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Discussion in the Interregnum


sunflower

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I think what Keeper's getting at is that we don't know very much about cultures four thousand years ago. Let alone factions that never extended past that one culture. Taris was destroyed from orbit, with a bare minimum of survivors. The infrastructure was trashed. There were, after a few generations, virtually no survivors left on the planet and thus no inhabitants until the Republic began to recolonize.

 

Matters of Taris' history and culture would remain somewhat well known, but no one would ever bother to remember two small-time gangs that died out four thousand years ago.

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On this eve, the thirtieth anniversary of that first colony, many are left to wonder; is the world fast approaching a breaking point?

 

 

  Breaking Point: An OTC Mecha RPG

 

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I thought those gangs were fairly influential at the time, and given their numbers I don't think it would be too unreasonable to assume that some of their members were among the few to survive Malak's bombing which would mean they could have kept their gangs going afterwards. The Vulkars would not have had any real power anymore and I've already noted the Beks lost their own hideout (which was later rebuilt and repurposed for other uses until it became an Imperial Outpost).

 

Of course, there probably would be other gangs now besides those two, some of which may even have gained the reputation the Vulkars once had. Introducing some of those probably wouldn't be a bad idea. We'd just need to come up with some names. Any ideas?

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I've actually been kicking around some musician character idea for a while, but, to add to this convo that's been going around:

 

http://www.swtor.com/holonet/planets/taris

 

Pretty sure the Beks and Vulkars would not have been able to pull off any gangster-ing in the middle of a swamp. For four thousand years. When the entire city-planet got glassed.

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I've actually been kicking around some musician character idea for a while, but, to add to this convo that's been going around:

 

That could be interesting. It would allow us to get an everyman's perspective on what's going on.

 

Anyway, I guess I see what you mean if the planet was that badly destroyed. I guess it's possible that they were revived after the recolonization took place, either by surviving members or by new ones who wanted to keep the old traditions alive. In any case, I guess I should ask where that leaves my Vulkar character.

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I've actually been kicking around some musician character idea for a while, but, to add to this convo that's been going around:

 

That could be interesting. It would allow us to get an everyman's perspective on what's going on.

 

Anyway, I guess I see what you mean if the planet was that badly destroyed. I guess it's possible that they were revived after the recolonization took place, either by surviving members or by new ones who wanted to keep the old traditions alive. In any case, I guess I should ask where that leaves my Vulkar character.

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"Hey!" Nadia shouted towards the Christori Bartender. "Get us a couple of your strongest drinks."

 

I assume that this was a typo, but in case it wasn't, Sue is a wookiee.  Her profile is here.

 

Also, Sue is a force sensitive wookiee--and one of the three force sensitives currently in the bar.  It's a bit odd that a miraluka, who literally sees with the force, didn't notice that immediately.  Additionally, there are some base issues with having a miraluka casually present.  Considering that they are basically a species of force sensitives that are explicitly anti-sith in their teachings, and were basically devastated following the Jedi Purge, it seems like life in the shadow of the Empire would be tense at least.  It's a little hard to imagine how such a character would avoid stares.

Edited by Mel

There's a dozen selves inside you, trying to be the one to run the dials

[BZPRPG Profiles]

Hatchi - Talli - Ranok - Lucira - FerellisMorie - Fanai - Akiyo - Yukie - Shuuan - Ilykaed - Pradhai - Ipsudir

And some aren't even on your side.

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I mean yes, a Miraluka could exist among others, providing they hid their... eyelessness. Generally through a fake prosthetic. The issue is that there are certain implications a Miraluka brings up, and it's just an NPC in this case.

 

And, as for Raltz's and Arkadia's argument, that... Isn't true. At all. Clones were CONDITIONED. Heavily conditioned, but not technically programmed, except in cases like the Order 66 chips. And they were only executed if they committed a crime, such as desertion; clone troopers not able to fight were generally retired to manual labor jobs, or unceremoniously discharged. Raltz's argument was that the clones, when humanized, gave way to PTSD-ridden wrecks that became unfit for duty. Not the best argument, but it's flaws aren't in their use.

 

Also, Raltz FOUGHT in the Clone Wars. Normally I wouldn't sweat it, since it's a background element that Mia couldn't immediately, know, but he just said he fought for the empire for 28 years. It's only been around for what, 23?

The times, they are a-changing...

 

 

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"Hey!" Nadia shouted towards the Christori Bartender. "Get us a couple of your strongest drinks."

 

Also, Sue is a force sensitive wookiee--and one of the three force sensitives currently in the bar.  It's a bit odd that a miraluka, who literally sees with the force, didn't notice that immediately.  Additionally, there are some base issues with having a miraluka casually present.  

 

 

Okay, I admit it. I goofed up there. I thought it was mentioned somewhere that there was a Christori Bartender and obviously there was a miscommunication somewhere.

 

Considering that they are basically a species of force sensitives that are explicitly anti-sith in their teachings, and were basically devastated following the Jedi Purge, it seems like life in the shadow of the Empire would be tense at least.  It's a little hard to imagine how such a character would avoid stares.

 

 

According to the Star Wars Wiki, Miraluka were still around at this time. It also mentions that many had to travel "incognito" so the idea of hiding out on a world like Taris wouldn't be too far-fetched. I was also under the impression that they generally wore some kind of concealing headband so that would probably make it easier for her to avoid drawing attention.

 

Also, with regards to the concern about her having force abilities (I thought that was acceptable; it was being a full-on Jedi that was objected to at the moment), she does have her limits. I'm not going to have her do anything crazy, and her powers probably wouldn't amount to anything more than is natural for her species. She can see with the force, perhaps notice things not obvious to others, and it might have an influence on her reflexes. That would be about it for now.

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The issue is that it's just an NPC you made up, as opposed to an actual character submitted and approved. If it were an approved character, there wouldn't be any issues. And no, a Miraluka can tell at a glance if somebody is force-sensitive or not; it's not 'normal sight with a few drawbacks' it is full-blown Force Sight, as good if not better than any Jedi could learn, as a natural ability.

The times, they are a-changing...

 

 

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So the issue is mainly that she's an NPC with force abilities? Okay, well if it makes you feel any better I could fill out a form and try to get it approved. I apologize for not realizing what I was doing sooner. I'd also like to suggest that the first post be revised so that the rules about NPCs are a bit more clear so we can avoid these issues in the future.

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  • 2 weeks later...

"Your generic TIE grunt is just plain suicidal. And the TIE Defender jockey is bloodthirsty. But the TIE Interceptor pilot, he's suicidal and bloodthirsty. When you see a squad of those maniacs flying your way, you'd better hope your hyperdrive is operational."

―Kyle Katarn

 

 

 

Name: Adachihara “Kaz” Kazuma

 

Age: 24

 

Gender/Species: Human Male (Though there’s probably a bit of non Human-blood in there explaining his eyes and gravity defying hair)

 

Appearance:

tumblr_meuay4lxwU1rf7i9vo1_500.jpg

 

It is unknown if Kaz could truly be called beautiful or handsome, for his face is far too often covered in bruises and bandages. Thus, whether Kaz could be handsome in any lifetime is unknown as swelling in one’s cheek is not a great determinant of beauty. That said, there are still quite a few things that can be said about his appearance. First and foremost is his height, at 196 cm, he stands tall. This height is accompanied by well toned muscles that can be seen whenever Kaz’s skin is exposed to the air. His black hair is casually swept back, and a single strand appears bright red and occasionally seems to glow. This same shade of red occasionally seems to flash in his normally brown eyes whenever his force powers start activating.

 

Kaz walks with his head held high, and an almost savage stance illustrating his boisterous nature. His eyes are constantly scanning others as he seeks to either dismiss them as too weak to fight, or appraise them as a potential target. Indeed, the resting half scowl on his face and overall demeanour grants him quite an intimidating aura that scares away most would be conversationalists. However while this swagger is normally the side of him at the forefront of his standard interactions, it has been known to become quite a bit more relaxed when dealing with puppies, kittens and children. But don’t tell the other Inquisitors this, not if you value your life.

 

 

Skills: Punching, kicking, fighting, punching, grappling, lightsaber-ing, was punching mentioned? Fact of the matter is, if there’s one thing that could truly define Kaz, it’s his natural tendency to fight. In many ways, fighting is the lifeblood of this inquisitor, and probably the only reason they keep him around. Of course his style isn’t the most refined, if it can even be called a style that is, he just focuses on pounding his enemy’s faces in. Everything about him is just pure, unbridled passion and aggression.

 

Outside of fighting, Kaz is surprisingly adept at acting, it’s odd but something about stepping into the shoes of another amuses him, although he somehow is still lacking in empathy unless someone puts it in terms of theatre. That said it’s not like the inquisitors put on many plays, so this skill is generally applied to the few times Kaz is ordered to be kind of discreet. In addition Kaz is superb pilot and driver, with his skills and passion being second only to his love of fighting. It’s only thanks to his skills as a pilot that the maniac is able to fly the ship he does.

 

 

Force Abilities: In terms of force abilities, Kaz’s powers lack in finesse. As such the more focused he is, the weaker his abilities tend to be, instead they tend to rely on power from his bouts of extreme emotions. That said he lacks much control over the abilities when in this state. The abilities he does have are limited in nature as well, he has minor electrical powers, which manifest more as electricity crackling off his body and weapons as opposed to shooting through the air. Expecting Kaz to electrocute someone is almost as bad as expecting him to pull off a force push. That said Kaz’s physicals also tend to be enhanced by his force abilities and throwing a lightsaber is another technique he’s become quite adept at.

 

Equipment: Kaz, having grown up with the Inquisitors, possesses little in the way of equipment. Obviously he possesses his lightsaber, and he does have a WESTAR-35 looted during one of his Jedi Hunts. That said Kaz prefers not to use his blaster in combat as it takes the joy away. Instead Kaz’s pistol is used more often for shooting far away objects as opposed to combatants.

 

Over the years Kaz has also come into possession of a few different vehicles he’s stashed away on the ship. The most prominent being a X-34 Landspeeder and 616-AvA Speederbike, both have been tuned to perfection and thanks to Kaz’s own skills as a pilot, are able to keep up with the newer, improved models.

 

Outside of his vehicles and two trusty weapons, the rest of Kaz’s equipment is simply whatever is lying around at the time.

 

Personality: Kaz is a man burning with passion. A passion that threatens to ignite all whom come near him. Indeed, Kaz can be quite aggressive and is rather quick to come to blows at even the slightest insult. As such, and especially thanks to a lack of tact, Kaz is often seen as rude. Often biting back at others with sharp insults borne of his dry humour. The madness flows through Kaz’s blood, filling him with a passion unequalled by ordinary humans. This hotblooded determination drives Kaz to succeed in whatever catches his fancy, unfortunately most of the time this just entails punching people. Repeatedly.

 

That said, while he may be irritable, aggressive, and quick to pound the face in of anyone that doesn’t show him the proper respect, he does have a few redeeming qualities. In particular he possesses a keen sense of honour towards both those that are under his care and those who have conquered him battle. For the the thrill of the fight deserves his full focus and no underhanded tactics shall be permitted. In addition, for his allies, Kaz possesses a strong degree of loyalty and will always fight for the really little guys, namely puppies, kittens and children that aren’t brats. Although again, you should probably refrain from telling others this if you value your life.

