Aspects
Logical Detection - Use Sense and Analysis modifiers on all Sense checks
Adaptive Psionics - Every successful psionic attack or defence against a specific character grants a +1 bonus to all further psionic interaction with that character. Bonuses stack until a failed attempt
Encounter Powers
Combat Scan - Successful scan gives Sense and Analysis bonus to psionic powers
Private Investigator specializing in Corporate Counterintelligence
Backstory
Terrence Oregon is a nice man, really. Though perhaps technically true, it would be supremely unwise to say - or think, mind you - the word "torturer" around him. Corporate counterintelligence is tricky, often dirty work, but somebody has to do it. Terrence tells himself that he's much kinder than most other people in similar lines of work. He's probably right, to a degree. He prides himself on never using pain to extract information. If you catch him in a particularly saucy mood you might even hear him giggle and describe his work as "motivational speaking". He's quite skilled at bending people's emotions until they really truly want to tell him everything they know. Often this has nothing to do with what he's looking for, but he usually finds some nuggets of valuable information.
Terrence was born on a colony world of no significance. He grew up blissfully unaware of his psychic talents. He thought people just plain liked him. Looking back, he can see how unlikely that was. He was small, weak, smart but not all that brilliant really, and kind of funny looking as a kid. Maybe he hasn't changed all that much. His life changed when he was 13 and ran for student council vice-president. He did end up winning, but not before broadcasting his victorious daydream to about a quarter of the other students in the auditorium. His parents were comfortable enough that they could afford to send him off to a Lodori-run Academy. He didn't spend long there. The instructors tested his abilities and fund that while he was an expert at reading people and influencing their emotions, he couldn't lift a stone if his life depended on it. His time was by no means wasted though. The election incident had been a revelation, and not the most pleasant one at that. Terrence felt as though all of his friendships had been a sham. He wanted people to really like him, not just like him because he made them like him. The Lodori taught him how to switch his powers off. It was a difficult transition, but he made it in the end.
No less important was the moral component in Terrence's education. He was instilled with a strong, principled sense of right and wrong. He won't interrogate anyone without good reason, and he'll never take a job that doesn't meet his strict criteria. This can mean that for all his ability and experience, he'll go months without a corporate job. During these slow periods, he hires himself out as a private investigator. Most of the time he'll be hired to find out if someone is cheating on their (often wealthy) spouse, but he's had the odd consultancy job with police and government forces too. He tries to avoid anything truly dangerous, though a few close calls have taught him the value of owning a pistol. His skills are in making people talk, not shutting them up for good.
If anyone wants to weigh in on the effects of Hysteria, please do!
Cheers Egos, everything seems to be in order there too
That makes six people who have expressed interest (and produced basic outlines), but I'm still waiting on four of you for names/backgrounds/descriptions etc. Any important issues or questions I need to address?
Clothing
Trenchcoat
Fake ID (+1 to passing security checks. Registered Name: David Reynolds)
Liquor flask(One time use -1 Willpower and Focus)
Haversack
Adam was born and raised on a small Crivinian colony of little consequence. As a child people would refer to him as a nice kid, a little quiet, but nice. What most didn't realize is that he was really just trying to keep himself out of the spotlight. When he grew up he started to fall in with a less than legal crowd.
As he grew up Adam started realizing that sometimes adults would leave him alone just because he wanted them to. As time went on his family started to realize that their nice quiet kid was really keeping himself from gathering attention by locking eyes with people and walking away.
After he grew up and passed the necessary training for psychics Adam decided that joining either side of the war with Lodori would only lead to him being the puppet of a supercorporation. Promising himself that he would never play into the hands of the money grubbing bureaucracies of the universe he started hanging out in the shadier side of town. Eventually saying his goodbyes to his homeworld and jumping on the first frigate off planet he became a professional smuggler.
Adam(Or Dave as he's known by the government or Crim as his clients call him) is surprisingly honorable for a thief. He's been grilled by customs more than once and has never sold out a client or given up the contraband that he transports.
Basic pants with belt
Basic button up shirt with sleeves ripped off
Eye patch over left eye
Pouch to attached to belt of pants
Two handed maul/hammer (just a basic 2 handed blunt weapon)
A small pistol
Knife
Backstory:
Cutter is a strong guy which shows with his build. He's a big guy, with a height of 6 feet 5 inches and 243 pounds, people see he is not someone to cross. Very muscular with big arms and a broad chest and shoulders. Generally soft spoken and keeps to himself, but is not afraid to express his mind if a situation calls for it.
He is a good natured person and always believes in doing the right thing even if the right thing breaks the law. Relying solely on his physical strength, Cutter prefers to use his two handed weapon over his pistol (his big hands make it hard to hold the tiny gun and one eye hard to aim), but knows it is stupid to not have a gun on him at all times.
