Futuristic A Purpose Under Heaven - OOC

[Mr Phoebius]

Are there any other details you'd like to know before you start making a character? Since we have a small group atm, I'm perfectly willing to ease up on some of my rules.

How is going to work the energy system? Also the operative resources too. Is going to be any restriction?

 

[Purr]

welian Okay. I'm in. =)

After having ADHD and coffee-fueled conversations with myself, I really think I could use the change in pace and perspective. Welian, I have never had you as my Game Master and I hope to add to your game with my abilities as a Player. =)

I find the concept of playing an AI giant robot can aid me in roleplaying designs I have long had in my own sci fi roleplaying game. More importantly, I want to role-play here with all of you. Here in A Purpose Under Heaven, I'm think I'm going to aim to create something... imaginative... a little silly... something that keeps my attention while adding to the game (long-term, I hope as always), and best of all - fun!

I thank you graciously for your invitation into a universe you have clearly put no small amount of time and effort into! =)

 

[welian]

So would you say you've... found your purpose? A purpose under heaven, perhaps?

 

[Purr]

Ugggh! Urrgh! Call the doctor! I've been punned! Hah! =)

There is no way I'm going to play a Character who is absolutely serious in a setting and Game Master like this!

You shall see! =)

 

[welian]

How is going to work the energy system? Also the operative resources too. Is going to be any restriction?

Sorry for missing this post earlier! If you check my super-long response to Dannigan on the previous page, you'll see some answers regarding power sources and maintenance.

 

[Epiphany]

So would you say you've... found your purpose? A purpose under heaven, perhaps?

I want to use the Reaction cookie for this post but my only options are 'Like', 'Love', 'Awwww', 'Great Scene' and 'Well Written'.

RPN needs a 'Badly Written' reaction cookie.

Dannigan, get Kaerri on that.

 

[Purr]

Ha ha ha ha! 8D

 

[Purr]

You might have to add that to my own giant robot's description after you read certain (I hope amusing) elements therein. =) I'm still working on its completion. =)

 

[Epiphany]

You might have to add that to my own giant robot's description after you read certain (I hope amusing) elements therein. =) I'm still working on its completion. =)

Dannigan, I've never seen a character from you that didn't amuse on some level.

 

[Purr]

Heh! Well, fun is the name of the game! I take from Chris Claremont (the creator of Marvel's Uncanny X-Men back in the 20th century) when he states that if he is having a great time with a story, and he writes it well-enough, then the audience is very likely to have a good time. Thankfully for the rest of us, his idea of fun and his audience's were and are quite compatible. With me, I'm just having fun too! =)

 

[Epiphany]

FYI - Chris Claremont once wrote a sequel trilogy of books to the fantasy movie 'Willow' way back when. If you liked Willow and like Chris Claremont, they're a terrific read.

 

[Purr]

Did he really? I didn't know that! I liked Willow. Thanks! =)

 

[Purr]

Any thoughts on my Character anyone? (I'm open to constructive criticism.) =)

EDIT: If you provide this for my Character, I'll provide for yours if you want it - just let me know! =)

 

[Purr]

(Sorry to spam.)

Hey welian ? Did you maybe want to change your Profile information up top of the page since you've given the green light for Character creation? The less confused people, the better, right? =)

I was waiting to see if we might get two or more people for the RP, but since I think we've gotten the people we're going to get right now, might as well get started on character sheets!

Under construction, do not post!

Unfinished or preemptively posted character sheets will be soft-deleted without notice.

Profile BBCode: TBA

Profile Contents: Also TBA, but will include

• For all characters: Personality, backstory, age, skill and abilities (including weapons).
• For robot characters: Size category, sector, call sign (in lieu of a traditional human name).
• For human characters: The usual name, age, gender, and stuff. Will also include a section for "steelbound" abilities for those with pesky nanorobot infections.

Feel free to get started on a character or two or three, but don't post in here (yet).

 

[welian]

I'll update the threads after class today - Hold me to it?

 

[Epiphany]

Any thoughts on my Character anyone? (I'm open to constructive criticism.) =)

EDIT: If you provide this for my Character, I'll provide for yours if you want it - just let me know! =)

Your character's fine by me! Looks fun! If the character sheet works for you, groovy.

Since you asked for input, here's some thoughts in no particular order:

• Your opening sentence in overview says this team partnered with NASA to make a civilian-made space-capable mecha. Why combine scientific and military then? Space Force and NASA generally run in separate lanes, and build things to specialize in either military or scientific operations, that's all.
• The mecha itself is neat. The AI itself is neat. Given the AI seems made to be a 'plug-and-play' sort, consider making them separate projects and separate teams? Actually, that might nicely address the civilian vs. military bit in my first bullet above; civilian-made AI slotted into a military-made repurposed chassis, to cut costs.
• Obviously the reason to have a pilot cockpit is because the artwork has a cockpit. Given this is intended to be an autonomous long-term, long-range space craft for interplanetary missions, it's hard to think of deliberately designing in a cockpit (given you don't send a crew of 1 to Mars and if you do they need vastly more space and supplies than can fit in a cockpit). On the other hand, if this was essentially a military orbital fighter (like VFPF/In Amber Clad) repurposed for civilian, scientific work, maybe they pulled the instrumentation because there wasn't going to be a pilot but had another plan for using that space. Maybe sending a small lab animal or two. Or maybe that was the plan but they didn't get a chance to retrofit it for that before the war broke out. Just brainstorming.
• Unless of course it's not meant for trips to Mars but Earth orbit/near Earth. At Mach 3.1, a trip to the moon would take about 4 days there, 4 days back; uncomfortable logistically but not impossible.
• The drones are neat! Along with the reactors, BOOP feels like a bespoke mecha, comparatively expensive to my VFPF. My gal needs fuel to fly, yours doesn't, so my in-universe explanation is that Asimov-Anthony fusion reactors are super expensive. Which is why your mission-specific unlikely-to-be-shot-down mecha has them and my general-purpose likely-to-be-shot-at mecha doesn't. Same with the drones; VFPFs are a lot more limited in their long-term functionality because they were intended to refuel/resupply/repair at a battle carrier periodically.
• I initially thought "Why does a scientific mecha sent to orbit or the Moon need a giant laser cannon"? Then I realized "Obviously to protect against Soviet/Chinese 'scientific' mecha also going to those places."

Anyway, looking forward to seeing BOOP in action!

And hopefully we'll get a few more players putting in sheets (no Robotech/Macross required, we're just geeks).

 

[Purr]

Your opening sentence in overview says this team partnered with NASA to make a civilian-made space-capable mecha. Why combine scientific and military then? Space Force and NASA generally run in separate lanes, and build things to specialize in either military or scientific operations, that's all.

Good point! I hadn't thought about that. Perhaps I should put Space Force in there or whatever equivalent Welian has for us.

Ooh! Or how about this? The Space Force caught wind of the privately-funded BOOP project NASA had accepted and made it their business to get involved in it so they could benefit too. Draaama! =)

Then the rich people's sons wanted to give it a whirl. They were completely unsatisfied with the cockpit's drab interior and lack of luxuries, which led to outright demands for an entire refit of comfort-related upgrades for the (super rich, super entitled) passengers. Leather seat with massage functionality! Better air conditioning! Drones capable of performing paramedic-like life-saving medical procedures (this one from the parents of the kid who had allergies)! Onboard media player/video game center with gigantic storage for movies and music (you know somebidy would want it). Internal HD camera for selfies that Photoshop the passenger for the best media-ready images! And other such "dire necessities."

The military balked and blanched, but the scientists and engineers thought, "Hey, why not?" More draaama!

These things would serve BOOP well 1,000 years later when it learned it had to get along with, and aid, a brand new form of humans who thought it and machines like it were gods!

The mecha itself is neat. The AI itself is neat. Given the AI seems made to be a 'plug-and-play' sort, consider making them separate projects and separate teams? Actually, that might nicely address the civilian vs. military bit in my first bullet above; civilian-made AI slotted into a military-made repurposed chassis, to cut costs.

I thought about that and hit a roadblock. I would have to make then to backgrounds, one for the AI, the other for the aircraft. The Character Sheet was getting wordy as it was and I wanted to save Welian some reading. Plus, Welian had made what appeared to be at least three instances in her blank Character Sheet that implied brevity would be appreciated.

Sorry, Welian! Brevity has never been my bedfellow! =)

On the other hand, if this was essentially a military orbital fighter (like VFPF/In Amber Clad) repurposed for civilian, scientific work, maybe they pulled the instrumentation because there wasn't going to be a pilot but had another plan for using that space. Maybe sending a small lab animal or two. Or maybe that was the plan but they didn't get a chance to retrofit it for that before the war broke out. Just brainstorming.

I like brainstorming! The way I see it, maybe BOOP was a prototype, the first batch of many. It was to be sent in squadrons, not alone, maybe with human passengers along, some of them scientists and engineers, astronauts and intrepid military scouts, and some high profile rich people willing to pay astronomically (see what I did there?) while they do what few people ever have or will - fly (and livestream) along the faces of other worlds.

Unless of course it's not meant for trips to Mars but Earth orbit/near Earth. At Mach 3.1, a trip to the moon would take about 4 days there, 4 days back; uncomfortable logistically but not impossible.

I was thinking it could be dropped from outer space onto Mars, asteroids, and some of Jupiter's moons like the Cheyenne dropship from the Sulaco in Aliens. Perhaps this has already happened. I would like that. =)

Which is why your mission-specific unlikely-to-be-shot-down mecha has them and my general-purpose likely-to-be-shot-at mecha doesn't. Same with the drones; VFPFs are a lot more limited in their long-term functionality because they were intended to refuel/resupply/repair at a battle carrier periodically.

Definitely! This is a craft designed to last and last, like the Voyager probes!

I initially thought "Why does a scientific mecha sent to orbit or the Moon need a giant laser cannon"? Then I realized "Obviously to protect against Soviet/Chinese 'scientific' mecha also going to those places."

Mecha, satellites, missiles, anything that the competition throws out there. I imagine the BOOP acting as an interceptor for science space ships that don't have any other outside means of defense.

I want the Illuminator and Twin Suns to be versatile tools, able to melt through rock but also keep you warm in your tent. What if the engineers using BOOP's ground radar found signs of strange material underground they could not reach? What if they had a laser that could gently dig down there within centimeters of the find? BOOP could therefore perform its own geological digs!

Anyway, looking forward to seeing BOOP in action!

Thank you! Yours too! You don't make boring creatures. Your characters are quite alive!

BOOP's personality is slowly but surely forming. I love this process! =)

And hopefully we'll get a few more players putting in sheets (no Robotech/Macross required, we're just geeks).

We are! Cheerfully bitten by the Robotech bug, I think we are lifers. But I don't think people like us would have it any other way! =)

What cool creations do our other Players have in store for A Purpose Under Heaven? Want to see!

 

[welian]

I don't think I looked at Robotech, but I do recall reading the TvTropes page for Macross and checking out the character creation system for Mekton during my preliminary research for this RP.

 

[Purr]

I'll update the threads after class today - Hold me to it?

welian Holding (hugging) you to it!

 

[Purr]

welian I think I should have asked you this earlier. What kind of social atmosphere are we going for in the game? Is this supposed to be a lighthearted, zany, anime-style game? Did you want something more serious like a sci fi movie?

Also, since we are allowed to play human characters, to what ratio of humans to giant robots dud you want or does that matter?

 

[welian]

Purr I'm not sure about atmosphere - I'd like to get to know more about my players and what they want to do. I do personally prefer the zany and silly moments, but what's the point of waking up in a destroyed future and realizing your mission failed if you aren't going to write pages and pages of angst about it? And how re we supposed to earn our happy endings if we don't go through hell, first? I want my whump and comfort fics, dammit! And Epiphany has been in a few of my threads, so she can tell you aaaaallll about the bullshit that happens when I'm left in charge.

You are welcome to play human characters! Think of this like those Saturday morning Transformers cartoons - yeah, sure, there's lots of human characters, and they are important! But we're tuning in to see the giant robots.

 

[Purr]

Thanks, welian ! Here's another friendly reminder-poke for you:

Under construction, do not post!

Unfinished or preemptively posted character sheets will be soft-deleted without notice.

 

[welian]

I'm working on it right now!

 

[Damafaud]

Hm, I was going for a crop harvester turn corpse harvester, but seeing two huge robots already I am now entertaining something smaller. Murder roomba or companionship little thing like Tobbie Robot but smarter

 

[welian]

crop harvester turn corpse harvester

well, someone is getting a head start on rebuilding the agriculture industry.