Metroid RP Concept (working title)

[Zender_Solarheart]

So, those GMing urges have become too much for me to contain anymore, and I decided to start up another sci-fi RP on these boards. However, considering the apparent curse that always seems to drop on my attempts at Polygems RPs, I figured I'd go for a different setting...and as anyone who knows me on Skype is aware, I love the Metroid franchise, so badda bing badda boom, eh?

Now, I did try this sort of thing once before, but some of the players expressed disappointment in the fact that it was confined to a single planet, as it had the impression of a more open-world space exploration RP in its OOC days. However, Metroid games are known for their isolated, "Die Hard on an alien planet"-ish atmosphere as much as they are for exploration of the unknown, so I was hesitant to entertain the idea of an "open-galaxy" approach, as it's noticeably harder to establish that sort of atmosphere with things like interstellar trade and space navies in the mix. As a result, I was initially unsure what direction to take this RP in when I was first brainstorming it...and then I remembered this little girl's words of wisdom:

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

So, with that in mind, I decided to have the opportunity for both a wide-open galaxy that players can explore at their leisure, while also having a special planet reserved for those who actually want something more akin to a Metroidvania experience. With that being said, here's a little something from GFMC Fleet Admiral Dane to fill you in on some story stuff:

Personal Log
Fleet Admiral Castor Dane

Damn! That Samus sure knows how to knock some heads. Just a year or two ago, we had the Phazon Crisis on our hands, and piracy almost up to our necks. Phazon on Tallon IV, Phazon on Aether, Phazon on Norion, Phazon up my ass! Phazon Phazon Phazon! I swear, I will pistol-whip the next person who says "Phazon" in front of me. Don't they know how many fine men and women died in that crisis? We even lost three of our best hunters, and I'm gonna miss every one of 'em. Rundas, Ghor, Gandrayda...especially Rundas. That guy had some talent.

Oh well. All that's done now, and for once in a long-ass time, we've got the Space Pirates on the run. With the Vhozon taking a steamy crap all over the Kriken Empire, we can finally focus our attention on those scurvy bastards. Some of the Councilmen say they're a waste of money, that the bounty hunters keep asking for too much. Maybe they forgot how quickly those freaks bounce back if you leave 'em alone? I'd like to bring them up here, let 'em see the firepower we need to keep big-wigs like them safe? And what's this "Project Bottle" I keep hearing them want to transfer funds to? Sounds like a load of bullshit if you ask me.

Of course, I've been more interested in that weird energy spike we found coming from some uncharted section of space. The thing reached out for who knows how many light-years, and I'd bet my hat that the Pirates are heading that way to call first dibs. Well, where there's Pirates, there's bounty hunters looking to make a quick credit. If only Samus wasn't tied up helping us clean up the Urtrag system, cuz that energy spike thing sounds right up her alley.

End Log

As someone familiar with the Metroid timeline would likely notice, this RP will be set in the period of time between the end of the Prime trilogy and the start of Metroid 2: Return of Samus. This means that the Space Pirates are strategically on the defensive, but are still a present and significant threat to the Galactic Federation. The Vhozon Order and the Kriken Empire (both originally mentioned in Prime Hunters) are also still significant factions, though they often take a backseat to the Feds in terms of military profile. Other independent civilizations exist, but most are either too primitive or too isolated to hold sway on galactic politics, and most prefer to keep it that way. As for you? Well, your characters will be independent bounty hunters, the self-made badasses of the galaxy who swear allegiance to no one, though some are willing to work for anyone if the pay is good enough.

In case you hadn't guessed by now, the "energy spike" Admiral Dane mentioned is going to be tied into the area I'll have set aside for those wanting a Metroidvania experience. Of course, you folks will all be playing as independent bounty hunters, so you'll each have a personal ship for navigating the cosmos. In other words, those who start on the energy spike planet can return to space if they want to do some interstellar play, and those across the cosmos need only plot a course for the aforementioned planet if they want to try some Metroidvania stuff.

Depending on whether you're planetside (on the "special" planet or otherwise) or in space, different opportunities and dangers may present themselves. Not all planets are capable of sustaining native life - and those that are tend to have their fair share of alpha-predators - but you can find a number of valuable items and discoveries that can't be found in a nebula or asteroid field. A noteworthy number of missions will also require you to go planetside in order to complete their primary objectives, should you choose to accept them. Of course, if you know where to find them and how to get them, there are plenty of goodies to be found in the vacuum of space as well. Nebula gases, asteroid ores, space junk salvage, and starborne bounties are but a few examples. Just don't get zapped in the crossfire of a naval skirmish...or fly too close to a black hole...or botch your warp jump and end up in the core of a star...y'know, don't be stupid.

