Lark, I dig the choices, but your options don't add or subtract History, they straight up replace the value. So you'd have Regicide at Hx-1 and Bellona at Hx+3. Pick her up from Fight For Your Life one time and two get XP from her.

Also, don't worry too much about taking plans or anything to PMs. I like everything to be as transparent as allowed. I'm actually not even sure if I'm supposed to be hiding my list of Fronts, and may make that visible once I can make a decision about it.

That certainly works for me. I'd originally thought about putting you down for the Soldier's Hx+3 (Somebody served with you once, somewhere) and suggesting our characters had some kind of history together, be that in her army days or the time since, but didn't have any strong ideas and felt a bit unsure about when something like that might have happened. That's still on the table if you have any suggestions :)
This message was last edited by the player at 04:34, Tue 08 June 2021.

Gotcha GM, I edited them. Thought that didn't seem right. Gonna blame it on me being tired from being out in the heat all day today

& sure Bellona. Following Bellona's army days would work best.

Lark's backstory is basically he was in a bandit gang since he was a teen, had a falling out & has been on the run from them. So anytime following that works. She could've cajoled him into doing some freelance merc stuff with her, something like that?

I can dig it Lark, I had plans to target you for a negitive also, but I see it won't do much.  So lets see what do I have.


Pick the character you think is the baddest ass. Whatever they tell you, write History+2 instead.
I'm gonna tag Bellona for this one.  "I for one was never much on violence, physical fitness yes, but I thought myself a devote pacifist.  But watching Bellona walk through a hail of gun fire and put down that bandit camp was more than enough to make me reconsider those earlier notions."

One of them left you hanging when you needed help. Whatever they tell you, write History-1 instead.
For this one I am going go with Lark - "That blasted sniper.  I needed merely another 3 minutes to conclude my deal with that Corp Raider.  But I tell you what good sir, A bullet through closing doors past three windmills and the Leader is dead before I can get my forged papers.  I would throw him to the skags... but I fear he may like that."

You have a crush on someone. Whatever they tell you, increase it by +1
I am gonna go with Bellona again for this one... siting my above line as well with a - "What?!?  It is merely a professional interest.  I have never admitted to thinking about the image of her walking through a cascade of shell casings... I don't know what you mean."

So that should have me at:
Lark -1H
Sparkplug +1H
Delilah -1H
Bellona +3H

Okay, so just thinking off the cuff here:

Lark was employed as guide and expert on the local terrain to support a group of mercs that Bellona was already working with. They both recognised each other as more competent than the thugs with guns just making up the numbers, developed a necessary trust in each other out in the field, and ended up bonding properly over their appreciation for their non-human companions, fondness for a good drink, and an unspoken agreement to watch each others' backs for any signs of trouble brewing. Maybe they've stuck together since or just stayed in touch and occasionally linked up from time to time.

Or:

Other way around. They meet in a bar, connect as total strangers - maybe they're just drawn to someone with a similar aura or get thrown together in a brawl - and either one invited the other onto a job they were already signed up for or they coincidentally were both already attached to the same assignment and immediately fell into step next time they met. Otherwise the same sort of thing as above.

@Regicide:

Well ... uh ... I can't say I was expecting to be so popular.

No problems running with any of that. Kinda interesting to think about the potential group dynamics with Lark and Regicide being none too fond of each other but the Hunter being the one in Bellona's inner circle.

While thinking on that, I'd also like to bring up a thing about the setting!

This game takes place on a prison planet called Tartarus. Once you land, there's no leaving unless you work the eridium mines for 25 years. The other expectation is that if you find the Vault that's rumored to be the cause of the massive indigo storm, you could buy your way off the planet.

Who's a native, descended from earlier inmates?

Who's an outlander, someone who was sent here from outside? Why are you here? I imagine either for crimes or by choice. Or maybe you chose crimes specifically to get sent here and find the Vault.

Bellona's obviously an outlander - kinda hard to have her career if she isn't - and I'd have to imagine she's on Tartarus by choice. She probably thinks it's more than a little ironic that her efforts to go under the radar and avoid the consequences of her actions have led to her freely choosing to consign herself to a prison planet.

@Regicide, looks good to me!

