As a reminder, this play takes place about twenty years before the events described in ‘Firefly’. The pro-independence planets are becoming restless, clamoring for a more local administration and less interference from the central government. Nominally, everyone is still part of the Alliance, though, and aside from some small militia skirmishes, the Verse is still at peace.<br/><br/>The Reavers are not yet the boogeymen they will become, but there are rumors of missing ships and devastated colonies. So far, all they do is pour oil into the flames of separatism as the Independents and the Alliance blame each other’s militias for the atrocities.<br/><br/>And a firefly class transport can be a shiny new ship.<br/><br/><br/>Content-wise, please be aware that there probably will be sex in the play, including some non-consent and BDSMy sex. It will<em>not</em>happen to your character against your will but it might happen in the general play. I’m not going to list acceptable and non-acceptable practices in detail. Let’s just say that you should be comfortable with witnessing ‘mainstream’ BDSM stuff. And if you like, you are welcome to participate.<br/><br/>Also, if there is any grief, please remember that most problems can be fixed by talking about them. I have an open ear for any player and I’m not above reprimanding another player who is overstepping his or her bounds. If there is a misunderstanding, it usually can be fixed with a simple private message or two.<br/><br/><br/>The play will be broken down into Firefly’s characteristic ‘missions’, with idle ‘flight time’ between. Expect more action and even dice-rolling while you are in port and freeform recreational play while in space.<br/><br/>Also, it should be no problem for a player to excuse him or herself at the end of a ‘mission’ or when arriving in port. They can just go off board or quietly assume their maintenance duties on board. Then, when you have time for roleplay again, your character can be reactivated as soon as the ship reaches the next port.<br/><br/>However, please don’t just drop out in the middle of the action. Stick around a bit and then make a graceful exit. This is a small community. People will remember you much fonder if you found a plausible in-story reason to quietly fade into the background.<br/><br/><br/><br/><strong>Because there will be a significant amount of conflict involved I was thinking of using a simple system to help us resolve combat and other conflicts. </strong><br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">A system for Firefly.</div><div class="spoiler_body">I will be using a system for this roleplay, but it won’t bother the players too much because it will take place ‘behind the scenes’. I will be using parts of Urbanzorro’s systemic freeform, but there will be a World of Darkness (Vampire, Mage, Werewolf) variant under the hood. If you are unused to system games, do not worry. I will help you with character creation and it will not bother you much afterwards.<br/><br/>Systemic Freeform<br/>Here's a breakdown of what I like to call my Systemic Freeform system. Which is a system I created for the purpose of finding a balance between freeform and system games. Within a systemic freeform game the only interaction the game's players will be required to have with the game’s system is during character creation. All other elements of the system such as determining the results of combat,  determining random events, etc will be handled behind the scenes by the GM and any assistant GMs. This approach gives the game the illusion/feel of being a freeform game for the players while offering the GM(s) the structure and decision making support of a system game. In short it is meant to be a compromise between free form and system games. Ideally taking the advantages of each option with few or none of their disadvantages. <br/><br/>Posts<br/>In order for the system to work posts which interact with the system (such as combat, or attempts to pick locks/sneak up on someone or otherwise perform an action with uncertain outcome) must be posted in a way to still allow the GM(s) to maintain control of events. This means the player’s posts should illustrate their character’s actions and the intent of their actions but not the results. For instance “My character shoots at the enemy and hits them in the head” does not work. Whereas “My character shoots at the enemy, and aims for their head” does. The GM will do the necessary rolls and then reveal the outcome of the action in his reply. This has several advantages. I can narrate events in a cinematic way instead of just giving you stats and numbers. And I can ‘condense’ the action. Combat or other complex actions like flying can go for many turns and this would slow down the roleplay to a crawl. By doing all the ‘background administration’ myself, I can do several turns at once and only stop and post once a significant event has occurred. <br/><br/>The system