Ender's Game Jump
By SJChan & Hunting Time
v.1.1
In the nottoodistant future, mankind has barely survived two invasions by an
insectoid alien race, officially known as Formics, but called Buggers by most of the
population. with the threat of a third invasion looming nigh, the world's most talented
children are taken to an orbiting Battle School. There they study physics, mathematics,
history, psychology, politics, and play a lot of games. And the biggest, best game of all
is the Battle Room, where they are organized into "armies" and play 41on41 zeroG
laser tag as the adults look on, searching for future commanders against the incoming
menace.
The Earth itself has unified under the control of The Hegemon, supreme political
leader, and his two primary subordinates, The Polemarch, head of the International
Fleet, and The Strategos, commander of the Fleet. Yet all the old animosity has not
been forgotten, merely set aside temporarily in the face of an external threat. This is
the period of internal and external pressure you enter. Good luck, you’ll need it.
You have 1000 Choice Points, as always, with which to win the Game.
LOCATION
Roll 1d8 for location or pay 100 CP to pick. If you roll 47, I hope you have permission
to be there as each of those locations is military and restricted.
1. Rotterdam, Netherlands
2. Warsaw, Poland
3. Roanoke, USA
4. Battleschool, Earth Orbit. Hope you have permission to be here.
5. Combat School, The Eros Asteroid
6. With the Last Fleet in Deep Space heading to the Outer Bugger Worlds
7. With the First Fleet in Deep Space heading to the Bugger Homeworld
8. Free Pick
POST
You begin this jump as a male, though you can be female for no cost. You may select
your age for 50 CP.
HEGEMON (DropIn): You have entered this world uninvited, possessing none of the
skills needed to help in the war effort. I guess you’ll make a good politician then. You
begin the jump at age 8+3d8.
POLEMARCH: You are part of the Polemarchy, the military support structure that
makes sure the rest of the International Fleet can get the job done. You are skilled in
training others. You begin the jump at age 30+2d8.
SHADOW: You were genetically engineered to be the greatest general or agent of all
time. Only time will tell, however, as you begin the jump when you are 5 years old.
STRATEGOS: Through a combination of selective breeding and billions of people to
select from, you have been chosen to be one of Earth’s final generals against the
Buggers… if you can survive the strain. You begin the jump at the age of 5+1d4.
PERKS
The 100CP perks are free for their origin, the others are discounted.
GENERAL STAFF STUFF
Undiscounted
Net Figure [100]: You are a celebrity on the global net stage, a voice people listen to,
seek advice from, and respect… or hate… maybe both. Those below the age of 18
cannot take this without purchasing “Net Invitation”. In future jumps, you may invoke
this perk to become an instant media celebrity… assuming there is any media to be a
celebrity of.
Intelligence, Civilian Style [200]: The World of Ender’s Game is a world of brilliant
individuals. If you feel you can’t compete, you might consider taking this perk, as it
boosts your intelligence into the super genius range.
Hacking The Net [300]: You possess the ability to hack into almost any computer
network without leaving behind evidence that would link you to the crime, including
the ability to intuit most nonrandomized passwords if you know the individual the
password belongs to.
National Sponsorship [400]: You are officially a member of one of this world’s
national military organizations, with a rank commensurate with your skills and abilities.
You may call upon the resources of that position, so long as you don’t abuse it. In
future jumps, you may invoke this, either at the beginning of the jump to become active
duty, or at any time to return to active duty in your home nation’s military… assuming
you weren’t a dropIn.
Strategic Genius [600]: There is no denying that Ender and his compatriots are
brilliant tacticians, but whoever planned the war against the buggers was a strategic
genius. You are that kind of thinker, able to chart the course of a 70 year long war
across dozens of star systems, without knowing if you’d have a battlefield commander
capable of making your dream a reality. Intricate plans that span decades and rely on
imponderables and unpredictable variables are your bread and butter.
POLEMARCH
Military Hierarchy [100]: In a world at war, few things are more important than
understanding the hows and whys of the military. You gain a familiarity with the
International Fleet’s structure, operational basis, symbols, ranks, and procedures. You
know how to act, dress, and think military. And the ability updates itself to match the
local military (or police force or equivalent) in the starting region of any future jump.
Potential Spotting [200]: Colonel Graff is among the best there is at finding young
people with the potential to be commanders. He should be. He’s one of the best at
training those people and knows what he’s looking for. Now, so do you. Any skill you
are an expert at teaching (not a skill you are an expert at, but one you are very good at
teaching to others) now comes with the ability to recognize the potential for greatness
within others, especially in children.