FACTIONS

While most of the canon details are reserved for the Feds and the Pirates (i.e., brace yourselves for heavy "artistic license" with the Vhozon and Kriken), there are technically four available factions in this RP to build up a reputation with. If you want more info on each of them, this is where you look.

The Galactic Federation

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The Galactic Federation is the primary known sovereign government in the Metroid universe. It was formed in Year 2003 of the Cosmic Calendar (according to Zero Mission) when a multitude of civilized worlds sent their representatives and delegates to establish a massive alliance together. At its governing center is the Supreme Council, which - despite its oddly despotic-sounding name - has done all in its power to ensure peace and prosperity across the Milky Way.

Of course, the universe is far from perfect, and the Federation's nigh-utopian peace didn't last very long. Enter the Space Pirates, a nasty band of interstellar brigands that love to rape, pillage, and loot...and the "rape" part isn't even that important to them, considering their primary method of reproducing appears to be cloning themselves. At first they only attacked trade ships, earning them the "Space Pirate" moniker, but when they moved on to taking entire planets at a time - and declaring themselves the destined owners of said planets, to boot - the Feds upped their own strength of arms, creating the Federation Police, Federation Army, and Galactic Federation Marine Corpe (GFMC), each of which having their own naval force at the ready to combat offworld threats. Unfortunately, even this generally proved insufficient; the Pirates' answer to the Federation's larger conventional military was to get unconventional, digging deep subterranean strongholds on every planet they had claimed ownership of. Whatever enemies pursued them into the depths were met with ruthless ambushes, sneaky backstabbers, and horrific bio-weaponized versions of the native wildlife. Seeing the Pirates' knack for cowardly yet creative guerrilla warfare, and not wanting to jack up their conscription rates for some elite spec-ops force, the Federation did what any military power in need of aid would:

They called in some reinforcements.

Lifting the legal ban on bounty hunting as a profession, the Feds opened contracts on the Space Pirates left and right, welcoming anyone who thought they have what it takes. At first, it was simply a plan to have a more expendable and versatile way to ruin the Pirates' day, but it proved vastly more effective than anyone thought it would. Before long, bounty hunting had become a highly popular career choice, and while some dropped out of it and opted for military service (which had become a lot more naval now that bounty hunters were handling most of the ground work), most who signed up for it stayed hunting for life.

One bounty hunter, however, stands out above all the rest: Samus Aran. Orphaned at a young age by the Space Pirates, she was taken in by a foster family of Chozo on planet Zebes...who were in turn lost in a hostile Pirate takeover of the planet. Needless to say, she has plenty of personal motivation for making the scurvy dogs' lives Hell, and has proven increasingly efficient at it. Indeed, the Pirates have given her the infamous title of "the Hunter," and their mixture of fear and hatred at her mere presence is akin to the boogeyman among most human communities. When all else fails, she doesn't. Don't take my word for it, though; [url]have a look for yourself[/url].

Space Pirates

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The Space Pirates have ever been the sworn enemies of the Galactic Federation. While the Feds praise democracy and free trade, these fascists seek dominance over every last stretch of the cosmos, though exactly what "dominance" means to them has changed repeatedly along with High Command's member list. When Mother Brain was in charge during the Pirates' "Zebesian Era," dominance meant enslaving all those whom they did not kill, and claiming the slaves' possessions as their own. After the power-vacuum that followed losing the three heads of High Command (Kraid, Ridley, and Mother Brain), a new High Command stepped in, and ran a slightly more diplomatic show; black market trade with small cultures like the Monks of Grondheim was brought into their economics, and some were even promised a more favorable position in the "ideal universe" they wanted to make. Granted, much of it was deceit in the pursuit of temporary allies, but they kept that secret surprisingly well...until Ridley came back into power, at which point the aforementioned small cultures were subjected to the classic "loot and plunder" routine. Then you have that craziness with Dark Samus, which...well, play the Metroid Prime trilogy.

