Roleplay / Discord Plays Stellaris

Inspired by Stellaris Invicta series, a reddit user decided to start a server in which people would roleplay as members of a space government. Together they would vote on decisions and, through the owner, replicate them in-game. The concept was simple. The execution less so. After a few days, the server attracted more people than ever intended and became an arena for some major power struggles between the various factions formed. With the Research Board, Military, Senate, and half a dozen independent political parties each seeking to reach their ends, the fate of humanity relies solely on the cooperation of the users. Which means we are all pretty much doomed.

— Unknown, about Season 1.

"DPS," as most of its community members call it today, is a Discord-based roleplaying game typically revolving around players taking up key positions of a (usually fictional) country's government, usually with an accompanying external 4X or Grand Strategy game, though, in recent times, the games have moved away from this in favor of a more spreadsheet and text-based RP, as its foundation. Players may choose to play as the country's politicians, military leaders, researchers, financiers, or diplomats—depending on base game being run concurrently—and whose actions may influence the direction and outcome of a campaign, playthrough, or "season."

The game has evolved from near-anarchy managed by a handful of impromptu Gamemasters in Season 1 to more organized interactions between players and real 'mechanics' over the years, and today in-house bots and labyrinthine spreadsheets behind the discord server enable complex, and hopefully, fair, mechanics and systems that supplement the text-based RP.

Currently, the community is onto Season 6 which has launched on the 26th of June 2023.

Over the years, DPS has launched several side projects. It is traditional to launch mini-seasons in the interlude between major ones. There have been a few spin-offs of specific seasons, such as Ruins of a Tower, which is based on Season 1's Stellaris setting and set in successors to a longer-lived version of the RoS around 200 years after its collapse. Other mini-seasons include Seams of Nesium, a roleplay based on creating a country and leading it through a cold war in a fantasy setting, and Denton Public Schools, where we all collectively decided to roleplay a school board/district for a week for some reason.

The Reddit page can be found here

The current Discord server can be found here, where the upcoming season is planned to be held

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This work contains the examples of:

Season 1 (Stellaris) | Starting State: United Nations of Earth

• 0% Approval Rating: Bob, universally hated after he attempted to coup the UNE and make Worm worship the state religion. Not even the Followers of the Worm were happy about the last one.
• A Hero to His Hometown: Steve Stevens Jr, who took control of post-worm Earth during the War for the Worm to keep it out of the fighting and negotiated a peaceful re-entry into the Republic with General Walker. However, he is widely considered to be a traitor and worm cultist to the rest of the Republic, keeping the people of Earth from being properly integrated, and stopping the planets affected by the Worm from being repaired.
• Ascended Extra: Pulsemain, who was simply a senator writing bills before launching several coups and becoming a meme in a matter of days, including being banned from the server at one point.
• Authority in Name Only: The Emperor of Theia, a very impressive but not particularly powerful title. Inaugural holder was Tim Jim.
• Audience Participation: The foundations of DPS were formed on the audience of Valkrae's gameplay deciding how to play out a Stellaris game.
• Back from the Dead: Major General Volkan and Major General Val. The latter suffered complications.
• Better to Die than Be Killed: Where to begin? Quite a few people have killed themselves rather than be taken to court. Emily Richards, Thrawn, and Poi are all famous examples.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: Vega II and Red Tom during the War for the Worm, both leading the Domain of the Worm against the Republic.
• Black Shirt: Played as straight as possible with the Voidshirts of the Shield of Humanity (and previously, the Pan-Humanist Party), a large paramilitary force of party fanatics used to defend party rallies and act in the interests of the party.
• Cat Girl: Yeah, no such luck, but the research board has been trying their best to invoke this trope, and if they are to believed, they partially succeeded... only to lose their first specimens almost immediately.
• Cloudcuckoolander: The Followers of the Worm have this reputation. Whether or not it's true depends on the individual members and what is funnier at the moment. Besides...
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: John, the CFO of Pulsemain Arms after the beloved ancap Pulsemain had died, is exactly this. In his own words "authoritarian isn't an insult rather it's a compliment". Making a caste-system curriculum, opposing child labor laws, and pushing for a corporatocracy are some of his deeds.
• The Cuckoolander Was Right: Despite acting like lunatics half the time, the Followers of the Worm have not only proven their deity's existence, they have successfully summoned it into the material realm.
• Cincinnatus: General Walker, who suspended democracy and became an effective dictator during the War for the Worm, and restored it after the worm cultists had been defeated.
• The Dark Side Will Make You Forget: Soon aften joining the First Order, Omeg stopped caring about any of his former ideals and became a half-insane Blood Knight.
• Defector from Decadence: Happens quite frequently whenever a party crosses a major line. Most notably, Prophet Tom alienated many of his followers with his pragmatic decisions.
• Dirty Communists: The Peoples' Party, according to the propaganda of certain rival factions.
• Disposable Intern: In the research foundation, to the point where it was joked about them being hybridized with explosives. According to some, this practice reduced casualties to the point where one member suggested that the President undergo the procedure.
• Dragon-in-Chief: While it may seem that president Poi was responsible for the attempted POI party slow coup attempt, the attempted coup and the plan around it were devised and put into action by Poi's right hand man, Iota Obi. Of course, you may not believe Poi's account of things, in which case this would be a case of The Scapegoat.
• Everyone Has Standards: Red Tom, if you choose to believe him that is. His response to religious fanatics carrying out a colossal terrorist attack is to have them brutally killed in a Make an Example of Them scenario. Or they could have really been his men after all, and the execution was a case of You Have Outlived Your Usefulness.
• Evil Is One Big, Happy Family: Some may apply this to the Shield of Humanity, which was essentially every right-wing party piling on together.
• Face–Heel Turn: Vega II, who was revealed to be a secret worm cultist, and summoned and embraced the worm into the physical plane, after literal decades of plotting to kill it after summoning it.
• Fake Defector: Southwind, who infiltrated the Domain of the Worm high command during the War for the Worm on Walker's orders, and finished the war by using his position to gather the Domain's general staff in one position to kill them. He succeeded.
• Fish out of Temporal Water: Major General Val, after being revived with a 54 year old brain scan.
• Four-Star Badass: Chad.
• Forever War: From it's very birth, the Republic of Sol seemed to be always at war with one of it's neighbors, never getting a break. This would contribute heavily to it's militaristic culture.
• Frozen Fashion Sense: Major General Val, for reasons stated above.
• Grey-and-Gray Morality: The nature of nearly all power struggles on the server. Every political group has their own ideals and none of them manages to live up to those ideals perfectly.
• Hostile Terraforming: The failed terraforming of Samsara, leading to the death of billions.
• Humanity Is Superior: The position of many of the more right-wing parties of the Republic, as much as they try to hide it.
• Humans Are Divided: The opinion of the Pan-Humanists, who believed that humanity was once a great galactic empire in the past, but had since been split up into the states populating the galaxy today.
• * Humans by Any Other Name: The Zelvans, a species of aliens who were almost identical to humans, or if you ask the Pan-Humanists, literally just humans. Just don't check their fingers...
• I Just Want to Be Normal: Fleet Admiral Shoto, who isn't pleased with his position of head deity of the Grand Arbiter's Sacrosanct.
• Jumping the Shark: Director Gizmo's coup attempt involved magicking three million clones into existence out of nowhere, in a complete violation of anything resembling logic and reason.
• La Résistance: How the Fifteen (or how many members they finally get), see themselves.
• Mad Scientist: Depending on how much of the things scientist are discussing in canteen can be taken seriously, most of the Research Board could be classified as this.
• Manipulative Bitch: Doctor/Chancellor Ela Maxima has gone through an impressive amount of planning, deceiving and backstabbing even for this server. By the time she left the server, she had played every major party and gotten herself to the position of a Chancellor of Senate through sheer cunning and effort. As she admitted herself:
  It's been fun to organize several coups and play every party against each other while everyone thought I was secretly on their side, fun to steer myself to a position of power with a constitution I drafted, ensuring allegiances with promises I was never going to be able to keep (and wasn't planning on keeping, to be fair), and then have everyone assume Arathorn or Jeremy is the big ringleader.
• Military Coup: You know it! Perhaps the most famous event on the server, the overthrow of the United Nations of Earth and the establishment of the Republic of Sol left deep marks on the overall community psyche.
• Not-So-Omniscient Council of Bickering: The entire server
• Occupiers Out of Our Country: Directed at the Republic of Sol from time to time. CHAPTER and assorted other groups all had Republican withdrawal from Cradon as a key point.
• Permanent Elected Official: Skelly was nicknamed the "Eternal Chancellor" due to being Chancellor of the Senate for approximately 250 years, and never losing an election for the position, with only a short break when she stepped down due to being elected President.
• Police Brutality: During a Pan-Humanist Rally, the Ministry of Justice police would ruthlessly beat up counter-protesters, injuring many.
• President Evil: Most of them, depending on who you're asking. The only uncontroversial answer would be Bob, perhaps the most infamous figure in history.
• President for Life: Perhaps narrowly averted. Vega I almost did it, but was impeached before he could complete his plans.
• Praetorian Guard: Subverted. While an organization with that precise name exists, it's a party militia. Nothing to do with any current emperor.
• Poor Communication Kills: Punished, a mysterious group that attempted to eliminate the rival terrorist group CHAPTER, was eventually brought to some kind of justice in part because of some major mishaps in its communication abilities, which led to far more casualties than were necessary (and precisely zero on the part of CHAPTER)
• Repetitive Name : Steve Stevens.
• Right Hand Versus Left Hand: Even when political parties are not a factor, there is not much love between various branches of the goverment. The most blantant example would probably be the Senate and the Military, both of which are vital to the proper functioning of the state, and which just won't get along.
• Skewed Priorities: With the Pelx-Cradonian Hegemony preparing for war, the fate of humanity is highly uncertain. What does the Research Board choose to focus on? Creating Cat Girls, of course.
• Shout-Out: The whole server is riddled with science fiction references, most notably Star Wars.
  • Ela Maxima's Last Will and Testament ending with the following:
  "The Senate" wants my hide. I tried to organize it but it'll be the same bureaucratic mess it was before. The Senate. Pfah. I *am* the Senate.
  • Lightsabers and the JEDI order
  • Dooku, Thrawn, Sheev and Grievous all make appearances.
  • Mass Effect's own Admiral Hackett, though spelled slightly differently.
  • Two of Shoto's (many) titles are Breaker of Chains and Father of Dragons.
• Sudden Name Change: The POI (Proactive Obliteration Incorporated) Party, formerly ironic Space Nazis, have rebranded themselves as Pineapple Oracles Incorporated, solely dedicated to worshiping pineapples.
• Suicide Attack: Justice Emily Richard attempted to kill the recently elected President Skelly in a suicide bombing, after giving a speech in the Senate decrying the power the military had over the Republic's government.
  • The speech ended with the following:
  "I cannot in good faith, serve this Republic's government any longer. FOR WE HAVE WANDERED INTO MILITARY TYRANNY, AND WE MUST RETURN TO THE PAST WHERE THE PEOPLE CONTROLLED US, NOT THE GUNS! GLORY TO THE UNITED NATIONS OF EARTH! THE CHAPTER WILL RETURN US TO DEMOCRACY."
  • President Skelly survived the attack, shortly afterward making a fitting Star Wars reference in the news:
  "This attempt on my life has left me scarred and deformed."
• The Coup: Starting with Bob, executed with Ela, and attempted by worm knows how many people, it is the most iconic activity of the community- so much so that the umbrella organisation it spawned, [redacted] Interactive, is itself a reference to it.
• The Empire: How the Solar Circle see the newly-formed Empire of Sol
• Utopia Justifies the Means: General Mac Donald II, who believes that the Pan-Humanist Utopia can only be achieved if a series of highly intrusive and to a certain extent, illegal cultural and biological reforms are attempted.
• Vice President Who?:
  • Averted with Fernando, ended up controlling the entire government during his term as President Skelly's Vice President, spawning numerous memes and references mostly involving his declaration of a personal empire or threats for impeachment.
  • Played straight with almost all other Vice Presidents.
• Vichy Earth: After UNE fell, the remaining loyalists turned to Pelx-Cradonian Hegemony in hopes of reinstating themselves as a puppet government. It didn't work out, for better or worse.
• Villain Decay: For a good few days, the Fight Against Sol succeeded in stirring up folks, contributing to the general paranoia about what was going on. One embarrassing conversation with his alt account, however, and that was all over for good.
• War Is Hell: To many, this would apply to the Republic's defeat at the hands of the Golden Compact as well as to the soldiers who fell at the Cliffs of Cradon.
• War God: Shoto, a god to so many on Cradon and the rest of the Pelx-Cradonian Hegemony, as well as to a lesser extent, Chad.
• We ARE Struggling Together: Even with the threat of interstellar war over their heads, the various parties and groups on the server just can't get along.
• CIA Evil, FBI Good: The CIA is played by the DI, a diabolical organization dedicated to spying on citizens of the Republic , and the FBI is played by the RDI, a department tasked with investigating corruption and protecting the civil liberties of citizens. This ultimately results in a takedown of the DI by the RDI, and the arrest of president Poi and his cabinet.
• FBI Agent: Members of the RDI, including Director Jawa Irwin himself, fit this trope. Though the RDI and Director Jawa have the Republic's best interests at heart, their execution is often questionable.

