SDNW5 Discussion Thread I

[The Romulan Republic]

Sorry I haven't been doing much for a while, but I've been moving.

I'm still working on how to use some of my points, and I'm a bit unsure I did the numbers right for fixed defenses. I took the numbers for a standard sector and just scaled it down to three systems instead of five. I hope that's alright.

[Imperial528]

A question for Rabid:

Just how far-reaching have the Nation's travels been? Considering the timescales involved (It seems to me that the Nation is a very old polity), I have been wondering if it is possible that people of the Nation had contact with Castor (Cernan parent/home nation) at some point between the present and roughly six hundred years before the present. Especially because the Nation seems to always be on the move. Although I suppose I am assuming that the people of the Nation are nomadic on both large and small scales, which may be true, I just can't remember and don't want to dig through the last thread to check.

And I also have a query for Akhlut:

What would the Gray's opinion on the Cernans be, exactly? I know that the Grays have a thing out for humans because they're at the moment the most widely spread species in the known galaxy, but would created species be considered part of humanity, a separate species, some sort of mild curiosity, etc?

Also, since we're close to each other (Close is a bit of an understatement given the map), I think we should explore what histories our nations, and in your case vassal nations as well, have shared.

[Simon_Jester]

Thanks, FL.

Sorry I haven't been doing much for a while, but I've been moving.

I'm still working on how to use some of my points, and I'm a bit unsure I did the numbers right for fixed defenses. I took the numbers for a standard sector and just scaled it down to three systems instead of five. I hope that's alright.

If you were a big nation or you didn't have a long history of being a basically OK guy, I'd be unhappy. But for a micronation it's not such a big deal, so OK.

I hope you don't mind my choice of logo to denote your sector...

[Imperial528]

Say, Simon, just how big is a sector, approximately?

[Simon_Jester]

Normal sectors take roughly one day to cross for ships with a roughly average modernish hyperdrive. 'Normal' speeds vary up and down by... eh, call it a standard deviation of more like 10-15% and less like 20 or 30%. Shoal sectors can be traversed at roughly half speed but at considerable wear and tear on drives and with some risk; slower is less stressful and safer. Faster is more stressful and dangerous.

Sectors are less but not a lot less than 100 light years wide.

[Esquire]

And the stuff I sent to Esquire:

Ahoy! Since we're neighbours I figured it'd be best to work out where we stand historically, especially since the Authority is friendly with the Chamarrans.

Well before the Chamarrans showed up the Authority is basically the new neighbour, so I don't know if you want to open friendly or have tensions build that overflow when the Chams turn up and stuff.

Apologies for the delay in responding; I saw your PM, but things have been a bit hectic in my part of the world.

The thing is, Hellas isn't really a single nation. The major polities, the ones who have their own navies, are pretty much guaranteed to despise anybody who's allied with the Chamarrans. Simply being friendly isn't going to provoke much of a response, especially since there are probably (I haven't worked things out quite yet) smaller Hellenic groups who aren't completely opposed to the Chamarrans - why hate outsiders for something even some Hellenes do?

Before the Chamarrans appeared, the Hellenic Confederacy was just a group of micronations with similar cultures and a shared language. We could talk about what relations you had with which polities, but I think it'd be simpler to say that you got along with some, didn't with others, and traded with whoever agreed. What do you think?

[Akhlut]

And I also have a query for Akhlut:

What would the Gray's opinion on the Cernans be, exactly? I know that the Grays have a thing out for humans because they're at the moment the most widely spread species in the known galaxy, but would created species be considered part of humanity, a separate species, some sort of mild curiosity, etc?

It depends on the relationship of the artificial race to humanity, primarily. If they exist as a de facto servitor race, then the Grays would be just as happy as not to see them exterminated or neutralized as quickly as possible with the least harm done to the Grays as possible.

If the artificial race is essentially just "weird humans," the Grays would try to play them off against as many different humans as possible. The Grays realize that they aren't going to win without trying a long-term, large-scale divide-and-conquer strategy. So, if the artificial race doesn't have any animus specifically toward humans, the Grays will try to play up any potential rivalries as much as possible between them and everyone else. If they appear strong, they'll do what they can to get the other race to go to war with as many humans as possible.

If the artificial race, though, is at best indifferent to humans or actively hates them, then the Grays will try to ally with them and covertly (possibly overtly) supply them with weapons, money, and materiel for their wars (see: the Covenant).

Also, since we're close to each other (Close is a bit of an understatement given the map), I think we should explore what histories our nations, and in your case vassal nations as well, have shared.

I'll have to look at your history in depth tomorrow if you have any of it up in the nation description thread. The Grays have been engaging in large-scale scientific "study" of humans in excess of 2,000 years and when humans started exploding across the galaxy, the Grays have done what they can to try and limit human successes.

