Campaign Ideas
The Process
I am coming! I am coming!
I am coming through!
Coming across the divide to you
In this moment of unity
Feeling an ecstasy
To be here, to be now
At last I am free
Yes at last, at last
To be free of the past
And of a future that beckons me
- Sally Potter, Coming
My campaign was based on having the PCs as the board of directors of the Process, making strategic decisions on the growth of the organisation. This is a very high level campaign, with each character assisted by a staff of experts (a good way for the Gamemaster to provide information and advice), managing billions of dollars of investments on several planets. Sometimes a sub-campaign was run, where the players played troubleshooters, experts and others involved in the actual execution of the plans originally formulated by the board members.
Most "adventures" dealt with new information arriving and the board having to deal with it, or travelling around trying to convince other influential people to support the Process. Cocktail parties, media interviews, power lunches, guided tours of construction sites and lots of teleconferencing. The characters are seldom in direct physical danger (although when I ran it a hunting trip hosted by Haakon Kepler nearly killed some key characters - rich Atlanteans enjoy the danger of an expensively dangerous beast to hunt) thanks to their bodyguards and position at the top. But they face economic threats that can be just as frightening as physical threats: how to handle an interstellar recession, or the sudden loss of a spaceship - or the emergence of Li?
This kind of campaign suits a creative gaming group who want to make a difference in the world. They get the chance of shape the future. If they succeed, they might be founding the empire of the future. If they fail, they might be personally responsible for the death of millions.
Diplomacy
The many cultures open up interesting possibilities for a diplomatic campaign. Some obvious targets are Nova, New America and Traha, but there are surprises elsewhere. Can the characters stand Arcadia? Adapt to Atlantis?
One interesting diplomatic campaign could involve an attempt to open up an isolationist or luddite society to the outside world. Is it possible to loosen up Gaia? Or make Mary realise that there is no Crisis any more? What if the family meeting of Ridgewell votes for isolationism - but a sizeable minority refuses? How to handle the problems of immigrants with wildly different cultures?
Trade
The classic sf roleplaying campaign is the trader campaign, where the characters are the crew of a free merchant ship, winding its way across the galaxy and getting involved in adventures. This is a possibility in GIGV too, but starships are immensely expensive - they will not be crewed by dysfunctional motley crews of space truckers with no money; instead they will have major backers and highly trained crews. That doesn't preclude plenty of adventures - what happens when you set loose a gang of Atlanteans, no matter how proper, on an unsuspecting universe? Another version would be to have the characters as a trading firm (like Avatari) buying cargo and passenger space on other firms ships, doing their own trade.
It is also possible to run trader campaigns on different planets such as New America (what happens when you take a zep with New California peddlers, add a renegade technorat and some outworld high-tech the fundies want banned?) or in the disk of Weg (where the only space pirates in known space reside).
Intrigue
Political scheming, or ruthless business work perfectly in this setting. It can be local - the plotting in a Nova mediacorp or local politics in a New America orbital habitat. It can be grandiosely global - the plans of the Linkers, subversion and countersubversion of whole planets in the Columbus Project or secret alliances between the Trahan empire and shady marketing groups on Nova.
Exploration
There are many frontiers. New America and Arcadia are exploring systems outside the human sphere, to discover new and unknown things. Many of the colonies still have vast areas that are poorly explored despite all the survey satellites - many interesting (or dangerous) things can only be found by going there in person. In the nets and information spaces old and new information are hidden in plain sight, everything from Earth historical data to traces of illegal transactions to terabytes of useless email.
Investigating mother culture: What about their BIG systems in the Swan? What about the really powerful mother clans? And the Ur-Mothers? There are likely many people who would be interested in an expedition to the Ur-Mothers. But it is extremely far to their cluster, a trip far far beyond any previously done. Who knows what awaits beyond the edges of known space, or at the end of the journey?
Technology
Technology drives change in this setting, and a technologically driven campaign is an interesting possibility. The characters might be hired by a company (or own it) that is developing cutting edge products, or testing out new systems in remote areas. The classic tech story is "technology gone awry", involving either sinister uses of new devices by various groups, unforeseen dangers or a marvel out of control. While runaway AI or nanotech, bionics with dangerous side effects and the use of Higgstech for aggression certainly fits in with the setting, things can be made more complex. Many side effects are neither good or bad, just different; an adventure could explore the effects of android companions better than the original, personality altering drugs or personal antigravity. An interesting twist might be "technology gone too good" - an invention or new system that works extremely well, and leads to profound and unexpected changes. What happens if automated factories make all material products dirt cheap? If a new intelligence amplification technology makes it possible to turn nearly anyone into a genius?
