[CYOA] [NationGame] Record of Hyades War

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Traditional Games > The Game Room > [CYOA] [NationGame] Record of Hyades War

Fivemarks: Feb 21, 2015

"Backstory" posted:

The end of the 22nd century. Two centuries after the first humans uploaded themselves to become the first posthumans. Two centuries after the technological achievements brought about by that gestalt entity, ISHTAR, changed the course of human history. Sustainable Nuclear Fusion, which solved the energy crisis. Transgenic treatments, turning humanity into transhumanity. And the greatest of them all: faster than light travel.

The first form of faster than light travel created by the Posthumans were the wormholes: stable holes in space time that bridged two distant points in space. Initially, these wormholes were under the control of the Posthumans, but gestalt posthumans such as ATLAS and INARI offered one way longshot colonial expeditions to various non-governmental groups. By the 2060�s, transhumanity had developed the ability to generate their own wormholes, which were used to rapidly expand human presence. This started with the first overtly national colonies established by transhumanity outside of the solar system, starting with the planet of Chiron around Alpha Centauri. Soon though, the wormholes were replaced by the last gift of the Posthumans: Jump Drive.

If wormholes got transhumanity out of Einstein�s cage, then Jump Drive was what gave them the keys to local space. The Jump Drive�s exact method of travel isn�t known, but its capabilities were still absolutely vital. There are four constants with Jump Drives: first, a ship must be relatively motionless in the L4 or L5 Lagrange Point of a star and planetary mass in order to travel interstellar distances; second, a ship can make a microjump inside of a star system as long as it does not start or end inside of a massive object�s Hill Sphere; thirdly, a drive builds up a sort of �quark static� that, if not discharged into the magnetic field of a massive object, will cause the drive to overload and kill the crew with lethal radiation; and fourthly, the Jump Drive itself has a limited jump range.

The earliest Jump Drives could make a single jump before needing to be discharged, but transhumanity still crawled to the stars. As the work of the Posthumans was improved upon, transhumanity spread further. But the Posthumans had vanished, their complexes in human occupied space going dormant. Transhumanity forged on, but the era of peaceful exploration shattered in 2063 when peaceful explorers found the remnant Berserker Drones of a long dead race. Based on advanced nanomachinery, these berserkers forced the first real militarization of space.

But, on the main, the 21st century was peaceful. The United Nations, under its CONSTELLATION program, charted space with long range explorers, surveyed planets, and gave colonial sites away in lottery. The nations of Earth followed, splitting space into four separate arms: the Pacific Arm, for the nations of the Trans-Pacific Treaty Organization; the European Arm, for the nations of the European Confederation; The Russo-Indian Arm for the BRAHMOS Pact centered on Russia and India; and the New Silk Road Agreement helmed by China being given the Chinese Arm. But these spheres were dominated by the major players, the nations that had the inherited wealth and industrial bases to adapt most rapidly. Minor nations, most notably those of the global south, had to pick a side to even hope at gaining colonies.

The opening up of space to transhumanity also had an effect of putting a damper on social reforms on Earth. The United States continued with its eternal two-party system, for instance, even if reforms like LGBT+ rights were eventually accepted- things improved but did not fundamentally change. The same could not be true of the isolated Longshots, those colonial expeditions that had been sent through long distance wormholes by the Posthumans. Left alone and isolated, often struggling to survive unexpected conditions or Posthuman shenaniganry, these worlds rapidly developed their own social and cultural identity in the century and change before recontact. Similarly, as the distance between Earth and colonies began to grow, new colonial identities began to form out in space.

Recontact between Earth and the Longshots began in the early 22nd century as UN CONSTELLATION explorers began to stumble across the closer of the Longshots. Moreover, the early 22nd century is when the first Second Stage colonies, those founded from early first stage colonies such as Centaur in Alpha Centauri or Han Shan in Delta Pavonis, began to be founded. One particular region of space, the Hyades Star Cluster, was particularly noteworthy. Not only were there a high number of Longshots in the cluster, but there were also a high number of high-quality colonization candidates. Even more, the Hyades is where evidence of yet another alien species was found. Nicknamed the Gardeners, they had seeded numerous worlds in the cluster with life from other worlds, including Earth.

The Hyades became the �It� space for colonization and expansion. All four supranational organizations vied for colony locations in the Hyades, while the UN settled a few worlds and systems as part of their own program. Nations tried to lay claim to the Longshots, but by the 2120�s, things had begun to slow down. Wormhole instability had begun in the long-distance wormholes, but the development of Jump Catapults would speed up travel to the cluster, and to the other frontiers of human endeavor.

Then the Jump Drives stopped working. It didn�t happen all at once, but a creeping alien quantum virus had infected transhumanity�s Jump Drives. Gradually, it began to shut down Jump Drives, bringing interstellar commerce to a halt. No communication, and no long-distance travel. Ships limped to wherever they could find a good spot to beach before their crews and passengers attempted to set up so called Castaway Colonies. Only short-range travel was possible, and that was by a rare few ships.

The Lockdown has been going on for 40 years now. It is 2176, and your world has been pretty well off, all things concerned. For the first two decades, things were a bit rough, but your people managed to adapt. Local trade in your part of the Hyades has been picking up, and more and more Jump Drives are being built, both in your nation�s own facilities, and elsewhere. The Lockdown is finally ending, which means a new age is coming. Earth will have been hit by the Lockdown as hard as the Hyades has, maybe even harder. Other colonies- other nations will have their own ambitions. Perhaps peace can be kept. Perhaps. But if it can�t, if real war comes to the Hyades, not the skirmishes with pirates and berserkers, then your world and its Combat Frames will be ready for it.

