Thinking of Joining Up? (Read Me: Introduction / Rules / Tips)

[Senkusha]

Thank you for your interest in joining the game of The Secret  Light.  Following is a brief history, some rules you should follow  to play, and even a few tips to make this a pleasurable experience for  all players. 

To make the game more anime-like, I've decided  to also mix in elements of Tenchi Universe, but set 1000 years  afterwards.  The history listed below is only from a Earthly/human  perspective.  After the many mishaps that occurred while Ryoko and  Princess Ayeka were on Earth, the Jurian Empire listed the Solar System  as a highly restricted system.  The peoples of the planet Earth simply  weren't ready to be a part of the Empire yet.  But alas... nothing is  forever.  The Empire has changed drastically during the last millennium.

Introduction:
The  Secret Light is based in the year 3284.  Humanity has grown beyond the  capabilities of Earth, and has thus spread out across the galaxy.  Not  only is there high technology and science fiction, there is also an  element of magic, although rare (only 1 in 100 million people have the  ability, and it's even more rare in boys.), it's use compliments any  modern technology.  The majority of the game play will be on board the  Vectrix, the most state-of-the-art and advanced star ship in the  galactic fleet.  Other parts of the game will involve exploring exotic  planets, and dicey dog-fights in space!

I want to take a moment  to point out some things about this game world.  First, there are no  school days, nor any 'training'.  Everything to be learned occurs at  night while one sleeps.  This isn't a perfect 'download', dreams and  nightmares can interfere and may interweave themselves into the  training download.

Unlike in the world of Star Trek, yes, money  still does exist.  To keep the amount of math down I've decided to keep  prices around what one would expect to pay for something in today's  economics.

The Vetrix is a large military space cruiser, and  with it being in the military, most characters on board in charge of  running the ship will be in the military.  I've chosen to follow the  typical Naval rank structure to identify the chain of command.

A Brief History:
2053:   World War III erupts.  Depending on what set of dates you go by, the  conflict either lasted eight months or twenty-six years.  In 2053,  during the climax of the war, nuclear weapons were used, causing much  devastation to the planet, and hundreds of millions of lives were lost.

2139:   Humanity has had a serious wake up call towards the wasteful  consumption of planetary resources.  Although a serious effort to use  alternative energies was started in the early 21st century,  mankind has made a complete turn around, and is now using these  renewable resources exclusively.  (It could also have something to do  with the fact that all of the fossil fuels have been consumed by  this point.)

2181:  Earth is visited by an alien race, and  Humanity is presented with marvellous technologies never though  possible.  The first of many diplomatic negotiations begins, mainly for  the exposure of medical technology, but a few negotiations were for  weapons-grade technology.

2187:  Earth is accepted in The Coalition of Peoples, and is granted full utilisation of all combined alien technologies.

2203:   Rumours of unworldly 'magic' begin to circulate around The Coalition.   Researchers begin to study people suspected of possessing magical  abilities.

2216:  Magical abilities are confirmed, many theorise  that during the great nuclear war, radioactive side-effects triggered  mutations in some peoples' DNA.

2272:  Advances in technology  allows people to learn while they sleep.  Schools and other training  methods are abolished, to make the waking hours more productive.

2301:  All types of magical ability are discovered as the 'mutant DNA' is completely researched and mapped.

2305:  DNA manipulation begins attempting to give normal humans the abilities of those that possess magical powers.

2311:  Magical study routines are created and mass-distributed.  DNA manipulation is still inconclusive.

2326:   DNA manipulations are a failure.  Magical studies still continue, but  only for those people known to have altered gene structures.

2378:  Magical study routines are discontinued to the public, and explained away as a religion.

2441:  Further advances in technology allow greater space travel distances and much greater speeds.

2510:  New power sources are discovered, completely revolutionising power draining and power recycling.

2513:   Magical powers theory has mostly died out, despite many that still have  the ability to practice it.  Most that study it refer to various  mythological sources.

2521:  Magical study is banned and  labelled as an occult taboo after a clan of 'sorcerers' use their  abilities for evil intentions.

2589:  A hard limit of 3 billion  people living on any one planetary object is passed in The Coalition  Senate.  Massive migrations begin, as many people begin to look for new  homes after being evicted from their homes.

