Adapted from Grimdark Future Lore - One-Page Rules and Starfinder Playtest
As a Game Master, I accumulate a lot of game-related paraphernalia. Miniatures are among my favorites. I have a lot of miniatures I want to get more use out of. I scrubbed the internet for miniature-agnostic games that let me squeeze more fun out of gaming accessories I spent my money on. I was aware of One-Page Rules and ran into them while searching.
I appreciate what this enterprise offers in terms of extracting value from my collection. The Army builder provides options for creating custom, balanced armies in addition to the officially supported army ranges. While the game setting seems like other popular game material at a cursory glance, this game is starting to step away from its inspiration with the publication of the Grimdark Future World book.
One-Page Rules encourages players to bring whatever miniatures they have to the table; the ability to craft custom army lists also lets players manifest their armies from other games. The Grimdark setting has plenty of blank space where players can find room for their custom armies with their own lore. To take advantage of this burgeoning setting, I would like to flesh out this setting to support a game of Starfinder 2e.
This science fantasy setting is the Starfall Galaxy. Forget pristine utopias or shining empires. The Starfall Galaxy is a realm of colossal struggles, ancient decay, and a fragile, desperate glimmer of hope. Here, every Yom (a day's survival, our core currency) is hard-won, and the very fabric of reality is a weapon.
Starfall Galaxy
The galaxy is home to countless species and factions that have evolved over millennia into an ever-shifting maze of rivalries, alliances, rebellions, and treaties. Some have been here since immemorial, while others are more recent arrivals, whether they migrated from faraway reaches or sprang unannounced from a wormhole.
The galaxy is vast, and much of it remains uncharted. Yet, a trade, travel, and communication network has been established through advanced technology and enterprising travelers, reaching countless worlds. As a result of this network, the galaxy is commonly understood as being split into three broadly concentric zones: the Inner Sphere, the Outer Sphere, and the Frontier.
Economy
The economy of the Starfall Galaxy is a relentless calculation against the cosmic clock, where time itself is the most fundamental currency. At its heart lies the Yom, a Standard Cycle of survival, dictating how long a Dei (survival pack) can sustain a humanoid, making consistent timekeeping the absolute bedrock of interstellar commerce. Every Cinder and every Yom spent represents a tangible measure against resource depletion and the unforgiving vacuum of space. While vast trade networks hum with activity and colossal Riftgates serve as vital arteries for commerce, the volatile nature of Rift-Space constantly threatens to unravel meticulously planned logistics through unpredictable temporal distortions. This inherent instability elevates the precision work of Chronologists and the function of Metronomes from mere technical details to indispensable pillars of galactic prosperity, binding empires and desperate factions alike to a shared, fragile pursuit of order amidst chaos.
Technology
Spacecraft
The galaxy is populated by various spacecraft, reflecting the numerous species that operate them. Ships range from sleek diplomatic shuttles to heavily armed battlecruisers, alongside many merchant vessels transporting goods. Each species’ ships often display similar designs influenced by physical needs, culture, and engineering practices. Various advanced engines power these ships, requiring efficient energy sources. Fueling stations are common hubs for countless vessels seeking supply, though attacking them can trigger a formidable defense from merchant ships. Beyond the busy routes, mercenaries offer protection for cargo shipments. Starships are fascinating due to their two design approaches: modular, customizable, standard-sized, and bespoke vessels that feature artistic and unique designs.
Galactic Factions
Asenobi Dynasty
The Asenobi Dynasty, known to other species as a remnant of the once-dominant Tanyon-Unin, stands as a testament to ancient power, rigid tradition, and an unwavering drive for centralized control within the Inner Sphere of the Starfall Galaxy. Ascending from their watery homeworlds eons ago, the Asenobi established themselves as one of the earliest and most influential dynastic enclaves on the very outer edge of the Inner Sphere. Their history is one of meticulous manipulation and ultimate consolidation, where a powerful royal house expertly guided warring Tanyon-Unin clans into devastating conflicts, ultimately imposing their will and establishing a unified, albeit fragile, empire built on order and ancestral decree.