 

History: Kaz’s earliest memories exist with the Inquisitors. He’s not quite sure how, as he lacks any knowledge of his parents, but Kaz grew up in the loving arms of the inquisitors. And by loving, obviously he spent long hours being brutally trained to be another inquisitor. Yet, for some reason, the great being known as Kaz was not deterred by the painful force training he had to endure. If anything, he found himself surprisingly motivated. He saw every shock, every stab, as an initiation into combat, and the young child loved combat. His teachers were simply foes he sought to overcome. For many years though, he was obviously beaten down, time and time again.

 

It would be quite some time, before he conquered his first teacher.

 

When he wasn’t be brutally trained, which was most of the day, the young Kaz found himself escaping to a different section of the ship he called home. At the ships hangers, Kaz would be seen hanging around the maniacs that flew the Tie Interceptors. Obviously, as a fellow maniac, Kaz delighted in his conversations with them, and it wasn’t long before they started unofficially training him. While it wasn’t strictly protocol, the high command of the ship let things slide on behalf of the Inquisitors that felt the training might be useful.

 

Thus, even while his force training proved sporadic in its results, Kaz soon took the skies, well, spaces in an Interceptor. All things considered it was a miracle the young boy didn’t burn up in his first few flight attempts. For no matter how extensive his simulator training might have been, nothing compared to the ecstasy Kaz felt his first time truly flying. His first flight though gave many of the higher ups heart attacks as Kaz barely dodged asteroids and other pieces of space junk. Still Kaz did survive, and thus soon joined the other new recruits on dog fighting practices on a daily basis.

 

It wasn’t long after that a breakthrough finally explained the nature of his force powers. Barely a teenager, Kaz finally managed to defeat the low ranking Inquisitor that had been put in charge of his training. Simply put, Kaz’s abilities seemed directly tied to his emotional state, and on that particular day he had been feeling rather charged by the thrill of combat. Not to mention the maniacal nature of the Interceptor pilots had completely rubbed off on the young boy. Thus the bored Inquisitor was in for quite a surprise when the boy started crackling with Force Lightning.

 

After finally vanquishing his first foe, and in the process nailing down the nature of his powers, Kaz’s training began to progress quite rapidly. Not long after that, the teenage Inquisitor in training was sent off the ship on his first Jedi Hunt. Not only that, but he got to leave on the experimental Interceptor-Hunter affectionately dubbed: Hachi Roku. A maiden voyage and his first Jedi Hunt all tied into one nice simple package.

 

The hunt itself was uneventful all things considered. The Jedi tried his best to talk Kaz into seeing the Light, Kaz of course found himself only concerned with the joy he was experiencing in this thrilling fight. Thus any hope for a potential redemption was squandered by Kaz’s own madness. That said there was one teaching Kaz had picked up on, originally told that he was supposed the slaughter anyone else around the Jedi, the first bystander Kaz put his lightsaber through taught the young man an important lesson.

 

Killing the weak was boring

 

As a result, the young man developed his own sense of honour. Namely an aversion to fighting those that couldn’t fight back. Not to mention cheap, underhanded tactics in combat also felt worthless to Kaz. There was no thrill of combat if all he had to do was hold a hostage or throw sand in his opponent’s eyes. Suffice to say, Kaz failed at the second aspect of being an Inquisitor, namely the torture part, but his skill as a combatant and pilot quickly led to him being thrown around as a field agent and glorified commando.

 

Eventually, Kaz joined ISD Insight as an Inquisitor, and seeing as Costa hasn’t spaced him yet, he’s probably been useful.

 

Ship: TIE/IHU-86 or as Kaz likes to call it, the Hachi Roku. One of only a few models ever produced, this trusty ship has served as Kaz’s own since his first Jedi hunt. It’s design is based on the TIE Interceptor while incorporated elements of the Hunter. Aesthetically it resembles the Interceptor in attack mode, but like the Hunter it possesses S-Foils that let the wings fold flat for faster speeds. Much like the two ships it’s based off of, the Hachi Roku is blisteringly fast, which is in large part why it’s production was discontinued. Faster than both its predecessors, the Hachi Roku would be worthless in the hands of anyone but the best of pilots. Or the most insane. However as of result of its superior speed and agility, the Hachi Roku lacks in offensive power. It’s blaster shots are weaker than even the standard TIE Fighter and it possesses little in the way of armouring.

 

Affiliation: Inquisitorius

 

Rank: Inquisitor

 

Position: Inquisitor

 

Alignment: The thrill of combat. Light side or dark side, Kaz doesn’t mind as long as his opponent puts up a good fight.

 

 

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I've been talking to Key and about what just happened. It doesn't look like there's anything I can do to undo his decision to execute Mia Arkada, though that hasn't done much to reduce the frustration and anger I've felt on such a sudden act. I've tried to fix it as best I can, but so far, everything I've tried has been shot down. I suppose she could come back as a force ghost somewhere down the line, but beyond that it seems hopeless. One of my player characters was abruptly killed and I was given absolutely no say in the matter. I won't pretend I'm not tense or frustrated about this at all. I liked Mia Arkada and I wanted her to become a great character. I even restarted Knights of the Old Republic and named my character after her. 


 


I don't know, maybe I just have a tendency to get too emotionally invested in people. This wouldn't be the first time I've wrestled with feelings after having to see someone I created get killed, especially when I become desperate for a way to avoid it but find nothing. I remember a far worse scenario I once experienced a few years ago, in an RPG called When Universes Collide. I recall in that one, the co-host said in advance that they were going to kill one of my characters, then ignored all attempts to reason with him. When I tried to talk to the host, he just ignored me. Then eventually it got to the point where they decided on two characters, and literally forced me to decide which one I was going to let them kill. On a smaller scale, I remember once writing a western in which I came to the difficult realization that there was no way to end the story without the main character dying. A couple months ago I finished Fallout 3, and after getting invested in my character had a lot of trouble coping when she died of radiation poisoning at the end. Maybe this is just a problem I have.


 


Still, I've been feeling like the best thing to do in this situation is to talk about it. We could argue a lot but I'm thinking it might be better if I can just get some of my feelings off my chest. I said a few things in my message to Key and that seemed like they might be worth sharing. Now I should point out that it doesn't seem like there's much I can do to change anything. All I hope to accomplish right now is to share some of my personal feelings on what went on. I figure if we can talk about it, not only will it take off some of the tension but might make it easier to move on than if I just kept this to myself.


 


 


Part of me feels like there was a lot of wasted potential as a result. Mia seemed to have some great ideas and I had hoped to develop her into a really interesting character. Having her killed not just so suddenly but also so early in the RPG was feeling to me like a lot of good ideas had been wasted. The unfortunate way things played out also didn't do much good. I had intended Mia to be a competent officer and ultimately that just didn't seem to work out and I never really got a chance to show her as a strong character. I liked the idea of her as the person who also shows that morality in the Star Wars universe is not always as clear cut as it, largely by showing that the Empire isn't all bad (and by extension, the rebels aren't always the good guys). I guess having her die so suddenly felt like it wasted a potentially interesting plot 


 


The tension between her and Raltz was understandable, and I felt like there was some good dramatic potential from their different views; but I didn't expect it to result in outright murder. Then again, I also wasn't counting on M31 to suddenly throw me a curveball that resulted in Raltz trying to have her arrested. Thinking about it now, I might not have had a clear understanding of the mission. There was a lot of guesswork involved and while it seemed to make sense to me it might not have lined up perfectly with what everyone else intended. M31 also seemed to like to throw a few things in once in a while to make things even more intense. Maybe if I'd asked a few more questions OOC I could have had a better idea what I was doing and then I wouldn't have gotten into that mess.


 


Thinking about it now, there is probably room for me to improve when it comes to being a team player. I've been doing a lot of having people go off on their own, which isn't always a bad thing (I didn't have much in the way of opportunities for Nadia to interact with anyone) but I guess I haven't had very many positive interactions either. Mia's seemed to keep making her look worse despite my efforts to make her a strong character. 


 


In his message, Key and noted that there may be potential to Mia's death, and to an extent I can see it. This would imply Mia being more of a Ned Stark-esque character in that her death would become a crucial plot point. While I'd disagree with his statement that Dak and Mia were basically the same, I can see why he would think the idea of seeing her experiences as an idealistic rookie who just lost her mentor could make for an interesting dynamic. That much makes sense, and to a degree I can understand the reasoning behind it, but at the same time that doesn't make it any less difficult to see her die so suddenly. 


 


I guess that also leaves me to wonder what needs to be done now. I could make a new Imperial Officer character but I'm not sure if it would be quite the same. If I made them an exact copy of Mia with a different name, it would seem pointless; it might as well just be Mia. Still, I had a lot of great ideas with her and it would be a shame to see them wasted. She did have potential to be a good character and if I'd just done something different than maybe I could have made it work. 


 


I don't know. Maybe I'm just rambling. I'm not sure if this is making any sense to anyone reading this. There doesn't seem to be much I can do now, but I had hoped if we could talk about it maybe that would be good for dealing with some of the emotional shock and perhaps make it easier to deal with. So what do you think?

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Need more regular stormies

 

 

 

 Name: Odiina Brando/TK-2449

Age: 20

Gender/species: Female Human

Appearance: Odiina is fairly unremarkable looking, standing just a hair over 5' 8"(1.7 meters) with dark skin, black curly hair that she keeps short to reduce maintanence, hazel eyes, and a round face complete a young woman that would blend easily into just about any crowd out of armor, though she is seldom not in the ubiquitous black body glove of the Stormtroopers, or at the very least, in Imperial Navy fatigues. Befitting her military lifestyle, she is physically fit with a lean figure that fits into the Stormtrooper regulations for enlisted personnel.

Skills: Odiina recieved high marks in Blaster accuracy and precision, and continues to be a crack shot with Imperial Blaster weaponry. Additionally has shown above average aptitude in CQC and tends toward submission and non-lethal methods in hand to hand. Her affinity with mechanics is also of note, Odiina shows only mild interest in applications of use to the Empire, but tends to tinker with small mechanical and electronic devices to moderate success. An almost instinctual mechanic, she can usually diagnose a mechanical problem more accurately than some trained mechanical personnel and droids. Finally, her scores in Walker Gunnery were high to above average, and before being transferred to the Stormtrooper Corps, her chosen career path was one of an AT-ST Gunner.  

Force abilities: Force sensitive (unknown to her) and untrained, her connection to the Force manifests as having slightly faster reflexes, better accuracy with ranged weapons, a resistance to mental intrusions, a mechanical aptitude that is almost more instinctual than learned, and an untapped potential that may or may not be sensed by more trained individuals. Odiina chalks these up to having good instincts, good training, and a strong mind.

Equipment: Standard Stormtrooper armor, E-11 Blaster Rifle, Stun Shock gauntlets, Stun cuffs, personal Datapad.

