SO...  We're free of the station.  In an unknown part of a strange galaxy, with a bunch of people you don't know--and you don't even really know yourself.

You've got three critically-injured people (Commander Amin, Tech-Crew-1, Marine-1).  If any of you would care to give them names, you're welcome to.

I envision the Orishi as being about the size of a small terrestrial mansion. (think how big a three-storey house with, say, twenty-five rooms would be).

So.  What now?

Triage.  Stabilize.  Heal.  Recover.  Repeat...

It looks like I will be feeling their pain for awhile.  :o

Just how long does it take for me to go through the above cycle?

Can I speed up my turnaround time if I heal patient #1 just enough to stabilize, then quickly recover, then heal patient #2 just enough to stabilize, etc., to keep them all alive and improving?

now that a common menace is out, how are we going to justify our PC sticking together? Since a reasonable plan for Maissa would be to reach the nearest frontier planet, and let everybody leave to go on their lives... :)

That is worth discussing.

As soon as you manage to get through the Orishi's firewall, you can access the Galactic Extranet and find out who you are--but it's not the same thing as remembering. And it's my intention for each of your precis backstories to have a couple of twists and layers to work through as we go.

However, right here, right now... this is where Wanted by the Galactic Authority and the Quick-Load Amnesia Aspects come into play.

From a metagame perspective, I'm okay doing the occasional solo-scene, but I'm not interested in running solo adventures.  If you can convince one or two other PCs to go with you, that's got potential.  So long as it eventually loops back to the others.  So... yeah.  I'm looking to you folks to determine why you stay together as a group for now.

Well, let me see. I can put my two penn'orth out there!

Obviously, my next moves are to get the data off the chip, so we can all finally find out who we are. And Karnell has a definite plan to find out what Amin has been cryptically letting slip. Karnell suspects... a plot!

Once he does learn who he is, and his memory starts to return, Karnell has only two major goals:

1 - Vengeance. He needs to punish those who took away from him the only thing he ever loved.

2 - Money. He still plans to steal a stupendous amount of it. His last plan relied on other people too much. This time, now he has learned from his mistakes, he will probably be more successful. This particular goal may well appeal to some of the other PCs. I suspect Baylee, at the very least, would not be averse to stealing an idiotically large sum of money for her own personal use. I mean, pirate is as pirate does!
This message was last edited by the player at 08:33, Wed 12 May 2021.

What made Dark Matter somewhat intriguing was that by the time some of them regained some of their memories, they'd become very different people.

You all have some intense personal goals tied in with your back-stories.  But consider that knowing the facts of the back-story doesn't carry the emotional weight of it..   I want the formation of the group to become a tool that the previous you didn't have, which makes your goal a real possibility.  We've got some steps to go through before we can get there, not the least of which is developing some sort of a bond of trust with some of your co-PCs.  And that's about as long as the amnesia is going to last.  By that point, who you are should also be different from who you were... giving you different angles to approach your goals...

Does that make sense?

When I asked "what now"?  I meant it literally.  what now--right now?  This session.

Ice-mining sounds dreadful.  But it might be a good excuse to get some of the mobs off-ship and out-of-the-scene.

You've got at least three NPCs who need serious medical attention.  You've probably got enough Oxygen.  But the ship was being stripped for contraband.  So, there's probably no food and minimal water on-board.  There's an Android somewhere on the ship... but where it is and what it's doing?

You might decide to follow up on your own personal data packets & back-stories.  How are you going to get there?  How are you going to get the money to follow-up on it?

Lots of things to work on with that! It sounds like we are going to have to make our first priority getting supplies, and finding something we can use to buy supplies. Karnell has no assets at all now, which is beautifully ironic, considering how he intended to be stupidly wealthy at this point. :P

Well, Baylee has simple needs. Chief among them are food, drink, sex, and money. So, the money heist is probably appealing. But her ultimate goal is freedom. Pirate she may be, Freedom-loving is also in there. Haha. Well, specifically, cleithrophobe, fear of being tied down.

Still, I think whoever said supplies is probably hitting the most pressing thing that would keep the group together. Food, water, and creds to fund any sort of intention to set out back into the great wide open.

I might suggest making it so the ship barely has enough supplies to get us to a very narrow set of destinations with some opportunities to relieve the situation but limited opportunities. Might be able to string the group along a series of raids that barely keep them going headed for more occupied space. By the time we reach that place, perhaps we'll have bonded. Perhaps we'll have all killed one another off.

As for our NPC problem, Baylee is fine solving it for you all. That's what airlocks are for.

Heh.

That depends on how quickly and in what manner CSX is able to help the injured folks.

If the change of scene has given him enough time to recharge his healing capabilities, he will start trying to do so right now.

If he is able to spread his healing around to heal multiple targets just enough to set and keep them on the road to recovery, he will start trying to do so right now.

Once I know that, then I will know enough to post IC...  :)

Bek's immediate goal is to quietly disarm the Marines, if they didn't already leave their weapons behind or turn them over when they got on board; Bek won't let them take their friend to the infirmary unless they give them up. Anything recovered will be squirreled away someplace, with the power cells removed and stashed someplace else. I figure that as Bek's been on the ship before they may be able to figure out where the best hiding places are even if they don't actually remember any of them. I don't have a need to play that out, though.

After that, a people inventory; how many refugees total, what the breakdown is between stationers and prisoners, and what skills they have (for the ones that remember). While doing that, Bek will also try to quietly divest the rest of Amin's people of their guns as well, along with whichever prisoners seem like they don't know how to handle them. So, PCs and Lincoln (but not Virtanen) can keep theirs if they want. If no one else is doing it already, Bek will delegate people to inventory the ship and supplies.

Over the longer term, Bek is a social creature. Even though they don't know any of the other people on the ship, sticking around is far preferable than heading off on their own at the earliest opportunity.

Baylee is running an inventory as best she can given the faulty memory.

CSX:
You used Laying on of Hands on Barrett, but I don't think you spent the fate-point to bring Rapid Regeneration into play.

I think that, given the interplay between the two stunts, that I am okay with taking the "once per session" restriction off of "Laying on Hands".  If Sheng-Xin wants to kill himself to heal others, who am I to prevent that?

That being said, Sheng-Xin is still carrying the Moderate Consequence Intense Psychosomatic Pain.  You need to write something to kick off the recovery process.  Otherwise, he will continue to carry that Consequence until there's a narrative excuse for recovery to start.  I'd accept something a simple as finding a time and place to meditate...  and making some mention of him actually doing so.

This would downgrade the Moderate Consequence to a Minor Consequence, and you'd have that Minor Consequence set with the recovery flag on, so that at the beginning of the next scene--not session--it'd be healed up and removed.  But there absolutely has to be some narrative reference to this.

But, yeah, you could use Laying On Hands on the others. You've got a Minor Consequence and a Major(Severe) Consequence that are currently free.

By the same token, someone else in the crew could see if this ship as a medbay, seek out a first-aid kit...  Because ships like this would definitely have a first-aid kit or two... unless the tech-crew stripped those out, too... (nah, I'm not that cruel today).


Also, for what it's worth... your using Laying on Hands on Barrett obligates me to make sure he comes back into the story... you didn't heal him for nothing!  I promise that it will come back into play and possibly make a difference.  But it's a long-game benefit.  If/when Barrett shows up again you'll have that history to call upon as an free-invoke Aspect.

Then Maissa tried to locate the android AI Gilina had told her about.

Okay, so how does viper try to locate an unknown AI?  You've got moments before Gilina leaves if you wanna ask questions of her.

Rayfe:
For now, he's limited to the databanks on the Orishi.   And for that, he'll need to either hack the Orishi's systems (Beat Orishi's current system rank of +2.   You could just "take zero" for the success or wait for Baylee to acknowledge you as being allowed on-board, which'll grant you standard access.



New Narrative fact introduced:
Cockpit has an illuminated ships deck-plan

Baylee

For metagame reasons, I'm not going to give an individuated breakdown.  But there is no indication that there is an unwanted or unknown entity on-board.   Also OOC, the ship's AI is not including itself in the list as it does not consider itself nor repair drones, etc as unregistered autonomous entities.

The approach I'm taking with this is that after Ling-Li was captured, acting command of the Orishi passed to someone else, and there was some passage of time before the Orishi itself was captured.  But the Orishi's command database was not purged in that time, so the Orishi still recognizes Ling-Li.


Everyone
If there is anyone who wants to jump in and establish that they were a part of the crew (or passengers) of the Orishi at the time Baylee was, now's the time to speak up.

And finally...


I've also been giving some thought to how such IDing might work and how "Quick-Loading" from cryo-stasis might work.  And I've come to the conclusion that you each have been implanted with id-chips (a  chip the size of a grain of rice implanted in your wrist)  and cortical stacks (which is a lot more invasive and sits at the base of your skull).  Cortical Stacks are new tech and are basically similar to that described in "Altered Carbon", but the tech hasn't been perfected yet.  Zenda-Meier is a pioneer in this field...

I have not seen Altered Carbon. Could you perhaps elaborate?

Question about the ship!

A vessel like this would have computer control as part of the basic design concept - there must be a master control console, or a computer core, from which someone can control/repair stuff. A ship doesn't fly by magic, after all - when the pilot manipulates the controls, something has to process that, and make the engines and so forth react accordingly. Likewise life support, comms, sensors, and everything else on the ship. Sure, they COULD all be completely independent systems, but the most logical way for a vessel to be designed is to have one simple controlling system, which can be accessed from a master control of some sort.

If there is one, where might it be on the ship? And if there isn't one, can I patent the concept and make myself super rich and so forth... oh, no? Damn. :P

Re: Cortical Stacks:

The peripheral component of a system that allows for the backup, upload and download of a person's non-physical characteristics--ego, memory, etc.   About the size of a two silver-dollars (or, if you're Canadian, two toonies), it was implanted and recorded your ego, backed it up to the stasis system.  When you were "quick-loaded" It was a progressive writing, sort of like how a jpeg image can be written from tart to end or progressively written from multiple concurrent starting points.

Breakthroughs in this field are reputed to allow for downloading your personality to a different body, to a different species (ie, moving a meat-mind to a robot-body) and "far-casting", sending a stream of data across thousands of light-years rather than travelling physically yourself.  You'd be farcast into a temporary body, do your business and that data would be farcast back to be integrated with your primary personality.

In this setting, the technology is in it's infancy as the biological to technology bridging is unstable.  current-day fiction of the setting would have all sorts of stories about "ego-editing" and "brain-hacking".  But this level of technology is not in common (nor uncommon) use.

Mostly, it's a justification for the how and why with a big edge of creepy around it, because it provides a narrative hook for possibilities down the road.

Such as... who the hell put those stacks into us in the first place, and why? After all, it isn't something you would do to people and then dump them in a prison for the rest of their lives - unless they're an experiment!

Ships Propulsion, Life-support, Jump-Drive, Fuel, Consumables (water, required gasses and reactants), Sanitation and the drone-bay would mostly be located below Deck-1.  They'd all be accessible at various points from Deck-1 depending where you're going and what you want to do.

AI Core, Communications, Sensors & Pirate Suite, would mostly be located on Deck-2, and probably fairly close to the cockpit.

A vessel like this has an AI computer control.  It also has a peripheral autonomous entity that allows the ship to self-monitor and effect repairs (in addition to the ships drones).  You haven't met Ashe yet.  (It was gonna be Tau, but I'm changing it for thematic reasons... Ashe ties in with the Orisha much better).   Viper might be looking for it.

Gotcha, thanks!

Bek was part of the crew; not sure if they would have had an official position, or been more of a miscellaneous-tasks handler.

Maybe it is an experiment; if you need to test an infant technology that's both invasive and has a high potential for backfire or abuse, why not use someone who's already been deemed expendable? IRBs as we know them would completely lose their shit over it, but maybe those don't exist in this world, or the world's version of the Helsinki guidelines is different. Or maybe the experiment itself is illicit, who knows?

In Altered Carbon everyone gets a cortical stack as toddlers, and as long as it's intact the person is considered to be alive even if there's no body  attached to it. In theory, everyone who loses their body can get a new one, so destroying someone else's body is just property damage while murder is destroying the stack itself. Not everyone can afford a new body though, so there are stack-storage facilities for people who don't want or can't afford a new body. There are also . . . (ominous music) . . . stack-incarceration facilities. The protagonist of the books is a convict, paroled from storage and re-embodied in order to solve a murder.

And, in fact, in a setting with multiple nations, planets, systems and multi-system "star-empires", there are very few galactic commonalities.  One such empire might well decry the use of such technologies, while others... it's not even a blip on the radar.

As another example, "The Galactic Authority" as a galactic police force is a laugh.  It hardly encompasses the entire galaxy.  The Galactic Standard for time measurement is one of the few things that is universal, and only because there's a lot of software to translate time and a commonality makes it vastly easier for us to discuss the timeline of events.

