2300 AD
Encyclopedia
2300 AD is a hard science fiction
role-playing game
created by Game Designers Workshop, originally offered as an alternative to the space opera
portrayed by the company's leading science fiction role-playing game, Traveller
. In fact it was originally titled Traveller: 2300, but this caused confusion as the game used neither the rules system nor the setting of the original Traveller
. The game was therefore renamed in its 2nd edition.
orbital interface has been constructed, connecting the city of Libreville, Gabon to a satellite in geosynchronous orbit. Also, practical means of faster-than-light
(FTL) travel have been discovered, leading to the exploration and colonization of planets orbiting nearby stars. The post-Westphalian nation-state
remains dominant, and most space colonies are considered the territories of various nations back on Earth. This fin de siècle
society is analogous to the European colonial era of the 18th and 19th century.
The dominant power, both on Earth and in space, is the Third French Empire, which escaped the nuclear war relatively unscathed by abandoning its NATO allies at the start of the war, giving it a head-start in the technology race. Competing powers include the United Kingdom
, Manchuria
, Germany
, and an alliance of Australia
and the reduced United States of America, all of which control certain extrasolar planets themselves. There are three major lanes through known space, called Arms, named after the nations which dominate them (the French Arm, The American Arm and the Chinese Arm). Lesser routes leading off the arms are called "Fingers".
It is still early in mankind's expansion into space, and exploration has reached little beyond 40 light years from Earth. As of the time period of the game, each of the three Arms is saddled with a particular difficulty. The French Arm is the route along which the alien Kafer are pushing an aggressive invasion into Human space. The Chinese Arm is beset by an insurgent terrorist faction. The American Arm has reached a dead end, further expansion along it impossible under available technology.
Mankind has met with several alien species, all of which are decidedly strange and non-human, from the genetically-engineered Pentapod to the vicious Kafers (The game writers coined this name based on the German word Käfer, meaning "beetle
", not on the Afrikaans ethnic slur "kaffir
".) The Kafers are the most humanoid of the alien species, but unfortunately a quirk of their physiology makes war between Kafer and mankind inevitable. Kafer physiology features a hormone, roughly analogous to adrenaline in humans that also functions as a neural accelerant. Kafers literally become smarter once they start fighting. Consequently, their entire civilization is dependent upon institutionalized violence, which makes them extremely warlike. In the year 2301, the Kafer start an invasion of human space that will be costly to both attackers and defenders and serves as one of the major dramatic events of the game line.
Overall, the technological level of 2300 AD is not terribly more advanced than the modern day. What is depicted refines or updates currently used technology, with occasional instances of breakthroughs predicted by modern science. The "wonder-tech" of space opera
is deliberately absent (with the notable exception of FTL). For example, most personal combat is still conducted with guns firing chemically projected rounds even though energy weapons do exist. Also, no sort of gravity manipulation exists, so spaceships must be built to account for micro-gravity conditions and transferring from space to a planetary surface (or vice versa) is still expensive. The properties and limitations of the Stutterwarp drive and all other technologies are defined in considerable detail, to prevent the use of technological deus-ex-machina to resolve intractable situations.
These aliens are mainly speculation on how a sentient being would evolve from a certain path of evolution
. Particularly Ebers (described in "Ranger") and Kafers (mostly described in "Kafer Sourcebook") represents well-described, highly "alien" forms of intelligence that seem reasonably evolutionary feasible. For physiological reasons the Eber has a compartmentalised brain which means that if you met an Eber as a social being, he might not recognise you when he is in parental or professional mode. For evolutionary and physiological reasons Kafers do not need permanent high intelligence but rather intelligence in crisis and develop a sudden increase in intelligence in the face of pain or fear. With rather strict logical coherence the books describes what types of societies these forms of intelligence have given rise to.
Some of these mysteries can help Mankind in its "Battle for the stars", while others are simply curiosities, and a few are dangerous and even potentially disastrous for humankind.
In many cases Human nation states would be willing to go to war with each other to get some of these secrets and some are a necessity for humankind to survive the future war with the Kafers.
role-playing game by the same company. A custom strategy game called "The Great Game" was used by the authors to develop the background history for 2300 AD.
The game has some very obvious influences. In various supplements and adventures, one can find characters, situations and equipment that strongly resemble items from popular science fiction movies and novels. Equipment described in the game is similar to guns and the power loader from the movie Aliens
and a buggy from Silent Running
, for example.
Despite the name, alien Kafer (bugs) are not similar to the Bugs of Robert A. Heinlein
's Starship Troopers
. However, there are some physical similarities with Predator
(from the movie of the same name), and both races engage in combat as a form of recreation.
