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Sci-fi RP?; To get stuff going....
Topic Started: Jun 28 2011, 04:26 AM (1,369 Views)
Keiji
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Cambrian Something-or-other
I wanted to make an RP, and I was not sure of a better place to make it... so here I am. XP

My idea is some sort of sci-fi RP. Not entirely sure on the plot. While I like the sound of complicated faction interactions, that would also require a lot of background to set up where I was trying to be pretty vague to give us a lot more freedom. The alien invasion thing is not entirely out, either. We could also just start something up and go from there.

Where we are likely to start is this: a few characters have taken possession of a rather large combat-oriented vessel. This vessel is controlled by a combination of powerful AI and a couple of people with neural interface devices (which allow them to control pretty much the entire ship with their mind, when plugged in). They were among the first successful experiments into such technology by InoCo, and escaped with the ship, keeping the company's secrets in exchange for their lives. However, without money, they have turned to trading and mercenary work.

Most of the characters will probably be people they meet and bring with them as the plot starts up, but I do need at least one other character to be one of the experiments (with one of the neural interface devices), and possibly another to have escaped from InoCo with them who does not have a device but helps to maintain the ship. If anyone wants it, I would like to discuss what the ship is, too, though I have a few ideas.

As far as the rest of the plot goes... well, I am open to suggestions. I pretty much wanted to leave a lot of freedom for you to do whatever (e.g. use whatever alien species you wanted, and whatever ships, and so on). I just like the somewhere I have to start. But hey, this is a planning thread thing for a reason, right?
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JasonSage
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I think we could extend this to be two or three vessels from different factions, that way we have more interaction between members and the story drives itself.

For example, we could have two main factions and an undefined number of rogues/mercs, and the story is the interaction of the vessels, while the background information about the factions emerge as the story continues.

Basically the background would be open and write itself.
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Ambrose51
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JasonSage
Jun 28 2011, 08:09 PM
I think we could extend this to be two or three vessels from different factions, that way we have more interaction between members and the story drives itself.

For example, we could have two main factions and an undefined number of rogues/mercs, and the story is the interaction of the vessels, while the background information about the factions emerge as the story continues.

Basically the background would be open and write itself.
I don't think we really have enough people to do that. Getting enough members to drive the plot is hard enough on a big forum. Here, the best you could hope for would probably be five or six participants.
But mostly? The assorted plans at play here would be going very, very wrong due to the actions of a no-name, no-count, utterly talentless Magus by the name of Shirou Emiya. He had no magic worth mentioning, no combat experience of note, and no plan for or knowledge of the War he was about to enter. He did, however, have one trait that had derailed a countless number of such grand, far-reaching schemes throughout history.

You see, he really, really wanted to be a hero. -(Best description of the start of a Fate novel ever.)
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Keiji
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Cambrian Something-or-other
Yeah, I was mostly hoping for a group to start of probably three to five people on the main vessel (InoCo experiments and defected staff) and then a few others that join them pretty quickly (probably four or five people in the RP altogether). It is a small number to work with for this situation, but it is doable, and it would be far more intimate from a character-interaction perspective.

That would actually be especially amusing in the fact that the characters with the neural interface devices will need to be particularly skittish at the beginning because they are trying to keep their devices secret, and they do not know if they can trust the other characters yet.

My guess is that there would be some sort of event that requires these characters to step in and help. For example, if the characters with their large ship are called upon to help remove refugees from a civil war zone, they might call in the other characters to help them since, while they have a large ship, there are only a few of them and two of them are plugged into the ship's computer to make sure it does not crash or something. So they need the help, and the association is offered after that event.

There must be better events, that just came to mind for some reason.
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Ambrose51
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Well, I'd be willing to join. I'm always up for a sci-fi RP. Though, I do have a lot of work to do right now, and I'm only available late at night, since I take night classes.

Though, assuming it doesn't move too quickly, I would join.
But mostly? The assorted plans at play here would be going very, very wrong due to the actions of a no-name, no-count, utterly talentless Magus by the name of Shirou Emiya. He had no magic worth mentioning, no combat experience of note, and no plan for or knowledge of the War he was about to enter. He did, however, have one trait that had derailed a countless number of such grand, far-reaching schemes throughout history.

You see, he really, really wanted to be a hero. -(Best description of the start of a Fate novel ever.)
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Keiji
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Aula is kind of in a similar position, actually (he said he was interested but rather busy). I think that the three of us, at least, are usually on late at night, so that might help things a little bit.

Either way, I wanted some suggestions for the plot because I was not entirely sure what to do and I wanted to make sure that it was something on which everyone could agree.
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Ambrose51
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Well then, some clarification on the universe would be good then. For instance, what's the technology level? Are we talking about transporters and phasers from Star Trek, or slug-throwers and cumbersome mechanics like Battlestar Galactica?

