A
Asuras
Guest
Original poster
GOD SHELL
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Sci-Fi Mecha Roleplay
Spots Open - 9/10
Themes: Post-War, Racism, PTSD
Note: Will be updating page with more and more setting information, as well as clarifying questions as time goes on.
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Basic Information
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Welcome to God Shell, a science fiction mecha roleplay set in a post-war interstellar setting. In God Shell you will play as a semi-familiar to grizzled veteran who has survived the recently ended Orion War aboard their own, special mecha unit. By whatever means or happenings, a particularly great and powerful mecha dubbed a "God Shell" by human civilization came into your character's possession, and has since become their trusty steed and a battlefield champion. During the war your character and their mecha started out as a strange case, but soon rose to notoriety and even legendary status.
But now the war is over, there are a great many things transpiring that your character will undoubtedly become caught up in. You will play through the various scenarios that will crop up in the post-war environment, and your actions -as a powerful and influential force- will have significant impact. While there will be battles to come, this is not a roleplay in which the mecha will be wholly focused upon; an interesting and convincing character -with aspirations and dreams, fears and weakness- is needed here.
This is an Adept-level roleplay, and such I expect players who apply understand that they will need to demonstrate the criteria associated with it:
An Adept roleplay is best suited to players who have a varied character repertoire and a grasp of complex themes. High reading comprehension is expected. There should be little to no "fluff" posts.
Posts should generally have several sentences per paragraph, and have multiple paragraphs. Overall, however, quality is more important than quantity. In addition, players should come in with the understanding that no amount of "importance" your character inherently possesses will grant them plot armor. If you put down a post with certain actions, those actions will have consequences and those consequences will be certain and unavoidable in an immediate sense.
Note also that it is highly likely that collaborative posts will be instituted for certain situations. If you do not wish to participate in collaborative posts, I advise you refrain from joining.
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- Common Iwaku rules apply.
- Common roleplay rules apply (no godmodding, etc)
- No posting order. Apply posts as desired or needed.
- No strict posting deadlines. I hope for one post per week, at the very least.
- Notify me if you expect to be gone for some time. Failure to do so will result in ejection if you are deemed missing.
- Place character sheets in this thread. Await approval.
- This is meant to be a more mature roleplay. Expect coarse language, potential sexual themes, and violence.
- Rules subject to spontaneous changes.
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As a sci-fi roleplay, our setting is able to be scaled in terms of Mohs Scale of Sci-fi Hardness. I will scale it intentionally to give players an understanding of what is and isn't possible in God Shell.
*Adapted from the tvtropes page
1. Science In Genre Only: The work is unambiguously set in the literary genre of Science Fiction, but scientific it is not. Applied Phlebotinum is the rule of the day, often of the Nonsensoleum kind, Green Rocks gain New Powers as the Plot Demands, and both Bellisario's Maxim and the MST3K Mantra apply. Works like Futurama, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, The DC and Marvel universesnote , and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fall in this class.
2. World Of Phlebotinum: The universe is full of Applied Phlebotinum with more to be found behind every star, but the Phlebotinum is dealt with in a fairly consistent fashion despite its lack of correspondence with reality and, in-world, is considered to lie within the realm of scientific inquiry. Works like E. E. "Doc" Smith's Lensman series, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Star Trek: The Original Series, and StarCraft fall in this category.
A subclass of this class (arguably 2.5 on the scale) contains stories that are generally sound, except the physics aren't our own. Plot aside, they are often a philosophical exploration of a concept no longer considered true (such as Aristotelian physics), or never true in the first place (e.g. two spatial dimensions instead of three). Some of Arthur C. Clarke's stories fall here. However, given the overlap with fantasy, it can prove tricky to even classify a story as SF.
3. Physics Plus: Stories in this class once again have multiple forms of Applied Phlebotinum, but in contrast to the prior class, the author aims to justify these creations with real and invented natural laws — and these creations and others from the same laws will turn up again and again in new contexts. Works like Schlock Mercenary, David Weber's Honor Harrington series, David Brin's Uplift series, and the 2003-2009 Battlestar Galactica fall in this class. Most Real Robot shows fall somewhere between Classes 2 and 3.
4. One Big Lie: Authors of works in this class invent one (or, at most, a very few) counterfactual physical laws and writes a story that explores the implications of these principles. Most works in Alan Dean Foster's Humanx Commonwealth series, the Ad Astra board games and Robert A. Heinlein's Farnham's Freehold fall in this category, as do many of Vernor Vinge's books.
