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[OOC] Exigency: Infinite Sky
Edcrab
Actually a hackRegistered User regular
Actually a hackRegistered User regular
IC thread here!
What the hell is Exigency?
The word itself means an urgent situation, or a situation requiring abnormal effort or attention to resolve. It's also the title of a short story I once wrote, so I reserve the right to recycle it!
Huh, that feels familiar. It's a play-by-post system that was first featured on this very forum. It's not as rules light as it used to be but the focus remains the narrative and character customisation- not that attribute scores are meaningless! Every character has six attributes, plus skills and abilities.
Point out those past games, I don't get what you mean
Enthiliun Conspiracy - Version 1, back when Vitality was still called Health, and various other little differences
Arcadia Incursion (Act threads: Detour, Arcadia, Apogee) - Version 2, actually reached a conclusion unlike the first!
Embassy Incident - Version 3 test-run, proving that grids and HP/MP weren't that popular!
Pantheon - In Progress!
What kind of setting are we dealing with here?
It's the far future- but not necessarily ours. Humanity has gone through the expected selection of wars and disasters to the extent that we can’t even remember exactly what happened.
As far as the people of Alpha Sector were concerned, there were Ancient times- when we spoke weird languages, used spears, and lived on a bunch of planets blissfully unaware of everyone else’s existence- and then the Common Era, when they all discovered phasedrives and began bumping into each other in the stars.
Then they learned about the Schism.
It became apparent that we’d all met before, all our worlds and cultures, but that something had put an end to the sprawling human empire- a prolonged event the peoples of the Common Era came to call the Schism.
Pre-Schism humanity had been ridiculously technological, and even their dilapidated remnants put Common Era devices to shame.
And as if that wasn’t enough, mankind began finding Uclasion relics. Artefacts, millions of years old, which were blatantly the inspiration behind our pre-Schism findings. The Uclasions had been around 27-million years ago and then had all abruptly died or left the galaxy- so they couldn’t have been all that advanced, surely, if they’d let themselves go extinct.
But the mother of all relics was Ucelsia: the artificial, 3000-mile-diameter spacecraft the Uclasions had once called home. It was found by the Domarian Trade Organisation: and a few short years later the DTO had become the Domarian Legion and the sole superpower of Alpha Sector- that tiny shred of the galaxy that mankind had the nerve to refer to as “the galaxy”.
That’s because the Domarian Legion had found Maintonon: an ancient Uclasion Supercomputer determined to make his mark.
Maintonon obsessively plans and directs and prepares- because he predicted that it will happen again. There’s just one little problem: even he can’t remember what caused the original Schism…
Is this anything to do with Phallakinetic?
Yep, they were part of the Exigency setting! Not that science-fantasy is a particularly restrictive medium in the first place...
I'm sorta interested. Explain character creation!
All right! We'll likely be dealing with 32-point builds, with 4 speciality slots and 6 aspects.
... maybe I should explain first...
Cost chart:
All attributes (see below) start at 1, as do specialities if you're willing to part with a slot. You roll skill checks with a percentile die (1d100) and add your base competency. A base competency is the fancy name for your total modifier; half your base attribute + speciality rank + any appropriate situational modifiers, times ten so they're not completely dwarfed by that 1d100. And that's about it. With Focus 6 and Ranged +3, your BC when rolling to hit using your fancy rifle would be +60. Not bad at all!
If your base competency is greater than the value you need to beat, you don't even bother rolling. You're just that good.
Attributes:
Physical Attributes
Vitality [VIT]: Endurance, physical resilience, and resistance to bodily threats such as toxins or diseases. Vitality is the "primary" physical attribute and dictates the maximum amount of physical damage that a character can suffer.
Strength [STR]: Raw physical power- influencing feats such as heavy lifting, grappling with an opponent, handling large weapons, kicking down a door, or the traditional "break a club over the enemy’s head" technique.
Agility [AGI]: Agility determines athletic and gymnastic ability, as well as broader categories like reflexes or speed; governing a character's ability to move around the game world and to evade harm.
Mental Attributes
Focus [FOC]: Focus governs your hand-eye co-ordination, your perception of the world around you and your overall concentration. Focus is essential for marksmen and skill-users, but it is also significant for psionic characters.
Willpower [WIL]: Willpower represents a character’s morale under fire and their ability to push past the pain barrier or overcome their fears. Willpower is very important for psionic characters, or characters that wish to resist psionics.
Intellect [INT]: Intellect is a catch-all mental stat covering a character’s ability to reason, their capacity for learning and their general knowledge. For psionors, it determines the complexity and variety of their abilities. Intellect is the "primary" mental attribute and dictates the maximum amount of mental damage that a character can suffer.
Derivatives
Edge [EP]: Call it luck, fate, destiny, finesse, momentum... Edge helps even the odds. Edge is expended in order to power the most potent of abilities and to avoid the most severe of injuries, a cross between an action point and a healing surge. Every player has a set amount of starting Edge points, recovering spent ones over time, and gaining others as their characters grow in power and reputation.
Health/Mindset: While not a listed attribute as such, a character's maximum damage threshold is determined by their Vitality for physical damage and their Intellect for mental damage. Strength and Willpower also assist, respectively, as long as the character is capable of defending themselves. One way of looking at it is to think of VIT/INT as passive health and STR/WIL as active health. When you are in a position to defend yourselves, enemies have to erode your STR (with physical damage) or WIL (with mental damage) before they can cause you permanent harm. But when stunned or unconscious or similarly disadvantaged, your brawny muscles or heroic pain threshold are less helpful.
Specialities:
A speciality is a skill, ranked +1 to +5. As well as applying modifiers to your rolls they grant straight damage bonuses to attacks (...at least the combat ones do) and increase your base crit chance (default 5%) by +1% per rank.
The available specialities are Melee, Evasion, Stealth, Ranged, Sense, Psi Defence, Analysis, Tech, Medic, Social, Resistance, Reactions and Resolve. An outdated summary can be found here. If you want to play a psionic character, they gain access to Telempathy or Telekinesis but have fewer aspect slots to compensate. We can go into detail later!
