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ten_fwd_ooc2014-07-15 03:23 pm
ten_fwd_mods) wrote in ten_fwd_ooc2014-07-15 03:23 pm
Entry tags:
Game Plot! OOC Sign-ups and Information about our First Alien Planet
You have all been waiting patiently, and the day is finally here. As of this post, we are kicking off our first game-wide plot. Whatever happened to the mission the Enterprise was engaged in before Q intervened? Picard helpfully explains. In the interests of getting this mission back on track, you'll notice some things happening in the next few weeks.
>> Today, July 15: OOC Sign-ups happen right now, as of this post
>> Friday, July 18: IC Q returns engines to normal functions, the ship continues on its journey
>> Tuesday, July 22: OOC Sign-ups close, mods begin on character assignments
>> Thursday, July 24: OOC players are contacted with their assignments and further details
>> Friday, July 25: IC game plot begins with an arrivals post for Alemar III
Normal ship interactions will continue up until the 25th, including room assignments and med checks for all the new characters from the July application period. This plot will run for three in-game days, but be staggered in real time to allow for backtagging. It is entirely optional; if you do not wish to participate, simply keep your character on the Enterprise. If you do wish to participate, keep reading for more information.
Plot outline: Because of all the geothermal and electromagnetic activity, sensors and transporters are unreliable. Shuttles must be used to take people down to the planet's surface. The scientists in charge of the facilities are eager to show off their work to Starfleet and visitors alike. It's nothing more than a day journey, a simple and harmless jaunt down to an alien planet where characters can appreciate the views, admire the facility's technology, and return to the Enterprise knowing a little bit more about where they are in the universe. However, while on the planet a horrible earthquake strikes. Visitors are separated, passageways are cut off, elevators are rendered nonfunctional, and all communications are severed. People are trapped in the mines underneath the facilities, some in dire conditions, and that isn't all. Rumblings continue, and the cause of the earthquake is suddenly all too clear: a horrible alien lifeform, virtually undetectable to sensors, has amassed from what the scientists thought were harmless crystals. The crystals join to form looming, reptile-like monsters, which continue attacking the equipment and any hapless bystanders; what is worse, nothing seems to faze them. They feed on the blasts from energy weapons, which just makes them stronger, and whenever you physically knock them apart they only rejoin later in another horrible shape. The situation looks bleak. The only hope is repairing communications, getting the elevators and exits back on-line, and fleeing back to the ship. But that still leaves questions: Who are these Crystalloid lifeforms? Why are they attacking? Is all hope lost for reclaiming Alemar III, or have they unearthed clues during their work there that can help explain what is happening now, and how to prevent it from happening again?
Players will be split into teams and given an objective. The number of characters on each team will depend on the total number of participants, and teams will be chosen by the mods. There will be three stages of the plot to signify the three in-game days passing. Stage one is when the first away team arrives on the planet and the main events of the plot unfold; stage two is when the second away team is sent to help and/or rescue the first team; stage three is the resolution of the plot, wrapping up all loose ends, and bringing both teams back to the Enterprise.
Now, this is the fun part. We've arranged it so the plot is split up to suit various character archetypes, so whether you play a hero type or a shy type there should be something that appeals to your character. Following is a list of sub-plots you can get your character involved in that all contribute to the main plot:
These are just six possibilities the mods have come up with, but if you have other ideas that you would like to contribute to the overall plot, we would be happy to incorporate them. Once all subplots have been played through, all teams and characters will reunite at the end of the game plot to return to the Enterprise.
