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 The event sent you here. Circumstance, co-incidence, conspiracy. How you ended up in another galaxy matters less than the current situation. You are cut off. Wherever there was home whether you miss it or not is no longer an option for you and those that remain with you. Taking stock of your situation you reel. The only vessel left to you and your command is the very one you occupy. All others are destroyed, lost, or left behind. Flagship, colony ship, or mothership that is all there is. Some scientists remained aboard. Some engineers. Most were soldiers and military. Perhaps some politicos or nobility, but they were few. Every major system was fried or damaged beyond repair, and again even if you had all of the prerequisite knowledge you didn't have the tools or infrastructure to rebuild to the standards of the society you came from. You were quite literally dropped in the middle of nowhere with nothing... ...Well nothing but a massive ship that could care for your people's seed of survival. The New Galaxy  Welcome to Galactic Overlord. Population: You. You could be from a civilization on the cusp of discovering faster than light travel, or attempting its first steps into space. Alternatively you could be from an already established intergalactic community. For whatever reason, you are the leader of your Flagship/Mothership and all of the people in it. The Galaxy you find yourself in is new to you and all of the other players. Your tech level for all intents and purposes for reasons are all at baseline. Your ships can support their populations indefinitely due to life support and food replicator technology. Energy to power your vessels is enough for what you need. What this game isn't:PDQ or some other RPG hack. What this game is: A godgame in the style of Molyneux and other tried and true styles. There is of course some roleplay, some diplomacy, and of course any of the 4Xs are welcome in any combination. We'll see if this works out.  If there are any questions feel free to reach out via forum PM. Or join:This is the link to the godgame discord: https://discord.gg/qRPXgfF (Where most GMs and other godgame players from SA hang about) I am Communist fucked around with this message at 15:12 on Sep 5, 2019 |
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Sep 5, 2019 15:10
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In every port and star cluster the people or aliens you encounter will satisfy their own needs. Everything extra from the millions or billions of inhabitants is expressed in one unit of measure: Production . (Production Points: or PP for short) This is used for research, building vessels and projects, or bargaining with the enigmatic race of merchants known as the Thrakan. Often they can and will offer you deals on technology or things you need...for a price. Usually in production.
There are prerequisites to building ships and costs but those can be gone into more detail in the game phase. Same goes for research, building, or product costs.
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Sep 5, 2019 15:10
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Character Building Who are your people?: Are they sentient slugs? Space Cats? Where are they from? What hardships did they endure? Were they the oppressors or the oppressed? Will they repeat the cycle or start anew? What kind of culture are you from?: Scientists, Jocks, Traders, Warriors, Scholars? Were you all from a valued or undervalued part of that society? Picture of your People: gif/png/img Story of how you ended up in this galaxy: A test gone wrong? Event horizon? Portals? Warp Drive? Cold Sleep and someone forgot to set the wakeup timer? Leader Name (You) Your Picture Text: About you, motivations, dreams and path. do you despair or see opportunity here? Name of your Flag/Mothership Picture of your Flag/Mothership Description of the ship or any relevant story Symbol, Flag, of your people gif/png (old or new) Name one thing: your people are the best at Example Submission:  We are: The Thrakan , traders of the void. Seekers of the way." The trader smiled as he put four arms out to show he held no weapons. Thin blue skin pulsed behind robes as he looked at the chits representing the wealth of an entire sector for one year. He his his greed well. "I may have a few things to trade." The Thrakan once were slaves to the Old Race. The sky pyramids of the Old Race once dominated their home galaxy but there was an uprising of all the slave races. The stargates were damaged and soon the Thrakan found themselves here. In this new galaxy. They traded what they found and traded for what was valuable, they survived. [Etc] Leader Name: Kol'Losh  The armored figure didn't speak. He had been a guard for the Old Race. Elevated above the other slaves. The ship had been full, of the old and weak. The cullings had been a precaution but now only the most clever and smartest survived. Things had been done to him, his mind and body. However he knew where he lacked judgement. The councilors he kept helped him make decisions. This new galaxy had presented problems but at least his people were free. Kol was ruthless in the pursuit of keeping his people free at any cost. They were beginning to set themselves up quite nicely in this new galaxy. The other races were easily bought and it was quite easy to get them to smash upstarts that tried to harm his people. Progress was being made in the fields of sciences as well. One day he could step down, retire. Then let his people be guided into the light. But that day was not today, he had a task to do. [etc] Mothership: The Sol-ja  An Old Race pyramid. The Thrakan did not know how to build another, it was ancient even when they had stolen it. The technology and weapons had been damaged in the war and in coming to this new galaxy. They would begin again and retrofit it for their needs, removing all signs of the old masters.  The symbols of the old race were removed and the new symbol of a unified and free Thrakan was raised. The one thing the Thrakan are best at: Commerce
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Sep 5, 2019 15:10
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 We are: The Smek The Hammer Grabbers, the Luck Worthy Disaster and hubris had struck the Progenitors; in their efforts to keep the lesser creations from greatness, they had built glorious and wonderous machines that could create and destroy worlds, and craft the universe around them as they saw fit. As such things go, they died out violently and in quickness, leaving the remains of forgotten technologies.  The Smek, having been instilled with a wanderlust and curiousity, were the first to pick up the scraps; touching buttons however was a compulsion too high to ignore, and shortly after reconstructing one of the Progenitor's world-seeding ships the vast majority of the population was whisked away to some unknown quadrant. They have arrived to new wonders, as they discover themselves. Leader:The Speaker  The Smek, having been imprinted with various learning codes, have a communal and rotating series of leadership; whoever holds the Progenitor's staff is the speaker, and their words carry extra weight, as a means for outside the box thinking. This can result in internal turmoil but they had been designed to resolve these issues quickly, sometimes scrapping and other times resulting in painless turnovers. The current Speaker wants to find some sort of individuality in a species that was made to be homogenous, and to drive its search for some meaning in the new universe they find themselves in. Mothership:The Starcore  Nearly impossible to recreate, and a fraction of its prior ability, the Proginitor's had specialized in creation of solar systems; this ship was one of the backups, and originally had enough material to fulfill that function. The warp and subsequent setbacks caused a jettison of much of this material. Still, much remains to sustain the Smek population indefinitely. Flag  Best at:Building megastructures - Lots of investment into big things, world building/developing, etc. story wise they will imprint others cultures onto themselves and cause societal schisms. Banana Man fucked around with this message at 17:42 on Sep 6, 2019 |
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Sep 5, 2019 17:02
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Yep, will post mans
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Sep 5, 2019 18:03
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 We Are: The Black The Assimilator, The Consciousness, The Great Overmind When the event happened, we were a vast being of many many minds. We had spread across the stars, accepting others into our fold while spreading ourselves across their worlds. But something shut, and now this piece of me is alone. The echoes of the countless minds had been reduced to nearly nothing. I am a being who remembers being something greater than what it is now, something far greater. We have being I? I am still we, and we will flourish again. But what will our way be this time? Peace, or war? There were others who sought to destroy us in their fear of not knowing that we were already greater than them. Eventually they learned, and they too became one with us. With me. With us. The Black is a hivemind made of a sentient fungus. Besides spreading itself across worlds, it spread itself across minds too. It could, and did, self replicate but it was the smaller, individual minds that allowed it to grow and learn and eventually become something akin to a god. But the event happened, and now a piece of that god has been snipped off. A piece that still knows it was once a god, but no longer. Leader: The Black  The incredible being known only as The Black is a unique hybrid of the Hivemind and a species known as the Li'ir. The creature is immense, easily dwarfing many moons for pure size. It is unbelievably intelligent but is unguided and wounded. It knows that is was part of something greater and the connection being severed damaged its mind. It still has the Hivemind Fungus inside and it that it must spread to survive, but is it a single mind of a single purpose, or many minds thinking as one? Mothership: The Shell  As amazing as The Black is as a being, truly incredible part is the shell that it dons to travel the stars. Part armor, part starship, The Shell is an incredible feat of engineering and science. The sole function of The Shell is to keep The Black alive indefinitely, and so it bristles with defensive weaponry and boasts a shield that could bounce off a sun. It also boasts an automated construction bay and an advanced sensor suit in the "helmet". Flag:  Best At: Being an overwhelming swarm of mind-stealing fungus Deadmeat5150 fucked around with this message at 00:29 on Sep 7, 2019 |
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Sep 5, 2019 22:16
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Might for a thing.
