--- Application Format ---
Steam Name: ZeroPants
Steam ID: STEAM_0:1:94990857
Discord Name & ID: ZeroPants, ID is zero_pants
Timezone: CDT (Central Daylight Time), GMT-5
--- Campaign Info---
"Service Guarantees Status"
Background:
A small-time politician from Seattle,
Richard Kauffman was among some of the first to willingly accept the Combine's rule over Earth. Thanks to his swift demonstration of loyalty to Earth's new global government, he was selected to serve as the Minister of Commerce for City 21 shortly after the Seven Hour War.
During his tenure as the Minister of Commerce for City 21, the US "Xenian Malignancy Zone" continued to expand out of Carson City Nevada, consuming all in sight. The malignancy eventually reached City 21, breaking through its walls and consuming its population.
While the rest of City 21's administration either died or fled to other cities, Kauffman remained within City 21 to command the local infestation control forces to hold off the infestation for as long as possible. Most, if not all of these infestation control workers died attempting to hold off the XMZ.
It eventually became clear that attempts to hold off the infestation were futile. Kauffman utilized his authority within the administration to call for an evacuation of everyone left within the city, negotiating for a truce with local insurgents to guarantee the successful evacuation of Conscript and Civil Protection assets.
Only 0.74% of the original population of City 21 successfully managed to evacuate, among them was Richard Kauffman. Following his departure from City 21, Kauffman was removed from the administration and was returned to civilian life.
Currently, Kauffman is a
Tier-4 citizen employed as a researcher within the Ministry of Progress. Although he has little to no true scientific experience, his knowledge of Xenian infestations has proven useful to the Ministry.
Kauffman is also employed as a supervisor within the Voluntary Expedition Team, a civilian organization created by Russell Makarov with assistance from the City 24 Administration. Kauffman has attended every single VET expedition to date, personally involving himself to ensure the expeditions are successfully managed.
Ideals:
Kauffman is a
"Militaristic Meritocrat", an advocate for a society in which individuals are granted status determined by their talents, achievements, abilities, and in this case, loyalty and
service. In Kauffman's eyes, the only way to truly prove one's loyalty to the Universal Union is to
willingly put one's life and well-being on the line for the cause of the Universal Union.
Because of these beliefs, Kauffman is a fierce supporter of voluntary "conscription" (Such as the Voluntary Expedition Team, the Civil Protection, or conscript groups such as the "Republican Guard").
Loyalty cannot be forced, it must be bred. If you force someone into military service, you gain no insights into their loyalty, but if you make military service a voluntary option, loyal citizens will step up to the occasion to prove themselves.
Danger is a good way to test someone's true character. How will someone react when faced with a life-threatening challenge? Will they back down, will they run? Or will they choose to put their lives on the line to see the threat end?
Groups like the Conscripts and VET are the perfect way to filter the truly exceptional from the ordinary.
Edicts:
Should Kauffman become chairman, he would endeavor to do the following with the position's authority:
-Reclamation of the lost districts of City 24. Kauffman would use the Chairman position to garner more support for this effort.
-Increased Conscript presence in City 24. If the City doesn't already have a conscript group of some sort, one would be made to assist in the reclamation of the lost districts of City 24. Players would be able to volunteer to serve as a Conscript ICly via recruitment booths of some sort. (We should be careful with this)
-Increased benefits for both Conscript groups and the VET. For example, ceremonies to hand out medals would be hosted, better pay would be given to people who are in the previously mentioned groups, etc. (I want to also bring Civil Protection into this somehow, but from what I know they tend to handle their own medals)
-Pro-military propaganda in the newspapers, perhaps we could have the MoE send a journalist along with the VET or Conscripts to document the things the two groups accomplish. (This is something I'd have to talk with the MoE people about.)
-Status increases for notable members of the Conscripts and VET.
-Members of different worker unions like the CMU, CWU, or MoP will be allowed to temporarily join up with the Conscripts for missions in which they are required. (Like if the Conscripts need to inspect some strange Xenian activity in the outlands, they may want to bring someone from the MoP or CMU along).
-I'm not sure about this idea, but I think encouraging the belittlement of citizens or loyalists who haven't "served" could be an interesting idea. I'm not too certain on it, and I'd like to talk about it more with the leads to see if they think it could be an interesting idea.
(Note: I don't intend to have conscripts wandering around in full uniforms in the City, that'd be cringe. Characters who have signed up to serve as a conscript would probably get some sort of pin or badge to wear, but that's about it. I want to avoid the problems the conscript faction has suffered from in the past. I am very open to suggestions on how it would be handled.)
What I plan to do in public view:
What I am currently doing or have already done:
To garner support for his cause, Kauffman has been personally involving himself with VET expeditions, having attended each VET expedition to date in person as a supervisor. So far, nobody has died during an expedition.
Outside of the VET expeditions, Kauffman has attended an expedition to one of the ruined districts of City 24. This information could make his campaign to recover these lost districts look better.
Kauffman was recently publicized in City 24 newspaper as a "Hero of City 24" after he discovered and reported an explosive device planted in the CMU, leading to those within the clinic and RDC getting evacuated before the bomb detonated.
What I plan to do:
I plan to host speeches in public, perhaps over the city's broadcasting system if I'm able to work with the MoE on my campaign. I'd also like to get some posters made for the campaign, but my Photoshop skills aren't the best.
I'd like to help the MoE get more stuff about the VET published in the newspaper, I was thinking it could be fun to have an MoE journalist attend an expedition so they could write a story about it in the paper.
My goal is to get regular citizens and new players involved in this story, they make up most of the population of the server, and they are the ones we have been focusing on with the VET.
I will need to pick a vice-chairman as well, I haven't decided who yet, I'd like to handle that part IC.
Why do I want the position?
I have had a *ton* of fun doing stuff with the Voluntary Expedition Team, I'd like to expand that roleplay a little further by doing what I mentioned above. It'd give us even more of a reason to keep doing these expo events for citizens.
The VET has been providing a great deal of roleplay to lower-class characters and new players who don't have SC. I think it would be a great idea to provide non-rebel-affiliated citizen characters a way to attend expeditions, and the VET and Conscripts are the best way to do that.
