Okay. Recently i've been reading the Nomad Lore public release here, and i've now become interested in the nomad role-play.
This may seem silly, but I don't actually know how. Since i've joined this version of Freelancer I have never actually learned how to role-play as a nomad. And now for 4.85 there style of role-playing has suddenly changed. I thought I knew it in 4.84 but now I don't have a clue.
Some tips from Keeper/Das Wilde player faction members would be greatly appreciated. Also how to write a role-play story for nomad characters would be helpful.
Thanks again.
(P.S. If this is in the Nomad Lore and I haven't seen it yet then i'm sorry for this thread)
[17:45:39] Wolfs Ghost (Murphy): Tom, you have problems. Go kill yourself.
[19:25:12] Johnny (Jam): Tomtom, I will beat you with a spoon.
[14:22:56] Prarabdh Thakur: KILL HIM WITH A SHEEP.
[17:40:48] Eagle (Junes): Tom should be slapped with a spoon.
[11:32:18] Warspite: Thank you for being so awesome Tom. <3
[18:17:36] Metano: I love you tomtom
[20:06:24] Warspite: I will seriously give you epic head.
' Wrote:Edit: also, Tomtomrawr, fappin' like a boss.
You really want to liase with keepers etc whenever they come online, watch and listen. You might also want to have some kind of idea as to who your nomad is.... refer back to the law, polish your story so that it sits within that, and keep trying.
Not all nomads are human hating nutcases, many have their own agendas, some fulfil different functions within the mindshare, some are soldiers, some are scientists, some are.... etc
consider writing some kind of story, or background for your nomad, bounce it off some keeper players - let them vent it, see what they think, polish it - let it evolve.
While reading the lore you'll find out that they are actually have various sub-roles, archetypes. For instance if you decide to base your character background story from being recently awaken you'll likely pick Wanderers, however with it also comes solitude and lengthy journeys across entire Sirius sector. Perhaps yours is cautious one, but may be not. Dig deeper and you'll find plenty to choose from or even mix together to have your own "brew".
Fundamentally the lore acts both as a dictionary and boundary of the roleplay sandbox, so you can express your roleplay through terms and means that are common and understandable both by players having Nomad characters as well as players having human characters. Just like any other faction around inherently plays within a sandbox of archetype associated with it.
Story-wise there are various routes to choose and forms to express it. You've probably gathered already that their story would be quite different compared to others, which is indeed true for various reasons. Generally I would advise to plan your story from the beginning to the end, make a basic layout and define the key moments in the story flow. It is likely you'll have to put emphasis on visual narrative, a kind of storytelling that does a lot of describing the environments, characters and so forth. Quite naturally you can have various parties in your story and tell it from various perspectives, in fact I encourage stories to be like that, as it allows a reader to see the story line from several view points, rather than just having a "flat" type where normally it's just protagonists and supporting characters on the scene at the front. Fill the story with vivid yet vague visions, abstract stuff.
Adding to what Ben just said above I'd like to try to abstract from the common roleplay premises seen throughout the other characters. Namely say your Order character (I don't know if you have one, but just for the sake of example let's assume you do) thinks the Nomads are genocidal aliens and all they want is to kill everyone, however when you take up the role of the Nomad you have abstract from that and start from the blank white paper, apart from the Lore of course. Now a lot of people have mistakenly assumed that all they had to do is to write some sort of angry story about their desire to kill all humans, essentially they put up everything negative they had about them into one basket. So terribly exaggerating and evil-izing them beyond any reason or purpose. That makes me a sad panda, because when you make one like that, take an hour walk and then read what you wrote... you'll realize how silly and absurd it is. So one of the key to success is abstraction from your other characters, approach it from entirely different direction. Because pretty much Freelancer is about shades of gray when it comes to archetypes and morality, and it's no devils - no saints here, no purely black or white. Same here as well. Avoid that mistake.
And if you have related questions don't hesitate to PM them to either Mike (Exile) or me. Don't be afraid share your ideas, if they will be found interesting we'll try to incorporate them into larger picture in some form, but keep in mind that they should be in line with the core concepts in order to avoid contradiction and confusion.
