Chrono Racer online forum game

[Dragonflight]

As I'd mentioned to a couple people in CoH, I'm running a game in an online forum managed by a RL friend of mine. The game is based on Mekton 1, and is
set on a starship that's hopping realities as the crew try to put together the reasons *why* the ship is doing this, why they were chosen, and what they
were chosen to do.

The game originally got its inspiration from Chrono Cross, which is what inspired the name of the ship. So far the PC's have been to several alternate
Earths, including one I came up with from whole cloth. There seems to be a conspiracy afoot organized by people who can *also* cross realities, and the
PC's are somehow the only ones who can intercede without drawing official attention to their actions.

The site is at http://gamers.romanus.ca/ and you're
certainly welcome to come have a look. If you want to join up, I've included basic character creation notes in the Chrono Racer forum for people who've
never played Mekton 1 before. The advantage of this game is that it doesn't matter *where* your character concept comes from. I can get you on the Racer
easily. The PC's have already discovered there's a mysterious multiverse-spanning organization responsible for keeping the peace that for some reason
can't intervene directly. So they're arranging for people to be sent to the ship and backing them up clandestinely. But that's all the PC's
have pieced together so far.

Current crewmembers (active players) are:

Ossten of Velantia: Captain of the Racer, Ossten is a thirty-foot long reptiloid Lensman.

!@#$*&^% : An energy sphere, still a child by his race's standards, but a natural engineer and curious about other races.

Aolani: Elven princess on the run, trying to rally forces to free her enslaved people.

Cyndle Kell: Former cop framed for the murder of her partner, forced to play in the "Unreal Tournaments" until death, she escaped only through
Intervention...

Khimera Chang: Black sheep of the Chang syndicate, she commanded a small mercenary unit in power armor known as the Steel Angels in Australia before winding up
a new passenger on the Racer.

NPCs:

Voidscream: Decepticon with a sense of honor. They show up sometimes, and always make the PC's lives a little harder.

Maximus Prime: Prototype Maximal, he wanted to escape being the poster boy of his new race, and joined the Racer crew.

Cybele: Survivor of the planet Lithone, world first eaten by Unicron in the beginning of the animated Transformers movie. She's an engineer and a weapons
specialist.

Colonel Carson: Professional soldier of the Unified United Nations, also from the Cybertronian universe.

Hinoto Shi-Ryo: Ship-Bonded Eddorian Commander, telepathically bonded to the Chrono Racer, and its only original crew still onboard.

Sayaka Gregman: Kuritan noblewoman married to a mercenary soldier. Entrusted with the firing keys to the Gravitic Point Cannon.

Locations visited so far:

Cybertronian Earth.

An earth conquered by an invading force (Wayland-Yutani) through a hyperstream gate, forcing a corrupted version of the Mormon religion on the survivors. The
Racer freed them and moved on.

Honor Harrington universe (where they are now.)

So if you think this looks interesting, drop me a line, and we can hash out a character. There's always room for more on the Racer.
---
Those who fear the darkness have never seen what the light can do.

[Star Ranger4]

While interesting... I'm not sure. I have a terrible tendency to kill online RPG's I get involved in. Not neccecarily through any direct actions on my
part, but somehow they tend to die quickly. Especially ones involving Mekton.
Hear that thunder rolling till it seems to split the sky?
That's every ship in Grayson's Navy taking up the cry-
NO QUARTER!!!
-- "No Quarter", by Echo's Children

[Dragonflight]

Heh. Well, this one has been on the rocks a few times. It began as a PBeM about five years ago, when a friend of mine had moved out of the country. Then it got
shuffled to the side when work became a priority. But with the closing of the Dell site, I'm not working odd hours anymore, so I've started it back up.
So it's been around a few times.

Not sure what you mean by killing online games. On the other hand, I've got the same talent with places I've worked with. If you try to correlate
places I've worked for with actual locations you'll discover they're out of work, or have just recovered from lengthy restructurings. Even the Dell
Canada site and the Heron Road department of Revenue Canada closed down, which says something for my ability to kill a business.

I'm just hoping no one *else* figures out this talent of mine, or I'll never find work again...
---
Those who fear the darkness have never seen what the light can do.

[Sofaspud]

Well, I bopped on over to take a look...

... and immediately ran afoul of fairly confusing board practices.

F'rinstance, I can't see anything without creating an account. So I did.

Now I can't see anything without joining a group, apparently, so I did... and I still can't see anything, because it requires someone to approve it.
*sigh*

I'm not trying to be a noodge? But the concept sounds cool and I'd like more info, I just can't *get* any of it. And that's frustrating. I
guess I understand not making it publicly visible to everyone -- the RP portions at least -- but can there be a top-level FAQ or something? *grin*

--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs

[DKnight54]

Well, people might hire you to get hired at their competitor's and then let your natural talents work to their advantage. Imagine that... Compaq paying you
off to work at Gateway, Sun sending you to Microsoft... You could not only make millions, but also give them the two for one bonus. Both they and their
competitor might just shut down at the same time :-P

Be the Ultimate Ninja! Play Billy Vs. SNAKEMAN today!