Cutter was born with one eye, his left eye did not develop and the socket is covered in skin, this is why Cutter wears an eye patch. This is, what most presume to be due to a birth defect, but tests have been inconclusive, and Cutter doesn't like talking about it. Bald on top with a small pony tail in the back going down to mid back, he has a pitch black eye. No white or anything, the whole eye is black.
With his build and his good nature, Cutter has taken the career of a free lancer. Few people have Cutters size, and even fewer have his experience and reputation for getting the job done. If you ask him to do something, as long as it doesn't go against what he believes in, you can bet it will get done. In fact, some people think there may be more to him than his looks...
Equipment:
Mundane-
Encrypted Files verifying Cyril's postion amongst Shard, as well as identification that confirms his position
An extremely well-tailored dark maroon pin-stripe suit
A small black briefcase with a hardy lock
Various vitamins and hygiene equipment a Health conscious member of SHARD may have
Minor-
Multi-Tool in conjunction with a Wrist Computer(+3 to technical skills, but requires one to switch modes)
Light Environmental Protection Suit (+2 Armor with concealed breathing mask)
Major-
Morph Blade (Melee +5, a blade that can be disguised as a number of objects)
Background: "Though one may lack the typical qualities esteemed by SHARD, that does not mean one's talents cannot be put to better use in other areas of expertise."
Is a line that Cyril remembers hearing but he doesn't remember from who. He was born to two scientists within the SHARD community of the Domarian Legion, but unfortunately suffered from various mental disorders. While this didn't impair his intelligence ; it did impair his ability to concentration- threatening his potential future as a valued scientist or researcher within Shard.
At the age of 13 when it became clear to the highly regimented school system that SHARD employs, that Cyril was not suited for the "typical" education they provide. They put him into one of several "special" programs for which various problem childs were put (this could range from delinquents to those with mental defects).
Since Cyril was estimated to be physically able and mentally competent enough, he was placed in a program geared toward "creating agents". People in this program were given drugs at an early age altering their perception of the world and changing their emotions to some extent - so that any moral objections they may have to what they may have to do was erased. However the drugs have nasty side effects in that it makes the overall quality of life for those who take it "not so great". Making some of this individuals resentful of SHARD, but simultaneously the drugs have conditioned them to a point where they won't take extreme actions in rebellion (especially at a younger age).
In addition to the drug treatment, ones physique and covert abilities are trained from 13 into one's 20s. And then one is sent into the world to perform various tasks.
Cyril has finished his training for a few years and is currently still serving as an operative. His closest connection to SHARD aside from his parents- is his mentor Roland Kip . A man who went through the same program ( although at a time when it was much less refined) and who provides a sympathetic ear to Cyril.
Remember, if there's any backstory aspects/equipment factors/virtually anything that you don't necessarily want to declare about your character, you're under no obligation to post it in the thread, you can just run it past me in PMs.
...not saying those aren't interesting enough, just putting it out there for the people we're still waiting on...
I think he means that if you want to keep secret something like, you plan on killing your party mates in their sleep and taking all the riches for yourself, then you might not want to post that and you can PM him that so he knows and can approve it. Just a guess.
Exactly! Like tastydonuts just informed me that his character has a psychiatric disorder that compells him to shoot all your characters in the face if they say any phrase containing the letter "E".
Finally, done and done. I figured we need a little more estrogen on our team.
Alliah Seddine (Disillusioned Ex-Council Analyst)
Alliah has not returned to her birthplace in Ucelsia in over a century; since her self-imposed exile has taken effect, there have been, frankly, more than enough reasons for her continued absence to overwhelm whatever small part of her sentimentality wishes for it.
Her role as an idealistic young information gatherer for one of the Council's various Political Analysis units gave her, over time, a knack for spotting patterns in events and uncovering hidden connections. It also culminated in the death of her unit chief, and her remaining allies, hit in a vicious series of cover-up assassinations by WAL. Her entire world-view shattered, and a marked woman by all powers concerned, she secured a deal for extraction and safe passage by a foreign supercorp in return for surrendering her files.
In the years and decades since, she's seen it all, drifting from publication to publication and world to world, hitching rides on mining vessels, Grandcruisers and luxury yachts alike, sent on expeditions collecting information from all over the galaxy by her employers. Yet she can't quite shake the feeling there's something vital she missed back on Ucelsia, something which could explain what really happened...
Equipment Mundane
Generic clothing
Field jacket
Knapsack
Small, common computer terminal
Minor
Old, small pistol (DC8, concealable)
Collection of various electronic volumes (+3 Analysis)
A handful of ID cards, including one identifying Alliah as a reporter for a political analysis section of the Council (now defunct and will not register if checked through a system, but genuine enough to convince someone on a cursory inspection)
Handful of contacts scattered through the galaxy
How does it sound, Edcrab? Still in keeping with the universe, enough?
