ETI: Characters

Character generation on the Earth That Is setting is largely normal for SWADE, with a few specific modifications. 

ETI: Space Technology and Interplanetary Travel

Space travel in the Earth That Is setting is unthinkably fast by the standards of the 21st century. Thanks to technological breakthroughs, energy is easy to produce, and thrust is extremely high. Travel times anywhere in the inner system are only a matter of days, while travel in the outer system is still only a matter of weeks. There are three core technologies: the Gravitic Reactor, the Gravitic Thruster, and the Moghadam Regimen. 

ETI: Luna

Initially founded by political dissidents fleeing the Saturn Federation, Luna has developed into a technologically advanced, relatively prosperous society. By 2500, the Free Luna Soviet is a well-established lunar society with a population of around twelve million, spread across a dozen underground and surface cities. The Free Luna Soviet prides itself on democratic governance, meritocracy, and a robust social safety net. However, this society is not without its contradictions. 

ETI: Technology in the Earth That Is

Technology in Earth That Is can be thought of in three primary levels. Not just a game construct, this is how technology is often discussed in-setting. This will affect all personal equipment and technology in general. Each category listed includes discussion of specific equipment affected by the level. 

In general, any personal equipment listed in the Helping Stick entries on Equipment is fair game in this setting. 

ETI: Sol System Politics

Despite the vastly reduced population compared to centuries past, the Sol System's politics remain complex and often dangerous. The system is home to a variety of political entities, each vying for power, resources, and influence.

ETI: Sol System Economics

The Sol System is divided by culture, time, and distance. Despite this, ties of commerce connect many worlds into various loose networks. 

ETI: Earth

The Earth that humanity abandoned was subject to a "moist greenhouse effect," largely due to instabilities in the sun. Scorched for nearly a century, the planet’s environment was ravaged by unbelievably intense storms and extreme heat. Much of the Earth's oceans boiled into the atmosphere and then escaped into space, leaving the surface extremely hot and humid. The Earth is now a largely lifeless world, covered in steaming mud, industrial toxins, and the ruins of human civilization. While most of the planet’s biosphere has been wiped out, replaced by heat-tolerant fungi and microorganisms, rogue genetic engineering from before the collapse has given rise to a strange and unsettling new ecosystem.

ETI: The Outer Solar System

Beyond the orbit of Saturn, the solar system becomes a vast and mostly empty expanse, with points of interest separated by hundreds of millions of miles. The sheer distance and difficulty of travel deter most from making the journey. Still, despite these challenges, the outer regions are home to a small but determined population of prospectors, exiles, and dissidents. Though isolated, the areas surrounding Uranus, Neptune, and the Kuiper Belt hold valuable resources and strategic significance, drawing the attention of various factions and fueling a sense of lawlessness and frontier spirit.

ETI: Saturn

Saturn is home to about fifty-five million people living in the solar system's greatest industrial power, called the Saturn Federation. Inheritors to GEA and the Exodus Fleet, the Saturnians see themselves as the rightful masters of the solar system of 2500. 

ETI: Jupiter

Once considered an ideal target for colonization, Jupiter has largely been abandoned due to insurmountable environmental challenges. The planet’s immense gravity and violent atmospheric storms, coupled with its powerful radiation belts, make atmospheric exploitation impossible. These dangers extend to many of Jupiter’s moons, where intense radiation levels and unstable environments continue to present severe risks for human habitation, even in the year 2500. Despite these factors, the Jovian system remains a frontier of human activity, drawing individuals and factions attracted by the abundant resources and vast, open spaces. It is a region marked by frequent clashes between the spacefaring powers of the solar system, as rival factions vie for control of its strategic assets.

ETI: The Belt

The Main Belt and the Kuiper Belt were settled predominantly by spacefaring people who were too independent to submit to the GEA rule. 

ETI: Venus

 Venus was already immensely hot before the Sun became unstable in the 21st Century, and the Sun's increased output has only made it more so. 

ETI: Mars

Terraformed Mars is the breadbasket of the Solar System, as well as the home for most humans living in the Sol system in the 2500's. 

ETI: Mercury

Two settlements exist on Mercury; "Dar-ul-Muraqab" on the northern pole, and "Chandra" on the southern pole.  These two very different colonies have maintained peace by keeping to themselves, though Chandra is definitely the more outward looking of the two.

ETI: Earth That Is - Introduction

Three centuries after the world's end, humanity is doing fine in the Sol system.