[b]WE GO AGAIN[/b] [b]APPLY ON REQUEST[/b] We're accepting applications- if you haven't seen the Interest Check then the setup for a near-future, slightly wacky military RP is below. [b]THE STORY SO FAR[/b] Raven Squad is led by Skye Rosalind Lyons, and rotates the team with new operatives, ranging from lightweight infiltrators to heavy hitting juggernauts, with more than a bit of comedy ensuing. The team is an elite task force with multinational members and origins, and every member of the team is hardened and elite in what they do. Following a data recovery mission in Austria, and the follow up to chase down a high ranking officer in Artemis Group, a shadowy anarcho-militant group with nefarious aims. Since then, the team have relocated from Corsica to New Zealand, and a new rotation has joined. [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/187468-raven-squad-an-eccentric-military-spy-fi-rp/ic]Prologue Part 1: Wildspitze, Austria[/url] [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/188612-raven-squad-redux/ic]Prologue Part 2: Ilha de Santo Antão, Cape Verde[/url] The team embarked on a mission to assault a cargo ship stranded in the desert- and interrupt a high stakes arms deal in Aralsk, Kazakhstan. After stopping the deal, the team's drone was hacked and unceremoniously, Raven were hit hard- and fought off a counterattack, safely ensuring nuclear material was safely recovered. In the aftermath and looking for revenge due to their drone hack, Raven attended a billionaire's ball in Singapore hosted by Vale Systems CEO, Pavel Andros- an associate of Artemis who was responsible for the hack. After interrogating him and hacking his systems, the team escaped a very James Bond-esque party in an elaborate fashion. Following this, the team split into two- one to attack a drugs lab off the coast of Colombia, supporting the revenge for one of its members and to capture a possible Artemis Group leader, whilst the other team raided a observatory high in Chilean Patagonia, containing the controls for a possible satellite hacking superweapon. Both teams succeeded- albeit Skye Lyons discovering her doppelganger before extracting with the satellite core. Upon return, the team has been interrupted by Skye's doppelganger once more- in fact, an original genetic copy of Skye, called Rose. She's jumping from body to body of Skye's original body using a neural uplink device, making her able to effectively die over and over again and "respawn" into a new body of identical genetic composition to Skye's, every time. After a tense standoff, the team have found the right Skye, and are fighting off a heavy invasion of Artemis Group soldiers who have followed Rose's lead to the base. After a tight escape from Artemis forces, Skye has escaped dramatically from the team in addition after a stopover in Tokyo, taking a mystery route and leaving the rest of their team at the bottom of the barrel, licking their wounds with a new team leader, Adam Kajtanowicz in Finland- no Skye, Raven in shambles, Spectre recovered by Artemis and worse still, the fact that Artemis are planning something even worse. With new intelligence coming in that Rose's blood has been used to enfuse the drug the team found earlier with a high lethality into a neurotoxin compound, they're on deployment to Marrakesh, Morocco with a new infiltrator, medium operative and support from Blue Sword to find a scientist involved in the programme of spawning Skye, who may be invaluable to stopping Artemis and their terrifying plan. On the other side of the world in Nagoya, Japan, Skye has found an old contact and called in a favour- using her identical appearance to Rose to break into a Vale Systems facility and with it, finding dozens of Rose's bodies- and an intelligence goldmine. After literally stealing a dead Rose out of a plastic bag and escaping the skyscraper, Skye has certainly left Artemis bruised, but time will tell how far they can go. ------- [b]Background[/b] Raven Squad is a variant on an RP idea I've had for years, focussing on a military / spy-fi RP that takes influence from a range of sources. It's bombastic, over the top, ridiculous...and definitely an RP that lends itself to not being too serious while having a teeny bit of grounding. Trying to save the world isn't ever going to look totally realistic, right? Taking influence from everything from an awful lot of video games and films- Titanfall to MGS, Rainbow Six to Arma and Bad Company among many others- with a sprinkle of a little insanity on top and a teeny bit of grounding to set up a near-future foe, this RP isn't exactly focussed on absolute tactical precision nor complete fantastical elements. It's hard to describe but if you're somewhere between The Expendables, MGS, Overwatch and Rainbow Six, it's roughly that with around the right amount of silly and serious and a dynamic team of elite misfits. This RP is a reboot of an old RP! [url]https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/187468-raven-squad-an-eccentric-military-spy-fi-rp/ic[/url] [b]The Setup:[/b] Raven Squad (RS) is a mysterious task force, working against the forces of global terrorist groups in the near future (an unspecified date 20 or 30 years from now) who often who are armed with quite advanced technology- or nefarious political aims. Al-Qaeda it isn't, so in come our operatives to deal with the anarchy. In a world where mechs are prototypes, exoskeletons, jump-packs, optical cloaking and various other technologies are around the corner, the tide of warfare is changing...and Raven is there to stop the worst happening. Raven Squad have access to that technology, and six of the most elite operatives that made it through a gruelling process to counter the