Madrox wrote:
0100100001100101011011000110110001101111 to you too! \o/

And 0100100001100101011011000110110001101111 back to you again :P



Welcome back Rudest - maybe describing a "normal" day in the life of the Maskari?

Rudest, what I need is style images. Like in "The Legion" thread sov gave some art that wasn't his own, some pointing out the general shape of the ships, and other pointing out the texture. Just find me some cool images that resemble your faction's appearance in some way (Shape, demeanor, texture, etc.) and post them here telling me what they mean to the faction. I.E. Sovereign provided a pic of a jewelry scorpion with a sapphire setting, saying that that is what the power system would look like.



IE, stuff like this:



(NOT MY OWN WORK)

^_^ thanks

Sovereign wrote:
Yeah i know right

in the forum section "Game Design Disscusion" everyone is looking...



but only few are ever looking at the "Temple of flourishing mind"

Well I guess that we should spread the word that there are some great ideas here. And don't forget to comment on them/or their updates!

WhiteWeasel wrote:
Seems like since the faction ideas got moved, feedback sort of died a little. Anyway I really do like the format. That makes me think that I should make my ideas' affinity & the why for traits more clear. Good idea so far.

Yeah i know right

in the forum section "Game Design Disscusion" everyone is looking...



but only few are ever looking at the "Temple of flourishing mind"

Seems like since the faction ideas got moved, feedback sort of died a little. Anyway I really do like the format. That makes me think that I should make my ideas' affinity & the why for traits more clear. Good idea so far.

That could be interesting, I'd highly appreciate it! I'd be glad to to give you what you need! Gimme a list, I'll be thorough!

I'll draw a schematic if Rudest provides me with some guidance material. (Like Sovereign did)

Interesting, but I'm kind of a visual person. Until I see schematics and art concepts, I don't really take any interest. Potential is there.

Updated!



Added some racial tech! Let me know what you guys think, or if you have any ideas you'd like to see implemented!

Hey guys! I've noiced some faction development threads popping up and seeing some really great ideas! I've realized I think what's holding me back from finishing this is being completely stumped when it comes to faction specific tech where exactly I'd place them on the tree



Anyone got any ideas? Feel free to share them! I'll credit you in the post if I end up working it in!

Rudest wrote:
That's a good idea! I'll make a write up when I have some more time on my hands! (Sorry, hehe, late again)

No problem

That's a good idea! I'll make a write up when I have some more time on my hands! (Sorry, hehe, late again)

Ongoing development for my fan created race, The Maskari Protectorate! This is mostly for personal pleasure, but should a fan creation contest pop up again I'll be ready ;p





Maskari Protectorate





Maskari Affinity:

+Military Posturing: Morale bonus per system relative to the number of friendly fleet points blockading that system.

-Affinity Limitation: -15% Approval malus to a system when no ships are in orbit.

-Affinity Limitation: Cannot engage in trading.

-Affinity Limitation: Cannot choose Optimistic faction trait.

Alignment: Neutral

Gameplay: Xenophobic Isolationists

Victory Condition: Military/Wonder



Faction Traits:



(65 Points)

++Crowded Planets

++Big Fleets

++Militarists

++Steller Guardians

++Revenge

+ Escalation: (Custom Trait: 5% Empire wide science bonus per Cold War status with another faction.)

+ Terraformed Planet

--Deep Roots

--Spray n Pray

--Sloppy Sawbones

- Slow Travelers



Racial Tech:



Overview:



Protectorate Tech will center around an isolationist theme. From a lore standpoint, they are nationalists that value the life of each and every native citizen. From a mechanical standpoint, their expansion is slowed due to an approval malus without military presence--their ships and blockades are an incredibly important factor in maintaining a competitive infrastructure with their small number of planets. The factors are considered in the following concepts:



Also, a big thanks to Stealth_Hawk for helping me iron out some ideas and providing some concepts of his own!



Galactic Warfare:



Xeno-Preparedness: Education program that trains both military personnel and citizenry to utilize the collective might of the people in times of strife. Proper armaments along with preparedness drills mean that the only victims during an invasion are the invaders themselves.

*Provides a % Boost to Defense per opulation:.

*Grants early access to a defensive battle card 'Bulwark Formation' (battle card that is only accessible during blockades.)

