[OOC] Cosmic Community [Semi-Class based Space NRP]

[AlienBastard]

Cosmic Community

In cosmic community the drama of interstellar society does not play out in spheres of isolation, but through a multitude of connected actions in a potentially everlasting continuum.

You can consider Cosmic Community a class based NRP as instead of a tier based system for showing inequalities in civilizational advancement I go by unwritten classes and a few written super classes that are detailed below.

Species and Faction are considered separate in this RP as a species doesn’t need be the same as their faction, nor does a faction need be what the species must unify under.

People who participate in Cosmic Community are encouraged to make organizations that work in multiple factions, work together in the OOC to make any beforehand history between factions [and overall try to increase the connectedness of the sector- and make stories from there] and try to make a society that has some level of effect on the sector.

Code of Conduct

Code of conduct you should probably at least glance through.

would you like to knowmore?

-Playing Nice

Typical RP rules apply.

This RP is not about winning. Don’t try to make a faction built to ‘win’ the RP.

Try to avoid causing drama in the OOC.

Please don’t do something like make a Big Alien Asshole empire and disappear on the RP.

-Rules of the sector [limits on what people can creatively do]

Please do not use fandom based content.

Please do not make anthros as aliens

While humanoids are fine, aliens too human-like aren't. [As a test tell me, would their females be sexually attractive to a typical human male or vice versa? If so, they're chances are they're too human-like.]

Please no magic [stuff like psionics or the force] or gods [stuff like Q].

Avoid making a empire that exceeds 250 star systems in size, and 250 is a number that I am unlikely to accept for the most part unless it’s well justified

-Technology limits

Most tech is reviewed on a case-case basis.

However Time travel is banned, too messy

While you can use a multitude of FTL methods, the max speed for faster than light is x10 the speed of light when “exploring”

Continuing the above rule, the fastest speed when using a already connected part of your interstellar empire is x200 the speed of light [this concerns things like wormholes or warp gates or any device that must be constructed in general]

No one should be able to make a star go super novae

-Other

If human, the starting year is 3000 AD

I will not spend any time using the star system scale in astrosynthesis for anything beyond population count, specifying star type and specifying political affiliations.

The Super Classes

Super classes are special classifications for players who want to be big players in Cosmic Community. They cover a wide range of societies and generally have advantages over other players. Despite these advantages there’s trade offs that should be taken into account;

A player who uses a super class can’t male any other faction. They can make more species, but the species can’t be that technologically capable on their own.

Want to know more?

-Big Alien Asshole Empire [BAAE's]



Disclaimer; humans can also make big alien asshole empires.

Large, powerful civilizations basically. The big boys of the cosmos, generally comprising of tons of star systems and a wide range of cultures under their yoke. They're the ones you can be certain will fight by proxies and regularly need to deal with shit from every corner of their empire.

Big alien asshole empires can be comprised of multiple players, and these big alien asshole empires have high levels of power projection and influence. Think America or the USSR to get an idea of what I am thinking.

Technological capability wise they can get pretty advanced, but this is not a given as remember- Incans also were a powerful empire.

Being a big alien asshole empire requires lots of responsibility [there's a good chance you will be dealing with a lot more shit than other societies] and a application as epic as the empire you intend to make.

Basically I expect for you to spend a lot of time in this RP if you intend to be a Big Alien Asshole Empire.

Update:

A BAAE would be very much appreciated as of March 9, 2014

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-Hyper Nomadics;


[This is a xero, a alien from one of the aforementioned RPs I ran two years ago that were hyper advanced but were apolitical and didn't intervene much. They're what inspired me to make this category. The author of the painting is AaronMK]

Hyper nomadic are like their nomadic cousins in being limited in number and having no world they call home. They do not have a huge empire they run like BAAEs, but what sets a hyper nomadic apart from nomadic is that hyper nomadic is as advanced as you can get technologically in this RP. They should technologically outclass even the most advanced BAAE's.

However, hyper nomadics should be apolitical as possible, and while they could puppet other societies they lack the numbers to do anything like conquer a BAAE single handedly as without numbers they lack the occupying/conquering capabilities of a BAAE. As a result a hyper nomadic who wants power is going to have to do so through the shadows.

Be careful with how you craft your hyper nomadic; if you for instance have it so they could easily make tons more of themselves and make an empire or are so advanced that they can actually take over other players they're too powerful.