threat. With different specialists allowing the team to have everything from a scalpel-like precision to brute force with heavy firepower, they act as a counterbalance. Where an SF team cannot penetrate a facility, Raven Squad come in. When you have ten foot mechs trying to breach a high-security Gulag and you need them removed, they come in. Raven Squad are the people that stop the world ending as we know it. Problem is, they're a little dysfunctional- and well, they're not all the most....professional of soldiers, or spies, or agents, or well, anyone who is capable of getting the job done. ---- [b]Character Sheet:[/b] Sometime in the near future, your character was Special Forces, Mercenary, a Spy, a gangster even, or ex-whatever. But they were picked, selected even for a very good reason. The world is left vague intentionally so you're welcome to dabble with your character's journey and lore up to the RP's start. Anyway, your person. They were more than just a regular operator, soldier, asset, mercenary. They were far beyond that. It means that your character more likely than not is a bit of an oddball as well. Your character passed a test known as "The Devil's Cooker", a fiendish double-triathlon level test coupled to psychometric and advanced weapons testing, truly seperating the wheat from the chaff in seeing who is truly unbreakable and more importantly, capable under pressure. 90% fail, but your character made it through, and brings something very unique the to the table- they're at the least capable of working well under pressure. Failure would have led to a cocktail of drugs being used to wipe part of their memory, and that's reason enough. Did we mention maybe Raven isn't always the most ethical? Consider that a high bar for your character's entry. If they made it that far, they joined the very insignificantly small number of individuals capable of having the most advanced technology and equipment known to the world's intelligence agencies at their disposal, and the responsibility of saving the world....rather too frequently. In terms of tech, there's nothing outlandish but it definitely allows for some more innovative, more interesting tech to be on the table. As a spy-fi / near future setting, everything from exoskeleton support to jump packs, nanotechnology among others are on the cards- but it's not going to be completely down the road of Cyberpunk (not to begin with, at least...). Modern contemporary weaponry is mostly still used but with experimental weaponry, if it can be made to work and you can make it work with all its advantages and flaws, then go right ahead. The playbook isn't compeletely open, but there's a hell of a lot to make your operative their unique slice of the pie. Feel free to come up with original, or genuine ideas if you think it might work- nothing too fantastical, but if it fits the theme of the RP. [hider=Blank CS Sheet] Name: Age: Apperance: (Written Description, but you can alter it for your own needs and do whatever here- pictures are fine too to help augment the description- No Anime, more arty/image based is helpful!) Nationality: Callsign: Skills: History: (What'd they do before they became badasses in Raven Squad.) Personality (Optional- I mean, are some of your operators are gonna be souless or something?) Tactical Suit: (Applicable for Heavies mainly but also for the others- what does their armour or combat equipment look like? Description and Pictures prefered where possible!) Weapons: (As set out in the prior selection- though this can be changed if you like. This isn't strict for what class can carry what- but a light shouldn't carry more than two long weapons, a medium more than three, while a heavy alone has access to heavy weapons and a wider range of secondaries. Weaponry is contemporary, though if you have something experimental to boot then feel free to suggest/query it if you're unsure if it's a bit much!) Equipment (Yours to pick- be mindful of their specialisation and class.) Hobbies: (Be it modelling, climbing or sunbathing, or whatever floats your character's boat when they aren't busy being badass.) Likes: Dislikes: [/hider] ---- [b]Background:[/b] Not much is known about Raven Squad as an organisation- only that it has shadowy links to the previous [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/29503-team-scimitar-an-over-the-top-military-rp/ic]"Team Scimitar"[/url], a prior semi-independent mercenary group that similarly fought against a range of terrorist threats and organisations. Though since those days, plenty has evolved in terms of technology and equipment used- and the organisation appears to silently select those who it wants through a contact named "Oracle", who recruits operators on a selective basis. RS after all, is the boogeyman that spies, special forces and various government agencies can't even confirm exists. The operatives have a comfy life on base, but holidays don't come often when the world needs saving. Based in a remote cove in the South Island of New Zealand, RS has access to a short runway, as well as a small complex in a boreal wood- housing a firing range, armoury, R&R facilities (including a pool, of all things!), training rooms and brefing facilities that allow it to be a home away from home- out of sight and visuals from prying eyes. Our characters, outside of being involved in taking out the baddies, will get a chance to chill, relax and do whatever takes their fancy back at base, and it's a nice little quirk to show off your characters a bit more too at base. [hider=The Rules] While this RP doesn't take itself seriously, we're gonna need a little here to make sure we're all on the same page. We do this, we all get to have wacky, fun characters and go