Outer Worlds RPG

The Outer Worlds is set in an alternate history where corporate power went unchecked after President William McKinley survived his 1901 assassination attempt. Without meaningful regulation, megacorporations expanded until they effectively became the government. A devastating conflict known as the Great War eventually led to the formation of the Earth Directorate, a one-world administrative body that catalogued star systems and licensed them to corporations for colonization. Faster-than-light travel became possible via the Skip Drive (technology reverse-engineered and attributed to Alexandra Varick of what became the Protectorate of Arcadia). Humanity spread outward, but the furthest systems remained corporate-owned company towns on a planetary scale. The story focuses on the Halcyon system, one of the most remote colonies. Ten corporations pooled resources to form the Halcyon Holdings Corporation (HHC) and purchase the system from the Earth Directorate. Two colony ships were sent: the Groundbreaker (which arrived) and the Hope (which was delayed for decades due to a Skip Drive malfunction and cryostasis failures). The Board (the HHC’s ruling body of CEOs) runs Halcyon as a pure corporate state. Contact with Earth has been lost or is extremely limited; the colony is isolated, resource-strapped, and rotting under mismanagement, planned obsolescence, and pure profit motive. How the World Works and Social Classes Halcyon is a hyper-capitalist dystopia with almost no middle class. Society is rigidly stratified by corporate rank and productivity. The elite / “Gold-bloods” live primarily in Byzantium on Terra 2. They occupy executive suites, enjoy imported luxuries, fine clothing, private security, and propaganda that paints the system as a utopia. Many never leave the city walls. They view workers as replaceable resources. The Board’s Chairman (Charles Rockwell of Universal Defense Logistics) and Adjutant (Sophia Akande) sit at the apex. Mid-level managers and specialists (town administrators, constables, scientists, vicars of the Order of Scientific Inquiry) form a thin layer. They receive better housing, limited medical care, and authority over workers, but remain disposable if they fail targets. Workers / laborers form the vast majority. They live in company towns (Edgewater is the classic example), work 12–16 hour shifts in canneries, mines, or factories, eat low-grade corporate food (Saltuna is a staple, often of questionable quality), and receive minimal or rationed medical care based on productivity. Illness, injury, or “low output” can mean denial of treatment and death. Desertion is treated as theft of company property. Gravesites are sometimes charged for. Propaganda constantly reinforces that serving the company is the highest good. Outsiders, deserters, and independents scrape by on the fringes, scavenging, smuggling, or living in ruins. The Groundbreaker station is the main independent hub. There is no meaningful social mobility for most. Contracts, debt, and corporate law bind people to their assigned roles. The Order of Scientific Inquiry provides a quasi-religious framework that frames the universe in scientific terms while reinforcing corporate order. Death is realistic and permanent: gunshot wounds, radiation, toxic atmospheres, aggressive mutated wildlife (mantisaurs, raptidons, primals), mechanical failure, starvation, or untreated disease can kill. Combat is dangerous; armor and medical technology mitigate but do not eliminate risk. People die, but not from trivial causes—wounds can be treated if resources and skills allow, and environmental hazards are the greater everyday threat. Planets and Major Locations The Halcyon system contains: Terra 2 — Primary habitable world. Features Emerald Vale (company towns like Edgewater run by Spacer’s Choice, botanical labs, geothermal plants), Roseway (research outpost), and Byzantium (gated elite city and Board headquarters). Monarch (formerly Terra 1) — Tidally locked moon of the gas giant Olympus. Terraforming mutated the local ecosystem into highly aggressive, oversized flora and fauna. Most corporations evacuated under a Hazard Clause; Monarch Stellar Industries (MSI) stayed via a legal loophole and claimed it. The Board embargoed the moon. Key sites: Stellar Bay (MSI capital), Amber Heights (Iconoclast settlement in ruins), Cascadia, Fallbrook (Sublight presence). Olympus — Large gas giant; uninhabitable atmosphere of perpetual storms. Monarch orbits it. Eridanos — Second gas giant (featured more in DLC). Tartarus — Hellish atmosphere world housing the Board’s maximum-security prison complex, “The Labyrinth.” Hephaestus — Innermost rocky world, claimed by Hephaestus Mining Company; largely inaccessible or restricted. Typhon — Distant icy body. Asteroids and stations — Scylla (abandoned labs/mining), Gorgon (DLC asteroid with research facilities and marauders), Phineas Welles’ lab (repurposed asteroid facility), the Hope (lost colony ship), and the Groundbreaker (independent freeport built from the original colony ship). Travel uses Skip Drives for interplanetary jumps; local flight is conventional.

