Actually, y'know, M127 and I have been thinking, perhaps this is more suited for an IRC RP then a forum-based one? I would like to test this, if everyone's okay with it.
Alright the plan: For a few days we will test this through various means. We shall start the RP from the forums, yet in an IRC Chat I shall link, we'll actually be playing a completely unrelated team of similar people. We'll test combat, character interactions, and how entertaining it is in both environents.
At the end of the test (next wednesday maybe), I would wish for everyone to honestly state which they enjoyed better. If a conclusion can not be reached, we will default to Forum-based, with a possibility of testing again later on.
I'll go into a bit more details how it'll work. Both the 'Forum Test' and 'IRC Test' will happen over the same period of time. for the 'Forum Test', simply do what comes natural for a forum roleplay, and tell me how you enjoyed it when I say the test has ended. for the IRC test, I would like everyone who wishes to participate to come into this IRC channel: kiwiirc.com/client/irc.esper.net/ncquest . IF you have a dedicated IRC client, it's on Esper.net, and the channel is #ncquest. If you're going to participate, please be on friday/saturday at 2:00 P.M., Central time (UTC 06). It's totally fine if you're late. As well, while I would like for everyone to participate, it's not required.
Anyways, when all is said and done, next wednesday I'll ask what everyone enjoyed the most. Thank you all in advance for participating (or not, even)
Edit: Oh, the IRC Channel is 'validated', meaning that the admin of the channel (M127, since he made it for me. thx m127) has to 'validate' you every time you join. Alternatively, you can use /nickserv to register your desired nickname (if its' available) so that as long as you remember to use /nickserv, you will automatically be validated, and thus can post.
Edit 2: Some additional insight, the 'forum RP' will begin tomorrow as well as the IRC RP. AKA "HOLY FUCK IMMA MAKE THE IC POST"
NO HOLY SHIT YOU ARE NOT EXPECTED TO WRITE AS MUCH AS THE FIRST IC POST. HOLY FUCK. I have NO IDEA how it ballooned up to that size, jesus. I even had to put a summary at the bottom!
And we already have our first collaborative post between m127 and myself!
It would never be necessary, but I'd honestly like it if we could do that decently often. Just makes the story read smoother, y'know? Not mandatory at all though.
@ADParis, aww, getting writers block? That's fine, even better that you actually said it and being honest. I really should make a little note somewhere on how NC's actually... y'know. work, huh?
I'm honestly getting second thoughts about starting this oh-so-quickly. I believe I need a few extra days to properly tweak the storyline(s) I have planned and re-create everything GM side. While it's been going wondrous (not even gonna lie), I think I put this all extremely haphazardly and didn't do enough research, that sort of thing. I'd highly prefer if everyone changed all of their IC and character posts to -awaiting restructuring- and such.
I don't really see anything wrong with what was going on aside from a severe lack of NC information and the 'Codex' not being.. super useful. I'd start trying to think of what would actually be useful for pilots to know. "what's the cockpit like?" or "are there manual controls for testing purposes?" or "so how far is customization?" or things like that. More about the world in general would be nice as well. And I'm willing to help with it cause like for one, I'm technically sort of a co-GM (and as I understand GMing it's just like coming up with scenarios and actually making the world that goes with it) and two, I fucking love worldbuilding.
Starting too quickly is something I'm paranoid about with RPing, too. Cause your enthusiasm might muddle it up and end up making the rp worse in the end cause you didn't give it the structure and love it needed to not crumble as soon as it got started. Enthusiasm is good, just don't let it cloud your judgement.
edit: so I looked at your fucking tagline (under your username) and started laughing cause it kind of related to your post a little I just. omg
it's sort of a copy/paste cause honestly it still fits the bill fine, I think. I just added to it. and changed the NC.. I hope the Fairbanks thing is still ok. :s
Name: Percy Moore
Nicknames: Pierce (for no real reason other than calling him 'Purse' would sound weird)
Background: He was born into a very average family in Smith's Rest, but his parents died soon after he moved out because of disease and the lack of medicine for the disease. He then met a rather nice woman who worked as a sort of 'mechanic', settled down and married, then had his daughter, Ana. Again, tragedy struck when his wife died in an accident when his daughter was maybe a few months old. He's a single father that would willingly walk through Hell and back if it meant his daughter would be safe.
