The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
Space Myth, Post-Game Show (pg 38)
Scooter
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
For the latest and the mostest info, read the wiki.
Overview: A broadcast from an unknown origin in space has been found by your people and discovered to contain information to build two great technologies: Jumpgates between systems, and communication devices that can work instantly across galaxies. While the source of the broadcast is not known, it had a strength, angle, and distance such that it reached many races in a large region of space in a short period of time. Thinking they were alone in the universe, now each species has discovered things are a lot more crowded than they first appeared. There's no telling what possibilities lay in store for adventurous individuals in the years to come, but that's not your concern. You, leader of your people, must make sure they survive to get that far.
Based on Galactic Civilizations (vaguely) and the previous Mythology world-building thread, welcome to its sci-fi cousin. You control an entire species, how they act, who they befriend, and who they conquer. Again, the ideal is that this will produce a setting for future games to take place in. But if that never happens, it can still be a fun exersize of its own. I only ask that you do not play this as an RTS, with the objective of wiping everybody else out, but rather with the goal of creating an interesting sci-fi setting. For the first few days people will be free to create their new species, once turns have started (and systems still remain unclaimed), new players can choose to create a new faction splintered from an existing one, such as by pirates or an exiled political/religious/ethnic group.
Translating RP to Gameplay: You are supreme ruler of your species. King, Secretary General, Supreme Council, Hivemind, what this means is up to you. The decisions of the player become the actions of the species. Solar systems are your playbox. When you claim an undiscovered system, not only do you get to name it, you may choose what is in it: planets, binary stars, asteroid belts, etc. This is all quite abstract in this galaxy building game and will have no effect at this stage. But if you try claiming every system you find has 20 lush habitable planets in it, I'll smack you. Assume there is at least one habitable world/moon/etc for you to build a colony on.
Species: With humanity as the standard, for every extra ability your species has it must have a tradeoff. Examples: Being able to breathe in water, not being able to breathe on land. Two extra arms, runs at half the speed. Runs three times as fast, lives one-third as long. Four times as good in one thing, a quarter in another. You get the idea. This may have an effect in later games but has no effect on the following. Due to complaints about all the Myth races being freaks, I will let ONE person start with Earth. Late players may choose to create human factions. But not too many.
Also, if you try claiming something like "lives 4 times as long, has hair one quarter the length", I'll smack you.
24 starting points to spend on:
Intelligence (tech creation)
Soldiering (ability to fight)
Resource Richness(ability to discover and exploit unique resources)
Culture (do you produce and absorb culture? chance to absorb systems)
Spying (stealing techs or preventing them from being stolen)
Expansive (will settle anywhere and everywhere, and goes zoom zoom)
You can start with a maximum of 14 of your starting points in a single area.
Update: If your race is "cultureless", such as insect swarms or machine hive minds, you may choose to label it as such. This gains you +10 to 'defensive' culture checks and -10 to 'offensive' culture checks. See the Culture section for what checks do.
Turns: 1 turn every 2 days. Each turn your civilization will research, look for resources, and expand. You may choose to attack, spy, or if your culture is strong enough, absorb systems. Turns will continue at least until every system is claimed, and will likely continue until people feel it's done or a few strong civilizations are obviously on the verge of wiping too many smaller ones out.
Rolls: You may choose to do your own rolls at Invisible Castle, or, having your stats, I can do them for you. Depending on how many players we have I may roll for people who miss posting, or I may simply let their civilizations fall to the stronger. (Considering giving each player 3 freebies)
Map: Once we know how many players we have I will create a starmap and randomly select your starting system. I plan on making it large enough to last a good two weeks, at least. This map will not be remotely scientifically accurate.
Intelligence: Each turn you roll 1d20+Int to earn that many research points. You may direct your points in any field you wish, the obvious ones are fields that enhance the other stats (better labs, better spies, etc). But remember you're trying to define your species, not just 'win' the game. If you want your species to be strong in cybernetics, cloning, medicine, etc, this is where you do it. The first tech in a field takes 20 points, the 2nd 30, the 3rd 40, and so on. Points not spent in one turn can be saved for the next. While having 3 levels of cybernetics may not make much of a difference in this stage, it is important if you want your cybernetics to be better than the annoying slug faces down the street, and may have an effect in games spawned from this.
- Field to research: Science
Soldiering: Soldiering starts with the given points, but can be focused into defensive and offensive with technologies. For example, a species may start with 4 in soldiering, learn a new form of force field for +2 defense, and then have 4 offense and 6 defense. Focused technologies are twice as rewarding as general ones. Each turn, you may roll for 1d20+Offense attack points and spend them as you like among any number of enemy systems that you border. They then roll for 1d20+Defense defense points to spend as they like on those systems. Highest score at each system wins. Attack and Defense points are cleared after each turn.
- Fields to research: Weapons (+attack), Defenses (+defense), Training (+both)
Resources: Resources are unique materials that can give bonuses. Each turn you roll for 1d20+Resources survey points, every 25 points earns you 2 trade units of a random resource, such as a fuel that speeds ships or an armor than makes them tougher. Each unit is enough to supply one civilization, and bonuses do not stack from having multiple units. Extras are for trading to people you like, or buying survival from stronger species. You can cut off trade at any time. You can only trade with civilizations you have connected jumpgates with (see Expansive) or ones connected to ones you are connected to (and so on). Trade paths through a third party's territory must be willing, normally it will be assumed they are (in exchange for various fees and taxes for gate use), unless an embargo or war has been declared on one or both of the traders. Survey points collect between turns.
- Fields to research: Surveying
Culture: Each turn, you may choose to do a culture check on systems you border, with 1d20+Culture. If your roll comes up 18 points higher than theirs, the system is absorbed into your civilization. Choosing whether to check or not is your choice, but remember it may upset the current owners. You can check as many systems as you want, but only once per system per turn, and you can only absorb 1 system per turn.
- Fields to research: Mass Communications
Spying: Each turn you may choose to do a spy check on one other civilization, with 1d20+Spying. If your roll is 10 higher than theirs, you steal one random tech (though only 1 level higher than you currently have in that field). If it is 15 higher, they will not know it was you.
- Fields to research: Espionage
Update: Hitting equal or lower to their check gets you caught. 1-9 higher causes you to back off before being caught. 10-14 gets you a tech, but also caught, and 15+ gets you a consequence free tech.
Expansive: How fast are your ships, and how eager are your people to explore? Each turn you roll 1d20+Expansive exploring points, and for every 12 points you discover a new system bordering one you own. If it is empty it becomes yours and its first jumpgate is built, if not then its jumpgate system is connected to yours. However, you only need to discover a neighbor civilization once, at which point you know where their systems are. It will also be assumed that you gain contact with all the civilizations that one has. If there are no empty systems or unknown strangers on your borders, you will claim the nearest one not that does not involve traveling through hostile territory. If there are none such, then this will have no effect. Exploring points collect between turns.
- Field to research: Engines
Overview: A broadcast from an unknown origin in space has been found by your people and discovered to contain information to build two great technologies: Jumpgates between systems, and communication devices that can work instantly across galaxies. While the source of the broadcast is not known, it had a strength, angle, and distance such that it reached many races in a large region of space in a short period of time. Thinking they were alone in the universe, now each species has discovered things are a lot more crowded than they first appeared. There's no telling what possibilities lay in store for adventurous individuals in the years to come, but that's not your concern. You, leader of your people, must make sure they survive to get that far.
Based on Galactic Civilizations (vaguely) and the previous Mythology world-building thread, welcome to its sci-fi cousin. You control an entire species, how they act, who they befriend, and who they conquer. Again, the ideal is that this will produce a setting for future games to take place in. But if that never happens, it can still be a fun exersize of its own. I only ask that you do not play this as an RTS, with the objective of wiping everybody else out, but rather with the goal of creating an interesting sci-fi setting. For the first few days people will be free to create their new species, once turns have started (and systems still remain unclaimed), new players can choose to create a new faction splintered from an existing one, such as by pirates or an exiled political/religious/ethnic group.
Translating RP to Gameplay: You are supreme ruler of your species. King, Secretary General, Supreme Council, Hivemind, what this means is up to you. The decisions of the player become the actions of the species. Solar systems are your playbox. When you claim an undiscovered system, not only do you get to name it, you may choose what is in it: planets, binary stars, asteroid belts, etc. This is all quite abstract in this galaxy building game and will have no effect at this stage. But if you try claiming every system you find has 20 lush habitable planets in it, I'll smack you. Assume there is at least one habitable world/moon/etc for you to build a colony on.
