Alitheia In Space II: Many Worlds (WIP)
The year, according to the Interstellar Human Calendar, is 3220. But that hardly matters. Our beautiful Galaxy, known as Alitheia, moves the same way as it has since it began forming billions of years ago. There is a remarkable degree of eternity to be found in the stars that surround us, an eternity which holds an unimaginable amount of life and activity. Within the hundreds of billions of stars inside our galactic island, hundreds of trillions of lives are created, act and are acted upon, and perish.
This bustling ecosystem of intelligent life, a galactic community if you will, has played host to tens of thousands of interstellar empires during its history. Today, there exists a thriving community of independent nations, empires, planetary governments, along with a great number of different multinational corporations and nomadic cultures, all interacting with each other through the Many Worlds Consortium. Sure, individual nations and species may have their rises and falls, their golden ages and dark ages. Yet the galaxy is not a civilization: it is a ocean, a forest. Within it will always be the scavengers, the growers, the travelers. And the predators.
However, despite the consistency of the galaxy, things are not entirely stable as of late. On a grand scale, ancient species such as the Vresh feel themselves threatened by the activities of upstarts like the Humans, threatening conflict on a scale scarcely seen before. The various religions of the galaxy continue their ruthless and bitter struggle for the souls of the faithful, and the ears of the powerful. Even more troubling are recent events that alarm leaders across the galaxy: mysterious flashes of radiation and tachyons coming from intergalactic space that has been empty and silent since time immemorial, sinister and unorthodox actions being taken by the Many Worlds Consortium that cannot be explained by any member nation or administrative official. Something is changing in the galaxy, and it has the potential to make or break the fortunes of trillions...
You are a member of this galactic community, an inhabitant of Alitheia. How will you choose to act? Will you deftly lead your people into a new golden age of commerce and culture? Will you force weaker empires into submission and break the pride of your rivals?Or will you seek to uncover the mysteries of the universe and of the soul? These are but a few of the options open to you, as your ability to act is as limitless as the stars in the sky.
Welcome to the Galaxy. Welcome, to Alitheia.
Alitheia In Space II: Many Worlds is the new and (I hope) improved official science fiction RP for the NS region and Discord community of Alitheia, aka Auso or Ausozera. The idea is to have a multiplayer, interactive, science fiction RP that spans the galaxy and recalls any and all of the best things we love about our favorite space operas, video games, and so on. Rules have been posted, and Applications are ready for people to fill out.
Link to the IC topic: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=489352
Of course, with any sort of roleplay or writing collaboration, there are ground rules and understandings that need to be established before anyone can really begin. This is no exception, and even though I (as the supreme autocrat of this RP) intend on largely adhering to the joint Rule of Cool and Rule of Don't Be A D_ck, there are going to be a number of guidelines that I am going to expect everyone to follow.
Rule 1: Arktic is the sole god of this multiverse.
As I hinted at in the introduction to the rules here, I am an autocrat here and intend on acting like one.
Fortunately for you, I only care about activity and fun, and I only control a handful of weak or distant NPCs that are mostly there to fulfill certain roles, so this won't mean any godmodding or unfun bullsh!t from my end.
Unfortunately for you, this means you cannot get away with things by appealing to a higher power.
For any dispute, arbitration, or question about the setting, my word is absolute law. I may deputize others to perform moderation action on my behalf on the Discord or here in the OOC, but my deputies are not my equals. If you disagree with something they do, or something anyone does, come to ME first. Don't yell at the offending player, don't pick fights with my deputies. Take it to me and I will resolve it one way or another.
Hopefully, though, we all can be reasonable, and my stupidly detailed edit log will show that I intend to be litigious and by the books when it comes to genuine disputes. I just want to have fun and to make sure everyone is having fun.
Rule 2: Fun and Cool are the names of the game.
As I said frustratedly to my friends in the Alitheia Canon Discord when I finally gave up on working out stupidly complicated rules for combat: "This is a RP, not an RPG."
There is no win condition.
There is no lose condition.
I will not be counting Victory Points at 2050 AD or 500 turns.
The other players are not enemies to be conquered or fools to be seduced, but they are your fellow actors on a stage where all of you are making a performance to be enjoyed by everyone, including yourself. To this end, even I may bend on rules that I have laid out here if I think it's in the best interest of the story and of peoples' enjoyment, and I understand that there is a certain kind of mind that may find this maddening. (If you have a problem with me being arbitrary, do permit me to redirect you to Rule 1, and go stuff it.)
