Shiva

The Consortium: A D&D and Treasure Planet Inspired RP

<Snipped quote by Shiva>

I don't know what you're talking about...

Anyway, I think I'll work on an idea for a Bosun (Boatswain) :)

@Hellion

I'll go ahead and mark you down since I know ya 😉

The Consortium: A D&D and Treasure Planet Inspired RP

This RP seems strangely familiar...

@Hellion

It's almost like you're in an rp with the same GM :P

Its a lot less... dark than Veritas. Also has magic, and actual ships in space as opposed to mechanical ugly metal hulls. And the plot is less "Let's overthrow the government!" And more "Let's explore the universe!"

Basically its like The Expanse vs Star Trek.

The Consortium: A D&D and Treasure Planet Inspired RP

I'm intrigued... Thinking of something along the lines of a grizzled half-orc soldier-turned-cook.

@geminironin

Ayyyeeee I like the concept! Crotchety cooks are the best.

The Consortium: A D&D and Treasure Planet Inspired RP

@Shiva

Are their typical D&D classes that fit into this world through some flavoring?

Ie, a navigator is a divination wizard, or a knowledge cleric, or spy Rogue?
Cook can be an artificer alchemist, or hunter ranger, etc?

How important is magic in this universe?

@ShwiggityShwah

While those don't exactly have to be the classes used for those jobs, yes that was kind of what I had in mind. You can certainly get creative with your class usage!

Magic is fairly important. Basically picture this as a dnd setting with the technology from Treasure Planet.

@ShivaThis seems really interesting! Are you taking CSs now or are you making a RP later?

@snickerdoodly

You can definitely work on a CS and send some ideas to me! I'm finishing up a few bits of lore before I post the actual rp.

The Consortium: A D&D and Treasure Planet Inspired RP

Summary:

In a universe where governments have restricted exploration of the universe to a privileged few, a group of pirates formed an association called The Consortium. This band of rebels and misfits advocates the freedom of exploration and aims to escape the shackles of society by casting off the burdensome laws that have been put in place, stealing a skyship, and wandering the stars as they please. They search for riches, knowledge, and others of a like-mind who wish to join them on their quest for true freedom.

Well hello there! Welcome to Moradin; the largest galaxy in the known universe. It is home to 129,305,398 discovered planets, over 900,000,000,000 stars, 239,404,309 moons, and an innumerable amount of intelligent life. There are dozens upon hundreds of species that call this corner home. Elves, humans, dwarves, tabaxi, you name it. If it exists, we’ve got it. The universe is young, vast, and we only know a small fraction of what there is. The folks up at the United Planets Science Academy say that there’s still billions of planets that we don’t even know exist yet. Exciting, isn’t it?

Most in the universe are happy with things the way they are. There are no wars. Famine and pestilence are largely unheard of (except for in some of the newer colonies), and the common-folk are happy enough to just live out their lives in peace.

What about all of the unexplored space, you might ask? Well, exploration vessels called skyships are expensive, and most are only owned by the navies of various governments. On occasion the rare civilian will gain a license to sail. Exploration is a dangerous business and the powers that be like to keep civilians out of it for the sake of safety- or at least that’s what they claim. The truth of the matter is that the governments like control. They want to hoard all of the ships so they can have control of what riches are uncovered, and keep the masses at bay by giving them just enough to stay content.

You see, a thousand years ago everyone and their mother could own a skyship and explore the universe. There was a star struck wonder in every young person’s eye, and they all dreamed of feeling the solar winds on their face as they sailed off to uncharted territory. The stars were new and exciting, and we were meant to be among them. However with the exploration of our skies came the discoveries of new sources of power, building materials, gems, and every other sort of precious object. Exploration was no longer for the thrill of adventure. No, now it was for the money, and nothing can corrupt an adventurer’s heart like money.

Skyships became more expensive, and slowly the common man became used to the idea of never being able to afford one. The governments took over the exploration of the galaxy, and with that sailing became a thing only the rich or the navy did.

