The EPC role playing message board has been set up for fans of Elite (and its descendants) to play characters in the Elite universe. There is only one location: the cafe itself. You should read the Cafe history on the main page to gain some background, but I'll describe the bar in more detail a little further down. You are free to role play whoever you choose, but please keep it reasonable (i.e. Imperial Black-Ops agents are pushing it but acceptable, while Emperor Duval is clearly not). You can play multiple characters if you like, but I'd prefer one per person since it's simpler. Try to keep profanity and vulgarity to a minimum, but the most important thing is to stay in character. I guess that about covers role playing guidelines, on to the Cafe...

The EPC is a small outpost like base positioned on an out of the way planetoid in an unclaimed system, somewhere west of the Core worlds. In size, it closely resembles what might be expected of a pirate base, though perhaps more extensive. Its life support systems can handle several hundred people at once, though there are usually never more than a seventy people inside at any given time (including crew, which numbers about twenty). Small rooms can accommodate roughly thirty people while the rest must sleep in their ships (or in the bar itself, as often happens). Pilots' ships are stored in small hangars which all connect to a series of cargo holds and to the external docking port, which is really just a single door aligned at an angle to the planet's surface. Larger freighters and such must land on the planet's surface due to their size. Although newer pilots should never even know of the Cafe, it is also advised that they avoid the difficult landing process and land on the surface instead.

While the Cafe was originally designed solely as a resting place for weary pilots, it has come to serve as a small trading depot among the more elite pilots. Extensive cargo bays can hold cargo for a small fee, and although bulk shipments are strongly frowned upon, internal loading mechanisms are freely available for use in handling cargo. However, the Cafe is not a large trading post and most pilots only use it to conduct business agreements on occasion. It should also be noted that while Hans is not a bad mechanic, there are no stable shipyard facilities available.

The interior layout of the Cafe consists of two main floors and the control wing. The primary floor contains all ship and cargo bays as well as rentable rooms and, most importantly, the Bar itself. The second floor is generally off limits to pilots, being home to little more than crew quarters. The control wing, which is actually the third floor, houses the control room and little else. When I say that the base is three floors high, I mean to say that it is actually three floors deep, as the third floor is the only one above ground level. The mouth of the docking port is set roughly level with the planet's surface and takes the from of a small pad on which pilots can land. From there, the service elevator will move ships two stories below ground into the bay area where they will be secured.

When a pilot's ship is secured he will leave his individual bay for the central cargo bay, to which most ships bays are connected. From there he can find the main corridor which will take him past the hub (a small circular room where the elevators are accessed from), and past the pilot rooms to eventually end at the Bar. The steel corridor suddenly gives way to a dark and smoke filled bar by means of two swinging doors (actually stolen from an Earth "old west" saloon reproduction).

Upon entering the bar, you find yourself in one corner of a large but low-ceilinged rectangular room. Although nearly everything in the place matt black, your attention is immediately fixated on a single line of track lighting. The fixtures themselves are uneventful, dated even, but from them spring three electric pink cones of light which are almost tangible given the amount of dust in the room. On the wall to your left is the bar counter itself which gracefully curves away from the wall to run the length of the room. Just in front of it, in the center of the room and therefore below the track lighting, are three circular tables without chairs. ON the wall opposite the bar runs a wall-sized window (think ten forward from ST:TNG) with tables spaced between its heavy supports. A glowing blue jukebox rests against the far wall, though it is currently silent. On the opposite wall, the only closest to your right, is runs a single long seat which seems to have been made in the style of old Earth diners. The only other exit lies just beyond the jukebox, but is obscured by a grey door. Overall, the place is surprisingly small, though it could probably hold at least sixty people is jammed packed. It is clean but not sterile, and lacks the odor of strong liquor that fills most bats. The place feels intrinsically linked night, which (if you stuck around longer) would make sense since this side of the rock is illuminated only five hours out of every twenty (via regular eclipse).

The Cafe is owned and managed by Hans (last name pending) who was its founder as well. He is friendly but doesn't spend a whole lot of time in the Bar, preferring instead to manage incoming ships from the control room among other things. The Bar is looked after most of the time by Lester, a large man in his forties who has a slight Russian accent. His assistant, Zak tends is every once in a while and helps out when things get busy. Other character also pending.

You are now pretty well versed in the layout and design of the EPC, so head on over to the message board to do some role playing: