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Ultimate Recruitment

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Sun, 2013-09-29 03:23
#1
Baalbamoth Baalbamoth's picture
Ultimate Recruitment
so I have a player that was once an Ultimate on earth and he wants to re-apply for membership, what would go in to joining the Ultimates faction? what skills or abilities would they require? what kind of training would they demand a person take (standard military basic?)
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"what do I want? The usual — hundreds of grandchildren, complete dominion over the known worlds, and the pleasure of hearing that all my enemies have died in highly improbable accidents that cannot be connected to me."
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Sun, 2013-09-29 18:44
Lorsa Lorsa's picture
Rimward has a lot of
Rimward has a lot of information on Ultimates I believe. I think the Ultimates don't really care about what skills you have, as long as they're useful and VERY high. They have some form of ranking system going on as well. Don't really know much about them but really, check out Rimward.
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Mon, 2013-09-30 00:13
DivineWrath DivineWrath's picture
The Ultimate ranks table is
The Ultimate ranks table is on (Rimward, p. 199). On (Rimward, p. 121) will offer information on how each member fits into the organization. It should give you a good idea of how skilled an Ultimate should be, and how they should fit into the organization. This shouldn't be an invitation to mix and match random high ranked skills; they expect you be useful, so those skills should be able to work together. Making a character skilled in unarmed combat but no ranks in fray is going to look weird. Generally, they look for people who can fight and win wars (not just battles), and people who can keep the gears of the Ultimate movement going (such individuals don't need as good combat skills). Generally, you should be expected to prove that you are useful, like an intense job interview. You have to prove to them that you are useful or potentially useful (and thus worth trying to train you), more so if you are trying to sell yourself using skills that wouldn't be considered desirable. An "Ultimate Prostitute" might for instance, might be ignored for their prowess in bed, but might be valued if they can seduce important people and get useful information (which aside from seduction might require good hacking skills and other spycraft).
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Mon, 2013-09-30 04:00
Yaginor Yaginor's picture
In addition to what
In addition to what DivineWrath said, you have to be able to convince them that you are devote to the Ultimate ideal. Think about that for a moment - the Ultimates recruit only the best and most devoted. That means that the screening process is going to be developed and performed by some of the very best security and recruitment specialists in the system. It's going to be very hard to make it in if your mind isn't really in it. Ask your player if they really want to become part of the Ultimates, and why didn't they pick it at character creation. Also consider if you really want to have a character in your game whose first loyalty is not to the group, but to the Ultimates.
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Mon, 2013-09-30 19:29
Baalbamoth Baalbamoth's picture
wow great comments, thanks...
Some questions... What advanced screening tech would they use? Psychosurgery? Advanced lie detection? The ultimate credit check? Spending history analysis? Since militarism is one of their core beliefs I assume anyone recruited would be forced into basic training (scientist or prostitute or not) how would that go? And what would happen immediately after basic? Would you be assigned a duty or would they leave you be to follow your own muse? Individualism and all that?
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"what do I want? The usual — hundreds of grandchildren, complete dominion over the known worlds, and the pleasure of hearing that all my enemies have died in highly improbable accidents that cannot be connected to me."
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Mon, 2013-09-30 23:26
NewtonPulsifer NewtonPulsifer's picture
Probably a more interesting
Probably a more interesting question is what Ultimates do about members who [i]quit[/i].
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"I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."- Isoroku Yamamoto
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Thu, 2013-10-03 13:29
Gantolandon Gantolandon's picture
NewtonPulsifer wrote:Probably
NewtonPulsifer wrote:
Probably a more interesting question is what Ultimates do about members who [i]quit[/i].
Not much, I think. They tend to view themselves as an elite club that only the best can join, so one can most probably expect the "if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen" kind of attitude from them. It's better that the weak, unconvinced members quit, rather than drag everyone down and use up resources that could be given to someone more promising. Scaring them into staying would miss the point.
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Fri, 2013-10-04 15:06
NewtonPulsifer NewtonPulsifer's picture
Gantolandon wrote
Gantolandon wrote:
NewtonPulsifer wrote:
Probably a more interesting question is what Ultimates do about members who [i]quit[/i].
Not much, I think. They tend to view themselves as an elite club that only the best can join, so one can most probably expect the "if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen" kind of attitude from them. It's better that the weak, unconvinced members quit, rather than drag everyone down and use up resources that could be given to someone more promising. Scaring them into staying would miss the point.
That's a bit of a simplification, isn't it? The strongest, most skilled and talented of them all can also be lured away by being treated better. Or "tourists" might join up just to see how they do with some equivalent of the Ultimates aptitude tests, grab the highest rank they can get in 1-2 years of membership, and quit (but say retain the resume boosting entry of reaching Exemplar in only 8 months).
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"I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."- Isoroku Yamamoto
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Sat, 2013-10-05 20:24
Gantolandon Gantolandon's picture
NewtonPulsifer wrote
NewtonPulsifer wrote:
Gantolandon wrote:
NewtonPulsifer wrote:
Probably a more interesting question is what Ultimates do about members who [i]quit[/i].
Not much, I think. They tend to view themselves as an elite club that only the best can join, so one can most probably expect the "if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen" kind of attitude from them. It's better that the weak, unconvinced members quit, rather than drag everyone down and use up resources that could be given to someone more promising. Scaring them into staying would miss the point.
