Cosmic Community; Space NRP with a little twist

[AlienBastard]

Hello folks of RPGuild. I've been researching space RPs on this site, especially of the nation sort to see what else is there.

After doing enough studying i've come to a conclusion; I wanna throw my hat into the ring.

In times before RPGuild I have ran space nation RPs, around 3-4 with varying results. Some being a explosion of excellence, others crashing pretty horrifically, while others petered out due to the lack of players in the slow heat death of the forum I was on.

Map of the sector; Yes I know a 2D map is very bad for representing space but I lack access to a program like this one thanks to being stuck on a mac that would run way too slow if installed parallels or vmware fusion. Any help on this?

Update; I managed to brute force my way into getting Astrosynthesis working after all! This means the mapping system is much more accurate than a 2D map for space; taking into account the fact space is in 3-D!



[extra 6$ please]

This will likely effect the location part of the app as a result.

For now i'll explain the set up I have in Astrosynthesis;

I used a spherical sector with 1500 star systems; a number I believe should be enough as any bigger and you start running into the problem of significance.

Going beyond the borders I don't really recommend, and as a result I won't let anyone have a society that goes outside the sphere from the start. Exploring outside is possible however, but I should warn there's more void outside the sphere and i'll have to make star systems you explore out there.

For making your civ I would like a series of inputs i'll elaborate on March 8, 2014.

For humans it is the year 3001 AD, and I have the program recognize this fact.

---

In Cosmic Community, species and faction are separate and you do not need to be a nation; you can also be a organization or nomadic group or really anything that sounds like it would be interesting to through in the space bucket.

There is no trait system or tech tiering system, instead there are special classifications of society that I would prefer only a minority of players who will play to the end being.

There is two separate application sheets; a species app and a faction app. If your species in not that advanced or one that is part of another player's empire, you do not need a faction app to play. If you just want to use humans or another person's species for a faction you do not a species app to play.

Factions I define as not just nations/empires, but also corporations and major organizations. As a result, feel free to be a corporation or terrorist organization if running a empire is not your thing. You can make multiple species and factions.

I do not intend to make human history, not out of laziness [I've made long winded future histories for humans multiple times in the past], but since i'd rather see what others do.

I do however have a few creative restrictions I should state now;

-I would prefer it if people do not turn this into a cross over fan fic RP; this means no Geth or UNSC or Protoss running around. I don't care if the pictures you use are taken from a existing sci-fi franchise as I do it myself; just change the meaning. [A good example would be some of the factions in Orbitum]

-This one will likely anger some, but please no Anthros. I do not see why aliens would be anthropomorphized earth animals, and don't see it as creative. I also discourage things too human-like. Humanoids are fine though.

-Avoid magic and things that belong in a fantasy setting.

There is one "gamey" system the RP uses however; There are a couple special classes the RP employs which have one thing in common; they generally are more powerful than other players, but I do not want every other person being one and have a several trade offs. I might add more depending on if anyone has any ideas that BAAEs, Hyper Nomads and Mega Corps don't cover. I should note that these classes cover a wide range of society types.

I should note that if you are one of these, you can't be anything else faction-wise. Making more species I am fine with, but they have to be related to what you have.

-Big Alien Asshole Empire [BAAE's]



Disclaimer; humans can also make big alien asshole empires.

Large, powerful civilizations basically. The big boys of the cosmos, generally comprising of tons of star systems and a wide range of cultures under their yoke. They're the ones you can be certain will fight by proxies and regularly need to deal with shit from every corner of their empire.

Big alien asshole empires can be comprised of multiple players, and these big alien asshole empires have high levels of power projection and influence. Think America or the USSR to get an idea of what I am thinking.

Technological capability wise they can get pretty advanced, but this is not a given as remember- Incans also were a powerful empire.

Being a big alien asshole empire requires lots of responsibility [there's a good chance you will be dealing with a lot more shit than other societies] and a application as epic as the empire you intend to make.

Basically I expect for you to spend a lot of time in this RP if you intend to be a Big Alien Asshole Empire.

