Polyphemus

World War Kaiju

@Polyphemus Ok, can I be a 'bad guy' and try to capture the kaiju and make them slaves/mind control them? Can I make a character who may want to help the kaiju? How many characters are allowed?

@The One

Good questions! What I have in mind is all the player characters being on the same team, but that doesn't mean they all have to have the same ideas and opinions regarding kaiju. So to use the examples you bring up, there's absolutely no reason your character can't have ulterior or altruistic motives. You could easily be a mad scientist or a kaiju rights activist- both sound like great characters!

As far as character limit, hadn't really thought about it to be honest. I'm thinking I might cap it at three just to keep things from getting too unwieldy.

World War Kaiju

I'm sorry if I seemed snippy, wasn't my intent. Just saying that it's a general term and it doesn't make much sense to limit ourselves to a single work that happened to use it.

World War Kaiju

The word kaiju predates Pacific Rim by decades.

World War Kaiju

This is an RP I tried a couple years back, but I was inexperienced and made a lot of mistakes along the way that ultimately made it die an early death. I've learned a lot since then and I still believe the basic plot is sound, though, so I think I'd like to take a crack at it again.

Basically, this is set in a "Next Sunday AD" future where giant monsters of all sizes and shapes have begun to crawl from the oceans, descend from the skies, and emerge from the forests. Naturally these visits result in a huge amount of death and destruction. Because this is starting off in our modern day, big ol' mecha, death rays, and the like are not yet available- this is such a new thing that no one is really sure how to react yet. Military and police forces are still trying to work out the best response, scientists and engineers are trying to work out how to understand or fight the enemy. Not to mention the consequences for international trade and diplomacy- imagine what might come of a monster attack right on the border between North and South Korea, for instance.

This is where you guys come in. The United Nations (or some similar body) has gathered a small group of scientists, soldiers, pilots, engineers, firefighters, doctors, diplomats, all sorts of experts. Their job is simply to travel the world, wherever a kaiju attack is happening, and advise the local authorities on how to handle it. The people in the Godzilla movies who evacuate Tokyo, lead tanks into battle, and unveil some kind of new eleventh-hour superweapon? You're them. It's up to you to figure out how to react to this new threat and get the squabbling nations of the world to follow your lead. Eventually, depending on you in-game actions, you might be able to roll out big ol' mecha and death rays- your actions change the world around you.

There's something for everyone in this RP- military action, science fiction, interpersonal relationships, world travel, and so on. I want to realistically explore the consequences of giant monsters rising from the depths, but in a fun way.

Any thoughts? Questions? Comments? Suggestions? This is still mostly conceptual but I'd love to have your feedback and ideas!

World War Kaiju

It's up to you. I think it would be cool if we were limited to just what we could achieve through technology. But, as always, baby steps. Achieving these things is going to be so much more satisfying if we took the time to actually achieve it.

@Gimple

That's my thoughts too, but I'm willing to add more elements to get more people interested.

How would you feel about being co-GM once you're available?

World War Kaiju

Good question, hadn't given that much thought. I guess I'm generally going for hard science fiction, so nothing too crazy, nothing you wouldn't see in an issue of Popular Mechanics.

I guess maybe psychic powers would be cool, but again it's baby steps. Maybe I might include magic? I might regret saying that, but I kinda like the idea of a bunch of druids or shamans doing some kind of ritual in the direct path of a rampaging 30-story monster in the hopes of stopping it.

World War Kaiju

Yeah, and the variety of kaiju will hopefully be enough to keep people on their toes. Quick thinking and problem-solving will be paramount, otherwise a lot of people might die.

World War Kaiju

I would definitely be interested in something like this. Unfortunately, I'm tied up for another two weeks and won't be able to put time into it until then. If this does become a thing, I think it would be cool if it got set just a little more in the future (maybe an additional 50 years?) so the potential for death rays and whatnot could be a thing, we'd just have to invent them.

If you elaborate on this plot and add more context, character sheet applications and whatnot, let me know. I'd love to take part in this.