[Dragonflight]

Heh. Whoops. Didn't notice that. The perils of being given forum administrator access for the first time...

Ok. I've created a new gaming group "Chrono". I've added Valles and Spud to the list, so you should be able to see the posts just fine. If
anyone else joins, let me know if the "groups" thing doesn't auto-approve you. If not, I may need to go in and manually approve people first. No
biggie, I'll just check for the next while to see if anyone is pending.
---
Those who fear the darkness have never seen what the light can do.

[Dragonflight]

You could not only make millions, but also give them the two for one bonus. Both they and their competitor might just shut down at the same time :-P

Hehe. I've thought of that occasionally. but it's the Pyrrhic victory thing. Would you *really* want to hire someone who can make your business go belly up? Even if you were sending them somewhere else?
---
Those who fear the darkness have never seen what the light can do.

[robkelk]

Not sure what you mean by killing online games. On the other hand, I've got the same talent with places I've worked with. If you try to correlate places I've worked for with actual locations you'll discover they're out of work, or have just recovered from lengthy restructurings. Even the Dell Canada site and the Heron Road department of Revenue Canada closed down, which says something for my ability to kill a business.

I'm just hoping no one *else* figures out this talent of mine, or I'll never find work again...

And I recently sent you a link to the HR department where I work... Oh, dear.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[ECSNorway]

Hmmm. Now having character ideas course through my head. 'Young Abh noblewoman' is one of them.
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[Epsilon]

DRAG0NFLIGHT wrote:

---

Not sure what you mean by killing online games. On the other hand, I've got the same talent with places I've worked with. If you try to correlate
places I've worked for with actual locations you'll discover they're out of work, or have just recovered from lengthy restructurings. Even the
Dell Canada site and the Heron Road department of Revenue Canada closed down, which says something for my ability to kill a business.




I'm just hoping no one *else* figures out this talent of mine, or I'll never find work again...

Sounds like me my first four years or employment (hint, I have never been able to give anyone a reference to an existing business). Also, within a year of me
working at CAA we moved to a new office. Granted, I'm still working for them but still...

---------------------

Epsilon

[Ankhani]

I've just poked my nose into the Chrono group. Still need approval whenever you get the chance.
---

The Master said: "It is all in vain! I have never yet seen a man who can perceive his own faults and bring the charge home against himself."

>Analects: Book V, Chaper XXVI

[Dragonflight]

You've been added. Enjoy!
---
Those who fear the darkness have never seen what the light can do.

[Valles]

Yay, Ahb!

Myself, I'd actually considered an Ahb, along with a Time-Space Administration Bureau Junior Enforcer. Currently I'm leaning towards the latter.
===========

===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."

[Dragonflight]

I've done some quick research on the Ahb concept. I'll have to pick up the "Crest" anime series and watch some of it to get the references.
Luckily the local comic book shop seems to have copies in inventory. But what's the TSA enforcer character based on?
---
Those who fear the darkness have never seen what the light can do.

[Dragonflight]

On a completely unrelated aside, in response to Valles' tagline, I listen to a lot of Macross Frontier right now when I'm typing up the game updates.

---
Those who fear the darkness have never seen what the light can do.

[Valles]

The TSA and their Enforcers are from the anime Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and its sequels. Looks like the first two seasons have been licensed, so animesuki
only has the third season available for download.

http://www.animesuki.com/group.php/799.html

It introduces some new characters, though, and explores aspects of the setting that weren't seen previously, so the first two seasons aren't actually
necessary to enjoy StrikerS, I think.

They just make it more awesome. ^_^

Short version is that the TSA is sort of an interstellar/interdimensional cross between Starfleet and Gundam Wing's Preventers. Their main objective seems
to be to suppress 'mass weapons' (technological devices that let, for example, any ten-year old child that picks them up go out and kill people for a
Cause. In other words, guns and bombs as Earth knows them.) on their signatory worlds, so as to prevent nuclear and industrialized wars from killing people by
the billions. Officially, the local version of Earth is known as Nonsignatory Planet 97, and has no visible contact with the TSA... but there are signs (and my
own pet epileptic trees) that point to more extensive 'grey' and 'black' contacts between the TSA and Earth.

Instead of 'hard technology', the TSA uses Sufficiently Advanced Magic, complete with spaceships and AIs. The Enforcers are high-ranked mages; canon
details about their actual duties are sketchy, but my conjecture is that they seem to be equivalent to US Federal Marshalls, roving investigators, or both; a
quite reasonable choice to investigate something Utterly Bizzare like a powerful ancient artifact of unknown provenance.

