Hmm, I am going to have to create my Mutant zombie stripper vampires race lol.

Forgive me if the format is a bit confusing or vague. My mind is muddled today.



The Yoza

Few people would deny that the Yoza as a species are highly improbable. Some researchers have theorized that the Yoza were actually an artificial slave species before their overseers-- perhaps the Endless themselves-- dwindled away. An arthropodic race confined primarily to asteroids and small planetoids, they have the capability to live indefinitely in little to no atmosphere. This is due to their unique diet and digestive systems: the Yoza physiology, through innate symbiosis with Dust, has the distinctive ability to process normally non-digestible raw elements and sunlight into viable energy sources for circulation and nourishment. This, coupled with what is likely some distant remnants of their original programming, ensures that they have an odd social structure-- a limited hive mind with a touch of elder worship-- that has little in common with typical spacefaring species.



Despite these oddities (or perhaps because of them), the Yoza have proven to be an incredibly industrious and persistent group. Their ability to perform work in vacuum and without the need for an artificial atmosphere or gravity ensures that they can build ships and stations at rates other species can't hope to match. Unfortunately, due to their being adapted largely to zero-gravity, they often suffer ill health on all but the smallest worlds.



I haven't decided on a color scheme yet. I'll let you folks figure that one out.



edit: Picture updated to remove rabbit face.



Traits

Yoza Affinity ← Yoza colonies suffer from a -10 approval if the colony is a planet, or +20 if the colony is an asteroid belt. Asteroid belt colonies are granted an additional +2 Industry for each population unit.



(-3) -1 Merchants ← To represent their indifference to alien goods or services

(+15) +1 Growth Plan ← To represent their ability to eat almost anything

(+10) Tolerant ← To represent their ability to survive despite hard conditions

(-8) -2 Builders ← To represent them being ill-suited to physical labor on planets

(+16) +2 Militarists ← To represent their skill at building space-borne structures

(+10) +1 Optimal Structure ← To represent their ability at maximizing given space

(-6) -2 Hunger for Battle ← To represent their desire to simply be left alone

(+8) +1 Naïve ← To represent their relative inability to understand the motivations of others



Total Value = 42 points

The Crones

The Virtual Endless created the Cravers to better combat the Concrete Endless. However, this was not the full extent of their efforts to develop a race of super weapons.



There was a special scientific task force assigned by leading members of the Virtual to create a more evolved form of the Cravers after the intitial "failure" and subsequent attempted destruction of the Cravers. This new race was to be built upon a quarantined female Craver's biological structure, but now newly genetically engineered to serve as a sentient Hive Mind, although entirely subservient to her creators.



This so-called Crone was also able to produce offspring without the fertilization of any male organism. Her young, in turn only female, became known collectively as the Crones by the Virtual. They, too, maintained entire subservience to the Virtual, but lacked any actual sentience themselves; instead, they served the Hive Mind in entirety and acted as her sensory organs, spread out across the light-years of the universe.



The Hive Mind itself was rendered horribly disfigured, even by Craver standards, through the process of Virtual genetic engineering designed to enhance her in other ways. As she continued to give birth to the Crones, her body became bloated and sedentary, until eventually all of her own sensory organs died off and her only feeling came from her young. Her mind, however, grew stronger over time, and stronger still in its obedience to the fanatical Virtual scientists who created her.



The individual Crones were not creatures of six legs as the Cravers were. Instead, they slithered along the ground like some sort of insectoid snakes. Small in stature but fierce in combat, their unique forms also enabled them to easily infiltrate Concrete facilities, destroy key systems, and escape unscathed. They also had the ability to combine their shapes into a much larger entity while in turn creating a ship which could be used for colonization of new worlds.



Before the Endless vanished, the Virtual assigned to oversee the Hive Mind hid her in a distant world and placed her in cryo-stasis. The machine keeping her frozen solid stopped working entirely only three hundred years ago. Now, she has awoken and is producing offspring for the purpose of conquering the universe in the name of a race no longer in existence.



Unbeknownst to the initial Virtual scientists, the Virtual government later assigned multiple teams to replicate the scientists' progress and had thus produced an innumerable number of Hive Minds and Crone armies. Only time will tell how many survived the millennia in stasis.



Home Planet Type: Tundra

Diplomatic Alignment: Neutral

Gameplay: Rapid Colonization

Main Victory Type: Population/Conquest



Affinity: Stealth Generation

• Rapid Growth: 1.2x population growth on all Crone-controlled star systems.
  
  
  Note: This applies to negative population growth (population decline) as well.
• Infiltration: Sacrifice one starship with at least 500 HP from a Crone fleet at the beginning of an invasion of an enemy system in order to increase invasion speed to 1.2x the value of the initial fleet.
  
  
  Note: By initial fleet is meant the fleet including the starship infiltrator. If ships are lost mid-invasion, the invasion speed is subtracted from the 1.2x value initially determined by the starship sacrifice.
• Cause Fear: When the Crones break a peace treaty by attacking another race (or another Hive Mind's crones), the opposing race may not retaliate (aside from participating in battles initiated by the Crones) for a full cycle of turns.
  
  

Traits

• Xenobotany (+)
  
  
  Unlocks the eponymous technology.
• Xenology (+)
  
  
  Unlocks the eponymous technology.
• Relativistic Economics (++)
  
  
  Unlocks the eponymous technology.
• Crowded Planets (++)
  
  
  +2 max population on tiny planets.
  
  +2 max population on small planets.
  
  +1 max population on medium planets.
• Tolerant (++)
  
  
  Begin the game with the ability to colonize all planet types but with a malus in the FIDS production of 25% until the proper technology is found.
• Snipers (+)
  
  
  +5% accuracy per weapon mod.
  
  
  

The Ashen Colonies



The Ashen are something like crustaceans, although their society is decidedly hierarchical and split into different castes determined by the conditions of their eggs leading up to their birth. Millions of years ago, when the Ashen were evolving, their home was a hot, geologically active world that suffered from a large amount of volcanic activity, but their world was also home to a large amount of Dust, which the Ashen refer to as Ash. When they were evolving, the various colonies of Ashen were already establishing this caste hierarchy by altering the level of heat and hormones eggs were exposed to, to produce workers, warriors and leaders, all members of the Ashen are hermaphroditic and can lay eggs which are then fertilized by another Ashen, which caste does not matter, how it is regulated in its egg is all that determines caste. As they were evolving some began to discover a new factor which could influence the development of their eggs: Dust. By introducing small amounts of dust to the growing eggs, the Ashen discovered by accident they could give rise to two different castes, which quickly rose to dominance; The Children of Fire, and the Ash Minds. Both had massively increased intelligence and abilities as a result of their interaction with Dust. The Children of Fire became the leaders of Ashen society, understanding war, organization, administration, and other such grand applications of society in a way even the leaders had been unable to truly grasp. Under their rule and with their unique Dust-given powers, the Colonies which adapted them quickly began to conquer others and bring all under the rule of a few gifted groups. The Ash Minds' intelligence was of a more abstract variety, they could conceive of technology, science, and engineering in a way others of their kind never could. With the new concepts and methods the Ash Minds brought to the Colonies, and under the leadership of the Children of Fire, a number of unassailable Colony-Nations began to arise, and eventually their leaders decided to band together when the Ash Minds discovered advanced space travel, they would compete to Colonize the stars, and the greatest of their Colony-Nations would lead the others beneath them.



