Post by Jason on Sept 2, 2010 19:46:24 GMT -7
StarScapes is a writers SIM in line with the now defuncted Starsheild.
Players are writers who create a Galactic Empire and write out its interactions in the Greater Galaxy. The writer can either stick to themselves and write about their own Empire or collaborate with other writers and involve theirs.
How do I play?
The goal of Starscapes is not to conquer everyone else. The goal is to role-play the empires you create, not destroy them. Interesting plot is strongly encouraged.
First sign up on the forum. Then design an empire for yourself. Once you've done that, you can initiate contact over the open comms, and begin to play. I recommend that you read the posts to the forums while you make your empire, so that you'll have an idea of what you're stepping into.
Basically, you the player/writer comes up with a great plot idea, often incomplete or open ended. You share the idea with the players/writers of other empires that you think should be involved in the plot by contacting them through PM or email. Ideas get thrown about. A story emerges, piece by piece. Usually, completed parts of these stories are posted to the forum while the rest of the story is still in progress.
Often, other players/writers have their empires respond to the unfolding events as they would in the Starscapes Universe, further enriching the story, this is called an open ended story. Open ended stories need to have (open) placed at the end of the opening title and again at the end of the post. This lets the other writers know that you are 'asking' for others to join the story.
Nothing should be done to any other writers Empire without their consent, period. Anything that is will be reversed and deleted from the forums.
Where do I post?
The Narrative is where the stories of the Greater Galaxy go. All story modes should be placed here. A writer can also post them in the section of their own Empires or character, but must post them to the Narrative section as well.
Open Comms is for all in character communication between writers. This is also where IC introductions done over comms goes as well as distress calls. If it would be a post that entails a communication that does not have a story mode or will start one it will go here. After a story starts from it, the story will go into the Narrative.
Galactic NEWS, all Imperial and Galactic news broadcasts from here. This can be a summing up of a story or a way to hook others into one. This section would be posted on by mostly Empire writers.
How do i make an empire?
First read “A brief history”
The basic story is that your empire has just established contact with the Watchers, and is therefore suddenly able to communicate with all the other empires hooked into the Watcher's open communications network.
Here are a few rules you should follow when creating an empire:
--New empires never have a history that they know of that involves the Watchers or any of the major empires. They have been out of contact with the Watchers for eons and therefore time has eroded any knowledge of them.
--Your empire starts with a max of 18 planets, 5 inhabitable, and as many systems as needed, with a minimum of 3 and a max of 6.
--Empires never have a history that involves Earth. Starscapes takes place in a galaxy far far away.
--An empire that uses psionics has it limited by the psionic's strength and the empire's population. In other words, the stronger the psionic ability the fewer in the populace that has it. The ability to talk to the dead or move small objects can be had by a great deal of the populace while the ability to destroy planets would only be had by one in a few trillion and even then likely hunted down as to great a threat. Also free will can never be taken away, no psionic can make another character kill themselves or someone they don't want to.
--Psionics are interpreted differently in every Empire. Some are seen as magic while others looked at with fear and loathing. It is up to you to decide how it is seen. But no psionic will give any Empire an advantage over any other, even ones without any abilities at all.
--No time travel whatsoever is possible. Even with the ability to bend time and space to tear entrances into Hyper-Space, the ability to travel through time is still not possible. It is also not possible to open gateways into other dimensions. Something keeps dimensional gates from opening and any that try violently shut down.
--Any event written about another's empire that they did or do not agree with or that violates any of these rules or any non-written 'fair play' rules will be deleted and the writer will receive a warning. We are all here to have fun and enjoy writing, not get a cheap power thrill.
When dimensional gates existed eons ago the reality from the other side bled heavily into our universe at the gates. Each empire had several gates at their main home planets that allowed life from the other dimensions to exist there. When the gates where shut down that life in time merged with this dimension and continued to thrive. It is up to you to chose what that other reality this life came from and how it has effected your empire. Remember, the gates where shut down eons ago and the universe has had time to heal, so the influence will be subtle and/or even gone. It did, though, allow for a very large variety of life forms, from humanoid beings that look like elves, to sentient bugs, to living crystal.
