It is the year 3000 AD, for those that still use the Gregorian Calendar.
For a time, there was an age of wonders, an era of uncharted new technological development which expanded our abilities to heights never before seen. Civilization spread across the stars, and it seemed there were no limits to our reach. However, some things were not meant to be wielded by the hands of mortals. With unchecked power came pride, ambition…and ruin.
The complex systems man had built were cannibalized to feed a war that lasted centuries, a war in which the stars themselves were rent. Humanity shrank away from the harsh light of science into the comforting darkness of an Age of Unreason.
Magic returned.
…
Welcome to Godstar! This is a science fantasy civilization Quest;
Science Fantasy, because the setting of Godstar is a futuristic space setting inspired somewhat loosely by works like 40k, Dune, and Star Wars. In the 2
nd Millennium, humanity had built a sprawling interstellar civilization. A great cataclysm, now little understood but generally believed to be the result of destructive wars between the spacefaring powers, destroyed this civilization and led to the current dark age known as the Age of Unreason. In the Age of Unreason, magical and religious worldviews dominate, but this is no mere superstition – magic is
real, and is integrated with daily life and with what technology remains.
Civilization Quest, because you will play the seed of a new civilization, a minor faction on an unimportant planet. As you grow, your society will grow more complex, requiring you to balance the needs of various elements of that society.
There are three fields of research which you will need to focus on to survive and grow in this strange world. Your focus on a given field produces "research points" which can be spent on actions.
Material Science: Technology, both machines and the system of inquiry that allows you to categorize and understand the world around you. The applications of higher material science should be obvious, but it cannot be your only focus.
Social Science: Institutions; the systems that allow for complex social interactions; culture, the humanities, as well as fields such as politics and military theory. The more advanced your social science, the more robust, healthy, and complex your societal interactions; low social science leaves you culturally stunted with a society that reacts poorly to challenges.
Exotic Science; The in-universe term for magic, in Godstar magic and religion are not separate but intertwined, and there are a wide variety of traditions and levels of magic. Innovations in exotic science allow for completely new solutions to problems while still complementing your other fields of research.
…
Paradisea is a backwater world, a "barbarian" or "uncivilized" world according to those who, naturally, name themselves as "civilized worlds". But Paradisea is very habitable, and is home to rich and complex native societies. Who are you?
Pick one.
[] The colonists. You are a group of religious-political dissidents fleeing persecution on your home world. You have come here, to an isolated world that has no contact with the wider galaxy, and while you bring with you a powerful technological package and a preexisting magical tradition, the need to build a new life from scratch means you lack many of the systems and institutions you need to maintain them.
Material Science: 4 (You have advanced mechanics, labor-saving devices, and powered vehicles; you also start with a functional FTL vessel)
Social Science: 1 (You have leaders and people with useful skills but no formal institutions or organizations survived your flight)
Exotic Science: 3 (You have basic prayers and spells together with some more advanced spiritual practices with useful applications)
[] The natives. Paradisea is home to a number of indigenous societies. One of them is a cultural complex of hunter-gatherers that inhabit a large swathe of the planet's largest continent. With a rich culture including a sophisticated magical-religious system and refined traditions of diplomacy and governance, they are well-suited to their environment, although they lack what we would consider to be advanced technology.
Material Science: 1 (Gunpowder, metalworking, agriculture, but no electricity or engines)
Social Science: 3 (You are a multi-tiered representative democracy with separate institutions for the military, religious, and diplomatic/political fields)
Exotic Science: 4 (You have a close relationship with nature and ancestor spirits and a suite of powerful spells)
[] The technobarbarians. The peoples of the arid interior of Paradisea's main continent used to be typical nomadic pastoralists, until they accidentally uncovered and tamed ancient weapons from before the Age of Unreason. Now possessed of a powerful technological package, other aspects of their society has been subsumed by a series of intercommunal conflicts fought with weapons they do not truly understand.
Material Science: 4 (You have powerful self-replicating war machines and advanced weapons compared to all your neighbors)
Social Science: 2 (Your traditions have largely been hollowed out by intense and destructive war)
Exotic Science: 2 (You can commune with your machine spirits but lack much of a magical tradition beyond that)