You know what time it is! Time for a lore drop. This one's a big one, the Novakid were one of the species I would consider most consistently glanced over. In comparison, I've tried a bunch of stuff to make them feel more in-depth and interesting. If you have feedback, you know where to put it! Especially if it's a typo or missed word or something, there was a lot more text this time around so my normal editing process may have failed me. Spoiler: The Novakid Overview Of the stars, Novakid are a nomadic species of plasma-based lifeforms that have a decent amount in common with celestial bodies, including an incredible long lifetime. In contrast to this longevity, the attention of the Novakid is often fleeting, and they tend not to write anything down, leading to a society that has a very short memory in comparison to just how old they really are. Biology Unique amongst the galaxy, Novakid are simple energy-based lifeforms possessing a body of superheated plasma "cytoplasm" contained within and manipulated by a thin magnetic forcefield, or "membrane", projected by an anomalous metal "brand" embedded in their face. A Novakid's brand has many anomalous properties, the most obvious being its extreme heat endurance, manipulation of magnetic fields, and generation of electrical charge directly from contact with superheated substances. In addition to all of this, intricate patterning on a brand's face makes it capable of sentient thought while it has access to electricity. As the only organ a Novakid has, the brand is responsible for their ability to see, hear, and feel, as well as several other, Novakid-only sensations. Novakid are capable of receiving and emitting radio signals, and can perceive the presence of magnetic fields around them. Their brand can also produce sound, allowing a Novakid to speak, though the voice is often tinny, as if speaking through an antique radio. Peculiarly, Novakid are known to have full color vision and a fine sense of hearing, though it's unknown how the brand is capable of either. Novakid don't have a sense of smell, but do approximate a sense of taste based on the energy gained from consuming different types of fuels in order to maintain their cytoplasm. Many have distinct opinions on what kind of burning matter tastes best, but it is generally agreed that more cleanly burning materials is healthier to consume. When a Novakid consumes a poorly burning material, the remaining matter must be excreted either through subtle off-gassing over an extended period or the formation of a crystalline grime along the membrane. Some metallic compounds remain within the Novakid's plasma, and are forged into more brand iron in an unconscious process performed by the brand. These scraps of free-floating iron are responsible for the aging and death of Novakid, as they siphon energy from the plasma that should be going to the brand. This eventually leads to the so-called "heat death" of a Novakid, in which they begin to require more energy than they can reasonably consume to survive, growing large and dim before eventually starving to death. To counter this, Novakid physicians strain waste materials and iron from the plasma with specialized magnets. These scraps are typically kept, as a damaged brand can only be repaired with the iron it produces, as foreign brand metal causes disruption of electrical flow which is often more damaging than the initial wounds. Novakid with brand damage experience weaker or more brittle membranes, loss of memory or cognitive faculties, and severe pain. In the absence of brand iron, Avosi Crystals have been found to work as a prosthetic brand when intricately carved to match the missing piece, though this only remedies the mental symptoms. While brands naturally acquire the electricity they require to function from their contact with the plasma they maintain, this isn't the only way to provide a brand electricity. An intact brand can resuscitated simply by strapping it to a battery, though this is often considered inhumane due to the lack of body being traumatic. Instead, intact brands are often revived by providing their body with a sufficiently hot plasma mixture. Healthy Novakid live up to the age of five or seven hundred years without medical interference, but proper access to medicine makes them almost immortal; though this doesn't stop them from being frequently killed even before their three hundreds due to a rather devil-may-care attitude in their early life. Older Novakid that haven't had their cytoplasm strained sometimes have clumps of scrap iron decorating the exterior of their shell. These clumps generate magnetic interference with the membrane, often producing a visible tremor and unsteady movements by the individual. These clumps are also electrically charged, and can arc electricity into or away from the Novakid's brand, most often seen when experiencing intense emotion. Some communities call these iron clumps "sunspots." Brands typically form as flat pieces of