Systems Malfunction: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''Worlds end, heroes die, systems malfunction''|Unofficial motto}}

 

 

The games website can be found here: http://systemsmalfunction.webs.com/

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* [[A God Am I]]: The GAIA, Two of the four resurrected GAIA aspects (Orion and Demiurge), the Lucifuge Entity, Motiliata and Hex Zero Rouge, Adam Cadmon and many others have all boasted this. Most were right, at least partially.

* [[Ace Pilot]]: Characters of the Pilot base class tend to be these, either of [[Mini-Mecha|Jackhammers]] or remote-piloted Drones. The Jackhammer Elite and Drone Rigger prestige classes are these compared to basic Pilots.

* [[Badass Normal]]: Every Human character who is not an Psionicist or Adept is one by default.

** That goes double for characters that forgo cyberware and cybered-skills entirely, relying instead on SKILL ALONE to go toe-to-toe with the many monsters of the galaxy.

* [[BFS]]: The Chainsword, historic weapon of Armand Carter (and later Adam Rensozuke) is a hybrid Greatsword and Chainsaw.

* [[Big Word Shout]]: This being a LARP, there's plenty of opportunity for the players to get in on this.

* [[Black and Gray Morality]]: The closest thing to good guys in the setting are the forces of the benign dictatorship who are trying to control galactic society for the greater good. On the other hand, you have DEMONS TRYING TO RAPE THE MULTIVERSE. Every shade of dark-gray in between is represented as well.

** It is possible to play a heroic character, just don't expect to survive long.

* [[Chewing the Scenery]]: This is the inevitable outcome when you have non-actors engaging in what is essentially dramatic improv.

* [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder]]: EVERYONE, ALL THE TIME.

* [[Combat Medic]]: Hacker, Adept, and Scientist base classes can be built with this in mind. The Combat Medic prestige class fits this trope perfectly.

** [[Psycho for Hire|Al the Killer]] ([[Legacy Character|both]] of them).

** [[Evilutionary Biologist|Doctor Cross]] ([[Truly Single Parent|all]] [[In the Blood|THREE]] of them).

* [[Fighter, Mage, Thief]]: Soldiers, Gunslingers, Samurai, & Pilots are all broadly fighters. Hackers, Spies, & Scientists fit under Thieves. Adepts and Psionicists would be the Mages.

** A few of those are stretching it. Pilots aren't really fighters; while badass [[Giant Mecha]] combat pilots are common enough, there are plenty of other options for someone with the Pilot class. Scientist doesn't correspond to Thief at all, if anything Mage would be more appropriate, but even that's a VERY loose fit. The other 7 classes fit the [[Fighter, Mage, Thief]] paradigm pretty well, though.

** This trope is so prevalent in the Systems Malfunction universe that it's practically one of the story's main themes. The most obvious players would be the Republic and the three Great Houses, but there are also activist groups, terrorist groups, crime rings, militant religious orders, scientific combines, occult research groups, and countless smaller organizations that all have their own plans and agendas, many of which are surprisingly labyrinthine. And those are just the OVERT movers and shakers.

* [[Giant Space Flea From Nowhere]]: The Aetherial tick causing the mystical disturbances at Castle Clinton.

* [[More Dakka]]: The numerous weapons with the Full Auto firing rate, especially if they are also able to strafe. The Soldier's Lead Hose skill will add even more.

** The ArcArsenel Jackhammer is a [[Mini-Mecha]] designed with this in mind.

** Basically, it's a sci-fi fantasy setting where the ''sci-fi'' elements are usually hard sci-fi, but the fantasy elements are taken for granted. Though there are a few soft sci-fi elements too, like [[Psychic Powers]] and [[Energy Beings]].