Great stuff, but just wondering, did Alliah revoke her Domarian/Ucelsian citizenship when she had to go on the run, or does she still consider herself part of the nation/colony in some sense?
Overall though I love that back story- very in keeping with the Council as a sprawling corrupt bureaucracy with a lot of shady undertones.
For the record, if she’s been marked by the Council there’s every chance she’s wanted by Security, but other police forces probably won’t concern themselves with her. Unless the dodgy parts of the Council hierarchy didn’t want to get Security involved for fear of letting too much slip?
You gain character points at the end of a campaign, or more often after one act of the story. I've been toying with having bonus points that you can gain by passing an Intelligence test- i.e., similar to how Wisdom affected your accumulation of experience in Planescape: Torment- but in practise only a third or a quarter of points are "bonus" ones- anything else discriminates against low-or-average intellect PCs.
Usually I'd expect players to put their points towards skills/attributes they actually had a chance to exercise during the campaign- so no pumping up your Health if all you did was sit on a chair and examine old artefacts.
Great stuff, but just wondering, did Alliah revoke her Domarian/Ucelsian citizenship when she had to go on the run, or does she still consider herself part of the nation/colony in some sense?
Overall though I love that back story- very in keeping with the Council as a sprawling corrupt bureaucracy with a lot of shady undertones.
For the record, if she’s been marked by the Council there’s every chance she’s wanted by Security, but other police forces probably won’t concern themselves with her. Unless the dodgy parts of the Council hierarchy didn’t want to get Security involved for fear of letting too much slip?
I figure the Council are anxious about showing too much interest in an obscure journalist, yeah. They know she surrendered her files - actively giving them up and destroying all copies, that was part of her deal - and so now she really can't do much harm one way or the other. They'll grab her if they can do so quietly and on their home turf; if not, so be it, they've got plenty of time to kill.
As for her citizenship, I believe she still considers herself partly a Ucelsian somewhere deep inside, but something more than that now. She's pretty lost, frankly. A lapsed Ucelsian, as it were; if she found out one day they revoked her citizenship she'd have a twinge of nostalgia and sadness, but then shrug her shoulders and carry on working on the bizarre funding patterns between the Vigilantes and the Goyermontakon, or whatever, knowing the galaxy is an awful lot bigger than an old fat starship full of bureaucrats, and with far more at stake.
Man, you would have to be quite the badass to fight a killer robot while sitting in a chair.
Unless he is Professor X . :rotate:
How old is your character anyway and does aging work differently in this world or anything? I liked her alot btw, just curious about that
Hey, thanks! For whatever reason we seem to be accumulating a nice array of specialist government/ex-government spooks - this is going to be interesting.
The average human lifetime has been more than quadrupled, for a start- a 200-year-old is physically still in the equivalent of their late thirties, and they can expect to live for another two centuries. This is purely due to genetic tampering, by the way: not just a massive leap in quality of life :P
I would say Alliah fits somewhere around the 200-mark, there, maybe just a little below. I like to keep things like that a bit vague, just so I can fudge it around if I need to.
I almost pity the NPCs who get pitted against this party
Until, you know, you face the inevitable Health 100 Armour +80 killing machine of your nightmares.
...oh no I've said too much
Unless I've lost count we now have seven players and I'm still waiting to hear from Quoth and tastydonuts. I'm not opposed to taking this to eight or even nine, but I think seven is a good solid size (enough to field substitutes if anyone has to drop out).
I think he means that if you want to keep secret something like, you plan on killing your party mates in their sleep and taking all the riches for yourself, then you might not want to post that and you can PM him that so he knows and can approve it. Just a guess.
Any reason we would want to kill any of the other players? Seems taking away from our "relatively" small pool of characters would making things less interesting. As opposed to an MMORPG or something where there are millions around anyway and RPing isn't necessarily a concern....Maybe I just haven't played with enough types of people to understand the value 8-)
Or would people be reintroduced as new characters if they got killed off?
It was a silly example. I couldn't think of anything else you wouldn't want to tell people off hand without getting into more detail. And killing your team is definitely not something you would want in your character bio.
Or another one could be that you're posessed by a evil force, and can control it for the most part, but from time to time he will come up and try wreak havoc.
It works the other way around too. There are some details that won't be made apparent to all players. Some of you will have knowledge and insights that others lack...
Or I might just feed you duff information. What if the NPCs know you're psychic huh you psychic people aren't so clever now are you
Dustin has been a long-time employee of Duality Corporation. As such he's been to many, many places. Much of his time is spent traveling shipboard. If asked what his occupation is, he'd proudly proclaim that he offers pitches to smaller in-system companies for Duality Corporations lesser known products and interests. A closer examination of his presence and the disappearance or deaths of individuals during the course of his visits would suggest that there's more to him than just a smiling face.
