OOC 1

[Marullus]

If we choose the Road runner class Independent blockade runner ship, see if we can replace the "Catch me if you can" trigger: "Spend 1 PP to step up a complication inflicted on a chasing ship."
with the "Rippin' and fixin' montage" trigger from the Kintsugi class salvage ship:
"Spend 1 PP at the beginning of a timed action involving repairing a ship or gathering salvage. For each of your rolls during the timed action, your crew may reroll any die that comes up 1 instead of accepting a PP for it. If the reroll is also a 1, it can't be rerolled."?

Keeping:
[] Quick off the ground: spend 1 PP to double engines when launching from a planetary surface.

These are some of my favorite options for the ship:

Off the grid 8
Where did she go?: spend 1 PP to create a No record found d8 asset when trying to prevent someone from tracking you through the Cortex.
Things go smooth…er: take or step up a complication related to your ship's missing identification to reroll a die when dealing with the law.


Cobbled together 8
Frankenstein's boat: spend 1 PP to switch the die ratings of Engines and Systems for the rest of the scene.
She's got class, lots of class: spend 1 PP to create an Unknown Ship Class d8 asset when someone tries to identify your ship.

Signature assets:

Crybaby 8
This device is perfect for those who've turned to a life of crime. The crybaby is a modified satellite that sends out a fake distress call to distract the law. Unlike most other signature assets, the crybaby can be deployed far from the ship and then retrieved for later use when the coast is clear.
Electromagnetic shielding 8
Your systems have been upgraded with advanced shielding and programs designed to keep hackers out and your digital and heat signature in. When power is shut down to minimal safe amounts, it's nearly impossible to detect your ship from a distance.

Is that about where we are at?

So, we aren't pirates, we are Alliance privateers? I can dig that. Seems fair - an investigator, a former Alliance officer, a former Alliance ship mechanic, and a captain with a rebellious streak but legal licenses.

But we are working with Seht, doing clandestine jobs for them under Alliance noses. Pro-law but anti-corruption? Seems to be our theme as each of us ran into distasteful and corrupt practices which drove us from our former lives. Pro-law makes us good at loopholes.

What kind of jobs are we expecting, then?

Input?

[Antman9]

Looks fairly decent so far. Kind of an interesting mix we have going here. The Road runner class Independent blockade runner ships "were confiscated by the Alliance and decommissioned. Now, mechanics and salvagers can find these vessels in spaceship junkyards throughout the ’Verse." So that should be interesting given the whole "we aren't pirates, we are Alliance privateers? I can dig that. Seems fair - an investigator, a former Alliance officer, a former Alliance ship mechanic, and a captain with a rebellious streak but legal licenses." That should make for some interesting interactions in the 'Verse.

Privateer: An armed ship owned and officered by private individuals holding a government commission and authorized for use in war, especially in the capture of enemy merchant shipping.

Which brings us to Marullus' "What kind of jobs are we expecting, then?" portion. As Marullus puts it, the party is kinda pro-law, kinda anti-Alliance, kinda anti-corruption, which leaves the crew sorta in the middle between the bad guys, the little guys just trying to scrape by, and the Alliance.

• The anti-corruption side might naturally drive the crew toward helping the little guy, to a lesser or greater degree, as long as it benefits the crew too??? (might even cause tension within the crew).
• So what will the crew get out of it, personally for each crewmember (very important for each player to decide)???
• This would leave the crew doing jobs for pay; say contract work, that may or may not be against the alliance, might be on the up and up, but might also draw the attention of the undesirables (as in bad guys and corrupt politicians/Alliance).
• What would be 1-3 long term goals of the crew, or should those be left to fate/chance/luck??? (each crewmember may/should have their own).
• Maybe the crew chooses one or more jobs that might be under the table, so to speak, in order to accomplish some goal, or to move toward a goal.
• Is the crew as a whole, and on the individual level, trying to do good, or something else???
• How would the Privateers element fit in? Is the crew straddling the line between the Alliance, even though some of the members have a bad taste/blood/experience with the Alliance, and may possibly have a hard time if the Alliance knows who they are, and everything/everyone else???

