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Burn the Land, Boil the Sea...


Warren Verona

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If you can finish the title without thinking about it, then the rest of this might interest you a great deal.

A long time ago (about four years ago) I ran an Alternity sci-fi game here on the boards. Personally I thought it was pretty awesome, but I had little experience in running PBP games and my time was growing shorter and shorter with RL issues. I have more time now, more experience and I have adopted a mellow pace for posting in games that keeps me sane.

That said, I have a concept for a sci-fi game based loosely off of the series Firefly. It will be run with Alternity rules, which I know a lot you don't know so I'll take this opportunity to introduce you to something new. Alternity is insanely easy to learn, so don't sweat it. For now I'll explain to you the premise of the game and what you can expect and we'll see if there is any interest.

Synopsis

The Verge is a star system that lies several hundred light years from the Stellar Ring (where the core systems are, like the Sol System where Earth is). Discovered long ago it was a new opportunity for the Stellar Nations to expand and colonize new worlds. So began the act of colonizing and terraforming the new worlds of the Verge until the Second Galactic War started in 2472. Then something happened that changed life in the Verge forever...

...they were forgotten.

Something during the war severed FTL communications relays everyone who had come to colonize the Verge was simply left to their own devices. They were left with no way to call for new supplies, no way to contact family or loved ones back home, no way to find out what was happening. What was worse, was that all the colony ships had automated FTL drives to prevent tampering so the trip was one way, until thier contracts were done and they were sent on a transport back home. With no way home and no way to resupply, the colonists did the only thing the could...

...they survived.

That was three hundred years ago. In that three hundred years they've done the best they could with all they were given and the Verge became it's own frontier star system with few laws, a ton of struggles and all kinds of problems of it's own. The Stellar Nations themselves were all but forgotten and the Vergers were doing the best they could with all they had. In 2770 though the unthinkable occurred: Stellar Nation ships, now calling themselves The Galactic Concord, arrived in the Verge. The first contact after three centuries didn't go well as the Concord Military declared the Verge under their jurisdiction and all were now subject to Concord Law. They offered no explanation for why they had abandoned the Vergers for so long and the Vergers, at this point, didn't care.

War soon ravaged the Verge as the Free People of the Verge refused to roll over and hand over everything they'd build from nothing over to a military that abandoned them so long ago. The Concord Military was a force to be reckoned with however, and the Vergers didn't stand a chance. After five years of heavy fighting, Most of the Verge fell under Concord control and they continue to expand their power taking the people's lands, freedoms, and generations of hard work away from them and 'civilizing' them.

Now, in 2775, the expansion is slower but there are still those who remember a life without the Galactic Concord. It wasn't perfect, but it was a free life where as long as you respected others, they respected you and those who had no respect usually didn't last long. Where honest men and women made a life for themselves anyway they could, and the evil men of the galaxy soon got their comeuppance eventually. For the most part, they Vergers just want the Concord gone...

Factions

Vergers - Natives of the Verge.

Concords - The bad guys.

Cykoteks - Mad men who have fallen to a form of insanity brought on by too much cyberware. They are like the Reavers, but less man and more machine. Just has crazy and disfigured though.

Content

This I'll leave to all of you to decide, or at least offer up your opinions on the matter...

Aliens? Yes, no?

Psionics? Yes, no?

Robotics? Yes, no?

Technology

The Vergers-

The Vergers have low tech. It's very much like a spaghetti western meets Sci-Fi (sci-fi revolvers, dusters, cowboy hats). Sure, they have FTL ships that take them between systems, but they tend to be of the 'none to fancy' variety. They use slug throwers, and melee weapons. Gravity Induction technology is a 'standard', so almost all Verger know what it is but tend to use horses or what passes for a horse on the various planets. It makes it easier to get around on the ranches. Most space farer types tend to employ hover vehicles for ease of cargo transport. They've had three hundred years to create a new civilization using only what they came with, the result is a culture that's hit a high-tech western plateau, complete with mindset. Lots of dust, rust, and dirt under the fingernails.