This class also includes a subclass (4.5 on the scale) we call One Small Fib, containing stories that include only a single counterfactual device (often FTL Travel), but for which the device is not a major element of the plot. Many Hal Clement novels (e.g. Mission Of Gravity, Close to Critical) and Freefall fall within the subclass.
5. Speculative Science: Stories in which there is no "big lie" — the science of the tale is (or was) genuine speculative science or engineering, and the goal of the author to make as few errors with respect to known fact as possible. Stories in Larry Niven's Known Space series set before the introduction of the Outsider hyperdrive, the first two books in Robert L. Forward's Rocheworld series, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Robert A. Heinlein's The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress fall in this class.
A subclass of this (5.5 on the scale) is Futurology: stories which function almost like a prediction of the future, extrapolating from current technology rather than inventing major new technologies or discoveries. (Naturally, Zeerust is common in older entries.) Gattaca, Planetes, The Machine Stopsby E. M. Forster, and the more Speculative Fiction works of Jules Verne fall in this subclass.
6. Real Life (aka Fiction in Genre Only): A Shared Universe which spawned its own genre, known as "Non-Fiction". Despite the various problems noted at Reality Is Unrealistic, it is almost universally agreed that there is no other universe known so thoroughly worked out from established scientific principles. The Apollo Program, World War II, and Woodstock fall in this class.
God Shell, then, would classify itself on the higher end of Rating 2 (World of Phlebotinum, approx. 2.7-2.8), possessing a number of uses for the unnamed 'phlebotinum'. Phlebotinum is a trope term for some sort of material or energy source that allows for normally impossible things to occur, be it a perpetual energy machine, a fictional particle, etc. This phlebotinum is present almost uniquely in the God Shell mecha, but is slowly being applied to other facets of technology. The reason it is not a Scale 3 is due to the fantastic traits that God Shells take on thanks to their phlebotinum usage. God Shells are mecha that skirt the line between Super Robot and Real Robot.
The traits available for your mecha during creation will convey in a much clearer sense the scale of hardness present in God Shell.
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Setting Information
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The year 0 CY marked the moment we had first come into contact with an alien civilization... violently. Amidst celebration and disbelief, glee and anger, the human populace had begun a cacophony of discussion when interstellar colony ships came across what seemed to be another civilization already out in the stars. The message was relayed, and as the ships halted their approach, they were left to await orders from their organizers before proceeding. Several days had passed in stagnation as experts and leaders debated what to do; the aliens themselves were silent, unresponsive.
On the fifth day, the colony ships were fired upon by the inhabited planet they initially approached, and the world devolved into fear. Immediately a military response was mounted, and it seemed the aliens too responded in turn. With growing force, the two factions were a snowball rolling downhill at impossible speeds, unable to halt. War was inevitable, and no one stopped once to consider an alternative.
Then the battles began. In the stellar space between Earth and its first colonies, and that of the alien enemy, ships waged war in a vacuum while ground battles took hold on surfaces to secure new and quickly-established military operation bases. With no modem of communication between the two factions, both simply came at each other without mercy. Furious battles of hatred ensued as the stars lit up in a scourge of war. For a time, humans thought themselves capable and were hopeful of victory, but as time went on it became apparent that they were the inferior civilization technologically. Vastly superior alien machines obliterated much of the human deployments, even as the human scientific machine turned and churned out newer and stronger hardware.
Humanity was pushed back, closer and closer to its original home world as colonies were ravaged or wholly decimated. The war was not going in their favor, clearly. Then, from seemingly nowhere, legends began to arise. Human heroes possessing strange and wondrous machines completely novel to humanity showed up to the fight by accident or by sense of duty and desire to help. Their machines, dubbed God Shells, pushed back enemy forces on their own, and instilled boosted morale in their fellow brothers and sisters. The tables turned, and they began their march upon the alien's homeworld, eventually reducing their civilization to a petty bug in the stellar community.
The Orion War had ended, leaving their enemies suppressed and heavily monitored by humanity. As more and more alien civilizations were discovered, the need for an ever-aware and prepared human military force was instituted; the Orion Defense Department. The ODD served to fix what had been broken in the war, as well as to create spheres of control and force against the rest of the galactic arm.
This is where we are today in the year 18 CY; an unquestionably powerful civilization extending its arm across countless stars, whose shadow instills fear in those races it hovers over. The heroes of the war return home, or simply stay within service, joining the ODD to continue their ventures. But even in peace, there are still countless issues that linger.
"When the smoke clears, what will remain for you to return to?" -
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The God Shells are, at their core, a mecha whose origin is hazy or completely unknown and who employ the use of a strange 'Grey Energy' to function. They are often considered to be alien in origin, or the result of wayward human experiments utilizing novel ideas or stolen alien technology. They vary in appearance save for their uniquely human characteristics. Where they came from specifically remains unknown, though have ended up in the hands of researchers and scientists, as well as in the hands of common citizens and military personnel alike.