Personality: Odiina is a bit of an oddball, someone who seems apathetic and uninterested in things going on around her. In reality Odiina simply uses this as a way to mask her feelings and keep a professional air about her. Her affectations tend to put off her fellows, but if it bothers her, she's never shown it. She has a keen mind that loves to observe and learn, and takes a particular interest in following high risk racing sports such as Swoop or PodRaces. 

History: There's very little to tell about Odiina's life, as it's as unremarkable as she is. She grew up on a small backwater planet, where she spent most of her time shooting small vermin and fixing things in her mother's shop. But backwater life was too small for her, so when she was old enough, she enlisted in the Imperial Army. She wanted to see the Galaxy. It broke her parents' hearts to see her go, but they were both so proud of their daughter. Odiina was accepted and was on the first transport to Jardeen IV, to begin training and hopefully become an esteemed Gunner in one of the best scout walkers of all time. Fate had other plans, however as it was instead where her general aptitude marked her out as an exceptional candidate for the Stormtrooper Corps. So she went to a different academy, and got a much different set of Armor upon 'graduation': That gleaming white of the elite Stormtroopers. After that, she was transferred to Taris, where her actions evidentally caught the attention of someone on the ISD Insight, an Inquisitorius Star Destroyer. Now aboard the Imperial I starship and speeding toward Dantooine, one can only guess as to what will come next for Odiina Brando...

Affiliation: Galactic Empire

Rank: Private

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Edited by The UltimoScorp
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Honestly, making Dak a full-blown character would be interesting to roll with. And as far as getting attached to characters goes, I personally like to look at the story as a whole, the interaction and conversations born from all these different people running into one another, rather than sticking to the exploits and accomplishments of a single character. Sure, it sucks whenever one of those that I enjoy reading gets offed, and most of the time they are my own characters, but at the same time having a MC doesn't do this kind of collaborative writing any good.

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That makes sense. I guess sometimes I just get caught up in my own ideas, and it makes it hard to see the bigger picture. Still, it's good to get those feelings out and try to understand them.

 

I did have some great ideas with Mia it might still be possible to use some of them, though it would have been nice to get more time to show her strength of character. I suppose I could still do some of that through flashbacks. I did have this one idea for a story which would have involved Mia's own past. Had she not died, the idea would have involved a series of flashbacks that would have allowed us to see her methods of interrogation. The idea would be that we would see her somewhere just before A New Hope, performing a series of interrogations of a captured rebel about the Death Star plans. Because she is known to be more humane in her questioning, she'd gradually win over the rebel's trust, eventually causing her to question if the rebels are doing the right thing and ultimately become a double agent for the Empire.

 

Making Dak a full character might not be a bad idea. I'd have to figure out her backstory but otherwise it could work. She does look like she could have an interesting (if somewhat odd) character arc, even if I'm not totally sure where it would end up going. I have also wondered about trying to create a Mandalorian, or at least someone from whatever remains of the Mandalorian clans.

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I did have some great ideas with Mia it might still be possible to use some of them, though it would have been nice to get more time to show her strength of character. I suppose I could still do some of that through flashbacks. I did have this one idea for a story which would have involved Mia's own past. Had she not died, the idea would have involved a series of flashbacks that would have allowed us to see her methods of interrogation. The idea would be that we would see her somewhere just before A New Hope, performing a series of interrogations of a captured rebel about the Death Star plans. Because she is known to be more humane in her questioning, she'd gradually win over the rebel's trust, eventually causing her to question if the rebels are doing the right thing and ultimately become a double agent for the Empire.

 

This seems like something that would be better suited for an independent short story.  Part of the fun of RP is where your character goes and how they are developed isn't exactly set in stone.

There's a dozen selves inside you, trying to be the one to run the dials

[BZPRPG Profiles]

Hatchi - Talli - Ranok - Lucira - FerellisMorie - Fanai - Akiyo - Yukie - Shuuan - Ilykaed - Pradhai - Ipsudir

And some aren't even on your side.

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Possibly. I think part of me wanting to write that might have been some frustration about the impact Mia was having. For all my efforts to make her a strong character everyone seemed to keep interpreting her as being incompetent and treating her like an inexperienced rookie, and I guess I was hoping that story would have allowed me a chance to show one of her better moments. Obviously something went wrong. I guess it could have been worse. At least she didn't turn into another Trigger (a PC from my Dino Attack RPG days that was supposed to be a great anti-hero but people ended up hating so much I killed him off myself). Still, something obviously didn't go the way I'd hoped when trying to depict her and it gave everyone the wrong impression.

 

In that RPG, I found it useful to talk about what went wrong with my least popular characters. I'm wondering if it might be good to figure out what went wrong with Mia to give everyone this image of her. I can't do much now but any of that information could still be useful in the future.

 

 

Name: Dak Ulgo
Age: 19
Gender/Species: Human female
Appearance: In her uniform, Dak looks no different from any other stormtrooper. Now that she's a fugitive, she dresses in plain clothes with the intent of blending in. Her long brown hair is often disheveled and messy.
Skills: As a stormtrooper, Dak is trained to use a variety of blasters, and she also knows hand-to-hand. She also has some experience in understanding military tactics and a working knowledge of the Empire's structure. 
Equipment: At the moment, none. She has to rely mostly on what is available.
Personality: Dak is a reasonably well-meaning individual. Because of her lack of experience, she is often reluctant to get involved in direct combat (and so far still has yet to take a life). She is also very loyal and tries to follow orders, though preserving her loyalty is not always an easy task and she is capable of breaking down under pressure. Unfortunately, the events in the Tarisian junkyard have also affected her psychologically.
History: Once, Dak was a stormtrooper like any other. When she graduated from the Academy, her first assignment was a dull one; to serve guard duty while an Imperial Outpost on Taris was being restored. What she did not expect was to meet an officer who would change her life: Mia Arkada. Unfortunately, when faced with her first real mission, Dak panicked, and ended up working with Mia behind enemy lines. The only problem was that things went from bad to worse, and the last orders Dak received from her C.O. were to get a young scavenger to safety. So far, she has done her best to follow those orders, but as it also happens there are many in the Empire who see her as a fugitive. In order to disappear, Dak has had no choice but to become a member of the Black Vulkars, who are presently her only allies.
Affiliation: Black Vulkars, formerly Galactic Empire

Rank: 
Position:
Alignment: Loyalty

 

 

Name: Layna Arkada
Age: 23
Gender/Species: Human female
Appearance: Though there is some familial resemblance to her sister, Layna appears very much the opposite. She is a bit messier, her long hair never tied in anything more than a rough ponytail. Layna's clothes are usually plain in nature, more or less whatever she is able to find. The one consistent detail is she often likes to wear a distinct trenchcoat, especially in public, which she sometimes uses to conceal weapons.

Skills: Layna has experience in a variety of weapons. She usually works with firearms, but she is capable of using a vibroblade or hand-to-hand when needed. She also has some experience when it comes to technical work, such as computer hacking and repairs.
Equipment: Layna usually likes to at the very least keep a pistol and thermal detonator within reach. However, she often likes to keep a stash of weapons somewhere she can easily find them.
Personality: Unlike her older sister, Layna is a bit more reckless. She's not stupid, and knows when to back down, but she's not always willing to admit it. She is also known to be a bit more aggressive than Mia. She is not without compassion, but she often prefers to be more discreet when it comes to doing good, and almost never admits to it. Of course, despite her rough personality, Layna does have morals. She is often cautious when taking assignments, and usually accepts assignments based on how she feels about the target or employers. She also isn't afraid to turn on an employer if she feels they haven't been honest with her.
History: The younger sister of Mia Arkada, Layna lacked the patience to be able to follow her into the Imperial Academy. That didn't stop her from learning a few skills from her sister, but she never had what it took to serve a real cause. She was impatient, arrogant, and often had difficulty being a team player, making her unfit for most factions. Instead, Layna pursued a solo life as a mercenary and bounty hunter. During the Galactic Civil War, Layna refrained from getting involved in politics (though that didn't stop her from occasionally taking advantage of her Imperial ties, usually as a means of getting information) but still managed to find plenty of work by taking contracts on Outer Rim worlds. Unfortunately, now that the war is in decline, job opportunities have not been as easy to find. Layna is moving to Taris in the hopes of finding more work but there's also another reason: she hopes for a reunion with the sister she has not seen in person for years.
Affiliation: None, at least not at the moment

Position: Mercenary/Bounty Hunter
Alignment: Money, though she is not above vigilante justice now and then. Also family, though she might not always admit to it.

Edited by Atton Rand
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In that RPG, I found it useful to talk about what went wrong with my least popular characters. I'm wondering if it might be good to figure out what went wrong with Mia to give everyone this image of her. I can't do much now but any of that information could still be useful in the future.

 

Yes, I think that would be a good idea. I'm glad you're open to feedback.

 

I think the perception of Mia as being incompetent and naive can be drawn mainly from a) her interactions with the Inquisitorius PCs and b) her actions during the retrieval mission. Let me point out a few of them:

  • Mia's first interaction with the Inquisitorius is to butt into their communications (still debatable whether she should've even been able to do that) and complain about their decision to stay in a hotel.
  • Mia deliberately uses Raltz's first name despite his request for formality, with the express intention of annoying him.
  • Mia allows Dak to remove her helmet in the middle of a firefight.
  • Rather than direct the troops under her command from cover, as an officer should, Mia tries to outflank the enemy with the help of one (rookie) stormtrooper. She then describes this as them 'getting scattered'.
  • Mia orders Raltz to use minimal lethal force, despite it being standard Imperial procedure (and very much standard Inquisitorius procedure) to use lethal force in these situations.
  • On finding the B-Wing, Mia takes no precautions whatsoever when accessing the computer. For all she knew, the ship could've been rigged to explode, let alone wipe its data. It would be standard procedure to wait for techs to arrive and scan for security countermeasures, not leap straight in.
  • The thought never crosses her mind that the data might be classified, despite knowing this is an Inquisitorius operation on which she and her troops were only auxiliaries, and despite Raltz having told her he's not authorised to give her any details on what exactly they're looking for (although arguably he could've made that clearer).
  • Mia refers to herself as Raltz's C.O. when she's not. Although she is of a higher rank than him, chain of command doesn't work that way: Raltz is an Inquisitorius trooper, on an Inquisitorius assignment, answering directly to Inquisitors. Liare gave him the mission personally and instructed him to bring Mia and her troops along for additional support. Mia was never in charge of the mission.
  • Mia acts as though Raltz knew they would be randomly attacked by scavengers.

Ultimately, I think one of the biggest problems with Mia was that you were trying to fit a square peg (Mia) into a round hole (the Empire). You tried too hard to make her sympathetic, to the point where she was uncompromisingly 'nice', putting her personal principles before Imperial protocol and the success of the mission. Making sympathetic Imperials is a great character idea, but you have to do so realistically, looking at how much they could plausibly get away with given the rigidity and harshness of the wider Imperial regime. They might be reluctant about following protocol in some situations, and they might have trouble squaring it with their morals, but ultimately they're part of the Empire and they have to do what's expected of them. It's appropriate that cognitive dissonance was mentioned earlier, because that's exactly the kind of thing you'd need to explore. 

