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Alright, here's my attempt at the multiverse-hopping genre established by Planescape, TORG, RIFTS, etc., complete with 90s design: arbitrary symmetry, overmechaniced rules, infinite potential for splatbooks, and loads and loads of naval-gazing lore that the players won't read -- STEADY STATE It's not as complete or polished as I would like (really need to put in what Quolm actually is and the races), but it is less than two hours before the deadline, and I really need sleep.
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Feb 10, 2014 09:26
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And that's time. Two points available for each of the bonus categories. Latecomers can submit within the next day or so for a penalty, and loss of the prior bonus points. Humbug Schoolbus - Death of the West - Withdrawn. Un-judged. Talkc - Ranger Danger!!! - 278 words. Bonus points awarded: Genre-blending, non SF/F combo. ++. Notes: Fun premises to play from, but not a lot of sense of place. Not critical at this stage, and Neo-Tokyo is a concept with enough baggage to carry it when we're looking at hooks. Ranger/youma conflict can impact the setting in interesting and unexpected ways. The worse you use are made to count but it's still pretty skimpy. More detail would have been nice. Notes for future weeks: Remember we're describing the playing field, not the game. You'll have special challenges here in expanding there while maintaining the fundamental mysteries. Looking forward to seeing how you handle it. Pre-bonus points assigned: ++++++ Ettin - Empty Star - 823 words. Bonus points awarded: Map, totally a cheat, but not one without precedent. Full points awarded, I guess. ++ Genre-blending, non SF/F combo. ++ Notes: You could play Xenogears in this. Or Paranoia. Notes for future weeks: You've got a lot of disparate parts going on here. I'll hope that they all have their places. Pre-bonus points assigned: ++++++++ piL - Tales of Daring Scoundrels in the City of Endless Kings - 2385 words. Bonus points awarded: map, in need of second draft. ++ Genre-blending, non SF/F combo ++. Notes: Sort of throws you right into it; I like the lower-tech take on Shadowrun's territory. Railroads always improve games. The mood fiction is execrable; it doesn't so much establish mood as infodump in the form of painful internal dialogue. Appreciate the thought, but the effort would have been better in another form. Glossary is good, gives a lot of feel for how things are run. Don't know if all of this would be best suited to being in a glossary in a more expansive piece, but the setup demands cheesy 90s jargon played absolutely straight, so I'm not quibbling there. Notes for future weeks: Avoid dialogue. Pre-bonus points assigned: ++++++ Libertad! - Monster Cops - 7532 words by textpad, 7502 words by gdocs. -. Bonus points awarded: Genre-blending, non SF/F combo. ++ Mechanics exist, +, one-time bonus. Notes: Opening fiction passable, for RPG purposes. Okay, so you're butting up on a word limit in a contest about settings and you feel the need to include nearly two hundred words about where I can buy graph paper. That's over 2/3 of another guy's complete entry for the week. I appreciate that you're wanting to hand in a full game here, but that's just not what's being looked for here. That being said, I like the setting you do have in here. You're shamelessly stealing from Pratchett but that's not an issue for this contest's purposes and you could pick far worse material to steal from. You've got a lot of implied history, and a lot of implied conflict and I like what you've got. Notes for future weeks: This is a setting contest. Pre-bonus points assigned: ++++++ Potatocubed - World of Fightness - 4380 words. Bonus points awarded: Genre-blending, non SF/F combo. ++. Mechanics exist, +, one-time bonus. Notes: Hah, monks. Anyway, it's a nice overlay on the real world, but I'm concerned it's falling back onto 'it's the real world' a little bit much here as far as detail goes. The factions are good, present some nice setups. Notes for future weeks: You're falling back on the real world for your detail; the trick here is that it's probably not a detriment to your setting to do so, but as the contest narrows focus, you may wind up having fun integrating the needs of the game and the needs imposed by the contest. Please don't use PDF format in the future, it adds an annoying extra step to the word count process. Pre-bonus points assigned: +++++++ Rulebook Heavily - Star Empire - 996 words. Mechanics exist, +, one-time bonus. Notes: Sweet delicious bureaucracy. That tone of brisk impersonality is very nice. Great deal of room allowed for table jokes re Alchi's naturally-produced medicinal substances. I will call it jizzweed. I note with some distress no means of getting killed in chargen. Notes for future weeks: You've got a very wide scope here. Be interesting to see how it narrows. Pre-bonus points assigned: +++++++ MadScientistWorking - Avalon - 993 words. Bonus points awarded: Genre-blending, SF/F combo. + Notes: You'll want to watch your spelling/grammar more closely. See: 'layed', 'swatches', 'these phenomenon', 'contingent'. And so on. I'm not going to harp on specifics further but it's an extremely serious distraction from your content. Nice diversity of locations, though a map would have helped a lot with this much variety. Elves as herders is an interesting notion. The government section cuts off midsentence. I like having lots of factions, everything's more fun that way. Notes for future weeks: Get a proofreader. Your grammar, spelling, and syntax are severely distracting to the point that I can't read this very closely. Please don't use .docx format. If you're gonna use a gdocs link, which is fine, convert it to gdocs format for me please. Pre-bonus points assigned: ++++ Davin Valkri - Operation Dragon Slayer - 2731 words. Bonus points awarded: Genre-blending, non SF/F combo. ++ Notes: Very nice. I have absolutely zero familiarity with any of the subject matter, but it's immediately obvious that you do. Excellent usage of modern history. Notes for future weeks: You're going to have to walk the same line as Potatocubed, where using the real world means there's familiar baggage that could interfere with contest needs. As focused on place as this is, though, it's going to shake out differently either way. Pre-bonus points assigned: ++++++++ Cardinal Ximenez - Steady State - 4286 words. Bonus points awarded: Genre-blending, non SF/F combo. ++ Mechanics exist, one-time bonus. + Notes: What did I ever do to you to make you inflict two-column format on me? Your text is very, very dry; the dimensional stuff briefly reminded me of Timecube, and while that's not exactly a fair comparison on any level, it's not a great impression. This sort of material is of no interest to someone who isn't already invested in the setting; I'm not saying it shouldn't exist, but I am saying it's a terrible lead-in. The entire axes section does a marvelous job of completely obfuscating what a place is actually like. 90s design at least had fun with what it did, self-indulgent as it got. There is no joy in this. The Mezzenperch section is good, provides a decent sense of place. I love cities, and I love enormous technomagical cities, so you've got a soft sell there. Notes for future weeks: I do not care what percentage of a world's surface is ocean. Please do not use two-column format in the future. Pre-bonus points assigned: +++ Week one totals: pre:Talkc : ++++++++ Ettin : ++++++++++++ pIL : ++++++++++ Libertad! : ++++++++ Potatocubed : ++++++++++ Rulebook Heavily : ++++++++ MadScientistWorking : +++++ Davin Valkri : ++++++++++ Cardinal Ximenez : ++++++ Overall a really solid batch of entries; there's a bunch of really imaginitive takes on some old standbys. We're off to a great start. -- Okay, week 2: We're going to narrow our focus. Take a slice of your setting-- it should be big enough that theoretically you could have your campaign in it. A town, a geographical region of interest, an area of space, a specific plane of existence, whatever. Flesh it out, as you see fit. Give me points of interest, history, whatever. I'd also like to see one of the majour cultures in the area; for those of you dealing with the real world, interpret that as you see fit. Introduce factions if you want, but don't feel a need to emphasize that yet. Bonus points for maps have been closed. Bonus points for genre-mixing have been closed. New bonus points for: Give me an important NPC. You can do more-- who has influence can tell you a lot about a society, but you only get points for one. New bonus points for: Provide one paragraph (250 words max) that sketches out the major recent event which kicks off your pretentious 90s-style metaplot. You have 7499 words. You have until 2AM Central time Monday Feb 17th. Yes, it's earlier, I'm not at work so I'm not liable to be up as late. I may not be able to have awarded points in time for the topic shift, again because I'm not spending twelve hours at work with nothing to do next Sunday evening. Yes, we'll run a couple days into March so everything has a full week.
