The Thrill of the Chase RP OOC (closed)

[Paladin Sheppard]

Alrighty folks I'm thinking on starting an RP as a GM. This will be a MA rated sci-fi space themed RP with 3-5 players. I need to say strait up that good spelling and english skills are a requirement due to the fact I'm dyslexic, sorry if that chases some people off.

Basic plot line is this:


The CSV-M349 (Civilian Salvage Vessel-Modular 349) Salvage ship called "The Thrill of the Chase" is in dock to resupply and  her Captain and pilot are looking for some fresh hands to crew her. The "Thrill" as she is known has been wildly successful despite only being 3 terran years old, but that success is tempered by the fact that the large risks that comes with deep space salvage.

Depending on interest  I will post up a character template and the profiles of the Captain and pilot. Humans and Alien Characters are the name of the game and if you wanna go furred you gets to be an alien simple no?

I should also add there will be a very minor stat, equipment and experience system.


Edit: As there seems to be some interest I shall post the stats system. I'll be using a modified version of the SPECIAL system. SPECIAL is:

Strength: How strong the character is and how much weight they can carry at any one time.
Perception: How well the character can see and how observant they are.
Endurance: Overall heath and fitness of the character.
Charisma: How charismatic the character is. Used in stores and the like for better prices.
Intelligence: How intelligent the character is.
Agility: Measures how agile the character is.
Luck: How lucky the character is. Just for that off chance you find something rare...or the booby trap under it.

Each character starts off with all stats at 5 and has a further 5 points to spend. You can lower stat points and add them to another but may not lower one past 2 or add past 10.

ie- 10 in Intelligence would mean a genius where as a score of 2 would mean barely able to speak and be understood.

Also there are traits which can modify these scores and you may pick one of these:

Minor Cybernetics: Add one extra point to any stat but not past 10. Due to the massive costs of cybernetics at this point you have very poor starting equipment and have no cash. (Possible upgrade available later)
Thin Framed: Add one point to agility but lose carrying ability as it is only 3/4 of normal.
Brute: Add one point to strength but lose movement speed. (This is up to you to RP properly)
Military Training: Take 1 Major 5 Minor skills instead of 2/2
Gifted: Add one point to all stats but start with no major skills and only one minor.
Skilled: Lose 3 stat points but add 2 more major skills and 1 minor.
Night Vision: Able to see in darkness as if it were daylight. Sensitivity to blight lights.

More traits may be added later and may be taken/replaced retroactively.

So the Character sheet looks like this:

Name:
Age:
Species/race/Birth Planet:
Sex:
S:
P:
E:
C:
I:
A:
L :
Trait:
Appearance:
Clothing:
History:
Trivia:
Skills: List 4 skills here 2 major 2 minor ie- Major: electrical engineer degree. Minor: Firearms proficiency  .But please be realistic and take note of the fact that all characters are meant to be fairly new to the job. Also due to a conversation with Llearch a major skill may be taken as a minor skill but would count as partial knowledge and treated like that character was on an apprenticeship and seeking to complete that training, this applies to one skill per character only and must be labeled as such.




I'll give an example with the Captain (Note while he has the gifted trait being the most experienced character he as earned many skills)

Name: William Connor
Age: 35
Species/race/Birth Planet: Human/Terran/Earth
Sex: Male
S: 6
P: 7
E: 6
C: 6
I: 8
A: 8
L : 6
Trait: Gifted

Appearance: Approximately 178cm tall Will is caucasian with shortly cropped blond hair and grey eyes and a goatee beard and mustache. While not bulky is is of above average muscle mass. He has an air of command mixed with that of a rogue.

Clothing: Will is normally clad in the uniform of the Thrill of the Chase which is a jumpsuit with velcro patches for his name on his chest and the ships emblem on the shoulders.  

History: The biggest, most agile and smartest child of his age group Will didn't need to push himself to achieve his goals and that lead to not pushing himself and his skills and knowledge to the level that his peers did. When he came of age he enlisted in the UNSF navy but due to his poor math and science skills that he had not concentrated on he was knocked back. Undeterred  William hit the books and did bridging courses until he had the required knowledge to pass the exam for officers school. While his academic shortcomings held him back in some classes, in others he excelled graduating in the top 15 of his class. After serving 10 years on various ships and stations of the UNSF fleet Will decided to branch out and seek his fortune and perhaps some fun. Buying a beaten up old cargo hauler Will stared running cargo till one day he ran across a derelict shuttle. Inside, the shuttle's hold was filled with platinum and by law his to salvage and sell. Scrapping the old ship William headed to the Alpha Centori shipyards, the biggest and most advanced in Earth controlled space. Spending a few months searching for his new vessel, finally deciding on the CSV-M349 which while the size of a frigate could be crewed as few as two due to extensive automation and  christened her the "Thrill of the Chase". Now that he had a new ship Will had the salvage bug in his veins and hired a crew. With his skill at sniffing out the rarest of salvage he and the Thrill of the Chase quickly became known as the "Go anywhere get anything King". Now after one of the best hauls ever his crew has decided to retire and live off the spoils.

