Serenity/Firefly: Hole in the Black IC

[ancalimohtar]

General flavor and ethos:

I just watched all the Firefly episodes and then Serenity, and thoroughly enjoyed the setting. I love the fact that it's just a group of people on a mobile stronghold, working together, doing random stuff under the radar. Also, I hate unrealistic scifi with aliens, and ships shooting green lasers at each other, and hyperspace travel and teleportation, and all that.

I'm still not sure how much of the mechanics of the Serenity RPG I'll keep, but I'm slowly making my own changes. Although I'm used to really number-crunching, tactics-heavy D&D, I'm tired of that, and not interested in heavily investing myself in another complicated system in the months before 4E comes out. So I'm more interested in the roleplaying and the feel of the universe, again, the group of independent people working together thing.

I want this game to be more freeform than I'm used to playing. I'm tired of quibbling over the rules because it matters: it shouldn't matter. I don't expect someone to be upset at a combat roll because it boned his character. I'm going to try to make sure nothing bones your character unless you want it to. This is going to be more of a collaborative storytelling game, and I as the DM should have less control over the direction of the game than DMs generally do. If you guys get together and decide you want to take a break from the current villain chasing after you, come up with a way to stall the guy, and I'll make it happen, give you a chance to chase your fortunes somewhere else temporarily. As long as verisimilitude is preserved, the story makes sense, everybody has fun, it's all good.

More on "collaborative storytelling": I want you all to keep in mind that "collaborative storytelling" means you should be thinking of the game as a whole rather than the character you happen to be playing. Think of everybody together as a group of writers for a TV show. If one of the characters never fails at anything, never has interesting problems and obstacles, never grows and never seems human, viewers get bored of the character, the show as a whole suffers, and the boss (me) is going to get rid of this character, and the responsible writer will get a good talking-to.

I know most people are used to having their own enjoyment of the game be tied directly to the successes of the characters they play, and so people "powergame" or whatever, but I'm taking a different approach. If everybody identifies with the whole story rather than one character in it (just like a TV show's writers), then nobody takes it personally when one character suffers professionally, financially, emotionally for the benefit of the show as a whole.

What makes a good life for most people is financial stability, food, shelter, luxuries, excitement, happiness, basically resources to do what they want. What makes a good story is different. In collaborative storytelling, we create characters that are searching for a good life, but in that search, go through things that make a good story.

For example, when Mal is unsuccessful at selling the Lacetor, nobody watching the show really cares; being able to sell it doesn't really make the plot of the show any more interesting. But if the story were being roleplayed, the people playing Serenity's crew might get upset over it. Not to say that I would stymie Hole in the Black's crew just because, or that I would intentionally keep the finances ragged, or dangle rewards I wasn't willing to actually give the characters, but it's just an example of how what makes a good (fictional) story is different from what makes a good (fictional) life.


Campaign concept:

I want you guys to talk to each other instead of only to me, about what you want to play, the type of game and adventures you'd like, etc.

Perhaps you would like more ship combat rather than person combat. We could do two pilots, two gunners, two mechanics, etc. Maybe even have detachable one-man fighters for additional players. Proceeds could go towards souping up the ship Millenium Falcon/Slave 1-style.

Perhaps you guys would like to run a more legitimate operation. The group could be trying to start an interplanetary business, much of the time could be spent building contacts and forging relationships and squeezing out competitors.

Maybe you guys want to run a passenger transport/protection service for high-profile clients. One or two players could play the clients, who get where they're going and are replaced with new clients. This would involve a lot of fresh and new roleplaying (plus a lot of combat as the clients get tracked to the ship or whatever).

Minchandre's idea:

Here's one idea: courier ship. It gives us an excuse to have a super fast vessel and offers a broad range of both legitimate and illegal jobs - we might even end up working for the Alliance at some point. Difficulties could be involved with pickup and delivery, as well as offering a lot of potential for stuff going wrong in space (e.g. being shot at by someone who wants whatever is valuable enough to hire a courier for). Because our ship would likely be unarmed, escaping pursuit would be a matter of applying our superior speed and maneuverability, as well as shear awesomeness."

Jannex's ideas:

We could be people-finders. Anything from kidnapped children, to new corporate recruits, to escaped convicts, we go and find people, and retrieve them.

Or we could be information-brokers. Other ships are given leads into jobs; a certain payroll shipment's scheduled arrival at a bank on one moon, or a specific vintage weapon might be available for "covert acquisition" on another planet. We're the people who find these things out in the first place. You want dirt on someone for blackmail purposes? You want to find out the holes in a security system? You want some obscure historical data? You come to us.

The point is, it all depends on what you guys want. Throw some interesting ideas out, don't be afraid. If other people don't like it, we'll keep talking. I just don't want to create another Serenity, with the exact same makeup of roles and personalities.


Logistics:

Private Communication: If you want say something to me in private, unless it's very short (a paragraph or two), send it through email. If it is very short, you can just PM it to me here. The thing is, there are 10 players, and I can't do the three-PMs-a-day-each thing anymore. This site limits your PMs to 100 total, and I'm almost full already, so I'd prefer you to email me anything there's a remote chance I'd want to save, i.e., anything over two paragraphs. My email address is ancalimohtar, and it's at gmail dot com.

Character sheets: Fill this character sheet out! (http://ancalimohtar.googlepages.com/serenitycharactersheet.xls) The blue boxes calculate themselves--don't touch them. They're there to make it easy to see how many points your character has, make sure the numbers are right. Just fill everything that the sample character has filled in.


Player List:

Koji playing Trevor Zane: Jittery, mentally and physically fragile teenage pilot
Sunfall playing Grace Willows: Caring gardener and cook, into botany and geosciences
maniac playing Alex Gibbs: Core planet mechanical engineer who wanted to live on the Rim
Kyuss playing Lee Enfield: War vet (Browncoat blockade runner), tough type who wields dual pistols
Nelphine playing Boran: Mousy sneak taken with communications and scanning equipment
Rachel_Lorelei playing Jin Wei-Li: Alliance experiment, dextrous combatant with knives, rifles, other weapons
Jannex playing Annalise Long: Good natured diplomat, computer and technical engineering expert
Conners playing Ryder: Former orphan, led a life of petty crime, now a doctor
roninkelt playing Abel: Middle-aged prospector, also a jack of all
two_many_tamale playing Sam West: Principled smuggler and interceptor pilot, suffered a mutiny by his crew


The Incomparable Hole in the Black!

Deckplans for the four levels of the ship: Each square is 10' x 10', so the ship is about 25% longer than the Firefly, and much more massive due to its bulkish shape.


Lower level (http://ancalimohtar.googlepages.com/lowerlevel.jpg)
Mid level (http://ancalimohtar.googlepages.com/midlevel.jpg)
Upper level (http://ancalimohtar.googlepages.com/upperlevel.jpg)
Escape level (http://ancalimohtar.googlepages.com/escapelevel.jpg)
View from the side (http://ancalimohtar.googlepages.com/side.jpg) (stairs/ladders are purple, the hot pink one goes through an airlock)


Filled-in deckplans: This is a work in progress, probably on hold until January.


Lower level (http://ancalimohtar.googlepages.com/lowerlevelfilled.jpg)
Rough layout of the garden (http://ancalimohtar.googlepages.com/gardenrough.jpg), located on the upper level. For this, each square is 5', not 10'.


Action shots:

From the bottom, front (http://ancalimohtar.googlepages.com/hitbbottomfront.jpg)


Operating costs: Tentative list, figures are credits per month:


Fuel: 1100
Food: For someone eating only protein packs supplemented by the garden, it would be 11; throw in some canned and fresh goods, and it would be closer to 20. All in all, for ten people, probably about 150.
Medical supplies, ammo, garden supplies, docking/water fees, etc.: 400
Ship maintenance: 700


Recruitment thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64830) for reference

[ancalimohtar]

There are quite a few changes I made from the official published Serenity RPG rules. Here they are, for easy reference:


Houserule #1: Universal points system

The way they have the creation and advancement of attributes and skills set up, it's stupid as all hell. Nothing makes any sense. The cumulative costs of getting to a certain point are different. The rules in the book give a clear-cut best and cheapest way to get good stats: put d12s in your favorite attributes and d4s in the rest, and raise the d4s during play. If you spread d6s and d8s across everything at the beginning, it would take you a stupid number of points to get anything to d12. I changed it so creation worked the same way as advancement:



Score Attributes Base skills Advanced skills
margin cumul margin cumul margin cumul
d2 8 8 2 2 - -
d4 16 24 4 6 - -
d6 24 48 6 12 - -
d8 32 80 - - 8 8
d10 40 120 - - 10 18
d12 48 168 - - 12 30
d12+d2 56 224 - - 14 44
d12+d4 64 288 - - 16 60
d12+d6 - - - - 18 78
d12+d8 - - - - 20 98
d12+d10 - - - - 22 120
d12+d12 - - - - 24 144
etc. - - - - +2 +marginal cost
Everything works the same way. Don't have to plan ahead now. In addition, if you really want, you can have a d2 attribute. This way you can actually play a mentally retarded character, or an invalid pilot or something.

Traits are now valued at 40 points for a minor one, and 80 for a major one. Traits, attributes, and skills all draw from the same points pool.

For comparison purposes:

Book's rules:

Score ---------Creation--------- ---------Advancement---------
Attributes Skills Attributes Skills
marg cumul marg cumul marg cumul marg cumul
2 (2) (2) 2 2 (8) (8) 2 2
4 2 4 2 4 (16) (24) 4 6
6 2 6 2 6 24 48 6 12
8 2 8 2 8 32 80 8 20
10 2 10 2 10 40 120 10 30
12 2 12 2 12 48 168 12 32
14 2 14 2 14 56 224 14 46
16 2 16 2 16 64 288 16 62

You pay linearly for each point of attributes and skills at creation, and they cost the same number of points. But when you start the game, all of a sudden attributes costs four times as much, and top it all off, you pay increasing amounts to advance any of them. It's really messy compared to my solution, where all the columns make sense and follow the same pattern:

My revised rules:


Score ---------Creation--------- ---------Advancement---------
Attributes Skills Attributes Skills
margin cumul margin cumul margin cumul margin cumul
2 8 8 2 2 8 8 2 2
4 16 24 4 6 16 24 4 6
6 24 48 6 12 24 48 6 12
8 32 80 8 20 32 80 8 20
10 40 120 10 30 40 120 10 30
12 48 168 12 42 48 168 12 42
14 56 224 14 56 56 224 14 56
16 64 288 16 72 64 288 16 72

More specifics on character creation: Now, because of all the rejiggering I did above, Greenhorn/Veteran/BDH doesn't fit anymore. It was stupid anyway (you could build a BDH that took forever to become if someone started as a greenhorn, or you could build one that was marginally better, kind of defeats the purpose?) So instead, I looked at what was possible with the system given in the book, and gave enough points so that roughly the same power level could be achieved with my system. That gave me a benchmark.

But there's a great thing with my system: Points are always worth the same! a Plot Point has always equalled an Advancement Point, but the points you got at character creation were different, worth much more. Now, you can rapidly add up the total number of Points your character is worth and figure out an objective measure of character power or level.

What you can do now at character creation is give your character a crappy set of attributes, but save the points for skills (just like you could always save them or add to them with traits). You can also do the reverse. Remember, attributes cost four times as much.

What I found messing with the numbers is that greenhorn roughly corresponds to 600 points, veteran somewhat under 750, and BDH about 900-950, points used on skills included.

For this game, take 600 points total, to distribute among attributes and skills as you like. I suggest you split them up in roughly the ratio given above.


Houserule #2: Agility and Strength

These two attributes in this game have a few problems. First, Agility represents disparate qualities of a character--manual dexterity and full-body agility. When it's used for, say, Craft/Watchmaking and Medical Expertise/Surgery, it describes someone who has excellent hand-eye coordination, but more importantly, very precise and steady hand movements. However, when it's used for Athletics/Dodge or Performance/Dance, it's describing body control, center of balance, and full-body agile movement.

On the other hand, Strength is pretty much useless. You use it to make Strength checks to move stuff, sure, but otherwise, you only need it for Melee Weapons and Unarmed Combat, and those two are generally for backup when guns aren't available. Just like in real life.

As a result of this, Agility is way, way too good of an attribute, and Strength is crappy. You pretty much need a good Agility for any kind of combat character--first, to Athletics/Dodge or /Run or /Acrobatics or /Whatever on defense, and then also to Gun/Pistol or /Rifle or /Shotgun on offense. Nobody here has a higher Strength than Agility, for example. I'm going to shift everything with full-body motion from Agility toward Strength and rename the two.

Agility and Strength as attributes are being replaced by Dexterity and Agility. Dexterity represents accuracy, precision, and strength of hand movements. Agility represents control of full-body motion, balance, momentum, and leverage. Most of what Strength did (hand-to-hand combat, both with weapons and melee, moving stuff, encumbrance) falls under the new Agility, and makes sense there. Anything left over that doesn't fit Dexterity or Agility will go to Vitality.


Houserule #3: Revised Skills

The skills are written and categorized really poorly in the book. Revisions:

Planetary Vehicles is eliminated. Its advanced skills are now split between Pilot and Athletics; anything with a machine is Pilot, otherwise (scuba, horseriding, etc.) it's Athletics.

Mechanical engineering/Technical engineering get shaken up and cleaned up. They used to have repair, and then create/alter. Which was dumb. Now, the advanced skills are individual disciplines, and having points in a discipline means you can create/alter and repair stuff involving it:

Mechanical engineering
-mechatronics (robotics/automatic systems, includes navigation computers)
-structural analysis
-propulsion
-demolitions
-guns
-heavy weapons
-any other category of non-electrical machinery someone would want to make/alter/repair

Technical engineering
-mechatronics (just like in real life, different backgrounds can both reach the same place)
-communications/sensors
-hacking (fold technical security systems into this)
-electronics
-computer programming (you probably won't need this--what are you, a software developer? most programs you'd want to write probably fall into one of the others above)

Covert can also lead to hacking and comm systems.


Houserule #4: Vehicle and Ship combat

I haven't decided how I'm going to change this, but I really dislike the way ships are treated as characters and given stats in a really forced and artificial manner. I think ship combat could be very exciting, and a battle in space might involve everybody--engineer tweaking the systems, pilot and copilot dogfighting, gunners manning cannons, etc. The way the game does it right now--lame.

Update: I'm working out a system for this, and so far it's promising. Attack roll will be the sum of a Pilot/Ship Type roll (for positioning) and a Heavy Weapons/Weapon Type roll (for aiming). Defense roll will be the sum of an innate ship Evasiveness value added to a Pilot/High Speed Maneuvering roll. Damage reduction and HP will depend on armor and hull.


Misc. Flavor Houserules

Cortex: The internet is not that scary, invasive, and simultaneously inaccessible, even in the future. Imagine the Cortex to be the future's Internet, modified because the speed of light is now a factor when we're talking about such distances.

Terminology: As the game progresses, I hope everybody will introduce new words/slang to make the setting more believable and organic. I'll keep a list here:

-float(s): hovercraft, for passenger transport; similar to how "car" is used today.

[ancalimohtar]

Learn to speak (and type) Mandarin!

For the sounds that exist in English, I'll use English sounds to approximate it. For the ones that don't, I'll use pinyin. You can learn the pinyin system from Wikipedia or other sites. I really recommend you listen to some of those .wav files. The pairs of consonants are related to each other in the same way. Sounds that I will use pinyin for:


zh vs. j: They're both like the English j, but the difference is like the difference between "genie" and "djinni"; zh is a full-mouthed genie, while j is pronounced closer to a closed d sound, almost trying to squeezing the air out.

ch vs. q: Both like English ch, but the same as the above. The ch is fuller, the q is more hissing air.

sh vs x: English sh, but again, sh is fuller, x is flatter and hissing.

z: dz (suds)
c: ts (cats)


Now the vowels:


a: long/Spanish a as in ah. Thus dang is not like the English exclamation dang! but like dahng
e: kind of like uh
i: long ee
o: oh. Thus gong is like gohng instead of "hit the gong!"
uo and ou: Break down the word "whoa": it's mostly pronounced wuo + ou
u: oo
ü: kind of like yu


Okay then. Now the words that are most likely to be used/abused changed from the sourcebook:


Accusing someone of lying, a ridiculous notion, or talking out of the posterior: Fuhn Pi Fang pi (fahng pee), literally “farting.” Carries the implication that the person being talked to is saying something so untrue/worthless it's like he's farting instead of talking. Kind of like "Bullisht!"

Alas, not good, what a mess, too bad: Jao Gao Zao Gao (dzao gao), literally “spoiled cake.” "Oh isht!"

Alliance: Nien Mohn Tong Meng (tong mung)

Bastard, jerk: Huen Dahn Hun Dan (hwen dan), literally “rotten egg.” Connotes much stronger hate than both "jerk" and "bastard," more like assohle

Big boss or operator of a business: Lao Buhn Lao Ban; Lao Buhn Ni’un Lao Ban Niang (lao ban nyang) for female boss or proprietor’s wife. Also informal appellation for acquaintances.

Bottoms up: Gon Beh Gan Bei (gahn bay), literally “dry cup.”

Brilliant: Jing Chai Jing Cai (djing tsai).


A few that have already been used or introduced as the game's progressed:


Cow dung: niao fung Niu fen (nyio fen). It's not really used in any figurative way. You can't use it as "bullisht," but I suppose in the future things could change. Most likely used to compare something to poop.

Are we understood?/Understand?: Dohn mah? Dong ma?

(at the end of a sentence) Right?/You know?/Am I right?/You know what I mean?: Shi Dui bu dui? (dway boo dway), literally "right/wrong?"; or Ni shuo dui bu dui? (nee shwua dway boo dway), literally "tell me, right or wrong?"; or dui ma? (dway ma), literally "right?"

You understand, right?: Ni dong ba? (nee DOHNG bah)

[Conners]

((This is how you use the forum dice-roller: XdY+Z
X = The number of dice. Y = The number of sides to each dice. +Z = Add on the bonus/penalty you have with the skill you're rolling (replace "+" with "-" if penalty :smalltongue:).))

Ryder shakes Alex's hand with the same enthusiasm as before (he was wearing gloves to his hands' hygienic benefit). "A pleasure to meet you!" he says nicely, "the ship looks in good condition, not that I can say that with mechanical experience." He smiles back pleasantly. Alex has a bit of trouble working Ryder out... Strong, agile, but not quite so good for taking a punch, would be a good physical description where fighting goes. Although he's physically like a Rim-Worlder, his accent, manner and appearance point him out as a Core-Worlder. In the end, he is strong or leans toward it heavily.
The doctor listens politely for a moment. "Dohn," he answers simply. Ryder immediately aids in carrying the larger chest, trying to carry the majority of the weight for Alex.
If necessary: 1d8+1d6
"Yes, I spent a lot of time on a ship like this as a child, so I generally know what to expect," Ryder answers. "I don't really have trouble getting work, but I'm tired of the Core-Worlds."

"Ryder!" he answers One-Eye--almost extending his hand while carrying the crate but remembering not to just in time, "it's very nice to meet you Lee, or do you prefer the other name? Don't worry about calling me mister!"

He watches Lee take his rifle (or pistol) interestedly. "My father made it," he says conservatively as the sight is adjusted, "it does seem to need a checkup though... Well, I better help Alex carry this, I'll come right back for my rifle (or pistol). Thanks!" With that said, he snaps back to helping carry the crate.
After they place it down. "Is there anything I should learn or do before I get back my gun?" he asks Alex politely.

[Koji]

Trevor Zane

Trevor sits at the bridge, intent on familiarizing himself with the controls. He has said very little since his recent arrival, and has spent most of his spare time making fine adjustments to the equipment, focused on proving his prowess as quickly and completely as possible.

[mainiac]

Ryder strikes a cord mentioning the Core. As they continue past Lee she continues the thread of conversation.
"Yeah, I get your meaning about the Core. Shiny as an oil slick, but sometimes ya gotta wish life had more excitement. Like, y'know, the excitement of living life off the cameras..." She smiles ruefully and continues to lead Ryder, going through the depth of the ship into the engine room. "Yeah, set 'er here and I'll get it later. Come with, I'll show you the infirmary. Speakin' of which, how you'd pick up on doctorin'? You an ex browncoat or the like?"
Alex listens as she leads Ryder up another level to the infirmiry. "The infirmary's right opposite the garden, which is very Zen and all, definate selling point." She opens the door on the infirmary, currently a barebones affair with little more then shelves and a couple beds.
"Infirmary's pretty basic right now but I figure you can gussy the place up a bit." She rolls up her sleeve as she says this. "Now, if'n we sign you we'll head on over to the moons, won't take more'n a few hours. You got the supplies to give me a 'noc for anything they got up there or you gonna need to get some shopping done?"

