The Charon's Coin: Relaunch 🚀 [M] OOC

[TheBarbarian]

The Imperial Media Board has rated this piece of entertainment as MATURE. May contain intense violence, blood and gore, instances of drug use, sexual content and/or strong language. Selling this content to minors will result in a fine.

This is a relaunch of an older RP I made awhile ago.



Original poster by Adam Flynn
Inspired by FTL, Rollplay: Swansong, Star Wars: Legacy and Stars Without Number



O I've sailed the midnight sea from Earth to Alpha-5
Seen flame gems on Aldebaran, met rocks that were alive
But soon I came to realize as worlds world I roamed
That nowhere in the galaxy could really be my home

So call the Navigator, set the course and go
We've stars and planets to explore - my wild heart tells me so
Beneath the metal decking I can hear the engines sigh
And all I need is a mighty ship and a star to guide her by

"Call the Navigator"
Ancient spacer song sung by the first Terran colonists

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Spoiler: The Setup 

Ha! You want ME tell you the fucking story? You sure kid? Seems like everyone wants me to tell it but once I start no one wants to listen. It isn't as pretty and romantic as they would have you believe you know...

Fine then but we do it my way. We start at the dam begging. History is important. People forget that sometimes.

So the year was 1761 ASI. After Spike Invention encase you didn't know kid. Never know what they teach in school these days.

For almost a thousand years the blight we call humanity had expanded from its ancient cradle to fill the sky with its worlds. At first the expansion came by way of the enigmatic “spike drives” that granted humans the ability to skip between stars. Countless nations, faiths, and ideologies sent colonists to the darkness above to find new homes where they could live free from the oppressive rule of Terra’s calcified masters. Like all roads to hell this one was well paved with good intentions.

New cultures were born and flourished. We met alien races and carved out a place for ourselves among the great races of the galaxy. From these disparate planets an unified planetary federation grew. Historians still argue over whether this Federation was a force for good or an ineffective mess. Whatever the case a Rebellion was born in the heart of this interstellar nation.

After that there was war.

A war on such a grand scale that something like it has not been seen before or since. Planets burned, alien races went extinct, atrocities were wrought. However at the same time the progress of technology accelerated. AI, nanobots and psytech were all developed to get one over on the other guy. In the end the apocalypse occurred pretty much as we predicted. The hows and whys of it all are trivial. The reasons self evident and utterly human.

What matters is this: because of some unknown event all the beacons that connected the starsystems went down. The next few hundred years were chaos. Cut off from the rest of the galaxy most planets became feral places. People turned on each other. As they are wont to do. Civilization was almost extinguished.

Yet whether it was because of "the human spirit" or some other such bullshit we prevailed. From the ashes of once great space faring civilization rose new planetary powers. Using jury rigged spike drives we set off to again explore the vastness of space and found that we had not been alone in our plights. Although things would never be like they once were they were at least stable. Or at least that what we thought.

But this isn't what you came for is it? Well don't worry kid were getting to the meat of it. Two hundred years after this mild equilibrium was reached, before it all went wrong, a woman was looking for a crew...

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Spoiler: The Catalyst 

You have one new message...

10:23 SST 23.05.1761

Subject line: Looking for crew

From: Megan Isabella Gunn via. The Charon's Coin

Open?...

Y/N
y

Processing...

Hey,

This is going out to all my old contacts or acquaintances I find somewhat competent. I recently aquired a ship and really need a crew to man it. The ship is called the Charon's Coin. Come fine me I'm in the Oedipus system on Naushad-ali. I'm docked in the capital's spaceport Dock 9 come find me if this peaks your interest.

Gunn

There is an attachment to this message...
Would you like to open it?...

Y/N
y

Processing...

You have new coordinates added to your map...
Set as new destination?...

Y/N

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Spoiler: The Short of It  

This is a sandbox style RP for four or so players set in a late 70s early 80s scifi (ala Alien, Blade Runner and some parts of Star Wars) inspired sector of space that is populated by many powerful disparate factions. Our characters will go on mission for many of these factions. We'll be smugglers, mercenaries and maybe even heros. Although there is some sort of overarching plot most of the plot development will be player driven. As each time we finish a mission there will be an update to the Missions Board from which you can vote on our next mission. This RP also features stats, skills, exp and dice rolling. These will be used to add a dose of randomness and progerrison into the story.

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Spoiler: The World 

This link will direct you to a .html file I uploaded to google drive download and open it to view the Sector

It has the full Sector map, all of it's political entities and the alien races that inhabit it.
It's an edited version of a Stars Without Number random generators space sector.

However if you have some specific question about this world I tried to answer it here. If you don't find the answer to your question feel free to ask and I will answer you and add to this thing.

Spoiler: Tech questions 

How common are spaceships?

Not TOO common but not exactly few and far between. I'll explain. In some regard this future is in many ways similar to the Age of Sail. Spaceships are really expensive meaning that privately owned ships are less common than corporate or publicly owned ships. The average person unless he or she is spacer will not leave their home planet or if they do then it's a big decision. As travel between stars takes a long time (a ship with a spike drive 1 takes a week to travel between hexes) even in high tech ships so casual travel between planets although not unheard of is still uncommon. So no not everyone has a spaceship nor probably even left their home planet. That said similar to sailor culture of 16th, 17th and 18th century a spacer culture has developed among the men and women (or sometimes even families) who make their living sailing the stars.

How does space travel work?

The spike drive allows for space travel through a delicate gravitic twisting of the universal substrate beneath a ship, the spike drive drives it “upward” through a spectrum of dimensional frequencies. The ship vanished from mundane, “luminal” space and gets thrust into the metadimensions.

These inchoate realms of vast energy currents and formless masses are extremely hostile to unprepared ships, but their gravitic currents propel a ship at speeds impossible in the mundane universe. Suitably massive objects such as stars cast a “shadow” into these metadimensions, forming both navigational beacons and anchor-points that enable transit up and down the dimensional spectrum. So long as a spike drive had a star to launch from and a star to bring it down, it can ride the metadimensional currents in a headlong rush of superluminal speed.

What sort of weapons are there in this future universe?

