I think you've got the right on this one Reinmar. I was definitely thinking of the struggle against the Karaken as more desperate, new-BSG stuff instead of the shiny, hopeful, old-BSG stuff. I do still stand by the idea that they must have a lot of experience in crossing cultural barriers, but the tactics they use to do so can certainly be entirely free of manipulation.
I do like the reason behind their being there, but it worries me. If they do not have access to much in the way of meta-species naturally, then we'll have to seriously limit the available power sets for members of the Supergroup. I'm not down with that.
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We talked about this a few posts ago and zprophet decided that if you could articulate what the power is and why you have it using either technology, natural training, or psionics you would be good go. I think it was on page 1 or so of the thread.
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Originally Posted by heffroncm
If they do not have access to much in the way of meta-species naturally, then we'll have to seriously limit the available power sets for members of the Supergroup. I'm not down with that.
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Ahh, reread the post. Sounds like they can get access to basically everything through tech or member species. With their evolutionary leap of "psionics" basically following in the same trend as the meta-splosion on Earth, I don't see that as being a very good draw for them here. I like the original idea, that they have charted this world as one of a number in the potential path of the Karaken Hordes, and sent out a small force to warn and prepare. Has a very "Ultimate Vision" feel to it, minus the nihilism of that series.
I'm home! Finally! I can log in again!
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This is exactly right. No trickery, no deception. They're careful about the cultural barriers and will be sensitive regarding the anti-alien sentiment caused by the Rikti, but they're not going to sugar-coat ugly things like the approaching Karaken Hordes.| Nevertheless, I see the Pharians as a species that is very proud of what and whom they are. I don't think they would change themselves, name wise, just to make another species comfortable. I see them marching up, saying, "This is who we are and what we offer" and "there are bad things out in the cold vastness of space and we want to help you defend yourselves". I could be very wrong here, and wouldn't be surprised if I am, but I'll defer to zprophet's vision of the Pharians. |
As to the meta-human draw, that's a secondary curiosity. The main reason the Pharians are here is because the Karakens are getting dangerously close to Earth's solar system. The Empire sees it as their duty to warn and prepare Earth for the coming onslaught. This team, our SG, is here to build rapport and hopefully bring Earth into the Empire. If Humans refuse and say go away, don't come back, they'll leave and Earth will have to fend for themselves. Otherwise, the Empire will deploy a much more significant force to defend Earth, way more than just our small unit.
As to powersets, Reinmar is right. We covered this on page one. Between training, equipment, technology, and psionics, you can pretty much explain any kind of powers you want to have. For example, I plan to test out Kinetic Melee on the test server this week. If I like it, I'll use the Enforcer gloves and play them off as Short Range Pulsar Emitters.
Which brings me to the point of melee. Just because this is a high-tech group doesn't mean melee is obsolete. The Karaken Hordes are so vast and numerous that melee is an inevitability. It doesn't matter how much firepower you level in their direction, eventually, they WILL reach your lines. As such, Pharians have developed plenty of close-quarters weaponry and fighting tactics. Arm-mounted flamethrowers (Fire Blast/Melee), Kinetic Amplifiers (Energy Melee/Assault), the list goes on.
Also, Heffroncm, you mentioned xenopsychology, which was a great idea. Just because the Empire won't use underhanded tactics doesn't mean they won't apply such experts as xenopsychologists. In fact, if you're interested, you could do that for your character, easily. Could be just a normal guy, or part of the Psionics Corps, whose gift is empathy (which does NOT pidgeon-hole you into being Empathy/Pain Domination, either, heh). Such a person would most certainly be assigned to a team like this.
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I'll be going this route with my character. Broad Sword / ? (maybe (energy) shield defense) Scrapper.
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Originally Posted by zprophet
Just because this is a high-tech group doesn't mean melee is obsolete.
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Broadsword/Shield is perfectly acceptable, so long as they're sufficiently high-tech swords/shields. 
