One tends not to last very long...unless you get very, very lucky....or manage to ruuuun!!!!.....which is all to the good ,and I'm glad that they're out there...that they cannot be reasoned with....are cold alien things....the prospect of running into them adds some spice....and in the various encounters I've had with Vagrants and "Regular Nomad" players their acting has always been very good indeed....a sort of text depiction of how it might be if some form of alien semi-wordless/emotion based communication...telepathic or what have you,,, were somehow leaking into your human mind....
My problem is that I'd like to have a go at being halfway as amusing and clever...but as I say you seldom have the time....and I do also like to go down shooting...
A large BAF ship, perhaps, might try something like.....
"This is the Captain speaking....Sorry chaps....But it doesn't look like the old girl will be making it back to Blighty....not this trip, I'm afraid.....Just too many of the damned blue buggers,,,,,,So then fellows, You know the drill....Abandon ship! Abandon Ship! Good luck chaps and God save the queen!....." etc etc....
Chance would be a fine thing ! I seldom have time to express anything beyond an attempt at depicting shock and horror....or a reaction to the supposed telepathic "voice in my head".....I try to stay in character a bit at least....snarling cornered Junker....Stiff upper lipped Officer....whatever....
Should I even be seeming surprised though? Should "I" know exactly what they are....or should "I" consider them a myth....like how you or I would in RL if we ran into a Werewolf or something? Or more like a weird but known danger...and just be appalled at my bad luck and the "horror" of them and their telepathy?
(05-18-2018, 01:38 AM)Jake Logan Wrote: [ -> ]Abandon ship! Abandon Ship!
Brits don't abandon their ships, well, not without at least steering into the enemy first.
(05-18-2018, 01:38 AM)Jake Logan Wrote: [ -> ]Should I even be seeming surprised though? Should "I" know exactly what they are....or should "I" consider them a myth....like how you or I would in RL if we ran into a Werewolf or something? Or more like a weird but known danger...and just be appalled at my bad luck and the "horror" of them and their telepathy?
There is no prescribed way of reacting to nomads really. There are lots of different ways people would react to hearing voiced in their head, or feeling emotions which arent their own. You can react like a stormtrooper reacting to a jedi mind trick, you can act like a psychotic person, you can put on a tinfoil hat to shield ourself from the psi attack, you can let your characters know how nomads operate, or not let them know, or you can ignore it completely. Do what you enjoy the most.
(05-18-2018, 02:07 AM)Silverlight Wrote: [ -> ] (05-18-2018, 01:38 AM)Jake Logan Wrote: [ -> ]Abandon ship! Abandon Ship!
Brits don't abandon their ships, well, not without at least steering into the enemy first.
Or icebergs. Brits also steer their ships into icebergs before abandoning ship.
(05-18-2018, 02:12 AM)Karlotta Wrote: [ -> ]Brits also steer their ships into icebergs before abandoning ship.
Hehe! For insurance purposes only of course XD
Given that most of my characters have a base knowledge as to what the hell these space squids are. They either show contempt, anger, hatred, disgust, caution, hatred, distrust, anger, murderous intent, anger, more anger. Oh and anger!
But in all seriousness. It all depends on how you want your character to be. one of my characters in particular, Siren. Is Gallic of origin, so she doesn't have the same prejudice that others would. She'll attack and kill K'Hara sure. But when faced with Vagrants she treats them as a fascination, hell she wants to talk with them as a way to help her allies understand how they communicate, how they tick pretty much. So yes. It's less about how the norm is. And more about how you want them to react.
My junker's reaction to a nomad when being escorted by Commune was:
"You seeing that? Picking up anomalies."
Commune: "Nothing unusual here"
"Well, if you don't see it, I don't see it either"
Flies along whistling a happy tune
Tips for creating non-violent RP encounters with nomads:
- Don't use Order ID or Order ships. Ever.
- Don't use a capital ship or a transport. Big targets are eye catchers. Big targets are more likely to attract Kapheira to show up and rip them apart.
- Don't enter Omicron Lost, Omicron Iota, Omicron Psi or Omicron Major. Nomads will eliminate anything entering those systems, no matter the intentions.
- Don't provoke them.
- When you know they are appearing as a bigger group, run. That means they are on a raid, either to protect their home systems or to attack overpopulated Omicrons, sometimes even other regions.
- Have patience. You will most likely need multiple attempts of getting in touch with them. Sometimes, they are simply not interested in non-violent encounters, meaning they will either ignore you, or try to kill you. You are a human after all.
- Try to not be boring, edgy, don't pretend to be the protagonist of Discovery. Don't use "...", don't craptalk, especially not when people are in a fight. Nobody likes it when people are RPing during a fight, because they are obviously busy fighting. Just wait for the fight to be over and try your luck.
- Omicron Minor is generally considered a good place to seek interaction with Nomads. They are less likely to show up aggressively at the point of their ultimate success against the Order.