His adventures into the world of assassination began with a simple instruction: "Do whatever it takes to sell this product or you're fired." When the contact for the corporation vanished, the deal went through. His higher ups had an idea of what happened, but the local authorities' inability to pin the "disappearance" on him even with psionic aid made it clear that Dustin's talents would be better used elsewhere. Thus, when things died down Dustin was discretely promoted.
Dustin looks like your average salaryman. His hair is kept at a length close to his scalp. If one were to look closely into his eyes you would notice that he is slightly heterochromic, though this is because one of his eyes has been modified.
Most people find that talking to Dustin is chore. He's one of those folk who seem like every other word is a sales pitch for something that may or may not work. Many dismiss him as being nothing more than a mindless tool for Duality Corporation product placement. His voice and mannerisms give away little to nothing about his true intentions.
Inventory:
Mundane
- ID indicating his position and other credentials.
- A lighter
- A pocket-sized multi-functional tool (scissors, screwdriver, flashlight, etc).
- His left eye has an integrated HUD which works in conjunction with his implant. (Should this be minor? (No bonus, just displays information)
- Candy
- Hover-case: Small suitcase containing his belongings, it hovers.)
- Jet black Business Suit.
- Dressy space shoes.
Minor
-- Epidermal armor: Dustin's epidermis is reinforced with nano-filaments that provide him with a +2 armor bonus.
-- Cranial Implant: contains a wealth of information about Duality Corporation's products, with Intranet uplink capabilities. (+3 Advanced tool, Analysis(?))
-- Sneaking Suit: "Snake, this is a solo sneaking mission. Do you know what that means?" (+3 to "stealth" skill)
Specialist
--- "Imogen": A pocket-sized Armor Piercing firearm (DC 14). Can fold itself down to a size that's about that of a modern bar cell phone, "unfolded" it's the size of a Derringer but without a trigger (synched to Dustin's implant). Small, quiet and deadly. Dustin can fire this remotely if it is within 10 yards of himself.
tastydonuts on
“I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
As a general rule, an item is "mundane" if it serves no significant ingame purpose, regardless of its technological level. A hover case sounds like exactly the sort of thing some shallow git with money to burn would purchase- expensive and high-tech, but it would have little bearing on the campaign. Likewise with the HUD implant.
Either way, great outline. Equipped to tear shit up at range, but he'd be in trouble if he got himself in a prolonged clash with a Strength-centric character :P
Incidentally, I'd like to take a moment to point out that I'm really damn happy everyone came up with backgrounds that match their attributes- i.e., if Dustin had 1 point of Willpower and no Psi Defence, claiming he resisted psychic probes would've been pretty ludicrous.
I still remember the time someone made a character with 6+ physical attributes and a stealth bonus, but diabolic mental attributes and no utility specialities to speak of.
The thing was- according to their backstory, they were supposed to be a surgeon. Yeesh.
So when do you think this thing will get started? These characters descriptions have me rather anxious to start rping.... Seems like it will be an interesting dynamic.
Well, I could always make an IC now and introduce Quoth last, but I'd prefer to know who she's going to field before throwing the rest of the party into a scenario.
Still sticking to the "corp transport ship breaks down and everyone conveniently decides to go wait on the nearest planet" opening- there'll probably be a little IC interaction as the ship descends and then [strike]the shit hits the fan[/strike] we'll see how it goes!
Alright, quick rules update I thought people should be made aware of!
Tried a few playtests with a more complicated eight-attribute system, with Mindset (sanity/personality, overall mental integrity) and Endurance (stamina). That proved interesting but way, way too fiddly to try and implement on such short notice, especially for a PbP.
What has changed for this run is that some attacks now deplete Health without allowing a check.
In practise a fairly powerful pistol (DC14) would be hard pressed to wound anyone with above-average Health, because the victim would only need to roll seven or more to entirely nullify the attack- which frankly seems daft in a world of photon bolts and robot things that can crack concrete with a punch.
In the new iteration, which I'll be exercising in the IC campaign, a hit from a potentially lethal attack always costs the victim a point of Health- but the success or failure of the Health check would determine whether that damage was temporary (i.e., the character quickly recovers once the encounter ends) or more permanent (that is, it's a direct hit that'll require medical attention to address).
As well as depowering Health, this makes Armour more desirable, as its firepower penalties are applied to incoming attacks whether they allow for a Health check or not, and the Block and Evasion specialities are likely to be exercised more frequently.
Critical hits in combat, incidentally, bypass armour and always deal permanent damage (and just as in the old system, possibly some extra damage if the roll beats the enemies Health/Armour by a sufficiently high amount [triple or more]). And since the game is narrative-defined at its heart, a critical hit versus a run-of-the-mill NPC guarantees that you're going to splat them in an impressive way :P
Hopefully. Razorwired won't be able to post in it until Wednesday and Quoth is still busy, but I suppose there's little reason why I can't post the intro so people have time to prepare themselves, so to speak.
