Want to experience the Star Army universe with the maximum amount of freedom? Consider creating an independent character. Independent player characters lack the usual attachments such as loyalty to a faction or a membership in a plot group.

There are pros and cons to playing an independent character. On one hand, you are able to go anywhere in the setting at your leisure, only interacting directly with faction managers and the setting manager when necessary. On the other hand, as a role-player it may be difficult to find other player characters for yours to interact with and some of your threads might be considered “soft canon.” Rather than having a forum to roleplay in, you will generally be using the top-level forum of the nation your character happens to be in, (for example, the Abwheran Star Empire forum) or the Other Factions and Independent Ships forum. Sometimes you may be the only poster in your thread. For this reason, we recommend independent characters for motivated, prolific writers with some familiarity with (or interest in researching) the SARPiverse.

We want to empower you, the roleplayer/writer, to do your own thing within our shared universe.

In the words of admin Wes: “We need an alternative to the traditional plot where the GM is in control, plays the captain, the players play grunts, and the party goes where the GM feels like instead of making its own choices. If we get a player that says “I want to make an RP thread where my Freespacer travels the galaxy visiting all the major factions to gain their culinary knowledge” or something I want them to be able to do it. I think that playing a Star Army soldier is a core part of the Star Army RP…but there's more to us than that…”

If you talk to the GMs of plots, you may be able to arrange cameos and crossovers in which your character appears in an ongoing plot to assist, antagonize, or just add fun to the story. Just be careful of the timeline, since different lots might not align.

In general, you can use one of the species-specific guides found on the Creating a Character article and modify your character to suit your needs.

Below are some some ideas for what your character's occupation might be.

• cargo_transporter
• Pirate
• Bounty Hunter (There's a Bounty Hunter Plot and a bounty list!)
• Merchant (bars, restaurants, shops, etc) and/or Barkeepers
• Arms Dealers/Black Market People
• Lawyers
• Freelance Mechanics
• Refugees
• Slave

We suggest before you start your thread, you post your ideas on the roleplay and setting discussion forum so that you can get some feedback on them, and find other characters that may want to participate in your thread.

When you post your thread, tag the post with [Open] or [Closed] to let other players know whether it is okay to join without permission (closed threads do not allow others to join without your approval).

In the case of conflicts between players, thread RPs are the under the jurisdiction of the faction managers, who can decide whether they want something to be canon or not. In most cases, we should try to be flexible and accept the thread based RPs as having effects on the universe. It's also okay for FMs to have GMs or delegates to help them with this.

These are some suggested neutral locations for faction-independent roleplay:

• Asura System: A highly populated YSE world that the YSE has only the loosest control over.
• darso_vii: Coliseum and slave market in an independent star system.
• inferno_wind: Spacer's Lounge on desert world Valaad
• Nell: Trading post in former Mishhuvurthyar space.
• pisces Concourse D: Shady international free trade zone on Star Army station
• 188604: A frontier world with aspirations of nationhood.
• rot_madchen: Abwehran Restaurant on Waypoint Trade
• Splrug: A Mishhu-run independent mining operation always looking for black market smugglers
• The Black Moon: Lowsec starport in the Halna system in YSE space.
• The Nassau System: Pirate haven. Independent star system.
  • Bastia: A nationless corporate-run asteroid city in the Nassau System
• Urtullan: Independent city-state in an unclaimed star system.
• Vice: Old, independent planet

• The abandoned starport “Gateway Station” on Phaeton in the Murf system.
• There's an abandoned Star Army base on UX-1 I.

Here's some recommended starships and small craft for independent characters:

• Ge-F6-1A - Light Freighter
• Ge-F7-1B - Jinsoku Cargo Runner or Ge-L5-1A - Issoku-Class Cargo Runner
• Courier 2A
• mucoyi
• jilanth (can be cheaply bought from the star_army_of_yamatai as surplus)
• deix
• forin
• devint
• Traveller Shuttle
• tisaren_shuttle (Neshaten only)
• Tripster Shuttle
• "Shugo-Seirei" Medical Evacuation Shuttle
• Ge-T5-1a Cho-Class Shuttle
• Ge-T1-1A - Transatmospheric Shuttle
• Ge-T1-2a - Hikiuma-Class Shuttle
• Ferryman Shuttle
• Onset Shuttle

There's also some ships and gear available at the Star Army Surplus Store.

1. If you're injured, go to Yamataian world or send a distress call to the Star Army of Yamatai. The YSE provides free medical care to anyone. You don't have to be a Yamataian citizen.
2. Talk to strangers more. You can find more rumors and jobs that way.

• Creating a Character
• independent

This page was originally created on 2013/01/09 09:36 by wes.