In terms of personal arms the most common personal arms are still projectile weapons that would be familiar to 21st century eyes. However on the higher tech planets professional military outfits or mercenaries mostly employ energy weapons be they laser rifles and guns or plasma projectors or even some more impressive guns that manipulate sound to vibrate a person into tiny bits. Neither have melee weapons gone entirely out of style things like mono and plasma blades have made the act of fighting in close quarters entirely possible.

Shipboard weapons are even more varied. Most common weapons are simple burst lasers or beams. Some ships employ missiles or bombs as well that penetrate ship shields. Ion class weapons do similar things but instead target and damage shipboard systems. There are other more dangerous weapons but those are heavily controlled and distributed.


What about armour or shields?

While most of the populace won't be shielded or armored by much of anything security personnel and soldiers all usually have some sort of basic armor. The most common armor to come across are different forms of woven body armor similar to our Kevlar vests. After that in the more elite parts of the security and military employ combat field uniforms with strong metplast overlays or if they are even more powerful they employ different forms of power armour (think less Warhammer or Halo and more like this: the sleeker version and the jury rigged version). However a few select rich individuals and bounty hunters carry personal shield emitters that provide the most protection of them all.

Are there any kinds of tech that are forbidden?

Yes illegal tech in this world is called Maltech. Things that are counted as Maltech are: True AI, nanobots, weapons of planetary destruction, heavy gene modification, bioweapons (especially diseases). Getting caught researching, using or owning any of these technologies will result in pretty serious repercussions. However for some these risks are worth it.

Does this means that there are no robots in this world?

Robots and android in the style of Star Wars, Alien or Blade Runner are very rare. One of the factors is that AI even if it's braked to not go beyond human level intelligence still requires immense computing power to run. Meaning that a simple humanoid body could not usually support it. However drones and robots designed for a single simple purpose are pretty common sight on TL 4 planets.

What do the different tech levels mean?

This one is taken straight up from Stars Without Number Free Edition as I really like how they explain it.

Spoiler: Tech Level 0 

Tech level 0 represents a world with technologies similar to neolithic era humanity. Very few worlds collapse this far without dying out completely, and so a world this primitive is very rare in human space. The world is so profoundly devoid of useful resources that the natives may simply not have anything better to work with than rocks and native vegetation.

Natives of a world at this tech level might retain elaborate cultural artifacts and a very sophisticated society. Existing resources tend to be exploited to the hilt, with large populations producing massive stone cities, human-powered engines for irrigation, and vast displays of foodstuffs and craft work for the ruling class. Despite this, the lack of metal, domesticated beasts of burden, and petrochemicals puts a hard stop on the technological development of most of these worlds. Responses to free traders and other interstellar travellers will vary with the local culture. The lack of quick communications methods tends to result in large populations breaking up into numerous smaller regional cultures, and the friendly prince of one domain might neighbor an implacably hostile sage-king. Most “lostworlders” have a keen appreciation for the benefits these strangers from the sky can bring them, and will bargain accordingly.

Some worlds might retain crisply rational records of their colonization and downfall. Others might preserve tales of a starry origin in legends and story. A few might have forgotten their origins entirely, and view sky-born humans as gods or messengers of the divine. Such awe rarely lasts very long once the merchants or pirates who landed make their purposes clear.

Spoiler: Tech Level 1 

Tech level 1 worlds have managed to find and exploit metal deposits and likely have imported or domesticated beasts of burden. Those worlds with easy access to fossil fuels or a similarly energy-dense substance can advance to greater things, but a culture trapped at tech level 1 is unlikely to have access to such helpful resources. A few worlds have enough plant matter or other combustibles to make
steam engines feasible, but those with very much of such a resource usually make the leap to the next tech level eventually.

As a consequence, tech level 1 worlds tend to be caught at much the same general level of development as their tech level 0 cousins. They may have elaborate social structures and cultural development, but they are unable to mechanize without some energy-dense resource to serve as fuel. The scavenged hulks of their ancestors’ fusion plants may stand as mute temples to the achievements of their forebears, but without the tech necessary to repair and rebuild such edifices the world is dependent on purely local fuel sources.

Tech level 1 worlds tend to respond to visitors in much the same way as tech level 0 planets. The ruling class of these worlds is liable to be able to muster larger cities, bigger armies, and all the other perquisites that come from being able to work the available agricultural land with fewer hands.

Spoiler: Tech Level 2 

Tech level 2 worlds are blessed with the presence of fossil fuels. Internal combustion engines are crude things compared to the power of a fusion plant, but they can be built with primitive tools and a basic degree of education. The mechanization that results from this resource vastly increases the efficiency of local farming, the speed of travel, and the productivity of factory workers. Most tech level 2 worlds are “knockdowns”; planets that once had a much higher degree of sophistication but were recently crippled by disease, disaster, or invasion. The natives tend to be keenly aware of the glories of former generations, and work fiercely to redevelop lost techniques and reclaim old knowledge.

Few tech level 2 worlds produce much that’s worth interstellar trade. Most foodstuffs are too bulky and cheap to make it worth a captain’s time. Some worlds have rare ore deposits, but the natives have no reason to dig them until a merchant makes it worth their while to set up a whole new industry for export. Some such worlds barter the relics of their ancestors in exchange for educational materials or rare resources necessary for advancing local industry. Others feel forced to trade native work contracts for dangerous, dirty labor.

Spoiler: Tech Level 3 

Tech level 3 worlds are those that have developed to a level much like that of the more advanced nations of late twentieth-century Earth. The main difference between tech level 3 worlds and level 4 worlds is the lack of fusion power or spike drive manufacture. These worlds come in two major varieties.

The first is a “knockdown” world that formerly had tech level 4 technologies before some catastrophe or pirate attack destroyed their knowledge and industrial base. Some of the wrecked infrastructure might have been irreplaceable, and the world must struggle to regain its former level of technological production. Worlds in this condition tend to have rather small populations that are susceptible to the loss of a few concentrated groups of experts.

