DMDM's Last Fleet (Inactive)

Game Master Douglas Muir 406

This is the recruitment thread for Last Fleet, a PbtA game inspired by the Battlestar Galactica TV series. It's not the official BG TTRPG -- that came out way back in 2007, using the old Cortex system. Last Fleet is more recent (2020) and uses a version of the Powered By the Apocalypse (PbtA) system. If you haven't played PbtA, it's mechanically pretty simple -- everything is 2d6 plus or minus a simple modifier.

So if you might be interested, here's what you need.

1) Get a copy of the game. It's normally $20, but it's on sale at The Bundle of Holding right now, for just $9.95 (and you get another game too).

2) Make up a character and post it here. Character creation is REALLY simple. You choose a playbook (there are 12), you pick a Role Move (there are 6), you pick which of your stats are weak and strong (you have 5 stats, one is +1, one is -1, the other three are 0), and you pick two other Moves (found in your playbook, these are basically special abilities that you have).

So, a basic character description might go "Starbuck, an Aries (that's her playbook) Pilot (that's her Role Move) with +1 Raw, -1 Smooth, and with Maverick and Shotgun Diplomacy" (her strong and weak stats and her 2 other Moves.) And that's it -- that's the complete mechanical description. "Aquarius Investigator, +1 Sharp -1 Warm, Pointed Questions & On Trial". Boom, done.

3) Answer at least two of the Relationship Questions at the end of your playbook. These are questions that tend to flesh out your PC and develop relationships.

If you like you can add a few lines of backstory, background, or clarification. But that's optional. (This is definitely a game where a lot of backstory can get filled in later.) I will say, you may want to think a bit about your character concept, because that's what will drive a lot of the drama. Hotshot pilot who has trouble making human connections? Useless failson who hopes to find redemption in the face of apocalypse? Brilliant scientist who secretly hungers for power? Investigator who struggles with addiction and despair? You decide.

Okay then, three other points wrt gameplay.

First, this is a mechanically simple game that is all about choices, drama, and narrative. So be ready to write, to tell a story, and to sink your teeth into some juicy drama.

Second, the setting assumes that >99% of the human race has already been exterminated by hostile aliens, and you're among the desperate survivors who are fleeing the genocide while the aliens pursue. So it may go to some dark-ish places. It's not a horror game as such, but cosmic horror, body horror, and themes of despair, suffering and loss are definitely on the table. If you're not okay with those sorts of things in a game, this might not be your jam.

And third, I'm shooting for a fast-moving, everybody-posts-at-least-once-per-day game. That's up front so we all know it going in! You can miss the occasional day, but if you're going to miss more than a couple, please let us know.

Right then -- who's in this fleet?

Checking in with interest and flagging the recruitment thread.

Interested. Reading through the rules now. Will get a PC posted over the weekend.

The game very deliberately goes easy on worldbuilding and details. I'm throwing out some odds and ends over on the discussion thread. May or may not ever be relevant and is not required reading!

Devin, Taurus Marine, +1 Hard, -1 Smooth, No one left behind and You'll have to go through me.

Devin, Taurus Marine, +1 Hard, -1 Smooth, No one left behind and You'll have to go through me.

Excellent. Taurus are proud, stubborn, loyal protectors. They and Capricorn are the two "hardass" playbooks, but Capricorns are more about cold-blooded optimization. Taurus is Nick Fury, Katniss Everdeen, Daniel Craig's James Bond, Sam Winchester, Toph from A:TLA, John McClane. Taurus is every tough-as-nails drill sergeant who's trying to turn these kids into soldiers.

The game wants you to answer at least two. You don't have to do this yet -- you can wait for other players to post in order to build relationships with them. Or, you can come up with NPCs and backstory now; that's fine too.

Thea "Firefly" Gillis, Sagitarrian, Pilot/Engineer +1 Sharp, -1 Warm, Explorer.

Relationship #1: Another pilot, Nathan Vega, in her squad secretly loves her, but she's still grieving the loss of her husband during the attack and has no current interest in any kind of a new romantic relationship. In fact, most think Thea is 'riding the edge' by taking on dangerous missions in an effort to join, Rowan in the afterlife.

Relationship #2: Will wait to see if there's a PC to fill this spot. I'm thinking the 'Who's always up for an adventure?' question would be a good one.

Sorry for the delay in choosing a playbook. Because of the limit of one per. player, I wanted to see what everyone else wanted to play and then select from what was left. I love the fire fly reference and was actually considering something similar if no one chose it. Ultimately, I’m glade someone did. Without further adu, I would like to introduce Deigon Black.

Deigon Black – (AKA: Gunny) Aries / +1 Raw -1 Smooth / (Retired) Pilot, Maverick, Explosive Decompression.

Relationship Question #1: Who do I have a rivalry with? Commander ____________, our current Starfleet commander.

