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Post-Nemesis

2014-09-28T14:31:37Z

Ceslas: /* The Solar System */

=Post-Nemesis=
Is a game set in the far future of the Solar system after a cataclysm event brought down the Golden Age. The players control each a fortified arcology called a Polis that had been waiting for the danger to past to emerge out and rebuild civilization in their likeness. Combat and military aesthetics veer towards the Gundam (Zeta) style of things. Shrike is making the military rules.

==The Story so Far==
 
The year is 4500 AD, one thousand and two hundred years after the collapse of post scarcity Solar Commonwealth and the thousand years after the arrival of Nemesis in the Solar System. 3000AD was celebrated as the golden age of humanity. War, want and conflict had vanished under the rising tide of superior technologies and great conquest of the solar system. The Commonwealth built on egalitarian principals and guided by the AI/Uploaded hybrid of LOGOS was prepared to deal with everything but doomsday. Sensors had detected that brown dwarf known as Nemesis was moving closer and it was estimated to send a deluge of cometary matter into the system far beyond anyone expectations. LOGOS suffered a critical failure when trying to figure out how to deal with it and splintered off into several waring factions on best method, soon the fighting went beyond the virtual realm into reality as planets and habitats and nations took sides on how to best survive. The civil war of the godlike Solar Commonwealth was brief and violent and in the end the only survivors who retained much of their tech level were those who had taken the Bunkerist approach to matters. Building and fortifying armored arcologies and stations across the solar system and closing themselves off to outside contact till the commentary bombardment stopped these bunkers soon gotten the nickname Polis and entered into their period of long isolation as the rest of the survivors attempted to scramble out of the way of doomsday. 
 
Now Nemesis has left and commentary bombardment has ceased, the Polis are opening their doors to a much changed Solar System. 

==The Solar System==
Mercury: Abandoned during the Long Night, it has been recently resettled as a pirate nests. There are rumors that buried in the core of Mercury was a complete data archive of the Solar Commonwealth at its height, hence alot of the pirate and other activity reactivating dead warrens and mining operations.
:[http://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/post-nemesis-pre-game-thread.8160/#post-1778115 Jericho]
:[http://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/post-nemesis-pre-game-thread.8160/page-3#post-1802217 ABC Pirates]
 
Venus: Failed terraforming and cometary bombardment has blown off much of its atmosphere, and now its a barely habitual rock full of Polis that awaken early and now in a state of cold wars and brush fire wars against each other. Already one nuclear war between polities has occurred. 
 
Earth: Solar Commonwealth defenses deflected most of the damage till they inexplicably failed, now the world has been battered, with techno-barbarians ranging to nation states rivaling Polis level technology, however, general exploitation has left Earth poor and in need of resources from the outer-worlds. Of significant note, the Eurasian continent is particularly harsh wasteland of green goo, rogue nanobots that have gotten into the ecosystem creating a hybrid techno-organic life.
:[[Big Belt]]
:[[Aralesia]]
:[[Kamchatka]]
:[http://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/post-nemesis-pre-game-thread.8160/page-3#post-1818359 Invicti]
:[http://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/post-nemesis-pre-game-thread.8160/page-3#post-1799582 Okeanos]
 
:Luna: is filled with colonists from Earth trying to send needed resources back to the mother planet
:[[Synthesis]]
:[http://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/post-nemesis-pre-game-thread.8160/page-2#post-1796953 Tranquil]
 
Mars: is the best of the inner-worlds, its grouping of Polis had it awakened a century ago and formed the Martian consortium, which had taken over via its superior technologies the advance but lesser tech survivors living on the terraformed surface. In orbit there are number of solar shades and mirrors to help with the terraforming project. Mount Olympus is also a no go zone full of Solar Commonwealth era combat automatons and defenses, guarding something within that vast mountain complex. 
 
Belt: Full of bunkers and Polis, and pirates 
 
Jupiter: Like the belt but filled with monsters, the automated self repairing warships of the LOGOS peace keeping force gone rogue. At the center of this rogue mass. Jovian Naval Command, the giant factory fortress that continues to replenish the numbers of the rogue automons. 
 
Saturn: The energy hub of the system. Filled with warring tribes of helium miners 
 
Uranus: The Pope lives here, along with the flock of the Great Solar Church. 
:[http://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/post-nemesis-pre-game-thread.8160/page-8#post-1943526 Nova Palmyra]
 
Neptune and beyond: More like the Belt, though in orbit of Pluto there is the transformed moon of Charon which has seemingly built into a unknown "star gate" of some kind that remains unactivated and inscrutable. Some of the wilder theories suggest the gate dates back before the founding of the Commonwealth. 
 
Beyond: Monster that failed in their duty to defend the planet, but still viewing anything near them as a threat to the commonwealth. Also the comet nomads, people who seem to have gain the ability to spoof the monsters IFF and can tame the smaller ones. Highly prone to shooting first and shooting again and again, and insular, they become a problem when the comet they're following goes into the inner system and they start raiding targets of opportunity. 
 
Interplanetary space: Due to the aftermath of Nemesis and all the comets it brought into the solar system, combined with the Solar Commonwealth's defenses, interplanetary space is full of comet derbies cloud along with inactive and active anti cometary nanotech clouds that were launched during last spate of madness of the Commonwealth's civil war. Thus space travel is far more complex then what it used to be as there is rarely a straight course to the target, meaning multiple burns and course corrections are needed, slowing traveling down. Running into the clouds are dangerous at high speeds, and even at low speeds, they might be infected with the dissembler nanobots. There are reported clouds of ghost ships whose crews were killed by half functioning weapons, that left the ship. Some say that the weapons since died, but few are brave-hardy to travel into them. 

