-Unnamed Ancient Passage
Drift...
This galaxy, with no agreed upon name, is endless. At least, that’s what people used to believe. Now, of course, it is known that it does have a border. But the galaxy is so huge that it may as well not. The discovery of new sentient species is so commonplace nowadays that it is no longer news-worthy to most. Pirates and looters are common place. Wars are constantly raging. Alliances constantly on the edge of breaking. Greedy merchants and merciful captains, perverted pirates and brutish scouts, families trying to survive and those who would see them dead; these are all people you can meet out here in the vast endless expanse of space. So, the question is, which one will you be?
Perhaps you’ll be the military captain, renowned throughout your race’s eyes. Or the pirate that preys only on ships of a certain make and model. Maybe you’ll be the last ship of your military’s rather tiny armada. Maybe you’ll be a cult-on-thrusters, trying to spread your religion across the universe. Maybe you’ll be a greedy merchant on a quest to find your beloved shuttle once again, or the drunk that stole it? Perhaps you’ll be the crooked cop, helping the pirates find their next mark? It’s up to you.
Basically, Drift is an open-galaxy roleplay. In it, you will control your ship and her crew. I’ll try to manage a pseudo-economy, I’ll try to keep note of who’s who and what’s what. But I’ll leave it up to you to create the plot. It’s no fun if I just tell you what to do, where to go. No no no, I’ll have none of that unless it’s for you to make money doing delivery missions. I want you all to try your best and play a game of politics, civil or not. If that’s not your thing, you can always be a pirate, a military man, or just someone with enough money to fly around the galaxy and look at it.
Vessel Classes
Shuttles- Small ships, usually only used in traveling within a space station or within the atmosphere of a planet. They are the equivalent of a car.
Scout – Scout class vessels are lightly armored, and have hardly any shielding. They are usually manned by a crew of 10 or less, with much of the space being used for the FTL core and extra thrusters for quick getaways. Scout ships have weak weapons, mostly used for distractions.
Frigate – Fast moving and hard hitting vessels, frigates are favorites of galactic pirates. They have enough armor and shielding to survive some attacks, and have guns that pack a punch. They are slower than scouts, however, and can’t even compare to a dreadnought.
Dreadnought – Usually at the rear of most armadas, dreadnoughts are slow-moving, hard-hitting, heavily-armored and shielded beasts of warfare. Many dreadnoughts have much space for FTL cores, with extra heat vents, as well as large guns that can cut through enemy fleets. Many even contain a deck in which frigates can fit in. Dreadnoughts are usually only used in times of war; however, some pirates manage to gain hold of them.
Cruiser – Going at a medium pace, heavily armored, heavily shielded, and outfitted with automated cannons aboard, Cruisers are about the same size as a dreadnought, however instead of using most of that for guns and other offensive tech, cruisers almost exclusively house smaller vessels. With special cargo bays made to fit dozens of frigates, scout ships, and shuttles, cruisers rely on their cargo to protect them. Cruisers travel within the middle of most armadas, deploying ships as they float gently through space. Some are even outfitted with advanced workshops. Most cruisers have a large space reserved for multiple, functional FTL drives. With a few in a special reserve area in the event the other drives go down. Needless to say, when most cruisers are decommissioned, they are recycled.
Space Stations – Slower, heavier armored, heavier shielded, but much less deadly than dreadnoughts, space stations are essentially mobile nations. They don’t usually have FTL drives, due to the nation-like nature of these beasts, but they do have a large variety.
Drifters – Drifters are more commonly known as ghost vessels, or derelict ships. They may or not be in working order. Many are stripped and looted. Can be any class.
Other- While most ships fit these classes, some vessels are just so different that they fall under another class entirely. Tell me about it.
You can also modify your vessel in most ways you see fit. Some modifications aren’t legal in every sector, though.
These ships, however, cost money to maintain. FTL drives alone cost anywhere from thousands to billions of credits just to buy. Total costs could range from anywhere from tens of thousands of credits to quadrillions of credits. These things are expensive. Fret not, however, credits can be earned in many ways.
Credits
Trading is one way to make credits. Just trading every day goods, or even larger more important things. Trade with your friends, or maybe even your enemies. Credits are credits.
I would however, prefer that you trade with other roleplayers. If there’s not enough of those to go around, I’ll step in and actually play GM.
Pirating is always an option for the adventurous, the devious, or the mentally-unstable, however, this is very dangerous, and should only be considered if you have at least a frigate-type vessel.