"Ain't gotta be pretty, long as it works."

The Galactic Concord-

High-tech and up to date. These guys have the cool ships, energy weapons, personal shield generators, you name it, they have it... and thanks to the war some of the Vergers are getting it too! Bright lights, glossy paint jobs, and lots of shine.

"We have the finest technology and the most advanced fleet in all the systems. The hicks don't stand a chance."

The Cykoteks-

Scavengers and psychopaths these things are the stuff of nightmares. Thankfully, they hate everyone equally so the Concord Military has their hands full with them a lot. They have use of everything, but it's usually in all kinds of disrepair or glitchy (works fine for them though... imagine that...). Blood and rust is a common theme for them.

"Face gravy! I love face gravy! Now, to pound out the lumps!"

I now open this up for discussion... have it it.

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I am up for this.

Aliens: Undecided.

Psionics: Sure... maybe it's a secret weapon the Concord is designing, or something that the pressures of life in the Verge has allowed them to develop - in any event, yes.

Robotics: Are we talking Star Wars style droids or complete AIs? More details would help make my opinion form. Actually, I lean Star Wars style droids.

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People are going to hate my answers:

Aliens: Feels wrong for a Firefly game, though depending on how they're brought in it would make for an unexpected move to the game.

Psionics: Yes, but not for PCs. Leave it for the bad guys. ;)

Robotics: Yes, but coming from the Concord, and then only to a degree. Star Wars level is about what I was thinking... with less personality. A tool, not a loyal companion.

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Robotics: Are we talking Star Wars style droids or complete AIs? More details would help make my opinion form. Actually, I lean Star Wars style droids.

Actually, that's a good question. I should have clarified. Robotics will include all sorts of 'droid' style robots. Bipedal humanoid ones or even the walking tank variety like ED-209. Mr. Universe's LoveBot is a good example. Robots make cheap, tireless laborers and are immune to most low level environment hazards like fire, heat, radiation, poison, cold, etc... making them perfect for security.

AI's will be possible since in the Star*Drive campaign they were common. However, the Vergers are not likely to have very sophisticated ones, the Concords have awesome ones, and the cykoteks usually smash their face into the console until it stops talking them.

Aliens - My take is a simple one... I love the concept of aliens, in sci-fi. I think they add an awesome measure of diversity, but the unfortunate thing is... none of the Alternity aliens species appeal to me, aside from the Aleerans (the mechalus).

Psionics - Frankly, this all on you guys. I don't care which way you go. I've ran Alternity games in space where Psions were battling Wizards (yes, the magic throwing type) in an engine room as the drive core collapsed due to stray particle beam fire from a mecha who was trying to shove his fist down a demons throat hole to retrieve an ancient talisman the Egyptians worshipped capable of banishing the Dark Ones back to the boundaries of Netherspace. All it lacked were velociraptors riding tyrannosauruses with mounted lasers and it would have been epic... (I almost added in a few Druids, but I didn't want the story to get silly)

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Robotics: Yes, but coming from the Concord, and then only to a degree. Star Wars level is about what I was thinking... with less personality. A tool, not a loyal companion.

Exactly what I was thinking. Basically, what this means is that robots will be left as NPCs instead of available as a PC 'race'. However, if you submit something to me that blows my mind in terms of story and credibility (which I doubt), then I will consider it.

Firefly - Also, guys, keep in mind that while this game is Firefly-like it is not Firefly. I do want any and all who participate in this to know that you do have some creative licence to make the worlds, history, and content as we go. Watch Firefly and be inspired by it, but do not limit yourself to only the 12 episodes of awesomeness Fillion and his crew blessed us with.