==Polis==
Polis: A heavily armored and fortified self-contained super city/nation unto itself. Built in the waning days of the glory of humanity in a panic to save hope for humanity in face of Nemesis and the madness that was going around them. They were designed so that a single one could restart civilization at a high tech level, complete with factories, labs, data caches, cloning pods, and docked war machines and space craft. As it stands now each Polis is the most powerful force in its area, but its reach is limited due to the small number of ships and war machines they started off with that while outclass most of the post Nemesis opponents, do not outnumber them enough to make it painless. The main saving grace is the Polis itself highly defensible and the few attempts that saw outsiders try to take out one of the early awaken Polis saw them suffer heavy causalities for minor damaged that was repaired within a month.
 
Each PC will be playing a Polis, they give a general write up of what life was like in the Polis during the Long Night, what type of government, and they pick out two traits, either from below or approved by Silence. More trait can be bought up to 4 by taking a negative trait.

==Making a Post-Nemesis nation==
Assign your points to each of the categories until you run out. That'll give you the basis around which to write up the details of your nation. 

'''Modifiers listed apply bonus points towards a particular rank, rather than directly modifying the Rank itself.''' For example, (Infrastructure +3) means that three bonus points are automatically added to the Infrastructure category, and (Growth -2) means that two points are subtracted from Growth. The player must make up the remainder to gain a new rank; if only part of the point cost is fulfilled; excess points are wasted. 

Negative modifiers do not need to be bought up to zero, though values below 0 can be assumed to be particularly exaggerated. 

'''Population'''
:Minor Habitat (24 points to spend): A backwater nowhere bunker-habitat.
:Major Habitat (24 points to spend): A small alliance of bunkers, habitats and scavengers. Adds +1 Growth Potential.
:Minor Polis (28 points to spend): A lesser Polis, though one that cannot be ignored. Adds +1 to National Advantages.
:Midsized Polis (28 points to spend): A fairly typical midsized Polis. Adds an additional 125 Military Points and 150 Military Support.
:Major Polis (26 points to spend): A large Polis with a substantial, diverse population and possibly satellite habitats outside of the Polis proper. Adds an additional 250 Military Points, 300 Military Support, 25 Wealth and 25 Construction Rate but suffers -1 to Growth Potential.
:Consortium (26 points to spend): A top-tier state with a massive population. At this level your Polis is more like a capital city than a nation unto itself. At this level you're also playing by the Consortium's rules at penalty of interdicted like what happened to the poor chaps in Cydonia. Adds an additional 500 Military Points, 600 Military Support, 50 Wealth and 50 Construction Rate, but suffers -2 to Growth Potential.

'''National Advantages'''
:Rank 0 (0 points): Your nation has no advantages. Everyone should have something to feel special about :(
:Rank 1 (1 point): Your nation has a single National Advantage.
:Rank 2 (2 points): Your nation has two National Advantages.
:Rank 3 (4 points): Your nation has three National Advantages.
:Rank 4 (6 points): Your nation has four National Advantages.
:Rank 5 (9 points): Your nation has five National Advantages.

'''National Disadvantages''' 
This field returns points, instead of costing points.
:Rank 0 (0 points): Your nation has no unusual flaws, just the usual minor problems.
:Rank 1 (+1 point): Your nation has a single National Disadvantage.
:Rank 2 (+2 points): Your nation has two National Disadvantages.
:Rank 3 (+3 points): Your nation has three National Disadvantages, plus one chosen by the GM (!)
:Rank 4 (+4 points): Your nation is a hellhole; expect to get hammered by whatever the GM feels to throw at you. It is entirely out of your control at this point.

'''Economy'''
:Rank 0 (0 points): Space Vikings take what they need. Wealth rating 20
:Rank 1 (1 point): Wealth Rating 45
:Rank 2 (2 points): Wealth Rating 70
:Rank 3 (3 points): Wealth Rating 90
:Rank 4 (4 points): Wealth Rating 110
:Rank 5 (5 points): The throbbing center of postmodern capitalism. Wealth Rating 125.
:Every additional Rank of Economy adds 15 to the Wealth Rating.

'''Infrastructure'''
:Rank 0 (0 points): Well, you could probably ''rearm'' a warship . . . Construction Rating 20
:Rank 1 (1 point): Construction Rating 45
:Rank 2 (2 points): Construction Rating 70
:Rank 3 (3 points): Construction Rating 90
:Rank 4 (4 points): Construction Rating 110
:Rank 5 (5 points): Massive, well developed planetary and spaceborn industry. Construction Rating 125
:Every additional Rank of Infrastructure adds 15 to the Construction Rating.

'''Growth Potential'''
:Rank 0 (0 points): Overcrowding and resource shortages are chronic; you need relief and now! x6 Infrastructure cost.
:Rank 1 (1 point): Either planning or natural growth has put you at a comfortable maximum, but you have nowhere to grow. x5 Infrastructure cost.
:Rank 2 (2 points): You have room to grow, but not much. x4 Infrastructure cost.
:Rank 3 (3 points): Most of your resources have been set up to be exploited but you haven't even begun to do so yet. x3 Infrastructure cost.
:Rank 4 (4 points): So many natural resources you're probably selling them to people. x2 Infrastructure cost.
:Rank 5 (5 points): The Frontier. Resources are plentiful, with plenty you probably haven’t even begun to tap yet. x1 Infrastructure cost.

'''Military Size'''
:Rank 0 (0 points): 50 military points
:Rank 1 (1 point): 200 military points
:Rank 2 (2 points): 350 military points
:Rank 3 (3 points): 490 military points
:Rank 4 (4 points): 620 military points
:Rank 5 (5 points): 740 military points
:Every Rank past 5 adds +100 military points.

'''Military Support'''
:Rank 0 (0 points): Your nation simply sees little need for a large military; 100 military support
:Rank 1 (1 point): 300 military support
:Rank 2 (2 points): 500 military support
:Rank 3 (3 points): 675 military support
:Rank 4 (4 points): 825 military support
:Rank 5 (5 points): 950 military support
:Every Rank past 5 adds +100 additional military support.

'''Military Quality'''
:Rank 0 (0 points): No real military, more like a glorified police force if not an armed rabble.
:Rank 1 (1 point): Below average, your soldiers are probably decent enough on the personal level but your high-level doctrines and organization is undoutedly weak.
:Rank 2 (3 points): Average armed forces, nothing special but no glaring weaknesses.
:Rank 3 (5 points): A respectable military force, definately something to be reckoned with.
:Rank 4 (8 points): Best of the best, your military is well trained.

'''Superweapons'''
For full Superweapon rules, see the relevant section below.
:Rank 0 (0 points): Your nation sees no real value in superweapons and may '''never''' have more than a single tactical superweapon in service at any time (note: even Nazi engineering won't improve this). Thankfully, the shoestring budget your Office of Impractical Engineering receives means they actually have to work efficiently, and this weapon has no cost modifier.
:Rank 1 (1 point): While your nation sees superweapons as something to acquire, your engineers are just insufficiently crazy to build them well (or the projects are plagued by mismanagement). Superweapons cost 150% of normal cost.
:Rank 2 (2 points): While a bit laggard, your nation has a decent stock of superweaponry. You have a second Tactical Superweapon slot but superweapons still cost 125% of base cost.
:Rank 3 (3 points): Your superweaponry is an important part of your military arsenal. You have three Tactical Superweapon slots and no cost modifiers to superweapons.
:Rank 4 (5 points): You have as many superweapons as a typical evil overlord. In addition to three Tactical Superweapon slots, you have two Strategic Superweapon slots and a cost multiplier of 75%.
:Rank 5 (8 points): Really? Fine. You have ''unlimited'' superweapon slots - Tactical, Strategic and National and a cost multiplier of 50%. Go crazy.

'''Espionage'''
:Rank 0 (0 points): Sensitive information regularly gets lost on laptops.
:Rank 1 (1 point): Typical hypercorp security measures.
:Rank 2 (2 points): Run of the mill intelligence apparatus.
:Rank 3 (4 points): Many Bothans died to bring us this information.
:Rank 4 (6 points): Sure, I can get the information you want chummer. Got the nuyen?

'''General Advancement'''
:Rank 0 (0 points): Your nation’s overall advancement level in fundamental fields such as energy generation, metallurgy, etc has undoutedly slid in the dark ages, perhaps due to improperly recovered data. The norm for groups without access to the vast data-repositories of the Polis.
:Rank 1 (4 points): Average advancement, no glaring weaknesses or strong points. Most Polis are on this level.
:Rank 2 (8 points): An impressive display of technological aptitude that puts you above most of your peers. Basically, you’re The Star Kingdom of Manticore.

===National Advantages===
'''Excellent Diplomats''' 
Your diplomats are tireless and your leaders routinely expect to get Nobel Peace Prizes every year they're in power.

'''Lacus Cylne is my idol''' 
Pop in space, your Polis has significant soft power and general good will to it from your consumer culture or post future version of it.

'''Transhumanoid''' 
While various body-modification technologies have been used since the Exodus - to the point that cyberware, cloning, biomods and the like is as taken for as granted as ubiquitous computation, communications and space travel, many of the more out-there modifications were strictly subcultural and rare until the arrival of Nemesis where some places got a bit ''weird''.

'''Nazi Superscience''' 
Your nation's research and development complex may not be efficient but it is sure creative. Prototypes and weird one-offs for all manner of situations abound in your military. Some of them may even work properly. Note that this does not mean your overall technology level is superior, just that you combine what you have in more weird ways. It also gives you an additional Tactical Superweapon slot, or you may instead 'upgrade' one of your existing slots one level (Tactical to Strategic or Strategic to National)

'''Tombworld Raider''' 
The rediscovery of ancient treasures is a national pastime - sometimes these are culturally significant, sometimes valuable.

'''Burden of the Polis''' 
Your people have a intense desire to spread civilization of your type across the solar system, as such you have memetics to tend deal with conquer people better and co-opt into your system.

'''Second Amendment''' 
While the practice of personal firearm possession did not normally take hold in early off-Earth colonies - nobody wants holes punched in the life support - many later colonies became increasingly robust and more than capable of withstanding any plausible damage from small arms. In some of these, an armed populace reestablished itself, making them much harder to occupy by invaders.

'''A Game of Enders''' 
Ethics has never stopped your nation when it comes to making the better warfighter. Your battle schools churn out universal soldiers to lead your fleets and strike your enemies.

'''Superior [Keyword]''' 
Your country has a particular strength in one general field, improving their effective advancement level by one in it. Broad fields such as 'weapons', 'armor', etc are acceptable. This trait is incompatible with Rank 2 General Advancement - you're superior ''everywhere''.

'''Barbarian allies''' 
You have access to non Polis ally that will generally support you with some troops for a variety of reasons.

===National Disadvantages===
'''Pariah State''' 
Thanks to some past (or current) actions, your state is quite unpopular among the greater community of nations. Most others will treat you with suspicion and bad assumptions are paramount.

'''Ascended Barbarians''' 
You are not a Polis at all, but a collection of techno-barb survivors that managed to claw their way back to stability, strength and national unity. You must have Rank 0 technology and you do not have a fortified Polis as a central citadel. Obviously, you should probably be in a place that can reasonably support life without too many problems . . . generally Earth, Mars and Venus.