--------------------------------

At an earlier time:
"Hey kiddo." Alex flush with the success of her huntin'. Said success was carried under her left arm, a fuse box from a ship not so lucky as theirs. Her right hand held a sandwhich, which was to say a piece of protein between two thicker pieces of protein, which she set aside at the moment to work and talk.
"We'll, your right about the ship needin' a pilot. Our first fellow took his leave here, leavin' us stranded." As she spoke she opened the back hatch on the pilot's terminal and got to work. She replaced the busted fuse, then secured the extra's for spare keeping, strapping them to the inside with a length of patchtape she retrieved from the depths of her bulky overalls.
"Not exactly sure I'm so desperate as to put a child at the wheel of my bird though." Alex speaks not unkindly as she flips the breaker, causing the terminal to spring to life.
"Don't get me wrong, kid, I like your spunk, but on a ship like this, you need someone who with a steady hand in an emergency, someone with experience, Dohn-ma? But hey, I got an offer for you. We're gonna head to the factory town over east, try to find us a pilot there. You take the helm for the hop, if I like what I see you sign on as co-pilot, alright? Won't pay more'n three square a day, but it'll be a good way for you to get time behind the wheel and learn the tricks o' the trade. Should make it easier to impress some other captain when your time comes. How you like the sound of that, kid?"

[Koji]

Trevor Zane

Trevor stares at the floor panelling while Alex speaks to him. His only affirmaiton of her offer is a nod. He honestly hadn't even expected that good of an offer, and tries not to muck it up by saying anything.

[Conners]

Ryder nods in agreement to the mention of cameras. He always hated those things... "The planet I lived on was neutral in the war, so I didn't really take any part in it. I got my medical degree through a scholarship," he answers Alex's question, following her into the infirmary, "but even with that, my family and friends had to scrape all their money together to pay various, 'expenses', required to carry on with my scholarship... As for why I became a doctor: I'm not overly sensitive to blood and injuries. And, well, the pay is good--" he grins widely as he adds in the last part, "--Doctor skills are also useful in most any situation." He looks around the infirmary with some surprise. "Aren't there any medical supplies?" he asks, slight shock in his voice--he calms down when Alex mentions shopping on the moons. "I have all my own tools, but I don't carry many medical supplies with me. The amount we need really depends on how long till we can resupply, as well as how many injuries will need to be treated until we do. So, I guess I'll work it out when we get there!
"I'll get my tools sorted with the infirmary! When I'm done, may I look at the garden you mentioned?" Already Ryder begins unpacking medical equipment and arranging it to match the infirmary, as he waits for his answer. He scans it carefully, to such an extent that you wouldn't want to bet that he couldn't walk through it blindfolded.

[Sunfall]

A soft murmuring can be heard from the greenhouse door, which only ever closes at night-time. There, in the luminous glare of lamps creating artificial daylight and a fine mist emanating from the watering systems, a figure can be seen, half obscured between abundant leaves, twines and blossoms. There seems to be quite a variety of plants, neatly ordered in rows of gel containers, but leaving this sort of order soon after they emerge from their soil, entwining gaily and creating a strange sort of snow-globe jungle.

At the back of the room, a vast container can be glimpsed, carrying the customary labels of crop supplies. Tools, pots, seeds, bulbs and little plastic bags are everywhere, but despite its seeming a bit cluttered, everything has its own place in this garden.

The woman who seems to tend the plants seems completely oblivious to anything that happens on the nearby hallway. Her age is hard to place - she could be in her late forties, but her scrawny frame, weathered skin and silver-grey hair make it impossible to be sure. Wide pants hang on her a bit like a portable black tent, and there is a well-worn green cardigan hanging from her sinewy shoulders. She also wears a dark blue hat on her short wavy hair.

Her movements seem relaxed and fluid, as she weeds and clips, digs and plucks. She works in a tender, peaceful flow that can be noticed about many an experienced gardener. Now and then, she seems to be muttering under her breath or humming a tuneless melody. Right now, that woman seems to have all the time of the world.

[mainiac]

Alex pauses a bit, unsure what to make of the young man's silence. She decides to shrug it off, and reaches for the intercomm. "No real sense in dwadling here. You wanna show me what you can do?" Alex flicks on the comm and is pleased to hear her voice echo throughout the ship. "Hello travelers. Hey, shiny work getting the comm patched, Annalise, sounds fine. Anyways, we're going to be taking a short hop right now, check out the prospective pilot in, Ta ma de, what's the name of that town? Anyway, stap in. Alex out."
Alex flipped off the comm and turned back to Trevor. "Ship's yours kid."

----------------------

"Scholarship case! Huh." going by her surprise, Alex was obviously pretty impressed at that. "Don't get too many minds of that caliber chosing life on the rim." she stuck out her hand. "Makes this simple though, if you got the cortex records to back up your story, you've definately got a berth on my ship." Alex held onto Ryder's hand and leaned in close. "Won't be any unpleasant surprises on the cortex, will there doctor? Y'know, reasons a licenced doctor would want to head out towards the rim?"

[Jannex]

A pretty young woman with bright red hair pulled back in a braid strolls down the stairs from the crew quarters. She wears a tank top, cargo pants with bulging pockets, and combat boots. "We got new people, Alex?" She wanders down to the infirmary, finding a place to strap in as per the captain's orders, and gives the man sorting out his tools a friendly smile. "Hi," she says brightly, "I'm Annalise. Are you joining up?"

[Koji]

Trevor Zane

Wordlessly, Trevor begins initiating the takeoff sequence. He flicks several switches, manually starting each process individually to ensure that there are no hitches in the system, and smiles as the engine begins to roar to life.

He says to Alex, "No need to leave atmo, but the cloud cover makes Beylix a bit of a rough ride, even for a boat this size. Should be simple for me to handle so long's the Hole's in good shape."

((I am unsure of whether checks need to be made for standard flight operations, and what stat they correlate to, so I'll leave the dice off for the moment. Someone wanna clarify in the OOC thread?))

[Conners]

"I wasn't born on a Core-World," Ryder answers Alex calmly, "is there any reason I shouldn't like to see the Rim again?--" he paused a moment after saying it, considering reasons he wouldn't want to... "--All right, so there are a lot of reasons. Still, I came from a tough a planet--so I can handle most troubles the Rim can throw at me." As he speaks, the doctor forages through his pockets, finally pulling out an electronic identity card and handing it to Alex. "Just press the button there, and the small screen will display my record," he said, pointing out a small button to the side of the screen.
As his record slides up (at an adjustable speed), Alex can find no criminal record. She does notice, however, that Ryder is listed as a graduate from one of the top Alliance Medical Academies. "Everything is in order then?" he asks nicely. Information on card: Age: 20. Sex: Male. Occupation: Doctor. Criminal Activities: None recorded. Eyes: Blue. Height: 6'00". Weight: 144 lbs. Academic Records: Federal Alliance Medical Academy, Scholarship: Surgery A-Class, Internal Medicine A-Class, General C-Class. Debts: $0.00.

Ryder smiles back at Annalise. "Yes," he says cheerfully, "or at least I think I am! I'm Ryder. It's a pleasure to meet you, Annalise! Just tell me if you if you get sick, I have an immunization pack in my first-aid kit." He extends his hand to her, trying to work her out similarly to when Alex looked him over. Was she from the core, or the rim--a fighter, or a speaker?
For fun: 1d10+1d8 (Sweet and Cheerful)

[Conners]

((Rerolling.... Stupid roller.....))

[roll0] (Sweet and Cheerful) + [roll1] Total: 8 + 4 = 12.
((Wow, that would beat a difficulty over hard... And I even forgot to add the Allure trait's bonus, :smallbiggrin:.))

[Kyuss]

The one-eyed warrior saunters his way into the infirmary, holding the newly arrived doctor's firearm in his hands. With his good eye, he takes a final look down the sight, and hands it back to its owner. Lee takes a quick scan of those gathered around in the upper level, looking for a place to strap in. He moves in the way of Annalise and Ryder, and begins to speak to the young doctor.

"Weren't exactly introduced right back there. Name's Lee Enfield, but like I said, most just call me 'one eye.' How'd you hear about our little Hole here?"

[Conners]

"Thank you," he says to Lee as he takes his rifle back. He straps it casually onto his back. "Nice to meet you Lee," he says, shaking the man's hand, "I'm Ryder, the new doctor, as you probably heard. Thank you for fixing my rifle's sight. How I heard of this ship? Well, i was looking for a ship going to the Rim, and this one's design and course interested me the most. So I heard about the Hole-in-the-Black from general scouting."

[ancalimohtar]

People, ships' proper names have no article preceding them. Thus, "Serenity," not "the Serenity," and "Hole in the Black" and not "the Hole in the Black."

Also, you don't need to roll for social interactions between you guys. In fact, don't worry about rolling for anything while you're just setting up the story.

Edit: If you're going to use it as a nickname, I suppose "the Hole" would work, as in "Let's get back to the Hole.

[mainiac]

Alex smiles confidently at Trevor. "Good shape ain't gonna be a problem on my boat, kid. Not too brag or anything, but my ship's gonna purr by the time I'm through. Hm..." Alex takes note of the manual startup Trevor is excecuting. "You always this meticulous?" she asks in a neutral sort of curriousity.

-------------------

Noticing that a crowd was begining to form, Alex discretely slipped the card back to Ryder. She then gives him a reassuring pat on the back. "Of course he's signing on. Hey folks." she nodded at Lee and Annalise. She listens a bit before excusing herself. "Hey, looks like we'll be leaving the world soon so make sure y'aint forgetting anything. I'm gonna spread the news. Y'all help Ryder feel at home now." With that, Alex headed into the garden.
"Hey, there Grace." Alex greated the older woman as she walked in. Alex took a moment to appreciate the crisp freshness that filled the room before continuing. "You could probably hear, but looks like we found a doctor, a real good one at that. So our bussiness on this world is wrappin' up an' I realized I hadn't checked in on if you wanted to pick anything else up while we were so close to the core. Hm?"

[Jannex]

Annalise's smile brightens at the mention of the immunization packs. "That's awfully handy! I might take you up on that, if we end up anywhere that folks are sick." Reaching around Lee, she accepts Ryder's hand and shakes it; while firm and friendly, her grip doesn't have a great deal of strength behind it, suggesting she's very much not the rough-and-tumble combat type. "Anyway, welcome aboard. I'm sure you'll fit right in around here." Ryder can probably detect a trace of crisp Core diction in her speech, though it sounds like she's grown used to affecting Rim speech patterns.

[Conners]

"Well, I better get some more when I restock on medical supplies," Ryder laughs after hearing Annalise's eagerness. "Thank you, I'll do my best to fit in and be useful!
"So, Alex is the mechanic for the ship, and I'm the doctor--but what do you two do here?" He gets back to work as he waits for an answer, turning to look at them as they speak for politeness.

[Kyuss]

Lee looks behind him and looks down at Annalise.

"Oh...uh, sorry there, Anna. Hehe...Didn't notice ya' there. Not that you ain't woth noticin'...but, you know what happens when I see good pieces, hehe... How's them sensors runnin' today, kiddo?"

Without waiting for an answer, Lee quickly turns around and begins to walk out of the room, mumbling under his breath. Upon hearing Ryder, he turns around and faces the new doctor. Pointing at the newest bullet-holes in his shirt, he smiles and responds.

"I'm a leaky bucket that makes more leaky buckets."

[Jannex]

Annalise rolls her eyes, and favors Lee with an amused smile. "S'alright, Lee; we all know how you get about your toys," she teases. "And the sensors're just shiny, if I do say so myself."

She turns back to Ryder, her expression again reflecting friendly interest."Oh, I handle electronics and computer systems," she explains offhandedly. "You know, keep the NavSat and the sensors in good order, fix the comm occasionally, keep an eye on the Cortex; that sort of thing."

[Kyuss]

Upon hearing Annalise's answer, Lee blushes just a tad and shouts back to Anna:

"Figured they would be. We'd probably be blind withoutcha, kiddo."

Lee walks into Grace's garden, perhaps having a little better of a day, where she and the captain are discussing items and materials. Knocking as he enters, he bows to both.

"Apologies, Ms. Willows, but I just had a quick question for the good cap'n here. Cap'n, you got a new job lined up? Maybe somethin' in the arear of a nice lil' delivery run...or, you know, the ol' guard/escort mission? Somethin' I can my hands dirty in..."

[Sunfall]

Grace looks up as the Captain enters, and gives one of her forlorn smiles. "Oh, Alex, dear, didn't hear ya come in..." She sets down a small pair of clipping scissors and glances trough the door to the infirmary as Alex speaks. "A doctor, how shi sung chung", she replies. "Good ter have a real doctor on board."

As the Captain mentions the supplies, Grace gives one more of her small smiles, saying: "Oh, how good of you remindin' me! I've ordered some spices and supplies, and now look at me, I nearly forgot ter pick 'em up..."

As Lee comes in and greets her, Grace's smile grows wider, and she exclaims: "Jao Gao, Lee, don't make me older than I already am! How often should I tell you to call me Grace? I'm just the cook, fer cryin' out loud..."

[Koji]

Trevor Zane


"You always this meticulous?" she asks in a neutral sort of curiousity.

"No ma'am," he says with no small shade of timidity. "Just gettin' a feel for the ship. Every one of them startup processes helps clue me in on how she's gonna fly. I cut my teeth flyin' scrapped ships, and they taught me how important it is to know every nook and cranny of the boat yer flyin'."

[Conners]

"Well, you must certainly be glad to have me here now I expect," Ryder says to Lee, as the "leaky bucket" walks away.
"Oh, so you're our electronics mechanic, basically?" he asks Annalise, grinning a little, "it's good to have someone who can keep the sensors in order.
"On the subject of computers, doesn't the infirmary have one? Since the war, most ships with an infirmary are set up with a medical computer."

[Nelphine]

Boran


"No ma'am," he says with no small shade of timidity. "Just gettin' a feel for the ship. Every one of them startup processes helps clue me in on how she's gonna fly. I cut my teeth flyin' scrapped ships, and they taught me how important it is to know every nook and cranny of the boat yer flyin'."

"Oooh hey cap'n; is this the new pilot? Shiny! I know every nook and cranny of this boat, and I try to know everything that happens around her too. Like that!" Boran tilts his head, listening to the headpiece in his ear. "There's something small out there floating around; never even cross our path, but I like to know what rocks is out there, even if it's just to give Lee something to aim at for practice."

Boran goes back to his scanners, fingers fiddling with controls, and eyes far away; he lives to find new things, though when he goes off duty.. the new people will be at least as good.

[mainiac]

"Hey Boran." Alex says without taking her eyes off of Trevor. She keeps a watchful gaze on the child, not wanting to miss out on anything while he holds the fate of her ship in his hands. "Yeah, Trevor here's the latest addition to our outstanding cast. Still gonna keep lookin' though, check out that other applicant we had. Been thinkin' we'll head coreward a bit, get ourselves a doctor and something to fill up the empty room. Gettin' sick out in the black once was more then enough for me."

-----------------------------

"Why, Mr. Enfield, you truely can be virteous to a fault 'round us wimmin' folk." Alex adopts a stuck up high class Persephone drawl in a momentary show of cheek at Lee and Grace's exchange.
"But Lee, don't get too twitchy yet. I didn't want to find work until we'd had some time to look for the doc, not to mention we still gotta fill up the infirmary. Our doc seemed shocked to see we didn't have a full trauma ward." Alex smiles wryly at such naivite. "Couple days, one eye, then you can shoot folk up to your hearts content. But Grace, sooner we get this boat off the ground the better. I'm gonna go find where Boran and the kid got to. See if you can wrap up you're shoppin' alright?"

[Conners]

((OOC: I say we start the ship off and head to where we can purchase those medical supplies :smallbiggrin:. Maybe we can get our job there too...
Who wants our first job to have a lot of combat?))

[mainiac]

((We're killing time cause the GM isn't ready yet. Certainly a good brawl is worthwhile, though I'm excitable as to variety myself.))

[Conners]

((OOC: ...... How about a couple of fun scenarios?
Example: One-Eye and Ryder, for some unexplained reason, are arm wrestling. Note: If Lee doesn't want to, someone else can take his place.))


Gripping tightly, Ryder pull with all his strength against the mercenary's arm. [roll0] + [roll1] = 6


((OOC: We start out with our arms in the middle. We both make an opposed Strength + Vitality check. The person with the higher score pushes the other's arm one step to their side. Win twice in a row from the middle and you get their arm on the table.
Example: [W][][S][][W]
S = Starting position. W = Win. Every time you win a check you get your opponent's arm closer to their "W", when they're pushed onto the square with their "W", you win.
Let's say 2 out of 3.))

[Rachel Lorelei]

Jin Wei-Li

"Wei! This Hole in the Black?"
The baritone voice is that of the young man who's standing at the entrance to the Hole's cargo bay: Chinese in appearance, with sharp cheekbones, a braid going down to the small of his back, and a lean, wiry build. He's got practical traveling clothes--a shirt he obviously doesn't care too much about, a brown leather vest, pants that maybe weren't quite as dust-brown at the beginning of the day. There's a large pack on his back, and a rifle peeks over his shoulder; he raises one hand in a smooth wave. His voice brims with confidence, and he projects so it carries clearly without him shouting.
"Heard you lot are hiring and then heading out of here! Suits me fine, so I thought as I'd check if you need security--you're headin' Rimward, things get rough out there."

[Sunfall]

"No problem." Grace gives Alex a smile, putting down her hat and taking up a bag with some bulging shapes in it. "Won't take long at all. Merchandise was paid for ages ago. Trader's just round the corner, if I remember right." Her gaze shifts to Lee, and she adds: "Well, if you're that twitchy, you can come with me. I'd fancy someone who could carry a bit of a crate... Just try not to get yourself shot again, will ya?" With that, she dreamily saunters out of the garden, taking the bulging bag with her.

~*~

"You're quite right here, young man, this bein' the Hole", Grace remarks to Wei-Li as she ambles out of the cargo bay - barefoot, as usual. "Bit of brawn couldn't hurt, I reckon. Captain's right back there, nice young woman with a sandwich and maybe the odd scrap metal part in her hand. Can't miss 'er."

With that, Grace steps off the platform - and into a steaming swad of cow dung (as she wasn't looking where she was going). With a somewhat astonished expression she looks down, then, slowly, a broad smile erupts on her face.

"Aaah, farming planets", she remarks offhandedly.


((Wei-Li is his first name, is it?))

[Rachel Lorelei]

((Jin's his first name--I'm guessing Teh Futar uses English FirstName-FamilyName conventions.))

Up close, the young man is perhaps eighteen to twenty years old. His nose has a small dent in it, the kind that happens when it gets broken a couple too many times to set quite right; a thin white scar peeks out from under his shirt collar, crossing his collar bone; he's tall, if not extraordinarily so, and compact, like a wildcat. He's got the appearance of a bruiser, but a crooked grin lights up his face, and it makes him look a sight more friendly.
"Yeah, niao fun's a common problem 'round these parts. But, hey, look--they've come up with these fancy newfangled things of late t'help with that? They call'em boots. Just... sayin'."

He twitches his neck to the side with an audible crick, and suddenly shifts from standing to walking into the ship, his own boots making noise on the cargo bay's floor.
"Hoy, Captain!"

[mainiac]

((Didn't think Jin and Ryder would come from somewhere quite so rustic, but that's they're fault for not specifying where they got on eh?

Thinking up a list of when people signed on. First batch is Alex and Annalise, as they'd be the ones getting the ship up and running. Lee would soon after as they need some muscle to protect what's they're. A couple of weeks later Hole in the Black is ready to fly and they sign up Grace and Kim Hun Lee (the pilot Trevor was to replace) for the maiden voyage, a trip to Boros to get some parts from a buddy of Alex.
Another week on Boros follow's as they upgrade some of the worse off equipment. Kim leaves and Trevor takes his place. They do a milk run mission to Persephone and look around for a doctor and some interior equipment, medical supplies, things for the rec room, etc. They sign up Ryder and Jin on Persephone, head to the moons to get some gear on the cheap and are officially open for business.
Don't know where Boran fits in. You said something about him robbing a crew member but I don't yet know which. If your still lookin' for someone to rob, it could be Alex, letting him get in even before Annalise.
So, thought's? Concerns?))

