Goooood Morning Antares! The staff and I are currently trying to get some sort of official lore written up for the Antares Frontier, but before we get too far into it, we want to hear what you want to see in official server lore. We want to create something that everyone will like, if at all possible. So! Post here with any suggestions you might have, any aspects you might like to see. We will read through them and try to incorporate them where we can; however not all ideas will be used, we can only use so much and it has to mesh together well or it won't work. Antares has a loose setting written already, but aside from that it is a blank slate, or own tabula rasa. We can go almost anywhere the players want with it at the moment, provided the changes are feasible, but we don't want to make the changes too jarring so as to not impede on any roleplay currently in progress. We are looking for any and all input, a few suggestions being: -Races present in Antares(if any) before it started to be settled by players and what said races were doing before we arrived -Reasons players have come to this sector, what has drawn them here, why have they left their homes to come here? -A potential central faction that may be in charge of the sector in some way -A definitive tech level, as this has been an issue of late, we don't want anything super advanced, but people running around in kevlar in 2415 is also a bit odd -Ideas for a potential overarching plot throughout the sector, something to possibly generate public events for the players and help acclimate newer players -Anything else you might think of that could be interesting to work into this, we have a few ideas ourselves, but there are still several blanks left to fill
-Races present in Antares(if any) before it started to be settled by players and what said races were doing before we arrived My vote would be no races or perhaps tribal Florans. I do like the frontier aspect, so I'd say this sector was mostly untapped (until the server started back in December) -Ideas for a potential overarching plot throughout the sector, something to possibly generate public events for the players and help acclimate newer players A common enemy is always a good idea, and there's quite a few options for this. Expanding Floran tribe, tentacle beasts, cults, whatever you fancy. I believe you should expand on races a bit and set some basic things in stone, especially for humanity. For humanity, I would suggest that Earth remained the primary hub, however there are numerous colonies throughout the solar system. As stated in the codexes, resources began to be depleted and powers began to try to grab up colonies in the solar system. My personal recommendation would be to say that the United Systems ended up as a united Earth government more or less, but there was much resistance resulting in fighting powers, with much of it being centered around Mars, a battleground also mentioned in Human codexes. Obviously Earth took a toll on humanity's numbers and resources with just about everything being thrown at Mars as they try to reclaim their homeworld.
Races present in Antares(if any) before it started to be settled by players and what said races were doing before we arrived. Definitely not humans, It seems that humanity had the technology to colonise worlds outside their own solar system but for whatever reason didn't. Presumably because Mars had not been officially claimed yet. Humanity had only military and research bases, and penal colonies outside our solar system. It wasn't until the tentacle monster attacked that most of humanity fled our solar system and begin to colonise the stars. At least that's how I understand it. Humanity is currently in a bad way, much like the Hylotl (Except the hylotl lost their homeworld to the floran long ago, whilst humanity experienced it relatively recently), with their people scattered across the stars, and their military probably weakened in the defence of earth. In the Starbound setting humans have only left their home system in considerable numbers recently Florans are expansionist so it'd make sense for florans to be present, however if florans existed in Antares in high numbers then it'd highly discourage members of the other races from visiting. The other races evacuate planets when the florans invade, voluntarily living with them seems unlikely. Personally, the hylotl make sense as the race that inhabited Antares before anyone else. They have lost their homeworld so have reasons to be colonising new areas of space, but due to their peaceful nature they are unlikely to attempt to evict the races newly colonising Antares, and lack the military power to prevent them anyway. But honestly I don't feel like the setting needs to have any already existing people before the server started, beyond exploratory teams, that's what makes the frontier fun. I don't think any faction should have control over the sector as a whole.
We hadn't planned on doing anything major with the hylotl, as nothing is really known about them yet. I compiled all the hylotl codexes and lore I could find recently into one document as a sort of introductory guide to help new players looking to play hylotl and ended up with a whole three paragraphs. So they will be present, but probably not as the main race, maybe they could be nomads of a sort..? I am not really sure what to do with the hylotl at this point, so we will probably address them last, unless a great idea presents itself. And the races we thought would have been in Antares to start with were hiveminded glitch, with some glitch outcasts wandering around that players could create, and grounded avians that settled her long ago looking for a home far from Avos, as they are the oldest spacefaring races and are the most likely to have traveled out this far in the galaxy. There would also likely be the odd native floran tribe, as they spread like wildfire after they got off their homeworld. Races that could have arrived recently(within the past year or two) could be colonists of various races looking to tap the largely untouched frontier, hylotl nomads looking for a new home, maybe the odd miniknog rebel, people interested in the freedom the frontier gives them, or those looking for adventure and exploration. Anything really, any reason that accounts for why someone would suddenly come here would work. We had wanted to add in some native races to give players options, so they could choose to be either new to the sector, or to have lived there their entire lives, but are coming out to interact with the new arrivals.
