NPC APPLICATION INFORMATION

[initiates]

So, you'd like to play an Initiative employee! First of all, awesome. We would love to establish more Initiative presence within the game, but the sad fact is that the mods don't have enough time to devote to consistent NPC'ing. So that's why we're opening it up to players! These are essentially OCs created for the setting, and may be as clinical, detached, and professional, or as involved with characters on a personal level as you'd like to play. You may create a brand new character for this role, or fit a preexisting OC into the bounds of Exsilium. All we care about is having more of a face for the Initiative.

On this page you can ask any questions that you might have regarding setting information. It's extremely important to us that players be familiar enough with the game and setting to be able to impart accurate information to whatever PCs these characters interact with, but our goal isn't to limit people who don't know enough yet. We're very happy to help players become familiar on the level that we're looking for.

We'll be answering questions in the threads, along with adding commonly asked questions straight to this page, so make sure you read over it before you ask!

Note: This page and information is currently geared toward playing an Initiative NPC on the moonbase, as there will be far fewer employees there and characters would naturally get to know them better, but it will still apply once characters have returned to Exsilium proper. At that point we will be adding more jobs, and allowing more characters in each role.



Most importantly: what job should my character have within the Initiative?

We currently have 14 jobs that we're looking to fill, but these can be shifted, reordered, adjusted, or ditched, according to interest in playing them. If you are interested in any of these, please stake a claim in the thread for it on this page! We don't want have 8 Temporal Programmers and no Weapon Specialists, if we can help it. We'd prefer to have one character in each role, but as stated, this is very flexible. (Note: Claims are treated as a gauge of interest, and neither guarantee that job for your character, nor prevent others from claiming the same job at this stage!)

Systems Analysist: Monitors life support systems and emergency power flow.
Hydroponics: Agriculture, responsible for food growth.
Chemical Engineer: Monitors station atmospheric composition and purity.
Temporal Engineer: Maintains the Transporter hardware.
Temporal Programmer: Converts dates in time to coordinates for the Transporter.
Time Specialist: Researches timelines to pinpoint crucial points to change.
Spacial Aeronautics: Designs and maintains spacecraft.
Spacial Engineer: Configures logistics of cross-dimensional Transport-pulling.
Information Dispersal: Works with the DITR to relay information to the Transports.
Gen Programer: Writes programming for any systems around the base.
Gen Technician: General system and program maintenance.
Gen Mechanic: General hardware maintenance around the base.
Medical Specialist: Handles injuries, recovery, and medical bay technology.
Weapon Specialist: Handles weapon assignment, modification, and alteration.

Where can I find game information pertinent to playing a native?

Suggested reading is World Information, World History, and the Plot Record, since your NPC will have been around (but in the background) for all of the plot thus far. If you're feeling ambitious, you can also check out Changes in Exsilium, Locations they'd be familiar with, and the New Arrival Spiel.

Where is my character from?

Most Exiles at this point were born in Exsilium. It has been serving as a penal colony for 300 years at this point, and fresh blood comes in very slowly. Of those who do something unpatriotic, rebellious, or criminal enough to be banished to Exsilium, many suffer extreme withdrawals from the UE drug, verstatsi, and die. There is even a very, very small percentage of the population that voluntarily defected to Exsilium, although the UE drug keeps most complacent enough not to want to.

The short answer: your character may be a new arrival to Exsilium, first or second generation Exile, or have a long family history in Exsilium, but the latter is most common.

How might my character have joined the Initiative?

The Initiative is not a well-known organization. They operate underground, and while their presence is apparent behind the scenes, most Exiles choose willful ignorance. Although it's generally whispered that the there is an organization whose goals are the betterment of Exsilium, everyone is very familiar on the United Earth's stance on groups like this, and it's agreed that it's better not to be involved in the meantime. However, there are always ambitious people who aren't content to sit back and let someone else take action, and it's typically these who find their way into the ranks of the Initiative. There is no formal recruitment, it takes a lot of meeting the right people and being introduced to others from there.

Where did my character receive training?

Since the technology level on Exsilium is generally not great, the Initiative must train each member specifically for his or her job. This results in a lot of specialized fields, as they refine their knowledge over time. There also isn't much cross training. A technician for the Transporter may have no idea how the Weapon technology works, and vice versa.

Those who are new arrivals from the United Earth are more likely to have more technological experience, especially if they're from one of the large cities, and will probably need less training.

Can my character be anything nonhuman/have powers?

Unfortunately, no. This world only has humans, and not even excitingly genetically modified ones (outside of the UE supersoldiers, anyway). :( The closest someone can get to being powered, is being an expert of what passes for magic in Exsilium — that is, when Weapons are magic-based or infused with something too fantastic to just be technology, a pretty mysterious force is harnessed instead. It can't be used as magic usually is in fantasy settings, and about the only use anyone has ever found for it is infusing specific items with it for specific changes.

Other than that, these guys must rely on plain old human skill and training.

Natives don't remember Exsilium before time travel began to change things, and each mission rewrites their memory, is that true of my character too?

That depends! Only people who travel in time are privy to the changes, but if you have stepped outside of the timestream even just once, that means you're game to see the changes. (It doesn't guarantee it, though! One trip could make you aware, but only Transports and their many trips will see the changes every single time.) There are some Initiative workers that accompany Transports back in time, and your NPC could well have been one of these. So they may have a foggy memory of changes, a decent memory of changes, or no memory at all.

But that said, the Initiative also keeps excellent records of their progress, and they send the data with their time-travelling employee so that it will not be altered. So all of the employees are aware of what changes have been made, even if not all of them have mnemonic proof.

More to be added as we receive more questions!

And finally, if you think you're ready to begin your application, the page can be found right here.



APPLY ・ ARRIVAL ・ CALENDAR ・ CANON UPDATES ・ CHARACTER CONTACT ・ DIRECTORY ・ DROP&HIATUS
FAQ ・ GAME CHANGES ・ HOUSING ・ JOBS WITHIN EXSILIUM ・ LOCATIONS ・ MISSION REQUESTS ・ MISSION SUGGESTIONS
MODERATORS ・ PLAYER CONTACT ・ RESERVE ・ RULES ・ SUGGEST ・ TAKEN ・ WORLD INFO ・ WORLD HISTORY