Hole (5th Element, Guardians of the Galaxy game - LGBT encouraged) - Closed

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The universe is a strange place, and it’s only getting stranger. One hundred billion galaxies, linked by warpslip gates and memospore ansibles, make up Known Space, the heart of intergalactic civilization. Until just ten years ago, all the Known Universe was the dominion of the Remanadan Empire, a coalition of different planets and species united as protectorates of the Emperor. While the Remanadan conquest made many enemies who resented their new overlords, the empire maintained a fragile stability that withstood the test of years.

Species from disparate star systems and galaxies stood together as friends and lovers. Cooperation between scientists of different planets drove the advance of technology forward, and the cosmic melting pot of cultures gave rise to some of the greatest artists, musicians, and actors the universe has ever known. Sure, it was an absolute sham of government operated solely in the interests of mega-corporations and others wealthy enough to make their interests known, but it also had good parts!

And then, the Remanadan Empire was overthrown, the consequence of an incident involving a planet destroying superweapon mishap, a sinister mega-corporate conspiracy, and fatal coitus with an energy being. The violence of the coup was short-lived, settling into a cold war of mutual distrust between countless foes vying to fill the power vacuum left by the Empire. The impact of the empire’s downfall goes beyond the political. Remanadan law and culture shaped the way of life for people throughout the Known Universe, regulating their customs through imperial courts and broadcasting their ideology through intergalactic holo-entertainment networks and the web.

Now, each planet enters its own era of upheaval, transformation, or crisis. Whether it is new generations questioning the ways of their elders, planetary leaders making bids to consolidate system-wide power, or formerly oppressed planets seeking to rebuild a peaceful society.

And then there is Hole.  Hole was never considered valuable enough to be a part of the Remanadan Empire.  Sha’ewaan, Omega Sector, Graven Stars, Alikar’s Sphincter…just some of the infinite number of colorful names given to the ass end of the galaxy commonly revered to as Hole.  At some point in the deep dark past Hole was home to any number of rich space faring cultures.  The bones of those peoples litter the sector in the burnt husks of eons old mass coronal ejections and cannibalized alien space junk that litters the sector.

Any civilization with any sense left long ago via spacecraft or ascended into energy forms and bugged the hell out of this backwaters junkyard.  There might be a gem of a world here and there.  Most are just the lucky ones that are too primitive to be discovered, others are pleasure planets controlled by space pirate warlords or some alliance of do-gooders that think the sector is something other than the cesspool of rejects and assholes that it really is.  Lastly are those ultra-powerful, but highly insular aliens that hole up and shoot down anyone that comes near them. Other than that the worlds of Grave are unwanted dying husks stripped of resources, verdant death worlds full of mega flora and fauna, Pirate Worlds, Red Light Planets and various hives of scum and villainy.

The people of the Hole are little different than the planets.  Pirates lords, decadent nobles, militant isolationists and exiles make up a large portion of the space farers.  A few planets band together from time to time with the idea of bringing peace to the beleaguered sector or grinding in under their amorphous pseudopods. Eventually these too fall among the corpses of past empires and the sector spins on clinging to the galactic finger like a booger refusing to be flicked.

The premise is a hodgepodge group of semi-heroes just trying to get ahead in the ass-end of the Galaxy.  We will be using the Daring Comics RPG which is a mashup of FATE and Mutants and Masterminds.

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Example Planets

Meren Prime

A nexus of intergalactic commerce, Meren Prime is a trader’s haven where any yearning can be fulfilled in one of the sprawling pleasure facilities. Nearby, the universe’s largest bazaar is the site of trades in precious metals, mined hydrogen, alien pets, black market technology, spaceships, and more. Without the empire’s protection, the mercantile organizations whose commerce passes through Meren Prime have begun paying protection money to space pirates. 

Utrissa

The noble families of Utrissa are ardent xeno-eugenicists, seeking their mates from among those alien visitors who look like they have interesting new genes to contribute to the family line. The great families are embroiled in millennia-old intrigues and vendettas.

Thera

Thera is a small planet, notable for its unique geomagnetic psychogenic field, a phenomenon known to induce telepathic body-swaps, communal hallucinations, and out-of-control thought-broadcasts. The planet’s natives, raised within the psychogenic field, have exhibit a highly advanced psychic development, making them highly desired in a vast number of positions.