"Hey!" Alex waves to the newcomer as she walks down the stairs into the cargo bay. She's ditched the dirty work clothes, wearing now a pair of tan slacks, a short sleeved white dress shirt and a ratty old sweater tied around her waist. She's fiddling with the sweater as she walks, trying to make it conceal the six shooter she's got holstered at her side.
"Captains only my formal name." she explains as she steps onto the floor and walks over to the prospect. "Most o' the time I go by Alex Gibbs." She extends a handshake and casually looks him over. "I'm heading to town right now, gots to hunt me down some wayward crew. Bit of a walk, you want to come with?" Alex leads the way back out of the ship, stepping over what plagued Grace without even needing to look and starts off in a casual stride.
"So, I take it you're a bit of the fightin' type, right? Truth be told, I wasn't lookin' for another hired gun truth be told but it never hurts. You seem a bit young for a hired gun though, there a story there?"

[Conners]

((Actually, I figured this is the moon we were going to. Ryder has gone off to get medical supplies--watching his step as he goes (even though he is wearing those newfangled things called boots :D).))

Ryder walks through the rustic town, making sure no pickpocket get at his mousetrapped belongings (he has set mousetraps in his stuff...). After walking a while, he finally comes to the place. "Good morning!" he greets the shop owner enthusiastically, "I've come for the medical supplies!" After some pleasant conversation, Ryder begins the course of trying to haggle the price down (preferably with a female shop owner).
1d12+1d2 (Sweet and Cheerful, Allure) + [roll0] =
Using his knowledge of medical supplies, prices for them, and what they're worth selling on such a backwater moon--Ryder tries to get the best deal for himself and the crew, without offending the shop owner--if possible.

[Conners]

((Stupid rolls....))

[roll0] + [roll1] (Allure, Sweet and Cheerful) + 8 = 22

((Wow :smalleek:...... that was lucky.....))

[Kyuss]

Lee bows to both of those in the garden, and scratches his head.

"Sorry, Ms. Grace...but, uh, well...sorry.

Anyway, cap'n, I ain't gettin' antsy, I'm gettin' itchy, there's a difference. Antsy is me wantin' to shoot things, and itchy is me wantin' to get off this rock and back out ta the black. We been outta the black for two weeks now, and only for what?"

He interupts himself and looks down at the bulletholes in his shirt. With a look of recollection on his face, and moves on in his conversation.

"Yeah, Ms. Willows, I'll help ya. I'm more than willin' to get outta here while the doc's chattin' it up with Anna...and the rest of the crew."
---------------------------------------------
A time later, Lee follows Grace out from the Hole's cargo hold out onto the surface. As he passes by Jin, Lee's good eye meets with his two. Lee gives him a cold stare, as if sensing everything that the other young man is doing. After a moment, Lee breaks his stare, and begins paying his attention back to Grace.

"Alright Ms....we ready to shop?"

[ancalimohtar]

((Didn't think Jin and Ryder would come from somewhere quite so rustic, but that's they're fault for not specifying where they got on eh?

Thinking up a list of when people signed on. First batch is Alex and Annalise, as they'd be the ones getting the ship up and running. Lee would soon after as they need some muscle to protect what's they're. A couple of weeks later Hole in the Black is ready to fly and they sign up Grace and Kim Hun Lee (the pilot Trevor was to replace) for the maiden voyage, a trip to Boros to get some parts from a buddy of Alex.
Another week on Boros follow's as they upgrade some of the worse off equipment. Kim leaves and Trevor takes his place. They do a milk run mission to Persephone and look around for a doctor and some interior equipment, medical supplies, things for the rec room, etc. They sign up Ryder and Jin on Persephone, head to the moons to get some gear on the cheap and are officially open for business.
Don't know where Boran fits in. You said something about him robbing a crew member but I don't yet know which. If your still lookin' for someone to rob, it could be Alex, letting him get in even before Annalise.
So, thought's? Concerns?))That's exactly what I think you guys should figure out. How the story starts. Who gets on when, where, and why. I think they've decided Boran will be getting caught by Annalise, by the way.

Also, it's really unfortunate the Serenity book has a butchered version of Mandarin in it. I'm updating the OP with how a few common phrases are supposed to sound.


After some pleasant conversation, Ryder begins the course of trying to haggle the price down (preferably with a female shop owner).
Using his knowledge of medical supplies, prices for them, and what they're worth selling on such a backwater moon--Ryder tries to get the best deal for himself and the crew, without offending the shop owner--if possible.You get some of them for a mediocre price. The rest aren't available here. I'm including what you got for free with the ship, since it's the start of the game. You should stop impulsively rolling for everything, haha.

[Conners]

((But if I have to ask every time about rolling, then it'll make things take a lot longer... And, I figured I'd get the supplies for free with the roll I managed, LOL :smallbiggrin:!))

Ryder heads back to the ship with the supplies. "I've stocked the infirmary, Captain!" he tells Alex, "we can head out as soon as we're ready!"

((I'm getting antsy! Let's find something where we shoot a lot of people, and fast :smallbiggrin:!))

[roninkelt]

Abel (http://www.deltadave.net/characters/images/Abel.png)

falls in on the other side of Cap'n Alex as she and old one eye head into town. "Did I hear you right ma'am? You lookin for crew?" He removes a somewhat battered, shapeless hat. "Abel's your man, I can turn a hand at whatever needs doin', but mostly I'm a damn good cook, beggin yer pardon. I been out in the black prospectin as of late, but now I'm lookin fer a ship that ain't as small nor plannin to spend as much time away from blue skies." He smiles, showing off perfect teeth. Something about him is damn likeable, almost as if meeting a friend who's been away for quite a while.

Short cropped curly hair, a craggy, handsome face somewhat covered by a beard and lively green eyes. A battered vacc suit peeks out from under his duster with the helmet tucked under his arm.

[Sunfall]

((Oh, I'm sorry - I thought I'd read we were on Beylix, I'd even checked it up in the book :smalleek: So we're on Persephone? Wouldn't be a problem, they have cows there, too. Grace wouldn't notice which exact planet it was, anyway - at least for a certain amount of time. Her orientation, however, is always good, provided that she has been there before. I like that she was one of the first crew members to hire, that way it already seems as if she has been there forever :smallsmile: ))

Grace stops at a watering hose to briefly wash her feet and heads on determinedly towards a certain trader's booth (Lee presumably trailing behind her). It's large, almost a shop already, and stuffed with all manners of agricultural supplies, seeds and spices.

"Hey there", Grace smiles and plonks the bag she was carrying onto the grimy counter. "Lot 24, paid for in advance with the rest of the payment right 'ere." The bag is filled with a variety of brown, earthy, inconspicious bulbs, and as soon as it has changed hands, a crate and s small sack are indicated. Grace quickly leafs through the innards of the crate, nodding now and then, ticking off a memorized list. Seeing her concentrate like this is quite strange, as she usually is so oblivious to things.

Then, she lifts the sack off the ground, releasing a huff of unpleasant odor. "Yes, that's it", she remarks, carefully taking the bag in both hands. "Best Fertilizer in the 'Verse. Unfortunately only works with real earth. Lee, hon - would you mind takin' tha' crate, please?"

[Nelphine]

(Yeah I came with Annalise, though that might be Alex at the same time if you two start things up. Just means all 3 of us do. Maybe I overheard good prices for you.)

"Cap'n! Before you and Lee and Grace go out looking for crew, you guys might want your connection to the Hole." Boran hands Alex one of his eavesdroppers. "I've got it plugged into the main system; if you need anything just holler and Trevor or I will hear you. I'm going to see if Anna an' me can't figure out how to get a proper two way system connected to the ship's system, so we can actually chat while yer out shoppin'."

[Kyuss]

Lee hoists the crate up onto his shoulder, minding the ceiling above him. Looking around at the plants in the store, he yawns, having a rather rough night. Taking a note of the shopkeep, and the area behind the counter, he wearily yawns again, unable to cover his mouth due to the crate.

"O' course, Ms. T'would be my pleasure."

[Rachel Lorelei]

Jin Wei-Li

"Yeah, well--I'm also a planet-class gymnast and a brilliant chess player, but that hardly pays well out here." The young man gives an easy shrug and clasps Alex's hand in a firm handshake; calluses on his hands, in the places guns leave them.
"No real story. Was raised military; joined young, left young--all legit, mind you, not a case of dishonorable discharge. Felt like seeing the 'Verse."

When Lee passes by, the 'kid' meets his single eye, face expressionless, without looking away. He's got a hard, unmoving gaze, except for a moment in which his brown eyes go distant then refocus--he holds the stare for a second longer, and then gives the older man an incline of his head, half tilt, half nod--an acknowledgement between professionals as much as a man's brusque greeting.

Then all of a sudden, he's shifted, and he's two steps into following Alex in an eyeblink. There's something very distinctive, and almost dangerous, about the warningless way he goes from stillness to motion without the usual preambles of twitching muscle or shifted gaze: if it weren't so smooth, it'd be the kind of sudden motion that causes people to reach for their holsters.
"Jin Wei-Li, Captain," he introduces himself--and there's enough millions of those on the planets he doesn't even need to lie.
"Sure, I'll come along. --The fact is, you can't go hopping around the Rim without getting into any number of fights, be they fists or guns. And when that happens, there isn't a better man on this planet to have on your side. Now, plain as day I'm not exactly impartial here, but I were you? I'd hire me."
He flashes another grin.

[Koji]

Trevor Zane

Satisfied with the ship's startup sequence, Trevor pulls the final switch and the ship takes flight. He eases the controls back a bit and slowly climbs into a higher altitude. As he does so, the ship shudders a bit, whipped about by the stormy skies, but as it was designed to withstand far worse, he guides it forward without worrying overmuch.

"Looks like smooth sailing from here out."

Pilot Check: 2d12=9 (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1425833)

[Nelphine]

As Alex and Jin are talking, Boran watches; he knows the captain knows what she's about, but he doesn't know Jin. At the sudden shift in Jin's posture Boran realizes Jin is probably much better than Boran had realized.

Muttering something about 'wonder what else he has' Boran carefully looks Jin over. [roll0] [roll1] (Alertness + Perception) {Got anything hidden on you? (Presuming I roll well..)}

"Cap'n, I think this one's shiny. He seems to be on his toes.. and maybe he'll give Lee someone to punch up with when he's gettin' antsy about the Hole, and I won't get in so much trouble when I move his guns about... Jin you won't mind me erm.. moving.. your stuff will you?"

[Rachel Lorelei]

((I'm a little confused. Jin and Alex are leaving the ship and heading for town. Grace and Lee have already done so and are in town, I think. Boran is... coming along?

*rolls her Covert secretly* Nope, nothing special on him besides whatever is in his pack--it's one of those big tall military-style backpacks, though.))

[Nelphine]

(Sorry, I had placed myself at the exit around the time you showed up; I had thought you did your little scene while you were still near the ship, so I was just interjecting; mostly just to say 'look we met, yay!'.. but otherwise, no I'm not going with you guys back out.)

(Further note of timeline for this particular thing..
Ryder comes to ship. Ryder meets various people, goes to garden. Ryder goes to town. Grace goes to town. Alex and Lee go out. As Grace leaves, and after Ryder is gone, Jin arrives. Grace and Jin talk, Grace leaves. Boran makes comment to Alex as she is leaving. Jin meets Alex and Lee. Boran watches, makes comment. Alex, Lee and Jin leave. Lee sprints off to catch up to Grace. Abel meets Alex (and presumably Jin). There is a bit of a discrepancy in that Lee and Grace are together, but Alex and Lee are together.. so.. to make that work.. I had Lee sprint off, even if it's a bit odd. At some later point Ryder comes back, presumably before everyone else.)

[ancalimohtar]

Sunfall, check your PMs. Let me know what you think, if you want me to change anything.

[Sunfall]

((Got your PM alright, ancalimohtar, thanks a bunch! Needed some time to think of alterations, hope you don't mind. Sent you a PM and a pic via e-mail, hope it gets through...))

[mainiac]

((I'm a little confused. Jin and Alex are leaving the ship and heading for town. Grace and Lee have already done so and are in town, I think. Boran is... coming along?))

((Yeah, I'm a bit confused my own self. Everything's a whirl!))

((Hey Abel, would you mind re-doing your arrival for it to happen at an earlier or later time then Jin and Ryder in the same way that Trevor's is? For one thing, it would make thing it makes this mess a little less confusing and for another thing, it offends my rp'ers sense of pride to have three completely unrelated characters show up in such rapid succession. We might as well meet up in a tavern at that rate.))

"Hm..." Alex noted noncommitedly as she heard Jin's odd claims of gymnastic and board game ability. She put much more stock in the callouses pondering them to herself. Then she see's the way he moves and raises an eyebrow at that, the subtlety clearly not being lost on her. Seeing Boran coming up behind them, Alex holds up a fist in the military "hold" signal and turns to face him. "Oh, hey Boran, thought you were in town with Trevor. Trevor did head to town right? Anyway, this 'ere's Jin, Jin, Boran." As she speaks, Alex takes the bug and slips it into the ratty old sweater. She listens to Boran before offering a warning that would be a bit cryptic to an outsider though Boran would obviously know what it's about. "Hey, Boran, be nice to the new guy for me, alright? You only get to make a first impression once, and remember what happened with One Eye. Well, hey, can you head back to Annalise and make sure I'm coming through? All the remodeling we've been doin' of late I'd be a bit surprised if we can even get basic recievin'." Alex shakes her head before leadin' Jin towards town again, explainin' as she went. "Hole in the Black's only been runnin' a short while now so we're still workin' through the kinks. You don't have to worry about her fallin' apart though, I'm the one puttin' her together and I'm good, graduated S.I.T. Where'd you graduate from anyway?"
Alex's tone continued to be casual and the folksy twang she was using helped keep that air up, but someone real sensative to these things might imagine Jin unnerved her a bit, made her think he wasn't on the level.

[Jannex]

((OOC: Wow, a lot's happened in the day or so I've been away! I'll try and catch up.

Oh, and yeah, I think we'd determined that Annalise was the one to first encounter Boran--I think it works pretty well, since they probably do a lot of "shop talk" about the sensors and electronics. Also, though I haven't had the chance to sit down and write out my backstory yet -- :smalleek: -- Annalise is actually from Boros; of course, she might have already left home by the time she got around to signing on with the Hole.))

After the new doc leaves to go round up supplies, Annalise heads up to the bridge, to work on fine-tuning the new communications rig that she and Boran have been working on. She stops short in the doorway when she sees the young stranger sitting in the pilot's seat. "Hey there, she says, entering the room and finding a console to lean against. "I don't think we've been introduced. Name's Annalise." She gives him a friendly smile.

[Sunfall]

"Oh, Lee, dear, didn't ya sleep long enough? Again?" Grace sizes the big man up with an inquiring look. "You've to sleep once in a while, ya know..."

She gives the shopkeep a last nod and walks out of the booth, the sack in her hand, this time carefully minding where she's treading. Truth be told, Grace never sleeps too well herself, so she feels sympathetic to anyone (especially young people) who seems tired (or hungry, for that matter, or sad).

"I could make ya a nice valerian tea once we're in space, for after dinner... Whaddaya say, huh? Speaking of dinner", she mutters more quietly to herself, "I think the squash'll need ter be used up or they'll go soft... Little celebration's due, anyway, with all the new people on board. Maybe some fried tomatoes, too, an' a bit of dill..."

((I'll be away now - back on Monday. Just take Grace back to the ship :smallsmile: ))

[ancalimohtar]

A few things. One, I'll be heading home for the holidays, so there will be a few days of transit time I'll be missing. I won't have my computer anymore, so most likely, no more Dundjinni or Photoshopping until January (:smallfrown:).

Second, more importantly, we have someone willing to play one of two characters. One is a former captain of his own ship, who got mutinied and now has no money or possessions beyond his own dogfighting ship. This character would be piloting his little interceptor in space combat or deterrence, chasing away pirates or whatnot.

The second character would be Xiao Feng. His backstory is on his public sheet here: http://ancalimohtar.googlepages.com/xiaofengpublic.xls He'd be applying as a manual laborer, who doesn't remember his past, but who is excellent at hand-to-hand fighting, and who can shrug off damage like it's nobody's business. He's got over 250 skillpoints, in lots of very cool stuff, and he's discovering who he is and was.

The player likes both characters, and wants to see what you guys pick.

[Conners]

((I'm not really certain.... We do need someone who can fight with a ship, don't we? If not, I'd guess the other guy.))

[Kyuss]

((Lee probably would've been on pretty early in the Hole's career. He probably would've been drawn by the crew...))

Lee gives the shop owner a bow, and after making sure the box is well balanced, he follows Grace out of the store. His spurs clik and clak in the dust and dirt, and beads of sweat form on his brow.

"It ain't so much I ain't been sleepin' as I don't think I got all of my blood back yet. I think I'm still a mite 'nemic. For dinner, though, I think a bit of yer pineapple rice may be in order, personally. If anything, we should be celebratin' finally gettin' off this rock. And maybe I could enjoy that tea over some bonzai lessons later on."

After a few mintues, the two re-enter the Hole. Lee follows Grace up to the garden and carefully places the crate in a small corner off to the side. He gives her a bow and begins to exit.

"If ya need any help with dinner, gimme a shout. I'll be in ma' bunk."

Fumbiling on the keypad of his bunk, Lee catches a quick glimpse of Annalise around the command cabin. With a heavy sigh, he opens the door, enters, and locks it behind him. After pushing all of the parts and bullets of his bed to the floor. He pulls out a locked chest from under his bed and opens it. From it, he pulls a small viewscreen that begins to show a scene in poor quality. A group of men and women are gathered around a haul of crates and ammo belts, all wearing the same loose, brown dusters. They all have looks of elation on their faces until a large man wearing Lee's eyepatch approaches the capture. His coat is different, having a larger collar and captain's stripes on the shoulder. He places his hand in front of the capture, and it shuts off. Lee takes off his eyepatch, and puts his momentos away.

[Conners]

((Can we be gettin' to our shoot-em-up mission soon :smalltongue:?))

[Sunfall]

((I like the idea of a captain with nothing left but a little interceptor ship - meeting his mutinous crew again some time might prove an interesting plot hook... Also, it would be good to have someone experienced who could fill the yet vacant position of first mate, wouldn't it?))



Grace smiles forlornly at Lee and nods. "Pineapple rice it is, then, and maybe later a nice spearmint tea instead. Helps ter build up your iron resources. But only if you promise to get enough sleep anyways..." She watches as he sets down the crate.

"Thanks, Lee. Yeah, I'll holler if I need help with the cookin'." She gives him a little wave and starts to gather some of the overripe squash into a small basket. She then proceeds to the tomatoes and finally adds a very small pineapple to the lot. "Hm", she muses to herself. "Just won't grow bigger. Seems we'll have ter get another breed of those sometime..."

[Koji]

She stops short in the doorway when she sees the young stranger sitting in the pilot's seat. "Hey there, she says, entering the room and finding a console to lean against. "I don't think we've been introduced. Name's Annalise." She gives him a friendly smile.

Trevor maintains his hold on the controls, and his dead-still gaze forward does not waver for a long, uncomfortable period of time. His lips move slightly, mouthing the words Annalise spoke over and over as he performs a delicate maneuver. Satisfied with his adjustment, he locks the controls, then looks up at the young woman. He meets her gaze for a moment, then blushes and looks down at her feet, his furry hat's earflaps comically bobbing up and down from the sudden motion.

"I'm...wait, what'd you say?" He asks. He shakes his head and mumbles, "Sorry, you meant--er, I'm Trevor. Trevor Zane. Pleasure to make your acquaintance."

He stands to greet her, but bangs his head hard on an overhead display. Without a sound he sits back down and holds his hand to his head, eyes shut tight.

[Jannex]

Annalise winces in sympathy when Trevor knocks his head against the overhead machinery. "Easy, there. Are you all right?" She starts as if to move toward him, to look for a wound, but stops the impulse before getting close enough as to invade his personal space. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." An apologetic smile.

