Rhona W

Starfighter Squadron RP (Original Setting, non-Fandom)

With the amount of interest so far, that's enough to get things started. I'll write up some details for an OOC and gather my ideas for a plot/opening as well, and try and get something up on Friday. Glad this is looking like it's going to take off - pun not intended.

Starfighter Squadron RP (Original Setting, non-Fandom)

I suppose I could give this a shot.

@Skwint

Don't be too enthusiastic

Interested as well, though I would prefer casual as well

@jorvhik

That's fine, casual is probably what I'll be aiming for as said previously

Starfighter Squadron RP (Original Setting, non-Fandom)

Sounds pretty interesting, but I'm more of a Casual writer and couldn't handle it if you went Advanced.

@Shadow Daedalus

No problem; it'll probably end up casual anyway, as while I could do advanced, casual seems to be the best of the middle road for most people, and there's flexibility there to write more if people feel like it too.

I'm in!

@Abstract Proxy

Excellent!

Starfighter Squadron RP (Original Setting, non-Fandom)

Hello, Everyone! I hope you're all doing very well.

I haven't run any RP's for a while, but have done several in the past, one of which was a game based around a squadron of space fighter pilots. It was in an original setting, but the inspiration came from watching Rogue One and the Force Awakens and some of the starfighter sequences in those, as well as my own interest in fighter and tactical military aircraft.

I'd kind of like to revisit the idea; as a small but well-equipped and highly skilled group of fighter pilots in a space setting. Not Star Wars, but inspired by it, and a plethora of other sci-fi properties and universes. Certainly I would like to lift the idea of 'a rebel/freedom fighter organisation fighting against an evil empire' as it gives a clear direction for the story and a source of antagonists, and a clearly defined 'bad guy' to go up against that no-one has to particularly feel bad or ambiguous about hating.

I'd be aiming for characters who are from a variety of backgrounds to make the group interesting. Obviously, having had some flight experience somewhere along the way to make it as fighter pilots, and generally being of sound enough mind and character to actually be trusted with a starfighter capable of doing a lot of damage. And also to want to fight for the good guys in the first place, or in other words, trying to avoid tedious edgelord stereotypes. There'll be various aliens as well as humans or human-like species, but that's stuff I can get into if this actually goes anywhere.
The same with the starfighters too; I will probably create a small variety of designs using art from online and spec them up, for a small pool for people to choose from, which keeps things somewhat standardised and believable, rather than a complete hodgepodge of random stuff. That way people can still do their own customisations to the colours or the loadout too to make things more 'personal' to their characters.

As for the level of detail. I'd like to have some vague kind of adherence to the idea of fighter operations - i.e. there'd be a technical crew who looked after the machines rather than the pilots repairing everything themselves, we'd have somewhat realistic mission objectives and a chain of command, and use some kind of radio tac-speak and so on - to give things at least a sheen of authenticity to add to the 'feel' of things. But at the same time, not be so constrained by those ideas/realism that it stops it having a sense of fun adventure and excitement, and the real feeling I want to go for, which is of being Big Damn Heroes, saving the day with an air of maverick, swashbuckling excitement and coolness.

I'd like to get into some character RP as part of it, and there'll be downtime between missions to build up character, with the idea of an overall story taking shape through everything we do, and characters' own backgrounds weaving into that as things develop.
I might even take a bit of a 'Rogue Squadron' kind of approach, as per the Star Wars book series, with some ground action from time to time, but I want to remain primarily focused on starfighters for the action (though even then; there'll be some moments of desperate action on foot!)

I'd be aiming for probably casual, possibly advanced, given the kind of detail I usually put into things. And most of all; I want people who are interested and engaged for a long-term game. All my other games have died because of people flaking out. I know RL comes first, and that's the same for me too. But it does get a bit tiresome when you put a lot of effort into an RP and see it die off before it even gets anywhere.
Looking for a minimum of about four players plus myself for a total of five, maximum no more than eight plus me, and even then; I'd expect quite a few to die off as things go.

A bit of knowledge regarding how fighter squadrons operate or at least a vague awareness would be welcome and appreciated, but isn't necessary. More valuable is being a decent writer and roleplayer. Absolutely mandatory is a sense of humour, and being a nice person.

