[center][b][i][h1][color=969196]SCUM[/color][/h1][color=969196][h3]AND[/h3][/color][h1][color=969196]VILLAINY[/color][/h1][/i][/b][/center] [hr][hr] [quote] [b][i]It has been over a millennium[/i][/b] since the founding of the Galactic Hegemonic Alliance brought an end to the ceaseless war of the last dark age. Humanity's origin has long since been lost to the mists of time, but their numbers are now beyond counting, and the vast majority of those live under the its rule. Near the galactic core, Hegemon Gediminas rules from his orbital palace, its massive windows looking out onto the universe's largest known black hole. Representative of his faithful servants--the Noble Houses that command the military and civil bureaucracy, the Guilds that control the distribution of technology and finance, and the Hegemonic Cults which guide the people spiritually--share its space with millions of clerks and functionaries. On a daily basis, the people who live in this orbital complex trade favors, balance the Hegemony's various interests, and ultimately make decisions on matters that will affect trillions of souls, and millions of trillions of credits. None of this could be farther away from you. Your home is the Procyon sector, a small cluster of four relatively impoverished systems. It is currently ruled by the Noble House Malklaith--a gift given in exchange for their support of the current Hegemon. The general consensus is that this was something of an insult; the sector's modest natural resources had already been thoroughly surveyed by the time of the handover. Moreover, there is only one hyperspace route in or out, making it a galactic cul-de-sac. Sure, asteroid mining continues apace. The flow of ships back into the GHA brings with it locally produced food and manufactured goods. Tourism is... slow, but extant. But if you ask anyone who knows, they'll tell you that Procyon has only two resources of note: hard people and danger. Luckily, you are all such individuals, and danger is your business. You are a collection of extraction specialists--bounty hunters and repo men, to be blunt. Through a series of events, the lot of you have come into possession of an R-29 Firebrand-class patrol boat. (The exact set of circumstances is a story for another time--suffice it to say, the ship is yours, and you even have the papers to back it up.) Faced with the decision to either liquidate your shares in the ship or keep it, you all chose to go into business for yourselves, so to speak. Getting the ship into shape and yourselves equipped took a good chunk of your collective change, but you called in a few favors and made it happen. Though your reputation as a crew is just taking form, you all had existing contacts you were able to ask about work. One of your contacts--a syndicate boss with the Ashen Knives--came through with a job. One of her underlings bailed on a job of his own, without even the courtesy of a two weeks notice; the Knives's "human resources" department wants you to bring him back in so they can conduct his exit interview. It's not exactly on the up and up, but work is work, and the authorities will probably turn the other way--consider it an "internal matter"--so long as you keep the noise down. The contract is signed and you've got your mission. Play your cards right, and its only the first of many. Will you manage to eke out a life doing the dirty work of the sector's various powers? Or are your sights set higher than that?[/quote] [hr] [b][u]Links:[/u][/b] [list][*][url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/194829-scum-and-villainy-firefly-cowboy-bebop-star-wars-inspired-forged-in-the/ooc]Interest check[/url] [*] [url=https://evilhat.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/SaV-Release-Sheets.pdf]Character & reference sheets[/url][/list] [hr] [b][u]Expectations[/u][/b] [hider][list][*]Rule 1 is, "do everything you can to make sure everyone at the table is enjoying themselves". We're all here to have fun, and everything we do--all the "rules" we set, both in the system and interpersonal--ought to serve that. Don't be afraid to speak up if there's something about the game you're not enjoying, especially if you're straight up uncomfortable. By the same token, don't be afraid to take center stage when it's appropriate--but look out for other players to make sure they're getting part of the action as well. [*] As a general rule, I won't enforce turn order, especially outside of jobs. However, Rule 1 applies--let's make sure that no one is getting left behind the action. [*] If you're not going to be able to post for over a week, I'd appreciate a heads up. If we're waiting on a post I'll reach out after a week; if I haven't heard from you in two weeks, I reserve the right to sideline your character so that other people can continue playing [*] Similarly, there's no hard feelings if you need or want to drop out for any (or even no) reason--I only ask that you let someone know so we're not waiting on a post that will never come. Same goes if you just need