Phantasy Star: Fringes of Algo

Phantasy Star High Fantasy/Sci-Fi

* This is all a draft so far and I am sure I will change some elements in the future as I update this from time to time.
For the sake of ease I will use the English names for certain NPCs, species, places, and planets even though I know there are more current and better translations from the original Japanese.

I would much rather post this all in a Wiki esque format as that is easier for people to read but until I find such a service I feel is reliable I will post it in a list format here.

So far I haven't thought about the exact game mechanics yet though I wish to address this in the future, going more into details about player species, classes, weapon, armor, psi ratings and such to make this material for example useful for a pen-and-paper.
For now I will mostly focus on the lore I have been thinking about for the setting.


Phantasy Star High Fantasy/Sci-Fi

* This is all a draft so far and I am sure I will change some elements in the future as I update this from time to time.
For the sake of ease I will use the English names for certain NPCs, species, places, and planets even though I know there are more current and better translations from the original Japanese.

I would much rather post this all in a Wiki esque format as that is easier for people to read but until I find such a service I feel is reliable I will post it in a list format here.

So far I haven't thought about the exact game mechanics yet though I wish to address this in the future, going more into details about player species, classes, weapon, armor, psi ratings and such to make this material for example useful for a pen-and-paper.
For now I will mostly focus on the lore I have been thinking about for the setting.

* * * *

Background storyline

Five to eight years have passed since Alis and her friends defeated king Lashiec and the Dark Force/Falz and brought a general degree of peace back to the worlds of the Algo system.
After the revelation about her royal heritage Alis has assumed the throne of Palma and has since then ruled relatively well.
Some of her first acts as ruler was to implement a series of democratic reforms to undo the oppression Lashiec had instated to give him absolute rule such as establishing a council to help her with the daily matters of governing and re introduce more local government in settlements that can better deal with local matters while Queen Alis and her councilors oversee state and planetary affairs.

Alis also ordered the dissolution of Lashiec's army and the deactivation of most of the robot forces, only units important for the protection of settlements against wildlife have been kept online but have been reprogrammed.
Replacing the old army is the Royal Guard and locally established police/defense forces, and in the case of Motavia and Dezoris militias.
Alis' friend Tairon/Odin assists her by serving as the leader/general of the Royal Guard, having overseen the formation of its divisions and recruitment of men and women.

Lutz/Noah in the meantime has started on the recruitment and training of a new generation of Espers and has received aid from Queen Alis in the form of financing and has been given a location on Palma to establish an Esper Academy.

Despite the reformations and restoration of previously taken freedoms the Algo system is still in turmoil.
There are conflicts amongst civilians themselves, growing tensions between Palmans and the indigenous inhabitants of other worlds, and outside threats such as wildlife and bandits.
More recently is the appearance of the so called 'Loyalists', former soldiers and officers of Lashiec's army who still claim loyalty to him and whom have sworn to remove the usurper from his throne.
They commit acts of sabotage and terrorism and occasionally openly attack settlements and the Royal Guard, but so far have not undertaken any serious military campaign.

More hidden on the background is the mysterious Church of Dark Force/Falz whose plans have interrupted by the defeat of Lashiec by Alis.
Though weakened from this loss the movement is slowly recuperating and is planning to spread its influence across the Algo system once again and corrupt queen Alis to bring her under their influence as they did with the previous ruler.

Though the government has made a degree of success in dealing with some of the more serious threats through the Royal Guard and local police/defense forces, and has mediated in civilian matters, Alis and her councilors have come to the conclusion that a more active effort must be undertaken to protect the general population from outside threats and offer impartial aid and deal with matters before they can escalate.

For that reason Alis together with Odin has decided to recruit and train groups of adventurers (call them hunters if you really must) that will serve as representatives of the government but will have more mobility and independence to travel across the Algo system and seek and and resolve problems before they grow any larger.

Membership is open to to all the sentient species of the Algo system, and even a number of the Esper Academy's students have joined in order to complete their training.


Locations and planets

Though the maps of Phantasy Star 1 (Generation 1) and Phantasy Star 2 (Generation 2) would be used were applicable, I do think these worlds are much larger than just the game areas and I encourage players to think of additional continents, islands and so on.
For example polar regions on Palma even though we did not see these in the first game.

In addition there might be more settlements or landmarks on existing maps that simply did not appear in the games because they were not relevant.


Palma

The jewel of the Algo system, Palma is a temperate to tropical world that is home to two indigenous sentient species; Palmans and Muskcats.
Civilization/technology wise it is the most advanced of the three planets and is considered the Algo system's political and economical heart, though that probably applies mostly if not only for the Palman people, as both Motavians and Dezorians feel no connection to it and its leadership.

Various settlements are found on each continent, ranging from small towns with only one or two means of support, to massive metropoles inhabited by thousands dedicated to various industries.
Also scattered across the surface of the planet are the ruins and remains of bygone ages such as forgotten towers, castles, catacombs and caverns, some of them still holding riches and relics of the past.

Though Palma is perhaps the most developed of all the three worlds and their moons, it is by no means absolutely save.
Outside the perimeters of its settlements and the most traveled roads there still exists a wilderness with many unknown and untamed parts that are home to various wildlife as well as bandit gangs who use it as a hideout for their operations.

– Camineet

The political capital of Palma, it is the largest city on Palma and home to thousands.
The government of Palma has its offices here and Queen Alis' palace is located nearby (she chose not to settle in the Air Castle), the headquarter of the Royal Guard and various other government branches are located in or near Camineet.
Almost every company has a store or office here, and though some settlements offer a larger variety of goods or services or unique ones, most needs and demands can be fulfilled here.


