ClocktowerEchos

Fort Gobbo (Dwarf Fortress-inspired Survival/Settlement RP)

@Eviledd1984 Yeah its still open, just havne't done much due to IRL things.

@Cao the Exiled Welcome aboard! I linked the previous RP to help people get a sense of what posting and the rules are like.

Fort Gobbo (Dwarf Fortress-inspired Survival/Settlement RP)

Awesome! I'll probably be looking for one or two more people before getting started. Both of you are okay with the gobbo gang system right? Or should it be changed to just a singular goblin per PC or something like that?

Corporate Space! (Sci-Fi)

Interested! But I'm curious as to the mechanics behind the level up and gear, do they have a mechanical/stat effect or are just there for cosmetics and a rough "you should be able to do X with Y" type of way?

GATEWAYS: THE NEXT GENERATION [CLOSED AND CONCLUDED]

@Cloakedrider Practice and exprience, most of us have been doing this for literal years at this point.

Fort Gobbo (Dwarf Fortress-inspired Survival/Settlement RP)

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Fort Gobbo

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Based on this older RP, I'm looking for players to take command of a brave band of gobbos who have just gotten themselves a chunk of land to finally call home and try to make something out of it. Unfortunately everyone else has some level of issue against them having said land. Build a home, attract more people, fight off bandits and wanna-be heroes, die horrifically in a cat, alcohol and dragon related tragedy!

The basic background is that this is a generic fantasy world of humans, elves, goblins, dwarves, orcs, etc and the generic Dark Lord of All Evils has almost won. He hold enough territory and power to declare victory at least and now he's giving out land to all those who followed him which included goblins. Now not everyone was a part of the Dark Lord's army, but no one is going to turn down a chance of land and loot.

Details are still to be determined but I'm aiming for a similar set up of a main character for each PC and then three or so NPCs that make up their "gang" with people having skills and such.

If you are interest, interested in goblins or are a goblin irl yourself do join! The world might think you're incredibly stupid little green bastards but with strength, cunning and a little luck you can show everyone that you are actually incredibly stupid little green bastards with gumption and ambition!

GATEWAYS: THE NEXT GENERATION [CLOSED AND CONCLUDED]

@Cloakedrider Try this link: https://discord.gg/37mTwxb5

Old Glory: Land of Opportunity (Post Apoc Dungeon Diving)

Things have been pretty quite, @Fetzen@Jarl Coolgruuf@DX3214 any news on characters or updates? Or should we all move on?

GATEWAYS: THE NEXT GENERATION [CLOSED AND CONCLUDED]

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Celestial Empire of Szuhan

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The Sparrow-class Cutter landed right outside the central palace within a courtyard, its engines whipping pedals into the air as the palace defense guns were silent. A man dressed in the lamellar-like armor of a colonial sentinel of the Grand Garrison jumped out with a holo-scroll in hand. He ran as fast as his augmented legs could take him but even then it took five full minutes of running just to reach one end of the massive courtyard. A detachment of Celestial Dragon Guards moved to intercept him, rifles and glaives ready to cut down this unheard of breach of protocol but the messenger threw himself down before the guards and unrolled the holo-scroll on the stone floor.

The scroll consisted of two metal cylinders connected by thin, spooled wires at the top and bottom housed in the ends of the cylinders. Upon unrolling it, the wires lit up and light was projected between the two cylinders. As the man spread the scroll as far as his arms allowed, the holographic screen flashed with the name of over a dozen ship captains, fleet admirals, colonial governors, station viceroys and master sages. All of them in addition had written the same thing before their names and titles: this message is to be delivered to the Emperor beyond all haste.

Before the messenger could even apologize, the Dragon Guards stood him up and looked at each other: for something to be declared "beyond all haste" explained the unorthodox breach of protocol. One of the captains pulled out a flexible length of solid polymer, not unlike a child's slap bracelet, and threw it around the top of the messenger's face. The blindfold wrapped itself around the messenger's eyes, completely blinding him as the Dragon Guard pulled him through a secret maze of tunnels, backrooms, hidden passages and false walls that only they knew. In a few extremely disorienting minutes, the messenger had been guided almost instantly through miles of the palace complex until he stood before the grand staircase that lead up to the throne room.

