Bringer of Stories Presents GURPS: A Space Opera

Game Master ZenFox42

STEP 2: Coordinating Background!
1) Flesh how the group came to be
2) Combine and arrange 'enemies'
3) Fluff

Rix is a nickname that developed because her full name was such a mouthful and so many letters. Her given first name is Rohana but only her parents and brothers and sister call her that. Her full name is Rohana Ingólfsdóttir-Xióng. She is a mix of many races, but she looks more South Asian (Indian) than anything else, with short dark hair and a bindi (red dot) between her eyebrows. Here eyes are greenish blue and also have a slight Asian slant. She is average looking, not standing out as unusually attractive or unattractive. She is 5'6" tall and 120 lb. She speaks with a slight British accent.

She comes from a middle class family and was raised with many advantages of the age. She went to college and then to medical school (or the current equivalent) and since graduating has been working to save up some money.

If anyone would have connections to her prior to the start of the game, it would have to be through fairly proper and normal activities, such as school or work on earth. She has never been in space except as a tourist to the moon or other near-earth attractions. But for a long time she has had her eyes on the stars as where she wants to go in life.

If no one knows her from before the adventure, then it is likely she connected through some sort of service that connects people looking for work with employers looking for workers. She has indicated through such services that she is a highly skilled doctor, surgeon, and veterinarian looking for a position as ship's doctor for intra-solar system and/or interstellar space travel.

At some point, whoever owns the ship we will be on likely recognized the need for a doctor and looked at the positions wanted list and picked Rix.

Rix is very naive about life beyond the comfortable communities and workplaces of earth. She has a highly romanticized set of expectations about what space travel will be like and will no doubt have to come to terms with a very different reality once underway.

Her personality would be described by such terms as wholesome, nice, accommodating, considerate, and pleasant. But she does not suffer bullies or fools gladly, nor does she like to be treated as less than an equal.

Her passion, beyond healing, is plants and animals of all sorts. She is most interested in seeing new forms of life and ever hopeful she will be among the first to encounter intelligent aliens.

She has the psionic power of psychic healing, which she combines with her conventional healing methods as needed.

The other unusual thing about her is her pet, Trixy, a domesticated version of a saber-tooth tiger the size of a bobcat. It is tame and gentle unless someone threatens Rix, at which point it will fight to protect her. She seems to have conversations with it just touching it and concentrating. She claims the cat can communicate with anyone who touches the cat's fur and projects thoughts or emotions toward the animal.

I am open to having connections with other characters. I haven't read all the post so far, but I will be doing that as time allows and will suggest any connections that seem possible, although I'm happy to role play her as a stranger to everyone at first meeting.

Still working on equipment. I'll have that up tonight.

A-ha!

I think I can see Garneau getting on the first ship he could find off Red Rock.

I thought that him and Dr. Rix could be friends/acquaintances from university, but then I saw this.

She speaks with a slight British accent.

The galaxy is trop petit for both of us!

Seriously, though, it's a suggestion. It would be possible that a position for an engineer/tech-support/anything was opened on the Doc's boat, and he jumped at the opportunity. He might be a bit shaken and cowardly at first, but then calm down soon enough.

Assuming our starting cash is $50,000, per Basic Book, Rix has a fair amount unspent. I misread something on the Character Assistant program. She has purchased a fair amount of medical supplies for situations outside the ship where she doesn't have ship equipment and supplies to use. She has a few weapons, mostly non-lethal, some armor, and a few weapon accessories.

She's spent a little over 12K and so she has about 38K in reserve if needed to buy into the ship.

I've sunk most of my cash ($33k) into weapons, and am tracking down gadgets to spend the other 17k on... but I also bought 14x starting wealth in Signature Gear, so I'm not super concerned about having little money left.

I've got my profile updated for equipment and the ally. I'll be tweaking it and adding helpful references to the rules for things I don't want to have to look up every time. But otherwise, Rix is ready.

She has only two equipment pieces which are considered superscience, so submitted for your approval:

Medscanner (TL10^): A pocket-sized device with a one yard range. It gives a +3 (quality) bonus to Diagnosis skill. $1,000, 0.25 lbs., B/10 hr. LC4. Page 200.
I think this is supposed to be like the Star Trek tricorder.

Force Beamer (TL10^): The ranged equivalent of brass knuckles. The impact of this palm-sized weapon’s force beam feels like the kick of a mule. Page 128.

