Tortoise

Through the Gateways: Humanity [Closed] [Soon to be Concluded]

@ClocktowerEchos
We've got space goths, everybody. Mission accomplished. We can all go home.

Through the Gateways: Humanity [Closed] [Soon to be Concluded]

@Tortoise I can dial down my pop if that's what you wish for all of us.

@Sigma

Oh, absolutely not. I'd much rather give one dude (dudette? I dunno) permission to increase their pop than tell like 3 other people to decrease. And there's no reason it can't be billions.

Through the Gateways: Humanity [Closed] [Soon to be Concluded]

My, oh my, I do believe I'm interested in this. Being stuck as a colony with no outside connections for a long-ass time gives me an idea for an orbital mining colony.

@datadogie

Yo, datadogie. Will the colony be automated by an AI named Cake?

On another note, will there be a Discord server for this RP?

@datadogie

Probably not. I'm not a big fan of chatrooms or social media, or whatever Discord counts as They kind of just stress me out.

Some of y'all can always make one if you want, but I probably won't be very active in it. Maybe down the line I'll appoint a Co-Gm to manage that stuff xD

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They'll have cool uniforms tho

@MetalWeight

Removed that slash for you. Cool uniforms is obviously the most important part. You may take our lives, but you can never take our better fashion sense.

Edit: also aiming for them to have the highest pop count so far at around 6 billion. Y'know, to compensate for their inferior ways.

@MetalWeight

And speaking of population: I'm officially giving @Timemaster permission to increase his population as desired, since that little 80 million was decided way back before I realized that everybody was going to go for the billions

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Throwing my hat into the ring for this since I came up with a very interesting idea (to me at least).

Expect a sheet for the Midnight Technocracy soon.

@ClocktowerEchos

Expectations activated. Do not disappoint me.

Through the Gateways: Humanity [Closed] [Soon to be Concluded]

RP hasn't even started yet and y'all are already forming alliances and rivalries I love it.

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@an abomunist
Love how concrete your ideas are. Looking forward to seeing how it's going to look completed.

@Sigma
A Federal Republic sounds like the closest thing to Earth governments' today that we've seen so far. I wonder if they'll be weirded out by all the theocracies and robo-governments we've got coming in

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Intriguing...

Unfortunately I don't have time to set up a nation before Monday. But I'll definitely try to give it a go!

@Aleranicus

No worries. Given that only one NS is fully approved so far, you'll probably have time. But even if we start without you, I'll still allow joining after the game has begun- we'll just say that your Gateway only now became active.

Through the Gateways: Humanity [Closed] [Soon to be Concluded]

Tagging everyone who expressed interest:

@Sigma@rezay@Timemaster@Irredeemable@an abomunist

Through the Gateways: Humanity [Closed] [Soon to be Concluded]

Through the Gateways

(Don't worry, your ships don't have to look that lame)

Earth is gone. It passed away with a whimper, not a bang, in the throes of war, famine and pestilence. Whatever is left of that all mess can hardly sustain life.

But it did give us one last gift before the end. A desperate government, equipped with technology that still outstrips anything seen in the galaxy today, threw the last of its resources into the making of the Gateways. Massive artificial wormholes, each one set to lead to a different location. Colonists were sent haphazardly through them. Humanity was scattered across the entire Milky Way: separated from eachother, lost, but determined to survive.

And now, three hundred years later, we're starting to find one another.

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General Idea

For me, the most interesting part about NRP has always been the interactions between different cultures. How does the warmonger react to the pacifists? What happens when a group of religious faithful meet a society of militant atheists?

That's what I want to focus on in this RP. We'll each be taking on the role of a different Colony established by Earth about three-hundred years ago. We were sent through artificial wormholes to our current homes, but after the fall of Earth, the wormholes generators ceased to function, leaving each Colony completely cut off from the rest of Humanity.

Now think about how your Colony might have evolved during this time. Did they land on a harsh world, and had to use genetic engineering to survive? Are they ruled over by a ruthless dictator? Do they even speak the same language anymore? I want this to be heavily culture-focused, so your imagination is the limit.