Species: With humanity as the standard, for every extra ability your species has it must have a tradeoff. Examples: Being able to breathe in water, not being able to breathe on land. Two extra arms, runs at half the speed. Runs three times as fast, lives one-third as long. Four times as good in one thing, a quarter in another. You get the idea. This may have an effect in later games but has no effect on the following. Due to complaints about all the Myth races being freaks, I will let ONE person start with Earth. Late players may choose to create human factions. But not too many.
Also, if you try claiming something like "lives 4 times as long, has hair one quarter the length", I'll smack you.
24 starting points to spend on:
Intelligence (tech creation)
Soldiering (ability to fight)
Resource Richness(ability to discover and exploit unique resources)
Culture (do you produce and absorb culture? chance to absorb systems)
Spying (stealing techs or preventing them from being stolen)
Expansive (will settle anywhere and everywhere, and goes zoom zoom)
You can start with a maximum of 14 of your starting points in a single area.
Update: If your race is "cultureless", such as insect swarms or machine hive minds, you may choose to label it as such. This gains you +10 to 'defensive' culture checks and -10 to 'offensive' culture checks. See the Culture section for what checks do.
Turns: 1 turn every 2 days. Each turn your civilization will research, look for resources, and expand. You may choose to attack, spy, or if your culture is strong enough, absorb systems. Turns will continue at least until every system is claimed, and will likely continue until people feel it's done or a few strong civilizations are obviously on the verge of wiping too many smaller ones out.
Rolls: You may choose to do your own rolls at Invisible Castle, or, having your stats, I can do them for you. Depending on how many players we have I may roll for people who miss posting, or I may simply let their civilizations fall to the stronger. (Considering giving each player 3 freebies)
Map: Once we know how many players we have I will create a starmap and randomly select your starting system. I plan on making it large enough to last a good two weeks, at least. This map will not be remotely scientifically accurate.
Intelligence: Each turn you roll 1d20+Int to earn that many research points. You may direct your points in any field you wish, the obvious ones are fields that enhance the other stats (better labs, better spies, etc). But remember you're trying to define your species, not just 'win' the game. If you want your species to be strong in cybernetics, cloning, medicine, etc, this is where you do it. The first tech in a field takes 20 points, the 2nd 30, the 3rd 40, and so on. Points not spent in one turn can be saved for the next. While having 3 levels of cybernetics may not make much of a difference in this stage, it is important if you want your cybernetics to be better than the annoying slug faces down the street, and may have an effect in games spawned from this.
- Field to research: Science
Soldiering: Soldiering starts with the given points, but can be focused into defensive and offensive with technologies. For example, a species may start with 4 in soldiering, learn a new form of force field for +2 defense, and then have 4 offense and 6 defense. Focused technologies are twice as rewarding as general ones. Each turn, you may roll for 1d20+Offense attack points and spend them as you like among any number of enemy systems that you border. They then roll for 1d20+Defense defense points to spend as they like on those systems. Highest score at each system wins. Attack and Defense points are cleared after each turn.
- Fields to research: Weapons (+attack), Defenses (+defense), Training (+both)
Resources: Resources are unique materials that can give bonuses. Each turn you roll for 1d20+Resources survey points, every 25 points earns you 2 trade units of a random resource, such as a fuel that speeds ships or an armor than makes them tougher. Each unit is enough to supply one civilization, and bonuses do not stack from having multiple units. Extras are for trading to people you like, or buying survival from stronger species. You can cut off trade at any time. You can only trade with civilizations you have connected jumpgates with (see Expansive) or ones connected to ones you are connected to (and so on). Trade paths through a third party's territory must be willing, normally it will be assumed they are (in exchange for various fees and taxes for gate use), unless an embargo or war has been declared on one or both of the traders. Survey points collect between turns.
- Fields to research: Surveying
Culture: Each turn, you may choose to do a culture check on systems you border, with 1d20+Culture. If your roll comes up 18 points higher than theirs, the system is absorbed into your civilization. Choosing whether to check or not is your choice, but remember it may upset the current owners. You can check as many systems as you want, but only once per system per turn, and you can only absorb 1 system per turn.
- Fields to research: Mass Communications
Spying: Each turn you may choose to do a spy check on one other civilization, with 1d20+Spying. If your roll is 10 higher than theirs, you steal one random tech (though only 1 level higher than you currently have in that field). If it is 15 higher, they will not know it was you.
- Fields to research: Espionage
Update: Hitting equal or lower to their check gets you caught. 1-9 higher causes you to back off before being caught. 10-14 gets you a tech, but also caught, and 15+ gets you a consequence free tech.
Expansive: How fast are your ships, and how eager are your people to explore? Each turn you roll 1d20+Expansive exploring points, and for every 12 points you discover a new system bordering one you own. If it is empty it becomes yours and its first jumpgate is built, if not then its jumpgate system is connected to yours. However, you only need to discover a neighbor civilization once, at which point you know where their systems are. It will also be assumed that you gain contact with all the civilizations that one has. If there are no empty systems or unknown strangers on your borders, you will claim the nearest one not that does not involve traveling through hostile territory. If there are none such, then this will have no effect. Exploring points collect between turns.
- Field to research: Engines
Scooter on
0
Posts
In your starting post you need:
- Species/Civilization name.
- Species description with tradeoffs, if any.
- Name of your starting system and brief description of what worlds/stars/etc are in it. This can wait a bit (for both starting systems and colony systems), since it has no actual effect on this stage, but by the time the game is done there should be at least a name and brief description of all systems.
- Your allotment of your 24 starting points. You can also do your first turn's worth of rolls for research, survey, and expansion points for when turns start.
- The first research field you wish to focus in.
Note to players who want to be a faction of humanity or another race: You will not be able to break off until your species has started exploring the stars, meaning you will have to wait at least one turn (perhaps a few more if your forefathers get really bad rolls) to start. Once you do start you will claim an empty system near to the original species territory.
Each turn you need:
- Naming and description of new systems you've found
- Rolls for your next research, survey, and expansion points, and attack, spy, and culture rolls if you choose. If a previous poster has attacked you in some way you can go ahead and roll your counters. To keep things moving I can probably do rolls for people who haven't posted, however, if an attack is hitting 2 or more of your worlds you will need to say how you're assigning your defense points. If time goes by and you do not I'll probably assume you lost.
- Your current research field. If not mentioned I'll assume it remains the same as previously.
- RP. This is, after all, made for designing an RP setting. Say hi to your new neighbors, offer items for trade, sign treaties, or declare war as you see fit.
- If you do declare war, trade, or etc, make sure it's clear that you've done it - exactly which systems you attack, which resources you trade, and so on.
Invisible Castle link: http://invisiblecastle.com/rolldice.py
Use your civilization name with your IC rolls. If you can find me online in #bombfell or #odam there may also be a DMbot or dicebot online for you to use also. But if I'm not online, use IC so I have a link.
Depending on signups I'm planning to start turns off this Sat or Sun, and do turns every 2 days after that. Now, being the holiday season with an unpredictable schedule, I can't guarantee 100% I'll be able to update every two days, so I'm taking volunteers for a secondary GM to keep things moving if I can't.
Current Roster to follow
=======================
SUPERSUGA - The Cilids of The Cilid Empire, Colorful Finheads
jdarksun - Species 146 of Civilization 1, OCD Bureaucrats
Talonrazor - Doman Kwiets, Binary Planet Dwellers
piL - Qen of Qen, Psychic Rocks
INNS - Humans of The Combine, The Men of Mars
Mr. Rose - Corfas of the Over-Tribe Union, Four-armed Giants
Grid System - Celessin and Iatro of the Starfarers, Space Whales and Cosmic Crabs
thorpe - The Wave, Insect Swarm
Atro - The Telomere, Parasite DNA
Rankenphile - The Na'ar of Ruia, Cycloptic Nomads
JacquesCousteau - The Hajak, Spiritual Oracles
Mongrel Idiot - Kelari of the Kelari Collective, Strength In Numbers
PsychoLarry1 - Ferrous Polyglobal, Home of the Merch
GrimmyTOA - Hshshsahsha of The Ahsha Empire, Space Fairies
Alexan Drite - Damocles, Dastardly Machines
Horseshoe - The Wargh, Endless Warriors
MechMantis - Alhen Sakamet, Long-Lived Reptilians
trenog - The Ter'is'kar, Psychic Forestdwellers
Zetetic Elench - Unbound Union of Farraqh Cluster, Gas Giant Alliance
SPI - The Viscuuli of The Council of Visculon Families, It's Good To Be The Nobles
FierceDiety666 - The Time Divers, Mysterious Newcomers
Calada held the display close up to his face and squinted as he read the data, speaking slowly.
