The Houses of Ater: Part one
The End of an AgeYou represent the three ruling houses of the planet Ater. Ater is a frozen moon orbiting a gas giant in a binary star system, your civilization born in the myriad of caves and catacombs under the seabed. Only recently have you achieved industrialization, propelling yourself out of the dark ages, cracking the surface ice and catching your first glimpse of the stars only a few short generations ago.
The three houses are as such;
House Titan: The oldest house, and the first ring. Their settlements are spread across the sea-bed and filter down into the catacombs of cave systems beneath. It was here that your civilization was founded, and here where most of your people still live. Their emblem is a hammer, and they control most of the industry on Ater.
Points per turn: 5 production, 2 economy, 1 science
House Silver: The second house, the second ring. They emerged in the trade cities built in the subsurface bubbles of the surface ice, and they carved their citadels back into that same ice. Their cities are larger, though much rarer than those of house Titan, and their population is roughly 1/3 of the older house. They act as trade hubs, using the natural buoyancy of the oceans to move products across the globe. Their emblem is that of a coin, and they are the richest faction on Ater.
Points per turn: 1 production, 6 economy, 1 science
House Sky: Comparatively tiny to the other houses, house Sky has only just been born. They live in small settlements on the surface of Ater, above the ice. A cooperative effort in the exploration of this strange new world they are composed of the best and brightest of the other houses, the success stories of early expeditions. Their cities are tightly controlled against the lack of pressure the surface brings, but their unique and varied conditions make them a wealth of knowledge more than worth the cost to maintain. Their emblem is composed of a fractured line, representing the rift in the ice all expeditions first passed through.
Points per turn: 1 production, 2 economy, 5 science
Declare yourself for a house in your first post. Choose wisely, your oath will bind you and you can never leave the service of the house you choose.
Economic points will accumulate, all other points are lost on the turn if not spent.
If your house is destroyed, you lose.
When you vote, put it in bold and most importantly Make ONLY ONE POST with your vote. These games generate enough information for me to sift through between turns without having to keep track of that info changing again after the fact. Your word is your bond. All those that violate it will be thrown into the forage as oath breakers, as tradition requires. Additionally, anyone who gathers up and consolidates the votes into one post for me to glance at will get a pat on the head and a thank you from me.
Actions you can take:
Each round, your house will have a number of points to spend. The following are points-based actions and their costs.
Minor research: 1 science, 1 economy
A minor revision to an existing technology. If you have muskets, you can turn them into a flintlock. Supply of flintlocks not included. Subject to a D6 roll.
Major research: 4 science, 4 economy
Discover something new. Subject to a D6 roll.
Reverse engineer: 2 science, 2 economy
Attempt to reverse engineer a captured piece of tech you do not have access to. If successful, you will discover something new, though you will not always get the entire thing you were looking at. Subject to a D2 (coinflip)
Make Stuff: 1 production, 1 economy
Make and distribute a run of stuff that you have made before. ie. Equip a unit with muskets.
Make prototype stuff: 2 production, 2 economy
Here’s the supply of new flintlocks you were looking for. Same as the previous action but for new stuff. In the following turn they will be half the cost.
Make infrastructure: 3 production, 3 economy
Produce a copy of infrastructure that already exists on Ater. Each ring requires its own set of a given infrastructure.
Make prototype infrastructure. 5 production, 5 economy
Produce a new system of infrastructure never before seen on Ater. It will be cheaper to build for other rings on the following turn.
Freeform action: X economy
Thinking up now things and making them is all well and good, but sooner or later you need to do something with it all. Any mobilization will cost $, as will many other types of freeform actions. If you want to do something, state it either in thread or in DMs to me, and ill give you a number.
This is a cooperative game!This is not meant to be an arms race. It was an intentional decision to have everything here in one thread. Ater is a small world, and it is difficult to hide your actions from one another. While you are perfectly capable of seizing the assets of the other houses and ruling Ater on your own (though you would probably lose some capacity in all the collateral damage) you have much to gain by working together, and it is up to you
all to shape this new age. Negotiate and trade with the other factions. Exchanging tech, resource points and and items is free, though it can only be done on the turn you have it. You may need to frontload the costs to another house for research or production, and hope they hold up their end of the bargin on the next turn.
Year: 1385, The last year of the Age of SteamThe discovery of the third ring has destabilized the balance of Ater. The council of sages have declared this the beginning of a new age, and so christened the settlements on the surface to unify as House Sky. Representatives of the surface settlements draw together in council, navigating old politics and rivalries to forage new power, no longer bound to old masters.
Inside the ice, House Silver sill mourns the tragedy of Tath. The high king and all credible successors perished in one mighty blow with the formation of the rift a generation ago. An entire city destroyed in an instant, the echoes of its death heard round the world. Now, as the interim regent has passed away their nobles gather as well to elect a new king, least a succession crisis cripple them further.
House Titan as well has found itself at an inflection point. The end of a bloody civil war has found their old tyrant deposed and his corpse fed into the Heart Forge. The chaos that left them unable to advance in the face of House Silvers near collapse is at an end. The various warlords meet to decide who will rule them now, and cast a new crown from the forge.
In addition to spending your points this turn, you should each
elect a ruler of your house. They will have no additional say over how points are spent, but will have sole power over the decisions on special event that may occur.
House TitanRuler: Vacant
Muskets - Basic powder firearms, 1D3 damage roll for an equipped unit.
Steam Subs - Simple Pressurized subs capable of moving from the caves at the seabed to the bubble cities on the subsurface. Unarmed.
Blueweed - The most common crop of Ater, it is capable of drawing nutrients from the composition of its oceans and releasing large amounts of oxygen in the process. Its what keeps the people of Ater breathing and fed.
House SilverRuler: Vacant
Muskets - Basic powder firearms, 1D3 damage roll for an equipped unit.
Steam Subs - Simple Pressurized subs capable of moving from the caves at the seabed to the bubble cities on the subsurface. Unarmed.
Blueweed - The most common crop of Ater, it is capable of drawing nutrients from the composition of its oceans and releasing large amounts of oxygen in the process. Its what keeps the people of Ater breathing and fed.
House SkyRuler: Vacant
Muskets - Basic powder firearms, 1D3 damage roll for an equipped unit.
Steam Subs - Simple Pressurized subs capable of moving from the caves at the seabed to the bubble cities on the subsurface. Unarmed.
Blueweed - The most common crop of Ater, it is capable of drawing nutrients from the composition of its oceans and releasing large amounts of oxygen in the process. Its what keeps the people of Ater breathing and fed.
Skyweed - The first fully classified and usable surface plant, it seemed to grow from nothing. We now understand than inversely to Blueweed, Skyweed draws the atmosphere into itself to grow and roots in the ice serving as food for many of the strange surface animals.
When you vote, put it in bold and most importantly
Make ONLY ONE POST with your vote. These games generate enough information for me to sift through between turns without having to keep track of that info changing again after the fact.
Your word is your bond. All those that violate it will be thrown into the forage as oath breakers, as tradition requires. Additionally, if anyone gathers up and consolidates the votes into one post for me to glance at will get a pat on the head and a thank you from me.
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Topic: The Houses of Ater: Part one - The End of an Age (Read 1039 times)