Here's what I did when I had the Morph: I would fly though Liberty systems "gathering information on host lifeforms" and then "transmit it back to the Shrine". My speech would be assorted chatter. One time, I also tried to "complete infestation of Manhattan" by crashinginto the Planet's atmosphere. It got me killed, but it was pretty damn funny, as people who witnessed the crash and my assorted screaming may attest..
One more thing. It would seem plenty of players who embarked on their path to join have made a critical mistake of thinking it would just be a matter of couple of days. It's not and has never been enough. You would certainly ask "Why?". And here is the answer. First of all the roleplay model itself is unusual and differs much from other forms, so it takes some time to adapt to it, to get a grip on basics. Secondly there is a lot of frustration from the in-game experience associated with it: there'll be hostile encounters; there'll be people who are bored so much they'd be chasing you across entire Sirius, just because you're something different; there'll be people who will try to make you think you'll never succeed, just don't listen to them. And so forth. But have some patience, approach it carefully so you don't overburn your desire taking away the fun from playing the game and experiencing that specific role. If the day goes bad - take a rest, play other characters, take a day or two off and then come again. With new ideas, new ways, solving the basic problems and getting around the obstacles this community provides along your path. So you have to get on terms with the limitations, with the restrictions, with the burden that comes with it. Should it proves to be a weight you can carry and enjoy then everything will be alright.
A thing I can never understand how to do is to start it off, to announce my presence in systems, I don't know what to say or what to do.
I've already found the shrine and the way out of the unknown system, so i'm going to set up the character today.
[17:45:39] Wolfs Ghost (Murphy): Tom, you have problems. Go kill yourself.
[19:25:12] Johnny (Jam): Tomtom, I will beat you with a spoon.
[14:22:56] Prarabdh Thakur: KILL HIM WITH A SHEEP.
[17:40:48] Eagle (Junes): Tom should be slapped with a spoon.
[11:32:18] Warspite: Thank you for being so awesome Tom. <3
[18:17:36] Metano: I love you tomtom
[20:06:24] Warspite: I will seriously give you epic head.
' Wrote:Edit: also, Tomtomrawr, fappin' like a boss.
I have roleplayed both an indie. Wild and Nomad and if it is one thing I learned it is that you should never travel through highly populated systems like New York. This is because more times than not people in the Military factions who may have nothing better to do other than go after you (and I don't mean RP with you). I'm not trying to stereotype about people, but that's what usually happened to me when I would go their to try to RP.
However, if you would like to go to systems like New York just stick to hidden places like the Badlands where lawfuls won't be so tempted to go chase you down. Also you might run into a few nice pirates who will have a good RP with you.
Oh and stay away from people in capital ships unless they're in the Keeper's fleet.
*Thinks back to one time in Omicron Delta*
Anyways, do all that and you shouldn't have to worry about people going after you.
So far my nomad is a scientist, a Wanderer who was awoken in 790 A.S. from stasis to study the human race. When the Dyson Sphere was destroyed the nomad, Shak'ren, was transporting several human subjects to the Sphere for experimentation. When the Mindshare was disrupted, the escorts began to attack eachother. Shak'ren escaped from the escorts before they began to attack it.
Currently unlinked to the Mindshare, it continues to study the human race and will return to it's home at an appropriate time (soon, maybe in a few days when lots of Keepers are online in the area).
Like a said, very basic and I haven't had time to write the story yet.
And thanks again for the help so far guys.
[17:45:39] Wolfs Ghost (Murphy): Tom, you have problems. Go kill yourself.
[19:25:12] Johnny (Jam): Tomtom, I will beat you with a spoon.
[14:22:56] Prarabdh Thakur: KILL HIM WITH A SHEEP.
[17:40:48] Eagle (Junes): Tom should be slapped with a spoon.
[11:32:18] Warspite: Thank you for being so awesome Tom. <3
[18:17:36] Metano: I love you tomtom
[20:06:24] Warspite: I will seriously give you epic head.
' Wrote:Edit: also, Tomtomrawr, fappin' like a boss.
![[Image: u8rHEaq.png]](http://i.imgur.com/u8rHEaq.png)
