44 miles above the surface of Oceania, a tiny ship stalls in midflight.
This small spacecraft is hardly the length of a pencil, and only twice as thick, but in it's belly it carries the seeds of civilization, the seeds of life. Too bad the planet below already has both, but you don't always get what you want in life, and sometimes you hardly get what you need.
There are 5 still living species of sentients in this spacecraft, enough to start a small colony each. In fact, that is what they are meant to do, each given a small pod for their eggs to go into. As the ship enters the atmosphere, the ships computers wake up, painfully slowly. So slowly, in fact, the ship is almost into the ocean before the pods disperse.
Each pod is the size of one button on a normal television remote. Although the pods deploy retrorockets, they still have the speed and power to make it all the way to the sea floor. the pods carefully re-pressurize themselves to match the new pressures exerted on them from the surrounding waters as they descend, being prepared and ready to deploy by the time they reach the Sea Floor.
It should be mentioned that the area is rather empty at this time, most sea life being away for a time or asleep. Smalls grow quickly, but the things should still be back in time to notice the smalls before they do anything, if they are not inside something! As the leader of your tribe of Smalls, you have the responsibility of finding shelter, and rediscovering enough technology to spread your race up into the higher layer of ocean and across the planet!
Go forth, and multiply!
As you gain tech, you will be able to get higher up, eventually breaching the surface and finding the few islands scattered across the planet.
He who control the high places underwater has much more power than those who do not, but he who controls the land, controls the world!
The tech tree goes as follows:
Early Tribal->Late Tribal->Classical(can self-sufficiently sustain floating colonies just above the sea floor)->Early Dark Ages->Late Dark Ages (control of water spouts possible)->Renaissance->Early Industrial(can self-sufficiently sustain floating colonies in the middle regions of the sea, difficult to attack from the sea floor)->Late Industrial(colonies are created twice as fast, in one turn!)->Early Atomic(Atomic weapons draw the notice of the merpeople, as well as making four squares unlivable and damaging to all who pass through those waters! Be careful!)->Late Atomic (Entire sea colonizable, High Sea colonies unreachable by sea floor attacks unless you're ingenious in your strategy)->Early Silicon(Modern for humans)->Late Silicon(Land reachable!)->Land Era->Stellar Era(allows construction of your winning spacecraft!)
Setting up a colony takes 2 turns.
To play, fill out the Race Creation Sheet with as much detail as possible, then pick a thing on the Sea Floor to begin in. (see FAQ if confused about that) Only 5 players are allowed right now, so be quick before your spot is taken!
Tech levels, while not having definite boundaries, are expected to be adhered to. Anyone caught violating this rule will be given a warning. Violation a second time will cause a disaster local to that civilization. A third violation will cause you to be booted from the game and all record of your civilization to be lost to Davy Jones' Locker!
OOC posts are not allowed once the game has been begun.
You are not allowed to begin higher than the Sea Floor, because if you do you're entire tribe goes Boom from the sudden lessened water pressure.
Name: (Mermaids/Merpeople)
Starting Spot: (Above the Sea Floor)
Description: (A massive finned race. They grow slowly, and advance slowly, yet their strength and cunning have allowed them to ascend to the top of their world. Currently all merpeople are out enjoying TELION'S FEAST, but they are expected to return soon. These particular specimens have light brown skin and speak a language they call "English". They spend the majority of their time Above or In Caves. It is unknown whether or not contact with these beings is desirable, but for now, it is termed OFF LIMITS and dangerous. They eat in the DINING CAVES)
1: Furtaka, Peretics, sunken car
2: Criptfiend, Kriblits, sand under a whale
3: Draignean, Caerri (Ss-ay-ree), Ancient Creature Bones
4: Orb, Floatune, Base of a Kelp Tree
5: AntiAntiMatter, Triath, small Sea Floor Cave
1. "Hey! This is the same as Karne's game!"
I asked him, he said it was fine to make.
2. "Hey! This has less players than Karne's!"
I'm not the best multiplayer GM, and I didn't want to overwhelm myself. 5 sounded like a decent compromise.
3. "Hey! Is there any special stuff since this is, you know, underwater?"
Yes.
a. Be able to swim in someway! (however you think they could, as long as it isn't overly ridiculous) This may include craft in later eras, but all Smalls must start as some kind of natural swimmer.
b. Don't be made out of something that dissolves in water! (Duh.)
4."Map?"
Since this is underwater, its kinda hard to determine where exactly the landing site looks like generically. So, pick a natural object thats normally on the sea floor when you make your Smalls (everyone in a different thing, and it MUST be on the sea floor or on top of something that is), and I'll make a map from there.
Other Questions? ask them in the OOC thread or PM me.
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Topic: Smalls of Oceania (Read 20836 times)