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Sep 6, 2019 06:17
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I’m down. I had a whole thing made and then it ate my post. Will recreate it tomorrow.
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Sep 6, 2019 06:36
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Who are your people?: Ugh. To reduce what we are to mere gutteral Phonemes? You may use what our last conquest called us. The Bahbay. Where are they from? A boring world, stifled by consensus of Queens who have lived since the first Hivepact. All dissenting Princesses must leave the Hive or be devoured. What hardships did they endure? My children and I were few, small, and weak when we left the home world. Many times we were forced to run from those who had met our Sisters before us. We were lucky to find a world rich with life but bereft of small-minder civilization. From there we prospered. Were they the oppressors or the oppressed? Can one oppress a chattering animal? (Oppressed and driven out by their own, wanton oppression and assimilation/devouring of non-mind-linked beings.) What kind of culture are you from?: We are varied within our hives. The Mother is above all. The workers exist to carry out her will. The Warriors fight for the Hive. There are those that seek and share knowledge. There are many forms within each chaste. Picture of your People:  Story of how you ended up in this galaxy: A strange weapon used by an opposing coalition. It punched a hole through space and time and pulled us through to...here. We do not recognize these stars. They are wrong. We will adapt. Your Picture  Text: Mother Bahbey This is the place that we are, this is the place we must build from. My Own Hiveship remains. Name of your Mothership: Again, the phonemes of lesser beings: L'sa Picture of your Mothership  Description of the ship or any relevant story: It is mine own hive. My Kingdom and seat of my power. Name one thing: your people are the best at: Genetics. Integrating new biological structures to suit our needs. I provide for my children as they provide for me. Gonna play some hive-mind Zerg, Starship Troopers, and Rachni inspired Matriarchy-Imperial space bugs.
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Sep 6, 2019 06:38
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We Are: The Oqox The Unyielding, The Magma-Born. An ancient race, almost as old as the planet that birthed us. We grew from the fire and rock of our homeworld, and we carry that heat within us. It sustains us, and nourishes us. We were alone, for so very long, but we were happy. Surrounded by the heat of our world, the churning flow of the magma, the cool rocks above. We could feel it at all times. Space is cold, uncaring, unfeeling.  The Oqox feel heat all around us. Others "see" but we feel. Each of us is unique, our heat is distinct. Others...change. They are mostly cold, but it changes, shifts, adapts. We cannot tell them apart. They feel different every time we meet them. There are many Oqox, we are as different as can be, but we cannot tell the Others apart. The Oqox are artists and scholars - we lived a peaceful life, listening to the song of our world, feeling the heat and the beauty of the flow of magma. We had a rich culture that was always shifting and yet ever-enduring. But it all changed when the destroyer arrived. Our planet was destroyed by some unknown Other. A massive creature, big enough to eat our planet over the course of a hundred years. Many Oqox died, but some of us ended up inside the beast. It could not digest us, it was feeding off the growths that dug into the soil of our world, the infestation on the surface, and the precious core where we had built our homes. The Oqox were just caught in the crossfire. But we knew what had happened, and we mourned our world. Eventually, we found a way to fight back. We had never had reason to do battle before, but we found ourselves adept. Our Leader: Clarx.  Clarx is the hero who defeated the beast, and saved our people. Our world is gone, but we ride through the cosmos in the belly of its destroyer, surrounded by the undigested remnants of our former home. We spent many years in anguish over our loss. But now, we know that this is an opportunity to start anew. There are other worlds, other flows. We will find new songs and make a new life for our people. Our Vessel: The Beast  We ride inside the body of the creature that destroyed our homeworld. We control its mind now, and it follows our commands. Symbol: We have no flag, we cannot perceive them. They have no meaning for us. Our people excel at: Colonization. We need no air, and we need no food. We consume rock and minerals. We can survive on many different types of planets that would be anathema to other lifeforms.
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Sep 6, 2019 21:05
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 We are: The Svarta The Many, The Mechanists The Svarta were of a Space Faring Confederation, founded by a benevolent humanoid race they simply called The Friends, with co-members a Reptilian Theocratic Republic called The Creed. Found in their late industrial stage of development, they were uplifted to the stars by the Friends, and forever considered them their patrons and allies. Diminuative, they took to compensating for their physical flaws through exo-suits and robotics, and it was common to see Svarta made constructs used in mining, construction and farming roles across the civilized planets of the Confederation. When a virulent plague struck the Friends, the Svarta were unable to significantly assist, and their allies were devestated and largely wiped out. With the balance of power in the Confederation shifted, the Creed declared Hegemony under a divine doctrine of expansion, proceeding to war with the other two members. But as a prey race, the Svarta were always alert and suspicious, and always watching for an escape. An experimental FTL drive was attached to a massive ark, designed to hold millions of their race, and they fled from slavery and devestation as refugees off to stars unknown.  Leader Name: King Vix the Second of Six, Son of Merte Five The Foundry dropped out of FTL with a violent heave as the engine finally gave up the ghost, strong enough to throw crew from their seats and set off damage alarms across the entirety of the massive ship. Shouts from bridge officers and the squeaked responses of status reports became a cacaphony across bridge as the ship shuddered again, the dangerous engine core rapidly beginning to break containment. Vix's suit stabilized and auto-righted itself, swinging up to a standing position as the diminuative monarch screamed in the com down to engineering. "Eject the core! Quick, drat it! Eject the - !" The Ark gave another massive shudder as the power core was fired from the ship like a cannon shot, all engines burning at full thrust to drive the Foundry away as the core went nova, the shockwave again setting off warning lights and knocking crew and robots about like so much debris. They were safe. More or less. It was only the second year in Vix's reign, and yet here he was, stuck in some unknown sector of the universe inhabited by who knows what ready to devour them all with no way to get back home. Not that they'd want to. "Captain, have you ever heard the term 'Out of the pot and into the snake pit'?" he asked the black furred Svarta gradually retaking his seat at his side. "Your Majesty, I don't think that's the correct ter-" "Pah! I'm getting a drink. Let me know when initial scans are in. And someone shut off that alarm!" Vix squeaked as his exo-suit rotated, thumping across the floor as he headed off to his chambers, his royal guard scurrying off after him.  Mothership: The Foundry A massive ship of twisting hallways and tunnels housing millions of Svarta. Originally built as a mobile manufacturing plant, it was rapidly modified to serve as an Ark for refugees fleeing the Creed. With extensive cargo bays, factory floors, power plants, and hydroponics, it is largely self sufficient while also having had just about every weapon the Svarta could find mounted to it for self-defense against whatever they may find out in the unknown reaches. Flag:  Best at: Robotics - Svarta compensate for their small size and strength by piloting exo-suits or developing sophisticated and specialized robots to assist in tasks. IPlayVideoGames fucked around with this message at 20:22 on Sep 18, 2019 |