Hegara

Hegara is deemed an undeveloped and uncivilized world by the rest of the Known Universe. While it is true that its indigenous people had not developed interplanetary, quantum computing, or other common technologies at the time the Remanadan Empire colonized them, Hegaran culture has rapidly adapted to the introduction of new technologies ranging from laser weaponry, to cybernetic augmentation, to mechanized power suits. Hegaran politicians are divided on how they should respond to the Remanadan Empire’s fall, with some wishing to court stronger planets for protection, while others strive to establish the planet’s independence.

The Happy Smile Brand Hypermall Planet

The Happy Smile Brand Hypermall Planet is currently suffering from technical difficulties. Due to a minor programming error in the central control A.I. operating the artificially-built commerce planet, the hypermall’s drones executed all human staff members and seized total control of the planet. Customers are still welcome to shop for premium bargains on everything from plasma rifles to power lifters, although the Happy Smile Brand Mega-corporation takes no liability for any injury or death that may occur.

Vehk Minor

Vehk Minor is a frozen planet, far outside its star’s habitable range. Despite its inhospitable environment, the planet is densely populated by a diverse variety of lifeforms, all of them made up of energy. The higher-spectrum sentient entities have developed technology that is beyond the state of any other technology in the Known Universe, driving many captains to brave the perils of the icy world. Most of their technology requires maintenance that can only be provided by an engineer made of pure energy, which has led to a fledgling spacefaring tradition among them.

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Example Aliens

The Khimereth

Beautiful insectoid elves whose colorful, jeweled carapaces are as durable as titanium. The Khimereth are still despised by species that they formerly enslaved, a practice ended only as a condition of their peaceful entry into the Remanadan Empire. Some wish to resume the practice, while others see it as a shameful atrocity of their past.

Kagren

The proud warrior traditions of the Kagren has evolved in parallel with the evolution of their weaponry. Today, they are the universe’s most consummate aficionados of explosions, vaporizations, and countless other ways of making people stop being alive. Many are employed as arms designers, engineers, and military consultants, while others enjoy working in the field as starship pilots or soldiers. 

The Oth Ulaqi

The Oth Ulaqi, an amphibious humanoid species evolved from cephalopodan ancestors. Their culture is believed to revolve around the worship of an ancient space god, said to have brought them to their home planet from far away. Distinctive features include tentacles, incredible flexibility, and intoxicating pheromones.

The Hadronim

The Hadronim are a silicon-based species made of living crystal that bear a close resemblance to the common Terran depiction of angels. So far, they’ve kept conspicuously silent about any involvement they may have had with ancient Earth.

The Yigathi

The Yigathi are a plant-based species known for their dual cultures of hunting and elaborate courtships—which are often combined into a single affair. Yigathi easily find employment as bounty hunters, as their nine keen senses making tracking down targets child’s play. Unfortunately, they often end up emotionally entangled with their target.

Miskazoth

The Miskazoth have pursued transhumanism to its limits. Cybernetic implants, brain uploads, artificially-grown bodies, and other upgrades are not only available, but a part of everyday life from childhood on. The un-augmented minority makes up a widely-detested underclass. 

Perilisks

Perilisks, a reptilian species with incredible physiognomic diversity. Any given perilisk might have venom glands, claws, four, wings, a serpentine lower body, or something stranger still. Some aren’t even humanoid at all, looking more like a giant crocodile than anything else. Little is understood of their culture—while it is seemingly a peaceful and primitive village-based culture, military expeditions into perilisk territory have been turned aside with terrifying force.

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Example Threats

The Children of Setakal

The Children of Setakal are cultists of a space god said to feed on stars and excrete them as black holes. They have infiltrated planetary governments, system-wide bureaucracies, mega-corporations, military organizations, and more. The only public information on the Children of the Setakal comes from
digital manifestos of dubious veracity circulated online and the holotaped interrogation of a single operative. All that’s known is that they aim to facilitate the death of suns, and have amassed a considerable amount of influence towards that end.

Space piracy

Space piracy is one the rise. The classic pirate strategy is to ambush a ship and incapacitate it with EMP missiles, long-range hacking, and subquantum
disruption pulses. They then board, relieve the crew of their valuables and cargo, and beat a hasty retreat before the incapacitated ship recovers.