Four massive stone liondogs stood on plinths that jutted out of the hundred staircase along with intricately carved and decorated terracrete warriors who stood sentinel, far more refined and detailed than the simple, utilitarian models the messenger had seen patrolling the colonies. Another solid minute of running up the stairs had passed before the messenger arrived at the dragon-faced door that spun around like clockwork to open the lock and let him in.

He burst in to the mild shock and confusion of the gathered officials in the throne room. Military commanders, master ministers, noble lords, and Caijza clan heads watched as the cyber-legged man ran in before the celestial throne, throwing one knee on the ground in a military bow instead of a civilian kowtow, "Oh great Emperor of all Szuhan, may all the blessings of the heavens and of all the peoples be upon thee. I come bearing a most urgent missive from the stars, to be delivered in thou most divine presence."

The 5th Vermillion Emperor, Jyonlaw sat stoically and resplendent on his elevated throne, on an island from the rest of the massive throne room with a shallow moat of clear water and exotic lilies. The dragon statues behind his throne stared deeply into the messenger's soul, forcing him to stare at the ground in an almost primal fear and reverence of what he might see should he look back. "Rise." The Emperor spoke, "Rise and deliver your missive."

Without a word, the messenger pulled out the holo-scroll and threw one cylinder towards one end to the feet of the assembled lords and the other towards the other side. The floor lit up with the holograph as a 2D shape slowly rose into a 3D projection of a circular ring. Even as a projection of light, its presence could be felt as the space within swirled like a miniature galaxy. A few members of the court gasped as they instantly recognized what the ring was: the ancient deactivated Gateway.

"Your greatest majesty, as of three hours ago, the ancient Gateway above Kraj-Guo has suddenly reactivated. Initial reports and scans suggest it was not opened from our side. According to the sages of Slvaitai Station, it would appear that its current destination is the Sol System."

A silence fell over the room like a heavy blanket. Even the Emperor leaned forward in his throne as if to more closely observe the projection. Muted mummers passed between the court as the Emperor stretched out his hand and pulled the 3D projection away from the holo-scroll and directly in front of him, the interface between the ends of the scrolls with outlets on the floor and hologram projectors in the chamber seamlessly transitioning the process.

With a flick of his wrist, one of the Dragon Guards picked the messenger off the floor and escorted him out of the throne room. Once the dragon door slammed shut once more, all eyes turned to the Emperor who stared at the spinning Gateway before him. No one dared to speak before the Emperor without reason. For when he spoke, the heavens moved.

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Captain Zhareg Hne stood on the bridge of his ship, the Grand Majesty River, as the stars moved in the distant, inky cosmos. By Imperial Decree he was given the honor and responsibility of being the first exploration vessel to go through the Gateway. The past few cycles had been spent preparing the GDZ-18 Sentinel Ship for its new role with upgrades to its scanners and communication as well as now hosting a cadre of diplomats, linguists and historians who zealously guarded a handful of Szuhanese cultural artifacts that were being brought along.

Fine china vases, intricate clockwork, exquisite jewelry, beautiful art painted upon golden scrolls, ornamental swords made by master smiths, Szuhanese silks that were soft yet more protective than steel alloys and capable of holding a charge along with an entire banner of the most regal looking Terracrete Warriors from the Imperial Palace itself. At this point it looked less of a warship and more like a muesum with how many clerks and scribes were now running around. Although given the history of the Sentinel Ships, one could argue they never looked like much of a warship to being with. The whole reason the Djong-class Warship wasn't being sent out was because of its "sacred role in defending the skies above the Palace", code for "its our only actual warship and we'd prefer to loose your ship and crew over it."

Zhareg knew the game that was being played though, he hadn't spent a life time navigating military politics just to let someone else take the credit. He had every intention of making sure to come back with either something valuable enough to present to the Emperor or information that no superior could take credit for.

