Game in the Brain

The concept of space travel in many sci-fi systems often hinges on the arbitrary measurement of “displacement tons” (dtons), which originate from an era when ships were designed with Earth’s atmosphere and hydrogen storage in mind. These outdated measurements often fail to account for real-world complexities like pressurization, volume, and mass. Mneme flips this convention on its head by rationalizing space travel based on mass—using metric tons—and emphasizing a ship’s Delta-V budget, transforming how players approach ship design and space combat.

Moving Beyond Displacement Tons

In most traditional sci-fi RPGs, the idea of a “displacement ton” equates to roughly 14 cubic meters of hydrogen, an idea rooted in outdated naval analogies. This creates inconsistencies in ship design, as it doesn’t account for factors like the extra space required for pressurizing hydrogen or the varied nature of other materials. Mneme removes the unnecessary complexity of arbitrary volume measurements and instead focuses on the ship’s mass, making the design more intuitive.

By anchoring ship construction to mass rather than volume, we eliminate the need to focus on airframes, atmospheres, or arbitrary volumes. This flexibility is especially important when there’s no air to press against or atmospheric conditions to factor in, as is typical in deep space operations.

The Delta-V Budget: Core to Ship Design

In Mneme, the key to understanding space travel lies in a ship’s Delta-V budget—the amount of velocity change a spacecraft can achieve. Every ship is designed around its mass and the sum of its reaction mass (fuel), engine thrust, and impulse efficiency. By tracking these variables as part of the design process, Mneme introduces realism into how far and how fast a spacecraft can go.

This realism allows for detailed logistical planning. Players must weigh the trade-offs between carrying more fuel, reducing mass, or upgrading engines. The result? Every mission, journey, or combat scenario becomes an intricate dance of resource management.

Realistic Space Combat: Intercepts and Skirmishes

With ships built around mass and Delta-V budgets, Mneme offers a fresh take on space combat, focusing on the immense distances and operational limitations of space. Combat no longer happens within a few kilometers but often over distances measured in light seconds or light minutes. Here, interception plays a critical role.

Intercepts are premeditated encounters where both sides have time to strategize, track incoming threats, and deploy defenses. Missiles and drones act as proxies in this long-range battle, with engagements starting hours or even days before ships come within firing range. The prelude to combat happens on the sensor level, as drones, decoys, and missiles dance between attackers and defenders in a skirmish of wits and technology.

This drone-based skirmish serves as an important phase of combat, as each side probes for weaknesses or tries to outlast the other before the main engagement. The process adds depth to space encounters, with combat unfolding in stages rather than a single, decisive encounter.

Post-Scarcity Humanity: Wealth and Society in Mneme

While the technical aspects of space travel are crucial, Mneme’s setting also explores the broader implications of humanity’s technological advancements. In a post-scarcity society at Tech Level 10-12, the average human enjoys a level of wealth equivalent to a millionaire or billionaire by today’s standards. Resources are abundant, and technological assets outstrip anything known in the 21st century.

But this wealth doesn’t belong to individuals alone. Communes, cooperatives, families, clans, tribes, and unions hold the collective economic power of entire modern countries. In this future, resources are plentiful, and societal values—such as mutual respect, trust, compassion, and reason—are central to maintaining democratic harmony.

The sheer size of the solar system, coupled with the immense economic growth, creates opportunities for new types of political, economic, and social organizations. Players in Mneme are not just captains of ships; they are stakeholders in an era where even the smallest cooperative can wield enormous influence in the post-scarcity economy.

Conclusion

Mneme offers a harder, more grounded approach to science fiction. By shifting from displacement tons to a mass-based, Delta-V-centric design process, the setting invites players to immerse themselves in the complexities of realistic space travel. The focus on operational logistics, long-range skirmishes, and sensor warfare introduces new layers of depth into space combat. Combined with the rich, post-scarcity societal backdrop, Mneme is not just a game of exploration and adventure—it’s a detailed simulation of a possible future for humanity.