Zero Space started as a pretty simple hack of Slipstream, which is anchored very strongly in ā1930s serial sci-fi adventureā genre. Which it does incredibly well. Arguably too well at times, in fact (which is one of the reasons I wanted to make changes to begin with).
As Iāve gone on making changes and developing Zero Space into its own thing, Iāve gotten further and further away from that adherence to homage. At the beginning it was just one small ānon-era appropriateā change I wanted to make or add, but at this point Zero Space is perhaps radically anachronistic. I donāt know if thereās a word for āincoherent but in a good way, I think?ā I think the tipping point was when I added a group of Star Trek-level technology aliens to the setting.
Anyway this is just on my mind today because I recently have a very strong image in my head of a Zero Space rave.
Which is just wild when last week I was wondering if Zero Space would put music on vinyl or if theyād still be using like wax cylinders or something.
If thereās any hope of ever organizing any of this I should probably start at the beginning.
Zero Space is a pocket universe, an isolated ābubbleā of reality significantly smaller than the real universe and operating under different physical laws. It connects, occasionally, to other universes through āvortexesā, essentially whirlpools of energy in space that form without warning and draw in unwary travellers. The most powerful vortexes tear planets apart, and their remains make up the asteroid fields, gas clouds, and fragmentary āworldsā of Zero Space.
The āspaceā of Zero Space is not vacuum, itās just air that is too thin and low in oxygen to breathe safely for any length of time. So sound travels in space, ships can shed heat by methods other than radiating, it is very, very windy, and your ability to survive without a suit is limited mostly by how long you can hold your breath.
The āworldsā of Zero Space are called fragments. Fragments usually have breathable atmospheres and Earth-normal gravity of 1G, but none are larger than Earthās moon, and most are much smaller. Fragments typically only have one or a few biomes. So you get your classic Star Wars style ocean world, desert world, jungle world, etc. Larger fragments are often (but not always) globe-shaped, with an outer surface and gravity pulling towards the center of the body. Other fragments resemble a āflying islandā design, with a distinct ātopā and ābottomā. Others have even stranger forms, such as the "city carved out of a moonā look of Mechropolis.
Fragments do not usually rotate around a central axis (although a few do) and they do not orbit anything. They hold relatively still positions in space, suspended by unknown forces.
At the center of Zero Space is the Crunch, a massive object much larger than any fragment, or even the full-scale planets of a proper universe. The surface of the Crunch is made of an impenetrable, glassy black material, and covered in deep crevices that shine brightly from some internal light source. While the surface can be walked on safely, with the same 1G of any fragment, anything that slips into a crevice is gone, seized by unbearable gravitic forces and pulled inside, never to be seen again.
There are no stars in Zero Space, but the Crunch puts off constant streams of strange radiation and exotic particles, which interact with gases in the air of space to produce plenty of light. The skies in Zero Space are a riot of colourful clouds and strange energies, with a sort of default ābackgroundā glow of twilight pink.
The precise size of the Zero Space pocket universe is unknown. The pocket of āopenā space that people live in is entirely surrounded by a cloud of thick, corrosive dust. The Dust Cloud is difficult to navigate to begin with, like travelling through a thick fog that swallows up the light, drastically increasing the odds of collision with the asteroids and debris that clutter the cloud. The further one travels into the Dust Cloud, the thicker it gets, until a shipās engines have to struggle just to make progress. All the while becoming more toxic and corrosive, eating away at the hull and threatening vital systems.
The basic form (and genre) of Zero Space is greatly inspired by the Savage Worlds game book Slipstream, which is set in a pocket universe that can be accessed by flying into a black hole. Slipstream is unapologetically pulp, and does a great job of replicating the genre of 1930s and 40s serial movies. Itās a lot of fun, but not exactly what I was looking for. What started as a few simple modifications for my own use quickly became A Whole Thing. The pocket universe, fragments, and the air in space are all lifted pretty directly from Slipstream (as well as from the same sources Slipstream is using for inspiration, of course). Other things come from other places, of course. With what Iām working with now I can easily trace lines of Star Wars, Blakeās 7, Firefly, a little touch of Lovecraft, this one video game I was playing a couple months back, and many others. I am, without question, a shameless hack who has never had an original idea in his life. I like to think I make it work alright, though.
Beyond the direct lifts, however, Slipstream for some reason opened up a sort of permission to me. Why not air in space? Why not gravity that doesnāt make sense? Why not a planet thatās just a giant tree? Who cares about real science? Shit that other people donāt seem to struggle with when doing games and etc but I always have, inexplicably solved for me by setting the whole thing in a wacky pocket universe. Strangely liberating.
