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.