Let's Roleplay & Survive Stellaris - The Cthulhu Myth: The United Arkham Human Republic

[Thoughtful Gaming LP]

Hi there, fellow Startravellers

Totally new? No. I'm a looong time lurker and Paradox fan. And Stellaris is just too awesome to stay a lurker. So, started a LP with the following background:

Trying to survive as the Arkham Humans: We have recreated the strange world of the Cthulhu Myth in Stellaris by adding all of the Races of the Lovecraft / Smith / Derleth / etc. cycle to the game. Now it is full of strange, slave-holding, mind-controlling abominations - out to get mankind! We are playing the Arkham Humans, trying to survive this Maelstrom of Madness This is a Huge Galaxy with quite some advanced starts, so it may be impossible to survive while roleplaying our Diplomats. We will see...

We are roleplaying the intentions of a slightly naive, friendly, xenophile nation, so non-optimal gameplay choices are sometimes made - intentionally. In a universe made mainly of the cruel killers of the Cthulhu Myth mankind still wants to look at itself and say "we are the good guys!".
We are also roleplaying the ingame Characters, so their preferences will be preferred (for example the specialty fields of researchers will mostly be chosen in research choices; or the personality traits of admirals will also be considered).

After meeting the Cthulhu Mythos empires, I'll always give a short introduction into their culture and motivation in the Cthulhu / Lovecraft cycles and their connections to other races. And now started, after getting more experienced in the game, to add little quests and stories to it which will be included in later episodes.

The Playlist starts here with 30 Episodes currently. Adding new ones daily at the moment as the game has hooked me!

Intro

First Gameplay Video

So, I'd appreciate any new contacts, people to talk/write with and also of course feedback (made a curious intro together with my wife which should be really atmospheric to watch, though it's rather technically simple :-D) and, if you're a fan of Lovecraftian backgrounds and the whole Cthulhu myth, you will probably enjoy watching it! Also improving it steadily after viewer suggestions and new ideas

Also open for modding suggestions.. like to write stories and events, as I'm an experienced dungeon master. So if anyone up there is already working on a Cthulhu mod or wants to start one... I'm here

At the moment, I'm house-ruling quite much of the game into making it more difficult: As individualists, we cater the empire to the suggestions of the individuals in charge - scientists will always research their specialty fields for example, if accessible - and much more. It adds even more personality to the already great game!

See you and maybe have fun watching!
When really notable changes happen, like forming a federation or an alliance, I'll come back with a detailed post.

Sincerely yours,
Immanuel Can from Thoughtful Gaming

 

[Thoughtful Gaming LP]

Our Background Situation and the House Rules for Roleplaying!

Due to the rather strict house rules, the mostly inimical AIs and me being new to the game we are playing the game on normal.

Galaxy: 4 Arms (resembling tentacles ;-)) 1000 Stars, 40 AIs, 10 Advanced Starts, 33 "Homemade" races of the Cthulhu Myth - most of the applicable races you can find on Yog-Sothoth.com
http://yog-sothoth.com/wiki/index.php/Cthulhu_Mythos#Non-human_species_of_the_mythos

The most known of them are probably the Star Spawn of Cthulhu, the Elder Things (from the Mountains of Madness), the Flying Polyps, the Deep Ones, the Great Race of Yith (Great because they had mastered time travel), the Moon-Beasts and the Voormis.

Mankind had just mastered space travel and is curious whom to meet out there, in space. They have had their experiences with alien beings on earth, but most of them which were seemingly dangerous have either disappeared or have - at least on the surface - been controlled. So mankind has kept its rather xenophile attitude towards other lifeforms.

The Arkham Humans, under their momentary chancellor Anatoly Antonov (Direct Democracy), want to be the good guys - "we" believe in the power of individuals, in science and in the good in all life - so we are Individualist, Xenophile and Materialist. Our Background is Nomadic, from mankind's past, and also Communal, because we like each other and respect each other well.

