Roleplay OP Construction site.

by **G-Tech Corporation** » Tue Jun 19, 2018 4:27 pm

Rise and Fall

by **G-Tech Corporation** » Wed Jul 04, 2018 9:38 am

The Ages of Man

For centuries man has fought man, and empires have risen fallen. Two thousand years and more of history passed like leaves in the autumn, the only records those of ruins and parchment. Before kings and gods though, there was only man. Beneath the pale moon he walked alone, kin beside him alone, no mysterious forces to know, no politics to maneuver, no plots to be entangled in. This is the story of those first men; how he tamed beast and field, turned earth to his will, raised high his cities, and brought low his foes. Ere tilled was furrow or blade was wrought the wanders traveled the face of the world long ago, writing no books but singing many songs, the air of the world still fresh and new-made. Unbreathed. To the heights of greatness he will rise, for so it is ordained, but who will rise, who will fall, who will prosper and who will perish- these questions are not woven into the tapestry of the times. Only the weaver can know what strands will enter the pattern. Welcome, to the Ages of Man.

So, this is a RP. In this RP you, gentle RPer, will step into the shoes of the overlord of a tribe, a people, a nation separate and apart. Not every man do you rule, for that would be a burden indeed, but it is your task to guide your people upon the face of the new world. Language they have, and wise thought, but how they shall shape the world to their needs is up to you. You may be the lord of many wandering bands, their yearly rounds feeding them and sustaining the growing hordes, or the master of one of the first civilizations upon the Earth. But this Earth is not our Earth- her face is changed, and starkly different. To triumph, you will need to learn her secrets, so your people may survive, and endure. And you are not alone. Other men in their countless thousands walk the land as well, far sundered from you in speech and manner, but blood of your blood- and their blood spills as well as yours. If they are your allies or your foes is for you to decide. Guide your people to greatness, leader, or see their very bones scattered to the four winds by the ravages of history.

Application
Civilization Name:
Civilization Type: Settled | Nomadic
Ethnic Description:
Civilization History:
Leader Name:
Starting Location: (One region to begin with, if you please)
RP Sample:

Welcome to the Ages of Man! This is a nice casual civilization building RP, with a plot that will take quite some time to unfold, but which I hope y'all will greatly enjoy. All anyone needs to know for now is that you, gentle reader, will assume the role of the leader of one of the fledgling civilizations of the Blessed Continent. Through the years and eventually the centuries you must guide your people, to greatness or ignominy. To that end, you will make decisions, raise cities, lead armies, and weather the long decades of antiquity as you form your civilization in the image you have chosen for it. Not all paths will end in success- the roadside of history may soon become littered with the vanished monuments and sunken ruins of those who faltered in their journey. But, if you have the will to power, yours may be one of the civilizations that stands the test of time.

Important RP Concepts

Time
The passage of time defines the evolution of both men and principalities. Your ruler, however wise and noble, will one day grow old and perish- as time sweeps across the land your folk may labor to raise monuments, manufacture weapons, and more. By ease of convention, two IC months will pass every IC day- RPers will be allowed to make up up to one year of IC time if they fall behind on posting, but no more. If you don't think you will be able to post once a week, more or less, this might not be the RP for you. Most resources/actions/etc. are calculated on either a two month or one year basis.

Leadership
In the ages of antiquity, being led by a ruler with vision and vigor is paramount. You, as a RPer, are essentially represented upon the Blessed Continent by your civilization's leader and their lineage. Take care of them. If your line fails, or you fail to train your heir well before your current leader succumbs o the ravages of time, your civilization may suffer for it. Often if your leader's family is wiped entirely from the face of the Blessed Continent you will be eliminated from the game- you should probably try to avoid such a state of affairs.

Leaders have many qualities, the foremost of which are Wisdom, Prowess, and Gravitas. These govern how well they may lead your civilization, and must be cultivated in your heirs if you wish for your civilization to flourish. Default Leaders available at the start of the RP begin with a score of 3 in all categories. Heirs may be trained once a year between the ages of 9 and 18, with each period of training adding one to a chosen quality. This takes two months of a Leader's time.

Rule
Your leader is, of course, responsible for ensuring the civilization they administrate flourishes. This requires that they monitor the harvests of the people, protect them from other tribes, give them a sense of national unity, and more. To this end your people may wish to expand to new lands, construct various edifices to aid them in those goals, or even develop better and more useful methods of using the land they already possess. This is the meat of the RP, and what will govern whether your civilization rises or falls- the art of Ruling.

Population: By default, every region has a Population of eight thousand souls, and a Free Population of two thousand souls. Population that is not Free is occupied with subsistence-level activities, and may generally not be commanded by a ruler, but may in time of desperate war be called up to serve the military needs of their people.
Stability: Respect and honor paid to a ruler, how much trust their populace places in them. If Stability falls, revolutions, assassination attempts, and even secession may occur in a civilization. Negative Stability is something you definitely want to avoid.
Labor: Raw manpower, the sweat of the brow and the assembled efforts of the masses. Each Free Population may contribute one "point" of Labor towards a project dictated by their Ruler every two months, if their Ruler so chooses. This is not exclusive with most other professions, unless otherwise noted. Labor is used for most projects, from plowing fields to constructing henges to forging weapons.
Food: People need to be fed. This generally isn't an issue; the Population of a region is categorically capable of feeding itself. However, Food may come up as a concern during times of natural disaster or military campaign. Each Population mobilized from the non-Free segment of a region's Population must be fed one Food every two months or Stability will suffer.
Might: The assembled power of the warriors of your civilization. It is calculated on a per-region basis, and prevents other civilizations from waltzing in to take your shiny things and bread. By default defenders of a region receive a 10% bonus to their Might rating, so attacking a tribe with the same amount of warriors as you is unlikely to succeed.
Knowledge: A nebulous but highly important concept, Knowledge is the comprehension of the natural world which your people possess. It may be spent to develop Technologies, but is also required to maintain said Technologies.
Favor: The shamans speak of gods and powers that dictate the order of the immaterial world, and say that we should court their goodwill. Precisely what any of this mysticism has any effect on is... dubious.

by **Plzen** » Tue Aug 28, 2018 7:01 am

The Dark Ages

IMAGE HERE

Inspired by Crusader Kings II

The King is dead. Long live the new King!

This castle truly is grand, Your Imperial Majesty. Truly a residence fit for an Emperor. Finely-coloured glassworks decorate every window looking down at this prosperous and busy city, the centre of trade, administration, and learning. White marble arch over the central hall, towards the painted ceiling that we commissioned from the greatest artists of our time. The red floor is a Persian rug, brought to us by our steward and his extensive contacts among the traders who ply the Levant, Persia, and the Silk Road beyond. But beware, Your Imperial Majesty. Appearances can be deceiving, and not all may be as it seems.

For all beings beneath the Almighty, there are limits. Wide marble corridors and fine coloured windows do not necessarily translate into invincible armies and grand fleets. Painted ceilings and burgundy rugs do not necessarily represent the faith of our peasantry and the fullness of our treasury. For all men, even for those charged with the grave duty of leadership, there are limits. And one needs to develop a keen eye to recognise one's limits, should one hope to keep that duty.

Outside our gates, our splendid capital, out there beyond our borders, fanatical heathens grind their battle axes, ready to strike on the smallest real or perceived provocation to stream down as a flood across our frontiers into the heart of our civilised world, into the heartland of our own empire. To our west and east lie jealous rivals, probing our realm for any vulnerabilities that will permit them to act on their unrestrained greed over our productive and fertile farmlands. Take the words of your neighbours not at their face value, for a false smile and a cheerful greeting can hide a dark and cold heart.

Daggers lie everywhere, Your Imperial Majesty, and your heir is yet so young...

For example, Your Imperial Majesty...

Who do you think I really work for?

Rules and Mechanics

Objectives

Players in this roleplay will represent the great kingdoms and empires of medieval Europe, North Africa, and the Near East. By seeking amicable relations with your fellow players - or confronting them in great conflicts when necessary - you must strive to emerge at the other end with your realm intact, and preferably also powerful and prospering.

The Passage of Time

Time in this roleplay is subdivided into turns. Each turn represents approximately five years of in-character time. Each turn will last a different number of real-life hours depending on the number of actions that players wish to resolve during the turn, but will not in any case last less than 24 hours. Each turn consists of a events phase, in which random events happen and resources are generated, and player actions phase, in which players may trade resources and fight conflicts.

Imperial Regimes

Each player empire has an official state religion and a government type. Government types fit into the broad categories of monarchies, republics, and theocracies. The available state religions fit into the broad categories of Christian, Islamic, Jewish, Eastern, Rodnovery, Norse, Romuva, Suomenusko, and Tengri. If you wish to play as a different religion, fill out the given religion application. Note: religion applications will not be accepted unless very well written.

Religions provide a bonus to the empire following that faith.

Players must also choose a religion that was historically present in the general proximity of the area that the player is playing in. Although some deviation from a religion's real-life extent would be tolerated, an Islamic or Eastern empire in Scandinavia, for example, will not be accepted.

Ruler

Each player empire has a ruler, the in-character person who leads the player empire. Rulers sometimes possess exceptional abilities, which will manifest itself as a bonus in your player empire until the death and eventual replacement of that ruler. Exceptional abilities are randomly given to some rulers upon their ascent to rulership, but may also be awarded as a reward for well-written in-character posts, ingenuous manipulation of other players, or some other exceptional roleplayer feat.

For each turn except a ruler's first three, a ruler has a 1/3 chance of dying in the events phase (this gives each ruler an average of 5 turns, or 25 years, on the throne). If a ruler dies, all ruler exceptional abilities associated with that ruler will be removed, and the player must nominate another character to take his place as ruler. Player empires may not declare great conflicts on the turn in which their ruler has died.

Kingdoms

Each coloured space on the base map represents a kingdom. They are the basis of the players' wealth and power, and the main objectives of their struggles. Two kingdoms are said to be directly adjacent to each other if they share a common border or if they face each other across a river. Two kingdoms are also said to be coastally adjacent to each other if they share a common coast with each other, or with a common country in the middle. For example, Denmark is considered coastally adjacent to Finland as both share their eastern coast with Sweden.

EXCEPTION: Norse empires may consider Ireland, Wales, England, Northumbria, Scotland, Normandy, and Frisia to be coastally adjacent to both Denmark and Norway. They may also consider Russia and Lithuania coastally adjacent to Sweden.
EXCEPTION: even though they are not conventionally connected, Grenada is considered coastally adjacent to Morocco, England to Normandy and Frisia, and Ireland to Wales and Scotland.

