The Incursion - Ideas and Identity For the Enemy

[Valiens Nantaris]

The Event, provisionally named ‘The Incursion’, will be taking place late October, early November. At the moment I’m going to start it on the 28th of October Australian time. It will run for 1-2 weeks depending on activity.

The identity of the Incursion invaders has not been decided. So far we have 3 potential choices, all pretty to understand and based on long standing Sci-Fi tropes everyone can follow.

• Shards (Courtesy [member="Rusty"] )
  Backstory – In the Rishi maze, unaffected by the Gulag Plague and the 400 years darkness, a threat has been growing. These shards, corrupted by the Dark Side, have built a formidable force of machine servants to aid them. Now, seeing their chance, a large fleet of droid battleships and machine armies embark on a campaign into the galaxy.
• Method – In the build-up, major factions will be randomly selected to be raided. FNRPs herald their arrival. The galaxy must unite against the invasion. The final battle will take place over a ring world which is manufacturing the war machines. Regular and NPC droids might get infected by a virus and join them ala Clockwork.
• Enemies – Large droid battleships and escorts supported by mass produced Starfighters and legions of droids and war machines. Biological weapons and other cunning strategies to be used. Force using droids as bosses, leading to a final battle with a droid nexus.
• Pros:
  Easy to understand threat.
• Easy to find cool pictures
• Shards are a Star Wars canon topic not in the limelight much.
• Fun interactions with NPC and PC droids?

[*]Cons:

• Have done Clockwork in the site’s history before.
• Must be careful not to make it too much like Clone Wars.
• Shards are fringe legends canon.

[*]Cosmic Horrors (Courtesy [member="Netherworld"] )

• Backstory – The Netherworld is not just home to the spirits and shades of the dead, but it is the home for other, more twisted things. Now, with the weakening of the barriers caused by Alaka’s rampage, they begin to unfold and move into our universe. Light Side, Dark Side, nothing matters to these creatures which seek to end life itself.
• Method – Random portals open in hexes in the lead up, allowing the creatures to raid and plunder. These portals are held open by large ‘anchors’ which must be destroyed to close them. During the event several of these portals open above the capitals of major factions and they must fight them in order to close the breaches.
• Enemies – Massive cosmic horrors similar to the Eldrazi are battlecruiser sized creatures in their own right. They have legions of minions which serve them, as well as some of those who vanished during Netherworld. Their equipment and machines are an amalgam of machine and flesh. These creatures will be immune to mentalism or influence through the Force.
• Pros:
  Integrates existing site lore into the event.
• The most original of the possible invaders.
• Able to use a mix of inspirations from Reapers to Demons to Cosmic Horrors.

[*]Cons:

• Hardest of the threads to looks at and instantly understand.
• Climax currently relies on multiple locations which can dilute members.
• Ambiguous canon legitimacy.

[*]The Swarm (Courtesy [member="Raziel"] )

• Backstory – For centuries the swarm has waited its chance. Now, having consumed almost all life in one of the companion galaxies, it sets its sights on the bigger prize of the galaxy itself. With endless hordes of biological creatures and massive creatures the size of warships they seek to consume everything.
• Method – An entry hex will be secretly chosen. FNRPs and lead up threads will detail attacks in that area spreading out to cover the whole galaxy. Eventually the final battle will take place around, in and on the massive hive queen ship.
• Enemies – Biological swarms similar to the Zerg/Tyranids/Rachni which seek to conquer and consume everything. Large ships are their own space vessels and transports whilst invading armies attempt to purge planets. Force using leaders will provide a synapse network of leaders for the invaders. Parasites or mind control can get some PCs to join them if people want.
• Pros:
  A simple, familiar enemy to fight.
• Easy to do battles of any type or scale.
• Insects are naturally creepy and make a good enemy.

[*]Cons:

• The most well-known and used of the enemies in other settings.
• Similar to the Vong from Legends canon.
• Lack personality.

