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

Comments

CLAIM A JOB

[initiates]

It doesn't even matter if you don't even have a name yet for your NPC, if there's a job you think you'd like to have for them, tell us here! Additionally, if there's a job you'd like them to have that isn't on the list, bring that up here too, and we'll be happy to discuss it.

[fintastic]

quietly pounces on this

I would be most interested in apping a Medical Specialist but would also be interested/content in other roles (Weapon Specialist or Gen Programmer being my other top two)

[revelation]

i would be super interested in Weapon Specialist, but i would also content with others if it proves popular with Information Dispersal and Gen Mechanic coming to mind

Re: CLAIM A JOB

[soul_sister]

I would like to put in a claim on temporal programmer.

[peeta_bread]

ah okay #1 choice is time specialist but if duplicates are a no-no, that's okay.
#2 Information Dispersal
#3 Spacial Aeronautics

I would be happy with any C:

[lar]

OKAY SO as I said, number one interest goes to Time Specialist. Otherwise Spacial Engineer.

Re: CLAIM A JOB

[icy_heavens]

I'd like to put a claim on a Chemical Engineer or Systems Analysist.

[imperfect]

Super tentative claims on Hydroponics or Systems Analyst o/

[itstotallyaliens]

May I claim General Hardware Maintenance? Also, strange question, I know, but how are you on funky hair coloring for NPCs? Would they, suppose, have access to hair dye if Transports brought it to Exsilium pre-moonbase?

(if not I need to fix his icons)

[initiates]

Hair dye is fine! It was even around before Transports, too.

[acts_of_claudia]

Spacial Engineer pleeeeaaaaaase. I have second and third choices if that doesn't work :)

Re: CLAIM A JOB

[biwinning]

Putting a tentative interest claim on Hydroponics or Temporal Engineer!

[lar]

This is probably a silly question but are the NPC characters counted in the overall character count as well?

That is to say, will restrictions regarding how many characters someone can have will also count the NPC ones?

[initiates]

NPC slots do not count against your overall character count. However, it's best to evaluate what you think you can handle based on what overall total number of characters you're stating you want to be responsible for!

[falla]

omg kitten Noted!

Oh also, I know this isn't the ideal but can there be duplicates of a job? I'm kind of fancying the idea of a Time Specialist but it sounds so cool that someone will probably app that before me.

[initiates]

To quote up above:

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.

Mind, this is also being kept narrow for the moon base portion of game plot. After we're down on island again in the future, this opens wide to a larger group of people. The skeleton staff we have at the start is an initial limitation, not a permanent one!

[soul_sister]

QUESTION, were these NPCs stationed on the base, or were they plucked up and shuffled with the Transports?

Also, is there a good place to read about the history/background of the moon base? Is anything established or will we be working with you on fleshing that out a bit?

[initiates]

It could go either way! There's a very skeletal skeleton crew up there right now, who are mostly just making sure the place has enough oxygen to sustain human life, and very essential, baseline things like that. So an NPC could be one of those characters, or someone who is picked to go along with the Transports. In the latter case, they would be picked for their skill, being generally recognized as the best in their area, and so the one picked to live while everyone else stays behind to, well, be nuked.

And RE the moonbase, not yet! Currently the history books say things like, a space-enthusiastic America built it in hopes of venturing out further into space, but the program used too much money and generated none, and so was cut short due to lack of funding. The base was abandoned in the 2200s after only a few years of use, and has been sitting empty ever since, and that's about all anyone could tell you about it. We'll be learning more about it as the plot goes, and releasing layout information before it kicks off.

[soul_sister]

Awesome!

One last question, then. If they were a picked one, were they able to bring family, significant others, as that we could offscreen or was it one of those hard choices?

[initiates]

Sadly, that'll be one of those hard choices. It's going to be emphasized a lot that space and resources are incredibly limited on the moonbase, and it's imperative that they bring along all Transports, as they're the best shot the Initiative has at being able to undo the nuke strike. As a whole (with exceptions, there are always exceptions), anyone dedicated enough to join the Initiative in the first place will realize that they have to have faith and put their trust in the program they've established so far. Family and significant others won't be lost forever, if they can manage to work with the Transports to undo it.

So, basically, have some built-in angst. :]

[soul_sister]

And some fevered dedication, yes. Thanks! I'll settle in and reread info. Do you mind some general questions now and then?

[initiates]

Not at all, ask away whenever you like!

[soul_sister]

OKAY QUESTIONS INCOMING!

I couldn't find any information on verstatsi, are we looking more like brave new world soma or old school dune BE HERE OR LOSE ANTIDOTE? Is it something Exiles are generally aware of?



Also, when I did the sample, a concern came up that I did it entirely in other npc interactions... would you prefer more of introspection tilt and get rid of that stuff, or do both?

[crocodilesmiles]

Definitely more Dune. Withdrawal can, very often, lead to death. It doesn't give you good old blue eyes or leave you forever stranded, but it's a lot less soma and a lot more the spice is with you.

Minus the mind boosting effects.

Or giant sand worms.

Verstatsi is well known to all Exiles, if what it does in particular may or may not be. ALl members of the United Earth, as far as anyone in Exsilium knows, are on verstatsi. Likely they've seen or known at least one person who has detoxed from verstatsi. Also likely they know someone or have at some point tried experimenting personally, some to be curious, others to figure out what it is that helps make people be okay injecting this stuff on a daily basis.

As for the app sample, that should be fine, as long as there's enough introspection interspersed with the rest to get a sense of character voice and thought process.

[soul_sister]

Awesome on both points! That helps me a lot. (A little more reading and a lot more polishing and I think I'll be ready. I'd be lying if I didn't say I was a little excited.)

[soul_sister]

ALSO! Will the NPCs deployed to the moon remember things afterwards?

[crocodilesmiles]

They may, or they may not. That'll depend* on exactly what ends up happening to bring the Transports back down to Earth!

*granted, with what we're talking about here, the answer is "yes, though details will be shifty" since the fabric of their world/lives will have changed, so it gets a bit confusing for them.

[soul_sister]

It makes for some fun potential interactions afterwards, definitely.

[fintastic]

Even if there's no extensive cross training, would there at least be some basic training in other areas? Self-defense, first aid, etc?

In the same vein, would there be opportunities for employees to utilize Initiative resources/materials on their own time to teach themselves other things? (Even if it's only in theory and not in practice.)

[initiates]

Yes and yes! The depth of training depends on the individual, in both cases; the former is general basic training for everyone (but it depends on how much they paid attention), and the latter is entirely self-driven.

[biwinning]

I FORGOT TO ASK SINCE THIS IS KIND OF RELEVENT TO WHO IM WRITING AN APP FOR.

"Temporal Engineer: Maintains the Transporter hardware."

So by Transporter, it's the same as the "Transport Pad" as mentioned in the OOC post about the moon base, right? And that basically the NPC I'd app who would be the temporal engineer would be the Scotty ala Star Trek of the Moon Base, right? (As in basically, the guy who takes care of the machine and takes the coordinates from the temporal programmers to put into the machine themself?)

[thebutt]

Yep, that's right! The Time Specialist picks the date, the Temporal Programmer converts it into coordinates, and the Temporal Engineer starts the Transporter up to send people off, as well as keeps the whole thing running. Basically, the Trasporter is his or her baby, and the Scottish accent is mandatory.

[biwinning]

You are in luck because I basically already wrote the app with everything you said in mind.

[thebutt]

good because i would reject it automatically if it didn't come with a scottish accent.

Also, for a quicker answer, feel free to grab Ish or myself on AIM or plurk! If anything comes up later, anyway.