But wanderlust still calls to some hearts.

Sometimes there is a person who is less fortunate. Sometimes there is someone who doesn’t have money or the means to acquire a ship, but their soul still longs to be among the stars. So what is one to do when they find themselves in this situation? That, my friend, is why we pirates exist.

People were meant to be free to find themselves, but ever since the skyships were taken away it seems everyone is content to just stand around like a herd of sheep being directed by a shepherd. Go to school, get a job, get married, have children, grow old, die, cycle repeat. But that is not enough for us. The various governments would have you believe that we are bloodthirsty, greedy, pillaging monsters that reign the skies with a crown made of terror, but that simply isn’t true. At least not for all of us. Those of us who band under the flag of The Consortium have a code.

1: Advocate true freedom for all.
2: Never steal from another member of The Consortium.
3: Never kill unless it’s to protect you or your mate.
4: Never steal from those who need it more.
5: Give The Consortium 12% of the loot you gain. This helps us keep things up and running!

What do you gain from flying under this flag, you ask? Well, how about a team able to forge the most legal-looking of documents? A place to find a crew of people who want freedom, just like you? A place to find a ship (no money required)? A gateway to adventure and riches beyond anything your heart ever began to desire?

If adventure calls to your heart, join The Consortium today and experience what true freedom feels like.



... in a bar on the planet Iyananor, which is found in the Esari System. The Summer's Escape. It's a tiny little dive that no one seems to know much about, but you know it happens to be the main base of operations for The Consortium. It has taken you many months of searching, questioning, and proving yourself to come by this information, but now you are finally here. The bartender is, of course, skeptical of any newcomers, but you know a passphrase that gets you access to the secret base beneath The Summer's Escape.

"I come with all the freedom the moons and stars grant me."

After entering the base, you are presented with a series of tests and questions to prove your loyalty to The Consortium. It includes a practice mission, an interrogation done under the influence of a "Zone of Truth" spell, and finally a drinking contest to welcome you into the fold. After a while you are assigned to your new crew, and begin preparations to ship out.

Aasimar Arakocra Centaur Changeling Dragonborn Drow Dryad Dwarf Elf Genasi Gnome Goliath Half-Elf Half-Orc Halfling Human	Kalashtar Kenku Kobold Lizardfolk Loxodon Minotaur Orc Shifter Simic Hybrid Tabaxi Tiefling Treant Triton Vedalken Warforged Yuan-Ti

• Captain (@Shiva)
• Quartermaster
• Bosun (@Hellion)
• Navigator
• Cook
• Master Gunner
• Surgeon (@puddingpunter)
• Mechanic
• Powder monkey
• Other

Listen to the GM
This should go without saying, but don't try to argue with me. Discussions and things you're confused about? Sure! Bring it up with us in the OOC or a DM. I don't mind talking about things with you, but if I give you a final answer then take the hint and drop the subject.

Don't try to run the rp.
If you have an idea you want to do, you can bring it up OOC and we'll discuss it. I don't mind players having subplots, but we need to be sure that they don't interfere with the main plot and that people aren't running away with things.

No overly disagreeable/evil characters.
We've all seen that one person in an rp who wants their character to be the center of attention at all times, and as a result end up causing a lot of drama in the rp. Don't be that person. If you try to be that person, you will be laughed at and banned from the rp.

No NSFW content.
If you and another player engage in writing NSFW content, take it to DMs. I don't want it in my rp.

Be aware that the GM has a very low tolerance for nonsense.
I've had many people ruin my carefully thought out plots several times with their stupidity, so while I will do my best to be nice, if you cause any trouble I will not be fun to deal with.

Posting requirements
Your posts don't have to be big paragraphs, just decent sized ones to show you're willing to put in effort to keep the rp going, even if it's slow. Maybe two paragraphs. I would like to keep the frequency to at least one person posting per week. We're pretty laid back here, so if you need a little extra time due to circumstances, no worries. That being said, if you're looking for a fast paced rp where we all post back-to-back on a daily basis, this probably isn't what you're looking for.

