Stargrave: Death Vector - Introduction

Are you brave enough to plot a course through the Outlaw Technology Sector; a Death Vector?  

Here’s your first look at the latest supplement for Stargrave: Science Fiction Wargames in the Ravaged Galaxy, from author Joseph A. McCullough. 

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Welcome to Death Vector, the latest chapter in the Stargrave saga. With this book, the independent crews can venture into the Outlaw Technology Sector, a region of space sealed off from the rest of the galaxy for over three centuries after a devastating war against an all-powerful artificial intelligence (AI). Not only will the crews explore lost worlds and battle 

new monsters, but they can also hack into ‘the Network’ to find additional secrets of forgotten technology. Care is needed, however, because remnants of the great AI remain, posing threats in both the physical and the cyber worlds. 

If it seems that I’m being very topical by including an artificial intelligence as the overarching threat in this book, that is only partially true. Like everyone else, I have been bombarded in recent days about how AI is changing our lives. This has been especially true as it relates to artwork used to illustrate games and leads to the question whether authors, such as myself, will soon be needed at all. While I’m obviously extremely biased in such a debate, I find current AI methods in the construction of both visual and written artwork to be legally and ethically troubling. More importantly, I suspect that while such methods can be employed in the short term, they are a creative dead end, a circular loop that will never truly produce anything new. But I didn’t write this book to debate the future of creative technology, and really, when I’m talking about AI in this book, I am looking backwards to the great science fiction stories that influenced me when I was young. My AI is like Skynet from the Terminator movies or HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey. It is a true, independently thinking intelligence housed in robot or computer form. It has looked over the vastness of the universe and determined that organic life is inefficient and needs to be guided, upgraded, and eventually replaced. It is antithetical to the idea of human freedom. It has no morals, no ethics, no emotions. It cannot comprehend beauty or pain except as weaknesses inherent in organic life. It wants to transform the universe into a cold hell. 

Of course, this being a miniatures game, I needed a fun way to present some of this threat on the tabletop. This allowed me to bring in two other huge influences, the Borg from Star Trek and the Cybermen from Doctor Who. Both are cybernetic parasites that murder other sentient lifeforms to swell their own numbers. So instead of the pirate fleets that present the main threat in normal games of Stargrave, here in the Outlaw Technology Sector, it is the automatons that keep the independent crews moving. These soulless cyborgs are just puppets, either controlled by the remnants of the AI, or just following their most basic programming – to kill all life. In many ways, these automatons present the same element of horror I discussed in the introduction of Quarantine 37 when talking about zombies, but with a technological twist. They are us, with all the humanity removed, controlled by the machines that we created. At least, since they are not ‘alive’ as we understand it, and care for nothing but death and destruction, there should be little moral compunction about turning your guns on them! 

It’s a packed supplement that hopefully has a little something for everyone. It started with a simple ‘What if?’ about a region of space formally controlled by an artificial intelligence and spun out in lots of different ways. As always, I encourage players and groups to pick and choose. Campaigns are at their best when they are tailored to suit the players. Some want to just stick to what is on the table, others want to dig deep into the narrative behind it. Both are acceptable. And either way, you still get to paint some cyborgs! 

So, talk it over with your group and go with what is the most fun. 

It’s amazing having an entire galaxy to play with, and I must admit, I’m really enjoying it. Many thanks for supporting my own explorations of the Ravaged Galaxy and my dream of being a writer and a creative.  

Now go blast some automatons, and I’ll see you next time! 

If you would like to keep up with all my writing and game design work, please check out my website: josephamccullough.com. 

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Stargrave: Death Vector is out May 29th in the UK and May 27th in the US. 

Get ready to explore The Network with the player aid from our gaming resources page. 

• Stargrave
• Wargame