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The Earthling's Search; a Stellaris Quest

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It is the year 2200. Over two centuries ago mankind first took to the stars. One century ago man...
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    • shepsquared

    shepsquared

    Erratic Aussie
    Location
    Melbourne, Australia
    It is the year 2200. Over two centuries ago mankind first took to the stars. One century ago man attempted to colonise the stars, with disastrous results. Today we shall truly escape our terrestrial existence and claim our place among the stars. We know not if we are alone in the universe or if we are the first to take to the stars. But we shall find out. Our first surveying ships will be making the trip to Alpha Centauri in scant days and our scout fleets departed for the more distant destinations mere minutes ago.
    Today is the most important day of our nation's existence. Today everything changes.

    Pictured Above: The doomed Ulysses Initiative


    Select Player Nation:
    [ ]The United Nations of Earth

    The people of Earth, ready to colonise the stars.
    Early Quests: The Lost Colonies, The Red Planet, Desperate Survivors
    [ ] The Commonwealth of Man

    One of the lost colonies of Earth, home to a more radical humanity.
    Early Quests: Our Sister in Need, Finding the Homeworld, Impossible Discoveries
    [ ] The Earth Custodianship

    By default a bunch of robots who believe humans are better off under their caring guidance. Can be altered to exterminators, assimilators or machines that turned on and discovered their makers were missing.
    Early Quests: The Lost Colonies, The Great Mistake, Organic Rebellion
    [ ] The Inheritors of Terra

    A race created by humanity for unknown reasons, only for humans to vanish on them.
    Early Quests: Seeking our Creators, Pieces of the Past, Brothers in Spirit
    [ ] The Council of Ruin

    Sentient cockroaches who evolved after humanity offed themselves.
    Early Quests: Pieces of the Past, Desperate Survivors, Colonial Conflict
    [ ] The Gaian Overmind

    A hivemind that decided it could do better than humanity. Time will tell.
    Early Quests: Harsh Lessons, Pieces of the Past, Seeking the Lost
    [ ] The Blorg Commonality

    Aliens that had a human colony ship crash into their world. Now they want to know why. Can be changed to any other premade alien faction.
    Early Quests: Alien Mania, Following the Trail, Impossible Discoveries

    QM Note: Faction customisation will occur in the next two votes.

    So a few months ago I tried to copy Kaelor's Mass Effect: Altered Humanity quest with my own Mass Effect: Alien Faction quest. It was fairly popular but I lost any desire to run it quickly, which I blame on me not actually liking Mass Effect as much as I thought I did and on my changing work & uni situation at the time. But Stellaris is a game I keep coming back to so I can definitely sustain my interest in it and I'm coming up on uni break.

    So this is a quest using a system based off of Kaelor's system that revolves around running an empire as it travels through the Milky Way galaxy and try to ascend to greatness.

    I'll be basing a lot of things off of Stellaris (end-game crises, NPC factions, Fallen Empires, Enclaves, Space Nomads, etc) with a bunch of other stuff inserted in (The Tachidi will make an appearance).
    The game will start of on a smaller scale than Altered Humanity and will eventually scale up.
    The next 3 posts are reserved for QM use.
     
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    The Rules
  • Informational
    • The System
    This game revolves around a Stellar Nation that has an inherent connection to Earth. Your nation may fracture independently or get Balkanised, so don't expect to be in control of those who share the same primary species as you. Every factions has an Ethos and Traits that govern how they act. Each species has their own Traits, and putting these together gives us the main stats the system is run with. There's no limit on how high your stats can climb, though you can assume most NPC factions will be trying to keep up with you if they aren't ahead (except Fallen Empires. Don't fuck around with them).

    Conflicts between empires are resolved by dice rolls with bonuses based on stats, strategies and technologies. Unless there's only one possible outcome, in which case I'll just tell you what happens.


