OOC RPG Discussion Thread v2.0

Oooooooh. I like. Borg vs. GFFA....why did it take this long for anyone to get this far in making a game based on it?

Simple solution to the Federation getting the GFFA: In the campaign for Star Trek Armada II, the Federation had to capture a Borg Transwarp gate to chase the Borg into the Delta Quadrant...or was it Fluidic Space? I forget. The point is, the Borg have stationary Transwarp Gates that could be captured so the Federation can get to the GFFA, or perhaps even a GFFA ship can get to our Galaxy and plead their case to the Federation...

I think I'm gonna have to offer to take a Co-GM spot and dig myself nice and deep into the development of the plot...

 

Transwarp gate is fine in getting to a location, however the gate does not have time-travel capabilities. The GFFA is in the past. 24th Century GFFA would probably be a little too powerful for the Borg to take on so they would go into the past when the GFFA is inferior, yet superior (in some technologies) to everyone in the Milky Way.

Anyway the word/phrase I was looking for in last post isn't "vortex" but "temporal anomaly". A temporal gate would need to be constructed. Temporal anomalies can send an object into the past and to a different location from where the object originally entered the anomaly. The Borg are big experts on temporal anomalies so I don't see it beyond their capability to build a temporal gate or just the anomaly itself.

The Unimatrix Zero, the main transwarp gate terminal bus for the Borg, was destroyed by USS Voyager in the series finale "End Game". I've read a book set after Star Trek: Nemesis that states that the Borg have changed their MO due to losing Unimatrix Zero and at having the hive mind infected by a virus thanks to "future" Admiral Kathryn Janeway. They no longer just assimilate, they now annihilate threats in order to survive. When the Borg learn about some of the technologies in the GFFA via say... a probe of some sort sent to the Milky Way to check out the galaxy, the Borg decide they will go to another galaxy that has never heard of or seen their kind before and thus don't know how to adapt as easily, and assimilate this culture's technology and distinctiveness. Unfortunately the Borg find the modern GFFA is a little too powerful for them to attempt an assimilation so they decide to go into the past and assimilate the weaker GFFA.

The Federation learns of this plan from a couple drones who were de-assimilated after an engagement with the Borg. The Federation decides to send a few ships after these Borg Cubes that went to the GFFA galaxy to stop them from assimilating this new culture and its technology. The Starfleet ships make contact with the New Republic during an engagement between a single Borg Cube and the New Republic which the Federation helps them defeat. As the Federation and New Republic collaborate to defeat the rest of the Borg in the GFFA, elsewhere the Borg are busy assimilating words along the Hydian Way. In doing so they grow more powerful to the point that even the Federation is becoming hard pressed in defeating the "new" Borg.


Hmm... you know if we make it a temporal gate rather than just generating the anomaly itself, the Borg will be forced to rely on this gate. The gate would give the extra boost they need to travel the distances between galaxies and time whereas the anomaly is only powerful enough to send them elsewhere in their own galaxy. This would allow the Federation to trap the "new" Borg in the GFFA by destroying it and thus protect the Milky Way from this threat. Unfortunately they would also trap themselves unless they can reconstruct a temporal gate after the Borg are defeated.

 

An idea I had a long time ago but I'm posting it again in a slightly new form to see what people think.

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[b]Millions of Voices[/b]

[u]10,000 ABY[/u]

The final galactic war is over. A century previously, the Sith Empire completed construction of a fleet of superweapons, reminiscent of the legendary Death Star. The rest was inevitable. Once their enemies were finished, the Sith turned on each other, destroying worlds in their bloody struggle for power.

Eventually only one of the feared superweapons remained, controlled by the last surviving Sith Lord, who proclaimed himself ruler of the galaxy. His reign was short. A ragtag team of rebels banded together and destroyed the battlestation, killing the would-be Emperor.

But there is almost nothing left now. Entire sectors of the galaxy simply no longer exist. Coruscant, Corellia, Ryloth, Onderon, Bespin, Nar Shaddaa, Kashyyyk, Ithor...these are just a few of the worlds that have gone the way of Alderaan.

The fragile Restoration Alliance seeks to unify those worlds that remain, but they have some task ahead of them. Pirates swarm and scavenge over much of their territory. The state of more than 80% of the galaxy is unknown. Firstly, they need to discover exactly who has survived. Then comes the re-establishment of trade routes...the re-settlement of billions of refugees...the re-building of countless societies. Perhaps, one day, the return to a single galactic government.

Others are less optimistic, pointing to the Alliance's hugely overstretched resources. They call for an end to space travel altogether, claiming that the remaining worlds have no choice but to survive in isolation. The wounds inflicted by the last war may be too deep to heal.

The Sith are dead. The Jedi are dead. The Republic is dead.

Welcome to the end of the galaxy.

 

That sounds beautiful.

 

To the Star Trek/GFFA game idea i say interesting and ask that thee remember the hyperdrive pwns da warp drive.

Nerdy speek aside and moving on to winged jedi's game I say awesomeness! Care to give us anything else on the subject?

 

When will it happen?