Threnoxian Metamorph

The Threnoxian Metamorph is a deadly invasive species that has spread throughout much of the universe. Disguising themselves as animals, they are sold to a member of a ship’s crew. The metamorph will then begin impersonating the crew, sowing confusion until it can kill and eat them. This fuels its maturation into its final, spacefaring form.

Ghost Machines

Ghost Machines are autonomous A.I.-piloted fighter craft and warships developed by the imperial military. With their commanders gone and their authorization codes out of date, some of these ships have defaulted to their mutually assured destruction programming, seeking out the largest population in range to destroy. 

Star Whales

The spacefaring energy entities called Star Whales are not actively malevolent, but their very presence, composed of high-spectrum gamma rays, is extremely disruptive to the technology in most ships.

Department of Cosmic Transit

The militant Department of Cosmic Transit has made itself an intergalactic nuisance for years, harassing spacefaring traffic with heavily-armed warships to conduct intrusive audits. Now, without the oversight of the Remanadan Empire, the bureaucracy has only grown bolder in expanding its reach. 

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Character Creation

Series Level: Super Heroic
Base Hero Points: 15

Series Tone: Four Color
Beginning Refresh: 5
Physical and Mental Stress: 4 boxes
Mild Consequence: After one scene
Moderate Consequence: After half an issue
Severe Consequence: After one issue

Experience Level: Been Around the Block
Skill Points: 40
Additional Hero Points: 10

Notes:
Humans do exist and there are many human-like species.  Earth is very far away so Humans are rare.  Feel free to make up species for your character and have them look like pretty much whatever you like as long as it fits their powers

Character Creation Steps

Step One: Character Name:  Pick a name or moniker that your character is known by.

Step Two: Choose Aspects.

Concept: The descriptive core of your character.  Who are you?  Examples:  Decedent Utrissa Noble, Happy Smile Brand Troubleshooter, Daring Space Jockey, Ever-hungry Polymorph.  Intergalactic Assassin...etc.

Motivation: Why you do what you do.  Examples:  Only in it for the Money, No Innocent with Suffer, There is no Justice without Punishment...etc.

Other Aspects: Three other aspects. These other aspects can be a life changing event, a core value your character holds, your inner strength, your inner demon, Flaws you have, Dark Secrets, Relationships or Personal Beliefs.  Examples: Children of Setakal killed my family, Never leave a shipmate behind, Harder than I look, My Symbiot doesn't like me, I betrayed my people for cyberware, I am my brothers keeper, Priest of Tera'Kal.

Step Three:Supporting Cast and Rogue's Gallery  This is where you will create a few members of your supporting cast and rogues gallery, which will directly affect the rest of your character creation.

Each supporting cast member you create (think Aunt May,  Alfred,  Lois  Lane,  Pepper  Potts,  and  so  forth from Marvel and DC Comics) gives you +1 skill point for Step Four. You’ll create one or two aspects for each member of your supporting cast.

For your Rogues Gallery you will create two or three aspects  per  rogue  (the  GM  will  secretly  create  the rest). These guys are your enemies, and are going to be Named NPCs capable of challenging you at every turn. Your GM will give them their skills, stunts, and powers however he needs in order to provide such a challenge. Each member of your beginning Rogues Gallery provides you with 1 free Hero Point. After all, these villains are out to get you, personally.

Step Four: Skills

Start with this array and add extra skill points from Step Three.

• Fantastic (+6): 1 skill
• Superb (+5): 2 skills
• Great (+4): 2 skills
• Good (+3): 2 skills
• Fair (+2): 3 skills
• Average (+1): 4 skills

Skills:
Accuracy
Arcanum (knowledge of the supernatural kind)
Artificing
Athletics
Contacts
Controlling Skill (Magic/mental/Power) - Skill used for controlling powers
Deceive
Empathy
Fight
Investigate
Knowledge
Leadership
Notice
Physique
Provoke
Rapport
Resources - Total Wealth
Available Funds - Cash on Hand
Stealth
Technology
Vehicles
Weapons
Will

Step Five: Hero Points

Stunts:  Stunts generally give you an advantage to a skill by specializing in it.

Powers:  Super Powers yeah!