"So, with this technology we'll be able to move between systems..."
"Like a Spark, Sir" chimed Rancad. "This may be the most important development in the last century. Even the last millenium."
Calada took in a deep breath and nodded, looking somewhat impressed. Brushing back his sky-blue head-fin casually he slouched himself down on an intricately carved chair.
"Excellent. Put out a call for anyone who feels like settling in a new frontier."
Species: The Cilids. A Cilid stands hunched over at just over five feet for an average adult. Specimens as tall as six feet would be considered rare and most Cilids appear slender with long arms and squatted legs. The bulk of the Cilid population are what is known are Common Cilids. Their skin looks to be somewhere between a fish's scales and the bark of a tree in texture and feels dry to the touch. Common colours vary from dull yellow to pale browns and any shade of grey. A floppy fin stretches from the top of a Cilid's head down to the middle of their back and lies useless, a left-over from species earlier days. Round eyes of yellow or red stare from above a wide mouth, letting slip of the species' plant-eating lifestyle.
If the common Cilid sounds dull in appearance it is heightened by the relative extravagence of the rarer Sun Cilid. One in every ten or so Cilids will be born clearly different from their siblings. The colours of a Sun Cilid are much brighter than the Commons, varying from bright purple to neon orange or midnight blue. As well as this their fins that stretch back from their heads are stretched out by thin spines, usually about a foot outwards. These fins display beautiful markings often resembling a tie-dye pattern and such a stunning appearance has meant Sun Cilids have been the ruling class throughoug the history of their race. In the past few centuries this birth-right has been all but trodden out by the progress of the Cilids. It is considered unacceptable to treat Sun Cilids as a superior class of Cilid as was once the case. At least in theory. In practise Sun Cilids still have many of their previous social blessings and integration between Suns and Commons is rare in most parts. This cultural divide often leads to civil unrest.
The signs of divide amongst the Cilids are clear in every aspect of their culture. The arts are of a great love to the Cilids but still Sun Cilids make up the bulk of the respected artists in most fields whereas Common Cilids are never quite taken seriously. The exception is in the field of architecture which is another love of the Cilids and a field filled with Common Cilids and generally shunned by the Suns. Many buildings in Katara are considered some of the most beautiful ever.
Tradeoffs:
75% as Strong as a Human - 25% Faster
Somewhat unstable social structure - Cultural Boom
Lifespan of around 40 years - Require little food to sustain themselves
Alk gripped his gun tightly in his clawish hand. Every hour of his training seemed like a distant memory even though this was his first day in action. The mob that stood before him and his fellow guards had started off peaceful, singing protests outside the exclusive University of Analn and waving signs with slogans including "Chances for Commons" and "Cilids Unite". Although there were a few Sun Cilids in the crowd the front line seemed to now be entirely made up of what looked like the dregs of Common Cilid society. What was more worrying was that they were edging closer and getting louder.
Alk glanced over to his leader, a fiery-orange Sun Cilid who was staring straight ahead as he barked out his order.
"That's it! Fire suppression rounds!"
Home System: Antalla
Planets:
Amda - An uninhabitable rock that the Cilids have paid litte attention to.
Larakat - The Cilid homeworld. A small planet covered by rocky desert around its equator eventually softening into a more lush land dotted with seas. The bulk of the large cities lie in the band with what we would consider a warm mediterranean climate. The largest city, Katara, is considered to be the center of the ancient civilisation that united all of Larakat under one flag. Has two rocky moons and several large artificial satellites.
Acilla - Dusty yellow planet where the Cilids established their first outpost off Larakat. Home to a few non-sapient species of little use besides drawing in tourists. Generally a rather useless planet.
Jakada - Relatively small gas giant with a few uninhabitable satellites.
Janad - Very similar to Jakada. Contains one moon that may be habitable with some advances.
The authoritative clapping of the Host caused the audience to quickly settle into a hushed silence. Without saying a word the smartly dressed Sun Cilid stepped to one side and the curtain was raised. A choir of what must have been five-hundred Sun Cilids draped in colourful silks stood facing their audience. In union they took in a deep breath and, like the choirs had done for countless centuries beforehand, they sang. Not one member of the audience moved until the curtain began to lower at which point they errupted into a heartfelt ovation.
Starting Points:
Intelligence - 3
Soldiering - 3
Resource Richness - 4
Culture - 6
Spying - 3
Expansive - 5
Rolls: (Not sure what exactly I have to roll here...)
Research - 18
Survey - 19
Expansion - 19
Field to Research: Surveying
"Sir", Rancad spoke timidly.
After a deep sigh Calada looked up from the display, a tuft of leafy plant being chewed by his wide mouth "Yes? What?"
"The new working year is coming up and I was hoping with these recent developments I've helped to spearhead I could put in an application for my advancement. I ask with the greatest respect, of course, sir."
Calala narrowed his eyes and looked Rancad over. Dull copper skin, milky eyes, brown fin hanging loosely down his neck.
"Well... Rancad. It's been a tough year for the Economy. I'm sure you understand".
Rancad nodded slowly. "Of course, sir. Another tough year."
As his aide trudged away Calada shook his head in amusement and stuffed another leaf into his mouth.
SoogaGames Blog
This will be epic.
I will have the race of the Doman Kwiets, living on the Double Worlds they call the Dausmarks. They are a cultural of ancestors, traditionalism and a dualistic/Norse-inspired religion. I will wage a holy war to bring the balance of Light and Dark to the universe.
More to follow.
Can I be giant, peaceful, flying space whales?
Civilization Name: Qen
Description: The Qen are a technically a race of sentient fist sized stones. These psionically charged stones, in order to better manipulate the world around them, draw minerals around themselves and form bodies out of crystal and stone. Their shapes and forms are nearly as numerous as they are limitless, although certain classes are restricted to follow certain body patterns depending on their job.
The Qen, being one with the stone, are adept at chemical structures and psionic developments. Nearly all their technologies are either new material technology, or new ways to channel psionic energy through crystals. They take great pride in their mineral manipulation and stone works, often building great caverns or trenches of crystal forests for the sake of their 'art'.
Physiologically, the Qen are a mystery. They technically need no sustenance to survive, their heartstones fueled by the psionics that grant them sentience. However, the bodies they form around these heartstones do not move on their own, and so the Qen do feed, but rarely and when they do, it's on crystal or rock. Qen are created when two or more Qen work together to transfer essence to a new stone, or rarely when a Son Qen creates a new stone on their own. Also of note, not all Qen are telepathic. While some Qen have learned to read and offer thoughts, the majority of Qen communicate through unintelligible crystal pitches.
Super Qen, or Son Qen are special seed stones that focus very little on controlling the real world. Instead, they focus channeling psionic energies, learning and growing as much as they can. They are the government of Qen society, the Qen trusting their fate in the hands of these focused stones. While any Qen can become a Son Qen, few do, as it means shrugging off their physical bodies and engaging in pure contemplation, except for their organizational abilities.
Trade-offs: The Qen are excellent survivors, and are well protected inside their shell bodies. Growing a shell body isn't easy, however, and so repairing themselves is often a task in and of itself. Additionally, the Qen often have difficulties creating dexterous and agile bodies, and tend to move ponderously slow; which is alright for them since there's no known lifespan. Creating additional Qen is a draining and lengthy procedure, and so they are not a fast breeding race, even if they are a resilient one. Additionally, all Qen are psionic and are prominent psychokineticists, and especially focus their abilities in materials manipulation, changing the physical properties and makeup of all sorts of objects. Their sensory abilities are also somewhat dulled. While they can simulate eyes, it’s never to the effect of biological systems. They rely on reading auras to interact with other species for the most part. Their hearing, however, is exceptional, and have been known to grow crystal canyons that create haunting melodies as one travels through them.