Trivia: Still has many contacts inside the UNSF

Skills: Major: Astonavigation, Leadership, Frigate/Fighter/Shuttle Handling, Salvage, Ship to Ship Combat. Minor: Firearms handling, EVA suit proficiency , medical, electronics, mechanical, Trading/Bartering.



Name: Ephrael Falco
Age: 23
Species/race/Birth Planet: Bio-engineered Anthropomorphic Tasmanian Devil/Terran/Earth
Sex: Female
S: 4
P: 10
E: 4
C: 5
I:  7
A: 8
L : 5
Trait: Minor Cybernetic Implants: Eyes and Ears (Upgraded)  

Appearance: Only standing at 150cm Ephrael is a small black and white furred with red hair Tasmanian Devil, one you had taken and engineered to stand on two legs and with human intelligence, ability's and body shape. Due to the advanced nature of her implants Ephrael's eyes look a very natural blue.

Clothing: Like her Captain, Ephrael wears a jumpsuit with velcro patches for her name on her chest and the ships emblem on the shoulders. However when sitting in the pilots hot seat she ties the upper half around her wiast exposing what ever undershirt she has on that day, many of them with designs from the bands and holovid shows she watches.
History: In the middle of the 21th century scientists based in Tasmania, Australia created their first bio-engineered humanoid from spliced human and Tasmanian Devil DNA. As these hybrids were adopted into society they began to resent the second class treatment they received. When matters hit boiling point they rebeled, as they had the best part cropped from both human and Tasmanian Devils their ability's enabled them to take control of most of the island state. As no UN troops were available to retake Tasmania at the time negotiations took place and control of the island was left in the Devils hands. As a sign of good faith and the promise recognition as a free people the Devils re-entered Tasmania back into the Australian Commonwealth.  As it stands now there is a ban on creating new races of sentient engineered races in human space, however those that were created before the ban were given their freedom by a majority vote in the UN high council. Those breeds have integrated into human society and followed them into the stars. As the hybrids have human dna interbreeding is possible but generally result in human offspring.

Ephrael is the result of a Human-Hybrid mating on earth but left as a one year old as her parents moved to Alpha Centori to work on the shipyards there as designers and consultants. Growing up around advanced ship designs and technology Ephrael was fascinated by them at an early age, stating almost from the time she was a toddler she wanted to pilot spaceships. Unfortunately during her early teens Ephrael while playing with friends stumbled into a open work hatch, and suffered  horrible wounds to her eyes losing her sight after making contact with an high pressure plasma leak. As her parents had the resources Ephrael received cybernetic implants which restored her sight and improved it. After recovering Ephrael threw herself into her studies and soon entered a private academy for piloting and related skills. Upon graduating she kept close to home helping her parents by testing out new equipments and designs. One day she encountered a blond human man, who had been on the station a few months and had recently bought and was outfitting a ship she and her parents had designed and tested. After chatting to him over the course of days she took up the position of pilot for Captain William Connor.

Trivia: When off duty Ephrael has been known to dance around the corridors of the Thrill of the Chase in her underwear listening to a audio device, generally late 20th early 21st century music.
Known to prior crews and other pilots as the "queen of situational awareness".
She has been able with Will's help to acquire the latest in enhanced cybernetics for her eyes which appear to be normal and a small implant in either ear.
As the test pilot for the CSV-M349 class of vessels Ephrael is able to push the Thrill of the Chase to the absolute limit.
Has a blue heart shaped tattoo on her left buttcheek.

Skills:  Major: Frigate/Shuttle/Cargo/Super Large Cargo Handling, Astronavigation. Minor: EVA suit proficiency, Mechanical, Electronics(hacking) .



llearch as useful ever has provided us with a very handy condensed roster page for us. http://llearch.net/misc/rp/TotC/

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

I'm in.

