Nivras

2008-05-03T05:54:07Z

Scramlaz:

Belligerence 5 Opportunism 3 Reason 2 Spirituality 0
----
'''The Nivras'''
The Nivras were originally a biomechanical race that broke out of containment where it was being engineered, evolved, and took over the planet. They are semi-insectoid in appearance, as well as cybernetic, however their cybernetics are made of muscle and bone rather than metal and pistons. As a result they are at a disadvantage against any race immediately, however they quickly gain adaptations that assist them through their ability to alter their DNA within a few generations. They all follow a central intelligence that while for the most part is blunt is also capable of being quite insidious at times. As most of the Nivras are mindless bugs they have no culture or religion.

Space travel was first simply shooting large sporeships into space in the hope of colonizing other worlds in the system. This then became more and more sophisticated as they began to meld technology closer to biology, creating spaceships made of biological materials while still retaining technological sophistication. In space they are not combative.

2008-05-03T04:38:46Z

Scramlaz: /* Cultures */

This is currently just a brain-dump based on this thread:

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=382030

Major-cleanup is probably required.

== Summary ==

You know how planet-hopping science fiction settings are frequently criticised for having bunches of alien species that are so monocultural, all members of that species are basically the same except for the colour of their clothes, or whatnot? I had a notion to run with that. Picture a game with a handful of broadly defined stats, such that every possible permutation of stats represents a different alien species. Depending on how big the range of those stats are, we should be able to get by with as few as 30-40 species. We'll be nice and allow individuals to be differentiated via a skill system, but all members of a given species have exactly the same stats. There could also be a method of randomly generating your stats, with an associated lookup table to determine what species you are based on the stats you generated; since every permutation of stats is uniquely assigned to a different species, this should yield an unambiguous species assignment.

== Mechanical Stuff ==

To expand upon the above idea, I'm thinking that a set of four "Cultural Stats". Each stat ranges from 0-5 (roll 1d6-1 if you're into random character generation), with a 0 representing a total lack of the associated traits in the alien culture in question, while a 5 represents a hugely dominant influence.

'''Belligerence:''' Represents competitiveness and the capacity for violence. A rating of 3 or higher probably represents a warrior culture of some type.

'''Opportunism:''' Represents materialism and the capacity for manipulation and deception. A rating of 3 or higher could indicate a mercantile culture, a society of space pirates, or even an expansionist empire, depending on other traits.

'''Reason:''' Represents intellectual curiosity and the capacity for technological development. A rating of 3 or higher is typically found among high-tech societies with a strong scientific establishment.

'''Spirituality:''' Represents all that crazy space hippie stuff you see in sci-fi television. A rating of 3 or higher indicates a monastic culture, and possibly the presence of weird psychic powers. EDIT: It occurs to me that this one may be stated too positively. A hellish theocracy might also have a high Spirituality trait, I suppose.

None of these traits are mutually exclusive. For example, it's entirely possible to have an alien culture with high ratings in both Reason and Spirituality, or even Belligerence and Spirituality (you'd probably get a ritualistic culture of honourable space samurai or something in the latter case).

In keeping with the source material, perhaps there could also be some mechanism whereby you take advantage of that enlightened cultural understanding stuff to temporarily borrow the traits of your allies. The phrase "Multiculturalism Points" keeps floating around in my head, but darned if I know how I'd implement that.

Incidentally, according to this system, I'd peg humanity - as typically portrayed in sci-fi television - at Belligerence 3, Opportunism 2, Reason 3, Spirituality 2. Drop Spirituality by a point and kick Opportunism up to 3 if humans are supposed to be the bad guys.

=== Trait Values ===

Maybe the traits would work something like this:

'''0:''' Utterly lacking in the trait in question, and incapable of any actions that would roll against it. For example, a culture with Belligerence 0 would consist of shy, retiring pacifists who can't commit violence even to save their own lives (they probably have a hidden homeworld and/or the patronage of a less peaceful species to explain why nobody has wiped them out yet).

'''1:''' Capable of the trait in question, but not very good at it and tending to find it actively distasteful. For example, a culture with Reason 1 would probably have a largely mystical/superstitious understanding of the cosmos, and an inherent distrust for science and technology, though they can use it if the have to.

'''2:''' The "average" score. Typical of most human societies that don't place any particular emphasis on the trait in question.

'''3:''' A significant cultural influence. The culture may have social institutions and popular pastimes that revolve around activities associated with the trait. A culture where public philosophical debates are a spectator sport might be an example of Spirituality 3.

'''4:''' A dominating cultural influence. Most of the culture's activities revolve around the trait in question. The stereotypical "corporate overlords" of near-future sci-fi are a good example of Opportunism 4.

'''5:''' A monomaniacal focus. Every aspect of the culture serves the trait in some fashion. ''Warhammer 40 000'' orks are a good example of Belligerence 5.

=== Randomly Generated Traits ===

''suggested by Blacksheep''

Shuffle up five hearts, five spades, five clubs and five diamonds. Draw ten of them, and add up the scores.

