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12:02, 29th March 2024 (GMT+0)

OOC.

Posted by Faction AdminFor group 0
Faction Admin
GM, 133 posts
Head of the game
Wed 22 Aug 2012
at 12:36
  • msg #131

Re: Brainstorming SciFi stuff

First of all, thanks for the major, spammy input! XD Lots of good points made (especially on spirit tech). Along those lines, lately, Chris and I have been watching Thundercats (the 2012 series) and Mighty Orbots, both of which display sci-fi that when you think about it, is silly (or sometimes, doesn't even require thought to realise "wha?"). Great example is the latest episode of Thundercats had a flashback to Mumra's earlier years.

////Spoiler Alert!////
Mumra implodes an entire Galaxy in order to create an evil, powerful sword. Initially, my thought was "how creepy, cool, and amazing is that?", but on my way to work, I realized "Wait... if you have the power to implode a galaxy, why waste energy doing that just for a sword that, while powerful, doesn't remotely match that kind of power?"
////Spoiler Alert!////

In both Thundercats AND Mighty Orbots, there is spirit tech. Granted, Thundercats makes it a bit magitech while Mighty Orbots just makes no bones about it being pure tech that tampers with spirits/souls.

Examples include:
 1) In Mighty Orbots, space pirate turning a character's soul into a titan to fight the Mighty Orbots and then empowering that same spirit-titan with an anti-matter engine.
 2) In Thundercats, the Book of Omens is a technological database that has holographic tech, tracking tech, and is infused with magic and spiritual properties.
 3) In Mighty Orbots, the Galacic Patrol (basically the space police) have a manual override system for their automated defenses that involves 5 officers doing an "Aura scan", which can be interperated various ways, but if in aura isn't related to the soul, it at least can be interperated as such.

So in summary on spirit tech, keeping it tame such as "well we can sort of detect there is a soul" and such SHOULD be OK. Heck, it could be the main "ethical" argument over such tech would be that some would claim it's solid proof the spiritual exists while others would roll their eyes about it, saying it's nothing more than electrical pulses at best and snake oil at worst. Kind of like how people feel about Hypnosis and Lie Detectors today. Which in itself could be fun and even allow the audience to believe what they want about such technology while only I know for sure whether it actually "sees" souls or not. :) Even then... I could keep myself guessing rather than say for sure whether the tech can do such a thing (though I've very much made up my mind the spiritual exists in Faction).

////Side thought////
While I don't believe in the Big Bang or Evolution, it still makes for very cool fiction material (sci-fi or otherwise). It has its own ominous and awesome implications. Faction, however, has always been from a creationist perspective and I intend to keep it that way. Maybe I'll introduce a deity who isn't Jehova/Jesus/etc, but may as well be in purpose (created the universe). But regardless of what I decide in the end, I will enjoy writing the stories to have thousands of religions, atheism, the whole nine yards. And as I pointed out, on matters like this, nothing says even *I* have to know for sure who God is or whatnot in the setting. Though deciding the universe's age is relatively important since that dictates things like "is this relic really 400,000 years old?"
////Side thought////

Good point about Star Wars vs Star Trek. Though the ships and hovercrafts certainly put the sci-fi into Star Wars, you're still very correct.

Joe Darkthorne:
I can hear Rick now, explaining why he can totally deflect a Death Star laser with his Lightsabre


Chris and I laughed. :) But sadly, it's true. People argue about Death Star vs Unicron. Meanwhile, Rick argued his Marty-Stu could solo Unicron. I'm not kidding.

I like the idea of teleportation being expensive, high-energy devices that make it only cost effective when you're talking "beaming up" people out of danger (aka the emergency use I mentioned with the ambulance). Or in the case of long-range, it might be the ONLY way to get from one galaxy to the next (though some serious ships could have space-folding tech on board that allow the ship to teleport without the need of a gate).

Joe Darkthorne:
Though 'Blissians do not use Gene mods' makes Zero Sense for the race that created sentient beings as a hobby.