Read the synopsis, I mean, holy shit, right? I couldn't have made it sound anymore like Firefly without actually name dropping some major NPC's. But please, look past that... take the elements and try to add to them. I mean guys, let's face it, someone s going to make a River Tam, or a Malcom Reynolds and by all means, go for it. Please though, make the character yours not some Firefly clone. Look past the script and try to see who youwould have liked to have seen in the universe and create that guy.

You guys know my style, I'm te guy who plays the 'Jayne' style guys. The back stabbity, ass hole who no one likes but always seems to be loyal to his crew even when they all were sure he'd leave em to die. I encourage you, after we set some standards, to not all make the same kinda people. Serenity was a ship that had a crew of "nine different people, who saw the universe nine different ways". Hell, Wash and Zoe rarely saw eye-to-eye unless it involved sex, but they weren't getting a divorce every time they argued either.

You'll get your own universe, your own ship, and your own people to hate... make it genuine. :)

Oh, and uhh... one of you will be the Captain. I'm not doing the whole NPC Captain thing for this like some STs do. One of you will be the Captain and the bullshit the crew dishes out will be yours to deal with... not mine. So: :P

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As a more coherent set of answers:

Aliens - Only if that's part of the storyline. So far they haven't been mentioned in the backstory, though aliens being responsible for the failure of the FTL communications or as an allied race with the Concord could be fun. In any instance, if they're going to be involved, they should be involved and it should be a major thing that aliens have popped up. Another idea is that there was a non-spacefaring but sentient race that was discovered in the Verge, which could explain where psionics came from (either alien-only or taught or crossbreeds if we want to allow that).

Psionics - See above post. ;)

Robotics - I like the idea of autonomous worker robots used mostly in industrial construction and perhaps some large AI's used for ships or buildings or something. Effectively, there isn't a system to house an AI small enough to be making intelligent androids, but there are some true AI's to run across in the game. Rare and awe-inspiring, not C3PO.

Captain - I've never played a ship captain before, usually I do the First Mate or Diplomat, so that could be interesting, but I'm not dead-set on it if someone else has a big jonesing for it.

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Me gusta.

Aliens: If you're going for firefly-esque, I'd say that any aliens encountered should be local wildlife (maybe even domesticated), evil predator species (a-la AL|ENS), or unknowable creatures that provide a one-off kinda adventure ("Out past the Black, at the edge of Verge space, in orbit around a neutron star that shouldn't exist... that's where The Leviathan sleeps")

Psionics: Go for it. I'm all down with local Shamans, Medicine Men, and backcountry witches using traditional psychic talents trying to outwit trained Psionic Operatives of the Concord

Robotics: Ehhh... jury's still out on that.

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Hm. I shall need resolution on the 'alien/psionic' question before I get too deep into character design.

To spin things up a notch, let me drool out a few notions.

1) Secret secrets of secretness. Aliens, psionics and/or both exist, but they are not well known. Aliens might be observing the industrious humans from afar, or even infiltrating them with their skin-suits. Psychics, of whatever origin, have established tentative underground networks allowing them to collaborate to remain unnoticed to the general population. Their nature and agenda are mysteries, their existence dismissed as the wildest of hoaxes and nutball theories.

2) What are they? Psychics may be human mutations; adaptations to the difficult conditions on the frontier; in which case they're likely 'urban legends,' not taken seriously at an official level...but most communities would know someone who can tell when the rain's coming, or find lost items. Aliens might be indigenous species...perhaps not recognized as sapient by the human colonists. Or they may be from a neighboring system, or galaxy, or universe, and are observing or meddling. Psychics and aliens may be related; maybe exposure to alien artifacts imbues humans with psychic abilities (see Chronicle), or the aliens may be tinkering with the genetics of certain humans for purposes unknown...or even by accident!

3) Maybe there aren't any, but seem to be. Psionics might not exist, but perhaps there are still exceptional talents that SEEM psychic. One could take this down the Dune path, where knowledge of the human body and mind, combined with futuristic (and sometimes brutal) training regimens, can give individuals seemingly superhuman abilities. Similarly "aliens" could just as easily be divergent 'strains' of humanity; transhumanists who have altered their form and function sufficiently to be unrecognizable. The 'cykotics' might even fit in this category, albeit with bizarre and unpleasant results.