Just stuff to consider.



Road Runner Class Independent Blockade Runner
Ship Name:

• Engines 10
  Hull 6
  Systems 8

Crew Dice: Crewmember uses own Skill and Specialties when operating the ship.

These blockade runners were manufactured by Weyland-Yutani during the Unification War and were used primarily to break through Alliance blockades surrounding besieged worlds. These ships land vertically in order to allow a quick take-off if they are discovered on the ground. After the War, they were confiscated by the Alliance and decommissioned. Now, mechanics and salvagers can find these vessels in spaceship junkyards throughout the ’Verse.

• Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a d4 instead of a d8.
• Catch Me If You Can!: Spend 1 PP to step up a Complication inflicted on another ship that is chasing you. (Replaced with Rippin' and Fixin' montage)
• Rippin’ and Fixin’ Montage: Spend 1 PP at the beginning of a Timed Action involving repairing a ship or gathering salvage. For each of your rolls during the Timed Action, your Crew may reroll any die that comes up 1 instead of accepting a Plot Point for that die. If a die comes up as a 1 when rerolled, it may not be rerolled a second time.
• Quick Off the Ground: Spend 1 PP to double Engines when launching from a planetary surface.

I think the Rippin’ and Fixin’ Montage might be more useful, and I’m not opposed to switching those.

Off the Grid 8
For whatever reason, your ship never got properly registered. Even when you file all the necessary forms, they don’t get processed right.

• Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a d4 instead of a d8.
  • Where Did She Go?: Spend 1 PP to create a No Record Found d8 Asset when trying to prevent someone from tracking you through the Cortex.
  • Things Go Smooth…er: Take or step up a Complication related to your ship’s missing identification to reroll a die when dealing with the Law.

Cobbled Together 8
Your ship was built from salvage parts and space junk. She looks kinda ugly, but she sure can surprise folk when she needs to.

• Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a d4 instead of a d8.
  • Frankenstein’s Boat: Spend 1 PP to switch the die ratings of Engines and Systems for the rest of the scene.
  • She’s Got Class, Lots of Class: Spend 1 PP to create an Unknown Ship Class d8 Asset when someone tries to identify your ship.

Signature Assets
Electromagnetic Shielding 8
Your systems have been upgraded with advanced shielding and programs designed to keep hackers out and your digital and heat signature in. When power is shut down to minimal safe amounts, it’s nearly impossible to detect your ship from a distance.

History:

[Marullus]

I think we need to nail down the campaign theme before we can go further with the ship. So far we have the following ideas floating and not all of them mesh:

• An independent crew picking up work to keep flyin'. (Firefly show style)
• A licensed trader doing legit work for the Guild, trying to balance their demands with our own (and competing) interests.
• Privateering - with official or at least tacit approval, we hunt down bad apples, disable their ships, and live off their bounties.
• Serving the Seht corporation by doing clandestine work to get the blueprints, tech, and materials needed for the dream of launching 2nd gen ships without the Alliance knowing about it.
• Investigating crimes and finding secrets, then stopping the corrupt bastards who orchestrate them.
• Being like the A-Team. An elite team helping the little guy and sticking it to the Alliance in a clandestine, undetectable ship.

Other thoughts?

Our characters have started coming together. What are we doing with them?

[Antman9]

I think we need to nail down the campaign theme before we can go further with the ship.

I definitely agree. I need to have that at least somewhat narrowed down so I can develop, bare minimum, the first/opening act. Hence the reasoning for my most recent round of annoying questions.


The A-Team option sounds cool to me, but I'm not playing a character. That might just be my age showing a bit too



Oh, and Marullus...Thank you very much for stepping up and helping out on the PC side of things. It is very helpful, and very much appreciated. My schedule at work has been hectic the last few weeks. We are going to PBX server migrations, and they are wearing me down something fierce. Not to mention I'm trying to learn the Firefly Cortex Plus rule system as we go along. So thank you.

