scifi/fantasy mix interest check

[Gadreille]

Ysopet and I have slowly been working on what was originally going to be a 1x1 role play that we've decided to open to the rest of the forum. I don't have my notebook with me, but here is a really quick synopsis of the roleplay:

On a planet in another solar system is an Earth-like world called Xatl. This planet progressed to have a multitude of sovereign nations; however, only two are currently major competitors in the race into space. Of the other seven planets in the solar system, one has been of major interest to the scientific community: Barotyn. There have been many probes sent out to explore this planet, however, it is shrouded with mystery, as it has a high amount of volcanic activity and its upper atmosphere is filled with ash. The probes that have taken back pictures and samples have not brought back any sign of intelligent life, though there is a plethora of plant life. I imagine the planet itself to be darker skies (due to the ash) with much bioluminescent plant life. The air will have a slightly higher amount of Nitrogen (not sure what the effects of that will be, will do research or make something up), and the planet will be slightly farther from the sun than Xatl is (the volcanic activity will make it warm though). I imagine it very stormy at times as well. Think tropical, but less sun.

A groundbreaking paper was published in the scientific journal of (one of the two countries); the scientist has evidence that suggests that with a minor filtration unit (engineered and designed within the paper) people of Xatl could indeed survive on Barotyn. Now there is a race to put together the greatest scientific teams and send them to Barotyn - for academia, for exploration, but most importantly...for land.

These two teams could have any amount of people in them. They could be from either country that a space ship is launching from (remember, there are two seperate ships launching), or from any other nation on the planet. After all, the most brilliant geologist might not hail from either one. Anyone is free to make up any kind of background. If a comparable society exists on Earth today, it's fair game.

The beginning of the role play would focus on these people, where they are from, what they are expected to do when they get to Barotyn, their hopes, fears, etc. The world they come from is much like Earth, but with space technologies slightly more advanced. I imagine it Earth if we never stopped the Space Race.

However, when we land on Barotyn, the focus of the role play will change entirely. However, how it changes, I'm not yet sure. Some sort of life will be on that planet, and those two teams of scientists will have to face it. At the point of them landing, I do not have a plot or any idea what will be on the planet. While I would like everyone who wants to join to contribute, this will not be a free for all like Emoria. I will take ideas and use what I can to make one set description of the world, and one plot to follow (or two, since we will have two seperate teams). Keep in mind that the plot could include Xatlians vs Barotyns, Xatlians Country 1 vs Xatlians Country 2, Xatlian team members fighting or just trying to survive on Barotyn in its harsh climate.

I put this in advanced because lately I've been working on collaboration posts (where two or more people write a post together, sending sections to each other via PM or other chatting program). If this does not appeal to you, don't join.

OK, that wasn't so quick...haha. Please post here if you are interested. Keep in mind I am fairly weak in terms of Science fiction, so don't worry about offending me if something seems off. Help me make this RP awesome!

[Kalon Ordona II]

Whoooa... it's like Dragonriders of Pern meets Avatar!
Plus space-race competitiveness. ^^

I kinda have a free spot from Emoria, so I think maybe I have enough time to join.

[Gadreille]

Very much like that, yes. Although hopefully not too much like either one, haha.

[Kalon Ordona II]

Of course, of course. ^^

So, how much sci-fi and how much fantasy are we talking? :>
Obviously they're able to send ships into space, far enough to get humans to another planet. I assume the fantasy element will be there?

[Peccata-Mortalia]

Sounds very intriguing. I'm game. I have been looking for something interesting to immerse myself in. Seeing as how not a lot of things are set in stone, and this would depend entirely on how many people were interested in joining, you could possibly limit the expedition to one ship. Instead of having two separate crews you could have all of Xatlian participate in a joint expedition. It we did something like that allegiances would obviously form between crew members. Perhaps some of the smaller nations would be in conspiring against the larger. I think the group dynamic would take on a life of its own. Just a thought. I'm sure more will come later but I am in between writing a reaction paper and wanting strangle my professor.

[Gadreille]

Of course, of course. ^^

So, how much sci-fi and how much fantasy are we talking? :>
Obviously they're able to send ships into space, far enough to get humans to another planet. I assume the fantasy element will be there?

Yes, the fantasy element will be there. Everything that remains science fiction depends upon what the crews bring with them on the shuttles. So, even if we are in a fantasy like world, our characters will still have some technologies. At least, until they run out.