How did we recently compete, and who came out on top? Back in the early days, Commander __________ was Deigon’s direct ranking officer. When humanity was at its tipping point, Deigon’s unit was placed on a one-way critical mission that literally defined humanity’s chance to overcome the enemy. Against his better judgment he followed orders, which resulted in the loss of his unit as well as a catastrophic failure for humanity. Although he had no say about the success or failure of the mission, Deigon became the fall guy for commands lack of judgment and eventually became the poster child for humanities current situation. Because of the overwhelming mental pressure of losing his entire unit and the endless browbeating of society, Diegon has since given up the fight and taken to the bottle during his mandatory military retirement.

Relationship Question #2: Who wants to win my admiration? Because of Deigon’s reputation as an extremely skilled pilot, there are those who still consider him to be the best on the ship. Daring, fearless, and willing to take up a fight, these attributes have led Deigon down a path of legendary status among those who have manage to see through the establishment’s reputation destroying propaganda.

How have I impressed them?: Throughout his military carrier, Diegon has had many, many, military success. That history alone has managed to withstand his current dilemma. In addition to his military successes, he has managed to secure Top Gun status four consecutive years in a row. Although those success where back when he was a much younger soul, this legend still lives on as one of the fleets few inspirational stories.

3) Answer at least two of the Relationship Questions at the end of your playbook. These are questions that tend to flesh out your PC and develop relationships.

I'm still thinking about who I want to play, but I just wanted to check somehting. In Apocalype World, the questions are there for you to ask and for the other players to answer - it helps create backstory and a sense that you're starting right in the middle of things. Like for the Gunlugger (Jayne), 1 question is "Which one of you once left me bleeding, and did nothing for me?" And you'd maybe expect the Battlebabe (Zoe) to answer that - and it gets really interesting when the Angel (Medic, Simon Tam) does instead, like *why* did the medic leave you bleeding?

Is it meant to be the same thing in this game? I cant tell from the rulebook.

3) Answer at least two of the Relationship Questions at the end of your playbook. These are questions that tend to flesh out your PC and develop relationships.

Based on this post, I assumed that the player answers these questions in order to add flavor to their background. If it was meant for another player to answer, that question could simply go indefinite without someone stepping up to the plate.

I know it's an odd feeling to add someone else's character into your character's backstory. That said, I give a green light if someone decides to play off of Deigon's Q & A and would like to work him in. I'm completely ok with more flavor.

I'm still thinking about who I want to play, but I just wanted to check somehting. In Apocalype World, the questions are there for you to ask and for the other players to answer - it helps create backstory and a sense that you're starting right in the middle of things. Like for the Gunlugger (Jayne), 1 question is "Which one of you once left me bleeding, and did nothing for me?" And you'd maybe expect the Battlebabe (Zoe) to answer that - and it gets really interesting when the Angel (Medic, Simon Tam) does instead, like *why* did the medic leave you bleeding?

Is it meant to be the same thing in this game? I cant tell from the rulebook.

I believe it's meant to be the same. Of course, that's easier around a table-top than it is in PBP -- but it's still perfectly doable.

It does require player consent, obviously. So you want to say, "I think it would be a good idea if Bob is the one I think betrayed me," check with Bob's player first.

I'm seriously torn on this: on the one hand DMDM game and I am here for that; on the other, I'm really not sure I have the time to commit right now and anything less than all-in is unfair to everyone.

I think I'm going to sit this one out but will read along with keen interest.

This leads to a point that I probably don't need to emphasize with a bunch of experienced players -- but I'm going to, because just in case: if you want to establish a relationship with another PC, even if that relationship is entirely one-sided and only exists in your PC's head, get the other player's okay first.

So, for instance, you might want your character to have a secret crush on PC Bob. Nothing wrong with that. And a secret crush is by definition one-sided; it doesn't (at least at first) matter if the other PC knows, cares, or is into it.

But however -- the *player* will know. And your PC will be acting weird around that player's PC. So the other player gets a say. "Yes, that's fun, let's stan this and see where it goes." "Yes, but my PC is an utterly focused Capricorn who will remain oblivious for as long as possible." "Yes, but my PC actually loves Alice, so this is setting up for some sadness -- are you okay with that?" Or just "No, I'd rather not, can you pick some other PC."

Note that there's a difference between "My PC doesn't agree with your PC's opinion" and "I the player don't want our PCs to have this relationship". The first leads to cool gaming! Carl loves Bob, but Bob is into Alice. Alice thinks Dave abandoned and betrayed her; Dave firmly believes he did what was best for the Fleet. That stuff is great, it's the raw material for drama. But "I the player don't want your character to love/hate/whatever my character, or anyway not in that way" is something else altogether, and must be respected.

TLDR: go ahead and make offers of relationships, float ideas, talk it out amongst each other, and don't get offent if someone doesn't share the same vision as you.

Thea "Firefly" Gillis, Sagitarrian, Pilot/Engineer +1 Sharp, -1 Warm, Explorer.