I did not see anything in either Ultra Tech or GURPS Basic Book about the cost of a lower tech item being diminished if bought at higher tech. It may only be for computers and special equipment. But if we can reduce the cost if all TL 9 items, that will certainly save some money.

For those of you who are openly psychic, please give yourselves Status +1

This represents the initial social power psi's get just for being.

Just thought of that.

Edit: The Force Beamer may be too advanced for the setting, as Laser pistols are the 'sate-of-the-art' military side arm atm. is that acceptable?

@APRIL: Garneau is also a capable (though not exceptional) AI programmer. Because of course he is. Do try to prevent him from turning full Tony Stark, please.

I don't know if there's an AI supplement (knowing GURPS, it absolutely does), but maybe we can fluff her upgrades with him tweaking around (gently), if you're thinking of upgrading software too. At any rate, he'd be seriously interested, though in any such events he must be reminded to turn the HAII language back to English.

Think he's just about ready, then, unless you think there's some gear I might pick up.

At any point, would you fine fellow please throw a post telling me your remaining monies?

Also, to show the style in which we played last time...
Last Time on Gurps!MWAHAHAHA

The monies is $40,000, since I purchased stuff for 8,250, and 1,750 would go for personal gear and various tech-stuff. And lots and lots of Gitan*.

I don't know if there's an AI supplement (knowing GURPS, it absolutely does), but maybe we can fluff her upgrades with him tweaking around (gently), if you're thinking of upgrading software too. At any rate, he'd be seriously interested, though in any such events he must be reminded to turn the HAII language back to English.

APRIL 26-b functions as a Complexity 9 High-Cap mainframe. Her software is all cutting-edge or military-grade, and gives +2 to anyone using a skill it can aid with (certain engineering, science, and tactical uses); my signature gear includes wrist terminals for everyone in the party that can project a hologram of her face. (Mostly, I intend for her to use the software herself in the field, but it should be available for the party during downtime). However, it won't be super-easy to program software for *new* skills, and Garneau could be helpful for that.

As for language—I'm a universal (human) translator. For a cost of 5 complexity slots per conversation, I can perfectly translate between any two human languages via said wrist-computers (I got the highest-quality TL 10 translation software, which mimics the speaker's own voice and tone, only changing the syllables, into flawless native-accented speech)

* * *

GM: Is it okay to purchase a single rainbow laser rifle, if lasers are cutting-edge? This is APRIL's one "secret" military-grade weapon that she keeps concealed for emergencies.

I love that we practically have a HaII/Cortana.

How much monies left, Thunder?

EDIT: Huh. I'll accept that.

For those of you who are openly psychic, please give yourselves Status +1

This represents the initial social power psi's get just for being.

Just thought of that.

Edit: The Force Beamer may be too advanced for the setting, as Laser pistols are the 'sate-of-the-art' military side arm atm. is that acceptable?

Thanks for the Status upgrade. No problem on the beamer. It appealed to me because it did non-lethal damage mainly. But she's got some other options for beam weapons.

Cash on hand: $50,000 - $12,184 = $37,816

@ Nedora: If Nedora's genetic engineering has been done on earth, it would be possible that Rix may have served as one of her doctors. Rix doesn't do genetic engineering, but she could do check ups and tests on people who have had genetic engineering done on them as part of follow-up care. Rix got her daggertooth cat when she was doing some work for the firm that had designed the creature, so she might also have worked with human patients.

@ Others with cybernetics: Same possible connection. If someone got bionic implants and then needed some medical attention for some kind of side-effect or biological complication, Dr Rix might have met the person while working as a doctor.

I'll get a profile up soon.

I only skimmed through the recruiting thread as I realized how quickly the game was moving.

I also want to play a psion (they're fun!).

I did not see a list of what areas people were focusing on. Has a group dynamic been selected? I'm willing to build a character that will fill a missing dynamic. (Although I prefer IQ based positions to meat shields)

I see that we have a doctor!
And a hacker.
Not sure what the AI is going to be, pilot?

With psionics, I've liked (nor used in the games I run) that you have to be at least latent in every are you eventually want to develop.

Would you be up for allowing development in other psionic talents provided the character has at least some psionics?