_{*I reserve the right to ban and brutally kill off characters if you break these rules.}

To get the code for this character sheet, click the 'view raw' icon on the top right of this post, and scroll until you see the big gap in text. Then copy everything.

Character name here

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Character Name

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Character Summary

Name: (Full Name)
Aliases: (Nicknames, previous names, maiden names, etc.)
Age:
Species:
Gender:
Occupatio/position:
Alignment: (Neutral good, lawful, chaotic, etc)

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Appearance

Height:
Build:
Eyes:
Hair:
Skin Tone:
Tattoos/Scars/Piercings:
Personal Style:

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Personality:

Trait * Trait * Trait * Trait * Trait * Trait

Relationship Status:
Questionnaire: This is going to be a little different. Instead of a typical personality summary, you get to pretend your character is answering a questionnaire! Just answer the following in character.

What first impression do you make?

What are you like in a high stress situation?

What are your best and worst qualities?

What is something about yourself that you would never admit to anyone?

What are your dreams?

How do you want to be seen by others?

How do you see yourself?

Do you tend to make snap judgements, or stop and think about things?

What haunts you?

What is your philosophy on life?

(Note: You do not have to fill out every single bullet point, as long as you have at least one filled out on each topic).
Habits:

Hobbies:

Fears:

Likes:

Dislikes:

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Information:

General Skills:

Magical/Speciality Skills:

Inventory:

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History:

Summary: Minimal two paragraphs consisting of at least four medium length sentences.

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Extras

Character Quote: Something they say a lot or live by
Anything Else:

Veritas Lux Mea

Persephone

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A staggering wave of nausea swept over Persephone, only seeming to worsen the longer she was in the room. There was a tight knot forming in the pit of her stomach that was steadily climbing up the throat and threatening to strangle her, and frantically a torrent of the usual reassurances went through her head. Calm down, calm down. It's alright. Just breathe. You haven't done this in forever, and you're not going to do it here. Just get a grip on yourself, dammit. Of course usually seeing another ithlo didn't provoke this sort of reaction from her. On the pirate ship there had been none, but she'd grown to expect seeing them on any planets they visited, colonies, or ports, but she had been completely caught off guard by one being on this ship. This ship. The flagship of the human rebellion. Come to think of it, why in the name of all the hells was he here? The ithlo were very proud people, and a species of healers and doctors, people who didn't get caught up in politics for the sake of "being able to treat and heal all without prejudice or bias," and traveling with a rag-tag group of rebels didn't exactly fit that ideology. Persephone voiced none of this out loud. She didn't need them to know that she'd been a little closet "rebellion fan" for the past few months this movement had been getting started, and she was sure they wished that their identity was a little bit more of a secret. Well, it was a secret, but not when you ran in the circles that Perse did. The train of thought did cause her to give the doctor a peculiar look, but she brushed it off by returning his nod of greeting and getting distracted by the captain and first mate.

"Hey Perse, I'm Kevej, but most people call me Kev. I'd shake your hand but I'm trying to regain proper feeling in my legs first!" He laughed at his own joke, and then continued. "I don't know if it's what you're looking for, but you can cannibalise the personal computer in my quarters, I barely use it anyway. All the important paperwork and manifests are kept on the main ship's database, and I can use the computer by the cargo bay."

"That'd be awesome, thank you!" She replied, giving him a bright smile and trying to brush off the crushing anxiety she was currently experiencing. The naka was, in standard naka fashion, very friendly and welcoming. That was doing wonders for her current mental state. "It's not an emergency, though, so I'll talk to you about it more once you uh... get your bearings again. Though I don't want to cause more work for you to have to leave your room while you're healing. I also don't want to invade your personal space. I don't know. We'll talk about it. Thank you."

Dammit. She was rambling.

