Introduction: As a Classical historian and lover of all things military, the idea of a professional warrior (or group of warriors) bound my nation, ethnicity, culture or coin and employed by another or others to fight for them - regardless of cause, religion and so on - is something that has always fascinated me. Hence the basis for this role play; you may be wondering why I chose to set it in a sci-fi setting if I like history so much, and the simple answer is that no-one really wants to read up on subjects before even creating their character - I have tried 'historical' on the Guild before and it has no gone down too well, alas.

So, here is a sci-fi based role play - think of Warhammer 40,000 mixed with Star Wars mixed with Iain Banks' Culture series mixed with Xenophon's Anabasis mixed with the Hellenistic Era in general mixed with the Italian condottieri, and you'll have some idea of what you can expect. Throw in a spattering of adventure, world building, 'slice of life' antics and you're pretty much there.

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Setting: It is the 13th Millennia (according to human/Earth reckoning) and Mankind has spread far and wide among the stars, encountering species as diverse and contrasting as the stars themselves, all the while they have been founding colonies and settling upon alien worlds. To many children of Earth, the home-world itself is little more than a myth, somewhere they have never set foot and are unlikely to in their lifetimes, some worlds veering off in their own directions culturally, religiously, even physically as the centuries passed...some even mingling with 'creatures' that would have been seen as fantastical in the dim past.

As stated, Mankind is not the only species out there; among the vastness of space are civilisations and cultures far older than Man, and others that are so alien that there has been nothing but war and campaigns of extermination against them.

The most recent conflict (of any note) was a galactic-wide quarrel that caused a schism in the wider sphere of space - a united confederation of human Planet States banding together to defend themselves from the aggressive Valnaur Empire. It was a war that depleted both sides, the Valnaur deciding that annexing these territories was not worth it after all, while the human planets were left economically in tatters. Allies and client systems on both sides breathed a sigh of relief and began to rebuild as best they could, fearing for the day when another such event may occur.

Yet space is vast, and there are employers aplenty for any with the know-how and will to take what they want at the tip of a blade or the barrel of a gun. In the blackness are many gathering places for such folk, the planet of Taenarum being one such place, floating as it does some light-years on the edge of Valnaur space, but also within reach of human colonies. If one wished to find gainful employment, or simply build an army, then this is where they would start looking.

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Players/Characters: Firstly, please ask questions if you wish, only by asking questions now will you save yourself time later.

As you probably gathered, we're going to be forming an inter-galactic band of gun slinging, blade-toting bodies-for-hire; exactly what form your characters take is more-or-less completely up to the player. I'm deliberately leaving the background/setting sparse and vague, as well as asking players not to reveal everything about their characters when it comes time to write them up.

This will be a world (universe) building exercise involving everyone, and Gods willing it shall be fun at the same time!

You want to play a hermaphroditic seven-foot lizard-person? That's fine. A sentient AI? Could be a cool concept. An eight-limbed octo-'person'? Go for it.

All I ask is that no-one is invulnerable, no-one is a Mary/Marty Sue, and if I turn your concept down don't start complaining unless you have good reason to do so. I'd prefer a majority human group (although what their culture/background is is still up to the player), but aliens are welcome as I've stated.

Finally, this is an 'advanced' RP - everyone knows what that means - all the usual rules apply, it will have mature themes so please bear that in mind, and posting at least once a week is mandatory. If the action is high, or the story is flowing well, then of course more than once will be fine.

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So, assuming you've read all that, can I interest anyone in a little l'action spatiale militaire.

I might be really into this, but the huge scope is very daunting.

I might be really into this, but the huge scope is very daunting.

Believe me, it sounds a lot more daunting than it is.

We'll actually be quite a 'confined' group, as far as things go, and can leave the majority of the background to me (and any co-GMs that may want to volunteer), leaving players to concentrate primarily on their own characters and so on. I'll expect a little bit of world-building from time-to-time, but nothing to worry about.

It's more one of those tales set against a quite large backdrop - like the Witcher series or the Conan stories - but more focused on a smaller 'area' (the area being our group), if that makes any sense?

Might see about joining.

@POOHEAD189 Then this is good, only need a small group to get it off the ground, and you are a personage of quality.

Plasma breathing-full body black alien metal scaled-lizard man that can burrow or slither like a snake who wields a plasma edged sword...he can also empower his body with plasma to boost all his stats and give special properties to his atatcks for a short period of time.

Love the idea @Jbcool. Considering providing the role of chaplain/medic, sort of the experienced combatant character with moral ambiguity and conflicting faith. I guess I'll wait to see what other people come up with to see if that sort of character would suit the RP.