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Feb 10, 2014 12:13
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neongrey posted:
quote:though a map would have helped a lot with this much variety 
MadScientistWorking fucked around with this message at 15:36 on Feb 10, 2014 |
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Feb 10, 2014 13:36
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Aw, thanks for the kind assessment. But really, I'm still a complete amateur with regards to modern history. Especially since I forgot the Berlin Wall only went around West Berlin  No worries, though! I'll probably focus on the Berlin area for week 2 and include a totally-not-pulled-out-of-my-rear explanation for this discrepancy! LATER EDIT: Also that France told NATO's military to take a hike in the 1960s, but that at least has the benefit of the Lemnitzer-Ailleret Agreements/"I'd call this a fricking war situation!" to cover up my own stupidity 
Davin Valkri fucked around with this message at 00:22 on Feb 11, 2014 |
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Feb 10, 2014 17:17
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Alright, time to hit the books and really improve my write-up of Hong Kong. ...it's probably too late to actually go to Hong Kong, isn't it?
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Feb 10, 2014 23:07
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potatocubed posted:Alright, time to hit the books and really improve my write-up of Hong Kong. What up, contest entry in the real world buddy?  ...I'd have to spend my entire Berlin vacation snooping around museums and memorials. Stupid me setting the game in 1983 
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Feb 10, 2014 23:15
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Well shoot, there goes me failing reading comprehension. I thought it was 5PM Central, not 5AM.
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Feb 11, 2014 00:26
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Davin Valkri posted:Aw, thanks for the kind assessment. But really, I'm still a complete amateur with regards to modern history. Especially since I forgot the Berlin Wall only went around West Berlin Like I said, I know nothing at all about the subject matter!  Comrade Gorbash posted:Well shoot, there goes me failing reading comprehension. I thought it was 5PM Central, not 5AM. If you've got something, go for it, you could still be in the running.
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Feb 11, 2014 00:37
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Thanks! So here's the Close Vicinity. Pre-Colombian America inspired fantasy world with revolutionary nationalism.
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Feb 11, 2014 00:50
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Unfortunately I'm suffering a bad case of writer's block so it looks like no contest entry for me 
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Feb 11, 2014 00:54
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People keep asking so just to clarify and reiterate, post late if you want, just know there's a penalty (which will accumulate between weeks if you skip them) and the weekly bonuses are only good for the week in which they were issued. Both are surmountable at present if you're good. That candy's delicious!
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Feb 12, 2014 03:23
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Brevity seems to be a problem of mine. The current document work i did for the week is only 2500 something odd words. I hope its enough. I might try refining it before tomorrow, but I doubt i will get around to it. What is here will have to do. I tried to focus on the main area the campaign would take place in ( Central Neo-Tokyo ). Being new to contests like this I hope i focused on the right things this week. Ranger Danger Week 1 Document ( Google Docs Link ) Edit: I have to give thanks to KillerQueen and MadScientistWorking for giving it a proofreading. Hopefully their go over gave it a better language over all. Talkc fucked around with this message at 07:30 on Feb 16, 2014 |
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Feb 16, 2014 07:27
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I wouldn't worry about brevity so long as you get what's needed in there. The cap is where it is so that it shouldn't be a meaningful constraint, I just want to have a sanity limit.
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Feb 16, 2014 08:14
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Just to confirm, when you say "Spanning your weekly entry across multiple posts," that means typing the contest entry directly into Something Awful posts, right? It's okay if we relink a Google doc that we've added to for week two?
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Feb 16, 2014 09:18
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I'd honestly prefer if you used a separate doc each week, it lets me track wordcount and what's new material far more easily.
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Feb 16, 2014 09:35
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neongrey posted:I'd honestly prefer if you used a separate doc each week, it lets me track wordcount and what's new material far more easily. Okay, I can do that. Thanks for the heads-up. I'll just edit my last post with a new link, then. Edit: Here's a link to the Feb 10th-17th entry, just in case. Changelog: I've altered the "main" document to just be Character Creation. The second link has all my work for Chapter 2: Setting. I feel satisfied with what I wrote so far. Libertad! fucked around with this message at 02:12 on Feb 17, 2014 |
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Feb 16, 2014 23:24
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Didnt realize until MSW pointed it out that i should have put this weeks document in my original post. I have done so now.
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Feb 17, 2014 01:36
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Oh no no no, he pointed you wrong.