Sounds very intriguing. I'm game. I have been looking for something interesting to immerse myself in. Seeing as how not a lot of things are set in stone, and this would depend entirely on how many people were interested in joining, you could possibly limit the expedition to one ship. Instead of having two separate crews you could have all of Xatlian participate in a joint expedition. It we did something like that allegiances would obviously form between crew members. Perhaps some of the smaller nations would be in conspiring against the larger. I think the group dynamic would take on a life of its own. Just a thought. I'm sure more will come later but I am in between writing a reaction paper and wanting strangle my professor.

I'm glad you are interested. The "two crew" idea came about when this was going to be a one on one. One player on one ship, and the other on another. We wanted to keep up the rivalry aspect. However, if somehow the two countries could agree on one large exploration team, then yes, you are right, there could still be rivalry within the members. I'm not sure which idea I like more. It would keep the players from being split up, but also gives us less to write about. I've noticed that the fewer players participating in one scene, the easier it is to collaborate and pump out awesome lengthy posts.

[Kalon Ordona II]

I think he meant, if there weren't many players, keep the rivalry but have us all on one ship, and the rivalry be from The Other Guys, the NPC's which we can now view as horrible baddies out to steal our glory. xD

Personally I like the PC's on both ships rivalry idea if we get anything over 4.

[Gadreille]

I think he meant, if there weren't many players, keep the rivalry but have us all on one ship, and the rivalry be from The Other Guys, the NPC's which we can now view as horrible baddies out to steal our glory. xD

Personally I like the PC's on both ships rivalry idea if we get anything over 4.

I understand what he meant, but even with only two characters I had been planning for two ships. I was just stating my reasons why without dismissing his idea. I'll think about it.

[Guest]

Cool! We have interest! Now I am going to have to get that OOC up!

I also like the idea of having the rival ship occupied only by NPC's, because they can be used as plot devices. I would still prefer two ships though, even if all of the players were on only one.

[Gadreille]

Oh, now I see where I was misunderstanding. Yes, I can see how that would be interesting. Perhaps secondary characters that are loosely NPCs?

[Peccata-Mortalia]

By George I think they've got it!

So anyway, moving on past that and to the next part of this discussion. Sorry I like to jump around a lot.

Baddies were mentioned in a previous post. Well I think the best approach to baddies, if you wanted to have some outside of whatever characters arrive on the ship, would be some sort of human. Or at least intelligent being. Personally I was thinking 13th Warrior type baddies. Very dark, very mysterious.

For anyone who hasn't seen the movie...

The movie takes place in viking time. The baddies are actually a tribe of cannibals. They come only at night or with the fog. The vikings think they are demons of some sort because they could never kill them, at least they never found the bodies anyway. Our characters could draw their own conclusion as to what they are until the mystery was unraveled.

Just another idea. Feel free to shoot it down, compound, or what have you. I like bouncing ideas around no matter how misguided they may be.

[Gadreille]

I would like to hear other ideas before I conclude anything but I will definitely keep this one on the table. It seems like a very scary thing for our characters to face!

Ysopet and I will start working on the OOC. We haven't made up any information about the two Xatlian countries that will be featured, so feel free to toss some ideas around on that as well.

And if anyone is reading along this, this is still an open RP!

Edit: Also, Barotyn is officially going to have less nitrogen than Xatl. Less nitrogen will make fires burn far more easily (and dangerously) on Barotyn, as well as make plant life have less amino acids (I imagine that our characters would have to eat more vegetation in order to get the same sustenance). This is just from a quick internet search but will do for the basis of a role play.

[Kalon Ordona II]

Sounds awesome.

I do like the separation of PC's and the ship rivalry since we have at least 4. I'm fine either way, but we'd probably have to have secondary characters if we were all in one ship.

No specifics about the countries yet, eh?
Well, we should probably avoid languages, since we don't know what languages they would have had. It's another solar system, not Earth, like you said, so I guess we'll just assume they all speak their version of an international language, and then pretend the record of their adventure got translated into English after intergalactic travel became possible in 3146 C.E., then got sent back to our time after time travel was invented a few years later, using similar spacetime-warping technology. xD

(wow, that hypothetical situation went on way longer than I thought it would. xD)

So yeah, I imagine accents and Earthling idioms are out (unless their adventures were novelized and localized for the 2nd edition transmission from 3203, after our scientists found a way to send stuff back and the technology went public and became commonplace. xD This will have happened last year, I guess, and we'll be able to get our hands on it by the time the OOC is up.).

