The State
The New World Order has been established for some years now and no one can deny the might of The State. It gave people Freedom, freedom from want. It gave people purpose, to obey. It gave people free time to enjoy what they wish to do, but severely reduced the list of what they could do. Most agree with the propaganda that says that this new life is clean, safe, healthy... some say that it is like a glass of water, as if indeed it will allow you to live a long life, it still remains extremely tame and dull.
But dullness people like you do now have to suffer from, you are men of power! The good shepherds, those that insure that the world keeps on turning. But why is it that while people enjoy 27h work weeks you work tirelessly day and night. Patriotic fervor? Because you are the only one for this job? Or is it because of greed? Maybe Careerism?
The World:
-Technologies.
Near future sci-fi. We have a space elevator, even scientific colonies across the system! But we are far indeed from interstellar travel, though it is the dream we strive for. Heavier vehicles use an array of railguns, defensive lasers and most of all, have a heavy emphasis on nuclear energy, something emulated for the civilians in some way in trains and planes alike but this is not really important. Small arms, the tools of assassination, are still using gun powder as other technologies have not been miniaturized. The focus is toward sustainability and automation, insuring people work always less. Robotic seems just around the corner though having an AI capable of doing all of the work of man seems improbably to have in this generation.
-Culture.
The State hardly cares. It does not wish to antagonize people over their different belief but it seeks to centralize a few ideas. The total plan for the future is known only to the Propaganda and Education Secretariat, but right now? Things are different from place to place but there are some things that have been anchored so deep in the mind of people that questioning them is not even dangerous, it is ridiculous. First: Now is better than before. Second: We must accept each other and our differences. Third: The State, even if it stumbles and sometimes do mistakes, works for the benefits of all.
History:
-The War to End All Wars.
It was US against THEM. They lost. Our brilliant strategies, our superior technologies and the unmatched determination of our soldiers won the day! But not without the ruthlessness of our leader. Mutually Assured Destruction relied on the idea of uncertainty. If one party was 100% certain to attack, then the other had to launch a preemptive strike to limit its loses. Likewise, if one had 0% chance to use its nuclear weapons, then the other had no problem to attack. They called their leader a 'Bleeding heart liberal'. We called him 'Weak'. Hesitation, unwillingness to be the one to end the world gave us the time to remove to them the choice of using or not their weapons. We obliterated them.
-After.
They did not submit, but we knew we had won. They ran away to the woods and the mountains, or held to their destroyed cities but it was only a question of time until they would all be defeated or dead. Everyone knew it would only be the start of something greater. The focus turned to space, explore the vast unknown so that now we had conquered earth, we could conquer the rest of the cosmos. It seemed that this spirit of hope would never end. But it did.
-Now.
Enemies die, but others join their ranks. Problems are solved, but new ones arise. Are things better? Yes, those that had fought for this moment would agree, but they would also say they expected things to be better than they are now. The draft is still there and people still go die in the irradiated wasteland containing the enemies that didn't surrender after more than a decade of 'peace'. Terrorists bring death and fear to the population of the Core Lands. The automation that brought men salvation from work was quite entertaining but now leave them bored. Most of all, the heroes and men of action of the past leave place to the bureaucrats of the future. The population does not respect them and by extension, begin to lose respect to the state. After all, the idea that everyone could become anything is vanishing as The State is becoming a closed system, where you can only get in if you know people inside. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the recent choice of the new Chairwoman.
Who?
-The Chairwoman.
Erika Mondal. You know of her illustrious predecessor, her father, Victor 'The Victorious' Mondal. Her? The reclusive, robotic and paranoid bureaucrat. You rarely see her, then again most people don't either. No doubt she is intelligent, but fit to fill the role of the Leader of The State? She has little charisma and you, like most people, question if the predecessor didn't push nepotism too far. But who could take her place?
Who? Well, here's a list.
-The Chairwoman's entourage.
-The Security Chief.
The person in charge of insuring the Chairwoman's security, know her movement and appearances before they happen. His powers might seem limited, but whatever he says goes and everyone has to make place for him, as they would assume he speaks for Her.
-Pros:
--Unquestionable Loyalty: He answers to the Chairwoman and no one else. To accuse him, you must complain to her.
--Too Unimportant: Any attack against him will generally be thought to be aimed at her first.
--Immunity: The Chairman's personal planes and cars may go anywhere they please and on her behalf, he can phone anyone in complete privacy.
-Cons:
--Personal Review: He is close to the chairwoman, as such she is more aware of his actions than others.