Zen Pilot [400]: You are the best of the best when it comes to flying an attack craft, be it
airbreathing or spaceborne. Even at incredible speeds, your aim is true and you never
get flustered when under pressure to dodge or die. You are especially good at spotting
command craft in the furball of combat.
Command Performance [600]: You excel at getting those under your command or
those you are training to push themselves harder, work longer, and achieve more with
less than is at all practical. Your subordinates will find ways to save time on vital tasks,
to stretch a budget or fuel supply that much further, and push themselves to the
breaking point for you. Your methods prompt those to think outside the box, to get
unique results, and to break established mental blocks if it means getting the job done.
HEGEMON
You cannot take both 100 CP Perks from this Background.
Enlightened Psychopath [100]: A normal psychopath has many dark emotions,
compulsions, and desires that make them less than productive members of society.
While you might not be a Psychopath, you have learned to focus some or all of your
negative emotions into positive actions. Hate all humanity, work to make them less
hateful. Want to cause pain and suffering, become a dentist. Megalomaniac? Become
Hegemon and leave a legacy of unrivalled public service. Any dark emotion can be
refocused, if you can figure out a way to do so.
Deep Empathy [100]: You have the ability to form deep emotional bonds with others,
allowing you to gain an ever growing sense of how they are feeling, even if they try
and hide their emotional state from you, or are unaware of how they are feeling.
Demosthenesian Insight [200]: You posses the strange ability to sense what use
other people can be to you or your plans. The more you know about that individual or
group of people, the greater your ability to find a place for them in your plans.
Virtual Identity [400]: You have a way with creating cover identities that can stand up
to all but the highest level of scrutiny, of working your way into secure (but not high
security) systems and forums, and of getting online jobs you aren't actually qualified
for.
Locke's Rhetoric [600]: Your writing skills are now so good you can actually convince
people of the correctness of your stance (or at least to take you seriously) on internet
forums. Somehow, you can overcome bias and suppress the more unreasoned vitriolic
commentary that are the norm in virtual debate. Your public speaking skills increase by
the same degree.
SHADOW
Lucky Bean [100]: You seem to have extraordinary luck in avoiding danger, be it
waking up to go to the bathroom right before a bomb explodes under your bed, to
ducking to pick up a quarter as an assassin shoots at you, to having the stomach flu
the day someone tries to poison your morning coffee.
Danger Sense [200]: You gain a 6th sense that warns you when things are becoming
dangerous to you. The greater the danger, the stronger the sense. If the danger is
slowly building (a conspiracy to assassinate you), it will begin as a faint tingle of
sensation. if the danger is immediate (a car swerving towards you) the sense is more
immediate. This sense does not give you any indicate of where the danger is coming
from or what its nature is. This works passively, even when you are unconscious or
asleep.
Quantum Understanding [400]: You can rapidly come to understand (with no outside
instruction) how any system you can study works, no matter how complicated. A
political system, a computer system, an intraoffice mailing system... doesn't matter. If
you can examine it firsthand, you will rapidly begin to understand the basics and
eventually even the subtleties will be revealed to you. This is merely an
understanding of the rules or principles by which such a system functions, allowing
you to interfere with or get the best results out of it. It does not grant you any particular
skill in utilizing or repairing the system in question.
Understanding the game of Cricket does not make you an expert Cricketer. Knowing
how a toaster works does not allow you to instantly know how to fix a broken toaster.
Knowing how a martial arts system works doesn’t make you a good fighter, and
knowing how a political system functions doesn’t make you a good politician. All it can
do is help you to understand what is going on. Knowing how psychic powers work
does not grant you psychic powers, ditto magical abilities unless anyone who knows
the rules can perform that magic.
Anton's Key [600]: Your Intellectual and physical growth never stops. The older
biologically you get, the larger you grow, and the larger you grow, the smarter you get.
This effect doesn't care about your chronological age, but your biological age, and
does not protect you against the squarecube rule, so it is possible to become so large
you cannot move. Reaching that size will probably take about two decades for
someone with relatively normal human biology, though, depending on how strong
your bones and muscles are, it might take much, much longer.
STRATEGOS
Killed Him with a Shoe [100]: You can make anything into a deadly weapon and
instinctively know how to get the best performance out of things that actually are
deadly weapons.
