A Space Opera RPG - OCC

[Captain tycho]

Well I'll probably join. Hopefully I'll have more free time after the holidays. But in case I do join, here's my character.

Rygar Teneloth
Class and Race: Human Solider
Rygar is the very epitome of the perfect soldier; obedient, quiet, and brave. He is extremely reserved and stoic, and follows orders to the letter, but he allows himself to improvise if needed. He is totally emotionless during battle, and fights like a computer driven machine instead of a man. He was implanted with various experimental neuralogical devices during his younger years, which contributed to his machine like personality. He feels no need to preserve his own life, and some say he has a death wish. He was born and raised on a brutal pioneer world, and both of his parents died when he was just a boy. All of his adolescence was spent fending for himself, until a military recruitment officer picked him up and inducted him to the army, where he excelled. He has no personaly connections with anyone save his fellow squadmates, and even those connections are strictly professional.

[lazerus]

Jax
Human Rogue/Trader
Profession: Smuggler

[Stofsk]

To everyone: I will be working on the setting/plot et cetera in the next couple of days, and I will be posting skills/feat lists as well. The game will likely commence in the new year, how soon will be up to players and their characters.

CURRENT ROSTER OF PLAYERS who I think have confirmed to play.
Lazerus - (Jax, Human Rogue)
FaxModem1 - (Frank Summers, Human Noble)
JediNeophyte - (Edward Drackman, Human - class undecided)

...and four who have expressed interest but aren't sure yet:

Captain Tycho - (Rygar Teneloth, Human Soldier)
Dahak - (waiting for character ideas)
Straha - (waiting for confirmation)
The Prime Necromancer - (waiting for confirmation)

I think this is more than I could have hoped for and I thank the above people again. If anyone else wants in, be advised that there are 3 people who have confirmed their inclination to play, while another 3 aren't sure yet. Post your character ideas and write something unambiguous, like "I want in you arsehole!"

What level do we start at?

Unsure. Clvl 1 is the easiest solution. However, Traveller has rules for prior history which allows you to start the game at a higher level with your character's history dealt with through random dice rolls. This will be something players can express their opinions on: do you want to start off at Clvl 1 or something higher? (I don't want the starting level to be too high; something between 1-4 should be sufficient, yes?)

What of starting money and such?

Haven't decided that yet. Part of what determines your starting conditions is your character's history; what have they done, what are they going to do et cetera. It's also based on Class: Nobles and Merchants will have more money than, say, a Soldier, Pioneer or Sentinel. Spacers and Rogues will be equal in money.

I'd love to join, if not for two little snags. First, I've never done a GMed RPG, on a forum or otherwise. I did a free-form one at another forum, but that's it. Second, I'm at home on break right now, so my access to the computer is much more limited than while I'm at school. When do you plan to begin?

To the first concern, that shouldn't be a problem. Basically, the GM is the "source" of the adventure and game, but not the dictator of it. Your character plays in the game I provide, but that doesn't mean I force your character to do whatever I want; rather, I put bread crumbs down and it's up to you whether or not you want to follow them. And it's our game, not mine or someone else's. I provide the storyline and setting, you provide the character and motivation; it's a collaborative process.

I hope that helps! Anyway concern #2: I plan to begin sometime in the new year, but it really depends on players and whether or not they're ready to go.

[Stofsk]

Jax
Human Rogue/Trader
Profession: Smuggler

Thanks Lazerus. Can you come up with some history and a personality/motivation for Jax? (without a surname he sounds so alien.)

[Thirdfain]

Arnaud DeJericho
Human Spacer

Born on an asteroid colony over one of the last bastions of the Navy, DeJericho's family left the relative safety of the home system to bcome asteroid prospecters. Arnaud revels in the freedom of his lifestyle, and finds it preferable to the sheltered existence of the planetbound.

At the age of 19, Arnaud hired on to a tramp freighter, where he worked for he next 3 years. He is a vagabond at heart, and has little patience for "flatlanders."

[Stofsk]

Frank Summers
Noble(born into it)
Human
His family rules a terra-like planet. Very little to no power, but they do have status. His ancestors were pioneers who came to this planet to start a peaceful civilization, a better-than-earth Earth. What they created was a ecological paradise, plenty of food, water, shelter, and free time, but the Summers family controls the planet, no doubt about it.

During the early years of the Dark Ages, a lot of people fled colonies that were at war with each other, settling on new planets and generally isolating themselves from the rest of the stellar community. Question: was your planet the one that was at war, or was it founded to escape the war?

It's been about 200 years either way since the Dark Ages began. If it was the former then the war was probably won (although if you want to provide some ideas feel free - my thought was that the situation was like the Punic Wars - your world and another bitter rival war on each other every couple of decades, and whoever wins for good may be in an unrivaled position).