Now, for reasons unknown, the Gateways have started to function again. All at once. For the first time in three centuries, our poor little Colonies will be sending their ships across the Gateways and finding one another. And personally, I think it could be pretty fun to RP these early 'first contact' interactions. Seeing how our different people respond to one another. And as the RP goes on, I'm not opposed to anything; war, trade, diplomacy, or whatever else.

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Tech Guidelines

I don't want to limit anyone too much. But for the sake of simplicity and keeping everyone's Colony at roughly the same level, I think it might help to have a few guidelines.

1. FTL other than the Gateways does not currently exist.
The reasoning here is just so that our Colonies have not spread too far beyond their own star sytems, putting everyone on the same footing and preventing anyone from starting the game with a massive galaxy-spanning empire already in place.

2. Every Gateway can lead to every other Gateway.
The Gateways are designed to uplink with ships, allowing them to choose their destination. This means that every Colony can get to every other Colony, so that none of us are prevented from interacting with one another because we're not close enough together on a map

3. Since the fall of Earth, the technology to create more Gateways has been lost.
Similar reasoning as the first one. This is just to prevent anyone from already having spread too far from where they started.

4. One may only communicate through the Gateways with Colonies one has already met.
This is to encourage meeting other nations by visiting them, rather than only talking through the Gateway. For more explanation of the rule, and the reasoning behind it, you could visit the FAQ.

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On Joining and Leaving:

If someone wants to join after the game has already begun, I've decided I'll just say that the Gateway leading to their colony has only now opened. Likewise, if someone leaves or goes MIA, we can say the their colony's Gateway just shut down as mysteriously as it had reactivated. In this way, the NRP should be able to accept new players whenever, and survive losses without grinding to a halt.

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Interested?

Nation Sheet below.

Nation Sheet

Nation Name:

Government Form:
_{(Presidential Democracy? Anarcho-communism? Caliphate? Whoever collects the most edible food is in charge? Or anything else you can think of.)}

Demographics:
_{(Humans, probably. But what other demographics might matter here? Have you integrated with aliens? Is there a religious minority that should be mentioned?)}

Population:
_{(Let's say that each colony ship has started with a population ranging anywhere from 100,000 to 1,000,000. From there, we go on an empire size scale of:
500 Million: Small
1 Billion: Average
2 Billion: Large
3 Bil+:Massive)}
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_{(This is probably a good place to insert a flag or other representative image)}
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Planet Name and Description: _{(So where did your Colony end up? What's the environment like?)}

History: _{(What happened after your Colony landed? This can be as brief or detailed as you like.)}

Culture and Society: _{(How do they live? Anything from ritual cannibals, to a surveillance state dystopia, to an integrated hivemind.)}

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Governance and Politics: _{(Like the government form field, but more room for detail. If your Colony has changed in such a way that it doesn't even have a government or politics anymore, this is also a good place to talk about that.)}

Technology Overview: _{(What have your people invented? Or have they forgotten anything?)}

Military Overview: _{(This is the space to talk about any offensive capabilities you have. Given that most of these Colonies have been essentially stranded by themselves for three centuries, I don't imagine anyone has a large "conquer other planets" level fleet yet. But maybe your Colony has been in civil war for a hundred years, and has built up an impressive military in that time. Or maybe they even had to fend off a genuine alien invasion.)}

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Additional Info: _{(Anything else you want to include that there isn't a spot for up there.)}

Feel free to add new sections or change around NS formatting as needed.

Also, as per our own Irredeemable, here's the Discord link!: discord.gg/ZKcvNr2T4K

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Rules

1.) No godmodding, or controlling other player's characters/Colonies
A basic rule in any RP. You know it, you love it.

2.) Cannot fully conquer other player's Colonies without permission.
You can go to war with another player. But you will need the a-okay from them before I allow you to completely exterminate/assimilate/remove another nation from the game.

3.) If conflicts cannot be decided, the GM will arbitrate.
This goes for IC and OOC conflicts. I always prefer for people to work things out mutually. Ideally, everyone can agree about who wins/loses wars, or who has the upper hand in trade, or so on. But if you can't, I'll step in to try playing judge fairly.