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Super Organization;



Super Organizations are organizations that have vast levels of influence, wealth and power. The kind of organization doesn’t matter, be it a very powerful trading guild or a peacekeeper corps of some sort. What matters is that a super organization tends to be able to transcend factional boundaries and generally can do quite a bit.

Secret societies/parallel societies count as super organizations as do stuff like terrorist organizations and space pirates.

However an organization generally has to operate under a faction and the relations factions have can and will effect where and how the corps can operate. However if they piss off a faction too much, one can expect bad business if the player of that faction cracks down on you.

Like with BAAE’s, I expect for whoever that plays this super class to think out their super organization and be devoted to their organization.

Applications

There’s five application types, but you only technically need one of a Species, Organization or Faction to play. Spaceship and character apps are there for people who like to detail such things. Despite that you can latch on as many applications you want and feel free to modify any of these applications as you see fit.

Want to know more?

Faction [contains nomadic fleets, empires and secret isolated protectorates as well]

Name:

*[pic]

Type:

Locational information: [Due to using a 3D map I decided to make faction placement semi-random in that you can specify where you want to be [towards the center or at the edges of the sphere for instance. Color is for all the lanes that connect the stars in your faction!] [If you want more in-depth placement options, check the map section].

*Governing system:

Species contained:

History:

Technological capabilities:

Other: [place demographics and anything else here; I am fine with people customizing their apps from the application sheets I have].

Organization [this encompasses everything from terrorist organizations to scientific foundations, mercenary groups, corporations, guilds, and so on]

Name:

*[pic]

Type:

Civilizations[s] and place[s] of operation and associates: [basically where you operate and if you work with other organizations. I'd suggest talking this part over on the OOC]

*Products: [what does the organization produce? Feel free to detail this as much you want]

*Ideology/beliefs: [this will be useful for those who make terrorist organizations or secret societies and the like]

History:

Other: [place demographics and anything else here; I am fine with people customizing their apps from the application sheets I have].

Species [Encompasses all things, living or mechanical]

Name:

*[pic]

World/Place of origin:

Appearance:

Biological/Mechanical information:

Early History: [what they did before they founded your faction or got contacted. This is the only history you'll need if you just want to be a species].

Other: [place demographics and anything else here; I am fine with people customizing their apps from the application sheets I have].

Person of interest [very optional application]

Name:

*[pic]

*Race:
*Affiliation:
*Appearance:
*Bio:
*Other:

Spaceship model [very optional application]

Name:

*[pic]

*Type:
*Appearance:
*Capabilities:
*Other:

---

*Optional

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Map System



Everyone will be in this spherical sector 88 light years across containing 1800 or so star systems.

People with factions/empires they make will be put on the map in the form of a web of lanes connecting the stars of a solar that corresponds to their faction.

Secret lanes can be made as well.

Want to know more?

In order for me to place your faction on the map, I’ll need the following info:

Origin location/home world; [where do you want to be in relation of everyone else? Feel free to put lore here.]

System Count; [How many systems? Detail as much you want.]

Systems of notice; [give distance from home world and name; feel free to add lore for your systems of notice here as well]

Distribution; [How do you want me to distribute your faction in the sector? Information on lane patterns, whether or not they clump around their home world, distribute themselves in some oblong way or distribute themselves in a node-like way should be pointed out here.]

Lane Color; [color of choice you want for your faction’s trade lanes]
Other; [Any info you want I didn’t give?]

---

Finally I should say feel free to start IC'ing the second I accept your app.

[AlienBastard]

Application Sheet Storage

Author: Alien Bastard

The Puppet Masters

Name: The Puppet Masters

Type: Hyper Nomadics

System of Government:

Puppet Masters, few as they are powerful, have come to accept a system of government based around manipulation in order to achieve their goals. They assume a general sense of domination over other civilizations. In effect they see everywhere they are as "in their control" despite not dictating the rules, annexing worlds or improving on the region.

Instead they keep control of their domains through manipulation of individuals and associating with proxies in order to "keep stability through chaos". Societies that are large, innovative and expansive tend to get their attention more than other societies.

The puppet masters are not a united entity, rather they are a massive multitude of tiny groups that wander around collecting information "of their dominion" and have been known to come into conflict over contradicting actions taken to cause chaos in a "potential threat".

