Outer Space Survival and Exploration Interest Check

The Story
The A23-Beta has been adrift in space for 15 years, slowly moving towards its target; a new world known only as Planet-B66. Most of the crew has been asleep since departure, cryogenically frozen in time while they await arrival on PB66, but as their destination comes into sight they’re aroused and slowly defrosted. By the time the crew is conscious, they’re already orbiting around the new world.

Cryogenics are not what they were first thought to be though, and the majority of them die quick, painful deaths. They’re killed off by a mixture of seizures, brain death, and heart attacks. Some of them never even woke up. The four or five who survive, the lucky ones, are left handicapped, mentally or physically, and are vastly ignorant of how to pilot the A23-Beta. Communication with earth is slow, some say it’ll take weeks for their S.O.S. to reach their home world, others say months, the fewest, the pessimists, say it’ll take a year. Regardless, one is sent and now they’re alone. However long it takes for their message to reach someone, it’ll take double the time for them to get something back.

This was no passenger ship though, and while the crew may be ignorant of how to get themselves home, they’re not ignorant. This crew was made up of some of the world’s top Chemists, Physicists, Earth/Life scientists, Medics, and budding GIs. In addition to these more ‘refined’ hands, the A23 also employed, among others, a number of cooks, janitorial staff, and mechanics. In all, their ship was designed to house just over a hundred and fifty people, with a little elbow room. Now that they’re gone, how will those that survive live on?

Will they remain on the ship for up to or over two years, simply orbiting Planet-B66 while they await reply? They probably have the resources for that. After all, the ship was built to be home to over a hundred people. There’s got to be food somewhere on the ship and the water recycling system will provide them with all the H2O they could possibly need. But, with the cryogenics out of wack, there’s no telling what else might’ve gone wrong. The food could be spoiled or the cattle that was supposed to be suspended in time for the last fifteen years could’ve been consuming it all the while. Other things are going wrong too, the oxygen supply, the ship's hull, everything that keeps them alive is in constant jeopardy. On the bright side, there’s likely still a source of fresh vegetables, assuming the Botanists hydraulics system held up. There’s a lot going wrong on the A23Beta, but it must be preferable to anything down there…

But maybe it’s not. Maybe you just want to do what you came here to do, gather some samples, run some tests, unravel the mysteries of this amazing new world. If that’s the case, you’re going to need someone with the expertise to get you down there and to allow you to survive once you’re on the surface. Chances are, this place doesn’t run on oxygen and CO2 like Earth does, despite the apparent abundance of flora, but that won’t be as much of a problem as you might think. Years ago, someone on earth invented the Oxyator, a small face mask capable of converting almost any gas into a breathable source of oxygen. (Just make sure you clean out your tank every three hours, all matter of nasty chemicals can build up in that thing.) That, combined with your standard issue Space Fleet jumpsuit, should keep you safe from any dangerous pathogens… Assuming they work like that here. Who knows, this could be the adventure of a lifetime- of anyone’s lifetime- if you can get the right people to come along.

Of course, it’s possible that not everyone will agree. Fortunately though, you’re in space, this doesn’t have to be a democracy. If the others don’t want to follow you, you’re perfectly capable of battling it out by yourself… Aren’t you? Well, even if you’re not, there’re some pretty powerful weapons on board, I’m sure you can find a way to persuade them otherwise. Besides, with the A23 Beta slowly falling apart, you’ll need to go down their eventually. Unless you think you can fix it, you might as well get a head start, right?

Well, here you are. Five survivors, each a little more lost then they were before and each with something new to deal with. They’ll need to learn how to conquer their bodies, their minds, and their surroundings if they’re planning on living to receive a response from Earth. It’s up to you to chose who they are and what they do from here.

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Maybe that’s a little long for an interest check, but it just kind of came out. Anyway, although I said five survivors, I’d be willing to do this as anything from a 1x1 (With two or multiple characters) to a six character roleplay. I really want this roleplay to involve as wide a range of characters as possible, from scientists, to GIs, to medics, to mechanics, to the janitor (I'll probably be playing a Botanist sent to study PB66's plant life.)! I’d also love to have anyone with a bit more Sci-fi experience onboard to help with (Or take over) GMing and realism for the entire thing, but I’d be happy knowing that a single person even read this.

Ask any questions, give any suggestions, share any ideas. All are welcome!

(If this doesn’t get any response, I’ll probably cart it over to RPGW. But I’d really rather not.)

~LittleSun1

I love the idea, and even though I'm new here I see you are too so that didn't scare me off either . I don't know what part I would play with this specific one as I'm more of a reader of SciFi and haven't RPed it in my experience...again, I love the idea though!
So I'd like to give this a go, with either a scientist, a GI, or both. Either give me a sheet or let me plan it as I want, I don't mind, and I'll get my character(s?) straightened out.
Thanks!
-John

Geeze John, thanks! You've pretty much made my day just by responding, I didn't think anyone was going to! (That and I won Settlers of Catan.)