During the player actions phase, kingdoms may be traded between players unless they are currently contested in a great conflict.

Development and Resources

Each kingdom has a certain amount of development, which represents the kingdom's utility to the owning power. Development comes in three flavours: economic, cultural, and military. Each events phase, a kingdom's economic, cultural, and military development will produce gold, prestige, and levies respectively. However, due to the decentralised nature of feudal realms and the inefficient administrations of the era, kingdoms other than the player's primary kingdom would contribute less. For the purposes of calculating per-turn income, the kingdom with the highest total development contributes 4 resources per development, the next contributes 3 per development, the third contributes 2 per development, the fourth contributes 1 per development, and all other kingdoms will only ever contribute a maximum 1 gold, 1 prestige, and 1 levies regardless of how much development it has (EXCEPTION: Eastern empires may continue to collect one resource per development from all lesser kingdoms).

During the player action phase, players may choose to build more development in the kingdoms under their control. The cost of development is equivalent to the number of total development already on the kingdom doubled. A kingdom is developed economically with prestige, culturally with levies, and militarily with gold. For example, if a player wanted to build an additional cultural development in a kingdom that already has 3 economic, 4 cultural, and 2 military development, the player would have to pay a cost of 18 levies.

Resources may also be freely traded between players in the player action phase. Resources can be stored, but only up to twice the per-turn income. If at the end of the player action phase a player has more of a resource than twice his or her per-turn income, the surplus is lost.

The Silk Road

India appears on the map as a kingdom, but is not considered one. It cannot be owned by a player, nor can it be the target of a great conflict.

If a player owns a kingdom on the eastern edge of the map or directly adjacent to India, that player may during the player actions phase trade one type of resource for another at a 2:1 ratio.

Great Conflict

Any time during the player actions phase, a player may declare a trade dispute, assimilation, or invasion of a kingdom owned by another player. These are collectively known as great conflicts. Trade disputes are limited to kingdoms coastally adjacent to one of your own. Assimilation is limited to kingdoms directly adjacent to one of your own. An invasion can be declared on any kingdom adjacent, directly or coastally, to one of your own.

EXCEPTION: Christian empires may declare war on Rome regardless of adjacency if it is held by a non-Christian, Islamic empires may declare war on Arabia regardless of adjacency if it is held by a non-Christian, and all of Christian, Islamic, and Jewish empires may always declare an invasion for Jerusalem regardless of adjacency if it is not held by the same religion.

Each player may only declare one great conflict per ruler - that is to say, if you declare one, you may not declare another until your current ruler dies. New rulers - ones that were nominated in the current turn - may also not declare great conflicts. EXCEPTION: Tengri empires may declare a great conflict every turn.

The player declaring the great conflict is called the primary attacker, and the player owning the contested kingdom is called the primary defender. When declaring a great conflict, the primary attacker must pledge a certain amount of resources appropriate to the type of conflict - gold for a trade dispute, prestige for assimilation, or levies for an invasion. The primary defender may then choose to pledge an amount of the same resource. If the primary defender is not owned by a player, it will contribute just 1 resource. Other players may then choose to aid either party by pledging the same kind of resource. The primary attacker and defender may choose to pledge more resources during the conflict, but all other players may only make one pledge - so make sure to send enough on the first pledge.

Once each player that wishes to join the conflict has done so, the total amount of resources pledged on either side is compared. The total development of the contested kingdom minus three is added to the defending side. The amount of resources pledged are adjusted as follows, then rounded down to the nearest integer.

If the player is the primary defender, 150% more if the empire is Romuva, Rodnovery, or Suomenusko (so 2 pledged resources becomes 5), 100% more otherwise.
If the player is a monarchy and is not the primary attacker or the primary defender, 100% more if the great conflict is an invasion, 50% more otherwise.
If the player is a republic and the primary opponent is not also a republic, 100% more if the great conflict is a trade dispute, 50% more otherwise.
If the player is a theocracy and the primary ally is of the same religious category but the primary opponent is not, 100% more if the great conflict is assimilation, 50% otherwise.
If the player is the primary defender or is assisting the primary defender, and the contested kingdom is the primary defender's last, 50% more - it is difficult to put an end to an empire.
If the player is assisting the primary defender, and the primary attacker and the primary defender are of the same religious group, 25% more - great conflicts within the same religious group are discouraged.
If the player has no kingdoms adjacent, directly or coastally, to the contested kingdom, 50% less - faraway help will count for less.

All resources pledged in the great conflict is lost. If the total amount of resources pledged in favour of the primary attacker is greater than those pledged in favour of the primary defender, the contested kingdom loses 1 development in each category and becomes owned by the primary attacker. If the resources pledged are the same, or if more was pledged in favour of the primary defender, the great conflict ends in a failure. Note that it is difficult to succeed in a one-on-one great conflict, but the more allies both sides have on their side, the less the 100% bonus to the primary defender matters.

Regardless of the outcome of the great conflict, the primary defender may afterwards opt to change his or her religion or government type, but not both, to that of the primary attacker.

Note: Spending your resources, whether to develop or whether in great conflicts, leaves you vulnerable to other players declaring great conflicts against you!

The World Map

BASE MAP HERE
CURRENT REALM MAP HERE

by **Harkback Union** » Thu Aug 30, 2018 12:45 pm

Plzen wrote:
The Dark Ages

IMAGE HERE

Inspired by Crusader Kings II

The King is dead. Long live the new King!

This castle truly is grand, Your Imperial Majesty. Truly a residence fit for an Emperor. Finely-coloured glassworks decorate every window looking down at this prosperous and busy city, the centre of trade, administration, and learning. White marble arch over the central hall, towards the painted ceiling that we commissioned from the greatest artists of our time. The red floor is a Persian rug, brought to us by our steward and his extensive contacts among the traders who ply the Levant, Persia, and the Silk Road beyond. But beware, Your Imperial Majesty. Appearances can be deceiving, and not all may be as it seems.

For all beings beneath the Almighty, there are limits. Wide marble corridors and fine coloured windows do not necessarily translate into invincible armies and grand fleets. Painted ceilings and burgundy rugs do not necessarily represent the faith of our peasantry and the fullness of our treasury. For all men, even for those charged with the grave duty of leadership, there are limits. And one needs to develop a keen eye to recognise one's limits, should one hope to keep that duty.

Outside our gates, our splendid capital, out there beyond our borders, fanatical heathens grind their battle axes, ready to strike on the smallest real or perceived provocation to stream down as a flood across our frontiers into the heart of our civilised world, into the heartland of our own empire. To our west and east lie jealous rivals, probing our realm for any vulnerabilities that will permit them to act on their unrestrained greed over our productive and fertile farmlands. Take the words of your neighbours not at their face value, for a false smile and a cheerful greeting can hide a dark and cold heart.

Daggers lie everywhere, Your Imperial Majesty, and your heir is yet so young...

For example, Your Imperial Majesty...

Who do you think I really work for?

Love thy flavor text!

by **Harkback Union** » Mon Oct 15, 2018 4:36 pm

Resources & Civilization

by **Harkback Union** » Mon Oct 15, 2018 5:09 pm

STARS, PLANETS AND MOONS

by **Harkback Union** » Wed Oct 17, 2018 2:16 pm

The year is 1920. After 6 years of bloodshed, the first world war has finally come to the end.

There were no winners...

One by one, the great powers of Europe fell to anarchy from a toxic mix of economic downturn, epidemics and general strikes. The fires of revolution quickly spread overseas, where former colonies rapidly declared independence, often followed by devastating civil wars by rivaling political factions. National borders vanished, century old institutions and ruling dynasties were overthrown. Millions died in the process, many more lost hope and left their homeland for the few remaining isles of stability, resulting in mass migrations. The future looked uncertain and bleak...

But from the chaos, in a matter of mere months, powerful factions arose. Fueled by ideology and force of arms alike, they reunited disjointed territories into new countries. New borders were drawn, armies raised and governments installed. But the work ahead was great. The new leadership faced massive unemployment, resource shortages, public safety and health issues and uncertain foreign relations. Factories and railroad lines lay abandoned, overgrown and rusting, farms short on seeds and livestock, schools without chalk and automobiles without petrol. It is now up to the NEW WORLD ORDER to restore the prosperity of the past.

WELCOME TO THE XXth Century!

T i m e

L a n d

E c o n o m i c s

P o l i t i c s

M i l i t a r y

by **Harkback Union** » Sun May 19, 2019 12:35 pm

Welcome to:
A Game of Crowns

A roleplay/game of intrigue and feudal feuding.

[url]IC[/url]

Work is still in progress on the OP but you can already apply.

Summary:

Game of crowns is a mix of turn-based strategy and roleplay. The rules are fairly simple and there is very little math involved.

In each kingdom, there are 2 roles to be had. You are either a king or one of his lieges. Now both the king and the lieges can have Territory and Armies but there is a limit to how much they can have in total, the hand limit. Holdings generate income and give special abilities while Armies win (or lose) battles but cost money to maintain. There are only few kind of Holdings and armies to keep things simple. Now, here is what the game is really about: Who gets to be the king.

The king can write laws and depending on his laws, he should be able to take away holdings and armies from lieges as well as he could set taxes on his lieges to fund the royal coffers. Of course, the lieges could refuse the king's demands and could even rebel against their king. Rebellions would call for battles. In battles, all the lieges in the kingdom would have to pick sides (although they could also remain neutral), but once they did pick a side on a turn, they cannot change sides until next turn. Now, this is important because wars have length. The more castles there are on each side, the longer wars can get while siege engines can shorten wars. Once everyone announced who they are with and the war "expires", a battle takes place where the combined armies clash to see who wins. The winning side can then enforce demands on the losers, including taking away their holdings and can even throw in jail, exile or execute their opponents, or even elect a new king if need be. Lieges could also wage war on other lieges with similar rules if the king doesn't get involved. The winners side must always have consent on how they divide the loot and what they do with the losers. If they can't agree, then they must fight against each other to see who wins or forfeit enforcing any of their demands.

The Goal of the game is to become as powerful and influential as possible... and to survive. Over time, new challenges may face the kingdom(s) we speak of, such as foreign invasions, plagues and religious unrest. Technological and cultural development will be simulated in the game and new options for buildings will open up over time...