The Li
The Li has great potential for many campaigns, either as a sweeping change of the world or something the characters are directly involved in the fight against. Discovering what has happened on Penglai, preventing its spread, finding the Linkers and perhaps searching for a cure all contain seeds for interesting stories. On a personal level the Li can be a source of horror and paranoia - what if one of the character in the group is secretly infected? What if a friend or loved one becomes infected? How to treat people who have the Li?
Another possibility is of course to turn things around: the characters are infected/enlightened with the Li, and now have to face the rest of the universe as well as the strangeness in their own minds. One possibility would be a campaign set on Penglai, describing the initial revolution - will it succeed, or will the PCA find a countermeasure? Another campaign would involve the colonisation of another colony. A Li campaign would involve much subterfuge and paranoia, but can also deal with philosophical issues such as the nature of loyalty and faith. Of course, running it can be hard, especially since some players might also feel limited by playing somebody with pre-set loyalties, but it is definitely a different kind of campaign.
Nova
Nova is brimming with intrigue, politics, media, glamour and everything making life worth living. One could probably port some classic cyberpunk scenarios into this setting, where grit and sprawl has been replaced with style and space. Everything is fluid, quick and information; careers can be created or wrecked overnight, which makes the hoi polloi desperate to keep up with the latest trends. Megacorporations, networks and groups all interact constantly, trying to get ahead, to sniff out the future. Attention is wealth, and if you can steal attention - do it.
Terrorism is a problem; Landfall cannot officially attack terrorists in the Alliance, but undercover operations (possibly founded by strange groups) definitely can. Many terrorist groups are also supported by various interests and have media ties - fighting one group might make you some unexpected friends and enemies.
What is Unity up to? What are the AI up to? For an unusual campaign, the heroes could be robots or AI fighting for independence. Adventures digital - give the Net the attention it deserves.
Life in the fast lane - keeping up the fa' that's a campaign in itself. Better stock up on Fame, Media and Marketing. Maybe even some useful skill - if that is part of your brand. Can you remain in the hoi polloi, or will you have to hide in the Alliance?
Mercenaries wandering between the different warring hedgehog towns. The Alliance might largely be fairly peaceful, but there are some regions that are low-level warzones. Maybe life in a hedgehogtown could provide a refreshing shift away from the high games of Landfall.
It's a small planet after all: Is it really possible for the Red Rock Alliance to remain in its present state? Can the Landfall Republic really allow it, especially if all out combat starts between warmongering hedgehog towns (perhaps even with primitive nukes). If Landfall is to stop it - how? Look at the UN's comparatively simple problems in Bosnia and Kosovo nowadays.
What is someone (something?) actually succeeds with Eric Atell's actual intentions of reuniting the Alliance? Is it a threat that the Red Rock Alliance becomes unified? Perhaps it could devolve into a general banana republic or tyranny, but what if it manages to make use of its internal diversity ("strength through diversity" as the ancient transhumanist slogan goes) and manages to take its place among the stars? An Atlantis-Alliance alliance? What happens to Landfall then?
Arcadia
The Arcadian Hives might be run on consensus internally and try to work together externally, but there are many ideological conflicts. The heroes might become involved in the Cladists struggles against the Expansionists or Penglaiese, or other more complex conflicts.
The Great Challenge: several hives are engaged in a major political struggle. As one way of resolving it a Great Challenge has been passed: a huge competition between the representatives of the hives, giving them a chance to prove themselves physically, intellectually, ideologically. Can the heroes uphold the honour of their hive and win the Challenge?
Wilderness adventure: there is immense unexplored areas of Arcadia. Maybe the heroes are out of communication with the hives (how did that happen? Surely not sabotage?). Can they face the flora and fauna, forest fires or the approaching Cold?
What about the new colonies being planned, like Colchis? What will be found there?
A major breakthrough in biotechnology has been made. Suddenly Arcadia is swarming with outworld spies.
How human are the genetically modified Arcadians? Maybe they are more human than the un-augmented humans?
An epidemic has broken out in the Hive and it has been isolated while the biotechs frenetically work on a cure (even with the tools of Arcadia in 2350 an unexpected infection can take quite a while to cure). Isolation, claustrophobia - and several hundred frightened empaths sending out their worry as pheromones to everything...
