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In case you’ve been living in a cave for the last decade, Firefly is about shipping goods and people across a very large and complex “solar system” (in a nutshell). The only weapons usually available to PCs are pistols and rifles, and the tech levels on the planets you’ll mostly deal with are often much less than what we have right now IRL, hence “space western”. But in this game you’ll do more than just ship goods…
I know in the past my games have been somewhat lackluster (due to health problems), but I have been doing a lot of web browsing, and have a ton of scenarios and plot twists for Firefly adventures (as well as an overarching goal that will become apparent over time)!
Please read this document, at least from pages 2-8, for setting background information, character types, new Skills, Edges, and Hindrances, available equipment, and information your PC would know, before creating a character. You can read pages 8-10 for the game procedures and details about the ship if you want, but I will tell you what to do in-game when needed. Please let me know if you find any typos, inconsistencies, or over- or under-powered game mechanics.
At least one PC must be at least adequate (d6/d8) in one or more of the following Skills :
- Healing
- Piloting & Knowledge / Astrogation
- Knowledge / Planets (in order to make informed decisions about where to buy and sell cargo)
- Repair / Mechanic
- Repair / Electronic
- A relatively high Persuasion (d8+); SWADE or Firefly Edges (Streetwise, Merchant … etc.) that provide a bonus to Persuasion would be a good idea. Required for finding, buying, and selling goods, and practically essential if you don’t have a Companion to be able to even do business on some worlds. On some missions, Persuasion will be rolled more than Shooting!
For these skills, it would be a good idea (but not necessary) for another PC to have at least a d4/d6 in them, in case the primary PC is out of commission.
Since these skills are so important, those who post early can pick whatever skills they want (you don’t have to post an entire PC, you can just say “my PC will have <this> skill”); latecomers will have to have PC’s with those skills not taken yet.
About Captains : if a player takes the Captain Edge, this does not mean they must make all the major decisions, everyone can talk out any decisions.
If more than one player wants to be Captain, the first one to post the request gets it.
If more than one player wants to be a psionic, the first one to post the request gets it.
Also, every PC’s description should include :
- What their short-term goals are
- What their long-term goals are
- Several NPC’s that the PC knows (these should not be useful contacts, just people the PC considers “close to” or “friends with”). Just a name and how/why you know them is enough.
I'm there. Love firefly.
Edit: Nice job on the background doc Bruce! You must have either found a great resource, or watched the series a few times through with a notepad and pencil!
I love game design stuff, so I'll let you know if I have any suggestions.
First idea I have for a character is a Doc Holliday type. Ship's surgeon, gambler, quickdraw duelist, massive debts.
Rigor - thanks, but I can't take all the credit. I heavily copied from two *very* old Savage Firefly setting documents, altho I did edit them extensively. And I actually did take pen-and-paper notes as I watched the series and movie, and added things that weren't in the other two documents! And after contemplating what I had, I added some logical (to me) extensions to the existing material.
The two things I just couldn't justify incorporating were the "pulse beacons" and the "nav sats".
Appreciate any thoughts on the balance of the setting rules.
Did you check the D20 source book for ideas? It was 3.5 based RPG. I only remeber it vaguely, but often they do some decent research when doing those modules. Sometimes they don't though, so your millage may vary.
I may still have a pdf of it somewhere... I'll look.
Poke my nose in with a combat medic ex browncoat.
He has been fired from his job as a paramedic on one of the border worlds, due to previous ties with the independants.
short term goals, of getting back into the job as a medic
Long term goals, getting treatment for PTSD caused from the independance war.
NPC's known - could be a number of people.
Now I need to find myself a character generator to see if I can get a character spun up. :)
Rigor - I didn't know it existed. It doesn't appear to be available on the web anymore. If you can find it, great!
Mokshai - have you used Savage Worlds before?
Mokshai - have you used Savage Worlds before?
so many years agpo.
i think the earth was still cooling then. ;)
Rigor - I didn't know it existed. It doesn't appear to be available on the web anymore. If you can find it, great!
I looked back through my old PDF's and can't seem to find it. I think I remembered seeing the various RPG version come out, and mixed it up in my mind with the Farscape RPG, which I'm pretty sure was a D20 game.
The old game was cortex. I had a character who I'd like to convert but I'm not sure how the edges/hindrances would work out. It's been ages since I've played SW.
She goes by Spider, for reasons that will become apparent.
The concept is for a techie probably both mechanical and electronic.
She was a ship's engineer on an alliance ship that got shot down. She found herself coming down in browncoat territory. A medic (perhaps Mokshai or Rigor's character) found her and stabilized her. He legs were both gone above the knee. They had to amputate.
