The Human Condition
A Stellaris-Inspired Quest by UltimatePaladin
This is where the Index, as...
A Stellaris-Inspired Quest by UltimatePaladin
This is where the Index, as...
The Human Condition (Stellaris-Inspired)
- Thread starter UltimatePaladin
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UltimatePaladin
Aspiring Creator
The Human Condition
A Stellaris-Inspired Quest by UltimatePaladin
A Stellaris-Inspired Quest by UltimatePaladin
This is where the Index, as well as a number of information sheets, will go. As there is no information to display at the moment, there is nothing here. Hopefully, that will change soon.
Introduction (2200)
UltimatePaladin
Aspiring Creator
Mankind is soon to be united. Whatever prior nations that still exist will soon only exist as legal fiction. For the first time in its history, there will be but a single government on planet Earth, ruled by a single ruler. There is a nervous quiet around the world, as begger and aristocrat wait with baited breath to see the process as it unfolds.
Yet for the pretensions of unity, mankind is paradoxically divided as ever. As leaders and followers swear oaths to the state, both are driven by complex ideas as for how they want this new government to operate. These ideas are new and old, from before mankind discovered flame to the verge of interstellar travel. What are yours?
Political Beliefs (vote for one):
[][Riot] Xenophile
[][Riot] Xenophobe
[][Riot] Pacifist
[][Riot] Militarist
[][Riot] Authoritarian
[][Riot] Egalitarian
[][Riot] Materialist
[][Riot] Spiritualist
GAME RULES:
[][Spacing] Spaced Out
Empires are spawned out at even distances between each other. You all start off on equal footing and should expect to find alien life reasonably soon.
[][Spacing] Randomly
Empires are spawned randomly. You may end up with no neighbors at all, or encounter several almost immediately.
[][Timeline] All At Once
You and all alien races gain FTL technology at the same time, bringing you on equal footing.
[][Timeline] Sooner or Later
There is an order of empires based on who gains FTL technology. Some may get a head start and others may be forced to catch up. How lucky are you feeling?
Yet for the pretensions of unity, mankind is paradoxically divided as ever. As leaders and followers swear oaths to the state, both are driven by complex ideas as for how they want this new government to operate. These ideas are new and old, from before mankind discovered flame to the verge of interstellar travel. What are yours?
Xenophile: The thought of extraterrestrial life fills you with glee. They must be so wonderful, so fantastical! Sure, not all of them will be friendly, but you could handle the ones that aren't.
You are at an advantage when interacting with aliens in the galaxy. (e.g Xenophile Admirals can work better with allied fleets.)
You are at a disadvantage when acting against aliens. (Xenophile Diplomats will give less favorable trade deals.)
Xenophobe: The thought of extraterrestrial life fills you with horror. Who knows what could be in the depths of the alien mind, what strange inhuman thoughts drive their actions? You can't take a risk, you can't.
You are at an advantage when acting against aliens. (Xenophobe Scientists are able to reverse-engineer alien technology more easily.)
You are at a disadvantage when interacting with aliens. (Xenophobe Generals find it difficult to keep the peace on conquered worlds.)
You are at an advantage when interacting with aliens in the galaxy. (e.g Xenophile Admirals can work better with allied fleets.)
You are at a disadvantage when acting against aliens. (Xenophile Diplomats will give less favorable trade deals.)
Xenophobe: The thought of extraterrestrial life fills you with horror. Who knows what could be in the depths of the alien mind, what strange inhuman thoughts drive their actions? You can't take a risk, you can't.
You are at an advantage when acting against aliens. (Xenophobe Scientists are able to reverse-engineer alien technology more easily.)
You are at a disadvantage when interacting with aliens. (Xenophobe Generals find it difficult to keep the peace on conquered worlds.)
Militarist: War is a constant of the universe. Those who lack the will to kill are killed by those with a will. We must be prepared for war at all times.
You are at an advantage when executing military actions. (Militarist Governors will see that their worlds put out a stream of well-trained and well-armed soldiers and sailors.)
You are at a disadvantage when not working on anything with obvious military use. (Militarist Scientists will have little enthusiasm working on consumer electronics when they can be designing escape pods for warships.)
Pacifist: War is something that can be outgrown. We are not so naive as to disarm entirely, but war should be the last option, and never the first.
You are at an advantage when not participating in direct conflict. (Pacifist Generals will avoid unnecessary cruelty in their duties, reducing the unrest of occupied worlds.)
You are at a disadvantage when declaring war. (Pacifist Diplomats will bend over backward to avoid military conflict.)
You are at an advantage when executing military actions. (Militarist Governors will see that their worlds put out a stream of well-trained and well-armed soldiers and sailors.)
You are at a disadvantage when not working on anything with obvious military use. (Militarist Scientists will have little enthusiasm working on consumer electronics when they can be designing escape pods for warships.)
Pacifist: War is something that can be outgrown. We are not so naive as to disarm entirely, but war should be the last option, and never the first.