[Darkevilme]

If the artificial race, though, is at best indifferent to humans or actively hates them, then the Grays will try to ally with them and covertly (possibly overtly) supply them with weapons, money, and materiel for their wars (see: the Covenant).

At risk of putting words in thin bloodless grey mouths i suspect the Kritarchy opinion on the Chamarran Hierarchy based on this is: "If the Chamarrans did not exist it would have fallen upon us to make sure they did." Which raises the interesting question of whether anyone has tried to convince the kitties of that to mess with their heads.

[Akhlut]

The Scumdogs can always use new business partners, while the SPACE VIKINGS would love to stir up some havoc there.

The Kritarchy would gleefully endorse the Unified Imperium AND the Holy Empire hiring out a decent percentage of the Bohabs (just as long as the Bohabs don't fight each other; that's part of the standard contract that the Kritarchy assembled for all the Bohabs) to kill each other as they see fit.

[Akhlut]

If the artificial race, though, is at best indifferent to humans or actively hates them, then the Grays will try to ally with them and covertly (possibly overtly) supply them with weapons, money, and materiel for their wars (see: the Covenant).

At risk of putting words in thin bloodless grey mouths i suspect the Kritarchy opinion on the Chamarran Hierarchy based on this is: "If the Chamarrans did not exist it would have fallen upon us to make sure they did." Which raises the interesting question of whether anyone has tried to convince the kitties of that to mess with their heads.

I will note here that the Philosopher's Kingdom vassal state of the Hegemony is people entirely by altered humans (the alterations are subtle; nothing really physical aside from a number of forms considered "perfect" by numerous societies on earth throughout pre-space times; all alterations are mental, to be in total subservience to the Grays) and that the Grays are probably the race with the most advanced and most in-depth knowledge of human anatomy, behavior, physiology, and genetics. After all, they have a head start of scientific knowledge of such things of nearly a thousand years. While those pathetic apes still thought schizophrenia was demonic possession, we knew it was really a result of chemical imbalances and genetic flaws some endemic to your abominable species.

[OmegaChief]

Apologies for the delay in responding; I saw your PM, but things have been a bit hectic in my part of the world.

The thing is, Hellas isn't really a single nation. The major polities, the ones who have their own navies, are pretty much guaranteed to despise anybody who's allied with the Chamarrans. Simply being friendly isn't going to provoke much of a response, especially since there are probably (I haven't worked things out quite yet) smaller Hellenic groups who aren't completely opposed to the Chamarrans - why hate outsiders for something even some Hellenes do?

Before the Chamarrans appeared, the Hellenic Confederacy was just a group of micronations with similar cultures and a shared language. We could talk about what relations you had with which polities, but I think it'd be simpler to say that you got along with some, didn't with others, and traded with whoever agreed. What do you think?

No worries about the delay there, and while that's good in general terms, it's neat to have a couple of specifics to use as referances and potential story hooks!

I mean I've still got no one I can really have given the Authority any experiance with proper planteray warfare currently, shield worlds (And potentially until Shinn gets back to me) aside.

We don't have to force anything there though! Leaving the capellans with a little gap in thier experiance is perfectly fine, and I would say we could add in some piratical raiders or something, but more then enough of those already... uh maybe some join policing actions with some of the closer polities?

[Imperial528]

It depends on the relationship of the artificial race to humanity, primarily. If they exist as a de facto servitor race, then the Grays would be just as happy as not to see them exterminated or neutralized as quickly as possible with the least harm done to the Grays as possible.

Well, they generally are amicable to humans as a species, although they try to be tolerant of all species. Although a certain sub-set of humans, their creators, are the closest thing their overall culture has to gods. Of course, those that are still alive are back in the homeland, far away.

If the artificial race is essentially just "weird humans," the Grays would try to play them off against as many different humans as possible. The Grays realize that they aren't going to win without trying a long-term, large-scale divide-and-conquer strategy. So, if the artificial race doesn't have any animus specifically toward humans, the Grays will try to play up any potential rivalries as much as possible between them and everyone else. If they appear strong, they'll do what they can to get the other race to go to war with as many humans as possible.

I suppose that they would be "weird humans", although they are engineered to be in many ways superior to humans. It's not necessarily a major advantage though, just sort of like where say the human average IQ is 100, the Castorian IQ would be 110, etc. Although they do have quite an assortment of interesting enhancements that come with age, although I'd rather not post those here. They were originally designed to be a sort of living database species and more resilient than humans, so as to assist with colonization of worlds, and when colonization is done, preserve the lessons of history in living memory so as to make a more stable civilization.

If the artificial race, though, is at best indifferent to humans or actively hates them, then the Grays will try to ally with them and covertly (possibly overtly) supply them with weapons, money, and materiel for their wars (see: the Covenant).