Are psions required to be registered, wear an armband, otherwise be readily recognizable?

cool beans, looks like we have $77,816 remained so far by Rix and Jean.
So, to give you guys a feel of the gov't of Terra and the inner system of Sol...

The Prince: The Seat of Power rests with him. Although technically, a dictator, he hasn't shown any signs of object cruelty or unreasonable re-structure. Attempts on his life have been made (many done in public, each viewable on the holoweb) however, each would-be assassin was 'obliterated'. Although Not very active beyond his public appearences here and there, it's said he remains in Terra's Citadel (A megalithic structure made of some kind of crystalline glass) and observes the world silently.

The Knights: The Prince, once he took power, bestow three enforces the titles of Knights. They each represent one of the three aspects of Psionics: Esper, Telepath, Kinetisist. In turn, they are also aspects of the system government.

Kinetisist: Baron Silus. A potent telekentic, his armada roams the Sol system and keeps pirates and other 'undesirables' at bay. He's not often seen though when he is, its often because he's chosen to handle an person of interest himself...

Telepath: Baroness Wendy. Wendy is a loved figure among the gov't official structure on Terra and Mars. She often ferries between the two to ensure good relations. She's directly responsible for population welfare and the distribution of resources on gov't scales. Her armada is said to house several prion-ships, all of which are rumored to hold psi-experiemnts.

Esper:Baron Vega: Believed to be a figment of propaganda, "Vega" is said to be with his armada at all times. His fleet is located Just past the asteroid belt leading into the outter system. There, his ships intercepts, destroy, or warn those who would attempt to venture outward without proper clearance... More often then not, Pirates claim that Vega is the boogyman of space. However, its hard to explain why no one reports from the outter system.

Pirates: The 'pirate horde' is based in the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars. There they pray on resources from Terra, Venus and Mercury to the outter systems... However, they also pray on ships returning from the outter system as well. They are always recruiting and often take interviews just to rile Baron Silus. They have never won an engagement with Silus in space or on foot... But they continue non-the-less.

Industry Worlds: The two major worlds of Inustry are Venus and Mercury. Both are entirely funded by private companies who all have a stake on portions of both or one world. They compete heavily...and some times violently. Though this competition has allowed for mass space ship contruction.

Mars: Often refered to as 'The colony', the red world has a bloody history with Terra back in the original colonization effort. An independence movement was fought, and Mars lost. However, despite the embitterment, it was granted independence and recognition as its own gov't.
Technomancer Rylith: Ancient by human standard, this man has kept himself alive by both force of will and advancement in cybernetic tech. However, he is forever bound to his throne in the Martian capital city built into the mountain of Olympus Mons. He watches earth with a vigilent gaze but honors his father's past deeds in gaining independence centuries ago.

@Fnord: Psions who are born on earth are normally recognized early and thus recorded. They are also gifted with higher status. So unless you wish to be unknown, yes, they are registered.
A niche we are missing? Nothing righ toff the top of my head. I suppose brute but in reality, I think they'll be fine for DMG as needed. Just build what want buddy. I'm sure we'll fit you right in!

If you have Psionic abilities, its assumed your capable of developing other powers.

This is because I'm writing Psionic abilities as a structure of consciousness, not entirely tethered to the brain itself.

Okay, equipment's done. Nedora currently has $20,592 left for the buy-in on a ship. Also, I guessed on a few things, namely:
-the containers and bins for Nedora's collections
-the cost of getting a Sleeve Display with long battery life.
-the cost of the furniture that Nedora is bringing with her to the ship.
-the cost of a pair of nice headphones with a wireless adapter for her Neural jack

If I need to change something, I will, so GM if you'd be so kind as to see if I need to make adjustments to those items. The pistol, of course, came with her from the station.

@Dr. Rix: While that's interesting, it was a top secret project that created Nedora. She lived all of her life on a station out near Jupiter. She may have heard about an inquiry into why a multi=billion dollar research facility mysteriously went ka-blooey, but as far as worked on her, no. Everyone that did is an expanding cloud of vapor.

More to come, but I need to take a break.

I'm seeing someone that is something of an information gatherer.

Fnord, cool. I look forward to his polish.

Not sure what the AI is going to be, pilot?