"It looks like you really know what you're doing, there," she says, nodding at the control console. "Captain bring you aboard to help with piloting?" If she receives an affirmative response, she continues, "Well, if you've got any questions about the sensors, let me know; Boran and I have made some pretty extensive modifications to 'em. They're more sensitive now, but the readings can take a bit of getting used to, y'know?"

[Nelphine]

Boran walks through the crew quarters on his way to the tech lounge, but stops when he see's Annalise on the bridge.

"Hey Anna! I see you've met Trevor.. he doesn't seem to say much. But he certainly knows how to move the Hole around all shiny. And he lets me play with the sensors all I want when I'm on watch too! I'm glad the cap'n chose him. Keep it up Trevor!"

With a flippant wave, Boran walks into his sensor nest. He stops, checks all his pockets (a lengthy process. He's sewn numerous extra pockets in various places.), and satisfied he hasn't acquired anything he doesn't recognize (though Lee will probably want that bullet back. Again.) he starts to muck about with the two way communicators.

[Koji]

Trevor Zane

Trevor pushes his hat back a little, and nods to Annalise.

"Y-yeah, I don't know sensors too well, I mean, I can see's far as what they read a little, but I'm glad we got someone to look after 'em. I'm a bit...I mean...uh, well, um..." Trevor stammers, but is interrupted by Boran. He gives him a sheepish nod and then turns back to Annalise.

"What were we talking about?" He asks in a more relaxed tone.

[ancalimohtar]

Here is tentative list of the costs of the operation, figures are credits per month:

Fuel: 1100
Food: For someone eating only protein packs supplemented by the garden, it would be 11; throw in some canned and fresh goods, and it would be closer to 20. All in all, for ten people, probably about 150.
Medical supplies, ammo, garden supplies, docking/water fees, etc.: 400
Ship maintenance: 700

Please continue setting up the story. It's been roughly a month or two since Alex first bought the ship, right? In any case, once you guys pick up Jin and Ryder on Persephone, before you take off, a boy runs up to anyone returning to the ship and asks to speak to the Captain.

"Me boss's got a job offer fo' ye, dependin'." He's a young kid, maybe 17, and waits expectantly to be led to the Captain. This is not unusual for the Eavesdown Docks, with all the bustling about.

[Rachel Lorelei]

((I'm alive, I'm alive! Sorry--Finals, then packing and flying home, then being unconscious, then seeing my girlfriend for the first time in a month.))



"Hole in the Black's only been runnin' a short while now so we're still workin' through the kinks. You don't have to worry about her fallin' apart though, I'm the one puttin' her together and I'm good, graduated S.I.T. Where'd you graduate from anyway?"
Alex's tone continued to be casual and the folksy twang she was using helped keep that air up, but someone real sensative to these things might imagine Jin unnerved her a bit, made her think he wasn't on the level.

Jin Wei-Li

Jin tilts his head in Alex's direction and pauses, gaze going a little far away for a moment, and then falls back into step.
"A Mil-Acad in the core. Didn't graduate, though--left, like I said. Of my own volition, wasn't thrown out, if that's what you're thinking. No need to take me at my word--set up a shootin' target, have me spar with One-Eye back there... I'm willin' to prove myself."
Although he seems alert enough, his walk is relaxed and his tone is easy.

[Conners]

((I'm assuming Alex is still out.))

Ryder looks up curiously, when he hears the offer of a job. "Depending on what?" he asks nicely, standing up and leading the boy to Alex as he awaits a reply. He soon finds that the captain is out, however. "The captain seems to be out," he informs the kid, "would it be all right to talk to the crew instead?"

Assuming the boy says it is all right: "Grace, Lee, Annalise," he says through the ship's speaker, "we've got a job offer. Would one of you come down here?" With that done, he turns to the kid, paying close attention to what he has to say.

If the boy says it isn't, and is going to leave because the captain isn't in: Ryder does his best to persuade the kid to deal with the crew, or at least wait for the captain to come back.
[roll0] (Sweet and Cheerful) ((I'm guessing allure won't be of help in this situation... :smalltongue:)) + [roll1] = 8
If the boy is still going to leave: Ryder resorts to intimidation, trying things like, "Won't your boss be upset? You might get in some trouble," or, "I'm really not in the mood to look for new work, I suggest you do me the favour of not making me... for both our sakes."
[roll2] + [roll3] = 9

[ancalimohtar]

The boy says, simply, "Tell ya Captain to come see Charlie in three days' time." Then he scampers away.

[Conners]

Ryder nods. He goes up to the bridge where he finds Boran, Annalise and the Teenage pilot. "We have our first job offer," he says happily, "the captain is to: 'come see Charlie in three days' time'. Anyone know where she has gone or when she's back?"

[Jannex]

Annalise smiles and is about to reply to Trevor, when Ryder walks in. "Should be easy enough to find out," she tells him, and pokes her head out the door, looking in the direction of the tech suite. "Hey, Boran!" she calls, raising her voice enough to carry through the corridor. "Did you give the captain one of those transmitters you were workin' on?"

[mainiac]

"Mil-Acad ya say? There's something you don't see every day. Hm, I went through the Mil-Acad on Shinon myself. That was back well, before your time. That's where 'bouts I came from. You ever seen the skyline by night? That's my favorite sight in the verse, well, that and the sunset on Haven. Two sights you should see before you die..."
Alex takes the story at face value apparently and steers the conversation towards pleasantries. Still, it never hurts to know how a potential crew member weighs in on the Shinon by night and Haven at sunset divide.
It doesn't take too long for then to arrive at Alex's destination and she doesn't need to buy anything too special. She refers to one item as a g-line aux-feed filter but it looks like a bit of old piping to Jin. The 50 cal rounds on the other hand he knows pretty well. Heading out with her box and metal piece, she offers a proposition up to the potential recruit.
"Don't know what the standards are at the Mil-Acads these days. Truth be told, young'un, the brass never struck me as knowing what they were doing all that often. But if they taught you right, some proper military knowledge would be pretty useful. Lee's schoolin' was more in the discipline of hard knocks. So, show me you can shoot straight and I'll let you on board. You'll get your chance to see Haven at night and prove if you got what it takes, shiny?"
After hearing him (presumably) accept, Alex speaks for the mike Boran gave her on the off chance he could hear her. "Hey, Boran, I'm on my way back, spell o' a few minutes. Got the greenhorn with me and I think we're giving him a shot. We should be ready to go when I arrive, Cap'n out."
They arrived at the ship and Alex held out a hand as she reached into the old sweater and pulled out the six shooter. "'k, take this here, Jin. Let's see if they ever taught ya how to shoot straight. See if you can bag me them empty cans near that trash heap." She pointed to some cans on the opposite end of the ship, a hard shot but not impossible given that she wasn't rushing him or anything. Alex took a step back to watch. Her eyes weren't on the can's though, they were on Jin, appraising his form.

[Rachel Lorelei]

Shots: [roll0] + [roll1]
[roll2] + [roll3]
[roll4] + [roll5]

Jin Wei-Li

"Oh, far as military schools go, mine was one of the finest. Can't really fault my schooling. --Yeah, the skyline's great. Haven I haven't seen--beyond holos, I mean, but that's never quite the same."
Jin flicks his short braid over his shoulder and takes the pistol with a confident grip, giving it a little spin with one finger. His movements are as quick and smooth as usual, until (almost jarringly) they stop; he settles into a position, body sideways, pistol aimed at the cans. Jin's posture is relaxed enough; he doesn't bother with a novice's weaver stance, or any other kind of formal firing position. The first shot rings out and goes wide of the mark, and he gives a wry smile.
"I'm actually more of a rifle man, myself. Been some time since I've practiced with one of these. Still, here..."
His eyes narrow, his body tenses for half a moment, the pistol's barrel shifts a little--and then he fires twice, the second shot coming as soon as it's humanly possible to allow a trigger to depress and then squeeze it again. The second can is in the air before the first has landed, both of them with bullet holes right in the center.
Jin flicks the safety back on, handing the six-shooter over to Alex.
"Good enough... Captain? You want to see more, I'll get my rifle out and move a ways back."

[Nelphine]

As Ryder chats with Annalise and Trevor, Boran turns up the reciever for the Cap'n's bug.


"Hey, Boran, I'm on my way back, spell o' a few minutes. Got the greenhorn with me and I think we're giving him a shot. We should be ready to go when I arrive, Cap'n out."

"Wheee got that nice and shiny I did... Hey Anna! Cap'n'll be back right soon! Come in here and listen!" Boran turns back to the mess in front of him; he was trying to get the finishing touches on the two way transmitters so that he could actually tell Alex what was going on. Jobs were important business and Boran knew the Cap'n would find something else to slow her down. "Anna want to give me a hand? I think I've got this set almost working" [roll0] Int + Comm/Sensors [roll1] + Talented [roll2]

{I presume Annalise comes to help out at this point. If not, well.. not much will change I guess.. but I'm hoping Annalise can do an assist roll along the same lines as mine to get that two headset working.}


Shots
"Whoa! Oh right, Cap'n asked Jin to shoot something. Ok maybe Ryder better go tell the Cap'n what's up before we leave; and Anna, try to slow Ryder down a bit. He seems a right gung ho type."

[ancalimohtar]

Boran turns back to the mess in front of him; he was trying to get the finishing touches on the two way transmitters so that he could actually tell Alex what was going on. Jobs were important business and Boran knew the Cap'n would find something else to slow her down. "Anna want to give me a hand? I think I've got this set almost working" [roll0] Int + Comm/Sensors [roll1] + Talented [roll2]

{I presume Annalise comes to help out at this point. If not, well.. not much will change I guess.. but I'm hoping Annalise can do an assist roll along the same lines as mine to get that two headset working.}Getting the headset to work is an Average difficulty complex action, so you need to cumulatively roll a 35. So far you've spent one time interval (I'll set it at five minutes) and got a 12. If Annalise helps, she adds her rolls to yours for the next time intervals.

[Conners]

Ryder heads over to where the captain is. If Annalise follows him: "What type did Boran say I was?" he asks amusedly.
When he reaches Alex. "Captain, we had a job offer," he says. "The kid who came to tell us about it said you have to, 'come meet Charlie in three days' time'. Any idea who 'Charlie' is?"

[roninkelt]

Abel (http://www.deltadave.net/characters/images/Abel.png)

falls in on the other side of Cap'n Alex as she steps back to watch Jin shoot. Waiting till the crack of the gun is done, he speaks - "Did I hear you right ma'am? You lookin for crew?" He removes a somewhat battered, shapeless hat. "Abel's your man, I can turn a hand at whatever needs doin', but mostly I'm a damn good cook, beggin yer pardon. I been out in the black prospectin as of late, but now I'm lookin fer a ship that ain't as small nor plannin to spend as much time away from blue skies." He smiles, showing off perfect teeth. Something about him is damn likeable, almost as if meeting a good friend who's been away for quite a while.

Short cropped curly hair, a craggy, handsome face somewhat covered by a beard and lively green eyes. A battered flight suit peeks out from under his duster and a rolling trunk sits a couple of paces away.

[Jannex]

With a grin over her shoulder at Ryder, Annalise heads down to the tech suite to help out Boran. "Sure! Lemme see what you've got happening there..."

((Intelligence [roll0] + Technical Engineering:Comm/Sensors [roll1]))

[mainiac]

Abel (http://www.deltadave.net/characters/images/Abel.png)

falls in on the other side of Cap'n Alex as she steps back to watch Jin shoot. Waiting till the crack of the gun is done, he speaks - "Did I hear you right ma'am? You lookin for crew?" He removes a somewhat battered, shapeless hat. "Abel's your man, I can turn a hand at whatever needs doin', but mostly I'm a damn good cook, beggin yer pardon. I been out in the black prospectin as of late, but now I'm lookin fer a ship that ain't as small nor plannin to spend as much time away from blue skies." He smiles, showing off perfect teeth. Something about him is damn likeable, almost as if meeting a good friend who's been away for quite a while.

Short cropped curly hair, a craggy, handsome face somewhat covered by a beard and lively green eyes. A battered flight suit peeks out from under his duster and a rolling trunk sits a couple of paces away.

((Ronin, I don't hate you or anything, it's only I don't like the idea of having three characters all sign up in the space of half an hour. It strikes me as implausable, especially since were spacing out the way everyone else came aboard out over a month. And the whole roleplaying them coming on board was only to take up time while the GM got ready anyway. So how about we make Abel's signing up be something that already happened, like we're doing with most characters. We'll say he signed on the planet before Trevor and Jin, 'k? If you really want to rp out the first encounter, I'd love to do it by PM but for now, I kinda want to get on with the plot.))

"Nah, no need for rifles." Alex accepts the pistol, apparently satisfied with the shooting. "General rule to live by, Jin, the bigger the guns, the more folk are getting hurt. Crazy kinda double standard, but life out on the rim can be that way. Let's head on in and see if we spooked anyone." Alex turned but only made it a couple paces before she found herself face to face with Ryder. She seemed a bit surprised by the message.
"Charlie, don't know him, you think I 'oughta? Lay out to me exactly what went down here."
After hearing Ryder relate the events Alex didn't look any more illuminated then before. "Well, sounds like he knows me, so I'll make a few calls. Whatever, we're leaving the world. Don't know if we'll be back in three or not. Let's get on board. Come with me, young'un, I'll show you the bunks on the way up. You seen the bunks yet Ryder?"
Alex heads on up, very briefly pointing things out on the way, more of a one bit tour then a fifty cent one. At the crew's quarters she stops to point out the ones that are still free. "So, you want to pick between these ones. Be careful poking your nose into other people's space though. Lee get's a mite... touchy." Alex shrugged, not really sure how much of an explaination that was. She turned the shrug into a turn and headed into the bridge.
"Hey y'all captains returned, time to get this show on the road. Give me intercom, Boran..." taking the mike she addressed the whole crew. "Hey travelers. We're all back on board now and we gots ourselves a second fine addition to the crew. So, we'll be leaving the world soon as the kid gets the all clear from traffic. Alex out."
Setting aside the mike, she leans in on Boran, seeing how the work he's doing is going. "Hey, could ya bounce a wave down to my bunk soon as you got the time to patch it through? Trying to look into the kid from before. Not that this can't come first. What're y'all doing to the comm now?"

[Conners]

Ryder tells Alex everything important about what took place, as well as unimportant details which might hint as to who it was--such as the boy's age and appearance. When they get to the room's, Ryder looks in both of them. He looks for two ideal things: Being close to the infirmary, and being able to get out of it fast.
"I'm Ryder," he greeted Jin, having checked the rooms, "nice to meet you! So... are you taking Lee's job :smallbiggrin:?"
If both are just as capable as the other: He takes the nicer one, convincing Jin to let him, if necessary.

[Nelphine]

{OOC: Tamale drew me a rough picture of Borans room (that was the person offering to draw stuff for us, I thought it was a neat idea. Room is neat, though not as crowded as Boran's room really is (it's packed with random junk) but oh well - here is a very random rough pic for people to have an idea of: http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w214/fishloaf/Boran.jpg}

"Hey Cap'n; we're just trying to get our silly two way transmitters going, it's not working so well.. but we'll get it, don't ya worry. Oh, till we leave I'm going to try to track down any notion of who this Charlie is." With that, Boran turns up the fedband scanner that's stashed in the back of the techie nook. [roll0] [roll1] [roll2] [roll3]

{OOC I'm just hoping to hear any mention of this Charlie guy; either someone talking about him, someone reporting to him, someone reporting on him, anything at all. More than likely I won't catch anything, but I'm going to concentrate most of my time on it while waiting for us to leave.}

"I'll get back to that transmitter when we're off world. It's always good to know what kinda job we might have, shiny or no, even if we leave. And the wave should be ready whenever you get back to your cabin Cap'n!" Boran aimlessly waves a hand as Alex departs, possibly signifying some kind of 'bye', possibly just shifting hair out of his face.

[Nelphine]

{OOC: Given my rolls in the previous post I'm adding this post)

As Boran starts listening to the fedscanner, he turns on all the frequencies he can reach on this planet. Switching back and forth he loses himself in the magic of communication: chattering farmers, local law talking to each other, ships hailing places, everyone talking and interacting in one large framework. Boran extends his ears into it, picking up pieces here and there; nothing really matters, he just listens, trying to be one with the noise and confusion of this planet. He hears everything he can reach, notes down each joyful note, and each tired voice. He meshes with this world's communication, and regardless of what he wanted to learn, he instead learns what he can of this world.

{OOC summary: If there is any interesting information, regardless of whether it relates to Charlie, that I hear on my scanners, I'd like to know. Interesting politics or fighting or financial or any other kind of news or rumours or gripes. I still doubt I'll learn much about Charlie, and if I don't learn much of anything else, oh well, I got to show what Boran loves!}

[mainiac]

"Shiny, I'm gonna head down before we get any light lag with the world."
Alex climbs down the ladder to her room. Right at her feet as she enters is a 3 dimensional model of the ship, slowly rotating on a low desk which occupies the rooms prime location, along with a couple of couches set up alongside it. Above the ship rotates the ships engine, the project currently on her mind. Alex pauses for a moment at the model and picks up one of the syluses lying alongside the projector. With a few deft movements she changes the last few engine parts colored in red to orange. She turned away satisfied, glad to see how few the red parts were becoming these days. Things were coming along great in her mind.
Alex turned and eased into the wood and wicker chair in front of the pile of old papers that constituted her desk. She carelessly pushed these aside for now, more interested in the terminal they covered at the moment. She typed a few keystrokes and spoke.
"Hi Rebecca, it's Alex. I'm heading out from Peresephone and wanted to ask you a quick question concerning someone named Charlie. Send me a wave whenever, I'm not going anywhere." Alex sent the wave then leaned back. She stared idly at the poster above the terminal, "Shinon at Sunrise." while considering anyone else to ask. She shrugged and decided not to, even Rebecca was too high class to know the kind of character that this Charlie probably was. Alex moved over to the bed, a thin mattress covered by layers and layers of quilts, to have a lie down and give Beck five minutes to respond in case she was near the cortex. "Hm... old g-line.. Beylix..." Alex mused to herself as she waited, staring at the bare ceiling above the bunk. "Huh, memo to self, get a third poster."

((Willing to spend a few plot points to find out who Charlie is through friends in high places if possible, though I'm only interested in basic information, i.e. how to find him.))

[ancalimohtar]

When they get to the room's, Ryder looks in both of them. He looks for two ideal things: Being close to the infirmary, and being able to get out of it fast.
"I'm Ryder," he greeted Jin, having checked the rooms, "nice to meet you! So... are you taking Lee's job :smallbiggrin:?"
If both are just as capable as the other: He takes the nicer one, convincing Jin to let him, if necessary.I don't know what this means. You and Rachel tell me what Ryder and Jin end up deciding on when they do.
{OOC: Tamale drew me a rough picture of Borans room (that was the person offering to draw stuff for us, I thought it was a neat idea. Room is neat, though not as crowded as Boran's room really is (it's packed with random junk) but oh well - here is a very random rough pic for people to have an idea of: http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w214/fishloaf/Boran.jpg}That's a nice pic. Now I'll have to hunt around the web for art to fit it in.


"Hey Cap'n; we're just trying to get our silly two way transmitters going, it's not working so well.. but we'll get it, don't ya worry. Oh, till we leave I'm going to try to track down any notion of who this Charlie is." With that, Boran turns up the fedband scanner that's stashed in the back of the techie nook. [roll0] [roll1] [roll2] [roll3]

{OOC I'm just hoping to hear any mention of this Charlie guy; either someone talking about him, someone reporting to him, someone reporting on him, anything at all. More than likely I won't catch anything, but I'm going to concentrate most of my time on it while waiting for us to leave.}

"I'll get back to that transmitter when we're off world. It's always good to know what kinda job we might have, shiny or no, even if we leave. And the wave should be ready whenever you get back to your cabin Cap'n!" Boran aimlessly waves a hand as Alex departs, possibly signifying some kind of 'bye', possibly just shifting hair out of his face.

{OOC: Given my rolls in the previous post I'm adding this post)

As Boran starts listening to the fedscanner, he turns on all the frequencies he can reach on this planet. Switching back and forth he loses himself in the magic of communication: chattering farmers, local law talking to each other, ships hailing places, everyone talking and interacting in one large framework. Boran extends his ears into it, picking up pieces here and there; nothing really matters, he just listens, trying to be one with the noise and confusion of this planet. He hears everything he can reach, notes down each joyful note, and each tired voice. He meshes with this world's communication, and regardless of what he wanted to learn, he instead learns what he can of this world.

