We'll do chargen and setup here. Have some cool content to inspire you.

Hey all, still learning the system here but excited to be a part of this group. Love the setting and genre of this game so I thought I'd give it a go.

My character concept I submitted is one of an alien species that in general blends in on most of the worlds. This guy, Hoz, though is a bit of a standout. There's more information in my character description about him and his species.

I'm looking forward to playing with y'all and hammering out some more details for the character and setting together. Any suggestions would be highly welcomed. Thanks y'all!

Hi there. I'm also pretty new to this and in that learning-while-on-the-job space.

The character I've put forward is a manufactured soldier trying to find meaning in an environment where her skills can actually do some kind of good. Not the most welcoming sort but she means well enough.

Similarly looking forward to seeing where this all goes and what dynamics we can come up with and develop before this gets underway.

Hi! I'm in the same boat- mostly new to Fate Accelerated, but I love me a good ragtag crew of spacers. My character is a cat-person alien, raised in space and born to pilot but has problems dealing in gravity.

Hey folks;

Well, I'm not new to Fate...  So please take what I say in the spirit of collaboration.   Fate really needs proactive players, and in this kind of game, where we're not working directly from a pre-existing source, we've got a lot of room to make stuff up!

Dr Singh's family wanted her to be a pharmacologist.  But she craved more excitement.   She started moonlighting as a trauma-tech.   When her family's threats of a politically arranged marriage looked they were going to become a reality, she fled the "safe, staid life of mediocrity" and upped with the Accord forces.   She's not a pacifist and she's certainly not a princess.  And she most certainly doesn't want to to be "left behind" and "kept safe"... she wants to be in the thick of it.

Hi, I've played other fate games but not accelerated so this will be a first for me as well. I mostly play freeform, though, so I assume a large amount of player involvement for pretty much everything.

Here's my basic idea...

Damia didn't plan on being a Lancer, she was supposed to be married to a man she sort of liked but would have solidified her family's economic power for generations. All that changed when she was shunned. Her people are a religious lot and one of the biggest sins was being 'touched' which Damia most certainly was not. Well she didn't know she was until her wedding night when her psychic potential manifested.

Shunned by her new husband, by his family, by her family she fled off world where she might be able to have some semblance of a life instead of the date that awaited all touched.

It took years before she got over her self loathing thanks to some people she met and now she has a job, a way to make money and scrape out an existence so different from the life she had imagined. Maybe, some day, she can find happiness and not only an uneasy acceptance of her nature.


I'm open to the nature of her abilities and figure she is decidedly not human but likely nearish human at least.

In reply to Ziven Of Nine (msg # 1):

I got a lot to say, but no worth wringing it out, names Galath Rhymer, and I got into this to see the wide galaxy and that takes some cred, I've had itchy feet my whole life. I can fight with my fists and wits, not a bad shot if someone really needs it, but I first love is music after the Unity, of course.



My character image is of someone who looks as back-planet as possible, plays an old instrument with unusual strings or elements, and very loosely inspired by a hybrid of two characters Paladin (Old West show) and John the Balladeer. He's a good shot but doesn't normally carry anything but his instrument, also good with his fists, and he has more in common with folk on the low end of society--not criminals, but those people just struggling to get by--because that's the kind of folk he came from. He did serve as a soldier at some point, and came to his fighting skills from that; but they're not as important as his personal charisma, music, and honesty.

Don't expect him to charm someone with lies, and his instrument is special in a way that makes evil psychics REALLY not like he's playing.

Salutations!

So I'm bringing in Jerry Riggs, late of military service and grievously injured (at least 40% cybernetic now) while carrying out his duties as a demolitions expert. He's generally as good at putting together things as he is at making them come apart, and he's certainly gone a bit off over the years.

Inspirations, Amos Burton from The Expanse, Cid Highwind from innumerable FF franchise games, and something of a gestalt of most bleary eyed and zip tie/duct tape engineers.

"Fate really needs proactive players, and in this kind of game, where we're not working directly from a pre-existing source, we've got a lot of room to make stuff up!"

This times 100! It's going to be crazy fun!

We're forming a  "Dodged-the-Bullet" club of former soon-to-be political wives!   I think that might be as ggood as any to justify a friendship.

I have it such that Anjali chose this life, she upped on purpose.  If you like the idea, perhaps she and Damia go way back and Anjali facilitaetd her recruitment.  I"m not married to it.  You tell me if it works for your chaacter.

Taking a page from Killjoys, I'm getting the impression of a stratified society, even if only loosely and on a galactic scale.

Damia actually got married, it was her wedding night that triggered her changes and made her flee. She definitely has complicated feelings about the whole thing. But, yeah, that would definitely be a reason to bond. And being brought in by her makes a lot of sense.


I'm starting a table of basics. Please let me know if this is or isn't helpful and if it is let me know what edits to make for your characters.

In reply to Damia (msg # 10):

Looks like you got Galath right for the most part.

I'm picturing the Jayne song.

Only waiting to hear from LadyMer, I will send a Pm.

Informational: The GM gets her first COVID vaccine shot tonight. If I have a reaction, might be a quiet couple days.

Glad to hear you're getting the vaccine, and I hope it doesn't hit you too hard (if at all!).

Update:

I had a reaction. Instant flush, sweated soaked through my clothes, blind from brilliant blue and white marbled patterns, dizzy, nauseous, unable to remain awake.
2 Naproxen and 4 hour nap, all better.

