Topic: Interest check: Firefly (TV-series) based roleplay(sci-fi, western, slaves)

[Branwen]

Name: Sue

Hilarious!  Johnny Cash fan?

[Branwen]

For Elfi, is her primary job random tasks like cleaning?

Summation posts like that are always helpful to me.  Thank you, Kckolbe.

Elfi cleans, mends, shines, fetches, carries, sews, mends, cooks, serves, waits, makes beds, bunks and biscuits, polishes, and will even empty the ship's cat's litter box without being told to.  She also does whatever else Master Captain says to.

[vin26m]

Yeah, "A Boy Named Sue" is one of my favorite songs.

Sue can pilot a shuttle as part of his drive-anything skillset, but he wouldn't be an ace pilot or anything.

I might use a different name.

I do want Sue to be the cook (and a good one at that), but he can share the duty with Elfi.

[Branwen]

Sue's the cook, and a gorram good one.  Elfi can cook, but it's pretty uninspiring.  I am not at all going to cut in on your character's hook and expertise.  But she can peel potatoes and open protein if you tell her to.

[SatanKlaus]

I like your character concept, Vin. He looks like he will fit in well with the large 'mercenary' crowd we have on board.

As Branwen is aiming low - so very very low - in her character's responsibilities, I don't think you are going to step on her toes by being the cook. (And even if you do, it will probably be her apologizing for it.). You can be the cook and Elfie can do the dishes, serve meals and do the rest of the kitchen scutwork.


Satan_Klaus

PS: "Sue is a girl's name."

[SatanKlaus]

I do want to say that while Serenity, (sue me, I loved the movie and it was the only first name I could come up with lol,) doesn't like slavers much at all, I am thinking that she and our good Captain are reluctant friends if nothing else.  She might not show him how good she is at being a Companion as far as bedmates are concerned, but neither will she see him as a threat to her well being, so long as he stays on her good side of course.    If I need to edit though I will do so as long as there's a reasonable request behind needing it done is all I ask Klaus.  Beyond that, I hope you lot of merry folk enjoy what I put together.    Already on episode 5 of Firefly and getting quite good with the Verse and the feel of things lol.

You should be aware that there is a slave on board and that the captain owns her. So I'm not sure if Serenity can be friends with him, from her side at least. All the captain demands is that people shut up about their political views while they are on his ship (he will not return the favor, though) and then they can get along well enough to get the job done. The captain is also not too worried about Serenity putting a knife into him in his sleep, she wouldn't be the first to try. But if she wants to stay on the ship longterm, then they need to establish a stable relationship. If that will be 'you stay in your ship and I stay in my shuttle' or 'suppressed romantic attraction' depends largely on how Serenity perceives the captain, I suppose.

Satan_Klaus

[TheRaven]

For Philemon's character, was he discharged for sneaking information to planets/militias getting ready to rebel?  Also, is he crew or passenger?  If crew, does he have a main function? 

For Elfi, is her primary job random tasks like cleaning?

Does anyone besides Keri know how to pilot?  This seems to be our only real gap, as Keri can't fly the ship and the shuttles, not to mention that she can't be at the helm 24/7.  I was thinking maybe Philemon or Sue could have a point in pilot for simple tasks and such. 

Officially Phil deserted, but if he hadn't, he likely would have been court-martialed and executed for espionage. It's not unreasonable to assume that he could fly a ship, though. He may not be 100% comfortable with flying the main ship in atmosphere, but he could probably be a good shuttle pilot.

[SatanKlaus]

A note on Philemon (and everybody else who hasn't gotten the news):

Our play will be set about 20 years before the events detailed in 'Firefly'. The Verse is on the brink of war, but no shots have been fired, yet. Reavers exist, but they are not even a rumour, yet.

I think it will necessitate only a minor adjustment of your character's backstory, though.


Philemon and the captain will probably get along well, considering that they are both firmly pro-independence. However, the captain's bigot insistence that keeping slaves is perfectly acceptable will probably frustrate Philemon to no end.

Satan_Klaus

[Vergil1989]

You should be aware that there is a slave on board and that the captain owns her. So I'm not sure if Serenity can be friends with him, from her side at least. All the captain demands is that people shut up about their political views while they are on his ship (he will not return the favor, though) and then they can get along well enough to get the job done. The captain is also not too worried about Serenity putting a knife into him in his sleep, she wouldn't be the first to try. But if she wants to stay on the ship longterm, then they need to establish a stable relationship. If that will be 'you stay in your ship and I stay in my shuttle' or 'suppressed romantic attraction' depends largely on how Serenity perceives the captain, I suppose.

