Galactic Dreams(Stellaris, Interactive/Community)

[Brian Swartz]

Greetings, fellow space travelers! Hop aboard for what promises to be an eventful journey of discovery in the Stellaris Galaxy, which has been described as 'ancient and full of wonders'*. Who among you has the courage to help lead us on this momentous quest?

*Paradox Vision Statement

Pre-order trailer if interested is here: Stellaris - "Tour of the Galaxy" Pre-order Trailer - YouTube

** Note: Anyone posting spoilers in this thread will suffer a fate worse than death. You have been warned.

FUIQ(Frequently Unasked and/or Irrelevant Queries)

Q: What is this?
A: Stellaris is the upcoming 4x/grand strategy game from Paradox Interactive, using the same Clausewitz engine from CK II, EU IV, etc. This will be an interactive dynasty, with the major decisions being made not by me but by the community. My role will be that of the beauracracy implementing the decisions made and reporting back with the results, new situations as they develop, and so on. I hope many of you will choose to join this journey as 'leaders'.

Q: When do we get started?
A: Stellaris is set to be released on May 9th, and we should be rolling by a day or two afterwards. For the next week I'm going to put one aspect of setup up for discussion, feedback, and vote each day. By next Thursday we'll be done with all of it and be ready to take official sign-ups, leaving plenty of time for anyone who can't be on the forums the first weekend in May to put their two cents in on everything.

Q: If the game isn't released yet, how do you know how things will work?
A: There are some things that I won't know until I get it, but the basics have been announced. I've double-checked my computer specs which are well above the recommended so there should be no fatal technical issues, and I'll be regularly backing up the game save on a thumb drive. The developers have been doing a weekly gameplay stream, so the basics of setting up a custom empire, fundamentals of gameplay mechanics, are pretty much out there. It follows a humorous fungal race known as the Blorg, youtube link starts here: Stellaris - All hail Blorg, Space Friends #01 - YouTube

Q: How quickly will the game progress?
A: I plan to play through one year per real-life day. I've found a gradual, structured progression to work well for me, as in the Rocking Rackets and XCOM projects I've done. As with the XCOM dynasty, there will be pauses and interruptions when needed for those who have characters in the game to make decisions. In most cases though, I should be able to set up policies for people to decide on that will govern what happens -- this will keep things from getting bogged down too much. Most of this has already been worked out, and will be revealed in due time.



Active Characters(As of May 10, 12:37 PM EST)

The following fearless, peerless leaders have chosen to represent our great society.

Inquistor Roe Laren(chesapeake)

Role: Head of State
Age: 28
Skill: ****
Trait(s): Warlike(-10% Ship cost, -20% Army cost), Deep Connections(+1.0 monthly influence)
Location: Royal Palace of Humboldt, on the ocean floor
Orders: Encourage Free Thought(Imperial Edict, -1 influence per month, +10% research speed, +15% ethical divergence), emphasize exploration with a new science ship ASAP, military spending minimized

Governor JIMGA(JonInMiddleGA)

Role: Governor, Humboldt
Age: 46
Skill: *
Trait(s): Iron Fist(+15% Slave Output, minerals and food)
Location: Same as Inquisitor Laren, though in a different part of the capital
Orders: Increase development on mineral resources, no development of food reserves presently needed

Dr. Aslik Deesh(AnalBumCover)

Role: Survey Captain, OSC Laggasch
Age: 28
Skill: *
Trait(s): Resilient(+25-year lifespan)
Location: Solaris Troutentis system
Orders: Survey Solaris Troutentis system

Dr. Frank Justyce(mrkilla22)

Role: Research Director, Physics Dept.
Age: 29
Skill: *
Trait(s): Spark of Genius(+10% Research Speed)
Location: Humboldt
Orders: Research Orbital Energy Conversion

Dr. David Corperial(DavidCorperial)

Role: Research Director, Society Dept.
Age: 47
Skill: *
Trait(s): Resilient(+25 years lifespan)
Location: Humboldt
Orders: Research New Worlds Protocol

Dr. Coffee Warlord(Coffee Warlord)

Role: Research Director, Engineering Dept.
Age: 36
Skill: *
Trait(s): Adaptable(+15% leader experience)
Location: Humboldt
Orders: Research Ion Thrusters

Adm. SirFozzie(SirFozzie)

Role: Commander, 1st Nautilus Squadron
Age: 29
Skill: *
Trait(s): Trickster(+10% Evasion, -25% Emergency FTL Damage)
Location: Humboldt orbit, Solar Troutentis system
Orders: Requesting interceptor-style corvette fleet assets. Otherwhise maintaining readiness.
Total Command: 3 Sschlurga-class striker corvettes

Gen. Eola Eusrim(muns)

Role: Commander, Humboldt Ground Forces
Age: 33
Skill: *
Traits(s): Glory Seeker(+10% Army morale, +10% Army damage)
Location: Humboldt
Orders: Prioritize new defense armies somewhat over assault armies
Total Command: 1 Defense Army, 4 Garrisons


Waiting List

None yet. A Survey Captain is expected to be needed soon.

[Brian Swartz]

Galaxy Setup(Where are we?)





A number of these, unlike most of the later ones, I'm going to choose myself for reasons listed below.

Galaxy Size: Ranges from Tiny(175 stars) to Huge(1000 stars). We'll be going Huge here because, well, that's the point of an epic galactic struggle IMO. In a small galaxy the 'epic' wouldn't really be there.

Galaxy Shape: Spiral(2 arms), Spiral(4 arms), Elliptical, Ring. The main difference here is the amount of 'dark space'. No matter what form of FTL travel one uses, there is a limit to the range on it. Elliptical is the most homegeneous and the most likely to end up with potential conflicts and/or allies on all sides; a Ring galaxy presents much higher likelihood of being boxed in and having limited travel options. The Spiral galaxies are in the middle of the spectrum, with more dark space in a 2-arm system than in the 4-arm systems due to the spacing.

AI Empires: Approx. 1 per 30 stars in the default, 32 for a huge galaxy. This is the number of empires capable of FTL travel at game start, there will also be less advanced races created, some of which will eventually discover FTL during the course of the game. More AIs means a shorter exploration phase before conflict is forced upon us; fewer would result in the opposite.

