[b]Mass Effect: Underworld[/b]

[i]“In other news, the Council has recently denied reports of a Prothean artifact being discovered in the Terminus systems, calling them ‘rumours spread by attention seeking treasure hunters.’ Recent actions by major organisations in the Terminus suggest otherwise - this reporter thinks the Artifact is very real, and the council doesn’t want us to have it. To all the organisations out there hunting the artifact, good for you. Its about time the council shared their toys with the rest of us.
I’m Toruk, and this is Omega News.”[/i]

Where there is free civilisation there is crime, and where there is crime, someone will step above the rank and file to organise it. The year 2178CE is no different to any other in this regard, and despite recent setbacks for many of the less organised, for the more powerful groups its business as usual. The galaxy seems to be at peace for now, with no major conflicts brewing, and that is good for business, whatever the business may be.

Only one unusual event is causing ripples among these circles right now. There are rumours circulating across the galaxy that a Prothean artifact of unprecedented power has been located on a remote world in the Terminus systems by a tiny mining corporation no-one had heard of until now. Any Prothean artifact has the potential to advance civilisation by hundreds of years, and that places these artifacts among the most valuable items known to any race, if not [i]the[/i] most valuable. Normally they are snapped up by the Council as soon as they are found, but in this case a rare opportunity has arisen - the Artifact’s precise location is unknown and it is deep within the lawless Terminus systems. The Council has been unable to retrieve it so far, and whoever [i]does[/i] manage this feat stands to make a fortune large enough to buy a small planet with, as well as earn instant fame across the galaxy.

Needless to say, few are in as good a position to embark on such a risky endeavour as the lawless princes of the underworld that already call space such as the Terminus and Attican Traverse their home, and have hordes of loyal minions to do their bidding. Of course, the original finder of the artifact is still around, and probably already planning out his retirement as he prepares to transport the artifact to the Council. Action will need to be swift and decisive for any crime lord-turned artifact hunter to have a chance at the biggest score in recent history. Not only this, but every other organisation out there is also gunning for the artifact and the Council isn’t going to just stand back and wait for less-than-trustworthy organisations to bring it to them. The only good thing in the whole mess is that the truly mighty power blocs like Aria and the Shadow Broker have decided not to get involved with such a risky and volatile situation. They already have power, influence and a fortune and risking it all to get more just isn’t their style, especially not with the many other concerns that plague them.

Even those organisations that aren’t planning to get involved with the artifact hunt stand to gain from the whole situation. While others scramble for the artifact, they can consolidate and expand their power and influence.

Across the galaxy, boardrooms, bars, HQs and hideouts are ringing with the sound of the some of the more brilliant and power hungry beings plotting how best to profit from the situation. One thing is certain. There [i]will[/i] be profit.

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Everyone has heard of Aria, Cerberus, The Shadow Broker, Blue Suns, Eclipse and Blood Pack, but the galaxy is a big place, and not even these giants can hope to be everywhere at once. A great many other groups of people band together and form organisations and networks to make their lives on the wrong side of the law easier. Most of these organisations don’t last the year before being torn down, either by outside influence or from within, but a few make it and become real players on the wide and varied field of organised crime. This RP is about those organisations. They can range from highly illegal drug cartels, to organised smuggling rings, to research firms that leave ethics at the door, to information brokers, or even a simple and mostly legal mercenary organisation. This RP presents a playground for the criminal masterminds of every stripe, and while the law is around I encourage you the player to be imaginative and go mad with power. If controlling shadow empires beyond the law and competing with your fellows for petty reasons is your thing, this is the RP for you.

This RP takes place five years before the events of Mass Effect 1, in the same continuity as its spiritual predecessor Mass Effect: Nova. Events that happened in Nova happened in the history of Underworld, and though they have very little bearing on the RP, they may occasionally be referenced. Please take into account the time the RP is set in, the Geth, Collectors and Reapers aren’t around right now, Thermal Clips haven’t been invented and a variety of other things are yet to occur.

The game is run by me, the GM (Sundered Echo). Players control their organisations in the entirety, but control ends there. A main plot will exist that I will control, though it is usually up to you how much your organisation gets involved in it. Ally or fight with each other, plot and scheme and generally indulge in intrigue. The world is a living one and will react to your actions, so don’t be afraid to be imaginative and varied in your interactions. The game is as much about exploration of the Mass Effect setting as it is about my plot, and people are encouraged to interact with no regard to the plot whatsoever.