Hey, this is Record of Hyades War, A CYOA nation game inspired by, well, a bunch of stuff. Consider the setting to be a mixture of transhumanism, an alternate timeline where the Singularity happened in the 2000's but didn't really change things drastically. It gave humanity amazing genetic engineering and space travel, but the Posthumans have vanished. The world remained mostly stagnant even as it expanded, with global capitalism fueled by the possibly endless resources of space. But after the Lockdown and with all the ingredients in the pot, everything needed for a sea change has been gathered in the Hyades Cluster.

This is where you all come in, taking the role of, depending on YOUR decisions as we make our nation, the decision makers of a colony in the Hyades. Will it triumph and prosper as part of a larger alliance against Earth? Or will it side with Earth for the hope or local autonomy and a stronger economy? Or will you take a third path? That will be up to you all.

# ? Aug 5, 2021 09:28

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# ? Apr 19, 2024 22:01

Fivemarks: Feb 21, 2015

National Information

RESERVED

GLOSSARY

Posthumans: Humans who uploaded themselves onto advanced digital computing substrates in the early 21st century. Continued to bootstrap themselves up to greater levels of intelligence, merging into large gestalt entities with obscure goals and purposes, before vanishing.
Transgenic: Refers to the modification of the genome of living creatures through a number of methods, from retroviral injections to in-vitro treatments. Transgenic also refers to transgenic individuals, who either received or were born with these modifications. Some transgenic modifications are germline, which means they are inheritable.
Wormhole: A 'hole' in space time that connects two distant points in space together. Some have hypothesized that Wormholes can be used for time travel, but that has yet to pan out. A fault in the creation of Artificial Wormholes saw all Wormholes serving as a shortcut to the Hyades shut off before the Lockdown.
Longshot: Colony expeditions in the early 21st century, composed of various private groups, minorities, and oppressed peoples, and facilitated by the Posthumans, particularly the Posthuman Gestalts ATLAS and INARI. Were isolated until UN explorers began to recontact them in the early 2200's.
Chiron: The first extrasolar colony founded by non-longshot humanity, located in the Alpha Centauri Star System. Chiron actually comprises three separate colony sites: Chiron itself, around Proxima Centauri; Centaur, around Alpha Centauri A; and around Nephele, a Super Earth around Proxima Centauri. Chiron was the site of the first interstellar conflict over colony rights, which led to the institution of the Colonial Lottery.
Jump Drive: The last gift of the Posthumans, which uses some form of phenomena to transport ships from point to point over interstellar distances.Jump Drive transport is instantaneous to the crew, but to an outside observer an interstellar jump can take anywhere from a week to a month. In-system jumps are instant. Jump Drives need to discharge 'Quark Static' around planetary bodies with magnetic fields or they break down with catastrophic results.
Lagrange Point: The Lagrange points are points near two large orbiting bodies. Normally, the two objects exert an unbalanced gravitational force at a point, altering the orbit of whatever is at that point. At the Lagrange points, the gravitational forces of the two large bodies and the centrifugal force balance each other. There are five such points- L1 through L5. L1, L2, and L3 are on the line through the centers of the two large bodies, while L4 and L5 each act as the third vertex of an equilateral triangle formed with the centers of the two large bodies. The L4 and L5 points are stable points and have a tendency to pull objects into them. For interstellar travel, a Jump Drive needs to be in an L4 or L5 point and motionless relative to the parent body.
Hill Sphere: The Hill sphere or Roche sphere of an astronomical body is the region in which it dominates the attraction of satellites. Jump Drives cannot jump into or out of the Hill Sphere of a sufficiently massive body.
Berserker Drones: The leftover, nanomachine based, self replicating war machines of a long extinct species. Their behavior somewhat resembles a number of Earth animals, and they are capable of adapting to and integrating new technology. Their creators never developed FTL travel, but did master fusion based (Read: Plasma) weaponry.
CONSTELLATION Program:
Trans Pacific Treaty Organization(TPTO): The United States; Canada; Mexico; South America minus Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina; Japan; Unified Korea; Taiwan; ASEAN; Australia; New Zealand; South Africa.
European Confederation(EC): Western Europe, Including North Africa, Scandinavia and the Baltics, Poland and Ukraine, Italy, Spain, Israel, The Nile River Countries, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia.
BRAHMOS Pact (BP): Russia, India, The Balkans, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iran, Various West African states, Brazil and half of Uruguay.
New Silk Road Agreement (NSRA): The People's Republic of China, The East African Federation and most of Africa, Argentina and half of Uruguay, A good chunk of Central America and the Caribbean.
Hyades Star Cluster: The region the game takes place in. A dense star cluster full of an anomalously high number of choice colony worlds and longshots, as well as the enigmatic remains of the Gardeners.
Gardeners: An enigmatic and possibly extinct alien race who seeded numerous planets in the Hyades with life from other worlds, including Earth.
Lockdown: The Lockdown was a major event that saw an alien energy virus attack human Jump Drives, causing a slow rot that saw human spaceflight slow to a crawl. It has effectively isolated the Hyades Star Cluster for the last 40 years, though it is now ending.
Weird (Cultural):
Weird (Scientific):
Landers: A term used by colonials and people not from Earth to refer to people from Earth and the Core Worlds.
Han Shan: Han Shan is the major Chinese offworld colony, a high oxygen world where the population lives at high altitudes.
Combat Frame: Humanoid Multi-Environment Combat Weapon, developed from armed humanoid work vehicles in the Hyades during the Lockdown.
Castaway Colonies: Castaway Colonies are those colonies that were founded in the Lockdown by vessels that were left stranded by failing Jump Drives.
United Nations Extrasolar Agency(UNEA): The United Nations Extrasolar Agency is the United Nations Agency in charge of handling the CONSTELLATION Program, the Amalgamated Regional Militia, and the Colonial Lottery.
Colonial Lottery: The Colonial Lottery was the official way that worlds discovered by the CONSTELLATION Program were doled out to the nations of Earth and to the Group B recipients. It was a randomized lottery that each nation or group was allowed to put their name into the pot for, but in practice, at least for the Group A major powers, it functioned more like an auction.
Amalgamated Regional Militia (ARM): The Amalgamated Regional Militia is the United Nation's independent interstellar paramilitary force, with a mandate to protect colonies and to keep the peace, as well as to protect commerce and free trade.
Stately Quadrille: The "stately quadrille" is the name given to set of constantly shifting alliances between the great powers of Europe during the 18th century. It also refers to the constantly shifting balance of power between the four major powerblocs on Earth. Some related terms are "Balance of Power" and "The Great Game."
Zorin Incident: In the mid 21st Century, unconstrained transgenic modification was all the rage in the First World. However, there was no regulation, and the effects of intelligence and charisma bosting enhancements was not well known. Max Zorin was the son of a wealthy businessman given the best enhancements money could by. In 2080, he attempted to cause a massive earthquake to flood most of California in order to cause economic chaos that he could exploit.
Particle Beam Weaponry:
European Confederation Black Sky Fleet: The main extrasolar combat force of the European Confederation, which is run by the Confederation itself rather than its member nations. Favored, before the lockdown, an all big gun capital ship doctrine reliant on railguns.
European Confederation Home Fleets: The 'reserve' fleet of the European Confederation, made up of the national, or 'home' fleets of the various member nations.
Aviation Cruiser: A Russo-Indian attempt at merging India's historic usage of aircraft carriers with Russia's history of armed cruiser carriers. Aviation Cruisers are multi-role combat vessels that carry aerospace craft to support its primary armament, often using them as an added layer of point defense and scouting.
Q�shǒu h� J�nmǎ (Rider and Steed): A Chinese Naval Doctrine and theory that focuses on a mixture of capital vessels designed for command, cruiserweight supply and tender vessels, and varying sizes of short range parasite vessels that have exchanged endurance for maximum peak combat performance. Notable for the Wǔzhǐ Qu�n formation used in the battle of the Argentine Moons.
Geneline: A geneline refers to a set of standard, inheritable transgenic enhancements that have been applied to a large population. A Geneline must be a set of germline modifications, in order to be inheritable.