Advanced AI Starts: Approx. one per 125 stars, or one-quarter of the total number of AI empires is the default; 8 in other words for our huge galaxy. These civs have a better starting position, but no permanent bonuses such as faster research or lowered costs, etc. It's a 'head start' setting. This is essentially a way to tune the difficulty, esp. early on; by default we start on par with most of the galaxy, but a higher setting here could make us a weaker member of the 'young races'.

FTL Method: There are three available methods: Warp, Hyperlane, Wormhole. We'll be allowing all three, as I think potential interactions between them is more interesting than limiting things to one particular method. Each has it's own strengths and weaknesses, which will be covered later.

Ironman Mode: Disallows going backwards to an earlier save. This will be off, in case I screw up. It would be quite aggravating to do something really stupid due to a mouseslip or whatever. Doing something stupid due to me just making a bad choice(or somebody with a character giving a suboptimal order) is of course just part of the fun.

Difficulty: It has been announced that there will be a few difficulty levels, Normal, Hard, and Insane. We'll be doing normal, partly because I want people to be free to make 'in-character' decisions if they choose without the risk of necessarily destroying the chance of success. As is often the case, the higher difficulty levels don't give the AI access to better algorithms/choices at least for the most part, but just give them artificial buffs. If things look too easy for us at first, don't panic -- the game has built-in mechanisms to challenge the player in this event. Not saying any more than that about the ones I know about .


Voting Options

Anyone wishing to participate should choose one of each.

Galaxy Size: Spiral(2 Arms), Spiral(4 arms), Ellipitical, Ring, or Random.

AI Empires: Very Sparse, Sparse, Standard, Dense, Very Dense, or Random. Listed from lowest to highest amount of AI Empire opponents. For Random I'll have half the standard amount as the low end, double the standard amount as the high end.

Advanced AI Starts: Same options -- Very Few, Few, Standard, Many, Very Many, Random.

That'll do it for today, tomorrow we'll narrow the focus from the galactic surroundings to the specific species that we will choose to be.

[AnalBumCover]

Will be interesting to see what we collectively come up with.

Originally Posted by Brian Swartz

Galaxy Size: Spiral(2 Arms), Spiral(4 arms), Ellipitical, Ring, or Random.

Spiral(4 arms)

Originally Posted by Brian Swartz

AI Empires: Very Sparse, Sparse, Standard, Dense, Very Dense, or Random. Listed from lowest to highest amount of AI Empire opponents. For Random I'll have half the standard amount as the low end, double the standard amount as the high end.

Standard

Originally Posted by Brian Swartz

Advanced AI Starts: Same options -- Very Few, Few, Standard, Many, Very Many, Random.

Random

[DavidCorperial]

Ring
Standard
Standard

[Thomkal]

ellipitical
standard
standard

for first game, the "default" probably works best for this kind of game.

[Coffee Warlord]

Spiral (4 Arms), Standard, Few

[Brian Swartz]

Originally Posted by AnalBumCover

Will be interesting to see what we collectively come up with.

I agree, I'm curious how the voting will go overall. Thanks to all for joining, I'll be daily updating the votes so far in the first post of the thread.

[Brian Swartz]

Species Appearance(What are we?)

Today we will begin to delve into defining our species. Appearance is mostly cosmetic. We could simply choose to be humans, but if not, we will need to select what we look like to the galaxy more specifically. Random selections are an option here as well. Choose well -- I'm going to be spending a ton of time looking at whatever you pick :P.

Portrait: There are several groupings, or 'phenotypes', to choose from, each with a number of different options. As mentioned this is mostly cosmetic, but generally speaking other species from the same phenotype will get along with us better than a species from a completely different phenotype so it does have some diplomatic effects.

Mammalian

Mammals, including humans.





Reptilian

Slimy, or otherwhise, reptiles and lizards.





Avian

Bird-like creatures.





Arthropoid

Insects.





Molluscoid

Inverterbrates.





Fungoid

All the 'fungis' of the galaxy.





Species Name: What should we call ourselves(aka Human, Martian or whatever).


Voting Options

Species Choice: Human, Other, or Random. If choosing Other, please specify the rest of the options as well; if not, they are moot. If the majority chooses 'other' but there are a lot of different species submissions, I'll select one from among the most popular.

Species Portrait: Select one of the six phenotypes, or even an individual portrait if you want to be more specific.

Species Name(Singular):

Species Name(Plural):


Tomorrow we'll get into a few things about our homeworld.

[AnalBumCover]

Molluscoid, and whatever is the most squid-like portrait

[DavidCorperial]

Random

[Brian Swartz]

Species Homeworld(Where do we live?)

Having dealt with the larger setting(Stellaris Galaxy) and visual identity(species appearance + name), it is time now to move on to the local setting. This is another aspect that is mostly aesthetic but does have a small gameplay impact in terms of what types of planets our starting species can settle, especially early on.

Planet Name: Earth, Mars, etc.

Planet Type: Choose from among the habitable planet types of Continental, Tropical, Desert, Arid, Tundra, Arctic, and Ocean. The way these work is in a 'circle', with the types closest on the circle to our homeworld the most habitable, and those opposite the least habitable. For example, a Continental species will do best on other continental worlds, Ocean/Tropical will be next best, Desert/Artic after that, and Arid/Tundra will be the worst. A Desert species would prefer desert of course, followed by Arid/Tropical, Continental/Tundra, and lastly Arctic/Ocean. And so on.





Star Name: This will be Sol for humans of course, but otherwhise we'll need a new one.

Solar System Type: Some systems are pre-scripted, such as a Sol replica; there are probably others but those are not known at this time. If we play as Humans we'll use Sol, otherwhise this will be random.

Voting Options

If we end up playing as humans or a totally random species, this category will not be needed. For those choosing Other under the species options however, we should define the specifics of that choice here:

Planet Name:
Planet Type: Continental, Tropical, Desert, Arid, Tundra, Arctic, Ocean.
Star Name:

Tomorrow we'll start looking at choices that will have a lot more impact on how the game plays out, beginning with a couple of basic elements of starting technology.

[Brian Swartz]

Technology(What can we use?)

