Part 1 Introduction
Part 2 Common non-human species
Part 3 will be about Technology in 2250

Cosmos 2250 is a science fiction game where players take on the roles of senior officers on board a starship.

This is a game in three parts: Setting, Systems and Scenarios.

• Setting details known information about the world and is designed to orient any players of the game and align expectations.
• Systems is a series of frameworks and procedures intended to aid in aligning expectations and understanding within the game group.
• Scenarios relates the specific situations that the players will encounter.

Tone and Genre

This game has a positive view of the future of humanity. It is a future in which humanity has overcome great adversity and become a better version of itself. A future where humanity has an active ongoing effort to be the best version of itself.

This game is in the science fiction genre. It is full of alien cultures, strange technologies and philosophical dilemmas. Their purpose is to hold a mirror up to ourselves. They exist to create a shared narrative, and in doing so, examine what it is to be human. And they also exist because starships, aliens and laser guns are cool.

This game contains politics, diplomacy and elements of realpolitik. The players must balance their respect for other forms of life with the need to ensure their survival.

Humanity from 2000 – 2250

Humanity was facing a climate crisis, and failing to deal with it.
Technological progress did not help. In fact, it was the cause of the crisis.
Social innovation saved Earth’s inhabitants from themselves. From the worst of themselves.

A practical, viable, sustainable future was reached. 
Humanity proved to itself that it can achieve long lasting, positive global change.
And it didn’t stop there.

Humanity eliminated poverty in a generation.
Turned its focus on education for the next generation.
And then it reaped the rewards of an educated population whose basic needs were satisfied.

Nuclear Fusion came next.
And the reality-warping Relativity Matrix, the ticket to the stars.
And then we met everyone else, and they met us.

Welcome to the Galaxy.

The League of Worlds in 2250

The League of Worlds is effectively the ‘space government’. Its primary purpose is to provide peace, safety and prosperity for its members, and as such it is responsible for all the normal governmental things: diplomacy; trade; immigration etc. However, individual planets, moons, space stations and so on all have their own polities and governments, which in turn have their own laws. Sometimes astronomical bodies are further subdivided into countries, as on Earth.

Matters of jurisdiction and legal precedence can therefore become rather complicated. There is a Court of the Rights of Persons, administered directly by the League, which acts as an ultimate arbiter on issues of individual rights amongst its members.

Most persons within the League are Human, and most of the population lives on Earth. There are large colonies on other planets in the Sol System and nearby systems such as Alpha Centauri and Tau Ceti. The further one travels from Earth, the colonies become less common and less populous. Orangu and Thaveen (including Legionaries) make up the vast majority of the non-human population within the League. The League has an active policy of fostering positive relations with other species, and there are a handful of associate members, which it hopes in time will gain full membership.

The League operates and maintains the Space Force, which it characterises as a ‘uniformed exploration and defense service’. The Space Force has many of the hallmarks of the militaries of old-Earth, and maintains high standards of professionalism and duty. However, it is not, first and foremost, a military. The Space Force has three core standing duties:

• Aid those in need
• Discover the undiscovered
• Advance the League