Interest check: Bug Hunt !!!

[Archangel]

Would anyone be interested in playing in a Freeform “Aliens” style Colonial Marines game?

Basically space travel is still pretty new, and the first few colonies have settled the solar system and nearby systems. The Colonial Marine Corp has been put together to act as space police, watching for pirates and smuggles and the possibility of encountering non-friendly extra-terrestrial life forms.

The campaign would start as a colonial vessel is out on patrol, carrying a platoon of marines along with crew and a few civilian staff responds to a distress call… (Of course)

Players can play the role of Marines, ships crew members, civilian staff or a member of the distressed crew…

[TheLivingWonder]

Mmmm..sounds interesting.

[Idachan]

I have to agree, sounds quite interesting.

[Brandon]

Sounds interesting to me too, Ild like to hear more

[TheWolf]

Though I responded elsewhere, just for the record I'm interested too...  :)

Cool, 4 so far...  ;)

[Archangel]

Excellent !!!

Here's a bit more info...:

The UNSC (United Nations Space Command) has put together the Colonial Marine Corp as a quick response force capable of performing a large number of tasks out in space, where conventional forces cannot perform. These tasks include but are not limited to Search and Rescue, Responding to Distressed Vessels, to put down Piracy and Smuggling, Reconnaissance on new worlds prior to colonization and responding to possible violent confrontation within the colonies where the local colonial police force cannot provide adequate force.

Each platoon is assigned to a Quick Response Vessel, which doubles as a space transport, platoon headquarters and a home away from home. This ship carries everything the platoon needs to be an effective fighting force, drop ships, ground vehicle, single fighter escort, armoury, medical facilities, barracks, space weapons platform, etc… These ships are known as “Predator Class Destroyers”, and the player’s ship is the “Hades Gate”. The crew for these vessels is small usually 5 naval officers.

The idea behind the campaign is very simple (though the story probably won’t be), while the player’s ship is on a routine patrol it responds to a distress call. The game won’t follow the events of the alien movies though I may use the aliens as a base for the game/story with a few twists. This not the same world as the movies, just an alternate reality really. There would likely be other opponents other than the aliens themselves. There will likely be some investigating as well. Rather than look at this from a very long campaign standpoint, I’d rather look at it like a movie with a definitive start, middle and end. Should we actually reach the end, and interest is still there, there’s always room for a sequel !!!

As indicated above, there are many possibilities for characters and the UNSC is an equal opportunity employer, so male/female don’t matter. Players can be Marine soldiers or officers (though officer spots are limited), they can be special task soldiers, such as combat medics, combat drivers, section commanders, communications and electronic experts, heavy weapons, whatever. They can be part of the Hades gate crew, Captain, helm, operations, engineering, or weapons officer. They can be otherwise civilians if the player wishes, for example a member of the press embedded with Marines for a specific time frame.

Another option would be a civilian crew member of the distressed ship, an as of yet unnamed Scientific Research vessel.


Until I’m sure we get enough people to start, that’s about as much as I can elaborate other than it will be freeform, but I may ask for an occasional dice roll to determine random effects.

If anyone has any specific questions about anything related, ask away. The more people ask the more people will stop in to look and maybe get interested, so don’t hesitate !!!

[Caustic]

Sadly, I basically memorized Aliens as a kid.  If the group dynamics are interesting, and there's detail, no fucking dice... please consider me for part of this one.

[Dragoondawg25]

Game Over Man Game Over!!! lol i wouldnt mind playing a Marine, first to the fray and all lol ;D

[TheWolf]

"One express elevator to hell, going down!"


Defintely Marine on my part...

[Valerian]

I've just seen the trailer for Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem -- which doesn't look all that good, sadly, except in terms of special effects, but it did remind me that I like the Aliens franchise.  And since it looks like we'll have plenty of Marines, I'm thinking perhaps someone on the distressed ship in need of rescue...

[TheWolf]

Ah ha!  A damsel in distress?

*grins*  Recurring theme around here......  :)

[RedEve]

I might be interested in a role as a member of the crew which sent out the distress call.

[Archangel]

Cool, 8 potential players, very sweet!!!

I'll let this thread go on till early next week, then I'll start an OOC thread.

The game would likely start in-media-res for the most part, just as the Marine vessel begins it's approach. Whatever's going on in the distressed ship will be on-going, meaning starting right in the frying pan with the marines 'supposedly' arriving to save the day.

As I'm usually only on line during normal work hours Mon-Fri, I'll be open to a co-DM if someone is interested. It's not necessary, but the help would be appreciated. This would actually be my first time running a group game on-line so if anyone has any advice, I'm all ears.

Also, I'm open to any suggestions, and players may feel free to be creative, this is the future after all. More detailed rules and info will be forthcoming...

Oh, and thanks again to everyone for showing interest !!!  ;D

[Archangel]

HADES GATE
The Hades Gate is a Predator Class Fast Response vessel capable of great speeds. It is generally employed in fast delivery of marine troops. It is a large size star ship, capable of carrying heavy loads, depending on mission type. On this particular mission it is equipped with the standard load of drop ships and ground vehicles.

The vessel has medium armour, favouring speed as a defence mechanism. The ship carries two front firing 55mm, HE six barrelled cannons and a twin vulcan style 30mm close defence turret sits atop the hull. The ship is also equipped with several banks of air to air as well as air to land missiles, and two nuclear warheads for orbital bombardment.