--Assumed Loyalty: Anyone would assume that the chief of security is automatically on the Chairwoman's side.
--Reputation Weakness: He keeps his job only as long as the Chairwoman thinks he's loyal.
-The Chief Attendant.
Called a glorified butler, the chief attendant insures that paper gets on the Chairwoman's desk, dials the phone numbers for her and take care of her health. He's the one who spends the most time with her and thus is the most intimate in all her personal secrets.
-Pros:
--Unquestionable Loyalty: He answers to the Chairwoman and no one else. To accuse him, you must complain to her.
--Too Unimportant: Any attack against him will generally be thought to be aimed at her first.
--Privy: She is just human, and sometimes keeps important documents in the open...
--Cup Bearer: The one who pours and tastes the wine of the king is the one in the best position to assassinate him. In Erika's case? You are also her doctor, her first medical response...
-Cons:
--Personal Review: He is close to the chairwoman, as such she is more aware of his actions than others.
--Assumed Loyalty: Anyone would assume that the chief of security is automatically on the Chairwoman's side.
--Reputation Weakness: He keeps his job only as long as the Chairwoman thinks he's loyal.
--No Outside Strike Force: Lets face it, the butler will probably never become king. He needs outsiders to work as much as they might need him.
-The Secret Services
-HumInt Director
Responsible of Human Intelligence and spies, he was once in control of counter intelligence as well as Black Ops but the three were split by the Chairwoman who sees him as the most dangerous element to watch out for. Officially works only to dispose of terrorists, but are known to be the go-to guys when Public Security wants to infiltrate a possible corruption ring.
-Pros:
--Layers of secrecy: The entire intelligence community works on a need to know basis. People under his command rarely ask question and assume everything he asks, no matter how suspicious, is justified.
--Shadow Organization: The budget is a black hole and the agents all have covers, even in front of Public Security.
--License to kill: Any act done by a secret agency can only be questioned by the chairwoman or OVER-Lord Directors.
-Cons:
--Under Suspicion: The chairwoman knows the Director is a very, very powerful man and thus watches his moves with great interest.
--Double Crossing Backstabbers: Lying is the bread and butter of the agency, unsurprisingly when one of their agent talks of disloyalty people become very defensive.
--Unworkable Army Relations: The army doesn't like working on a 'need to know' basis. Thus don't like to work with Secret Services.
-SigInt Director
Chief of Signal Intelligence, all that is hacking and telecommunication monitoring of enemies of the states. Enemies of the states are generally people pointed at by other agencies, but SigInt is independent enough to chose, as the fact they don't have any actual field operatives keeps the Chairwoman from nosing around too much.
-Counter Intelligence Director
Responsible for sniffing out traitors in anything army related that public security doesn't investigate, which means anything intelligence or army related. They are watch dogs, but the director must still answer to the OVER-Lord Bureaus.
-Black Ops General
The guy that sends the party van to bring in, dead or alive, enemies of the state. The organization is shrouded in secrecy and in theory should never be able to work without instructions from another agency... in theory.
-The War Secretariats
-Army Secretary
Responsible for acquisition and distribution of military gear. The generals handle field operations and strategies, but the Secretary is the one to chose where the guns and supplies go.
-Navy Secretary
While it handles less resources on a more limited scope than any secretary, the navy is more broad, including the Naval Air Force, Marines, Navy intelligence, etc...
-Air Secretary
There are no civilian or military airports, the two of them occupying the same status under the Air force secretariat, since after all even civilian planes use nuclear energy now, which can be very dangerous, also giving a lot of reach to this secretary.
-Public Security
-OVER-Watch Director.
The system monitoring the civilian population, which as all been chipped and that contains more cameras than population. The day to day life of people is constantly monitored to dispatch police cars, fire trucks and other emergency responses anywhere at any time. The organization is immense, as is the privacy it breaches on a day to day basis. In a city, OVER-Watch is king.
-OVER-Lord Left Director
OVER-Watch enjoys terrible power, but who should watch that they don't miss use it? OVER-Lord, that's whom. Counter Intelligence might watch for corruption in the military, but OVER-Lord watches for corruption in the administration. They have a backdoor to any computer they so wish and record the conversations held in any high level office for review. But who should watch the watchmen?
-OVER-Lord Right Director
OVER-Lord itself. The right and left director, so named because of the position of their offices, spy on the administration, but also on each other. They have equal power and the number one rule is that no OVER-Lord members of an office, should ever, ever come in direct contact with one of the other, as to prevent collusion.