The second major variety is a world that suffered a severe disaster shortly after colonization and has been forced to painstakingly build up their technological base ever since. Some of these worlds date back to the First Wave of colonization a thousand years ago, driven into near-neolithic conditions by some outside pressure before slowly and painfully rebuilding their technological base through purely indigenous efforts. These worlds tend to have very large populations if the world’s climate permits, as they have been colonized for quite some time.

Simply providing a world with the necessary technical data for advancement doesn't mean that advancement will be quick or even. Even if a tech level 3 world has the necessary resources to build tech level 4 devices, it may take as much as a generation for a world to build the necessary infrastructure and resource extraction enterprises. The time may be longer still if the dominant cultures are uneasy with the new technology.

Spoiler: Tech Level 4 

Tech level 4 worlds are the most common in human space, and their technical expertise is the baseline for modern post-Silence “postech”. These worlds can create spike drives rated up to drive-3, fusion power plants, grav vehicles, simple energy weapons, and medicines that extend human life to a hundred years of vigorous good health. They can manage sophisticated gengineering on simple life forms, and some tech level 4 worlds have even attempted to improve the genetic structures of human life itself. These attempts have yet to produce results without severe drawbacks, but some such worlds remain populated by altered humanity designed to cope with local conditions more perfectly than baseline humans.

Most worlds with regular interstellar contact and the necessary raw resources eventually gravitate towards this level of technological expertise. It may take decades, or even centuries in the case of more retrograde worlds, but this tech level is the highest that can readily be achieved by most planets.

Spoiler: Tech Level 4 with specialties 

Tech level 4 with specialties is an unusual case of a normal tech level 4 world that has retained some pretech industries or has developed their own local technical expertise beyond baseline postech in certain disciplines.

Most such specialties are relatively narrow in scope; grav tech, medicine, hydroponics, force field generation, or some field of roughly similar breadth. These specialties are usually either the product of a few, unreplaceable pretech manufactories or the result of some unique local resource that serves amazingly well for the purpose at hand. In both cases, the world will jealously guard the tech, and much local conflict may relate to control over these resources.

These worlds tend to have substantial amounts of interstellar trade from neighboring worlds interested in their tech. The ruling elite of the world can be ostentatious about display of this wealth.

Spoiler: Psionics questions 

What is Psionics and who can do it?

Psionics is the word used to describe a set of innate abilities that certain individuals are born with. It is unknown what exactly causes these abilities but it is theorized that exposure to spike drives is what allows for them. However if this is true it does not explain why some planets long divorced of their space faring origins still retain powerful psykers among their population. As for who can do it Humans, Slugs and Zoltans all can use psychic abilities. In humans about one in every 10000 births result in a psychic being born. Every slug is born with psychic powers though not all develop their abilities and it seems slugs can only use either the Silencer or Empath paths all other forms of psionics are locked to them. With Zoltans only about one in a million children have accesses to these powers, however zoltan psykers are the most powerful out there capable of much more than any human or slug psyker.

What kind of psychic power are out there?

There are four kinds of psychics Psykers, Seers, Empaths and Silencers.

Psykers are mental warriors that use the power of their minds to move objects and strike powerful kinetic blows against their opponents. Some can also use their mind to speed up molecules to create fire. These powers are hard to control and untrained people have been known to kill friends or family members in fits of anger.

Seers are people bestowed with the power of feeling the forth dimension and sometimes gaining insight from it. They are granted visions of futures that could be, of pasts that were and of presents that are. Most with these powers can see only things that are going to happen a few seconds from now but for a few these visions can stretch to far off times. Naturally these psychics are most prone to madness.

Empaths are psychics with the power to communicate mentally and affects other people's emotional or mental state. There is a misconception about empaths that they can read thoughts. This is not necessarily true it is more that they can read and affect brain chemistry. They can't tell you what number your thinking of but they can affect you to think of a number by manipulating certain stimuli. What must however clarified is that in no way Empath truly control someones action they can only push and prod them in a certain direction. Good empaths are subtle creatures that plant emotions and thought into you that you won't ever notice bad empaths however get killed pretty quickly no one likes to be manipulated.

Silencers are the only people with the ability to completely stop any other psionic in their tracks. All their abilities revolve around mentally blocking or "silencing" other psychics making them unable to use any of their abilities. The more powerful Silencers can also do damage to other psychics using their power. Silencers are in some ways the true outcasts of the psychic community. Regular humans don't like them because their still psychic and as such to be distrusted. Yet other psychics also hate them because their powers make them dangerous to be around.

Spoiler: General questions 

Why has english become the lingua franca of this world?

It was government mandated during the times of the old Federation. Everyone was taught it. After society collapsed it sort of continued playing an important role because a lot of cultures with different languages were abandoned on planets together. So when space travel was restored it again became important to facilitate trade and diplomacy. What is important to note though is that most aliens you will meet won't be able to speak english unlike most humans.

Why did you decide to leave this world so vague in terms of cultures and planet information?

Two reasons. The problem with a hugely well built world and setting is that it does not leave a lot of wiggle room for you as players or me as a GM. This is not to say that I think well built worlds are bad. Hell no I love building huge complex worlds and playing in them. Just for this RP I feel I need to keep that wiggle room a loose setting grants me. The second thing is that it allows us to retain that feeling of wanderlust and curiosity that is important to tales that rely on discovering the world you live in.

Why late 70s early 80s scifi for the aesthetic?

Their nice and dirty with the right amount of hopelessness to make them beautiful. Plus films from that era have a certain color scheme and look that I love. Tone wise they also fit the world I have in mind.

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Spoiler: The Systems of Play 

This system hack is a VERY cut down version of Dungeon World. It was originally going to be much more complex but I decided that I should just simplify for forum play. Though I will still continue to develop the more complex system for IRL group play. Anyhow here's the system:

Spoiler: Dice Rolling 

So as you might have guessed this game requires dice rolling. How often your characters has to roll is determined by what kind of character you have defined them to be. If you have made your character to be a huge streetfighting bruiser then I won't ask you to roll when you face two guys in an ally. However when you try to hack into a computer or talk someone down from conflict you will definitely have to roll (probably at a disadvantage). Still difficulty is a thing of degrees. I mean if you are a pretty good streetfighter you usually should be able to take two guys down in a streetfight but taking four or more will definitely require a roll as that fight is hard even at a high skill level. This system is designed to minimize the amount of rolling while stilling holding on to the core benefits of rolling. When you finally do roll you will be rolling two six sided dice adding or subtracting skill and stat modifiers.