 

Mia was particularly unlucky in that she got tangled up with the Inquisitors. The Inquisitorius are ruthless even by normal Imperial standards. Mia should've known the Inquisitorius by their fearsome reputation, and realised that things her usual superiors might let her get away with wouldn't slide with these guys. She'd have been wise to play it cautious, or risk ending up...well, the way she has now ended up.

 

(Side note: Tarkin is really not the guy to bring in to try and make Mia look respectable. He arguably lies beyond even the Inquisitorius end of the sympathy spectrum. The man was willing to blow up a planet of innocent people just to make a point. Mia's the opposite of the kind of person Tarkin would approve of when it comes to 'getting things done'.)

 

I hope that helps you see why Mia's been perceived the way she has. I think a lot of this boils down to you not quite having a complete mental picture of how the Empire operates, so I'd recommend doing some reading on Wookieepedia, particularly on the Imperial Military and the Inquisitorius. Make sure you understand the structure, ideals, and MOs of the organisations we're working with here.

 

Also, if I may, a few points of general RPing advice, particularly regarding your use of NPCs:

  • You've shown a tendency to jump ahead and 'magic' your characters forward to wherever you want them to be in spite of what's going on around them, in some cases without giving other players a chance to post. Examples include Dak and Evnairis getting all the way from the junkyard to the Vulkar base despite Liare being at the elevator they'd have had to use, and Mia being inexplicably whisked away for medical care after being shot. I get that there were certain things you wanted to happen, but it's kind of bad form to just plow ahead with them regardless of the actions of other PCs.
  • You've also been rather liberal about creating and taking control of NPCs, and treating them like they're PCs. Dak and Viseria were largely harmless cases of this, but Evnairis was one of the GM-controlled scavengers and DT-24601 was an Inquisitorius trooper who should have been under Keeper's control (hence why you were asked to stop with her).
  • A lot of the time, it seems like you're just trying to write your own stories at the exclusion of other players. Your characters seem to interact more with NPCs controlled by you than with other PCs. There's nothing technically wrong with that, it comes down to personal preference, but I've always found that the real fun of RPGs is having your characters interact with those of other players, seeing how those relationships form and change as the game progresses, and how the characters evolve organically as a result.

Again, I hope that helps. We all want to have fun here, but we also want to tell a consistent and immersive story.

Edited by Ghosthands
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I guess that makes sense. A lot of what I was doing seemed to make sense to me but it would appear it didn't line up perfectly with my understanding of what was happening. Looking back now, I think I may have misunderstood Raltz's character. I got the impression at first that he was more like Imperial Special Ops, rather than part of a different organization altogether. Actually, thinking about that, I may have misunderstood the way things were working because I found myself largely imagining those two organizations as being more or less the same, which doesn't seem to be the case. I don't suppose you have any advice on how to work on that?

 

I'm also starting to wonder if part of the confusion came from misunderstanding the Imperial structure. This whole time I've been assuming that it is organized more or less the same as a real-life army, in which the senior officer is usually given command; thus a lieutenant is automatically higher than a sergeant. 

 

Mia orders Raltz to use minimal lethal force, despite it being standard Imperial procedure (and very much standard Inquisitorius procedure) to use lethal force in these situations.

 

 

Okay, that one seemed to make sense at the time. The intention was that Mia wanted them to be taken alive partially to ensure Evnairis's co-operation but also because that way they could be questioned. Some of them had found the b-wing so they may have had information that they wouldn't have been able to provide if they were dead.

 

You've shown a tendency to jump ahead and 'magic' your characters forward to wherever you want them to be in spite of what's going on around them, in some cases without giving other players a chance to post. Examples include Dak and Evnairis getting all the way from the junkyard to the Vulkar base despite Liare being at the elevator they'd have had to use, and Mia being inexplicably whisked away for medical care after being shot. I get that there were certain things you wanted to happen, but it's kind of bad form to just plow ahead with them regardless of the actions of other PCs.

 

 

In my defense, I edited that post but yes, I can see what you mean. In that instance, I was under the impression that there were multiple elevators. It would appear you thought there was just one. Clearly there was a miscommunication somewhere. 

 

I guess I have jumped around between posts, and if you'd like I could try to reduce that. A lot of it (i.e. Nadia and Viseria being at the track in one, then at the base in the next) is largely just because there isn't much in between unless you'd like to read about them walking from one place to another. 

 

 

A lot of the time, it seems like you're just trying to write your own stories at the exclusion of other players. Your characters seem to interact more with NPCs controlled by you than with other PCs. There's nothing technically wrong with that, it comes down to personal preference, but I've always found that the real fun of RPGs is having your characters interact with those of other players, seeing how those relationships form and change as the game progresses, and how the characters evolve organically as a result.

 

 

I'll admit, being a team player something I'm still working on. Admittedly, Nadia and Viseria didn't really have very many opportunities for interaction. There wasn't really anywhere for them to jump into and nobody ever seemed to be able to come to them so I didn't have much else to do. I tried to use those posts to work on developing them better for when interaction actually did happen, but I see what you mean. Finding them some interaction would be great, I'm just not sure how much can be done at the moment.

 

Utlimately, I think one of the biggest problems with Mia was that you were trying to fit a square peg (Mia) into a round hole (the Empire). You tried too hard to make her sympathetic, to the point where she was uncompromisingly 'nice', putting her personal principles before Imperial protocol and the success of the mission. Making sympathetic Imperials is a great character idea, but you have to do so realistically, looking at how much they could plausibly get away with given the rigidity and harshness of the wider Imperial regime. They might be reluctant about following protocol in some situations, and they might have trouble squaring it with their morals, but ultimately they're part of the Empire and they have to do what's expected of them. It's appropriate that cognitive dissonance was mentioned earlier, because that's exactly the kind of thing you'd need to explore. 

 

I guess I can see that. I liked the idea of an Imperial who looks out for those under her command and who was really not that bad a person, but I may have gone a bit too far with that. It's one thing to treat her staff well when there isn't much going on, but that sort of attitude might not translate as well to the field.

 

 

Side note: Tarkin is really not the guy to bring in to try and make Mia look respectable. He arguably lies beyond even the Inquisitorius end of the sympathy spectrum. The man was willing to blow up a planet of innocent people just to make a point. Mia's the opposite of the kind of person Tarkin would approve of when it comes to 'getting things done'.

 

 

That seems a bit ironic coming from you. Based on your avatar I would have thought you would enjoy seeing your favorite character make a brief appearance.  :P

Edited by Atton Rand
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That seems a bit ironic coming from you. Based on your avatar I would have thought you would enjoy seeing your favorite character make a brief appearance.  :P

Well, there's a world of difference between finding someone interesting as a character and nice as a person.

There's a dozen selves inside you, trying to be the one to run the dials

[BZPRPG Profiles]

Hatchi - Talli - Ranok - Lucira - FerellisMorie - Fanai - Akiyo - Yukie - Shuuan - Ilykaed - Pradhai - Ipsudir

And some aren't even on your side.

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That seems a bit ironic coming from you. Based on your avatar I would have thought you would enjoy seeing your favorite character make a brief appearance.  :P

Well, there's a world of difference between finding someone interesting as a character and nice as a person.

 

 

 

I know. I was just making a joke because of his avatar.

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I guess that makes sense. A lot of what I was doing seemed to make sense to me but it would appear it didn't line up perfectly with my understanding of what was happening. Looking back now, I think I may have misunderstood Raltz's character. I got the impression at first that he was more like Imperial Special Ops, rather than part of a different organization altogether. Actually, thinking about that, I may have misunderstood the way things were working because I found myself largely imagining those two organizations as being more or less the same, which doesn't seem to be the case. I don't suppose you have any advice on how to work on that?

 

I'm also starting to wonder if part of the confusion came from misunderstanding the Imperial structure. This whole time I've been assuming that it is organized more or less the same as a real-life army, in which the senior officer is usually given command; thus a lieutenant is automatically higher than a sergeant. 

 

Well, to chime in real quick myself, it's not really that clear cut. A Navy Admiral might be sitting in the middle of an Army camp but he won't have any real authority over the operations of that camp, even though respect will be expected and obedience will be expected within reason. Similarly Mia did technically outrank Raltz, but she was an officer of the Imperial Army being taken along on an Inquisitorius mission. The authority Raltz had was derived from the nature of the assignment and his affiliation, as he was acting for a group with considerable pull on the orders of someone who would have outranked Mia had they ever met.

 

It wasn't so much that Mia and her troops were on the mission as it was that they were requisitioned support. They were on an Inquisitorius op to provide some extra manpower if Raltz needed it (as he did).

 

The thing about the Inquisitorius, in particular, is that they're not standard military. They're a group that grew out of Imperial Intelligence. Anyone with the title "Inquisitor" is somewhere between an O-3 or O-4 pay grade in terms of authority. And that's without considering that whether they have the technical authority or not, very few people really want to run the risk of refusing a trained user of the Force. They operate on an agenda that at time seems largely separate even from the Empire at large, and they really only answer to their own bosses. A lot of them really want to be separate from the Empire itself.

 

Long story short, Mia might have been (mostly) in the right if she had been on an operation with a branch of the Imperial military. With the Inquisitorius, things get messier.

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On this eve, the thirtieth anniversary of that first colony, many are left to wonder; is the world fast approaching a breaking point?

 

 

  Breaking Point: An OTC Mecha RPG

 

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That actually does explain a lot. This whole time I was thinking about the mission as if it were a military operation. Man, I feel like such an idiot for not seeing this sooner.

 

Anyway, I'm also thinking I should make a profile for this guy, who could be interesting. It might give us a chance to show just how divided the Empire is right now.

 

Name: Riv Needa
Age: 42
Gender/Species: Human Male
Appearance: Tall caucasian man, clean-shaven; Short brown hair. He is usually found wearing the standard gray-green Imperial Uniform, along with a military cap. He usually tries to appear calm.

Equipment: A small blaster pistol and a modified comm link with encryption settings. He also keeps a photograph of his brother.
Skills: As an Imperial Officer, Needa knows how to handle firearms (though his position results in him not needing them very often). He also has skills in encryption and decryption of transmissions.
Personality: Despite his professional appearance, Needa is a fairly decent person. Like his predecessor, he does try to look out for the people under his command, and does his best to avoid the use of force whenever possible. He is also willing to assist others outside the empire as long as it doesn't interfere with (what he sees as) political interests. Unfortunately, because of his past, Needa is very distrustful of the Inquisitors, though he tries to be discreet in sharing those feelings.. 
History: Riv began his career in the last days of the Old Republic, alongside his brother Lorth, both of whom served in the Navy shortly before its fall. When the Republic was transformed into the Galactic Empire, its military was also changed, and both men became part of the Imperial Navy. While Lorth went on to serve as Captain aboard a Star Destroyer, Riv moved through several different jobs, usually of a low-level. His chances of moving up were destroyed when he learned that his brother had been executed by Darth Vader. Lorther's death also resulted in the executions of several other relatives, though Riv was spared as he was deemed insignificant. While he continued to serve the Empire, Riv Needa began to question Emperor Palpatine's rule, and after the Battle of Endor found a new opportunity. He became part of a group of Imperial Officers who believed the Sith were unfit to rule the Galaxy, and that a force sensitive should not be in charge, and who hoped to work against the Inquisitors. Riv was later assigned to assist in the restoration of a small outpost on Taris, where he served under Lieutenant Mia Arkada, an officer he grew to admire. After her death, Riv became the new acting C.O. of the Outpost presenting a new opportunity: to report to his superiors on Inquisitorial activity and do whatever he could to give the Empire an advantage.
Affiliation: Galactic Empire, though he is part of a faction within that sees the Inquisitors as unfit to rule.
Rank: Commander
Position: Acting C.O. at the Local Tarisian Outpost
Alignment: Order

Edited by Atton Rand
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Needa not approved, primarily on account of his late on-screen brother. The only reason Cylund got by as being a Calrissian was because of the fact that the relationship to the suave general is murky at best and little more than antecedent narrative fluff. Events that occurred along the Skywalker story are meant to be known from a third or fourth-hand perspective.

