Squad-based military themed RP

[Blackrock]

The year is 1342 AT and Earth is but a memory. Mankind has spread across the stars, ever expanding, ever hungrier for resources. The planets that were once colonies to the lost cradle of humanity are now nations in their own right. Two major powers emerged from the chaos, that engulfed the scattered planets, some five hundred years ago. The Terran League and the United Planets. Two powers with endless ambition and drive for dominance over Earth's lost children. It came as no surprise when these two nations finally clashed, almost three centuries ago.

You, however, do not care for that, as it was before your time. You, and millions like you, are merely the product of a three-hundred year old conflict. You are a member of the United Planet's Legion, the best military force humanity has ever seen. You left your old life behind when you signed the papers. Whether it was out of a sense of duty, a desire to seek fame and respect, a means by which to advance your civilian career or to avoid the law - it makes no matter. You are now a soldier and certain things are expected of you. First, you will show no fear; you will not stain the Legion's name with cowardice or desertion on the field. Second, you will obey orders without a doubt, even if it means your death. And third, you will watch your comrades' backs, as they watch yours.

All this and other things you hear as you nervously sit in the dropship. Below is the planet of Alexandria, named after two of mankind's greatest generals - Alexander the Great and Alexander Suvorov. To your left and right, strapped in their seats as you are, countless other recruits can be seen. The gruff sergeant continues with his speech. You are the lowliest of the low, you cannot yet consider yourself a true Legionary. You are cannon fodder and your worth will be proven if you survive.

Below is Alexandria, where thousands of soldiers, from both the UP and TL, die every day. Where thousands more are maimed and crippled for life. You are a Legion Recruit and your average life expectancy is 24 hours. Armed with only a second-hand rifle and your wits, you are expected to survive the bloodbath below. Suddenly, you hear a deafening explosion, less than a second later the impact follows, rocking the ship.

You know that this was one of the other transports, shot down and dragging a hundred others just like you to their deaths. 2 minutes! the sergeant roars and you know it is time.

Alexandria awaits, are you ready?

This has been an idea that's been floating in my head for quite some time now, manifesting itself into different shapes and sizes. Finally, however, I've managed to get a general outline pinned down, for both the world and the plot. And now comes the hardest part - finding a bunch of like-minded individuals to bring it to life. So let's get started, shall we?

First off all, I'd like to say that I've never GM'ed a roleplay on this scale before, so all of this is pretty much new to me. That said, it doesn't mean I don't have an idea about what the deal is and I'll make my rules and preferences known straight away.

1) My way or the highway. I'm the GM and that means that what I say is final. Of course, members are free to discuss between themselves and with me. However, if the situation requires someone to step in and say "This is how it's going to be", that someone is going to be me.

2) No drama. I can't stress this enough. I don't think an explanation here is necessary, people are free to disagree and argue if they so wish, but don't make me draw the "I'm the GM" card. Please.

3) No rush. Also an important point. I'm a fairly laid-back guy and I don't expect people to post every day. Far from it. Which brings me to...

4) Long attention span! It's bolded for a reason. This RP will likely take some time, I don't see it being over in a month and it might as well drag on for a year. If this sounds long to you, then, please, don't apply. Nothing hurts a plot more than someone bailing out in the middle of it.

5) Long posts. It's in the advanced section, right? I don't mind shorter posts, but posting four paragraphs won't cut it here. Understandably, that may take some time - DON'T WORRY! As stated above, speed is not of the essence here.

Right, now that those necessities are out of the way, I'm going to focus on specifics.

Basically, we're in the distant future, some 3,000 years from now. Humanity, as you read, has began colonisation of the galaxy. At one point, contact with Earth was lost and the planet pretty much ceased to exist (it will be elaborated once I know enough interest has been garnered). There was a period of, let's say, "Dark Ages" where the colonies were left without leadership. As with all such cases, the power vacuum did not last and new organisations formed. Slowly, but steadily we end up with the two major players - the Terran League (TL) and the United Planets (UP).

Roughly speaking, the TL is a gathering of corporations with scientific and economic interests. Free market, good education, high standard of living, new inventions and technologies. In short - let's call it the progressive nation. The UP on the other hand, is basically the remnants (or descendants?) of Earth's military. I think it's pretty obvious what follows from here. Nationalism, rigid social structure and overall stagnation. The saving grace of the UP is its large population, from where the military draws its strength.

Now, if it's not already obvious, what you "heard" on the ship is not really true. Once, the UP may have indeed boasted of having the best military, but no more. During the first few decades, the Legion crushed all resistance, thanks to their superior training and tactics. However, the TL managed to bring newer technology to the table, such as advanced weapons and armour, which quickly turned the tables. A stalemate followed, after which it was a downward spiral for the UP. The state of total war is a huge burden on their economy, which prevents them from adequately equipping and training their soldiers. The TL on the other hand now rely on better trained, better armed and better supported groups of troops.

Right, so where does that lead us? Our guys are going to be a bunch of simple men and women, trapped in something far, far greater than they. No heroics, no saving the world scenario, just a tale of survival in hellish circumstances. This isn't going to be about colonels and generals, with their strategy and tactics. Nor about presidents and ministers, with their endless politics. No. Just a couple of grunts tossed in the front lines, fighting for a lost cause. A tale of how millions of lives are touched and destroyed by a pointless conflict, a needless war. Sounds grim, right?

Which leads to (yet) another list of rules, or guidelines if you prefer.

1) Realistic characters. No heroes or villains. Just a man or a woman, with their own sets of strengths and weaknesses. They won't accomplish anything noteworthy, they won't be remembered, they will just try to survive.