"Well, that's one thing sort of settled," the captain muttered. The woman then rubbed her face while releasing a very long sigh, and Perse gave her a sympathetic look. The poor woman looked exhausted out of her mind.

"Is there anything I can do to help out?" She asked.

Maria looked at her for a moment, appearing to both consider her request and attempt to read her soul at the same time. Of course the captain wouldn't trust her, even if she did just save all of their collective asses, but Perse hoped she'd at least give her some responsibilities to take care of until they got to port and she could buy the repairs for her ship. She liked to keep busy.

"You handled that little fighter pretty well. Ever piloted a freighter?" The captain asked.

"Uh... I mean, it's been a while, but I have."

"Great. I've got a million and one things I need to take care of, and flying the ship is one of them. We lost our pilot in the attack and I frankly don't have time to fly the ship and get everything in working order again. If you could get us to the Glao port outside Aspen I'd be very much obliged."

The pink ithlo nodded. "I can do that."

"Fantastic. Our bridge is shot to hell, so backup navigation has been moved to the engine room for the time being. Like I just told our engineer, who I think you're already acquainted with, I'd like to get moving as soon as possible so the sooner you can get down there and do that, the better."

"I'll get going right now, then!" She replied, beginning to back towards the door and waving. "It was nice to meet you both Kev, doctor. I hope you heal quickly, and I'll talk to you about that computer later."

And with that she disappeared around the bulkhead again, letting the fake smile drop as soon as she was out of sight. Oh boy. This was going to be an interesting journey. As long as she could avoid the other ithlo, then it would be fine, but she'd never had to journey for an extended period of time with one so she was frankly unsure of what to expect. Was he going to confront her? Lecture her about the error of her ways? Chastise her for dishonoring their beliefs?

The knot started coming back, and Perse was quiet as she skittered back to the engine room and started trying to figure out the navigation system. This was an older ship, so it'd take her a moment or two to figure out the format they used, but as soon as that was done they'd be on their way and headed towards the glao port.

Forsaken

---

The more time Cinder spent with her apparent team, the more she was reminded why she kept her social life far, far away from the secular one. Where had that dusty old man even found these misfits? Did any of them even have any idea how to conduct an investigation? 'I say we should start in the town.' Well of course they should start in the town! What was their other option? Go gallivanting through the wilderness like a group of buffoons and then backtrack their way back to town when they realize they have next to no leads? Yes, it was a very clever suggestion indeed, mysterious girl who looked and acted like something out of an old lore tome.

About the time she finished these thoughts, the lovely little kobold went off on the waiter. Poor man was just trying to do his job and then was accosted by some insane lizard with delusions of a food god, robbed, and had his life threatened. Mind you, Cinder was not one for sympathy towards the random everyday passerby, but this made even her feel sorry for him as he scampered back to the kitchen. How was he going to explain that to his employers? The genasi made a mental note to give him a little bit of coin before they left, considering he was most likely going to be out of a job before the night was over. She may have been temperamental but she wasn't completely heartless. The other members of their team seemed... relatively not idiotic. There was the matter of the talking otter, but as he seemed among the more reasonable and intelligent of the group Cinder was willing to overlook that oddity. She already had an internal list of the group, those she liked the most at the top, and least down at the bottom.
So far it was as follows:

Warforged guy (because he didn't talk a lot or make stupid suggestions),
Skeleton,
Otter,
Necromancer,
Lore tome girl,
Sparky,
Lizard.

Should she eventually make an effort to learn everyone's name in the group? Probably. Was she going to? No.

"Yes, starting in town sounds like the most intelligent course of action," she replied, doing her best to not sound sarcastic. She would have to work with these people after all, and while a few were most definitely on her bad side she'd rather not make actual enemies. "I think I'll go to the estate as well and try to see what evidence the damned fools at the sheriff's office may have missed. As far as being a guide goes I don't have much expertise. Most of my experience in that wilderness comes from tracking down the lowlifes that flee to it. Also, lizard, the waiter isn't what you should be apologizing for."