As mentioned, today we begin the aspects that will have a more significant direct impact on how our story plays out. There are two major technological choices we must make to begin our journey: space-based Weapons and FTL Travel Method.

Weapons: We can begin with Projectiles(high damage, somewhat limited range, good against shields), Energy(average damage and range, good against armor), or Missiles(long range, but can be shot down by point defense). We may later research whatever kind we don't start with, but not necessarily right away due to technology choices having a significant random factor.

FTL Travel Method: The three available methods are Warp, Hyperlane, and Wormhole. We'll start with only one of these. Like the weapons, we can research the other choices(and at least one advanced method, eventually) but the impression I've gotten so far is that this is a more semi-permanent choice; we are likely to be stuck with the first choice for longer here, and it seems the more vital of the two starting tech decisions.

** Warp drives have a fairly slow interstellar speed, are expensive, and leave our ships vulnerable as they cannot act during a cooldown period after making a jump. They do have a major advantage though in that they can jump to any system within range with no restrictions.

** Hyperlanes are the 'starlane' or 'space roads' option. Interstellar speed is quite fast, but they can only travel on the routes allowed by these naturally occuring hyperlanes. This allows for the possibility that a potential enemy can fortify vital and unavoidable chokepoints.

** Wormhole travel is nearly instantaneous and has the longest range. The downside here is that a wormhole station, which can be attacked by enemies, is required. We can jump to or from any system with such a station. By way of explanation, imagine three systems Alpha Centauri, Rigel, and Deneb, and assume all are in range of each other. If we start in Alpha Centauri with a wormhole station there, we could jump to Rigel or Deneb, but would have to return to Alpha Centauri before going to the third system. A well-planned and defended network of stations is a requirement for this, but within such a network the mobility and unpredictability of our navy would be greater than any rival using the other methods. On the other hand, the need to build up the network limits how quickly we can expand.

Ship Appearance: A cosmetic decision, which will made based on species type.


Voting Options

Starting Weapon System: Projectiles, Energy, Missiles, or Random
FTL Travel Method: Warp, Hyperlane, Wormhole, or Random

Tomorrow we'll delve into our starting species ethics, which is a crucial element in the game.

[DavidCorperial]

Energy
Hyperlane

[chesapeake]

Lots of choices...
Galaxy Size: Spiral(4 arms)
AI Empires: Standard,
Advanced AI Starts: Standard
Species Choice: Other
Species Portrait: Molluscoid -- the most trout-like, of course
Species Name(Singular): Trout
Species Name(Plural): Trout
Planet Name: Salmonid
Planet Type: Ocean
Star Name: Sun, Trout or Home (Sometimes, finding your home star on a big map can be a pain in the backside. A simple name here makes it easier.)
Starting Weapon System: Missiles (I see an aquatic race using missiles)
FTL Travel Method: Warp (Warp seems like an advantage early during the exploration phase, with wormholes being developed by the midgame to allow for faster travel between settled systems.)

[Brian Swartz]

Looks like the Molluscoids are off to the early lead, which I definitely wouldn't have predicted. That's what I like about having the forum choose in this type of thing -- stuff I would never do/anticipate ends up happening.

Makes the story a lot better, in my opinion. Thanks for all who have participated, keep it coming!

[Coffee Warlord]

We have to be the Smug Slugs.

[Coffee Warlord]

Species: Smug Slugs (the molluscoids, second from right, first row)
FTL: Wormholes (Fishholes)
Weapons: Projectiles
Planet: Ocean

Empire Name: Trout Emporium
Species: Troutians (singular: Trout)
Star Name: Solarus Troutentis
Planet: Troutentis

[AnalBumCover]

I've forgotten where I've left off from my official voting, but it appears as if we're leaning toward a trout-like empire.

I concur.

[Brian Swartz]

FWIW, you haven't yet voted on Homeworld stuff or starting tech. If you care to. That's the last two sections.

[AnalBumCover]

Species Name(Singular): Architeuthis (Latin for: Giant Squid)
Species Name(Plural): Architeuthis
Planet Name: Humboldt
Planet Type: Ocean
Star Name: Colossol (Colos-SOL, get it?!?)
Starting Weapon System: Projectile
FTL Travel Method: Hyperlane

[Brian Swartz]

Ethos(What do we believe?)

Ethos is probably the most important setup decision to made. It will impact almost every part of the game; diplomacy, internal politics, what technologies we can research, and I'm sure things that I've haven't thought of yet or haven't been revealed. It also determines what types of government we can choose from, which we will get to tomorrow.

There are four ethical spectrums in Stellaris that define our beliefs as a species. We may choose up to three of these, but cannot select opposing philosophies on the same spectrum. For example, we cannot choose to be both Militarist and Pacifist -- it's kind of like trying to divide by zero. If one or two philosophies have far more support than the rest, we will be Fanatics in the most popular choice.


Collectivist vs. Individualist. The needs of the many vs. the rights of the individual citizen.

** Collectivists require less food, improving population growth, and are more tolerant than normal of slavery.

** Individualists get a bonus to energy(the 'currency' of the game, primarily used for maintenance, meaning individualists can support more buildings, orbital stations, ships, etc). Individualists also are less tolerant than normal of slavery, and will have more population that departs from the species ethical norm that the average empire.


Xenophile vs. Xenophobe. The approach to other species.

** Xenophiles get along better with other species living on the same planet/part of the same empire.

** Xenophobes are the opposite, and will more quickly be unhappy living with other species. They are also more tolerant than normal of enslasving aliens.


Militarist vs. Pacifist. This spectrum considers the merits of war.

** Militarists get bonuses to the destructiveness of their ground combat armies, and gain more influence(aka political capital) from 'rattling the saber' by declaring enemy empires to be rivals. It is more costly for them to form alliances than normal. The people also have more tolerance for and happiness during war than normal.

** Pacifists can establish more embassies, which improve relations with competing empires. They also produce more food, increasing population growth. Their ground combat armies are less effective than normal, rivalries gain less influence than normal for them, and the popular approach to wars is more negative as well.


Materialist vs. Spiritualist

** Materialists get a bonus to their research output.

** Spiritualists get a bonus to their happiness, and are therefore less likely to spawn independence movements.


Voting Options

Ethos Preferences: List up to three from the choices above with the caveat that they cannot be opposing choices from the same spectrum. Or alternatively, there's always the Random option.

