I. - Join the regional Discord Server, it's where all the Out-Of-Character activity, memery, and mod-magic happens. You cannot roleplay in this region unless you have joined the Discord Server.

II. - Fill out the Roleplay Application form seen below. To get this approved, you may post it in a public channel and ping moderators or DM it to the Founder, whose writings you are currently reading (Ello!). When your nation is approved, you will be registered as a citizen of TGU.

Nation name:
Planet Count: (May start with a maximum of 300)
Moon Count: (May start with a maximum of 300)
Development: (May start with a maximum of 0.8)
Ideology:
Government type:
Backstory:
Current situation:

IIa. - For those of you who do not wish to partake in Nation roleplay and instead aim to do Character roleplay and Character roleplay only, all you have to do to acquire Citizenship and the ability to roleplay here is to simply inform a Moderator or the Founder of your choice. Should you wish to do nation RP in the future, however, you will have to go through the normal application process.

III. - With your Roleplay Application approved, you are now capable of applying for a spot on our galactic map. To apply for that, fill out the Astrographical Application seen below and post it in the map channel on our Discord Server. Feel free to ping the Map Lord(s). You may begin RPing so long as your Astrographical Application has been acknowledged by the the Map Lord(s).

Nation Name:
Planet Count:
Moon Count:
- Location on Map - 

^{Insert either a screenshot or a specific description of the area you wish to be in here.}

IV. - Be aware that this factbook is effectively treated as absolute law. However, we Mods here in TGU are open to more fluid and relaxed treatments of the rules, laws, and guidelines written in this factbook. The general approach to take to this rulebook is that, if something isn't written down here, it doesn't exist and isn't allowed.

I. - Planets: The number of planetary bodies that make up an interstellar empire's domain. These range from sub-terrestrial rocks to Earthly HabWorlds to Jovian giants.
Ia. - If one wishes to play as a nomadic nation, they can simply re-designate their Planets to, say, Motherships, Arks, Forgeships, etc.

II. - Moons: The number of lesser planetary bodies that make up an interstellar empire's domain. These range from icy moonlets to earthen bodies which dominate the night sky.

IIa. - If one wishes to play as a nomadic nation, they can simply re-designate their planets to, say, Hiveships, Lesser Arks, Factoryships, etc.

III. - Development: The level of infrastructural advancement and sophistication. This refers to things such as the strength of industrial complexes, the power and capabilities of national economies, the effectiveness of transportation, etc.

IIIa. - Unlike the previous two stats, Development's designation is not so fluid, and remains concrete no matter the kind of nation.

IV. - Force Limit Formula: ((Planets X 100) + (Moons X 50)) X Development Score.

IVa. - Example: ((300 Planets X 100) + (Moons 300 X 50)) X 0.8 = 36,000 Ships.

When your PMD stats have been calculated, they must then be publicly recorded in your factbooks. Whether they are a section of an existing factbook or have on devoted entirely to them entirely does not matter. However, they should remain easy to access, read, and find.

I. - Expansion: An Expansion is a player-made and executed event where you may take at most 500 Planets and 500 Moons. Expansions can be done once a month, and start whenever a player wishes during that month. Expansions last five days minimum, and consist of players making one expansion post per day of the Expansion. Each single post can give at most 100 planets and moons - but can give less if desired. Five posts minimum, for a total of 500 per month. These posts detail their IC nation's acquisition of new planets and moons. How they go about this is entirely up to the player, and can range from peaceful colonization to conquest and subjugation of NPCs. An Expansion can be started whenever a new month begins, even if the last post of an expansion ended the day before.
Ia. - Expansion Exploitation: Making an expansion and then transferring the Planets and Moons acquired to another player is illegal. In-universe, this usually consists of selling them to another nation. Should this exploit be done, the events related to it will be voided and the transferred planets removed from the taker and returned to the sender.

II. - Player War: If a player defeats and conquers another player's nation and is in a position to take their worlds, then they may do so. This depends on the course of events within the war, concluding treaties, etc.

IIa. - Core Territories Law: Aspiring galactic conquerors should be aware of the Core Territories Law. Players engaged in war may designate a maximum of 300 Planets and 300 Moons as Core Territories, which cannot be taken from them no matter what unless the conquered consents to it. The intent of this law is to prevent a player's nation from being totally annihilated, which can be a titanic loss if there has been a large amount of work put into its lore, characters, etc. Additionally, this lessens the inherent risk in War RP and allows for the defeated to live to fight another day.