Hearts are spirituality, spades are belligerence, diamonds are opportunism, clubs are reason. These are based on the original meanings of the suits; you might find it easier to remember by using a tarot deck with cups, swords, coins and staves.

== Cultures ==

To make it easy on myself, I'm going to assume that a culture's stats have to total up to 10 - that's a nice, round number, and it cuts down on a lot of the silly, boring results (who cares about a culture rated at 1/0/0/0, after all?).

Currently '''123''' unused, '''23''' used.

{|style="border: solid silver 1px; text-align: center;"
!Bel!!Opp!!Rea!!Spi!!Culture
|-
|0||0||5||5||''unused''
|-
|0||1||4||5||''unused''
|-
|0||1||5||4||''unused''
|-
|0||2||3||5||''unused''
|-
|0||2||4||4||''unused''
|-
|0||2||5||3||''unused''
|-
|0||3||2||5||''unused''
|-
|0||3||3||4||''unused''
|-
|0||3||4||3||''unused''
|-
|0||3||5||2||''unused''
|-
|0||4||1||5||''unused''
|-
|0||4||2||4||''unused''
|-
|0||4||3||3||''unused''
|-
|0||4||4||2||''[[Ruun Caravanserai]]''
|-
|0||4||5||1||''unused''
|-
|0||5||0||5||''unused''
|-
|0||5||1||4||''unused''
|-
|0||5||2||3||''unused''
|-
|0||5||3||2||''unused''
|-
|0||5||4||1||''unused''
|-
|0||5||5||0||''unused''
|-
|1||0||4||5||''unused''
|-
|1||0||5||4||''[[Theoditic Nano-Swarm Atman]]''
|-
|1||1||3||5||''unused''
|-
|1||1||4||4||''unused''
|-
|1||1||5||3||''unused''
|-
|1||2||2||5||''unused''
|-
|1||2||3||4||''unused''
|-
|1||2||4||3||''unused''
|-
|1||2||5||2||''unused''
|-
|1||3||1||5||''unused''
|-
|1||3||2||4||''unused''
|-
|1||3||3||3||''unused''
|-
|1||3||4||2||''unused''
|-
|1||3||5||1||''unused''
|-
|1||4||0||5||''unused''
|-
|1||4||1||4||''unused''
|-
|1||4||2||3||''[[Ka'bunl]]''
|-
|1||4||3||2||''[[Quunsados]]''
|-
|1||4||4||1||''unused''
|-
|1||4||5||0||''unused''
|-
|1||5||0||4||''unused''
|-
|1||5||1||3||''unused''
|-
|1||5||2||2||''unused''
|-
|1||5||3||1||''unused''
|-
|1||5||4||0||''unused''
|-
|2||0||3||5||''unused''
|-
|2||0||4||4||''unused''
|-
|2||0||5||3||''unused''
|-
|2||1||2||5||''unused''
|-
|2||1||3||4||''unused''
|-
|2||1||4||3||''unused''
|-
|2||1||5||2||''[[Yntar Machines]]''
|-
|2||2||1||5||''unused''
|-
|2||2||2||4||''[[The State of Grace]]''
|-
|2||2||3||3||''unused''
|-
|2||2||4||2||''unused''
|-
|2||2||5||1||''unused''
|-
|2||3||0||5||''unused''
|-
|2||3||1||4||''unused''
|-
|2||3||2||3||''unused''
|-
|2||3||3||2||''[[Filah Hive]]''
|-
|2||3||4||1||''[[Scumble]]''
|-
|2||3||5||0||''unused''
|-
|2||4||0||4||''unused''
|-
|2||4||1||3||''[[Irrekith]]''
|-
|2||4||2||2||''unused''
|-
|2||4||3||1||''unused''
|-
|2||4||4||0||''unused''
|-
|2||5||0||3||''unused''
|-
|2||5||1||2||''[[Naren]]''
|-
|2||5||2||1||''unused''
|-
|2||5||3||0||''unused''
|-
|3||0||2||5||''[[Sanctified Empire of Jikein]]''
|-
|3||0||3||4||''unused''
|-
|3||0||4||3||''unused''
|-
|3||0||5||2||''unused''
|-
|3||1||1||5||''unused''
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|3||1||2||4||''unused''
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|3||1||3||3||''unused''
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|3||1||4||2||''unused''
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|3||1||5||1||''unused''
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|3||2||0||5||''unused''
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|3||2||1||4||''unused''
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|3||2||2||3||''unused''
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|3||2||3||2||''unused''
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|3||2||4||1||''unused''
|-
|3||2||5||0||''unused''
|-
|3||3||0||4||''unused''
|-
|3||3||1||3||''[[Culul Otak]]''
|-
|3||3||2||2||''[[Humanity]]''
|-
|3||3||3||1||''[[Homo Sapiens Regalis]]''
|-
|3||3||4||0||''unused''
|-
|3||4||0||3||''unused''
|-
|3||4||1||2||''unused''
|-
|3||4||2||1||''unused''
|-
|3||4||3||0||''unused''
|-
|3||5||0||2||''unused''
|-
|3||5||1||1||''unused''
|-
|3||5||2||0||''unused''
|-
|4||0||1||5||''unused''
|-
|4||0||2||4||''unused''
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|4||0||3||3||''unused''
|-
|4||0||4||2||''unused''
|-
|4||0||5||1||''unused''
|-
|4||1||0||5||''[[Stormers]]''
|-
|4||1||1||4||''unused''
|-
|4||1||2||3||''[[Akram]]''
|-
|4||1||3||2||''unused''
|-
|4||1||4||1||''unused''
|-
|4||1||5||0||''[[Sentyr]]''
|-
|4||2||0||4||''unused''
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|4||2||1||3||''unused''
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|4||2||2||2||''unused''
|-
|4||2||3||1||''unused''
|-
|4||2||4||0||''unused''
|-
|4||3||0||3||''[[Heaven-Blessed JihadCorp]]''
|-
|4||3||1||2||''unused''
|-
|4||3||2||1||''unused''
|-
|4||3||3||0||''[[Species of Space Pirates]]''
|-
|4||4||0||2||''unused''
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|4||4||1||1||''unused''
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|4||4||2||0||''unused''
|-
|4||5||0||1||''unused''
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|4||5||1||0||''unused''
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|5||0||0||5||''unused''
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|5||0||1||4||''unused''
|-
|5||0||2||3||''unused''
|-
|5||0||3||2||''unused''
|-
|5||0||4||1||''[[Radon Survivors]]''
|-
|5||0||5||0||''[[Exploritor Extragalactic Fleet]]''
|-
|5||1||0||4||''unused''
|-
|5||1||1||3||''unused''
|-
|5||1||2||2||''unused''
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|5||1||3||1||''[[Tripp]]''
|-
|5||1||4||0||''unused''
|-
|5||2||0||3||''unused''
|-
|5||2||1||2||''unused''
|-
|5||2||2||1||''unused''
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|5||2||3||0||''unused''
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|5||3||0||2||''unused''
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|5||3||1||1||''unused''
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|5||3||2||0||''unused''
|-
|5||4||0||1||''unused''
|-
|5||4||1||0||''unused''
|-
|5||5||0||0||''[[Yinky Pirate-Slavers]]''
|}