'''Barbarian Backyard''' 
You have a problem with the various techno-barbarians, reavers and pirates that haunt the solar system and need to dedicate not-insignificant resources simply to keeping them away from the very gates of your Polis. While they likely can't get ''inside'' they will certainly be a major annoyance.

'''Social Contract Dispute''' 
Your state doesn't work as it should. Cultural and social norms are often violated, radical voices drown out those of moderates and there is a lack of trust across all levels of society. While the government has managed to keep a lid on this - so far - the situation is volatile and gives foreign actors plenty of room to make problems.

'''All Children Left Behind''' 
Unfortunately, your nation's educational and R&D infrastructure is not what it should be. Acquiring or development new technologies is slow and difficult. This Disadvantage is incompatible with any top-rank technology-related category.

'''Very Super Weapons''' 
Your military (or civilian) leaders are enamoured with the idea of achieving military dominance via superweaponry. While this means you have one additional of each Superweapon slot, the cost to build ''all'' conventional military weapons is doubled.

'''The Scourge of Space''' 
The Inhuman, the Unnatural, the Perverse - all of these were the casualties of the Scourge. But even as that era has faded, your nation has kept that mindset alive, internalizing it. Your citizens have little time for those that deviant substantially from the basic human body- and mindplan.

'''Inferior [Keyword]''' 
Your country has a particular weakness in a broad field, such as weapons, electronics, etc, making them operate at one rank lower in that field. This trait is incompatible with Rank 0 General Advancement - you're inferior ''everywhere''.

==Militaries==
===Military design===
All military units (both Regiments and Warships) are built up from a pool of points equal to their purchase cost. These points must be distributed among various attributes which determine how the unit performs. Note that in general, as larger craft or vehicles are slower, for every 3 points of cost there is the equivalent of a -1 to speed - for those who want to make destroyer-speed battleships, you know how much speed you need to stuff in.

Particularly cheap ground and space units can be organized into Divisions or Squadrons, respectively. These have a maximum cost of 10 each, ignore the speed penalty from increased cost and are made up not of single ships (or relatively small groups of troops/vehicles), but a number of small units. This is to allow for a greater amount of customization on the bottom end.

Standard attributes (with some subtypes):
:Firepower
::Air Defense
::Torpedoes
:Defenses
::Stealth
:Speed
:Fighter Complement
:Bomber Complement
:Electronics
::Jamming
::Survey Equipment

===Military costs===
'''Example Ground Regiments'''
:Light Infantry Division: 4
:Marines: 3
:Light Battlemechs: 3
:Heavy Battlemechs: 6
:Super Battlemechs: 12
:Land Dreadnought: 20

'''Example Warships'''
:Destroyer Squadron: 6
:Cruiser: 10
:Capital Ship: 30

'''Superweapons'''
:Tactical Superweapon: 24
:Strategic Superweapon: 100
:National Superweapon: 400

===Military upkeep===
All nations have a certain ability to support fleets of warships and armies of ground troops. This is their Military Support, and military units fill it at a 1:1 ratio. Due to the cost of large militaries, when a nation's military exceeds its support, all prices are increased by 100%. If a nation's military exceeds more than twice its support, all prices by increased by 200%. For every additional multiple of a nation's base support, cost increases by another 100%.

If the nation is at war and has suffered sufficient losses that its military is less than half of its support level, all military items cost half as much.

===Superweapons===
Superweapons are weapons of uprecedented and often unusual power, beyond the usual guns-and-armor fare that dominates conventional militaries. Rarely are any two identical. Because of this Superweapons have their own specific rules. They are as follows:

* All superweapons are paid for and consume upkeep like conventional military units.
* All superweapons have a number of points to assign to attributes equal to their '''BASE''' cost just like normal military units.
* There are three tiers of superweapons; Tactical, Strategic and National. Each is progressively larger and more powerful, but also more expensive.
* Each tier of superweapon is most effective against superweapons of the next lower tier - A small squad of Valkyrie fighters will exploit the Death Star's two-meter weakness, while the Death Star will vaporise the Argama with its superlaser and the Argama and its mobile suit team will delay, drive off or shoot down the outnumbered Valkyries.
* All superweapons have a number of abilities; each starts with two and every additional increases cost by 50% of base cost. These substantially improve the performance in the selected are, or grant unusual abilities. Deficiencies can be taken to gain an additional ability at no cost, though deficiencies should be meaningful and potentially crippling if something can take advantage of them.
* Every nation has three superweapon 'slots' - one each of Tactical, Strategic and National. Lower tier types may fill higher tier slots; ie it is acceptable to have three Tactical superweapons without penalty (see below), but having three Strategic superweapons will always invoke a penalty.
* For every superweapon that a nation possesses in excess of their slots, the cost and upkeep of ''ALL'' superweapons they possess is increased by 10%, cumulative. Thus a nation with three Strategic superweapons (two in excess of the slot limit) increases the cost/upkeep of all of its superweapons by 20%. Building a fourth would increase this to 30%. Note that the cost increase comes in to effect as of construction, not after - Death Star #4 would cost +30%, not +20%.

'''Tactical Superweapons''' 
Tactical superweapons are the most diverse and versatile of the lot. They can range from the usual Gundam or experimental Valkyrie fare to supersoldiers (Master Chief or Raptor Team in nanosuits) or even superspies (James Bond or Jason Bourne). The specific abilities they have should reflect what they are - supersoldiers should have Infiltration, etc. Overall Tactical superweapons are not especially powerful but they have strong character shields and should be considered major plot elements.