III. - Development: To raise a nation's Development Score, players must make Development Posts. Development Posts are simple posts that describe a nation's means by which it increases its level of infrastructural development. If a nation has a Development Score below 2.0, then they make a single Development Post every two real-world days. If they are at or above 2.0, then the waiting period is increased to four real-world days. The maximum Development Score a nation can have is 3.0.

IIIa. - Development Assistance: Unlike Planets and Moons, Development Points can be shared between nations. This is known as Development Assistance. To assist another nation in Development, the assisting nation must make a Development Post that mentions the other nation using the [nation] BBcode. When the assisting nation does so, the Development Point that they could have achieved is instead added on top of the assisted nation's own Development. Both nations then wait either two or four real-world days depending on their Development Score.

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The Guiding Philosophy of TGU



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This is a roleplay. At the end of the day, the point of roleplaying is to have fun, and that’s what TGU is all about. TGU is also all over cinematic cool sh!t that makes you cream your pants. The Rule of Cool hits hard. If you want to do cool things that you think would be fun, compelling, and/or conducive to the expansion and deepening of the setting and lore, then you must allow someone else to be able to do the same even if what they want is something that’ll come at your expense. A good story is fraught with conflict and ups and downs. There has never been a good story where the main characters do nothing but constantly win, utterly obliterating all opposition and solving all issues without repercussions or struggle. Mary Sues are terrible characters and make for terrible nations. Make things interesting and let yourself get a bloody nose or a black eye and, in turn, the other roleplayers will let you do the same.

I. - No toxicity, flaming, baiting or any other inflammatory activity will be tolerated.

II. - There will be no spam on the Discord server and especially not on the Regional Message Board. Additionally, all Out-Of-Character discussion is to be relegated solely to TGU's Discord Server.

III. - No NSFW. Period. Any and all NSFW content should be kept outside of TGU at all times.

IIIa. - Take the "Night Shifts" to the appropriate channel so that generally isn't clogged and rendered unusable to non-participants in the glorious sh!t-frenzy of cursed sh!tposting and retardation. Additionally, please keep anything which may make other users uncomfortable to yourself.

IV. - Discussions of politics or other politically-charged topics are strictly banned and will be met with immediate Cease and Desist orders. Repeat offenders will receive strikes. There are no exceptions to this rule.

V. - Do not advertise on the region or Discord without approval from the Founder.

VI. - After a month of inactivity without warning, you will be removed from the map and have your Citizenship revoked. Should you return after those removals, you will have to re-apply.

VII. - Citizenship on the Discord Server is required to RP. If you leave the Discord Server for any reason for any time all of your RP is null and void until you re-enter. If you leave for a period equivalent to or exceeding one week you will have to re-apply your nation and Citizenship.

VIII. - Three strikes and you’re out. The first strike comes with mutes, the second strike renders you more prone to mutes and comes with the possibility of temporary bans, and the third strike may likely lead to a permanent ban. While on a temporary ban, your nation and RP are not voided but are instead put on pause until you are allowed to return.

I. - The Crucial Consent Law - Any and all roleplaying involving a minimum of two players can only occur if all parties consent to it. Should consent be revoked, the revoking party need not participate nor be affected.
Ia. - Additionally, let it be known that there is a common courtesy in play in regards to inspiration drawn from or material lifted from the works of another player. Content inspired by another player's works is fine, so long as they are distinctly separated from the source of inspiration. Directly lifting material from another player is outright forbidden unless that player sanctions it.

II. - Godmodding and metagaming are not allowed, as is the norm for roleplaying communities.

IIa. - Banned abilities, technologies, and other such things include but are not limited to manipulation of time, precognition, unstoppable Gray Goo, gravitational weapons, etc.
IIb. - It is possible to acquire exceptions from a Moderator to use banned abilities, technologies, etc. These exceptions include caveats such as heavy-handed and specific limitations; temporary lifespans, reduced capabilities, etc.