Saving Throws:
Saving Throws (The 3 Rs)
The following are derived from the highest of two attributes, as listed, and gain additional bonuses from ranks in the appropriate specialities. In other words, the 3 Rs are both derived attributes and speciality skills! For a normal character each check would be performed by rolling 1d10 and then adding their base attribute and their speciality rank, if any. Certain special abilities and pieces of equipment can grant additional bonuses.
Resistance [Rst]: Resistance governs a character's physical hardiness. Resistance is used in checks against disease, toxins, and radiation, and offers damage reduction versus most kinds of physical damage. It also opposes certain effects such as stuns and knockdowns.
Calculated from: VIT or STR, whichever is highest, plus speciality rank
Reactions [Rea]: Reactions is used to determine attack order, and to limit the penalties a character suffers when surprised or similarly put at a disadvantage.
Calculated from: AGI or FOC, whichever is highest, plus speciality rank
Resolve [Rsv]: Resolve governs a character's mental hardiness; their bravery, discipline, ego, self-confidence, faith in themselves... anything to help them overcome the various traumas they'll inevitably encounter in the field.
Calculated from: WIL or INT, whichever is highest, plus speciality rank
The following are derived from the highest of two attributes, as listed, and gain additional bonuses from ranks in the appropriate specialities. In other words, the 3 Rs are both derived attributes and speciality skills! For a normal character each check would be performed by rolling 1d10 and then adding their base attribute and their speciality rank, if any. Certain special abilities and pieces of equipment can grant additional bonuses.
Resistance [Rst]: Resistance governs a character's physical hardiness. Resistance is used in checks against disease, toxins, and radiation, and offers damage reduction versus most kinds of physical damage. It also opposes certain effects such as stuns and knockdowns.
Calculated from: VIT or STR, whichever is highest, plus speciality rank
Reactions [Rea]: Reactions is used to determine attack order, and to limit the penalties a character suffers when surprised or similarly put at a disadvantage.
Calculated from: AGI or FOC, whichever is highest, plus speciality rank
Resolve [Rsv]: Resolve governs a character's mental hardiness; their bravery, discipline, ego, self-confidence, faith in themselves... anything to help them overcome the various traumas they'll inevitably encounter in the field.
Calculated from: WIL or INT, whichever is highest, plus speciality rank
Equipment:
Unless you're playing some kind of cyborg, equipment doesn't eat into your points allowance. Instead you outline your requirements using Mundane, Minor and Advanced items.
Mundane items have no mechanical effect and are purely for flavour and description. They might be clothes, accessories, they can even be weapons as long as they don't actually grant any abilities that aren't already part of the character's makeup! Despite their usefulness computers/communication units are considered Mundane in the context of the setting, everyone has one. As the name implies, Minor items do have a slight mechanical impact on the game world; knives, clubs, simple armour, cheap pistols. Advanced items have far greater impact, and aren't the sort of thing you'll just find lying around in the course of the adventure. The Specialist category of items also exists, but is only available to players who are willing to sacrifice other parts of their character build to access them.
For your characters you have unlimited Mundane allowance (as usual), four Minor items, and two Advanced items. Don't worry about their exact stats, we can sort those out later. For now it's enough to know that, say, one of your Advanced items is a suit of armour... we can decide on it's exact protection and mobility later.
Aspects:
Here's my favourite bit. This here is a list of previously used aspects, but it's by no means definitive or complete. See, every player has the opportunity to make their own ones up! Understand that they'll have to be balanced and appropriate to the player character's extant attributes, but never have we had a suggestion that hasn't been tweaked and used ingame!
Aspects can be passive or they can be special powers that cause self-inflicted injuries (the aforementioned page refers to HP and MP, which will not be used in this campaign. Imagine they refer to the severity of injuries instead). Existing aspects can be freely re-used and renamed if they don't suit your flavour. "Elbow Smash? Try Crotch Kick and get back to me."
Challenge resolution
Roll for skill, and then roll for effect. Once upon a time the Exigency system resolved everything using d20s... Sadly things are more complex now and many other dice have wheedled their way in.
A PDC is your power dice category, formerly player dice category but power sounded more badass. It's mostly calculated for utility skills (for example, it determines how much damage a player can heal or repair with the Medic and Tech specialities) but certain offensive and defensive powers call for it sometimes too. You roll your Melee PDC to determine your unarmed damage, you roll your Telekinesis PDC to determine your, uh, telekinetic damage, and so on.
In Version 1 of Exigency, firearms did set damage amounts and all Melee attacks dealt 1d20 damage + player modifiers. Now all weapons have dice! Assuming they're used by someone trained in their operation, guns have more consistent damage and melee implements have higher max damage. For example: a heavy pistol deals 1d8+8 damage + Ranged while a two handed sword deals 3d6 + Melee + STR. The former will likely pierce some armour and have a minimum damage value as well; this is where a penalty is applied to an attribute merely because the attack hit the target. Being shot is not good in this system, but being clobbered with a maul by a musclebound superhuman is distinctly ungood too.
Resolving damage
So. Attacking a target? Roll to hit (1d100 + your appropriate BC) and your target will attempt Evasion (or Psi Defence)- another 1d100 check with an added BC. If your attack connects you will roll for damage and the target will make a Resistance check. Or Resolve if you're using a psionic attack or particularly barbed taunt.
If they fail to meet the attack value, they will suffer an injury or trauma. There's an older outline here but I managed to make it sound far more complicated than it actually is. I&Ts are simply reductions to your attributes. Either temporary- and you can have unlimited temporary I&Ts- or normal, permanent damage, limited by your VIT and INT as mentioned earlier.
Hitpoints are not present in this iteration of the system, at least not in the usual sense. Instead every injury and trauma has a severity rating determining the difficulty of removing it.
The Medic PDC example I mentioned? If the user passes the initial skill check to diagnose the problem, the severity of their patient's injuries would be reduced by the value they rolled on their PDC. Or if you're a klutz with no talent in that department, maybe you can find a healing kit to prod them with and roll using the equipment's dice instead of your own.
Injuries and trauma can also be self-inflicted via exertion; suffering a temporary penalty to an attribute in order to power a special ability. In the good old days it was common for psionors to burn through their Willpower in order to beat the crap out of enemy psyches!
A PDC is your power dice category, formerly player dice category but power sounded more badass. It's mostly calculated for utility skills (for example, it determines how much damage a player can heal or repair with the Medic and Tech specialities) but certain offensive and defensive powers call for it sometimes too. You roll your Melee PDC to determine your unarmed damage, you roll your Telekinesis PDC to determine your, uh, telekinetic damage, and so on.
In Version 1 of Exigency, firearms did set damage amounts and all Melee attacks dealt 1d20 damage + player modifiers. Now all weapons have dice! Assuming they're used by someone trained in their operation, guns have more consistent damage and melee implements have higher max damage. For example: a heavy pistol deals 1d8+8 damage + Ranged while a two handed sword deals 3d6 + Melee + STR. The former will likely pierce some armour and have a minimum damage value as well; this is where a penalty is applied to an attribute merely because the attack hit the target. Being shot is not good in this system, but being clobbered with a maul by a musclebound superhuman is distinctly ungood too.
Resolving damage
So. Attacking a target? Roll to hit (1d100 + your appropriate BC) and your target will attempt Evasion (or Psi Defence)- another 1d100 check with an added BC. If your attack connects you will roll for damage and the target will make a Resistance check. Or Resolve if you're using a psionic attack or particularly barbed taunt.
If they fail to meet the attack value, they will suffer an injury or trauma. There's an older outline here but I managed to make it sound far more complicated than it actually is. I&Ts are simply reductions to your attributes. Either temporary- and you can have unlimited temporary I&Ts- or normal, permanent damage, limited by your VIT and INT as mentioned earlier.
Hitpoints are not present in this iteration of the system, at least not in the usual sense. Instead every injury and trauma has a severity rating determining the difficulty of removing it.
The Medic PDC example I mentioned? If the user passes the initial skill check to diagnose the problem, the severity of their patient's injuries would be reduced by the value they rolled on their PDC. Or if you're a klutz with no talent in that department, maybe you can find a healing kit to prod them with and roll using the equipment's dice instead of your own.
Injuries and trauma can also be self-inflicted via exertion; suffering a temporary penalty to an attribute in order to power a special ability. In the good old days it was common for psionors to burn through their Willpower in order to beat the crap out of enemy psyches!
Neat! I've got an idea for...
Fire away! I can't stress enough how much the system (and setting, frankly) has changed after input from players and observers.
Edcrab on
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Domarian Legion
Type: Various
Notable worlds: Domarius (Original Homeworld), Ucelsia (Surrogate Homeworld)
The Domarian Legion is the largest and most technologically advanced nation in Alpha Sector. Part nation, part military, part supercorporation, there’re the closest thing the setting has to a superpower.
As the Domarian Trade Organisation they had a reputation for reliability and honesty, but when Maintonon took control, the newborn Legion quickly became known as a peerless military player on the galactic scene.
They’re currently the target of the Workers Against Legion- a gigantic protest movement turned terrorist alliance seemingly intent on their destruction. They’re just a drop in the ocean for the Legion, but it’s rumoured that WAL is funded by the Legion’s competitors.
The Domarian Legion is massive in population and renown, but much of that comes from the fact that every Domarian company or effort must be registered with one of their facets. As well as the eponymous Legion itself- complete with its ground forces and armada - the Domarian factions include:
Maintenance Association
The largest of the Legion’s facets, the Association is a billions-strong alliance of technicians, engineers, and labourers of all kinds. With their distinctive jackets and infamously complex ranking system, Association buildings can be found throughout Alpha Sector, and most maintenance-related companies work closely with them- that is, if they’re not already registered with them to take advance of their subsidies. The MA is itself host to the departments responsible for the health and environmental care of the Domarian populace.
Security
The Domarian Security Service- known universally just as ‘Security’- is their small, highly trained, brilliantly equipped police-force. Although they employ millions of personnel, Security is nevertheless grossly outnumbered considering the sheer scale of the Domarian colonies and the various nations that apply for Security protection. The average Security guard is a power-armour wearing, plasma-rifle carrying veteran- to say nothing of Security Mechs, the infamous Uclasion-derivative robots that are more tank than policeman. The Enforcers are the Security Service's elites, augmented agents of peerless ability, rightly feared throughout the Sector.
SHARD
The Scientific and Historical Artefacts Research Department is, unusually for a Legion facet, secretive and unlikely to co-operate with the scientific community as a whole. They have a reputation for being cold and unsocial even amongst other Domarians... but they’re linked to some of the greatest scientific finds in history.
Duality Corporation
Type: Supercorporation
Notable worlds: Dulicon (Homeworld/Nation purchased from Kerenth)
The Duality Corp is a fairly recent arrival to Alpha Sector, having been born of a merger between various smaller groups.
Despite this they quickly secured a variety of contracts from all walks of life, and they appear to research and develop products at an incredible rate. They’re currently one of the main weapon’s manufacturers to the Mercenary League.
They refuse to declare their personnel and budget, leading to rumours of illegality- which the Domarian Legion hasn’t exactly discouraged. After all, they’ve been founded for less than a century and they already managed to purchase an entire six-planet star system from a Kerenth surveying corporation.
Although Duality does not operate at quite the same technological level (or scale) as the Legion, their willingness to sell such technology to the nations of Alpha Sector gives them cause for concern.
Goyermontakon Confederacy
Type: Nation
Notable worlds: Monrhein (Montakon Homeworld), Thoyigos (Thoyigean Homeworld), Gef (Presumed Gef Homeworld)
The Goyermontakons are an alliance of three nations: the Montakons, Thoyigeans, and Gef. While the Montakons and Thoyigeans are classified as ‘standard’ samples of humanity, the Gef are larger and more powerfully built- and like all alt-humans, this has scientists arguing over whether they’re natural mutations or remnants of pre-Schism genetic experimentation.
The Goyermontakons are arguably the "number two" to the Domarian Legion. Although they do not nationalise their corporations, they work very closely with them, and the Confederacy is known for being an industrial powerhouse- famous for their heavy engineering, and also for being the birthplace of some of the earliest cyborgs in history.
The Goyermontakon Confederacy briefly fought the Domarian Legion during the Second Colonial War, but the two nations are now surprisingly close, seeing much to admire in each other.
While the Domarians have Ucelsia as their base of operations, the Goyermontakons have the Strachenklaud, a far smaller but no less impressive man-made space station orbiting Monrhein.
Most of the Goyermontakon’s economic power comes from two main supercorporations:
Haegtnol Industries
Haegtnol is their largest supercorp. Once a surveying and mining group, sales of land and ore quickly allowed them to move into other fields. Although best known for their cars and starships, Haegtnol recently expanded into more mundane commodities, mostly to try and force out their competition.
Ahmteller
Although smaller than Haegtnol, Ahmteller is significantly older. They specialise in pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs, and the leisure industry. They’ve established such a strong and family-friendly image that no amount of muckraking and scandals can shift them from the good graces of the populace.
Jaoshijea
Type: Nation
Notable worlds: Jao (Homeworld), Tynro, Birshimi
The Jaoshijeans are one of the richest and most technologically advanced nations. They’re thought to rival the Domarian Legion in many fields, especially cybernetics.
Jaoshijea is positioned quite remotely in relation to the rest of Alpha Sector, which left them isolated and independent in their earliest days. They quickly adapted once phasedrive-technology became commonplace, and slotted into the trade networks as if they’d always been there.
Jaoshijea has more zaibatsu than most economically developed countries do combined. Stereotypically it’s thought that the Jaoshijean government lives in fear of their various supercorps and their associated private militaries, but the truth of the matter is that they’re behind innumerable clever laws and ordinances to stop any one of them from becoming too powerful- and they do of course field an impressively equipped military.
They’re host to so many zaibatsu that they couldn’t possibly all be listed, but the most infamous of them was undoubtedly Karamanit:
Karamanit
A small (by modern standards) but legendary corporation founded by Isuru Karamanit. Karamanit was the first to develop and distribute mental implants, ultimately being responsible for the first muses (cyborgs with augmented minds)- but human rights abuses, and the dreaded subconscious military programming devices dubbed "macros", led to their founder’s suicide and the liquidation of the company’s assets. Their bases of operation evaded demolition and went to the highest bidder- the Duality Corporation...
Colonial Council
Type: Government/Regulatory Body
Notable worlds: Ucelsia (Main base of operations)
The Ucelsian Civil War eventually persuaded the home nations of all its residents- which meant virtually everywhere was represented- to found the Council. It began life as a regulating authority to relay the wishes of the non-Domarian populace to the heads of Ucelsia, but it quickly came to represent the colonies as a whole, and in time the whole of the civilised galaxy. Every nation nominates speakers (sometimes hundreds, if the place is populous enough) to act as their voices when the Council is in session in the heart of Ucelsia.
Although ostensibly in existence to protect the colonies and territories of Alpha Sector the Council seems to spend an most of its time getting in the way of Command, the Legion’s ruling facet. There’re so many agendas jostling for position that even the most simple decision takes ages to resolve, but there’s widespread corruption to contend with too. There’ve been plenty of occasions where a Councillor has been quietly ousted because they were caught accepting bribes from a supercorporation to prevent the Legion from beginning a new outpost or research development.
Because the Legion is gigantic and seen as Alpha Sector’s undisputed superpower, nobody really questions why they’d host such a disruptive political body of their own accord. Perhaps the Domarians wanted to show they’re not so expansionist (or even fascist) as some have claimed. When the Colonial Council demands that they intervene, the Legion is deployed to hotspots and disaster areas.
Very few know the truth, however: that the Council is a laughable front to give the Legion some semblance of democracy. In reality, the Supercomputer runs their society from behind the scenes and pays very little heed to the angry shouting people in a chamber hundreds of miles below his core. Of course, while Maintonon can let them take the blame for their mistakes, they also take the credit for his successes...
High Council
Type: Government/Regulatory Body
Notable worlds: Lodor, Maladria, Hestelle (Main bases of operations)
The High Council was co-founded by the Lodori and the Domarian Legion, but it began life as the Extrasensory Protection Society, back in the days when psionors were a lot rarer and much more likely to be prejudiced against. But eventually such abilities were recognised as major assets, and they changed their name and their duties- declaring themselves the voice and regulator for the now-blossoming psionic community.
It was in their best interests to train every psychic they came across, because to the High Council each of those individuals was a potential lifetime contract and cash cow. What’s especially worrying is that, nowadays, every High Councillor is themselves psionically potent instead of just an activist: and they don’t see anything wrong with treating "lesser" psychics like this. They see fit to meddle in the affairs of any nation that’ll host them, simply because they feel that they’re more entitled to do so than anyone else- in their home nation of Lodor, they wield more power than the government.
While the High Council lacks the Legion's size and power, they match them in terms of influence and sheer wealth. Most supercorporations do not share the Legion's vague distrust of psionics and happily pay large sums to have access to telempathic diplomats and telekinetic agents.
The Domarian Legion watched the foundation they’d nurtured go from being an anti-defamation movement into an elitist enclave. They resented the very idea of shipping off their psionic adepts to Lodori space "for their own good", and the High Council’s dismissive attitude towards societies dependant on "mundane science" was incredibly galling to a civilisation that was traditionally reliant on high-technology.
The Legion have never got along with the Colonial Council, but the two bodies have an intense dislike of the High Council in common. Or at least the core hierarchy of the Council itself does, if not the nations its innumerable speakers represent. The Council dislikes the HC’s focus on hereditary peerage rather than something more democratic, they dislike being told what to do by a far smaller (and proportionately more powerful) group, and they utterly hate some bastard in a robe referring to them as the Low Council.
Backgrounds
Corporate
“Is that so? Because I don’t mind admitting that I used to work for Haegtnol Industries. They got me where I am today. Difference is, now my ideas come with my name on them.” – Marcus Unicrail, co-founder of the Accelance supercorporation.
It’s hard to find a developed world which isn’t under the thumb of some supercorporation. Whether you toil for them as cheap labour or hire yourself out to them as a hotshot salesman, you’re shackled to the supercorporation for the duration of your contract.
Those of a Corporate background are likely to be big-picture types, willing to sacrifice years of their life to ensure a solid career, or perhaps just to work off a family debt so gargantuan that even their great-grandchildren are likely to feel the pinch. They’re reliable to those they see as friends, but years of propaganda have no doubt left them unimpressed and untrusting of the competition- whether they’re individuals or something as mundane as a rival soft drink.
Vigilante
“I suppose it’s a job I was made for. Heh. Oh, don’t look at me like that. I’m a cyborg. We’re allowed to make those puns.” - Voln
The Vigilance Movement was founded hundreds of years ago in a Domarian-led effort to address the issue of their Security forces being universally outnumbered- but it’s still failed to catch on in other parts of the galaxy. The Vigil is a self-policing union of bounty hunters and thugs-for-hire, but they’re rarely seen operating outside of Domarian jurisdiction.
Those of a Vigilante background are often combat-orientated, but they’re just as likely to rely on their wits and good detective work. While Vigilantes may range from the members of Councillor-sponsored private militias to violent individuals who could just as easily be the sort of scum they’re paid to hunt, they’re all invariably good at their jobs.
Mercenary
“Practically by definition, they choose money over a cause. If we regulated them- forced them to work for noble causes- then when they picked up their pay cheque, you’re looking at a soldier, not just a thug with a little extra discipline and a little extra firepower. But it’s not always up to us to say what is and isn’t noble.” – Siles Dranich
The Mercenary League is a gigantic multinational register of “freelance” units and fleets, all regulated by an aging Legion-made computer-cum-flagship called the Myrmidon. Mercenaries are deployed to hotspots and other troubled areas to prevent war torn nations racking up civilian casualties, but, as might be expected, they also perform more mundane (and less noble) duties for powers prepared to produce enough cash.
The League has an uneasy relationship with the militaries of their various clients. They’re generally seen as a poor substitute for more recruits and better funding, but sometimes local governments have little choice.
Military
“Ours not to reason why, ours but to do and die.”
Most armies have access to superior training and technology but some soldiers are just conscripts with a mesh vest and a rifle that’s older than they are. Whether a few tiny squads from a fledgling world, or the colossal armada of the Legion, it’s the military that deals with the pirate fleets, that puts down rogue nations with deadly agendas, that gets up to god-knows-what on the frontier.
Whether they’re a bionic supersolider or some youngster with a two week crash course in trying not to die, they’ll do their duty, and they can only trust that the people at the top make the right decisions.
Colonial
“I’ve seen men treed by a single bearcat when they’re carrying enough hardware to outfit a Montakon strike unit. All that firepower means nothing without the skill, the planning, and let’s face it, the luck to go with it.” - Anton Vickers, Wild Runner (local ranger) on the planet Arqinfore.
Whether they’re founded by nations or corps, there are thousands of colonies in and around Alpha Sector. They range from tiny science outposts to multinational metropolises, but colonists are an essential part of developing the Sector.
Colonists might be born and raised in these places- fiercely independent and unaware of the greater universe until the time comes to move on- or hardcore pioneers who have assisted in establishing innumerable habitats. Some might have subsisted with the barest of luxuries and technology, others might have experience with monstrously complex terraforming apparatus.
Spacer
“It’s boring but it pays well. Next question.” - Truce Calreign, famous freighter pilot.
Spacers are the staff who pilot the craft and man the space stations that are the lifeblood of Alpha Sector’s trade and transit routes.
Some spacers are truckers, stuck in phasecraft for weeks at a time as they make their deliveries. Others are posted inside cramped orbital platforms for months or even years. The lucky ones might work at gigantic leisure complexes or cruisers- but most wouldn’t consider these people to be real spacers until they’ve had to deal with a life-support failure or a similar disaster.
Spacers tend to be well trained and at home in confined spaces or around high-technology- and they’re known for being eccentric. Rightly or wrongly, they’re often associated with illegal trade and drug trafficking.
Ucelsian
“Squalor at one end, nanotech and servants at the other. Man, this place is like someone crushed the whole galaxy into a tin can.”
A Ucelsian is defined as a resident of Ucelsia: the ancient 3000-mile diameter superstructure currently serving as the Domarian’s surrogate homeworld. But due to a complicated history and its mobile nature, less than half of Ucelsia’s population is actually Domarian by nationality.
Ucelsia is massive enough to house virtually every possible combination of culture and class. Paradisiacal or deadly in its extremes, it’s a mishmash of architecture laid over ancient alien foundations.
A Ucelsian is a colonist who has seen it all. While a fifty-mile-long Grandcruiser might impress anyone else, a Ucelsian wouldn’t bat an eyelid. Their rich are really rich, and their underclasses are hard as diamond.
Heights
“You can see everyone’s house from up here. But they’re not much to look at compared to this place, right?” – Unknown Estate Agent
Most developed worlds have a capital- and in some cases this capital can cover most of the planet’s landmass. Their skyscrapers can be miles tall, hosting some of the most desirable homes and office spaces imaginable. Some buildings are colossal enough to be small cities themselves.
Someone claiming from the Heights of a major city will either have been born into a wealthy family or made a great business decision somewhere in their lifetime- they’re used to luxury and advantages most people could only dream of: so rich they could probably afford to staff their penthouse/mansion with non-robotic servants, or spend hours of time in top-notch pleasure simulations.
Unsurprisingly, no matter how hard someone might’ve worked to get there, others often resent this.
Police
“No, it’s true, we didn’t discover the cure for the intarl plague, or deal with the logistics necessary to evacuate an entire planet. But a week before you did all that, we arrested a guy who was about to firebomb your HQ.” – Anonymous response to a press conference following the ‘545 intarl outbreak.
Every civilised nation has a police force.
Gattapol- the policing arm of the Galactic Trade and Transit Authority- has been given the right to operate between national boundaries. The Domarians grant their Security guards the authority to shoot on sight. And there are myriad police forces all working within precincts of widely varying size.
Some police officers are little more than glorified rent-a-cops in the pocket of a supercorp using legislation to bypass the Mercenary League and the Vigilance Movement. Others are veterans responsible for tracking down some of the most dangerous people (and entities) ever seen in action. Repeatedly.
Thanks to the same rulings that allow Gattapol to do their work across all of Alpha Sector, police are entitled to aid and assistance from any civilised planet- assuming they’re there on business relevant to their own precinct.
Criminal
“Hah. ‘The people’ approve of conning a supercorp out of billions, but they frown if one man gets mugged for a single credit. It’s all about proportion.” – Quarir Nalore, infamous con artist.
Alpha Sector has an awful lot of laws to break.
Some people are petty thugs and thieves. Others are syndicate masterminds and con artists that make so much money they can pass for business geniuses.
These are the people that the Supercomputer imposed the death penalty for- the unrepentant, the dangerous, the skilled and talented people who put their abilities towards less-than-commendable causes.
The rest of the galaxy has to operate with laws that aren’t so morally objectionable, and repeat offenders strike again and again. Career criminals, and some make a pretty damn good career out of it.
Retrograde
“Everyone’s out to get you. We’re just honest about it.”
While the actual Retrograde philosophy is complex and rich, most are just raiders and pirates and slavers who adopted the label- or had it pinned on them by the authorities. In the lawless outskirts of Alpha Sector they can run riot, knowing that it’ll take days for the harassed civilians to summon help.
The days of the nihilistic death-worshipping End cults are over, but lingering threads of their belief system remain. Retrograde is usually hurled as an insult, but some use it with pride. They don’t think society has improved since the Schism; they feel that only the strongest will survive, that compromise and aid packages are a waste of time. Maybe they’re right.
Order
“Deus ex clementia? Each to their own.”
The Orders are the self-regulated (and often wealthy) denominations of a thousand different religions and philosophies and ideologies: they tend to blur together. They were born during a time of persecution, and would later help counteract the pervasive propaganda of the End cult and their kin.
The Domarians are overwhelmingly agnostic (or more accurately completely apathetic about concepts of god) but even they wouldn’t dream of banning the Orders from operating in their territories. The Orders that buy into religion are seen as eccentric, but then again so are some of the humanitarians. In the great debate of idealism vs cynicism they’re everywhere on the scale, from charities to hate-filled cabals who refuse to speak anything except Ancient.
Some Order members are serene and wise and travel around the Sector spreading peace, understanding, and even generous donations. Or they might be a manipulative monster that accepts bribes from the supercorps and spreads lies and venereal disease. It all depends.
Renegade
“That’s why we’re here. Pray you never understand.” – Unknown Hicop
To be dubbed a renegade, you must be a psionor who wronged the High Council. This is surprisingly easy to do and open to abuse.
But not everyone is a debtor or an obnoxious reporter who is brought in and fined and browbeaten. Some are insane psionic killing machines. Some are just unlucky and victims of the Highs’ constant power play.
Derogatively known as “Hicops”, the High Council’s operatives are tasked with policing the psionic communities of the Sector. And when they fail to bring in a particularly destructive rogue…
Then the Legion steps in and their Enforcers set to work.
Not to be confused with The Renegade, aka the Arcadian Renegade, who is clearly just a legend that never existed.
hahahah oh my god i'd forgotten about that
Might be up for it! question - would we be doing the rolling or would it all be behind scenes
Just so you know, I will be playing again and I will be using Stephen :P (granted, I'm redoing his stats and etc).
EDIT: And I'm down with what Infidel said.
No idea what.
I'm thinking of a Telekinetic with ties to the High Council at the moment (would the demonym there be High Councilor?), and wrt rolling I don't particularly care either way, I suppose.
I think we'll keep Archetypes around, because they're mostly for flavour (with the exception of psionors). Down to whether you favour personal talent or if you're reliant on equipment. I'll add something about them later!
And that's right, anyone associated with the High Council has a rank within their movement- whether they like it or not- and has earned the right to be referred to as a High Councillor, as opposed to "Councilmember", which is the honorific for representatives on the Colonial Council. The Highs are a tad pretentious and like their flowerly terminology; Initiates becoming Adepts becoming Acolytes, and so on, with their undisputed heads being the Mastery Councillors. Who are ostensibly the greatest practioners of the psionic arts but... no. Not so much. Mostly their vote just counts for more.
As for the story, everyone will be headhunted and brought into the fold. Assuming that you're good at your job, your employers will have a purpose for you- so nope, no specific requirements! All backgrounds and all "class" types are welcome.
What an interesting name change dude. Gotta see how things work now though. This was how many years ago? :P
Considering that I still had my old name then, lots of years.
The name, well that's a long story. Or maybe just an embarrassing one.
Hm. Maybe we've somehow become unlikely partners? Or you just work for me because I'd kill you if you didn't? I dunno. :P
I'm liking the "unlikely partners" idea.
I'm imagining a situation where immediately after the Ethiliun thing Stephen and Dustin re-enacted The Fugitive and uncovered some conspiracy or something, and thus became begrudging partners forever after.
1. How important will Vitality and Evasion be? I have a scheme to be a short of high tier Ur-Psioner but it would require cutting other stats to the bone, something like Strength I'm not concerned about given, y'know, Telekinesis, but I don't want to fold like a lawn chair the first time I get looked at. Can Armor and the Resistance attribute reasonably allow one to "soak" damage?
2. What are the mechanics for dual wielding firearms? If I can't make the Telekinesis & Telepathy work out I'll end up making room for some Equilibrium style Gun Kata nonsense, but how do I fire two pistols simultaneously, and not necessarily at the same target? Naturally I'm willing to make up an aspect for this (probably a psionic one, River Tam style "psychic shooting") but just curious what the current mechanics are.
3. There exist TK aspects for EM damage and assistance to Tech rolls but I'm thinking of a more overt display of Telekinetic mastery of electricity (the concept would be you're "pushing" the electrons down the wire to induce a current, the way a magnetic field would but with a "low level telekinetic field"), I'm not necessarily thinking Force Lightning but perhaps electrifying a metal floor/gun at a distance, generating shocks at a touch, etc. Anyway the question buried in that mess is "How would this be written as an aspect", and I guess followup question, how about the same idea for Heat (e.g. heating the metal at a distance, etc.)?
So, my Telekinetic blasts to hit roll would be 1d100 + (Half Focus + Telekinesis) + Ranged? And the damage would be PDC + Ranged for a single action, or PDC + Force + Ranged for a double action?
Dual wielding is entirely abstract at the moment, although maybe that can change. Usually it's just a character who has Quick Draw and so they can freely switch between two pistols. And I like the idea of those powers! Kind of pyrokinetic/electrokinetic area denial. Probably easy enough to outline using a radius effect.
Exactly! Although I generally let people substitute their Telekinesis instead of Ranged when calculating the damages, but only because the former is usually higher for psionors. And needless to say that some kind of aspect that combines the two often crops up. Usually the PDC goes up too with a double action, although the single/double terminology might be misleading now. The "action economy" likely needs some rethinking, because two single action attacks tend to be a better bet than a single strong one.
At the moment my character concept is definitely a Hicop with a great success rate confronting the psionic killing machines and a surprisingly terrible record catching the political renegades. A situation most frustrating for his superiors, naturally.
1. When an attribute is damaged, by a temporary or normal injury/trauma, do you lose that point's bonus to your rolls until it heals or is it fine until it reaches zero, at which point you cannot roll? If the former, do derived stats go down? So e.g. I'm Strength 3 Melee 3 Resistance 3, I get stabbed and Strength is damaged, does my Melee go to 2 (specialty is capped by attribute), Resistance go to 2 (assume Vitality is lower still) and then roll Melee attacks with a +30 (2/2 + 2) rather than the original +50 (3/2 rounded up + 3)? Or do I just make note on a tally "1 temporary injury, Strength" and proceed as usual until it's injured 3 times, at which point I cannot roll Strength tests?
It seems like if you lose bonuses as you get injured then you would very rarely use powers that injure yourself, right? Otherwise you severely hinder your ability to both attack and defend in subsequent turns.
2. The old part of the wiki says armor should grant Resilience and Conversion to reduce damage, that seems really useful to me lol, but what would be the resilience and conversion values of say Gravity Aura and Shield, which both give bonus armor. Is there a rule of thumb like "every 3 armor is 1 resilience" or etc.? Are these attributes even around for this new iteration? Similar question, is mandatory minimum damage still a thing?
3. How would Meditative Trance
work with injuries/trauma?
Sorry for the hassle lol, just thinking about how I want to do this mechanically during a lull at work and a lot of the psionic stuff involves spending or recovering Mental Points which are now Traumas.
tbh, it'd probably go more along the lines of Dustin pointing a gun at the back of Stephen's head back in the marshes only to have the gun jam. Clearly, it's fate. :P
Need to read the stuff though to see how to mechanically implement the character again... at some point.
Ed, when does this start so that I can have it submitted choosing or w/e by then?
Psychoanalysis
Prereq: Analysis +2, INT 5
The character can use their Analysis specialty as a bonus to their Social and Sense. Psychoanalysis does not apply in opposed checks against non-organic opponents.
Neuroscientist
Prereq: Medic +2, Tech +2
The character can expend a double action to perform an opposed Medic or Tech check against any Psionic or Cyborg opponent’s Resolve. Against Psionic opponents the successful check grants a Psi Defense bonus equal to the character’s Medic specialty to allies attacked by that opponent. Against Cyborg opponents the successful check grants a to-hit bonus equal to the character’s Tech specialty to allies attacking that opponent. This effect lasts the duration of the encounter, and can only be applied once per enemy per encounter.
Wise Advice
Prereq: INT 6
The character can expend a full turn action to grant their aspect bonuses to an ally for the duration of the turn. No granted bonus can be higher than the character's INT.
Not very but like, 3, three insulted.
1. Temp injuries still apply a penalty to the attribute but they do not affect derived stats, only rolls etc. where said attribute is directly invoked. I.e., your Melee base competency would be lessened if you lost a point of STR, but your actual speciality ranking wouldn't be.
When you use a power that injures yourself you are indeed saddled with a penalty but repeated uses of similar powers will stack, increasing the severity (and remember, the severity rating only dictates how hard it is to remove and nothing else) of a single injury instead of giving you more. At least until all those 2s and 4s take the severity over 10.
2. Resilience and conversion still exist, and potentially some psionic powers etc. could grant it. R&C still only applies when the armour rating is unchallenged- if it's defeated by a weapon with an armour piercing property it doesn't apply. Minimum damage is still a thing. It was present in Version 1 and has taken a while to come back to us, but it's a good way of demonstrating the increased potency of a weapon like a gun over a knife.
3: By reducing the severity of extant injures; reducing a trauma at the end of an encounter and boosting the Surge power's ability to address and potentially remove wounds.
Winky compared it to Mass Effect at one point, which I think is fairly apt! The most blatant genetic modification is historical, with alt-humans (for the most part) being descendants of pre-Schism or Conglomerate-era creations- if you want to split hairs, "baseline" humans are still very much the recipients of engineered traits, with three-century lifespans as Lanlaorn pointed out. The High Council has outlawed procedures to grant or enhance psionic abilities, which is a tad ironic considering there's evidence that psionors as a whole exist only because of pre-Schism tampering. And the token FTL handwave comes courtesy of a Uclasion technology called the phasedrive.
Anyway those are some neat abilities Winky, I'm sure we can use them. Might make Psychoanalysis's prereqs a bit broader (or alternatively limit it to a reroll or adding your PDC*10 to the d100 check or something), and Neuroscientist seems a bit potent for an at-will encounter power. Maybe the Medic/Tech check is always maximised, but the power costs an Edge point to deploy? Wise Advice looks fine, I think we already had a similar ability once upon a time.
And tasty, I've got no specific deadline! Probably another six player game but I can go lower if there's not enough interest. My bad, Melding!
Ledifni
Ucelsian, Enforcer Officer
VIT 3 STR 3 AGI 2
FOC 5 WIL 6 INT 5
RST 6 REA 5 RSV 6
Dedicant:
INT +1, grants INT check reroll
Specialities: (augmented)
Analysis +3 (+4)
Psi Defence +2 (+6)
Ranged +3
Social +2
Aspects:
Careful Aim - Aim grants +5 [FOC] to hit and +3 [Ranged] to damage. Called Shot (4MP) adds 8 damage [FOC+Ranged].
Counter Intuition - Can make mental opposed checks with same specialty of opponent instead of opposed specialty type.
Disciplined Defence - +3 [WIL/2] to Resistance (RST). Resolute (4MP) allows Resolve check on failed Resistance.
