The theme is based off a Sci Fi universe that Jarvis has been dreaming up for over 30 years at this point. Considering “Hard” sci-fi as being as strictly adherent to known scientific principals as possible, this is more of a “Firm” sci-fi setting; there is a deep technological and realistic basis for most things, but a few things (such as artificial gravity) are gently handwaved in to make the setting easier to play in.

Comparing the theme to well known Sci Fi franchises, the closest match is the 'modern' Battlestar Galactica series reboot. Many things work considerably differently from BSG, but that show has the correct “feel”. The Starship Troopers movie (NOT Book!) and Firefly/Serenity could also be pretty good analogs. In a moment, we will run down some sci-fi tropes and how the Space Fox MUCK (SFM) setting deals with them, but first a little bit more overview.

SFM follows the adventures of a single ship; the Legacy Flint-Vasa, or just the Legacy for short. It is a Legacy Ship which is basically a family operated ship intended to be passed down from one generation to the next. Players on the MUCK are, for the most part, crew on the Legacy; the Legacy is a “superfreighter” (think: container ship) capable of hauling incredible amounts of cargo and also passengers. Being an independent ship and not beholden to corporate interests, it operates mostly amongst the colonies and on the fringe, allowing the opportunity for many adventures.

Passengers enable the entropy of 'guest stars' that can show up and interact with the crew, then leave. While day to day life is something we encourage people to roleplay in order to do something every day, there will be 'story plots' on a weekly basis that people may partake in. The kinds of stories we want to tell are things like:

• Exploring interesting colony worlds
• Helping those in distress
• Encounters with the military
• Encounters with pirates or other ne'er do wells
• Scientific ventures of various kinds
• Ways the crew entertain themselves while under way
• Tending to passengers
• Exploring derelicts
• Encountering unknown circumstance and dealing with them
• Stow-aways / hazardous cargo
• Many, many more …

Here's a few common sci-fi tropes and how we handle (or don't handle) them.

• Star Trek Transporters: Don't exist
• Star Trek Replicators: Don't exist, but there are 3D-printers for food and other material which are common.
• Energy Weapons: May exist on military ships, no hand held ones
• Forcefields: Don't exist
• Artificial Gravity: Does exist, but can have some oddities. See the Settings Info entry about it.
• Faster than light travel: There are multiple different methods, with different issues and side effects. Generally speaking, time dialation isn't a problem. See the FTL entry in the Settings Info.
• Computers: quantum computers are common place. AI exists for a variety of things, but there are no (known) sentient computers or artificial life forms.
• Communications: long distance communication is awkward. No communications work while the ship is traveling FTL; long distance communications (i.e. communications requiring faster than light transmission for the message to get to its destination in a reasonable time) require a Comm Relay.

The ship is owned by Jaymie and Jarvis Flint, Maria “Ria” Flint (Jarvis' older sister), and Enkeli Vasa. Enkeli is a Space Boomer who was born and raised on a ship. Jaymie and Jarvis met Enkeli and fell in love with the lifestyle, and along with Jarvis' older sister who was able to secure major financing for the venture, they were able to purchase a new ship.

The Legacy Flint-Vasa is a superfreighter approximately 600 meters long, comprising of three major sections. The 'living space' which is the fore-most section; this is 6 decks and contains the bridge, crew accommodations, passenger accommodations, entertainment areas, food, shuttles, and so forth. Then there's the ship's spine; approximately 400 meters worth of the ship is the spine itself, and different “things” can hook onto the spine.

For instance, large pods containing cargo, labs, fabrication facilities, additional accommodations, or other such things may attach to the spine. Grids of cargo containers can be attached similar to a modern container ship. Or large 'bulk' items such as pieces of space station or huge industrial machinery can be affixed to the spine with the space equivalent of cargo straps.

Then in the aft, there are four decks in the engineering section where 4 large Ripple Drives power the ship's FTL capabilities along with a huge injection-fusion core generating enough power to run a large city.

More pictures and deck plans are available on the Legacy Flint-Vasa Page.

The ship is a 24/7 operation – time is money! – however starting out there will likely not be enough crew for constant operation. It is split into three 8 hour work shifts; the shifts help us explain why characters may not be on every day. Anyone that's not around is working (or sleeping) during the current shift.

There are four divisions on the ship: pilot, cargo handling, engineering, and steward. Notably, there is no medical division – the ship does need a medic, but the medic is usually a steward. There isn't a science division; this is a merchant ship, not a science ship, however we will probably work some science in here and there. And there isn't a security division; the ship has some defenses, but no offensive weapons, and limited weapons for repelling borders. Security would be pretty bored most of the time!

Trying not to get too much into the weeds here, here's a brief overview of what each division does:

This one is kind of obvious; there must be a pilot on the bridge at all times. FTL is pretty safe and doesn't require a lot of pilot action, but cargo can have reactions while traveling and accidents can happen. So somebody has to babysit the ship. The pilot is also the de-facto captain for the shift.

The cargo handlers are vital to the operation of the ship. They manage the loading and unloading process of the cargo, usually coordinating with the space station and their loading/unloading systems to make it happen. Cargo placement is key both to make sure items stay secure in transit and to keep hazardous materials properly isolated.

The cargo handlers must be aware of all the cargo, any safety concerns, any hazards, and are responsible for doing regular inspections during the flight to insure everything is secure and safe. They may have to move cargo during the flight for a large number of reasons as well, and that is also part of their job.

Finally, the head cargo handler – the cargo master – is usually also the ship's quartermaster.

This one is also pretty obvious; the engineers keep the ship moving. The engine section is 400 meters away from the living quarters, so there must be an engineer in the engineering section at all times just in case something happens. If, for instance, a hull breach happens in the spine, the engineering section can become temporarily inaccessible. So therefore the engineering section has its own quarters and food facilities for the “duty engineer” who is staying over there.

Otherwise, engineering is usually not a 24/7 operation on the ship but there is always a duty engineer and an on-call engineer; the latter takes care of passenger concerns or other emergencies in the habitation portion of the ship during off-hours.

And finally, the Stewards; those who cook, clean, and look after the passengers are all stewards. The stewards also run the business aspect of the ship, and can help with bookings and drumming up business. They are the face of the ship, and those whom interact with passengers the most. However, even when there are no passengers, the stewards keep the rest of the crew fed and the ship in good condition.