{OOC summary: If there is any interesting information, regardless of whether it relates to Charlie, that I hear on my scanners, I'd like to know. Interesting politics or fighting or financial or any other kind of news or rumours or gripes. I still doubt I'll learn much about Charlie, and if I don't learn much of anything else, oh well, I got to show what Boran loves!}Good roleplaying. +2 PP (Boran). Those were great rolls, but you can't hear an entire planet's broadcasts from one port. You hear the usual local politics chatter (a public transportation project is being voted on by the local legislature), the usual commercial gossip (some sports team is undergoing a doping scandal), some news items (a successful local businessman named Mr. Sun is trying to buy a title of nobility), and all in all, a variety of not-so-important things. The Hole's sensors are, in any case, not sophisticated enough for you to hack into private encrypted waves.

[ancalimohtar]

"Shiny, I'm gonna head down before we get any light lag with the world."
Alex climbs down the ladder to her room. Right at her feet as she enters is a 3 dimensional model of the ship, slowly rotating on a low desk which occupies the rooms prime location, along with a couple of couches set up alongside it. Above the ship rotates the ships engine, the project currently on her mind. Alex pauses for a moment at the model and picks up one of the syluses lying alongside the projector. With a few deft movements she changes the last few engine parts colored in red to orange. She turned away satisfied, glad to see how few the red parts were becoming these days. Things were coming along great in her mind.
Alex turned and eased into the wood and wicker chair in front of the pile of old papers that constituted her desk. She carelessly pushed these aside for now, more interested in the terminal they covered at the moment. She typed a few keystrokes and spoke.
"Hi Rebecca, it's Alex. I'm heading out from Peresephone and wanted to ask you a quick question concerning someone named Charlie. Send me a wave whenever, I'm not going anywhere." Alex sent the wave then leaned back. She stared idly at the poster above the terminal, "Shinon at Sunrise." while considering anyone else to ask. She shrugged and decided not to, even Rebecca was too high class to know the kind of character that this Charlie probably was. Alex moved over to the bed, a thin mattress covered by layers and layers of quilts, to have a lie down and give Beck five minutes to respond in case she was near the cortex. "Hm... old g-line.. Beylix..." Alex mused to herself as she waited, staring at the bare ceiling above the bunk. "Huh, memo to self, get a third poster."

((Willing to spend a few plot points to find out who Charlie is through friends in high places if possible, though I'm only interested in basic information, i.e. how to find him.))I'm assuming Rebecca is a Persephone local, specifically the province the Eavesdown Docks is located in? I got the impression she wasn't particularly in High Places as she "tends to do bussiness which tangles her up with shady characters"? Anyway, where Beck lives is important.

Also, minor quibble, the planet is Sihnon, as in Sina, as in Chinese.

Lastly, I'm liking these room descriptions.

[mainiac]

I'm assuming Rebecca is a Persephone local, specifically the province the Eavesdown Docks is located in? I got the impression she wasn't particularly in High Places as she "tends to do bussiness which tangles her up with shady characters"? Anyway, where Beck lives is important.

Also, minor quibble, the planet is Sihnon, as in Sina, as in Chinese.

Lastly, I'm liking these room descriptions.

((Well, the idea I had for Rebecca was that she would be well connected throughout the border worlds but mostly stick to the one she calls home. Peresephone seemed like a good candidate because it's a place where the dirty and clean sides of the world live so close together, which fits Rebecca's idiom of being a slightly shady member of the upperish crust. Rebecca would only know those criminals who have a pretty big impact on commerce or industry on the rim, or who are themselves a big bussiness. Some small fry like Badger she would have never heard of while someone like Niska she might have met personally (hey, that gives Alex 3 degrees of seperation on Mal, shiny.)))

[Koji]

Trevor Zane

Trevor pulls his furry hat off and sets it atop one of the consoles, making sure not to cover any sensor displays with it. His black hair is cut short and messy, the sloppy style made no better by hours of being trapped under a hat. He slumps low in his chair and stares out into the black, wishing sleep would come.

[ancalimohtar]

Rebecca does not know who Charlie could be. There are a few famous Charleses in the area and perhaps some of them go by Charlie informally, but she does not personally know any, and so she cannot say.

She suggests, when you give her the description of the boy, that you ask around the place you were approached by him. That's the most likely way of finding out who Charlie is.

Where are you guys headed now?

[Nelphine]

{OOC: Whoot random knowledge! Incidentally, I'm planning to work with Annalise on exactly the kind of sophistication required to hack basic encryptions. That being said, what does Annalise think of that idea? I wouldn't do it without Anna's and Alex's permission.}

[Jannex]

{OOC: Whoot random knowledge! Incidentally, I'm planning to work with Annalise on exactly the kind of sophistication required to hack basic encryptions. That being said, what does Annalise think of that idea? I wouldn't do it without Anna's and Alex's permission.}

((OOC: Eavesdropping always sounds like a good idea to Annalise, and she would definitely be willing to help with that project, if given the go-ahead from the cap'n.))

[mainiac]

((Course Anna's gonna get the captain's permission to do perfectly legitimate snoopin'. Long as it's nothing y'know, stupid. In fact, got a question I'd like answered my own self.))

((Well, I had our destination set out as one of the moons of Persophone (which don't seem to be listed in the guide.) but that was me filling in the spaces while we were killing time before the game started. No reason in my mind we can do our miscellaneous "stocking up" and then head right back to the docks, which shouldn't be too long a trip. Not sure why we'd need to head to the moon, truth be told, maybe Alex has a friend with a line on cheap medical supplies? Should we skip ahead a couple days until their back on Persephone, looking into this matter?))

"Shadow!" Alex's face lit up as she thought of the landscape that would make a good counterpoint to the images of Sihnon and Haven that adorned her walls right now. Nice and tragic like, she was thinking it through when her comm lit up from Rebecca's call. Her friend only had a few minutes to spare at the moment so they kept things short, a few pleasantries and a short discussion of the kid and his message. Right before they wrapped up, Alex decided to throw in a quick plea. "Hey, Beck, don't mean to be beggin', but looks like I'm gonna have to be flying right back soon as I wrap things up on the moon. Got any leads that could fill all this empty hull I got going on?"

((Willing to spend a couple plot points to get a cargo milk run, so they aren't wasting gas. Also, picking up passengers if there's any to be had of course.))

[Rachel Lorelei]

Until someone calls for him, Jin settles into his bunk (letting Ryder have his pick). He goes by the place he was staying at to get the rest of his things; when he unpacks, he produces a couple of gymnastics rings he hangs up someewhere wide-open (like the cargo bay), provided he gets permission.

Then, he heads up to the front of the ship, stepping into Trevor's room. "Jin Wei-Li. Figured I should meet everyone--I just hired on."

[Sunfall]

If Grace has overheard Ryder's comm call or chosen to ignore it, is not clear. She keeps bustling away, having moved now to the galley, and soon enough, delicious smells start to waft through the mid level of the ship.

((No time to remeber how to roll fpr cooking, will do it when I'm back. Gone now for holidays, back only sporadically before the New Year. Grace won't do any dramatic things anyway, I guess. Happy holidays everyone :smallsmile:))

[ancalimohtar]

((Willing to spend a couple plot points to get a cargo milk run, so they aren't wasting gas. Also, picking up passengers if there's any to be had of course.))"Well, my friend's cousin is starting a machine shop," Beck muses, "and he was looking for someone to bring some refurbished floats* from his shop on the moon back here. He's not really finished with all of them, but you can wave him"--and she gives you his contact information--"and transport whatever is complete, it would save him some trouble later on."

-1 PP (Alex) (the earlier thing about "Charlie" didn't cost anything)

*float = equivalent of "car" today, refers to hovering passenger vehicles. Like a mule, but not for cargo. Mule is a term primarily used in the shipping industry.

[Koji]

Trevor Zane

The comfortable-looking pilot's chair spins 180 degrees to face Jin Wei-Li as he enters the bridge. Looking like a pile of dirty clothes tossed haphazardly into the seat, Trevor regards Jin with dead eyes and a faint smile.

He weakly offers, "Hiya mister. I dunno where the captain's got to, but I reckon you met her already. I'm Trevor, and I think Boran and Annalise are around here somewhere--bald guy and a redhead..."

He rubs at a bloodshot eye and looks back over his shoulder at the flight controls.

[ancalimohtar]

Hey guys, I'm going to introduce a new change to the stats system re: the attributes Agility and Strength. I put it into the OP, but I copied it here:


These two attributes in this game have a few problems. First, Agility represents disparate qualities of a character--manual dexterity and full-body agility. When it's used for, say, Craft/Watchmaking and Medical Expertise/Surgery, it describes someone who has excellent hand-eye coordination, but more importantly, very precise and steady hand movements. However, when it's used for Athletics/Dodge or Performance/Dance, it's describing body control, center of balance, and full-body agile movement.

On the other hand, Strength is pretty much useless. You use it to make Strength checks to move stuff, sure, but otherwise, you only need it for Melee Weapons and Unarmed Combat, and those two are generally for backup when guns aren't available. Just like in real life.

As a result of this, Agility is way, way too good of an attribute, and Strength is crappy. You pretty much need a good Agility for any kind of combat character--first, to Athletics/Dodge or /Run or /Acrobatics or /Whatever on defense, and then also to Gun/Pistol or /Rifle or /Shotgun on offense. Nobody here has a higher Strength than Agility, for example. I'm going to shift everything with full-body motion from Agility toward Strength and rename the two.

Agility and Strength as attributes are being replaced by Dexterity and Agility. Dexterity represents accuracy, precision, and strength of hand movements. Agility represents control of full-body motion, balance, momentum, and leverage. Most of what Strength did (hand-to-hand combat, both with weapons and melee, moving stuff, encumbrance) falls under the new Agility, and makes sense there. Anything left over that doesn't fit Dexterity or Agility will go to Vitality.

I looked through your sheets, and I don't think any of your characters would get nerfed by this change, with the possible exception of Lee. Lee relies on a high Agility to be a crack shot (he's even got the trait to prove it) and to avoid getting shot, but he doesn't have any points in Athletics anyway, so it's not that big of a difference. Everybody else I think is just peachy. You guys are welcome to switch around your points. I've updated the character sheet template on the website, but you guys can just do it on your own sheets. Put Dexterity where Agility is now, and Agility where Strength is now.

Initiative is (new) Agility + Alertness, and Endurance/HP hasn't changed (still Vitality + Willpower).

I hope you guys like the change!

Edit: Also, I've updated the OP with some new stuff, a bit on ship combat as well, skim it at your leisure.

Finally, I'll be gone until Wednesday, on a hiking trip. Continue the restocking of the ship on the Moon, etc. The mechanic guy is named Yuri. He's got about forty floats and some mules and various machines. You guys can roleplay the trip over there, and even that interaction if you get that far.

[ancalimohtar]

Alright I'm back.

Nothing's happened?

[Jannex]

OOC:

Well, it has been a holiday.

And I have to say, I'm not too crazy about the Dexterity/Agility changes; I'd envisioned Annalise not being particularly strong or powerful, but still fairly graceful and able to get out of the way of things (in fact, getting out of the way was really her only physical defense). I neither have the available points to shift into nouveau-Agility, nor do I think it would really make sense for the character to be much more physically-oriented. It also seems less intuitive to me, but I guess that's more of a subjective thing. It's not a deal-breaker for me, though; I'll just make do with a slightly-clumsier Annalise.

[ancalimohtar]

OOC:

Well, it has been a holiday.

And I have to say, I'm not too crazy about the Dexterity/Agility changes; I'd envisioned Annalise not being particularly strong or powerful, but still fairly graceful and able to get out of the way of things (in fact, getting out of the way was really her only physical defense). I neither have the available points to shift into nouveau-Agility, nor do I think it would really make sense for the character to be much more physically-oriented. It also seems less intuitive to me, but I guess that's more of a subjective thing. It's not a deal-breaker for me, though; I'll just make do with a slightly-clumsier Annalise.I think if you're mostly interested in not getting killed when the bullets start to fly, your excellent Alertness should address that. Remember, in Serenity, unlike in D&D, ranged weapons (and one-handed ones at that!) are the default, which means cover plays a huge role. More importantly, rounds are 3 seconds, and thus movement is limited to 15 feet/round. Which means if you're far enough away from an enemy, he can't circle around your cover or defenses and drill your tush in one turn, before you get to react.

But d6 -> d4 shouldn't be that big a deal for Annalise. If you really wanted to make up the difference, a d2 in Athletics would cost you a measly 2 points.

[Jannex]

I think if you're mostly interested in not getting killed when the bullets start to fly, your excellent Alertness should address that. Remember, in Serenity, unlike in D&D, ranged weapons (and one-handed ones at that!) are the default, which means cover plays a huge role. More importantly, rounds are 3 seconds, and thus movement is limited to 15 feet/round. Which means if you're far enough away from an enemy, he can't circle around your cover or defenses and drill your tush in one turn, before you get to react.

But d6 -> d4 shouldn't be that big a deal for Annalise. If you really wanted to make up the difference, a d2 in Athletics would cost you a measly 2 points.

Fair enough. I'll look over my sheet and see whether or not it'd be worth it to move things around. Either way, like I said, I'll manage.

[ancalimohtar]

Alright, it's been more than a week since anything has happened. It's the holidays, I get it, but one post a day requires, what, ten minutes? If you aren't in town or have no real access to the internet, I understand, but in the future, I would ask for notice for such absences (e.g., Sunfall's last post, my posts).

The last thing that happened was Beck giving Alex the contact information for Yuri. Presumably, you are all traveling between Sephie and its moon of interest, and some of you have just met.

[Nelphine]

{OOC: My bad about the absence; I did in fact visit family. Tomorrow I shall refresh Boran and continue my scans of sophistication. For now, as we head toward the moon...}

Boran listens as the Hole flies toward her next destination. The check-up on Charlie hadn't produced anything useful, but it had been a welcome escape into the world of communications; proper physical communications, not just Cortex info. Trevor might be new, but it sounded like he was doing just fine up there.. and if not, Boran is confident he'll notice and warn the Cap'n before it gets out of hand. And maybe some of those new recruits would come up and Boran would get a chance to hear what kind of stuff they liked.[roll0][roll1][roll2] (Alertness + Sharp Hearing + Perception/Hearing)

As things continue smoothly, Boran turns back to the various headsets. After Annalise's last few modifications it looked like they were finally getting somewhere close to being working two way sets. He starts to poke about, fidgeting with the headsets; Boran wants to have something to surprise the Cap'n and Annalise with when they reach the next stop. [roll3][roll4][roll5] (Intelligence + Tech Eng/Comm/Sensors + Talented Comm/Sensors)

[Jannex]

After she's finished helping Boran out with the two-way comms for the time being (and offered to lend a hand again if he wants to work on them some more later), Annalise will swing by the kitchen to brew herself a cup of coffee, and then go back to her cabin to hop on the Cortex.


As a matter of course, Annalise will do some background-checking on the new recruits, and compile the results for the Captain's perusal when she's finished.

Rolling Intelligence [roll0] + Technical Engineering/Hacking (Talented) [roll1] + [roll2]

If I need to roll separately for each character, let me know.

[ancalimohtar]

Boran has cumulatively rolled a 30 out of 35 for the two-way sensors. Another 5 minutes should do it.

Annalise heads back to her room, and on the Cortex, tries to find out about Trevor and Jin. She learns quite a bit about Jin, but not much on Trevor.

Rachel Lorelei, care to write up what would people would put up on the 'Tex about Jin and the program he went through? And Koji, same for Trevor.

I'm imagining that Anna, with a d12+d2 Hacking skill, has access to the Alliance's Person Registration System, and so she can pull up whatever the Alliance has put into that database on each person. This would be the basics, like age, sex, DOB and location, education, tax returns, property ownership, credit history, criminal record, outstanding warrants, and special designations by the Alliance, etc. In addition, Annalise rolled a 15 to get more information scattered about in other records, or just on the tex, on local government sites, or individual/private organizations' sites. Imagine a less-chaotic version of Googling someone's name in 2007. The 15 succeeds at a Formidable difficulty check, so let Annalise know whatever stuff on the tex you think a Formidable roll should uncover.

[roninkelt]

I'll be back from Texas tomorrow. regular posting will resume wednesday morning.

[Koji]

Trevor Zane
Basic Cortex information.

DOB 20/2/XX (16 years ago)

No Criminal Record
Former employee of Ethan Zane, United Reclamation, based on Beylix.

Did not attend flight school, but received accreditation and interplanetary ship license based on testing and recommendation by Ethan Zane

[ancalimohtar]

Happy new year everybody! :smallcool:

[roninkelt]

Abel (http://www.deltadave.net/characters/images/Abel.png)

ambles around the ship looking for the odd jobs that always need to be done. He'll lend a hand wherever one is needed. The only things that are structured about his schedule is the hour in the morning and evening spent in the cargo bay doing calisthenics and running.


OOC: Happy New Year!

[Sunfall]

((Happy New Year, guys!

Ummm... ancalimohtar, considering your new attribute rules, I guess, I'll have to roll Dexterity (= former Agility) for cooking, won't I? BTW, would cooking dinner form a complex action?))

1d6+1d8

((Hm. Why doesn't that work?))

Meanwhile, Grace holds sway in the galley of the ship. Smartly chopping away at a slab of processed protein, she keeps a keen eye on the neat slices of squash and onion merrily sizzling away in the old and greasy frying pan.

The galley, a cosy place of mismatched furniture and outdated kitchenware, oddly reminds of the atmosphere in the ship garden: It seems cluttered, but not messy - everything has its place. Here and there, tiny pots with herbs hang from the ceiling, between drying sprigs and bulbs that were painstakingly tied into onion braids.

((Hopefully)) Delicious smells start to waft around the Hole's mid level and sneak through every chink, as Grace delves deep into one of the pockets of her cargo pants, retrieving one of her more prized possessions: A tin can holding delicate little threads of deep red color. Deftly chucking the bits of protein into the pan, she sprinkles some of the saffron on top, only cursoringly adding soy concentrate and pepper.

"S'all a question of seasonin'", she hums to herself and starts attacking the tomatoes. All the while, some sticky rice is boiling away in the old-fashioned cooker, waiting for its very own session inside the frying pan...

[ancalimohtar]

+2 PP (Grace) for good roleplaying.

Sunfall, to be honest, I don't think the average person is limited by their manual dexterity when cooking. It's mostly multitasking, noticing subtle signs that the food needs X or Y, being able to think up innovative ways of mixing ingredients, and things like that. I think I would also take Alertness or Intelligence as the base attribute.

[Sunfall]

((I'd prefer Intelligence, if you don't mind :smallbiggrin: Alright, trying to roll once more. I can't see what I'm doing wrong, checked the tags twice, they're alright...))

Intelligence [roll0]
Craft/Cooking [roll1]

[mainiac]

((Yeash, I'm sorry about droping off the face of the earth there. Got caught up in holiday stuff and all. I'll get back into this and start posting again tomorrow, 'k?))

[roninkelt]

Abel

drawn by the smell of cooking, Abel makes his way to the galley and just watches Grace work her magic.

"That reminds me to pick up some hot peppers next stop. Would you mind helping me grow a couple of plants in the greenhouse?"

Whereas Grace uses Craft/cooking Abel comes at it from the Artistry/cooking side, while his dishes are not nearly as hearty, they look damn good on a plate and the taste can be sublime... conversely some of his experiments have gone badly awry, some flavor combinations just don't go well with processed protein. Flaming hot curry spaghetti for example - even the dog wouldn't eat that one.

He'll make some small talk with Grace, checking out the lay of the land as it were.

[Koji]

Trevor Zane

In the cockpit, Trevor looks up from his personal access terminal, having paused his video game--an obsolete spaceflight/combat simulator--and sniffs the air.

"Food," He says to no one at all.

He strolls down to the kitchen and timidly peers in, curious as to what's being made and secretly worrying that there might not be enough.