When making my decisions on disagreements, I will have very little patience for people who act as though they're going to get a medal if their battle goes right, who want to dominate the game OOC, or who clearly get off on attacking or humiliating players with different playstyles or focuses.
If you have a tendency to get overly competitive or aggressive, let this be a heads up to keep things cool and calm. Or else.
Rule 3: Be nice.
Honestly, I wish I didn't have to say this, but being a nice person should be something you strive for here. We're all here to enjoy ourselves, have fun, and make something cool and interesting. So...
You don't need to attack people for the aesthetics they choose.
You don't need to attack people for the stories they want to tell.
You don't need to attack people for their jokes, or their memes.
You don't need to attack people for the way they write.
You don't need to attack people for their characters.
You don't need to attack people.
Criticism should be as constructive, and as kind as possible.
"I think it would be better if you worked on editing and spelling before you post" is better than "This is an English-speaking forum, idiot."
"This seems a little contrived, could you explain this to me?" is light years superior to "Way to pull that one out of your ass."
Be helpful. Not hurtful.
If there is something so nasty or disruptive that you simply can't treat it nicely, or that you're worried someone's behavior will seriously hurt the RP as a whole, message me and I will deal with it. I expect everyone to treat everyone else with genuine respect at all times.
Rule 4: Combat and espionage should be figured out beforehand, and if it is not, Arktic or a deputy will do it.
Of course, I recognize that there will be times when things happen in this RP where one party or another will be unhappy with the results. It is instinctual to try and avoid inconvenience, or losing power, or being messed with IC.
Ideally, everyone should figure their battles out beforehand in a nice, consensual way. Again, we are all as actors here; some people will need to accept being the fallen villain, and not everyone can all be the triumphant hero. You can still give a good performance and have fun as either. I personally love playing fallen or falling nations, and torturing my characters is one of my favorite pastimes, so you should be at least okay with it if it happens. (That, or I'm a sadist. A good quality for an autocrat to have.)
However, if this is impossible or undesirable for whatever reason, I will moderate the conflict. The precise things I will do to determine the victor will vary in each situation, but will factors I consider will often include:
-Relative fleet or army sizes,
-Relative likely skill of espionage and counter-espionage forces,
-Technological differences,
-Environmental situations,
-Probable energy levels for both sides,
-Creativity (or lack thereof),
-Basedness of the results,
-My mood and attitude towards the combatants (sorry, but it's honest), and
-Random number generation methods, if I cannot pick a victor.
I will try my best to reach a conclusion to the battle that everyone is at least kind of okay with, but I cannot guarantee that I will be able to. I can only promise a resolution, if one cannot be mutually agreed to. Usually these descriptions will be bare-bones, and explaining them and their consequences will be left to those actually in the conflict: ex. "Side A destroys 30% of Side B's fleet but the rest are able to escape" or "Side B's guards surround Side A's spy".
I may also allow a deputy to decide on a battle if I am busy or if I cannot decide myself, but if they're obviously biased or do something stupid I reserve the right as absolute autocrat to overrule them. I do however expect my deputies to use similar metrics and decision making processes to mine, as they will have read the rules as well, Parcia.
And I believe that is it for administrative rules. I reserve the right to change these whenever, of course, but unless I get major push back over this I intend on keeping to these fairly simple four rules. If I add, subtract, or change any rules, it will of course be registered in the OP Edit Log. For additional rules about technology and mechanics, read the tab below.
So this is a Future Tech™ RP. What that means exactly can be a source of contention, and arguments about conflicting mechanics and what could and should be permitted are one of the reasons that this is Alitheia in Space II. With that in mind, I'm going to set up some ground rules involving behavior, technology, battle mechanics, and general RP administrivia. READING THESE BEFORE APPLYING AND POSTING IS A MUST.
