Gambler
Banned
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2009
- Messages
- 2,855
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So, here we go again, S13's newest installment. Up to this point, as much as I hate to say it, this faction has gone absolutely nowhere. Oh, there have been a few minor threads here and there, but for the majority of the time S13 agents have been sitting around twiddling their thumbs. Awesome job for a top secret agency meant to be used as the most badass form of law-enforcement/counter terrorism/whatever else you want to call it, right?
Well, since every other faction seems to be pulling themselves together, why don't we do the same? It can't be too late to put S13 into practice. It was an amazing idea, on paper, so why shouldn't we do everything in our power to make it just as amazing in practice?
That's why we're going to have a few changes. Here's what I'm thinking:
Remember how S13 agents are supposed to be the best of the best? Well, if you kept reading past that very first sentence you might recall seeing another one about how S13 doesn't exist. Agents, then, can't be alive or on any public record. So, to that end we'll have initiates fake their death IC with an agent coming along to stage the whole thing and start the process of erasing data. Basically this entails erasing DNA, thumbprints, and social security numbers from all databases. It would, in essence, turn the initiate into a ghost. Their families would be given the same information that was released to the public.
But get this, there's going to be a catch. Since most people have quite a bit of attachment to their families, that can be seen as a liability to the higher-ups. Liabilities mean that the agent's loyalty can be coaxed away for the right price. So, what happens when an initiate tries to see his or her family again? Oh, it's quite simple. They'll get to see their family, but on one cruel condition: they have to kill them afterward. If nothing else, it creates the IC incentive for agents to remain detached from reality, focusing instead on their business.
Now, there is another problem to be addressed: loyalty. Agents are supposed to have undying loyalty to the Republic and their mission. Yet, in the past, there has been no way to enforce this. Starting now, why not have random loyalty tests? Have disposable people attempt to bribe agents for information. Money, power, you name it. Whatever is in the agent's file as an incentive will be used against him or her in these tests. If the agent so happens to fail a loyalty test, then he or she will be killed. /shrug
S13, being a nonexistent agency and all, can't afford to trust anyone, including its own members. So far we have tests to challenge agents' loyalty, ways to erase all public information of isolated individuals, incentives to keep agents loyal to their cause, and the ruthless consequences for disloyalty. Seems a bit over the top, doesn't it? Maybe, but that's only because we haven't gotten to the fun part yet.
As fun as loyalty tests might be to Rp out, there is still the problem of missions. S13 operatives are supposed to be the best of the best. Their goal, right now, is to stop the Hutts in this war. To achieve that goal, no door is barred. We can utilize torture, infiltration, seduction, cheating, and sabotage (plus whatever else we feel like using) to weaken the Hutts. The Republic's military is charged with fighting the Hutts head on. Our task is much more fun. We get to fight from the shadows, and as long as we're careful and don't leave any IC traces of what we're doing, we get to continue on our merry way.
So, to address the issue of missions, it's time to add some bolder ones. To this point the missions have been stand alone and requiring the cooperation of other factions. They needed to be coordinated to the point that no one wanted to do them. Or, at least they didn't until Seamus added the rule of using NPCs. I'm going to be honest here: that idea, though good in this situation, does not entice me at all. NPC missions bore the hell out of me and, if nothing else, make the missions more of a drag. I would rather hop into an existing thread, do some damage, and walk right on out as if nothing ever happened.
NPCs still might come into play here or there, but, for the majority of the time, missions will be PC versus PC. Oh, sure, there will be simple take down missions where you get to roll in with a small team and eliminate an outpost before slipping out the back door with whatever information you came to get, leaving no one alive to tell the tell. Those can be fun on occasion, but for the most part I'd rather go toe-to-toe with the enemy as a PC. That is a true test of an Rper's skill, in my opinion. If you can enter a thread, eliminate your target, and leave without upsetting the balance or raising suspicion, then not only did you succeed but you probably had fun in the process.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the Director won't be meeting with your characters. For secrecy's sake, the Director will be faceless, imparting the knowledge of his or her existence to only a select few agents. OOCly, people will obviously know the Director's identity, but IC they won't. This is, unfortunately, due to the increase of people trading OOC knowledge IC. And because the Director is a paranoid mofo that doesn't want anyone knowing his or her name. Names have power, after all.
I'd like to hear everyone's input on how to run things now, if you will. If you have mission ideas, PM me, or IM me, and we'll work them out. If you have a suggestion for how to make things run more smoothly, interject them here. If you disagree with what I'm proposing, tell me here and we'll address it. Basically, I'm trying to turn S13 into the badass agency it has the potential to be, but I can't do it alone.
tl;dr - There will be loyalty tests, faked deaths, awesome missions, pie for the worthy, and enough epicness to go around.
