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In the Beginning, There Was Man: Cosmic Dust

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My betas are: @Snowfire, @Icipall, @Ruirk, and @Chief18753. They will occasionally be announcing when moratoriums and voting times are over. You can also consider their words to be Word of QM if they say "Torr said..."

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Well at least we can keep that in mind. I doubt people are going to pick Paragon/Creator and then just go full stupid for other aspects.
 
torrmercury said:
I'm going to let you guys pick if you have that twist or not. Did no one read the notes at the bottom? Q_Q
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I kinda want to form a corportocracy... but I also want to form an Imperial Empire of Humanity that will curb all Aliens under the heel of Humanity's boot
But I also want Corporate rivalry and selling shit to everyone.
 
Ruirk said:
No dude, Therians from AT-43.

They look like this: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/da/45/c6/da45c6632eb6d6baece265f8092d2f1f.jpg

Those are all humans who uploaded their minds into battlebots controlled by internet gamers. Yes, that is exactly what they are.
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Therians are a hostile invading race of post-singularity humanoids who use skeletal, cybernetic troops designed with spider-like design nuances. They are extremely long lived and view themselves as a form of what they call "hyperlife" and consequently other thinking beings are considered to be irrelevant, atavistic, ephemeral, and trapped at a stage of development that they long ago transcended. This arrogance leaves them with few scruples regarding the exploitation and destruction of other forms of intelligent life. They possess almost unlimited numbers and astounding levels of technology including highly developed nanotech and information systems that allow them to reshape their habitat spaces in any way they can imagine it. The Therians are obsessed with the immortality of their species and so have embarked on a remarkable and horrific plan to restructure the entire universe into a static and therefore eternal system of dyson sphere habitats that suit their extravagant "living needs". The Therian armies are composed of terrifying machines: automated combat walkers and golems that are directed by the nanomachine host for a Therian overseer. With powerful weaponry and tactics courtesy of a millennia of PvP and PvE wars on the EMI Grid (the entertainment and discussion network that connects all Therians) they are a terrifying prospect on the battlefield. Particularly when they start nano-constructing new units! In the Therian Army Book it is revealed that the Therians are in fact the descendants of humanity and that Sol is the sun at the heart of Thera, the first habitat they constructed. It is also revealed that they created both the Karman apelike species and the Avan humanoid species from modified stores of DNA from Earth. The Therians are influence by real life internet forums and online games, taken to the extreme in the EMI Grid.
Yeah, this... eh, kind of.
Less emphasis solely on warfare, though. Definitely. And still in bodies, rather than computerized. That's a goal, kind of? Or at least partially one.

Like, it's a society where games have kicked off heavily; where people are ascetic because everything they want is digital; where the world is healthy because our demands have shifted to silicon and electricity; where we spend all of our time fighting problems, creating things, talking to others through the web rather than in person. And yet, counterbalancing that, we have a partial emphasis on physicality, meeting face to face, meditating, talking over problems in a slow way, etc. They're layered, just like AR is layered on R.
 
Ghostdevil said:
??? Doesn't that happen to everyone?
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NO IT DOES NOT. That's not how the psychological mechanisms work. Attempting to force your children to love you is considered abuse in our society!

I've been reading a bit about this stuff lately. Also read a scifi/horror story where that was part of the protagonist's past, and far more chilling than any of the existential creepiness in the main plot.
 
Behold, the new Dreamers background aspect:

Dreamers
Disinclined to invest the exorbitant funds needed to leave our world and find new adventures, we decided to create our own. Instead of putting together rockets, we improved our computers; instead of building space stations, we flooded the sky with satellites; instead of leaving home in hopes of finding aliens, we dreamed new ones into existence. Joined by technology yet separated by the virtual barriers we created, humanity is as alien to itself as it is familiar.

Having grown up playing the latest wargames, vr-dramas, and economic simulators as a main source of education, our culture is heterogeneous and fractured, differing wildly between individuals. But, for all the differences that we have, our variety make for an incredible engine of diversity and an efficient buffer against movements that would harm our collective interests. Unfortunately, our greatest strength is also our greatest weakness; building up momentum for a large project or unified action is difficult to achieve without heavy investments or threats.

Instead of the standard spread of stat growth/decay per turn, Humanity has the following:
  • Rank 7: +0
  • Rank 6: +0
  • Rank 5: +0
  • Rank 4: +.5
  • Rank 3: +.5
  • Rank 2: +1 & Minor Action
  • Rank 1: +1 & Major Action

And I've updated the threadmarked post as well.
torrmercury said:
Dreamers
Disinclined to invest the exorbitant funds needed to leave our world and find new adventures, we decided to create our own. Instead of putting together rockets, we improved our computers; instead of building space stations, we flooded the sky with satellites; instead of leaving home in hopes of finding aliens, we dreamed new ones into existence. Joined by technology yet separated by the virtual barriers we created, humanity is as alien to itself as it is familiar.

Having grown up playing the latest wargames, vr-dramas, and economic simulators as a main source of education, our culture is heterogeneous and fractured, differing wildly between individuals. But, for all the differences that we have, our variety make for an incredible engine of diversity and an efficient buffer against movements that would harm our collective interests. Unfortunately, our greatest strength is also our greatest weakness; building up momentum for a large project or unified action is difficult to achieve without heavy investments or threats.

Instead of the standard spread of stat growth/decay per turn, Humanity has the following:
  • Rank 7: +0
  • Rank 6: +0
  • Rank 5: +0
  • Rank 4: +.5
  • Rank 3: +.5
  • Rank 2: +1 & Minor Action
  • Rank 1: +1 & Major Action
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TheLoneWatcher said:
NO IT DOES NOT. That's not how the psychological mechanisms work. Attempting to force your children to love you is considered abuse in our society!
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Completely agree (though I'm irked that everyone is either completely missing how I mentioned lobotomy being involved in the horror, or is completely ignoring it...)

Kanata_Tsukikami said:
How long is the vote?
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Vote will likely be closed on Thursday sometime. Unsure yet.
 
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torrmercury said:
Lobotomy? No? Wat iz readingz? Q_Q
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you lobotomized them so that they'd love you. that's normal?? Or at least what my mom did. Say like "you have to love me no matter what; that's what a child does for their parent" etc. Emotional lobotomy.

Ghostdevil said:
??? Doesn't that happen to everyone?
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my experience

TheLoneWatcher said:
NO IT DOES NOT. That's not how the psychological mechanisms work. Attempting to force your children to love you is considered abuse in our society!
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that sounds....


edit:
[X] Dreamers
 
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[X] Creator
Adhoc vote count started by Japanime on Aug 21, 2017 at 12:18 AM, finished with 56 posts and 26 votes.
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