Endless Horizon - Sci-Fi Space Nationgame

[Willy Vereb]

The universe is vast, effectively limitless. Civilizations from many worlds were looking up to the stars, yearning to reach them. This became a reality with the discovery of Hypergates. Mysterious relics left behind by a long lost civilization the gates turned the dreams of faster than light travel into a reality. Numerous intelligent species isolated by the vast interstellar distances made contact for the first time. At the same time it signaled the beginning of the race on the development of hyperdrives. All the while archeologists for the first time turned their eyes towards the stars, seeking knowledge about the ancient Builders. The galaxy enters a new page in its history, one shaped by the interaction of the young races.

Hello roleplayers!
This is yet another space nationgame. I have a feeling we're approaching a point of fatigue with this concept and unfortunately not for the kindest reasons. My intention is to change this trend and steal back the magic which made these games so entertaining. At the same time I'm working out some of the old faults. Endless Horizon is about space exploration and interaction between the various civilizations. Player civs are relatively fresh to interstellar travel and the galactic community has yet to form. While I don't mind the plot about playing remnants of a fallen galactic empire I feel this plot fits the pure idea of space nationgames far better. That being said I'm still open to ideas and would welcome the input. As such I went ahead and created a discord server for us, already.
Discord Invite:
discord.gg/VfnhJPM

I am also looking for co-GMs who are both intereted and reasonably active.

[Slagar]

Eh. I might be interested, but i'd also like to see a bigger lore about this galaxy and it's tomfoolery.

Big question of course being;
Starting Date?
Does Earth Exist?
Tech level/theme?
and space magic??

[Willy Vereb]

Eh. I might be interested, but i'd also like to see a bigger lore about this galaxy and it's tomfoolery.

Big question of course being;
Starting Date?
Does Earth Exist?
Tech level/theme?
and space magic??

@Slagar

Starting date is not really relevant but I can invent a sorts of united calendar if neccessary. By nature timekeeping is relative in space and even without that the myriad of races would each have different calendars, realistically speaking.

Earth can exist if somebody claims it. You can also make up stories about human-like aliens or anything similar if you wish to play as humans while somebody else claimed Earth.

Tech level is relatively low. Planet razing takes massive effort you might be usually unwilling to do. That being said tech levels can vary per civ to an extend.

Space magic and science fantasy elements are mostly absent. I can allow psychic powers so long they aren't too overbearing. Weird science can happen and generally I am fine with soft sci-fi elements.

Overall theme is closer to Babylon 5, Mass Effect and such. I am yet undecided if the game should have NPCs or not. Likely also depends on whether I have co-GMs who can assist in controlling such factions. A number of players may establish first contact with aliens during the IC though I don't mind if players discuss pre-existing relations. I already made a channel for that.

[Slagar]

Sounds mostly fine, but do consider a 'common start date' in comparison with the rest of the galaxy, because it can effect everything from what kind of technology a civilization has, usually the human calendar with a petty start date like 2200 or 2300s is pretty typical to allow for super human advancement but also be low-tech sci-fi.

We can discuss more of this kind of lore in detail in your discord, but having a good grasp of what you build in your lore can mean the difference between a story based rp or a simulator.

also edit note: If we do have low-level psionics, then I would recommend building up a codex to explain it or give some general rules, because in my experience in lore building, having just a low level vague psionic allowance typically just invites very extreme ideas on how it is run.

[Legion-114]

You have my interest ^^

Would like to be some form of robotic race.

[Willy Vereb]

You have my interest ^^

Would like to be some form of robotic race.

@Legion-114

It is going to be a bit tricky for a lower end sci-fi and without some of the typical cliches but with a bit of thinking it should be easily acceptable.
Say your creators died for various reasons (civil war, robot rebellion, etc) and now you are populated by the descendants of the machine these people made.
Or some alien civilization sent a von neumann style probe to explore space which landed on your "homeplanet" and eventually made a robot society.
The options are numerous and I'll be leaving that to you. Feel free to join the Discord, too!

[Sierra]

There are certain "believability minimums" you run into when dealing with interstellar-capable civs since these have to be K2 civilizations with access to fusion energy as a minimum. Any less and its patently unbelievable that they're capable of interstellar travel. Coming off the whole mention of "hypergates" (which you mention in passing and then don't proceed to set FTL limits) suddenly you could be dealing with civilizations that haven't gone interstellar of their own means, but any such civilization would very much not be prepared for first contact with another spacefaring race far away.

Just some random thoughts having done my share of sci-fi worldbuilding.

[Mao Mao]

If someone hasn't already taken it, I want the Earth, the Solar System, and nearby systems please.

