Coup D'etat - Session 06 - "Silver Leaves"

The market of the capitol city of Upbow is bright and vibrant. HiveBots man the street, working alongside biological workers to keep the city's basic services running. Tourists, travelers, and shoppers walk the streets lined with open-air cafes. It's at one of these cafes that The Infiltrator is meeting one of his contacts with The Infuser's Alliance.

The Infiltrator's contact within The Infuser's Alliance tells him that his father was taken to be recruited for a scientific project. They can't discuss what he worked on, but during a routine transfer of material and personnel for security reasons, his ship was attacked by the KAMATA-Sci, an organization within the KAMTAS which focuses on advanced scientific research. As the two dominant scientific powers in the galaxy, The Infusers' Alliance and the KAMATAS have a long-running shadow war to stay on the forefront of technological progress. The contact can't tell Al much more because the Infusers believe that KAMATA-Sci is on the verge of a major discovery. One that could shift the balance of power in the galaxy. He says they're preparing an op on the base within a few weeks and information is at a premium. After a suspiciously small amount of prodding, he mentions they'd rather send a small, specialized force instead of the Aarenst Wing, but there isn't a unit familiar enough with the technology or the area.

Coup D'etat - Session 05 Prelude - Echoes of Thunder

Massert NoSve Alliance

While the Slemmgraise have pulled back their front-line contributions to their military and trade guild, it's rumored that they are working on a new offensive. Because the power of the Massert NoSve counter is less effective when used defensively, rumors of hidden Slemmgraise fleets and ghost stories about missing ships run rampant in the Massert NoSve underclasses.

The Massert NoSve Sixth Fleet reports no sign of an invasion force on the Sur-Et Rim other than an unusually high amount of local unrest. They've investigated new social movements based on silver leaves, tracking down one such strange tree from beyond the rim. It showed evidence of genetic alteration to reproduce via aggressive, asexual, rapid-growing spores and in other ways, though their science teams haven't determined that yet. The Sixth Fleet has lead several planets in creating an effective quarantine.

Coup D'etat - Session 05 Prelude - The Oncoming Storm

Part one of two for a general update of the galaxy.

Free Alliance

The Pris have deployed two task forces to destroy the rebels once and for all. The FA has protested and there have been shots fired between the two sides. With the datacore destroyed on board the Malice, the odds are slim they could ever find the rebel base.

Meanwhile, reports of revolution are coming in from the inhabited moon of Kastulas V. According to a Pris intelligence report, the common people of the planet have risen up and toppled the ruling power. The actions are described as peaceful and centered around a rapid growth of never before seen trees with silver leaves. The reports cease shortly thereafter.

Coup D'etat - Session 04, "Ships Aflame"

So The Disciples of the Voice of the Deep arrived in the Katsulas System within The Free Alliance, looking for a PROTECT science and research outpost. It was missing, but The Voice of the Deep suggested they search on the inhabited moon of the Katsulas system. It once housed an PROTECT ground support station for the outpost and its memory core could lead the troupe to their prize.

No sooner had they recovered the memory core from the ruins than they were engaged by local law enforcement, charged with tombraiding (a catchall term for people stealing local artifacts that belong in a museum.). 

They're escorted to comfortable prison quarters, to face trial by "The Commander." A quick search of the local information network reveals that The Commander is a Commander Meltha, a renegade commander in the Free Alliance Civil War now a freelance rebel fighting against the neighboring Pris Alliance. 

Coup D'etat - Session 02, "TAGCX"

In this session, the party looks into a PROTECT intelligence base in the Deforest system. When they arrive, they come across a Monlith gunship firing on the base, having arrived shortly before them. They engage with Cass' ship, the Celestial Wind, and the monoliths withdrawal. Their sensors tell them it's the same ship that waylaid Al back on Ma-Tourel.

Cass and Al give chase, while Major Luke Princeton and Pron Gatar take a shuttle to check out the station. There, they restore power and Luke, finally back at home in the Massert NoSve Alliance, calls to report in to his superiors in The Council. Meanwhile, Al and Cass shoot down the Monolith gunship and investigate its crash site on Deforest Six. They find a Monolith memory core and a book rapidly decaying in the harsh environment. More importantly, Al recovers the information stolen by The Scarred, Silver Monolith and recovers some of that monlith's remains. The harsh wind of Deforest Six picks up as they return to the Celestial Wind, and make their way to the station.

Coup D'etat - Session 01, "Union" Epilogue

Cass, Razka, Al, Pron, and Luke are on the Celestial Wind with The Voice of the Deep.

You've left orbit without incident and crossed the poorly-patroled border into KAMATAS space, further from Slemmgraise law enforcement (A concern for some of you.). The Voice of the Deep begins to mull things over: 

"My knowledge of The Spines is limited. I was designed as a general for the war against the Slemmgraise and their incursion into our universe happened before my experiences. However, there may yet be old places, remnants of the PROTECT, and our builders, the Zurai, which might have information on them.

