Approved Character Titan

[Lijosu]

If you give me your discord IDs I can start a private chat (or add you to one I've already started).

 

[FrostJaeger]

@Lijosu - My Discord ID is FrostJäger#4293

 

[META_mahn]

I would like to remind the people present that exceptions have been made before, since @HarperMadi started with a custom ship made of stapled-together parts out of salvage people have just allowed.

 

[HarperMadi]

@META_mahn keep in mind my character was strictly noncombatant and a scientist to boot. The character's potential for game ruining destruction and chaos was fairly slim.

So as long as you can make an interesting story and not break the game, I'm sure you'll be fine. I tried, with Thorn and the Oracle. But now I'm just happy exploring shtuff and making a good story.

 

[HarperMadi]

On a side note, I could see her enjoying Rose's astrophysics and astronavigation class. Hell, she'd probably get along pretty well with Rose and Thorn. Those two consider exotic particle physics "light" reading.

 

[Primitive Polygon]

Sorry for the late reply on this. I've been loosing my mind a little. The previous week was my last hand-ins after four years in university.

The history looks fine to me, as the actions on all sides seem pretty justified in-character. The only thing I'm still wondering about is why the two creators chose a standard human genome as the basis, and not a Freespacer one; Freespacers grow faster and can be trained in VR. I guess if they were always planning on integrating them into human society and whatnot, it could be seen as a 'fresh start'. Spacers are almost always naturally sterile, and the radiation resistance wouldn't be needed as much, e.t.c...

It does raise the question, though, why not just build a robot/automata that does this? The only reasons I can think of for having them organic is maintenance costs, or perhaps the fact that the child is some kind of ongoing experiment that they still aren't sure is going to pay off completely... Like, this is something that half the setting is guilty of, to be honest, but it does bare thinking about for the sake of suspension of disbelief. The only reason why the Star Army of Yamatai doesn't use machine AIs as much is because they are still somewhat scared of them, and even then the Nekovalkyrja creation process is shrouded in mystery.

As for the custom giant robot, that's also something that you'd get away with entirely depending on the thread you are joining. As far as I know, the only mecha threads even running right now are in the 188604 plots, but independent plot GMs may also give you the thumbs up if the idea sounds like it is worth the hassle.

Might make things easier to swallow (and open up a lot more plots for you to join) if you made it a power armour instead, perhaps? There are certainly some things around like the Crooked Demon that are both mini-mecha and just about obscure/old enough to be salvaged. Obviously if you'd prefer it to be humanoid, then, well... A regular sized power armour kind of is mini-mecha to a child, isn't it?... Just an idea.

 

[Lijosu]

The history looks fine to me, as the actions on all sides seem pretty justified in-character. The only thing I'm still wondering about is why the two creators chose a standard human genome as the basis, and not a Freespacer one; Freespacers grow faster and can be trained in VR. I guess if they were always planning on integrating them into human society and whatnot, it could be seen as a 'fresh start'. Spacers are almost always naturally sterile, and the radiation resistance wouldn't be needed as much, e.t.c...

The idea is that they wanted something as human and relatable as possible. Originally I was thinking about having Titan be essentially a new TYPE of freespacer rather than just a human, that would look a lot like a human and be planned by the creators to be the next generation of freespacer. But I figured that was a bit much for my first actual character.

It does raise the question, though, why not just build a robot/automata that does this? The only reasons I can think of for having them organic is maintenance costs, or perhaps the fact that the child is some kind of ongoing experiment that they still aren't sure is going to pay off completely... Like, this is something that half the setting is guilty of, to be honest, but it does bare thinking about for the sake of suspension of disbelief. The only reason why the Star Army of Yamatai doesn't use machine AIs as much is because they are still somewhat scared of them, and even then the Nekovalkyrja creation process is shrouded in mystery.