This plot is team and cooperation-heavy to get characters interacting with each other and building bonds they'll carry with them back to the ship. Mod/NPC involvement will be low, to allow all characters on a team to pool their resources and come up with the best plan of action based on the setting and objective they'll be assigned. So we encourage people to get creative and let their characters shine! Pick the top three subplots you are interested in and tell us what kind of role you want your character to fill: fighter, medic, engineer, hero/rescuer, historian, victim/wounded, or other. We will assign teams of a manageable number (ideally about 4 on a team), and split those teams up among all the subplots. Note: The reason we ask for your top three choices is that, depending on interest, you may not get assigned your first choice (for instance, if 15 people sign up to fight but only 2 sign up to go in and rescue them, we'll need to borrow from the larger group to make sure the small group have enough players). If no one signs up for a particular subplot, we'll either drop that plot or arrange NPCs for other characters to bounce off of.
To ask questions, suggest additional plot points, and sign up, comment under the relevant heading below. Sign-ups will close in one week (Tuesday, July 22nd US EST [GMT-4]). The mods will then assign all teams and make a follow-up post listing who is on each team and where they are assigned. Team objectives will be e-mailed to you so you can start plotting together. This will all happen no later than Thursday, July 24th US EST (GMT-4). Plot kickoff will then commence on Friday, July 25th US EST (GMT-4) with an arrivals post on the planet.
QUESTIONS
SUGGESTIONS/PLOTTING THREAD
SIGN-UPS
>> Today, July 15: OOC Sign-ups happen right now, as of this post
>> Friday, July 18: IC Q returns engines to normal functions, the ship continues on its journey
>> Tuesday, July 22: OOC Sign-ups close, mods begin on character assignments
>> Thursday, July 24: OOC players are contacted with their assignments and further details
>> Friday, July 25: IC game plot begins with an arrivals post for Alemar III
Normal ship interactions will continue up until the 25th, including room assignments and med checks for all the new characters from the July application period. This plot will run for three in-game days, but be staggered in real time to allow for backtagging. It is entirely optional; if you do not wish to participate, simply keep your character on the Enterprise. If you do wish to participate, keep reading for more information.
From space, Alemar III looks peaceful, maybe even dull—the blue of its vast oceans, the predominantly grey and white of its supercontinent—but it’s highly geologically active, as its continent continues its slow breakup into separate landmasses. Volcanic eruptions in some areas are still common, though not as massive as the one that killed off the Almarian population on the planet so many years ago.
The main scientific outpost is located in a mountain range along the interior of the continent, where there aren’t many animals, and not much in the way of vegetation either besides lichen and a few stunted trees. It’s so far inland that there’s little precipitation, but the mountains hold plenty of geothermal energy, which is necessary to sustain life in the absence of farming. A scar crosses the upland plateau near the mountains, likely left by the arrival of the original Almarian settlers’ ship, but it’s been softened by time and the covering of ash.
Plot outline: Because of all the geothermal and electromagnetic activity, sensors and transporters are unreliable. Shuttles must be used to take people down to the planet's surface. The scientists in charge of the facilities are eager to show off their work to Starfleet and visitors alike. It's nothing more than a day journey, a simple and harmless jaunt down to an alien planet where characters can appreciate the views, admire the facility's technology, and return to the Enterprise knowing a little bit more about where they are in the universe. However, while on the planet a horrible earthquake strikes. Visitors are separated, passageways are cut off, elevators are rendered nonfunctional, and all communications are severed. People are trapped in the mines underneath the facilities, some in dire conditions, and that isn't all. Rumblings continue, and the cause of the earthquake is suddenly all too clear: a horrible alien lifeform, virtually undetectable to sensors, has amassed from what the scientists thought were harmless crystals. The crystals join to form looming, reptile-like monsters, which continue attacking the equipment and any hapless bystanders; what is worse, nothing seems to faze them. They feed on the blasts from energy weapons, which just makes them stronger, and whenever you physically knock them apart they only rejoin later in another horrible shape. The situation looks bleak. The only hope is repairing communications, getting the elevators and exits back on-line, and fleeing back to the ship. But that still leaves questions: Who are these Crystalloid lifeforms? Why are they attacking? Is all hope lost for reclaiming Alemar III, or have they unearthed clues during their work there that can help explain what is happening now, and how to prevent it from happening again?