[Rachel Lorelei]

(Sorry for the delay! I got real busy-like, and then I thought I'd updated this when I got my other games, but I hadn't.
Agility/Dexterity change: ouch. That really nerfs Jin, taking him from a top-notch combatant to a highly mediocre one (since instead of being able to both dodge and hit, I can now do one but not the other). Incompetence wasn't in the plan. I'll see if I can shuffle some points around, I suppose. Might have to ditch Reader for now.
Cortex info on Jin: The hardest part is getting information on the right Jin Wei-Li--it's a fairly common name, so there's a lot of fluff to sift through. Annalise manages to track this particular one down, however--he's core-born to a couple of government employees, attented military school and then a Military Academy at a young age, and the details are classified. Annalise gets access to the information with a faked journalist's clearance--Jin's records are required by law. Jin is a participant, from birth, in the Improvement Project, a twenty-three-year-old government not-quite-super soldier program started after there was a fuss kicked up about what the government was doing *out* of sight. The program adhered to all ethical standards, the gengineering performed on the participants' children was known to be safe and legal with the parents' authorization, the children were allowed regular visits from their family and received a fine education, and after several years of military training, were publically given the choice of continuing on in the project or leading civilian lives. A number of the first children to go through the project--there was one for every year for five years; Jin is from the third--have already received high-ranking military posts; a number from every iteration of the project have left, receiving an honorable discharge. Jin appears to be one of those who left the Project rather than continuing on in the military.
The information is all easily accessible once access to it is gained--the government seems to have been doing its best to say "look, see? Nothing to hide.")

Before the Hole takes off, Jin fetches his things from the place he was staying at: not that much, considering that he appears to have been traveling that way, just two large suitcases and a duffel bag, which he takes into his bunk. He unpacks some of it, especially the clothes, toiletries, and weapons; he spends the rest of his time wandering the ship, occasionally closing his eyes.
"Gettin' a feel for the place," he tells anyone who pauses to ask him what he's doing. "Important to know it well, I think--especially since mine's a security job. Wouldn't exactly be pleasant to get somewhere too late because I couldn't find my way, shi?"

He borrows some tools to set up a couple of contraptions in the cargo bay--a metal bar he runs between two poles there for other reasons, and a pair of gymnastics rings he hangs from something high enough to thrill, but not too high to reach from one of the platforms. He interrupts this business, however for dinner.
"Oh, good. Someone can cook. Ooh, more'n one someone. Looks great," he tells grace, peering over her shoulder. "When d'we eat? Because I'm real good at that part."

[Sunfall]

"Huh?" Grace looks up from her pots, somewhat bewildered, as Abel adresses her. "Oh, it's you, is it? No, I wouldn't mind at all. What is it you would wanna grow? Somethin' unusual?" Her wrinkled skin forms little spider web patterns, as she smiles one of her sad little smiles at Abel. "I got some red hot chilies inna pot, too, somewhere in tha garden... Ain't quite ripe yet, still green..."

The grey-haired woman deftly chucks some tomatoes into the squash-and-protein-curry and starts to sway the contents of the pan around in a practised manner. "Would ya mind holdin' this, keepin' it from burnin', honey?", she asks Abel, handing him the brimful frying pan. "Think the rice's just right."

"Oh - hey there, kids", she says as Trevor and Jin stick their heads into the galley from different directions. (Only accidentally has she stood facing the exits while handing the pan to Abel, or else she never would have noticed.) She turns back to the stove, busying herself with a little mountain of rice, rummaging for an even bigger pan.

"Gonna need two of those", she murmurs, as Jin peeks over her shoulder and makes his remark. "I bet y'are at that, kiddo", she chuckles, fumbling for a sprig of thyme that hangs from the ceiling. "But how're yer... professional skills as to settin' tha table, I'd like ter know?" With that, she shoves a pile of mismatched plates (mostly chipped or dented) into Jin's arms.

[ancalimohtar]

+1 PP (Trevor) for this gem of a line: "He strolls down to the kitchen and timidly peers in, curious as to what's being made and secretly worrying that there might not be enough."

+1 PP (Jin) for the bit about walking the corridors blind to get a feel for the ship.

The food smells delicious to everyone (except Jin), as Grace really outdid herself this time, welcoming the new crew aboard with some rice from the pantry and squash from the garden.

As an aside, as much as I love the comics, I hate when they're first put up. I've been trying to hit reply for like an hour, but the bandwidth goes straight to the comics, sigh.

Edit: Also, if you wan't to say "right?" or "am I right?" or "ya know?" at the end of a sentence, you'll want to say "dui bu dui?" or "dui ma?" or "ni shuo ne?" instead of "shi?" which doesn't make any sense. I'll update the Speak Mandarin post with more on what those terms mean.

[mainiac]

"Thanks Beck, you know that every little bit helps on this beast. Take care." Alex gives a smile and kills the line. She's sits silent for a bit, then brings up some finance figures and plays around with them a bit, about as unhappy as finances always make her. She gives up after a few minutes and sends that wave out to Yuri, in which she shamelessly plays off of Beck's good name. She marks up the price a little, but offers a few hours of her own mechanic work on the trip over, hopping she could fill her hull a little more. She sighed, gave a longing glance at her floating to-do list of a ships schemantic and sent the message.
Heading up ladder again, Alex swung by the mess. "Hey, that smells divine, I was gonna say to break out the tea and dumplings, but I like the smell of what you got there. Anyway, troops," Alex looks at the odd bunch in the kitchen. "We got ourselves a little work on the moon, so that's something good, eh? It's a weak tea cargo run, but I promise y'all, we'll head out for better stuff soon."
Alex turned away to head up to the bridge, muttering as she went. "Not like I got much choice."
Alex was disappointed to see that Annalise was gone and gave Boran a quick querry as to her location, saying she needed to discuss their new work then headed back down to the quarters to check for the woman there. Giving a knock and announcing her arrival, Alex popped her head in.
"Hey, Anna, wanted to discuss our latest cargo. Might of put us up for some more busy work on our return trip. Don't mean to put a load on you, just trying to keep the hull full, dui ma? Look and another thing..." Alex gets close and speaks in an undertone so as to not get heard by any passerby.
"Would you mind doing some snooping on this new Jin guy for me? Not that I don't think the kid seems nice enough, it's... look, we got a Fed on board and I want to check if there's a reason for that." Alex doesn't look exactly sure of what her whispered request is supposed to mean, mostly seeming uncomfortable her own self.

[ancalimohtar]

I sort of forgot to expand on what I meant by the term "collaborative storytelling" when I wrote the OP for the recruitment thread, so let me take the opportunity to do it right now. I'll put it in the OP too:

I want you all to keep in mind that "collaborative storytelling" means you should be thinking of the game as a whole rather than the character you happen to be playing. Think of everybody together as a group of writers for a TV show. If one of the characters never fails at anything, never has interesting problems and obstacles, never grows and never seems human, viewers get bored of the character, the show as a whole suffers, and the boss (me) is going to get rid of this character, and the responsible writer will get a good talking-to.

I know most people are used to having their own enjoyment of the game be tied directly to the successes of the characters they play, and so people "powergame" or whatever, but I'm taking a different approach. If everybody identifies with the whole story rather than one character in it (just like a TV show's writers), then nobody takes it personally when one character suffers professionally, financially, emotionally for the benefit of the show as a whole.

What makes a good life for most people is financial stability, food, shelter, luxuries, excitement, happiness, basically resources to do what they want. What makes a good story is different. In collaborative storytelling, we create characters that are searching for a good life, but in that search, go through things that make a good story.

For example, when Mal is unsuccessful at selling the Lacetor, nobody watching the show really cares; being able to sell it doesn't really make the plot of the show any more interesting. But if the story were being roleplayed, the people playing Serenity's crew might get upset over it. Not to say that I would stymie Hole in the Black's crew just because, or that I would intentionally keep the finances ragged, or dangle rewards I wasn't willing to actually give the characters, but it's just an example of how what makes a good (fictional) story is different from what makes a good (fictional) life.

[ancalimohtar]

I like these possibilities and subplots Alex is introducing.

Quick question, what do you mean by "She marks up the price a little, but offers a few hours of her own mechanic work on the trip over, hopping she could fill her hull a little more"? Are you offering repair services for Yuri?

[Koji]

Trevor Zane

Trevor scuttles out of everyone's way, and clumsily bumps into Jin, nearly knocking the plates out of his hands. He flinches away from him and moves out into the hall a bit, head lowered.

[mainiac]

I like these possibilities and subplots Alex is introducing.

Quick question, what do you mean by "She marks up the price a little, but offers a few hours of her own mechanic work on the trip over, hopping she could fill her hull a little more"? Are you offering repair services for Yuri?

((I was thinking that Alex would offer a few hours of work by herself and Anna as an incentive to get Yuri to give them a bigger cargo. That way if Yuri had a float that needed a little more work before getting shipped planetside, he could send it out now and pay Alex's bunch for the transport, rather then later, when the money would be wasted on some other crew. Naturally, there'd be a little markup, since they are throwing in skilled labor, but the markup wouldn't only be about 3/4th the cost of what it would be normally. I'm trying to imagine the measures Alex might dream up to get some extra cashflow here.))

[Jannex]

Annalise is just putting the finishing touches on the dossiers when she hears Alex's knock. "C'mon in," she calls, tipping back onto the rear legs of her chair, as Alex opens the door. She nods amiably in response to the mention of working on the cargo for on the next run. "Sure, no problem; that's my job, dui bu dui?"

As she hears the other woman's second request, Annalise grins. "Already done, Captain," she says, looking rather pleased with herself as she holds out the assembled files. "Short version is, he was part of some military training program--gengineering and training from childhood, all nice and above-board and squeaky-clean. Opted out when he hit the age of majority. The rest of it's in here." Anna keeps her tone carefully neutral through this recitation, though she allows a hint of skepticism and unease to reflect in her eyes.

[ancalimohtar]

On the industrial moon of Persephone, an entrepreneur receives a wave from a cargo ship captain and thinks about how to respond. Well, he could get them to do the run and the other thing. Hmm...

Two hundred thousand miles away, aboard Hole in the Black, Grace's delicious welcome-aboard dinner calls to the two women talking in the crew quarters. There will be plenty of time to inspect Annalise's research later.

Though nobody on the crew has known each other for more than a few weeks, it seems everybody is bonding rather quickly, and Alex has been successful so far at forming the core of a good crew.

[mainiac]

Alex sighed. "Seems perfectly legit..." she doesn't seem particularly comforted though. "I-" the dinner call comes. "...guess we better head on up. Thanks for the help, Anna, guess I'll check this out later."
Alex heads on up to supper, possitioning herself in the midst of the newer crew member to keep people from clumping up. As everyone's who's been with them a while has come to expect, she thanks Grace for the cooking. Alex offhandedly jokes to Jin and Ryder that the foods the only real reason anyone else is still onboard then asks for a moment of silence and gives a quick prayer, just a couple reverent sentences asking the divine for safety and companionship before they eat.
As the food starts getting dished out Alex strikes up some trivial conversation with Jin and Ryder, recalling a favorite cortex program of hers from a couple years back and asking if they were still running it coreside these days.

[Conners]

I'm imagining that Anna, with a d12+d2 Hacking skill, has access to the Alliance's Person Registration System, and so she can pull up whatever the Alliance has put into that database on each person. This would be the basics, like age, sex, DOB and location, education, tax returns, property ownership, credit history, criminal record, outstanding warrants, and special designations by the Alliance, etc. In addition, Annalise rolled a 15 to get more information scattered about in other records, or just on the tex, on local government sites, or individual/private organizations' sites. Imagine a less-chaotic version of Googling someone's name in 2007. The 15 succeeds at a Formidable difficulty check, so let Annalise know whatever stuff on the tex you think a Formidable roll should uncover.[/I] ((So sorry for not posting so long.... MY family and I became terribly sick, at the same time we have to somehow run our shop, and it's right after the hectic busy days of Christmas...))

Annalise finds Ryder to be what he said he was. He was born on one of the border planets with his two older brothers, Jagen and Rion, and his younger sister, Rachel. His parents died in a spaceship accident, it seemed at first--but she soon found their deaths to be reaver related...

With the influence of some friends, they were moved to a poorer section of one of the core worlds. The "friends", she discovers, are the leaders of a weaker group of Tongs, who were recently eliminated by another group of Tongs--some dispute to do with one leader's son and another's daughter.

He attended one of the top Alliance Medical Academies -- through "creative" means -- and did very well in the subjects of Surgery and Internal Medicine.
There aren't any dues he hasn't paid, and he has no criminal record--except for "suspicion of petty crime", which had been, for some reason, erased from his main records.

Name: Ryder Kalnen
Age: 21
Birthday: April 20th
Gender: Male
Height: 6' 00"
Weight: 144 lbs
Eye Colour: Blue
Hair Colour: Black
Blood Type: AB
Martial Status: Single
Profession: Unemployed
Qualifications: Class A Surgeon, Class A Internal Physician.
((I don't know what official records look like, especially in the future, so I put in everything basic.))

[Jannex]

Annalise nods, and follows her captain out to the kitchen, taking only a moment to log out of her Cortex terminal and lock it down--a process now nearly as reflexive as breathing. Only now that her attention has been diverted from the 'tex screen does Anna realize that she's rather hungry.

She greets the rest of the crew with a friendly smile, and turns to Grace. "Everything smells wonderful! I keep meaning to come up and help you, if you need an extra pair of hands cooking, but you always seem to start when I'm up to my elbows in electronics or something." A self-deprecating grin pulls at the corner of her mouth. "I guess that means I'm on dishes-duty again, huh?"

[ancalimohtar]

Dinner conversation is light and merry, befitting the commencement of new beginnings for many of the crew. Go ahead and roleplay any get-to-know-you stuff.

When Alex gets done with dinner and has time to check her messages, she'll find a wave from Yuri waiting for her.

"Hello, Alex. Yes, you have good friend in Beck, I know, she's nice girl, and truth is, I need to make deadline, correct? So come to Nieverstad, Lombard, address 19384 Trans forty-five, the big repair yard, next to highway. You can't miss." Here he pauses, and sighs.

"I know you also want make more mahney, but I try to start business, can't deliver mismatched goods. I can't promise my clients you do same level work I do, ni dong ba? But is okay! I have good idea. You want to fix, I give you something to fix. We talk more when you come. Bye!" He grins, and ends the transmission.

ni dong ba? = you understand, right?

[Conners]

((You know, it's hard to RP a doctor when I've little idea what they do in the future--or now.... But, that just makes it more fun :smallbiggrin:))

In his room, Ryder had been going over the "basics" of his job. Like ((don't bother reading if you're not interested)):
"The purpose of surgery to the ears, nose, throat, head, and neck is to treat an abnormality (defect or disease) in these anatomical areas. An anatomical deformity is a change that usually occurs during embryological development, leaving the affected person with the apparent defect. A disease in this area usually develops later in life, such as head and neck cancer. Additionally, the specialty known as otorhinolaryngology (ears [oto], nose [rhino], and throat [laryn], referring to the larynx or throat) also includes surgical intervention for diseases in the head and neck regions. Most ears, nose, and throat (ENT) surgeons in the United States are referred to as otolaryngologist and the specialty as otolaryngology. Ear surgery is usually performed to correct specific causes of hearing loss. Nose surgery can include different types of procedures necessary to treat sinus problems (sinus surgery). Throat surgery can include complicated procedures such as cancer of the larynx (laryngectomy), or more simple procedures such as surgical removal of the adenoids (adenoidectomy) or tonsils (tonsillectomy). Head and neck surgery may be necessary to remove a tumor or reconstruct an area after disfigurement from trauma or injury." Some times he just loved his work--like when he was getting paid and not studying it. Still, it was much different when he was treating a patient... then, things got really exciting.

He thought back to when his old boss, Chan-don, was shot in the arm.... Simple procedure: Check the patient's response to simple instructions, such as "squeeze my hand. Now let it go." If the patient fails to respond, put them onto their side and check their airway, treating it as appropriate (see page 19). If the patient is conscious, help them into a comfortable position, keeping the injured area slightly raised. Check for entry and exit wounds--if there are no broken bones, control any bleeding. Once bleeding is dealt with.
Remove the bullet from the wound -- make sure the patient won't injure them self or you from the pain of the procedure -- and place it on your surgical tray. Disinfect the wound, as well as the area around it, before stitching it closed. Bandage the wound. Bullets often leave the wounded area paralysed: Support a limb with a splint, and bandage it in a comfortable position for it to heal. The patient should be put to bed and rest as soon as possible, with the wounded area alleviated. Loss of blood is another symptom of bullet trauma, and a blood transfusion may need to be conducted. Should the patient require a blood transfusion, but no donor of the right jurisdiction can be found soon enough, it is often best to put the patient in a induced coma.
After all the above procedures are carried out, the patient should recover normally with rest--the period of time varying by the seriousness of the bullet wound. Note: Remember to change the subjects bandages and re-sterilize the area around the wound.
Strange, Ryder thought to himself, thinking about bullet trauma surgery doesn't normally smell like food--for me at least. He snapped up to his feet. "Sustenance!" he exclaimed to himself, sarcastically. He then moved to the dining room, Is that what you call the place you eat on a ship? he asked himself.

"Good evening!" Ryder says, loudly and cheerfully, as he enters. "What's that delicious smell? Could something smelling good as that really be protein-stuff?" He sits down between Annalise and Jin if he can, but feels welcome to sit anywhere. He energetically begins and joins conversations with the others. "So, Captain," he says to Alex, after telling someone about the time he was given the wrong patient, "did you find out anything about this Charle?"

((Am I RPing OK? It's hard to tell from reading my own writing, and I'm still sick which makes it harder still...))

[mainiac]

((Hm, you have got a bit of a distinctive style there. Guessing your a bit of a greenhorn?))

Alex let the protein comment slide this time, figuring that Grace's excellent cuisine would speak for itself. Didn't seem to hard to see that Ryder liked to speak for himself, which was alright, though a story that reminded her of poor old Sergio wasn't exactly the best at dinner. She didn't exactly mind the change of topic.
"Nope," she observed while pushing a few remaining vegetables around her plate. "Not too surprising, Peresephone ain't the easiest place to find folk, specially those that don't want to be found. But I'm not too worried about it. Guy who wants us to find 'im can't be all that hard to track down, eh?"

[Conners]

((Hm, you have got a bit of a distinctive style there. Guessing your a bit of a greenhorn?))

Alex let the protein comment slide this time, figuring that Grace's excellent cuisine would speak for itself. Didn't seem to hard to see that Ryder liked to speak for himself, which was alright, though a story that reminded her of poor old Sergio wasn't exactly the best at dinner. She didn't exactly mind the change of topic.
"Nope," she observed while pushing a few remaining vegetables around her plate. "Not too surprising, Peresephone ain't the easiest place to find folk, specially those that don't want to be found. But I'm not too worried about it. Guy who wants us to find 'im can't be all that hard to track down, eh?" ((That's a good thing?
Not really the type of writing situation I'm good at.... I scarcely know a thing about doctors and their work. I'm also not very good with futuristic settings, preferring medieval swords-and-magic settings. Also, as I said, I'm still sick :smalltongue::smallfrown:....))

"Yeah, I'm sure we'll find him soon enough," Ryder agrees heartily, "so what jobs do we have until then? I'd like something with some action." He grins widely as he opens his sleeve a bit, revealing a well-balanced pistol. "Should I leave my weapons anywhere in particular when I'm not going out," he asked politely, "or should I do with them as I like?"
After his answer, he looks over to Annalise. "Can you fight too?" he asks her curiously. "Everyone on this ship looks like they know how to point a gun."

[Sunfall]

((Incidentally, Conners, Grace looks exactly as if she didn't even know which end of a gun to hold when accidentally given one. :smalltongue:

Your style of writing's very detailed, if a bit jumpy on topic changes, but I guess it's a good thing you're starting off researching and trying to get comfortable with how things work for a medic. I, for one, am dreadful at caring for plants IRL - I'm quite apt at killing even cactuses. I've also never played a gardener before, and most of the time have some botanic section of Wikipedia open as I write. But most effort goes into not letting it look like that :smallbiggrin:

Oh, and I hope you and your family get well soon...))

Grace seems quite flattered by everyone's favorable comments on the dinner, constantly replying things like "Only doin' ma job, hon, only doin' ma job." or "Why, that's what I'm here for, after all, ain't I?"

She has laden the table full to the chipped edge with everything she has been able to muster for this special occasion, and Trevor's fears turn out to be completely unfounded. Last thing she sets down is an earthen jug of steaming fresh spearmint tea, and she places it next to Lee, smiling and winking.