Time

The World

Starting stuff

Hand limits

Money and Resources:

Army Training/disbanding

War length and battles

Buildings

Troops

LAW & Demands

Sharing facilities

Culture

Science

Faith

Traits

END OF RULES

Liege App (all such apps are auto-accepted unless stated otherwise)

Code: Select all: Liege name: Liege's appearance: - preferably image - Liege's house (ex: house connington): Liege's starting province (your starting rural estate, give it a name and describe what it's like): Liege's character (what he is like): Liege's short bio: - optional - Liege's trait: Anything else:

King app (Note: We have enough kingdoms for now. Please apply as liege.)

[/quote]

by **Harkback Union** » Sun Aug 11, 2019 6:31 pm

The Mechanics

Only relevant to those whom wish to lead a faction. You may sign up for other, Mechanics-free roles. Please TG me if you are interested.

Feel free to skip past general information and filler text. Warfare and technology are not particularly important at the start of the game either. Crucial rules for new players can be found under MARS/Rules, RESOURCES and COLONIZATION.

- MARS -

- RESOURCES -

The Resources required for martian colonization come in distinct types:
Accumulative resources - Fuel, Military Supplies and Money can be stockpiled freely by all factions. These resources are considered to be untouchable and can be deployed/traded without restriction. There may be additional such resources discovered in the future. Surplus money should be added to the stockpile while expenses deducted.

Temporary resources - Water, Food, Ore, Energy and Carbon do not accumulate. You must make sure your income equals your exceeds your expenses. If you have a deficit in any resources, you must state which colonies or facilities are being undercut as these will be forced to shut down. Your surplus is by default simply wasted if not spent, but to cut your losses, you can trade it to other factions or sell it in off-world markets.

Investments - Industrial Production, Research and Media power are not traditional resources, but material and intellectual progress that allow for projects to be launched. More about this under colonization and Mass Media.

Population - To build new colonies, you will need to hire settlers from earth or the moon. Each population however has distinct characteristics, therefore in case of each colony you must keep track of whom are inhabiting it. Some types of population may boost productivity, while others are more prone to rebellion. In any case, each colony will require 1 Food to keep its inhabitants citizens alive and well. In addition, colonies may require input for their industrial or commercial activities.

Contentment - Finally, Each Colony has a contentment level (individually!). This can be 0, -1 or -2 or "Content, Unhappy and Very Unhappy" and so on, and in rare cases, contentment can reach positive levels. By default, Contentment is set to 0 and you need not worry about it too much. However, if you are unable to supply your colonists with food, contentment will drop by 2 which is not good.. Different types of populations react to this in their own way. As time advances, Crime, Health issues and psychological impacts might also lower contentment. These effects can be negated by building the right facilities.

Reputation - Oh, and one more thing. Each Martian faction has reputation across the solar system. Though not accounted for through mechanics, your actions can influence the world's opinion of you, damage or improve public relations. The consequences of bad reputation can range from trade embargo to colonists refusing to your recruitment offers.

- COLONIZATION -

- TECHNOLOGY -

- WARFARE -

- MEDIA -

- Fin

by **Harkback Union** » Mon Mar 09, 2020 4:03 pm

THE STORY SO FAR...

The Universe is dying...

Countless eons have passed since mankind's escape from earth, and its cosmic diaspora. Countless stars were born and extinguished since their first radio contact with alien intelligence... With space being so vast and rich in resources, they foolishly believed that peaceful coexistence would be self evident... one could not be further from the truth.

The first alien broadcasts decoded warned of an impending danger. It explained on repeat that supernovas and black holes are not a natural phenomena, but the ultimate weapons of mass destruction which are used relentlessly to sterilize all other forms of life by malovelent beings. The universe turned out to be already teeming with intelligent life, engaged in endless cosmic wars spanning several galaxies. It would not be long before humanity is caught in the crossfire.

Other signals from remote corners of the sky offered a wealth of knowledge, revealing serious errors in human science, but The rules of relativity stood firm. As Humans and Xenos traveled across the stars at near light speed velocities, the universe around them came to life. Distant galaxies whirled at breathtaking speeds as years turned into seconds while stars were born and destroyed all around them.

Often, a merchant or explorer returning to their homeworld would find nothing but the ashes of their civilization, that is if the planet was still in one piece. These unfortunate travelers would have become nomads, wandering around the universe in search of a new home. But as they would soon find out, the world around them aged much faster then anticipated.

As the intergalactic wars continued their escalation, a new weapon of mass destruction was discovered. The Hypernova. Shattering blackholes at the galactic center using antimatter caused massive tides of gravitational waves and γ radiation. These explosions reduced everything in their path to cosmic dust, and hastened the expansion of the universe by several orders of magnitude.

Those few who survived the final cataclysm searched the the sky for stable stars within reach, their numbers diminishing rapidly and accelerating away from each other. The night sky became dimmer and dimmer... Soon, there would be nothing left.

Amidst the chaos however, a single cluster of stars remained bound together by an unknown force. The bright pulsar at its edge visible from millions of lightyears away. The "Omega Cluster" contained several dozen star systems of various size, with possibly hundreds of planets and moons. Some might even support life, the survivors hoped as they set course to the cluster. As they would soon find out, they were not alone...

-

SPACETIME CONTINUUM

-

STARS, PLANETS AND MOONS

-

EXPLORATION

-

RESOURCES

-

COLONIZATION

-

STATIONS

-

SPACECRAFT

WARFARE

-

TECHNOLOGY

-

LEADERSHIP

-

ALIEN CONTACT

SOCIETY

by **Harkback Union** » Thu Mar 12, 2020 7:11 pm

by **Harkback Union** » Sun Mar 15, 2020 7:39 pm

ARTEFACT

https://www.google.com/search?tbs=sbi:A ... SFuaIaXnfw

https://www.google.com/search?q=asteroi ... rJmoPwzP7M

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=ht ... B0AAAAAEBo

https://www.google.com/search?tbs=sbi:A ... _1HqRX1hYQ

https://www.deviantart.com/reis1989/art ... -612356771

https://hu.pinterest.com/pin/ASXTYI7HU3 ... T94emw4fs/

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/QzYK8d

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/DNGz9

https://www.google.com/search?tbs=sbi:A ... PGRcL3JXwg

https://www.google.com/search?tbs=sbi:A ... lnE5uNBQbA

https://i.pinimg.com/474x/39/12/6f/3912 ... c-city.jpg

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_KEx6HNbTic/ ... on%2B1.jpg

https://www.google.com/search?tbs=sbi:A ... n3LoRRQ-XQ

-

IDEOLOGY TREE

Reason IIa (Biodomes)
+1 Harmony and +1 Food from Scientific Colonies.

Reason IIb (Research grants)
One time bonus of +50% chance towards 2 random technologies.

Reason III (Citizen Scientists)
Free random breakthrough, +1 Reroll each turn for any tech roll (including breakthrough and tech choice roll)

Faith IIa (Church of light)
+1 Harmony and +1 Food from Farms.
Service (Temple) colonies provide +1 Harmony from each slum.

Faith IIb (Church of darkness)
Allows sacrificing population to earn 1 Food or C or +5% odds towards a tier 1-3 technology (unethical experiments).
Allows Fanaticism (ramming ships in space combat)
Inverts harmony (-1 multiplier). Positive net harmony is now negative, negative net harmony positive. Service (temple) colonies reduce harmony instead of improving it.

Faith IIIa (Selflessness) - Requires Faith IIa
+1% chance per turn for a prophet to spawn. (???)
Allows Fanaticism (ramming ships in space combat).
No harmony penalty from starvation.

Faith IIIb (Bloodlust) - Requires Faith IIb
+1% chance per turn for a dark prophet to spawn. (???)
Purging only requires only 1 army.
+2 to landing rolls.

-

Liberty II (Freedom of Thought)
+2 Harmony from service colonies.
+1% Breakthrough chance with each failed tech roll.

Liberty III (Division of Power)
May not appoint governors.
+1 Appointed leader.
+1 Leader Action per turn (you can do 2 leader actions per turn).

Obedience II (Police State)
5 Armies maintenance free.
Cancel 2 negative harmony per army (dont count defense ones) and fortress colony on planet.
Governors gain +1 Harmony for their planet and +1 harmony for other planets in system.

Obedience IIIa (Feudal Hierarchy)
+3 Appointed leaders (Note: max 1 governor per system!)
+1 Maintenance free ship per governor appointed.
+1 Maintenance free army per governor appointed.
Farming and Fortress colonies cost 2 C less to build.
Governors gain +1 Harmony for their planet and +1 harmony for other planets in system.

Obedience IIIb (Cult of Personality)
Allows Fanaticism (Ramming of ships in battle)
Ignore harmony penalties from slums and starvation.
Expands leader actions with the following:
- Great Leader's scientific insights : Gain a reroll for all tech rolls this turn.
- Great Leader's military parade: Gain a free army on a planet. No maintenance for armies this turn.
- Great Leader's economic touch: +2 C towards military expenditures (ships or armies).
- Great Leader's unbridled charisma: +5 Harmony on a planet of your choice
- Great Leader's frontline command: +2 to Landing rolls in an invasion.
- Great Leader's pioneer corps: Requires 1 free exploration ship. Fully explore a star system. If there is a habitable planet, gain 1 Free colony ship.
There is 1% chance for the great leader to be assassinated per turn for each slum/starving population (chances do not stack up over time). If assassinated, you lose your leader action for 5 turns.

-

Cooperation IIa (Workers Unions)
+1 Harmony from Mining, underground and industrial colonies.

Cooperation III (Clockwork Economics)
Mining (also underground), Industrial and Scientific Colonies cost 2 C less.
+1 C from leader colony development action.

Competition IIa (Private Enterprise)
+1 C from service colonies.
+1 C from leader colony development action.

Competition III (Offworld trading cartels)
+1 C from spaceports above planets with at least 1 colony (max 1 per planet).
Spaceports costs 2 C less.

Cooperation/Competition IIb (R&D Departments)
1 Free tech roll towards an Engineering AND towards a Physics technology once every 5 turns.

by **Olthenia** » Wed Feb 16, 2022 11:42 am

Placeholder.

by **G-Tech Corporation** » Wed Feb 16, 2022 4:20 pm

Olthenia wrote:Placeholder.

Oho!

by **Olthenia** » Sun May 29, 2022 8:51 am

BLACKTOP CHRONICLES

The sun – bright and merciless – rises on a world scarred by radioactive fire.