BattleTech: A Band of Misfits

Character Sheet

Name: Marcus Becker
Nickname/Callsign: Shrike
Age: 41
Gender: Male

Crew Position: Captain

Nationality: Lyran Commonwealth
Appearance:

Personnel Files Reference Photo

Archive Portrait Photo

Biographical History:
Marcus was the result of a pairing between his mother, a successful MechWarrior of several generations, and his father, an independent dropship captain. Bought up with a strong sense of his families' history and legacy as successful MechWarriors and space-faring, independent, rugged adventurers, he had an eager desire to follow in his families' footsteps, and was especially enamoured with his mother, Selina and her rare Phoenix Hawk Land-Air 'mech. With both his mother and father often away from home for months - and occasionally years - at a time with only infrequent communication via HPG messages or letters, he was raised by his relatives, and often entertained with stories of their exploits, and gifts - from his guilt-ridden parents - from far-off places. As such, his mental pictures of their lives were much bigger and brighter than the realities, which he only came to encounter as he grew older.
He lost some of this shine after enlisting as a trainee in the Commonwealth's military academy, training as a MechWarrior. He showed more-than competent skill and expertise as a 'mech pilot and was on track to be assigned to a unit, eventually ending up with the Celedon Rangers, a middle-of-the-road unit with little notable history.
He served his time competently, engaging in a few small skirmishes, mostly in counter-piracy or peacekeeping operations along the boundaries of Lyran space well into his twenties.

It was around his twenty-fifth birthday that his world fell apart. His mother was reported as killed in action. Her 'mech was returned to the family, as was the tradition. Controversy followed, however, as the surviving members of her unit, devastated in battle, gave scathing accounts of the battle they were involved in, citing the whole engagement as the result of glory-seeking and adventurism of one of the upper class lords of the Commonwealth military, leading to the characteristic tactical incompetence of the Lyran Armed Forces rearing its' head. Allegations flew from both sides, of dereliction of duty thrown at Selian Becker for refusing to follow orders, and of those orders being both unsound or unjust, and of the deliberate wasting of lives and equipment, of classism, and other such allegations.
The bureaucracy of the Commonwealth did no favours to attempting to unravel the situation, nor to try and make any form of progress in resolution of the issues or the facts, and turned the issue into one that took years.
The issue became infamous and a hot topic around the Becker family, leading to Marcus' own career stagnating, dogged by the allegations and reputation around the issue, leading to him being reassigned repeatedly to 'less visible' positions, and ones with little chance of progression in his career.
At the same time, his father's career began to suffer from the same issues. Contracts became less and less lucrative, and this only aided his slide deeper into an already depressive slump from the loss of his wife. He turned to alcohol and narcotics to cope with the loss, ultimately leading to accidents on the job, and losses of cargoes and crew members, further hurting his reputation. His depression turned to bitterness and anger against the bureaucracy and nobility of the Commonwealth, something he became more and more open about, and eventually leading him to become ostracised from his peers, and falling into less reputable company.

Marcus too began to feel this resentment, especially coupled with the ongoing bureaucratic mire his family and his career had been stuck in. After repeated attempts to transfer to other units or receive additional training were refused, he decided to cashier his commission with the armed forces, disgusted by the endless bureaucracy and classist structure of the Commonwealth as a whole, and his experiences with the nobility and ruling classes and their stranglehold on the military.
His families' resources had lead to the Phoenix Hawk receiving repairs, and it had been sitting idle in the meantime, in storage. Using the payout from his resignation, he trained in the operation of a Land-Air 'Mech, and showed a natural aptitude for the class of machine, effectively harnessing the multi-mode nature of the machine in combat and operations to its' best extent.

Disenchanted with life and service with the Lyran Commonwealth military, he signed on as a Mercenary. His extended family supported the idea - with reservations - and financed his initial venture with a loan, his father likewise cashing in his shares in his ship - under pressure from his crew after his string of failures and embarssing incidents - to do so.
Marcus' initial career as a mercenary was one that was very contrasted. His posession of a functional and effective Land-Air 'mech gave him a unique and uncommon quality, albeit one that was not exactly in demand, as being 'neither fish nor fowl'. Nonetheless, the qualities of an LAM gave their own advantages, and he served with three small mercenary companies over the next decade, gaining a modest reputation as a capable and effective reconnaissance, interdiction and counter-reconnaissance strike pilot, moving swiftly on the battlefield as effective support for his allies.
Marcus earned the nickname 'Shrike' for his vicious strikes from the air, often in Air-'Mech mode, against lances of light and lower-end medium 'mechs, often 'impaling' them with hits from his laser weapons. The image was only reinforced by the red-brown, white and grey colour scheme of his 'mech.
After the last mercenary company he was part of dissolved as their members went separate ways, Marcus was looking for a new company to join, and has signed up with Marley's Misfits.