In some dimensions magic is very much real and the one thing keeping everything going. These had an odd effect on our reality. After the gates shut down this magic ran rampant at the bleed zones, but as the universe calmed magic merged with this reality and became something different. The different types of magic became different types of psionic ability.
Some psionics weaken it's user requiring rest, some allow the user to speak or even control the dead, while still others can move objects with mere thought. In some empires psionics are still seen as magic and treated as such, in others it is feared and hunted down. It is up to you to decide how your empire views these abilities, if they exist there at all.
If your empire has strong psionics, temper it with lower amount of populace having it. The same works the other way, a weak or harmless psionic can be distributed over a larger number of the populace. There is no ability, technology or psionic wise that will give an empire an advantage over any other.
Now that you have an idea of what you want, follow the steps below to help flesh out your Empire further.
Step 1:
What kind of Empire do you have?
Does psionics exist? Are they weak or strong?
Step 2:
What is your empire like?
Powerful or weak?
Advanced or primitive?
Large or small?
Rich or poor?
Remember, try to strike a balance. The more you raise one scale, the lower you should bring down another. Empires aren't allowed to start powerful.
Step 3:
What kind of people do you have? And how many?
Also decide on their temperament, and their beliefs. How fanatical are they?
How do they react to other civilizations?
How easily do they start wars?
Step 4:
What kind of government do you have? Despotism? Dictatorship? Monarchy? Democracy?
Communism?
How strong is the military, and police force?
What kind of crime do you have?
How do you treat immigrants and guests when they commit a crime?
Do you enforce a death penalty or do you believe in rehabilitation?
Step 5:
What kind of history does your empire have? Peace? War?
Step 6:
How many planets do you have?
What kind of resources do you have?
What can you offer other empires?
What do you need from other empires?
Step 7:
Go through what you've written. Make sure that there aren't any contradictions. Make sure that there's a logical reason for each detail. That each piece of information fits together with every other piece of information.
Do you like your empire? If not, go back and change it.
To enjoy playing, you need an empire that you'll enjoy ruling.
Step 8:
Compile the information and send it to the admins. If it is accepted, you will be entered into The Greater Galaxy - Catalog of Contact.
Step 9:
Now that you've been accepted, detail the information about your empire. Delve into its history. Study its people. Choose the most important and post it in your Empire’s section of the Catalog after the summary of your empire. Make sure you don’t contradict anything already stated in the summary.
Step 10:
If you have a website, you can place any other information on there. Go wild, let your imagination free.
Step 11:
Have fun!
Remember, keep a balance. Although you can be as imaginative as you want, have a logical reason for everything. Don't hold back, but don't go overboard. And don't show up with an empire that's too powerful, this can't be stressed enough. Also, two heads are better than one. If you're stuck, get a friend to help.
Types of Empires
There are several types of Empires in the Greater Galaxy.
First are Major Empires. These empires are vast and contain countless worlds. They are also far flung and usually harder to reach. They care little if at all for minor and lessor empires and have almost no contact with them.
Minor Empires are the largest number of empires in the Greater Galaxy and what the writers control. They've been contacted by the Watchers when they have achieved FTL travel or attempt to open up Hyper-Gates of their own. These Empires usually band together in alliances for economic and safety reasons. These are the writers/players empires.
Also in the minor empire category are Rogue Empires. These are empires who have rejected the assistance, or forced service (as they look at it) of the Watchers, and have created Hyper-Gates at their own discretion. These empires are highly frowned upon and put the universe at risk according to the Watchers. The Watchers point out that tearing into Hyper-Space at the wrong point can cause massive damage to Hyper-Space itself throwing travelers off course and causing Quantum Storms to rip through normal space.
Any 'illegal' actions by Rogue Empires are generally met with trade and aid sanctions against them by the Watchers, Major and Minor Empires. All Minor Empires have the right to attack, and even conquer Rogue Empires, however, it also works the other way around (which is why its good to have allies).
The last designation are the Lessor Empires which are broken into two categories:
Lessor - Class Prime - Empires with FTL travel, but lack the ability, knowledge or even awareness of the Greater Galaxy. Contact is restricted to Watchers only.
Lessor - Class Low - Empires without FTL travel. Contact is forbidden. The Watchers personally step into to protect this classification from outsiders.
Where does my Empire go?
