was that it would involve fighting various pirates, culminating with taking on the Korath themselves. There is a conversation with the Korath that happens if you land on the one planet in their territory, but that's really just a placeholder and could be completely rewritten.

Oathkeepers

The Navy "Oathkeepers" swear not to take part in fighting the Free Worlds because they are made up of captured Navy crew members who gave their parole to the Free Worlds. So, they will be focused on fighting the pirates / anarchists in the far north. But, that also creates tensions within the Navy between those working to defeat the Free Worlds and those who just want peace.

Pirates and anarchists

The pirates basically exist so that there will be enemy ships you can destroy and plunder without getting into trouble with any of the legitimate governments. But, I tried to make them a little bit more nuanced. Think of the pirates as similar to street gangs - clearly doing illegal and violent things, but maybe partly because of the environment they are in and the fact that they have no other real alternatives for how to live. That opens possibilities for a wider range of plots involving the pirates, including humanitarian missions, freeing slaves, etc.

Corporations

The Syndicate is the largest corporation, but there could be others as well, e.g. courier companies that give the player rush transport missions, or security companies that escort rich business-people from planet to planet, or mining companies that need to prospect new planets. Working for one of these small companies could offer certain perks or special equipment. There might also be rivalries between companies and some not-quite-legal corporate espionage or sabotage.

Pug invasion

Really, I just liked the idea of this odd star system that you can see but not travel to, turning out to be a major plot point. The other main story lines could also include some sort of confrontation with the Pug, although it need not necessarily follow the same path that it does in the Free Worlds plot. The Pug are a really convenient way to get the three main factions to reconcile with each other, though.

Rich vs. poor

Think of the Free Worlds as something akin to the Occupy movement, with all the idealism and justice focus and naivete and disorganization and issues with authority that that implies. (They aren't quite communists, but like Russia / Cuba / N. Korea they talk about equality while in fact a few charismatic leaders (the Council) make all the real decisions.) They're very focused on a perceived "war" between the rich and the poor, the 1% and the 99%.

Having this sort of populist / anti-wealthy sentiment gaining traction in the galactic south could create all sorts of tension elsewhere in the galaxy: with household servants in the Paradise sector, poor workers in Syndicate space, etc. The Syndicate, in particular, operates similarly to "company towns" in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Genetic engineering

The player encounters people who are "not quite human." The Alphas are the clearest example. Presumably there are small groups of Alphas all over the galaxy, and hunting them down (or, for a more nefarious government, seeking them out in order to use them as super-soldiers) could be the core of a series of missions.

In one of the Free Worlds branches you encounter an "empath" named Raven. That plot line gives few answers about her. Is her ability the result of intense training? Or is she genetically altered, in a different way than the Alphas? Or is there something supernatural involved in her ability? Maybe the Republic story arc could involve working with her and others from Navy Intelligence more closely and uncovering some of those answers (or raising even more questions).

Finally, if a Free Worlds player has good "karma" (tends to make compassionate and lawful decisions), they may team up with a Navy General Danforth and a Commander Aaron Nguyen from the Humanitarian Corps. Nguyen, although unarmed and apparently human, manages to subdue one of the escaping Alphas, and some time later you discover that he died the same way that Alpha died - a gunshot to the head. Although this is never stated in game, my idea was that Nguyen is a "Beta" - genetically engineered with the strength and intelligence of the Alpha, but predisposed toward serving and protecting others instead of dominating and controlling them. The Betas would be as long-lived as the Alphas and may have been a secret force quietly directing the course of history for the last five centuries.

Forbidden technology

The Quarg imply that there are various technologies that the Drak do not allow any other species to develop or use. What might these technologies be, and what might cause the player (or at least the faction they are working for) to run afoul of the Drak? Self-replicating nanotechnology? Planet destroying superweapons? Powerful and self-aware AI?

Lies and half-truths

It's not necessary for anyone to tell the truth to the player; in fact, it's more interesting if they don't. For example, the galaxy is supposedly ruled by a species called the Drak (who do not yet exist in-game). Every alien species you talk to says slightly different things about the Drak, and the two factions within the Hai also tell you different stories. Some missions could involve trying to learn more details about the Quarg or the Drak.

Fate and the player not being the center of the universe

While the player is an extraordinary individual within the universe, seemingly capable of doing things that no other human (or even sentient being within the universe) can do, it is important to note that the player is not the center of this universe. All things do not rotate around the player. Instead, the player is simply an actor on the stage of this universe; an important one, but not the sole mover of all things. This is to say that there are things outside of the player's control, and there are certain events that will happen no matter the player's decisions.

For example, take the currently unwritten Navy and Syndicate campaigns. While the player's decisions are important enough to create large changes in the world, events such as the creation of the Oathkeepers, the attack on Poisonwood by the Alphas, the invasion of the Pug in order to stop the civil war, the deals that the Syndicate made with the Alphas, the Syndicate being the (true) instigators of the war, and many other things should remain constant among all the main plot campaigns. The circumstances of some of these events may change as a result of the player's actions, but they still occur. Just because the player joins the Syndicate (or some other faction) does not suddenly cause the universe to change such that the Syndicate weren't the ones who started the war.

The reason behind this is both to allow continuity between various parallel campaigns and ease of creating new campaigns that rely on the events of previous ones. For example, the Wanderer campaign currently requires that the Oathkeepers were created and the Alphas attacked Poisonwood during the civil war. Unless we want to deal with the headache of rewriting parts of the Wanderer campaign to branch heavily based off of the main campaign choice (which we don't), we need to follow this idea of fate: some things always occur no matter what. (Realize also that if we ignored this, then new campaigns would become exponentially larger in their branching to account for past events as the player gets deeper into the game.)