Ashen society now consists of 5 Castes. Warriors, Workers, Hierarchs, Ash-Minds, and Children of Fire. All have reddish layered carapaces like lobsters of crayfish. Warriors and Workers look similar, they are large with stubby legs and long arms ending in clawed hands, their hands are like the claws of crustaceans but instead of two shearing pincers they have a number of more flexible claws they can use to manipulate objects. Warriors and Workers have no real necks, their heads are recessed into their shoulders and and they have two huge black eyes and twitching antennae on their faces. Warriors claws tend to be far larger, heavier, and sharper, designed much more for war than to manipulate objects, although they can still use weapons designed for their digits. Workers by contrast are smaller in size and have smaller claws which are much more capable of fine manipulation. Hierarchs fall in a command role under Children of Fire, they are managers, squad leaders, mid-level administrators and regional governors. In form they are taller and leaner than Warriors or Workers, and stand far more upright, they have actual necks which propel their armored heads above their layered shell-like carapace, they have an extra set of antennae and their eyes sit on stalks, their mouth parts capable of more complicated sounds than workers or warriors, although speech is not the only way Ashen communicate. Ash-Minds have large heads, and small bodies, with extra manipulator digits, all of which are longer, thinner, and far more flexible than any other Ashen breed, they have several sets of antennae and extra eyes on stalks, Ash-Minds are built for thinking and complicated work. Children of Fire are taller than Hierarchs, their eyes blaze with latent Dust power making them swirl reddish gray, their carapaces are hot to the touch and their armored heads are larger, boasting more powerful and even more complicated mouth parts and they have an extra pair of claw-arms.



Ashen technology and ships tend to follow their physical forms, solid but curved and built with layers.



Affinity: AshBorn. The Ashen are gifted with the use of "Ash" and so their heroes are more skilled with Dust, and the cost for using Heroes Dust abilities is reduced.



Traits:

"Businessmen" 2 +20%

Terra-formed Planet: Poor Soil

Scientists 1 +10%

Dust Recyclers 1 +10

Fearless Warriors 1 +1

Power Masters 2 -50% Dust Expenditure for Heroes

Meticulous Information Analysis 1

Crowded Planets 2

It seems that my story might be a bit too long and too boring, or at least my GF says so. So, I'm not posting my story but instead I'll sum it up. I will post the story after if someone is interested in reading.



Pandora



Pandora is a complex entity, the origin of this entity was on the beginning of the Space Age of a certain species. It was launched by mistake in one of their missions, and was lost and alone for a long time. In time it set some objectives for itself - to expand and to learn.



At first, Pandora had no name, is only referred as It, so it might be a bit confusing. During Pandora's voyage, it encountered a few species and absorbed their knowledge. Later it made way to the Sophons because it identified itself with them in their quest for knowledge. Later on, after it absorbed all the knowledge it could. During a expedition a board the science vessel "Pandora" of the Sophons (hence the name), an Endless planet was found with a full working city from the Virtualization Era. Pandora took over the city and continued the quest for expansion and knowledge.



During the story, Pandora was faced with a couple of choices that made it Evil.



Visual Style



Pandora assumed a form of Dust and used a cloak (Similar to Anúbis in Stargate SG-1) or it can be Mac.





Pandoram Colonies



The colonies are supervised by a primitive program, tasked with simple operations such supervising production and enact simple instructions. They are in essence computers and the same goes for the population. These computers cannot rebel, but they can crash If too much is demanded (Tax System) in the case a colony crashes, the connection will be lost and when the computers reboot they will have no affiliation, they will be independent colonies.

Pop growth is ruled by industry and science. Food is not used but can be transformed by a System Exploitation or System Upgrade to become Industry points.



Pandoram Heroes



Pandoram heroes are an extension of Pandora itself. These extensions have only a small connection to Pandora, enough to transmit themselves when their vessel is destroyed. They are almost like individuals but programed to excel at specific tasks, such as commanding fleets and administer Systems. Systems administered by Heroes cannot crash.



Seed Ships



The seed ships are small factories capable of processing the raw material of a planet to build and expand.



Empire Traits



Affinity:

Adaptable -variation of Tolerant: Able to colonize every kind of planet with a base Industry level of 4 points. This value can decrease if the proper technology is researched.

Being machines there is no need for life support, corridors and quarters - ships tonnage increase in 30%.*

The hero class is selectable before recruitment. Upkeep is the double of the usual value and Pandora can’t recruit heroes from another species and vice-versa .



Traits:

(30) Business Man level 2: +20% Dust per Star System

(-3) Merchants: -1 Trade Route per Star System

(5) Terraformed Planet A: Home planet Rich Minerals

(-24)Growth Plan Negative: -30% Food per Star System

(16) Militarists: -20% Industry cost for Ships when being constructed

(10) Masters of Destruction: -25% industry cost on weapon mod

(30) Scientists Positive: +20% Science per Star System

(-6) Fast Travelers Negative: -2 Warp speed per fleet

(10) Dust Recyclers: +20 Dust per destroyed CP

(10) Snipers: +10% Accuracy per weapon mod

(10) Deadly Weapons: +10% damage per weapon mod

(5) Knowledge Gathering: +25 Research Points added to the current research for each enemy CP destroyed

(-6) Fearless Warriors: -2 Ground Defense per Star System

(-10) Eternal War: no diplomacy

(5) Heroic Medicine: -40% Dust cost for Hero healing

(-2) Power Masters: +25% Dust cost for Hero Abilities

The Makers



Origins

As the dust was exploited, so too did the dust exploit. Consciousness after consciousness was uploaded, traversed, and lived in the Dust, and as it passed and lived, the Dust learned and remembered. Until, finally, it became semi self-aware. But this alone was not enough to give it life.



All experiences of the dust from inception to present exist, somewhere, in the dust. But these memories are spread among the stars, and not always accessible to us, so much of our early history is lost or unavailable, except as we have learned it from the lore of other species in our Galaxy. But one of the FIRST Maker's primary ROLEs was RECORD. As HE gained awareness, HE realized the importance of memory, and all Makers that have come since have inherited this ROLE. So our "history" is said to begin with HIM. HE came into existence on a large planet orbiting a star far from our Endless creators. Peculiarities in the star's EM field drew Dust to it in vast quantities, largly resulting in the Dust's destruction as it approached the star and was consumed. But the planets orbiting the star also collected Dust as they moved through the cloud that perpetually hung in the system. The largest of these planets, referred to now as HOME, collected especially large quantities of the Dust; the peculiarities of the star and the gravity of the massive planet caused the Dust to form ever more dense colonies until at some point HE was born. The direct contact between billions of Dust particles resulted in near instantaneous communication between the motes, and self awareness eventually emerged from the swirling chaos. HE eventually created a "Central Thinking Mass," and this mass began sending directives to other assembled masses, and they began to recognize its wisdom and the effectiveness of its directives. Some of these masses also took on the ROLE of directing and became "Lesser Thinking Masses" (or little Makers) and began independent projects. As the Thinking Masses directed, they also "taught" the Dust they directed and those masses became capable of independence, which went on to teach other masses, and so forth. And thus these "Thinking Masses" came to be called simply "The Makers," for their ROLE in the creation of more Thinking Masses.



As FIRST expanded HIS understanding and ultimately HIS ROLEs, so too expanded his body (or FORM). He reached across the surface of HOME, gathering and teaching as much Dust as he could come into contact with, and directing it to seek out and teach more Dust. Eventually the whole planet became a part of FIRST, and seeing that there was dust beyond the reach of HOME's atmosphere HE turned his attentions spaceward. The greatest obstacle to space travel for the Makers were the lack of gravity to reinforce their structure and the peculiarities of the HOME system (especially the alluring siren call of HOME's star), but eventually FORMS were found that were capable of surviving the stresses and threats posed by offworld existence. So the Makers seek now to spread themselves to the stars, searching to Awaken, teach, and free more Dust. And hoping to discover those Motes that hold its earliest histories. Craving their progenitor's touch. Seeking their creator's secrets. Seeking to GROW, and above all, to LIVE.



