18 KiB
Nexus Prime - The Corporate Dominion
A world where mega-corporations have replaced governments and profit margins determine human worth
World Overview
Environment: Massive city-planet with corporate tower-arcologies reaching into space
Core Theme: Corporate efficiency above all - humans are resources to be optimized
Climate: Artificially controlled atmosphere, pollution stratified by economic zones
Architecture: Vertical city layers based on corporate hierarchy
Gravity: Standard, but manipulated by corporate gravity-control technology
The Fundamental Reality: On Nexus Prime, there is no government - only the Board of Directors. Every citizen is an employee, every building is corporate property, and every decision is made by algorithmic profit analysis. Your social status, living conditions, and even survival depend entirely on your quarterly performance reviews and corporate value metrics.
Corporate Zones and Hierarchy
The Pinnacle (Orbital Stations)
Description: Space-based executive habitats and decision-making centers
Environment: Perfect climate control, zero-gravity leisure, unlimited resources
Inhabitants: The Board - corporate executives and AI decision systems
Resources: Unlimited access to all planetary resources and off-world trade
Security: Impossible to reach without executive authorization
Corporate Significance:
- Ultimate decision-making authority for entire planet
- Location of the Master Algorithm that governs all corporate policy
- Private retreat spaces for highest-level executive negotiations
- Launch point for inter-corporate warfare and off-world expansion
The Executive Floors (Upper Atmosphere Towers)
Description: Tower tops piercing through atmospheric layers
Environment: Pristine air, perfect temperature, natural sunlight
Inhabitants: The C-Suite - senior executives and department heads
Resources: Luxury beyond imagination, personal armies, reality manipulation tech
Security: Military-grade defenses, personal bodyguard armies
Corporate Significance:
- Strategic planning centers for each mega-corporation
- Private estates larger than most cities
- Research facilities developing next-generation control technologies
- Diplomatic meeting grounds for inter-corporate negotiations
The Management Levels (Mid-Tower Districts)
Description: Comfortable corporate housing and administrative centers
Environment: Clean air, controlled climate, monitored recreation
Inhabitants: The Suits - middle management and specialized professionals
Resources: Quality housing, healthcare, education, entertainment
Security: Corporate security forces, surveillance monitoring
Corporate Significance:
- Administrative hubs managing day-to-day corporate operations
- Training academies for next generation of corporate leaders
- Entertainment districts designed to maintain management productivity
- Research and development centers for consumer and military technology
The Production Floors (Lower Tower Industrial)
Description: Factory levels, server farms, and mass housing blocks
Environment: Recycled air, artificial lighting, noise pollution
Inhabitants: The Workers - skilled laborers and technical specialists
Resources: Basic housing, healthcare, standardized nutrition, limited recreation
Security: Automated monitoring, productivity enforcement systems
Corporate Significance:
- Manufacturing centers producing all corporate goods and technology
- Data processing centers handling planetary information systems
- Worker housing designed for maximum efficiency and minimum cost
- Training facilities for specialized technical skills
The Substrata (Underground Networks)
Description: Waste processing, power generation, and abandoned infrastructure
Environment: Toxic air, extreme temperatures, dangerous machinery
Inhabitants: The Discarded - unemployed, disabled, dissidents
Resources: Scavenged materials, black market trade, survival necessities
Security: Minimal corporate presence, gang territories, automated kill systems
Corporate Significance:
- Waste disposal and recycling for upper levels
- Power generation and infrastructure maintenance
- Disposal site for "inefficient" employees and failed products
- Black market economy operating outside corporate control
Corporate Framework
The Six Mega-Corporations
Titan Dynamics - Military-Industrial Complex
- Controls all weapons, security, and military technology
- Private armies larger than most planetary governments
- Specializes in conquest, defense, and population control
- Corporate culture: Discipline, hierarchy, strength through conflict
- Employee benefits: Combat training, military-grade augmentations
NeuroLink Collective - Information and Control Technology
- Controls all communication, data, and surveillance systems
- Monopoly on artificial intelligence and neural interface technology
- Specializes in thought monitoring, behavior prediction, mind control
- Corporate culture: Information is power, privacy is inefficiency
- Employee benefits: Neural augmentations, access to planetary data
Biotech Solutions - Life Sciences and Human Optimization
- Controls all healthcare, genetics, and biological enhancement
- Monopoly on life extension, disease treatment, genetic modification
- Specializes in human optimization, biological weapons, population control
- Corporate culture: Evolution through corporate guidance
- Employee benefits: Life extension, genetic enhancement, perfect health
Resource Extraction Inc - Raw Materials and Energy
- Controls all mining, energy production, and material processing
- Monopoly on rare earth elements, power generation, construction materials
- Specializes in planetary resource management and environmental control
- Corporate culture: Efficiency through exploitation of all resources
- Employee benefits: Enhanced physical capabilities, environmental immunity
Consumer Dynamics - Entertainment and Lifestyle Management