All God Shells display the quality of "binding" their controls to a single individual, and after doing so do not function for anyone but them. Generally the first individuals to make contact with them experience this silent bonding, though many cases have occurred in which several individuals attempted to initially bind themselves to it with no success.
Their powers are superior to those of nearly every piece of similar mecha technology found in the Orion Arm. Few things but a small army can take them on and succeed. They have limitless energy sources, all display flight capabilities in atmospheres and the vacuum of space, and a number of advanced systems humans have yet to replicate properly.
Some God Shells remain in the hands of the human government, and are used solely for reverse-engineering. Hundreds of them are in the hands of civilians and soldiers, and are either inactive or are in use in the post-war environment for peace-keeping or outright battle. God Shells are being slowly registered by the Orion Defense Department, incentives are being offered to those not employed by the ODD to join, and rumors abound that they will soon motion to forcibly take them from their original owner's hands if they do not join, regardless of their uselessness without the pilots.
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The Skith are the "former" enemies of humanity, and their greatest foe in the Orion War. Hailing from the terrestrial planet of Jhovus, these massive, insectoid creatures are known for their extreme sensory capability having four sets of eyes, multiple 'ear-holes', vastly sensitive antennae, and fine fibers embedded within their carapace to detect ground vibrations. It's been said that not even a ghost could sneak up on a healthy Skith. Average adults stand at nearly nine feet tall and display fairly powerful exoskeletons whose strength has been likened to soft wood.
Having attained their space age technology two hundred years in advance of humanity, their strength was clearly superior to that of humankind when the Orion War had begun. Possessing power sources allowing for near limitless ejection of plasma-based projectiles in hand-held firearms, their ground war was nearly unstoppable. However, due to their biological size, spacecraft appeared much larger, more cumbersome and slower than those of humans, allowing for stellar human fleets to delay the invasion of colonies for longer than expected.
Today, the Skith race has been reduced to single population of individuals on their homeworld, having been wiped from the Orion Arm in humanities push-back campaign. They number in the several billions on Jhovus, heavily subjugated and occupied by an immense human military force.
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The Yivondan race were largely bystanders in the Orion Arm, being quite knowledgeable of war but wise and wary all the same. Known for their short statures (often called dwarves by humans), Yivondans are considered to be quite close in technological level to humanity, both utilizing Zipper Drives to traverse the vastness of interstellar space. Yivondans are adept engineers regardless, with highly compact and efficient systems designed to manage space. Their civilization is considered weak by both humans and Skith due to their lack of involvement in the war, but are employed by human corporations to facilitate intense and speedy structural design and construction.
Despite their creations catering towards compactness and efficiency, Yivondans are also known for having an incredible sense of aesthetics in their works, managing to make something simple nevertheless beautiful and retain succinctness in function.
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An extremely mysterious race that has rarely been seen and thus elicits frequent rumors. What is known about them is their appearance and demeanor; Zidulith appear as almost-amorphous shadows bearing a single chevron-like crest where their "heads" are considered to be. Otherwise their bodies are featureless and impossibly black. Many often perpetuate the myth that their bodies are made of shapeshifting black holes.
Zidulith appear entirely silent but quite curious, keeping distance from foreign races but ever-watching regardless. Their homeworld is unidentified, and only one colony of theirs has ever been visited. They are known to possess powerful space-faring technology of some sort, but such machines somehow appear missing even on their colony. It is unknown how or when they travel to and from worlds.
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The Zipper Drive, also known as the Myto-Alcubierre Drive, is a technology developed by humans that allows for near-instant travel between stars systems in the Orion Arm. Adopted from the Alcubierre Engine developed years earlier, the Zipper Drive makes FTL possible through the use of spacial vacation. Spacial vacation is the process in which the space-time fields are essentially warped aside and away from the drive (and the ship it serves) to create an area lacking in forces able to hold back the ship's movement. By applying force within the vacated region, faster-than-light speeds can be achieved in an instant. The name behind the Zipper Drive is derived from the hypothetical appearance of the process; as the ship travels forward, the space in front moves aside much like a zipper being opened up.
All humans ships (as well as Yivond ships) utilize this form of travel, allowing for star sytsems directly beside one another to be reached in mere minutes. Further systems, then, require additional time to reach. Zipper Drives are too large to mount on privately-owned civilian ships, reserved singularly for much, much larger spacecraft.
