Character Creation

[The Bindoner]

Finally had some time to start Chargen. First stat roll had three under 9, so I re-rolled. For skills I rolled a 5 in Growth and a 1 and 5 on Learning. I applied those results to two different backgrounds that gave me Pilot. I'm thinking of Trade as the free choice skill.

Does the group have any preferences for which background?

Str: 14 (+1)
Dex: 17 (+1)
Con: 13
Int: 13
Wis: 12
Cha: 14 (+1)

Background: Pilot
Pilot 0, Connect, Connect, Pilot

giving Connect 1 and Pilot 1

Class Adventurer: Partial Expert/Psion

Focus: Sniper. Shoot 0

Biopscion: Psychic Succour 0

Edit:

( Was going to take Starfarer or Specialist to be a better Pilot, but the dice already maxed me out on that, so it was either Sniper or Alert.... )


Alternate:

Background -Vagabond:
Survival 0, Exert 0, Any Combat (Shoot) 0, Pilot 0

I care less about your background and class than the others might but noticed you might be missing one non-psychic skill of your choice to reflect your hero's outside interests (step 9 in character generation). Disregard if it is in there somewhere. I owe you a homeworld but will wait until you get this nailed down.

I was thinking of Trade 0 for the Step 9 skill.

Re: Homeworld, I don't have any firm ideas. Nobody has objected to the Pilot background yet, and I'm getting fond of it. With the high Pilot and Connect skills and the Sniper focus I'm thinking pirate...

Saves: Physical 14, Evasion 14, and Mental 14

HP: [1d6] = 5

Cash: [2d6] = 12

Equipment is:

Secure Clothing AC13 Cr300 Enc1
Vacc suit Cr100 Enc2

Sniper Rifle 2d8 1,000/2,000 Cr400 mag1 Dex Enc2 OR Mag Rifle 2d8+2 range300/600 Cr500 mag10 Dex Enc2

Compad Cr100
Backpack Cr50 Enc1/*
2x Power cell, type A Cr10

If I'm levelling up before starting I think this is what I add:

Lvl2:
HP roll: [2d6] = 8

Saves: Physical 13, Evasion 13, and Mental 13

3pts +1pt for Part Expert

2pts to get Biopsion 1 with Mastered Succour technique
1pt to get Notice 0
1pt to get Con 14 (+1)

Specialist Focus on Pilot, raise to Pilot 2

[Faanku]

I'm not actually sure who we have in the party still, but I think there was a pilot-shaped hole?
Who is still in the game, Wanderer?

[The_Wanderer]

Recently Active:
Alix Conzweth - Sneaky Hacker
Jonas Jones - Doc / Gunslinger (and a little bit of pilot)
Shion Kuznetsov - Soldier / Mechanic

Recently MIA (not sure when he'll be back)
Corbeau Boucher - Nearly Crippled Face Type in training

New:
Askor Binshav - Looks to be a stabby type melee expert

[Lance]

Askor is good with a gun as well, but he's most dangerous at close range.

[Marullus]

Okay, draft of Rex (and the Justicars of Doon) are posted (subject to further editing by the GM, of course). I waited for permission to use the Codex of the Black Sun first.

I swapped a skill so he is skilled as a Pilot if that's still a gap, though anyone with Pilot Foci would be better.

[Lance]

You're some psi abilities away from being a gun toting jedi!

Btw, I just so happened to roll max hp

[shaidar]

You do realise the group is a bunch of ne'er-do-wells?

[Faanku]

I prefer the term "pragmatist".

[Marullus]

You're some psi abilities away from being a gun toting jedi!

Yeah, that's exactly what this class is. I kept it intentionally mundane, though. I won't get to pick a psi-like ability until level 4 or later. I leaned more heavily towards Roland the Gunslinger from the Dark Tower.

You do realise the group is a bunch of ne'er-do-wells?

Yes, and it is a valid question to put to the group OOC. If there's any player uncomfortable, I will switch out for a different PC that fits a more-desired theme.

He is scripted at the start with the Burnout background and facing a redemption arc. Doon is bombed and his order is broken, existing as a romanticized legend or appropriated by freedom fighters hoping to use it. The world has changed and he is wrestling with maintaining an antiquated moral code against gray realities.

• Like a Jedi after Order 66, before an organized rebellion. (Kanan Jarrus in Rebels season 1)
• Like Luke Skywalker after Ben Solo broke his heart by turning evil and destroying his school, but without an empty planet to hide on. (In this character's case, his betrayal came from a son who he was training and presumes dead).
• Like Malcolm Reynolds, who lost a war and runs with a smuggling crew for dubious jobs but still carries an internal code.
• Like the Mandalorian, who lost his planet and his people and works taking bounty jobs but still adheres to the Way.

In all those cases, the antiquated moral hero works with ne'er-do-wells and criminals in a gray-shade world. I think the start point is easy.

That said, the presence of the moral-bound figure eventually pushes towards morally-good choices and often at the expense of pragmatism.

• Malcolm Reynolds refuses to finish the Train Job when he finds out the crime lord hired them to steal medicine from a helpless, sick colony for profit.
• The Mandalorian breaks his bounty hunter contract when he realizes he is turning the helpless foundling child over to scientists who want to experiment on him.

I expect the GM will throw a situation like that at us eventually. I am excited for it as a player. But if other players want to be on the dark side of morally gray and "doing the right thing" at the end of our IC negotiating is OOC not what you're looking for, then it is possible for things to break. I would like to identify the group playstyle now and will re-script if this is an issue.