-Central Directorate Police Chief
The police chief of the capital, with resources rivaling the military as to tare care of the multiple terrorist emergencies and political events that come with serving in the capital. Excels in crowd control and counter-terror operations. An underestimated power that could easily put the capital on complete lockdown in hours.
-Criminal Investigation Director
OVER-Watch video evidence is more often than not enough to prove the guilt of criminals, but in matters not related to State Affairs that need further look into, such as drug abuse, non political murder or so forth, the Criminal Investigation steps in and insure to find proof of guilt.
Joint Military Staff
-The Field Marshal
Highest ranked land army general of The State, oversees force deployment around the world and the readiness of the army.
-The Marshal of the Air Force
Highest ranked air force commander of The State. Considered to be along with the Navy Admiral a rather useless token position since no enemies of the state has planes anymore. Still, not to be underestimated as this person is in charge of civilian flight control and airports in general as well. Plus, a couple of bombers can be a convincing argument in negotiations.
-The High Admiral of the Navy
Highest ranked navy admiral of The State. Considered useless in this day and age where an enemy building a navy vessel of any sort seems undoable, still controls a substantial number of ships, submarines, planes and marine infantry waiting in port for deployment across the world. Was it said the capital is within gun fire of a battleship?
-Commander of the Space Forces
Considered an esoteric role that involves being the first line of defense against a potential alien invasion of any kind, the Space Commander still controls a small flotilla of vessels capable of engaging space and high altitude crafts along with substantial nuclear power (Any alien capable of reaching the solar system will have tech beyond anything humanity has, as such, its logical to use everything they have immediately.). A more concrete thing however is the existence of 'Space Marines', capable of dropping anywhere on the planet in minutes by jumping from Space.
-WMD Strike Force Commander
The custodians of the missiles containing the nuclear arsenal of The State. While it has no enemy that could possibly justify the use of nukes, The State keeps a large amount of them in stock and this man watches over the switch.
-Joint Task Force Occupation Commander
The guy in charge of maintaining order in the New Territories, where guerrilla fighting is omnipresent. Controls a joint task force of land, air and navy element mainly composed of small and rapid unit to quickly deal with rebellions and move around where needed efficiently. His units are far away from the capital, but the fact that he does his job (Or not) has major impact on the entire military and intelligence world.
-Capital Directorate Commander
Commander of the land forces around the capital, the first response force to emergencies after the capital police. Can bring to bare heavy arms around the capital quickly as needed.
-Political Prison Director
The janitor that handles captivity of highly politically sensitive prisoners. No one really knows what happens in that Prison and its list of residents is kept secret.
Technical Support
-IT Director
The guys that take care that the life line of the State, a complex network using multiple servers and hubs around the world is kept functional. Very linked to SigInt and under close watch of OVER-Watch since these guys know the ins and out of a more and more automated system.
-Telecom Director
If IT handles issues, Telecom handles day to day operation of the system. Insuring that the satellites are in place and that calls get to the right places while everyone gets cable TV and internet.
-Research and Development Director
The one in task of moving The State in the future! Army or otherwise, he develops the newest toys of everyone here and prides itself on its hangars full of prototypes, useful or not. Knows the ins and out of every technical system developed in recent history.
Social Support
-Secretary of Education and Entertainment
Also dubbed Secretary of propaganda, he is the man that controls everything from the news to the class room to what gets produced as movies as to get the people of the State to intellectually grow in the same direction (And insure everyone knows that everything is fine and perfect... really.).
-Secretary of Resource Management
The guy that controls the monumental industrial power of The State and chose on what to use it as well as control the prices of luxury items as well as the salaries of every single individual on the planet, choosing who should have more for their hard work or less for their laziness.
-Outerspace Director
Seen as potentially the most powerful person... in a couple of decades or century. Handles the scientific colonies across the solar system, space launches and the satellite network. A very scientific role.
Civilians of Importance
-The Retired General
The man who, according to the popular imagination, won the war for The State. A military genius coupled with a political mastermind that was able to make the dominos fall exactly as they should, not even allowing the tiniest nuclear counter strike to the enemy to achieve ultimate victory. He is now retired, with no command of his own, but he sure as hell is the most popular hero out there.
More ideas? Tell me!
PUBLIC (To post for anyone to see)
Name:
Role:
Known Bio:
Known Quirks: (How does he lead his men? Has he been vocal on certain opinions? Maybe he had his leg wounded and now he lips. A womanizer? Things that would be public knowledge and influence how others see this character.)