Tomorrow we'll look at government types a bit.

[AnalBumCover]

Going along the lines of my squid direction (in particular, the Humboldt)

Collectivist
Xenophobe
Militarist

[Coffee Warlord]

Fanatic Spiritualist
Collectivist

Trout Swim Together, under the watchful eye of Boojie, the Great Trout.

[DavidCorperial]

Individualist
Xenophile
Spiritualist

[Brian Swartz]

Government

There will be a few government types available to us out of 15 total. Advanced forms of government can be acquired later in the game, so this is not permanent but will shape the early decades at the very least. The ones that we may choose are based on our ethos from yesterday's options. There are three basic categories however, with the biggest difference being in how a new ruler is chosen:

** Autocracies are not available to Individualists. There are no elections; a single ruler holds power until his or her death, and in most cases there we cannot interfere in the selection of the new ruler.

** Oligarchies are not available to fanatic collectivists or fanatic individualists, but milder forms of those ethos can use them. Elections are held but rare, with a 40-50 year term. These appear to be of the 'selected from an elite group' type of elections, where we can -- for a cost -- select which leader takes over.

** Democracies are not available to collectivists. Elections are common, and typically occur every 5 years. Best information I have right now is that campaigning for a particular candidate to increase their chances can be done, again for a price, but is not always successful.

Government Name: This should be appropriate to a single planet, as we can change it when we expand. In other words, United Earth Council(or whatever), not Galactic Terran Imperium, and so on.

Government Flag: There are four considerations here: a background pattern, primary color for the background, secondary color for the background, and a symbol to identify us. I'll try to pick something at least vaguely appropriate given our other species' selections.

Name List: The names of planets, ships, leaders can all be changed, but this is the list we will draw them from. I'll select an appropriate one based on the species that is selected.

Voting Options

Government Type: Preference for Autocratic, Oligarchy, or Democracy, unless a Random selection is preferred.
Government Name:

This is the last of the setup options! Tomorrow I'll get into sign-ups for leaders of what looks like it's going to end up being an empire of trout-beings.

[Coffee Warlord]

Oligarchy.

[AnalBumCover]

Oligarchy
Gub'ment Name: Oncorhynchus Collective

(Oncorhynchus is the genus name that includes Rainbow Trout)

[chesapeake]

Oligarchy - Seems more stable for a first run
Collectivist - trout do roam in schools
Pacifist - we hate ripples in our pond (interested to see if the interaction between more food from this and less need for food from being collectivist causes rapid breeding or some beneficial synergy)
Spiritualist - all praise to Boojie!

[Brian Swartz]

Originally Posted by Chesapeake

(interested to see if the interaction between more food from this and less need for food from being collectivist causes rapid breeding or some beneficial synergy)

The answer is basically yes to both. The more food a planet produces the faster the population grows. With a fuller planet this would eventually lead to less space being used for food, and more for increased production of other needed resources.

[Coffee Warlord]

If we go Spiritualist, I'm voting Holy Trout Emporium.

[Brian Swartz]

Leaders(Who are our top officials?)

Finally it is time to sign up. For those who wish to participate actively in the story, there are four 'career paths' that you may choose. Some will have more possibilties and/or responsibilities than others. Every leader has a trait to give them a little more distinction & individuality, they gain experience through their various activities, and will eventually die. Almost certainly the game will last long enough to go through at least a few 'generations' -- it is possible with the right species traits and the best technology to have leaders live for several centuries later on! I won't be selecting the longevity-extending traits to start out with, as I think it'll be more fun if there's some turnover. A career of at least a few decades is still expected for each character, unless they meet an 'untimely demise'.

Those wishing to join should submit a name(renaming of leaders has been confirmed as a feature). You can also choose your career path preference, up to three in order of choice, if you would like. Otherwhise you will be used wherever you are needed. If nothing has changed by release, there will be a maximum of 10 leaders at the start, with 8 needed for a full roster at the beginning. The maximum grows slowly with our empire. If there are less volunteers than needed, I will handle the other characters; if there a more, a waiting list will be maintained.

Governors -- at least one needed.

Governors can have two different spheres of influence.

** Planetary Governors are responsible for a single key planet(or moon, in some cases). They will set a general policy for how development there will be prioritized. At game start we will need one governor for our homeworld.

** Sector Governors are responsible for larger areas of space, usually encompassing multiple systems. There is a limit to how many planets can be effectively governed directly, a limit that might increase but certainlyh not as fast as an empire expands. None will be needed at game start, but before long they will become a thing. The systems within a sector are not directly controlled -- rather, the person responsible for a sector sets two policies that will affect how their system(s) are developed and how much of the surplus goes to the imperial government via taxation.


Scientists -- At least four needed.

** A Research Director is responsible for all research into one of three general fields: Physics, Society, and Engineering. They choose the direction of research in those fields, which include primary research projects and special situations that may come up. As such, Research Directors wield a great deal of power in determining the research path of our species. One will be needed for each field, and this will not change throughout the game.

** Survey Captains are explorers. Science ships are equipped with specialized scanners that provide information on the habitability, etc. of planets and moons, and from time to time will identify anomalies. Investigating such anomalies carries a variety of risks and rewards, and requires the cooperation of the relevant Research Director in analyzing the data they collect on-site. Each survey captain will decide how cautious or aggressive they want to be in such situations. They will also be called upon at times to cooperate with a Research Director in a special project as the 'on-site liasion' while the Director coordinates analysis back on the homeworld, or to assist planetary research efforts if they are not busy elsewhere. At least one will be needed initially, and at least one more shortly afterwards.


Admirals -- At least one needed

Admirals command combat fleets. There isn't much in the way of in-game decisions for them to make, but I'm going to give them input on the makeup of the fleet, and design of ships in it, which should be a lot of fun. As we grow there should also be some input in terms on how to distribute the fleet throughout the empire. At start we will need one admiral

Generals -- At least one needed.

Generals quite logically operate as admirals, except that they command the armies on a particular planet, moon, or invasion force. There is less here than for the other roles, but they will have a voice in what types of armies to build and where to send them. Again we will need one at startup.