Finally, the authors added a Cyberpunk
campaign to the game with the publication of the "Earth/Cybertech Sourcebook" and two adventures for the same, "Deathwatch" and "Rotten to the Core" contemporaneous with the Cyberpunk movement of the 1990s. GDW catalogs advertised the game as "2300 AD - the Cyberpunk game of a Dark Gritty Future". The Earth/Cyberpunk Sourcebook states that Cyberpunk can be a fringe element in any society, its members being cyberpunks by self-definition. References to influential cyberpunk works such as Neuromancer
and Blade Runner
appear.
Hard science fiction
Hard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by an emphasis on scientific or technical detail, or on scientific accuracy, or on both. The term was first used in print in 1957 by P. Schuyler Miller in a review of John W. Campbell, Jr.'s Islands of Space in Astounding Science...
role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
created by Game Designers Workshop, originally offered as an alternative to the space opera
Space opera
Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes romantic, often melodramatic adventure, set mainly or entirely in outer space, generally involving conflict between opponents possessing advanced technologies and abilities. The term has no relation to music and it is analogous to "soap...
portrayed by the company's leading science fiction role-playing game, Traveller
Traveller (role-playing game)
Traveller is a series of related science fiction role-playing games, the first published in 1977 by Game Designers' Workshop and subsequent editions by various companies remaining in print to this day. The game was inspired from such classic science fiction stories as the Dumarest saga series by...
. In fact it was originally titled Traveller: 2300, but this caused confusion as the game used neither the rules system nor the setting of the original Traveller
Traveller (role-playing game)
Traveller is a series of related science fiction role-playing games, the first published in 1977 by Game Designers' Workshop and subsequent editions by various companies remaining in print to this day. The game was inspired from such classic science fiction stories as the Dumarest saga series by...
. The game was therefore renamed in its 2nd edition.
Setting
The game setting follows on from that of GDW's military role-playing game Twilight: 2000, in which a worldwide conventional war with limited nuclear exchanges at the end of the 20th century nearly brought about the end of civilization. In the intervening three centuries, mankind has rebuilt and returned to space. A Space ElevatorSpace elevator
A space elevator, also known as a geostationary orbital tether or a beanstalk, is a proposed non-rocket spacelaunch structure...
orbital interface has been constructed, connecting the city of Libreville, Gabon to a satellite in geosynchronous orbit. Also, practical means of faster-than-light
Faster-than-light
Faster-than-light communications and travel refer to the propagation of information or matter faster than the speed of light....
(FTL) travel have been discovered, leading to the exploration and colonization of planets orbiting nearby stars. The post-Westphalian nation-state
Nation-state
The nation state is a state that self-identifies as deriving its political legitimacy from serving as a sovereign entity for a nation as a sovereign territorial unit. The state is a political and geopolitical entity; the nation is a cultural and/or ethnic entity...
remains dominant, and most space colonies are considered the territories of various nations back on Earth. This fin de siècle
Fin de siècle
Fin de siècle is French for "end of the century". The term sometimes encompasses both the closing and onset of an era, as it was felt to be a period of degeneration, but at the same time a period of hope for a new beginning...
society is analogous to the European colonial era of the 18th and 19th century.
The dominant power, both on Earth and in space, is the Third French Empire, which escaped the nuclear war relatively unscathed by abandoning its NATO allies at the start of the war, giving it a head-start in the technology race. Competing powers include the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Manchuria
Manchuria
Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and an alliance of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and the reduced United States of America, all of which control certain extrasolar planets themselves. There are three major lanes through known space, called Arms, named after the nations which dominate them (the French Arm, The American Arm and the Chinese Arm). Lesser routes leading off the arms are called "Fingers".
It is still early in mankind's expansion into space, and exploration has reached little beyond 40 light years from Earth. As of the time period of the game, each of the three Arms is saddled with a particular difficulty. The French Arm is the route along which the alien Kafer are pushing an aggressive invasion into Human space. The Chinese Arm is beset by an insurgent terrorist faction. The American Arm has reached a dead end, further expansion along it impossible under available technology.
Mankind has met with several alien species, all of which are decidedly strange and non-human, from the genetically-engineered Pentapod to the vicious Kafers (The game writers coined this name based on the German word Käfer, meaning "beetle
Beetle
Coleoptera is an order of insects commonly called beetles. The word "coleoptera" is from the Greek , koleos, "sheath"; and , pteron, "wing", thus "sheathed wing". Coleoptera contains more species than any other order, constituting almost 25% of all known life-forms...
", not on the Afrikaans ethnic slur "kaffir
Kaffir (ethnic slur)
The word kaffir, sometimes spelled kaffer or kafir, is an offensive term for a black person, most common in South Africa and other African countries...