Working for people always proves to yield some sort of payment. Unless they’re a no-good liar. Regardless, plenty of people will pay you for the occasional odd-job. It may mean you have to team up with others and split the payment, though. Unless of course, you do something about it.
Generous people sometimes give out money. Sometimes it’s a scam. Doesn’t hurt to risk it, though, right? Unless you have the guns and the tech to track down scammers though, it’s probably not wise to accept money from generous people.
Looting derelict “ghost” vessels will occasionally yield some tech, some guns, or some raw credits. Be warned, though, not every ghost vessel is a true ghost vessel. Many of these ghost vessels are traps laid out by pirates, or full of a crew that has suffered the ill-effects of space dementia or some other illness that may or may not be contagious.
Other ways to get credits are out there too.
Many species dot the vast galaxy, from the common and bland human to the mythical and rare S’rhinza. Each species is different in most ways. But not all people fit their stereotypes. Beware, some are known to be unified, and harming one ship may cause an unwanted war. There are too many species to name.
There are many star-clusters as well, most are assigned numbers and some are nicknamed.
Star-Clusters of Interest
The Market
(77162871248)
The Market is purely a trading station. If you want a seller, or a buyer, this is the place to find them. No trade is restricted here and it is a place of relative peace. Anyone who even thinks about charging up their weapons is shot down by The Market’s private military.
The Ghost’s Cradle
(00000000000)
While the number 00000000000 was assigned to a different cluster, most of the races agreed to reassign it to this peculiar place as a warning. Home to a large and ever-increasing number of derelict ships, The Ghost’s Cradle plays their last messages on an endless loop. These messages are usually on one channel, but a few of them “bleed” into others. Another strange phenomenon of this particular region in space is the tendency for crews to go mad if they linger too long. Many popular psychiatrists from each race have stepped forward to put their theories forth. The most popular? “No idea.”
Tyktz
(1882129847188)
A place of seemingly infinite darkness. This strange recess of space has no natural light, and one cannot even see stars here due to a very peculiar phenomenon referred to as “Cancellation”. This strange phenomenon cancels out any waves that are transmitted, including light, sound, and others. This region of space spans a few million light years, and can be seen from almost anywhere in the galaxy. It is recommended to stay away from this region of space, because if you get into a pickle, it’s hard to get out. This place derives its name from an ancient word meaning “Endless Night”, commonly used in spooky stories.
The Longest Day
(88472313194)
While not as strange as some places in the galaxy, The Longest Day is a hot spot for travelers and those who just want a break. This strange cluster is quite literally that, a cluster. 1000 stars, each of varying colors and each caught in the next’s orbit. This huge stretch of space is home to millions of beautiful space stations with a terrific view of this strange chain of stars. The Longest Day also has quite a few planets, with many of them being located far enough to get a good view, while also maintaining a year-round tropical environment. Many of them are also large, endless deserts, devoid of life and too hot to occupy. The planets have one of the strangest orbit patterns within a few million light years of the sector, with their orbit stretching across the entirety of the thousand planets.
The galaxy is a vast place, still wholly unexplored. Many of the unnamed sectors have something worth a name, but who knows? One planet may be filled with diseased creatures that’ll not only eat your doctor, but spread a hyper-contagious disease to your crew. Another may have the remains of an ancient long dead civilization. The possibilities are almost endless.
Well, that’s what I have so far. I’ll try to update this post as often as I can, with various events, miscellaneous information, and of course the main conflicts, alliances, and traders.
RULES
1) No God-Modding/Meta-gaming/Bunnying/etc. Doing so will result in a very strongly worded letter expressing my anger.
2) Everyday forum rules and such.
Character Sheet Template
<Appearance of your ship goes here, unless you want to write it. Then put that in everything else.>
<A quote regarding the ship/from one of the crew members sure would look nice here.>
Vessel name:
Vessel identification number:
Vessel history:
Vessel occupation:
Crew members:
Features:<Weapons, armor, speed, etc.>
Height/Mass/Length:
Rooms:<You don’t have to list them all, just the main features>
Everything else:
List of nerds I've accepted so far:
Korigon - Empaler
KaijuBaragon - The Gojirius
Deth_Glitch - The Good Gallant Ship: MINE!
TheBubbaMan - Arkingham
Knightsabers - 8
Oni_ - The Aryana
Bluhart - Killer Queen
SilverDawn - Virtus Palma
SkrubLord - The Crucible
Scrub Mage - Xanthous Knight; Leviathan