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Feb 17, 2014 01:38
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-_- fairly typical for him. Oh well, its linked there and in the other thing so you have two ways to get it.
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Feb 17, 2014 01:39
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Cool cool thanks.
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Feb 17, 2014 01:46
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I've somehow added more genres into the campaign document.  Here is my document describing the city of Ubris. Ubris:https://docs.google.com/document/d/16PIEXy1_mB8rUVAN4wEIcmMKw-o5G9SYP-hWtlfT8W8/edit?usp=sharing
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Feb 17, 2014 02:04
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Talkc posted:-_- fairly typical for him. neongrey posted:Cool cool thanks. Same for me and my last post.
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Feb 17, 2014 02:13
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Made it! Operation Dragon Slayer Pt. Two is not as complete as I'd like (I need to start weaseling out of these errands) but it's complete enough.
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Feb 17, 2014 06:24
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Dammit, I knew there was something I was supposed to be doing this weekend. The contest deadline got a little lost amid all the other deadlines. =/ Still, you can find the half-finished Hong Kong expansion here: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/18386467/Hong%20Kong%20%28Expanded%29.docx
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Feb 17, 2014 08:34
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You mind converting that to doc for me please? I'll probably read everything over tomorrow night when I'm at work, I'll have this week's prompt up before I go to bed tonight.
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Feb 17, 2014 09:07
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neongrey posted:You mind converting that to doc for me please? I'll probably read everything over tomorrow night when I'm at work, I'll have this week's prompt up before I go to bed tonight. Sure. Won't be able to upload until later, though, since I'm at work now.
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Feb 17, 2014 10:18
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No worries, that's fine. 
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Feb 17, 2014 10:35
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Okay, for Week 3, we are going to look at conflict in the setting. I want at least two factions, organizations, or groups, with their own interests-- they don't necessarily have to be opposed, but they shouldn't be aligned with each other 100% of the time. Things to keep in mind, of course-- their goals, what they do that would be broadly relevant in play as well as what's setting filler, why players would and would not want to associate with them, etc. Old bonus points are closed. Bonus points for this week: The full four bonus points go entirely to quantity and complexity. More factions, schisms within groups, the more the merrier. Doesn't have to be some complex political tangle if that's not going to work for your setting-- just more works too. Groups of people (or whatever) with similar interests whose paths are likely to cross with a round-up of PCs.
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Feb 17, 2014 12:54
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A little late, but Empty Star Week 2 is here. Eight city-states inspired by Dark Sun that are totally not ridiculous, some important NPCs, and seeds of Week 3's incoming faction drama (totally not because I had taken extra time adding factions to this doc like a moron.  )
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Feb 17, 2014 14:48
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Updated my scrappy Hong Kong write up to .doc format: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/18386467/Hong%20Kong%20%28Expanded%29.doc
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Feb 17, 2014 23:54
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neongrey posted:Okay, for Week 3, we are going to look at conflict in the setting. I want at least two factions, organizations, or groups, with their own interests-- they don't necessarily have to be opposed, but they shouldn't be aligned with each other 100% of the time. Things to keep in mind, of course-- their goals, what they do that would be broadly relevant in play as well as what's setting filler, why players would and would not want to associate with them, etc. Is the deadline February 24th?
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Feb 18, 2014 00:50
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Oh-- duh, knew I was forgetting something. Yeah, let's do 2AM central the 24th.