Personality:
Marcus sometimes leans into the classic traits of a fighter pilot; sometimes being cocky, confident and brash, but this is often tempered with a cool and level-headed aspect, based on his experience and his personal and familial history. He is quite well-spoken and generally knowledgeable, and is an affable sort of fellow, at least to those who are open to socialising and friendship. If greeted with hostility, and - especially - arrogance and detachment, he will often resort to light mockery and good-natured teasing if allies, and sarcastic mockery and cutting remarks for those who are unfriendly rivals or antagonists.
He has little patience for the aristocracy, especially those who distance themselves from the people they claim to lead or rule, and openly admits that he is biased in this regard due to his history, and is well aware that this might be a failing of his. Fortunately, he is old enough to realise that painting everyone with a broad brush isn't ideal, and has been caught out by this in the past... but he is also - for better or worse - old enough to find it hard to change his ways.
Other than his use of humour in interacting with others, he has an otherwise good and ever-present sense of humour, often using it to cope with any situation. He is not above his vices, having a weakness for cigars, good whiskey, good food and women, having a small string of turbluent, though passionate relationships over the years which he has fond memories of.

Asset Sheet

Asset Name: PXH-HK2 Phoenix Hawk LAM
Asset Nickname: Butcher Bird
Asset Type: Land-Air 'Mech
Asset Tonnage: 50 Tons

Asset Crew/Staff: Marcus 'Shrike' Becker
Technician: Holly Page.
Holly has been Marcus' technician for the better part of a decade, after his previous technician retired with no Astech. Holly put herself forward for the position. Initially refused by Marcus based on her youth and lack of experience, the 'tech he selected instead turned out to be lazy, sloppy, and eager to claim he was neither and an expert to boot.
After his 'work' and 'expertise' almost resulted in Butcher Bird losing an engine due to improperly secured parts, and Marcus spraining his shoulder getting the LAM out of a terminal dive, he added a broken finger to his injuries after punching the tech out of service.
Holly came back to work for Marcus after the LAM pilot did no small amount of pleading, and turned out to be an eager and more-than capable technician, knowing her way well around the ins and outs of a Land-Air 'mech and its' complex systems, as well as having more than a few additional skills of her own, such as knowing a thing or two about fighting and 'unorthodox procurements' among others. The pair had a brief, passionate, fling, but settled down into simply being the best of friends, and working as an excellent team.

Personnel File Photo

Asset Weaponry:
1 x Amsterdam 120 Large Laser
2 x Maxum 50 Medium Laser
2 x Sperry/Browning Machine Gun

Asset Equipment:
Allied AVRTech Jump-jets
Land-Air 'Mech conversion equipment

Ponies [MLP]

Eh, my choice of wording. Comes from a long experience of role-playing games. Someone who takes up the lead in creating the story and the setting is 'running' the game, because they're putting everything together for their player(S).
But idk. You picked up on that, but didn't mention any of the other stuff I said about, regarding my experience of telling and playing stories with ponies, so it's up to you really.

BattleTech: A Band of Misfits

snip

@ReedeThe23rd

Sounds perfect to me, I'm in. I might be a bit off and on due to real-world things - and I'm away on holiday next week - but I'm definitely onboard, even if I have to play catch-up.

Ponies [MLP]

I'm kind of interested, but I WILL say, that I don't have the time to do posts multiple times a day. And also that I've been let down by RPGs a lot on the forum too.
Also, my interest in ponies and RPG's involving them tends more toward action-oriented, high adventure plots rather than slice-of-life or romance-oriented stuff (I'm a huge Fallout: Equestria fan), so I'm not sure if that's what you'd be interested in?
I have my own OC as well, and I have run Tails of Equestria for a group in the past, and ran a more adventure-oriented plot for my group. I also have a half-finished fanfic to my name, as far as running pony things goes.

BattleTech: A Band of Misfits

I'm kind of interested; I have a fair bit of knowledge of Battletech, although most of it's quite out of date; I used to be interested in the novels back in the early-to-mid 90's, and I've dipped my toes in here and there. Certainly familiar enough with the 3025-era, and with various merc companies.
Though, similar question in a vein to Letter Bee'. While I'm aware that we're playing mercenaries (tbh, one of the best ways to get a rounded experience of the Battletech setting), will we be in a more 'Wolf's Dragoons' or other more honorable mercenary company mold, like most of the ones in the fiction, rather than being a bunch of ragtag scumbags? Because ehh... a lot of games on the forum tend to be more of the latter, and it would be a nice change to see more of the former.

Iron Wolves (SilverwindBlade and FourtyTwo)

Hey dude, sorry I haven't done a post in a while. Been feeling rushed off my feet/stressed and like there's not enough hours in the day to do anything lately. Not to mention my mojo has taken a nosedive as a result, which always hits my mental health hard.
Just clawing my way back to some kind of good at the moment, and wanted to let you know that I hadn't lost interest, just needing a few moments to get back into the groove.