That's good that it was a quick recovery. The J&J one put me out for 3 days of flu like symptoms. Still happy to have gotten it.

Damn.

I'm still several weeks away from the possibility of vaccination, since they're rolling it out for seniors first...

I have an autoimmune disease so I got on the list regardless of age.

As for the game, I saw one character made. Are others making their stats and everything else? I've been thinking about it.

Anjali, maybe we can work on something semi shared, or at least that play off each other.

I've put some ideas down on paper - a potential allocation of Approaches and a lot of off the cuff ideas for Aspects - but nothing too solid.

I'm actually giving my character a bit of a rethink at the moment. The concept I applied with was a modified version of a character from another game and I actually expected it would get turned down, so I've been pushing about some thoughts about whether or how I need to make adjustments for a couple of days now. Feels like I'm getting somewhere tonight.

I'm not talking about any particularly radical changes, but I do think it'd be better to take things in a slightly different direction here.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:29, Thu 01 Apr 2021.

I've been dithering between approaches. I have a couple ideas for aspects, one business connections and one psychic. The third may be something with our doc.

I like the soldier idea, fits well with sort of darker space opera.

Put simply: this character was originally from LANCER and there are some elements of her backstory (not all of which made it across to this game or have been stated openly) which don't really feel as appropriate when the character is a boots-on-the-ground soldier rather than someone literally made to pilot mechs. I'm not saying things can't work as they are, but part of me feels as though my ideas need to be a little bit more grounded - relatively speaking - this time around.

---

What I'm currently considering is reframing her as a "Burner" - legal (on some worlds) if extremely morally dubious government shock troops, produced on-demand to be thrown at crises and the deadliest theaters of conflict. The working justification at play is that they're technically not people, and thus they present a means of stopping threats with a minimal loss of lives that actually matter. Between the risk factor of their work and a physiology skewed towards short-term returns, they're made to be used up and discarded without remorse.

She's a survivor who was sold on off-the-books and has had her own little formative adventures before ending up with this crew ... however that happened.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:35, Thu 01 Apr 2021.

Mostly, I'm waiting for some directorial input from the GM.  I don't want to go off and build a character to Accelerated standards if the GM has something differnet in mind.

I'd really like to know how long we'ev been together as a crew? And--perhaps--if we have any shared experiences together (that might allow us to start establishing interpersonal ties... who likes who and who really pisses each other off... that kind of thing).

I am here to provide a setting that uses what you come up with, and builds and expands on it. The sample character I gave is all that is needed mechanics wise.

Backgrounds are all you, if you need something from me, ask. I am not creating more than the other 57 worlds you don't come from and the overarcing nature of the Accord, Fleet, and Partrol.

Note that there will be darkness.. there will also be brightness, silliness, and the like. One of our inspirations is this world:

Adventures Of The Galaxy Rangers

And maybe a little tiny bit of this.

Bravestar

So... How long do you envision that we've been a working functional unit?

Do you want us to create the characters with ties to each other or should we play it as if we're on day-one of our new posting?

I would think it depends on the story we want to focus on at the beginning. I'm in a (now dying) Lady Blackbird game that's in the Firefly universe. Since you get dropped into some action at beginning but it's still fairly recent for some people on the ship and others have long term relationships it offers a bit of both types of dynamics.

That would allos there to be some deeper relationships, maybe a few characters who've been a team for a while, and others getting to know people and getting their footing as a new team. Anstics as a burner could be brand new. Maybe the Doc and Damia are nearly that new or relatively new.

I'm just tossing out some possibilities.

Creating with ties to the others is a very FATElike thing to do... I will put it to the group. I personally think the best idea is a team of those who came together to charter a new Lance. Some of you can be new recruits, but given my way, there would be a single incident to cause you to gel as a team.

I would be more than happy to set that up as a "prequel" mission to start the game, or tell you what happened and let you work it into your backgrounds. I will check to see what everyone says tonight.

So I did a lot of thinking (and not enough sleeping) last night and came to the decision that I'm not going to be changing up this character. Even though I had five different-ish ideas for how I might want to approach her, I found that this original concept was the only one where I definitely knew what I wanted to do and had a clear idea of how she went from her origin to being a Lancer. So despite what I said earlier: no change in plans.

---

To add my little bit to the current conversation:

As part of the team in this game, Anstice is currently reneging on her parole. A less-than-savory practice means that the latter portion of her sentence is actually being enforced by a (somewhat eccentric) private citizen of no small means, and while she's been permitted some scope to work as “rehabilitative occupational therapy,” the game finds her having decided to slip the leash and go her own way. She's tasted freedom and doesn't want to go back.

Needless to say this means her owner wants her back in custody ... but without the embarrassment of their slip-up ending up on any official channels.

With that in mind I think it would make more sense for her to be a more recent hire/acquaintance, but it wouldn't be any problem for me if we're looking to make this group be better established than that. There's no reason that her Trouble can't be a recurring annoyance or the result of her only just being tracked down after some time rather than a fairly immediate consequence.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:47, Thu 01 Apr 2021.

I'm not familiar with the Lancer's universe at all, so don't have those signposts and tropes to work from.  I guess I'll just sit back and follow everyone else's lead...

I feel like that's a bit of an easy point of confusion.