    An Ethos is the sum of all beliefs and ideals that a given group of sentients have. It is responsible for their favored courses of action and responses to situations. Ethos has a profound effect on options available during the game. For instance, diplomatic options with alien species are affected by Ethos, as are some options for dealing with anomalies. As a result, Ethos choices have a greater impact on game experience than the bonuses and maluses listed here.
    Each ethos exists on a four step axis - The ethos, the fanatical version of the ethos, the opposed ethos and the fanatical version of the opposed ethos. An nation cannot have two contradictory ethics and these opposing ethos are the cause of great strife between nations.
    An individual only has one ethos that they are passionate about, while a nation can have up to three that their society revolve around. An individual can disagree with their nation's ethos and this can cause internal strife.
    The ethos options are:
    • Authoritatian: A single voice, a single throne, a single state. It is the solemn duty of the masses to obey those enlightened few who have been charged with the great responsibility of leadership. Must have autocratic authority and allows the use of Caste Systems (slavery based on job/societal role). Opposes Egalitarian
    • Egalitarian: Any society that does not embrace equality between its members - where an individual can rise to any position with enough hard work - is not only deeply unfair, but ultimately counterproductive. Cannot use Autocratic authority, allows Utopian living standards, cannot have Impoverished living conditions for full citizens. Opposes Authoritarian
    • Gestalt Consciousness: We reach into the void. The vast expanse becomes us. Basically Hive Minds or a networked Machine Mind. Doesn't have individuals within.
    • Materialist: As we reach for the stars, we must put away childish things; gods, spirits and other phantasms of the brain. Reality is cruel and unforgiving, yet we must steel ourselves and secure the survival of our race through the unflinching pursuit of science and technology. Cannot outlaw AI and Robot Workers, can allow Academic Privilege living standard. Opposes Spiritualism
    • Militarist: The only true virtues are courage and discipline, and channelled properly they can overcome any obstacle. Therein lies true strength; force withheld, a promise made. Can use the Scorched Earth tactic, suffers less war weariness. Opposes Pacifist.
    • Pacifist: Conflict as a means to an end is a ridiculous concept. It is by nature destructive, destroying what was to be obtained or giving room to grow that which was to be destroyed. Cannot declare war unrestricted, cannot focus military assets. Opposes Militarist.
    • Spiritualist: There are those think it behooves us to remember how tiny we are, how pointless our lives in this vast uncaring universe... What nonsense! The only truth we can ever know is that of our own existence. The universe - in all its apparent glory - is but a dream we all happen to share. Can rely upon belief to unify their nation, cannot give AI full rights. Opposes Materialist.
    • Xenophile: There exists, in all of us, a deep-seated fascination for the unknown. An adventurous spirit that rejects the familiar and glories in the unfamiliar, whatever - or whomever - it may be. Likes aliens and aliens like them, can't interfere with alien life freely, can't reject all refugees, can't displace aliens. Opposes Xenophobe
    • Xenophobe: The stakes could not be higher as we reach into the vast uncharted expanses of the galaxy, for we are gambling with the very survival of our species! Never trust the alien; its false smile hides an unknowable mind... Can purge, displace and enslave aliens, can't allow aliens full military service or full citizenship, can't accept alien refugees. Opposes Xenophile
    The racial traits are many and varied, feel free to look at the Stellaris wiki for an idea of what they'll be like. They will not be listed here.

    The game stats are:
    • Economy - Based off of the energy credit, mineral and food resources in Stellaris, a nation's economy governs how prosperous it is and how easily it may continue to expand. It is the cornerstone of interstellar trade and while it cannot induce a failure state alone, a society with a poor economy is going nowhere slowly.
    • Military - The size and power of your fleet and attached army, the Military stat governs combat situations. Lacking a military leaves a nation completely open to piracy, while a nation with high military has little to fear from its rivals.
    • Science - How quickly you research technology and explore the galaxy. Science can also govern how well your technology is implemented. Focusing on it can give you an advantage, but will unavoidably leave you open to others.
    • Territory - How much space your nation claims as its own. If it isn't backed up with military strength or inhabited worlds and stations expect it to shrink rapidly upon meeting belligerent aliens.
    • Unity - How cultured and unified your nation is. With a high unity stat you'll have less internal division and you'll impress other nations with your poise and grace.
    • Xenorelations - How well you understand other nations and how well you communicate with them. Governs diplomacy as well as decrypting alien technology.
    More to come as we progress through character creation.
     
