HeySeuss

Black Star: Steampunk Fantasy Space Piracy

_{Sky galleons of Mars by Flavio Bolla}

TL;DR Summary

---

• Inspirations: Black Sails, Spelljammer, Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor, Master and Commander.
• Mashup of Steampunk, Fantasy, Sci-Fi and so forth. To wit: sailing ships, airships and seagoing vessels of various types are able to, via a complex mashup of magic and technology, take to space with crews. By the same token, there is flintlock technology and cannons, but also magic swords and spells.
• Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, Goblins, Dragons, etc. Not much has been fleshed of this, because it's better to let players do that in the process of creating a character.
• Characters will be ship's crew, having been enslaved in service to a horrible entity named Lord Korzbubathul, a dimensional horror. The crew just overthrew their master...though aren't sure if he's dead.
• They have just arrived in the great Space Pirate Republic, headquartered on the ancient space station of Quattryn, a lawless place where there is freedom and danger, rife with thieves, killers, anarchists. It smells of gold and gems, fancy perfume and a whiff of death at all times.
• Ship is not named or even described yet, pending player input. Only exception: The ship's cat Waldo is a black, fey beast with strange powers, like a friendly, playful sphinx. Besides what we have up above, there is no setting stuff done.
• Crew runs according to a pirate code of democracy where quartermasters and captains are voted in and actions are subject to referendum. That means characters get a vote, get to argue, and implement conflicting beliefs. It means politics!
• People should be cool with the concept of on-the-fly brainstorming and setting lore that is not really set up ahead of time.
• Discord Chat!

In Character Info

---

They took freedom at the point of a blade; metaphoricaly anyway. There were lots of ways that the crew killed of the minions of Lord Korzbubathul, a slobbering thing of slimy flesh, one or many eyes depending on what time of day. It, no gender, definitely no gender, don't even think about how its kind reproduces, had enslaved crew running its ship, plundering and serving as mind-blanked killers on its behalf, serving its agenda.

No one is quite sure who, what or how it happened that they were able to break free from the narcotic control of Lord Korzbubathul, but it was flushed out into the cold vacuum of space by a series of events. As the haze wore off on the slave crew, its dedicated servants, the overseers and officers that did little work besides give the orders, tried to fight back, but the slaves found that they were soft, easy prey.

They woke from their mind-slumber with little knowledge of each other, and a head full of memories and trauma aboard a ship. Somehow, they limped into the Free Port of Quattryn with their prize, the only place that would have them. To stay alive and prosperous in the Space Pirate's Republic, they had to work. They had a ship; they had a crew and they had common cause. The Spheres, as space was known, was a cold, uncaring place for those on their own...

Out of Character Info

---

So there are obviously things not even yet described, such as the operation of the ships and so forth in space. We will be leaning on the magitech to describe a lot of the functions, a fusion of mystic power and 19th century, at best, machinery. In some cases, we're looking at wildly different tech within the overlapping types of motiffs we are invoking here.

The ideal player thrives on brainstorming and enjoys themes of rebellion, like the Pirate's Republic in the Caribbean. I am intentionally not drawing on Spelljammer, besides getting a slight boost to start with, so I am not apologizing for any accidental duplication, nor am I claiming originality. Most of my thought processes came from a DVD set of Black Sails, a couple other books on the Spanish Armada and privateering and thoughts on what the power dynamics could look like in space with fantasy races.

That is to say, I had a couple brainwaves and then I wrote this stuff down. But I want to find good partners to work with on this.

Black Star: Steampunk Fantasy Space Piracy

_{Sky galleons of Mars by Flavio Bolla}

TL;DR Summary

---

• Inspirations: Black Sails, Spelljammer, Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor, Master and Commander.
• Mashup of Steampunk, Fantasy, Sci-Fi and so forth. To wit: sailing ships, airships and seagoing vessels of various types are able to, via a complex mashup of magic and technology, take to space with crews. By the same token, there is flintlock technology and cannons, but also magic swords and spells.
• Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, Goblins, Dragons, etc. Not much has been fleshed of this, because it's better to let players do that in the process of creating a character.
• Characters will be ship's crew, having been enslaved in service to a horrible entity named Lord Korzbubathul, a dimensional horror. The crew just overthrew their master...though aren't sure if he's dead.
• They have just arrived in the great Space Pirate Republic, headquartered on the ancient space station of Quattryn, a lawless place where there is freedom and danger, rife with thieves, killers, anarchists. It smells of gold and gems, fancy perfume and a whiff of death at all times.
• Ship is not named or even described yet, pending player input. Only exception: The ship's cat Waldo is a black, fey beast with strange powers, like a friendly, playful sphinx. Besides what we have up above, there is no setting stuff done.
• Crew runs according to a pirate code of democracy where quartermasters and captains are voted in and actions are subject to referendum. That means characters get a vote, get to argue, and implement conflicting beliefs. It means politics!
• People should be cool with the concept of on-the-fly brainstorming and setting lore that is not really set up ahead of time.
• Discord Chat!