They left her stable with food and painkillers as they retreated. She was brought back when the alliance came in and they interrogated her, which did little as she was out of it while in the browncoats' care. But as an alliance veteran they gave her a pair of neural sockets and brand new spiffy legs. You wouldn't know that they weren't real.
Except that the browncoats didn't have the tech to prevent nerve damage. She can wear the legs, but after an hour it starts hurting. The pain gets worse over time. After about six hours she's near incapacitated with pain.
But she had what her contact specified. She was washed out. Without being able to use the legs, nobody would hire her. So she shipped out toward the rim. Out there she ended up working at a repair depot. At one point somebody sold a ship repair drone. It has six legs and repair tools built in. The electronics were busted, but she worked up a way to interface this to her neural sockets. Since it wasn't trying to give her full sensation she didn't feel pain.
In the cortex version she had this as a small personal vehicle, and she had her legs with a penalty to everything over time. I suspect I won't have the high-tech legs in the SW version.
Do you think you can help me work this out?
Yeah, Zenfox, I'm interested in this as well. I trust you are back to being in good health! I know Atlas2112 has been offline for about six months with RL but he's looking for the perfect game to jump back in and SW is his favorite system. I let him know.
I'll start work on character crunch in the morning. Basic concept: Perenian Ethgarnon, overweight and often drunk, took too many chances and lost everything. Now he's a pilot looking for a ship to fly, and he really, really needs the next job to work out and pay big or his creditors are gonna have his balls.
So, Pilot skillset.
Philo - I'd imagine that the Alliance would have prosthetic legs maybe a little more advanced than we have now, at least. Instead of pain, for which even a -2 penalty would be severe, how about they need recharging every so-many hours? Any other disadvantages you can think of? Also, I'm not quite sure what you're saying about the ship repair drone - in the other game, did you like sit on top of it, using all 6 legs? I'm not quite sure what that would do to your PC's specs...
Everyone else - sounds great, go for it!
FYI - if you haven't played SW in a while, we're using the latest "SWADE" version.
So far, we have the following skills claimed :
Healing
Piloting & Knowledge / Astrogation
Repair / Mechanic
Repair / Electronic
If no one else joins, someone will have to take a reasonable Persuasion. But let's wait and see...
@Therenger: If you get a chance to talk to him, Tell Atlas2112 he missed out on having Aterro having another lightning shooting buddy in Tareth's Midgard game. I think he should remember the one.
@ZenFox42: Color me interested. I'll read over the document when I have time tomorrow. I think I'm going to go for a character that always seems to know a guy and could charm the socks of a snake.
Philo - I'd imagine that the Alliance would have prosthetic legs maybe a little more advanced than we have now, at least. Instead of pain, for which even a -2 penalty would be severe, how about they need recharging every so-many hours? Any other disadvantages you can think of? Also, I'm not quite sure what you're saying about the ship repair drone - in the other game, did you like sit on top of it, using all 6 legs? I'm not quite sure what that would do to your PC's specs...
The body of the drone was converted to a bulky chair, but the legs provided all terrain mobility and climbing. In the original, they also held toolkits and she could attack with the legs. All of this seems like a bit much for a starting SW character. I suspect that it's an idea that doesn't work at novice level.
Standard creation, Novice characters, human only, yep.
Joseph & Adam - I'd really prefer to not have 2 PC's with good Persuasion, because in any encounter if one PC fails, the other could try. Can you two talk it out, and if one of you has another character concept, the other one can be the "face"?
Or, I suppose I could rule that Persuasion can only be used on an NPC once in any encounter, by only one person.
I will point out that while the character types that have already been chosen (Pilot, Engineer, Doctor) can have some skill in Shooting, there's no real "Fighter" type (high Shooting[guns], Fighting[punching], and Athletics[knife throwing]) yet.
It would also be a good idea for one PC (any PC, doesn't matter who) to have a pretty good Knowledge / Planets (in order to make informed decisions about where to buy and sell cargo). If you're going to take it, please post about it so we don't get every PC taking the skill (altho that's not as big a deal a multiple Persuasions).
Philo - using the SciFi rules for custom vehicles, I came up with this for your spider legs :
Base price : $1000
Exposed crew : -$500
All-terrain : +2000
Melee attack : +600
Total : $3100
Climbing would add $10000, so I left it out. Each leg inflicts 2d8 damage, you have to make a Fighting roll to hit, and multiple attacks impose a MAP.
There's plenty of room inside for equipment and parts for both mechanical and electrical repairs.
Problem is, the cost. With the Filthy Rich Edge (which requires the Rich Edge), you get 5 times starting money, or only $2500. I don't see how this can be done by the book.
