Lush Wasteland: A Post-apocalyptic Cyberpunk World - Shut down

[Inumo]

Thank you, Tapewolf!

[Tezkat]

Name: Marcus "Sparky" Watson
Age: 15
Gender: Male

Prior Faction Affiliation: Pohd
Status with Above Faction: Considered missing corporate property
Reason for Joining/Assisting Factionless: Raised by them

Genetic Augmentations: Marcus is a living electrical battery, able to store electric charge in specialized hypodermal cells. His body can use this energy to synthesize simple carbohydrates, theoretically allowing him to survive indefinitely on electricity and water alone (though in practice he still requires regular intake of protein, vitamins, and minerals to stay healthy). The process also oxygenates his blood, reducing his overall oxygen footprint and allowing his muscles to operate longer at loads normally considered anaerobic. He has very little subcutaneous fat--his body prefers to store energy electrically, and the rubbery polymers surrounding his electrical cells provide superior insulation. (His muscles are also slightly stronger and denser than normal as a result.) Discharging large banks of cells simultaneously can generate enough voltage to fry unshielded electronics and stun (or even injure) a human.

His senses are more acute than normal humans. He has flexible, vaguely catlike ears sensitive to high frequency sounds. Extra retinal pigments enable him to see into ultraviolet spectra and detect polarized light. He has a furred, monkey-like tail. It's prehensile and strong enough to support his weight.

Cybernetic Augmentations: Organic nanocomputing implants interface with his sensory system, monitoring and recording vital signs and sensory feeds. He controls this mindnet system primarily through neural feedback and eye movements, and it outputs data by directly overlaying his sensory experience. It can run simple postprocessing operations in realtime, such as filtering or magnifying visual feeds. It piggybacks on his natural electrical network for external communications, modulating signals for high speed data transfer by touch.

Photoconductive nanopigments in his epidermis absorb shortwave light (mainly blue through ultraviolet) to recharge his electric cells in sunlight (artificial light usually doesn't generate much current) and protect deeper tissues from ionizing radiation. As he can feel currents across his body, they even provide limited omnidirectional "vision" in appropriate lighting conditions (which he perceives as a tactile sense rather than a visual one). He's only sensitive enough to distinguish movement or bright objects (although the recorded feed can render higher resolution imagery), and clothing will obviously create blind spots.

Equipment: He wears a sleeveless black bodysuit. It's truly skin tight, with an inner layer of conductive nanogels that provide good contact with his skin's electrical cells. Photoconductors covering the outer layers extend his photosensitivity into the full visible and near infrared spectra. They generate significantly more power in daylight and can even generate decent currents under artificial lighting. The hidden sublayer is highly reflective, increasing photon capture efficiency on the second pass and even offering some protection against small arms laser fire. (High powered lasers will still damage the suit and may even overload his electrical cells.) The underlying nanoweave structure is extremely durable and almost impenetrable, but it's not designed to protect against impacts.

The palms if his gloves and soles of his boots contain coiled nanowires able to concentrate electromagnetic fields and attract or repel ferromagnetic materials. The gloves also feature a miniaturized UV laser system. While not as powerful as military laser rifles, it could burn through most materials given time. Furthermore, it ionizes atmospheric oxygen, creating a highly conductive plasma channel that lets him use his electroshock attack at a distance. He controls the laser system through his internal mindnet via a type of smartgun interface.

His collar contains transceivers that enable his internal systems to access the wireless networks. Universal plug adapters allows wired connectivity to other computers. The interface appears as an audiovisual overlay HUD.

His goggles contain modified Factionless pulse detector technology that feeds electromagnetic field imagery directly into his mindnet. They actually work even when he's not wearing them directly over his eyes, although the system has to correct for a different field of view.

He rides a hoverboard decorated with a white tiger motif. He painted it himself.

Physical Description: Despite some youthful gangliness, he's quite lean and athletic. His eyes are electric blue. He has dark, scruffy hair and furry, catlike ears. His canine teeth are slightly more pronounced than a normal human. He has a long prehensile tail covered in short fur. The rest of his body is relatively hairless and human-looking, with a complexion that remains pale even with all the time spent outside (thanks to the nanotech implants, he doesn't tan).