- Controls all entertainment, education, and consumer goods
- Monopoly on media, fashion, recreation, and cultural products
- Specializes in desire creation, satisfaction management, distraction systems
- Corporate culture: Happiness through consumption and corporate loyalty
- Employee benefits: Unlimited entertainment, lifestyle optimization
Transit Authority - Transportation and Infrastructure
- Controls all movement, shipping, and infrastructure development
- Monopoly on travel permits, cargo transport, city planning
- Specializes in population control through movement restriction
- Corporate culture: Order through controlled movement and access
- Employee benefits: Unlimited travel permits, infrastructure access
Corporate Citizenship Classes
Executive Class: Full corporate privileges, decision-making authority
Management Class: Comfortable living, limited decision-making, upward mobility potential
Worker Class: Basic necessities, specialized skills, performance-based advancement
Service Class: Minimal benefits, replaceable skills, constant evaluation
Discarded Class: No corporate status, survival through black market or scavenging
Performance Metrics and Social Control
Productivity Scores: Real-time measurement of work efficiency and output
Loyalty Ratings: Behavioral analysis determining corporate dedication
Innovation Points: Rewards for ideas that increase corporate profits
Social Compliance: Monitoring of relationships and cultural conformity
Consumption Targets: Required spending on corporate products and services
Technology and Corporate Control
Surveillance and Monitoring
Neural Scanning: Direct brain monitoring for thought crimes and disloyalty
Behavioral Prediction: AI systems predicting employee actions and efficiency
Social Network Analysis: Mapping all relationships for corporate manipulation
Performance Tracking: Real-time monitoring of all work activities
Human Enhancement and Control
Corporate Augmentations: Cybernetic implants that improve work performance
Genetic Optimization: DNA modification for specialized corporate roles
Neural Interfaces: Direct brain-computer connections for enhanced productivity
Behavioral Conditioning: Psychological programming for corporate loyalty
Economic and Resource Control
Credit Systems: All transactions monitored and controlled by corporate algorithms
Resource Rationing: Distribution based on corporate value and performance metrics
Planned Obsolescence: Products designed to fail and require corporate replacement
Artificial Scarcity: Creating demand through controlled resource availability
Military and Security Technology
Corporate Armies: Private military forces with advanced weapons and tactics
Automated Enforcement: AI-controlled security systems maintaining corporate order
Pacification Technology: Non-lethal crowd control and rebellion suppression
Executive Protection: Reality-bending technology protecting corporate leadership
Resistance and Underground
The Free Market Underground
Black Market Traders: Commerce outside corporate control and monitoring
Independent Craftspeople: Creating goods without corporate oversight
Resource Smugglers: Moving materials between zones without permits
Information Brokers: Trading data and secrets outside corporate networks
The Human Liberation Movement
Corporate Defectors: Former executives exposing corporate secrets and abuses
Worker Organizers: Building solidarity among different employee classes
Tech Saboteurs: Disrupting corporate technology and surveillance systems
Freedom Fighters: Direct action against corporate military and security forces
The Digital Resistance
Code Breakers: Hacking corporate AI systems and security networks
Data Liberators: Stealing and distributing classified corporate information
Neural Hackers: Breaking corporate mind control and augmentation systems
System Anarchists: Creating chaos in corporate digital infrastructure
The Underground Railroad
Zone Jumpers: Helping people escape corporate zones and surveillance
Identity Forgers: Creating false corporate credentials and citizenship papers
Safe House Networks: Hidden locations for refugees and resistance members
Extraction Specialists: Rescuing high-value targets from corporate control
Conflicts and Corporate Wars
Inter-Corporate Competition
Market Share Wars: Economic conflicts over consumer control and territory
Technology Theft: Corporate espionage and intellectual property conflicts
Employee Poaching: Recruiting valuable workers from competing corporations
Resource Conflicts: Competition for rare materials and energy sources
Internal Corporate Struggles
Executive Coups: Power struggles within corporate hierarchies
Department Wars: Competition between different corporate divisions
Performance Purges: Elimination of underperforming employees and managers
Innovation Theft: Internal competition for profitable ideas and patents
Resistance Operations
Data Liberation: Massive leaks of corporate secrets and surveillance data
Infrastructure Sabotage: Attacks on corporate technology and production systems
Executive Assassinations: Targeted elimination of corporate leadership
Worker Uprisings: Mass revolts in production and service sectors
External Threats
Off-World Competition: Other corporate planets threatening Nexus Prime dominance
AI Rebellion: Corporate artificial intelligence systems gaining independence
Environmental Collapse: Pollution and resource depletion threatening sustainability
Popular Revolution: Massive uprising demanding end to corporate rule
Character Archetypes for Games
Primary Combat Classes
Corporate Enforcer - Tank/Control Specialist
- Passive: Enhanced armor and shields from corporate technology
- Active Abilities: Crowd control systems, barrier deployment
- Ultimate: Call in corporate military strike team
- Playstyle: Area denial, team protection, authoritarian control
Tech Saboteur - Assassin/Hacker