FTL
There are three methods of faster-than-light travel that will be in use for this RP. The specific "how"s will be intentionally vague, but outside of these three methods there will be no other kind of FTL permitted: no, your special species doesn't have a magical Instant Transport Potion, you have to play by the same rules as well. The three genres of FTL are as follows:
1. "Blinking": Blink Drives, also known IC and OOC as Warp Drives, warp spacetime to instantly send a ship across interstellar distances. Blink Drives have NO travel time, hence their name, as ships "blink" from one spot to another. However, while they do not have travel time, Blink Drives are also very energy intensive, so after "blinking" you will have to stop to recharge your energy storage. This, along with being the most "simple" method of FTL transit to construct, makes Blink Drives ideal for reconnaissance and battle, where quickly exiting and entering fields of battle serve a great advantage. Blinking INTO something, whether by accident or as an intentional kamikaze move is impossible: the laws of physics do not allow for the contradiction. It must be done into and out of empty space.
2. "Sliding": Slide Drives, also known as Hyperspace Drives, bend spacetime to fling a ship at FTL speeds. While faster than light, much faster, this drive is NOT an instant method of travel, like Blink Drives or Gates are. Slide Drives need time to get up to speed, and need time to slow down, making them less useful for things like military and reconnaissance. However, they are very energy efficient when compared to Blink Drives, which makes them ideal for civilian merchant and colonist shipping. Dodging or blocking obstacles in FTL and having to do the constant calculations to stay on course at superluminal velocities make Slide Drives somewhat more complex, but the energy costs saved make it very much worth the trouble. Like with "blinking," having a ship "slide" into something at FTL is an impossibility: attempting to intentionally impact anything will cause the ship to FIRST come out of FTL, and then smack into the target. The process of "sliding" can also only be done in empty space.
3. "Gates": Gates, also known as Bridges or Wormholes, serve as multidimensional doors to and from two different points in space. Traveling through these doors will send you to the respective opposing point instantly, regardless of distance. Gates come in a variety of shapes and sizes across the galaxy but they all have three things in common: firstly, they are INCREDIBLY rare, with only perhaps a half-dozen pairs of Gates being in the galaxy (and no, you will not find a way to produce or discover more of them). Secondly, they are natural objects but they require advanced infrastructure to stabilize and open them: losing control of or destroying one end of the Gate means, practically, losing control or destroying both ends until you can recapture and/or repair them. Thirdly and finally, travel through these Gates are instant and (for the ship using them) free of any cost, except perhaps those imposed by the operators and owners of the Gate infrastructure.
In general, ignoring the Gates which are instantaneous, using either Blink and Slide Drives will take you about the same amount of time to cross the galaxy: a standard Earth year, give or take a few weeks, although this can and likely will be ignored for Rule of Cool purposes.
Detection
Next, we will discuss how ships can be detected across the vast and inky void of space. The two methods of non-Gate FTL transit, that is, Blink and Slide Drives, both produce tachyon signatures for their intended destinations that can be picked up by any starfaring race (the in-universe reason being that understanding and reading tachyon transmission is crucial for FTL travel). However, the two FTL methods produce different tachyon readings:
-Blink Drives produce a very strong but omnipresent tachyon signal at their target destination, meaning that it is easy to detect that a ship with a Blink Drive is approaching but it is impossible to tell where it may be coming from until it arrives.
-Slide Drives produce a rather weak, but directional tachyon signal at their target destination, meaning that ships with Slide Drives are harder to detect, but if you do detect them, you can tell where they are coming from and plan accordingly.
The detection "distance" for tachyon signals is measured in time, not distance, and is twenty seconds at a minimum and two weeks at a maximum. The detection capabilities for bases, ships, planets, or drones can be improved with significant energy and infrastructure investments.
However, while you can detect a ship that is approaching, you cannot directly track a ship as it moves from one star system to another if your detector is not in either star system. Doing that requires scouts or detection outposts which relay the information at FTL speeds to you, in ways that will be described in the section below.
Communications
There are two primary methods of FTL communication in Alitheia: couriers, and quantum telegraphy. The former are rather self-explanatory: fast ships or drones usually equipped with the minimum to travel and deliver what they need to, and then move back. This method is somewhat more secure and much less expensive, but also is understandably slow compared to near-instantaneous quantum telegraphy and is prone to interference that quantum telegraphy is not prone to, such as electronic jamming or the physical capture or destruction of the courier.