Step Six: Stress and Consequences

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~Character Sheet~

<Name>
Concept: <UPPER CASE>
Motivation: <UPPER CASE>

Aspects:
<UPPER CASE>
<UPPER CASE>
<UPPER CASE>

Stunts:
<Name of Stunt>: <Description of stunt>

Description:

Personality:

Background:

Supporting Cast:

Rogue's Gallery:

Skills:

Stress:
Physical:
Mental:

Powers:


Advances:

Code Select Expand


[center][size=18pt][b]~Character Sheet~[/b][/size][/center]
[float=right][img height=400 padding=5]http://<Image>[/img][/float][size=14pt][b]<Name>[/b][/size]
[b]Concept:[/b] <UPPER CASE>
[b]Motivation:[/b] <UPPER CASE>

[b]Aspects:[/b]
<UPPER CASE>
<UPPER CASE>
<UPPER CASE>

[b]Stunts:[/b]
[i]<Name of Stunt>:[/i] <Description of stunt>

[b]Description:[/b]

[b]Personality:[/b]

[b]Background:[/b]

[b]Supporting Cast:[/b]

[b]Rogue's Gallery:[/b]

[b]Skills:[/b]

[b]Stress:[/b]
Physical:
Mental:

[b]Powers:[/b]

[b]Advances:[/b]


[yaracyrrah]

I'm interested enough that I looked up the basic rules but not so interested that I'm willing to spend money on the full rules.  May I apply anyway and get help crunching the numbers to fit my concept?

[Sain]

This setup gives my muse a raging scifi boner. I have a billion ideas and two questions:

Do you already have a plot in mind or will the story follow the troubles and aspirations of the character's as they go about?

Do we need to be intimately familiar with all three rulesets? I only know about FATE and have skimmed through M&M intro part once.

[LordRod]

This looks fun.  Should we develop our own planet or stick to an example? Which do you lean as more likely to use, MM or Fate?

[Crash]

I'm interested enough that I looked up the basic rules but not so interested that I'm willing to spend money on the full rules.  May I apply anyway and get help crunching the numbers to fit my concept?

If you have any familiarity with FATE core (which is free) you won't have any issues and I am more than willing to help with character creation.

This setup gives my muse a raging scifi boner. I have a billion ideas and two questions:

Do you already have a plot in mind or will the story follow the troubles and aspirations of the character's as they go about?

Do we need to be intimately familiar with all three rulesets? I only know about FATE and have skimmed through M&M intro part once.

Plot will be heavily influenced by troubles and aspirations of group and individuals.  Characters should be generally heroic if selfish.  I don't like running evil campaigns.  Familiarity with FATE is best.  I can help people with powers and stunts.

This looks fun.  Should we develop our own planet or stick to an example? Which do you lean as more likely to use, MM or Fate?

Daring Comics is the rule set which is mostly FATE that borrows from M&M.  If you are familiar with FATE you are good.  You can be from an existing planet or a made up one.  I know Pumpkin Seeds is making up her own energy being and planet.

[la dame en noir]

ooooo

[Crash]

I plan on keeping the tone fairly light with a decent smut factor.  It isn't all about sex but that will probably come up if people wish to partake.   Nothing will be forced on you of course.

[Sain]

Okay. If it's mostly based on Fate I'll be fine :-)

I'm thinking of cooking up some alternative homeworld for other energy based beings. Maybe some of them rise from a particularly dangerous and sub space anomaly riddled nebula and have claimed an old megacorp space station as their 'home world' where they learned the ways of the fleshlies by imitating whatever they found on the records.

e. I just read that someone else was making an energy being already. This gives me a good excuse to switch out into the other one. Gonna make something with tentacles. Something like people who experimented on an ancient alien horror for advanced biotech (some lovecraftian planet sized beast) and ended up getting changed.

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Sain - Sould make for an interesting backstory.

All - I will try to get an example character up this week.

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I do need some more interest before I am willing to move forward so hopefully more people will express interest.

[Sain]

I do hope we'll find some more. The premise is incredibly delicious for some character based struggles.

[Pumpkin Seeds]

Hi.

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Hey Pumpkin!

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If anyone needs help please let me know!

[LuciusLeche]

well heeeey bring on the xenophilia..now I just have to learn fate.

