Right, I guess it's about time I tried GMing my own RP...
Sooooo, I've been having this idea for an RP knocking around in my head for a while now and I was wondering if anyone would be interested? I figured after so long leeching from good RPs it's time for me to give it a shot myself
The RP will be along space-opera lines. Big space-opera lines - I've got a fair bit of backstory and history to spoiler to prevent you dying in front of a huge wall of text. Don't worry though, I'm going with an episodic format, so expect a long saga of epic space-opera adventuring, but in nice easy bite-sized chunks.
Seeing as this would be my first RP, I'd be very willing to have some advice from the more experienced GMs, at least for the first episode!
Anyhow, I've nearly finished the concept, and I've got an idea for the first episode coming together. If you have any questions, feel free to ask away.
EDIT: For more information on what is contained, please see below.
Space is a cool theme for me, and it always will be, but you've not given many spoils as to what content will be in the RP, like...what are we to expect?
You know I'm a sucker for how awesome your writing is, we found that out with the early Evan scenes. Clue me in some more and i'll be aboard.
Haha, I was thinking I might have been a little sparse on the info here, didn't want to give away too many hints.
The basic premise is that humanity is expanding into the Milky Way via wormhole technology and, thus far, has had a relatively peaceful time of it, aside from the 'Incident' - an Intersolar Terran Confederacy battle group was dispatched to a frontier world that sent out an emergency signal before dropping out of contact, around 150 years before the start of the RP. What actually happened there was whitewashed, but it's well known that the battle group launched an all out planetary bombardment, leaving the planet uninhabitable, and quarantined the system. Eventually encountering alien species, the ITC becomes a full member of the Quorum - a galactic body that exists to maintain stability and trade and is made up of the 5 most powerful known races, (I have plenty of info written out on this).
The RP begins on a remote Confederation colony world. A distress call comes in from one of the outlying settlements saying that their 'Ivets' (involuntary transportees - criminals who have been sentenced to indentured service in the colonies for X amount of years) have started kicking off, and the governor is requesting a squad of Colonial Militia to help pacify them. This is where we come in. However, it's not going to be a standard run and gun thing: all is not what it seems.
Gah, just wait to see how much I've typed. I'm pretty sure it's going to be one of those scenarios where it's incredibly interesting to me but dull to everyone else >.<
Now that you've mentioned it, I may have to throw some Xenomorphs into it somewhere... But not really... Or really...? We'll see...
Seriously though, I do need to fully formulate the first story arc so you should be free to GM for a bit longer I should probs send out some invites as well. Actually, StarStruck, seeing as you're better connected in these parts then I, would you do the (preliminary) honours? Just some expressions of interest would be much appreciated
Ok, seeing as the Escapist is being picky and not letting me post the whole thing, here is the first entry from the backstory I'm building up to this RP setting. Hope it's enjoyable and if you have any questions, feel free to ask Whe I get the story sorted, I'll post all of the entries in separate posts once I start the proper thread.
It is the year 2287 Common Era - Humanity has spread among the stars of the Milky Way Galaxy. Great technological advances have led to extra-Solar colonisation, instantaneous interstellar transportation, and medical techniques beyond anything known in the current world. Humanity is united under the banner of the Intersolar Terran Confederacy - a loose governing body that regulates trade between the colonies and with the Galaxy at large, as well as inter-species relations, a basic charter of laws and regulations, the ITC Navy, and a Federal Investigative Directorate.
Humanity has established diplomatic relations with a number of other alien species that inhabit the Galaxy, notably: the Raz'el, the Hancher, the Tanar'i, the Molochea and the S'Jet. Together with the ITC (and with the exception of the S'Jet), these races form the Quorum - an interstellar body similar to that of the present day U.N. - with humanity being the newest member, joining only 50 years prior to the current date.
Since its humble beginnings in one of the many spiral arms of the Milky Way, humanity has become a force to be reckoned with and a major power on the galactic stage, said by many to be at the height of its Golden Age. Yet despite the newfound stability that humanity has brought to the galaxy, dark things are afoot, and all is not what it seems. Threats lurk in the inky blackness of space, both those that have yet to be encountered, and those which have not truly been consigned to history.