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Feb 18, 2014 01:04
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w2 notes: Gorbash - The Close Vicinity - 1080 words. Late W1 entry -. Bonus Points awarded: n/a Notes: Oh yeah, that's some flavour text right there. Nonstandard cultural sources are nice. Like the eras you're drawing from. Very good. Very compelling. Keep going. Notes for future weeks: Submit on time! Snag bonus points! Pre-Bonus points assigned: +++++++++ If anyone thinks I've missed their metaplot paragraph, bonk me over the head and point it out and I'll hand out points, pinata-like. Talkc - Ranger Danger - 2564 words. NPCs ++. Mechanics exist, one-time bonus: +. Notes: Solid overview. Description's a bit sparse but again, you're playing into things that already have a place in the target audience's imagination, so you can get away with a little of that. You're not overdescribing, which is good. Keep it up! Notes for future weeks: You're doing good; don't feel compelled to add more just because you've got a lot of words to work with. Elegance counts. Pre-Bonus points assigned: ++++++++ Libertad! - Monster Cops - 6889 words. NPCs ++. Notes: Oh, I like a nice diverse city. Gives lots of options for everyone. Nice bit with the anyone-can-magic thing and the resentment there. Good job avoiding kings, and adding complex politics. Oh! I did not expect film. I like that. I like that a lot. So good overview, I do like how this game is about real-life issues; it's not subtle how it maps, but also isn't shoehorned. Neighbourhoods are good. Lots of flavour in there, good things to work with. I'm going to skip the organizations section since that's the subject of week 3. NPCs are good, nice detailed sketches. Notes for future weeks: Again, mind your scope-- your enthusiasm is palpable but you're doing work you don't need to. Pre-Bonus points assigned: ++++++++ Mad Scientist Working - Avalon - 1884 words. NPCs ++. Metaplot ++. Notes: Would have liked if the focus wasn't totally on the points of interest, but you can still derive culture based on what's interesting in a place and what's done there. On the whole the foundry NPCs are better than the university ones, who lean a bit much on their species for their character. Metaplot has some legs. Notes for future weeks: Don't be afraid to dig deep for extra detail. You've got the space, right now more is better. Pre-Bonus points assigned: ++++++ Davin Valkri - Operation Dragon Slayer - 3061 words. NPCs ++. Metaplot ++. Mechanics exist, one-time bonus +. Notes: First section's very dense, but good. Good overview of the different locations, they're the sort of thing that would work very nicely with a wikipedia understanding of the region. I am going to skip your factions section as well. Metaplot hook is interesting. Notes for future weeks: Well, keep it up, really. Pre-Bonus points assigned: +++++++ Ettin - Empty Star - 5112 words. NPCs ++. Late entry -. Notes: Ooh, art, fancy. Can't mark you up for it though, as that would not be fair. Nice job of diversifying desert some. Cities are nice overviews, hit the high notes; you can see how in the theoreticall ridiculous heartbreaker land you could do gratuitous sourcebooks for each of them. Star Lords give you a good feel for them. Oh, those templar-consorts, you do know how to play to your audience, hahaha. Notes for future weeks: READ, GEEZ Pre-Bonus points assigned: +++++++++ Potatocubed - World of Fightiness - I'm having trouble getting gdocs to convert this over, so I'm going to defer comment until tomorrow and do it from home where I can just use word. Week Two totals: pre:Talkc : +++++++++++ Libertad! : ++++++++++ Mad Scientist Working : ++++++++++ Davin Valkri : ++++++++++++ Ettin : ++++++++++ pre:Talkc : +++++++++++++++++++ Ettin : ++++++++++++++++++++++ pIL : ++++++++++ Libertad! : ++++++++++++++++++ Potatocubed : ++++++++++ Rulebook Heavily : ++++++++ MadScientistWorking : +++++++++++++++ Davin Valkri : ++++++++++++++++++++++ Cardinal Ximenez : ++++++ Gorbash : ++++++++
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Feb 18, 2014 06:37
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neongrey posted:If anyone thinks I've missed their metaplot paragraph, bonk me over the head and point it out and I'll hand out points, pinata-like. My "Recent Events" section of Chapter 2 was intended as such. According to Microsoft Word it's 249 words barring the title: quote:Recent Events I know it's not White Wolf metaplot levels, but my setting's more local and immediate in scope. Edit: I hope you don't mind if I edited my Doc to clear up grammatical errors and avoid repetition of the same word. Libertad! fucked around with this message at 02:06 on Feb 19, 2014 |
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Feb 19, 2014 01:19