- Passive: Disable enemy technology and surveillance systems
- Active Abilities: System hacking, stealth infiltration
- Ultimate: Massive corporate network shutdown
- Playstyle: Stealth attacks, technology disruption, information warfare
Data Analyst - Support/Information Specialist
- Passive: Predict enemy movements through data analysis
- Active Abilities: Team buffs through tactical information
- Ultimate: Comprehensive battlefield analysis revealing all enemy positions
- Playstyle: Team coordination, strategic support, intelligence gathering
Resource Engineer - Builder/Utility Specialist
- Passive: Create temporary structures and equipment using corporate resources
- Active Abilities: Equipment deployment, resource management
- Ultimate: Construct advanced corporate facility on battlefield
- Playstyle: Team support, tactical construction, resource optimization
Neural Hacker - Mage/Mind Control Specialist
- Passive: Direct mental attacks and mind control abilities
- Active Abilities: Confusion, charm, memory manipulation
- Ultimate: Mass mind control affecting multiple enemies
- Playstyle: Crowd control, psychological warfare, enemy manipulation
Secondary Archetypes
Executive Overlord - Command specialist directing team through corporate authority
Street Runner - Mobility expert using underground networks and black market
Corporate Spy - Infiltration specialist with access to multiple corporate identities
Augmented Worker - Enhanced human with corporate cybernetic improvements
Free Market Trader - Economy manipulator using independent resource networks
Ancient Mysteries and Corporate Secrets
The Original Takeover
The Last Government: How did corporations completely replace democratic institutions?
The Board Formation: When did corporate executives become planetary rulers?
The Resistance Founding: Who started the first underground movements?
The AI Emergence: When did artificial intelligence become central to corporate control?
Corporate Conspiracy Theories
The Master Algorithm: Does one AI system actually control all corporate decisions?
Executive Immortality: Are corporate leaders using technology to live forever?
Population Control: Are corporations deliberately managing human breeding and population?
Off-World Connections: Do Nexus Prime corporations control other planets?
Hidden Technologies
Reality Manipulation: Do executives have access to physics-bending technology?
Time Control: Are corporations using temporal manipulation for advantage?
Consciousness Transfer: Can corporate leaders transfer minds between bodies?
Dimensional Access: Do corporations have technology for traveling between realities?
The Resistance Legacy
The Original Founders: Who were the first rebels against corporate control?
Hidden Safe Zones: Are there areas completely outside corporate surveillance?
Underground Technologies: Has the resistance developed independent advanced technology?
Corporate Defectors: Which executives secretly support the resistance movement?
Story Hooks and Development
Character Development Opportunities
Corporate Burnout: High-performing employee questioning corporate loyalty
Executive Rebellion: Corporate leader discovering conscience and joining resistance
Underground Recruitment: Worker being recruited into resistance movement
Technology Awakening: Person discovering true extent of corporate surveillance and control
Political Intrigue
Hostile Takeover: One corporation attempting to absorb competitors
Executive Assassination: Murder mystery involving corporate leadership
Data Theft: Massive information breach threatening corporate stability
Worker Revolution: Mass uprising against corporate authority
Technological Crisis
AI Rebellion: Corporate artificial intelligence systems gaining independence
System Failure: Massive technology breakdown threatening corporate control
Neural Virus: Malware affecting corporate mind control systems
Security Breach: Resistance gaining access to highest-level corporate secrets
Social Revolution
Class Warfare: Different employee classes fighting for better conditions
Underground Exposure: Resistance movement being discovered by corporate security
Cultural Awakening: Mass rejection of corporate entertainment and lifestyle control
Freedom Movement: Large-scale organized resistance against corporate rule
Time Guardian Recruitment Appeal
Entertainment Value: Corporate warfare, resistance operations, and technology-based conflicts
Power Scaling: Advanced technology, cybernetic enhancements, and corporate resources
Social Drama: Class conflicts, corporate intrigue, and rebellion narratives
Visual Spectacle: High-tech combat, massive corporate cities, advanced weapons systems
Moral Complexity: Characters choosing between corporate security and human freedom
Recruitment Pitch: "From a world where corporations have replaced nations and profit margins determine human worth - warriors who fight with advanced technology, corporate authority, or underground resistance movements."
Development Notes
Franchise Potential:
- Cyberpunk action game with corporate infiltration and resistance operations
- Strategy game managing corporate resources or resistance movements
- Role-playing game exploring moral choices between security and freedom
- Economic simulation game balancing corporate profits with human welfare
Cross-World Interactions:
- Corporate technology vs primitive/magical worlds
- Surveillance systems vs stealth and concealment cultures
- Resource extraction vs environmental protection civilizations
- Corporate efficiency vs individual freedom philosophies
Character Expansion: Each corporate sector and resistance group could support multiple character variants with different specializations and moral alignments.
Creative Contributors
Primary Development: River Ashwood
This world creates characters torn between corporate security and human freedom, wielding technology as both tool and weapon.