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  • 📅 February and March 2024 are YE 46.2 in the RP.

Finally...a place to call a home.

Omega724

Inactive Member
Well, first off. Hello everyone. I've spent the last two days reading this site (it is mind-boggling and awesome at the same time), and finally got up the courage to join (at least I think so). I hope I can help influence this universe in any way I can, for better or for worse. Having said that, I have a few questions before I create my character that may have been answered, but I wasn't able to find said topics.

1. Ranking. How is the ranking scale set for promotions, starting rank, and prestige? Meaning, does my character have to start at the lowest of lows and stay there for x-number of months? Or can he start at...say...and E3 or so? Either way is fine by me, because my character won't go too high anyway (more to come on that later).

2. How long is a YE? I would like to create a Geshrin on Tatiana, but that planet is very young (in terms of terraforming) for someone to grow up there. Any help on a background planet would help out (I'd prefer something peaceful, but not too mainstream...like Tattooine with more shrubbery. Still up-to-date on technology, but kind of backwater and sheltered).

3. I've not seen too much on the 4th fleet...any info on them? Instruments of Death just sounds bad-ass.

4. And finally, my topic of main concern, with all of the officers, technicians, engineers, pilots, and royalty out there...is there any room for a simple ground pounder. Y'know, like a trooper, space marine, boarding party, planetside soldier, mobile infantry, or anything else that is a synonym for a gunman. That is what I think I'd be the best in. I've had experience rp-ing that type of person, and have read some books concerning the life of an infantryman.

Any answers would be greatly appreciated.
 
Welcome to the Star Army, yo. My name's Doshii; I moderate the Goban plotship. Glad to see you've read up on the site! I'll give you the best answers I can; some of the more veteran moderators can come in and fill in the cracks as needed.

1. There are two rank systems -- board rank and character rank. Board rank's a little obsolete, but essentially your character rank cannot rise above your board rank except in special circumstances. Your board rank increases via post count until you reach Ittô Juni (Warrant Officer First Class.) Then, when Wes sees it fitting, he'll increase your board rank to an officer rank.

E3's not a very advanced rank -- Ittô Hei, right? Why do you want to start there, if I may ask?

2. A YE is 315 18-hour days. Time's somewhat nebulous in the SARP, as different plots with different pacing make it so Wes has to just declare when the new year has arrived upon us. It all works out, though.

As for a backwater planet ... you're a little SOL, arguably. Most of those worlds (that are old enough to have Geshrin life born on them) would be Nepleslian. Check under "Star Systems" and "Map" on the left sidebar for more info.

3. The 4th XF, if I remember correctly, was wasted at some point. YE 28, I guess. Go to this thread here for more.

4. Ah, well, technical sentries are the "grunt" equivilent for Yamatai. Nepleslia has a grittier army at its disposal, so perhaps you want to look at them more closely.
 
1. Hmm...that makes sense...the more you post, the higher you're allowed to go. Seems logical to me. And for the low rank, well, E3 equates to a form of sergent I believe. But really, to be a Mobile Infantry (MI) is all I really want. In stories about space and such (Star Trek as an example) marine-like troopers get overlooked, while they are the driving force behind any ground based operation, as well as the muscle behind a ship-to-ship capture. One can't just risk the deaths of vital officers when holding down a ship, now can they? In essence, I'd like to create a character that is unique, and not too over-played.

2. As for the terms of planets for a history, I've been looking at the timeline a little more carefully, trying to make the past fit. I think I've got it figured out now, but I'll need more time to fine tune and polish my history up.

3. Oh...Well I saw that the 4th XF was toast, but I didn't know it was synonymous with just the 4th fleet. But okay...'tis cool.

4. And I wasn't sure if Nepleslia and the Star Army were on good terms or not...so I thought I'd be with the Star Army to start.

oh...another question...who exactly is the Star Army fighting...the Mishhuvurthyar?
 
*nods* Right. The Mishhu are the main opponent.

1a. The Star Army eliminated the power armor pilot position a while ago. So technical sentry is what you're kind of stuck with. You can focus on PA combat, if you'd like.

2a. Be careful with elaborate histories. They can get you into trouble -- simple is usually best.