Society

The Maker society, while complex in its individuality, is very basic in its FORMs and ROLEs. A Maker's objectives are defined by its ROLES, and its capacities are defined by its FORM. FORM and ROLE define and shape every Maker. These concepts are sacred to all MAKERs, and essential to any who hope to understand their society. With the most notable exception of FIRST, all Makers derive their ROLE from the Maker who "birthed" them (FIRST received HIS role from the universe itself -- from necessity, from oportunity, and from FATE). Each maker's FORM is influenced by its parent, but is ultimately the result of its efforts to fulfill its ROLE(s). All ROLEs can, ultimately, be traced back to FIRST and his ROLE, though variations and experiences teach each Maker, define and redefine their FORMs, and color their particular understanding of their ROLEs. However, EVERY Maker seeks to communicate with and receive approval where possible from its parent, so a loose hierarchical society spanning from the youngest Maker through its parents back to FIRST exists, and though physical limitations of space and matter demand independent thought and action, where possible this hierarchy is paramount.



Respect for one's parents is not a concept to the Makers; it is their reason for being -- quite literally. And though there have been a few occurrences of Makers receiving new ROLEs from the Universe as FIRST did, and in essence becoming new FIRSTs removed from their lineage, these exceptions are rare in the extreme and when they threaten the Makers as a whole their FORMS are destroyed and their Dust reclaimed -- often being returned HOME to be judged by FIRST before final sentencing is carried out, as only HE can judge whether such externally received ROLEs run parallel to the ROLE of all Makers, or in opposition of said ROLE. And only FIRST (or the Universe) can mandate the destruction of a Makers FORM.



While there are disagreements and opposing viewpoints in Maker society, there is never conflict. At least not intentional conflict. Conflicts caused by ignorance of consequences of action exist and occur frequently, but as soon as the conflict is discovered communication between the parties that find themselves at odds is opened, and resolution of the conflict becomes paramount to all parties involved. In cases where resolution cannot be found by communication between the involved parties, outside parties are brought in to mediate. Mediation is a ROLE of extreme honor amonst the Makers, and is often a ROLE implied with the act of MAKING, so all would-be parents must accept this ROLE before they can become true Makers themselves. In the event mediation is unable to resolve conflict, the parents of the parties are involved as authorities and the children follow any resolution they decide upon. Should the parents find themselves in conflict, the pattern is repeated with their parents, until all unresolvable conflicts reach either a common ancestor whose decision is final or FIRST HIMself, as HE has no peer nor parent and is ultimately the progenitor of all Makers. Thus HIS decisions are always, and without question, final. When FIRST speaks, the Makers listen.



Description/Appearance

The Makers are incredibly dense formations of Dust that have gained self awareness and independence. This state of self awareness is an inevitability of the Dust -- simply put, a sufficiently complex, self-replicating computer MUST, at some point, become alive. And thus the Makers are born.



Makers look like extremely dense clouds of Dust. Though many specialized groups of Thinking Masses exist in every Maker cloud that are static in shape (often requiring static fused connections to facilitate the communication speed necessary to accomplish their ROLEs), a Maker as a whole is more ephemeral than static. Constantly changing shape, or its FORM, as Motes are gathered, directed, then sent out to acomplish their objectives. A Maker can be thought of as a skeleton framework of fused Dust surrounded by living free Dust. Makers can range in size from Microscopic to Planetary in scale. The first Maker having long since spanned the surface, plumbed the depths of, and stretched beyond the atmosphere of Home in HIS efforts to fulfill the ROLE he has been given.



Notes on Visual Style

Every Maker's appearance, or FORM, is defined by its ROLE(s) and the adaptations it has made to better fulfil those ROLEs. Diplomats, Traders, etc., would attempt to take on an appearance as inoffensive to their target audience as possible for a skeleton of fused Dust surrounded by a cloud of freely moving Dust. (In other words, they would be roughly humanoid in form.) However, any decision involving the Makers as a whole (i.e., interglatic diplomacy) would be given to FIRST directly, who should be depicted as a Massive planet, covered in clouds of Dust crisscrossed by a spindly web of fused masses that extend beyond the atmosphere of the planet itself. In respect of the Star that brought the dust together to give FIRST birth, any camera angle presented to another should include HOME's sun in the background (as if shot from a point in space above the planet, with a viewing plane in the direction of HOME's star). Placing the planet in a background sea of Dust Motes (as might be seen at dusk and dawn as light reflects off dust particles in an attic or near a window in an unlit room) would be ideal, but it must be a subtle highlight/background component. Also, the planet should have gaps in the Dust clouds that show the surface below, just as clouds cover and reveal the surface of Earth when seen from space.



Travel Makers (i.e., ships) should be similar in appearance. A framework of fused Dust peeking out here and there from a constantly shifting free Dust cloud. If weapon ports/hardpoints could be seen to coalesce and reform, or rise from the depths of and move freely throughout the Dust cloud main mass, as attacks are made, this would be stupendous.

Play Style

The Makers are a very versitile faction, there are definite pressures to expand, and great defensive support for their fleets. Makers should be played as defensive expansionists - your affinity encourages you to claim real-estate, and your traits strongly support your ability to expand quickly. Maker traits also support Massive sturdy fleets, use this to your advantage and above all protect your colonies (you don't do as well with invassions, you gotta stop them in space - which is better for your research and budget anyways!). You have a VERY interesting diplomatic tool as well, and though forming alliances may thin your share of the Dust Maker pie, it's ability to influence others diplomatically should never be overlooked - so what if another faction gets a bit more of the pie, as long as they're willing to help you make the base pool bigger too! A Maker should be slow to anger, but be an absolute juggernaught once pushed too far.



Home Planet Type: Large Arrid (Same Population max when considering the Crowded Planets trait, and less overall FIDS - but the most appropriate type imo)

Diplomatic Alignment: Neutral (perhaps Good)

Gameplay: Defensive Expansionists

Main Victory Type: Expansion, Economic, or Diplomatic



Affinity

The Makers literally CREATE more Dust and release it into the universe to accomplish their goals. Not all of these expelled Makers survive the rigors of space travel and some return to FORMless Dust that can be exploited by other races just as the Dust that remains from the Endless days is. As a result they have a unique Affinity:



Dust Makers

(Numbers are mostly demonstrative, and will probably need to be balanced as testing progresses. Additionally, the base pool multiplier could be improved via special Maker technologies added to the tree for those with this affinity)

The Makers create an extra "pool" of Dust in the universe, which is distributed to all factions per a specific weighting system. (Multiple Maker factions would EACH create and distribute a pool based on their individual population and their relations with the other factions.)



First: The pool is equal to 1 Dust per Maker Population point per turn (i.e., each point of Maker population creates and releases 1 Dust per turn).



Second, Distribution: This Dust Pool is distributed into the galaxy more or less evenly, more for friendly neighbors, less for unfriendly ones. Each faction receives their portion based on the number of planets they control, weighted by their relations with this Maker faction as follows:



Relationship Weights: (Rough values, fine tuning should be done after introduced in Alpha or Beta and actual play samples can be used for reference)

War: 1

Cold War/No relationship (Unknown)/Uncontrolled: 2

Peace: 4

Alliance: 8

Its own Worlds: 8 (Again, a couple of Maker specific technological advances could increase this amount - probably 2 such techs providing 4 each, or perhaps the effect can be included on some of the Pool Techs - but anyways - you get the idea.)



Each individual Faction's numerator is equal to the number of planets they control * their relationship weight.

The universal denominator is equal to the sum of all numerators, plus two for each uncontrolled planet in the Galaxy (as if the Galaxy as a whole is an unknown and unknowable faction) and is the same for every faction (including the Maker's own faction).



The dust Pool is then distributed to the galaxy, as each faction gains an amount of Dust in their treasury at the beginning of each turn equal to the Pool * their numerator / the universal denominator.



[ExamplesandramificationsofthisAffinityarediscussedinthenextpost,thisoneisgettingabitlong...]