Penglai
Campaigns could involve aiding, hunting or investigating the underground movements of Penglai what are they up to? Can the characters find out the Linkers secret plot and prevent the fall of Penglai? Politics is of course a perennial possibility, especially here where different guanxis struggle over influence in the nations and the PCA. Will Cheng Ti Lao succeed in his ambitions? What will happen to Hsu Hsi when Chairman Ping retires? What secrets does Lung Fusion harbour?
If you don't use Li as a plot device: what will the fate of Penglai be? Even without Li, Penglaiese culture will have an immense impact on the fate of humanity - after all they have the sheer manpower and philosophical strength to somewhat balance the Trahans, design principles that could synergise with the technology of other colonies to new heights and political ambitions far beyond the Penglai system. Perhaps Penglai will take its rightful role in shaping the universe. Perhaps the PCA will retain its authority, perhaps it will have to concede to a compromise with the states as they began to deal with the outside universe. There might be other groups that could take control of Penglai (other than Li). Perhaps it breaks down into a "warring states" period (as China sometimes has done in the past). Perhaps Penglai will form a somewhat shaky alliance with the Process to counter New America's expansionism, or (horrid thought) ally itself with the more understandable old-fashioned Columbus Project to bring order to the universe in some kind of interstellar federation. The options for a non-Li Penglai are immense and worth looking into.
Pi3
Perhaps the most obviously dangerous planet. Exploring it, contacting the inhabitants and understanding what is going on is exciting and deadly.
The heroes could be a tribe of Pi3 people who have recently come into contact with the outsiders. Can they overcome their distrust and strike up relations with them, and what will the other families say?
What happens if the Pi3 super-AI exists and gets away? One could perhaps run the storyline of Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep using this: the AI starts to use all available means, including the Li, to expand its reach. The only hope is ancient documentation of Heterosemiotic overrides in the Vault on Gaia or hidden in a cache among some children marooned on Negsoa...
New America
NA has much potential for intrigue and adventure. There is a great deal of tension between the Technorats, Fundies and Floating California. But currently they are balancing each other. What happens if the balance is broken?
Capitol Hill- the players are congressmen and trying to form a faction of their own. Perhaps an easier political campaign for those that feel very uncomfortable with nanoweirdness. But beware about being too lazy about importing standard political campaigns, New America isn't the 20th century US 100%.
The Filigrees may or may not be a threat, but NA would give much to learn more about them. But since the aliens disregard human lives utterly, any investigations could be dangerous. If professor Humboldt discovers too much, the Filigree will try to remove her but what if she has left the system and left some decoy behind to prove her suspicion that they are after her?
Baywatch: after all the, the whole planet is a beach!
Atlantis
Atlantis is a dynamic, diverse place where rugged individualism is a virtue. While there is no state, there are many overlapping and interwoven organisations and networks competing and cooperating with each other - a free agent's paradise. Conflict resolution (in various manners), business, intelligence gathering and networking are thriving.
Finding out what really happened on Zeta 2 Reticuli. Could it be possible to recolonise it - it is simpler now but why? Perhaps the heroes are even more radical individualists than most Atlanteans?
What if the Network for Xenology is right and conclusive proof that the semioticists bugs are intelligent can be demonstrated? Many Atlanteans would likely not care the least - the bugs don't have insurance, or technology or any ways of defending themselves. Others would be appalled and fight for the rights of the bugs - to them any ethical subject has inalienable rights. This could quickly turn into an interesting conflict of values. And what if the true reason was Trahan agents employing a philosophical weapon (in this case faked data and some "help" in getting the discussion hotter) to strike against the Atlanteans?
Creating a new orbital nation in orbit of another world. Many planets might not be exactly happy about getting a space station filled with gun-toting, drug-pushing libertarian anarchists offering tax heaven into their orbit.
Atlantis is on the cutting edge of several important technologies such as field manipulation and nanotechnology. This makes Atlantean organisations targets of industrial espionage and attempts to recruit key personnel offworld. On the other hand, Atlantean organisations gladly try to convince cutting edge researchers and other people to their world, promising total political and economic freedom. In this world of economic struggle there is plenty of room for interesting campaigns. What if the players work for one of the TRI institutes, both trying to recruit from competing institutes and GGU, while trying to fight off/recruit New America agents? Suddenly the academic ivory tower got exciting as the Dean brought in the free agents, hackers and media manipulators.