Aside from the four main branches, there is also a special case:

Head of State -- 1

This is probably the most important leader, and has the most responsibilities. Most leaders will have a couple different settings to provide guidance in how to implement their wishes, but the head of state will have much more to contribute. Under most government forms it will be a political leader but there are the possibilities for a technocracy led by a scientist, a military junta led by a general or admiral, and so on given the appopriate ethics. If the voting doesn't change significantly, it will almost certainly be a governor getting this job with the consensus so far.

They are responsible for setting a range of imperial policies, edicts, and so forth. Most of these are the ones presented in the game, and I've added a few as a way for the Head of State to give some simple, general instructions/priorities for how I will play out the game. How secure this position is depends on whether we end up with an autocratic/oligarchal/democratic form of government, but with the presumed oligarchy each would have some decades to man the post before being potentially replaced.


Sign-Up Form

Character Name: Whatever you want us to call you.
Career Path: Governor, Scientist, Admiral, General, or No Preference if you don't care. The Head of State will be selected from the relevant path at random from the available candidates. If you select multiple paths, I'll try to get you in the first one if available, then the second, and so on. Otherwhise I'll wait till a spot's open in your chosen path.

Tomorrow I'll put up some information on what's going to happen on Monday when the game is out, but other than that we're ready to roll!

[Coffee Warlord]

Character Name: Coffee Warlord
Career Path: Scientist.

[chesapeake]

Character Name: Roe Laren
Career Path: Governor or scientist

[DavidCorperial]

Character Name: David Corperial
Career Path: Governor or Scientist

[muns]

Character Name: Eola Eusrim
Career Path: General

[AnalBumCover]

Character Name: Aslik Dessh
Career Path: Survey Captain

[Brian Swartz]

Five brave souls! The more the merrier, but that will cover a good amount of the initial spots as it is. All have been added to the OP.

Here's what I plan on for Monday:

** Setup voting appears to be basically complete, but I will officially cut it off when Stellaris is released. Best estimate on that is about noon to 1PM EST right now. Three days as I write this.

** Sign-ups will be open basically forever. People can, and I expect will if the past is of any value in prediction the future, join after the story begins.

** Whenever release comes, after I get Stellaris installed and everything I'll get our starting situation set up and do a general briefing. This will include a view of the galaxy, it's major features and where we are in it; a view of our empire's 'territory'; closer-in, what our home system looks like; and an overview of our starting assets. Once a decade game-time, I'll update this information with a new report that will also be put in the first post as a sort of one-stop spot to see the latest on how we are progressing.

** Next, I'll do a rundown of the leaders. Who everyone is, what your trait, age, skill, area of responsibility, and so on.

** Then for each sign-up character I'll do a briefing specifically for your area. This will have all the information you should need in order to set initial orders. You will then have 48 hours to make those. As usual, if someone doesn't respond in that time I will choose for them in order to keep the story going.

** When everyone has reported in, or at the 48-hour deadline, whichever comes first, I will get the game moving and our journey will begin!

[Brian Swartz]

Fellow travelers, voting has closed! We are LIVE!! I present to you the results of mostly your decisions, the FOFC entrant into the chaotic Stellaris Galaxy. Let us go forth and honor Boojie!.

Galaxy

Huge, Spiral(4 Arms), Standard number of AI opponents. Wasn't much debate here.

Appearance


Strong consensus to go with a Molluscoid, and more specifically a 'trout-like' race. We call ourselves Architreuthis. The so-called 'smug slugs' were strongly considered but did not seem particularly fitting with our marine nature. See the image of our completed race at the end here.

Homeworld

Only an ocean world will suffice. We name our homeworld Humboldt, and the star Solaris Troutentis. I took names from a variety of people voting, I like what was submitted!

Technology

Projectile weapons, Hyperspace FTL. Opinions were more divided here but each of these got one more vote than the others.

Ethos

Fanatic Spiritualist + Collectivist. These were far and away the top choices. As there was one request for Fanatic Spiritualist that broke the tie in terms of which way we went there.

** As Spiritualists we recognize that "consciousness begets reality. We regard with patience the child-like efforts of those who delude themselves as they play with their blocks of 'hard matter'".
** As Collectivists we know that 'Society has long since evolved past the insignificant rivalries and concerns of the individuals. We are numerous but one, and the needs of the many outweigh the concerns of the few."

Government

Oligarchy across the board. There are two qualifying oligarchies given our ethos choices: Theocratic and Plutocratic. The latter is rule of the wealthy elite, which is the opposite of our spiritualist bent so it was a no-brainer to go with Theocratic Oligarchy. As with most forms the politicians rule in this government. It gives us a -10% to ethic divergence; i.e., our population will not drift from our Spiritualist, Collectivist ideal as much as they would under other forms. We also get a 15% discount on the recruitment of new leaders. Specifically, we are the Oncorhynchus Collective.


Species Traits

This I did not put to a vote for two reasons. First, there are 29 of them. Talk about chaos -- I'm trying to keep this reasonably simple. Secondly, the other choices made informed the choice as I expected they would. For the most part I 'doubled down' here on the ethics choices that have been made. The game allows for up to four traits, with a total of two points to spend.

A bit here about how I see our species as it's been discussed. We are trout-beings, but amphibious ones who have developed the ability to live on land to expand our horizons and fully develop our homeworld of Humboldt. This flexibility came with a cost; we are physically Weak(-20% ground armies combat damage) compared to other races. This is a -1 trait and puts us up to 3 points, 3 more traits that we can select. 'Members of this species are physically weaker than average, making them poor fighters on the ground.'

Next I chose Adaptive(+10% Habitability) for the same reason. The flexibility that made us emerge from the oceans also gives us an advantage in colonizing worlds only marginally suitable to us. This is a 2-point trait, leaving up to 2 traits left but just a single point. "This species is highly adaptive when it comes to foreign environments."

Another negative trait was added next: Sedentary(+50% migration time, +33% resettlement cost). Our commitment to community makes us less likely to want to uproot. "This species has a sedentary past, and it's members are unlikely to migrate away from where they grew up."

Finally, we are Conformists(-20% ethics divergence). This uses up the last two points, and is in keeping with our collective spiritualist dogma. "These people always seek consensus and are more likely to conform to the governing ethics."