4) Special snowflakes? There may not be psychics but rather a psychic.. A one of a kind fluke. An individual who's strange happenstance of heredity, genetic engineering, exposure to alien tinkering, or all of the above has resulted in the acquisition of strange and terrifying powers. Alnternatively, one could go the 'Looper' route, and have psychics be fairly common and generally ignored; their powers little more than toys for impressing children. Until someone comes along who shatters those barriers and brings something unprecedented to the Verge. Similarly, there may not be a conspiracy of aliens, carefully watching and biding their time...there may just be an alien, stranded and alone, trying desperately to stay safe in a world that could turn hostile at any moment.

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It's looking like, as far as PC's go, aliens will probably be a no-go. Mostly because it might start to feel a bit too much The Next Generation and not enough gritty spaghetti sci-fi. Psionics looks like it will be a go, but with one caveat... only one PC may be a Mindwalker. Which of you that is, I don't care and it's up to you guys to discuss as adults (mostly because I think two other people had their minds set on it).

It should be known that mindwalkers are not the only ones who get cool abilities. I'm hoping to have a system in place for each character that will grant them abilities no other PC has in attempt to make each unique and have talents based on their personality. Skills with cool names like "fan that hammer", "Daisy if ya do", "grit", "loyalty", "leaf on the wind", "brick shit house", and many more...

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It should be known that mindwalkers are not the only ones who get cool abilities. I'm hoping to have a system in place for each character that will grant them abilities no other PC has in attempt to make each unique and have talents based on their personality. Skills with cool names like "fan that hammer", "Daisy if ya do", "grit", "loyalty", "leaf on the wind", "brick shit house", and many more...

I like that, Rev. I really do. :D

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Okay... we have a leader, a mysterious powered sort, and someone who is insane. Good start I'd say.

Captain - Carver

Psion - Mala?

Crazy Chief Medical Officer - Vivi

Scout/Tracker/Guide kinda guy - Jeremy

Still a few seats to fill.

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Okay, working on ideas but I have zero understanding of positions on a ship. This is what I get from Firefly:

Captain (Mal)

First Mate (Zoe)

Pilot (Wash)

Engineer (Kaylee)

Gunman (Jayne)

Companion (Diplomat, Optional, Inara)

Priest (Optional, Shepherd)

Doctor (Optional, Simon)

Crazy Psychic Fighter Chick (Optional, River)

So, going by Rev's list, we've got the Captain, the Doctor, a Scout which I'm likening to Jayne, and a....cook?....which I guess means it's a fairly posh ship to have a dedicated chef and which I would liken to Shepherd in terms of random optional personnel.

So, slots still left open are a Pilot and Engineer on the 'really should have these' list, and a First Mate and Diplomat on the 'fairly good idea to have these' list and could probably be combined into one character, and then any other randoms.

I'll go Engineer unless someone else wants the role I'm getting to be the psychic (so far as I've seen), so I'm fine to fill in on other roles as people make their choices.

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Psychic can be her role. The captain surely knows the value of having a mind reader aboard her ship, especially on certain jobs.

That way a space is open for others. Also, the role on the ship isn't necessarily what thqt peson is good at. Book for example was a man of god, but his past hinted at him being seriously high powered ex-military. Same with the cook... sure he's a cook... but what was he before he met the Captain abd becoming a space outlaw?

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Because I cannot, for the life of me, keep track of where on this site I'm supposed to be looking to find out about newly-proposed games, I did not realize this one was in discussion. Oops!

This sounds very interesting!

I should mention, though, that I know quite literally nothing at all about Alternity, so there's that little barrier to overcome. I'll see if I can track down a pdf or something and, if I like what I see, I'll see about submitting something.