Quantum Telegraphy, or QT for short, is a method for theoretically fully instantaneous communication, which usesan intentionally bad reading and misunderstanding ofquantum entanglement. Two atoms have their spins entangled through a very complicated, delicate, and energy-intensive artificial process, which means that changing the spin of one atom will change the spin of the other, no matter where in the galaxy or even the universe the atom happens to be. This allows for the atom pair to send messages using the different spin directions as a sort of Morse code or binary. While this is undisputed as the "best" method of communication that will work anywhere under any conditions, the process of creating QT receivers and transmitters is extremely expensive and difficult to accomplish, even for the most skilled and intelligent of species. Because of this, relay stations are often used to make communicating over QT more efficient, such as those making up the civilian QTnet of the Many Worlds Consortium. These relay stations may serve as a vulnerability, both to destruction and espionage; QTnet relays are infamous for having entire ecosystems of spies and counterspies waging a silent, hidden information war on the ostensibly peaceful quantum internet network.
Technology
Oh boy, this is the big one. If you read anything at all in this spoiler, please read this.
So, I tried to cover most of my bases with technology here already. But the world of science and technology is big, as are peoples' imaginations, and I honestly have better things to do with my life than trying to imagine every conceivable sci-fi technology and making a ruling on it or explaining exactly how it should work. I'm intentionally leaving out psionics (which I am counting as a technology, I know, leave me alone) and shields because I've already decided I don't really care how the latter should work aside from "it will cost energy and not be invincible", and the former is still undecided and, if it is allowed at all, will probably be settled on an application-by-application basis.
That being said, I am going to establish guidelines by which you should be thinking about technology, which I will be laying out below. PLEASE READ THESE. It will make both of our lives easier. Thank you in advance.
Everything Has A Price: Regardless of what you come up with, technology will cost you something. I already determined general costs and benefits for things like different FTL systems and for tachyon detection, and similar principles apply here. The more impressive any bit of technology is, the more expensive it will be, the rarer or more fragile it will be, the more complicated it will be, and the more resource and energy intensive it will be. And no, you can't have a more efficient version: that may be how technology kind of happens in the real world, but here I am worried about story balance, and you suddenly deciding that your civilization somehow made Dyson Spheres as cheap as a new car is not balanced.
Technology is Magic, But It Is Not God: In that same vein, I'd like to point out that while of course you are able to take pretty much as many liberties with science and technology as you want, those liberties can NOT allow you to have an unfair or overwhelming advantage over other players that you did not earn in the course of reasonable IC conflict or change. This is mostly directed at those planning on using things like psionics and advanced artificial general intelligence, which can be fun to use but also have a tendency to explode into god-mode when put in the wrong hands (or more accurately, the wrong heads). Everything will have a cost, a weakness, a counterbalance, a mitigating factor, and if it does not you will simply not be able to use it.
Consistency Is Key: If you introduce a unique or new technology, you can use it in pretty much any way you want so long as it is NOT game-breaking or outside of our few already established rules about FTL and whatnot. That being said, you must use your technology in a consistent and reasonable manner. Other players need to be able to understand what you're about, and if you keep changing the rules of how your species' psionics work, for example, it makes it a very frustrating experience to try and interact with you and may even lead to intractable OOC arguments about the outcome of fights or espionage. If you're having trouble codifying rules for your technology, I would be more than happy to help you with it.
I believe that is all there is to say on the technology front. Thank you for reading this, and please refer to this or keep these things in mind as you're discussing, acting, and creating within the RP.
CODE FOR NATION APPLICATIONS
Delete everything quoted with >>.<< and fill out the form to apply.
CODE FOR CHARACTER APPLICATIONS
Delete everything quoted with >>.<< and fill out the form to apply.