Muh 2 Cents - A definitive tech level. I'd say Mass Effect-ish level of tech. Without the Biotic powers of course. Maybe something like Star Trek or Star Wars maybe? Mass effect does a good job of listing the kind of armor/weaponry/vehicle or other things it has in its codex, maybe we can borrow some of the technology/lore from it, modified or otherwise? Spoiler: Combat Armor - M.E. Combat hard-suits use a dual-layer system to protect the wearer. The inner layer consists of fabric armor with kinetic padding. Areas that don't need to be flexible, such as the chest or shins, are reinforced with sheets of lightweight ablative ceramic. The outer layer consists of automatically-generated kinetic barriers. Objects traveling above a certain speed will trigger the barrier's reflex system and be deflected, provided there is enough energy left in the shield's power cell. Armored hard-suits are sealable to protect the wearer from extremes of temperature and atmosphere. Standard equipment includes an onboard mini-frame and a communications, navigation, and sensing suite. The mini-frame is designed to accept and display data from a weapon's smart targeting system to make it easier to locate and eliminate enemies. - Ideas for a potential overarching plot I've got a few ideas, but they need to be fleshed out. How about an alliance of pirates constantly raiding colonies for their supplies? Could finally give all of those combat-oriented characters something to do, other than to stand around in the bar or patrolling doing nothing all day. Though I'm thinking the Pirates should be a big group, with somewhat skilled members so as to provide some REAL challenge. An old trade convoy of ships crash site is found, with no apparent evidence for what caused it. Personal logs of the crew hint towards a certain something which caused the crash, and may be responsible for the disappearance of other convoys around the sector. Further investigation might turn up involvement of lore factions and secret ops maybe? Or a certain alien non-sapient hive-minded race which aims to colonize and devour anything on its path? Maybe a mind-controlling virus or bacteria which caused the crew members to go crazy? This could eventually begin to happen more and more, presenting itself as a threat to security of all members of society in the Frontier, even villains. Those are some ideas I had. I kinda like the second one though, requires more thinking and other fields than just kill-boom to progress through the event. - Reasons players have come to this sector It's the frontier, and in space-age. There's plenty of reasons to come to a space frontier: Profiting from illegal/clandestine operations Fresh, unexploited worlds filled with virtually unlimited and untapped resources ready to be claimed by the big energy/mineral-drillin' corps. Colonization efforts offer multiple jobs in various fields in order to [self-]sustain the colony. Adventure and treasure-hunting. A new shot at life, where no one knows who you are, allowing you a second chance. Job opportunities everywhere in general.
View attachment 3553 That is a great idea that we have totally not been actively discussing in skype for the last 30 minutes that we are probably going with.
This is an interesting idea as well, but it would require some planning..it could be staff run, with characters created solely for said group. We could organize events and raids with colony and faction leaders. It would be fairly run with no metagaming or powergaming as the staff would have no real reason to exploit it, meaning it would be fairly regulated. The characters in it would always consent to death, meaning that players could actually beat AND kill them if it came to it. Could maybe even add in some modified consent rules for it, so players don't have to worry about losing a character fighting them. They would be written as antagonists, forcing conflict at certain points, wouldn't be fair to steamroll a colony and kill off someones innocent bystander character if they didn't want us too. It's a rough idea, but it has some merit, we will have to see how it goes! If nothing else it is a great fallback if nothing else comes up,
This is OK, but I think characters directly involved in the conflict should consent to death, regardless if the Pirates are not going to engage in active RP outside the events. It doesn't make sense for the good guys to never suffer losses, and even if it may not seem like it, I believe it promotes bad roleplay habits and makes people think their characters can never die. I know it might seem a bit counterproductive but roleplaying character deaths isn't exactly bad. It's sad to see one of your characters go, but you will learn something from it, this I can promise you. That's not to say that you HAVE to kill off you char, but just a heads up if there is no other logical way to cheat death.
