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Well I want to avoid the personalization of the force. I don't want it to be a being, I want to avoid Count Iblis.
But that said it can have agents and entities that will serve it. I think I have decided that the power will be the collection of negative thought and actions.
Didn't the Traveller say that the universe was made of thought as well as matter? :)
So with the recent Dominion War there were hundreds of millions, or billions of lives lost. This certainly added feul to the dark fire.
:D
Just to throw another wrench in the works...
For a non-individualized baddie, how about the Beta XII-A entity from the TOS episode "Day of the Dove"? :D
I see that, Armus and others of like ilk to be minor fractions of it. Redjac as well. Again servents of the greater darkness :)
But that is the track to be on for sure :)
Well, I was going to mention Count Iblis, but you already shot that down. ;)
How about stealing an idea from Michael Morcock. Make this ententy Chaos itself. It doesn't have a standard form, constantly changing its shape, mood, etc. constantly.
To further make it non-personal, make it so that it's not really sentient. I mean, yes, it does things, and has motives, but not in any sense that we normally think of sentience. More like, it's presence influences events in the galaxy. That's why evil beings from across the galaxy are being drawn to it. It's sort of like the source for their very being.
And as for servents, I would defintly go for a Mr. Morden (or however you spell that) from B5. A completly normal human, who sort of brokers the ententy's power for the cost of your soul.
Just some rough ideas.
Chris
Here's an idea. Go find a malevolent, omnipotent or technologically advanced race from your favorite story (Trek, B5, SG-1...etc) and make it benevolent...but don't tell your players. Or (as one of my friends suggests) revive those parasite creatures that wanted to take over the federation in the first season of TNG. The ones with the little blue tail sticking out of peoples necks...whatever the heck they were.
Just cause the queen was killed, doesn't prevent another queen from taking its place and continuing the plan. How many times have they killed the Borg queen?
OR,
If you're really, REALLY feeling evil, you could pull inspiration from Event Horizon...
Say an experimental transwarp/spacefolding/Uberdrive ship was lost years ago and never heard from again following the maiden voyage. The disaster was officially recorded as a warp core breach or somesuch, and Section 31 quieted any further reports.
Then suddenly, a distress call is heard from the lost ship, prompting starfleet to send the PCs to investigate, along with the scientist who came up with the uberdrive in the first place. The PCs eventually realize that the the ship is now alive. what they don't realize is that the ship was filled with Dark Spirits (tm), that the took over the scientist and were brought back with him...
Based on Eric's idea.
In the past an evil force entered the galaxy in the region of paradise station in the distant past, it was defeated but their leader managed to meld with a ship/probe and send it secretly beyond their reach. Now it's returned looking for the source of it's power/gate to it's dimension where his legions can pour through. He's also looking for a body.
Enter the crew. They find probe/ship explore, and during this time discover it's evil and looking for something and as it begins to do things like capturing ships and psionicly emptying the crew for information etc destroy it. But not before the evil presence of the ship jumps one last time. Into one of the major NPCs (character's love intrests are the best candidates). Later when the info is found, NPC fakes their death or something and departs so when the PCs find this evil force attacking them and finaly find the leader they find their supossedly dead friend.
Hope that gives you some usefull ideas.
Dunno, where I got Eric from. Meant Flamestrike... wow, more sleep for me. Anyhow sorry for the mix-up 'strike.
Okay here we go... These are the choices I have made after all the discussion here and on ICQ.
1] The darkness comes from out in the frontier. It is not a sentient life, but a conciousness nonetheless.
2] It is a force that has been formed out of colelcting all the darkness and misery and negative thoughts of the galaxy.
3] It happened once before and it was defeated and sent to exile on this distant world.
4] The counter part to this was an energy of positive thoughts and emotions (love if you will) and it was taken to be kept safe as well.
5] At some point in the past eons, a primitive lifeform evoled on the planet where the darkness was banished. As they evolved they came to worship the darkness. As it grew in power, so to did their technology grow, leading them to slaughter and enslave all neighbouring races.
6] The good energy was lost to the universe (or so it seems) when a Nova destroyed the monks who protected it. It is on the plent below Paradise Station.
7] Captain Dylan Hunt (yes I love this name) on the USS Andromeda is the man who will discover the darkness while on his 7 year mission deep into the frontier. He will be tainted by the darkness, along with his crew, and they will bring it back to the UFP with them (not all of it, just it's taint).
