Unfortunately

On The Brink of Instability (and we're off!)

Considering Britain, too.

On The Brink of Instability (and we're off!)

Don't know whether to decide for a shrunken unified EU or a Fourth Reich.

The picture shows Brussels as the capital, so that's the EU one.

Personally i find the Fourth Reich a more interesting option, but damn if it would trigger anybody.

On The Brink of Instability (and we're off!)

i fucked up.

On The Brink of Instability (and we're off!)

These lands are mine. Halved France to distance my state from Nerevarine's.

Legends of Lavanya

Hot damn, that's some neat shit.

On The Brink of Instability (and we're off!)

>anti-hotlink hosting site
>not Imgur or other shit like that

On The Brink of Instability (and we're off!)

"This life of man appears for a short space, but of what went before, or what is to follow, we are utterly ignorant."
–Venerable Bede

The age of strife is returning.

Historically, it has always been that way. Thousands of years ago, as many as dozens of wars a day were fought across the globe in the name of conquest, riches, ideals and gods. Thousands, if not millions, suffer and die from their consequences in the span of a single year. Only as recently as the 1900's, the decade of the Great Wars, have they died out. While insurgencies and terror still haunt some parts of the world, the nations of the world have been peaceful, or so they claim.

That won't last long.

The year is 2103 CE.

Although much of the planet's resources have already been exhausted and nature has started to intensify its wrath after countless years of over-exploitation, technological advances have allowed humanity to adapt and continue thriving. This was not without consequences; in the years near the end of coal and oil and before the development of new generation techniques, nations struggled for control over the remaining black gold. Sociopolitical movements, global crises, economic issues, and hysteria regarding an impending apocalyptic war have brought down even the greater nations, but some have managed to survive, some have banded together to create bigger states, and some have resorted to occupy their lesser neighbors in the name of progress.

Difficult decisions are in their hands; choices that will decide their possibility of emerging as a significant global power and choices that will decide whether the war people long feared will come true.

---

World Map

Current State of the World (updated occasionally)

-Fossil fuels are currently a luxury and are close to inexistence.
-Raw materials are still in abundance for nations that managed to make space mining a prolific industry.
-On Earth, raw materials have moderately been exhausted, but recycling efforts may keep them available.
-An outbreak of internal wars around the globe has destabilized most nations.
-Cybernetics are a growing industry.
-Human cloning and eugenic services are developed and may or may not be available depending on a nation's ethic.
-Little international groups remain, and some may have developed into full-fledged nations.
-The Moon has quite many colonies from some advanced nations, but they either have lost a central government or have been adopted by a new nation.
-Some colonies on Mars has been built, with same situations as that on the Moon.
-Space engines currently take weeks to transport a ship from Earth to any other location on the Solar System, other than the Moon.

Rules and Guidelines (IMPORTANT MECHANICS ARE ALSO HERE, PLEASE READ)

1. Typical RPGuild and roleplay rules. Be cool like Fonz, don't godmod, don't metagame, blah blah.
2. To avoid instant Russias, starting territorial limits will be based on a land area about the size of this circle, compared to the map. You can't fit a circle on most lands though, so this will be only a reference; the shape of your territory will be whatever you want, but keep in mind I'll check.


3. Always keep track of your military count for the GMs to make sure you don't suddenly pull out 6 gorillion tanks out of your ass.
4. Be realistic. Not too much, but keep it close. Don't terraform Jupiter in 6 months or do something similar, for God's sake. Likewise, don't be able to hold your 6 gorillion tanks without having repercussions on your economy. Guess what though, nuclear explosion-powered engines are actually viable. The More You Know^TM.
5. We beg you not to randomly disappear. If you feel like leaving, tell us.
6. Don't speedpost unless it's on a dialogue in a formal meeting.
7. Don't bullshit something you didn't post IC or didn't indicate on a sheet, e.g you say you captured a colony on the Moon but nothing is said on a single IC post of yours.
8. Keep track of where your capital, your major cities and other vital facilities are on the map. Use a symbol or something for the capitals, and dots for cities, and whatever for others. Also keep track on your colonies outside Earth.
10. Don't suddenly claim a huge chunk of land, it should happen gradually.
11. New things will be added as time passes by, based on your suggestions (do give one every now and then) and other matters.
12. gl;hf

Sheet Skeleton

Feel free to add something decorative like flags or other shit, as long as the essence of the template remains.
Nation Name:
Map Location: (Use Paint.)
Government Info:
Military Overview:
Economic Overview:
Cultural Description:
Technological Overview:
Colonies: (if there are any)
History:
Other:

I'll probably build and improve this post further, but for now this is good.

On The Brink of Instability (Near-Future Earth)

@UnfortunatelyI just got a better idea:
http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/enginelist.php
Pick whichever engine designs you would like the most for this RP.
There's actually quite a difference between even two nuclear torch engine designs. Some may even feel insane yet strangely practical.
Orion drive which basically lets the ship ride on a series of nuclear explosions; for example.

