“That is the exploration that awaits you! Not mapping stars and studying nebulae, but charting the unknown possibilities of existence.” - Leonard Nimoy
Interest check
Introduction
- Let me get this off of my chest first: This is my first time running a NRP. If you have an idea, need something explained or see a problem, talk to me, I welcome advice and help =)
- This is a Sci-Fi NRP focused on controlling your nation as it enters the age of space colonization and expands into the galaxy.
- The RP will take place in an original universe, and world building will be a sizable chunk of the activity.
- There will be a ‘GM story’ present in the RP, but main focus at least in early and middle game will be a sandbox between the players.
- This may use a semi-turn based system - The first post in your turn will contain your actions on the map, afterwards you will be free to post in real time to conclude the situation, whether through diplomacy, battle or what have you. Rinse and repeat. The length of the turn in real time is up to debate - I'll try to wait for everyone to finish their affairs, but if the RP falls silent for too long, I'll move it forward.
The story
Long ago, there was a race whose empire spanned the entire galaxy. Nowadays they are known by many names - Ancients, Forerunners, Ancestors, Progenitors,... - none of them their own. Under their care, their galaxy flourished, as they protected and guided the weaker species on their path towards the stars. Their will was to build an empire everlasting. As their empire expanded, so did their pride. Very soon their sheep turned into slaves, and the shepherds became masters.
No longer was the galaxy an empire of understanding. Instead it was replaced by an empire of oppression and fear. And those that came before grew ever prideful, and soon the galaxy was not enough. They dreamed of an empire spanning the whole universe. Soon they reached out to other galaxies by means unknown. Whomever they found they warred with, for the universe was only theirs. Their foes fought, they failed, and they fell. But their sin didn’t go unpunished. The fate led them to a faraway place, where they discovered yet another enemy. But they were not like the others. They didn’t submit, and they didn’t die.
Ten thousand years ago, the last battle was fought. Driven back to their home galaxy, They realized the folly of their fight. Pooling the last resources of their crumbling empire, they sealed the paths into their galaxy, banning their nemesis from crushing all life within it. However, they were dealt the mortal blow. No longer able to stand on just one galaxy, the empire crumbled, and all of its nations vanished, leaving behind nothing but relics.
The mechanics
Home systems
Initially, players will be allowed to create one star system to start with. The nature of resources available in this system should be the base for the evolution and technology of your race - Does your home planet have 0.5 of Earth’s gravity? Then your race will not be too physically strong. Is your system rich in ores but not in materials usable as power source? Then your warships should rely more on kinetic weapons and armor than lasers and shields. You get the idea.
Try to stick to maximum 5 bodies of value (Planets, asteroid belts, gas clouds, …). Moons and planetary rings are considered too small in value to be listed separately, only mention them in the planet entry. The stars themselves will be useless at current tech level, as the temperatures and radiation is deadly to unshielded ships, and shielded ones would only survive there for a very short time. You can have more or less bodies, at the cost/bonus of having other advantages or disadvantages respectively. Your starting position on the map will be rolled by the GMs, so if you want them to have any anomalies - such as being a nebula - notify me and I’ll put it on the map as such.
The map
Note: Map is subject to change depending on the number of players
The universe is quite vast, but to promote interaction between players, we'll only be operating in several interesting systems - ones you would know contain some kind of relic. Each player should have this reflected in their sheets and have their people find and recover a star chart or other means of identifying which stars may have been colonized by the former empire.
Furthermore, the subspace that will be used for FTL is an unmastered element. All that is really known is how to construct the subspace motivators and that strong gravity stabilizes the subspace field to the point when transition to and from normal space is possible without the body entering or exiting being disintegrated. The three supermassive black holes in the galaxy stabilize it to such extent that it is impossible to make an FTL transit in the blue region at the current level of technology without getting trapped there. On the other hand, the pulsars in the orange zones influence it in another way, making subspace a violent storm that requires a special drive to make a safe transit.
In the red zone, there is absolutely nothing your instruments can detect on the sky. It seems like a glitch in the star charts your people recovered, just like the galactic core being marked as a system of importance - assuming one can even make an FTL exit that close to a black hole, navigating that area in normal space seems impossible.
Relics
All of the systems will contain a relic - a remnant of the past era, a technology or an artifact of the long gone empire. These will be unique and can be an enormous boon to your nation. Despite being from a previous era, these relics will be the most powerful instances of their type, whether they are a method of communication or an ancient battleship. Each nation will start with one relic of your design to start with - just run it by the GMs. As you explore other systems, the GMs will notify you of any relics to be found in the given system.
You will have two options - either you keep the relic, which will be the most powerful instance of its type, or you can break it up and reverse engineer the technology so you could manufacture more of it, albeit a slightly inferior version. For example, you could find an ancient resource processing station. You could either leave ti as it is and get lot of rocks refined quickly, or invest some time and learn the technology and improve your existing infrastructure without the need to haul all ore into one system.
Restrictions
Since you will be able to design every aspect of your race, some caps need to be set. I aim for everyone to start on more or less equal level so that we won’t have the enterprise fighting with a space shuttle with a chain gun strapped onto it. Each race will be evaluated individually by the GMs, but try to keep it realistic according to the history of your race. For example, a race that has a history of wars among itself is less likely to have many colonies, however they will start with far stronger military. In contrast, a peaceful race may start with stronger economy, but will have to adapt should it find itself under siege. Some general restrictions:
- Technology: Unless your race is centered around pushing its technology to its limits, I do not wish to see “solutions to nonexistent problems” - if most of your tech is energy based, your ships will not mount mass drivers “just in case”.
I am also capping your maximum technological progress at fully understanding and using antimatter on this scale (If you think of some level of technology I didn't put in there, give me a call about it):
Fossil fuels < Atomic fission < Atomic fusion < Antimatter < Subatomic particles < Exotic particles < Subspace < Singularity/Gravity manipulation < ??? - FTL: For intrasystem jumps you may use whatever type of FTL you want to, however intersystem jumps will only be available only through subspace as restricted on the game map.
- Degree of realism: I aim for this to be in the hard sci-fi category. Leave your phlogiston with your WoW character. However, game balance has priority over realism.
- Language barrier: To ease up communication, assume that ëveryone decoded the ancient language and can use it as a common ground.
- For simplicity’s sake, let's use real life units of measurement.
- Multiple races in a single nation: Will be allowed, however be prepared for extra scrutinizing by the GMs.
- At the start of the RP, your nation may not have active contact with another alien nation not native to your home system.
Nation sheet
Using this format is not mandatory, but keep in mind this is part worldbuilding - going into details is not a crime.
