Pathfinder Starfinder Society Subscriber. Pathfinder Society GM. Starfinder Society GM. 973 posts (13,010 including aliases). 11 reviews. No lists. 1 wishlist. 54 Organized Play characters. 53 aliases.
While Vren was very relieved, time was the name of the game now. As soon as he left this place, it would be much harder to find him. He quickly walked the opposite way from the cafeteria, another path toward the exit. It was hard not to speed walk or run through the halls, but that would attract attention. To calm himself, he focused his thoughts on the best way to stow away on an outgoing ship. He had the outfit, so just walk onto the ship? Maybe he should slice into the port authority's info to see if he could find someone in the Galactic Alliance, or at least not with the Empire. Yeah, it was risky, but fleeing only to accidentally stow away on their ship would make his efforts here pointless. It was a good distraction, now he just had exit out the side. Alarms would go off at the front, but that was fine. Any actions of security would probably not be fast enough if he ran. He could disable the alarm, but that would take time, and it wouldn't be noticed for a while, putting his friends here in possible danger. Yet again, he took another deep breath at the door, but this time he pushed through the door and started running.
No alarms sounded, and no security could be heard. Angfin really was good. Vren would send him a message of thanks, but that may be incriminating itself. Well, not in the sense of a crime necessarily, but Vren didn't really know how much authority Empire goons had. And, he was not about to test it, or have someone else test it. He simply thanked Angfin in his mind and then focused on the best route to the spaceport.
He had to stop running a short time from leaving. That kind of exercise wasn't something he did with any regularity, and it showed. But that was fine. He was away and on his way to the spaceport. Locating the place where the information was held was not going to be tough. The hard part was going to be getting access.
If Plubk was with them, he wouldn't be able to compose a message. This was the sign. The coast is clear.
Vren immediately set to gathering the bare minimum. His first stop was his desk. He pulled out the left top drawer and then reached beneath it. With a poke, the false bottom gave way and allowed access to the holdout blaster pistol he bought a bit back. It was mostly the result of him trying to see if he could forge an identity that could qualify for a license for one. When he succeeded, not getting one seemed like a waste. It was about the same for his security kit, but he really wanted one. There was a tool standard to the kit that was very useful to his work. Which, is where he went next. Buried in a bin of scraps and tools was a bag. He pulled the bag out, causing a cascade of clinks and clings. What was done was done, and he needed to hurry.
While no response came from outside the door, he opened the bag to reveal a basic military style backpack and a set of official looking engineer's clothes. Lastly, he grabbed his personal tool belt and put it on. He mused for a moment on the ration packs that came with it. He remembered thinking that he'd never use them, but also never got around to taking them out. Maybe his laziness will pay off.
Now was the moment of truth. Vren approached the door and took a deep breath. The anxious oils started again. He didn't want them to, but it was inevitable. He cursed his Duros species in that moment. If that is what ruined this, he would curse his ancestors for eternity. Focusing on it did not help. He took another deep breath and opened the door...
Vren rubbed the side of his hairless head. Plubk almost never used his name, and even less often failed to add a jab or insult. Right off the bat, Vren knew this was serious. Angfin wasn't a bad person, per-se. But, they were a coward. You could coerce them with a stern look. Vren was glad Angfin did what they did. He didn't want anyone to be harmed because of him. It was hard to ask Plubk to lie for him, but it was necessary for his plan. He had set this up a bit back but it required a catalyst.
It was a simple device. Vren attached a tiny chip to his portable computer and set up a reader just outside of his workshop. It has two settings, 'In' and 'Out'. A tiny little receiver was built into it as well that allowed a coded signal to swap the output. Vren also maintained consistency. Whenever he was not in his workshop, he was in the cafeteria.
The anxious oils started and Vren could feel it, he needed to have faith in his plan. He sickly checked the hallway. Clear. Then he changed the sign. This plan would work. Like mechanics, simplicity in design reduces the number of failure points. And, while he certainly could not lie to someone's face convincingly, mechanisms did not have to be convincing. They either were or were not, either zero or one. This would work. The oil abated as he turned off the lights and turned on the vent fan. All that was left was to wait for the opponents to pass by. So Vren his in a tool cabinet and wait..
Plubk: Hey Vren, some official looking peeps are asking about you at the front. I heard from Angfin. Apparently they seem like empire. Angfin told them
Me: You willing to lie for me?
Plubk: How big of a lie?
Me: Omission
Plubk: Yes, I can do that
Me: I am going to set the room as empty
Plubk: So that it seems like you went for food?
Me: Yeah
Plubk: And you want me to pass by to tell them that everyone knows what that means?
Me: Yeah, do not add too much. If you do, just add true things
Hey GM, it may be unnecessary to answer at this point but, the ship we will be starting on, what kind of affiliation does the captain/ crew have? (i.e. unaffiliated, criminal, rebel, Imperial, etc..)
I am still very excited to help tell a SW story. I have confidence that, despite the conflict, I will be able to collaborate well with whoever else is chosen.
I couldn't find a backstory where I can see that our paths would have definitely crossed, since you said a lot of Vren's backstory depended on other factors.
Zagulo spent most of his life growing up traveling along the Hydian Way, before going on a mapping expedition and then smuggling weapons and refugees (and one Jedi) for the Republic against the Sith. It's possible Vren's family worked on his parents' transport ship and they knew each other growing up there as children, if that works for you.