will be a world of darkness variant. If you are unfamiliar with it, the idea is that you get a number of dice (sometimes called a dice ‘pool’) for any given task depending on a relevant attribute combined with a skill. For example, to hit an enemy in combat, you would roll a number of dice equal to your dexterity attribute plus a number of dice equal to your melee skill. Normally, every die has a 50% success chance and you count the number of successes to determine how well you performed. Zero successes is a failure, 2 are a job well done and 5 are fantastic. Attributes can be 1-5 and Skills can be 0-5, so normally you will have anywhere between 1 and 10 dice at your disposal with an average of half that many successes. <br/></div></div><br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Character creation.</div><div class="spoiler_body"><br/>Think of a character concept. It is important that your character has a <em>motivation</em> to be part of the story. If the logical thing for your character would be to leave the ship in the next port, then he probably shouldn’t be on it in the first place. Of course not everyone has to be on board by choice. Maybe you are on the run, or you are indentured. But either way, there is a <em>compelling</em> reason for you to stay, so that’s fine. What I don’t want are characters who have to be forced into the story. Everyone should have a good reason and a motivation to be on the ship.<br/><br/>We would like to know some things about your character: Your sex, your age and your motivation for being on the ship are the most important ones. Then let us know some more details. Are you in favor of planet’s rights or do you believe in a strong alliance? What’s your stance on slavery? Do you have a family or other ties somewhere? <br/><br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Attributes</div><div class="spoiler_body">Attributes are usually rolled together with a skill, though sometimes they are used alone. In that case, the value of the attribute is doubled before rolling to give a similar number of dice compared to when a skill+attribute is used.<br/><br/>The attributes are:<br/><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Physical</strong></td><td><strong>Social</strong></td><td><strong>Mental</strong></td></tr><tr><td>Strength</td><td>Presence</td><td>Knowledge</td></tr><tr><td>Dexterity</td><td>Manipulation</td><td>Wits</td></tr><tr><td>Stamina</td><td>Composure</td><td>Perception</td></tr></tbody></table><br/><br/>Strength<br/>Brute force. Determines how much you can carry and how much damage you deal in close combat. Is rolled for feats of brute strength like breaking down doors. <br/><br/>Dexterity<br/>Agility, speed and precision. Determines how fast you can run. Is rolled for all attacks and for feats of athletics and stealth.<br/><br/>Stamina<br/>Toughness and endurance. Protects from damage. Is rolled to resist harsh environment and the like.<br/><br/>Presence<br/>Appearance, flair, tone of voice and general flashiness. Determines how people react to you. Is rolled for seduction, acting and leadership.<br/><br/>Manipulation<br/>Subterfuge, intrigue and general social manipulation. Is rolled for bartering, lying and sweet talk.  <br/><br/>Composure<br/>Common sense, loyalty and willpower. Used to resist flattery, bribes, seduction and other temptations that would lead you astray. <br/><br/>Knowledge<br/>Raw knowledge and studying. How many books you have read or how many tales you have listened to. Is used with skills that require you to reproduce studied or routine tasks and is rolled for remembering a person’s face or recalling random facts you might know.<br/><br/>Wits<br/>Quick thinking, creativity and ‘intelligence’. Determines who acts first in a surprise situation. Is rolled for feats where quick thinking is necessary or when you have to come up with an unorthodox solution to a problem.<br/><br/>Perception<br/>Is rolled to spot hidden objects or people or perform other feats of perception like appraising goods or counting an army.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><strong>You get 25 points of attributes to distribute. The minimum value for each attribute is 1 and no attribute may be raised higher than five. Raising an attribute over three is more expensive: Every point beyond three costs 2 points. </strong><br/><br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Attribute example</div><div class="spoiler_body">Joss, a grizzled frontiersman chooses a dexterity of 3 (3 points), a strength of 5 (7 Points) and a stamina of 4 (5 points). This leaves him with only 10 points for social and mental attributes. He goes with a presence of 2 (2 points), manipulation of 1 (1 point) and Composure of 2 (2 points). For mental attributes, he takes a knowledge of 1 (1 points), wits of 1 (1 point) and perception of 3 (3 points). <br/><br/>He is strong and tough, though not very bright or subtle.