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Setting the stage
Why? Because it's fun.
Realpolitik is an unchained attempt at worldbuilding within an established system. This balances two competing principles:
- The world, its inhabitants, the bonds they've formed and conflicts which drive them apart are fundamental to Kenshi & its core identity.
- There is room, opportunity and a desire to continue the content offerings by extending the gameplay loop, especially that of the late-game.
The mystique of Kenshi can be found in its lack of strong assertions, vague and often competing accounts of history as well as a near total lack of clarity in the realm of morals & consequences for actions. A long form exercise in perspective, judgement thereof and the very real aftermath which follows. All which has happened and all which will is not (and has not been) beholden to some strict moral lines or narrowly constructed narrative boundary to excess. The (repeated) collapse of civilization, genocide of organic lifeforms, incredible forms of abuse and imposed suffering have taken place upon the same sands and hills we traverse. There is no shortage of struggle to be found. The many factions do a great job at either conjuring up some reason (usually racially influenced at some level) to slaughter each other or they are naturally inclined to do that to others (looking at you, Southern Hive). The wildlife are as destructive as the civilized folks pretend not to be. It's a giant stew of unfortunate situations spun into successive disasters, each more pathetic than the last. The moon dwellers have done a wonderful job at screwing everything up and have a strong track record for finding creative ways to sabotage their best laid plans.
What Realpolitik hopes to do is carefully offer answers to the found gaps in this sea of opportunity for further worldbuilding.
// This blog will go on for awhile.
Main points to hit upon:
- The Prequel
- The historical void
- 937 years ago...
- The Red Rebellion
- Myr
- The Guild (and its origins)
- Royal lines
- The Consortium (of Skeleton engineers & technicians)
- Iyo's idea
- The Deadcat Bounce
- Old Temple Okranism
- The Enforcer's fall from grace (and the rise of Kral)
- Hivemind Mindgames
- Shore birds and the signs of the times
Chaos Politics - Rule by Disorder - Subversion Maze(s) - The Art of Misdirection - Inhuman Intelligence - Context-free Conflict - Fragmented Societies - Structural Elitism - The Conspiracy of Silence - The Lumber Paradox - Regression over Adaptation - Self-determinism Spectrum - Moon Dwelling Madness - Historical Amnesia - The Cult of Illiteracy - Figurehead Empires - Ancient Promises & Protocols - Eye in the Sky - The Garden Grove - Hope & Humanity
The pointless loop, don't do this!
- Why is Z state not so?
- Because X condition is not met.
- Why is X condition not met?
- Because Y condition is also not met.
- If Z is possible and X+Y conditions can be met, why can Z not be reached?
- Because Z is not so.