I'm the flex (best analogy would be rogue or bard). Can choose a wide variety of rolls, but only do one at a time. Currently specializing in biotech, manufacturing, robotics repair (I can make bullets, replacement organs, and repair damaged equipment or cyberware for the party as needed); a range of knowledge skills, the ability to hack newsfeeds and learn current events, and specialization at scouting, stealth, scanning, bio/chemical warfare, and long-range sniper weapons. Can pilot in a pinch, act as a universal translator, feed additional info into party HUDS, and provide small bonuses in general to people attempting most skills.

So what's the background on the AI? Designed and released, accidental self-awareness? Escape?

So what's the background on the AI? Designed and released, accidental self-awareness? Escape?

Sorry, used the wrong alias. You can read about it. NXSA software given self-awareness by an eccentric programmer who left her some cash in his will, which she used to bribe another scientist (maybe one of the party members) to buy her as a "used" medical/science computer system to install on the party's current ship.

cool beans, looks like we have $77,816 remained so far by Rix and Jean.

I retooled wealth to be 20x Wealthy (30 points) instead of 28 points of signature gear. APRIL should have around $200k to spare, though I might spend a bit more of that. Will try to finish major purchases tonight.

* * *

A note on cost: as far as I can tell, items that IMPROVE every TL (e.g. computers) cost 1/10 as much for the previous TL's stats; but it costs the same amount no matter the TL if its powers are improving or static. (Since you're either paying for a better version, or something that isn't obsolete; only obsolete items are cheaper).

Is there anything dramatically different about life in this future earth?
Do people still work jobs, pay for medical care and education out of their own incomes and save for retirement?
Or are some things socialized and provided by the state?
Is there any poverty?
Is there still a small percentage of the population that controls the majority of the resources?
What percent of the population is happy and satisfied with the way things are?
Is what was described above about the Prince and such the system for the whole world or just a portion?
Has there been any cataclysms or worldwide wars or dark times?

Okay. My gosh, that took way too long to finish crunching.

So... Any bonus APRIL gets from her skill software also gives a +2 to any allies using a ship's terminal to perform those skills, because that's just fine-quality general purpose software. The other, more unusual bonuses she gives are listed in a byline spoiler.

Meanwhile, it looks like I wound up being the party ranger/rogue, what with the crazy bonuses to stealth, lockpicking, sniper guns, tracking devices, and the wide array of nonlethal status effects I can shoot at people.

EDIT: I wound up with $61k left over. (Bought a few more miscellaneous goodies)

SECOND EDIT: I'd realllly recommend everyone buy some sort of armor. TL10 weapons, even the dirt-cheap ones, can get pretty nasty (as in a single lucky laser pistol burst could instantly kill someone unarmored)

Not sure what the AI is going to be, pilot?

Nope, Nedora's the pilot and pretty good with a pistol.

Dramatic differences on Earth?"
Technology has allowed cheaper, cleaner and in some cases larger buildings, renewed infrastructure of roadways that gather solar energy at high efficiency, Structures that gather rainwater, Farm lands produce a universal plant called: "Metia" that is that bases for bio-fabricators on the mass production of food.
Through effort the fabricators can generate any food edible by humans to taste of fine quality.
Robotics handles most menial task though few are sentient.
Life span of an average human is about 100 years.
Do people work, pay for med care or education? retirement?"
People still work. Since The Prince came to power, he's rapidly reworked how 'working' works. One does not apply. There are talent hubs that test your mind body and drive. Once this is complete (Normally about 3 hours) it gives you a small list of options based on your abilities.
Medical care is provided. A basic, non-cosmetic, medical handles everything from a cold to lost limbs.
Education is a stranger story. Citizens of Terra are required to be schooled up through the freshman years of colleges. However, in order to get schooling one has to work. Those that refuse work are normally taken into the military and 'forced' into service. its an unspoken fact that military personell 'recruited' this way stop being themselves.
Retirement happens at 60. Your taken off the work force and granted liberties in the 'Long life" articles of the gov't which simply ensures elders live well and out of the way...
How are things socialized and provided for by the state?"
Information is provided by News media one can access on the holoweb from any TV-esk device. The state gurentees the basics for life: This includes a home, food and water, stipend of 'credits' to live a little. Housing are generally apartments ranging from 1 to 3 bedroom based on family size. The buildings are modular, allow for easy add or removal of sections. Food, due to fabricators and Metia is never really an issue. Public transportations are" Mag rails and city buses. Air travel is not provided, however oceanic travel by ferry is.
Is there poverty?"
According to the censure, No. However some people outright refuse the standards for personal reasons or another. These people quickly go missing after some time. Some times taken to prison as they aren't adding anything or even existing with a benefit. Others just up and disappear.
Small percentage of population Control resources?"
Yes. Although all citizens have access to public areas and ease of life, Psionic personages are granted far more luxery and access. Psionic persons within the gov't have access to information beyond the asteroid belt. Further more, many have authoritative powers that even the 'official police' don't have. Psionic peoples are the ruling class. Air travel does allow psionic folk to travel free, and for a costly fee non-psionic can travel as well.
What percent of the population is happy?"
Asking anyone off the street, one could argue over 90% of the population is happy. Some may have concerns, but rarely is anyone actually unhappy.
Does the prince's influence reach the whole world or just a portion?"
Terra is entirely controlled by the Psionic Gov't body and may be observed entirely by the prince...or so they say.
Dark times or cataclysms?"
THe Colonization of mars was met with a bloody revolution that ended 100 years ago. On Terra, some underwater attempts at city building have failed, 100s of lives lost though the attempts seem to continue. On Terra, its often refered to as "too safe" and many people try to leave to mars or into the industry worlds. Others who can afford the ship can offer to go into the "Gate Mechina" and explore other systems on behalf of the Terran people. The Ice caps have melted thoroughly, releasing much new and fresh water. So old coastal towns have been submerged and deemed historical sites.