I'm not interested in making cortical stacks a central plot-factor, unless you really find it interesting and want to pursue it, because it opens a lot of cans of worms that can totally sidetrack your personal stories.  But, that's why we can discuss this in a metagame context.

At the moment, your characters aren't aware of the cortical stacks.  It should probably become a priority, once discovered, to have them removed or disabled or rendered inert...
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 07:37, Sat 15 May 2021.

I'm down for whatever you think is fun. On the subject of different systems, different peoples, different empires, I have put some thought into the one I came up with. As you may have guessed from my RTJ, the Unity is a pretty nasty place. The primary planet is a playground for the super wealthy. It's a decadent paradise planet, centre of a huge (and highly amoral) banking consortium. It's the Cayman Islands, in space.

The other worlds are exactly the opposite. They are vast balls of industrial slag, refineries, foundries, and mining operations. Life there is miserable. The majority of the workers end up indentured in one way or another, and anybody suspected of even the most trivial of crimes has all their assets seized, and are confined to the very worst jobs, with no hope of ever getting out of the vile life they now lead. The death rate is very high, and the life expectancy very low.

It's a fascist, totalitarian nightmare. But very few people get to see, or even learn of, the factory planets. When one thinks of The Unity, they think of the beautiful beaches, the bright, airy cities, filled with the epitome of artistic and scientific talent. Glorious green fields, and sparkling blue seas. The fact that is can only exist because it is supported by a slave population, who toil in the worst conditions, for almost no reward... that seems to get overlooked, somehow.

And of course, Since Rayfe tried to steal money from the Banking Cartel, that was just about the most heinous crime imaginable, to those heartless, spoiled, wealthy elite types. The excessive brutality of his interrogation, and the grossly overdone sentence he received, all reflect precisely how greedy those elites really are.

He was not sent to the factory penal colonies, because of reasons. Which may have to be labelled FOIP. (Because I am pretty sure that our GM has all sorts of sneaky plots going on in this backstory, and I am looking forwards to seeing them come to the surface!)

(Why, yes, Metropolis is one of my favourite movies, why do you ask? :P )
This message was last edited by the player at 07:15, Sat 15 May 2021.

See, now I want a game to explore the 'Time Wars' as various states and corporations fought to have their standardized measurement of time become the universal standard! THat sort of existential theme intrigues me.

But here, now... stacks are creepy. But I like the inclusion as a minor plot thread later. Baylee's cleithrophobia will go off like alarm bells once she finds out.

Altered Carbon explores a lot of interesting concepts.

For fun, anyone have something to add to this list?

Awesome Science Fiction shows:
Babylon 5
Start Trek
Farscape
Stargate franchise
The Expanse
Battlestar Galactica
Firefly
Falling Skies
Earth: Final Conflict
The Arrival (?)
Contact
Dune (barely makes the cut, still iffy on whether it has 'magic.')

And I did NOT include anything with magic. ESPers can get a pass depending on how they are handled. Jedi are just religious wizards.
Interstellar doesn't make it because it is schlock nonsense.

On another note: perhaps a thread to collect of collective home systems and other Information about the universe as we piece it together?

Until the eventual standardisation of time due to the proliferation of the railways, this was exactly what happened here in Great Britain! Time was so localised, that two villages even only a mile apart, might have different times. One might have 12 noon as the time, the other might only have 11.30. It was a logistical nightmare, and was one reason why people often arranged to meet "at lunchtime" or "for supper" as giving an actual time could lead to major scheduling clashes. But people knew more or less what time of day meals would happen (or church, for example - they could tell by the bells, and how long they had been ringing) so it made sense to arrange to meet then. Sure, people might then be hanging around for a while, but they would all more or less turn up at about the right time.

Furthermore, the vast majority of people did not have access to timepieces, other than those displayed on buildings, so arranging to meet at a specific time was more or less pointless. A couple of labourers in the city might find it easier to see a clock, but in the country, the only clock they likely saw was on the church. Which is fine if you are in the village, but if you are out in the fields, with nothing but the position of the sun as a reference, specifying "half past two" would be utterly redundant.

Add Blake's 7 to your show list. This character is a huge ripoff from one of their characters. Who is indeed the thumbnail I am using. :P

If you don't know the show, it is a late 70s/early 80s BBC show. The budget was tiny, and the effects were hilariously bad. But the storytelling, plot, and actual acting tended to be superb. It has cult status amongst those who know of it. It was pitched as the Dirty Dozen in space - a bunch of convicts end up trying to take down an oppressive galactic empire. I am an avid fan. :D

And Doctor Who is superb. I am a huge fan of the original series. :D

Maybe add Buck Rogers onto the list, and Star Cops. Alien Nation. And Colony, which is up on netflix at the moment.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:29, Sat 15 May 2021.

Also... V. Original 80s V is a bloody masterpiece!

Awesome Science Fiction shows worlds:
Dark Matter :)
Startide Rising, etc. (Brin)
A Fire Upon the Deep, etc. (Vinge)
Foundation Trilogy (Asimov)
Robot Series (Asimov)
Hyperion, etc. (Simmons)

Past time for my beauty sleep, but I'm sure to think of more during the night... :)

A friend of mine runs an Asimov Robots LARP. It's magnificent.

Technically Foundation and Robots are the same universe. Just radically different times. Daneel Olivaw does show up in the Foundation series, very briefly. I forget which book. There are so many of them!

Okay.  I'll sey it up.   I recall your initial system creation, know how much you like it.  I just worry about generating too much that doesn't get used...  But, hey, if it keeps folks happy, I'm all for happy...

Oh, neat.  a lot of suggestions I'm not familiar with!  Here's a handful more...

Killjoys & Earth-2
I loved their portrayals of truly alien alien species... And for Killjoys, some mmusic-video-quality stylish videography on occasion.

Dollhouse & Orphan Black
For the question of what constitutes identity, also the foundation for some of the idea behind cortical stacks

Sense-8 & Falling Water
For explorations of the inter-connectedness of people...

Humans & Better Than Us
for the ideas of androids gaining sentience/sapience and what that might mean and look like

And recently, I've read a couple of really neat books on sentient microbial colonies...  which I find just fascinating... (ties in with CSX's colony thing).
Brain Plague by Joan Slonczewski
Blood Music by Greg Bear

Since you mention Sense-8, which is superb, might I also suggest Travelers. I also point people at Terra Nova, which very much deserved another series.

I hadn't wanted to open it up to 'worlds' for a reason. Too many good ones. Though i damn well need to read the Foundation series.

I forget about Dollhouse as I always lumped it with Angel/Buffy universe. Perhaps it is more the Firefly universe? Joss Whedon was good at stuff for a bit there.

If we are not doing set worlds, Black Mirror and Love, Death, and Robots are also great collection. Sew series for LDR just came out and I want to watch it bad.

Glad to see no qualms about the exclusion of Star Wars and Interstellar. Suppose I could include The Martian though. Nice way to make science, mostly, the star!

I could never get into classic Who and though I have watched most the modern run up to  certain point it's more a passing fancy when it strikes me. I never liked it really.

Never got around to Sense-8. Seemed iffy when I watched the promos. Suppose I should include Raised by Wolves then? It was alright but I lost interest six episodes in or so despite loving one of the actors. Uh, the guy from Vikings. Forget his name.

Ahhh, Alien Nation was the one I was trying to remember instead of Earth: FC. Travelers was a real fun ride! Jerry O'Connel, yeah? I think I watched some of Terra Nova. Wasn't impressed at all. Seemed like a low budget rehash of Avatar.

Oh, oh, Does the Escape from ___ Series count!? Lovely shows! All these memories coming out of the woodwork now!

Terra Nova really was nothing like Avatar in concept. Are you thinking of the same show? Terra Nova was where a bunch of humans were sent back to the time of the dinosaurs to found a colony. Not really like Avatar there, unless I am misremembering Avatar. It's been over a decade, and I wasn't remotely bothered with it. Mostly, it bored me stiff. :P

This is a thorny question.  On the one hand, I don't want to put huge restrictions on things, but on the other, I don't want your character learning everything about themselves and thus having their entire back-story, complete with emotional justifications and motivations.  Actually, I also really don't want to put in a huge effort of writing reams of background text of questionable relevance.

So, ultimately, it's up to you folks to lay out what you find out.  But, keep in mind that Zenda-Meier will have had a basic profile only.  It's more than a Wanted Poster, but less than a full psyche-profile.  You were in cryo-stasis.  You were cargo.  Who you were--really--didn't matter to Ptolomen Station.

I sugget, as a bare minimum:

• Name, DOB, Soverign State (what I"m using to mean "star-empire"), planet & nation of origin
• Reason for transfer to ZM penal colony
• A brief history of criminal activity and prior arrests
• Personal notes and observations
• Possibly some news articles associated with criminal activites.

Another thing to keep in mind is that these may well be curated biographies.  Others may have padded the criminal charges to justify your being moved out of -sovereignity.  Others may have carefully left certain charges otu to avoid having you executed.

This is also a perfect place to plant names of contacts (in the form of "suspected to associated with The Black Rose Killer who operated on Phyrrus-4"), introduce factions and planets, systems, etc.

Once again, though, I'd prefer not to have a whole novel of back-story detail in this profile.  The more you write up now, the more your close off potential options down the road.  I like story-details, but I don't want us to be trapped in them yet.

Does that answer your question?  I think it does.

It does, and perfectly, thank you!

Out of curiosity; I assume the AI listed off names and ranks/positions so Baylee would know who to give/deny permissions to, but did it also include pictures?

In reply to Bek Haruhana (msg # 41):

Let me answer that :)
Some of us may not be previous crews of the Orishi (I find this to be too much a coincidence - we are in this jail for weeks/months, but the ship captured 3 days ago happened to be ours) ;) so the AI might not know us at all.

The ZM penal colony files that Rayfe the hacker downloaded, however have all our details, including our pics and DNA samples. :)

- Control, How and where do we transmit the information requested (DOB, rap sheet, etc)?
This message was last edited by the player at 21:37, Mon 17 May 2021.

In reply to Maissa Haukea (msg # 42):

It was established that the ship can differentiate between registered entities (ie, former crew/passengers) and unregistered ones, but the permissions Baylee handed out weren't divided along those lines; she specifically mentioned Viper and Gilina as new recruits, and I think she was in the control room when Gilina's name was introduced. That implies to me that the ship has at least some info about everyone on board, even if it's only names and ranks for the unregistered ones. Which could easily come from the ID implants, or from the station database; it probably isn't important which.

What I'm getting at is, at the moment Rayfe definitely has that info (among other things) and has offered to share it with Baylee. But does she also have some of that independent from his, that could be potentially used to corroborate or invalidate what he stole?

Some of this issue is due to my just wanting to move things along.  So, sure, Baylee wouldn't have known Viper as Viper, though she would have known Gilina as Gilina, because that's what the name says on her ident tag on her tech-jumper.    But maybe this is how Viper got the nickname viper in this identity...  Or maybe there was soem sort of psychic seepage as she starts getting bits and pieces of her memory back.  hand-waving.  That's what I'm doing.

I'd envisioned the AI as able to identify others only in very general sense unless biometrics have been registered--which they haven't, yet.  From private messages, I'm getting that Bek was a part of the crew before, so he's biometrically registered, as is Baylee.  Baylee (and Bek) would have direct access to registered ships crew compliment.

I'm going to take an easy way out, though, and say that the AI made provisional identification of folks based on uniforms.  So... ZM-tech (Techs), Zm-Command (Amin), ZM-crew (Marines), Prisoners.  But I don't think it has enough info to differentiate individuals yet.  Unless we can use this to springboard into the revelation about the ident-chip in your arms... oh.  I like that.  I'm gonna go with that.

So, what I draw from this is the need for a formal scene to do the reveal (which'll be Rayfe's thing, I imagine, since he has the chip), and that would be a good time to discuss captaincy...
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:28, Mon 17 May 2021.

I've changed the title of the Session 02 thread to reflect that it's for open-play...  Session-two is going to set a lot of the narrative groundwork for everything else, so I figure discrete scenes can be done in discrete threads.

What I'd like to accomplish in 02.01 is the following:

• Reveal who the PCs are - up to you how much info you get
• Determine captaincy
• Determine social dynamics
  And by this I mean... Zenda-Meier employees aren't just going to blindly trust a bunch of criminals!  'Cause that's how they see you.  What are you gonna do about it?

Amin is currently unconscious, but I've taken narrative license and said that he, the tech-guy, and the amputated marine are all sedated and currently stabilized.  Unfortunately, that means that Amin can't reveal anything useful he might have or make any commands of the others... not yet.  I kinda wanna see where you guys take this.  Nothing is off-the-table, really.

My RL schedule has been pretty squeezy the past several days, but I am still alive.

