Bronco
I pull levers
Hey folks, thanks for giving this pitch a listen. This advertisement is going to serve two purposes, first to get this barebones concept written down somewhere. Second, to hopefully attract some help with the worldbuilding this idea calls for. Trust me, there's already a need for quite a bit of it. I'd also like to make it clear that I'm not asking for anyone to do all the work for the rest of us. This is going to be a team effort, the process of which will be broken down into chunks that we can all brainstorm in pieces. Understand that I'm hoping this process takes some time in order to produce a fairly well crafted setting. In short, this whole effort is going to be almost equally dedicated to the forging of the setting along with actually roleplaying in it. If you're looking for a scenario to just jump into, I'm sorry to say that this might not pick up quick enough for you. If you do happen to be interested in laying out the history, factions, prevailing technologies, and species of a setting before even interacting with it, than this is the ad for you.
Now, for the idea itself. This was inspired by a few already existing scifi properties, both on the militaristic and fantastical ends of the spectrum. I'll list the major one's now.
- Starship Troopers
(for how it sizes up humanity with intergalactic species. We don't have very lethal natural adaptations, but we have incredible tech and spirit)
- Helldivers
(for the humanity first attitude of the protagonist faction)
- Halo
(mainly for the human tech aesthetic)
- Netflix's Shera
( I know, absolute curve ball after those first three. Really liked the 80's fantastical space opera vibes of the show though. Their music also had some synth in it, which I'm a sucker for.)
- Star Wars
(Not so much for the technology or vibes, but for how most governments are still centered around royalty despite it looking like gritty scifi.)
- DND
(Instead of original alien species, I figured we'd utilize some generic established fantasy races to populate this universe. We don't even need to call them the same names, but their abilities and appearances can line up pretty well.)
And that's most of the inspiration behind this. Don't worry if you haven't seen or played all of these properties, we're only looking to borrow the vibes or a few ideas from each. As for what these adopted elements are going to create, well here's the framework for that story.
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Humanity has reached further than ever before into the galaxy, having finally found the ultimate prize, alien life. Unfortunately, it looks like it was a bit more than they were prepared for. While excited at first, humanity soon found itself swept up into a messy ring of galactic politics and even conflict. They were seldom prepared for the sheer number of civilizations populating far space, and were even less ready for the abilities some of them could harness. Magic, advanced technology, and numerous conflicting ideologies have caused humanity to arrive at a singular concrete conclusion regarding space. It's not empty, it's turbulent. Ironically, the one relief in this discovery, is just how far they had to come to find these squabbling species. While most are situated fairly close to one another, by space's standards, it seems human kind was granted a wide barrier of unclaimed space between the edge of their territories and beginning of their neighbors'. Because of this, a small percentage of humanity has actually arrived within these new regions. Most of what the average human knows of their new neighbors is rumor, hearsay, or blatant bigotry; and there's not really an effort to correct this. While information is being collected with every expedition, Humanity yet knows for certain if they wish to remain associated with the wider galaxy...
This skepticism goes both ways. The major influencing factions of the galaxy have yet to make up their minds on these newcomers. They are magically lame, not even able to entirely accept the existence of the arcane. Their technology is both advanced and lacking at the same time, absent of any of the miraculous elements and materials the average civilization utilizes. They have the single most varied set of ideologies of any species to date, still fighting amongst themselves even as they emerge onto the galactic stage. In short, they're just so different from the rest, and it remains to be seen whether or not this is something that should be welcomed. Unfortunately, only further interaction with these aliens will say for sure.
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Okay, end of pitch. If you've stuck through for this long, thanks again for looking into this. I hope to bring this story into a role playable format by combining two types of character parties under a common goal. The first will be something resembling your typical DND group, though excluding any human characters due to the nature of the setting. These characters can be unique individuals amongst the alien-fantasy races. Perhaps they're a civilization's chosen champion, a folk hero, a hired adventurer, or someone who just got swept along. They'll be able to utilize magic, arcane tech, or the abilities of their species. The other group, will be entirely different. This group will consist of a bunch of average humans, probably exclusively or mostly military personnel and apart of some expeditionary task force. They will have only sci-fi weaponry and strategy at their disposal. When these are utilized in tandem however, the effects will match or even exceed the singular abilities of their alien allies. How or why these two groups join forces is still beyond me, but that's why I'm asking for the assistance of you fine people. If you're interested in developing this plot, along with the world it takes place in, please state your interest below. Thank you one final time for your attention and I hope to brainstorm with you all shortly.