It’s been more than a century since that cataclysm; however, and things have changed since then - in strange, odd, and perhaps not entirely predictable ways. Call it weird science, alien interference, or just straight up unforeseen consequences – but this? Oh, this world is one warped and altered from the one your ancestors knew. And now, you’re here – picking at the scraps. Preferably, the scraps of a great, dead metropolis recently discovered out in the semi-radioactive wastes.

All players start with their own band of loveable outcasts, scavengers, thieves and ne’er-do-wells – whether chartered by an outside force, running from what passes for wasteland law, or just plain drawn to the rumors of good salvage. They are men and women not far removed from their primitive origins – but with the potential to be so much more.

So! This is basically just a lovely little RP. Some basic things you might want to know about how I'm going to be running it is outlined below.

All crews begin with five members, and I’m only accepting five crews. You may (most likely will) acquire more members as the RP progresses, because who can get much done with so few people?

You should expect to make an IC post once every 48 hours IRL, and only one. A nice simple straightforward expectation, no strings attached. These posts correspond to the passage of a month, in-character.

All crews will begin with a set of four "resources", uncommon materials that will be tracked as vaguely important in the "region" where they live. You will be allowed to choose one of these resources, but the rest I will generate. These don't include generic materials like silt, concrete rubble, mud, trees, and so on, but keep your assumption of what is generic reasonable- copious amounts of copper wiring, for instance, is a resource, not something you can just assume your crew has.

Crew members should be assigned roles upon starting the IC. These roles, broadly speaking, follow the post-apocalyptic setup called ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’. They are important, and may not be changed, but the acquisition of new members will help you balance out your decisions if you think you have chosen poorly.

Techies – The wasteland has its wonders too, as well as its horrors. Techies, be they old-school scientists or outlaw mechanics, appreciate those wonders more than most. If there are challenges to be understood, poisons to be brewed, electricity to be rigged or a clever solution needed to an intricate problem? Find a techie.
Workers – There’s a surprising amount of actual, honest-to-God work to the done in the posy-apocalypse. Whether it’s putting up makeshift fences to keep bad things out, sewing a new tribal war-banner or doing any of the myriad things it takes to keep a camp running – these are your go-to people.
Fighters – Whether you go all fancy and call them ‘mercenaries’ or ‘security specialists’, or just straight up call them out as thugs with machetes and home-made guns – they are what they are. Your big, bad troublemakers. When things go bump in the wasteland night, these are the survivors who generally bump back.
Scouts – Trackers and trail-steppers. Hunters and trappers. Out in the wasteland – be it urban hellscape or irradiated wilderness – these people are the ones that’ll get you out there and back again in more-or-less one piece. For purposes of exploring and mapping your surrounding area, these are your best bet.

And there we go!

Application can be found below:

Code: Select all: [b]Crew Name[/b]: [b]Members[/b]: [b]-[/b] [b]-[/b] [b]-[/b] [b]-[/b] [b]-[/b] [b]General starting location[/b]:

by **G-Tech Corporation** » Sun May 29, 2022 2:54 pm

@ Olth: Looking tasty. I'm hyped.

by **Harkback Union** » Sat Aug 27, 2022 9:56 am

A Nation Exploration RPG

Note: Please ignore my nation's factbook and politics, as it is has been woefully neglected.

April 16th, XX27,
05-07 CHT

Darkness. Darkness all around. Even the powerful green and red navigational lights suspended on the masts above barely manage to shine a few yards through the impenetrable veil of mist surrounding everything. Its eerily quiet. Just barely, one can hear the echoes of distant fog horns, and faint, soothing sound of the ocean waves below. It has been like this all night.

You're all alone. Noone aboard is crazy enough to be out here at this hour. Its cold and dull. There is nothing to see. But you couldn't sleep. This is the last day of the journey, perhaps its the excitement that kept you awake... or the dread. You can feel something in your stomach, and its not the sea sickness. It comes with the shivers. Its been growing on you every day, from the moment you bought the ticket.

"What if they were right..."

Suddenly, a cold wind washes over the deck. The mist around starts to break up, first revealing a sea of stars swimming in the endless expanse above, flickering in rythm with the dancing lights of the aurora borealis.

"What if..."

Below the stars, you can now see streaks of fluffy cotton candy painted golden purple by the forever dawning sun, accompanied by shiny aerostats, mooring on cadmium green radio spires or drifting majesticly in the arctic winds.

"I'll never return?"

Finally, slowly rising out of the sea below, the lights of a neon infested metropolis, shining through columns of smoke and vapor rising from the streets below.
Welcome to the diselpunk distopia of the Harkback Union.

The ocean liner Ella Dorina is speeding full steam towards Port Duwall. Aboard, passengers from far away worlds. Refugees in search of a new home, tourists in search of a cheap getaway, journalists in search of a story, diplomats in search of détente, spies in search of intelligence, curators in search of artworks and relics, cryptozoologists in search of made up creatures, and amnesiacs in search of their old memories, whomever they may be, they must have a reason for coming here, for the voyage is treacherous. Fields of icebergs, torrential cyclones and submarine warfare mean that every journey is a roll of the dice. On top of that, the Harkback Union is exceptionally unpopular as a travel destination. Its considered highly isolationist. Its economy self contained, its culture unfamiliar, its techology enigmatic. Cold climate and remoteness of the country discourage the remainder of potential visitors. But even still, once every full moon, an ocean liner worth of foreigners arrive, with little idea of what awaits them...

This journey at least, went smoothly. The weather was rather gloomy, with thick morning fogs and sunless afternoons, but the captain is an old sea dog who knows every minefield by heart and could steer his ship to port blindfolded. Service was exceptional, for 3rd class passenger that is. 2nd class passengers found life aboard pretty all right, if somewhat dull. First class on the other hand complained that their lodgings are "attrociously 2nd grade", compared the restaurants to "Soup kitchens" and found shipboard entertainment "vulgar" . Luckily, halfway through the voyage there was a intriguing murder of a wealthy baron which from then on kept everyone entertained.

Now, the Ella Dorina is mere hour away from dropping anchor. The decks are slowly filling up with early birds, mostly seagulls, but also with people who woke up before 7 to catch a glimpse of what awaits them. Up until the very last moment, many still doubted if the postcards were truthful, and not some forgery to impress foreigners. But the postcards were indeed deceptive, albeit unintentionally, for that no two dimensional image could possibly prepare the human eye, or the human mind for the pure, unbridled megalomania that was now on display.

Skyscrapers, on top of Skyscrapers, on top of Skyscrapers, with bridges and tangled webs of cables running in between, traffic flowing ceaslessly inbetween. Factories, power and chemical plants, competeing to release their foul byproducts high into the sky. Their ever thinning smokestacks, lined with bright red lights stars shining for reasons unknown to those unfamiliar with air travel. Distanat radio masts painted odd colors by powerful floodlights. To crown it all, a central, cylindrical megatower that somehow manages to dwarf everything around it twofold, and is apparently still under construction, judging by the cranes hanging on its sides. But no, even that is not the end of it.

Where the steel ends, the aerostats take their place. A grand fleet of balloons and airships form a sort of city of their own, with smaller planes commuting back and forth. The giant neon letters "SKYLAND" shown on the side of one such vessel.

THE UNION

There are no towns or cities in the harkback union, there is only, *The City*, an all encompassing metroplex of surreal proportions, with each of its districts large enough to be considered a major metropolis, or even a whole country all on their own. Indeed, what's now considered the Harkback Union was at some point a colorful patchwork of theocratic republics, romantic kingdoms and mercantile city states, who's independence was eroded by the ceasless march of industry and urbanization. Verdant forests, rolling hills, fjords, fantastic glaciers and pristine clean lakes, all sacrificed at the altar of wealth and progress. Pollution is... beyond description.

Little is known about harkback society. Actually, quite a lot is thought to be *known* by outsiders, but depending on who you ask, you might get a completely different picture. Local radio broadcasts are almost impossible to receive elsewhere because of atmospheric interference, and few books or newspapers made it abroad since the union's formation, but a handful of smugglers, dissidents and travelers have shared their stories with foreign press. But these stories are inconsistent and given little credibility. One thing that they all warn about however, is that this society makes no differene between tourists and its people, that everyone who arrives is immediately drafted into the workforce. They call it the "Time Tax" and that its almost impossible to dodge. To make matters worse, use and exchange of foreign currency is forbidden by law. Its said that there is a thriving black market where foreign currency can be of value, and an underground canal used to escape authorities, but their location and extend are unknown.

There are no embassies in the H.U., neither does the H.U. have embassies abroad. You will be completely on your own here. The H.U. also doesn't have any official seat of government that you know of that could be contacted. Finally, there is something slightly positive about this place, at least before you think about it. The language here is... International. That is to say, great many languages are being used, especially those former independent states that now compose the Union. You're bound to speak one of them.

PASSPORTS

One doesn't need a passport to enter the Hackback Union, but one does need it to board the Ella Dorina. In case you didn't have a passport, you can always forge one.

Code: Select all: [u][i][size=200]- PASSPORT -[/size][/i][/u] [img][/img] [b][i]Surname/Nom/Прозвішча[/i][/b]: - [b][i]Given name/Prénoms/Названае імя[/i][/b]: - [b][i]Nationality/Nationalité/Нацыянальнасць[/i][/b]: - [b][i]Place of Birth/Lieu de Naissance/Месца нараджэння[/i][/b]: - [b][i]Issuing Authority/Autorité de délivrance/Крыніца дакумента[/i][/b]: - [i][b]ID Number/Numéro d'identification/Ідэнтыфікацыйны нумар[/b][/i]: - 0-0-0-0-0 [i][b]Customs Declaration/Déclaration en douane/Мытная дэкларацыя[/b][/i]: -

ID NUMBER

This number is the shorthand for your character's attributes and abilities.
Your character has 5 attributes (by default).
The total number should be no more then 30 (including any special attribute) and cannot be double digit, but it can be 0 (which means you always roll 100).

VIOLENCE - Your willingness and skill to be violent, both towards people and objects.
DARING - Your readiness to act quickly, perform stunts, operate vehicles or do anything else dangerous.
CURIOSITY - Your ability to find secrets, hidden objects, see beyond the veil of secrecy engulfing the world around you.
IMAGINATION - Your creativity and capacity for abstraction, useful for thinking.
STYLE - Your style...

In addition, you may have a 6th number, representing whatever special talent your character has, but this should be negotiated on a case to case basis.

