The Reckoning Of Lesser Men: Last Chance For Submissions (not really, but do it anyways)

Jehovah's Thickness Posts : 582 Join date : 2012-12-02

The Real Shade wrote:

THE RECKONING OF LESSER MEN

Tayibe, Afghanistan
November 9th, 2015
3: 27 P.M., Local Time

For a moment, there was a second sun in the Afghan sky.

The sounds of gunfire and howls of men and dogs alike were silenced, and everyone stopped, arched their necks back, and uttered, in a variety of languages, "Oh, sh*t".

The Dreadnaughts' helicopter was a smoking, fiery piece of metal that was soon to become a wreckage. The communications lines of the elite mercenaries on the ground suddenly lit up with panicked queries for Belroth, manic cursing, and the equally loud silence of total shell-shock. The helicopter began tilting to the side as it very quickly transitioned from flying to falling, and smashed into the ground with a deafening noise and blast of smoke some two hundred or three hundred yards from where the Dreadnaughts had fast-roped into the city.

The city-if Tayibe could be called that. It was in the middle of nowhere, about fifty or sixty miles from the nearest village, and its residents were as apt to die from dehydration and heat exhaustion as they were the Dreadnaughts' bullets. The village was a cluster of sun-bleached houses and a general feeling of dereliction-while there was a training camp for a jihadist organization not far from the village, there was no doubt that this particular piece of Afghanistan was dying more quickly than the rest. Faces of the villages were scarred and weathered hands callused and shaky, and eyes dim and faded from years of the harsh desert sun. There were perhaps five or six thousand people in Tayibe, with a pretty uneven age divide: the constant influx of young men to the local camp made sure of that.

And, as of ten minutes ago, their demographics had changed. The Dreadnaughts were sent in on a very simple mission: somewhere inside Tayibe was a prisoner that the United States Military valued for some unknown reason. The Dreadnaughts were to come in, find the prisoner, and get back out. Unfortunately, some Afghan with an RPG had made that plan somewhat unfeasible. There was a very ominous change in the tide of the battle, as the Afghans, no longer beleaguered by Dreadnaught air support-and knowing their enemy had no means of escape-began shouting chants in Farsi at the top of their lungs, loud enough to drown out the cacophony of gunfire. The Dreadnaughts very quickly found cover as seemingly the entire city of Tayibe began to descend on them; within a minute, things had gone from entirely-as-planned to being one of the roughest failures in the Dreadnaughts' history. The Dreadnaughts wasted no time in beginning to return fire, a semblance of order re-emerging amongst their ranks as the operatives back at the Dreadnaughts' base, halfway around the world, issued commands over the radio and began assessing the situation as best they could over satellite imagery.

But this is what they got paid for.

A Look At The Dreadnaughts

The Dreadnaughts; much like the city of Tayibe, they are entirely fictional, and much like the city of Tayibe, they are very deadly. They're unparalleled in the military world, an elite group of perhaps six to seven hundred mercenaries. All have come from dozens of countries around the world, ranging from special forces groups to the most prestigious hospitals to cutting-edge R and D departments. Regardless of where they hail from or who they hail to, they have one thing in common: They are damned good at their jobs. Charging exorbitant rates for equally unbelievable results, the Dreadnaughts have quickly cemented their reputation as the prime PMC amongst many others. Frequently getting contracts from The United States, Russia, China, and many other major players in the political arena, The Dreadnaughts have emerged as a small but nonetheless powerful blip on the global radar.

The Dreadnaughts, as you may have surmised, are who you'll be playing as in this RP. I have no idea why your character has joined forces with them: perhaps it's for the paycheck, which is luxurious. Maybe it's for the prestige: there's a certain appeal to being a member of a group that even Delta Force and the Spetsnaz are impressed by. Maybe it's for the power-there's no doubt the Dreadnaughts are going places, and there's a lot of people out there who want to be on the winning team.

Regardless, you have one boss now: a man by the name of Belroth Daemond. Intelligent, charismatic, and a skilled strategist, he's carved the Dreadnaughts over the last nine or ten years into an elite group, and earned the respect of both his soldiers and world leaders alike in the process. An undoubtedly wealthy man, Belroth's origins are mysterious (the most that anyone has been able to deduce for sure is that Belroth was in some form of covert Cold War organization, and that he's in his fifties), likely because he changes his backstory every time he's asked about it, and equally impressive. Belroth is a well-educated man who typically directs his troops from the front lines, normally overseeing his soldiers from a bird's eye view (aside from more sensitive, stealth-related missions, obviously), a stratagem which has proven to be unwise recently. However, he's certainly a skilled tactician, and is generally admired by the troops-but, given their paychecks, admiration is pretty damned easy to attain.