Sagittarius! Curious and engaged; careless and reckless. A sign for fun-loving bros, extreme sports enthusiasts, and explorers of the unknown. The MCU Thor, Aang from A:TLA, the Dude from The Big Lebowski, the Cumberbatch Sherlock Holmes.

Pilot and Engineer both! Interesting choice. Cool.

Relationship #1: Another pilot, Nathan Vega, in her squad secretly loves her, but she's still grieving the loss of her husband during the attack and has no current interest in any kind of a new romantic relationship. In fact, most think Thea is 'riding the edge' by taking on dangerous missions in an effort to join, Rowan in the afterlife.

Relationship #2: Will wait to see if there's a PC to fill this spot. I'm thinking the 'Who's always up for an adventure?' question would be a good one.

Mm-hm, mm-hm. Good, good.

Deigon Black – (AKA: Gunny) Aries / +1 Raw -1 Smooth / (Retired) Pilot, Maverick, Explosive Decompression.

Aries! Bold, fearless, passionate, ambitious. Captain Kirk, Lex Luthor, Will Graham, Eric Killmonger and, of course, BG's own Starbuck. Maverick and Explosive Decompression are pretty much the definition of Aries.

a one-way critical mission that literally defined humanity’s chance to overcome the enemy. Against his better judgment he followed orders, which resulted in the loss of his unit as well as a catastrophic failure for humanity. Although he had no say about the success or failure of the mission, Deigon became the fall guy for commands lack of judgment and eventually became the poster child for humanities current situation.

Okay a LOT of dramatic potential here. Tentative guess... someone thought they had a magic bullet that would stop the Corax? Like an "upload the virus to the mothership" type of thing? And you had your doubts, because reasons, but you went along -- and it was a catastrophic failure?

Maybe the person who came up with that strategem is aboard the Fleet now? Were they honestly mistaken? Or maybe they were right, but just missing a crucial piece of information? Or... maybe they're a traitor?

Because of the overwhelming mental pressure of losing his entire unit and the endless browbeating of society, Diegon has since given up the fight and taken to the bottle during his mandatory military retirement.

Substance abuse is pretty precisely on brand for an unhappy Aries, check.

Sasha Maran, Gemini Influencer +1 Smooth, -1 Raw, Playing Both Sides, Teh Personal Touch.

Sasha is in logistics - if this is a miltary game she's the quartermaster, if she's a civilian then she's in charge of supply. You need it, she finds it & gest it to where it's needed. Yes, she skims a bit off the top and OK, yes the sides and probably a bit off the bottom too but our days are numbered and she's going to live it up a little - the apocalypse doesn't need to be uncomofortable. Sure, her cigar smoke clogs the air filters - but the head of engineering's niece gets chocolate (REAL chocolaote) on her birthday without fail. And sure, the boffins in resarch might get annoyed that so much of their ethanol ends up being "diverted" to the bar Sasha runs (don't ask about her unlimited-stakes poker table, it's invitation only) - but when the lab containment failed, who was it that went 72 hours without sleep and called in every favour she had to maek sure they got all the hazmat suits, reactor shielding and iodine tablets they needed? That's right, and don't you forget it - because Sasha certainly hasn't.

I'm going to throw these questions out and see if anyone wants to chip in, no harm if not.

*Who suspects I’m up to something? What aroused their suspicions?

*Who owes me for something? What was it?

*Who needs me, warts and all? What recent indiscretion have they overlooked?

*Who thinks I’m a dangerous liability? Why haven’t they taken action yet?
(I'd prefer this one to be an NPC)

Maybe the person who came up with that strategem is aboard the Fleet now? Were they honestly mistaken? Or maybe they were right, but just missing a crucial piece of information? Or... maybe they're a traitor?

My originally vision was to have our current fleet commander, whoever that ends up being, be the one who over saw the mission that went wrong. That would be more than enough reason for Deigon to question the wisdom of commands orders from time to time. As fare as the content of the mission, I'll leave that in your hands. It was likely something similar to your description. A one-shot end of game move that failed miserably. Deigon ended up getting the shaft while the commander moved up the chain. Things being what they are, command probably tolerates Deigon because of his piloting skill.

I'm going to throw these questions out and see if anyone wants to chip in, no harm if not.

If you’re up for it, I’ll take you up on #2 and #3.

*Who owes me for something? Deigon Black.

What was it? For quite a while, Deigon has been coming to you for top shelf liquor. He doesn’t seem to mind the type, so long as the quality is top of the line. Do to this elevated taste in liquor, he has racked up quite a debt.

*Who needs me, warts and all? Degion spends a fair amount of time bending your ear while he drinks. Over time he has developed a small amount of trust in you and has divulged a bit more about himself, and his history, than he probably should have. Because of the amount of time he spends around your place, you suspect he doesn't have many friends.

What recent indiscretion have they overlooked? You seem to have an endless supply of top shelf liquor when nobody else seems to be able to keep their hands on it. How you manage to do this has always been a big question that he simply doesn't ask. When the question comes up, he doesn’t seem to care enough to push the subject.

