Other Space Kaiden
Better than other-other space Kaiden
THE FOLLOWING GUIDE IS AN INFORMATIVE POST THAT WE FEEL WILL HELP YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT IT MEANS TO ROLEPLAY A CHARACTER IN THE SWARM AND HELP GUIDE YOU AND YOUR CHARACTER.
You have now been assimilated, welcome to The Swarm. For one reason or another you have found yourself ensnared in the web of the Killik Hivemind; a vast telepathic network that spans the stars. Once someone has been assimilated into the Hivemind, they retain their own individuality in most cases, but their feelings are twisted into something new. They can no longer imagine a life without the Hivemind and they would die to protect it and continue to live only so they may please it. While not unbreakable, this bond is difficult to resist and the longer one remains the deeper the claws of the Hive will drive into their soul.
Below you will find a vast wealth of information on how to start your characters new journey; whether it is to break free from the grasp of the Hivemind or lead The Swarm across the stars.
IN CHARACTER INFORMATION
Roleplaying Assimilation
To be assimilated is not to lose your entire personality, not at first anyway. When roleplaying a character who has chosen or been forced into becoming one with the Hivemind there a few things to understand in order to ensure your enjoyment of the experince and create the proper atmosphere to help enhance faction roleplay.
The Individual
- It is important to consider how and why your character was assimilated into the Hivemind. Was he/she forced to against their will through intense telekinetic domination or did they willingly join? Linking with the Hivemind is a euphoric experince for species who do not normally use one. The sense of saftey, unity and belonging makes them want to serve and protect the Hivemind. People who have deeply rooted emotional trauma can easily fall into this trap, becoming a willing drone to The Swarm.
- Characters who are assimilated do not become mindless husks, in fact, their personalities stay in-tact for years following assimilation. Particularly strong willed individuals may never truly lose their personality wholly. Instead, when someone becomes linked to the Hivemind, their emotions are manipulated to love the Hivemind. They will be able to sense the emotions of the whole and will be compelled to do what the Hivemind wills, but they will do so in their own way. Think of the Hivemind as a single body with multiple personalities, your character would be one of those personalities and thus retain what makes them unique.
The Hivemind
- One who has been assimilated has a certain defense and offense in the realm of mental abillities. When someone enters the mind of a Swarmer, they are not simply taking on just the mind of the individual whose thoughts they enter. Instead, they are taking on the entire mental capacity of The Hivemind as there is a constant flow of information to and from the Hivemind within the back of every Swarmer's mind.
- Hive Lords, Hive Ladies, Collectives and Prophets of the Swarm are beings who regulate, control and send mass amounts of mental information between themselves, their followers and the Hivemind. Such powerful telepathic powers cause physical changes to those of these ranks. These ranks will regularly display glowing yellow eyes and when they speak it will sound as if dozens of voices are coming from their mouth at the same time.
- As a leader, the above mentioned ranks within The Swarm also have the abillity to project their conscious directly into those under their influence. This is called "Assuming Control" and allows the leader to talk, see and fight through the body of their subordinate. They are, however, limited to the capacity of the one they assume control over and though they can overextend the body of their host, doing so can kill the host. If the host is killed, the conscious of the leader is thrown back into their body. Note that during the control of the host, the leader's body is rendered immobile.
Faction Relations
The Swarm does not worry itself with alliances and enemies, for it has no need for them. As such, faction relations simply range from those they are currently consuming and those they wish to consume at a later date. This does not mean, however, that the Swarm is above making small alliances with other nations in order to manipulate them is such a way that helps the Hivemind.
Allliances:
Wars:
Technology
Any member of The Swarm is free to create technology for use by themselves or The Swarm as a whole. Technologically speaking, The Swarm uses whatever technology the civilizations they consume happen to be using. In most cases they combine these designs with organic materials similarly to how the Geonosians merged stone and rock with their capital ships, creating interiors that resembled their own hives.
Due to the nature of The Swarm and their assimilation technique to expansion, their ship selection is extensive and diverse. We strongly urge you to post any technology you hope to create in the Forum's factory in our own Expansion Collective thread to get feedback on the technology!
Please be sure to review all factory guidlines before submitting anything on behalf of The Swarm!
Fleets & Fleet Combat
Fleet combat for The Swarm is reliant on swarm tactics and the overwhelming of enemy combatants through mass fighter screens supported by carriers, battleships and missile boats. This tactic is known as a sensor swarm and is meant to overhwelm the computer and defense systems of a fleet.
More information on The Swarm's fleets (known as Swarms) and available orbital equipment can be found here.
Hives & Collectives
The Swarm is the largest Hivemind to have ever existed in the galaxy and thus there is a flow of telepathic information between its assimilated members that rivals the flow of information from the holonet itself. Just like the Holonet all of this information is far too much to handle without a regulated flow to and from central points and a sudden crash could be devestating. Thus an organized structure was created in order to properly regulate the flow of this information from individual members of The Swarm to the collective Hivemind.
HIVES
The first rung on this structure is a Hive. A hive is created whenever a new world is assimilted into The Swarm and is composed of all the inhabitants who lived on world at the time of assimilation. The Hive acts like a serve to a website, all of the inhabitants who have linked into the Hivemind fuel a collective thought and decision process with their subconcious mind. These thoughts and decisions are then regulated by the most intelligent beings on the planet and put through to "The Hive Lord" or "Hive Queen" who is linked directly with "The Collective" of his sector.
