OBLIGATORY WARNING: We are very picky - this is a quality over quantity RP therefore to give everyone the attention (and spotlight) they deserve we are CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. PM me for details if you are desperate to join. We're also looking for commitment as we can't just replace characters in this RP when someone drops out.
Frontier: The Great Space Rebellion
The year is 2600 and the galaxy's going bust, son. War's expensive, and not only in lives – nobody makes any dosh out here in the back and beyond of outer space. Y'know, we need a good bit of elbow-grease and a few smart-talking cowboys like yourself out on the front lines.
What's that? You don't want to go? Tough. You've been conscripted. Welcome to the rebellion.
July 20, 1969 – the day when Neil Armstrong took the first step for mankind into the great beyond. Humanity didn't falter, didn't forget about expanding and exploring the universe after we had touched the moon with our fingertips. Space programs had billions funnelled into them and, by the end of the 21st century, we had a colony on the moon and had manned expeditions to every planet in our system. (Even Pluto.)
A time of relatively peaceful expansion occurred, save for a few skirmishes between the Lunatics (the first moon-born colonists) and Martians (Mars-born extremists). When the first long-distance spacecrafts were developed, able to travel at faster than light speeds to far away systems, the quest to dominate space began for every civilisation. About this time, a possible candidate for Earth 2.0 was discovered and all efforts to colonise the universe began to follow a straight line – a space highway, if you will.
Civil war was rampant in the furthest systems where the “long arm of the law” couldn't reach. Eventually, poor living conditions forced the innocent civilians of these sizable colonies to rebel, and so began the First Great Space War in 2523. Nearly eighty years later, and all we have to show for it are a few failed peace treaties between the Defective Alliance and the United Nations of Earth and Sol and a disgusting number of casualties.
That's where you come in. The Defective Alliance have been carefully putting out word to interested parties and talented individuals about a heroic, long-term mission... promising great wealth and other rewards at the end. Interested parties were to meet in the capital of Sycamore, the first fully terraformed planet on the edge of space and coincidentally the hub for the uprising.
THE CREW: ROLES
A ship cannot run without a crew, but the crew of the Medusa is little more than a skeleton crew compared to other warships. She has been outfitted to house ten members of varying roles for a long-distance journey and no more (though at a push, one could probably sleep in the cargo hold.) As the missions you will undertake are mostly dangerous 'ground' or boarding missions, all crew save the pilot will leave the ship at this time.
All of the crew are new recruits – at least to this operation – due to a tragedy regarding the last crew in which all but the pilot perished. For the past seven years, any crew that has been tasked with running the ship considers it to be 'cursed' and refused to set foot on it, even at the risk of punishment. We hope that by coaxing the original pilot back into her position that this unfortunate situation will not happen again.
THE SHIP
The Medusa's not a classy lady, not like one of those space-carrier/hulking monstrosities UNES use now in combat situations. She's all black metal instead of polished silver, rattling in places where there ought to be none. Some said she wasn't fit to travel because of that, and she was 'retired' into our hands before the war. Y'know what I said? “Nobody ever likes a girl who's dead silent.”
Built with care and attention back in the days when long-distance space travel was a difficult and terrifying facet of life in the universe, that The Medusa has survived nearly two centuries is unsurprising. Her firepower is minimal and would barely leave a scratch on the shields or physical armour of even a non-combatant ferry; however, The Medusa's real use is in stealth and sending human boarding parties onto an enemy's vessel.
Living quarters aboard The Medusa are cramped and scattered throughout the ship. Previous crews have combined their working and sleeping stations – the doctor slept in his surgery, the pilot in the cabin, etc; however, there are rooms available.
PSYCHES/TECHNOLOGY
Our world is marked by exponential advances in science, and one of those areas is the biochemistry of the brain and how to alter it. About 250 years ago, a handful of high-IQ 'psychics' were discovered in the Martian community, all of them children and born in the same generation. Although these first Psyches were not powerful at all, scientists quickly found a chemical to reproduce the same abilities in others and amplify them... however, as it turns out, only a small handful of the population have the correct genes to support such an alteration to their body. Only the cunningly intelligent survived.
As a way of controlling these powerful beings, the chemical that produces their powers, 'Psyche' was modified to become increasingly addictive... in addition to its natural side-effects. The first dose – the one that activates the powers to a fairly strong level – cuts down a Psyche's lifespan to about 50 years, give or take, but the abilities will fade after a year or two unless the Psyche takes another dose. Each shot of Psyche subsequent to the first one (especially if taken before the previous runs out for a bit more oomph to their abilities) reduces their life-expectancy by about a year. Near the end of a Psyche's life, they experience various problems including forgetfulness, blackouts, cluster headaches and possibly comas.
Psyches have been used for centuries now as everything from space-construction workers to doctors to, of course, soldiers. Each Psyche tends to fall into one, possibly two subgroups at most depending on their intake of the chemical. The stronger they are, the more problems – mental and physical – they tend to face.