metal in the shape of a recognizable symbol, sometimes curved around the plane of a Novakid's face. The shape of the brand appears to be caused by early mimicry of their environment, as the symbol is always one present within a Novakid's environment during their formation. Sometimes, a brand will be formed abnormally, jutting partially into or out of the membrane. Some brands are even contained fully within the cytoplasm. These Novakid experience muddled senses due to the interference. Novakid are capable of sexual or asexual reproduction based on the polarity of their brand, with two Novakid of opposite polarities temporarily overlapping their membranes in such a way that their cytoplasm fuses two larger pieces of brand metal into a new brand. The child brand then continues to grow for as long as it has access to a source of plasma, which is typically the cytoplasm of a parent, but can be done externally with modern medical technology. The gestation period is hard to calculate and based off of the diet of the parent, leading to many expectant Novakid gorging themselves on poorly-burning fuel sources, which can produce bloating. Some Novakid, however, are considered dual-polarity, and can reproduce asexually, creating an exact "genetic" copy of themselves with a very similar brand shape and color. Novakid are a precocial species, and by the time a Protokid is capable of sustaining its own membrane it is typically able to walk on its own and has absorbed a very basic understanding of the world around it. This gives credence to the idea that very early Novakid abandoned their children very soon after their formation. The location of a Novakid's formation can have a large impact on their appearance. Novakid formed outside of the galaxy have a dense chemical make-up, producing a darkly colored cytoplasm that is heavier and contrasts starkly with their glowing membrane. This trait is 'genetically' dominant and children of a so-called 'Dark Core' Novakid tend to share this chemical composition. Sometimes during gestation, a forming brand will break apart. This typically results in the death of the Protokid, but sometimes results in the development of a Binary Novakid; two distinct Novakid both formed from one half of the brand. Binary Novakid are often smaller and weaker due to having smaller brands, but are capable of silent communication with each other across incredible distances electromagnetically, though exactly how is not well understood. Binary Novakid are often compared to twins due to their very similar appearances. In combat, Novakid are both incredibly weak and incredibly durable thanks to their unique biology. To kill a Novakid, one must either significantly damage the brand or cause major "bleeding" of cytoplasm. Trauma to the brand often causes disturbances in the membrane, disorientation, or even temporary unconsciousness, with extreme trauma causing the membrane to burst violently, releasing the cytoplasm into the surroundings. Holes punched in the membrane cause cytoplasm to bleed out, which can be repaired in a matter of seconds if pressure is applied. This is typically done with a Novakid's hand, however, as only specially crafted bandages can withstand the intense heat. Novakid have the fastest reflexes in the entire galaxy. This is because they have no bones, muscles, or ligaments that would restrict their motion. When a Novakid wishes to move in a certain way, the brand alternates the membrane instantly, requiring no time for the signal to travel through the body. Novakid are capable of locomotion in a void, typically performed through a combination of selective off-gassing and manipulation of their magnetic field. This is considered physically taxing for the Novakid, and is often compared directly to the act of swimming. This trait is often used as evidence for the prominent theory that Novakid were formed very quickly after the birth of the universe, having spread throughout the cosmos as it expanded. While most Novakid physically resemble humanoids, they do not have a single set or standard appearance, subtly changing their form in correspondence to their current perception of sapient life around them. It is theorized that prior to encountering life, Novakid were simple abstract shapes that drifted through space devouring the chemicals required to sustain themselves, and it is known that during the reign of the Xinoddus Empire, Novakid were on average smaller and thinner with larger heads. Culture Despite not having a central cultural body or government like the rest of the species around them, the Novakid have had a very long time to develop an understanding of how to act, and have many in-built tendencies common within their psychology, producing a shockingly consistent culture across the entire galaxy. This culture is often described as individualistic and free-spirited, with Novakid choosing to follow whatever passion strikes them most at the moment. This lifestyle is benefited by how incredibly