COLLECTIVES
Collectives are groups of hives that have their decisions regulated by a hyper intelligent being simply known as "A Collective". These Collectives then come to a decisions on behalf of the hives using the decisions they were sent by each individual hive under their control. Once they have concluded their own decisions they send the information through to "The Hivemind Collective" the technical leader of The Swarm who embodies the will of all the hives within the Swarm.
Players are encouraged to take on the roles of "Hive Queens" and "Hive Lords" by way of submitting a request here. Once the fraction grows large enough players may also apply to become "A Collective".
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Faction Ranks
As one might assume from a faction such as The Swarm, the rank structure is similar to that of a bug colony; with slight expansions to fullfil the needs of a modern faction.
Current IC ranks:
Faction, Planetary and Sector Leaders
The Hivemind:
At the center of The Swarm there is The Hivemind, a highly intelligent creature that's sheer mental capacity is responsible for formulating the consensus of The Swarm as a whole from the decisions of each of the collectives.
Collectives:
Collectives are the second most intelligent individuals in The Swarm and are responsible for commanding and regulating the consensus of multiple hives. They are both grand generals, sector govenors and a collective conscious for tens of billions of Swarmers.
Hive Lords/Ladies
Responsible for the leading and acting as the collective conscious for a Swarm Hive, generally consiting of billions of Swarmers. They act as generals and planetary govenors.
At the center of The Swarm there is The Hivemind, a highly intelligent creature that's sheer mental capacity is responsible for formulating the consensus of The Swarm as a whole from the decisions of each of the collectives.
Collectives:
Collectives are the second most intelligent individuals in The Swarm and are responsible for commanding and regulating the consensus of multiple hives. They are both grand generals, sector govenors and a collective conscious for tens of billions of Swarmers.
Hive Lords/Ladies
Responsible for the leading and acting as the collective conscious for a Swarm Hive, generally consiting of billions of Swarmers. They act as generals and planetary govenors.
Military Ranks
Swarm Lords/Ladies
Swarm Lords live their lives aboard a fleet, known in the faction as a Swarm. They have only one goal, bring their swarm to other worlds and assimilate them into the Hivemind. In comparrison to other ranks, outsiders would see Swarm Lords as equal to a Fleet Admiral.
Warriors
The warriors are those who have been assimilated into the Hivemind and are tasked with defending it from attacks as well as attacking enemy worlds.
Swarm Lords live their lives aboard a fleet, known in the faction as a Swarm. They have only one goal, bring their swarm to other worlds and assimilate them into the Hivemind. In comparrison to other ranks, outsiders would see Swarm Lords as equal to a Fleet Admiral.
Warriors
The warriors are those who have been assimilated into the Hivemind and are tasked with defending it from attacks as well as attacking enemy worlds.
Force Users
Hive Guard
Force Users who have been assimilated are usually tasked to become Hive Guard. Due to their connection to The Force they can handle the task of commanding several warriors and drones through the Hive Mind and thus are commonly given leadership positions as battlefield generals.
Force Users who have been assimilated are usually tasked to become Hive Guard. Due to their connection to The Force they can handle the task of commanding several warriors and drones through the Hive Mind and thus are commonly given leadership positions as battlefield generals.
Intelligence/Espionage
Infesters
Double agents and assassins for The Swarm, Infesters are responsible for infiltrating society and manipulating it from the inisde to meet the needs of The Swarm. They are also tasked with passing vital information to The Swarm, assimilating political figures and assassinating important figureheads.
Corruptors
Tasked with sabotage, the corruptors are responsible for helping spread the the words of The Prophets of the Swarm and indoctrinate the general populace of planets. They also conduct more traditional spy operations such destroying infastructure or hindering operations.
Seekers
Scouts who are sent to recon prospective assimilation targets, they also act as forward recon during ground conquests.
Double agents and assassins for The Swarm, Infesters are responsible for infiltrating society and manipulating it from the inisde to meet the needs of The Swarm. They are also tasked with passing vital information to The Swarm, assimilating political figures and assassinating important figureheads.
Corruptors
Tasked with sabotage, the corruptors are responsible for helping spread the the words of The Prophets of the Swarm and indoctrinate the general populace of planets. They also conduct more traditional spy operations such destroying infastructure or hindering operations.
Seekers
Scouts who are sent to recon prospective assimilation targets, they also act as forward recon during ground conquests.
Diplomats & Religious Figures
Prophets of the Swarm
These "prophets" act as ambassadors of The Swarm and are almost entirely made up of non-insect species. They are tasked with turning the populations of planets to The Swarm and interacting with other nations on behalf of the Hivemind as needed.
These "prophets" act as ambassadors of The Swarm and are almost entirely made up of non-insect species. They are tasked with turning the populations of planets to The Swarm and interacting with other nations on behalf of the Hivemind as needed.
Others
Drones
The everyday, non-combat workers of the Swarm (made largly of insect species)
The everyday, non-combat workers of the Swarm (made largly of insect species)
Faction Signature
Feel free to use this awesome signature made by [member="Mahlzaren of the Swarm"] if you have Photoshop or any simple editing program you can fill in the slots with whatever you like!
