Dawn of the Republic - Sacred Band of Ziost

Necris · Dec 7, 2015

Sacred Band of Ziost

For centuries, the cruel, desolate world of Ziost served as a harsh crucible of strength for the Sith Order. Thousands were trained on this dark world, and many of those did not survive. For the Sith, however, such cruel conditions bred only strength. So it was that the most capable non-Force sensitives under Sith rule were also sent to Ziost. Those few who survived went on to become the Sacred Band of Ziost. Once a glorious legion of immense strength in arms, the Sacred Band is now a shadow of its former self, a collection of mercenary soldiers, criminal elements and other characters of suspect nature - a dark army of misfits enthralled under the will of the Sith Lords. Though they are a shadow of the men who once held claim to such a title, these assorted individuals are no less capable in their own right, and serve as the backbone to a growing legion of followers under the resurgent Sith rule.

Pernicious · Dec 7, 2015

Woo! Long time no see Necris :D Glad to see someone else interested in the SBZ.
My droid character 8L4K-E (or Blake) will pretty much have a "I wanna be a real boy" complex. I've been working on the general plot outline for what I could involve him in doing to achieve that goal, but nothing too serious yet. I'm waiting for more information to come out so that I can write up his backstory 'n stuff.

Necris · Dec 7, 2015

Yep going to try and make to effort to be back in the new time line, with some fun Sith shenanigans
I'm planning on a no nonsense hunt the Jedi get the job done type character for my main, maybe something a bit more criminally minded for my 2nd

Pernicious · Dec 8, 2015

I've never really had the knack for writing as a criminal, or as a Sith for that matter. My characters have to have a little bit of good in them so I can relate. I think the point in which Blake discovers a bit of humanity within himself is when he realizes morality, like maybe what he is doing is wrong. That's pretty far in the future though. I've got a lot of stuff I want to do with him before his main plot advances too far.

Mr.BossMan · Dec 8, 2015

stsjr said:
I've never really had the knack for writing as a criminal, or as a Sith for that matter. My characters have to have a little bit of good in them so I can relate. I think the point in which Blake discovers a bit of humanity within himself is when he realizes morality, like maybe what he is doing is wrong. That's pretty far in the future though. I've got a lot of stuff I want to do with him before his main plot advances too far.

Heres a question for you. Do you believe there is a line, that if a bad guy crosses it, he can never be redeemed?

So lets say your character burns a village to the ground. Do you think you can become a good guy and live happily ever after?

Eccles · Dec 8, 2015

So with like the most badass criminals being part of this Sacred Band, would they come play music with the indie crime factions?

Necris · Dec 8, 2015

I'd hope so

I'm thinking of trying to establish a group of ultimate bad asses those who cling to the ideology of the old guard but have degenerated into a band of ruthless killers and monsters trying to emulate the glories of the past band

Pernicious · Dec 8, 2015

Mr.BossMan said:
Heres a question for you. Do you believe there is a line, that if a bad guy crosses it, he can never be redeemed?

So lets say your character burns a village to the ground. Do you think you can become a good guy and live happily ever after?

I'd like to think so, especially since at the point of discovering morality Blake would basically become a new person. Non-programmed feelings and opinions would form, which would allow him to right wrongs as best as he could. Guilt is something people can live with. I'm sure he'll do worse than burn a village down at first. None of that would technically be his fault though.

Calixis · Dec 9, 2015

I think an important part of Zoist's Boisterous Badarse Bosses will be carving out its own identity and not just living in the constant shadow of the Sith. With the Imperium, the IAF had the advantage of Stormtroopers. I mean, come on, how much more iconic do you get than bloody Stormtroopers? Yet despite that, you had a sub-faction who felt more like a group of glorified NPCs, who'd sometimes get to rear their head in a battle thread. Being a military lot, they obviously had a very strict chain of command which didn't lend itself very well to a roleplay board that does not favour sitting in one place, twiddling your thumbs and waiting for a superior to tell you when to jump and how high. It's fair to say that every faction - from the Jedi to the Hutts - needed direction and objective, but with the IAF it was more difficult to just sign up to a Mission solo with say... a Sith, or another IAF trooper. I mean, yeah, you could do that but it was a bit weird to have Private Bob randomly getting paired up with Acolyte Brian and nothing else. Where's the rest of his squad? That's how it felt to me anyway.

