The Bean

Even she's not sure of her birth name but her friends in the slums of Beaumonde called her Bean.......

She was named by the nuns who originally fed her when she was on the streets - but she was too little to remember that name. In any case by the time she'd hit adolescence she'd left them, some might say that her spirits were a little bit too wild (to say the lest), but she made up for that lack of education by picking up one on the road....

She survived by using facilities like soup kitchens and taking advantage of all the not-too-many-strings attached education she could get her hands on (she doesn't like being bored and her gifts of observation have partly evolved from that - after all, while you are looking for something, memorising something or watching people, you won't be bored.)

I t's not clear when or how she came to the attention of the Alliance authorities, but she did, possibly on the basis of some medical testing in the course of her early life which was eventually flagged and fed back.  Of course there was no easy capture, because she was of no fixed abode. A number of good and bad things happened during those early years - but she was picked up for experimentation by the time she was 14 or so and had done all sorts of interesting legal and illegal things before then. She learned, and was treated, and learned some more, and showed more potential, which lead to further experimentation. Eventually, she got out and wound up with Floris by the time the rest of the crew had met them....he may have been the one to get her out, but for now they are both very tight lipped on the subject....

She is versatile, quick, streetwise, now extremely well trained and talented, but there are some things which are likely to set her off. Surprising or unsolicited touch is one of them.

Attributes:
Mental d10
Physical d8
Social d6

Skills (all others d4):
Fight d6
Fix d6
Focus d6
Influence (Seduction) d8
Know (Tactics) d8
Move (Acrobatics) d8
Notice (Intuition) d12
Operate (Ship systems) d6
Sneak (Hiding) d8

Distinctions:
READER d8
Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a d4 instead of a d8.
Secrets, Secrets: When you are in the presence of someone who is trying to keep a secret, spend 1 PP to discover the secret with a Mental + Know Action. If your Action fails, create or step up a Paranoid Complication.

MYSTERIOUS PAST d8
Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a d4 instead of a d8.

GOVERNMENT EXPERIMENT d8
Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a d4 instead of a d8.
Meddled With: Spend 1 PP to step up your Mental Attribute for the scene. Step down your Social Attribute for both this scene and the next one.

No signature Assets.

The Doctor will see you now....

Due to illness at home we won't be having a game this week so the finale of "Shooting Fish" will be delayed.

In the meantime though here's a little look at our ship's doctor, Dr Wai Norris....

In a ship of lost souls, outcasts and people with secrets Dr Norris is currently one of our most enigmatic yet open characters. What the players currently know is that he was a very well paid and highly competent and respected plastic surgeon in the Core Worlds. But he doesn't head coreward anymore....

What is clear is that the Doctor is not the most moral of individuals and is more than happy to take whatever means necessary to turn a profit or come out on top.

He and Judah have developed a distinct rivalry, from acerbic put downs to open practical jokes.  They both take extreme pride in their images and seem devoted to being considered the more stylish, urbane, cultured or gentlemanly member of the crew. Who knows how far that will go or how extreme their antagonism may become. 

Floris has charged the Doctor with "Bean" (the Reader's) welfare and he regularly medicates her through the use of doped sweeties and candy. This has led Bean to become a little dependent on Norris and she often accompanies him on jobs. An unprincipled, deceitful yet very competent doctor with a "pet" telepath....I'm sure this can only end well......  

Attributes:
MENTAL d8 PHYSICAL d6 SOCIAL d10

Skills: (all others at d4)
Influence (Persuasion) d12
Know (Medicine) d10
Operate d10
Survive d6
Treat (Surgery) d12
Trick d10

Distinctions:

SHIP’S DOCTOR d8
Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a d4 instead of a d8.

SMOOTH TALKER d8
Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a d4 instead of a d8.
Gift of Gab: Spend 1 PP to double your Influence die for your next roll

UNPRINCIPLED 8
Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a d4 instead of a d8.
Looking Out For Number One: Reroll all dice in a roll. On the reroll, all dice that roll 1s or 2s are considered Complications.

Signature Assets:
Doctor's Bag d8
Personal "collection" d6

Episode (session) #6 - May contain Shooting Fish (Echoes of War) spoilers

We were heading towards the big race, the crew had entered, the boat was finished but due to the time line I'd established earlier in the story there was still a day to go. So I started the game by going around the table so each player could explain how their character was using the day. We then picked on a few bits to play out.

Leo spent his time playing with the kids at the orphanage, Floris took the dogs and Emery to scope out the race course (and built a d6 Plan ASSET off it) while the Doctor and Bean headed over to the Canterbury farm.

At the farm they met Theo Canterbury and were able to verify that he and his crew were only in the race for payback against the mayor - if the crew stay out of the firing line then the Browncoats will have no beef with them...but that does mean that our crew may need to keep the Mayor safe; a dead mayor ain't going to be able to sign the Orphanage back to the Shepherd.

The day of the race dawns.