(As I understand it) this game has nothing to do with LANCER the mech RPG beyond being set in a sci-fi universe. My character is based on an older one I made for LANCER but isn't drawing on anything unique to that universe.

This game's universe is entirely its own - tropes or cliches we add aside.

*I'm not actually sure why I've internalised always using caps for LANCER but ... it's a thing I guess.

Also I'm really sorry if I completely misunderstood you there. I'm really bad at doing that sort of thing.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:02, Thu 01 Apr 2021.

I'm trying to figure out where Hoz would fit in backstory wise with everybody. For interpersonal interactions he would get along much better with empaths or psychics due to the telepathic communication nature of his species. I think there's a chance he's been on the wrong side of the law in the past but nothing that he would see as bad thing himself.

Well, Damia is definitely psychic. So perhaps they could have met when she was in her fleeing her old life phase.

As for the universe, I kind of got the Killjoys feel more than anything for the lancers. With a little more merc vibe.

I suggest that you give us the bare-bones of what happened and let us embellish our personal parts in it to show off how cool we are in our respective ways, develop ties and plant potential drama-seeds.  That would be lovely!

I had never even heard of the LANCER Mech RPG the first time I ran this setting, I just knew i wanted "Space Pinkertons", and the name came naturally from Freelancer.

The vibe is very "What if Mal and the crew actually had some nebulous legal authority" much like the original Pinkertons. "OK, that worked, good job." is one outcome... When you screw it up, the US Marshals Partol come to splain it to ya.

Maybe we can have the bare bones of the prequel and have a thread, maybe, for people in smaller groups or pairs even to sort of write out flashbacks. At least that's another option and way to build background with other characters.

So in the interest of making a little more discussion and working on dynamics, a couple of thoughts/questions that come to mind:

• Are we a bunch of individuals brought together by chance or a core group plus later additions?
• If the latter of those, who among us are the originals?
• How did we come by our ship? Who is the captain/leader (if we truly have one)?

Just speaking for myself, I certainly originally approached Anstice as a later addition to the crew but wouldn't be opposed to changing that should needs be. I've come up with a few different ideas for my character's Trouble and it'd be no problem to change up what's hanging over her head. Maybe she was taken on as muscle in the early days when the numbers were a little lower, and as time has gone by she's chosen to stick around beyond what was covered by any original arrangement. She doesn't need to be a late arrival if other people want that space in the narrative.

She's certainly not the leader, and I wouldn't imagine she played any part in acquiring our ship unless we claimed it by less than savoury means.

I can see Anjali as either a core-member or a newcomer.  Both would work.

I think that having a core-group that was formed on-purpose is ideal.  It means we can have had others (like Anstice) join up randomly along the way.

Galath Rhymer
High Concept: Faithful Folklore Singer with feet and fists he's willing to use against the foes who dabble in the dark side, disturbing the peace of minds of good people.

Trouble: Galath the Rhymer is a rumor to most, but his rumor carries widely, and
his only side is seeing right done. He can't be bought, but he'll earn his just earned coin.

Approaches:
Careful +1
Clever  +3
Flashy +2
Forceful +1
Quick   +0
Sneaky +2

Carries an e-tar whose strings are spun from seeming light itself.
 Stunt: Once per session he can disrupt the effects of psychic/drug effects
that are harmful.

Old Soldier's Soul:
  Stunt: He's killed before, he doesn't like it much, but he'll kill if he has to.
 Once per session, he can overcome a violent situation with just his stance and stare.

Born to a Fox's Den
  Stunt: He's a little bit trickier than most expect, that honest face, and kind heart, still hold a spark of the wily fox. He's not
hurtful with his tricky side, but be careful if one doesn't pay too much attention, they may find their best rogues chasing their own
tails. Once per session, he can create an advantage when people are using deception or trickery on those he finds worth fighting for.

These stunts bring up the question...

In a text-based forum like rpol, what is the equivalent of a scene, session and scenario?

I'm presuming that a scene is a discrete unit of narrative purpose.  A Scenario is the run of a current story.  But a session?  what does that look like here?
This message was last edited by the player at 23:48, Sat 03 Apr 2021.

I was wondering the same since many things seem to be per session which I think is a bad unit of measure since it could, even irl, mean anything from 3-10 hours.

To answer both questions, I run games like TV shows.

So a Session is between commercials. I will tell you when there is a commercial. :D

Literally.

"NPC blah blah blah revelation exposition surprise and setup complication..."

Cut to commercial.

Act II: Pretty words scene blah blah etc."

If an opportunity for a scene refresh occurs in one discrete act of the episode, I will also call that out.

This means changing place without showing travel basically means a Scene, whereas a Session is This Episode. Scenario is a narrative arc, either for the series as a whole or an individual character.

Example: If our example character Kitt Comstock were on the trail of a stolen data cache, and it takes assisting a settlement she came to for a clue, a chase across a couple planets to get there, and a confrontation with a planetary monarch, that is three - five episodes, but one Arc.

Of course, all of this will be mostly player driven, I keep a loose hands on the reigns and will always ask if you want to continue roleplaying out whatever you are doing if I spot a narrative opportunity.

That said, the structure invites the answer to organization. The "Pilot" was stretched out... And maybe not everyone was there first few episodes. Like Picard.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:45, Sun 04 Apr 2021.