At present, Ridley maintains control over High Command, despite his multiple failed (and literally self-destructive) attempts to dispose of his nemesis Samus Aran. This is mostly because Space Pirate culture ingrains unquestioning loyalty into each and every one of them on a genetic level - to even think of rebelling against and/or overthrowing one's superiors in their society would be considered a sign of severe psychosis, and would be dealt with in the same way they deal with most incurable mental conditions: termination. That being said, there are rumors going around that the Pirates' own personal bounty hunter - former Zebesian General Weavel - may be showing signs of going rogue, perhaps due to some glitch in his cyborg body's life-support systems...

...Anyway, no one's quite sure where the Pirates came from, or if they even have a true home planet; the closest they ever really had to a homeworld was their global stronghold on Urtraghus, which fell hard at the end of the Phazon Crisis. Random trivia piece: in the Space Pirates' common dialect, "Urtraghus" translates to "large booty" in English. Make of that what you will. Their present lack of any primary stronghold to call home has put the Pirates back in the position they were in on first contact: interstellar nomads, pillaging other ships to keep their resources up, and using stealthy colonies outside Federation territory as temporary bases of operation. They are more hesitant than ever to trust a bounty hunter, especially those with a reputation for verbal deception and subterfuge; general orders say that if the hunter is not already established as a friendly contact, they are to be shot on sight.

The Vhozon Order

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Not much is known about the Vhozon Order, which is surprising, considering their literally religious views on justice and morality. While the details of their strict moral creed are reserved for Vhozon eyes only, the Order won't hesitate to enforce it upon those caught violating it, regardless of race. Generally speaking, the things they consider unjust tend to line up with the average Federation citizen's beliefs...but the Vhozon are show neither pity nor mercy in punishing evildoers, and the racism inherent in their culture shows every now and then when they talk down to their "unworthy" non-Vhozon neighbors. That ruthlessness and racial bias has put them at odds with the Federation, though the only incident of open war between the two factions was the Horus Rebellion, which neither side likes to do much reminiscing on. Suffice to say, the Vhozon have established a Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) around their homeworld of Vho and its respective system, into which no ship may pass without special permission from the Order; any unauthorized ship attempting to do so is quickly subjected to Vhozon justice...or in layman's terms, "destruction by beams of icy doom."

The Kriken Empire

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

The Kriken Empire, a ruthless feudal society of insectoid conquerors, are among the most widely reviled races in the galaxy no matter what other faction you're talking about. They're known for sending one of their sneaky scouts to planet after planet, and should said scouts return with a good enough report, they can command the massive invasion swarm when it comes to metaphorically butt-fuck said planet and hold it hostage in the dungeon.A common (and admittedly bad) joke made at their expense in the Federation goes as follows:

"A Kriken scout walks into a bar. He asks the bartender for a Tallon Martini with Vho Ice. 20 minutes later, the planet's in a sudden ice age. Thanks Vhozon."

Few outside the Empire actually know this, but the process of sending out scouts to find invasion-worthy planets is more than just a process for the Kriken...it's a ritual. When one of their species reaches adult age, it is customary for their clan to send them into exile, not to return until they have found a planet to invade. The better the planet, the more prestige the Kriken receives on his/her return, with even more fame if he/she acquire some new foreign technology for them to reverse-engineer and assimilate as their own. The individual clans comprising the feudal system in the Empire use these ritual scouts as a means of competing with each other; a clan with more "heroes" in its lineage is far more likely to gain favor with the Emperor, and with enough prestige behind them may have a claim to the throne if the Emperor leaves no heir to take it.

HUNTER CREATION

Okay, now we get to the good stuff. While there will be certain numerical statistics in this RP (e.g., you'll all start with an air-tight armor suit that has 99 units of Energy for defensive shielding), this is going to be a lot more freeform than the usual stat-laden RP running on a system like Pathfinder or Shadowrun. Unless otherwise noted in your character sheet by your own written words, it will be assumed that your hunter will have all the physical capabilities needed to hold their own in a combat scenario. It will also be assumed (once again, unless you yourself say otherwise) that your hunter will be mentally competent for their profession. Obviously, nobody's perfect, which is why you'll see the "flaws/quirks" section in the character sheet template; besides, having weaknesses as well as strengths makes life a little more interesting, don't you think?

Ah, but I'm getting ahead of myself. With regards to your character sheet, there are some things you should know up front...

