Okay... First I'd like to present some posting rules. I'm sure they are rules we can all agree on, but if anyone has any objections, or any extra rules they would like to add, now is the time to say something.<br/><br/>1) No one-line posts. We all hate those... It is totally possible to post a one-word answer to yes/no as a decent length paragraph, by  posting what the character is thinking about, what they are doing, and why they give the answer they do...<br/><br/>2) I realise not everyone can post every day. I'm one of those people who can't. I will try my best, but sometimes things crop up. However I would ask, in the interests of keeping things moving, that you try and post at least twice a week and more if you are able.<br/><br/>3) Related to that, if you find yourself on-line at the same time as one other person, please feel free to create a private one-on-one RP on the same theme, but for this RP I would ask you to limit the number of posts you make before<em>everyone</em>gets to respond to something sensible? I'm going to assume common sense here and not set any sort of arbitrary limit, but there is nothing worse that coming home from work to find that the RP has moved on about two hours in game time and you have no idea what your character is supposed to be doing! I'm sure we've all had it happen too!<br/><br/>4) RP style: I'm asking that everyone try and use prose where possible? I will be using third person historic tense. If you want to use first person present I have no problem, but I would like people to describe actions as a story and put speech in quotes and thoughts<em>in italics</em>.<br/><br/>5) If you aren't having fun, for fuck's sake tell me! Maybe we can do something about it?<br/><br/>I think that's it.<br/><br/>Now, characters. I will create a character thread. (May I suggest people bookmark it?)<br/><br/>I'm the team leader. My job is to co-ordinate the actions of the team. I may or may not be actively involved in the action on a job, but I will always be nearby.<br/><br/>We need:<br/><br/>A point man: This is the member who goes in first, neutralises the alarm systems, and will usually be the one to take whatever the target is. Sometimes, the point man might be the only member of the team to enter the target's location. rage0976 asked if he can take this role already, and I said he'd have to earn it... In fact, I'm planning on opening the RP with a little recruitment session, just to see whether the characters created match up to the roles they have been created for...<br/><br/>A sniper: This is the team member who gives over-watch to the others. Sometimes the sniper will be crucial to the mission - especially if it is an assassination mission. Sometimes less so, if there is no opposition expected. Usually the sniper will be the one adding to the (NPC) body count. Note that, as with the team leader, the sniper will not always "go in" with the team. It really depends on the exact situation. The sniper is the one carrying the heavy artillery, and watching the team's back.<br/><br/>A hacker/tech specialist. This is the role most crucial to the success of every operation. The hacker is the one who has the building schematics in their head, the one who disables the electronic systems and/or instructs the point man how to do so. The hacker is the one who taps into the enemy's surveillance systems and lets everyone know where they are and where the enemy is. (S)He figures out how things work and makes them not work if required. This role needs to be the most imaginative player, as I'm not going to spoon feed the plot to you guys, and the hacker is going to be making a lot of it up!<br/><br/>A Locksmith. Not all locks are electronic, and those that are, often are not on any sort of net. They can therefore not be hacked. So we need someone with a skill in taking out every sort of lock, from the most sophisticated electronic ones to the simplest, old-fashioned padlock. This character is most likely to be in on the action with the front man.<br/><br/>Close combat weapons specialists. The grunts, if you like. These characters are not essential to the plot and can be NPCs - in which case they become expendable. Basically there to provide support and firepower or muscle as required. Not the most imaginative role, but could be a lot more exciting than you might think...<br/><br/><br/>I'm sure there was another one, but I can't think what it could be! If anyone else has any ideas, please post them. We may need a number of "specialists" for individual missions. This is going to be a bit like the "player hostages" idea. We'll cross that bridge as and when.<br/><br/>Technology:<br/><br/>As already pointed out, we are in cyberpunk tech-level. That means body modifications are available. The one essential modification for everyone is a cranial implant. If you don't want your character to have one, you need to give me a very good reason.<br/><br/>Basically (in case anyone doesn't know) a cranial implant is a small computer chip that is implanted in your head. It is linked directly to the brain, allowing you instant access to it's processors. It allows you to have a HUD (Head Up Display) of data actually inside your head overlaying what you can see without the need to wear cumbersome goggles or helmet. It gives instant access to the local computer networks, and also functions as a mobile telephone/radio, allowing silent communication between users on the same network/channel.<br/><br/>Body enhancements can include anything up to a full anthro make-over. I'm not suggesting this should be a furry RP, but if anyone wanted to be an anthro, they just have to give a convincing back-ground story for why they have had the expensive surgery done! More usual would be eyes and ears that would give enhanced sound and vision - these don't have to be animal-like if you don't want. A simple bionic implant will work.<br/><br/>Obviously, you can have enhancements to make you faster or stronger...<em>Steve Austin, Astronaut, a man barely alive!</em><br/><br/>Radar, sonar, and IR emission/detection are quite common too. These are very useful, but often come at the expense of actual sight and/or hearing. Note that, as with any<em>active</em>detection system, the emissions from these enhancements can compromise the user's location.<br/><br/><br/><br/>All this technology does give the opportunity for apparent god-modding! To limit this, I'm going to offer the following rules:<br/><br/>1) All enhancements to characters are to be specified and agreed in advance on character sheets. Once the character sheet is approved by me, no further enhancements are allowed, unless the character takes time out from the RP to have them surgically added! Note that this would normally take at least a month of game time, and in my experience that could add up to anything like a year or two of real time!<br/><br/>2) All enhancements have a down-side. You are free to decide what the individual disadvantages of your character's combination of enhancements might be, but you must specify them in your character sheet. If you can't come up with something, PM me and I'll work through it with you.<br/><br/>3) No enhancement can give "supernatural" powers. No flight, no teleporting, no stretching, no indestructibility. You get the picture...?<br/><br/>Okay. thoughts so far, people?