Les Vampirs Pre-Faction Proposal for 4.86?

[sovereign]

Yeah but why would they give you the cruiser when all you do is antagonise them and refuse their requests not to pirate in their territory. That's like the RM giving the Hessians a battleship because they both fight against Liberty and the Corsairs.

This is a valid point, even if the analogy is a bit exaggerated. It's more like the US Navy giving the French Navy one of their ships. Even thought they're allied and the US could keep people on it to make sure it doesn't shoot them, they aren't the happiest of happy friendly allies and more importantly... what is the incentive for the US to do it in the first place? Just because it's feasible doesn't mean it gets done. I could, technically speaking, get up and walk to Walgreens right now, pick up a soda, and walk back (half hour round trip). But there's a vending machine downstairs. Why would the Council give you a cruiser for the purpose of helping fight the Royal Navy when they could just fight the Royal Navy with it?

For people to hand someone else their technology/ships, two things need to happen. One, they need to be friendly enough to consider negotiations and whatnot. From what I've read, you may have to look closely at the relationship between Les Vampirs and the Council... it would appear they don't like you a whole lot, even if they tolerate you and fly alongside you here and there. Two, there needs to be a good reason for them to do so. "Because the other guy doesn't have any" is not a good reason. "Because they're our very good friends, need it for their own protection, and paid for it" is a whole lot better.



Since the core Gallic systems have not been released, you can't really write a backstory. We've established that. However, what you need isn't a backstory- they help, but they are never really necessary (except for diplomatic quirks and whatnot). What you need, first and foremost, is a purpose. It's pretty much the same thing with the cruiser situation- you don't need a logistical explanation, you need a 'why'. If you can't go too much into why Les Vampirs started doing what they do, go into why they continue doing it. That should provide the basis for specifics about how to go about your everyday business. Are you a bunch of Robin Hood characters? If so, who do you support? The poor everywhere, or just the Gallic poor? What qualifies as "poor"?

Go about your questions like that, and you're more likely to come up with something that both gives you enough information to play with and doesn't provide many opportunities for unreleased RP to screw with you. It's still possible you'll have to thoroughly rework your faction when 4.86 comes around, but if you write purpose rather than history, it's a lot less likely- and if you do have to rework things, it will probably be less work.

Good luck.

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