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Star Wars: Outer Rim Diplomacy

_{Diplomacy is dirty work these days...}

TL;DR Summary

---

• FOOKIN DISCORD MATE!
• Star Wars
• 0BBY (Before Battle of Yavin, or that is to say -- Episode IV)
• Going with a really short sort of character sheet, rather than some long production. See Characters Tab for more detail.
• Rebellion Era - Far from Yavin, far from Scarif. Closer to Nar Shaddaa. Downside? Fringers. Upside? Far from Alderaan and open mic night at the co-op.
• The characters are 'diplomatic support specialists' which is to say, the retinue of a Senator Dona Ordo of Uslam, a Rebel Sympathizer that uses their status to help quietly rally and organize disparate anti-Imperial groups in the Outer Rim, which they are a native of. While there might be some people with significant social skills, Ordo's mission can be murky and dangerous, which means that they have, ideally, bodyguards, pilots, slicers and experienced spies in their group.
• Reserving the right here to turn down types of characters, like Mandalorians or Jedi or Human Replicant Droids, on the idea that without a very good back story and strong sense of the character, it's just a gimmick.
• The characters' decisions will affect the outcome.
• Multiple characters allowed, particularly in terms of opponents, neutrals and so forth.

In Character Info

---

The Republic has fallen and the Empire has risen in its place, having undermined and manipulated its way into power -- what seemed rational and logical turned out to be a manipulation. The Jedi are gone, the law no longer protects and the military no longer defends. The Empire has turned everything into an instrument of oppression under the New Order.

Still, there has always been resistance, even through the dark times. The young take up the fight against the tyranny, filling the ranks of the opposition to the Empire with a generation that does not justify the Empire by claiming that the Republic was more corrupt, worse and so forth. Some are idealists, others have their backs to the wall. The Empire creates its enemies -- the harder it squeezes, the more people consider banding together against the Empire. And now the Empire's enemy has a name.

The nascent Rebel Alliance is an attempt to organize disparate groups fighting the Empire from the shadows and also to undermine Imperial control of communications between worlds and provide a quiet channel of communications between factions. The Empire is aware that there is a diplomatic effort ongoing, and while it might not be ready to directly stamp out someone like Senator Mon Mothma, it has no problem with arranging accidents.

That means diplomacy is a high risk operation. But it's necessary.

That's where 6th Special Personal Security Detail (PSD), Alliance Diplomatic Corps, comes into play. Organized in a similar way to Intelligence's operations directorate, PSDs are intended to provide specialized skills to support the diplomat...that can range from bodyguarding, to intelligence gathering, counterintelligence/surveillance, to recruiting agents on planet, assassinations and smuggling and anything else within the scope, thus 'special,' a term that encompasses a lot of unconventional capabilities.

It is dangerous work, covert in nature and with a higher than usual risk profile because often the diplomats themselves are known to the ISB and the Ubiquitorate. These teams have two very simple mandates; keep their principal alive and complete the mission, doing whatever it takes for both.

Out of Character Info

---

This RP is actually an idea I had for a slightly different Star Wars RP that encompasses all kinds of murkiness and danger. Covert diplomacy on behalf of an insurgency is as dangerous as it gets; the Principal, the Senator, is well known and under observation. In the current wars that go on worldwide in our era, diplomats are protected by a variety of specialists that are heavily armed and well trained, often Special Operations Forces (SOF) veterans. In the Star Wars universe, I feel that smugglers, slicers, and perhaps even an ex-padawan, specialized droids and bounty hunters might well be part of a Rebel diplomat's Personal Security Detail (PSD).

There are a couple roles we need filling first and foremost

- Senator Dona Ordo of Uslam. Uslam was once a Mando planet, way way back. It retains loan words and vestiges and a couple huge nerds that go and bother to learn Mando'a and something about the culture. Dona Ordo is not even gendered yet, because this is going to be a player character. Take it and run with it?
- Counterintelligence - Slicers, countersurveillance specialists, people that know how to swap cars and lose tails.
- Gatherers - People that can create/take advantage of local information resources to support the diplomatic mission. This can range from bribing people to sex to blackmail and combinations thereof.
- Shooters - Experienced, well-trained folks with heavy weaponry that function as physical bodyguards. If things go to shooting, it's going to get heavy and there's a window of time for escape, after which the Empire will have flooded the area with forces.
- Escapists - Drivers, pilots, resources that can be activated along with the shooters to create an escape pipeline for Senator Ordo.
- Others - Get creative.