Fivemarks fucked around with this message at 11:44 on Aug 5, 2021

# ? Aug 5, 2021 09:28

Fivemarks: Feb 21, 2015

Art and Stuff

Reserved

Hey, Look, a Discord!
https://discord.gg/MGfwumTeMW

Fivemarks fucked around with this message at 09:56 on Aug 7, 2021

# ? Aug 5, 2021 09:29

Fivemarks: Feb 21, 2015

The Hyades is full of numerous colonies turned states thanks in-part to both the semi-isolation caused by the Lockdown, and by the high number of Longshots that were seeded in the region by the Posthumans. In creating your colony, you must first make two choices: How was the colony founded, and what is the planet like? You must also choose a name. Player written backstory and fluff, along with well written votes, will be counted as extra votes.

►How was the colony founded? ◄

A:: Posthuman Longshot: The Longshots of the early 21st century were small affairs without much governmental involvement, with population numbers sometimes in the low hundreds. Many were comprised of radical idealogical organizations, religious groups, stateless ethnicities, and oppressed minorities. They were then left to develop independently with no human contact for almost a century in some cases, while facing the challenges of developing a functional civilization. Because of this, many of them are, in the term used by Landers from Earth, 'weird'. The Hyades Cluster has a proportionally high number of Longshots. (Higher chance of there being hidden Posthuman goodies or even involvement in our system, also a correspondingly high chance of being a very long term science experiment by the Posties.)
B:: CONSTELLATION Program Colony: The United Nation's Constellation Program was an idealistic venture dreamed up in the 2040's, in order to regulate the process of colonization after the Alpha Centauri War. The Program saw the United Nations Extrasolar Agency launch its own series of long range explorers, planetary survey vessels, and the gargantuan "General Secretary" class factory ships, each capable of printing and supplying everything a fledgling colony would need. More importantly, the UNEA ran the official Colonial Lottery, in which the GROUP B drawing was reserved for stateless and oppressed minorities, religions, and ethnic groups. Some of these UN Colonies were given to a single group, while others were given to a number of groups to share. (Better relations with the United Nations, and the UN's Amalgamated Regional Militia. May start with UN CONSTELLATION surplus.)
C:: Earth Power: The great powers of Earth are THE dominant colonial powers of the day, who only see each others as rivals in their long simmering Stately Quadrille. The riches of the Hyades Cluster drew them in, and none of them were prepared for the Lockdown. Each Earth Power is different, but what can be assured is that they will want to recoup the economic losses from the Lockdown, somehow. (Start with surplus military equipment from your founder, with the chance for good relations or bad relations. Because of the ZORIN INCIDENT, Earth Powers are generally against any sort of Transgenic modifications that go too far too fast. Choose the specific power block below.)
C1:: The Trans Pacific Treaty Organization: Led by the United States, the TPTO rings the Americas and the ring of fire, and is sometimes called a Supranational Organization made up of Supranational Organizations. The TPTO was hands off in the affairs of each member nation to manage their colonies, but were still bound to help defend one another's colonies. The nations of the TPTO all benefit from an advanced technical base, and before the lockdown shared many common doctrines and technologies: most notably, the TPTO most favored the usage of Aerospace craft and large carriers to transport them, similar to the United States Navy at its height in the Cold War. but rather than use missiles, the preferred weapon of the TPTO was particle based directed energy weapons. The TPTO is likely to have mixed feelings regarding wayward colonies, and may be willing to come to an arrangement with you; but on the other hand, who knows what nearly half a century of economic collapse has done?
C2:: The European Confederation: Ruled by a triumvirate of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, the European Confederation is the evolution of the European Union, having successfully stopped an attempt from the United Kingdom to leave in the early 21st century and growing closer as a result. The European Confederation allows each member nation to contribute population and naming to a colony, but is generally more centralized- complete with the European Confederation Black Sky Fleet. Before the Lockdown, the BSF was a proponent of the BIG GUN school, which favored capital ships with direct fire railguns and only called for aerospace craft in an auxiliary role. If any Earth Power will be hungry to reclaim their colonies, it will be the EC.
C3:: The BRAHMOS Pact: Formed from the historic partnership between Russia and India and expanded to include those nations friendly to both, the BRAHMOS Pact is filled with managed democracies who have banded together for the national regeneration and to ensure that they will not be humiliated by their historic rivals. The BRAHMOS Pact farmed out the handling of colonies to large corporations connected to their rulers, such as Energiya, with military protection provided by the nations in exchange for financial kickbacks. Militarily, the BRAHMOS Pact follows a gang up defense- if any one of them is attacked, they will all jump in to protect the member state. IN terms of technology, the BRAHMOS Pact leaned heavily towards ships with missile heavy armaments and large, multi-purpose aviation cruisers. The BRAHMOS Pact will likely be okay with an independent colony if the colony becomes economically dependent on the Pact's oligarch owned corporations.
C4:: The New Silk Road Agreement is, for all intents and purposes, the People's Republic of China and her allies. Akin to the Latin League, China is Rome and her allies, such as Pakistan and Argentina, are her allies. Colonization is managed by the state and state owned corporations, with allies being given some colonies. But the best is left to China, and only China. Before the Lockdown, the PLAN(S) had been focused on the Q�shǒu h� J�nmǎ concept, focused on a few larger motherships carrying a number of high performance parasites warships. China is likely to be furious and keen on regaining control of their colonies, and making an example of other colonies that do not bow to Earth.
D: Castaway Colony: The Lockdown, while its spread was gradual, was still a devastating blow to space travel, as the energy virus caused Jump Drives to overload or die, stranding ships and injuring crew and passengers. Many vessels managed to limp their way to a nearby spot and metaphorically beach themselves to serve as the foundation for a new colony. Of the eight General Secretary class ships built, all eight are believed to have ended their lives this way. ( Hard mode. You started without much but have stabilized, with a not great home planet and a small population. But your people have gotten good at scavenging, surviving, and fighting pirates.)