[Paladin Sheppard]

Awesomesauce

[techmaster-glitch]

I'm a sucker for teh sci-fies. I CALL THE ENGINEER SLOT! (with specialization in robotics, of course )

EDIT: ooh, ooh, ooh, are our adventures going to look anything like this? (except without the explodey at the end, though even if we do go explodey, it will still have been with much awesome ) If so, NOTHING will keep me out of this!

[Paladin Sheppard]

While there will be some EVA activity's Tech its more likely to be set inside ships than in cold space.  As for calling dibs on a position...Well lets just say you should wait till we have enough people playing and I can post the stats system.

[Azlan]

I may be stretching things a bit with too many RPs, but I may jump aboard with a modification of the character from Arc's DSE game that died out before it got good.  We shall see after I see the stats system, I am not a fan of homebrew game systems.

[Lushin]

I have an interest in this. I seem to remember someone starting up a Space themed RP at some point.

[Sunblink]

I'm definitely stretching this too far, considering the amount of RPs I'm in, but I'm definitely interested. I think I'll join; I can adapt one of my original characters to fit a more sci-fi environment.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Paladin Sheppard]

Alrighty I think this counts as enough people to start feeding you some info

*cheers for the Jackal showing interest...especially as she's the one who prodded me into this *



Look to the first post in a bit peoples

[Azlan]

I'm afraid I'm out, the character I wished to use would not fit the SPECIAL system and Locklear would never forgive me for having to compromise on him.

[Paladin Sheppard]

Fair enough Azlan!

[techmaster-glitch]

What are the tech levels in your world, specifically in the field of robotics? What are the typical capabilities of the AIs for robots? And are there any provisions for actually being a robot?

If yes, than I can see some evil little minmaxing I can do. I might seriously try to play an astromech-style droid in a very similar way to that one player from the Darths and Droids webcomic

If not, then I guess I can still be the guy who makes the droids

[Paladin Sheppard]

That bee a good question Tech sorry I didn't address that at the beginning. The average technology level in the human sector is that of off a hundred and fifty years from now.

Fusion/fission engines are the main power plants for civilian craft while the military has access to the new ion propulsion systems.

Robotics is fairly advanced with AI controlled drones with anti-grav platforms but these always have a human overseer so no autonomous AIs are running around.. Cybernetics are tightly controlled and expensive.

There are four main types of sidearms available: Pulse Lasers, Traditional Firearms, Railgun and Plasma. Lasers have a high penetrating ability but do little damage per shot as it mostly goes right through the target with a thin beam. Traditional Firearms are effective with a range of ammunition and cheap, how ever except for some restricted ammunition types damage is less than both the Railgun and Plasma types and penetration is less than Lasers. Railguns are extremely expensive and mostly seen in military armory's as they have the penetrating power of a laser weapon and inflict a high amount of damage to a target, has two types of round that the weapon itself produces from the metal blocks used as ammunition: Solid rounds and Shredder rounds. Lastly Plasma weapons which again are extremely expensive and a not a civilian certified weapon so is seen only in use buy the military, the weapon fires bolts of magnetically shaped plasma which on impact cause massive damage literally melting the target away.

All weapon types come in Handguns Assault Rifles and Marksman Rifles. Only the Traditional Firearms have the shotgun but the Railgun's Shredder rounds are an analog.

Anything else you need to know?

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Name: John Weaver; known as "Weaves" to his classmates.
Age: 18
Species/race/Birth Planet: Caucasian human, born in transit between systems.
Sex: Male
S: 4
P: 10
E: 5
C: 6
I: 8
A: 7
L: 7
Trait: Gifted

Appearance:
    Low average height; fairly thin, and not terribly well muscled (although he's working on that); has a tattoo that one of his mates got him drunk and paid for, while he was unconscious, across the back of his left shoulder blade: a curving oriental dragon, with the claws apparently grabbing onto his shoulder, and the head looking over his shoulder. He claims he was pissed as hell at the mate in question, but secretly (or not so secretly) is actually fairly pleased at it. Plain brown hair and blue eyes; otherwise a fairly average looking young man.

Clothing:
    Reasonably well turned out for his interview; even polished his boots, and pressed his coveralls. More usually wearing slightly rumpled overalls, hiking boots (in case a mountain should suddenly appear in space, you know) and has various pockets with useful tools and things in them.
    Also has a leather "pilots jacket" he wears on dock, or in unheated areas on-ship, which he picked up a way back when he was wandering through a shop somewhere, and thought it was cool.