@Willy Vereb

Well dang if that isn't the most badass means of transportation.

On The Brink of Instability (Near-Future Earth)

With that I'll be preparing to make work on the OOC, as well as gladly ask you, Willy, to be a co-GM. Any thoughts?

On The Brink of Instability (Near-Future Earth)

<Snipped quote by Unfortunately> No problem albeit I disagree in some points. Sure, a nuclear war would easily lead to the collapse of even the largest nations, destroy the industrial, research or economic centers and overall it'd be a tragedy. But the civilization itself would remain still. Most people would be alive and well while living in smaller cities posessing nearly all the infrastructure of what large cities have so things won't change into Mad Max like techno barbarism or Fallout-like bleak wastelands.
The biggest issue would be the lack of leadership, be it in terms of politics, economy or anything. Countries would be spread to smaller nations and anarchic decades will be ahead.

As for radiation, yes, it's a problem. After settling their immediate concerns humanity would need to deal with the hidden threat of radiation poisoning. I can imagine weather reports telling people about "radioactive winds" and to stay indoors while using their air filters during these times. Although it's also quite likely I'd be exaggerating here. Fact is we already detonated thousands of nukes in the name of testing. Former residents of Hiroshima also returned to their city and while it isn't completely without dangers they didn't just die in doves. Unless you live close to a nuked city chances are high you may never need to worry about radiation in general. scientific studies following this WW3 scenario may show that radioactivity caused some animals to die out or at least become endangered but it'd be far less serious than bulldozing the rain forests, for example.
So yeah, life after a nuclear war would suck. It kills untold amount of people, cuts off the head of nations and adds radioactive winds as a potential new environmental hazard.
But so would suck a conventional WW3 without the nukes, provided nations go as far as they did during WW2.
Oh well, hopefully this discussion wouldn't have anything to do with the game. So again i was just ranting about this topic.

<Snipped quote>I am a little confused.
I suggested the above because your OP said nations fight for the black gold.
But if oil is increasingly less relevant in the setting then you can just ignore what I said.
If you adopt the "alternate universe" idea of mine then you can set any date you want for the game.
The only thing it would determine is perhaps the technology we get.
So because I am confused I ask a few questions:
1.) What are the state of the natural resources (fossil fuels, raw materials, etc)? Nearing depletion or still exploitable as nowadays?
2.) Was there an large scale war within the century or all fights were regional conflicts? (thinking of WW3 or anything close)
3.) Eugenics, human cloning and transhumanism. Did any of these became plausible and if yes what is the public opinion on them?
4.) Does this world have something like the UN, NATO and other large international groups? What are these?
5.) How much space travel developed in this game? Are people capable of "casual" interplanetary travel? Colonies on other planets? Exploitation of resources in space?

Depending on what are your thoughts on these it can determine the game's style.
For some reason my first impression was a future scenario with space extensive space travel and exploration. Dunno why I thought this, maybe the implication that we may develop FTL if the game advances that far.
My second impression was that a more contemporary setting where resources are depleting but the world has yet to adopt alternate methods.
But you seem to had a bit different thing in mind.
By answering my 5 questions it'd help me to gasp what's your game will be really about.
Thank you in advance!

@Willy Vereb

I see about the nuclear war, and while I still hold more to ask and rant, I won't continue further for the sake of my fingers and to go straight to your questions.

When I mean that nations fought for oil and coal, I spoke about it as one of the major contributors to the instigation of wars that collapse of modern-day nations before alternative and advanced energy sources were developed, not as a source of competition for the states being played. Sorry if it wasn't clear.

Now to your questions:
1.) A significant portion of fossil fuels have been depleted, although largely thanks to recycling scraps of metal and aluminum and the development of space mining, most raw materials are still in a state of abundance. The ones that do, however, weren't solved by the afforementioned methods have either become obsolete for those that have moved on from powering their cars from oil to running them with electricity from fusion, or are currently being fought over for those that didn't. I don't really know if such irreplaceable resources other than the black gold exist, though.

2.) Regional wars, mostly, although there was a few developing conflicts between major world powers near the end of their collapse.

3.) Transhumanism is already somewhat available through cybernetic modifications aimed to enhance human capabilities, but immortality is still unavailable. As for human cloning, it depends whether you're thinking about regular Dolly cloning or chamber tubes, but the former is readily available, while the latter is still in the process of making. It depends on a country's sense of ethics and policies, however, if their usage is widespread, restricted or prohibited. Same with eugenics.

4.) Much of these organizations have either disbanded or have become full fledged nations, if a roleplayer chooses to do so (U.N is of course an exception.). An international group may be created again if the players wish, through treaties.

5.) Space travel has become moderately advanced, with the Moon already hosting large colonies and even a few cities, Mars and a few gas giant moons hosting some colonies and asteroid mining prevalent. It may already be typical, but a trip from Earth to any other location in the solar system may still take weeks.