Trillicom arms needs employees for the Lost Valley, their major tourist attraction/showroom where customer-tourists test out the latest weapons, play wargames and get shooting courses. One of the most expensive but also most requested tours is the monster hunt, where the customers hunt monsters created by Teratotech. What if some monster escapes - the heroes have to catch it, it is too valuable on its own (it might even be a prototype), but the neighbours mustn't learn that a giant preying mantis is loose on their property, or Trillicom will be sued back to stoneage. Potential for both straight combat, hunting and intrigue!
Traha
Dealing with the Trahan culture and alien mindset is hard in itself, but there is enormous room for intrigue, politics and trade. Just about any campaign possible within a human society can occur on Traha, from light-hearted romance over espionage to history laden dramas. Many traditional stories can be given a surprise twist due to Trahanitas, and the standard solutions suddenly become wrong.
The New Tree versus the Harmony police - complex intrigue and social manipulation. This could be turned into a bureaucratic thriller where the police are planning a nefarious way of taxing or regulating the Tree out of existence. But two can play the bureaucratic game - the police itself might be out of reach, but it could be given some problems of its own.
What are the monks of the Eruditorium up to? Just harmless scholarship, or counter-philosophy against the Trahans? Or something even more subtle?
A terrorist group hating Trahans have begun a series of bombings and atrocities. It is easy to blame all humans - the heroes better find a way of stopping the terrorists. But are they really acting alone?.
A Trahan serial killer on the loose - and he or she is killing humans and Trahans. Now the police forces must work together to catch the killer..
Capital Vice: there are many humans moving through Capital, especially the Harbour. After some deliberation, the Harbour police has decided to create a special mixed human-Trahan unit to deal with intercultural crimes or exploiting the racial abilities of the members. The heroes will not just have to deal with Trahan and human lowlife, but also mixed human-Trahan bureaucracy and some unusual crimes.
Many Trahans want advanced but unapproved technology; smuggling it for antiquities or other valuable Trahan items forms a profitable crime business. What happens when human and Trahan organised crime meet - and Capital Vice is after them?
Things from history: somebody has dug up something - the entire planet is after all an archaeological treasure trove. But this is something someone powerful wants covered up badly. The pressures that might work on Trahans might not work as well on humans, causing other, more crude methods to be used. What is it that has been found? Who wants to keep it buried? Why?
Are there treasures left from the legendary 45th dynasty? While most physical object have been broken beyond repair, there might be forgotten tomes in databases or transcribed into libraries containing the secrets of Trahan high technology (especially intelligence enhancement). Somehow it seems unlikely the Empire would not have cached away useful stuff for the remote future, information that might surface again at inopportune moments.
What about close human-Trahan relationships - Romeo and Juliet trans-species? An abomination, or a love transcending all barriers? Passions will flare.
Chariots of the gods: A wondrous discovery has been made on Nova. The Voynich manuscript, an old and bizarre manuscript written in an unknown language is written in old Trahan! Of course, the original is still on Earth, but digital copies exist on the colonies. This implies that the Earth was visited by Trahans in the past - or at least that there are some close links between the species. The Brethren are of course enthusiastic and recruiting new members at a huge rate. But what is the truth? Maybe someone has discreetly edited the manuscript (a big thorough job, but not especially easy to detect since practically nobody in 2350 know about the manuscript unless alerted about it; it might be doable by some skilled hacking and virus-writing). The heroes might be involved in a race to get an independent copy from another colony before the editing reaches there too. Why is the falsification being done - to support the Brethren, or sabotage for them. Or to hide the real manuscript?
Negsoa
Negsoa holds great potential for adventure. The characters could be part of a contact team, trying to learn about the planet and its inhabitants. Are they willing to help or influence Negsoan society, or should it develop on its own? Less ethical characters might be tempted to set themselves up as kings or gods but how to keep the power as others arrive? The nobles are certainly not going to let themselves be phased out, and might have a few aces up their sleeves too.
What if the characters are Negsoan? How will they interact with the uitlanders? Perhaps they could raid an installation! The option for good old fashioned Dungeon bashing is open even in this campaign but watch out for those orks, oops Trahan combat philosophers :-)
Ridgewell
The family secret: one of the Clements have found evidence in the wreck of the Joy that suggests sabotage as the cause of the disaster. This is worrying, as some indications suggest that the culprit may have been one of the initial Six. Even if this is not true, some of the most conservative elements may want to keep this hidden at any cost family honour is at stake.
Robot rampage. Badly programmed robots are attacking humans; desperate fighting in the outback. Is someone behind it? And why?