-Not so great at balancing and numbers so I haven't put together the numbers for this!



Applied Sciences:



Xeno-Industrial Policing: Ship production is key to maintaining any galactic empire - Colony ships, mercantile vessels, military frigates. Innumerable roles, most of which directly influence the long term survival of the civilization. To protect the people from outside threats you must first have the manpower and hardware to facilitate their survival.

*Provides access to 'Auxiliary Shipyards' system improvement structure mid-tree that adds a production bonus for ship construction.

-15% ship cost on Star System.

-10 on improvement.



Diplomacy/Trade:



Anthropological Pathology: Trepidation towards all things xeno is both a boon and a curse. To accommodate the ever expanding population it is beneficial for a civilization to prune it's collective psychology by finding and identifying xeno-terrestial equivalents to home-world goods and re-purpose them as necessary. This ensures that even alien worlds feel like home.

*Access to 'Xeno-Exploitation Lab' system improvement:

+1 deposit size on each Luxury resource

x2 Luxury resources' bonus on planets

-6 on improvement



Visual Style:



The Maskari in their natural state are very tall, slender, bi-pedal mammal. The species' natural height is 7'+ on average. Densely packed muscle ensures that they are not a frail species, but rather very resilient, spry, and acrobatic. Their natural skin tone is very dark and the skin itself has a glossy tone to it not unlike that of a human burn victim but without the scarring, but black and contourless. Their faces are smooth and featureless and their bodies are hairless. Their eyes are pitch black. It is impossible to tell Maskari apart by their faces alone. As a result to distinguish themselves from each other they wear masks. Maskari religion supports a pantheon of hundreds of gods, and each individual picks a god who suits their personality best.



Clothing is usually made up of darker colors, black robes are common, while the masks are contrastingly vibrant to draw attention to them. The masks are white, akin to porcelain masks, and have etchings and face-paint to lend individualism to each and every mask. To the Maskari, these masks are highly expressive and as signature to a personal individuality as their name. To a human, the masks are relatively cold and creepy. Though the masks resemble a deity, the customization ensures no two Maskari wear the same looking mask, even if they chose the same deity.



Their soldiers wear power armor that plays that to their acrobatic strengths; the armor is as sleek and thin as their bodies. They prefer wrist mounted weaponry in the form of blades and close quarters firearms. The armor is black, the face-plate is white, and customized by the individual just like civilian attire. The faction Emblem of the Protectorate is orange in stark contrast to the black armor, and is displayed on the shoulder/outer arm/upper bicep portion of the armor.



Their leader is female, something of a warrior and matriarch, and she is clad in power-armor with a black cowl. Her mask is a representation of the deity of protection. It is a white mask with slanted eye-slits, on the left cheek of the mask there are three orange dots that go down the side of her face, identical in proportion and spaced evenly apart as they descend down the side of her face. On the right side, is a red streak that trails from the bottom of the eye all the way down to the bottom of the mask. Like the other females of her species, her bust size is relatively small and compact, her figure remains vaguely effeminate.



History:





******( The following is best read while listening to Endless Space OST Soundtrack - 17 Factions ^_^)*****



"Mysterious. Committed. Zealous. The Maskari Protectorate fights relentlessly to defend the life of each and every citizen. Their history is one of espionage, strife, and war. Drawn together by a tragedy of unimaginable proportion, they now stand against the galaxy as a united front. For as far as the Maskari are concerned, there are but two types of inhabitants in the galaxy: Us and Them. Their devout leader will permit no foreign threat to harm her people and remain unpunished. To provoke her wrath is to provoke the genocide of your entire species."



The Maskari homeworld was rittled with gravitational abnormalities and possessed several moons. The Maskari themselves evolved from their planet's equivalent to primates. Tall, langthy, and featureless the Maskari religion centered around one of their moons, due to meteor impacts during the planet's formation, it's surface resembled a vigilant face. The featureless Maskari began to produce deities representing all manner of things. They dawned masks representing these deities to create individualism that evolution failed to apply. Because these masks were the only way to distinguish one another the Maskari have a long history of civil war and espionage between their nations. A highly communal race, they value community, commitment, integrity and loyalty above all else.