Despite all that they're rather rare and generally do not have any effect on the typical basis of things.

Species contained:

Many species that are weird and too obscure to depict, however the puppet masters have become in recent times one with their spaceships.

History:

Once upon a time lost to history there was an ancient interstellar empire known simply as the Ecumene. It was a very prosperous and near utopian empire; one that was said to have stretched thousands, if not millions of star systems and kept stability despite the constant terror that beheld them from their expansion.

However this period of prosperity, where hundreds of races were said to have worked together for the grand purpose of making a truly galactic community things started to degenerate. Factions within the dominion grew and secretly, and slowly undermined the ways and traditions that kept the Ecumene in its uphill prosperity slowly, but surely started to wear down the wave of civilization that rocked the cosmos.

The internal damage got progressively worse, and the Ecumene eventually traumatically disunited, the stability and order than once governed society for vast periods of time reduced to a mess of squabbling factions who lost track of what made the Ecumene great.

However, this was only the start of a disaster that would only spiral progressively worse.

For Ecumene was not alone in the cosmic fugue- it had enemies it kept down and away for so long, now they took their opportunity to strike at the Ecumene. Massive invasions and wars on scales incomprehensible broke out, and continued in a perpetual, almost ritualistic manner as titans crashed into each other, smashing apart the foundations of civilization forged over vast sums of time in a matter of centuries. Entire species being systematically erased from the face of the universe, plagues and super weapons unleashed that eradicated entire sectors of civilization in one burst- in was the end times.

The Eon of Sunshine this time was called, due to all the gamma ray burst based WMDs used. Thankfully such destructive weapon was lost with those who used them.

The end result of the eon of horrors would not only be the fall of the Ecumene, but a dark age in which societies degenerated back to the stone age slowly and painfully or marauding crooks with advanced technology went about forging little space empires in the corpse of the Ecumene.

After some time the chaos cooled down, but technological innovation ceased and in many ways went back ward. Societies rose and fell in the space once in the Ecumene, but the flame of the Ecumene would seem to be forever extinguished.

There was for 20,000 years a weak neo-Ecumene that formed around 50,000 – 30,000 years ago that looked like it was going to reclaim its lost glory, but the lack of resources in the region and lack of ability to reclaim the technologies from the ancient Ecumene that once ruled caused it to come and go like any civilization, but this neo-Ecumene did contribute to the Puppet Masters and their spread, as the puppet masters derive themselves from a cult that formed in the neo-Ecumene and spread to the far reaches of space as they got persecuted for their ideals of nomadism and indirect domination.

As a result the Puppet Masters, as they became called due to their puppetering ways spread across much the galaxy. However number wise they are very thin, lack the ability to reproduce much and lack any ability to innovate any further with their current technology. Despite all these problems, the puppet masters believe their system to be on the slow rise- one day perhaps remaking a new Ecumene of a nature better fit to running a galaxy. However, as time marched as and the Puppet Masters became more isolated ideological difference became more increasing different to the point where quite a few “puppet” masters have become very different in nature to the point where if someone wanted to make a hyper nomad with a shared history whose nomadic ideology was near completely different they could.

Also note that while they are unable to innovate, the cultural markings and technologies they utilize does vary with what ideology they follow and what technologies they see best suited to carrying out their goals. The splinter of puppet masters that reached the sector the Cosmic Community takes place is very, very far from home and has only been around for 3,000 years, a timescale which is not much time for a puppet master.

Despite that, they intend to control from the void and manipulate however they see to best and their presence in the sector cosmic community takes place in is very evident, perhaps too much so...

[[Any further history from this point on will require folk to have as associates]]

Technological capabilities:

All technology the puppet masters use has been in use as long as they can rmemeber. The technology they use to them it is rather mundane in the same way that you may see a car or toilet paper mundane.

Make of what you will, as I list off the technologies most relevant.

For one, they’re biologically immortal and can pretty much appear wherever they want to as any form in any space as something that is best described as a sentient hallucination as they can fade away and don’t get detected on the scanners.

They can subconsciously hack into systems and get information they want very quickly; hiding stuff from them is only feasible with stuff like paper, any files kept on a online source or archive is bound to be cracked by them sooner or later.