Satan_Klaus

I know there's a slave onboard but if he EVER abuses said slave in front of her since she can't stay on her ship all the time then that's when you'll need to worry lol.  Otherwise though, as long as he keeps that business in private or something she'll bite her tongue as much as she can and stay in her shuttle other than for meals and the occasional job.  Maybe if he woos her enough he might get lucky and even find out just how good of a Companion she is, maybe even a weird romance deal could be worked into things, but the whole slave business will make it interesting if you ask me.    I only did it this way so that I had more to work with since everyone else seemed to like the idea that slave owning and all was ok.  Having someone that disagrees with it will add interesting if not entertaining plot and character development overall I figured, but if it does become a problem I'll pull out if necessary Klaus.

[SatanKlaus]

I only did it this way so that I had more to work with since everyone else seemed to like the idea that slave owning and all was ok.  Having someone that disagrees with it will add interesting if not entertaining plot and character development overall I figured, but if it does become a problem I'll pull out if necessary Klaus.

A large majority on board is in favor of independence and no one is really opposed to it. However, on the question of slavery things are at best split 50/50. I'm not saying that's a problem. Or rather: it's a problem but we will turn that into an interesting, roleplay-worthy problem. Its good that most people are in favor of independence, otherwise the looming civil war might turn into a shooting war on board. But I think you are the most militant abolitionist on board. The other will probably just try to talk, confront, scorn or otherwise engage with the problem in an interesting way without resorting to immediate violence.

Satan_Klaus

[SatanKlaus]

Hilarious!  Johnny Cash fan?

Did you guys know he has a song called 'The Line'? If I remember correctly, that was the most popular name for the ship...

Satan_Klaus

[SatanKlaus]

I will start work on an 'introductory exposition' where the captain gives a tour of the ship to an independence observer. The ship itself and every character will get a little screentime in their usual 'work environment'.

However, this is only my take on things. As I write, I will send each of you the portion pertaining to your character and you can add details and dialogue or demand changes. In a way, this will be your introduction to the group, so its your job to make sure that it is accurate.

And like I said before, I plan to start play on the 20th. If all goes well, I will send out the rules tonight (GMT +1) and will then start to officially approve characters.

Satan_Klaus

[Vergil1989]

A large majority on board is in favor of independence and no one is really opposed to it. However, on the question of slavery things are at best split 50/50. I'm not saying that's a problem. Or rather: it's a problem but we will turn that into an interesting, roleplay-worthy problem. Its good that most people are in favor of independence, otherwise the looming civil war might turn into a shooting war on board. But I think you are the most militant abolitionist on board. The other will probably just try to talk, confront, scorn or otherwise engage with the problem in an interesting way without resorting to immediate violence.

Satan_Klaus

I wouldn't deal in lead immediately either but it's still possible I'll admit.    Still, I guess I hadn't looked at the other profiles close enough to see that there was more than me that didn't like the slavery idea, my apologies on that.  Even so, I don't think I'll change Serenity's own since I like her the way she is.  She's a Companion so a certain level of understanding of both sides is required, even if she doesn't like the idea of slave owning at all herself, so you don't have to worry about her causing trouble unless you purposely piss her off or something lol.  And that sounds reasonable to me Klaus.  Count me in if I get approved of course. 

[RedEve]

I'm curious, what Firefly-verse archetypes have been snapped up already? :)

[SatanKlaus]

Kckolbe summed them up recently.

Captain: Braxton T. Early, former wealthy rancher, militia man and current slave owner, owns Elfi
First Mate: Richard Dawson, backwater aristocracy and former militia
Engineer: Lance Daniels, former Alliance enlisted, silent partner in business with Braxton
Pilot: Keridwyn "Keri" Jones, outer rim commercial pilot
Medic: Mya Richone, rich kid from Osiris, now indentured servant
Grunt 1: Girias "Cookie" Bomban, ex-con, rural background
Grunt 2: Sue, former ranch hand and tinkerer, ship's cook (backup mechanic)
Other: Philemon "Phil" Adricus, ex-Alliance infantry and ex, abolitionist
Ship Slave: Elfi, owned by Braxton, from a mining colony

Passengers:
Companion: Serenity Sun Kwan, opposed to slavery


But don't feel limited to what you have seen in Firefly. Anyone who has a plausible reason to be on board is welcome. Post your character proposal and we will discuss it.

Satan_Klaus

[kckolbe]

There is going to be significant disagreement on slavery and independence.  I can see Lance and Serenity getting along well, as both are less than comfortable with slavery and both share non-rural backgrounds.  He would likely be thrilled to have a former Alliance soldier as part of the crew as well, though the desertion issue wouldn't sit well.  Of course, I'm sure Phil is a good enough liar to convince Lance he was set up and had to run.