True, at first glance, it makes zero sense, but I've always had it that way. It's part of "bone wings" Carla's backstory. Blissians frown on "experimenting on a living sentient person", which includes yourself. Once you create something that is clearly sentient, it becomes immoral to experiment on them too. Think of it like this: You create Johnny-5. But since he has gained sentience, it feels akward to do any modifications lest your tampering mess him up or change him forever. The part that doesn't make sense is "but if they can't experiment on living things, how did they learn to make sentient life?" Well that's where the "living" part comes in. If the creature in question isn't alive, it's fair game for disection and such. And you can learn a lot from living specimens without experimenting on them (such as pet-scans).

But all that aside, I've been considering the "makes races" thing as a kind of "that's not normal for them" thing, even in a high-scifi setting. Mostly because I didn't dive too much into it beyond Bud and Lumin, who were created by two specific blissians.

Joe Darkthorne:
However, from a Game standpoint planetary Banzors for Gene mods are just as bad as the Racial Flavor 'Fairy's take three month long naps every so often'.  Better hope it never, EVER comes up or oops that character is out of the game for the next RL year or so.


XD I keep *not* thinking from forum thread perspective and just thinking from story perspective. Thanks for the reminder. I *DO* want the Faction universe to be useable to gamers, both video-game style and roleplay style. So it's good you remind me that. So hmm... here:

The planets who don't use Genemod:
-Bliss
-Coal
-Fey
-Sharr.

The planets where Genemod is banned:
-Barrak
-Dachul
-Grenu.

The planets where Genemod is OK:
-Aqula
-Gamma
-Neplusultra
-Zarox
(Base 1)
-Pirace
-Tavern
-Tharia
-(Base 2)
-Base 3
-Greenery
-Mercury II
-Gog
-(Flood Planet)
-Lone Planet

The planets where Genemod is used a lot:
-Circus Planet
-Emporium
-(Desert Planet)

This list doesn't include the Nikto system's planets, but I'll deal with that another time.

Mittens:
Conversation on average height of races: /agree with idea of "short animals like mice should be short.  Tall animals should be tall."


What he said. I plan to have it that bats are probably going to be the smallest bipedals at 2'6" or something while Barrakians will be the tallest bipdeals at around 7' to 8' or so on average. Granted, I'll have exceptions to the rules, like Fey and Giants, but for purposes of anthros, you can expect dogs to be larger than cats, who are larger than mice. It might not be as extreme as here on Earth, but it will be noticeable.

On the topic of hybrids, the idea of them being sterile makes sense AND helps with things like "well what's to keep a species from breeding itself out of existence?" heh. Which gives me an idea... an alien race that needs to breed with other races in order to have kids and they can't have kids from their own kind. XD But mad science ideas aside...

Mittens:
Selective Ban on gene mods: could be a great way for preventing unwanted "Colossus or Juggernaught strong?" type players.  Think of the legit within-the-rules 25STR D&D 3.5 charsheet.  If you take a Barakian, add some cybernetic enhancements and gene mods, you'll end up with charsheets like that.


Irony: The real world is completely unfair and unbalanced in terms of roleplay or game mechanics. If one player plays a couch potatoe and another player places a military helecopter pilot, guess who's going to win? YET! Real life has produced something in modern history that puts *everyone* on equal footing. Take that same couch potatoe and make HIM the pilot while the military guy is not in his copter. Now who's going to win? Put a gun in the hand of an old lady and pit her against a young man who works out. If she shoots straight, guess who wins?

Chris and I LOVE this one quote from "The Incredibles" that the main villain said: "If everyone is special.. then no one will be."

SO! In regards to mods, cybernetics, etc... for purposes of gaming, all I need to do is set a bar "no higher than this" and people can play "equal to or weaker than this" if they want. But I still want to make some obvious advantages / disadvantages to playing a given race. If everyone is the same strength, Barrakians would have issues with that. As it is, their society demands they all compete with each other to be strong and/or enduring. So that's going to take a lot of thought to figure out how to avoid "oh hi! I'm an undead cyborg ninja barrakian" minmaxing without stripping races of their identity. I may love City of Heroes for "race is purely cosmetic", but that doesn't quite work in Faction. Especially when you get into things like the Grenu, who are quadrupeds. They simply CAN'T play cats in the cradle. It's physically impossible purely from their shape. Nevermind how much size factors into things. And since the races are going to vary in size a lot...