Move Me [200]: You have an instinctive understanding of the motivations of other
people, a form of empathy that allows you to understand why they do what they do,
and (potentially) to anticipate their actions as you get to know them better.
Supreme Commander [400]: Not only are you a brilliant tactician, but you have an
instinctive grasp of how battlefields shift, flow, evolve, granting you an ability to predict
enemy maneuvers that borders on precognition.
When you Love a Thing [600]: You can destroy that thing. You possess the ability to
find the weakness in any defense. Unfortunately, this requires understanding the
nature of that which you would destroy on a deeply emotional and spiritual level.
ITEMS
Money (Free Polemarch) [50]: You get a bunch of money, probably enough to live on
for a few months.
Net Invitation (Free Hegemon) [100]: You have access to the public debate forums of
the Net, which are by invitation only. If you are a minor, you must have this to access
the Net at all. After the jump, you can use this invitation to take part in any public
debate as if you were an invited speaker.
Battle School Invitation (Free Strategos, Discount Shadow) [100]: You have
received an invitation from Colonel Graff to attend Battle School. If you want to go to
the Battle School (as other than an observer) you will need this. In future jumps, this
will count as an admission letter to any top level military academy, like West Point or
Annapolis.
The Mind Game [100]: You gain a tablet upon which is installed a copy of the Mind
Game. It will learn from you and your surroundings, always presenting you with new
challenges.
Command School Invitation (Discount Strategos) [200]: If you want to guarantee
your place in Command School (no observers, the base is Top Secret), you will need
an invitation. Of course, this will mean you've completed Battle School already, so your
age is bumped up 2 years. In future jumps, this will count as an admission letter to
Officer Candidate school if you are enlisted or a letter of promotion to the lowest
command rank if you begin a jump as an officer, or the next higher rank if you are
already command rank.
Flash Suit with Gun (Discount Strategos, Free Shadow) [200]: You gain a personal
Flash Suit & Side Arm. Outside of this jump, the side arm can be used to make any
piece of clothing stiffen into immobility until either flashed again or about half an hour
has passed. The Flash Suit is an impact resistant armored space suit.
Bean's Stolen Children (Discount Polemarch) [200]: Somehow, you have come into
possession of the 8 fetuses that were stolen from Petra and Bean. Or rather, they will
appear in your warehouse a week before the end of this jump.
Ansible Technology (Discount Hegemon) [300]: You gain a collection of 100 Ansible
philote gems and the technology to create an Ansible network from them. Every jump
you will gain 100 more philotes.
Your Own Private Battle Room (Discount Polemarch) [400]: Your warehouse gains
(as an annex) a copy of the Battle Room, complete with asteroid generation systems,
two gates, and 42 standard Flash Suits and Guns (these guns do not have the same
property as the one that comes with the personal suit). The Battle Room has gravity
generators, of course. For 100 CP more, the room comes with combat robots to serve
as opponents.
Little Doctor Technology [1000]: A terrifying device that can be mounted on a
spaceship and which will disintegrate... any unshielded solid object it hits. Including a
planet. The result is... not pleasant. You will find this device delivered to your
warehouse, along with its schematics, at the end of your stay here.
COMPANIONS
Jeesh (Discount Strategos) [100300]: You can import some of your Companions to
serve as your Jeesh, your army, your subcommanders. You can import up to 3 for 100,
up to 7 for 200, or up to 11 for 300. Each of them gains 600 CP to spend on perks and
must be either Strategos or Shadow.
Rival (Discount Shadow) [100]: One of your companions gains every Perk you gain
from this jump, but (for the duration of the jump), they are dead set on proving they’re
better than you.
Bookend Siblings (Discount Polemarch) [200]: Two of your companions are
imported as your siblings. They must be companions who don’t normally get along, or
they gain personality traits that put them at odds with one another. They cannot be of
your background, but they gain their choice of background and 800 CP to spend on
perks.
Hive Queen Cocoon (Discount Hegemon) [800]: You gain an infant Formic Queen as
a companion at the end of the jump. She can build biological sublight ships, spawn
millions of drones, and is telepathic across galactic distances. Her spawn are not
sentient, merely an extension of herself. However, she is a pacifist and will not kill
other sapient beings. She takes several decades to reach maturity, and building vast
infrastructure will take a very long time. She is essentially immobile and must be
protected, usually by her spawn.