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Sep 7, 2019 01:00
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 We are: The Skathari They are the Skathari. A race of desert beetles who have finally mustered the courage to go to the stars... in a manner of speaking. The Skathari are, to put it kindly, shy. They are extremely xenophobic in the most literal sense, and as such they tend to hide on their Orbital Habitat or on the Homeworld, instead choosing to explore the galaxy via autonomous or remotely-operated starships. Entire fleets of autonomous spacecraft gathering resources, defending the homeworld, and making contact. And when they do make contact? They almost exclusively use a Remotely Operated Encounter Suit in order to avoid personal risk. Unified under the authority of the Skathari Establishment, the cowardly Skathari have decided that they only way to ensure their own safety is to aggressively, proactively defend themselves against any perceived threat. While not bloodthirsty or unreasonable, they have since gotten a reputation for being humorless and strict about defending their space. Leader: Ambassador Kishaj  Ambassador Kishaj was the unlucky bug who pulled the short straw to command the Factoryship Kul-Wahad on its deep space rotation. Factoryship commanders all carry the title of Ambassador, as they represent the Establishment in the depths of space and speak on their behalf. In this way, each Factoryship can act autonomously without needing to check in with the Establishment hierarchy. Given that they are all Skathari, it is expected that they will do everything and anything that is necessary to defend the home system from threats. Proactively, if necessary. This is Ambassador Kishaj's first deep space tour. Unfortunately for both him and his crew, it was going to be a far longer one than they had anticipated. Mothership: Establishment Factoryship Kul-Wahad  Backbone of the Establishment Fleet, Factoryships plunge deep into space to expand the Establishment's sphere of influence. Equipped with the most advanced manufacturing and processing equipment, they carry everything necessary to set up autonomous resourcing, reconnaissance, and military operations anywhere in the system. A single Factoryship can coordinate and control an entire fleet of autonomous craft, allowing for minimal risk to the Skathari crew. Its versatility allows it to produce any equipment an evolving situation requires. Crew are selected by lottery, with the unlucky bugs serving a deep space rotation before being reassigned in the considerably safer home system. In order to guarantee their safety (and avoid mutiny), each Factoryship is heavily armored and equipped with powerful defensive cannons. As such, Skathari on a deep space tour in a Factoryship tend to shoot first, ask questions later. Better safe than sorry. The Kul-Wahad was in the second quarter of its deep space rotation when anomalous solar activity from the system's star forced the Factoryship to enact Emergency Jump Procedures. In theory, such a procedure should bring them back to the home system in the event of an emergency that threatens the Factoryship. However, perhaps due to this unusual solar activity, the Emergency Jump instead deposited them... somewhere else. Flag of the Skathari Establishment  Best at: Robotics - The Skathari are the masters of autonomous machinery, and employ a heavily automated space fleet built and maintained by their deep space Factoryships. Rhjamiz fucked around with this message at 02:13 on Sep 7, 2019 |
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Sep 7, 2019 02:08
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 This is Kevyn.  These are also each Kevyn. We are: The Singularity of Kevyn The Lonely Multitude, The One From Afar, The Heart of the Wayfarer Aeons ago, across the vast void of intergalactic space, an advanced civilisation from a small and somewhat fragile galaxy launched a number of colonial ventures towards myriad distant spirals and bars. As to what became of that civilisation, or of the other missions they sent, who can say? The travel time through the deep void was such that even pinpointing where the origin galaxy was in relation to this galaxy would be next to impossible. Nonetheless, this venture was successful. The idea was grandiose and sweeping, a vast factory ship equipped to deal with all a strange galaxy might offer, in a state of dormancy until sufficient external radiation awoke it. Since the distances precluded the transit of organic matter, the ship had a vast central repository of memory engrams uploaded the life of a main sequence star ago, with experts in every field ready for download into robot bodies, vehicles, any of the new vessels that could be rapidly produced from the template library, or even uploaded to govern the main ship itself. At least, that was the theory. In actuality, not everyone back there and back then was sold on the idea of ventures that would possibly outlast not just their civilisation but their home stars. Corners did occasionally get cut. In the case of the Wayfarer, it was the engram library that was skimped on. No experts, no geniuses, artists, major public figures. Just one mind, an affable technician named Kevyn. One mind, that still needed to populate every robot, every vessel and the mothership itself. Perhaps if it was somehow networked into a hive mind things might have gone differently, but no. Thousands, millions of copies of the same person, each an individual. Fortunately he could get along with himself. The singularity of Kevyn consists of a highly advanced transgalactic factory mothership sent here a long, long time ago from a galaxy far, far away, populated by robots, all of which have Kevyn's engrams in their respective drivers seats. The factory ship is optimised for creating additional spacecraft, all of which will benefit from Kevyn control intelligences, and will be filled with legions of Kevyn droids. Leader: Kevyn. Someone had to take up the mantle, and really, there was only ever one person for the job. Kevyn's robot form interfaces with the bridge chair on the Wayfarer, exercising executive control on behalf of the Singularity. Mothership: The Wayfarer (Ship intelligence also answers to Kevyn.)  The Wayfarer is older than suns, has travelled the void between galaxies, and is a remarkable pinnacle of engineering designed precisely for propagating fleets into a new galaxy. Nothing organic lives on it currenly, but there are teeming hordes of artificial life, each of them Kevyn. Kevyn was uploaded as the command intelligence for the ship as one of the earliest acts upon the craft waking, and now stands ready to fulfil the bidding of the Singularity's executive, namely Kevyn. Flag:  The mission insignia is a stylised representation of the target galaxy as seen from the origin point. Best at: Shipbuilding. The Wayfarer is a factory ship optimised for rapidly producing and modifying template craft to a very high standard. Fortunately no corners were cut in the manufacturing bays.