<br/></div></div></div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Skills</div><div class="spoiler_body">Skills are always used together with an appropriate attribute. No skill is linked to one particular attribute. For example, using a sword in combat would roll (dexterity+melee) while appraising the quality of one on the market would roll (perception+melee) and recognizing an heirloom fencing blade would roll (knowledge+melee). Obviously, some combinations are more common than others. Skills may also overlap sometimes. For example, the melee skill includes training to throw weapons, as does the throwing skill. If you have both, the better one is rolled. If you have both at 3 or better, the better one is rolled with a +1 ‘synergy’ bonus.<br/><br/><br/><strong>Combat skills</strong><br/><br/>Melee   <br/>The use and knowledge of all melee weapons. If you are attacked in close combat while you are armed with a melee weapon, you can use this skill to defend yourself. You can also throw melee weapons with this skill, provided the target is within ten yards. <br/><br/>Archery<br/>The use of low-tech ranged, muscle powered weapons like bows and crossbows. It also covers many rare and exotic weapons like blowguns and the like. <br/><br/>Throwing<br/>Throwing rocks, knives, spears, horseshoes or grenades.<br/><br/>Brawl<br/>Combat up close and personal, armed or unarmed. You can use fists, feet and small weapons like saps, knifes or the butt of your pistol with this skill. You can use this skill to defend yourself in melee, provided you are unarmed or only using a small weapon.<br/><br/>Dodge<br/>This skill allows you to dodge ranged attacks as well as some environmental dangers. It won’t work in close combat, but it can defend against bullets, arrows, grenades, falling boulders and similar hazards that you cannot defend against with melee or brawl.<br/><br/>Gunslinger<br/>Shooting and quick drawing handguns, revolvers, very short sawed-off shotguns and similar one-handed, pistol-like weapons is covered by this skill. <br/><br/>Rifles<br/>Basically covers all two-handed guns like rifles, sub-machineguns and shotguns.<br/><br/>Heavy weapons<br/>Mounted infantry weapons, spaceships weapons, rocket and grenade launchers are all used with this skill. Unlike handguns, these weapons tend to be illegal, even on the frontier. But a military vet may have picked up this skill in the service. <br/><br/><strong>Athletic skills</strong><br/><br/>Stealth<br/>Sneaking and hiding.<br/><br/>Athletics<br/>Running, jumping, swimming and climbing.<br/><br/>Alertness<br/>Reacting to danger. Rolled to avoid traps and spot hidden objects. Is also rolled by the victim in an ambush-situations and success allows him to dodge or defend himself on the first turn.<br/><br/>Survival<br/>Surviving in the wild. Hunting, setting traps, finding water and shelter. Also includes the handling of dogs and other hunting/tracking animals.<br/><br/>Riding<br/>Riding and handling horses and similar.<br/><br/>Driving<br/>Handling all kinds of ground vehicles, including hovers.<br/><br/><br/><strong>Social skills</strong><br/><br/>Empathy<br/>Guessing other people’s thoughts, reading their emotions and generally getting a feel for them. Also used for detecting lies.<br/><br/>Subterfuge<br/>Lying with a straight face and spinning falsehoods. Can also be used to detect lies.<br/><br/>Intimidation<br/>Threats, interrogation and torture. It’s use can be subtle or very open.<br/><br/>Socialize<br/>Hanging out <em>properly</em> is a skill. It helps you learn rumors and find jobs or trouble on an unfamiliar planet.<br/><br/>Seduction<br/>Inciting sexual arousal and need in your mark and generally performing well in bed.<br/><br/>Etiquette   <br/>The high-class equivalent to the ‘socialize’ skill. It entails knowing the proper titles of dignitaries, the place setting at a formal dinner, ballroom-style dances and anything else a person of class needs to know.<br/><br/><strong>Professional skills</strong><br/><br/>Every job has a professional skill associated to it like ‘mason’, ‘farmer’ or ‘accountant’ and they are too numerous to list. You might want to take one or two as part of your background, though. If there is a skill you would like to learn but it isn’t on the regular skill list, say ‘botany’ or ‘housekeeping’, then you can still learn it. Simply put it down and assign points to it as normal. Not all possible skills are listed, only the common ones. Usually, I will approve of such player generated skills unless they are too broad in scope. <br/><br/>Some professional skills are of special note and many characters might have a little training in them even if they have no formal training:<br/><br/>Medic<br/>Training in first aid and medicine. Many people in the Verse know a little first-aid to help the wounded until a real doctor arrives on the scene. <br/><br/>Merchant<br/>Bartering, finding rare goods and the best sellers, knowledge of trade houses and important merchants.