6 or lower is a failure. The GM gets to define what happens.

Example: GM: So what's the plan? Player 1: I think I want to set up an ambush for the crime boss while the party hits his headquarter. GM: Okay roll your tactics plus Int. Player 1: Dam I don't have tactics so thats a minus one. [Player 1 rolls and gets a five] Well shit. GM: Indeed. Well I think you set up the ambush fine but just as you settle into a comfortable firing position you feel the cool touch of a gun barrel against your neck. Work that into your post when you go to write it.

7 - 9 is a partial successes. The GM will offer you a worse outcome (compared to what you wanted), some sort of bargain, or hard choice.

Example: Player 2: Well this isn't going as smoothly as I hoped. Still I try and engage the guards on the outside of the complex to draw the rest of them out and get their attention. GM: Let's see what happens roll Guns plus Dex. Player 2: Here goes nothing [Player 2 rolls and gets an 8] GM: With an 8 you have choice either you manage to distract the guards for the whole time giving your companions a clear shot for the extraction however you sustain some damage in the fire fight and become wounded giving you an ongoing minus 1 until you get it fixed. Or you manage to keep yourself intact but not enough of the guard is drawn away so you friends take a minus 1 to their roll to extract. Player 2: I guess I will take the first option that roll is too dam important to flub.

10+ is a success. Your character get they were after and usually get to what exactly happens.

Example: Player 3: Okay while that is happening I think me and Player 4 will try to sneak into the headquarters and extract our target. Player 4: Sounds good to me. GM: Okay Player 3 roll stealth plus Dex also take another plus 1 for Player 4s help. Player 3: Awesome. [Player 3 rolls and gets a 12] GM: Well, well I guess you guys just write out what exactly happens in your post but you definitely succeed in the extraction.

Spoiler: Stats 

All characters have the following stats:

Strength: The character's raw physical power.

Dexterity: The character's litheness and agility.

Constitution: The character's ability to take physical punishment.

Intelligence: The character's mental acuity and speed.

Wisdom: The character's breath of knowledge and life experience.

Charisma: The character's natural presence of personality.

Luck: The character's inherent luck.

You can distribute the following points among these stats.
14 (+1), 13 (+1), 11 (+0), 10 (+0), 9 (+0), 8 (-1), 7 (-1)

These stats add or subtract from tests you make with your skill. Though sometimes pure stat tests are also used.

Spoiler: Skills 

Skills are things your character is good at doing. There is no list of these you can write your own though the GM can ask you to change a few of them if he does not think they fit the game or setting. There are three categories of skill. Primary skills, Secondary skills and Culture skills.

Primary skills are skills that define your character. The things you want your character to be truly good at should be put under primary skills. They allow you to get a +1 when rolling based on them and you won't be usually asked to roll on them as you are great at these things already. Only two can be taken at character creation.

Example: Player 2 wants to play a grizzled war veteran with a gambling problem. He takes Guns and Gambling as his Primary skills as those two skills represent his character concept very well.

Secondary skills are the rest of the character's skills that they have picked up during their life. These should still be integral parts of the character but represent things that aren't as obvious about them. Who knew that the engineer with the heart of gold could practice taekwondo? It is a good way to add depth to the character. These skills add no bonuses to your rolls but as not having a skill in something gives you a -1 they're still a good deal. Three can be taken at character creation.

Example: Player 2 wants some other skills to pad out his war veteran with. He chooses Storytelling, Intimidation and Brawling. These complement his primary skills while also reflecting on his character.

Culture skills work slightly differently than other skills. They functions as the mechanical base to reflect your contacts and general life before this adventure. When you're looking for contacts, friends, information or hard to come by knowledge you will roll these skills. Foreign language knowledge also fall under this umbrella, by default you will get your home planet's local language plus English (sometimes those are the same thing) . The cultures you choose should broad groups like Spacers, A Specific Planet, Criminals, Soldiers, Engineers etc. You can distribute three points (you need 1 point to raise a culture skill to zero) among these chosen culture skills.

Example: Player 2 wants his character to be from somewhere that has suffered some sort of war recently. After discussing this with the GM he decides to make his homeworld the planet of Naushad-ali and takes Japanes as his second language as that's one of the languages of the natives. As his character is a war veteran he takes Culture Soldier and spends 2 points on it for +1. He then spends 1 point to take Culture Nushad-ali at +0.

Spoiler: Connections 

What are connections?

Connections are the feelings, thoughts, and shared history that tie you together. They're what make you a crew rather than just a random assortment of people. The things that make living with people the strange, wonderful and sometimes devastating thing it is.

How are they earned?

Through doing coposts with other players. The first two coposts in a mission you do with someone you both gain a connection on the other. You can ofcourse do more but you won't earn anymore connections.

What are they used for?

• You can spend 1 connection with a character to give them a +1 or -1 onto any roll.
• Getting four connections with a player character restores it back to 1 and you mark experience.
• You can spend one connection to look into another's player character's heart and ask them 1 question they have to answer truthfully.
• You can use two connections to make a PC do what you want. If they do what you want they will mark an experience.

Why did you decide to use connections in this game?

I think giving mechanical weight to the relationships and connections you develop in play with each others characters can do interesting things to the game. When in D&D my character dislikes what your character is doing I can't in anyway affect the rolls associated with that decision. I mean generally there are aid actions you can do in combat but none that hinder the other character. With connections you can show that dislike with your player actions not only your words.

Spoiler: Rewards, EXP and Levelling up 

How do you level up?

When you have downtime (hours or days) and XP equal to (or greater than) your current level + 5, subtract your current level +5 from your XP, increase your level by 1.

How do you get experience?

The most common and easiest way to gain experience is to fail a roll by getting a 6 or less. If your character's belief or instinct get's you into trouble during the mission you mark experience. In addition if you raise your connections with a character to four you put it back to one and you both mark one experience. Also if a character spends two connections asks your character to do something and you do it you mark experience.