Example:
A violence of 1, daring 5, curiosity 3, imagination 4, style 8 and special attribute "jazz" of 9 (a very talented musician) would translate to
1-5-3-4-8-9

ITEMS, INFLUENCE AND WEALTH
- You may bring with you as many items and cash from your homeland as you can fit into the cargo hold, but do keep in mind that there will probably be a customs inspection. There is no official list of what items are allowed in the Union, or any kind of tariffs on imports. But, for some reason, there is a thriving smuggling ring.
- You may also be from any rank within your country, even the head of state himself.
- You may even go so far as to bring companions with you from your country, but if everyone is doing that things might get tricky so please only do that if you really really really need to entourage (no, they do not need passports or stats, and should be considered... disposable if the plot demands it).
- One thing you may not have however, is any kind of contact or hidden stash or secret hideout already withing the H.U. UNLESS you discuss it with me first before you join the game.

ACTIONS

- Everybody plays their own character from their own countries, I play as the world.

- If you wish to explore/do something tricky, do not assume that it succeeds. Instead, end your post with an ACTION (My character tries to do YXZ) and I will reply with the results as soon as possible. Things that succeed 99.999% of the time (eating breakfast, getting dressed, blinking) do not count as actions of course, but anything beyond that does. Any attempt to gain information about the world, obtain items or interact with people/vehicles/machinery also counts as actions.

- Success rate of actions depend on your characters attribute score, and the difficulty of what you are trying to do. ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE, but the odds won't always be good. To tell whether you succeed or not, and by how much, a dice is rolled. d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20 or d100. If the roll is LOWER or EQUAL to your relevant attribute you succeed. If you roll a 1, its an epic success. If you rolled the maximum on the dice, You fail miserably. EXCEPTION: If your attribute score is higher then the maximum roll, and you rolled the maximum, a new dice is rolled from the next difficulty rating to determine results. This can repeat several times if you are very unlucky.
Difficulties:
d4 = Cakewalk. (Walking on a cake)
d6 = Routine. (Cutting up a cake evenly)
d8 = Doable. (Baking a cake)
d10 = Tricky (Throwing a cake at a mime)
d12 = Hard (Dodging a high-velocity cake)
d20 = Nightmare (Repairing a broken cake)
d100 = Impossible. (Not eating the cake)

INJURIES & DEATH
- From the moment you get off the ship, your character may suffer injuries relevant to one or more of your attributes. These attribute will be reduced until you manage to heal the injuries. For example, you may spill tomato sauce on your aviator jacket. This will lower your style by -2 until you manage to get it dry-cleaned. Or you may accidentally get 9 grams of lead lodged in your cerebral cortex. This would reduce your imagination by -5 until you get brain surgery.

- If any attribute reaches the domain of negative numbers, you may... PANIC! or FAINT! or be MORTIFIED!. This may cause you to lose control of your character temporarily or pernamently, Depending on the circumstances, perhaps someone might be able to still save you, but if not there will be more ships coming later!

KNOWLEDGE AND MYSTERY
- All players should start out with fairly limited knowledge of the H.U., or at least, limited accurate information. You may know rumors, or even be certain of this or that statistic, but use them in speech or thought bubbles, not in narration so as to avoid confusion.
- Information you gain through exploration, investigation and interactions are called ~~CLUES~~ FRAGMENTS.

FRAGMENTS are insights into the inner workings of the union required to piece together what the hell is going on. Fragments can be
- Shared to other visitors.
- Analyzed or combined.
- Sold at the black market.

TIME Or the lack of it
- Part of the H.U. is built beyond the 66th parallel, the time of day is a constant twilight this time of year. However, in some districts you might see broad daylight, or there can be a sudden heatwave. The weather is erratic with all the steam and artificial suns. Point is, it can be really hard to tell "what time it is". You can go to bed or have breakfast or say its time for tea because your watch says so.
- Theoratically, one could stay within the H.U. for the rest of their lives (not a great idea), but the credits will have to roll at some point, so make the best of your time here.
- We will not synch up the clocks of visitors. Anyone can interact with anyone else, no matter where they are in the story, thats just how it works here (You still have to be in the same location, at least(. However, if someone wants to do an action that would take days or weeks, it may become a "long term project" and must do something else in the meantime before its completed so as to avoid the timeline being a complete joke.

- Age of Crime
- Harkbank
-

1000 -M-

by **Olthenia** » Tue Nov 07, 2023 4:11 am

The Age of Sand & Silver

(IN-CHARACTER THREAD GOES HERE.)

(ARCHIVES GOES HERE.)

The sun rises on a new world- a world not like that you may know. Shattered by a catastrophic impact not long after the extinction of the dinosaurs, Earth is not as it should be. This impact, a star falling to earth, changed not only the shape of the world, but also her content; this star bore strange light and eldritch crystals, warping and altering the planet where humanity slowly arose. Continents were broken, minds shattered, even animals and plants twisted and changed. It is a different world, one in many ways hostile to humanity.

But in the end, it is your world.

You stand forward as one of the leaders of a great city of men. It has been many centuries now since the first tribes emerged in the impact of the Cataclysm, family groups formed from scattered wanderers and survivors, and now civilization in earnest is rising from those embers. Men ply trade upon the waves of the sea, either propelled by oars and scarred backs, or the might of sails. Caravans roam savage lands, making fortunes for their owners if they are not devoured by ferocious beasts. The first priests, and god-kings, and republics lay claim to the passages of the world beyond the sight of their doorways, and bronze-armed warriors march across the hinterland. Men declaim poetry, and gaze at the stars, wielding magicks both powerful and dangerous.

To be a leader in such times is to be given glorious potential, but also enormous responsibility. Civilization is fragile, and dark things lurk both in the hearts of men and in the wilds of the world. Will you rise to greatness alongside your kinsmen, or will you falter and be forgotten? Come, and tell the tale of the Sand and Silver.

(MAPS GO HERE.)

A lovely little RPG, welcome all.

All players begin with a single settlement, and I am accepting a maximum of six. You may (and most likely will) want to erect more holdings across your lands, and claim new vistas for your people, for in growth is the security of one's lineage.

You should expect to make an IC post once every 48 hours or thereabouts IRL, but more will be encouraged. A nice simple straightforward expectation, no strings attached. These posts correspond to the passage of two year's time, in-character, and will resolved by yours truly to chart the course of your civilization.

New city-states will begin with four "local resources", uncommon materials that will be tracked as vaguely important in the "region" where they live. You will be allowed to choose one of these resources, but the rest I will generate. These don't include generic materials like flint, stone, mud, trees, and so on, but keep your assumption of what is generic reasonable- copper, for instance, is a resource, not something you can just assume your city-state has.

Your civilization will need many things, foremost warm bodies to accomplish her aims and fill her homes. For ease of use, these citizens are grouped together in units of 100, who populate your city-state and her surroundings. They will need to be fed, sheltered, and defended, but they are the life-blood of your civilization. Every new city-state starts with four hundred inhabitants. The full mechanics of this age will be explained in a following post.

So there we go! I have room for six city-states at present, potentially more. Feel free to slap down an application if this interests you, or just an interest post to follow things.

Code: Select all: [b]City State Application[/b] [b]Name:[/b] (What name do men and maps know you by?) [b]Leader:[/b] (Who rules your glorious realm?) [b]Short History:[/b] (Where did your people come from, traveller? And where are they going?) [b]Starting Location:[/b] (What are your settlement's immediate surroundings like?) [b]Advantage:[/b] (Your starting resource.)

The City-States

Players
?

Non-Player Cities & Kindred
?

by **Olthenia** » Tue Nov 07, 2023 4:13 am

City-States

These are the fundamental political unit of civilization in the Ascent of Man. You rule one of them, including, perhaps, some other settlements. They will likely rise and fall beyond your borders as well, but that is neither here nor there. Ruled by a Government, defended by a Military, populated by Citizens, and composed of both Land and Buildings, these are what you will pay most of your attention to- rule them wisely. Non-Soldier citizens may be forced to migrate to another settlement, at the cost of five Stability.

Citizens
Your people who make your goods, work your land, fill the ranks of your armies, and riot when you don't feed them. Treat them well, or you will regret it. You gain one more Peasant every five turns for every five Citizens your city-state already has. Unhoused Citizens cost 2 Stability every two years.
Peasants: The most fundamental unit of any civilization, subsistence agrarians with little education or ambitions. They produce but a single Labor, and may only work in Rural Districts, unless supervised through the tech 'Mass Labor'.
Slaves: Only granted by specific government types, or events. Slaves produce three Labor, essentially always counting as doing Forced Labor, but hurt Stability, and may not be recruited into most militaries.
Freemen: Slightly educated and upwardly mobile citizens. Very useful, because they can be turned into many types of specialized labor without any particular training. Otherwise, identical to Peasants. When population grows, one in every five Peasants may be promoted to a Freemen at no cost.
Scholars: The educated elite of your city, only slowly drawn apart from the regular populace, but absolutely vital to both administration and advancement. They may Innovate or Learn, either gaining Advancements via studying the knowledge of nearby civilizations, or pursuing cutting edge ideas and research. They do not inherently produce anything, but may always Innovate or Learn.
Artisans: The skilled workers of your city-state, men and women of craft who convert resources into Wealth and Wealth into Industry for the whims of your government. These aspiring individuals will raise your walls, dredge your canals, and oversee your greatest projects. Produce one Wealth by default, but may trade this for the ability to convert 2 Wealth into one Industry instead, chosen turn by turn.
Soldiers: Whether armed by conscription as a skirmishing militia, or bronze-clad lords of war trained from birth, Soldiers are necessary to prevent chaos and ensure what is yours remains within the confines of your city instead of in the loot-wagons of barbarians and maws of beasts. They consume double the Food of regular citizens, rounded up. May be demobilized into Peasants at least four years after they were raised. Will not perform Forced Labor.
Explorers: Very situationally useful individuals, sent out into the wilderness by their kinsmen to chart new horizons and, when the times call for it, settle those same horizons. They draw no support from your civilization (when exploring), but are also effectively useless outside of their assigned roles, individuals of wanderlust for which the plow and the book hold no love. Explorers may also be dispatched on Expeditions, which will discover the nearest undiscovered city-state's location. Expeditions require 4 Wealth and six years to complete. Note that when Explorers found a new settlement, that settlement ignores both positive and negative stability for the first five turns.

Note that if an individual settlement has over 2000 Citizens, it should combine its actions into units of 200 identical Citizens; these actions receive dramatically increased outcomes, but must not be subdivided, for ease of resolution.
One Freemen may be specialized into Explorers, Artisans, or Scholars every turn in your capital at no cost. Peasants may be turned into Soldiers at will, for cost of three Wealth and one Industry. Peasants converted to Soldiers without the requisite resources become Citizen-Soldiers, and will cost Wealth every turn until demobilized as well as fighting more poorly than professionals. Any Specialist Citizen can be retrained back to being Freemen at any time for a mere two Wealth.