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Also, the role on the ship isn't necessarily what thqt peson is good at. Book for example was a man of god, but his past hinted at him being seriously high powered ex-military. Same with the cook... sure he's a cook... but what was he before he met the Captain abd becoming a space outlaw?

That's pretty much exactly what I was thinking. You sure *you're* not the psychic here?

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I know you mentioned you were having trouble finding books, from what you said in chat Kaz... Rev provided us with some links... he SAYS it's legit since TSR is defunct... ask him. <.< <.> >.>

Nah, I couldn't find anything last night, but I took another stab at it this morning and managed to find what I was looking for. I'll review the material and see if it grabs me. :)
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Is being psychic a known quantity in the setting? I guess my head is still stuck in how Firefly was and that being a "reader" wasn't a job description or something you wanted to tell people.

Psychics are not pouring out of the woodwork, but they are heard of and exist. Even in the Firefly universe they are uncommon, but known to exist. Most of the frontier planets consider them freaks and witches, etc, etc... River for example was already a psychic and they knew that, the Alliance drove her nuts by trying to make her something more...

The series was cancelled before Whedon had the chance to delve further into their history.

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I've been reading through the Alternity material and it all looks pretty good so far. I do have a question though, Rev: I see that psionics are limited to only one PC (Mala's ATM); what about mutations or cybernetics? They're also listed as "optional rules" but I don't see any mention of them in this thread so far, one way or the other. Are they allowed?

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Gah! I made a whole faction of cybered out whackjobs and somehow forgot to include cybernetics. I blame the crack and rap music.

Yes, cybertech is allowed. Remember folks, frontier though it may be, it is still a FTL capable culture. 'Prosthetics' are not uncommon, especially in the unstable and lawless systems of the Verge. There is a huge difference between someone who has cyberware and a cykotek (although in some verge cultures there is no distinction and it's go pure or die). If you want cyberware, you may start with some, but keep in mind that 'civilized' people don't broadcast cyberware, so you'll want internal stuff, like the endoskeleton instead of the exoskeleton (endoskeleton is in the Star*Drive Arms and Equipment Guide, if you have it).

Cyberlimbs are not that uncommon, especially with there being a war just past and all. For most of the soldiers on the losing side, a prosthetic limb was the only option available to them is they wanted to try and get back to earnin' a living for themselves of their families. Keep in mind that while not uncommon, cykoteks have given cybertech a bad reputation and anyone with it may be regarded as off-putting or untrustworthy. There are a few cultures in the Frontier that don't give two farts in the breeze about the difference between a cykotek and a dude with a prosthetic. These cultures might just kill anything that don't look 100% human on sight (can't be sure, what with all those looneyteks about...).

Oh, and the Battleklaw on page 242. Ignore the text. All battlekalws are retractable, regardless of quality. Mostly because having a short sword sized blade sticking out of your arm at all times makes doing [pretty much everything in your day to day routine almost impossible. Everything else reads as is.

Mutations, I'd have to say no to, mostly because once I start seeing ideas from players I'll be able to start formulating what their special skills are. Each PC will have 4 special skills that are theirs and only theirs, no one else can do what they do. The pilots skills will permit him/her to do fantastic things with a vehicle, the Catpain's... well... it'll make her better and misbehavin'. If there's a tank then his skills will make him a tank to be reckoned with. The crazy doctor's skills will permit her to achieve brilliant things through sheer insanity. You get the idea.

These skills will be called 'Action Skills' and you will not be able to increase them with your own skill points. The points to raise them will be awarded through the course of the story and for doing awesome things (via awesome RP) and through story completion. You'll all have 4 skills, but only be awarded 1 point at a time so you'll have control over how your PC advances.

Okay, so some of you have started hashing out ideas, so I'll put forward some criteria for character creation so you can get your creative juices flowing, first...

