Crimson Skies: Air Pirates Wanted! (Interest Check)

[Haibane]

Yay! I'm captain of a huge flying penis dirigible. All those big vibrating engines... All those hot sweaty mercenary pilots needing to shower off and rest... Mmm.

I wouldn't necessarily want to be in command of the group, just in command of the airship, presumably some pilot or other will rise to the top of the bunch of air pirates and command them so mission decisions would be down to negotiation or discussion or even a vote if we want to nod towards democracy.

Miss Lamarr has a damaged zepp and wants revenge and she needs a crew of pilots to protect her and help her get back at some juicy vulnerable targets of her enemies. I assume that's the basic set up here? The pilots however have their own priorities and baggage; places and people they need to get away from or get to. But as to how we get from A to B with the plot I'm guessing it would be a group decision.

[Sel Nar]

Bingo. Also, some of the pilots are rookies and, while they can fly like mad speed freaks, they can't hit the broadside of a barn. From the inside.

[Major Major]

Like me then; I'm not a 'bad' pilot per se, I'm just lousy at dogfighting, so I've tailored my character to that end.


Name= Alec Macpherson
Age= 24
Hair Colour= Brown
Eye Colour= Green
Height= 5 foot 9
Weight= 'Slim'
Birthplace= Toronto, Protectorate of Ontario (or so he claims)

Plane= Grumman E-1c Avenger, painted in an all-over dull green colour

Gunnery
   QuickDraw= 2
   Deadeye= 3
   Steady Hand= 4

Piloting
   Natural Touch= 3
   Sixth Sense= 4

Constitution= 3

Distinguishing features/ Noticeable quirks: Huge 'walrus' moustace, otherwise is a dead ringer for the English actor Leslie Howard.

History they're willing to tell others: Alec doesn't say much, but this much has been gotten out of him; he has an almost psychotic hatred of the 'Red Skulls' Air Pirate gang, due to something in his past. Wierdly, though, he doesn't really hate other Air Pirates; he's actually noted as something of a gentleman of the skies (He doesn't 'plink' off already damaged planes and so on), but if there's so much as a single Red Skull in the area, all bets are off.

Outfit: Brown leather jacket, white dress shirt and tan slacks with tall leather boots; black "50 Mission Crush Cap" with headset.

[Major Major]

Say, Sel Nar, given the numbers I crunched there, could you give me an idea of what sort of pilot Alec would be, just so as I can get him in my head?

[Sel Nar]

Okay, let's see... Calm under pressure, good awareness on the flight, so is hard to tail and hard to shake when trying to tail an enemy pilot; is pretty good at getting bullets on target, and can shake a jam loose without losing the target. However, he's relatively slow; a lot of pilots can fire before he does, and he's relatively conservative when it comes to pushing the airframe; he knows what the plane can do, and is comfortable with that; stress fractures in the wings are not his idea of a good time.

[Major Major]

Sounds about right, actually; it suits my cautious nature. Thanks.

[Haibane]

Everyone has 450 points to feed into five statistics; as follows.

Did you actually mean to type 45 points? Or 50 points?

Major Major's char sheet doesn't seem to bear any relation to this point cost. Help! I'm confused!

[ReijiTabibito]

I've got this.  Okay, Haibane, you listening?

[Major Major]

Assume she is, then. I didn't really get it either myself.

[Sel Nar]

In this case, it's 'Use X points to buy Y levels'

Everyone starts at '0' levels in a skill.
it costs 10 points to buy the First rank (from 0 to 1)
it costs 20 points to go from 1 to 2.
40 from 2 to 3,
70 from 3 to 4,
110 from 4 to 5,
160 from 5 to 6,
220 from 6 to 7,
290 from 7 to 8
370 from 8 to 9
and, finally, 460 points to go from 9 to 10

So, the total point cost to 'buy' your way from Rank 0 to Rank 10 is 1750.

And remember; you have Five skills to buy points in.

As a comparison, however, a basic Milita mook has, on average, 2s across the board; they're slow, innacurate, can't push their planes (and are often too dumb not to when the plane's damaged), and are easily pulled out of formation.

[Haibane]

Aha! It was that blonde wig I'd been wearing when I was planning to use Mae West as my char image. I've got rid of it now and have my brunette Hedy Lamarr wig on so it suddenly all makes sense.