Starting System: Khalis
System Description: Khalis is a cold system, its sun a white dwarf and difficult for any life to form. Not much is known about the development of the system, but it’s believed long ago to have been home to a race of psions. The psions, because of their nature never sought interstellar travel, but did focus on perfecting their craft. They have since died off or left through other means because of the changing physical conditions, but their legacy remains, one cold dead planet filled with crystal forests, thousands of Son Qen and a massive Son Qen that has the power to influence geologic shifts. A wind blasted crystalloid sphere. The remaining planets have all been colonized recently by the Qen, and Son Qen are busily beautifying and refining those planets into something the Qen want.
Intelligence: 10 – The Qen tap into the very mysteries of the universe itself.
Soldiering: 3 – The Qen’s bodies and abilities give it advantages in warfare, but lack of interspecies contact or even desire to fight prevents the Qen from fully understanding the art of war.
Resource: 10 – The Qen’s ability to refine and modify the minerals and materials is paralleled by few if any. If they can find it, they can extract it, and if they can find what they need, they can easily convert useless materials into useful materials. Finding is their only difficulty.
Culture: 0 – While the Qen’s understanding of the universe is great, few empathize and glorify sentient rocks.
Spying: 0 – Crystal bodies mean a Qen can be spotted from miles away. It is difficult for a Qen to infiltrate foreign influences.
Expansive: 1 – While the Qen are fit to survive the rigors of space travel and dead planets, they are slow to move and slow to breed. They do not have many expansionist goals.
Field to Research: Science
Civilization Name: Ahsha
Homeworld: Home, of course.
Civilization Description: Depending on who you ask, the Hshshsahsha are a race of tiny, motelike beings that twirl and dance on the edge of the visible spectrum of light, glorified fireflies, or the projection into this dimension of something from somewhere else. The confusion is compounded by the fact that if you ask an individual Hshshsa how the race views itself, you're likely to get a response along the lines of "Us? I don't know much about us. I think we're probably figments of our own imagination." This will be followed by a barely-heard giggle, and the rapid disappearance of every Hshshsa in the vicinity.
The Hshshsahsha, in fact, seem to be almost entirely without a physical form. They make up for this massive drawback by manifesting abilities that appear strange and eerie to other species. Hshshsa seem to view time differently than most other species. Whereas to most, time is a flowing stream, the Hshshsahsha seem to view it as more of a pool, to be dipped into and out of nearly at will.
Although they are nearly massless and possess no offensive capabilities whatsoever, they are almost impossible to kill, mainly because they always know where, how, and when you're planning to hit them, and are simply not there when you arrive. Soon after an assault, local troopers will start to feel a overwhelming urge to put their guns to their own temples, as the second of the the Hshshsahsha's abilities begins to manifest itself. The Hshshsahsha are, in short, terrifyingly powerful telepaths. This ability only manifests itself at extremely short range, but is very potent. It should be noted that over the course of their recorded history, Hshshsahsha have only ever used their military (the term is used very loosely) in a defensive capacity. The Hshshsahsha do, however, remember their struggle against a (now extinct) competitor species on Home, and are willing to wage war should their survival be threatened.
The Ahsha Empire (as the Hshshsahsha are generally called for the sake of convenience-- the actual political system seems to be more like a true democracy), is a definite oddity among the starfaring races. While they are intensely curious individually (and about individuals), the Hshshsahsha seem to have no interest in co-ordinating any sort of research programs. While the occasional discovery is stumbled upon, this is viewed amongst the Hshshsahsha as more of a happy accident than as the result of any sort of design on their part. Hshshsahsha do not travel as other races do. When they must leave the groves and fields of their Home, they are capable of launching themselves unprotected into the vacuum of space, and drifting (slowly) through the Gates to float gently down onto the surface of their destination world in order to communicate or trade. No individual Hshshsa will stay away from its Home for long, however.
Hshshsahsha technology is much more likely to progress by the application of espionage. The Hshshsahsha tend to (quite accidentally, they maintain) pick up state secrets and technological advances from those with whom they interact. They are always willing to share this information for the right price (this otherwise whimsical race can occasionally bargain right down to the last penny), which makes them popular as a clearing-house of information.
Culturally speaking they are alien, even by the standards of Xenocultural research. Their telepathic bonds make them very tough to assimilate, and their culture is so alien in form and medium as to be virtually inapplicable to other races.
The Hshshsahsha are an enigma and seem happy to remain that way.
Home System Description: The Hshshsahsha's home system consists of only one planet. Home, as it is called, (its true name is a matter of veneration for the Hshshsahsha and as such is never spoken outside of certain ceremonies) is a small and verdant planet, covered by a dense canopy of massive plantlife that reaches almost a thousand feet into the air. In the shadows and bands of sunlight under the canopy swirl and dance the Hshshsahsha.
Advantages/Trade-offs
Strong telepathic & precognitive abilities/Virtually no physical bodies -- don't really build or harvest anything.
Excellent spies, and willing to trade information for resources/No research ability to speak of.
Are a 'defensive-culture' race: +10 defensive culture check/-10 offensive culture check.
Points:
Intelligence: 0
Soldiering: 9
Resource: 0
Culture: 2
Spying: 13
Expansive: 0
Turn One Research: Soldiering, defense.
Turn One Rolls:
Science: 19
Survey: 3
Expansion: 11
Civilization Name: The Combine
Description: The Combine (a false moniker, some might say; if there had ever been a combined group, the groups have long since melded into a coherent whole with no noteworthy divisions) is a major bastion of human presence, and the sole rulers of the Solar system.
In the late 21st century, Earth had begun colonizing Mars under the names of several nations. Progress went smoothly and conflict between the nations Martian-side was nearly nonexistant, however relations Earthside had been getting progressively worse.
The exact details of the event are no longer recorded and stricken from the history books; as best anyone alive can remember, the Earthside nations attempted to spread the violence to Mars as conflict raged out of control on Earth. As nuclear weapons roared across the planetside, a figure established an order Martianside that would set everything right.
Earth had erupted into nuclear war. Soon, the battle would be taken to Martian soil, and the human race would be eradicated. This would not be allowed to happen. Over the next several weeks, a great military force that had seemingly appeared out of thin air overtook all of the Martian city-states and united them under one Human rule. Assault ships were left to patrol Earth, destroying any weapons launched at the Martian colonies as well as any survivors trying to escape the planet's radioactive atmosphere.
For the next several centuries, Earth's atmosphere and crust would be assaulted until the world was simply incapable of supporting life. As far as anyone is aware these days, Mars has always been the center of human life.
Trade-offs: Pending
Starting System: Sol
System Description: wikipedia.org, imho
Intelligence: 7 (The Combine emphasizes the need for new technology should their efforts to dominate known space expect to be successful.)
Soldiering: 10 (The Combine is extremely militaristic, and their many military branches are all very powerful.)
Resource: 3 (Mars is not a very resourceful planet.)
Culture: 1 (The civilians under the rule of the Combine live heavily censored lives.)
Spying: 0 (There is nothing the Combine needs to know that they can't make a captive tell them.)
Expansive: 3 (The Combine embodies a slow-but-sure method of expansion.)
Field to Research: Weapons
count me in, tentatively. I'm still reading over the rules and scenario settings you've outlined, but this definitely sounds up my alley
edit: oh fuck yes I am so in on this. Glad to see Salt is here, too. This should be interesting.
Since I used up all my imagination on the last Myth thread, I present to you the Corfas Mk. II...
Species Name: Corfas
Civilisation Name: The Over-Tribe Union
Description: Compared to a "standard" humanoid, the Hermaphroditic Corfas are giants; four armed and twelve feet tall, secondary pair of arms used mostly for manipulation of objects, main pair aid locomotion in mountains and trees, but are also immensely strong and sufficiently dexterous to manipulate weaponry; The Corfas make good soldiers and scientists but better miners and traders. Their culture is a strict tribal one in which respect is given to the strong and the skilled, but those that sneak about are looked down upon, often literally.
Trade-offs: Being huge and massively strong, the Corfas are somewhat slower than many smaller species, and must consume far more food to survive. Additionally, their ability to be simultaneously brutish and dextrous requires them to have long, sinuous and above all, vulnerable necks so that they can see what their other arms are doing.
Starting System: Scalesh
System Description: Scalesh is, in a word, bizarre; consisting of a ring-world with a separate plant orbiting inside it to provide tides, which has its own moon to provide it with tides, the system is clearly artificial though the Corfas would never admit it, and it's creators seem to be long gone. There are persistent rumours tat other sentient species can be found on the Scalesh Ring, despite many surveys finding no evidence of such. Of course, with the unimaginable vastness of a ring-world to explore, there is a very great deal of room left for mysteries...