'''Strategic Superweapons''' 
Strategic superweapons are more powerful and more critical - high mobility battleships with (or without) onboard mecha complement, Bolos, ballistic missile submarines, overpowered mobile armors, etc. At the most archetypical, they are the 'cool hero ship'. While it is entirely acceptable for a strategic superweapon to include a set of high-end aerospace craft or the like as part of its concept, a large force of superior aircraft or tanks with no obvious 'core' goes against the fundamental concept of superweapons and is not acceptable. Strategic superweapons still have a certain degree of character shielding but as powerful military assets they are not as free to shrug off minor irritations - they have firepower and defenses for that. 'Planetbound' is an acceptable deficiency for Strategic superweapons

'''National Superweapons''' 
The largest and most powerful of superweapons, and the one that best deserves the title SUPERweapon, National superweapons can range from mile-long transforming city-ships armed with fleet-busting beam cannons to (semi-)mobile fortresses to vast and ridiculously powerful defensive complexes. National superweapons have no character shields, they are instead obscenely powerful.

==Nations==
'''[[433]]''' 
'''[[The Administration]]''' 
'''[[Aralesia]]''' 
'''[[Atelier Diodochi]]''' 
'''[[Big Belt]]''' 
'''[[Ice Clade]]''' 
'''[[Kamchatka]]''' 
'''[[Shereyed]]''' 
'''[[Synthesis]]''' 
'''[[Tian An]]''' 
'''[[Tykhestan]]'''

Ascension Isle: Introduction

2013-12-01T05:05:18Z

Ceslas: /* Heylel - the Zenith Empire */

[[Ascension Isle]]

====Overview====
This is a site for the rules-in-progress for the proposed Ascension Isle SD, which is based off concepts from the Burning Wheel RPG. These rules should in no way be taken as fixed, and are open for modification and suggestion by the players.

And now the Disclaimer. Ascension Isle will be a bit different from most SDs in that it will encourage inter-player conflict and combat, and will be a bit more restrictive on player creative control as a result. Nations must be built so that they fit into the world, and also so that they pose ready made foils for the major conflicts now spreading across the world of Arth. The rules will be designed so there can and will be winners and losers. This means your nation may be destroyed. Because time marches on, if you fail to post or control it, it may be destroyed while you are not even paying attention. The game will also include rules for ANY player to take on a "GM-like" role through paying points and try to twist the events of the world and its NPCs to their advantage. Because of this you cannot claim full creative authority for your nation and remove it from play if things do not go as you like. By posting in this SD you accept these rules, and even if you leave, your nation - which will have become part of the world - will remain. If these rules aren't agreeable to you, you're free not to participate. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Current suggested focus - Nation Traits. These will define your power, and most will do something. Throw out your suggestions but don't worry too much about the actual mechanics. Those won't be nailed down for some time.

If you are interested in this SD, please list your name below with a brief one sentence blurb about your proposed power. Also list any special requirements. For example *ahem*

:IXJac
::Kingdom of Ixcelion (Jibril) - A monarchist nation with a brash young king and an ambitious reforming high priestess, following the liberationist ideal and determined to save the world from itself.
::This nation would like either the Holy City trait and/or Fleet of the Flag.

You can post more than one nation idea, in fact I encourage it. Once we get into more detail, look for possible commonalities between your nation and those of other players. Yes, this is a nation SD and everyone wants to play something unique and different, and indeed that's most of the fun in playing these games - but your nation has also been living with its neighbours for some time. Look for points where they might have crossovers or commonalities, particularly if it doesn't harm your own concept. For example, if religion isn't a big deal to you, consider adopting the faith of one of your neighbours.

On that note, regarding ethnicities, this isn't our world. There's no particular reason they have to be grouped like on earth. The Chosen were also pretty eclectic, and not above a little genetic tempering and architectural advice now and then. All that to say you can justify pretty much any ethnicity or national style. However, whatever ethnicities you choose, they'll logically bleed over a bit. There's no reason you can't have a civilization with Mayan pyramids sitting right next to another with Muscovite onion domes, but there should then be some cultural crossover between them. You guys have been living with each other for some time, remember. It might create some interesting combinations.

Many traits can only be taken by one person, but if someone else has already asked for the one you want, don't let that stop you. There's no dibs here. Once nations are being finalized and placed on the map unique traits will be assigned based on some fair process - a blind bid or random roll maybe. So that means you may not get a coveted trait, so try not to make it central to your concept.

Regarding the various starting areas, the game is balanced for the main player continents to be Jibril; home of the magitech steampunk human kingdoms of the favoured Chosen adherants, and Heylel; home of magical multiracial provinces of the recently deceased Zenith Empire. Added into this are the clients of the human hating Dero, who have forged a fascist state from the power of magitech dieselpunk, deep below the surface world. The Dero now dream of their return, and have secured a variety of witting and unwitting allies to aid them. Dero clients can be anywhere. There is also room for a few players to play in the Zones of Rafaela and Mikaela where technology is roughly that of WWI with a little magic in the mix, however PCs in these Zones are at a disadvantage compared to the three main groups. This last option is for serious gamers only!

====Jibril - the center of Chosen power====
:Norseman
::Republic of Aquitaine (Jibril) - A newly created republic filled with heresies, strange new practises, political chaos, and upheavals.
::Foreign Faith, Government by the People, Civil Disorder, Expeditionary Experience, and preferably something that'd allow deals with foreign spirits.