Resources
As varied as the face of the planet which they are drawn from, Resources are broadly delineated into three categories: Food, Wealth, and Industry. Subtypes exist, such as Arcana, Advancements, and so on, but the big three are the ones most important to concern oneself with. Without Food, a civilization will starve and fall into anarchy. Without Wealth, the gears of government will grind to a halt, unable to pay workers or motivate laborers. Without Industry, cities will slowly crumble and be surpassed. All are necessary if a city-state seeks to triumph upon the field of civilization. Note also that the labor of your people is functionally a hidden fourth resource - without citizens, your city will founder. Any Citizen can produce +1 Labor at any time, except for Slaves, but this Forced Labor will cost a civilization Stability.

Food is gathered by Citizens from almost any type of Land in a region, in various quantities. A Citizen without Food is very likely to become ill with plague or simply perish. Many buildings can improve the food production of a Citizen, and may be used in numbers equivalent to the amount of building sites they occupy.

Wealth is also produced by Artisans from Raw Resources when they are processed into various types of goods and services, and is also garnered in small amounts over time. Wealth is consumed by both the city-state itself and Artisans who may process it into Industry. The first city any player possesses produces one Wealth every two years, simulating a small palace economy.

Industry is essentially the capacity of your city-state to produce material goods. That can be anything from a series of walls, to housing for her inhabitants, to weapons for her military. None of these benefits are strictly quantifiable, by and large, but you are definitely going to want them. Industry is the labor of skilled craftsmen, and so may not be transferred between settlements, unlike food and Wealth.

Advancements
Or, to put a more simple face on the idea, technology. But also, sometimes things which are less technology and just useful, like domesticating animals for the use of your civilization. Scholars deal with Advancements, and as a rule of thumb you are better off with them than without them. Scholars develop new Advancements via the process of Innovation, which is inherently erratic and volatile. Your Scholars may at any time be devoted to studying an Advancement of a city-state you have contact with, which will take them about a generation to replicate (per 100 Scholars/Advancement), or to seek new knowledge, which gives them a chance every two years- based on how many others are also seeking new knowledge- to gain insight into a new area of your choice. On average, one or two innovations will be successful in a given turn. Advancements cannot be shared, only access barred to 'enemy' Scholars, which will cut their rate of learning in half.

Arcana
The command of the mystic arts that have been bestowed upon this world in the Cataclysm. Your people may know some mystic arts, or none at all. All draw upon some source of power which is usually not intrinsic to the practitioners, unless that power-source is their own health and life-energy. Magic can move boulders, sink ships, heal the dying, and even return to life those who passed onward. Commanding magicians and discovering Arcana can be a great boon to any city-state; Scholars may attempt to divine various types of Arcana, but even they only have a limited understanding of its working.

Governance
Any city-state, even the smallest, has passed the point where informal rule is capable of dealing with the needs of their populace. As such, some system of rule is in place, be it a humble tribal council, or even a mighty Emperor who wields absolute authority. These systems of governance can give bonuses to their civilizations, or even harm them in some ways. In order to adopt a certain type of Government one requires a certain amount of Civic points equivalent to the cost of that governmental form. Government directly effects Stability, which is a measure of how good your ruler is at administrating more dispersed territories, or, indeed, if the culture of your people is of sufficient strength to make people in the hinterland feel as if they are part of one whole nation instead of being interested in only their own affairs.

Tribal Despotism: No particular bonuses or drawbacks - the starting government of all cities.
Stratocracy: Where men are wolves, soldiers rule the land. Soldiers unassigned to other duties may produce Labor. An increased focus on reaving and supremacy gifts the warriors of a Stratocracy a good chance to avoid enemy patrols. However, increased demands from the soldiery mean they must be housed in good dwellings- failure to do so will result in losing 2 Stability per turn for every insufficiently housed Soldier.
Republic: Men elect other men to stand in a conclave and represent their interests. This social contract enhances popular cohesion, giving each city +2 Stability every two years, but costs a small amount of wealth to maintain as it expands, a modest but existent bureaucracy which claims one Wealth per city in the same period.
Theocracy: All men have faith in something. Where those feelings go further than their belief in the state itself, theocracy results, wherein religion enters a position of primacy in both personal and political spheres. +2 Stability from Shrines, +4 Stability from Temples. Soldier and Citizen-Soldier Morale increased. -2 Wealth per settlement for lavish rites, +2 Food Consumption per Scholar for religious feasting.
Magocracy: Wise men of magic lead the society, and are expected to prove their worth to the people. Scholars produce Labor when Enchanting. Peasants are less content due to a lack of opportunities, reducing Stability by one per turn.
Monarchy: Sometimes hierarchical power concentrated in the hands of the elite allows the most optimal distribution of labor and resources. For the benefit of the elite, at least. Allows the construction of the Royal Palace and Noble Estates.
-Royal Palace: No Cost. +4 Stability, -3 Wealth, -3 Food per turn. May only be built once. Allows the construction of Noble Estates across the kingdoms. Size (IV) Urban. Requires Monarchy.
-Noble Estate: [Labor 5, Wealth 4, Industry 3] +1 Food per Garden or Farm in this District. Adds 1 Wealth to the Palace Economy. Size (II) Rural. Maximum one per District. Requires Monarchy.
Oligarchy: All men have a voice in this system, but those who are richer speak more. Districts that produce at least one Wealth produce one more, and the Artisan conversion rate is improved. Settlements that do not produce Wealth via active income lose two Stability every two years.

Land
Perhaps one of the most important concepts in terms of a city-state, is the land upon which she sits. Ranging from hot jungles to desolate tundra, parched deserts to snowy peaks, what a city can do will largely be determined by how she uses her land, and if she uses it wisely. Each "region" contains twenty "areas" of land, divided into the various types of land which produce various yields when worked by a citizen.
Flatland: 3 Food, or 1 Food and 1 Timber or Stone
Forest: 2 Food, or 2 Timber
Hills: 2 Food, or 2 Stone
Taiga: 1 Food, or 1 Timber
Riverland: 4 Food
Mountainous: 1 Food, or 3 Stone | Cannot normally be built upon
Urban: 1 Food, 1 Wealth per Trade Post - twenty sites for Constructions (Urban) | Constructed
Rural: 2 Food - twenty sites for Constructions (Rural) | Constructed
Docks: 2 Food, 1 Wealth per Trade Post - twenty sites for Constructions (Aquatic) | Constructed on Coast or Riverlands
Coast: 3 Food
Sea: 2 Food
Desert: 1 Food | Cannot normally be built upon

Colonization
A new minor settlement can be founded in any explored region within three regions of an existing friendly settlement at any time, but requires at least two hundred Explorers to form the new village, 10 Wealth, and each added minor settlement will strain a civilization's social cohesion. Trying to establish a settlement without enough Wealth is possible, but it will carry a large risk of imminent failure and the loss of both the Wealth and the citizens.

In order for a region to be colonized, it must first be explored. While Explorers may gather resources from known lands like normal Peasants (even outside of populated regions) at no risk to themselves or cost, exploring wild unknown regions is not as easy. As such, Explorers sent out to explore the wilds should be supplied with a small amount of Wealth (3) in order to pay the costs of their specialized equipment and provisions, or they stand a decent chance of never being heard from again.

Constructions
These are where most of the labor of your society will be spent, save that of gathering resources and food. They are of great use to your people, and should always be prioritized whenever possible in order to advance your civilization. Unless otherwise noted, all Constructions must be erected on relevant terrain. This list will be updated periodically, and may be added to by Advancements. Any Construction may be demolished for 1 Labor, and refunds half of the Wealth, Resources, and Industry used in her construction (rounded down). Note that Workers must be additional valid Citizens added to a District to gain the full output from that District, but the first operating Citizen does count as one Worker.

Domestic Crops
These are listed on a per-region basis, and may be transplanted. Having the same biome helps. It is expensive in terms of wealth to try to establish a crop type in a new region, but ultimately worthwhile if successful. The more types of Domestic Crops your people possess, the more potential sources of food and wealth they have access to- each Crop also provides flat food production to a region, perhaps most importantly.

Cinnabar: If added to a Weapon in forging, one Cinnabar imbues the weapon with 10% Armor Pierce and Flaming Attacks. +10% Armor if added to Armor
Cloth (Tailoring): Increases Wealth gain from converting Wool or Flax into Cloth by 1. Tailored Cloth may alternatively be produced, and consumed in a city to gain 3 Stability and give 1 Culture to one Citizens.
Brightstone: Brightstone produces a low but constant gleam, which can be enhanced through cutting. This is especially useful in the mines, where Brightstone can allow men to work day and night in what would otherwise be complete blackness. 1 Brightstone may be used to double the output of a mine or quarry.
Brightstone Channeling: Unlocks the Harbor Beacon
Floatstone: Citizens moving resources between settlements may carry five more resources.
Floatstone Refining: +1 Wealth from Trade, unlocks Spire. Floatstone may be refined into Aetherium at a Blast Furnace.
Granite (Edifices): Defenses constructed with Granite give an additional 10% ranged cover bonus, and take another week to breach with siege machines.
King's Ore: King's Ore, when treated under heat, possesses a natural resilience of energetic shielding which might protect men against blades. When added to Armor it improves the Armor Quality by 10%, and allows those wearing this armor to ignore 50% of their casualties in the first round of melee combat. Cost: 4 King's Ore
Marble: May be processed into +2 Wealth at Stonecutters. Temples, Forums, Shrines and Palaces may be upgraded with 15 Marble, generating +2 Stability.
Silk (Finery): +1 Wealth to Raw Silk conversion. Silk Cloth may be consumed by a settlement to add Culture to two hundred Citizens.
Skystone: Skystone stores kinetic energy in forging, allowing Singing Bows to be created that strike with twice the strength of a Composite Bow with increased Range.
Firechar: 1 Firechar may be substituted for 1 Fuel in Forges or Bloomeries, but is not consumed.
Gold (Finery): +1 Wealth to Gold Ore conversion. Gold Metal may be consumed by a settlement to add 5 Stability.
Ancient Forests: +1 Timber from Orchards in regions with Redwoods

by **Olthenia** » Tue Nov 07, 2023 4:17 am

Espionage

Espionage and spycraft is a necessity in this day and age. Well to do city-states would do well to watch their enemies – as well as their friends. To do so, the Espionage tech is a clear requirement. Once completed, any society with a Level I Government, can maintain up to 1 spy network in a single enemy settlement. The ability to maintain and develop more networks increases with the level of Government, up to III, or the technology Intricate Webweavers.

