Rebels, create your leader!

After the Referendums, Staff has decided to let very important characters be controlled ba a group of players. The leader of the rebellion is one of those characters. Since this character is so important, it should not only have several players to take controll, but it should be defined by the community.

So, we have two things to do: Collect ideas for the rebellion leader, and decide who plays this character. To make the final character chreation more efficient, the players of this character should take the ideas collected here and make a CS out of it. Though this is only a suggestion I throw in, there's simply so many people who can work on a single CS, and the players for the char are probably the best people to do the job.

So then, topic one:


Players for the Rebellion Leader
The players should be active (though times of inactivity don't hurt as much since there are other players as well and new players can be allowed), they should be able to keep up with what's going on around the rebellion, and they should be friendly with each other, since they'll regularly have to make decisions together (though I hope that we don't have much bad blood on the site anyway). And of course, they should be reasonably good roleplayers.

My first idea would be that the players who already have high ranking rebel characters, also play the rebellion leader. They're involved in the big decisions anyway and have contact to lower ranked rebels. Without reasonable activity it won't be possible for them to stay in their high position, so this requirement is covered as well. Of course, that doesn't tell us who the players with high ranking rebels will be, that would be just another decision process if there are too many players interested.

So, first question: Who would be interested in:
A: playing a high ranking rebel (regardless of whether you want to play the rebellion leader or not)?
B: playing the rebellion leader (regardless of whether you want to play another high ranking rebel or not)?



Rebellion Leader Character Ideas
Some brainstorming, throw in whatever idea for the rebellion leader you have.

I already have one from Scintillance that I approve of: Reviving Blood Red , the original Leader of the Rebellion. The thing is, for me Blood Red is just an empty shell, a name and a look, but no character. So, from my point of view, that leaves a lot of space for more ideas. Or, we could ask Zuberi what he originally had in mind, and see if we can use it.

Well I would put myself forward for a High ranking rebel.

As for the leader I would say you want someone of a high rank in the military or a pony that is a bit like a politician

Oh, forgot that: I'll probably play a high ranking rebel with Silvern, and I'd be interested in playing the rebellion leader.

A couple of ideas I might have for the nature of the rebel leader:
First off, it's probably good to work out a special talent, seeing as it's a core part of pony mentality and society. Obvious choice is a talent for Leadership: Maybe the pony's not so good at getting right into the mucky parts of rebellion, but being able to inspire them, drive them, and lead them would set a better example for a leader than an explosives expert or a pirate (even if it is a former pirate captain).
Second, there's always the option of having a rebel leader who isn't 100% a paragon of revolution and freedom. I'm not saying we go entirely in the opposite direction; just add a personality quirk or two for imperfection. Could be they're abrasive, even as they show they're ultimately well-meaning or objectively possessing a good strategic mind or something. (The way I'm thinking at the moment is, they'll tell you what the best course of action is that they can see; but even if they're right, the way they tell you will leave you ticked off for a while. When speaking to them in person, at least.)


As for the other things: I'm not sure yet whether I'll have Tayari rejoin the rebellion, though even if he does, he won't likely be high-ranking. Nor do I have any intention of playing the rebellion leader.

Prism wrote:As for the leader I would say you want someone of a high rank in the military or a pony that is a bit like a politician

With Prism we already have a leadership character, a military one, so I'd say that the rebellion leader goes more into the direction politician, not meaning that he/she actually was a politician before the war, but simply classifies as civilian leader.

Though I must say, I can see Tay's idea better in a military commander^^ (and I like that idea)

I will step up for being a rebel officer and I guess I can also pull off being rebel leader if no one else want to.

Dawn Star wrote:I will step up for being a rebel officer and I guess I can also pull off being rebel leader if no one else want to.

If no one else wants to? The rebel leader is supposed to be controlled by several players xD

Shadowstrike wrote:

If no one else wants to? The rebel leader is supposed to be controlled by several players xD

Sorry a miss read but bottom line is I'm interested in both position

Ooohh fun fun.

I've never been much for being a rebel but that doesn't mean I can't help with such a fun character idea. I mean, I always wanted Jimmy to be a Rebel.

Allright, well my idea for a rebel would be someone who isn't afraid to get their hands dirty. Nice speeches can do something when people still got morale, but when you're down in the sewers, beaten down and torn to bits on the week to week you need someone who can lead, not boss people around.

