Starlight Gunfight

[Phyre]

As we all know, we need a new RPG. MasterChris has his hopefull, and but I don't think it'll work (no offense MC)

I have a basic idea of something, so let me know how this looks.


Set in the year 4068

Background
The human race did not only make space travel possible to the average human, he made staying in a motel on Pluto a short weekend trip, but that was back in the 3040's, in 4211 a Teickha ship broke through HomeLand Barrier (Our solar system's defense system) and landed on Earth, still the capital nation of human existance. The ship was not hostile, it brought a message of dispair. The Teichka system was being overrun by Vvlir strike ships. The human race did what it did best and ignored the Teichka plea, sending the lone ship back into unclaimed space. In 4205 human trade pilots started reporting strange happenings to their ships, they would encounter heavy turbulence and the engine power would cut completely, this would last several hours, then all would return to normal. Multiple other ships never returned to the ports from which they came, human leaders began to suspect the Vvlir army which they had ignored. In meer months, the Vvlir army sent multiple strike forces toward HomeLand, destroying the defense system and massacuring (sp?) the human race in days. Pleased with their success, the Vvlir left HomeLand for dead. However a small number of humans survived the attack, some 12,000. They lived for generations in bunkers and derelick buildings, waiting for a chance to escape.

Races
Human - Use laser based weaponry in space, bullet based on land. Need special breathing equipment on most planets, (including Earth since the massacre)
Fairly strong, fairly smart, contempt for Vvlir and feel guilty for the Techka.

Techka - Use missile based weaponry in space, laser based on land. Can breath in any environment, including underwater. Very smart, fairly weak, contempt for Vvlir, pity for humans and their weaknesses

Vvlir - Use laser, missile and pulse weaponry both in space and on land. Contempt for any other race, cannot breath in any environment but their own, need special apparatus. Immensly strong, immensly stupid and have a very strong mob mentality.

that's all I got, if you like the sound so far... I'm happy for people to help me fix it up and make it work (mainly people like Lefire, VO, AI, Wes)

[Artificial Idiot]

Well, first off that's not enough infomation to form a well rounded opinion, but I myself am not too hopeful for this. You need to think about scale here, who will players be able to control? The crew of a ship? People on Earth? How will you manage the amount of varried landscapes open to you?

Needs a lot of work...

[Hossinfeffa]

Sounds kinda like a version of Starcraft.

[Master Chris]

If I may;

Names:

Is it Teicka or Techka?

Vvlir? I wouldn't think putting two V's at the start of a word is a good idea. Is it pronounced; Ve,Ve,Lir or does one extend the 'Vvvvv' sound?

I recommend you include racial identity into their names. I can see how 'Techka' implies a technologically superior race (Tech) but Vvlir doesn't really resonate with their character. For example, the Kilrathi in Wing Commander are a vicious, warlike race, their name somewhat reflects that; It has both 'kil' (Kill) and 'rath' (Wrath) within it. Also note the harsh way it is pronounced. A race of aggressive, warrior aliens *should* have a name that, when spoken, embodies their 'essence'. I suggest using phonemes with harsh, abrupt sounds for your warrior race while your peaceful, technologically superior race should have phonemes that are soft, easy of the ears and imply a peaceful and passive racial identity.

Technology:

If the Vvlir are 'immensely stupid' why do they have superior technology to the other races. If they alone have Pulse weapons, then surely they are technologically more advanced than the other races? Do they use their brute force to force other races to build their weapons and ships for them?

What is a Pulse weapon? Electromagnetic Pulse?

What type of space travel are we working with here? You say that a weekend trip to Pluto is possible. Obviously it's not a Cryo-sleep based system. Is it just plain and simple faster-than-light travel (AKA Hyperluminal), a 'warp' based system or teleportation? Also, do all three races use the same method of space travel?

Time:

It appears you may have made a mistake in your timeline. You say that the Teicka/Techka ship made it's way to Earth in 4211 to inform Earth of the Vvlir and their invasion but 6 years earlier you say that human ships encounter strange phenomenon they suspect are related to Vvlir interference. Did humanity encounter the Vvlir previously to the Teicka/Techka contact or was the correlation between the phenomenon and the Vvlir made afterwards? Or was that just a careless error?

