ASTRAL CONTINUUM / GLOSSARY
Glossary
This glossary explains the terms used in Astral Continuum, a multiplayer science-fiction game set on Kestrel Station. Each entry answers one question in two or three sentences, using only what is in the current build.
New to the game? Start with the Astral Continuum overview: what it is, how the consequence engine works, the current build and the FAQ.
What is Kestrel Station?
Kestrel Station is the one space station in the current build of Astral Continuum. It has 12 zones: three docks, a promenade with a bar, a market, a warehouse, a security office, an admin deck, an engineering bay, a medbay, a records office and a brig.
What is a hauler?
A hauler is a pilot who flies cargo into Kestrel Station, and one of the four starting roles. You begin with 30 fuel, clearance for Dock 2 and a Courier-class ship with a 120-unit hold; you dock, deliver and get paid. Fuel reaches the station only through haulers, and the Fixer pays haulers to bring in what customs should not see.
What is a trader?
A trader is a starting role that begins with 60 ore and 1,500 credits but no trade licence. Buy the licence from the Guildmaster, then buy and sell at the market as prices move.
What is the Fixer's contact?
The Fixer's contact is a starting role whose job is to find out who informs for Station Security. The Fixer pays for a name that checks out.
What is an independent?
An independent is a starting role that arrives with 1,000 credits and no friends. The goal is to talk your way into the warehouse and find out who runs contraband.
Who is the Fixer?
The Fixer is Jonas "Marrow" Kell, a character who keeps to the promenade. He offers player haulers paid runs of contraband and pays for information he can use.
What is an informant?
An informant is someone on the station who passes information to Station Security. Who it is is not given to you; you find out through play, and a name is not proof until it checks out.
What are the factions?
Kestrel Station has three factions. The Station Authority runs law, the docks and access; the Meridian Trade Combine runs the market, licences and the warehouse; the Freeholders run engineering, repairs, the grey market and information.
What is the holding pattern?
The holding pattern is the open space around Kestrel Station where ships wait to dock. Ships can buy cargo wholesale there, and it is where ship combat happens.
What is a dock grant?
A dock grant is permission to use a dock. Players need one for every dock, and the dockmaster, the chief of security or the administrator can grant one.
What is a ban?
A ban removes your access to a zone, such as a dock, and forces your ship to undock. Every ban states the charge it rests on, and it is lifted when you are cleared or granted access again.
What is a lockdown?
A lockdown closes a zone to everyone who is not a member of the faction that controls it. Everyone else, and their ships, are moved out until the lockdown is lifted.
What is the brig?
The brig is where Station Security detains people, for example after an attack in a zone where weapons are not permitted. A detention lasts 30 ticks of game time, and a detainee can only talk.
What is contraband?
Contraband is one of the six commodities on Kestrel Station, alongside fuel, water, rations, ore and medkits. The market refuses it, customs can inspect ships at the docks, and being caught with it brings sanctions.
What is a trade licence?
A trade licence lets a player trade at the market. The Guildmaster of the Meridian Trade Combine issues it for 250 credits.
What is standing?
Standing is your reputation with a faction. Officials can lower it over an offence they believe you committed, and it is restored if you are cleared.
What is a bribe?
A bribe is a payment to a character for something it is already allowed to do, such as granting access, a release or lifting a lockdown. Each act has a minimum price, some characters refuse every bribe, and a refused bribe makes the character angry.
What is a belief?
A belief is what a character holds to be true about someone or something. Each one is a record with a confidence, a source, evidence and a history, and it changes what the character does.
What is a rumour?
A rumour is a claim passed from character to character. Along the way it can be exaggerated, turned into a lie or lose its source, and it can still change what people do.
What is the Intel notebook?
The Intel notebook is the in-game notebook that collects what you have seen and heard. You can add your own theories to it.
What is persistent causal influence?
Persistent causal influence is Astral Continuum's defining mechanic. A claim you make can change what a character believes and does, spread to other characters and reach other players, and every link in that chain is saved and can be traced.