In Character Info

---

They took freedom at the point of a blade; metaphoricaly anyway. There were lots of ways that the crew killed of the minions of Lord Korzbubathul, a slobbering thing of slimy flesh, one or many eyes depending on what time of day. It, no gender, definitely no gender, don't even think about how its kind reproduces, had enslaved crew running its ship, plundering and serving as mind-blanked killers on its behalf, serving its agenda.

No one is quite sure who, what or how it happened that they were able to break free from the narcotic control of Lord Korzbubathul, but it was flushed out into the cold vacuum of space by a series of events. As the haze wore off on the slave crew, its dedicated servants, the overseers and officers that did little work besides give the orders, tried to fight back, but the slaves found that they were soft, easy prey.

They woke from their mind-slumber with little knowledge of each other, and a head full of memories and trauma aboard a ship. Somehow, they limped into the Free Port of Quattryn with their prize, the only place that would have them. To stay alive and prosperous in the Space Pirate's Republic, they had to work. They had a ship; they had a crew and they had common cause. The Spheres, as space was known, was a cold, uncaring place for those on their own...

Out of Character Info

---

So there are obviously things not even yet described, such as the operation of the ships and so forth in space. We will be leaning on the magitech to describe a lot of the functions, a fusion of mystic power and 19th century, at best, machinery. In some cases, we're looking at wildly different tech within the overlapping types of motiffs we are invoking here.

The ideal player thrives on brainstorming and enjoys themes of rebellion, like the Pirate's Republic in the Caribbean. I am intentionally not drawing on Spelljammer, besides getting a slight boost to start with, so I am not apologizing for any accidental duplication, nor am I claiming originality. Most of my thought processes came from a DVD set of Black Sails, a couple other books on the Spanish Armada and privateering and thoughts on what the power dynamics could look like in space with fantasy races.

That is to say, I had a couple brainwaves and then I wrote this stuff down. But I want to find good partners to work with on this.

War is Hell (+18, realistic)

Actually, the task is to retrieve downed air crew and otherwise perform combat search and rescue functions. So these craft often were behind enemy lines making the pickups. They also had some support in this endeavor. In this sort of situation, they were exposed to a lot of risk, but these were extremely brave, badassed airmen. HH-3's had a lot of range on them and they were faster than Hueys, despite the size. They're armored in key points, including cockpit and engines, which means they are more survivable. There's a number of factors why they are the go-to for CSAR operations in this era.

The CH-53 (or HH-53B's, which are phased in later 1967 and start operating immediately in Southeast Asia) has more speed, which is why they are phased in. They also have more armament for suppressing the enemy on the ground while performing these duties.

For example:

"Due to the nature of combat operations, particularly in Southeast Asia, many of the operational H-3 crews received honors and awards. The highest American military award, the Medal of Honor, was awarded to Captain Gerald Young, USAF, on 9 November 1967. Young piloted an HH-3E, AF Ser. No. 66-13279, of the 37th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron in an attempt to rescue a US Army Special Forces reconnaissance team trapped by enemy fire in Laos. When his aircraft was shot down, he escaped the burning wreckage and, despite severe wounds, evaded capture for 17 hours until being rescued[8]. Six men were aboard 66-13279 when it went down just after midnight on the morning of 09 Nov: four aircrew from the 37th ARRS (Young, Capt Ralph W. Brower, SSgt Eugene L. Clay, and Sgt Larry W. Maysey) and two wounded recon team members from Command & Control Central, MACV SOG (MSG Bruce R. Baxter and SGT Joseph G. Kusick). Late on 09 Nov Captain Young was recovered and a four-man recovery team inserted into the crash site, but darkness precluded a detailed search of the wreckage. On the morning of 10 Nov, three charred remains (two crewmen and Kusick) were removed from the wreckage and placed with MSG Baxter's remains about 40 meters from the wreckage (Baxter had been thrown clear) to permit recovery by a single hoist. However, a combination of weather and renewed enemy action forced the recovery team to leave the crash site without the recovered remains; although the recovery team was picked up safely, the four remains could not be retrieved. The remains of the third aircrewman were not found. "

War is Hell (+18, realistic)

@HeySeuss

Ah, so a Huey then?

@Jaredthefox92

Actually, an HH-3E Jolly Green Giant

Hueys will see use here as well. As will other models of helicopter and some fixed-wing.