Your assumptions are mostly right. Realistically it does make more sense to create the perfect robot than to attempt to make a better biological soldier. The first problem is though, out of character, is that its not really my problem. I dont mean that as in Titan not being robotic isnt my fault. I just mean that the idea of a robot super soldier just doesnt seem to fit into the setting. Because apparently people would prefer to use biological things that have to be enormously modified to be able to survive anything as opposed to a robot that can hardly be considered capable of death in many ways, and is a lot more ethically sound to use in war for a lot of reasons as well. If I were to break the mold of most characters who fight being biological, it wouldn't look pretty. Mostly because instead of going through the lengths to make this character work, I'd be putting exactly the same amount of energy into the philosophy of combat drones. Which sort of breaks the SARP, because as you may have figured out by now: Star Army doesnt actually make ANY SENSE, despite how some people like to think it does. Maybe Im just stuck up. But I feel like making her a robot would be more troubling than what she is right now, simply because I would be the one doing it.

But in terms of my actual reasoning for Titan being biological. Its because of just that. Yamatai fears robots (even though technically speaking, they are robots. Just biological ones.) and Nepleslia like, most their soldiers aren't even full robot. They're mass produced cyborgs. Lets completely ignore that a COMPLETE ROBOT would be much better suited to war than a HALF ROBOT. Because cyborgs are much cooler. The fact of the matter is, that theres a prejudice against anything thats missing biological bits and pieces or looks more metal than flesh. And its important to remember (and Ill be doing my best to remember, myself) that the goal when creating Titan wasn't to create the perfect soldier. It was to create a means for integrating into more developed societies. As a side note, thats also why shes a soldier. During the time of her creation, war was all over the damn place. And it still is. Its normal. So naturally, if youre trying to be the most normal you can be. You be a child soldier that just happens to BARELY cross uncanny valley and make it to the other side. Not to sound overly pretentious (this is just my first character in an RP on the internet, afterall) but Titan is meant to be the default Star Army OC. If I know online roleplay correctly, a lot of characters often act child like, and in Star Army this might even be explained, since a lot of them are clones that are only a few years old. But in other roleplays theres no explanation other than the fact that the people roleplaying the characters are inexperienced and making characters based on things they dont really know much about. Even if that thing is the behavior of other people. Im sure you see the symbolic connection, what with Titan being literally a child in form, and having a really exaggerated personality.

Sorry for the long winded explanation. Next response now.

As for the custom giant robot, that's also something that you'd get away with entirely depending on the thread you are joining. As far as I know, the only mecha threads even running right now are in the 188604 plots, but independent plot GMs may also give you the thumbs up if the idea sounds like it is worth the hassle.

Actually I was thinking more a person sized suit. Like, Titan sized. (Yikes that was ironic.)

Dont know if that changes anything. But I thought it was pretty important that I made that clear.

 

[Lijosu]

I could expand on why shes a biological being rather than a robot if you like, but for now I think that pretty much explains it. Sorry if it wasnt obvious from just reading the wiki page. If I can Ill try to make it more clear.

 

[Primitive Polygon]

Having a power armour is definitely more workable than having a full on giant mecha, so yeah, it's probably worth going down that route.

As for the other stuff... Well, I wasn't trying to order you to make them a robot or anything. That's totally not my place to say.

It's also totally a meta thing that organic humanoid characters will always be the most physically powerful in almost any setting; But that's only because most people prefer to make/play organic characters that they can personally relate to... In fact, you are about the third or fourth person that's specifically done an "organic freespacer super soldier project" character.

As for the 'default star army character', it's kind of a running theme of introspection with Nekovalkyrja that they have no idea why they were even made humanoid, so... Yeah... Exploring it is one thing, saying it's just because of the meta is another.

Either way, you're asking for advice and input, I'm just trying to give you ideas. Trying to give people the kind of intrigue that will make them want to RP with you. SARP is all about collaboration at the end of the day.

If somebody wants to take you up on this for a plot and approve it, I won't block it. Just yeah.

 

[Lijosu]

Having a power armour is definitely more workable than having a full on giant mecha, so yeah, it's probably worth going down that route.

As for the other stuff... Well, I wasn't trying to order you to make them a robot or anything. That's totally not my place to say.

It's also totally a meta thing that organic humanoid characters will always be the most physically powerful in almost any setting; But that's only because most people prefer to make/play organic characters that they can personally relate to... In fact, you are about the third or fourth person that's specifically done an "organic freespacer super soldier project" character.

As for the 'default star army character', it's kind of a running theme of introspection with Nekovalkyrja that they have no idea why they were even made humanoid, so... Yeah... Exploring it is one thing, saying it's just because of the meta is another.