►What is the Planet Like? ◄

A: Earthlike World. The planet is remarkably earthlike and may have been seeded by the Gardeners. It is an ideal colony world, but can have complications: Choose one or more of Safe, Unsafe, Hothouse, Ice Age, Biosphere Collapse, High Gravity, Low Gravity, Gas Giant Moon, and Weird.
B: Alien Biosphere. The planet is very much not earthlike, even if it is livable with some work. It is close to being a good colony world, but can naturally have some complications. Choose one or more of Compatible Biosphere, Semi-Breathable Atmosphere, Unsafe, Hothouse, Ice Age, Biosphere Collapse, High Gravity, Low Gravity, Gas Giant Moon, and Weird.
C: No Planet. Your colony doesn't inhabit a planet, instead being made up of space and asteroid habitats as well as other facilities on moons. While population growth is limited, the industrial potential is high. Choose one or more of Belters, Trojans, Cometary, Megastructure, and Weird,
D: Player Choice- Toss any idea you have in, and if it gets the votes that will be your home planet.

►What is your Name?◄

Player Choice: The best and most popular Player suggestion will become the name of your colony.

# ? Aug 5, 2021 10:41

AJ_Impy: Jun 17, 2007; SWORD OF SMATTAS. CAN YOU NOT HEAR A WORLD CRY OUT FOR JUSTICE? WHEN WILL YOU DELIVER IT?; Yam Slacker

1:A A group of benevolent extremists with radical social ideas that would have massively destabilised Earth, regardless of a positive or negative outcome, unceremoniously hoiked through a Wormhole by Inara. A bubble culture formed, putting forward all their grand ideas and building a society from day one, from the ground up, like none before. Weird? Hell yes.
2: B, Compatible Biosphere, Gas Giant Moon, Weird. It's an alien world, but remarkably human-compatible. There may be some side effects to breathing the local air for prolonged periods.
3: Newtopia. Portmanteau of new and utopia, but a perfectly serviceable neologism on its own accord. Of course a bunch of idealists are going to choose something cringily optimistic.

# ? Aug 5, 2021 19:47

Crazycryodude: Aug 15, 2015; Lets get our X tons of Duranium back!

....Is that still a valid thing to jingoistically blow out of proportion?

AJ_Impy posted:

1:A A group of benevolent extremists with radical social ideas that would have massively destabilised Earth, regardless of a positive or negative outcome, unceremoniously hoiked through a Wormhole by Inara. A bubble culture formed, putting forward all their grand ideas and building a society from day one, from the ground up, like none before. Weird? Hell yes.
2: B, Compatible Biosphere, Gas Giant Moon, Weird. It's an alien world, but remarkably human-compatible. There may be some side effects to breathing the local air for prolonged periods.
3: Newtopia. Portmanteau of new and utopia, but a perfectly serviceable neologism on its own accord. Of course a bunch of idealists are going to choose something cringily optimistic.

I like it, +1 to this

# ? Aug 6, 2021 22:19

idhrendur: Aug 20, 2016

AJ_Impy posted:

1:A A group of benevolent extremists with radical social ideas that would have massively destabilised Earth, regardless of a positive or negative outcome, unceremoniously hoiked through a Wormhole by Inara. A bubble culture formed, putting forward all their grand ideas and building a society from day one, from the ground up, like none before. Weird? Hell yes.
2: B, Compatible Biosphere, Gas Giant Moon, Weird. It's an alien world, but remarkably human-compatible. There may be some side effects to breathing the local air for prolonged periods.
3: Newtopia. Portmanteau of new and utopia, but a perfectly serviceable neologism on its own accord. Of course a bunch of idealists are going to choose something cringily optimistic.