Regarding your original two cyberlegs, the SciFi cybernetic Leg Enhancement adds to your Pace, Running and Jumping, and costs $5000. I'd be willing to forgo the price if you're willing to forgo the benefits, in which case this is purely a "cosmetic" change to the PC.
Did you get any benefits from the original cyberlegs in the other game that warranted the pain hindrance?
@ZenFox42: Fair enough. I'll stick with knowing a guy (and this was meant to cover Knowledge/Planets; sorry I didn't make that clear), but instead of being a fast talker, I think I'll go more along the lines of enforcer.
Still need to read through the document. I'll try to get that done this evening.
Can I please play a psychic?
Hey there! Long time no see. You know, you missed your chance for Aterro to have another lightning slinger in the party in Tareth's game. ;)
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Hey guys!
Hey Adam. Yeah, much do I rue about being away from the honey-sweet waters of all things Tareth. Though if you are having fun in the game then all the better!
Yeah, I had a family health issue that required everything I had and more, but things are good now. Swimmingly. Better than. So we can only look forward.
ZenFox, I've read the ten-page player outline and well done, sir! Adapting any setting to one's own tastes is never easy, and old-school SW is harder than most. You have more fortitude than I to have completed such a task.
I am much interested by this Persuasion-more-than-shooting goal. Also I like the preparation. This bodes well.
I also like that we lack both a fighter and a psionic. I don't think I'm the only case in the world when I say love River Tam. (In a non-romantic sort of way. I mean.) I even had a DC Online purple-flying-psychic gurrl called River Tam--Alliance Op. =)
I know I have a reputation for playing bombastic warbringers, but I've mellowed in my time away. Sure, the character might say weird things (expect some classic lines like the thing about the human body and proper vacuum pressure) but the actions will always have the party's good as the formost priority.
Speaking of which! I think it would be good to have some kind of a connection with whoever is the Persuasive one. I think it would be cool to explore how Mind Reading affects Persuasion attempts.
For background of course we can cleave closely to much of Tam lore that we know about how the Alliance do. But my character was supposed to be finished. After a few missions everything was cool, until it wasn't. Something resulted in Total Recall, and they skipped off the grid. Now they must dodge quickly while trying to figure out who they are.
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@Atlas2112: Glad to hear things are going better. I know that those kinds of issues are not fun nor easy to deal with. If you want back in, shoot Tareth a PM. I'm sure he'd be happy to have you back.
@ZenFox42: A question on dependents, if we say a PC has multiple children is that one drawback for all of them?
Name: Mark Baum
Race: Human
Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d4, Strength d6, Vigor d6
Skills: Custom Smarts Skill: Knowledge/Planets d8, Athletics d6, Common Knowledge d6, Fighting d6, Notice d6, Persuasion d4, Research d4, Shooting d8, Stealth d6
Pace: 6, Parry: 5, Toughness: 6(1), Size: 0
Gear: Glock d8 (2d6, 12/24/48), Pump Action d8 (1-3d6, 12/24/48), Unarmed Strike d6 (Str), Thick Coat, Leather Jacket (+1), (50x) Bullets (Medium), (25x) Shotgun Shells, (25x) Shotgun Slugs
Special Abilities:
• Custom Minor Hindrance (Dependent (Daughters)): This is a quick customizable Minor Hindrance for those instances where you don't have time to create one in the Editor.
•Cautious: Plot things out in detail before any action
•Connections (The Free Traders Union): Call for a favor
•Adaptable: Free Novice Edge
I think he's mostly ready. I may be shifting skills around as I figure him out more.
Basically Mark is a former operative (not sure if Alliance or Independent yet, but leaning Alliance) that served during the war. His wife was killed and his children put in an orphanage for a little while. After the war ended, he had a hell of a time getting them out. Since then he's been running with various merchant ships as the cargomaster and helping sniff out the best jobs.
GM, would it be okay to tweak the Ex-Alliance hindrance some? I was thinking instead of the penalty to knowledge rolls, what if Mark has a bounty on his head thanks to his work as an Alliance operative. If not, I can make him a Browncoat instead.
Has anyone volunteered for target, I mean meat shield I mean Captain?
Also, what is your GM ruling on SW edges from other properties ZenFox42? I have 'The Goon' & there is an edge in there I would be interested in as an affore-mentioned fightin'-type
It's good. I was second so I just made my character the one with the knowledge and the contacts. Should be fun working as a team.
Besides, I think Mark will have enough enemies to make it a bit difficult to be the face.
Here's your Pilot...