How many of you are using a character generator? If so, be careful because i might not allow you to do your skills properly. On page 61 of the Players Guide under 'Cost of Skills' you'll read that the cost to increase a skill is Current Rank + List Price (or List Price -1, if it's a profession skill). Ignore that.

The cost to increase a skill is List Price (or LP -1).

So, if you purchased 5 ranks in Pistol (List Price 4/Rank) then you pay only 20 Skill Points (or 15 if you're a Combat Spec).

The PCs will be starting as 5th Level PCs, so your max Ranks in any given skill is 7. If you have any questions, just ask me. Since I'll be busy a lot this week, feel free to PM me. Hell people, you can even text me or instant message me via AIM (it all goes to my phone). If you don't have my number, contact me via PM and I'll hook you up. I get bored at work so it's nice to have something to B.S. about.

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Mutations, I'd have to say no to, mostly because once I start seeing ideas from players I'll be able to start formulating what their special skills are. Each PC will have 4 special skills that are theirs and only theirs, no one else can do what they do. The pilots skills will permit him/her to do fantastic things with a vehicle, the Catpain's... well... it'll make her better and misbehavin'. If there's a tank then his skills will make him a tank to be reckoned with. The crazy doctor's skills will permit her to achieve brilliant things through sheer insanity. You get the idea.

These skills will be called 'Action Skills' and you will not be able to increase them with your own skill points. The points to raise them will be awarded through the course of the story and for doing awesome things (via awesome RP) and through story completion. You'll all have 4 skills, but only be awarded 1 point at a time so you'll have control over how your PC advances.

Sounds pretty nifty. I presume you'd be doing all this under the hood?

Okay, so some of you have started hashing out ideas, so I'll put forward some criteria for character creation so you can get your creative juices flowing, first...

How many of you are using a character generator? If so, be careful because i might not allow you to do your skills properly. On page 61 of the Players Guide under 'Cost of Skills' you'll read that the cost to increase a skill is Current Rank + List Price (or List Price -1, if it's a profession skill). Ignore that.

The cost to increase a skill is List Price (or LP -1).

So, if you purchased 5 ranks in Pistol (List Price 4/Rank) then you pay only 20 Skill Points (or 15 if you're a Combat Spec).

The PCs will be starting as 5th Level PCs, so your max Ranks in any given skill is 7. If you have any questions, just ask me. Since I'll be busy a lot this week, feel free to PM me. Hell people, you can even text me or instant message me via AIM (it all goes to my phone). If you don't have my number, contact me via PM and I'll hook you up. I get bored at work so it's nice to have something to B.S. about.

Good to know. I'll crack open my good ol' Alternity book when lunch break rolls around and toss some numbers at paper.

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How many of you are using a character generator? If so, be careful because i might not allow you to do your skills properly. On page 61 of the Players Guide under 'Cost of Skills' you'll read that the cost to increase a skill is Current Rank + List Price (or List Price -1, if it's a profession skill). Ignore that.

The cost to increase a skill is List Price (or LP -1).

So, if you purchased 5 ranks in Pistol (List Price 4/Rank) then you pay only 20 Skill Points (or 15 if you're a Combat Spec).

I'm still very new to the Alternity rules, so maybe I'm just not understanding how Skill purchases work, but this doesn't seem right to me.

According to the rules - as I'm reading them - buying 5 ranks of Pistol at the price listed in the book would cost 30 points (4+5+6+7+8=30), buying it at "LP-1" would make it cost 25 points (3+4+5+6+7=25). For Combat Specs, the price would be 20 points (2+3+4+5+6=20).

Even if we're using the optional rules presented in the official Alternity errata (found here, under the heading "Optional Rule Set 2: Skill Selection and Improvement") - which would be nice, BTW! - then the cost for 5 ranks of Pistol at LP would be 20 (4x5=20), at your (very generous) general cost of LP-1 it would be 15 (3x5=15), and for Combat Specs it would be 10 (2x5=10).

Was the above quote a typo, or am I just misunderstanding the Skill-buy mechanics?

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