Before I go through the trouble of making this guy...

I just wanted to ask if this would be feasible for your style of play here. I see that the various races and factions are for the most part, very well segregated; but from what I've read on the wiki, it seems space is pretty much free-- for the most part.

I wanted to create a character who's official occupation is "Career Criminal" or "Swindler". Literally: "Professional Side-Mounted Thorn". He would be a sort of recurring villian for the characters that knew him or knew of him; and a "frienemy" to those just meeting him. The kind of guy who steals the silverware, smokes in the lobby, and sells out his accquaintances.

The reason that I ask is a simple one. Obviously, I'm new to this site, and I'm not sure how you guys roll. If you think this is a stupid idea, I'd like to hear that. Or if you're just experienced enough to know that most GM's wouldn't like scripting in an unexpected guest in their plot, that's also a go.

If this idea doesn't really work out, I have no problem choosing a stock character and then killing him off after I get a feel for how things work around here. It's just that I've done PbP a lot in the past, and I'm wanting to try something new this time around.

Please reply if you've got a moment.

It MIGHT work with the Phoenix. I'm not sure; that one of the plots I haven't really read. Honestly though, it won't work for most plots, because they're military. Sell us out, we nuke you. *shrug* Play that character in the military at your own risk, really.

Are they really so quick as to nuke someone who stole a bunch of rations from the hold or lied to them as per the whereabouts of some minerals on a planet's surface in order to distract them whilst he escapes?

This is a petty thief, not a lonley military genius. One of those "Not right NOW! Why did you pick right NOW to show up?!" kinda guys. Thorn in the side, not arch nemisis.

However, it's true that I didn't intend to mess with the military until I had some better hardware built up. My inquisition was mainly reguarding the players being welcome to it, not so much the gameplay mechanics,

Hey Lam. Welcome to SARP.

We've had folks come through before with exactly the idea you're suggesting, and the reply is stock from us — You can try, but the chances of you succeeding are pretty limited.

Your research is solid. Races are relatively segregated because factions are segregated. It's just how we've done the plotships. It isn't a perfect system, but it works well for us.

You've answered your own question when you talk about GMs: Basically, we don't like the unscripted intrusion. Some GMs might be more loose than others, but many GMs either focus on missions building up to something large, or an episodic format where each episode is self-contained and already mapped.

Your writing and research suggests you'll be a good addition to whatever GM ends up with you, so feel good with that. But in general, independents tend to lose interest here pretty fast.

As a GM, if we discuss it in the OOC thread or by PM in advance, I'd probably be okay with a stranger visiting the plot. Although, I don't see this sort of character doing a lot of misdeeds around the military since if he were allowed on a Star Army ship, he'd likely be under escort and confined to a limited section of the ship (as is standard for any civilian guest). Trying to pilfer things from the ship would get him confined in a VERY limited section of the ship (the brig).

That said (and this is for everyone on the site to consider), we need to figure out as a community how to include non-plot characters in a usable way. Right now, there aren't that many characters that operate outside of plot groups...what we'd probably need is maybe a central "hub" for indie characters (maybe something like Pisces station).

My advice to you, Lam, is to:

1) Place your character where other players might be so you have people to interact with. Use the public communications network to network with other independent characters and such. Basically, sitting back and waiting for RP to come to you is unreliable; as an independent there's no GM to look out for you so you must be proactive in seeking RP.
2) Consider making a secondary character in one of the big factions so in case action is slim on the indie side, you will still have a steady source of RP and won't get bored. It would also let you get to know the universe through RP experience.

I hope our community can suit your needs. Let me know if you need assistance. I am always willing to personally help new members get settled in. I don't want you to feel like you're on the outside looking in, I want you to be a part of our circle.

It sounds like you describe a good Nep character Lam, since most of it's military probably has some sort of criminal history. The character sounds like a rude rouge type that skirts the rules just enough so that he wouldn't be briged.

And before Yamatai became nice, even killed.

I wouldn't suggest making a villain character, perhaps if you collaborated with a GM you can figure a way to do such things like back-stab so you can rescue the party later on. It's more work for the GM if you made a minion for the villain, since roleplay is needed for your character AND the other players as well, furthermore it may give away some story elements.

My plot for example would have a villain that you could possible work with once it is revealed, however if your roleplay goes faster than the main story players, I would have to stop and slow down for them.

That is assuming you don't mind vanishing from roleplay for weeks at a time, especially in a SP style plot.

I only chip this in since I've done a plot that was PvP'sh with the GM running the reason they fight each other.

I want to thank you all for your rational and intelligent replies-- this is something new to me when it comes to a PbP board. Most other sites like this have nothing of the sort. That's the entire reason why I've dropped out of online RPing in the first place. I'm very tired of the entire community essentially being a giant in-joke and so far this place is a breath of fresh air in that reguard.

I do feel a little red in the face that you've seen my type a thousand times before. But, I'm confident in my ability to write that character properly and keep him alive.

And, yes I would like to try. I'll finish my character sheet after this post and place it in the wiki. I was holding off on my character's history and inventory until after the general idea passed muster; as I tend to keep those areas pretty lengthy. Also, if any GM's were interested in having an slight delay in one of their episodes, I will be looking for an RP to jump into. I may PM some of you.

I also have some questions reguarding inventory creation. I'd like you to answer them for me if any of you've got the time.

1) Is it possible to trade out the starting money for a few expensive items that are heavily damaged? For example: Say I would want my character to start out in a garage with a very junky Firefly that had seen better days; and still have a small amount of equipment like any starting character would. From what I understand, the Firefly alone would cost well over my starting budget. How do the restraints work on things like that?

2) I see that the personal effects of a person are kept very good track of. I like this. My question is about their value in reguards to the starting money. Would an engraved flashlight or some such that was over ten years old and in the character's possesion through some sort of trial be costly in any way to the character?

3) And finally, How are things like ships and apartments figured into a character's inventory? I don't really see anything about it in the wiki article, although the ships themselves have listed prices.

With these questions answered, I will be well on my way to being present in the Star Army Universe. And I will take your suggestion to create a little Mary Sue of sorts to play out other plots.

I can't answer to the first, but the second shouldn't count against his cash, so long as you justify it as an heirloom or gift in his history. As to the third, my advice is to start learning the wiki coding. You can create a new section once you know how, and add them in under that, assuming it's necessary.