Yep, this pretty much matches how I was going to vote. +1

# ? Aug 7, 2021 03:12

Fivemarks: Feb 21, 2015

Voting isn't over yet- That'll be closed on Sunday, and I'll hopefully have a post up on Monday with a new choice- Thank you everyone so far for your participation. We have a Discord too, by the way.

# ? Aug 7, 2021 09:52

sniper4625: Sep 26, 2009; Loyal to the hEnd

AJ_Impy posted:

1:A A group of benevolent extremists with radical social ideas that would have massively destabilised Earth, regardless of a positive or negative outcome, unceremoniously hoiked through a Wormhole by Inara. A bubble culture formed, putting forward all their grand ideas and building a society from day one, from the ground up, like none before. Weird? Hell yes.
2: B, Compatible Biosphere, Gas Giant Moon, Weird. It's an alien world, but remarkably human-compatible. There may be some side effects to breathing the local air for prolonged periods.
3: Newtopia. Portmanteau of new and utopia, but a perfectly serviceable neologism on its own accord. Of course a bunch of idealists are going to choose something cringily optimistic.

I'm here for our weird space newtopia.

# ? Aug 9, 2021 04:04

Fivemarks: Feb 21, 2015

Newtopia it is, then!

# ? Aug 9, 2021 15:19

Fivemarks: Feb 21, 2015

Current Year: 2042 AD

Newtopia, as it was named by the expedition that aimed to make it their new utopia, would prove to have its strengths and weaknesses as a new home for transhumanity. The large, almost earth-sized moon of a gas giant named Secundus, the planet's unique geography and environment was shaped by three main inputs: The system's primary star, Primus; Secundus' eccentric Jupiter orbit; and Secundus itself triggering tectonic activity within Newtopia through tidal forces. These combined in such a way that, despite Secundus' eccentric orbit which would take it in and out of the star's habitable zone, Newtopia was a warm world akin in many respects to Earth, but different in many important ways.

Most importantly for breathing Newtopia's atmosphere was the simple fact that the rampant volcanism of the planet filled the planet's air with certain sulfurous compounds. These compounds helped form an important part of the planet's food chain, and couldn't be removed even if Newtopia's settlers decided to. They would have to adapt, one way or another- either through the way they built their settlements, or through the science of transgenics.

Rather than a bright, sunny world like Earth, Newtopia was a dim, wet world at the best of times. Swinging on a stable ten year cycle between Grand Winter and Grand Summer, the times when Gaius would be furthest from Tiberius and when it would be closest respectively, Newtopia's climate had achieved stability enough to produce its own biosphere. Grand Winter brought climactic conditions of cooler temperatures and greater, but less frequent precipitation that made snow common during winter months; Grand Summer instead came with higher temperatures and more frequent, but less intense precipitation as well as more intense storms during summer months. The Grand Seasons were on top of the four regular seasons of Winter-Spring-Summer-Fall, amplifying them as Newtopia and its parent traveled around their sun.

In terms of landmasses, Newtopia had a number of rugged continental landmasses and various island chains, many of which were formed through volcanism and plate tectonics. The primary continent, Alpha, was the largest, extending from the southern hemisphere up into the northern hemisphere, with most of its landmass centered into the southern hemisphere; the interior of the continent had the local equivalent of plains and deserts, with the most extreme deserts being in the southern hemisphere behind a rain shadow. Alpha Continent also had a number of 'rainforests' and other biomes, and tended towards having the most space and flat land on the planet. The second continent, predictably named Beta, was entirely in the southern hemisphere, stretching long across the planet's surface before dipping to link up with the antarctic landmass. Predictably, Beta is cooler and drier. Gamma, on the other hand, is the major continental landmass in the northern hemisphere, mostly composed of a number of rugged landmasses separated by shallow seas.

Newtopia's biosphere was similar enough to Earth's to prevent starvation and allow the new colonists to take advantage of native life in order to survive, but had major differences. Certain key proteins and chemicals were missing entirely from local life forms, while earth based life lacked some of the same for Newtopian lifeforms. In terms of plant life, the dominant form of producers on Newtopia were akin to trees, albeit short and scaled trees with generally broad leafed plants to soak up the available sunlight. However, because of the lack of sunlight for much of the year, another form of primary producer filled the same role on Newtopia that grass filled on Earth: fungal grass, which used the atmospheric sulfur compounds in their own version of photosynthesis. Indeed, much of Newtopia's plant life fit the category of both plant of fungus, filling the air with spores during proper conditions.

Thus as it was, the settlers that came to Newtopia, numbering around 10,000 in all, had to make decisions. The longshot wormhole had long since closed, and they were isolated in their new home. The ad-hoc heads of the Expedtion would have to figure out how to settle Newtopia, as well as handing out various names. Moreover, questions of government, at least in this early stage of the colony, would have to be answered.