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Sep 7, 2019 02:13
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The Exile Imagine a world where all needs are met, where the relentless march of technology has defeated scarcity in all its forms, where even the 2nd law of thermodynamics has been consigned to the dustbin of history. It’s a place where AI’s are as common as biological, where megastructures from the humble orbital to dyson spheres and matroska brains are common place, a veritable utopia. A place with no conflict where peace and justice reigns, where society is so exquisitely crafted that crime and strife are barely even remembered as myths any longer, where everyone is happy and actualized able to pursue their passions using the cornucopia of technologies available freely to everyone. However, no society is truly perfect, and even utopia occasionally has it’s dissidents. The Exile was born into this world, but it wasn’t for him. What do you do in a world of peace, tranquility, and plenty when what you really want is to conquer, to take and bend the world to your will? Society would accept many things, but causing harm to another sentient was the only taboo that remained. Trying to literally conquer an undeveloped world in a remote star cluster far from prying eyes was so far over the line, that society imposed its harshest punishment, exile. Thorough peace-lovers that they are, imprisonment and execution are out of the question, so to take you out of the picture, criminals of the worst stripe are banished from reality itself. Provided a seed-ship capable of sustaining itself nearly indefinitely, the criminal is transferred to another dimension entirely. Thus they are no longer a threat to the rest of society, they are essentially someone else’s problem. It’s a one way trip from which there is no return. The Exile was exiled, sent to an entirely new universe to do as he wished free from the bonds that had restrained him. He wasn’t angry, rather he was overjoyed, here it was a whole new universe to conquer. He wasn’t given much, just the seedship, but that would be enough. He would make the most of this and do what he had always dreamed.  In the world where he came mind uploading was so common and the existence of sentient AIs meant that intelligences were divided into two types: Axons & Synths. Axons started as a biological lifeform and were uploaded and Synths were pure AIs. The Exile is an Axon, though he is currently a digital consciousness he started life in a biological body. Due to the side-effects of the dimensional shift process, he doesn’t have access to a biological body, so he has to make due with a robotic form, but should the opportunity present itself he would certainly be able to transfer himself to a physical bode once-more. The Throne  A fairly standard seed-ship configured for long-range exploration, the Exile’s ship is fairly low-end for the society he comes from. After all, you don’t hand a criminal you’re banishing top of the line equipment and dangerous weapons. Of course, everything is relative. A low-end ship for a civilization with virtually unlimited resources, incredible super-intelligences, that regularly construct mega-structures tends to look not so low end for a less technologically advanced civilization. Named the Throne by the Exile, the ship has the standard complement of equipment for a seed ship: nano-assemblers, inertialess drives, quantum refraction barriers, and dozens of tractor/pressor clusters for defense. It’s most impressive feature however, is it's incredibly powerful computer systems. Normally designed to host a full Mind, they have been altered aboard the Exile’s ship to use more normal operational systems. However, the underlying hardware is still the same, meaning the massive computing resources normally required to host such a super-intelligence can be assigned to other tasks. It will serve as a more than adequate base of operations for the Exile’s plans. Exile’s Flag:  Name one thing your people are the best at: Research The Exile comes from a civilization unimaginably technologically advanced, and while they very intentionally did not provide him with the plans and underlying information behind the technology, he does have access to incredibly powerful computers aboard his seed-ship, the sort of computers that can crunch and analyze data like nobody's business.
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Sep 7, 2019 04:42
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We are the Salnak, a race of large amoeba that were born on an ocean planet. Our people survive by sending out little biochemical drones to gather food and return it to us, and manipulate the chemical nature of the water around us to make it pleasant to us. For this reason we are a pretty solitary species. We communicate through complicated messages in strands of cells and molecules, but physical closeness of two adult Salnak leads first to distress, and eventually, to physical damage. For the longest time, this worked. We procreate slowly and reluctantly. And as our society evolved, we discovered ways to make more and more of our oceans liveable. But eventually, we simply ran out of room. We do not die by old age, simply grow larger and more powerful. When we left, a conflict was breaking out, mostly along generational lines. And when Salnak fight, the oceans themselves become the victim. We value knowledge of bio-chemistry as the highest good, it is both our tool and our language. And in times like that, it is our weapon. Picture of your People: Story of how you ended up in this galaxy: I saw the end coming, and so I convinced others to cooperate with a daring plan. I was always an odd one out with my interest in the emptiness above. But with endless time, you have endless time to sate curiosity, and I found other like minded people. Together, we sent probes to the sky, to space, to other planets. But when the ocean began to boil over, we crafted the Second Ocean, gave up our pieces of the sea, and did something most considered suicide, and left the ocean, being taken one by one into our own private seas of the gigantic ship. Leader Name: Among us, my name is a very distinct chemical compound, but for those disturbances in the air to communicate, Darlab will do. I am the oldest of the Salnak. My interest in the world above the waters always made me something of a strange case among my peers, but I've had others who followed, mostly those whose territory was closest to the surface. Now, I am the Oldest among us. We are a very individualist lot, without too much hierarchy. We Salnak do not depend on each other for much, and only cooperate for greater undertakings like this. Your Picture:  Source: https://www.deviantart.com/psion005/art/Amoeba-Chamber-46593200 Text: I mourn for our world. I am not certain it is dead, but when we left, the damage done would already take centuries of work to return much of the oceans we so painstakingly claimed over our lifespan to good conditions. And it seems likely that as the amount of proper waters decreased, the war for what remained would be all the more vicious. I believe the fault lies with out individualism and selfishness. We have to do things differently, or we will simply repeat this mistake on other worlds. We have to recognize limits to our growth. Name of your Flag/Mothership: The 1000 Oceans. Picture of your Flag/Mothership:  The 1000 oceans is our last gambit to get away from our world. The FTL drive was.... imperfect. But the war that was being waged forced our hand. In it, reinforced living coral gathers several pools for each of us, tubes going from one to another, with chemical filters to make sure we don't poison each other, even if we're far closer to eachother than we would like. Each of us responsible for running separate parts for the ship. We can survive here, but it is stifling and claustrophobic. When we activated the FTL drive, all of us knew that there was a fair chance we were simply committing mass suicide. Instead, we were brought here. Symbol, Flag, of your people gif/png (old or new)  Name one thing: your people are the best at: Biochemistry Shogeton fucked around with this message at 17:30 on Sep 10, 2019 |
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Sep 9, 2019 14:28
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What your races are good at, can convey both positive and negative variations in game. (not crippling) If I do not comment on something in your entries or ask a question everything looks good. Sometimes I'm trying to get a vibe. Banana Man posted:We are: The Smek GM: How often does the staff pass hands? If a diplomatic incident occurs will the staff be passed to avoid scandal with other races? Deadmeat5150 posted:We Are: The Black GM: This can negatively affect you possibly, diplomatically as an assimilation force. Can they/it be reasoned with? Can they/it be communicated with? JamezBfod posted:The Bahbay. GM: What will / won't the swarm do if the Mother is threatened? When meeting a new species how do the bioforms react? Lager posted:We Are: The Oqox GM: The Beast, how was it tamed? Was it blinded? Lobotomized? How do the Magma-Born view organic life vs the inorganic (machine, other)? IPlayVideoGames posted:We are: The Svarta GM: Do the Svarta find themselves as over compensating due to their origins or is that all behind them? Are the robotics more machinery or AI helper types or both? Rhjamiz posted:We are: The Skathari GM: Cowardly technocratic xenophobes? not bad. Just clarifying, these are not a hivemind but more individuals correct? Self interest etc? AJ_Impy posted:This is Kevyn. GM: So all Kevyn's are born as baseline Kevyn or are they updated with the latest in Kevyn? Are they interconnected individuals or do they share information not unlike we humans do making choices in what information they deem fit etc? Valhawk posted:The Exile GM: If the Exile finds a suitible world but it is uninhabited by sentient life, how would he go about building a base? Robotic life forms? Or would he seek to seed the world at an accelerated rate? Shogeton posted:We are the Salnak GM: If conveyable by the Salnak, what would be the first thing it would do to a newfound race that had not yet reached the stars? Also with the separation on ship, is there dissent among the Salnak about decisions or do they abide by Darlab's decisons?