I think the leader of the rebellion needs to be a shining example of a rebel; not a paragon of humanity or morality, but a cunning and creative master at asymetric warfare- or at the least, someone who is good at these things. A warchief of sorts.

Perhaps there can be two leaders. A warchief figure who can be the smart one to follow when shit hits the fan and somebody needs to rescue a guy from jail or something. And a more forward thinking, logistics type fellow who can feel out the domestic needs of the undercity and help direct the rebellion towards the prudent course of action towards victory.

Admittably, there are a lot of warchiefs in the rebellion already among the rebels; but they will need to be a lot more savvy to pass convincingly as leaders. Either way, this is my two cents.

And I do like the idea of the non-militray pony being leader because if they are not there maybe a good chance Prism knew of them in the war and would very much follow there orders and I am hopping to butt heads a few times with the rebel leader.

Well I could also play as the leader but I would have to see the pony 1st to make sure I could get into there mindset as long as I can get into that then could play them as well

Prism wrote:Well I could also play as the leader but I would have to see the pony 1st to make sure I could get into there mindset as long as I can get into that then could play them as well

If there is no objection to my suggestion that the character should be created by the chosen players, you could make sure that you can play him (and if he doesn't turn out right, you could still drop out again). So far we're three rebels interested in the job, that would probably be enough to get going. Too much wouldn't be good either, but for now, the question for interested players still stands. If there is too much interest in the end (and it's not resolved through discussion) a poll should do the job.

To set a time limit on all this, if there are no objections or anything else till tuesday, I'd start working out the character with Prism and Dawn.

Further character ideas are of course highly appreaciated.

As far as anything goes, a natural person in position to start a rebellion would be someone from the old regime, perhaps a noble; a past like that would lead to leadership as a primary focal point of their upbringing, and therefore would also allow them to be a natural leader.

Furthermore, I personally think the whole "I'm a super-duper scrupulous guy here to save the world yay marysuperman" sort of character is bland. I'd like to see a rebel leader that is going to be intelligent in their tactics and make use of resources that come up. I'd also like to see the leader have a less than scrupulous reason for rebelling against the griffons, perhaps to become king of Equestria himself. Characters with ambition and goals that are beyond the idea of "good" are interesting, to say the least.

The point of making the leader a non-military pony is good as well; a leader who is weak, and cannot fight better than a common mook is a very, very good character, in my honest opinion, as they are... interesting, to say the least.

As far as playing the rebel leader, I would happily do so if necessary, even though my characters will not be involved with the rebellion.

well ima throw two bits in here,


as interesting as a polititian/weak character could be for a rebel leader, I have a hard time seeing that happen. picture a typical high school, there's a nerd kid running for class president, that popular girl running because she just wants to be popular, and some highly charismatic dude with all these great ideas for fixing up things for the class. notice that nobody gives a faff about why the nerd kid's running.

in a grimmer, darker world of GK Eequestria, same logic applies; it's going to be very hard for anyone to listen to a character who doesn't seem to ableto take care of himself (unless we're willing to make a whole plot-line of how he/she/it earns their trust but it better not be a horribly cliche story then that's fine too)

or we can have a leader with the right ideas, but he's all soft and fluffy on the inside while forcing himself to be strong and bold on the outside. if the leader looks the part in the first place, then he can lead. otherwise... well, just how far will the nerd have to overstep his boundaries to get other ponies to join his cause. unless he has a foalhood friend already on his side and takes care of the charismatic and shining examply part for him (see: post #9 Tissyphone)

...actually now that I think of it, the idea of two leaders (again) is starting to sound pretty good.

Scintillance D.C. Charmer wrote:well ima throw two bits in here,


as interesting as a polititian/weak character could be for a rebel leader, I have a hard time seeing that happen. picture a typical high school, there's a nerd kid running for class president, that popular girl running because she just wants to be popular, and some highly charismatic dude with all these great ideas for fixing up things for the class. notice that nobody gives a faff about why the nerd kid's running.

in a grimmer, darker world of GK Eequestria, same logic applies; it's going to be very hard for anyone to listen to a character who doesn't seem to ableto take care of himself (unless we're willing to make a whole plot-line of how he/she/it earns their trust but it better not be a horribly cliche story then that's fine too)

or we can have a leader with the right ideas, but he's all soft and fluffy on the inside while forcing himself to be strong and bold on the outside. if the leader looks the part in the first place, then he can lead. otherwise... well, just how far will the nerd have to overstep his boundaries to get other ponies to join his cause. unless he has a foalhood friend already on his side and takes care of the charismatic and shining examply part for him (see: post #9 Tissyphone)

...actually now that I think of it, the idea of two leaders (again) is starting to sound pretty good.