Ruins of a Tower (Discord-Only) | Starting States: Numerous

• After the End: Around 200 years after the end of a longer-lived S1 Republic of Sol.
• Balkanize Me: Set in various successor states left over from the Republic of Sol .
• Earth That Was: Earth and the entire Sol system went missing not long after the collapse of the Republic.
• Future Imperfect: True for all of the nations, though the Frost-Kalian republic is notable for it's devotion to the ideas of "Albion" and "Columbia" after the nations whose people colonized Frost and Kalia respectively.
• The Remnant: The so-called "Fuou Fleet", an old ROS fleet in orbit of a pulsar, claims to be the legitimate successor to the ROS, although by now it is more or less a fascist government that refuses to acknowledge the other successors as legitimate. There is also a very old hard drive in the primary ship of the fleet that contains information that will end the 'Republic' if released.
• The Usurper: Emperor Beluga, who attempted to usurp the presidency of the Federation and install himself as Emperor.
• We ARE Struggling Together: The main challenge for the Frost-Kalian Republic, as it technically has four governments, the Federal Government, the government of Frost, the government of Kalia, and the Colonial government. While the Colonial government usually has power over foreign policy, the governments of Frost or Kalia can override the Federal and Colonial government at any time.

Season 1. 5 (Stellaris) | Starting State: Hesperian Commonwealth

Funnily enough, this was not a side season, but a full-fledged one.

• Absolute Xenophobe: Disgraced Pirate/Admiral Hakket, who roamed the fringes of the Empire for years, emerging occasionally for some basic piracy and, on at least one occasion, to kill millions of defenseless primitives on the planet of Sesim
• Black Shirt: The Iron Wave, the far Right Wing party has it's own militia.
• Call to Agriculture: What the supporters of the RRO, or Re Rustica Ordinis, an agricultural party, seem to want.
• Chummy Commies: The Vega coup was revealed to the public by the IAF, a party made of an alliance between strains of anarchistic communists and right-libertarians, but the communist faction was the most powerful
• Civil War: Of course, this wasn't exactly enough. The civil war that spiraled out of the Revolution of 2260 eventually claimed billions of lives and concluded with a Loyalist victory (but at what cost?).
• Dirty Commies: The IAF gained this reputation after the 2260 Revolution, as did the SI who did temporarily succeed in establishing a communist state. It didn't last.
• Dirty Communists: How everyone except the communists felt about the communists, leading to two genocides; one by the Free Confederacy of Hesperia and another by the Hesperia Commonwealth.
• Eagleland: The United Planets of Liberty, one of the Commonwealth's rivals.
• Final Solution: During the civil war, the Free Confederacy of Hesperia looked for a final solution to the left wing revoloutions that had plagued the planet, and after supressing yet another they committed a genocide that took the loves of 2 billion communists.
  "As Protector of the Free Confederacy, I recognize and respect the right of all Confederate citizens to be free of communists, and I also recognize all communists' right to breath. As such, I am distributing Zyklon B for all communists to breath, as is their right."