8] As uits power and influence continue to grow, beings like Redjac, Armus and Beta XII-A entity will become active again. Somethin wicked this way comes.
9] Psionics and msytics will begin having nightmares and visions. Dark hearted ones (like Kai Winn was) are drawn to the frontier or the darkness, the good ones are drawn to Paradise Station.
10] Eventually the governments of the Alpha & Beta Quadrant will be infectected. Agent like Mr. Morden will present temptation to them and begin their decline.
11] The Romulans, due to their paranoia and internal securities will catch their tainted early, and learn that something is amiss. This will set them as the protectors or in the roll of the Minbari.
12] When the Genesis device is fired in the pilot episode, it will cause the "power" of goodness to become organic, ala Leelu in 5th Element.
13] The Yhatto have predicted everything up to the Romulan decision to protect the power of good. After that their prophecies stop. The entire race kills itself, as they have no more purpose in the universe. All that is except for one last Yhatto, who journeys to Paradise Station to chronicle the events.
14] At some point the Dominion, when watrned or learning what is going on, will park a huge armada on their side of the Wormhole and warn that all ships that exit the wormhole will be destroyed, no questions asked.
15] A single BORG cube will arrive at Paradise Station, drones will beam over and empty all data regarding the darkness/evil. Then they will ehad without a word into the frontier. Weeks later, one single BORG transport tube will emerge with a lone BORG drone onboard. It seems that the transwarp drive has faield and it has spit out here, the last transwarp stop of the cube before the frontier. The players will learn that the cube was attacekd and then subverted to the darkness, to save the collective they cut their link and ejected one drone to return to the Unimatrix and warn them. Damage to it's escape pod/transport forced it to come out where it did. Now they have a BORG drone with them too :)
So that's everythign I have thus far.
How should it all end? It will be three seasons.
Season 1 - Introduction and eventual discovery that somethign is very much amiss.
Season 2 - the pieces begin to fall into place, at the end Paradise Station stands alone, protected by Warbirds.
Season 3 - All out war? Loss, gains. Resolution.
Ideas how to end it?
And also a big thanks to everyone for thie input. Great stuff :)
Keep it coming ;)
I have to say this sounds very cool.
Two questions, more clarifiers;
1) The Borg are on the side of "The Army of Light?"
2) Was the Beta XII entity mentioned somewhere else?
I hope you keep us updated on how things go. :D
Oh man! I love that! 3rd Season, major battle...all looks lost...Suddenly a BORG Tactical Cube emerges from a transwarp apeture and turns the tide to the favor of "The Army of Light". Thanks for that one Phantom!Quote:
Originally posted by Phantom
I have to say this sounds very cool.
Two questions, more clarifiers;
1) The Borg are on the side of "The Army of Light?"
2) Was the Beta XII entity mentioned somewhere else?
I hope you keep us updated on how things go. :D
As for the Beta XII entiny, it is from the TOS Episdoe "Day of the Dove". The one where the get swords and stuff. Cool episode actually :)
My thoughts on an ending.
Eventually, it has to come down to the two entities fighting it out for final dominance. As you have made the "Light" force organic, it has to physically get to the place where the "Dark" force is. This, of course, becomes the job of the PC's. So, while Warbirds fight alongside Borg Cubes next to Paridise Station, a lone ship with the PC's and the "Light" force heads into the fronteer to take on the "Dark" force all by their lonesome.
Kinda like the end of Lord of the Rings. :)
I like that... I like that a lot.Quote:
Originally posted by Chris Blanchard
My thoughts on an ending.
Eventually, it has to come down to the two entities fighting it out for final dominance. As you have made the "Light" force organic, it has to physically get to the place where the "Dark" force is. This, of course, becomes the job of the PC's. So, while Warbirds fight alongside Borg Cubes next to Paridise Station, a lone ship with the PC's and the "Light" force heads into the fronteer to take on the "Dark" force all by their lonesome.
Kinda like the end of Lord of the Rings. :)
And like on B5 they could have a new ship, that combines the best Starfleet and Romulan tech... Sort of like the Whitestars :)
Heh heh heh... My players are going to explode... this is going to hit all their buttons :)
OKay so a front runner for an ending emerges.
Any other ideas?
This just came to me now in flash. I don't know if you already had this in the idea for the series, but how about an Ogranian(?) appearing to the head PC as an advisor a la Kosh to Sheridan.