Your Empire location is related to where you live in the real world. Find as close to where you live on the galactic map as you can and that is where your empire is located. Go here to find the map of the Greater Galaxy.
Minor Empire Military
Minor Empires are limited in the size of their military. Minor Empires are minor for a reason, they do not have the technological ability or the military strength to step up into the Major Empire playing field. Nor will they ever.
Each Minor Empire may start out with three battle fleets. More warrior based cultures will be allowed four, but will have social limits to their empire. (for example: A warrior culture will have less of value for trade as they spend more resources on weapons manufacture then any other useful commodity. They will also be looked upon as a threat and may not be dealt with kindly). But even a 4 fleet minor empire will not be able to conquer any other minor empire.
Imperial firepower will always balance out. No one minor empire battle group could ever walk over another minor empire.
The power structure of the Greater Galaxy works like this:
The Watchers -- capable of conquering every known group in the Greater Galaxy with ease, even if every living soul allied to prevent it. The Watchers have no equal, no match and never will.
Major Empires -- Major Empires are far more advanced tech wise and militarily. No Minor Empire can defeat them, or even stand a chance to any one of their battle groups, to which they have 5 times that of a Minor Empire. Alliances between multiple Minor Empires would be the only way to keep a Major Empire from taking the them.
Minor Empires -- Minor Empires are all balanced to one another. Some may war with one another, but none have been able to conquer another. There is ALWAYS a balance among them and this is rumored to have been the work of the Watchers.
Rogue Empires -- Rogue Empires are normally on equal footing with Minor Empires. Minors, though, have the advantage of fully functioning Hyper-Gates. No Rogue Empire has taken a Minor Empire, but not for lack of trying.
Pirates, criminals, etc - the 'odd man out' these groups are not strong enough in any way to take on an organized military presence. Also not for lack of trying, most prefer to hit small targets and make off with whatever loot they can.
The key here is that EVERY Minor Empire is balanced with each other, no exceptions. The Admins will remove posts that state otherwise. For every advantage there is a disadvantage, every strength a weakness. Writers MUST keep this in mind when building an Empire for StarScapes.
But what if I don’t want an empire?
Writers are able to just create a single individual and write just their exploits as well. You just need to be from any of the current empires, but you need to get permission of the owner of that empire first. Do not look to be a famous person within their empire at least not to start. Also there’s a good chance that your character may not ever have contact with any of theirs, but that is completely up to the empires creator.
Another option is be a member of the Trade Union. Being a part of the Trade Union allows you to control a small to moderate sized ship and it's crew. This ship would have moderate defensive weapons, but would not be able to attack, a la a pirate. The ship and crews origin can come from any empire, again with the creators permission. Go here for more details on the Trade Union.
A third option is to be a citizen of the Scanlon Station. Controlled by the admins and not any one member, no permission is needed to be from here. The only people you can not portray on Scanlon is the command staff, nor members of any Empire's diplomatic entourage. See here for more on the Scanlon Station.
Fourth you can play as a member of the Inter-Galactic Police (IGP). They are the Greater Galaxy's version of Interpol. Go here for more on the IGP.
Finally you can play a Sib'yls. I don't recommend this option for writers new to doing literary Simms, or new to writing at all for that matter. The Sib'yls are agents of the Watchers, a sort of elite CIA military like group. A writer can write the exploits of a Sib'yls agent infiltrating a rogue empire, pirate group or criminal gang, but involvement of any other writers Empire will need their permission. On occasion they will get orders from the admins playing the Watchers and it is then up to the writer to come up with a story for it, if they take the order. The order will be posted in the Sib'yls section of the Greater Galaxy - Catalog of Contact and any writer with a Sib'yls can take the task, first come first serve. Go to here to learn more about the Sib'yls.
To play/write any of the above just fill out the correct form below and send it to an admin for acceptance. Once accepted that character or ship/crew will be entered into the Persons of Note section. Once posted you may begin writing.
==========================================
Name:
Employment:
Species:
Sex:
Home-world:
Current location:
Personality:
Bio:
Physical Description:
Noteworthy characteristics:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trade Union Ship Identification:
Ship Name:
Ship ID:
Ship Origin:
Ship Berth:
Defensive Capabilities:
Number of Crew:
Cargo Capacity:
Captain:
Ship's Log:
Normal Trade Routes:
Players are writers who create a Galactic Empire and write out its interactions in the Greater Galaxy. The writer can either stick to themselves and write about their own Empire or collaborate with other writers and involve theirs.