:Peel
::Kingdom of Illumina (Jibril) - A monarchy saved from the fires of revolution by a brilliant young commander who now dominates the weak king.
::Civil Disorder, Chosen Mandate?, Empyrean Church, Wondrous Architecture, Colonialist or Principalist

:Zeronet

::[[Zephiricon Eccelsiocracy]] (Jibril) - The Kingdom of Zephiricon has been found wanting, the heretics have been put to the flame by the newly emboldened Inquisition, emerging from weeks of infighting to usher in a new age under the regime of High Lord Inquisitor Augustikos. Under his leadership, the church of the Empyrean shall lead humanity to a golden age of thaumatic technology, a task which requires nothing less than the absolute elimination of magic and the full and loving embrace of technology.
::This nation would like the Holy City trait, Empyrean Faith, Lord Tyrant, Active Inquisition

::Sephiricon Eccelsiocracy (Jibril ALT) - The Kingdom of Sephiricon has been overthrown by a radical sect of the Inquisition, who do not worship the chosen, but supplicant themselves before thaumatic technology itself. They believe the chosen were cast out of heaven for practicing magic and vow to rid the world of this magical influence so that heaven may be restored.
::Reformation, Active Inquisition, Lord Tyrant

:Screwball
::The Republic of Dumbar (Jibril) - Do you hear the people sing, singing the song of angry men?
::Government by the People, Colonialist, Expeditionary Experience, possibly Demos Warren and No Gods, Only Men or Foreign Faith.

:Andronicus
::Kingdom of Walstan (Jibril). Once there was a nameless Witch. One day she said "I should go here, and make myself at home." And she did. Nobody was able to find her since, afterall, Walstan hadn't had a witch in a hundred years. But as she was not found neither did she find her name. Time passed and one day she found a helper and she was pleased. Now, at the start of the Revolution, the Witch thought to herself ,"I have this enchanted mirror, and the Queen is alone..." She didn't ''need'' her name, did she?
::Walstan-Carcosa is a Dynastic state formed by the merger of two royal bloodlines during the era when the Chosen encouraged the formation of large monarchies for the order and betterment of the faithful; founded by Wentliane Caumont and Gallis Briavelisa after hammering the clans of the hills and the hardy swarthy folk of the valleys Walstan today seems very much changed from its rude origins. Their descendants have taken upon themselves to embody the splendor of the Empyrean Order on Arth. A late comer, relatively, to the centralized power of the Empyrean Church not because of any hesitance to conversion of the old Aulic Church of Mayana but rather because of the near incomprehensibility of the low speech of the commoners to the common language of the rest of Jibril; perhaps lingering traces of this old ethnic sterotype might account for the lack of any real philosophical revolutionary ideology underpinning the fruitless revolts that have taken place in the last five years. Or perhaps the real cause is the swift and unhesitating iron fist of the monarchy in crushing any disturbance.
::Chosen Mandate (D), The Scandal (F), The Sidereal Circle (D), Civil Disorder (D)

:Kerrus (Alt)
::Bibliotheca des Dieux - The Library of the Gods, a nation state onto itself bringing light to these dark times. Purveyors of knowledge, but also keepers of dark mystery, the library priests travel out into the world to bring back knowledge and spread hope for those of the faith that one day the Chosen might raise their voices to the sky in harmony again.
::Empyrean Church (D), Divine Heir (D), Mule (E), Chosen Quest (E)

:Dacis
::The Imperial Assumption (Jibril) - If the Chosen are gone, then the chosen of the Chosen are now the rulers of All Under Heaven.
::Chosen Mandate (D), Reformation (D), Colonialist (D), Expeditionary Experience (D)

:Lokar
::The Grand Duchy of Solchin (Jibril)– Former enforcers of the Chosen’s will. Now the Grand Duchy seeks to expand their influence and power in effort to ensure their proper place under the sun.
::Chosen Mandate (D), War Monger (D), Hard Workers (F), Expeditionary Experience (E), Colonialist (D)

:Exhack
::The Kindgom of Lykeia - (Jibril) - A prestigious kingdom situated on the southern coast, famous for its training of ''melef'' pilots, swordsmanship and the arts of the officer-gentleman. With the Chosen gone and the world in disarray, Lykeia is equally interested retaining a relative status quo and refining its military techniques to reflect the particular innovations of the Dero and Zone inhabitants. In spite of constant pressure by foreign inquisitors, its people are superstitious and philosophical, believing in the power of fate and the resonance of individual actions.
::Chosen Mandate (D), Mule (E), Halfman Quarter (E), Plato’s Stair (D), War Monger (D), Expeditionary Experience (E), Macrux Academy (E), Magic Cults (F), Incomprehensible Dialect (F)

:Restless Coyote
::The People's Republic of Sevaselonia - (Jibril)– With the Chosen gone a torrent of populist fury was unleashed in the former Kingdom of Sevaselonia sweeping away any remnants of the old regime, the Faith and its adherents and anyone who looked particularly suspicious or didn't line up with the Glorious Sevaselonian People's Revolutionary Army. Out of this brief but exceptionally bloody and destructive revolution, the PRS was born.
::No Gods, Only Men (D), Government by the People (D), Demos Warren (D)?, Expeditionary Experience (E), Hard Workers (F), Industrious (F)?, War-Ravaged (F)?

:Duncan_Idaho
::Apokatastasis Order State (Jibril) - Once a devout Chosen-client, the monastic order that rules this region has fallen far from the ideals of Empyrean Church. A combination of long-lived and tenaciously-surviving domestic magic-using cults, experiences in the Zones, and the cataclysmic events of recent years, the Order State now preaches a twisted inversion of Empyreanism in which man (and the Chosen as his paragon) must be overcome as the latest step in a continuous chain of transformation that is itself divinity. The central methods of this overcoming revolve around suffering (war, oppression, etc.) and the practice of advanced magic. The Order maintains that its teachings are the hidden truth of Empyreanism and of the recent apparent self-destruction of Chosen civilization, and generally presents itself quite openly as an inversion (or perversion) of the Chosen religion and way of life. Much of the old Chosen royalty, being at the heard of the Order, has succumbed entirely to heretical corruption: interbreeding willfully with the populace, practicing magic, blaspheming the Chosen, and generally hastening the self-overcoming of man.
::Chosen Mandate, Reformation, Mule, Halfman Quarter, Sic Semper Tyrannis, Plato's Stair?, Warmonger, Expeditionary Experience, Enemy of All Who Live?, Magic Cults, The Sidereal Circle?