Trouble in the family - is it really still a family? It might have become too big for the great vision of all Stephens as a family to work. How will the Stephens handle the break-up of the Ridgewell Dream?
Looking for looove. Romance in the clone, outside the clone, outout sex. Trahan sex toys? Mothers? What will your aunts and uncles say you dirty little clone? Seriously, romance on Ridgewell can become quite interesting. What about David and David instead of Romeo and Juliet - two loving clonebrothers from feuding households?
Atlas Shrugged
Otto Westville Thomas Stevens has a grandiose vision he calls the Atlas Project: to seed the moon Humpty with a robot factory controlled by a simple AI, that can build robots able to build more factories. Over the span of a few years the whole moon will be covered with installations, able to produce huge amounts of anything the AIs are told to make. He intends them to mine He3, and build immense antigravity plants. The idea is to lift Humpty higher, reducing the worry that it will eventually (in a few million years) crash into the planet. Of course, this is a rather remote goal, but on a more immediate level it is a project that is bound to showcase the Family's abilities to a doubting galaxy, stretch the limits of robot collective programming and provide a production capacity able to fulfil any conceivable need of the Family.
Such a project would of course be controversial; many in the Family would worry about the cost (Otto's answer is that it is only the initial cost for the factory - the rest runs itself), dangers (what if the AIs run amok - Otto thinks this can be handled using proper cognitive safeguards) and environmental risks. Even some outside groups like the Cladists and some fundamentalists might dislike it. The political battle of implementing it is a story itself; in the end Otto might actually go for doing it privately using money from some supporters.
The character's can become involved in many ways, for example as supporters, hirelings to supervise the activities on the moon, observers sent by the Family Council or other planets, or troubleshooters hired by Otto when something goes wrong. Possible stories can involve malfunctions or unexpected developments (what if the factories get wrong orders, make a mistake or come upon an unexpected find somewhere on the moon?), as well as sabotage actions. A moon covered with an immense manufacturing base able to build nearly anything, possibly with huge higgs-manipulating gravity plants could become a treasure for a power-hungry individual. What if somebody plans to take it, or even if Otto has some designs on his own?
Gaia
Just acting as a diplomat on Gaia might be tricky enough, with hostile Mothers and dangerous climate. But outworlders are good at bringing their own problems with them. What happens when missionaries from Dionysos arrive, or the Atlanteans decide to tempt the gaians with technology?
Breaking into the Vault might be profitable the Gaians left in 2045, four years after the Ridgewell expedition. That means a big technological advantage that might be hidden in the sealed Vault, valuable even to the people of the advanced colonies. But the Vault was built to be hard to get into
The dionysian missionaries arrive. Suddenly the Mothers are competing with another religion. The Goddess versus the God.
Dionysos
Most traditional storylines work on Dionysos, but get a new twist due to the psychodesign. A classic whodunit detective story can become quite surreal when the memory, personality and motivations of people can be edited. The butler did it - but who made him do it? A normal soap opera story can become horrendously convoluted as people shift personality along with the fads.
Conflict with the fundamentalists can provide seed for many other adventures. One possibility is to have the heroes being discontented Jesurun, trying to escape from the Sinai valley and the meeting with the rest of the world. Even if they are extremely liberal and open minded Jesurun they are still going to be shocked by some of the things they see. How will they deal with it?
In the Process campaign I ran, the Li government attacked Dionysos to prevent psychodesign from being used against it. A Dionysos devastated by nuclear attack can provide an interesting setting for disaster relief, rebuilding and handling of the many conflicts that are bound to erupt. And there may be Li agents around; here they will have an equally dangerous opposition, the remaining psych police.
Weg
The initial discovery and contact with Weg is an adventure in itself.
The conflict between the Crafters and Net may spread interstellarly, as the Crafters realise the need to prevent outsiders from reaching them. The final showdown between the Net and the crafters. Mercenary campaign?
A ship in route to Weg has disappeared. What really happened?
Sol
A diplomatic mission to the solar system is maybe the hardest thing one can ever do (as well as Gamemaster). Trying to interest the transcendent posthumans is hard enough, but there might be fractions in the Cocoon that might want to toy or manipulate with the diplomats. How to tell friend from foe when both can have the same body and change in a millisecond. What if the diplomats bring something really strange or advanced home? Will it be a boon or disaster?