".) The Kafers are the most humanoid of the alien species, but unfortunately a quirk of their physiology makes war between Kafer and mankind inevitable. Kafer physiology features a hormone, roughly analogous to adrenaline in humans that also functions as a neural accelerant. Kafers literally become smarter once they start fighting. Consequently, their entire civilization is dependent upon institutionalized violence, which makes them extremely warlike. In the year 2301, the Kafer start an invasion of human space that will be costly to both attackers and defenders and serves as one of the major dramatic events of the game line.
Technology
A faster-than-light device called the Stutterwarp Drive allows mankind to achieve practical travel between planetary systems. Ships can usually reach a speed of 3.5 light years per day; the real limitation of the Stutterwarp drive is that it can only propel a ship up to a maximum of 7.7 light years before it needs to enter a gravity well and discharge lethal radiation that would otherwise kill the crew. Because ships need to reach a world within this distance, the effect of this limitation is the creation of lanes along which travel and commerce are conducted and along which wars are fought, the Arms mentioned above.Overall, the technological level of 2300 AD is not terribly more advanced than the modern day. What is depicted refines or updates currently used technology, with occasional instances of breakthroughs predicted by modern science. The "wonder-tech" of space opera
Space opera
Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes romantic, often melodramatic adventure, set mainly or entirely in outer space, generally involving conflict between opponents possessing advanced technologies and abilities. The term has no relation to music and it is analogous to "soap...
is deliberately absent (with the notable exception of FTL). For example, most personal combat is still conducted with guns firing chemically projected rounds even though energy weapons do exist. Also, no sort of gravity manipulation exists, so spaceships must be built to account for micro-gravity conditions and transferring from space to a planetary surface (or vice versa) is still expensive. The properties and limitations of the Stutterwarp drive and all other technologies are defined in considerable detail, to prevent the use of technological deus-ex-machina to resolve intractable situations.
Sentient Species
- The following sentient species are known to humans in 2300 AD:
- Sung: a species of winged humanoids of smaller stature than humans, whose technological development is close to but not as great as humanity's (they are currently only capable of interplanetary travel).
- Xiang: a species inhabiting a gas giant's moon in the Sung home star system, formerly enslaved by the former but now free after a brief military action by a number of human nations. Relations among the Sung are governed by a principle that the strong dominate the weak but provide the weak with requested assistance to bring them up to their masters' level, and they took advantage of the fact that the Xiang never made such requests. The Sung now consider humanity to be their superiors in this system and are chafing at humanity's refusal to improve them (by showing them how to perform FTL travel, for example).
- Ebers: confined to one planet in 2300, they once had an interstellar civilization with a presence on at least three other planets, although all that is left of them on those planets are ruins from a destructive war.
- Pentapods: an amphibious species with a preference for aquatic environments, with a biotechnological technical infrastructure (including starships that are massive living beings). The fact that some Pentapods show signs of genetic engineering and are treated as tools by other Pentapods masks a deeper secret regarding their origins.
- Kafers: humanoids with heads and integument similar to some Terran insects (the human name is from the German for "beetle"), with technological advancement close to humanity's, including interstellar travel capability. Kafer individuals normally have an intelligence equivalent to a human with an IQ of 40, but their equivalent of an adrenaline reaction makes them smarter (increased situational awareness, speed of reasoning, and creativity). Their society contains a great deal of ritualized violence and is ruled over by a small minority of "permanently bright" individuals. They are the primary adversary species in 2300AD, with many published materials dealing with their invasion of human space (they are terrified by humanity, since to them we resemble the "smart barbarians" that periodically destroyed developing civilizations on their home planet).
- Published adventures detailed several additional sentient species: the primitive Klaxun (in the adventure Energy Curve), the Ylii (a multi-species culture enslaved by the Kafers, detailed in the Kafer Sourcebook), the long-dead Medusae (from the Nyotekundu Sourcebook), and two species found by the Bayern expedition in the adventure of the same name (the "Little Guys" and the awesome AGRA Intelligence).
These aliens are mainly speculation on how a sentient being would evolve from a certain path of evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
. Particularly Ebers (described in "Ranger") and Kafers (mostly described in "Kafer Sourcebook") represents well-described, highly "alien" forms of intelligence that seem reasonably evolutionary feasible. For physiological reasons the Eber has a compartmentalised brain which means that if you met an Eber as a social being, he might not recognise you when he is in parental or professional mode. For evolutionary and physiological reasons Kafers do not need permanent high intelligence but rather intelligence in crisis and develop a sudden increase in intelligence in the face of pain or fear. With rather strict logical coherence the books describes what types of societies these forms of intelligence have given rise to.