-Hyper Nomadics;


[This is a xero, a alien from one of the aforementioned RPs I ran two years ago that were hyper advanced but were apolitical and didn't intervene much. They're what inspired me to make this category. The author of the painting is AaronMK]

Hyper nomadic are like their nomadic cousins in being limited in number and having no world they call home. They do not have a huge empire they run like BAAEs, but what sets a hyper nomadic apart from nomadic is that hyper nomadic is as advanced as you can get technologically in this RP. They should technologically outclass even the most advanced BAAE's.

However, hyper nomadics should be apolitical as possible, and while they could puppet other societies they lack the numbers to do anything like conquer a BAAE single handedly as without numbers they lack the occupying/conquering capabilities of a BAAE. As a result a hyper nomadic who wants power is going to have to do so through the shadows.

Be careful with how you craft your hyper nomadic; if you for instance have it so they could easily make tons more of themselves and make a empire they're too powerful.

I personally intend to be a hyper nomadic.

MEGA CORPS;



Mega Corps are very, very powerful corporations/organizations basically.

Mega corps will have to be connected to a faction you did not make, however and that faction's relations effect who you can exert influence over. Mega corps can exert tons of influence through lobbying, mercenaries, connections and so on however

A super powerful terrorist or criminal organization or very influential interstellar peace keeping guild all fall under this category as well.

A corporatocracy however, is not considered a mega corp since it is more like a nation/empire or even BAAE.

[[This probably shouldn't count as a special class since chances are everyone who makes a corp or organization is bound to be very powerful, but I wanted a third class.]]

---

Everything above is subject to change.

So, whose interested?

[NacNak]

I am! =D

since the last two Sci-Fi nation Rp's I'm in seem to be dying or dead unfortunately...... you might know them as: Orbitum. or: A Single Galaxy. =3

[AlienBastard]

From my understanding those RPs fell apart due to lacking the GM, especially with Orbitum which had serious potential be big the big dog of the space RPs with the explosion it had.

I tend to stick to my RPs until they die from lack of player interest as even if I go for a long period without IC posting I generally will be around enough to look at applications and make sure things are staying stable.

I do my best to follow the code of honor that says "a good GM goes down with his RP".

[NacNak]

awesome X3

and yeah, I was really hoping those rp's would take to the stars, but they didn't get far......

[AlienBastard]

If Orbitum didn't crash I likely would have joined that instead of making my own space RP.

Also speaking of taking to the stars, there's a FTL system described here that I intend to use. I am open to discussion of the hyperspace in this RP that I felt would work well here given the interstellar clouds marking where stuff like gravitational tides or Boltzmann entities are more likely. Basically the darker the background the more likely you are to deal with Boltzmann entities, but move faster while in denser areas your FTL move slower and you may run into gravitational anomalies.

Make of that what you will of that one evil looking region.

There's a good chance i'll revise the map's clouds since they're too weird of shape in some areas or perhaps redo the map entirely but do the clouds before the stars.

[NacNak]

Miniature Space, that's a new one X3 I've heard of Slip-Space (halo), Phase-Space (sins of a solar empire), Shockpoint (deadspace), and just plain old light speed (starwars)

that aside, it sounds neat =3

[AlienBastard]

Here's a potential candiate replacement background for the map, which will have much different star placement:

[NacNak]

hmm... Neat =3 I tried to take a pic of our galaxy and do some editing to it to make it a map for Orbitum, but I don't think I'd be the best for that =3

[AlienBastard]

Finished the new map.



This is the whole view, though it is meant to be zoomed in on.

[NacNak]

wow, it looks awesome! =D

[gowia]

I may be interested in playing as a space terrorist organisation.

[AlienBastard]

Here's a few early application sheets I hope cover everything. Use type to specify what they are feel free to be almost anything except stuff that violates the creative principles I listed or is unfair to everyone else. Remove the brackets when making your app.

---

Faction [contains nomadic fleets, empires and secret isolated protectorates as well]

Name:

Type:

Locational information: [Due to using a 3D map I decided to make faction placement semi-random in that you can specify where you want to be [towards the center or at the edges of the sphere for instance. Color is for all the lanes that connect the stars in your faction!]

*Governing system:

Species contained:

History:

Technological capabilities:

Other: [place demographics and anything else here; I am fine with people customizing their apps from the application sheets I have].