Pacing-wise, let's aim for a couple paragraphs a go, keep it moving. Also, this RP will start fairly quickly, so there will not be a weeks long screening process once in OOC. If we go into OOC, we will work off a 'stub' system for lore that involves "just the facts ma'am" where we categorize items and describe them briefly. This includes character information.

Star Wars: Outer Rim Diplomacy

Yo!

Given the degree of interest here and in Discord directly, I'm gonna bump this out to OOC soon. I will have structure in place for character sheets and other lore, but I basically want to reassure people that I believe in a painless process here and don't intend to hand out some sort of beast writing assignment just to get a character worked up.

Please stand by!

Star Wars: Outer Rim Diplomacy

Welcome to SWORD, hah!

Star Wars: Outer Rim Diplomacy

_{Diplomacy is dirty work these days...}

TL;DR Summary

---

• FOOKIN DISCORD MATE!
• Star Wars
• 0BBY (Before Battle of Yavin, or that is to say -- Episode IV)
• Going with a really short sort of character sheet, rather than some long production.
• Rebellion Era - Far from Yavin, far from Scarif. Closer to Nar Shaddaa. Downside? Fringers. Upside? Far from Alderaan and open mic night at the co-op.
• The characters are 'diplomatic support specialists' which is to say, the retinue of a Senator Dona Ordo of Uslam, a Rebel Sympathizer that uses their status to help quietly rally and organize disparate anti-Imperial groups in the Outer Rim, which they are a native of. While there might be some people with significant social skills, Ordo's mission can be murky and dangerous, which means that they have, ideally, bodyguards, pilots, slicers and experienced spies in their group.
• Reserving the right here to turn down types of characters, like Mandalorians or Jedi or Human Replicant Droids, on the idea that without a very good back story and strong sense of the character, it's just a gimmick.
• The characters' decisions will affect the outcome.
• Multiple characters allowed, particularly in terms of opponents, neutrals and so forth.

In Character Info

---

The Republic has fallen and the Empire has risen in its place, having undermined and manipulated its way into power -- what seemed rational and logical turned out to be a manipulation. The Jedi are gone, the law no longer protects and the military no longer defends. The Empire has turned everything into an instrument of oppression under the New Order.

Still, there has always been resistance, even through the dark times. The young take up the fight against the tyranny, filling the ranks of the opposition to the Empire with a generation that does not justify the Empire by claiming that the Republic was more corrupt, worse and so forth. Some are idealists, others have their backs to the wall. The Empire creates its enemies -- the harder it squeezes, the more people consider banding together against the Empire. And now the Empire's enemy has a name.

The nascent Rebel Alliance is an attempt to organize disparate groups fighting the Empire from the shadows and also to undermine Imperial control of communications between worlds and provide a quiet channel of communications between factions. The Empire is aware that there is a diplomatic effort ongoing, and while it might not be ready to directly stamp out someone like Senator Mon Mothma, it has no problem with arranging accidents.

That means diplomacy is a high risk operation. But it's necessary.

That's where 6th Special Personal Security Detail (PSD), Alliance Diplomatic Corps, comes into play. Organized in a similar way to Intelligence's operations directorate, PSDs are intended to provide specialized skills to support the diplomat...that can range from bodyguarding, to intelligence gathering, counterintelligence/surveillance, to recruiting agents on planet, assassinations and smuggling and anything else within the scope, thus 'special,' a term that encompasses a lot of unconventional capabilities.

It is dangerous work, covert in nature and with a higher than usual risk profile because often the diplomats themselves are known to the ISB and the Ubiquitorate. These teams have two very simple mandates; keep their principal alive and complete the mission, doing whatever it takes for both.

