Characters and Character Creation

[Glintwine]

One thing I want to add about your and my relationship - Glintwine, I think that precog would be something that Savage would value very, very highly. He's all about making choices in order to prolong his survival so what would he value more than somebody who can tell the future? As I recall - my backstory has Guy trapped in prison while the coup against his ship is going down so I would think one option would be him being entirely nonplussed about his current imprisonment (it's really commonplace for space pirates, I would think) until someone from a rival crew makes a comment that illicit his attention and then he uses his Eelskin Capacitor Mesh to unlock a door and shock a guard - Raquel could use her precog and either see that that's going to occur and prevent it or see it going poorly and interject. Malachi, with his military trained instincts could realize what's happening and activity his cyberware and start wrecking house.

We are definitely on the same wavelength. That precog ability has pretty much been her leverage for getting into all criminal group she's been part of. Of course, it's not the most extensive power - at the moment she can only see straightforwardly into the immediate future... but no one else has to know that, do they? The more powerful everyone thinks she is, the more she can get away with.

That version of events seems like it makes sense. Thumbs up from me. Also, it occurs to me that several of the group is jumping on this prison bandwagon pretty hard since it IS a cool idea - seeing how we're supposed to all be outlaws in this campaign however, would it be too much of a stretch to say that most if not all of the rest of the crew were also held in this prison and escaped with us? It's something for each of us to decide for ourselves, of course, but I think it makes sense for us all to have been imprisoned together, broken out together, and then of course been bonded to one another not just by our shared experiences but by our shared guiltiness of the crime of prison break - better for us to stick together and stay away from the Republic after that than split up and risk one escapee being recaptured and ratting out the rest of the team. Thus, we all end up on a ship, working as a crew together. It especially make sense if we establish the faction that runs the prison to be tyrannical and heavy-handed, imprisoning and/or executing folk for even minor crimes, and especially major ones. (the old scavenger dude's backstory already works though, so he probably doesn't need to be part of that)

Just something for all the rest of you who might not have thought about how you joined the crew to consider.

Also, Mister-Ken, I added a new pic to my profile that should no longer require a download - just a slightly zoomed-out version of the one I originally attached to my post. It's not awesome original art like some of you seem to have (alas, I have no art skillz), and it also features a wrench instead of the sword that I'd prefer, but otherwise the look of the girl and the gear she's in are pretty much perfect for Raquel. If you wanna throw it up with my sheet on the top post, that'd be swell.

[Rhal]

Here is kind of a rough thought for what I am thinking for my character at the moment. Be warned, very basic background premise -

A thought hit me the other day for the background. I was thinking maybe using the Podborn Background Package from Other Dust. My character would have been a soldier/bodyguard or something assigned to some important functionary. Somehow the functionary/wealthy person had a "panic" room and had some minor warning that something was happening. He, maybe his family, and his house guard went into a cold sleep pod. Time passes and something happens (power dies, scavengers, archaeologist) and the power dies letting him out. All the other pods inhabitants died (loss of power and not opening, destruction, etc.). The universe he knew is gone, and he needs to adjust to what it is.

Might even be able to have this intersect with Malachi's background - perhaps he is the one who found him while looking for Xenos stuff?

Any opinions?

[Enoch]

I'll post more later when I get a chance, but with Marullus' comments I was already considering re-tooling my background to be a bit darker. Perhaps he hid the psi-suit and stashed it somewhere, which is why he still has it after he was thrown in prison. If we're looking at a darker, bloodier group, I may even consider switching from Psychic Researcher to something like Academy Graduate, so I pick up Combat/Psitech. I might have been a soldier in a religious war (I like the religious angle), now searching for the greater powers that were lost. Maybe I went AWOL with the suit in hopes of finding pre-Scream knowledge, and they caught up to me. I just managed to stash it before I was apprehended.

EDIT:

Or perhaps I wasn't a soldier (though if we anticipate a lot of combat Academy Graduate may make more sense than Researcher, even if his focus doesn't change), but perhaps I stole the holy relic as the first step in a plan to start a holy war. Having busted out with my prison-mates, I am now searching for lost lore and weapons with which to launch this war.