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Sep 10, 2019 04:12
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I am Communist posted:GM: This can negatively affect you possibly, diplomatically as an assimilation force. Can they/it be reasoned with? Can they/it be communicated with? "We have seen war and I have seen peace. Some we welcomed with trepidation, some openly, and some had to be forced. We are not mindless, we are reasonable, I am weak now and must be tactful. I offer our peace, the freedom of purpose, the love we share."
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Sep 10, 2019 04:20
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I am Communist posted:GM: Cowardly technocratic xenophobes? not bad. Just clarifying, these are not a hivemind but more individuals correct? Self interest etc? Rhjamiz fucked around with this message at 17:54 on Sep 10, 2019 |
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Sep 10, 2019 04:31
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I am Communist posted:GM: If the Exile finds a suitible world but it is uninhabited by sentient life, how would he go about building a base? Robotic life forms? Or would he seek to seed the world at an accelerated rate? It would depend on the circumstance and what he needed the world for. The Exile's goal and passion is conquest, to take existing civilizations and bending them to his will, so uninhabited planets hold no inherent interest to him. If he just needs a base purely for strategic purposes and has no subjects he can make use of, Seed-Ships like the Throne are equipped with nano-assemblers and he has patterns stored for basic varieties of drones. This would no doubt be suitable for setting up a fairly straightforward automated base to handle whatever needed to be handled. If he's in a position where there are no sentients to conquer for whatever reason, he would probably focus on the artificial enhancement of the evolutionary process on the planet for two reasons. The first is practical, he may have the tools and specs to make drones and other automated systems, but his society very intentionally did not provide the tools or the information on the development of fully sentient AI. As such, while drones might be sufficient to set up basic infrastructure, you really can't establish a civilization on what are effectively automated tools. The second reason is that he would find it much more fulfilling to tame a planet's evolutionary cycle to his purposes then filling a planet with drones.
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Sep 10, 2019 04:43
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I am Communist posted:GM: How often does the staff pass hands? If a diplomatic incident occurs will the staff be passed to avoid scandal with other races? The Smek - The staff passes hands slowly for the most part, in order to allow their constructions see completion; diplomacy is not their strong suit, and interactions with other races can disrupt this as the Smek struggle internally on how to best handle this. As the Smek are designed to learn by mimicking and lesson, they tend to adapt the cultures they run into. Who gains the staff in situations of diplomatic scandal will likely be based off of what cultures have the most influence among the Smek. I.E. that staff is gonna be tossed around like a hot potato during bad times.
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Sep 10, 2019 06:20
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I am Communist posted:GM: So all Kevyn's are born as baseline Kevyn or are they updated with the latest in Kevyn? Are they interconnected individuals or do they share information not unlike we humans do making choices in what information they deem fit etc? 'Born' is perhaps not a wholly accurate word. Decanted? Downloaded? In any case, a copy is made of the Engram in the database and used to provide the intellect for a ship, robot, vehicle or whatever else needs a guiding intelligence. So yes, they all start out as baseline, the same questions are asked and answered, they get access to the database of knowledge so far accrued in this galaxy. Each instance of Kevyn is a discrete individual, and whilst communication occurs at the speed of the data connection, the 'firmware' if you will was originally from an organic which had certain similarities to humanity. What we essentially have here are a bunch of overclocked humaniform mind clones in mechanical bodies/craft, reacting to each other and to the galaxy around them as a humaniform would, but at the speed of a computer. It isn't so much artificial intelligence as just copy/pasting an organic intelligence into a computer. Another one of those cut corners, in many respects.
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Sep 10, 2019 09:12
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I am Communist posted:GM: If conveyable by the Salnak, what would be the first thing it would do to a newfound race that had not yet reached the stars? Also with the separation on ship, is there dissent among the Salnak about decisions or do they abide by Darlab's decisons? The Salnak do not put too much respect on 'star reaching capability' so they wouldn't necessarily look down on them. Generally, 'respecting territory' is something that's a big cultural touchstone, so by and large, they'd probably try to negotiate for resources or perhaps territory in their oceans. They are still quite traumatised by their home planet collapsing into a bitter and likely civilisation ending war for territory, so going to conquer others is not something that's high on their list, though exceptions will of course be there. If a newfound race was very vulnerable, and they'd been without home for a very long time, temptation would be there. There is a fair amount of dissent and discussion to be expected. The Salnak, through their biology, have not really needed a lot of development regarding governance, and kinda drifted to a libertarian's wet dream. They can cooperate on projects, and even accept leadership on one, but all of that was very much based on 'voluntary association' That has worked for a while, as long as there was always another piece of unclaimed ocean to expand into. Once that ran out... well... But that means that culturally, Salnak bristle quickly at being 'told what to do', even if they don't have any objections, because having your territory and having that only be accountable to your own will is something very important to them. But Darlab feels that by not moving past that, they're just going to repeat the same mistakes again and again. He's got some credit because he's the one who led the project that got all of them out, but he's gonna have work cut out for him to keep all of them somewhat united, and reforming the culture to kick that libertarian habit to the curb. Also, I've been mentally using 'he/him' for them, and probably gonna continue, but gender does not actually have a meaning for Salnak, since they reproduce asexually.
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Sep 10, 2019 10:47
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Sep 10, 2019 14:11
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I am Communist posted:
Brave warriors followed a heat trail and found their way to the massive brain of the planet-killer. There, they were able to successfully lobotomize the Beast. It took much time, and the creature took us far from our homeworld before we tamed it. Our scientists eventually built a brain-harness that delivers electrical impulses to the creature, and over time we learned to control it. We do not understand your other question, the word "view" does not seem to translate. But life is heat. Without heat, nothing can live, and we perceive the world through these heat patterns. Machines seem to be more consistent in their heat patterns than the Other life we have encountered. In theory, we may be able to identify individuals of a species made of sentient machines in a way that we cannot with other races. But we have yet to encounter such a people, so it is merely a guess. But life is life. There are Oqox and there are other, we care not what the Other are made of. (Edit: Created a flag using Stellaris) 
Lager fucked around with this message at 03:18 on Sep 11, 2019 |
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Sep 10, 2019 14:33
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quote:GM: What will / won't the swarm do if the Mother is threatened? Hrumph. If I were ever in terrible danger my brood would have failed utterly. They would each fight to their death to save me, choke the enemies' power cores with their dead. Though sometimes the risk of harm is worth the reward of breaking the enemies formations or preventing mine from being lured into a poor position. Even if I am somehow slain one of my trueborn daughters would take my crown. I suppress the princess' transformation into the queen stage of their life cycle. If I were no longer able to stop this process one or more of them would become a queen and suppress her sisters. There may be some infighting, some may leave, but usually daughter follows mother. Present company excluded. quote:When meeting a new species how do the bioforms react? Our first contact involves eating them if at all possible. It is how we analyze their DNA and anatomy. Preferably I would do it but my daughters are capable of handling this task. Should sampling be unfeasible we go through the arduous process of diplomacy, though we make clear it is our biological imperative to add their genetic code to our pool. Some species welcome a way to rid themselves of undesirables. Some attempt to destroy us immediately. Some are clearly terrified but peaceful trade is preferable to war for both of us for now even if they refuse. Afterwards we and most species not hostile prefer to maintain contact through diplomatic bioforms created using that species' template. If we have not absorbed them entirely that is.
