[@Ozerath] So I'm reposting my current WIP sheet here for critique. Again, any suggestions as to how I can improve my empire, or make their governmental system less confusing, are welcome. [hider=Draetor Empire WIP] [center][b][h1]~The Draetor Empire~[/h1][/b] [img]https://i1.sndcdn.com/artworks-000223277192-ygyfto-t500x500.jpg[/img] [sub]Just erase the Endless 2 info and you have their flag.[/sub] [h3]The Draetor, Wraiths (Derogatory), Leeches (Derogatory), and The Ascended (Honorific)[/h3][/center] [h2][b]General Information[/b][/h2] [h3]Nation Type: Non-Combatant.[/h3] [h3][b]Overview[/b][/h3] The Draetor Empire is an ancient faction of scientific and industrially minded-yet paradoxically religious-people whose core society is composed entirely of biologically immortal humanoid aliens with semi-ethereal energy bodies and innate psionic abilities given to them by the Ashtar, a people whom they revere as god's and aspire to be like ever since they saved a remnant of their race from facing total extinction on a slowly dying world. As of this writing, they are currently led by [url=https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3179833102_10.jpg]Emperor Ilal Syhar[/url]. And while they prefer peaceful scientific, religious, and cultural advancement over senseless bloodshed and wanton destruction, they must still resort to such brutal methods on occasion in order to drain the living of their energy and replenish their own forms. For though though their suits are capable of containing much of their untamed energies, it cannot contain it all, meaning that the Draetor will slowly fade away over time until nothing is left but an empty shell, devoid of life, if they do not feed. [h3][b]History[/b][/h3] Most of this is pretty optional, but some is fairly important. [b]Notably this section should include your nation’s interactions/responses/thoughts on the Ashtar and it’s involvement in the Great War.[/b] [h3][b]Major Holdings[/b][/h3] [b]The Ark of Governance:[/b] The seat of power for the Draetor Empire as well as the permanent home of Emperor Ilal and the various minor Ministries that keep the empire running on a daily basis, such as the Ministries of Science and Intelligence for example, this amber and black upsidown triangular beast of a ship is larger than any of the other's by far, easily dwarfing them by several hundred miles. And due to its importance within the empire, the Ark of Governance is also the most well defended out of all the other arks, save for the Ark of Judgement, possessing a rather sizeable flotilla of ships, short range fighters, surface combat vehicle's, troopers, and numerous ground to air/point defenses, all of which are kept on duty round the clock, except for during refueling or routine maintenance periods, to protect the massive craft and those it contains from incoming threats. [b]The Ark of Destiny:[/b] The religious center for the entire empire and the place from which the Minister of Religion [url=https://www.naguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/endless-space-2-naguide-650x300.jpg]Zahl-Khor[/url]-or The Prophet as he's also known-tends to his flock. Those aboard the Destiny also hold a five month service honouring the Ashtar for their generous gift every twenty standard galactic years known as the Remembrance. During this time, all military forces stand down from active duty and all feeding is banned, hence why there is a considerable increase of it before the time arrives, as the Draetor flock to this ark in droves for worship, meditation, and, of course, the remembrance of their salvation at the hands of the Ashtar. Obviously when this time comes the Draetor move all three Arks to the nearest uninhabited star system in order to avoid being attacked or having their security breached by outsiders. And while some of the more vocal members of the Church have made their displeasure with this policy known, as they see skulking off and hiding just to worship as an insult, the vast majority of those within the congregation see this as a wise and logically sound precaution. During the long periods of time when they are not observing their day of salvation and honoring their gods however, the various members of the Church of Ashtar aboard the craft spend their time practicing new meditation techniques to help keep their energy loss in check or study ancient Ashtaran relics and devices they find scattered around the galaxy or gain from trading with the other races they meet. [b]The Ark of Judgement:[/b] The seat of military power for the Draetor Empire and second most powerful Ark after Governance, the Ark of Judgement serves as the primary base of operations for the Draetors' entire fleet; soldier's, ships, and all. It is from this iron clad fortress of cold metal and rigid order that the Minister of War, [url=https://i.pinimg.com/originals/2b/7b/fe/2b7bfe313c55a1fed67280891a232682.jpg]Alryah Vashid[/url], commands the empire's forces. A cold and calculating strategist, she has vowed that no foe, be it internal or external, shall harm her people while she still lives. [b]The Ark of Tranquility:[/b] The Tranquility serves as both an embassy for foreign delegations, and as a place of study for galactic politics in general. Being what it is, the Ark of Tranquility is one of the only places in which a strong Draetorin military presence is not felt or even seen, despite the fact that there [i]are[/i] still defenses in place should guests come with an intention of bringing harm. It is also one of the most unique of all the Arks ever constructed by the Draetor, as it not only has no real defenses other than the minor one's put into place by the Minister of War at the behest of the Emperor, but also looks nothing like the others, as, rather than following the same angular golden black metallic design format as the other Arks, the Tranquility looks more like a [url=https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/006/225/774/large/hadrien-channac-screenshot1.jpg?1496931415]massive