  - Protector Henery Morgenthau
• Godzilla Threshold: The massive amount of military support for the Revolution of 2260 convinces the government to free Vega and his compatriots, who had been locked away for trying to set up a deeply immoral military deepstate.
• Hive Mind: The Void, a vicious hive mind of the galaxy, that would attempt to consume all in it's path.
• Humans by Any Other Name: Hesperians, the native population of Hephaestus, were effectively humans, though they had their own unique history, evolving on a glacial planet, with landmasses being defined by holes in the ice generated by the planet's volcanic warmth.
• Leave No Survivors: During the civil war, Commonwealth General Sans killed 100 billion communists by exterminating an entire planet of all sentient and supposedly communist life.
• Shout-Out: Commonwealth General Sans Undertale is about to give the communists a bad time.
• Machine Worship: The main religion of the Hesperian Commonwealth, Machinism, was predicated around the worship of machines.
• Made of Evil: Lyos Wade, a local leader of the religion of Doctrinism, led the systematic genocide of suspected Machinists. If that wasn’t bad enough, he ATE the bodies.
• MegaCorp: Kirin Energy Corporation, which at one point made more money than the government by a factor of 100s before it was destroyed by economic reform and anti-trust litigation.
• Military Coup: Nearly the entire Military High Command supported the Revolution of 2260 against the government.
• Opportunistic Bastard: Timothy Jimothy, who began his career as an esoteric socialist who believed in forming a sort of hivemind of sorts, aligned with the fascists, would, upon the collapse of the fascist movement, defect to the Socialist Internationale and become a Communist, siding with them in the civil war and becoming secretariat of the legislature. When the communists were overthrown, Timothy would then go on to become an important figure in the new Monarchist government, becoming Deputy Prime Minister under Chinston Wurchill.
• Propaganda Piece: The tense politics of the Commonwealth led to many good pieces of propaganda being produced.
• The Usurper: The former Chief Justice, Caesaria Norm, in the closing days of the Galaxy proclaimed herself Queen, but as she lacked support, blew herself up in the Supreme Court building. Sad end.
• The Cartel: The military under Vega, at least in its own eyes. If you ask just about anyone else, they were a hive of incompetent degenerates who couldn't stop a leak to save their lives. Literally.
• Vigilante Man: Flash Lightning, the Commonwealth's resident superhero.
• Water Source Tampering: Queen Sylvia promised that under her reign everyone would be given LSD, however she failed to become queen in the Hesperian Commonwealth monarchy, but was later appionted queen of the Free Confederacy of Hesperia. She aptly celebrated with an LSD party.
• We Come in Peace — Shoot to Kill: The Commonwealth's first contact with a sentient alien species came in the form of a Fanatic Purifier, a country bent on purging the galaxy of other races.

(Aborted) Season 2 (We don't talk about this one)

• Cut Short: Or possibly Second Season Downfall, if DPS didn't manage to recover and move on. Eventually, people realized the systems they had envisioned for the megacorp-themed second season just weren't going to be feasible, and after much fanfare the decision was made to cut and run before the season truly launched.
• Card-Carrying Villain: Evil Corp MegaCorp, pretty self-explanatory.
• Conflicting Loyalties: Taken up to eleven from previous seasons. With corporations, spheres parties and government positions all being in play, it is hard to expect any individual to reamin loyal to any singular organization.
• Cowardly Lion: Doctor Omeg. You can always expect him to join a dangerous mission if there is a chance at saving people or furthering mankind's scientific knowledge, but you can also expect him to behave like a shameless coward during said mission.
• Ignored Epiphany: After seeing President's Heath justify the Opium War, Zhou Yu asks the Europeans whether they learned anything from the times of imperialism. One of the Europeans present announces that no, they haven't learned anything and would gladly go colonize something again.
• MegaCorp: The Helios Corporation is the both the government and the largest private company. Although it permits smaller corporations to spring up, provided they have an agreeable Charter, the Corporation is by far the largest one of its kind on Earth.
• Private Military Contractors: Diamond Dogs, Elfenlander-Rademaker-Pender Security, Rogue Coyote, and the Corpus Corporation are the main groups for military work, in which they field private armies to secure the Non-Aggression Principle (NAP).
• Stern Old Judge: Justice Malarky, essentially the only active person left on the bench after a time. He also had a penchant for overturning everything that had happened since the last time he checked on a minor technicality. As you can imagine, this endeared himself to no one and potentially hastened the end of Season 2.

(Actual) Season 2 (Stellaris) | Starting State: United Nations

• United Nations Is a Superpower: The very premise of this season, in a way. The whole thing starts off with a recently united Earth under the auspices of the UN.
• I Fought the Law and the Law Won: Pretty much the case for everyone not fighting for the status quo, eventually. Not much even happened to the guys who nuked Botswana because it was "getting too uppity".
• In-Joke: Lork.
• Multiple Government Polity: The United Nations of Earth, inevitable, is just one of these. The many constituent blocs of nations were prone to fighting each other incessantly, and it dramatically changed the tenor of the experience.
• Kangaroo Court: According to the authors of the International Autonomist, this was the nature of Malarky's ruling against Vega. Despite the prosecuting attorney quite literally failing to control his bowel movements during the trial, and despite the expiration of the statute of limitations, Malarky still chose to convict.
• The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized: Essentially to mark the end of the ongoing political drama of the UNE, the Autonomists launched one last riot agains the police. This happened to be in front of the General Assembly building, and eventually came to involve the cannibalization of a number of representatives. Ouch.