And so it is done. The finished product:



Coming up next ... a general briefing on matters both galactic and local.

[muns]

Good stuff. Looking forward to the ride Brian

[Brian Swartz]

Thanks! I hope everyone enjoys it.

GENERAL BRIEFING

The year is 2200. Like most of the 'younger races', we have just discovered FTL travel. I present now the Stellaris Galaxy:




Our territory is the blue highlighted area on the right. We are about midway out on one of the spiral arms. As can be seen, we have limited travel pathways between the arms -- control of the systems on either side of these could be strategically important eventually, if we can even get there.





The only notable galactic feature in our region of space is the one we inhabit: the Grasping Claw Nebula. Caution must be exercised during interstellar travel -- within the nebula, which comprises most of our territory, travel speed is reduced by 30%. Our claimed territory is everything within the blue region. We cannot access resources beyond it without building a frontier outpost or colonizing a planet. The nearby systems of Dirmius and Maghama are within it, while the surrounding star systems are on the edge and mostly just beyond it. The dotted circle indicates the current range of our sensors.




The Solar Troutentis system has six planets. The gas giants Uldrug and Tuggam with their attendant moons comprise the outer orbits. The smaller planet of Schlargoss is next, with our homeworld of Humboldt next followed by Gabog and Uggrim.




Humboldt itself is a ringed planet, with the barren moon Maggrathi allowing it to remain free of tidal lock. We have a number of assets in orbit shown here. On the left is the Saggurss-class construction ship Mildrosch, equipped with nano-capable automated assembly capability for rapid deployment of any stations we might need to build beyond Humboldt. In the upper middle is the 1st Nautilus Squadron, a trio of Sschlurga-class corvettes. The Botein III Spaceport dominates the view next to the right, and is both an economic and military necessity, housing our shipbuilding capabilities, logistical support for the fleet, and a number of mass drivers allowing it to serve as the primary naval defense of Humboldt. It can absorb as much damage as more than eight corvettes, but against a larger-scale attack it will not survive on it's own. Finally there is the Higgla-class science ship on the far right.

Here's a closer look at the three initial ship classes we presently have.









Economic Briefing

The navy cannot extend our reach or keep us safe from external threats without the proper support.

Primary Economic Resources

** Energy is the lifeblood of any economy, a measurement both of it's ability to produce power and the liquid assets that result. Buildings, ships, armies, and so on require a certain amount to maintain. We currently have 50 out of a maximum storage capacity of 2500. 11 is produced each month, but most is needed for maintenance. The surplus is currently 3.64.

** Minerals are the raw materials used for all construction: ships, buildings, orbital stations, spaceport modules, and so on. Some is required for ship maintenance as well, but a relatively small amount comparatively speaking. The more minerals we have, the faster we can build, which will increase our demand for energy faster at all. In this way, mineral supply 'drags' the need for energy along with it. We have 200 out of a 5000 capacity currently. 8.8 are produced each month, with 0.7 used for maintenance leaving a 8.09 surplus.

** Influence is a measure of our political clout or capital. It is used on edicts, in diplomatic actions, building frontier outposts, and so on. We currently have 100 out of a capacity of 1000 and are producting 4 per month with none currently being used.

Research

There are three fields; Physics, Society, and Engineering. These resources represent our ability to pursue advances in these fields. At present we have 5 in each.

Other Resources

** Strategic Resources -- Special resources that, once we had discovered applications for them through research, we can find and use for specialized construction. So far, we have knowledge of none.
** Planet Cap -- We can only effectively govern 5 planets at this time. Since we have but our homeworld of Humboldt, this is not an imminent concern but a long-term one.
** Sector Cap -- If we grow large enough to exceed our ability to effectively govern all of our planets, areas of space will be assigned to regional, or sector governors. At present we don't need any, and have a cap of 2 here.
** Naval Cap -- The number of combat vessels we can handle logistically. At present we have the 3 corvettes, with a maximum of 12 at top effectiveness. This increases with population and spaceport enhancements, and does not include civilian designs such as construction ships or science vessels.
** Leader Cap -- The limit on the number of leaders in our empire without penalties. At the moment that is 10. We currently have five -- four scientists and a governor. The head of state is not included in this number. We will be spending some influence to add to this soon, at least to the point of ensuring we have enough to cover all aspects of our government.

Next up, we'll introduce our leaders.

[Coffee Warlord]

The Great Trout will being peace to the galaxy.

[Brian Swartz]

INTERNAL POLITICS

Two volunteers chose governor or scientist as their career path. I went with one of each, doing a 'coin-flip' to pick who would be a scientist. The other went to the governor path as the head of state. That role fell to Roe Laren. I hope you like pink; the wardrobe and coloration was chosen, like all such things, by random. It is natural to start at the top.

Inquisitor Roe Laren
Head of State

Age: 28
Skill: ****(I don't know if this is normal, but 4 out of 5 stars to start seems awfully nice)
Trait: Warlike(-10% ship cost, -20% army cost). This leader does not shy away from conflict. War cost for Cede Planet and Cede Frontier Outpost wargoals are also reduced.
Trait: Deep Connections(+1 monthly influence). This leader is firmly entrenched in the labyrinthe web that makes up the political machine.

Until at least 2240, when our next election occurs, Inquisitor Laren will guide us.


Governor Riblogg
Governor, Planet Humboldt

Age: 46
Skill: *
Trait: Iron Fist(+15% output from slaves, food and minerals)

Riblogg is not a claimed character at this time.


Scientist Aslik Deesh
Survey Captain, Science Ship Laggasch

Age: 42
Skill: *
Trait: Reslient(+25 years lifespan)

Dr. Deesh will apparently be with us for a while.


Scientist Coffee Warlord
Research Director, Engineering

Age: 36
Skill: *
Trait: Adaptable(+15% experience gain)

Not that great right away since he doesn't have any research-specific bonus, but Dr. Warlord should improve quickly.


Scientist David Corperial
Research Director, Society

Age: 47
Skill: *
Trait: Resilient(+25 years lifespan)

Already getting up there a bit, this will allow Corperial to at least stick around a while hopefully.