With that in mind, Zoist's Zesty Zealots sound like a far more elite, skilled lot than enlisted privates on their first tour of combat. Heck, by the sounds of it the Sith lack for anything resembling a proper military force to begin with, beyond what they can scramble together based on credits, influence, slavery, etcetera. They're not really soldiers, they're definitely not Stormtroopers and sound like they lack the same uniformity. I can tell already that Zingy Zoist Zulu's will probably be among the least popular factions, not through anybody's fault beyond them not being nearly as iconic as the rest. We're the Imperial Agents to SWTOR's Jedi, Sith and Troopers. That just makes us even more awesome though, right? Who needs some special snowflake's 'saber? Not us. They're the pure, unadulterated, muscle and skill. When a Sith lops off a Jedi's head, it's another corpse. When the non-Force sensitive cuts a Jedi Master's throat, or a team cuts down a band of Knights with a volley of blaster fire, then people sit up and take notice. I think that's another thing that makes Zoist- okay, enough word play, my point is they're a unique lot, with a lot of potential to do some grisly and important things with the 'legitimacy' that being part of the main faction provides.

So how do we take advantage of that? Well, first we'd need to look at our inevitable limitations, which will be membership. In-character and Out-of-Character we are, as I already said, inevitably going to be a quite small lot. That may sound quite presumptive of me but look at the IAF (our 'last' timeline counterpart) and at the activity in this thread and elsewhere. Even the Border Alliance - the primarily non-Force sensitive lot - are brimming with far more. Thus, we need to take advantage of our smaller numbers and form into something that is quite close-knit and adaptive both IC and OOCly. The Sith as a whole lack the backing of huge NPC armies, of massive war fleets and mechanised forces that the IAF had, which makes it a lot more difficult to insert 'soldiers' into scenes that are far less likely to be quite so all encompassing. I get the feeling we'll be seeing far more subterfuge, cloak-and-dagger work even in PvP than we will sweeping, massive, epic engagements. Besides which, the PvP rules disallow NPCs now regardless.

Believe it or not, there's actually a point I was getting to with this that got lost in the rambling.

Even by the brief sub-faction description, our characters are a cut above the rest. You don't get into the Sacred Band by being another nameless soldier, mercenary, whatever. They need to be a flexible lot, OOCly and IC, rather than soldiers, or even just a militia like the BA appear to be. They're commandos, spies, assassins, shock troops, whatever the objective demands. Need to buddy up with a Sith? Sure, they can handle their own - they're part of the Zoist lot after all - and act as independent operatives detached from a support structure. There HAS to be a flexibility that the IAF lacked, but at the same time be able to harness and then take advantage of being a smaller, more tight-knit group of special operatives than the other factions. If a Jedi/Sith/BA goes inactive it's a pity, but nothing much is lost because there's plenty more recruits where that came from. Every IAF/SBoZ player who vanishes is quite a punch in the stomach just because they're hard to replace. People are inevitably going to fade away as interest and real life take hold, but hopefully there's going to be a steady stream to replace that.

I feel like a key to the SBoZ's success as a sub-faction will be fostering a tighter knit kind of community IC and OOC.

Arcangel · Dec 9, 2015

Calixis said:
I think an important part of Zoist's Boisterous Badarse Bosses will be carving out its own identity and not just living in the constant shadow of the Sith. With the Imperium, the IAF had the advantage of Stormtroopers. I mean, come on, how much more iconic do you get than bloody Stormtroopers? Yet despite that, you had a sub-faction who felt more like a group of glorified NPCs, who'd sometimes get to rear their head in a battle thread. Being a military lot, they obviously had a very strict chain of command which didn't lend itself very well to a roleplay board that does not favour sitting in one place, twiddling your thumbs and waiting for a superior to tell you when to jump and how high. It's fair to say that every faction - from the Jedi to the Hutts - needed direction and objective, but with the IAF it was more difficult to just sign up to a Mission solo with say... a Sith, or another IAF trooper. I mean, yeah, you could do that but it was a bit weird to have Private Bob randomly getting paired up with Acolyte Brian and nothing else. Where's the rest of his squad? That's how it felt to me anyway.