Intelligence: 6
Soldiering: 6
Resource: 7
Culture: 4
Spying: 0
Expansive: 1
Field to Research: Surveying
Nintendo Network ID: AzraelRose
DropBox invite link - get 500MB extra free.
Maths is hard
I'm off to dinner so I'll check up on your crazy aliens later.
Species Name(s): Celessin and Iatro
Civilization Name: Starfarers
Description: The celessin and iatro are symbiotic organisms. Celessin are giant creatures, something like winged whales but bigger. They are very peaceful. Iatro are diminutive crablike creatures. For the most part, iatro live within and on celessin. Celessin can telepathically control iatro and use their fine motor skills to build things (usually giant floating cities and even gianter spaceships).
The celessin are a peaceful species. They have never been particularly numerous and quickly understood that violence only meant that they would vanish from the universe before they could see more of its wonders. Celessin have a great appreciation for beauty, truth, and virtue. They love to sing, though it's unlikely that any non-celessin would love to listen to their songs. Most celessin have been content to spend their years floating amongs the clouds of one of their worlds, or drifting through the long, cold interplanetary space, musing about the universe's great mysteries. They have explored their solar system, marvelling at the natural wonders of the universe. The distant clouds of the nebula that surrounded them, speckled with glimmering stars had long beckoned. A few intrepid adventurers have pressed out beyond the home system, but none have breen heard from since.
Until the discovery of iatro on a moon, celessin had no technology. The giant space whales soon found that they could use the power of their minds to control the minute crablike creatures. At first, there was no real reason for the celessin to care much, but then one celessin brought a clutch of iatro to the Celassillion, the celessin homeworld. After diving through a cloud of orra the celessin found that it had grown fur. In fact what had happened was that the iatro had spun fibres of incredibly strong, naturally neutrally bouyant material out of the orra clumps. It didn't take long for the celessin to put this discovery to use. After a mere few centuries, celessin colonies on all planets were dotted with massive lenticular structures - giant floating cities that served as launchpads for travellers to other worlds.
More time passed and an enterprising young celessin experimented with seeding iatro and orra on other worlds. Just to see what would happen. The results were impressive, to say the least. Where once celessin had had to make do with iatro-silk, they found themselves presented with more new resources than they initially knew what to do with. They pretty quickly figured out how to incorporate these newfound substances into their woven structures.
Trade-Offs - Celessin:
Flyers / Cannot Land
Telepathic / No Hands / Cannot Speak - This isn't entirely accurate, but suffice it so say that when celessin do speak, only other celessin could understand, and they prefer to use telepathy anyway. Their "spoken language" is like the songs of earthbound whales, but way louder.
Vacuum Breathing / Atmospheric Vulnerability - Celessin are not vulnerable to all atmospheres, but their respiratory systems are highly specialized and easily thrown off-balance. If possible, I'd like to say that a species of floating algae or something native to their home system that can metabolize gasses hostile to the celessin respiratory system. Ultimately, I only want celessin living on gas giants and in space. Iatro, on the other hand, can go just about anywhere, though they need celessin relatively nearby to control them. Still, nobody need worry about iatro on their planets, the celessin will keep their crabs restricted to moons of gas giants.
Very Long-Lived / Very Low Reproductivity - When I say "Very Long Lived" I mean it. We're talking centuries if not millennia. As far as reproduction is concerned, celessin are hermaphrodites and they bear young maybe twice over the course of their lives.
Trade-Offs - Iatro:
Telepathic / Unintelligent / Cannot Speak - Iatro are well-attuned to the brainwaves of celessin, but that does not mean other species with psionic talents won't be able to make use of them as well.
Dextrous / Feeble - Iatro excel at fine manipulation tasks, but couldn't lift something to save their lives.
Vacuum Breathing / Pressure Sensitive / Cannot Hear - The twelfth moon of Monnanarriatroa, where iatro originated has a very thin atmosphere, and at high altitudes no atmosphere at all. Iatro have adapted to this low pressure environment, and do not fare well on planets with atmospheric pressures exceeding 0.5 ATM.
High Reproductivity / Short-Lived
Harvesters / High Metabolism / Hibernation - The celessin quickly discovered that iatro can eat just about anything, and, when they do they often produce highly refined waste-products that can be used as crafting material. If iatro consume orra and another product in unison, they producea fine silklike substance imbued with the properties of whatever other thing they ate. Iatro do need to eat a lot though; if they do not they go into a catatonic state. This can only be reversed by placing the iatro in a nutrient-rich envrionment such as a celessin stomach.
Small
Starting System: Missannelassillionarramea (The Jewel That Casts Its Brightness Across The Galaxy)
Description: Nestled deep within an expansive nebula, the home system of the cellesin and iatro is a wonder to behold. Two stars - Maessa and Sorrammonna - shine brightly at its center, illuminating sixteen planets, and countless moons. There are only five inhabited planets though: Celassillion, Monnanarriatroa, Issammeal, Loallennarr and Aerram.
Celassillion - Also known as "The Crown Jewel", this is the homeworld of the celessin. It is a superjovian world more than ten times the size of Jupiter. Something deep within the planet's core gives off noticeable amounts of energy, illuminating the multicoloured clouds from below. It is also the home to orra, the floating algae that is the primary source of nutrients for celessin. When the celessin first breached their homeworld's atmosphere they were awestruck at the beauty of their world.
Monnanarriatroa - The second planet to be colonized by the celessin. Another gas giant, though not nearly as large, nor as remarkable as Celassillion. The celessin discovered iatro on Monnanarriatroa's twelfth moon.
Issammeal - The third planet colonized by the celessin. The most prominent feature of this world is it's massive band of shimmering rings. Made up mostly of dust and ice particles, Issammeal's axial tilt and rings are perfect for creating scintillating light patterns than play off the gas giant's cloulds.
Loallennarr - This, the fourth planet colonized by the celessin, is characterized by its violent storms. The small celessin population tends to keep to the upper atmosphere, only descending into the tumultuous deeper areas to feed occasionally on floating patches of orra.
Aerram - The final celessin colony. Aerram is a world of darkness. It is so far away from Maessa and Sorrammonna that the two stars are barely distinguishable. It was the Aerram colony that first recieved the mysterious transmission which led to the eventual development of jumpgates and hyperwave communication arrays.
There are numerous celessin space colonies as well that watch over iatro resource-extractions operations on terrestrial planets and moons.
Intelligence: 6 - Celessin love to think. Science, philosophy and imagination are all highly valued by these massive creatures.
Soldiering: 1 - Celessin aren't fighters. Iatro probably wouldn't do much good either. Celessin are really, really big though, as is everything they create. Only the most potent weapons will do any kind of real damage to the air and spaceborne behemoths.
Resource: 6 - Iatro can turn just about anything into materials the celessin can find use for.
Culture: 0 - Celessin love pretty things. Wave some shinies in their face (they'd have to be damn big shinies though) and you'll impress them. They're also fascinated by other species and would gladly learn everything there is to know about them. As such, celessin would prefer to live side by side with others, not be apart from them.
Spying: 3 - Celessin are telepathic and very large. It's hard to read their thoughts, and probably harder to make sense of them. Also, iatro are small, and might be able to sneak around a bit.
Expansive: 8 - Now that the celessin can venture beyond their home system, you can expect to see small colonies popping up everydamnwhere.
Research: Surveying
Picture of a single iatro (lifesize)
First Turn Rolls:
Research - 16
Survey - 15
Expansion - 11
Scientific Species Name: Arthropodis Arachnidontis Extroardinaris
Description: "The Wave" is an incredibly fast spreading alien hive, composed of vast numbers of animalistic, instinctual insects. There is no single species; the Wave is composed of hundreds of individual castes which cooperate to form an unstoppable whole. There is no hyper-intelligent queen or defined "leader." Rather, The Wave is a new breed of creature; an enormous and adaptive"super-organism" formed from the pheremonal relationships of the individual parts.
They are non aggressive, but exasperatingly expansion-oriented. Literally animals, the Wave's mindset is utterly alien to any other culture, and the only way to communicate on even a basic level is advanced manipulation of artificial pheromones spread over a wide area of the Wave's "body." The idea of national borders and self-space is completely foreign, and will almost always be ignored, unless enforced by way of violence or pheromones. The Wave will not think to attack, communicate diplomatically, or even interact with a nation whose land it is colonizing, unless attacked themselves, a very dangerous and almost certainly bloody possibility.
