Roleplay Brainstorming

First topic message reminder :

Firstly, if I need to move this someplace else I will...

Now... This will be where we think over everything I just didint want to litter up the CBOX with logistical things. SOOZ here we go. Remember to be respectful of all ideas because they are all important.

Aww, man, that sounds like a Goblin Market in the Hedge in Changeling. I like it. We could work with that really well, I think. Toss around a couple races and things and we'd be good to go.

Yes, Zalgo! I likey!

I like that, Faith, but I'm a bit confused as to what the actual plot is. Nice background though.

That sounds good! I have a couple of ideas to make it fit everybodies desires, but these are just suggestions

- They could be more than just trading partners; if they all have different things they specialise in, why would they be competing? So...why not have a unique resource that only certain species can get at, and since these companies control that species as a workforce, the government has to tolerate their existence....and the companies are in competition to not only get the most lucrative contract, but also to stay in existence. This would mean that the companies would have their own paramilitary and black-ops divisions in order to sabotage their rivals and protect their own interests. That means that, whilst most of the bickering would be political, there would be enough conflict in the shadows to fit Burn It's preference for a full on Shadow War...no huge armies, just small teams that skirmish from time to time.

- Jade, I believe the plot would start off as simply "procure contracts and sabotage the competition," but if everybody agreed, I'm sure we could work out a chain reaction that eventually led to open conflict, or maybe even introduce a group of "Hunters" that the government uses to try to keep the different factions in line...and they start overstepping the line that the companies are willing to tolerate. Perhaps the fierce competition is because the resource that they are mining is running out, so they are fighting over the remaining mines that still have access to this resource. Things like that.

- As for the species, I agree that none of them should be inherently good or evil....there should be members of each. Whatever species we do use, though, I still think we should do "strains" of three or four major archetypes. Suggestions? I would rather stay away from "Demons" and "Angels" and "Ancients," since that gives room for a lot of abuse, and if you have three Angels running around, they aren't special any more, y'know? And I think Angels and Demons would have better things to do than fight a terrestrial Shadow War. The Demons, for one, would be looking to take advantage of the shortage. Hell (pun not intended), why not have a few creatures who are outside of this whole struggle and are living hidden lives...and some of them are looking to benefit from the chaos?
As for which species...well, there are the obvious choices in Vampires, Werewolves and Humans, but I think we can all agree that that sort of thing is all played out. Obviously we would need some kind of Human option, since there's no reason humans wouldn't be employed by unscrupulous companies if they were good enough, and giving them the ability to practice magic does level the playing field a little, but there would have to be specific caveats to it, and magic would probably be accessible by all races in some manner. I was thinking that the workers could be Goblins or Imps or something like that....something small, durable and easily exploited.

Ok, so, we need a human sized, humanoid fantastical race that has some kind of unique ability; obvious choices are Vampires, Werewolves (they're human at least some of the time), Shapeshifters, Fae, etc etc. We would probably want to look at some bigger options, like Trolls or Giants or Ogre like creatures, to add some big lumbering muscle possibility to the roleplay...maybe an Orc-like creature? We would need one archetype and several sub-classes that vary in specific ways. What do you guys think? Any suggestions?

The first part of that confused me. This is why I don't like war-like things. I'm going to play the dumb blonde here (although I'm not blonde)... What's the difference between military and paramilitary? What do Black-Ops people actually do? What's a Shadow War? I really dislike military/government/political things. Makes me look stupid. 

Procure contracts of what? When I think contract I think like... marriage license or mortgage on a house. I doubt our characters will be doing any of that.

Seriously, explain things as though I'm 12. And maybe not in this group, but I have a good feeling that some other roleplayers on this site need explaining in the same ways I do. It opens it up to so many more players.

I like the whole vampy/werewolf/human/fae/witch/shifter idea, and having no "good" and "bad" sides, but if we get into giants, trolls, goblins, it's like LOTR. What's an orc? (Can you tell LOTR isn't my thing?)