As they approached the Gateway, the entire bridge crew held their breath. The Dragon Shrine had a suspicious amount of people next to it and there was enough hushed prayers to fill the ship with an ambient white noise even without the PA systems. Now that they were up close, the true size of the Gateway finally dawned on the captain, it looked big enough to swallow up four Djong-class Warships without issue and it was frankly incredibly intimidating staring at its swirling portal. So far the only things that the researchers had sent through was a handful of rocks and a trio of unmanned drones, claiming it was safe enough because of it. Of course voidsmen tales that spread through canteens and asteroid tea houses that spoke of doom and horrible deaths were conjured up. Captain Zhareg prayed to the dragons he wasn't going to become one of those stories.

"Attention all crew." He announced across the ship, "We are arriving at the Gateway, entering in 3... 2... 1."

The world went slightly pear shaped and fuzzy around the edges. Every time Captain Zhareg blinked, he was looking at things through a entirely different color pallet. The strangest tingling shot down his back, then back up and then to all his fingers and toes as if his individual atoms were vibrating and being sent through time and space. When the ship finally dropped out of FTL, about half the crew tumbled forwards and the other fell on their back.

About four people threw up as well but given that they had all just been the first Szuhanese to exprience FTL travel and Captain Zhareg expected at least one death, things were already looking better than he expected! Getting back to their feet, the crew switched on the oldest communication codes they knew and every single scanner was being manned, now looking into the ancient home system of humanity.

The Grand Majestic River announced its presence, not with fanfare, but instead with a simple message. A simple line that according to ancient legend had been the slogan of the project that delivered humanity away from Earth and into the stars, to find a new home as their old one died, one final act of a mother saying good by to children she would never see again. And now, it was time for her children to come back and greet her with:

Per aspera ad astra

tl;dr

Messenger delivers message to the Imperial Court of the Gateway reopening, everyone is either spooped or shook.
A few days later totally-not-Zheng-He leads an Sentinel-class ship turned exploration and cultural vessel into the Sol System, filled with a bunch of cultural nerds and trinkets, making their presence known by restating the ancient motto of whatever UN/national space program sent the OG colonists into space hundreds of years ago.

Old Glory: Land of Opportunity (Post Apoc Dungeon Diving)

Found a fun picture that is sort of related to this, at least I could see something like this happening in this setting:

GATEWAYS: THE NEXT GENERATION [CLOSED AND CONCLUDED]

Szuhan

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Celestial Empire of Szuhan

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Summary

A mix of Polish-Lithuanian elective monarchy, Chinese dynastic imperialism and democratic monarchy, the Szuhan are a very spiritual and superstitious people who endured a century long age of warlords right after the Gates closed, eventually uniting into a peaceful empire where spiritual mysticism coexists with high tech science.

They worship Divine Dragons of Heavens who guide many aspects of life and society but are actually the ancient Dragon AI Matrixes from the colony ships, a secret few know about. Masters of culture, alchemy, construction and pseudo-Confucian thought, they have already started to colonize their home system right when the Gateways reopened.

Administration

Government

The Celestial Empire of Szuhan follows an unorthodox hybrid of monarchy and democracy where the Celestial Throne is actually elected by representatives. Traditional cultural beliefs state that every single person has a portion of the Heavenly Winds within them (a blessed “soul” for simplicity’s sake) and thus voting is equal parts secular and spiritual. Szuhanese citizens will vote for a local lord to rule over them and represent them. These local lords then come together to vote on a liege lord who in turn gather to elect someone from the Imperial Household to the throne. This person is often a child of the previous ruler but sometimes is also a relative.

Upon taking the throne, the new Emperor (or Empress) undergoes a Dragon Trial where they communion with the Divine Dragons of Heaven (in reality the ancient Dragon AI Matrixes), where one of them may step forward, emphasizing their power and blessing. It’s often seen as an omen or prophecy of things to come depending on which colored dragon blesses the Emperor. There are 9 colors from which an Emperor is typically given: Jade, Azure, Vermillion, Pearl, Amethyst, Amber, Onyx, Iron and Gold with Golden Emperors being the rarest.

The current Emperor is Jyonlwa, the 5th Vermillion Emperor.

