Tell me about the factions in your setting, Veeky Forums

For fuck's sake, hexagons are so cool that SATURN has one. Made of *wind and clouds*. On the North Pole. Fuck you, graphic design guy, hexagons are good enough for Saturn, they're good enough for you.

Because it leads to people unironically asking if that's what I do for a living, and when I try to explain anything more complicated than a web address their eyes glaze over in a stupor so languid they can't even muster the politeness to let me finish my sentence before dismissing it all as "too complicated" leaving me with the informational blue-balls and the overwhelming urge to strangle them with their track-ball mouse cords as they complain about all the "viruses" their fifteen year old computer has after their home site updated its layout.

And then they have the gall to complain when I need to run to the store to get a transfer cable, asking why I can't just "work around it" and "why don't you just write something like Google so you can retire early?."

No. Fuck them. It's the occupational equivalent to laughing at how a foreign language sounds, or at the customs of another culture. It's humor based in ignorance and so long as they continue to laugh while outright refusing to understand it I'll retain the right to be triggered by it.

I can totally watch this stuff and laugh with other CS/IT folk. But goddamn the holidays and family. Fuck.

Any movies do hacking good? The original TRON comes pretty close, I think, given that Kevin Flynn actually had to physically go to the EnCom mainframe, and he used an actual problem he'd made and could only make since he was already familiar with the system.

Or the hacker in White House Down, who does his master hacking of the White House computer by basically the same method - plugging in a thumb drive and entering a few commands to start the program.

I admit I know nothing about computers, but I'm told that those two are REASONABLY close to what hacking is actually like, with reasonable shortcuts so that the audience remains entertained. Like, as close as Dante's Peak is to actual volcanology.

Of course the rest is fantasy, but otherwise...

Can you think of anything else that shows what hacking or computer drudgery really looks like?

Yeah, ok. Sure.

I'm working on a hard science fiction setting right now which masquerades as 'science fantasy'.

Religious Factions;
>Church Covenant Angelicus
Think half way between the inquisition, the catholic church, the Jedi, and the 40k cult of the emperor. They also maintain all the major trade-lanes, and hold a theocratic government over the only system capable of producing Taurus reactors (the primary source of energy in the setting which performs direct matter -> energy conversion). They also (attempt) to maintain total control of all the psionics, converting and training most, killing in inquisition those who refuse to join.

The church has several dedicated armadas, Angelic Lances, which maintain order, and act to prevent the use of weapons of mass destruction against civilian populations.

>Hashirique
A small independent religion led by a profit who claims to have been 'chosen by the angels' generally they're pirates and raiders and constantly whining about how oppressed they are while threatening every one else. The Covenant is currently considering a proper crusade against them, but rooting them out has proven difficult.

>Thu'umaru
This is the reason the Church has inquisitions. They perform bizarre psionic rituals to attain power, and cause immeasurable amounts of damage when they screw up. Some times killing millions of people, or wiping out an entire continent.

>Temple Wardens
More of a break-away from the Covenant, they follow the same general gist of it, but do not adhere to the church doctrine. They have a love-hate relationship with the church. The church views them as either heretics, or dangerous allies depending on circumstance and who you ask.

>problem

*Meant "program". Dammit, MCP, stop cutting down my power cycles, I NEED THAT!

I'm far from a movie buff, so I couldn't say. I don't image there's many good examples because the task itself isn't that riveting to the observer.

That being said, Hackers is enjoyable for the sheer campiness and a few scenes that involve social engineering over "Clickity-Clackity, I'm The Hackity".

>Come talk to me when you decide to learn programming and hear characters in media unironically say "I'm going to backtrace their GUI protocols to hack into their mainframe through the wifi, luckily it looks like their router firewalls have a backdoor," and then starts slapping their keyboard as though they have a 400 WPM typing speed and need every bit of it to actively fight off... whatever the fuck they're supposed to be fighting off. Norton I guess.

Bitch please, every time I watch a movie that features a "small local TV station broadcast", it's clear that their supers (the graphics like the reporter names that appear superimposed over the video) were created in a Hollywood studio and not on a thirty-year-old chyron by a stoned teenager.

Continued

Political Factions

Political Factions
>Great Houses
There are 4 great houses constantly vying for political power with one another, and attempting to retain power over the numerous lesser houses. Each house controls vast swaths of territory including multiple stellar systems, a massive armada, and numerous small outposts and colonies.