It is thought that the three Psyche Aspects (telekinesis, precognition, empathy) are extreme reactions to the 'fight or flight' response. The UNES received negative press when information about their experiments to induce this in young Psyches was released. All of them are loosely linked to adrenaline production and mental focus, and so when both of those wane, the Psyche tends to suffer a 'crash' period.
Naturally with such powerful adversaries around, technology had to improve to combat them. A Psyche's weakness is an abrupt shock to the system, and there is no better way of doing so than with a jolt of electricity. In addition to the slightly improved guns of the 21st century, there are tasers and close-combat weapons that produce electricity on hit to disable an enemy telekinetic or empath. The UNES are developing portable 'fields' that can be placed to nullify all psychic abilities in a designated area; however the leaked prototypes that are available now do nothing but to the weakest of Psyches.
MISC. INFORMATION
Random tidbits about the world that don't have their own section yet. May be added to in the future.
THE OOC
THERE ARE 7 POSITIONS LEFT UP FOR GRABS. Captain, Pilot and Medic have all been reserved so far. Please remember that I am only allowing TWO Psyches on the ship at present (not including the doctor). Given that it is a chemical you can take, even if you don't get the position there is a small chance that you will be allowed to make your character a Psyche at a much later date.
Character sheet is just a template. If you want to be creative (like I know someone will) then go ahead! I look forward to reading them!
When it comes to rules, this RP is no different. They're pretty generic:
1. The GM's (and co-GM's) word is law. That is, if Stitches or I have a problem with something, we expect you to hear us out. We hope to give everyone a lot of leeway - even personal planetary storylines, should you ask for it first - but because of that we expect your to respect our judgement. If we say no, it means no.
2. No Mary Sues, no godmoding. We require you to have a good idea of what's fair and isn't.
3. On the topic of Mary Sues, we are tentatively allowing you to toe the line. Everyone wants to be a hero sometime, right? CS will be accepted on merit and your ability to justify your characters 'special' traits.
4. Be active! We've all joined RPs that have died and that is why we're looking for people who can respond quickly within a three/four-ish day posting schedule. Anyone who can't is at risk of being booted out until a later date.
5. As this is a High Casual RP, we expect an average post to be about 4 well-constructed paragraphs, more if you'd prefer it.
Crew CS
Caelum C. Jameson – Pilot – McHaggis
Thomas R. Grayson – Captain – Biscuits
Valerie Sangster – First Officer – Jessikka
Nicki F. Sharpe – Doctor – Stitches
Risty Garce – Mechanic – Dipper
Scott Riley – Psyche – MercuryHg34
Serenity Arvennicus – Psyche – CirusArvennicus
Pascal Souchon – Soldier/General Crew – Polyphemus
Devan Tide – Soldier/General Crew – Wildtide
Erik Brindley – Soldier/General Crew – Heat
The year is 2600 and the galaxy's going bust, son. War's expensive, and not only in lives – nobody makes any dosh out here in the back and beyond of outer space. Y'know, we need a good bit of elbow-grease and a few smart-talking cowboys like yourself out on the front lines.
What's that? You don't want to go? Tough. You've been conscripted. Welcome to the rebellion.
July 20, 1969 – the day when Neil Armstrong took the first step for mankind into the great beyond. Humanity didn't falter, didn't forget about expanding and exploring the universe after we had touched the moon with our fingertips. Space programs had billions funnelled into them and, by the end of the 21st century, we had a colony on the moon and had manned expeditions to every planet in our system. (Even Pluto.)
A time of relatively peaceful expansion occurred, save for a few skirmishes between the Lunatics (the first moon-born colonists) and Martians (Mars-born extremists). When the first long-distance spacecrafts were developed, able to travel at faster than light speeds to far away systems, the quest to dominate space began for every civilisation. About this time, a possible candidate for Earth 2.0 was discovered and all efforts to colonise the universe began to follow a straight line – a space highway, if you will.
Civil war was rampant in the furthest systems where the “long arm of the law” couldn't reach. Eventually, poor living conditions forced the innocent civilians of these sizable colonies to rebel, and so began the First Great Space War in 2523. Nearly eighty years later, and all we have to show for it are a few failed peace treaties between the Defective Alliance and the United Nations of Earth and Sol and a disgusting number of casualties.
That's where you come in. The Defective Alliance have been carefully putting out word to interested parties and talented individuals about a heroic, long-term mission... promising great wealth and other rewards at the end. Interested parties were to meet in the capital of Sycamore, the first fully terraformed planet on the edge of space and coincidentally the hub for the uprising.
A ship cannot run without a crew, but the crew of the Medusa is little more than a skeleton crew compared to other warships. She has been outfitted to house ten members of varying roles for a long-distance journey and no more (though at a push, one could probably sleep in the cargo hold.) As the missions you will undertake are mostly dangerous 'ground' or boarding missions, all crew save the pilot will leave the ship at this time.
All of the crew are new recruits – at least to this operation – due to a tragedy regarding the last crew in which all but the pilot perished. For the past seven years, any crew that has been tasked with running the ship considers it to be 'cursed' and refused to set foot on it, even at the risk of punishment. We hope that by coaxing the original pilot back into her position that this unfortunate situation will not happen again.