To Anna's remorseful remark, her wrinkled eyes twinkle, as she kindly responds. "Oh, Anna, pumpkin, yer don' have ter help if yer don' got the time. Things you do with your electronics 'n stuff are real important for the Hole, after all. As are Alex's and Boran's and that kid Trevor's and everyone else's stuff. And I won't have you doin' no dishes for today, ni dong ba? 'Xept, of course, you'd like ter help an' I can't hinder ya", she adds with a small smile.

During the course of dinner, Grace sits between the others, eyeing her bony brown hands with a sadness in her eyes that makes it seem as if she was not quite part of this little celebration. Now and then, she looks up and around in a bewildered manner, as if she can't remember where all those merry people around her came from. She seems detached, but answers in a perfectly sweet manner if someone addresses her (sometimes for a second or a third time).

[Jannex]

Annalise shakes her head, smiling at Grace. "Don't underestimate the importance of good, real food in keeping the Hole's crew from going a bit peculiar in the brain-pan. And I think I can spare a few minutes after dinner to scrub some pots and pans," she promises.

At Ryder's question, Anna glances skeptically at his weapon, her smile fading slightly. "Well, I know in theory how to fire one... I've had a little practice target-shooting, but I'm not exactly a soldier, if you get my meaning. I'm probably not someone you want watching your back in a firefight, if you've got a choice."

[Conners]

((I've written much better stuff before, anyway.))

Ryder looks at Annalise, a little worried that he upset her somehow. "I'm sure you'd do fine," he says, nice and comforting. "But I'll do the best I can to make sure you don't face the situation." He smiles nicely at Anna, then gets back to his food--complimenting Grace on it skilfully.

[Jannex]

Annalise's smile returns, and she touches Ryder's arm reassuringly. "I appreciate that. And I think that, with you and the others," she glances around the table, indicating Lee and Jin and the other gun-hands, "we'll all be in good hands."

Then she turns to Boran, and starts making conversation about the ship's sensors, and whether he's got any more repair projects in mind.

[roninkelt]

Abel

sits at the table, joining the conversation if addressed but seemingly overwhelmed by having more than one or two people in the same room aboard ship. If asked he'll reply "Prospectin' tends to be lonely work, this will take some gettin used to."

During a moment when she's not busy - "May I ask the Captain what she's got in mind for us?"

[Nelphine]

(Ack! I'm behind again; school has just started, but I'll catch up very shortly. Sorry for being so slow, was sorting out using school computers)

[ancalimohtar]

I'm in transit the next couple days. Won't know whether I get internet access or not.

But don't worry about me, do continue.

[Rachel Lorelei]

(Note on Jin for the hacker and captain:
I messed up the dates in my previous post. The point is, Jin's actually just barely 20, i.e. underage--he can presumably do a number of things, being over 18, but not the things you have to be 21 for.)

( Dexterity + Atheltics: [roll0] + [roll1])

Jin accepts the plates and gets to setting the table with crisp efficiency and without objection. When Trevor bumps him, he skitters to the side with that startling speed of his, and shifts so that the plate he let go rolls down his arm. A flick of his wrist tosses it up into the air, and he lets it spin, balanced on a finger, before he sets it down.

"That? Yeah, it's still around, sort of," he tells the captain about her program. "It's gone through a couple of versions. Don't like the latest, actually; too much unnecessary fei-oo packed in."

When the food is served, he gets to eatin' with a will. He doesn't scarf, but when he eats, he eats: after his plate is clean, he leans back, flicks his braid over his shoulder with one hand, and resumes chatting.
"The best hands. Trouble comes shootin', you take cover if you aren't used to shootin' back. Behind me if there's nowhere better; I'll see you taken care of. Have to earn my salary, right? No way to support my addiction to strawberries otherwise."

[Koji]

Trevor Zane

Trevor eats like a mouse, saying little and watching the others while quietly devouring his meal. When the topic turns to gunplay, his mind drifts back to the unassembled heavy sniper rifle he brought along with his "personal effects." He'd fully intended to tell Alex, until she started talking about how she didn't like big guns, and...

Well, probably best to say nothing. If he loses this job, it'll be years before he can pilot anything bigger than a horse-drawn carriage again. He remains silent and when he's cleared his plate, asks quietly to be excused before taking his dishes to be washed and put away.

[mainiac]

Abel

sits at the table, joining the conversation if addressed but seemingly overwhelmed by having more than one or two people in the same room aboard ship. If asked he'll reply "Prospectin' tends to be lonely work, this will take some gettin used to."

During a moment when she's not busy - "May I ask the Captain what she's got in mind for us?"



Alex smiles at Abel's question, feeling upbeat, or at least appearing to do so.
"Oh, didn't ya hear? We got ourselves a milk run cargo run heading right back to the planet. I know y'all didn't sign up to work as dockworkers, but it's better then nothin', eh? And once we get back to the Docks, I figure we'll track this charlie guy down. Yeah, I know we ain't got much to go on, but, eh, the mystery tickles my interest. Hey, pass that will ya?" Alex points towards a dish near Abel's elbow.

((Anyone else think I should gradually turn Alex Canadian, eh? Also, anyone think we should go on ahead to their triumphant return at the dock when our host get's back? Doesn't look like too much for anyone to be doing until then.))


Trevor Zane

Trevor eats like a mouse, saying little and watching the others while quietly devouring his meal. When the topic turns to gunplay, his mind drifts back to the unassembled heavy sniper rifle he brought along with his "personal effects." He'd fully intended to tell Alex, until she started talking about how she didn't like big guns, and...

Well, probably best to say nothing. If he loses this job, it'll be years before he can pilot anything bigger than a horse-drawn carriage again. He remains silent and when he's cleared his plate, asks quietly to be excused before taking his dishes to be washed and put away.

((I don't really think Alex has all that much a problem with big guns truth be told. She did kinda serve in the artillery corps after all, kinda hard to find bigger then that. On the other hand if your piece is anything built by Iskellion she probably thinks it's a piece of fancy, easily broken rubbish.))

[Sunfall]

When Grace has finished, too, she just sits. When Trevor getting up catches her eye, she throws him a worried look. "Y'eat enough, Kid? Really?... No, no, just leave the plate there, don' mind tidyin' up. There's always a time fer cleaning up, an' it's not now. What about dessert, then?"

Grace gets up herself and starts bustling around at the galley, eventually bringing forth a chocolatey-looking lump of... uh... something.

"Not much there, as I had ter use the whole pineapple for tha rice, but it might taste remotely like somethin' that once walked by a bar of chocolate...", she says with a somewhat apologetic air before setting the lump of protein down on the table, starting to remove empty plates and bowls, piling them up on the counter for cleaning.

((My PC died on me :smallsigh: , so I'll be dependent on internet cafes for a while. Trying to peek in at least once a week. Anyway, hopefully I'll get it back soon... Keep your fingers crossed :smallsmile: ))

[ancalimohtar]

Okay, well, dessert is had by all, and everybody seems to enjoy the unchocolate cake. When dinner is over, Grace and Annalise (and whoever else wants to help) clear the table and put the dishes in the dishwasher.

You guys will reach the moon in the morning, and there will be supplies-gathering to do.

Alex heads back to her cabin and notices the wave from Yuri.

Lee heads back to his cabin and finds a wave too.

[Koji]

((I don't really think Alex has all that much a problem with big guns truth be told. She did kinda serve in the artillery corps after all, kinda hard to find bigger then that. On the other hand if your piece is anything built by Iskellion she probably thinks it's a piece of fancy, easily broken rubbish.))

((I think I remember a conversation about big guns getting people hurt. Maybe Trevor overheard it and read too much into it.))

Trevor shuffles off, seeing that others have decided to wash the dishes, and sits down in the cockpit. He cues up the console to alert him when the ship approaches atmo and makes some final corrections to the trajectory.

Hours later, he falls asleep in the soft chair with his knees drawn up against his chest and his hands clasped around them.

[roninkelt]

Alex smiles at Abel's question, feeling upbeat, or at least appearing to do so.
"Oh, didn't ya hear? We got ourselves a milk run cargo run heading right back to the planet. I know y'all didn't sign up to work as dockworkers, but it's better then nothin', eh? And once we get back to the Docks, I figure we'll track this charlie guy down. Yeah, I know we ain't got much to go on, but, eh, the mystery tickles my interest. Hey, pass that will ya?" Alex points towards a dish near Abel's elbow.

Abel

replies
"I like milk... haven't seen to many cargoes of it tho, cheaper to make locally."

He passes the condiment back to Alex and keeps the rest of his thoughts to himself. Wouldn't do to question the Captain too sharply in public.

After helping Grace and Annalise with the cleanup he'll wander around to the various watch stations starting with the Bridge.
"Howdy Trevor, how's she doing?" He pats the overhead affectionately...

[Rachel Lorelei]

Gymnastics: 1d10+1d6=11 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1458802/), hitting "hard" difficulty (i.e. 'exhibition-worthy').

Jin is among the first to finish eating, and he starts cleaning up without being asked. A few trips, each hand carrying a stack of precariously balanced plates, clear most of the table.
"Exercise time, I s'pose. Be just out in the cargo bay if someone needs me."
And with that, he trots out and towards the bay, unbuttoning his white shirt as he goes. By the time he's gotten there, it's off; he rushes a railing, leaps onto it and (shirt dropping onto the rail to hang there) pushes off, out, and into space.

There's a second for anyone who's around to watch him hang before he starts to drop--and closes his hands around the horizontal bar he set up earlier. His body goes straight and describes a circle, then another; he releases it for long enough to switch grips, body turning half a circle and hands shifting, and goes through another circle in the opposite direction. He slows, and comes to a stop upside-down over the bar, arms extended; then Jin tips into a drop, letting go just as he starts to come back up. His body turns and twists, flipping twice, and he catches it again. He continues for a number of minutes, changing grips, twisting, flipping, even doing the splits as he goes over the bar. Then he dismounts, more gently than a gymnast might at an event, since he doesn't have a mat out, landing after a single sommersault with the sound of boots on metal and turning the energy of the landing into a jump so as not to stumble.

That jump lets him get hold of the hanging rings he'd set up. He pulls himself up, then spreads his arms wide, until he's suspended in a cross; a shift of his hips moves him back, and from there his legs come up, he turns around, and then his body straightens into the same cross, but upside-down, his arms straining to maintain the position. After a few long moments, he lowers himself into a horizontal position: he looks like a man about to do a push-up--only he's keeping himself parallel to the ground with nothing except his grip on the rings.

Jin's torso is lean and hard, though scarless; whipcord over bone, as though built for pure efficiency. He's got fairly broad shoulders, . His skin gleams faintly with sweat after his exercise on the horizontal bar.


If you want to picture Jin's gymnastics:
Horizontal bar (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh2ffSRbikw).
Rings (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0h3kqXPZUsw).
Jin wouldn't be quite as good as these fine gentlemen, of course.

[ancalimohtar]

+1 PP (Jin) for the gymnastics bit.

[Conners]

((Didn't my earlier post about how to treat a gunshot injury meet the requirements for plot points...?))

Ryder eats what's left the the chocolate dessert, taking his dishes to the sink. Seeing it already crowded (and not overly fond of menial labour), he leaves them on the bench. "Well, I'll be off to bed," he tells Annalise, Grace, and anyone else around, "good night!"

Back at his room, he slips from the ladder--hitting his head with a very loud bang, against the floor. At first he clasps his head, gritting his teeth and closing his eyes tightly in intense pain. But then he realised this was a good, and painful, opportunity. The young doctor does his best to not show the slightest sign of pain on his face, his head throbbing the whole time. Looking in the mirror, he checks what would become a large purple bruise, as well as an egg-sized bump... He rubs medical ointment onto it, bandaging it appropriately. The wound throbbing all the time, he manages to keep a straight face. After all, if he hadn't learn to, he would've been dead a long time ago...
Having finished his painful little challenge, Ryder picks up another of his medical books and gets to bed. Anatomy and Biology, he sighed, looks like nightmares about Reavers again tonight...
((Can I roleplay my own Traumatic Flashes when they occur?))

[ancalimohtar]

Conners, yeah, you can have your character experience traumatic flashes when appropriate.

[Conners]

((So, if I purposely decide to have one at an inappropriate time I'd get plot points? Also, what was wrong with my other role plays?))

((Note: This nightmare is rather scary and horrorish.))
It all starts with blackness, indifferent from that of closing your eyes. Then, a strange light-purple ogre begins to dance... Ryder said hello to it, barely noticing he was now a rough crayon drawing. The ogre ignores him, suddenly dancing more roughly. Dust is kicked up from the dance, choking Ryder. He tries to make the ogre stop, pulling at its large arms, but it just keeps dancing. So, Ryder decided to walk away, but the ogre danced after him. Choking almost to death, Ryder suddenly finds a giant rifle in his hands, and shoots the ogre with it. It explodes, not with crayon, but blood--red, thick, sticky, foul-smelling blood... He was drenched in it, no longer a children's drawing and suddenly a proper human-3d. "Reaver! Reaver!" he heard being shouted. Rim-world police -- only much larger, tougher and better armoured than they normally were -- suddenly appeared, carrying two large guns each. They aimed there guns at Ryder, intending to shoot. Ryder tried to explain, but the blood tried to crawl into his mouth whenever he opened it. Bang! The police had not been aiming at him, however... they were aiming at a 10 foot reaver, a few feet behind him. The police screamed and ran, losing their armour and getting smaller, thinner, and pale. Ryder tried to run as well, but the blood was sticking him to the floor... The reavers came toward him, oozing blood and mutilated bodies. Struggling against the now rock-hard blood, Ryder brought out his ogre killing gun, but couldn't bring the barrel high enough to aim! The reaver put its hand, its cold, bony, blood-stained and self-mutilated hand, onto his face, increasing its grip so that it could rip Ryder--mutilate him... Ryder shot the gun in a panic, breaking the rock-blood and letting him bring the rifle up. He shot it at the reaver, pushing it back and making it explode with its previous victims. More reavers came, running, crawling, jumping. Ryder kept shooting, shooting shooting--"AHHHAAAHHHHHHGGGHHHAAAHHHH!!!!" Ryder screams, pulling his rifle up from the side of the bed and aiming it.
He sees a figure at the end of his bed. He throws the gun-barrel to point straight at it, and pulls the trigger to blast it to bit... but the safety was on. The figure was just the model human-skeleton he looked at occasionally... For a few seconds, he sits there, still too scared to put the gun away.

[ancalimohtar]

Conners, we have a bit of a problem here.

There is no "requirement" for plot points. I give out plot points for many different circumstances. So far, it's been for well-written roleplaying posts. I don't think people should expect to receive plot points for any particular post they make, like you seem to have. I'm not in the habit of giving out points every time someone makes a long post.

Your bit about treating gunshot wounds was nice. I just didn't think I ought to give plot points for it. It was literally just a bunch of medical text you copied from wikipedia or some other site; more importantly, it doesn't really characterize Ryder at all. I just didn't feel anything when I read it.

The bigger issue, I think, is the way you're approaching this game. It seems you are treating this roleplaying game as a board game. You are trying to "win" it. You've remarked multiple times that you want to get to shooting and killing stuff, both in and out of character. You've asked for PPs multiple times now. You just asked me if giving your character a nightmare at a tough time will earn you PPs. You had Ryder "convince Jin, if necessary," to give Ryder the nicer room earlier. I know you're used to D&D, which is about breaking into other people's homes, killing them, and taking their money, (which I enjoy immensely when I want that kind of game), but this is not D&D.

In the same vein, I think Ryder is going to insult a lot of people if he keeps doing/saying what he has been. Whenever Ryder talks, you always describe him speaking "nicely," or "pleasantly," or "politely"; he's always "enthusiastic" or "cheerful" or something similar. I know he's Sweet And Cheerful, per his trait, but 1) you overdo it way too much, and 2) that's not going to cover you when you're inappropriate. Example:

"Yeah, I'm sure we'll find him soon enough," Ryder agrees heartily, "so what jobs do we have until then? I'd like something with some action." He grins widely as he opens his sleeve a bit, revealing a well-balanced pistol. "Should I leave my weapons anywhere in particular when I'm not going out," he asked politely, "or should I do with them as I like?"
After his answer, he looks over to Annalise. "Can you fight too?" he asks her curiously. "Everyone on this ship looks like they know how to point a gun."First of all, people are eating. This is dinner. Why would you grin and pull out a gun? It's just not dinner conversation, even among hardy folk on the Rim. Saying that you ask the question "politely" doesn't really excuse the fact that it's not polite at all. The next question to Annalise is also rather inappropriate. Would someone really ask that question like that?

Finally, I didn't comment on your writing style before, but I do think it's getting to be problematic. Take your last post for example. It switches between the present and past tense dozens of times, sometimes mid-sentence. There are no paragraphs, it's just a walloftext. You used "indifferent" as if it meant "not different." What does "a proper human-3d" mean? How can Ryder "barely notice" the ogre is made up of rough crayon lines, when the ogre exists only to him? How exactly does a reaver ooze mutilated bodies through its piercings? Does Ryder throw the gun or point it at the skeleton?

I think the real issue is that you're not used to writing. Which can be improved on if you work at it.

Anyway, PPs given for roleplaying are not going to account for most of the PPs given. This is just the beginning. I'm just giving some points to people for setting up their character's personalities. Just make Ryder believable and realistic, not a saccharine bag of grins. And write for the good of the game, not just for your character.

[Conners]

Conners, we have a bit of a problem here.

There is no "requirement" for plot points. I give out plot points for many different circumstances. So far, it's been for well-written roleplaying posts. I don't think people should expect to receive plot points for any particular post they make, like you seem to have. I'm not in the habit of giving out points every time someone makes a long post.

Your bit about treating gunshot wounds was nice. I just didn't think I ought to give plot points for it. It was literally just a bunch of medical text you copied from wikipedia or some other site; more importantly, it doesn't really characterize Ryder at all. I just didn't feel anything when I read it. ((Only the bit I put down as a quote, and that was just there as some background information - I said not to read it unless interested. With the rest, I was too tired to think up how to make it sound more interesting, plus I've never treated a gunshot injury before... I probably should have gone into a memory of the actual treatment, so I could've described the patient's pained reactions, and how everything had to be fast and accurate. I was tired, however.))


The bigger issue, I think, is the way you're approaching this game. It seems you are treating this roleplaying game as a board game. You are trying to "win" it.
You've remarked multiple times that you want to get to shooting and killing stuff, both in and out of character. You've asked for PPs multiple times now. You just asked me if giving your character a nightmare at a tough time will earn you PPs.
((Not exactly. Everyone is getting PPs ahead of me, so it makes sense that I'd be concerned about catching up. I was wanting to get another medical skill for the crew.
Ryder comes from a planet constantly under attack by reavers, he's a little trigger happy from the experience. I wasn't "asking for PPs", I was asking about the reasons behind plot points being given out.))


You had Ryder "convince Jin, if necessary," to give Ryder the nicer room earlier.((What? I'm sorry, I didn't realise the nicer room got me a +2 comfort bonus to sleeping checks. Ryder did it because he wanted the nicer room... Ryder is an opportunist--an amount of the reason he became a doctor was that it was well paid...))


In the same vein, I think Ryder is going to insult a lot of people if he keeps doing/saying what he has been. Whenever Ryder talks, you always describe him speaking "nicely," or "pleasantly," or "politely"; he's always "enthusiastic" or "cheerful" or something similar. I know he's Sweet And Cheerful, per his trait, but 1) you overdo it way too much, and 2) that's not going to cover you when you're inappropriate.
Example:
First of all, people are eating. This is dinner. Why would you grin and pull out a gun? It's just not dinner conversation, even among hardy folk on the Rim. Saying that you ask the question "politely" doesn't really excuse the fact that it's not polite at all. The next question to Annalise is also rather inappropriate. Would someone really ask that question like that? ((Ryder is similar to someone I once knew who seemed as nice as anything, but ended up stealing from us--Ryder being without the stealing part, though. Ryder always tries to be incredibly charming--that's how he managed to get himself into such a good academy without coming from a wealthy family. Sometimes cultural differences trip him up, however, and he may inadvertently insult someone.
He comes from a reaver attacked planet, guns are pretty much everywhere around you... EVERYONE knows how to use a gun there. He didn't mean to be rude though.))