Mittens:
Teleporting bits of star into your ship's engine for power/propulsion.  Combining warp engines, warp gates, and various other ideas for FTL travel.  No need to be stuck on one idea for getting from point A to point B.


I like where this is going. It makes sense that, one way or another, seriously advanced civilizations would take advantage of the massive amounts of excess energy being jetisoned into space should be harnessed and used. Also consistent with the fact energy needs for things like FTL travel needs "more energy than powers a city for weeks" when the dandruff flakes that fall off a star every SECOND equals or exceeds such energy needs.

I like.

Anyways... thanks again for the feedback. All stuff to think on.
Mittens
player, 80 posts
Cat
Underground
Thu 23 Aug 2012
at 03:15
  • msg #132

Re: Brainstorming SciFi stuff

Holy cuppycake mushroom clicks, Batman!  Look who's talking with the page-long post!  XD  And why not haz lots of post-haz?  Faction is incredi-yay!  What makes it so yay?  For starters, it feels like Wall-E.  It's yuffie Sci-Fi while still being enjoyable for grown-ups.  It borrows yummie flavor from Sci-Fi giants such as Star Wars and Star Trek without feeling like a rip-off.  Earth is out of the picture, giving Faction an exotic feel.  It's not full of Independence Day, Aliens, Titan AE, etc type "We want to kill all Humans just 'cause" races.  The list goes on.

Specific points:  /agree blowing up galazy to make a zappy sword is "Wha?"  ...But still fun to watch.
Being vague about spiritual / mystical / divine stuff good.  But I recommend you nail down what is true and and real behind the scenes.
/agree with "making new races" = rare
On race: /agree with shelving game balance for a later time.  and /agree RL not fair.  LOTRO Elves < Tolkein's uber Elves in his books.  WoW Tauren < Warcraft III Tauren.  Uber races and characters in fiction are RARE / expensive to produce.  Translating that to a game where 1 player = 1 character means either gimping the PC version (Remember how much more powerful Yuffie was whenever NOT controlled by the player) like they did in LOTRO and WoW.  Or compensating by giving old ladys military helicopters.  Which would look silly in the Faction move... if there were scores of little old ladies with monster weapons running around.
Mittens
player, 82 posts
Cat
Underground
Fri 24 Aug 2012
at 02:56
  • msg #133

Re: Brainstorming SciFi stuff

Laws of Physics worth scrapping:
-Speed of Light constant.
-Time slowing when approaching Speed of Light.
-Mass increasing when approaching Speed of Light.
-Same laws of physics apply everywhere.
-Conservation of Matter & Energy
-No sound in space.
-Hurling big rocks or ships at planets at near-light speed should be impractical or bonking planets will be too easy.
Perhaps there's a unique material that breaks the Einsteinian laws.  Or reduces the inertia of things near it.  Need a hollow sphere field to explain normal stuff still working like heart still pumping blood while on non-inertia ship.
Faction Admin
GM, 143 posts
Head of the game
Sat 15 Dec 2012
at 05:09
  • msg #134

Re: Brainstorming SciFi stuff

Kevin added to cast. Now you don't have to post Nono/Mittens to post Kevin
Faction Admin
GM, 147 posts
Head of the game
Sun 17 Feb 2013
at 04:09
  • msg #135

Re: Brainstorming SciFi stuff

Just a kind of reminder to myself:

Map Screen: Satie's Gnossienne #1
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLFVGwGQcB0
Greece and Rome: A theme from the fourth movement of Brahms' Symphony No. 1
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7k_XX7oIFQ
Egypt: Tchaikovsky's Slavonic March
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxlytWahi7M
Near East: Satie's Gnossienne #3
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8356FxUT20
Mittens
player, 145 posts
Cat
Underground
Sat 24 Aug 2013
at 18:30
  • msg #136

Re: Brainstorming SciFi stuff

1st!