Either way, you're asking for advice and input, I'm just trying to give you ideas. Trying to give people the kind of intrigue that will make them want to RP with you. SARP is all about collaboration at the end of the day.

If somebody wants to take you up on this for a plot and approve it, I won't block it. Just yeah.

No need to go on the defensive. If you think theres issues with the character feel free to tell me about it and Ill decide what needs to be done about it. With all my pretentious crap to the side. Its a character. I dont really see it as much more or less. If you think itd work better to have Titan as robotic, I'll definitely think about it. I was just pointing out that there would be an issue, because robots are superior in pretty much every way to any biological being, when it comes to warfare in this setting. And since as far as I know, none of the bigger factions have bothered to invest in that at all. It would be considered overpowered if I did it accurately to the setting. Even though in reality, the other factions simply should had put all their chips on them in the first place.

I mean. Im not at all against the idea of Titan being a robot. It doesn't even technically change much. And it would make WAY more sense. Ive even thought about this kind of thing before, so I have a pretty good idea of how to play an accurate or at least interesting AI. But its just sort of a thing that computers think much faster, they can learn much faster, they can observe and interact with much more than just a battlefield efficiently (although I know its a completely different kind of AI, take YouTube's algorithm as an example. It manages the suggestion feed for EVERY SINGLE USER and is starting to get VERY GOOD AT IT). On top of that, machines can be EXPLOSIVE in force, and they can be designed much better than any human to take other things on. But because so little people do it (though Im not saying no one has, its an inevitability that a few people have AT LEAST tried, and Im guessing its been a pretty common theme in the past.), it would simply be seen as broken the way I'd want to do it. Its not that I hate that you would suggest that. Its that I dont find this roleplay capable of containing a character like that. I dont feel like it would work.

Sigh... I need to think about this more. The current issue Im facing is that I suddenly dont even know what this character should be. Im mostly thinking I should just keep her as whats on the page already. But the problem Im having is that the question of "why isnt she X." is actually way more involved and complicated than I had thought. For one. Yamatai is a big issue. They basically go to anything trying to make sense and say "actually we exist. So screw you." They basically render this entire character nonsensical despite in my opinion, it being a really cool and interesting character, because nothing can be stronger than Yamatai, so realistically, theres no point trying to fight at all. That wont even be solved by Titan being robotic. But of course. If I were to just create a Yamataian character, THEN I would be able to be OP just like anyone else in Yamatai. Nevermind that Yamatai just isnt suited to me OOC, as a faction.

 

[Lijosu]

I know this isnt the right place to say it. But Im tired. Sort of sick of trying at anything. And I dont really care at this point. So Ill just say it to put it out there and then we can move on.

Star Army is broken. I like coming up with characters that are thought out and connected to a lot of other things in a roleplay or story. I havent been doing that to impress anyone or anything. But it feels like I cant do it. Because Star Army itself is based on things that are in themselves, logical errors. Not even complicated ones that only a real life scientist would be able to see. Literally just like in the post I did above, as an example. "Whats the point in fighting if the competition will always win." Yet this RP is based on fighting, mostly.

Im really close to just giving up on this idea even though no one has actually properly disagreed with it. But I think that would be a bit rash so Im going to do my best to see it through. Im sure Ill enjoy roleplaying these characters if theyre approved.

 

[Lijosu]

With that said, what do I actually have to do to get this approved?

Are you guys waiting for me to choose a plot or what?

 

[Ametheliana]

Lijosu, right now I'm the person that is going to approve or reject the character. Only other people to do so are Wes or Nashoba. So, can you tell me what you don't want to change that people have told you to change?

 

[Primitive Polygon]

Basically already said this, but just to set it in concrete; I have zero problem with this being approved from a Freespacer perspective.

Sorry if there was any kind of misunderstanding. I only meant to add depth, because this faction specifically gets used for this exact trope a whole lot. It's not any more out of place than other submissions I've approved in the past, though, so I'm not shooting it down.

Talking to a GM if they want to let you join their plot is obviously a thing that still needs to be done, but that's kinda what has made people overreact on this, to be honest. For better or for worse, people are bound to review it as if it is entering their plot personally.

It's up to your judgement, then, Ame.

 

[Lijosu]

Basically already said this, but just to set it in concrete; I have zero problem with this being approved from a Freespacer perspective.