Religious Zealots (Courtesy [member="Gray Raxis"])

• Backstory – For too long the ways of the Jedi and the Sith have dominated the cultures of the galaxy. A religion based on the idea that the force is nothing more than a tool for the betterment of all has existed on the edges of society. They believe all force users should serve the people directly rather than as peacekeepers or overlords. An ambitious warlord has seen the potential in this religion and has begun to whip up religious fervor. They now offer the galaxy a choice: Convert or Die.
• Method – We can find a canon planet/system in a neutral hex that has little canon info or is known for producing warlords and use it as the source of the incursion. A custom system is also an option as well if that would suit our needs better. From here the enemy can spread out across the galaxy raiding, invading, and spreading their new way of life across the galaxy at large. The event will end with battles taking place around and on this hub planet/system ending in the death of the Warlord and their highest officials.
• Enemies – With the concept being the spread of the religion by any means, all types of enemies are available. It would allow for fleeting as well as ground engagements with any type of weapons, armor, ships, and vehicles we care to use be they custom made or already existing. A unique aspect of this is that force users would not be a rare sight within any of the engagements as the religion sees them as having to serve the people in any and all capacities. This would allow us to slip mini-bosses into any situation along with the regular bosses.
• Pros:
  The threat is easy to grasp as well as being something people could relate/sympathize with.
• All types of threads not just combat are possible as the goal of the enemy is to spread their religion.
• The enemy can be nearly any existing race allowing us to easily have good options for all situations.
• Religious fervor is rarely seen around the board as of late.

[*]Cons:

• Can become bland quickly if not properly spiced up.
• Not everyone will find zealots threatening/relevant.
• Lacks the exotic factor of the other choices.
• Force centric plot which is sort of overdone.

The Colicoids (Courtesy [member="Ria Misrani"] )

Backstory: Over the last few decades, centuries even the galaxy has always been at war. One war dies, and another starts each government fighting, rising and dying all for their own cause. All the while, Colicoids sought out dead planets throughout the galaxy and planted their own within, seeking to create for themselves something unique, something powerful. Their goal is simple; kill everyone or turn them into colicoids.

Method: Utilizing the already submitted and existing dead planets, hordes of colicoids emerge. And begin their trek across the galaxy to take over large portions of space and invade across all factions. Many governments are caught off guard as the Colicoids rush in and take over strategic locations. Events; Survival (PvE/P), Hold the Line (Ground Combat), Red Alert (Fleet). Four stages, the first two stages have their own miniboss, and the third stage has a final boss with the fourth and final stage having a 'world' boss.

Enemies: Colicoids use both themselves and their droidekas to take over. Preferring to use the droidekas more as shock troopers and the tip of their invasion forces before rushing in after. They use semi-organic space faring vessels that have a self-healing/repair ability. Colicoids themselves are immune to the force, they've bred this ability in. Their droids, however, are still vulnerable to the force. A unique line of ships, ground vehicles, and weapons could be created for the colicoids this gives players both organic and non-organic targets.

Pros:

• Uses an enemy that has been seen in Star Wars lore, but not one that's necessarily been used here.
• Uses player submitted planets from the dead planets contest, therefore utilizing site lore and player created content.
• Plays into the Starship Trooper tropes, while insects are generally terrifying - they're generally not this terrifying (also, immune to the force).

Cons:

• Well-known trope, overly used and can be a bit bland since it's a standard; kill'em all
• Multiple locations which can take away from the main story, and multiple threads which can cause players to be turned off altogether
• Similiar to Vong or other insectoid type invasions/fights that have been done before on the board.

Note: Would/could work well with either Swarm or Shards.

Give me your thoughts on these write ups. If anyone wants anything changed about the above let me know so we get a fair representation of the three choices.

 

[Rusty]

I'm in favor of the Shards, but I might be a bit biased. But since it was my idea, I'd like to address the cons.

• Clockwork- Was far enough back that it's not really all that well remembered. For the old timers, tying it into the original event somehow might be a neat callback, and for the newcomers, it's a threat the likes of which they've not faced before.
• Clone Wars- Easy enough to avoid. The droids in Clone Wars were generally slow and clumsy. This will be another story altogether. My idea is to have the droid army and ships work on a drone pattern, with a single Shard controlling a squad or squadron directly. They work and fight as a unit, which makes them much, much more difficult to take down. For the inevitable PVP, well, Iron Knights are nasty in a fight. A powerful Force user is a threat regardless, but give them a heavily armed and armored droid body and you've got something to be truly feared.
• Fringe Canon- Sure, but they're well established parts of Chaos​ canon by now. There are several Shard characters, a location or two on Orax, and companies that utilize Shards in submissions. I think most everybody is used to the idea.