Out of Character Info

---

This RP is actually an idea I had for a slightly different Star Wars RP that encompasses all kinds of murkiness and danger. Covert diplomacy on behalf of an insurgency is as dangerous as it gets; the Principal, the Senator, is well known and under observation. In the current wars that go on worldwide in our era, diplomats are protected by a variety of specialists that are heavily armed and well trained, often Special Operations Forces (SOF) veterans. In the Star Wars universe, I feel that smugglers, slicers, and perhaps even an ex-padawan, specialized droids and bounty hunters might well be part of a Rebel diplomat's Personal Security Detail (PSD).

There are a couple roles we need filling first and foremost

- Senator Dona Ordo of Uslam. Uslam was once a Mando planet, way way back. It retains loan words and vestiges and a couple huge nerds that go and bother to learn Mando'a and something about the culture. Dona Ordo is not even gendered yet, because this is going to be a player character. Take it and run with it?
- Counterintelligence - Slicers, countersurveillance specialists, people that know how to swap cars and lose tails.
- Gatherers - People that can create/take advantage of local information resources to support the diplomatic mission. This can range from bribing people to sex to blackmail and combinations thereof.
- Shooters - Experienced, well-trained folks with heavy weaponry that function as physical bodyguards. If things go to shooting, it's going to get heavy and there's a window of time for escape, after which the Empire will have flooded the area with forces.
- Escapists - Drivers, pilots, resources that can be activated along with the shooters to create an escape pipeline for Senator Ordo.
- Others - Get creative.

Pacing-wise, let's aim for a couple paragraphs a go, keep it moving. Also, this RP will start fairly quickly, so there will not be a weeks long screening process once in OOC. If we go into OOC, we will work off a 'stub' system for lore that involves "just the facts ma'am" where we categorize items and describe them briefly. This includes character information.

First Contact in the Situation Room (Presidential Administration/Interstellar Diplomacy RP)

FYI:

President is Democratic
Senate is 58/42 Republican/Democrat - Majority, but not veto or filibuster proof.
House is 241/194 Republican/Democrat - Majority, but not veto proof.

The composition and numbers were generated randomly, so people should conceptualize their characters accordingly, if this takes off.

First Contact in the Situation Room (Presidential Administration/Interstellar Diplomacy RP)

TL;DR

---

- Modern-ish setting. Jan-Feb 2021 is the start of the new administration and it is walking into a crisis.
- First contact; alien civilizations are starting to talk to Earth.
- The RP starts around the time that the military, intelligence agencies and NASA are able to feed coherent information and analysis to the White House.
- The characters are the American government - vital roles include the President of the United States, the National Security Advisor, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the Press Secretary, other cabinet members, the Speaker of the House, the Senate Majority Leader, the minorities in both chambers...and others as people make a consistent argument.
- The intent of the plot is how the organs of American government grapple with the facets of the potential crisis. Aliens, multiple types, are communicating with Earth.
- We are keeping this down to the American government, with other governments effectively NPC'ed as a matter of perspective. Characters are the organs of a government, grappling with the immense consequences of first contact with extraterrestrials.
- Inspirations; Arthur C. Clarke, David Brin, Kim Stanley Robinson, the Cuban Missile Crisis and so many others. Ironically, we talked about "West Wing" in the brainstorm between co-GM's, but also referred to "The Best and the Brightest."
- Chat here.

In Character

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For most people, first contact is something seen on TV, or argued about on the internet. And while society has a huge argument and speculates, there are people who have greater access to information on the inside, but are still fallible, mortal, and capable of making mistakes. Nonetheless, on their shoulders ride the decisions, though not always the consequences.

Multiple alien civilizations have reached out to the governments of Earth, at first, and while a lid is on the information, it's starting to leak out. The clock is ticking, and decisions have to be made. Unilateral negotiation with the ET factions, or consult with allies? Bring in the Russians? The Chinese? Put it to the Security Council? What about the General Assembly? How much information gets released? What are the aliens doing? What are their intentions? Do we brief the press, stonewall or go fully public?

These are only some of the questions. The decisions shape the events, though they do not fully control them. The unexpected happens. Decisions matter, but consequences aren't always apparent. You inhabit the world as it is.

Out of Character

---

Hoo dangy, it's a big RP idea, which is why I brought in two Co-GM's, guys that I brainstormed with. The idea is to create an RP that is more about sweating bullets and trying to get it right, the sort of cabal/factional infighting that can occur within a government and how dicey these pressure situations can get.