The Wave's greatest strength is its adaptability; there tolerance for extreme climes and environs is incredibly high, meaning they can spread in almost any location. It is also utterly impervious to spying (although it is also unable to grasp the concept of "spying" itself).
The popular image of the Wave is a vast, onrushing field of enormous six-limbed warrior-bugs, covered in exotic color markings and shrieking to the stars. Really, however, the vast majority of the creatures that compose The Wave are relatively small, only the size of a dog or smaller. The untold trillions of these creatures form the base of the Wave, serving to expand and upkeep the hives. Forming the "combat" arm of the Wave is the stereotypical death-ant-spider-grasshopper-monster, although in reality these creatures are only spawned and deployed if their use is demanded. The interstellar arm is composed of enormous, starship sized "whale-bugs", whose colossal bulk is actually built around an enormous uprooted hunk of rock and flung into space by "whipper-bugs." Whale-bugs are actually more akin to a fungus grown around this rocky frame. Finally, the jumpgates are enormous, shuddering arches of chitinous flesh, grown and bred in space.
Advantages + Disadvantages
*phew*
Intelligence: 2
Soldering: 7
Resource: 5
Culture: 0
Spying: 0
Expansive: 10
Field to Research: Engines.
Very short lived-Incredibly Fast Breeders
Natural Navigators-Oblivious to the idea of personal space
No vulnerable, centralized "government" or society-Very difficult to organize towards a single purpose
Completely impervious to cultural subversion-Completely lacking in anything remotely resembling "culture.
Homesystem: The Cradle
edit: advantages and homeworld added.
Noun - Telomere
Adjective - Telomere
Species Codex:
A Time line of Telomere history
19 B.R. - The Tchang Imperium is at it's social, economical, and militiaristic peak.
18 B.R. - Tchang Imperium counsel unveils "The artisan" directive. Eugenics prime focus.
15 B.R. - Eugenics and "Double standard of basic rights" become political mine fields.
10 B.R. - First Terrorist actions by the "B Class" unsuccessfully target various research facilities.
5 B.R. - "Researchers Will" released on the Internet. Detailing projected worst case scenario's of "The Artisan" directive
2 B.R. - Detonation of various research facilities. Martial Law declared.
1 B.R. - Full Scale chaos radiates rapidly from detonated research facilities. Imperium government collapses.
0 A.R. - Violence ceases abruptly. Telomere Dictatorship forms.
1 A.R. - Massive research into genetic technologies to the preclusion of all but the most basic necessities.
23 A.R. - Domestication of 54% of wild species achieved.
29 A.R. - Present.
Biology of the Tchang
The tchang are very similar to humans having developed in a star system much unlike earths. Their height and weight vary but average around 5'10" and 180 lbs. Skin tone varies with respect to sun exposure and their eyes vary in color.
Biology of the Telomere
The original telomere is a string of DNA 2nm long encased in a dodecahedral protein shell designed to invade and reproduce within the Tchang anatomy. Once a telomere has successfully attached to a host it reproduces until a minimum threshold of biomass is compromised unnoticed and unmolested by a bodies immune system. This continues until the length of the Telomere DNA strand is reduced by the inefficiencies inherit to Mitosis. Once the Telomere has reached the appropriate length the Telomerase loses it's abilities to hide from the bodies immune system. At this point the body reacts violently to the Telomere destroying both indigenous cells and the Telomere. However this process take a toll on the body as it slowly destroys it's own functions. This is when the final Telomere mutation takes place, the remaining strands of the telomere migrate through the respiratory system towards the brain. After an undefined period of time the nervous system is sufficiently impregnated by the Telomere and basic cognitive function is fundamentally altered. Telomere survival and reproduction becomes the bodies prime directive. Other cognitive functions are neither hindered nor advanced.
Since the original telomere, there has been a plethora of Telomere mutations designed by the Telomore infested Tchang hosts. Each Telomre variation is designed to invade and control a specific anatomy.
Castes of the Telomeres
Science - The bulk of the Telomere civilization. All Tchang with Genius level intellect (Determined at birth) are drafted into the Science Caste. Current research is currently focused exclusively on mutant varieties of Telomere. Tchang unfit for other Castes are also placed here and serve to perform the variety of menial tasks.
Government - A moderate subset of the Telomere. Their basic function is to insure that living conditions on Tchang I are optimal for all strains of Telomere
Military - A very Small subset of the Telomere. Their current directive is two fold. First, to search and capture uncompromised species. Second, to search and destroy/infect the Tchang resistance.
Diplomacy - An incredibly small subset of the Tchang. The discovery of Gates and FTL communication has galvanized the Telomeres towards the stars. Up till know the Telomere have only dealt with the Tchang as a sentient species who were in effect handed to the Telomere. The Telomere having no experience dealing with other sentient creatures therefore it was decided to attempt to establish interstellar embassies and take on a "wait and see" approach to interstellar infection. Only charismatic and beautiful (By tchang standards) females are members of this caste.
Trade-Offs:
- Advantage: Telomeres take on the advantages and disadvantages of it's host body.
- Disadvantage: Hosts infected in post-foetal stages suffer varying symptoms of infection.
- Cultureless Race
Star System
Name: Terminus
Habitable Planets: Tchang I
Inhabitable planets: Tchang III, Adaptus, Terminus Delta, Zimmel
Intelligence: 10
Soldiering: 3
Resource: 3
Culture: 0
Spying: 7
Expansive: 1
Field to research: Genetics
The Na'ar of Ruia
Intelligence: 5
Soldier: 1
Resource: 2
Culture: 10
Spy: 2
Expansive: 4
Field to research: Mass Communications
Biology: Four foot tall, hunched. Six foot tall standing. One single eye set in the center of their brow. Long, droopy ears like that of a basset hound. Two flattened protruding teeth from their wide jaw. Long arms, walk in a hunch. Can walk bipedal or on all fours.
Trade-offs: Very bright, but speak very slowly. Quite strong, but very docile and disdainful of violence. Long arms, short legs. Can climb and balance on nearly any surface when on all fours, but walks very slowly on two legs. No depth perception, but can see very clearly, detecting minute details – often this allows them to detect things often imperceptible to others. This does, however, tend to make them very slow and careful at handling things, as the lack of depth perception tends to make them somewhat clumsy.
Culture: The Na'ar are a gentle folk, whose culture has evolved from years among the plains and mountains of Ruia. They share a common ancestor with the Na'ruun, a four-legged omnivorous scavenger of the plains and mountains. The Na’ruun are a docile species who serve the Na’ar as a beast of burden and a source of food, as well as serving as the embodiment of what the Na’ar aspire to be, emotionally and spiritually.
The Na’ar culture grew from their nomadic nature and became one of Harmony. They seek out quietude and peace, and have written epic songs and chants – some of which last as long as two weeks – which they consider to be of the highest form of art. They believe that they are speaking directly to the Dust of Ruia, which they seem to worship as a diety. The Dust of Ruia, or simply The Dust, embodies the entire ideal of the Na’ar culture – that all is made of dust, and that all will return to dust in the fullness of time. They look upon all matter as a collection of Specks, which all share common origins, and everything is united as one.
Their sciences have only served to reinforce this ideal, and the discovery of atomic structures have furthered these beliefs. Once space travel was discovered, the idea that they could spread their message with other races of people has been their driving goal.
Species name: Ferrous Polyglobal
Planet name: FerP
Essentially it will be a collective, hive mind Corporation. More on that once I flesh it out.
Species Name - Ter'is'kar (Forest Heart Thinkers)
Species Homeworld - Kard'Pir (Think World)
Species Traits - Telepathic, Telekinesis, Rapid Technological Development
Species Tradoffs - Unable to Run, Poor Manual Dexterity, Low Birth Rate
Species Inspiration
Racial History
The Ter'is'kar began as a plains dwelling, herbavoric species that used the cover of the forests for their homes. They were generally left alone because of the inability for any carnivore species' to derive proper sustanance, although many did die in their history because of the natural predators that lived in the forests with them. Ever the inquisitive species, the Ter'is'kar developed the ability to utilize their forest environment for rapid transport because of the abundance of very large trees and strong ropes made from the roots of other trees that were strung between them.