– Parolit

Originally a satellite town to Camineet, Parolit has grown into its own as a support city to the space port.
A lot of the space port workers, technicians, pilots, and their families live at Parolit, and many of the local businesses are somewhat connected to it, or support the citizens and any travelers making use of the space port; shops, transport companies, components manufacturers, and the academy where technicians and pilots are trained.

With space travel being accessible for all people again it is expected that Parolit will increase in size as more people and companies will settle here in order to be close to the space port and the jobs and business it provides.


– Scion

Palma's largest port city, its habor services passenger liners, transport ships, fishing boats, and the Royal Guard's navy.
A large number of ship construction yards, maintenance docks, and connected manufacturing plants and services are found next to it.

The city's economy is strongly focused on import and export with some fishing on the side, and is home to dozens of stores with goods from around Palma.

A hoover train runs on regular schedule between it and Camineet, transporting goods and people.


– Eppi

The hidden town, Eppi was established by those who sought to escape Lashiec's reign and gaze but could not escape to Motavia or Dezolis.
When Lashiec and his followers were removed from power many of the inhabitants chose to return to their previous homes in Camineet and the larger towns, but a handful of residents remained that have grown fond of the isolation and quiet.

Queen Alis knows of the settlement but in general lets its people live out their lives as they want.
Some people of her government have shown their concerns that Eppi might attract bandits who will want to make use of the town's hidden location as a base of operations for their raids on the countryside and wish that the queen or her friends reveals the location of the town to them.


– Gothic

Gothic has somewhat suffered since the fall of Lashiec.
Though the inhabitants that were captured by Lashiec's robot police from the nearby Gothic Prison returned here after being freed by Alis and her friends, its most economic influential residents; Dr Luveno and his assistant left the town to return to Parolit once the arrest warrants on them have been lifted.

Though queen Alis wished to close down the Gothic prison permanently the facility was deemed necessary to imprison the bandits that plague Palman cities and towns on the main continent as well as any war criminals from Lashiec's government.

As a result the town has attracted a number of unsavory figures.


– Bortevo

Bortevo continues as it has done before the fall of Lashiec, it is still primarily a junkyard where machines are send to to be dismantled, but it has become a more proper town thanks to financial aid from the government.
Nearby a bridge has been constructed to connect it to the third island that makes up the main continent of Palma and it is an important crossing point for transport of goods.


– Drasgow

After the ban on traveling over the ocean was banned Drasgow started to recover from the isolation that had been imposed on it.
These days it is an important stop over point for ships traveling between the main continent and the rest of Palma and is also known for its fishing industries and gas mines that provide fuel.


– Loar

Loar has also benefitted from the lifting of the travel sanctions and the re establishment of trade between the various towns and cities.
Its close proximity to Camineet result in a bridge being established between it and the main island and as a result a lot of travelers have been coming through the town, increasing the number of inhabitants, stores, and industry.

The natural habor located on the other side of Loar has also attracted investors who are considering establishing a port in the future there.


– Abion

Abion has drawn the short end of the stick, it has come to prosper again with the removal of Lashiec's chief scientist Doctor Mad, but it has not exactly been able to improve its economy or size due to its isolated position.
For a while there were some talks about establishing a shipping port here before surveyors deemed the bay near Loar to be far more suitable for such a massive construction project.

Worse, the evil work that Doctor Mad once did here still haunts many people who as a result wish to avoid Abion.


– The Great Wall


– Baya Malay


– Air Castle

The Air Castle has been left mostly abandoned after Lashiec was defeated there other than some Royal Guard members and caretakers who maintain the palace and go through its records to determine what criminal acts Lashiec and his followers had done that have never been brought to justice and have been investigated.

There have been talk about converting the Air Castle into a museum similar to Baya Malay but not much have come of that, mostly because of the castle's negative reputation.

Espers who have visited the Air Castle feel a great sense of oppression and darkness throughout its walls, as if the evil that once resides here is still not completely extinguished.


– Palma's moon(s)

In this era Palma's moon is still pretty undeveloped.
Palmans' landed on its almost two centuries ago and since then the moon has been mapped by probes and robotic rovers on its surface, analysis of its geological make up have revealed large abundance of metals.
It also holds large supplies of Helium 3 formed by solar wind.

Though there has been interest in the past to develop the moon for industrial and colonization purposes, only a scientific outpost currently exists on it.
Lashiec who sought to centralize the population of Palma as much as possible in the greater cities, restricted travel to the moon and sought to eliminate colonization of it completely.

Under the new government the moon's surface is once again open for exploration and exploitation.


– Motavia

The desert world. Motavia is in general a desolate inhospitable world covered in deserts and mountain ranges with the exception of a few large and many small oases around which life tends to gather.
Its sole sentient indigenous people are the owl like Motavians, though a number of Palmans have migrated to the planet and have established a space port and several settlements.

Geological survey of the planet have revealed there to be large deposits of metal ore beneath its surface including radioactive ores useful for nuclear fuel.
Several mining companies have set up operations on the planet to mine these.
Motavia also has some rare organic molecules in its few oases that are of scientific and pharmaceutical interest.

As much as Lashiec wanted to dismantle the Palman colony which he saw as a potential hotbed of rebellion, his army and industry simply relied to much on the raw materials that were mined here.
Instead he assigned a large number of troops to watch over the population and their governor whose loyalty to the Lashiec government was in doubt.

