20 Quick Questions

In the spirit of the article on Jeffs Gameblogs, and to better aid new players to get a handle of the Heplionverse campaign setting, here are answers to the 20 questions suggested in that article, as well as a few extra questions (0.1-0.3 and 21-14) that came up over the course of a thread in the GiantITP forum proposing those questions to world designers.

0.1. Where are we?
In a typical campaign, we're likely to be in the city of Harmony, a human colony in the (relatively) recently-colonized planet of Bhadrapada VI, also known as Rancent's World. It's a big city, to be sure, though maybe not quite as grand or as developed as those in the human Core Worlds, as Bhadrapada is a bit of a backwater planet. Step outside of the bigger colonies like Harmony and you're getting a rather "frontier" like feel, with settlers struggling for territory against local semi-civilized races. At least until you get to the massive Kyrrztli hives, though; those insectoids have developed a quite impressive, if rather alien, civilization.

0.2. Who rules here?
In a rare case as far as human societies go, Harmony is completely independent from the three transnational factions that rule humanity, having a sovereign local government. The head of the city and its client towns is the President, selected by popular vote; however, the way government is structured, the President has relatively little autonomy in face of the Parliament, whose members are also selected by popular vote, with one congressman per district.

0.3. Who do I need to watch out for / Who else is important?
Although the three major factions do not officially rule Harmony, their influence is far from absent. The interests of the Tarinnish Confederacy are promoted partly by Confederate representatives in town, and partly by the semi-legal Minutemen organization, which has a significant presence in the colony. The Pan-Muranian Union has strong ties with local immigrants of Muranian ancestry, as well as Muranian-friendly corporations and advocacy groups. The Allied Free Nations have very little direct presence in Harmony, but they're still perhaps the most influential of the three factions in this colony, thanks to the many AFN-friendly corporations and conglomerates that dominate the local political, economic and social landscape. By the way, whether they're aligned with the AFN or one of the other factions, corporations are the real power in town, as everyone knows.

1. What is the deal with my priest’s religion?
Well, priests rarely take up adventuring, but I guess you could follow one of the many religions that... oooh, you mean that character that's healing people, using buffs and defensive psychics, busting up entropes, and so on? Those are executives, not priests. Their loyalty lies with whatever organization grants them power - both socio-economic, through their office, and psychic, through the nexus that gathers free psychic energy from everyone associated with a particular organization and redirects it toward its executives. These organizations may be corporations, governments, advocacy groups, charity organizations, or even criminal networks. In fact, aside from those belonging to a few ideologically-motivated groups, executives are unlikely to care a lot about religion. There are also dowsers, who channel psychic energy from the very planet rather than from a nexus, but those are kinda kooky people anyways - many, though not necessarily most, are "new age" type mystics.

Now, if you're still interested in religion - although humanity has seen a rise of secularism in recent centuries, the traditional religions are still going strong. The most popular ones are the ancient, traditional and polytheistic Unnamluar; the somewhat rigid and moralistic, trinitarian religion of Delemism; and the rather mystic-oriented, contemplative, pantheistic Burdwari.

2. Where can we go to buy standard equipment?
Oh, that's easy, just hit the local mall. You probably won't find anything too specialized there, but it should be enough to tide you over in your first couple adventures.

3. Where can we go to get platemail custom fitted for this monster I just befriended?
Yeah, this is what I meant by "specialized". You might wanna check the local services directory for a good smith. Equipment made by craftsmen such as smiths might be more expensive than the stuff mass-produced in factories, but you can get it custom-made, and besides, it's often higher quality.

4. Who is the mightiest psychic in the land?
The most notorious psychic in human civilization is probably Dr. Andresh Dharampur, not just the most powerful transhuman psionicist known, but also one of the most famous scientists across the known worlds. Although his work in astrophysics (including expeditions to the interior of a couple suns) is impressive, lately he's been more dedicated to high-energy particle physics, and his theories on zero-point energy might finally shed light on how certain psychic powers appear at first to increase the total energy content of the Universe. However, the psychic capabilities of "alien" races have not been fully mapped, and there may be mightier psychics among them. One whose power is thought to dwarf Dr. Dharampur's is Scoutmaster Skryrri, an elusive kyrrztli psionicist, whose identity and goals are mysterious even within his species, much more so to outsiders. However, Skryrri is rumored to have left his native Bhadrapada for the recently-discovered planet, Maenali IV, to somehow conspire with the even more mysterious psychic overlords that rule the local sapient races.

5. Who is the greatest warrior in the land?
Few are as feared as the self-styled General Maver Jalek, an Eblian mercenary that leads her personal army of private military contractors. While the rock-like Eblian race from planet Asherah is known for its mercenaries, Jalek became notorious for her role in crushing the Indigo Uprising in Reshep II a couple decades ago, where she grew in both power and fame. Since then, her private army spent a good deal of time fighting the petty though lucrative feudal wars of New Eugeron, periodically switching to whichever local governor that paid best; while this allowed her to significantly grow her army's size and wealth, the perfunctory nature of these wars proved rather unsatisfactory to her warrior's instinct, so she recently relocated to Bhadrapada VI, where she's been taking on greater challenges such as the kyrrztli and even vukhars.

6. Who is the richest person in the land?
The richest person in Harmony would certainly be the transportation mogul, Willis Dharkan, head of the powerful Spark corporation, one of the biggest names in regional and inter-continental teleportation. However, the real money is in financial holdings, whose controlling interests are usually so spread over a labyrinthine structure of shell corporations and accounts that it's hard to keep track of who owns the cash - which tend to be rather discreet, although powerful financial overlords, many of them based in Chertan V, the AFN's power base.

7. Where can we go to get some psychic healing?
That's easy, just head to any major hospital and you'll have access to psychic resources to quickly and efficiently heal injury or illnesses, though of course, at a much steeper price than standard medical attention (which usually consists of bandages as needed, as well as poultices and herbal infusions to help the body's natural healing process).

8. Where can we got to get cures for the following conditions: poison, disease, curses, level drain, therianthropy, polymorph, death, undeath?
Again, many of those can be treated in hospitals, although they require more specialized treatment, which means you'll probably need either a really good hospital or maybe an advanced research institute (where you're also likely to find academic psionicists, that can help you with a few things like polymorphing). Other than that, you're looking at hiring the services of a high-level executive - though you can probably get a discount if you work for the exec's organization (especially if you're on official business).

9. Is there a magic guild my psionicist belongs to or that I can join in order to get more powers?
Many psionicists are affiliated with some university or research institution, which are great places to acquire more psychic resources. Others are under the employ of corporations or governments - while those tend not to have as much "brain trust" as academic institutions, they do often have programs in place to encourage psychic research and the exchange of psychic knowledge.

10. Where can I find an alchemist, sage or other expert NPC?
You mean pharmacists, chemistry labs, and consultants? Maybe also lawyers to help you when you run afoul of question 12, no? And engineers to oversee your new home's construction? Those, and a host of other professionals, are generally found in service directories - books you can get, usually for free, that list the city's available professionals and suppliers, with their address and contact information (in case you wanna telegraph them or something). Those, however, are more specialized services; if you're looking for something quicker (i.e. repairing some psychic gadget, getting a few pharmaceutical supplies for an upcoming adventure etc.), you can head downtown and walk the main streets of the commercial district, or maybe just look in the nearest mall.

11. Where can I hire mercenaries?
If you're looking for more reputable professionals (which tend to be more on the expensive side, and often unwilling to do less savory work), the local services directory should serve you well. However, if you wanna hire some dangerous fellas that will do anything you need, you gotta have some good contacts in the underworld. That sort of thing doesn't get advertised everywhere, ya know. And the big-time, major-league players, such as large private military contractors, tend to work exclusively through indication - they don't want to waste their time with a flaky employer that's not serious about either the money or the dirty work, so they'll want someone to vouch for you.