Galath, your stunts don't have any required approaches. :)

Probably still some minor tweaks in the future, but my finalised-ish character sheet looks like this:

Anstice “Anne” Vaughn

Aspects
High Concept: Reformed Vat-Grown Super Soldier
Trouble: Sins of the Past

Army of One
Breacher Pattern Light Power Armour
More than just a Weapon

Approaches
Forceful: +3
Careful: +2
Quick: +2
Clever: +1
Sneaky: +1
Flashy: +0

Stunts
Because I wear powered armour, I get a +2 to Forcefully Overcome obstacles through physical strength with my Breacher Armour.
Because following orders is second nature, once per session I can invoke my "Army of One" Aspect when following a direct order from a trusted ally or superior without spending a Fate Point.
Because I'm my own master now, I get +2 to Forcefully Defend against interrogation or obvious manipulation that would force me to act against my will.

I am feeling better today, that was a terrible fake flu, but I will take it!

So now that I can think straight, who is done, who is not, who needs what from me? I know about the need for a team origin backstory incident, coming soon. :D

I will be done tomorrow.

I got something similar, glad you're feeling better.

Glad you're both feeling better :)

I think I'm as done as I can be at this point. Still got some background stuff in flux until we start pinning down some more specifics, but otherwise everything's probably taken care of.

LadyMer is radio silent, I gave her long enough.

I'll try to have a sheet of some kind posted by tonight. Do we need to have access to character sheets in character details (I currently don't) or are these games more about everything being kinda public knowledge?

Here's a first draft. Any feedback is welcome.

Hoz, I'm pretty sure it's more public knowledge. That way we can play off each other's aspects. If something isn't publicly known just let everyone know.

Refresh: 3.

High Concept: Psychic disgraced capitalist princess

Trouble: Psychic powers are tricky and sometimes go boom

Approaches:
+3 Clever
+2 Forceful, Sneaky
+1 Flashy, Careful
+0 Quick

Aspects:

1. Ooo, I know someone there
     Stunt: Once per session she can reach out and find a contact pretty much anywhere

2. Also, I can kill you with my mind
     Stunt:

3. The family you choose
     Stunt:

Okay, here's where I'm at... Taking any and all feedback. Still new to this system and I've still got more to do but figured I'd get up what I can at least.

Refresh: 3.

High Concept: Gun-slingin' No-Face "I'm like one of those old earth cowboys!"

Trouble: I'm disliked by my own kind for being so "Devil-may-care". And they're on literally every planet...

Approaches:
+3 Quick
+2 Flashy, Forceful
+1 Sneaky, Clever
+0 Careful

Aspects:

Cattle Ranch? Nonono... I Raise Possums. Giant Possums. This is Bezzy.
 Stunt: Sick Em Bezzy!
   Because Bezzy is always by my side, once per session I can create an advantage when Bezzy helps me out.


Mind-to-Mind/Mind-to-Box Communication.
 Stunt: The Eh'ar Voice Is One Unheard
  Because using my Mind-to-Mind Communication can freak people out I get a +2 bonus to Forcefully create advantages when threatening or interrogating someone telepathically.

Flint and Lock (Signature guns)
 Stunt: Hail of Bullets
  +2 bonus to Flashily attack when using Flint and Lock.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:14, Sat 10 Apr 2021.

Perhaps a signature weapon for the last aspect?

Obviously a bit different from what you were thinking, but some ideas that come to mind:

Always-on +2 bonus to Sneakily create advantages when communicating telepathically - possibly while unseen?
Always-on +2 bonus to Forcefully create advantages when threatening or interrogating someone telepathically.
Always-on +2 bonus to Sneakily/Cleverly overcome when the source of the problem is unfamiliar with telepathic communication.

Like you I'm not quite sure about the specifics of that Stunt as a Once Per Session, but as a bonus-granting Stunt I think you could get some pretty flexible use out of bonuses to distract, confuse or terrify people. You likely could do something in that direction as a guaranteed Once Per Session effect as well but that might mean you get less opportunities to have fun messing about with it.

---

Damia's suggestion of a signature weapon sounds a good one!

Couple of suggestions for Stunts to compliment that:

Always-on +2 bonus to Flashily attack when using [signature weapon].
Always-on +2 bonus to Flashily create advantages when using [signature weapon] - creating environmental hazards, shooting guns out of people's hands etc.
Once Per Session may make an attack against X different enemies or targets rather than just a single one. The ol' It's High Noon. (I have no idea if this is something the GM would permit)

You could also do something like I have and maybe have an Aspect that represents your signature weapon and a Stunt that allows you to invoke it an additional time Once Per Session in fairly specific circumstances.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:15, Thu 08 Apr 2021.

Ooh I like these ideas. Thank you!

The static bonus definitely seems more fitting. And signature weapons are perfect!

I'll update and try to have something more complete by EOD tomorrow, 20ish hours from now for me.

I'm excited y'all. Can't wait for all our stuff to all come together :D

Let me add my love of the trick shots idea here.

And I have a new player coming aboard soon.

Hey new person!

Everything's still very WIP over here, so hopefully it shouldn't be hard for you to get your foot in the door.

Hello from new person!

As I told Ziven, I've got a show tonight so I don't have a lot of brainspace ATM, but I should be able to start really focusing on character tomorrow.