Thanks for nudging CSX's actions along with some extremely suitable narrative license.  :)

Here is an interesting thought...

Suppose that CSX actually was part of the Orishi crew?  :)

Perhaps he was originally cargo, himself being smuggled away from whatever forces wanted him imprisoned in the first place, and then made himself useful enough with his extraordinary abilities to earn himself a place aboard.

Perhaps he was even extremely useful, such as healing Baylee from serious injury, and extremely valued.  That would make an interesting contrast to the contempt she currently has for him, if and when such memories are rediscovered... ;)

Any objections?  Speak now, or forever hold your peace...

I'm reminded vaguely of Stark on Farscape.

The capacity for healing doesn't preclude the capacity for violence, mind you.

CSX:
He tried to rise, and was pleasantly surprised to find the pain level of his shoulder to be significantly decreased.

What's happening here?

Are you kicking off healing of the Moderate Consequence Intense Psychosomatic Soulder Pain?  The narrative justification being... what?  that he'd rested?

Or are you spending a fate-point to make it a Minor Consequence (with recovery initiated)... I suppose just "Psychosomatic Shoulder Pain"?

Yes, both the rest and the meditation/prayer were in part intended to provide the needed narrative reference.

However, I don't know if you had some longer interval in mind...?  O_o

I don't know if what I wrote fits what you had in mind.

If not, and since I wrote it into the canon already, feel free to take a fate point if you are so inclined...

I just wanted to know--mechanically--what's going on.  I'm still unclear.  Which was it?

1. Starting recovery of the Moderate Consequence
   
2. Downgrading and starting recovery of a Minor Consequence (for a fate-point).

I guess I'm confused (which isn't surprising, given my game mechanics cluelessness)...

From the quoted passage, I thought that providing the narrative justification was already enough to trigger the downgrade, without any mention of a fate point being required.  So that was how I wrote my IC post.

However, if you as GM think that a fate point is appropriate for that, then I think you are a much better judge of such things than I.  :)

As the GM, I feel that the decision to spend or not spend a fate-point must be the players.  I'll only take that option in exceptional circumstances.

Recovering From a Consequence (Fate Core, page 164) says there are a couple of things that need to happen to regain the use of a Consequence slot:

• Succeeding at an action that allows you to justify recovery  (that means rolling, 'cause we're talking mechanics here)
• Waiting an appropriate amount of game-time for that recovery to take place.

Waiting without rolling to recover doesn't kick off recovery  (it took dice & decisions to get you the consequence; it'll take dice & decisions to get rid of them). Succeeding at a roll-to-recover does not clear the slot.  It just starts recovery.  You still need to wait.

However, you have a Stunt which applies here:


So... Your options are:

• Spend a fate-point to use Rapid Regeneration, to change Intense Psychosomatic Shoulder Pain(+4) to Psychosomatic Shoulder Pain(+2) and initiate recovery
• Roll Will to Overcome Intense Psychosomatic Shoulder Pain(+4) to initiate recovery
• Do nothing and continue with Intense Psychosomatic Shoulder Pain(+4)

Also note:  If you're trying to perform recovery on yourself, the target difficulty is increased by +2 (FC 164).  So an unassisted recovery roll for a Moderate(+4) Consequence will be versus +6.

As an extension of the fate system, you could also opt to say that resting was in preparation for the meditative effort that would help heal, and roll to create-an-advantage.  That Advantage Aspect could, in turn, be invoked on a roll-to-recover if needed.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:34, Wed 19 May 2021.

This may be a stupid question (or maybe not, given that we are play-by-post instead of face-to-face)...

For our game here on RPoL, what exactly is a "session"?  O_o

EDIT: Given the thread names, I suspect that our exit from the station was the end of the first session, and that we are now beginning the second session?

If so, is it possible for me to spend my fate point when I collapse, before the ship actually leaves the station, and have it count as being spent in Session #1 rather than being spent in Session #2?  O_o
This message was last edited by the player at 00:09, Wed 19 May 2021.

Yes, we are at the start of session 2.    Session one ended when you boarded the Orishi. Please see message 2: in the Mechanics & House-Rules thread for definitions of scene, session and scenario.

It doesn't make sense to me to have CSX resting in session 01, before he'd boarded the Orishi.  I'd rather not go back and revise the already-closed scene to have you spend the fate-point and write the narrative action required in that scene.  We're done with that session.

I assume that your concern is about not being able to use Rapid Regeneration again in this session.  So, I'll allow you to use it twice in this session, as you're learning the system.   But this is a one-time thing.

If you choose to spend the fate-point for Rapid Regeneration, we will downgrade to Psychosomatic Shoulder Pain(+2) and that Consequence will be cleared at the end of the next formal scene. "Open play" threads don't count.  There has to be an appreciable passing of linear time.

Also note:
If you're trying to perform the Overcome action to do recovery on yourself, the target difficulty is increased by +2 (FC 164).  So an unassisted recovery roll for a Moderate(+4) Consequence will be versus +6.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:39, Wed 19 May 2021.

OK.  Yes, I'll go ahead and spend the fate point to downgrade via Rapid Regeneration.  Many thanks.  :)

Noted and adjusted.

Hey, that'd be a cool character point. Though, how's CSX's pacifist tendencies going to mesh with a crew of pirates on the run from the authorities and occasionally having to wantonly hurt people. Heck, Baylee just enjoys a good fight here and again. Still, though, something like how Mal and Book used to get along? Completely opposite personalities that respect one another?

As for how she feels now, she hasn't a spare second thought for CSX right now. He's meaningless to her. A thing that occupies space.

Bek would not have been enthused about it, but if the Captain and majority of the crew was ok with CSX staying then Bek would have acquiesced. They wouldn’t have been friendly, but as long as CSX didn’t push Bek wouldn’t have been hostile either.

At the moment, Bek doesn’t have any feelings about CSX. He hasn’t shown any useful skills that Bek’s seen, so he’s cargo like the rest of the prisoner mob.

Before I convolute some way for Baylee to run over, read, then run back. Would there be ship's computer terminals in the galley? Or handheld extensions that can be used? Hell, even as far as a HUD overlay type spectacles of goggles?

Sure, if you say there is.

CSX:
"... A-...  Ashe..."

I'm uncertain how to proceed here.     I simply don't know how to follow-up on this post.

What is CSX doing and what are you expecting from this?

I was thinking that the combination of CSX's intuition and his déjà vu in approaching the once-familiar cargo-bay med-station would joggle loose another part of his previous "routine" interactions with this med-station: conversing with the ship's AI.

He doesn't yet know what the word signifies, but being back at the med-station triggers actions that used to be habitual for him, which would include conversing with the AI.

IC, with his current memories or lack thereof, he is saying the word prompted by a combination of intuition and force of habit, and has no conscious expectation.

However, whatever suppressed fragments of memory subconsciously driving him to say that word would expect the AI to respond to that prompt and converse with him.

If/when Ashe responds, he will be consciously be startled and surprised, but subconsciously be getting a misplaced puzzle piece put back into place.

Does that make sense?

Okay.

This introduces a narrative fact that certain areas of the ship have microphones tied in to the ship's comms systems.

Oh, I had assumed this already. Seemed like a pretty standard trope of fantasy spaceships. Areas such as the med-station, galley, office, etc.

Out of the Blue Thread is before or after the conversation in the Social thread? Not sure I want to post there until afterwards. Weird to keep the two timelines separate in my head. Also feels unnecessary.

I believe it is in numeric order, with OotB = "2.00", and Social = "2.01".  :)
This message was last edited by the player at 06:28, Mon 07 June 2021.

02.00 is whenever and wherever you want it.
02.01 is specifically the meeting in the galley to discuss social hierarchies...
02.02 will be about dealing with the power-outage...

We're two days from the nearest habitable planet. Three from the nearest jump-gate.  Unfortunately, the tech disabled the jump-drive before strip-down.  Without a ferromodulator, there's no guarantee the ship's drive won't overload and leave us drifting.  So we're going to have to use the gate-system.

What does the GM want? :)
If it's open, I'll vote the nearest habitable system to be Baylee's system of origin, that she detailed in the thread link to a message in this game

Such good works shouldn't be lost :)

Oh! The world-builder in me might love you for that.

All right.

02.01 didn't get the amount of discussion I thought it might, but I'll leave to open for a while...

Tomorrow, I'll work up 02.02, en route to the nearest jumpgate.

And we'll start in on the first part of Baylee's story...
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:53, Sat 12 June 2021.

So.. .Rayfe put forth the question to the NPCs, asking for any information they might know about the PCs  (and NPC Mob pool).

The story so far has it that you were all put in cryo-sleep before transferring to Ptolomen Station, so while it's unlikely that the NPCs will have first-hand knowledge of you, this is Fate.  And being Fate, you've got the opportunity to introduce some anecdotal information if you want to.

We'll discuss whether it's worth a Fate-point or not to do so, in the manner of introducing a new Aspect, introducing narrative details, etc.  I'm not gonna say it's worth a fate-point without us talking about what info it is.

Bottom line though...  I'm quite happy to have you put words in the NPCs mouths.  Except for Lincoln, please.


Who's here:
Tech Crew: Gilina, Marsh (no description), +1 Un-named
Grunts: Blonde (hungover ghoulish), Medic (Bearded Bear), One-legged Grunt
Convict Mob:: Thick-set One-Eyed Matron, +/- five or six...

You're also welcome to name them, give them more details...

Oh, joy!

As for narrative elements... let me pray to the dice gods a moment.

Ok, the dice gods have indicated that I should claim the One-legged grunt in some way. I don't recall why he was one-legged though exactly. I know it was the fire-fight, but what exactly?

Hmm, how to connect then? Easy enough to say, since we seem relatively close, the grunt comes from her home system. Does he know her personally? Nah. But he knows her reputation. Anyone that spent time in that system in the last five years probably knows Baylee the Butcher and her crew of pirates. So, let's say he was part of the Outer Colonies? Fought in the war then signed up as private muscle after the fighting stopped. Whether he was sympathetic to Baylee's situation or bought into the propaganda, I'll leave to you. Just some flavor for him.

Name: Ikaika Kekoa'opunui (Ike for short)

Love it!

Ike's an employee of Zenda-Meier.  The destruction of Ptolomen station was probably an "end-of-contract" for him.  Although, he might be in for an Zenda-Meier insurance settlement if he survives...  I mean, death & dismemberment benefits due for actions in the course of his duties might be something he could argue.

He'd lost the leg at the knee in the fight with the Tech crew.  it was tourniquetted on-site by the big beefy bearded bear (oh my god, the alliteration!) medic guy.

ANd Sweet Jesus, you guys are gonna fuck with me a lot on names, aren't you?  I don't have a hope i hell of pronouncing that surname...  S'okay. Ike works for me too...

Well, the name is Polynesian. I actually find Polynesian words quite easy to say. They tend to be long, but the syllable construction is incredibly narrow and vowels only have one pronunciation no matter what. Incredibly limited phonotactic restraints and phonemes.

So: ee-kah-ee-kah Keh-Koh-ah-oh-poo-new-ee

See, the vowels never change their sounds. Wait until Is start generating names in Mandarin. That language is nuts, though a lot of what I find confounding about it doesn't not make itself well known in this medium: i.e. text and using romantic alphabet.

Orishi/Ashe indicated to Viper (I think) earlier that the ship is airtight and space-worthy. And given the size of the ship, there'd definitely be enough atmosphere to last for some time.   if that becomes an issue, I'll introduce it as a Situational Aspect.

For now, though, it does mean that the ship is moving at a constant speed in the same direction it was in before the power cut out.

So...  Baylee leading the way to the personal quarters?  Rayfe asking someone--anyone?--where the generators are, intent to do some sort of diagnostics.  Viper asked about Ashe's mobile unit--which hasn't yet made an appearance.  Did I get that right?

Looks good to me!

I understood (wrongly it seems) that CSX had met it. Anyway, let's consider that my sweet Gilina had given me a word about it :)

If any of you feel that we should assign an Aspect or two to the whole damned Deux system, we can.  I don't feel it's necessary, but I'm not wed to this stance, either.

Baylee you did the write-up.  Is there anything in particular you feel should apply to the whole damned solar system?

We're very much in the ramping-up stage here, so I'm not pressing for much.   Tell me... now that you're away from the explosion of the Ptolomen and you're in a system that seems to have a direct association with one of the characters...  what now?

I suggest you find a local commerce point or a faction-location of some sort to get your bearings and seek medical attention (CSX! Amin, Bear, etc.).  I will, completely coincidentally, make sure that you discover that you have an outstanding job actually available to you, that will allow you to get some credits to move forward... whatever that means.

Of courser Gilina did just drop a couple of massive hints.   Biometric Vaults?  No Jump-Drive?