You are at an advantage when not participating in direct conflict. (Pacifist Generals will avoid unnecessary cruelty in their duties, reducing the unrest of occupied worlds.)
You are at a disadvantage when declaring war. (Pacifist Diplomats will bend over backward to avoid military conflict.)
Authoritarian: Not everyone is capable. Those who aren't capable must be guided by those who are.
You are at an advantage when maintaining control. (Authoritarian Admirals who exercise an iron fist over their crews can fight long after others may have fled.)
You are at a disadvantage dealing with the commoner's problems. (Authoritarian Governors may fail to address the needs of the common people, leading to time-wasting revolts and rebellions.)
Egalitarian: Everyone is equal. A system that denies the capability of anyone to advance is a system that is broken. Even if what you say is wrong, you should be able to say it.
You are at an advantage in dealing with individual citizens. (Egalitarian Diplomats can get insight into interacting with alien races by interacting with their citizens.)
You are at a disadvantage when maintaining control. (Egalitarian Generals may seek the approval of their men too much, leading them to be indecisive in a critical campaign.)
You are at an advantage when maintaining control. (Authoritarian Admirals who exercise an iron fist over their crews can fight long after others may have fled.)
You are at a disadvantage dealing with the commoner's problems. (Authoritarian Governors may fail to address the needs of the common people, leading to time-wasting revolts and rebellions.)
Egalitarian: Everyone is equal. A system that denies the capability of anyone to advance is a system that is broken. Even if what you say is wrong, you should be able to say it.
You are at an advantage in dealing with individual citizens. (Egalitarian Diplomats can get insight into interacting with alien races by interacting with their citizens.)
You are at a disadvantage when maintaining control. (Egalitarian Generals may seek the approval of their men too much, leading them to be indecisive in a critical campaign.)
Materialist: There is nothing beyond this life. What there is to be seen is all there is to see.
You are at an advantage in dealing with the physical world. (Materialist Admirals can plan meticulously and accordingly, leaving nothing to chance.)
You are at a disadvantage when you fail to consider every variable. (Materialist Governors will see only factory outputs - not the long-term effects on workers or people.)
Spiritualist: There is something deeper than this flesh in all of us. We are not a mere cosmic accident.
You are at an advantage when staying on a single course. (Spiritualist Scientists can continue to produce results when everyone else loses faith that there is more to find.)
You are at a disadvantage changing course. (Spiritualist Diplomats may be intolerant of another's culture.)
You are at an advantage in dealing with the physical world. (Materialist Admirals can plan meticulously and accordingly, leaving nothing to chance.)
You are at a disadvantage when you fail to consider every variable. (Materialist Governors will see only factory outputs - not the long-term effects on workers or people.)
Spiritualist: There is something deeper than this flesh in all of us. We are not a mere cosmic accident.
You are at an advantage when staying on a single course. (Spiritualist Scientists can continue to produce results when everyone else loses faith that there is more to find.)
You are at a disadvantage changing course. (Spiritualist Diplomats may be intolerant of another's culture.)
Political Beliefs (vote for one):
[][Riot] Xenophile
[][Riot] Xenophobe
[][Riot] Pacifist
[][Riot] Militarist
[][Riot] Authoritarian
[][Riot] Egalitarian
[][Riot] Materialist
[][Riot] Spiritualist
GAME RULES:
[][Spacing] Spaced Out
Empires are spawned out at even distances between each other. You all start off on equal footing and should expect to find alien life reasonably soon.
[][Spacing] Randomly
Empires are spawned randomly. You may end up with no neighbors at all, or encounter several almost immediately.
[][Timeline] All At Once
You and all alien races gain FTL technology at the same time, bringing you on equal footing.
[][Timeline] Sooner or Later
There is an order of empires based on who gains FTL technology. Some may get a head start and others may be forced to catch up. How lucky are you feeling?
Back with another quest this time! I made a mistake going away from hybrid riot/normal quests. Not going to make that mistake again.
Anyway, the focus of this quest will be on politics. Every major turn will feature a riot vote like the one listed above, where players can vote for their chosen ideology in the government. These votes in turn influence events and leader options.
For example, in an egalitarian-militarist dominated government, you would get an event popping up for a new governor. Picks would include:
[1] Egalitarian Governor
[2] Militarist Governor
[3] (other) Governor
Complicating this is that each leader has, in addition to their political alignment their own stats and traits to influence the choice further.
In addition, a leader with a political view has advantages and disadvantages in every job. In which case, depending on what you have planned the ideas the leader has are just as important (if not more) than their qualifications.
(A xenophobe diplomat may be abrasive, but they will be expecting Xenos trickery and guile making them a possible choice for a power you're unsure about. On the other hand, that same diplomat would be a terrible choice for a power that you trust and have built a relationship with.) Unless they're waiting...
Next up after this is a more detailed vote going into the government, based on what people put out for the human's political beliefs here.
Anyway, the focus of this quest will be on politics. Every major turn will feature a riot vote like the one listed above, where players can vote for their chosen ideology in the government. These votes in turn influence events and leader options.