Antman9 (Marc)

[Jack]

I think we need to nail down the campaign theme before we can go further with the ship. So far we have the following ideas floating and not all of them mesh:

1. An independent crew picking up work to keep flyin'. (Firefly show style)
2. A licensed trader doing legit work for the Guild, trying to balance their demands with our own (and competing) interests.
3. Privateering - with official or at least tacit approval, we hunt down bad apples, disable their ships, and live off their bounties.
4. Serving the Seht corporation by doing clandestine work to get the blueprints, tech, and materials needed for the dream of launching 2nd gen ships without the Alliance knowing about it.
5. Investigating crimes and finding secrets, then stopping the corrupt bastards who orchestrate them.
6. Being like the A-Team. An elite team helping the little guy and sticking it to the Alliance in a clandestine, undetectable ship.

My favorites are combining 2 and 1 (the trader's guild occasionally asking us to do certain jobs for helping us out of sticky situations, the salvage guild permit allowing us to legally tow/pick/strip/fix&fly derelicts we find as we're doing other things). We can mix it up with some 5/6 episodes (where Milly brings in a job?), and as background we're regularly doing 4 jobs which can come back to bite us in the buttocks for some of the season finales. (For Seht, I'm think generations ships, like the ones used for extremely long voyages (e.g. from Earth-that-was to the Core, but in this case going the other way) that take more than a generation to reach their destination.)

I'm not a fan of 3 where we're fighting the Alliance's enemies as privateers, but if money's tight and we just disable instead of blasting other ships, our ship can be customized to do that.

Our characters have started coming together. What are we doing with them?

Jesse Milly Percy
10 12 12 Influence 11
08 10 08 Notice 7
04 08 10 Fly 5
08 04 10 Focus 5
06 04 10 Know 4
10 06 04 Shoot 4
04 08 06 Drive 3
10 04 04 Fight 3
04 08 04 Perform 2
04 04 08 Trick 2
04 06 04 Fix 1
06 04 04 Operate 1
04 06 04 Sneak 1
06 04 04 Survive 1
04 04 04 Craft 0
04 04 04 Labor 0
04 04 04 Move 0
04 04 04 Throw 0
04 04 04 Treat 0

A list of possible NPCs:
*Damien Archer - Milly's brother.
*Elmira Douglas - Rich Core merchant, secretly building 2 generation ships at Andersonville, Salisbury, Kalidasa.
*Germaine DuPoint - organized Milly's parents and brothers' murder. A businessman and ring leader to a large crime gang.

[Jack]

But we are working with Seht, doing clandestine jobs for them under Alliance noses. Pro-law but anti-corruption? Seems to be our theme as each of us ran into distasteful and corrupt practices which drove us from our former lives. Pro-law makes us good at loopholes.

What kind of jobs are we expecting, then?

I think your summary of transporting "blueprints, tech, and materials" is perfect. Some of the development will be at Andersonville, Salisbury, Kalidasa, and some of it elsewhere but we don't know about that. The integration work (adding engines to 2 hollowed out asteroids, and putting everything together as the generation ship?) will again be done at 2 different locations, and we won't know either location - most people working with the project only know parts of the plan.

[Quaid Slauson]

Welcome Quaid!
It helps me to think of it more like acting. And the nice thing about this sort of RPG is that it is (somewhat) background-focused. You build your character with a history and their current distinctions and skills stem from that. All you need to do is think about what would that person do in that situation.

What sort of character were you thinking of playing?

Thank you, Rusty. Acting scares me, but so be it. I have some character notes started in the campaign thread.

Speaking of which, what are the distinctions between the OOC and the campaign thread?

[Quaid Slauson]

I think we need to nail down the campaign theme before we can go further with the ship. So far we have the following ideas floating and not all of them mesh:

1. An independent crew picking up work to keep flyin'. (Firefly show style)
2. A licensed trader doing legit work for the Guild, trying to balance their demands with our own (and competing) interests.
3. Privateering - with official or at least tacit approval, we hunt down bad apples, disable their ships, and live off their bounties.
4. Serving the Seht corporation by doing clandestine work to get the blueprints, tech, and materials needed for the dream of launching 2nd gen ships without the Alliance knowing about it.
5. Investigating crimes and finding secrets, then stopping the corrupt bastards who orchestrate them.
6. Being like the A-Team. An elite team helping the little guy and sticking it to the Alliance in a clandestine, undetectable ship.

