Space Fox MUCK

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====== Overview ======
The theme is based off a Sci Fi universe that Jarvis has been dreaming up for over 30 years at this point.  Considering "Hard" sci-fi as being as strictly adherent to known scientific principals as possible, this is more of a "Firm" sci-fi setting; there is a deep technological and realistic basis for most things, but a few things (such as artificial gravity) are gently handwaved in to make the setting easier to play in.

Comparing the theme to well known Sci Fi franchises, the closest match is the 'modern' Battlestar Galactica series reboot.  Many things work considerably differently from BSG, but that show has the correct "feel".  The Starship Troopers movie (NOT Book!) and Firefly/Serenity could also be pretty good analogs.  In a moment, we will run down some sci-fi tropes and how the Space Fox MUCK (SFM) setting deals with them, but first a little bit more overview.

SFM follows the adventures of a single ship; the Legacy Flint-Vasa, or just the Legacy for short.  It is a [[Info:Legacy Ship|Legacy Ship]] which is basically a family operated ship intended to be passed down from one generation to the next.  Players on the MUCK are, for the most part, crew on the Legacy; the Legacy is a "superfreighter" (think: container ship) capable of hauling incredible amounts of cargo and also passengers.  Being an independent ship and not beholden to corporate interests, it operates mostly amongst the colonies and on the fringe, allowing the opportunity for many adventures.

Passengers enable the entropy of 'guest stars' that can show up and interact with the crew, then leave.  While day to day life is something we encourage people to roleplay in order to do something every day, there will be 'story plots' on a weekly basis that people may partake in.  The kinds of stories we want to tell are things like:

  * Exploring interesting colony worlds
  * Helping those in distress
  * Encounters with the military
  * Encounters with pirates or other ne'er do wells
  * Scientific ventures of various kinds
  * Ways the crew entertain themselves while under way
  * Tending to passengers
  * Exploring derelicts
  * Encountering unknown circumstance and dealing with them
  * Stow-aways / hazardous cargo
  * Many, many more ...

====== Technology Rundown ======
Here's a few common sci-fi tropes and how we handle (or don't handle) them.

  * Star Trek Transporters: Don't exist
  * Star Trek Replicators: Don't exist, but there are 3D-printers for food and other material which are common.
  * Energy Weapons: May exist on military ships, no hand held ones
  * Forcefields: Don't exist
  * Artificial Gravity: Does exist, but can have some oddities.  See the [[Info:technology:Artificial Gravity|Settings Info]] entry about it.
  * Faster than light travel: There are multiple different methods, with different issues and side effects.  Generally speaking, time dialation isn't a problem.  See the [[Info:FTL:start|FTL]] entry in the Settings Info.
  * Computers: quantum computers are common place.  AI exists for a variety of things, but there are no (known) sentient computers or artificial life forms.
  * Communications: long distance communication is awkward.  No communications work while the ship is traveling FTL; long distance communications (i.e. communications requiring faster than light transmission for the message to get to its destination in a reasonable time) require a [[Info:communications|Comm Relay]].

====== Details About the Ship ======
The ship is owned by Jaymie and Jarvis Flint, Maria "Ria" Flint (Jarvis' older sister), and Enkeli Vasa.  Enkeli is a [[Info:cultures:Space Boomers|Space Boomer]] who was born and raised on a ship.  Jaymie and Jarvis met Enkeli and fell in love with the lifestyle, and along with Jarvis' older sister who was able to secure major financing for the venture, they were able to purchase a new ship.

The Legacy Flint-Vasa is a superfreighter approximately 600 meters long, comprising of three major sections.  The 'living space' which is the fore-most section; this is 6 decks and contains the bridge, crew accommodations, passenger accommodations, entertainment areas, food, shuttles, and so forth.  Then there's the ship's spine; approximately 400 meters worth of the ship is the spine itself, and different "things" can hook onto the spine.

For instance, large pods containing cargo, labs, fabrication facilities, additional accommodations, or other such things may attach to the spine.  Grids of cargo containers can be attached similar to a modern container ship.  Or large 'bulk' items such as pieces of space station or huge industrial machinery can be affixed to the spine with the space equivalent of cargo straps.

Then in the aft, there are four decks in the engineering section where 4 large [[Info:FTL:Ripple|Ripple Drives]] power the ship's FTL capabilities along with a huge injection-fusion core generating enough power to run a large city.