 

Smaller nitpick being his rank, which is too high to have been serving under a Lieutenant.

 

It's an interesting concept, but not one that works as it is now within the current state of the plot.

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Needa not approved, primarily on account of his late on-screen brother. The only reason Cylund got by as being a Calrissian was because of the fact that the relationship to the suave general is murky at best and little more than antecedent narrative fluff. Events that occurred along the Skywalker story are meant to be known from a third or fourth-hand perspective.

 

Okay. I didn't realize that was an issue, but that does make sense. Having a name which implies the person may be a descendant of someone who lived four thousand years ago (Talik Vao, Dak Ulgo) is one thing, but establishing a link to someone from the movies and using that as a major driving force in their characters would get in the way of that idea. 

 

It's an interesting concept, but not one that works as it is now within the current state of the plot.

 

 

That's okay. I'll just have to file this one with the ex-Jedi turned bounty hunter under "really neat ideas that don't totally work with the RPG at the moment but may be worth revisiting later."

 

 

Edit:

 

I've been thinking some diversity in my cast would be nice. I've got three characters of which two are human. It seemed to make sense to try to add some variety. Activity seems to have slowed down for now (I presume a lot of people are busy with exams and things), so this may be a good time to experiment with some new ideas and see waht I can come up with. Of course I'll have to wait for any approval before anything gets added to the RPG (well except for Gonzai, who I've wondered about trying to make a PC instead of an NPC).

 

Name: Tashka Nishkoro

 

Age: 25

 

Gender/Species: Female Togruta

Appearance: As a Togruta, Tashka's most distinctive features are her three white and blue-striped lekku. She has orange skin and displays a notable white band on her shoulder.

 

As far as clothes go, Tashka's outfits are generally plain. She often likes to wear a tank top under a vest, as well as thick boots. Because of her heritage, she also usually likes to apply war paint to make herself appear more intimidating, though the exact pattern may vary depending on her mood.

 

Skills: As a warrior, Tashka is skilled in a variety of weapons, but while she can handle a blaster if needed, her real skills are in melee combat. 

 

Equipment: Generally keeps a vibro double-blade on hand. 

 

Personality: Because of her background, Tashka is a rough individual. She has a short temper and is easily provoked. She hardly shies away from a possible fight, and is usually eager to show her warrior skills. She often prefers the use of melee weapons over blasters, and is known to be very ruthless when she is engaged. Because of this, she is somewhat reckless without someone to warn her when she's in too deep, and sometimes charges into situations without thinking.

 

However, Tashka is far from a savage. Beneath her hardened exterior she displays a firm moral code which she adheres to. As much as she likes to fight, she usually prefers to do it fairly. In other words, she refrains from attacking civilians without reason and also tries to give opponents a sporting chance. Of course, she also doesn't take kindly to cheaters, and is known to get much more vicious if the opponent tries to pull dirty tricks against her.

 

Tashka is also fiercely loyal when it comes to her gang. She encourages teamwork and is often entrusted with resolving disputes among Vulkars, although this has not stopped her from developing a friendly rivalry with fellow Vulkar Nadia Rinlo. 

 

History: Unlike many Vulkars, Tashka did not grow up in the streets of Taris. Instead, she grew up living as a hunter and warrior on Shili. There she perfected her skills and developed a reputation for her courage. She became one of her clan's most prominent fighters, but ultimately she was not enough to save them from a rival tribe. Most of them were wiped out, but Tashka managed to escape, eventually stowing away on a smuggler's ship. After being left on Taris, Tashka quickly began trying to find new companions and transferred her skills to surviving in the streets. Eventually, she caught the attention of the Black Vulkars, who took her in as one of their own. Now with a new clan to fight for, Tashka has become a loyal member.

 

Affiliation: Black Vulkars

 

Position: Bodyguard

 

Alignment: Loyalty

 

 

Name: Gonzai

 

Age: 50

 

Gender/Species: Gamorrean Male

 

Appearance: Gonzai appears more or less like one would expect from a gamorrean. He is large, squat, muscular, and dark green. Because of his size, Gonzai's wardrobe is limited (it's hard to find clothes for a Gamorrean on a world like Taris). He usually wears the fur armor more commonly seen among his species, though largely because that is the easiest apparel he can get.

 

Skills: Unlike most of his species, Gonzai is not an experienced warrior. Although he can defend himself if needed, his real skills are in business and management. He has a variety of contacts around Taris both in the media and in other businesses.

 

While he is physically unable to speak anything beyond his native language, he fluently understands basic and has also developed a working understanding of several alien languages such as Twi'leki, Aqualish, Huttese, Rodian, and Togruti thanks to the diversity of his gang. 

 

Equipment: A small pocket-sized datapad with holonet access.

 

PersonalityGonzai is very much the opposite of his race's reputation as dim-witted brutes. Although he is capable of defending himself, he generally tries to avoid fighting whenever possible. He is also known to discourage the Vulkars from using force unless all other options are exhausted, and even then he prefers that they only do so if they need to defend themselves (though on a crime-ridden world like Taris this ends up happening a lot). 

 

Although he is tied to the criminal underworld, Gonzai does attempt to run an ethical business. He usually does his best to hold his end of a deal and refrains from double-crossing without a good reason. That said, he is very selective about the types of businesses he runs. For example, he objects to the practices of slavery. The slaves he does manage to purchase (or who end up being won in swoop races) are freed as soon as possible, at which point they are given the option to either leave on their own or join the Vulkars willingly.

 

As a person of authority in the Vulkars, and a longtime member, Gonzai has also become something of a father figure towards many of the gang members, and it is not unusual for him to talk to younger members of the gang about their personal issues. This has proven to be very appropriate as many gang members (such as Nadia and Viseria) grew up as street kids without any real family before he took them in.

 

History: Gonzai started as an outcast from his homeworld of Gamorr. As a boar, he was expected to became a warrior, but never really had what it took. Although he learned to use a variety of Gamorrean weapons, he was constantly under pressure to prove himself for a life he was never cut out to live. He was eventually labelled as dishonorable and exiled from his clan. From there, Gonzai made his way offworld and visited a few planets before arriving on Taris. There he managed to do a few small-time jobs in which he gradually discovered his skills in business. Eventually, this talent reached the attention of the Vulkars, and over the following years Gonzai worked his way to their highest ranks. 

 

Using his new position in the Vulkars, Gonzai began working to try and improve the lives of the working class of Taris, something that proved easy to do with the money he made off of swoop races. One practice he became especially known for was his habit of finding street kids. People like Nadia Rinlo and Viseria were kids who would grew up on the streets without any real family. He would take them in and offer food and shelter. Many of them were accepted as members of the gang and later developed useful skills. Two of his best riders came from such a background, as did many of the younger gang members. 

 

Affiliation: Black Vulkars

Position: Manager, publicist, unofficial swoop coach

 

Alignment: Good

 

 

Name: Kyra Drayen

 

Age: 31

 

Gender/Species: Human Female

 

Appearance: In her old days with the rebels, Kyra proudly wore the orange and white jumpsuit which distinguished members of their squadrons. Her raven hair was cut short and neatly combed. Now, she is a nervous wreck. Her hair is still short, but remains a mess. Her clothes are mostly based on what remains from her days in the alliance; an old worn green jacket over a set of camouflage pants, and her old combat boots that are slowly falling apart.

Skills: Because of her old days in the alliance, Kyra is an experienced pilot, though she often remains reluctant to take direct control of anything that flies. She also knows how to use a variety of blasters.

Equipment: A small blaster pistol.

 

Personality: As a veteran, Kyra is a reclusive individual. She generally tries to avoid drawing attention to herself. 

 

History: Once, Kyra was one of the most idealistic rebels one could meet. She fought for the alliance in its early days. She was well-known as an expert pilot, and flew a Y-wing, quickly working her way to becoming a squad leader. During this time, she made a number of friends in the alliance. In particular, she developed a close bond with her astromech droid, R9-G7.  She also fell in love with a fellow rebe with whom she became extremely close. Shortly before the Battle of Yavin, the two became engaged. Unfortunately, duty interfered. Kyra's lover was recruited to serve aboard Tantive IV on a secret mission. They said their goodbyes, hoping to be married when the mission was over.

 

Only too late did Kyra realize that Tantive IV would never reach its destination. She later learned that the ship had been captured by the Empire, and most of its crew killed. Kyra was devastated, and her subsequent nervous breakdown kept her out of much of the action. R9 remained her only friend, whom she often spoke to. She was starting to become distant from the other rebels.

 

Kyra did eventually return to the seat of a Y-wing, but by that time she had changed. The once cheerful and amazing young woman had become much colder as she struggled to live with her actions. Every Imperial life she took seemed to make it worse, but she attempted to convince herself that it was for a greater cause. By the Battle of Endor, Kyra was beginning to show symptoms of PTSD and forcibly retired from her squadron duties. With the beginning of the New Republic, Kyra found herself unable to adjust to the new world. She continued to experience guilt both for the rebels she saw die and for the Imperials she killed. She even wondered if the Rebels had made the ethical choice by letting millions of people die aboard the Death Star.

 

Ultimately, Kyra could no longer handle life in the New Republic. The only thing she could do was run away. She took R9, and boarded a cargo freighter to some random backwater planet. As it happened, the planet in question was Taris, a bleak world in which she is trying to disappear, and to forget the life she once understood.

 

Affiliation: Herself, formerly Rebel Alliance

 

Position: Formerly Y-Wing Pilot

 

Alignment: Good, though she isn't sure exactly what that means

 

So if I'm understanding this correctly, it's hard to get some exact statistics but based on what I have seen, we appear to have a reasonable balance of male and female PCs, though a lot of them do seem to be human. As far as I know, we've got at present:

  • 1 Zeltron (female)
  • 2 Zabraks (one male, one female)
  • 2 Twi'leks (one male, one female)
  • 1 Chistori (male)
  • 1 Wookie (female)
  • 1 Umbaran (female)
  • 2 Arkanians (1 male, 1 female)
  • 1 Togruta (female)
  • 1 Echani (male)
  • 1 Battle Droid (Male)
  • 1 R2-unit Astromech Droid (female)
  • 15 humans (11 male, 4 female)

I'm probably forgetting a few, and of course this is only going on PCs (including NPCs I know we have a Gamorrean and Miraluka, probably one or two others I'm also forgetting).  That still leaves a long list of species which haven't appeared yet (at least not as player characters, some of these may have appeared as NPCs). To name a few, we still have yet to see any Hutts, Rodians, Bith, Ithorians, Trandoshans, Mon Calamari, Gungans, Sullustans, Nautolan, Selkath, Cathar, Lasat, Dug, Bothans, Mirialans, Quarrans, Xexto, Aqualish, Toydarians, Quermians, Kaminoans, Gran, Toong, Jawas, Echani,  Ewoks, Duloks, Phlogs, Jindas, Tammuz-an, Anoo-dat Blue, Yoda's species, Rakatans, Yuuzhan Vong, Klingons, Romulans, Bajorans, Borg, Vulcans, Betazoids, Asari, Turians, Daleks, Thals, Sontarans, Time Lords, Luxan, Nebari, Blancmanges, and Nemoidians.