My favorites are combining 2 and 1 (the trader's guild occasionally asking us to do certain jobs for helping us out of sticky situations, the salvage guild permit allowing us to legally tow/pick/strip/fix&fly derelicts we find as we're doing other things). We can mix it up with some 5/6 episodes (where Milly brings in a job?), and as background we're regularly doing 4 jobs which can come back to bite us in the buttocks for some of the season finales. (For Seht, I'm think generations ships, like the ones used for extremely long voyages (e.g. from Earth-that-was to the Core, but in this case going the other way) that take more than a generation to reach their destination.)

I'm not a fan of 3 where we're fighting the Alliance's enemies as privateers, but if money's tight and we just disable instead of blasting other ships, our ship can be customized to do that.

I agree with Jack on 1 and 2 being favorites. A combo works for me.

[Antman9]

OOC threads are typically for out of character jabber. Its kind of a catch-all really. The Campaign Discussion thread we are using to hash out characters and how we want to run the campaign. When u have a rough/1st draft character sheet you will post that in the Character Sheets thread and then modify that post as you develop your character. The rest are fairly obvious.

Everyone starts somewhere, so just do the best you can and it will eventually come easier/more naturaly for you. You'll find more encouragement here than anything else.

Antman9

[Marullus]

Character Summary:
Jack, I love that chart! Great idea! I updated it to the newer version of Jesse and added the current sheets for Edmund and Rusty.

Jesse Milly Percy Edmund Rusty
10 12 12 6 4 Influence (Average: 9)
8 10 8 6 6 Notice (Average: 8)
4 8 10 8 4 Fly (Average: 7)
10 4 10 6 4 Know (Average: 7)
10 4 4 8 8 Fight (Average: 7)
6 4 10 6 6 Focus (Average: 6)
10 6 4 4 6 Shoot (Average: 6)
6 4 4 8 8 Operate (Average: 6)
4 4 4 8 8 Labor (Average: 6)
4 8 6 4 4 Drive (Average: 5)
4 6 4 4 8 Fix (Average: 5)
6 4 4 4 8 Survive (Average: 5)
6 4 4 8 4 Treat (Average: 5)
4 8 4 4 4 Perform (Average: 5)
4 4 8 4 4 Trick (Average: 5)
4 4 4 8 4 Move (Average: 5)
4 6 4 4 4 Sneak (Average: 4)
4 4 4 4 6 Craft (Average: 4)
4 4 4 4 6 Throw (Average: 4)

The good news is that we have at least one guy with at least a 6 in every skill. We are definitely weighted to fly/chase around the universe investigating things and convincing difficult people.

What's Our Storyline?

I think we need to nail down the campaign theme before we can go further with the ship.

I definitely agree. I need to have that at least somewhat narrowed down so I can develop, bare minimum, the first/opening act. Hence the reasoning for my most recent round of annoying questions.

The A-Team option sounds cool to me, but I'm not playing a character. That might just be my age showing a bit too

So far we have the following ideas floating and not all of them mesh:

1. An independent crew picking up work to keep flyin'. (Firefly show style)
2. A licensed trader doing legit work for the Guild, trying to balance their demands with our own (and competing) interests.
3. Privateering - with official or at least tacit approval, we hunt down bad apples, disable their ships, and live off their bounties.
4. Serving the Seht corporation by doing clandestine work to get the blueprints, tech, and materials needed for the dream of launching 2nd gen ships without the Alliance knowing about it.
5. Investigating crimes and finding secrets, then stopping the corrupt bastards who orchestrate them.
6. Being like the A-Team. An elite team helping the little guy and sticking it to the Alliance in a clandestine, undetectable ship.

