[quote=@Arawak] I have interest and quite a few kinds of esoteric alie civilization to experiment with. Small housecat sized aliens (they aren't cat people. That's just their size. I mention this because I know there's people on this site whose idea of a space universe consists of space elves, furry aliens, greys and people who have a goofy face) with Escher inspired architecture perhaps? Some questions: -When it comes to defining chemistry, does this essentially boil down to stating something like "they have a biochemistry suited for a chlorine heavy atmosphere" or "their DNA is right handed instead of left handed and have food that is universally toxic to humans" or "Living on the fringes of star systems, they utilize a liquid helium solvent"? Do factors like what gas they breathe or if they like of chemosynthesis instead of photosynthetic agriculture factor into that section? -Can it be assumed that life with earth-like conditions has edible food half the time (due to handedness)? (Or basically aliens who have a chemical basis on a world like earth with water, oxygen producing autotrophs/Cyanobacteria & 'yellow' (as opposses to red from the plebeian (red dwarf) stars) light?). I ask this because I know there's people who believe that DNA languages will be as diverse as spoken or computer languages. However space opera demands more personal interract with denizens of the galaxy and it's hard to have personal interaction when all the life is toxic to each other. Not to mention space operas tend to be human-centric and chauvinism for our own biochemistry is pretty much inevitable (gives us more food options too). -What is the setup exactly? Is this going to be like Babylon 5 with more alien denizens about the Galaxy or are things considerably more "anarchic" per say (i.e. No space UNs)? -Is there a map? If galactic which Galaxy map are we using? I have a vector Galaxy map I can send to you if you have illustrator. -What FTL system is involved? Is it a worm hole network? Is there hyperspace? Or is it Star Trek warp drives? [/quote] I usually prefer these questions are left to telegrams, so I can take a more direct approach with them. I'll address them one by one, and in order and as I'm crunched for time, it will be short, sweet, and simple. - Numero uno, I would prefer as much detail as you can put into it. If you're going to say their food is toxic to humans, why not say why? Does their biology utilize cyanide as a base for some metabolic functions? If you can explain that, good job. Keep it biologically realistic, but I'm not going to bound you to carbon based life forms. -Numero dos, again I'm not going to prohibit creativity. A diverse set of life forms is a amazing way to go about it. I would prefer things are kept humanoid-esq only because it's a reasonably ideal form of life or evolution. (If you want to learn more about that I'd reccomend checking out some research articles on that. Amazing stuff, a google away.) Life may be toxic to one another, you may be a methane based life form, and I'm say a carbon based life forms. Some intricate systems would be required to actively communication. Bio-suits, and so on. -ANARCHY! WOOOHOOO! No, really to some degree. I'm not going to force any communication with anyone. If you want to go ahead and form a UN before the IC really gets rolling with some others. By all means go ahead. Because [b]I'm not coming in [i]until[/i] there is at least some form of communication network. [/b] Because going at the story (without spoiling, those who asked in telegram keep it to yourself) by yourself is more or less suicide. So you're up to enjoy first contacts and all. -There is no map, I find it a tad pointless and counter productive. If enough support is given for one, I'll throw one up. But frankly it's misleading, because if Civ A holds 5 hexes, while Civ B holds 6 hexes they're given off as more powerful when that's not true. Also there are a LIMITED amount of spaces on that map, but I want to be open to have as many people as we can. The roleplay takes places in a unnamed galaxy, you can name it from your own perspective if you wish. There WILL be some extra-galactic influence, without spoiling anything. - FTL systems up to your discretion. There is no meta-physic state of hyperspace, or warp space. You'll have to use cleverly designed FTL drives using highly mathematical calculations for mass manipulation. Or use wormholes but understand the risk with that is there usually has to be a tandem wormhole on both sides. No, kidding. There may not be a hyperspace, or warp space, unless people request it, I'll GLADLY put it in. But I've always been staunch for scientific realism so you're left to realistic ways of FTL. Faster than light is actually the one thing I usually leave to ambiguous nature, because it's very hard to make a good FTL system WITHOUT breaking physics. So I'd leave that one ambiguous. If you and a few others ask for a warp space, I'll allow it. Any follow up questions? Send me a PM. Also it'd be important to note a remake of this RP which may be up in the next few days, will be made on a new thread.