I'll put this out there in case you are interested. I'm ok if you choose not to go with any, or all, of this.

Sasha Maran, Gemini Influencer +1 Smooth, -1 Raw, Playing Both Sides, Teh Personal Touch.

Gemini! Charming, social, arrogant, self-centered, manipulative and -- sometimes -- conflicted! Harley Quinn, Tony Stark, Han Solo, Don Draper, and of course BG's own Gaius Baltar!

Playing Both Sides allows you to "consort with a dangerous faction". Pick one or two dangerous factions that you might consort with; you can either use a faction from the book or create one.

Sasha is in logistics - if this is a miltary game she's the quartermaster, if she's a civilian then she's in charge of supply.

Right now it's three pilots and you, so...

@Nightfiend/Deigon - I like it! Sasha can't get hold of the liqor from Deigon's homeland but she makes a real effort to get reaasonably close using artificial colours and flavours. Wooden barrels are in short supply on a starship :)

(the personal touch in action)

Playing Both Sides allows you to "consort with a dangerous faction". Pick one or two dangerous factions that you might consort with; you can either use a faction from the book or create one.

Lets' go with 3 for maximum excess, not doing anythign by halves.

The Nexus: Morgan Kinnard is one of her underlings. She's ok with what he gets up to and it gives her an "in" with a group of useful peple. She's told Morgan very nicely that if he gets caught and tries to dob her in then he and his lovely wife - it's their anniversiry soon, right? Why doesn't he take her soem of these, Hydroponics sent them over this morning and I know how much she lieks strawberries - will end up floating in the hard vacuum of space.

(the personal touch in action again)

Unity: they're opposed to the military so they can go places and get things that Sasha can't.

Intelligence: they need a name which I'll leave to you. Their NPC boss is proabaly the answer to Who thinks I’m a dangerous liability? I think the reson they haven't done anything is that Sasha really *did* pull out all the stops in the recent emergency and things would have gone much worse if she hadn't been there to help. There's also a bad and mutual case of UST - everyone can see it but neith of them is able to let their guard down enough to let the other one in close.

(the whole point of UST is for it to *stay* UST - as far as Im concerned nothing will happen here)

Quote:

Sasha is in logistics - if this is a miltary game she's the quartermaster, if she's a civilian then she's in charge of supply.

Right now it's three pilots and you, so...

OK, Sasha is military. She did basic training and then got somewhere comfy pdq. She has no real skill in fighting (Raw -1, Hard 0) so if this is a combat heavy game she will die quite fast. In terms of her rank, I think she's at least a Captain - there's no way you'd put a green LT in charge of importatn things!

Na, I have Sarah covered. She is Deigon's primary friend now, so he isn't going to let her get spaced. Your too valuable at this point.

I also wanted to clarify that Deigon's call sign "Gunny" is an old-school running joke. A few of the jarheads changed his call sign to "Gunny" back in the day and the stooped thing stuck. He is actually a retired (CAG) Master Sargent.

Lets' go with 3 for maximum excess, not doing anything by halves.

I've a mind to give you a couple of NPC underlings. You can reject or ignore these two if they don't work for you, of course.

Bodie and Stuggs are your two assistants. Corporal Bodie is honest, diligent, and sincerely believes in truth, justice, and the Colonial way. He has no idea of what's actually going on with you, obviously. You use him when you need to put an absolutely honest face on something. You might consider him a useful but embarrassing nuisance or you might feel some sentimental sympathy for this innocent youth; up to you. Bodie is a new-ish recruit, very clean, and about as kawaii as possible while still being a Colonial Marine.

Sergeant Stuggs is older and is cynical, selfish, and utterly corrupt. Obviously very useful in a completely different way from Bodie. They know exactly what's going on and wish there were more of it -- in Stuggs' world, if you're not cheating everyone all the time, you're cheating yourself. You can't actually trust Stuggs, but they're afraid of you: probably you've kept some kompromat on them, just in case. You might view Stuggs as a distasteful necessity or you might feel some grimy fellowship; up to you. I'm not sure whether Stuggs is male or female, but either way they look exactly like the petty criminal that they actually are -- they're about as disheveled and overweight as possible while still being a Colonial Marine, and I think they also have some vaguely nasty habit like dipping and spitting.

Again, if these guys don't work for you, just nope and move on.

This looks really interesting! Also I did just finish rewatch BSG recently so I'm primed for it. :)

I'm still sifting through the character choices, but I'm leaning toward either:

1. A scientist of doctor (something biosciences). Possible Cancer or Sagittarius. Could be very highly trained but now pressed into more basic roles due to the need, could be just an educational foundation that led to something military later.

2. A Psychologist or Psychotherapist with a more investigative bent. Possible Aquarius, or Pisces might be interesting.

DMDM: Do you see this as a more "upstairs" or "downstairs" game to use Downton Abbey terms? Put differently, is there much room for political or fleet command types, or will this be mostly about characters with boots on the ground carrying out orders?