flying city[/url] that was built by a myriad of races over time rather than a highly imposing death fortress like all the others. The Tranquility is also unique as it is not only the smallest Ark ever built by the Draetor, but also the first ship they send out when holding talks or negotiations with other factions, as allowing foreigners into the Ark of Governance is seen as too great of a security risk. The Tranquility is overseen by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, [url=https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a6/2f/4d/a62f4de26d6764901e77eba6b4920d43.jpg]Baheel Nadish[/url]. Her word is law for anyone aboard the craft and cannot be overridden by anyone or anything else save for the Emperor himself. [h2][b]Demographics[/b][/h2] [h3][b]Population[/b][/h3] As a nomadic race of biologically immortal energy beings who feed off of other living beings in order to survive, the Draetor do not let other races assimilate into their society, meaning that the entire empire is, in the end, made up of their people and only their people. As for how many Draetor currently live within the empire, the exact number is not known by outsiders, but it is estimated to be somewhere in the millions. A safe bet when taking into account the destruction of their home world and any losses in overall population due to minor conflicts or skirmishes over the years. [h3][b]Society[/b][/h3] Daily life and such. Not the most important section but useful for giving us a sense of how your citizens actually feel about their nation. Can include religion, fashion, etc. [h3][b]Economy[/b][/h3] This could go under society if you like. Mostly just make it clear up front if you’re an industrial powerhouse, a nation of refined master artisans, etc. Also things people might want to know for trading purposes. [h3][b]Government[/b][/h3] My favourite part <3. Probably the most important of the demographics sections. Who runs the place, how do they run it. Since you will presumably be RPing people in your government, this is pretty critical. [h2][b]Technological Information[/b][/h2] [h3][b]Major Techs[/b][/h3] Mostly interested in military techs, here: FTL, weapons, shields, armor, power, engines, etc. Civilian techs are also here, and sometimes just as important. [h2][b]Military Information[/b][/h2] [h3][b]Military Overview[/b][/h3] Describe general doctrine, history, whatever floats your space boats. [h3][b]Fleet/Navy[/b][/h3] Your space boats. Include pics or don’t, I’m not your supervisor. You’ll probably want to have one or two of most of the classes, but it doesn’t really matter too much. I’m also including some flavour options here that you might want to consider. In short, the history of the galaxy has divied up ship designs into three waves: Great War (ships built before and during the Great War), Detente (ships built during the Detente, some wonky designs in the larger classes due to treaty limitations), and Modern (ships built in the year since the message) [b]DO NOT put your hyperdread here, it gets its own section.[/b] [hider=Dreadnoughts][img]https://media.sketchfab.com/urls/aeb744a129a5490eb6bbd4ab1eba4285/dist/thumbnails/15c957a876c043638be8c52dbeb384ae/1024x576.jpeg[/img] WIP[/hider] Battleships: The grand old ladies that did all the fighting of the Great War. The Treaty of Detente imposed limitations on their sizes and destructive potential, so if you want to get intricate there’s 3 waves of battleships: Great War, Detente, and Modern. Great War is self explanatory, old sluggers and antiques. Detente battleships were awkward creations involving all kinds of elaborate ways to get around the Treaty without actually violating it. Lots of glass cannon designs here, or iron fortresses that couldn’t scratch eachother’s paint, or half baked experimental weapon systems, or novel propulsion methods that only work if nobody on board sneezes. Modern battleships are just coming into service, and are quite deadly. Battlecruisers: The treaty of Detent also limited battlecruisers, in an effort to avoid just slightly reducing the size of ship involved in any potential arms race. Similar design iterations to Battleships; Great War, Detente, and Modern. Detente battlecruisers were often cripplingly overspecialized: dedicated point defence ships, artillery vessels, mass shielding vessels, etc. Battlecruiser designs from the Detente period were often put together as a way to shore up the weaknesses of their contemporaneous Battleship partners. Cruisers: Nothing special here. Destroyers: Still nothing special. Frigates: Nope. Corvettes: Corvettes can be thought of in several iterations just kidding I don’t care what you do with these things. Unless you try to just upscale what I’m trying to avoid with strike craft. Strike craft: K I’m actually gonna sort of limit these things, or rather, the things that carry them around. Strike craft have long been an important part of space combat, so most nations have them and defences against them. Historically, they’ve been used as close in support; no one’s yet figured out how to strap useful FTL drives on the things. All this means that long range strikes aren’t practical. What I’m trying to get at is Carrier’s aren’t really a thing, or at least dedicated carriers aren’t. Plenty of room for Battlestar type things (fighty-boats with a solid complement of strike craft), but no dropping off a carrier squadron on one side of the system then expecting your strikecraft to win the fight on the other side. [hider=Arks] [img]https://media.sketchfab.com/urls/b203c45806074c97a9baa7a6a5d2b626/dist/thumbnails/1b8864a2760b4ce18f631d42c064fc1f/1024x576.jpeg[/img] WIP[/hider] A notable exception is your Hyperdread. Do whatever you want with your super special awesome boat. [h3][b]Army/Planetary forces[/b][/h3] Outline some doctrine, highlight some major units. I’m not great at doing ground forces so not much guidance here. ANNNDDD [h3][b]Hyperdread[/b][/h3] Go frikin nuts. Pics are nice. [/hider]