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Well, it's late, but here it is. Star Empire Homeworld Although this information is not displayed on your Identification Card, rest assured that all of this data is tracked invisibly through the card's quartz chip for your own safety and convenience. (The quartz chip information may optionally be written on the back of your ID card.) To generate your homeworld, simply follow the following procedure. The provided tools (two six-sided die of different colors, or D6-D6) will be used throughout this process, as well as the already introduced 2D6. When using these tools, roll one D6 and then roll the second D6 of a different color and subtract it from the original die, generating a number between -5 to +5. Note that "homeworld" is a traditional term: Legally indipendent space-born colonies can also be put down as homeworlds with no adjustment required. Homeworld Generation Size Roll 2d6 to generate the world's Size. Size 7 is a Terra-like planetoid in size. Size 5 or below indicates asteroids and asteroid belts, with size 2-3 indicating free-floating space habitats. Size 9 or above indicate gas giant colonies or other similarly large planetoids. Remember to note this in hexadecimal (10 = A, 11 = B, 12 = C). Atmosphere Roll D6-D6 to determine your planet's atmosphere. For the sake of simplicity, it has only four classifications: Absent, Breathable, Non-breathable, Hazardous. (The markers for this are a, b, n, h respectively.) Add +1 to this roll if your Tech Familiarity is A+; characters who survive using atmospheric or medical technology during their adolescense tend to be more tech-familiar. Note that even machine species require a breathable atmosphere, most of the time, or are designed and built to function primarily in those atmospheres. Any negative result produces a breathable (b) atmopshere. A result of 0-1 results in a non-breathable (n) atmosphere. A result of 2-3 results in a hazardous (h) atmosphere. A result of 4+ results in an abesnt (a) atmosphere. when noting your homeworld's size and its atmosphere, write it with the homeworld's size and then the planet's atmosphere class, like so: 6h. Tech Level Roll 2d6 for the planet's tech level. Add +1 if your Tech Familiarity is A+. Characters who live on planets where the tech level is significantly below their familiarity were probably educated in a Star Empire university, while characters whose familiarity is well below the average tech level may be disadvantaged or else from an area where technology was not a significant factor in their lives, such as rural areas or in tech-feudal territories. Space Port A Star Empire space port is far more than a place to land spaceships. On low-tech planets, it is a technological centre of universities and advanced amenities, a bastion of the Star Empire's power. A Star Empire port is usually considered to be tech-level A, even if the surrounding area is lower - and it usually is, as the Empire restricts technology access for the benefit and safety of its citizens. Roll D6-D6 to determine the planet's space port. A space port has four classifications: Assisting (a), Basic (b), Non-landing (n) and High Class (h). Add +1 to this roll if your character's Social Standing or Socio-Economic Status is A+: Planets with powerful spaceports tend to be economic or cultural centers or to be in service to noble families. A roll below 0 indicates a Basic (b) spaceport. This is a spaceport of Tech level A (or equal to the planet's tech level if higher) and provides only servicing to spaceships. A roll of 0-1 indicates an Assisting port, a port which serves an integral role in the homeworld's daily life (on a non-atmosphere planet, for instance, it could be the place where the atmosphere scrubbers are located, while on others it could be the site of the planet's primary marketplace). A roll of 2-3 indicates an Non-landing (n) port, which is a port which for some reason is not part of the colony - a spaceborn port which is connected to the surface via space elevator due to atmospheric or tectonic conditions, or else for social suppression reasons. A roll of 4+ indicates a High Class port, which either sees significant traffic or is in service to a major Noble house, and is an excellent place to make social connections and to make the most of social status. High class ports tend to have a presence both planetside and in space, if possible, or else are also considered non-landing if the planet's atmosphere is also (h). When noting your homeworld's tech level and its spaceport, write it like so: 4b. Unique Feature Significance Roll 2d6 to determine your world's unique features. Add +1 to this roll if your Education is A+. Unique features are classified into specific categories or "types" of unique features, and this number measures their significance to the Star Empire. Just as you are a unique individual who can be categorized, so can your homeworld! Feature Types To determine the type of unique features present on your world, roll D6-D6. Add +1 to this roll if you have Education A+: People who are educated on planets with interesting unique features tend to advance far in Star Empire scholarship. A roll below 0 indicates Abnormal Mineral Speciality (a). This is some kind of unique mineral composition which is useful in Star Empire technology in some way. On 0-1, your planet has a Biome speciality (b): some unique feature of local life which is notable or useful. On 2-3, the planet has a Notable Culture speciality (n), such as having a unique cultural feature, significant works of art and literature, or special recognition by the Imperial Dynasty. On a 4+, your world is officially a High-Importance Archive (h) world, or just "Archive world" for short, containing either significant records of the Star Empire or else pre-Imperial and sometimes pre-human records from extinct or absent species, lost colonies and stranger things. When noting your homeworld's unique feature significance and its type, write it like so: Bh. Society Roll 2d6 to determine the homeworld's Society Rating. This rating does not measures specific types of societies, but rather the significance and cultural spread of that homeworld in the Star Empire - essentially, how many people know the homeworld's name. Add +1 to this roll if you have Military Experience