GM note: "the dark times' I've chosen to develop in game, as they are a motivating factor.

Alright, So I'd like to know about each of your 'enemies' for those of you have them. And I'd like to focus on how the groups fits with eachother.

So far we know that APRIL is going to be a purchas. We know that its likely that the group will encure a debt to someone to get their ship.
We know that many of you have solid reason to work togather.

Nedora= Wash

With two of us having psionics, and in light of the "Here are your limited options for work, take it or leave it." Should we maybe be looking at being some sort of government unit? Special task force, investigative unit, etc.

We're pretty green which might mean we were tossed out early as someone's idea of an expendable unit.

This would give us a patron, which might provide a ship, and would provide a mission source.

There player's are operating as a private group to my understanding thus far...they may just have a debt to begin with.

Actually an idea I had was, since the initial ideas were for three scientists, an AI and a pilot, was to start a "We can fix it!" sort of solution-solving company as a start, where we'd go around solving problems that aren't fixable with guns.

*lightbulb going off over Garneau's head.*

What if, we go to places AFTER they've been visited by The Adventurous Types, and we offer to fix whatever it is they screwed up? We'll make a killing (figuratively)!

Though, we can still do that with a normal party, anyway.

RE: Enemies. Garneau's hunted down by a mob lieutenant due to wife-related incidents. I think reasonable ways for him to try and reach Garneau on the hush-hush would be working with pirates/smugglers to keep an eye out and hand out a bounty. Alternatively, there might be a smuggling ship, working for the Martian mob, who's been hired to go looking around for him, though I imagine said ship to be a small tub filled with people with very, very bad conversation starters.

RE: Armour. I noticed APRIL's note on that, and I realised that if we get some hull breach or something in space, and Garneau can't get there, he's probably going to go bonkers. I'll purchase a set of Space Armour and Helmet, which reduces the funds I'll be contributing shipside by 23,000. Military armour, however, has plenty of place for tools!

Also, It seems like I'll have to drop some points in the suit skill, because of course there is a suit skill.

I feel its worth noting that I'm merely the story teller of your actions and what ominous doom looms behind the curtains.

At the moment, I'm merely trying to find out how much money you guys have to throw at the ship, your enemies, and what you guys will be doing as a group.

I've been writing vigorously for the Dramatic Stuff, but we need a nice humble start. IE: Adventure Clean up crew...or Science Go!

77+23 we're rocking a 100k pool of monies for the ship.

If you guys want to start with something more fitting of the Space Opera, we can pool Enemies together so that its a group issue rather then a personal... I suppose it'll all become group regardless, but its a thought.

77+23 we're rocking a 100k pool of monies for the ship.

I'm contributing $61k, if that didn't get counted...

I also support the idea of a diverse party. Seems kind of silly for everyone to specialize in the same things—makes it a little hard to differentiate everyone's character/find usefulnesses for them all. (Which is why I went rogue over tech, but if I'm the one whose existence is illegal on Sol, I might as well, break a few other laws)

161k then. Woops :P

I'm going to begin writing in some of your enemies, flesh em out a bit. the "How does he get you when I roll him to do so."