Their development really grew once the more adventurous of their species discovered a fallen spacecraft of small insect-like creatures in the northern forests some thousand years later. At that point, their civilization had been experimenting with omnivoric tendencies to deal with an inbalance in their diet. Although the ship was imposing enough to the Ter'is'kar, many of the insect creatures ventured from their ship, probably to explore the surrounding environment. When the creatures would travel from their ship, the Ter'is'kar that lived nearby would fall upon them and kill them for later consumption. Cooked, the creatures were distasteful, but when eaten alive, as later discovered, the taste was improved for some reason unknown to the Ter'is'kar.
This hunting would continue for months before no more of the creatures could be found moving freely in the forest. Disheartened by this, the Ter'is'Kar moved on to other insects and creatures, although no other insect would prove as tasty and no other creature as soft or squishy. It would take several years before any of the Ter'is'kar properly noticed, but those that ate the creatures began to use more advanced tools and started to develop a verbal language. In the span of three generations, this localized development had spread across the entire species because of inter-tribe breeding. With the young of the fourth generation, the Ter'is'kar of the northern tribes were suprised to learn that they could now understand how to gain access to the fallen craft and the occupants inside, who had since multiplied in great number. From stories told of the old days, the Ter'is'kar were resolved to harvest all of the creatures that they could, and so each tribe organized hunting parties to assault the craft.
The first hunting parties would prove largely unsuccessful because of the technologies that the creatures could use, and the creatures's unknown ability to communicate with each other. However, the end result of the continued hunting of the creatures led to the creatures's extinction and the transcendance of the Ter'is'kar from a forst dwelling, low-developed society, to a high-technology psycho-centric society. This is because the creatures that they ate had passed on their parasitic fluids to the Ter'is'kar, which contained the creatures's psycho-potential and with it, the knowledge of their technology.
Thousands of years have since passed since their beginnings in the trees, and now the Ter'is'kar have become tall, bipedal creatures who use their psycho-powers to shape their society and its future. For issues of the construction of technology, they largely base it on a natural shape and rely on either masters of the psycho-art or their bio-mechanical robots to construct it.
Stats
Intelligence 7
Soldiering 3
Resource Richness 4
Culture 3
Spying 2
Expansive 5
First Research = Intelligence (Science)
First Rolls
Research - 15
Survey - 18
Expansion - 6
I'm thinking of going for the traditional "Borg" approach. If no one's playing humans [or if they are it's okay] possibly infringing off an earlier game I played and playing a race of humans/intelligent bacteria swarms that use them as hosts (and, of course, anybody else they can get their hands on).
Culture/Spying Focus.
Alternatively, I've always wanted to play a photosynthetic race. Could be fun - massive Resources focus, but almost no expansion.
DP Code - 3050 4223 5906
Four figures from the lowest tier of the pyramid speak in unison, "what is it that you require from the oracles, being?" The creature falls to his knees, bowing his head as he speaks, "a message, Great Ones. From the depths of space."
After a pause, the fourth tier speaks again, "bring yourself forth, creature." The young man crawls closer to the pyramid, his eyes to the ground and he stops in front of one of the speakers. A hand reaches from the darkness and rests upon the young creature's head. After a moment, the creature convulses and falls to the floor, motionless.
The two creatures at the door carry the creature out as the being atop the pyramid speaks, "it has come as fortold. Transfer the information to the Builders."
The Hajak are a deeply spiritual race of creatures that have a very restricting caste system, dividing their race into four groups: the Oracles, the Builders, the Finders and the Attendants. This system is such an ancient practice that these four groups have actually developed seperate physical characteristics; although interbreeding is still possible (though obviously frowned upon).
Their system is simply known as The System, as the Hajak find naming things unnecessary, believing that everything in existence falls into implied roles. It contains 6 planets, all of which, excluding the one closest to their star have been made habitable. This uninhabited planet is a forbidden zone and it is rumoured that it was the site of a bloody Hajak civil war millenia ago. The System has one star at its center.
24 starting points to spend on:
Intelligence 5 - The Hajak are a naturally inquisitive race, and their ability to pass information between generations and people through the touch allows them to share ideas easily.
Soldiering 3 - Although not a warlike race, the unique physical characteristics of the Attendants make them startling enemies when threatened.
Resource Richness 3 - Focused cultivators, the Hajak's skills at harvesting minerals and other resources have suffered slightly.
Culture 7 - The Hajak's spirituality and cultural beliefs are extremely inflexible, making it difficult to absorb them. Also, the beautiful art of the Builders and the Hajak's moneyless society might be an attractive prospect to other races.
Spying 2 - The Oracle cast of the Hajak has limited precognitive abilities, allowing them to see detailed glimpses of other societies or even into the future. The Oracles however think there are better uses for this power than spying and use it very rarely.
Expansive 4 - The Hajak have slowly moving ships, although their focus in the natural sciences allows them to create habitable environments on otherwise unfriendly planets.
OOC:
Current Research Field: Biology
First Turn Rolls:
Research 23
Resources 22
Expansion 9
Anyway, I think that's all I need, will do drawbacks/advantages later.
Species Name:Kelari
Civilization Name:The Kelari Collective
Homeworld: The Rift
Description: Emerging from the wasteland that is the Rift, the Kelari Collective is set to ensure, now and forever, that their race will survive. Individually, the Kelari are unimposing; though an average Kelari stands six feet tall, he is a frail creature, narrow and emaciated with deep green skin and large, black eyes. Six long fingers extend from each hand, the tips bulging out considerably, and the toes are similar, though shorter; a Kelari's feet are every bit as useful to it as its hands are. Underscoring their physical frailty, few Kelari will naturally live more than fifty years, though their technology and mysticism has allowed some to live for disturbingly long periods of time.
Seeming to underscore this physical frailty is a certain mental dullness as well. Individually, a Kelari shows all the symptoms of a human with a learning disability, some even regressing to an animalistic state. What is truly startling about them is the latent telepathy they exhibit. Each Kelari subconsciously taps into the minds of nearby Kelari, drawing on experiences and memories not their own. The more Kelari in the room, the greater each one's potential; a team of twenty Kelari engineers can design and construct a machine with terrifying speed. As the number of Kelari increases, each member gains in precision, skill, focus, and memory, with the only limit appearing to be the physical space so many Kelari take up. This telepathic bond is a double-edged sword, however; an isolated Kelari is practically a non-threat, and every Kelari slain or incapacitated (unconscious Kelari do not contribute to the psionic net) is a direct blow to every other Kelari.
Perhaps one in every five hundred Kelari is able to master the Kelar-do, a series of rituals and mental exercises which enable him to tap into the psionic net of the entire Kelari race, rather than just those Kelari in his immediate vicinity. Such Kelari make up the lords and admirals of their race, directing the Collective in their quest to ensure their continued existence.
Homeworld: The Kelari come from the Rift, a region of space wracked by psionic storms, solar flares, and deadly radioactive nebulae. Deep within the Rift the star Koros burns and dies as the shattered remnants of its planets swirl around it. What made the rift this way, not even the Masters know. What is known, however, is that the Kelari drew their first breaths on Koros Prime, the only intact planet in the system, and that for centuries that was there home. They fought, they built, they took their first trembling steps into the heavens, and they found the Miir waiting for them.
The Miir are not remembered by the Kelari; after the war the Masters purged their memory from the psionic net in a great ritual known as the Culling of Oman-do. What is remembered is that the Miir first sought to enslave the Kelari, and when that failed, they sought to destroy them. The Kelari fought back, however, building great defensive works over Koros Prime and using the natural dangers of the Rift against their foes. Eventually, the Miir were defeated, and the Masters gathered in council at Domos, the great ice-city beneath the caps of Koros Prime.
The Masters realized that the universe was a harsh and terrible place, and that the Kelari would always be vulnerable to extinction. They vowed that this should never occur. They set out to fortify the Rift, building many great stations and defensive fleets even as their technology grew by leaps and bounds. Though only Koros Prime was habitable, the Kelari conquered the dangers of the Rift, becoming masters of their deadly realm. The Collective built a spined cocoon around itself, daring the universe to bite them.
Then the Great Signal came...
Kelari Culture: In Kelari culture one reaches one's full potential through cooperation. Solitude is feared, for in solitude the Kelari regresses to a simple, almost feral state. This is why the Masters of Kelar-do are so respected, for they retreat into the wilds of Koros Prime for months of solitude, communing with the psionic net though physically far from it in a process little understood by ordinary Kelari. Though they are the undisputed lords of the collective, the Masters and their sorcerous powers are viewed with awe and fear by the rest of the Collective. They can and do reach out to any Kelari anywhere and touch their mind with but a thought; such power, such responsibility, rests heavily on the Master's mind.