Age: 29, but he looks more like he's in his mid-30s.
Personality: He's painfully shy to strangers, but once you get to know him and become friends, he's very laid back and calm... Most of the time, at least. He tends to exhibit mild paranoia, constantly looking out of the window to make sure nobody's peeking in, locking and relocking doors, etc. When he's stressed, he tends to overestimate the issue, panic, and even cry, sometimes. Eventually the stress gets to a point he's angry-crying, and that is not a pretty sight in the slightest... So he tries to avoid getting to that point. As a pilot, he would eventually turn into very much a team player, after meeting his crew. He might take to the younger recruits more so than those his age, however.
Appearance: With a mildly-above average physique and muscle toning, you could say he's somewhat attractive. He's also a redhead and has freckles all over his body. His hair is usually cut fairly short and he doesn't really care enough to style it, so it looks a little bit messy and shaggy. His eyes are gray-blue-ish and dark. He's usually wearing something simple and comfortable, like a t-shirt and jeans, but he has a light tan colored button up for more formal situations, and a tacky bright green jacket for the cold of Ahlazkai. He also wears two plain silver rings- the ring on his left was his wife's, the ring on his right is his own. As a pilot, he would wear the uniform given - if there was a given uniform, that is. If there's not a given uniform, he would wear something that fit tightly but not uncomfortably, so then nothing gets caught on any electronics or switches.
Tactical Preferences: He's flexible as long as it's discussed before going out into the mission.. as long as he's not too too close. He's more of a support than a front-liner. Sniping or just sticking close to the team using firearms is more his style.
Skills: Out of the bot, he has a decent aim with his pistol. He's also very observant - his paranoia problem isn't all bad.
Other Things of Note: He has a very strange skill - juggling objects. The most he can juggle is maybe 4 or 5. He drinks, but he almost always regrets it afterwards - hangovers suck He's actually embarrassed of his hair being red, and would probably blush if you mentioned it.
Text Color: LightGray
Codename: Papa Mike (NATO alphabet for his initials.. Might change it) Appearance: Fairbanks standard model. Clunky and blocky. Metallic blank paint with white accents. Might be a little dinged up, but he doesn't mind too much as long as it's functional. Body-Plan: Bipedal Type/Quality: It's designed to be semi-proficient at most tasks, but it's not perfect. The thrusters are a little bit messed up and are prone to frizzing out. Again, Percy doesn't mind it - he's not going to be doing a lot of hovering around. He'd only use the thrusters to dash away from enemy fire. Equipment: Stock neural computer, slightly damaged but still functional thrusters, and slightly above average generator. Armaments: Standard Fairbanks-Model rifle, a standard laser blade (like in the game Armored Core), and small missile launcher on the back. General Description/Notes: It's a very plain NC, not really meant for one specific job. Even if it's dinged up, it's still functional.. might be prone to a lock up mid-mission though. MIGHT be.
Name: Ana Moore
Nicknames: n/a
Background: Being only seven, she hasn't exactly accomplished much. She knows that her mother is dead, but it doesn't exactly affect her much.. A mother figure would be nice to have, though, she wouldn't deny that. She does well in school, getting mostly As and Bs.
Age: 7
Personality: More outgoing than her father is, but she has her bouts of shyness, much like everyone else. She's picking up some paranoid behaviors from her father like checking her bedroom door lock, for example. She also has a tendency to daydream and wonder what life might have been like before Burrows.. She imagines it was pretty nice.
Appearance: She's also freckled and has red hair which is cut short and with bangs so her hair isn't completely in the way. She took after her mother, having green eyes that are full of life and wonder. She's a little bit underweight, but not concerningly so. She has a very tiny, almost unnoticeable scar on her nose from hitting her face into a door-frame when she was little. She wears her father's old clothes from when he was her age and some worn-looking sneakers, but, again, she has a little purple dress and some simple black dress shoes she could wear for more formal situations.