Sepaking of: Where the hell is Dan? Life steal him away again?

Jean, it looks like youre the only one with an enemy at the moment. Whats the frequency?

With our pool o' monies, you could feasibly buy a junker with all kinds of issues... Then upgrade it as you go >.> *cough Falcon cough*

Humorous as that is, the Patron idea isn't bad.
Youd have to consider what kind of patron you want.

Humorous as that is, the Patron idea isn't bad.
Youd have to consider what kind of patron you want.

I do like the general idea of exploring either the frontier or deep space. We could be prospecting for resources for an unscrupulous mining company, hired to map the lawless parts of the solar system for an upstart travel app made by rich punks, or just be shuttling around some rich guy at the end of his life who wants to go on adventures (or an author/wealthy film producer/sensie actor with writer's block who wants to be inspired by danger and swashbuckling)

Oh! I did forget there's frequency for appearance. Since I'd rather have a big problem every once in a while, rather than a smaller one most of the time, I think I'll change that to a very high-ranking mob lieutenant (-30) and appearance of 6 or lower (half), then pick up the Curious Disadvantage (which I was going to roleplay anyway. Can't be hidebound!)

Heh. If you're hunted by one mafia org, we could also work for their rival (and possibly less violent) criminal group, smuggling cargo and hunting bandits for bounty outlaw-style a la Firefly.

Also: Does anyone want to be a ship's captain?

Years Decades ago, I initiated a GURPS space adventure as the GM. I provided the players with a ship and a ship captain so players wouldn't have to worry about the details of the ship design, cost, etc. and had them develop characters that would start as crew members on the ship.

The ship was a salvage operation. It would locate derelict ships, abandoned settlements, etc., and go in to see what could be salvaged for resale. It provided an easy way to set up a variety of adventure seeds and begin to put valuables into the PCs' hands/paws/tentacles. The plan was that once the players were established they could either buy shares in the company or perhaps inherit the ship when the captain had some misfortune.

I can't say how well it all worked out because the campaign never got very far before players dropped out to deal with RL. But I offer it as an idea for this group.

It's a variation on the Firefly plot, with salvaging substituted for smuggling. It sounds like there lots of money available (in the general population) for investing, so all it would take would be someone with some money to spend getting bored with predictable and safe life on Terra to purchase a ship and field a crew in order to get out and have some adventure.

If we have enough cash to buy a used ship, that would be my vote, so we can be in control from the start. We could hire out as troubleshooters and mercenaries of sorts, going in to either solve a problem, achieve some goal, take risks others don't want to take to gather information, discover new resources, then sell that intel to folks who want to take the next step.

I like the rag-tag misfit vibe that many of the PCs seem to have cultivated already. While Dr. Rix would not fit as a misfit (making her a misfit misfit of sorts?) she might easily get drawn into working with such folks if it provides a chance to get out among the stars.

Edit: there was a Doctor Who episode within the last couple of seasons that involved a small scale salvaging operation (Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS.

The movie Aliens started with a salvage team opening up the Nostromo. So it's a trope that has been used in movies and TV.

If Terra still has reality shows, we could be part of a reality series in space, with cameras sending back details of the missions. Maybe this is more of a horror concept, since a world that had such advanced technology and couldn't think of anything better to do for entertainment than reality shows is pretty terrifying place to consider. Plus we've got at least three members who probably wouldn't want their whereabouts known.

With about half the crew having reasons to be out of sight, that presents a motive for the ship. If you can't safely spend time on Terra, you might as well make some money in space. Others could be hired on without telling them half the crew is wanted for some reason or another.

GM, I think Jack Kluge has an unknown enemy as well. Don't know if you didn't mentioned it because you missed that, or because it's an unknown one.

Regarding the burden of command, it greatly depends on the duties of command. Jean would be at best reluctant, since a captain's enemies are the crew's. The rest are:

-a shy young woman.
-an even younger woman, something of a loner.
-an amnesiac.
-an AI.
-a physician, not a captain. (Har. Har.)

While having a leader is a great thing, both on ships and in sandbox PbP, I think we should hold it off for now.