{{ :ship-idea.png?direct&800 |}}

More pictures and deck plans are available on the [[Info:Legacy Flint-Vasa|Legacy Flint-Vasa Page]].

===== Life Aboard Ship =====
The ship is a 24/7 operation -- time is money! -- however starting out there will likely not be enough crew for constant operation.  It is split into three 8 hour work shifts; the shifts help us explain why characters may not be on every day.  Anyone that's not around is working (or sleeping) during the current shift.  [[info:shiplife:shifts|More information about shifts here!]]

There are four divisions on the ship: pilot, cargo handling, engineering, and steward.  Notably, there is no medical division -- the ship does need a medic, but the medic is usually a steward.  There isn't a science division; this is a merchant ship, not a science ship, however we will probably work some science in here and there.  And there isn't a security division; the ship has some defenses, but no offensive weapons, and limited weapons for repelling borders.  Security would be pretty bored most of the time!

Trying not to get too much into the weeds here, here's a brief overview of what each division does:

==== Pilot ====
This one is kind of obvious; there must be a pilot on the bridge at all times.  FTL is pretty safe and doesn't require a lot of pilot action, but cargo can have reactions while traveling and accidents can happen.  So somebody has to babysit the ship.  The pilot is also the de-facto captain for the shift.

==== Cargo Handling ====
The cargo handlers are vital to the operation of the ship.  They manage the loading and unloading process of the cargo, usually coordinating with the space station and their loading/unloading systems to make it happen.  Cargo placement is key both to make sure items stay secure in transit and to keep hazardous materials properly isolated.

The cargo handlers must be aware of all the cargo, any safety concerns, any hazards, and are responsible for doing regular inspections during the flight to insure everything is secure and safe.  They may have to move cargo during the flight for a large number of reasons as well, and that is also part of their job.

Finally, the head cargo handler -- the cargo master -- is usually also the ship's quartermaster.

==== Engineering ====
This one is also pretty obvious; the engineers keep the ship moving.  The engine section is 400 meters away from the living quarters, so there must be an engineer in the engineering section at all times just in case something happens.  If, for instance, a hull breach happens in the spine, the engineering section can become temporarily inaccessible.  So therefore the engineering section has its own quarters and food facilities for the "duty engineer" who is staying over there.

Otherwise, engineering is usually not a 24/7 operation on the ship but there is always a duty engineer and an on-call engineer; the latter takes care of passenger concerns or other emergencies in the habitation portion of the ship during off-hours.

==== Stewards ====
And finally, the Stewards; those who cook, clean, and look after the passengers are all stewards.  The stewards also run the business aspect of the ship, and can help with bookings and drumming up business.  They are the face of the ship, and those whom interact with passengers the most.  However, even when there are no passengers, the stewards keep the rest of the crew fed and the ship in good condition.

====== The Universe In Which We Live ======
This last part of the theme section covers more generalities about the universe; where different people may come from, government details, money details, and how people get around.  We'll try to touch on as many things as we can without getting too much in the weeds.

The majority of the game takes part in the Andromeda Galaxy; there is a [[info:ftl:jumpgate|JumpGate]] that connects Andromeda to the Milky Way, howeverl it would be rare for the Legacy to make that trip.  The Andromeda galaxy is primarily run by the Confederated Star Systems, or CSS.  The CSS' influence spans the entire galaxy and most planets are member worlds.  In the Milky Way, they have relatively little influence, merely a foothold.

There are basically three kinds of habited planets; the core worlds, the established worlds, and the colonies.  The core worlds are a cluster of planets that initially formed the CSS.  They are highly industrialized and largely resemble megacities as seen on, say, The Fifth Element or Star Wars.  The core worlds are all melting pot worlds, with many species and cultures together.  These worlds have almost no natural resources, but their solar systems may be getting harvested to provide for industry (i.e. asteroid mining, mining uninhabitable worlds, etc.).

The established worlds are almost like the 'suburbs' of the core worlds.  They are well populated planets that are usually multi-species and multi-cultural, but not always.  It is fairly common for a species group to have their own world -- for instance, felines or canines on their own world, but multiple varities of felines or canines on the world.  These worlds don't rely solely on their natural resources and often have well established industry, but are usually not as densely populated as the core worlds.