What does leveling up get me?

You gain 1 skill point that can be used to advance skills. It takes 2 skill points to advance a skill to zero, 4 to advance it to 1 and 6 to advance it to 2. You also get to increase one of your stats by 1.


What do we get as rewards for missions?

Money (the form this money comes in isn't always credits) and reputation. The amount of both depends on the mission.

What is reputation?

Reputation score is a numerical representation of how well the Charon's Coin is known in the universe. Helps you keep track of how badass you all are becoming. Also helps determine what sort of jobs you get and how much notice factions take of you.

Spoiler: Wound's and character death 

What are wounds?

Representation of the damage you take in battle. Think of them as hit points if you prefer though I wouldn't call them that. As they have slightly more mechanical impact and there are less of them then most games have hitpoints.

How many wounds can I take and what do they do?

A character who has +0 in their constitution has three. Those with a -1 have two and those with +1 have four and so on.

Surface wound - This one applies to characters with a +1 (or higher) modifier in Constitution. It has no mechanical expect getting you one step closer to death.

Light Wounds - Light wounds are the first that have a mechanical impact on your actions. They give a -1 to all rolls you make.

Serious Wounds - Those with a -1 in Constitution start here. Serious wounds give a -2 to all rolls.

At Death's Door - When a character is at Death's Door they also take -2 to all rolls and simple things become harder meaning that they have to roll to do things that they usually wouldn't have to roll for.

So can my character die in this game?

Yes though I am not out to kill your characters or anything like that. I will always discuss the possibility of your character dying with you before I force any sort of outcome onto you. That said you shouldn't always see character death as a negative if well done it can be one of the most narratively interesting moments in a game.

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Spoiler: The Character Sheet to Read 

Spoiler: CS sheet with explanation to what everything is  

Character concept: What's the basic idea behind your character? If you were to describe them in a sentence what would that sentence be?

Belief: This has nothing to do with religion or other sorts of belief structures. Beliefs are things rather that drive your character forward. Your belief can be "I am the true leader of this crew" or "All aliens are murderous bastards". It is my job as the GM to challenge these beliefs and present you with interesting situation because of them. It is also important to note that beliefs can change during play.

Instinct: Instincts are character priorities that help to define how the character acts. What does your character do without thinking about it? What are some life lessons they have taken to heart? Is there a weapon or piece of equipment that your character never leaves behind? An instinct might be to Always shoot first or If someone asks for help give it. Instincts should simpler than beliefs but they are harder to ignore. You can also change instinct through play.

Lifepaths: This game doesn't have a Bio. Instead it has life paths. Rather than meticulously write out the complex path your character took through life put that path into three or so (depending on how old of a character you want to play) lifepaths. Let's say you're playing a character who is a psychic mercenary. Their life paths would be Born to Wealth, Student at Psychic Academy, Psychic Mercenary. This path I have given as an example is very straightforward but yours can be much more complicated. How many life paths you use is up to you but the general rule of thumb is that one equals around ten years of your life. So a 28 year takes 3 and 15 year old takes 2 and so on. Your last life path should be the thing your character did just before joining the crew. As to why I wanted to use this system it was because I liked the simplicity of it (also because I recently fell in love with Burning Wheel but that's a whole other matter) plus by not writing out a full bio you get to be surprised by your own character's background and keep secrets about your past from other players.

Name: The name by which you prefer you character to be referred to as

Age: Your characters age.

Description: What your character looks like. Both a picture and some text would be appreciated but if you can only manage the one then text would be appreciated more.

EXP: Your character's experience starts at 0/6. For more info read the Systems of play section called EXP and leveling up.

Wounds: A place to track how wounded your character is becoming. For more information refer to the Systems of Play section Wounds and Death.

Stats: Your characters physical faculties. Also determines modifiers during rolling. For more information refer to the Systems of Play stats section.

Strength: The character's raw physical power.

Dexterity: The character's litheness and agility.

Constitution: The character's ability to take physical punishment.

Intelligence: The character's mental acuity and speed.

Wisdom: The character's breath of knowledge and life experience.

Charisma: The character's natural presence of personality.

Luck: The character's inherent luck.

14 (+1), 13 (+1), 11 (+0), 10 (+0), 9 (+0), 8 (-1), 7 (-1)

Primary skills: The skills you think essential to who your character is put here. Pick two. For more information refer to the Systems of Play skills section (the same for the next two).

Secondary skills: The other skills your character has acquired throughout life go here. Pick three.

Culture skills: Skills that reflect your cultural background distribute three points among culture skills of your choice. Three points to use. Languages spoken also go here.

Gear: The equipment and weapons that your character has. I thought about constructing a list of gear you can buy with some starting money but I think I would rather just have you define what you have and if I find it too much then just tell you.

Connections: Define up to three (but no less than one) relationships that your character has to NPCs or PCs. You gain a connection on them. Feel free to add NPC connection as soon as you make your character.

Spoiler: Character Creation Guide for those lost and nervous 

Step 1: I start by defining my character concept. I write down "Ace pilot with a broken heart."

Step 2: That done I think what is the defining thing that makes my character tick. The broken hearted part of the concept speaks to me so I fill in "Love is a lie that humanity tells itself to function." under Belief. For instinct I take "Always flirt with those I find attractive." as this compliments her belief nicely and I think it should get her into interesting situations.

Step 3: Before I go to Life Paths I PM my GM and talk with him about the places I want my character to be from. We discuss some simple backstory things and I ask about if there is a pirate faction she could have been apart of. After I have gotten the answers to my questions I choose my lifepaths. I take "Born Spacer" as I want my character to have been around spaceships since she was little. As the second life path I choose "Slave to Pirates" as I think that has a lot of interesting character development possibilities to later expand on. "Pirate Pilot" this I choose because I think the jump from slave to a full fledged pilot would be an interesting story to discover through play. I think three is enough for my character as she is still in her late 20s so to add more wouldn't make sense.

Step 4: Now for the usual RP fare. I put down Megan Isabella Gunn as my name. For my age I put 28. I also write out a description of what my character looks like.