12. Is there any place on the map where swords are illegal, magic is outlawed or any other notable hassles from Johnny Law?
The amount of regulation on weaponry, psychics and various other potentially dangerous or controversial stuff depends a lot on the locally prevailing politics. Some places, like Semkash, in the very heart of the Confederacy, they might send you to jail for even walking around with a dagger without a permit; in there, psychics need to be registered with the local authorities, and you need permission to use any kind of psychic powers (though, in the case of low-level stuff, many don't bother registering and the authorities generally don't enforce). In Chertan V, though, you can pretty much go anywhere you want decked head-to-toe in top-notch psychic gear (including weaponry) and nobody will bother you for that as long as you don't cause trouble, and your psychic capabilities are exclusively your own private matter. In Harmony, things are not quite as liberal as in Chertan, but they do lean more toward the "looser" side of the spectrum; while you're supposed to get a permit for dangerous equipment (weaponry or psychic devices), the police will rarely check for that unless provoked; also, psychics are encouraged but not required to register with the local authorities, unless they are considered a public threat (usually by having a criminal record associated with the usage of psychic powers for criminal ends), but even in that case some folks manage to sue the State and get away through a friendly court sentence.

13. Which way to the nearest tavern?
Just walk the streets a bit and you're likely to find a bar not too far from your location, usually a small corner place. Of course, if you're looking to do more than just drink cheap booze, you might wanna go downtown and look for one of the more popular bars or nightclubs. Sports bars, where you can watch the latest ball game on hologram while you drink, are a popular choice - though, if you're more interested in the actual sports, you might wanna head to the stadium and watch it first-hand. However, if what you're looking for is a place to meet with people and talk business, while you can do that at a bar, you might also want to look into a nice, quiet restaurant.

14. What monsters are terrorizing the countryside sufficiently that if I kill them I will become famous?
The mutant tribes are a persistent trouble in Bhadrapada - ever since those experiments with native Halachians went haywire and mutated strains started breeding like bunnies, fighting mutants has been one of the planet's favorite pastimes. They're getting more organized, too, adding to their threat. There are a host of dangerous native species in Bhadrapada, which generally keep to themselves if you don't encroach upon their territory, but some of them - like the dangerous regenerating Noxu, or the rending beasts of Phtari - but none are more dangerous than the dreaded Vukhars. Kill a big one, and you're guaranteed to at least get a book deal out of it.

15. Are there any wars brewing I could go fight?
There always are, right? At the moment, the aforementioned mutant tribes are the most immediate threat in Bhadrapada; you can always find a battle against them somewhere. While the Kyrrztli have been officially at peace with humans for centuries, there's always some adventurous bunch of them attacking a human settlement (after all, they're raiders by instinct), and you can find employ either defending the colony or even aiding the bugs. Kyrrztli also tend to prey on other native races, and even one another (while full-out hive vs. hive wars are rare, raiding incursions happen all the time), so they do a lot to keep mercenaries' pockets full of cash. Off-world, New Eugeron is home to an almost constant state of lukewarm warfare between local potentates, and the insurgency in Reshep II stirs up trouble now and again. Iriond, humanity's homeworld, has been reasonably peaceful for centuries, but there are occasional tensions at the borders between the three factions that keep militaries and mercenaries employed.

16. How about gladiatorial arenas complete with hard-won glory and fabulous cash prizes?
Actual gladiatorial combat, the kind you fight to the death, is illegal in most of civilized society, with entertainment-oriented violence being supplied by fighting sports, usually in a form of mixed-martial-arts that can draw quite a crowd. While the top ring stars can make a substantial amount of cash, more from advertising sponsors than from actual prizes, this kind of fighting takes highly specialized dedication, making it unsuitable for most adventurers. However, if you really know where to look, there are a lot of illegal back-room arenas where those brave (or desperate) enough can duke it out with actual weapons and psychics, for a share of the (sometimes substantial) betting money that goes around in those venues. Just be on your toes though - you might just as likely have to fight off the cops instead of a fellow gladiator, if the fuzz catches wind of this place...