With that in mind, Zoist's Zesty Zealots sound like a far more elite, skilled lot than enlisted privates on their first tour of combat. Heck, by the sounds of it the Sith lack for anything resembling a proper military force to begin with, beyond what they can scramble together based on credits, influence, slavery, etcetera. They're not really soldiers, they're definitely not Stormtroopers and sound like they lack the same uniformity. I can tell already that Zingy Zoist Zulu's will probably be among the least popular factions, not through anybody's fault beyond them not being nearly as iconic as the rest. We're the Imperial Agents to SWTOR's Jedi, Sith and Troopers. That just makes us even more awesome though, right? Who needs some special snowflake's 'saber? Not us. They're the pure, unadulterated, muscle and skill. When a Sith lops off a Jedi's head, it's another corpse. When the non-Force sensitive cuts a Jedi Master's throat, or a team cuts down a band of Knights with a volley of blaster fire, then people sit up and take notice. I think that's another thing that makes Zoist- okay, enough word play, my point is they're a unique lot, with a lot of potential to do some grisly and important things with the 'legitimacy' that being part of the main faction provides.

So how do we take advantage of that? Well, first we'd need to look at our inevitable limitations, which will be membership. In-character and Out-of-Character we are, as I already said, inevitably going to be a quite small lot. That may sound quite presumptive of me but look at the IAF (our 'last' timeline counterpart) and at the activity in this thread and elsewhere. Even the Border Alliance - the primarily non-Force sensitive lot - are brimming with far more. Thus, we need to take advantage of our smaller numbers and form into something that is quite close-knit and adaptive both IC and OOCly. The Sith as a whole lack the backing of huge NPC armies, of massive war fleets and mechanised forces that the IAF had, which makes it a lot more difficult to insert 'soldiers' into scenes that are far less likely to be quite so all encompassing. I get the feeling we'll be seeing far more subterfuge, cloak-and-dagger work even in PvP than we will sweeping, massive, epic engagements. Besides which, the PvP rules disallow NPCs now regardless.

Believe it or not, there's actually a point I was getting to with this that got lost in the rambling.

Even by the brief sub-faction description, our characters are a cut above the rest. You don't get into the Sacred Band by being another nameless soldier, mercenary, whatever. They need to be a flexible lot, OOCly and IC, rather than soldiers, or even just a militia like the BA appear to be. They're commandos, spies, assassins, shock troops, whatever the objective demands. Need to buddy up with a Sith? Sure, they can handle their own - they're part of the Zoist lot after all - and act as independent operatives detached from a support structure. There HAS to be a flexibility that the IAF lacked, but at the same time be able to harness and then take advantage of being a smaller, more tight-knit group of special operatives than the other factions. If a Jedi/Sith/BA goes inactive it's a pity, but nothing much is lost because there's plenty more recruits where that came from. Every IAF/SBoZ player who vanishes is quite a punch in the stomach just because they're hard to replace. People are inevitably going to fade away as interest and real life take hold, but hopefully there's going to be a steady stream to replace that.

I feel like a key to the SBoZ's success as a sub-faction will be fostering a tighter knit kind of community IC and OOC.

Glad im not the only one who sees it this way. You have basically described exactly what i was thinking, albeit much more eloquently.

Pernicious · Dec 9, 2015

Calixis said:
I think an important part of Zoist's Boisterous Badarse Bosses will be carving out its own identity and not just living in the constant shadow of the Sith. With the Imperium, the IAF had the advantage of Stormtroopers. I mean, come on, how much more iconic do you get than bloody Stormtroopers? Yet despite that, you had a sub-faction who felt more like a group of glorified NPCs, who'd sometimes get to rear their head in a battle thread. Being a military lot, they obviously had a very strict chain of command which didn't lend itself very well to a roleplay board that does not favour sitting in one place, twiddling your thumbs and waiting for a superior to tell you when to jump and how high. It's fair to say that every faction - from the Jedi to the Hutts - needed direction and objective, but with the IAF it was more difficult to just sign up to a Mission solo with say... a Sith, or another IAF trooper. I mean, yeah, you could do that but it was a bit weird to have Private Bob randomly getting paired up with Acolyte Brian and nothing else. Where's the rest of his squad? That's how it felt to me anyway.