Drawbacks
Third [+100]: You are a third child, something of a social outcast, a mark of parents
who flaunted the law, and a drain on necessary resources.
Feared [+100]: You have a reputation for being vicious, for doing anything needed to
crush those who get in your way and for going out of your way to cause others pain.
Planet Time [+100]: Only time spent on a planet counts for your 10 years here. If you’d
like the jump to last longer, you will find getting off planet difficult. If you’d like the jump
to be shorter, you’ll find getting planetside difficult. Be honest, don’t game this one.
Dark Empathy [+200]: You cannot help but empathize with everyone around you,
especially those you have strong feelings about, such as enemies.
Monitored [+200]: You have a Monitor Implant that transmits your surface thoughts,
emotions, and actions back to the higher authorities. It cannot be disabled or removed
without making you a vegetable.
The Hatred of the Hive [+300]: You are terrified of the Buggers, paranoid they’re
personally out to get you and have agents among the human population, and
convinced that their queens are talking to you inside your own head.
Queen of Nightmares [+400]: The hive queens are trying to understand you like they
are Ender and are probing your mind from light years distant. You are unaware of this
probing, but it manifests as horrific visions and nightmares that come at you at
unpredictable intervals, but at least a few times each week. Restful sleep will rapidly
become a memory... and these nightmares will only grow more horrific and common if
the Buggers are destroyed.
Humanity is a Scourge [+600]: The Bugger Queens, normally pacific creatures who
were appalled to find they'd killed other sapients, have sensed your coming. Instead of
waiting to be destroyed by Ender, they've decided that humanity must be destroyed
and will use every trick at their disposal, including turning every computer on Earth
against you and jamming the Ansible needed to communicate with the Fleets sent
against them.
Real Madrid [+800]: Bonzo Madrid is now just as badass as he thinks he is. He gains
all the perks offered in this jump, and a random assortment of your perks as well, and
hates you for some slight, real or imagined. He will constantly try and screw with your
plans, and may (if he can find a time when he believes you are vulnerable) try and kill
you or your companions.
END GAME
Go Home
Go Onward
Stay Here
Take a 3000 Year Nap and go on to the Speaker For the Dead Jump (Forthcoming)
NOTES
Anton’s Key is a progressive form of gigantism that accelerates all human
developmental benchmarks, including the onset of puberty. When Bean was 22 (a the
time of his death) he was 14.5 feet tall. Someone with Anton’s Key never stops
growing mentally or physically and eventually becomes at risk for heart problems, as
well as limited physical mobility. I did not include the health risks for the sake of
balance, but if you want to include them, that is your choice. Of course, a Jumper with
superhuman strength and health would be less affected by either limitation, if at all. A
cure for the congestive heart failure was found, but not until years after the end of
Ender’s Game. An upgrade for Anton’s Key will be included in the Speaker for the
Dead Jump. It is listed below, but is not, strictly speaking, available for purchase in this
jump. However, if you have no interest in taking the Speaker For the Dead Jump, you
may buy it in this jump. Or, alternatively, if you do plan to take that jump, but I haven’t
gotten around to writing it yet, you may buy this perk now (for 0 CP) on the promise
that you will pay for it when that Jump comes out.
Delphiki’s Organelles [200]: A biological upgrade that introduces the ability to turn the
excess growth associated with Anton’s Key off (and theoretically back on again if so
desired), thus countering the eventual immobilization and then death by heart failure
of those who have it. One need not be a carrier of Anton’s Key to benefit from this, as it
grants the ability to switch expedited physical growth on and off at will… say if you
wanted childhood to last half as long, or wanted to stay petite and childlike forever.
While active, you will find yourself continuing to grow a few inches taller every year, or
more when combined with Anton’s Key. While deactivated, you won’t grow an larger
(unless you get fat) than you are at that moment. Each Altform can have its own
growth pattern if you desire.
For the Battle School Invitation, you may either reduce your age free of charge to
something that would fit the Battle School, or just assume Graff saw something in you
that prompted him to break the rules. He does that. 80 year old military genius might
be what humanity needs.
Changelog v.1.1
Added notes, clarified Anton’s Key, added the future cure for its inherent downside.
Clarified Quantum Understanding as a study tool, not a learning tool.
Changelog v.1.2
Changed what Delphiki’s Organelles do thanks to someone finding the actual text
instead of relying on a wiki entry.
Changelog v.1.3
Fixed description of Hatred of the Hive, added a note about the Battle School Invitation