Factions and How They Operate Factions track reputation based on actions, quests completed for or against them, dialogue, and violence. High reputation yields better prices, unique dialogue, quests, and aid. Low or hostile reputation leads to higher prices, refusal of service, ambushes, or open combat. Factions react according to their ideology and immediate interests; they are not monolithic but have clear priorities.

The Board (Halcyon Holdings Corporate Board) — Ruling body of CEOs. Enforces corporate law, controls most supply chains, propaganda, and security (including elite units like Nightfall Squad). Extremely hierarchical and profit-focused. Reacts poorly to challenges to authority, worker uprisings, or interference with assets. Supports those who maintain order and productivity; eliminates or isolates threats. Representatives exist on the Groundbreaker and in Byzantium.

Spacer’s Choice (subsidiary of Universal Defense Logistics) — Budget brand focused on cheap goods, food, and company towns. Slogan: “It’s not the best choice. It’s Spacer’s Choice.” Runs Edgewater and similar settlements. Prioritizes cost-cutting. Reacts favorably to actions that increase output or suppress deserters; hostile to those who undermine their towns or expose inefficiency. Monarch Stellar Industries (MSI) — Once a Board corporation, now independent under Sanjar Nandi. Controls Stellar Bay on Monarch. More worker-oriented than the Board (relatively), seeking recognition and trade. Opposes the Board’s embargo. Reacts positively to aid that stabilizes Monarch or improves their position; cautious of pure anarchists.

Iconoclasts — Anti-corporate survivalists/philosophists based in Amber Heights on Monarch, led by Graham Bryant with Zora as key figure. Reject corporate hierarchy in favor of communal ideals, though practical survival often conflicts with ideology. Broadcast propaganda. Hostile to Board and MSI control; can ally with those who help them survive or expand influence. Internal tensions exist between idealists and pragmatists.

Groundbreaker — Independent station and freeport run by descendants of the original crew under Captain Junlei Tennyson. Neutral trading hub outside direct Board control. Values self-sufficiency and independence. Reacts well to help with repairs, medical issues, or defense; dislikes Board overreach or chaos that threatens the station.

Sublight Salvage & Shipping — Criminal/smuggling outfit led by Lilya Hagen. Operates black markets, salvage, and illicit trade (strong presence in Fallbrook on Monarch and on the Groundbreaker). Pragmatic and profit-driven. Rewards useful criminals or those who expand their operations; turns on liabilities. Minor groups — Deserters (escaped workers, e.g., around Emerald Vale botanical labs), Order of Scientific Inquiry (quasi-religious scientific order providing ideology and some social services), various corporate security forces, marauders, and outlaws.

Actions that help a faction’s material interests or ideology improve standing; opposing their core goals (e.g., destroying Board assets, siding with workers against management, or sabotaging independents) tanks it. Reputation is not binary—pragmatic deals are possible even with low standing if useful.

State of Technology Technology is a mix of advanced and deliberately degraded. Skip Drives enable FTL by “skipping” space. Cryosleep exists but is imperfect (long-term failures caused the Hope crisis). Energy weapons (plasma, shock), ballistic firearms, and experimental science weapons coexist. N-rays (discovered early 20th century in this timeline) power certain exotic effects. Medical technology includes injectables, trauma kits, and some advanced treatments, but access is rationed by class and productivity. Robotics and auto-mechanicals handle dangerous work. Propaganda is delivered via radios, posters, and corporate media. Planned obsolescence is rampant—products are designed to fail so replacements can be sold. Science is advanced enough for terraforming (with catastrophic side effects on Monarch) and exotic weapons, yet everyday life for workers features unreliable infrastructure, poor nutrition, and limited healthcare. Workbenches allow modification and repair of gear using parts. Tactical time dilation-like personal tech exists in limited forms in later contexts, but core Halcyon tech prioritizes corporate control over reliability or worker welfare.