Now, for the idea itself. This was inspired by a few already existing scifi properties, both on the militaristic and fantastical ends of the spectrum. I'll list the major one's now.
- Starship Troopers
(for how it sizes up humanity with intergalactic species. We don't have very lethal natural adaptations, but we have incredible tech and spirit)
- Helldivers
(for the humanity first attitude of the protagonist faction)
- Halo
(mainly for the human tech aesthetic)
- Netflix's Shera
( I know, absolute curve ball after those first three. Really liked the 80's fantastical space opera vibes of the show though. Their music also had some synth in it, which I'm a sucker for.)
- Star Wars
(Not so much for the technology or vibes, but for how most governments are still centered around royalty despite it looking like gritty scifi.)
- DND
(Instead of original alien species, I figured we'd utilize some generic established fantasy races to populate this universe. We don't even need to call them the same names, but their abilities and appearances can line up pretty well.)
And that's most of the inspiration behind this. Don't worry if you haven't seen or played all of these properties, we're only looking to borrow the vibes or a few ideas from each. As for what these adopted elements are going to create, well here's the framework for that story.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Humanity has reached further than ever before into the galaxy, having finally found the ultimate prize, alien life. Unfortunately, it looks like it was a bit more than they were prepared for. While excited at first, humanity soon found itself swept up into a messy ring of galactic politics and even conflict. They were seldom prepared for the sheer number of civilizations populating far space, and were even less ready for the abilities some of them could harness. Magic, advanced technology, and numerous conflicting ideologies have caused humanity to arrive at a singular concrete conclusion regarding space. It's not empty, it's turbulent. Ironically, the one relief in this discovery, is just how far they had to come to find these squabbling species. While most are situated fairly close to one another, by space's standards, it seems human kind was granted a wide barrier of unclaimed space between the edge of their territories and beginning of their neighbors'. Because of this, a small percentage of humanity has actually arrived within these new regions. Most of what the average human knows of their new neighbors is rumor, hearsay, or blatant bigotry; and there's not really an effort to correct this. While information is being collected with every expedition, Humanity yet knows for certain if they wish to remain associated with the wider galaxy...
This skepticism goes both ways. The major influencing factions of the galaxy have yet to make up their minds on these newcomers. They are magically lame, not even able to entirely accept the existence of the arcane. Their technology is both advanced and lacking at the same time, absent of any of the miraculous elements and materials the average civilization utilizes. They have the single most varied set of ideologies of any species to date, still fighting amongst themselves even as they emerge onto the galactic stage. In short, they're just so different from the rest, and it remains to be seen whether or not this is something that should be welcomed. Unfortunately, only further interaction with these aliens will say for sure.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Okay, end of pitch. If you've stuck through for this long, thanks again for looking into this. I hope to bring this story into a role playable format by combining two types of character parties under a common goal. The first will be something resembling your typical DND group, though excluding any human characters due to the nature of the setting. These characters can be unique individuals amongst the alien-fantasy races. Perhaps they're a civilization's chosen champion, a folk hero, a hired adventurer, or someone who just got swept along. They'll be able to utilize magic, arcane tech, or the abilities of their species. The other group, will be entirely different. This group will consist of a bunch of average humans, probably exclusively or mostly military personnel and apart of some expeditionary task force. They will have only sci-fi weaponry and strategy at their disposal. When these are utilized in tandem however, the effects will match or even exceed the singular abilities of their alien allies. How or why these two groups join forces is still beyond me, but that's why I'm asking for the assistance of you fine people. If you're interested in developing this plot, along with the world it takes place in, please state your interest below. Thank you one final time for your attention and I hope to brainstorm with you all shortly.
