RPG: The Kharaa invade Shashnimyn territory
<div class="IPBDescription">Two highly-evolved species locked in a battle for survival in deep space</div><i>The Skulk creeps forward, her claws sticking firmly into the chitin floors. The noises and scents from around the corner indicate the position of two prey. She judges which angle of entry would give her the best strike. Running over panels and wires, springing into the light and burying a talon into the chest of the larger Shashnimyn and then xenociding. The chemical explosion swallowed the adjacent figure before he could ready his weapon. With the last of his strength he crawled for his bow, but he knew that he would already die at the claws of the incoming wave.</i>
The Shashnimyn are a species of magicians. The most powerful are able to bend probabilities to make astounding things happen. The most basic myn can power various devices. Their homeworld and moons have been preserved as parks, their solar system is filled with their space stations and outposts. Every few years a new STL colony ship is sent out.
On the outer reaches of their space, a strange plague has begun to happen. Very little is known about it, it seems to strike suddenly and leave no trace. Mining colonies, settlements and jump gates have vanished from the infonets. There have been no survivors and the border systems are becoming concerned.
<img src="http://clubweb.interbaun.com/raball/images/Basic-Sector_02.jpg" border="0" alt="IPB Image" />
You are invited to join in a play-by-post RPG of these two species.
For the rules discussion thread: <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?s=295216836518299776&showtopic=101166" target="_blank">Start here</a>
The first Kharaa adventure: <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?s=295216836518299776&showtopic=101313" target="_blank">Help to invade a small freighter</a>
The Shashnimyn are a species of magicians. The most powerful are able to bend probabilities to make astounding things happen. The most basic myn can power various devices. Their homeworld and moons have been preserved as parks, their solar system is filled with their space stations and outposts. Every few years a new STL colony ship is sent out.
On the outer reaches of their space, a strange plague has begun to happen. Very little is known about it, it seems to strike suddenly and leave no trace. Mining colonies, settlements and jump gates have vanished from the infonets. There have been no survivors and the border systems are becoming concerned.
<img src="http://clubweb.interbaun.com/raball/images/Basic-Sector_02.jpg" border="0" alt="IPB Image" />
You are invited to join in a play-by-post RPG of these two species.
For the rules discussion thread: <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?s=295216836518299776&showtopic=101166" target="_blank">Start here</a>
The first Kharaa adventure: <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?s=295216836518299776&showtopic=101313" target="_blank">Help to invade a small freighter</a>
Comments
They are a race that uses magic. They use magic in shaping plants and organisms into technology and bionics. They can increase their physical and mental discipline to perform heroic feats. They are a nature-loving and happy species. But they are familiar with both the law of the jungle and the value of honour. Their favourite weapons are somewhat medieval, primarily kathinis (a type of retractable javelin) and swords. They also use lasers, particle beams, rail guns and enjoy a good space battle.
They are expanding to the star systems near their home planet which is mostly dense forests, harsh deserts, rugged glaciated mountains and spans of sea & cloud. They have slower than light ships and each region is mostly autonomous. They often engage in pointless wars with each other in the name of competition. Unlawful citizens have become space pirates and raiders. Most of the danger they face is the deadly reality of space.
<img src="http://clubweb.interbaun.com/raball/images/shashnimyn-proportions.jpg" border="0" alt="IPB Image" />
Especially sci-fi fantasy epics. He knows nothing at all about those.
You'll have to forgive tycho, his knowledge of anything sci-fi is minimal at best.
Especially sci-fi fantasy epics. He knows nothing at all about those.
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You'll have to forgive Stickman. His sci-fi knowledge is so minimal, he can't even grasp that it is impossible for anyone to know about the Shashnimyn without asking you. Stickman, you see, figured his lack of knowledge about the Shashnimyn was only a small subset of his lack of knowledge about any science fiction at all, ever, and therefore pretended to know about them like he pretends to know about all science fiction. If he actually knew anything, he would have realized that neither he nor I would know about your made up race.