for a thrill ride. If not, it sucks for everyone. Courtesy of SilverwindBlade's common rule set, please follow the following: Post length is expected to be Casual to Advanced- no one or two line posts, please. This means at minimum two paragraphs in a post- three being optimum to really flesh out your character's response and furthering of the plot. I don't prescribe a top end limit, but use your imagination on how much you can write in a single segment- if it's longer, feel free to write longer! Follow Wheaton's Law at all times. Don't be a dick- GM is God, and while this RP is very fast and loose, if you're asked to bring something into line, expect there might be good reason for it. This RP will have adult themes, and romance is a part of that if you want it to be- however, nothing that the Gods of RPG wouldn't want on the public side when smut is concerned. If you want to go beyond, that shit goes off this RP into 1x1 if it is 18+ in any manner. Before that though, be my guest. Equally, I have no bloody problem with a bit of fucking swearing, you bunch of cunts, but don't take it to excess, all right, fuckers? A sense of humour is not optional. Please be good-natured and good-humoured to one another in the OOC. Minimum post of one per week, per person. If you can't post, please mention in the OOC or drop me a PM. If it's unexpected - i.e. family emergency, your internet goes out, etc - then just let me know when you come back, and I'll catch you up. These things happen. It is not my job to chase you to post! If you're interested enough to be here in the first place, then it's up to you to post. If you're 'too lazy' to keep up, then I'm too lazy to chase your arse to get you to do it. It's a matter of manners and etiquette. All characters are part of the military unit mentioned in the blurb above. No bad guys, no mercs, no foreign characters. This is to make things easier and more straightforward, and to keep internal consistency. Don't talk down to people. I don't care how much knowledge of real-world weapons and systems you might have, or how much of an encyclopedia on legs you are about such things. This is my world, and it works how I want it to. If you're trying to be a smartarse because you've found a 'loophole', then you're not playing in the spirit of things, and you should probably leave. That's even with an admittedly loose playbook. If I don't know about it, then it doesn't exist. You may have this amazing secret plot worked out for your character - but if you don't tell me about it, then it ain't happening. Because I've already got a storyline worked out, and if it doesn't fit, then it's not going in. Same with technology and whatever you 'think' it should be like- I am open to ideas, but tell me if you think it's something that makes you say "That might be too far out there". This is a near-future setting, and as such, isn't madly fantastical. Sure, mechs, exoskeletons and cloaking may be a thing, but there isn't interdimensional travel, let alone even interplanetary travel. No aliens, no anime, no high-school dramas either. There is no magic or supernatural content. Please respect the setting and keep it in mind- there's plenty of ridiculous and cool shit on offer, so play with that here- keep the other material to other RPs. GM's word is final. I appreciate people wanting to help, but final approval for plot, lore, and characters comes from me. Though, by all means, please feel free to make suggestions and help others with ideas and information where possible, and point out if something isn't there or working when it should be, because that helps us all. Have fun everyone! [/hider] -------------------------------------------------------------- [hider=More Setup - Character Classes] Here's how it works. The RP functions around approximately six characters (can be more or less!)- and focusses upon the team having different skills and specialities, as well as entirely different approaches to combat. While there's three main classes, within those their playstyle may be completely different- and may bring a very unique ability that is class-defying. Each character can also have a path to upgrades- after each operation, they are able to use new technologies, experimentally given out to help them get a further edge. While I'm not someone to put into place strict rules, I'd prefer two of each in each class and a male and female in each class to really help the flavour of the RP gel (we can't have all infiltrators and snipers!), as well as a bit more variety in origins- but will happily accept anyone who has an interesting idea and can make it work, irrespective. This isn't all prescriptive- they're put in as ideas and to start of the process of what the team might look like. Classes can also meld a bit- Medium characters can sometimes aim to go for lighter loadouts, or Heavies may choose to go for close-quarters arrangements over heavier weaponry. If a slot is taken, please try and fill another one (or post below if you have an idea that you'd like to use!) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Light" or "Infiltrator" Characters Stealthy types, sharpshooter types, all-round silent assassins, here ye be. These characters are all relatively unarmored, unable to stand up to much in a firefight- often only coming to that as a necessity. But they have ludicrous amounts of mobility and are able to provide support and some assault help in different ways from different perspectives- they're snipers, infiltrators, hackers and parkour specialists- with these characters often being the masters of stealth thanks to their talent and optical cloaking. They're agile, often more than not to almost cat-like levels of speed, freedom of movement using various tech such as grappling hooks to wall-adhesive gloves, wingsuits and ropes- and are capable in CQC thanks to Krav Maga or other fighting styles. They're potent at working on their own, but as a part of a wider team, add an enhanced intelligence and support function. Think Sam Fisher, or Black Widow, or something down that line. They often work as good sabotage experts too, working in the shadows of the main team's work- and have the widest range of infiltration and exfiltration equipment, often the most exotic of the bunch. They're the lone wolves of the team, but they can make the enemy look twice before they get hit. Five Common Talents: -Excellent at sneaking and stealth- with or without cloaking, they're ghosts, and incredibly efficient sneaky people -High levels of agility (Parkour) -Sabotage (Explosives, Mines) -Hacking -Sniping -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Medium" or "Assault" Characters The Swiss Army Knives of the team look here. For those who want a slice of everything. Characters who are well armored, able to take a few rounds, but not like the "Heavy" characters- they are a comfortable in between. They form the assault element of fire- and they offer a lot of versatility through carrying a lightweight exoskeleton- using jump-packs to double jump, wall run and basically throw themselves up into positions that often none of the team could with that level of firepower, allowing them to hammer fire from pretty much any angle using slightly heavier weapons than a typical SOF operator would use- be that LMGs, automatic shotguns, MGLs and high-capacity SMGs. If they forego that, often they make up for it with a different unique ability that is firepower or defence-focussed. They're real jack of trades, and often bring a bit more to the fight, with significant room to specialise and deliver a unique talent that no class can really pin down. Put short, an Assault character isn't a bland choice- they literally will do everything, from the quieter work to the all-guns blazing firefights, but they're not the best at either spectrum. But add speed and firepower together and you get a package that can usually make any situation work. The closest comparison one can think of are the "Pilots" from the Titanfall universe- a perfect blend of fast and hard-hitting in a hot firefight. They're nowhere near as agile as the lights, but offer a lot more momentum- allowing them to flank and provide fire from any angle. They also have special abilities of their own that neither class has- be that the deployment of a personal protective bubble, a personal drone, or anything else that pertains to the fact that they carry a bit more into the fight than a typical operator would. Five Common Talents: -Balanced Operative (Jack of all Trades) -Jump-Pack based mobility -Versatility -Unique Abilities -Fast in Firefights ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Heavy" or "Juggernaut" Characters Lots of firepower, brute force, big explosions. No less sophisticated than the rest of the team but just a lot louder, Heavies are for those who just want to blow shit up and get blown up. These characters are giants. Literally, they're commonly over seven foot and immensely tall, strong, and able to basically punch through anything they want. People, walls, armour, anything. And that's without their heavy armour! In their super-heavy armor clad in head to toe with Trophy Systems to boot, are nigh on impossible to take out with most munitions- which means that more often than not, they're the centre of attention, the guy or girl turning up fire to the next level, and Raven Squad has TWO OF THEM. They're a Boss Battle for real, and you bet they enjoy that ego trip. Even up close, they're often absolute beasts in CQC without weaponry- often carrying melee weapons like an axe or a mace to club people they can't get with any of the plethora of weapons they carry. While a light might make that work through silently picking people off, a heavy will make those people shit themselves- one-on-ten, you probably can't win that fight unless you're very specially skilled and that is exactly how they work. After all, a heavy isn't often stupid if they've made it into Raven Squad- they're often far smarter than you think. The Mountain from Game of Thrones? Nah, this giant can do much, much more, they're Knights of the warzone. Think almost the Juggernauts from MW2, or well, the Heavy from TF2, with a lot more armour and a lot more versatility. They use heavy weaponry and carry even more support weaponry that puts them almost on the level with a mini-mech- from miniguns to automatic grenade launchers, flamethrowers to prototype electric or laser-based weaponry, or SMGs, heavy pistols, and all sorts of exotic secondary weapons that allows them to take on a wide variety of foes- specialising in AT on top of their usual anti-personel usage. For them, might is right- and bar much, they are incredibly difficult to counter. They're killable all right, but it takes a lot. They do suffer from the least versatility in infiltrations and their sheer size and operations weight means that they often need special methods of insertion. But do you think that they don't make a big deal about it? Not when they're the boss battles of the warzone. Five Talents: -An actual bullet sponge -Close Quarter Beasts -Versatility in Combat -Heavy Weaponry -Terrifying, centre of attention, frontline operatives [/hider] ------------ Post your CSs below, and I'll review them before accepting- then once we get those all in we'll get started! I'm thin on details at the moment at just how things will kick off, but it'll give a nice idea of the world and a good chance to showcase your characters!