THE GOLDEN AGE
DESIGNER NOTES
The Golden Age is a New Galaxy that mirrors the Alpha Sector in many ways, but diverges from it at the same time. In the Golden Age, the same technology and design concepts as the Alpha Sector were discovered by the established empires, but in each case, they developed the technology along a different route. This leads to starships which feel eerily familiar, but which are unique due to the divergent ways that technology advanced in the galaxy.
The Golden Age did not develop Phaser 1, 2, or 3’s. Instead they created the Tri-Phaser. This is the mainline Phaser carried by all empires in the Golden Age. There will be a variant of the Tri-Phaser that takes the place of Phaser 4’s on Starbases.
The central, benevolent organization (similar to the Federation) in the Golden Age discovered Photon Technology, but developed Photon Bolts instead of Photon Torpedoes. Photon Bolts focus on accuracy like Disruptors, but maintain the constant damage yield of Photon Torpedoes. Photon Bolts do not score as much damage as a standard Photon Torpedo. The peaceful organization in the Golden Age is the Order of the Griffin.
Instead of developing ship held Drone Racks, the empires of the Golden Age created Drone Platforms. Drone Platforms must be launched from the starship prior to use. Once in space, they can launch the Drones they carry, which can be numerous depending on the size of the Platform. Each Drone Platform has its own Seeking Controls, making it unnecessary for the originating starship to guide the Drones on their own. Of course, having the Drone Platform as an external entity outside of the starship means that it can targeted separately and shot down. The Golden Age developed different types of Drones than the Alpha Sector.
Just as Drone Platforms were put into widespread use in the Golden Age, so it was with Plasma Platforms. Plasma Platforms had the same capabilities as Drone Platforms, but carried Plasma Torpedoes. Note that the Golden Age has different versions of Plasma Torpedoes than the Alpha Sector. Plasma Platforms were more limited in the amount of Plasmas they could carry in comparison to Drone Platforms.
it is important to never lose sight of the fact that, despite all the changes to Technology, starships in the Golden Age must still use Tactics to be victorious on the battlefield. In fact, one of the primary reasons behind the alternate types of Technology is in order to force the creation of all new Tactics. Like the Alpha Sector, the starships and empires of the Golden Age will be as balanced as possible.
The Golden Age is supported in Fiction by the Wolf Cub.
In what other ways did Technology Development differ in the Golden Age? Will there also be a companion Sector where Omega Technology took different routes as well? Time will tell as the Golden Age is slowly and carefully constructed.