[b]The rules and standards.[/b]
1. While a considerable amount of pettiness is to be expected from the kind of characters in this game, it is to remain in character. We’re all friends in the OOC, and I will not tolerate petty disagreements and fighting for any reason. I am the final arbiter in disputes, and anyone that disagrees will get a visit by a Spectre whose sole purpose will be to ruin your leaders (final) day.

2. I will not tolerate Mary Sue Cerberus agents, Spectres, organisations that make no sense or act incredibly out of character for the sake of power. Organisations that magically acquire far more assets than they realistically could are also not tolerated, and those whose characters are ‘secretly’ working for some other force (like Cerberus or the Council) without informing me well beforehand are also not tolerated. Such characters or organisations will be promptly introduced to Saren.

3. This is an RP, not a strategy simulator. The purpose is not to ‘win the game.’ Organisations made for the sole purpose of wiping out every other organisation will not be accepted. While a certain degree of conflict is expected, remember that we are [i]all[/i] here to have fun, and being stomped into the ground is very rarely a person's definition of fun. If I feel it necessary, I will demonstrate the old saying ‘There is always a bigger robotic space cuttlefish’ to you.

4. Technology is currently at pre-Mass Effect 1 levels. While this has little bearing on the larger scale, references to Thermal Clips or guns that are as yet not invented are highly frowned upon and while not quite a Spectre worthy offense, still should not be done. If you don’t know whether something is acceptable, ask. I and the other players can probably tell you.

5. It is very possible that organisations will be destroyed and leaders killed in the course of the game. While I will not likely carry out such destructions myself, the other players organisations are quite capable of such, especially when allied together.

6. I expect posts to be two good paragraphs at least. While I don’t require huge posts every time, single paragraph speedposts are frowned upon heavily. Don’t do them.

7. Real Life comes first. I understand this, and if you feel the need to take a leave of absence that is totally alright. However, and I cannot emphasise this enough, please [i]tell me[/i] that you are doing so. It only takes logging on for 60 seconds and writing a very short post saying you won’t be around for a while because of real life to tell me this. That minute of your time will save me and fellow players hours of worrying should you disappear. That being said, anyone who disappears without a trace for two weeks straight will have their organisation torn apart by Spectres, as I will assume you are gone for good.

8. If someone hasn’t posted for a while and they’re holding everything up after a few days, don’t worry about posting order. It’s going to be a loose order as it is; just give everyone a chance to reply before you go ahead. An exception to this rule is if your characters are in a conversation that doesn’t affect anyone else, which I do ask you refrain from speed posting and consider a collab.

[hider=So how will it all work?]

Some nation RPs require you to keep a massive spreadsheets worth of notes and numbers to keep your empire in line. While you are welcome to make a spreadsheet for this, I have tried to keep things simple to avoid that being a necessity. That being said, there are a number of considerations to take into account.

Combat:
The all important act of murdering your rivals will be carried out as normal PVP. That is to say, there will not be a numerical system to determine the winner, rather it is based on the collaboration of two players. This is to encourage combat in a less coldly logical and more random and personal way. On the other hand, if I find out that players are not respecting each other in battle situations, I will step in and determine the outcome myself. The rules are much like those of the arena. No auto-hitting, you describe your attack, the opponent describes how they react to it.

Some players may prefer it if I judge the outcome of a fight regardless. This is fine, simply say so and I shall step in to determine the outcome of a battle, though my judgement will always be final.

Resources:
That is to say, Credits. No precise number of credits will exist, due in no small part to my not wanting to play Galactic economy simulator. Each player should keep a general idea of their income at any given time and act accordingly, acquiring assets that could believably be acquired. From time to time, I may post results of events that will change the income of some or all organisations. It is important these are taken into consideration. If you feel your organisation hasn’t been doing well, you are welcome to lower your income, but it can only be raised by me. If you believe you’ve been doing well financially and I haven’t acknowledged it, ask me to give you a raise. I might not go along with it, but if the reasons are sound I probably will.

Material assets such as starships and facilities [i]do[/i] have precise numbers attached, and it is up to you to keep track of losses and gains. If I notice numbers are not being kept up to date, I will be unhappy.

There is no rigid turn structure, so it is possible to buy up quite a lot of assets very quickly, but before you start making plans to buy an armada, keep in mind that if I think you’re spending more than your organisation can manage there will be effects, most likely reduction in finance but potentially other interesting things too.