Scientist Sagglor
Research Director, Physics

Age: 29
Skill: *
Trait: Spark of Genius(+10% Research Speed)

Figures, the one scientist who hasn't been claimed yet is the most talented one.


Admiral Riblogg
Commanding Officer, 1st Nautilus Squadron

Age: 28
Skill: *
Trait: Trickster(+10% Evasion, -25% Emergency FTL damage)

Adm. Riblogg is also open for claiming. He was the youngest by almost a decade of the available choices, and should help preserve the fleet should the worst happen.


General Eola Eusrim
Commanding Officer, Humboldt Ground Forces

Age: 33
Skill: *
Trait: Glory Seeker(+10% Army Morale, +10% Army Damage)

It looks like Gen. Eusrim should do well in mitigating the natural weakness of our troops.

With the recruiting of our admiral and general, we are now down to 16 influence. I'd like another survey scientist but that will have to wait a few months for us to gather enough -- the cost for us is 42 each.

Factions

I should mention this quickly. As of right now, we have 7 population and all of them are Loyalists, the primary faction that is comfortably in line with our leadership. Eventually others will form, but we have nothing to worry about on this front yet.


It is now time for initial orders. Prepare to make your voices heard.

[Brian Swartz]

HEAD OF STATE BRIEFING

POLICIES

If changed, these cannot be changed again for 10 years. Many are not relevant to our current situation, but they are still listed here so that the options are known. These are in-game policy settings.

** War Economy. Static is the current setting. A static war economy is unaffected by the vagaries of war. A Semi-Static war economy allows the seizure of limited assets from the private sector for the sake of survival during defensive wars, with a corresponding lack of efficiency while winning offensive wars. 30% military production efficiency at -100 Warscore, -30% at +100. A Dynamic war economy is basically a more extreme version of a Semi-Static one. +45% and -45% military production efficiency under the same circumstances.

** Slavery is currently Allowed, meaning we can enslave any pop within our empire. Prohibited means pretty much what it says.

** Slave Procreation cannot be set right now as we currently have no slaves. If Allowed, slaves will reproduce and offspring will automatically becomes slaves. If Prohibited, they will not reproduce.

** Purging is presently Allowed. We can "cleanse the troublesome and corrupt elements within our Empire, lest their rot take root in us all." Doing so will kill and enrage the targeted population, and other sympathetic pops will be enraged as well. Alternatively we can set purging to Prohibited.

** Orbital Bombardment is presently set to Limited, which is the middle option. This allows the use of all but the heaviest ordnance. We may also set it to Light, which emphasizes minimizing civilian casualties. Full is not permitted to us since we are not Militarists, and is full bombardment without regard to life on the surface.

** Migration is, as you might expect, the movement of pops between worlds. It is presently Prohibited. It may be set to Primary Species Only or Free Migraton as well, both of which do pretty much what they say.

** Resettlement is related to migration but in this case it's a government-enforced relocation, costing influence. It is currently Allowed, and can be changed to Prohibited if we choose.

** Voting Rights cannot be changed at this time. Elitism is our approach, meaning that "The question of leadership is best left to our society's most respected and knowledgeable members."

** Leadership cannot be changed. The only current option is Primary Species Only. In the future, should the occasion arise, we will have the option of choosing to allow aliens into positions of leadership -- or not.

** First Contact Protocol is our set of standing orders on how to handle contact with other advanced life, should it be encoutered. At present, we are set to approach them with a stance of Peaceful, allowing no hostile action and only retaliating if attacked first. The other option is to be Aggressive, meaning preparing to strike without hesitation if the situation warrants.

That's a lot of stuff there, but much of it is pretty much set in stone right now.


EDICTS

These official in-game pronouncements can be changed at any time, and require an influence cost to maintain. All five of the currently available options would cost us 1 Influence per month.

** Information Quarantine: strict checks on the flow of information. -10% ethics divergence, -5% research speed
** Encourage Free Thought: the opposite basically. +15% ethics divergence, +10% research speed
** Engineering/Physics/Society Research Grants: Enabling one of these will increase research in the affected field by 30%, while reducing the effectiveness of the other two by 10% each.

ECONOMIC PRIORITIES

This is not an in-game setting, but rather one that I've come up with as a basic way to guide how I should allocate resources.
All can be low, medium, or high; all set at medium to begin with. Think of these as 'build-to' settings not necessarily what the immediate need is. They will control how many minerals are earmarked for each aspect. For example, the Interior setting will determine how big of a 'pool' the governors of planets(and later, sectors) have to use for their responsibilities.

Exploration -- Emphasis on discovering and surveying other star systems. Number of leaders dedicated to survey ships, exploring new territory vs. boosting more 'traditional' planetside research efforts.

Expansion -- Colonizing new planets and building new outposts, construction ships as deemed necessary, and so on. Outposts can allow us to develop resources and extend our territorial claims in areas where colonization is either impossible or impractical. They cost influence(i.e., countering the Homeworld First movements).

Military -- Naval and ground forces for use should conflict arise, externally or internally

Interior -- Developing resources(energy, minerals, research) within our current holdings, whether orbital or planetary.

There will be a foreign policy setting eventually but that's premature at this point. So, Inquisitor Roe Laren, you are now on the clock. Your orders, please:

Policies: List any you wish to change, and what they should be changed to
Edicts: Should you wish to enact any
Economic Priorities: Unless you want all to remain at medium, note your adjustments here.

Next up, I'll continue on with our scientists. The rest of the orders will be much simpler, especially at first.

[Brian Swartz]

Scientific Briefing: Dr. Aslik Deesh

As Captain of the Science Survey Ship Laggasch, you will be initially tasked with survey efforts in our home system of Solar Troutentis. We need only your initial instructions in terms of Risk Tolerance. This relates to the pursuit of any anomalies you may find. Each has a risk factor associated with it. Failure will have negative consequences, not the least of which is that any potential discoveries from that anomaly will be lost forever. The potential gain must be weighed against the risk both to yourself to your crew, and also against the fact that you or another scientist might be more likely to find success after becoming more skilled.

If set to High, you will investigate anything with a 50% or less chance of failure; Medium, 30% or less; or Low, 10% or less. If you want a different number, that's fine too.