How do I play?
The goal of Starscapes is not to conquer everyone else. The goal is to role-play the empires you create, not destroy them. Interesting plot is strongly encouraged.
First sign up on the forum. Then design an empire for yourself. Once you've done that, you can initiate contact over the open comms, and begin to play. I recommend that you read the posts to the forums while you make your empire, so that you'll have an idea of what you're stepping into.
Basically, you the player/writer comes up with a great plot idea, often incomplete or open ended. You share the idea with the players/writers of other empires that you think should be involved in the plot by contacting them through PM or email. Ideas get thrown about. A story emerges, piece by piece. Usually, completed parts of these stories are posted to the forum while the rest of the story is still in progress.
Often, other players/writers have their empires respond to the unfolding events as they would in the Starscapes Universe, further enriching the story, this is called an open ended story. Open ended stories need to have (open) placed at the end of the opening title and again at the end of the post. This lets the other writers know that you are 'asking' for others to join the story.
Nothing should be done to any other writers Empire without their consent, period. Anything that is will be reversed and deleted from the forums.
Where do I post?
The Narrative is where the stories of the Greater Galaxy go. All story modes should be placed here. A writer can also post them in the section of their own Empires or character, but must post them to the Narrative section as well.
Open Comms is for all in character communication between writers. This is also where IC introductions done over comms goes as well as distress calls. If it would be a post that entails a communication that does not have a story mode or will start one it will go here. After a story starts from it, the story will go into the Narrative.
Galactic NEWS, all Imperial and Galactic news broadcasts from here. This can be a summing up of a story or a way to hook others into one. This section would be posted on by mostly Empire writers.
How do i make an empire?
First read “A brief history”
The basic story is that your empire has just established contact with the Watchers, and is therefore suddenly able to communicate with all the other empires hooked into the Watcher's open communications network.
Here are a few rules you should follow when creating an empire:
--New empires never have a history that they know of that involves the Watchers or any of the major empires. They have been out of contact with the Watchers for eons and therefore time has eroded any knowledge of them.
--Your empire starts with a max of 18 planets, 5 inhabitable, and as many systems as needed, with a minimum of 3 and a max of 6.
--Empires never have a history that involves Earth. Starscapes takes place in a galaxy far far away.
--An empire that uses psionics has it limited by the psionic's strength and the empire's population. In other words, the stronger the psionic ability the fewer in the populace that has it. The ability to talk to the dead or move small objects can be had by a great deal of the populace while the ability to destroy planets would only be had by one in a few trillion and even then likely hunted down as to great a threat. Also free will can never be taken away, no psionic can make another character kill themselves or someone they don't want to.
--Psionics are interpreted differently in every Empire. Some are seen as magic while others looked at with fear and loathing. It is up to you to decide how it is seen. But no psionic will give any Empire an advantage over any other, even ones without any abilities at all.
--No time travel whatsoever is possible. Even with the ability to bend time and space to tear entrances into Hyper-Space, the ability to travel through time is still not possible. It is also not possible to open gateways into other dimensions. Something keeps dimensional gates from opening and any that try violently shut down.
--Any event written about another's empire that they did or do not agree with or that violates any of these rules or any non-written 'fair play' rules will be deleted and the writer will receive a warning. We are all here to have fun and enjoy writing, not get a cheap power thrill.
When dimensional gates existed eons ago the reality from the other side bled heavily into our universe at the gates. Each empire had several gates at their main home planets that allowed life from the other dimensions to exist there. When the gates where shut down that life in time merged with this dimension and continued to thrive. It is up to you to chose what that other reality this life came from and how it has effected your empire. Remember, the gates where shut down eons ago and the universe has had time to heal, so the influence will be subtle and/or even gone. It did, though, allow for a very large variety of life forms, from humanoid beings that look like elves, to sentient bugs, to living crystal.
In some dimensions magic is very much real and the one thing keeping everything going. These had an odd effect on our reality. After the gates shut down this magic ran rampant at the bleed zones, but as the universe calmed magic merged with this reality and became something different. The different types of magic became different types of psionic ability.