4.) Avoid portraying real-world religions.
This is mostly out of respect and caution. It makes me uncomfortable to see someone trying to play a faith they don't believe in. However, you are free to create a new religion descended from the ones of Earth, as many players have.

5.) When using concept art for your NS/posts, avoid anime pictures.
I'll allow some! But I don't want the RP to feel too anime, so try to keep it light. (This one is less of a rule and more of a guideline.)

6.) Everyone just play nice.
please?

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FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is space magic allowed?
A: No. But I'll allow fantasy-style elements that can be explained in a science-y way.

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Q: Can we meet other Colonies through methods other than the Gateway?
A: No. We do not have FTL other than the Gateways, and humanity is spread out across an unimaginable distance. It would take centuries of travel to bump into another human settlement. And more bluntly put: the theme of this RP revolves around the Gateways, so naturally other forms of travel are limited.

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Q: Can we communicate through the Gateways?
A: Short answer: Yes, but only with Colonies you have met already.

Long Answer

Previously, I did not allow communications through Gateways, because I was afraid that early players would just send messages through the Gateways instead of seeking out other Colonies to meet them. However, datadogie proposed a solution.

We can say that we're unable to communicate through the Gateways because our encryption technology has developed separately, but as time goes on, we'll learn eachother's communications. This means that you can now send messages back home, or to previous contacts (as you have encountered their communications technology before).

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Q: Are aliens allowed?
A: Your Colony was founded by humans from Earth, but you may have met aliens in the time since, so yes.

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Q: Can we choose our Gateway destination?
A: Yes! Gateways link-up with oncoming ships, allowing you to choose your destination. It presents system and planet names, but not descriptions.

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Q: The technology level seems inconsistent.
A: It is. Within the RP, these Colonies have developed independently for 300 years, so some may be more advanced/unadvanced than others in surprising ways. (And outside of the RP, I'm just one person who cannot feasibly research, debate and rule on every fictional technology.)

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Q: Can we have multiple Colonies?
A: Up to 2 at a time. But if one is destroyed or you choose to take it out of the RP (which can be done via the Gateway closing), then you can create another one. A possible option if you get bored of your Colony but don't want to leave the whole RP.

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Q: What happened to Earth?
A: A combination of environmental disaster, political strife and nuclear war. The first and last one especially have left the planet uninhabitable.

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Q: What does Earth look like now?
A: It's been described now by various different players, but the recurring theme is that it's turned gray and brown, with no color or life whatsoever. It's been called a "defeated lump of clay," and "Ashen. No blue. No green... Not even the white of clouds."

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Q: Where, exactly, is the Meeting Place?
A: In orbit of Earth.

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Q: How close together are the colonies?
A: The colonies were established anywhere that the last generations of Earth humans thought might be habitable. That means that most of them are probably close enough to Earth to be seen via telescope, or whatever sensors people invented before the end.

Also,
Irr and Sigma have hinted that the aliens who invaded Columbia, and the aliens who still invade Matuvista, are actually the same race.

While me and TM have established that the aliens who built the city the One lives in are the same ones who left ruin-cities on New Hollywood

So, that implies we must be relatively close, if the same aliens keep popping up.

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New Players

Welcome! If you've just been accepted into the RP, or if you're just now thinking about making an NS, this is a good place to start. Below is a summary of the major events of the game thus far (wars, alliances, interactions, etc.) and a How To Start segment that should eliminate any confusion about what to do after you've been accepted.

Game Summary- Galactic History Book

When the Gateways first reopened, there was a period of hope and exploration.

Three hundred years had passed since Earth fell, and not one of its colonies had contact with another in that time. No colony could then be sure if other humans had survived, and so most of them sent explorers randomly through to the Gateways of other systems- simply to see if anyone was still there. When they did find their lost relatives, reactions were... mixed. These early meetings were often impromptu and confused. Some colonies did not speak the same language any more. Some had diverged so much in culture, they could no longer understand each other even when they did have the same tongue.