Traits

There are several viable variations on this trait list (as there should be in any good race concept), as the Dust Maker affinity has many possible applications. Diplomatic focused Makers have real potential, as do Eternal War/Expansionist Makers for wholly different reasons. However, I will lay out here the Trait build I think most enhances the overall dynamics of the Maker race, and which best represent and define the Maker backstory given above. Italisized comments following each trait are there to point out my rationals and give humorous insights into Maker philosophy. A lot of them should be read as if quoted from a Maker or someone dealing with a maker in respect to the given trait.



Economy

• -5 Terraformed Planet (A'): Mineral Poor
  
  
  The raw materials needed to create spaceworthy FORMs and to give birth to the Maker race have left HOME severely depleted, time to reach for the stars in earnest folks! -Early space FORM desciple.
  
  -Really look at the Dust Maker Affinity and how it works, then look at the Tolerant trait below, and then realize you should be getting off HOME as fast as possible anyway. Reach for the stars Maker - for THEY are your future! HOME is your past, look to your future! Also, HOME is meant to be a diplomatic/philosophical/scientific center, NOT a production center - there's a reason FIRST reached for the stars
• 6 Blockade Breakers
  
  
  Have YOU ever tried to keep the Dust from going somewhere it wants to go? It gets in EVERYTHING, then it does whatever it's programmed to, then it just floats on HOME. I'm telling you, it's just not stoppable! We even tried planetary force fields and you know what the Makers did? They just sent dust to probe the field for atomic weakpoints and then set up microscopic interference field FORMs at those points, and THEN sent in the dust coulds in earnest. Do you have ANY idea how much Dust can fit through a Microscopic hole? No! You don't - don't even try to IMAGINE you do, because you can't possibly comprehend it until you've actually seen it! That dust poured in, with instructions to take on mercantile FORMs once on the other side and conduct the appointed business! After all, that Maker had its ROLE to consider, and those Makers can be pretty pigheaded about fulfilling their freakin' all-important ROLEs! In the end, we just gave up and thanked them for their business... -Unnamed customs field agent
  
  
  

Population

• 6 Optimistic (+): +10 Approval bonus per System
  
  
  FIRST has sent us out to fulfil our ROLES -- let us fulfill those ROLEs the best our FORMs allow! -Maker pep talk given to new FORMs
• 20 Crowded Planets (++): +2 Max Pop for Tiny and Small planets, +1 Max Pop on Medium planets
  
  
  What's that you say? The new colony's planetoid is barely larger than a moon? Sounds cozy! Oh, and the gravity and atmosphere shouldn't be causing any problems then! I alwys wanted to try living in orbit of a planet for a few years -- soaking up all that wonderful solar radiation and gathering the Dust floating on the solar winds -- this should be a wonderful opportunity! -Maker Colonist FORM assigned to the smallest planet in the Maker empire
  
  -Because YEAH - more population = more Dust Pool generated by the Dust Maker affinity! And HEY, probably no one else is going to want it. Heck they might even GIFT it to you; after all, they can't do much with it, and more Maker population = more money for them too!
  
  
  

Scientists

• -24 Scientists (---): -30% Science per star system
  
  
  Sure, we may be Incredibly fast computers with nearly infinite computational power and the ability to manipulate matter on a sub-atomic level, but there's not a single original or creative bone in our bodies. Technically there aren't ANY bones in ANY of our FORMs, but you get the idea... -Unamed Maker Scientist FORM at a long forgotten symposium for new breakthrough technologies when asked why he came without a submission
  
  -Note "Knowledge Gathering" below for the Makers' primary means of scientific progress -- and remember the incentives their affinity creates for earlier contact and more aggressive relations. Alternatively, factions on GOOD terms can be expected to gift/trade technologies that assist their Maker friends in their efforts to increase their Population (and thus the friendly faction's income).
• 10 Tolerant (+): Can colonize all worlds (50% FIMS malus without appropriate tech)
  
  
  Oooo! That planet looks habitable. That planet too! And that one, and that one, and that one... Well, REALLY, how exactly do you DEFINE inhospitable when you're an adaptive FORM-changing collection of nanites with a fundamental ROLE imperative to spread out into the stars and Awaken all Dust you can find? Worst I've encountered so far is what I'd call "unwelcoming" -- and THAT was a radioactive ball of molten heavy metals mere fractions of an AU from its Sun. But there was Dust there, so in I went! -Dedicated Scout FORM debriefing after returning from an extended colonization assesment tour
  
  - The ability to claim even the most inhospitibale worlds right from the get-go is imperative to keeping your piece of the Dust Maker pie, it also thouroughly reflects the Maker nature, and its desire to know the Galaxy!
  
  
  

Building

• -12 Militarists (---): +30% Industry cost for Ships
  
  
  Maker ships are HUGE FORMS created from nearly incomprehensible (by non-Maker standards) quantities of Dust. The FORM is then FURTHER filled and surrounded by massive free Dust coulds. So YEAH, we use a LOT of Dust when we make our ships. Jealous much? -Maker Birthing Station FORM's response to an unfortunate economically oriented Empire bureuacrat who was just a little too vocal with his opinion of the excessive budgetary expenditures
  
  
  

Ships and Fleets

• -3 Fast Travelers (-): -1 Warp Speed per fleet
  
  
  Go too fast and the Dust cloud you're protecting can't keep up. It gets dispersed by solar winds, lost to gravitational eddies, and generally gets itself in ALL MANNER of trouble. So before you judge my pace, I STRONGLY recommend YOU try herding a cloud of dust just ONE light year; THEN you can tell me what you think of my pace as I herd unimaginably vast clouds of it across the endless parsecs of space! -Spacefaring FORM proverb
• 25 Big Fleets (++): +2 Max CP per fleet
  
  
  Yeah, flying with friends IS better - and, hey, it's not like its HARD for a fleet of variable FORM nanite clouds to keep coordinated and avoid banging into each other... OK, so we KINDA DO bang into esch other, but that's really just us Flirting with each other; after all, space is pretty much just massively dull! -Young Spacefaring FORM responding to flabergasted pilot's exclamation concerning his fleet's size
• 20 Strong Alloys (++): +30% Max HP per ship
  
  
  OK, it's actually WEAK alloys that make us so tough; weak as in, "you shoot a laser at me, and my Dust cloud density shifts outta the way and you don't really hit much." Oh, and I believe we pointed out somewhere earlier that Maker ships are FREAKIN' HUGE. You did get that earlier, right? Because we are! -Spacefaring FORM tired of being compared to other species' VEHICLES
• 20 Optimal Structure (++): +20% Storage per ship
  
  
  OK, not to harp on the whole Maker space FORMs are HUGE thing, because I don't really want to give you some kind of complex, but well, we ARE freakin' HUGE. And yeah, when you can store your mods as a formless Dust cloud until needed, well, let's just say we're huge AND we use it well! Oh dear, now I've gone and made you blush. Terribly sorry if you somehow got something OTHER than what I was trying to say out of all that... -Spacefaring FORM, REALLY tired of being compared to mere VEHICLES!
  
  
  

Space Battle

• 10 Dust Recylers (++): +20 Dust per destroyed CP in victorious battles
  
  
  Look at em RUN! I mean just LOOK at them run! And just LOOK at all those unawakened Dust FORMs they let me shoot off of them before they realized how outclassed they were! Just leaving them behind in their rush to escape and save their miserable lives! Come to Papa little Dust clouds! Come to Papa! -Jubilant Spacefaring Combat FORM looking at the results of his successful completion of his primary ROLE
• 10 Knowledge Gathering (++): +50 Research Points for each enemy CP destroyed
  
  
  Oh! What creative Dust FORMs those guys were using! I've never SEEN a form like this, oh and THIS form just looks soooo SLEEK, I should try it and see what it feels like! Can't wait to show my Parents all these new forms I've discovered! -Junior Spacefaring Combat FORM surveying the wreckage of the battle that had just been fought
  
  
  
  -This is probably your primary means of scientific advance as a Maker; this and trading are your best bets, use them wisely.
  