III. - Paracausal Powers Law - Despite being a Sci-Fi setting, TGU does allow magic. Magicks, also known as Paracausal Powers, are enigmatic and arcane abilities whose mechanisms obey physical laws which sidestep and/or ignore the constraints of cause and effect. The lore and fluff for magic are not defined, and players are allowed full creative freedom. However, magic is still bound by the same restraints and balancing acts that shackle technology. Neither magic nor technology outpaces or outperforms the other, and both have their own ways of doing the same things and countering the other.

IIIa. - Additionally, it should be known that a player's magic is essentially copyrighted in that it is unique to the person who conjures it up and cannot be replicated or stolen without the consent of the player who owns/created it. Be aware that this does not mean you can use psychics and prevent anyone from using them. Your copyright to magic extends only to magic systems you come up with yourself.
IIIb. - Agency of Gods - Divine Gods, primordial Titans, Lovecraftian Old Ones, sentient cosmic forces, or otherwise unmatched entities with omnipotent or seemingly omnipotent power are background characters in TGU. Direct action and effects from these entities are illegal. However, they are still allowed to appear, interact in mundane ways, or effect their power through proxies -IE, possessed, believers, etc-. Their powers via proxy, however, are much weaker in strength and reduced in scope than if they were cast directly by that godly entity.

IV. - You cannot roleplay as multiple nations with their own separate applications, but you can roleplay as a multitude of factions within one nation application. Alternate accounts and puppet nations are illegal without exception.

V. - Special Astrography Law - Special Astrography refers to regions of space where exceptional, exotic, or paracausal phenomenons or structures are present. The properties of Special Astrography have some kind of mechanical effect in-universe. Examples of Special Astrographic regions include but are not limited to something as simple as higher numbers and/or densities of certain suns, stellar remnants, and nebulae to direct effects such as endangered FTL travel or the outright interdiction of all or certain forms of FTL travel. Special Astrographies must be applied for using the template below:

Special Astrography Name:
Characteristics: (large numbers of nebulae, a single large nebula, higher numbers of stellar objects, etc)
Properties: (effects inflicted by this Special Astrographic region)
Location & Expanse:

^{Insert either a screenshot or a specific description of it's location and expanse here.}

Once it has been filled out, the application is to be posted in the map channel and approved by a Moderator and/or a Map Lord. Once it has been acknowledged and accepted, you are free to consider it canon.

VI. - There are two broad categories of FTL travel and transportation in TGU: Superluminal Drives and Gates.

VIa. - Superluminal Drives - Standard equipment aboard just about all spacecraft. Superluminal Drives are shipborne devices that allow the vessel to engage in faster-than-light/superluminal travel. Ubiquitous, though long-distance travel times leave much to be desired.
VIb. - Gates - Gates, unlike Superluminal Drives, are too large, expensive, and rare to be mounted onboard a spaceship. A Gate generally takes the form of a large-scale station such as, say, a Stargate or a Hyperspace Lane Anchor, or a manifested construct such as a Wormhole or a rift to another realm. Additionally, a Gate has a greater degree of tolerance for gravity wells, allowing them to be orbited around planets, suns, etc. Addtionally, they cannot be interdicted, but can be deactivated, disabled, or destroyed. To function, Gates require two separate Gates -Point A and Point B- that are intrinsically linked. Entering the Point A Gate transfers the traveler to the Point B Gate. In comparison to Drives, Gates are much, much faster. However, their range is not endless. Traveling through Gates to reach one end of the galaxy to another would require an extensive chain network of Gates.

VII. - Time Fluidity Law - TGU does not operate under a defined timescale. Rather, it works off of a very loose "Time Fluidity" system where time is generally either roughly implied, ignored entirely, guesstimated, etc. Any exact timescales given should not be seriously considered. For example, the time since the fall of the Universal Empire being around three millennia is only casually agreed upon.