As previously stated, they like to be friendly with everyone. However, if wronged they will not hesitate to retaliate.

I'll have to look at your history in depth tomorrow if you have any of it up in the nation description thread. The Grays have been engaging in large-scale scientific "study" of humans in excess of 2,000 years and when humans started exploding across the galaxy, the Grays have done what they can to try and limit human successes.

My history as it is at the moment isn't very detailed, but I can answer questions you might have.

[Skywalker_T-65]

Hey, I'm back! Got some spare time here to work with, so here we go:

I know that being ten years old doesn't mean the thing is broken, just the power cable is messed up. Its just that even when the thing ran, it didn't run very well. Probably something wrong with the hardrive or processer, but I wouldn't know. All I know for sure that needs replaced is the power cable *shrugs*. I can handle it though, and will proably get a laptop for college soon anyway, so the point is probably moot. No need to waste more time on it.

On the other discussions:

I like the new thing for the VIKINGS. It does fit...now we just need to add that new sector at G12.
(the new Arcadian one)

And why do I get a sudden bad feeling about being right next (in realtive terms) to Zor? And having a trade route with the Imperium...at the same time as having one with the Holy Empire? I see conflict brewing in Space Sweden. Though I was the first to bring any dissidents in with Arcadia First, who will refuse to go away. So anyone not Arcadian or VIKING might want to watch out for a maurading Victory SD clone that would love to wreck your ships.

And since Omega is working out diplomatic stuff now, if anyone has anything you want to work out with my various races (Arcadian, Furling, and VIKING) just send a PM my way, or work it in the thread (the latter one is better). I can only be on once or twice a week if I'm lucky, but I will work out things as quickly as possible. And speaking of diplomatic things, that prologue post should be up soon, hopefully. Won't be very long though...

And finally...on the subject of my graduation (from the computer thing), the Commencement Ceremony might end up being on national TV (for those who live in America) because President Obama will be there. I know it is at least on local channels. And man does that feel odd...

[OmegaChief]

And why do I get a sudden bad feeling about being right next (in realtive terms) to Zor? And having a trade route with the Imperium...at the same time as having one with the Holy Empire? I see conflict brewing in Space Sweden. Though I was the first to bring any dissidents in with Arcadia First, who will refuse to go away. So anyone not Arcadian or VIKING might want to watch out for a maurading Victory SD clone that would love to wreck your ships.

Congradulations you now get to play a political juggling act, trying not to piss off each of your neighbours too much, welcome to being a non-isolationist neutral nation!

In all seriousness it's the competing interst 'Whatever I do will make someone' mad at me is what makes things more fun!

[The Romulan Republic]

And I'm right next to him and we have a trade route, so Arcadia's troubles will probably effect my poor isolationist micronation.

Guess the plan for me is to appease/avoid the big powers who can crush me like a bug.

[Simon_Jester]

Just remember.

Even brainwashing badly spelled evil tyrants need ale.

[Shinn Langley Soryu]

I still have my Gears of War/Persona pastiche to continue, and I also have a fluff piece about the life of Marshal Kaname that I want to write. For some reason, I'm drawn to the story of the Ladan resistance. Maybe it's because I'm finally able to put to use those ideas I've had for an SDNW2 prequel piece about the Second Great War and the PeZookian resistance against the Shadow Empire...

[Simon_Jester]

[nods]

[remembers his stuff about fighting the Scron]

There's always the old atomic disintegrator ray guns sloshing around, too; the Umerians have probably made tens of billions of the things in the past century alone.

They're not really all that powerful, but they have two things going for them. Low dispersion, and comical battery life expectancy.

[OmegaChief]

And lil' micro update to my nation description, now you can see what sector is what, along with a few more interesting tidbids about teh Authority.

I can always post the stuff up here if people don't feel like scouring through that thread though

[Simon_Jester]

People who are *adding* significant content to the Nation Description page might want to not only edit it into their page, but post the new sections in a separate post too. That way it's called to our attention that something's changed.

[OmegaChief]

Not all that significant, but here it is anyway

Sectors

Adjorian Sector (Home Sector) O-24
The ever so inventively named sector containing the Capellan homeworld Adjoria and a very dense belt of the early gravity lens founded colonies (And the various graveyards and scattered debris of those failures lucky enough to transition back into real space). This sector contains the various political, social and scientific hub worlds of the Authority and has benefited from constant growth and attention throughout the past three hundred years, and shows no sign of ceasing this development anytime soon.

Isidorian Sector (Core Sector) M-24
A surprisingly young sector given its development level (At least by Authority standards) the Isidorian sector has more foreign influence then any other sector in the Authority, due to its advantageous point as halfway stop between the Holy Empire and Volscian Confederacy along the local triangular trade routes. As such the sector also hosts the second best defensive forces in the Authority.