The original concept I pitched was a human consciousness in an artificial body; like sleeving in Eclipse Phase, or animats in Pillars of Eternity.Probably not in the body by choice; I imagine they might be some sort of indentured servant, or working off a sentence. I've been playing a lot of fighter-type characters recently so I figured I'd go with more of a support character like a medic or engineer; I'm flexible and don't want to step on anyone's toes, though, so I'm open to suggestions. :)

Hello.

I believe we already have a doctor type. And a blow stuff up type. But, engineer could work well.

Could definitely use a tech-oriented type.  Broad-enough to cover software and hardware both would be awesome...

I thought Jerry was an engineer? I can certainly do a hacker-type though, and since I see the previous person was looking at pilot I think those could be easily combined. Maybe she has the ability to direct-interface with the ship or other computers.

I believe he's excellent at bringing things down. An explosives expert. Although, he should also be a racecar driver.

Aaand that took longer then expected but I updated my sheet above, thank y'all for the suggestions.

Hello Seraphmoon and welcome to our ragtag team of interesting individuals :D

ohh.... direct-interface...  That's so cool....

Jerry is an Engineer like Sparks in Up Periscope was an electrician. More like a high tech redneck MacGyver.

In reply to Ziven Of Nine (msg # 62):

Galath Rhymer
High Concept: Faithful Folklore Singer with feet and fists he's willing to use against the foes who dabble in the dark side, disturbing the peace of minds of good people.

Trouble: Galath the Rhymer is a rumor to most, but his rumor carries widely, and
his only side is seeing right done. He can't be bought, but he'll earn his just earned coin.

Approaches:
Careful +1
Clever  +3
Flashy +2
Forceful +1
Quick   +0
Sneaky +2

Carries an e-tar whose strings are spun from light itself.
 Stunt: Once per session he can disrupt the effects of psychic/drug effects
that are harmful.

Old Soldier's Soul:
  Stunt: He's killed before, he doesn't like it much, but he'll kill if he has to.
 Once per session, he can overcome a violent situation with just his stance and stare.

Born to a Fox's Den
  Stunt: He's a little bit trickier than most expect, that honest face, and kind heart, still hold a spark of the wily fox. He's not
hurtful with his tricky side, but be careful if one doesn't play too much attention, they may find their best rogues chasing their own
tails. Once per session he can create advantage when people are using deception or trickery on those he finds worth fighting for.

Galath... those are very long Aspects.   Can you boil them down to a couple of words that capture the whole?

I think you can boil those down to something really snappy.

How do you feel about these?
High-Concept: Lonely Folk Singer: Winning Hearts & Minds One Venue At a Time
Trouble: Intransigent Moral Compass
Priscilla--My Beloved E-Tar
Ah, My Reputation Precedes Me

Also... what's the difference between "Folklore Singer" and "Folk Singer"?

I promise, I'm not trying to stir it up. So, I guess, take it with a grain of salt.  I have opinions.  But they needn't be yours.

The Incident:

About six months ago, the spaceport on Chrioch was interdicted by an orbital strike force of unknown origin. Since Chiroc is the farthest point of the most distant part of the vast nebula that contains the Accord worlds of the Cluster, it was assumed they were outsiders or enemies of the Alliance.

Somehow able to block translight comms, thus suppressing the ability to request assistance from the Fleet, the invaders began issuing demands of resources and Alliance Credits.

Somehow, some way, those of you starting out as a team were there, involved, and revealed the truth of the matter... that the "Aliens" were actually a local crew of grifters pulling an Oceans 11 Heist on a whole planet, with an inside man stopping the comms.

And so you cohered as a team, and chartered a Lance.

And then there were six. Sr. Schadenfreude has decided to withdraw, so Anstice Vaugh will not be with us.

So, we're at:




Anyone good behind the wheel? Maybe Jerry or Searphmoon.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:53, Tue 13 Apr 2021.

I can do pilot easily enough. Working on character sheet now; I'm off for my first Fauci Ouchie later this afternoon though, so if I don't finish today or tomorrow I'm probably sleeping it off. :) I don't usually react to vaccines other than local muscle aches, though.

Good luck.

And I updated the chart with pilot. I mean, if you have a dataport type thing that definitely fits. Makes me miss some Shadowrun.

Sorry I've been somewhat absent lately, I've been recovering from a pretty chaotic RL time recently and I'm just about settled.

As far as the pilot thing goes, Jerry has some experience on little individual (shuttles, cargo, troop transport, etc) but is probably far more suited for the co-pilot seat in anything larger. Knowing how he is though, he'd give it the ol' college try without complaint.

So, is there a set sort of ship we have? More Firefly or Killjoys. They definitely alter the types of things we may focus on after the first story arc.

I'd be good with Firefly type, I think. Something with some cargo space, perhaps. Though a bit more of a sporty model.

In reply to Damia (msg # 71):

I like the idea of something with a little teeth, I know between us someone has to have a connection to get something decommissioned military, something designed for troops and cargo.

Also, I absolutely love the "foiling a heist" hook, I can 100% see Jerry pulling a reverse The Italian Job, blowing the floor out from underneath a getaway vehicle or somesuch.

That was my initial through, something around Serenity/Millenium Falcon/Lucy size wise.

I have definite idea of how the technology looks feels and for this setting, so here are some examples things I see fitting in, but it can get more eclectic than that depending on the world and species.

