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Father Sky

Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2016 5:22 pm
by The Monsterworks
Overview

Welcome to Father Sky.

I've been throwing around the idea of an RPG for quite some time, and this was the most popular one. It's what I would broadly define as science fiction, by which I mean, not Star Wars. There are two essential settings: one being a real-world near future in which humans have settled portions of the solar system but have yet to settle outside of it; the other, a simulated world that is entirely real to its inhabitants. In the second setting, humans have utilized wormholes to spread rapidly across disparate portions of the universe. There are indications that we may be close to encountering new sentient lifeforms, but these are as yet tentative and unconfirmed.

However, this entire world, which challenges notions of what is real and what is created, operates under a Damocles' sword. Unrest in the rapidly expanding outside world has put the servers on which it runs in imminent danger of being shut down. A recovering and repopulating Earth, built upon sustainable technologies and draconian laws, has begin reaching out towards the stars. Exploited, resource-poor Mars, bristling with factories, its overcrowded cities and underfunded infrastructure bursting under the weight of a baby boom, is awakening to its own potential. A lost colony on Venus - complete with its own practices, traditions, and creole language has been rediscovered. Most recently, Ceres, long a repository and genetic bank for Earthbound species, has revealed a burgeoning civilization created by members of a revived Neanderthal race. These descendants of a group of experimental subjects have usurped control of their tiny world and its fabulous technology from the androids who have always guarded it. Communal, insular, and yet incongruously expansionist, they look to define for themselves a place among the stars: one where they will stand apart from and possibly above their Homo Sapiens rivals.

Settings

There are a number of different settings here, and unless specified otherwise by players, characters will be introduced piecemeal, with generally little direction, and start fairly spread out. Death will very much be nipping at your heels in this RPG, and wrong moves will have consequences. Attaining power to influence the plot will be possible, but it won't just be given to you. This is a fairly open-world RPG.

1) Earth: The coastlines may look a little bit different, and the flags that fly over the UPE (United Peoples of Earth) headquarters might be strange to some of us living in the early twenty first century. However, the cradle of humanity is still very much its heart. Following the near-darkness, the remaining population slowly but surely built a new society that lives sustainably and transcends national boundaries. It does this mainly through draconian laws and exploitation of Mars.

2) Mars: The only planet that humans have successfully terraformed houses many of the servers that keep the great simulation alive. Weary of their world being treated as a source of raw materials and cheap manufacturing, Mars' burgeoning population strains under the yoke of Terran oppression. The nearly four hundred year old magnetic field generators, sunk deep into the planet's crust, have started to fail, and there is only money enough to either keep the servers running or to repair the generators. Earth demands the former. The latter is a matter of survival for the people of Mars.

3) Venus: A failed terraforming project that was evacuated in the earl days of the near-darkness, Venus is home to a tiny population descended from those remained stubbornly behind. Having descended into near-barbarity, most of these people live in the crumbling, 400 year old floating cities, slowly but surely sinking deeper into the clouds despite desperate attempts to shed excess weight. Others have moved into the floating forests, living inside the oxygen bulbs of the Great Balloon Trees, painting themselves with the dyes of the heartblooms and tarcups, and hunting the strange, genetically engineered fauna of these small, self-contained ecosystems. Suddenly opened up to a technological world outside, different groups have reacted in many different ways.

4) Ceres: A tiny, frozen dwarf planet, it has become home to a revived Neanderthal people, descendants of a group used as guinea pigs. Aggressively terraformed by near-sentient AI, with trillions of tons of ultra-heavy metals sunk into its core in preparation for eventual human settlement, it has instead evolved into a harsh but beloved home over the past two hundred years for a species who were effectively wiped out at the border of prehistory. A communal, driven, creative people, the Neanderthals have taken frighteningly well to spacefaring, co-opting the technology of their creators and even improving upon it in a quest to settle the stars, at humanity's expense, if necessary.

5) The Asteroid Belt: There are dozens of small colonies scattered across this expanse of barren rocks. Only a handful of the larger ones are truly self-sustaining, and attempts have been made to normalize their gravity by accelerating their rotational velocity. As yet, they are places without political allegiance, owned largely by private corporations or home to colonies established by a number of different governments.