>Lesser Houses
Often trying to retain independence and throw one another under the proverbial bus. Lesser houses frequently dance from the banner of one great house to the next great house in order to maximize their benefits. Particularly important as the stars shift positions, and individual systems may drift into the territory of a different great house.

Intrigue and assassinations are the most rampant at this level.

>Fifth Estate
A coalition of planets which is ordered as a republic, the head of which was just severed in the course of the story. The fifth estate is very attractive to stellar systems and planets which seek to organize themselves in opposition to the great houses. The fifth estate has a vision of utopia, but in reality has become a bureaucratic morass in the last few hundred years. The destruction of their capital is a coup-de-gras.

>Merchant Guilds
These organizations are pseudo-political and often leverage their power in order to demand trade concessions from various houses and independent systems. These guilds rarely stand in direct opposition to any one, but each guild has friends and enemies.

>as they complain about all the "viruses" their fifteen year old computer has after their home site updated its layout

My job involves maintaining a Facebook page for an audience of mostly senior citizens. You have NO IDEA how many times I've gotten friend requests from people who are already FB friends because "their account was hacked".

NO, YOU STUPID OLD BITCH, SOMEONE JUST SAVED A COPY OF YOUR PROFILE PIC AND CLONED YOUR ACCOUNT

YOUR ACCOUNT WAS NOT "HACKED"

JUST REPORT THE CLONED ACCOUNT

YOU'RE ONLY EXACERBATING THE PROBLEM BY CREATING NEW ACCOUNTS FOR YOURSELF WHENEVER SOMEONE CLONES YOUR ACCOUNT

All stellar systems are densely packed stars within 1000 AU of each other, and all travel is subluminal, so travel time can take five or six years from one side of this region to the other.

There's around 100 red-dwarf solar systems, and organization is an impossibility, thus the great houses forming opposing governance structures, while lesser houses often change loyalty as their stars drift from region to region.

>Catholic church equivalent
>has an inquisition that hunts down magic users

Oh sweet jesus, user. You have my sympathies.

I'm sure 40k bores you too.

It´s very original.
Burning witches is more of a protestant thing.

devils dubs

>implying you can’t understand another language or culture and still they think it sounds funny or has bizarre customs respectively
Heck, plenty of my country’s own traditions are funny even if you know the history behind them. You seem uptight and unpleasant.

My ire is directed at my family (and those like them) who make the same complaints over and over and still staunchly refuse to learn even the most fundamental aspects of computers when I try to teach them in order to make their lives better.

In other words, it isn't the laughing at customs that I disapprove of. It's the mentality that surrounds it and contributes to the laughter. They don't laugh because something is asinine and situationally hilarious (because they understand something and appreciate it by finding the humor in it, which seems to be what you are describing), they laugh to collectively mollify things that are different and misunderstood.

The NCIS gif I found twice as funny when I learned it was due to a discreet competition between the writers on several shows trying to one-up the others. They were written bad, as a joke.

Your gif is missing the part where Gibbs stops the hacker by unplugging his monitor with a smug look.

I'm a software engineer and I love that shit.

Alright. Fair warning, it's a pretty generic fantasy setting where planets can be linked by portals.

>The Third Empire
A hegemonic nation ruled by a dynasty whose numbers have swelled to nearly become a small ethnic group in and of themselves. And for good reason, descendants of that paranoid yet brilliant king are the only ones who can wield the powerful enchanted arms and armor he forged. Initially named the 'Second Empire' to try and cash in on the legacy of an older, unrelated civilization, it was recently renamed the 'Third Empire' to symbolize the start of a renewed era of dominance and reclamation of old breakaway territories it lost in the Crab Wars.

>The Azure Guardianship
A strange hierarchical nation, the Guardianship takes a strange view of the self due to their creation and mastery of objects which can function as add-ons to the the soul. The men wearing the crowns or garb (or ensconced in the crustacean-like suits of the soldiers, which is why they're referred to as the "Crab Kingdoms") may change, but their experience and wisdom live on in the symbols of office themselves. To them, that's their eternity, their immortality, their afterlife. Still licking their wounds due to the immense cost of "winning" against the Empire.

>Renewed Danaan
The so-called "First Empire" was more of a network of urban districts connected by portal, creating a vast distributed megapolis. Which worked fine for many years, until some unwashed barbarians managed to get inside a district, interrupt a few food shipments, and spread a few diseases. The collapse was quick and near total, but a few districts managed to get out mostly intact, and a few of those even managed to keep their society in order instead of devolving into urban warlords. From that arises the aristocratic, and magocratic, Danaan, eager to get in on the relative chaos of the current era to try and reclaim old glories.