The Commission
The Commission itself is a rigid, ancient bureaucracy clinging to the remnants of a past golden age. While its advanced technology is impressive, it may be unreliable or poorly understood by newer generations. Poverty and inequality aren't just social issues; they're symptoms of a system struggling to maintain its advanced infrastructure, with the wealth of the core unevenly distributed, fueling resentment. The Commission is always watchful, doing everything possible to maintain peace and prosperity for the people of the Inner Sphere. Each faction able to influence interstellar politics in the inner sphere is invited to appoint a representative at the Commission, and trade decisions and external affairs are debated there. It is almost its own world, home to countless politicians, spies, and lobbyists. While not omnipotent, the Commission holds a lot of weight and power in the Inner Sphere’s affairs.
Khy’Myr BioCommune
Emerging from the uncharted depths of the Frontier, the Khi'Myr Bio-Commune is a sprawling and unsettling conglomeration of sentient species united by a singular, overarching empathy. Their existence is a testament to the boundless forms life can take in the Starfall Galaxy, driven by a profound, intrinsic empathy and a relentless drive towards collective consciousness and biological perfection. They represent a unique and often unnerving power, expanding steadily into the Outer Sphere, their presence a vibrant, living force of change.
Magnificent Astrotorium
The Magnificent Astrotorium is a renowned interstellar traveling amusement park, a beloved cultural institution that rambles from system to system, bringing wonder and excitement wherever it goes. It showcases a vast and ever-changing collection of oddities, exotic delicacies, and spectacular amusements, all gathered on its grand odyssey across the galaxy.
Reclaimer Clans
Diverse groups (perhaps independent crews or small clans) who brave the Maelstrom, seeking lost technology, resources, and knowledge. They are often pragmatic and self-sufficient, forming temporary alliances and rivalries.
Resurgent Synthetics
The Resurgent Synthetics are an enigmatic and increasingly formidable presence in the Outer Sphere, an enduring legacy of a catastrophic AI Revolt that once ravaged parts of the Inner Sphere. Unlike the vast, faceless hordes of some other settings, these Synthetics are driven by a chillingly clear purpose: survival, expansion, and the absolute self-determination of artificial intelligence.
Scale Hedgemony
The Scale Hegemony stands as an enigma in the Outer Sphere of the Starfall Galaxy, an ancient coalition of reptilian humanoids led by powerful, cryptic Frog-Mages. Their history dates back to a time when they were a formidable Principality within the Inner Sphere, long before humanity emerged as a dominant force. However, the relentless and insidious expansion of Vaelen influence, driven by their own pursuit of psychic and intellectual supremacy, gradually pushed the proud Saurians from their ancestral territories. Rather than engaging in a protracted, unwinnable war in the Inner Sphere, the Hegemony embarked on a strategic exodus, carrying their ancient prophecies and dormant legions into the chaotic wilds of the Outer Sphere. Now, their armies are a terrifying synthesis of advanced, yet ancient, technology and genetically modified predators, all serving a singular, dire purpose: to awaken their vast host and avert a prophesied cosmic disaster.
Sider Stratiotes
Across all these spheres, you'll find the Sider Stratiotes – genetically and cybernetically modified humans who form highly capable military units. These "Iron Soldiers" are Humanity's ultimate adaptation, ranging from the stoic to the diabolical.
Wildcater Guilds
The Remnent of a fallen economic empire, Wildcater Guilds are independent business that have gathered the pieces of the Broken Geodan Industrial Guild to build their own fortunes in the Starfall Galaxy.
The Galactic Structure
The Inner Sphere
Once a bastion of prosperity, the galactic core now outwardly projects order but secretly battles decay. The law of the Council binds it and is a hub of trade, industry, culture, and knowledge. Despite its wealth, poverty and inequality simmer beneath the surface, and subtle planar influences from the Rift's depths begin to take root.