That would clarify his goals a bit:

1. Avoid capture by the Universal Inquisition.
2. Hunt down the location of the tools I need to launch this Crusade.

[kmbll]

One thing I want to add about your and my relationship - Glintwine, I think that precog would be something that Savage would value very, very highly. He's all about making choices in order to prolong his survival so what would he value more than somebody who can tell the future? As I recall - my backstory has Guy trapped in prison while the coup against his ship is going down so I would think one option would be him being entirely nonplussed about his current imprisonment (it's really commonplace for space pirates, I would think) until someone from a rival crew makes a comment that illicit his attention and then he uses his Eelskin Capacitor Mesh to unlock a door and shock a guard - Raquel could use her precog and either see that that's going to occur and prevent it or see it going poorly and interject. Malachi, with his military trained instincts could realize what's happening and activity his cyberware and start wrecking house.

We are definitely on the same wavelength. That precog ability has pretty much been her leverage for getting into all criminal group she's been part of. Of course, it's not the most extensive power - at the moment she can only see straightforwardly into the immediate future... but no one else has to know that, do they? The more powerful everyone thinks she is, the more she can get away with.

That version of events seems like it makes sense. Thumbs up from me. Also, it occurs to me that several of the group is jumping on this prison bandwagon pretty hard since it IS a cool idea - seeing how we're supposed to all be outlaws in this campaign however, would it be too much of a stretch to say that most if not all of the rest of the crew were also held in this prison and escaped with us? It's something for each of us to decide for ourselves, of course, but I think it makes sense for us all to have been imprisoned together, broken out together, and then of course been bonded to one another not just by our shared experiences but by our shared guiltiness of the crime of prison break - better for us to stick together and stay away from the Republic after that than split up and risk one escapee being recaptured and ratting out the rest of the team. Thus, we all end up on a ship, working as a crew together. It especially make sense if we establish the faction that runs the prison to be tyrannical and heavy-handed, imprisoning and/or executing folk for even minor crimes, and especially major ones. (the old scavenger dude's backstory already works though, so he probably doesn't need to be part of that)

Just something for all the rest of you who might not have thought about how you joined the crew to consider.

Also, Mister-Ken, I added a new pic to my profile that should no longer require a download - just a slightly zoomed-out version of the one I originally attached to my post. It's not awesome original art like some of you seem to have (alas, I have no art skillz), and it also features a wrench instead of the sword that I'd prefer, but otherwise the look of the girl and the gear she's in are pretty much perfect for Raquel. If you wanna throw it up with my sheet on the top post, that'd be swell.

So my thinking would be that from a timeline perspective - we would break out from prison before Guy is "The Savage" and at the juncture is just Guy. I'd like to think we break from prison, becomes infamous and gets into bounty hunting - completely loses his crew and remembers you two and reaches out to see if you want to travel together. My thinking is then that we would travel to Killdozer's world - my thinking is that we would be pursuing a bounty (something along the lines of a Django situation where a rich person wants a gladiator to fight for them so I've been sent to gather a specific individual. My thinking would then be that our ship crashed on the planet and we ended up in the fights and I unwittingly kill my target for an alive only bounty. We connect with Killdozer who I note has metajump and I'm thinking that maybe he's won the Cats Cradle but doesn't realize that it's a ship (living in it and thinks it's a house or won t in combat or something to that effect) and we all leave together. My thinking would be that that's not a particularly good ship at that point so it doesn't make it very far and we crash onto Modashi's world and it pretty much continues as he described previously.

In regards to Rhal - I really like the podborn idea and think you should run with it to however you want. From my perspective, I'm not sure why I would want you on the crew - I don't mean that to be critical because I like the ideas of your character but from a roleplaying perspective, I'm thinking my character would view a time-lost, physical only threat as not much of a benefit. My thinking is that we could stumble upon your character as you mention while looking for ruins for Malachi and Malachi could have a vested interest in you from a historical perspective and Raquel could understand where you're coming from as she's from a primitive origin as well - but I don't want you to be upset if from a roleplay perspective my character doesn't value yours and would rather be upfront about it.

On a similar vein - I'm thinking my character would have a deep respect for Killdozer as there are two people you don't mess with on a crew and that's the cook and the medic. I'd also think he'd highly regard Modashi as Guy is partially computer himself with all his cyberware, is technically inclined himself, and would view a mechanic as a necessity. I hope you're all cool with that.

As for Nikodemos - I think you should be whomever you want and we'll figure out a way to integrate you. I think if you were a Psychic Researcher who stumbled upon the Psi-suit that would work or we could have just been imprisoned on a world were psionics are completely outlawed. I don't think you need to make your character darker - I'm sure we can find a way. Any thoughts on how you want to integrate? If your characters objectives are just to research then you could have hired us all to transport you somewhere or you could have a vested interest in Raquel's powers. Just spitballing some ideas.