Sorry if there was any kind of misunderstanding. I only meant to add depth, because this faction specifically gets used for this exact trope a whole lot. It's not any more out of place than other submissions I've approved in the past, though, so I'm not shooting it down.

Talking to a GM if they want to let you join their plot is obviously a thing that still needs to be done, but that's kinda what has made people overreact on this, to be honest. For better or for worse, people are bound to review it as if it is entering their plot personally.

It's up to your judgement, then, Ame.

Thanks for clearing that up. I think I want to keep in touch with you so I can keep the idea unique in comparison to the other characters youve seen that have been similar, after this is approved. If that's okay with you.

Lijosu, right now I'm the person that is going to approve or reject the character. Only other people to do so are Wes or Nashoba. So, can you tell me what you don't want to change that people have told you to change?

I think what I'm going to do is I'm going to keep Titan as "human", despite any paradoxes that may involve. Primitive Polygon is the only person whos brought that up, and he doesnt particular disagree with it one way or the other from the seems. I'm pretty sure that was just my own, personal freak out I had just then.

I've had Legix tell me in PMs, before I posted this thread, that child soldiers are distasteful. Which is intentionally a part of the character and it will remain that way. (Afterall, fiction wouldn't be awfully good if there was never anything morally challenging in it.) Legix also told me at that time that she isn't a balanced character. But honestly. From what I've heard of Yamatai's soldiers, it should be fine. That and I've seen people try to balance a character using personality before, and Ive made the blunder of doing so in the past as well (eg: This character is really good in combat, but theyre clumsy! ...But then being clumsy ends up magically becoming an advantage. That won't happen.) A part of what he was saying was that Titan being irrational isn't balanced if she simply has commands that she'll halt for when they are given. But that isn't necessarily true because she doesnt rationalize when shes doing something wrong. So if she were to for example, aim her guns at an ally, and fire. Commanding her to stop will cause her to stop. As in. Stop and think, because at the moment she doesn't know what she's doing wrong. In combat, this is an issue and makes her vulnerable. Also in combat, it could be hard to give her commands because battle is loud. So you would have to opt for another, last resort option. Such as a shock collar. Which would also make her very vulnerable.

In short. It's balanced, and I have the experience to prove it.

I'll try to get the inventory done now. Speaking of which. The power suit, I think I'm going to ignore for the time being. It would be too expensive to fit into just her inventory budget, so it might have to rely on the GM of whatever plot the character ends up in, whether or not she gets it or what kind she gets.

 

[Lijosu]

I'm having trouble finding a suitable ship for Titan and her creators to live in. I think it's important to note that there needs to be some way for Titan to not get radiation poisoning from them, while still spending a great deal of time in the same space...

...Yeah. Maybe she should get that radiation resistance. It's a distinct possibility that it could be necessary.

 

[Whitehart]

Hey there. I am curious if the character still being in contact with the creators is a deal breaker. Are you firm that they are a package deal? Also, is it feasible that you would own all those weapons? I mean they are cool and everything but quite an advanced armory.

 

[Ametheliana]

Stick to this for skills:
https://wiki.stararmy.com/doku.php?id=guide:skills

You'll need to ask @Syaoran if you can have the skinsuit, service pistol, and blades:
https://wiki.stararmy.com/doku.php?...ar_empire:technology:equipment:skinsuit_mk_ii
https://wiki.stararmy.com/doku.php?id=faction:abwehran_star_empire:technology:weapons:viblade
https://wiki.stararmy.com/doku.php?...pire:technology:weapons:mdp-04_service_pistol

@Legix for the shotgun:
https://wiki.stararmy.com/doku.php?id=faction:nepleslia:weapons:cqbs-12

@FrostJaeger for the BA guns:
https://wiki.stararmy.com/doku.php?...ary:equipment:weapons:personal:ranged:ingtris
https://wiki.stararmy.com/doku.php?...ary:equipment:weapons:personal:ranged:atromos

I have a huge problem with rape. I find it distasteful to have it in the setting at all, in any way. If someone gives me a character with rape in the background, though, I approve the character given everything else is in order. I used to think I wouldn't, but it's not my choice. It's not anyone's place to say something is too distasteful for RP unless it's Wes or held to a vote. If people are upset about your child soldier to the point of barring her approval, they can make a poll.