Yeah, we need Amin to stay alive long enough so Rayfe can interrogate him. Because that dude is shhiiffttyyy!!!

Does Lincoln look like he is going to respond, or is he out of it?

I'm not certain if CSX should wait for him, or if CSX should react to the others as they relate their visions...

Go ahead and react.  I'm part-way through writing, but also dealing with real-world stuff so attention is divided.

No worries, no hurries...  :)

Heh.  The mystery continues...  ;)

I just set up one possible bond between them, beyond generic Chinese culture and language.  The Sun-Zi-quoting pacifist is still a valuable strategist and counselor...  :)
This message was last edited by the player at 19:26, Tue 25 Jan 2022.

The map continues to populate.  You can zoom into different locations to get more details.

So, where d'you wanna go?  Proteger?  Asteroid belt?  If Asteroids, then... outside or inside the blockade?  You're also welcome to make up some space-station or another, if that's more to your preference.  I suppose you could also hail the blockade ships.

It should occur to you that in a vast inter-galactic universe, that information doesn't reach different destinations at the same time.  So... Nobody in Deux would be aware that Ptolomen station had just been evacuated.

So, am making a list of what Karnell needs to investigate:

- Sensor date from during the glitch. What the hell happened? Why did we lose power? Any information about the hallucinations and the ship's records for that time frame?

- How did we apparently jump with no jump drive?

- Biometric vaults - what's in them?

- CSX... his files are apparently locked. I need to bust them open!

- Anything I can dig up on Amin, which I suspect will be not much at all from the prison database.

Also, are we close enough now to get a proper link to the galactic net? Or am I still limited to local access, with the prison database and the ship's local database as only info sources? There's a settlement in this system, so do they have access? If so, can I piggy back off that?

What rolls would you like for this? One for each, one for all, or something in between?

Anybody want to add anything to the list, since I am likely to be snout deep in the computers for a while?

I will probably raise this IC soon, but...

If the ship automatically pops to our current location to escape danger, how did the ship get captured before?

Unless... our current location is in fact where it was captured before... :o

I expect that the people who caught them had the means of disabling that system. Tractor beams, EMP, and so forth. Otherwise, no ship would ever get caught by anybody.

Rayfe:
Some of these I can answer right now via metagame, some will need to come out in story.  This is a result of all of us making this up a we go along.

Sensor date from during the glitch. What the hell happened? Why did we lose power? Any information about the hallucinations and the ship's records for that time frame?
I'm retconning this to say that time-passed has been about three to five cycles for most of you...  Time enough for local situations to have changed but not enormously...

Ptolomen station was a stopping point.  Once sufficient number of cold-sleep prisoners had accumulated, they'd batch them off to Viziers Penal Colony.  Until then, it just wasn't profitable to ship prisoners out one at a time.  Meta-game wise, it allows things to have changed and people to react to your reappearance.

The power-out... I'm figuring that the fusing of Helium-3 and Deuterium in a conventional jump-engine takes an enormous amount of energy being funneled into a series of capacitors...  While it's not known or proven in our specific case, it would make logical sense that the power-out was a Pre-cursor to the jump itself.

Also, are we close enough now to get a proper link to the galactic net? Or am I still limited to local access, with the prison database and the ship's local database as only info sources?
I've been giving a fair bit of thought to ideas of the galactic network.  Most intriguing to me is that dissemination of information isn't synchronous or uniform.  Basically, it would be connections of system-wide networks connected to other system-wide or even just global-networks.  There isn't a uniformity to it, though were certain mega-corporations go, their information networks would be uniform...

Direct results of that are that if a new system is discovered their network might be utterly incompatible with the existing infrastructure and communication there won't happen consistently until protocols are established to translate or a branch of an existing network is introduced.  For Rayfe, this means that the systems skill becomes a huge key to being able to interface with alien systems, too...

There's a settlement in this system, so do they have access? If so, can I piggy back off that?
Deux does, indeed, have links to extra-solar systems.

Does figuring out how to get access interest you as a activity for your character?
If not, then we'll hand-wave a certain amount of it.  A couple of rolls...  If it does interest you, then we'll work some more hoops to jump through.

But ultimately, it's going to require discovering how to access a node, then handshaking with the appropriate node.   I have very little interest in actually playing out a net-run (disliked it in Cyberpunjk 2020 and Shadowrun, too), so will abstract much of it to keep the story going...

Time will be a huge factor, as you'd be accessing local systems.  There will be enormous amounts of data, of course.  But finding out what's happening in other systems will get increasingly harder as the information becomes more and more rare and thus more and more out-of-date.  That seems to be a logical set-up, to my mind.


The other questions... those should come out in-story.   But remind me.  If you want to update your character entry in Your Character's Back-Stories to reflect ongoing goals and objective & questions, that would help keep me from forgetting, too...

OK. Let me absorb this overnight, and I will try to reply thoroughly once that has happened. Thanks, though, this has helped me enormously. :D

OK, getting access is somewhat interesting to me, but I do not want to get bogged down in anything that might hold up game progress for others. So it might be best to do this in a quick couple of rolls to get the basic info I need locally from the ship.

For the more complex stuff and extracting data from the galactic net, obviously it would be fun to have challenges to overcome. But I agree about the Shadowrun stuff. So less frustrating than that.

Side note: have you played any of the Shadowrun computer games? They're on Steam. They handle running as a really cool sort of turn based dungeon mechanic, and it is so much better than the tabletop. I really like those games!

As a fun point, you two doing net work in a private thread then just sharing the summarized result is fine for things like the above. Much of what is happening in the scene is not held up by it, really, but the result would unlock certain possibilities. Plus, it keeps the thread from clutter. And, plus, from my friends in IT, that type of work can really take a LOT of time IRL despite how Hollywood wants us to view it.

Not a bad idea. A seperate thread for doing complex stuff like that without clogging up the game is sensible!

Okay. Time to let me think about it...  I'm off to bed before being up in 6 hours for work.

I don't want to isolate Rayfe from the other characters.  I don't wanna get into the "you weren't there, you were working on hacking XYZ..." situations.  I'd rather do the major time-consuming hacking off-camera.  I also want to avoid doing a massive data dump that wont get used.  So, I'm very cool with a couple of rolls, and providing a few things and amore in-action while we're going.

I need to remind myself that in Fate if you can't think of a cool success and a cool failure, then you go with the one that's cool and don't even bother with the one that isn't...

The Orishi automatically did a handshake with a system-orientation beacon, which negotiates local exchanges.  So, you can work off of that, but all data traffic through the stellar beacons will be logged.  Truthfully, how often do you think these logs would get checked for unauthorized traffic?  And is what you're searching for even unauthorized?  Not so much if it's just general information.

If you needed to hide your tracks, you could travel to a relay node, EVA to access it directly...  (That does kinda sound fun)...

I'll need to think about this a little today.

If FTL travel is possible via jump-gates and jump-engines, then tight-beam data-bursts sent through the gates might also be a possibility for updating information.  More likely, you'd get slingshot probes sent through the gates that, once in-system, would handshake and update stellar beacons.  That's gotta be costly, though.  I'm just not seeing a method for keeping the "hinterlands" up-to-date with the most recent of anything.

OK, as per my post, I have done three rolls. Results:

Roll 1: 4 shifts
Roll 2: 7 shifts
Roll 3: 4 Shifts

Happy to do more if you wish, but I felt doing several in advance saved time, and you could then decide what they mean, and feed back information accordingly. As my ICpost said, Rayfe is looking specifically at:

- Ships systems and protocols relating to the space jump. A full diagnostic of all drive systems and connected protocols would be nice, including why the vessel decided to jump here, specifically.

- Finding all data, if any exists, relating to the destruction of Ptolomen Station. Had word got out yet? Were they reported missing? Had wanted poster equivalents been posted on media?

- Anything at all he can find on himself. As per his background, Rayfe Karnell was very big news during his trial, as a lot of people from many different planets did business with and used the Unity Banking Cartel. A fair amount of what was said on media was sensationalised, but footage of the actual trial may exist. (Trial is a nice euphemism. The Unity's legal system is as corrupt as everything else they do. The trial was more akin to how the Cardassians do it in Star Trek... He was pronounced guilty before the trial happened. The actual trial itself was a demonstration to the people of how they came to that decision, not an opportunity for him to prove himself innocent. If The Unity says you are guilty, then you are. Since their prosperity depends very heavily on forced labour, often from convicts, there is no real interest in letting prisoners go free.)

I'm back from work but desperately in need of a nap.

I thought of how I want the jump-gates & jump-drives to work today, so that's a plus.  Will update once I've had a nap.

Also, be aware that this might mean I update tomorrow as last time I went down for an after-work nap, I woke up 12 hours later...

Rayfe, I approve of pre-rolling.  Really, at this point, you're information-gathering and it does little but further the story, so you're gonna get stuff.   The rolls will just allow us to predefine an Aspect or two that we can throw-on things.

More in a bit (I think).

Sounds good to me, boss! That seven shifter has to be good for something. :D

RAYFE'S HACKING

You made three rolls. Two ended up at System:+4 and one at System:+7.  I'm seeing these map to

• Orishi Jump Drive info
• Ptolomen Station, Vizier's Colony & by extension, Zenda-Meier Corporation
• Rayfe, himself.

I'm going to say that the +7 applies directly to Rayfe, himself, as that's a little easier to nail down right now.

First:  There's a -lot- of the Orishi's history that's been scrubbed, and it looks like it's been scrubbed by no less than four different parties.  There's command overrides, there's brute-force hacking attempts and trojan whales, there's evidence of physical media storage removal and a a history of some pretty intelligent tri-factor security features (typically, that would mean physical security, software security and a third form, which is often a confluence of events-like being in a particular stellar location at a particular confluence of stellar events.    But the actual data about any jump-drive technology on the Orishi is not available.  It's not that it's not accessible.  It's just not there.   Not even installation or removal notes in the ship's maintenance logs.

Second:
There is little available on Ptolomen Station or Viziers Penal Colony.  I Local databases indicate that it's minor corporate concern, owned entirely by Zenda-Meier, and that it's big claim to fame seems to be that they had instituted a cold-sleep protocol.  There was no mention of cortical stacks or the removal or backing-up of personalities.  If you wanted it, there could be fanciful stories about it, the type used in fanfiction about super-spies and the like.   Perhaps it's used as a entertainment villain's secret lair.   Up to you if you care to play with that somehow.

The actual location of Zenda-Meier's infamous gulag is not public knowledge.  However Zenda-Meier does have a corporate presence in Deux.  It's not a major player in this system.  It seems to have interest in Heavy Metal mining in the outer belt and has offered some backing of PaiHua colonies.

More important is that there is no news about anything amiss with the station, the colony or among this system's news-feeds.  There is, however, a lot of data to sift through.  It is a safe bet that--given that the destruction of Ptolomen station happened a few hours earlier in subjective time--news hasn't reached Deux.  It's a moderately safe bet that, even if it had, nobody here would be at all concerned.

Now, as to news about Rayfe himself...
In this system, Karnell is  almost a fictional character, the hero of a trilogy of Mindscape Flicks (a technology that allows you to experience the actions and activities of a specific indvidual).  The plots aren't particularly devious and it's presented along the lines of a mix between Ocean's-11 and early James Bond films.

Of course, it is based on real actions, real activities.  SO that's a trail that should be fairly easy to follow.   Now...  I suggest that this one is the highest roll of the three.   How do you want to spin this?  Do you want to spin this into an Aspect of some sort?

Ultimately, I'd very much like this set of exploration to reveal that this all happened nearly five cycle's ago....

How the hell does one create a standardized time measurement among a pan-galactic environment, anyway?

Chang Sheng Xin
Chang Sheng Xin rolled 1 using 4 Fudge dice.  Reading Lincoln's Emotions (Empathy +5).
Lincoln rolled to Defend(+3), so CSX has a Success.

There's very much conflicting emotions there.  It's definitely tied to what he's read.  So, best bet is that he glossed over his own database entries, or highlighted/downplayed key parts.   It might be worth looking at his entries when there aren't so many people around.  Or maybe when he isn't around.

Because CSX has a high enough Enmpathy, he'd have the distinct feeling that calling Lincoln on it now would probably be a bad move...

So I think that my shoulder pain is down to +2 now, and that my recovery has been initiated.  Is that right?

What does all that mean in terms of how able I currently am to help heal our injured passengers?  :o

(my emphasis)

Now I have a question for Control : how far are we, relatively speaking, to the three entities of the belt ? (Inner Colonies dictatorship on Paix; confusing anarchy on Scylla; Exogenesis Station blockade). The blockade covers 4° of a 360° belt, so if we arrive near it, we had one chance in a ninety... Which would give a clue as to the ship's IA (Ashe) wanting to come back "home".

I assume that the blockade ship could detect the Orishi, as IRL we could detect lots of things in the Solar system, especially since our system did handshake with the satellites. :)

Mostly, I'm trying to make this the least complicated as possible.

