(Operational Test and Evaluation Force)
{Closed (see here for more details}
Interest Check (Just for posterity's sake)
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"Where good ideas go to die thrive."
In the interest of joint divisional cooperation within OPTEVFOR, JDF-1 was recently formed to be a total-fleet testbed for ship designs, fleet composition, and tactics for the United States Navy. New ideas, eccentric captains, odd ship designs, and unusual missions are par for the course. So are equipment failures, poor interpersonal and intership discipline, crew nobody else wants, really bad plans, and utterly banal missions. Everything from untested submarines to not-quite-crazy-enough to discharge captains to combat airship test platforms are now quietly shoved into this fleet and left to hang themselves.
Premise
This is a ship-based fleet RP. You will roleplay an entire ship in conjunction with the other players (and their ships) to acheive the mission objectives given to you by COMOPTEVFOR. There's a twist, though - your ships are experimental. They should (mostly) be based on real-life or concept ships, as that makes it much easier to fill out the dimensions, speed, and other fields on the ship sheet. Additionally, the RP is set in the modern day, real-life Earth, so no hyperlaser mecha ships that transform into crabs and can walk on land. Acceptable breaks from reality might include an anti-missile laser ship, for example, as the military (as far as I know) is at least testing that technology. As a general rule, if a modern military is testing, using, or used the technology, then it's probably okay. If you'd like to make an airship, that's fine, too - but I'll only allow one airship in the RP (first come first serve).
Missions:
This RP will be mostly player-driven. I'll give you your orders and mission briefing (including an intelligence report), but from that point on what happens is up to the players. I will try to be as transparent as possible as to what obstacles you'll encounter; however, your characters only know the information in the intelligence report. Obviously your characters can discover this information as the RP progresses, but they might not know what you, the player, knows.
One of the benefits of this transparency is that you (the players) are free to roleplay as the NPC forces. I retain the right to veto the actions of NPC's in player posts, however. I'll only do that if I think the NPC actions are out of character for said NPC's, or if the story demands it (theoretically, you should know what the NPC's are planning to do, anyway, so that second reason likely won't come into play). The other benefit is that if I should be absent for a few days (I'll notify you in advance should this happen), the RP will be able to continue.
Between missions, of course, is travel time. Missions may not take place in the same part of the world, so the fleet has to move to the next place. So what the heck do you post when the fleet is travelling and the plot isn't directly advancing? Here's a few options:
- Resupply! Your guns need ammo, your ships need fuel, your crew needs consumables (food, water), and you need an excuse to go to Singapore.
- Character Development
- 21-year-olds (the average age of US Navy sailors) being idiots
- Equipment Malfunctions
- Steel Beach Picnics
- Storms
- Intership Rivalries and Pranks
I'm sure you'll be able to come up with something.
Remember, the more you give other ships and players to react to, the better the RP will be!
Command:
One of the "experiments" in JDF-1 is the command structure. Strictly speaking, Rear Admiral Walter Davis is in command of the fleet. RADM Davis, however, is happily behind a desk in San Diego. The most commanding that he ever does is issuing orders via secure transmission. The captains of the ships are then left to figure out amongst themselves how to carry out said orders. All of this stems from some Admiral's son's thesis paper entitled Eusocial Groups and their Applications to the Modern Navy. Like many other things that ended up in JDF-1, the Navy had to pay lip service to said paper (even if the Admiral firmly requested that they didn't), and therefore shoved the idea into JDF-1 to either die or emerge victoriously.
Of course, just because RADM Davis is in San Diego doesn't mean that there'll be hell to pay if the fleet fails to carry out orders.
Combat:
Will be decided entirely via roleplay.
Setting:
This RP is taking place on our modern-day Earth. Tensions are rising between the West and East due to the Crimean/Ukraine crisis. JDF-1 is only one month old. Your ships may be older, but they've been reassigned to JDF-1 last month. That means that your ship crew will have had time to at least get acquainted with the other ships in the fleet. The first mission you receive is the first patrol JDF-1 will ever perform. The majority of the US Navy (and the world) has never heard of JDF-1, which by rights is hardly even a fleet (it's more a task force with an inflated name).
Rules:
- Have fun!
- Any drama or horrible arguments should take place in PM (if at all). If there's a major issue you feel is not being addressed, please PM me.
- Don't be a tool.
- Forum rules apply.
Gunther's List of Ships (not necessarily accepted)
Don't be afraid to ask questions or make comments!