Organization [this encompasses everything from terrorist organizations to scientific foundations, mercenary groups, corporations, guilds, and so on]

Name:

Type:

Civilizations[s] and place[s] of operation and associates: [basically where you operate and if you work with other organizations. I'd suggest talking this part over on the OOC]

*Products: [what does the organization produce? Feel free to detail this as much you want]

*Ideology/beliefs: [this will be useful for those who make terrorist organizations or secret societies and the like]

History:

Other: [place demographics and anything else here; I am fine with people customizing their apps from the application sheets I have].

Species [Encompasses all things, living or mechanical]

Name:

World/Place of origin:

Appearance:

Biological/Mechanical information:

Early History: [what they did before they founded your faction or got contacted. This is the only history you'll need if you just wanna be a species].

Other: [place demographics and anything else here; I am fine with people customizing their apps from the application sheets I have].

---

I tried my best to not overcomplicate the application sheets. Any criticism is appreciated.

*Optional

---

I probably will have the OP up by tomorrow since I wanna see how many people are interested over the period of today and I got homework and responsibilities to catch up.

Logarithms and all.

[eemmtt]

Im interested in this I'll start work on a CS.

[AlienBastard]

I should note that I have gained access to Astro Synthesis using Crossover to do so. I can shell out the money for Astrosynthesis but Cross over is too much for me currently so i'll only be able to use it for 14 days until I get the money.

Here's what a astrosynthesis map could potentially do:



I think Astrosynthesis will be preferable to my map since astrosynthesis is 3D by nature while a map in illustrator is flat.

Trouble being that I have to learn the program. It doesn't seem that hard [I already figured out how to make trade routes, for instance], but positioning the stars is a bitch.

[Xaxl]

I'd potentially be interested. I'd potentially end up using these.

[AlienBastard]

The RP should have a official thread by tomorrow. For now feel free to discuss your factions and make apps.

With the map program I settled on a spherical sector with 1500 star systems.

I will not be using the finer parts of the editor, just political affiliation and the FTL lanes. The lore for each system i'll just have players define and put in the notes box for each star system.

All you need to tell me is the system count you want, the lane color you want and where you want to be positionally.

For anyone who will ask why I wont, it comes down to me just not seeing it as worth the effort. I wanna RP, not spend thirty minutes trying to figure out the orbital inclination of Zovorgidas 7

---

Also I made my app sheet. It lacks pics since I haven't drawn a puppet Master yet or made a symbol for them. I'll likely make a species sheet too.

Faction [contains nomadic fleets, empires and secret isolated protectorates as well]

Name: The Puppet Masters

Type: Hyper Nomadics

System of Government:

Puppet Masters, few as they are powerful, have come to accept a system of government based around manipulation in order to achieve their goals. They assume a general sense of domination over other civilizations. In effect they see everywhere they are as "in their control" despite not dictating the rules, annexing worlds or improving on the region.

Instead they keep control of their domains through manipulation of individuals and associating with proxies in order to "keep stability through chaos". Societies that are large, innovative and expansive tend to get their attention more than other societies.

The puppet masters are not a united entity, rather they are a massive multitude of tiny groups that wander around collecting information "of their dominion" and have been known to come into conflict over contradicting actions taken to cause chaos in a "potential threat".

Despite all that they're rather rare and generally do not have any effect on the typical basis of things.

Species contained:

Many species that are weird and too obscure to depict, however the puppet masters have become in recent times one with their spaceships.

History:

Once upon a time lost to history there was an ancient interstellar empire known simply as the Ecumene. It was a very prosperous and near utopian empire; one that was said to have stretched thousands, if not millions of star systems and kept stability despite the constant terror that beheld them from their expansion.

However this period of prosperity, where hundreds of races were said to have worked together for the grand purpose of making a truly galactic community things started to degenerate. Factions within the dominion grew and secretly, and slowly undermined the ways and traditions that kept the Ecumene in its uphill prosperity slowly, but surely started to wear down the wave of civilization that rocked the cosmos.

The internal damage got progressively worse, and the Ecumene eventually traumatically disunited, the stability and order than once governed society for vast periods of time reduced to a mess of squabbling factions who lost track of what made the Ecumene great.

However, this was only the start of a disaster that would only spiral progressively worse.