A good way to set the backdrop for any RP is to have a war going on, though. Provides easy plot and even easier plot advancement, assuming the characters start neutral.
But mostly? The assorted plans at play here would be going very, very wrong due to the actions of a no-name, no-count, utterly talentless Magus by the name of Shirou Emiya. He had no magic worth mentioning, no combat experience of note, and no plan for or knowledge of the War he was about to enter. He did, however, have one trait that had derailed a countless number of such grand, far-reaching schemes throughout history.

You see, he really, really wanted to be a hero. -(Best description of the start of a Fate novel ever.)
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Keiji
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Truth is, I would go with something like Evochron or Star Wolves, except no one knows those. (InoCo is actually from Star Wolves, but it is easier to transplant a single corporation into another setting than other factions. I can put up a map if you want.) I was kind of going to leave it open and allow people to do whatever, but I am also not sure with what settings people are most familiar, and constructing one would take a lot more time and effort than we are likely to want to put forth.

The kind of technology would likely be comparable to something like Star Wars (I am just not familiar with enough mainstream sci-fi to compare it to much else, honestly), where FTL is common enough and laser-type weaponry is not unusual, but you also see a lot of older technology depending on where you go and who you see. Star Wolves probably actually rates a little lower on tech terms, noting that things like machine guns are actually still pretty common, and that is probably closer to the direction I would like to take it (but again, I doubt anyone knows it).
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Ambrose51
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I, personally, am most familiar with the universe of Firefly, the new Battlestar Galactica, and EVE Online. I know a decent amount about Star Wars, though I'm hardly a lorebuff, and I know next to nothing about Star Trek. Anything more obscure than that would be useless to most people, I would think (though for the record, I love the Homeworld universe).

I myself prefer the low-end of technology, as is evident from my interests, but I have no problem with high-end technology either. I'm not really sure how relevant my opinion is, but whatever (Though Firefly in particular would probably be something you might want to watch, as I always thought that show seemed very similar to how a RP in space would run.)
Edited by Ambrose51, Jun 29 2011, 01:06 AM.
But mostly? The assorted plans at play here would be going very, very wrong due to the actions of a no-name, no-count, utterly talentless Magus by the name of Shirou Emiya. He had no magic worth mentioning, no combat experience of note, and no plan for or knowledge of the War he was about to enter. He did, however, have one trait that had derailed a countless number of such grand, far-reaching schemes throughout history.

You see, he really, really wanted to be a hero. -(Best description of the start of a Fate novel ever.)
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JasonSage
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Likewise, I love the Homeworld universe! Probably my favorite space game.

I'd be interested in participating, depending on the content, story. Most of what Keiji comes up with I like, so you can pretty much count me in.
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Darkom
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I'm not as big on Sci-Fi myself, but I'd love to join, though like the others my time would be limited. I'm not familiar with much outside of Star Wars (and Dune, I suppose), but the basic idea so far is sound. Perhaps, like Ambrose said, we could have some kind of war going on, with our ship being a kind of neutral player that eventually becomes a type of mercenary. Now, you've suggested that the neural interface bunch has stolen the ship from the company, and has now begun roaming the galaxy looking for work? Just wanted to make sure I had everything we've already established correct before we go off brainstorming.
Don't say the old lady screamed. Bring her on and let her scream. ~Mark Twain
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Keiji
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Yeah, you pretty much got it. The NID people hijacked the ship and realized they need to eat, and they need money to eat. And, well, if you have a warship (or something comparable), you fight, right? Might need a term for those guys to make it easier... but at the same time, if we decide on the number and get those characters going, we can just refer to them by name (e.g. mine is Farran).

I can go over the specifics of the NIDs if you want, but they are basically designed to not get in the way most of the time and will mostly be hidden from the other characters. Remember that they are actually trying to keep their end of the bargain so no one will be after them over it.

As far as a wartime scenario goes, I definitely agree that it provides a lot of options. For staying neutral, a decent idea might be having a few outside factions that are hiring the group for their own interests. Like, the rescue scenario I mentioned above: some outside faction wants to get points with their people, so they hire the group to take refugees to a safe location. Other factions (or the same faction) may also have other interests that they want to satisfy by exploiting the situation.

In fact, that is almost enough story to build a world around, but we do not want to get quite that complicated. However, I would be willing to do a little bit of worldbuilding on-the-fly because I imagine a good mercenary would know his or her way around, and it would be difficult to pull that off without either a lot of improvisation or research.

Perhaps we can grab maps from somewhere and just throw more of our own story over it? (e.g. I can post a map of Evochron, Space Rangers, or Star Wolves pretty handily, the latter actually having a convenient MSF vs. NESF conflict and other factions around them with their territories color-coded, but which world exactly you want to use is up for grabs.)
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Ambrose51
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It would probably be useful if you were to post those maps. I'll go ahead and post a few for EVE Online myself, since it always has interesting maps. These are all old, though, and most of the powers represented don't exist anymore.

