RomanPunks is a retrofuturistic, cyberpunk derivative world-building project inspired by fine art, history and the cryptopunk movement.
A total of 1,000 RomanPunk characters have been frozen in time and minted as Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum, WAX, Polygon and Algorand blockchains.
RomanPunk characters are comprised of commoners and famous individuals based on Roman history, art history and pop culture.
The basis for RomanPunk lore and backstories is exhaustively researched by history/sci-fi buff and co-founder, Punktavian.
All images are drawn by hand by woman artist and co-founder, Cleopunktra, without the aid of AI or generative tools.
RomanPunks came into existence through early minting on OpenSea, promoting on Twitter and building a Discord community through giveaways and engagement. The idea of a cyberpunk-derivative ‘RomanPunk’ theme was in our heads for years, but it was the success of the Cryptopunks that became the catalyst for project conception and launch.
After a hard working first 60 days spent networking and attracting new collectors to RomanPunks, our community had begun to flourish and sales increased. We began to offer our collectors an opportunity to battle their NFTs in a tournament bracket powered by dice rolls.
Encouraged by the tight knit community and the carbon-neutral blockchain with lightning fast and low cost transactions, we launched 'romanpunksio' collection on WAX Blockchain as the first step to expand the backstories of our RomanPunk characters and the baseline for future development of a card game.
RomanPunks integrated with Chainlink Labs to utilize VRF (Verified Randomness Function) to host a giveaway raffle for our holders. We developed a smart contract on Ethereum which guarantees true random number selection on chain and can be used for a wide range of functions that require random selection.
After much anticipation in the community, we released our first WAX NFT card 'pack' through the Neftyblocks platform, which sold out in less than a week.
We launched our Twitch channel and begun building an audience by offering numerous giveaways of WAX NFTs from our collection, as well as giving participants a chance to win RomanPunk ETH NFT airdrops for taking top spot at the end of the 'season'.
As firm believers in a metaverse future and land owners in The Sandbox, we undertook to build the RomanPunk Colosseum on 1x1 land and entered our experience "Gladiator Bloodsport" into a GameJam contest. We will continue to build the Colosseum into a PVP arena and social hub once The Sandbox offers creators the ability to do so.
Thanks to the user friendly tools offered by NeftyBlocks, we launched a comprehensive blending system on WAX, allowing our collectors to blend the common NFTs they earn in our Discord RPG up into Legendary famous NFTs through the use of blending 'coins' that can also be earned on the Discord as reward for helping to promote the RomanPunks project.
We launched the VX collection on Polygon. Each owner of an ETH NFT gets their voxel equivalent airdropped to them, and these NFTs can be redeemed for official NFTs on The Sandbox Marketplace once available.
All 1,000 original, unique 1:1 RomanPunk characters hand drawn by Cleopunktra and minted on OpenSea.
The RomanPunk WAX NFT Trading Card Fighter Pack Series II consists of 3 NFTs randomly selected from over 236 characters.
Upcoming plans for RomanPunks include:
Below is a comprehensive and searchable directory of all 1,000 RomanPunk Characters.
Born 141 AD in Burdigala, Lur, an acolyte of the Bishop of Lyon, called out Emperor Marcus Aurelius’ stoic philosophy as heresy and was condemned to toil in the wheat fields as punishment. Despite the enslavement, Lur found solace in his love for animals and the teachings of Jesus Christus.
Born 175 AD in Tolosa, Drusa was personal physician of Emperor Severus until she was blinded and exiled for administering an experimental treatment that failed to save his life. Cast through an interdimensional portal, she now labours as a sardonic mining company doctor on the Jovian moon of Io.
Born in 71 AD in Sarmizegetusa, Botilda was a footsoldier in the army of Decebalus who fought against Emperor Trajan. Botilda was part of an elite shock troop unit that moonlighted as dimension-hopping vampire slayers.
Born 277 AD in Petra, Ruth was sentenced to death for sacrificing children to Pluto. She opted to die by glory and face an impossibly difficult opponent to the death in the gladiator arena.
Born 498 AD in Gamla Uppsala, Tola’s travels saw her migrate south to Dacia where she served the Gepid kings as a vampire hunter.
Born 200 BC in Xanthos, Matilda was chief librarian of the legendary Library of Lycia until cyborg and alien invaders annexed her homeland during the heyday of the Roman Republic. To escape enslavement, she conjured an interdimensional portal from ancient Sumerian texts, leaving to establish a rare used book store in 1980s AD Manhattan.
Born 2171 AD in Eblana, Rian served as a ballistarius in the bloody and costly Dacian vampire war. His alcoholic patrician father gambled away their family fortune, so Rian became a drifter, working odd jobs including chariot salesman and part-time gigolo in Neo-Carthage. After witnessing a murder at the Atlanta Hotel, Rian reluctantly finds himself drawn into a plot to blackmail the culprit, where his desire to maintain a transient, low-responsibility lifestyle clashes with an emerging sense of justice and loyalty.
Born 249 BC in Drepana, Marius is a former centurion who became a dimension hopping vigilante after being enslaved and crucified by alien cyborgs, then forced to watch while his entire village was beheaded. Rescued by Archimedes, he now searches time and space for the extraterrestrial brigands responsible for the atrocity.
Born in 113 BC in Philippopolis, Seuthes fought with Spartacus in the Third Servile War, lost and was crucified by the Romans. His dying body was abducted off the cross by aliens, who forced him to fight as a cybergladiator for eternity.
Born 297 BC in Teotihuacan, Xoco, priestess at the Pyramid of the Sun, mistakenly opened and fell into an interdimensional portal while conducting a human sacrifice where she became enslaved as a gladiator in a 2nd century AD Mexico that is part of the Roman Empire.
Born 199 AD in Cirta, Bagduda came from a tribe of futuristic warrior women who traveled through an interdimensional portal in Egypt to change the course of history by preventing the assassination of Emperor Severus Alexander.
Born 25 BC in Tavium, Nyssa is a skilled seamstress and reveled in creating elaborate costumes for herself and others to wear at masked soirees. She was known for her ethereal beauty and her ability to transform into any character – past, present or future.
Born 103 BC in Dyrrhachium, Jerome was a slave who joined forces with Spartacus during the Third Servile War, but fled through an interdimensional portal to the late 20th century AD to avoid their inevitable capture and crucifixion.
Born in 2145 AD on the red planet Mars, Rathien is a hot-tempered, relentless enforcer for cloned Hannibal Barca’s rebellion in Neo-Carthage. Freed from hard space labour, he hides from facial recognition drones while executing sabotage and assassinations against the corrupt governor Mordax Mazar and his cronies. Known for his mercenary tactics and short temper, Rathien’s methods frequently cause problems, but his loyalty and determination make him an indispensable, albeit troublesome, asset to the cause.
Born in 88 AD in Susa, Kendal Kush is a Parthian soldier who fought her entire life against the Roman Emperors Trajan & Hadrian. Refusing to be subjugated by man and foe, she took hundreds of enemy lives before being struck down in the field of battle by a poison arrow.
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© 2023 RomanPunks NFT
romanpunks@protonmail.ch
Registered in Ontario, Canada