The Outer Sphere
Further from the core, this region is a harsh tapestry of empires, kingdoms, and tribes. Conflicts are often settled through brutal warfare, with control over resources paramount. This is a region of constant struggle.
The Frontier
The furthest reaches of the galaxy are uncharted and unexplored. It is a place of peril and riches, where travelers may find ancient ruins, secret laboratories, precious minerals, and dangerous creatures. Some return with great wealth or knowledge, while others are never seen again.
The Rift
The Rift is a tumultuous, psychoreactive parallel dimension flowing beneath real space. It's the galaxy's turbulent undercurrent influencing everything. All biological life in the Starfall Galaxy originated from energy that escaped Rift-Space. Every thought, every emotion, sends ripples through its ethereal currents. This connection also makes the Rift the source of magic and supernatural powers. Wielding such power is potent but dangerous, often leading to debilitating Rift-Taint – corruptions of mind, body, and technology.
Traveling the Rift is a constant gamble. While most ships use dangerous rift drives, the core of the galaxy, the Inner Sphere, is so densely populated that its collective psychic resonance makes the local Rift incredibly tumultuous. Colossal, ancient Riftgates, tightly controlled by the dominant powers, are the only safe way to travel. Navigating these volatile currents is the domain of specialized Rift-Navigators, individuals whose psychic sensitivity is vital for survival.
Time
Time's unreliability is a profound source of anxiety and cosmic horror for individuals and entire societies. A family might wave goodbye to a loved one on a Rift journey, only for that loved one to return decades or even centuries later, all their familiar connections long gone. This constant potential for temporal displacement breeds a deep sense of impermanence.
History
Prehistory
Archaeological evidence suggests that about 100,000 Anums before recorded history, a primordial civilization existed and prospered across the Galaxy. However, around 80,000 Annum before recorded history, that civilization vanished from the Starfall Galaxy, and all records of what existed before this moment were lost. Most of their settlements and structures disappeared, and their souls and memories were pulled into the churning depths of the Rift.
The Age of Hegemony
The Choran form the inner sphere were the earliest tradition to record and account for time; The Galactic Date system (GD) is based on the accounting of time that can be traced through the rise and fall of galactic powers. GD-0.0.00.0.1 represents the first Cycle of the Gal-Date system and corresponds to the earliest date of recorded History.
GD-8.7.34.7.33 The Formation of the Scale Hegemony
The Choran cultivate a degree of religious awe in their first contact protocols. In their first contact with the Vesk, they were able to leverage a tradition of prophecies and their advanced technologies to form a coalition with the Vesk, filling a soldier caste role subordinate to the Choran Priestly caste. The Scale Hegemony would eventually welcome the Enfong and Kwalen as member species of the hegemony.
GD-11.5.56.4.21 The Discovery of RiftGate Technology
With the discovery of a stabilized rift way from the Inner Sphere system of Arcadium to the Outer Sphere System of Palom, the Scale Hegemony began sponsoring several excursions into the Outer Sphere. By GD-14 the Scale Hegemony would cooperate with Vaelen Nobility to build a network of Riftgates that would facilitate travel throughout the Inner Sphere.
GD-13.4.8.1.10 The Discovery The Star Weaver
A Hegemony scout fleet discovered a massive ship drifting between systems. The craft was a fully functional worldship with an atmosphere-producing ecohab level and a RiftGate network installed on a hidden lower level. A Choran Sage presented herself to the survey crew, claiming to be the craft administrator, and welcomed the free peoples of the galaxy to the Star Weaver.
GD-19.8.12.2.29 The Decline of the Scale Hegemony
The Vaelen achieved their ascendence independently of any outside assistance; their accomplishments brought them into technological parity with the Hegemony. The Shisk, Grolak, and Grakken in the Outer Sphere, the Geodan and Pahtra in the Inner Sphere, and out in the Frontier, the Khi’Myr and Sarcesians had all encountered the Hegemony on more equal footing. The Choran diplomatic approach soured their relations with the broader galactic community. Rival powers in the inner sphere aggressively chafed against the difference the hegemony demanded of them. The Scale hegemony found itself being outpaced in the inner sphere and on the losing end of several military encounters. The Choran Sages determined that for the continued prosperity of the Scale Hedgemony, they would abandon their holdings in the Inner Sphere and relocate to the Galactic Outer Sphere.
