[K5pbem] Need help finishing this...

[Mike Surbrook]

On Tue, 27 Dec 2005, David at antolovich.com wrote:

>
> Quoting Michael Surbrook <susano at guisarme.net>:
>
>> I had an idea that Shion is going to start thinking about the ideas
>> we touched on last game, where she starts thinking about getting the
>> epsers to work together, to make them a force to be reckoned with, so
>>
>> they aren't playthings of the corps. I had another idea for the song
>> "Veteran of the Psychic Wars" where Shion, Alan, and Ayumi (and
>> others?) meet in Ayumi's temple in Tokyo to talk (argue, actually)
>> over the future of espers.
>>
>> Anyway, any opinions on this?
>
> Why not?  I can see a couple of ways this can go depending on who leads what.
> And, realistically I can see several splinter groups forming as well.  Espers
> do not impres me as easily lead about sheeple for the most part so maybe. . .

The term used in a previous story was "Akin to herding cats..."

> A civil rights movement?  For fair treatment and so on.

Espers aren't discriminiated against, that's much is certain.

> A political movement - Although it would be small, and probably ineffective
> given how many espers to normals there are.  But, since when has that ever
> stopped fringe groups before?

This link has the story that has started these ideas. Scroll down till 
you get to "I, Esper."

http://k5pbem.devermore.net/stories/turn31/PBEMditl28.html

> An Esper union?

See above.

> An esper rebellion - maybe attempting to seize a small country or large
> company either overtly or covertly - at least if some large group of epsers
> get organized enough?

See above.

> Counter movemnt(s) opposed to various goals - In favor of status quo, or maybe
> just opposing conflicting goals.  Who says all espers will play nice together?
>
> ---
>
> Then of course there are the corps...  The Zero Zone invasion could have
> revealed that a new phase in the 'nuclear (esper) arms race' is commencing.
> This may cause companies in the know to consider. . .

Good point.

> Children being easier to control (hah! raise little un(s).  Easy to control?
> My ass. ;-) ) They want to gather and brainwash/control child espers for their
> own purposes (defense, offense, both).  I.e. Bad cop recruiting

This has been the common thread so far.

> Want to gather and recruit esper children into their ranks for mutual benefit
> I.e. good cop recruiting

This has been looked at before. Intially, Raven had it easy, because her 
boss used honey to keep her. Later, S-T cracked down and tried to keep her 
under tight control.

> Want the status quo to continue for both corps and espers.  So some coprs
> would find themselves on both sides of the fence
>
> Want to clone espers, need more donor material

Cloning has been difficult, raising esper kids to be loyal seems to work 
better, but takes a long time.

> Want to upgrade folks to esper status and thus need a lot of espers to sample
> from and lots of experimentation

Which is how the world got the way it did.

> Want to support good relations with espers as a recruiting tool or just for
> ethical reasons
>
> Want to eliminate espers, either altogether (a drag on the bottom line for
> everyone), or just the other guys.

We haven't looked into this, but I see it happeneing.

> Several of the above all at once.  Some divisons may do one thing or another
> despite (or because of) company policy.  For example there may be a board of
> directors battle about the proper role, future and use of espers.  Especially
> likely in big companies and mega corps.
>
> ---
>
> A few thoughts
>
> 1) This should indeed be a sub plot.  Probably a long reaching and important
> one, but still a subplot.
>
> The world will still go round, deals still need to be made, markets expanded
> (exploited) and profit must be earned somehow.  Espers are a tool to help
> achieve his, not and end unto themselves.  Else we end up with an X-menish
> plot.  That does not mean it could not be the major focus for several players,
> just maybe we should write in other world events that have little to do with
> epsers or the conflict to keep a sense of this

Right. Espers are a strong focus of the world, something to make K5 "more" 
than just another cyberpunk world, but they don't have to be the sole 
focus. In fact, you could run a game where they are only spoken about, 
and never really encountered. That makes espers more AKIRA-like, and makes 
them something to be feared and misunderstood.

> 2) Lots of company decisions are made as much on ego, personality and
> tradition as business sense or logic.  Heck we could have the most rotten man
> in the company may be supporting espers, while the more virtous board members
> see them as dangerous.  Lets keep things all mixed up with all shades of
> grey.  Keep it real, provide some ethcial delimas/char development and help
> avoid too much of that Xmen feel.



-- 
Michael Surbrook
susano at guisarme . net http://surbrook.devermore.net/index/
There are only two truly infinite things, the universe and stupidity. And
I am unsure about the universe.

Albert Einstein