The fledgling space-faring species sought to colonize and terraform the planets and moons of their home system. They were wars, territorial disputes, and sabotage among it's competing factions during the entire process. Peace was always short lived and fleeting. Wars were always long, bloody, and often devolved into trench warfare. The factions involved were equally committed to entirely different goals. It was during this era that the Cravers came, leaving a lasting first impression on the Maskari that would forever change their outlook on sentient xenos. The Maskari reached out to this new presence with peace in mind, hoping to learn from the foreign entity, only to have that hand severed at the wrist.



Splintered, the nations of the Maskari's home system could not stand against the might of the ever ravenous Craver fleets. When they finally became unified under one banner to fight the biggest threat to their existence their homeworld was already lost. The only remaining option was evacuation. They scuttled ships, factories, residential areas, they polluted atmospheres, they did everything they could to make the system less favorable to the Cravers. They destroyed everything they had ever known, they lost millions of lives during the conflict.



Unified under a new banner, the evacuation fleets of newly formed Protectorate claimed a new system. The new Matriarch vowed that never again would the Maskari suffer a tragedy of that horrific scale. This new homeworld would be theirs until it's sun burned out. Archeological digs on this new world have lead to the discovery of dust. Defiantly, the Maskari set out upon the galaxy to harness it's power and grapple with the secrets of Dust.





Reasoning for the Affinity and faction traits:



I designed this faction to promote a play-style that has slow expansion due to a higher malus penalty to Approval, but more productive planets because of the higher optimism mid/late game! Being unable to trade fits in with isolationist lore and bring some balance to approval bonuses. The idea is that they would probably have a small number of well defended planets that are capable of supporting an impressive military and higher FIDS output from approval bonuses. Ship production becomes integral with FIDS output. The faction is designed to turtle effectively, while the malus to approval keeps their expansion slow making it more ideal to build up the planets you have. When you move out to attack, you sacrifice some productivity if you cannot end the war swiftly! The Affinity is adaptable, and compliments several play styles.



Crowded Planets: For making the most out of your small number of worlds

Big Fleets: The Maskari citizens feel far more comfortable with a military large military presence.

Militarists: Ship building helps them mechanically, and fits in with lore.

Steller Guardians: You won't have a lot of systems to spread your influence, this helps you lock down nearby systems and spreads the borders of your domain. Fits with lore.

Revenge + Deep Roots: The Maskari hold on to what they have relentlessly. Fighting them will not be very advantageous.

Spray n Pray: The Maskari excel at close range combat. Their doctrine for ranged military engagements is to obliterate the threat with relentless imprecise volleys.

Sloppy Sawbones: Maskari have a several century life span. A focus on military and infrastructure after losing their homeworld has lead to little advancement in medical technology.

Slow Travelers: New to space-faring and cautious about expansion, Maskari ships do not favor speed and agility, in opposition to their infantry counterparts.

Dust archeology + Terraformed Planet: The new planet has been terraformed to their tastes. This gives you a random strength to play up to. Since the affinity is so flexible, this makes the base-faction fun to experiment with.



Do the Maskari choose to remain in isolation and build an impressive economic machine? A scientific prodigy? An industrial giant? A diplomatic power? Or do they unleash their turtled forces on the Galaxy at large in order to eliminate all threats preemptively as a military juggernaut? You, the player, get to decide!



Feel free to add input and suggestions, as well as leave your over all opinions!

-ponders- Been away for abit. I think this concept is good though. Perhaps the less is more approach is good enough!



If anyone has some ideas I am open!

Take your time!



I can help with some ideas if you want.

Perhaps! I'll put some more thought into it; until I am sure, I am taking the less is more approach!

Tredecim wrote:
Might be useful

0100100001100101011011000110110001101111 to you too! \o/

Madrox wrote:
You need to describe their biology to justify their habitat...not?

Might be useful

Rudest wrote:
Fantastic Idea! I'll do that Madrox. When I get some free time, I'll give your race a once over as well!



I thought that perhaps their original home-planet was largely jungle, except near the polar icecaps. A climatically diverse planet except around the equator. Though, thinking about, what I described might be better suited to a nocturnal or perhaps even subterranean race. What do you guys think? Discuss!

You need to describe their biology to justify their habitat...not?