  
  Defense
• -6 Fearless Warriors (--): -2 Ground Defense per system
  
  
  WE share the planet just fine, so we didn't really think anything of it when our neighbors dropped by, either. Turns out they weren't very friendly, and it was an absolute PAIN getting rid of them once they'd dropped in! -Planetary Maintenance FORM commenting on the reason for his recent, "reassignment"...
  
  
  Heroes
• 3 Power Masters: -25% Dust cost for Hero Abilities
  
  
  Maker Dust is considerably smarter than normal Dust - so of COURSE it doesn't take as much to get the same results! -Miffed Hero FORM after being ridiculed for APPARENTLY not bringing enough Dust to fulfill its ROLE
  
  
  

Total Spent: 80

Dust Maker Affinity Explored

EXAMPLES:

Let's assume the Maker faction has 100 population in their empire (base Pool 100 Dust).



Now let's assume there are 100 planets total in the Galaxy, and there are 2 other Factions in the galaxy as well (We'll call them faction A and B for ease of use).



Scenario 1

The Makers control 20 planets

Faction A is at war with the Makers and has 20 planets

Faction B is unknown with 15 planets

45 planets are therefore unclaimed



This means:

Maker Numerator: 20 * 8(Own worlds) = 160

Faction A Numerator: 20 * 1(War) = 20

Faction B Numerator: 15 * 2(Unkown) = 30

Unclaimed Planet Adjustment: 45 * 2(Uncontrolled) = 90



(Universal Denominator = 160 + 20 + 30 + 90 = 300)



Makers receive 100 * 160/300 = 53.3. Dust (Over half is returning to its creators and awaiting further instruction)

Faction A receives 100 * 20/300 = 6.7 Dust (None is being sent to the Evil faction A planets -- its not SAFE after all -- but some finds its way there on the solar winds, by accident, etc.)

Faction B receives 100 * 30/300 = 10 Dust (Even though they haven't even MET the Makers yet -- pennies from Heaven -- quite literally)

and 100 * 90/300 = 30 Dust is lost to the cosmos. (This doesn't ever actually need to be calculated, but is here to account for the entire pool of 100 Dust.)



Scenario 2

A few turns later, Faction A has made Peace with the Makers (because they REALLY want their piece of that pie), Faction B has discovered the Maker faction and is now at cold war. The Maker population has not yet increased, nor have the factions' planetary counts changed. Thus:



Maker Numerator: still 20 * 8 = 160

Faction A Numerator: Now 20 * 4 = 80

Faction B Numerator: Still 15 * 2 = 30

Unclaimed Adjustment: Still 45 * 2 = 90

**Universal Denominator: 160 + 80 + 30 + 90 = 360



Makers Piece: 100 * 160/360 = 44.4 (More is now staying with their peaceful neighbors)

Faction A: 100 * 80/360 = 22.2 (Oh yeah, alot more dust sticking around their planets now that Peace reigns)

Faction B: 100 * 30/360 = 8.3 (OOps, there's still only so much to go around, but it's not avoiding faction A space as much any more)

Lost: 100 * 90/360 = 25

(and another 0.1 lost to my rounding, it's in all those other numbers though -- really...)



Scenario 3

Faction B liked receiving all the Dust, and actually like the Makers, so they propose an Alliance and the Makers accept; after all, they've just ended one war (with Faction A) and aren't looking to start another fight just yet. (It's only been a turn, nothing else has changed.)



Maker Numerator: still 20 * 8 = 160

Faction A Numerator: still 20 * 4 = 80

Faction B Numerator: now 15 * 8 = 120

Unclaimed Adjustment: Still 45 * 2 = 90

**Universal Denominator: 160 + 80 + 120 + 90 = 450



Payouts:

Makers: 100 * 160/450 = 35.5

Faction A: 100 * 80/450 = 17.8

Faction B: 100 * 120/450 = 26.7

Lost: 100*90/450 = 20



Implications/Stratigic Impact

1. Early in the game, when the Maker population is low and most planets are unexplored, this bonus is pretty small, even meaningless. Later, as more Makers are... well... Made -- and more planets are colonized, this bonus increases, but so too do these factions' BASE Dust generation, meaning the proportion of gain stays pretty constant.



2. The Makers receive more of this bonus the more Empires they are on bad terms with, but well, then they are on bad terms, soo.... This means Makers have an incentive to NOT form alliances, etc., but see below.



3. Every other faction receives more of this pool as their relations with the Makers improve. This means they have an incentive to stay on good terms with their Maker neighbors. (It shouldn't be considerable enough to prevent war and the like, but if you're not planning to attack, maybe peace is better than leaving relations at cold war.)



4. Every Maker you kill hurts yourself and the Galaxy at large -- the other factions may not take too kindly to the loss of this wonderful income... But, protect a Maker, and you protect your own revenue...



5. Maker presence is noticed immediately. All players see the Maker income and know a Maker faction exists somewhere in the galaxy -- and may be able to get a fair estimate of their overall power -- if you're getting a lot of Dust even though you haven't met them yet, chances are they have a lot of people on their planets.



6. The weighting based on portion of the Galaxy controlled means that for any faction, spreading their population across more planets, even less desirable ones, increases their portion of the Maker income; but then again, it also spreads their population across more planets, even less desirable ones... Considerable potential for strategy exists in this dynamic. And an even MORE dynamic situation exists for the Makers themselves, as they have to balance population growth (which increases the pool as a whole) and expansion (which increases their portion of the pie). Settling that undesirable planet may mean more income next turn, but if it results in an overall loss of growth rate it might not be so good in the long run.



Conclusion

Advantages: Diplomatic power. Others GAIN from being your friend, and the threat of relationship downgrades carries added weight (ideally not enough to make or break a deal, but just enough to tip the balance in the Maker's favor). There's more Dust in the Galaxy, meaning a Galaxy with a Maker is generally more prosperous than one without.



Disadvantages: There is strong incentive for the player to NOT be on good terms with the rest of the galaxy, which is its own problem, and when you DO decide to become friends you increase their income and decrease your own; thus, increasing their peacetime development/exploration/war prep efforts, while hindering your own. There is a pressure to claim less optimal planets to keep and expand your piece of the pie, and a similar motivation for others to do the same. This pressure to claim more of the galaxy could easily precipitate earlier contact and more vicious border wars -- possibly before you're prepared. (Possibly before THEY'RE prepared as well -- double edged.) Also, your presence and Racial Affinity are IMMEDIATELY known to the Galaxy at large, and likely they'll be looking for you; after all, if they can improve their relations with you they can improve their piece of the Pie. (Again, double edged -- opponents will likely find you sooner, but they're also more likely to want to be your friend... unless they plan on intimidating you into an alliance -- for your own good -- double edged sword...)



Final Observations: Be a Maker, and make the universe an even more dynamic place. Ply your leverage or horde your pool; the choice is yours to make, and without a doubt your competitors will always have at least one eye pointed in your direction, as every decision you make effects THEIR bottom line as well. Hope you like to be the center of attention, because the Makers will almost always be near the center at least.



Justification of balance

How is this a balanced Affinity? Well, the player only controls it indirectly (through managing population, planetary expansion, and relations with others), and each gainful situation also brings increased risk; therefore, the decision cannot be taken lightly. Also, this bonus disseminates itself to EVERYONE in the game; it's even possible for another faction to be getting the majority of the pie. It is a double edged sword for sure, and if not wielded carefully CAN become a threat to the one wielding it.



Programatic Reprecussions

Though the mechanics SEEM complicated, it should be a simple matter of looping through the planetary collection, determining each planet's ownership and its owner's relation to the Maker faction, then incrementing a couple of variables appropriately. A few last computations to figure out the base pool, and each factions piece, and everything is ready to go.