My favorites are combining 2 and 1 (the trader's guild occasionally asking us to do certain jobs for helping us out of sticky situations, the salvage guild permit allowing us to legally tow/pick/strip/fix&fly derelicts we find as we're doing other things). We can mix it up with some 5/6 episodes (where Milly brings in a job?), and as background we're regularly doing 4 jobs which can come back to bite us in the buttocks for some of the season finales. (For Seht, I'm think generations ships, like the ones used for extremely long voyages (e.g. from Earth-that-was to the Core, but in this case going the other way) that take more than a generation to reach their destination.)

I'm not a fan of 3 where we're fighting the Alliance's enemies as privateers, but if money's tight and we just disable instead of blasting other ships, our ship can be customized to do that.

I agree with Jack on 1 and 2 being favorites. A combo works for me.

I'd like to acknowledge and thank Antman for running this game: ultimately it is his choice alone as to what kind of adventures and episodes he wants to run, and I am grateful he's asking for so much input into that decision.

As for my personal thoughts to add to this discussion: Given the crew we have (an investigator/face, a bounty hunter, a black-ops specialist, a mechanic/heavy, and a captain/pointman), I love the idea of "taking on the bad guys that nobody else will touch." This has our ship as clearly independent and taking on jobs from the disenfranchised, tackling bullies and corrupt entities who abuse them and turning the tables to the benefit of the little guy. This can be A-team style jobs in any locale (#6) or hunting and taking out bully-pirates at their ships as privateers (#3), while doing odd jobs in between (#1). Everything we do pisses off the owners of the status quo (be they criminal, alliance, or trade guild), but is for the cause of good, and I see that appealing to all our character's backgrounds.

I don't understand the recent quick-shift to the Trade Guild, and I'd like to know the intent there. Who is the Trade Guild? Are you using the Seht Corporation as our "Trade Guild" or is this a new entity we haven't discussed? If new, what are their motivations? Why are we willing to be beholden to them instead of independent?

I see being beholden to a greater power as fundamentally at odds with "get a ship and keep flyin'" independence which was the original theme. I'm okay with it if that's the group's choice but I want us to be explicit, and right now I don't understand. Percy went from being a criminal-branded anarchist to being a corporate stooge, and I'm not sure from the conversation why that is. We're now talking about he, and the ship, being potentially beholden to both a Trade Guild and a secret Seht Corporation. That's a very different feel than the original Firefly series and concept we were targeting. I'm not sure that we can reconcile this after play begins, so I want us to be clear on a direction to help Antman plan forward.

I am honestly okay if the group chooses any of the choices above. I just want us all to be on the same page on what we're doing and what our expectations are. (While our characters are well-suited for all scenarios, running trade, disabling pirate ships, and clandestine ops all require different ship builds.)

But we are working with Seht, doing clandestine jobs for them under Alliance noses. Pro-law but anti-corruption? Seems to be our theme as each of us ran into distasteful and corrupt practices which drove us from our former lives. Pro-law makes us good at loopholes.

What kind of jobs are we expecting, then?

I think your summary of transporting "blueprints, tech, and materials" is perfect. Some of the development will be at Andersonville, Salisbury, Kalidasa, and some of it elsewhere but we don't know about that. The integration work (adding engines to 2 hollowed out asteroids, and putting everything together as the generation ship?) will again be done at 2 different locations, and we won't know either location - most people working with the project only know parts of the plan.

Discussing this one separately. I think these kind of missions would be fun - but this is fundamentally a Corporate Espionage campaign, and that is a bit different than a Firefly-like game clinging to the Rim. The key component of this is clandestine or covert operations (not knowing anything happened, or if they know it happened not knowing who did it) so that the Alliance can't "connect the dots" back to the Seht Corporation. Our group should excel at that kind of work (it is my guy's specialty, even) and I would have a lot of fun playing it. I want to make sure that others would have fun, too.