The easiest answer is that the stellar beacons (what I'm currently calling the  Galactic Internet Information thingies) aren't politically-controlled, so don't relay information.  You popped into this system.  The system beacons don't relay that fact.  The Orishi handshakes with them, probably using a universal handshake protocol (or possibly a private proprietary protocol which is part of the price of connecting to the galactic net...)

Information updates are transmitted and received by the beacons to all vessels that enter the system, regardless of political ideology or affiliation.   Best bet to avoid stellar issues like, radiation zones or debris fields left over from recent battles or strange time-slipping stations (whoops, this isn't Babylon-4)...

There might be protocols in place to identify ships in distress...  I'm happy to have the Stellar Beacons act as a communications relay as well, but that's a more active role than I'd really envisioned them.   I'd also suggest that there is a security protocol in place against misinformation and hacking via handshake... like, suddenly getting your vessel blacklisted from using stellar beacons again.

So, with that in mind, I'm thinking the Orishi popped into the system, and standard protocols was to establish and update information with the local stellar beacons.

The identification of ships and station involved in the blockade could be a product of the Orishi's databanks, ship-configuration identification and other factors.  The Orishi has definitely been here before.

So, yeah, one could change transponder signatures and there's a chance nobody would notice.   But it's not a guarantee.

There are a couple of agricultural sites within the blockade, but Exogenesis is pretty much dead-center of the blockade area.   It probably wouldn't be too off the mark to assume that the agricultural colonies have some sort of relationship with Exogenesis, itself.

Exogenesis' presence in Ihks-gab probably also means that there is a stronger Paihuai presence, there too.  But opinions and allegiances aren't clear.


Sun   [I]   {p1}   {P2}  |\|XGAB|\|   [L]   |\|{S}|\|SAB|\|[M]|\|

You are closest the XGAB belt and the blockade.   Let's call it a four-hour burn.   You are twice that distance from Proteger.

The blockade ships probably can detect the Orishi, but it is not clear whether they have as of yet.

You guys didn't come in via the system jump-gate and you don't have the sheer mass that a jump-drive enabled ship normally has, so they're probably not looking out for you.   And if you'd hidden behind an asteroid, or a radiation zone, or some other anomally.

Right now, you haven't been seen.

Since we're new in system, and we haven't done anything with this system, let's open this up to the table.    Do any of you care to offer up Aspects?

Since this is straight world-building, bringing an Aspect into being at this stage will not cost you a fate-point unless it provides you/us a distinct advantage down teh road.

So "The War for Sapient AIs" wouldn't cut either way for you.  But The PuaHai Loves the Orishi definitely would.  (I'm not suggesting either of these as real Aspects.).

Baylee, since you built this system, I'll let you take point on this, if you want it.

CSX:
So I think that my shoulder pain is down to +2 now, and that my recovery has been initiated.  Is that right?

What does all that mean in terms of how able I currently am to help heal our injured passengers?  :o

Yeah, I think so.  Sheng-Xin is suffering from Psychosomatic Shoulder Pain(+2).  This will continue whether or not you play it up through this scene.  In our specific case, this will last until we get to the next major scene... (so if it's a minor bridge between scenes, it'll continue because it's, well, minor).   By the next major scene, it'll be wiped away.

There is nothing to stop you from healing others again.  But it will function in the same way.   You will take on their consequences.

We did sort of hand-wave the consequence away the first time, and I really want to avoid doing this on a regular basis.  I want to see the transferred consequences have an actual impact on CSX.  I accept that this is a just a result of timing and the scene.  It's not a dramatic moment and we're doing a bit of a time-shift, so... it's okay.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:37, Mon 31 Jan 2022.

SO, though I have noted some distinct aspersions toward Scylla... as well as Paxois, I'm fine ignoring them. Outside perspectives on any culture are often biased. That said, neither of the two are sweethearts. Scylla operates like a loose association of various syndicates. I was trying to design something that made sense as an evolution of anarchy into a system influencing organization. SO, yeah, it's like a patchwork of warlords that stop fighting with one another only long enough to deal with the Paixois.

So, an aspect might look like this Ever changing quilt of warlords

Just keep in might, some warlords are benevolent despite our modern pejorative connotation of the word. Tyrant, in ancient Greece, just meant someone who seized power unconstitutionally. Several ancient tyrants were quite good.

Anyway, Paix certainly looks less good from a modern liberal point of view. I was trying to develop a culture with a deeply different foundation from modern, western, liberal democracies. The foundation here is the Confucian system, the celestial bureaucracy. All people have their place and order is strictly enforced. Social mobility does not exist. In theory. OF course, any system like that exposed to a more liberal thing like the Scyllans would have dissent. Anyway, an aspect for Paix might be A place for every thing and every thing in its place or something like that.

That is, if I am grasping the idea of aspects any better than last time.

And for the Paihuai? Their attitude is something like "You can have my freedom when you pry it from my cold dead fingers." They are descendants of dissidents from Paix, after all.

Then the Iks-Gab which is also fiercely independent in that American frontier way. Their freedom is born, to a great extent, from the fact that its just massively inconvenient to control. Could one power or the other manage it? Perhaps. Without the interference of the other? Not likely? And would the local just roll over for it? Definitely not. How to make that an aspect? Something people could work with? Thrives in chaos or It's a dog eat dog asteroid belt

There's some ideas. And plenty more could be done. None of these needs be accepted as worded. But it's a launching point.

I like the polarization suggested by the background, but I haven't cast either one in my mind as good or bad.   I'm sure Scyllans and Paxois think the other is a little... off.

The Aspects you've suggested work really well, especially for a high-concept of the people's involved.  So, yeah... thank-you.
Scylla: Ever-Changing Quilt of Warlords
Paix A Place for Everything and Every Thing in Its Place
Paihuai You Can Pry My Freedoms From My Cold Dead Fingers

Seeing it like this really helps me recast it as a Chaos vs Order drama (but it's never--ever--that simple... this is a dramatically gross over-simplification, I know!)

Right now, I'm really thinking what we need is a basic situation that further ties the group together.  Because if I were a part of this group, I'd probably high-tail it out of there so that anybody comes looking for the group, they aren't gonna find me.   But I have a contingency or two for some of that.

So, though it's kinda putting the cart before the horse, let's look at a few options.

Baylee
You are a Cleithrophobic Space-Pirate Hunxie’er.  Will you accept a fate-point if I were to have someone contact you about a job you were on, but hadn't been completed...  Of course you don't remember.   I have an idea of what the job was and it will help round out the mystery of the first chapter.

Rayfe
Will you accept a fate-point if I should have someone recognize you--not the James Bond celebrity model that's touted by much of this system?  And, because [You're] A Celebrity--Get Me Out Of Here!, your presence here gets announced pretty quick.   (Well, not here in space, but wherever we end up shortly...)

Sheng-Xin
I'd like to offer you a fate-point to compel "Bardic Exploration" to start a solo side-thread involving CSX's dreams.   In it, we will involve some sort of story...  I have a thing I want to reveal, but it needs to develop slowly.  I don't know yet what it looks like.

May I go ahead and create such a thread?

Yeah, order verse chaos does sum it well. Haha, but that also sums the political thoughts I was playing with as well. Coolio!

As for the Fate Point, sure! Happy to be a catalyst. Happy to have a reasons to try to cobble together a crew from this motley lot on emergency motive as well.

Count me in!  :)

I'd like to point out that Bai L has a dramatist background, with "her best friend, her captain, get cut down by the mercenary captain. IT just so happened the mercenary captain was her own little brother, on her mother's side.", so this effort at establishing plots should be rewarded by someone recognizing her. It's her home system after all. :)

Well, the Aspect is there to be used! So sure! If someone spots him, a fate point sounds delicious. And I shall not hesitate to Invoke it amongst the criminal (or, apparently, the fan base) community if I think it will give me an edge!

I expect this to be a nuisance.

I'd like to point out that Bai L has a dramatist background, with "her best friend, her captain, get cut down by the mercenary captain. IT just so happened the mercenary captain was her own little brother, on her mother's side.", so this effort at establishing plots should be rewarded by someone recognizing her. It's her home system after all. :)

Oh, it's a given.

I'm thinking that once thought-casts or video or images of Rayfe get circulated, someone who knows her will key in on Baylee...  It's just got to feel less contrived, so I want the set-up for it :)

Viper:
More factors point to the asteroid of K-Zino - a den for never-do-wells, a place where people can multiply their wealth or lose everything. It's a 6 hours travel...


Thank-you for the suggestion,.  Just totally the kind of environment that works for our purposes!

And 'cause I'm the GM and we're booting up again and you're moving things forward.... let's add a fate-point to your pool!

Recent News Headlines

Prospector-1 Team Thoughtcast team missing in Hades Gamora Cluster
IntrepidGen stocks are down as reports circulate that the thoughtcast reality stars of IntrepidGen's Prospector-1 survey team has gone missing in the Hades Gamora cluster.

Scylla to Recognize Kalish Independence
An historic trade agreement has been signed between Scylla and Kalish, bringing an end to the centuries of Scyllan governance over Kalish territory.  In exchange, Kalish citizens will be granted free passage through Scyllan space.  Kalish is recognized as "the food-basket of the Solar Winds" and Scyllan representatives claims that this is but the first step towards recognizing Kalish independence.

Mrrshan Colonial Enrolment Down After Cherbyl Attack
Mrrshan colonial backers have pulled support for future colonies along the Victus Traverse, following the destruction of the nascent mining colony on Cherbyl.  While officials insist that Cherbyl was an isolated case, colonist enrolement has, predictably, fallen.

Zerzura Station Now Open!
The Council of the Solar Wind Alliance has formally brought online Zerzura Station in orbit over the terraforming project on Oceana. Oceana was the first colonized planet beyond the new jump-gate, "Trenchante," established three years ago.  Trenchante connects the Domovoy Republic and the Pegasus Cloud.

Averren Clasp Protests Excavation on Forziga
A FarWeyr excavation of what is believed to be a Precursor-era settlement in the Forziga system has come under protest by the Averren Clasp, who believe that the site is the religious origin of all people's under the Divine Spark, and that further development of the excavations would constitute religious persecution.

Paxois Ruler To Retire
Paixois Noble, Marion Dumakulem,  has announced that she will be formally stepping down as leader of the Paixois after fourteen cycles.  During her governance, the inner worlds of the Deux system has seen unprecedented growth and prosperity.   Dumakulem has yet to announce her successor.

I'm looking for a vector in for Gothique.

Gilina has been doing a physical and electronic diagnostics of the ship to identify and prioritize the deficiencies of the ship.  As part of that, she's gotten names and rough basic skill-sets of everyone on-board (specifically, the NPCs).   After Gothique did a thing, Gilina pressed her into service...

So, I'm going to have Gilina bring her into the Crew Meeting shortly.

CSX:
Chang Sheng Xin rolled 1 using 4 Fudge dice.  Reading Gilina's Emotions (Empathy +5).

One of the fundamental guidelines for GMing Fate is the idea that if you can't think of a dramatic/cool negative outcome and a dramatic/cool positive outcome from a dice-roll, don't bother asking for a roll, just go with the cool.     So, since I didn't ask for the roll, I'm going to throw this back at you.  What do you have in mind for a positive or negative outcome?

When you roll dice, you'll want to answer this question in terms of one of the four Actions:

• Create An Aspect - This serves to create a situational Aspect that might benefit CSX at some future point, so long as it's still valid.
• Defend - Typically used to defend against Deceive attacks, or block against Aspects created with Deceive.  In other words, it's used to tell when someone's lying.  Do you suspect Gilina of lying?
• Attack - You don't attack with Empathy
• Overcome - You don't really Overcome with Empathy either, though we might contrive a way for this to happen in an obstacle is created using Deceieve or perhaps some sort of misunderstanding.

It looks like you're trying to create an Aspect.     What Aspect do you want to Create?

From a purely mechanical standpoint, this request to roll forces me to assign a skill value to oppose this Empathy roll in the guise of a passive defense.  Is CSX actually doing anything to help bring this into being, or is he just sitting there concentrating?

Hmmm.  If I actually had to choose just one, it would probably be Defend.

CSX is stretching out his extraordinary empathic senses, seeking insight beyond the words spoken.  However, he is doing nothing overt, other than regarding her with his gentle gaze as she talks.

Of course, this newly-met person could be lying.  However, even short of that, her emotions could be leading her to give a biased slant upon the topic at hand, even without any conscious attempt at deception.

Therefore, CSX is attempting to weigh just how accurate an account is being given, and pick up whatever insight he can into the speaker...
This message was last edited by the player at 06:40, Thu 10 Feb 2022.

I expect that Baylee is more or less unconsciously citing the old charter she served under. As the former quartermaster, I expect she had the thing down by heart. Hmm...