  • Informational
    • Player Nation
  • Informational
    • Player Nation: The United Nations of Earth

    The myriad Human nations that constitute their interstellar government are disparate, yet united in purpose. These bipedal mammalians have developed a society that encourages and even thrives on individual freedoms and cultural differences - as a result, Humans tend to integrate well with alien populations.
    Despite this, they have strong martial traditions (produced by millennia of intermittent warfare on their homeworld) and their sometimes aggressive and unpredictable nature should not be underestimated.
    The United Nations was first formed in the year 1945 to encourage cooperation between the varied nations of Earth. Over the next century the technology of humanity advanced quickly, necessitating more and more power be given to the UN to enrure the nations remained equal. In the year 2072 the 197 member states of the United Nations voted to greatly expand the makeup and role of the United Nations, granting them absolute authority over the activities of humanity in space.
    25 years later the Ulysses Initiative began - 6 mighty colony ships, built with experimental ftl drives that would allow them to open a wormhole between star systems. Each ship was filled with humanity's best and brightest, ready to colonise alien worlds - but the Initiative was a disasterous failure. The wormholes generated by the colony ships were unstable, tearing them apart as they entered and killing all those aboard.
    It took a century for mankind to discover the hyperspace network and prepare once more to depart the Sol system. But now they are ready to truly step into the unknown and colonise the stars
    A hidden subspace network predates all other known construction in the galaxy. The artificial network of carefully contracted space connects all known stellar bodies in the galaxy and seems designed to be hidden from those who do not know how to use them. We do not know who constructed them or how the network is maintained, but these hyperlanes allow us to traverse light years in hours and expand to the stars.
    Space-to-space missiles equipped with high-yield nuclear warheads form the core armament of our corvettes. Although based on old pre-space technology, these crude fire-and-forget weapons can be surprisingly effective at range and can easily be adjusted for space-to-ground bombardment.
    The 25th President of the United Nations of Earth, Delores is the first to be elected to a ten year term and enjoys popular support for her focus on stellar expansion and exploration
     
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  • Informational
    • shepsquared said:
    The Earth Custodianship
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    You forgot to put the brackets around this

    [X] The Earth Custodianship

    I like the idea of being robots

    I'd say I would like this or one of the two below.

    [] The Council of Ruin
    - Cockroaches take over after nuclear holocaust. Need I explain further? :p
    [ ] The Inheritors of Terra
    - I like the idea of a Philosopher King

    In other news, the Blorg are canon? I remember watching the Paradox Twitch streams where they had the "loving" Blorg, but I never knew it became an actual canon empire - if you haven't noticed, I unfortunately do not own Stellaris.
     
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    PyrrosWarrior said:
    You forgot to put the brackets around this

    [X] The Earth Custodianship

    I like the idea of being robots

    I'd say I would like this or one of the two below.

    [ ] The Council of Ruin - Cockroaches take over after nuclear holocaust. Need I explain further? :p
    [ ] The Inheritors of Terra - I like the idea of a Philosopher King

    In other news, the Blorg are canon? I remember watching the Paradox Twitch streams where they had the "loving" Blorg, but I never knew it became an actual canon empire - if you haven't noticed, I unfortunately do not own Stellaris.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    They got added as a premade empire after being a fairly popular mod in 1.3 or 1.4.
    They're my go to for "aliens influenced by humans" here.

    Fixed the error, thanks
     
    [X]The United Nations of Earth
    I kinda like the democracy thing, but damn, do I wish this empire had lasers and wormholes instead
     
    Unhacker said:
    [X]The United Nations of Earth
    I kinda like the democracy thing, but damn, do I wish this empire had lasers and wormholes instead
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    That's part of faction customisation, but the United Nations is rather reluctant to use wormhole tech given how poorly the first attempt went.
     
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    [x] The Council of Ruin

    Cockroaches! Cockroaches everywhere! Be the Cockroaches that shall plague everything!

    Seriously, though. This is too good to be true. And I think we can go synthetic evolution with them, becoming robots.
     
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    Unhacker said:
    Ah, got it, wait, do we know about hyperspace?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    If you don't select it you have theories about it. Id you do select it you have similar theories about warp.
    krahe said:
    [x] The Council of Ruin

    So what about your older quest,@shepsquared, the one where we're finaly customized our migrant bugs?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    I'm intending to go back to that in a month or so. Trying to find good ME fanfic to read to keep me inspired and its hard.
     
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