►Question 1: Adapting to Newtopia ◄

A: Adapt and Spread: The answer to the question is obvious: With access to transgenic modification technology, the people of Newtopia can be adapted to live and breathe on the planet's surface without the aid of breathing masks, and settlement won't need the large domes and airtight structures that were used on Mars. This will allow us to spread across the planet's surface rather than clustering in large urban areas; it would additionally give us more experience with population-wide transgenic enhancement of our population. This is, broadly speaking, most popular among the expedition. (It will be easier to spread across Newtopia's surface, spreading out your settlement of the planet and allowing for easier access and exploration. However, your population will not be concentrated because of this. Your population will gain the Planetary Adaptation upgrade as their first Transgenic modification; and Newtopia will gain +6 Population, +200 Wealth, +100 Heavy Industry, and +100 Complex Industry. Policy Scales will change by +3 Transgenic, +3 Freedom, +2 Rule of Many.)
B: Build and Urbanize: We all saw the results of the Zorin Incident back on Earth. Even if we start with simply adapting to the planet, who knows where that'll take us? Not to mention, spreading out too thinly would isolate people from the central leadership of Newtopia, and who knows what'll happen then? Better to urbanize under domes and in underground cities, which will improve our manufacturing in the short run. This will be less popular that Adapt and Spread, but won't be wildly unpopular.(Initial settlement on Newtopia will be centered on a single Dome City and the surrounding areas, focusing less on exploring the planet and more on building up urban infrastructure around the colony. However, your population will be highly concentrated and will need more and more infrastructure just to survive. Newtopia will gain +2 Population, +200 Wealth, +250 Heavy Industry, and +250 Complex Industry. Policy Scales will change by -1 Transgenic, +2 Freedom.)
A: Through Adversity, the Stars: Newtopia in and of itself is a poison fruit. The best way to proceed is to look not at Newotpia, but at the rest of the system- especially the asteroids and moons of Secundus. By building a civilization in space and among the stars, we'll be able to build a strong, centralized state with endless access to raw materials. Transgenic modification will allow us to modify ourselves to better live in space. This population is very unpopular, and will likely require coercion of much of the expedition. (Abandon Newtopia proper, and live in space instead- this will focus on building space habitats, but this will exchange easier access to space based resources and more heavy industry for a tiny population and more expensive cost of living. Newtopia will gain +1 Population, +2 Wealth, +400 Heavy Industry, and +400 Complex Industry. Policy scales will change by +5 Transgenic, -3 Order, -3 Rule by Few.)

►Question 2: Governing Newtopia ◄

A: Newtopia will be governed as a direct democracy, with every citizen having a vote in major issues, and an executive council (to be named by you) service to run the government and handle top level management. Economic management will be handled by councils and votes, with colony wide economic management coming from a modernized Cybersyn Network.Newtopia will gain +150 Wealth, along with +4 Freedom and +4 Rule by the Many)
B: Newtopia will be governed as a Federation of Trade Unions under Syndicalist principles, with local workers participating in union elections for a Congress of Trade Unions to serve as a Legislative branch, with an Executive elected from the people. Economic management will be directed by the Congress of Trade Unions. Newtopia will gain +1 Population, +1 Wealth, +1 Heavy Industry, and +1 Complex Industry along with +4 Freedom and +3 Rule by the Many)
C: Newtopia will be governed as an Anarchist Federation of Communes, which individual Wards freely associating into larger Communes, who will freely associate with one another to make up Newtopia itself. Each Ward will use consensus seeking and direct democracy in order to make decisions, and decisions will be made through consensus at the Ward, Communal, and National levels. Newtopia will gain +4 Population along with +4 Freedom and +5 Rule by the Many)

►Question 3: Naming Things ◄
Newtopia, while it has a name, is surrounded by and has numerous things that need names. Suggestions will be accepted and the most popular suggestions will be accepted. The things that need named are:

Newtopia's Primary Star.
The Gas Giant Newtopia Orbits
The three smaller moons of the Gas Giant
The L4 and L5 Trojan Groups
Alpha Continent
Beta Continent
Gamma Continent
The Initial Settlement.

Introducing: National Ratings. National Ratings are measurement of Newtopia's national statistics, and a way for you, as the decision makers, to see what Newtopia has and can do. Doing stuff that synergies with Newtopia's National Ratings will have an improved affect. New National Ratings will be unlocked as the timeline goes on.

Population: Population is the population of Newtopia in Millions. Higher population gives a flat bonus to all other non-resource ratings equal to 10 for every 1 unit of Population. Transgenic Modifications, such as Planetary Adaptation and others, will improve the bonus to other ratings from Population.
Wealth: Wealth is both a generalized representation of Newtopia's wealth by various measurements, as well as how much financial and compensatory draw that you will be able to pull out to pay for things when you can spend stuff.
Heavy Industry Heavy Industry is the amount of heavy industrial equipment in Newtopia, and how well it can be marshaled and used for projects. Heavy Industry gives a bonus to Wealth equal to half of Heavy Industry.
Complex Industry Complex Industry represents Newtopia's high-tech, high precision technical industries, such as electronics and pharmaceuticals. Complex Industry gives a bonus to Wealth equal to half of Complex Industry.

Introducing: The Policy Scales. The policy scales will be used to measure Newtopia's policies and political leanings- each scale is a single axis, with positive ratings generally being more progressive and radical, while negative ratings are more conservative and reactionary. Whenever your decisions affect or introduce a new scale, that scale will be explained. Whenever a decision will affect a scale, the decision will note how much it will change the scale and in what direction. These scales will have various effects in the background, especially in regards to the general disposition of Newtopia's population and relations with other colonies and nations.

Bioconservative - Transgenic : The Bioconservative - Transgenic scale is the first scale that your decisions will affect. More than simply a scale of how readily Newtopia is to use and adopt transgenic modifications, it also represents how Newtopia will react to groups regarding this axis.
Order - Freedom : Order - Freedom is simply a stance of what is valued more: An orderly, prosperous society; or a free and open society.
Rule by the Few - Rule by the Many The Few-Many Policy Scale is, besides probably being ratcheted to +10 as soon as possible by you people, a measure of who rules in your society. Is it ruled by an oligarchy or an aristocracy, or is it more democratic and, on the far end, anarchic?

Fivemarks fucked around with this message at 04:53 on Aug 14, 2021

# ? Aug 10, 2021 07:19

sniper4625: Sep 26, 2009; Loyal to the hEnd

1. A
2. B

Let the Homo Novus rise to spread and flourish across this brave new world!

