New enemies and ideas for future threats

[Soban]

So I think we are heading towards a consensus that we need more enemies that are real threats. We need more Level 3 (factional) and Level 4 (setting) threats. I think there are three aspects to this discussion. First, bringing factions like the NMX and Kuvexians who already exist but are currently not really a threat back up to where they are real threats. Second, creating new enemies who provide interesting options and storylines. Third, 'disaster' events, I'm quite enjoying reading how we are all responding to the Norian's arrival. Not everything our characters need to respond to is some big bad. Perhaps we need more 'space hurricanes' that give us similar opportunities.

Right now, I'm working on two ideas.

The first is a ravenous horde of alien locust called the Swarmtide.

The second is a robotic utopian republic who all believe that biological life is obsolete and needs to be discontinued, with violence if necessary. They aren't trying to kill people, just upload them involenarily into robotic bodies that they believe are 'better'.

What are your ideas? What sorts of enemies would you like to fight? What sort of situations do you think would provide interesting role play opportunities across whole factions and the setting as a whole? The idea of this thread is to gather a lot of ideas and hopefully to help build some of them as well.

 

[raz]

we know many of the species in the Kikyo Sector are not natives there; they were brought here or created here. This begs the question: Where did they come from?

The grand AI civilization has procedurally generated all flesh! Our characters are little more than 3D printed ideas made for the amusement of coldly calculating robots!

Sounds fun.

 

[Whisper]

Nevertheless, we know many of the species in the Kikyo Sector are not natives there; they were brought here or created here. This begs the question: Where did they come from? And are there other Kikyo Sectors, so to speak, out there? Maybe things turned out differently in other colonies or other locations in the Kagami galaxy. If we zoom out at the effectively limitless stars around our familiar sector, the possibilities get substantially more unbound.

Given that folks don't want factional conflicts (faction vs faction or interaction) on a large scale, this feels like the best way to go if you want a big threat.

Yamatai has a very large presence on the sector map, but if you zoom out just a little bit there's still tons of space left. It also addresses some of the complaints with how fast FTL is- if you just pull back a little, the travel times become more consequential again. However people feel about the Kuvexians, they opened up the map like the game got an expansion.

 

[raz]

Given that folks don't want factional conflicts (faction vs faction or interaction) on a large scale

Thing about this is that it's probably very wanted but is also very unworkable because of player egos. For faction vs faction or a factional civil war to actually work, the bad guys would have to be pre-determined and characters who are destined to fail. We couldn't just say "your character has the choice to support the Empress or support some regional warlord who wants autonomy" or "Yamatai and Nepleslia fight!" It'd have to be something more akin to evil NPCs within the sector getting created and used as traditional NPC antagonists for plotships to fight even though they originate from within the sector.

So on the one hand making in-sector conflicts would be easy and could be interesting. The tech and framework is there and all we need is a collection of antagonist NPCs. But this path would need to remove a lot of player agency when it comes to which side of such conflict is playable. If it were a free-for-all then people who joined the evil side would get upset OOC that they're forced to lose.

 

[Ametheliana]

feels like the best way to go if you want a big threat.

I guess what I keep thinking with "big threats" is what the community wants as far as their desires. Why are they threatening us (or vice versa)? Conquesting Yamatai/ Kikyo Sector didn't feel like "enough" with the Kuvexians, so I've been trying to brainstorm larger reasons and kinda want to see what others say.

 

[Charmaylarg Dufrain]

eliminated via revolution.

I know we've already moved passed this topic, but I will point out that on the scale of which the factions in the kikyo sector alone have grown with the rate factions develop in RP here, the BCE getting a revolution would likely have built back up within a year with a somehow fully functional new government, industrial base, economic center, massive fleet and military, etc.


This also does kind of point out that while the BCE was eliminated as we know it unless it was MAD then it or its remnants is still out there in some capacity. Balkanized states and warlords fighting over the remnants, a new regime and ideology, etc. They are still out there and even the dregs of a mighty empire of that size could be enough.

As for PvP stuff, Raz is spot on for that one. Too much bias, ego, and imbalance.

Though I will say that, not as a great enemy or anything or even PvP I would like to get some small-scale events going that can have limited forces on the same planet/zone, working towards different objectives either with/against each other without their factions fleet(s) just showing up and ending the event because they could glass the planet or flood it with 10-cattrillion troops~

 

[Wes]

The Black Claw Star Empire wasn't so much eliminated as it evolved into the Uesureyan Star Empire, which in turn became Yamatai (and Nepleslia). Yamatai is the direct descendant of the BCSE and uses BCSE technology such as hyperspace fold drives. I'm just saying if we expand there's an opportunity to discover whatever we want to discover, whether that's lost colonies, revived empires, new threats, and new people friendly and/or hostile.

 

[demibear]

Always thought some parts of humanity (Nepleslians) had started over since the pre-YE history implies some didn't want to draw attention and the dominant voices wanted to go back with overwhelming force.

 

[raz]

Or perhaps the roleplay has outgrown such things and truly relegated the great factions to being setting elements where every “table” (plotship) has their own “campaign” rather than being a place where these space nations are focused in a more realistic way.