The overwhelming drive of the Kelari is to survive. They survived the harsh climate of Koros Prime, they survived the Rift, they survived the Miir Wars, and they have vowed to survive anything else the universe can send their way.
Game Rule Information
Trade offs: Physically weak, mentally stunted, and short-lived in exchange for the psionic net (gain in mental acuity the more Kelari are nearby) and, rarely, a Master of Kelar-do.
Starting Points
Intelligence: 6 (representing the collective nature of Kelari labs; if the population of a lab is significantly reduced, Intelligence drops)
Soldiering: 6 (Like Intelligence, drops if too many Kelari are killed)
Resource: 3 (The Kelari are good at finding resources, even in dangerous areas like the Rift.)
Culture: 0 (The Kelari have absolutely no desire to add other races to their civilization. So long as they pose no threat the Kelari will leave them be. Threats must be destroyed. However, since an isolated Kelari is exceedingly simple-minded, they can be easily absorbed by other cultures who can isolate them into small groups. The Masters are actively working on a way to prevent this.)
Spying: 3 (The Kelari's collective mind means that it would be nearly impossible to bribe a lone Kelari into giving up information without the entire race instantly knowing about it via the Masters. However, the need to send a group of Kelari and for them to keep together makes them poor spies.)
Expansive: 6 (The Kelari are utterly driven to expand and ensure their continued survival)
Field to research: Defense
Home System: The Rift
Planets
Koros Prime: Koros Prime is not a friendly place. Either too hot or too cold, it is unforgiving in the least, and only their collective psionic net allowed the Kelari to survive there. The equatorial deserts blister under the heat of the star Koros, while the poles, shadowed by dust clouds and nebulae, are intensely cold. The planet is also frequently bombarded by asteroids. Few Kelari live on the surface anymore, save for the oldest Masters of Kelar-do, who dwell alone in the wastelands or govern the Kelari Collective from the city of Domos at the northern pole.
Master Odey stepped into the great chamber of Domos, the mighty ice-city, and saw before him his brothers. It had been many years since he had seen another Kelari, but such a momentous event required that they gather face to face. No one had called the meeting; each Master had heard what those at the monitoring station heard, and seen what they saw, even if the small group of scientists were too few to realize its importance.
"My brothers," said Odey, though his mouth did not move, "my sisters, my friends. Today is a great day for the Kelari Collective, for our people. We have been given a mighty gift. We have had placed in our hands the tool which will forever ensure our survival. Every one of you saw it. Every one of you knows what it means, what it will mean for our people."
"The scientists of Darrevo are already constructing one of these gates," remarked Master Nohr.
"Do we know if we will be able to see our brothers should they venture to the far stars?" asked Master Aki, drumming her fingers on the wall. "They may be lost to darkness, forever sundered from the Collective." A ripple of agreeing thought spread through the gathered Masters. Far away, on battleships, mining stations, and research facilities throughout the Rift, Kelari paused in their work and wondered what so concerned their lords.
"That is why, when the Gate is made, one of us must pass through it," he said. "Only one trained in the Kelar-do can guide the explorers and ensure contact with the Collective. I will go. So it is decided." There was no vote, no raising of hands or counting; only the silent question posed to each mind, and its instant response. The Masters stood and departed; their work in Domos was done.
The Kelari would survive.
Rolls for Turn One
Research: 12
Survey: 13
Expansive: 15
SoogaGames Blog
Also, since I've seen a couple concepts for "cultureless" races, I am considering a new rule for species specifically labeled as such: They will have +10 to 'defensive' culture checks, and -10 to 'offensive' checks. They can still recieve bonuses from starting points, research and resources, so for example an insect race with 6 normal culture points will have 1d20-4 should they try to absorb another system, and 1d20+16 when someone tries to absorb them. Sound good?
Home System: FerP
Intelligence: 6
Soldiering: 3
Resource: 8
Culture: 1
Spying: 1
Expansive: 5
"...and with a brief upturn in investor interest, the Ferrous brand Entari Yacht has gained a 55% market share throughout the Grey demographic. Moving on to our Upsilon productions marketing campaign. I regret to inform the board members that following a failure to properly research demand, our most recent efforts have resulted in a loss of .3% of peak value. As a result the Upsilon advertising creche has been liquidated and replaced. In more exciting news our efforts to buy out the Dominus Industrial Conglomerate have made great headway with the unfortunate death of Dominus CEO Siscan. Within the next fiscal quarter their infrastructure will be fully fitted with Ferrous materials and their organic personnel will have been amalgamated into the Polyglobal network. Overall we can look at a overall net profit of 5.6% up from projected estimates for the cycle..."
Ferrous Polyglobal is a massive living corporation, working solely for profit and market share. The workers of Polyglobal and its subsidiaries are all linked directly to the Board of Directors omni-mind, and any failure to produce appropriate levels of success result in summary termination. What the Ferrous species and the Board of Directors look like remains a mystery. The only contact the company allows is through the CEO Argus Nonam and a small cadre of class A's from the Public Relations creche. Argus is a perfectly tailored humanoid with a thick and styled head of Iron gray hair, a dazzling white smile, and a strong handshake.
The FerP system is centered around a whitish-blue star named Argus after the Ferrous CEO. The star itself is surrounded by solar satellites collecting power. A dense asteroid belt sits between HepC and AeE.
Ferrous Global- FerG, a vast office complex powered by Geothermal plants placed on the planet's many volcanoes
Hydrox Unlimited- HydUn, a gas giant used as a chemical testing facility and production center.
Turgenev Ltd.- TurL, a ringed planet, with extensive mining operations set up on the rings and the surface, with one massive refinery for each hemisphere.
Grall Infosystems- GraiL, a communications hub and the center of the entertainment creche operations.
Hephaestus Conglomerate- HepC, a planet strip-mined bare and converted into a planet-wide manufacturing factory.
Aesir Electronics- AeE, a frozen planet with sub-subterranean R&D and electronic manufacturing networks
Benefits Package: Extreme multi-tasking capabilities through telepathic hive mind.
Sector Weaknesses: Allergy to non-Fluorescent light
Field of Research:Espionage
Turn 1 rolls- 8 Research
12 Survey
22 Explore
With a 12 Research I won't get any new technology on the first turn, but next turn if I roll an 8 or better I'll buy the first point of Defensive tech, right?
With a 13 Survey I didn't find anything, but if I get 12 or more survey next time I'll get two units of whatever.
With a 15 Expansive I found a new system, and have 3 points toward my next roll, meaning my 1d20+expansive roll will only need to come up as a 9.
Is there any way to make provisions for sharing control of a system? Because my species at least would be very happy to have some neighbours. They're kind of naive that way.
BTW, I'm loving what everyone else has come up with. Way cool guys. Way, way cool.
Edit: While I'm at it, might as well do the Spacefarer rolls.
Research - 16
Survey - 15
Expansion - 11
Correct on all 3.
@ Grid: As far as I'm concerned, the owner of a system is the person who either found it first, conquered it, or absorbed it. However, if you want to RP letting your neighbors move in and self-rule a few planets or whatever feel free. But if you get kicked out by a third party, so will they (unless they can come to an arrangement with the new owners of course).
Ah well. It seems that Master Odey's fleet has moved cautiously away from its Gate, as the Master meditates to test the strength of his connection to the rest of the Collective. Meanwhile his flagship, the Amanar-darro, floats like a fortress in the black as engineers construct the Gate to take them home, if need be.
The Kelari prevail. The Collective endures.
Research 17
Survey 26
Expansion 13
I wonder how their psionic powers interact... Master Odey will have to meditate upon it.
Also, I second Rank's idea.
Good idea. It'll at least keep all the vital stats consolidated in one place.
It seems we have a whole bunch of telepaths/psions. That'll make for fun times.
'Cause if they did the Kelari would be all about the Nantucket sleighride, if you catch my meaning.
Honestly, ever since I saw you were using a whale-race, I just wanted to make the Nantucket sleighride reference.
Research 28
Survey 10
Expansion 12
Also, I edited my first post to add star system data, trade-offs, and fixed the flow a bit.
I had to google it. :oops:
And goddamnit everyone but me has a new system! :x
Research: 13
Survey: 6 (ouch)
Expansion: 14
Forgot to link for the first two, my bad.
I think it will make for happy good times.