 

I'm not sure if that information is at all useful. It seems like something that may be worth giving some thought, and yes I did just spend a bunch of time going through the Star Wars wiki finding as many different obscure races as I could for that list.

Edited by Atton Rand
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  • 2 weeks later...

So, I realize I dropped off the map a bit, and should probably explain that. I kind of lost my RPing partners for Zale, it seems, which put me at a pause because I didn't want to just move forward on that. Then my roommate situation kind of blew up... I lost internet for awhile there, and ended up having to move halfway across the country. I've just now gotten set back up, and am ready to get back into things.

 

Please consider this my formal apology to anyone I was RPing with that got left hanging.

 

That being said... I have no idea what's going on now. I'm not sure where would be good for me to put Zale and Nokon back into the rotation, and if anyone would be willing to help me out with that, I'd be very grateful...

"Quis custodiet ipsos custodies? Your grace."


"I know that one. 'Who watches the Watchmen?' Me, Mr. Pessimal."


"Ah, but who watches you, your grace?"


"I do that too. All the time."


 


If anyone would be interested in co-hosting a Discworld-themed RPG for OTC, please PM me!

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That being said... I have no idea what's going on now. I'm not sure where would be good for me to put Zale and Nokon back into the rotation, and if anyone would be willing to help me out with that, I'd be very grateful...

 

Well as far as what's going on now, I can probably offer you a partial summary easily enough, though I can really only start from about the point I joined in the RPG, which may have been after you left. As far as I know, I think it's about two or three days that have passed, but there has been a lot going on. I'll explain to the best of my understanding, although there is probably someone else who can add to this.

 

So I guess from my perspective, there seem to be two main plots, at least as far as my own posts are concerned. The main plot, I think, concerns a downed b-wing, while the other secondary plot relates to gang activity in the lower city. Of course, I seem to be the only person actually writing that secondary plot so I'm not sure if that really counts for anything.

 

The main plot started when Sergeant Raltz arrived on Taris with a mission to recover data from a downed b-wing and attempted to use one of the local outposts as an auxiliary. Unfortunately, the mission was not very well planned, resulting in a battle with scavengers and the death of a local officer who was essentially punished for not being properly briefed about the nature of the mission. Basically, things went wrong for just about everyone involved. Data was lost because the person who found it wasn't properly notified that it was supposed to be confidential (at least not until after it was lost). One of her Stormtroopers managed to escape but may or may not be labelled as a fugitive because of her C.O.'s failure (it's complicated). I'm not entirely sure what the current status of the B-wing plot is at the moment, though. A lot of the Inquisitors seem to be in the Tarisian Scrapyard at the moment. I'm presuming it will eventually make sense why there's been so much fuss about a b-wing.

 

Then of course there's been a variety of side plots that will probably link to the main plot in some form. At the moment, the sister of the officer lost in the aforementioned mission, Layna Arkada, has arrived on Taris and is busy trying to figure out what is going on. There also seems to be some minor action over at the Stray Tach; there's a bunch of people there at the moment including one strange figure whose presence will probably make more sense as the story progresses. 

 

At the moment, there is also a sub-plot involving the street gangs, though I seem to be the only person really taking part in that one. It relates mainly to the Black Vulkars, and the lives of a few of its members. So far I've got two (four if you count NPCs Gonzai and Viseria) gang members who we've followed: Nadia and Tashka. Nadia's been somewhat mixed up in Imperial Affairs thanks to her past dealings with Lieutenant Mia Arkada; but there's also a growing rivalry between the Vulkars and Beks. 

 

 

As for where to jump in, that's harder to say for sure. If you wanted to join in on the gang sub-plot (which should become more closely tied to the main plot in the near future) you could see about creating a new PC to take part in one of those groups. You could join the Vulkars, in which case interaction would be easier on account of the fact that I have people already there. Alternatively, you could also join the HIdden Beks. There hasn't actually been much established about them so far, and most of their appearances have been as NPCs seen through the Vulkars' Point of View. You would therefore get some extensive creative freedom to develop the gang and its members, in which case you'd also by extension be able to develop their rivalry with the Vulkars. The other option in that area would of course be to join one of the other street gangs on Taris. I haven't actually managed to establish any of the other major gangs yet so you'd get total creative freedom in that area.

 

In regards to Zale and Nokon, I'm not entirely sure. Most of the inquisitors seem to be in the Scrapyard of the Taris Undercity, so that's probably a good place to start. There do seem to be a few PCs over at the Stray Tach, which includes Kyra the ex-rebel, Tashka the Vulkar warrior, Sue the Wookie Bartender, Liare the Inquisitor, and Sen the Mandalorian archaeologist; so that would be an easy place to find interactions.

 

I hope this information is useful.

Edited by Atton Rand
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That being said... I have no idea what's going on now. I'm not sure where would be good for me to put Zale and Nokon back into the rotation, and if anyone would be willing to help me out with that, I'd be very grateful...

 

Here's what's been going on in the Inquisitors' side of things since you went AWOL:

  • Liare, Raia and Nokon took a shuttle down to Taris' surface after Costa, checked in at the hotel she found, and split up to conduct their own searches for the Republic pilot, Rav. (What Nokon did from this point on is up to you.)
  • A squad of Inquisitorius troopers, led by Sergeant Raltz Nightwing, followed them down from the Insight for added manpower.
  • As part of his own investigations, Liare instructed Raltz to take a team out into the junkyard where Rav's B-Wing crashed and recover the starfighter's data core and astromech, accompanied by Lieutenant Mia Arkada of a local Imperial base and a squad of her troops.
  • On arriving near the crash site, they were attacked by heavily-armed scavengers. While Raltz and the troopers fought them off, Mia left all but one of her troops behind in an attempt to flank the scavengers and managed to capture (and befriend) one of their more reluctant members.
  • With the help of the scavenger turncoat, Mia proceeded to find the B-Wing. Ignoring Raltz's instruction not to access the highly classified data within, she attempted to access the B-Wing's computer without taking any precautions, and thus a safeguard activated and shut down all its systems (and likely wiped the data core).
  • Raltz reported Mia's actions to the Liare, who reported them to Costa, who ordered Raltz to detain Mia and set off for the crash site to deal with the situation personally. Liare went after Mia's subordinate Dak, who had fled the scene with the captured scavenger, and Raia headed for the junkyard to rendezvous with Costa.
  • Costa interrogated Mia before summarily executing her for her actions, then publicly pinned the blame for her death on the fugitive Republic pilot to provide a cover story for their manhunt.
  • The Inquisitors had Taris' governor put the planet on alert to find their quarry, and mobilised another two Inquisitors (Kaz and Varis) and more troops from the Insight.

And that's pretty much where we are at the moment: searching for Rav. Costa and Raia are on a speeder bike heading back out of the junkyard, Liare's in the Stray Tach, and Kaz and Varis have just landed at the Imperial garrison. If you want to have Raine meet up with any of them, you can just have him radio them and ask for their location.

 

As for Zale, last I remember he'd been trying to follow Dov's non-Inquisitorius Dark Side guy, correct? If you were planning on having him end up with other Force-sensitives, there's a few of them in the Stray Tach.

 

EDIT:

 

I'm presuming it will eventually make sense why there's been so much fuss about a b-wing.

@Atton: I suggest you read this post if you're not aware of why Rav, and by extension his B-Wing, is so important to the Inquisitorius.

Edited by Ghosthands

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On arriving near the crash site, they were attacked by heavily-armed scavengers. While Raltz and the troopers fought them off, Mia left all but one of her troops behind in an attempt to flank the scavengers and managed to capture (and befriend) one of their more reluctant members.

 

Technically the idea was supposed to be that they were ambushed and outnumbered, and a bunch of the stormtroopers got scattered in the chaos. You forget that Mia was only able to bring a small portion of her stormtroopers (a bunch of them were intoxicated because they'd been given leave) and she was the only one with any real experience (being a decorated Imperial Officer who had served for several years while a lot of the Stormtroopers had seen next to no action in the last few months and had only done one or two actions before at best) and the fact that there was no prior reason to expect that they would be attacked. Now one could argue that Raltz didn't know either, but all Mia knew going in was that they were going to salvage a b-wing, and that was it. So when the shooting started a lot of the stormtroopers panicked and it was hard to do much of anything. Flanking them was the only thing she could do at that point.

 

Obviously we had some very different ideas of how that battle was going down, or maybe I've just watched a few too many war films. I was imagining Black Hawk Down-levels of chaos. You know, shots going off everywhere, people getting gunned down left and right just trying to survive. The way I was imagining it, it seemed pretty easy for people to get scattered in all the confusion. She wasn't deserting or abandoning her soldiers. I'm not sure why everyone got the impression that it was a strategic choice for her to be on her own when she didn't get much choice in the matter.

 

I guess that's the trouble with RPGs, sometimes people get the wrong ideas of things, and things that make sense to you don't make sense to others. Here I was imagining something out of Black Hawk Down where people are hopelessly outnumbered and desperately trying to survive when apparently it was an easily won battle that didn't have very many casualties. I guess the same goes for ordering Raltz to take people alive. Everyone seemed to think trying to catch the scavengers alive was a stupid move, even though at the time it seemed to make sense to me as a practical decision because if they're alive they can provide information that may be useful; thus it would seem like an intelligent move to capture them whenever possible.

 

I don't know, obviously I'm missing something, and it caused everyone to treat a decorated and well-respected Imperial Officer with a distinguished career like an Incompetent Rookie who only got in because of some rich parents or something. I remember when I first proposed the idea of writing a relatable Imperial Officer, M31's exact words in response were, and I quote...

 

As a theme that's been pulled off pretty well by more than a few books (and TV show), this would work.

 

 

And yet, as soon as I'm actually in the game, everything seemed to go wrong. Suddenly nobody seemed to want to respect Mia and kept treating her as a rookie even though her profile clearly said otherwise. Next thing I know I pull a few moves that seemed like they made sense at the time, and suddenly she's dead. 

 

I have tried to get feedback, and while I didn't get much I did get a few useful comments. As Ghosthands noted earlier, it appears I may have tried too hard to make her likeable (and based on how other people reacted, I don't think I succeeded). I spent a lot of time trying to play up that she was a good person, but ended up going so far as to make her behave in ways that didn't seem appropriate to her chosen faction. While there are a lot of ways that could have been useful.