few needs they have. A Novakid with a steady source of fuel can persist on an uninhabited planet for a very long time, and many do; they're only moderately social as a species, capable of handling incredibly long periods of isolation and having an innate sense of wanderlust that often leads them across the galaxy on a whim. These exploratory tendencies are only every briefly interrupted by periods of sedentary life that are either necessitated by their current passions or simply strike them as a nice change of pace. These periods, while brief from the Novakid's standpoint, are often measured in tens of years. Having children is one of the most common reasons for settling down like this. Much of Novakid culture only makes sense when put into context of their longevity. For instance, they don't feel the pressure to write or record their existence that other species do. Many of them understand that if they want to impart knowledge onto another, they have all the time in the world with which to do so orally, and that manner of teaching typically produces better results than a manual ever could. While this makes sense to the Novakid, it produces an incredible lack of institutional knowledge on their part. Because of this, they tend to merely go with the flow of technological prowess present in the rest of the galaxy. The only major exception to this is the spaceship, which maintain a culturally iconic position that has kept them well-understood for many thousands of years at least. Most Novakid prefer to work with their hands, and get bored easily with purely intellectual pursuits. Because of this, they tend to pursue fields that involve hard labor or specific expertise, with many young Novakid especially getting very involved in the act of gunsmithing or sharpshooting. Later in life, they develop more moderate interests in things like carpentry, or engineering. The Nova Trade Alliance is the only Novakid institution that has survived the test of time, existing much prior to and being contemporary with the Xinoddus Empire. Under the hood, the Alliance is a corporate conglomerate made of several smaller, ancient companies joined together for their common good, the owner of each becoming a director on the board. These directors typically measure their age in thousands of years, and are some of the few Novakid who truly care to make an enduring society, though only to the end of their own profits. Despite its age, the Nova Trade Alliance claims very little territory, much to the board's chagrin. The flighty nature of the Novakid is mostly to blame, as very few of them care to remain in one place long enough for it to become the industrial baseline for a bustling enterprise. To combat this, the Alliance forces all of its members to spend a number of years in a sedentary position on one of their planets before being allowed to seek employment in more lively positions within the Alliance, as well as being allowed to come and go as they please. This practice is considered incredibly cruel by most Novakid, who put extreme value on their ability to wander. Unlike the rest of Civilized Space, the Nova Trade Alliance is a for-profit business first and foremost, rather than a government. They attempt to establish no major claim to the Novakid as an ethnic block, and act more out of profit seeking than any moral stance. Unsurprisingly, they are the single wealthiest corporation in the entire galaxy, and facilitate nearly all trade between the Fringe and Civilized Space, as well as the majority of trade between the empires of CivSpace. Much of the Alliance's current working force was gathered during the Pixel Crash of 3282, which hit the Novakid especially hard. Many were forced to sign long-lasting sedentary contracts just to make ends meet and provide for themself. As a result, the working Nova has come to treat the Alliance with incredible ire, comparing their contractors to devils who wish to steal away years from a person's life. This ire is not aided by the Alliance's use of company towns to keep non-contracted Novakid sedentary for extended periods, requiring many years of saving to leave from. Life within Trade Alliance territory is not entirely miserable, however. Despite the restrictions they make on travel, they are one of very few communities that put an expectation of schooling onto the youth, and produce the highest literacy rate of any Novakid settlement. Most positions are also relatively high paying, especially in comparison to the Fringe, and there is an exceptional amount of travel opportunities for those who have fulfilled their contract. During the First Galactic War, the Trade Alliance was concerned only with protecting its few claims and generating as much profit as possible. To this end, they employed a heavy amount of contractors to guard their central trading routes while playing arms distributor for every single group in the conflict. Needless to say, they made out like bandits, and many groups in the Fringe