Momentary House Rules (they keep getting expanded and straightened by ideas from viewers and myself as well as by gaining experience in the game):
- We have a positive attitude towards alien life and will never attack alien life until provoked massively or attacked
- Due to our Individualism, our scientists will, if possible, always research the technologies in their specialty field - and may trade places with their colleagues for doing so. If there is no such specialty tech accessible, we will go for the easiest technology available (the one not costing much) as they are not confident enough to take on more unknown and difficult fields outside of their specialties
- We will respect the Individualism of Species added to our Empire
- Non-spacefaring species will be supported to reach the space age (Enlightenment) and will be incorporated when they are vessels if they at least like us some (we want to form a multicultural, universal and peace bringing state)
- We will never use slavery

House rules which have been added already:
- Free elections: After a while it occurred to our old chancellor Thelma Ward that, in a direct democracy, elections should not be influenced at all - so whoever wins the popular vote is chancellor
- Will of the people: The chancellor was elected under a special agenda. We will do our utmost to fulfill this agenda. If a separatist chancellor is elected and wants to remove planets from the empire, then it will be done as well!
- Government Focus: The chancellor has special attributes and will concentrate their politics and policies on using them (this reflects his/her personality)

More coming in the following days Hope you like the story's "structure" so far!

Happy Gaming,

Immanuel Can

 

[Thoughtful Gaming LP]

Episode 1: It begins...

Anatoli Antonov looks through a wide and ornamented window. Outside, there is night. The stars shine brightly today. The newly developed Science Ship is ready to explore the Sun System... how far Earth has come. Even a construction station and a few... warlike vessels stand at the command of the unified government. Just in case, Anatoli thinks. This strange life out there - does it have to be threatening Earth's existance? No. Surely, there are new friends to find. History has taught the humans that when you find enemies, you will also find friends.

He thinks of all the tales on earth. Of angels, living in the skies, guarding mankind. Of strange, abominable beings, their tentacles floating through the air, looking for prey.. or for answers? For the rumor of the space bats, sometimes called the flying polyps who are able to, without the help of any mechanical devices or technologies, to just fly through space with their leathery, bleak wings. Of Yog Sothoth, the all and ever knowing and its mind-gates to everywhere.

All of this lies out there, waiting. Where there are chances, opportunities, there may be risks as well. But they are far outweighed by the vast possibilites of the seemingly endless space, the garden of a thousand stars..

As an explanation: Intending to narrate memorable events of the *last* episode, then posting the episode following it in a post. So you will find the actual AAR in the post after the episode post (after the action). Hope that was clear enough

 

[Thoughtful Gaming LP]

Dwight Reese, the Space Explorer - Gretchen von Halkett, the Voidcraft Specialist - Vivica Channing, the Colonisation Genius - Alma al Samarrai, the Industrial Prodigy. These are the minds our Society was to rely on. Dwight Reese out there at the final frontier that is space and the three remarkable women in their laboratories.

"Aliens sighted! Aliens sighted!" These first months and years of space travel flew by, in a rush of first discoveries, in the infancy of the Arkham Human's journey into space. The sun system was mapped and indeed, Captain Reese could find lots and lots of resources on the other planets orbiting our sun. No life on these planets though but out there...

Giant creatures of unknown origin. Tentacles resembling the ones whispered of the Great Old Ones in the corresponding darker circles of scientists on earth. In hidden laboratories, weird minds rejoiced as they felt.. answers coming. Reality would disappoint them but would be no less wonderous...

Vivica Channing sent out her assistants and contacted Dwight Reese often, consulted with him about the observations he had made.
"They are resting in the great gas clouds which drift through space, concentrated where we may find dark matter as well. They are.. families maybe? Organisms in a sense that if a herd is an organism, they would be that as well. We call them Space Cows or.. Tiyanki. That is what these are.
Then, the others. The bigger ones. Even more tentacles. How could I describe it best? They are organisms if a giant ant hill is one. They are multiple, but a central.. something.. synchronizes their being. We don't know much about them but their movement - you have to look at that! It's extremely intelligent. Like a fly which conjures up their own flight out of improbability they seem to accelerate time itself by a small amount when they move with their.. flagella? I guess that is what we would call them if they were small, bacteria.
Don't fly out there though, darling Vivica. Leave that to me. They are dangerous if you disturb them! Fred had called them the "Space Amoeba" and we left it at that. It's a totally incorrect name. But Fred, he's been my go-to engineer for so long and such good reasons. Please leave him that discovery!"
He set down his coffee.
"What are we going to do next?"
"Easy, macho. I've got it all planned out." Vivica blinked. "This is what we came up with: Colonization! We are going to search for new.. habitable worlds. And you are going to be the Trapper number one! Excited?"
"Cannot wait." Dwight instantly stood up from the table, saluted and went straight to the space harbor, calling out names and commands to all sides while behind him, a trail of surprised and younger men and women followed up..