"The Culture"
Maybe the characters are Solarians, sent to investigate the colonies or help them? They would be extremely powerful characters, equipped with technology far beyond the rest of 2350. But they would also be forced to hide their real nature, something that might be tricky even for a posthuman. And what if somebody at home is trying to stop them? It could be a subtle battle between the "Red Cross" and the "Preservationist Society".
Historical
There are many interesting possibilities for running campaigns in the past. The colonisation effort itself is a story waiting to be told: the PCs could be part of the initial colonists sent to Terranova, Arcadia or Atlantis or Turnbull. The neo-Taoist uprisings on Penglai, first encounter with the Trahans, the fight for democracy on Nova and religious freedom on Jerusalem are just a few great possibilities for other historical campaigns. They can range between the tiny how to set up an homestead on an alien planet and the enormous organising the initial colony effort to Terranova. The failed colonies provide another, possibly darker possibility. The colonisation of Turnbull could be used as the start of a campaign where the real surprise is that the characters will end up centuries from home.
What happened back on Earth? The founding of the space programs, how did it occur?
What happened to the Japanese-Australian expedition? Maybe it arrived? Maybe it was sabotaged? Investigation could get interesting. Or perhaps the expedition could be roleplayed and history be changed. How will the different societies interact?
Maybe other colonies have been founded?
Time jumper campaign: the heroes jump through time by regularly freezing themselves. Wealth is a good thing to have or accumulated. Can they keep up with the changes in society, or will they become disconnected, aliens to their own species? This is an easy way introduce some of the weirder concepts of the game gradually, as well as explore the entire history of a colony.
Aliens
Interactions with aliens can form the basis for many campaigns. The Trahans have a huge culture, rich with possibilities, and the clans of the Mothers can be as alien to each other as the Mothers are to humans. Could it be possible to find out the filigrees secret? The heroes are a New American expedition to find out, but have to face both deadly aliens, their immense homeworld and internal dissension - the Tiplerites think Simpleton is sacred and home to angels, the Fundies have the exact opposite view and the different political fractions have their own agendas.
One possible campaign is that the Arcadians discover a primitive civilisation on a planet. The aliens are apparently on the same technological level as the human renaissance, although their alien ways and lack of easily intercepted telecommunications makes it hard to tell. What to do? Help them in more or less obvious ways, keep away and quietly study them, or something else? Different views are bound to collide. What if the characters happen to crash onto the planet?
Crazy Horse (51 Pegasi I) might hold a terrible secret, the real reason the Mothers were present to study it: the orbiting black hole is a weapon rather than a natural phenomenon. Somebody or something dropped it through the planet to wreck it. Maybe it was once covered with a strange superterrestrial biosphere, or was a megastructure similar to the moon of the filigrees. Who did it, and why? And are they still out there?
Some Mothers might want to use humans as intermediaries to remote clans. Maybe they can reach them instead of their estranged relatives? The Balanced Mediators might even hire humans to show them to some clans - are they supermodels or zoo animals?
The big invasion: Neither the Trahans nor the filigrees are suitable enemies for old fashioned conflict; maybe the Mothers but forget usual space wars - this will be radically different. The known clans are peaceful, but maybe there are others... One could imagine a "Trigger Happy Zealot Clan" that has developed a fervent belief in the superiority of the species uplifted by the Ur-Mothers - only they have a right to the universe. What about Mother military doctrine? Could they be tricked into believing that humans and Trahans are uplifted too? Maybe they will find an overwhelming match when they try to deal with the Filigrees...
The Diaspora
One day the Mothers announce some very bad news: a nearby star has gone supernova (or a gamma-ray burster has erupted - see Greg Egan's Diaspora), and within a few decades this region of space will be uninhabitable as the radiation sweeps through it, killing all unprotected biospheres. Mankind has to flee, adapt somehow or find a way of shielding entire planets. Most likely different worlds will chose different approaches, some leading them into conflict. Some might question the Mothers, wondering if they are not trying to drive away humanity from their planets, others will scramble for the best new territory. Fleeing involves building space arks able to transport millions of people to safety, building new colonies and abandoning centuries of work. And what about the billions of Trahans? Staying will likely require going underground, suddenly making Arcadia the place to be. Shielding entire planets requires megascale engineering far beyond anything attempted before. Some might try to join the AI and robots by replacing vulnerable meat with metal and software; can uploading be developed in time, and who will use it?
Miscellanous
Progress level 18 - how does the world look in 2700, 350 years later?
Humans Vs posthumans
AI vs. AI
What happens if intelligent life is discovered on one of the colonies?
Why not build your own Process?