Extra Background/Trivia: Marcus inherited the catboy genes from his mother. The rest were custom modifications by slightly eccentric researchers hoping to advance the cause of science and provide their son with the best genetic opportunities. His primary germline augmentations originally date back to a 22nd century project to modify terrestrial species for life in space. His parents rediscovered the technology while designing electrically powered crops and refined it. He's currently their only successful human prototype. They fled Rya with the newly formed Factionless group after their corporate masters demanded he be turned over for "research purposes".

He's very curious and energetic, finding it difficult to sit still for long. He does get a little sluggish and grumpy if it's been while since his last recharge--it brings him down to the one or two cups of coffee level. The Factionless have taken to calling him Sparky (for obvious reasons). He doesn't mind the nickname but resents the fact that a lot of them still treat him like a little kid.

[Ashen Star]

Name: Grrrl
Age: 9
Gender: Female

Prior Faction Affiliation: Podh genetic research team 'Uberwolf'... hey, don't ask me why those cliques name themselves the way they do...
Status with Above Faction: Abandoned genetic material
Reason for Joining/Assisting Factionless: Bored.  Hungry... Bored!  no... HUNGRY!  Meh... more bored but kinda hungry too.   yeah...

Genetic Augmentations?: Um... yeah.  Just above everything.  See I was built for Podh security forces as a kinda... um... intelligent guard dog.  So yeah, I'm not human.  Like, not at all.  So I have fangs and claws and am really strong as stuff... nothing major.  Just think of me as a six foot tall three hundred pound killing mach- I mean... fluffy friendly puppy?  I have blue fur!  Really!  Would a killing machine have blue fur?  Huh?  Huh?  Sigh... no body understands...
Cybernetic Enhancements?: Um... nope... not a one... none at all... really... no really... come on, I'm a lab specimen.  You realize how over the top that would be?  Next you'll think I'm a wolf cyberninja pirate.  But I'm not.  Sheesh...  ...  ...  yarrr...
Mutations?: The blue fur thing is evidently a mutation.  I was supposed to be all black or something but I guess some protein didn't tweak and... well... poof.  You get neon blue fur!

Physical Description: 6'2" 150kg bright blue wolf monster.  I wear rags... what?  You think I can go to the store and they'll give me some custom tailored nice clothes?  Pffft.

Extra Background/Trivia:  I love twentieth century music.  Don't understand it but... I'm a wolfy grrrl... in a wolfy world... I got blue fur... I just won't purr... you can brush my fur... undress me anywhirr...

[WhiteFox]

For those interested, I added a pair of sketches to Arial's character sheet. They don't show the tanks on her back, and they're not finalized designs (it needs more detail), but it gives a good impression of what she looks like in general.

Primary sources of inspiration are Major Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell, and the HUcaseal from Phantasy Star Online (Ep.2).

And now, back to your regularly scheduled RP.

[techmaster-glitch]

Ah, I think you mistook something, Bas--no one's in the garage. Cybee just autopiloted it back there, everyone else is using the door in the meeting grove to get to the shelters. An edit may be needed...

[Lisky]

ah, i was under the impression that you 2 were in the garage, my bad ...

[Saphroneth]

I think I have a character concept. One (main) question, though: Is it possible, for aesthetic reasons, for someone to have extremely low tech concept stuff that preforms the main functions of higher tech?
My character concept is a rabid traditionalist on many fronts, so I'm talking petrol and steam powered armour instead of electronics, steam piston powered "Reason" style minigun, no environment suit (He claims "Lenin will protect me." Terrifyingly, it works.).
The main power source is still high power radioisotopes, it's just that the aesthetics seem almost steampunk at times.

[Inumo]

Go ahead, Saph. There might be a minor loss of power due to it also having to power the various aesthetics, but it shouldn't be enough to cause any real difference in your combat capacities.

[Saphroneth]

Character removed due to sudden lack of vision. Sorry.