What I would expect here:

• Missions deep into Alliance core space to steal plans and technology that Seht needs but doesn't have access to. This means infiltrating corporations or government facilities, accessing files or hard copies, and exfiltrating them to our trip without getting caught. Then, escaping the scene without our ship and signature being recorded and tied to the event.
• Getting rare materials needed for the Seht Corporation's work. This could be getting rid of the pirates who are plaguing a mining colony and thus securing that mining colony's exclusive contracts through shell companies so the ores and materials go back to Seht. This could be raiding a seedy den of bad guys to steal something they already stole off of some freighters, all while ensuring they don't realize what the real target of the raid is. This could be rescuing a brilliant engineer from (whomever has him and won't let him go) so he can join the Seht project.
• Containing the secrets. Loose lips sink ships and Seht can't afford their ships to get sunk. We might be asked to hunt down and silence defectors, moles, or random third parties who know something that they shouldn't and get it done before they can leak what they know to someone else.

I see our relationship being either vertical or horizontal.

• Vertical: We work for the Seht corporation and they have some control over us - we (or at least the captain) are either loyal to the cause, beholden financially (they own the ship/captain's debt?), or subject to blackmail of some kind. Because of the immense secrecy that Seht must demand, I see them wanting this relationship.
• Horizontal: We are an independent ship doing independent jobs. But the Captain has some friends at Seht; they ask us to help them out sometimes and we choose to help or not at the time. I assume we prefer this, but then I'd follow up by asking, "why does Seht trust us so much when we are a liability to them?" At what point would Seht send other assets to contain and control US as potential loose-lips?

I hope that explicitly laying that out helps us come to terms on some of the details. What is it your are thinking, Jack? What do others prefer? Are you okay with Vertical? If we are Horizontal to them, how much of our story do you want to be Seht-related work? Just the occasional link (20%)? A big focus (50%)? A piece of each job? (70%)?

[Jack]

what drives your crewmember? Is there a singular thing that gets them up every day and pushes them forward, a driving force, or something simple even.

What would be 1-3 long term goals of the crew

This may change as we decide on the kinds of jobs we'd like to do, but for now I see Percy having been disillusioned about humanity because people actually thought starting the war was a good idea. The stories the POWs told of what happened during it, didn't help either. He now wants to get away from the Alliance, and he believes the Seht project is the best way to do that.

He's also become disillusioned in himself, because living ethically out in the black ain't easy; so he wants to do better by his crew and friends than he has been.

I don't understand the recent quick-shift to the Trade Guild, and I'd like to know the intent there. Who is the Trade Guild? Are you using the Seht Corporation as our "Trade Guild" or is this a new entity we haven't discussed? If new, what are their motivations? Why are we willing to be beholden to them instead of independent?

I see being beholden to a greater power as fundamentally at odds with "get a ship and keep flyin'" independence which was the original theme. I'm okay with it if that's the group's choice but I want us to be explicit, and right now I don't understand. Percy went from being a criminal-branded anarchist to being a corporate stooge, and I'm not sure from the conversation why that is. We're now talking about he, and the ship, being potentially beholden to both a Trade Guild and a secret Seht Corporation. That's a very different feel than the original Firefly series and concept we were targeting. I'm not sure that we can reconcile this after play begins, so I want us to be clear on a direction to help Antman plan forward.

The 2 permits were so that they're not criminals, which would result in them getting turned in by the investigator and bounty hunter. If they do some smuggling, the crew would all need to be okay with why they're doing it.
Page 107 says "To sell cargo or merchandise legally in the 'Verse, you need to have a Guild permit. Like the Companion's Guild, the Trader's Guild is an officially sanctioned organization that's monitored by the Alliance."

See also page 56 for the episode "Safe", and page 133 for the episode "Heart of gold".

Mal and crew mostly worked on the border and rim, but when they went to the Core or dealt with the Alliance they were mighty jumpy, and therefor had fake papers, "Captain Harbatkin", to get Book some medical help in "Safe".

clandestine or covert operations (not knowing anything happened, or if they know it happened not knowing who did it) so that the Alliance can't "connect the dots" back to the Seht Corporation. Our group should excel at that kind of work (it is my guy's specialty, even) and I would have a lot of fun playing it. I want to make sure that others would have fun, too.