Or ask Nedora politely for that cute little monkey plushie with the eyepatch and the pirate hat.

wow..ok...did not know we had moved to this place.....will repost what I was talking about in the other forum.

Hmmm..ok, I am looking to make my signature gear (combat gauntlets) something more. I picture them as an ancient relic passed down from master to student over the years. It would be a CHI-based artifact. SO instead of my character having certain advantages, the gauntlets would. Just not too sure how to do this.....any ideas???

I would like it to
1. Increase Strength
2. Do increased damage
3. Allow 2 attacks per round
4. contain a supply of FP to help power some of the martial arts abilities Jack can do.

Not sure of point cost or even where to begin...so any help would be appreciated (looked in Powers and Supers, but could not find anything that seemed to fit)

So JCG's post highlights an interesting point. None of the PCs is exactly stereotypical space patrol material. That raises an interesting question of who would hire such a group or risk an expensive starship in the hands of such a crew? Someone who is pretty desperate to get a crew to do things most crews would not do. So how does he/she approach the hiring process? Picks people eager for a way off Terra, either to escape enemies, to hide illegal AI or G-mods, or just naive enough to sign on to the first opportunity to come along.

So we all hire on for something that turns out to be a smoke screen for something else. We don't find out the real nature of the mission until we are out in space and it's too late to back out. That puts a lot of the plot in the hands of the GM, which is fine with me, especially at first.

Things could happen to make the ship end up in the PCs possession/control and perhaps propel the group into new adventures to deal with problems created by the initial missions.

I see.

Very well, How about I add a mix.

I, the GM, state off the bat that the group has a run-down (welcome to space MMOs) Starter ship. Parts missing, falling apart engines...the works.

We can even say that the group had acquired it from a salvage mission...decided not to scrap the hull and have since been making it space worthy again to allow them to operate by themselves.

IE: I give you guys a sealed hull...and the money you guys have can be used to place 'stuff'

A figure its a good middle ground.

EDIT: I have a battlegrid set up as a link you can click above my pic.
Ill do the same for the ship.

I think I can contribute another 40K to the party coffers....not sure if it will cost money or points to make my gauntlets...if that is even possible...lol

So JCG's post highlights an interesting point. None of the PCs is exactly stereotypical space patrol material.

"I have the FINest tarGETING softWARE aVAILable. I CAN provide lEthal or nonlEthal combat supPORT from one THOUSAND YARDS."

I would like it to

1. Increase Strength
2. Do increased damage
3. Allow 2 attacks per round
4. contain a supply of FP to help power some of the martial arts abilities Jack can do.

You might also want it to deflect bullets or something.

You've got two other options that I can think of:
1) Buy powers with item limitations (Can Be Forcibly Removed -10%, Unique -25%, Breakable DR 15 -10%), letting you get certain abilities, at around half cost.
1b) In this case, most of those abilities (bonus FP, strength, etc.) would be bought with item limitations; for multiple punches, you'd get an Innate Attack with the Melee limitation and Rapid Fire enhancement (that should also let you parry attacks and cause knockback with your fist; I recommend RoF 3-5 to duplicate that "flurry of punches" feel; if you want to get crazy, give it Incendiary and Surge enhancement (or multiple damage types) so you can punch lightning and fire at people too.
2) Get a magic item. (GURPS Magic) Magic isn't really in this world, but you could flavor it as an "ancient chi" item. This is a lot more complicated, and I'd ask the GM about it.

I'm partial to you using the Item limitations over 'magic' rules in a Psi game... Had I been running an infinite worlds game, less an issue. but I'm trying to capture space opera as we know and love it.

I like the run-down junker idea. Nedora isn't going to be happy. She's used to having the shiny ships with leather interior, but I am thrilled. And I'm sure that Nedora will be too once the engines and maneuvering systems have been properly upgraded.

As for how she gets involved, I had an idea about her just calmly loading up a shuttle with her gear on a shuttle bound for our ship while two of the other PCs had an argument. She winds up flying the shuttle out and proving her creds as a pilot.

Awesome.

I think Jack is going to be a stowaway...lol

I'm nearly done with the stats of the '300ft scrap pile'. I got carried away so you get a fairly large dumpster to fly with plenty of useable, upgradable space.

Ill have the stats up tonight and they will also be easily located in my profile. I'll then have a 'location grid' up above my pic like that of the battle grid when I get to that :P