For Ecumene was not alone in the cosmic fugue- it had enemies it kept down and away for so long, now they took their opportunity to strike at the Ecumene. Massive invasions and wars on scales incomprehensible broke out, and continued in a perpetual, almost ritualistic manner as titans crashed into each other, smashing apart the foundations of civilization forged over vast sums of time in a matter of centuries. Entire species being systematically erased from the face of the universe, plagues and super weapons unleashed that eradicated entire sectors of civilization in one burst- in was the end times.

The Eon of Sunshineit has been called, due to all the gamma ray burst based WMDs used. Thankfully such destructive weapon was lost with those who used them.

The end result of the eon of horrors would not only be the fall of the Ecumene, but a dark age in which societies degenerated back to the stone age slowly and painfully or marauding crooks with advanced technology went about forging little space empires in the corpse of the Ecumene.

After some time the chaos cooled down, but technological innovation ceased and in many ways went back ward. Societies rose and fell in the space once in the Ecumene, but the flame of the Ecumene would seem to be forever extinguished.

There was for 20,000 years a weak neo-Ecumene that formed around 50,000 – 30,000 years ago that looked like it was going to reclaim its lost glory, but the lack of resources in the region and lack of ability to reclaim the technologies from the ancient Ecumene that once ruled caused it to come and go like any civilization, but this neo-Ecumene did contribute to the Puppet Masters and their spread, as the puppet masters derive themselves from a cult that formed in the neo-Ecumene and spread to the far reaches of space as they got persecuted for their ideals of nomadism and indirect domination.

As a result the Puppet Masters, as they became called due to their puppetering ways spread across much the galaxy. However number wise they are very thin, lack the ability to reproduce much and lack any ability to innovate any further with their current technology. Despite all these problems, the puppet masters believe their system to be on the slow rise- one day perhaps remaking a new Ecumene of a nature better fit to running a galaxy. However, as time marched as and the Puppet Masters became more isolated ideological difference became more increasing different to the point where quite a few “puppet” masters have become very different in nature to the point where if someone wanted to make a hyper nomad with a shared history whose nomadic ideology was near completely different they could.

Also note that while they are unable to innovate, the cultural markings and technologies they utilize does vary with what ideology they follow and what technologies they see best suited to carrying out their goals. The splinter of puppet masters that reached the sector the Cosmic Community takes place is very, very far from home and has only been around for 3,000 years, a timescale which is not much time for a puppet master.

Despite that, they intend to control from the void and manipulate however they see to best and their presence in the sector cosmic community takes place in is very evident, perhaps too much so...

[[Any further history from this point on will require folk to have as associates]]

Technological capabilities:

All technology the puppet masters use has been in use as long as they can rmemeber. The technology they use to them it is rather mundane in the same way that you may see a car or toilet paper mundane.

Make of what you will, as I list off the technologies most relevant.

For one, they’re biologically immortal and can pretty much appear wherever they want to as any form in any space as something that is best described as a sentient hallucination as they can fade away and don’t get detected on the scanners.

They can subconsciously hack into systems and get information they want very quickly; hiding stuff from them is only feasible with stuff like paper, any files kept on a online source or archive is bound to be cracked by them sooner or later.

Their conventional weapons are in a sense "death pulses" waves of varying frequency that can cause those targeted by the weapon to wither away. Energy shields tend to help to some level, but the weapon saps heavily on energy as well. There's variants that shoot waves and spheres instead of streams as well. They can and will give a associate a hand weapon that shoots death pulses; but if the associates do something with the weapon the puppet masters do not like, the weapon will crumble apart in their hands.

They're also rather liberal when it comes to using anti-matter based bombs and missiles. They can and will give some of this tech to a associate.

Their FTL is as fast as the limit I allow for the RP is; they can travel across the sector in around 8 years.

Despite all the technological wonders, it must be noted that stuff like space craft are very, very hard to replace as they have no access to manufacturers so every spaceship of theirs destroyed is a spaceship that can’t be replaced for over a century.

Also, the puppet masters are the spaceship.

Other: They're pretty much inspired by a certain classic metal song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnKhsTXoKCI

I tried my best to keep them balanced; they're very low in numbers, can't innovate/have a very hard time making more of themsleves and generally must rely on indirect means of power.

---

[AlienBastard]

In other news i've decided to scrap the FTL system and opted to just let people invent their FTL systems instead. Max FTL speed should take 7-8 or so years to go across the whole sector which is 88 light years across and FTL in general should have a "limit" of energy.