Due to popular demand- and I mean really popular demand- I've put the IC up early. Hit each other, abuse the NPCs, just talk- your call. I can appreciate that people wanted the chance to start RPing with all the varied backstories they put together.
Please note that as usual, the posting order will be established by the first posts made in the IC. But of course feel free to converse (i.e., player A posts, then B, then A posts again despite there being a C D E and F around) without sticking to the round robin- just don't pull that sort of thing when we're dealing with combat, dammit.
Posts
Check behind the spoiler for Edcrab-approved goodness:
Stats
Attributes
Health - 3
Strength - 2
Agility - 4
Focus - 5
Willpower - 8
Intelligence - 7
Skills
Analysis +2
Sense +3
Psionics
Telepathy
Empathy
Aspects
Logical Detection - Use Sense and Analysis modifiers on all Sense checks
Adaptive Psionics - Every successful psionic attack or defence against a specific character grants a +1 bonus to all further psionic interaction with that character. Bonuses stack until a failed attempt
Encounter Powers
Combat Scan - Successful scan gives Sense and Analysis bonus to psionic powers
Items
Mundane
Business Suit
Briefcase
Minor
Pistol (DC9 sidearm)
Forensics kit (Advanced tool - Analysis +3)
EyeGlass (Advanced tool - Sense +3)
Hysteria(?) (poison, one-use, illegal - interrogation drug: reduces willpower of victim, futher details TBD)
Profession
Private Investigator specializing in Corporate Counterintelligence
Backstory
Terrence Oregon is a nice man, really. Though perhaps technically true, it would be supremely unwise to say - or think, mind you - the word "torturer" around him. Corporate counterintelligence is tricky, often dirty work, but somebody has to do it. Terrence tells himself that he's much kinder than most other people in similar lines of work. He's probably right, to a degree. He prides himself on never using pain to extract information. If you catch him in a particularly saucy mood you might even hear him giggle and describe his work as "motivational speaking". He's quite skilled at bending people's emotions until they really truly want to tell him everything they know. Often this has nothing to do with what he's looking for, but he usually finds some nuggets of valuable information.
Terrence was born on a colony world of no significance. He grew up blissfully unaware of his psychic talents. He thought people just plain liked him. Looking back, he can see how unlikely that was. He was small, weak, smart but not all that brilliant really, and kind of funny looking as a kid. Maybe he hasn't changed all that much. His life changed when he was 13 and ran for student council vice-president. He did end up winning, but not before broadcasting his victorious daydream to about a quarter of the other students in the auditorium. His parents were comfortable enough that they could afford to send him off to a Lodori-run Academy. He didn't spend long there. The instructors tested his abilities and fund that while he was an expert at reading people and influencing their emotions, he couldn't lift a stone if his life depended on it. His time was by no means wasted though. The election incident had been a revelation, and not the most pleasant one at that. Terrence felt as though all of his friendships had been a sham. He wanted people to really like him, not just like him because he made them like him. The Lodori taught him how to switch his powers off. It was a difficult transition, but he made it in the end.
No less important was the moral component in Terrence's education. He was instilled with a strong, principled sense of right and wrong. He won't interrogate anyone without good reason, and he'll never take a job that doesn't meet his strict criteria. This can mean that for all his ability and experience, he'll go months without a corporate job. During these slow periods, he hires himself out as a private investigator. Most of the time he'll be hired to find out if someone is cheating on their (often wealthy) spouse, but he's had the odd consultancy job with police and government forces too. He tries to avoid anything truly dangerous, though a few close calls have taught him the value of owning a pistol. His skills are in making people talk, not shutting them up for good.
That makes six people who have expressed interest (and produced basic outlines), but I'm still waiting on four of you for names/backgrounds/descriptions etc. Any important issues or questions I need to address?
Anyway here's a pretty finalized version of my Empath Smuggler. I may tweak him a little more but I'm pretty satisfied with this build.
Stats:
5 Health (-6)
4 Strength (-4)
5 Agility (-6)
6 Focus (-8)
6 Willpower (-8)
5 Intelligence (-4)
Psionics: Empathy
Marksmanship +3 (Pistols)
Lockipicking +1
Equipment:
Mundane:
Clothing
Trenchcoat
Fake ID (+1 to passing security checks. Registered Name: David Reynolds)
Liquor flask(One time use -1 Willpower and Focus)
Haversack
Minor
Pistol(DC9)
Electronic Toolbox(+3 lockpicking)
Disguise Kit(+3 disguise)
Wrist Blade(Concealable +2 Melee)
Background:
Adam was born and raised on a small Crivinian colony of little consequence. As a child people would refer to him as a nice kid, a little quiet, but nice. What most didn't realize is that he was really just trying to keep himself out of the spotlight. When he grew up he started to fall in with a less than legal crowd.
