LostKnightsRPG.org

[rydi]

i think thael should be xo.

steven captain.

alex [as yet to be determined, im encouraging him to play]

omar medical.

chris science.

paul security?

me ensign.

and a half-live crew.

[Rusty]

i think thael should be xo.

steven captain.

alex [as yet to be determined, im encouraging him to play]

omar medical.

chris science.

paul security?

me ensign.

and a half-live crew.

I'm totally cool with that lineup, or a variation on it. So, here's your assignment, as a group, aside from deciding on a chain of command. As ambassadors, you would be the primary exploratory group, both because of your greater abilities and your diplomatic authority. You should be the ones to initiate any contact with any species you encounter, engage or decline to engage in both hostilities and diplomatic relations, and are the ones trusted with the mission, both to oversee and to execute. Sure, you can have marines, ships security, even a battery of scientists, but the exploring and problem solving are yours to accomplish. So, you need another person in the chain of command, who can oversee the ship and has both authority and skill to do so. Normally, the chain of command would go right through all the people you just listed. Therefore, I'm creating a new position to be filled, the Ships Officer, or SO. This individual would be capable of commanding the ship in times of crisis or otherwise. He is an NPC. And he has the highest raw point value of any member of your crew. He is worth 200 points, and one or more of you should design him. He may be a member of a race that you have designed, or a novel one. His job will be to run the ship when the CO and XO are both unavailable, and can readily (and probably should) oversee one third of the ships hours, essentially taking 3rd watch. He should not go on expeditions with you under any circumstances. Also, as thael will almost certainly be a vastly better pilot than any in your crew, in times of extreme crisis, if Steven is unavailable, Thael would take the helm and give the SO the conn, so that he doesn't have to direct his attentions in several ways. Unless someone else is XO. anyway, though I could whip together an SO, I like the idea of the players designing as much as possible.

[rydi]

i'm now over by only 11 points. any suggestions on something to remove? add?

RACE
Easy to Read [-10]
Light Sleeper [-5]
On the Edge [-15]
Social Stigma (-1 reaction from non-supers) [-5]
Supernatural Features (xxx) [-5]
Supernatural Features (xxx) [-5]
Time Sickness (Critical {-20} & Acute {x2}, p.181IW; only Time travel –50%) [10]
Unusual Biochemistry [5]
Weak Jaw [-2]
Weirdness Magnet [-15]
Xenophilia (SC=12) [-10]
Code of Honor (quirk) [-1]
Congenial (quirk) [-1]
Lower birthrate (quirk) [-1]
Wealth (struggling; ½ starting) [-10]
= -115

+1 ST [+10]
+1 HT [+10]
Appearance (Universal +25%; Off the shelf looks –50%; +4) [+12]
Flight (Space +20%; Latent –50%) [+30]
High Pain Tolerance [+10]
Longevity [+2]
Resistance (Metabolic Hazards +3) [+10]
Resistance (Shock/Stun/unconsciousness +3) [+10]
Sanitized Metabolism [+1]
= +95

CHARACTER

DISADVANTAGES
Guilt Complex [-5]
Oblivious (-1 influence rolls) [-5]
Overconfidence [-5]
Pacifism (won’t harm innocents) [-10]
Phantom Voices [-5]
Selfless [-5]
Sense of Duty (all sentient beings) [-20]
Shyness (mild, -1 social rolls) [-5]
Social Stigma (martial tattoos/violent; –3 own society only) [-5]
Truthfulness [-5]
Workaholic [-5]
= -75

ATTRIBUTES
ST +4 [+40]
IQ +2 [+40]
DX +2 [+40]
HT 0 [+0]
=+120

ADVANTAGES
Ceremonial Status (Honorary Ensign) [+1]

Doesn’t Eat [+5]
10 base cost
-50% Latent

Doesn’t Breath [+20]
20 base cost

Higher Purpose [+5]
5 base cost
Protect those to whom the Sense of Duty disadvantage applies

Regeneration [+68]
150 base cost
+40% Radiation Regeneration
-5% Nuisance: Obvious (“Um, guys, wasn’t that one missing its chest a second ago?”)
-5% Nuisance: -1 to Concentration based rolls while regenerating (growing back skin is distracting)
-20% Nuisance: -4 reaction penalty while regenerating (“Eeew… Is that your spleen?!”)
-25% Temporary disadvantage: Bad Temper (when you’re in pain, your attitude isn’t very good)
-50% Nuisance: Backlash results in -10 Health while regenerating (all the body’s resources are focused on healing)

Regrowth [+8]
40 base cost
-60% Nuisance: -6 pain penalty when regrowing a body part (those fresh nerves hurt)
-20% Nuisance: -4 reaction penalty when regrowing a body part (it’s a bit unsettling watching something reconstruct themselves from the bone up)