What would they find?

 

[Thoughtful Gaming LP]

Episode 2: The Alpha Centauri Promise

He was staring at that thing. Somehow, he couldn't believe what he saw. He always thought the girls had talked nonsense. Other intelligent life, in space, so close. With all the room there? Improbable. Unbelievable. Uncalculabe for a serious man of action. But there it was.. staring back at him in a maybe treacherous silence. Its long, winding, metal floors full of holes which time and maybe - ancient, aeons old weaponry may have produced. A symbol on one of the sides and he had no clue what this would mean. Were these.. tentacles painted there? Was it the sign of .. the galaxy maybe, with its four spiraling arms?

"Closer!" he told Steve, his helmsman. They flew closer. Just there, neighbouring our own home, the Solar system. Alpha Centauri IV. He still could not believe it...
"We have to scan, Steve. This may be... revolutionary! Cannot wait to see the girls when they hear it. Haha! Maybe they'll get some ideas then! You never know! Usually they are so much about their books, their tubes.. but this will get them out of their office chairs in no time!"
"Look, you need to fly to that point. There's the giant hole. We can maybe see what caused this damage. Also, the insides show perfectly from that angle."
"Dwight.. eh.. Boss... I know my job! Just sayin.."
"All good, all good. It's just.. this..."
"Vivica, eh?" Steve blinked.
"Fly closer, Steve. Fly closer!"

"It's a shipyard." Vivica was smiling at him on the screen. "And we can get it back to working condition! What do you say?" "I'd say we got ourselves a dinner when you make station on Earth. When I got time again after that... whatever you discovered there! It's really.. wow! Gretchen already loves it!"
"You know you can expect that regularily. You got the right man outside, Vivica!"
"Dwight, you could not have been a better choice.. ever!" She laughed. "And what exactly do you expect out of this?"
"We'll get some ships I think. Alien vessels. There you go... and that.. from me! Imagine that!"
"Don't have to. I can see you, Mr. Reese!"
"Oh, my darling Ms. Channing..."
"First, let's do our work!"
"Yeah, yeah. All fine! We'll see each other."
"On earth."

"Let's start the repairs!" Dwight shouted. "This will take some time.. so it's better we'll start right now!"

 

[Thoughtful Gaming LP]

Episode 3: Little Brothers and Big Success

They had managed to get three ships out of the old shipyard. Incredible! It just.. started working again at some point and the ages old orders were finished with the last resources the metal monstrosity had to offer. Their controls seemed alien at first, with all their symbols of tentacles wound into one another. With the handles not really fitting the comparably delicate hands of the humans. Dwight Reese though was happy. They had just added three valuable ships to the small fleet of the United Arkham Human Republic.

"We have to celebrate, Dwight!" Vivica stood there, two glasses of artificial champagne in her hands. Dwight smiled and took one out of her hand. They touched glasses. Then looked out of the window. "What a time, Mr. Reese." "What a time, Ms. Channing." "You are growing pretty popular now lately, you know that? Attractive space hero that you are!" She chuckled. "Maybe you should run for president!" Reese laughed out loud. "Really? That's a good joke! Yeah, I'll do it for the laughs and giggles! Who could not like me?" "Indeed!" She smiled at him and the evening went just as both of them liked it.

A few weeks later...

"Mr. President!" Vivica Channing could not stop giggling. "Wow!" Reese said. "I'll see if I like THAT post. But I'll do my best!"

And great plans he set into action as the man of action he was: Building a Colony Ship and.. contact with a more primitive civilization, to save them of a cruel fight among themselves and unite them... and finally Reese planned to enlighten the so called Bakturians to the stars. And finally make contact openly!

"May you live in interesting times!" An old chinese proverb. But how was it meant?

 

[Thoughtful Gaming LP]

Episode 4: The Precursors & a new home in Arcadia

Even if Dwight Reese had changed his workplace, surprisingly, for him, it was not getting boring. The best thing was that now Vivica had to report to him instead of him to her but that was just a personal preference. He was thrilled that everything could be so exciting when you're the boss. Not too much paperwork. Maybe he wasn't cut for this post forever - but at that time it was a pretty good idea.

