Help with some plotting for a High-Casual/Advanced RP?

[FrozenEcstasy]

I'm not for sure if this is the correct place to post this but it involves taking ideas from various occult circles and putting them in a setting in which they are all pit against each-other for a position of dominance in a rapidly decaying world. So it's quintessentially a chaotic apocalyptic setting with several factions fighting for control. I'm struggling with getting a believable (in terms of fantasy) reason for these events to take place. I'd be interested in having some people help me conceptualize a basic plot line, and if anyone's interested enough for when I make the actual RP to Co-GM and Co-Write I would enjoy it very much!

So far I have a basic understanding of the faction-like groups: An Alien race with powerful psionic capabilities reminiscent of Predators, a race of inter-dimensional beings dubbed "Others" which resemble eldritch horrors, Demonic forces from a spiritual realm, and a group of those playing with Necromantic energies that create all sorts of undead horrors.

I also understand that this is a case of "who wants this world more" along with "but I was here first," adding a little "we need this world's rescources" with the factions trying to erase all or some of the other factions in order to obtain their goals.

I need some help fleshing out the histories, biology, culture, and desires of the different factions, primarily that of the Others and of the Aliens. Then I gotta figure out how to graft them into the plot, and such...

So basically the thread objectives are:
-Develop working ideas on what each faction IS, what they DO, and what they WANT
-Figure out a basic history of the world (pretty much Earth in the near future when shit hits the fan), so like when the factions appeared and what brought them there
-Get an idea of a plot line, as in what's the main drive of the story and how do we get the characters to interact

[Mateotis]

I'd say that the interest checks are more for RPs that are already (at least mostly) planned out and are in the next phase (looking for players), so this thread is fine here. Once again, only in my opinion.

As for actual brainstorming: the world is post-apocalyptic. Something must have happened to make it so (the "shit hits the fan" part). What if each faction claimed to have indirectly caused that event? For example, the spiritual demons could say that their gods came down on Earth to purify the sinful souls. Or the necromancers could claim the cause to be the dark energies they were toying with. Etc etc.

Each faction having a reason for the apocalypse could also strengthen their claim on the world in its current state (e.g.: the demons must aid their aforementioned gods in the "purification"). What do you say about it?

All in all, interesting premise! I'd love to see it develop. I might chime in in the future if I have other ideas to add into the mix.

[NuttsnBolts]

I'd say that the interest checks are more for RPs that are already (at least mostly) planned out and are in the next phase (looking for players), so this thread is fine here. Once again, only in my opinion.

@Mateotis

I agree with @Mateotis, Interest Checks are used to judge whether an RP is worth running and a bit of pre-advertisement for what's coming up. So until you're comfortable with the idea, stick to this thread to throw around ideas and theories. :)

When it comes to Factions I find that they can be a hit or miss element. Some players will gravitate to one type simply due to liking it more than the others or how it offers better ideas. From what I can see you have:
- Psychic Aliens
- Interdementional Beings
- Demonic Forces
- The Undead

From what I can see there is a few problems that can arise from just this alone. These classes will need a lot more clarity and some seem very similar just at first glance. Where is the human aspect to the roleplay? Is there one or is this a story of non-human beings? Do these factions have a common appearance or are they all unique?

To place this to a test what would you say if I created a character that looked like the Protoss from The Starcraft series and someone created a Yoda like character? It gets a little more confusing when I incorporate an alien like the Tyranids from Warhammer 40k where it is technically an alien, but appears Demonic. These are some of the questions you may face. Basically what I'm saying is that if you want factions you may want to think about how they mesh/clash with each other and how you can leave it open for custom designs. There is a point that you have to find where you don't cross so that you don't accidentally micro-manage the classes.