Sentient Species Mysteries
Every sentient species has certain mysteries that are unknown to humans in 2300 AD and which can be unlocked through adventure and research. One of the main parts of the drama in 2300 AD campaigns is the unfolding of these mysteries.Some of these mysteries can help Mankind in its "Battle for the stars", while others are simply curiosities, and a few are dangerous and even potentially disastrous for humankind.
In many cases Human nation states would be willing to go to war with each other to get some of these secrets and some are a necessity for humankind to survive the future war with the Kafers.
Influences
The background history of 2300 AD is a continuation of the nuclear war depicted in the Twilight 2000Twilight 2000
Twilight 2000 is a role-playing game set in the aftermath of World War III . The premise is that the United States/NATO and the Soviet Union/Warsaw Pact have fought a lengthy conventional war, followed by a nuclear war with all its consequences...
role-playing game by the same company. A custom strategy game called "The Great Game" was used by the authors to develop the background history for 2300 AD.
The game has some very obvious influences. In various supplements and adventures, one can find characters, situations and equipment that strongly resemble items from popular science fiction movies and novels. Equipment described in the game is similar to guns and the power loader from the movie Aliens
Aliens (film)
Aliens is a 1986 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron and starring Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, William Hope, and Bill Paxton...
and a buggy from Silent Running
Silent Running
Silent Running is a 1972 environmentally themed science fiction film starring Bruce Dern and directed by Douglas Trumbull, who had previously worked as a special effects supervisor on such science fiction films as 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Andromeda Strain.-Plot summary:Silent Running depicts a...
, for example.
Despite the name, alien Kafer (bugs) are not similar to the Bugs of Robert A. Heinlein
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
's Starship Troopers
Starship Troopers
Starship Troopers is a military science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein, first published as a serial in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and published hardcover in December, 1959.The first-person narrative is about a young soldier from the Philippines named Juan "Johnnie" Rico and his...
. However, there are some physical similarities with Predator
Predator (film)
Predator is a 1987 American science fiction action film directed by John McTiernan, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura, and Kevin Peter Hall. It was distributed by 20th Century Fox....
(from the movie of the same name), and both races engage in combat as a form of recreation.
Finally, the authors added a Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk is a postmodern and science fiction genre noted for its focus on "high tech and low life." The name is a portmanteau of cybernetics and punk, and was originally coined by Bruce Bethke as the title of his short story "Cyberpunk," published in 1983...
campaign to the game with the publication of the "Earth/Cybertech Sourcebook" and two adventures for the same, "Deathwatch" and "Rotten to the Core" contemporaneous with the Cyberpunk movement of the 1990s. GDW catalogs advertised the game as "2300 AD - the Cyberpunk game of a Dark Gritty Future". The Earth/Cyberpunk Sourcebook states that Cyberpunk can be a fringe element in any society, its members being cyberpunks by self-definition. References to influential cyberpunk works such as Neuromancer
Neuromancer
Neuromancer is a 1984 novel by William Gibson, a seminal work in the cyberpunk genre and the first winner of the science-fiction "triple crown" — the Nebula Award, the Philip K. Dick Award, and the Hugo Award. It was Gibson's debut novel and the beginning of the Sprawl trilogy...
and Blade Runner
Blade Runner
Blade Runner is a 1982 American science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Sean Young. The screenplay, written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, is loosely based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K...
appear.
New Version
- 2320 AD, from QuikLink Interactive, was released in PDF format in late April, 2007. It is a sourcebook for the Traveller D20 rules and advances the 2300AD timeline by 20 years, including consequences from the expected outcomes of published 2300AD campaigns and adventures (particularly the Kafer War and the events of the adventure Bayern).
Boxed Sets
- 2300 AD boxed set - 2nd edition basic rules
- Star Cruiser - Starship construction rules and tactical space combat boardgame
- Traveller: 2300 boxed set - 1st edition basic rules
Sourcebooks
- Aurore Sourcebook
- Colonial Atlas
- Earth/Cybertech Sourcebook
- Equipment Guide
- Ground Vehicle Guide
- Invasion
- Kafer Sourcebook
- Nyotekundu Sourcebook
- Ships of the French Arm
Adventures
- Bayern
- Beanstalk
- Deathwatch Program (Cyberpunk subcampaign)
- Energy Curve
- Kafer Dawn
- Mission Arcturus
- Ranger
- Rotten to the Core (Cyberpunk subcampaign)
Third Party products
- Operation: Overlord (Kafer War adventure, published by 3W Games)
- S.S. Virginia (deck plans, published by Seeker Gaming Systems)
- U.S.S. Hampton (deck plans, published by Seeker Gaming Systems)