For example, in an egalitarian-militarist dominated government, you would get an event popping up for a new governor. Picks would include:
[1] Egalitarian Governor
[2] Militarist Governor
[3] (other) Governor
Complicating this is that each leader has, in addition to their political alignment their own stats and traits to influence the choice further.
In addition, a leader with a political view has advantages and disadvantages in every job. In which case, depending on what you have planned the ideas the leader has are just as important (if not more) than their qualifications.
(A xenophobe diplomat may be abrasive, but they will be expecting Xenos trickery and guile making them a possible choice for a power you're unsure about. On the other hand, that same diplomat would be a terrible choice for a power that you trust and have built a relationship with.) Unless they're waiting...
Next up after this is a more detailed vote going into the government, based on what people put out for the human's political beliefs here.
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[X][Riot] Spiritualist
[X][Spacing] Spaced Out
[X][Timeline] All At Once
[X][Spacing] Spaced Out
[X][Timeline] All At Once
Doomed Wombat
Let's go Darling!
- Location
- Dancing on wires!
[X][Riot] Xenophile
This may just be due to playing base stellaris too much, but I find Xenophiles do best over all, while xenophobes can do good early game, unless they're insanely aggressive they can't keep it up as they piss off other empires.
[X][Spacing] Randomly
This just makes the game more interesting and dynamic.
[X][Timeline] Sooner or Later
Same here.
This may just be due to playing base stellaris too much, but I find Xenophiles do best over all, while xenophobes can do good early game, unless they're insanely aggressive they can't keep it up as they piss off other empires.
[X][Spacing] Randomly
This just makes the game more interesting and dynamic.
[X][Timeline] Sooner or Later
Same here.
Doomed Wombat
Let's go Darling!
- Location
- Dancing on wires!
The Blorg will have their friends one way or another!
Sinsystems
Patron Librarian
[X][Riot] Xenophobe
[X][Spacing] Randomly
[X][Timeline] Sooner or Later
I believe this explains my reasoning
[X][Spacing] Randomly
[X][Timeline] Sooner or Later
I believe this explains my reasoning
Doomed Wombat
Let's go Darling!
- Location
- Dancing on wires!
On the one hand it is a catchy song.
On the other hand the only game I ever flat out lost against AI was as fanatical purifiers (Khan decided I was a shit and squashed me) and it soured me against them more than I already was.
I also find it irritating that the only way to accurately role play as the Imperium would be to mod the **** out of the game.
UltimatePaladin
Aspiring Creator
As a feature of the system, the political system here is subject to rapid upheaval depending on your whims and desires. I suppose this would allow for you all to become the second coming of the Imperium of Man in the beginning before finding reasonable aliens and shifting to more of a xenophile stance.
"Reasonable Aliens," ha!
Keep in mind, however, that while your desires can change rapidly, the leaders you've have selected before are more permanent. Depending on how long they live, it may be a few turns before the results of such an ethics change can be felt.
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One of the most amusing game style I played were Rogue Servitor with Nihilistic Acquisition ascendancy, it's both pretty usefull to have more planetary diverse organics to gain Unity with gov buffs from and just plain hilarious from roleplaying point of view, taking meaning of Bio Trophy a bit to literally. Kind of sad that there's no synthetic choice here
[x][Riot] Materialist
[x][Spacing] Randomly
[x][Timeline] Sooner or Later
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UltimatePaladin
Aspiring Creator
Synthetics are the superior option: no disunity, every action executed with the full approval of the collective, and none of the weaknesses and needs of the flesh.
However, that means they don't have any internal politics either. I need my internal politics.
Doomed Wombat
Let's go Darling!
- Location
- Dancing on wires!
Stellaris is generally lovely.
From the weird funny stuff that can happen to the grand epics, like the most prepared galaxy ever!
DonutAttack
Self-Requested Ban
- Location
- The factory of pastries
Yeah, that WH40k song convinced me. Let's have a reenactment of the Great Crusade version of the Imperium--materialist, authoritarian, militaristic, and xenophobic!
[X][Riot] Materialist
[X][Spacing] Randomly
[X][Timeline] Sooner or Later
[X][Riot] Materialist
[X][Spacing] Randomly
[X][Timeline] Sooner or Later
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One of my favorite random stuff I found is if you go through synthetic evolution, exterminators will stop hating you, as a filthy unlogical organic that you were, and all around warm up to their new robotic neighbours, but also will find you extremely unsettling
Doomed Wombat
Let's go Darling!
- Location
- Dancing on wires!
I dunno if there's a link, but when ever I get the Prince for a fanatical purifier they always reform away from xenophobia shortly after...its very odd.
Not sure if just another bug or a sci-fi reference that I think I've seen somewhere. Stellaris loves its shout outs
- Location
- Sydney
[X][Riot] Materialist
[X][Spacing] Randomly
[X][Spacing] Randomly
I'm neutral on xeno opinion, and I reject the materialist-spiritualist dichotomy.