The next step for me after that was āWhy stick to the strict ā30s gimmick that Slipstream has?ā opening up even more possibilities. But Iāll save that for a different post.
edit: The map was made using Campaign Cartographer. It is the second edit of the fifth version of the Zero Space map so far, and likely far from the last.
we are absolutely stoked to be playing this show on 1/6/23 at the HIGH WATER MARK with BRIDAL VEIL and CREATURE PARTY, if youāre in PDX or surrounding areas, come make this your first show of the year!
The next big editing job for my Zero Space setting is going to have to be the Aviar, a species of winged-humanoids based partially on the classic Flash Goron and partially on the DC comics Thanagarians. I originally included them almost as a āwell you have to have thisā, though also because Iāve been trying to include āflying charactersā as more of a thing in my hacks, as itās so often overlooked and, in general, badly maligned in the TTRPG space. And partially because I wanted a world that was just a big effinā tree.
Regardless, not a LOT of thought went into them, originally. Just a largely genericĀ āgood guy raceā of bird men. But with the Felorn redesigned to be more āhunterā than āwarriorā, Iām left with a gap to fill and I think the Aviar would work well for it. Iām going to centralize their society a bit more and rebuild them as more of a martial power with a warrior culture and tradition, filling them in as the āmajor powerā of Zero Space that used to be occupied by the Felorn.
Iāve also decided the Aviar had an empire of their own before the coming of the Imperium. As a military power with limited resources of their own, they practiced a limited expansionism and colonialism, building a Dominion encompassing maybe a dozen other worlds, including Aristos and Conea. This will help better establish the reasons behind the post-Imperium tensions between the major powers as well, as these worlds have to struggle with their own historical enmities and disagreements that long pre-date the whole āsuffering together under an authoritarian dictatorshipā situation of the past hundred years. While the Lopin of Conea are on relatively good terms with their previous overlords, the people of Aristos harbour a much deeper resentment, not helped by the fact that they actually prospered rather well under the Imperium. Serenga is pretty close (geographically) to Aviar as well, and the idea that the cat people and the bird people donāt get along well amuses me.
New Terra is within relatively close proximity to Aviar too, which might place it inside space they traditionally consider their own territory, which is potentially interesting. Earthlings and the Imperator arrived in Zero Space at around the same time, and the establishment of New Terra so close to Aviar space was probably only possible because they were already distracted by the bigger threat.
As a fun note, the Aviar were originally called the Aerions, until I found out what that sounds like when you say it out loud.
My characters are currently exploring Conea, specifically a small village named Tranquil Heart. When I run TTRPG campaigns I sort of structure them like a TV show, thatās just the way my mind best concieves of them. So I have a rough outline of characters, places, and major events that will (likely) occur in an āepisodeā and I more-or-less make it up as I go from there. My GMing style is sort of āImprov with a mapā as opposed to following a detailed script or making it up out of whole cloth in real time.
Loveless Heart is our second episode. So far weāve just done a very simple character introduction, set the situation for the campaign (The characters work for a gangster who has sent them to retrieve his nephew - who is also a PC - and bring him home, but it seems an unknown someone else is also interested in getting their hands on the young man) and etc. Loveless Heart has given the players a lot more room to develop and explore their characters from a social angle. Itās designed as a slow burn at first, exploring this little Lopin village, meeting NPCs, and just sort of hanging out while their ship is refueled by an exceptionally slow and casual ground crew of Lopin robots.
So far they have met the laid-back mechanic Adard, a flop-eared rabbit in charge of the Tranquil Heart āspaceportā, which is basically just a large meadow where ships can land. After an absurdly long walk into the town proper, theyāve spent some time exploring the Tranquil Heart market, and have now rambled over to the Lopin temple.
One of the player characters, Adāam, is a Doppel, a shape-shifter from a truly hellish world called Obscuros. Doppels are generally completely ignorant of the larger universe of Zero Space, their existence on Obscuros defined almost entirely by a struggle for survival with little in the way of culture and effectively no contact with the outside. Adāamās player has made the rather brilliant choice to play him as, essentially, a tourist, endlessly and cheerfully fascinated with the study and exploration of the huge new world he has found himself in.
Adāam seems to have taken an immediate fascination in the Lopin Cult, the Path of Inner Light, and in the friendly, idyllic Lopin people. Heās already made friends with a cheese-maker named Edelf who was able to answer some of his questions about Lopin agriculture (though not, perhaps, to his total satisfaction)
While at the market the players also met an Aviar (bird-man) named Sakeek, a hunter who is distinguished as the only merchant at the Tranquil Heart market selling meat. As a general rule Lopins are vegetarian, in keeping with their religious principles. Sakeek mostly sells to his fellow visitors to Tranquil Heart, taking advantage of being the sole provider of hot dogs on the entire planet, but he has also intimated that he does good business with the locals āafter darkā, when their neighbours canāt see them buying something a little more savoury than a carrot. He is what passes for the criminal element on Conea, a gray market meat dealer.