1: No matter what custom tweaks you put into your armor, it must be air-tight (i.e., able to seal out the surrounding atmosphere while still allowing you to breathe), and its maximum defensive Energy will start at 99. Most armor-suits come with built-in mobility systems that minimize the amount of weight exerted on the wearer, so as long as you don't make your armor too bulky, you'll hardly be weighed down at all.
2: Understand that at this point in the timeline, the issue of limited ammunition is all but obsolete, thanks to the advent of energy weapons and nanofactories. Originally pioneered by Egenoid R&D, nanofactories construct new rounds of ballistic ammunition starting at a molecular level, and they work fast; a single nanofactory can generate a new round for a .50 caliber gun in less than 2 seconds. Only heavy ballistic weapons like missiles and grenades have to worry about ammo, as the only nanofactories that can produce such large munition sizes are so big that no man-portable model has ever been efficient (or safe) enough for mass-production. The place you're most likely to see a nanofactory producing missiles is on a frigate or a battleship, and believe me, no hunter is getting a ship that big all to themselves.
3: While the Metroid universe is a very racially diverse place, there are some intelligent species that simply cannot be selected for player use. Such races are relatively few, but are worth noting anyway, so I'll list them here. I'll also note why they are unplayable, don't worry.
--3a: Chozo.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

What they are: The Chozo were a bipedal birdlike race of immeasurable age. In times long before the Galactic Federation was even an idea, the Chozo had an immense galactic empire, and boasted some of, if not the most advanced technology in the Milky Way. Some say that they achieved such advancement by somehow fusing technology with spirituality, though this theory is difficult to prove for obvious reasons. Still, as the old saying goes, "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
Why you can't play one: Due to a number of reasons, the Chozo are effectively extinct as far as the Milky Way galaxy is concerned. In some cases, like on Zebes and Tallon IV, they were killed off by some global disaster. Other times, they left for an unknown location and met an unknown fate, but are certainly not around to speak of it. Some also theorize that they had suffered a species-wide plague that rendered all of them infertile, and thus unable to produce any more offspring. Even if they were still around, though, I would have to disallow them on the basis of their tech and Psionic powers being overpowered to the Nth degree; seriously, the actual Chozo's combat potential would make their ghosts from Metroid Prime look infantile in comparison.

--3b: Luminoth.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

What they are: An old friend of the Chozo from ancient times, the Luminoth are perhaps the only race that ever could have rivaled those bird people in terms of advanced civilizations. Resembling giant anthropomorphic moths with a strange fascination for the color red, the Luminoth also had access to a number of seemingly supernatural abilities, such as levitation, Psionics, and the ability to create light energy out of thin air. Their culture puts immense importance on the aspect of light, with their home planet of Aether being sustained by some exotic global energy array that they call the "Light of Aether."
Why you can't play one: While not extinct like their old avian friends, the Luminoth are overpowered in multiple senses of the word. For starters, their bodies are huge; U-Mos, their current leader, is more than 12 feet tall, and is likely strong enough to rip the average human being in two without any technological aid. As if that weren't enough, they have those natural abilities like flight, energy creation, and Psionic powers, to say nothing of their tech being on par with that of the Chozo. Putting that much power into a player's hands would be like letting someone play as an actual Red Dragon in D&D.

--3c: Reptilicus.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

What they are: The Reptilicus are the native inhabitants of the planet Bryyo, which stands as the Galactic Federation's largest supplier of Fuel Gel. Resembling multi-armed lizards with a natural face mask of bone tissue, they have access to some rather impressive technology, such as cloaking devices, energy weapons, and personal teleporters. However, this technology is sadly undermined by their lack of true intelligence; mentally speaking, they are akin to a collection of savage tribes, and occasionally have violent feuds with one another over territory and resources. More recent studies make their story even more tragic: according to intel gleaned amid the Phazon Crisis, the Reptilicus once had an impressively advanced civilization, after being visited by the Chozo and receiving some of their wisdom. Unfortunately, their technology advanced far faster than their minds, and ages of global war reduced Bryyo to its current state of affairs, with only a small, fertile stretch of the equator remaining habitable.
Why you can't play one: As you may have guessed by now, the Reptilicus have long since nuked themselves back into the stone age, and while remnants of their advanced past remain, they themselves lack the necessary intellect to make these remnants work, much less construct any decent spacecraft. There's a reason the Federation gets all of their Bryyonian Fuel Gel from the side of the planet that's perpetually facing its sun, and is thus scorched beyond any hope of civilized habitation.