@Bellona I like your first idea, let's go with that. Lark's kind of a drifter who squats out in the brush. Moves around a lot, doesn't really have a fixed residence. Might be hard for them to stay together consistently due to that, unless Bellona would also benefit from that kind of thing. Otherwise, I could see them staying in touch & linking up for travel or odd jobs on-and-off often. Definitely he'd fall into step with her easy every time, regardless of time passed.

& about Tartarus Lark would also be an outlander to the planet. Hmm, he does have an extensive criminal history, too. It would be kind of funny if he got arrested & then tipped the gang off about a Vault so they'd come pick him up :P

I am happy either way: so seeing there seem to be offworlders among the PCs so far, I'll claim a resident.

Well Bellona, I was trying to figure out who to target for the the crush part of the history.  And while Stetsons are cool, it isn't a Fez.  And while there was a part of me that found making a joke on mistaking Sparkplug for a girl, playing off a joke on Delilah's earlier mistake.

As for Tartarus, I think Regicide is going to also be an offworlder.  Having in a fit of rage killed a number of people that puts him in trouble with the law.  And to my amusement, the idea of Regicid and Lark having gotten into a big fight, that ended with the both of them arrested and transported to the planet on the same ship.  Just the two of them bickering until guards come back to get them, and the two work together just enough to break free and crash the ship on the planet.  I don't know, seems like an amusing set up if Lark is up for such.  A bit of rivalry and color to interactions.

Also I plan to start making references to as many prison break movies I can think of that are fitting in this game.  Because those puns and easter eggs were some of the better parts of the games for me.

The Mechromancer in BL2 is a woman, maybe it's that?
Granted, the avatar, whilst under under the male category, does have the androgynous tag, so could be that?

Sparkplug is going to be a native. He built his mech (name & stats still TBC) as a friend when he was young, and as Sparkplug got bigger, so did his mech. Ending up with bandits, he would maintain their vehicles, tinker with their weapons, but ultimately got frustrated with them as he felt they weren't seeing his true genius. Taking his guns, his mech, and leaving amid a 'mysterious' explosion that took out the whole garage, Sparkplug is now making his way as a Vault Hunter, to get enough riches to get off this forsaken planet and find somewhere with better tech for him to play with.

This is going to be Asterous!



I mean, how can I not tell people how amazing I am, and all the totally badass machines I've made, or taken apart.

Delilah could be my +1, crossing paths on planet, and having done something amazing that I consider you to be a genius. Like how we evaded an attack, tricked some monsters into avoiding us, or some such?

Bellona would fit for the -1, as she has been very vocal about not appreciating my greatness.

That would make it:
Bellona +0
Delilah +2
Lark +1
Regicide +1

And then combine it with all the other modifiers with everyone else dishing out? As it seems confusing. If I have a +1 with someone, does it mean they also have a +1 with me, and if either of us add an extra +1, then we are +2 each way?


For my mech, I get to choose the following:
Choose 1 set:
Weapons+2 Systems+1 /1 Armor Shields+1
Weapons+2 Systems+2 /0 Armor Shields+1
Weapons+1 Systems+2 /1 Armor Shields+1
Weapons+3 Systems+1 /1 Armor Shields+0

I get a number of weapons equal to the weapon stat, and extra programs (beyond taking out threats) based on my systems.
What thoughts does everyone have?
I feel going 3 guns isn't needed as we have lots of firepower, so I'm torn between the first and third option - mainly, balancing a gun vs an extra


Also, I've been looking for concept art, and found this collection, which might be of interest to everyone - https://kevinduc.artstation.com/

That's perfect! No need to get complicated with the History, as what you have listed is everything you need. Your choices don't affect anyone else's Hx, so we're all set up in that regard.

Bellona, since Sparkplug is a native, you two would have met here instead of on Themis, but maybe that's where you and Lark met up first?

Lol I like that idea, I'd be down. If it's okay with the GM ofc

So like ... how long have we outsiders been on Tartarus before the start of the game? Or how long have we all been together as a group?

Couple more miscellaneous things:

Working off Lark's earlier suggestion, Bellona is on Tartarus because she intercepted (or just generally somehow became aware of) Lark's message, and between loyalty to her friend and genuine interest in talk of a Vault decided she might as well either pull his ass out of the fire or make bank depending on how things played out.