Floris will "captain" the boat (in retrospect the players wished he'd taken one of his dogs for the potential Mutley gags....) and man the net gun, Emery will be there to lend a hand, Judah will drive (with a helpful d12 ASSET from Floris' "Lead the Crew" Trigger), and Leo will be on board to handle emergency repairs.  Leo turns up looking like Top Gear's "The Stig" having spent 1PP to create a "d6 Pit Crew Fire Suit" ASSET.  Meanwhile Bean and the Doctor head into the crowd to try to root out and immobilise any Purple Gang members they can find (I decided that they were dealing with a 5d8 "mob" of purple gangers scattered throughout the spectators).

And they're off!

(I'd drawn out the race track on one on my white boards and used thin "post-it" notes with sketches of the different boats on as markers in the race.)

There was lots going on so you'll forgive me for not recalling all the details but in summary:

• Bean and the Doctor were extremely effective in seducing, incapacitating or otherwise inconveniencing the Purple Gang, removing the effectiveness of the entire gang before the race end
• The Red Tide (the Red Saloon boat) was the first team taken out - feeling the wrath of the Cleetus family for stealin' Mee-Maw's scatter gun and sinking on the 2nd leg of the race
• Our crew led from the start and made great use of ASSETS (from Floris' leadership, the plans they'd made, Bean pilfering opponents' plans from their minds and the Net gun Leo had built) to stay there for the rest of the race. The Warhorse (Mayor) and Gravedigger (The Canterbury's) followed with Mee-Maw's Throne (The Cleetus Clan) trailing behind taking pot shots at the closest enemy boats. 
• The Net gun was used to great effect to pile Obscured Vision COMPLICATIONs onto the Warhorse, while the Gravedigger eventually sank under combined fire from the Cleetus Family and the Mayor.
• The Orphanage boat wasn't without problems but the various COMPLICATIONs earnt (mostly from 1's rolled by Judah's Drivin' and Floris' Shootin') were very quickly repaired by Leo's exceptional skills.
• With the Gravedigger sank at the platform stage, Judah then took his action to gun the engines to create a huge wake COMPLICATION to disorientate the Warhorse, with the Obscured Vision COMPLICATION already on the boat (and the positive narrative effect) I deemed it took the Mayor's boat out, leaving him spinning and stranded in the middle of the water while the crew zoomed easily down the final straight and over the finish line.

The big race sequence is the sort of thing I'm never comfortable running as a GM.  All the GMC action feels like it moves the focus away from the players a bit and after all it's *their* story. That said I never want to just "decide" what happens to non-player characters in that situation for fear of not appearing fair to the players so I made sure that I resolved the other crews' actions openly before the other players and let the "dice land where they will"

All that said I think things seemed to play out in a very heroic and exciting fashion and kudos to the MWP designers for the way they'd put the mechanics together for running the race.  The players seemed to really enjoy it and it supported the actions of those on the shore as well as in the boat.

So, the race is over and our heroes have won...but the adventure's not ended yet...

Episode (session) #5 - May contain Shooting Fish (Echoes of War) spoilers

One of my two whiteboards in use...this one was used to track the notable places in the town of Endurance, which onesthe crew had visited and what they knew they could be used for/obtain there.

(This session became a great example of Complications and Assets being used to steer the plot....)

We pick up where we left off with Dr Norris and Bean trying to source wood for the repairs to the orphanage boat.  After what the Shepherd has told them about places in town they head to the Bilderbeck Timber Mill and end up in conversation with the owner, Mister Bilderbeck himself.  When he learns that they are off-worlders with access to a ship he tells them of his lost son and how he wants to get into contact with his young love.  Dr Norris agrees (after a few out of character jokes about how he always seems to meet "Quest givers"....) and they arrange to have the wood they need delivered to the orphanage.

Meanwhile Captain Floris tries to sign up for the race.  The mayor and his flunkies take him through the rules and reams of paper work only to then "realise" that the sign up deadline had passed.  What a shame. Floris stays sat where he his and begins to try to find a loop hole in the rules (failing to annoy the Mayor in the process) and in the end mayor just leaves him to it, chuckling to himself.

With the arrival of the wood, along with Leo demonstrating his exceptional skills, the Orphanage Boat is repaired with ample time to spare.  However Leo had previously picked up a "Hammered Thumb" Complication which by now (due to more "1s") had worsened to a D10...even though he'd attempted treating it himself he really ought to get it looked at... 

The Doctor often uses doped sweets & jelly beans to subdue Bean and after the Timber Mill scene he'd picked up a "Running out of Candies" Complication so he pops into the local candy store. He notices the store owner's (Lissette Abel) scars and figures (MENTAL+KNOW (Medicine)) that she's a war vet.  It comes out in converstaion that she is part of the Canterbury crew and that they have a serious beef with the Mayor. She suggests that the Doctor visit the Canterbury farm if she wants to know more.  However the Doctor figures on another method and has Bean "read" Lisette from outside the store and she discovers the truth of the Mayor's war record, albeit in very symbolic images and terms. 

Judah is still snooping around undercover and winds up in the Red Saloon.  He gets the low down on the bar's entry into the race and sees them for what they are "...some good ol' boys just lookin' fer a gud time...".

The crew head back to the orphanage to compare notes and discuss plans.  The Doctor treats Leo's thumb and I decide that they use a another Beat in doing so (still only about halfway through their available Beats...)   