 

[FrostJaeger]

That’s going to be a no for the Phaelaes War Spear, the Atromos Particle Rifle, and the Ingtris Flamethrower, @Ametheliana and @Lijosu, as they were not and are not available for public sale.

 

[Lijosu]

Hey there. I am curious if the character still being in contact with the creators is a deal breaker. Are you firm that they are a package deal? Also, is it feasible that you would own all those weapons? I mean they are cool and everything but quite an advanced armory.

It can go either way, but I wouldn't want to have her in any situation that would make her creators look more irresponsible than what is logically reasonable. So for example, no just sending her off to some distant planet to be picked up by a stranger.

The weaponry is advanced because I've heard no word of people somehow picking up all their weapons and such from a lost fight. The idea is that the Faulkners went to various post-battlefields shortly after the battle ended and picked up whatever scrap people left behind. As you could imagine this yielded a lot of stuff they couldn't use and a lot of really bizarre things that would be very hard to find otherwise, which they would had either repaired or just straight up taken because they were in working condition. Things with limited ammunition is also a part of it. The things I've listed are likely things that they found which they also found ammo for.

Stick to this for skills:
https://wiki.stararmy.com/doku.php?id=guide:skills

Right. So I'm going to have to get each and every one of the skills I've listed that don't fit under anything approved of separately. Is that what's going on?

Competitive gaming doesn't seem to fit into anything at all. Its not technology, because competitive gaming could include something like Chess. And its not entertainment because when I say competitive gaming I don't mean something involving an audience. Just people playing against each other.

And the way I see it I may as well just grab anything that people arbitrarily decided goes with any one of these skills and then some. It won't be hard to fit it into her backstory. I'll just make her good at fighting (all of it), mathematics (all of it), physical (all of it), survival and military (all of it), medical and surgery (all of it) then pick up humanities for cuddle therapy.

Again. No idea what I'll do for competitive gaming. That seems to almost be a ghost skill because this list doesn't seem to agree with it. But I don't care if video games don't exist in this universe, she WILL get that skill somehow, even if it ends up being through boardgames

You'll need to ask @Syaoran if you can have the skinsuit, service pistol, and blades:
https://wiki.stararmy.com/doku.php?...ar_empire:technology:equipment:skinsuit_mk_ii
https://wiki.stararmy.com/doku.php?id=faction:abwehran_star_empire:technology:weapons:viblade
https://wiki.stararmy.com/doku.php?...pire:technology:weapons:mdp-04_service_pistol

@Legix for the shotgun:
https://wiki.stararmy.com/doku.php?id=faction:nepleslia:weapons:cqbs-12

@FrostJaeger for the BA guns:
https://wiki.stararmy.com/doku.php?...ary:equipment:weaponsersonal:ranged:ingtris
https://wiki.stararmy.com/doku.php?...ary:equipment:weaponsersonal:ranged:atromos

Alright.

That’s going to be a no for the Phaelaes War Spear, the Atromos Particle Rifle, and the Ingtris Flamethrower, @Ametheliana and @Lijosu, as they were not and are not available for public sale.

I know that you and these other people get the final say in this. But I'll have to disagree with you on that.

These are freespacers, not tourists. They don't have the means to just go out and buy something. And the fact of the matter is that weapons get left laying about after a battle. If you put two and two together it really wouldn't be hard for a random person to get their hands on weapons like these, though maintenance of them is an entirely different story.

What I'm saying is, that the proposition that entirely in character, they cannot have them because they are not sold, is sort of bullcrap. Not even taking into consideration that there can and WILL be people taking these weapons and selling them in black markets, no matter what you try to do to stop them. In fact, stopping them will probably just cause the price of these weapons to go up as their demand goes up, causing some sellers to gain more money from selling them in the first place.

That said, Star Army is fantasy, not science fiction, and magic is in the air. So I dont know, maybe they figured out a way to put a spell on these weapons so that they disintegrate when someone unauthorized touches them, and then in turn teleport all the dust to another dimension where they can never be retrieved.

Passive aggressive saltiness aside. If you disagree with me using these weapons for real reasons. Then I can't do anything about it and really you would be in the right. But I would like to politely request that you come up with my inventory for me if you do. Because it would be clear that I don't really get a say in the matter.