Life on Eden

"Will, come on," Keeper Emmerson called back. "You're falling behind. Nightfall will be here in two hours -- we need to be at Base Camp by that time."

Groaning, Will picked up his pack. "Coming." He hurried along the narrow path up the barren gradient. When he reached the top, he was stunned to discover an awe-aspiring sight. The opposite slope below him was strewn with ground-covering vegetation. Beyond, thousands of euimours were flying in loose formation over a shallow sea, diving for fish and swarming jellies under the delicately hued evening sky. Looking west, his eyes could barely inscribe an imaginary arc from the scattered chain of islands that disappeared into a glowing, white squall formation forming over the foaming sea.

"Welcome to Impact Crater 001, intern," Keeper Emmerson stated plainly, a familiar smile creasing her face. "This is where Paradise Eden ended. Maybe, with a lot of work, we can usher in a new and better beginning." Emmerson gestured toward the trail that continued down toward the caldera sea below. "Come on," she continued, still smiling. "The adventure is just beginning."

Eden: a planet where neither needs nor desires seemed to go unsatisfied, without conflict, in blissful, cooperative anarchy. Unfortunately, the Fates had a different future in mind: following an out-of-control experiment over a hundred fifty years ago, Eden was devastated by a series of massive cometary impacts. Now, the survivors of the Apocalypse are struggling atop the ashes of an ecologically damaged world while the anarchy of their past has given way to warring kingdoms and privateer consortiums. Conflicts over now scarce resources have created numerous battlefields; doom cults abound; and a strained confederacy of kingdoms is nearing the brink of a global civil war as politicians and princes, seeking to protect their political assets, grasp toward hope for a future.

Life on Eden is the first sourcebook to detail the farthest of humanity's colony worlds, Eden. Within these covers, you will find:

• An extensive examination of Eden's solar system and planetary characteristics;
• A complete history of the Edenite colony;
• Source material on the Gan Eden Confederacy and the Privateer Consortiums;
• Extensive information on the cultures and habits found throughout Edenite society;
• Tips and tools for creating roleplaying campaigns on Eden;
• Game statistics for Edenite character archtypes, Fauna, Flora and important NPCs.

DP9-072, 128 pages
SRP $22.95US/$25.25Can.
ISBN 1-894814-78-9

Life on Eden Design Notes By Dennis D. Kirkpatrick Fantasy gaming is a major archetype in the current gaming market. Too often, the acronym SF is mistaken for meaning exclusively Sci-Fi, rather than its historical root Speculative Fiction. Under this assertion, the question of why science and fantasy must be separate macrocosms seems irrelevant and unsubstantiated. Life on Eden aspires to bridge that perceived gap, merging fantasy and science fiction into a singular vision and bringing a distinctly fantasy-like feel to Heavy Gear. Life on Eden depicts a world where mounted knights, sea-roaming privateers and fief peasants intermingle with armored walkers, technologically-advanced kingdoms and bio-engineered creatures of myth. In this way, Eden is an intricate blend of futuristic cities, vast frontiers, isolated communities and untamed seas, all of which serve as an inspiring backdrop to players engaging in simple "snatch and grab," "save the princess," "dungeon crawl" and "kill the dragon" scenarios. While Gamemasters can certainly pull their characters into the Heavy Gear plot threads that are laced throughout the book; they can also send their players on simple campaigns of wanderlust, merely exploring "what's over, or under, the hill." Aside from being a roleplaying supplement, Life on Eden opens up new tactical possibilities for the tactical gamer. Similar to other colony worlds of Heavy Gear, Eden has deployed the technology of the 62nd century in unique ways. To this end, the book employs the power and flexibility of the Silhouette Engine to enhance and expand Heavy Gear's tactical play. The interplay of intelligent communication networks for coordinating drones alongside armored cavalry armed with anti-vehicular weaponry creates new tactical opportunities and adds a distinctive atmosphere.
Table of Content Chapter One: Introduction Welcome to Eden Planetary Basics Map of Eden Eden's Sisters Chapter Two: History Earth's Farthest Daughter Soaring Upward After-Apocalypse Rise of the Gan Eden Confederacy Power Shifts Chapter Three: Gan Eden Confederacy The Confederated Kingdoms Significant Gan Eden Characters Gleaning off the Garden Doomsayers and Anarchists Kingdom and City Details Economics and Influences Politics and Motivations Military Organizations Kingdom Maps	Chapter Four: The High Seas of Eden The Impetus of the Sea Significant Privateer Characters The Privateer Consortiums Privateer Island Maps Chapter Five: Living on Eden Society Lifestyle Currency and Barter Arts and Entertainment Technology Chapter Six: Gamemaster Resources Campaigning on Eden Adventure Seeds Designing an Edenite Character Stock Personalities Being Equipped Non-Player Characters Creatures Field Guide Creating Edenite Combat Units Additional Tactical Rules
Life on Eden: Behind the Scenes "There must have been a moment, at the beginning, where we could have said, No. But somehow we missed it." -- From the play "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead" by Tom Stoppard This revelation has plagued humanity's stories for millennia. Many of our mythologies tell us that life’s happiness depends upon one small action withheld, that the dark chimeras of the soul are let loose on the world dependent on our own actions. Inevitably, the foundation of paradise rests on a single, sanctioning decision, our own. A box is opened, and all the world’s evils and sorrows fly out. A name is forgotten and mighty kingdoms burn in fire. A backward glance is waywardly taken, and love is lost forever. A fruit is shared and eaten, and the hope of immortality is gone. Eden is described in the Heavy Gear Rulebook as an extraordinary paradise, a planet where neither needs nor desires seem to persist unsatisfied. It is a place where humans live without conflict, in blissful, cooperative anarchy. However, if we are to learn anything from our myths, it is that paradise doesn't last. Remaining true to this monomyth, Eden would have to fall from the paradise that had defined it so far. Only then would the Edenites become participants in the Heavy Gear story, not just innocent observers looking in at the epic conflict. Ultimately, the Edenites would have to fall due to their own actions, not by accident or external will. It would be their own hubris, combined with their innocence that brings their paradise to an end. A cultural hubris so deeply rooted that the Edenites would inevitably be required to face their own human frailty against the resultant stigma. Nature shows us two very distinct manners of survival against external threats. The first manner is endo-adaptation, a survivalist method of adapting oneself to a changed environment. The biological diversity of Eukaryotes (organisms in which the genetic material is found within a nuclear membrane - namely protists, plants, animals, and fungi) depict this model of adaptation. The second manner is exo-adaption, in which one adapts one's surroundings to suit one's needs, one's vision of paradise. This model is best associated with extremophiles, a diverse and prolific collection of microorganisms from the domains Archaea and Eubacteria that live in extreme environments of varying heat and pressure. However, these models of adaptation are not limited to only the biological realm. They pervade the social interactions and resultant ideologies of human society. Individuals and groups constantly shift to counter the threats in their lives, either molding themselves to suit their environment, or altering the world to suit their own requirements. Within a fallen Eden, these elements of adaptation and all their social and spiritual perturbations crash down onto the Edenite psyche. The Edenites must struggle to survive amid the underpinning chaos of their Apocalypse, yet beneath this mantle, the Edenites have little time for remorse, only the primal drive to survive and a sacrificial hope for a future. This detachment from their actions becomes their Achilles' Heel as cultural Super Ego and Id collide. As spoken by the character of Julius Caesar in Shakespeare’s play by the same name, "The abuse of greatness is when it disjoins Remorse from power." Welcome to Eden, a world fallen from grace and struggling against itself to survive.