To my thinking, this is a story that people can understand and relate to, and it's an enemy that gives factions an excuse to work together, beyond the usual "we all have to try not to die" bit. The Jedi rejected the Iron Knights and exiled them. Palpatine nearly wiped out the Shards in his purge. Both Jedi and Sith bear responsibility for the menace bearing down on them, and unlike eldritch horror, this fight is personal.

It also holds the possibility of shaking up the dynamics of the board in a very real way. People just sort of ignore droids, for the most part. They're background noise. But one thing I've been laying the groundwork for in my own RP is a collective of Shards working in the background where no one notices or cares. They hear things and see things. If a truly hostile force were to take advantage of that blind spot, well, imagine the damage they could cause. This could majorly shake up the balance of power, especially if the factions do their usual plotting and scheming.

 

[Gray Raxis]

Religious Zealots

• Backstory – For too long the ways of the Jedi and the Sith have dominated the cultures of the galaxy. A religion based on the idea that the force is nothing more than a tool for the betterment of all has existed on the edges of society. They believe all force users should serve the people directly rather than as peacekeepers or overlords. An ambitious warlord has seen the potential in this religion and has begun to whip up religious fervor. They now offer the galaxy a choice: Convert or Die.
• Method – We can find a canon planet/system in a neutral hex that has little canon info or is known for producing warlords and use it as the source of the incursion. A custom system is also an option as well if that would suit our needs better. From here the enemy can spread out across the galaxy raiding, invading, and spreading their new way of life across the galaxy at large. The event will end with battles taking place around and on this hub planet/system ending in the death of the Warlord and their highest officials.
• Enemies – With the concept being the spread of the religion by any means, all types of enemies are available. It would allow for fleeting as well as ground engagements with any type of weapons, armor, ships, and vehicles we care to use be they custom made or already existing. A unique aspect of this is that force users would not be a rare sight within any of the engagements as the religion sees them as having to serve the people in any and all capacities. This would allow us to slip mini-bosses into any situation along with the regular bosses.
• Pros:
  The threat is easy to grasp as well as being something people could relate/sympathize with.
• All types of threads not just combat are possible as the goal of the enemy is to spread their religion.
• The enemy can be nearly any existing race allowing us to easily have good options for all situations.
• Religious fervor is rarely seen around the board as of late.

[*]Cons:

• Can become bland quickly if not properly spiced up.
• Not everyone will find zealots threatening/relevant.
• Lacks the exotic factor of the other choices.
• Force centric plot which is sort of overdone.

 

[Ria Misrani]

The Colicoids

Backstory: Over the last few decades, centuries even the galaxy has always been at war. One war dies, and another starts each government fighting, rising and dying all for their own cause. All the while, Colicoids sought out dead planets throughout the galaxy and planted their own within, seeking to create for themselves something unique, something powerful. Their goal is simple; kill everyone or turn them into colicoids.

Method: Utilizing the already submitted and existing dead planets, hordes of colicoids emerge. And begin their trek across the galaxy to take over large portions of space and invade across all factions. Many governments are caught off guard as the Colicoids rush in and take over strategic locations. Events; Survival (PvE/P), Hold the Line (Ground Combat), Red Alert (Fleet). Four stages, the first two stages have their own miniboss, and the third stage has a final boss with the fourth and final stage having a 'world' boss.

Enemies: Colicoids use both themselves and their droidekas to take over. Preferring to use the droidekas more as shock troopers and the tip of their invasion forces before rushing in after. They use semi-organic space faring vessels that have a self-healing/repair ability. Colicoids themselves are immune to the force, they've bred this ability in. Their droids, however, are still vulnerable to the force. A unique line of ships, ground vehicles, and weapons could be created for the colicoids this gives players both organic and non-organic targets.

Pros:

• Uses an enemy that has been seen in Star Wars lore, but not one that's necessarily been used here.
• Uses player submitted planets from the dead planets contest, therefore utilizing site lore and player created content.
• Plays into the Starship Trooper tropes, while insects are generally terrifying - they're generally not this terrifying (also, immune to the force).