With the troops now gone the colonists now enjoy a greater degree of freedom and seek to increase their effort to tame the planet and claim its mineral treasures.
This however has brought them into conflict with the native Motavians who feel that their lifestyle and existence has come under threat by the colonists that compete with them for the same basic resources necessary for survival.

There are far less settlements and outposts of civilization on Motavia than on Palma due to the lack of life essentials.
Also Motavians tend to be in general rather migratory, moving in tribes that seldom settle down on one location permanently.

There are a few ruins of the ancient past on this planet, but there are also a great deal of caverns that have never been fully explored.


– Motavia's moon(s)

Undeveloped desolate worlds that have only been visited by a few Palman astronauts, but have been partly surveyed by probes and robotic rovers.
Their composition seems to be the roughly the same as that of Palma's moon.

At this time no one has shown any interest yet in exploring the moons fully or set up any kind of colony, scientific installation, or industrial site.


– Dezoris

The frozen world. Dezoris' surface is covered in snow fields, ice, and mountain ranges, and seems to be almost eternally frozen to most, though it does experience brief springs and summers that ensure that life can survive on its surface.
Without these life on the surface would have been extinguished a long time ago.
Some study suggests that there might also exist geothermal wells beneath the surface that create 'life zones' were life can persist for longer periods.
Its only sentient lifeform are the green skinned Dezorians, a rather spiritual people.

Because Dezoris is considered even more inhospitable than Motavia, it was considered less interesting for exploration and colonization by the Palmans until Laconian ore was discovered on the planet.

As weapons made of Laconian ore were one of Lashiec's few weaknesses he quickly recalled the colonists on the planet and forbid any further travel to it.
But as Lashiec's oppression increased on Palma and Motavia new migrants came to Dezoris to escape his rule and established the hidden settlement of Skure.

In truth little has changed since the defeat of Lashiec other than the Palman migrants have come out of hiding so to speak.
An official space port has been established near Skure and regular scheduled space flights take place between it, Palma, and Motavia.

Skure settlers however have made more effort to establish formal relations with the Dezorians and a few have actually been allowed to settle in Skure.
The leaders of the Dezorians are most interested in the technologies that allowed for the excavation of the cavern and the generation of a temperate micro climate, wishing to use it to establish more settlements for their own people with more ideal conditions.

Unlike Motavia there are more ruins of a bygone age on Dezoris, as well as various unexplored caverns.


– Dezoris' moon(s)

Dezoris' moon has neither been surveyed or even visited as Palman astronauts headed directly for Dezoris.
As a result its surface and composition is unknown though Palman astronomers suspect it will be similar to Palma's moon and those of Motavia.

Perhaps in the far future it will draw more interest from explorers.


Factions and groups of interest

The Royal Guard

The armed forces of the new government, the Royal Guard replaces the defunct army of Lassic that was official disbanded when Alis assumed the throne of Palma.
Alis appointed Odin/Tairon as the leader of the Royal Guard which would assume the duties of protecting Palma and its citizens from both internal and outside threats, creatures or sentient beings.




Some of the lower ranking members of Lassic's army; those people who had not committed any crimes against the general population of Palma, Motavia, and Dezoris, were allowed to join the Royal Guard as a gesture that even they could be redeemed.
This brought some necessary skills and training as the new Royal Guard had to organized from the ground up, none of Lassic's higher ranking officers could be trusted as a lot of them either had sympathies to the Loyalists or already joined them.

The Royal Guard is divided in three branches which in their turn are made up of various divisions various roles and specialization.
The regular army which includes infantry, mechanized divisions, artillery, engineers, medical, technicians, and intelligence.
The navy which includes sailors, pilots, bridge personnel, gunners, technicians, medical, and intelligence. (the marines are part of the navy but have their own internal hierarchy)
The air force that is made up of; ground personnel, pilots, technicians, intelligence

The space force is a new branch to the Royal Guard and currently still part of the air force, still it is expected to grow into its own branch with its own divisions in the future



Esper Academy

A training school for the next generation of Espers that was founded by Noah/Lutz with support of queen Alis.
Part of the school's mission was for Noah to pass on his knowledge, skills and experiences onto new Espers and increase their numbers, the school's secondary mission was to raise and train talented Espers that would watch over Algo and protecting its indigenous people on all three worlds from great dangers they could not protect themselves against.

Noah/Lutz originally started out with just a handful of students who he could teach and train personally.
Though none of these have completed their training yet and achieved status of master Lutz felt that this first group of students was capable enough to start training new groups of Esper students in the basics while they complete their own training under Noah.

This academy currently exists on Palma but would eventually move to Dezoris and become known as the Esper mansion, slowly disappearing from general public knowledge and records.
Unlike its later incarnations the Esper Academy is rather well known now and has drawn Palmans from all over Palma, and even from Motavia and Dezoris who wish to be tested as Esper and start training here.

Unfortunate it has also drawn the attention of the Loyalists (and unknown to most people the Church of Dark Force) who perceive the new generation of Espers as a threat but also wish to destroy the academy for Noah/Lutz' involvement in the fall of King Lashiec.

The academy has a minimum of luxuries and distractions as part of Esper training is to focus on the development of one's own mind and powers, and not be distracted by the outside world.

When Queen Alis decided to organize groups of adventurers to handle problems that the local police can not handle or have no time to handle Noah/Lutz urged some of his more talented students to join these groups and hone their skill with experiences in the field.