The crew decide that they need to embarrass the Mayor into letting them into the race, in public.  A fall back option would be convincing another crew to let them join and win on their behalf but of the crews encountered either they don't want to win (Canterbury's) or won't want to share the winnings (Red Saloon).  So they come up with a plan...

Most of the crew head off into town that evening but Leo (and Turk) stay to waterproof the boat.  As ever Leo's efficiency has the job done in no time at all so he calls in the orphanage children to apply a second, colorful coat of paint.  He gives them free reign to decorate as they wish and builds a "Kids paint job ASSET" off it (in the hope of swinging sympathy from the crowds and/or distracting the other crews).

The remaining crew (along with the Captain's "Assets" of his cousin Emmery (the pilot) and his pack of dogs) head to the Ocean View Tavern to face off with the mayor. Dr Norris gives Judah some dope (ASSET) that he (still working undercover) palms into the drink a waitress is taking to the Mayor. Floris then confronts the mayor and questions his bravery, the cumulative effect riles him up and he takes a swing - BAR FIGHT!  The crew lay in to the Purple gang while Floris defends himself against the Mayor.  The mayor keeps losing gang members (in part to avoid being Taken Out) but the crew have them licked and so, in fury, he shouts out "I'll see you on the water!".  They are in the race (fade to black....). A great scene and fantasic way to end the session.

Captain Floris - an artist's impression..

You may know by now that I like to keep things in game and on the blog both varied and interesting so this post is something a bit different.  Here's a sketch of our forthright and tempestuous Captain, Floris (as drawn by his player).

We had a marvellous 5th session last night so a synopsis post will follow over the next few days.

Next week the crew will be taking part in the race that acts as the culmination of "Shooting Fish"  should be memorable if nothing else ;)

Episode (session) #4 - May contain Echoes of War spoilers

For a bit of variety I thought I'd ask the players to write up some of their character's thoughts about the last session we played. Here's some musings from Captain Floris and "Bean"...

"We were having tea with Shepherd Rust when the children ran in, saying that the Mayor was coming.  We talked quickly of ploys and obfuscations, Judah, Norris and I, but it was the Shepherd’s words that decided my action later.  I went outside with the dogs.  Judah stayed out of sight, for reasons of a plan he had devised, a fine one.

The mayor had come in on a grav APC, with outriders on horseback.  On getting out, he accosted one of the orphans, a girl, fourteen perhaps.  He favoured her, saying she should come to him in a few years’ time, that she could work in whatever would be built when he snatched the orphanage away.  His intentions seemed lewd.  She wasn’t so many years younger than Bean.

We spoke.  He’d heard of us, and seen our fine ship.  I told him that we would be in the race.  I told him that we aimed to beat him.  He didn’t seem to take us seriously, which is as well for what ploys we might use, but I am sure he used sly words to insult us without having the courage to say it plainly.  I cannot let this slight go.  We will beat or sink him.  I will hurt him.

I did not turn my gaze from him until the grav APC had vanished from sight.  The dogs didn’t either."

"Leo and I went back to the yard today. He's a monkey. In my head, I call him that. But peanuts won't do for him. He's a grease monkey, he wants wrenches. And bolts. Cogs and pistons. I can see him clambering around in a huge machine. nnnggggnnn-fuuuh, nnnngggn-fuuuh, nnnggggnnn-fuuuh, all those valves releasing, hissing, pounding, a difference engine. He could make it go. If it could be driven, he could make it go, but not like oxen. He could clamber all over, reading the engine with his feet and his fingers and his nose and his eyes. I want an armour of brass with one of those goldfish bowl helmets, pistons walking me, plates keeping me inside. I run out all the time. My mind runs out and I get lost. The lady at the scrapyard could tell, kept telling me to be careful. But she thought I was odd. I feel odd. I'm only all there some of the time. I want to know where I go. Then the glow washes down from the crown of my head, always clockwise, like a spiral. It connects to the eye, the one I opened. Then down my throat, my heart, my navel, my womb. Womb. I like the word womb. Then it washes me away, flushes out my spine, though my tailbone. The monkey doesn't know. But the Doctor does. We spoke. He doesn't want to get noticed. Am I his project? Me getting noticed might be him noticed. He gives me the sweets. None of them cheat me. He would if he needed to. For himself that is. He only ever stops me, he never makes me do something. That's the difference. I'm afraid. If something connects, I might connnect. I might be a beacon, or a sluice, or a tesseract. Sometimes, I feel the pulse of the universe and it whispers. Sweetly or threateningly or incomprehensibly, but it always whispers. I'm learning to hear, to listen, to understand. There is too much of it."

The crew are doing really well at the moment.  They've managed to salvage most of the parts they need (except wood) to fix the boat in the first two "Beats" and Leo's stellar rolls (he is an excellent mechanic) have meant that the boat's engines are all fixed up and purring like kittens.  He's even had time to construct a sort of net launching gun to fix to the hull (a D6 Asset).

Meanwhile Judah has gone undercover in the town and is busy trying to get intelligence on the mayor and the other competitors...