With that in mind, Zoist's Zesty Zealots sound like a far more elite, skilled lot than enlisted privates on their first tour of combat. Heck, by the sounds of it the Sith lack for anything resembling a proper military force to begin with, beyond what they can scramble together based on credits, influence, slavery, etcetera. They're not really soldiers, they're definitely not Stormtroopers and sound like they lack the same uniformity. I can tell already that Zingy Zoist Zulu's will probably be among the least popular factions, not through anybody's fault beyond them not being nearly as iconic as the rest. We're the Imperial Agents to SWTOR's Jedi, Sith and Troopers. That just makes us even more awesome though, right? Who needs some special snowflake's 'saber? Not us. They're the pure, unadulterated, muscle and skill. When a Sith lops off a Jedi's head, it's another corpse. When the non-Force sensitive cuts a Jedi Master's throat, or a team cuts down a band of Knights with a volley of blaster fire, then people sit up and take notice. I think that's another thing that makes Zoist- okay, enough word play, my point is they're a unique lot, with a lot of potential to do some grisly and important things with the 'legitimacy' that being part of the main faction provides.

So how do we take advantage of that? Well, first we'd need to look at our inevitable limitations, which will be membership. In-character and Out-of-Character we are, as I already said, inevitably going to be a quite small lot. That may sound quite presumptive of me but look at the IAF (our 'last' timeline counterpart) and at the activity in this thread and elsewhere. Even the Border Alliance - the primarily non-Force sensitive lot - are brimming with far more. Thus, we need to take advantage of our smaller numbers and form into something that is quite close-knit and adaptive both IC and OOCly. The Sith as a whole lack the backing of huge NPC armies, of massive war fleets and mechanised forces that the IAF had, which makes it a lot more difficult to insert 'soldiers' into scenes that are far less likely to be quite so all encompassing. I get the feeling we'll be seeing far more subterfuge, cloak-and-dagger work even in PvP than we will sweeping, massive, epic engagements. Besides which, the PvP rules disallow NPCs now regardless.

Believe it or not, there's actually a point I was getting to with this that got lost in the rambling.

Even by the brief sub-faction description, our characters are a cut above the rest. You don't get into the Sacred Band by being another nameless soldier, mercenary, whatever. They need to be a flexible lot, OOCly and IC, rather than soldiers, or even just a militia like the BA appear to be. They're commandos, spies, assassins, shock troops, whatever the objective demands. Need to buddy up with a Sith? Sure, they can handle their own - they're part of the Zoist lot after all - and act as independent operatives detached from a support structure. There HAS to be a flexibility that the IAF lacked, but at the same time be able to harness and then take advantage of being a smaller, more tight-knit group of special operatives than the other factions. If a Jedi/Sith/BA goes inactive it's a pity, but nothing much is lost because there's plenty more recruits where that came from. Every IAF/SBoZ player who vanishes is quite a punch in the stomach just because they're hard to replace. People are inevitably going to fade away as interest and real life take hold, but hopefully there's going to be a steady stream to replace that.

I feel like a key to the SBoZ's success as a sub-faction will be fostering a tighter knit kind of community IC and OOC.

*claps* That was a Patton level speech.
I wholeheartedly agree that a tight knit community will be the way we succeed. What that means though is that regular members of the faction (non-leadership positions) are going to have to organize things and get them rolling. What I would like to see is some sort of main event styled RP happening one after another. Like, setting some sort of Jedi trap, Border Alliance ambush, Republic asset stealing, senator assassinations, or land crabbing happening perpetually. A constant and real attack on the Republic and their allies would be something that could affect the timeline in a way that a non-force using faction has never done before.

EDIT: Forcing the enemy to replenish their numbers with new members is something we should look into. Safe threads are weaksauce.