The players have learned a little about how Conea and the Lopin suffered under the Imperium, most notably from a Temple Guardian named Pendak. Guardians represent a sect of the Lopin Cult dedicated to physical discipline, honing their physical bodies as a path towards metaphysical enlightenment. They are essentially martial artists, and are also charged with defending the sacred spaces of Lopin society from those who would harm them, such as the Imperator. Although not the greatest warriors of Zero Space, they were once a powerful and respected faction that served proudly in the Aviar Dominion, renowned for their discipline and merciful compassion. These days their numbers are drastically diminished, almost to the point of being a joke. Unarmed semi-pacifists who refuse to kill except when absolutely necessary were no match for heavily armed Varg shocktroopers.
As much as Iām rambling, not much has actually happened so far. Loveless Heart is designed as a slow burn at first, giving the players time to explore and meet the various NPCs that inhabit Tranquil Heart. Iāve been enjoying it greatly, mostly because it gives them the breathing room to play and get to know their characters, without some terrible threat immediately bearing down on them. Iām particularly pleased with Adāam and his player, who is taking a different route with this game than he usually does with his characters. The semi-hostile dynamic between Malpadyya (the Freyjan leader of the retrieval team) and Eskar (the Vypar kidnapping victim of the retrieval team) continues to develop nicely, too. This group of characters has good chemistry, which hasnāt always been the case in previous games.
Loveless Heart picks up pace and danger later on, but for now Iām enjoying them just exploring Conea and meeting the Lopin. When they explore, I get to explore as well, as Iām forced to answer questions or develop angles I hadnāt originally thought of when throwing this stuff together. I understand the Lopin far more than I did when I first designed them a few months ago, and feel a deepening affection for the fuzzy little cultists. But I suspect that will happen no matter where we go in Zero Space, as both my players and *I myself* get to meet these various peoples for what is really the first time, even for me, despite the fact that I invented them.
These posts are more rambles about my inner thought processes than anything else, and Iām sorry if they arenāt entertaining or useful to anyone who might read this. I would love to tell you whatās going to happen next (Iām actually quite excited about where Loveless Heart is going) but that would be spoilers for my players.
Conea is a blue-sky world (which means it experiences night and day, which not all fragments in Zero Space do) locked into a perpetual pleasant springtime. Itās a borderline paradise, as a matter of fact. Huge meadows of spring flowers, light warm rains, and a near-complete absence of dangerous wildlife.
The inhabitants are anthropomorphic rabbit people called Lopins. Lopins are inherently psychic (Lopin player characters have a precognitive ādanger senseā ability, even if they never choose to further develop their psychic powers) and highly spiritual, followers of a āLopin Cultā (technically the Path of the Inner Light) that practices meditation and asceticism in pursuit of a sort of transcendental inner peace.
Lopin are served by a veritable army of ancient robots that do the majority of manual labour on Conea, freeing them up to focus more on their personal spiritual journeys. Most Lopin are not āpriestsā, many do things like run their own businesses, particularly in arts and crafts, and in processing, re-purposing, or re-distributing the resources brought to them by the machines. The machines provide milk (from where, no one can say!) but individual Lopins turn it into cheese. The result is a world that benefits from the products of industrialization while maintaining an idyllic, almost ācottage-coreā lifestyle, free of material need and with no one needing to āget a jobā unless they feel like it. And most of the jobs that do exist are just āsupervisingā machines that do all the work. There *are* Lopin farmers, but that mostly means telling the machines which crops to plant, tend, and harvest and then sitting on your porch watching them do it.
One of my players has already described the Lopin as āEloiā which is a pretty good sign that Iāve succeeded.
Going to start posting my Zero Space crap here probably. Increasingly "done with" twitter and I don't know if Mastodon is the right place for it (they seem very serious there and also long threads will maybe flood people's mentions and irritate my friends who don't care about ZP? I dunno.)
I donāt entirely understand what Tumbler even is. I guess like a blog more than a messageboard? My wife just had to show me how to access the ālegacy editorā because the other one I kept typing all this into the Title field for some reason.
Anyway this seems like the best option for posting my crap into the void to get the *feeling* that Iām sharing it, if only hypothetically, without actively irritating anyone.