Ships of the Cluster
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:22, Wed 14 Apr 2021.

So, obviously, I'm confused about what's involved in "chartering a lance"...    basically, it means we are answerable to someone in the alliance and in return we get.... what?  Do we get paid?

What is the base levels of technology?  Do we have reactionless drives (or do we need to worry about monitoring fuel resources)?  How about jump-drives or jumpgates for interstellar travel, What about applied contragravity (gravity on-board ship), energy weapons, energy shields, cloaking & stealth technologies?
This message was last edited by the player at 05:28, Wed 14 Apr 2021.

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A Lance is a private team (Singular, Lancer, some of whom operate solo) of technically deputized contract enforcers. They must obey interstellar law, must obey cluster law, and must obey the legal orders of Fleet or a Patrol Ranger who take legal charge.

The term is a play on Freelancer.

In addition, a Lancer of any kind is subject to temporary conscription and deputization by a Patrolman, Ranger, or Officer of the Fleet who has need and authority, and will be compensated on a set rate by the Alliance.

Lancers have the authority on any world given them by the local government and limited to the terms of the agreed upon contract.

In theory, any time more than one or more worlds is involved in a situation, Lancers should contact the Alliance. In practice, this happens sometimes.

To a Lancer, the Contract is the Covenant, and breach of contract is a serious, major, and prosecutable-by-the-Alliance matter.

Pay is whatever you can negotiate in a contract bid.
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You need thrust for in system. Jumps between systems are limited to the range of the craft. The large Fleet ships I showed have those rings for a reason, they can generate large, multi-ship jump points.

Fuel is needed for both the maneuvering thrusters (Infused Liquid Tenagite) and the ship's central power plant (crystalline nodes of exactingly topologically planed energized Lakasium). Most people call them Juice and Chips, respectively.

Artificial gravity is standard, generated as a natural consequence of using a Bojowald Principle reactor to align Anbjorn stressors in localized matter.

Similarly, hexagonal plane spacial stressors make excellent shields, and the stored potential of fractal bleed energy when concentrated, focused, and directed makes wonderful weaponry.

Stealth is a given, as is limited cloaking by properly tuning reactor-generator fractalized spacial stressor planes along EM and visible light frequencies instead of as deflection of higher energy tuning of sidereal spacetime vectors.

Personal weapons and armour systems can also be powered with ammunition capsules, bullet shaped nanochips infused with unstable juice formulation. There are similarly principled grenades. Of course, conventional bullets, explosives, and thick/kinetic materials are widely in use as well, as that crap is spendy.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:11, Wed 14 Apr 2021.

The Incident:
About six months ago, the spaceport on Chrioch was interdicted by an orbital strike force of unknown origin. Since Chiroc is the farthest point of the most distant part of the vast nebula that contains the Accord worlds of the Cluster, it was assumed they were outsiders or enemies of the Alliance.

Somehow able to block translight comms, thus suppressing the ability to request assistance from the Fleet, the invaders began issuing demands of resources and Alliance Credits.

Somehow, some way, those of you starting out as a team were there, involved, and revealed the truth of the matter... that the "Aliens" were actually a local crew of grifters pulling an Oceans 11 Heist on a whole planet, with an inside man stopping the comms.  And so you cohered as a team, and chartered a Lance.


Interdiction means forbidding or prohibiting, but orbital strike force suggests an attack... So, was the spaceport held hostage or destroyed?  I imagine I don't want Dr Singh at ground-zero if it was attacked.

Dr Singh was on Chrioch (Chiroc?) at the time, studying extra-alliance xenobiology while certainly not really hiding from her family. But it did mean she was "in the area" so to speak, when the spaceport was interdicted.  She had Xenobio samples being couriered to her and was on-site to get them through customs when things went ass-up.

She found herself in serious danger when she caught someone trying to steal medical supplies, bound for the issued "tithe" shipments.   But she convinced Jerry?? to setup a tracker in some of the supplies, but got in serious trouble when trying to retrieve the tracker...  and if someone--anyone wanna jump in here?--hadn't been there to pull her ass out of the fire, they'd never have been able to identify the grifter-crew that was behind it all...
This message was last edited by the player at 00:57, Thu 15 Apr 2021.

Other than the occasional technobabble I prefer mostly handwavium unless there's a narrative reason that will add to the overall drama of a story arc.

Orbital Strike *force*. Think bombers constantly circling an area with an "or else" posture.

Ah, so it was a blockade.  Gotcha.

Welcome catsidhe to the Lance. :D

Hey all (and thanks to Ziven for having me,)
I'm Sidhe, nice to meet you! Here's to telling a compelling story together.

I've read through the logs and I think I have a fair idea of what's going on in the world so far. I'm sufficiently familiar with FATE itself, so I think it's best to get straight to business here.
It looks like we do have a healthy roster of different character archetypes here, so I think it's best to pitch a few ideas and see what you think about them.

- Gurii, the showoff bloodsport pilot. Likes to win as flashily as possible. Unwise. (The Crowd Favorite. Fortune Favors The Bold, I Wonder What This Does etc...)
- Hsiuying, the hapless diplomat. Likes to stick with the plan. Hopefully. (The Shrewd Attaché. That Would Be Your Mother, Seven PhDs etc...)
- Ito, the needs-to-be-paid-more bartender. Likes to stay out of trouble. Please. (The Professional Bartender. Not This **** Again, Life-debt Creditor etc...)
- Kaarina, the not-what-they-seem flight officer. Likes to give things a shot. Verbatim. (The Hotshot Officer. Not-so-secret Service, Very Specific Hobbies etc...)