Step 5: Time to allocate some stats. I put 14 and 13 into Int and Dex respectively as I want my character to be smart and agile. My 11, 10 and 9 go to Luck, Charisma and Wisdom as in those areas Isabella is pretty average. Finally I put a 8 and 7 into Strength and Constitution as she in neither strong or hardy. This means that my Wounds section will start with 0/2 as my constitution score is so low.

Step 6: I move on to skills. For Primary skills I take: Piloting and Gunnery. These are the skills that I feel my character is great at having been trained in them for many years. For Secondary skill I take: Spaceship repair and Navigation to add to the image of the former Pirate pilot who I imagine had to take care and repair the ship themselves most of the time. I also take Guitar mostly because I just I think that would be a cool skill to have. For culture skills I write up that my basic languages are Spanish and English. I spend two of the three points to raise Culture Pirates to +1 I then spend an additional point to add the Irish Gaelic language to my repertoire as these are Celtic Irish pirates and when I discussed stuff with the GM I suggested it would be cool if a lot of it's members spoke Gaelic.

Step 7: Finally I finish up with Gear and Connections. The gear part is easy for me as my character doesn't have much. I write down guitar, high quality rum, engagement ring and repair tools under my gear list. As the other crew has not been chosen yet I can only do my NPC connection. I write down one for my character's ex fiance: "Alister broke my heart and if I see him again blood will flow." And with that I'm done .

Spoiler: Finished sheet 

Character Concept: Ace pilot with a broken heart.
Belief: Love is a lie that humanity tells itself to function.
Instinct: Always flirt with those I find attractive
Lifepaths: Born Spacer, Slave to Pirates, Pirate Pilot

Name: Megan Isabella Gunn prefers Isabella or Iz
Age: 28
Description: Isabella is a striking looking woman. She isn't very tall or overtly shapely. No what makes her striking is her bearing and stance. Her whole body is always held in a position of relaxed confidence like a predator who has just eaten. This inner fire makes her alluring in so much more than the physical sense. From the outside it is hard to tell whether this is all an act to help cover up some inner vulnerability or if it's what she truly feels inside.

Her skin is the pale white of someone who spends most of their time traveling through space. It is also covered in tattoos. Her biggest and most obvious is a bioluminescent tattoo across her back that depicts a huge Raven in flight descending towards a bloody battlefield. Her hair is a whitish blonde which she wears short to keep from getting into her sea blue eyes during the more complex pilot maneuvers.

Her clothes are simple and practical. A brown leather bombers jacket with a thousand little inner pockets under which a simple white shirt is worn. Her pants are hardy denim jeans that don't break or stain easy.

Wounds: 0/2
EXP: 0/6

Strength: 7 (-1)
Dexterity: 13 (+1)
Constitution: 8 (-1)
Intelligence: 14 (+1)
Wisdom: 9 (+0)
Charisma: 10 (+0)
Luck: 11 (+0)

Primary Skills: Piloting, Gunnery
Secondary Skills: Spaceship repair, Navigation, Guitar
Culture Skills: English, Spanish, Celtic, Culture Pirate (+1)

Gear: Guitar, High quality rum, Engagement ring, Repair tools
Connections: Alister- Alister broke my heart and if I see him again blood will flow. 1/4

!!!COPY FROM HERE!!!

[FONT=Courier New][COLOR="#000000"][B]Character Concept:[/B][/COLOR]
[COLOR="#000000"][B]Belief:[/B][/COLOR]
[COLOR="#000000"][B]Instinct:[/B][/COLOR] 
[COLOR="#000000"][B]Lifepaths:[/B][/COLOR]

[COLOR="#000000"][B]Name:[/B][/COLOR]
[COLOR="#000000"][B]Age:[/B][/COLOR]
[COLOR="#000000"][B]Gender:[/B][/COLOR]
[COLOR="#000000"][B]Description:[/B][/COLOR] 

[COLOR="#000000"][B]EXP:[/B][/COLOR] 0/6
[COLOR="#000000"][B]Wounds:[/B][/COLOR] 

[COLOR="#000000"][B]Strength:[/B][/COLOR] 
[COLOR="#000000"][B]Dexterity:[/B][/COLOR]
[COLOR="#000000"][B]Constitution:[/B][/COLOR]
[COLOR="#000000"][B]Intelligence:[/B][/COLOR]
[COLOR="#000000"][B]Wisdom:[/B][/COLOR]
[COLOR="#000000"][B]Charisma:[/B][/COLOR] 
[COLOR="#000000"][B]Luck:[/B][/COLOR]

14 (+1), 13 (+1), 11 (+0), 10 (+0), 9 (+0), 8 (-1), 7 (-1)

[COLOR="#000000"][B]Primary Skills:[/B][/COLOR]
[COLOR="#000000"][B]Secondary Skills:[/B][/COLOR]
[COLOR="#000000"][B]Culture Skills:[/B][/COLOR]

[COLOR="#000000"][B]Gear:[/B][/COLOR] 
[COLOR="#000000"][B]Connections:[/B][/COLOR][/FONT]

RULES

1. If you want to play either an alien or a psychic PM before even writing your concept as there's things about those characters I would like to discuss. Also I am only allowing one alien character into this game.

2. If you want to play a regular vanilla human and have finished your Character Concept, Belief and Instinct PM me. I would like charecter creation in this game to be a somewhat cooperative effort between me and you. This does not mean I will be telling you who you should play or anything like that. More that this would help me sow some plot seeds for the future and help you learn and mold this world we will be playing in.

3. In this RP I hope to be a full time GM but if I don't get enough players I will also make a character if needed.

4. If any questions about anything stated here come to mind PM or write into this thread with your question and I will do my best to answer any inquires.

5. I value commitment and quality from my players much more highly than any sort of speed. If you're a slow poster don't worry there's room for you here but please be sure if you join that you would like to stay. Pretty please? With sugar on top?

6. The rest should be obvious. Be civil to each other. Follow the general RPA and Mature game rules. Don't be an assehole. And so on.

7. I am thinking about taking out all the dice mechanics as they seem to put a lot of people off. Not sure about it yet as I really like them. Would love to hear some feedback.