Would a doctor or medic be lumped in with scientist? I haven't found anything about how healing works. Is that handwaved to medical bays and in the background?

DM: Just out of curiosity are we using the planet names listed in the rules, or are we going with something else like the 12 colonies or the earth system as 'home' based on your write up in Discussion. Would be useful for me just as PC/NPC background fodder.

The Nexus: Morgan Kinnard is one of her underlings. She's ok with what he gets up to and it gives her an "in" with a group of useful peple. She's told Morgan very nicely that if he gets caught and tries to dob her in then he and his lovely wife - it's their anniversiry soon, right? Why doesn't he take her soem of these, Hydroponics sent them over this morning and I know how much she lieks strawberries - will end up floating in the hard vacuum of space.

Point of clarification: Kinnard is one of Sasha's underlings? and is also working for the Nexus, do I have that right?

Unity: they're opposed to the military so they can go places and get things that Sasha can't.

Unity has both a public face and a hidden activist core. You're on terms with both.

Intelligence: they need a name which I'll leave to you. Their NPC boss is proabaly the answer to Who thinks I’m a dangerous liability? I think the reson they haven't done anything is that Sasha really *did* pull out all the stops in the recent emergency and things would have gone much worse if she hadn't been there to help. There's also a bad and mutual case of UST - everyone can see it but neith of them is able to let their guard down enough to let the other one in close.

(the whole point of UST is for it to *stay* UST - as far as Im concerned nothing will happen here)

Commander Hooke is sharp -- damn sharp -- and very good at his job. And you haven't allowed yourself to notice it yet, but he has the most beautiful hands, long slender fingers, precise but strong. Sasha may find competence attractive, while Hooke may have a suppressed fascination with moral ambiguity.

1. A scientist of doctor (something biosciences). Possible Cancer or Sagittarius. Could be very highly trained but now pressed into more basic roles due to the need, could be just an educational foundation that led to something military later.

2. A Psychologist or Psychotherapist with a more investigative bent. Possible Aquarius, or Pisces might be interesting.

Either of these could absolutely work. An investigator type is a bit easier to work into the thick of things, but there's no shortage of things for scientists to do -- especially bioscientists. How do the damn mushrooms actually work, and how can we use that knowledge to hurt them?

DMDM: Do you see this as a more "upstairs" or "downstairs" game to use Downton Abbey terms? Put differently, is there much room for political or fleet command types, or will this be mostly about characters with boots on the ground carrying out orders?

I didn't have a strong preference, but so far we have 3/5 characters who are pilots. So that seems to be nudging us towards boots on the ground.

Would a doctor or medic be lumped in with scientist? I haven't found anything about how healing works. Is that handwaved to medical bays and in the background?

IIUC it's totally handwaved. Wounds, harm, injury -- it all comes under Pressure. Super simple, super abstracted.

DM: Just out of curiosity are we using the planet names listed in the rules, or are we going with something else like the 12 colonies or the earth system as 'home' based on your write up in Discussion. Would be useful for me just as PC/NPC background fodder.

Planet names in the rules + make up your own. Earth is around but it's slightly offscreen at start; it had become a bit of a backwater, overshadowed by more dynamic colonies. Think England / Portugal / Spain vs. US / Brazil / Latin America.

Hi! It looks like you have four players so far, and I see that there's an Interest Check where other players have expressed interest. So if there's still room, I'd like to submit a character. I've played a couple different PbtA games (on this forum, no less), but I haven't played Last Fleet.

Oscar Hallward, an Aquarius Investigator with +1 Sharp, -1 Hard, Scuttlebutt and Truthspeaker.

I'm envisioning a middle-aged man who's lived a hard life, though that's mostly due to his own decisions and priorities. He was a journalist by trade back on his home world, and for him that's more of a cause to be believed in than a profession. He believes fleet leadership should be transparent about all goings on, and he serves as the de facto editor of the loosely organized group that believes similarly.

Hi! It looks like you have four players so far, and I see that there's an Interest Check where other players have expressed interest. So if there's still room, I'd like to submit a character. I've played a couple different PbtA games (on this forum, no less), but I haven't played Last Fleet.

You would make five. I can hold it open a day or two to see if we get a sixth. Honestly, most games shed a player within the first week or two, so six-maybe-five.

Oscar Hallward, an Aquarius Investigator with +1 Sharp, -1 Hard, Scuttlebutt and Truthspeaker.

Huh: Scuttlebutt is quite powerful, but Truthspeaker... okay, unless you have at least +3 Sharp, you're more likely to cause Attrition than to remove it? I guess the success is that you get the truth out and everyone believes it.

Andostre wrote:

Hi! It looks like you have four players so far, and I see that there's an Interest Check where other players have expressed interest. So if there's still room, I'd like to submit a character. I've played a couple different PbtA games (on this forum, no less), but I haven't played Last Fleet.