Cinder said this last sentence while waving the waiter over again and giving him a few coin. He muttered a small thank you, looking anxiously between her and the kobold before hurriedly scampering away and going to hide in the kitchen.

Shiva's old art thread

Veritas Lux Mea

Captain Maria Thorne

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"If that's what you think is best, then I'll make it so," The captain replied to Kai's request that the first mate be put on light duty. "I'm sure we can survive without him for a little while. Though it'll pain us a good deal not to have Kev lookin' over our shoulders and telling us what a good job we're doing."

The naka was probably the best natured person on board the ship, and his presence always made the weight of the day a bit lighter. Maria would expect nothing less from the self-designated morale officer. He was very good at diffusing situations and keeping the peace on board the Veritas, and the captain was going to really need that calming presence, but it was better he heal up for a while than kill himself trying to still do his job. They'd be alright. Someone might get shot, but they'd be alright. As for the doctor's comment about Teg, if she'd heard it, there was no sign of acknowledgement. That was a problem that she was powerless to fix and she didn't want to think about it. Not right now, anyway. That was a thought spiral that she would tackle when there weren't a million other things that needed to be focused on and fixed. She was very thankful when the conversation of their newcomers came up and she had an excuse to not answer.

"Two in fact, doc," she replied. "And no Kev, I don't think they do, but I'll be sure to ask."

As if she'd been summoned, a pink head of hair appeared from around the bulkhead, and the female Ithlo looked straight at the captain. "Hey cap, I was wondering if- Oh whoops I didn't mean to interrupt, sorry." She looked a bit sheepish as she looked around the room, looking first from the captain to Kev, Kev to the nearby body of Teg, and then finally she settled on the doctor. There was a brief look of panic, but it was quickly covered up by a smile of greeting as she halfway entered the room, standing at the threshold and trying to gauge the people there.

"If it's a bad time I can find you later," she said.

The captain shrugged. "Later is going to be just as busy as now. What do you need?"

Persephone

---

Persephone had spent the better part of an hour fixing the android's severed parts. She chatted with him while going about her work, remaining entertained whilst reattaching synthetic nerve endings and making sure the mechanical joints moved the way they were supposed to. Working on an android wasn't something she'd ever done before, so it was a process of learning while she worked and hoping that she put things back together correctly and didn't cause him to short out. On the bright side she didn't have to construct a completely new arm. There were many systems and sub-systems in the programming of the arm that she had to decipher, bypass, and rewrite to fix what had been jumbled, and there was no way she was going to get it all working in one day. It was especially hard because she didn't have a diagnostic computer to hook him up to. She had one installed in her left arm, but it was strictly for her own self-diagnostics and wouldn't work for the android. Doing all of that coding without a proper means of input was borderline impossible. She could make the arm move again, but when it came to the more complex things such as the arm actually feeling and the additions (such as his cannon) functioning, she needed a computer. A very specific kind of computer. Maybe if the ship's computers were still working, Perse would be able to cannibalize one into working for her means, but she'd definitely need the captain's approval for that. And so Persephone paused her work on the android to go find the captain, searching room by room until she heard her voice coming from the med-bay.

She rounded the bulkhead of the door and peeked in, hoping to just have a brief interaction before moving on, and was well into her sentence before actually noticing the other people standing there. "Hey cap, I was wondering if- Oh whoops I didn't mean to interrupt, sorry."

As the captain looked over at her abrupt entrance, Perse took the opportunity to look at the other people in the room. There was a naka laying on the bed who had evidently been injured in the battle, but he didn't look too bad. A little in pain maybe, but he was okay. The human on the next bed on the other hand... Oh yeah she wasn't doing great. Perse was no medical expert, but it didn't take one to see that an unconscious body with multiple burns and wounds was pretty bad. Finally, she looked at the person standing across the bed from the captain, and she physically flinched from the realization (though hopefully it was small enough no one noticed). It was another ithlo. Now at first one might think she'd be excited to have another of her own kind on board the ship, but one would be severely mistaken. Perse had nothing against the ithlo. They were her people, and she loved them and the culture that she'd be raised in dearly, but the feeling was not mutual. Most other species didn't really care about cybernetics. in fact races like the glao encouraged such body modifications, but that was not so with the ithlo. They viewed cybernetics as an affront to their beliefs, and for one of their own to have such horrid and unnatural additions to their body was unfathomable.