Edit: also is that a third leg or a giant dong.
The Shashnimyn are a fictional race that I made up.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I hate it already.
Shouldn't this be in the <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?s=294062220459040832&showforum=6" target="_blank">Fan-Fiction forum</a>?
Shashnimyn? Sounds like something you find in a kebab shop.
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Insulting of the ancestors is punishable by violation of the rectum.
<!--quoteo(post=1625457:date=May 7 2007, 08:54 AM:name=TychoCelchuuu)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TychoCelchuuu @ May 7 2007, 08:54 AM) [snapback]1625457[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->
Edit: also is that a third leg or a giant dong.
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Well anything is possible with magic, but when I sketched that I was imitating DaVinci's anatomy diagram. They have just two legs, and the funny do hickey extending from the junction in the middle of the back is an additional limb lost in evolution. Their ancestry had six limbs, but they lost two in the transition to bipedalism. Well mostly. About 3 in a million have vestigial limbs good as sensitive manipulation/surgery arms and there is also a small tribe that had a reverse mutation and look like centaurs. But the centauroids cannot interbreed with the rest of them. It's very, uhhh, awkward.
<!--quoteo(post=1625476:date=May 7 2007, 11:02 AM:name=RustySpoon)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(RustySpoon @ May 7 2007, 11:02 AM) [snapback]1625476[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->
Insulting of the ancestors is punishable by violation of the rectum.
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lol, I was about to ask what heritage you were, but the reference to kebabs and strange practices makes me unsure I want to know.
<!--quoteo(post=1625460:date=May 7 2007, 09:14 AM:name=Align)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Align @ May 7 2007, 09:14 AM) [snapback]1625460[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->
I hate it already.
Shouldn't this be in the <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?s=294062220459040832&showforum=6" target="_blank">Fan-Fiction forum</a>?
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Point taken, but that forum is pretty slow, and I wanted to get more exposure to the NS fanbase at large. Besides, putting it in OT means you can all make fun of me. Just remember, that the Shashnimyn could totally beat up your Dad. ~: P
You'll have to forgive Stickman. His sci-fi knowledge is so minimal, he can't even grasp that it is impossible for anyone to know about the Shashnimyn without asking you. Stickman, you see, figured his lack of knowledge about the Shashnimyn was only a small subset of his lack of knowledge about any science fiction at all, ever, and therefore pretended to know about them like he pretends to know about all science fiction. If he actually knew anything, he would have realized that neither he nor I would know about your made up race.
Edit: also is that a third leg or a giant dong.
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... You win this round...
or a Bottcheek <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/confused-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="???" border="0" alt="confused-fix.gif" />
Point taken, but that forum is pretty slow, and I wanted to get more exposure to the NS fanbase at large. Besides, putting it in OT means you can all make fun of me. Just remember, that the Shashnimyn could totally beat up your Dad. ~: P
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You got exposure as someone who made a fictional species which sounds like something I can buy for two pound fifty round the corner. GG.
You got exposure as someone who made a fictional species which sounds like something I can buy for two pound fifty round the corner. GG.
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I don't want to turn this into an argument, but I just wanna say that this is more than just a made up kid story. This has been well thought through by Wurmspawn, 200 pages of work isn't something that is easy to do for any of us. I honestly think this story line has probably gone through about the equivalent or most likely more thinking through than the NS universe (by the dev team at least).
If that's your opinion, I'm fine with that. But remember that there are probably some people out there in the forums who may be interested in a RPG like this. It's been a long time (longer than I've been around the forums) since we've ever had something like this, so give it a chance.
I strongly encourage you to at least check out the link. I've posted some rather long stories of my character (I'm not a very good writer, so I'm impressed of what I've done), but your stories of your character don't have to be so long.
And <i>Thaldarin</i>, I'm not sure if your comment refers to the name of the speices or the presentation of it, so I'll address both.