Players will be split into teams and given an objective. The number of characters on each team will depend on the total number of participants, and teams will be chosen by the mods. There will be three stages of the plot to signify the three in-game days passing. Stage one is when the first away team arrives on the planet and the main events of the plot unfold; stage two is when the second away team is sent to help and/or rescue the first team; stage three is the resolution of the plot, wrapping up all loose ends, and bringing both teams back to the Enterprise.
Now, this is the fun part. We've arranged it so the plot is split up to suit various character archetypes, so whether you play a hero type or a shy type there should be something that appeals to your character. Following is a list of sub-plots you can get your character involved in that all contribute to the main plot:
>> Arrival/Tour the facilities: This kicks off Day One/Stage One of our plot, and is ideal for characters who want to see an alien planet but don't necessarily want to get into any trouble. Characters will be shuttled down to the outpost where the lead scientist in charge will give them a tour of the facilities. The planet can be seen through observation windows, the tech used to do the drilling and excavating can be poked at, and the history of the planet can be explored more fully from the safety of a library of artifacts. Ideal for easy CR and gentle geeking out. From here your characters can stay for the rest of the plot, or return to the Enterprise before the madness begins.
>> Cave-ins: It's the classic Star Trek plot device - suddenly, earthquake! Rocks fall, tech goes down, and you're trapped, separated from the exits and the rest of the team. This will begin during Day One/Stage One of the plot, and span all three in-game days. No one gets trapped alone, so there will be people to help. Perhaps some get wounded and need a doctor, or perhaps you have to dig your way to an exit before oxygen runs out. This is ideal for problem-solvers, healers, and characters with muns who like to torture them. The objective with getting trapped is working together as a team to find your way out and keep each other alive.
>> Systems are down: That earthquake didn't just cause some cave-ins, it caused damage to the outpost. The elevators have stopped working. Communications are down. Equipment has been damaged, and pipes have burst. There may even be trouble with the life support systems. This will begin during Day One/Stage One of the plot, and span all three in-game days. It's ideal for problem-solvers, engineers, and hero types. Once again characters will need to work together to repair systems, be it getting the elevators back on-line or opening an emergency shaft so they can get to their trapped friends, or tinkering with comms and environmentals to be sure everyone survives until help arrives. The objective will be pooling your resources to fix the damage.
>> Fighting the Big Bad: There will be opportunities to get a piece of the action on all three in-game days of the plot, as this particular brand of monster has the uncanny ability of reassembling itself after it's been knocked to pieces. Ideal for hero and all fighter types, the Crystalline lifeform will be appearing in a different form each day that will threaten further destruction and harm to the characters. On Days One and Two, it will be your objective to work as a team to destroy it, though it is remarkably resilient. Nothing seems to do the trick, though it can be scared off for a while. On Day Three, your objective will be to hold it back until the truth is revealed and peace can be made. All fighting will happen belowground in the mines, leaving the aboveground facilities intact.
>> Rescue Mission: This will begin during Day Two/Stage Two of the plot, and is ideal for any hero types. While everyone who shuttled down to the facility on Day One is now trapped or wounded, a rescue team from the Enterprise will be sent in to assist. The main entrance is down, so you'll have to find another way inside. Characters will encounter already assigned teams from Day One in either the belowground facilities or the aboveground ones, bringing supplies, providing aid or healing, or simply getting into new obstacles with the group. The objective will be restoring communications and reuniting with the rest of the group.
>> Discovering the Truth: Once all characters are in play, the truth about the strange alien lifeform and the mystery surrounding Alemar III must come out. Luckily for you, archeologists have already been compiling artifacts which provide clues as to the planet's history. This will span all three in-game days of the plot, and is ideal for historians, social scientists, or pretty much any of our cast of geeks. Characters will be split into teams, where the objective will be to put all pieces of the puzzle together and help with the peace efforts. It's low physical action, which makes it great for characters who don't want to get their hands dirty.