Mercenaries and You:
While some Organisations have adequate fighting forces of their own or are indeed based around a fighting force, many less combative Organisations may have only a token fighting force of their own. In such cases these Organisations will often turn to the major Merc Groups of the Terminus Systems for aid: Blue Suns, Blood Pack and Eclipse. While expensive, this option provides an Organisation with an instant and powerful fighting force. However, there are a number of drawbacks to this.

If your Organisation uses mercenary forces, you are limited to giving them their mission objectives, they will choose how to accomplish the task. Mercenary groups will not fight enemy forces containing their own personnel e.g. - Eclipse will not battle against an enemy with other Eclipse under their command. Eclipse would gladly fight Blue Suns or Blood Pack though.

If a mission you assign Mercenary forces to fails and the Merc forces are destroyed, you will be at risk of losing the contract with the Mercenaries. They may forgive one loss, but repeated losses will certainly drive them away.

If one of these groups decides they can gain more from the mission by cutting you out of it, they probably will. Sending them to directly take the Artifact is asking for trouble!

Information Broker:
Organisations with this specialty will, from time to time, receive intel about rival player controlled Organisations, among other things. The nature and extent of the intel will vary, and will always be determined by me, the GM. Information Brokers that use their Organisation in a particularly overt manner will likely receive less intel drops as contacts are spooked by the breaking of the Status Quo.
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On Nation Sheets:
The Organisation sheet presented here has been written to attempt to fit as wide a range of possible Organisations and structures as possible, but I am aware of the fact that it may not fit all possibilities. If you have an idea for an Organisation that does not fit this sheet, feel free to disregard part or all of it. Do let me know beforehand if you take this route though.

[hider=Organisation CS:]

Organisation Name: All organisations have names or at least designations of some sort.

Organisation Leader: The leader of your organisation. The man or woman at the top, the head honcho, the boss, the one who calls the shots, etc.

Important Figures: Aside from the leader, who are the important people in your Organisation?

Organisation Specialisation: Your organisation, even if they dabble in many activities, will have one or two things they focus on. These are generally either the things most important to the leader or the things that generate the most power/influence for your Organisation.

Organisation Type: This does not apply to all organisations, however for some it can be easier to state the type rather than going into depth about specialisation. Examples include but are not limited too: Mercenary Company, Information Brokerage Agency, Smugglers Coalition, Illegal Research Group, Terrorist Group and Drug Cartel.

Organisation Income Source: The Galaxy runs on Credits, you’re no exception. Where does the Organisations money come from?

Legality: If the council were to appraise your organisation, would they consider you to operate an extremely illegal operation breaking numerous laws or would they consider you to be barely skirting the laws and otherwise fairly good citizens? Most will likely be somewhere between these extremes.

Organisation Base: The location your Organisation uses as its primary headquarters. Give a brief description of the location and structures the Organisation uses as its base of operations. If your Headquarters is mobile or decentralised, please state this here and give a brief description of how this is accomplished.

Organisation Assets: List all major assets your organisation possesses. This includes Starships facilities, territory and major contacts

Organisation Relations: What are your relations with the other player Organisations? This should be discussed with the player who the Organisation belongs to, and can be anything from working partnership to worst enemies or somewhere in between. Perhaps you don’t even know their name.

Organisation History: A brief history of your organisation.
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[hider=Character Sheet for important members of the Organisation:]
Name: This should be obvious. If you are Hanar, please list both face and soul names.

Race: All Mass Effect races are allowed excluding Geth, Raloi and Yahg. Elcor, Volus and Hanar characters will be subject to extra GM scrutiny. These are not joke races and your character is not a joke.

Gender: This should also be obvious. Asari are mono-gendered.

Age: In Earth years, because Earth years are easy to use as the standard. Please make this race appropriate. If you wish, you may also list your characters age in Council standard years and/or the years of their homeworld.

Position: What position do they hold in the organisation?

Appearance: What your character looks like. Images or a written description are both acceptable, but please no anime pictures. I cannot take a crimelord seriously if he has gigantic eyes and stick arms.

Background: A brief background for your character. This should include how they attained their position in the organisation. Leaders must have a bio, but other characters may skip this part of the bio if they choose to.

Positive Traits: The skills and good attributes of your character, and any combat abilities the character possesses should also be listed here.

Negative Traits: What flaws does your character have? Everyone has flaws, and criminal leaders are no exception, in fact they are likely to be extreme examples.
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