[Inumo]

WhiteFox, are we calling your character Arial still, or switching it over to Ariel? I seem to remember you mentioning it at one point... Also, Tezkat, are you gonna introduce Sparky at some point, or you gonna drop?

[WhiteFox]

Official spelling is Ariel.

My original spelling was "Arial," which I later realized was a misspelling of either "aerial" or "Ariel." I went with the latter.

Also, serendipitously, the most appropriate song I can find as theme music for Ariel is System of a Downs "Aerials." It's strangely appropriate, both for her and the post-apoc cyberpunk setting.

[WhiteFox]

Pardon the double post.

I've been occupied with an impending CCC deadline, assuming the responsibility of GMing the Deathtrap Dungeon RP, assisting people with character generation for a GURPS RP, learning Maptools for said GURPS game, and trying to get some work on my comic done.

As such... I've been woefully neglegent of posting here. My apologies.

Arial doesn't have any major contributions to the plan or the conversation this point, so feel free to continue.

[Inumo]

FYI to you who play; my schedule with marching band is starting to pick up, so I'm going to be on less and less to do GM posts. I won't die out completely, but it may be a bit more burst-y. I should become much more available after 10/23 or so, but that'll only be until around January, since winter line picks up then.

On a side note, are you waiting for me to answer something, or have the muses of the forum gone on strike?

[Meany]

I'm actually going to wait for Tezkat to post, so he doesn't get completely swept away.

[Ashen Star]

Sigh, I don't think this is going to work.  It's been weeks and no one has even acknowledged my character IC.  Just delete her.

[Lisky]

i know it's Darkshine's attitude that he considers any and everyone incompetent until proven otherwise... have her confront him directly if you want results ... and it's not just you, Ashen, it's everyone who needs to do this, if they want to be acknowledged

[WhiteFox]

Ashen, you could have told us something was bothering you.

Involving your character with the others is not so simple as having them jump in and declare "I want to be involved." There's roleplaying considerations for how characters respond to each other. The way your character entered rubbed Arial in the exactly wrong way, on more then one level.

That doesn't mean your character rubs me, as a player, the wrong way. Honestly, I was going to have Arial take her out back to put her down... but get to know her a little along the way, have a change of heart, and get sorta attached to her. That didn't happen, though, because Arial got caught up in other matters.

Bas had some good advice. Read over the situation, see who's doing what, think about who your character would approach, and go for it.

[techmaster-glitch]

OOC note:

   Unlike everyone else seems to have, Traxen does -not- have text message or other wireless communications built into his cybernetics. He was very specific about removing all such capability after his cybernetics were compromised by the One when he was trying to escape Aeth, so that nothing can get in his head without a hardline connection, and that he can fight off himself. This is also the reason he ditched all of his gamma-communication tech, so he couldn't be tracked.

   Unfortunately, I then tried to reconcile why he has no wireless in his head, but is okay with wireless controlling his bots(and a few other requirements). I had a few ideas, and Tez and Bas had a few others, but apparently, none properly fit the criteria and parameters without going into spooky physics, so I'm going to have to chat with you, Inumo

[Inumo]

Well, I'm going to proceed as though Ashen is still a player that is deciding on whether or not to join. As such, I won't stall until I'm about to close off entrants - this'll be when you go off on the op. In the meantime, I have a better explanation of #-sec systems:

Basically, the system works off of the theory that any system can be brute-forced or solved with algorithms. However, rather than try to stop the brute-forcing side, the designers of the system instead decided to stop the algorithm solution. This is done by placing each package of data that is sent amidst a sea of kill commands which cut the signal and possibly wipe the data off of the source's system. Whenever a system is made, it comes with a starter machine that also acts as a kill command-filter. The active security system is then placed as a proxy to the wired signals being sent out, while the receiver links up the filter to their machine so they can read the incoming data.

TL;DR version: #-sec is the obfuscation of data packages, replacing fake data with signal cutters. This is only available for wired systems for most factions so far.

[WhiteFox]

Since I've decided to drop out of the RP, I figured I might as well post Arial's full character sheet. See what you think.