2) Darker themes. Based on what you've read so far, this shouldn't really be a big surprise. This is war and it's horrible. People will be torn to shreds, they will die in their own blood and shit. Fear and terror will bring out the worst in them. They will swear, they will curse, they will stink of sweat and be covered in blood and grime. If any of this disturbs you, then consider yourself warned.

3) Actions have consequences. This aren't heroes as I've said, they don't need to stay alive to fulfill one prophecy or the other. If you stick your head out when there's a sniper nearby, then there's a fairly good chance that you won't keep it. Remember that.

To sum all this up - what kind of writers am I looking for? Easy-going, laid-back people who are not afraid to get their hands dirty. The plot isn't going to be the driving force here, the characters are. Physical and psychological development, inner-squad relationships...that is what's going to be important. Also, since our characters will be together most of the time, "solo" posts aren't going to be all that common (I'll give you enough opportunities for those however). Thus, collaboration is going to be very important.

Speaking of which, I'm still not quite sure how we'll handle posts. What I'm thinking of is that we'll post in turns, each character describing part of the story from their point of view. A battle is going to look different from the eyes of a medic, than the eyes of a sniper - to give one example. Still, that doesn't mean things will be out of the ordinary. It's still a RP, you still get to post, we can discuss the details amongst ourselves.

As it stands now, I just want to hear if people are up for what I described. I realise that it's not everyone's cup of tea, that is exactly why I wanted to see how much interest this project will attract before proceeding with the details. Character sheet, timeline, expanded history and more will come once I know there's a point in writing all that. Right now, I think 4-5 people will be enough to start things.

So, if you feel that this RP is for you, post below! I'm eager to get this show on the road.

[Cypher]

First below post.

*ahem* Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I'm willing to say that I'll toss my hat into the ring for this roleplay.

[Blackrock]

Awesome! That's one more willing to toss himself in the meat-grind-...er to do their sacred duty to the UP.

The question is, are there more?

[Crimson Saint]

I'm certainly interested, if you don't mind the fact that I'm kind of a newbie around here

[Blackrock]

I don't mind newbies(...much). Hey, we were all there at one point, when I first joined FOG I was bold enough to jump into an advanced RP right away, so I know what the feeling's like.

Like the interest so far, just one or two more people and this thing will become a reality, more or less

[Spectre]

Well, this is much like i wanted to achieve in my badly received ODST thread in Casual Role Play.

So, Hells yes I'm most certainly in. I do have questions though, mostly about visuals, as I am a very visual person. Colors, Banners, Equipment. Anything you can provide at all, unless it will be revealed in an OOC at some point.

[Blackrock]

ODST, you say? Strange, I hadn't seen it (I wouldn't ninja an idea so similar to mine...), then again I rarely check the casual section. So erm, yeah, sorry for what may seem like an "interest-steal" and welcome aboard, I guess!

As for visuals, I myself am not a very visual person. And I don't like to burden the reader (or co-writers, in this case) with my vision of things. I usually lay the groundwork, the contours and let each individual fill out the details themselves.

That said, I'm also a sucker for details (it's not a contradiction, lemme explain ) and I like to give people more material to work with. So yeah, you can definitely count on banners, insignias, equipment, regimental colours and what not. Although not in a graphical form, as I absolutely suck at drawing. But that will have to wait for the OOC.

We're four people now, which - to use modern terms - is a fireteam. I'd like to get one or two more, so we can have a unit which can act somewhat independently from others. Still, I know that it may be asking for too much and we can always revert to two characters per person (if you so wish), NPC's, or just go with four. Let's see what the following days will bring us, eh?

[Blackrock]

Well it seems that, at the moment, there isn't anymore interest in this project. However, since a sufficient number of people have shown a willingness to participate in this - things will get rolling soon! The OOC is currently being worked on, so bear with me, as there is a lot of ground to cover. It should be up in the next couple of days.

In the mean time, other people who wish to show their interest are free (and encouraged) to do so.

[Spectre]

i most certainly wasn't accusing you of stealing or anything, just saying it is a similar idea. It's not so far fetched to want to do a realistic [give or take] military role play.


my interest is still definitely here, however my time is not. I usually stick to casual threads because i usually only post a few times a week, but seeing this i couldn't pass it by.

I'll be awaiting

[Blackrock]

I'm pleased to say that, after no small amount of toils, the OOC is up.

Here it can be found in all its glory. It is, I would estimate, roughly 70% complete, but I believe there is enough material to give you guys something to work with.

Meanwhile, any new faces who wish to express interest can do it here, in the OOC or PM me instead.

[Airedar]

Ahem...

Well, now I feel sheepish for not posting interest a few days ago. NEVERTHELESS. I'd certainty love to hop in on this. It's the sort of thing I've enough real life experience with to be confident in roleplaying. Alas, I am somewhat of a newb here, if not to roleplaying or writing in general, so your being somewhat reluctant to let me in would be understandable.

That said, hi.

[Blackrock]

Hello and welcome aboard!

As I said above, I don't really mind picking up new people; hey, you newbs have got to start from somewhere right?

Seriously though, I'm new to the whole GM'ing business myself, so it would be hypocritical not to take people based on join date or something. Count yourself in.

[Gabe]

Dropping in to announce my interest, which I've already expressed to Blackrock. Hopefully the PM I sent him earlier today doesn't make him change his mind about accepting my request to join

Anyway, I'll post a mirror in the OOC to ensure nobody misses it.

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