Their conventional weapons are in a sense "death pulses" waves of varying frequency that can cause those targeted by the weapon to wither away. Energy shields tend to help to some level, but the weapon saps heavily on energy as well. There's variants that shoot waves and spheres instead of streams as well. They can and will give a associate a hand weapon that shoots death pulses; but if the associates do something with the weapon the puppet masters do not like, the weapon will crumble apart in their hands.

They're also rather liberal when it comes to using anti-matter based bombs and missiles. They can and will give some of this tech to a associate.

Their FTL is as fast as the limit I allow for the RP is; they can travel across the sector in around 8 years.

Despite all the technological wonders, it must be noted that stuff like space craft are very, very hard to replace as they have no access to manufacturers so every spaceship of theirs destroyed is a spaceship that can’t be replaced for over a century.

Also, the puppet masters are the spaceship.

Other: They're pretty much inspired by a certain classic metal song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnKhsTXoKCI

I tried my best to keep them balanced; they're very low in numbers, can't innovate/have a very hard time making more of themselves and generally must rely on indirect means of power. I also made it so other players can potentially make hyper nomads of a similar origin to the puppet masters pretty easily.

Also their history may or may not be a creation myth and not really happened in their ancient history.

I've avoided making a species sheet since it's impossible to use a species of them due to them being spaceships and they got to that form during the neo-ecumene period.

[AlienBastard]

--Reserved for app sheet storage--

[Schylerwalker]

I'd like to make a species that was originally developed to be biomechanoid superwarriors by another empire, before it collapsed and its satellite states went to war or became otherwise isolated. Thousands of years later, those nations fell in to darkness or became real nations in their own right. My species has survived on a single plant; a barren, industrial wasteland covered in radiation storms, massive mountains, and rivers of molten glass. These creatures would be ridiculously tough and good at killing people, but possessing the intelligence and will of children, basically. They play around in the ruins of their progenitor's spaceships and fortifications and form small tribal groups, hunting down the monstrous, mutated abominations and killer robots that stalk the wastescape (The species would be able to survive on organic matter, or be able to break down ferrous materials for fuel).

I'd either join the interstellar community when somebody else discovers me (And they either willingly or unwillingly take me offworld) or the species accidentally starts up one of their ancestor's more stable ships and starts wandering around.

[AlienBastard]

Sounds like a fun idea to me!

Should I make a planet app?

Yah.

Name:
Location: [in relation to others]
*Population Demographics:
Info/history:
*Notable non-sentient life forms [if any]:
*Other:

*= optional

[Schylerwalker]

Awesome. :)

This is basically what they'd look like, except ten feet tall and with more organic bits.

[AlienBastard]

Crazy looking alien cyborg there.

The history you describe could connect to other people's stuff potentially I noticed.

[Schylerwalker]

AlienBastard said
Crazy looking alien cyborg there.The history you describe could connect to other people's stuff potentially I noticed.

Yeah, that was definitely the plan. Potentially, half a dozen or more people could link themselves to the one or two lines of history I put down and make a huge, fragmented empire or empires. :)

[AlienBastard]

There's also the possibility someone else's society came across a surviving nation of the fallen empire and integrated it into their currently living empire.

[Xaxl]

I'm interested, but I don't know what sort of faction I should use. Any suggestions for themes/tropes? I might have something ready-made.

[AlienBastard]

Here's some ideas that I made decidedly not organization based since you said you wanted to be a faction likely with a foundng race attached. I tried making them all interstellar and possibly open to having a history of interacting with others. Remember the current state of your faction doesn't have to be the state it was always in and when you make a species there should be some level of diaspora.

-A society of hyper industrialists with lots of machine slaves

-A caste-based communal society that likes being regional

-A slowly expanding, ancient society that is very regimental and order based

-A large expansive, darwinistic society that is loosely controlled and has perpetual internal conflict as part of some bizarre system [I made a civ like this once]

-Upstart federation or unitary government that has recently started expanding rapidly

-A society that pretends to be technologically weak on the surface but has underground cities, some nasty defensive WMDs and a secret underground network of
wormholes that connect their worlds.

-A large hierarchal multispecies empire that is godless.

The list I made probably only scratches the surface of possibilities, and mind all the above in my list don't necessary have to be composed of species you make. Mind the diaspora.

[Xaxl]

Hm.

I tend to have the most fun RPing odd species with unique biology and sociological traits, so yeah, an organization isn't a good match.