Resistance (Metabolic Hazards; upgrade racial to immunity) [+20]
30 base cost
-10pts for racial Resistance

Resistance (Shock/Stun/unconsciousness; upgrade racial to immunity) [+20]
30 base cost
-10pts for racial Resistance

Trained By a Master [+27]
30 base cost
-10% Nuisance: -4 reaction penalty; own culture only ( Pacifist culture that recognizes martial arts as a path to barbaric ways)

Unaging [+15]
15 base cost
-2pts worth of racial Longevity

Unkillable [+30]
150 base cost
-5% Nuisance: Can’t use Tactics or Strategy skills while at –HP (Uh, yeah… still missing half that brain there…)
-5% Nuisance: Obvious (“He just won’t go down… Jump him!”)
-5% Nuisance: -1 to concentration based rolls when at –HP (being quasi-dead is distracting)
-20% Nuisance: -4 Reaction Penalty while at –HP (“What… What in Hades is it?!”)
-20% Nuisance: -2 pain penalty when at –HP (it hurts having half your body missing)
-25% Temporary Disadvantage: Impulsiveness when at –HP (hard to think with half your brain missing…)

Vacuum Support [+5]

=224

SKILLS
Detective! [6] –2
Ninja! [12] –1
Technology! [6] –2
Science! [6] –2
Cryptography [1] -2
Expert Skill-Supers [2] -1
Forgery [1] -2
Free Fall [2] +0
Mental Strength [2] +1
Mental Block [1] -1
Occultism [1] -1
Scrounging [1] +0
Strategy-Land [1] -2
Survival [1] -1
Tactics [1] -2
Swimming [1] +0
Lifting [1] –1
=46

[durden]

Looks good to me. You were able to afford some things I wanted.

I was also thinking Paul should be Worftuvok. We need a guns character, I think. Paul, you are Jayne.

[Avilister]

Quoted for reference:

Detective!
Ninja! (Acrobatics, Auto Hypnosis, Breaking Blow, Esoteric Medicine, Immovable Stance, Invisibility Art, Karate, Meditation, Power Blow, Pressure Points, Stealth, Traps)
Technology! (Computer Operation, Computer Programming, Electrician, Electronics Operation, Electronics Repair, Engineer, Machinist, Mechanic, Weird Science)
Science!

Are these 'Talents' according to the Advantages section of the book? If so, "Technology!" would be esspecially useful for most characters to have at low levels to represent a combination of a lifetime of accumulated proficiency and some more focused shipside/paramilitary training.

[Thael]

actually the name of the skill gives it away... the system marks wildcard skills with an exclamation point at the end "Detective!"...

Talents are the advatage version that give pluses to skills and after looking at the cost seem to be the more efficient method... VH skills go up in cost fast and paying for them at x3 means it is 24 points to get a +0 out of it... wildcards are cheaper to get a point or 2 into a skill so you have it but improvement seems to need talents... and the Char Assist does allow for making new Talents and I can see it being easier to work with (the coding is easier to understand) that or I am expecting more output from the wildcard items in the program than is needed...

I am shooting for XO as I said before... if someone knows the actual rank/status levels I need I would appreciate not having to look it up...

As a side-effect of my racial I do not need sleep (it appears AI has progressed beyond laptops so they dont have a sleep mode) among other things but I will need "time off" as it were to do maintainence on my minions per the requirements of those items (most tech/cyber has maint option as -% mod) so having the SO wont be bad... there is also those times that I could somehow be incompacitated...

[Avilister]

I took Rank 5 (10 point version). So you'll probably be Rank 4? I guess? Do I need Rank 6?

Also, at least in TNG, the "Ship's Officer" was Data, and the title for that part of his job was 'Second Officer', much as Riker was the 'First Officer'. I say 'that part' as he was also the Ops Officer and general away team badass.

[Thael]

exactly why are we taking the 10 point rank cost... it blends in the status which would have no benefit unless we are back in the GF in non-military setttings since within the military rank is used instead...

also similar subject but not quite the same... I planned on being a mechant before this whole recruitment occurred... as such would it be all right if I had Merchant Rank instead of military since it could be that I was part of a Merchant Marine organization and those can equate to each other in that regard... it just fits the feel I have better...

and something I noticed... do machines have to take vacuum support/sealed/doesn't breathe to survive in space... would think the whole Unliving and Immunity to Metabolic Hazards etc would cover that...

[Rusty]

cheyne: no idea what you should lose, but 10-15 bonus points are available for a thorough job designing your homeworld, including all the details from the space book. if I haven't started it already by that time, start a world catalog thread.

steven: I know that, and Data went on away missions rather frequently. We'll have a 'second officer' and the whole swinging chain of command, but we need a command rated crewman at rank 4 or 5 who is an accessory to the CO and XO, hence the Ships Officer.

