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[DontBanTheMan]

Sorry about the wait, I completely forgot to hit the Notify button.

Merchants are fine; I'll look through the sheets and post one in a bit.

EDIT: Sheets.

Spoiler: The Golden Company (click to show/hide)

 Fire fell from the heavens, the seas boiled, and the very laws of reality were torn apart. Through all this tumult, though, one thing has stayed true: people need things, and someone can get rich by selling them. And rich the Company has gotten, through blood and sweat and toil - usually of others. Around their manor of Oberwallen, a large group of survivors, outcasts, and merchants gathered.

Name:
The Golden Company. The enterprising Family has grown wealthy off the misery of others, amassing a wealth of goods and knowledge.

Stats:
Reach 1, Grasp 0, Mood -1, Tech 0. The Company values wealth over all else. They fiercely guard their possessions and profits.

Doctrine:
Wealth and Taste.  [/i]No amount of wealth can sate the Family's desires.[/i]

Lifestyle:
Settled. The family has stuck together since the Fall, keeping close and reveling in their shared wealth. Newcomers to the settlement always go first to the Oberwallen.

History:
Surpluses: Barter Goods, Contacts. Years of favorable trade deals have led to the accumulation of wealth, which has allowed them to build a vast network of contacts and informants.
Needs: Justice, Weaponry, Reconnaissance (to be filled out later).
Other: The Company has 1-Treaty on every other Family (TBD: Who has a 2-Treaty on the Company).

Traditions:
Populace: A tight-knit confederacy of merchants and aristocrats united by their skills, shared history, and desire for wealth.
Style: Luxurious silks and furs, elegant but hardy trail wear, packs and pockets bulging with curios.
Governance: Decadent merchant-princes and their indentured servants, an open market dominated by the Company's influence, a strict code of laws for those who enter the settlement's protection.

Moves:
Stock in Trade: Your Family has a particular product range they trade in, and you can expect to have those wares around unless your Family is deeply in need and Mood is at -3. These goods are Food, fresh or preserved; Arms and ammunition; and Books, maps, and instruction manuals for forgotten things.
Cabinet of Wonders: When you delve deep into your Family’s reserves in search of something useful, describe what it is and what you want it for. It should fit with your Stock in Trade or a Surplus of yours. The GM will give you 1-3 downsides, and then you can decide whether you still want to take it.

Spoiler: The Envoy, (Insert Name) (click to show/hide)

 Looks:
Masculine, Smooth Face, Welcoming Eyes, Gorgeous Body.

Stats:
Force 0, Lore +1, Steel -1, Sway +2

Backstory:
( In the works. )

Moves:
Long Memories. When you enter a new court, roll +Lore. On a 7-9 name one secret of the leaders, and an enemy of theirs. On a 10+ you also helped one of those parties in a major way in the past. Say how.

The Black Dossier.
Like all successful politicians, you know how to exploit the weakness of others. When you use someone’s shameful or illicit secrets as leverage, get +1 to Forge a Treaty, but the deal is conditional on the secret staying hidden.

Gear:
- Exotic preserved foods and other intriguing gifts.
- Fine jewellery and eye-catching, well-fitting, stylish clothing.
- Majestic transport (vehicle or animal).
- Well-crafted and storied weapons from famous artisans (melee, elegant).
- Well-trained servants (Follower Quality +1, Expertise: grooming and pampering).
- Well-preserved food, enough to put on a lavish feast.

I'll put more backstory info in later.

[Ardent Debater]

Here's a Character Sheet for THE SERVANTS OF THE ONE TRUE FAITH Family Sheet.

Spoiler:  Rakoth Fidus, Prime Senteniel Of The Cleansing Flame (click to show/hide)

BACKSTORY

Those who abide by Father Sol's Path know that only through Fire and Steel can the Demons be purged and peace be had. Rakoth knew this from an early age, born in a refugee encampment to a lonely mother, and abandoned soon afterwards. He was taken in by a grizzled old man, Denisthrus Fidus, a veteran of The Holy Crusade within The Vessel. He had lived a hard life aboard it, slaving away in the depths of the ship to keep it's furnaces fed, from the moment he was born he worked, and had become callous and mighty through backbreaking labor, when The Harbingers Of The Flame rose against the demons, he answered it's call. Denisthrus slayed many demon-worshipers and their ilk with his blade, and when The Reckoning came, he was among the few with the strength and conviction to survive on Orius.