The presentation. This is a forum, I think we both know how much teasing is a regular part of it. Despite me having put a lot of work into developing their world, I am not above making fun of it. This is reflected in the Shashnimyn species also, they are fun loving and their pantheon is occasionally mischievous.
Hopefully you all find the following a bit more enticing than vague descriptions and joking:
<i>I was up on my feet and moving before I was fully awake, months of drills had conditioned me to act in response to the battle alarm. I opened the containment to my exo suit. It looked like the skin an insect had just shed, split open down the back. Inside was an assortment of organs, already molded to the shape of my body. I stepped in and bent forward, the muscles in the suit tensed around me. The embrace became an extension of me, I breathed life into my second body and tested its senses. The symbiotic mind made me hyper aware of my surroundings and I leaped into the passage ways, jumping around other myn as I made my way to the impact ship.
I hit the tunnels of the impact ship and was nestled into a pod. I felt a jolt as we were shot from the destroyer but the dampeners in the pod quickly compensated for the acceleration. The first moments were silent, alone with the synchronous beating of two hearts. I flexed my back mounted projector, lubricating the firing mechanism with mucus. Soon, strategic data was fed into my pod. I was suddenly suspended in virtual space, the destroyer shrinking quickly behind me. I zoomed in on the target ahead, it was a large space station, and mining trade outpost by the looks of it. The biosigns were all off though and it had both portions missing and added, weird bulges and spires sticking out at impractical angles. Our impact point was the center of the mass.
"Myn, this is a potentially serious situation" The voice of the captain spoke via transmission, "All previous landings in this sector have not been recovered. We are meant to take the ship by surprise. Fight your way to the bridge or environmental control. Good luck"
The impact ship slammed into the hull of the spaceship, fragmenting and driving the numerous seed-like pods deep into the ship. The protective casings shielded us from this incredible impact, while causing devastation inside. My pod blew open and I jumped out, all four claws digging into the deck. It was dark and humid, the ground was soft beneath my feet. Using echolocation to sense my position despite the airborne debris... I found no recognizable structures... no references points what so ever. I froze, unsure what to do.
Behind me I hear a roar and a thunder. An rhino like creature pounded towards me. I instinctively let off a shot, it blew off a horn but barely slowed the creature. I dodged back up to the wall beside me, and leapt off, aiming for a flying bite at its broken side. The creature turned its head as I closed and as my teeth caught in the chinks its armour and its nose horn pierced my side. I let off another shot at point blank and thrashed with my claws but I knew I was doomed.</i>
and... the name was just something I thought up when creating them, I didn't go through any brain storming like they did with the Kharaa. It simply means, the people of Shashnia, which is their home planet. It is pronounced Sha sh' na ma 'een, their global language of trade and politics sounds like a fusion of African languages and Japanese. I realize it's not sexy or engaging, but it's been what I worked with. If a publisher comes to me and says that it simply will not sell, I will bite the bullet and begin the most epic of find & replace campaigns.
On that note, let me mention that the overall project is intended for publication. Current plans are to refine the wiki and include custom code that allows it to be a functional game. The basic goal of this project is to create an intermediate between traditional pen and paper RPGs and computer RPGs. CRPGs are great for accessibility and user-base, but they lack a lot of creative play opportunities. I am writing text-based choose your own adventures which incorporate elements of automated action and allow for open-ended gaming as well.
This is where this Kharaa & Shashnimyn campaign comes into play. I need more direct experience of how online text-based gaming develops and what appeals to players & community. Although I've been long absent, this community still holds meaning for me. And it's the primary demographic: action/strategy computer gamers.
Also, anytime soon would be a good time for other skulks to spawn since <i>Chocolate</i> the gorge (with no spit or OCs) won't hold up long against a Shashnimyn commoner, even if they are unarmed. Mind you, a single skulk and some webs could make quick crunchiness. *hint hint*