8. Have fun. Or don't. I'm not the boss of you.


TLDR
For those that want a quick idea of what this RP is about but don't want to read the whole thing read the Short of It. When you have read that and it sounds fun to you read the rest.

[TheBarbarian]

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The Charon's Coin dossier
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The Charon's Coin is a Generation 3 Imani Free Merchant class ship. It is the collateral for a loan agreement of 830000 credits (the cost of the ship) between Miss Megan Isabella Gunn and the Imani Clan. The contract has been made for 30 years and require minimum monthly payments of 2500 to be made to the Imani Clan every sector month.

General outer description: The Charon's Coin is a slightly sleeker version of the traditional Free Merchant type of ship which are traditionally known for their large roundish or squarish designs to maximize the cargo space available. The Coin sacrifices some of this functionality to instead focus on speed and agility. Most of the original matte black coloring remains though the sides and wing tips have been painted a deep purple that naturally gives over to a bubblegum pink. The ship's name has been painted with the same color on to it's left side with a coin flip design at the end. A simple sentence is inscribed under this name. "And the rest is rust and stardust."

Inner layout: The ships blueprints

Spoiler: Crew Room's 

Spoiler: Description of the ship's main deck 

Description of the Main Deck: The ship is entered through the loading rap at it's back. The first thing anyone comes across is the loading bay. It is a simple metal affair very sparse and empty, unless filled by whatever goods the Charon's Coin is transporting. At the very end of the loading bay two hallways lead off to the rest of the ship. The left one has doors that lead to both the supply rooms and the grav generator that allows for normal gravity conditions on the ship. The right hallway has a door leading to a empty room that seems to have been recently stripped of it's contents.

Following these hallways straight will lead one to a small room with a few spacesuits. The doors on the left and right lead to the airlocks that can be used to exit the ship in space and board other ships if permission is granted. The ship has no boarding tubes for boarding actions.

The door that leads straight in this small room opens up to the common area. This area has a comfortable atmosphere to it with bolted down couches and chairs assembled around a table in the center of which is a hologram projector that shimmers with blue light. The kitchen is to the left of this common room. The cooking implements and stove have a slight layer of dust on them however the food processor seems to be well used. The doors on the right lead to the showers and the washroom. The showers are all separate cubicles that wash a body as efficiently as possible. However there is one old school shower that would not be out of place in 21st century Earth. The washroom has three different cubicles and all have a cheap looking metal toilet.

The rest of the rooms that lead off the common area, are personal rooms. There are seven of these. By default they have a twin bed, a table with a chair and one shelf that is over the table. There is a button on the table that lifts up a console which functions as a quite old computer model that can be customized by the person using the room. Anything else that is housed in the room has to be provided by the person.

Continuing forward from the common room one will find a room with two ladders one leading to the top deck the other to the lower deck. After that there are two room that you'll find before arriving at the bride. The left one houses the medical bay which has two tables and many cabinets filled with medical supplies of different kinds. Although spartan it seems practical and not needlessly complex. The room on the right houses the comms and sensors room. It is filled with about ten or so monitors all showing cameras that are either on the outside or inside of the ship (none of them are inside personal rooms, showers or the washroom). There is also a computer that is much more advanced than the computers in the personal rooms though still nothing really impressive. The computer is used for scanning and routes comm calls through it.

Finally there is the bridge. While all of the other rooms are very impersonal and don't look very used or lived in this room is decked out in all sots of stuff. Posters of different bands are strewn about on the walls which are painted with complex geometric shapes with a lot of pink and dark purple. The floor is covered in shag carpet and all the three chairs are super comfortable looking. There is a simple Celtic cross hanging from the main control stick. And a bobble head pirate sits on the dash. This room also has the only windows that can be found on the Charon's Coin which make it feel much more open and lighter than the rest of the ship.

Weapons: Multi focal laser for ship to ship combat Sand thrower to disable small fighters.

Amenities: Inner workshop for ship repair, Extended stores for longer life support needs, Fuel bunkers to allow for multiple jumps before refueling, Fuel scoops to allow fuel harvesting from gas giants, 1st level Spike Drive

Imani Clan ship ratings:

Speed: 7 (+0)
Agility: 9 (+1)
Power: 6 (+0)
Armor: 4 (-1)

Fuel: 3/3
Hull Integrity: 3/3
Maximum Stores: 35 days worth of air, food and water for six people, 210 days worth of stores for one person

The important thing to know about the sector economy is that it is in constant flux. Very few things have set prices and the availability of items vary drastically from planet to planet. In some planets guns are everywhere and can be gotten with ease while on others the process is almost impossible. Now the one thing that is a constant on every planet is the price of fuel and that is set by the Sector Valhallan Theta Exchange Network. Cultural contacts and knowledge can help with knowing what prices are normal in what planets and what exactly can be bought there.

Space Travel Costs:

Monthly Loan Payment: 2500 credits
Refuelling: 100 credits per fuel missing
Repairing Battle Damage: 10000 credits per HP
General Maintenance: 25000 credits every six months
Resupplying stores: 20 credits per person per day of stores bought. 3600 for six crew members for 35 days.

[TheBarbarian]

IC

"The Mechanic"
Jake Umbran played by Oran

"The Spy"
Raelyn "Rae" Elder played by Megwilen

"The Dog of War"
Skoll Ulfhedinn played by Stormwolf

"The Mercenary"
Sarnai "Lotus" Tairakh played by LiveVoltage

"The Bonesaw"
Igor "Doc Ice" Bakhvalova played by Enigma





Lonely Galaxy News
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This month's biggest stories


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New Federations general denies involvement with the Vanta Syndicate

New Federation general Igor Turov denies connections to the rising information brokering ring Vanta Syndicate. The general came under fire last week after a reporter who wished to remain anonymous discovered incriminating files in the generals computer. The General claims to have been framed by political enemies. Captain Aya Oboro a veteran of the Mantis War and a long time friend of the General spoke in defense of her friend saying that "If we treat our veterans like criminals there soon shall be no one left to defend our borders." Read more>>>

Slaver attacks increase in the Eruthalion and Haimon systems

The Zoltan Peacekeepers report that slaver attacks have been on the rise since last year with the highest number of slavers concentrating their efforts on the Eruthalion and Haimon systems. Mantis leaders when approached for a comment remained silent on the issue citing the recent upswing of other slavery rings activity. The report continues on to warn travelers in small unprotected ships to be careful when dealing with pirates. Read more>>>

Spoiler: Sector Map 

Inhabited Star Systems - Inhabited star systems are represented by the grey circles with names under them. Some of them have more than one inhabited planet.