still utilize weaponry crafted by NTA gunsmiths. While the Trade alliance dots its central trade routes with outposts, the majority of Novakid colonies within the Fringe take the form of frontier towns on otherwise uninhabited planets. These settlements often come about almost accidentally, sometimes a single Novakid's decision to set down roots leads to the creation of an entire colony. The population of these colonies is made up of a rotating number of Novakid coming and going from their (relatively) short-lived passions. Sometimes, particularly unlucky towns are rendered empty simply because everyone got bored of what they were doing at once. Because of these tendencies, Novakid ruins absolutely litter the galaxy. One common theory posits that much of the life-bearing planets in the Fringe now were originally seeded with life by the Novakid merely to have a consistent source of fuel to burn. This is supported by the number of modern Novakid that have set up small homesteads on barely-inhabitable planets and taken with them the supplies necessary to grow flammable crops. One common reason that Novakid grow crops is to produce alcohol. While high-proof alcohols are a very nutritious fuel, they don't provide any amount of drunkenness for them. Instead, Novakid produce specialized alcohols imbued with chemical compounds that disrupt the normal functioning of the brand, most also cause a Novakid's hue to "blush" a different color while ingested. Magnetic compounds especially are known to produce a high-like state caused by them scattering the scrap iron present in a Novakid's cytoplasm and disrupting their magnetic field. While Novakid are typically thought of as ruffian vigilantes, dispensing their own form of justice through the end of a six-shooter, this is typically only true of the very excitable young Novakid, who experience their first few passions particularly hard. These youth are very common to see in the Fringe, where they can practice their aim without concerns about the law. Older Novakid are often more mellow and willing to keep to themselves. Older Novakid tend to prefer to live in smaller communities thanks in part to the fact they can hear radio signals. The amount of noise population quickly becomes irritating to them when in a populated area, naturally deterring them from staying there for long. The few that do live in populated areas do so with special accommodations that block radio signals. Some Novakid engage with livestock, tending to other plasma-based organisms as one of their passions. These animals do not have many useful products, though sometimes their excess of plasma becomes handy for resuscitating a Novakid. Instead, they are often used either as pack animals, mounts, or generators; because they function basically the same as a Novakid does, it is possible to drive a spike made of brand iron into them and receive a small amount of electricity. The Novakid have no real understanding of anomaly, with the psions born to them being treated more like folk heroes akin to Paul Bunyan or exceptional figures like Bass Reeves rather than explicitly magical individuals. Despite their long lives, most Novakid psions do not develop into exceptionally powerful individuals, treating their psychic abilities as an extension of their pre-existing passions and going through irregular phases with them as well. History The Long Quiet is the colloquial name given to a period of time encompassing everything from an unknown point shortly after the Big Bang up and until the earliest recorded sighting of a Novakid by another species. The earliest evidence of Novakid presence currently known is a mural depicting a strange figure with a symbol-bearing face found within a ruin left behind by the Ancients, though evidence hints at them being considerably older. While the Trade Alliance keeps extensive corporate documentation, these sources are kept in secure vaults in an effort to protect their bottom line. As a result, much of their history is unknown to the greater galactic community, with the earliest recorded history being first-hand accounts from those present during the Xinoddus Empire. It's well understood that the Trade Alliance occupied basically the same role within the Grey's regime as it does now, facilitating trade between both halves of their empire well before the installation of their warp gates and well after them as well. Despite their close ties, the Trade Alliance maintained its sovereignty during their reign, indicating a relationship of mutual respect. This is further evidenced by the NTA's strict accordance with Grey policies to not interrupt the natural formation of alien societies, having only contacted species like the Hylotl and Avians well after the fall of the empire. The Nova Trade Alliance was generally uninvolved in the First Galactic War (What they call the 'New Galactic War'), due largely to their disinterest in securing more territory given how hard it is to keep their current territory