Bringer of Stories Presents GURPS: A Space Opera

Game Master ZenFox42

Why, thanks, GM! Though, I got to say, I wasn't expecting Jean to be a Spartacus/Anonymous/Alpharius sort of figure, but that's where it all felt like going. Mixed with La Resistance, it's where you end up with.

And Nedora, don't worry about it! It's certainly an unusual situation, so adapting is the way forward! That's why our discussion thread is twice the size of the gameplay!

Er... 2.5 million is 100 points of signature gear. But 50 points of wealthy will start you off with $5 million...

Good point.

I really should be in bed, but I've been busy, and I'd like to get some feedback. So, without further ado, I present Brook "Blackjack" Xi Cho. Her skills aren't finalized, and I'm open to switching things out, but this is the gist. I have to add the reputation thing in there since I haven't yet.

As for her signature gear, I was thinking a commando battlesuit liberated from the hold of a pirate vessel that tried to take over the fueling depot her family runs. It's been repaired and modified extensively, so it's nothing like anything on the books. The suit is black with white pinstripe outlines of the Ace and Queen of spades on the left shoulder and the word "Blackjack" in block letters on the right. The visor is one way and has a white outline of a spade on it. Her other piece of gear she is never without is a very nice gun with lots of bells and whistles that I haven't decided on yet. She also has a deck of cards that contains on the queen of spades and the ace of spades for her Trademark.

So thoughts?

@APRIL: and $100K is only 4 points at this TL. :)
It's fine, being wealthy really doesn't fit with her background. Most of her gear is going to be stuff she's liberated from pirates or cobbled together from scraps with her brothers' help.

You just don't want to let me smoke in peace, do you...

Though, leave Jean alone with the battlesuit long enough, and you might see why Mars I where cybernetics thrive.

*rubs hands together*

Nope. :D
Though to be fair, you know it wouldn't be half as interesting if there wasn't some friction.

And Jean better ask permission before he lays on finger on that suit if he knows what's good for him. ;)

I think I'm going to be ditching some of the disadvantages though. Weirdness Magnet, Short Attention Span, and Curious are all too likely to get us into some deep trouble we can't get out of.

Just do what I did, and get a physical body with no legs that can only move itself when carried! :D

Oh Joy! Weirdness Magnet!

Just do what I did, and get a physical body with no legs that can only move itself when carried! :D

Maybe, but figuring this out is half the fun!

Also, I wasn't expecting that, GM. Well played, sir. Well played.

Okay, I think I'm pretty close to done. Which may be a good thing given how Nedora's chances are looking.

Cliffnotes Background
-She was born on a prospector in the belt. Never has had to register for anything.
-Keeps all of her money as cash.
-Grew up on a fuel depot with a large family.
-Has been scavenging her gear from the loot gotten from pirates
-Has a reputation as Blackjack, Hero of the Belt among Belters and Martians.
-Same reputation means that the Pirates and Thugs who prey on Belters and Martians want her dead
-Her battlesuit is easily recognized.
-Because there is no official record of anyone who could be Blackjack, Terran authorities assume he/she doesn't exist and even goes so far to deny the existence of Blackjack
-She feels that she has a responsibility to protect the common people of the Belt, Mars, and yes, even Terra. this is born out of the tales she's heard of the atrocities that have been perpetrated by the pirates of the belt.
-She's really been a thorn in the side of the Folman Cartel who's gone so far as to put a bounty on Blackjack. The Folman Cartel is one of the bigger pirate gangs in the belt.
-She has a belter accent, which causes more than her fair share of issues with the upper crust and inner-worlders
-For whatever reason, the strangest stuff tends to happen to her.

@GM: Can you take a look at Brook and see if she passes muster? I also have a couple of questions.

1. Would a commando battlesuit allow for the user to use their stealth skill instead of their suit skill when sneaking?

2. Is the price I have of an underbarrel gauss CAW okay?

Let me know if I need to clarify anything, or if I missed something. I imagine her as being a talkative, somewhat snarky person with a mild obsession with guns.

Hey guys and gals (and AI's)!

I just wanted to make sure that the others aren't feeling a bit neglected by the whole affair, since I feel that the game's gone in a somewhat unexpected direction. Roleplaying a character is fine, but I'm absolutely not aiming to be stealing spotlight or anything of the sort, even though that might be happening.