And also some assorted breakaway states and liberated kingdoms.

St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Center = Catholic Church and sponsor of the Malleus Maleficarum.
-Mortal
-Size 3
-Physical Power 1
-Occult Power 2
-Political Power 2
-NPCs:
The Most Reverend Emmanuel Coudert (leader)
Rose Petway (contact for Dylan)
Twin Lakes Police Force = Standard Police force. Isn't clued in to the supernatural shenanigans of Twin Lakes.
-Mortal
-Size 2
-Physical Power 2
-Occult Power 1
-Political Power 1
-NPCs:
Chief Carey Matthews
Sheriff George Daniels (friendly local college cop)
Twin Lakes Commercial and Land Development Council = Clueless mortal businessmen. Lots of money, lots of clout, but what do they know.
-Mortal
-Size 1
-Physical Power 1
-Occult Power 1
-Political Power 3
-NPCs:
John K. Webb (owner of mall)
Warren T. Hines (owner of Hines, Hines, and Hines law firm)
Velma Roberts (owner of Sun Lake Housing Complex, and lots of property in Crystal Peak)
Alvin Dumont (representative of Frankie Smaldone, Uncle Eugene's Mining and Logistics)
Kelly Mims (owner of some of the skyscrapers)

Faculty and Staff of CUGI = Know a bit about some of the shenanigans. Have some books and literature as well as tending to ignore some "magic pony girl" stuff. Very protective of students.
-Mortal
-Size 2
-Physical Power 1
-Occult Power 2
-Political Power 2
Smaldone Crime Family (Criminals and Mining) = Small crime family that is a match for the Twin Lakes PD. They've been losing people to all the supernaturals lately and are reeling.
-Mortal
-Size 2
-Physical Power 2
-Occult Power 1
-Political Power 2
Twin Lakes Opera Hall (Diamond Orders) = The Pentacles. Want to find the Equestrian Portal, but had to enter into Cold War situation with Seers.
-Mage
-Size 1
-Physical Power 2
-Occult Power 3
-Political Power 3
Twin Lakes Dynamics Solutions = Free Council. Unofficially "split" from the Pentacles due to the sensitive nature of Twin Lakes and to better oppose the Seers.
-Mage
-Size 2
-Physical Power 2
-Occult Power 3
-Political Power 3
The Orochi Group (Seers of the Throne) = The Seers. Same as Pentacles, but want to conquer Equestria. Also would want the Shadow portal.
-Mages
-Size 3
-Physical Power 3
-Occult Power 3
-Political Power 2
Twin Lakes & Crystal Peak Country Club = Ventrue, Toreador, Lasombra. "Concubines" and "new old money" who are muscling in on the Commerce Council's turf.
-Vampire
-Size 1
-Physical Power 2
-Occult Power 2
-Political Power 3

Club Dis Pater = Nosferatu, Ventrue, Toreador, Lasombra, Tzimisce, Brujah. A series of nightclubs, but with Dis Pater being Sex, Drugs, and Rock n' Roll.
-Vampire
-Size 1
-Physical Power 2
-Occult Power 2
-Political Power 1
Totenkopf Biker Gang (Gangrel) = A minor presence composed of vamps and ghouls, used as muscles. Also racist.
-Vampire
-Size 1
-Physical Power 2
-Occult Power 1
-Political Power 1
Choir of the Pipes (Nosferatu) = The main Nosferatu organization. Good at secrets.
-Vampire
-Size 1
-Physical Power 2
-Occult Power 2-S
-Political Power 2
Sombra Royal Guard = The Quirky Minibosses of Sombra's faction. Most augmented by whatever magic source he can put his hooves on.
-Mortal/Equestrian/Darkspawn/Abyssal
-Size 0
-Physical Power 2
-Occult Power 3-SE
-Political Power 2
Necromancer Guild = Scelesti allied with Sombra.
-Abyssal/Darkspawn
-Size 0
-Physical Power 2
-Occult Power 3-S
-Political Power 1
Darkspawn = Fairly standard dumb monsters and corrupted humans.
-Darkspawn
-Size 2
-Physical Power 2
-Occult Power 2-S
-Political Power 1