But anyway, you're more than welcome to play two characters! I might consider it too if no one else is interested. Would you mind narrowing down the Scientist's field though? You know, a biochemists, an ecologist, a zoologist. Anything that you think might've been useful on an exploration voyage. Try to stick to something simple enough to do a wikipedia search on though (that way we'll have facts to back up our roleplaying).

And here's the character sheet. It might be a little weird since I'm basing it off some writing sheet I have laying around...

Name:
Age: (Must be at least 18, 22+ if educated past high school)
Description: (General appearance and civilian clothes. NO pictures.)
Profession and Education/Training(if any):
History: (Not a novel, but what was their life like before the A23? Why did they choose to leave? What are their favorite memories of earth? What are their worst?)
Personality: (Flaws and highpoints. Likes and dislikes. Strengths, fears, and weaknesses. How has their past shaped their behavior in the present?)
Who They Left Behind:
Cryogenics-Induced Handicap(If not included above):

Sorry, I get that not everyone likes filling out questionnaires as much as I do, and... I'm too tired to remember what else.

Feel free to add categories as needed, change it in any way (Cut things out if you think it's too long), etcetera.

Have a nice night and have fun coming up with your characters!
I know I will.
~LittleSun1

This actually sounds really interesting. I'd love to try my hand at a partially-paralyzed mechanic... =D

Looks cool, I think I even know who I might put into this, I am interested.

Awesome! This is pretty much the exact number of character I was looking for and yet... This is group actually small enough that my GMing head won't explode. Fun.

Well, I'm not exactly sure how things work at this point, but I'd say it's time for an OOC:. I'll try to have it up by 10pm today (My time. So around the same time I made my reply to John.), but feel free to start your characters beforehand.

~LittleSun1

I think I will use a biologist, his problems I don't know yet.

I just typed up a complete character sheet and it logged me out because I took too long. I keep forgetting to open Microsoft word...Post one in an hour or two.

Ah, I hate when that happens! It's always so painful to rewrite afterwards.

Oh and also, I'm not going to have the OOC up for today. I got kinda distracted, so I've only got basic plans for the ship's layout so far. I'm having trouble figuring out just how big it should be, but I guess that's not a huge deal in the long run.

The OOC will probably include (In addition to the story above): The ship's layout, a description of Planet B66 (Which will be expanded upon if needed), and a list of our characters. That's really all that's needed before we get started, right? (Again, open to suggestions.)

Anyway, I'll have that up as soon as possible. Feel free to post your characters here until then.

Sorry if it seems sloppy. Its rushed with only important details. The posts in the actual RP will be better, promise!
[if he seems sad, he is. It makes him driven]
Name: John [no last name -- part of character ]
Age: 26
Description: He had long blonde hair until he got to the military, where he shaved the hair due to military guidelines. Now he has medium length blonde hair and has no one to tell him to shave it yet so he won't. His blue eyes are said to glow in the daylight and burn in the night, and yet he wears sunglasses during the day if he can find them. He usually wears dark colors and nearly always jeans, summer or winter.
Profession and Education/Training(if any): Military Training - 8 years
History: Best memories came from his childhood with his sister three years younger, worst from the war. Loves his sister because of all they've been through together as orphans and always took care of her. Wishes to go back for her since the expedition started, yet knows he can't; he wants to name something after her or get her something from the new planet instead so he leaves something behind for her.
Personality: Strong, leader, driven. Flaws: Post-Traumatic Stress from the war and watching his friends die and nearly dying himself many times and has many fears from said war. Although he doesn't talk much, he gives his mind and never lies when he does. Also, he has a habit of being very hard on himself.
Who They Left Behind: His sister
Handicap: Mentally distressed: cannot remember certain parts of his past [hence the lack of last name] and sometimes loses focus and almost/does pass(es) out. Loses possessions of his and others easily.
EDIT: Added some background and bio, took out picture, added handicap, etc. Again, will edit and add more detail if needed.

Okay, nice job. Just one or two things. First, you forgot John’s 'handicap'. It can be anything from a stiff leg, to an arm that the ship medic had to (Or will, that could be an interesting bit of roleplaying) amputate post-awakening, to... Well, anything you can think of, but the cryogenics definitely had some affect on him.

Also, I totally understand since you had to rewrite the thing, but eventually you'll need to replace the picture with a written description. (Sorry I forgot to mention it before everyone, but it's a general rule of mine. No picture, anime or real. I'd prefer for you to describe you character's appearance, even if it's based on someone/something else. I’ll be sure to go back and edit the character sheet.)

Again, my goal is to have the OOC up today. It will happen!

Sorry, it was late and I totally missed some things I wanted to add now that I'm looking at it again. I'll edit it.

The Out Of Character topic can be found here.