Upon first establishing a network in a designated foreign settlement, a cost of 2 Wealth must be paid in bribes and other sundries. On the next turn, your network will begin spreading its tendrils of contacts and informants, symbolized by the accumulation of Action Points (AP) on a 1/Turn basis. AP may, in turn, be spent in the following nefarious ways:

Glean Information – Reveal the strength of a settlement’s garrisoned army. Cost: 3 AP, 2 Wealth.

Spark Outrage – Harm relations between two factions. Cost: 4 AP, Wealth.

Acquire Asset – Bribe a court official. Cost: 4 AP, 4 Wealth. Lessens subsequent AP costs by 1. Required for ‘Steal Technology’.

Extort Wealth – Blackmail a settlement’s rich and powerful for wealth. Cost 3. Upon success, gain up to 4 Wealth.

Steal Technology – Steal a random number of research points towards a specific advancement. RP points required to completely copy any given advancement are 75% of its original cost, rounded down. Can be affected by Rune of Secrecy or target's archives being closed. Cost: 4 AP, Asset, 4 Wealth.

Sabotage – Damage a random settlement building. Cost: 4 AP.

Arm Malcontents – Gain armed followers in case of invasion. Cost: 5 AP, 6 Wealth.

Steal Maps – Steals the target’s map of a distinct region. Cost: 5 AP, 2 Wealth.

Poison Wells – Reduce a settlement’s ability to hold out during a siege. Cost: 5 AP.

When requesting that your network perform a certain action – success is in no way certain! At worst, failure might mean your network is exposed, AP-points lost and Wealth forfeit. There is also the very real chance your neighbors might take a very dim view of any neighbor they suspect of such spycraft, but that is as may be.

Arcana

School of Sacrifice
Source: Life Energy
Exertion: Sacrifice
Channel: Reshaping

Lesser Sacrifices: 20 Food may be substituted for 100 Citizens in Blood Magic, up to once per Paddock in a settlement. | 5 RP

Flesh-Ghouls: Cast on 25 Soldiers, transforms them into Kraalen (May not carry weapons, resist injuries, immune to disease, ++Speed, ++Lethality, may not be demobilized) | 100 Citizens, 1 Enchantment | 5 RP

Bone-Shaping: Cast on 25 Soldiers, adds Modifier: Bonewarped [Intrinsic Bronze Armor, stacks with other armor] | 100 Citizens, 2 Enchantment | 10 RP

Dark Passages: The Dead are never truly gone - they echo around us, and those who are willing to pay may speak to them. If exerted by Scholars, Dark Passages allows the sacrifice of a Population in order to gain 3 RP. Food gained from animals may also be used in place of a Populace, 20 Food achieving a similar effect. | 20 Food OR 100 Citizens | 15 Science

Voiceless Dead: Cast on 100 Citizens, transforms them into Undead (May not carry weapons, immune to disease, generates 3 Labor per turn, cost 1 Enchantment per turn, Peasant laborers) | 100 Citizens, 3 Enchantment. | 15 RP

Wrothful Dead: Cast on 100 Undead, transforms them into Living Bones (may carry weapons, immune to disease. Fight as Soldiers. If destroyed, can be reanimated for the initial cost of Voiceless Dead. Cost 1 Enchantment per turn. | 15 RP

Knit the Flesh: Cast on up to 100 Citizens. If suffering from a disease or wounded in battle, the recovery rate of those thus afflicted increase by 50%. | 3 Enchantment. | 10 RP

School of Scribing
Source: Material Toughness
Exertion: Engraving
Channel: Integrity

Rune of Preservation: Cast upon a Granary, doubles effect | 6 Stone, 2 Enchantment | 5 RP

Rune of Health: Allows Runic Obelisk of Health |
[Runic Obelisk of Health | 5 Labor, 12 Stone, 4 Wealth, 2 Enchantment | An additional Peasant is born in this city during Population Growth, one per city | Urban or Rural (II)] | 5 RP

Rune of Growth: Cast upon a Garden or Farm, gives +1 or +2 Food to Construction, respectively | 8 Stone, 1 Enchantment | 10 RP

Rune of Warding: Cast on Soldiers, decreases casualties by 50% in the first round of melee combat. | Rune of Health, 12 Stone, 4 Enchantment | 10 RP

Rune of the Wild: Cast upon Region, allows the transplanting of Tree Resources. Cast upon Orchard, +1 Food, +1 Forest Resource. | Rune of Warding, 12 Stone, 2 Fuel, 4 Enchantment | 15 RP

Rune of Secrecy: City-States without the Rune of Secrecy must pay 10 more RP points to copy Advancements if the target they are coping from has not opened their archives. | Rune of Warding. | 15 RP

School of Silver
Source: Stellar Harmonics
Exertion: Cadenced Prose
Channel: Transubstantiation

Stone Tuning: Up to three Smithies in a single Settlement may each produce +2 Wealth. | 4 Stone, 2 Enchantment. | 5 RP

Copper Cadencing: Substitute Copper for Stone in Runes at a 1:3 Ratio, rounded up. | 5 RP

Greater Harmonies: Amplify Rune Effect by 50% for x2 Enchantment Cost. | 10 RP

Choir of Diligence: Industry may be substituted for Enchantment in the School of Silver. | 10 RP

Paretonian Principles: When turning Mineral Ores into Wealth at the Forge or Gems at the Gemcutter, add +2 Wealth. | 4 Stone, 2 Enchantment. | 15 RP

Aggregate Hymns: Up to 8 Trade Posts produce a further +1 Wealth. Deals with foreign peoples can be done at significant advantage; provided relations are not hostile. | 15 RP

School of Sunfire
Source: Environmental Electricity
Exertion: Ritual
Channel: Electricity Access

Tesla Forging: Allows creation of Teslanite Weapons (Wealth III, Industry I, Teslanite) - Iron equivalent | 5 RP

Lightning Loop: Utilizing an Enhanced Electromantic Forge to cast Electromantic Attunement only consumes 2 Charge | 5 RP

Lightning Acceleration: Allows creation of Coilbows (Wealth III, Industry II, 1 Teslanite: +100% Ranged Attack, 20% Armor Piercing) | 3 Enchantment, 1 Charge to create - must be recharged after combat. | 10 RP

Electromantic Attunement: Cast upon Copper, transforms it into Teslanite | 4 Charge, 1 Enchantment | 10 RP

Electromantic Storage: Allows construction of the Electromantic Forge:
-Electromantic Forge | 6 Labor, 4 Copper, 4 Wealth, 2 Enchantment | Stores up to 4 Charge, gains 1 Charge per 2 Years on Coastal Regions | Urban or Rural (III)] | 15 RP

Electromantic Entrapment: Enhancement to Electromantic Forge - [Stores up to 8 Charge] - 4 Teslanite, 1 Enchantment. | 15 RP

School of Geomancy
Source: Earth Tides
Exertion: Energy Transfer
Channel: Edifices

Power Point Mapping: Inspects an explored region for Power Points. Amount revealed depends on luck, and type of region. | 2 Enchantment, 2 Wealth | 5 RP

Geomantic Entrapment: Leeches the Geomantic potential of a Region into trammeled stone. Unlocks Shrine of Power -Shrine of Power: 5 Labor, 8 Wealth, 4 Enchantment | Consumes 2 Stone to produce 1 Power Stone every turn, which may be substituted for Enchantment or stored for future use. Takes up a Power Point in a region. | 5 RP

Geomantic Animation: Allows the construction of Golems. Golems: 4 Labor, 5 Stone, 10 Wealth, 4 Enchantment, 4 Power Stones | Golems may work as a Peasant but consume one Enchantment every turn. | Requires Geomantic Imbuing | 10 RP

Geomantic Imbuing: Intensifies the usage of trammeled earth tides in Geomancy. A rite which consumes 2 Power Stones and 2 Enchantment, producing 1 Power Gem. Each Power Gem contains 5 stored Geomantic Enchantment, and is useful for Tier II Arcana. | 10 RP

Geomantic Imprinting: 10 Golems may be recruited as an Army, if provided with a Power Gem when created as an additional cost to normal recruitment. Golem Armies do not consume Food, but may not be deployed offensively independently of another Army.
-Golems: Natural Armor 50% (Stacking), No Morale, 50% Damage Output (Crushing), 75% Ranged Damage Reduction (Piercing) | Requires Geomantic Animation | 15 RP

Geokinesis: Enables the exertion of geomantic force to allow a caster to convert large regions of dirt and rock into steam, great for clearing land. Unlocks Shrine of the Earth
-Shrine of the Earth: 6 Labor, 10 Wealth, 8 Enchantment | At the cost of 2 Enchantment, provides 2 Labor per two years to a Construction. Takes up a Power Point in a region. | 10 RP

Geomantic Inspiration: Allows construction of the Obelisk of Vigor
-Obelisk of Vigor: 15 Labor, 10 Wealth, 4 Industry, 8 Enchantment | Allows Workers in this District to conduct two tasks. Requires Power Point. Urban or Rural (I) | 15 RP

School of Seasons
Source: Meditation
Exertion: Energy Transfer
Channel: Evocation

One With Earth: X Enchantment, X Stone. Soldiers with this blessing receive skin of stone, granting them X defense. However, such weight grants slowness in action, with -X% attack. | 5 RP

Inner Seed: X Enchantment, X Food, X Timber. Soldiers with this blessing will return to life in X Years when killed, growing from buried heads in the ground into men of wood and leaves. The bodies must be recovered for this to occur. | 10 RP

Stonetremble: XV Enchantment, V Food, X Stone. By focusing the power of the elements, subtle ripples of force are woven into great crescendos that ripple through worked stone. Any defensive structure other than Palisades immediately take V Damage. | 15 RP

Third Eye: X Enchantment, X Food, X Desired Metal - Explorers granted with this blessing can scry the heavens and the earth for the nearest location of X Resource. | 15 RP

Feed the Many: Summons 5 Food from thin air | 2 Enchantment | 5 RP

Season’s Bounty: Adds +2 to the harvest of any Field, Orchard or Plantation dedicated to the production of organic resources. | 10 RP

School of Outer Realms
Source: Planar Access
Exertion: Planar Devouring
Channel: Alteration