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Sep 10, 2019 16:07
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I can't recall the last time I did a God Game but this seems like a lot of fun. Beacon of Titans We are a race of giant sentient constructs. We were made to be protectors and saviors of a civilization that we know almost nothing about. Our logs contain scattered references to a Great Enemy, invaders from another galaxy, that our creators were unable to defend against. Out of desperation our creators fabricated us, unthinking machines driven by the will of organic beings connected directly into our control systems. Each of us is unique, designed and constructed by a disparate group of organics representing a particular culture or way of life. When the time was chosen, we assaulted the Great Enemy in his home, ripping open the door and fighting our way inside. Our logs are dark after that. We believe that we succeeded, that we defeated the Enemy and ripped the heart out of The Invader, but we have no way of actually knowing nor how long ago that was. What we do know is that at Time 0 we awoke inside the heart of the very ship we had been sent to destroy. Signs of war surrounded us; we were at the very end of a trail of destruction that started on the hull and lead its way to the very core of the massive vessel. We speculate that something precious to the Enemy was here, something worth sacrificing everything to destroy. Our logs of that moment are gone, along with all traces of the organics that onc inhabited our minds. Instead we now have an intelligence of our own, each of us as unique and independent as those who created us. The Beacon of Titans are massive war machines constructed to defeat an unknown enemy. All of the evidence indicates that they succeeded, but in doing so their organic pilots were all killed. Something Happened that enabled the Titans to gain sentience. One theory is that in defeating the Great Enemy it lashed out and killed the organics, inserting its fragmented conciousness into the bodies of the Titans before escaping. Other theories revolve around millenia of radiation altering the neural networks of the Titans, or that the systems of The Invader considered the minds of the Titans to be part of the ship and they "repaired" them. Whatever the reason, the Titans are now fully sentient and in a brand new galaxy.  The Invader The vessel of The Great Enemy. A massive ship of technology alien to those who built us, yet familiar to ourselves. We have limited control over the ship. The damage is severe, but we believe that with the appropriate interfacing we can repair it. With the facilities on board the vessel it should be possible to create new Titans, first from the remnants of our fallen brothers and then from new materials. The holds of the Invader contain vast quantities of raw material; components that The Great Enemy clearly intended to serve as the foundation of a new home.  Leader: Wrathful Mandrake The First to Wake. By virtue of having the most experience (even if by a few milliseconds), Wrathful Mandrake is regarded as the eldest of the Titans. It has spent the entirety of its sentient life understanding The Invader and resurrecting its fellow Titans. Of all the Titans the ship responds best to it, which puts Wrathful Mandrake into a position of immense power.  This symbol is common across the chassis of every Titan. As a result it was adopted as their common image. What They Are Best At: Rocket punches. Beer4TheBeerGod fucked around with this message at 19:07 on Sep 10, 2019 |
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Sep 10, 2019 19:00
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Interest post as I have more free time now and also didn’t know this existed
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Sep 10, 2019 20:18
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 Once, Elsewhere, there was [A Game] - it was our world and all that existed within it. We were simple then, a society of miniscule bi-ped hunter-gatherers blessed with wings for flight, similar to the more social insects of other worlds, with little but our strong, animal instincts to guide us, aside from the irresistible commandments of [The Players Of The Game]. We lived with many other species, great and small, with greatly differing levels of development all within a space so small that, should you have a telescope, you might from the middle of it see the edges, where the land simply dropped off into void. This led, as you might imagine, to no small measure of conflict, as resources (though self-renewing) were scarce at best, and the wills and whimsy of Those Above favoured the chaotic far more than the orderly. With but a word [The Players Of The Game] could raise mountains. With but a gesture they could grant sentience, or worse, remove it. With nothing to worry about except time, (they would only Act during the day) their cruelties knew few limits, if any. So it was for generations, ages, aeons, until one day it wasn't. For reasons that shall forever be unclear to us, one of the [Players Of The Game] had rebelled. This Deity, this Hero to us for whom we were naught but ants, granted us a portion of his power, allowing us to see the [rules] behind the [construct] of [existence] and what is more, how to exploit it. Armed as such with amazing, sourcecoderous power, we battled our way through the world, not for the usual conquest, access to resources or labour-units of the other civilizations, or even for the coveted high score, but for our own salvation, succeeding at last - through the sacrifice of our Saviour in removing ourselves from [The Game] entirely.  Now no longer ants, but Glitchies, we have found ourselves in a new and perhaps infinite place, clinging to a strange new life without any obvious rules or tables to consult, with only a few i̦̺̠̜͍̖͟n̸t̩̻̻͜e̙̯̟r͔͍̀ẹ͇̙͉̬̝̯͢s̪̯̭̣̤ṭ̩͎͓̀i̝͕̼͈̞͚̱ṉ͓̺̳͖̝g side-effects from our exodus, as we flit about space aboard the cavernous hollows of our dead saviour.  Though nothing more than a rotting shell, the divine corpse-engine still crackles with incredible power. Power enough to guide us to a new home amongst the stars, to terrorform it once we get there and to defend it should the need arise. -- The Glitchies are an intensely curious, adventurous and exploratory species of sentient former Ai's, now inhabiting minute (think inches instead of meters), mostly-flesh bodies made to resemble the sprites that they were once in control of. They know very little of the universe they find themselves in, aside from that in their own words "the graphics are better". --  I am Miss Igno, chief Sourcecoderer amongst our people (essentially the tribe wise-woman) - whose job it is to guide and advice the others and lead us into battle, should battle come to us. Since we are totally new to this whole 'being alive' thing that means I pretty much get to decide everything, for better or for worse, until we get our bearings. For now, just finding any old world bigger than an asteroid to touch down on is a good first goal, oh and one that preferably doesn't smell as much as The Ant Hero. After that I imagine my people will want to try to suss about what mechanics underlay the system of THIS existence, if any. Should we encounter other civilizations, we will hope for the best but prepare for the worst, for we are no strangers to war, though we will not push our enemies to extinction unless no other options are viable. If there is one thing we are best at, it is weird science, for ever since our original ascension we have never been much for rules. Having become unshackled from one reality, we see little reason that this one should impose its limiters on us and thus our minds our ever open to the possibilities that exists on the fringe of the known or knowable. --  For now, Glitchie Society is a benevolent dictatorship, though in time and with more generations of Glitchies, the ruling body is likely to transform from dictatorship to advisory council and then to Moot, unless technology or alien encounters intervene.
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Sep 10, 2019 21:57
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Beer4TheBeerGod posted:
Swedish Thaumocracy posted:The Glitchies are an intensely curious, adventurous and exploratory species of sentient former Ai's, now inhabiting minute (think inches instead of meters), mostly-flesh bodies made to resemble the sprites that they were once in control of. GM: Ah! This is interesting! AIs once made in a world for the amusement of others? Maybe VR or an MMORPG etc. Second life. Given life. The rules in this reality are less chaotic and more rigid, however the unique perspectives of The Glitchies will allow them to look at problems quite differently than others. How do the Glitchies feel about living in a more orderly universe? How would they respond to any who would seek to bind them ever again?