War is Hell (+18, realistic)

@HeySeuss

So, your character's an air-force pilot?

@Jaredthefox92

Yeah, USAF helicopter pilot, flying rescue choppers. SAR is pretty intricate, dangerous work, particularly CSAR (Combat Search and Rescue.)

Foreign Legion - First Contact is First Contract

Robson got one more before the drones got wise and started firing in their direction. Whatever these buildings were made of, they seemed resistant to some of the fire, but some of the heavier stuff penetrated and that caused Robson to get out of his firing position and into cover. He didn't need to yell things out or do anything but what was trained into him; get down, get out of the way and let the guys covering him do their jobs.

The volume of fire lasted for about three seconds as Vogel's gunners and the rest of the squad started to return fire defensively. Robson stayed out of that fight, providing overwatch for his own squad. The idea here was that someone should be watching, and the long rifles were it for the moment.

Shit, Robson thought to himself, we're in it now. But having the position compromised was a given once they started taking shots, and the plan involved bringing the Salvesh in deeper, luring them with the thought of easy bait and then catching the enemy with a movement to contact. It meant Park's squad felt exposed. It was calculated risk, but perhaps they were figuring that if the squads made contact first, then higher headquarters could pile on with the heavier stuff.

He scanned the misty atmosphere of the habitat with naked eyes rather than a scope, looking to catch movement and whatever else. The noise of the machineguns working was bound to draw further attention.

It was a momentary peek, but it had him on his scope and scanning intently; and with the movement detected by the VI assist, assets like friendly drones, freed up from the combat by the Squad's engagement, focused their searches on the area as well.

There were a couple basic designations for enemies. The enemy drone types were, on the augmented reality goggles, purple. Any enemy, such as the drones, engaged with them were red. Anything they couldn't see directly was a small diamond on the display, but anything directly exposed to them was outlined. Lost contacts went fainter in color and circular to indicate the last known area.

Overlaying all this was a haze of probable, but not definite, area of enemy activity, which was marked with lines to indicate where that area, probably, ended.

Organic enemies were orange. The little orange diamonds started to pop up as the drones did their work.

Of course then, the Salvesh, themselves familiar with drone capabilities, started popping those drones and the diamonds turned to dim circles.

But that one pesky Salvesh poked out again, readying some sort of weapon, and Robson reported, "Salvesh, 11 o'clock, down below. 800M. Heavy weapon."

He took his time lining up the shot, using all the data provided through the scope of his weapon and the attached accessories that helped determine, automatically, how to compensate and fed all that into the scope with indicators, both visual in the form of arrows, and haptics, in the form of a pulse on the grip of his weapon (like an Apple watch on navigation mode) that guided him right to where the enemy was, as he was lining up his shot. He even had a little marker to show him where to aim to achieve the best result. He'd told the VI some time ago that center mass was preferred, because heads were harder to hit, and Robson was pragmatic.

He barely heard his own shot, but he felt the recoil through the pseudo-musculature compensators in the Grathik-modified light fifty. Those clenched and absorbed the recoil, keeping him on target with a follow-on shot if he wanted one. He still did things in an old fashioned way with breathing control and trigger discipline. Robson could have jerked the trigger, breathed in when out was needed and otherwise thrown the shot. Or the Salvesh could have noticed a jerky, rather than smooth, trained movement by the sniper. All these variables. The Grathik learned, the hard way, that advanced weapons were nice, but you needed a killer to do the killing.

The Salvesh's upper body, armored as it was in a plated suit, still exploded into a mess of mangled flesh as Jake Robson scored the first organic kill of Humanity's first war in space.

War is Hell (+18, realistic)

Hope I did that right. Posted.

War is Hell (+18, realistic)

-

Foreign Legion - First Contact is First Contract

Finally getting back to this. The wife is expecting another storage shelf. I told her that was going to be put on hold today. I need to respond to some RPs.

@Gunther

She has a fierce honeydo list. I've got a bunch of shopping to do for a relative that caught e.coli, so go fig.

War is hell, a possible realistic Vietnam War roleplay? (+18)

Attention: Now that my Christmas and New Year's break is over, I'm going to sit down and make a starter. However, this will be a very lengthy process as I have never really made a big advanced RP before, but I'm going to sit down and try to get all the pieces together. I advise everyone to please have patience with me, but get ready.

@Jaredthefox92

No problem. I still have to decide what exact formation I am going to play, but it will probably be assorted elements of the USAF 14th Air Commando Wing, which provided all sorts of close air support, airlift and various unconventional operations from Thailand to Laos to parts of Vietnam. I'll probably add on more conventional CSAR units as well.

So yeah, the BAT-21 stuff.