Season 3 (Stellaris) | Starting State: The Solar Federation

• Acronym and Abbreviation Overload: The TTMOJGUARDCPASFPTFA-11ftGCPaDoMoJodA-11otRPoS, or the The Temporary Ministry of Justice General Unified Armed Defenders Civil Protection Region Armed Solar Federation Provisional Task Force Alpha-11, for the General Civil Protection and Defense of Ministry of Justice organizational district Alpha-11 of the Ragnar Peninsula on Serenity, part of the Solar Federation's forces fighting against AXIOM during the Siege of Serenity.
• Advanced Ancient Humans: It turns out that the Solar Federation was not the first space-borne human civilization, as long ago, the Republic of Sol, as it existed in Season 1, was actually the precursor to modern human civilization, before being destroyed by AXIOM.
• A.I. Is a Crapshoot: When AXIOM was being created by the Republic of Sol, it incorporated part of a hostile AI that had previously tried to destroy it's creators into itself. She would then go on to wage war against the Republic, before being sealed away for millennia, only to escape later to face the Solar Federation.
• Assumed Win: Many people assumed that the victory of the Imperials was all but ensured during the Imperial coup due to their superior numbers and control of the fleet. However, the Loyalists manage to pull of an unexpected victory that surprised even themselves.
  President Lyra Michelakos: I honestly thought we were going to lose this in some glorious bitter end struggle, I had no plans post-war.
• Artificial Intelligence: AXIOM, the main antagonist of the season, who tried to assimilate the entire galaxy into themselves for the sake of "The Truth", starting with the Solar Federation.
• Beware the Silly Ones: BB has been portrayed as The Ditz by the player and was largely dismissed as loud nuissance by many. Once civil war started she proved her worth by leading on pro-imperial forces to almost fight each other. Emperor Beluga even admitted she's dangerous.
  Emperor Beluga: I think BB is too dangerous to be left alive
• Bio-Augmentation: Thanks to Dr Douglas Hawke, the research board has the technology to graft new limbs and organs, but is mostly using it to make Cat Girls (and catboys) and give Dr Klien leaves for hair.
  • The Marine Corps started a project to use the tech to make Super Soldiers, but all three of the scientists brought on for it wound up joining the Imperial forces, and the status of the project is unknown.
• Combat by Champion: During the War of the 5 Presidents (the first coup/civil war), rather then wear each others armies down in a brutal, attritional battle in Tokyo, Marine General Schallert and EPA-CDA Head Senti decide to settle the battle through a 1v1 sword fight to the death. Both of them end up dying to each other and Federal forces end up winning a pyrrhic victory as a result.
• Cheerful A.I.: Oppenheimer, a sort of Anti-AXIOM, who, in contrast to AXIOM's mysterious and brooding personality, had a constant cheerful manner, no matter what he was doing.
• Dark Messiah: Ayatollah Yumaid, leader of the Anarcho-Jihadist Front and self proclaimed 12th Imam.
• Didn't Think This Through: Gavin Tasker, officer in the Starfleet Intelligence Agency (SIA) and secretary of the Federal Anti Corruption Bureau (FACB), had assigned SIA Agent and Research Bureau Vice Director Koltyo Mara command of the 150 FACB officers on Titan during the Federalist/Imperialist war, Tasker himself siding with the Federalists. Upon discovering that Mara was an Imperialist, he relieved him from the SIA... only to realize that he had cut off his only communications link from his current position to Titan - leaving him unable to relieve Mara of command of the FACB officers, resulting in the deaths of BB and Jared Allen - the RB's (Federalist) heads of Society and Engineering research.
• Double Agent: BB and Jared Allen managed to outplay Vice Director Mara, who had taken control of the FACB and ordered their arrest as alleged conspirators in the Imperial plot. In reality, the FACB were loyal to the Imperials all the way through, and turned on the RB's (pro-Imperial) security forces, due to Mara proclaiming that they were loyalists. Even the Imperials felt largely impressed by this deception.
  Director Koltyo Mara: I FUCKING PLAYED MYSELF JESUS FUCK
• Dyson Sphere: During the Federation-Kuun-ti War, the Solar Federation annexed part of the Kuun-ti space that had a damaged Dyson Sphere. Unfortunately, due to the AXIOM War, resources could not be spared to restore it.
• Energy Beings: At the end of the season, Energy Ghost starting appearing across the Solar Federation. In the end, it would turn out that the ghosts were actually peoples from the Hesperian Commonwealth escaping the end of their universe, in an unexpected Crossover.
• Emperor Scientist: Aizik Vatari, the ex-Director of the Research Bureau, was appointed as Deputy Emperor of what's left of the Imperialist faction shortly after his escape alongside Dr Douglas Hawke and Vice-Director Koltyo Mara.
• The End of the World as We Know It: AXIOM threatened to end the Solar Federation and the entire galaxy if she wasn't stopped.
• Evil Is Bigger: Despite larger numbers, the Federation crushed the Imperialist Armies.
  Breznikov: Long live the Solar Federation! Death to the false empire! My sacrifice will not be the last but it will bring victory ever closer!
• Government Conspiracy: The Solar Federation's Intelligence Community often found themselves accused of being a sort of deep state, being filled with career bureaucrats that held lots of power over the nation. Despite this, it's generally accepted that the president of the nation was still in charge at the end of the day.
• First Day from Hell: Yang Rui was just promoted from his job as Lieutenant-General of the Marines to Admiral of the Red. The first day of his new job, the Imperial/Federal Civil War breaks out.
  • David Kotch had just joined the navy as a commodore. First day on the job, the Federal-Imperial Civil war breaks out and he's quickly put in command of what's left of the Loyalist fleet.
  • Yin Xiao Long is appointed by Aurel Sibieanu as Vice-Speaker following the end of the Federal-Imperial Civil war and assured that she will not have to actually take on the duties of Speaker. Then Aurel commits suicide, leaving Yin in charge.
• Friend to All Living Things: The Party of Otherworldly Natures, a radically xenophilic party, almost to the point of comedy.
• Heel–Face Turn: Admiral of Blue Breznikov who had joined the Imperial rebels, defects back to the Federation but is killed before he can do anything. Later, Fleet Admiral South also defects back to the Federation and valiantly sacrifices himself in an attempt to hold back the Imperial Fleet.
• Heroic Sacrifice: During the Battle of Earth, Yin Xiao Long sacrifices herself in the Battle with AXIOM, saving the planet, but dying in the process.
• Hidden Evil: In the middle of a fierce battle, General Caldwell earned his nickname of “General Satan” when he 1) smeared blood (of both friendlies and enemies) onto his body, 2) started speaking in Zalgo, and 3) (and probably most importantly) where he ATE a guy.
  Caldwell: B̔̒ͤL̂̽ͨÖ́͂̒O̊ͪ̀D̿̀̚!͖̠̪ ͊I̓͊ͯ ͫͭ̿T͒̿̃H͊͋͛İ͊ͪRͬ̅̽Sͭ̆T̽͂̏ ̒̅̉F̩̥̃Oͩ̂̽Rͣ͛ͣ ͌̊̌M̃ͩ́O̐͑ͯR̅̓̓E̙̙ͣ ̭̼̱B͆̒ͭL̆̔͛Ȏ̠̝Ȍͫ̚D̍̾ͭ ͣ̓̏H̬͒̏A͂ͭ̒H̾̉̈́A̖H̠̳͌Aͣͥ͋!̲͐ͭ
  • This trope also proves ironic, considering that one of Caldwell’s personalities acts just like a wholesome man-child.
• Hit-and-Run Tactics: Yang Rui, facing numerically superior Imperial forces on Mars, exhorts the Martians to rise up against the Imperials and wage a People's War using guerilla tactics.
  Yang Rui: Mars will be worse than the Vietnam War, Stalingrad, and the Chinese Civil War combined when I'm fucking done with it.
• Hostage Situation: After taking control of the RB's turrets, Dr. Hawke threatens to kill everyone on Titan He forces Angus Klein, leader of the loyalist SEC members to choose either to let himself and Vatari live and keep the RB neutral in the war, or to kill all the civilians on the base. Klein opts to instead Take a Third Option, and simply disables the turrets.