or Social Standing of A+; Military personnel are often disproportionately recruited from a minority of Star Empire worlds and become well known in and out of the military for this, and a homeworld with a Noble House is likely to be significant for that fact alone. Law Roll D6-D6 to determine the homeworld's Law type. Law is measured in terms of Aristocratic (a), Brutal (b), Nominal (n) or Hegemonic (h). Add +1 to this roll if your Military Experience or Social Standing is A+. A roll below 0 indicates a Nominal law: either mostly absent from society, or else only applicable in specific situations, with individual nations, tribes, species and so forth deciding on their own codes of law. Imperial law, naturally, overrides all such concerns. A roll of 0-1 indicates a Hegemonic law; Imperial legal standards apply in all cases of dispute and ownership, presided over by an established Imperial judge. A roll of 2-3 indicates a Brutal law, a legal system considerably more punishing than Imperial norm; this practice is frowned upon, but by Imperial charter is a legal way to operate a society. A roll of 4+ indicates Aristocratic law, a planet where a Noble house presides over and creates the law of the society, a right afforded to all nobility under the Imperial charter. Note that no matter what the local law is, Imperial tradition dictates that the law in a space port is always considered Hegemonic, and locals have no jurisdiction within the space port unless they negotiate it. When noting your homeworld's unique feature significance and its type, write it like so: 9a. Sample Planet The code given for these examples are not merely randomly assigned, but describe a specific world within the Star Empire. If you would like to know how these figures are interpreted into usable data, simply read this example. The vital statistics are rendered into a single line of code: 6h4bBh9a. This is to allow visitors and in particular pilots quick and ready access to basic information regarding the planet and any notable conditions they should be aware of. Libre 6h4bBh9a From the code, we quickly read the vital information: It is a world slightly below Terra-standard with a hazardous atmosphere. Its average technology level, despite this, is 4: its citizens are signficantly below Star Empire tech familiarity standard, possibly even pre-industrial in many places. The people of Libre live in a large underground tunnel network, easy to maintain with a minimum of tech capability outside only its atmosphere scrubbers. It has a servicable basic spaceport planetside, so the local atmosphere - while hazardous to health - does not interfere with the operation of a planet-landing spaceship. These are the lines with which a pilot would be typically concerned. The planet's unique feature is that it is an Archive world of extreme importance to the Star Empire - a full B rank. It is the site of ancient pre-Human space era alien ruins, of which the underground tunnels are part, and is the source of some of the most advanced technological artifacts in known space such as solid-light hologram technology and, potentially, the weapons by which this forlorn culture poisoned their own planet. Its society is famous, though mostly in spite of these facts: the locals are more accurately described as infamously backward, superstitious and frightful of the very technology their planet is known for. Despite the planet's importance, the area is not high-traffic or a concern of Noble visitors, and the spaceport is allowed to stay at its basic level. This is all as the local ruling family, the deLibre family, wants it: they have a complete aristocratic stranglehold on the local law, and all disputes are brought before members of the local family who then may or may not represent them in court, with decisions being made essentially arbitrarily with little recourse to precedent. The winners of court cases are usually those who bring the largest bribes to the most influential family member. This has led to flourishing gang activity, as each local neighbourhood essentially acquires its own band of thugs. They are not strictly speaking characterized as being bad for the community, however, as they often take it on themselves to keep the peace, patrol the streets, assist the locals and settle minor disputes. These self-disciplined gangers are often recruited into the deLibre private military and, sometimes, advance far in the Star Empire military as well, taking with them their curious local tech-worship customs. It is worth noting that the statistics line cannot encompass all of the information from a planet. In Libre's case, it does not note the tension between the academics who pay enormous sums to visit and study on the planet and the nobility who ruthlessly exploit them for ever more money, a situation which has even drawn the attention of the Dynasty itself as it impacts the entire Star Empire's wellbeing. In addition, some locals have taken to smuggling artifacts off-planet, made easier by there being very little in terms of local enforcement beyond the nobility's private military, which by Imperial law holds no jurisdiction in the space port. To negotiate jurisdiction would be seen as a serious loss of face for the deLibre household, emblematic of their inability to exercise proper law, and so the smuggling remains rampant. Finally, it is worth noting that generating a planet is not always strictly required. If you find your planet on a pre-prepared document such as the one for Libre above, you can simply declare that you are from that planet.