Long story short? She's a 153 year old android, thinks like a human at computer speeds, is tough as a brick, can fly and teleport, and has a belt fed rocket launcher.

Arial Heurista Tech specs:

Apex Energy Core (Cold Fusion Micro-Powerplant)
-Requires regular supply of Deuterium.

Heuristal Cortex: Bionic Germanium Crystal Nanoprocessor
-Modeled after the human brain, the Cortex uses heruistic thinking rather then logical thinking. This puts Arial in a unique category of AI.
-3.5 pounds of solid nanocomputing... Arial is one smart little girl.

Advanced Information Processing suite:
-Arial was built for crunching numbers, whether cracking cyphers, analyzing military intelligence, or processing raw scientific data. She has dedicated hardware for such purposes.

Micro-Missile Personal Defense Weapon
-Arial's PDW consists of five launch tubes mounted in her left forearm, and a rail system through her arm that supplies ammunition from the external magazines mounted on her back. The five tubes can launch in salvos or in sequence, at a rate of 1 missile per second per tube.
-The tanks on her back are 120 round Helical drum magazine (9 inches in diameter, 30 inches in height). The PDW in her right arm was damaged in combat some time ago, so two of the ammunition canisters, as well as her forearm, were converted into storage compartments.
-That's two hundred and fourty shaped charges in under a minute of sustained fire.
-Belt fed rocket launcher.

Holztman Micro Warp Drive
-A short range space-fold teleportation system. The energy cost increases exponentially with distance.  Arial's minitureized HMWD can teleport her up to 5 feet with mild expenditure, while jumping 10 feet would fry her powergrid.

Zero-Feild Energy Drive:
-A reactionless omnivectored flight system. It theoretically has no ceiling and no top speed, as long as it has enough power going into it. Arials max speed is about 120 mph, which she can maintain for about a tenth of a second before her powergrid vaporizes. Speeds up to 60mph are comfortable, and the Drive is precise enough that she can float around or hover in place.

High Durability Construction
-Being able to process information so well, Arials body is built to survive hazardous conditions in order to gather it. That includes battlefield combat as well as contact with caustic or reactive materials used in experimental research. Her frame is built of high durability alloys, and her skin is three inches of armour grade molymer insulation made to shrug off everything from rads to thermal to UV to shrapnel.
-The molymers break down over time, and require regular upkeep.

Stealth Design:
-Given that her flight system is emissionless, her skin is three inches of insulation, her powerplant has no exhaust, and she's about four feet tall, Arial is damn near impossible to detect in battlefield situation.

[Inumo]

Hokay, so. Today is State semifinals for my marching band, and if we make it to finals, I won't make it home until probably around 1am, at which point I'll just want to sleep. So, I won't be able to get a post up today... >.<

By the way, Squirrel, where is Emily going to try and find the intel? Communications and Requisitions? The Network Hub? Where?

[SquirrelWizard]

requisitions

[Inumo]

Okay, it'll be longer than expected getting out all the intel Li handed Emily. My NaNo decided to be a pain in the butt and not flow smoothly. Would you prefer I give you what you know, then add more details as I make them, or just wait and get them all out at once so you can plan based on everything?

EDIT: Okay, I've managed to gather up enough time and motivation to get this done. Here's what's known:

The ten outer wall positions are manned in pairs. The Knights rotate every hour, each person offset by a half hour so there is always at least one guard on duty. Inner wall guards work solo, and rotate every hour as well. The ten positions are offset by six minutes each. Cameras are placed on the ceiling of the cavern, in the center of the two major open areas. They are on fixed mounts. Each Knight is armed with a high-rate-of-fire laser rifle and a low-rate-of-fire ballistics rifle. The laser rifles are known for being inaccurate at long range, while the ballistics rifles are inherently accurate and consistent, since a misplaced gravity-point would cause the barrel to collapse. They are also armored in plates of polished aluminum armor, with a sonic-plus energy shield powered by an energy cell placed on their backs, which is unshielded. The contact is a scientist by the name of Hubert, and works in the genetics lab where the carrot got reverse-engineered. The inner walls, outer walls, and fortress walls are made of the original compacted dirt coated in concrete, a common practice in Rian architecture. From the inner wall's gates, to get to the security room and vault you need to pass through five hallways and three hallways and a courtyard, respectively. Each hallway has an average of three rooms coming off of it. One of the hallways en route to either location connects to the barracks.