I feel like something like that might be happening, especially with the intention to stand back and fight, and that might not be what people want (or the GM to run three separate storylines!)

Basically, just bonking me on the head and saying 'stop trying to hog the spotlight for yourself, ya French bastard!', is what I actually want people to say if that's how they feel. It's a cooperative game, and if you feel like I should tone it down a bit, I will!

If you don't, and I'm just panicking, that's fine too!

Thanks.

I've got an idea about how to introduce Brook, I'm just waiting on GM approval of her. Assuming she is I hope what I have in mind establishes her as a character, and gets some banter going with at least Jean.

No worries Jean. Jack just has not had an opportunity to do much. As he has no real "space" abilities and cannot one-shot the BBG from 100 yards away, he simply many not be a good choice for this game. Will sit on him a bit longer before I decide if I want to pull the plug or not.

Oh, that'd be a shame! I think that Jack will be fairly useful in combat, as long as 1-in-216 rolls don't happen on the first roll. That's GURPS. And with the Wild Talent and the Racial Memory, he might have a lot of abilities we don't know about. And in most situations, Jean wouldn't be carrying the restricted/illegal gear or combat armour.

I think we just need to find a path that fits with our skills. Which might happen, considering how we might need to run through the Gate pretty soon.

Yeah, I have a feeling that in close quarters, Jack would be the best one of us. Give it some time and wait until we really get going. This is all stuff starting to go downhill in Act 1. :)

That said, I'm going to work on Brook more. I still need to finish getting her gear and pick out what she's going to wear. Jean should be pleased to know that she'll actually have some nice clothes.

He may not be so pleased to know that she also tends to lounge around in clothing a lot like Nedora's and is fond of practical jokes.

Adam, She's all shiny.

For those that feel the game is slowing...I apologize. I had a combo of call ins and my wife getting into a wreck. She's okay but the car is totaled.

So, if you'll indulge my slowness for a bit, It would be appreciated.

As for the current plot points, if you guys at any point wish to change the setting/game system up, We can. I don't want anyone feeling like shit hit the fan and its all bad news.

Ill give Jack spot light soon, Its in the hope-this-happens-soon notes.

Well, if she's shiny then I guess I need to get her a proper set of Aliases.

Glad to her your wife's doing okay. I hope she wasn't too rattled by the accident. I also hope things go smoothly with your insurance. Hope they pay you well at your job, and that it lets up soon.

On another note, I'm thinking that Brook's going to be known as Belter Blackjack, because just Blackjack is almost certainly taken.

Erg, forgot to mention this in the post, but Blackjack/Brooke has the Social Stigma (Belter) disadvantage. This means that Belters react at +2, while everyone else reacts at -2, unless the GM says otherwise (rule zero and all that.) What this means is that Rix and possibly Jack (given his amnesia, not likely, I'd think) aren't going to react well to the thick belter accent coming from the figure trying to dent the door. Terra is also probably not going to have a good first impression either if I got it right she's from, you know, Terra. :D

@Blackjack, don't worry. Jean's charming enough for the whole star system.

@GM, Ouch, sorry to hear about the car. I don't mind the pace slowing down, since it lets people catch up, and lets us plot schemes in the Discussion thread.

I'm okay with the plot so far. When I made Rix as a non-fighting specialist, I knew she'd be at the sidelines at times. It's a thrill to be roleplaying space travel.

As for Rix and the belter reputation, she might not feel warm and fuzzy about Brook, but she's open minded and curious to learn about what goes on in the belt and on Mars, so that will balance out the reputation.

She's got a bigger issue with cyborgs and gen-mod people, but that's just a quirk.

"Yeah, she even screamed, 'What the heck are you?!' when she saw me the first time, the big meanie."

Sorry I couldn't resist

@Blackjack, don't worry. Jean's charming enough for the whole star system.

Oh, it isn't that she isn't charming. It's the fact that she's a Belter that's the issue. :) Some people think she's uneducated, others think she's a barbaric atavism, and almost everyone from Terra and more than a few from Mars think she's going to stink up the planet. The fact that she's drop-dead gorgeous is just going to stick in their craws and I am looking forward to what the GM does with that.

Also looking forward to Jean's reaction at the revelation Blackjack's a she. :D

Considering how busy I've been lately—please steal the spotlight, everyone! :p

Okay, finally got Brooke's stats done. Let me know if the reaction bit is confusing. I'll change it to see if I can't make it less so.