I mean....  1,000th post!  Rawr!
Mittens
player, 146 posts
Cat
Underground
Sat 24 Aug 2013
at 18:48
  • msg #137

Re: Brainstorming SciFi stuff

Faction Admin:
Why does folding space / warp / etc take time? The GM hasn't figured that out yet, so just play along for now. :p


Folding space.  Traveling without moving.  The illustration provided by Dr. Weir is 2 points on a piece of paper.  He folds the paper to bring the 2 points together.  So for folding space, you stay put, but it takes some time to fold the paper, "space."

Warp.  Stretching space around your ship so the speed of light is no longer an issue.  Imagine it like this.  You pull up your tube sock all the way up to your knee.  A spider wants to crawl from your knee to your heel.  So it engages the warp drive that scrunches the sock down.  He still has to crawl an inch or two to get to the heel, which takes time, but it's a muuuch shorter trip.

Hmm...  that's more like folding space.  Maybe a more accurate analogy would be a hex bug crawling on a table cloth.  Engaging warp drive is like lifting the cloth behind him so he starts sliding down much faster than he could ever crawl.
Kevin
Player, 65 posts
Sat 10 May 2014
at 07:04
  • msg #138

Re: Brainstorming SciFi stuff

Hakkof's turn. :)
Faction Admin
GM, 194 posts
Head of the game
Sat 9 Aug 2014
at 02:01
  • msg #139

Re: Brainstorming SciFi stuff

I'll be posting a "Video Game" thread. But for now, posting this here. Progress on racial mechanics, though keep in mind this is all early stages stuff. 10 is "average for the size category". So a Barrakian str: 10 is greater than a Bat str: 10. Believe me, this will actually make things easier for me to program since I will let the "size modifier" mechanic calculate values across the board.

NOTE 1: Hit points are only good for brawling. Pistols will do something like 20 damage. You get shot by a pistol, you go down. HP can be improved by personal force fields.

NOTE 2: The racial stats represent what you START with. In the end, all characters of all races can wind up with the same final results number-wise. It is simply a matter of what you have to work on and how long it will take.

/// Aqulan

Starting Areas: Aqula (Asho City)

Hit Points: 8 (Min: 6 Max: 12)

Strength: 10 (Min: 8 Max: 14)
Dexterity: 12 (Min: 10 Max: 16)
Intelligence: 14 (Min: 12 Max: 18)
Charisma: 12 (Min: 10 Max: 16)
Speed: 2 (Min: 1 Max: 4)

Special: Telepathy, Water Breathing


/// Barakian (Fou)

Starting Areas: Barak (? City)

Hit Points: 12 (Min: 10 Max: 18)

Strength: 12 (Min: 10 Max: 16)
Dexterity: 10 (Min: 8 Max: 14)
Intelligence: 10 (Min: 8 Max: 14)
Charisma: 10 (Min: 8 Max: 14)
Speed: 10 (Min: 8 Max: 14)

Special: Determined (attack for 6 seconds after unconscious), Flight (fly speed 10 with bursts of speed 20)


/// Barakian (Korshare)

Starting Areas: Barak (? City), Tharia (City)

Hit Points: 14 (Min: 12 Max: 20)

Strength: 16 (Min: 14 Max: 20)
Dexterity: 10 (Min: 8 Max: 14)
Intelligence: 10 (Min: 8 Max: 14)
Charisma: 8 (Min: 8 Max: 14)
Speed: 8 (Min: 6 Max: 12)

Special: Courageous (HP, Strength, Dex, and speed all increase the more dangerous the situation)


/// Bat

Starting Areas: Neplusultra (Aleneva City), Pirace (Cutlass City), Tavern (Tumlin City), Tharia (Crimson City)

Hit Points: 8 (Min: 6 Max: 12)