There was one instance particularly worth mentioning, as it may have laid the groundwork for the later creation of the Meeting Place. Four nations- the Zetan Consciousness, the Earth Cultural Union, the United Republic of Columbia, and the Undefeated- met together in the Sol system, where Earth remained uninhabited. This meeting was completely by coincidence: each had decided to send a scout to see what became of Earth, and were all equally surprised to bump into each other in the neighborhood.

Eventually, the Sol system would become the designated place for diplomatic gatherings, and the "Meeting Place" was built there. As this new, international installation was made from contributions of nearly every colony active at that time, it was the first sign of cooperation between the lost colonies of Earth. A hopeful, inspiring moment.

Next, a war happened.

It began with Dr. Bodi, who defected from the Earth Cultural Union and into the Zetan Consciousness. This may not have triggered a war in other circumstances, but the situation between the ECU and the Zetans was already precarious. The Zetans are transhumanists, who modify their bodies with cybernetic implants throughout their lives. The Earth Cultural Union, on the other hand, are traditionalists determined to keep humanity exactly as it was when Earth was still alive. For someone to leave their world to join the Zetan cyborgs was a great insult, and it was met with an invasion.

The Cultural Union's allies, the Undefeated, also joined in on the invasion, having similar views about the Zetans. Together they destroyed the Consciousness's navy, and soon after occupied the planet. This turned out to be a mistake, as the Zetan Occupation would become a painful siege which cost thousands of lives on all sides. Nobody could truly win; it was tunnel fighting and ambushes and traumatized soldiers.

At this point, other nations considered how they should respond to such a bloody war, but struggled to discover any facts about what was really happening. The Earth Cultural Union began an intense propaganda campaign, which kept the galactic community off-balance enough to prevent anyone from interceding on behalf of the Zetans. In fact, they even seduced over a few "volunteer" mercenaries from the United Republic of Columbia.

The war was only brought to an end, at last, thanks to the efforts of the Xandalian Republic. A nation with a past in which they nearly suffered genocide themselves, the Xandalians found themselves very concerned with the Cultural Union's behavior towards Zetans. They feared a potential genocide of the cyborgs. And of course, the propaganda and general evasiveness of Cultural Union representatives caused further concern. Eventually, they threatened to declare war on the Earth Cultural Union and the Undefeated if they did not cease their invasion of Zeta.

It was not to be. Tired of losing soldiers in a war that couldn't be won, the Undefeated abandoned the Zetan Occupation. Now with no allies to back them up, and mounting international pressure, the Earth Cultural Union at last withdrew as well. The first war since the reopening of the Gateways was over. Zeta celebrated.

A time of hopeful progress seemed to follow. A new colony recently arriving on the scene, the Lorne Administration, found themselves with much opportunity in the post-war world. They are a corporation, specializing in megastructures and space-born construction projects, and they were immediately able to make big deals with other nations. Everyone was eager for progress.

As if an omen, many other new nations came on the scene around this time, such as the Matuvistans , the One, and the New Haven Directorate.

The first of those, the Matuvistans, were already making many waves. They invited diplomats and dignitaries from every nation to a Gala onboard a luxury starship, where they highlighted their Latin American descended culture and the wealth of their ruling class. They quickly formed a fledgling alliance with the older nation of traditionalists, the ECU, and attempted to aide their new allies against an uprising on their planet.

Many other nations- the Xandalians, Colombians, and even the One- have also become involved in this internal conflict. It has become known as the White Flower Revolution, as the anti-ECU rebels are called White Flowers. But the Galactic History Book has yet to see how this new war will unfold.

How To Start- The Meeting Place

When a new nation joins our Galaxy, we most strongly recommend that they visit the Meeting Place first.

As you will probably know from the OP above, the Gateways connect to every colony, from every colony, so each of us can travel to each other at anytime. They also all connect to Earth, and there has been built a neutral station named the Meeting Place. It's modular, so every colony can add their own 'section' to it. One nation has a section filled with fancy decorations and holographic servants, another's segment mostly seems to house soldiers, etc. If you want (it's not required), you can say that your nation is building on to it as well, although it probably wouldn't be done right away.