====Heylel - the Zenith Empire====
:Mal
::'''[[Mai|Mai Domain]]'''
::NotJapanese followers of the animistic Reiwan religion and happy burners of Empyreans.
::Potential Traits: Reiwan, Defender of the Faith, Zenith Traditionalist+Foreign Intervention OR Zenith Imperialist, Army of Steel, Army of Gold, maybe even Advanced Doctrine+Army of Fire

:Silence
::Tempest Shogunate
::Long ago dishonored, guardians of the coastal wards, elite anti-chosen force. Once tried to stem the decline of the Empire with a previous Shogunate and was cheated out victory. Now very bitter and opportunistic (including secret Dero ties) they wish to turn the Empire down a new path of Renaissance and Glory.

:FBH
::The Blue Veil Society (AKA Blue Veil Rebels)
::Magical rebels who wish to teach everyone magic and create a society of equals.

:Mad Wookie
::Keepers of the Imperial Regency (No sand this time!)
:::They see the tending of the Imperial bloodline as their responsibility, and traditions and rituals must be followed to prevent further weakening brought on by seditious thinking. May or may not have hidden a last viable heir to the Throne shortly before the destruction of the capitol.
:::Arete Draconic (D), Imperial Dragons (F) and /wavesarms

:Kerrus
::The [[Dragon Tribes of Arrar]]
::A bunch of dragon-blooded elves who worship dragons as gods, and see themselves as their chosen people. Formerly insular, the dragon speakers now discern that the will of the great dragons lies in exploration and conquest.
:::Arete Draconic (D) Draconic Pacts (E), Dragonspeakers (F), Flight of Wind
:::Goals: Produce complete/accurate map of the world, reunify the empire, pursue hidden mysteries.

:Rask
::The Harmonious Courts of the Fairy
::Various types of fairies arranged in a system of [[hierarchical courts]], eager to arrange the land according to their geomantic principles. As these rarely include smoke-spewing eyesores, it will be necessary to reforge the Empire into something fresh and strong that can deal with the rest of the world from a position of authority.

:BM
::The Knights Thaumaturge
::An order of warrior-mages that served the empire, amassed monetary and magical power, and now seeks to influence the failing empire to eliminate the weaknesses the Royals brought and create a stronger unity. Proud adherents to the Arete Draconic, who emulate the legendary Dragons of old.
::Tentative traits: Arete Draconic, Dragon's Roost, Army of Gold, Flight of Wind

:Oseng
::::'''[[Dewa]]'''
::Dewa Domain -
::This nation would like:

:Aeon
::The White Moth Covenant
::A secretive order of vampire monks who watch over and protect the mortal inhabitants of the small mountain province they call home. They practice a heretical form of ancestor worship, which employs necromancy - both as a tool for communing with the spirits of the dead, and as a weapon in times of war.
::Tentative Traits: Army of Spirit, Army of Bone.

:Duncan_Idaho
::Grevian Principalities
::Princes of a sprawling and tangled dynasty rule steppe and forest from magnificent (if increasingly primitive) cities. Government is confused and informal, though society remains relatively peaceful and prosperous. Grevians are independent and strongly dedicated to maintaining their own ways, yet the ancient grafting of the Zenith Draconic religion and imperial system upon those ways was successful and remains strong - Grevian society remains dedicated at many levels to cautious conservatism. Magical talent is highly valued among the nobility.
::Zenith Traditionalists, Wellspring Way, Syncretic Religion?, Army of Gold, Flight of Wind, Hardy Folk?, Rich Merchants?

:100thlurker (alt)
::'''Baktria Atropaktan'''
::By the Sighing Shore are the hills and vales of Baktria; home to an ancient, industrious people fiercely loyal to the Empire That Was and yet among the first to open their doors to the Morning Star Empyrean heresy, the influence of the Blue Veil Society, and meddlers from the Zones.
::Populists (D-P), Path of Service (D-I), Empyrean Church (D), Army of Steel (D), Seas of Steel (D), Foreign Intervention

:Ceslas
::Domain of Hanjian
::A tranquil, agrarian Satrapy that would have stayed out of the wars now raging throughout the Empire were it not for the idealism and ambition of its Satrap. A highly charismatic man and a skilled administrator, Sun Ke has managed to turn Hanjian into a traditionalist stronghold and is now beginning his search for a suitable heir of the Imperial Bloodline. Having assembled a formidable army at his seat in the city of Hui Ping, including the warrior monks of the Way of Absolution under its abbot Zhang Liang, the Satrap is confident the province will be able to defend itself from the various rebels that have sprung up throughout the Empire until the heir is found. Once this is done Sun Ke will seek to unite those who are still loyal to the throne, restore the Empire, and ensure that the works of the Chosen will be destroyed once and for all.
:::Goals: Find a suitable heir, restore the Empire, protect the world against the return of the Chosen
:::Traits: Zenith Traditionalist (D-P), Path of Service (D-I), The Arete Draconic (D-R), Monastic Tradition, Army of Spirit (E), Army of Gold (E)

====Mikaela - the Southern Zone====
:Gee
::[[Caria|The Black Eagles]] - The Black Eagles are the military wing of a formerly underground (Literally as well as figuratively) political movement in southern Mikaela. They wear a lot of olive drab, carry a lot of weapons, and are not generally known to burn people alive very often.