Strength: 10 (Min: 8 Max: 14)
Dexterity: 12 (Min: 10 Max: 16)
Intelligence: 10 (Min: 8 Max: 14)
Charisma: 10 (Min: 8 Max: 14)
Speed: 8 (Min: 6 Max: 12)

Special: Sonar, Flight (Can fly at a speed of 15)
Mittens
player, 149 posts
Cat
Underground
Tue 23 Sep 2014
at 19:14
  • msg #140

Re: Brainstorming SciFi stuff

hakkof's turn! :)
Faction Admin
GM, 205 posts
Head of the game
Sat 8 Nov 2014
at 00:40
  • msg #141

Re: Brainstorming SciFi stuff

Just some thoughts from earlier today:

Certain alien races have alien senses ("Did you smurf that?" "What's smurf?" "You know... to smurf things!" now insert "smell" instead of smurf. Imagine trying to describe the sense of smell to someone who never had it.)

Some races communicate with lights and/or sound (Was imagining a race with a "Simon Says" board on their chest that lights up with sounds and different colors in order to talk)

Butterfly / Insect wings! Butterflies actually flap their wings like Manta rays. Insects in general do not have muscles in their wings; all wing activity is controlled at the base of the wings.
Kevin
Player, 98 posts
Tue 4 Aug 2015
at 19:21
  • msg #142

Re: Brainstorming SciFi stuff

Bump!  Tim's turn.  :3
Kevin
Player, 100 posts
Fri 7 Aug 2015
at 18:11
  • msg #143

Re: Brainstorming SciFi stuff

Like, bump!
Mittens
player, 152 posts
Cat
Underground
Fri 11 Sep 2015
at 15:36
  • msg #144

Re: Brainstorming SciFi stuff

If I were to run a faction RP, what genre should I aim for?  Suspence/horror?  Action?  Comedy?  Drama?  Also, what characters should I be expecting to be involved?
Faction Admin
GM, 226 posts
Head of the game
Fri 11 Sep 2015
at 17:26
  • msg #145

Re: Brainstorming SciFi stuff

It has become clear to me that while I tend to run goofy light-hearted one-shots that wind up with my friends dying of laughter*, my preference on long-term and forum RP has always been drama, the catch-all genre. It allows action if you want it, but isn't focused around action. It allows comedy, but only to spice up or compliment the rest of the plot. It allows horror at key points, while not making that the whole point. And so on.

*Sorry, Will, you've only been part of my experiment stuff because online is such a different medium from live RP. I'll run something goofy for you some day if you like, though half my goofiness will be lost due to you not hearing me or seeing my expressions or physical movements. XD

As for character choices? I've got a bunch to choose from that aren't the canon cast and some that are the canon cast. I'll be narrowing these guys down later, but for now I need to tend to some things. K back from stuff. Narrowing down.

Aiu (Female Grenu oracle)
 Note: A grenu gifted with prophecy and basic telepathy
Billy Bard (Male Blissian singer)
 Note: I'd rather avoid lore clash/confusion
Drizzeleaf (Female Fae)
 Note: Played her already. Was fun, but probably best as an NPC or GMPC
Emerald (Female Tavernian Fox)
 Note: I'm playing Emmy in multiple places. Rather make room for other characters here.

Gavul (Male Deksharr Xenoanthropologist and Law Enforcement agent)
 Note: Knows him his alien cultures.
Gavul ruled out due to inability to make a pic of him that I'd want to use for prolonged RP. This may change as I continue to draw.
K'shasa (Female Korshare Barrakian interstellar travel agent)
 Note: Knows her way around the 'verse.
R'nar (Female Fou Barrakian heavy weapons merc)
 Note: Potentially overpowered
Star (Female Blue Fox hacker)
 Note: Juros is blue and a techie, so my "blue techie" quota is met.
T'shock (Female Fou Barrakian all-around merc)
 Note: I get my T'shock fill from D&D, actually

Y'naro (Male Blissian Trivia Expert)
 Note: Lorekeeper on Bliss, good at research, Y'naro would be fun to play as the guy who randomly knows facts in a given situation. Alternately (or maybe at the same time), I was considering playing him as a blissian martial artist.
Zul (Male Coalwren Majescent Master / Mineralogist)
 Note: Searching for his soul mate and the perfect fusion of body, mind and soul.
Zul was ruled out because he might not fit as well as the others into the setting Chris is thinking of going with.