Other Things of Note: She's a bit clumsy and tends to trip over herself. When she was five, she stole a box of crayons from school.. She said they were given to her. She was never found out and still has them.
Joe is the son of the mechanic Arin Verona, working in Smith's rest, which allowed Joe to get to see a few NCs in his life while his father was working on them. He also picked up a bunch of scientific knowledge regarding engineering from him. An old but still post-cataclysm computer was a gift for his 13th birthday; it only had a commandline interface, although it was possible for it to display and generate images. Especially the lack of a graphical user interface paved the way for Joe to learn much about computing with his remainder of a child's ability to learn complex systems quickly, given sufficient interest. About two years ago the financial situation of the family got really bad, so Arin decided to sell Joe's computer. Unfortunatly without consulting him first. The very same day Joe noticed and snapped, punching his father in the head during the rage which lasted only a few seconds before he regained control. The force of the punch was great enough to break his hand and permanently damage his father's brain. As a result of the damage, Arin's long-term memory is unable to store new memories, although previous memories from before that day remain unaffected.
Age: 26 Personality: Joe is usually the analytical type, using knowledge to his advantage. It is very hard to anger him, and if he is in a rage it only lasts for seconds, but during those seconds he is capable of anything, except staying calm and analytical.
height: 1.79m normal weight, although closer to underwheight than to overwheight pale as a vampire
Tactical preference/skills:Joe isn't really cut out for combat, mostly because his tendency to overanalize his situation lowers his reaction-time significantly; in some situations 2 seconds pass before he can react. As such he usually prefers to be in safe locations during a battle, being rather involved in communications, tactics or cyber-warfare(taking remote control of an enemy unit and the like). He is not a great tactitian despite his analytical nature though Other things of note: NERD!!!
Code-Name: Swarm
Body-Plan: A general humanoid, although armored and handless. Where the hand would normally be is instead a currently unoccupied weapon or utility slot Type/Quality: It acts as a ranged unit, taking out both grounded and airborn targets, preferably out of their range. Middling-low
The 22 missile launcher have a reload time of 40 seconds and it takes about 4 seconds to fire an entire volley of missiles.
To ease targeting and target-prioritizing, the head is equipped if a more powerful radar, which can manually be focussed in any direction to increase its range in that direction a bit.
The Swarm is equipped with 2 guidance systems:
A cruise missile controller for precise strikes with single missles
An IR-laser to aim at whatever a volley of heat-seekers shall target. The laser itself has not enough power to do any damage on its own
General Description: The Swarm Is a heavier, hunchbacked unit with an extreme focus on long range combat and defensive armaments. It features numerous long-range high mobility missile launchers, and it would have a high-powered plasma cannon in the waist, but that mount is currently unoccupied. As well, the Swarm has an interesting backpack design suited for aerodynamics and in-atmosphere flight speed, effectively meaning that while it's slow as mollasses on the ground, its actually sort of fast in the air. However, if the backpack was hit by a heavier weapon, due to speedy and shoddy construction, it does have a chance to damage the rest of the unit. Thus, the pilot should always point towards the enemy.
Talking to LGH and possibly entering this. Ill be drafting a character sheet soon and hopefully it'll be alright.
I like the idea, but gonna admit that my mech knowledge is pretty limited. Outside transformers and some gundam series I saw when I was about 10, I haven't really followed much in the robotic scene. I did watch Code Geass and Pacific Rim recently so hopefully that'll help. :)
Anyways, I'll see how I go. Ain't gonna ditch an RP mid run (only did that once due to GM troubles and difference in views)
Appearance: Madi has a young appearance considering she's in her early 20's with an appreciation for heavy, hard wearing clothing, the type that a factory worker would wear. She wears a large pair of boots that make a thumping sound when she walks, whether it's due to their size or if she's doing it on purpose is something that nobody really knows.
Personality: Madi can come across as a fairly loud and an occasionally egotistical individual, often attempting to trying to outshine those around her in one way or another. Deep down though she has fair bit of trust in her comrades, but at the same time a lack of trust for people in general.