This one has the core powers, which aren't usually represented.

That evolves into this.

And that evolves into this, which is the closest to current events I could find.

Here is a copy of the Homeworld universe.
But mostly? The assorted plans at play here would be going very, very wrong due to the actions of a no-name, no-count, utterly talentless Magus by the name of Shirou Emiya. He had no magic worth mentioning, no combat experience of note, and no plan for or knowledge of the War he was about to enter. He did, however, have one trait that had derailed a countless number of such grand, far-reaching schemes throughout history.

You see, he really, really wanted to be a hero. -(Best description of the start of a Fate novel ever.)
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A_Sapp
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I like this idea! I'm all in and would be glad to help with a bit of world building. Already have to characters in mind. One's a Han Solo'esque smuggler kind of guy and the other is an ex-commando from the galaxy's strongest military race. (think Spartan in our world, or Turian in the Mass Effect world. That kind of society)


EDIT: I have a good idea, would take a lot of time but I think that if everyone pitched in it would be quite fun. How about we all start writing lore for a new Sci-Fi world and just create our own out of nothing? I mean to start the RP off all we need is a basic galactic history and a few short histories on the races, cultures, and major planets and systems.

I'm up for it if anyone else would like to pitch in and give it a shot.

EDIT 2: Found this guide online on how to create a Sci-Fi world. Looks pretty comprehensive.
Edited by A_Sapp, Jun 30 2011, 02:04 PM.
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Keiji
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Yeesh, the EVE maps look pretty big. Size is pretty good for sci-fi, though.

Star Wolves' map is a little bit smaller, but I can pretty readily get the information for each system, and it has some major factions already at each others' throats. (I also gathered a bunch of images of the ships in the game for my own reference, which we could use, but no need to be picky.)

By comparison, Evochron's map is pretty small, but it also does not list a lot of "hidden" systems that are scattered around the map (e.g. Lost Rucker or Wolf Zone), and many of the systems have multiple planets. I have a more complete version of the map that I am working on, on paper, but it is nowhere near complete yet. It takes a very long time to explore the areas between the mapped stars.

If we want to make our own world, though, I can get a random map from Sword of the Stars or something, which will also have all of the systems named, and we can come up with histories for them and even add more as needed. Space Rangers also generates random maps (though I would need to log some play time to get the whole thing, unfortunately... but that is a fun game and I can definitely do that).
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A_Sapp
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Well this thread has inspired me to create my own Sci-Fi world which (if I work really hard on it) should be done in at least a month. However I might have to employ some of you guys to write some random history for me :P
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Ambrose51
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Keiji
Jul 1 2011, 12:30 AM
Star Wolves' map is a little bit smaller, but I can pretty readily get the information for each system, and it has some major factions already at each others' throats. (I also gathered a bunch of images of the ships in the game for my own reference, which we could use, but no need to be picky.)
That map has a place called Escaflowne. That's awesome.

Yeah, the EVE maps are pretty expansive, and I think it's a great universe. Just, not a good game to play right now. The player-base is currently revolting against CCP, and they had to get the Player's Advocate Council together and fly them to CCP headquarters to negotiate.

On the topic of making our own universe, I'd be willing to help with that if you need someone to write history of a specific planet. I like doing mock-histories, it's just the technological side I'm not too knowledgeable about.
But mostly? The assorted plans at play here would be going very, very wrong due to the actions of a no-name, no-count, utterly talentless Magus by the name of Shirou Emiya. He had no magic worth mentioning, no combat experience of note, and no plan for or knowledge of the War he was about to enter. He did, however, have one trait that had derailed a countless number of such grand, far-reaching schemes throughout history.

You see, he really, really wanted to be a hero. -(Best description of the start of a Fate novel ever.)
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Darkom
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Agreed, I would be more than willing to help out worldbuilding if you want. What you have so far looks pretty good, I must say. ;) I'm more of a fantasy guy, but I like Sci-Fi too. If you need any help with religion or other cultural type things, that'd be my favorite thing to work with.
Don't say the old lady screamed. Bring her on and let her scream. ~Mark Twain
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Keiji
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Well... perhaps we want to just set up a simple scenario, jump right in, and worry about technicalities when we get to them?

It is a rough way to start something, but then we can worldbuild for our world as we please. If we want to choose a map, I suggest everyone just say which they like the best. Though I am partial to the Star Wolves map, I think just a random one would be fun, also....
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Evilpigeon
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I'd be interested in joining in on this, I think a little bit more should be established before you set off though, a simple start sounds nice but it's quite easy for the backgrounds people make up to start clashing and really not fitting together very well and becoming overly complex.
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