ver 2.3, last updated May 2001
The Starshield FAQ is currently written and maintained by Jeremy Hussell
Additions and corrections may be sent to him at JeremyHussell@yahoo.ca.
The Starshield FAQ up to ver 1.6 was maintained by Frank Torkel, and could be found on his site, the KID.
The current version of the FAQ is posted at Omnet Online.

• WHAT DO I DO NOW?? I'VE JOINED THE LISTSERVE! AAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGG!!!! PLEASE HELP!!
• What is this "Starshield"?
• How is Tracy Hickman involved in Starshield?
• How do the Starshield books figure into this? And what's this about a third book?
• I was looking at [insert website here], and all the links are broken. Why isn't anyone updating it?
• Where can I find up-to-date information?
• Could you describe the Starshield Universe to me?
  • What are the basic premises of the Starshield Universe?
  • What's the history of the Starshield Universe?
• What's a TFP? What's a Synth?
• What's a biolink?
• How do I play?
• How do I make an empire?
• How do I figure out where my empire is located?
• What the *bleep* is a Q-dex, and how do I make one for my empire?
• How do I submit my work?
• Now that I've made my empire, how do I play?

Starshield is a universe created circa 1995 by author Tracy Hickman (best known for his Dragonlance novels), and formed the basis for two of his novels (with a third in the works). The Starshield universe, because it combines lots of different settings with both high technology and flashy magic, has inspired several spinoffs, including an RPG, a computer game, several websites, and a listserve. With the exception of the listserve, these projects have all foundered and in most cases have disappeared off of the net. The listserve has seen some success though, providing a medium through which players "role-play" an empire set in the Starshield universe. This has become known as the Empire-Playing Game (EPG).

Current (May 2001) ongoing projects in the Starshield universe include the listserve and EPG, another RPG being developed for the setting, and a number of fan websites including Omnet Online.

Tracy Hickman wrote the books which established the Starshield universe, and was the driving force behind several of the spinoffs. However, he was disapointed with the results of the various projects and recently (Jan 2000) decided to leave the last remaining project, the EPG, to the players. It is not known whether or not he will ever publish the third Starshield book, but prospects look grim. Mr. Hickman has stated that he doesn't mind us (the players) fidling with his old universe, since he no longer needs it.

The Starshield books (written by Tracy Hickman) deal with the history of the Starshield universe, and involve a galaxy-spanning tale of treachery and intrigue. Basically, the first interstellar expedition from Earth (yes, our Earth), led by Jeremy Griffiths, boldly steps forth into the universe and promptly trips over its own feet, because they have no clue that other realities exist right next door. They then get embroiled in a series of quests to retrieve three artifacts of the old Kendis-dai Imperium, which will help them to figure out where, exactly, Earth is (since they are by now quite thoroughly lost). The first two artifacts are successfully recovered in the first two books respectively, and it seems probable that the third artifact (and Earth) will be found in the third, as yet unpublished, book of the trilogy. Unfortunately, the third book is currently on indefinite hold, and may never be published, due to a lack of interest from publishers (and limited sales of the first two books).

There are many websites which are remnants of some of the old projects, or of empires whose players have since dropped out of the EPG.

1. Subscribe to the listserve.
2. The current main fan website is Omnet Online (where the latest version of this FAQ is posted).
3. The Ring of Empires has links to the homepages of several currently active empires.
4. ImEG maintains a memorial to all the failed starshield projects (basically a copy of the old official homepage), including copies of the RPG beta and the Galactipaedia, which are both good sources of information about the starshield universe itself.
5. The KID is the homepage of a now defunct empire (the Kalikari Dominon). Although no longer updated, there is still a lot of interesting information there.

The following is a bit long winded, because it's basically an invented explanation to explain why magic, technology, and just about anything else can coexist in the Starshield Universe. If you're not woried about that, you can go straight to the history section.