Also if you or Joe want naming conventions for any of the Faction-only races, I posted such as a new thread. Enjoy.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:35, Sat 12 Sept 2015.
Mittens
GM, 154 posts
Cat
Underground
Sat 11 Jun 2016
at 07:15
  • msg #146

Re: Brainstorming SciFi stuff

me be thinking this guy for billy's voice:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wdx5nGphnAI

if not, check out these options:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV1h9cd-YZ4

or, if you want him to be 3' tall and all, might want to consider boy voices.  But they tend to sound like opera women.
Faction Admin
GM, 245 posts
Head of the game
Sat 11 Jun 2016
at 15:50
  • msg #147

Re: Brainstorming SciFi stuff

That first link is perfect! Thanks!

Here's what I found as a runner-up that, if you listen to both this link and the one you tossed, this guy actually has a similar voice. So we were on the same wavelength:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...xd6ja_Fi-mYRrjygflhL
Faction Admin
GM, 253 posts
Head of the game
Sun 26 Nov 2017
at 19:28
  • msg #148

Re: Brainstorming SciFi stuff

I wanna play some more Faction. Though I'm thinking about starting a different thread m'self. Be thinking what kinds of characters you wanna play.
Mittens
GM, 157 posts
Cat
Underground
Mon 27 Nov 2017
at 04:07
  • msg #149

Re: Brainstorming SciFi stuff

srry my thread lost steam.  not sure what it would take for it to be jump-started back up.

as for what char i play?  See: why raymond didn't work out in SW.  generally need 2 play something super happy.  leaning toward racoon 'cause of the nostalgia blast i got from ffxiv pet.  https://i.ytimg.com/vi/u1Ky0XSLgYo/maxresdefault.jpg  i had a stuffed toy that looked just like that when i was little.
Faction Admin
GM, 267 posts
Head of the game
Fri 23 Feb 2018
at 22:51
  • msg #150

Re: Brainstorming SciFi stuff

Reminder: It is Boko's turn
Mittens
NPC, 158 posts
Cat
Underground
Thu 15 Mar 2018
at 15:03
  • msg #151

Re: Brainstorming SciFi stuff

faction is glitching out for me.  other place, such as Tales of Thane: The Sapphire Rose display fine.  faction is mostly blank regardless of thread.  anyone else having this problem?

Edit: correction.  It's every page when using Firefox.  I.E. works.  Hate having to use I.E.  :(

Edit 2:  weird.  disabled ad blocker and restarted, problem solved.  re-enable ad blocker, rpol still displays fine, but yahoo mail has the problem now.  :/
This message was last edited by the player at 15:34, Thu 15 Mar 2018.
Faction Admin
GM, 269 posts
Head of the game
Thu 15 Mar 2018
at 16:09
  • msg #152

Re: Brainstorming SciFi stuff

I haven't had this problem... yet. >.>
Faction Admin
GM, 279 posts
Head of the game
Fri 1 Nov 2019
at 19:00
  • msg #153

Re: Brainstorming SciFi stuff

Would like to play some Faction again. Could either continue a thread or two, make a new one, both? What is everyone's preference?
Ensign Boko
GM, 24 posts
Sat 2 Nov 2019
at 03:01
  • msg #154

Re: Brainstorming SciFi stuff

Would also like to play Faction again.  If Australia Tim's up for continuing the Syncronizer thread, I'd like to see that mystery resolved.  If not, new story would be cool.  Especially one that focuses on your favorite Faction character: Angel.  ;)
Faction Admin
GM, 298 posts
Head of the game
Mon 18 Dec 2023
at 02:51
  • msg #155

Re: Brainstorming SciFi stuff

Anti-deletion post
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