[SatanKlaus]

Alright, everyone! I started the OOC thread.

There, you can find the rules for play and character creation. Anyone who has a solid character concept, please go ahead and set it in stone.

Satan_Klaus

[Caela]

Keri is going to keep fairly quiet on the issues of Independence and slavery.

She's bound to like most of the crew to some degree, but Elfi is going to annoy the hell out of her lol. Not because she's a slave, but because she acts like one. She's likely to think that if the girl isn't willing to fight her condition, than she deserves it, or at least doesn't deserve to have it changed. If she catches the girl in her bunk, even to clean, there will be hell to pay.

[Marie Reynolds]

Okay so here goes I have finally have a concept put together of a headhunter and groom for acquiring and training new Slaves. His family would have a reputation in the underworld and their whispered about like people are afraid of  the family will appear in your life if you utter the name above a whisper. Though authorities and such believe it to be a  wild story cause this family has also developed excellent skills and contacts in keeping themselves out of records and files which has also made it quite profitable to make new acquistions in the slavery world and remove a sign of the persons identity or at the very least makes it seem convincingly enough the have a contract and are recieving a paycheck. Hope this fits with the concept of the game.

[SatanKlaus]

Okay so here goes I have finally have a concept put together of a headhunter and groom for acquiring and training new Slaves. His family would have a reputation in the underworld and their whispered about like people are afraid of  the family will appear in your life if you utter the name above a whisper. Though authorities and such believe it to be a  wild story cause this family has also developed excellent skills and contacts in keeping themselves out of records and files which has also made it quite profitable to make new acquistions in the slavery world and remove a sign of the persons identity or at the very least makes it seem convincingly enough the have a contract and are recieving a paycheck. Hope this fits with the concept of the game.

It feels like your character is too many things at once. Being a headhunter is not really respectable, but it is legal on many border worlds where slavery is still legal. And, usually, headhunters produce very strong resentment in the criminal underground because they often double as bounty hunters. Also, training slaves is not usually part of a headhunter's job description, even if he catches runaways. The pay is for returning them, not training them. 

That said, you might be a 'specialist' who focuses on catching high-value slaves who managed not only flee their master but who have been helped by the underground railroad and made it to the core where slavery is illegal and stepping on such a world makes a slave free by Alliance law. As such, you would be in the highly illegal re-enslavement business which, by the law, is basically just kidnapping.

Hunting runaways would give you a good reason to travel with the ship. You would probably be a paying passenger and not part of the crew, unless you have some kind of part-time contract that gives you freedom to conduct your 'business' planetside and perform regular duty while in space. The character concept puts you very firmly on the pro-slavery side of the crew. The captain wouldn't have a problem with it, but be prepared to catch Serenity sneaking around in your bunk at night with something sharp and shiny in her hand...

Still, I would recommend dropping one thing from character's background to make it less 'overloaded'. Probably the 'scion of a crime family'. You can still have dangerous underground contracts, but I think you already bring enough trouble on board without having a mob family.

Satan_Klaus

[Branwen]

Marie, this is only a suggestion and I hope you do join the game!

What about making some of the things in your character's background lies?  Or exaggerations?  Think of the wonderful plot hooks that would add.  You add tattoos or marks showing you belong to a crime family, but you really don't and whenever you see someone who does you have to work your way around it.  Or maybe you're a 'Verse famous bounty hunter...one day.  Right now you're just starting out but love telling tall tales about yourself.  This doesn't have to be a pathetic thing, but more along the lines of a con artist type vibe.

Anyway, just ideas!  I really do hope you can find a character you like to play!

[Marie Reynolds]

Thanks for all the inputs and i was toying with the idea of having some lies in their. I was looking for input on the fluff as i already have attributes and skills done

[SatanKlaus]

Thanks for all the inputs and i was toying with the idea of having some lies in there. I was looking for input on the fluff as i already have attributes and skills done

Well if you think you are ready, you can post your character in the OOC thread (I have provided a character sheet template there). If something is not quite right with it, we can still edit it there.

Satan_Klaus

[mayovagn]

Is there still space in this thing?

I am up for playing whatever and whoever needs playing, though a cowardly thief in the style of Villa Restal from Blakes 7 does appeal a great deal.

[kckolbe]

We are fairly light on passengers, which is fine, since I see them as optional, but I think any crew we pick up will need a point or two in piloting.  Also, I would prefer a female character as we are currently at 7 males and 4 females, and games that break the 2:1 ratio tend to suffer.