Some psionics weaken it's user requiring rest, some allow the user to speak or even control the dead, while still others can move objects with mere thought. In some empires psionics are still seen as magic and treated as such, in others it is feared and hunted down. It is up to you to decide how your empire views these abilities, if they exist there at all.
If your empire has strong psionics, temper it with lower amount of populace having it. The same works the other way, a weak or harmless psionic can be distributed over a larger number of the populace. There is no ability, technology or psionic wise that will give an empire an advantage over any other.
Now that you have an idea of what you want, follow the steps below to help flesh out your Empire further.
Step 1:
What kind of Empire do you have?
Does psionics exist? Are they weak or strong?
Step 2:
What is your empire like?
Powerful or weak?
Advanced or primitive?
Large or small?
Rich or poor?
Remember, try to strike a balance. The more you raise one scale, the lower you should bring down another. Empires aren't allowed to start powerful.
Step 3:
What kind of people do you have? And how many?
Also decide on their temperament, and their beliefs. How fanatical are they?
How do they react to other civilizations?
How easily do they start wars?
Step 4:
What kind of government do you have? Despotism? Dictatorship? Monarchy? Democracy?
Communism?
How strong is the military, and police force?
What kind of crime do you have?
How do you treat immigrants and guests when they commit a crime?
Do you enforce a death penalty or do you believe in rehabilitation?
Step 5:
What kind of history does your empire have? Peace? War?
Step 6:
How many planets do you have?
What kind of resources do you have?
What can you offer other empires?
What do you need from other empires?
Step 7:
Go through what you've written. Make sure that there aren't any contradictions. Make sure that there's a logical reason for each detail. That each piece of information fits together with every other piece of information.
Do you like your empire? If not, go back and change it.
To enjoy playing, you need an empire that you'll enjoy ruling.
Step 8:
Compile the information and send it to the admins. If it is accepted, you will be entered into The Greater Galaxy - Catalog of Contact.
Step 9:
Now that you've been accepted, detail the information about your empire. Delve into its history. Study its people. Choose the most important and post it in your Empire’s section of the Catalog after the summary of your empire. Make sure you don’t contradict anything already stated in the summary.
Step 10:
If you have a website, you can place any other information on there. Go wild, let your imagination free.
Step 11:
Have fun!
Remember, keep a balance. Although you can be as imaginative as you want, have a logical reason for everything. Don't hold back, but don't go overboard. And don't show up with an empire that's too powerful, this can't be stressed enough. Also, two heads are better than one. If you're stuck, get a friend to help.
Types of Empires
There are several types of Empires in the Greater Galaxy.
First are Major Empires. These empires are vast and contain countless worlds. They are also far flung and usually harder to reach. They care little if at all for minor and lessor empires and have almost no contact with them.
Minor Empires are the largest number of empires in the Greater Galaxy and what the writers control. They've been contacted by the Watchers when they have achieved FTL travel or attempt to open up Hyper-Gates of their own. These Empires usually band together in alliances for economic and safety reasons. These are the writers/players empires.
Also in the minor empire category are Rogue Empires. These are empires who have rejected the assistance, or forced service (as they look at it) of the Watchers, and have created Hyper-Gates at their own discretion. These empires are highly frowned upon and put the universe at risk according to the Watchers. The Watchers point out that tearing into Hyper-Space at the wrong point can cause massive damage to Hyper-Space itself throwing travelers off course and causing Quantum Storms to rip through normal space.
Any 'illegal' actions by Rogue Empires are generally met with trade and aid sanctions against them by the Watchers, Major and Minor Empires. All Minor Empires have the right to attack, and even conquer Rogue Empires, however, it also works the other way around (which is why its good to have allies).
The last designation are the Lessor Empires which are broken into two categories:
Lessor - Class Prime - Empires with FTL travel, but lack the ability, knowledge or even awareness of the Greater Galaxy. Contact is restricted to Watchers only.
Lessor - Class Low - Empires without FTL travel. Contact is forbidden. The Watchers personally step into to protect this classification from outsiders.
Where does my Empire go?
Your Empire location is related to where you live in the real world. Find as close to where you live on the galactic map as you can and that is where your empire is located. Go here to find the map of the Greater Galaxy.