It's 3:30 AM here, I'm about to crash.

Bringer, I moved Terra's icon in the front section picture to next to the pilot's seat (currently occupied by Nedora's image), and Terra's image just...disappeared!

It's an order thing. The ship is on a higher layer than the player icons. Just undo and see if that moves the token back. Then you'll need to right click and select send to front.

Right click the ship and send to back will also work.

No no! Terra just learned to teleport! Or go invisible!

All the maps points are in the very back layer. I'm not sure what happned.

The basic map apparently wasn't in the background for my access. I sent it to the background and my icon came back. Thanks, all!

Whoops! Sorry for not warning you, but I had two absolutely hectic days. I'll be posting something tonight!

Glad it got resolved, Terra.

Jean, Good to hear. I'm excited to blow holes in the turning... Err... I mean, I'm excited for your valiant escape.

Hm, Jack, if you wanna get all technologicalistic about it, it should need some sort of power conversion from one source of power to another.

We need to go to Tosche Station to get some power converters.

Jean might be able to aid with stuff on the receiving end of the ship with Electical Engineer, but I think you might be able to jump-start with Mechanic!

GM, think we were aiming to the part of the Gauntlet heading towards Luna. If that's heading back to the ship, though one less laser battery is not bad.

I might have an idea. Are the other ships starting to head out?

We were!? Ooooh. I didn't notice >.>;

Hmm. Do we have escape pods?

Yes. The ship comes with some already installed.
Its per ship size I think...so I think we have 5.

Can APRIL cut off the rear of the ship and vent the atmo to space?

Maybe! What kind of a roll is that?

operations of some sort

Ill move us along tomorrow after noon after work.

Ill post us onward tonight.
still hoping on jack and jean

Friends,

I'm taking a tally from you guys.
This, being my second GURPS pbp...and first sci-fi game, I've noticed several issues in not only my style but continuity (Especially for those of us who are scientifically minded *Face palms self*)

I've picked up a couple, non-starwars, space opera books from the author Michael Cobley in hopes to better grasp the concepts a bit more.

In short: how am I doing here and what advise would you give me.
all this while I wait for this evening to toss us foreword.

Here are a couple of tips for running pbp's. I haven't followed the IC thread all that closely, so consider these as general tips and not a specific criticism.

1) If two or more players are going to have a dialogue that doesn't require GM input but may have a lot of back and forth, they should use private message. Then copy and past those messages into a single post by one player that includes the entire conversation. This still allows the players to have a back-and-forth conversation without dropping 10 posts in IC for another player to feel overwhelmed or left out.

2) During combat, have all players declare actions and make rolls. Give them a cut off. Base the cutoff on the GM's cycle. If the GM can post in mornings, have the cut off the night before. If the GM posts in the afternoon, cutoff by noon. GM can then make one post that addresses all actions and reactions. Thus a five round battle will take five days, generally.

3) When playing table-top, GM's don't like giving out information about the NPC's (save values, AC, HP, etc). In pbp this just means that a five round battle will take 2-3 times as long as the players post intentions, GM says hit/not hit, player rolls damage, etc, so on. The first round or two it's ok to keep this secret. Consider posting it once the players start figuring out where the target numbers are. Players can then post damage for hits, etc.

4) Either be willing to use paint, google spreadsheet, other document to provide quick and dirty maps, or be willing to accept lots of latitude when players state things like (I move in to flank the thug.) You most likely know exactly what the terrain is, in your mind. Your players don't have telepathy.

5) Consider using google docs for lots of stuff. One of the most important documents should be current goals. In pbp, things can take a loonnggg time. Players will forget what they're supposed to be doing. Especially when the game time may have only progressed a few days (or hours), but the pbp timeframe is months. While you can spoiler this on the campaign info tab, google docs can be shared and cooperative. A group loot sheet can be helpful. Remember that private message function in #1? That can be done in a google doc too.

6) It is imperative that all players post something each posting cycle. Even if only a post in OOC that says "nothing to post". Nothing breaks a game like everyone thinking it is someone else's turn and waiting for someone else to make a post.