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Character Creation
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- Characters, while surely being different in many ways, should all possess one unanimous history quality; sometime during the Orion War they came into contact with a God Shell, and the mecha synchronized itself to them, forever becoming tied to your character. What they did with the mecha is up in arms, but it should generally end up with them having made a name for themselves during the war. As they exited it, they should have some notoriety to themselves.
- As such, characters should have some exciting histories to them, be it grandiose or smaller in scale. Make up a legend to your character. They were a war hero after all!
- Regardless of how they settled immediately after the war, all characters were registered (if they weren't already) by the military (technically now the Orion Defense Department) by virtue of them possessing a piece of powerful technology. This doesn't really need to factor into your biography, but realize that it has happened regardless.
- Age does not matter here; if you wish to play as a child who somehow gained control of a God Shell, so be it. Just realize that unless you explain fully how they managed to train themselves as a pilot without dying immediately, I will not accept them. There might be a super robot nature to this roleplay, but individuals do not suddenly gain knowledge of war just by hopping inside a mecha.
- Formulate your character in such a way that the end of the war leaves them impacted. Perhaps their home town (or maybe their entire world) was destroyed. Maybe a loved one was lost? Maybe the character has a grudge against their own kind (or the military itself) for some perceived slight they suffered during the war. You don't have to choose one of these, but it should be something that similarly affects them in a significant way.
- Ultimately, your character should have some aspiration or intention they wish to achieve/attain. If you wish to devise a plot itself that you would like your character to go along, run it by me. I'm very flexible in this sense.
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Creating your mecha should be fun, but that shouldn't mean you can go all-out batshit insane. The process of creating a God Shell requires adhering to certain standards set forth in the Basic Information's associated tab (Sci-fi Hardness) and by using your better judgement. God Shells should be significantly more powerful than their mass-produced military-made counterparts, but should most certainly not be so powerful that it creates boorishness; nothing is worse to me than an entity that suffers no troubles at all in the heat of battle. They should be strong, not invincible.
Traits are created that describe the available qualities your mecha may have. These traits describe special characteristics, rather than simple ideas you can manage yourself. Things like the thickness of your mecha's armor or the commonplace weaponry it employs is up to you. Things like being sentient or being able to teleport however are not things you can apply without spending the requisite points on traits. Open the hider below for a list of available traits.
Sentient - Your mecha has a mind and will of its own, able to perform simple tasks even without you in the cockpit. It will follow your directive, ignoring others, but if it "doubts" your will and power, it may very well ignore you as well.
Empathic Machine - While not sentient, your mecha can sense your emotions well, and responds in turn with a power boost, or a power loss. Strong positive emotions will empower your mecha, while negative emotions such as fear or sadness will weaken it.
BURST - With a simple command or thought, you can send your mecha into a short-lived but substantial increase in power. It only lasts for a few seconds (a minute at the very most), but grants your mecha unparalleled combat capability. The cooldown however leaves your mecha tired and lethargic.
Forward Shielding - Your mecha can generate a directional shield that is incredibly strong, but is obvious in its issues; it does not cover the entirety of your mecha.
Omnidirectional Shielding - An energy shield that covers your entire mecha, but is considerably weaker than its directed counterpart.
Aversion Shield - Weapons fired at a greater distance from your mecha are slowly moved aside by spacial warping. Powerful shielding at long range, but suffers from very poor defenses at close ranges.
Hyperdrive - Your mecha is capable of going FTL, though is reserved to doing so only for long-distance travel. It takes a few seconds to charge and has a several-hours-long cooldown.
Teleportation - Your mecha can instantly teleport short distances (approx. 800 feet at most) with minutes in between subsequent shifts.
Speed Forme - Your mecha can undergo a physical shift that allows it to travel considerably faster than normal, around the speed of a full-throttle military fighter jet. Sacrifices defense and offensive ability during the shift.
Offensive Forme - Your mecha can undergo a physical shift that brings to bear a greater number of built-in weaponry. Sacrifices defense and speed ability during the shift.
Defensive Forme - Your mecha can undergo a physical shift that increases its defenses, either by way of an energy shield or additional physical shields. Sacrifices speed and offensive ability during the shift.
Weapon of Indescribable Doom - Your mecha possesses some sort of weaponry that, for all tends and purposes, is a low-grade weapon of mass destruction akin to a tactical nuclear warhead. Use wisely.
Energy Blades - Your mecha can employ the use of some sort of non-kinetic blade weapon.
Macross Missile Massacre - Your mecha can employ the use of a missile system that sends out an obscene number of missile warheads.
Homing Lasers - Your mecha can employ the use of nigh-inescapable homing laser beams. Pew pew.
Weapon Summoning - Your mecha can summon a single weapon out of nothing. Can take this trait multiple times. Requires description of summoned weapon. Must have other traits if the weapon relates to them.
