Do your soldiers wear power armor? Does your army employ nuclear-powered super-heavy battle tanks? Are your people powered by fusion technology? Post-Modern Technology, otherwise referred to as PMT (or PM/T) and Post-Modern Tech, is a roleplaying community that deals in speculative technology that lies between strictly modern technology and future technology. Because the boundaries of PMT are fuzzy and inherently ill-defined, the purpose of this thread is to provide a rule of thumb definition and to provide a shared space for the NationStates PMT community where you can ask for, and/or offer, advice or assistance.
Because there are no true hard rules on where MT ends and FT begins, it's hard to give a concrete definition of PMT. The most common definition goes like this:
- PMT begins at MT + 10 years. What does that mean? Modern tech is harder to define than a lot of people think, because there's a question of what would be possible if the real world had our budgets and our necessities (i.e. the constant existence of war on NS). A flexible rule of thumb is to see MT as anything that exists today, plus what might conceivably be used on the field within the next 10 years. Everything after that can be considered post-modern.
- PMT ends at the introduction of FTL. FTL is faster-than-light transportation, which makes possible large space-faring civilizations. Everything after FTL tends to be considered FT.
Like everything on NS, RPing rules only become strict at the thread level, where it's the Thread Moderator (TM) — as I like to call the role — who decides what goes and what doesn't. So, you might see variations in the definition of PMT, depending on who you are RPing with. Likewise, some players are "strict MTers," meaning that they only accept what is used on the field today in their RPs, and so PMT might start a lot sooner for them than it does for others. But, in general, a good rule of thumb to follow for PMT is:
There are also be several school of thoughts to PMT. What I mean by that includes time ranges, where a world set in 2100 can be very different to one set in 2040 or 2050. But, also, styles of PMT. Gholgoth, for example, is known for its 'Nightmare Tech,' much of which — armored airships, armored airborne infantrymen, the Kraven Capitol Police, et cetera — can be considered PMT. There are flavors of PMT that have been strongly influenced by steampunk, as well. No matter your school of thought, you are welcomed to use this thread to get feedback on an idea, [ed. tastfully] share a thread, or ask for advice on any aspect of your roleplaying and worldbuilding. You are invited to be [ed. tastefully] controversial: what should be considered PMT? What should be considered MT?
Because PMT is inherently speculative, PMT roleplay rarely works when participants take an "I want to win" mentality. When I say that it "rarely works," I mean that this mentality is the single largest cause of failure amongst PMT RPs. In a world where you can almost "make up" your technology, within reason, there are no hard constraints on tech that make it easy to say what's acceptable and what isn't. So this often leads down the rabbit hole of disillusion, frustration, and debate, and the RP will start to focus on out of character (OOC) problems more so than on the in character (IC) plot. That's why it's heavily recommended that you adopt the culture of "rule of cool," or what the FT community calls c4:
- Collaborate: In PMT, the thread is all about the story. Your priority should be the plot, and making it interesting for both you, the other players, and the readers. You are, in essence, writing a collaborative novel with another player.
- Cooperate: Oftentimes players have conflicting ends. For the sake of the RP (and for the sake of this game being fun for all parties involved), it's important to compromise when deciding on outcomes. Your opponent may not want to lose the essence of his world in a war, and you should be ready to find a solution with that player if that goes against one of your goals. Finding common ground is usually imperative to success in a PMT RP.
- Consistent: As you develop rules that apply to your world — the rules you control —, you should apply these consistently. This applies both to your world and to how your world interacts with others'. A consistent world helps others stay involved in it, which helps to make your RPs stable and therefore more attractive.
- Be Creative: The best canon is your own canon. You'll find the most success by developing your own world, rather than taking it from another players' or from some other source (e.g. a novel or a movie). Of course, everyone has been influenced by something; ideas are rarely independent. But, your canon should have your own personal flavor, or its own identity in other terms.
Know that c4, or "rule of cool" as I call it, are not hard rules. You don't have to follow them. The beauty of NS is that we can do what we want on it, within the constraints provided to us by the moderators (i.e. what goes in what forum). If you don't like the "rule of cool," by all means do it your way.
But, on average, the most successful PMT RPs follow this general culture of collaboration, cooperation, and consistency. They tend to go much more smoothly, they are generally more fun to participate in, and they usually last a lot longer and leave a much more prominent mark in players' memories. This being said, I'd like to quote Kyrusia on a related point:
Kyrusia wrote:Behavior and conduct are paramount to earning respect and merit as a writer and roleplayer in the Future Technology community; poor behavior tends to reflect poorly on the player and, ultimately, may lead to many individuals ignoring that player and his entities simply because it's not enjoyable to interact with the player.
The rules you set for your RPs will play a role in the willingness of others to RP and interact with you. Building a strong, healthy rapport with other RP partners comes with that willingness to cooperate and collaborate.
Nobody can tell you what the best way of roleplaying is. Some players like long form, others like short form. Some like dialogue, others like a style more akin to non-fiction. It's all good — your thread, your rules. All PMT players, no matter your style or your preferences, are welcomed to join in on the discussion in the community thread. Ask questions, share your knowledge, we'd all love to hear what you have to say.
You following c4, or "rule of cool," does not mean that you belong to an exclusive circle of top RPers. "Top RPing" is a nonsensical statement, because the value of an RP is subjective. This thread is not restricted to a special group of players. Again, all PMT players are welcomed. Any rhetoric that tries to exclude or alienate others is not acceptable.
The rules of this thread are simple:
- This is not a general chat thread. This thread is specifically meant for the discussion of NS PMT in an OOC setting. You can, of course, share PMT RP ideas. In fact, I highly encourage that sort of activity.
- Do not be disruptive. Long, heated arguments are not welcomed and you know when it's better to agree to disagree.
- This thread is also meant to help build community standards and conventions, to help give cohesiveness to the PMT community. It's perfectly acceptable to RP outside of these conventions. So any advice should come with that caveat that it's optional to take it.
You can find large chunks of the PMT community on:
- NS PMT Discord
- Mentors Discord (#nsmentors on IRC)
There are also a number of Roleplay Mentors at your disposal: The Macabees, Santheres, Kylarnatia.