I'm also embracing the "gunslinger comes to town" story. In old Westerns (and shown in new stories like the Mandalorian that use the same storytelling model), the gunslinger is constantly drawn off-track from his goal to help those that need him in each town he passes through. I like that this design supports GM-introduced storylines for each chapter. I have a major Redemption arc, but understand the fun is in the side quests for this style of story.

Is the rest of the crew wanting to stay legally gray but morally good?

At the risk of being a spoiler, I will also be upfront about his redemption arc.

I leaned heavily into the Dark Tower Gunslinger, which in turn is a cowboy adaptation of fallen Arthurian legend. I went that route and picked Palles, the Fisher King, from Arthurian tales.

The Fisher King is a hereditary guardian of the Holy Grail, unable to pass on his charge to a new generation because a grievous wound left him unable to produce heirs. In Arthurian legend, he is waiting for someone to "ask the question" and be worthy of the prize. I have adapted that to the character here, with the legacy of the Justicars and the "Holy Grail" of their mystic tradition and/or preserved knowledge being lost with him if he can't overcome his "wound." His wound being the loss of his family he wasn't supposed to have had (one turning evil like Kylo Ren, two unknown, all presumed dead) and his own crisis of faith believing in moral absolutes in a world of fallen gray.

Can he find something good in this gray world to restore his faith? Can he bind these ragtag malcontents into a posse of gunslingers worthy of great deeds? Can he find a student with the promise necessary to take up his mantle before he himself dies?

[shaidar]

We probably ought to move this to the OOC thread.

I've always been aiming for gray, rather than black: smuggling, thievery, but not gross violence, drug trafficking or murder, at least on a personal level (he has history with a crime organisation).

[Lance]

I know I'm hopelessly behind on Star Wars, but spoiler alert on the Mando and sequel trilogy stuff

[Marullus]

Active:

• Alix Conzweth - Sneaky Hacker / Teleporter / Starfarer-Pilot
• Jonas Jones - Doctor / Gunslinger (and a little bit of pilot)
• Shion Kuznetsov - Mechanic / Soldier
• Askor Binshav - Close Combatant / Bad-Ass Brute
• Pelles Rex - Gunslinger/ Diplomat / Moral Compass (and a little bit of pilot)
• Ekaterina Voronina-Sokolova - Pilot / Sniper / Biopsion

Recently MIA (not sure when he'll be back)

• Corbeau Boucher - Nearly Crippled Face Type in training

That's a nice crew. We aren't short a pilot - we have two specialized pilots and two amateur pilots (and just need some ships, bikes, or mechs to pilot!). We also have a doctor and a biopsion, a mechanic, a hacker, a talker, a cat-burglar, a brute, and a metric ton of firepower/wetworks.

[Lance]

We probably need more hackers than pilots atm

[Faanku]

If I'm levelling up before starting I think this is what I add:

Lvl2:
HP roll: [2d6] = 8

Saves: Physical 13, Evasion 13, and Mental 13

3pts +1pt for Part Expert

2pts to get Biopsion 1 with Mastered Succour technique
1pt to get Notice 0
1pt to get Con 14 (+1)

Specialist Focus on Pilot, raise to Pilot 2

You get an additional Foci at level 1, so you could take Psychic Training for the extra Effort and save 2 skill points.

[The Bindoner]

I used the Foci to get Specialist/Pilot.

I spent on Psi first to deal with this rule:

If the PC is a Psychic or Partial Psychic, they must
spend at least one of these points on improving psychic
skills or gaining new psychic techniques. They can save
these points to spend later if they wish, but they cannot
spend them on more mundane talents.

[Faanku]

You should still have 3 Foci at level 2 though, and I only counted 2 when I was making a reference thing (Specialist: Pilot and Sniper).

I spent on Psi first to deal with this rule:

Aye, fair point.

[The Bindoner]

by Faanku » Mon Jan 04, 2021 7:54 pm

You should still have 3 Foci at level 2 though, and I only counted 2 when I was making a reference thing (Specialist: Pilot and Sniper).

I've re-read the advancement section, I don't see where the extra focus comes from. Did I miss one in initial chargen?

I mean, I want the extra bene, I just want to know the rules better.

[Faanku]

Every character gets a Foci at levels 1, 2, 5, 7, and 10, regardless of class.
Your Adventurer class is partial Expert, which comes with a bonus Foci at lvl 1:

You gain a free level in a non-combat focus related to your background. Most concepts will take Specialist, though Diplomat, Starfarer, Healer, or some other focus might suit better. Gain an extra skill point every time you gain a character level which can be spent on any non-psychic, non-combat skill.

So you would have 1 Foci from being level 1, a second Foci from being a partial Expert, and a third Foci from reaching level 2.
If you did take the Psychic Training Foci at character level 1, you'd get the extra Effort point and skill increase, and start the game with Biopsionics-1, meaning you could buy a second level 1 technique from the discipline at character level 2.

[The Bindoner]

Cool, that's a generous system.

I'd missed that

Every character gets a Foci at levels 1, 2, 5, 7, and 10, regardless of class.

meant in addition to the class Focus.

I'm not sure that being a better psion is the right choice yet, I'll read the options again. Might take Specialist/Trade....

[Faanku]

I'm not sure that being a better psion is the right choice yet, I'll read the options again. Might take Specialist/Trade....

How very pirate of you.