Ei, I'm just embarrassing myself here -.-'  Now I feel bad

I'm still hellbent on including Changelings in some way. I've been a huge fan of them since they were introduced to me about a year ago. Would anyone mind if I played one, at the very least?

Also, on the whole "trading partners" thing, I have all my business expertise from two seasons of Spice and Wolf and half a season of Maoyuu Maou Yuusha, so I have very little to say the least. I feel like the thing we need to focus on in this thing is keeping with the whole survival aspect first, then possibly expanding from there. Like, get our characters to know each others' strengths and weaknesses, work together to survive off each other, etc., then figure a way to keep ourselves from being murdered by the government/each other/whatever we "escaped from" if we're still throwing the supernatural refugee idea around. That's my thoughts, anyway.

Okey dokey.

Jade:

- Difference between military and paramilitary:
A military is the official defence force of a sovereign nation or city, whereas a paramilitary - whilst similar in terms of equipment and organisation - is an armed force that is outside of the official armed forces. Private security companies are sometimes considered paramilitaries for this reason; they can be anything from the security of a large trading company (like the East India Trading Companies fleet was by todays definition a paramilitary) to a terrorist organisation or security company. That's all it is So the trading companies paramilitaries would just be people who are hired and armed by the companies with the intention to protect their interests by force.

- What is a Black Op?
A "Black-op" is short for "Black Flag Operation," in which a team (usually employed by governments, but it can apply to private companies as well) carries out a clandestine mission off-record, with the added objective of disguising who was actually behind it. This could be anything from simple intelligence gathering to assassinations and thefts. Some of James Bonds missions could be considered a Black-Op operation, since some of them require him going undercover to avoid the bad guys knowing who was behind it. When such secrecy is not necessary - so the targets not knowing who was behind it is not an objective - then the operation is simple clandestine. Does that make sense?

- What's a Shadow War?
Here I am using the term to denote a conflict in which none of the companies are actually openly fighting - with big open battles with tanks and planes, etc etc - but are fighting under the illusion of peace. They might say that they are devoted to peace politically, but their paramilitary and Black Ops teams are involved in sabotaging the opposition. Basically, a spy war.

- Procure contracts:
As in, trying to obtain a trade contract from the government. If they have a contract guaranteeing them as the governments major trade partner, they would have a huge financial advantage over the other companies. Any large economically based company wants big contracts, because big contracts not only ensure their relevance in the market for the foreseeable future, it also means big bucks. For instance, a technology company might receive a contract from the DoD to develop some new weapon or computer software exclusively for the military, and in return they get A LOT of money and prestige by being able to say later on "We got a contract from the DoD." It also means that if they do a good job, they are far more likely to get that lucrative deal again next time, which means more money and more respect within the industry.

- The last paragraph:
Well, there's no reason that trolls and whatnot wouldn't be around in the modern day. Have you ever seen a guy so big, he makes your friend down the gym look tiny? Why couldn't he be a troll? They could be remnants of the Old World, almost extinct but with a few members hanging around here and there. And in terms of "what is an orc," there is no one answer. Every book and film has its own vision of what an orc is...for example, the LOTR Orcs are vastly different to those present in Skyrim. Besides, it was just a suggestion of the kind of range we could have. No reason why Orcs can't just be particularly strong but obscenely ugly humans, haha.

Don't worry about not knowing some of this stuff, haha. Everybody has their own areas of expertise.


Zalgo:

Well, it really depends on what type of Changeling you're talking about and whether it fits into the setting that we all agree upon. In folklore, a changeling is simply either the child of a "Fae" that was switched with a human child, or the child that was taken...so if you mean that, then I don't see any reason why not as long as your character is the either the human, or the child of a member of one of the species we eventually decide to include. There's no reason there couldn't be a strain of one of the species that has a penchant for that sort of thing....however, if you mean something else entirely, then perhaps you should explain what you mean when you say "Changeling" before we say yes or no.