What I would expect here:

• Missions deep into Alliance core space to steal plans and technology that Seht needs but doesn't have access to. This means infiltrating corporations or government facilities, accessing files or hard copies, and exfiltrating them to our trip without getting caught. Then, escaping the scene without our ship and signature being recorded and tied to the event.
• Getting rare materials needed for the Seht Corporation's work. This could be getting rid of the pirates who are plaguing a mining colony and thus securing that mining colony's exclusive contracts through shell companies so the ores and materials go back to Seht. This could be raiding a seedy den of bad guys to steal something they already stole off of some freighters, all while ensuring they don't realize what the real target of the raid is. This could be rescuing a brilliant engineer from (whomever has him and won't let him go) so he can join the Seht project.
• Containing the secrets. Loose lips sink ships and Seht can't afford their ships to get sunk. We might be asked to hunt down and silence defectors, moles, or random third parties who know something that they shouldn't and get it done before they can leak what they know to someone else.

That sounds awesome. I hadn't even thought of stuff that daring.

I see our relationship being either vertical or horizontal.

• Vertical: We work for the Seht corporation and they have some control over us - we (or at least the captain) are either loyal to the cause, beholden financially (they own the ship/captain's debt?), or subject to blackmail of some kind. Because of the immense secrecy that Seht must demand, I see them wanting this relationship.
• Horizontal: We are an independent ship doing independent jobs. But the Captain has some friends at Seht; they ask us to help them out sometimes and we choose to help or not at the time. I assume we prefer this, but then I'd follow up by asking, "why does Seht trust us so much when we are a liability to them?" At what point would Seht send other assets to contain and control US as potential loose-lips?

Vertical fits well with some of the stuff we've been thinking about. Everyone else?

Percy believes hard (the rest of the crew may or may not), and his browncoat friends would have vouched for him. Jesse may know everything Percy does, and Milly may already have figured out most of it. Rusty's engineering expertise is essential for identifying the mechanical and electrical stuff that such unique ships would need, and Edmund would need to know why certain people with the wanted skills need to found.

I hope that explicitly laying that out helps us come to terms on some of the details. What is it your are thinking, Jack? What do others prefer? Are you okay with Vertical? If we are Horizontal to them, how much of our story do you want to be Seht-related work? Just the occasional link (20%)? A big focus (50%)? A piece of each job? (70%)?

Even Vertical, just the occasional link, or wherever Antman wants to take us. The crew has to do some normal looking jobs so they don't trip any red flags, which Seht doesn't want when we're bringing in experts, equipment, or parts from Core worlds like Ariel. That said, not having any red flags will probably also get you onto some Alliance list of suspiciously unsuspicious behaviour.

[Marullus]

Thanks for the page references, that really helped. So the Trade Guild, like Anara's Companion's Guild, exists to provide Alliance licensure and the backing of legitimacy and periodically butts in with bureaucracy or hassle. Our ship should appear to be a legit trader.

The captain is in Debt, the money borrowed to buy his ship and from the Seht corporation. The captain therefore is directly beholden when they call upon him. With the talents of our crew, they are inclined to do so.

Beholden or not, the captain is a true believer in Seht's goal of starting over as a utopia where the Alliance can't find them. (True Believer would be a great signature asset for him to take whenever working towards Seht's goals or protecting their secrets.)

Does that all make sense and is it agreeable to everyone?

[Quaid Slauson]

I love the idea of "taking on the bad guys that nobody else will touch."

I thought the A-team concept sounded a little hoaky, until you put it like that.

Regarding the main theme, may I also suggest the show Dark Matter as a possible source of inspiration. (Smallish spaceship doing odd jobs. Six-person crew with vastly different skills, personalities, motivations. And a semi-NPC android who helps pilot/operate the ship. ) Anyway, they are in some way beholden to a Corp, but they are independent-minded/decisive/desparate enough that they will cut ties and realign on a dime (and, of course, reap the consequences). I'm not saying we need to choose one way or another; I just don't want us ever feeling trapped without choices. Presumably we will feel trapped and under pressure (often perhaps), but there are always choices to "keep 'er flying." (Speaking of choices, Train Job is good reminder.)