"The history of The Monliths indicate that they would not wholly support such wanton destruction as you have attributed to them. It is likely that those you encountered were part of a group separate from the monolith culture based on Monoliths' Favorite World. Contemporary references support this; the churn of subcultures reported across the galaxy have long contained unrelated references to spines, silver leaves, and the monoliths, but limited information gleaned from the Sur-Et Rim indicate an above insignificant upward trend, both in their prevalence and connection, though the silver leaves are by far the strongest element. They speak of The Predator from beyond the stars. Possibly a messianic figure from their the same universe as The Spines, or from beyond the galaxy.

Collaborative Campaign Setting: Coup D'etat, Day II - Styles

I've worked up general styles of ships and architecture that distinguish each of them from the others. I'm open to more ideas or modifications, as you prefer.

Slemmgraise

Architecture: Slim grey metallics with blackened orbs in them. Long architecture. Ships that tend to rotate and "stand" on the horizon like rockets.
Many of their "ships" are stations built of asteroids or meteors that they teleport around in groups.

Pris
Volcanic red with inner light coming from the seams. Ships with central bodies and jutting "wings." Exosuits (eeze) tend to have the same colors.

KAMATAS (S'Szera)
Premier shipbuilders. Spindly ships. Crumble-white, hexagonal nacells with arms for six more "pods." Some of the largest, most versatile, and well-armed vessels in the galaxy. Also make common cargo ships and passenger vessels. Their primary attack craft from from fighter pods filled with rocket-propelled, spider-like individual exosuits.

Collaborative Campaign Setting: Coup D'etat, Part II - Enhanced Groundwork

We're doing a new RPG, a Mutants and Masterminds game currently codenamed "Coup D'etat." In order to make sure everyone knows the general layout of the setting, we all jammed to hammer out the foundations of the setting. Before we play again Saturday night, I've got a lot of setting work to do, so I'm posting regular updates. Here's today's:

Characters

-T's: Hellworld native. Lives on a lunar station orbiting his home planet

-J's: Shapeshifter from a planet in a rim sector.

-D's: Teleporter from the Infusers Alliance

-R's: Shipborn. His whole life. Supersoldier.

-Space Voice: Finding it in an old, neglected area or something.

-KT: Ship pilot. Roguish.

Geography

-The ship itself and its geography.

-Our headquarters: Space Voice leads them to the headquarters. Abandoned because no one else gets it to work. Base on an overlooked planet in a busy solar system.

-"Serious Nebula": Base of operations or home for one or more species. With planets with species.

-"Variety"

-Timeworld for teleporters' home.

-Worlds with specific resources with difficulties concerning extracting those resources

-Primitive natives vs resources

-Shapeshifters are from a specific planet. There are less sentient ones. They find new resources and leverage to get more from those resources. 

-The empty sector. Probably in Pris, KAMTASA, or Free Alliance areas

Collaborative Campaign Setting: Coup D'etat, Part II - Relations

Infusers/Slemmgraise
The two are engaged in a cold war and have been for some time. From the center of the Slemmgraise Alliance to the cobble streets of the Infuser's planets, agents, plans, codes, and all manner of information is exchanged so that both will have a technological edge on the other should their mutual mistrust and suspicion come to cause a galactic conflagration. The Slemmgraise have multiple interests, but chief amongst them is protecting their genetic code and the technologies based on it. The teleportation is the centerpiece of their hold over their alliance and even though it has already begun to crack, they will keep it together at all costs.

Collaborative Campaign Setting: Coup D'etat, Part I

We're doing a new RPG, a Mutants and Masterminds game currently codenamed "Coup D'etat." In order to make sure everyone knows the general layout of the setting, we jammed together early--fucking early--Sunday morning to hammer out the foundations of the setting. It went really well and we got a lot of good information. Below are the results:

Geography

-T's Hellworld – Inhabitable

-J's character comes from a planet on a rimward sector.

-T: Lunar station orbiting his home plant

-D. Spartan nomad. Totally has a home planet.

-R's character: Shipborn. His whole life.

-Space Voice: Finding it in an old, neglected area or something.

-The ship itself and its geography.

-Our headquarters: Space Voice leads them to the headquarters. Abandoned because no one else gets it to work. Base on an overlooked planet in a busy solar system.

-"Serious Nebula" – Base of operations or home for one or more species. With planets with species.

-"Variety"

-Timeworld for teleporters' home.

-Worlds with specific resources with difficulties concerning extracting those resources

-Primitive natives vs resources

-Shapeshifters are from a specific planet. There are less sentient ones. They find new resources and leverage to get more from those resources. 

-The empty sector

Many Campaigns, One Character: Sample Character

I do like this MCOC idea, I figured I'd just make a character like this and start forcing him into whatever ill-fated campaign I'm playing this week (sorry in advance, those of you who realize that all of my PCs are suddenly named "Sam Kasser"). It might also serve as an example for those of you who are interested in making similar characters.

