Description

A Galaxy is not empty space; it is a living storm of stars, old scars, and hungry routes between them. From the crowded inner core to the lawless outskirts, every light in the sky marks a world with its own debts, ghosts, and grudges. Trade, migration, conquest, and catastrophe have carved it into overlapping regions, spheres of influence, and dead zones where maps turn to rumor.

Most travel between systems depends on volatile “between‑spaces” (rift lanes, slipstreams, shadow tides), so distance is measured less in light‑years than in risk. Factions treat whole arms of the galaxy as turf, guarding gate networks, trade corridors, and ancient machine‑relics that keep time, navigation, and communication barely stable. To live here is to accept that the galaxy itself is a hazard: storms that erase timelines, sectors shattered by old wars, and frontier regions where the oldest ruins are more dangerous than any current empire.

Using a Galaxy as a Location Type

• A galaxy is a top‑tier location that, Contains many regions (e.g., Inner Sphere, Outer Sphere, Frontier), each with its own travel rules, encounter tables, and factions; Sets baseline assumptions for tech level, magic/psionics, currencies, and how interstellar travel works; Establishes global threats (rift storms, ancient weapons, temporal collapse) that can touch any campaign.

• Mechanical handles you can attach to a named galaxy:

  • Travel Tag: Defines how you move between systems (e.g., “All FTL uses Rift‑Space; each jump has a chance of time drift or mutation”).

  • Economy Tag: Defines core currency and scarcity (e.g., “Time‑based currency; long trips cost survival days, not credits”).

  • Risk Band: A default difficulty for long‑range travel and diplomacy (e.g., “Core DCs low, Frontier DCs high; failed rolls can shift you in time or space”).

  • Faction Slots: A fixed number of major blocs that operate at galactic scale, each with reputation rules and boons.