Here I have listed some of the canon information we will be using for our proud vesk cadets. This has been built upon with each run of the adventure, and you will each have a chance to add something to it as well. Please roll 1d6 and we can discuss and elaborate on your addition.
1. The Veskarium
- Glory! Honor! Victory! - These are the foundational pillars of the vesk society. Glory is achieved through honor. Honor is achieved through victory.
- Power means plunder! - If you have the power, you may take the plunder. The spoils go to the strong. Another interpretation is if something is powered it is likely worth taking.
- Theft is death, earn what you take! - Taking something you have not earned can be punished by death. Stealing is an affront to honor. If you want something, take it like a vesk!
- Dereliction is death! - Any vesk found to be derelict in their duties will be put to death.
2. Damoritosh
- Conquest! Duty! War! - These are the areas of which Damoritosh has dominion. Devout vesk aspire to light all three of these flames on their doshkos.
- Three pillars of faith: Hand (Deeds), Mind (Plans), Mouth (Words) - The Hands of Damoritosh can carry out Deeds. The Minds of Damoritosh can conceive brilliant plans. The Mouths of Damoritosh can carry the words of faith and power across the stars!
3. The Great Houses
- The Great Houses of the Veskarium form the High Council.
- It is an open secret that the Great Houses have access to a secret armory for their greatest warriors.
4. Name a Great House
- House Vaskren
5. Name a Great Hero
- Grackrom of House Vaskren.
- Parteck of House Vaskren
6. Player’s choice
Please create an alias to post under and chime in with that here. It has been a while since I've run a PBP so I'll get you guys the stat line I want to see in your header shortly. Since 3 of you are using pregens, I have pdfs of your characters already :)
Otosh if you want to save out a PDF of your character and email it to me then I'd have them all for easy access/reference.
If anyone needs to contact me directly you can always email me at zizazat at gmail dot com.
Thanks!
GM, pm me an email address, and I’ll send you a PDF.
This will be the Alias I will be using, I will be creating between tonight and tomorrow.
I know, my avatar is a Kobold but he is an awesome looking Kobold. And besides, there isn't too many good Vesk options ... LOL
I’ll get my alias up tomorrow, didn’t have access to a computer for most of today.
I'll get a profile up tonite
Otosh, we can get started with your 1d6 result while we wait for the others. Can you generate a 1d6 result for me please?
Katarasi Varak looks good to me! I understand that the images will have to be best effort at this point, no worries. :)
Khemish the Blade
Simeon, reporting in!
Due to some unforeseen drama today, I am going to be delayed until tomorrow. Sorry for the inconvenience.
I lied....will try to get my profile up this evening...
Otosh, would you mind giving me a sentence or two about what makes Khemish the Blade a Great Hero?
I realized that I forgot to include in my original text an additional Great House and Great Hero.
House Hedomoto
Jioh of House Hedomoto - Jioh is legendary throughout the Veskarium. Children learn her exploits as part of the cultural identity of the vesk. Of the many deeds and glorious victories in the name of Damoritosh, of primary importance to you cadet-graduates is the story of Jioh's Journey.
You will be learning more about the Journey once we begin gameplay.
Vralakosh and Katarasi, can you both please generate a random 1d6 result for me?
Sure, no problem ...
Great Hero Nosvek-Gasad Soulstriker
He stabs "honorable" opponents in the heart for quick death and tears out their heart when the opponent is not honorable because they no longer deserve it. I'll write up the two sentence reason why he is a great hero some time today.
What sort of information do you want about the Veskarium?
Katarasi, awesome thank you!
Vralakosh, these generally fall under the 'social norms' kind of catagory. "We never talk about Vesk-9." "Right handed vesk are viewed with suspicion." Honestly, throw out anything you think would make the Veskarium cool or interesting. If it misses the intangible mark in someway we'll discuss and come to some kind of understanding.
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Otosh, would you mind giving me a sentence or two about what makes Khemish the Blade a Great Hero?
I'm glad you asked. Most who have never taken the time to understand Khemish the Blade assume she was some great doshko wielder; nothing could be further from the truth.