I feel like the replies have confirmed that the post-Kuvexian War status quo is probably best, honestly. Especially with what Wes has said about the wider galaxy being wide open for anything to happen. There's been a lot of statements about "what's fun for everyone," which ends up simply meaning "the plot enemy I want."

That's cool and there's no problem with it, as my original post also said. I'll still look forward to whatever comes up as the next threat that demands the entire Yamatai Star Empire's attention someday, wherein fleets maneuver gloriously through the stars and flags on systems change in wide swathes.

Yui took one last look at it as her ship, the YSS Battle of Yamatai, backed itself through the portal in reverse. It was the last ship to leave. Her eyes refocused from the battle scene to the window in front of her where she saw her own reflection. "See you next war," she quietly hummed, then turned around with a wicked grin as the ship was sucked through spacetime and arrived back in the Kikyo Sector.

 

[Fred]

I've read the last couple of pages, and something strikes me.

Most of the potential conflicts that are spoken of are defensive. None of them are scenarios where you are the attacker.

Yamatai may paint a more altruistic face for itself, but its historically proven itself to have a lot of shades of grey. Himiko is the pretty puppet ruler that's meant to give Yamatai's neighbor and its own citizen a pretty face to like and play buddies; with a Senate to have a place to air petty grievances and sound sophisticated about it... but at its core it's ruled by the Star Army.

An imperial war machine which is motivated to ensure its survival at all costs. It explores to gain knowledge, obtain more resources, and annex or ally with more civilizations. If it cannot ally with Yamatai, I can't be neutral and trusted to hold its own corner... rather, it is a potential enemy that is to be eventually squashed. It is there to make sure that Yamatai is the oppressor and not the oppressed. It spreads the Empire to make sure that if you lose a part of it, another part survives.

Yamatai's soldiers think they are good and right and altruistic, because it's their story and from their point of view, they are the good guys. I can't deny that they weave a narrative that motivates this view of their self-righteousness. They'll do it, for the glory of their Empire, and they'll feel good about it most of the time. That's actually normal.

In general, the Star Army of Yamatai - as this monolithic organization - is pretty heartless. But this shouldn't surprise anyone. People are usually nice, but companies are often ruthless.

If you want to explore a new type of conflict, I think you could try committing to Yamatai invading a territory to take possession of it. Reasons can be manufactured. It could be a need for resources, it could be that they engineered a pretext to have a reason to invade and gain long sought after territory (maybe you even need a war for your economy to run better, or to avoid the military being downsized due to inactivity). You can build a meta plot where this can be a driving force, and - as the conflicts continues - people can debate on the morality of it. Especially if the other side stoops to a certain level to defend itself. Yamatai can be the superior military force without being able to make steady gains; providing a long term conflict.

This isn't new. It's happened several time. But always by accident, heat of the moment, or stuff. But what if it's done intentionally?

And, if the metaplot is not an existential threat to Yamatai... it means that there's war, but not necessarily peril for the entire Empire. This enables the possibility of other GMs running other things not related to that war; or it not being illogical to not be involved in a conflict crucial to your continued existence.

Even if you don't like my disenchanted view of Yamatai and are unwilling to embrace it, it doesn't change that by creating an active warfront where Yamatai is the attacker, you provide different possibilities for a metaplot; along with the versatility to opt-in and opt-out at will. As long as its not an existential conflict on Yamatai's end (meaning they are the superior fighting force of the two sides).

 

[raz]

Even if you don't like my disenchanted view of Yamatai and are unwilling to embrace it, it doesn't change that by creating an active warfront where Yamatai is the attacker, you provide different possibilities for a metaplot; along with the versatility to opt-in and opt-out at will.

Right. This is currently the status quo. Every plot has its own enemy and its own war, and because of that freedom none of the conflicts seem as impactful as a new meta war that unites Yamatai's focus would be. Not replying to refute anything you've got to say, but reinforce that what you have to say is already happening.

 

[Fred]

Indeed. And some people seem to like it. Not trying to spoil their fun.

But others want to be part of something bigger that is making larger brushstrokes in the setting.
The usual SARP trend is "Big war, great baddie, desperate battles, ahhhh!" until people get tired of it, and then, sudden decisive win.
And then, no war, more freeform, until threads like this one exist. Raz made the very same observation himself.

I think there's a way of having both. The nuances of the broader conflict merely have to be adjusted.

Hopefully, that'll give you guys something else to consider.

 

[Fuzzbucket]

I'm happy with these answers and the direction of the conversation. I'm good with whatever's decided moving forward. I think everyone's made excellent points.

 

[Wes]

There's also Places We Do Not Go, as the Senti call them. Places where an emotional cancer has built a stronghold, corrupting the nomadic Senti technology into a nanite swarm, an ancient Skydasi weapon that consumes and builds machines of war from the remains of anything they can catch. It's intelligent, cruel, and has no problem mimicking distress signals to consume rescuers and would be heroes.

This is the most upvoted answer of the thread so far, so I was wondering if there's a wiki page for this enemy so it could be added to the threats page and/or enemies database.

 

[HarperMadi]

This is the most upvoted answer of the thread so far, so I was wondering if there's a wiki page for this enemy so it could be added to the threats page and/or enemies database.

Not yet. Want me to do it or is it something you want to take control of?