populated. They operated mostly as a logistical and mercantile force during the conflict, selling anything to anyone and frequently employing both Novakid and Penguish contractors to maintain the safety of their trade routes. The Trade Alliance did not initially sign the Treaty of Niveus Aquatica, only becoming interested when it was made clear that those that did not sign would not be able to trade directly with the governments which did. They only signed after an extensive negotiation detailing what guidelines must be followed for them to continue trading with the Fringe. In December of 3282, the Galactic Market crashed following a series of economic reports detailing the potential of pixel flight from Civilized Space following the creation of large-scale Fringe corporations. The resulting crash in the pixel's value hit the Novakid especially hard as the price of staple fuels and Erchius went up sharply. While the majority of the galaxy merely weathered increased prices by being fiscal, Novakid did not and do not tend to have a large amount of savings or consistent work thanks to their lifestyles. During this time, Trade Alliance Contractors strong-armed many individuals into signing extensive sedentary contracts that were against their best interest, with the promise of steady work and as such steady fuel and a comfortable amount of money with which to survive. When the pixel crash subsided, many of the Novakid still had twenty or thirty years left on their contracts, producing an incredibly bitter subsection of the Trade Alliance's workforce. Despite this, life has changed very little for the very Novakid across the last hundred years, or the last thousand years. New empires rise and fall around them, granting them new neighbors and new sights to see, but they're still where they are, still watching the flowers bloom and still tinkering with whatever is within grasp. To the Novakid, life is good, and will continue to be good. Player Details Alright. Oh my God. That was a long one to write. Who knew the guys with a totally different fundamental biology would be so complex? Anyways, let's get into this stuff. The general vibe of this is that Novakids have expanded from being specifically cowboys into being broadly inspired by Americana in all sorts of ways. The Nova Trade Alliance is now robber barons, doing company town bullshit. You get like, Novakid pinkertons and stuff. You get Novakid doctors who cut you open and stick funny magnets in you, but also kind of act as jewelers because they need precise metalworking tools to make the whole brand reparation work. You get your whole cast of wild west weirdos. A big vibe here is the fact that Novakid are kind of uncaring ancients who are doing stuff just because it's fun. As always, GC has the soft rule that you shouldn't make a character that is over 300 years in age, but I've generally removed the idea that Novakid automatically die after a certain period. If you treat them well they live forever. Shame a lot of them don't care to go to the big fancy cities with their big fancy hospitals. The Novakid language is spoken primarily through radio contact with one another in a fashion that is uncanny and silent to everyone else, making it basically impossible to do, but I'm not actually sure what it sounds like. I'm thinking about that weird AI language LLMs will do to each other if they can. Maybe something like that, it'd be cool and step a little bit away from the cowboy aesthetic. As for names, I really can't do much better than Novakid did in Starbound. I don't know if I really like the chemical names but there's too much precedent for it. If you're looking for something that works like, thematically, pick old-timey American sounding names. Rockefeller type bullshit. On a personal relationship standard, the Novakid don't really like or hate anyone specific on a species level. They're too individualist to be broadly racist to any one specific group. A bit I enjoy here about the Nova Trade Alliance is that it is explicitly cruel to the Novakid but from a Human standpoint it is a pretty good corporation in general. They'll hand you a high paying job that explicitly notes you have to be doing it until you're basically retirement age and they'll send your children to school and make sure it's all provided for. But the Novakid HATE it because they don't like it when they're told what to do in any sense at all. Most of them probably don't even really learn to read until they're like thirty or forty if the Alliance doesn't press it into them. There's a lot of lore written about Novakid expressions in the older documentation and it's generally useful but also hard to really translate to Human expressionality 1:1. The basic gist of it is that they can audibly fizz, crackle, bubble, or hum, as well as do things like discharge small amounts of electricity or shift their hue and brightness. I'm not going to be a stickler. You're playing a lava lamp that has a cowboy hat on. Do