7) Keep a google doc (or spoiler on the campaign tab) of your rulings and house rules. It sucks when you are trying to search through hundreds of posts to recall what you decided about aiming and moving. It also sucks when the GM makes different rulings on the same type of scenario. (Two months ago, which was 7 rounds ago in-game, you let Johnny start aiming while moving half speed, but you just said I have to remain still, and can't even take a 5' step?) While this does seem like just a simple clarification, taking the time (which in pbp we have plenty of) to write it up as a house rule, will help everyone in the future.

8)Remember that the best laid plans of a GM rarely survive contact with the players. In pbp, with google so readily available, players should be taking their time to do basic research to ensure they provide good posts. With pbp, you also have google and time to consider good responses when the players throw you off.

9) When players come up with some tactic that will totally bulldoze your well thought out scene, let them have it. But, if they keep using that tactic, the survivors are going to learn from it and soon, a scene may come up that is an ambush for it. The guy that always teleports directly behind their opponent to stab them in the back, will be surprised when he runs into the NPC that is holding a blaster under his arm, pointed backwards in anticipation of the teleport. The invisible flying mage can get away with it a couple of times, but soon someone is going to be ready to counter it.

10) If the players want to do it, so can the NPCs. (whether called shots, over-sized ammo, etc)

11) Always write your post in a word doc, then copy past it to the forum. Paizo is notorious for timing out this posting box and then you lose everything.

I hope this gives you a couple of usable ideas.

I think Aster has hit most of pbp stuff. I'll put something together when I get home tonight about the sci-fi space opera bits.

Thanks, Aster. That is surprisingly full practical info.

I look forward to your note(s) Adam.

After a couple of tries, I think this is the best advice I can give.

The thing to keep in mind is that while there's more science in science fiction, it is still second to the plot. That isn't to say that it's not important, or even vital, to it. You can't have a plot about a crew rushing to fix a busted radiator before getting cooked by the waste heat of all the systems without the laws of thermodynamics. Science fiction can be mostly fantasy with bits of handwavium or unobtanium thrown in. This is Star Wars, or it can go to the other extreme, where the only thing fictional are the characters. This would be Apollo 13, if Apollo 13 had never happened.

I think it's fine the way you have things right now, GM. There's a lot going on, it seems, and we even have a damsel in distress. If you're really concerned about keeping it plausible, I'd recommend taking a look at the Atomic Rocket website. There are points where it talks down to you, but it's still a good resource. I think the tone is an artifact of how it came about, as a repository of answers to questions that had been asked over, and over, and over again.

I have no criticisms, and am having a blast! Let's rocket! :)

(I would counter Aster's idea about getting one round done in one real-time day, as not all of us can check thruout the day. The way you've been doing it, in "chunks" of 3 people at a time, seems about right. It gives time for people to post (say, over the weekend when some people are too busy to post), and somewhat maintains melee order. I consider this to be a "fast" game, which for me is just right. Trying to make one round per day would be too fast.)

(I can second the idea about writing your post somewhere else, then copying and pasting it. Even when you have a lot of rolls to make, and need to see their results before continuing - paste what you have and Preview, then go back to your document (and save it often!). It hasn't happened to me, but I can't tell you how many times I've seen people post "I just finished writing up a long post, and lost it".)

Yup. I can attest to that, having lost many a post. Not that I remember to do it half the time, though.

As for science fiction and hard fact, I'm all for fiction above fact. Especially when it comes to widgeting, though I try and make things realistic in nature, especially the stuff I'd hopefully be tinkering with later on. If anti-matter's leaking, I'm fine with that. It could be acting as more of a slow-burning fuel, rather than an explosive one, for story's sake. I am a big fan of handwavium and unobtainium!

Aster's post was on point. By the way, we did slow down considerably, so you might pop back. I've got heaps of work now (though I'm not necessarily doing it...), so I can't go back to the 5+ posts a day I had at the start.

Somewhat bummed that we failed due to bad rolls, but I actually quite enjoy that. Being able to stop the biggest and baddest of baddies, who possesses the biggest and baddest of warships with our equivalent of a space-worthy Fiat Multipla would've been a one-in-a-million chance.

I agree with all the above :-)

Having a great time and looking forward to more adventures (where maybe Jack does not suck so much..lol)
The scifi feel is all there and to be honest, I do not delve too deep into the intricacies of the science. As long as the story makes sense and we can understand what is happening, them I am good!

good to know guys.
Thanks for the input.

Will the Turing make it?