VIII. - Megastructures Law - Megastructures are classified into two distinct categories: Planetary and Stellar.

VIIIa. - Planetary Megastructures - Examples of Planetary Megastructres include but are not limited to Planetary Ringworlds, enormous Habitats, Jupiter Brains, etc. Players are allowed to construct these kinds of Megastructures. However, there are two caveats that come with them. First is that, at best, a player will only be allowed one, maybe two of these immense constructions. Second, their capabilities and/or benefits may find themselves reduced as Moderation sees fit.
VIIIb. - Stellar Megastructures - On the other hand, examples of Stellar Megastructures include but are not limited to Dyson Swarms, Shkadov & Caplin Thrusters, Ringworlds, Alderson Disks, etc. The construction of these Megastructures is illegal. However, a special exception is granted to those who wish to start with them. There are two conditions that come with a nation spawning in with a Stellar Megastructure. First, a player that does so generally centers their entire nation around it to the point that Planets and Moons are often re-designated to population centers upon them. This is not to say that such bears no territory beyond them that is used for resource-harvesting. Second, these Megastructures are either degraded, decayed, and damaged or were designed specifically for habitation to the point of excluding other benefits. For example, the Alderson Disk of Daeztagon offers no special benefits or powers to the player due to it having been designed entirely for the habitation of an incredibly enormous biosphere and a wide array of sophont species. Additionally, there is a distinct lack of overpowered technologies or defenses. Last but not least, such Megastructures usually aren't constructed by the nations inhabiting them and are instead simply found and repurposed, their creators unknown and unseen.

IX. - Public Records Law - "If it's not in a factbook, it doesn't exist" is generally how TGU operates when it comes to whether something is canon or not. If something is not publicly recorded, it becomes ambiguous and reliant on hearsay, which is subject to mishearings, misinterpretations, and misinformation. We're generally relaxed when it comes to the enforcement of this rule. At the minimum, your factbooks should contain, at the very least, rough summaries and overviews of your nation's history, governance, non-human species or human-derived entities, culture and society, and diplomacy. If you have any kind of Megastructures, magic/Paracausality systems, Special Astrographies or gods, then those should also be publicly recorded.

IXa. - Military Factbooks Clause: The Public Records Law bears this clause for military factbooks in particular for a very good reason. The public records for your nation's defense systems, unique military technologies, and other such things must be written down in a direct and easy-to-grasp manner. Unlike the rest of the Public Records Law, we are not so lax in the treatment of this clause. Not every exhaustive detail needs to be written down, just the major aspects.

I. - The death of a character requires consent from the player(s) said character belongs. If a Character is killed without consent, the event of their death and the sequence leading up to it are rendered null and void.

II. - Characters, due to their lone and singular natures, can sometimes be allowed exceptions to certain rules around godmodding technologies and abilities.

III. - For a character to be considered under the effects of these rules, they and their name(s), backstories, personalities, abilities, skills, etc, must be publicly recorded within a factbook.

I. - The Central Tenet - Relative Power is a system of balance whose founding tenet is making subjective descriptors of weapons, ships, defense mechanisms, and other such things tangible. Additionally, such things are made viable in all places at all times in some way, shape, or form. Things are evaluated via descriptors such as, say, rapid-fire, close-range, low-damage, precise/accurate, etc. For example, Anti-Armor Cannon X is long-ranged, has high firepower and accuracy, and is extremely effective against armor and hull. However, it is slow to fire and is expensive, thus limiting the number of it which can be equipped and/or reducing the number of ships that come equipped with it. Everything has advantages and disadvantages of varying numbers of such and degrees of effectiveness/ineffectiveness. The Anti-Armor Cannon X, as seen above, may have more listed advantages than disadvantages, but said disadvantages are elevated, so to speak, in their effect as a counterbalance.

II. - State of Parity - TGU exists in a state of parity. IE, regardless of your lore’s statements on your technological advancement/experience, you are still on equal footing with your opponent in a war roleplay. For example, the Heliarchy is thousands of years old and bears a technological edge befitting such an age-wrought experience, but it will not be given a Powerwank Card when fighting, say, the Saharian Republic. The Republic, compared to the Heliarchy, is a fledgling, and its technology is primarily derived from its predecessor empire. However, the two players in charge of the Heliarchy and the Republic respectively are to not acknowledge such tech creep unless they wish to do so.

