Far from Earth, and the confines of its system, a glistening green planet is under flux. The surface coated with flora, the oceans full of coral and kelp. But something is missing. In orbit, the last stage of terraforming is underway. The first animals are being released, their DNA altered, rapidly mutating, ready to spread across this new frontier…
The world
87% Complete…
Final Stage Initialised
Planet Genesis is an Earth like planet, with 1.1 bars of pressure, Earth-like atmospheric composition, and 0.84 Gs of gravity. It is currently being terraformed, in order to provide food and space for humans to thrive. It is in the final stage, the establishment of Fauna on a planet. In order to speed up the process, the creatures have been tailored to suit this planet, and modified to mutate and adapt at a rapid rate. Only time will tell what will happen…
The game
Mutations:
You get two mutations a round. These can be used to upgrade stats, change size/diet, adapt to new environments, or many other things. You can also use mutations to undo past mutations.
Actions
Until Brain Tier 1, there are no actions. Mutations cannot be used to perform organized actions or change instincts beyond the basic level.
Population:
Your species has a population from 1 to 20. If your species’ population is 0, it is extinct. In order to sustain a population, you need food. You can sustain a population equal to your food minus one for each unit of meat that creatures get from hunting you… Certain events such as diseases and droughts may lower your sustainable population.
Population grows by 2 each round until it reaches the sustainable limit. If it’s over the limit, it declines by 3 per round until balanced. If your sustainable population is 0 or fewer, you have 2 rounds to increase it above 0. If you fail to do so, your species goes extinct. I will warn you if your sustainable population is below 0, and I’ll tell you how long until you go extinct.
Stats:
There are 4 stats: Movement, Strength, Stealth, and Intelligence.
All stats require mutations to increase.
Movement is required to outrun predators and catch prey.
Strength allows you to attack other creatures, and defend yourself.
Stealth allows you to hide from other creatures, and ambush them.
Intelligence allows you to communicate, strategize, use tools, lay traps, and eventually achieve sapience.
Upgrading intelligence:
To increase intelligence, you must upgrade your brain tier. At Brain Tier 0, your intelligence can reach a maximum of 5. Each new tier increases this maximum by 5 (e.g., Tier 1 allows up to 10 intelligence, Tier 2 up to 15, and so on).
To upgrade your brain tier, you must first reach the intelligence cap for your current tier. Once at the cap, you can spend 2 mutations to advance to the next tier (except for the first upgrade, which only requires 1 mutation).
Tier 0 Intelligence is just a central nervous system, with little-to-no awareness and only basic instincts.
Tier 1 Intelligence is basic communication, around the levels of most animals, allowing more complex relationships, such as basic agriculture, eusociality, and basic social interactions.
Tier 2 Intelligence is Corvid and Nomadic Hunter-Gatherer level, with basic tools use, but no settlements or technology.
Tier 3 Intelligence is Civilisations, Metalworking and Technology.
Tier 4 Intelligence is the Industrial revolution.
Tier 5 Intelligence is Human-level.
Size:
Size changes your stats, increasing or decreasing strength and movement. There are 5 sizes:
Tiny: 0.5X Strength, 1.5X Movement, Large Insect size
Small: 0.75X Strength, 1.25X Movement, Large Rat size
Medium: 1X Strength, 1X Movement, Dog or Large Cat size
Large: 1.25X Strength, 0.75X Movement, Big Pig or Small Horse size
Massive: 1.5X Strength, 0.5X Movement, Big Horse, Large cow, or Small Elephant size
Hunting, Grazing/Foraging, and Diets:
Hunting:
In order to hunt, you need to be a carnivore or omnivore. Your stats are compared to those of the prey. Each stat that you are better at them by is a third of the available units of meat from that creature, which is their population (ignoring predation) halved. The minimum amount of meat is 3. Each unit of meat is 1 food for Omnivores and 1.5 food for Carnivores.
If multiple creatures feed on the same prey and consume more than three units of meat from it, the food is split proportionally based on how many stats the predators are better than the prey at.
Grazing/Foraging:
Grazing and foraging are the same thing.
Foraging is another way of gathering food. Carnivores cannot forage, as foraging uses vegetation as a food source.
There is vegetation in all patches, in accordance to it’s patch type. Each provide 1 food for Herbivores, and 0.75 food for Omnivores that can consume it. Creatures eat all the available vegetation in a patch, unless there is competition.
If multiple species compete for vegetation, the amount is split proportionately based on Foraging Level.
Other foods are specific to patches and can only be harvested by creatures suited to that environment that have the necessary diet or adaptations to access them.
Diet
There are three diets, Herbivore, Omnivore, and Carnivore.
Herbivores can only consume Vegetation. They gain 1 food for each vegetation they consume.
Carnivores can only consume Units of Meat. They gain 1.5 food for each Unit of Meat they consume.
Omnivores can eat both. However, they only get 0.75 food for each vegetation they consume, and 1 food for each Unit of Meat they consume.
Habitats/areas/biomes/patches:
These are all different words for the same thing, a distinct area where creatures live. To live in a patch, you need to be suited to that environment/patch type. You cannot live there if it is uninhabitable for you. For an area to be habitable, you need certain adaptions.
Creatures automatically spread to bordering patches if they are habitable and provide food.
Your population is distributed across several patches, with the population in each patch equal to the amount of food produced there. There is an amount of vegetation in each patch, specified in each patch type. There may also be other food sources in each patch.
Currently there are 6 known patch types: Swamp, Forest, River, Lake, Cliffs, Plains:
Swamp
Lush wetlands.
Adaptions Needed: Mud walking, swimming
Unexplored
Forest
A temperate rainforest.
Needed: Climbing or long neck 2, Temperate climate resistance.
Unexplored
River
A winding stream.
Needed: Swimming, speed 3
Unexplored
Lake
A vast expanse of water.
Needed: Swimming
Unexplored
Cliffs
Mountains of stone, hundreds of meters high.
Unexplored
Needed: Climbing, Cold Weather resistance
Plains
A vast open field.
Needed: Temperate climate resistance
Food: 4 Vegetation
How to join
The creature:
This the creature you will branch of from:
Pecuarius Terra - Ompard
A medium reptilian grazer, designed for this planet, equipped with powerful tusks. Introduced to fertilize fields with their manure.
Medium Herbivore (Foraging Level 1)
Stats:
-
Movement: 1*1=1
-
Strength: 1*1=1
-
Stealth: 1
-
Intelligence: 1 (Tier 0)
Feeds on: Vegetation
Hunted by:
Suited for: Plains
Population: 4
Sustainable population: 4 (+4 from food (Vegetation))
Distribution:
Plains A = 4
Mutations:
Stats:
- Tusks (+1 Strength)
- Nervous system (+1 Intelligence)
- Legs (+1 Movement)
- Eyes (+1 Stealth)
Size
- Medium Size
Diet
- Herbivorous Diet
- Longer Intestines (+1 Foraging)
Environmental Adaptions
- Temperate Climate Adaption
Mutations:
You have 4 mutations for Round 0. This is your chance to create a new creature. You could create a bird of prey, or a powerful reptilian hunter, or a burrowing behemoth. The possibilities are endless!
Credit to aah31415 and his game Survival in the Forum for a lot of inspiration for the rules.
If you have any questions about the rules @ me, I’ll try to respond as soon as I can.
Round Links:
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6