:Shrike
::The Forged - A race of traumatized former nature spirits (dryads) that have been magically remade, exiled from their ancestral grove on Jibril after the Chosen destroyed it and have now made a new home on Mikaela. They will put the crumbling, baroque edifice of the Chosen to the flame just as was done to them.
::Requesting No Gods Only Men, Revolutionary, Forgemasters, Jannisaries-equivalent, Hedge Wizards (maybe)
::Potential goals: Retrieve Mana Sapling(s) from the Black Grove and plant a new one in Mikaela

:100thlurker
::'''Kaisareia tou Hayastan'''
::An ancient empire seemingly content to be privileged traitors, the Kaisareia surprised many when its armies - banners flying - hurled themselves against the mercenaries from Jibril as the first ashes of the War in Heaven drifted from cerulean skies; the first martyrs in the conflagration that freed the continent.

:Exhack
::The Gamyaza Khanate - (Mikaela) - A fledgling empire of landless nonhumans once ruled over by their neighbors as second class citizens, the War in Heaven has allowed them to seize their own destinies under the leadership of the Yaza tribe. They are masters of mounted desert warfare and have seize control of many of the cities they once defended as slave-soldiers, using the mighty and fast Simurgh birds that only they may tame. Their religion is a mix of sky and fire shamanism and ancestor worship that has been syncretically transformed into a formal doctrine by the record-keeping and proselytizing of NotShinto missionaries.

:Mal (alt)
::Eeliland
::Eelits are a race of female near-humans with a cultural penchant for adventure, athletics, art and social life. They have varying, generally dark skin coloration and horns, giving them an exotic (to Jibrilites) demi-demonic appearance. Following the Cataclysm, surviving Eelit established themselves in a region of central Mikaela. Owing to the overall state of oppression, this "Eeliland" remains small in scope, though Eelit still have a tendency to explore wherever they aren't in too much danger of being killed or enslaved.

::Eelit culture revolves around events and activities rather than structures or records. They have historically remained bystanders in the grand scheme of things, tending to be caught in the crossfire or drawn reluctantly at best into the fray of larger regional unrests. In the past two centuries, rapid Jibrilite development and the resulting explosion of their colonial and working populations fueled a dark trade in demihuman trafficking. Much of the modern changes and increased militance of the previously primitive society are a result of those Eelit fortunate enough to escape and return home.

====Rafaela - the Northern Zone====
:Oseng
::The Mound Builders - A federation of tribal kingdoms who share blood and cultural ties, all under the guidance of the Son of the Sun aka the highest chieftain. Knowing for building vast earthen mounds for temples and their impressive fortifications.
::Mound Builders, Fortification Specialists

:Arc
::Crucis Federation - A ramshackle conglomeration of weak states descended from Jibril refugees that were denied entry into Hylel by the accords of the Sunset Treaties, held together by the force of will of a self-admitted dictator. Fighting with a hastily established army, General Kohl has utterly capitalized on the lapse in Chosen power in order to carve out a personal empire for himself as the first step of an intensely ambitious plan. Regardless of his methods, the common people are enamored with his promises and, more importantly, his results. Laying down an apparently lasting framework of stability supported by law and order has made most quietly suppress questioning exactly how the General came by his force of arms so quickly.
::Man of Iron, Ebony Road, I Am The Law

:Someguy16
:: Confederacy of the Damned - A diverse faction made up of failed Jibrilite expeditions to the Rafaela interior that has coalesced into a single state. Its capital city is a floating Venice consisting of floating gunboat and troopship hulks, and their civilization is built on the backbone of their riverine forces. The Damned measure their borders by the range their guns can reach from the rivers, and their plantations and paddies tend to cluster around the wetlands. They're natural rivals to the powerful local tribes, and has fought dozens of river wars with them trading back and forth territory, tribes, and resources over a century.

====The Underground====
:Holle
::The Krav Directorate - the Dero have persisted for centuries deep beneath the earth, their hatred keeping them warm in the lightless depths - dreaming of revenge, and creating the tools to exact it on the Chosen. The Krav Directorate is one of these tools - an artificial species created by the Dero, one of their various vassals and allies in their long struggle. An average Kravian bears a certain resemblance to an albino crab - although their eye structure is different, and they possess both facial tentacles for precise manipulation and rudimentary wings that allow them to glide short distances.

::They were made by the Dero to work many of their factories - a task to which they took with enthusiasm, dwelling in their vast forge-cities, reverse pyramids hanging from the ceilings of caverns, surrounded by smoke made of ash and magical residue, creating engines of war for the great revanche of their masters. It is there, too, where the Krav workers refine living beings into magically-imbued fuel to power those machines, serving as a bulwark against surface incursions deeper into the underground.

::The Chosen sent many things down into the tunnels and caves to hunt down and kill the Dero and their servants - and the Krav political system is something of an adaptation to that. The head of the state is the Great Leader - ever infallible, ever elusive, ever immortal, a seemingly omniscient, commanding presence that gives every Krav citizen a certain feeling of safety that someone who knows what he is doing is in charge. In truth, however, the Great Leader does not exist - nothing more than a facade propped up by generations of High Council members, invincible to any Chosen assassin by its very nature. Meanwhile, the vast bureaucracy of Krav continues to work - sharing and following orders by an ancient figment of imagination, whose status as such is being slowly forgotten even by those who have set it in motion in the first place, preparing for the great war above.

::Now, the time for that has finally come.

::(exact location to be determined later)