Finally, I didn't comment on your writing style before, but I do think it's getting to be problematic. Take your last post for example. It switches between the present and past tense dozens of times, sometimes mid-sentence. There are no paragraphs, it's just a walloftext.
You used "indifferent" as if it meant "not different." What does "a proper human-3d" mean? How can Ryder "barely notice" the ogre is made up of rough crayon lines, when the ogre exists only to him? How exactly does a reaver ooze mutilated bodies through its piercings? Does Ryder throw the gun or point it at the skeleton?

I think the real issue is that you're not used to writing. Which can be improved on if you work at it. ((Unfortunately I do have a habit of changing tenses. However, I purposely intended the dream to be in the past tense to be strange, and also because it reflects his past. I was too tired to work out paragraphs, and I thought it'd give the idea that it was all meshed together.

About "a proper human-3d" - Oops, I missed that. I meant he became a normal human again.

Haven't you had bad dreams before?--things are warped, where you're afraid of things you wouldn't be when you're awake, do things you wouldn't, think differently. It's a dream, how CAN'T it? I've had dreams 100 times weirder than that. OK, maybe I didn't describe the skeleton thing so well.

I'm afraid that I'm not used to writing when you're allowed to describe very little... having to ask "can I do this?" "is this like that?" "do I succeed in doing this?" before I can roleplay anything.))


Anyway, PPs given for roleplaying are not going to account for most of the PPs given. This is just the beginning. I'm just giving some points to people for setting up their character's personalities. Just make Ryder believable and realistic, not a saccharine bag of grins. And write for the good of the game, not just for your character.((Oh, I thought I'd have to get an awful lot of PPs through role-playing to get any advancement, due to the heavy cost for improvements. I didn't realise most PPs would be given out for other things. Sorry 'bout that.

As to Ryder's character: A lot of characters in Firefly are a bit larger-than-life (Jayne for example). I'll try to cut down on superfluous descriptions, though, and just assume everyone knows by now that he smiles incessantly.))

[ancalimohtar]

I was originally going to send this to you through PM/email, but I do want others to read some of the text near the bottom, so here it is. If anyone would prefer that in the future I do this type of stuff privately, let me know please.


((Only the bit I put down as a quote, and that was just there as some background information - I said not to read it unless interested. With the rest, I was too tired to think up how to make it sound more interesting, plus I've never treated a gunshot injury before... I probably should have gone into a memory of the actual treatment, so I could've described the patient's pained reactions, and how everything had to be fast and accurate. I was tired, however.))
You don't have to justify anything--I have no problem with that post. It's fine as it is. It's just not what I would give a plot point reward for.


((Not exactly. Everyone is getting PPs ahead of me, so it makes sense that I'd be concerned about catching up. I was wanting to get another medical skill for the crew.
Ryder comes from a planet constantly under attack by reavers, he's a little trigger happy from the experience. I wasn't "asking for PPs", I was asking about the reasons behind plot points being given out.))
The fact that you are concerned about others having received PPs, while you haven't, is proof that there is a problem with how you're viewing the game. It's the beginning of the game. You guys just took off and haven't even gotten to the moon yet. The four people who have earned points are Boran, Grace, Trevor, and Jin. There are nine crewmembers. In addition, Ryder may be trigger happy, but YOU are the one who is aching for combat, as evidenced by your multiple OOC remarks. Again, there's nothing wrong with that kind of game--this just isn't it, and I just don't want you to be disappointed with a game that focuses more on plot than rape-and-pillage-for-phat-lootz.


((What? I'm sorry, I didn't realise the nicer room got me a +2 comfort bonus to sleeping checks. Ryder did it because he wanted the nicer room... Ryder is an opportunist--an amount of the reason he became a doctor was that it was well paid...))
That's good. I was afraid you might not be aware that Ryder has this personality fault, but since you do, all is well.


I'm afraid that I'm not used to writing when you're allowed to describe very little... having to ask "can I do this?" "is this like that?" "do I succeed in doing this?" before I can roleplay anything.))
You do not have to ask for most things. Like I said in a recent post, everybody in this game should think of himself as one member in a team of writers, narrating the adventures of ten people. If you read my note in the OP, which I had since the very first [Gauging Interest] thread, I do not want to play the role of the traditional DM who has to have control over everything in the world, leaving their personal characters as the only degree of freedom for the players. If everybody can advance the plot in a more robust way, 1) nobody feels the only thing that will bring them fun is selfishly pursuing phat lootz and XP for their character (since they identify with everybody and the story as a whole, rather than just their own character), 2) I don't have to spread myself too thin, and I can run a game for ten people, which is much better than a game of four people, and 3) we can keep the play-by-post game running at a decent pace, instead of having the players pause and ask the DM for permission to do every little thing. At a real-life gaming table, asking the DM for permission is no problem; on OpenRPG, it's an inconvenience; but on a messageboard, it's murder.


((Ryder is similar to someone I once knew who seemed as nice as anything, but ended up stealing from us--Ryder being without the stealing part, though. Ryder always tries to be incredibly charming--that's how he managed to get himself into such a good academy without coming from a wealthy family. Sometimes cultural differences trip him up, however, and he may inadvertently insult someone.
He comes from a reaver attacked planet, guns are pretty much everywhere around you... EVERYONE knows how to use a gun there. He didn't mean to be rude though.))

As to Ryder's character: A lot of characters in Firefly are a bit larger-than-life (Jayne for example). I'll try to cut down on superfluous descriptions, though, and just assume everyone knows by now that he smiles incessantly.))
The point is, you cannot simply TELL us Ryder is nice and charming and polite. You have to SHOW that through good narration and roleplaying. And you haven't done that, so there is a disconnect there. It makes reading your posts very awkward, and gives the impression that either Ryder is a phony, or you as a player are only concerned with advancing your own character at the expense of a good story.

[roninkelt]

Abel

After making the rounds of all the duty stations, Abel will write up a report on what needs fixing, supplies needed (such as chili plants for the greenhouse) or other notes of concern in his notepad, encrypt the file and mark it for reference next time we are on planet.

Everyone he speaks to finds him quite personable and easy to talk to. (I was going to rp all the encounters, but no one has replied to my overtures).

Once the report is done, I'll look up the Captain again, "I have a couple of questions for you, if you have the time."

"First, do you know what the cargo is on this 'milk run'? Should we prepare a hideaway for it?"

"Secondly, What is this about Charlie?"

OOC: has Abel ever heard about a mover named Charlie on Persephone? Would it be an Intelligence + Knowledge check? (I'm just learning the serenity system, please be gentle with my lack of knowledge.) Perhaps Intel + Influence?

[Koji]

((ancalimohtar, I think you should make an OOC thread for us so that we can keep all the discussion seperate from the game))

Trevor nods to Abel when he comes by. At a loss for words, he simply frets nervously and says, "It's, er...goin'!"

...

A sharp beeping wakes Trevor from his fitful slumber. He pulls himself out of dreamland with a shake of the head and cancels the alert. The ship is approaching its atmospheric re-entry point at too sharp an angle--looks like someone forgot to take the particulars of the lunar orbit into account when astrogating the trip.

Piloting check: 1d8+1d12=12 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1460961/)

Without a moment's pause, Trevor takes hold of the controls and deftly readjusts the ship's trajectory. He looks behind him, wondering if anyone noticed his frantic behavior, and nervously bites into the soft part of his hand between the thumb and the knuckle of the forefinger until he tastes blood.

[ancalimohtar]

Koji, I know that's the way people like to do it on these boards, and there are some benefits--you can go back and read what happened much more easily, it reads like a novel, you don't have to wade through the OOC stuff--but I'm not sure I like it. For one, OOC stuff is usually about IC stuff, so you have to check back and forth to follow the topic of conversation. For two, if you do have to go back and check OOC stuff, it's much harder to follow the timeline of the game. Was this OOC stuff said before or after that IC stuff? Timestamps are an awkward way to follow a conversation.

But anyway, if the majority of you would prefer a separate OOC thread, I'm more than happy to do that. If not, I'll just italicize OOC text.

Back to the plot: If you guys have nothing special to do with the resupplying, I'm going to jump it ahead maybe six or so hours, to contact with Yuri. I've had this bit written since my recent plane ride, so I'm anxious to get it off the scratch paper in my jacket pocket and onto the hard, cold, internet. I'm going to assume Alex sent back a confirmation message to Yuri, agreeing to meet at a certain time.


Trevor manages to pull the ship out of the dangerous angle. Not pretty, but he does it okay, and Alex, coming up to the bridge to check up on the re-entry, doesn't mention it. Trevor is not sure whether she's pretending not to notice.

The next few hours go by in a hectic blur of haggling and loading up medical and other supplies. Ryder, in his element, picks out an assortment of necessary equipment and drugs. Hopping along the moon, named Ivangrad after a pioneering family, the crew finishes filling up the Hole with necessary items and head toward Yuri's shop.

-----------------

When the Hole enters Katma, she finds a city that clearly never gets any tourists. Heavily industrialized, most of its buildings are massive warehouses or factories that load their products into isotainers to be shipped 'round the moon or offworld. Lodged between two much larger and more expansive properties, the crew finds a few large piles of mostly rusted machinery. Amid the junkheaps a lone warehouse makes itself seen.

Trevor lands at a dock a few hundred yards away, where isotainers, stacked neatly, await to be loaded onto cargo ships.

A few of the crew leave the ship and walk to the warehouse, passing by a number of spare engine parts and half-assembled float and mule suspensions. The hangar door for the warehouse is open, and as the crew of the Hole walk in, they see dozens and dozens--perhaps a hundred or more--vehicles of all shapes and sizes in various states of repair, many of them simply parked in rows, some of them suspended from rafters, others in the middle of the shop being attended to.

A handful of grease-covered mechanics look up as you enter, although a few more are too busy to do so. A middle-aged man of average height and build wipes his hands on a piece of cloth and calls over to you.

"Alex? Beck's friend, yes? Welcome!"

[mainiac]

Alex was a bit amused when Abel brought his concerns to her. She smiled wryly into mule's anti-grav system she was currently patching up. Nice early morning work that.

"Heh, I ment the milk run sorta milk run, Abe." Alex fiddled intently with an old gasket as she talked before sighing and knocking the damn thing off and replacing it. "We're hauling some old floats or mules or something. nothing dangerous. Can't hurt to be alert in this part of space but I think we're safe for now."
The new piece in place, Alex looked Abel in the eye before going on. "Charlie's a whole different game. Like I said before, nice and mysterious. Could be lucrative."

-----------------------

Alex's eyes couldn't help but wander as she crossed through Yuri's workshop. Floats weren't her speciality but she was impressed and maybe made a little envious by the place. She took her eyes off the crafts and kept them on the man though, there was work to get done after all.
"Yeah, I'm Alexandra Gibbs. You're Yuri, right?" Alex gave Yuri a firm handshake, not caring that she got some residual oil on her hand in the process. She'd dressed nice and professional like for the bussiness deal but if Yuri prefered to keep things informal she'd definately follow his lead. "Nice to meet a fellow grease monkey, not to mention a family friend. Rebecca's family always seemed pretty good sorts in my book so I like doing bussiness with y'all." Alex smiled before changing the topic.
"Care to show what our bussiness is? You said you need float moved but looks like there's quite a few of 'em here..."

[Sunfall]

Everyone he speaks to finds him quite personable and easy to talk to. (I was going to rp all the encounters, but no one has replied to my overtures).


((I replied, didn't you notice? :smallbiggrin:

Hmm, maybe it would be better if I wrote speech in color, too, but I seem to have a faulty access to this forum from time to time, so that I can't use the HTML buttons. And I'm not overly fond of coding all this by hand...))

Grace has stayed aboard the Hole, dreamily whiling her time away in the greenhouse, tending her plants. When most oft the other crew have gone off ship, and the Hole seems deserted and silent, she vanishes into her cabin.

"Hello my darlings", she softly purrs, fondly stroking the flowers of one of the orchids that grow in pots suspended from the ceiling, dry roots groping into the air. Their blooms are of an ageless, waxy beauty, displaying countless colors in Grace's world of brown and grey. Some of them flaunt their colors as warning signs for those who can read them: Grace has taken to keep her more... interesting plants in her own cabin, where no harm can come from them, no other crew member can accidentally run into their fatal beauty.

Grace takes a squirt bottle from a messy shelf (absentmindedly holding back a pile of stuff that starts to slip as the bottly had supported it) and starts generating a soft fog for the plants that need to get their water and nutrients from the air.

[Koji]

After watching the others leave, Trevor sneaks into the infirmary to bind up his hand. He grabs a bit of gauze and furtively loops it around his palm, and secures it with a bit of tape, ignoring completely the idea of antiseptic.

Once finished, he slides on a pair of gloves to hide his self-inflicted injury and slinks back to the cockpit, where he is content to play video games and wait for the others to return.

[ancalimohtar]

Does anyone go with him? Lee's there, but what about the rest?

[Jannex]

((That depends largely on Alex; Annalise would've been happy to accompany her, if she has the impression that her presence will be useful.))

[ancalimohtar]

Hey everybody, does anyone object to moving the game to myth-weavers.com? It's still this type of forum (vBulletin), and the colors are lamer, but their code is amazing. It's got the best of vBulletin and the best of rpol all put together!


First of all, we can have our own individual forum and subforums even, better than rpol. Now I can make stickies and stuff!
The dice are so, so much easier and more robust. You just type (dice)2d8 + d2 + 5(/dice), but with brackets, and it rolls them, tells you what each result was, adds them up, and puts it in a neat little box. It gets better than that if you want it to be, which is even better.
There is still the option of PMs, but what's better is they have private text. I can just type (private=Sunfall)Hey, about the the type of vegetables in the garden...(/private) in the middle of a post, and only she can see the text, or even know that there is special text there. No more email, no more PMs, oh god I'm excited.
There's OOC tags too. Your OOC text appears in a little box when the viewer moves his mouse over text you designate. No more parentheses or italics!
So, so much more. They have DM screens, random generators for names and adventure hooks (all from user submissions I think), and more.


Take a look at their (very impressive, I must say) FAQ here: http://www.myth-weavers.com/faq.php, you can go to any of the links under "General Features" and "Using the Dice Roller" to see the dice and OOC tags and other neat stuff I mentioned above.

What do you guys think? Shall I start copying stuff over? It's just a quick signup for everybody.

[roninkelt]

Abel


Alex was a bit amused when Abel brought his concerns to her. She smiled wryly into mule's anti-grav system she was currently patching up. Nice early morning work that.

"Heh, I ment the milk run sorta milk run, Abe." Alex fiddled intently with an old gasket as she talked before sighing and knocking the damn thing off and replacing it. "We're hauling some old floats or mules or something. nothing dangerous. Can't hurt to be alert in this part of space but I think we're safe for now."
The new piece in place, Alex looked Abel in the eye before going on. "Charlie's a whole different game. Like I said before, nice and mysterious. Could be lucrative."

"I'm sure you are right, but that kind of thing always raises my hackles. If it was so easy, why not pack the damn things into a crate and ship it on a dang Alliance freighter. The rates are cheaper and more secure."

"In any case, would you mind if a couple of us come along to the meet and help out? I promise to keep quiet unless spoken to."

He gives Alex his winningest smile.

"I'll even put on my sunday best so as to be presentable like."


EDIT

Re: Mythweavers - I'd be ok with that if they do a daily subscription email.

[mainiac]

"No, no, no, you've got it all crabwise. We're the best, fastest, most secure ship in the verse, Abe, and don't you forget it. Appearances, they're everything." There's a tinge of indignation, meaning that Abel might have hit a nerve, but Alex doesn't seem all that serious. "But it's not that strange shipping independent. Alliance will give you no end of fuss and don't hit most routes. Still... never hurts to be suspicious. Anyway, yeah, you can come meet Yuri if you want, long as you don't go y'know acting all suspicious, alright?"

[Jannex]

((Regarding the MythWeavers thing... It sounds shiny and all, but for me, it's a lot more convenient having all my games here, so I can check them all at once. I'll go along with what everyone else decides, but my vote would be to stay here.))

[ancalimohtar]

Putting out an APB for Jin, Boran, and Ryder...

I'm going to assume Jin, Abel, and Lee go with Alex. Also, I'm moving the plot forward a little bit. You guys can roleplay however much you want.

Edit: Yes, Myth-weavers does have RSS alerts for threads and forums. I'm willing to copy all of what has happened so far in this game over to that forum, do all the other work for the transition, to gain its awesome benefits (like no freakin downtime when comics come up). All you guys would have to do is make an account and post, pleeeeeeease?



Yuri smiles and nods hello to the others accompanying Alex, blissfully unaware of even the thought of being intimidated, not even by an eyepatch-wearin' man.

In response to Alex, Yuri laughs and shakes her head, "No, not related to Beck. She friend of my cousin, though. But yes, business!"

He leads Alex as he walks down his workshop. Lee follows closely, leaving Jin and Abel at a bit of a distance. "We have many float late delivery. Near thirty, I think. Our old contractor is..."--and here he gives the impression of picking his next words carefully--"having problems."

Brightening up, he continues, "But no matter! You take our floats to Sephie. We pay you good money, short notice premium, yes?"

Yuri and Alex talk about the specifics of the deal, and agree on a fee of 220c, payable upon delivery to Yuri's satellite office on Sephie. As the details are set down and the ID cards scanned, Yuri brings up a different topic.

"Oh, one other thing, you say you want do some work, well like I say before, not possible. All my team, very professional, my equipment state-of-art, you know." He pauses, but grins. "Lucky for you, I have job I cannot do. Can give to you." He hands Alex a piece of paper.

Lee, watching all of this with unabashed protectiveness of Alex, keeps the rest of the mechanics in his field of vision. He squints as Yuri hands over the piece of paper.

"Go see him," Yuri continues. "Dock mechanic at Lindon Docks in Peterville, back on Sephie. He has man dock there with interceptor, very broken. Man also very broken!"

Yuri laughs at his own almost-pun. Lee is not amused.

"So you can fix on credit, maybe," Yuri finishes. With that, he instructs some of his men to begin loading the floats onto a gigantic cargo mule, to be taken to the Hole.

[mainiac]

((I couldn't find your game on mythweavers. Link please? I'm assuming that 220 is the post haggled price, right? Also, Sephie? That short for Peresephonie?))

Alex keeps an upbeat outlook when Yuri mentions the troubles of the last transporter. "Heh, don't worry about us having the same kinda troubles, Yuri, we're in this for the long haul."

Alex thanks Yuri for the address as she descretely tucks it away in her back pocket. "Yeah, let me go get all this organized in the old" she says as they start moving the floats. "Then there's nothing left but tea and dumplings."

As she heads away she falls in step beside Abel. "Seems Yui's partners don't last too long, eh?"

[ancalimohtar]

http://www.myth-weavers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=6758, and yes to the other two questions.

Rejoice! I made it look real purdy, worked out the kinks, and I have to say, I can't even imagine coming back here for anything now. Take a look guys, especially at the Preludes folder and the Main Narrative thread.

[roninkelt]

Abel


"No, no, no, you've got it all crabwise. We're the best, fastest, most secure ship in the verse, Abe, and don't you forget it. Appearances, they're everything." There's a tinge of indignation, meaning that Abel might have hit a nerve, but Alex doesn't seem all that serious. "But it's not that strange shipping independent. Alliance will give you no end of fuss and don't hit most routes. Still... never hurts to be suspicious. Anyway, yeah, you can come meet Yuri if you want, long as you don't go y'know acting all suspicious, alright?"

"You are absolutely right Cap'n. My mistake... FAHNG-sheen, I said I'd keep my mouth shut."




As she heads away she falls in step beside Abel. "Seems Yuri's partners don't last too long, eh?"

"It seems not."

OOC: for the GM were any of the floats showing the signs of having been stolen? (busted keys/keypads, removed serial numbers or id plates, etc)
Int/Perception (d6/d6) 2d6

[Koji]

((Sorry I have been so quiet. The boards haven't been working and I'm indisposed at the moment.))

[Jannex]

((Roninkelt, you can't edit in dice rolls; you need to make a new post for that.))

[Sunfall]

((Yup, Jannex is right. Had a hard time finding out that one by myself :smallwink: You can't even use the "Preview" option when dice rolls are included... At least, I never could...

As for in-time posting... I'm not sure whether to continue here or at Myth Weavers (I already registered), and I'll just wait for Koji, if that's not a problem :smallsmile: ))

[ancalimohtar]

Register at MW, apply for the game (so that I can let you in so that you can actually post), and then you can post.

[roninkelt]

lets try this again
[roll0]


I really don't care for the forum die rollers in any case...