History:
    Born in space, Weaves grew up around ships; not that unusual, these days. After the usual basic school courses, he went in for pilot's training, and managed to learn enough to get a licence before running out of money. He's now looking for a chance to both save up for some advanced training, and perhaps pick up some on-the-job training as a pilot. Or in whatever else he might learn; he's fond of claiming that "any day on which you learn something is a worthwhile."
    During basic pilots training, had a year off after an accident in formation; everyone pulled right, except for the guy on his right, who pulled left. A nasty collision later, and a short shower of "aluminium rain", and Weaver was lucky to manage to hold half of his shuttle together long enough for the resultant crash; the other guy ended up embedded in the seat behind him, having ploughed his shuttle upside down and directly through Weavers (to give you some idea of just how badly the pooch got screwed...) After recovering from surgery to replace the arm and leg he lost, he spent the intervening time doing book work and theory; on the upside, he did catch the news report about some artifacts being recovered by a particular salvage ship, one Thrill of the Chase.
    Since then, he's been fairly directed in where he went - picking training for flying based on the same ship class, etc. He's now out looking for a chance to learn his craft, and possibly pick up a little of that "old space dog" shine... And fulfil a dream or two, if he's lucky.

Trivia:
    - Has an affinity for practical jokes; tends to be careful about them (in that space Does Not Take Prisoners) but enjoys playing them anyway.
    - Tested high kinaesthetic; he always knows where he is in relation to the objects around him. Useful in a pilot.
    - Also has done a little martial arts, as a hobby/exercise, but hasn't really had more than a year or so of training in it; enough to keep him reasonably fit, but not enough to actually provide him with any real benefit in a fight, other than being aware that it won't provide him any real benefit, and knowing that actual fighting is very very different to the dojo. Mostly he does it to keep up his awareness of his surroundings.
    - Happens to like poking about in machinery in his off time; took a class or two in it, so knows enough to not lick the mains cord, but didn't have the spare money to actually cross-train in it.
    - Picked up his nickname from both his surname and his training pilots lessons back in school; he managed to wend his way through an almost unnavigable training scenario by weaving unexpectedly between asteroids, incoming craft, and various other obstacles. Other than causing the trainer in the seat next to him to lose his lunch, he picked up the moniker when said trainer (after straightening up, and wiping his face) turned to him and asked "Were you trying to weave a rug?" ... He still passed, though...

Skills:
    Shuttle/Frigate Ship Handling (Apprentice)

Edit:
Credit Balance: 2300 credits (savings for the second level course; he's not hugely happy about using them, but if it gets him through into the chance to win something more...)
Equipment: (TBD)

[Paladin Sheppard]

Oh so very much accepted Llearch!! Welcome to the crew!

[James StarRunner]

So do you have a list of the major/minor skills that we can choose from?

[Paladin Sheppard]

At the moment no it is up to the players to decide on that they think they want to be skilled in. I can always lend assistance towards this though. *Points To the PM MSN YIM buttons*

*Dances for having JSR showing interest*

Edit:  I should make that a bit clearer. Basically you could chose Minor: Hoddog cooking if you thought it would be useful...So at the moment you are unfetted by a list and only reliant on practicality and your imagination.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Badger Rustling
Ship Handling
Lion Taming
Bobcat Wrestling
Fishing
Cutting Bait
...

[Paladin Sheppard]

Hey if you think it will work take it

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Sorry, my char already has his skills chosen. ;-]

Maybe next time?

[Cogidubnus]

Name: Theodore "Theo" Ambrosius
Age: 23
Species/race/Birth Planet: Anthropomorphic Raccoon, Bio-engineered intelligence, Ked-Morial
Sex: Male
S:4
P:5
E:4
C:10
I:10
A:4
L : 3
Trait: None

Appearance: Slim, easy-smiling and long haired, often seen in a pair of crisp black slacks, white shirt, half-moon glasses and a nondescript, blank lab coat. Hair is red, as is most of the rest of him, with the typical raccoon mask around his face and eyes. The eyes themselves are a captivating green, and the man is endowed with a trustworthy, confident demeanor.

Clothing: Crisp black slacks, white shirt, doctor's labcoat.