Drones - Your mecha has a number of deployable drone-like objects that can utilize weaponry of their own.
Energy Projectiles - Your mecha has access to energy weapons such as laser rifles/cannons, plasma launchers, hard-light guns, particle beams, etc.
Black Hole Weapon - Your mecha makes use of a single weapon that projects an all-consuming singularity which quickly dissipates.
Final Attack! - Your mecha possesses a single weapon that can unleash a once-in-awhile grandiose and apocalyptic attack.
Scuffle - Your mecha's arms (really its whole body) is built to withstand the forces involved in hand-to-hand combat, allowing it to strike enemies with its limbs without risk of self-harm.
Rocket Fists! - Your mecha has some sort of body part that can detach itself and fly about. Go crazy.
The Undying - For one reason or another, your mecha is seemingly incapable of being incapacitated. It can take an immense licking and still truck on, from missing limbs (or a missing head!) to a completely torn-open torso.
Twin Engines - Compared to other mecha, yours displays an overall increased physical ability in all respects. Costs 2 trait points.
Corrective Armor - Somehow your mecha can recover from wounds despite being made of metal. It is slow, quite slow, but it means repairs are technically unnecessary. After a certain point of damage, however, the mecha will simply become inert and will not recover.
Portal Shield - A close-fitting shield that covers most of your mecha in a strange portal-like field that utterly absorbs any and all oncoming material including air! The only places not covered are the soles of your mecha's feet and a ventilation shaft to ensure air can be recycled for the pilot. While active your mecha cannot see, unless its vision systems are also uncovered. Costs 2 trait points. Anyone who can identify the reference gets a cookie.
Ablative Armor - Your mecha can enter and exist planetary atmospheres as it wishes, as well as benefits from high defense against heat-based weaponry.
Final Form - Your mecha can, one time, shed itsuglyexterior to become a greater version of itself with permanently enhanced abilities. This can only occur in a dire situation. Costs 2 trait points.
Boosting Ballad - Your mecha can undergo extremely quick and fine maneuvers in any direction.
By the Power of Greyskull - You can summon your mecha from anywhere in the world. Just be careful about where you do this.
Ice-Rink - Your mecha can slide along the ground as if devoid of friction. No more walking like a commoner!
Ghost - Your mecha can go invisible, as long as it doesn't take any offensive action. Can still be seen on non-visible light frequencies.
Radar Haze - Your mecha deploys an invisible energy field that disrupts radar systems from seeing it.
Avatar - Your mecha came with a special package inside; a human being. While the spirit of your mecha is attached to this individual, meaning its functioning depends on their survival, it does benefit from increased overall performance.
Fluid Piece - A part of your mecha can be transformed like play-doh into any conceivable form, be it a weapon, additional arms, a rocket.
You have 6 points to spend on traits. Make sure to list them in your sheet. If you have trait suggestions, run them by me!
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[b]Character Name:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Gender:[/b]
[b]Appearance:[/b]
[b]Personality:[/b]
[b]Biography:[/b]
[b]Aspirations/Dreams:[/b]
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[b]Mecha Name:[/b]
[b]Appearance:[/b]
[b]Characteristics:[/b]
[b]Traits:[/b]
[b]Equipment:[/b]
NOTES:- Character appearances may either be represented through and image, through text, or both. If using an image, include it at the top of the sheet.
- Remember. "Aspirations/Dreams" should include what your character plans/wants to do/change, or any potential plots you'd like them to go through. Think especially hard about this one. Make it interesting.
- Mecha appearances may either be described using a picture, through text, or both. If using an image, include it at the top of the mecha sheet section. I prefer for mecha appearances to include an image. Please use mecha images that fit thematically with the roleplay; something from MechWarrior, for example, would obviously not fit here. If you need some help finding mecha images, consult me. Text must be included that describes its size.
- Mech Characteristics should include things such as their armor's toughness, how fast they are, systems present in it, etc.
- Equipment includes items that can be easily detached/equipped to the mecha. Things that are unique and characteristic of the mecha (such as wings) are not equipment.
- Remember: if your purchased traits don't include it, and it isn't something basic, your mecha cannot have it. If you aren't sure what is "basic" feel free to propose certain ideas. I'll clarify whether or not it is allowed.
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Baldr the Besatt - UnseenShade
T.J. Johnson - daird
Aurelia Antilles - CrimsonHorizons
Gerald Sinn - Daws Combine
Orion Caster - FrostedCamel
Vahan Darbinian - Lstorm
Leon Hexer - Liger Zero Jager
Zaas Namazura - Nocturne997
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