When thinking of this RP, we talked about the Cuban Missile Crisis, Desert One, the Manhattan Project and other major decision points that had a huge influence on events to follow. The RP isn't about tanks and bullets, but it is about strategic position, trying to glean out the intention of multiple alien factions and other human ones in the delicate business of figuring out how Humanity enters into the wider interstellar civilization and on what terms.

If you have a yen for playing this sort of situation room/political thriller/sci-fi juxtaposition of an RP, come and get us! We'll be in the Discord for the RP and we're looking for creative partners!

The Titan's Pyre - Alternate Fantasy 1920/1930's Civil War

Guidelines

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• I want only a couple things over in character sheets - a name, a species, and a couple sentences of where they came from, what they do and how they relate and another piece on abilities and powers. Yeah, because we need to be writing posts, not character sheets, and this way we can quickly -add- essential characters. The stub system allows for the addition of NPC's.
• GM retains the option to veto species types.
• Please use one sheet for all stubs, character and lore.

Character Stubs

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The whole point of this system is to quickly introduce a character's name, faction, species and a quick summary of who they are in order to get them into the plotline quickly. We're doing away with large sheets as an experiment. You can even write this stuff -after- you make the first post. Also, this is a great way to do up NPC's and locations of note.

Name:
Species:
Faction: (Royalists/Imperial Power, nation, or other.)
Synopsis of Character: (Two sentences max on who the character is.)
Synopsis of Role: (A couple sentences on the character's abilities/skills/possessions/agenda and why they are relevant in this world.)

Lore Stubs

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The whole point of this system is to quickly introduce a location or faction. This allows you to quickly create a reference item for the lore. We will work on a way to organize all this as we move along, but please add this to your character stubs.

Name:
Type: (Location, affiliation type such as "unit" or "religious cult" "mercenary company" or "nation.")
Synopsis of Role: (One sentence, keep it moving. Ex. A cult that worships change as the great power of the universe and never wears the same hairstyle twice (in a month) anyway.)

The Titan's Pyre - Alternate Fantasy 1920/1930's Civil War

TL;DR

---

- Alternate History/Fantasy World with a map we would need to develop.
- Mid-1930's technology and general political atmosphere, though with modifications. This, as with everything in the RP, is an open-ended sort of proposition where players work out what the parameters are.
- Have not decided on the degree to which magic is employed, or its mechanisms, but an open to that conversation and ideas. Different political ideologies may have different outlooks on magic, including the enslavement or use of magic users in a way that renders them unable to make their own decisions as a form of control.
- There was a WWI type war as destructive.
- The trend is increasing extremism in politics on both sides, nihilism and a lack of faith in liberal democratic institutions and the rise of authoritarian/totalitarian governments. All this exacerbated by post-war nationalism and the dissolution of empires, either through decline, overthrow or losing the war.
- Vinheim, formerly a conquered province of the Korelsk Empire (Now the United Socialist Republic of Korelsk) is in a state of limbo; conquered close to forty years ago, nationalist movements are on the rise within. While the USRK is in control for now, the USRK is engaged in a destructive civil war elsewhere. All the same, they will not let go of Vinheim without a heroic effort.
- A scion of the royal family is attempting to organize support for a restoration of crown rule, but that involves navigating the parties.
- I am open to ideas, but I think there should be a couple different narrative themes - what the leadership wrangles over and decides and the consquences to the people actually fighting the war. That said, I want two sets of characters; the 'powers' and the 'people.'
- This is a very 'drafty' idea, so I am definitely looking for other people's insight on how to fill in some gaps and structure things.
- So I have a Discord link so we can discuss things because there's a lot of hammering out to do.
- Check the Characters tab for information on our quick and easy 'stub' system for character sheets and lore items to help create a collaborative worldbuilding.