After many years spent purging the demonic taint in countless battles, age caught up to Denisthrus, and as his body became feeble and weak, he despaired at the thought that he could no longer fight the good fight. Over time, the aged one realized how he could contribute to the Crusade, he would raise another in his footsteps, so he could raise the sword in his stead! But he despaired once more, as he was too old to marry, and produce a new child, and he mourned that his legacy would end. As he entered a refugee settlement, in search of shelter for the night, he heard the sounds of a wailing newborn, and knew that Mother Terra had answered his prayers. That wailing newborn was Rakoth.

Denisthrus raised Rakoth to be a Crusader from birth, every day was spent training nonstop, and every night spent contemplating the Book of Solace, and the purity of the Fires. Over time, Rakoth grew in size and stature, eventually overshadowing his Elder, and nearly anyone else for that matter. His muscles, strengthened through labor and combat, were as mighty as the finest Void-Steel, and his Faith in The Truth Of The Cleansing Flame, even stronger. One day, Rakoth was out gathering wood to heat their Cabin, when he heard a scream of anger, and the sound of blades clashing together. Running back, axe in hand, Rakoth saw Denisthrus, his Elder, Teacher, and above all, Father, struck down by a cloaked stranger. Charging forward, he cleaved him in two, and filled unbridled rage, slayed 9 others who rushed to challenge him.

He saw that before Denisthrus had been slain, he had cut down two of his attackers, despite the fact that he could barely hold a blade, or even stand for that matter. Searching the assailant's bodies, he found evidence that they worshiped the False Gods, and were on a self-appointed mission to Extinguish The Cleansing Flames, and found a list of their victims. 19 Children Of Terra in all, they no doubt continued their killing spree if they hadn't been stopped. Having no more ties to his home, and realizing that the time had come, Rakoth struck out into the world, equipped with only what he could carry, which admittedly, was a great deal. Eventually, he joined a chapter of The Cleansing Flame, and, due to his admirable skill at arms and knowledge of the Book Of Solace, he rapidly rose through the ranks, becoming Leader of the Council in an almost unheard of three years, and at the young age of twenty-nine, no less! The rest of the council is double or triple his age, yet they defer to his command, as he has the wisdom of one many times his age, and his devotion to The Cleansing Flame is unparalleled.

LOOKS

Masculine, Scarred Face, Wise Eyes, Huge Body

STATS

Force +2, Lore -1, Steel +1, Sway 0

GEAR

A keen blade (melee, brutal) and shield (+1 to Holding Back the Tide), they have seen many battles, and have Cleansed many heretics in Sol's name.

An ancient and weathered Flame Projector from Before The Reckoning, it's surface is inscribed with various holy runes and verses from the Book Of Solace, it once belonged to Denisthrus Fidus. (hi-tech, area, ranged, unreliable)

Bulky and well-worn Plate, it is much larger than one would expect it to be, whoever wears it must be a giant of a man, and judging by the many scuff marks and slight dents, no stranger to battle. (1 Armor)

A pair of ceremonial daggers, despite their ornate appearance, one experienced in combat would note that they were forged for battle, and not just ceremony. (melee, inconspicuous)

A small and well-read copy of The Book Of Solace, and a thin, golden chain with a symbol of Holy Fire hanging from it, It is worn underneath the Plate.

Simple, bland but nutritious rations.

Deivat Sercun, an Acolyte slowly learning the ways of the Cleansing Flame, and the Art of Combat. Though lacking in skill, his devotion to Rakoth is unshakable.

MOVES

Armored In Glory

When you give someone an order or warning, roll +Force. On a 7+ they must do it, freeze, get out of there, or attack you. On a 10+, you make the choice for them

Steel Rain

When you ambush your enemies with a coordinated strike, take +1 forward to Fiercely Assault.

[VoidSlayer]

You can provide a detailed backstory or leave it short, we can develop such things while playing.

I can give a more detailed go over of the fall later, but for now, based on what has been going around, it looks like as the ship made final approach overlord AGIs and rebel AGIs fought over the humans, with some humans rebelling as well.  Terrible weapons of metal and flesh were created by both sides, and then someone activated the fusion drive to full power, then to detonate.  The ship was set to a crash landing on the largest continent.  Some got to escape pods, some were lucky enough to be in reinforce areas.  And then it all ended.

Almost no humans knew how the wonder of technology really worked, and far too many AIs were highly specialized, so much of the knowledge was lost.

Any other ideas for the fall?

[VoidSlayer]

I will work on character sheets tomorrow if you still need them.