Throwing my 1 1/2 cents here. Originally that was indeed how me and Dubs were going to operate. One inspires and makes large claims and plays the politician. The other goes down and dirty and helps with a good portion of the logistics. We know how that turned out but if you do go the duo route heed this warning: make sure they have chemistry, and make sure they know what each other are up to. Otherwise it seems like the rebellion is disjointed.

I have a thought: If you want to have two ponies with dissimilar skill sets capable of working together, the best bet would be siblings. Family bonds tend to be some of the strongest, so they can trust each other and communicate with each other; having grown up together, they'd know better than most how to cooperate with the other; and I think siblings with similar skill sets, at least in fiction, are a rarity at best.
Possibly twins. It'd save on printing costs, because to get both faces of the rebellion on a poster, you only need to show one face. And we would need to design one less physical appearance.

I'm not saying weak as in super duper physically frail, I'm saying weak as in 'a bad fighter.' The character is supposed to have gained power through their charisma and lineage; the character himself is supposed to appear good on the outside but bad on the inside, his actual goals covered in careful plotting to make them seem like they're more favorable to the people.

A two-leader model, I'm VERY opposed to. Think of it this way: what would happen when they disagreed? Break-away factions. Yo dog, look, rebellion inside of the rebellion. There's also the issue of SHARING power. One leader, many subordinates, so that there is a clear structure with the grand planner at the top, and no problems due to the inevitable power-plays made by one of the leaders. In reality, it should be the leader concerning himself with politics and their subordinates that got down and dirty with the rest of the rebellion.

Also, take, for instance, the Mafia; your leader doesn't fight or get down and dirty with the rest of then rebellion. Your Mafia leader leads through charisma and his loyal followers.

well so far we've been talking about what we'd subconsciously think of the leader to be, but lets jot some mental figures down, hm?

we had a very VERY short chat on it, but a character with a Canterlot background seems to fit with the high-society-esque character... he has the charisma, he has the intentions, and for all we know, he might be a she. stats down; not a real fighter, but a politician, who might appear to want the best for Equestria, but within his mind, setting up a massive "power play" to up his collection of bits (either the one he already had, or the one he lost to the war) or better yet, to take the throne Celestia left behind him.

(plot arc running through my head; possibly someone to overthrow this dude in the future, if we feel like getting a better leader in his place some time.)

if anyone feels like adding to the above, go ahead. if you have any better ideas, that works too. if you just wanna hate on me, go right ahead. unless you're scrapper. I get more than enough hate from you as is.

I do like that idea for a leader it would make they highly motived as they want to get what power they had back and then have them push for more would be very interesting if the RP gets that far.

but someone like that could become very corrupt and maybe start to take deals with the griffons to get the power they want, would they be willing to do that or do they hate the griffons that much they would never make deals with them

The idea is is that the character wants to oust the griffons to take Equestria for himself.

I am not fond of canterlot types. If blueblood is any indication, he'd just as likely to be an incompetent boob and get the rebellion killed then he'd actually aaccomplish anything. Still, an ambitious type might have more motivation. Maybe an ex mob boss would be a fun idea

what you saying about Canterlot types   , will point out Prism is a Canterlot type.

and Lance's inherited isn't DiCanterlot for nothing. Twily's from canterlot too, and shining armor...

and fancy pants...

Spoiler:

we still get a deal of choice for the character. but... I guess something in the direction of fancy pants up there ain't that bad an idea.

Canterlot ain't all prisses like Fancy Pants. There are some good nobles there too.

Alright, as I said: Work on the CS begins today. This discussion here can be continued, but the later a new idea comes in, the less likely it is to be integrated. I don't know how long the CS will take, there's a lot of details to decide on, it will probably take a few days.

As was my original plan, I'm involving those who would play a high ranking rebel anyway. That means the team consists of me, Prism and Dawn so far. If there are more in the future, they'll probably get in as well, but it'll be discussed when it happens.

Now, Prism, Dawn: We need a time when we are all available in Skype. Dawn, I'm not sure if I even have you in my contacts, I don't think so. Search for iijigsawii, display name Syron, that should bring me up.