If it was the latter then perhaps their protection comes from either having a strong defence fleet or isolation - or both. A lot of the colonies have slipped into barbarism and balkanisation; perhaps your homeworld is another Rome in the midst of savagery? (or something - it was probably better to be a Roman than it was to be a Goth or Gaul or Briton, though I could be wrong)

Incidentally, how can Frank's family rule the planet but have no real power? What do you mean here?

Frank spends most of his time either in the library or with his private self defense instructor...

What's his instructor like? Does he also double as the Family's bodyguard and security commander? I may have some ideas on this but I want to hear what you have to go on... Would you be willing to multiclass for purposes of story/plot?

Frank is trained to fight, but has never had to fight in his life. Since he is pretty much the prince of a planet, he has wealth. Raised on books and movies, he believes in true friendship and true love, but has experienced little to none of either. Frank is very knowledgeable about the galaxy, just ignorant of how it goes. He is used to people anwsering his questions and being honest, he is trusting of most people and will always anwser truthfully.

Just wanted you to be aware - being a Noble doesn't necessarily mean an actual title (as in Prince, King, Queen, Emperor etc), it could mean you're the son of a wealthy Tycoon, or Politician. But is he actually a prince, and the planet he's on an actual monarchy? (Nothing wrong if he is, but if he's first in-line to the throne it might be a little difficult for him to adventure... then again one of the King Henry's did it in his youth, if Shakespeare is anything to go by... perhaps Frank has a disguise rank?)

Frank loves nature, and uses some of his freetime at parks or in the royal gardens. He is not used to a space environment and might have to adapt his constitution to it.

Most big starships have rotating hulls a la Babylon 5 (I might actually do some sketches and see if I can post up some ship ideas).

Frank always has his Box with him, Box being an headset that he can take off and is an encyclopedia and archive...

I'll expand the equipment list to provide details on weapons and general items. What you wrote sounds like cybernetics, which will require a Feat I think; but I'm not sure. Anyway, good idea.

How is that?

Excellent. We just have to expand on the homeworld he's on.

[Stofsk]

I hope I'm not jumping the gun too much here, especially as I know nothing of the setting, but here's a preliminary character concept.

Edward Drackman, human
Looking at either Soldier, Spacer, or Pioneer.
Grizzled ex-military mercenary type.
I don't know the tech involved, but some kind of assault rifle-equivalent shoulderarm would be his weapon of choice.

It sounds like he's a soldier. Spacers rarely (if at all) touch down on a planet, which means they don't make good infantry soldiers. However, they do make good shipboard security and gunners, having to deal with marauders and the like. Pioneers could be some sort of milita, who's planet was taken over by a conquering army? That could tie into the bit about his history. If his world was conquered he might have cause to get the fuck off his planet; or he might be a conscript for a conquering army and jumped ship/got himself "lost" the first chance he got.

Background would likely involve service in one of these fiefdoms, later destroyed, or perhaps MIA after some combat operation (too hardcore to desert or go AWOL). Definitely an army/marine type, not a navy flyboy, maybe former special forces?

SpecOps might be too high for Clvl 1, but then this depends on whether people want to start at Clvl 1 or higher.

Fairly bright and tactically adept (probably end up putting one my higher scores in INT), so a former NCO would be likely.

The feats Tactics and Strategy add any Wis or Int modifiers (whichever are higher) to attack/defence rolls for units (as in you're directing people's fire, telling them to go here or there etc). A high Int gives extra skill points, while a high Wis helps modify some select skills.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

I'll go with Soldier, I was hoping for a more versatile class while retaining a full base attack progression, but oh well.

Some technical info for Ed, for your reference whenever you need it:
Stat preference, highest to lowest (assuming 4d6 drop lowest):
DEX
INT/CON/STR - in that order, but making changes as necessary to keep the prereqs for an "army" soldier
WIS
CHA

For Feats, I'd take Point Blank Shot (if applicable), Quick Draw, and Weapon Focus (afore-mentioned assault rifle-analog), that is assuming humans receive a bonus feat in this setting. If not, drop Quick Draw.

[Stofsk]

Arnaud DeJericho
Human Spacer

Born on an asteroid colony over one of the last bastions of the Navy, DeJericho's family left the relative safety of the home system to bcome asteroid prospecters. Arnaud revels in the freedom of his lifestyle, and finds it preferable to the sheltered existence of the planetbound.

At the age of 19, Arnaud hired on to a tramp freighter, where he worked for he next 3 years. He is a vagabond at heart, and has little patience for "flatlanders."