Of Topic: My understanding of Kinetic Melee is that it is compatible with Natural origins, being based on tai chi and shaolin kung fu.
On Topic: I've been assuming the Pharians would be into melee for the same reason other warrior type sci-fi races are. Like Klingons.
I do feel myself kind of drifting that way. Psionic Corps diplomat kind of guy. I'll have to think about powersets. I've played Empathy before, and it wasn't the "healer" set I wanted it to be. I was also considering something kind of based on the Truthsayer's from Frank Herbert's Dune. With proper preparation they are able to tell when someone is lieing, and are honor-bound to speak only the truth and expose any falsehoods they detect. Would of course require RP support from others to pull it off, but seemed like the sort of concept that would quickly grow in the Pharian society.
It's either that or a youngish, almost naively optimistic empath who's been dragged along because his psionic abilities are just that rare and useful in this sort of situation, and no one more experienced could be pulled away from their more immediate missions. He could even be fresh from the camps, working out his mandatory year.
One suggestion on potentially changing the fluff (won't be offended if you skish it, it's a pretty big change) would be to model the military arm of the Pharian Empire on Heinlein's Starship Troopers (the book. There is no movie.). In that book, everyone was a 'member' of their respective nations and was afforded full protection, rights, and economic opportunities. However, only those who volunteered for military duty were Citizens (capital C), afforded the privileged of voting, working in law, and holding public office. Seemed like it could be a good fit.
Important note! Now that I'm back in-game, I've created a Global channel so we can discuss matters. The channel is called "Pharian SG", without the quotation marks.
Hey there, This is Raythe 808. Got invited to check this out and I have to say I'm very impressed with what I've seen. I'd be more than happy to be a part of this.
With that said, I'd like to offer my consideration for a SG name..
I had a few reservations about 'Peacemakers' while definitely a more polite turn of phrase, it does bring in connotations of an occupying force or militaristic intentions. Something an organization like Vanguard would capitalize on in their propaganda.
What about something simple and relatively vague as "The Pharian Delegation." It would emphasize the diplomatic while not excluding any attached military personel.
Just a thought.
Raythe
I agree with your assessment entirely Raythe. Did some digging on words and meanings, and it turns out that "delegation" has no diplomatic meaning attached to it. It would leave the negative propaganda just as open.
I was chatting with zprophet in the in-game supergroup global channel, and he suggested a variant on "Pharian Embassy." An embassy is defined as a 'diplomatic misson.' There's no way to twist that against us that I can think of, so something involving "Embassy" gets my vote.
We have our own forum now, so all discussion will be moving there. Anybody late to the party and wanting to be a part of this, contact me in-game @Ave Imperator, join or global channel "Pharian SG", or visit our forum at http://theroleplayingsyndicate.yuku.com/directory and look for the Pharian Supergroup category.
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I am signed up for the new site and ready to kick this off. |
Originally Posted by zprophet
We have our own forum now, so all discussion will be moving there.
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edit: Of the three subforums available, which one will we be using to continue to kick around sg ideas prior to the groups creation? My guess would "Field Reports", but its not entirely clear.
Just wanted to drop a note to anyone in the forum community who might be interested in joining us in this endeavor. Drop by the forum that zprophet set up and join in on the discussion and creation taking place there prior to actual creation of the sg when Going Rogue goes live. We hope to see you there.
Pharian SG Forum (look for us at the bottom of the page):
http://theroleplayingsyndicate.yuku.com/directory
Nevertheless, I see the Pharians as a species that is very proud of what and whom they are. I don't think they would change themselves, name wise, just to make another species comfortable. I see them marching up, saying, "This is who we are and what we offer" and "there are bad things out in the cold vastness of space and we want to help you defend yourselves". I could be very wrong here, and wouldn't be surprised if I am, but I'll defer to zprophet's vision of the Pharians.
If we go with the original reasoning as to why the Pharians are here on Earth, primarily they are looking into the abundance of meta-species here. If possible, they want to find out why and incorporate it for their use. Helping Earth is an important, but secondary concern.