 

Care to give us anything else on the subject?

There's a few things I have planned, but I don't really have much else to say at this point...

Basically the Restoration Alliance is doing their best to fulfil the goals stated in the intro. They have also placed heavy regulations on space travel, which they now have to enforce.

Because what's left of the galaxy's in a state of chaos, various factions and warlords are trying to seize what they can. The criminal underworld in particular is thriving.

There will be a lot of exploration, trying to discover which worlds are still around, and seeing who's survived. There might still be hope for the future, but that will be up to the players...the game will be quite sad in some ways. Not a gloomy or depressing atmosphere- but a rather regretful one.

When will it happen?

It won't happen for a little while (unless the RPF Rules are indeed changed to allow GMship of two SW games).

 

this sounds great, good job Wing. you can count on me to join

 

As always, your games sound spectacular. I love the way you design your games. This one has a dark feeling to it, as do many of your games, which is why I believe I like your games so much.

I don't really have much to say on the side of suggestions. But, exactly how will it be played out? It seems like it will be a sort of political game, discussing new trade routes, etc.

 

Well Winged, by your standards, that game is pretty average. Which is to say you've got another spectacular game idea on your hands. It's something that hasn't been done before (at least not here), and I really think it would work out very well. Now we only need to clone you enough times to run all these ideas...

 

Id play wingies game if we're allowed to play as pirates. I even have a wicked looking ship I could use

 

Playing a pirate would be pretty sweet.

 

Wing, glad to see, contrary to the claims when you first brought up Echoes, that you're not done with your expert GMing yet, even if you're only just holding out for the perfect Swan Song.

 

I wasn't sure whether to post in here or create a new thread, but I've got a game in the works and I figured I'd at least drop by. (In the end I opted on an independent thread, simply because this thread is already busy, whereas the Resource itself is mostly pretty sparse. Besides, it's more of a world idea than a specific game idea.) Anyways, you can come check it out if you're interested.

 

Okay, Im becoming tempted to run this game... but first i need to flesh it out a little more.


Im unsure what factions I should allow players to play.

On the Star Trek side: Should I let them play a Borg Drone ala Lacutis or pre-Scorpian Seven of Nine or should it be a former Borg Drone like post-Scorpian Seven of Nine?

What about Maquis (outlaws/rebels)? The only Maquis that have served on Federation starships are those who were stranded with the USS Voyager and were intergrated into the crew.

Dominion, Romulan and other non-Federation would definately be out and not part of the story.

On the Star Wars side: Should I let them play established characters?

Should I allow Dark Jedi/Sith?

Should I create a version of the Peace Brigade? They're purpose would be to deliever whole worlds to the Borg without a fight in exchange to protect their world(s) from assimilation? Any suggestions on renaming them? Ive always hated that name.

What about the Imperial Remnant?


And should I move this idea to the GDG?

 

Personally, I vote no PC-controlled Borg. It wouldn't fit the characteristics of the Borg to allow anyone to play a compelling Borg character unless they were maybe some virus-implanted drone like Hugh would've been if Picard hadn't seen the light. Also, de-Borged characters would be a little weird for that, especially if they would have valuable information for the Federation. I think that sort of stuff should be left in the GM's hands. GM should hold all the cards of that nature in my opinion.

As for Romulans, Maquis, Klingons, Cardassians, etc. I think it would be best to limit the involvement of their actual government. If you're focusing on a Borg invasion of the GFFA, it should primarily be about the Borg invading and the Federation trying to rescue them. Ideally, save Romulan, Cardassian, Klingon etc. involvement for a sequel crossover. Imagine, the temporal gate becomes unstable and opens itself spontaneously in the TOS time period, allowing TOS Klingons to come to the GFFA and it's up to Captain Kirk to stop a combined Klingon-Mandalorian force from conquering the Galaxy far, far away!

Established characters? Personally, I'd set this in an alternate timeline between LOTF and Legacy and kill off or GM-control every relevant established character. Once again, you want to keep that sort of sway in your control as GM.

 

I'm starting to kick around an idea for a Smuggler RP. All I have is that the players will be working for the Hutts. They'll each start with a set amount of cash and a ship. As they complete more jobs, they earn more money, allowing them to upgrade their ships, buy new ships, etc.

Anyone interested in helping me work up a game like this, shoot me a PM.

 

Jango, I'd be happy for you to template it off my old "Galactic Trader" RPG. It should be floating around on about page 3 of the SWRPF. I only make that rather egotistical suggestion because I did construct a type of "free trader" sort of galaxy, which might be adapted to a "fringe" RPG like this.

Mitth, on each question:

Im unsure what factions I should allow players to play.

Don't need to tell you this, I'm sure, but only as many as you feel comfortable handling. Thanks to age and RL commitments I'm leery of running "sandbox" RPGs anymore because of the complexity.

On the Star Trek side: Should I let them play a Borg Drone ala Lacutis or pre-Scorpian Seven of Nine or should it be a former Borg Drone like post-Scorpian Seven of Nine?

