kudos to @Ki'Shar for assisting in writing of this thread
Nomad Wild and Void Faes Roleplay Guidelines and Differences
You’re just about done playing through the vanilla Freelancer campaign, you were so impressed and/or intimidated by governor Tekagi and chancellor Niemann that you want to be just as cool and scary as they were. You saw an incredible Gallic Battleship with fancy visual effects and thought “Damn! I’d like to have something like that, too!”. You got ambushed by a human ship with Nomad equipment, saw them roleplay (and then shortly after erase you from the face of this server) and thought “Man, this was so cool! I wish I could do the same!”
Whatever was the reason that made you think “I want to roleplay as a host for a Nomad incubi!”, one of the first questions you’d ask yourself would be “How exactly do I do that?”
Roleplaying an infectee isn’t as fancy as it may appear in the first place, however. Most of the stuff you encounter happens behind the scenes and is very vaguely explained in game, let alone to your character. Some may call it an introvert’s dream - you do most of the stuff behind the scenes, you get to be a menacing, malicious motherhumper and you keep everyone else guessing.
But how exactly do you do all that? When it comes to roleplay in general, each character has to follow a specific set of rules - no metagaming or powergaming, no out-of-character behaviour, no ID rule breaking (unless the situation calls for it), etcetera. But what additional rules do you have to follow when you’re roleplaying a Wild character? In this thread, we’ll go over each and every one of them in detail. We will also be exploring some key differences between your regular Wilds and The Void Faes.
This thread is a must-read if you want to get into Wild or Void Fae Roleplay.
I. Know Your Nomads
To roleplay a Nomad Infectee properly, you have to be acquainted with The Nomad Lore to understand the way the Nomads function and think, as well as the way their connection works with an incubi.
But, to put it short - your human character is wholly and irreversibly possessed by a Nomad incubi and is permanently plugged into the Mindshare. Depending on who they were prior to the infestation, their personality is either entirely erased or retained for the Nomads to use.
If the Nomads see no specific value in your character other than a neat addition to their firepower - their personality will be gone entirely and replaced by an incubi. Effectively, your character will be dead.
If the Nomads can detect other benefits from your character - be it their social status, high rank in the military, important connections, or personal traits such as charisma and eloquence - their personality will be retained, with them being kept on a short leash by a second mind of a Nomad existing in their body.
As such, whether your character’s identity is erased or retained, they cannot disobey the Nomads, nor can they lie to them or the other infectees from your Mindshare. Ever. On the plus side, you can telepathically communicate with them and even exercise Nomad Speech with humans through your incubi.
II. No Metagaming
Self-explanatory. Even though you have a Nomad controlling you, your character still has no other knowledge other than what they know. But, as a bonus, you also know everything every other infectee and a Nomad from your Mindshare does. However, prior to that, you should ask the others from your Mindshare if they approve of you using their information.
III. No Powergaming
“But the Chancellor-”
Yes. The Chancellor did, in fact, infect a lot of humans. However, in the context of Discovery Freelancer, every act of infestation has to be pre-agreed upon between the players.
IV. You're always undercover
One of your main jobs as a Nomad Infectee is to remain undiscovered at all costs. You may reveal your human identity if you wish, but it’s more important than anything to keep your identity as a Nomad Infectee a secret from everyone but the Nomads and their trusted followers.
Now that we’re over the main principles of roleplaying a Wild, let’s talk about how the Void Faes are different from them.
I. It’s less painful if you relax
While the regular Wild practices would see the infestation physically enforced upon your character, Vagrant Nomads practice an approach that is arguably more sinister.
It all starts from the moment a Vagrant has its sights on your character. Before the infestation itself, your character undergoes severe indoctrination by getting exposed to the mind of a Nomad via brief telepathic connections, through which your character will experience emotions and feelings the way they never would have imagined. Your character will start thinking differently, their opinion about the Nomads will change to be more sympathetic, whilst their thoughts about mankind become more sociopathic. The final point of the indoctrination is reached when your character starts to plead to become one with the Vagrants, where the act of an infestation isn’t forced upon, but rather begged for. It is the point where your character is ready to be assimilated.
II. Two is better than one
To have your identity entirely converted to their way of thinking and utilized as a tool is a far greater insult than just manipulating or erasing it. That’s how the Vagrant Nomads think.
Unlike their kin from the Omicrons, before committing any acts of infestation, Vagrants were relatively small in scale. As such, for their “song” to be more powerful, they needed all the voices they could spare. With time, the “assimilating” method proved to be a successful theory, and was therefore adopted permanently as the Vagrants’ infestation strategy.
As such, after the infestation is complete, your character’s personality remains intact (as much as it would after the immense indoctrination), and instead of a single, merged mind, you get two, permanently existing in a symbiotic relationship. You as a player get to roleplay as both your character and their incubi, since both your character’s and their incubi’s minds exist within the Mindshare now. Any brief sensations from telepathic connections your character would’ve experienced in the past are now constant, unyielding. Your character is forever encased in a permanent state of bliss, and they now serve as a source of this bliss for when the time comes when a Vagrant Nomad decides to indoctrinate another human being. And when the moment comes, it’s better to have two voices than one. Think of it as torrent services.
III. You’re still undercover
Being in this “zombified” state doesn’t mean that your character will behave oddly in public. You still get to roleplay them the way you used to, still retain their personality with any friends they had in the past and whatnot. However, you must always, AT ANY COST, avoid getting identified as an infectee or a nomad sympathizer. Choose your actions wisely, think every possible outcome through, and if you’re not sure how to act - ask your superiors.
This thread is open and welcome for player feedback, as well as any specific questions. Certain elements may be edited, addressed or added in the process.
