The Vegan Pirate Cartel

[gentleman john]

As part of the preparation work for Con-Quest, I've been putting together some data on the Vegan pirates that appear in my S&S game. I thought I'd share the work so far with the forum. So far, I've worked up details of the Vegans, their worlds and the basics of the pirate cartel.

Oh - and before anyone asks, I had to resist the temptation to bring in those "green-skinned, animal women".

[gentleman john]

Description

The Vegan Autonomous Region is a small star cluster in the vicinity of Vega in the Lyra constellation. Although the region is named after the star, Vega is not an actual part of the cluster. Rather, it is the nearest star that is visible from Terra. As such, Vega makes a useful navigation reference.

There are five systems of interest in the Vegan Autonomous Region. these are described later on.

History

The Vegan Autonomous Region has been home to a space-faring civilization for over 10,000 years. The systems that make up the region were originally settled by the Vegan people using slower-than-light freezer ships that set off from the home system. These colonies were effectively independent entities, their only contact with the Vegan homeworld being through long-distance communications.

When the Vegans discovered the principles of FTL travel, they set out to link their colonies in a trading network, each world contributing to the overall wealth of the region. The leading families on each world rose in power, becoming the foundations for the cartels that currently govern the Vegan Autonomous Region. Within a few centuries of their founding, the cartels had begun to explore the stars around them.

The cartels’ scouts made contact with a number of races in the surrounding sectors and began to trade with them. Some of these races, such as the Taurans, had advanced civilizations of their own and were treated as equal partners by the Vegans. Other races were more primitive and had less to offer the Vegans. Some of these races were enslaved by the Vegan cartels, while others were left to develop on their own.

Approximately 4,000 years ago, the Vegan civilization underwent a sudden collapse. The cartels retreated, until only the original five worlds of the Vegan Autonomous Region were in regular contact with each other. Eventually even these worlds lost contact, and the Vegan civilization reached a pre-spaceflight level of technology.

Just over 1,000 years ago the Vegan civilization began to recover and to re-establish its trade networks. Unfortunately, the peak of their efforts coincided with the rise of the Terran and Zangid civilizations. The Vegans refused to become involved in the Terran-Zangid conflicts, and remained neutral throughout. When the fledgling Confederation was formed, the Vegans found themselves within the Confederation’s boundaries. The cartels negotiated a treaty with the Confederation that allowed them to exist as an independent political entity, forming the Vegan Autonomous Region.

Worlds

Vega Prime (Class H): Vega Prime is the Vegan homeworld. The surface conditions are temperate but arid, with the interiors of the landmasses being characterised by dry plateaus. Most of the world’s cities are located in the forests that lie along the coastlines of the continents.

Caldon (Class T): Caldon is a world that is covered in glaciers. There is one major city on the world, located at the edge of one of the icefields that reach from pole to pole. The major industry of the planet is recovering minerals that have being scoured from the planet’s surface by the glaciers.

Chardor (Class F): This world is the only inhabitable world in a binary system. Surface temperatures are high, with the only water being found in underground lakes and cave systems. There are a number of settlements scattered across the surface of the world, their inhabitants supporting themselves by producing intricate, custom electronic circuits.

Malda (Class U): Malda was once a Class H world rivalling Vega Prime. However, when the Vegan civilization collapsed, Malda was reduced to a contaminated world. The Vegan databases do not record what happened on Malda, but the results are obvious to all visitors. The world has only recently been reclaimed by the cartel that originally settled it.

Velor (Class H): This world is the new cultural centre of the Vegan Autonomous Region. Its inhabitants were instrumental in restoring the Vegan civilization following its collapse, and it is also the place where the treaty with the Confederation was signed. There is intense rivalry between the people of Velor and the people of Vega Prime.

[gentleman john]

Description

Requirements: None
Ability Adjustments: None
Skill Adjustments: Combat -1, Contact +1
Metabolism: Iron based

The Vegans are a humanoid race, similar enough to humans that they are capable of interbreeding. As a race, they tend to be more slender than humans, with a pale olive complexion, and have often been described “fey” in their appearance.

Vegans live in large family units, often encompassing many generations within a single dwelling. This has been extended to their political structure, with the family units forming larger cartels that act as a combination of government and corporations.

Political Organisation

The Vegan Autonomous Region is run by a number of cartels. Each cartel is the equivalent of a Terran corporation, and is made up of a number of families bound by ties of blood and politics. the resources controlled by the cartels vary. Some cartels are little more than groupings of families engaged in common business, while other cartels control multiple industries.

Each cartel sends representatives to the Vegan Council. The council debates matters that affect the Vegan race as a whole, with each cartel controlling a number of votes equivalent to the value of the resources they possess. While cartels are theoretically bound by the decisions of the council, the internal affairs of a cartel are considered to be a matter for that cartel only.

[gentleman john]

The Pirate Cartels

Due to their independent status, the Vegan cartels are allowed to maintain armed vessels for self-defence. While many of these vessels are used to defend cartel assets and patrol the borders of the Vegan Autonomous Region, some of these vessels are used in the less acceptable trade of piracy.

The so-called Vegan Pirate Cartel consists of a number of Vegan families who make their living by raiding shipping. Originally they carried out raids against rival families but, in the aftermath of the Terran-Zangid war, they have found it to be more profitable to carry out raids on the shipping of the major empires that surround the Vegan Autonomous Region. Despite the complaints, and threats of reprisal, the Vegan Council has not acted against the pirate cartel. It is theorised that there would need to be a major threat against the Vegans to force them to act against the pirates.

Pirate NPCs

Pirate NPCs should be treated as Space Men, as described in the Starships & Spacemen 2e rules.

Pirate Vessels

Pirate vessels are typically the size of Confederation destroyers. They carry a larger complement of crew than their Confederation counterparts, mainly to account for the boarding parties necessary to take a vessel. They also have a larger cargo capacity than a warship. While a Vegan pirate vessel is rarely a match for a warship, they are a credible threat to a freighter. However, some pirate vessels do have technology that enables them to take on warships.

Crew Complement: 60
Command Rank: Lieutenant (Vegan Pirates)
Power Pile Base: 100 energy units (one full pod)
Teleporter Capacity: 10 at a time
Beam Banks: 2
Ion Torpedoes: None
Shuttle Ships: 4
Sick Bay Capacity: 5

[seneschal]

Oh - and before anyone asks, I had to resist the temptation to bring in those "green-skinned, animal women".

Awwwww.

[Goblinoid Games]

Very nice, thanks for sharing!!

[RAD Colin]

Nice work, but I can't resist a chuckle at the name "Vegan."

Colin

[gentleman john]

Thanks for the kudos, gentlemen.

Oh - and before anyone asks, I had to resist the temptation to bring in those "green-skinned, animal women".

Awwwww.

Well, maybe somewhere else. But not as Vegan pirates.

Nice work, but I can't resist a chuckle at the name "Vegan."

Could be worse. We could be talking about hostile aliens in orbit about Georgium Sidus.

[az_gamer]

Very Cool Write Up

[RAD Colin]

Could be worse. We could be talking about hostile aliens in orbit about Georgium Sidus.

Especially if they were Klingons.

Colin