History: College was a period of easy days and good living for Theo, who always having a literary bent easily finished with a Master's degree in English. The graduation party, however, while festive and bright, carried with it an undertone of dark things to come. As the prospective member of society realized that his school loans would begin to come back to haunt him, and he still wasn't sure exactly what it was that he wanted to do with himself, with his fancy new piece of paper.
Months later, as money in his bank account started to dwindle, he realized his options were getting low. Finding a teaching job was a lot harder than he'd counted on it being, and with a lack of options, he turned like so many to space for his fortune. However, having a Master's in English was not a greatly sought-after skill. He realized that if he didn't want to be peeling meteors out of ship hulls for the rest of his life, a small embellishment on his resume might be in order.
Being an English major, Theo was unique suited to lie through his teeth. A few interviews later, and he found himself applying as the ship's doctor of the Thrill of the Chase salvaging vessel.
Despite the fact that Theo had no actual medical licensee, experience, or knowledge, he was confident that he'd at least be able to fake it good enough to make it through a trip or two and pay off his loans. After all, he'd only be expected to work on two, three different sorts of life forms? He'd read bigger books than medical textbooks in a week. How hard could it be?

Trivia: Theo is a compulsive and yet masterful liar.
Despite his deceptive streak, is very intelligent and empathetic. Wrote a startlingly good master's thesis comparing "Crime and Punishment" to the "Ballad of Reading Gaol".

Skills:
Major Skills: Bluff, English Literature
Minor: Calligraphy, Fast Talking

[Paladin Sheppard]

Cog: Approved! Good to have you!

[techmaster-glitch]

Damn, Cog, your char's got a maxed-out Intelligence too?

Haven't been able to work on my profile yet, but Intelligence is the automatic first thing on the list...

[Paladin Sheppard]

I find it amusing that everyone wants to have a rocket scientist so far

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

I would have thought he'd need more luck, but whatever...

glad to have you onboard, Cog. Assuming the Doc can manage to, ah, bluff his way onboard. ;-]

Edit:
I've adjusted the profile of Weaves to tag his minor skill as an apprenticeship, after Pal pointed it out to me that that's what he meant. ;-]

[Cogidubnus]

I would have thought he'd need more luck, but whatever...

glad to have you onboard, Cog. Assuming the Doc can manage to, ah, bluff his way onboard. ;-]

English major who is just intelligent and charismatic enough to bluff himself into a position he has no knowledge, experience, or reasonable expectation of being able to do, for long-term, where lives might depend on him?

You call this man lucky? ;3

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Good point.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Name: Celine Walker, nickname: Elf
Age: 25
Species/race/Birth Planet: Human/Home planet referred to only as "the dump"
Sex: Female
S: 5
P: 5
E: 4
C: 8
I: 7
A: 5 (+1 for thin frame) = 6
L : 6
Trait: Thin framed/small stature; Night vision/light sensitivity

Appearance: petite (4'6" 137cm) thin framed platinum blonde hair dyed black at the ends. Unusually large pale blue eyes, quite light sensitive
Clothing: Tends to wear close-fitting but rather plain clothing in dark colors. Having grown up in a junkyard she got used to clothing that wouldn't catch or stain. Secretly covets brightly colored girly clothing.

History:

One side effect of the ban against creating new sentient races was scientists turning to "optimization" of humans for specific conditions. No one remembers what they were trying to optimize Celine's ancestors for, but one of her fondest wishes is to someday travel back in time and kick them a good one. Celine suffers from "cute." Small (4'6") with strangely large eyes and pale coloration she has a problem getting respected as an adult (and getting past the nickname Elf). She does use the cute to her advantage to get her way. She does have a temper though and has been in her share of fights.

Celine's family were junk dealers. Her home planet, only known as KMC-257 was turned into a dumping ground after it's original colonizer, Kimberline Mining corporation, had stripped it of it's mineral wealth. The former employees who didn't leave with the corporation turned from mining the ground to mining the garbage piles. Celine's parents had a moderately successful reclamation business that she worked in from the time she was a child. Unfortunately it isn't successful enough to support the entire family so Celine left home looking for work.

Trivia: Very light sensitive, has a pair of sunglasses on her at all times.

Skills: Major: Salvage, Organization Minor: Cooking, appraisal/trading

Credit Balance: 1,500 starting funds + 4,000 pay = 5,500
Edit 11/6/08:  -2500 = 3,000

Equipment: 

Tool Kit
PDA
12 pairs of sunglasses
Assorted clothing
her favorite cooking knives (don't touch!)
1 small teddy bear (also don't touch!)
2 knives
Guardian 2
Edit 11/6/08: Light level 3 lEVA suit (pink with Hello Kitty logos)

[Paladin Sheppard]

Welcome to the crew Mel!! *rubs his and together in glee and plots evil things to do to the players*

[techmaster-glitch]

Gettin' close to done with mah profile, I'll PM it to you when I'm done. Might need to work a few things out.

EDIT: Also, is anyone going to actually be a combat expert/guard? At this point, if my char is approved he'll have the only weapons in the whole crew!