That's a bit of a simplification, isn't it? The strongest, most skilled and talented of them all can also be lured away by being treated better.
It's possible, but if they can easily be lured away by a promise of easier life, they most likely don't fit the organization anyway. If you are skilled, talented and useful, they are many better options than the Ultimates. Hypercorps may be abusive towards the indentures, but you can make a really impressive career if you are valuable to them. For someone who values his independence too much to be a corporate drone, Extropia can provide an opportunity to conquer the market and live the rest of your life like a king. Even cartels can be a good option for someone with less scruples and more appetite for quick cash. Or you can settle for a modest, but respectable life with anarchists or Titanians. Or even be an independent freelancer. There are many better options than joining militaristic freaks who spend most of their lives training. The people who even consider training on Xiphos come from a very specific stock. They must be really big on personal development, and have already bought the Ultimates' ideology. I don't think they could be easily swayed by some corporate headhunter even before their training started. Why would they resign after already having proven their worth?
Quote:
Or "tourists" might join up just to see how they do with some equivalent of the Ultimates aptitude tests, grab the highest rank they can get in 1-2 years of membership, and quit (but say retain the resume boosting entry of reaching Exemplar in only 8 months).
I'm having hard time to imagine someone who takes great pains to advance in one of the strictest and most dangerous organization, then throws it away when it comes to reap the profits of their membership.
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Sat, 2013-10-05 20:50
NewtonPulsifer NewtonPulsifer's picture
Gantolandon wrote:
Gantolandon wrote:
It's possible, but if they can easily be lured away by a promise of easier life, they most likely don't fit the organization anyway. If you are skilled, talented and useful, they are many better options than the Ultimates. Hypercorps may be abusive towards the indentures, but you can make a really impressive career if you are valuable to them. For someone who values his independence too much to be a corporate drone, Extropia can provide an opportunity to conquer the market and live the rest of your life like a king. Even cartels can be a good option for someone with less scruples and more appetite for quick cash. Or you can settle for a modest, but respectable life with anarchists or Titanians. Or even be an independent freelancer. There are many better options than joining militaristic freaks who spend most of their lives training. The people who even consider training on Xiphos come from a very specific stock. They must be really big on personal development, and have already bought the Ultimates' ideology. I don't think they could be easily swayed by some corporate headhunter even before their training started. Why would they resign after already having proven their worth?
I didn't say anything about an easier life. I said treated better. That could be something as simple as honoring their tenets of meritocracy (which they probably only give lip service to). From here: http://eclipse-phase.wikispaces.com/Ultimates All the Autarchs and the Demiurge are *all* founding members. None newer. They go back at least 70 years. So *nobody* has come along since then to match them? Unlikely. So anyway, if a clearly superior recruit is denied the title of Autarch, then he might leave to forge his own path.
Gantolandon wrote:
NewtonPulsifer wrote:
Or "tourists" might join up just to see how they do with some equivalent of the Ultimates aptitude tests, grab the highest rank they can get in 1-2 years of membership, and quit (but say retain the resume boosting entry of reaching Exemplar in only 8 months).
I'm having hard time to imagine someone who takes great pains to advance in one of the strictest and most dangerous organization, then throws it away when it comes to reap the profits of their membership.
"Dangerous" is a relative term among functional immortals. Also, plenty of people join the military for a limited period of time for the purpose of self-improvement (and then quit); their motivation is not to "reap the profits".
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"I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."- Isoroku Yamamoto
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Sat, 2013-10-05 22:28
Baalbamoth Baalbamoth's picture
I'm having a hard time buying a lot of this...
First, there's nothing that elite people love more than only dealing with elite people. Second, tutoring and mentoring are primary drives among ultimates. Having a "best of the best" leader of some academic field give you massive amounts of face time, years of instruction, all so that you can move closer towards your own immortal perfection would be priceless. Third, I'm sure all that ultimate's propaganda is greatly effective for most involved, death would be better than going back to gene trash existence. Fourth your assuming (too much I think) that the day to day life of an ultimate is harsh and difficult. Meditation, art, philosophy, debate, study along with combat and physical training (in a morph that sleeving must give the same sensation as driving a Lamborghini) with lots of free time to develop your own interests sounds like a pretty enjoyable way to spend a few life times. Fifth, if you choose to leave (and I'm sure VERY few have) your mostly penniless and I doubt you'd get to keep that expensive remade they loaned you, or if you did get to keep it, I'm sure the interest rates would be exorbitant. Sixth, I can't see the tourism thing happening at all. People who weren't hard line fanatics wouldn't get in, and even after getting in moving up in the ranks where everyone is elite and eager to prove their worth would make upward mobility without exceptional luck and great progress would keep just about everyone at the initiate level BUT the book does say that there are hundreds of titles and thousands of awards and medals given for every area of achievement. Behavior modification in the extreme here. No, I'm just not buying that the ultimates are really just a bunch of overly grandiose totally self absorbed security guards... That just doesn't fit the aesthetic principals...
—
"what do I want? The usual — hundreds of grandchildren, complete dominion over the known worlds, and the pleasure of hearing that all my enemies have died in highly improbable accidents that cannot be connected to me."
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