I'm going to be changing my Drive from Pursuit to ... probably Power? I can't imagine Dahl or Bellona's former associates would have much reason to hunt for her on a place like Tartarus (or care enough to go that far out of their way), and either of my other two options can be easily slotted in without changing her backstory and motivations in the slightest. Feels more natural really.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:05, Wed 09 June 2021.

That sounds good to me, yeah. I also have a method of incorporating Lark's Pursuit into Tartarus.

GM thought I should put this out there publicly, so a little explanation of why Bellona is where she is (and why she had Pursuit as her Drive):

The super simple version is that even after joining up with Dahl proper the Ravagers still weren't exactly on the straight and narrow. They used their connections and sources within the army to pursue their own interests, even ignoring orders entirely on occasion, all the while taking steps to ensure enough plausible deniability to keep the powers that be off their back. Bellona generally did her best to keep her nose clean, but she still got baited into one last big score by an old friend higher up the chain of command and agreed to take part in an assault on one of Dahl's own outposts where materiel captured in an ongoing conflict with Maliwan was being held.

In theory the idea was that they'd be able to cover this up as a Maliwan attack, falsify orders and reports to put their own units elsewhere during the action, and then gradually put the loot out onto the black market once the heat had died down. What actually happened was that Bellona's CO got put under pressure and threw her people under the bus to save his skin - claimed her unit had gone AWOL without his knowledge - and she ended up having to shoot her way out through Dahl reinforcements. With her company denying any knowledge of the operation (whether Dahl truly believes that or not) she found herself in the sights of Dahl and former friends alike.

Her drone, CARLA, dates back to that incident too.

I can honestly picture a series of ECHO recordings from the transport.  The guards recording incidents, and the squabbling of Lark and Regicide in the background.  And the final one being the guards reporting the ship going down with the prisoners breaking free.  The guards dying and finishing with Lark using the comms array of the ship to send a message to Bellona.  But I don't know if there is a thing for those in this game or not.  Just fun idea that came while at work.

So in general, people who come to Tartarus are taken into orbit by a company ship and then Fast Traveled down to a one-way relay in a place called The Drop. Any ships that move closer to the planet than orbit (including ships coming up from the surface) are blown to bits.

Right now I'm imagining this: you guys were in the Fast Travel ship being prepared for transport when something went horribly wrong and the vessel ended up too close to the planet. It was shot down by the orbital quarantine network, but shenanigans kept it in one piece long enough to land.

How's that fit with where you'd like this to go?

EDIT: Also, is there anything else the playbooks need before Something Happens?
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:09, Wed 09 June 2021.

That can work, on our way to get processed and fast traveled down to the planet, a fight starts over someone's Emotional Support Shotgun, the ship gets knocked off course into the firing zone.  We have our own little Angel moment that has Regicide and Lark be some of the only survivors and get a message off to pull in Bellona.  And we are now trapped on the prison planet looking for a vault as our best bet out of there.

That seems a good little inciting incident there.  And I think I am good on my playbook.

Are the cars in range for +far fire right now? I rolled and then noticed they're a few seconds away.

edit: my playbook is good, I think. Also unless I'm mistaken, I think Sparkplug should have a -1 History for me. Might be having a brain fart though
This message was last edited by the player at 05:09, Thu 10 June 2021.

If you want to open fire on them, I'd say +far is good enough for that, yeah! My first thought was "nah, they're too far right now," but then again you could just wait a couple seconds and let loose.

Normally I'd wait for everyone to cycle but that felt an innocent enough little thing to throw out.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:43, Thu 10 June 2021.

Okay, cool. I'll make another lil post to include my roll

A nice strong opening, I like it. So some clarification: you don't start with a class mod, those unlock at level 3, 15 XP. I moved XP advancement over to the Special Moves post, right under the End of Session XP move, so it'll have better visibility and won't just be lost at the end of a bazillion playbooks. I think I put it there because that's where it is in the main book. Anyhoo!

Yeah, have class mods in mind, but you'll get their bonuses later on. Also if you want your class mod item to be that mysterious 1-barter/100 cash object, that would be super cool.