History

The original history of the Celestial Empire is not well known but it said to originate from the Yangtze, a Colony Ship launched from Earth that collided with the Wielki Smoki after an unknown error caused both to enter the same Gateway and crashing into each other over the then unnamed planet designated SZ-2-8N. Following such a disaster, the Gateways closed, leaving the two wrecked ships the lay on the planet. What this Great Calamity was the Cywilka Zhanaw, the Warlord Era, where in the absence of an organized government, small bands of people fought each other over dwindling resources, loosing great amounts of pre-crash knowledge and the advanced technology brought along by the colony ships.
It was Jadweila the Great who would rise from the near century-long Warlord Era and unite the entire world behind a single banner. Tianwaroz was “blessed by the Divine Dragons” and used this to conquer her foes and spread their influence. In reality, the Dragon AI Matrixes concluded Jadweila was the worthiest leader who had approached them and thus granted her access to all kinds of ship systems, hidden data banks and technology more advanced than what much of the other warlords had access too. Crowned as the 1st Golden Empress of Szuhan after 89 years the Great Calamity and closing of the Gateways, Jadweila is considered a cultural hero and founder of the modern empire. Whether or not Jadweila was fully aware of the true nature of the Divine Dragons is unknown.
Over 200 years have passed (accounting for minor time dilations) with the Celestial Throne having passed through many hands. Through the wisdom of the Divine Dragons, the realm has become prosperous and peaceful, a far cry from the century of bloody warfare. Less than a century ago, space travel and colonization of the rest of the system began under Byatian, 2nd Azure Emperor, establishing footholds, stations and outposts on other worlds of the system however the sudden reopening has sidelined many colonization efforts and prompted a minor arms buildup as although Szuhan has finally found peace, they aren’t naive enough to think that everywhere else in the galaxy has as well.

Demographics

There are roughly 3.1 billion people, all of whom are Humans and majority of which located on the homeworld of Szuhan Prime with 22 officially recognized subgroups/dialects of Szuhanese people.

Planets

Szuhan Prime is a temperate world with many fertile valleys, open planes and rolling hills. Its mountains are quite unique with many mountain ranges not being traditional wide pyramids but instead spire-like, often densely forested and shrouded by mist and fog giving an almost fantasy-like apperance.

The rest of the Szuhan System consists of 12 planets, only one is recognized as habitable (Szuhan Prime) and 3 are recognized as semi-habitable and have been the focus of recent colonization efforts: Kraj-guo, Byzlpanang and Hongzyor. A scattering of research stations and remote mining operations are also present among the other uninhabitable planets.

Society

Culture

Szuhanese culture is a hybrid of collectivist and individualist thought, emphasizing that one should know their place in the social order but that once finding their role, an individual would be best able to develop themselves and contribute to society. This is done by a test known as the Zorangiko or “Civic Examination”, hypothetically open to anyone who wishes to advance or change their role in society. There are many specialized versions of the Zorangiko but all are brought before the Divine Dragons whose omnipotence will illuminate the most beneficial role. Of course, this is actually the work of the high advanced AI matrixes whose personality program can make highly educated and effective guesses at where an individual is most likely to succeed. These tests are notoriously grueling, taking upwards of two or three days nonstop where participants are kept in special cells to prevent cheating.

This limited form of social mobility, gives way to entrenched families who have spent generations mastering a craft, passing on the business from parent to child. Similar to Zaibatsus from Old Earth, Szuhan’s economy is dominated by “Caizjas” of varying sizes, family trusts, cartels or cliques that have a main branch in one business and then subsidiary cadet branches operating in either the same industry to act as backup or different industry to diversify income.

However, many families are not so called “Caizja Clans” and instead are simple commoners, laypeople, and laborers. Although even then there are families that have become increasingly specialized over the years, and this is most common in military households or “Zolnijas” where every child is expected to either be a full time soldier or commander. Most commoners are free to travel between cities and villages should they please, but they must find jobs for which they are either qualified for or have been approved of by either ancestry or Civic Examination results.