As he grew up Adam started realizing that sometimes adults would leave him alone just because he wanted them to. As time went on his family started to realize that their nice quiet kid was really keeping himself from gathering attention by locking eyes with people and walking away.
After he grew up and passed the necessary training for psychics Adam decided that joining either side of the war with Lodori would only lead to him being the puppet of a supercorporation. Promising himself that he would never play into the hands of the money grubbing bureaucracies of the universe he started hanging out in the shadier side of town. Eventually saying his goodbyes to his homeworld and jumping on the first frigate off planet he became a professional smuggler.
Adam(Or Dave as he's known by the government or Crim as his clients call him) is surprisingly honorable for a thief. He's been grilled by customs more than once and has never sold out a client or given up the contraband that he transports.
...I mean I doubt anyone will force you to take Willpower checks every five seconds but it's not paranoia if they really are out to get you
Equipment:
Basic pants with belt
Basic button up shirt with sleeves ripped off
Eye patch over left eye
Pouch to attached to belt of pants
Two handed maul/hammer (just a basic 2 handed blunt weapon)
A small pistol
Knife
Backstory:
He is a good natured person and always believes in doing the right thing even if the right thing breaks the law. Relying solely on his physical strength, Cutter prefers to use his two handed weapon over his pistol (his big hands make it hard to hold the tiny gun and one eye hard to aim), but knows it is stupid to not have a gun on him at all times.
Cutter was born with one eye, his left eye did not develop and the socket is covered in skin, this is why Cutter wears an eye patch. This is, what most presume to be due to a birth defect, but tests have been inconclusive, and Cutter doesn't like talking about it. Bald on top with a small pony tail in the back going down to mid back, he has a pitch black eye. No white or anything, the whole eye is black.
With his build and his good nature, Cutter has taken the career of a free lancer. Few people have Cutters size, and even fewer have his experience and reputation for getting the job done. If you ask him to do something, as long as it doesn't go against what he believes in, you can bet it will get done. In fact, some people think there may be more to him than his looks...
Health- 4
Strength-6
Agility- 8
Focus-6
Will-4
Int-4
Stealth +3
Melee +2
Profession: "Resource Allocation Agent" for SHARD
Equipment:
Mundane-
Encrypted Files verifying Cyril's postion amongst Shard, as well as identification that confirms his position
An extremely well-tailored dark maroon pin-stripe suit
A small black briefcase with a hardy lock
Various vitamins and hygiene equipment a Health conscious member of SHARD may have
Minor-
Multi-Tool in conjunction with a Wrist Computer(+3 to technical skills, but requires one to switch modes)
Light Environmental Protection Suit (+2 Armor with concealed breathing mask)
Major-
Morph Blade (Melee +5, a blade that can be disguised as a number of objects)
Background: "Though one may lack the typical qualities esteemed by SHARD, that does not mean one's talents cannot be put to better use in other areas of expertise."
Is a line that Cyril remembers hearing but he doesn't remember from who. He was born to two scientists within the SHARD community of the Domarian Legion, but unfortunately suffered from various mental disorders. While this didn't impair his intelligence ; it did impair his ability to concentration- threatening his potential future as a valued scientist or researcher within Shard.
At the age of 13 when it became clear to the highly regimented school system that SHARD employs, that Cyril was not suited for the "typical" education they provide. They put him into one of several "special" programs for which various problem childs were put (this could range from delinquents to those with mental defects).
Since Cyril was estimated to be physically able and mentally competent enough, he was placed in a program geared toward "creating agents". People in this program were given drugs at an early age altering their perception of the world and changing their emotions to some extent - so that any moral objections they may have to what they may have to do was erased. However the drugs have nasty side effects in that it makes the overall quality of life for those who take it "not so great". Making some of this individuals resentful of SHARD, but simultaneously the drugs have conditioned them to a point where they won't take extreme actions in rebellion (especially at a younger age).
In addition to the drug treatment, ones physique and covert abilities are trained from 13 into one's 20s. And then one is sent into the world to perform various tasks.
Cyril has finished his training for a few years and is currently still serving as an operative. His closest connection to SHARD aside from his parents- is his mentor Roland Kip . A man who went through the same program ( although at a time when it was much less refined) and who provides a sympathetic ear to Cyril.
Remember, if there's any backstory aspects/equipment factors/virtually anything that you don't necessarily want to declare about your character, you're under no obligation to post it in the thread, you can just run it past me in PMs.
...not saying those aren't interesting enough, just putting it out there for the people we're still waiting on...
Alliah has not returned to her birthplace in Ucelsia in over a century; since her self-imposed exile has taken effect, there have been, frankly, more than enough reasons for her continued absence to overwhelm whatever small part of her sentimentality wishes for it.