I. - Warship Statistics Law - Aspiring warmongers must have at least a single military factbook which comprehensively details their interstellar navy. All classes and/or types of warship utilized must have all of it's stats publicly recorded, consisting of a warship's exact size, defenses, number of weapons, and other equipment it may include. Simply explaining the general design of a ship and what they are/meant to do is not enough, as it leaves too little information for other players and Moderators. Additionally, this factbook or these factbooks must display the exact numbers of each kind of warship and how much of the Force Limit it takes up. An easy way to do this is to attach a percentage to a warship and then use that percentage to acquire an exact number out of your total Force Limit. Be reasonable in your naval composition. Egregious numbers of Dreadnoughts, Supercapitals, etc, will not be allowed.
Ia. - Definition of a Warship - Warships are mobile spacecraft equipped with the weapons, defenses, and other such facilities needed to engage in spaceborne combat. The number of Warships a nation may possess is defined by the Force Limit, which was covered earlier in the Planets, Moons, Development section up above. Each Warship has a value of 1 on the Force Limit. Non-Warship vessels which still serve a purpose in one's military such as tankers, resource harvesters, tenders, transport craft, etc, are not represented by the Force Limit. However, this does not mean they are non-existent. They are canon and are generally implied unless directly encountered and/or engaged. Combat-capable spacecraft that are not represented by the Force Limit is allowed to be used. However, they are massively reduced in power in comparison to a Warship that is represented by the Force Limit. These unrepresented vessels are little more than speedbumps to even second-rate warships.
Ib. - Strike Craft have an odd relationship with the Force Limit and their own effectiveness. Strike Craft consist of combat vessels such as Fighters, Bombers, or other craft of this general size such as mere Reconnaissance Drones. Strike Craft are not represented in the Force Limit so long as they are carried and deployed by another warship. Strike Craft do not suffer from strength reduction. The lack of Strike Craft representation in the Force Limit also does not mean that players have an unlimited reserve of them. Restraint and reason are to be practiced when quantifying Strike Craft.
Ic. - A similar case is in play with Statics, which consists of Battlestations with fortifications and other military capabilities. Also just like Strike Craft, restraint and reason must be practiced. You are not fortifying an entire reach of space with enough Statics to fend off invasions with. That is logistically impossible and unsound in viability. Statics are primarily delegated to planets and moons and/or their equivalents.

III. - Force Limit Reinforcement Law - Naval Warships may have their relative power reinforced by sacrificing ship slots to them. IE, you have a Class of X Battleship whose relative power is bolstered with two force limit slots. Thus, each battleship is now twice as powerful but occupies twice the amount of force limit slots. On the other hand, if one wants to work with numbers over quality, Y Warship can have their relative power bisected to halve the amount of space they take up on the force limit. Y Warship is now, at maximum, twice as abundant but only half as powerful as they normally are. Statics and Strike Craft are exempt from this rule.

IIIa. - 0.5 Minimum Force Limit per Warship - 2 Maximum Force Limit per Warship
IIIb. - Be aware that you cannot make ships of a separate class more powerful by bolstering them with a different class of ships. The X Frigate class cannot be granted the additional power of Y Battleship in order to cheat the system and have a class of Frigates with the relative power of Y Battleships. If a citizen wants to enhance the power of X Frigates, then they have can only sacrifice some number of X Frigates in order to do so.

IV. - Interdictor Laws - In TGU, Interdiction technology is utilized to prevent spacecraft from being able to engage in FTL travel. Interdictors consist of gravitational field generators and projectors which erect a gravity well around the interdicting ship and/or station. There is no way to escape interdiction using FTL unless traveling through a Gate. The only way to escape an interdiction field is to destroy the Interdictor itself or to move out of it at sublight speeds. Interdictors mounted on ships have a maximum range of 70,000 KM and a maximum range of 200,000 KM when mounted on static stations.

IVa. - Tractor Beams are capable of engaging in Interdiction due to their operation utilizing precise gravitational attraction. Tractor Beams have a maximum range of 1,000 KM.
IVb. - All Superluminal Drive and Gate-type FTL, no matter their methods, properties, designs, etc, are capable of being interdicted while entering, in the middle of, and exiting Faster-Than-Light speeds.

V. - Stealth Technology Law - Stealth vessels that are conventionally undetectable in all circumstances unless they make themselves known must make a multitude of sacrifices in order to achieve such a state. IE, fewer weapons systems are mounted due to the energy emissions they create, thus reducing firepower or, say, the weapons systems are slower-firing so as to reduce the frequency of high-energy emissions. Stealth ships are also likely to be rarer due to the expensive stealth systems they utilize. The primary advantages of stealth warships are the element of surprise, excellent scouting and reconnaissance capabilities, etc.