The Starry Hill Pack = Small werewolf pack drawn to the area because of Vampires and Lunar Guard presence.
-Werewolf
-Size 0
-Physical Power 2
-Occult Power 2
-Political Power 1
Task Force Valkyrie Group AC-2 = Reps of the US Government, observing the situation. Not ready to call in the big guns yet, but are very nervous. One of the best groups.
-Mortal/Hunter
-Size 1
-Physical Power 3
-Occult Power 2
-Political Power 2
Cheiron Group Twin Lakes Branch = Hunting magic to consume. Minor antagonists.
-Mortal/Hunter
-Size 2
-Physical Power 2
-Occult Power 2
-Political Power 3
Equestrian Lunar Guard = Official reps of Luna and Equestria on Earth, for the security of Equestria.
-Equestrian
-Size 0
-Physical Power 2
-Occult Power 2-E
-Political Power 1
The Hoofless = Ponies who want to stay on Earth rather than Equestria.
-Equestrian
-Size 2
-Physical Power 1
-Occult Power 1-E
-Political Power 1

Size =
0: Very small group, up to 10 people.
1: Small group, up to 50 people
2: Larger group up to 200 people
3: Anywhere from 200 and up

Physical Power =
1: Access to handguns, hunting rifles, nightsticks, and knives.
2: Access to assault rifles, some explosives, swords, and body armor/armor vehicles
3: Anything up to a nuke.

Occult Power =
1: Basically snippets of "lore" from pop-culture. Basically none to one encounter.
2: Either highly specialized in their one area of expertise or know about the existence and general outlines of the Secret World.
3: Specialized in multiple areas, virtuosos in one area, and lots of knowledge about occult stuff. May be some deficiencies.
E: Knowledge of Equestrians
S: Knowledge of Shadow Kingdom

Political Power =
1: None. Either not interested in politics or not large enough to influence politics in any way.
2: Limited. Has a voting bloc but unable to swing elections, though people listen when they use their clout.
3: Powerful. Can basically rig elections on their own.
(To give a rough estimate, one 3 is equal to two 2s, and one 2 is equal to four 1s.)

Oh shit SCPs grown a lot I see. Last time I read it series 2 had just come out. I've always preferred the GOC to SCP.

Because its a shit faction that shouldnt exist

The main setting is a faux-Roman republic and I'm an uncreative hack so it's basically mirroring the Civil War with Caesar and Pompey. Sort of. The republic is very pro-noble and the proles have next to no say in its daily affairs, meaning it mostly benefits a self-serving elite. The conservatives want to keep it that way, while the reformers want to break the stranglehold of the nobility and make the republic more able to adapt to outside threats. The conservatives on the other hand believ ein stability and 'muh constitution'. Then there's also a third, breakaway faction in a settlement near the frontier that wants to exploit the weakness of the republic to declare independence.

Anyone got the comic with the chair?

World wouldn't be such a shitty place if more people were just happy with their goddamned hexagons is what i say.

Who's going around cloning old people's facebook accounts?

People who are trying to worm their way into an FB circle so they can make posts about ~~~WOW~~~CHEAP SUNGLASSES~~~

Basically, old people don't understand how Facebook works, but they all have their own pages, so when Betty gets a friend request from Mavis, Betty doesn't realize that there's a reason why she already has Mavis listed four times in her friend list or why Mavis keeps making posts about sunglasses so she friends her "again". Then Betty meets Mavis for coffee and mentions it, so Mavis gets scared that her computer has been hacked so she makes a new FB page using the same profile picture as her last page (and the four clone accounts), posts "I was hacked! This is my new account!" and start making friend requests because she thinks that if she uses her old FB page, it will cause her to get a virus like on CSI Miami.

This obviously sows a lot of confusion when people start wondering if this is really Mavis or another clone account.

There are six major ones, though their actual effectiveness varies since the portion of the continent they inhabit is basically an exile colony. Back East is one big monolithic empire, and everyone they don't particularly like gets booted out West into undead australia.

>The Teppelin Family
Organized crime family that fled out west, ended up being a starting member and then de facto leaders of the coastal city of Midnight Point. Due to some spectacular disasters, the main branch of the family only has about five people in it, but they're competent and savvy. The leader is Gracia Teppelin, who is in her early 50s.

>The Only King
Shadow-ruler of the city of New Golgotha, the Only King is an enigmatic semi-mythical figure known for his strange demands left as letters to the City Council, and the brutal murders of those who attempt to disobey them. No one is actually sure if the Only King is a real person, some kind of undead, or a group operating under a moniker. Still, whatever it is holds considerable power as the effective tyrant of the largest city on the continent.