Her role as an idealistic young information gatherer for one of the Council's various Political Analysis units gave her, over time, a knack for spotting patterns in events and uncovering hidden connections. It also culminated in the death of her unit chief, and her remaining allies, hit in a vicious series of cover-up assassinations by WAL. Her entire world-view shattered, and a marked woman by all powers concerned, she secured a deal for extraction and safe passage by a foreign supercorp in return for surrendering her files.
In the years and decades since, she's seen it all, drifting from publication to publication and world to world, hitching rides on mining vessels, Grandcruisers and luxury yachts alike, sent on expeditions collecting information from all over the galaxy by her employers. Yet she can't quite shake the feeling there's something vital she missed back on Ucelsia, something which could explain what really happened...
Attributes
4 Health (-4)
3 Strength (-3)
5 Agility (-6)
7 Focus (-10)
6 Willpower (-8)
7 Intelligence (-10)
Analysis +3
Sense +1
Equipment
Mundane
Generic clothing
Field jacket
Knapsack
Small, common computer terminal
Minor
Old, small pistol (DC8, concealable)
Collection of various electronic volumes (+3 Analysis)
A handful of ID cards, including one identifying Alliah as a reporter for a political analysis section of the Council (now defunct and will not register if checked through a system, but genuine enough to convince someone on a cursory inspection)
Handful of contacts scattered through the galaxy
For the record, if she’s been marked by the Council there’s every chance she’s wanted by Security, but other police forces probably won’t concern themselves with her. Unless the dodgy parts of the Council hierarchy didn’t want to get Security involved for fear of letting too much slip?
Usually I'd expect players to put their points towards skills/attributes they actually had a chance to exercise during the campaign- so no pumping up your Health if all you did was sit on a chair and examine old artefacts.
for what it's worth, this feels very Mass Effect :^:
Give that guy some serious bonus points.
I figure the Council are anxious about showing too much interest in an obscure journalist, yeah. They know she surrendered her files - actively giving them up and destroying all copies, that was part of her deal - and so now she really can't do much harm one way or the other. They'll grab her if they can do so quietly and on their home turf; if not, so be it, they've got plenty of time to kill.
As for her citizenship, I believe she still considers herself partly a Ucelsian somewhere deep inside, but something more than that now. She's pretty lost, frankly. A lapsed Ucelsian, as it were; if she found out one day they revoked her citizenship she'd have a twinge of nostalgia and sadness, but then shrug her shoulders and carry on working on the bizarre funding patterns between the Vigilantes and the Goyermontakon, or whatever, knowing the galaxy is an awful lot bigger than an old fat starship full of bureaucrats, and with far more at stake.
Unless he is Professor X . :rotate:
How old is your character anyway and does aging work differently in this world or anything? I liked her alot btw, just curious about that
Hey, thanks! For whatever reason we seem to be accumulating a nice array of specialist government/ex-government spooks - this is going to be interesting.
Mister Edcrab says:
I would say Alliah fits somewhere around the 200-mark, there, maybe just a little below. I like to keep things like that a bit vague, just so I can fudge it around if I need to.
Until, you know, you face the inevitable Health 100 Armour +80 killing machine of your nightmares.
...oh no I've said too much
Unless I've lost count we now have seven players and I'm still waiting to hear from Quoth and tastydonuts. I'm not opposed to taking this to eight or even nine, but I think seven is a good solid size (enough to field substitutes if anyone has to drop out).
Any reason we would want to kill any of the other players? Seems taking away from our "relatively" small pool of characters would making things less interesting. As opposed to an MMORPG or something where there are millions around anyway and RPing isn't necessarily a concern....Maybe I just haven't played with enough types of people to understand the value 8-)
Or would people be reintroduced as new characters if they got killed off?
I hope.
It was a silly example. I couldn't think of anything else you wouldn't want to tell people off hand without getting into more detail. And killing your team is definitely not something you would want in your character bio.
Or another one could be that you're posessed by a evil force, and can control it for the most part, but from time to time he will come up and try wreak havoc.
Or I might just feed you duff information. What if the NPCs know you're psychic huh you psychic people aren't so clever now are you
I adjusted his stats slightly, let me know what you think. And I just remembered the word I was thinking of somehow fitting in there... smarmy.
Health: 4
Strength: 2
Agility: 7 (+1, -2)
Focus: 7
Willpower: 6 (+1, -2)
Intelligence: 4
Combat - Marksmanship: +4 (+1, -1)
Psi Defense: +4
Skill - Silver Tongue: +4
Old Stats:
[strike]Health: 4 (-4)
Strength: 2 (-2)
Agility: 6 (-8)
Focus: 7 (-10)
Willpower: 5 (-6)
Intelligence: 4 (-4)
Combat - Marksmanship: +3 (-3)
Psi Defense: +4 (-4)
Skill - Silver Tongue: +4 (-4)[/strike]
Background:
Corporate, Mercenary League
Dustin has been a long-time employee of Duality Corporation. As such he's been to many, many places. Much of his time is spent traveling shipboard. If asked what his occupation is, he'd proudly proclaim that he offers pitches to smaller in-system companies for Duality Corporations lesser known products and interests. A closer examination of his presence and the disappearance or deaths of individuals during the course of his visits would suggest that there's more to him than just a smiling face.