Stormers

2008-05-03T04:38:01Z

Scramlaz:

Belligerence: 4 Opportunism: 1 Reason: 0 Spirituality: 5
----
'''Stormers'''

hs'hs'ss (closest verbal approximation of their name, more commonly known at Stormers): Once again proving that the definition of life may best be described as "We'll know it when we see it", Stormers originated in a stellar nebula as a form of self-perpetuating plasma. Initially disregarded as simply an unusually energetic nebula, a now-extinct race had tried to harness the power flowing in the nebula to create several new worlds at a highly accelerated speed, incidentally killing many Stormers in the process. Quite suddenly introduced to the concepts of death, war, and material value, the Stormers adopted the first completely, became masterful at the second, and remembered the third in passing as they incinerated the worlds of the now-extinct race.

Now, Stormers roam the galaxy at large, attacking most anyone who appears to resemble the original now-extinct race. Given that they, as gigantic plasma storms, view nearly all other life as being similar to the dead race, problems occurred. While a few Stormers have mellowed, most still seek out and strike with all the fury attributable to a force of nature, slaughtering entire races and burning worlds to ash. Were it not for a complete lack of technological ability (and the inability to travel at speeds even close to 0.05c), they might have burned the entire known universe to cinders in their crusade. While they do seem to be realizing that not all other life needs to be cleansed, a change of 'mind' can take centuries to complete given the sheer scale.

The truly outstanding feature of the Stormers is that races that employ at least partly electromagnetic-based neural systems do not appear to 'die' when subsumed by a Stormer's attacks. Instead, the personality and some strong memories remain as secondary fluxes within the Stormer itself. Over time, the basic ideas and concepts that defined that race in question affect the overall nature of the Stormer itself. The Stormer has some of the racial knowledge and wills of a subsumed race overlaid upon its own. Thus, some Stormers have actually gained the status of being 'The Afterlife' in the spiritual beliefs of some races. If the Stormer happened to have a leaning towards one set of beliefs from prior subsumptions that reasonably matched a nearby races' beliefs, they were viewed as a good afterlife and a kind god, gathering up His followers. If they did not match, the Stormer was a Dark God coming to inflict divine punishment upon the race. Some races, even when informed about the true physical nature of the Stormers, simply packed up and moved to be close to one they viewed as being a Good God, regularly sending ships to 'deposit' the dying into the Stormer so that they might join with those still patterned in the plasma eddies- or, in extreme cases, flying their entire race into the Stormer "to become One".

A final determination on whether or not those that die within a Stormer actually do attain a state of life after death, cannot be adequately determined through scientific means. It is... a matter of faith.