17. Are there any secret societies with sinister agendas I could join and/or fight?
The most obvious of those are criminal gangs and organizations, with varying sizes and degrees of organization, that plague modern society. Harmony is home to a number of factions of organized crime, such as the Red Eye, which rose to power by smuggling illegal drugs in Asherah and recently moved to Bhadrapada; the Caena, run by Muranian immigrants, which runs protection rackets and controls street crime in Muranian districts; the Razorwings, which control the waterfront and harbor area; and many others. There are also political fringe groups such as the Minutemen, which are considered by many as a terrorist organization (in Harmony, they're tolerated but monitored by the authorities), which promote paternalist politics and the Confederacy's interests, sometimes through violent means. There are also a number of fraternal organizations, usually joined by the social and political elite, such as the Silver Covenant, which is thought by some conspiracy theorists to control all known worlds through a sinister shadow agenda.

18. What is there to eat around here?
I don't know, why don't you head to the closest restaurant just around the corner to grab a bite? Abyri cuisine is hot right now, with its spicy steamed-grain recipes and rich, savoury stuffed meats. For something quicker, just bring home some Lagashian take-out - their shredded poultry dumplings, rice patties and exquisite fish fillets are great. Or, well, if you're a little budget-conscious, you could go to a franchise restaurant - those things pop up everywhere at a moment's notice (especially since the entire literal restaurant comes pre-packaged in an extradimensional space when you open a franchise), and only the most sensitive palates can tell the food is psychically-generated.

19. Any legendary lost treasures I could be looking for?
It doesn't get much more legendary than the rumored pre-Vukharic civilization that many theorize existed in Bhadrapada VI ages ago. If they left anything behind, either the Vukhars or the Derleths are likely to have taken control of it, but there are still rumors of lost caches of vast treasure left unclaimed by this ancient civilization. There are also a few urban legends regarding various lost treasures, such as the huge take from the Bank of Kaldur heist a few years ago, said to be in the tens of millions of GP - nobody knows for sure where this cash ended up (or admits to knowing it, at any rate), and with all known culprits either apprehended or killed, speculation about its whereabouts is rampant.

20. Where is the nearest dragon or other monster with a huge treasure?
The nearest Vukhar, you mean. Those things like to keep to themselves, so they tend to hole up in remote and well-defended locations, so it's not going to be easy getting to them and their stashes. A yellow-fringed Vukhar is said to live in the mountains south of Harmony, so that's a good place to start looking... but look out for its psychic blast, it's a nasty one.

21. How common are non-humans?
Very common, indeed. Although humans have spread far and wide throughout the known worlds (thanks to their hardiness and incessant breeding), the only place they're a considerable majority is in their native world, Iriond, where they're the only native sapient race. In other worlds, however, they have to share territory with a host of native races, although human societies have grown quite large in places such as Asherah and Chertan V. In any event, even in ostensibly "human" societies, a considerable portion of the population is not quite human, but rather transhuman - the descendents of psychically-altered lineages, which can get to be even stranger than "alien" races.

22. Do humans and other races get along?
For the most part, reasonably so. There are lingering tensions between the human colonists of Reshep II (especially those representing Confederate government) and the native Reshepan races, but those have been mostly pacified. Kyrrztli are always a conundrum; while they've been keeping relatively peaceful with humans, especially as it greatly benefits their trade interests, you always have to stay on your toes around them, as you never know when they'll decide that the benefits of turning on you outweigh those of cooperating. Other races tend to get along well with humans, though - especially the Asheran races (Eblians and Shaugmar), as well as Bhadrapadan Sen-Ji, many of which have come to live in human colonies.

23. How common is psychics?
Rather common, in fact. While relatively few people exhibit psychic powers, most benefit from them in one way or another, either by utilizing commercial psychic services (teleportation, communication, healing etc.), or by using structures and merchandise made with psychic aid (which comprises most mass-produced merchandise). Besides, psychic individuals aren't quite that rare, and most people know a few personally. All in all, the pervasiveness of psychics is what allowed modern civilization to be what it is today.

24. Is psychics safe?
For the most part, yes. It's very well-understood and highly structured (as per D&D standard). Of course, it has a considerable potential for harm when used maliciously, but it's generally as dangerous as those using it.