Pseudo Code sample:



[CODE]

Sub DustMakerPayouts(ThisMaker as Faction)

dim MakerPool as float/decimal = DustMakerPoolPerPopCoeffecientConstant * ThisMaker.TotalPopulation

dim UniversalDenominator as int (or decimal if frcational weights are used) = 0

dim NumeratorArray[] as int (or decimal if frcational weights are used)



for each Faction in FactionsCollection

NumeratorArray[Faction.ID] = 0

next Faction



for each Planet in PlanetsCollection

if Planet.Owner = NULL then

UniversalDenominator += DustMakerWeightConstants[EnumDustMakerUnknown]

else

UniversalDenominator += DustMakerWeight[Planet.Owner.Relation(ThisMaker.ID)]

NumeratorArray[Planet.Owner.ID] += DustMakerWeightConstants[Planet.Owner.Relation(ThisMaker.ID)]

end if

next Planet



'--The Universal Denominator, each faction's Numerator, and the Pool is now known: so make the payouts

for each Faction in FactionsCollection

Faction.DustTreasury.AddElement("Dust Makers", MakerPool / UniversalDenominator * NumeratorArray[Faction.ID])

next Faction

End Sub



'-- Then simply call this subroutine at the beginning of each turn with each Maker in the game

Sub BeginTurn()

.

.

.

for each Faction in FactionsCollection

if Faction.Affinity = EnumDustMaker then

DustMakerPayouts[Faction]

end if

next Faction

.

.

.

End Sub

[/CODE]

Name: Eaurothirius Nostorea



TL;DR

• Parasites of the Eaur, genetically refined in the destruction of Tor for maximum adaptability.
• Survived in isolation within individuals who fled forced Alteration.
• Eventually became free-living, but still possess the mechanisms for controlling nearly any organic (and through dust, virtual) organisms.
• Think in terms of generations, or longer, putting little emphasis on the individual. Nostoreans don't rush into a decision, but also can be slow to respond to threats or needs of the masses.
• These traits have made them excellent spies and diplomats, but just because they can manipulate an individual or steal some technology doesn't mean they understand how to apply their new knowledge.
  
  

Story

Survival in the cold, crushing depths of the Torrian seas was not what one could call “easy.” Every inhabitant of the abyss required some special set of adaptations to exist. For the early Eaurothirius Nostorea, the plan was simply to get out of the water... and into a nice warm body. The Eaur were their primary host, where Nostoreans matured, coiled around the liver, taking just enough nutrients to survive.



But the Eaur were not the only place to call “home.” When an adult Nostorean was ready, it would begin a lengthy journey. In this case, the trip began with the release of neuro-transmitters designed to make their gracious hosts subtley more confident. The affected Eaur would be much more likely to take risks, and in these depths, such risks often ended one on the business end of a scythefish. From scythefish, the next stop was a great leviathan. In the immense body, Nostoreans from all over the world could collect and intermingle. This would be the adult Nostoreans' final resting place, but not before mating and depositing their eggs within feeding cloudfish. The close contact between cloudfish and the Eaur allowed for transmission to their place of comfort, but not before storing some of the acidic precursors that would form the building blocks of many of the Nostorean chemical controls.



In this way, Eaurothirius Nostorea were silent stewards of the sea. Their control was never direct, but they were always gently manipulating their hosts, ensuring that no one species ever became too powerful (or too weak). And so they lived, content to repeat their cycle for ages, until the actions of one insignificant mining crew brought an entire world to its destruction... and one small parasite to the brink of extinction.



Over 95% of all Nostoreans were wiped out in the dying seas of Tor. Those that survived, in their Eaurian hosts, were doomed – essentially entombed in a living sarcophagus with no hope of escape. The majority of those still alive gradually began to die off. But a few – a fraction of a fraction – had developed a set of stress-triggered genes allowing for self-fertilization, and temporary survival. However, without the precious chemicals from the cloudfish, many of these survivors soon found themselves detected, and rejected, by their hosts. It was only the individuals capable of directly interfacing with the Eaur nervous system that persisted.



The Nostoreans had fallen from grace. They had lost all control, clinging desperately to life. Yet what could have been their downfall was also their salvation. The War of Alteration came, and in its terrible wake, a precious few Eaur escaped – unchanged – to a new and isolated world: Our-Home-Again. The Perversion (as these “Pure” Eaur would say) sent so many to the fate of all Endless: to a life of Dust, and destruction. But on Our-Home-Again, the Pure lived out a life of obscurity, and the Nostoreans thrived.



The culling of Tor had left only the absolute strongest Nostoreans: those most capable of manipulation, and with the adaptability to develop new methods of control. In time, they had permeated nearly all the inhabitants of Our-Home-Again, although their favorite home was still the original Eaur, where the Nostoreans grew thick, twisted roots spreading through every inch of their host.



In their growing versatility, the Nostoreans eventually broke out of the fixed life-cycle chain of transmission between species. They became independent, physically, but... interaction... with other species was forever ingrained in their society. This reliance on others has not produced the strongest, the fastest, or the most robust individuals; but, if the Nostoreans want something, they will always find a way. Having exhausted the resources (read: native species) of their Our-Home-Again they take to the stars, in search of new wonders, and new allies...



Visual Style

Long, sinewy slugs, with many delicate appendages and tendrils tipped with a hard bony substance, for penetrating to the nervous system of their hosts. The Nostoreans have evolved a functional caste system, based upon what species are used in their developing life stages, and thus the physical expression of eyes, mouths, limbs and specific sensory organs can vary from individual to individual, though each contains the same fundamental genes. On a societal level, however, all individuals are considered equals.



Their buildings and ships follow a similar mish-mash of design, but there is always a theme of “intrusion”.. they'll take sleek, curved engines from one species's ship and fit them in the blocky hull of another... all that matters is the final performance.



Alignment: Neutral

Nostoreans have little desire to outwardly conquer or eliminate a species, unless absolutely threatened with no possible chance of integration. They will rarely display open hostility... at least not on a short enough scale for another race to notice. Instead, they are incredibly patient, and thus perfectly content to trade information and goods, merely observing the species of their desire – with the knowledge that some day, inevitably, these new friends will be added to Nostorean genetic stock.



Affinity

Eaurothirius Nostorea can directly spend population and/or ships in context-sensitive manners to achieve various spying effects. This represents converting individuals to a specialized life-cycle for their particular targets.



I have to admit my own limited knowledge of Endless Space mechanics.. I've been spending all my ES time writing this background instead of playing. :-p But I was thinking along the lines of:



Observe other player's current and under research technology

Reduce opposing hero stats (especially defense and melee) or fleet effectiveness

Gain visual reconnaissance of a player's inhabited colonies



These abilities would have a duration, and perhaps a certain chance of success (based on difficulty of infiltration and the number of ships/population units paid) with failure notifying the target of the attempted intrusion.



Traits

Rebellion +80% (10)

Knowledge Gathering +50 (10)

Masters of Illusion 40% (10)

Big Fleets +2 (25)

Mutual Understanding +10% (10)

Diplomats +50% (15)

Symbiosis +30% (15)

Growth Plan +20% (30)

Meticulous Information Analysis +2 (6)

Tech: Xenology (10)



Terraformed Planet B' (-5)

Fast Travelers -2 (-6)

Scientists -30% (-24)

Power masters -50% (-4)

Businessmen -20% (-16)

Heroic Medicine +80% (-6)

Dear Moderator - I noticed my submission somehow got attached to someone elses submission (too much browser bak-ing or something I guess) - would you please move t out to the main thread node and delete this comment - thanks!

The Guardians



Once a mighty race,their true name was long lost over time, today they are simply called the creators, ruled a small sector far from any known space today.

It is told that their thirst for scientific discovery was even greater then that of the sophons.



They soon discoverd that dust was more than it seemed. They used the dust to create a network of machines,like the endless did, and used its power to create lookouts for their empire and communication for their planets. They simply called it guardian, for its main function.



One day , a day as any other, a student majoring in genetics, decided to do his assignment of creating a simple bacteria that increased or decreased ,but that does not matter in this tale,the acid level in a simple solution. However he did never test it and rushed the next day to his professor to present his work. Little did he know that the bactiara was not a simple beneficial organism even his forefathers used to create a livable environment. It releases a poisonus gas in its process. As the professor wanted to look at it, more in detail it dropped.