Breach Siphoning: By drawing tear in the very fabric of reality, power can be drawn and pacts made. Allows construction of the Breach Shrine, which generates 1 Shadow Ash every turn. The Breach Shrine costs 4 Granite, 4 Stone, 10 Labor, 5 Wealth, and 5 Enchantment to erect. | 5 RP

Breach Efficiency: The Breach Shrine generates 1 more Shadow Ash per turn. Requires Breach Siphoning. | 5 RP

Shadow Ash Invigoration: Converts 1 Granite to 4 Shadow Ash at the Temple of the Outsider, once per year | 2 Enchantment | 10 RP

Shadow Breath: Imbues an Army with the Shadow Breath power, allowing them to avoid sight for two rounds of combat once a month | 4 Enchantment, 2 Shadow Ash upkeep | 10 RP

Ethereal Weapons: Imbues an Army with Ethereal Weapons, granting them a 20% Armor-Piercing bonus | 12 Enchantment, 4 Shadow Ash upkeep | 15 RP

Blink: Imbues an Army with the Lesser Blink Power, allowing them to instantly traverse twice as far as they could normally march in a combat round, or summit a Fitted Stone Wall. | 10 Enchantment, 3 Shadow Ash upkeep. | 15 RP

School of Mania
Source: Lotus Vapors
Exertion: Ecstatic Dancing
Channel: Enchantment

Sway the Masses: A series of subtle incantations can calm anxiety, soothe frayed nerves and muddle even the most resolute malcontent. Or excite them. +4 or -4 Public Order to a single Settlement, as the caster desires. | 2 Lotus Petals | 5 RP

Incite Frenzy: Come wrath. Come ruin. Come the world’s ending. Imbues a unit of up to 100 combatants with a sudden berserk fury, ready to explode in a torrent of violence. +25% Damage on the next two combat rounds. | 2 Lotus Petals | 5 RP

Sow Confusion: By clouding thought and blinding judgement, even the simplest plans can become anything but. A unit of up to 100 combatants can neither move nor attack for the next combat round. | 3 Lotus Petals | 10 RP

Induce Terror: When the senses are shaken and the soul driven to madness, who can stand? Imbues a unit of up to 100 combatants with the stirrings of panic, rout and ruin. -25% to the next two morale checks to break and flee. | 3 Lotus Petals | 10 RP

Enticing Whispers: Glib tongues and honeyed words can sway even the most loyal heart. Grants 2 extra Actions to a single Spy Network. | 3 Lotus Petals | 15 RP

Summon Veiled Courtier: From the realm of horror and ecstasy - where the summit of man’s knowledge meets the pit of men’s fears - comes the Courtier.
-Veiled Courtier: Natural Armor 60% (Stacking), 120 Morale, 15 Damage Output (Slashing), 50% Ranged Damage Reduction (Piercing) | 4 Lotus Petals | 15 RP

by **Olthenia** » Tue Nov 07, 2023 4:39 am

Wonders of The World

?

by **G-Tech Corporation** » Tue Nov 07, 2023 6:28 am

I'm having a good chuckle at these Arcana - I pity your future balancing fingers. Definitely good to see ADW in the works though!

by **Olthenia** » Tue Nov 07, 2023 3:16 pm

G-Tech Corporation wrote:I'm having a good chuckle at these Arcana - I pity your future balancing fingers. Definitely good to see ADW in the works though!

If you see anything that looks immediately unbalanced, feel free to let me know!

by **Harkback Union** » Sun Nov 12, 2023 2:51 pm

Looks like someone's back in business (nice op)!

Unfortunately my latest projects suffer from the usual obsession with graphics. All these new AI tools end up with me wasting 90+% of project time on maps and such.

by **Olthenia** » Tue Nov 14, 2023 5:49 pm

Heirs of Icarus

You’re tomb-robbers faced with the score of a lifetime: a vast, interstellar space-station. A derelict, essentially. Graveyard for all thought lost on it, conspiracy-foci for half a dozen different dark theories – pre and post-Collapse – and a treasure trove to be plundered. How exactly did you come to be here? Are you corporate scavengers, funded by some tattered Old Earth elites? Are you vacuum-sealed lapdogs of one of the Martian tyrants? Or out-and-out crazies from somewhere out in the Kuiper Belt? It hardly matters. Icarus Station is here – a dark, dead god whose corpse has drifted through the aether for more than a decade. And you’re there to hack at its secrets. There was a war, once. Fact of the matter is, that war is still probably going on somewhere. But that’s hardly important now. What is important is Icarus Station, and the treasures it contains. When the greatest Interstellar Empire the galaxy has ever known collapsed into anarchy, Icarus – a dark jewel of the now irradiated core systems – was lost along with the rest of it. But what is Icarus, anyway? And why the high heck should you care?

To some, Icarus was a scientific and technological Mecca. An archival storehouse of cutting-edge technology, and host for almost half a dozen corporate biolabs. Exactly what these labs were developing when Icarus was lost is anyone’s guess – but the value of its ancient datavaults are beyond question.

To others, Icarus was a pleasure-isle in the vast, black sea of space. Arguably the station’s grandest dome contained gambling houses, an actual racing arena, half a mile of simulated beach-front, and more besides. As the Empire collapsed, this was where the glitterati of her pict-screens and VR-servers came to party and feed any number of dark hungers. Their luggage, and remains, must surely be worth robbing.

To yet others, Icarus is – or at least was – an isle of safety. And now, presumably, a tomb. In the Empire’s waning years, corporate and private largesse had long been a way for the moneyed classes to show off. Some even did so by leasing out large parts of Icarus as ‘Refugee Resettlement Zones’. Zones rife with resentment, extremism and insidious mysticism – as well as hopes and dreams. Which, of course, only added to the tragedy when Icarus disappeared.

Radiation and laser fire cindered those dreams, those hopes, those treasures. Yet now – almost a decade later, the vast station has suddenly, inexplicably rippled back into reality! Intact! Nearly whole. And still closed, by and by, to the vacuum of space. News feeds from the Trueman Line to the Martian Principalities and even the cannibal stations out in the Kuiper Belt have been buzzing with news and rumors of it. Icarus! Rumor-haunted, myth-shrouded Icarus! – is back.

Now - who can get to it first?

(In this RP, you – the players – each take command of your own band of scavengers recently landed somewhere on Icarus Station. You've checked and double-checked your vacuum seals, your equipment and your air-filters.You're ready to go. Now, your goals are to explore your derelict surroundings, plunder its wealth, and hopefully – possibly! – get back out alive. For the sake of ease, order and sanity, I’m going to roll the action forwards on a turn-by-turn basis. Create your squad, choose skills and equipment, issue orders – and we’ll see how things shake out.)

TRAITS, BACKGROUNDS & EQUIPMENT

TRAITS

Positive
Hippocratic
Bold
Tough as Nails
Silver Tongued
Clever
Blackthumb
Hard-Hearted
Zealous
Quickdraw
Martial Artist

Negative
Poor Psych Evaluation
Kleptomaniac
Abrasive
Nervous
Old Wound
Clumsy
Anemic
Addicted
Distracted
Bad Genes
Melancholic

BACKGROUNDS

WORKING CLASS HEROES:

Ocean Sweeper
The oceans of Old Earth might be dead, but they’re still full of plastic detritus and other useful materials. You come from a crew used to spending months in the silent, eerie waters of the southern Pacific, the smells of rot and toxic algae your constant companions. Calling you 'Stateless' is not far from the truth, and whoever hired you, trained you, equipped you and set you on your path to Icarus - likely did so for two reasons: You are expendable, and you are deniable. But that's fine. You're used to fighting the odds.
+1 Pilot OR +1 Technology

Trueman Wildcat
You are proud and you are free. Granted, your ship might be second-hand, vacuum seals hand-made and equipment sourced from God-knows-where - but that's fine. You are a Wildcat, born and bred in the remains of Old Earth's social democracies and their unlikely successor states, grouped in the so-called 'Trueman Line'. A freelance scavenger, rescue ranger and explorer rolled into one. If Icarus Station, the dark heart of the Earth-That-Was, is there for the taking? – well, you fully intended to carve a piece, chew, and eat your fill.
+1 Technology OR +1 Perception

Data Custode
???
+1 Perception OR +1 Science

CRYPTOFASCISTS:

Corporate Courtier
A servant of the corporate conglomerates of Old Earth; be it Dauman Mining and Metals, Feng-Shuei Limited or Omazone. From company naming ceremonies to company uniforms and company funerals - you've seen it all. Known it all.
+1 Science OR +1 Technology

Martian Martinet
Feudalism in the 27th Century isn’t dead – it’s rebranded. As a servant of the Martian Principalities.
+1 Combat OR +1 Manipulation

Pale Rider
With both ‘PMC’ and ‘militarized keyboard-comboys’ as gross misnomers, what the Pale Riders precisely are is best described as something in between. Part hacker-collective, part ultra-conservative rioters-for-hire – the controversial militant group’s main backer is rumored to be none other than the shadowy crypto-currency guru Leland Mackenzie.
+1 Survival OR +1 Combat

WILD CARDS:

Kuiper Belt Cannibal
No, you’re not an actual cannibal. Those are just rumors from the wilder, weirder parts of the interstellar net. The name’s catchy, though!
+1 Survival OR +1 Stealth

Glitterati
From nova-hot VR-stars to privileged rich kids – you’re it. One of the lucky souls living crisp, glorious lives in wealth and plenty, far and away from the toil and hardships that mar the rest of humanity. Either you’re here for ratings, views and likes - or because your family signed the bill, just to get you out of the way.
+1 Resolve OR +1 Manipulation

Binary Pilgrim
Reality does not beget faith. Faith, in the end, begets reality. Be it Christian conservatism, liberal Islam or a groundswell of New Age mysticism – you are a servant not of yourself, but of faith, dogma and religious doctrine. That vast, wonderous meaning that holds mankind – and the cosmos – together. Whatever secrets Icarus Station holds, you will have them. Hallelujah.
+1 Medical Aid OR +1 Combat

EQUIPMENT

TOOLS & TRICKS

-Plasma Cutter
-Security Jack
-Disposal Kit
-Bio Scanner
-Crowbar

FIRE & POWER

-Laser Carbine
-EMP Grenades
-Power Prods
-Riot Shield
-Combat Harness

MEDS & SUPPLIES

-Defibrilator
-Bandages and Sutures
-Saline Tablets
-Synthohol
-Fusion Batteries

Roleplay OP Construction site.

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