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Overview
Bennec’s
continents are mostly covered in dense forests and jungles. A cleared valley in
the southern hemisphere holds high-tech human settlement. The planet’s singular
city sits on an eastern coast, surrounded by farmlands on three sides. The starport
is located further inland from the city, connected by train. Low-tech human
descendants of a previous colony live in the forest.
Quick Facts
B9565A9-B
- Starport:
B-class (good quality, refined fuel, non-starship construction)
-
Gas
giant in system
-
Diameter:
9,000 miles / 14,500 km (slightly bigger than Earth)
-
Atmosphere:
Thin
-
Water
coverage: 60%
-
Population:
600,000
-
Government:
Dictatorship
-
Law
level: 9 (all weapons prohibited)
-
Tech
level: 11 (interstellar)
-
Trade
classification: Agricultural, non-industrial
-
Space
lanes to: Sheen (jump-1), Braein (jump-2), outside the subsector (jump-2)
Government, Law, and Diplomacy
The
planet is ruled by prince Enri de Manas. He enjoys high approval from his
subjects thanks to frequent state-sponsored festivals, and discrete crushing of
dissent. The police force, brightly attired in red and blue, is omnipresent in
the city. The secret police goes unseen.
The
nearby BST Triumvirate looms over Bennec, and prince Enri bows to their
demands - anything to keep his throne.
Surface Travel
- Starport
- City: 15 minutes by train, 1 hour by ground car, 1 day on foot
-
Starport
- Forest’s edge: 1 hour by train, 2 hours by ground car, 2 days on foot
-
City -
Forest’s edge: 1.5 hour by train, 3 hours by ground car, 3 days on foot
Interstellar Travel
In a
given week, ships with the following destinations may be present at the
starport.
- Sheen -
6+ chance
-
Braein -
9+ chance
-
Outside
the subsector - 10+ chance
The Starport
Travellers
arriving at Bennec’s starport will have to hand over any weapons to the customs
office, to be returned when they leave the planet. A bribe of 200 credits or
so will get most weapons through.
The
starport is located in the midst of the farmlands, at the centre of a road and
mag-rail network. Agricultural produce is taken to the starport and exported,
while machinery and burner fuel is imported. The farmers’ constant battle
against the encroaching forest requires huge amounts of fuel, which goes out
from the starport on trucks and trains. Every safety measure is taken. If a
container of burner fuel were to ignite, the consequences would be
catastrophic. 6D wounds at short range, 3D at medium range. Anyone caught in
the flames keeps burning for 1D wounds per round.
Next to
the starport is the startown, where travellers and ship crews on leave go. There
is a multitude of bars and cheap hostels, and also black market weapons and
drugs. The police rarely visit the startown, but the gangs will come down on
anyone causing trouble in their territory.
Bennec City
Bennec
City, or just “The City” to most people, is the planet’s only city, and isn’t really
that big. Home to around 300,000 people, it is a picturesque place with curving
architecture, broad
streets, and plentiful parks (with non-native trees).
The
police are everywhere in the city, easily spotted in their bright blue and red
uniforms. They treat middle and upper-class citizens cordially, and keep a
close eye on travellers.
There is
a gaggle of old Imperial noble families on Bennec, with palaces in the city, but
none hold any real power save the ruling de Manas family. Power in the city lies
with the police, the secret police, the army, and the mafia. Prince Enri
carefully maintains the balance between them, to prevent anyone from coming for
his throne.
Festivals
are common in the city, filling the streets with citizens, vendors,
entertainers, and parades. In a given week there is an 8+ chance for a festival
to take place. Spend 1D x 50 credits to partake in the festivities, and throw
Social Standing.
2 or
less: Mugged by 1D3 goons. Want to beat you up and take your credits.
3-4: Entered
a gambling den. If you have the Gambling skill, you win 1D x 500 credits.
Otherwise, you lose 1D x 500 credits, and gain the Gambling skill at level 0.
5-6: Someone
pretty wants to drag you into a bush in a park. If you go for it roll 1D. 1 - Misunderstanding,
they get mad. 2-3 - A good time and then they’re gone. 4-5 - Friendly chat
afterwards, can exchange contacts. 6 - They’ve fallen head over heels for you.
7: You
eat lots of good food and see lots of good shows. A great day! DM+1 to all
throws tomorrow.
8-9: Had
a little too much to drink. Roll 1D to see where you wake up. 1 - A cargo train
bound for the farmlands. 2-3 - A flowerbed, getting kicked by a cop. 4-5 - Outside
a bar, some kids are rifling through your pockets. 6 - A married couple’s bed,
one of them beside you. Steps are approaching the bedroom door...
10-11:
Somehow made it into a private party. You are offered slow drug. If you
partake, receive 1D wounds as normal, and you can pocket one dose.
12 or
more: Helped a drunk noble get home. They give you a High Passage ticket as
thanks!