I'll pick one out to commit to and flesh out based on which one you all would prefer as an addition to the crew. I'd be happy to tie in with 1-2 characters' stories/agendas, more on that, actually...



I'd be happy to tie in with your story at that juncture if you'd like - it would be a good way to justify how our motley crew got together in the first.
Without committing to fleshing out a character concept yet, these might be a few ways they bumped into Dr. Anjali in that situation.

- They were part of the Chrioch spaceport garrison, security at the cargo bay in case anything went awry during the exchange. They caught Dr. Anjali red-handed where they weren't supposed to be during the situation.
- They were attempting to sabotage the supplies to be sent towards the assailers' fleet for one reason or another. They found Dr. Anjali where they were supposed to be instead. Fingers/guns/finger-guns pointed at each other.
- They were part of the crew aboard the vessel destined to carry supplies towards the assailers' fleet. They found an intruder aboard the ship when they least expected.
- They were media of some sort looking to capture footage to document the incident. They unwittingly found someone else trying to snoop around the supplies. There is a moment of hesitation and uncertainty.

All of which became irrelevant or of a lower priority when they detected whatever came (or was about to come) for Dr. Anjali, instead choosing to save their life (lives) in one way or another.

I like the tie in (and that was precisely the point of my offering that little bit--to encourage drawing ties without having to nail down all the nitty-gritty details).

Of the four, I've a slight preference for Kaarina and Hsiuying.   But I'm not sure I have a great handle on who all's still here...

Hey, GM... Where do we stand at the moment?  Are we close to doing something in-character?  Are you waiting on something from us?
This message was last edited by the player at 22:08, Sat 17 Apr 2021.

I think the pilot could be good as well, depending on what our put upon pilot has to say about it.

Good time for a roll call.

Who is completely done with chargen and who needs more time?
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:53, Sun 18 Apr 2021.

I'm happy with mine, I am leaving the two open to fill in later.

To be honest I'm leaning towards those two as well. Looks like we have a couple Guns and various Specialists (pilots, engineers...) but no (explicitly) Face, so I think I'll build either as one.

Give me 12h and I can be done with chargen.
I'll also offer a tie-in in a bit (or take any if someone wants to have one...)

- Sidhe
This message was last edited by the player at 02:27, Sun 18 Apr 2021.

Damia is somewhat face like. Her experience is business but the high level side so lots of negotiation. But, having two different types of major contacts could be good.

Here's where I stand right now...   I'm good to move forward if you're good with the still undefined elements.

Dr. Anjali Singh
Fate: 3/3, Stress: [1][2][3]
Consequences: (2/4/6) None Currently
Approaches: Careful +2, Clever +3, Flashy +0, Forceful +1, Quick +1, Sneaky +2
Aspects: Adventure-Seeking Trauma-Tech, Insatiable Curiosity, Pay It
Forward, Ancient Daikini Bloodline, Undefined Aspect
Stunts:
Trust Me, I'm a Doctor
Because I'm an Adventure Seeking Trauma-Doctor, once per session, I can
reduce someone else's consequence by one rank if I succeed on an treatment
roll with a difficulty of Fair(+2) for a mild, Good(+3) for a Moderate, or Great(+4)
for a Severe consequence.  I need to actually treat the person and it must be
played out or referenced in the narrative.  This also counts as starting recovery.
Xenophilia
Because I am Insatiably Curious, I gain +2 to cleverly create advantage (or
discover aspects) when dealing with alien elements.
Undefined Stunt

Note:
Daikini is basically an Indian "Witch"...  I'm considering a stunt to to facilitate access to knowledge based on a "genetic memory" kind of thing... I kinda like the just slightly creepy element this brings to her.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:48, Sun 18 Apr 2021.

Here's the draft of my character sheet. Please bring it to me attention if there's anything here that doesn't make sense or needs tweaking, I'd be happy to do it as soon as I see your message.
Let me know if you need something else, Ziven.

Kaarina

Fate: 3/3, Stress: [1][2][3]
Consequences: (2/4/6) None Currently
Approaches: Clever +3, Sneaky +2, Flashy +2, Forceful +1, Quick +1, Careful +0

A technician once serving aboard one of the civilian ships involved in the Chrioch spaceport interdiction. Peculiar personality and even more peculiar skillset, but try not to question it too much.
Swears get to the bottom of the whole incident while their ship is being withheld and inspected by investigators and personally leave a scratch on the ship of whoever thought the whole incident up.

High Concept: The Hotshot Officer
"Kaarina Heikkinen, Auxillary Reactor Technician aboard the Bell. Awfully lacking job title."
"I can plot navigation by hand, repair WWIV equipment, speak five languages and fix a sublight reactor by kicking it.

Trouble: Professionally Unprofessional
"Don't get any funny ideas? Well, if you aren't getting them, ask me. I've got a couple."
"No, really, they're quite funny and they might just work."

Intelligence Agent / I can tell...
"Yes, yes. I am affiliated with the 31st's 'secret' service, but it's just a formality, honestly. You don't have anything to worry about, I promise. But not guarantee."
Because I am an Intelligence Agent, I can learn about something at hand just from the environment. (e.g via eavesdropping, making inferences from objects...)