some time off--just let me know when you can. S&V is an episodic game by nature, so if your character needs to be put on a bus (either temporarily or indefinitely) we can easily arrange that. [*] I'm not strict on posting length. If you don't need a ton of words, don't feel like you need to pad your post out to five paragraphs, just so long as you're responding to the other characters and the world around you and moving the story forward. [*] As the DM, I'll do my best to make the crunch part of this as frictionless as I can, but I do expect you to have a baseline familiarity with the rules, and especially with whatever special abilities your character has. That said, this is my first time playing in this system, and if you're unclear on any particular rule I encourage you to bring it up so we can look at it together.[/list][/hider] [hr] [b][u]Character Submission[/u][/b] I've drawn up the character sheet below for you to use; I don't mind if you edit it, so long as all the information is there. I've also included a template you can use to track stats that need to be tracked as the game goes on. [b]Go ahead and post your sheets here in the OOC tab; I'll review them, and once they're approved you can repost in the Character tab.[/b] [hider=Example Character Sheet] [h3][center]Memphis, the Scoundrel[/center][/h3][hr] [u][b]Name:[/b][/u] Memphis Tennessee [b][u]Alias:[/u][/b] Nashville [u][b]Look:[/b][/u] [i]Write as much or as little as you like here; if you want to include a picture here, that works too[/i] Older man with grey-blonde hair; wears a long brown coat and a big felt hat. Always seems to have a frown on his face; maybe it's just stuck that way. Taller than average, but not terribly wide. [u][b]Heritage:[/b][/u] Colonist [u][b]Background:[/b][/u] Labor [u][b]Vice:[/b][/u] Gambling [u][b]Class XP Trigger:[/b][/u] Address a tough challenge with charm or audacity. [b][u]Starting Ability:[/u][/b] [b]Serendipitous[/b] - Your crew starts with +1 gambit when the pool resets. [u][b]Special Abilities:[/b][/u] [list][*][b]When the Chips are Down[/b] - You gain a second use of special armor between each downtime.[/list] [b][u]Insight[/u] [1] [indent]Doctor Hack Rig > Study [/indent] [u]Prowess[/u] [3] [indent]Helm Scramble > > Scrap > Skulk > [/indent] [u]Resolve[/u] [2] [indent]Attune Command > Consort Sway > >[/indent][/b] [b][u]Trauma:[/u] 0/4[/b] - N/A [u][b]Contacts:[/b][/u] [b]Nyx[/b] - [Friend] - a moneylender - [i]They're always willing to finance his next scheme.[/i] [b]Ora[/b] - [Rival] - an info broker - [i]and Memphis's jilted ex-wife.[/i] [b]Jal[/b] - a ship mechanic - [i]can fix just about anything--if you've got the creds.[/i] [i]etc--you don't have to fill out all of them if you don't want to, but I do want at least 3 including the close friend and rival[/i] [b][u]Bio:[/u][/b] Memphis was raised on a backwater, agrarian planet. From a young age, on the farm his parents boarded at, he learned to do hard labor--and he also learned that doing hard labor sucked big time. By the time he was 16, he had made up his mind to leave the farm, and headed to the planet's spaceport. He proceeded to talk his way onto a starship crew as a loading hand, and spent the six month voyage getting other people to do his work for him by beating people twice his age in games of chance. That trip set the tone for the next 30 years of his life--puttering around the Procyon sector, chasing any opportunity that looked lucrative and (more importantly) low effort. Winning some and--more often--losing others, often making it out of town only by the skin of his teeth. He joined the Stardancer recently, hoping for an easy gig running deliveries in between his harebrained schemes. [/hider] [hider=Example Status Block] [b]Stress:[/b] [000------] [b]Harm:[/b] [indent][b]Level 3:[/b][list] [*][i][/i][/list] [b]Level 2:[/b][list] [*][i][/i] [*][i]Bleeding cut[/i][/list] [b]Level 1:[/b][list] [*][i][/i] [*][i]Shaken[/i][/list] [/indent] [b]Cred:[/b] 3/4 [b]Stash:[/b] 5/40 [b]Armor:[/b] - Normal [X] [b]Load:[/b] Normal (3/5) [list][*] Pair of Blaster Pistols (2) [*] Fine Coat (1)[/list] [/hider] [hr] [b][u]Ship/Crew[/u][/b] We're not going to do anything official with the crew/ship stats until all the character sheets are in, but it won't hurt to start thinking about your options as a crew. In particular, you'll need to choose: - Ship name ([i]Cerberus[/i] is a fine name, but if you want to pick something else you're welcome to) - Crew reputation (Ambitious, brutal, daring, honorable, professional, savvy, strange) - Starting customizations (Either improvements to two of your ship's systems, or improved crew quality) - Ship's starting special ability - Starting upgrades (either ship modules or crew equipment) - Favored contact (from the Cerberus's list of contacts) [hr] [@rush99999][@meri][@Penny][@Level_5][@POOHEAD189] We'll proceed to crew creation once I have an approved character sheet from everyone; if you're no longer interested in playing, just let me know and I'll remove you from the list.