In the mid 21st century, an American physicist named Nigel Isaacs perfected a means to transport objects instantaneously from one location to another via the structured generation of temporary wormholes in space\time. Before this, humanity had only brushed on superluminal travel in the field of communications - it seemed that only radio waves and other forms of radiation could be bent around the theory of relativity: solid objects were stuck at subluminal, non-relativistic speeds, making interstellar colonisation an almost unobtainable goal to Earth, which was already suffering from chronic overpopulation. Isaacs' discovery was hailed as the greatest breakthrough in modern times, christened by the scientist as ZTT - Zero Temporal Transit. Further work on the technology soon led to another breakthrough - by manipulating the gravitational field generated by the ZTT technology, localised pockets of increased or anti-gravity could be created and the fabric of space\time itself could be warped: Zero Tau. Zero Tau technology allows for an object or person to be removed from the flow of time itself without any harm to themselves: there is no sensation of time passing - it is a state of pure suspension allowing for large numbers of passengers to be suspended in specialised pods for the short string of ZTT jumps to a new system in a comparatively small starship, thereby saving expense on food and the cost of a room, while the ship's jump nodes can provide standard Earth gravity, even under rapid acceleration. Wealthier citizens often opt to pay extra for a private room and board during their trips, avoiding stasis, while space travel, on the whole, became (and remains) a realistically affordable expense for the average person.
The combination of these new technologies led to a boom in new starship designs and production, leading to a period of time known as 'The Exodus' or 'The First Great Expansion' - a mass flight of colony ships from Earth. Some of these endeavours were sponsored by corporations, more by national governments, and some few by wealthy private individuals seeking to create their own utopias. By and large, the colonisation efforts were successful, with many colony fleets finding Earth-type planets to inhabit. With Earth's population burden greatly lessened, the nation states and corporations of the planet turned their attention to their new extra-Solar colonies, providing the fledgling populations with valuable resources, manpower (often in the form of criminals sentenced to indentured servitude for a number of years - the vast majority of crimes, save for the most heinous, were punishable by 'involuntary transportation' to the colonies in Zero Tau pods) and infrastructre assistance as they began a drive towards self-sufficiency. This period of consolidation is widely known as 'Genesis', symbolising the successful spread of humanity from their homeworld.
It was during this period that the governments of Earth came together to ensure the success of the extra-Solar colonies and formed the Intersolar Terran Confederacy to act as a trade body and defence organisation. They diverted resources to the ITC and began the construction and training of a sizeable naval force and its Marine contingent. The 'Incident' proved this to be a wise decision. A small frontier colony in the Thrace system sent an automated emergency transmission (before dropping out of contact) to the High Command of the ITC Navy, who immediately dispatched a battle group to the system while the national governments on Earth bickered about what was to be done. What happened to the colony to trigger the distress call, no one knows. The order was given to commence the orbital bombardment of Thrace II, pounding the colony planet with kinetic energy weapons and high-yield neutron bombs and to this day, a monitor squadron remains in the system, watchful for any intrusion. This episode proved the ITC as the dominant force in human politics, providing decisive action over the infighting and squabbling of the other human political factions, though the colonies and the nations of Earth still retain their sovereignty and are free to leave the ITC if they so choose.
Despite the aforementioned episode, this period is known by many as one of prosperity and wealth. It is unsurprising that not long after 'Genesis' had ended, 'The Second Great Expansion' occurred: the baby boom produced by the prosperity of the consolidation led to yet more colony fleets being sent out, many sponsored by the ITC. As it is, humanity is now in its second period of consolidation, both politically and territorially - its recent instatement onto the Quorum means that the Intersolar Terran Confederacy must now cement its power base before expanding any further.
Formed under the Articles of Confederation 2132, the Intersolar Terran Confederacy is the dominant human political body, based on the planet of Avon in the Sajuuk system. It consists of two legislative chambers - the Senate (into which a representative from each planet is elected via proportional representation, this includes several 'Spacer' seats to provide a voice for itinerant humans who work aboard starships or space stations and have no planetary representative. The number of Senators varies according to how many planets are colonised at any one time) and the Council (in which each planet is guaranteed a number of representatives proportional to its population, with the cap currently set at 550 Councillors). As a political body, the ITC represents those humans who choose to stand under its banner, and it is recognised by other species as the legitimate human diplomatic authority; its powers extend to trade agreements, both internal and external (though internal trade is largely free), the ratification of treaties, maintaining foreign relations with extraterrestrial species, ensuring that colonies abide by the laws and regulations laid down in the Articles of Confederation (although colonies are free to make law on top of this, provided that it does not conflict), policing Confederation wide criminal groups and individuals through the Federal Investigative Directorate, and maintaining the ITC armed forces.
As members of the ITC, colonies are granted broad levels of discretion in how they govern themselves, provided that their actions do not conflict with the laws laid down in the Articles of Confederation. As such, some colonies will have laws not found elsewhere, though these are generally minor and far between. Colonies are also responsible for maintaining their own militia and police forces. As a rule Colonial Militia are well trained and well equipped for planetary defence forces, though they lack the specialist training, equipment and capabilities of the regular military. In combination with this, it is written in the Articles of Confederation that all ITC citizens have the right to bear arms in defence of their persons and property, though the uptake on this varies from population to population. In law enforcement, the FID will generally leave policing to the planetary authorities except in the cases of widespread or inter-planetary crime syndicates or individuals who commit serial crimes while evading the regular police forces, including terrorist groups, known gang leaders, and serial killers. The Navy provides anti-pirate capability throughout Quorum space, in keeping with humanity's duties as a full member of the Quorum.