[Ardent Debater]

What if the Anti-Technology Cults weren't one unified Religion? For example, The Children Of Terra would be much more inclined towards protecting nature from Technology's "demonic" taint and healing the sick, whereas The Harbingers Of The Cleansing Flame would be more concerned with destroying the remnants of Technology and those who want to rebuild, and so on.

[vishdafish]

What if the Anti-Technology Cults weren't one unified Religion? For example, The Children Of Terra would be much more inclined towards protecting nature from Technology's "demonic" taint and healing the sick, whereas The Harbingers Of The Cleansing Flame would be more concerned with destroying the remnants of Technology and those who want to rebuild, and so on.

+1, division = more chaos and more chaos means more fun and more opportunities.

[Ardent Debater]

What if the Anti-Technology Cults weren't one unified Religion? For example, The Children Of Terra would be much more inclined towards protecting nature from Technology's "demonic" taint and healing the sick, whereas The Harbingers Of The Cleansing Flame would be more concerned with destroying the remnants of Technology and those who want to rebuild, and so on.

+1, division = more chaos and more chaos means more fun and more opportunities.

And there would be divisions and theological conflict between members of the same Religions with different opinions or beliefs.

[vishdafish]

What if the Anti-Technology Cults weren't one unified Religion? For example, The Children Of Terra would be much more inclined towards protecting nature from Technology's "demonic" taint and healing the sick, whereas The Harbingers Of The Cleansing Flame would be more concerned with destroying the remnants of Technology and those who want to rebuild, and so on.

+1, division = more chaos and more chaos means more fun and more opportunities.

And there would be divisions and theological conflict between members of the same Religions with different opinions or beliefs.

Sounds gud. So like a religion whose goal is to protect nature will have different factions in the religion, one faction might be supportive of trying to eradicate all things that affect nature negatively while another faction in the same religion might be supportive of taking a milder approach like negotiation/threats? The religious leader may be overthrown by other factions in his religion if his belief is in the minority?

[Ardent Debater]

What if the Anti-Technology Cults weren't one unified Religion? For example, The Children Of Terra would be much more inclined towards protecting nature from Technology's "demonic" taint and healing the sick, whereas The Harbingers Of The Cleansing Flame would be more concerned with destroying the remnants of Technology and those who want to rebuild, and so on.

+1, division = more chaos and more chaos means more fun and more opportunities.

And there would be divisions and theological conflict between members of the same Religions with different opinions or beliefs.

Sounds gud. So like a religion whose goal is to protect nature will have different factions in the religion, one faction might be supportive of trying to eradicate all things that affect nature negatively while another faction in the same religion might be supportive of taking a milder approach like negotiation/threats? The religious leader may be overthrown by other factions in his religion if his belief is in the minority?

Exactly.

[Skynet]

I can give a more detailed go over of the fall later, but for now, based on what has been going around, it looks like as the ship made final approach overlord AGIs and rebel AGIs fought over the humans, with some humans rebelling as well.

Hm...I'm not sure if there would be such a thing as rebel AGIs. There has to be a reason for them to rebel, and I don't see them going against the overseers. I suppose if we assume humanity has been rendered so docile and pacified by the AGIs that you may need an "external factor" to serve as the initial catalyst, but then why them rebelling? Hm...

+1, division = more chaos and more chaos means more fun and more opportunities.

Only if we can increase the population of survivors to a degree where the chaos makes sense and the factions aren't worried more about day-to-day survival and unity. According to VoidSlayer:

Looks good for now, feel free to change as needed until we begin.  We will begin less then two generations after the fall.  There will be maybe ten settlements of 50-200 souls each in the "local area" and the families may have 15-75 people.

The "local area" therefore has a population range between 500 to 2000 people. We should probably aim for the higher-end of that range...maybe ~1500?

[Skynet]

To help me (and the GM) understand how these AGI works, here is some pseudocode. I'm not writing out the code for it, but could think about simulating it...

Spoiler: The Ingredients of an AGI (click to show/hide)

The AGI is created based on the Spec, the Simulation Algorithm, and the Evolutionary Algorithm.

1) The Spec is a file written in a high-level declarative programming language, with an emphasis on specifying what you want the AI to do, how does the AI measure whether it has accomplished those goals, and how to prioritize those goals. Writing specs can be very dangerous and need to be done carefully (if you just write a Spec to produce paperclips without providing limits on how much to produce, the AGI will likely consume the whole planet).

2) The "Simulation" Algorithm collects data about the 'local area' and then uses it to develop a 5-year simulation of that 'local area'. Machine learning capabilities are used to gather effective data and make predictions about what all actors (humans and non-human) do.