I'm with Seph on this one: no PC-controlled Borg, whether in the collective or out of it. Besides, what capacity is there for interaction between a Borg player and anyone else, other than talking to himself (or the Borg Collective, which amounts to the same thing) or saying "We are the Borg. Resistance is futile." to every non-Borg player he comes across?

What about Maquis (outlaws/rebels)? The only Maquis that have served on Federation starships are those who were stranded with the USS Voyager and were intergrated into the crew.

Overly complicated. The Maquis were, as I understand it, a provincial force concerned only for their region and nothing else. Most likely they wouldn't really give a damn about the GFFA (or the Federation, for that matter.)

Dominion, Romulan and other non-Federation would definately be out and not part of the story.

Unless you use them as GM races to provide complications for the Federation. But yeah, keep 'em out.

On the Star Wars side: Should I let them play established characters?

It depends on who is asking. If it's an experienced player who's going to treat the established character with the proper respect and maturity, then why not? It is AU, after all. It's only if you get a Darth Krayt/Darth Caedus "I pwnz teh Force" fanboy that you'll start running into problems.

Should I allow Dark Jedi/Sith?

Same as above. Within limits, yes.

Should I create a version of the Peace Brigade? They're purpose would be to deliever whole worlds to the Borg without a fight in exchange to protect their world(s) from assimilation? Any suggestions on renaming them? Ive always hated that name.

Not a bad thought, long as you're not overcomplicating things for yourself. Renaming: the Peace Party; Reconciliation Federation?

What about the Imperial Remnant?

Yup.

And should I move this idea to the GDG?

GDG would be interested, I think, but I've no thoughts one way or the other.

 

Thanks Saint, I'll take a look at it.

I'm also trying to think of a fair way to resolve this situation:

Your ship is being searched by Imperials. But you have added a number of upgrades to help conceal your storage compartments. Where would I draw the line between being discovered and being let go? I'm not familiar with the d20 system, would that be an answer?

 

Hopefully LightWarden will chime in on this, because he's your d20 guru, but in a broad sense the way the d20 system would resolve it would be as follows: your Imperial officers have a skill at searching which is rated as a modifier to the roll of a 20-sided dice (the d20). (Let's say +6 for argument's sake.) For example, if the officer throws a dice and it comes up 10, his actual score is 16 because he adds his modifier to it.

You then compare the adjusted score (16) against a number -- called the Difficulty Class, or DC -- to determine whether the officer succeeds at the search. The Difficulty Class is a bit more arbitrarily set, but in general terms the D&D difficulty classes are rated as follows, with an example for each:

Very easy (0) - Notice something large in plain sight
Easy (5) - Climb a knotted rope
Average (10) - Hear an approaching guard
Tough (15) - Rig a wagon wheel to fall off
Challenging (20) - Swim in stormy water
Formidable (25) - Pick an average lock
Heroic (30) - Leap across a 30-foot chasm
Nearly impossible (40) - Track a squad of orcs across hard ground after 24 hours of rainfall

And you can add modifiers as you see fit.

Here's how I'd do it, if I was resolving it at d20 rules and I had no specific guides to ship modifications: searching ships is ordinarily an easy task (DC 5). For each upgrade I'd raise the DC by 5, since the whole point of the upgrades is to better conceal your cargo.

Then I'd roll a d20 for an Imperial officer with a search modifer of about +6 or so. If he meets the DC number, they find the cargo. If not, they don't.

 

That's kind of what I figured. I just don't have a dice. If I were to make the RP like that, I would definitely need someone familiar with it to help out. Otherwise, I would just do it with convential text RPing.

 

No dice? No problem!

There's several dice rollers out there.

 

Now that's nifty.

 

this sounds great, good job Wing. you can count on me to join

Thanks for the enthusiasm, witchdoctor.

But, exactly how will it be played out? It seems like it will be a sort of political game, discussing new trade routes, etc.

Pretty much, Nem. There will be a major political element. But players are free to ignore that part and focus on the adventuring, discovering, exploring side of things.

Well Winged, by your standards, that game is pretty average. Which is to say you've got another spectacular game idea on your hands. It's something that hasn't been done before (at least not here), and I really think it would work out very well. Now we only need to clone you enough times to run all these ideas...

Thanks Hamm...though I should definitely try and finish my games off more neatly before thinking up new ones...

Id play wingies game if we're allowed to play as pirates. I even have a wicked looking ship I could use

I'm glad to say that pirates are a certainty, Mitth!

Wing, glad to see, contrary to the claims when you first brought up Echoes, that you're not done with your expert GMing yet, even if you're only just holding out for the perfect Swan Song.

Cheers, Sephy. Though Echo will still be my last game here. It just might be a long time in coming.

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[b]Jango[/b], I really like your Smuggler idea and am surprised that I haven't seen much like it before. That's really all I have to say on that. :) ;)

 

Wing, that game is epic...ARRRRGGGGGHHHH but we'll all have to wait before playing it...

 

Perhaps it is just that I am reading Heir to the Empire, but Wing's game makes me think of when the New Republic was recruiting planets. And, that excites me, all the more.