Motavia Militia

A volunteer army that is separate from the Motavia Security Forces (Police).
This organization made up of male and female Palman colonists was organized after the fall of Lassic and disbanding of his army.
The colonist realizing they needed an armed force of their own that would deal with threats from outside the Palman colonies, rather than internal ones which are handled by the Security Forces.
Threats such as wildlife but also the native Motavians themselves who have grown increasingly hostile to the Palman colonists.



Queen Alis has been discussing with the governor of Motavia of also establishing the Royal Guard on Motavia, absorbing the existing Motavia Milita into its ranks.
So far the population of Motavia have decline this proposal, feeling that the presence of the Royal Guard would remind them to much of the previous occupation by Lassic's army.

They use and operate a variety of weapons and equipment such as military versions of landrovers and donated flyers and spaceships that were either bought from Palma or donated to them by the Palman government and the Royal Guard
Motavian equipment tends to be better designed for Motavian conditions than their Palman equivalents.


Dezolis Militia

A volunteer army that like Motavia's is separate from the local police forces, training to handle tasks the police/security forces can not handle.
Unlike the Motavia Militia the Dezolisian Militia includes both Palman colonists and native Dezolisian.




The Dezolisian Militia also has a variety of equipment, weapons, and vehicles which includes armed ice breakers, flyers, and spaceships which they either manufactured themselves or bought from Palma.
Like with Motavian equipment, Dezolisian versions also tend to designed to better deal with conditions on Dezolis than the Palman versions.


Bandits

These are renegade Palmans, Motavians or Dezolisians who prey on inhabitants of settlements or travelers for supplies and riches for themselves or to sell on.
Some of them have become criminals out of poverty and desperation while others pursue it because it is easier (and more enjoyable) than honest work.
Not all of them are truly evil and can be talked down with proper diplomatic skill, they can also have a degree of honor and ethics and will never attack the unarmed, wounded, elderly, or children.

Training and equipment varies per bandit group, some gangs are just a handful of men and women are with swords, pistols and improvised armor, while others are well trained, organized, and equipped with good civilian or even military hardware.

Small groups tend to be stationary but larger groups are often mobile, using civilian issue or captured military vehicles to move around such as landrovers, hovercrafts, trucks, and APCs.
They often have a hideout somewhere in the wilderness where they can rest between raids, maintain their equipment and vehicles, and store their stolen goods.

Bandits on the Palman sea are referred to as Pirates.
They often operate small fast pleasure craft, transport ships, or fisher-boats that have been modified for raiding purposes, being equipped with a cannon or a grenade launcher in order to force a civilian and commercial vessel to stop.
Some pirates even have access to submarines that allow them to sneak up on potential targets.

In general when encountered they should be considered dangerous until determined otherwise, but even sympathetic bandits are still criminals.

The Loyalists tend to work together with some of the more extreme bandit and pirate gangs on Palma, Motavia and Dezolis (Palmans only, Loyalists never work with native Motavians or Dezolisians), providing them with weapons and equipment or training them in combat and combat support skills (such as vehicle repair).
These allied bandit groups are used by the Loyalists to hinder the government and local authorities, shut down trade, and commit acts of sabotage, or are occasionally used as mercenary support for Loyalist operations.

In general Loyalists think little of their bandit 'allies', at best something to be used when they prove to be useful.

Bandit gangs made up of Motavians or Dezolisians often tend to be immoral members of their own societies or xenophobes who have developed an intense hatred for Palmans on 'their' worlds.
Sometimes they work together with criminal Palmans or make use of the black market to sell stolen goods.


Space Pirates

These are a special type of 'bandits', unlike their planet bound counterparts Space Pirates easily travel beween the planets and target passenger liners and cargo ships that travel between Palma and its colonies.
Some of them however will not hesitate to make planet fall and raid a settlement or colony before quickly retreating back into space.

As space craft can not remain in space permanently in this age Space Pirates need to land from time to time, if only to sell any goods and supplies they don't need themselves to black market dealers.
So a number of secret space ports and bases have been established on the three planets where Space Pirates can settle down for a while.
It is suspected however that Space Pirates might actually operate space ports and bases on the moons of the three planets, and perhaps in the asteroid clusters throughout the Algo system.

Space Pirate ships tend to be refitted civilian vessels such as passenger shuttles that have been fitted with offensive and defensive systems such as a laser cannon and a magnetic harpoon/grappler to capture a ship and pull it in so it can be boarded by Pirate shock troops.
Weapons and in particular destructive weapons tend to be minimal as Pirates seek to capture ships rather than destroy them.

There have been a number of 'original' Space Pirate ship designs seen in use that do not match any of the ships that are manufactured on Palma.
This suggests that Space Pirates are operating a shipyard or multiple shipyards somewhere and have the industry and infrastructure to support these.


Loyalists

An organization made up of former soldiers and officer of Lashiec's army, and even some politicians from his government.
When Lashiec was removed from power and Alis ascended the throne of Palma, one of her first actions was to disband the old army and the government Lashiec had used to control the Algo system.
Some of its members were also were brought before court for the crimes they had committed and abuse of power during Lashiec's reign.

Many of Lashiec's more fervent and loyal followers realized that it would only be a matter if time before they would all be arrested and went underground to regroup and organize into what would become the Loyalists.
Since then they have undertaken a campaign of propaganda, sabotage and attacks on the new government and anyone connected to it or in favor of it.

Led by general (will fill in a name here later), the Loyalists claim that queen Alis is an usurper who murdered king Lashiec in order to claim his throne and ruler-ship over Algo, and was aided by other anti government elements who support her for their own interests.
Their goal is to remove Alis from the throne, disband her illegitimate government, and return power to its rightful rulers.