Society: How are the three races organised? ie. Is the decimated human population democratic lead by a dictator or anarchistic? Is humanity still divided into countries/factions/corporations? The Teicka/Techka, being an obviously enlightened species they would have a freely utopian society, no? The Vvlir, are they a tribal society, with a lot of in-fighting, or a overwhelming dictatorship of sorts, with a single alpha male or female (do they have genders?) ruling over the entire species? How did the Teicka/Techka communicate with humanity? Did they have translator software of some sort, or learn to speak 'human' (might be english but might be not. :D)? Do the Vvlir understand english or have a technological capacity to do so?

Characters:

Human only? I'd assume that being Vvlir isn't possible for PC's, with them being the obvious antagonist species. Can a player be Teicka/Techka? Do they have genders to choose from (Go on, have three genders! :D)? Will there be classes to choose from, like in Shadowrun (decker, street samurai, psychic etc. etc.)?

Anyway, this RPG has potential, just a lot of bugs to be ironed out.

[Nyerguds]

I recommend you include racial identity into their names. I can see how 'Techka' implies a technologically superior race (Tech) but Vvlir doesn't really resonate with their character. For example, the Kilrathi in Wing Commander are a vicious, warlike race, their name somewhat reflects that; It has both 'kil' (Kill) and 'rath' (Wrath) within it. Also note the harsh way it is pronounced. A race of aggressive, warrior aliens *should* have a name that, when spoken, embodies their 'essence'. I suggest using phonemes with harsh, abrupt sounds for your warrior race while your peaceful, technologically superior race should have phonemes that are soft, easy of the ears and imply a peaceful and passive racial identity.
That really makes me wonder... what does "Nigashar" sound like? :p
And "Jhin-guan"?

[Artificial Idiot]

[QUOTE=Nyerguds]That really makes me wonder... what does "Nigashar" sound like?QUOTE]

I'd say an asian ghetto, but somebody might beat me down for being racist :rolleyes:

If your serious about this, I'd listen to RD, he's got a gold mine of good suggestions there :D

[Nyerguds]

lol. I'd say "Jhinguan" sounds kinda asian (and that was somewhat on purpose too), but Nigashar... well, I dunno :p

[Phyre]

If I may;

Names:

Is it Teicka or Techka?

Vvlir? I wouldn't think putting two V's at the start of a word is a good idea. Is it pronounced; Ve,Ve,Lir or does one extend the 'Vvvvv' sound?

I recommend you include racial identity into their names. I can see how 'Techka' implies a technologically superior race (Tech) but Vvlir doesn't really resonate with their character. For example, the Kilrathi in Wing Commander are a vicious, warlike race, their name somewhat reflects that; It has both 'kil' (Kill) and 'rath' (Wrath) within it. Also note the harsh way it is pronounced. A race of aggressive, warrior aliens *should* have a name that, when spoken, embodies their 'essence'. I suggest using phonemes with harsh, abrupt sounds for your warrior race while your peaceful, technologically superior race should have phonemes that are soft, easy of the ears and imply a peaceful and passive racial identity.

Technology:

If the Vvlir are 'immensely stupid' why do they have superior technology to the other races. If they alone have Pulse weapons, then surely they are technologically more advanced than the other races? Do they use their brute force to force other races to build their weapons and ships for them?

What is a Pulse weapon? Electromagnetic Pulse?

What type of space travel are we working with here? You say that a weekend trip to Pluto is possible. Obviously it's not a Cryo-sleep based system. Is it just plain and simple faster-than-light travel (AKA Hyperluminal), a 'warp' based system or teleportation? Also, do all three races use the same method of space travel?

Time:

It appears you may have made a mistake in your timeline. You say that the Teicka/Techka ship made it's way to Earth in 4211 to inform Earth of the Vvlir and their invasion but 6 years earlier you say that human ships encounter strange phenomenon they suspect are related to Vvlir interference. Did humanity encounter the Vvlir previously to the Teicka/Techka contact or was the correlation between the phenomenon and the Vvlir made afterwards? Or was that just a careless error?