On the note of the business experience....well, you don't need business experience to play a member of the company, do you? Do you think the grunts down at the bottom who tap away on keyboards or go on clandestine missions know how to operate a business? Do you think the secretary outside the door knows how to handle a board meeting? If you have no clue how to run a business, just choose one of the roles within that company that doesn't require you to know anything. And if it comes up...either admit to not knowing or bullshit it. *shrug*. That's what I do.
As for the "getting together and surviving," it looks at the moment like people are more leaning towards the factional conflict rather than a group of survivors running from the government. *shrug*. At least, that's my impression from the discussion thus far. I don't think anybody has really been clear on that. So....I propose a vote:



EVERYBODY!
It looks like we have two basic archetypes to choose from.

A) Factional conflict of some kind (no specifics, just two or more groups of people with conflicting objectives bickering and fighting amongst themselves).
B) A group of survivors running/surviving in a world of loose alliances and individuals.

Those seem to be the basic archetypes we're bickering over. So....vote! I vote for A, and I know Zalgo will vote for B, so that's one for each. Jade, Faith and Kristie/Burn It...your decision. And Faith, I'm afraid you can't sit on the fence for this one. If you do, we might end up with a tie and nothing actually being decided, haha.

So...vote!

I feel like I am being left behind. I just wanted to post now so everyone knows that I will need study hall to type up all my thoughts and explanations since I am on my phone. Just a heads up. I didn't just post up and head out. School is killing me and I have no time.

That's ok, Faith, we understand RL can be a biotch sometimes, we know Hope your studies and whatnot are doing ok

This doesn't include a vote. Just more ideas and options we could choose from to possibly better delve. Also. I apologize if this is confusing.

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The problem with doing archetypes with this set is the fact that you're not just going to have certain types of species in the area looking to trade (if I am understanding this incorrectly,  my bad). Since it has grown to be so prosperous you would have many different types   coming not only to work, but to procure items for their own needs. Creatures from smaller towns around would come to larger urban centers in order to trade their more valuable or larger goods.

This would create an influx of species. There would not only be dwarves coming to trade, but also different types ofHalf human-half creature hybrids that were searching for their identity in the area where others they find are similarly like them. This would lead to clashes between races that-even outside the underground- had problems.   Anyway.. tangents. .. Each race, no matter what, would all be important to a trade company or to the underground itself. You must remember that the underground is more than just a trade super center.  It is bars and libraries and sparing rings. Ect.

These large companies have become the forefront of underground, HOWEVER, there are still governmental pressures and curiosities coming from the normal world. One bad deal with a company (maybe one company attempts some sort of black ops and everything goes wrong) could lead to the attempt at governmental influence within the underground or whatever (just ideas) which could lead to not only a shadow war between companies, but other conflict with normal world goverments.So, depending on which way the vote goes, I feel that there could be a mixture of fractional conflict on a large scale, but on a smaller scale there would be personal conflict in deciding whether to harm one's friend or go against the orders of their specified alliances which  could possibly lead to the survivor/ group scenario. All depending on the vote though I guess.

Murdoch, what I meant by Changelings is what I described in my post earlier. The one you weren't convinced with. I'm planning to play as one of those unless two or more people have a problem with it, then I'll change my mind. Probably.

It would depend on the setting of our RP, because if you're going to be playing as a human that got abducted by the Fae and taken to another world, we obviously have to make the allowance that the Fae and this other world actually exists...so depending on the setting, that may not either make sense, or be sensible to include in the RP. Obviously we'll talk about it later on in the planning process, once we've actually decided the general type and plot of the RP, but for the moment it's a "Maybe, if it fits the setting" from me.

Murdoch, that was really helpful! Thank you so much. Sorry I'm such a pain >.< Not sure what DoD is but besides that is made sense. 