Player Name: Therenger
Character Name: Perenian "Perry" Ethgarnon
Race: Human
Concept: Pilot
Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d4, Strength d4, Vigor d8
Skills
Core: Athletics (AG) d4, Common Knowledge (SM) d4, Notice (SM) d4, Persuasion (SP) d4, Stealth (AG) d4
More: Kno Astrogation d8 (SM), Piloting d10 (AG), Shooting d8 (AG)
Pace: 5 (Obese), Parry: 2, Toughness: 8, Size: 1 (Obese)
Hindrances
Habit, Alcoholic (Major)
Obese (Minor)
Debt (Minor)
Edges
Adaptable: Humans begin play with any Novice Edge of their choosing for which they meet the requirements
Rocket Jock (Adaptable Edge): The Pilot can fire one weapon system per action without incurring the multi-action penalty while Piloting or Driving
Ace: Ignore up to 2 points of penalties to Piloting or Driving rolls and may spend Bennies to Soak damage, using Piloting skill instead of Vigor
Quick: Cannot get lower than 5 on an Action Card draw
Gear
40 credits
Flask (weight 1, cost 5)
Casual Clothing (weight 2, cost 20)
Heavy Leather Jacket (+1, weight 5, cost 25)
Uzi (9mm) 12/24/48, dmg 2d6, AP 1, ROF 3, Shots 32, weight 9, cost 300
9mm Ammo x4, 50 rnds, weight 2, cost 20 (50 rnds carried, 150 rnds left on-ship)
Case of cheap grain alcohol, cost 30
Regarding the rule on Swords, I would suggest instead of having swords be there own skill, that they are instead require a Specialization. If you specialize in unarmed, or knives, or general fighting, you suffer a -2 at fighting with swords. If you decide to take a specialization in swords, you suffer a -2 penalty to all other applications of Fighting.
A note to Perry, in the setting, I'm pretty sure weapons are illegal on civilian vessels, and while we might acquire one at some point, we are unlikely to start with any. Your Rocket Jock Edge, might therefore be more useful put off until later game.
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I am having some brainthoughts:
(I just can't shake the trope. All I keep seeing is a young female. Between River and Black Widow the genre just has too much meat to work with.)
Point the first: right under the Ex-Alliance Hinderance is the Fugitive hinderance. That comes with a bounty. Is that more like what you're thinking of?
2) What if we run with that?
As you patiently tried to get your kids out of the orphanage in the nice, legal way, you were approached by an old officer. He commends you for your past service, then asks if you'd like one last job. Big pay. Favors will be owed. Could even smooth out some of this red tape, understand?
All you have to do is babysit a fresh-faced new operator. She's done some small things, but this is big, so they need an experienced, cool hand to guide them through. Easy peasy.
And so it goes. You meet, you talk. You tell old stories. Nothing made up too much, but most of it true. All you get in return are questions. Simple. Dumb. "So they really bombed civilians at Renegade Pass?" Well, yeah, a little, but they was mostly collaborators, and didn't bomb them nearly as bad they could've, so what of it?
Then one day...poof. She's just gone. Here one, not the next. You won't be blamed, right?
Right??
Of course you will. Time to get the kids out the quick and hard way.
Or something like that. tl;dr: You knew her before she went AWOL, and maybe had a hand in opening her eyes. So when you meet up later you at least know her. And you two share a kinship of giving the Alliance the laugh.
Thoughts?
I like what you're doing with the psionic. There's some good stuff here.
I just have a question about the...freaking out roll? Like, a 25% to be...what? Paralyzed? Useless? Under a Confusion spell? No chance to resist. And what's the duration? Until the stress is over/removed?
Is that really, ummmmmmmm, balanced?
That just seems like a lot. I mean, I was looking over Hinderances to see how it compares, and even the Majors just give a -2.
I see what it's trying to do. It's trying to convey the stripped-brain thing. But in game terms it means the player must sit on their hands for a full forth of things worth doing.
Might not 12 or even 10% work better? That's still a massive hit, to have a 1 in 10 chance of going batshit crazy whenever it's not proper tea time.
I mean, if you wanna give it a "let's try it out and see how it goes" I'm all up for that. But I know you're a numbers guy so I just wanted to gather your thoughts on this.
@Atlass2112: It's more I'm trying to replace the penalty to the knowledge/planets and common knowledge rolls. It doesn't make sense for an alliance operative working outside of the Core to not know about it as well as the locals, especially when I was picturing him as the point guy for figuring out how to get the Alliance in good with some of the locals. Besides, it was less he's on the run and more he managed to tick off some people with deep pockets in his time as an operative.
I guess what I'm looking for is something more like the Enemy hindrance, but with the disadvantages if he's found out to be ex-alliance tossed on top.