CSX:
I disagree.  Gilina is not actively lying to you. But, it feels cheap and dismissive to say "oh, she's telling the truth."

Now, one of the ways Empathy can be used is to identify personal Aspects.  So... I have two Aspects pre-defined for Gilina.  One is Ships-Tech Savant.  The other is currently conceptually defined but I haven't put it into words yet.  Any other Aspects are wide open to player discovery/creation.

Please, take a guess at what Gilina's other Aspect is.  You succeeded with style on the roll.  So, what you define here will become a Personal Aspect for Gilina.  (Though, to be fair, as you're guessing, I may modify it... take what you give me and make it fit a little better).

Baylee:
I expect that Baylee is more or less unconsciously citing the old charter she served under. As the former quartermaster, I expect she had the thing down by heart. Hmm...
I've zero interest in actually hammering out a charter.   But being able to refer to it as a narrative justification for why your character has to do something is awesome.  Especially if it creates drama.  So, I think this is a great opportunity to create An Aspect for the entire group.

Operating Under the Orishi Charter  seems a little dry to me.  Any suggestions on spicing it up?

Old Paths.  It covers not only following the precedent of the previous charter, but also covers following the precedent of what is known about our previous characters.

For example, why is CSX choosing to be a part of this crew?  One strong motivator is that the old CSX that knew what was going on previously made that choice.  Therefore, since the old CSX knew more than the current CSX does, the current CSX has reason to follow the path of the old CSX by default...  :)

Hmmm...  I'm not a FATE expert nor a FATE Aspect expert, but I'll give it a shot...

How about Soft-Boiled?

Beyond the bald head and specialist ("egg-head") facets, she has a more tender heart.  She feels the pain of being mistreated, and feels the pain of seeing others mistreated.  She has a soft heart, and can be tender to folks like Gothique.  She may struggle not to lose composure, but she feels it within, so she has a soft shell.

An interesting Aspect going forward.  She has a heart for tech and for the Orishi, but she may not share much criminal hard-heartedness for pulling jobs that harm innocents...
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 22:04, Thu 10 Feb 2022.

Hmm, I like that it harkens to their pasts, but I feel like it traps the present a bit much.

Also, yeah, hammering out the exact terms of the charter is unecessarily gritty.

How about "Old Paths, New Colors" To keep the piratical theme a bit but to add in the tinge of innovation based in previous efforts?

Now, let me understand this aspect a bit. This is here to represent us operating in a structure, right? So, Baylee wants to use her authority to bring others into line or take her proper share of loot, she can invoke this aspect in her role as captain, yeah? Similarly, others wanting to undermine her might invoke its citing articles of impeachment or the similar. That sort of stuff?

Baylee (re: Charter)
I can see that.  I want to tie it in a little more to the very specific idea of the charter representing group identity... so:
Pirate Charter: Old Paths, New Colors

You understand rightly.  The various ways we Invoke and Compel the charter will eventually define it.  We'll get a lot more of "whats in it" without having it written n, an it gives you guys lots of wiggle room.

Mind you, it's a situational Aspect, so none of you get a free invoke/compel on it.  If you want to tag it (invoke/compel it), you'll still need to spend the fate point.



CSX: (re Gilina)
None of us are experts at Fate. We're all making it up as we go along!

Soft-Boiled carries a few other things in-line with the metaphor...

• An egg is a metaphor for beginnings and as-yet-unrealized futures.
• soft-boiled suggests that her future is not yet set...
• She also might be the type to run hot & cold, as to preserve a soft-boiled-egg one runs it under cold water to prevent it from cooking further in it's shell.

So, with that, I'm going to take it one step further and add al ittle bit more specificity to her.
Soft-Boiled in Cold Water

I think that could talk about her heart, how she deals with stress & anxiety, and her outlook on the future...  It covers a lot of things.  So, good on you.  That works nicely.

Rayfe, I do believe the conversation between Maissa and Baylee was meant to be private. They had turned the corner before speaking. Also, I do think those tones were meant to be quite low.

Haha, I am part way into making the decision that Baylee is going to be quite susceptible to this tactic. It makes sense for her personality. But I am still thinking it through. That is just my initial reaction.

I believe Rayfe's player was aware of that and that the PC's reaction was tongue-in-cheek (Absolutely loved it, in a run-with-the joke way, btw :D)
I would have posted it in an OOC thread, though ;)

How I expect Baylee's reactions will be ? That's a suspens, but Spoiler : I expect her to punch-kiss MH alternating shouts of "how dare you manipulate me?" and hot abandon... but admitting the angle of approach on the Marines is sound. (but then, it's wrong to play other people's PCs ;) )

I loved how I could intertwine and spice up a boring discussion about tactics with interpersonal relationship. Thank's BAI Ling-Li's player for giving this opportunity :)

@Rayfe's player : I never watched Blake's 7 (is it on YouTube now?). May I assume that you watched it in the UK? :)

I did not spot it, but at the time was both sleep deprived and rather feverish, so I am not entirely taking things in properly.

And yes. Watched it, and am huge fan, so I pinched the character concept.

@ Maissa - Clearing this with you before I post, but Viper will be being dragged to Baylee's quarters. Then Fade to Black. Fade back in discussing the marines' situation in bed after the fact. I know you invited the story arch, but still clearing the action. Also, I know the game is adult, but I prefer fade to black for this. The scene is not needed in detail. haha. And no discussing of sharing will be tolerated. Baylee is feeling quite possessive. Not monogamistic, just possessive in the moment.

Actually, this game is rated neither Adult nor Mature, so our posts need to conform to RPoL's policies...

Ahhh, weird. That's works out then.

Also, was there not a picture of the Orishi? I recall the old one got taken down, but now I don't really recall the bunks situations. It wouldn't stop her for a second, but just trying to discern how much privacy Baylee could find.

I think we can take it as given that the captain has private quarters, even if nobody else does. :D

I suppose we should also probably lean toward Firefly-style profanity so we do not run afoul of RPoL...  :o

I have the old ship images saved on my laptop, but they aren't hosted anywhere, so it is hard to link to them.  That version had a Captain's Cabin plus four or five other Berths.

I have a very dusty brain cell whispering to me that Control may have wanted the ship layout to be less defined or constrained in advance, but I can't remember for sure...?
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 02:17, Sun 13 Feb 2022.

For sake of ease, maybe we could suggest that, given our numbers, the rest of the crew share a bunk with one other? Decide amongst yourselves who is room-mate to whom...

Now *that* will be an interesting conversation...  :D

I did have a floorplan once upon a time.   But I kept coming up with reasons to introduce more space, more rooms, and the floorplan I had didn't really seem appropriate anymore.  SO, I'd rather leave it up to narrative happenstance.  the actual floorplan doesn't matter to me, really.  But the idea that there are some areas of the ship you simply can't get into at the moment does.

I have no problem bumping the game up to mature, if folks wish it so.  But I don't want it adult.   I, personally, have no problem with swearing a whole bunch.  But I'm not particularly interested in extreme gore or graphic sex.  Some indelicate situations might be alluded to or mentioned, but I don't want graphic descriptions or, for that matter, graphics :)

^
^
^
^
^

This!

+1.  I would prefer General, and I would tolerate Mature.  However, I have zero interest in explaining to my offspring why Dad is playing an Adult game, so I would bail rather than continue.

Firefly-style swearing gets the point across without the baggage, so that would definitely get my vote...

I am open to whatever the group decides.  Sadly I will admit I run adult games not because of gore or sex although if it happens naturally in my games so be it.  I run adult so I know I never have to be careful on what I post and that minors might see.

:)

Either way good with whatever is decided.

In reply to Gothique (msg # 142):

I do the same. For the same reason, but also my experience has taught me that immature writes tend to be worse writers.

Firefly-esque swearing... oh, see, now that inspires me to put up a lexicanum of curses for the Deux system. I was already leaning that way with the occasional (eh, frequent?) F-bomb and some rather colorful descriptions of violence.

Now, to me, it should be general to talk about sex, orientation, and gender frankly but I can tone that down if the audience wishes it. Nothing graphic, but the sort of stuff that allows people to not grow up ashamed of their bodies or identity.

Anyway, lexicanum of Baylee coming eventually.

"Viper will be being dragged to Baylee's quarters." > color me #unsurprised ;) Totally character-consistent :)

"Then Fade to Black." : sure, must happen at some step, and I don't want to push into anyone's boundaries. I found the "preliminaries" and the insight into Baylee's tormented thoughts more interesting to read :) (keep writing those!) Passions and psychology are, I found out, what makes the difference between an OK rpol game and a deeper rpol game - a similar difference between a newspaper report and a novel - but I admit it could go haywire.

Maybe I should reconsider my despise for Barbara Cartland's works ;)

"no discussing of sharing will be tolerated." : I should have made explicit that it was a joke (unless we find out that the pirate chart actually imposed "free love") ;)) I'll edit the post.
Maybe this joke was an attempt to tickle Baylee's "dirty" thoughts... (I am discovering things about my character that I did not envision...)

"Baylee is feeling quite possessive. Not monogamistic, just possessive in the moment." : yep, I also understood that she does not stand for long-term relationships. Maissa is totally OK with that. When she stops being excited, it's time for her to move on.

Got it.

And the hope is to find that one that consistently makes you excited. Maybe in different ways over tiem, but always excited.

The first is for the ship diagnostic.
Systems(+5)+Roll(+1) == Result(+6)
Purely narrative response.  Did not roll to defend. This is a straight-forward Challenge.

From a software standpoint, there appears to be active interference, despite your userid being granted access.   Rayfe has "limited access to files on jump drive and personnel. Read only, no editing" (as per Baylee's direction in Blackout Message 40) really does mean that any direct changing of data on the Orishi--including new file creation--is prohibited.  You might wanna talk to Baylee about that.

Of course, you have the ability to bypass this.  You were a Ice Cold Computer Crook.  Do you wish to bypass the read-only access assignment?   I don't see any immediate plus or minus for doing so... so, I'm neither offering nor requiring a fate-point.   But the decision might be important in the future.

What you can find out, though:
The Orishi has been in operation for over twenty years, and has passed through six Captain's hands.   There is an exhaustive log of repairs and modifications.   Of special note is that Eight Sticks (Standard Cycles) ago, it was in space-dock for a full cycle when the Orishi received a massive refit.  Like, the refit cost almost as much as a new ship would have.

I don't care to itemize the list of what all needs to be repaired.   Between you, Gothique and Gilina, though, I'm more than happy to say that you've got a comprehensive list of the hardware that needs to be replaced, the software that may need to be revised.  Most important, you have identified the key Consequences that are on the Orishi's Consequence list:

• Minor(2): Dirty Trails
• Moderate(4): Half-Stripped

There are still areas of the Orishi software landscape that are blocked off from you.  The MAIA core, (the Mobile Artificial Intelligence Array), for instance, is one such area that is firewalled off.  There are also petabytes of archives referenced in the Orishi's tertiary storage (tertiary, in this case, typically means not physically connected to the system, but often accessible if someone were to connect the appropriate storage devices).


The second, to crack open the encrypted files on CSX.
Systems(+5)+Roll(+0) == Result(+5) vs Defend(+3) ==> SUCCESS
Some detail provided in a private line.  Yours to do with as you wish.

This file is not a comprehensive list--but then, none of your files are comprehensive.



The third, to burrow into the database and try to find out who, or indeed what, Gothique is.
Systems(+5)+Roll(+1) == Result(+6) vs Defend(-1) ==> Success with Style
Heh.  I rolled particularly poorly.  Well, I wanted to give you the information anyway, so that Gothique can reveal what she wants....  For now, I'll let her tell you what you found.  I have added a couple of other details that might be pertinent and might not be fully known to her, either.



--
OOC: It's always a toss-up whether to make such posts public or private, but I think most of it should be public, as I want y'all to see most of it.  But, yeah, there are secrets and, well, misinformation, in the Ptolomen database.

it's a little frustrating because I want to give you this information, but the unasked-for rolls make it feel like I should be offering something more for the success & success with-style.  Really, the rolls were pretty unnecessary...  it all moves things forward.

Moved to 02.04: Hallway Interlude (Baylee & Viper) to preserve location continuity.

Please let me know if you want me to re-name it...

@Gothique
Rayfe has uncovered whatever you've got on-file...  I've added one or two specific details about your, err, construction.  But would you care to give us a run-down of what he found?  (Or just him, if you prefer).

You might jsut rename it to 'Baylee's Quarters'

On that note, quarters for the PC characters might be in order. I think anyone other than captain should share though... hehe. Perhaps with important NPCs?

Suggestions?
Gilina/Gothique
Maissa/Other female person?
Rayfe/Spohr
Cheng Xin/Other NPC with a name I forgot
Marines barracks?

Just suggestions though, throwing it out there.