[Sel Nar]

Hell, I don't even have a blond wig and I have moemnts like that too. Hope my explanation helps. :)

[Haibane]

Here we go. Let me know if anything needs changing.

Name: Hedy Lamarr
Age: 25
Hair Colour: Brunette
Eye Colour: Hazel flecked with gold
Height: 5’ 4”
Weight: 112lbs
Stats: 37C-24-37
Birthplace: Winchester in the Shenandoah Valley; Appalachian Territory.

Plane: Hughes Bloodhawk that has been modified by removing the 2x40mm cannons and with the weight freed up a supergahrger unit has been installed with a third .3 inch calibre MG added. This increases the plane's ceiling from 22,000 to 23,000 feet, increases acceleration from 65 ft/sec to 96 ft/sec and increases top speed by 10mph to 310mph. (GM approved changes). It's no combat plane but it's a superb air-taxi and highly manouverable. Anything big enough to kill it, it'll simply get away from.

Hedy's Bloodhawk has a custom paintjob of silver overall with down the fuselage sides beautiful air-brushed artwork of a forest (an allusion to the movie that made her famous). The wings and tail fin bear blood red circles with an 'H' in one and an 'L' in the other. The spinner is also blood red.

Skills:
Gunnery:
   QuickDraw 2
   Deadeye 2
   Steady Hand 2

Piloting:
   Natural Touch 4
   Sixth Sense 4

Constitution: 4

(Total 440 points spent)

Distinguishing features/Noticeable quirks: Despite captaining an airship (and until recently owning a trading company that operated four ships) Hedy always dresses elegantly, usually in long gowns and heels with a fox fur wrap and gallons of heady perfume. Satin is her favourite textile! Her hair and make-up is always Hollywood-star immaculate and she favours the most expensive clothes and underwear. When she pilots her own plane she has a simple very soft and very form-fitting pale brown chamois leather all-in-one flight suit, boots, gloves, leather flying hat and goggles. To relax she might go naked under a sheer robe with four inch mules.

Publically Known Background: Born to a simple rural family, Hedy left school in Winchester at age 15 determined to find fame and fortune. She took higher education at Miss Aberlane’s School for Young Ladies in Lexington, capital city of the Appalachian Territory mainly taking classes in deportment, “health, beauty and feminine style”, acting and singing. She began touring with a small time theatre troupe, the Lexington Vagabonds, when she was 18 and her big break came a year later when the Hollywood mogul, R.K. Maroon owner of Maroon Studios was on a business trip in Philadelphia, and saw her on stage. He snapped her up, gave her a contract and whisked her off to the Nation of Hollywood where she began to star in a series of low budget reels before, at age 21, she hit the big time with Ecstasy a story of a lonely girl who gradually fell under the spell of a sadistic manipulating tyrant; the twist in the tale being that through her submission and wanton acts she eventually took control of him. She became infamous overnight for her nude scenes shot in a forest and a floodlit swimming pool at night and the close ups of her face as she acted out orgasms on screen. Hedy has always insisted she wasn’t acting.

After that a brief run of high paid starlet reels and glamorous parties and hi-profile charity events assured her a place in the top league of Hollywoods finest and famous. Though Hedy has always exuded a certain sensuality her brunette hair and moody styling gave her the title “The Thinking Man’s Pin-Up”. While most of her contemporaries went for the blonde bombshell look and played the dumb vulnerable card to get fans and win film contracts, Hedy played it cool and mysterious and gathered a devoted army of discerning fans and associates.

Hedy invested her millions into Winchester Flight, an air-carrying company that mainly traded cargoes up and down the west coast and across the mid-west to Chicago. Rumours soon circulated that she was a hard business woman as well as a pretty actress and she became known as the person to go to if you needed a dodgy shipment moved safely. Her four ships Blue Ridge, Shenandoah, Manassas and Lexington were hard worked and the crews and defensive squadron pilots well paid.

After her recent downfall at the hands of her main rival Charles Mortensen and his company Mortensen Aero, Hedy is looking to rest, repair, rebuild and get revenge; her “Four R’s”. She jokes that she has five Rs but only the most dashing and wealthy aviators get to play with the fifth one.

There are even rumours that Hedy is not averse to taking girls to her bed as well as long as they are curvy and pretty and pose her no threat.