"Marco!" He had called for one of his crew. A slightly.. nerdy young man always talking about the needs of the State. But a brilliant mind for sure. And Dwight knew he had the motivation to do a good job in this. "You're going to be the next captain! You have no choice, because I'm president now! So don't worry, be happy. Of course, you could resign but all the experience that you'll get here will help you so much later in life. Just look at me and what I've become. Cannot believe it just yet. Wow!"
"Sir, Mr. Reese, Sir. I'll be delighted! Thank you very much! And maybe you could look for a more research oriented position when I'm more exp.."
"Of course, good Mr. Bello, of course." Dwight smiled. "When time allows it!" And Vivica, he added silently.

Then he went over to the various screens and looked at his pet project. What was he thinking! Pet project! The future of mankind of course, or whatever the press worte. He laughed loudly. "We should name it after you, pretty!" He had said to his researcher Ms. Vivica Channing at a special occasion. "You told us how to do it!" "Dwight! I'm a scientist! I.." Of course, she was too shy to do something bold like that. That was more like his thing. "What should we call it, then? At least pick a good name!" "I don't know, Dwight. Arcadia perhaps? The world longed for? The untouched paradise?"
"I can work with that!" He nodded, smiled.

What a nice evening that had been..
And now the HUM Community was heading over to the Sirius star system. They would build a colony there. The first space colony. He felt proud! And warm, and fuzzy inside. This was.. the future for his beloved stars.



Marco Bello had found something else entirely..
Strange metal objects, reflecting the light and the gas patterns on Tiralam III in its orbit. And what was that down there at the planet.. disturbances of the natural gas flow. Other patterns, avoiding certain areas on the surface of the giant. Maybe structures on its surface? This could not be natural.
They stayed there, days after days, trying to figure out what had happened there...
Apparently there was, very hard to discern on the surface of Tiralam III, some kind of strange laboratory. The openings wholly circular. Shaped like a starfish with thousands of eyes. The structure was gigantic and of truly alien origin. He had never seen something like this... There had been a civilization.. a magnificent one.. before mankind. Surveying the stars. Gaining knowledge. Where had they disappeared?
Had they?
He felt, slowly trickling into his mind, that this was just the beginning..

PS Sorry, the Euro 2016 has taken its toll on my writing speed

 

[Thoughtful Gaming LP]

Episode 5: First Contact - The Dominion of Yig!

It's not easy, being out there.
Marco Bello's thoughts though were totally focused on the task at hand. Again, this time in the Procyon System, they had found something strange. A great machinery perhaps? An unexplainable metal object of great size on a rock in space. He had sent a team down. He had even went down with them, unusual for the bookworm he was, as he thought of himself. But this was an.. unusal situation.

Steve was with him. Also Jenna and two other crew members. They had entered the object at noon, earth time. The metal tunnels inside it seemed to lead down into the rocky ground. The walls were so clean they even seemed polished. Everything had reflected in the tunnels. Their lights. Their talk. The walls were so polished they had worked like mirrors and so, during the whole exploration, they had had the feeling of being.. multiplied. With the reflections going back and forth this was some kind of.. infinity mirror. They had felt dizzy and wondered what that had to say. They had not found anything concerning that, though. It was an enigma still. Sometimes though, at night, they had heard screams for a few days after the expedition, when they had been on board again, analyzing their finds.
Noone had reported in for the screams though, even when they had asked formally.

Seemingly, though, this object or building resembled the other find Marco's former boss, President Dwight Reese, had made. It was another shipyard, some kind of production machinery to craft space ships. The symbols they found, the etchings, the claw marks - all was very similar to the Precursor station they had found months ago. A new.. trace?

Speaking of Dwight, he had another - problem(?) on his hands.
The Dominion of Yig had shown up. They were.. somehow known of Dark Legends from the Hyperborean Ages from Earth. Their.. doings and their strange sacrifices and possible connections to godlike beings called "The Great Old Ones" were, too. Apparently, these so called "Serpent People" did not like him. And the whole delegation. They looked much more likely to maybe put his head on a stick and ram it into the ground before their headquarters. And roast and eat the rest of him. And the others..

He drew his breath in.
Who would he send to them? To an embassy that seemed like a.. barbecue.. in the worst case scenario?
Well, someone had to go. He didn't want to decide whom to doom. That was up to.. whoever was responsible for that, right?

He had to make sure to know more about these strange people. But that was a thought for the future.

