1The Mess and what it means at present
There are some things that need to be clear about the Epic Mess. One, it’s not a good guy game. So far the players have not managed to be much on radar of the lords of order/light’s radar. Their main ally is the R.O.F. (the Robotech Offensive Force). These war torn survivors of the Robotech wars aren’t the good guys you might expect. As you might imagine, they are easily one of the most skilled armies in this megaverse as a collective force, and that’s by pure survival instinct. They’ve not only fought against the Masters/Zentredi/Invid, but also the Predators, aliens (infestations), mechanoids, splugorath, and saved the Battlestar Galactica (circa 1980s), as well as the fleet from the Cylons. The civilians with the Battlestar are the first civilians the R.O.F. has encountered in a long time—a rag tag group with parents who had been involved in some of the worst and most traumatic wars imaginable.
The R.O.F. number at roughly 1,250,000; the remnants of the 20 billion participants in the Robotech war (roughly 10 billion of which were from earth and related colonies, and now a mixture of at least half human and Zentradi as a result of the early Robotech wars). The R.O.F. consists of a combination of humans, a few hundred thousand Zentredi (both male and female), a few thousand of each of the sentinel races, and Tyrolians/Bioroids who are currently in stasis which the R.O.F. haven’t had the time and protoculture to reprogram with domestic or basic electronics, mechanics, or first aid skills to transform them less from cloned machines to more well rounded people. Some are bitter, but all are completely loyal to their leader’s group.
You could be a player of the megaverse, or play a bit part business or a space age planet/society like the Romulons, or the Cardassians, embracing their passions and forging a unique path in the megaverse. In any of the play dimensions, the heroes/Star Trek zone is the main mess base of operations in the galaxy, with the P.C. group likely to take on the role of the Federation/F.A.R. For example, the Romulous recently split from the Vulcans and planet Vulcan with a few colony ships for their new home planet. The Romulons and Carassians are SDC people with MDC technology. The Caradssians have enough SDC to add 2-3 MDC to 200-300 SDC. While the Romulons and Vulcans both have psychic abilities, where the Vulcans control their emotions (or suppress their reactions) and use logic, the Romulons let their passions guide them.
Outside of heroes, the earth has MDC capable races with mostly SDC beings, although there are a few exceptions that are MDC and have some MDC and SDC beings. The heroes earth is the pre-rifts earth, as hinted at in Villains Unlimited and other books used in this game. Since the players know that the earth will be populated by a number of gods in the future they have been reminded to keep Earth quarantined to a fashion. The Atorains already had a war fleet that was 100% annihilated by the R.O.F., and a number of losses that have halted their next expansion. As might be expected, the Dominion are the sleeping giants who are quietly playing their game infiltrating races. Aside from there being a few shapeshifters who may be identified, the Dominion will be operating in a long game the others are totally oblivious to.
Other possible playing options include rolling a race/planetary society and seeing what the rolls give you to work with. You could begin in the Mess’s starting galaxy as a rag tag group of refugees/pirates/freebooters, or a race based around a cool ship or technology. You could go straight to becoming a capitalist entrepreneur and have a start up business with a few ships and a super freighter, or a tour ship with graceful solar sails if that catches your fancy.
The game is working to build up a number of megaverse shaking/reshaping events that will lead the P.C. group to step in and become the new gods of the megaverse following the wars, adventures, and chaos yet to come. You can expect plenty you are familiar with, but with lots of surprises and things of interest for everyone out of the madness waiting to be unleashed. Whether you are an active participant or playing by posting in a supporting role, everyone is welcome to join the Epic Mess revel in its expanse. They whole megaverse is your playground!