Hedy’s air-combat skills are mediocre but she is a superlative pilot and while she can manoeuvre at low altitudes she prefers to out climb and out fly her opponents at high altitudes while avoiding combat. High speed manoeuvring is one of her trademarks.

[Major Major]

Looking good there Haibane. And I also updated my pilot character.

[asmariamoon]

How does this look?  I can always change it if needed.

[EDITED for (alternate) historical accuracy.]

Name: Rebecca "Rebel" Bond
Age: 22
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Brown
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 140 Lbs.
Birthplace: Montgomery, Alabama, Confederation Of Dixie

Plane: Bell Valiant Mk. II
Gunnery
   QuickDraw: 3
   Deadeye: 2
   Steady Hand: 2

Piloting
   Natural Touch: 4
   Sixth Sense: 4

Constitution: 3

Distinguishing features/ Noticeable quirks: Rebecca Bond, or Rebel, as she prefers to be called, is tall and thin, with long black hair that she usually ties back in pigtails.  She doesn't consider herself very pretty, but most would be inclined to disagree.  She often dresses in a manner that some would consider odd, but that she considers dressing the part, with attire that makes people think that she might have stepped directly from a storybook about hunting for treasure and fighting off the navies of European countries.  She prefers the colors black and purple, and most of her wardrobe reflects those preferences.  The item of clothing she wears most is a black pirate's coat with lavender adornments.

As for personality quirks, Rebel doesn't have many, but the few she does have tend to scare close-minded people.  She is generally nice by default, unless someone gives her reason not to be.  She has a darker sense of humour than most, and absolutely adores horror novels and films.  Most would say that her biggest quirk is her preference of women as lovers.

History they're willing to tell others: Rebel grew up in Alabama state, as the daughter of a Great War pilot, Lieutenant William Bond.  Lieutenant Bond wanted Rebel to join a militia, however, Rebel viewed the militia as a pathetic attempt to try to keep order between fractured governments with seriously-opposing views.  Rebel deemed such peacekeeping to be impossible, but her father insisted that she either choose a militia to enlist in, or get out of his house, so Rebel chose the second option, and ran away to Free Colorado.

She quickly found a job in barnstorming, and saved up enough money from it to buy the plane she used from her manager.  Soon after she purchased her plane, she found out about the job being offered by Miss Lamarr, and, after properly outfitting her barnstorming plane, offered her services to the wealthy actress.  She's never been in a dogfight, so her precision with a machine gun and ability to think cool in the middle of a heated battle are, expectedly, sub-par, but she has lots of experience performing insane stunts and pushing the limits of her plane from her barnstorming work.

[Major Major]

I think we're going to get on quite well, asmariamoon.

[Alysanthia]

Looks like fun.

[Haibane]

I lady pirate eh? Gotta love those big coats with huge lapels.

[Sel Nar]

Everyone Does. That's why trenchcoats are still fashionable, who knows how many years since they first appeared.

[Haibane]

The 18th century in Europe was a fantastic era for men's fashions generally, men's clothing today is so boring.



*swoons* It's why highwaymen are so sexy.

[Major Major]

Say, just out of curiousity, what possible real-world aircraft are we going to see in this game?

[Alysanthia]

Oooh Highwaymen... *Shakes her head several times.* What? Oh yes, my character!

Name: Aimé Brigitte Augustin

Age: 20

Hair Color: Black with hints of auburn. 

Eye Color:  Blue but with shades of purples mixing in.

Height:  Five foot even.

Weight: 109

Birthplace: French Louisiana, Ville de La Nouvelle-Orléans (New Orleans) in Orleans Parish.

Plane: Hughes Aviation J21-D Mark III Devastator, painted a dark shade of blood red with a white laughing skull painted on the sides. Twin serpents slithering out the mouth, both snakes are of a inky black color; their eyes resembling rubies when the sun reflects off them just right. On the tail written in white elegant letters is ‘La Petite Mort’ the name of the plane a bit ironic but Aimé planed it that way, because who would ever suspect a plane named The little death to do so much damage.

Gunnery
   QuickDraw: 4

   Deadeye: 4

   Steady Hand: 2

Piloting
   Natural Touch: 3

   Sixth Sense: 2

Constitution: 3

( Points left: 40)

Distinguishing features/ Noticeable quirks: Born with lightly tan skin, a trait most common among those in the southern part of French Louisiana. Her eyes though are a special inheritance from her mother’s side, the most and often quickest thing about her noticed; a clear violet color that seems to penetrate anyone she stares at. The second is Aimé's accent a soft and subtle southern accent. Her black hair is normally pinned up in a loose bun to stay out her face while she works, when allowed to be freed it tumbles around Aimé in playful waves; though not very tall her body is filled out in a most eye pleasing way.