Ysopet, Gadreille, Kalon and PecciMort sat around the gas fireplace, each with their own copy of Barotyn: A Novel translated by Xael Daugldare of Xatl. It'd taken some friends in high places to get a copy, since books from 33rd-century Xatl only recently became available to the public. The story was that the work was based on actual events in the Xatl solar system, galaxies away and more than a thousand years in the future.

"Everyone ready?" said Gadreille over the top of her book jacket, decorated with a painting by Royo.
Ysopet just smiled, not having to look up.
PecciMort lifted his copy. "Got mine."
Kalon held up one finger--the rest of his fingers either grasping the book or stuffed between the first pages--as he finished a sip and set his mug on the end table, leaned back, and opened to the table of contents.
"Who wants to read first?" Gadreille asked, as if they hadn't been all but arguing with hints about it off and on all day, without resolution.
"I'm fine with going last if I get to read the Prologue," said Kalon.
"I'm fine with third, then," said Ysopet, "I just didn't want to go last."
"I guess you should go first, then, Gadreille," said PecciMort. "You suggested it first, after all."
"Well, that was surprisingly easy," said Gadreille with a brilliant and lightly taunting grin. "Sounds like a plan. Kalon?"

Kalon settled in, took a deep breath, and turned the page.
"It was a day much like any other day..." he began dramatically, supplementing the tone with a sideways gesture.
PecciMort struggled not to read too far ahead, but he noticed several capitalized words--names, he thought--in the next few sentences.
Thunder rolled. Everyone looked out the window, then looked back with deliberately wide eyes, half unsettled, half thrilled, then returned to their pages....

---

yeah ^^

I guess they've probably gotten pretty far into their respective space program, likely going so far as to claim territories on their moon. Competition has fueled a lot of improvements to efficiency and options in terms of what is possible for mobility and survivability in space, but that has caused its own problems in regard to safety and government secrecy.

(I'm just brainstorming this as I type. take, discard, or modify at your leisure)

I suppose Barotyn is their Venus, a sister planet that, like you said, has enough volcanic activity to cancel out the lower temperatures from being further from the sun. Maybe it doesn't have much of a sea. All the water comes from hot springs and geyser pools. Maybe there's no moon and meteors strike sometimes.

Plants would have to have fire defense, like those trees whose cones only open up during forest fires, or like have tougher bark and either thick, enormous leaves that hold a lot of moisture, or smaller leaves or flower-petal-like things that can retreat into hard buds or something.

Rocks would be diverse and interesting.
Probably have lots of lodestones.
And, if there should happen to be sentients on Barotyn, I'm sure they'd love all that starmetal. ^^
Enchanted blades and whatnot.


For the two countries, are we going with capitalism vs. communism -esque, or something more original but still with that kind of idea?
I guess one country sends up the first probe, the other lands first on the moon; one sends the first human into space, the other builds the first space station; one discovers ion thrusters, the other uses crystalic fusion to maximize its effect; one develops a better and more cool-looking spacesuit, the other develops a better material for ship surfaces. And so on. ^^

Their moon should have better stuff on it than ours, just for incentive. xD
Moon wars. Totally. xD That way there are space weapons.
'cause wars on the moon can be hidden by the governments; wars on the world surface are less of an option if they want to avoid world war 5 or whatever they're up to. ^^

[Gadreille]

Information overload...haha.

• No, we're not going to delve into language, though we can touch on it (I imagine one of the two major countries speaks the universal lanugage). Anyone from a country whose first language isn't the universal one is free to have a second language that they may curse or speak secretly in. But no, we aren't going to create entire languages.
  
  
• I like the idea of plants having a fire defense. It would be necessary, really.
  
  
• There will have to be some bodies of water because I wanted this planet to suffer tropical storms.
  
  
• I definitely wasn't going for capitalism vs. communism. In fact, I think it would be interesting if one or both of these countries is a monarchy, or something different.
  
  
• I do like the idea of secret space wars on the moon. Very interesting.
  

---

I also forgot to mention a huge idea that Ysopet and I had for this role play.