 

[Thoughtful Gaming LP]

Episode 6: The Serpent Men

He didn't really believe what they had sent him. But President Dwight Reese went on to read. About the Dominion of Yig - The Serpent Men..

"The Serpent Men were created untold aeons ago by the Great Serpent. At some point the Serpent Men group split, with one group becoming the Man-Serpents- these creatures, unlike their kin and predecessors, have the bodies of giant serpents and the heads of human beings, with smaller snakes for hair like Medusa. . Man-Serpents have hypnotic gazes and lethally venomous bites, as well as terrible crushing strength.

The seat of the First Empire of the serpent people, during the Paleozoic era, was Valusia. Valusia is a historical country, located on the west coast of the main continent of Thuria. The empire was based on sorcery and alchemy, but collapsed with the rise of the dinosaurs about 225 million years ago during the Triassic era. The Serpent Men originally ruled over humans in Valusia but were defeated and almost wiped out in humanity's battle for survival against the "elder things" that predated them. Over time, humans dominated Valusia and the Serpent Men became a legend. The Serpent Men, one of the few surviving "elder things", infiltrated human society and ruled from behind the scenes for a time but were again discovered, defeated and cast out in a secret war. However, they later repeated this tactic but added the front of a Snake Cult religion, which gained power and influence within Valusia while they also used their abilities of disguise to murder and replace each reigning monarch. Their power is eventually broken by King Kull, formerly an Atlantean barbarian who had recently conquered Valusia, and the Pict Brule the Spear-Slayer, whose society was aware of the Serpent Men's infiltration.

After the destruction of Valusia, the serpent men escaped to Yoth, a cavern beneath K'n-yan in North America (ironically, the Pictish Isles of Kull legends). They built subterranean cities, of which only ruins remain in the modern age. Explorers from K'n-yan visited Yoth frequently to learn more of the serpent men's scientific lore. Their next downfall came when they brought idols of Tsathoggua from N'kai and abandoned their patron deity Yig to worship their new god. As retribution Yig placed his curse upon them, forcing his few remaining worshipers to flee to caverns beneath Mount Voormithhadreth."

Apparently though, loyal believers to Yig had made their way to the stars, and were now here, confronting them with their reptilian existance. Were the stories about reptilian leaders on earth based on truth? He would find out in time..

 

[Thoughtful Gaming LP]

Episode 7: Pirates!

Alpha Centauri. How had it come to that?
With the help of the ancient, aeon old shipyards that they had found, the United Arkham Human Republic had assembled a great fleet. Their ships though were... individual. Like most of their people. Dwight Reese had to ask around to find someone brave enough to be the commanding officer of such a heterogenic bunch.. then he had found someone.

And in between all of that, a state of strange looking and definitely not that friendly Molluscs had said "Hello" to the Arkham Humans. The Jogollwa Hierarchy. Already sounded quite sympathetic he thought. Really democratic and freedom loving. And the assembly had again decided to send a diplomat there. Why not in a lunchbox? Dwight had tried hard not to say that alound. He whispered it and hoped nobody had heard him. He already had enough of his Presidency.

Max von Fritsch. When he had met him he was just making plans for something Dwight did not understand. Papers full of numbers piled up on his desk. They seemed to be comparisons of some kind. Also, who used paper today? Dwight had thought it was reserved for the works of some eccentric artists. But apparently he had found someone crazy enough to say yes to lead... "The Arkham Peace Force" that was the cool name which was going to be the bait for this mad fish. "Of course, very convenient." Max had said. Then he had went to a cabinet and took a suitcase out of it. "Let's go!"
Dwight was surprised. He seemed to have found the most organized man in.. at least his personal history.

And now, weeks later, they were confronting the pirates in Alpha Centauri. Quite a sizeable force. They had tried to send reconciliation signals, but to no avail. And so, a great battle began. Rockets flew threw the airless space. A pandemonium. But strangely only for the pirates he saw on the screen. The madman in his service somehow seemed to have the upper hand so thoroughly that the fleet had nearly no losses.

Well. Max von Fritsch was a special one it seemed. He had just eliminated the enemies, then flew the force back to Earth, bought two cups of coffee and was just now sitting in Dwight Reese's office offering him one of the thermo cups. Then he started to talk about the numbers of the great battle to no end while Reese just stared at him and, to avoid having to answer something, sipped his coffee.


Next up: Rivals!