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When it comes to motives and "I want the world" or "I need this resource", that simply isn't enough. It's a flat sense of motivation and the players will forget about it in next to no time. To give an example of motivation done in an interesting way I can mention Odin Sphere (a game I'm playing at the moment and half way through)

In Odin Sphere they have a game mechanic known as Phozons and Several different classes. (It'll be a rough explanation just to get a point across)
- The Valkyries want Phozons and the Cauldron for both power and to create weapons known as Psyphers.
- To create a Psypher the Valkyries need to steal gems from the Netherworld and power them with Phozons
- The Cauldron was owned by the Valentineans until it basically sucked all the Phozons out of the country
- The Fairies want to hold onto the Cauldron because their whole existance depends on Phozons. Giving it up would be the end of their race.

So from that you can see 4 factions, Valkyries, The Netherworld, Valentineans, and Fairies. You can see how each has a specific reason for desiring their existance and that reason happens to clash with at least one other nation; for power, the right to live, preventing the destruction of another race, or just annoyance of having something continually stolen.

=

What you need to do for your RP is sit down and think about each class individually. Think about how you want them portrayed and what it is that they desire. You need to have a threat to their existance and how that conflicts with another class. Once you can gather those ideas together the plot should make itself a little more clear. As a tip, keep the plot simple so that you can build on it later and shape it throughout the roleplay.

Hope that wall of randomness helps. ;D

[FrozenEcstasy]

So I did figure something out let me know if this makes sense

-Rising population on Earth increases amount of Necromancers and undeath anomalies, the nature of souls and soul energy travelling between the dead realms and the living creates reality fluxes that release a special type of Flux Energy
-The Others thrive in large quantities of Flux Energy, and the nature of the increase in Flux Energy caused by the Necromancers draw the Others to our reality
-The Alien Race has been within our solar system for a long time, the population of Earth is resulting of an experiment conducted by them, the threat of the Others draws them to Earth where they plan to drive them off to prevent them from becoming a confound to their data
-The Demons thrive off the chaos of the previous three factions so they jump realms into ours, the more powerful having their own forms and the less powerful possess compatible bodies of the other 3 factions + factionless humans, their main goal is to use the chaos to come out on top and spread influence among three different races at once
-The Necromancers see the demonic possessions as defilement to nature and wish to purify them from the realms, and also see the presence of the Others as an abomination to our reality

Does that give enough motive to each faction for a roleplay do you think?

Also someone mentioned "but where are the humans?"

A) The roleplayers will be playing the humans (And allowed a second non-human character)
B) Each faction will offer a different set of abilities and resources for the humans that wish to join them. The reasons humans are invited to the faction of Others is yet to be determined.
C) Factionless humans will be available but will lack abilities contained in the factions without some form of stealing resources, and will have to somehow come up with their own assets to survive
D) Necromancers are all human, there will be some special humans in this group due to it's nature, some of those being a form of vampire, lich, or etc.

As for general abilities to be expanded on in each faction:
1) Aliens will offer Psiionic abilities to the humans of their faction, along with extremely high tech. Some of this tech will exist in other factions in smaller amounts because thievery is a thing.
2) Others will offer odd abilities and mutations, things similar to extra eyes and energy based abilities
3) Demons will offer a form of magic independent to Necromancy at the cost of requiring possession, this magic will focus more on fire and manipulative curses and those that use it will be understood as practicioners of witchcraft
4) Necromancy offers the largest sum of possibilities. Necromancy can take the form of Vampirism, Lichdom, the summoning of the dead, the reanimation of dead bodies, and certain decay-based abilities. Necromantic magic will be more of a physical magic with direct effects on the world around them rather than creating something new.

Things I still need to figure out:
1) The anatomy of Others, Aliens, and Demons
I do know basics though
A) Aliens will be mostly human in appearance but will have some form of exaggerated features and
extra external organs
B) Others will be characterized by tentacles and eyes
C) Demons will be characterized by horns, cloven feet, and skin tinted red or black
2) The culture and history of the 4 factions
3) How to bring the players together consistently enough that it's a successful roleplay
4) The nature of necromantic curses and the like that create Vampirism, Lichdom, and other similar afflictions/transcendence