Always seen dressed with a top hat she also wears loose, flowing dresses ranging from bright shades of reds to pitch black. Making sure to always be fashionable or lady like she carries around a small black silk fan, ready to give anyone a quick whack if they become to forward or say something idiotic; though when it comes time to fly, she dons a white mask made of a unknown material (bone but someone would have to be really close or hold it to tell.)

The design similar to Baron Samedi face painting, as well as wearing a long black duster and high collared black cotton dress; around her neck Aimé wears a blood red stone given to her by her nanny for protection.

History they're willing to tell others:  Born and raised in New Orleans, everyday was a celebration for Aimé. In fact she was born during the week of Mardi Gras, her family considering it a good sign named her after the girl’s Grandmother who helped build the large tobacco business her mother had inherited. Living in a vast plantation home, her parents did not believe in slavery so all their workers lived with them in the house and were paid weekly. Each worker easily able to go on and make it on their own after three years due to the large pay check that was directly deposited into their bank accounts.

Though she was living a privileged life Aimé enjoyed a vast array of simple things, all except for flying it seemed once a week the young girl was seen climbing into her father’s crop duster, learning all she could from the designated pilot. One day when the man was distracted the sneaky child took off, flying through the air she finally knew what she wanted to do with her life. Landing safely Aimé’s Nanny scolded her for months for doing something so dangerous; her father on the other hand saw potential and after the incident made sure that his only child learned all she could about flying as well as teaching her the value of being a decent shot.

After her nineteenth birthday and refusing all the suitors that came to her doorstep, Aimé set out on her own. But she is smart and keeps all her personal business to herself, many not truly believing that the polite and sweet nature woman was actually the pilot of La Petite Mort. After a year of accepting odd jobs Aimé over heard that a wealthy actress was looking for some pilots and never one to look a gifted horse in the mouth she quickly acted and took the the job. After all it would have been foolish to turn down the chance of adventure... 

[Sel Nar]

Say, just out of curiousity, what possible real-world aircraft are we going to see in this game?

For the most part, light cargo transports; Planes like the DC-2 and -3 are still used where the cargo just isn't enough to warrant a Zepp, while, for the most part, the British empire uses a large amount of Balmoral Light Bombers because they're transportable within a Zepplin (which is always a 'fun' experience for the three-person crew; having to unfold the wings and start the engines mid-launch is, at best, nerve-wracking), and the DeHavilland F9 'Hornet' is the plane of choice for the ROAF (Royal Ontario Air Force).

In general, what we recall as 'historical' planes of the time, like the Spitfire, the ME 109, or the Hurricane, have either been altered, design-wise, as to be totally unrecognisable, Or simply don't exist.

Hells, Military-grade Zepplins have even Superceded Light Cruisers in a naval role; they're big enough to have broadside batteries of up to Six Eight-inch cannon, though the recoil causes noticeable rolling.

[ReijiTabibito]

Alright.  My character should be coming up here soon.  Not the whole thing, just the stats and the plane and such.

[Major Major]

In general, what we recall as 'historical' planes of the time, like the Spitfire, the ME 109, or the Hurricane, have either been altered, design-wise, as to be totally unrecognisable, Or simply don't exist.

Well, that's a damn shame; I loves my Hurricanes and Spitfires, I do. Does that also mean the RAF is still using Gloster Gladiator biplane fighters, or maybe Boutlon Paul Defiant turret fighters? Or would they be using aircraft that only got as far as testing before being abandoned, like the Westland Welkin or the Miles M.20?

For the most part, light cargo transports; Planes like the DC-2 and -3 are still used where the cargo just isn't enough to warrant a Zepp, while, for the most part, the British empire uses a large amount of Balmoral Light Bombers because they're transportable within a Zepplin (which is always a 'fun' experience for the three-person crew; having to unfold the wings and start the engines mid-launch is, at best, nerve-wracking), and the DeHavilland F9 'Hornet' is the plane of choice for the ROAF (Royal Ontario Air Force).

What does this DeHavilland F9 Hornet look like?