Edit: Or in regards to your edit - we could be helping you avoid the inquisition but I don't think you need to be more combat oriented for that. Play the character you want to play!

[Enoch]

I actually like the idea of being a bit darker, if only because it gives me more impetus for action. My original idea had, I think, an interesting background, but little clarity about who he was or what he wanted (a psychic researcher who wanted to...do psychic research?). This iteration, gives him a reason for wanting to do psychic research, and something he wants to do with it.

[Glintwine]

I like the timeline that you outlined, Kmbll, so I hope you don't mind if I lay out events as you describe them via a list that's easier to reference and update, for the benefit of our poor GM's bookkeeping as much as our own. :D

1. Raquel and Guy are incarcerated in a tyrannical prison around the same time as Malachi (and possibly others)

2. Group orchestrates the prison break, then goes its separate ways

3. Guy has his masterstroke where he betrays the 11 other pirate lords, becoming famous and known as "The Savage". Uses the reward money and new reputation to obtain a ship and crew to pursue career as bounty hunter.

4. Everything goes down the drain for Guy as he botches job after job. His crew desert or die one by one until none are left.

5. With nowhere else to turn, Guy reaches out to Raquel and Malachi (and possibly others) remembering their competence in the prison break. Offers them a place on his crew for a cut of the profits. Offer is accepted.

6. The Crew travels to Killdozer's homeworld for a job, screws up somehow and ends up captured, either made into slave prizes for the tournament winners, or forced to fight in the same gladiatorial arena as Killdozer. The ship (if not already Cat's Cradle) is wrecked beyond repair.

7. After escaping the arena with Killdozer, the mutant warrior ironically offers the crew the Cat's Cradle which he won as a prize for the winner of the tournament (possibly was the owner even before the group came along). Crew leaves the planet with the Cat's Cradle as their new ship (unless it always was) and Killdozer as new ship cook/medic.

8. Cat's Cradle ends up crashing/making an emergency landing on Modashi's backwater world, probably just because it's a piece of crap that Killdozer has been using as a house. Just when the situation seems hopeless, Modashi shows up and repairs the ship as if it were child's play. He ends up joining the crew.

9. Possible campaign start, unless other character introductions are written in after Modashi's

I have no issue with this order of events! I actually really like how we'll have had a series of adventures even before the campaign starts - even if we don't all start as friends necessarily, it'll still be cool to reference things which happened to us before. If anyone else has any cool ideas to add or thinks of a way to incorporate their character into the timeline, do speak up!

Enoch, if the darker, more combat-oriented version of your character is what appeals most to you, then I say go for it! Raquel is going to be a more interaction and support-based psychic, so we should compliment each other nicely if you go the more aggressive psychic route. That said, you should still totally just play whatever concept appeals most to you.

I actually have this idea in my head of our party's three psionic characters (Raquel, Nikodemos, and Killdozer who sort of counts) sharing their knowledge and experience with each other, perhaps even teaching one another the secrets of their disciplines. So like maybe Nikodemos who wants to be more useful in combat trains with Killdozer to emulate his teleportation technique, and Raquel convinces Nikodemos to teach her how to perfect her telekinesis technique during their down time. It would be a neat way to add context to our learning new disciplines as we level up. ^^ Similar things could of course be done with skill ranks as well, with the party sharing and teaching one another for everyone's benefit. For example I think Raquel will go to Malachi at some point and ask him to show her how to operate firearms properly, to add context to me buying the Combat/Projectile skill down the line.

Rhal I honestly don't know too much about the Slayer class or it's options because I don't own Other Dust, so I can't comment overmuch on the choice of background, BUT I do still think it sounds like a cool concept. I also like the idea of Captain Savage not liking you too much while Raquel and Killdozer especially warm up to you, as fellow lostworlders.

[Enoch]

I like that. I won't necessarily be a great combatant, at least at the start, but certainly one who's interested in provoking a crusade. He'd certainly be interested in cross-training with other psychics.

[kmbll]

Good job cleaning that up! I think it definitely is more readable and will help Mister-Kent if he uses it and needs to reference. For 3, it was actually my intent that it be another ship and then Killdozer initially being the owner of the Cat's Cradle - which would explain why it's his "last name" which would be him reading it off the ship itself - like a last name on a door.

[Glintwine]

Good job cleaning that up! I think it definitely is more readable and will help Mister-Kent if he uses it and needs to reference. For 3, it was actually my intent that it be another ship and then Killdozer initially being the owner of the Cat's Cradle - which would explain why it's his "last name" which would be him reading it off the ship itself - like a last name on a door.