Surprisingly a number of citizens, especially those who benefited from Lashiec's rule have been supporting this movement with money and resources, and have provided save havens for them across Algo.

The Loyalists are more than just a renegade movement of soldiers and politicians as they have access to advanced weaponry and technology as well as industrial infrastructure to develop and create more of these.

What is withholding them to engage the new government and the Royal Guard in the open is their limited numbers and a lack of support from the general population, but the Loyalists seek to remedy this.

The Loyalists are in league with other anti government elements such as bandits and Space Pirates, providing these with weapons, training, and information to hinder the government wherever possible.

Despite being against Alis' government the Loyalists are not members of the Church of Dark Force/Dark Falz.
It does have members of that cult amongst their ranks who influence and manipulate the Loyalists for their own cause.


The Church of Dark Force/Falz (working name)

A religion brought to the Algo system by alien monks from another star system, it was this cult that influenced King Lashiec and eventually corrupted him to the point that he sought to destroy all of Algo
The Church of Dark Force is less known than the Loyalist movement by the general population and only a few people actually believe it truly exists.
This lack of knowledge comes from the fact that the Church prefers to work in secrecy, manipulating people and affairs from behind the scenes rather than operate openly.

Though Lashiec was its biggest supporter along with members of his government, the Church of Dark Force has members in every class of society, from influential politicians, popular entertainers, and scholars, to the most common street worker.
And it continues to operate and recruit new members despite the fall of Lashiec, slowly expanding its numbers and influence.

Followers of the Church practice strange rituals and have access to dark magical powers that allow them to summon and control powerful entities.
What the Church is actually after is rather unknown at this time, but what is known is that it seeks to corrupt and control queen Alis as it did before with king Lashiec, picking up where he was stopped.


Creatures

– Natural wildlife

The three worlds of Algo are host to a variety of lifeforms unique to their own biospheres though some of managed to be transplanted, even before the age of space travel, and this enigma still baffles scientists.
Life ranges from very simple and primitive to very complex and advanced, sometimes bordering on true sentience and self awareness such as the fish men.

A lot of them like most of the plants and most mammals are mostly harmless to sentient beings, with some of them even tamable or domesticated or having found a niche in Algo civilization such as rats which live of left overs discarded by people.

This also applies to most of the insect forms, reptilian forms and birds, even those that can not be domesticated or tamed in general don't pose a threat to people and can easily be scared of should they become a problem.

But in all of these species categories, including singe celled life there are also exceptions as there are larger and dangerous variants of each of them including wild versions of tamed species.
Some of them even have abilities that are not found in the same category of life such as mobile flesh eating plants who have developed a degree of awareness and cunning, or giant amoebae that actually hunt larger lifeforms in numbers.

Scientists, scholars, and Esper historian theorize that some of the more extreme versions of these types of lifeforms are not the result of regular evolution and development but the result of magic which was more prevalent in the past than it is now.
Llike radiation, random and powerful magical energy can cause unsuspected changes in lifeforms and often in a single generation, and those who survive pass these traits on which sometimes intensify.

Other creatures and plants might actually be the result of magical tampering of their biology, and were created for a purpose before they either were set loose or escaped into the wilderness.
They are however not magical creatures (which will be detailed later) as they still rely on traditional biology rules, how sometimes warped they may be in their case.

Like any regular lifeforms they need to have internal organs, need to eat, breathe, and so on. They are warped as in being perhaps so large for their species type that the rules of biology and physics should deem them impossible if it wasn't for magic.

– Musk cats

Musk cat are a curious entry in this structure of life.
Though they most behave like animals they most definitely are intelligent and self aware and are capable of decision making and even learning the languages of Palmans.
What makes it difficult for some scholars to call them a fully sentient lifeform is that Musk cat don't have anything resembling a traditional civilization, they don't have a written language, or make tools though they know how to use these. They even know how to use techniques.

Rather some Musk cats are quite happily with their place as pets and companions animals to Palmans as long as they are treated right.
This has led to a discussion to define Musk cats as opportunist sentient lifeforms, something Musk cats themselves definitely don't agree with.

Outside scientific circles who wish to classify everything down in definable terms Musk cats are quite a well accepted member of Palman society and beloved friends and pets to many people.

Some Musk cats have even chosen to participate in Queen Alis program of establishing adventure groups to deal with small crises and situations throughout the Algo system.

Those who live outside the settlements in general gather into or tribes or clans, often related to each other in some way or having formed alliances.
These tribes are led by elders, patriarch or matriarch who have reached an advanced age and who are the most wise and experienced of the clan.

Each of these clans often controls a section of territory that serves as a hunting ground and borders on the territories of other musk cat tribes or clans.
Transgressions of these boundaries are in general not allowed and intruders are quickly confronted and driven back to their own territories unless clans wish to interact with each other regarding sharing space or exchange of members.

Though Musk cats do sometimes fight each other it is nothing like the armed conflicts of Palmans, Motavians, and Dezolisians. Most of a fight is a lot showing off to intimidate the other and convince him or her to turn tail and go back.
Musk cats actually wounding or even killing each other in a fight is unheard off and Musk cats rather frown on this question when asked.


– Magical creatures

Not all creatures in the Algo system are of natural origin, some creatures are the result of magical intervention or evolution, and some might even be of other planes of existence that have found their way to ours.
Legends speak that before there even were nation states that bickered amongst each other on Palma, that during the time of the first city states great wizard wars took place during which some of the creatures that are around today were created, and even then some creatures and entities were already around from even more ancient past.