A note to Perry, in the setting, I'm pretty sure weapons are illegal on civilian vessels, and while we might acquire one at some point, we are unlikely to start with any. Your Rocket Jock Edge, might therefore be more useful put off until later game.
My favorite thing in life is learning that I have one more Edge. It's been a while since I watched Firefly but I do seem to recall more running and less shooting. Thank you!
That being the case, I could take the Captain edge as that still seems to be a need. That appears to overlap Ace to some extent, so I could repurpose that edge as well...
Might as well.
Alright, so for my other edge, as the gorram Captain, should I take Connections, Luck, or something else? (Connections, right?)
Wow! So much happened in the last 24 hours...
Atlas - so good to see you again, it's been way too long! Yes, you can be the psychic, you're the first one to ask for it. Thanks for the kudos on the setting. Regarding your comments/questions :
Saying weird things is right in-line with being psionic in Firefly. Go for it!
You can have escaped from the Alliance, but you're *much* less powerful than Tam is in the canon - you've probably been on only one or two very simple missions. You would have the Fugitive Hindrance. Amnesia isn't an official Hindrance, so its more for character background.
About the freaking out, I hadn't thought about it from a game perspective, I was going more by the canon. So, yeah, let's make freaking out happen on a 1 on a single, non-re-rollable, d10. Sound good? I'm unsure of how to decide when she snaps out of it - if I make it a Spirit roll, it'd last an average of 1-2 rounds on only a d6.
Even with a -2, with a d8 Spirit, it'd last an average of 2 rounds. With a -4, it'd last an average of 4 rounds on a d6 or d8. I'm leaning towards a -2 (3 rounds on a d6, 2 rounds on a d8), cannot spend Bennies to re-roll. Thoughts?
Adam - child dependents are usually with you at all times, even when you're on the planet's surface. As a Minor Hindrance, they'll be NPC's that you control - they can fetch and carry small things for you, stuff like that. They'll both count as only one Hindrance. Sound good?
If you want a bounty on your head, take Fugitive. How about this : I'll split Ex-Alliance into Minor and Major Hindrances. The Minor is just a -2 to Persuasion, while Major adds the Knowledge penalties.
Irnk - you're the first person to ask for it. Just note, if you take Captain, all you really get is the chance to re-roll for other PC's. You don't own the ship, and you don't make all the decisions. Describe the Edge you're thinking of and I'll make a decision.
Theringer - see what I said to Irnk about being Captain. It's not a needed Edge, and Irnk asked for it first - if he passes on it, you can consider it. Also, Rigor is right about weapons *attached to* spaceships. Because of that, the Rocket Jock Edge does not apply.
Rigor - I don't think specialization provides a harsh enough penalty for using a sword if you've not been trained in it, according to the TV show. I mean, Mal was essentially useless in the sword fight. Still, I'm going to run some simulations and see how harsh a -2 would be.
New rule : you automatically start the Persuasion process with your opponent at the Unfriendly level if the opponent knows your alliance is different than theirs.
I tried to address everyone's comments and questions, but if I missed anything, or you want to make a counter-point, please feel free to speak up.
P.S. - while we're in Recruitment, please always post under your player name (except to present your PC's stats), thanks!
I'm going to think about a new idea. If somebody comes up with a techie between now and then, feel free to go for it.
Philo - what changed your mind?
I'd still be interested to know if you got any benefits from the original cyberlegs in the other game.
Then I misinterpreted Irnk's post and he's welcome to it. The Captain edge does say You are the owner of record of a starship, so if that's not the case then yeah, it probably doesn't matter a lot who it is. Ace is the better edge.
Oh, there weren't any benefits to the cyberlegs except for looking normal and walking. It was mostly so she could be present in social encounters that wouldn't work for a mechanical monstrosity, but balanced by a need to get away before turning into a crying pumpkin.
Tweaked a couple stats and skills, and dropped RocketJock and plowed those two points into one more die type for Piloting. Good and done. Will flesh out a backstory and add an NPC list shortly.
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Wow! So much happened in the last 24 hours...
AtlasI'm leaning towards a -2 (3 rounds on a d6, 2 rounds on a d8), cannot spend Bennies to re-roll.
Yes this. This, yes. Lots of yes to this. Once upon a time there was a little boy names Yes.
It feels better, still serves up some good mental angst, but doesn't threaten to steal the show.
Thank you.
With that having been said, please appreciate how much I hate myself when I do this. I told myself I was going to try to not argue as much. But, I know when one is trying to re-mold old systems into new, feedback and critique are needed. So thank you for this.