Xatlians have a creation story called the Ark. We're not going to hear the full story IC, which will give the illusion that this story is of Xatl. However, Ysopet and I imagine that the Ark was one of many shuttles sent from Earth to prospective planets before its demise. It landed on Xatl, and since the people on it were a random assortment, they lost nearly all technologies they had and were forced to start new. The people of Xatl have long forgotten the truth of this, but I wanted one of the teams on Barotyn to find another shuttle like this...and some human remains (though if we go with the cannibal story, there won't be much there!).

I hope everyone is on board with this

[Peccata-Mortalia]

I like that idea. Well if you went with the cannibal story I think you could still use it. The cannibals could view the crash site as a sort of alter or even think of it as an evil place...

Sorry that is about as detailed as I can get with that. Figured I'd shoot that idea out just to get some feedback and maybe develop it fully.

[Kalon Ordona II]

How about THIS.
BOTH the humans survive, on the different planets.
One goes much like earth, because it's a more earth-like planet.

But the other.
The other adapts to the Barotyn environment.
eh? dundundun
And they can't invent technology because there'd be no way with all that interference from fires, ash blocking signals, and wild beasts and meteors and storms and all.
So they discover some form of magic or magnetism or something like that, and are all Fantasy and halfway to alien, but still human species-wise.

Eh? Eh? =D
Imagine the fire defense, the breathing adaptation. They can do it without apparatus. Maybe the early humans who crashed there found shelter in caves and lived through their suits until they could breathe the air barely, then they had kids and learned to survive, and slowly it develops and...
Eh?

I figure if humans can smoke cigarettes all their life--some without developing cancer--they can get used to ash and nitrogen-weak air.
There's so many humans on Earth that they can afford to send thousands of shuttles into space, so it's feasible for two to be in the same general area, right? xD

[Artorius]

I would like to express my interest in this project. Speaking of which, has anyone seen Pandorum? Its a movie and has a similar theme to what Kalon is talking about.

[Gadreille]

Welcome aboard, Artorius. I sure hope we get one more player. I like even numbers.

Never seen Pandorum. If it's exactly like this RP that is a little freaky, since I haven't seen it.

OOC is up. I tried to keep it simple. I hope that this goes well!

[Blackrock]

I sure hope we get one more player....

Ask and ye shall receive!

Against my better judgement, my interest has really been piqued by this. I'm busy with RL right now (hence the reluctance), but I can't resist a good sci-fi/fantasy mix, some of my favourite books/stories probably fall into that genre. So if you'll have me, I'd be glad to come aboard. (get it? aboard? spaceships? get it?!)

I've got ideas (really like the thing Kalon suggested), but I'm dead tired right now so I'll probably save them for tomorrow, when I can present them coherently.

[Gadreille]

Haha, we get it, we get it! Welcome aboard.

Make sure you get a good look at the OOC so that you know how much of the world we have set (not much, but enough that it needs a good read over). I'll be hearing from you tomorrow then!

OOC: http://www.footstepsofghosts.com/t4337-surviving-barotyn-ooc

[Chindi]

Voicing tentive interest here! But before I commit fully I have to get my own rp rolling and see if RL mellows a bit.

[Artorius]

Welcome aboard, Artorius. I sure hope we get one more player. I like even numbers.

Never seen Pandorum. If it's exactly like this RP that is a little freaky, since I haven't seen it.

OOC is up. I tried to keep it simple. I hope that this goes well!

No, its not exactly the same, but Earth becomes inhospitable and a ship is sent on a 100 something year journey with its passengers(they number either 1000, or 10000, I can't remember) in cryopreservation/cryosleep. They are administered special enzymes to promote enhanced evolutionary responses to outside stimuli. The ship gets stuck on a 900 year journey and people who woke up early from cryosleep adapt to the ship- into primitive, aggressive mutants.

At any rate, I think if they were sent out to colonize from a devastated Earth, they should have been administered some kind of genetic enhancement wherein they can adapt to an environment faster. Seeing as finding an Earth-like planet wasn't a certainty.

[Kalon Ordona II]

What, nobody wants to be first to create a character?

[Gadreille]

Guess not. I just ran out of time...hoping to get one up this sunday.

[Guest]

Maybe I will get one up tonight? I will at least try to start on one.

Edit: Progress has been made, but it is far from done. May be an interesting character to play... depends on how the story goes.

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