[Willy Vereb]

@SierraFTL in particular is a bit strange in this setting. In theory you have no limit on which FTL mechanism you use (although reasonable limits on capabilities will be made on case per case basis). On the other hand FTL is impossible in this universe unless the region is influenced by the hyperspace. Gates are built on hyperspace rifts that allow them to spread this "hyperfield" that then allowed FTL drives to be developed. But once you go outside the reach of this field your FTL drive no longer works and even nearing the edges its performance drops. You can extend this hyperfield using booster generators but those rely on a Ethreum, a very rare resource to be both be created and then operated. FTL jamming is also done by activating devices that interfere with the hyperfield thus cutting off the medium that allows FTL drives to work.

This has several effects.
1.) Your empires would be of limited size while colossal majority of the galaxy is unclaimed and difficult to reach
2.) Hypergates will become important chokepoints while also allowing quick travel between these tiny islands of civilization
3.) Hyperfield mechanics allow for a reliable FTL jamming while allowing nearly all kinds of FTL drives

As for low end sci-fi it just means as what I said. The setting is still a soft sci-fi so you don't need to work around that. But you also don't need to invent various bullshit techs just to compete. I actually even have an idea to resolve the need for sufficiently "interesting" travel times yet the lack of RKKVs.

[Sierra]

@Willy Vereb See though ... shit like this is stuff that should be front and center in the main post that lays out the concept and the world, since all of what you just said seems fundamentally important to the RP you're pitching. Instead I often see it either only show up when the main thread is posted or get mentioned in passing (often after sheets are in or otherwise being worked on) by more than half the people who post things. Its by no means unique to you, but it is nonetheless incredibly frustrating.

[Arawak]

Well, maybe.

I’ll just bring back the Metasyndicate. The fossers didn’t do shit last time so maybe this time they do something as I just have to do plug and play instead of spending time trying to get stuff figured out so it’ll be like the other fosskemian app but with some changing done as things dole out with whatever else this scenario has.

@Willy Vereb oh so the good ol build it yourself hyperspace?

[DeadDrop]

stats?

[Willy Vereb]

@DeadDropThese space NRPs tend to be completely statless and entirely dependent on the narrative. So you don't have hard stats, you don't have turns and everything would be just pure roleplay.
I do consider adding a roll system for more varied factions, though.
So you get rolls to 4 stats that you can somewhat modify to better fit your tastes and then generously interpret their meaning to build your faction. It isn't mean to limit creativity but to facilitate variety and introduce a more dynamic relation between players. Stats would go from 1 to 100 and you'd even get some flavor text to help you better insert them into the roleplay.Say:

Territory: 55 - Your empire is decently sized with up to 7 systems
Population: 42 - You have a reasonable population of ~30 billion
Technology: 25 - Your civilization is still developing and they're behind in multiple fields
Military: 90 - You're a premiere military force dreaded across the galaxy

Flavor text is tentative and I'd likely change them. There's also a possibility that I might not use rolls, depending on what my playerbase wants.
Aside from the rolls that can give us some degree of comparison I don't plan to introduce any other stats.

[DeadDrop]

Gl im a stat guy have fun

[Arawak]

Here is a proto-app that uses my own definitions until further notice.

The Cooperative

Overview; The Cooperative is a civilization descended from rogue peacekeepers who rebelled against the ancient terranic order whose highly centralized, highly hierarchal empire is founded upon the belief in a human spirit with the grand soverign’s guidance.

Beliefs;
The Cooperative as a civilization is one built around two sets of beliefs, that of a transhumanist hierarchal order that is viewed as a form of maturation within the meritocratic cooperative society. It is also built on the conception of a common human spirit that borders on theocratic even as AIs and Cyborgs run everything. The humanistic regime has a several other peculiarities, such as how their elite at times seems to view the common people like tending to a garden more or less and there is a strong natalist streak that has led to Cooperative space being flooded in Humans who are avidly encouraged by propaganda systems to breed, breed and breed with a system of guaranteed living and benefits to those who have kids.

The Cooperative has been mostly ran by the grand sovereign, of whom being part of is viewed as of the highest honor, for it is the highest position attainable within the cooperative and means to those part of it eternal wisdom. Lesser soverigns exist in the cooperative as well, and those who become part of the grand sovereign usually come from lesser soverign in practice. Lesser soverigns not part of the cooperative, or think tanks have been utilized by organizations part of the cooperative for ages, indeed the cooperative as a whole originated as a peacekeeper force ran by what by this point would be viewed as a lesser sovereign. The cooperative’s political developments have shifted over time with the grand sovereign being less direct a force as cyborg oligarchs take on much more direct roles as the cooperative’s elite with their ideological and experimental outlook- with a sense of nihilism caused by copies of their minds already being uploaded many times over so they fear their own annihilation far less.

The Cooperative is pluralistic in its beliefs, with death being viewed as just death with having one’s mind uploaded being a privilege and nothing else and a very secular attitude where propagating human genomes is viewed as one of the top priorities of their civilization.

Culturally the cooperative is very socially libertarian for most despite the highly hierarchy civilization, with a sub-class structure of genetically modified people and the lesser cyborgized elite. Such hierarchal changes are arbitrated mostly by lesser sovereigns.