[Quaid Slauson]

Sorry, I don't mean to wreak any havoc on the campaign. Changing course "on a dime" probably isn't what DM's like hearing.

[Quaid Slauson]

As I take another break from work, here is something fun that every fan of the 'Verse should have the opportunity to enjoy:

Crimson Dark

A webcomic by David C. Simon about a motley crew of privateers with a female left-for-dead fighter pilot being the "new person." Heavy Firefly influences with bits of Battlestar: Galactica and Star Wars and other stuff. Amazing CGI that continued to improve. Cool ships; fire fights; jobs going south; background complications; guild treachery; government lies; romantic interests; tech; the wandering preacher; the girl with powers; mysterious derelict ships; changing alliances; refugees; humor; coffee and chili; and more.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Uhhhh... Wow. You all are moving so fast. I cannot really keep up. I'll read and type more later. Since my character isn't finished yet, I can tailor him more to fit whatever. Personality-wise, I hadn't seen him hating the Alliance, but rather just being sick of their war. He wants a simpler life on board a boat.

And wtih the A-Team references, I was tempted to make a BA Barrakus-style, fix-everything, but won't fly. Ridiculous concept for a space RPG.

[Jack]

The captain is in Debt, the money borrowed to buy his ship and from the Seht corporation. The captain therefore is directly beholden when they call upon him. With the talents of our crew, they are inclined to do so.

Yeah, but he currently actually likes the people at Seht (or at least rationalizes it that way).

Beholden or not, the captain is a true believer in Seht's goal of starting over as a utopia where the Alliance can't find them. (True Believer would be a great signature asset for him to take whenever working towards Seht's goals or protecting their secrets.)

Does that all make sense and is it agreeable to everyone?

I don't think he's a true believer in the organization, just the idea of getting far away from the Alliance. He doesn't think the plans of the "rebels [...] actively collecting information and thwarting the Alliance’s inner-workings at great personal risk [or an] underground network of folk who would prefer to see the other systems thrive and eventually break free from Alliance rule by learning how to sustain themselves." (p. 162) will work, tho he thinks the rim systems becoming more sustainable is a good idea anyway.

And wtih the A-Team references, I was tempted to make a BA Barrakus-style, fix-everything, but won't fly. Ridiculous concept for a space RPG.

Maybe he's fine with flying and docking, but scared to death of landing on a world, and Milly needs to give him a Kiss of Death before anyone even talks about landing Can the NPC's nickname be "Howling Mad"?


Anyone have any ideas of what year our first episode will be? 2517-05 when Firefly's pilot episode happened? That would be 6 years after the war, and (if this also happens in our 'verse) 18 months before Mal broadcasts the signal.

[Marullus]

And wtih the A-Team references, I was tempted to make a BA Barrakus-style, fix-everything, but won't fly. Ridiculous concept for a space RPG.

Maybe he's fine with flying and docking, but scared to death of landing on a world, and Milly needs to give him a Kiss of Death before anyone even talks about landing Can the NPC's nickname be "Howling Mad"?

I was going to suggest something similar but I like your idea much better. Burning up on atmospheric re-entry is a totally reasonable time to be afraid. Especially if he has particular flashbacks to ship fires or mining accidents where he saw people flashburned.

A trigger like "create a an 'I Don't Wanna Burn!' d8 complication and earn a PP" would work but I don't know how you'd implement it.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Those ideas are rich. Something to think over for sure.

But would it get old? The reason it worked on the a team is because they usually drove places. If we land on different worlds frequently, that could be a tiring shtick.

[Marullus]

I could see it would get old if it stops play to deal with it. As a Complication die, it becomes more a part of the scene - the GM uses the die in rolls against you so effectively you are less successful as a PC during times when you're afraid of fire. It is just the thing your guy struggles with, like a Reader getting Paranoid or a Decorated war hero dealing with Guilt. Eventually your character would grow through it and perhaps change to a different distinction/trigger. (That said, I still don't know how/where Antman would implement it as a custom trigger.) Sure, it is a gimmick. But it could be used for depth.