Eclipse Phase PBP Interest Check (3-6 players)

[Dom]

Game Title: Pulse
System: Eclipse Phase
Players Wanted: 3-6
Posting Rate: Once per day except Saturdays and Sundays.
Special Rules: We will probably be using Average Damage Value to calculate damage while needing less dice rolls. Other than that, rules as written.
Advancement Rules: Checkpoint-based / as the investigation progresses.

There seems to be some interest for playing Eclipse Phase in the forums, and recently I’ve wanted to run an Eclipse Phase game. The CC license allows the quick distribution of the PDFs and the setting is so rich that it benefits from additional description that PBP brings.

For those that don’t know what Eclipse Phase is, it’s a science-fiction RPG set in the not too distant future, after the technological singularity happened. This brought about the everyday use of nanotechnology, cyborgs, mind digitalization, genetic augmentations, uplifted animals, highly advanced AIs, and other advances in science. However, it also brought the creation of a self-improving military AI called Total Information Tactical Awareness Networks, or TITANs. They became self-aware and decided to destroy civilization as we know it in an event known as the Fall.

To escape the TITANs, those privileged or lucky enough left Earth and emigrated to the solar system, while Earth became a deadly wasteland. Suddenly, the TITANs vanished. No one really knows where they went or why, though there are theories that their disappearance is linked to the first discoveries of Pandora Gates, gates that go to alien planets far from our solar system.

Since Earth is still plagued by the horrors the TITANs left behind during the Fall, humanity has started to rebuild in other planets. As nations fell during the Fall, the government is now controlled by hypercorporations in the inner system, while the outer system has been colonized by autonomist factions and the infamous Jovian Junta.

Ten years after the Fall, humanity is still alive and kicking even if they are scattered and divided. But there is still a great deal of risks to transhumanity because of the many dangerous technologies that have been developed. To fight these existential threats, an organization known as Firewall has been created. It has a membership spanning many worlds, factions and backgrounds;, all with the same dedication to prevent another event such as the Fall.

If the fluff doesn’t interest you, then perhaps this might: since consciousness has been digitized in what can be thought of as USB drive, the mind and the body are now two separate entities. People can change bodies in a process they call ‘resleeving’, and the mind can be backed-up regularly so as to become effectively immortal. This means that PCs can come from any walk of transhuman life, including a Fall survivor, an uplifted octopus, or an AGI. (Artificial General Intelligence, a human-like AI.) Player customization is almost limitless with the many morphs, implants, skills, backgrounds, reputation and gear that the game includes.

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The game will be investigation-based, with some horror thrown in. It’ll likely be RP-heavy but combat may happen depending on the choices (or rolls) you make. The game will be set on Mars, possibly the city of Noctis-Qianjiao. The players will be Firewall agents who have conducted missions in Mars before, brought in to investigate the disappearance of a Firewall Crow after he sent a message to Firewall regarding important information on the TITANs and requesting protection.

I will try to post at least once a day, and the players should post regularly too- there’s no need to write several pages when posting, just a few sentences can do as long as the rhythm can be maintained. How we deal with days we know we won’t be able to post and such we can work out before the game begins.

Both those who have played EP before and those that want to try it out are welcome to join. I can upload the books in PDF form, so there's no worry about having the physical copy (though I highly recommend buying it).  We can discuss on how to run the game in more detail after deciding on the players.

[Moondog]

Consider me very interested.

[Mckma]

I am interested, but I don't know for sure if I can commit the time.  I'll get back later today...

[Tadanori Oyama]

I've got the book and I'm interested. So long as you don't mind someone stumbling their way along until they get adjusted I'll be happy to take part.

[Mckma]

You know what, count me in.  I think I should be able to manage a bit of time each day...

[Moondog]

I've got the book and I'm interested. So long as you don't mind someone stumbling their way along until they get adjusted I'll be happy to take part.

EP's a pretty forgiving system, so you won't have much to stumble with. d100, roll under for skills and attack rolls, roll xdx+y for damage, that kind of thing. Very basic, easy to figure out. You'll be fine. :p

[Robot Master]

I can post once per day and consider me hellishly interested. I have the book.

---edited post---

Also, just to be specific, I think that I would be interested in playing a "Lost", a former Martian mine worker, or an Infolife. As always, Morph can change all over the place but for the Lost it would have to be a Futura. I love the background of the Lost. Oh, and no I would not make my Lost some kind of psychopath. Sure, they have to have two mental disorders but there are ones that don't make them challenging to play without being the asshole that tries to PK or mess up anyone's game.   I hate it when people make characters with mental disorders because they think it's funny to make life a living hell for the other characters...

Let me know if I'm in.

[Tadanori Oyama]

I've got the book and I'm interested. So long as you don't mind someone stumbling their way along until they get adjusted I'll be happy to take part.

EP's a pretty forgiving system, so you won't have much to stumble with. d100, roll under for skills and attack rolls, roll xdx+y for damage, that kind of thing. Very basic, easy to figure out. You'll be fine. :p

I meant the setting. Terms, social conduct, neo-anarchist communism, it's a different kind of game socially, like Legend of Five Rings.

[Dom]

I can post once per day and consider me hellishly interested. I have the book.

---edited post---

Also, just to be specific, I think that I would be interested in playing a "Lost", a former Martian mine worker, or an Infolife. As always, Morph can change all over the place but for the Lost it would have to be a Futura. I love the background of the Lost. Oh, and no I would not make my Lost some kind of psychopath. Sure, they have to have two mental disorders but there are ones that don't make them challenging to play without being the asshole that tries to PK or mess up anyone's game.  I hate it when people make characters with mental disorders because they think it's funny to make life a living hell for the other characters...

Let me know if I'm in.

Fine by me, the Lost are very interesting. Just remember that characters known to be part of the Lost normally get a "troubled" response from transhumanity, seen as killers and psychopaths. It's best to hide such pasts, and the Lost excel at making some memories "disappear".

I've got the book and I'm interested. So long as you don't mind someone stumbling their way along until they get adjusted I'll be happy to take part.

EP's a pretty forgiving system, so you won't have much to stumble with. d100, roll under for skills and attack rolls, roll xdx+y for damage, that kind of thing. Very basic, easy to figure out. You'll be fine. :p

I meant the setting. Terms, social conduct, neo-anarchist communism, it's a different kind of game socially, like Legend of Five Rings.

No problem, the setting can be a bit intimidating but overall I think it is fascinating how deep it can be. Just remember that, in the end, it is a human civilization even if it is vastly futuristic. Many things you might find in cities nowadays you will probably find in these cities, if tinged with more cultural diversity and transhuman tecnology.

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Some more information on the scenario...

Location: Noctis-Qianjiao, Mars

Date: 26th August, AF 10

Scenario Description: Reb Riveira, a Firewall Crow, has disappeared. His last report was classified as urgent: he reported having obtained important information regarding TITAN activity in the city. He requested protection and said that he could not distribute this information if not face to face- apparently he did not trust Firewall’s heavily encrypted networks.
 Firewall called in several sentinels that could reach the meeting place in time, but Riveira never showed up. Further attempts to contact Riveira were unsuccessful. As the previous Firewall cell was composed mostly by erasure squad agents, a new cell has been brought in to locate and rescue Riveira, if possible.

Reb Riveira, Firewall code-named Jakuta, is a scientist working with the Tharsis Terraforming Office. He seems to also have contacts with the Barsoomian Movement through an alter-ego. As a Crow, he has access to the TTO scientific facilities and often helped both Firewall through specialized research on TITAN technology, Exsurgent morphology, biological weapons and viral threats.  His actual age is 53 years old and uses a Menton morph.

The call for help came on August 21st, the first Firewall cell came in the next day and never found him. His last back-up was five days before his disappearance. A beta fork from the back-up was interrogated, to no avail. It is imperative that the agents find out what the information Riveira had was and why he disappeared. Further than that, Firewall may request the agents to proceed and take action based on this information.


Group template: The players are Firewall agents that have lived in Mars for at least a year, and have had at least one mission together. Research will likely be a big part of the investigation, though not everyone is required to become a sci-fi Sherlock Holmes. Combat skills are not a necessity but definitely recommended. Reputation and networking can also play a large role in the investigation.

Firewall agents tend to be varied in terms of background and specialization, so one character concept can also be very different from the rest. Code-names are used to keep a degree of secrecy in the organization, so go ahead and think one up during character creation.