I usually shy away from the brawny member of a group, leaning for the thinker or diplomat, or the occasional leader or rogue. I did do that gun monkey for Shadowrun (Last I heard of him, he was waist deep in snow, hunting a sniper with a combat knife. Good times.). I think I’m going to go with Saio Ka’as, my Bothan Jedi from a short-lived Star Wars campaign a few years ago. I never got a lot of closure with him (or "middleture," or even the later part of the "openture"), but since Jedi are just sci-fi wizards, having him become a non-corporeal consciousness trying to relearn all that fleshy stuff isn't too far outside of...well, I guess all the words that make up that sentence.

Saio Ka’as

Stats

Level: Beginning

Character Background

Saio Ka’as was once a Bothan from an unnamed galaxy far, far away. His people were hirsute and cunning. Saio himself was a member of a religious order that could subtly manipulate reality and worked to bring peace and order to the galaxy (usually only bringing one at a time). Saio trained his entire life to be a diplomat and to settle political disputes peacefully. However, political treachery raised its head and plunged his world into chaos. Hunted and tempted by dark forces, he was forced into the depths of unexplored space. There, he discovered a doorway into the higher realms, long abandoned by a destroyed race. When the non-corporeal inhabitants tried to keep him out, his abilities forced them to choose between accepting him and destroying him. They decided to accept him, saving his life but fracturing his memories of what he was before.

When working in the corporeal world, Saio Ka'as will often be a rather hairy specimen of any non-furred race, though a friendly and outspoken one. He prefers to be skilled at swordsmanship, though he's been forgoing that lately in an attempt to 'relearn' a familiar skill and restore some of his memory. 

Any para-normal abilities he has will often bend toward the empathy: mind reading, psychometry, or general sensitivity. His tendency to see the good in people often leads him to over-empathize with decidedly amoral people and organizations. This usually only happens when he spends a very long time corporeal, causing him some concern over the true nature of his character.

Many Campaigns, One Character: Problems

Monday, I talked about having one character that could use a meta-stat to play through several campaigns. For busy roleplayers who don't have a lot of time to meet, but still want to try something new without making a whole new character to be wadded up and thrown away at the end of the session, it's a pretty good idea. 

However, it's not without its problems:

-Some players may take this as an opportunity not to roleplay. In my opinion, they probably weren’t roleplaying anyway. Perhaps a throwaway line about some people of the lower planes visiting their homes or even rumors of a long ago war with the physical might encourage them to keep their mouths shut about their true origins. Stopping others from doing so might actually be the point of some stories.

-Graduating experience might be hard for open-ended games. Aberrant, for example, has no upper limit; you just sort of realize you’re a quantum god one day, either because you’ve gotten that tenth dot of Quantum or because you used that experienced to buy enough ancillary powers to make The Martian Manhunter jealous. If you’re running a game, you should be able to estimate the maximum level of experience you want. If the converted power levels end up playing out more or less powerfully than anticipated, just to lower the cap for that game.

-Powergaming is easy here. Any player can probably crunch numbers on just which game gives the highest percentage move up the scale for an average game and ‘grind’ that. They might not even grind it with one storyteller, but instead have a profitable one-shot with someone else, then run a profitable one-shot for that someone else. Gaming more often isn’t a drawback of this system. In addition, the simple, numerical breakdown means that a party’s level can be averaged before a game so that no one person has an unfair advantage.

Monday's Pitch: Many Campaigns, One Character

Given that identity is just a set of Cogitoes Summing it up, a tenuous set of contiguous, self-aware thoughts, why not use that as a vehicle for self-aware roleplaying within self-aware roleplaying. The players’ characters are consciousnesses with some character and general faculty at fashioning ‘skins’ and operating them. The physical world is a mystery to them. Or rather, the physical worlds. The sum skills and talents of corporeal beings are no more than simple data that can be transmuted from one kind into another between skins.

They create skins that enable them to interact with various, lesser planes of physicality, either for exploration, curiosity, or even as part of a larger plan set in motion by some equally non-physical enemies. The more they act in the physical plane, the better they get at manipulating its ins and outs.

This is a setup for an adult roleplaying game. Not “nip-slips and beer” adult, “I can’t make it this Sunday because I have a baby” adult. The deal is that the characters are nothing more than personalities tied to a meta-experience level. Whenever the players make a character for another short-lived campaign, they convert that meta-experience into game experience for their characters. (For example, Dungeons and Dragons has a scale that goes up to 30 levels. If the characters are one third of the way up the meta-experience scale, their characters for a new DnD campaign would be Level 10. Alternatively, you could do it by experience points, which would make him one third of one million, so 300,000 XP and Level 23). Their characters are only vaguely aware of the setting, matching the general unfamiliarity of the players with a new setting. As time goes on, each will become more familiar with it (or the campaign will be canceled and they’ll start a new one).

This lets players play and level the same character across many different game systems and settings without having to worry too much about whether they’re going to be playing the same game next week or not.

Next: Problems