whatever you want. Have fun. It should be generally understood that Novakid are incredibly light- like fifty pounds or something- and incredibly weak even when compared to Humans, because they don't have much solid parts of their body. They make up for this with being incredibly fast, flexible, nimble, and reactive. You shouldn't try to make the strongest shooter in the wild west, just the quickest. In a contest of reaction speed, no one beats a Novakid. Oh also, the bit about alcoholic beverages is generally vague because I flunked chemistry in school and don't want to expose myself for it. It's roughly kind of inspired by that thing you can do to fire where you put specific chemicals in it to change its hue but it's mostly because I didn't really like the old lore that Novakid got drunk because they over-ate and got all woozy about it. Gamemaster Details You know what you're doing if you're deploying Novakid to a situation. You're adding in a little bit of Red Dead Redemption 2, is what you're doing. The general vibe for the Trade Alliance should be a little Outer Worlds-y, but firmly in the like, American industrial / gilded age. These are a lot of people that are stuck where they are and they don't like it. Whether where they are is on a planet in Civilized Space or, far more likely, one of the many Nova Trade Outposts dotting the Fringe. I imagine those places are where you get Pinkertons dotting the horizon waiting for someone to step out of line. Generally, feel free to do anything with the Novakid. They've been around for ever and act mostly on their own whims and know enough to establish complex stuff. They've littered the galaxy with ruins that go anywhere from silly little farm houses to whole oil rigs and anywhere inbetween. There were probably whole companies of Novakid that set up extensive settlements and then disappeared into the wind. There isn't really any specific loot to give out here except for brand iron itself, which is a useful material but might not be something that is amazing for players. It's got the strength of iron and can get up to really really high temperatures without melting, making it a decent parallel to Ferozium in some ways. I think you can probably make like, Ned Kelly style armor out of it. That'd be pretty fucking cool actually. You might also be able to make weird bullets out of it but that feels like something for a tech app. The Nova Trade Alliance hits most major settlements in the Fringe, by the way. They go to Atlas, they go to Haven, they go everywhere and meet with everyone. They probably even do some trade with Schelor. They don't mind it. Novakid sin cities exist. They've got like, Las Vegases out there. Do cool shit with that if you want. Spoiler: Nova-Lines Overview Nova-Lines are a type of stationary emplacement created by the Novakid to launch a ship at faster than light speeds, rivaling those produced by the modern Hyperdrive. Being considerably older than Hyperlanes, many of them have fallen into disrepair following the rising prominence of the (relatively) newer routes in galactic travel and trade. Unlike Hyperlanes, you need a station at the start and end of a nova-line for them to function. Naturally, the abandonment of these stations has left other, less reputable groups to begin repurposing them wherever possible, and nova-lines are vital to many modern day smuggling routes into and out of Civilized Space. History As with anything created by the Novakid, the history of the nova-line is poorly understood. Creating one is both expensive and slow, giving evidence to the idea that they were created at a point in time at which they were the fastest method by which one could travel the cosmos, which is alarming given exactly how old Hyperlanes really are. During the Xinoddus Empire, nova-lines were one of very few ways to transport yourself quickly across the galaxy, and as such they were created by both the Nova Trade Alliance and the Xinods, producing a well connected network of nova-lines that spanned both the northern and southern hemispheres of the galaxy. Sadly, during Vazkedar's War, many of the Xinod-created nova-lines were destroyed, leaving only those created by the Novakid intact. In the modern day, nova-lines are used by two groups; the Nova Trade Alliance, and Fringers. Fringers often utilize still-functioning nova-lines to go beyond the limitations of Hyperlanes, exploring new and interesting pieces of the galaxy, or get around security measures that only take Hyperlanes into account. The Nova Trade Alliance, however, utilizes and maintains a variety of nova-lines around their most important trade routes. Mechanism Rather than shifting a ship into a smaller alternate universe, nova-lines impart an incredible amount of potential energy into a ship before firing it off at incredible speeds toward a destination. On the other side of the line is a second station, which employs a powerful tractor beam to slow the incoming ship to a halt by the time it