You would make five. I can hold it open a day or two to see if we get a sixth. Honestly, most games shed a player within the first week or two, so six-maybe-five.

Thanks!

Quote:

Oscar Hallward, an Aquarius Investigator with +1 Sharp, -1 Hard, Scuttlebutt and Truthspeaker.

Huh: Scuttlebutt is quite powerful, but Truthspeaker... okay, unless you have at least +3 Sharp, you're more likely to cause Attrition than to remove it? I guess the success is that you get the truth out and everyone believes it.

Yeah, I could see how Scuttlebut is narratively powerful. But the questions are also not really, "What's the answer?" but more, "What can help me find the answer?" The Move almost seems more like a narrative tool for the GM.

Regarding Truthspeaker, I see what you mean about the math. I hadn't really looked at it that way. I selected the this one and Scuttlebutt mostly because the other two Moves seem off.

On Trial seems like it's solely designed to add Pressure to another PC? Why would I want that? Unless NPCs also track Pressure, I guess.

And Dedicated Focus seems good, but it also seems like it can be abused by the player, or it can hinder them more than it can help. Say a player activates the Move for something very immediate, such as escaping an enemy actively chasing them. It's likely that everything they do will get the +1. But it's less likely a player would use it for something like an investigation, because any number of scenarios could pop up during this investigation, and a -1 to every involved die roll seems harsh. And picking something called "Dedicated Focus" to use only for short tasks and less so for longer tasks seems like it goes against the spirit of the move.

Alright, I think I'm settled. The Virgo playbook was very tempting to make a stressball prefectionist workaholic but it seems more military in nature so I wasn't sure how well it would synch up with what I wanted to do overall. I went Sagittarius instead.

Hannah Wessell, Playbook: Sagittarius +1 Sharp -1 Smooth. Sagittarius Moves: Tinkerer, Getting to Know All About You. Role Moves: Engineer/Scientist.

Relationship Questions:

Who is my closest friend? What do we do to blow off steam together?

If Tareth would like to fill this role with Thea Gillis that would be great. I can see them having some similarities that could make them tight friends.

2. Who has secret feelings about me? Why are they hiding them?

Mateo Benjamin, XO of the warship has been tasked with oversight of any projects or research carried out by Hannah. He has developed a romantic interest in her, but is her direct superior. (Hannah may or may not be military. She was not before the great disaster, but may have been inducted and given a minor rank, maybe ensign) as a specialist. On the other hand, she may be a civilian who works on thinks for the military. Mateo wouldn't consider the distinction important given his supervisory role.)

Hannah was a graduate student working on her doctorate in bioengineering previously. She is from Ninmahon and had always lived there before calamity struck.

She is intelligent, curious, and fairly outgoing considering the amount of work she's used to doing. While she's friendly and caring, she's somewhat awkward socially, tending to talk about her own technical interests. This often comes across badly, boring people or putting them off.

I went Sagittarius instead.

Hey, rdknight, Sagittarius is already being used.

If Tareth would like to fill this role with Thea Gillis that would be great. I can see them having some similarities that could make them tight friends.

That works for me!

I could also see combining that with a slightly modified version of the first question into "Who is always up for 'improving' equipment and hardware? What was our most recent upgrade, near disaster? Which I'm thinking in a couple of alcohol crazed days, Thea and Hannah attempted to supercharge her fighter's turbo boost and almost... ("Although, it really wasn't all that bad and honest everything was under control. Don't know why the chief is so hot under the collar about it all. Besides it kinda worked!)... blew up half of Alpha Hanger.

rdknight wrote:

I went Sagittarius instead.

Hey, rdknight, Sagittarius is already being used.

Is that a problem?

rdknight wrote:

If Tareth would like to fill this role with Thea Gillis that would be great. I can see them having some similarities that could make them tight friends.

That works for me!

I could also see combining that with a slightly modified version of the first question into "Who is always up for 'improving' equipment and hardware? What was our most recent upgrade, near disaster? Which I'm thinking in a couple of alcohol crazed days, Thea and Hannah attempted to supercharge her fighter's turbo boost and almost... ("Although, it really wasn't all that bad and honest everything was under control. Don't know why the chief is so hot under the collar about it all. Besides it kinda worked!)... blew up half of Alpha Hanger.

I think Hannah would consider that a couple of days well spent!

I'd think Thea and Hannah have similar instincts but express them differently. Thea is certainly the bolder of the two, with Hannah being a wing-woman (I guess that word works) to Thea. Also Hannah's not into large helpings of danger. Hannah is a Thea admirer who keeps her daring explorations mostly within the confines of experimentation and invention.

Things flip with Mateo though. I think he's the type who knows how to settle in and enjoy a good spreadsheet. He's detail oriented and conscientious. A big part of his attraction to Hannah is her willingness to just try crazy things that might work rather than taking the slow and steady route. In game terms he's her Cancer playbook secret admirer.

Andostre wrote:

rdknight wrote:

I went Sagittarius instead.

