I am inclined to agree that the starting point of most stories should be something other than the minimum level in any game.  The minimum is intended to be available for characters with some kind of 'fresh off the boat' perspective on the world.

As to when The Expanse started as a story the writer that decided to turn it into a novel in collaboration with the GM of the game that started it all joined that game already underway, so it should look like characters well above the starting level.

In my Robotech games I often had new players come in as first level to represent being 'replacements' to the war effort.

I might do the same here after a certain point like when the PC group is in Ceres or Tycho and looking for additional crewmen

I would rather any level we use be set as the campaign level, rather than trying to micro manage individual characters advancement separately, the AGE system does not lend itself to split levels, if anything it is less able to do that than most systems.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:56, Sat 19 June 2021.

I haven't played this system much so I'll keep that in mind.

Just wanted to touch base on my character concept and see if anyone might have an idea for tie-ins, etc...

I've got a basic beginning, but planning on expanding a bit more. I see him as having worked more as a dockhand or technician

---

Corwin "Cor" Vargas has never known true family. Even as he was growing up, he was either always either alone or staying with a caretaker while his mother and father worked as hard as they could to just get by. A member of the Martian Marine Corps, Cor's mother was constantly on the move, and rarely had time to visit her son and husband. Perhaps as a result, Cor's father dove headlong into his engineering work at the Mariner Valley Shipyards.

He himself began by trying to be a soldier, but quickly realized he didn't have what it took. So he drifted, ending up at the shipyard where his father worked, but going by an assumed name so he wouldn't get favoritism. Day in and day out he found that he enjoyed dealing more with machines, scraps and gear more than the other people around him. There was one exception however, and that was the underground "fight club" he came across quite by accident. After joining and fighting a couple of fights, he was hooked...

In reply to Player 1 (msg # 7):

Yeah I can see ‘fight clubs’ existing all over the Belt.

I might be able to help provide a way to get you from Mars out into the belt in general, or even to Eros in particular if we want to go there directly.

Kattalin isn't so much fleeing Mars as she is seeking something more, her life on Mars was boringly mundane and just not fulfilling enough to stick with rather than anything that needs to be left behind.  However once set on leaving Mars it would make some sense to try and bring someone with her, or find a group looking to leave at the same time at least, as that kind of travel alone would be a bit crazy.

Hi all

I've rolled up the basics for my character I was hoping to get the military background then choose scholar so he could be a combat medic but the dice wasnt good to me so he ended up being a labourer..... which is ok

So Chang Li is a martian labourer who learned the basics of first aid from his mother and got a place in the space dock infirmary as an orderly helping out injured dock hands....he is intelligent and studied hard with the help of the old alcoholic doctor who ran the infirmary, he became a nurse then a doctor himself and when it was offered to him by the unions he took up a position on Eros to run a small workers hospital there

I plan on everyone starting out on Eros, if you wish to have a shared backstory with another character as to how/why you got to Eros that's fine by me.

You can do it in PM's or here in OOC.

It looks like we could put the whole back story need so far into a single shuttle from Mars to Eros.  Don't even need any explanation as to why we all got on it other than convenient timing.

Make it a bigger and or slower shuttle, and everyone pick one thing that went wrong on the trip that their character was in the right place with the right skills to fix, and the others noticed.  Then we have all the reason to stick with known and useful people we need.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:29, Sat 19 June 2021.

In reply to Kattalin Zubiri (msg # 12):

You could also take a transport ship like Miller did from Ceres to Eros.

That is the kind of people shuttle I have in mind, either direct from mars, or to include a stop over at Ceres if we need to add non mars based characters at some point.

Well my idea is to start you all out on Eros wherever you want, and the players decide how or why they are at Eros.

Not everyone has to arrive at Eros as a group together. Some characters may be living and working on Eros. Another character (i.e. Cor) may just be at Eros to participate in a high stakes fight.

This allows each character or maybe pairs of characters begin in their own threads for some role play before the outbreak (while waiting for other players to finish their characters).

Then once the protomolecule begins to hit the fan that characters will end up meeting each other and will then need to work together to escape. This will allow any mix of characters to be in the game.

Hello everyone, I have added a new post in character creation regarding leveling up.
link to a message in this game

When leveling up, please give me an outline of what you gained per level. This will help me when looking over your character sheet. You can do up your character sheet to level 4 and then PM me.

[Private to Kojo Botha:
If you can post your level up advancements here as an example that would be cool.

I do not want to just copy and paste your data from the PM thread without permission.]

At level 4, you either get a Talent or a Specialization...if I am reading the book correctly.[Private to GM: will think about posting my stuff. paranoia may kick in]

That is how I am understanding the book too.

Would it be acceptable for us to have three 'to expensive' items set to the minimum threshold that would have depleted our income, to account for the recovered point with each level?

I’m inclined to say no because none of the characters are aware that Eros is about to become a petrie dish for the Protomolcule. But as players you do know that some serious shit is about to go down.

This is ultimately why I noted for equipment to just give me a list of reasonable items you might be carrying on your body as you go about day to day business on Eros.

If there are high end items you’d like to have (ie a hand terminal) we can work that out in PM’s followed by an income roll. Also since it’s apparent that Holden and crew as well as Miller got on Eros with concealable weapons (handguns) without much trouble I have no problem with a character having a few concealed weapons. Eros is afterall a pretty shady place.

I think I've got Cor's sheet all together... except for any gear which I'm still thinking on. :)

I’ll take a look tonight.

When wrapping up you characters do not forget that Drive adds some improvements (see page 38 of the book).

Kattalin Zubiri’s player pointed this out when I had questions about their character sheet.

Hopefully by Friday I’ll have some me in game posts up.

I’ll be stating everyone in their own thread, but you will eventually bring you all together.

Your solo thread my be a few posts long before you meet up with another character or several. It just all depends on each character.

I don’t expect much posting this weekend as those of us in the US celebrate Independence Day.

But I do wonder how high/low key Independence Day will be for the members of VMFA-211 “Wake Island Avengers” stationed onboard HMS Queen Elizabeth.

I won’t be able to get any posts until Thursday or Friday

We still alive?