2611:  Relocation of  trillions of people has completed.  Several billion, however, still  live aboard space vessels, many worlds unwilling to take on people with  'criminal baggage'.

2618:  The Alliance of Ex-convicts is  formed.  Still living aboard the many star cruisers, these people have  huddled together mainly for protection of persecution.

2623:   The Galactic Armada is formed, a military presence created to defend  the innocent against sabotage, plundering, and any other outright  criminal activity throughout the galaxy.

2657:  A few people  suspected of possessing the Magical Abilities Gene (MAG) are captured  by the Alliance.  These people are never heard from again.

2682:   Giant mechanical robots are created with amazing abilities to  outperform and outlast normal automated robotic tasks.  These 'mecha'  soon find spots aboard space cruisers and other planets scattered  throughout the galaxy.

2705:  A war breaks out between the  Alliance and the Armada.  The Alliance has the unbalanced benefit of  several magic users to aid them.

2813:  The Armada manages to capture a lead magical operative, leading to unorthodox interrogation procedures.

2820:   People of magical abilities, outraged by various interrogations  techniques and being outright outcast from normal society, form their  own faction:  Faction of Renegade Anti-Magic Exploitation and  Demoralisation (FRAMED).  Immediately after it's formation, they  declare war on both the Alliance and the Armada, using their combined  awesome powers, they nearly annihilate the Alliance because of the way  their grandparents, parents, and siblings were tortured while the  Alliance researched them like guinea pigs.

2821:  The Armada  negotiates a diplomatic solution with FRAMED.  As a result some of  these unique magic users are giving high ranking positions within the  Armada.

2954:  The separation of government and military forces  is dissolved.  New families cross into what was once illegal are formed  between Senators and spouses serving in the military.

3016:   Dimensional Mechanics is born.  This science studies the workings of  alternate dimensions and parallel realities.  Some people with unknown  magical abilities can now interact with the spirit world, as well as  other physical and non-physical forms.

3173:  FRAMED is  dissolved.  Now all people of magical ability must serve in the Armada  for at least one term.  They are compensated by automatically being  given Officer level rankings, based upon their education, number of  special abilities, and level of power of their abilities.

3256:   The practice of implanting cybernetic equipment into one's body  begins.  Both non-magical and magical peoples utilise this technology.

The Rules:
1.   You may create any character you'd like.  Since this is a High Tech /  Magical game world, you may allocate 500 Character Points towards your  character design.  You may not want to allocate all of these points  towards your character design.  Save some points for awesome items and  gear, or companion pets too.  Perhaps a personal space craft is what  you need?  For this setting we will be playing under the Power Level of  "Superhuman", found on page 9.  As a reminder, the maximum attribute  level should be no higher than 6, and you should try to allocate your  Character Points for: 40% towards Stats, 40% towards Attributes, and  20% towards Skills.  (Keep in mind that the allocation is not a hard  and fast rule, so don't have a caniption fit with the math  :sweatdrop:  )

2.  You may create as many characters as you are capable of playing.  Each character has its own 500 Character Point limit.

3.   No God-Modding.  (This means you aren't supposed to control another  player's characters.)  The only exception is if that character is  marked as "In-Active", and you have the permission of either the player  or the GM.

4.  You as a player are motivated to  participate at least once per week.  If you are unable to play for any  reason, post in the Discussion Board.  The Game Master may control your  characters while you are unavailable.  If you are going to be away for  an extended period of time, you may either have your characters get  'distracted' so they aren't in the main game play, or you may opt to  have other players assume temporary control of your characters.

5.  Character death is forbidden.  No exceptions.  Let's try to keep this game around a PG level? 

6.   Rail-roading the master plot is forbidden.  If you have a plot idea to  add to the game, run it by the Game Master first (by Personal Message).

7.   Although we are utilising the Big Eyes Small Mouth system, there will  be no dice rolling... we will be invoking the 'Taking 6' rule (Found on  page 135).  This rule means that all rolls made will be an assumed '6'.

8.  Most importantly:  Have Fun!

Some Tips:
1.  Watch lots of anime!

2.  Subscribe to the game topic.

3.  Create an in depth character background.

4.  Find a picture of a character that looks like your character, or have one drawn.

5.  Take a few days to design your character.  The story will still be there by the time you're finished.

6.  Have an idea?  Make suggestions!  Talk about the game in the Discussion board.