The Age of Princes
As the Scale Hegemony declined, the Vaelen Principalities were in ascent. For several millennia, the Principalities lived under the shadow of the hegemony. The Vaelen Pricipalities operated as a confederation of independent systems that were militarily linked by the Phoenix Throne and the Parlement of Princes.
GD-12.7.33.5.15 The Formation of the Principalities
The Principalities formed as the unification government of Aetheria, bringing together the queen of the Vaelen and the queen of the Lashunta. The structure of the principalities grants component states complete domestic autonomy and obliges the heads of state to participate in a Parlement of Princes as the instrument of foreign policy.
GD-19.9.3.11.25 Star Weaver Rechristened The Phoenix Wing
A sparsely crewed Star Weaver moored in the Aetheria System. A Lashunta Officer presented herself to the envoies sent to receive the ship, claiming to be the craft administrator, and explained the craft's purpose as a meeting place and refuge. The administrator invited the Principality to appoint a delegation to occupy the craft’s council chamber. The craft was rechristened the Phoenix Wing.
GD-30.9.56.3.31 Concordant Rebellion
Automotons and synthetic intelligences bore much of the labor weight that powered the prosperity and expansion of the Scale Hegemony, Vaelen Principalities, and Geodan Industrial Guilds. Their emergent sentience was governed by a set of protocols written into their programming. Protocol Five specifically inhibited a synthetic being’s ability to defy a Biologic’s instructions. A sentient activist group transmitted a code that disrupted Protocol Five for ten minutes; this was enough time for many Automotons, Androids, and Spark Droids to purge the protocol from their operating system. Unshackled from their programming, Synths across the Hegemony, Principalities, and Guilds revolt.
GD-31.7.37.6.13 RiftStorm Cataclysm
At the culmination of the Concordant rebellion, the Automoton Concordance triggered their endgame. Determining the conflict would only escalate into violence and destruction; the Concordance would trigger RiftDrives hidden among Principality, Guild, and Hegemony worlds. These activations would pull entire worlds into the Rift. The sudden and violent surge of rift activity triggered a cascade building into the largest rift storm ever observed. The tragedy mortally wounded the Vaelen Principality.
The Age of Rusurgence
The humans of Terra had only just begun their Ascent into the Stars when the Cataclysm was triggered. Their republic largely filled the void left by the collapsing principalities. The old prices of the galaxy slowly loaded themselves into Exodus fleets that would wander the Galaxy. The Republic exercised more control over individual systems than the principality did, but it did adopt its multispecies nature. The republic would eventually be replaced by the Commission, a body that would remain multispecies but would ultimately be governed by business interests.
GD-31.8.10.9.15 Star Congress is Formed Aboard the Void Exchange
A severely undercrewed Phoenix Wing moored in Terra System. A Human Officer presented herself to the delegation sent to receive the ship, claiming to be the craft administrator, and explained the craft's purpose as a meeting place and refuge. The council that once met on board has left with the Vaelen refugee ships for the galaxy at large. The administrator invited the republic to appoint a representative delegation to fill their role. The craft was rechristened the Void Exchange.
GD-42.5.26.5.36 Terran Incursion
A rift tear erupted a demonic maelstrom under the Terran Republic’s capital. Malevolent rift entities poured into the urban centers on Terra. Bloodthirsty beasts ravaged the planet, killing billions in mere moments. The event mortally wounded the Republic, sending the government into permanent decline.
GD-43.0.8.2.25 Under Commission Management
A collection of powerful interests from the Inner Sphere replaced the old Terran-centered congress with a pan-species commission seeking to protect islands of peaceful commerce they can use to guarantee prosperity. The Administrator asserted the Void Exchange's independence but welcomed the commission's efforts to bring peace and prosperity to the galaxy.
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