These are just six possibilities the mods have come up with, but if you have other ideas that you would like to contribute to the overall plot, we would be happy to incorporate them. Once all subplots have been played through, all teams and characters will reunite at the end of the game plot to return to the Enterprise.
This plot is team and cooperation-heavy to get characters interacting with each other and building bonds they'll carry with them back to the ship. Mod/NPC involvement will be low, to allow all characters on a team to pool their resources and come up with the best plan of action based on the setting and objective they'll be assigned. So we encourage people to get creative and let their characters shine! Pick the top three subplots you are interested in and tell us what kind of role you want your character to fill: fighter, medic, engineer, hero/rescuer, historian, victim/wounded, or other. We will assign teams of a manageable number (ideally about 4 on a team), and split those teams up among all the subplots. Note: The reason we ask for your top three choices is that, depending on interest, you may not get assigned your first choice (for instance, if 15 people sign up to fight but only 2 sign up to go in and rescue them, we'll need to borrow from the larger group to make sure the small group have enough players). If no one signs up for a particular subplot, we'll either drop that plot or arrange NPCs for other characters to bounce off of.
To ask questions, suggest additional plot points, and sign up, comment under the relevant heading below. Sign-ups will close in one week (Tuesday, July 22nd US EST [GMT-4]). The mods will then assign all teams and make a follow-up post listing who is on each team and where they are assigned. Team objectives will be e-mailed to you so you can start plotting together. This will all happen no later than Thursday, July 24th US EST (GMT-4). Plot kickoff will then commence on Friday, July 25th US EST (GMT-4) with an arrivals post on the planet.
QUESTIONS
SUGGESTIONS/PLOTTING THREAD
SIGN-UPS
QUESTIONS
Re: QUESTIONS
Quick question! Dylan has implanted the Andromeda crew with sub-dermal communications implants (because the High Guard stalks its crews) which work underground and don't seem to need any external systems to work as they can be used on a prison planet way the hell away from their ship.
Is this going to cause an issue with the plot? Because without doing serious handwaving that doesn't fit with what we're shown in their canon, they'll be able to talk to each other.
Some of the crew also have trackers, but we can probably handwave just to say that nothing is configured to pick the signal up.
Just checking in to make sure our 52nd century tech doesn't mess with things too much!
:) Captain Hunt and JK
Gabby here, never mind the character journal!
Excellent question, and just as a general note: the environment of Alemar III is going to contribute heavily to why communications go down. Basically, the atmosphere is chock full of nasty highly-charged particles that get in the way of sensor arrays and comm links (like the kind of interference that prevents a radio station from coming through clearly). The outpost has a dampening system in place, as well as back up communications, which make it possible to establish communications at all. But once those go down, and they will, the atmosphere's electromagnetic pollution is going to interfere with any clear connection. That's why things such as Starfleet combadges won't be able to work. If the sub-dermal implants the Andromeda crew use utilize any kind of wave technology to establish a connection to each other, they very well may be rendered useless or, at the least, unreliable.
If it's more of a telepathic link or other such connection to each other, then I see no immediate issue with the link staying intact. It will depend mostly on who among the Andromeda crew sign up to participate, and who remain on the Enterprise. The rescue team from the Enterprise won't be shuttling down until Day 2, after loosing communication with the away team. If someone is on-board who can tell them something has gone horribly wrong sooner than that, the plot may be over much quicker than planned! But if, say, Dylan is trapped in the foyer and Trance is trapped underground, and they can pass messages along to each other, that wouldn't be a problem.
OOC, the reason comms go down is to prevent the Enterprise from immediately knowing what's happened, and to facilitate our small teams having to work together to find the solution to their unique issue. Teams should work together, rather than seek a solution from someone on a different team. Other than that, talking to one another if the possibility exists shouldn't be too much of a hurdle for any plot to overcome. :)
Re: Gabby here, never mind the character journal!
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Re: Gabby here, never mind the character journal!
