[OOC] GURPS On The Verge

Michael Thayne · 05-23-2010, 07:58 PM

Recruitment Closed

This is the OOC thread for GURPS on the Verge. Right now we have three players, and I'd like to get one more (UPDATE: Now we've got five, recruitment closed). First order of business is to talk composition of the group of PCs, roles relative to each other, how they know each other. I'm posting the Player's Briefing below for reference.

To kick off the discussion: players with connections in organized crime is an option, though if they're in too deep it could really crimp the style of the campaign. One of the defining features of Firefly, where I'm taking some of my inspiration from, is that the characters weren't taking orders from anyone, and could take what jobs they chose to. Also note that while starships are expensive, there are very lucrative opportunities n the Verge to offset the cost of one. Anyway, the briefing:

The Basic Premise

The premise of the campaign will just be “a small group of people with a small ship.” Trade will be one of the most profitable things you can do with such a setup, though there will be other possibilities. For example, the Galactic Concord pays for survey data on unexplored planets in the Verge, of which there are still many. That isn't exactly a way to make a quick buck, though, since payments can take a year to get processed.

Mechanics Stuff

The intended style of the game is moderately cinematic characters, relatively realistic play mechanics (after you ignore the alien telepaths and probably-impossible technologies). I'd rather not have to fudge die rolls to keep characters alive, but players are encouraged to take advantages that don't make realistic sense like Luck. If you do take Luck, I'll try to eyeball how much PbP time is equivalent to an hour or whatever at the game table, and I'll err on the side of allowing luck rolls more often when it would keep a PC from dying.

In addition to my recommendation of the Luck advantage, take a look at this list of recommended skills for adventurers. For optimizing characters, look at this list of talents, which tend to be the most efficient way of making a character good a few related skills. Also, please remember that disadvantages are disadvantages, and if you take “virtuous” disadvantages like Honesty and Truthfulness, they are still likely to inconvenience you at some point.

Administrative Stuff

Private message your fellow players with a rough description of your character once you know what kind of character you want to play. This is in part to make sure the more important roles in the group of PCs (pilot, mouthpiece) get filled. You should also coordinate on which characters will own the ship, either due to Wealth or because they take responsibility for making loan payments. (A brand new interstellar blockade runner will cost you $2,000,000, while a slow, beat-up system trader without a stardrive might be bought for a fraction of that.)

Universe History

The year is 2501. How we got here: In the early 22nd century, humans did serious exploration of the solar system for the first time and made first contact with the fraal, telepathic aliens who wandered into the solar system millennia ago, but who had been holding off contact with humans until humans became more advanced. Working together, fraal and humans developed the stardrive, a device which, depending on the amount of power available, can travel anywhere from five to fifty light-years in five days by moving through another dimension known as drive space. However, there is no way to make a faster-than-light journey in fewer than five days. These fixed five-day periods are known as “starfalls.”

Aside: Small ships tend to have small starfalling ranges, and large ships large ranges. Likely, the PCs will have a trader-class ship that can travel 5 light-years per starfall. For a fee, though, it is possible to use such a ship to piggy-back on the starfall of a larger vessel, allowing characters to get around the Verge more quickly.

Back to the history: With the stardrive, humans were able to spread themselves throughout the nearby region galaxy, discovering a number of sentient alien species on the process. Two of these, the sesheyan and the weren, were unambiguously more primitive than humanity, but the mechalus and t'sa were in some ways more advanced, just lacking stardrive technology. Because humans got off to such an enormous head start in galactic colonization, the vast majority of sentient beings in the known galaxy are human.

The First Galactic War (GW1) occurred in the early 24th century, and resulted in the Terran Empire fragmenting into many stellar nations. The Second Galactic War (GW2) happens later that century, and doesn't end until 2472. You should think about how old you want your character to be—medical advances have made 50 the new 25, so if you decide your character is old enough to remember, and possibly have fought in, GW2, it won't make your character too old to adventure.

StarDrive Species

Fraal
35 Points

The Vulcans of the StarDrive universe. Not really emotionless, but their emotions don't change as rapidly as those of Humans. They look a bit like stereotypical alien “grays,” but with hair, and not really that much shorter on average than humans. They do tend to be fairly skinny, though.

Attribute Modifiers: ST -2 [-20], HT -1 [10] IQ +1 [20]
Advantages: Extended Lifespan 1 [2], Telepathy Talent [5], Telesend (psionic -10%) [27]
Disadvantages: Addiction (telepathic contact with other fraal) [-10]
Racial Skills: Mental Strength (E) [1]

Mechalus
25 Points

One upon a time, the Mechalus were far more human like than any other species in the known galaxy. Maybe you would have thought they were “really human,” though biochemistry proves otherwise. By the time humans made contact with them, however, they had made cybernetic enhancement standard for every member of their species, slaughtered the other intelligent species in their native star system, and developed a collective guilt complex over having done so. So yeah.

Tend to be cool under pressure, and socially inept from a human point of view, but definitely not emotionless. In fact, Mechalus tend to be more emotionally expressive than humans in social situations.