The Ship - Location of the ship in the sector is represented by the small ship icon.

Job Locations - Red numbers show where the jobs on the board would take place.

1. Viva La Revolución!

• Job issuer: La Sublevación de los Pueblos through Megan Isabella Gunn
  
• Nav Designation: GRID 0607, OEDIPUS, Naushad-ali
  
• Payout: 3000 credits per person (not including Isabella) and transport off the planet
  
• Job Description: The mission is one of kidnapping the leader of the Empire of the Sun's military's Special Operation Branch Tan Shen. For the mission to be successful you have to deliver him to the prearranged drop off point which was agreed with La Sublevación de los Pueblos
  
• Target Information: Important player in the Empire's politics Tan Shen has risen quickly through the ranks of the leadership through cold cunning and a ruthless attitude. His appointment has started rumors that soon the old Nightingale (the emperor's spymaster) will be replaced.
  
  Spoiler: Picture of him in ceremonial armour  

  

[StormWolf]

Tossing in my RSVP for my "war-born splicer"

[TheBarbarian]

Acknowledged.

[gutmelt]

Reserve for an unstable mechanic?

[TheBarbarian]

Someone already PM'd first wanting to be the mechanic. However maybe there is some other role you might want?

[Oran]

Character Concept: Is a natural mechanic with a distrust of people
Belief: "Machines will never betray you"
Instinct: Never leaves behind a multi-tool that belonged to his mother and pistol that belonged to his father.
Lifepaths: Born Spacer, Long Illness, Mechanic

Name: Jake Umbran
Age: 19
Gender: Male
Description:
Jake is a thin looking young man, typical of a person who spends most of their time in artificial gravity. Whilst a bit gangly, the deftness of his fingers and his mind makes up for any physical disadvantages. He is 5'9" with messy unkempt brown hair covering his clear, focused blue eyes. When talking to people, he uses his welding goggles to keep the hair out of his eyes. He is almost always covered in dust and grease, somewhat darkening his pale white skin.

Normally reserved in conversation, many people overlook him as a simple, dumb grease-monkey. This couldn't be farther from the truth however. His mind is always working, thinking of some new idea. He sometimes lets people think what they think, sometimes in order to dazzle them later on, or it was in his best interest to appear as a nobody.

Clothing is something like this:

EXP: 0/6
Wounds: 0/2

Strength: 9 (+0)
Dexterity: 11(+0)
Constitution: 7(-1)
Intelligence: 14(+1)
Wisdom: 13(+1)
Charisma: 8(-1)
Luck: 10(+1)

14 (+1), 13 (+1), 11 (+0), 10 (+0), 9 (+0), 8 (-1), 7 (-1)

Primary Skills: Mechanics and Robotics
Secondary Skills: Small Arms, Piloting and Cooking
Culture Skills: English and Gaelic, Culture Mechanics +1, Culture Spacers +0

Gear: Essential repairing tools, mother's Metatool: This wrist-mounted housing contains a myriad of small, useful tools designed to handle the widest possible range of technical needs. While a metatool is too limited to handle major jobs, it is usually suffi cient to manage jury-rigged repairs and temporary fixes until the tech has time to apply a larger wrench to the problem.
Father's pistol, small headset used for communication, disassembled droid parts.
Connections: Isabella- "Isabella worked with my parents, I should find out what she knows". 1/4
Simon- "The old man helped me get back on my feet. I owe him." 1/4
Sarnai 'Lotus' Tairakh- "Although we got off on the wrong foot, she seems to have a lot of experience in this kind of thing. She seems friendly enough." 1/4

[TheBarbarian]

Cool everything looks good as we discussed. Accepted.

[Megilwen]

Character Concept: Empathic Spy who is Hunting for Answers
Belief: Everyone has secrets. There are no secrets that time doesn't reveal, I just reveal them faster.
Instinct: Will always figure out who she's dealing with.
Lifepaths: Born on Hadiya in the Empire of the Sun, trained within experimental military training facility, Defected

Name: Raelyn "Rae" Elder
Age: 23
Gender: Female
Description:

Spoiler: Look 

Rae is a petite woman standing about 5'1 and weighing 110 pounds wet. She's flexible and easily able to fit into tight places because of her size. She has scars criss-crossing her back and inner thighs that she keeps covered at all costs.

EXP: 0/6
Wounds: 0/2
Psi Points: 5

Strength: 7 (-1)
Dexterity: 10 (0)
Constitution: 8 (-1)
Intelligence: 11 (0)
Wisdom: 13 (+1)
Charisma: 14 (+1)
Luck: 9 (0)

Primary Skills: People Skills (Bluff, Diplomacy, etc), Hacking
Secondary Skills: Lock picking, CQC, Singing
Culture Skills: English, Historian, Japanese, Chinese, Traditional Cultures
Empathic Skills:
Emphatic Push - You can effect people's emotional state in simple ways. Changing their mood, making them more receptive to ideas. You cannot implant new ideas in their brain or push them to do things that they don't want to do. Roll +CHA and spend two Psi Points. On a 10+ You successfully manipulate them without them ever noticing. On a 7 - 9 choose two:
They don't notice
They are manipulated
It will work for as long as it needs to
You are not tiered (otherwise lose 1 extra psi point)
Psychic Translation - You can understand any language even one's you have never studied by reading the brain waves of the organic who is speaking (if you want they can understand you as well). Spend two Psi Points to activate, will last for the duration of the conversation.

Gear: Lock picking tools, tablet computer, small knives, disguise kit (face paints and various amounts of clothing and accessories)
Connections:
General Fu: The only person to knows who I am, where I came from, or why I ended up in the program. I need to know my past.