Well, since every other faction seems to be pulling themselves together, why don't we do the same? It can't be too late to put S13 into practice. It was an amazing idea, on paper, so why shouldn't we do everything in our power to make it just as amazing in practice?
That's why we're going to have a few changes. Here's what I'm thinking:
Remember how S13 agents are supposed to be the best of the best? Well, if you kept reading past that very first sentence you might recall seeing another one about how S13 doesn't exist. Agents, then, can't be alive or on any public record. So, to that end we'll have initiates fake their death IC with an agent coming along to stage the whole thing and start the process of erasing data. Basically this entails erasing DNA, thumbprints, and social security numbers from all databases. It would, in essence, turn the initiate into a ghost. Their families would be given the same information that was released to the public.
But get this, there's going to be a catch. Since most people have quite a bit of attachment to their families, that can be seen as a liability to the higher-ups. Liabilities mean that the agent's loyalty can be coaxed away for the right price. So, what happens when an initiate tries to see his or her family again? Oh, it's quite simple. They'll get to see their family, but on one cruel condition: they have to kill them afterward. If nothing else, it creates the IC incentive for agents to remain detached from reality, focusing instead on their business.
Now, there is another problem to be addressed: loyalty. Agents are supposed to have undying loyalty to the Republic and their mission. Yet, in the past, there has been no way to enforce this. Starting now, why not have random loyalty tests? Have disposable people attempt to bribe agents for information. Money, power, you name it. Whatever is in the agent's file as an incentive will be used against him or her in these tests. If the agent so happens to fail a loyalty test, then he or she will be killed. /shrug
S13, being a nonexistent agency and all, can't afford to trust anyone, including its own members. So far we have tests to challenge agents' loyalty, ways to erase all public information of isolated individuals, incentives to keep agents loyal to their cause, and the ruthless consequences for disloyalty. Seems a bit over the top, doesn't it? Maybe, but that's only because we haven't gotten to the fun part yet.
As fun as loyalty tests might be to Rp out, there is still the problem of missions. S13 operatives are supposed to be the best of the best. Their goal, right now, is to stop the Hutts in this war. To achieve that goal, no door is barred. We can utilize torture, infiltration, seduction, cheating, and sabotage (plus whatever else we feel like using) to weaken the Hutts. The Republic's military is charged with fighting the Hutts head on. Our task is much more fun. We get to fight from the shadows, and as long as we're careful and don't leave any IC traces of what we're doing, we get to continue on our merry way.
So, to address the issue of missions, it's time to add some bolder ones. To this point the missions have been stand alone and requiring the cooperation of other factions. They needed to be coordinated to the point that no one wanted to do them. Or, at least they didn't until Seamus added the rule of using NPCs. I'm going to be honest here: that idea, though good in this situation, does not entice me at all. NPC missions bore the hell out of me and, if nothing else, make the missions more of a drag. I would rather hop into an existing thread, do some damage, and walk right on out as if nothing ever happened.
NPCs still might come into play here or there, but, for the majority of the time, missions will be PC versus PC. Oh, sure, there will be simple take down missions where you get to roll in with a small team and eliminate an outpost before slipping out the back door with whatever information you came to get, leaving no one alive to tell the tell. Those can be fun on occasion, but for the most part I'd rather go toe-to-toe with the enemy as a PC. That is a true test of an Rper's skill, in my opinion. If you can enter a thread, eliminate your target, and leave without upsetting the balance or raising suspicion, then not only did you succeed but you probably had fun in the process.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the Director won't be meeting with your characters. For secrecy's sake, the Director will be faceless, imparting the knowledge of his or her existence to only a select few agents. OOCly, people will obviously know the Director's identity, but IC they won't. This is, unfortunately, due to the increase of people trading OOC knowledge IC. And because the Director is a paranoid mofo that doesn't want anyone knowing his or her name. Names have power, after all.
I'd like to hear everyone's input on how to run things now, if you will. If you have mission ideas, PM me, or IM me, and we'll work them out. If you have a suggestion for how to make things run more smoothly, interject them here. If you disagree with what I'm proposing, tell me here and we'll address it. Basically, I'm trying to turn S13 into the badass agency it has the potential to be, but I can't do it alone.
tl;dr - There will be loyalty tests, faked deaths, awesome missions, pie for the worthy, and enough epicness to go around.