6) The Servers: Hundreds of worlds throughout the universe have been settled by humans since The Exodus and the discover of the 'folds' in spacetime. Many of these have turned into flourishing, self-sustaining nations in their own right, with sparkling cities, thriving industries, and institutions of higher learning dedicated to the advancement of the human race. Earth remains a garden planet, slowly recovering from the ecological damage of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Meanwhile, the oppressive governments of the past have seen their influence curbed and curtailed by the spirit of free enterprise. During the rapid expansion of the human race, opportunities for growth abounded, and a budding class of nouveau-riche have led the charge in making some of the wildest dreams of science fiction come true. Designer babies have become de rigueur, and can be 3D printed at any of the new Baby Boutiques located in upscale and middle class neighbourhoods. Of course, the idea of shopping in stores is at best a quaint practice of the past. Shopping centres are simply places where one goes to browse showrooms, enjoy a day out with friends, and test products before purchasing them online and having them either delivered quickly and reliably or 3D printed right in the comfort and safety of your own home! For added convenience, any civilized consumer enjoys a cognitive connection to the internet, courtesy of their embedded chips. After all, professional skill updates and instant access to information are requirements for anyone even the least bit interested in social mobility. Taking this a step further is the 'Second Universe', a massive simulated world that fairly closely mirrors the real one, complete with a booming economy and populace of its own. Every day, billions of people move back and forth between the real world and the vast simulation, carefully overseen by an extensive network of impartial, professional, and highly-trained programmers, blurring the lines between what is real and what is created. In fact, some people choose to spend the majority of their lives in the Second Universe, but they don't need to worry. Their faithful breezebots, near-sentient androids virtually indistinguishable from biological humans, will be there to look after their affairs and see to their needs while they engage in either business or pleasure. The year is 2506, and it's a great time to be alive!


Species

All characters who reside within the real or simulated world belong to one of the following sentient species:

Homo Sapiens: Basic humans make up the majority of the real world and server populations. They are what we are. They tend to fan out in search of new places, always seeking an advantage for themselves. They are very social but individualistic. Generally more perceptive and charismatic than the drab Neanderthals, they sometimes lack in strength and toughness. (+1 perceptiveness and +1 charisma; -1 strength and -1 toughness)

Homo Neanderthalensis: Very similar to basic humans, and they make up a significant portion of the real world population. They tend to stick to their own kind. They are generally a bit stronger and hardier than Homo Sapiens, but sometimes lack in perceptiveness and charisma. ( +1 toughness and +1 strength; -1 charisma and -1 perceptiveness)

Breezebots: Looking effectively identical to Homo Sapiens, these are actually intelligent androids that operate on Asimov's three laws of robotics. They are considered to be private property, but possess limited rights of their own. They make up a significant portion of the server population. Breezebots are highly intelligent, strong, and tough, but lack in perceptiveness, athleticism, and charisma (+2 intelligence, +1 strength, +1 toughness; -2 charisma, -1 perceptiveness, -1 athleticism)

Mers (Homo Aquaticus): Created within the Second Universe, these have become increasingly popular, with some people choosing to live their entire lives as Mers. Though physiologically quite different from Homo Sapiens, they are cognitively almost identical. Mers are not able move quickly or for long distances outside of the water. However, they are able to hold their breath for extended periods of time.


Rules of the RPG

All participants will be able to enter between one and three characters. These can come from within the universe or from outside of it, and your entry post should state where they come from. OCs are preferred but not essential. If your character comes from within the universe, you can specify the initial setting from which they hail from the above list. As this is a fairly reality-based science fiction type of setting, please try to refrain from entering characters with over-the-top superpowers or magical abilities. Characters that do not belong to one of the species described above are allowed. However, unless they are a familiar mythological being that could have come from the simulated world (Second Universe) within the simulation, they will be treated exactly how you would expect humans to treat sentient extraterrestrials upon first contact. Finally, please refrain from entering any obvious troll, joke, or author-avatar characters. I reserve the right to reject anything that seems ridiculous, overpowered, or like a Mary Sue.

All character entry posts should include the following:
Name: (real name required, alias(es) optional)
Age: (how old your character is in Earth years, of if his/her race ages slowly/quickly, a human equivalent)
Gender: (male/female/ambiguous/etc)
Species: (from in universe or outside of it)
Place of Origin: (where your character hails from, either inside the world of this RPG or outside of it)
Description: (written summary and/or picture)
History: (no need to be super detailed, can be as long or short as you please)
Skills and Special Abilities: (should be fairly anchored in reality and technology, please nothing over the top)

Inactivity: If your character is inactive for more than a month, he or she will be taken over by me and used as I see fit, which may well result in his or her death. If you're going to be inactive for a while, please notify me.