But personally I'd be happy to suggest that they are interfered with (maybe enough to talk a bit like a cell phone with lousy reception) and definitely happy to say that it doesn't let anyone talk to anyone back on the ship. But maybe some sort of "hey Harper *cracklecracklefzztpop*" enough to prove to each other they're alive might be possible.
(Dylan is going to hate this planet for making his implant squeal at him.)
I'll point my crew in a this-post-wards direction and we'll confer. :)
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Admittedly apparition I've partially nerfed myself in that he'll only be capable of heading to places he's already been, but well.. for sake of plot well, one could distract the man from thinking about abandoning everyone just to give people heads up on what's happened.
Especially given that Sinthia's signed up to be possible victimI doubt the man would abandon any children, regardless.same Sage, different journal.
In the case of healing by magic, Gold would have to be very careful he didn't lose control and cause more damage to the person than good. Small heals like relieving pain should be fine, but if he'll be setting bones or trying to knit wounds, it's going to be as unwieldy as moving rocks without causing more cave-ins. We're also inclined to say that apparition won't work, since this will be about pooling what resources the team collectively has when disaster strikes.
Does that work as an explanation for you? We welcome you to play with things and explore Gold's frustration when he realizes his magic isn't working quite right. A little magic shouldn't hurt anyone, but remember it always comes with a price. :)
Re: same Sage, different journal.
fortunatelybe cautious in applying his magic to begin with, because he does know thankfully somewhat from experience that magic does tend to operate differently on different worlds.But not being capable of doing what he knows he's fully capable of back home or on the ship will be extremely frustrating,
especially if someone he cares about is hurt and he can't just magic the injury away for them as he normally could.It should be a lot of fun to explore. He'll no doubt try to knit the wound at least once, but he'll cease the attempt once he realizes that's doing so is doing more harm than it is good.no subject
Re: QUESTIONS
Sage here!
Re: Sage here!
Re: Sage here!
Does that answer your question?
Re: Sage here!
Thank you.
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Re: QUESTIONS
Food: How will they come by it?
Since many of the characters from the Enterprise will be trapped in confined spaces, the simple answer is: it's up to each team to decide whether their characters have access to food.
The facilities on Alemar III will have food, obviously since the scientists and engineers who live and work there will need to eat. When characters enter the lobby (their first stop on the tour), there will be a welcome tray: simple alien fruits, nuts, breads, and sweet baked goods. This will be the only time food is referenced throughout the duration of the plot. Any character is welcome to pick up a snack from this table that they can immediately eat or save for later. Only pick up what you can carry comfortably, so we'll say three items max. After that, it's up to your character to be creative.
Any team can make foraging one of their side plot activities if they so choose. No team is going to be stuck in an area with a magic fridge stocked with all the comforts of home, but small non-perishables may be found in areas where the scientists and miners live and work. Divided among your team, whatever food you find should only amount to enough to keep you going, not to fill your belly.
Since only 3 days will pass in game time, characters who don't eat shouldn't suffer any lasting or permanent damage. They'll be hungry, cranky, weak, but a vitamin shot from the sickbay team and a solid meal once they're safe should solve any ill effects. If a character has a medical condition where regular intakes of food are vital, such as diabetes, that welcome table may be their only guaranteed access to food, so take advantage of it.
Re: Food: How will they come by it?
Clay doesn't have magic anything, I just want to know for setting, so that I can RP it correctly during the plot.
Re: Food: How will they come by it?
Re: QUESTIONS
Re: QUESTIONS
We're not saying everyone has to Jack Bauer it up (seriously, how does he go full seasons never ducking into a bathroom?), but depending on where you're stuck you may have to get more creative than others. Those trapped in main areas may have access to some facilities, certainly if they can break into the quarters nearby. Those stuck in cave-ins will have to pick a tunnel and, well, let nature take its course the old-fashioned way.
The mods are fully expecting the wrath of one pregnant Klingon woman when all is said and done, at the very least. But how easy or difficult you make things on your character is totally up to you. :)