 

I had hoped Commander Needa would allow me a chance to have another go at it, but unfortunately he didn't get approved. I am hoping that my new PC Kyra will be able to accomplish some of what I hoped to do with Mia, if instead from the other side. I'd still be open to the idea of trying again at some point, but I may give it some time before I dive into anything.

 

I'm presuming it will eventually make sense why there's been so much fuss about a b-wing.

 

@Atton: I suggest you read this post if you're not aware of why Rav, and by extension his B-Wing, is so important to the Inquisitorius.

 

Oh, okay then. So all this has been about some sort of ancient artifact? 

 

I guess to add to Ghosthands' recap above, I should explain what's been going on in the streets, as that seems to be where I am at the moment.

 

  • Vulkar Swoop rider Nadia Rinlo won a swoop race. Unfortunately, the Beks decided to have a wookie compete on the grounds that nobody would want to challenge him (we all remember what Han Solo said about wookies losing); they managed to stop it, but several Vulkars were injured by the attacking wookie
  • Ex-bounty hunter Vandredd meets with the mechanic Jenth atStray Tach, where they discuss a possible business deal
  • Nadia goes to the Stray Tach, along with her best friend Viseria. They get drinks and meet with Liare, who mentions the downed b-wing (though he uses a cover story that its owner had robbed him). Nadia gives Liare information about the Vulkars before leaving.
  • Nadia goes back to the Vulkar base, and falls asleep. Meanwhile, Viseria meets with Gonzai and admits her distrust of Liare
  • The next morning, Nadia and Viseria go out to practice swoop riding. After both have had a run on the track, they are approached by Stormtrooper Dak Ulgo, who is accompanied by a scavenger and looking for a place to hide.
  • Dak is brought back to the Vulkar Base, where she is disguised to better blend in with the gang.
  • Liare manages to track both Dak and the Scavenger to the Vulkar base, but decides not to harm them on the grounds that they record testimonies of what happened. Liare leaves.
  • Bounty Hunter Layna Arkada arrives on Taris and inquires about her sister, Mia. Upon discovering that she is dead, she is given residence by the Vulkars
  • Layna goes to get a drink, stumbles into a really bad cantina run by a Dulok, and bumps into Odiina, who relates the official cover story of what happened to Mia. Layna becomes suspicious
  • Nadia and Viseria go to get drinks. Nadia learns of Mia's death and makes a scene at the Stray Tach. Viseria does her best to comfort her
  • Rogue Novatrooper Rebekkah learns that the Empire has found her apartment, she takes out the stormtroopers on guard duty, grabs a few supplies, and leaves. On the way out, she runs into Nadia and Viseria
  • Layna meets Dak, and finds her suspicions supported by the stormtrooper's account of what happened in the Scrapyard. She also learns of the woman encountered by Nadia and Viseria, and enlists their assistance in tracking her down
  • Layna manages to track Rebekkah to a hotel, and has arranged a meeting with her in the hopes of finding out more about what happened to her sister.

I think that covers a lot of what's happened in the streets. There's a lot going on so it can be easy to forget things. There's also something going on with Talik Vao, who seems to be on his way to the Stray Tach (suddenly I find myself wondering what would happen if the RPG's two Twi'leks had a chance to meeet...) Unfortunately I'm not 100% sure where that fits into the timeline.

Edited by Atton Rand
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Okay, I've got a small problem and maybe I can get some advice. I'm having trouble finding anything to do with Dak. I know everybody seemed to think she'd be a really interesting PC but interactions are difficult for a few reasons, mostly because Dak's unclear status within the Empire has limited the ways interaction could happen.

 

Basically, Dak doesn't really know what her current status is, though she believes that she's been labelled a fugitive (and I did seem to get that impression to an extent). Because she knows that she will be arrested if she's seen, she has to lay low and avoid drawing attention. This unfortunately places her in the awkward position of not being able to leave the Vulkar Base (at least not until the Inquisitors leave). That means interaction can happen two ways: Dak can leave the base and risk getting seen in public or someone can go into the Vulkar Base. Obviously, one would be a terrible move and I don't know that anybody else has any real reason to go to the Vulkar Base at the moment. It kinda limits what I can do with her. Anyone have any advice on how to deal with this?

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Technically the idea was supposed to be that they were ambushed and outnumbered, and a bunch of the stormtroopers got scattered in the chaos. You forget that Mia was only able to bring a small portion of her stormtroopers (a bunch of them were intoxicated because they'd been given leave) and she was the only one with any real experience (being a decorated Imperial Officer who had served for several years while a lot of the Stormtroopers had seen next to no action in the last few months and had only done one or two actions before at best) and the fact that there was no prior reason to expect that they would be attacked. Now one could argue that Raltz didn't know either, but all Mia knew going in was that they were going to salvage a b-wing, and that was it. So when the shooting started a lot of the stormtroopers panicked and it was hard to do much of anything. Flanking them was the only thing she could do at that point.

 

Obviously we had some very different ideas of how that battle was going down, or maybe I've just watched a few too many war films. I was imagining Black Hawk Down-levels of chaos. You know, shots going off everywhere, people getting gunned down left and right just trying to survive. The way I was imagining it, it seemed pretty easy for people to get scattered in all the confusion. She wasn't deserting or abandoning her soldiers. I'm not sure why everyone got the impression that it was a strategic choice for her to be on her own when she didn't get much choice in the matter.

 

I didn't use the words 'abandoned' or 'deserted': I said 'left behind'. That's just a neutral description of what she did as a result of her flanking maneuver. Regardless of the wider situation or anyone's personal interpretation of it, she brought only one of the troopers with her, ergo she left the others behind.

 

 

I guess that's the trouble with RPGs, sometimes people get the wrong ideas of things, and things that make sense to you don't make sense to others. Here I was imagining something out of Black Hawk Down where people are hopelessly outnumbered and desperately trying to survive when apparently it was an easily won battle that didn't have very many casualties. I guess the same goes for ordering Raltz to take people alive. Everyone seemed to think trying to catch the scavengers alive was a stupid move, even though at the time it seemed to make sense to me as a practical decision because if they're alive they can provide information that may be useful; thus it would seem like an intelligent move to capture them whenever possible.

 

Yes, that is a problem in RPGs, and it works both ways. I haven't seen Black Hawk Down, but bear in mind that this was a group of backwater scavengers (who were even described as 'rag-tag' when introduced) against trained Imperial troops. Even if Mia's men had little battlefield experience, they were still trained stormtroopers, and they had Raltz and his Inquisitorius crack troops alongside them, plus air support from the shuttle. Mia made no attempt to contact any of her troops (who all have comlinks in their helmets) besides Dak. It's hard to understand why she didn't try to give her troops leadership and direction, especially if the situation was as chaotic as you saw it.

 

 

I don't know, obviously I'm missing something, and it caused everyone to treat a decorated and well-respected Imperial Officer with a distinguished career like an Incompetent Rookie who only got in because of some rich parents or something. I remember when I first proposed the idea of writing a relatable Imperial Officer, M31's exact words in response were, and I quote...

 

As a theme that's been pulled off pretty well by more than a few books (and TV show), this would work.

 

 

And yet, as soon as I'm actually in the game, everything seemed to go wrong. Suddenly nobody seemed to want to respect Mia and kept treating her as a rookie even though her profile clearly said otherwise. Next thing I know I pull a few moves that seemed like they made sense at the time, and suddenly she's dead. 

 

 

I'm afraid this comes down to the old writing adage of "show, don't tell". Ultimately, a character will be judged by their actions, not the adjectives you choose to use when describing them.

 

Let's say I create a character, and I say in his profile that he's really funny and witty and likeable. But if all the jokes I have him make are awful Christmas cracker-level puns, how do you think people are going to perceive him? Or I write up a supposed strategic genius, only to have him make a series of tactical blunders?

 

I don't mean to disparage your writing skills, but Mia's actions and decisions simply didn't come across (to me, and to the other players I've spoken to) as those of a competent military officer, especially within the context of the Galactic Empire and its ideologies. If you don't understand why that is, take another look over those bullet points I gave you in my feedback post. Some of it can be put down to differences in mental image, I'm sure.

 

On that note, however, it might be worth examining just why you've often had a different mental image to the rest of us. Some degree of difference between different people's mental pictures is unavoidable, of course, but it seems to me that there's a certain amount of context that you're missing. For example, you evidently haven't read very much of what was posted in this RPG prior to your joining, to the extent that you didn't even know why the Inquisitors were on Taris in the first place. There's also the matter of knowledge of the Star Wars universe: as I said before, I'm not sure you fully grasp the authoritarianism of the Empire's ideology and methods. Both of those could be remedied with a relatively small amount of reading (the first few pages of this RPG in the former case, some Wookieepedia articles in the latter).

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I'm afraid this comes down to the old writing adage of "show, don't tell". Ultimately, a character will be judged by their actions, not the adjectives you choose to use when describing them.

 

Let's say I create a character, and I say in his profile that he's really funny and witty and likeable. But if all the jokes I have him make are awful Christmas cracker-level puns, how do you think people are going to perceive him? Or I write up a supposed strategic genius, only to have him make a series of tactical blunders?

 

I don't mean to disparage your writing skills, but Mia's actions and decisions simply didn't come across (to me, and to the other players I've spoken to) as those of a competent military officer, especially within the context of the Galactic Empire and its ideologies. If you don't understand why that is, take another look over those bullet points I gave you in my feedback post. Some of it can be put down to differences in mental image, I'm sure.

 

Funnily enough, this isn't the first time I've been told that. I remember back in Dino Attack RPG I ran into the same problem a few times, and received the same feedback. The context was somewhat different there, but it still ended up amounting to a person being meant one way only to end up not really fitting the RPG. Maybe that's also part of why people in Breaking Point hated Casey Maxwell so much. As you noted before, Mia ended up being too good. Admittedly, if I'd had more time to develop her, I may have had a chance to address the other side, but I never really managed to get into the details of how she balances her own ethics with Imperial Responsibilities. Of course, we can go on about the problems with Mia Arkada.

 

Indeed, I seem to have a long history of RPG characters who seemed like good ideas at the time but ended up being poorly received by everyone else and often are found to not really fit the RPG that well. First there was Trigger in Dino Attack, then there was Nicole in FTL, then Casey Maxwell in Breaking Point, and now Mia Arkada in Star Wars: Interregnum. It's not exactly an optimistic pattern. On the other hand, thinking about what went wrong with these previous roles may still provide useful information here.

 

Trigger was a disaster waiting to happen, as any of my fellow Dino Attack players can testify (ask PeabodySam; I'm sure he'd be happy to tell you everything). He was supposed to be an anti-hero with an in-depth knowledge of the Maelstrom, only he ended up coming off as an arrogant and stubborn jerk who didn't know what was good for him. Not surprising either. For some reason I thought it would be a good idea for him to be a mercenary, and then he became extremely unbelievable when he kept saying he was only in it for the money in the middle of the apocalypse. Looking back on it now, I actually could see one or two ways he could have worked if I'd thought through him better. The idea of him being a mercenary wasn't a bad one, except what I should have done is downplayed the money angle and worked more with the idea that he wasn't used to being a team player or having a cause; that probably could have been a worthwhile arc. Instead, he made a fool of himself and became so poorly received that even I ended up taking full responsibility and killed him off myself.