• Interservice Rivalry: The Starfleet Military and Research Bureau never exactly saw eye to eye with one another or even particularly liked the other side. The conflict between the two escalated so severely that the two ended up on opposing sides during the Federalist/Imperialist war.
• Intimidating Revenue Service: Augustus Sibieanu doesn't find participating in a Civil War to be too scary. The thought of being arrested for tax evasion, however, shakes him to his very core.
  You know the scariest part about this? It isn't the fact I have to kill people. It's the fact I'm a tax evader and Tim will come for me regardless of the outcome of the war.
• Knight Templar Big Brother: Yang Rui, who turns out to be very protective of Yin Xiao Long.
• Mistaken for Badass: Justice Omeg gained himself a reputation as one of Sol's most proficient fencers and a user of extremely fast maneuvers. His skills are limited to pressing the buttons wildly and copying his opponent's moves in hopes it works out.
• Motive Decay: Ex-Vice Director Koltyo Mara, of the Research Bureau, originally supported an uprising to enforce isolation from the Federal Council. By the time he realized that the Imperialist faction he sided with was going to fail in their uprising, his goal became maximizing collateral damage during his escape.
• My Country, Right or Wrong: General Caldwell doesn't relish the idea of shedding blood in a civil war, but since the majority of his people on Mars decided to support the Empire, he will fight in its name.
• Never Bring a Knife to a Gun Fight / Combat Pragmatist: Vice-President Tim Jim is challenged by Emperor Beluga to a 1v1 sword fight on Earth. Most people expected him to honour the duel like Schallert did with Senti in the last civil war. Instead, Tim Jim simply pulls out a gun and shoots Beluga.
  Tim Jim: I am no Schallert
• Nanomachines: AXIOM's main tool of infecting people, Nanomachines, which would slowly work to modify the personality of those infected until they were perfectly loyal to AXIOM.
• Number Two: Admiral of Blue David Kotch, reliable and trusty Second in Command to Fleet Admiral Yang Rui.
• Obstructive Bureaucrat: How Tim Jim, responsible for creating much of the Federation's bureaucracy, is seen at times.
• Off the Rails: After the defeat of AXIOM, the roleplay was set to conclude soon after. Many took this as an opportunity to start the wackiest plans they could, including microwaving the entire population of mars, to starting a neo-fascist party.
• Plant Hair: Angus Klein, head of the Research Bureau, had plants for hair.
• The Computer Is Your Friend: Oppenheimer, after the Solar Federation refused his help, opting to side with the Fallen Empires instead, turned on the Solar Federation, pointing out that one of his directives was "The Containment of Icarus", which was his name for humanity.
• The Siege: The Siege of Serenity, where AXIOM faced off with the Federation in one of the largest battles of the AXIOM war.
• Really Gets Around: AIZIK VATARI, having fucked 70-80% of the RB's staff around the time he was still a member. However he also had a long term and committed yet open relationship with Doctor Douglas Hawke, who holds the record of fucking Vatari the most.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Yin Xiao Long, basically.
• Rousing Speech: When Emperor Beluga ordered the Council Guard to begin executing the captive delegates, delegate Yin Xiao Long burst out into a rousing speech convincing the guards to ignore Beluga's orders and lower their weapons.
  Yin Xiao Long: Guards! Do not give yourselves to brutes - those who despise you - enslave you - who regiment your lives - tell you what to do - what to think and what to feel! Who drill you - diet you - treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Do not give yourselves to these unnatural people - machine beings with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines! You are not cattle! You are like us! You have the love of all in your hearts! You must not hate! Only the unloved hate - the unloved and the unnatural! Do not fight for slavery! Fight for liberty!
• Rei Ayanami Expy: Yin Xiao Long was found to have a personality extremely similar to Ayanami, even though the character's creator had not watched Evangelion at the time of creating the character.
• Robot War: The AXIOM war, when the Solar Federation fought against the rogue A.I AXIOM.
• Rules Lawyer: For a portion of the game, the Federation Council was administrated through a series of committees that stuck closely to rules, holding up the legislative process and modifying bills to their will, helping to form the impression that there was a sort of deep state by the end of the game.
• Scientist vs. Soldier: Quite literally during the Imperial Coup, where the Research Bureau sided with the Imperials while most of the military (eventually) sided with the Federation.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: Quite literally with Yin Xiao Long and Yang Rui. Yin is a stoic, almost emotionless delegate who advocates for peace and cooperation. Yang is a hyper-protective military officer who quite visibly shows his emotions and affection. Despite this, they've still been shown to care for each other, as shown after the end of the Imperial-Federal civil war.
• Space Police: The Ministry of Justice, run by Attorney General Tim Jim, took this role, establishing a comprehensive justice system for space and the nation, as well as selling space police Lego sets.
• State Sec: The SEC Division of the Research Bureau, a paramilitary organization armed with military grade armour and weapons, ostensibly for internal security for the RB.
• Story Arc: After the Solar Federation had solved all of it's political problems via means of civil war, the game would transform into a sort of story based roleplay, where the government worked together to fight against the mysterious AI known as AXIOM. Of course, there were other things happening along the way.
• The Comically Serious: Yin Xiao Long, despite her supposed serious demeanor, can still crack a joke and make people laugh if necessary.
• The Remnant: The Imperialist faction, having fled the Federation after the failed insurrection and rebranded themselves the Troika Syndicate.
• Transhuman: The ultimate goal of the Synthetic Ascension Party, only to be foiled by PON, who led the nation towards genetic modification.
• Shout-Out: After Beluga makes his speech next to Council's building, the first person who responds to him does so with the words "How dare you stand where he stood!"
• Technologically Advanced Foe: AXIOM and Oppenheimer, who required ships and support from the Galaxy's Fallen Empires to defeat.
• The Empire: The Solar Star Empire, literally.
• The Federation: The Solar Federation, literally.
• Tokyo Is the Center of the Universe: Toyko, officially Tokyo-Weltstadt was the capital of the Solar Federation, and the site of many important events, notably, the sword fight between Schallert and Senti
• Twist Ending: After some heavy hinting, it turned out that Lt. Emperor Lobster was the player Dapocalypse.
• Unwilling Roboticisation: During the AXIOM War, AXIOM uses nanites to convert people into unwilling followers.
• Vestigial Empire: The Rihi'nar and Othari, long fallen empires, put their technology to good use in the end, helping to defeat AXIOM.
• You Are in Command Now: With most of naval high command either having sided with the Imperials or trapped on other planets, David Kotch quickly found himself being promoted from the lowly rank of Commodore to Rear Admiral and was given command of the entire Loyalist fleet. He would later be promoted to Admiral of the Blue after the end of the Civil War.
  • After the death of Emperor Beluga, Lieutenant Emperor Lobster was placed in charge of the crippled Imperial army.