Cons:

• Well-known trope, overly used and can be a bit bland since it's a standard; kill'em all
• Multiple locations which can take away from the main story, and multiple threads which can cause players to be turned off altogether
• Similiar to Vong or other insectoid type invasions/fights that have been done before on the board.

Note: Would/could work well with either Swarm or Shards.

 

[Rusty]

In the darkness, they lurk.

The Jedi rejected them. The Sith tried to kill them. And now, they're back for revenge.

Over 800 years ago, a group of Shards fled to the Rishi Maze, seeking refuge from the agents of Emperor Palpatine as he sought to purge them from the galaxy. They wanted nothing more than to be left alone, to find a place to call home, safe from the galaxy that had cast them out.

They found their home in the ruins of an unknown civilization. Floating in space and devoid of life was a giant ring world, which they named Ilum, after their greatest hero. It was obviously artificial in nature, and contained all the machinery needed to rebuild their people, to make them stronger than ever. The Shards wanted nothing more than to live in peace, and if they couldn't have peace, than they would at least have safety.

Unfortunately, their Eden contained a dark secret.

Their paradise was actually a prison, or at least the gates to one. It had originally been built to contain a portal to the Netherworld, a place where savage things that defied understanding lay in wait, ready for the day when they'd be free once more to devour the flesh of the living. Though the creatures were contained, their madness leaked through and infected the Shards. The once peaceful Iron Protectorate became the Empire of steel.

For 800 years, they have planned and plotted and built. Even in the throes of madness, Shards are a patient lot. They could afford to wait, to build up their fleets and their armies, and to unlock the secrets of the gate. Their agents, disguised as normal droids, have infiltrated the galaxy, and carried with them the foul and hideous monstrosities they freed from their prison.

After all this time, they are ready to strike.

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

[member="Rusty"]
I like this because it allows for the cosmic horrors to be the puppet masters behind the Incursion. A good setup for a sequel.

All people, this is your chance to make your points! Any ideas and stories you have, air them now.

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

I'm actually all about the Shards train. I won't refute the Cons because Rusty already really did a good job of anything I would have said, but first I'll outline my reasons for support and then make a few suggestions.

Something I think gets overlooked a lot on this board is that in Canon the layperson mistrusted droids at best, *hated* droids at worst. I think it's easy to think of droids as funny, or friendly, or dumb, or a sidekick because of R2 or 3PO but...people mistrust and fear something that has 'thought' but not easily understandable. Something that doesn't live, but lives. It's alien in an entirely creepy way if you think about it too long. I think weaving the already present hatred and bigotry towards droids in to the story could be REALLY interesting and add a layer of propulsion even beyond the obvious "they're trying to kill us so we should fight back."

Secondly, Shards, machines, and droids are a terrifying enemy. They are freakishly strong and capable of punting humans & humanoids across 10 football fields. More unique builds would be even stranger. Many Force techniques simply won't work on them - such as my own main character, Matsu. Her mentalism would be completely useless, which would force me to think creatively.

I have two suggestions to make this more inclusive or challenging.

1. We brainstorm ways to make the Force more difficult to use against these Shards/Droids. Not impossible, at least not entirely. But something to equalize the field of players.

2. Player & NPC droids can be infected and turn to the Shard/Droid side. But there are very few players who main a droid. So what if we KEEP that, AAANNNDDD we add that the Dark force that leaked out from the Netherworld to turn the Shards can also be transferred to Humans/Near-Humans/Aliens. That way FAR more players have the chance to participate on the bad side if they want to, rather than restricting it to our limited number of droid players.

 

[Rusty]

So what I think we've come up with thus far in terms of using the everyday droids is something I've been writing with Eralam for a while. Going back to the idea that droids are mostly mistrusted and feared, they're also largely ignored when they're working anonymously in the background. Eralam uses that for his Shard Network, a widespread cell-structured organization that mostly just listens.

Taking that a step further for this, what if those Shards and the droids they controlled were to actively engage in sabotage? They could effectively cripple modern society, and the anti-droid sentiment you noticed would increase exponentially.