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Feb 20, 2014 22:19
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Okay yeah I'll add in the one I missed reading entirely (my fault, not yours), factor in those extra points, and do that one iwth the next round-up.
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Feb 20, 2014 22:31
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Im pretty unsure that im able to complete this contest now. Ive gotten a little overambitious with my factions document and hit a major writing block. I basically dont think i can finish it in the next two days. I will try. Another issue im having is, this is meant to be a mystery campaign, and i have a friend in my rpg group who will be adapting this for our group to play. So im not sure how to finish this up as a setting for a contest, without basically spoiling the entire thing for my group and myself. I could use some advice, as im still very new to sitting down and doing full campaign settings ( i typically write idea and premise "primers" that i hand off to the DM's in our rpg group. )
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Feb 22, 2014 00:28
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Talkc posted:Im pretty unsure that im able to complete this contest now. Ive gotten a little overambitious with my factions document and hit a major writing block. I basically dont think i can finish it in the next two days. I will try. Not sure how to help you with the first one. For the second, though, maybe take a cue from Ettin's most excellent Breakfast Cult? Grab the bundle of factions/people that may have had semi-plausible reasons for murdering your sentai star. To each, add the heading: Why'd They Do It?! Then list two or three different reasons for each, each beginning with "Perhaps..." So, why did the Red Ranger murder the Blue Ranger? Perhaps it was a love triangle, and Red was disposing of a rival for Pink Ranger's hand in friendship/marriage/whatever it is sentais get up to. Or perhaps it was a classic leadership gambit; Blue was getting too uppity for Red's taste, so he deliberately gave him bad info on their daily foe to get him killed in battle. Or perhaps it was just a horrible case of "Blue on Blue" (no pun intended) from the team's showstopper attack, and Red is currently secretly drowning his sorrows from the death. Obfuscation by spamming? Something like that?
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Feb 22, 2014 00:46
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Davin Valkri posted:Not sure how to help you with the first one. For the second, though, maybe take a cue from Ettin's most excellent Breakfast Cult? Grab the bundle of factions/people that may have had semi-plausible reasons for murdering your sentai star. To each, add the heading: Why'd They Do It?! Then list two or three different reasons for each, each beginning with "Perhaps..." So, why did the Red Ranger murder the Blue Ranger? Perhaps it was a love triangle, and Red was disposing of a rival for Pink Ranger's hand in friendship/marriage/whatever it is sentais get up to. Or perhaps it was a classic leadership gambit; Blue was getting too uppity for Red's taste, so he deliberately gave him bad info on their daily foe to get him killed in battle. Or perhaps it was just a horrible case of "Blue on Blue" (no pun intended) from the team's showstopper attack, and Red is currently secretly drowning his sorrows from the death. Thanks for the advice, that actually really helped! Edit: After some restructuring of the document, i think i have a good enough thing. I hope again the brevity of it isnt a problem, but my longer idea for the factions thing would have included dialog so i dont think that would have been a good route to go. Ranger Danger - Faction Document ( Google Docs Link ) Talkc fucked around with this message at 02:08 on Feb 22, 2014 |
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Feb 22, 2014 01:43
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So I feel that I've got a pretty good assortment of power players in my setting. There's only three two traditionally "criminal" organizations (three if you count violent far-right nationalists), although there is a fair amount of dirty deals going on among the noble families and political groups, so it's pretty good. This isn't a complete document as of yet, I'm still working on it. Monster Cops Chapter Three: Factions
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Feb 22, 2014 05:29
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