Ahhh, that makes more sense. I'll add the idea of Killdozer being the owner, and our original ship having just been wrecked, to the timeline, though I'll hold off on making it official until we get confirmation from Pulpatoon that he likes the idea.

Also you mentioned Django, one of my favourite damn movies of all time - not ashamed to admit it. I must now go watch the movie and/or listen to its soundtrack again. Thanks a lot. :P

[Marullus]

Enoch - Riffing off of your above post... you end up wanted as a criminal. What if your crime, essentially, was being on the losing side of the recent war? That helps tie-in and explain several of the angles you're proposing. Your posession of the artifact, the inquisitions interest in you, and your dedication to developing an insurgency to continue against the Authority.

If you go with that, it creates an interesting dual-dynamic for us. We would have been on opposing sides of the conflict during the war, and plausibly could write up encounters and/or awareness of each other. We then later have the most conjoined interests post-war. Fleshing out our enemies-turned-allies start point could be interesting.

Rhal - I'm cool with finding you in an excavation, and would be invested in keeping you around. Among other reasons, ground missions are risky and this crew seems to underestimate the need for solid physical capabilities. You are, essentially, a living pre-tech artifact, and that's just awesome. I see two main options:
a) I can rescue you when we all go our ways after the prison break, making you an early member of the crew and part of the Killdozer storyline/onward.
b) We can find you on our first post-Modashi job, making you a very recent addition.
That choice depends on how integrated and acclimated you want to be at game-start.

Enoch - those options can apply to you, too. You and Malachi could have unified with common interests earlier and found Rhal together, or we could hook up with you after.

Kmbll - What is the motivation to have the prison break, separate, come back together, end up on a prison planet, then escape again? I am just confused by the purpose to the story - it is harder to explain why we all escaped, went our ways, then came back together.

[kmbll]

Enoch - Riffing off of your above post... you end up wanted as a criminal. What if your crime, essentially, was being on the losing side of the recent war? That helps tie-in and explain several of the angles you're proposing. Your posession of the artifact, the inquisitions interest in you, and your dedication to developing an insurgency to continue against the Authority.

If you go with that, it creates an interesting dual-dynamic for us. We would have been on opposing sides of the conflict during the war, and plausibly could write up encounters and/or awareness of each other. We then later have the most conjoined interests post-war. Fleshing out our enemies-turned-allies start point could be interesting.

Rhal - I'm cool with finding you in an excavation, and would be invested in keeping you around. Among other reasons, ground missions are risky and this crew seems to underestimate the need for solid physical capabilities. You are, essentially, a living pre-tech artifact, and that's just awesome. I see two main options:
a) I can rescue you when we all go our ways after the prison break, making you an early member of the crew and part of the Killdozer storyline/onward.
b) We can find you on our first post-Modashi job, making you a very recent addition.
That choice depends on how integrated and acclimated you want to be at game-start.

Enoch - those options can apply to you, too. You and Malachi could have unified with common interests earlier and found Rhal together, or we could hook up with you after.

Kmbll - What is the motivation to have the prison break, separate, come back together, end up on a prison planet, then escape again? I am just confused by the purpose to the story - it is harder to explain why we all escaped, went our ways, then came back together.

Within the context of that timeline - my rationale for my escaping prison at that point would be to determine what had happened to the rest of the crew I was a part of at that point in time. You all can choose your own objectives for breaking out. The rationale behind not joining up immediately is because why would we? We escaped together but that's not really a rationale for staying together in my opinion and I definitely had unfinished business to attend to.

[Enoch]

I don't mind finding myself on the losing side of a religious war, being imprisoned (it's possible they stuck a POW in a civilian prison, right? Not everybody maintains separate prison facilities), and wanting to continue the war as a guerrilla.

[Glintwine]

Within the context of that timeline - my rationale for my escaping prison at that point would be to determine what had happened to the rest of the crew I was a part of at that point in time. You all can choose your own objectives for breaking out. The rationale behind not joining up immediately is because why would we? We escaped together but that's not really a rationale for staying together in my opinion and I definitely had unfinished business to attend to.

I would add that it could be assumed that quite some time passes between the prison break and our eventual joining back together as a proper crew - several months or possibly even longer. Keeping that in mind might make it easier to justify the splitting of the group and then the returning back together. It also means that while we're familiar with each other by the start of the game (like colleagues in the same field), we're not necessarily super friendly or close with one another - which is useful from a roleplaying perspective since it leaves room for relationships to grow more organically, as well as giving individuals time for other backstory stuff like Malachi discovering Rahl's character in an excavation (if that becomes official).