The Medusa's not a classy lady, not like one of those space-carrier/hulking monstrosities UNES use now in combat situations. She's all black metal instead of polished silver, rattling in places where there ought to be none. Some said she wasn't fit to travel because of that, and she was 'retired' into our hands before the war. Y'know what I said? “Nobody ever likes a girl who's dead silent.”
Built with care and attention back in the days when long-distance space travel was a difficult and terrifying facet of life in the universe, that The Medusa has survived nearly two centuries is unsurprising. Her firepower is minimal and would barely leave a scratch on the shields or physical armour of even a non-combatant ferry; however, The Medusa's real use is in stealth and sending human boarding parties onto an enemy's vessel.
Living quarters aboard The Medusa are cramped and scattered throughout the ship. Previous crews have combined their working and sleeping stations – the doctor slept in his surgery, the pilot in the cabin, etc; however, there are rooms available.
Our world is marked by exponential advances in science, and one of those areas is the biochemistry of the brain and how to alter it. About 250 years ago, a handful of high-IQ 'psychics' were discovered in the Martian community, all of them children and born in the same generation. Although these first Psyches were not powerful at all, scientists quickly found a chemical to reproduce the same abilities in others and amplify them... however, as it turns out, only a small handful of the population have the correct genes to support such an alteration to their body. Only the cunningly intelligent survived.
As a way of controlling these powerful beings, the chemical that produces their powers, 'Psyche' was modified to become increasingly addictive... in addition to its natural side-effects. The first dose – the one that activates the powers to a fairly strong level – cuts down a Psyche's lifespan to about 50 years, give or take, but the abilities will fade after a year or two unless the Psyche takes another dose. Each shot of Psyche subsequent to the first one (especially if taken before the previous runs out for a bit more oomph to their abilities) reduces their life-expectancy by about a year. Near the end of a Psyche's life, they experience various problems including forgetfulness, blackouts, cluster headaches and possibly comas.
Psyches have been used for centuries now as everything from space-construction workers to doctors to, of course, soldiers. Each Psyche tends to fall into one, possibly two subgroups at most depending on their intake of the chemical. The stronger they are, the more problems – mental and physical – they tend to face.
It is thought that the three Psyche Aspects (telekinesis, precognition, empathy) are extreme reactions to the 'fight or flight' response. The UNES received negative press when information about their experiments to induce this in young Psyches was released. All of them are loosely linked to adrenaline production and mental focus, and so when both of those wane, the Psyche tends to suffer a 'crash' period.
Naturally with such powerful adversaries around, technology had to improve to combat them. A Psyche's weakness is an abrupt shock to the system, and there is no better way of doing so than with a jolt of electricity. In addition to the slightly improved guns of the 21st century, there are tasers and close-combat weapons that produce electricity on hit to disable an enemy telekinetic or empath. The UNES are developing portable 'fields' that can be placed to nullify all psychic abilities in a designated area; however the leaked prototypes that are available now do nothing but to the weakest of Psyches.
Random tidbits about the world that don't have their own section yet. May be added to in the future.
THERE ARE 7 POSITIONS LEFT UP FOR GRABS. Captain, Pilot and Medic have all been reserved so far. Please remember that I am only allowing TWO Psyches on the ship at present (not including the doctor). Given that it is a chemical you can take, even if you don't get the position there is a small chance that you will be allowed to make your character a Psyche at a much later date.
Character sheet is just a template. If you want to be creative (like I know someone will) then go ahead! I look forward to reading them!
When it comes to rules, this RP is no different. They're pretty generic:
1. The GM's (and co-GM's) word is law. That is, if Stitches or I have a problem with something, we expect you to hear us out. We hope to give everyone a lot of leeway - even personal planetary storylines, should you ask for it first - but because of that we expect your to respect our judgement. If we say no, it means no.
2. No Mary Sues, no godmoding. We require you to have a good idea of what's fair and isn't.
3. On the topic of Mary Sues, we are tentatively allowing you to toe the line. Everyone wants to be a hero sometime, right? CS will be accepted on merit and your ability to justify your characters 'special' traits.
4. Be active! We've all joined RPs that have died and that is why we're looking for people who can respond quickly within a three/four-ish day posting schedule. Anyone who can't is at risk of being booted out until a later date.
5. As this is a High Casual RP, we expect an average post to be about 4 well-constructed paragraphs, more if you'd prefer it.
Thomas R. Grayson – Captain – Biscuits
Valerie Sangster – First Officer – Jessikka
Nicki F. Sharpe – Doctor – Stitches
Risty Garce – Mechanic – Dipper
Scott Riley – Psyche – MercuryHg34
Serenity Arvennicus – Psyche – CirusArvennicus
Pascal Souchon – Soldier/General Crew – Polyphemus
Devan Tide – Soldier/General Crew – Wildtide
Erik Brindley – Soldier/General Crew – Heat