What makes magical creatures so dangerous is that they tend to be powerful and unpredictable.
Some are mindless but others have a malevolent intelligence that holds no sympathy for regular mortals.

Fortunately magical does not mean invulnerable and are they are susceptible to both regular weaponry and ESP powers.

Something that sets magical creatures apart from natural creatures that they can have an internal structure that biologically makes no sense, for example no internal organs such as a digestion system or anything resembling a nervous system or a brain which any regular life form of similar size and shape would require to function.

Esper scholars theorize that some of these beings actually come from a formless state and assume their current shape when they move into our realm of existence.
As they derive their energy from the magical ether they have no need for the basic essentials scholars understand any regular lifeform would need.
Why some of them actually do consume organic or inorganic matter leads to new questions than can not be easily answered.


Technology

This is always seems to be a passion of mine in any story or RPG and I really would like to go into detail into specific devices, machines, vehicles and so on.
But for now I will just generalize it all and later as ideas for more specific designs come to mind describe those within this list or as a separate entry.

Some of the entries such as military vehicles will probably be completely useless to the player as these are in general handled by the Royal Guard, the Loyalists, and the militias in a smaller capacity.
I mostly mention these to make clear that they exist and that players could potentially come across them.

But in general I recommend that only civilian and light military vehicles are directly accessible for the player.
Their goal after all is to deal with smaller more local matters and not actually fight wars that involve dozens of vehicles and other equipment.


– Weapons

Weapons range from the most basic and simple designs such as swords, knives, and axes, to the most advanced which include guns, rifles, cannons, and missile launchers.
Even traditional weapons have their modern equivalents such as vibro blades and vibro axes.
The crossbow for example despite the creation of guns is still a used and very effective weapon, replacing the traditional launcher with an electro magnetic one.

The same goes from armors, shields, and guards, traditional types are still in use, but more modern types also exist and are used by police and military forces such as Electronic Armor that was developed by Lashiec's engineers for his regular army.

Then there is also mystical and enchanted gear and equipment, many of them created long ago and the method of their creation long forgotten since.
Some of them have been recovered over the years but other still remain hidden.

Some of this equipment is not for sale to civilians, after all, having people wander around on the streets with powerful military gear is asking for problems.
Even adventurers who are directly supported by Alis can not just buy these in shops and from quartermasters, they are trouble solvers and not military.

Still players might come across them in the field, in armories or on the body of fallen foes, and if they have the right training and skills they can use these for themselves.


– Gadgets/Instruments/Devices

These range from mobile phones, media devices, and small computers, to large specialized tools and machines.
They tend to be popular amongst the Palman population for entertainment and practical purposes and even some Dezolisians have taken a liking to them, especially communication devices and navigational tools.

Various brands exist on the market with their own strengths and weaknesses, and some companies specialize in making custom designed ones on order of individuals, groups, and organizations.

Defensive and combat support gadgets and devices also exists for both the civilian market and military use. (think thermal goggles and such).


– Robots

A large variety of robots exists for all kinds of roles and purposes, workers and maintenance robots, entertainment and companion models, mobile extensions to computers, and patrol and monitoring types.
All are hard wired to never hurt a living being or let one come to harm by inaction on their part.
Even security models are not armed and can at best obstruct a person or being if they need to restrain these.

Armed and military models do exists but have been mostly outlawed by the new government as they were used as tools by the previous government to suppress the civilian population and serve as ruthless executioners.
Only a select number that have undergone reprogramming are still being used and their purpose is in general to protect civilians from dangerous wildlife, they are not allowed to engage bandits or Loyalists.


When the Loyalists formed they stole a large number of the robot soldiers that Alis had ordered to be deactivated so that they can be dismantled later, and used these to bolster their own armed forces.
Because they are very powerful, are not easily taken down, and operate in large numbers the Loyalists boast that military wise they are superior to the Royal Guard, and that it is only a matter before they are wiped out from the battlefield.

But for all these superior capabilities military robots also have a number of weaknesses.
For one their programming is far less flexible than the minds of living people, and in general rely on pre programmed instructions to deal with situations they don't normally encounter.

Secondly, they need to remain in range of a master computer system that handles communication between the various units and quickly relays information and new orders to them.
When out of range of these military robots need to operate independently, and quickly become even less effective.

Third, they need to be maintained and recharged from time to time.
When they are out of range of stationary or mobile maintenance and recharge stations their condition can start to deteriorate, especially when exposed to the more extreme climates in the wilderness.
They can cope with these for a while but not indefinitely.


Robot designs tend to be non humanoid to barely humanoid and are easily distinguishable from living beings.
Androids however are already in development in company and university laboratories, and some of the first prototypes are being tested in the field.
Still it will take centuries of development and legislation before models can be made that perfectly mimic Palmans or any other living being.

Dalos: the Dalos series of androids is one of the first functional android types that can operate outside controled environments.
Development of the series has only recently been completed and a number of them are now in use by the Palma government.

Rumor goes that development on the Dalos series first started when Lashiec ordered the creation of androids that could replace the robot police and even living soldiers employed by him.
Fortunate the Dalos that are in use are not programmed to oppress people but rather to protect and assist them.
Queen Alis has allowed the designers to program some of them as members for adventurer groups.

Though the Dalos android type act as if they are self aware they are not truly alive and rather act according to a very complex computer program.
This program is very complex and capable of rewritting and modifying itself through learned experience in order to become more efficient, better suited to various tasks, and interact in a more natural way with living beings.