Attribute Modifiers: IQ +1 [20]
Advantages: Combat Reflexes [15 points] Cable Jack [5].
Disadvantages: Oblivious [-5], Pacifism (self-defense only) [-15]
Racial Skills: Computer Operation and Computer Programming at IQ [5]

05-23-2010, 07:58 PM	#1
Michael Thayne Join Date: May 2010	[OOC] GURPS On The Verge Recruitment Closed This is the OOC thread for GURPS on the Verge. Right now we have three players, and I'd like to get one more (UPDATE: Now we've got five, recruitment closed). First order of business is to talk composition of the group of PCs, roles relative to each other, how they know each other. I'm posting the Player's Briefing below for reference. To kick off the discussion: players with connections in organized crime is an option, though if they're in too deep it could really crimp the style of the campaign. One of the defining features of Firefly, where I'm taking some of my inspiration from, is that the characters weren't taking orders from anyone, and could take what jobs they chose to. Also note that while starships are expensive, there are very lucrative opportunities n the Verge to offset the cost of one. Anyway, the briefing: The Basic Premise The premise of the campaign will just be “a small group of people with a small ship.” Trade will be one of the most profitable things you can do with such a setup, though there will be other possibilities. For example, the Galactic Concord pays for survey data on unexplored planets in the Verge, of which there are still many. That isn't exactly a way to make a quick buck, though, since payments can take a year to get processed. Mechanics Stuff The intended style of the game is moderately cinematic characters, relatively realistic play mechanics (after you ignore the alien telepaths and probably-impossible technologies). I'd rather not have to fudge die rolls to keep characters alive, but players are encouraged to take advantages that don't make realistic sense like Luck. If you do take Luck, I'll try to eyeball how much PbP time is equivalent to an hour or whatever at the game table, and I'll err on the side of allowing luck rolls more often when it would keep a PC from dying. In addition to my recommendation of the Luck advantage, take a look at this list of recommended skills for adventurers. For optimizing characters, look at this list of talents, which tend to be the most efficient way of making a character good a few related skills. Also, please remember that disadvantages are disadvantages, and if you take “virtuous” disadvantages like Honesty and Truthfulness, they are still likely to inconvenience you at some point. Administrative Stuff Private message your fellow players with a rough description of your character once you know what kind of character you want to play. This is in part to make sure the more important roles in the group of PCs (pilot, mouthpiece) get filled. You should also coordinate on which characters will own the ship, either due to Wealth or because they take responsibility for making loan payments. (A brand new interstellar blockade runner will cost you $2,000,000, while a slow, beat-up system trader without a stardrive might be bought for a fraction of that.) Universe History The year is 2501. How we got here: In the early 22nd century, humans did serious exploration of the solar system for the first time and made first contact with the fraal, telepathic aliens who wandered into the solar system millennia ago, but who had been holding off contact with humans until humans became more advanced. Working together, fraal and humans developed the stardrive, a device which, depending on the amount of power available, can travel anywhere from five to fifty light-years in five days by moving through another dimension known as drive space. However, there is no way to make a faster-than-light journey in fewer than five days. These fixed five-day periods are known as “starfalls.” Aside: Small ships tend to have small starfalling ranges, and large ships large ranges. Likely, the PCs will have a trader-class ship that can travel 5 light-years per starfall. For a fee, though, it is possible to use such a ship to piggy-back on the starfall of a larger vessel, allowing characters to get around the Verge more quickly. Back to the history: With the stardrive, humans were able to spread themselves throughout the nearby region galaxy, discovering a number of sentient alien species on the process. Two of these, the sesheyan and the weren, were unambiguously more primitive than humanity, but the mechalus and t'sa were in some ways more advanced, just lacking stardrive technology. Because humans got off to such an enormous head start in galactic colonization, the vast majority of sentient beings in the known galaxy are human. The First Galactic War (GW1) occurred in the early 24th century, and resulted in the Terran Empire fragmenting into many stellar nations. The Second Galactic War (GW2) happens later that century, and doesn't end until 2472. You should think about how old you want your character to be—medical advances have made 50 the new 25, so if you decide your character is old enough to remember, and possibly have fought in, GW2, it won't make your character too old to adventure. StarDrive Species Fraal 35 Points The Vulcans of the StarDrive universe. Not really emotionless, but their emotions don't change as rapidly as those of Humans. They look a bit like stereotypical alien “grays,” but with hair, and not really that much shorter on average than humans. They do tend to be fairly skinny, though. Attribute Modifiers: ST -2 [-20], HT -1 [10] IQ +1 [20] Advantages: Extended Lifespan 1 [2], Telepathy Talent [5], Telesend (psionic -10%) [27] Disadvantages: Addiction (telepathic contact with other fraal) [-10] Racial Skills: Mental Strength (E) [1] Mechalus 25 Points One upon a time, the Mechalus were far more human like than any other species in the known galaxy. Maybe you would have thought they were “really human,” though biochemistry proves otherwise. By the time humans made contact with them, however, they had made cybernetic enhancement standard for every member of their species, slaughtered the other intelligent species in their native star system, and developed a collective guilt complex over having done so. So yeah. Tend to be cool under pressure, and socially inept from a human point of view, but definitely not emotionless. In fact, Mechalus tend to be more emotionally expressive than humans in social situations. Attribute Modifiers: IQ +1 [20] Advantages: Combat Reflexes [15 points] Cable Jack [5]. Disadvantages: Oblivious [-5], Pacifism (self-defense only) [-15] Racial Skills: Computer Operation and Computer Programming at IQ [5] Last edited by Michael Thayne; 05-24-2010 at 09:36 AM.