Speaking of which, I think you may have actually done more work than needed.
I fully see the need for a distinction between Repair-mechanical and -electrical. Even if you can rebuild a '64 Pontiac with a hammer and some duct tape, that doesn't mean that calibrating the dilythium crystals for the neutrino analyzer is the same thing. This would absolutely be something that a new scenario for Savage World would need to recognize.
SWADE, however, seems to have already done this.
Page 34, under Repair: "Electronics:
Repair can be used to repair electronic devices, but is limited by the hero’s Electronics skill. Use whichever skill is lowest."
It seems like SWADE saw the problem and found a way to fix it. In the same vein, it might prove comical if someone can -fix- a neutrino analyzer blindfolded and left-handed, but then have no skill in -using- the thing.
"You made it work! Great! Now just hit the power button to turn it on."
"The what now?" =p
I am, of course, just saying. (Please don't hit me.)
Alas as Philo has put down the Mechanic's stick, I feel myself compelled to pick it up. (I was always hesitant to go full fighter. A savant handygirl makes more sense. Will post stats shortly.)
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Agent 3M4
Str:d4
Agi:d6
Vig:d4
Smart:d8
Spirit:d10
Athletics: d4, Shooting:d4, Fighting;d4, Stealth d4, CommonKnow d4; Notice d4, Persuation d4, Electronics d8, Hacking d4, Repair d8, Focus d8.
Edges:
Psionic. (Powers 1. PP15)
Extra Powers
Mind Reading, Boost Self, TBD.
stuff:
Sat Com, Tool kit, Electronic kit, Duster,
non-metal dagger, Pepper spray, Stun gun, Derringer(?maybe?)
Hindrances:
Fugitive(major)
Delusional(minor)
Habit(minor)
Short Term goal: Avoid recapture, avoid recapture and AVOID RECAPTURE.
Long term goal: Find out who I am.
Contacts: John Galt, bartender at The Sweet Doomed Angel. John always seems to know something of relevance. He also seems to remember me from the Beforetime, but just rolls his eyes whenever I ask.
Corporal Derrick Martel, corporal in the Alliance Guards. Was a frequent guard of my roomcellprisonoubliettespace. He wasn't supposed to talk to me but he did. I gleaned information from his mind to aid in my escape. I also got him to give me his sat com number. I haven't called him yet.
Section Eight (not how he spells it.) A hacker whose quality matches his eccentricity. Everyone knows him and he always has something to sell. For a price.
@ZenFox42: That works for me. I'll get Mark adjusted.
"I am Dr. Able St.Germaine-Montclair. A few recent circumstances have made it prudent for me to seek a more peripetaric source of employment. However, if you expect me to provide my services as churgeon to this quaint... vessel of yours, I will have a few expectations regarding the cleanliness, autonomy, and management of my medicinal facilities. My speciality lies in regards to repairing traumas to the various humours, which I have been lead to believe your crew have a frequent habit of incurring. I expect and insist on no less than complete discression over the disposition of my services, and expect that participation in activities outside my specified duties, such as ballistic disputation, will result in additional remuneration. If this is satisfactory, along with certain guarantees towards my privacy, I believe we should be able to achieve incipient concordance."
Player Name: Rigor Rictus
Character Name: Dr. Able St. Germaine Montclair
Race: Human
Concept: Ship's Surgeon
Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d8, Spirit d4, Strength d6, Vigor d6
Core: Athletics (AG) d4, Common Knowledge (SM) d4, Notice (SM) d6, Persuasion (SP) d4, Stealth (AG) d4
More: Academics (SM) d4, Fighting d4 (Dex), Gambling (Sm) d6, Healing d10 (Trauma Specialization), Riding (Dex) d4, Science d8 (Specialization in Life Sciences), Shooting d8 (Specialization in Pistols)
Pace: 6, Parry: 5, Toughness: 6(1)
Hindrances
Habit: Gambler(Minor)
Mean (Minor)
Debt (Major)
Edges
Adaptable: Humans begin play with any Novice Edge of their choosing for which they meet the requirements
(Adaptable Edge):
Rich
Quick
Gear
Fancy Clothing (weight 2, cost 200)
Heavy Leather Jacket (+1, weight 5, cost 25)
Heavy Revolver (.454 Casull) 15/30/60, dmg 2d8, AP 2, ROF 1, Shots 6, weight 8; Red-Dot (+1 at Short/Medium)
Derringer (.45 LC) 5/10/20, dmg 2d6+1, AP 1, ROF 1, Shots 2, weight 2
.454 Casull Ammo x4 Speedloads, 26 rnds on beltloops, weight 2, cost 20 (50 rnds carried, 150 rnds left on-ship)
Medications: Propoxyn (Bottle), Isoprobiline (bottle), Hydrozopan (bottle)
Medic Kit 100 (Notes: Six uses, ignores 1 point of Wound penalties; $25 to refill)
Medi-Scanner: This hand-held scanner and screen depicts the internal structure of organic beings. This greatly helps doctors looking for damage, and adds +2 to their Healing rolls. With a tiny blood sample, the medi-scanner can also detect known poisons, diseases, and other conditions. (2 lb, $600)
Body Armor: This lightweight material can be worn under normal clothing with little inconvenience. It adds +4 Armor and negates up to 4 points of AP from ballistic attacks (but not energy or melee). (4 lb, $200)
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Therenger - oops, I forgot my own rules. The Captain Edge does mean you own the ship, but you still don't make the major decisions. I just looked at my most recent version of the setting, and found the phrase "which means you get to call the shots", which I thought I had removed. I just think having all the players having a say in decisions is better than one player making all the major decisions.