- Code: Select all
[box][i][color=#0000FF][u][align=center][size=150]>>Insert nation name here<<'s Nation Application[/size][/align][/u][/color][/i]
[b]Nation Name:[/b] >>What your nation, horde, fleet, hive-mind, artificial general intelligence, empire, confederation, or whatever is called, either by itself or by others.<<
[b]Population Size:[/b] >>If applicable. For humanoid empires, this number will be anywhere from 20 billion to 10 trillion.<<
[b]Dominant Species:[/b] >>If applicable. Describe the leading, or majority, or founding species of your polity here.<<
[b]Demographics:[/b] >>If applicable, briefly describe and list other species that you have residing within your domain, and the species makeup of your polity.<<
[b]Territory:[/b] >>If applicable. List the coordinates of each of the territorial sectors you plan on controlling in the galactic map below. Keep in mind that the more sectors your polity controls, the less able you will be to claim or build megastructures.<<
[b]Megastructures:[/b] >>If applicable. List any Death Stars, Ecumenopoli, Dyson Spheres, Penrose Generators, Matryoshka Brains, Ringworlds, (most importantly) Gates, or any other feats of megaengineering that your empire has built, is in the process of building, or otherwise has total control of. Keep in mind that the more of these you have, the smaller territory you will be afforded.<<
[b]Government and Ideology:[/b] >>If applicable. Please briefly describe your polity's government and any dominating or important political ideologies that may be encountered.<<
[b]Leader Name and Title:[/b] >>If applicable. Self-explanatory. Help us be polite.<<
[b]Extraterritoriality:[/b] >> Describe your polity's relationship with extraterritoriality here. Your options include:
-ALLOWED, FULL: Your polity permits any and all corporations, nomadic fleets, refugees, and so on, only regulating access to those official representatives of other territorial polities.
-ALLOWED, LIMITED: Your polity permits a reasonably small number of multinational corporations or specially allowed nomadic tribes to travel through your borders unmolested.
-PROHIBITED: No organization that operates in other galactic borders is permitted to operate within your own. Representatives of such organizations, if they are allowed into your nation at all, are only accepted on a case-by-case basis and are subject to severe restriction and scrutiny.
-CONTROLLED ACCESS, MANY/FEW: Any number of extraterritorial organizations can exist within your domain, but they are subject to constant surveillance and restriction, and may be kicked out of your polity for any reason.
-IS EXTRATERRITORIAL: Either exists without possessing galactic borders in its own right, or has significant extraterritorial operations operating from a territorial base. Megacorps and nomads will likely want to pick this.<<
[b]Religion:[/b] >>If applicable. Describe the religious makeup of your polity, as well as any significant or interesting religions you may have within your borders.<<
[b]Military:[/b] >>Give rough military numbers and capabilities for both star fleets and ground forces here. You should also give a general sense of how militaristic, or not, your polity is.<<
[b]Special Technologies:[/b] >>Any unique or powerful technologies that your polity either relies upon, has exclusive access to, or otherwise intends to make extensive use of. LIST ANYTHING AT ALL THAT YOU THINK MIGHT TRIGGER ANY KIND OF PROBLEM. IF YOU HAVE A SPECIAL, OP TECHNOLOGY AND IT IS NOT LISTED HERE, I WILL BE VERY UNLIKELY TO RULE IN YOUR FAVOR REGARDING IT. PSIONICS, SINGULARITIES, NANOBOTS, AND MOST MEGASTRUCTURE TECHNOLOGIES GO HERE. Consider this your warning.<<
[i][b]Do you hereby promise that you have read and agree with the rules, or are willing to pretend like you have read and agree with the rules, and are willing to listen to and accept the judgments of Arktic and his deputies as the final word regarding combat, technology, and game fairness and fun?:[/b][/i] >>Answer in the affirmative if you want to RP. Answer "no" if you want to be a jackass, before editing it and answering "yes" to join.<<[/box]
Delete everything quoted with >>.<< and fill out the form to apply.
CODE FOR CHARACTER APPLICATIONS
- Code: Select all
[box][i][u][align=center][color=#FF8000][size=150]>>Insert character name here<<'s Character Application[/size][/color][/align][/u][/i]
[b]Character Name:[/b] >>If applicable. Include any (non-spoiler) aliases, or titles.<<
[b]Appearance:[/b] >>A brief description or depiction of what your character looks like. Picture preferred, but not necessary.<<
[b]Species:[/b] >>What kind of life form is your character?<<
[b]Age:[/b] >>Give any necessary "biological age" vs "chronological age" vs "intellectual age" caveats.<<
[b]Biological Sex, Gender, & Sexual Orientation:[/b] >>If applicable and comfortable answering.<<
[b]Homeworld:[/b] >>If applicable.<<
[b]Allegiance & Affiliation:[/b] >>Who does your character work for? To whom do they owe loyalty, or with whom do they share spoils and trials?<<
[b]Occupation:[/b] >>What does your character do?<<
[b]Rank:[/b] >>If applicable.<<
[b]Personality:[/b] >>Give us a look into what your character might be like as a person.<<
[b]Biography:[/b] >>A brief history of who your character is, how they became who they are, and why we should care.<<
[b]Skills:[/b] >>What is your character good at?<<
[b]Liabilities:[/b] >>What is a weakness of your character?<<
[b]Special Characteristics:[/b] >>If applicable. List any cybernetics, psionics, or other special traits or "powers" your character has above the normal, base species that they are. FAILURE TO MENTION SOMETHING OOC, HERE, WILL NOT BE TAKEN LIGHTLY.<<[/box]
Delete everything quoted with >>.<< and fill out the form to apply.