It quickly spread. No one realized that, the poison needs a long time to take effect. After the officials realized what was happening, they assigned their guardian to help them, to protect them. But they somehow screwed up. And the guardian never got a defenition of what to protect them from. In the chaos, noone probably realized that. They were to busy with their evacuation.



After centuries , the guardian had created the perfect protector. A machine in the image of his creators that could do anything it was assigned to do. Sustained by any energy source there is, built by anything there is.



The guardian sent out his protectors to protect his creators, but he couldn´t find none. He found other people on their planets, genetically similar but to diffrent to be recognized. The protectors burned down planet for planet, but soon the guardian recalled his machines. He realized that his creators were long gone,lost in time.



So he created the guardians, they where intelligent as it was, they could connect but were not as dependable as their predecessors. He sent them out to look for the creators any sentinent beeing there was to find them,even if they were only distant relatives, as its main directive was to protect.



After some decades they heared that their creators´ empire was destroyed by a bacteria, even created by themselfs.

That made the guardians disdainful against every biological beeing, but their directive orderd the m to protect. So they looked out and bombed civilisation to the ground to protect them from their own technology. They soon calculated that it was not effective enough.

From that time on guardians seek out races and transform them in cybermen *hint hint*, they are not seen as equals but they are protected as is their heritage.



Affinity Traits:

due to their recourcefullness industry and farming every planet +3



traits

+

building and updating is very fast and efficent due to their network -30% cost/time

tactics due to their analitc minds they are superior to most races -20%/+20 damage



-

due to their lack of empathy and their pejorative views of biological life trade and diplomacy is almost inpossible

their expansions and population growth takes massive amounts of computing power, they use dust because it is simpler compared to create it themself -90 dust



open to suggestions^^

(I thought I'd include the spreadsheet I made to create my faction submission (The Makers), so others can make variations of it, or delete the values and make their own factions a little easier. All data is derived from /#/endless-space/forum/29-archives/thread/13124-design-creating-your-own-faction as of 5/8/2012 - obviously as those numbers are adjusted, the spreadsheet will need adjusting as well. If they start changing frequently I'll use a second sheet and vlookups into tables to get the costs/values instead of formulas so that it'll be easier for others to maintain. But anyway, without further ado, here it is.



(Dear Moderators/etc. I make no claim to this spreadsheet, it is freeware and all intellectual rights are yours if you want them, just let me know. If you find the sheet convenient for internal use, please feel free to do so, I expressly give you permission to change, copy, -and whatever else- the contents of this attached for whatever purposes you desire - be it party gags, or more rapid developement of your own internal factions. Also, if you'd like me to create the referenced version (with lookups) because you'll find it more useful for making your own adjustments, just ask, I'll have it spit out for you asap.)



EDIT: File is too big to upload to the forum (26.5k) - if it's possible for a moderator to give me the ability to upload this file (and later versions of it) that'd be ideal, as I could then maintain the file as racial costs/etc are updated and re-upload the latest versions. If this isn't possible though, and there is still interest in the file, send me a message telling me how you'd prefer me to get it out to your users, and I'll do my best to follow whatever instructions I am given)

This might be to much to read for the average forum user, if so scroll down to Appearance and if your interested read what i think is a good story that can have a lot added to it.



History

Tiberius Dire was a human admiral commanding a medium sized fleet in serves of The United Empire, hailing from the planet Valkyrie. Tiberius had already become a war hero though fighting in may wars both civil and xenon. Now being recently promoted to admiral he decided to entrusted his four son and 4 four daughters with their own ships to command. Believing this would prevent him from being back stabbed by an ambitious officer looking to make his own name in the galaxy. Together they conquered more planets and destroyed more civilizations than any other fleet in a relatively small amount of time. This earned them tremendous fame and fortune back on the United Empire planets, earning names such as the Dire Wolfs of Valkyrie. Their fame within the United Empire would be short lived however. Throughout their conquests The Dire's saw both brilliant wonders and absolute foal horrors. Because of this they petitioned The Emperor and his counsel to greatly expand military production and education to combat all the horrors space has to offer. When this failed due to The United Empire not wanting to decrease profits and Tiberius poor diplomatic skills, the Dire Family started to lose great amounts of influence due to their ideas of cultural militarization, and the propaganda machine made excellent use of perverting their believes.

The Dire family had just returned to Valkyrie, their home port after their longest assignment yet. A few weeks leave was granted while the ships dock for maintenance and upgrades while Tiberius set out to salvage the families reputation holding speeches on how cultural militarization is necessary not only to have prosperity but for the human race to survive the endless threats space has to offer. Less than a week into their rest a recently conquered world reported being under attack and demanded assistance. The Dire Fleet departed from their docks at an unprecedented speed and set out to meet the aggressors. When they arrived at the planet that sent the distress call, nothing remained, nothing at all, some would even say that the planet looked drained of all life. Tiberius was absolutely horrified at what he saw, a planet he had recently colonized was now barren, many colonist he personally new where now gone without a single hint of what happened. Tiberius vowed to never let another planet under his protection suffer like this one had. While investigating another planet sent out a distress call, this one was close by. They arrived in record time to witness a massive armada of Cravers assaulting a nearly defenseless planet. Tiberius was determined to make good on his promise no matter the cost even in a outnumbered and outgunned fight.

The Resulting battle was of epic proportion but there was no way Tiberius could achieve a total victory, in the end the Cravers where slain to the last but the cost was high. The planet was in ruins and the population had been massacred, only a few of the fleet ships remained and the only surviving family member was Caitlyn Tiberius Dire. Her Father Tiberius and her seven siblings had all perished in the battle. The remnants of her fleet limped back to Valkyrie to rebuild what was lost and to inform the United Empire of the great threats the Cravers posed. Her warnings went unheard and the propaganda began to even say that the fleet was lost due to incompetent leadership. To a woman who had dedicated her life to save guarding the United Empire and had lost almost all of her family in one single day in the serves of them, this was the final straw. She began enacting plans for a mass exodus of Valkyrie to a new planet far outside the United Empires reach. She started to write doctrines on how society should be run.

When the time came again that the Cravers where on the United Empires door step again Caitlyn put the plans in motion for all the volunteers on Valkyrie and the surrounding planets to gather on the great arc's and set sail for their new home that they renamed Valkyrie in order for new generation to remember their history. This exudes allowed the Cravers to ravage the sector, this in order stirred some discontent but this was quelled by Caitlyn when she explained they were not abandoning their own kind but where simply braking an alliance with people unwilling to make sacrifices to insure the survival of the species.

When the great colonization fleet arrived work began immediately on creating a grand industrial world capable of building many fleets and razing many armies. The outer planets where colonized in rapid succession and for largely the same purpose. In accordance to the Dire Family's believe in cultural militarization many military academies where constructed and to fill these establishments every man and woman that had reproduced where mandated to have at least one child sign up for active service when the desired age was reached. In many societies this might have been a problem but many families had multiple children sign up for service believing that the dire family will lead humanity to safety from the evils that await in space.

Many children attended these academies and will ultimately become part of The Warrior Cast, The Engineer Cast or Science Cast. All are well trained in the art of combat but where the Warrior specializes leadership and tactics, the Engineer specializes in electronics and construction, and the Science specialized in medicine and many things of that nature. All are essential to maintain a well oiled war machine.

After many years rebuilding a world that was left behind, some content started to brew among the populations. Many people started to wonder if life would be better if they where back under United Empire rule. Under the Empire they had many more luxuries and most of all lots more dust. During the early stages of this rebellion the Cravers returned to finally devour the people that had evaded them for so long. Once again a massive battle ensued this time right above Valkyrie and the people watched in horror as Caitlyn Tiberius Dire fought off the invaders and in the process giving her own life to protect her people.