# ? Aug 10, 2021 14:12

Crazycryodude: Aug 15, 2015; Lets get our X tons of Duranium back!

....Is that still a valid thing to jingoistically blow out of proportion?

1. B
2. A

Start with a solid industrial base, expand from there. We can always hack our lungs and go diaspora later but I'd like to get some concentrated modern industry set up first. Besides, delaying exploration and expansion a bit leaves a little mystery for later in the game, wouldn't want to immediately trip over all the plot hooks! Learn our way around our little corner of the planet before going nuts over the rest of it.

Crazycryodude fucked around with this message at 16:03 on Aug 10, 2021

# ? Aug 10, 2021 16:00

AJ_Impy: Jun 17, 2007; SWORD OF SMATTAS. CAN YOU NOT HEAR A WORLD CRY OUT FOR JUSTICE? WHEN WILL YOU DELIVER IT?; Yam Slacker

1A
2A

Decentralise and empower our people.

# ? Aug 10, 2021 17:01

jng2058: Jul 17, 2010; We have the tools, we have the talent!

C
A

Compensate for the bad habits of Habitat living with Direct Democracy!

# ? Aug 10, 2021 17:31

idhrendur: Aug 20, 2016

1. A
2. B

Star - Newsol
Gas Giant - Newpiter

Yes, I'm terrible.

# ? Aug 11, 2021 02:27

Crazycryodude: Aug 15, 2015; Lets get our X tons of Duranium back!

....Is that still a valid thing to jingoistically blow out of proportion?

Lmao Newpiter I love it. The major moons are obviously Newropa, Ganewmede, and Neo. The Trojan groups are the Menewlaus and Aenewas groups.

# ? Aug 11, 2021 03:02

Fivemarks: Feb 21, 2015

I am vetoing these names. Choose new ones. Also, Voting will end Thursday at 12 Midnight, and a new post should be up sometime on Friday.

# ? Aug 12, 2021 07:08

AJ_Impy: Jun 17, 2007; SWORD OF SMATTAS. CAN YOU NOT HEAR A WORLD CRY OUT FOR JUSTICE? WHEN WILL YOU DELIVER IT?; Yam Slacker

Novastella maybe? Inara's Eye for the gas giant?

# ? Aug 12, 2021 12:07

Fivemarks: Feb 21, 2015

Current Year: 2083 AD
The Commune of Newtopia

Government Type: Direct Democracy with an Executive Council
Executive: Boule
Population: 10 Million
Wealth: 350(+105 from Population)
Heavy Industry: 100(+105 from Population)
Complex Industry: 100(+105 from Population)
Transgenic Modifications: Planetary Adaption (100% of Population, Increases all bonus yields from Population by 0.5)
Major Continents: Alpha Continent, Beta Continent, Gamma Continent
Major Settlements: Proudhon (Capital City), Space City 1
Major Celestial Bodies: Novastella (Primary Star), Inari's Eye (Parent Gas Giant)

For the past 40 years, Newtopia has prospered. Isolated except for infrequent and random supply packages from Posthuman benefactors, the colony has grown from its initial population of ten thousand to just over 10 million; a decent rate of growth, taking into account the usage of exowombs to supplement natural births. Much of that population has spread across Newtopia's Alpha Continent, forming a scattered network of smaller communities linked together by low impact mass transit solutions. Some of that population has even returned to space, living and working there to provide for Newtopia's growing needs. Already, a small constellation of satellites orbit the moon, providing solar power and communications while a few short ranged vessels take advantage of the bounty of space to provide raw materials for Newtopia's industrial sector.

However, this peace cannot last- astrography has located Newtopia's exact position in space, and it is likely that explorers from Earth will find you before the end of the 22nd century, at the latest. While that reunion will come, there are more pressing matters: two of them, in fact. One is more mundane, yet dangerous in and of itself; the other is a mystery that must be investigated

Conflict, and the need for an armed force, isn't something that anyone on Newtopia had expected to need for another century at the latest. Yes, Newtopia's own community based law enforcement is good enough to keep the peace, and the ad-hoc militias have been good enough to deal with wildlife... but now there's a new problem.

Calling themselves the True Protectors of Newtopian Freedom, an armed group has begun massing supporters in the Colony, and are heavily armed. They have already seized one of our civilian printers, and have begun using it to arm themselves with simple railguns and coilguns. They're calling for a distinction between an all-male group of landowning 'Active' Citizens who will retain voting rights, and a non-suffrage holding group of 'Passive' citizens. Numbering only 3000, at the most, the question arises not in how to deal with them, but how to handle the aftermath.

►Question 1: The Military Question ◄

A: Crush them with an ad-hoc militia: A standing military force, while it may be tempting, can only be used as an arm of tyranny over Newtopia. Newtopia will retain an ad-hoc militia structure in the future- these True Protectors will be easy enough to crush, and the distances of space make conflict with other polities unlikely. For everything else, the Newtopian Militia will be sufficient. (Newtopia chooses to not maintain a standing professional military after the crisis. It will not gain any additional military points at the end of the Lockdown, but its National Ratings will improve: +400 Wealth, +300 Heavy Industry, +300 Complex Industry.)
B: Negotiate: Unfortunately, we can't fight them, and we can't risk the damage to Newtopia's ideals by open conflict. We will negotiate with the True Protectors of Newtopian Freedom instead of seeking a military option. (Depending on the results of the Negotiation, the True Protectors will either stand down, stand down with concessions from the Boule, attempt a coup, or flee with people and material to one of Newtopia's other continents.)
C: Crush them with a Professional Military: These 'True Protectors' cannot be tolerated. What they are attempting is a power grab by the few against the many, to centralize power in their hands and take it away from the rest of Newtopia. They must be stopped. Moreover, they are not likely to be the first group who'll seek to destroy the Newtopian way of life, and we must be prepared to deal with other such groups. The Newtopian Self Defense Forces, composed of the Ground and Aerospace Forces, must be formed and equipped. (Newtopia chooses to maintain a standing military force after the crisis is over. Newtopia will have an additional 1000 Military Points to spend by the end of the Lockdown, and it's National Ratings will improve: +200 Wealth, +200 Heavy Industry, and +200 Complex Industry.