Szorenian Sector (Midrange Sector) N-24
One of the earlier sectors colonised due to favourable hyperspace routes running through it between the Adjorian and Isidorian sectors. Aside from favourable travel conditions for non-military grade hyperdrives helping to funnel trade between the neighbouring sectors there is very little of actual note in this sector beyond patiently expanding Capellan colonies.

Cecelian Sector (Midrange Sector) N-23
Colonised as part of the continuing Szorenian expansions, the Cecelian sector would be another barley notable sector in the Authority (Lacking even the favourable hyperspace routes of it’s founding colonies) were it not for the fact that the charting of this sector started the chain of events that lead to contact with the Holy Empire, and as such Haruiist influences are stronger here then anywhere else in the Authority.

Oramian Sector (Midrange Sector) O-25
While lacking the ease of colonisation (Due to previously mentioned favourable routes) of its sister sector of Szorenian, Oramian was actually more quickly colonised for one very simple reason. Resources. The sector is among the most resource rich in the Authority, with a belt of second and third generation stars running down to what would become the Umbrian sector, all of which helping to feed the rapidly expanding young nation with its constant hunger for more raw resources.

Pyrian Sector (Midrange Sector) P-25
Founded for the purely pragmatic reason of creating a buffer between other nations and the resource heaven of Oramian, the Pyrian sector has rapidly become one of the more militaristic and conservative sectors in the Authority, a fact helped along by its proximity to the Hellenic polities, of which the occasional scuffles with the more aggressive have helped to harden and develop local tactics. Also of note is that the naval academies in Pyrian and Isiorian are locked in an eternal feud over which of them is superior, with local defensive forces likewise competing for the coveted title of ‘2nd best in the Authority’ (Neither dares to suggest they might be better then the Adjorian forces)

Umbrian (Colony Sector) O-26
More an outgrowth of the Oramian sector then a colony in its own right, the few worlds along the Black Dragon nebula that make up the Umbrian sector were still resource rich enough to cause the creation of the 7th fleet to defend it. Recently a full scale colonisation initiative was announced, and as such the Oramian sector is gearing up to send more colonists here, this was however delayed by the sector proving more difficult to map then previously expected due to local conditions, and according to local superstition monsters from beyond the edge of the map, while usually dismissed the sector does have a higher ship disappearance rate then the rest of the authority (By almost 10%!) so perhaps there is some grain of truth there.

[Zor]

An Attrition Robot.

Zor

[Shinn Langley Soryu]

I'm guessing that at 300,000 bots per point spent and at a 0.8x modifier for equipment, the Attrition series emphasizes force of numbers and volume of fire more than individual unit survivability or accuracy of fire. Still looks like our Polish friends will have to settle for kneecapping them as their best bet.

[Zor]

I'm guessing that at 300,000 bots per point spent and at a 0.8x modifier for equipment, the Attrition series emphasizes force of numbers and volume of fire more than individual unit survivability or accuracy of fire. Still looks like our Polish friends will have to settle for kneecapping them as their best bet.

They are, as the name indicates, designed to be fairly disposable and to put as many boots (or in this case, robotic feet) on the ground as possible. As far as their substandard processing goes, its not that they are bad shots so much they lack in the line of strategic thinking and as such generally work in concert with AKOs and Expeditionary Corps personnel unless ordered to do something very simple like guard a location.

Also, don't carry a gun around them unless you are either a Imperial soldier, allied soldier or member of local law enforcement.

Zor

[Shinn Langley Soryu]

I'm guessing that at 300,000 bots per point spent and at a 0.8x modifier for equipment, the Attrition series emphasizes force of numbers and volume of fire more than individual unit survivability or accuracy of fire. Still looks like our Polish friends will have to settle for kneecapping them as their best bet.

They are, as the name indicates, designed to be fairly disposable and to put as many boots (or in this case, robotic feet) on the ground as possible. As far as their substandard processing goes, its not that they are bad shots so much they lack in the line of strategic thinking and as such generally work in concert with AKOs and Expeditionary Corps personnel unless ordered to do something very simple like guard a location.

Also, don't carry a gun around them unless you are either a Imperial soldier, allied soldier or member of local law enforcement.

I still like the general Combine aesthetic, so I hope you don't mind me using Civil Protection and Overwatch as proxies for Unified Imperium soldiers (at least when I'm not outright depicting them as Nazis, given that the pic I used for Zygmund, Kazimierz, and Andrzej is an actual photo taken during the Warsaw Uprising of Polish guerrillas wearing stolen German uniforms ).

Just how easy would it be to fool an Attrition bot, anyway? If Zygmund, Andrzej, and Kazimierz took the effort to cover up the customizations they made to their outfits, could they reasonably pass as actual, factual AKOs?