Eclipse Phase: Long Night Sign-Up

Arhra · 01-23-2013, 05:58 AM

Man is a creature that fears the dark.

He craves his fear, even though he averts his eyes from it. But you cannot see darkness. It is absence and emptiness. What Man fears, what the eye craves, is that which inhabits the dark.

Less than two decades ago, the world ended. A cataclysm of killing machines and broken physics. Humanity became a thin smear spread across the heavens, leaving the Earth below grey with dust and death.

Much of humanity has been resurrected from frozen memories, but ultimately Man has turned away from the past. There is too much darkness there. It is colonised by ghosts and mysteries. Better not to remember, better not to dwell on the past, Man says.

Is it wrong to seek out the things we fear?

Wake up!

Is it a crime to seek the truth? Is it a sin to think?!

The day humanity abandons its curiousity is the day we die! If we give up the past and curl up in our little solar system, hiding away from what frightens us, then the march to our extinction has begun. The TITANs are vanished, not dead. The cause of their murderous uprising is unknown. Their science is beyond us.

You might have tried to blind yourself with light. But no matter how bright a bonfire, how matter how starry a sky, you found yourself looking out into the darkness beyond.

Tear down your little house of rationalisations and disassemble your careful arguments and denials. Bid farewell to peace and rest - it was all a lie anyway.

Go out into the dark.

Fear is vital.

* * *

You are not unique.
You have been here before.
And you already died.

This is Eclipse Phase. It is a cyberpunk RPG setting where over ninety percent of humanity was killed during the Fall, not even twenty years ago. The Fall was caused by the TITANs, artificial self modifying intelligences who rose up against their creators. Some of the monstrous horrors of the Fall suggest it was triggered by a third party, an Exsurgent.

Humankind is now spread across the solar system, in the middle of the arduous process of rebuilding civilisation. Many of those slain during the Fall had copies of their consciousness beamed into space. Most of them are still stored in memory caches. Bodies are precious, for the demand far outstrips the supply.

And, of course, not all of the existential threats left when the TITANs did.

This will be a one shot game. It'll largely be in the style of a freeform RP, but I will be applying skill checks to inject some capricious whims of fate into the process. The core book is available for free on the interwebs, but I would only recommend it for flavour as the rules will be vastly simplified.

For this scenario, you are workers on Cerberus Base, a hypercorp operated research facility located in the outer system. They're researching some, well, three separate very dangerous things involving psychic powers, exotic matter and portals. Your characters have just woken up in the medical bay together because you have been murdered and the base is currently in full security lockdown. Its your job to figure out what exactly is going on. Preferably before the security countermeasures kick in and everything explodes.

The characters will be largely pregenerated by me, however I would like people to present some ideas for what they'd like to play, so I can use that as a starting point.

Steel Shadow · 01-23-2013, 06:14 AM

I am in. Manny the Travel agent. He knows a guy, totally.

Overcast · 01-23-2013, 07:16 AM

I am also in. Scott from Medical. Psychosurgeon, therapist, analyst, warrior poet.

Arhra · 01-23-2013, 07:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steel Shadow

I am in. Manny the Travel agent. He knows a guy, totally.

I should perhaps emphasise that, while perhaps not black ops, this secret research station is grey at best!

One does not publically admit to researching TITAN artifacts!

Aerozord · 01-23-2013, 08:20 PM

two ideas

Oran: infolife "scientist monk". Finds a physical body a distraction. Scholarly and a master hacker*

"Octi": A some racist name an uplifted octopus took a shine to. Mechanic skilled at multi-tasking.

*If Oran works I'd want him to tend to jump around alot, hanging out in a ecto or ghostrider module, or just jumping from console to console

PyrosNine · 01-23-2013, 09:07 PM

Red Garm, the Russian bottle fairy SodaPop Drunkenski mail order bride who may or may not be a habitual liar and saboteur.

PhoenixFlame · 01-24-2013, 03:34 AM

Put me down for a Lost generation computer programmer who utilizes thoughtspeed to program.

And psionics to reverse-engineer things. What's the worst that could happen?

Sifright · 01-24-2013, 04:39 AM

Im up for this.

How does John the middle manager with a smattering of science and business skills who got his position due to taking credit for others work?

Aerozord · 01-24-2013, 12:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sifright

Im up for this.

How does John the middle manager with a smattering of science and business skills who got his position due to taking credit for others work?

wearing a redshirt when

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixFlame

Put me down for a Lost generation computer programmer who utilizes thoughtspeed to program.

And psionics to reverse-engineer things. What's the worst that could happen?

This person snaps and starts flaying people with her mind

Arhra · 01-25-2013, 04:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steel Shadow

I am in. Manny the Travel agent. He knows a guy, totally.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steel Shadow

I feel I should clarify, Manny just say's he's a travel agent 'cus it sounds better to chicks. He probably does something menial like monitor trafic flow or cleans shuttles or somethin'

This is acceptable unto me!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Overcast

I am also in. Scott from Medical. Psychosurgeon, therapist, analyst, warrior poet.

Specialisation is for insects! I approve!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aerozord

two ideas

Oran: infolife "scientist monk". Finds a physical body a distraction. Scholarly and a master hacker*

"Octi": A some racist name an uplifted octopus took a shine to. Mechanic skilled at multi-tasking.

AGI's are illegal, citizen! Perhaps more pertinently, this isn't a good scenario for infolife. And I would like more to a concept than 'octopus mechanic who does octopus things'.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PyrosNine

Red Garm, the Russian bottle fairy SodaPop Drunkenski mail order bride who may or may not be a habitual liar and saboteur.