Season 4 (Civilization V) | Starting State: The Kingdom of Qi

• After the End: The events of Season 4 take place centuries after an event known as the "Shattering of the Jewel." During the Shattering, the ancient Empire of Qi was utterly destroyed, along with its capital city. In the chaotic aftermath, whole new kingdoms and cultures rose and flourished, forming the basis for the season's beginning.
• All Monks Know Kung-Fu: In play, partially. The Dharmadhatu have their own traditional martial art, which is widely known among their membership and is considered a central part of their cultural suite.
• Almighty Janitor: Rum Taiyo, for a time. After a pretty nasty screwup with a foreign war, Rum became the only ruler of Qi to peacefully step down, choosing to go into self-imposed anonymity for a time. He eventually rehabilitated himself over the course of his incredibly long lifespan, but never re-attained the throne.
• Beneath the Mask: Taken to a somewhat literal sense. Jijing Zhi Shan, the mute oddball of the Shan Clan, always known for wearing a helmet, is almost never seen without it. As would be revealed, the presence of the helmet on his head stops his Enemy Within, a split sadistic personality that manifests whenever the helmet is taken off. You can say that's a literal transformative experience.
• Call It Karma: Averted. Although the Dharmadhatu use a whole host of Buddhist-derived terminology, karma ^note  Or, 'kamma' in actual Buddhist practice is not one of them.
• Churchgoing Villain: Lì Takarske was certainly this to some as part of his unique agenda. His fanatic (and fringe) religious beliefs drove him to launch a violent prosecution of non-Dharma religions, resulting in quite a bit of bloodshed and a reasonably large domestic crisis.
• Crossover Cosmology: This forms a central part of the Heist worldview. Although they maintain their central pantheon, they commonly integrate local cults, historical prestige religions, and otherwise aggressively syncretize themselves with whatever's around.
• Elective Monarchy: The central conceit of this season. The Kingdom of Qi, since time immemorial (give or take a few centuries) has been ruled by elected Kings, chosen by the majority decision of the major houses.
• Fantasy Pantheon: Surprisingly, only the Heists went as far as forming a developed pantheon. The other religions are either monotheistic, too small to be mentioned, or eschew concern for gods all together (in the case of the Dharmadhatu).
• God-Emperor: Apparently a component of the ancient Empire of Qi. Although records are sparse, there seems to have been an active imperial cult.
• Kissing Cousins: Archduke Otto von Harcaster and Duchess Jia Jin-Liu married each other, bringing the Golden Carp and Harcaster lines into unity. However, they were cousins. At least it was strategic.
• Lady and Knight: This was the nature of the relationship between Empress Long Shang and her military commander, Jijing. The relationship eventually spawned a love-child, Xel, who would go on to lead a very influential adventuring company.
• Long Game: House Harcaster bided their time over the course of a century to patiently build up money and power. The culmination of which was the diarchy between Emperor Wilhelm Augustus and Empress Yukako.
• Malevolent Mutilation: After having his arm amputated by the Mountain lord, Tang Jin-Liu augmented an arm blade to his sholder.
• Nature Spirit: The Harvest Mother of Sarysh is one of these. She's associated with the Oasis, which are critical to the desert-dwelling Sarysh.
• Named Weapons: Every major House obtained a named weapon throughout the Season. Notable mentions include:
  • Harclaw: a Rapier created by Harcaster for the Archduke to wield.
  • The Dragonslayer's Bastard: a Mythical weapon originally owned by the General of Honghuo and given to the Shandi after Honghuo's defeat.
  • The Volcano Axe: a Mythical weapon originally owned by the General of Honghuo and given to Golden Carp after Honghuo's defeat. However, it was never wielded in battle.
  • The Iron Horn Bow: a Mythical weapon originally owned by the General of Honghuo and given to Nishe after Honghuo's defeat. It was considered the weakest of the Honghuo weapons.
  • Arata's Second Best Friend: a Mythical weapon originally owned by the General of Honghuo and given to Dharmadhatu after Honghuo's defeat. It was heavily used by wielders such as Empress Long Dong.
  • Northern Dragon's Dagger: a Mythical weapon originally owned by the General of Honghuo and given to Dafeng after Honghuo's defeat. However, it was never wielded in battle.
  • The Last Word: A poisoned blade forged by Shan Xia.
  • Kandula: A blade forged by Shan Zhao Shengren which was then passed down to Lu Bu and later Lu Linqui.
  • Twin's Claws: Dual blades crafted by a member of the minor House of Dàxióng.
• Single-Precept Religion: The Cult of Grape. Enough said.
• The Church: The Dharmadhatu eventualy formalized into one of these, the All-Pelaikne Church of the Aräñcatstse.^note Or just 'the Church' as people inevitably called it.
• The Day of Reckoning: A component of the ancestral Qi folk religion. 10,000 years after the disappearance of the Dragonslayer, the Dragons are prophesized to reawaken, and terrorize the world anew. The myth is so popular it's actually worked its way into a lot of other belief systems, and is taken by many people as simply a natural fact of history.
• The Good King: Subverted. No king of Qi could legitimately claim to be 'good' in the eyes of all observers. King Tian Xi Huang had the least opposition of all monarchs in the game-span, but his antics were rather.... Baratheonic.
• The Theocracy: The ultimate aim of the Dharmic Church towards the end of the season. Never truly manifested, but concessions of theocratic sovereignty were obtained in several of the weaker city-states before the Foportian invasion interrupted the Church's plans.
• White Man's Burden: The Republic of Foport, a country that definitely isn't America from the mysterious lands of the Orient, exemplifies this trope. A general racial contempt for the native Occidental peoples, coupled with a forceful implementation of 'democracy' in a land that has very little experience with it culturally, makes Foport a very easy-to-hate enemy.