Minor Empire Military
Minor Empires are limited in the size of their military. Minor Empires are minor for a reason, they do not have the technological ability or the military strength to step up into the Major Empire playing field. Nor will they ever.
Each Minor Empire may start out with three battle fleets. More warrior based cultures will be allowed four, but will have social limits to their empire. (for example: A warrior culture will have less of value for trade as they spend more resources on weapons manufacture then any other useful commodity. They will also be looked upon as a threat and may not be dealt with kindly). But even a 4 fleet minor empire will not be able to conquer any other minor empire.
Imperial firepower will always balance out. No one minor empire battle group could ever walk over another minor empire.
The power structure of the Greater Galaxy works like this:
The Watchers -- capable of conquering every known group in the Greater Galaxy with ease, even if every living soul allied to prevent it. The Watchers have no equal, no match and never will.
Major Empires -- Major Empires are far more advanced tech wise and militarily. No Minor Empire can defeat them, or even stand a chance to any one of their battle groups, to which they have 5 times that of a Minor Empire. Alliances between multiple Minor Empires would be the only way to keep a Major Empire from taking the them.
Minor Empires -- Minor Empires are all balanced to one another. Some may war with one another, but none have been able to conquer another. There is ALWAYS a balance among them and this is rumored to have been the work of the Watchers.
Rogue Empires -- Rogue Empires are normally on equal footing with Minor Empires. Minors, though, have the advantage of fully functioning Hyper-Gates. No Rogue Empire has taken a Minor Empire, but not for lack of trying.
Pirates, criminals, etc - the 'odd man out' these groups are not strong enough in any way to take on an organized military presence. Also not for lack of trying, most prefer to hit small targets and make off with whatever loot they can.
The key here is that EVERY Minor Empire is balanced with each other, no exceptions. The Admins will remove posts that state otherwise. For every advantage there is a disadvantage, every strength a weakness. Writers MUST keep this in mind when building an Empire for StarScapes.
But what if I don’t want an empire?
Writers are able to just create a single individual and write just their exploits as well. You just need to be from any of the current empires, but you need to get permission of the owner of that empire first. Do not look to be a famous person within their empire at least not to start. Also there’s a good chance that your character may not ever have contact with any of theirs, but that is completely up to the empires creator.
Another option is be a member of the Trade Union. Being a part of the Trade Union allows you to control a small to moderate sized ship and it's crew. This ship would have moderate defensive weapons, but would not be able to attack, a la a pirate. The ship and crews origin can come from any empire, again with the creators permission. Go here for more details on the Trade Union.
A third option is to be a citizen of the Scanlon Station. Controlled by the admins and not any one member, no permission is needed to be from here. The only people you can not portray on Scanlon is the command staff, nor members of any Empire's diplomatic entourage. See here for more on the Scanlon Station.
Fourth you can play as a member of the Inter-Galactic Police (IGP). They are the Greater Galaxy's version of Interpol. Go here for more on the IGP.
Finally you can play a Sib'yls. I don't recommend this option for writers new to doing literary Simms, or new to writing at all for that matter. The Sib'yls are agents of the Watchers, a sort of elite CIA military like group. A writer can write the exploits of a Sib'yls agent infiltrating a rogue empire, pirate group or criminal gang, but involvement of any other writers Empire will need their permission. On occasion they will get orders from the admins playing the Watchers and it is then up to the writer to come up with a story for it, if they take the order. The order will be posted in the Sib'yls section of the Greater Galaxy - Catalog of Contact and any writer with a Sib'yls can take the task, first come first serve. Go to here to learn more about the Sib'yls.
To play/write any of the above just fill out the correct form below and send it to an admin for acceptance. Once accepted that character or ship/crew will be entered into the Persons of Note section. Once posted you may begin writing.
==========================================
Name:
Employment:
Species:
Sex:
Home-world:
Current location:
Personality:
Bio:
Physical Description:
Noteworthy characteristics:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trade Union Ship Identification:
Ship Name:
Ship ID:
Ship Origin:
Ship Berth:
Defensive Capabilities:
Number of Crew:
Cargo Capacity:
Captain:
Ship's Log:
Normal Trade Routes: