Futuristic Exodus Black OOC

[Folly-Derrezzed]

Yo.

 

[Blemmigan]

Ah, now comes the time of blind panic when I realise I have to make a character and suddenly can think of nothing.

Will have a think and come back tomorrow (I'm in the GMT+1 time zone, for reference), possibly with IDEAS or QUESTIONS or the like.
Probably will go for a human, though alien species are fun to write. And of course I've a soft spot for robots/androids/cyborg types.

Is there a specific plotline to funnel all the characters into the same storyline? And also, a suggested list of thematically appropriate occupations?

 

[Folly-Derrezzed]

To tie them all together..? Uuuh..im not sure. I missed that detail, ill get thinkin if you could help. As for occupations heres what i can think off the bat that would be common on the Exodus.

EMF(Exodus Military Force)- Your character will feature in the star fleet of the Exodus fighting the Intruders and helping protect colonies. Though the actual war is for higher ranking militants, so none of the PCs would be able to fight the Intruders until promotion or if you prove your worth. There is also starship engineering, repairs, etc.

Spires Cybernetics- High end business selling advanced cybernetics. Your characters will mostly build these or sell them/market them.

Mega Machines- Your characters work for Mega Machines, a corporation that builds the new lines of androids and mechs. However, there has been a problem as the new machines have became sapient.

For smaller occupations: Exodus site maintenance, mercenaries, scrap scavengers.

I was thinking that there was a freelance salvaging gig, lots of money involved, and all of our characters from different backgrounds took the offer. They then go to this planet and start salvaging crashed ships from the war, technology, metal. Then they discover a massive ruin. They explore these ruins to take whatever they can find before entering a elevator, taking them down deep into the earth. At this point, its just curiosity and ancient alien tech.

 

[Folly-Derrezzed]

Fuck i realize im just spitting circles now.

 

[Folly-Derrezzed]

Okay, yeah. I think that all the characters can be salvagers. Not really tied to the war, but becoming a part of it as they explore the galaxy for treasure and ruins. In that sense, they eventually find what happened to the taken worlds. Speak to an Intruder. Throughout the course of the plot, puzzle pieces will unlock. Then comes the time to end the war.

Frick, how would that happen then? That would involve a coup on the EMF or something.

 

[Blemmigan]

That works! If it's to retrieve a particularly big/odd prize for the person who organised the salvage, it would (as you said) give an excuse for several new people to meet with some mix of skillsets and backgrounds.

Perhaps things don't go as smoothly: they might get there and discover something they shouldn't, or end up activating something that should be dead, or they get lost, or their transportation to the location breaks down and they have no way to call for help.

Or one of them takes something from the salvage thinking that it's valuable enough to sell but won't be missed.. But when they all get back to the Exodus it doesn't take long for the person who organised the expedition to realise that it's gone missing, leading them to try and track down the crew responsible in search of it.

A couple of suggestions that might spark something... if you write up an outline for the plot (whether in these topics or your private workshop) then it can be handy to turn to should the action snag, even if the actual route changes into something else as it goes. Of course the setting has the potential to be almost anything, so it depends on which aspects you'd most like to explore!

 

[Folly-Derrezzed]

That works! If it's to retrieve a particularly big/odd prize for the person who organised the salvage, it would (as you said) give an excuse for several new people to meet with some mix of skillsets and backgrounds.

Perhaps things don't go as smoothly: they might get there and discover something they shouldn't, or end up activating something that should be dead, or they get lost, or their transportation to the location breaks down and they have no way to call for help.

Or one of them takes something from the salvage thinking that it's valuable enough to sell but won't be missed.. But when they all get back to the Exodus it doesn't take long for the person who organised the expedition to realise that it's gone missing, leading them to try and track down the crew responsible in search of it.

A couple of suggestions that might spark something... if you write up an outline for the plot (whether in these topics or your private workshop) then it can be handy to turn to should the action snag, even if the actual route changes into something else as it goes. Of course the setting has the potential to be almost anything, so it depends on which aspects you'd most like to explore!

YESSSS YESSS I SEE IT NOW.

-Go salvage, find something mindshaking, and start something that leads to an evacuation. The cast gets stuck on the planet, comms are cut off and they need to survive. When they are rescued, someone has taken illicit tech, smuggling it through customs and taking it to a shop one of the other characters know. Ill take over the description as we do a scene change.