This has created an emphasis on ancestry with every family possessing some form of record either as a physical scroll or a digital archive. Some noble families even claim lineage from various Old Earth families although none can truly tell if they are actually connected or have ever existed at all. The concept of family in Szuhan also transcends the people themselves as it is not always the husband who passes on the name. Most often it is simply the older partner who will pass on the name, regardless of gender. However, in cases where the eldest child of two families marry, they will instead for a combined surname and create a new family surname. While nobles are more likely to place value on a “pure” bloodline and family lineage, commoners are often more wowed by longer names, taking it as a sort of familiar pride that shows their own lineage in a way simple records cannot.

Religion

Szuhan follows less of a religion in a traditional sense and more of guiding principles known as Shrimyzli (sometimes mistranslated as “Shrimyzlism”.) Similar in concept to Confucianism of Old Earth, Shrimyzli preaches that everyone has a role in society and people are to know where they fit within society. Those who find their place are best able to full express their greatest potential in a hybrid of individualist and collectivistic thought. It preaches social harmony, duty to the group, exploration of the self and veneration of ancestors and Divine Dragons of Heaven.

There are nine Divine Dragons, each symbolized by a different color and representing a different domain or aspect: Jade, Azure, Vermillion, Pearl, Amethyst, Amber, Onyx, Iron and Gold. It is said that praying to them can grant boons and there are many rituals and mystic rites associated with them, many only known to the Seer Priests. Unbeknownst to all but a few, the Divine Dragons of Heaven are actually ancient Dragon AI Matrixes, brought by the original colonizers. After the Great Calamity, their true origins were forgotten but they were still high advanced, benevolent AI whose programing and desire to help the descendants of the colonists stayed true.

Technology

Technology as a whole is a strange mix of technology that is understood and that which is relegated to mysticism. Many are unaware of where ancient technology ends and magic ends, often coming off as the population being overall superstitious. However, many rituals are actually esoteric versions of actual scientific processes only with their original context lost and shrouded in rites. This is best seen in the art of Alchemy which utilizes actual principles of chemistry and material science but also rites such as requiring spells or chants to be recited over a boiling vat or exposed to a full moon.

The most ubiquitous invention of Szuhan is something known as “terracrete”, a composite ceramic material that has different grades. The most basic are used for simple pottery and building bricks while some of the highest grades are strong enough to be used as reinforced military building materials and even starship armor and hulls. The ability to “pour” a ship hull allows for very quick ship construction although they’re always reinforced with additional metal alloy plating.

Dragon Shrines are also critical components of Szuhan. To the average person, they are mystic conduits to the Divine Dragons while in reality, they are actually receivers for Dragon AI Matrixes. They can be found all over the place, from inside of homes to inside of starships, from well kept and ornate shrines in cities to semi-forgotten and overgrown shrines in the countryside. They also allow for communication across vast distances and even between planets and the new colonies.

Military

Grand Garrison of Szuhan

Otherwise known as the ground army, the Grand Garrison is primarily composed of android constructs made of Terracrete with the artificial constructs far out numbering the living soldiery. The most common tactic is to simply overwhelm enemies with waves of Terracrete constructs to let human elements navigate and preform their own tasks while the enemy is distracted. As such, Szuhanese strategy on a large scale is incredibly simple and predictable but their small unit tactics are well honed and much more formidable.

The standard Terracrete Warrior is cheap and easy to produce, equipped with high powered railguns and even melee weapons as their inability to feel pain makes them excellent at close quarters combat. Their AI is somewhat primitive but complex enough to process sensory data and take complex orders. This is combined with an otherwise very defensively focused doctrine in which attritional warfare heavily favors the Terracrete Warriors and their War Artisan controllers.

Human soldiers are organized into banners of varying ranks such as the Lesser Blue Banner of Gjora, the Black-lined Red Banner of Songilwa and the Great Banner of Weikowzk. Its not uncommon for men and women to be levied, volunteered or drafted into the military despite their previous social role however little is expected of them. Instead, the military families are expected to train at all times in the art of war and battle as professional soldiers and commanders. However, Szuhanese society does not value the soldier as much as the commander so where other societies might have hold a caste of warriors like samurai or viking in high regard, the Szuhanese instead believe in the mastery of the commander, many of whom are prolific warrior-scholars who have a grasp on both war as a military doctrinal discipline and as an art form.