Alternatively, given both are Duros, they could be distant cousins. It's not out of the question that at some point since the Rebellion a Maresh married a Suurgav.
Let me know if either of those works for you.
Yeah those could work, or we don't know each other prior. As my backstory is still fairly fluid, possibilities are open. I plan to significantly solidify his backstory when the team has been decided.
I so totally completely do NOT care about any of this.
Chill haus. One of the benefits of this medium is the ability to just scroll past and ignore. That is what I have done and it is quite easy. An inability to ignore is a personal problem, and as such, is something you'll have to deal with on your own.
If Vren is on board, he can pass by taking 10. I'd like to know if one can take 20 on astrogation, though.
Edit: I made a mistake. Without a nav computer, but with holonet access is DC 30. A basic nav computer is 500 credits. With a nav computer the DC is 25.
Edit 2: I was mistaken again..ish. So, it seems as though the limited navcomputer that is 500 credits would not impart the +5. Without even the limited navcomputer the DC could be 40 (if no current nav data cannot be accessed). A standard navcomputer is 2k.
Note about astrogation: Without a nav computer, or astromech droid, but with holonet access, the DC to astrogate is 25. It appears as though, in normal situations, you can take 10. It is not clear whether or not you can take 20.
This is why I made a character with a very fluid backstory. Now, that is not to imply that having specific preferences is wrong. But, it is inevitable that the more people with specific preferences is likely run into clashes between preferences.
In order to facilitate cooperation over conflict, it might be best for folks to boil down their preferences for their characters to see if there are unresolvable conflicts, or if there can be compromise into a needle threaded tapestry of different stories.
For Vren, I am just looking for him to do some cool mechanics and slicing. I want him to learn how to work with others instead of just working by himself. And, as his destiny is legacy, maybe end up accomplishing more like his ancestor than he ever thought possible.
In the Calypso story iteration, I'm less preferential to have Vren having gambled his 20k away. For the base character, it just seems out of character for Vren. I'm happy to contribute the 20k out of game.
So I've been wracking my brain to develop a backstory and I keep running into a problem of 'it depends'. Vren's backstory is flexible in that he doesn't need to be from a specific place. He doesn't need to be in a specific place at the beginning. He is constructed on a foundation that is the nerdy side character trope. Essentially, the trope of the semi-ex machina that helps progress the story so that the story has a way of simply saying 'tech magic happens' so we can move on. Now, I definitely intend to turn that space into a three dimensional character. But, I want to have a backstory that fits well into the final group.
For example, if Calrissian is a part of the final crew, the Calrissians could easily have kept tabs on the Surrgav line and know that Vren is tech savant. So, when building or operating the ship, he'd be a solid goto, or if putting a crew together to accomplish something.
In addition, or otherwise, he could be found working for KDY or CEC (or some other tech company). Maybe found fiddling with something he probably shouldn't, or some bureaucrat happens across one of his forgeries and makes a note.
Personality-wise, he is a smart person that doesn't dwell or put much thought into his intelligence versus other people's. He can hyper fixate on projects and ideas.and is fun loving. The thing that gets him into the mist trouble is a predilection toward 'I wonder if I can do...' and often an absence of 'should I do this?' He solidly fits into a NG alignment. When puts thought into things, he aims for good options.
Okay...I can probably work it in. This would also allow for a connection with an individual of the Calrissian line.
The specifics of some of Shrivs accomplishments are specific to new canon, but it would be easy to simply step back and keep more generalizations. Shriv led several successful squadrons and missions for the Rebel Alliance and after the Battle of Endor. He often served under General Calrissian.
The original plan was to have a bit of a faded line between Shriv and Vren. Shriv was an exceptional pilot and leader. Vren was going to be loosely connected with a savant-esk affinity for technology and a residual talent/skill in piloting. He would know of his lineage, but not really like to bring it up, or have it brought up, because he isn't talented in the same way Shriv was.
After some research, I just realized that the legacy I was planning for my character, off of Shriv Suurgav, appears to be completely in the new canon and not Legacy...
Money wise, my Duros technician (Scoundrel), Vren Suurgav, will probably be able to put up around 10k as well. Maybe up to 15k. He needs his tech equipment though.
Meta, he is supposed to fulfill the roles of mechanic and slicer. Combat-wise, he will not likely play a significant role. Based on looking over the system, his +16s to mechanics and use computers should work well.
Apologies for the time to create this character. Something isn't adding up the way I wanted it to for the character concept. As such, I'm going to bow out.
This looks very akin to many other aspects of our society where most shrug and say, "If you want to, have at it. I'm not interested." And then there is a small contingent saying, "THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF THE END!! BEWARE!!"
I'm with the former. I just don't care. It doesn't appear to have an effect on me. I've been playing since the mid 90s. Since the emergence of paid gming, I have seen no notable shifts.
Thanks for the run down. I did read it, but not everything stuck. The character concept I'm going to try out is a scary, high damage, shadow. Currently, I think incanter with a focus on dark and warp. Maybe striker for the other side.
Edit: Can I use both the shadowed fist and skirmishing scout?
There is admittedly a hard to reach space between maintaining concern and releasing control. I have found that the best way to look at it is, as mentioned above, acknowledging that which you can have affect on and that which is out of your control. Acknowledging your lack of control does not have to be a denial of your feelings or passions. Try to make a space for that while also keeping in mind what you can do. Also, also, each of those can easily try and overwhelm the other. Being a human is tough, give yourself patience and understanding in the form of wiggle room.
