“Jacob had this dream of building a cabin on a new world—like the old pioneers on Earth. A cabin next to a lake… I mean a real cabin, made of real wood.”— KATHERINE “DANI” DANIELS, USCSS COVENANT
You probably think you know what it means to be a frontier colonist. You have to be the bravest of the brave to voyage across the darkness of space, tread on virgin soil, and forge new frontiers from untouched planets. You have to be willing to risk the lives of your family with the determination that what lies ahead, despite the dangers and the struggle to come, will be better than what went before. There is so much uncertainty in this new chapter you are writing in your life.
What a story you will have to tell.
Where did you get that idea, a recruitment brochure? That’s all romanticized bullshit. The truth is you’ve gone and bitten off more than you can chew. Sure, the risks are real—but the rewards? Few and far between. Your best chance at surviving your first year on some newly chartered hellhole is to make sure you have the skills and know-how to hold your own when the shit hits the fan.
How you go about creating your frontier character is covered in detail in this chapter, although you should follow the standard method of PC creation, unless instructed otherwise. In a Frontier Colonist campaign, you will be playing ordinary folks doing extraordinary things. Your PCs can be of any career they please, as every career will be needed out on the frontier somewhere. But under each career there are many possible jobs that need taking care of—see below for guidance over your career options. Your player characters will have a common background or bond that brought them together in the first place, whether they are crewing an exploration or prospecting outfit, or setting out to start a new life on a virgin planet.
While life on the frontier for the average Joe is all about work, work and more work, there are lots of opportunities to be had, claims to be made, and dollars to be earned. The naive amongst your colonization team can even expect what they’d call an adventure or two—something the grizzled old veterans simply call hazard pay. You’ll earn that by not only exploring the cosmos and being the first to take a plunge into a new unknown, but by doing your fucking job—building worlds and the political and personal infighting that goes with it. After all, this hard work isn’t for nothing.
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