Everything looks good from here.
Great job so far, guys, and now I feel bad for not having my own character made up yet. I suspect that could happen sometime tonight.
Niferbelle: I don't want to appear to be ignoring your question, but I also don't want to come across as the person dictating what we do. My thinking is that the series and the movie took place over a relatively short period of time. (Didn't Mal state in the movie that Simon and River had been on board seven months?) So, we could make it generally during the same time frame as the series. As far as the Miranda Broadwave, that event would be more eventful to some than others. Sure, the politicians are scrambling, and the media, the talking heads, the conspiracy theorists ("we told you so") ... but to the average person, I suspect it was "So, the government did something bad. What's new? Even more important, what's for breakfast?" So, does everyone want to just go with "during the series"? Pre-broadwave, post-broadwave, doesn't really matter that much I don't think, only we might start out "pre-wave" so at some point someone can say "did you catch the game last night? how about that pirate broadwave, huh?"
On the other hand, I'm up for whatever the majority wants. Start at end of the war? Or does someone want to play Mal and Inara's grandkid? It's all good.
ShadowFox89: If you're still interested, and the Colonel hopes you are (because of your character's purplebelly past in a world frequented by Independents) then hit me up via PM if you want so we can share ideas regarding your character coming into possession of the ship.
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Free-form vs. System: I certainly don't disagree with Ruby in that some standards for character creation would be good. I wouldn't have a problem playing some system game, only I don't know how to do that. If someone does, and would like to take care of the technical aspects of the game, please speak up. Otherwise, I did find ONLINE (yay!) some resources from the official Serenity RPG. I think we can use this as a guideline for character creation. Not take it so far as to role the dice to see if the mechanic can find the critical bolt he dropped down into the waste water holding tank, but to give us some general ideas of the characters' relative strengths and weaknesses. ("You run faster, I'm the better shot, so you run out there and draw their fire so I can see where they are and shoot them.")
The resource for character generation gives the GM three options regarding how powerful the characters can be, titling them as greenhorns, veterans, or big damn heroes. it can be found here:
http://bakersfieldrpg.com/Serenity.aspx
(then click on Serenity RPG - Character Creation Rules).
My proposal is this:
Attribute points: I think we should start out with 50 points each to assign to character attributes (this falls between veteran and hero status. Who wouldn't be happy with that?) So, fifty points to be divided among the six attributes: Strength, Agility, Vitality, Alertness, Intelligence, and Willpower.
Again, if it's freeform play, the numbers won't mean as much, since we're not rolling dice against the numbers. It just forces us to employ some give and take so all our characters don't end up looking like me in real life, incredibly attractive, agile, strong, fast, intelligent, and talented in so many ways it boggles the mind. No, that gets boring fast, which is why I'm on Elliquey to roleplay, so I can pretend to be someone with weaknesses.
Skill points: Here's where I'd deviate from the rules, and base the skill points on character ages. I think that adds a touch of reality to the process. Let's face it, I know how to do more stuff now, and do some of it better, than I did ten years ago. Yes, there are children who have more and better skills than me, but the charts would be too unwieldy, so here's my proposal:
For characters age 16 to 22, they get 62 skill points.
For characters age 23 to 29, they get 68 skill points.
For characters 30 and up, they get 74 skill points.
A list of skills is on bottom of the
character creation rules page. You're free to come up with your own skills, of course.
Worldly possessions: Just let common sense be your guide. If Ruby wants to go with the idea of being the Colonel's "actress" niece, she can bring along a trunk or two full of costumes, evening gowns, and stage props to rival Ginger from
Gilligan's Island. A recently discharged soldier wouldn't have accumulated much, since his space had been limited. OR, maybe he did pick up a lot of stuff over the years, and it's all in storage somewhere. A guy one step ahead of the law? He would most likely be traveling light.
Also, the character's origins. Someone who lived in Independent territory during the war would stand a better chance ending up with nothing (money or stuff) than someone from a core planet, so please keep this in mind.
The character generation process also involves picking
assets (good things) and
complications (bad things.) It doesn't give examples, though. I see this as something to do with the character him/her- self. Such as a physical attribute (ambidextrous, but blind in one eye) or mental (good at math, bad speller) and not something external to the character (some people love him, some people want to kill him). I don't think the roleplay police will arrest anyone for doing this wrong, but doing it in the spirit in which it was intended should add some flavor to the game. I especially like the idea of someone being frightened of (
fill in the blank) and not wanting any of his or her shipmates to know, but that's just the sadistic GM in me saying that.
IN addition, you might also want to look at the "crew questionnaire" and the "3x3x3" pages. I think it would also enhance the play to do this, and you don't have to share all the info with the other players. I would like the person running the game (me, I think) to see your 3x3x3 responses, even if you don't have three of each, for seeding material.
Wow, that all sounds way more complicated than I intended, and I think it sounds more complicated than it really is. All this really means is to divide 50 points between six attributes, pick some skills from a list (or make your own) which would fit your character's background and interests, then translate a bit of his or her history to paper (or in this case, electrons.)