This section outlines tenants of Armournauts lore and world building. It acts as a guide to making adventures and sessions that adhere to the Armournaut lore. This is optional of course but it is suggested that in your session zero you discuss if or how closely you plan to follow the armournaut lore.
Gravity in space is not a given; it must be created through spin gravity (rotating structures) or acceleration gravity (constant thrust). This fundamental limitation shapes the design of ships, stations, and habitats. Long-term habitation without gravity leads to severe health issues, making spin gravity a necessity for any permanent settlement. Ships often rely on acceleration gravity during transit, but must carefully manage fuel consumption. This constraint influences everything from architecture to daily life, a world where gravity is a precious resource.
The galaxy is not divided into clear-cut good and evil, but rather into three superpowers, each driven by a distinct ideology: Prosperity, Parity, and Progress. These ideologies shape their goals, policies, and conflicts. However, none are perfect; each is riddled with corruption, mistakes, and the flaws of their leaders. This moral ambiguity forces players to navigate a complex web of alliances, betrayals, and compromises, where no faction is entirely right or wrong.
The galaxy is devoid of alien civilizations; they are long gone, leaving behind only ruins and mysteries. However, alien wildlife thrives, ranging from bizarre creatures to deadly predators. Intelligence in the cluster is exclusively human-derived, including genetically engineered lifeforms (GELF), androids, and AI. These entities, while created by humans, often challenge what it means to be "human," blurring the lines between natural and artificial life.
Faster-than-light (FTL) travel is only possible through corridor space, unstable pathways that connect distant star systems. These corridors are unpredictable, with routes collapsing and new ones emerging over time. Transit times vary wildly, and rumors of near-instantaneous corridors are the stuff of legend. This limitation makes travel dangerous and uncertain, forcing ships to rely on known routes and creating a constant demand for explorers to chart new ones. Even with this traversing the cluster can take months or years.
Magic, as it is traditionally understood, does not exist. What might appear magical is simply advanced technology or clever engineering. Fireballs are incendiary grenades, wards are explosive reactive armor, and healing potions are prolonged medical treatments. This grounding in science ensures that every "magical" effect has a logical explanation, reinforcing the hard sci-fi tone of the setting.
Psychic abilities are not real. Claims of mindreading or telekinesis are either cognitive distortions or outright hallucinations. While religious or spiritual practitioners may claim such powers, none have been substantiated. This tenant ensures that the setting remains grounded, with any seemingly supernatural phenomena having a rational explanation.
Werewolves, vampires, and zombies do not exist at least not in the traditional sense. Genetic engineering and biological manipulation can create creatures that resemble these myths, but they are products of science, not the supernatural. Nature itself can be far more terrifying than any legend, with alien wildlife and genetic experiments providing ample horror without breaking the setting’s lore.
Humanity’s reach is limited to the Cluster, a small, isolated pocket of space within the vast Milky Way galaxy. Earth, the cradle of humanity, is lost. The Cluster is all that remains of human-inhabited space, divided into six regions, each fiercely contested by the superpowers and smaller factions. These regions are the heart of human civilization, containing habitable worlds, resource-rich asteroids, and strategic corridor space routes. The Cluster is a battleground, a refuge, and the last hope for a species that has nowhere else to go.
Time travel, as a concept, is impossible. However, relativistic effects like time dilation are real and can be used creatively. For example, a crew traveling at near-light speed might return to find decades have passed for everyone else. This opens up narrative possibilities for exploring the consequences of time dilation without introducing the complications of time travel.
True immortality is unattainable. While secret programs and advanced medical treatments can extend human lifespans, they come at great cost financial, physical, or moral. The pursuit of immortality often leads to unethical experiments and societal inequality, creating rich storytelling opportunities around the limits of human life and the lengths people will go to defy death.
The pillars are the exception to the setting’s rules, serving as its "magic system." These mysterious structures and the pillarite artefacts derived from them defy conventional science, enabling seemingly impossible feats. Pillarite is highly dangerous and poorly understood, often corrupting lifeforms and creating monstrous entities. Control of pillarite is a top priority for the superpowers, leading to black markets, smuggling, and violent conflicts. The pillars and their artefacts add an element of wonder and danger to your sessions. If your players want magic items, super powers or supernatural abilities give them pillarite artefacts or have them altered by exposure to pillarite. In either case make sure pillarite is unpredictable and dangerous.