There are many who assume that all Vesk heroes are great warriors, but the Vesk recognize greatness and heroism in other areas of endeavor as well. Khemish was the Chief Engineer aboard the Vesk corvette Pride of Galnath, during the early days of their race's starfaring days when their engines and means of propulsion were largely based on high end rocket technologies. The Pride of Galnath was in a fight against two enemy ships, giving as well as She could against superior odds, but the crew of the Pride knew that reinforcements were coming, if they could only hold out long enough for relief. A barrage of energy from the enemy sheared off the linkages to their directional controls (collectively called the ship's "blades" just as oars and propellors had been in earlier centuries). Khemish, already wearing a pressure suit due to the combat conditions, grabbed some tools, prybars, and welders as she climbed out through a hole in the hull, and placed herself at the rear of the Pride and commenced levering the directional controls manually per the captain's instructions. She stayed at this for more than 30 minutes, helping the Pride to dodge and weave through the fight until several larger Vesk ships arrived to aid the Pride and achieve victory and glory. Only afterwards did they discover that Khemish had her pressure suit holed a number of times; holes the suit simply couldn't keep closed. By the time rescuers got to her, she was beyond any help save magical healing, but the ship's mystic had died early in the fight, and Khemish breathed her last breath. She is now said to serve aboard Damoritosh's flagship. The name of "Khemish the Blade" is synonymous with "Damaritosh's Navigator," and other such honorifics.
Very, very awesome Otosh! Thank you so much!
Does the hero have to be a modern hero or can it be a hero of legend like when the Vesk race was a young before they took to the stars?
My pleasure.
Don’t know if I can compare to Otosh’s epic but I’ll give it a shot.
Among the defining moments in the formation of the Veskarium was the dropsite massacre on Vesk-7. Before the subjugation of the arid desert-jungles of Vesk-7, the fledgling nation functioned as a loose coalition between the noble houses, with civilians in the extraplanetary colonies enjoying a decent amount of freedom.
All that changed with the settlement of Vesk-7, which came to be called Yaska by the colonists. Lacking any sentient life, colonization efforts were swift, and most operations were quite profitable. However, the colonists wished for more freedom, more independence from the homeworld.
Tensions grew between the colony and Vesk Prime, with a constant back-and-forth over permissions, taxes, and authorities. It all reached a boiling point when Vesk-7 declared independence, naming itself the Free Republic of Yaska.
The Free Republic didn’t stand a chance against the armies of the Veskarium. Scattered homesteads couldn’t compete with plasma doshkos and annihilation rockets. And so, when the dropships of the Vesk army landed, the Yaskans rigged the drop zone with explosives, destroying most of the deployed troops.
The government on Vesk Prime would not allow them to continue their insolence. The rebels were bombarded from orbit, and the remnants were sent to the gulags of Vesk-3. Indeed, the freedoms of the extended colonies could not stand, and the central government of the nation started its process of creating the military bureaucracy that stands today.
Rebellion is not tolerated among the vesk.
Good stuff!
Katarasi, whatever you prefer! :)
Vralakosh, also fantastic! Thank you! "Rebellion is death!"
The Legendary Hero Nosvek-Gasad, The Right Hand of Damaritosh, is said to have the most honorable kills than any other Vesk in the history of Vesk earning himself the title of the Right Hand of Damaritosh from Damaritosh himself. Nosvek-Gasad was a renowned warrior before Vesk took the stars and all his kills were made with the same design of Tactical Doshko the Vesk use today. It is written that he would go up against any threat with a Tactical Doshko including range and those who were larger than him. Nosvek-Gasad's tactic for dealing with range combatants since you don't bring a hand-to-hand weapon to a range fight, he would first ambush them to disarm them and then he would wait for the opponent to draw their melee weapons or switch to hand to hand if the opponent did not have a hand-to-hand weapon. If the opponent tried for their range weapon, Nosvek-Gasad would deny them once. If they tried for it again, Nosvek-Gasad would cut out their heart for being a dishonorable warrior or any warrior who was dishonorable to destroy their power (soul). Like today, there is no honor in fighting the helpless or the physically weak. He would simply ignore, disarm, and/or loosely bind them. Many Vesk have tried to beat Nosvek-Gasad's 1,500 honorable hand-to-hand kills and some have come close to no avail. All Glory Be To The Vesk!