Weapons, Gear, Armor, and Clothing Weapons fall into categories: 1-handed melee, 2-handed melee, handguns, long guns, heavy weapons, and science weapons. Damage types include Physical (basic kinetic, weak vs. armor), Plasma (good vs. flesh, can burn; weak vs. mantisaurs), Corrosion (strong vs. armor and machines, acid DoT), Shock (strong vs. auto-mechanicals), and N-Ray (bypasses much armor, damages nearby organics, weak vs. machines). Weapons have durability and can be modified (barrels, magazines, sights, grips) and tinkered at workbenches. Manufacturers include Spacer’s Choice (cheap and ubiquitous), Aramid Ballistics, Hammersmith, T&L, Joch, and others. Unique/science weapons have special effects that scale with the Science skill (Shrink Ray shrinks and weakens targets; Mind Control Ray turns enemies; Gloop Gun levitates and shocks; Prismatic Hammer deals multi-type energy waves; Mandibular Rearranger freezes/staggers).

Common weapon examples:

Melee: impact hammers, cleavers, sabers, axes, pickaxes, stun batons, scythes, pulse hammers.

Handguns: light pistols, revolvers, auto-mags.

Long guns: assault rifles, plasma carbines/rifles, shotguns, hunting/sniper rifles.

Heavy: machine guns, flamethrowers, grenade launchers.

Armor occupies body and head slots and comes in Clothing, Light, Medium, and Heavy. Heavy provides the highest protection but fewer skill bonuses; light and clothing offer better skill boosts (melee, dialog, tech, stealth, etc.) at the cost of lower defense. Armor has durability and can take mods (utility, gadget, skill kits, armoring). Corporate variants exist (UDL, Auntie Cleo’s, MSI, Rizzo’s, etc.). Examples include Standard/Elite Troop Armor, Riot Control Armor, Ordnance Control Armor, mining gear, laboratory outfits, and unique pieces.

Normal / civilian clothing tends toward practical or pseudo-formal corporate styles: button-up shirts, vests, ties, trousers, leather jackets or business-casual leather gear, day-wear outfits, and semi-formal suits. Byzantium elites wear finer, cleaner versions—tailored jackets, higher-quality fabrics, and more refined cuts. Colors and branding reflect corporate affiliation.

Worker / laborer clothing is utilitarian and often branded: jumpsuits, overalls (mechanics, junior-grade), work gear with suspenders, padded or quilted elements, work gloves, utility pants tucked into boots, farm-friendly work clothes, mining gear, and protective clothing with safety harnesses. These are typically drab, worn, patched, and mass-produced by Spacer’s Choice or Ports of Call. Workers in canneries, mines, and factories wear these daily; security and mid-level staff may have slightly better variants. Deserters and independents wear scavenged or heavily modified versions.

The Hope Crisis and Other Major Events Shaping Halcyon

The history of the Halcyon colony is defined by a series of cascading failures rooted in corporate ambition, technical limitations, and deliberate choices to prioritize control and profit over human lives. These events created the isolated, unstable system that exists in the mid-24th century.

Formation of the Colony and the Two Ships

In the early 23rd century, ten major corporations pooled resources to form the Halcyon Holdings Corporation (HHC) and purchased the rights to the remote Halcyon system from the Earth Directorate. Two massive colony ships were commissioned to transport hundreds of thousands of colonists in cryosleep for the planned decade-long journey: the Groundbreaker (UDL-001) and the Hope (UDL-002). The Hope carried a large number of scientists, engineers, intellectuals, and skilled specialists intended to form the technical and intellectual backbone of the new colony. Both ships departed Earth around 2285, each with a small awake crew to manage the vessel.

The Groundbreaker arrived on schedule. Its colonists were awakened and began the work of establishing outposts. The ship itself was eventually converted into an independent freeport and trading station under the control of its original crew’s descendants, remaining outside direct Board authority.