>The Wings of Alvear
Originally a series of raider clans, the Wings of Alvear went the way of the the Warriors sans assassination and were united by a woman named Hana when they met for a summit at the mountain ruins of Alvear. Since then, they've turned Alvear into a raider's paradise, riding out into the desert on horseback and motorcycle to plunder. They've got a lot of members, but not a lot of training and secondhand supplies.

>The Coldlight Archive
A series of reclusive scholars and inventors hiding in the haunted birch forests of the north, the Coldlight Archive is a group obsessed with preserving the mind and soul across undeath. While normally too small to be a major power, the Archive combines fantastical machines with one of the few functional understandings of magic, making them a formidable and surprisingly potent force.

>Cont.

>The Red Dawn Initiative
A military expedition led by radical members of the Church of Five Dawns to take back the West and exterminate the undead. Unfortunately, since literally anyone who dies will eventually rise from the dead in the West, this hasn't worked out well for them. The Red Dawn Initiative is zealous, skilled, and outfitted with the best equipment they could get from the East, but are woefully outmanned and under the questionable leadership, in this case the unstable General Elias Richter.

>The House of Wolves
More of an urban legend than a proper faction, the House of Wolves are a near-mythic cadre of assassins who operate out of the jungles of the Strigos Caldera. The House itself is limited to twelve members, but they host a number of auxiliaries who collect tithes from settlements under their control and payment from those who hire them. The House itself hosts some of the most dangerous people in the world, and prides itself on never failing a contract. Rumor has it however that they are starting to take a more active role on the political stage between the factions.

Yeah, the factions are kind of dumb. Still, its the wild undead west. There are giant wasp monster hibernating under Alvear, the Only King might be the avatar of the god of Blight, the Coldlight Archive is run by a husband and wife team of a Lich and a Shapechanger, and the Teppelins are so small in number because one of them went crazy and tried to burn the estate down. I like my weird west weird.

> VtM Clans based out of nightclubs

Cool and good.

> Werewolf Clans
Cool and good.

> Anti-Supernatural Government Agency
Cool and good.

>Sombra Royal Guard
> Equestrian Lunar Guard
> Hoofless
> Ponies transported to earth I guess?

What the fuck kinda setting you running here user?

I once knew a guy who got his live saved by a hexagon, what's wrong with you ?

DID SOMEBODY IN THIS THREAD INSULT THE HEXAGONS!?!?!?

Basuvaali- arboreal empire with a drug-enforced caste system.

Mandrazan- trading empire with barely enough land to be an empire but a pervasive ocean presence.

T'kot- farming and mining powerhouse that sticks to tradition and maintains a strong military.

Tassarkand- Giant city of squatters and lowlifes with just enough cohesion to stay independent.

Shelled Folk- mountain tribes of aggressive crustaceans that plague civilization.

Malapati- fortress-city of fishpeople that deals in exotic goods and seamonster-hunting.

Citadel Dwarves: dwarves stranded in a broken-off piece of their fortress atop a river of mud. Mired in bureaucracy as well as filth.

Mud Dwarves: refugees from the totalitarian citadel. Still a bit neurotic though.

Coastal City-States: fishfolk towns that spring up on beaches and never last long enough to go on a map.

The Black Iron Kingdoms: A morass of warring human nations that constantly fight over land and deposits of black iron, a supernatural metal that grants the wearer inhuman strength and agility.

Lodosalia: Elves twisted by magic who want to go back to being normal elves.

Senterfolis: Elves twisted by magic who are okay with it and have embraced biomancy.

Leodonia: Most beautiful land in the world, sacrifices the souls of infants and children to keep it that way.

Resilam: True elves who are the unwilling accomplices of Leodonia and secretly work to undermine them.

I can link my whole lore document if anyone is interested but the last time I posted it people said it was shit so I don't wanna bother people with it.

It's Veeky Forums, everyone's gonna say it's shit. Post it anyway though, I for one am at least curious, especially about the mountain dwelling crab people.

>It's Veeky Forums, everyone's gonna say it's shit.
Well you've got me there. I guess I place more stock in the opinions of Veeky Forums anons. I dunno why.

Anyway here is the current iteration of the lore document, changes and additional information may appear later on at some point in the distant future.

s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=53671675141410557354

bump

>I guess I place more stock in the opinions of Veeky Forums anons. I dunno why.
Because while a lot of them can be assholes, when they say they like something, they mean it because there's no reason to bullshit.