His adventures into the world of assassination began with a simple instruction: "Do whatever it takes to sell this product or you're fired." When the contact for the corporation vanished, the deal went through. His higher ups had an idea of what happened, but the local authorities' inability to pin the "disappearance" on him even with psionic aid made it clear that Dustin's talents would be better used elsewhere. Thus, when things died down Dustin was discretely promoted.
Dustin looks like your average salaryman. His hair is kept at a length close to his scalp. If one were to look closely into his eyes you would notice that he is slightly heterochromic, though this is because one of his eyes has been modified.
Most people find that talking to Dustin is chore. He's one of those folk who seem like every other word is a sales pitch for something that may or may not work. Many dismiss him as being nothing more than a mindless tool for Duality Corporation product placement. His voice and mannerisms give away little to nothing about his true intentions.
Inventory:
Mundane
- ID indicating his position and other credentials.
- A lighter
- A pocket-sized multi-functional tool (scissors, screwdriver, flashlight, etc).
- His left eye has an integrated HUD which works in conjunction with his implant. (Should this be minor? (No bonus, just displays information)
- Candy
- Hover-case: Small suitcase containing his belongings, it hovers.)
- Jet black Business Suit.
- Dressy space shoes.
Minor
-- Epidermal armor: Dustin's epidermis is reinforced with nano-filaments that provide him with a +2 armor bonus.
-- Cranial Implant: contains a wealth of information about Duality Corporation's products, with Intranet uplink capabilities. (+3 Advanced tool, Analysis(?))
-- Sneaking Suit: "Snake, this is a solo sneaking mission. Do you know what that means?" (+3 to "stealth" skill)
Specialist
--- "Imogen": A pocket-sized Armor Piercing firearm (DC 14). Can fold itself down to a size that's about that of a modern bar cell phone, "unfolded" it's the size of a Derringer but without a trigger (synched to Dustin's implant). Small, quiet and deadly. Dustin can fire this remotely if it is within 10 yards of himself.
Either way, great outline. Equipped to tear shit up at range, but he'd be in trouble if he got himself in a prolonged clash with a Strength-centric character :P
Incidentally, I'd like to take a moment to point out that I'm really damn happy everyone came up with backgrounds that match their attributes- i.e., if Dustin had 1 point of Willpower and no Psi Defence, claiming he resisted psychic probes would've been pretty ludicrous.
I still remember the time someone made a character with 6+ physical attributes and a stealth bonus, but diabolic mental attributes and no utility specialities to speak of.
The thing was- according to their backstory, they were supposed to be a surgeon. Yeesh.
Still sticking to the "corp transport ship breaks down and everyone conveniently decides to go wait on the nearest planet" opening- there'll probably be a little IC interaction as the ship descends and then [strike]the shit hits the fan[/strike] we'll see how it goes!
Tried a few playtests with a more complicated eight-attribute system, with Mindset (sanity/personality, overall mental integrity) and Endurance (stamina). That proved interesting but way, way too fiddly to try and implement on such short notice, especially for a PbP.
What has changed for this run is that some attacks now deplete Health without allowing a check.
In practise a fairly powerful pistol (DC14) would be hard pressed to wound anyone with above-average Health, because the victim would only need to roll seven or more to entirely nullify the attack- which frankly seems daft in a world of photon bolts and robot things that can crack concrete with a punch.
In the new iteration, which I'll be exercising in the IC campaign, a hit from a potentially lethal attack always costs the victim a point of Health- but the success or failure of the Health check would determine whether that damage was temporary (i.e., the character quickly recovers once the encounter ends) or more permanent (that is, it's a direct hit that'll require medical attention to address).
As well as depowering Health, this makes Armour more desirable, as its firepower penalties are applied to incoming attacks whether they allow for a Health check or not, and the Block and Evasion specialities are likely to be exercised more frequently.
Critical hits in combat, incidentally, bypass armour and always deal permanent damage (and just as in the old system, possibly some extra damage if the roll beats the enemies Health/Armour by a sufficiently high amount [triple or more]). And since the game is narrative-defined at its heart, a critical hit versus a run-of-the-mill NPC guarantees that you're going to splat them in an impressive way :P
Please note that as usual, the posting order will be established by the first posts made in the IC. But of course feel free to converse (i.e., player A posts, then B, then A posts again despite there being a C D E and F around) without sticking to the round robin- just don't pull that sort of thing when we're dealing with combat, dammit.