PRIVATE (To PM to me)
Unknown Bio:
Unknown Quirks: (Does he have a very monotonous routine? Maybe he doesn't like having body guards standing around him while he's at home or he has a family he dearly cares about but hides it? Things that would probably help or hinder assassination attempts. NOTE: You can say your character is paranoid as hell. It's useful, not gonna lie, but it better shows in your RP that you distrust others and not just be to gain an advantage)
Objective: (What does your character ultimately want. Power to himself? Keep the state stable? Personal vendetta against someone? Maybe just gain more material wealth...)
A Minimalist Example
Name: Erika Mondal
Role: Chairwoman of The State
Known Bio:
Extremely sheltered from birth since her father, the last chairman, thought people could target her to get to him. She's been taught by private tutors and as far as anyone can tell, is a bona fide genius. When she came to power, very little people knew she existed in the first place but people were willing to trust the judgement of her father one last time for the nomination to her new position of Chairwoman. Ultimately, her rule provided arguably beneficial as the system in place was reformed and streamlined, leaving increasing place to automated processes but also to multiple new leaders. She didn't trust her father's officers and saw them as menaces, too popular for her taste. They were mostly retired before their time, while some just 'disappeared'.
Known Quirks:
She keeps her public and private life extremely separated and as such, she doesn't go to social gathering unless her presence is absolutely required, and even then she'll leave as soon as possible after shaking a few hands and saying a speech. Some think she might not even have a private life, she was, after all, tutored privately and kept out of public spaces for all of her life. That or it would be her paranoia showing off. Indeed, she's known to constantly nose around the affairs of her immediate subordinates and not trust the word of anyone. Her relation with intelligence agencies especially have been extremely soured as years went by and she increased OVER-Lord oversight on their operations. Otherwise, she's been an advocate for the status quo, not liking any of her subordinates gaining any momentum, people do well to avoid her gaze.
Game Overs
-1: Civil War!
You can do coup, I expect quite a lot of putch attempts, BUT! If two sides (or more) are pitched against each other in something that might take years to solve and there is no possible diplomatic de-escalation and everything pushes for this to start, EVERYONE LOSES. Armies can be useful to force others to foil, but if The State is broken up, then you have failed to acquire the power you sought.
-2: Global Revolution!
The armies of The State are actively fighting terrorist cells and small scale uprisings all over the world. Generals especially might chose to move troops to intimidate other players or let rebels gain momentum as to build up pressure and flash points. But if left alone for too long, the rebels (Who will be entirely NPC) might come knocking at the doors of The State. If The State is defeated, so is everyone!
-3: Cabinet Reshuffle!
It is not enough to be the new Chairman of The State, the new chairman will have to insure the loyalty of the people under him. Which means he will have to replace the players with Yes-Men. The player that is the Chairman can chose to replace a player gone from play with a Yes-Man NPC that will do as he orders (Though with the skill of a henchman, since players are badasses). This can happen by the player character mysteriously dying from unknown reasons, or by outright firing them from their spot. (It isn't instantaneous, meaning a player that is being fired from his position will have the option to, if he has the strength and allies, refuse and confront the Chairman, saying 'What are you going to do about it?' and force the chairman to remove him by force, or reconsider.) Once the New Chairman has the majority of the roles replaced by Yes-Men, then he is THE WINNER. Can you chose to become someone's yes-man? You can! But you'll be booted from the game and become a NPC if you decide to just OOC 'conceit victory' to someone.
NOTE: At the start, Erika can demote you if you attract her ire before you can confront her, but she won't place Yes-Men like a player could.
-4: Doomsday!
Yes, there will be nukes involved and it can indeed be very useful to intimidate others, but! If someone triggers the nuclear Armageddon then its game over. Note that this means a substantial part of the world being destroyed, want to do an overkill and take out someone along with an entire city with a suitcase nuke? You can.
-5: The prodigal son arrives...
Secret Ending. A specific role will have insight on what that could be, and hints will pop along the roleplay on what this exactly is, but I'll tell you right now: It's well within The State, and its out in the open.
And so forth and so forth. The idea? Intrigue simulator 2000, everyone picking a person of power and working together or against one another to accomplish their desire, being to keep the power that be in power, or seize it to themselves.
How this would go? You are your character. You are NOT your agency and it is up to you to dispatch orders to achieve what you wish. Said orders being sent to me via PM, to which I send an answer (I'll keep it brief and give the big lines only so this doesn't stall and die), which you elaborate via posts. Feel free to plot with each other, its the point.
I need co-GMs.
Any takers? Suggestions, ideas, etc...