The other crisis facing Newtopia is far more esoteric. Ever since the founding of Newtopia, small alien artifacts have been discovered, both on Newtopia itself and in orbit of Inari's Eye. While they have been curious, they've been nothing more than baubles and curiosities... up until now. The facility that was found in the upper layers of Inari's Eye's atmosphere is massive, the size of an Island 3 Space Colony, and just as massive. From what Newtopian scientists can tell, its over 300,000 years old, and still seems in good shape. Further investigation reveals that the facility is some kind of ancient factory, and that it could be made operational once again. The thing is, it wasn't just for producing spaceships and industrial metals: it could convert the atmospheric helium of Inari's Eye to Helium 3, and also generate stable monopoles. Helium 3 is the vital fuel for fusion, and a steady supply of it could mean great things for Newtopia. At the same time, Monopoles are exceedingly rare, and could absolutely have some future applications.

The problem is that the Factory is very old, and it might not be possible to get production of both resources up to their theoretical max. Parts have to be cannibalized from the station in order to get other parts functional.

►Question 2: The Ancient Factory◄
Single Transferable Vote. The Factory will have 1000 production between Monopoles, Helium 3, Heavy Industry, and Complex Industry once repaired. The choice with the highest vote gets 400 of that, the next highest gets 300, the next after that gets 200, and the loser only gains 100. Pick your choices in order from your favorite to your least favorite.

A: Helium!: Monopoles, while possibly useful in the future, are still a scientific curiosity at this point and time. But Helium 3 is something we can use now, with a steady source of it combined with what we can already collect, Newtopia would never have to worry about energy ever again!
B: Monopoles!: With access to a steady stream of stable Monopoles, then who knows where Newtopian science could go?
C: Heavy Industry!: Nothing can go wrong with having more heavy industry.
D: Complex Industry!: Similarly, having more complex industry would go great!

Introducing: Resources. Resources are discreet things that Newtopia can use and stockpile- unlike Heavy Industry or Wealth or Complex Industry, any Resource not used when generated will be stored and stockpiled. There are Four main resources, two of which have been unlocked: Helium 3 and Monopoles

Helium 3 : Helium 3 is an isotope of Helium that is the primary source of fuel for fusion reactors.
Monopoles: A Monopole is a stable, previously hypothetical particle that is functionally a magnet with a single pole. While their proper applications are as of yet unknown, they will definitely be useful. In the future.

Fivemarks fucked around with this message at 04:45 on Aug 19, 2021

# ? Aug 14, 2021 05:48

jng2058: Jul 17, 2010; We have the tools, we have the talent!

"My brothers and sisters of Newtopia, it is with heavy heart that I call for us to begin the process of arming ourselves. The so-called True Protectors and their attempts to impose tyranny upon us must be taken as a wake-up call. If there are those among us who would do us harm, then we must look to the future and realize that there may also be those from Old Earth or elsewhere who will also be a danger to us. And those threats are likely to be far beyond the capabilities of our current militia. We must begin the process of preparing to defend ourselves if it becomes necessary. Si vis pacem, para bellum. If you seek peace, prepare for war. Our ancient ancestors knew this, and we should heed their warning." - excerpt from the address to the Executive Council by Councilor Pen Doran

C - Establish a professional military.

"No, I don't know what we can do with them....not yet, anyway! But that's what makes it such an amazing opportunity!" - Professor Lila Chen, University of Proudhon Metaphysics Department Chair

B - Monopoles!

then ACD

jng2058 fucked around with this message at 15:46 on Aug 14, 2021

# ? Aug 14, 2021 06:24

idhrendur: Aug 20, 2016

1. A
2. BADC

# ? Aug 14, 2021 07:38

sniper4625: Sep 26, 2009; Loyal to the hEnd

C
BACD

# ? Aug 14, 2021 14:31

AJ_Impy: Jun 17, 2007; SWORD OF SMATTAS. CAN YOU NOT HEAR A WORLD CRY OUT FOR JUSTICE? WHEN WILL YOU DELIVER IT?; Yam Slacker

My fellow Newtopians, remember the tales of ancient Sparta. When asked, 'What is your profession?' the warriors of Sparta stayed silent. Their task was battle, and that was all.

Sparta is dust. The polity was absorbed and superseded by more balanced powers. So shall it be with these misogynist antisuffragists. Let us not follow their example: Every man, woman and other that takes up arms should put them down afterwards. We shall reform to meet the threats we face as they come in the manner that they require, and then return to our peaceful baseline.

A

BADC

# ? Aug 15, 2021 04:44

Fivemarks: Feb 21, 2015

Voting will end after work tomorrow, and if the vote is still a tie, I'll act as tiebreaker.

# ? Aug 19, 2021 04:44

Toughy: Nov 29, 2004; KAVODEL! KAVODEL!

sniper4625 posted:

C
BACD

# ? Aug 19, 2021 04:52

Crazycryodude: Aug 15, 2015; Lets get our X tons of Duranium back!

....Is that still a valid thing to jingoistically blow out of proportion?

1. A
2. BADC

# ? Aug 19, 2021 05:40

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Apr 19, 2024 22:01

Fivemarks: Feb 21, 2015

Change of plans, my new job has me working 12 days straight without a break, so the next update will probably come sometime next week when I have the time for it.

# ? Aug 22, 2021 19:43

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