The Ardent
Are KENOLAB or TASKMINDERS better suited for the development of new technology (and/or the expansion of existing technology)?
Each of these Divisions has a different approach to technology.
KENOLAB are researchers first and foremost, they want to spend time figuring out the how and why.
TASKMINDERS are more about keeping everything on the ship and base functional, and an ad-hoc approach to new tech.
Developing entirely new tech is restricted to plot – interacting with alien samples, figuring out how alien tech works, etcs. You can’t develop or expand on existing technology without having some intervention from plot, for example, by trying to integrate a feature of an alien Sample you found into a piece of existing tech.
Will there be opportunities to change division within the game?
Yes! We advise starting this roleplay during an event, so you can have game out of learning the ropes of your new Division and say farewell to your old one.
For game mechanics, these changes happen between events. You’ll undergo specialist training to retrain into your new Division, and will gain the ability to use new Division-specific tech, but lose the ability to use your original Division’s tech.
Do the Divisions exist across the alliance or are the Ardent specific?
Currently, the Divisions are just on the Ardent, with the exception of DIPLO which is a subsection of the Alliance’s DIPLO Core. The Ardent is the first exploratory ship of its kind, so it’s very possible more ships will follow in her footsteps in the future.
Alliance ships you may encounter will have some comparable departments, but even if they share a name, they’ll be independant units.
Do the Divisions have logos and will there be patches/badges available?
Yes! This is something we’re working on to provide officially as part of the game, and we’re intending to have embroidered patches and 3D printed badges available at the event to purchase, if not before.
The logos are currently in their final stage of development and will be released as soon as they’re finished, which will be pretty soon!
A Fair Use guide for selling items using game assets is currently being worked on.
What will camp activities for MATTOCK look like? Pumping Iron? Two finger saluting the Captain? Target Practising on DIPLO interns?
The is something we’ll be encouraging players to develop!
We have some activities planned for the different divisions, most notably, there’s an assault course on site that we’ll be getting Mattock members to complete (with it being open to non-Mattock members after). If you have ideas for activities, we’d recommend chatting in discord or on facebook about it with other players to organise something fun.
Game Themes
While cultural and species differences exist, the players are all working towards a brighter future and on the same side. Is this correct?
Yes, this is correct.
The Alliance is big, with a variety of different philosophies and occasionally competing interests. However, it is at least formally built around some shared values, which are best articulated in the Ardent’s Constitution.
Crew for the Ardent will have been selected on the basis that they best embody not only the Alliance’s diversity but also this common understanding and shared mission.
There are bound to be conflicts of approach, philosophy, and on the best way forward; this is fine, natural, and potentially interesting. Ultimately, however, this should all be led by the motive of achieving the mission.
Inter-player character conflict is acceptable. Player vs player combat (PVP) however must only be done with both parties’ consent.
How close to Star Trek are you aiming for? Are we all to be ‘Heroes’… or ‘Big Damn Heroes’ (a la Firefly)?
The general feel is closer to Star Trek, insofar that this is an optimistic (but not utopian) setting. There will still be intrigue and exploits and dangers! But, also, we’re taking a lot of inspiration from different kinds of science fiction – there is nothing new under the suns – so there is a lot of room for interpretation and a certain moral ambiguity, as long as it fits the generally collaborative feel and optimistic tone of the game.
Prime Directive?
Please see the Ardent Constitution
The Alliance & Planet Cultures
Could we have a selection of fun in-universe pop culture references – for example: media, historical events, and other trivia that we can refer to in roleplay?
We love this sort of thing and are making an effort to put some of this into our lore. However we’ve naturally had to focus on the essential facts first, and also don’t want to tie player hands too tightly with detail. If you lead with some ideas we will follow with more in due course. For example, if we tell you Marzion celebrates heroic rescues, you are allowed to think of some examples of such rescues yourself. Ultimately, we can tell you the facts of the world but only you can tell us what they mean to your character.
Any brands (eg mountain dew or starbucks) in ardent for costuming reasons?
We’d encourage players to create new brands where possible as it makes the setting more fun, making a futuristic version of a drink brand gives you a lot more freedom to make up thing about it (and won’t get us in trouble with the brands!)
Can we create our own religions? Are there religions already in the game?
The setting is religion agnostic. There are bound to be a variety of religions within the Alliance, and you are welcome to play your own religion real world as your character or one you make up for the game (bonus points for exploring how your religion may develop in a space-faring age), but we will not confirm or deny the “realness” of any religion and we won’t explore real world religions in plot.
If you choose to explore religion in-game, whether it be a real-world one or one you write, do so resectfully, without using closed practices, and as something in addition to the game and planet lore instead of completely overwriting it.
Player Writing
Can we write lore/stories in our downtime?
We are planning to allow players to write stories about what happens to their characters in downtime and potentially create a library of such stories.
We will come out with general rules about this at a future point, but for now, for a player-written story to be considered canon it must:
- Be consistent with game lore.
- Can come up with new setting information, but it must be of an appropriate scale and not interfere with game plot. Inventing a dive bar on your homeworld or on a dodgy asteroid is fine. Inventing an entire space empire to fight, or killing off the Ardent’s Captain and promoting your character to that rank is not (even though that’d be very funny).
- Match the skills and power level of the player character in question; a junior Mattock Guard is not suddenly going to John Rambo an entire army of hovertanks!
- Must have OC consent of all other player characters and established NPCs for their inclusion.
- Be (reasonably) SFW.
- Be approved by the game team.
Can we write letters to other characters between events?
The (very, very) short answer is: yes! You’re very much free to figure out what your characters get up to between events, and the canonicity of such is subject to the same guidelines as player backstories.
Between events, player characters are stationed aboard the Ardent as it travels from one point of interest to the next – so there’s plenty of room for shenanigans and “below decks” stories, including correspondence between crew members who wouldn’t necessarily interact directly except on a ground team. Let your imaginations, and word processors, run wild!