Mental Complexity - +2 [INT/2] to Psi Defence. Intellectual Wall (4MP) adds a further +5 [INT] to Psi Defence, decreasing by one per turn.
Readiness - When maximizing [EDGE] Reaction roll at encounter start, allies add 1d8 [Analysis PDC] to their Reaction roll as well.
Steadfast - Recover 2MP when passing a forced Resolve check.
Minor Items:
Enforcer Uniform (light armour, AR3)
Cybernetic Uplink (+1 Analysis)
Wrist Computer
Multitool
Advanced Items:
Sentinel (Advanced plasma pistol): 1d8+11, AP4, Inherent [Called Attack], Charge 5
--Plasma Blast: Full turn action, +6 to damage. Treated as an AoE attack, dealing half damage to hexes adjacent to target.
Braincase Implant (+2 Psi Defence)
Base Competency:
Analysis +65
Psi Defence +90
Ranged +55 (8% crit chance, 2% crit failure chance)
Social [INT/WIL/FOC/STR] +45/50/45/55 (includes +20 to STR for Intimidate background aspect)
Anyway what I'm thinking along the lines of so far, spoilered for three big sections, I openly invite suggestions from anyone,
Concept
On the other hand, his superiors are not pleased by Rel's damnable conscience or stubborn pride, but are forced to admit his usefulness outweighs his near disregard for authority. Moreover, considering the issue uncomfortably brings to mind that, in their psionic meritocracy, a man of his sheer force of will should probably be giving the orders, not taking them. Having long since given up on attempting to correct the issue, they now simply assign the least important political cases to HC Morrow, enemies of people with little clout where the gesture of sending an operative is more than sufficient and work normally given to rookies. For his part, Rel Morrow cheerfully relishes being simultaneously one of the most legendary Hicops in active service and yet considered less than worthless in a "sensitive" investigation.
So you see one thing I'm going for here is a kind of moderate fame within the police community both for defeating difficult psionic opponents (" They assigned Rel Morrow, the man who took down the Jacynth III Ripper?!") and his, uh, unorthodox investigative style ("All right some guy slept with a High Councilor's wife and they've got Rel Morrow working it, throw your name in the box on the way out and whoever wins: don't go crazy with your "leads", the HC accountants bitch at me, not him").
I'm not sure of the timeline here but I'd like Rel to have been around when the High Council was the Extrasensory Protection Society (longevity genetics particularly well designed to the point that he outright does not age) and he actually does believe in most of the party line (Psionors superior to "mundanes", anyone psionic should join the High Council for training, and the High Council is the best suited to be the voice and regulatory body of the psionic community) but he can't stand the corruption and petty bullshit. He's actively disappointed that a psionic organization isn't more mature, but still believes it's the only organization that has their best interests at heart.
And although I love Walter Koenig in Babylon 5, look-wise I'm thinking more Christian Bale from Equilibrium, the big gold Psi was a bit much.
EDIT: ARGH MY EXCEL FORMATTED TABBING, GONE
EDIT2: Ok the code tag made it better.
Mechanics
- Broad Mind replaces Int with Willpower for Capacity and Mental Points (whatever that translates to in the new paradigm)
- Edge Link: Telekinesis gives Telekinesis of 4 while leaving points for a Telepathy of 2 and is kinda cool in that it simulates a "getting tired" attrition effect, when Edge drops below 4 his Telekinetic strength will also drop.
- I invest 2 aspects and 3 powers into resisting damage so that should make up for poor ability to dodge anything.
So the end result is a fairly normal guy with massive psionic ability and mechanically it's kind of cool how everything can work off Willpower, by sheer force of will I'm a complete badass.
Proposed Item and Aspects
Advanced Item:
Rel Morrow's Lashknife
Damage and etc: Whatever advanced item combat knife values should be?
Properties:
Electrically conductive cable spooled in the handle.
Dynamically Fractal Blade: The blade's edge can alternate between being normally sharp and being serrated down to the nanoscale, a fractal edge with a perimeter larger than England's. Effect: Some kind of mechanical disadvantage to pulling the blade out, and pulling it out should cause damage. I'm thinking a "Difficult (100)" strength roll to remove it and doing as much damage coming out as it does coming in?
The fractal blade and cable reel toggle remotely, of course.
Telekinetic Aspects:
I don't see any support for telekinetically throwing things at people the way there is for shooting or stabbing them, so I made something along the lines of Ballistic Kinesis and Brawler Kinesis. Although I mostly plan to use it to whip the Lashknife around and potentially some shuriken or something, I thought there should be a way to lift and throw a car or something when needed.
Projectile Kinesis
Type: Passive, Power
When making single action thrown attacks add Telekinesis to both the to-hit and damage rolls. At Telekinesis 3+, add Precision to the to-hit roll and Force to the damage roll.
Full Turn Action: Lift and throw an object with Telekinetic Manipulation at triple normal Force for any Strength check.
And I was just thinking of the typical "elemental" psychic stuff like Pyrokinesis, here we're inducing electric currents like a magnetic field, easier at point blank ranges and more difficult at range. I'm not really sure how stuns and EM damage work though it makes sense for electricity to work like that.
Electrokinesis
Type: Power
Single Action: The character generates an electric charge within their body or in a conductive material they are in contact with. Targets in physical contact with the character or conducting material suffer PDC+1 + Force electric damage.
Double Action: The character nominates a 2 hex area, all targets in contact with conductive surfaces in the area suffer PDC + Telekinesis electric damage.
Electric damage may cause stun effects in organics and is EM damage.
The character's intended fighting style can be deduced from this of course, when fighting enemy Psionors who could shrug off telepathic assaults and deadlock any telekinetic "arm wrestling"; the ability to put a lot of force behind a small object and then, if it connects, apply "shock therapy" was quite appealing.
I personally prefer avoidance, since damage reduction can be penetrated by a lot of methods and so is sometimes unreliable, and also (particularly with psionics) there may be other effects that are much more important to avoid than it is to reduce the damage value some.
So we have the following:
32 points for attributes and skills?
8 edge points for aspects?
Are the 5 archetypes listed all there are?
Choose 6 aspects you meet requirements for.