Our upcoming interviews will make a lot of difference in what roomies are available to choose from...

CSX bunking with Armin has some interesting possibilities... ;)
This message was last edited by the player at 05:05, Mon 14 Feb 2022.

Rayfe discovers (Note sending in PM as well that way some mystery around Gothique remains intact and it might be amusing to see what he releases.)

Implying I should do one-on-one interviews with everyone?

But that bunk arrangement sounds neat, but I don't think Baylee is that tricky to suggest it or think of it. BUt if Sheng Xin did, she'd like it.

Yes, CSX will suggest it IC.  :)

It actually makes sense, since CSX saved Armin's life, and has since been looking after his injuries.  Meanwhile, Armin is in awe and fear of... whatever CSX actually is.  Just what is CSX?  What does Armin know?  That could make a very interesting roommate...

BTW, we need to figure out the interview timing.  Baylee motioned for CSX to follow along for the interviews, but then immediately got sidetracked.  CSX would be passively aware enough to avoid intruding, so it is up to Baylee to fetch him when it is interview time.

We can also figure out IC whether or not she wants him along strictly as an observer, or if she also wants him to chime in for some "good cop / bad cop" persuasion of the interviewees...  :o

Ah, marine interviews and other NPCs.

Yes, Baylee would ask Sheng Xin to tag along, she thinks its a good idea.

In fact, that will be a common trope in how Baylee leads. She is action oriented. And while she is not dummy, she is not intellectually creative. Physically creative, absolutely. She wqill will awe you with the things she comes up with when it is time for action. But ideas are not her suit. So, she takes ideas quite well as long as she recognizes the merit as she is well aware of her lane. It is proving quite fun for me to roleplay as that is decidedly not how I am. haha. Anyway, yes, tag along and, yes, input.

As for interviews, I had thought of that and had a plan. I need to amke a schedule then we might RP that out similar to your Dreams thread. Don't want to hold up story lines for us two doing something on the side stage. This is probably not center stage materials. Easy enough to do in parallel to us gettign to KZ.

Suggested schedules:
marines (taking Viper's suggestion, one at a time and not returning them to the group after but keeping isolated. Baylee will still spar with those capable to assess their combat abilities and style.)
Injured marine
Other grunt
Karin
Leader
Amin
Spohr?
Other NPcs I have forgotten...

Thank you for all of the info, that is REALLY interesting. I shall reveal it at the apposite momnent in character.

I am also happy enough with that bunk mate for now. Not that Rayfe will ever be really happy in this current living situation. Compared to his life as an Alpha on GP, this is seriously slumming it. But one cannot always choose the way one lives when one is a fugitive.

Sticking Gothique with Gilly is safe.  Probably safe with anyone but that is neither here nor there.

On that note, quarters for the PC characters might be in order. I think anyone other than captain should share though... hehe. Perhaps with important NPCs?

I create threads to reflect a specific scene--not a specific location.  I very much dislike going into games and finding a dozen empty threads.   I'd rather create threads per scene at request.

I also don't want to foist roommates on each of you.   From a practical perspective, pairing each PC with a NPC dramatically increases my workload and is a recipe for stagnation and disaster.  As the floorplan and size of the ship is no longer narrowly defined, you--the players--have the option of setting this up howsoever you wish.  If you want to say that you share a chamber with another PC or NPC, say so.  I'll go along with it.  Though we may need to contrive a reason for why this arrangement is so.

I'm also willing to accept the idea that there are a couple of larger "bunk rooms" with individual berths arranged around a central open chamber.  So, you can both share and get some privacy if you need it.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:48, Tue 15 Feb 2022.

Given Gilina's Soft-Boiled in Cold Water attitude, it does make some sense that she'd be paired up with Gothique.  At least for the interim.  Gilina has a bit of thing for taking in strays.  And Tika is mad skilled, so it's another plus for her...

So, how d'you wanna do this?

This can be done as an actual scene, a metagame discussion with dice-rolls, or a quick-n-dirty set of dice-rolls and a narrative wave to make it go away.

Either way, I want to know what you want and how you want to approach these guys.  What do you want from the scene or prose discussion?  So... what does success look like?

Oh, rolls and resolution is probably a solid choice.

So, Baylee's strategy going in will differ based on the interview. For the mariens, she wants to assess their combat ability but has also been made aware of the internal connections and mistrusts those. She wants a cadre of fighters loyal to her who will have her back. So, she wants toa ssess those who would break loyalty with the sergeant and switch to her. Honestly, on the face, she's quite likely to reject Karin and the Sergeant out of distrust more than anything. But, this is why having CSX along would help to that.

For the non-combat passengers, assessing their motives and goals would be her aim.

Now, Baylee is a very direct and straight-forward personality, but she's not easy to fool. She'll straight ask the marines if they'd could see themselves being loyal to her. She'd sincerely offer them berths, positions, and equal shares to the rest as well as her support as captain. If they honestly and sincerely accept, fine. If they lie and try to join, rejected. If they hesitate or want to leave, she might try to convince them.

All marines will be offered a light sparring session, even crippled one if they feel up to it. Anyone other than Marines who might want a combat position are welcome to spar as well. Sparring will happen in a group though. She wants them all to see her best the sergeant, because she absolutely believes that she will.

So that combat might be fine to play out but the rest could be rolls or quick vignettes. I don't want to slow the game but this is important for Baylee's arc I think. Other crew are welcome to sit in as well. Baylee's always happy to spar with anyone.

Thoguht I just had, quarters should havea a keypad entry system. Access requires a password. Spoken or typed.

Sorry... who is "Casks"?

Great minds think alike.  I was just about to ask myself...

Either it is referring to me for mysterious reasons, or my empathic presence is no longer desired for the interviews...

EDIT: Wait, I think I get it.  C-S-X equals Casks...  :D
This message was last edited by the player at 04:32, Wed 16 Feb 2022.

Ah, okay. that makes sense.

Bek was a PC in episode 1, but who didn't come back.  I think her player's off rpol at the moment.   He gets folded into the Mixed Mob of NPCs, for when we need a body to do something we don't care about enough to do it ourselves...

Sorry, I was going to explain that, but you got it. Casks is indeed C-S-X. Baylee's been growing frustrated with the long name and no obvious short cut, so she's just started pronouncing the acronym phonetically.

Better then I got, I just wanted to say Chessex.

I don't want to pin down the specific abilities of individuals in the mixed-mob.   For me, it's just a pool of potential PCs down the road.  So, by the same token I don't want to strictly define how many of them there are.  It's a big enough ship that 5-8 faceless entities at any given time is probably acceptable.

Baylee is gonna work with Casks (sure, why not?) on interviews.
For the non-combat passengers, assessing their motives and goals would be her aim.

Okay.  I don't see the need to go into it deeply on the mixe-dmob.  So, the focus is on the muscle.  Let's say...

• Sergeant Christopher Shy,
• Corporal Karin Eaven,
• Corporal Bin Te "Bear" Nguyen,
• Private Watt Marshall (the one-armed guy).

And two candidates from the Mixed-Mob meet the basic profile...

• Aickman
  Stands about six and a half feet tall with dark grey skin.  He's built like a brick shit-house but appears to have a serious problem with dry skin.  He's flaking all over the place.  And it's not like human flesh.  it's more like fine dust.  He's obviously got some sort of genemod that has given him chemically-altered epidermis.  But why?  database doesn't know.  It's likely environmentally compatible with his home-system, which isn't known.
• Samira
  Database entries say she's a female hominid, but it's definitely a male-presenting body that carries that particular seed (the ident chip thingy Zenda-Meier put in).  Dark-skinned, shoulder length black hair, and a thick ugly scar all the way around his throat.   He's short and lithe, maybe even wiry... doesn't look like much of a threat, but the look in his eyes... there's something there.

Given I must made these up on the spot, feel free to embelish, if you wish.

Oooo, chessex. I really wanted to get an authetic chessex battelmat, but their expensive to import here... still got a patented chessex pound-o-dice off ebay though!

Gilina and Gothique have been assigned to repairs & inventory. But I'm not interested in playing this out.

I can also see Rayfe working to help identify each of them with the Convict Manifest: The Keys to Identity?.  But, again, this isn't interesting enough to play out.  It's just a narrative wave. 

I think unless any of the three of you have something you really want to pursue, I'm going to throw you at the biometric vault. and/or some of the hidden cargo areas.

You game?

Agreed, no need to get bogged down. I am only focusing on the marines as it is an interesting character point for me. So, those two from the mixed-mob and the Bek personality can be assumed to pass muster and offered to sign on.

Baylee's basic test for the two listed:

1. Aikman, she tells him point blank to find a solution for the shedding. It's gross. She won't back down from him at all. Does he respect that or not?
   
2. Samira. Again, point blank, she will ask about the mystery. Baylee's like that, "Dude, datafile says XX, you presenting XY. What's up?" She would respect any answer given as long as it was honest.

How you wan to handle the marines then?

EDIT: also game for anything to sink my teeth into.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:18, Wed 16 Feb 2022.

I am game for biometric vault.

I have one pound of Chessex dice and a few chessex matts mainly as one got ruined by permanent marker by a very....we will say rude player.

Vault works for me! The above looks all great from my perspective.

Aikman (Flakes)
... find a solution for the shedding. It's gross.
He shrugs and doesn't seem particularly offended.  He is pretty clear that he has absolutely no idea how to manage it. Would any of the PCs offer or suggest something as basic as moisturizer?

Samira
Samira doesn't have an answer.  Like the PCs, she has no memory of her life before Ptolomen Station.  She doesn't feel like she has any gender identity issues, but again, memory.
She thinks she's a botanist, but that doesn't really help.


I'm on-and-off today, fighting serious procrastination to work on my podcast in little fits and spurts. I've got to bust this mental work-block!

Oh, procrastination is a problem I know well. Scheduling helps me. Schedule diffuse ativities. If you set aside time for recretion, you can train yourself. Or something like that.

@ Akiman - Yes, Baylee will suggest aloe or moisturizer. She'd even provide some if they have it on the ship.

@ Samira - Blink, blink. *shrugs* ok.

BTW, we had half an hour while our Captain was elsewhere.

I suggest that CSX spent that time feeding the rest of those aboard.

Not only would he not want them going hungry, but softening them up with yummy food is one way to give them something to think about when being interviewed...

Any objections?  :)

Waiting for confirmation to the above query before posting...  :)

Space-travel is inherently long and boring.  I'm not real worried about what you do between scenes, and I've no desire to account for every minute of your character's life or day.  So, please... There's no need to wait for confirmation.  Make stuff up at will, if you want.  Or gloss over it and move to the important stuff.

Food has been established to have been pretty sparse.  If anything, you're probably pulling from the ship's internal flora, which could impact O2 recycling down the road, if you go too deep into it.   But do I care enough to make an issue about it?  No, not at all.

Just so we're clear....  I don't yet have a puzzle/solution worked out (but I have vague ideas).   We're making this up as we go along...

This means you're quite welcome to get into the fate methodology of creating advantages to roll up a massive success...

Huzzah!

I just make this stuff up as I go along usually. Whatever science babble I may say IC, we still have to do the OOC rolls and stuff. :D

Hey, Viper...
Did you decide that Viper was a part of Baylee's crew pre-incarceration?  I can't remember and I'm looking through OOC talks now to see if it was ever clearly yay'd or nay'd.

Oop.  got what I needed.  It wasn't defined, but you weren't against the idea.  So... maybe you and Baylee had a "complicated" history...
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:48, Sun 20 Feb 2022.

I am not the brightest bulb when it comes to game mechanics, so let me verify the following...

(*) I can choose to make an Empathy roll for Bear
(*) If I roll well enough, I can define an Aspect for Bear
(*) I am able to Invoke this Aspect (if created successfully) once for free, such as for a subsequent Rapport roll for Bear

Do I have this right?

Assuming I had half a clue, and in order not to hold things up too much...

RPoL Dice Roller:

21:10, Today: Chang Sheng Xin rolled -1 using 4 Fudge dice.  Bear Empathy +5.
21:10, Today: Chang Sheng Xin rolled 3 using 4 Fudge dice.  Bear Rapport +4.

You are using the skill to "read" their emotional state.   You used it on Gilina and I allowed you to guess--not define an Aspect.  This is typically referred to as assessing an Aspect or Discovering an Aspect.   It is an outgrowth of the "Create An Advantage" Action associated with the Empathy Skill.
Check out Fate Core page 108 for more on the Actions associated with the Empathy Skill.

• You can choose to Create An Advantage using the Empathy Skill to discover an existing Aspect.  (It's never just a skill-roll.  It's "An Action using a skill").  You should put forth a suggested Aspect when rolling.
• The character you are attempting to read must have a chance to oppose this roll.   The GM/player may choose not to oppose.
  