Has he been in many conflicts with flatlanders? Remember, Spacers have a particular aversion to planets - does this extend to Arnaud's choice of destination? Does he prefer low-g environments? Can he even walk on a normal planet with standard earth gravity?

What's his personality? What's his motivation? Why does he wander all over space? Why does he consider himself a vagabond? Is he running from someone or something - what's his family life like?

Anyway I'm glad you're interested in playing. I take it you're confirmed to play?

[Stofsk]

I'll go with Soldier, I was hoping for a more versatile class while retaining a full base attack progression, but oh well

Sentinels are pretty versatile, and their BAB is the same as the Soldiers/Fighters. It's your choice of course. What was his morality again? (You said something about alignments before, but since they're not in the game any alignment choice is used as a tool to determine the character's personality/morality.)

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

I'll go with Soldier, I was hoping for a more versatile class while retaining a full base attack progression, but oh well

Sentinels are pretty versatile, and their BAB is the same as the Soldiers/Fighters. It's your choice of course. What was his morality again? (You said something about alignments before, but since they're not in the game any alignment choice is used as a tool to determine the character's personality/morality.)

Used to serve his military out of a source of pride, loyalty, and duty, but has been somewhat alienated/disillusioned and the above motivations have taken a backseat to pragmatism, so by D&D he's Neutral or Lawful Neutral, as he is still a man of his word and fulfills any contracts he takes on.

[Dahak]

For story/plot purposes, I’d like, if possible, to play a multi-class character.

Name: Tian Haalvard
Male Noble/Rogue, age ~20

Tian is the fourth son of a relatively powerful industrial magnat. having no real liking for business matters, he looked for other things to do when he started to become a full grown-up. Always interested in sneaky ad shadowy things, he entered the secret service of his father's corporation, where he got most of his spying education.

He always projects a playboy demeanour to the outside, while inside he’s become cynical and is ruthless when pursuing his goals. He’s not evil, but he will do whatever is necessary to get a job done.
He was a bit…over-eagerly lately, and he was put on a sort of free leave for a time.
Wanting to see more of the galaxy, he took the chance and started to travel, always looking for an adventure.

If possible, can he has a small starcraft of his own, a fighter maybe?

[lazerus]

Yeah.

I'd like to start at at least lvl 5. Because lvl 1 guy's are wimps.

Race: Human
Gender: Male
Age: 22
Story:
Jax has spent most of his life aimlessly wandering. He grew up on a crime-infested station in the middle of nowhere. Both of his parents were killed when he was 13 by a decompression caused when the station-master skimmed money off the repair budget and an airlock gave way.

Dispite the deadly inviromnet, Jax survived (barely), by being sneaky and remaing low. At 17 he realized that his best hope for survial was to get off the station, so he started hanging out in the hanger bays, listeing to what people were saying, and sneaking off with the mechanics books and data disks whenever he could.

At 19 he stowed away abord a small one man freighter, armed with a stun pistol he had "borrowed". After stunning the pilot, and figuring out how the auto-pilot worked, he dropped the pilot off on a planet in the middle of no where, far enough from the nearst town that he would be long gone before the pilot got to help.

Once he had an actual ship to learn from, Jax quicly took to piloting and maninence. Allthough the severly damaged his ship in the process of learning how to fly it, Jax is now one of the best pilots your likely to find, as well as a decent mechanic.

With a damaged ship, that was still fast but wouldln't last long in a fight, Jax took up smuggleing at 20. He's been at it ever since.

[The Prime Necromancer]

Well, I think I’ll give it a whirl. If I can still get in, that is.

To the first concern, that shouldn't be a problem. Basically, the GM is the "source" of the adventure and game, but not the dictator of it. Your character plays in the game I provide, but that doesn't mean I force your character to do whatever I want; rather, I put bread crumbs down and it's up to you whether or not you want to follow them. And it's our game, not mine or someone else's. I provide the storyline and setting, you provide the character and motivation; it's a collaborative process.

Well, I really wasn’t concerned about your direction, that I may very well welcome. However, I don’t have any experience with stats and such, and I didn’t know if my ignorance of such matters would be a problem. But, I guess that now’s a good a time to start as any!

Here's my best shot at information and backstory. I chose Sentinel, since I've always had an affinity for psionics/magic, as well as the fact that noone else had chosen to be one.

Name: Alexander Delrim
Race: Human Male
Class: Sentinel
Age: 19-20
Backstory:

At a cursory glance, most sentients would see only a slight young man with a faraway look in his eyes. And that is exactly how Alexander Delrim would have it.