Hey, rdknight, Sagittarius is already being used.

Is that a problem?

Generally, in the PbtA games I've played, each player must select a different Playbook. I just looked in the Last Fleet rulebook, and it says the same on page 12.

Players each create a character using a Playbook which contains abilities

and traits for a particular character archetype. You select the options you
want and tailor your character to your preferences. Only one person can
choose a given Playbook.

Hrmmm....In light of the no dup playbooks, I think Thea could switch to Virgo, keep both the Pilot and Engineer moves and take up the Solo Mission move. Keep her relationship with Hannah and solo mission fits with her 'riding the edge' mentality.

Her NPC relationship makes a bit of a different twist in that Thea thought she was over her dead husband, but discovered she wasn't at a most inopportune time with Nathan. This resulted in a good sized row (in front of the others in their squad, embarrassing Nathan to no end?). Thus she feels like she's let both Rowan's memory and Nathan down as well as herself. Nathan is still pretty ticked about the whole thing and is either looking elsewhere or looking to even the score in some way.

The whole incident is what led Thea to drinking with Hannah, which lead to the events in the hanger a short while later, and likely to her volunteering for whatever half baked, suicide mission the bloody CAG and XO come up with next.

DMDM: Throwing this out as an option if you don't want duplicate playbooks. Just let me know which way you prefer I go.

Things are speeding up! I think that is a good sign.

@DMDM ufffff if guys knew how attractive real competence is there'd be a *lot* more of it. Cmdr Hooke sounds just fine :)

On underlings: yes, the Nexus NPC is from the rulebook and he'd be one of Sasha's underlings and her contact for the Nexus when she needs to get in touch with them. Bodie and Stuggs sound *great!* I think Sgt Ada Stuggs is exactly the type of working class middle aged woman that the ruperts who think they run the army look down on, which makes her very useful to Sasha. Instead of leverage though I think Sasha did something *nice* for Stuggs which gained her loyalty. Maybe Stuggs son was injured in an accdient - the sort of injury you never wake up from - and Sasha made sure he was put on a ventilator and is made comfortable somewhere? Stuggs goes to visit with him on her day off.

LIST OF PEEPS

Elbowtotheface: Devin, Taurus Marine
Tareth: Thea "Firefly" Gillis, Sagitarrian (Virgo?), Pilot/Engineer
Nightfiend: Deigon Black – (AKA: Gunny) Aries Pilot
Me: Sasha Maran, Gemini Influencer
Andostre: Oscar Hallward, Aquarius Investigator
rdknight: Hannah Wessell, Sagittarius Engineer

@Sarah, may I inquire about your vision for the aliens? How much is known about them, was their attack very sudden or the culmination of a long struggle, etc? I have a concept for a "military intelligence" soldier/spy/operative archetype but I don't want to step on any toes.

DM_DM / The time you put into the background on the discussion page looks well thought-out. I take it you either have a biology background IRL, or you enjoy deep reading. Either way, everything you posted sounds good. At least as far as I'm concerned.

On underlings: yes, the Nexus NPC is from the rulebook and he'd be one of Sasha's underlings and her contact for the Nexus when she needs to get in touch with them. Bodie and Stuggs sound *great!* I think Sgt Ada Stuggs is exactly the type of working class middle aged woman that the ruperts who think they run the army look down on, which makes her very useful to Sasha. Instead of leverage though I think Sasha did something *nice* for Stuggs which gained her loyalty. Maybe Stuggs son was injured in an accdient - the sort of injury you never wake up from - and Sasha made sure he was put on a ventilator and is made comfortable somewhere? Stuggs goes to visit with him on her day off.

Ahhh, I like this.

Okay, we have six players. Here's what comes next.

1) Get your playbook questions answered! At least two each. Talk to other players if you want to connect in that manner. You can also come up with NPCs and make connections to them.

2) Optional -- generate NPCs who are underlings, superiors, colleagues, rivals, or romantic interests. (I may offer you NPCs as well, as with Bodie and Stuggs, above.)

3) Optional -- if you like, DM me one or two secrets that our character has. These can be anything, major or minor. Addiction? Have a secret child? (Or, are someone's secret child?) Looking for a lost family member? Concealing some awful crime? Actually a traitor? Whatever, as long as it doesn't involve another PC directly -- as noted above, "I secretly love/hate PC X" requires their buy-in.

Again, this is optional.

When you say generate NPCs, are you looking for stats or simply a description and background for the NPC?

When you say generate NPCs, are you looking for stats or simply a description and background for the NPC?

NPCs don't get stats in this game! Just a brief description, and what relationship you have to them.

@Tareth: I could also switch Hannah to Virgo if you prefer Sagittarius. I was on the fence between the two anyway. If you're changing to Virgo I might switch out Getting to Know All About You for Explorer. I think it clicks a little better with the rest of Hannah's choices.