Any other intel you need?

[SquirrelWizard]

is there any sentry gun emplacements? vehicles of note? what is the area outside the base? Does it have alot of cover? What are the access points available? Is there any regularly schedueled delivery of goods to or from the facility? What is the nature of the contact? Can we expect any assistance from him, or is he just a intelligence supplier. Apart from the reverse engineering of carrots, is there any other projects being worked on that we know of? Do we know where the main meeting areas of the base are? Also, do we know how their communications/security systems are handled?

[Inumo]

is there any sentry gun emplacements?

Yes, there are two ballistics turrets on the inside wall, using a rotating set of barrels to allow for high rate-of-fire while still being as accurate as the ballistics rifles.

vehicles of note?

Data not available

what is the area outside the base? Does it have alot of cover?

Outside of outer walls, open cavern. Outside of inner walls, open cavern. Inside of inner walls, data not available

What are the access points available?

Into cavern outside outer walls, van-sized tunnel. Into cavern between inner/outer walls, gates placed in outer wall, outside access gate. Into inside of inner walls, gates placed in inner wall.

Is there any regularly schedueled delivery of goods to or from the facility?

Monthly caravan of five vans containing unknown cargo. Stay in system for approx. one hour before leaving.

What is the nature of the contact? Can we expect any assistance from him, or is he just a intelligence supplier.

Intelligence supplier only.

Apart from the reverse engineering of carrots, is there any other projects being worked on that we know of?

Genetic engineering of higher-yield algae for farming by serfs.

Do we know where the main meeting areas of the base are?

Central dining hall through two distinct major entrances, barracks as east wing.

Also, do we know how their communications/security systems are handled?

Data not available; assumed radio, theorized electrical version of telepathy.

[Inumo]

Hokay... So, last I heard, SquirrelWizard was waiting on Meany, Bas, and tech to respond to his message, Meany was waiting to give tech info that he was waiting on, and Bas was waiting for some kind of reaction from Meany/tech. Who the heck is going to make the first move here?

[Inumo]

So, it's probably a little absurd to posting on a dead RP thread just to say that the RP's shut down, but I felt like, if nothing else, some reflections could be made for future GMs.

What I've Learned:
1) Always have intel ready. Even if you're not sharing it immediately.
2) Never have the person running whatever organization you're using be uninvolved.
3) Don't cut yourself off from the ability to take GM action.
4) It's okay to bend the timeline for the sake of action, even if it means your players are theoretically standing around in an awkward silence for half an hour or more.
5) Always double-check character details, even if you think you know them.
6) Lay out important information in the OOC thread, not as an IC post note.

I think I'll be waiting before I make another RP thread, just so I can get some proper prep and mechanics in. In case anyone was actually thinking of joining.

[Meany]

I'll join up. Once you're ready.

[SquirrelWizard]

your introduction of the RP is kinda like your handshake to your players in it.

Think of the starting situation and what should be expected from the PCs, and NPCs. Then try to find a way to tie it together in either one area or multiple areas as you believes it suits them.

Using LW as an example. Since the first mission involved the infiltration of an enemy facility, that means we'd be starting off at the "briefing" stage of the mission; where the various group members are filled in on the specifics of what we'd be doing. In this case, you would want to try and place everybody in a central location prior to actually having the meeting. Since this is the begining of the RP, you can hold out for everybody to show up.

As for factions/npcs. The idea of a Factionless faction is laughable. The moment you gather up a group of people with a common purpose you have become a faction. In the future, it would be best to name the faction something. The reason being is that a random person can be factionless but not uphold the ideals of the Factionless faction. With npcs, you want to strike a balance between an npc being unique and moving the plot along. Due to this, most of your authority figures will treat their position, and work, with a degree of seriousness and organization. Even if you do have an "absent minded" character, typically they will have a second in command who is more grounded than they are.