And finally, the colonies; these are on the frontier, and are often small or uni-purpose.  They may have been established to harvest resources, or they may have been established by the more fringe members of society wanting their own place to do whatever crazy thing they want to do.  Sometimes colonies grow and thrive, sometimes they die.  But there is a lot of opportunity on the frontier, and that is usually where the Legacy operates.

===== Money =====
Currency is all digital and most people manage it with their personal device (which I typically refer to as a 'tablet' since it wouldn't be called a 'phone').  The currency is called 'credits' and can be loaded onto thumb-drive like devices if 'hard currency' is needed but usually people just use their tablets.

===== Language =====
The language most people read and speak is simply called Common.  Many worlds and cultures have their own language, and there is no 'universal translator' style device.  However, genetic tinkering used to be (as in, a few generations ago) a common fad, and it was very common for parents to have their children genetically tweaked to always retain the child-like ability to easily learn new languages.  The fad ended amongst various scandles and problems, however the language learning genetic modification spread amongst the population in subsequent generations as a dominant genetic trait.

As such, many people in the CSS are able to learn new languages fairly trivially and it is commonplace for spacers to speak a few major languages.

===== Species =====
So (obviously?) this is a Furry based MUCK with animal characters.  How do species work in this theme?  What species are available to play?

In the Confederated Star Systems, basically all mammal species except humans are represented.  In the core worlds, they live pretty intermingled.  On established worlds, they may be intermingled or they may be separated by species family (i.e. felies, canines, etc.).  On colonies or on space ships, they may be single species.  You can make make pretty much any kind of mammal you want.

==== Aquatic Species? Flying Mammals? ====
Aquatic mammals exist in some anthro form, and probably favor water-heavy worlds.  Bats exist, and probably favor zero-G or low-G environments.

==== Humans? ====
Humans don't exist in the Andromeda Galaxy in which the CSS resides, but they do exist in the Milky Way.  It would be possible for a human to travel the JumpGate to Andromeda or for the ship to visit the Milky Way and encounter humans.  However, that would be a very rare thing and worthy of a plot/story.

==== Birds?  Reptiles? ====
These don't exist as sentient creatures in the Andromeda Galaxy in which the CSS resides.  Anthro birds may exist in the Milky Way.  Warm blooded reptile variants could potentially exist in the Milky Way, however cold blooded ones would be a stretch.  Much like humans, these would be a plot/story feature rather than someone that will casually walk on the ship as a passenger.

==== Hybrids? ====
Very yes.  Hybrids are incredibly common.  In fact, your character is almost definitely a hybrid even if he or she does not look like one.  Amongst the mammals of the CSS, any two species is able to reproduce.  Two types of hybrids may result; true hybrids or maternal hybrids.

A true hybrid happens if two close but not matching species have a child.  This could be like a "liger" (lion/tiger), or a dog/wolf, or a mule (donkey/horse).  These work similar to RL hybrids but with fewer downsides; they can reproduce, they don't generally have genetic issues, but they can have 'hybrid vigor' (which means they can be larger/stronger/smarter than their parents).

Maternal hybrids happen when two species not even vaguely to each-other related have a child.  For instance, a horse and a canine.  These -can- happen without science intervention, but usually require medical help in the form of a pill that makes the female receptive to the dissimilar male.  The resulting offspring will technically be the same species as the mother, but will have traits from the father.  What traits arise from the father will vary based on how similar the species are.

For instance, a feline and a canine will make a fairly mixed looking child.  However, a feline and a horse will strongly favor the mother; if the mother is the feline, then the child will not be hooved (or vise versa if the mother is the horse).

Most modern people have "some" other species in their lineage; even if one is, say, an ocelot, they may have a great-great grandfather jaguar that doesn't really dillute their ocelot appearance but technically they are a hybrid albiet a few generations removed.  

===== Military =====
The CSS operates two branches of military; the Fleet and the Marines.  The Fleet operate military spaceships that keep the peace, and the Marines are deployed either in ship-to-ship boarding operations or in ship-to-ground military actions.

Individual planets may have their own Army, Navy, Air Force, etc.  However, the CSS is a galactic power and thus does not usually operate on that scale; the Core Worlds are the exception, where the Marines would operate in the way that a local Army would for those worlds.  Individual planets would not have their own space fleet, that is the sole purview of the CSS.

Many spacers were formerly in the Fleet or the Marines.