On the other hand if you want to keep Sagittarius I'd probably choose Virgo's Single-Minded and Stemmed to the Eyeballs since Solo Mission and Squadron Leader don't really seem to fit Hannah.

@DM_DM: The Corax were first discovered 15 years prior, but how long has it been since the colonies were destroyed and the fleet has been humanity's home?

@DM_DM: The Corax were first discovered 15 years prior, but how long has it been since the colonies were destroyed and the fleet has been humanity's home?

First wave of Corax attacks was less than a year ago. The Fleet retreated less than a month ago, and just encountered the civilian fleet recently, I think.

Mind, if everyone wants something different, we can do something different. Cooperative narrative!

@Tareth: I could also switch Hannah to Virgo if you prefer Sagittarius. I was on the fence between the two anyway. If you're changing to Virgo I might switch out Getting to Know All About You for Explorer. I think it clicks a little better with the rest of Hannah's choices.

On the other hand if you want to keep Sagittarius I'd probably choose Virgo's Single-Minded and Stemmed to the Eyeballs since Solo Mission and Squadron Leader don't really seem to fit Hannah.

I'll go ahead and make the leap to Virgo, it probably makes a bit more sense for Thea in the long run. Seems like part of her background could be that she was a Squad Leader but got busted down after the hanger incident. Thus taking the Solo Mission for now and maybe ticking Squad Leader if she survives long enough and behaves herself.

Can't think of too many other NPC's for Thea at this point except maybe the other members of her wing. But her assumed dead husband Rowan could have a role to play. Was he actually captured by the Corax? Thus if he does reappear, he's working for the other side. Or did he survive the attack, but never got in touch with Thea because he is actually in another relationship? Or did he simply go underground to get out of the military and join Unity where he became an enforcer for Claudia. I'll leave it to the DM to decide.

I'll go ahead and make the leap to Virgo, it probably makes a bit more sense for Thea in the long run.

Ah, Virgo. Responsible, overachieving controlling Type A. Hermione Granger, Ellen Ripley, Katara in A:TLA, Littlefinger.

Seems like part of her background could be that she was a Squad Leader but got busted down after the hanger incident. Thus taking the Solo Mission for now and maybe ticking Squad Leader if she survives long enough and behaves herself.

So what's your third Move? Sticking with Engineer? No problem with that, but consider explaining why you're that and a pilot too. Alternately, Stimmed to the Eyeballs is straightforward fun, and (as the book notes) it synergizes with Solo Mission. But it's up to you.

Can't think of too many other NPC's for Thea at this point except maybe the other members of her wing. But her assumed dead husband Rowan could have a role to play. Was he actually captured by the Corax? Thus if he does reappear, he's working for the other side. Or did he survive the attack, but never got in touch with Thea because he is actually in another relationship? Or did he simply go underground to get out of the military and join Unity where he became an enforcer for Claudia. I'll leave it to the DM to decide.

All good. And you have Nathan, who's crushing on you pretty hard. I'm thinking he' a fellow pilot in your squadron.

Okay, so here's a quick summary

Elbowtotheface: Devin, Taurus Marine -- haven't heard from him. Keeping his place open until Monday.

Tareth: Thea "Firefly" Gillis, Virgo, Pilot/Engineer -- Got relationships, Nathan the pilot and the missing husband. Answer questions?

Nightfiend: Deigon Black – (AKA: Gunny) Aries Pilot -- Pretty much done, ready to roll

Sarah: Sasha Maran, Gemini Influencer -- Pretty much done.

Andostre: Oscar Hallward, Aquarius Investigator -- Answer questions and add any relationships.

rdknight: Hannah Wessell, Sagittarius Engineer -- Pretty much done.

I think Sasha is almost done. I'm not adding any more NPCs into the mix for now, I'd rather focus on building links with the other PCs.

@Thea - maybe Sasha knows how close you are to cracking? You probaly drink at her bar, like most of the other marines and pilots do. Virgo is all duty and responsibility and then you go and blow up most of a hangar?! Girl, that is out of character for you.

@Deigon - I think we've go that sorted in our previous posts.

@Oscar - Maybe Sasha is feeding you information ont he quiet? The question would then be, what's in it for her?

@Hannah - maybe you got the parts from your recent "improved" supercharger experiment from Sasha and you still owe her payment (in one form or another)?

Feel free to change any of that up as you like :)

One more thought

Fuel:

-- Fuel is the superheavy element Flerovium-298, which powers the reactions that allow starships to zoom around as they do. The good news is, this isotope occurs naturally. The bad news is, it is only formed by supernovae or colliding neutron stars and then has a geologically short half-life. So, you need to mine it in a system that has survived one of these events.

-- There are only a few such systems and right now they're all occupied by the Corax.

That accident that Sasha helped fix by providing the hazmat suits and so on seems likely to have been some attempt to synthesise F-298 from other isotopes. Obviously it failed - whether that was because it jsut cant be done or becuase of sabotage could be something for our DM to ponder (I know, I know, don't giive the DM ideas) :P