The Dreadnaughts have a few other quick details I'll just sum up in bullet point form, to keep the text walls in this OP to a minimum.

-The Dreadnaughts' HQ is located in the Alands Islands in the Baltic Sea. They are looking to purchase the island from the Finnish government and secede entirely, but seem to be having difficulties doing so.
-The Dreadnaughts hire anyone from anywhere, provided they are skilled. There are no restrictions on your character's nationalities.
-The Dreadnaughts tend to prefer reliable professionals, however, depending on what it was, those with a criminal history can be hired. This is on a case-by-case basis.
-The Dreadnaughts have excellent benefits, health insurance, and pay superior to any other PMC and nearly every military. Likewise, they've got hands on an extensive armory and several contracts with weapons dealers: feel free to have your character wielding any weapon. Belroth leaves armament and gear up to his soldiers, on the sole condition they get the job done.
-The Dreadnaughts don't have a strict chain of command. Belroth is the ultimate authority, and he appoints squad leaders as necessary. Typically, the Dreadnaughts deploy soldiers in such small groups that a formalized chain of command is not necessary, and it normally goes Belroth--->Squad Leaders---->Members of that Squad. The extreme skill and professionalism of the Dreadnaughts helps negate the need for the traditional, extremely regimented chain of command present in most militaries (this also helps the operatives of numerous different countries blend into the same squads more easily).
-The Dreadnaughts employ a wide range of professionals, from psychologists, pilots, mechanics, and doctors to the sharpshooting mercenaries you were probably expecting. It takes all types-feel free to RP as anyone, combat-oriented or no.

General Overview And Rules:

The Stat System And Templates:

So, as stated in the title, this is an Interest Check. I'm currently too busy to launch my own RP, especially with involvement in two others right now, so this will potentially start later in the month/early summer. If it doesn't gain much attention here, I'll post it on another site, and I can provide the information for anyone who would be interested. Let me know what you think-any criticisms or suggestions are open, particularly regarding the mechanics of the Stat system.

Additionally, things are going to be pretty fluid and laidback. I'm not really what you would call "good at math", so the stat system's going to be pretty holistic. If it seems off-putting, don't let it be: I view it as an interesting way to keep things grounded and realistic, and keep everyone on their toes. Even the greatest marksman in our RP might get a sh*tty die roll and miss; even the worst shot might get lucky. Everything'll be kinda up in the air, so it'll be fun to see how things turn out.

Listen up homies, this shit is fresh and real, so I suggest to all o' y'all to pick up what I'm puttin' down and check this shit out. For real. YOLO, you won't regret it.

B| hella

Damn straight.

Jehovah's Thickness Posts : 582 Join date : 2012-12-02

You're in my sig now

I'm down (once school ends).

Jehovah's Thickness Posts : 582 Join date : 2012-12-02

w00t

Also, I don't want to spoil any details, but I've been mulling over ideas for the bosses of this RP a lot and I think the boss fights are going to be really enjoyable. Each boss is matched up to a different attribute (Strength, Charisma, etc) and will hopefully be quite a challenge, in one way or another. (for anyone with a good memory, Glasgow and Valois, who both had brief appearances in the last RP, will be reappearing)

If anybody has any questions or comments, let me know, I'm especially open for critiques on the stat system. Math is not my strong suit, and I haven't run a tabletop game before. Don't want to mess you guys up with a broken system.

I might have to brave the sporum to see how the ic worked

Jehovah's Thickness Posts : 582 Join date : 2012-12-02

THE IC

[url=THE OOC]http://forum.spore.com/jforum/posts/list/78522.page[/url]

The Real Shade wrote:: THE IC

THE OOC

*Cough*

Jehovah's Thickness Posts : 582 Join date : 2012-12-02

*cough yeah that's what I meant to do cough*

Huh. There may be enough interest on here for me to keep it here. I'll have to see.

I tried to work out your stat allotment system and I can't seem to get a good balance for Baron. Like there doesn't seem to be enough without putting some 1s in a couple slots. What would you say is an average number for each stat? Otherwise I suggest just doing what DnD does and making Wisdom and Perception the same thing (or having Wisdom govern Perception) or adding three points to make a good, solid 25.

Base stats are also an option.