Either way, the Meeting Place is where most diplomacy happens. Earlier in the game, nations were coming in to "introduce themselves." They would broadcast a message on the station that all other nations could hear, so that every Colony could be considered to know each other with out us having to write out every single first contact.

Like so:

There's a space up ahead, in this part of the Meeting Place largely constructed by the ECU. Holograms flicker in and out of being, appearing when needed, vanishing when not. And flying cameras hover around, eager to record the new Liason Tanaka's first words. New Hollywood is attending the Event, of course. Oligarchs never turn down an invitation.

"Humans of the Galaxy," the young man begins, finally actualizing the words he's practiced so many times. "I am here on behalf of the Earth Cultural Union. We are a league of mankind, dedicated to preserving the cultures, ways and forms of our great ancestors. We believe in the potential of humanity, but also in respect for our true nature. We believe in the ways of our lost home, and also in the reality of our present situation. If you will hear us, we will work with you, to revitalize all that has been forgotten. To keep the torch of Earth burning bright even through this long night. To stand against the darkness, and not forget who we are. Thank you."

That description will soon be recorded in the databanks of the Meeting Place, and sent out to all other nations who participate in this Event. Even now, the ECU is also hearing the introductions of other Colonies, both friends and strangers. And enemies. The time of first contacts is over. Even Tanaka realizes. It is time for the action to begin.

If you wanted to send a diplomat to the Meeting Place to do something like that, it would be a good way for your Colony to join the community we have going. (The alternative is to try meeting each other nation individually, which is obviously both difficult and time-consuming.)

After that, it's essentially all up to you. We're fairly sandbox here. You'll find that other player's nations will probably reach out to you, and you can go ahead and get involved in your diplomacy, war, trade, intergalactic piracy- whatever

Through the Gateways: Humanity

@rezay@Sigma
Glad to hear it! I think we have enough interested parties, so I'll be setting up an OOC soon.

Through the Gateways: Humanity

@Irredeemable
Oh nah, I love it. And yeah, I feel you about research. Wikipedia can lead you to some weird places

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Hey y'all, one thing I've realized is that we probably need to add populations to our NS. So, I'm going to add a Population field right under Demographics.

For the sake of leaving it mostly up to you, let's say that each colony ship has started with a population ranging anywhere from 100,000 to 1,000,000. So you can decide both how large your Colony began, and measure how much it's grown (or diminished) since then.

Through the Gateways: Humanity

@an abomunist@Timemaster

Glad to have some interest. While we wait to see if anyone else wants to join in, I went ahead and drew up a Nation Sheet. I tried to make it brief but broad, and if there's anything else you want to include, feel free to add your own categories or change the formatting or whatevs.

Nation Sheet

Nation Name:

Government Form:
_{(Presidential Democracy? Anarcho-communism? Caliphate? Whoever collects the most edible food is in charge? Or anything else you can think of.)}

Demographics:
_{(Humans, probably. But what other demographics might matter here? Have you integrated with aliens? Is there a religious minority that should be mentioned?)}

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_{(This is probably a good place to insert a flag or other representative image)}
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Planet Name and Description: _{(So where did your Colony end up? What's the environment like?)}

History: _{(What happened after your Colony landed? This can be as brief or detailed as you like.)}

Culture and Society: _{(How do they live? Anything from ritual cannibals, to a surveillance state dystopia, to an integrated hivemind.)}

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Governance and Politics: _{(Like the government form field, but more room for detail. If your Colony has changed in such a way that it doesn't even have a government or politics anymore, this is also a good place to talk about that.)}

Technology Overview: _{(What have your people invented? Or have they forgotten anything?)}

Military Overview: _{(This is the space to talk about any offensive capabilities you have. Given that most of these Colonies have been essentially stranded by themselves for three centuries, I don't imagine anyone has a large "conquer other planets" level fleet yet. But maybe your Colony has been in civil war for a hundred years, and has built up an impressive military in that time. Or maybe they even had to fend off a genuine alien invasion.)}

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Additional Info: _{(Anything else you want to include that there isn't a spot for up there.)}

Through the Gateways: Humanity

Through the Gateways

(Don't worry, your ships don't have to look that lame)

Earth is gone. It passed away with a whimper, not a bang, in the throes of war, famine and pestilence. Whatever is left of that all mess can hardly sustain life.