The Farmlands
Vast crop
fields and grazing lands for (non-native) cattle stretch inland and up and down
the coast, punctuated by the homesteads of wealthy farmers. Automated machines
perform most of the labor. The extremely nutritious soil gives great yields. The
farms at the forest’s edge must continually keep the fast-growing trees at bay,
burning down new growth every week or so. This job is still done manually, by
workers in silvery protective suits, carrying burners. Treat burners as shotguns
with a max range of Short, which hit mesh and cloth the same as jack, and deal 2D
wounds. Anyone hit keeps burning for 1D wounds per round.
Each
farm is a small village, home to around 100 people (rising to 150 for farms
bordering the forest), including the owner’s family, laborers, servants, and
security. Security is not legally allowed to carry anything more dangerous than
nightsticks, but police rarely patrol the farmlands, and many farms have heavier
stuff. Most farmers dislike travellers and don’t want them on their property,
but as long as you don’t stray too close to the homesteads, you are unlikely to
be noticed in the huge fields.
The
farmer families are organized into alliances, competing with each other. They
aren’t above paying travellers and other deniable people to go mess with their
rivals.
The Forest
The
dense forests of Bennec consist of tall broadleaf trees. Their canopies block
out the sun, leaving the forest floor in gloom. When an old tree dies and falls,
seeds on the ground become saplings as soon as sunlight hits them, and race to
claim the exposed spot. Evolutionary pressure and powerful nutrients in the
soil has created species that grow at extraordinary speed, especially in their
earliest stage of life. The young trees even attack each other, with mechanisms
such as lashing branches, strangling roots, and toxic sap launchers. Meanwhile,
smaller, opportunistic plants try to latch on to the spiking trees and ride them
to the top. Getting caught in a sudden tree-growing frenzy is very dangerous.
Throw Dex 8+ or take 3D wounds.
Animal
life on Bennec is entirely insectile, ranging in size from microscopic to
dog-sized. The top predators, however, are plants. Different species use
different methods to catch insects, but one plant resembling a large stump is
the most dangerous to humans. When they sense vibrations on the ground or in
the air, they open up and launch sticky tendrils in all direction, snaring
their prey, before pulling it in to be dissolved. Throw Dex 8+ to avoid being
snared. If snared, take 1D wounds per round unless in a closed suit. Throw Str
10+ to escape, DM+3 for each person helping you.
There
are also humans living in the forest. The first humans arrived on Bennec many
centuries ago, but these early colonists were unable to keep the forest at bay.
It engulfed their settlement and destroyed critical technology, leading to
disaster. The descendants of the survivors still live in the forest, as a
number of tribes and small nations. Their technology is limited to basic
metalworking (tech level 1). There is mutual distrust between the forest people
and the “fire people” of the farmlands. The forest people believe that if you
cut down a tree, you must let the forest reclaim the land where it stood. To
drive the forest back and claim the land for yourself is to invite its
vengeance.
The
forest people exploit the quickly-growing trees for hunting and warfare. A
common tactic is to lure your foe into an area with partially cut trees, then
pull them down and catch the enemy in the mayhem of growth.
The
tree-grenade is a weapon made from tree seeds and soil sealed inside a bark
pot. When the pot breaks, the seeds are tricked into growing from the relative
increase in light, violently lashing in all directions for a few seconds. A
tree-grenade can be used at short range, with the hit chances of a cudgel, and
dealing 2D wounds. Also throw to hit anyone adjacent to the target, DM-3.
Scenarios
- A family
from Bennec City wants the PCs to find their eldest son, who suddenly ran off
to the forest. He had been researching Bennec’s flora at the university, and
the family fears his scientific obsession drew him mad. Actually, he was
studying the substances in the soil that permit the flora’s hypergrowth, and
fled when he learned the army wanted to exploit his research to create giant
supersoldiers. He was allowed to stay at a village of the forest people, where
he continues his research. Unfortunately, the army is preparing an expedition
to find him and bring him back.
- A
farmer alliance hires the PCs to find out who has been stealing burner fuel
from their transports, suspecting a rival alliance. The real culprits are an
underground anarchist movement, stockpiling for an attack on the royal palace.
- A “migration”
of creeping vines bursts out of the forest and tears across the farmlands,
strangling crops and cattle alike. Burners are ineffective. There is huge
demand for extra workers from farmers evacuating their livestock, and the PCs
can make a quick if risky buck. Strangely, people who come near the vines glimpse
visions of great mist-covered trees. After two days, the vines reach the coast
and disappear into the ocean. The PCs might want to investigate the origins of
the vines themselves, or they might be hired as escorts by an expedition. If they
were to travel in the direction the vines came from, they would find great
mist-covered trees deep in the forest, sending out and receiving great waves of
creeping vines. The visions become clearer and grander: This is but one synapse
among many, sending and receiving signals in a slow, planet-spanning brain. It
is forming a thought years in the making: “I am.”
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