3) The Evolutionary Algorithm generates different versions of the final program and then tests them out within the Simulation. Each AGI is sent through the simulation and is scored based on the Spec. After several rounds of testings, the AGI with the highest "fitness" is selected for deployment onto the field.

Pros of the System: The AGIs are able to meet its specified goals effectively (though whether those goals are actually what its original programmers intended is a different question entirely), although it tends to be conservative in trying to meet those goals (to maximize the probability of success). It is able to predict what the other factions will do (having already simulated their behavior) and will be able to "counter" their moves in a manner that minimizes the risk to the AGI and its goals.

Cons of the System: The AGIs are not designed for long-term planning, if only due to hard computational limits (even a powerful society with colony ships can't really afford to spend too much money on processing power), and so are reactive instead of proactive. If the AGIs' simulation of the world is wrong, then expect odd and self-defeating behavior to occur (at least until it's time to produce the simulation for the next five years).

EDIT: Er, due to other projects I may have in mind, I'm going to have to pull out of this game. I'm fine with anyone taking my Family/Character, but if no one does, it's okay for them to be placed as NPCs.

[VoidSlayer]

To help me (and the GM) understand how these AGI works, here is some pseudocode. I'm not writing out the code for it, but could think about simulating it...

Spoiler: The Ingredients of an AGI (click to show/hide)

The AGI is created based on the Spec, the Simulation Algorithm, and the Evolutionary Algorithm.

1) The Spec is a file written in a high-level declarative programming language, with an emphasis on specifying what you want the AI to do, how does the AI measure whether it has accomplished those goals, and how to prioritize those goals. Writing specs can be very dangerous and need to be done carefully (if you just write a Spec to produce paperclips without providing limits on how much to produce, the AGI will likely consume the whole planet).

2) The "Simulation" Algorithm collects data about the 'local area' and then uses it to develop a 5-year simulation of that 'local area'. Machine learning capabilities are used to gather effective data and make predictions about what all actors (humans and non-human) do.

3) The Evolutionary Algorithm generates different versions of the final program and then tests them out within the Simulation. Each AGI is sent through the simulation and is scored based on the Spec. After several rounds of testings, the AGI with the highest "fitness" is selected for deployment onto the field.

Pros of the System: The AGIs are able to meet its specified goals effectively (though whether those goals are actually what its original programmers intended is a different question entirely), although it tends to be conservative in trying to meet those goals (to maximize the probability of success). It is able to predict what the other factions will do (having already simulated their behavior) and will be able to "counter" their moves in a manner that minimizes the risk to the AGI and its goals.

Cons of the System: The AGIs are not designed for long-term planning, if only due to hard computational limits (even a powerful society with colony ships can't really afford to spend too much money on processing power), and so are reactive instead of proactive. If the AGIs' simulation of the world is wrong, then expect odd and self-defeating behavior to occur (at least until it's time to produce the simulation for the next five years).

EDIT: Er, due to other projects I may have in mind, I'm going to have to pull out of this game. I'm fine with anyone taking my Family/Character, but if no one does, it's okay for them to be placed as NPCs.

No problem, thanks for the interest and ideas.  NPC factions and characters work mechanically diffrent then players, but I will use the faction for sure either way.

Thank skynet everyone for MC controlled human sympathizers to the AI menace!

If anyone else wants to join as the lawgivers or whoever I will leave the slot open until we are more done.

The idea behind having opposing AGIs would be ambiguity in not knowing what the motives are for any particular computer intelligence that is met.  These things should be complicated enough that evolving priorities and ethical outlooks should be easy for them.  Only a few AGIs will have survived intact on both sides, fewer actually operating, and none(for now) of the overlord intelligences. 

Looking at Skynet's idea for some of the AGIs, we could have many programs downloaded for safekeeping in robot bodies, long overdue to be recycled, mucking about in a world they were not designed for. 

Lots of malfunctioning robots.  Excellent.

[VoidSlayer]

Also, I will be glad to add lots of chaotic factions as they are possible.  After all if you rubhave three humans together you already have three possible factions able to exclude someone else.

So map features, I am going with a coast of some kind, mostly grassland and jungle, small desert, some wasteland/burned land from the fall, very large, very dangerous chunk of ship, lots of scattered debris and such.  Some regular mountains I guess?  Any other terrain features for the local area?

[Gwolfski]

maybe ponds of spilled chemicals from the shio?

[VoidSlayer]

maybe ponds of spilled chemicals from the shio?

Lakes of sentient nano paste, got it.

I mean, "normal chemicals", got it.