Society: How are the three races organised? ie. Is the decimated human population democratic lead by a dictator or anarchistic? Is humanity still divided into countries/factions/corporations? The Teicka/Techka, being an obviously enlightened species they would have a freely utopian society, no? The Vvlir, are they a tribal society, with a lot of in-fighting, or a overwhelming dictatorship of sorts, with a single alpha male or female (do they hawve genders?) ruling over the entire species? How did the Teicka/Techka communicate with humanity? Did they have translator software of some sort, or learn to speak 'human' (might be english but might be not. :D)? Do the Vvlir understand english or have a technological capacity to do so?

Characters:

Human only? I'd assume that being Vvlir isn't possible for PC's, with them being the obvious antagonist species. Can a player be Teicka/Techka? Do they have genders to choose from (Go on, have three genders! :D)? Will there be classes to choose from, like in Shadowrun (decker, street samurai, psychic etc. etc.)?

Anyway, this RPG has potential, just a lot of bugs to be ironed out.


1. Teckha
2. The vvvv sort of sounds like a swarm of bees coming, that's what the Vvlir do, they swarm
3. The Vvlir destroy civilisations and take what benefits them, the pulse weaponry would be from another race, long gone
4. Pulse - Includes EMP, but widens, it's like laser technology, but not focused through light, instead it directs extreme electrical current
5. Hyperluminal space travel, warping is in existance and is widely used by travel ships, but military ships tend not to use it as it completely drains shields and they must land to recharge.
6. Complete error, the Vvlir phenominon should be in 4305
7. The human civilisations are mainly democratic, with Earth, Pluto, Mars and Venus colonised there are many more 'socialisations' or areas of a specific rule, such as SoM0042, a socialisation on Mars.

The Teckha live in large tribes, at birth each singular is given a life job, they are then trained for it and fulfill it. Money does not exist, only a barter system.

The Vvlir live in huge swarms on any planet that will support them. They have one leader, always male. The female Vvlir are kept in prisons for breeding, the males are trained as warriors.

The Teckha have many systems of translation and are always able to speak and understand other languages, however the Vvlir never need to communicate with any other species, they just destroy.

8. Humans are male or female, playable
Teckha can be male, female or (translated) wise. The females generally become researchers or scientists of some form, the males handle practical work, such as military, farming and labouring. The wise are the elite, they are born into a social system where they have no need to work, they are brilliant philosiphers and carry the intelligence of none other. It is not unknown for Wish Teckha to wander off on adventures. Some say that the Wise have powers to control the mind, and even the bodies of others. (playable)

The Vvlir are also playable, but they can only communicate with other Vvlir, and will not be likely to be travelling alone, though sometimes a Vvlir will aquire a target that it has not killed, it may pursue this target with a small group of others... not often though!

Anyone wanna help me out ironing this thing?

[Artificial Idiot]

It needs more then ironing out, you still haven't focused on the level that the chars are on. You still seem to be mapping a story and not an rpg.

[Cedric Tandar]

Well it does seem to follow the classic Starcraft idea that many RPG space versions do. But the problem is that if you play 1 person in combat, how many can you play in space combat? 2,3 a whole battleship then?

[VO]

Well it does seem to follow the classic Starcraft idea that many RPG space versions do. But the problem is that if you play 1 person in combat, how many can you play in space combat? 2,3 a whole battleship then?

I concur to the starcraft part, certainly.

Humans = Terrans, Techka = Protoss, Vvlir = Zerg :P

I also agree to AI this seems too massive for an RPG - I don't want to control a soldier in a military squad, and there doesn't seem to be much else to do in a space war RPG against a faction who the good guys have nothing in common with - you can't even TALK to them :p

[tagbert]

What he said ^^

[Cedric Tandar]

i guess you could limit it to one or the other. Perhaps a sort of halo plotline with only the foes having inter plantary travel.

[Nyerguds]

I also agree to AI this seems too massive for an RPG - I don't want to control a soldier in a military squad, and there doesn't seem to be much else to do in a space war RPG against a faction who the good guys have nothing in common with - you can't even TALK to them :p
Aww... a Starship Troopers RPG would be fun though. You know... make a deep, detailed background for a char, maybe a romantic involvement with another char, and after five posts the lovers totally get shredded to pieces by bugs :p


:evil:

[Master Chris]

LOL

"At least I got to have *splutter* youuu......."

Dizzy went down for the count.

Starship Troopers was a pretty cool movie, although I hear the book, which was a parody of the Roman Empire, was much better.