The ITC Navy and Marine Corps are well trained and well equipped fighting forces, though lacking in the direct combat experience that the other races gained in their struggle against the Hancher Crusade. The Navy fields a large number of ships of all fighting weights: frigates, cruisers, destroyers, carriers and dreadnoughts, organised into battle groups of 18-24 ships under the command of an Admiral.
Fighters are small, one man craft, powered by a small He[sup]3[/sup] fusion drive. Fighters serve a twofold purpose: to counter enemy fighters and torpedoes, and to launch torpedo attacks against enemy capital ships. Swarms of fighters can bypass the gravitational distortion effects used by larger ships as a defence to slow and deflect incoming fire, but they themselves are vulnerable to point defence fire, and once their torpedoes are expended, they must return to their carrier to rearm and refuel. Fighters are, on occasion, able to enter the atmosphere of a planet to provide ground forces with air support.
Frigates tend to be used as skirmishers and scouts, hunting the enemy in wolf packs or skriting the flanks of a flotilla to prevent any unwanted nasties getting through. Frigates can also be used to launch boarding actions, drawing alongside enemy ships and launching pods of marines who attempt to disrupt the operations aboard the enemy vessel. Their kinetic weapons are the lightest of the ship classes, but they are often armed with plasma torpedoes that can burn through an enemy's hull with ease. At close ranges of >10km, their point defence lasers and autocannons can become viable weapons. Frigates are one of the two ship classes able to land on planets, whereas the others are not able to produce a large enough distortion from their energy patterning nodes to counteract the gravitational pull of most planets.
Cruisers are the first rank of 'ships of the line' that are used to engage in fleet actions. More heavily armed and armoured than frigates, cruisers trade this off at the expense of maneuverability, but can punch above their weight with their powerful main guns at closer ranges given a good commander. The second and last class of ships able to land on planets, cruisers carry a sizeable marine contingent ready to be dropped into combat from orbit.
Destroyers are the second rank of 'ships of the line' that are used to engage in fleet actions. Their focus is much more on long range firepower against capital ships and fighter screens than cruisers. Fitted with a pair of powerful main rail guns and torpedo batteries, a squadron of destroyers can make short work of any captial ships unlucky enough to be caught in their sights, while their numerous point defence lasers and autocannons can decimate enemy fighter squadrons.
Large capital ships whose primary job is to carry fighter squadrons to the battlefield, service them in combat, and provide point defence cover against incoming enemy torpedoes and fighters. Carriers have no main guns to use against other large ships, instead they bristle with flak batteries, autocannons and point defence lasers. However, they are subsequently left vulnerable to long-range capital ship fire.
The heavyweights. Kilometre long monsters whose main gun can easily bisect a lesser ship. Strictly long range only - any distance of less than 1000km and their main weapons become too unwieldy to aim, leaving them as sitting ducks for swarms of smaller ships.
The Confederacy Marine Corps is the ITC's infantry combat force - while planetary defence is left to the local militia, the marines are kept aboard starships and space stations, ready for immediate deployment across the Confederacy, with large garrissons on strategically important planets. Marines are combat boosted with geneered musculatures and bone structures, as well as an increased tolerance to zero-g environments, with some undergoing further boosting in order to wield rail guns and train as heavy weapons specialists.
Classified
[sub]*grumble* I'll give you 'post too big' *grumble*[/sub]
Space is a cool theme for me, and it always will be, but you've not given many spoils as to what content will be in the RP, like...what are we to expect?
You know I'm a sucker for how awesome your writing is, we found that out with the early Evan scenes. Clue me in some more and i'll be aboard.
But seriously, if you can find the time, do sign up I'm not sure when the character templates will be up, but hopefully by Friday\Saturday, bar any moving around that I may have to do.
Not to sound like a pest, but the spaceship technology sounds a lot like the spaceships from Mass Effect (not that I'm complaning, those ships are cool)
I've been in the Wild West,I've been a cop, I've been a part of the Mob,I've been a Marshmellow (Well i will be soon anyways), but strangly I've never been in space.
I've been in the Wild West,I've been a cop, I've been a part of the Mob,I've been a Marshmellow (Well i will be soon anyways), but strangly I've never been in space.
I've been in the Wild West,I've been a cop, I've been a part of the Mob,I've been a Marshmellow (Well i will be soon anyways), but strangly I've never been in space.
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