[Pumpkin Seeds]

Hopefully tonight I'll be hammering out at least a good synopsis of the planet and people I want my character to emerge from and rise to fame and glory!  Mostly going for a society that has put their consciousness inside crystals and spend their lives playing video games basically.  She has decided to...holy shit..go outside.

[Sain]

Hopefully tonight I'll be hammering out at least a good synopsis of the planet and people I want my character to emerge from and rise to fame and glory!  Mostly going for a society that has put their consciousness inside crystals and spend their lives playing video games basically.  She has decided to...holy shit..go outside.

Sounds interesting. Could be fun if there are some nefarious factions looking to kidnap very skilled individuals from that race and plant those trapped in combat simulation crystals into fighter pilots, combat mechs, and stuff.

I'll share my notes too.

ZAX-40181

A huge planet sized interstellar biomass located within Dreamsea Nebula within Hole. ZAX-40181 was first discovered drifting between the stars and subsequently claimed by Aros megacorporation. ‘A mining accident’ caused them to lose contact with the station. ZAX-40181 has since become increasingly active as an emergent species believed to be the descendants of the station staff have begun healing the ancient creature. Outsiders have no business on ZAX-40181, but members of the lymphatic and neuron castes sometimes make trips to nearby civilizations to kidnap, steal, and trade rare biomaterials for equally valuable inorganic crystals.

Character insiring artwork

The red girls from both pics. Neither really fits 100% the image I have of Ovlaz, but they get the idea across pretty well. She is basically a biological mechanic, turned into cancer cell. Her skillset could include healing organics by grafting her own biomass on them, making temporary repairs to mechanical stuff by combining tech and biological and creating weapons, barriers, and equipment from her own biomass. Some regenrative powers too. Might have her still resort to conventional weapons like pew pew guns and stuff for protecting herself though if we have a lot of "combat mage" types in the party.

Background until getting out of ZAX-40181

In the beginning Ovlaz had no name. She was born from the descendants of the workers absorbed by a formerly inert biomass - an artifact marked as ZAX-40181 in Aros database. Of this she had no idea. Ovlaz was a simple life form, nurtured with the slowly flowing lifeblood of the Sleeping One. Over time her body differentiated towards a regendrite. She would be tasked with planting parts of herself around the large structures to repair and maintain them. It said it was a great honor to be born to serve the Sleeping One. Ovlaz was happy to help.

Her greatest achievement was taking part in the efforts to get one of the main life chambers beating again. The work nearly consumed the bodies of her sisters. It was normal to die for the Sleeping One. Ovlaz couldn’t let them. She stretched herself thin and planted parts of her biomass into them, keeping alive the weak cells that would have otherwise perished. A certain lymphatic observer noticed her earnest compassion - he fell in love. This was the beginning of their woes.

With circulation restored to ancient vessels that had dried countless eons ago every regendrite with the potential to regress into a pluripotency form was given the choice to continue their work or to settle down somewhere. This was a dream come true to Ovlaz.

She rushed to be examined for defects so that she might be on the front lines to secure a good home. The lymphatic observer read through her genome. His expression froze. He found a defect. The trait which gave her that regenerative power and will to help was cancerous. If it had been anyone else discovering this she would have been struck down there, but he didn’t. He hid it from them all. As Ovlaz was happily establishing her new home in the rural vessels he approached her with the truth.

Her world shattered. Was this the end? How could she be cancerous if she had done the most to help repair a heart? She would have given up if not for him. The observer had a plan - he knew of the outside.  Five dead neurons later they had the memories to operate an escape pod on the abandoned mining station stuck on the side of the Sleeping One. Fighting against former friends they pushed through into one of the pods and launched. Ovlaz wept as she saw the form of her beloved Sleeping One for the first time in all its majesty, and knew that she could never again be a part of it.

The memories stolen from the command nerve were hazy, but helped the pair read some of the strange alien inorganic displays on the pod. A luck landed them upon the remains of two scientists whose escape attempts had been cut short by a sharp tentacle through the skull. With difficulty they managed to deduce that some of these bits were meant to be worn on one’s surface like a soft exoskeleton.

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Added a couple of thing to the character sheet.

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I am going to give this another week.  If we have no more character concepts and/or interest I will shelve it for awhile and bring it back out later.