Edit: I am pretty much ready, just need to add a few extra things to my character alias.
GM, can you open the gameplay thread please, so I can dot in and stop needing to monitor an extra page.
Players, when dotting in, you don't need to post a post and leave it there. Post a post, and delete it right after, and you'll be registered into the game, without leaving an empty/useless post on page one of the campaign.
Hmmm. sorry for the delay, but now it seems that I can't create a new profile...keeps erroring out.
will try again in the morning.
Gameplay thread is now open!
GM Mark,
Anything else you want to see in our aliases before we get going?
~Anderlorn
Male Ysoki Bounty Hunter Mechanic 4 | SP 32/32 HP 26/26 | RP 5/5 | EAC 17 KAC 17 | Fort +3; Ref +1; Will +3 | Init: +2 | darkvision | Perc: +8, SM: +1 | Speed 30ft | Active conditions: None
Male Vesk Mercenary Soldier 1 | SP 10/10 HP 13/13 | RP 4/4 | EAC 13 KAC 14 | Fort +5; Ref: +1; Will+2 | Init +5 | low-light | Perc +8; Sense M
+1 | Speed 40ft | Active conditions: None
Looking at an old header I've used before (example above), I'd say it looks like you've got it covered. You may want to include your attacks for ease, like your skills
It would seem that we are likely going to be 3 players. I am ok going forward with 3, if the three of you are as well.
I am OK with 3, I am in another game with only 3 players. Just assign us NPCs if you feel we need the support.
I can do 3, but may have someone who would join. I’m asking him now.
Am heading out of town this weekend. Will be back Sunday evening.
Have a good one!
Thanks for the heads up Otosh. I am sitting down tonight to write the next post to get things moving with the 3 of you, we'll add your friend if they are interested.
Are we fully armed in Vesk briefings? Human ones, we are usually not armed unless we leave into battle right after the briefing. So I am thinking human and not Vesk.
Finally unpacked the box that had my Starfinder book. GM … I think I'm Otosh's "someone". If spots are still open (given you just rolled initiative), I can help round the party to 4.
I don't have a Vesk character and would be happy to play a pregen of whatever the party needs. I've played mechanics and solarians before. But would be happy to try something different too.
Sorry guys, I didn't see these posts pop in. My bad.
Katarasi, you are fully armed and geared. You've been training in your field gear etc, so you've got full access to your character sheet and any per day uses of class features and such.
Sleestack, awesome! If you want to hop on with a character profile we can probably get you into round 2 of this. There are pregens here feel free to grab whatever tickles your fancy.
Hey there...totally lost track of this as it wasn't yet in my campaign list....No worries if I'm too late to the party
I'm taking Cub Scouts camping this weekend, so I will be offline until Sunday evening.
GM...I have made a profile for the operative - hacker pregen under this alias but I'm having technical difficulties getting the profile to save/display.
Ooook. ended up making it a dead alias...creating another one....had the same problem...killed that alias...and third time is the charm!
Son of Sleestack ready for duty.
Welcome! Go ahead and toss out your initiative roll in the gameplay thread and i'll pick you up in round 3!
How do you make a “dead alias?”
my preferred method is to stick it in the face with a bastard sword followed by a loud shout of frustration.
Darn it, I meant to move my character on the map, I will do it tonight or confirm his current position.
Darn it, I meant to move my character on the map, I will do it tonight or confirm his current position.
Correction, I will tonight. I got distracted over a computer issue I was having.
Sorry all, having home computer issues (which are resolved), I will post tomorrow since I was botted to move us along. Thanks GM!
Posting schedule should be 1-2 times a day at minimum.
We all agreed to this when we joined the game, right?
It was an implicit agreement, yes. We've had a bit of a slow start and I believe everyone is trying to hit their stride now. Hopefully we can find the right rhythm.
I also realize in retrospect I left off 'weekdays' from that. I can usually find time to post over the weekends, but I know it can very pretty widely for folks. I'd like to see if we can focus in on 1-2 posts on weekdays and see how that goes.