  • If you succeed at Creating Discovering an Advantage, you get one free invoke on that Aspect
  • If you succeed with style, you get two free invoke on that Aspect
  • If you tie, you succeed but there's some sort of minor cost involved.  What?  no idea, we'll need to discuss.
  • If you fail, you might
    
    • Fail outright, and I get a boost (a one-shot Invoke) on your character's wrongly assessed Aspect,
    • Simply fail outright (how boring),
    • Succeed, but at a major cost (again, we'd need to discuss).

21:10, Today: Chang Sheng Xin rolled -1 using 4 Fudge dice.  Bear Empathy +5.
21:10, Today: Chang Sheng Xin rolled 3 using 4 Fudge dice.  Bear Rapport +4.

You rolled Empathy to try to Discover An Advantage.
What Aspect do you think Bear possesses?

You also rolled Rapport.  What Action were you taking with Rapport?   Overcome, Create an Advantage, or Defend?  (You cannot attack with Rapport).
An "Overcome" Action would be considered Attack 3 out of 4 in our contest.

My post was oriented around Bear's sense of duty, so I think that Bear possesses an Aspect pertaining to that.

It is currently holding Bear back from leaving ZM and joining Orishi.

CSX is probing the possibility that Bear's sense of duty could extend to those who saved Bear's life, and chose to do so even though the prisoners saving him had suffered at ZM's hands.

In my post, CSX was indeed seeking to Overcome with Rapport.

Sorry CSX, I'm going to push back on this.   Your reasoning is sound, but I don't want to do all the work :)  So, I'm not going to give you suggestions on this.
What Aspect do you think Bear posseses?

Once we've finished defining the Aspect, I will reveal the results of the Rapport conflict, and--if required--invoke the created Aspect.  With Rapport being a Great(+4) rank, chances are real good that it'll be a success.

Never forget benefits done you, regardless how small.

BTW, if our friendly internet is to be believed, this is an actual Vietnamese proverb... :)

Okay then...

Chang Sheng Xin rolled 4dF(-1)+Empathy(+5) to Create the Aspect(Never Forget Benefits Done For You).
 
SUCCESS (by a 2-shift difference)
The aspect is close enough that we might as well go with it.

Chang Sheng Xin rolled 4dF(+3)+Rapport(+4) to overcome Bear's resistance to the idea of recruitment. 
SUCCESS WITH STYLE

So... bottom line.  If you want to claim a life-debt, Bear will join you.  We can assign him  a temporary Aspect Life-Debt for the interim.  And, of course, in the way of things, if enough drama has passed between them, the accounting of such a life-debt may become moot... for when too much has happened, it just becomes a--gasp--kinship.

So, you've succeeded enough that Bear is willing to consider recruitment.   But the in-character arguments aren't terribly convincing...

CSX has some interesting ideas about getting Bear to turn traitor.  But I don't feel that enough has been said in-character to justify actively playing the spy for you.  Or, for that to become his primary focus.    That's a long-term commitment you're asking of a boarding-party corporal mercenary who you've sparred with and had a brief conversation with about maybe joining up.

This is a good example of why I prefer to do this as an abstracted out-of-character exchange rather than in-character dialogue.  This kind of manipulation should take time or shared-experience--not a quick 100-woord conversation.

Baylee, since it's not really in keeping with CSX's character, I suggest that you claim the life-debt.  Bear will work with you and will not counter your interests.  You can choose how to use him--as a temporary crew-member or as a ZM plant/information-source.

If you use him as a crew-member, then he might go,  "Saved your lives.  We're done."  But, that's only if it comes up sooner rather than later.   More likely, he'll be around for a bit.

Either way, his working with you--assets he might legally be required to safeguard and recover--would be a black mark on his ZM record.   So he could be trusted to keep that secret.

Yes, he'd work behind the scenes for your benefit in the future.  Letting him go with that spin on the Life-Debt also gives me another tool to have him occasionally pop up with "important intel" or "dire warnings" etc...  And he becomes a usable Aspect. Having him "owe you one" looks real attractive to me, and I suggest going with it.

Of course, Bear doesn't know that you were "quick-loaded" and doesn't know that the quick-load malfunctioned.  He has no reason to think you're lying to him about the suffering.  Except, of course, that you are all criminals, sentenced by an authority that has the authority to do so...

I have an idea of where to take this and possibly even how to get there.

Rayfe & Gothique both possess the experience (and thus skills) to be able to "convince" the AI to stand-down and possibly even to grant access...  But this is a difficult proposition...  As the ZM tech-team were unable to do it over three days.  So I can't just give it to you :)

Rayfe and Gothique together have pinnacle Systems and Tech skills.  Good thing, 'cause I'm setting the difficulty to get access at 10 shifts.  So, this is a metagame discussion.  How are you going to get there?

A couple of reminders:

Teamwork can be done in one of three ways:

• Combine the same skills:  Figure out who has the highest skill.  Anyone else assisting who has at least an Average(+1) rank in that skill can add +1 to the roll. (For instance: Gothique-Tech(+5)  Rayfe-Tech(+4), Gilina-Tech(+4), Viper-Tech(+1).  Combined this could give Gothique a 4dF(X) + Tech(+5) + Teamwork(+3) roll.)  You all share in the costs and consequences of this roll...  And no-one says it has to be done with Gothique and a Tech roll...
• You can start setting up Situation Aspects (Rayfe starts introducing a simple interrupt virus... if he rolls successfully, he gets a +2 which he can give to Gothique when she makes that roll... or even a re-roll instead, if preferred.) or Discover an Aspect that already exists (but hasn't been defined yet)...
• You can spend a fate-point to invoke an existing Aspect as well... and give that invoke to whoever's making the roll.

As a reminder: the list of Aspects we've got going are listed in:  00: Stress-Pools, Aspects & Fate Point Offers   There's definitely some stuff you can use in there.  So, the tools are there and you've got the skills to do this.    Hell, a +10 shift threshold isn't even terribly out of reach for you.   I just need you to figure out how you want to approach this.

The big potential consequence is the arrival in-scene of an enemy combatant that will attempt to take you--all four of you--out physically.  If you fail, the ships autonomous defense-grid will come online.  And none of you have any clue what that means.  Yet.

I do like the idea of putting a consequence-forming virus in place, letting it take hold, and then doing the teamwork thing to crack it open. I also get the impression that the AI could use a little love and attention too. An AI who seems to be having a bit of an emotional crisis is not going to end well for us...

As a player I don't mind whatever the group consensus is.

Gothique will be all about do this now damn the consequences!  Like surprised she has not already ignored and done it yet type deal.

Well, uh, there's not much, yet, for me to sink my teeth into in the conversation with Karin until Casks shares.

Yup... I wanted to give a chance if there was anything he cared to actually say or do with Karin on the way...   But if it's all just passive pickups, then there's not really anything further to give.   I don't mind adding this in after-the-fact... not everything has to be run sequentially...

So... How do you want to approach Karin?  Give her the shpiel?  or go right to the fighting?

Sorry, I didn't realize that folks were waiting for me...  O_o

The part I really wanted to play out was with Bear.  I certainly wouldn't mind playing out Karin's escorting, but I don't want to leave Baylee hanging any longer...

Again, not everything has to happen in a linear format.  Just make it clear who you're talking to and when.  If it gets confusing, I may take some drastic action to clarify it.

But, really...  You guys have just interrogated and "auditioned"/fought with Bear.  Asking someone about their personal religious beliefs in this situation could be easily taken as suspect.  You're already manipulating him based on a moral/ethical opinion.   He's probably seeing it as another attempt to develop more leverage to use on him at a later date.

Don't worry... he's not going to get off of K-Zino any time soon.  There just isn't that amount of traffic on an Asteroid colony.  Certainly not out-system traffic, anyway.  Even if this is a hub of the local quadrant of the asteroid belt.

If you want to pursue this, I strongly suggest that you keep him in mind, and make use of him in the current scenario.   What happens to him on K-Zino will probably play a huge part in how he interacts with you and others further on in the game.

CSX is genuinely trying to build trust, not to make Bear feel pressed.

He isn't going to probe further unless he senses that Bear is so inclined, particularly after Bear's initial guarded reaction.  CSX already gave Bear the invitation, so the ball is in Bear's court if interested.

I've already moved the action forward IC... :)


I'm not sure that I follow this.  Do you mean make use of him as a spy as planned, or something else?  O_o
This message was last edited by the player at 03:52, Wed 02 Mar 2022.

I'm not sure that I follow this.  Do you mean make use of him as a spy as planned, or something else?  O_o

I mean, simply, remember him.   The more your characters interact with Bear, the more opportunity there is to develop a relationship for good or ill.   Going drinking on K-Zino?  Invite him along!  It doesn't even have to be played out.  Just mention that he came along in a post somewhere...  You have that latitude!

Got it.  That would definitely be CSX's inclination already... :)

Viper:
and showed it to all present, one by one, hiding the screen from prying cameras.

This statement could be well-founded and based on observation or it could be simple, practical, caution.

So, this is a question about the setting... Do you guys want there to be cameras throughout the ship? 


Also, so we're clear, endlessly testing the silver sphere interface beside the big thick door will not trigger countermeasures. it just plays various tones.  This does suggest a check & response mechanism.

Uh, smugglers and pirates. I doubt there are internal cameras...  well, not obvious ones. Haha.

I would actually say because of what the ship was there is cameras everywhere save maybe some rooms.

Removing them might be a first priority.

Hmm, there might be cameras but I suspect there'd be not recordings. A paranoid captain might want to surveil, but a good smuggler does not want a record of their carog and how to get into the hidden places... haha

I suggest that it's probably a level of paranoia we don't want on the ship...  There may be some key areas that are monitored, but by and large it isn't all over the place...  I just don't think I want the PCs to view the ship as a hostile home base.  Well, once we're a little further in.    Maybe K-Zino is a good place to really make the Orishi yours.

In reply to Control (msg # 202):

It's not paranoia, it's self-preservation of an asset, and electronic senses providing information.

Cameras are the AI's eyes, but she also has pressure, temperature, mass, magnetic, sensors, and some others. Only for this reason can an AI state (preferably in a cold, informative but imperative, voice) : "There's a depressurization in room 5-C. Likely a hull breach, consistent with the external hull vibrations. Magnetic sensors signal a heavy metallic mass moving slowly. Likely an armored intruder. Red alert, the Orishi is being boarded. Camera shots available"

On the other hand, the tech crew had stripped down the ship... But we may come to regret it.

I like Viper's take on docking! It makes a lot of sense. I love the fact this game is evolving into a technical vision that matches the more gritty feel dramas, rather than the super high tech comfort of Star Trek.

I've been playing Mass Effect: Adromeda and watching Season 5 of The Expanse, so the gritty feel appeals to me.  I don't want to get too deep into the technical side of things, 'cause the story should always be about the people (and I don't want to corner myself).  But I feel that we're all pretty much on the same page about that.  And you guys are definitely helping to shape the setting as we go!

Viper's approach is practical and efficient.

K-Zino has a couple of thousand people on it.  So, it's a pretty big colony as far as asteroids go.  I suggest that there's a "soft spine" that acts as the primary docking facility.  This is that giant hose.  It's got to be flexible and adaptable so it can be retracted, moved, compressed, etc. in the event of a near-pass to another asteroid.  And believe me, those orbits and trajectories are tracked and monitored constantly!.

The Orishi, itself does not currently have a shuttle, a runabout or a ground-vehicle on-board.  But such a facility as K-Zino would have that service available. and I don't see necessary drama in it at this stage, so hand-wave, of course you get that....

OK... grand theft shuttle, anybody? I'll pretend to be the Goodyear blimp, and Viper can steal one!

No, no, no instead of stealing a shuttle, we need to build one from the ground up.  We can call it the Gamma Aviator.  We can incorporate ...no wait wrong franchise.

Yes I like grand theft shuttle.

So, since we're still in the early setup...  Rayfe had been given read-only privileges to personnel and jump-drive systems.  There does not appear to be any installed jump-drive in the system.  But there are a lot of anomalies in the data.

Sadly, we are talking about an absolutely enormous amount of data and programming, and even at Rayfe's prodigious skill-levels, he's not going to be able to go particularly quickly through much of this.   Part of this is because I want to time things and part of it is because I want there to continue to be mysteries down the road.

However, there's one I want to reveal to you right now, and for that, I need a hacking roll.  Simple Overcome roll target +6.  This is to help me determine how to give you the revelation...

If you want to find a way to give yourself write-access, it'll be a systems(+4) target roll.  I wont' accept taking zero on this one.  If you want to get access to other areas it'll also be a System(+4) target.


Reminder:
"If you can investigate without fucking up any ship systems, fine. Also, as a side project, if you could locate any subroutines related to the ghostly jumpy drive and relay them to Viper, do it. Computer, This one has limited access to files on jump drive and personnel. Read only, no editing. "