Would consider participating were in not on the sporum.

We aren't doing this on the Sporum. It just used to be on the sporum. He is rerunning it here.

Oh, in that case I may put together something.

Jehovah's Thickness Posts : 582 Join date : 2012-12-02

Lieo wrote:: I tried to work out your stat allotment system and I can't seem to get a good balance for Baron. Like there doesn't seem to be enough without putting some 1s in a couple slots. What would you say is an average number for each stat? Otherwise I suggest just doing what DnD does and making Wisdom and Perception the same thing (or having Wisdom govern Perception) or adding three points to make a good, solid 25.

Base stats are also an option.

I did think the allocation might be spread a little too thin. Let's try for 25, and I may need to bump up the Perk requirements accordingly to account for that. Check and see if the numbers are distributed more evenly that way.

However, I do want to dissuade people from a "jack of all trades" type, (for example, by the end of Fallout 3 or Fallout New Vegas your character is unkillable and great at everything) so I don't want you to have too much to work with there.

And yeah, this will be run here, it just had a previous incarnation on the Sporum. I will accept sheets now, but given that the system is prone to change before it launches in a week or two, they may need to be partially re-written.

I think skill checks could be simpler, and as it is right now certain attributes are generally more useful than the others. Aside from that looks pretty solid.

Jehovah's Thickness Posts : 582 Join date : 2012-12-02

I am considering what to do with Perception, as it seems to be kind of overpowered. I may make it very situationally useful but not give it any perks.

Quick question - what would you consider an average stat? 3? Baron's niche isn't in his strength, obviously, so he'd be less trained in that area. But he isn't a little school girl in terms of strength if that is what a stat value of 1 means.

Jehovah's Thickness Posts : 582 Join date : 2012-12-02

Three would be about average, two would be around sub-par, and then one would be a total lack of competency.

Four is proficient, and five or anything above is pretty gifted.

Last edited by True Night on Tue May 13, 2014 11:18 pm; edited 1 time in total

I wouldn't know about that, sure you'll come up with something for perception.

The main suggestions I have for you is number one, for skills give the players a modifier on their die roll based on their ability rather than modifying the difficulty of the task with the formula you made. More consistent, realistic, and easier to keep track of in my experience.

The second is that your system doesn't account for natural talent and or training. All skills are derivative solely from attributes. Sometimes people are contrarily good at things or take the time to become so. I think that giving everyone a few points to distribute directly to their skills as they see fit would create greater variety of talents beyond everything being a reflection of their stats.

Anyways take or leave them. Just my ideas of improvement, won't have an impact on whether I join or not.

Jehovah's Thickness Posts : 582 Join date : 2012-12-02

I'll take that into account whilst tallying up the skills, but there's also the fact that the attributes do play into it; your attributes should reflect your character's personality, experiences, and abilities.

If you tell me your seventy year old character has a Strength or Dexterity of 5 I'm gonna call BS. Yes, he may be a crack shot with a slightly lower dexterity, but he's still not going to compete with someone younger/with higher Dexterity. Unless there's something I'm not thinking of, you'd be hard-pressed to exceed in an area where your attributes don't line up. I don't want people playing the "Yeah I gave my guy a Charisma of 1 but he's still like a crazy good public speaker" type.

As for the modifier system, that may be easier, I'll look into that.

I think the stat setup is pretty a-okay then. I think I got what I wanted. What does a Charisma of 6 get me, by chance? Razz

True Night, while I do agree that the stats should affect a character's ability to perform the task as opposed to modifying the task's difficulty, the only difference is the idea of it. Functionally, it does the exact same thing. You can add to your score or subtract from the requirement - it's the same. What I do not agree with is accounting natural talent and training. The source of a person's ability to perform a task can be made up as a back story, but it shouldn't effect the functionality of the characters. The stat system is made specifically so we can prevent the pissing contests Shade was talking about and maintain a healthy balance. We're not doing the best character contests anymore.

Yeah I was about to say modifiers make everything easier (as a seasoned dnd player)

Jehovah's Thickness Posts : 582 Join date : 2012-12-02

Charisma of 6 makes female characters' pants explode off their legs when you approach.

Patches said it well. Additionally, I will be taking certain things into account-like I said, this is going to be a holistic/adjusted-as-needed stat system, but I don't want people's stats and supposed abilities entirely contradicting one another-I want to foster teamwork, or, at least, finding creative solutions to overcome your weaknesses. Your character being flawed in one area is acceptable.

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