Va. - Stealth ships in an active combat scenario are capable of re-entering stealth after they have broken it, but it is a difficult endeavor, and becomes harder and harder to execute should they take damage.

VI. - The maximum measurement for a Warship, no matter if that measurement is of its height, length, width, diameter, etc, is precisely 20 KM. Additionally, Warships that start going past the 5 KM mark start to become quite ungainly.

V. - Civilian/non-combat ships and Statics are not limited by this rule. However, reason and restraint, as always, should be practiced. Unreasonable sizes for civilian/non-combat vessels and Statics will be redacted by Moderation.

Ia. - Close Range - 20,000 KM

Ib. - Mid Range - 50,000 KM

Ic. - Long Range - 100,000 KM

Id. - Extreme Range - 200,000 KM

II. - Retreat and Reinforcements Law - Retreating from a space battle consists of an engaging fleet reorganizing and adjusting courses to escape an ongoing conflict. In war roleplay, the retreat has to be announced one post before it actually occurs so as to allow the opposing player(s) to be capable of reacting and responding. On the other hand, to bring to bear additional forces in an ongoing combat situation requires an engaging force to signal for reinforcements and for those reinforcements to actually arrive. The request for reinforcements and the clear signs of superluminal arrival can be detected in advance. Thus, players engaging in war must announce their reinforcements one turn before they actually happen. Reinforcements cannot arrive within very specific destinations in the middle of an ongoing battle, and, even if there is no currently-active Interdiction field, they will generally arrive somewhere out around 300K-400K kilometers out from the battle itself.

III. - In-Combat FTL is, mechanically speaking, illegal. In-Combat FTL covers maneuvers such as micro-jumps to devices like that of the FTL Weapons Pod, a disposable missile or railgun battery with a Superluminal Drive that gave it effectively infinite range in battle. In-universe, its disuse can be attributed to the incredibly hazardous nature of battlespace making it difficult to safely exit and/or FTL destination calculations being too imprecise to allow for viable micro-jumping.

IIIa. - Boarding & Teleportation Clause - Teleportation for the purposes of boarding or transportation of explosives within enemy warships is legal, but has a maximum range of 100 kilometers.

IV. - Instantly traveling from one location to the next in war is mechanically illegal. In-universe, there are travel times associated with war roleplay that may be ignored entirely outside of it. Timescales do not need to be exact, merely enough of a rough indicator of when certain actions can be done, how long it takes for forces to arrive following deployment, etc. Additionally, the routes taken in war do matter. You do not simply show up at a location.

V. - Orbital Destruction Law - Orbital destruction is defined as the annihilation of a celestial body, whether that be a Planet or a Moon, by a hostile and aggressive force. Orbital destruction most commonly takes the form of an orbiting invasion fleet’s sustained bombardment against an enemy world, though, in some cases, there are those who make use of planet-cracking superweapons to utterly shatter a world. Orbital bombardment for the purposes of simply breaking defenses or the glassing of entire planets is a common tactic in player wars. In TGU, orbital destruction has two rules: Minimum Required Posts and Disruption.

Va. - Minimum Required Posts - Orbital destruction requires five War RP posts in order to successfully pull off, and each post requires responses from all involved parties. IE, Invading Player cannot make five posts back-to-back, he musts wait for Defending Player to respond and make their moves.

Vb. - Disruption - Should a defending player destroy, incapacitate, drive off, or otherwise stem the source of bombardment, then the bombardment is considered “broken” and the attacking player can make no further progress unless they are able to recapacitate their orbital destruction capabilities. For example, Invasion Fleet X carries with it a cohort of Siege Ships. Planetary Fleet X is able to destroy the Siege Ships, breaking the bombardment. Another example would be Invasion Fleet Y not making use of specialized Siege Ships but rather using their rank-and-file warships’ conventional weapons to make a sustained barrage against an enemy planet. Planetary Fleet Y makes a counterattack and successfully shatters the invading fleet, ending the bombardment.

Vc. - Results - Should a planet be successfully destroyed by the hostile player(s), then the planet is rendered unusable and/or inhabitable, whether that be via its sundering into a thousand fragments, melted into an obsidian sphere, etc. The destroyed planet/moon/whatever is then deducted from the receiver’s P&M stats.