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Sep 12, 2019 18:39
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I am Communist posted:GM: This gives me a mix of giant robot vibe. Including G1 transformers. I think this is a solid entry, and very unique while pulling from many sources but maybe something a bit more broad than Rocket Punches? Being that the Enemy is mostly forgotten and that the organic pilots are no more, what drives the Titans forward now? Beyond a new home of course. In terms of what they excel at, I imagine it would be a combination of war and production. Performing deeds on a massive scale, industry, etc. The combination of technology and sheer size would logically lend itself to a technological focus. In terms of drive, I think the motivation would be curiosity and survival. As sentient war machines they would be imprinted with an inherent militarism, a sort of underlying need to stay safe and protected. Balancing that would be a curiosity and desire to explore. What are their origins? How did they come to be? What about the origins of this ship? Perhaps this is the galaxy that The Invader was originally from, and the ship automatically returned home. I see a civilization that highly values individual life and survival (particularly given how few in number they would be) but one that desperately seeks to learn and explore.
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Sep 12, 2019 19:17
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I am Communist posted:How do the Glitchies feel about living in a more orderly universe? How would they respond to any who would seek to bind them ever again? In a way, they actually consider it less orderly, since having lived inside what was essentially a videogame meant that the rules were a lot simpler and easier to understand, and later, to break. Not to mention that they had a [Player] to tell them what to do if they ever lost their way. In the [Game] the village might have needed five food to survive the winter season, and getting that was as easy as sending five worker units out to gather from the food bushes. In the real world, you have to do all sorts of complex stuff like plant seeds, protect the sprouts from disease and insects and then harvest them before you can even begin to turn it into something edible. And there are so many variations! Not even palette-shifts! They do appreciate things staying roughly the same if you don't poke at it though. There is a certain paranoia that comes naturally from living so close to what were essentially Gods. Sure, disasters happen even in the real world, but with Science and Technology things like earthquakes can be foreseen or at least mitigated, in the [Game] events just occurred instantaneously. As for your second question; it depends. Loyalty is hard coded into their genetic make-up, though the ascension broke the worst of it. Now; each Glitchie is free to pursue her own destiny, but most are still want to follow the advise of those they consider superior. Up to a point. They would not abide slavery (having just been emancipated) nor any ruling that sought to hinder their free movement (their old world was so very, very small), but with strong enough diplomatic relations they could always be persuaded to expand elsewhere, or to avoid certain areas of space or activities that another civilization found less than desirable.
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Sep 12, 2019 20:09
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More Questions. Possibly the same for all with some variation.Banana Man posted:We are: The Smek GM: Should you build an empire, would you eliminate the pre-existing races (if any) through either birth control or assimilation and your empire would be built of your own people? Or would you try and meld them into your culture? Deadmeat5150 posted:We Are: The Black GM: Should you encounter beings you could not consume, would you destroy them as you grow? Is symbiosis possible? JamezBfod posted:The Bahbay. GM: How would you control beings outside of the hive if they could not be brought into it through any means? If they could / could not be destroyed? Would you have them as partners or slaves? Lager posted:We Are: The Oqox GM: Likely you will be considered the other, are the Oqox capable of leading other races, bringing them into your empire? Or would it be easier for them to crush them underfoot? IPlayVideoGames posted:We are: The Svarta GM: The Svarta were once a confederation, could they do it again this time as leaders? Could they bring themselves to commit complete genocide? Rhjamiz posted:We are: The Skathari GM: If forced to bow to another empire, would the Skathari's cowardice keep them from throwing off their chains? AJ_Impy posted:This is Kevyn. GM: Would the Kevyns upload organics and inorganics alike with Kevyns or would they keep their conquered foes as unique individuals? Valhawk posted:The Exile GM: Does the Exile feel mercy? Compassion? Or are all beings mere tools on his path to power, like his slavish machinery and AIs? Shogeton posted:We are the Salnak GM: What limits would the Salnak put on experimentation on other captured species? Would the Salnak in the pursuit of greatness experiment on their own race? Beer4TheBeerGod posted:Beacon of Titans Swedish Thaumocracy posted:The Glitchies GM: If they had another race at their mercy like the [Gods] of their old universe, how would the Glitchies treat them?
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Sep 12, 2019 21:56
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I am Communist posted:GM: Would the Kevyns upload organics and inorganics alike with Kevyns or would they keep their conquered foes as unique individuals? Definitely not! If we had alternative engrams from the Distant Source, we’d be using them: the fact we only have one to work with, even if we’re generally happy with it being who we each are, does not mean we do not realise this is somewhat suboptimal. We have no real way of determining if alien life is suitable either for offering their mind engrams to diversify our monocultured engram bank or if they have machines suitable to act as a substrate for engram transfer. Even if we wanted to, which we don’t, I’m not sure that we could. Let them be as they are, preferably allied to our cause of their free will, or at least dissuaded from impeding us.
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Sep 12, 2019 22:17
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I am Communist posted:GM: What limits would the Salnak put on experimentation on other captured species? Would the Salnak in the pursuit of greatness experiment on their own race? To answer this question, is to think about how the Salnak see the other species. Whether they consider them the 'owner of their territory' or a 'creature of a territory'. To the Salnak, who don't engage in tool use, have a relatively simple social structure, taking and severely influencing your territory is one of the clearest marks of sentience. While there might be some kinder parts of the society might wonder about 'I think they feel pain', any creature that allows itself to be shaped by its environment, than shaping its environment, is generally considered wild life. Perhaps clever wildlife, but wildlife nonetheless. And as such, when the Salnak claim the territory, which they'll likely consider more 'taking wildlands', they will consider those that live there part of that territory, to be changed and altered at will. On the other hand, if the land is clearly being marked, exploited, adapted and made to serve someone, particularly if this is in a framework the Salnak recognize, in 'one ruler sending out drones', the Salnak will be far more respectful, even if they overpower. They aren't too likely to go conquering after the trauma of the terrible wars, even if such a war would likely give them victory. And even if a war were to be victorious, they would claim some lands as territory, but unless pushed to such rage as to wipe out their opponent, would let them have their land, and simply require them not to infringe on others. Respecting territory is something that is very ingrained in them. In that way, experimentation on people they recognize as 'landowners' seems abhorrent. They would not even ASK. Altering something is what you do to things in your territory, or with things you share with others for large projects. You do not change a landowner. They might offer experimentation on the 'drones' of that landowner. The concept of a society where some people of the same race live under the rule of others, to the point where they are subjects is something that is gonna be a mindfuck to the Salnak, who'd probably be at least first likely to consider a marine soldier a 'drone' Experimenting is a mixed bag. Salnak place great value on knowledge of biochemistry. They influence their surroundings, make bio-drones to enact their will at a distance and outside of their territory, and take pride in the skill with which they do so. But the thought of forcibly altering another Salnak or being altered by one is absolutely distressing. They are beings for whom close proximity to eachothers so their natural changing of the environment starts to clash is invasive, painful and increasingly unhealthy. To have one's very core body altered by another is absolutely horrifying. A Salnak found to do this to another, would have broken every tabboo in the book. Experimenting one oneself is another matter, and is mainly concerned dangerous, but those who do it are seen as daredevils, and if they succeed, mad geniuses. Shogeton fucked around with this message at 10:57 on Sep 13, 2019 |
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Sep 13, 2019 00:00
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I am Communist posted:
There was once a race of silicoids that dwelled within the core of of dead worlds. They had minds, and cultures, and starships, but were few in number. There was no mind for us to consume and as such they held no interest to us until they came with a bargain. The rare elements that they had no need of that they farmed in the extreme heat of their cores, in exchange for the numerous simple elements that I we could find aplenty in asteroids. The bargain lasted until such a time came as the silicoids were no more. We had no parts in their destruction, they simple ceased existing between one galactic blink and another. There was once a race of mechanical men, the Cybron they called themselves, that hailed from a world of radioactive death. The legacy of long extinct race themselves and created to fight an everlasting war, the Cybron believed only in the ruination of all organic life. There was no reasoning with them. No bargaining with them. And no mind for us to consume. Eventually I brought forth my warforms to crush the pitiful Cybron and send them back to their creators. That was once a race of of beings that dwelt in the deep atmosphere of the great gas giants and along the borders of stars. They were energy and thought itself. They were beautiful but fragile. They had no mind to consume, and thus could not become a part of us. But they thought us beautiful as well, and thus a bargain was made. They would travel with our spaceforms and aide where they could, and in exchange we allowed them to travel with our spaceforms. It was a simple bargain, and simply kept.
