Many of the ideas and concepts of the setting come from ideas built up in my head, which only need one thing to flesh out: YOU! I call this setting the Promethean Galaxy
When creating characters, races, and everything else for this RP, I'd like everyone to adhere to the following guidelines:
1. Earth year is 2016 as of the date of this post. Humans, therefore, lack the capacity for interstellar travel and are oblivious to the existence of interstellar civilization. This is a way to remove the human-centric element of science fiction, render Earth an insignificant element on the galactic scale of things, but still allow limited interactions with Earth and humanity and even occasional characters originating from Earth, provided they have a reasonable backstory such as alien abduction.
2. There is no magic. Everything must be explained through technology, and technology must be consistent and believable. While the technology of the setting is fairly soft to allow energy weapons and faster than light travel, it nevertheless conforms to certain balance restrictions and believability, and in many cases must be confirmed through me if it deviates too much from pre-approved technologies. Most popular sci fi technologies such as lasers, hyperdrive, and so on are pre-approved. "Game breaking" technologies are not.
3. There is a set of "galactic laws" which are enforced to various degrees in many parts of the galaxy. This is mostly in place to explain why civilizations such as Earth are allowed to exist in blissful ignorance to the existence of alien civilizations, as it is forbidden by galactic law to interact with "primitive" civilizations such as humanity. Anyone who chooses to violate galactic law will be viewed as villain by most of the galaxy.
4, The Galaxy is Very Big. Somewhere between 200 and 400 billion stars make up the Milky Way, spread throughout a disk a hundred thousand light years in diameter and a thousand light years thick. Because the galaxy is so incredibly huge, we only use small portions of the galaxy for the purposes of the story, each sector grid being 5000 light years across and 3800ish light years deep. Most of the galaxy is still unexplored, which allows constant opportunity to add new worlds and new civilizations.
5. The Galaxy is abundant with life. This is due to both the incredible number of stars as well as seeding of planets by precursor races called Prometheans. There are far more interstellar civilizations within the galaxy than can ever be listed in a forum of this size, so keep in mind the abundance of NPC civilizations, rather than assuming all civilizations are controlled by players.
6. There were precursor races which predate the existence of any civilization still existing within the Promethean Galaxy. The exact nature of these precursor civilizations is unknown, as they all vanished with little to no trace of their existence or the cause of their vanishing. This is to handwave the "most science fiction writers are human" trope by attributing the similarities of galactic civilizations to each other and to earth by saying the Prometheans did it during the early stages of their development.
7. There are major powers and minor powers, as well as superpowers and hegemonic powers. Not all civilizations are created equal, and in fact most galactic civilizations are tiny compared to the hegemonic powers. This allows for a realistic balance of powers, but also means that smaller powers must be careful not to anger the larger powers for fear of being destroyed by them. In general, the easiest way for a smaller civilization to survive is by befriending a larger one or joining a mutual defense alliance such as the USA. For this particular story, we will all be members of the USA.
8. With rare exceptions, all existing galactic civilizations are expected to be under a thousand years in age. This is to regulate the power levels and technology levels of these civilizations and balance them out in a reasonable manner. The amount of technological advancement possible within a thousand years is significant, as is the amount of expansion possible, so in order to keep empire sizes reasonable and remove overpowered technologies, an age limit is applied to all civilizations.
9. For the purpose of this particular RP, there will be no open conflict between players, as we are all allies in the USA. However, expect racial tensions, as while USA members are allies on paper, many of them don't particularly like each other.
10. There are three primary elements to a good story: Plot, Setting, and Character. All three must be aligned in harmony in order to make a consistent, believable story. All posts are to be written from the perspective of characters, be relevant to the plot of the story, and fit the setting in which the story takes place. This requires a familiarity with the plot and setting as well as a well-defined original character of your own creation. Please do not violate any of these elements in favor of another, but rather tailor your writing to match all three in perfect harmony.
[M] Asmodean War: Joint Strike Fleet (OOC)
Originally Posted by Holeypaladin
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