Structure;
The Cooperative is organized into a centralized force where the grand sovereign holds unilateral dominion over most human affairs. The cooperative’s presence for the common folk is that of a seemingly prevalent burning sensation with many people existing very insular, culturally desperate existences as if they were test labs even with the freedom of movement they can have in theory. In practice, movement freedoms usually are limited by the standards system that acts as the universal value metric all people are judged by mainly through having to show their capacity for greater things through all matter of arbitrary testing by those in power who act as patrons to those lesser in the cylindrical habitat. The sub societies in the cooperative tend to be built on frame works created by lesser sovereigns and A cybernetic elite the common people are taught to aspire to be part of who act on a more free plane where space travel and commerce is the norm.

The cybernetic elite is mostly known for being flesh humans whose exoskeleton is the cyborg they were from head to toe, with the internal body being partially replaced by synthetic components as well.

The cooperative’s military is descended from the peacekeeping corps, expanded into a sprawling interstellar institution that isn’t fully centralized, instead being a huge range of chapters that are under the command of lesser soverigns provisionally with the peacekeepers being known for how blurry civilian and military lines really are in the cooperative, as they also act as a humanitarian organization as they always have. The sector and regional militias are also quite common.

The humans of the cooperative live in a very wide range of habitation as per usual, with paraterraformed worlds, orbital habitats and all being utilized as places people exist.

Tech;
The Cooperative makes use of a very developed industry of cybernetic technology. The usage of power suits, AI networks and virtual nets is combined with the regular usage of artificial wombs and genetic tweaking to create various humanoids adapted to a wide range of environments.

Their FTL consists mainly of warp drives.

The Cooperative continues the use of fusion energy, giving the cooperative the ability to support the massive human populations that their cybernetic elite so eagerly cultivates much like massive gardens.

[Willy Vereb]

As for those wondering, the game is going to start soon. To help people a bit I decided to make a guide for nationsheets. Also a scheme you could copy in order to get something that looks nicer.

Civilization Sheet Guide/Scheme

(SYMBOL/FLAG OF YOUR CIV - OPTIONAL)

---

YOUR CIVILIZATION'S NAME

---

GENERAL INFORMATION

---

Faction Overview

(Describe your faction in one or a few paragraphs. If you want you could also make an infosheet about the basic stats. Some examples: name, government type, capital, population, number of star systems owned, etc.)

Territory Overview

(You can describe your holdings here, what are the most notable locations in your empire? Also you could pick a code for identifying your Hypergate which has one letter followed by 3 numbers, example: A101.)

History

(Of course you can also tell the history of your civilization. It doesn't need to be novel length or I'd say this is even optional but eh, most players love to do this.)

SOCIETY INFORMATION

---

Demographics

(This is basically where you can describe your race(s). If there are more than one notable species or ethnicity you can of course talk about their ratios and overall relations to each other.

Cultural Overview

(The overall culture and mentality of your civilization. Are they pacifists? A warrior society? Perhaps they wish to preserve the environment? Feel free to introduce us to how your civilization thinks.)

Government Overview

(Of course you can't really forget the Big G here. How's your nation governed? Are there any unique elements to this? Who are the ones in power?)

TECHNOLOGY INFORMATION

---

Tech Overview

(Basically you describe your civilization's tech here. You can mention their overall development, which fields they excel in and which fields are weak.)

Notable Technologies

(If you have unique pieces of technology this is the place where you can talk about them.)

Industrial Overview

(Basically you can describe your industry here. Chief technologies employed, most important industrial areas. Strengths and weaknesses in the industry. Etcetera. I predict this subcategory is going to be ignored the most.)

MILITARY INFORMATION

---

Military Overview

(Basically this is where you can talk about your military in general. Use this as a sorts of intro and if you have things to say that don't belong purely to army/navy. Ignore this otherwise)

Army Overview

(Describe your army here, surface combatants, infantry, combat vehicles, atmospheric fighters, etc.)

Navy Overview

(Lastly your space navy, your ships and space combat doctrine. You aleady know what to do here.)

You don't neccessarily need to follow this scheme but it would be preferable. Also you only need to fill out the 4 main categories to have a decent NS. Subcategories are only out there to give you an idea.
So yeah, use this guide to your heart's desire.

[eemmtt]

I am interested in this rp gonna start working on my CS.

[Sierra]

Out of curiosity did this ever end up going anywhere? Though I was warded off by the semi-contradictory description of FTL I've maintained my lurk.

[Willy Vereb]

@SierraOh, I am just a bit occupied to make the final touches before posting the OOC.
Aside from that the Discord is reasonably active and unlike most users my invite link didn't expire within a day so feel free to click on it and join the discussion.
Actually, I recommend you to join. There are some setting pieces I only shared on the Discord server so far. Although I do plan including them in the OOC.

[Willy Vereb]

@Slagar@eemmtt@Arawak@Legion-114@Star Lord@Sierra
Thank you for your patience everyone, the OOC thread is finally up!
roleplayerguild.com/topics/174221-end…