I can also see the madness that's infected the Shards being something contagious, especially to those powerful in the Force. And the closer you get to its source, the Contingency's homeworld, the stronger the influence becomes. Those whose grasp on sanity is already a little rough around the edges would begin to feel it much sooner, leading to the possibility of them defecting, as it were. Exactly how they'd fit in I'm not a hundred percent sure, but it's possible they could end up working for the cosmic horrors without necessarily working for the Shards, or end up in something like the French Foreign Legion.

As far as levelling the playing field with the Force, that's where the Iron Knights can come in. A Force using opponent with the speed and reflexes, not to mention armor, of a powerful battle droid would be a formidable opponent for just about anyone. Take Eralam for example. He's a third rate Force user by the standards of the board. He only has two powers, and while he's good with them, he's not going to run around ripping Star Destroyers out of the sky or anything. However, you put him in a stand up fight against basically anyone, and he can hold his own using only a lightsaber and a 5 shot revolver. A heavily armed, fully empowered Iron Knight with Master level abilities would be an absolute nightmare. Especially if we throw in a couple of technological wrinkles I've been working on that'll give them an edge.

[member="Matsu Xiangu"]

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

Good ideas.

I'm planning to make some of the lead up threads deal with this very issue. Droids rebelling, seemingly at random, but in reality sowing distrust and chaos.

 

[Ria Misrani]

[member="Matsu Xiangu"]

I love the idea of levelling the playing field. Could also increase the challenge rating since there seems to be plenty of heavy handed force users as far as, masters/dark lords (eh this isn't new stuff but bear with me), but having the bosses around that maybe are not just immune to the force but when you attempt to use the force against them. They sort of take that and either reflect it back to you or just get a self-repair out of it.

What I'd like to see is a lot of teamwork, and I'm sure we could generate something to get this to happen in some for another once again. Omega was fun in that I got to see groups of people work together that normally did not work together. We've also got a lot of great player made gear and content. And, several ships actually that use heuristic processors or have droid slaves built into them just as well so we could get a type of fleeting event out of this as well. I mean how terrifying is that, eh? Your ships turn against you.

So I wonder if we could use some of the dead planets that were created earlier as sort of - soft launches/lore building just as well [member="Valiens Nantaris"]

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

[member="Ria Misrani"]
My plan is to have the leading Shards be powerful Force using bosses to counter that a bit.

 

[The Major]

Excuse me if I'm late to the party.

Have we fully decided on the Shard robot army? If you require more Force using monsters I'd like to offer using an Eldritch being in conjunction to the shards. While players deal with their machinery and tech turning on them it would be good to have them deal with an organic threat.

I read earlier of a mention of Eldrazi and horrors. Thanks to the date of the incursion it would go very well with Halloween time. Since some of you know of MTG, then I'd like to use a being similar to Emrakul -something completely out of this universe but re-interpreted with use of the Force. We could say that this being would be negatively influencing Shards, though not controlling them. Similar to Emrakul, there could be a form of conscription. We can do this more simply with perhaps saying that fallen organics come back as zombie like creatures and other horrors depending on their level of expertise of Force use.

It could possibly be used as a means to allow characters who die to continue on. It doesn't have to be the main focus of the incursion, but maybe something to be treated like an optional area.

[member="Valiens Nantaris"] [member="Matsu Xiangu"] [member="Rusty"] [member="Ria Misrani"] [member="Gray Raxis"]

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

[member="The Major"]
The plan is Shards...but Shards subtly warped and controlled by cosmic horrors.

 

[The Major]

Sign me up to be a cosmic horror then. Unless of course this phase only specifically involves shards. Then excuse my insolence.

[member="Valiens Nantaris"]

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

[member="The Major"]
Take a look at the background thread and see if any of the Shards except Onyx appeals to you. I'll also mark you down for if demonic stuff is needed...and it will be.

 

[The Major]

Aye aye. Very intricate background information, and nicely done. Out of the shards Sapphire appeals the most since they are a mixture of organic and robotic. Plenty of space for augmentations that take advantage of body horror in a fight. If there's a need for NPCing other monsters/droids/machines then let me know.

Also, thank you. Looking forward to being the best demonic horror I can be.

[member="Valiens Nantaris"]

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

[member="The Major"]
Your enthusiasm is well noted.