Noble Arms: The ASEAN War, Mission Three (Recruiting for an Ongoing RP)

[Letter Bee]

Noble Arms: The ASEAN War, Mission Three (For an Ongoing RP)


Not actually Jinghong Dam, but close enough.
The Main Thread
OOC Discussion Discord
Background Lore Document

Seven decades ago, the Computer Scientist Alan Turing invented an 'Occult Programming Language' that made magic real. The most common form that 'magic' took was the Noble Arm, which was the ability to conjure up a supernatural weapon that can defy the laws of physics, a weapon bound to the user’s mind and soul; summoned by their will into reality. For reasons that are still unexplainable despite years of research, Noble Arms only take the form of weapons from before the First World War, however, despite the antiquity of these forms, the power they bear to the battlefield is unlike anything modern technology has been able to produce.

• The ability to manipulate the elements to the user's will.
• Forces that can reduce matter down to atoms in seconds.
• The strength to withstand the explosion of a nuclear missile.

It is now 2022, and the world is both different and similar to how History should have gone. Trying to redress its humiliation in this timeline's 1988, the current rulers of China have launched an invasion of Southeast Asia, forcing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to attempt a collective defense. Foiled twice now, first in their attempt to land at Lingayen Gulf in the Philippines, then mauled in the Spratly Isles by their own countrymen, the Qing Restoration Society (who are not relevant to this current mission), the People's Liberation Army have decided to choke the Mekong River, a stream vital to the livelihoods of the populace of Mainland Southeast Asia, by using their control of Jinghong Dam, a hydroelectric dam built on a crucial point of the river's course.

Over the past few weeks, paddy fields have dried up, thousands of livestock, waterfowl, and wildlife have starved to death, and rice prices skyrocketed to the point of catastrophe. All the while, the PLA generates vital electricity for their war effort.

Even worse, the PLA has placed several Prisoner-of-war camps immediately downstream from the dam, where illegally enslaved captives are worked almost to death and only survive as they are vital human shields to deter any attempt to destroy the dam's structure. They must be rescued, and the Anti-Air emplacements at the dam's sides disabled, so that the Mekong River can be free once more!

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This is an interest check for an ongoing RP, Noble Arms: The ASEAN War, which is now in its third mission and fifth story arc, where the OCs are trying to free PoWs that are being used as human shields to protect a dam that their opponents are using to choke off their allied countries, then call in an airstrike to destroy said dam.

You have the option of playing Arms Masters, people that through personal development, positive or negative, have manifested a Noble Arm, a weapon formed from and linked to, but not part of one's soul. You can also be ordinary but not unimportant service-folk/service people: Special Forces Infantry, Air Force Pilots, Marines, Boat Drivers, or even spies working for ASEAN in Chinese territory.

Antagonists need special permission from all three members of the GM Council (Being Recruited).

The details of Mission Three are listed below:

Detailed Mission Three Summary

Mission Three: Assault on Jinghong Dam

Before the ASEAN War, the Chinese built a dam to control the flow of the Mekong River and generate power for its people, as well as to exert a means of influence over the neighboring countries downstream, the ASEAN members Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and the furthest south of Vietnam. Now that the ASEAN War is escalating, China has slowed down the water flow to a trickle, raising fears of drought while increasing their electricity supply for their war effort. Even worse, the Chinese have placed PoW camps in the floodplains below the dam in order to deter airstrikes. Your goals, Arms Masters and Ordinary Folk are to evacuate the PoWs and then destroy the dam...

Jinghong Dam

Mekong River


(Red Circle is the Dam, Red Stars are the PoW camps.)

You can find the Lore in the Noble Arms Lore Thread and the Character Sheet Skeleton in the The OOC Thread. The OOC Thread also has copies of the parts of the lore relevant to actually playing the game.

Rules

1.) Cooperative storytelling comes first; prospective players should not seek to game or break the system to make themselves as powerful as possible. One should also not use one's PC's powers to brute-force all obstacles the GM brings before them, or use sophistry, psychological tricks, or 'mental influence magic' to win every diplomatic confrontation. This is not an RP where 'storygaming' is an ugly word.
2.) Nor does an angsty backstory that fits various 'story beats' make one's character good if their purpose is to defeat everyone and establish themselves as the 'top dogs' and otherwise make it an arms race with the GM on who can god-mode more. If one won't use their angsty backstory to make a good story, this is not the RP for them.
3.) That said, powerful characters and angsty backstories are permitted, as long as they are made by players who are willing to cooperate with each other and the GM to make a good and dynamic story that isn't just 'X overpowers Y' by bending the rules so far they break, violating the spirit of said rules and (to quote Dave Brookshaw of Onyx Path publishing) common sense.
4.) The first three rules are the most important; let's just say that people who cannot follow them have proven problematic before, and it's best that we have people who can follow the first three rules in this RP.
5.) Do not be an asshole.
6.) Post length is five sentences minimum, but longer posts are encouraged, of course. GMs are also bound by this rule.
7.) Characters are supposed to start out no higher than B-Rank in statistical average on their Noble Arm. Note that exceptions can be made for one (two at the most) players who can be trusted to control themselves and not powergame when it weakens the story.
8.) 1 US Dollar is 55 Philippine Pesos - Remember this when you spend money.
9.) Reminder: The more powerful you are, the lower your Potential stat is. If you want high Potential, you need to make a weak Noble Arm that can get stronger later.

[Letter Bee]

Changed the links.