Stats

Each character will be given sixty points to distribute between the following:

Strength: 100% of a character's ability to lift, move, push, and carry objects; 50% of his/her ability to fight, climb, and intimidate.

Athleticism: 100% of a character's speed, flexibility, and balance, as well as jumping and swimming ability; 50% of a character's stamina, reflexes, and his/her ability to climb and fight.

Toughness: 100% of a character's willpower and ability to live in harsh environments, as well as resist, withstand, and recover from injury; 50% of his/her stamina and ability to resist being controlled or convinced unwillingly.

Intelligence: 100% of a character's knowledge, technical skill, creativity, problem-solving ability and resourcefulness; 50% of his/her memory and ability to trick people.

Perceptiveness: 100% of a character's ability to read his/her surroundings, situations, other people, and see through lies; 50% of a character's reflexes, memory, and ability to resist being controlled or convinced unwillingly.

Charisma: 100% of a character's ability to convince, lie, make friends, manipulate, and negotiate; 50% of his/her ability to intimidate and trick people.

For qualities that are 50% determined by two different stat categories, the total will be equal to the sum of 50% of each stat. For example, A character with 14 athleticism and 4 perceptiveness would have a reflex score of (7 + 2) 9.


Conclusion

The RPG will begin in mid October, about a week after CBC starts, or otherwise when we have a decent number of people. Other characters can be worked in over time for those who join up later. So, without further ado...

I am but dust, formed into man
Born to live and love and die,
There's not a day that I've not spent
Beneath your wise and caring eye.

Father Sky, I've gone away
To live among the stars.
Watch over those I leave to stand
Upon the sands of Mars.

And should I meet the blackness,
Father Sky, oh carry me.
Should I never make it home,
Father Sky, oh bury me.

<small>(excerpt from The Bluewater Brotherhood: A Spacefarer's Prayer)</small>

Father Sky

Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2016 5:56 pm
by patrickrowberry
home planet; ??

race; Breezebots

name xe-orbit 4576 (his robot name) / dust rose ( his cover name to look more human)

backstory: after a failed project went horrible wrong i and my fellow friends were left to fight for are self's alone damaged and resent full but after time he help his friend xe-orbit 3999 become the leader and help them make a new base to live for a while
how ever most of villages in this base soon forgot they were robots including the leader and dust rose and some of the villgers have gone crazed due to lack of humanity witch caused them to go insane how ever dust rose has been able to negotiate them out of bad situations but despite this he lacks fire power or real protection and most of his robot armour replaced with plants and fertilised ground and old ship parts that have been turned to look more human and because of this he is human
despite this the way he responds depends weather or not he believes he his human as only as the humans declined him to be a animal hunting weapon to make is safe for humans but because of the failed project he has been set to no kill mode and if this changes he turns back into the killing machine he was built to be. how ever recently he had a argument with the leader about who created no just him but his entire tribe so he deiced to take on the quest to find his mom and dad if they were still alive or if he could find any info on them believing he was human and nothing more

when he thinks he is human

Strength: 4
Athleticism: 5
Toughness: 7
Intelligence: 15
Perceptiveness: 14
Charisma: 16

when he goes insane or all full robot mode

Strength: 15
Athleticism:11
Toughness: 7
Intelligence: 10
Perceptiveness: 10
Charisma: 7

Father Sky

Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2016 6:04 pm
by The Monsterworks
Hey Pat, so your character's backstory is actually pretty cool, but only as long as he comes from outside of the universe. That backstory is, unfortunately, not compatible with the breezebots as conceived in this RPG, since they're a group of androids who appear basically identical to human beings and are basically a servant class who only live in the servers. I believe that it was pretty much in the description.

More importantly, characters have sixty points to distribute and you're only used about 40, from what I've counted. Please read the signup post carefully before trying to enter a character. Thanks.

Father Sky

Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2016 9:06 pm
by Venice Queen
More might be added in, but this one's a for sure thing


Father Sky

Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2016 10:14 am
by That Kode Guy
(reserved for Azael; character sheet incoming)

Father Sky

Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2016 11:47 am
by patrickrowberry
edited my stats and changed my planet to ?? so you can find one that fit the back story better