--3d: Diamont.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

What they are: The Diamont were a species made entirely out of living geomatter. Their bodies were made of stone, lava served as their blood, and they could reshape their bodies into a sphere similar to Samus's Morph Ball. For reasons unknown, they - like the Chozo - have gone extinct, save for one survivor: bounty hunter Spire, who still searches tirelessly for why he is the last of his kind.
Why you can't play one: Like the Chozo, the main reason you can't play as a Diamont is because they are an extinct species, unless you count Spire...and obviously, playing as Spire isn't going to happen. Bit of a crying shame, though; much like the cancelled Retro Studios game "Raven Blade," they would've made an impressive sight if they still had enough members left to reproduce.

4: Above all, remember that if you don't make note of it in your character sheet, I will assume your hunter doesn't have it. If you want your ship to have a mining beam for extracting ores from asteroids, tell me in the CS. If your hunter is a melee expert, tell me in the CS. If you want to carry a shoulder-mounted nuclear launch system wherever you go...well, fat chance in terms of getting it approved, but still, tell me. As the old saying goes, "assuming will only make an ass out of you and me," and we can neutralize a number of future misunderstandings with solid communication.

Okay, now that we have all that out of the way, here are the two templates you'll be using. Yes, I said two; one for your actual hunter, and the other for their personal ship. If you have any questions about how to use these, just ask me.

Hunter Sheet
-Name: (If you fail to understand this one, sorry, I can't help you.)
-Race: (Aside from the unplayable species listed above, you can choose any race noted on the Intelligent Species wiki category...or, if you're feeling creative, make your own.)
-Age: (Since a number of playable races are available - and you can even introduce your own if you have the imagination to make it work - you may want to include either a word or equivalent human age if you're intending to play a non-human race, for clarity's sake. After all, a species that lives for 1,000 years and spends 200 of them as a child would see 18 as practically a toddler's age.)
-Gender: (Pretty self-explanatory, though the options of Herm and Genderless may be available depending on race. As a general rule of thumb, though, humans only come in Male or Female.)
-Appearance: (Note that this is specifically your hunter's appearance when not suited up in their armor. The appearance of their armor suit should go in the "Suit Description" field below. Text, a picture, or both are acceptable.)
-Suit Description: (This is where you get to add flavor to your armor-suit. Remember, it has to be air-tight, and the physical size of your armor will affect how much it weighs you down. Like with the "Appearance" field above, you can describe how it looks in the text, or just post a picture in spoiler tags.)
-Primary Weapon: (This can be just about anything you want it to be. Melee, firearm, energy gun, whatever. Just try to make sense while being creative, and remember that there are limits to how powerful it can be; we can't have people running around with grenade shotguns or portable mini-nukes, now can we? )
-Secondary Weapon: (Same deal as your primary, really.)
-Backstory: (Tell us more about your character. When/why did he/she become a bounty hunter? What life did he/she have growing up? Are there any important people in his/her life? So on and so forth.)
-Misc Details: (Something important you haven't covered so far? Put it here.)

Ship Sheet

Name: (Christen your signature vessel!)
Size: (Is your ship Small, Medium, or Large in size? For reference, Samus's Gunship from Metroid Prime would classify as a Small ship, the G.F.S. Tyr would be the size of a Medium ship, and the Millenium Falcon from Star Wars would be a Large ship. Note that smaller ships are typically more maneuverable than larger ships, but often at the expense of armor and firepower.)
Appearance: (What does your ship look like? Once again, text, a picture, or both are acceptable.)
Weapons: (What heat is your ship packing? Remember that your ship's size factors into how many weapons it can equip, so don't go too crazy.)
Misc Gear: (Is there anything of particular interest your ship has onboard? Does it have an ore-harvesting beam? Perhaps a Grapple Tether for carrying large objects? Maybe even a cloaking device? If so, put that stuff here. For the record, every ship comes pre-equipped with a Jump Drive unit for faster-than-light travel, as getting around the galaxy would take multiple human lifetimes to accomplish without FTL capability.)
History: (Any special story behind your ship should go here. Did you build it with your own hands? Was it originally something you jacked out of another faction's arsenal? Feel free to get creative.)