The ship can easily carry a fully equipped combat ready platoon of marines in addition to the platoon’s 5 support staff which consists of 2 marine pilots, an armourer, a medical officer and a type 5 android. The Hades’s crew consists of a pilot, co-pilot, weapons officer and an engineer.

The ship is quite modular and square, looking like no more than a rounded three-dimensional rectangle from the outside. Near the front are the ship’s bridge and ship systems compartment. The middle of the ship takes up most of the Marine’s quarters, med lab, hangar deck, armoury, cryo lab and operational command center. The rear area is mostly engine space with a small engineering section.

[Archangel]

THE CRUCIBLE
The Crucible is a Cradle Class Scientific Research Vessel. It is one of six ships in the line of research vessels sponsored by a private corporation. This particular vessel searches the outlying systems for signs of extra-terrestrial life, performing testing and sample transferring to the higher tech labs in the older colonies closer to earth itself.

The vessel has light to no armour, has medium powered Ion drives but boasts a faster than average trans-light drive. The ship is unarmed.

The ship has several fully equipped med labs, very high tech and sophisticated in addition to research labs and stasis chambers. The computer systems and banks are top of the line and the interior of the ship is very clean, almost to a sterile shine. The ship also carries an orbital shuttle and a small number of ground vehicles.

The ships crew consists of 5 staff, pilot, co-pilot, engineer, a type 4 android and a type 4.5 advanced android. The scientific staff consists of a chief medical, chief archaeological, chief anthropological doctors. Each chief has 4 knowledged staff working under him or her and an additional 15 staff, 3 of which are type 2 androids work to assist the researchers in a variety of tasks, from drivers, labourers, meteorological experts, naturalists, etc…

The ship is modular and rectangular, though much sleeker than most military of corporate vessels. Solar panels run the length of the vessel, supplementing its power demands. Near the front are the ship’s bridge and ship systems compartment. The middle of the ship takes up most of the labs and science staff quarters. The rear area is mostly engine space with a small engineering section and crew quarters.

[Archangel]

ANDROIDS

There are 5 types of androids, ranging from dumb robots to very sophisticated human imitation droids. Each type has several versions of it, usually having a  .# assigned to them after the number type. Each number means an improvement was made to either the physical form or to the programming of that droid.

Type 1 androids are mostly humanoid shaped exo-skeletons. They are mostly obsolete. Those that exist are in museums or in people’s personal collections…

Type 2 androids are hostile environement androids. They are incapable of independent thought. They are used in environments hostile to humans, like no atmosphere or extreme hot or cold planets and moons. These androids were human shape with metal plates covering an exo-skeleton similar to that of type 1 androids and can perform the most basic of thoughts.

Type 3 androids are mostly used as labour droids. They have metallic coverings that are very human in appearance. These droids are usually think within certain pre-programmed parameters to perform certain functions. For example they can be programmed for maintenance, administration, janitorial, trade assistance, etc… Type 3.5, 3.6 and 3.7 androids are also called grunts, and are used on some colonies as supplemental police or military forces.

Type 4 androids are capable of total independent thought they are usually programmed to perform in certain fields, their owners can add or supplement their programming as they see fit. They are capable of very sophisticated and specialized work. They appear mostly as humans including an epidermal skin layer covering and synthetic body made to resemble human physiology and anatomy though they often have metallic parts showing, or mechanical appendages, depending on the task it is programmed to perform.

Type 5 androids are relatively new and are totally human in appearance. The inside of them is totally synthetic, including a heart, lungs, etc… A colony of nanobots resides inside the androids body making it capable of performing some superhuman feats of strength and agility. These androids are currently strictly for military use. (Though a few private corporations are known to have purchased the technology from certain highly placed military officials.) Aboard military vessels and within military units, these androids tend to perform support tasks only. Because the technology is still relatively knew, no soldier is willing to his life in the hands of one of these cyborgs.

[Caustic]

What kind of detail do you want for our character submissions?

[Archangel]

Good Question Caustic !!!

Here’s what I would like to see in a character sheet…

Name:
Age:

Physical Description: regular stuff, hair, eyes, height, build, stature and any other obvious or not so obvious physical features, (i.e.: beards, tattoos, piercing, scars, artificial limbs, glass eye, whatever the hell else you can come up with within reason. Also keep in mind that there are to be no visible peircings in marine characters.)

Affiliation: (example: Marine, Marine Civilian Contract Staff, Hades Gate Crew, Research Staff: Crucible, Crucible Crew.)
Rank/Occupation: (Examples: Marine corporal, Marine drop ship pilot, civilian contractor: drop ship pilot, Hades gate: Captain/pilot, Crucible: engineer, Crucible: Medical Reaserch team, etc…)

Primary Specialty: Please list only one. A typical marine would have Infantry as his primary specialty.

Secondary Specialty: Please list only one. (Examples: heavy weapons and demolitions, recon, marksman, electronics and communications, ground vehicle driver, medical, mechanic or engineer, scientific specialty such as: xeno-biology, archaeology, anthropology, extra-terrestrial plant and/or animal life, astronomy, scavenger, etc…)

Personality/Profile/background: You can be as detailed, or as little detailed as you want, as long as you offer something. Here you can also list any other skill or hobby your character may have that you feel might at some point be relevant.


If there's any information you'd like to keep secret, please don't list it in the descripton, just send it to me in a PM.