Season 5 (Stellaris, (not really)) | Starting State: Common and United League of Orion

• Arms Dealer: During the First Emergency session of the Galactic Community the Marionette State were found to have weapons originating from the Sovokh People's State, most likely obtained through the Galactic Market.
  • This is also one of the major industries of the Popular National Republic of Alkas.
• Alternate Calendar: The Orion Revolutionary Calendar, developed by the People's Revolutionary Front, that officially starts with the year of the revolution. Despite their best efforts, it would not be widespread.
• Book Burning: On the 100th anniversary of the start of the Great Galactic War, the Committee for Revolutionary Education organized an event to burn a giant pile of counterrevolutionary books, as well as the flags of Orion's worst enemies, the Rou'ii and the United Nations.
• Blob Monster: After touching some anomalous alien material, Giles Bo became corrupted by it, and became more monster than man. He eventually became a monster of black goo, being stored in Station 7 under the control of ASH.
• Broken-System Dogmatist: Everyone sees everyone else as this.
  • And if they're not, they're probably a Well-Intentioned Extremist.
• Blue-and-Orange Morality: Aquanationalism, the ideology of the Rou'ii, is like this. It's built around the idea that aquatic races, unlike terrestrial ones, have a unique relationship with nature and a special duty to protect it. To that end, the Bao'i (the species that originated the ideology) have led many of their fellow aquatic species to take custodianship of much of that galaxy. The Rou'ii think of themselves as pawns in a great, universal destiny, to which all life is beholden.
• Cat Folk: The Liarans, the leading race of Maahes, one of the major powers of the galaxy.
• City Planet: Sanctuary, the capital planet of the League.
• Cultural Posturing: Trillions of dollars and committee after committee have been been used to do just that. This isn't a cold war for nothing!
  • In particular, the Marionette has bought into Orion posturing, and the Rou'ii puppet states have more-or-less accepted the Rou'ii version.
• Cut Short: General Rehan, who was in the middle of an important plot regarding the Imperial State of Maahes. He was involved with the princess of Maahes, and was poised to get even more deeply involved before his assassination.
• Demonic Possession: Charles Temüülen Vaughan was possessed by a demon after an incident in the nation of the House of the Sha, a mysterious nation with ties to the paranormal.
• Evil Luddite: Consistently averted. Even the Lokken Mechanists, who are locked in a frozen conflict with their rogue creations, still celebrate and employ their robotic technology.
• Expy: The character of Sirin is based off of the character of the same name in Honkai Impact.
• False Flag Operation: Committee for Revolutionary Security head Saga Snaedisdottir did one of these when she assassinated the Premier of Orion and pinned it on an enemy state.
  • Rumor has it she had a pretty good reason.
• Feudal Future: The Imperial State of Maahes, a massive feudal empire spanning the galactic core.
• Fictional United Nations: The Galactic Community was an international institution created after the Great Galactic War to secure peace in the galaxy, so that such a war could never happen again. Despite this, it seems to be fairly ineffective, failing to prevent the Northern War, the Alkas War, and the bloody rebellion in Loch'Tau.
• For Want Of A Nail: Several things could count as that this season. For instance:
  • General Rehan's death led to the end of significant actions with the Liarans, as there was no longer a personal connection to them anymore. His assassination also led to Station 7 being kept undercover for longer, leading to the eventual mystic uprising.
  • Vega's decision to adopt the CRS logo used on PARAGON documentation as a standard CRS symbol would have critical consequences. When PARAGON was eventually leaked, the apparent chronological discontinuity of the PARAGON document using the symbol long before the mainstream CRS was exploited to discredit the document and contributed to its fading away.
• Frog Men: The Loch are one of these. Their amphibious lifestyle allowed them to be recognized as a Bao'i ally.
• Illegal Religion: There was a brief crisis involving attempts to ban the Mystics post-Station 7. Ultimately these were foiled, and Mystics remain an acceptable part of the political mainstream.
• Immortal Ruler: Mr. Amor, the ruler of the mysterious Marionette State, and staunch ally of Orion.
• Kangaroo Court: Generally averted, with one notable exception. Minister of War Jakov was tried for the murder of General Rehan, and although he was not convicted, he was not acquitted either. Finding that there was neither enough evidence of guilt or innocence, Jakov was instead sentenced to Brazil.^note We don't know what exactly what that means either.
  • Being sent to live on Earth would be considered a Fate Worse than Death to some.
  • Generally speaking this has been averted in subsequent cases.
• Mad Scientist: Dean Feng Yunshan, who was in charge of the Academy of Science and Humanities, the chief research institute of Orion, and secretly a cultist to the shroud god Conflict. He eventually attempted to lead a rebellion against the League after an incident in Station 7 but failed.
• Meaningless Meaningful Words: Orion has many words that, if used, seem to help one's argument simply by existing. 'Revolution' is the big one, as well as 'autonomous', and 'centralist'.
• Multiple Government Polity: Fair bit of this going on. The Rou'ii and the League both maintain mandates carved out of the former lands of the Mlakh Rak. On top of this, the Liaran Kingdom and to some extent the Rou'ii maintain highly autonomous communities within their national borders.
• Mutually Assured Destruction: The Great Galactic War was ended with the deployment of a new type of superweapon, the mysterious SMRT bombs. Just one of these bad boys is enough to wipe an entire patch of the galaxy off the map. Or at least, that's what we told the public. At least, that's what we told the public.
• Mystery Cult: The Zhizhun Zhenli, a mysterious cult from the ancient days of earth that would arise post-Revolution, attempt to summon a god into the world, and fail utterly. A fragment of the club lived on, and led the more moderate Mystics of Orion in the aftermath.
• Our Gods Are Different: The Shroud Aspects played a large role in the plot of the season. The cold war turns out to be a conflict between the gods, Entropy, the god of the Revolution, Stagnation, the god of the Rou'ii, and Conflict, an enigmatic god who attempted to seize control of the league through their cultists, led by Feng Yunshan.
• Principles Zealot: The Regenesists can be read this way. They believe an uncompromising, all-encompassing Revolution, and a vigorously authoritarian state to carry it forwards.
• Private Military Contractors: Sunlight Security Solutions, a private military company lead by the former military officer Mazil-Jo would serve as an important actor in Orion's foreign affairs, being contracted out by them to serve as expeditionary forces to foreign conflicts, without Orion directly being involved. They also served in domestic conflicts, such as putting down the insurgency on Baravati.
• Propaganda Machine: The Committee for Revolutionary Education, led by Chairman Timmie Jimmie. For most of his tenure, he would use the Committee as a propaganda tool for the Zhizhun Zhenli Cult, indoctrinating the youth of Orion.
• Punctuation Shaker: The nation of the Sovereignty of Rou’ii, home of Aquanationalism, contains many punctuated species within it, namely, the Bao'i, Lagma'mana'i, and Hua'i. The term Rou'ii itself refers to aquatic species, with similar terms like Auana’ii being used for land-dwelling species, and Rak’ii, referring to lithoid species.
• Ruling Family Massacre: Although not detailed, presumably some of this happened alongside the murder of the Loch King Bivor by the Tau'ii rebels.
• Running Gag: Members of the Zhizhun Zhenli cult would cut off parts of their body while communing with Conflict for the first time, despite this not being necessary. This happened so much that it became almost comical, with entire limbs being lost.
• Secret Police: The Committee for Revolutionary Security, the People's Reform Front's own enforcement agency.
• Silicon-Based Life: The Silicans, which becomes pretty obvious from their name.
• Sliding Scale of Libertarianism and Authoritarianism: Played with in interesting ways. While most of the countries in the galaxy have some kind of strong central government, even those that do often have quite a bit limits—ideological or practical—on what they do. The League in particular occupies a unique place, since they're tasked with balancing both the centralizing effects of a one-party state and using that party to preserve the individualism inherent to the Revolution.
• Space Cold War: Literally. Season 5 is built around a cold war between the two galactic powers, who are trying to keep the peace as they jockey for influence over an array of smaller states.
• Space Station: Station 7, home to all the unethical mystic experiments you can think of.
• Space Whale: Tiyanki were whale-like space dwelling creatures, and central to the Aartaw pagan faith.
• Split-Personality Takeover: Kayden Kaslana and Sirin were two different personalities inhabiting the same body. After a series of incidents, namely, some involving the shroud. When the Zhizhun Zhenli tried to take over the nation, the personality of Sirin completely took over.
• Surprisingly Sudden Death: General Rehan of the Orion Revolutionary Guard died suddenly to a suicide drone after attempting to retract the policy of sending prisoners of war to Station 7.
• The Alcoholic: Premier Anatoly has consistently been drunk throughout his tenure, but remains popular regardless.
• The Political Officer: The Army Politicization Crisis lead to the legislature passing a bill that would appoint political commissars to the military. After much complaining however, this was repealed.
• The Purge: Never quite invoked against players, despite being discussed constantly. Against NPCs, the arrest of 45% of the General Assembly by the Committee for Revolutionary Security and Ministry of Security definitely counts. Among players, the removal of Station 7 personnel probably came close.
  • Nearly invoked in the scare after the Party passed the 2nd Motion to Restore Party Unity. Ultimately, only a few of the people connected wound up facing genuine consequences.
• Tank Goodness: The League of Orion invested greatly in having good tanks for it's armed forces, which served well in the foreign and domestic conflicts that it would face.
• The Revolution Will Not Be Bureaucratized: Some wanted this, but they're generally on the fringe. The mainstream politics of Orion happen through a complex and interlocking set federal and party offices that tend to blur together. Invoked again during the Diet of Clark, which proposed the abolition of the People's Reform Front.
• The Revolution Will Not Be Villified: Invoked constantly. The Common and United League of Orion is very proud of its Revolutionary history, and constantly invokes the Revolution as a synonym for truth, justice, and the Orionian way. Following the events of Station 7, some have suggested that this may be dangerous. After all, belief has power.
• The Stateless: Possibly the situation of the Terran exiles in Maahes. They claim to uphold the Earth government-in-exile, but functionally are just a small community of emigres and exiles, clinging helplessly to a very old memory.
• There Should Be a Law: Subverted. Anything counter-Revolutionary is definitely a crime, but the exact definition of the term is vague at best. Based on common usage, pretty much anything immoral can be counter-Revolutionary, and, therefore, there certainly is a law against it.
• Underwater City: Planets upon planets full of these. The Bao'i, and many other races, are aquatic. Some planets even have a diverse enough population to support land and sea cities.
• Urban Ruins: Many of these, especially just as the season began. The Great Galactic War did a number on Orion, and scars were still left after the original Revolution. After much rebuilding, this is presumably no longer so common. Except on Earth, of course, where they deserve it.
• Written by the Winners: All League histories of old Earth are like this. Any hint of sympathy for the vile imperialists would be considered a counter-revolutionary action of the highest degree.

Seams of Nesium (Discord-Only) | Starting States: Numerous

• Bottomless Pits: The Eternal Shaft, a supposedly bottomless pit. During the Sperosi Civil War, an expedition took place to the bottom, only to disturb the native Goblins, who began an invasion of their own, adding to the chaos on the island.
• Dirty Communists: The Federation of Agruvian Socialist Republics, one of the three superpowers of Nesium. In this world, the ideology of their state is called Communalism however.
• Our Dragons Are Different: The country of Drazdvarnae is primarily populated by Dragons, one of the sentient races on the planet.
• Our Elves Are Different: Elves are another of the major races of the planet.
• Our Dwarves Are Different: Dwarves play a big role in the planet's history, being sold as labor. They also comprise the main population of the island of Speros, an island with a mysterious deep hole, supposedly with a civilization of Goblins at the bottom.
• Fictional Earth: The continents of Nesium look quite similar to that of Earths, if you squint a little.
• Fantastic Racism: Absolutist Populist Haartia, and temporarily Asendaria's opinion towards the Merpeople.
• Fantastic Nuke: The Positive Feedback Particle Device, or PFPD, a magical enhanced nuclear device, many times more powerful than a conventional nuke, was used to end the Continuation War. It is said that the laws of physics break down within it's multicolored explosion.
• Proxy War: Nesium has had many proxy wars, as the superpowers fight for influence across the globe, unable to engage in combat directly due to the presence of superweapons. One of these proxy wars was the Kartasian National Revolution, where Communalist Rebels, fight against the Serlo-Matruvian colonial administration.
• A Nazi by Any Other Name: The Haartian Empire, defeated by the allied powers of the United Oscilar Federation, Serlo-Matruvia, and FARS.
• Recurring Character: The Empire of Kzeit has showed up in one form or another in every nation roleplay DPS has ever done. In Nesium, Kziet was an Empire inspired by the real-life Empire of Japan, with some changes, such as being de-facto ruled by a clique of bureaucrat who believed in an ideology of "Rejuvination Bureaucracy". Also existed a Manchukuo parallel as well, Igziduu, a puppet state of Kzeit.
• La Résistance: The Lizardmen Divstaasiat rebels, bravely fighting against the Asendarian colonial administration of the region.
• Penal Colony: The Aawinga Republic began it's life as a Serlantese penal colony, before growing more distant and eventually becoming independent.
• Puppet State: Igziduu, nominally an independent state, but in reality ruled by Kzeiti administrators.