The Titan's Pyre - Alternate Fantasy Russian/Spanish/Balkan Civil War

TL;DR

---

- Alternate History/Fantasy World with a map we would need to develop.
- Mid-1930's technology and general political atmosphere, though with modifications.
- Have not decided on the degree to which magic is employed, or its mechanisms, but an open to that conversation and ideas. Different political ideologies may have different outlooks on magic, including the enslavement or use of magic users in a way that renders them unable to make their own decisions as a form of control.
- There was a WWI type war as destructive.
- The trend is increasing extremism in politics on both sides, nihilism and a lack of faith in liberal democratic institutions and the rise of authoritarian/totalitarian governments. All this exacerbated by post-war nationalism and the dissolution of empires, either through decline, overthrow or losing the war.
- Vinheim, formerly a conquered province of the Korelsk Empire (Now the United Socialist Republic of Korelsk) is in a state of limbo; conquered close to forty years ago, nationalist movements are on the rise within. While the USRK is in control for now, the USRK is engaged in a destructive civil war elsewhere. All the same, they will not let go of Vinheim without a heroic effort.
- A scion of the royal family is attempting to organize support for a restoration of crown rule, but that involves navigating the parties.
- I am open to ideas, but I think there should be a couple different narrative themes - what the leadership wrangles over and decides and the consquences to the people actually fighting the war. That said, I want two sets of characters; the 'powers' and the 'people.'
- This is a very 'drafty' idea, so I am definitely looking for other people's insight on how to fill in some gaps and structure things.
- So I have a Discord link so we can discuss things because there's a lot of hammering out to do.
- Sorry if this is shorter than my usual interest checks, but the idea literally hit me about thirty minutes ago.

ASoIaF Roleplay: A Fistful of Dragons

Check the arrows, check the bowstave. Check the arrows, check the bowstave.

That occupied part of Red Harry's brain as he looked out over a bleak, sandy vista of all that the Disputed Lands had to offer. Others, less used to the condition of campaigning here, were sweating profusely and were red from exposure to the sun, but Harry managed to weather it from under a red and white checked scarf wrapped over his head, a trick learned from a Dornishman some years back. Them that had water had some, finding it warm and tinged with something that gave it a slightly metallic taste. It came from a watering hole in the Disputed Lands, something their local guides knew about, and the best that could be said for it was that it was wet.

It'd taste like the purest, coldest stream fifteen seconds into the fight, and they had barrels of it ready for after. There'd be less of them by then.

There was a centennar giving direction to the longbowmen in the Knot, but Harry knew the sort of orders by rote. The man was a boor, but he'd learned some time ago the value of holding one's tongue, even if one did know better, when confronted with someone that would not hear. The rest of the longbows were of the same mind; there were enough experienced men about the company to know how to space themselves to give room not long to draw the bows, but for the runners to deliver more arrows. They marched, but the carts hauled arrows and the means to make more, which they spent the night doing.

He'd drawn the bow, as a boy and man both, for enough years to know what the work was about. He was illiterate and had no math training, but he could mark out a desiccated tree here, a hill there, to mark the range and how much to adjust the angle of his bowshot. He knew, by long practice, where the arrows would reach and where they wouldn't.

Occasionally, he nudged a man alongside him and pointed out these landmarks. There was a mutual interest among longbowmen to survive the day, because no one loved them much and the Sers might ransom each other, but the peasant scum without money were enslaved at best, if not outright executed. Harry figured that a slaver would take one look at him and know that he'd never make an obedient slave. Worse, the bastard might decide he'd be more docile without a cock...

The deliberations on Harry's part and the conversations in the scattered line of longbowmen ended abruptly as the enemy decided to start the advance. In the way of things, they thought they could sweep the line and be done with the fight, which was expected to be a tentative affair of carefully managed expectations and performative, choreographed advances matched by performative, choreographed, carefully-timed defending that would look stout enough to satisfy an employer.

That, after all, was the way mercenaries fought. You couldn't be paid if you were dead. And your company didn't get hired if it didn't have men.

He bent the bowstave and put the string in the grooves cut into the wood for the purpose, making sure the loops were settled in behind the pieces of horn that held them in place when bent. Then, figuring that there was no time like the present, he had himself a piss right out on the sand, aiming for a nearby rock. He made sure he wasn't hitting anyone with it, but that was it as far as concern went. He'd seen worse, many of them had, after a diseased-wracked march, men fighting ankle-deep in their own watery shit, but there was a younger lad looking on with disbelief at the shamelessly public display.

As he told the younger man, wryly, "Now or in your pants boy, your choice!"