Mm, that's a good point, actually. Consent rules still apply, but players will be able to easily flee conflict if they wish too. However they can still die if they bite off more than they can chew, as with any conflict
I agree that characters actively involved with a plot should be at some risk of death, much risk of injury, and little chance of escape. Combat is difficult and messy when it's two thinking individuals or more involved. I don't like the idea of villains made specifically for the purpose of dying just to fluff someone's ego. Villains should be just as developed as other PCs. In roleplay there shouldn't be definitive 'good guys' and 'bad guys.' Just people doing what they want. -A definitive tech level Also, as for the level of tech, it'd be nice to see that actual teleportation has been established rather than 'beaming' a copy of oneself to another location. That would cut back on the whole existential crisis factor of whether or not one is their original consciousness. That and sticking with the same body through their entire life would make one feel more appreciative of it. (I would be. ) -Ideas for a potential overarching plot throughout the sector, something to possibly generate public events for the players and help acclimate newer players -A potential central faction that may be in charge of the sector in some way As for the overall story arc, I like the idea of highly-organized pirate raids since currently there is no one faction that runs Antares. It looks like there is a war coming between the NGSF and the USCM. Once that arc is over, it would be easy to say that pirates swoop in and take advantage of the weakened forces, destroy Newer Gum, the Freezer, and any other colonies and hidey holes that are affiliated with those two factions, and then proceed to terrorize companies, colonies, and individuals until a resistance can be built up to fight the pirates off through subterfuge, naval warfare, and of course, ground combat. This pirate faction could openly recruit and try to convince or bully people in hubs to get them to join their ranks with offers of ships, clothes, weapons, and a generally better quality of life.
Agreed, they would not be made to die, just with the knowledge that they CAN die. It was how the last pirate group I was in was run, they were each well developed characters, but they played smart so they WOULDN'T die, as they knew how dangerous combat was. Also that is not how teleportation works at all in Antares. It is actual teleportation, we are keeping that as simple as we can. And the pirate idea is good so far, I am liking all the ideas for it so far, but it needs more input and approval from the rest of the staff. So far it has just been Avis and myself discussing it, as we are the only mods online at the moment.
I suggest something more 'interesting' than pirates. Maybe something that builds up and threatens Antares in some great biblical manner. The destruction of a world, perhaps; reducing it to some sort of nuclear wasteland and forcing it's residents into new colonies. Perhaps someone attacks a colony and blames it on the Florans, Glitch, or another not-well-known group that forces conflict in the sector? Something that REALLY shows that Antares is a difficult frontier, and not a happy and easy place to survive in. Heck, I'd go for a cool planetary blockade RP, showing how a colony's society degrades once food and power begin to disappear.
While that might sound like something that could produce some healthy RP, we should really think about what the cause, reason and effect of whatever the event is. The destruction of a single planet would not really cause much of an effect. There's an entire sector filled with solar systems waiting to be colonized. It is also important to note the reasons of the person who attacks colonies but blames it on another race. How would they do that without being found out first? What evidence would they provide? Why would they be trusted on what they say? What are their reasons? As for the planetary blockade, unless the planet is a frozen wasteland or dead superheated planet I doubt it'd do much effect, since any or at least most colonies are self-sustained. They DO own a whole planet, you'd expect them to produce most of their own supplies. But a very interesting idea nonetheless.
Gotta say. As interesting as conflict RP can be, colony destruction and pk focus isn't the way to go. Don't need the outcasts to happen again. Go for smart manipulative antagonists, not omnicidal freaks.
Exactly, the pirate idea would work as it could be a constant issue, it's not like they would go away. They would organize raids for supplies, eventually set up a base of operations, start taking recruits, maybe form a colony of their own. Hard to say, but it would be an evolving group, not just 'rar, we attack and rob and then leave', they would have a purpose, goals. They would be willing to negotiate with people, as combat would only ever be a last resort. They resort to crime as it is what they are GOOD at, and because they need to to survive. I refuse to make cartoonishly evil bad guys, neutral villains are the best villains.
indeed. It reminds me of when Narf was trying to set up a gang. They would basically try to start up an "underground" in colonies and slowly gain influence. Could do all sorts of interesting things. Evil doesn't have to also be chaotic. Take the RA, they provided protection to Tetanus fields for a long time, knowingly letting the colony fall into debt, treating it like it wasn't such a big deal. Then one day, they pop in all "You know that debt? We own you now."
Humans are possibly one of the only races that make sense being in antares. Human nature is curiosity+aggressiveness. Plus the military bases, and the future thing about human colonies *wouldn't hold my breath, but meh*
Last pirate group I was in ran small quiet jobs until they had enough money, eventually using said money to open up a nightclub in new chicago. They eventually got to the point where they didn't NEED to rob places, and instead just ran the club, doing some shady things under the table. But they were never EVIL, they were just a group of friends with nothing who wanted to be rich and successful The only issue with that being that humans in starbound never really expanded until AFTER they lost earth, which was a VERY recent event. they are probably the newest spacefaring race, avians for example have been expanding for literally thousands of years ahead of them.
Well, it does somewhat make sense, but that does not mean there were not a few humans here to start with.