On the battlefield Madi can be found with loud music playing within the cockpit of her NC and during a fight she will sometimes go a bit overboard, becoming too enthusiastic and emptying her ammo reserves long before her comrades. This attitude towards combat is what earned her the Code-Name of Mad-e.
Background: Madi was born above ground in a small community but was left abandoned when her entire settlement was wiped out. She was only a small girl at the time and was discovered by a small group from the colony of Smith's Rest as she wandered the empty wasteland, sad and alone. They decided to take her back and placed her under the care of an engineer known as Duncan Brown. There she grew up for the next 17 years and learnt how to operate and use the different types of machinery that Duncan worked on.
Tactical Preferences/Skills: Madison likes to focus on Long and Mid-Range combat, using the long range abilities of her NC only as a means to get in closer for some serious action. Her crazed attitude towards fighting can often lead to her pushing her NC to near breaking point.
Mad-e
Body Plan The Mad-e is a 50 tonne humanoid mech with a set of attachment ports on the back that can be fitted with a quad set of VTOL engines (As seen on this image). For the time being it is a ground unit as the flight engines are currently being worked on in order to take the weight and strains that the Mad-e endures.
Type/Quality Mad-e is, for the most part, a mid-range assault NC. It's main role is to clear out as much of the enemy forces it can while staying out of the way of the short range attackers.
It has heavy armour plating that helps protect the unit but this mostly a collection of metal plating that has been found around the colony and welded to the NC. Due to this fact many of the sheets that cover important componentry have weak points, cracks and ingrained rust that cannot be seen easily until the unit is out on the battlefield and in the thick of it. Adding to that, and thanks mostly to Madison's recklessness, the Mad-e's weapons will occasionally overheat and jam, leaving her vulnerable to counter attacks.
Equipment - A quad set of VTOL engines that allow long distance flight and when overcharged, will allow a quick back dodge. (Currently being worked on) - A smoke launcher that will disperse a cloud of roughly 100m diameter around the NC. - A night vision and IR camera to help assist during smoky and dark situations. - The targeting system uses line of sight to locate and identify the enemy. Madi then has to select each target and aim at them manually in order to take them down. (This also means that she will have to rely on her comrades for spotting any ambush attacks)
Armaments - The main cannon on the shoulder can fire mortar warheads that explode mid air and rain down with individual grenades. The reload time on this cannon isn't very quick and the NC only has the storage for a few warheads. - The right arm is equipped with a rotary gatling gun - The left arm is equipped with slug cannon that will fire heavier rounds. It is a much slower weapon but packs a lot of punch.
General Description/Notes: Until the VTOL system is complete, the Mad-e needs to be airlifted by another NC or aerial units to it's desired location.
Duncan Brown
Appearance: Duncan is a slender male in his mid to late 30s. He's often wearing ragged, torn clothes that are usually covered in grease and dirt.
Personality: Duncan is a quiet man who is very reassuring and intelligent. He likes to view things from a far and will attempt to cool down any disagreements that happen around his vicinity. To add to this he is very caring, positive and easily approachable.
Background: Duncan grew up in Smith's Rest and found a passion for engineering at a young age. He took to the toolbox like a duck to water and for over 25 years has been someone that can be relied on for repairing any of the equipment that has broken down in the area.
Back in his early 20's he was asked to take care of Madison and happily did so. He taught her a lot about the colony and what it meant to live within Smith's Rest. Nowadays he is her lead mechanic on her NC and is quite often repairing the machine that she so happily damages.
That's fucking great! Aside from a few extremely minor spelling errors, (namely, you spelled MC, not NC. harhar), and you forgot the 'quality' in type/quality (Should be something like 'medium low'. After all, Smith's Rest may have good engineers, but y'know. They're not a military repair depot) that's extremely good. Approved right away.
I also like how I get this feeling she's going to develop a "I'M NOT A KID DAMMIT' complex over the story. That's good material right there.
Anyway, approved yo. Stick it in the characters tab.