In their society she was a disgrace.
An abomination.

No doubt this ithlo would be polite, as was their way, but years of enduring the disapproving and disgusted looks had made her hypersensitive to their reactions to her. They didn't have to say anything for her to know they thought she was disgusting. With other species Perse could pretend that she was normal, and she could forget what had been done to her, but when another of her own species was around it was like someone was slapping her in the face. Nevertheless, Perse did her best to put on a smile and seem somewhat friendly.

"...If it's a bad time I can find you later," she said, hoping to the gods that the captain would tell her to come back later so she could escape, but alas that was not to be.

The captain shrugged. "Later is going to be just as busy as now. What do you need?"

Great. This was great.

"Well," she began, "Our android friend has some pretty seriously jumbled up coding, and I need to rewire a computer so I can fix it. Now I can wait until we get to a port and I can buy one, or if it's okay with you I can just rewire one of the computers on board the ship and use that."

Maria seemed to consider the options for a second. "Well the bridge computers are shot, but if someone else has a computer in a room they're not going to need, you're welcome to it. Oh, and this is my first mate and the ship's doctor, Kevej Vin'Akali, and Kai'mos Varthus."

Perse awkwardly waved at the two. "Hi, I'm Persephone. You can call me Perse."

The captain walked over to the comm and flicked it on, "Hey Ansgar, you said engines and backup navigation was still working, right? Can we move while you work or is that going to mess you up? I'd like to get to the glao port sooner rather than later."

Forsaken

---

Cinder tried to hide her satisfaction at having scared the oversized skink away. She wasn't exactly anti-social, in fact she quite liked being around others, but the kobold had the misfortune of stumbling upon her in a particularly foul mood thanks to their moon elf friend. Speaking of it seemed she had left to start her own little investigation. Cinder wouldn't put it past the moon elf to skip town with her sum of money, or to plant false evidence to throw the rest of them off the trail so she could take the entire reward for herself. Perhaps someone should alert the local authorities to a suspicious moon elf seen casing the estate of a poor elderly widower... No doubt they would already be acquainted with Valanthe.

Alas, that would require more effort than Cinder was willing to dedicate. After all she had a new, well paying job to look after.

After calming down for a few minutes and finishing a good portion of her stew, the genasi decided to move over with the rest of the group as it seemed they were all congregating except for her. She could hear most of their conversation from where she was already seated, but chipping in from that far away would have been a bit awkward. It would be just as well to actually go over there. They all had some interesting theories thus-far, but at the moment there was a devastating lack of evidence to support any of them, and it didn't seem they were going to get anything done just sitting there talking about it. Then again Cinder always had a "jump in head first" approach to things anyway. She was also more accustomed to following leads on her own, so talking things out with a group of people was going to take some getting used to. She went over and sat at the end of the table, listened for a bit, and then chimed in.

"Dividing tasks may speed it up, but there is the question of safety. I can agree to splitting up in the city -ain't no point in having a crowd of nine people parading around from one place to another- but when we go out to the wilderness I think Sparky is right. We should go together. I've been over that way a few times myself, and it ain't a pretty picture. As far as being put in groups go, I don't much care who I go with so long as they stay out of my private affairs and mind their own damn business." She gave a particularly hard stare at the kobold, who was now eating rather loudly and paying no mind, and also to the other genasi. But mostly at the kobold. Then she continued.

"I don't think we're going to find much evidence in town, considering how many other groups have already scanned through, but I suppose it's worth a shot to be thorough."