Atlas - no problem, I didn't see your objection as arguing, but as pointing out a potential imbalance in the setting, which I agreed with. Having said that, would you mind too much if I changed the d10 roll to freak out to a d8?
Also, I had totally forgotten about SWADE's Electronics skill! I'm still not fully up-to-date on all of SWADE's changes. So I'll remove the Repair/Electronics and Repair/Mechanic skills, and change all their references to SWADE's Electronics and Repair. Thanks!
And, thanks for taking up the repair skills, I was thinking of running an NPC crewman of my own that would be the repair guy. I can still do that if you want to put those points elsewhere.
ALL : to everyone who's posted a PC - I haven't had time to review your PCs, will get to it soon.
So, if this is too much information, just ignore it...
Regarding weapon specialization :
For both a d6 and d8 attack, specialization reduces your chance of hitting a target with Parry 5-7 (remember, in Firefly, you don't wear armor in a sword duel) by about half (as compared to without the -2). But, that still means that a d8 attack against Parry 5 has about a 25% chance of hitting.
Based on Mal's performance in the TV show, that's still too high. If I recall correctly, he didn't get in a single hit in the entire fight (well, he got one minor cut in, but it was implied that the other guy let him get that).
But with the default d4-2 I'm suggesting for Fighting/Swords, you'd have only a 6-12% chance of hitting. I like this better.
Waiting on PC descriptions from : Mokashi, Philo, Joseph, Irnk.
You don't have to make your PC from these archetypes, but it might be good to have a repairman (Atlas has graciously offered to have these skills, but it just seems strange having a psionic also doing repairs) and a really strong fighter-type (high Shooting, Fighting, and Athletics). No problem at all if you want to do something different.
So far we have the following PC's :
Rigor - Able (medic)
Therenger - Perenian (pilot)
Adam - Mark (ex-operative)
Atlas - Emma (psychic & repair)
Once everyone posts a PC, I'll open a Discussion board and you can describe how you ended up on the ship. You can have been on-board for some time, or just boarded on the current planet the ship is on. Be thinking about it until then...
"Look, I ain't wantin' any trouble. I just wanna find our cargo and get goin'. I've got more important things to worry about than stirrin' up trouble with a bunch o' browncoats. Now where'd that dang cap'n o' ours get off to? He's the one that's gotta sign for this stuff."
Name: Mark Baum
Race: Human
Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d4, Strength d6, Vigor d6
Skills: Custom Smarts Skill: Knowledge/Planets d8, Athletics d6, Common Knowledge d6+2, Fighting d6, Notice d6, Persuasion d4+2, Research d4, Shooting d8, Stealth d6
Pace: 6, Parry: 5, Toughness: 6(1), Size: 0
Gear: Glock d8 (2d6, 12/24/48), Pump Action d8 (1-3d6, 12/24/48), Unarmed Strike d6 (Str), Thick Coat, Leather Jacket (+1), (50x) Bullets (Medium), (25x) Shotgun Shells, (25x) Shotgun Slugs
Special Abilities:
• Fugitive (Bounty) (Major): You have a bounty on your head. Watch out for 'hunters.
• Dependent (Daughters) (Minor): There’s someone close to you who cannot fend for themselves and whom you feel you owe protection. This can arise from romantic love, family, or simply a sense of honor. A dependent is usually an NPC in the game, but if the GM agrees, another PC. Minor dependents tend to obey and help as much as possible; they’re not very capable, but at least they’re cooperative. Major dependents, on the other hand, tend to get into bad situations and you have to continually pull their fat out of the fire.