* [[Multiple Choice Past]]: [[The Devil|The Lucifuge entity]], the [[Big Bad]] of the game's first three years, could be: {{spoiler|An especially powerful and malevolent [[Sufficiently Advanced Aliens|alien]] [[Energy Being]] akin to a living black hole, a [[Fallen Angel]] who turned against mankind because man had killed God, a ghost or lesser demon from [[Alternate Reality|another universe]] who gained omnipotence in the Systems Malfunction universe by [[Demonic Possession|possessing]] the God-child who'd [[All Just a Dream|dreamed the Systems Malfunction universe into being]], a ''human'' interdimensional traveller who's power and malice increased to limitless levels on his journeys throughout [[The Multiverse]], [[God Is Evil|an aspect of God Himself meant to test humanity and/or punish mankind for its many sins]], a literal [[Made of Evil|embodiment of]] [[Ultimate Evil|all the evil that's ever existed]], or a [[Cosmic Horror|hyper-complex]] [[Eldritch Abomination|super-sapient]] [[The Virus|reality virus]] [[High Octane Nightmare Fuel|infesting the overmind of existence itself]].}} Or maybe he's none of those things! Or, even more confusingly, [[Mind Screw|maybe he's ALL of those things]]. The game's creator has basically given a [[Shrug of God]] on the issue, having advocated all of the aforementioned possibilities at one time or another and constantly changing his mind on which one (if any) is correct, and at one point suggesting that even he didn't know the true answer for sure!

** There are also the Celestials, humans who were altered by [[AI Is a Crapshoot|GAIA]] and forced to serve it. These humans were [[Transhuman|genetically and cybernetically enhanced to have near-perfect bodies and minds]], and infused with nanomachines that give them a variety of seemingly supernatural powers (distinct from [[Psychic Powers|psioncs]] and [[Functional Magic|Aetherial magic]]). Since GAIA [[A God Am I|saw itself as a God]], it viewed the Celestials as its own personal angels, and designed them in the image of the "true" angels described above (though they're far less powerful than the actual Prise). After GAIA's destruction, the Celestials regained their free will while retaining a small portion of their special abilities, making them an ideal playable race.

** Finally, there are the Nephilim, who are supposedly the offspring of humans and Prise. {{spoiler|They were actually created by [[Messianic Archetype|Lady Mariah]] and her church, who infused humans with the essence of the Prise in the hopes of creating true angels loyal to them. It didn't work; the subjects didn't become divine beings (gaining blue or golden skin and a few minor light-based powers, but otherwise remaining human), and most of them didn't hold any particular loyalty to the church either.}} These beings were briefly available as a playable race as well.

** Partailly averted in the Qliphoth/Lucifuge, who are just Satans ([[Oh Crap|yes, plural]]).

* [[Our Liches Are Different]]: Averted. For all the [[Our Monsters Are Different|unique takes]] Systems Malfunction has on other fantasy creatures, Liches are pretty much [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin]].

** [[Horny Devils|Incubi/Succubi]] were a briefly playable sub-species of Verkulak. They were more monstrous in appearance, with horns and claws and tails, and they fed off of emotional energy rather than blood. Despite their name, they were more like a serious version of [[Darkstalkers|Morrigan]] than actual demons.

** [[Dhampyr]] were also briefly playable. They had psychic sensitivity to other Verkulaks which made them the perfect vampire-hunters. Much like real-life hybrids between two species of the same genus, they were unable to reproduce. Strangely, clones of a Dhampyr were always human, retaining none of their vampiric traits. (For contrast, Primes and Sub-Doms could both be cloned normally, while Incubi and Succubi couldn't be cloned at all due to their unstable DNA.)

*** At a certain point in year three, one of the Nightfathers turned into a giant spider demon to fight a [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|shadow lamprey-dragon demon]]. [[Moment of Awesome|It was awesome]].

* [[Playing with Fire]]: Omega Celestial's racial ability allows them to make LOTS of fire. The Pyrokinesis skill, unsurprisingly, does as well. Systems year two also gave us Orion, a technotheological embodiment of fire.