Void is nothingness. Anything which isn't Void will start to break down into nothingness if it is exposed to Void. The only places safe from the void are the bubbles of reality called Quantum Zones (Q-Zones). These bubbles are present throughout the galaxy, with larger ones tending to be near the rim of the galactic disk, and the center of the galaxy occupied by a veritable froth of bubbles known as the maelstrom (see the history section for an explanation of why this is so). Within the galaxy the Q-Zones are packed so tightly that there are only thin walls of Void squashed between them. Beyond our galaxy there are, as far as anyone can tell, no Q-Zones, just an unbroken expanse of pure Void. Although each Q-Zone is internally self-consistent, different Q-Zones can represent entirely different realities, with no relation whatsoever to each other. The walls of Void between the bubbles (called Quantum Walls or Quantum Barriers) separate the Q-Zones and keep the different realiti es from interacting with each other. You can, however, cross the Quantum Walls. Although Void causes everything which enters it to decay into nothingness, and there are, in a very fundamental sense, no rules in the Void, the process of decay takes some time. Basically, a fast moving object can pass through a Quantum Wall without suffering extensive damage, provided that the stay inside the Wall is short enough. Generally, this means that a starship attempting to cross a Quantum Wall has to be travelling at a speed close to that of light in a vacuum in Earth's reality.

Note that when something enters the Void everything stops working. The structure of whatever enters the Void is preserved: shape, size, direction and magnitude of movement, etc., but the rules that make everything work no longer apply. When something successfully makes it through a Wall to another Q-Zone, the new rules take effect. The result is usually that complex devices and processes no longer work as they were designed, because they depend too heavily on rules from the original Q-Zone that aren't in effect any longer. This effect is called leveling. There are some interesting subtleties here. For example, something from a Particle Q-Zone is made entirely from small, indivisible particles. When you move an object from such a Q-Zone into a Q-Zone which has no equivalent of particles, like an Energy Flow or Acid Q-Zone, the particles are not destroyed. Instead, the object that emerges into the, say, Energy Flow Q-Zone, is still made of small particles of matter. This sometimes result s in simple particle-based devices that still work, simply because they are still made of particles, but which are impossible to manufacture in an Energy Flow Q-Zone because particles cannot be created there. Similar effects occur when you move devices from an Energy Flow Q-Zone to a Particle Q-Zone. In fact, simple devices from any zone will often work in others, despite the fact that they are 'impossible' under the rules of the new reality.

One last thing: the arrangement of Q-Zones in the galaxy isn't completely stable. The Walls shift and move about, usually gradually, but sometimes in cataclysmic eruptions refered to as Quantum Storms (perhaps better compared to continental drift and earthquakes, rather than weather and storms).

Now, on to the other set of fundamentals:

The History of the Starshield Universe

Basically, long long ago someone named Kendis-dai, apparently a human, was able to create and/or gather together enough technology and magic to give him an effectively unlimited ability to manipulate reality. Presumably rather a lot of history occured before this, but nothing about those times survived subsequent events intact. Kendis-dai used his tools to put together a galaxy-spanning empire (called the Kendis-dai Imperium). Then, he decided that Q-Zones were an intolerable inconvenience and began to merge them all into one giant Q-Zone spanning the entire galaxy. Needless to say, this wasn't easy, even with all the power available to Kendis-dai, and the Q-zones were continuously trying to revert back to the bubble arrangement (probably a path-of-least-resistance kind of thing). But Kendis-dai was able to do it, at least for awhile. Some legends say that Kendis-dai's downfall was caused by a rather messy love triangle, some that it was political betrayal, but nobody knows for sure. What is known is that Kendis-dai disappeared, taking several of his tools with him, and the Megazone began to fall appart. This collapse is known as 'The Shattering of Suns', and occured about 3000yrs ago (nobody is sure how long the Imperium existed before this event). The effect was most serious at the center of the galaxy, which turned into what is known today as the Maelstrom. At the rim several large fragments of the Megazone survived, and today these fragments are the nuclei of the major empires (and are also known, confusingly, as megazones). Anyway, the galaxy was plunged into a dark age, with every Q-Zone cut off from every other, and almost all advanced technology and magic was lost.