@Bishop Firstly, there are no 'stats' - this is a narrative RP and not a table top game. Secondly, fragments of that would be perfectly fine; a metal suited lizard man is fine...burrowing or slithering is also fine...breathing and empowering onself with plasma is a little too much to be beginning with.

Like Polybius says, I would advise waiting to see what others come up with before thinking of anything concrete.

@Polybius Thank you - if someone named after one of my favourite historians likes it, well, who am I to argue? :D

A Chaplain/Medic would be fine and needed.

<Snipped quote by Iuniper>
Believe me, it sounds a lot more daunting than it is.

We'll actually be quite a 'confined' group, as far as things go, and can leave the majority of the background to me (and any co-GMs that may want to volunteer), leaving players to concentrate primarily on their own characters and so on. I'll expect a little bit of world-building from time-to-time, but nothing to worry about.

It's more one of those tales set against a quite large backdrop - like the Witcher series or the Conan stories - but more focused on a smaller 'area' (the area being our group), if that makes any sense?

Aye, this is reassuring. World-building is fine and fun, but - such a huge world!

I really like the idea and would be interested in creating a Hellenistic-era-inspired archer with an interest in Stoicism (as Stoics have loved archery). And probably some Zen references too along with a hearty dose of self-doubt and mid-life crisis given knowledge of modern physics and Stoic determinism. Very excited to see this develop since you're really knowledgeable about history and historical RPs are always really interesting.

This sounds really deep and well thought out and I'm digging a lot of the historical references (particularly anything condottieri-related). As a complete novice, I have to concede that this would be too far a jump into the deep end for me just yet, but at the very least, consider me an engaged observer who's looking forward to following along.

@Iuniper Thank you for the compliments, though you might be honouring me a little too much. I'm loving the ideas though, and looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

@Force and Fury All I can say is that you give it a go; if it turns out to be too heavy, you can always kill your character off and then observe. Do it for me!

I'm really interested in this RP. I've been having some trouble keeping interest with RPs lately, since the last big one I was in died when I was totally invested, but I think I'm ready to get "back in the game."

This sounds like it'll be really fun.

EDIT:

I assume we'll have a spaceship. And if so, I call dibs on the techie role (engineer / glorified I.T. guy). Someone has to keep the ship running and grumble angrily about machines all day.

I have two character ideas: one is just a human who happens to be a technical savant, and the other is a (in my opinion) unique take on A.I. Which one I go with just depends on the other characters being introduced and whether my ideas are accepted.

Provided I'm not biting off more than I can chew with too many RPs, I'm interested!

Interested either as a pilot or a quartermaster

Ok, old friend. @Jbcool Count me in.

@Jbcool
I've been lurking a while and definitely very interested in what you've got going here, I'll certainly slap my interest down if you'll have me.

I'd be interested in filling the role of scouty-combaty-maybestealthy type, depending on what kind of role remains free/needed.

I know you said you were looking for a mostly human cast, but if the 'quota' still hasen't been filled I'd be interested in playing some kind of alien with some very different cultural/ethical views (different from traditional humanity anyway), maybe something along the lines of Samurai Bushido or mandalorian culture from kotor - just thoughts at this stage anyway, will see how everything goes and what comes together in the CS making, also depending on your feedback and the team 'requirements' - I'm pretty flexible.

Okie dokie, I've got about five minutes, and this is on a tablet, so forgive the lack of mentions - if you don't see this then that's fine - but I'd like to ask a quick question of interested wordsmiths.

Historically, particularly in the Classical world, mercenary companies were hired to fill in a part of other militaries due to whatever deficienies they may have - part time citizen soldiers, lack of espirit national d'corps, or the views of a 'martial race' for example. Take a look at the Greek hoplite, or the Kretan archer or Thrakian peltast for example.

My actual question is thus; should we begin as an established and roughly uniform company/guild/lokhos/group (although 'national' sidearms would be fine to keep), or would you prefer a more mish-mash group of hardened (or not hardened) killers-for-hire? The latter probably going to be put together before leaving Taenarum.

Secondly, I was thinking of our technological level being something akin to the little known cartoon Ulysses 31 I.E. there are projectile weapons/guns etc, but there are also hand-help shields and melee weapons too.

What sort of tech level do you think would be appropriate? There will be other nations and planets with higher or lower levels, but for us as a starting group?

I'll get the OOC thread up soon, hammer out a few details, narrow character perameters to something less broad, and...yea.

Until then, please feel free to answer the questions.

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Oh, forgot to mention, we will be needing specific roles such as quartermaster, paymaster, surgeon, scout etc. So if you do have ideas coinciding with these archtypes, feel free to keep them in mind or develop them.

What sort of tech level do you think would be appropriate? There will be other nations and planets with higher or lower levels, but for us as a starting group?