[Marullus]

It also means that while we're familiar with each other by the start of the game (like colleagues in the same field), we're not necessarily super friendly or close with one another - which is useful from a roleplaying perspective since it leaves room for relationships to grow more organically

You and I are working at cross-purposes, I think. I was aiming for us to have close ties of longer association to establish at least the majority of the group as a cohesive unit. If playing out "do I even like this guy? Do I trust him enough to be on this ship?" and related questions is part of what you desire for the game we need to be clear on that as players. I had the opposite assumption and was trying to avoid it - spaceships allow little room for party fracturing and my intent was that we were focused on external missions rather than internal dynamics.

[kmbll]

It also means that while we're familiar with each other by the start of the game (like colleagues in the same field), we're not necessarily super friendly or close with one another - which is useful from a roleplaying perspective since it leaves room for relationships to grow more organically

You and I are working at cross-purposes, I think. I was aiming for us to have close ties of longer association to establish at least the majority of the group as a cohesive unit. If playing out "do I even like this guy? Do I trust him enough to be on this ship?" and related questions is part of what you desire for the game we need to be clear on that as players. I had the opposite assumption and was trying to avoid it - spaceships allow little room for party fracturing and my intent was that we were focused on external missions rather than internal dynamics.

I mean - I'm looking out for my characters backstory here. So from my perspective I want to hold onto that period of time because it's integral to my character's recent history. But effectively I'm viewing it as - we break out of prison together (presumably with our own agendas) - from my character's view he reaches a point where literally the only two people he knows who might be willing to join a crew. We'd still have plenty of time for yourself, Raquel and me to have worked several jobs subsequent - including picking up more crew. I would think we'd have been together at least gotten to a point of comfort. That's just my thoughts though.

[Glintwine]

I see your point there, Marullus, so I will clarify. At least in part, I had intended to just bring up the points that I made so that they could be factored into the equation. Everyone should have control over their own backstories, so mainly what I was trying to do is draw attention to different perspectives and the options on the table.

When I talk about relationship building, I don't necessarily mean that I want to create an atmosphere of mistrust and interpersonal conflict on the ship that we will have to slowly roleplay our way out of. I see the promise of inter-party interaction as something that can spice up an ongoing campaign that is otherwise focused on solving external conflicts, rather than something that has to take precedent over everything else. I'm not looking to make the focus of the game figuring out things like "do I trust this person? Should I be here?" and whatnot, because I know that that's just not conducive to a party-based game format. I just think it can be fun to roleplay our characters becoming proper friends and learning about each other while we adventure, rather than front-loading everything.

Besides that - regardless of our character's personal feelings for one another, it's my opinion that we can and should still back each other up when push comes to shove because we're crewmates, and it's almost always going to be in our best interest to support one another both from a roleplaying standpoint and a meta-gameplay one. Again, I think we all realize that there's no point in playing a party-based game if you don't want to work together with a party. To that end, I do think that establishing ties to one another is useful - I would just prefer that they be somewhat loose ties to start, at least for my own character, because I like to have some flexibility when it comes to my roleplaying.

Of course, every gamer has different opinions about this sort of thing, so if the group has no interest in engaging in interpersonal roleplaying alongside our grander missions, I'm okay with that. I am new to the site and to this gaming format after all, so my preferences could run totally contrary to running a smooth campaign here, for all I know.

Side Note: I originally wrote up a much longer and more in-depth explanation of my feelings on this subject and why my preferences are this way, but I axed most of it to avoid boring you all to death. If further elaboration is wanted, however, I can totally bring it. xP

[Grognardsw]

Isaac's brain is co-habitated by an alien conscious. It can exert influence and provide extra-terrestial intelligence in times of great need (or whatever the GM would like.) During his second term of service, while scouting strange alien ruins of a dead planet (later designated HPL6966-Yuggoth), Ike came upon a chamber of jar-enclosed brains. He mind was invaded, but not conquered. The alien intelligence resides in a symbiosis of sentience, an integration of id, a paradox of psyche. Only later did the Scout Service realize something was amiss with Isaac Heinlein. He started revealing unusual insights and revelations of science and biology which, when pressed on how, he could not explain. The Service at first thought he was plagarizing or spying to achieve such information, but surveillance over time showed this was not the case. Neural research was done and the alien brainwaves were detected. The alien intelligence could not be isolated or controlled. The Service could not risk this unpredictable and unknown alien intelligence inside the Scouts, so Ike was mustered out. Ike learned that the government had more devious plans for him. The alien intelligence enabled him to plot an escape, identity change, and occupation. Ike is privately concerned what the ultimate purpose of his alien mind inhabitor is. He would like to excise the alien consciousness, but does not know how. He does not trust the government to do it, if they even can. Ike occasionally thinks about returning to Yuggoth to seek more answers.