• Ex-Alliance (Minor): Characters with this Hindrance grew up on an Alliance planet, and if they are known to be ex-Alliance suffer -2 to their Persuasion when dealing with non-Alliance people. Unless you have broken the law, your ident card identifies you as belonging to the Alliance.
•Connections (The Free Traders Union): Call for a favor
•Streetwise: +2 Intimidation/Persuasion/Common Knowledge
•Adaptable: Free Novice Edge
Mark Baum was born on one of the Core worlds, but he didn't stay there. He entered the Alliance military when he turned eighteen and soon found himself headhunted by the Alliance Intelligence Service thanks to his mental acuity and skill with a gun when things went south. He was stationed out in the Border as tensions between the Alliance and the Independent worlds worsened.
The years he spent in the Border knocked much of the Alliance propaganda about the outer worlds out of him. He learned to appreciate the people and their customs. His cover was as a cargo broker, and he often had long conversations with people from off world, learning about their homes, their customs, and how to get what you wanted.
In between his occasional side missions and his cover, Mark managed to find love. His wife, a beautiful woman named Felicia, was better than he believed he deserved. They had two daughters and were planning on more children when war broke out between the Alliance and the Independents. Mark's skills were put to use behind enemy lines, where he disrupted supply lines and command and control networks. It was during the conflict that Mark learned how uncaring the Alliance truly was. While he was away on a mission, another Alliance operative lead a raid on his home, killing his wife in the process. His daughters survived to be put into the Alliance orphanage system, and Mark spent two years without knowing anything.
When he found out at the end of the war, he was furious. He had been decorated for his service, and he leveraged that to pry his daughters free and see the operative who planned the hit on his home and the officer who had authorized it court marshaled and sentenced to decades of hard labor. Having seen the ugly side of the Alliance far too closely and personally, Mark resigned in a letter that was a scathing indictment of the Alliance High Command and especially the AIS. He took his daughters and his severance pay out of the Core and onto a ship.
He's done his best over the past five years to raise his daughters right. He left his ties to the Alliance behind him, but his past still causes him trouble. Independents that learn of his origins are quick to hate him. Then there's the crimelords he pissed off in some of his operations. Those guys and gals put out bounties on his head, making his life so very interesting whenever coming into port.
Hailey and Holly Baum: Mark's twin daughters. They are lovely girls and nearly twelve years old. In the five years since the end of the war, Mark has done his best to raise them and make sure they want for nothing.
Crenshaw Xing Mao: One of Mark's contacts with the Free Traders Union. He seems like a jovial man, but there's a shark underneath all that charm. Crenshaw was one of the captains the Alliance used to ferry operatives to their missions.
Chi Wotan: Another of Mark's contacts with the Free Traders Union. She was a pilot in the Independents military that Mark saved when she was shot down near where he was conducting an op. Of course, she's quick to remind him that he was only able to do that because she saved his bacon first by gunning down a reaver transport.
Madam Risly: One of the crimelords that has a grudge against Mark. She has the biggest bounty on his head. More troubling to Mark is the one she has on the capture of his daughters.
Gregory Hassenbach: A non-descript man that most would have never pegged as an Alliance operative, Greg proves that it isn't just crimelords and browncoats that have grudges against Mark. Why, Mark honestly hasn't a clue. All he knows is that Gregory Hassenbach always seems to turn up when things get complicated.
I'm not sure what counts as high, but Mark as a d6 in Fighting and a d8 in Shooting. He's not a slouch in combat.
Rigor - just looked at your PC, and sorry, but the Sci-Fi Companion is off-limits (it would open a WAY too big can 'o worms!). If you want extra armor, take the Military Armor Edge.
The medications you listed as items will be available in the ship's medbay.
You can have the Rich Edge, but it's only a one-time startup thing, you don't get any guaranteed monthly/yearly income. I actually disallowed it in the current setting rules, but I think this is a good trade-off.
Atlas - you list two Powers. You got one for free with the Gifted Edge, just checking that you spent character creation points for the second? Also, can you list your specific delusion and habit?
Sorry, the Stun Gun is off-limits (non-canon [actually, the Alliance has them, I'll have to add that to the setting]). Besides, because of your freaking out, no one in the party is going to let you carry *any* kind of weapon!
Therenger - can you describe your debt? Also, I don't have time to cross-reference everything, but I calculate your Parry as 4 and your Toughness as 6(1), unless Obese or something else factors in.
Adam - really sorry, but for reasons I can't get into now, there isn't a "Free Traders Union" (never thought anyone would think of that). Maybe your connections can be Alliance or ex-Alliance people? It would be very handy to have some people still in the Alliance that can do favors for you.... Your NPC's can still be traders, but they're independents.