Born on a backwater planet of little import, Alex first began to manifest the Talent at a young age. He was precocious, but well-meaning child, and did not understand the nature of the power that was manifesting within. Needless to say, there were… incidents. His parents attempted to cover things as best they could, but ultimately they were forced to give him up to Sentinel recruiters in order to keep him safe. He has not seen them since, but thinks fondly on what he remembers about them.

He was a ward of the Sentinels until such time as his training began. It was quite demanding, and required much discipline, something that Alex did not have in abundance. Thus, he had a rather rocky start, and many of his instructors did not see him ever becoming a Sentinel. Ultimately, however, he would prove them wrong.

Today, his original rambunctiousness has been somewhat tempered by his experiences and his training, although he still can become somewhat annoyed by what he perceives as strictly "by the book" thinking on the part of his direct superiors. A friendly demeanor (only half-feigned) hides a sharp and always active mind. He keeps his thoughts mostly to himself, as he has learned that precious few people can be truly trusted in these dark times. Nevertheless, he can become deadly serious in times of crisis, thanks to a very strong sense of justice, and a desire to help those in need.

Any of this can be changed, in order to better fit the story or background, if necessary.

[Stofsk]

PLAYER UPDATE
Lazerus is in. (Jax, Human Rogue. Pilot.)
FaxModem1 is in. (Frank Summers, Human Noble.)
JediNeophyte is in. (Edward Drackman, Human Soldier.)
Dahak is in. (Tian Haalvard, Noble/Rogue. Wants a fighter. What race is he?)
The Prime Necromancer is in. (Alexander Delrim, Human Sentinel)

Thirdfain, are you in? (character is ready, waiting for confirmation)
Captain tycho, are you in? (character is ready, waiting for confirmation)

I'd like just 6, but Cap Tycho said he wasn't sure while Thirdfain hasn't confirmed. One of you please do so, first come first serve.

[Captain tycho]

Ah yes I believe I shall defintely join in on this hunt. I'll have way more free time in the weeks and months ahead than I did this month hopefully. And oh ya I rolled Rygar's ability stats today. They are
DEX: 17
STR: 14
CON:15
INT:12
CHA:4
WIS: 9
High dex, good strength and con, and a slightly above average intelligence, but an incredibly low cha score. I figured since this guy's basically a computer (personality wise) I just let him have a real low cha score. Wis is just a tad bit below average, so I think that pretty much rounds it out. And for feat I'll pick Point Blank Shot and quickdraw, and one more if humans get an extra bonus feat.

[Stofsk]

Captain Tycho, the scores are point-buy system - I want everyone to have equal scores so that no-one is completely disadvantaged.

3) Ability points are generated using standard point-buy system, with 25 points. I might raise the points if necessary, once I've worked out how challenging the game will run. Default array: 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8.

At this point, we should focus on character concepts/histories and a more detailed setting for the characters to run around in. As for ability scores, I'll decide on the amount of points people will get soon. I'm gonna post skill lists with brief descriptions, and following that feat lists (again, with a brief description).

[Dahak]

PLAYER UPDATE
Dahak is in. (Tian Haalvard, Noble/Rogue. Wants a fighter. What race is he?)

Oops
Human he is.

[Straha]

Robgea-Human mechanic who has worked on many a ship and world, and has a scotty like aura around him of being able to fix just about anything.

[Stofsk]

Straha - sorry, I've already got 6 players.

[FaxModem1]

Okay, the world is of the latter, they ran away from the war, and settled on this planet.

What I meant by the Summers having no real power was that they weren't really big in the galaxy, they control the planet, that's it.

They are defended mostly by isolation, but they also have a defense grid and defense fleet(which are hardly used, so they aren't on their toes)

Ok, Frank's instructor, he is old, probably 55, and he is probably the epitome of the grandfather type, always has a smile and a joke, has wisdom, and is the head of the defense school at the capital, he's hired by the king as a private tutor for his children.

Frank is the middle of three children, all boys. he however does not want to lead. He pretty much wants to learn by either reading or seeing what's out there. You could call him an eternal student.

Homeworld, its nice and green, lots of mountains, plains, rivers, and lakes. The population is 50 million, the quality of life is really good, the education is okay but lacking(for the regular folks). Their buildings are a mixture of ancient earth designs(all the way back to Rome and Greece, but this is mostly ceremonial buildings such as the Palace). The rest are mostly skyscrapers and large houses.

Tell me if you need more.

[Straha]

Straha - sorry, I've already got 6 players.

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After I was one of the first to respond too....

[FaxModem1]

Oh, and Frank is 18.

[lazerus]

How does the point buy system work?

[The Prime Necromancer]

Well, it looks like it's going to be a game full of humans.

In addition to lazerus's question, I have two of my own. One, will there be a few psychic powers for me to play around with, or is what I see what I get? And two, what will weapons be like?