 

Nicole on the other hand, I recall was one who many fellow players found infuriating. On multiple occasions she was nearly written out of the RPG all together, including one moment where I essentially had to beg the hosts for some in-universe reason to keep her after they'd shot down every attempt I'd made to keep her from being discharged. A lot of that probably had to do with the fact that I wrote her as a doctor suffering from extreme PTSD, and it was heavily inhibiting her in-game actions; she was often freaking out, experiencing flashbacks, or otherwise having problems. She didn't function very well as a doctor, probably because I included details of her condition that interfered with it (she had trouble walking into an operating room, for instance). I tried to make her condition believable, especially with the trauma she had faced (she had been in the middle of a warzone during one of the in-game history's worst moments, and watched the person she loved die on her operating table). Long story short, it seemed a lot of other players felt Nicole was too messed-up to be involved with a potential suicide mission, and she was better off going back to the psyciatric ward and getting the therapy she obviously needed.

 

Casey on the other hand was a whole other matter. Nobody in Breaking Point seemed to like her. To be fair, Sgt. Maxwell wasn't exactly made to be a particularly likeable person to start with; I explicitly said on the form that she'd been affected by being in the field too long and that she was known to be hard on recruits. Then in-game I suddenly have people complaining because she's going Full Metal Jacket on recruits when I explicitly stated that she was a drill sergeant. They also seemed to be fairly indifferent to the parts that were meant to deal with Casey's psychology. More frustratingly, everyone seemed to ignore the part of her profile that explicitly stated she was in special forces and kept treating her like a low-level grunt instead of a hardened veteran with years of experience and training in unconventional warfare, and that included people she outranked. Obviously, something wasn't entirely right with her, and she didn't come off as believable to most other players, even though everything I wrote of her seemed to make sense to me.

 

I do feel like I should ask this: is there anything in the RPG that anyone thinks I've done well? I've heard a lot about why people didn't like Mia Arkada, I was thinking something else would be a nice change of pace. Are there any of my PCs that people actually like or who they think has some good potential?

 

 

EDIT: I was tossing around some ideas for a companion to accompany Kyra. I ran the idea past M31 who suggested making a profile instead. So, once I get the official go-ahead we'll have a droid. So far as I'm aware there's only one droid PC so far, unless Dana is a droid

(personally, I'm thinking she's some kind of AI computer; it would explain a lot of things). Anyway, here is our new astromech droid:

 

 

Name: R9-G6

Gender/Species: Astromech droid (feminine programming*)

Appearance: At first glance, R9 appears very much of the same model as most astromech droids; a revolving dome atop a round metal casing, with three legs (one of which is retractable). Her primary color is white, with a faded orange painted overtop. 

Skills: As an astromech droid, R9's primary skills are in technical matters. Her specialty is in vehicle maintenance, although she is very good at repairing droids and other machines. She is also able to work in a variety of environments, including the vacuum of space, and has experience in navigation. In addition, R9 is also an expert computer hacker.

Equipment: As an astromech designed for maintenance, R9 comes equipped with an arsenal of tools for repairs. R9 also comes equipped with a holoprojector which she can use to visually display data when needed. 

Personality: As an astromech, R9 is only able to speak through a series of beeps and whistles, but she is very talkative. She is never afraid to express her true feelings on any situation. When faced with mechanical issues, R9 is a hard worker, and quick to get onto the problem. This does not, however, stop her from having a more emotional side. She can be very compassionate both towards other droids and to organic life forms who have earned her trust, easily being willing to talk to them. In her spare time, R9 can also be a joker, and has no trouble cracking jokes or playing pranks when there isn't much else to do. 

History: As long as Kyra has served in the alliance, R9 has been her loyal companion. The two of them served together in the early days of the alliance, with R9 becoming her usual choice for co-pilot. As a result of their comraderie, the two quickly became close friends. After Kyra's nervous breakdown shortly before Yavin, she often talked to the droid about her feelings. In the following years, Kyra often spoke to R9 when she found herself questioning the motives of the rebel alliance. When Kyra realized she didn't belong in the New Republic, R9 was the only friend she took with her. Now on Taris, R9 continues to follow Kyra, doing her best to comfort the ex-rebel.

Affiliation: Formerly rebel alliance, now Kyra Drayen

Alignment: Good

 

*Technically, as far as sex goes there isn't really anything distinguishing R9 from "masculine" astromech droids like R2-D2 or chopper, but she is generally referred to by feminine pronouns

Edited by Atton Rand
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  • 3 weeks later...

Atton, I will say that, from my perspective, a lot of your posts tend to follow a bizarre, sort of dream-like logic. It's honestly a bit of a trip reading your ICs, as your characters seem to bounce their way from situation to situation with little to connect things, going from easily finding the rogue Novatrooper some folks are looking for, to stumbling across the very guy the Inquisitorius is searching for and threatening to kill him, while other characters of yours pick up odd jobs, get yelled at by Heimskr of Whiterun, and try to run over trained professionals with an ambulatory trashcan.

 

I think the  best thing I can say right now is to just slow down a bit. If you're offering a character up as open for interaction, wait for people to grab the bait before you do anything with the character - right now, the awareness that it won't take long before you pull the puppet's strings again makes me, at least, a bit hesitant to touch any of those offers for interaction. I'd also say that it may make people a bit skeptical if your characters just happen to flop straight into every apparently-important character on the planet, so altogether, you may find this RPG easier to work with if you make somewhat fewer posts, and focus on meshing your characters into the world around them in a smoother, more organic way.

 

EDIT: I was hoping someone would post and save me the necessity for an awkward transition, but I guess it's a slow night.

*ahem*

This totally is not my attempt to turn this RPG into Firefly. Honest.

 

Name: Isariah Moriata

 
Age: 23
 
Gender/Species: Woman (Trans)/Human (Half-Morellian)
 
Appearance: Isiriah is tall, at 6'3", with orange-brown, terracotta-colored skin. Her face is, overall, a rather squarish shape, with high, sharp cheekbones, a strong jaw, and a small but square chin. She has a large, long nose, a wide mouth with full lips, thick, arched eyebrows, and deep-set, rounded, monolid eyes with deep black irises. Her hair is black, wavy, and very thick, and while she generally succeeds in keeping it out of her face, it tends to go pretty much anywhere else it pleases.

Overall she has a slightly stocky, chubby build, with broad shoulders, a slight potbelly, long legs and thick thighs, with powerful, wiry muscles hidden beneath a layer of fat.

Partly due to sentimentality, she often wears a russet Morellian oilcoat, a well-made leather duster that hangs to her knees and is actually a little more comfortable than it looks in warm weather. Under this, she tends to prefer well-cut, almost uniform-like shirts with loose collars. Her pants are generally well-fitted, canvas affairs, usually beige, and sometimes held up with suspenders. A pair of heavy black boots, a pair of black leather gloves that cover half of her forearm, a black gunbelt with a brace of pistols hanging on one side and a vibroblade on the other, and a well-worn canteen slung over her shoulder complete the ensemble.

 
Skills: A decent pilot who could use some seasoning, Isariah has all the technical knowledge to get the job done but hasn't been in enough scrapes to put it all together into a real talent for the craft. She's a decent enough mechanic to deal with most small problems on the fly, but clearly not good enough to handle a busted hyperdrive, a busted back-up hyperdrive, and stuttering sublight engines. She's a decent hand with a blaster, though she has yet to gain much practice in applying general knowledge of marksmanship to actual firefights. When younger, she received an education in fencing, which is likely to translate well to hitting things with a vibroblade.

She has a smooth, pleasant voice, and tends to sing or hum when she needs to take her mind off things.
 
Force Abilities: Very weakly Force-sensitive - enough to be unusually good at reading people, not nearly enough to have been worth the Empire's notice.
 
Equipment: A GL-77 blaster pistol, a machete-like vibroblade with unresolved power supply problems, and a cheap, nearly disposable comlink. She doesn't get a chance to use it quite as often, and is rather protective of the ammunition, but she does also carry a .48-caliber Enforcer, a family heirloom left to her by her mother.
 
Personality: When conducting business, she takes pains to give the impression of a calm, collected professional who has definitely done this before and isn't talking much for reasons totally unrelated to nerves. In doing this, she inadvertently manages to gloss over the fact that her true strength in a crisis has nothing to do with carefully-crafted plans, and much more to do with thinking quickly under pressure and keeping in motion even when unsure of what to do next. When in more casual, social situations, she finds some comfort in informality, and tends to be, if not polite, then at least friendlier than not - trouble does a good enough job finding her without her looking for it.
 
History: Isariah was born on Lorrd, five years after her mother, who quit the Morellian Enforcers to take up bounty-hunting, decided to settle down and buy a ranch on Lorrd with her new husband, a native of Lorrd who needed a break from excitement after one of a certain Morellian's bounties wrecked his shipping business.

As owners of the ranch, the Moriata family had a fair amount of spare time, and so their daughter, though far from ignorant of the details of raising livestock in conditions only kept from desertification by carefully-maintained irrigation systems, took rather more interest in swordplay, the maintenance and use of both blasters and slugthrowers, and piloting a spacecraft. It was at the age of 15, while living with her parents, that she changed her name to Isariah and began hormone-replacement therapy. At the age of 19, she went offworld to see the galaxy, taking her father's old ship and a few parting gifts from her mother, and taking up the profession of a semi-legitimate cargo-hauler to keep the credits coming in as she wandered.

The last four years have been a dangerous time for travelers in general - with both sides focused on the war, neither the Empire nor the fledgling Republic has been able to keep pirates from preying on the unwary and unlucky. In this situation, Isariah found that there was some money to be made ambushing some of the less well-armed pirates, doing to them what they had grown accustomed to doing with unlucky travelers. Her last such raid went south when the pirates brought in unexpected reinforcements. She managed to escape with her ship, but is now stranded on Taris while she tries to get enough money together to repair it.

 
Ship: The YU-410 Light Freighter Khorshid, presently inoperative in a Tarisian drydock. Modifications made well before it became Isariah's ship have linked the four double laser cannons to a targeting computer in the cockpit, using some extra sensor packages to give the pilot a good visual in any direction around the ship, allowing her to control the cannons on her own.
 
Affiliation: Independent cargo-hauler and small-time pirate-hunter
 
Rank: Captain of the Khorshid
 
Position: The sole crewmember of the Khorshid
 
Alignment: Largely concerned with money at this point, especially considering the repair costs for her ship.

Edited by Rache
  • Upvote 4

We will remember - Skies may fade and stars may wane; we won't forget


And your light shines bright - yes so much brighter shine on


We will remember - Until the skies will fall we won't forget


We will remember


We all shall follow doom

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That's okay, I've had to edit a few of my profiles into posts due to inactivity, as was the case for Kyra, Tashka, and R9. As long as M31 sees it one way or another, you should be okay.

 

This new PC you're proposing sounds like she'd have a few stories about space pirates, perhaps even the infamous Kybo Ren (hooray for random obscure inside joke most people here probably don't get!) She would probably get along well with Kyra.

Edited by Atton Rand
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