A couple of hundred years ago a group of explorers searching for artifacts of the Kendis-dai Imperium stumbled upon the Nine, a group of intact TFPs. Once reactivated, the Nine decided to begin the slow process of returning civilization to the galaxy. To this end they founded Omnet and provided it with a lot of information about the technology and magic of the Imperium. Omnet expanded quickly, and eventually became a galaxy-spanning organization. The most public facet of Omnet is its news service, IGNM, which provides reliable reports about happenings accross the galaxy, a feat unmatched by anyone else, including the major empires. Currently, the galaxy is still a wild place. Pirates abound, and new minor empires are rediscovered every week. Omnet, although wide-spread and influential, is still far short of the Nine's eventual goal of galaxy-spanning civilization. With Omnet's assistance the Galactic Union (a U.N. like organization) has been established, but it has not yet gained any power or influence.

TFP stands for Temporal Fold Processor. TFPs were a component of powerful computers called Synths, almost artificial intelligences, used during the Kendis-dai Imperium. Like many Imperium devices, they were designed to be used successfully in many different Q-Zones. They worked in part by sending any question asked of them back in time to the moment of their activation, giving themselves lots of time to find the answer (this is one of the only examples of time travel in the starshield universe, and cannot be duplicated by players). Thus, the longer a Synth has been active more accurately it can answer questions. The materials needed to manufacture Synths are extremely rare, including blackvoid and yardow sap. The Nine, founders of the Omnet, are Synths that survived the Shattering of Suns intact, and were reactivated by looters on Mnemem IV several hundred years ago. They have since released their design to the rest of the galaxy, and Synths are now relatively common again. More information about Synths and TFPs can be found in the RPG beta, the Galactipaedia, and in the Starshield novels.

Biolinks are the Starshield universe's Universal Translator. They were used by the Kendis-dai Imperium, and the Nine gave the design to Omnet. One of the first things Omnet does when First Contact is made with a new empire is to teach them how to build their own biolinks. As a result, almost every sentient in the galaxy has a biolink implant.

As implied by their name, biolinks have a biological component (which helps them to level well), but their appearance can vary quite a bit, from biotechnological microchips, to biomagical charms. Biolinks used by humans are usually implanted, and so aren't visible. When a sentient first gets its biolink, the biolink must be initialized by a Synth. The Synth teaches/programs/enchants the biolink to translate the user's communications into a standard biolink language, which other biolinks can then translate into their respective user's form of communication.

I guess I should mention this first: the goal of the EPG isn't to conquer everyone else. In fact, I don't recall any player empire ever being conquered more than temporarily (although it certainly could happen). The goal is to role-play the empires, not destroy them. Interesting plot is strongly encouraged.

Basically, what happens is this: some player comes up with a great plot idea, often incomplete or open ended. He/she shares the idea with the players of other empires that he/she thinks should be involved in the plot. Ideas get thrown about. A story emerges, piece by piece. Usually, completed parts of these stories are posted to the listserve while the rest of the story is still in progress. Often, other players have their empires respond to the unfolding events as they would in the starshield universe, further enriching the story.

More to the point, first subscribe to the listserve. Then design an empire for yourself. Once you've done that, you can initiate contact over the listserve, and begin to play in ernest. I recomend that you read the posts to the listserve while you make your empire, so that you'll have an idea of what you're stepping into.

Omnet Online has a guide to empire creation. You can also email another player to ask for advice on specific questions.

The basic story is that your empire has just made contact with Omnet for the first time, and is therefore suddenly able to communicate with all the other empires hooked into Omnet's communications network.

First, figure out your real world location. If you want to be really precise, you can find your exact latitude and longitude at Mapblast.com (try typing in your postal code). Then, use this map of realworld-to-starshield location correspondence to figure out where your empire is located.

A Q-dex is a brief way to describe how technology and magic work in a particular Quantum Zone. Omnet Online has a (very) brief guide to creating a Q-dex.

First, read the Submissions Guide. It gives full instructions on how to go about creating and submitting your Empire, and other creative works. Once you've read through it, email the description of your empire, or any other creative work, to the submissions department.

That's pretty much up to you. Some people write a short story set in their empire to introduce it to everyone else. Others write a first contact story in collaboration with another player. Still others just plunge right in and get themselves involved in whatever is happening at the moment. Generally, players create a few main characters which they use in most subsequent interactions. These can be the rulers of your empire, your empire's ambassadors, starship captains, or anyone else who might end up interacting with someone else's characters. I recommend that you participate in a few existing plots before creating a new one and inviting other players to join. But that's your call.