The closest to a venerated elite warrior caste would be the honored ranks of the Celestial Dragon Guards, a force that defies typical societal roles by allowing anyone of sufficient ability to join. They are the Wardens of the Imperial Estates, Hands of the Celestial Throne, Sentinels of Dragon Court and Bodyguards of the Imperial Household. However, due to the strict physical and mental requirements as well as a punishing training regime, often only nobles or military households who have trained to such levels are accepted as guards.

Heavenly Fleet of Szuhan

Also known as the "Sky Fleet", the Heavenly Fleet controls all of the space-borne assets of the Szuhanese military. Despite its lofty designation, they are actually pretty small and somewhat underwhelming as a prolonged period of peace in space has left the fleet pretty lackluster. Its weapons are all variations of either anti-asteroid weapons or industrial ship components such as beam cutters and plasma mining explosives while they're only protected by armor alloy plates and sturdy hull designs. In fact all but one of its ships are actually converted, heavily-armed civilian vessels who all find their origins in the Marcher Crisis when pirates became a major issue.

Ships of Szuhan

Civilian Ships

The GDZ-3 "Sparrow" Inter-Orbit Cutter is a small space craft made by Gdazank Shipyards. Unlike many ships, its designed specifically to allow for as efficent surface-to-orbit transport as possible making it idea for short range trips to space stations and moons. Some variations are equipped to act as luxury yachts for star-minded nobles or Caizja families while others have been used as either emergency response vehicles or stealthy espionage vessels.

Sparrow-class Cutter

The Muajarokz Type 91 "Longrunner" Star Liner is the most common ship in Szuhan space made by Muajarokz Spaceworks. It has a venerable service history having spent over 60 years in active service with a dozen variations and models. Highly customizable it is the star of Muajarokz Spaceworks being used for transport, system patrol, cargo hauler, research vessels and mining vessels thanks to the availability of several upgrade packages available.

Longrunner-class Star Ship

The Muajarokz Type 109 "Carrack" Heavy Lifter is a specialty industrial and cargo hauler ship made by Muajarokz Spaceworks. Its huge hull is capable of housing provisions for months or tons of cargo. They are most commonly seen in the Chongkaw Asteroid Belt where miners break apart large asteroids and then have the Type 109 swallow the fragments so they may be broken down in a safe environment with plenty of access to high powered tools.

Carrack-class Industrial Ship

Military Ships

The GDZ-18 Sentinel Ship was originally designed as colonization and colony support ships by Muajarokz Spaceworks, many where pressed into military service during the Marcher Crisis when pirates became an issue during the reign of the 3rd Jade Emperor. Their armaments are all based on anti-asteroid weaponry, utilizing solid-slug railguns and ordinance pods filled with simple nuclear missiles in combat. However, they lack much in the way of defensive capabilities or even point-defense and rely entirely on up-armored hulls to protect themselves.

Sentinel Ship

The Zenkra 01 Djong Warship is an experimental ship built by Clan Zenkra Star Drives, a company previously only known for its star fighters and single-pilot star ships, in close collaboration with the Imperial household. Djong, the 1st Iron Emperor received visions from the Divine Dragons of "malevolent shadows in the void" and would come up with designs and plans of a proper warship early into his reign. However it would be his successor Djong III, the 4th Onyx Emperor who would propel it into reality, partially as a political maneuver to counter rumors that he was a toothless leader. It possess first generation starship energy weapons, experimental void torpedoes and a compliment Zenkra S-22a Multipurpose Fighter-Bombers.

Only one exists in completion with two others in states of construction with the entire project having gone overbudget. Despite that, Muajarokz and Dazank are still very bitter about loosing the contract to what they believe to be an wholly unfit manufacturer that lacks both the resources, exprience and connection to create such a ship and have offered their own variants to be produced in their own respective shipyards.

Djong-class Warship