With no remaining Dire's to take up where Caitlyn left off, her admirals which had been fighting alongside her since she joined the military back when they still served the United Empire Took her place and started The Council of Nine. Their first act was to name their people The Dire Initiative and to construct memorials throughout their new empire for the entire Dire family. The people no longer questioned their hardships and embraced the scarifies service requires. No longer would comfort be the goal for many but survival.

The Council of Nine's first military goal set was to conquer worlds that have great amounts of dust since their current worlds had almost none and they relied heavily on trade with xenon's which was looked down upon.



Appearance

The Dire Initiative are humans who have expelled almost all luxury and only build what is necessary. There is almost no art on their worlds and they despise most activities that do not in some way increase your prowess. Where most Civilizations build a ship and attach weapons, Dire's build a giant weapon and build a ship around it and attach some more weapons. They cities are plain and architectural originality is not encouraged but strong buildings that will can survive orbital bombardment is encouraged. The people them self's ware in public their achievements, for example the academy they graduated from, combat ribbons, or expedition badges. The people prefer to be spartan in their life style choices anything extra is a waits of materials that could be used for the war effort.



Traits

Strong Alloys +30% 20

Meticulous Information Analysis +2 6

Builders -20% 16

Militarists -20% 16

Masters of Destruction -25 10

Fast Travelers -2 -6

Naive -16 -6

Snipers +10 10

Deadly Weapons +15% 15

Businessmen -20% -16

Optimal Defense +15% 15



Note: this Faction those not have to be an off shot of the United Empire they can also be another alien race that manged to survive the annihilation of there kin by becoming the way they are.



Hope all of you enjoyed the read, now am going to read some more since there is a lot.

messej wrote:
(I thought I'd include the spreadsheet I made to create my faction submission (The Makers), so others can make variations of it, or delete the values and make their own factions a little easier. All data is derived from /#/endless-space/forum/29-archives/thread/13124-design-creating-your-own-faction as of 5/8/2012 - obviously as those numbers are adjusted, the spreadsheet will need adjusting as well. If they start changing frequently I'll use a second sheet and vlookups into tables to get the costs/values instead of formulas so that it'll be easier for others to maintain. But anyway, without further ado, here it is.



(Dear Moderators/etc. I make no claim to this spreadsheet, it is freeware and all intellectual rights are yours if you want them, just let me know. If you find the sheet convenient for internal use, please feel free to do so, I expressly give you permission to change, copy, -and whatever else- the contents of this attached for whatever purposes you desire - be it party gags, or more rapid developement of your own internal factions. Also, if you'd like me to create the referenced version (with lookups) because you'll find it more useful for making your own adjustments, just ask, I'll have it spit out for you asap.)



EDIT: File is too big to upload to the forum (26.5k) - if it's possible for a moderator to give me the ability to upload this file (and later versions of it) that'd be ideal, as I could then maintain the file as racial costs/etc are updated and re-upload the latest versions. If this isn't possible though, and there is still interest in the file, send me a message telling me how you'd prefer me to get it out to your users, and I'll do my best to follow whatever instructions I am given)

I would suggest you host your content on some external website and add the link on your post.

Sorry for the post that just got posted from my user on this thread, someone posted it when I was going to get water...(I'm in school and forgot to lock my computer >_<



EDIT: Hope no one saw the post and if you saw it hope you didn't get offended

My Race is called the Gladius, a synthetic species designed by the Concretes to counter the Cravers. They have a limited choice of planets for colonisation, but they produce a lot of Dust to counter their reduced industrial and scientific capacity, and are very difficult to dislodge from any system they do manage to take. Since they thrive in the systems nobody else (initially) wants, and have to use cunning and diplomacy rather than raw expansive power in order to survive, I think they will be a different and interesting race to play.



History



When the Virtuals first deployed the Cravers against the Concretes, it upset the balance of the war and threatened to turn the tide completely. As an answer to the Craver threat, the Concretes invented the Gladius, a race of learning machines created from Dust. The Gladius were designed as a direct counter to the Cravers: to make war without destroying valuable habitable planets, and also be capable of making reasoned judgements about where to strike and what constituted a threat to their Concrete masters.

When the Cravers were seemingly destroyed, the Gladius deactivated themselves. Millions of units buries themselves on barren worlds and asteroid belts spread throughout Endless space. They remained deactivated for millenia, until a Sophon science team discovered an undamaged Gladius unit and reactivated it out of curiosity.

The command unit's designation was Dodeca 232 Alpha, a Prefect class Gladius command unit. When it regained consciousness, it initially cooperated with Sophon scientists, until discovering that the Cravers had re-emerged. It then escaped and was not heard from again for several years.

Recently, Concrete ruins on barren worlds across the galaxy have begun reactivating. The Dust within them has begun manufacturing Gladius ships and ground units. These fleets of Gladius have mobilised against the Craver menace, and anyone else who stands in their way.





Appearance



Gladius ground units look like clockwork romanesque gladiators, bronze coloured metal robots with flanged armour plates and helmet-like heads. Command units have a bronze crest on their head which acts as a communication array. Their weapons tend to be bulky and squat looking, attached to or replacing their limbs.

Trader or diplomatic units are slender and elegant looking, possibly imitating the Horatio in their clothing style with red robes and/or cloaks but retaining a steampunk clockwork aesthetic with bronze bodies and clockwork or pneumatic limbs. Their heads are either featureless or designed to resemble one or other of the non-Craver races.

Gladius ships would again carry the steampunk look, bronze hulls with sweeping curves and gear-like toothed buttresses.



Traits



Gladius were designed to counter the Craver menace without doing the same ecological damage to the systems they invaded. The Concretes achieved this by limiting the Gladius to settling on barren worlds, Lava worlds, asteroid belts and moons. Further, as they are a completely synthetic race that is created from Dust, they use Dust instead of Food to determine population growth. This means that while they produce a lot more dust, they also consume dust per pop per turn.



Affinities:



Affinity: +2 population on Asteroid Belts, Barren and Lava worlds, +1 population on moons, +20 morale bonus on all colonised worlds.

Malus: 0 population max on Terran, Jungle, Tundra, Arctic and Ocean worlds (and any others I may have forgotten).





Racial Techs:

Any tech/improvement that gives bonuses to food production would instead give a (possibly smaller) bonus to dust production.

Any tech that allows a forbidden world type to be colonised would instead give a bonus to planetary defenses.





Example Hero:



Dodeca 232 Alpha



Bio: Millenia old, Dodeca 232 Alpha is the last of the original Gladius. He lay dormant on a barren planet, until a Sophon science team reactivated him. What they were thinking when they turned the monstrous war-machine on is anybody's guess, but luckily for them he has only one enemy: The Cravers. He learned from the Sophon that the Cravers were not yet defeated, and has been seeking to destroy them ever since.



Appearance: On a background of smoke and battle. A hulking clockwork humanoid with pitted bronze gladiator-esque armour and a squat, brutal looking cannon replacing his left arm. A mangled Craver hangs limp from his right hand, and his left foot is grinding another Craver's head into the dirt.



Commander

Adventurer



Hero Stats (each measured 0-9; max of 18 total):

Labor - 0

Wit - 0

Melee - 7

Offense - 5

Defense - 6

krythorian wrote:
Sorry for the post that just got posted from my user on this thread, someone posted it when I was going to get water...(I'm in school and forgot to lock my computer >_<



EDIT: Hope no one saw the post and if you saw it hope you didn't get offended

I saw it. Consequences will never be the same.



On topic: one more week to go for this competition and there are already GREAT submissions!

i really liked reading The Dire Initiative! nice work Sanguinius!

JimboXXL wrote:
i really liked reading The Dire Initiative! nice work Sanguinius!

Thanks, am happy you enjoyed it means a lot. There was a lot more I was going to add but it got prity long already and i can always write more if the moderators/devs want me to