reaches the station. While nova-lines are perfectly functional as transportation, they are much less economical to produce than the hyperlane, leading to them generally going out of favor within the groups that could afford to create them in the first place. This is not their only disadvantage however, as going through a nova-line does not impart any special protection onto the ship that is being flung, and going through without activating your warp drive can end up with a ship being totally destroyed on something they could not hope to avoid, thanks to the fact it is impossible to meaningfully maneuver when going at such extreme speeds, including to slow down. Criminal Significance Many pirates and smugglers still maintain and utilize still-functioning nova-lines as a way to circumvent the predictable routes enforced onto travel by Hyperlanes. As a result, many of these stations become small colonies in their own right, rivaling pirate more traditional pirate ports. This is especially true of nova-lines closer to Civilized Space, which are typically well guarded secrets by all involved. Despite this, the Nova Trade Alliance has a developed understanding of where these routes are, and no particular moral standing against piracy so long as it does not impact their profits. As such, they don't mind sending detachments toward these groups to secure trading opportunities. After all, why should CivSpace's loss not be their gain? In the Fringe, many of these lines are maintained and operated by extremely old Novakid who still understand the inner workings of these machines. Many of these Novas maintain a sense of child-like wonder about these stations and their endless complexities. Uniquely among Novakid passions, the love of nova-lines never seems to fade. They are the stuff of legends. Player Details There's not much to say here on the player's side! If you want your character to know about these or make use of them or whatever, go ahead. It's a thing mostly smugglers, traders, and pirates would know about but there's definitely plenty of natural explorers in the Fringe who don't mind getting lost enough to find one of these and spark a life-long curiosity. Gamemaster Details The major use-case for nova-lines is to take players to somewhere that is not on the Hyperlane route. Why you want to do this is your own business, but it is what it is here to facilitate. Get your players to the edge of the galaxy, or somewhere deep in Xinoddus Northern Territory. Do whatever you want. You don't need our permission to put down a train station. Hell, hand out a half-repaired one to your players as a potential base of operations. That'd be cool as fuck. Spoiler: Nova Trade Note Overview The Nova Trade Note is the second-most utilized currency within the entire galaxy, owing to its creation and subsequent usage by the Nova Trade Alliance, who are the most prominent singular trading entity in the galaxy. It was formed shortly after the 3282 Pixel Crash as an attempt to remedy Novakid worries about the value of the pixel, and gain more control over the galaxy economically. Unique in comparison to the pixel, it is a paper and coin currency, with one note being the equivalent of forty pixels. History Following the Pixel Crash of 3282, the majority of Novakid began to instinctively distrust the pixel's value following the hardship they experienced. In response to this unease, and the opportunity to secure more economic control, the Nova Trade Alliance began to manufacture and support the Nova Trade Note, which is currently in second place for most traded currency in the galaxy after the pixel. Use Unlike the pixel, the Nova Trade Note comes in a variety of denominations and has an associated set of coins. Because it is a very recent currency relatively, the coins are yet to get colloquial names and are instead referred to simply by their value, those being half-note coins, quarter-note coins, and tenth-note coins. The coins are plated in brand iron, and it is possible to tell their authenticity with the Novakid equivalent of a bite test, in which you stick it partially into your membrane and see if it gets electrified. Player Details I don't want to leave this merely implied; the Nova Trade Note looks a little bit like a train ticket. It has perforated edges and that little bump on the side, and it sports a picture of a famous trading ship from the Alliance's fleet. It's a different ship based on the denomination. In contrast, the coins look a liiitttleee bit like sheriff's badges. They're a circle with a star on them, the points of which hang partially off of the coin. The bigger the coin, the more points on the star. Gamemaster Details Most major settlements should probably take these. While they're not as good for spending around generally as the pixel is, they're worth a lot to the Trade Alliance, which is willing to offer better prices for those trading in Notes in an attempt to make them more prominent and eventually surpass the pixel.