I seees it. The aspects i wanna include is this sense of tension, mystery, and abstract horror. With side quests and the like to fulfill character arcs.

 

[Blemmigan]

If every character has their own explicit goal (and reason for being a part of the team in the first place) that'll also provide more inspiration for developing the plot further. Always worth having a baseline to fall back on though :v

Some more random suggestions to take or leave, because why not?
-They're able to leave the planet by undergoing repairs instead of being rescued, leading them to search the tech more thoroughly than they might otherwise have done to find valuable parts.
-The company do send out a rescue craft, but surprisingly soon after they lose contact, which is a big clue that the salvage/mission is something important and they want to get it back.
-Sent out in a shoddy craft that breaks down, the salvage crew all agree to take the valuable-looking tech (and some other pieces) back with them in secret and split the profit, just to stick it to the company. The regular workers can attest that the higher-ups don't care about the safety of those doing the salvaging, and so they usually pay themselves "danger money" in the form of pocketing stuff to sell later. Nothing bad has ever come of it before.
-The shop they take the tech to evaluates it and someone there recognises what it is. Perhaps they report to somebody- the company who commissioned its return and know it's missing, or somebody running their own business on the seedier parts of the Exodus who can use it for their own ends.
-The entire crew involved may find themselves suddenly hunted down, whether by the salvage company, the rogue businessman, or both.
-Some may end up getting captured. Others might try to escape the Exodus, or flee to other levels, getting mixed up in whatever uprisings and unrest might be going on there in an attempt to find allies.

Also may depend on what the MccGuffin is, too :v A long-lost piece of tech that can override AI and render security/biotech/androids powerless? Co-ordinates to a "safe haven" planet, or the location of the intruders? A method of "reversing" whatever's happened to the planets?
Or, at the very least, a piece of the puzzle leading towards something like that.

 

[Folly-Derrezzed]

This piece of technology has the potential to finally end this war. However, there is something odd about it. It seems to be transmitting something, connected to the intruders. Something greater.

However, it was only active after the mission. So after that, the company is pissed and EMF is sent to search the Exodus for this piece as its the key to finding the Intruders homeworld and disabling them for good.

However, i have a way to get the cast to see the other side of the coin.

For the characters, i would say poverty or pride in the war effort. Maybe one or two had parents who were killed by the Intruders. The shop is ran by two NPC which i plan to be reoccurring in the story.

 

[Blemmigan]

Sounds good to me! Getting that mystery and adventure.
May be worth making a new interest thread check at some point, with more specific plot details laid out/an introductory post leading into the setting. Assuming that you'd want more people, anyway :v It may have been a bit vague before (one reason I dithered before posting).

May go for a character who... while not so much proud of the war effort, has a typical association of "this is our home and we need to defend it and follow certain rules to stave off chaos". Which may or may not be challenged if they end up a kind of enemy of the state. And have a family that they want to provide for and protect, which will potentially sway the moral code a bit. Perhaps having some more unsavoury ties in the past, before they settled down.
Not sure what kind of background or skills. Cybernetics are always fun. Engineers are useful. Probably more of the "essential but expendable" type rather than anyone with an important title and a cushy job. The kind that gets sent on salvage missions in the first place.

 

[Folly-Derrezzed]

Sounds good to me! Getting that mystery and adventure.
May be worth making a new interest thread check at some point, with more specific plot details laid out/an introductory post leading into the setting. Assuming that you'd want more people, anyway :v It may have been a bit vague before (one reason I dithered before posting).

May go for a character who... while not so much proud of the war effort, has a typical association of "this is our home and we need to defend it and follow certain rules to stave off chaos". Which may or may not be challenged if they end up a kind of enemy of the state. And have a family that they want to provide for and protect, which will potentially sway the moral code a bit. Perhaps having some more unsavoury ties in the past, before they settled down.
Not sure what kind of background or skills. Cybernetics are always fun. Engineers are useful. Probably more of the "essential but expendable" type rather than anyone with an important title and a cushy job. The kind that gets sent on salvage missions in the first place.

Heck yeah, dude. Ill get onto it when i can. Got, like, 4 other RPs to respond to and make characters for.