Playing format:  I would like for us to post at least once a day, Mondays through Fridays. Saturdays and Sundays are optional- you could post if you want but there’s no pressing need to do so (or for me to reply) until Monday as a sort of break from the game. There will be space for flexibility when you know that you won’t be able to post certain days, but I would like to keep a rhythm for the game so that it doesn’t fade out.

Also, here is a .RAR file with the core rulebook and the Sunward sourcebook.

http://www.mediafire.com/?nec4v0qi1jmcta3

[Moondog]

This post has been slain.

[Dom]

The character looks good, just a quick question. What is her actual age? The Fall happened 10 years ago in the setting, but from the background she watched old movies from Fallen Earth when she was a child. I could see that if she were 18 or 19, actual age-wise. Otherwise, the background should be changed just a bit.

Other than that, looks great.

EDIT: Updated the first post to comply with the Recruitment Post Guidelines.4

DOUBLE EDIT: You might want to take the Temperature Tolerance implant since Mars can get very cold at night, outside of the city domes.

[Moondog]

The character looks good, just a quick question. What is her actual age? The Fall happened 10 years ago in the setting, but from the background she watched old movies from Fallen Earth when she was a child. I could see that if she were 18 or 19, actual age-wise. Otherwise, the background should be changed just a bit.

Other than that, looks great.

EDIT: Updated the first post to comply with the Recruitment Post Guidelines.4

DOUBLE EDIT: You might want to take the Temperature Tolerance implant since Mars can get very cold at night, outside of the city domes.

Good points, I hadn't even considered age. Good catch! 19-ish sounds fine, I think. Young enough to think they're hot shit, old enough to struggle containing their enthusiasm behind the mandatory detached veneer of professionalism of a bodyguard. 'Preciate the feedback.

Edit: Also, good point on the Temperature Tolerance. Will add that, too.

EDIT EDIT: You don't think it's a bit too combat focused, with not quite enough investigative abilities?

[Robot Master]

Ok I'm going to sit down and make my character tomorrow night here at the PC. I should be on 7ish MST. I'm not entirely sold on the LOST just yet due to the fact that I might not want to make such a complex character (at least at this time). We'll see. This game has lots of options.

So far my mind is set on one of these...

1. A Lost with multiple personality disorder with an AGI that assists in maintaining the illusion of the multiple personalities via "messages" from the other personality. I'm not sure what the other mental disorder would be or if I want to go for Psi-Gamma. One rule I'm fuzzy on is that the Lost come with the PSI trait, but do I have to buy the 2nd level to get psi gamma and will that require a 3rd mental disorder?

2. An Infolife Pinocchio concept. Quite literally I'd probably circumvent the common morphs and instead have the character be an Infolife from an Argonaut/Anarchist faction and go with a Splicer, Ghost, or Sylph morph (if you would allow this) as part of the morphological freedom movement. An intelligence born aware, trying to prove that awoken intelligences are useful.

3. Neo-Hominid chimpanzee technology expert.

4. Titanian former police officer turned to Firewall out of a general distrust the uncultured masses outside of the Titanian Commonwealth.

The more I think of it, the more I'm interested in the Infolife. As a GM, do you have any personal preference for my character selection?

[Mckma]

I'll take a look at the system more and maybe give character generation a shot this weekend hopefully.  When were you thinking of starting?

[Dom]

EDIT EDIT: You don't think it's a bit too combat focused, with not quite enough investigative abilities?

As long as the you can enjoy roleplaying the character and it doesn't hinder the investigation, you're free to create your character as you wish. If you want to add more investigative abilities, go ahead. As long as a few PCs have investigative abilities the scenario should progress smoothly.

The more I think of it, the more I'm interested in the Infolife. As a GM, do you have any personal preference for my character selection?

None whatsoever, feel free to pick the character that you would enjoy the most and that you feel you could roleplay well enough. I will post a few questions that will need to be answered for the background of the characters, but other than that the character concept can be as you wish, as long as you can stick to the group template.

I'll take a look at the system more and maybe give character generation a shot this weekend hopefully.  When were you thinking of starting?

Hopefully next week. I'll PM Arje for a forum request where I can post some more information regarding the scenario. Once that is done and the players create their characters we will start the game.