Thael: you need military 10 point version status to be XO.

[Thael]

that's fine about the military vs merchant... but why the ten point... again the difference between the two is that 5 is rank and 10 is rank and status... we are on a military ship and there are no persons who would recognize our rank as anything except those in the military negating the need for status... just confused why we are wasting points

and just to confirm with you Gideon... 4 levels of rank to count as XO? are you also going to require any Shiphandling, Leadership, etc skills as pre-reqs for position?? would also need the skill reqs for the SO for being in that position so we know how much can be spent elsewhere

[Rusty]

that's fine about the military vs merchant... but why the ten point... again the difference between the two is that 5 is rank and 10 is rank and status... we are on a military ship and there are no persons who would recognize our rank as anything except those in the military negating the need for status... just confused why we are wasting points

and just to confirm with you Gideon... 4 levels of rank to count as XO? are you also going to require any Shiphandling, Leadership, etc skills as pre-reqs for position?? would also need the skill reqs for the SO for being in that position so we know how much can be spent elsewhere

Yeah you're going to need shiphandling and leadership and etc if you're going to be in command of the ship. SO needs a similar setup. I haven't had time to look seriously at the skills and come up with prereqs, and honestly I shouldn't have done as much as I have towards ship building. I'm kinda trying not to fail out of school here.

You need both rank and status for several reasons, first of all you need the military status amongst the crew, rank alone isn't enough to get people to go above and beyond. Yeah, they have to do what you say if you have rank, but if you have status they might actually want to do what you say as well. Also, if and when you negotiate with alien races, your status back home suddenly becomes real again. A guarantee from an ensign isn't worth half of what a guarantee from a fleet admiral is, and if you have reputation above and beyond that with your people, and you can convince an alien diplomat of that, then he might take you more seriously. Further, a nobody officer isn't going to be appointed XO of the most important military mission in recent history. Granted, you are all ambassadors, and that carries with it diplomatic authority. But I think we should use the 10 point status anyway. If we were running 200 point characters I'd be happy to make it 5 point, on account of shortage of points, but we're running 300 point characters with 75 points worth of flaws, countless limitations, and a racial template, so I really don't feel like making concessions on status is necessary. Trust me, you have the points to spare.

[Thael]

thats good enough for me... just wanted a realistic explanation... blame work...

[Avilister]

I feel it comes down to about what was said above. This is an incredibly high profile mission, which implies that being sent on it is a major indication of status. Moreover, the fact that you're chosen for it implies that you've done something pretty incredible that made people notice you and select you for the job.

Its sort of a combo of my previous post about the medal of honor and the general. In this case, the characters are people who've earned notoriety independant of their rank, but also have rank (perhaps in part because of their noteriety). I know I'm planning on having my guy be pretty decorated. Not just any old slob gets chosen to be the captain of one of the most important diplomatic missions in the history of the galaxy. You have be to a slob with class and style. A slob with a bunch of ribbons and shiney medals. A slob with a great big gun. I am building that slob.

[rydi]

i don't care either way.

it probably should be 10, just because that's what would have been required back home.

you need the military status amongst the crew, rank alone isn't enough to get people to go above and beyond. Yeah, they have to do what you say if you have rank, but if you have status they might actually want to do what you say as well. Also, if and when you negotiate with alien races, your status back home suddenly becomes real again. A guarantee from an ensign isn't worth half of what a guarantee from a fleet admiral is, and if you have reputation above and beyond that with your people, and you can convince an alien diplomat of that, then he might take you more seriously.

however, most of what you said makes no sense. rank would be just as effective at dealing with aliens as status&rank, because all these aliens in another galaxy would know is that steven commads a big ass powerful ship from a far away galaxy. they wouldn't know that he's a hero of his people, or that he makes a nice quiche, which is what status entails. And if he wanted to make them think any of that, convince them of that, then all he has to do is make a good influence roll, which is what he'd have to do in the first place to convice them of the truth anyway. further, the status&rank make no difference within a military setting on board a ship, especially if a large portion of the crew is automated.

but like i said, the 10pt version is probably more fitting, even if it is absolutely useless. they usually don't let nobody's command ambasadorial starships, not even high ranking nobodys.

[Rusty]

words

I'm specifically referring to the status portion of the military rank. I'm saying that your first encounter with an alien official might include an explanation of what your uniform means, this might be walked through in character the first time and then further down the road simply glossed over, but an officer covered in medals might be more important to them than an officer without. I'm saying that I plan to have your status affect game play, at the very least once in a while. I think what I said makes sense, you don't have to. blah.

/sandpoot