<p class="MsoNormal">I haven’t played SF with my kids for over a year now. I am
kicking around ideas for a new campaign this winter. I want to get away from
the frontier and have the kids explore various planets with populations at
assorted levels of advancement (stone age, iron age, steam punk, dawn of the
nuclear age, etc.). <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 1.3">Right now the thought is that a contact of a contact is a
scholar doing very boring, in-depth research on a previous (pre-frontier) civilization
when he discovers a mystery about some technological artifact that they had acquired.
It turns out that the device was a harbinger about a powerful enemy in the
galaxy. This civilization began assembling colony fleets to help insure their
survival if they should fail to defeat the enemy. This dead civilization’s
level of tech was somewhere between our modern tech and the tech of the
frontier. The colony fleets each selected a distant star system that they hoped
(to the best of their knowledge) contained a habitable world. During the time
of preparation, they could not decipher the technological artifact. Each colony
received the data collected and a physical piece of the artifact. Cliché, I
know. It could be the background story for the birth of the frontier.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 1.3">There were X colony fleets launched. The contact has determined
X+Y potential colony planet locations. The team is employed to find them. That
alone could be a worthwhile mission. But I’d rather the players not arrive and
say “take us to your leader”. I’d prefer a more “prime directive” approach. Therefore,
I was thinking that the pieces of artifacts could be the goal. Or rather, the
data regarding the artifacts.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 1.3">So what is the artifact? Possibilities include; a probe, a satellite,
a weapon, a repository of information, a secret to defeating the powerful enemy
… </span><span style="line-height: 1.3"> </span><span style="line-height: 1.3"> </span><span style="line-height: 1.3">All the above?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Please help me resolve the following questions:</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in; line-height: 1.3">1.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in; line-height: normal"><font size="1" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in; line-height: 1.3">What is the artifact? </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in; line-height: 1.3">2. </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in; line-height: 1.3">Why is it worth the search? </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in; line-height: 1.3">3. </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in; line-height: 1.3">How did the ancient civilization attain it? </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in; line-height: 1.3">4. W</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in; line-height: 1.3">hy did the mysterious alien enemy destroy the
civilization?</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-indent: -0.25in"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I’m struggling against the non-originality of the story
line, but I’m sure my kids will not care if the community is unable to help me
think outside of the box. But in the spirit of cliché; please, you are my last
best hope! <o:p></o:p></p>
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