EnterTheHero

Here Be Dragons: A Horror/Mecha RP on the Dark Frontier

@Cultural Titan@Lucky Depends on integration rate, for Dragons’ speed. On average, a Pilot will have anywhere from 60-70% integration with their AION. At that level, think of controlling it like a very tightly-controlled video game; some input lag, but very little. At 100% integration, it’s completely 1:1. The Dragon moves just as fast, just as reflexively as you do.

Going above that, there are added benefits, but also downsides. The higher you go above 100%, the more integrated with the Dragon you are, to the point you suffer “synchronization,” experiencing the same injuries on your own body as your Dragon does. Get above 200%, and you’re exceedingly powerful, but you also risk suffering “terminal integration.” You cannot be extricated from your Dragon anymore, or worse, you’re consumed instantly, forever a part of your machine, alive or dead.

Integration rate rises the farther you push yourself. Going past the bounds of exhaustion, overusing your Dragon’s powers, trying to force it to do something against its will, high stress levels- all of these can increase integration past safe levels.

And I don’t think I need to mention, after everything I’ve said, but Pilots are onboard with their Dragons in most engagements. Since they’re living beings, however, they can be ordered via remote command by their Pilot, for independent actions. They’re simply much more effective with a Pilot onboard.

Here Be Dragons: A Horror/Mecha RP on the Dark Frontier

@Cultural Titan@Lucky Dragons have their weapons built in, but there’s some variation in abilities and capabilities. There’s a few handy classifications for Dragon archetypes:

Rooks are close-combat specialists. They either have powerful short-range weapons, increased durability compared to other Dragons, more powerful shields, and so on.

Bishops are best at range- laser or particle beam batteries, a powerful breath weapon, enhanced vision and targeting, things like that.

Knights are tricksters, assassins. Camouflage, stealth drives, increased speed, anything that helps them be a better scout/assassin.

Then, breaking the chess metaphors, there’s Jokers. These are the “wild cards,” the ones whose abilities can’t be easily categorized into the other three archetypes. A well-known example is the Dragon codenamed “Sakura Blossom,” whose presence greatly increases Metalflesh regeneration in its vicinity, thus acting as a sort of “healer” Dragon.

Here Be Dragons: A Horror/Mecha RP on the Dark Frontier

@Cultural Titan The smallest Dragons are roughly 20 meters tall, with the average height being around 40-50, and the largest being around 90 meters tall.

Here Be Dragons: A Horror/Mecha RP on the Dark Frontier

@Inkjar No problem, happy to help, and happy for your interest. And yeah, a cocky go-getter would be fine as a character. It just makes it all the more fun when they break later on~

Here Be Dragons: A Horror/Mecha RP on the Dark Frontier

@Inkjar Welcome to the RP! Don’t worry about not having played much of this ilk before, we’re here to help. Now, to answer your questions:

Dragons are cloned from salvaged Shard bio-material. The AION is an artificial intelligence each Dragon has, to give them activity and autonomy, since plugging them into the Shard hive-mind is all sorts of bad. You’d basically just be cloning more enemies, whereas with the AION, you now have your own personal robo-kaiju.

Anyone from the Red Line to the Origin knows who the Shard are in theory. The accuracy of what you know, however, is greater depending on how close to the frontier you are. Most information in Origin is heavily filtered through propaganda, to keep recruiting up. If you’re on the Red Line, you don’t need propoganda to motivate you- you’ve seen them burn enough worlds to know they must be stopped.

No one really knows why the Shard do what they do, only that they are bad news. From the foot soldier “Locusts,” to the living supercarrier “Leviathans,” to the “Patriarchs” that the Dragons are based off of (and built to counter), the Red Line has their hands full, keeping the boundary where it is until they can start pushing back.

This is indeed a story with a beginning, middle, and end. It’s gonna be a wild ride.

Hope that answers everything!

Here Be Dragons: A Horror/Mecha RP on the Dark Frontier

@Lmpkio That’s between you and the players, but I’d certainly like to see it, if so!

Here Be Dragons: A Horror/Mecha RP on the Dark Frontier

@Lmpkio Hey, that’s pretty good! Yeah, that’s generally the aesthetic you should be going for- giant bio-metal cyborg stuff. Very Eva.

Here Be Dragons: A Horror/Mecha RP on the Dark Frontier

@Lucky Your backstory is yours to determine. Obviously, the Prototype will be a complete rookie, since the newly-fielded Queen Unit is their Dragon, and the Veteran is self-explanatory, but it’s free game for anyone else- be a rookie, an ace, whatever.

Here Be Dragons: A Horror/Mecha RP on the Dark Frontier

@Lucky That’s fine! This is a very unconventional mecha concept, anyway. Rather than focus on the technical aspects of mechs or mobile suits or what have you, think of his more as a dragon rider with their dragon (hence the name). Mechanical they may be, Dragons are still living beings. A Pilot who forgets this fact is a dead man.

Here Be Dragons: A Horror/Mecha RP on the Dark Frontier

@Kitty I don’t plan on an upper limit for players or even Pilots, really. Just as many people as I can get interested. OOC, as mentioned, will be up this weekend.