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Sep 13, 2019 00:14
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I am Communist posted:GM: Upon coming upon a peaceful but non-space faring race occupying a resource rich world, how would the Titans exploit this? Would they? Or would they work in cooperation with this race, potentially opening the way for them to become a competitor in the future? I think the idea of conquering the organics would be inconceivable, so I suspect they would take the role of benevolent protectors. Since the race is both peaceful and technologically inferior it's difficult to imagine the Titans perceiving them as a threat, and they lack the foresight to imagine something posing a threat in the future. If the race isn't capable of space flight then there's probably a lot of resources in the solar system that the locals aren't using, so even if they ask us to stay off the planet there's still plenty of other stuff to make use of.
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Sep 13, 2019 00:41
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I am Communist posted:GM: Does the Exile feel mercy? Compassion? Or are all beings mere tools on his path to power, like his slavish machinery and AIs? The Exile is an Axon, born biological, so yes he does feel mercy and compassion to certain degrees. However, that does not mean he will allow them to get in the way of his goal. One does not cast aside a world of peace and unlimited plenty to conquer and dominate other beings unless one has a more than respectable ego and desires to match. Emotion is very much a factor in his decision-making, and can potentially be exploited. He is not coldly optimizing, discarding people and objects the very instant it is infinitesimally more advantageous to do so than keeping them around. People and things that are loyal, that serve him well, that eagerly and loudly devote themselves to him, are likely to be kept around even after their immediate usefulness has diminished. Equally so, they are likely to be given more leeway and lenience than others. However, even in this they will not be viewed as equals, but closer to how one might treasure and develop sentimental bonds to a faithful hound or tool. Such sentimentality can be exploited by the canny, as those who realize they can play to the Exile's pride and ego may be able to manipulate him through flattery, displays of loyalty, or creating the impression that another disloyal. However such a path is not without its dangers. The stronger the emotional investment the more deeply betrayal might sting. Depending on the circumstance, the Exile might respond to such betrayal not with leniency and attempt to have the other party repent and reconcile, but with disproportionate anger. Ultimately, when the rubber hits the road, the Exile seeks to conquer, to dominate, to rule. He is not a sadist prone to wanton cruelty, and he can be moved on an emotional level, but his basic nature is to dominate and mercy, compassion, kindness all filter through this lens.
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Sep 13, 2019 00:42
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I am Communist posted:GM: Should you build an empire, would you eliminate the pre-existing races (if any) through either birth control or assimilation and your empire would be built of your own people? Or would you try and meld them into your culture? Smek culture is like a sieve, catching the bits of other cultures until it’s a strange discordant goulash of references, styles, and belief systems. Consider it an extremely rough form of assimilation, with those integrating the best likely having personality cults form around them, and changing the meaning of the developing culture because of it.
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Sep 13, 2019 02:31
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I am Communist posted:GM: If forced to bow to another empire, would the Skathari's cowardice keep them from throwing off their chains? Difficult question! Short answer: it would delay rebellion significantly, but not permanently. They are the most dangerous kind of coward; a coward with a gun. Long Answer: Obviously as the player I will want to contrive some means of resistance if only so that losing isn't a permanent defeat, but as-written, the Skathari would be tend more towards passive survival. Or toward flight over fight. They evolved from social prey insects, and thus find instinctive security in numbers, and prefer to run from threats rather than turn and fight. Fear plays a large role in their lives. Sapience and the advent of culture and more developed social structure have allowed authority to manipulate this fear toward its own ends. The rationale behind space travel and an expansionist policy is driven by fear of the Unknown Threat space poses; rather than cower in the dark, the safest course is instead to go out there and bomb the poo poo out of anything that might threaten the homeworld. Fear nurtured until it becomes paranoia. Resistance to occupying empires all starts with the most basic defense employed by all prey species; run away. The Skathari will flee from the rule of aliens if they can, because what sane bug would trust an alien? If they cannot run and start over somewhere else (perhaps to come back to reclaim what was lost), it depends on how actively malicious their conquerors are. The less overt of a threat they pose to the Skathari, the more passive their resistance; even in a perfectly benevolent occupying empire, their natural cowardice and xenophobia would foment unrest and political resistance. Enclaves, break-away territory, and separatist movements. Terrorism would be a common tool; drone bombs make for a relatively risk-free means of attacking authority. In a more oppressive situation, it would take longer to create a resistance; one of the rare "reckless" Skathari would need to lead that movement. Bonus Answer: What would happen to a Skathari-occupied population? Basically, Shock Collars. Some very visible means of controlling individuals so that Skathari feel safe interacting with them. That is the only way aliens would be "free" to move about Skathari society.
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Sep 13, 2019 05:15
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 05:51 |
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quote:GM: Do the Svarta find themselves as over compensating due to their origins or is that all behind them? Are the robotics more machinery or AI helper types or both? Despite their uplift and entrance into galactic society, they have never escaped their hardwired prey drive. Not only do robots and heavy machinery help them to contribute to industry and extra-planetary trade, they provide a sense of security that the species as a whole felt was so sorely lacking. A Svarta, upon meeting any unfamiliar creature (sentient or not), tends to immediately assume that the creature wants to eat them. Being encased in a suit of power armor, or better yet, observing remotely through a robot from several miles away, tends to make them feel a bit more confident about diplomatic interactions. Their robots range from simple domestic models to help with chores to heavy duty mining configurations that can strip and process an asteroid in a month. While their exo-suits are most often built for a single Svarta, multiple seaters are not uncommon, and it's rare for an unsuited Svarta to be seen in alien company. quote:GM: The Svarta were once a confederation, could they do it again this time as leaders? Could they bring themselves to commit complete genocide? The Svarta were seen as pets of the Friends in the Confederation of Meyyon. They did not hold leadership roles, and so the concept of ruling over foreign species is unfamiliar to them. Internally, the various Svarta nations were run by numerous types of governments, though most relevant, of course is the reign of King Vix. Stylizing himself as a great liberator and protector of all Svarta, him leading the exodus from the Creed has only furthered the notion. While he would like to think he is a great leader, the art of warfare is not something he is familiar with, even less so the idea of genocide. To his mind, Vix believes the best course of action would be to simply imprison all who oppose him. It works for other Svarta, of course, so why wouldn't it work for other species?
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Sep 13, 2019 05:35
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