by Max Barry

Latest Forum Topics

Advertisement

20

DispatchAccountOther

by Synne industries. . 257 reads.

[F7] A Barebones Guide to FFT Powerwankery (perpetually WIP)




So! ⠀You wanna learn how to ethically FFT powerwank? Well after almost a year now of F7 frequenting and participating in the aforementioned act of Far Future Powerwankery I present to thee...

A Guide to Ethical Powerwankery



Below are a list of things to consider before entering the realm of quantum BS and huge capital ships. ⠀In no particular order of course.




Think About Your Nation!


Please. Please please please consider what your nation is before designing its military. Unless the group responsible for all this far future so and so is unreliant on any form of general structure you MUST first create a base for this powerwankery to be built off of. Try to avoid the obvious archetypes that everyone has seen such as... The almighty imperialist hyperoppressive Space Empire or... The universe-spanning democratic solarpunk utopia of whatever or... Secretive military group used to dodge any questions of command structure, economy, resource management and... oh, let's just ignore that last one and carry on then. If you're designing a FFT nation be aware that things have changed in some way or another as long as you're sporting that FFT tech rating. Technology, nation size, and history WILL affect how everything operates. Logistics will exponentially get harder the bigger your nation gets, technology and freedom could result in FTL ghetto spaceships or the wormhole mafia if you're not careful. Nobody demands perfect accuracy but super techno-military dictatorship #7,192,055 isn't gonna keep someone's attention for longer than five minutes.




Superweapons Aren't Always Cool.


Superweapons have been the defining trait of most FFT powerwanker nations. Whether it be a planet busting ship or a hyperadvanced AI supervirus that cripples any and all enemy computers I'd say about 80% of F7 FFT powerwankers have some superweapon or another. This leads to problems, oversaturation and one-uppery. People always say 'my superlaser eats up planets!' but never 'my superlaser eats up government funding!'. Big projects like these are EXPENSIVE and making them bigger will only destabilize your economy. If you're gonna make it hard hitting at least make it economical. This is why I don't like big laser platforms, lasers are inefficient, costly, and usually all show. Wanna bust a planet? Use nanites to strip-mine it to death. Destroy a galaxy? Work smart, not hard, use some extradimensional tomf*ckery but define it first, trust me people love it when your 'techno-magic' has properly defined rules, it also helps with dodging accusations of making stuff up to win. Be economical, be creative, know your weak points.




Numbers Aren't Always Cool.


Numbers numbers numbers... what do I have to say. There's no easier way to bolster your forces than to just add another zero to the end of your troop count. Never mind the logistical issues, the extra resources needed, or change in doctrine with your horde of fighters. Maintaining a large military is tough, there's a command structure, people have to actually talk to people, branches have to share data to work together, soldiers need to be housed and fed, half the time you'll be arguing with your own forces just to get a strike coordinated! Quality > quantity usually works well for FFT powerwankery so far as you have a creative arsenal for your small but galaxy-shattering forces to use. Bear in mind the size of your nation and its aspirations as well. A pacifist utopia with universe-wide control won't need a fleet the size of the Boötes void and good luck trying to occupy trillions of star systems if your expansionist empire only has a force of 60 million.




Get Tech Tips.


Technology is probably the most important thing to an FFT nation, it even has Tech in the name! The technology you give to your nation and by extension its military will shape everything from numbers to doctrine to culture. When designing your tech be creative and try not to rip it from obvious sources. Nanites are a-okay if you do them right but you might get some disapproving looks if your entire military is copypasted from a single series. Also, don't throw around random buzzwords just to make stuff sound cool. Nice antimatter sword you got there, shame that it's going to set off an atomic blast in the face of its wielder the moment it's unsheathed in conventional space. Quantum drives sound nice but what the hell is even 'quantum' about it? Yes of course, the power of cats in superposition will drive our star destroyers across the star system. One thing I don't see that often is tech or weapons named after people, grab a name generator off the web and see what you can brew up, people have to put work into designing these fancy gadgets, give them some credit.




When All Hope is Lost, Meme It.


Now that you've sat through my rant about the bad bits of powerwankery some of you may be asking, 'But you don't call out [insert nation here] on F7 who does all the bad things and more!'. Yes, that is true but there's one thing that can prevent all accusations of hyper OP powerwankery, numberwankery, or conceptwankery. The level of memesh*t. Nobody is going to take someone seriously if all they've got is big numbers or stupid sounding superweapons. But meme nations who don't want to be taken seriously? Make a good post with those numbers and weapons and I'll have a chuckle and think no less of you. Sure, being a meme nation isn't for every FFT writer but it works well. A good rule is, if you want people to take you seriously you better get some original and amazing writing out there, if you want to become a living meme then 'bad' writing is acceptable. Even in NS, memes reign supreme.





Synne industries

Edited:

RawReport