Current Claimed Territory:
Parcia: Olympia Heavy Industries. Bright Red, F9, G9, E10, F10, G10, E11, F11, J12.
Kasa Tkoth Sphere: Symphony in C. Middle Sky Blue, AF12.
Ortama: The First Sphere. Bright Green, U20.
Free Asian Ports: Promethean Networked Republic. Bright Yellow, N13.
Utceforp: The Rectification. Grey, Q24, Q25, Q26, R24, R25, R26, S26.
Sarderia: State of Svarden. White, J18, J19, J20, J21, K18, K19, K20, K21, K22, L18, L19, L20, L21, I14.
Nornsmark: The Republic of Gaalseiia. Pink, O22.
-Edit 1: Removed formatting error, added Moderation Edit List. (Arktic, 22 June 2020 12:54 PM EDT)
-Edit 2: Added "FTL, Detection, Communication, and Technology In General" information tab, filled out Rules 1 and 2 of "Rules, Regulations, and Realtalk" and the entirety of "FTL, Detection, Communication, and Technology In General," minor text edit to welcoming statement. (Arktic, 24 June 2020 ~12:05 AM EDT)
-Edit 3: Finished "Rules, Regulations, and Realtalk" by adding Rules 3 and 4, fixed Edit 2 of the Moderation Edit List to better reflect what had actually happened before I accidentally submitted the edit, renamed "Moderation Edit List" to "OP Edit Log". (Arktic, 24 June 2020 12:52 EDT)
-Edit 4: Finally, mercifully, added player character and nation apps. (Arktic, 29 June 2020 8:38 PM EDT)
-Edit 5: Added Parcia's map claims, edited the intro. (Arktic, 29 June 2020 10:41 AM EDT)
-Edit 6: Added Kasa Tkoth Sphere's map claims. (Arktic, 29 June 2020, 4:03 PM EDT)
-Edit 7: Corrected data for Edit 6, added map claims for Ortama, Free Asian Ports, Utceforp, Sarderia, and Nornsmark. Changed map claims for Kasa Tkoth Sphere. (Arktic, 1 August 2020, 3:00 PM EDT)
-Edit 8: Added link to the IC thread. (Arktic, 1 August 2020, 3:33 PM EDT)
-Edit 2: Added "FTL, Detection, Communication, and Technology In General" information tab, filled out Rules 1 and 2 of "Rules, Regulations, and Realtalk" and the entirety of "FTL, Detection, Communication, and Technology In General," minor text edit to welcoming statement. (Arktic, 24 June 2020 ~12:05 AM EDT)
-Edit 3: Finished "Rules, Regulations, and Realtalk" by adding Rules 3 and 4, fixed Edit 2 of the Moderation Edit List to better reflect what had actually happened before I accidentally submitted the edit, renamed "Moderation Edit List" to "OP Edit Log". (Arktic, 24 June 2020 12:52 EDT)
-Edit 4: Finally, mercifully, added player character and nation apps. (Arktic, 29 June 2020 8:38 PM EDT)
-Edit 5: Added Parcia's map claims, edited the intro. (Arktic, 29 June 2020 10:41 AM EDT)
-Edit 6: Added Kasa Tkoth Sphere's map claims. (Arktic, 29 June 2020, 4:03 PM EDT)
-Edit 7: Corrected data for Edit 6, added map claims for Ortama, Free Asian Ports, Utceforp, Sarderia, and Nornsmark. Changed map claims for Kasa Tkoth Sphere. (Arktic, 1 August 2020, 3:00 PM EDT)
-Edit 8: Added link to the IC thread. (Arktic, 1 August 2020, 3:33 PM EDT)