3a. There was a 4th War Fleet, I believe. Wes will know about it better than me; the Mikomi, if I remember right, was part of it.

4a. Star Army characters get access to the plotships. Nepleslians ... are kind of on their own, unless they're pirates.
 
Hello and welcome, Omega. :)

Actually, both the 4th Fleet and the 4th Expeditionary Fleet has been lost.

The 4XF was decimated by Mishhus at Tami.

Wes, please refresh my memory on how the 4th Fleet met its end. I could remember several events that could've caused it, but we only lost the 4th once. :)

Anyway, it's been a long bloody war with the Mishhus. Yamatai has not lost a war yet, but it's had its share of beatings on the battlefield.

Nepleslia and Yamatai are currently on friendly terms. But the latter was an ex-colony of the former. And the former had been under the latter's political control for years, and seceded in the middle of a war. Diplomatic meetings are, shall we say, "awkward". :p

And yes, the courageous catgirls and humans of Yamatai are currently fighting the Mishhuvurthyar. The Mishhus are disgusting, slimey, many-tentacled monsters. With psionics. (A GM's dream, really.) They threw the first punch, so to speak, and the only diplomatic overtures from them so far has been calls for Yamatai to surrender. :D

I believe I'm cross-posting with Doshii. But our answers are not conflicting.
 
Heh...tentacle monsters and catgirls...now I know I'm home. :D

As for the 4th...I do believe I've given up on them. Too bad, yeah? I'll just see where I'm assigned. But in a nutshell, my character was born in 10YE, on Yamatai, just after the plague (his parents survived) moved to Albini after it was discovered, then to Tatiana after it was discovered. He joined up to "see the universe, meet strange new people, and make a career out of it".

....

like I said...in a nutshell.

Oh...and another question. Where would be the best place to start out at?
 
I'd say Kyoto, Yamatai. It's a half-and-half city, with civilian and a military side, that's full of interesting stuff (especially shops).
 
Hmm...Kyoto sounds good...
M'kay, on to yet another question (tell me when to stop, for I tend to ask a lot of questions.)...Does our planet exist, as in Terra aka. Earth? The reasoning is that I want my character to like 'old history' and like 'outdated' movies and such. Kind of how we as people look back on the medieval days as those of both war and romance. If not, then, meh.
 
I haven't read anything about Earth itself, but several legacies from Earth exist. Languages (Japanese and English) from Earth are the predominant languages in many areas. Some people even own items of Terran origin. In fact, I recall someone owning a copy of a piece of 18th century German literature. If pieces of 18th century literature can exist, then I think 20th century movies wouldn't be a far stretch.

Be careful not to go too far though. Unless he's a historian, I don't think he'd have access to too many movies. If they existed they would be amazingly rare, so his knowledge of them would be limited. Unless, of course, you can perhaps come up with a legitimate excuse for him to know about large amounts of 20th century media, such as having a parent whose job as to collect and catalogue ancient movies on behalf of a museum.

Keep in mind differences in time span, too. Hundreds of years later people may have a radically different perception of certain subjects, and certain parts of history may be lost. To add a touch of realism, you might want to have your character confuse some historical movies for fictional ones, and vice versa.
 
The truth is, in the SA universe, very few people can come up with even circumstantial evidence to prove any claims about humanity's past, much less actual artifacts. For whatever reason, for the common citizen, the past are mostly a blank once you trace back to more than a few hundred years. And it is known that humanity has been space-faring for at least that long.

Some archaeologist and historians still believe that Earth exists, or once existed, and that Earth is humanity's true homeworld, but they're mostly dismissed by their peers as crackpots. A lot of scam artists will try to sell unsuspecting folk "relics" from Earth, which really soured people's perception of the validity of the historians' claims.

So, most people believe that Earth is a myth. :( But, I believe the policy is that we'll generally allow PC's to possess one or two harmless Terran "relics", provided that their validity are always in question. You may have a book or even a statuette labeled "Made in Taiwan", but good luck convincing anyone that it's genuine. :)

We may revise this policy if everyone starts asking for Terran "relics". It's not something that we want to become too common.
 
There is, however, an Earth in the NDI's home universe. Since they've been in contact with the Star Army for several years now, it's posible some artifacts could come from there. It's about 2070-something on their timeline, I believe.
 
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