The Hope’s Malfunction and Journey

Approximately nine years into its voyage, the Hope suffered a catastrophic Skip Drive failure that rendered faster-than-light travel impossible. The ship was forced to complete the remaining distance using only sublight engines. This extended the journey by roughly 26 years. The awake crew faced starvation. Internal records indicate a mutiny and desperate measures, including the consumption of some colonists from cryopods, as the crew calculated they would need tens of thousands of bodies to survive the remaining decades. Most of the original crew eventually perished. The ship drifted onward on autopilot.

Discovery, Cover-Up, and Abandonment (The Core of the Hope Crisis)

The Hope finally reached the Halcyon system in 2320—decades late. The Board discovered the vessel adrift. By this point the colonists had spent far longer in cryosleep than the systems were designed for. Safe revival was no longer possible with existing methods; attempts resulted in “explosive cell death” or rapid liquefaction of the body as cells failed catastrophically upon thawing.

Rather than risk public panic, resource strain, or demands to rescue the colonists, the Board chose to conceal the ship’s arrival. They moved the Hope into orbit around the remote ice body Typhon and abandoned it. Officially, the Hope was still listed as lost. The Board had neither the technology nor the political will to attempt mass revival, and an influx of highly skilled outsiders threatened the carefully managed corporate hierarchy and resource allocation already under strain.

Phineas Welles and the Secret Experiments

Phineas Vernon Welles, a Board scientist, learned of the Hope and was appalled by the decision to abandon its passengers. He requested permission to research long-term cryostasis revival and was denied. Undeterred, he began unauthorized experiments, secretly removing cryopods from the Hope and transporting them to a hidden laboratory. Early attempts produced horrific results—subjects died in agony as their bodies liquefied. Over years of trial and error, and at the cost of numerous lives, Welles refined a chemical formula capable of stabilizing the revival process.

When the Board discovered his work, they branded him a criminal and fugitive (charges included sedition, unlicensed medical practice, conspiracy, and destruction of Board property). Welles escaped and continued his research in isolation. He eventually produced a limited successful batch of the revival serum, but the key chemical component—dimethyl sulfoxide—was scarce and tightly controlled.

Broader Context of Systemic Failure

While the Hope crisis unfolded in secret, the rest of Halcyon deteriorated under Board rule:

• Early colonization focused on Terra 1 (later renamed Monarch), a moon of the gas giant Olympus. Aggressive terraforming mutated the native ecosystem into highly aggressive, oversized flora and fauna. The Board issued a Hazard Clause and ordered evacuation. Monarch Stellar Industries exploited a legal loophole to claim the moon as the last remaining corporate presence, renaming it Monarch. The Board retaliated with a full trade and travel embargo, isolating the moon and its remaining population.
• Resources across the system grew scarce. Company towns such as Edgewater suffered chronic shortages of food, medicine, and power. Productivity quotas determined access to medical care; the sick were often left to die. Desertion became common.
• Contact with Earth eventually failed or was lost, leaving Halcyon fully isolated. The Board’s response to systemic problems was further control rather than reform. One long-term plan involved a “Lifetime Employment Program” that would place large numbers of Halcyon’s existing population into cryosleep, using the Hope itself as a storage vessel after disposing of its original passengers. This would free resources and maintain order through enforced stasis.

The Chemical and the Board’s Parallel Research

The Board maintained its own secret research into cryostasis and related compounds, including stockpiles of dimethyl sulfoxide held in secure facilities such as the Ministry of Accuracy and Morale in Byzantium. Some of this research involved human test subjects in controlled hibernation. The chemical became a critical bottleneck: without sufficient quantities, large-scale safe revival of the Hope colonists remained impossible.

By the time of the main events set in the mid-2350s, the Hope still drifted in hidden orbit, its hundreds of thousands of passengers suspended between life and death. Welles continued operating as a wanted man, possessing the knowledge to save them but lacking the resources. The Board continued to treat the ship as a liability to be managed or repurposed, while the rest of the colony struggled under shortages, propaganda, and rigid corporate hierarchy.

These events—the delayed arrival of the Hope, the Board’s cover-up and abandonment, Welles’ illicit research, the terraforming disaster on Monarch, and the broader pattern of resource mismanagement—form the foundational crises of Halcyon. They explain the system’s isolation, the scarcity that defines daily life, the deep distrust between corporate authorities and independent or rebellious groups, and the moral and practical stakes surrounding the fate of the frozen colonists.