spindowners

The facts of the discovery of the Triumphates are as enigmatic and clouded in mystery as the creatures themselves. It is speculated that they may have been attracted to the newly invented femtronics that were beginning to cloud entire planets throughout the Empire, or that they may have even been created somehow from that technology. Regardless, there is no doubt that the Triumphates and femtronics are inextricably twined.

Most of the human inhabitants of the substation are never seen walking the halls or in the terminals. Invisible, they work tirelessly, endlessly, and arguably mindlessly, powering and controlling the computers of the substation.

They are never seen walking because they have no bodies to walk with.

At some point in the past, humanity realized they would never build a computer better than the one nature provided them with -- their brains. So they decided to improve on that one instead.

Technology grew at a pace never before or since matched once they created brain-machine interfaces. The first clumbsy innovations were simple neural chipsets that augmented biofeedback, allowing for more complex prosthetics than previously. Eventually, as more of the brain was mapped, they were able to transmit information both ways, allowing some crude VR capabilities.

So I've followed the discussions on Gamegrene and checked back here pretty regularly. I finally decided to get in on things, and this is my first post! My name is Ryan Szrama, I'm 22 (almost 23..) and live in Louisville, KY where I graduated from college in May. My degree was Biblical Studies, and now I sell refrigeration on-line and make blinds at night. ;-) And I love programming. And computers. And the internet. And on-line games. = P At my on-line sales job, I mostly develop the web site and update products. The site uses osCommerce at http://www.vittitow.com if you want to check it out. I got into Drupal because we use it to run http://www.icemachineguide.com, and I recently got to make the little Sizing Guide Calculator on there. It was my first ever dive into PHP, MySQL, and Drupal, and my boss was fairly impressed. (Though I can think of dozens of things to do different/improve now after the fact.) It was a good learning experience, and I hope to do more in the future either with the game API or on a game system of my own. I'm happy to hang around here and be involved in development, though I must admit I really just don't see the big picture yet. Maybe I'm just in the dark on features? (Also, is the I in Spindowners supposed to be long or short?) Perhaps you could fill me in a little? Like will this be a huge RP community, or will there actually be coded things to handle combat, quests, equipment, leveling, skills, and whatever else? I've always been an avid MUD player/builder/coder and think I might enjoy this environment as well.

Emperor Gilead VII has ruled the Empire for several hundred years. His father, Emperor Ramus IV, had ruled for about four thousand years, before he was found mysteriously dead in bed. The cause of his untimely death was never determined, and conspiracy theories abound from an assassination by his son, by a bloodless coup, by an estranged lover, to a hidden genetic defect, inherited disease, or upcoming pandemic.

The Empire is a republic spanning hundreds of thousands of systems. Each system has a representative in the senate. Critics of the Empire contend that it is actually an oligarchy posing as a republic, and that the real power lies in the corporate interests running the economy.

Characters who choose the Military Career Path will already have had some training with combat. Most, but not all, characters will have had this in boot camp or an equivalent training.

The majority of characters with Military training will have served in the Empire's Armed Forces. The branches within it are The Shock, The Guard, The Cavalry, Space, and Intelligence.

Shock Troops are often seen in their glossy black regalia.

[I'll write more in this entry later.]

The processes of thought and emotion have long been known and understood by science, and several branches converge to form the basis of cognitive science, including, among others, panxenoneuropsychology, cybernetics, and psycholinguistics.

Panxenobioinformatics, or more informally Inform Panxeno, is the specific branch of science that Engineers study to call on functions to learn about a specific person's body. Typically used for medical diagnoses, it also has military applications, such as detecting intruders and discerning weaknesses.

Known available functions include those from the following list:

• Diagnose Injury

• Identify Toxins & Disease
• Detect Lifeform
• Genetic Sequencing
• Genomic Informatics

Panxenobiology is the study of the taxonomies, anatamies and molecular chemistry of organic life. It encompasses the disciplines of genetics, astrobiology, exobiology, in addition to the basic sciences required for understanding.

The default attributes in the Open Source ruleset are being designated as follows:

Agility (AGI): A measure of a character's physical dexterity and finesse.
Charisma (CHA): A measure of charm & influence a character exerts on others.
Endurance (END): A measure of physical health and stamina.
Intellect (INT): A measure of a character's logical intelligence and memory.
Strength (STR): A measure of a character's physical strength.
Wisdom (WIS): A measure of common sense, and an ability to determine truth.

Your character may receive bonuses or penalities to these attributes based on their species, skills, worn equipment, various effects, and so forth. Attributes increase by 1d3 for every level the character gains.