- Omicron Delta is the second greatest activity hotspot of Discovery and it acts as the entrance point to the Nomad Worlds. People go there to have all kinds of interactions with Nomads, either to fight them or to deal with them in other ways. Stick to Freeport 11 if you want to see Nomads. InRP, there is no place better prepared to deal with Wild, even, than Freeport 11, according to the infocard. If the Nomads see you are often at Freeport 11 but don't engage into combat, they are way less likely to attack you. However, also try not to quick-dock away from any possible encounter at Freeport 11. It'd just mean they won't even bother coming for you.
- Outcasts are generally considered neutral by the Nomads, especially if they are cardamine-users from Malta. It also means Outcasts have a better chance of being able to ally with Nomads.
- The Commune are known nomad-supporters. Getting in touch with them means better chances to get in touch with the Vagrants.
- The Oracles are rumored to be nomad-supporters. Getting in touch with them means you're already talking to K'Hara players.
- Never trust indie nomads. They are inconsistent. Be extremely careful with them.
- Nomads are evil. Expect the worst, don't expect them to be nice in first place.
- Nomads are evil. I just wanted to mention it again.
Nomads are the horrors of the Omicrons. It is up to you how to deal with them and how your characters deal with them. People new to the Omicrons generally get overwhelmed by the way they act. K'Hara uses a difficult to understand, cryptic language with many symbols, Indie Nomads use whatever they just want to type, usually more spammy, and Vagrants use normal human speech with nomad-ified terms. Humans are darklings to us. All of them however use telepathy to communicate. Nomads don't have a text-input/output device with them, they don't have mouths or ears. The receiver needs a human brain to understand them and to make them understand.
The inhabitants of the Omicrons have their typical ways of dealing with Nomads. Order pilots treat them as the ultimate evil and try to be prepared for any nomad encounters. Core pilots try to pretend they are absolute badasses and try to rip any "squid" apart. Corsairs are hunting el calamares as training and to get artifacts. Outcasts usually remain neutral to them, and Bretonians usually never even get close to the Omicrons as they are the most resisting people when it comes to Nomads. To be perfectly honest: We nomad players are probably just as annoyed to see just another fearless squid-hunting Omicron-badass as said badasses are to see symbol-spamming squid-players approaching them to kill them. RP-wise, those two tropes will give each other usually the pure minimum of interaction: PvP. If you want to be a welcome surprise, try to be curious, but not edgy. Discovery does not need overly edgy characters. Of course, the perception of that is extremely subjective and I am pretty sure there are people who would consider my main character as edgy. ;3
I hope those tips are helpful.
Slaughter them like the inhuman filth they are like I do on Black Asp (which necessitates 6v1 ganks for the Nomads to even stand a chance against). It's you or them, so you sure as hell better make sure it's you that walks away alive.
If you do more than "Hello alien, time to remove your foetid presence from the universe." followed by weapons fire, you're doing something wrong, unless you want to be a Nomad sympathizer or something.
If you see, say, a Vagrant, they want to kill you with minimal RP because their RP is "Exterminate! Exterminate!" If you see an indie, they will try to kill you with even less RP.
Your best bet for good Nom RP is K'Hara|. They actually talk and are chill.
Hahaha....lots of interesting stuff to ponder on.....My OP with the absurdly "stiff upper lipped" BAF Captain's possible RP was just my notion of the type of thing I'd like to have time to type when you're down to a sliver of hull and on fire.....no doubt any BAF "chap" , worth his salt actually should be telling the Lads to hit the life pods as he's lining up his ship for a ramming speed collision with the biggest Squid onscreen......(You do see the same sort of thing a lot in old British war movies...Bomber (Plane) Pilots and Destroyer Captains going out in a blaze of unemotional Glory...
I reckon that I have only ever run into Vagrants and Indie Nomads, as they have popped up in various systems on the warpath.....I actually didn't even realise that peaceful interactions might be possible! So that's very interesting....I may have someone specific in mind for that.....I reckon I have a character with exactly the right ship for the role...and I was wondering what to do with it, really, once it was acquired...so that'll be potentially quite cool too....maybe the K'Hara might be approachable eventually....
Unless you go far out actively seeking them,... I suppose most Nomad encounters will be with Vagrants and wandering Indy killers.....
"Exterminate, Exterminate" indeed.....well, good....As I say, I'm glad they're around....the danger adds a bit of spice....
It seems there is no hard and fast rule for dealing with the little savage ones then, OK so....I'll stick with a little bit of improv each time, just try to react as a surly Junker might....Or as a young Officer or grizzled Miner might....whichever....
Anyhow...as pointed out, you're in for a tough tussle....most likely ending with you going down in flames....and I do like to die firing back, not running.....(haha...where you gonna run?)....So yeah, I'll concentrate on fighting, not typing a novel....
Thanks very much Folks for all the input....most interesting.