Yes, the TSA gets more than enough of those to have established procedures.

EDIT: ...dur. Better explanation: Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
===========

===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."

[Dragonflight]

Did some research and it looks feasible. I'll need to do some more research on their society, since eventually the Racer will wind up stopping there. And
of course, what would be the point if people in the reality weren't somehow involved in the overall conspiracy?

The easiest way to introduce characters to the Racer is that they're investigating something, or plunging into a crisis situation, when something goes
horribly wrong. Naturally, the mysterious figure I allude to frequently, with the silver-on-blue eyes intervenes and arranges for them to be *shifted* across
to the Racer, with no warning, and no way of contacting home... wherever *that* is...

Functionally, the example I used in the character creation writeup for making a mage would be what I'd use if you were going to make a magic-using
character. Magic skill defaults initially to Luck, and is raised like any other skill. You have as many spells to start with as your Magic score /10, and can
purchase more spells with XP (usually 10 XP per spell). If you're using magic I've never heard of, I'll need to know what the effects of the spells
are, because I naturally don't want to allow something that overshadows the other players.

With D&D style magic (or something similar), the level of spell you can cast is also determined by your Magic score /10. This means that a starting
character could have up to (to use the D&D terminology) 5 spells, ranging anywhere from levels 1 through 5. Unlike the D&D canon, spells aren't
forgotten, and can be multicast, providing you make your Magic roll (score or less on percentiles) with each action. Critical failure means you can't cast
again for that day (painful feedback.)

If you're using a different magic system, let me know what it is, and I'll read up on it.
---
Those who fear the darkness have never seen what the light can do.

[Sofaspud]

First, thanks for setting up the group for my login. I can SEE things now!

This is intriguing. The concept is very familiar to me -- I in fact once ran a five year campaign with the same group of players (mostly) that was literally
them universe-hopping. Their ship wasn't nearly as, um, pretty, as the Racer sounds, though (they stole and retrofitted a garbage freighter in one of the
first universes, because they wanted more room. Crazy.)

Anyway.

I've got some questions, and I don't think this board is the right place for 'em, necessarily; I'm not sure where on the other ones I should
post, or if you'd prefer email, or what. So, if you'll let me know _that_, I'll drop you a line. I might very well be interested in getting in on
this.

--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs

[ECSNorway]

And then there's my other idea, the Liaden... hm. Has merit, I think. A young renegade, perhaps even a Scout... with a Cat.
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[Dragonflight]

Easiest way to reach me is through email, at dragonflight@cyberus.ca. Drop me a line, and if you want to make something, we can hash it out while keeping stuff
you don't want to reveal right off private.

Yeah, the Racer's got a certain glam factor to it. I was heavily influenced by both the original Sol Bianca and the remake in terms of the sheer decadence
you could build into a large ship and still have it be a functional warship. That and it's got a little bit of everything and a nanofac, which means
it's a good choice for a group of people who can't realistically get resupply on a regular schedule.
---
Those who fear the darkness have never seen what the light can do.

[Dragonflight]

And then there's my other idea, the Liaden... hm. Has merit, I think. A young renegade, perhaps even a Scout... with a Cat.

Again, I'm missing the reference. Where's this from?
---
Those who fear the darkness have never seen what the light can do.

[Sofaspud]

Email sent, thanks!

--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs

[Epsilon]

DRAG0NFLIGHT wrote:

---

And then there's my other idea, the Liaden... hm. Has merit, I think. A young renegade, perhaps even a Scout... with a Cat.

Again, I'm missing the reference. Where's this from?

This?

-----------------

Epsilon

Who has lost his interest in PbEM games, unfortuneatly.

[ECSNorway]

Epsilon wrote:

---

DRAG0NFLIGHT wrote:

---

And then there's my other idea, the Liaden... hm. Has merit, I think. A young renegade, perhaps even a Scout... with a Cat.

Again, I'm missing the reference. Where's this from?

This?




-----------------


Epsilon


Who has lost his interest in PbEM games, unfortuneatly.

That would indeed be correct, sir.
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[Dragonflight]

Ok. So Sofa's put together a character concept. I'm just waiting for him to finalize it, and send me a copy of his character sheet (and maybe a pic of
what he looks like. ) Then I'll add him to the game.

I've been having at look at the other source material. A lot of it is usable. Did you have any particular preferences? The Ahb noble would work, as would
the Scout. It would probably take a long time for me to read all the online material for the Liaden reference. I'd get there, but it might take a while.

So, anyone else interested in joining? Sofa, I'll need a copy of your character for the records once you have him finalized.
---
Those who fear the darkness have never seen what the light can do.