As a break from playing big empires though I might go with a species that has very little in the way of any sort of central leadership and is more just scattered independent tribes. I'm thinking... maybe a human-bug hybrid species with some limited shapeshifting abilities? With most of them living on ships as explorers/pirates/merchants?

Thoughts?

[AlienBastard]

That sounds interesting in of itself, and you open up the ability for interactions with multiple players from the get go which is a good thing.

Though I wonder just what kinda bizarre NPC societies will form as a result of the diasporas from your potential civ and schyler's biomechanoids with their fallen empire history alone.

When you say "human-bug hybrids", do you mean literal hybrids? I should note i'm not a fan of Terran animals anthropomorphized as aliens.

I just don't want to see "human + animal traits = alien".

I wanna see stuff like "Human - human trait + animal -animal trait + other animal trait + plant trait = alien" more.

But if they're more alien that a direct human-bug hybrid than clarification on what they are would be nice.

I also revised the code of conduct to include a couple points I should've included earlier.

[Xaxl]

AlienBastard said When you say "human-bug hybrids", do you mean literal hybrids?

Background as-planned is that a human computer-controlled seeder-ship (a colony craft which carries sperm and eggs which are grown into colonists on arrival) crashed on a death world, so the computer studied the native fauna and then spliced in useful traits into its human genetic matter, resulting in literal hybrids. Fairly human-like, but with a bunch of bug-like features layered overtop. Think a little bit like genestealers, appearance-wise.

They may or may not also have limited shapeshifting (of the "my arm has just split apart into a mess of teeth and tentacles" type) thanks to a parasitic infection.

[AlienBastard]

I see.

They should be fine than.

Their relations with human other factions will be interesting to say the least.

[Xaxl]

Name:
-- Emergency Order Directive 34 (EOD34), aka Crashlanders, aka Bloodwing, aka Lirok
World of Origin:
-- Lirok Beta 981, a harsh world with an over-developed ecosystem that thrives on aggressive reproduction and expansion.
Biology:
-- Overall near-human, with several notable alterations; a secondary pair of smaller arms is located just under the primary pair; the hands of the larger arms end in serrated claws; skin is somewhat rubbery (which confers limited resistance to irritants, shrapnel, and acids) with noticeable "plate" divides, especially around the joints; vital areas (such as the back, chest, neck, hips, thighs, calves, and forearms) are protected by thicker, layered chitin plating; the spine extends into a long, flexible tail tipped with a scorpion-like stinger; flexible barbs along the jaw line, forearms, and shoulders; and a pair of segmented antennae.
-- Typically have rich, cream-coloured skin and darker red chitin, although there are exceptions.
-- A majority of EOD34 have been infected with a radical fungus-like parasite known as "sanguine mutiformation"; infection results in the radical internal mutation of the host, culminating in a semi-controlled ability to reform limbs and significant portions of one's anatomy as tendrils, claws, and teeth.
Early History:
-- EOD34 are the result of a human seed-ship suffering a malfunction and crashing on a "death world". The onboard computer assessed the situation and ensured its cargo's best chance of survival with splicing them with the native wildlife, resulting in a primitive, aggressive offshoot of humanity. This offshoot survived and even thrived for some time before contact with the seed-ship was reestablished by baseline humanity; with the help of a computer-designed implant intended to dial back their aggressive nature, EOD34 was uplifted and reincorporated into humanity. However, their odd nature resulted in EOD34 taking naturally towards a nomadic lifestyle; the species soon became known for its wayward crews of explorers, merchants, and pirates.

[AlienBastard]

Should I expect a faction app to along with the species app?

[Xaxl]

AlienBastard said
Should I expect a faction app to along with the species app?

I dunno. I see myself mostly using them as the crews of single vessels (or at most small nomad fleets), so probably not?

[AlienBastard]

If so I anticipate anyone who makes a human faction for you to latch onto.

[Xaxl]

AlienBastard said
If so I anticipate anyone who makes a human faction for you to latch onto.

In theory, yeah. EOD34 are meant to be fairly widespread though; while I'm sure there are plenty of "naturalized" or "settled" communities that are more closely integrated/restricted by whatever human government found them, they could be found all over the place.

What gets focused on really depends on if there's anyone interested in RPing a focus on the assimilated communities and the difficulties surrounding them; if not, I'll just use the nomads/explorers/merchants/pirates to drop in on places I think are cool.