But it did give us one last gift before the end. A desperate government, equipped with technology that still outstrips anything seen in the galaxy today, threw the last of its resources into the making of the Gateways. Massive artificial wormholes, each one set to lead to a different location. Colonists were sent haphazardly through them. Humanity was scattered across the entire Milky Way: separated from eachother, lost, but determined to survive.

And now, three hundred years later, we're starting to find one another.

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General Idea

For me, the most interesting part about NRP has always been the interactions between different cultures. How does the warmonger react to the pacifists? What happens when a group of religious faithful meet a society of militant atheists?

That's what I want to focus on in this RP. We'll each be taking on the role of a different Colony established by Earth about three-hundred years ago. We were sent through artificial wormholes to our current homes, but after the fall of Earth, the wormholes generators ceased to function, leaving each Colony completely cut off from the rest of Humanity.

Now think about how your Colony might have evolved during this time. Did they land on a harsh world, and had to use genetic engineering to survive? Are they ruled over by a ruthless dictator? Do they even speak the same language anymore? I want this to be heavily culture-focused, so your imagination is the limit.

Now, for reasons unknown, the Gateways have started to function again. All at once. For the first time in three centuries, our poor little Colonies will be sending their ships across the Gateways and finding one another. And personally, I think it could be pretty fun to RP these early 'first contact' interactions. Seeing how our different people respond to one another. And as the RP goes on, I'm not opposed to anything; war, trade, diplomacy, or whatever else.

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Tech Guidelines

I don't want to limit anyone too much. But for the sake of simplicity and keeping everyone's Colony at roughly the same level, I think it might help to have a few guidelines.

1. FTL other than the Gateways does not currently exist.
The reasoning here is just so that our Colonies have not spread too far beyond their own star sytems, putting everyone on the same footing and preventing anyone from starting the game with a massive galaxy-spanning empire already in place.

2. Every Gateway can lead to every other Gateway.
The Gateways are designed to uplink with ships, allowing them to choose their destination. This means that every Colony can get to every other Colony, so that none of us are prevented from interacting with one another because we're not close enough together on a map

3. Since the fall of Earth, the technology to create more Gateways has been lost.
Similar reasoning as the first one. This is just to prevent anyone from already having spread too far from where they started.

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Interested?

Nation Sheet below.

Nation Sheet

Nation Name:

Government Form:
_{(Presidential Democracy? Anarcho-communism? Caliphate? Whoever collects the most edible food is in charge? Or anything else you can think of.)}

Demographics:
_{(Humans, probably. But what other demographics might matter here? Have you integrated with aliens? Is there a religious minority that should be mentioned?)}

Population:
_{(Let's say that each colony ship has started with a population ranging anywhere from 100,000 to 1,000,000. So you can decide both how large your colony began, and measure how much it's grown (or diminished) since then.)}
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_{(This is probably a good place to insert a flag or other representative image)}
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Planet Name and Description: _{(So where did your Colony end up? What's the environment like?)}

History: _{(What happened after your Colony landed? This can be as brief or detailed as you like.)}

Culture and Society: _{(How do they live? Anything from ritual cannibals, to a surveillance state dystopia, to an integrated hivemind.)}

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Governance and Politics: _{(Like the government form field, but more room for detail. If your Colony has changed in such a way that it doesn't even have a government or politics anymore, this is also a good place to talk about that.)}

Technology Overview: _{(What have your people invented? Or have they forgotten anything?)}

Military Overview: _{(This is the space to talk about any offensive capabilities you have. Given that most of these Colonies have been essentially stranded by themselves for three centuries, I don't imagine anyone has a large "conquer other planets" level fleet yet. But maybe your Colony has been in civil war for a hundred years, and has built up an impressive military in that time. Or maybe they even had to fend off a genuine alien invasion.)}

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Additional Info: _{(Anything else you want to include that there isn't a spot for up there.)}

I'm looking for about 2-5 other players, but I'm willing to roll with more or less. All aboard?