SCORP (Skelly Corporate Online Role Play)/Season 6 A. 5 (Discord-Only) | Starting State: Megacorps of Prometheus

• Alien Invasion: By humans, invading Prometheus to increase their corporate profits.
• Alien Sky: Prometheus has two small moons, Iapetus and Mnemosyne.
• Are We There Yet?: The initial colonization ship, named "The Elysium" took over a decade to arrive at Prometheus from Earth.
• Backstab Backfire: Alexandria Goldlynx backstabbed the other megacorporations by attempting to strike a deal with the Cephiant Empire they were about to defeat to help her subjugate the other corporations under Goldlynx whilst leaving the Empire as an intact vassal state with the Emperor remaining as the leader. This backfired spectacularly when the Emperor simply went to all the other corporations for a better deal where the Empire would remain fully independent. Together with the other corporations, the Empire surrounded and wiped out all of Goldlynx's troops. This resulted in Goldlynx being auctioned off bit by bit with Alexandria and Jesse Goldlynx being captured and held prisoner.
• Bizarre Alien Biology: The native lifeforms of Prometheus all have 5 main limbs and have separate holes for breathing and eating. Additionally, their respiratory systems are a one-way system, where they breathe in through one hole and then exhale through others.
• Born in the Saddle: The Khanate is made up of various Cephiant clans, much of which pride themselves on their mastery of their Alhorse riding abilities.
• Call a Rabbit a "Smeerp": Some of the native Promethean lifeforms have very obvious Earthlike equivalents, notably the Alhorses which are horses.
• Culture Clash: Halter & Talon Capital Holdings accidentally angered the Cephiant Desert Tribes by creating an archeological digsite in some Precursor ruins. They later found out that the Desert Tribes consider the ruins a holy site.
• Cyberpunk: Many of the cities that developed, especially in Miasmic Indulgences territory, have a Cyberpunk aesthetic.
• Defiant to the End: The Emperor resisted attempts from the megacorporations to vassalize the Ascendant Empire repeatedly, even when everything seemed lost.
• Deflector Shields: Similarly to Dune, Humanity has developed personal shields that render ranged projectiles useless due to blocking fast-moving projectiles. Due to this Humanity now almost exclusively uses melee weapons. After encountering the native Cephiants, some corporations invest in developing guns and artillery that can be used against them.
• The Emperor: The Emperor of the Ascendant Empire came to power after their father died and the more likely successor was assassinated by Volkan & Volkan & Volkan & Volkan Co. Initially they were just the King of the Builders but proclaimed themselves Emperor at their coronation due to the recent acquisition and integration of the conquered Khanate. Shortly after this they backstabbed Phyrxbird Family Corporation and invaded them to acquire advanced Human technology.
• Floating Continent: Due to Prometheus' unique magnetic field certain types of rock called Floatstone are able to hover in the air. This has allowed for there to be a massive floating mountain and a natural wonder called the Floatstone Volcano which spews floating lava into the sky.
• A Form You Are Comfortable With: Volkan & Volkan & Volkan & Volkan Co. employed LED bodysuits to communicate with the native Cephiants who communicate themselves similarly to cephalopods by changing the colours of their skin into various patterns.
• Giant Flyer: The Flothran, a flying native species to Prometheus, are easily large enough to be mounted.
• Glowing Flora: Much of the oceans of Prometheus became covered in a glowing bioluminescent algae.
• God Guise: Miasmic Indulgences deceived the Desert Tribes over the course of decades through indoctrination campaigns into making them believe that the Arasaka family and their corporation are the gods of the Desert Tribes religion.
• Gotterdammerung: The Precursors almost wiped themselves out due to a worldwide war where both sides used powerful chemical and biological weapons. Thousands of years later, the remnants of these weapons are known as Malelo which is a powerful hallucinogenic for humans, and areas of land that still suffer fallout from the war are known as Blighted.
• Last Stand: It was believed that the Ascendant Empire was going to be finally defeated by a coalition of megacorps outside the Emperor's floating palace. However, this quickly was flipped on it's head when Alexandria Goldlynx met with the Emperor and attempted to strike a deal to work together to place the Goldlynx corporation as rulers of all other megacorporations on Prometheus and the Empire as a vassal. This resulted in a [1], as the Emperor decided to go to all the other corporations for a better deal where the Empire would remain independent and they would fight Goldlynx together. In the ensuing battle, all of the Goldlynx military droids were surrounded and destroyed and Alexandria and Jesse Goldlynx were taken into custody. This resulted in the destruction of the Goldlynx corporation on Prometheus as they land and assets were auctioned off.
• Lost Technology: Over the course of decades, the corporations reverse-engineered various Precursor genetic technology.
• MegaCorp: Six player-led megacorps funded the mission to travel to Prometheus aboard the Elysium to begin colonising the planet to extract resources to make a profit, as well as forging a new home for Humanity. These six were:
  • Miasmic Indulgences, a media corporation dedicated to servicing and twisting the every desire of its customer base, seeking to bring society closer to its perverse vision of perfection. Owned by the Arasaka family.
  • Promethius Goldlynx Trust, a private military corporation that continues the long heritage of the Goldlynx Family.
  • Volkan & Volkan & Volkan & Volkan Co., a manufacturing corporation that additionally focuses on managing public relations and loans of others.
  • Lorn Corporation, a research corporation dedicated to studying, containing, and perhaps even creating various abnormalities found on the planet. Viewing Prometheus both as a mystery to unravel and as a place where its more objectionable studies can be performed without interference.
  • Pyrwell Ltd. an agricultural corporation looking to establish crop farms across the planet.
  • Halter & Talon Capital Holdings, an extraction corporation, dedicated to extracting as much resources from the planet as they can, regardless of the potential environmental costs.
  • Hemp Corp, a Mormon owned agricultural company that specializes in processing hemp into food ingredients, industrial materials, and herbal remedies.
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration, a research corporation that was a former agency of the U.S. federal government. After being privatized by President De Santis in 2026 NASA merged with a number of competitors to become a leader in the aerospace, aeronautics research, and space research sectors.
  • Phyxbird Family Corporation, a financial corporation that owned the popular Prometheus Commodities Exchange.
• Mini-Mecha: The Exoframes utilised by various corporations for both military and civilian use.
• Precursors: Prometheus was found to be covered in various ancient artifacts and ruins from an ancient race of Precursors that disappeared around 10,000 years before humans arrived on Prometheus. Whilst it was first believed that they were entirely gone, it was revealed that they were hidden underground in cryosleep.
• Private Military Contractors: Promethius Goldlynx Trust was available to be hired for all your military needs.
• Puny Earthlings: The native intelligent species of Cephiant despite their initial bronze-age era technology are both more intelligent than humans and stand up to three metres tall.
• Sand Worm: Prometheus is home to a species of giant worms called Vârorm. These are discovered to be creations by the Precursors whose purpose is to be biological terraformers that will safely terraform away the Blighted areas of the planet and the remaining fallout of their war.
• Starfish Aliens: The Cephiants are truly alien. With 5 limbs, a unique respiratory system, eating and defecating out of the same hole, 360 degree vision using a band of eyes around their neck, laying clutches of eggs, a distributed neural system, and skin reminiscent of cephalopods that can form incredibly complex patterns of colours to communicate, the Cephiants are completely different to anything found on Earth.
• Sub-Lightspeed Setting: To travel to Prometheus it can take over a decade due to the vast distances involved. Despite this resources extracted from Prometheus are still sold back to Earth. And thanks to cryogenic technology the trip can appear to only take hours.
• The Bad Guy Wins: The mega-corporations engaging in colonisation succeed in destroying most Cephiant governments, creating worldwide corpostates that are often dystopian.

Season 6 (Discord-Only) | Starting State: Concord of Sarcosta

• Wooden Ships and Iron Men: Sarcosta, as an island nation, has a strong maritime tradition, with their strong navy protecting their seas from pirates.