The designers believe that it might be possible for a Dalos type android to truly become self aware when their neural network reaches a certain critical mass through the information it collects.


– Vehicles

Vehicles come in all shape and sizes, from physically powered recreational ones (bikes), personal and recreational ones, to transport and construction ones.

With the development of the transporter vehicles have become somewhat less common on the streets of large cities except for those who enjoy driving and cargo transport vehicles, but they are more regularly used in smaller cities and towns to get around and make deliveries.

Vehicles are even more used in the wilderness where there are no transporter and where they next to comfort also provide protection from wildlife and the elements.

On Motavia, Dezolis and even parts of Palma some vehicles are absolutely essential to get around and overcome the wilderness such as the hovercraft, landrover, and ice digger which come in a variety of sizes and can have multiple capabilities.

Civilian models of these can often be rented from settlements and some of the newer types come with automated navigation systems.
The more larger ones are equipped with multiple facilities such as living space, medical bays and additional facilities and can serve as mobile camps for those who seek to explore the wilderness far away from civilization.


Ships and planes should in general be treated as ground vehicles, they are usually divided in recreational and transport types, though more specialized ones such as patrol and those designed for scientific pursuits also exists and are used by dedicated organizations such as universities, wildlife preservation, and emergency aid services.


Military and combat vehicles are actually rare as since the unification wars on Palma there has not been a general need for them other than patrol and transport ones.
Still Lashiec wanted his army to be prepared for anything and had his designers and engineers design and construct a number of offensive, defensive, and support vehicles such as tanks, anti tank vehicles, mobile artillery, APCs, AA guns, radar trucks, field engineer vehicles and other such.

When the Loyalists formed their movement they stole a number of these from badly guarded depots and quickly put them to use for their own cause.
They are even able to maintain them and manufacture some of their own, suggesting that they control a factory plus the necessary infrastructure somewhere.

Since then the Royal Guard has adopted use of combat vehicles as well and now has several armored divisions continuously active, ready to roll out when Loyalist forces are sighted.


What goes for ground military vehicles applies as well as for the Air Force and the Navy.
Before Lashiec's reign and during it there was little need for squadrons of fighters, bombers, interceptors or other military aircraft, other than a handful to monitor the surface from the air for any insurgence and quickly deal with it.

Navy wise nothing bigger than a cruiser was ever needed to deal with any pirates and rebels on sea, no large fleets consisting of destroyers, battleships, carriers, submarines, and support ships have existed for a long time.

That of course changed with the rise of the Loyalists.
They quickly picked up these largely forgotten but still very powerful military technologies and the Royal Guard followed suit.

There are still no large fleet of ships on the sea, ready to on civilian vessels or attack cities and ports located at coasts.
But already new designs of battleships and submarines have been leaving secret Loyalist ports and have been unnerving commercial vessels, fishermen, and civilians living close to the sea who wish to see the Royal Guard more active in these areas.

Likewise there have not been dozens of squadrons of Loyalist fighters and bombers taking to the air as it is quiet expensive and time consuming to deploy such a force.
But they do exist and has forced the Royal Guard to increase its own air forces significantly to defend settlements under their protection and strike back at any Loyalist airfield or other installation they can find.


– Spaceships

Spaceships in this era range from small suborbital shuttles, private shuttles and planet hoppers, to large passenger liners, cargo ships, and survey vessels designed to explore the Algo system.

So far all of them are designed to be constructed on the surface of planets and take off and land on it but already concepts exist on the drawing board for larger vessels that need to be constructed in orbit and permanently stay in space, including massive starships that will one day travel to other star systems at speeds near that of light.

Space travel is in general available for anyone, a regular civilian only has to have a ticket and travel documents to travel to any of the three planets (flights to the moons are not available during this time for civilians) as passenger liners fly between these on regular schedules.

If adventurers wish to travel to another planet they are in general advised to take a civilian liner.

Companies operate their own transport and cargo vessels that follow their own schedules but often also make use of the three major spaceports on Palma, Motavia, and Dezoris.
Companies that can not afford their own ship usually reserve space on a ship belonging to one of the larger companies or those specialized in space transport.

Private spaceships are more rare and can only be afforded by some.
A person must not only be able to buy a spaceship but also undergo the training to actually fly one in order to earn a permit to actually be allowed to own a ship.
As with any vehicle, a spaceship can become potential hazard to others if flown by an untrained pilot, or turned into a potential weapon by those with evil thoughts.

There is an exception to this rule if the owner of a spaceship purchases a robot pilot or computer pilot from the companies that manufacture those and install these in their ship.
These are programmed to never relinquish control to any untrained person.

Adventurers will be able to get access to their own personal spaceship at some point, giving them greater mobility to explore the worlds of the Algo system.
These sleek shuttles are of a custom design made specifically for adventurers on order of Alis and contain everything a party would need during travel such as living space and quarters, a medical bay, a machine shop, storage bays and cargo rooms, vehicle bays for landrovers, ice diggers, and hovercrafts, and of course a bridge and engineering section.

These ships tend to be designed for comfort and speed and carry no armaments.
Defensive features consist of impact armor to protect against dust and micro meteors, and an electromagnetic field generator that keeps the passengers safe from cosmic radiation and solar wind.


Military spaceships like planetary combat vehicles, ships, and planes are relatively rare and relatively 'new' to the scene.
They were not around during the unification wars and Lashiec did not really need them as he practically controlled the entire system already.
Only a few token ones were ever constructed to show that Lashiec's influence also spread to the space between the planets.