Necris · Dec 9, 2015

That's how I saw it as well, a band of specialists each with their own skills and abilities that have been hardened and honed over the years, a group who try and exemplify the ideals and disciplines of the Sith Troopers before the fall of the sith empire in their own bastardised way

Pernicious · Dec 9, 2015

I was reading the thread on the Border Alliance. Those guys mean business. How should we combat a force with a much larger PC base?

Calixis · Dec 9, 2015

stsjr said:
I was reading the thread on the Border Alliance. Those guys mean business. How should we combat a force with a much larger PC base?

I'm willing to bet most of those jump ship to the Jedi Knights once the 'new sheen' novelty wears off, and I bet most of the Senators go inactive just as quickly when it inevitably turns out that role-playing somebody in a position of power isn't quite as gratifying as it sounds. Plus, I wouldn't underestimate how substantial the Sith faction is going to be, especially when they go on the offensive.

Pernicious · Dec 9, 2015

I was thinking something similar. I'm currently trying to find some good examples of a non-FS PC besting a FS PC in combat so we have examples on how to fight Jedi a bit easier (or Sith if something crazy happens).

Richie B. · Dec 9, 2015

Really the admins explained how that works, just use sneaky tactics and ambushes, traps and what not and that is how a Non-FS bests a FS user of course that is about knight level and above, I imagine Padawan Force users still in the realm of easily beatable.

Knight might be hard but using the right moves and tricks it can be done, I say about councilor level is when it becomes near impossible unless you use some really big equipment or a really good trap.

Pernicious · Dec 9, 2015

Benvenu7 said:
Really the admins explained how that works, just use sneaky tactics and ambushes, traps and what not and that is how a Non-FS bests a FS user of course that is about knight level and above, I imagine Padawan Force users still in the realm of easily beatable.

Knight might be hard but using the right moves and tricks it can be done, I say about councilor level is when it becomes near impossible unless you use some really big equipment or a really good trap.

I know they said to be clever, but it would still be awesome to see some examples.

Richie B. · Dec 9, 2015

Honestly I don't know of any examples, if you do find one that would be cool

Gamov · Dec 9, 2015

Honestly, I think focusing on becoming "Jedi-killers" is a misdirection of efforts. We'll be representing some of the most ruthless non-FS characters of the next timeline, most of whom will [I assume] have sordid backgrounds as bounty hunters/mercenaries/other assorted criminal types, but that shouldn't automatically equate to becoming a dyed in the wool, bloodthirsty Jedi hunter. Just because we will be serving with the Sith doesn't mean we're also responsible for conducting their centuries old religious war against the Jedi. At least not initially.

What the SBZ should be focusing on, in my opinion, is using the flexibility and ingenuity of its membership to operate across the galaxy in ways/places the Sith simply cannot. And that role, to me, doesn't mean going around garotte wiring Jedi Knights. What we should be doing is carrying out sabotage against the BA, assassinating Senators and generally sewing discord among the Republic to draw the Jedi into traps where the Sith can take them out. In a sense, the SBZ can instigate, while the Sith execute.

Beyond that, it will also help to foster teamwork between the Sith and the SBZ as one needs the other to accomplish its goals. Could they accomplish those goals independent of one another? Maybe. Will it be 1,000x easier if we play off each others unique strengths to get the job done? You bet.

Calixis · Dec 9, 2015

Agreed. For something of a forced analogy, I'd perhaps use the comparison between the Imperial Agent and Trooper classes in SWTOR. Whilst one is about being the typical armoured, combat trooper fighting on the frontlines, the other is more about subterfuge, wrecking havoc behind the scenes through more subtle means than just blowing stuff skyward. The Sith - including the SBoZ - want to survive, and unfortunately they're not exactly in such a position that they can publicly scream from the rooftops with two carbines in hand without waking up the sleeping giant that the greater Republic could potentially be.

Dawn of the Republic - Sacred Band of Ziost

From the shadows I return

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

From the shadows I return

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Thats Mr. Bossman to you

Member

From the shadows I return

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Banned

Active Member

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

From the shadows I return

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Banned

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

#JaleerShutUp

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

#JaleerShutUp

That Guy

Banned