The Pocket - OXP Brainstorm Thread

[Master Bates]

Discussions in the 'Vector Map' topic have gotten my imagination going, and the focus of my attention at the moment is an isolated region of space which doesn't yet have a name, although Diziet Sma's suggestion the 'Zaedvera Pocket' has a nice ring to it. It's a pocket full of primarily feudal, multigovernment, and confederated systems - in other words, planets with either no world government at all or only a very rudimentary one (although there is one low-tech dictatorship as well). It can only be reached by witching through a single system - Zaedvera, a single high-tech, resource-poor corporate system.

I envision that the corporate consortium running the planet also secretly keeps the 'Pocket' under their control, by manipulating the various factions, families, gangs, nations, and powers that occupy the region, keeping the place chaotic, weak, and - above all - lucrative; constant strife and conflict creates a high demand for weapons, vehicles, spacecraft, medical supplies, and escape (either actual, physical escape, or escape through entertainment or recreational chemicals), all of which the corporations controlling Zaedvera are all too happy to provide, in return for raw materials, any finished goods they cannot produce themselves, and - most importantly - power. They have de facto control over all but two systems in the Pocket now.

The two systems in question have, in my mind anyway, fallen to communist insurrection fairly recently. Although most of the powers-that-be feign ignorance, the fact that most of the cluster is effectively ruled with an iron fist by a group of slightly unscrupulous (albeit pragmatic) businessmen is rapidly spreading amongst the masses, having been leaked by a former corporate mercenary gone rogue. Talk of such lofty concepts as unity and revolution frequently roll off the tongues of planetdwellers in their smoky, run-down taverns and ramshackle homes, and discussions of this sort are even starting to filter up to the shady null-G bars frequented by local spacers.


Anyway, this OXP will involve two parts. The first is simply a flavor OXP - it will at a lot more detail to the system descriptions in the cluster, as well as the systems themselves, in an attempt to make each of them unique, as well as tie all of them together. Once the region is finished, or at least mostly so, I will start on an OXP that will add a series of missions to the region. I haven't gotten far beyond the concept stage for most of them, and I'm still not sure how I want them to go, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

I'm completely new to this - this will be my first OXP - so any help will be greatly appreciated, and I'll probably ask a lot of newb questions in this thread. Thanks in advance for your assistance. Additionally, if anyone has any suggestions for names of organizations, descriptions of planets, etc. feel free to let me know.

[DaddyHoggy]

I just love how something as "simply" as studying the political and physical structure of the charts can lead to so much insight, story ideas and a wealth of potential oxp material - keep up the good work!

[ClymAngus]

This will stop when all 8 are complete, or I go postal. Whichever comes first.

[pagroove]

Go for it
Love to see more flavor OXP's for the other galaxies.

[Master Bates]

Alrighty, real life is preventing me from doing much in the way of actual work for a while, so I'm going to take the next week or so to try and teach myself how to script and such, at least at a very basic level. With any luck I'll have an extremely early alpha out before too long (no new ships or anything, but I will change planet descriptions and a few other things).