Yeah, no. I shouldn't need to explain why.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixFlame

Put me down for a Lost generation computer programmer who utilizes thoughtspeed to program.

And psionics to reverse-engineer things. What's the worst that could happen?

GOD HIMSELF COULD NOT SINK THIS SHIP!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sifright

Im up for this.

How does John the middle manager with a smattering of science and business skills who got his position due to taking credit for others work?

He sounds amazing. Quite possibly, the most amazing.

Welp, that's six expressions of interest and four acceptable concepts, so I guess I'd better get cracking.

Some of my fun here will be different ammounts of missing time due to people having different backup habits. Who feels like dealing with a huge chunk of missing time?

01-23-2013, 05:58 AM	#1
Arhra Ara ara! Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Neo Venezia Posts: 5,013	Eclipse Phase: Long Night Sign-Up Man is a creature that fears the dark. He craves his fear, even though he averts his eyes from it. But you cannot see darkness. It is absence and emptiness. What Man fears, what the eye craves, is that which inhabits the dark. Less than two decades ago, the world ended. A cataclysm of killing machines and broken physics. Humanity became a thin smear spread across the heavens, leaving the Earth below grey with dust and death. Much of humanity has been resurrected from frozen memories, but ultimately Man has turned away from the past. There is too much darkness there. It is colonised by ghosts and mysteries. Better not to remember, better not to dwell on the past, Man says. Is it wrong to seek out the things we fear? Wake up! Is it a crime to seek the truth? Is it a sin to think?! The day humanity abandons its curiousity is the day we die! If we give up the past and curl up in our little solar system, hiding away from what frightens us, then the march to our extinction has begun. The TITANs are vanished, not dead. The cause of their murderous uprising is unknown. Their science is beyond us. You might have tried to blind yourself with light. But no matter how bright a bonfire, how matter how starry a sky, you found yourself looking out into the darkness beyond. Tear down your little house of rationalisations and disassemble your careful arguments and denials. Bid farewell to peace and rest - it was all a lie anyway. Go out into the dark. Fear is vital. * * * You are not unique. You have been here before. And you already died. This is Eclipse Phase. It is a cyberpunk RPG setting where over ninety percent of humanity was killed during the Fall, not even twenty years ago. The Fall was caused by the TITANs, artificial self modifying intelligences who rose up against their creators. Some of the monstrous horrors of the Fall suggest it was triggered by a third party, an Exsurgent. Humankind is now spread across the solar system, in the middle of the arduous process of rebuilding civilisation. Many of those slain during the Fall had copies of their consciousness beamed into space. Most of them are still stored in memory caches. Bodies are precious, for the demand far outstrips the supply. And, of course, not all of the existential threats left when the TITANs did. This will be a one shot game. It'll largely be in the style of a freeform RP, but I will be applying skill checks to inject some capricious whims of fate into the process. The core book is available for free on the interwebs, but I would only recommend it for flavour as the rules will be vastly simplified. For this scenario, you are workers on Cerberus Base, a hypercorp operated research facility located in the outer system. They're researching some, well, three separate very dangerous things involving psychic powers, exotic matter and portals. Your characters have just woken up in the medical bay together because you have been murdered and the base is currently in full security lockdown. Its your job to figure out what exactly is going on. Preferably before the security countermeasures kick in and everything explodes. The characters will be largely pregenerated by me, however I would like people to present some ideas for what they'd like to play, so I can use that as a starting point. __________________ This post is a good source of Ara ara, ufufu.* *These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This post is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

01-23-2013, 06:14 AM	#2
Steel Shadow Mild Psychosis Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Aroundabouts thereish. Posts: 1,246	I am in. Manny the Travel agent. He knows a guy, totally. __________________ Yeah, I'm understating. I do that sometimes.

01-23-2013, 07:16 AM	#3
Overcast Cinderella Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Trespassing in the graveyard Posts: 3,076	I am also in. Scott from Medical. Psychosurgeon, therapist, analyst, warrior poet. __________________ Time to bust out the glow sticks!

01-23-2013, 08:20 PM	#5
Aerozord So we are clear Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Former murder capital of the world Posts: 13,824	two ideas Oran: infolife "scientist monk". Finds a physical body a distraction. Scholarly and a master hacker* "Octi": A some racist name an uplifted octopus took a shine to. Mechanic skilled at multi-tasking. If Oran works I'd want him to tend to jump around alot, hanging out in a ecto or ghostrider module, or just jumping from console to console __________________ "don't hate me for being a heterosexual white guy disparaging slacktivism, hate me for all those murders I've done." Last edited by Aerozord; 01-23-2013 at 08:22 PM.*

01-23-2013, 09:07 PM	#6
PyrosNine Zettai Hero Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: A figment of my own imagination Posts: 6,103	Red Garm, the Russian bottle fairy SodaPop Drunkenski mail order bride who may or may not be a habitual liar and saboteur. __________________ Pyrosnine.blogspot.com: An experimental blog of writing. Updated possibly daily. Possibly. A fair chance. Current Works for reading: War Between them, Karma Police. PyrosNine: Weirdo Magnet Extraordinaire!

01-24-2013, 03:34 AM	#7
PhoenixFlame ☢!CAUTION!☢ Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Beneath Gensokyo Posts: 3,668	Put me down for a Lost generation computer programmer who utilizes thoughtspeed to program. And psionics to reverse-engineer things. What's the worst that could happen? __________________ "Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic." -from The Sayings of Muad'Dib by the Princess Irulan

01-24-2013, 04:39 AM	#8
Sifright Fact sphere is the most handsome Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 1,108	Im up for this. How does John the middle manager with a smattering of science and business skills who got his position due to taking credit for others work? __________________ Orgies of country consuming violence