Personally, I like option B more. But I don't mind if I'm out-voted, I'll still join the roleplay =)

Going off what I 'think' Faith was trying to get at, I see no reason that A and B cannot be combined. The big time government and real world involvement that these species have integrate themselves into does not have to apply to everyone. Maybe others, whether in the same species or not, haven't been as lucky with blending into society. There existence I would assume would be known by the human government and their military (this is where the survivor part comes in - Ba), and for those who haven't well established themselves in the world could be hunted down without a threat, as they would assume. But for those who did make it into the world (different companies run by different species, etc.) would not be as prone to being attacked because of their influence - not that they wouldn't be of course. But it would need to be caused by something big, significant (option A). There can be two worlds living, the Real World and the Underground.

As for incorporating the two of them - we'll figure it out. No point in having EVERYTHING planned out at the beginning, that takes away the fun. I want to give us a setting, give us a conflict trigger and let us go. Let us make up what happens along the road. If we start planning things out too much it takes away freedom. Also, it's going to take excruciatingly long.

Breaking things down into options is fine for making a decision, but having it narrowed down to two and moulding them together makes everyone happy. If war is more your thing, go for the Real World. If it isn't and survival is more your thing, go for Underground. Or whatever. It really doesn't matter.

Zalgo, I see absolutely zero problems with you playing as a Changeling. If it's what you want to do - do it. We will make sense of it because not doing so wouldn't be fair.


SO, my vote ladies and gents is neither. Bring them together, and let's get this rolling.

Thanks for the help. Haha I have moments where my brain thinks and I type, but sometimes when I read back over things it looks like my brain had just puked something up and I find myself unsure how to fix it. I'm glad someone could sorta interpret everything for me.

I am casting my vote. Same as Burn It's vote. A conglomeration would be nice.

Then I'll be third vote for the conglomeration. Are we using Majority Rules, or Unanimous Rules?

Well, if we want majority rules you have it, since I'm happy with a conglomeration of the two. I think we should double check that Jade is happy with that, however

SWEET. I did something useful. It's not everyday this happens. Now, for deciding species, (providing Jade is for this idea) why doesn't everyone give a jist of something they'd like to be, not necessarily choosing a species but maybe traits that you'd like to have - and people can give suggestions. That way we can easily see off the bat what everyone wants and work it into making sense. Everybody is happy.

I personally am leaning more towards a Mage, as Zalgo gave me the suggestion last night. Specialties that I would have I'm going to leave out - give my character's direction a bit of a surprise. With the exception of Zalgo who already knows lol. I do want to be involved with the Real World integration. Go big.

Eh, I'm fairly ambivalent. I haven't thought that far ahead; when creating my character, I look at the setting and what would make the most interest character. Until we've decided what will be happening, I honestly couldn't say. Species should come after we've figured out the general details, so we can fit it into the setting rather than the other way around. *shrug*. I think we should look at species later on, when we know more about the setting as a whole.

Im for that. We just need to take into consideration when making the general setting what people are interested in. So that the setting allows for not necessarily EVERYTHING, but gives everyone a chance to be what they want without being told no. Cause I think we can all agree that's pree damn annoying when it's a RP being built by us.

Oh, I get that. Just saying that I don't have any real preference at this point in time. *shrug*.

Okay. Well, in the mean time while we wait for Jade, would someone be willing to write something up around what we have decried so far? If we have the grounds of it written, we can simply add to it or subtract and boom. We have our RP. I think it would be a much faster process if we already had something to work from instead of a blank chalk board. I would volunteer, but again writing RP has never been my strong suit.

I am just a little confused. How could the setting the created in a way that would make it where certain species would be out of the question?

The way the Changelings I'm thinking of work is they're stolen from Earth and forced into slavery/servitude/objectification by Fae beings in a different world called Arcadia. Murdoch's referring to not being sure if we should include the different world or not.

It's possible Faith that some species wouldn't make sense - or so that's how Im interpreting it. But I disagree, that we can make things work. So don't worry about it

So you mean creatures that would, for example, only live in different climates or their species had already been wiped out. Sorry if I sound a little dumb, just trying to understand.