In a sci-fi RP, I tend to see a lot of diversity. Some people will surely want to go for a pistol-toting, rifle-slinging merc who uses more modern/"realistic" weapons (guns or mass-drivers), while others will want to fire around plasma beams or employ personal shields or build A.I. from scratch (the more traditional sci-fi). The best "tech level" would be one that allows both.

For balance: perhaps plasma/energy is more damaging in-and-of itself, but mass-drivers (guns) are significantly more effective vs. shields? Just an idea.

EDIT: Ship speed and specifics doesn't really matter. Our ship(s) moves whatever speed we need it to move for the progression of the story. But there should be enough travel time between missions that our characters can speak and interact. Again, I'm assuming we get a ship.

EDIT 2: Universal translators may be useful as a convenience. We need both crewmates and clients from vastly different species to understand eachother flawlessly and immediately.
Unless, of course, someone wants to create a character that's a translation expert.

Because we're badass mercenaries, our military tech should be slightly "above average" compared to the rest of the galaxy.

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Oh, forgot to mention, we will be needing specific roles such as quartermaster, paymaster, surgeon, scout etc. So if you do have ideas coinciding with these archtypes, feel free to keep them in mind or develop them.

Is engineer possible?

I want engineer.

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My actual question is thus; should we begin as an established and roughly uniform company/guild/lokhos/group (although 'national' sidearms would be fine to keep), or would you prefer a more mish-mash group of hardened (or not hardened) killers-for-hire? The latter probably going to be put together before leaving Taenarum.

Mish-mash mercenaries!
Unlike my rambling opinion on technology up there, I don't really have a justification for this one. I just like the idea of a mish-mash smash.

Historically, particularly in the Classical world, mercenary companies were hired to fill in a part of other militaries due to whatever deficienies they may have - part time citizen soldiers, lack of espirit national d'corps, or the views of a 'martial race' for example. Take a look at the Greek hoplite, or the Kretan archer or Thrakian peltast for example.

My actual question is thus; should we begin as an established and roughly uniform company/guild/lokhos/group (although 'national' sidearms would be fine to keep), or would you prefer a more mish-mash group of hardened (or not hardened) killers-for-hire? The latter probably going to be put together before leaving Taenarum.

Personally I too would likely lean towards a more independent mish-mash group for us (more freedom of character creation and backstory, as well as in how we choose to operate), though I wouldn't at all be opposed to the thought that there are many other mercenary groups that are more uniform and tied to groups like you mention, with some of the group maybe even veterans of one or another of them?

So for example, maybe there is a human national outfit, a remnant of the Valnaur War that while once was very prestigious and almost noble, it has descended into a more infamous cut-throat kinda mercenary state as their 'occupation' became somewhat redundant. They could generally be dicks who we don't like and clash with? There could be similar alien groups too. Just a thought anyway.

Secondly, I was thinking of our technological level being something akin to the little known cartoon Ulysses 31 I.E. there are projectile weapons/guns etc, but there are also hand-help shields and melee weapons too.

What sort of tech level do you think would be appropriate? There will be other nations and planets with higher or lower levels, but for us as a starting group?

I'm a real sucker for a nice big mix, including melee and closer range weapons still definitely in play (occasionally augmented with more advanced tech). Vibro-blades and lightsabers spring to mind as an example. Maybe there are somewhat common personal shields, which reduce the efficiency of ranged weapons? Maybe some kind of phase shield that makes the user much much more difficult to hit with projectiles? That kinda thing - which brings blades and axes and other stabby-crushy tools back into use.

I definitely like the idea of a huge mix over the entire galaxy. High-tech, low-tech, strange combinations and customs.

I really like the idea that the galactic community has suffered greatly and is still kind of in tatters after the war and recovering. Far reaching infrastructural ties are severed, worlds are generally defensive and hostile while rogue and criminal elements flourish. Small warlords are springing up and taking territory, expanding their forces and their reach for resources as refugees become more ingrained wherever it is they turned up at the end of the war. Whilst there is still really high tech stuff out there generally it is much harder to obtain then it once was as resources and trade become scarce and the bigger more advanced nations/empires/planets become more withdrawn and insular (at least to some extent). The galactic community has need for many mercenaries, and maybe even groups like ours are becoming more common?

Anyway, they are my thoughts, but I'm pretty cool either ways.

@Jeyma All very good.

In language, I was going to go for the cliched 'common' as the lingua franca of the galaxy - like Greek was and Latin became. Means we can all communicate, but also have our own languages. Might call it something else though.

@Tsar Gatto You're reading my mind on a lot of the points there, so you get bonus points. :D Yea, pretty much agree with it all!

I'll get working on the OOC thread soon, might be as late as Monday - work is being annoying! Monday though, swear on the blood of my ancestors.