But with the rise of Space Pirates and the Loyalists they are becoming more common, and already the Royal Guard is forming a space division to deal with them.

Military spaceships tend to be engines of destruction, basically a propulsion system, a power source, deep space radar, sensor arrays, auto-telescopes, computers, various armaments, and a life support bubble for the crew that includes the bridge, engineering, and living quarters and such, that is completely surrounded by layers of thick dissipating and reflective armor.

Royal Guard ships tend to be designed for ship to ship warfare but Loyalists are designing their own ships for a second more nefarious purpose; planetary bombardment.
Using rail guns, bombs, or just dropping meteors at a high velocity, Loyalist space bombers are designed to serve as a tool of terror on their own, or a support ship to any planetary forces.

I probably rambled a lot on about the technological aspects of the setting I made up, but as I described before that tends to be a passion of my mine.
By no means should people here think that I seek to diminish the fantasy part of the setting with all kinds of machines, I just want to make clear that I imagine that there was a lot more that we did not see in the games because it was simply not necessary to show.

I also hope I have not written texts to long, a friend of mine has already advised me to keep ideas down to a handful of sentences but I always feels that I should give as much information as possible, even if it is the first draft.

As I write down more ideas I will update the post above.

Don't worry about "rambling on about the technological aspects," it's a first draft-in-progress. The technical aspects do interest me as a sci-fi fan, and you could always do what, say, the Star Wars Saga Edition RPG did with its gear; just include a line in an equipment table like (and this is an example!)

Crossbow | 1d10 | Piercing | 75' Range | 350 Meseta | Two-Handed

and include down below in a list of gear writeups:

Crossbow
Even in this modern age, the humble crossbow still sees use among hunters and certain special ops forces spread across Algo. Though the traditional hand-winch has been replaced with a miniaturized rail gun, the principle behind this rifle-like weapon remains the same.

You need two hands to reload a crossbow. You can fire a crossbow one-handed, but you take a -4 penalty to the attack roll for doing so.

Also, I do recommend Wikia as a (reasonably) easy-to-use Wiki site. (Though I believe there was a major change with it lately, so your experience may vary from mine.) Google Docs is another alternative; you only have the one document, and you can set it so anybody with the link can view your work and provide suggestions.

Hi Snorb

Thank you for the feedback and advice.

Yes, once I have figured out all the equipment for the players (weapons, armor, tools, and so on), I would like to put it in a list like you are suggesting.
People who then click on a particular item like the crossbow then get a general oversight of said weapon.

(PS also thanks for correcting me on details such as a hand winch, I do know those terms but they don't always come to mind quickly enough)

Eventually I would like to include all existing weapons and armors but also introduce new ones such as the mentioned Electronic Armor.

And yes, I think a Wikia format would be much easier for readers on the eyes, separating lore such as locations, factions, creatures etc to their own pages.
I have been wanting for some time now to have a personal one where I could put down my ideas for RPG settings, not just Phantasy Star, but also Fallout etc.

BTW, I think it was your own Roleplaying Game that inspired me.
After going through it the first time I started to revise some of the ideas I had at the time.
I started for example out with all kinds of classes similar to a traditional DnD setting (warrior, ranger, clerk etc), but I really liked your idea about backgrounds.
Is it okay if I study it further?

For now I would like to focus on the lore I have in mind before going into the technical details.

You can absolutely study it! I might move away from what I had anyway, mostly because I'm working on a setting of my own using the Dead Simple system.

Also, uh, it's a reskin of the Star Wars Saga Edition system, but there's a major problem with it: Saga Edition stuff is not part of the Open Gaming License, which means I can't use any content from it in any kind of publicly-available roleplaying game. (Wizards of the Coast may have given up on Saga Edition back in like 2012 and the entire line's now out of print, but I'm not exactly a fan of the "Publish it anyway and see who tries to sue me into oblivion" school of roleplaying game design.)

That said, systems like the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Dead Simple, or Microlite20 are open content per the OGL, and thus you're allowed to modify and reprint them to your heart's content! =D

I have tried my hands on trying to create an original setting as well.
Often when I have made ideas I like for existing settings like this I try to transplant it to the new setting and modify it so that it fits in that worlds.
But very often I feel I am ripping off the said existing setting and make a much weaker 'clone' which does not sit well with me.

It does not mean I will give up trying to create an original setting, even Phantasy Star started out as an idea loosely based on other material such as Star Wars, but I want to be really convinced myself that an idea is good before I commit it to paper or a computer document file.

I know the feeling, believe me. (looks over to his GDocs folder full of half complete settings)

But never give up. And keep working on this-- jot down every idea, no matter what you think of it. You can always excise the stuff that doesn't work later. =)

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indiscernable from magic, and any sufficiently understood magic is indiscernable from technology." I'm a bit of a technical nut myself (Judging by how I spent over 250 words describing catnip and its effects on musk cats and numans). I do agree with Snorb that you have to start writing stuff down regardless of whether or not it seems that great at the time. That's how I wound up hijacking one of the multiple PS pen&papers Snorb had laying around and wrestled it together. I'm currently trying to sew together an excuse plot for a "smoke test" run after I'm done coercing Snorb into filling out the armor table.

Anyway, it looks like you have a good basis for a story there!

I have done a slight update on the earlier document and have now included the following.

Basic entries on the various military and milita organizations
Basic entry on regular creatures including Musk cats
Some more on magical creatures.
And I have included my take on the Dalos series of androids which would be selectable as a player character.

Not all of these entries are finished and I am sure to add more or change some entries.