Risk Tolerance Orders: High/Medium/Low, or whatever % you would like the threshold to be.

Dr. Aslik Deesh, you are on the clock.


Scientific Briefing: Dr. David Corperial

As Director of Society Research, you must choose from the following three research projects:

** New Worlds Protocol(New Worlds sub-field). This costs 360 to develop, allowing for the building of colony ships which can extend our species to other planets if any suitable ones are found. Once used, the colony ship is consumed as part of the new settlement. A planet-level edict knows as Capacity Overload, which increases energy production by 15% for a 10-year period, will also become possible.
** Centralized Command(Military Theory). At a cost of 240, this will reduce Army Upkeep costs by 10% and develop plans for a Military Academy. This structure increases army damage by 10% and army build speed by 25% on any planet that builds one.
** Planetary Unification(Statecraft). The cost is 240 here as well. Our monthly influence gain will be increased by 1.0, and the Propoganda Broadcasts edict will be unlocked. This is another planetary edict that increases happiness by 10%.

Normally you would need to assign a priority to this research, in the event of a special situation coming up. However, since our Situation Log is currently empty, that will not be necessary. Your instructions will be requested in the event that such a situation in your field comes up.

Dr. David Corperial, you are on the clock. What shall our society researchers pursue?


Scientific Briefing: Dr. Coffee Warlord

As Director of Engineering Research, you have three projects to choose from as well.

** Deep Space Outposts(Deep Space Outposts). A bit redundant there. The cost of 240 to unlock Defense Platforms, permitting the ability to build entry-level fixed orbital defense stations within our space.
** Nanocomposite Materials(Materials). For a cost of 360, we can produce Nanocomposite Armor, allowing for superior ship protection. At present, we have no effective ship armor materials.
** Ion Thrusters(Rocketry). For 240, we can develop Ion Thrusters that, for double the power and cost of our current Chemical Thrusters, also double our evasion chance to +20 and increase our sublight(within star systems) speed by 10%

Dr. Coffee Warlord, you are on the clock. What direction will our Engineering Department take?

Next up, there is one military briefing yet to go before orders are complete.

[Brian Swartz]

Military Briefing: General Eola Eusrim

As the sole commander of our ground forces, you are responsible for the distribution of our armies and what kinds of armies we will primarily recruit. Our present state of readiness is that of a single army on Humboldt, to which four garrisons will be added in the case of an attack.

The army on Humboldt is a defense army, which is one of two kinds, the other being assault armies. The defense army is half the cost and is nearly as combat-effective(87%) to be exact. The drawback is that they cannot be moved from the world they were recruited on. Assault armies come with transports and are necessary to invade alien worlds. Armies of both kinds can be improved with attachments, or I should say they could be had we actually developed the doctrine for any.

At the moment, we can recruit armies only on Humboldt. Therefore your only decision to make is what kind to recruit here. Much like the Economic Priorities, this is a build-to decision informing how we should best structure our force.

Defense Armies: Low/Med/High priority
Assault Armies: Low/Med/High priority

Gen. Eola Eusrim, you are now on the clock.

That's it for initial orders. I'll put up some details on Humboldt itself but didn't bother yet since nobody has taken the governor of our homeworld yet. At this point I'm waiting on you. Of course new sign-ups are welcome at any time. In 48 hours, or sooner if everyone reports in, we will proceed.

In other words, stop playing your solo campaigns for five freaking minutes so you can tell me what to do :P

[AnalBumCover]

Originally Posted by Brian Swartz

Scientific Briefing: Dr. Aslik Deesh

As Captain of the Science Survey Ship Laggasch, you will be initially tasked with survey efforts in our home system of Solar Troutentis. We need only your initial instructions in terms of Risk Tolerance. This relates to the pursuit of any anomalies you may find. Each has a risk factor associated with it. Failure will have negative consequences, not the least of which is that any potential discoveries from that anomaly will be lost forever. The potential gain must be weighed against the risk both to yourself to your crew, and also against the fact that you or another scientist might be more likely to find success after becoming more skilled.

If set to High, you will investigate anything with a 50% or less chance of failure; Medium, 30% or less; or Low, 10% or less. If you want a different number, that's fine too.

Risk Tolerance Orders: High/Medium/Low, or whatever % you would like the threshold to be.

Dr. Aslik Deesh, you are on the clock.

Set Risk Tolerance to Medium.

[muns]

Originally Posted by Brian Swartz

Military Briefing: General Eola Eusrim

As the sole commander of our ground forces, you are responsible for the distribution of our armies and what kinds of armies we will primarily recruit. Our present state of readiness is that of a single army on Humboldt, to which four garrisons will be added in the case of an attack.

The army on Humboldt is a defense army, which is one of two kinds, the other being assault armies. The defense army is half the cost and is nearly as combat-effective(87%) to be exact. The drawback is that they cannot be moved from the world they were recruited on. Assault armies come with transports and are necessary to invade alien worlds. Armies of both kinds can be improved with attachments, or I should say they could be had we actually developed the doctrine for any.

At the moment, we can recruit armies only on Humboldt. Therefore your only decision to make is what kind to recruit here. Much like the Economic Priorities, this is a build-to decision informing how we should best structure our force.

Defense Armies: Low/Med/High priority
Assault Armies: Low/Med/High priority

Gen. Eola Eusrim, you are now on the clock.

That's it for initial orders. I'll put up some details on Humboldt itself but didn't bother yet since nobody has taken the governor of our homeworld yet. At this point I'm waiting on you. Of course new sign-ups are welcome at any time. In 48 hours, or sooner if everyone reports in, we will proceed.

In other words, stop playing your solo campaigns for five freaking minutes so you can tell me what to do :P

Initially we will go with:

Defense Armies: High priority
Assault Armies: Med priority

[Coffee Warlord]

Engineering has determined we should be working on Ion Thrusters, so better to fly our ships upstream during breeding season.

A fast Trout is a happy Trout.

[AnalBumCover]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

Engineering has determined we should be working on Ion Thrusters, so better to fly our ships upstream during breeding season.

A fast Trout is a happy Trout.

Should also help with getting through and around the Grasping Claw Nebula.

[DavidCorperial]

New Worlds Protocol research is a must.