It's A Hobby Of Mine / Let me give that a hand...
"Life is too short to decide against learning anything. That's what I think. Now hand me those capacitors, please."
Because It's A Hobby Of Mine, I gain +2 to Flashily repairing a piece of equipment/technology using inappropriate materials.

Questionable Sixth Sense / In five seconds...
"Luulen, että tässä on koira haudattuna. I listen to my hunches. I can count the number of times it's saved my life on one finger."
Because I have a Questionable Sixth Sense, I gain +2 to the first Forceful OR Quick roll I make in a situation I have predicted or have been forewarned about.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:46, Sun 18 Apr 2021.

And, by the way! If anyone would like to jump in on a tie-in, what do you think about this?

Kaarina was off-duty and roaming around the spaceport when the Incident occurred. Someone might've talked to them and made an acquaintance at an establishment like a spaceport tavern (If those exist. Probably... same as a pub is, just with more blue lighting and cybernetics. Or perhaps it's still the same as it was couple decades/centuries ago.)

After Kaarina pulled Dr. Anjali out of her predicament at the cargo bays, on their way out, either by way of being pursued by someone/something (?) / they met that acquaintance of Kaarina that helped them (and maybe quickly cleaned the situation up before it got awry within the station.)

Details are still pretty loose, so if you could put your spin on it that would be very nice.

- Sidhe
This message was last edited by the player at 09:52, Sun 18 Apr 2021.

My read:

Damia Done.
Anjali Done.
Galath Done.
Hoz Done.
Jerry Done.
Kaarina Done.

So I have nothing from Seraphmoon since the 13th, but i know how low those shots can lay you, so give her another day or so. I get my second shot on Thursday early morning and reacted strongly to the first. Thus, we can expect to start this weekend one way or another. I can always post from my sickbed on my tablet. :P

Very cool.

Actually, I have a couple of questions about what's going to happen soon...

- Any issues or kinks you'd want to work out in our sheets after you've read them?
- How far are our characters acquainted with each other on average?*

And I know you'll get to it, but we're getting an introduction post to the world and the first situation, yeah?

- Sidhe

* I assume we're a bunch of people up to it cobbled together into a Lance at the last moment. Or maybe we've met, discussed and made the decision together?

Not that I can see.



Entirely between you guys and none of my business. I get told, not tell in this case. :D



About that... See below.



The Spaceport link is the founding of the Lance, more or less, you worked so well as a team in that case you decided to go pro.

As for situations:

How about Lancers? You want missions or choices of bids from me?

I'll write some about the scenario soon.

As for missions, I'd prefer usually options but not always.

I'd prefer that you give us the basics of the first scenario, so that we can try on our characters and actually play--sooner rather than later.

We'll have all sorts of opportunities to make stuff up as we go, and it will flow better if it's organic, as a result of what we're playing...

Give us a mark too good to be true and watch the sparks fly.

- Sidhe

COVID Vaccine dose 2 last night. Strangely, not only no side effects, but I felt better after it than I did going to it.

Also, heard from Seraphmoon, and responded, will see what happens. They had RPOLitus, no notifications going through.

In reply to Ziven Of Nine (msg # 97):

This past few days got away from me, sorry. Nothing more from Seraphmoon, so we will move on without them.

EDIT: Mondrian added from the reserve list. Hi when they see this. :D
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:38, Mon 26 Apr 2021.

Welcome.

Glad your vaccine didn't do much. I was very much the opposite.

I'll grab and update the chart.

Let me know if this isn't currently correct.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:45, Tue 27 Apr 2021.

In reply to Damia (msg # 100):

;_;

And yeah, Mondrian, any character concept you have in mind so far? We'd love to see it.

If you aren't considering a pilot-type character, I'd happily make a couple edits to Kaarina to be the pilot. I was under the impression we already had one, though? Or was that Seraphmoon.

- Sidhe
This message was last edited by the player at 13:41, Tue 27 Apr 2021.

I did forget to add you, Kaarina. Let me know if the description works or what I should add.

I think Seraphmoon was the pilot at first.

ping?

In reply to Dr. Anjali Singh (msg # 103):

I think we have waited long enough. I will start us up tonight as is. Losing Mondrian for non response. Six is good.

Any thoughts on a ship, one of the ones I posted or similar, or a Lance Handle? Some acceptable lance names off the top of my head for the setting would be Hamlin's Heroes, Hell Company, Force Majeure, Hammerfist Inc., Shooting Stars, and Liberty Crew.

I'll go with the majority vote, but I pick Force Majeure.

I suggest Broomstar Battalion off the back of my head.

- Sidhe

I like https://postimg.cc/YhNcQKKV for the ship.

I'm thinking on handles.

Looks good to me, I had a similar ship/aesthetic in mind...

By the way, changed my portrait to match my character. Cat is only for DMing, haha.

- Sidhe

I prefer inscrutable lance names:

• Option Seven
• Directive Sixteen
• Zeta Protocol

As to the ship... I just don't care what it looks like.  I'm way more interested in what it has ob-board and it's functional capabilities.   Will the GM be working up a stats-bank for the ship itself?  Should we be expecting ship-to-ship conflicts?  How big is the ship?