Images

Planet HPL6966-Yuggoth


A mind invaded...


Under the influence...

[kmbll]

Isaac's brain is co-habitated by an alien conscious. It can exert influence and provide extra-terrestial intelligence in times of great need (or whatever the GM would like.) During his second term of service, while scouting strange alien ruins of a dead planet (later designated HPL6966-Yuggoth), Ike came upon a chamber of jar-enclosed brains. He mind was invaded, but not conquered. The alien intelligence resides in a symbiosis of sentience, an integration of id, a paradox of psyche. Only later did the Scout Service realize something was amiss with Isaac Heinlein. He started revealing unusual insights and revelations of science and biology which, when pressed on how, he could not explain. The Service at first thought he was plagarizing or spying to achieve such information, but surveillance over time showed this was not the case. Neural research was done and the alien brainwaves were detected. The alien intelligence could not be isolated or controlled. The Service could not risk this unpredictable and unknown alien intelligence inside the Scouts, so Ike was mustered out. Ike learned that the government had more devious plans for him. The alien intelligence enabled him to plot an escape, identity change, and occupation. Ike is privately concerned what the ultimate purpose of his alien mind inhabitor is. He would like to excise the alien consciousness, but does not know how. He does not trust the government to do it, if they even can. Ike occasionally thinks about returning to Yuggoth to seek more answers.

Images

Planet HPL6966-Yuggoth


A mind invaded...


Under the influence...

Well. Way to show up in style.


@Glintwine - I agree it's important for us to back each other - to a point. I want us all to have our own agendas and motives which will occasionally create conflict but I don't want an environment where we're frustrated by every other person's decisions.

[Enoch]

My personal feeling is that, at the start at least, we should be clearly a team (whether we are actually friends or not). Conflicts will arise during play, and that's cool, but I'd hate for the game to start with us not knowing if we're going to work together or not--what happens if we decide we don't work?

[Marullus]

I mean - I'm looking out for my characters backstory here. So from my perspective I want to hold onto that period of time because it's integral to my character's recent history. But effectively I'm viewing it as - we break out of prison together (presumably with our own agendas) - from my character's view he reaches a point where literally the only two people he knows who might be willing to join a crew. We'd still have plenty of time for yourself, Raquel and me to have worked several jobs subsequent - including picking up more crew. I would think we'd have been together at least gotten to a point of comfort. That's just my thoughts though.

I am fine with that if we go with it.

I would see the alternative being that we had one stint of prison time which occurs after the important events of your backstory, but I see the dilemma you're facing.

My main reason for questioning it was this, from above:

Also, it occurs to me that several of the group is jumping on this prison bandwagon pretty hard since it IS a cool idea - seeing how we're supposed to all be outlaws in this campaign however, would it be too much of a stretch to say that most if not all of the rest of the crew were also held in this prison and escaped with us? It's something for each of us to decide for ourselves, of course, but I think it makes sense for us all to have been imprisoned together, broken out together, and then of course been bonded to one another not just by our shared experiences but by our shared guiltiness of the crime of prison break - better for us to stick together and stay away from the Republic after that than split up and risk one escapee being recaptured and ratting out the rest of the team. Thus, we all end up on a ship, working as a crew together. It especially make sense if we establish the faction that runs the prison to be tyrannical and heavy-handed, imprisoning and/or executing folk for even minor crimes, and especially major ones. (the old scavenger dude's backstory already works though, so he probably doesn't need to be part of that)

The common bond of a classic Prisoner's Dilemma situation is strong and convincing for me. It establishes the kind of common-cause loyalty which can help hold things together despite interpersonal dynamic roleplay. If we were giving up this cohesive motivator (as described above) I wanted to know that we had another clear cohesive motivator.

I've no issue with character banter and interpersonal conflict - both sets of assumptions/purposes I described earlier are valid. My preference is to have a strong cohesion defined and agreed among the players as a fundamental assumption of party-based RP. Situations where we are adding new players in situ are difficult, especially when the premise is a group of criminals on the run with lots to lose.