@Gimple

What I'm thinking at the moment (and this is subject to change, of course) is that kaiju very abruptly start showing up and sometimes wreaking havoc in populated areas. They vary greatly in size and shape- some are just bigger versions of animals, some are like dinosaurs or other prehistoric creatures, others are just plain weird. No one is really sure where they come from or any details of their creation (that'd be one thing to research, for sure). They don't make a beeline for cities, usually, it's more a case of accidentally wandering into them. Think something like an earthquake or hurricane, albeit one that is a living creature that can be killed. Unlike what the movies would have you believe, it's not a phenomenon limited solely to Japan- you're just as likely to see Johannesburg, Omaha, Copenhagen, or Sao Paolo suddenly threatened.

Naturally, this is a game-changer for the world. The biggest concern people have are the occasions when a kaiju attacks a populated area. Think about the chaos after Hurricane Katrina- lack of government prep or response made things much worse. And this is such a new even that no one is really sure how to respond exactly. Sure, you can blast the crap out of a kaiju with tanks and artillery, but what if it breathes fire? What if it carries some weird disease? What if tanks and artillery just plain don't work on it? Not to mention the civilians trapped in the crossfire.

National governments have their own ideas and plans, of course, but where the PCs come in is a sort of standardizing of practices. They travel the world as observers and advisors to local governments that have to deal with a kaiju problem, figuring out the best ways to handle the general chaos. This especially comes into play with less developed countries- sure, the United States could fight off a giant monster and recover from the damage without outside help, but somewhere like Zimbabwe will need aid.

As such, player characters are experts from all over the world whose skills lie in an area that would be useful in the event of a kaiju attack, as well as researching more effective ways to combat them. A couple of ideas off the top of my head- maybe a firefighter who's got experience in putting out massive urban fires and dealing with collapsed buildings. A biologist who is studying the creatures and their possible weaknesses. Or a soldier who is trying to work out the best way to use troops against a giant monster.

As far as tech and research goes, I admit I haven't thought through it all the way. I don't want to do anything as formalized a s tech tree, but I'm thinking if research character have a specific goal in mind they can work towards it over the story. If somebody wants to build a mecha, don't expect them to roll out Gipsy Danger the very next day- there's going to be incremental steps of course. Not the least of which is getting funding to build such a thing.

I hope this gives you a better idea of my thoughts, but I fear I've just made it more confusing!

World War Kaiju

This is an RP I tried a couple years back, but I was inexperienced and made a lot of mistakes along the way that ultimately made it die an early death. I've learned a lot since then and I still believe the basic plot is sound, though, so I think I'd like to take a crack at it again.

Basically, this is set in a "Next Sunday AD" future where giant monsters of all sizes and shapes have begun to crawl from the oceans, descend from the skies, and emerge from the forests. Naturally these visits result in a huge amount of death and destruction. Because this is starting off in our modern day, big ol' mecha, death rays, and the like are not yet available- this is such a new thing that no one is really sure how to react yet. Military and police forces are still trying to work out the best response, scientists and engineers are trying to work out how to understand or fight the enemy. Not to mention the consequences for international trade and diplomacy- imagine what might come of a monster attack right on the border between North and South Korea, for instance.

This is where you guys come in. The United Nations (or some similar body) has gathered a small group of scientists, soldiers, pilots, engineers, firefighters, doctors, diplomats, all sorts of experts. Their job is simply to travel the world, wherever a kaiju attack is happening, and advise the local authorities on how to handle it. The people in the Godzilla movies who evacuate Tokyo, lead tanks into battle, and unveil some kind of new eleventh-hour superweapon? You're them. It's up to you to figure out how to react to this new threat and get the squabbling nations of the world to follow your lead. Eventually, depending on you in-game actions, you might be able to roll out big ol' mecha and death rays- your actions change the world around you.

There's something for everyone in this RP- military action, science fiction, interpersonal relationships, world travel, and so on. I want to realistically explore the consequences of giant monsters rising from the depths, but in a fun way.

Any thoughts? Questions? Comments? Suggestions? This is still mostly conceptual but I'd love to have your feedback and ideas!

Supervillainy 101

Allright. It is clear I fucked up and didnt push us along enough. I am scrapping this and the hero one for a reboot soon in the future.

@Hellis

I'll be on board if we're restarting.