<br/><br/>Pilot<br/>Let’s you pilot anything from a small shuttle to a big space cruiser. Also includes some basic knowledge of ships and their inner workings as well as the ability to identify ship types and knowing their performance characteristics.<br/><br/>Mechanic<br/>Fixing big machines like cars, engines, hovers and spaceships.<br/><br/>Hacking<br/>Anyone in the Verse has some basic computer-knowledge. But this skill takes it further. It is the art of subverting computer security.<br/><br/>Petty crime<br/>This is a catchall skill for what a kid growing up on the streets might pick up. It is also taught in ‘special operations’ schools. It includes pickpocketing, sleight of hand, picking locks, escaping handcuffs, disabling alarms and similar criminal activity.<br/><br/><br/><br/><strong>Special skills</strong><br/><br/>Special skills are rarely rolled as such. But they give you a bonus or alleviate a penalty you might otherwise incur. <br/><br/>Pain-Tolerance<br/>Toughness, bravery and determination are the mark of a good soldier. Every point in this skill reduces the wound penalty by one, allowing you to fight to the bitter end at full effectiveness. Five points make you a big damn hero…or a reaver.<br/><br/>Spacer<br/>You have ‘space legs’. You know the dangers of decompression, how to operate a space-suit, have an instinctive feel for the layout of an unfamiliar ship and know some basic fixes and workarounds for minor mechanical trouble on board a ship. Also, you never get space-sick and you can work in zero-g without penalties. Every point in this skill reduces the penalty for working in zero-g by one.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><strong>You get 25 points to distribute on skills, like you did for attributes. Skills can be as low as 0, though and skills over 3 cost double.</strong><br/><br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Skill example</div><div class="spoiler_body">As a frontiersman, Joss will invest heavily into survival and combat skills. He goes with survival of 5 (7 points), brawl of 2 (2 points), gunslinger of 3 (3 points) and dodge of 3 (3 points). That’s 15 points already. Subtlety is not his forte, so he skips stealth altogether but he invests 2 points in athletics. Alertness and riding are both important on the frontier, so he gives them 2 points each as well. His only social skill is intimidation at 2. With his final two points, he takes 2 points in pain tolerance, which will allow him to fight without penalties even when wounded.<br/><br/>Joss is a survivor par excellence, but not much use outside of his backwater moon. He is a blunt tool, to say the least, and probably not the best player character. Not all challenges can be solved by violence, after all.<br/></div></div></div></div></div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">System details</div><div class="spoiler_body">All rolls are made with a number of (skill + appropriate attribute) of D10s. Every 6 or higher is a success. Every 1 reduces your successes by one. The number of success determines your level of success. Usually, one success is enough to accomplish your task but sometimes you need more. If you roll more 1’s than successes, the action is ‘botched’ and fails spectacularly in some way. Obviously, this also reduces the average number of successes you get to a bit less than one half your dice pool. <br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Advancement</div><div class="spoiler_body">People get better over time. You can improve your attributes and skills by spending experience points. The cost to raise a stat by one point is: (New level) for a skill and (New level x 3) for an attribute. You cannot raise a skill or attribute above 5 and you cannot ‘skip’ a level. <br/><br/>Experience points are earned during play. Everyone who participated actively in a mission will be awarded a couple of points automatically simply for surviving. Also, I will be awarding extra for players who actively engage in the story and thus enrich the roleplay. <br/><br/>As a rule of thumb, expect around 5 points at the end of a ‘mission’ (depending on difficulty and danger) and 1 bonus point for every post that I consider extraordinarily well written.  <br/><br/>You can spend experience points when they are awarded or save them up for later. However, you can’t spend them in the middle of the action. You either have to have a quiet moment or be in an active learning environment.  <br/><br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Advancement example</div><div class="spoiler_body">Joss realizes that he is getting cheated on the market all the time, due to his low mental attributes and nonexistent merchant skill. So he decides to invest some experience points to raise his knowledge from 1 to 2 and his merchant skill from 0 to 3.<br/><br/>Knowledge is straightforward: the new level is 2, so he pays 2x3= 6 experience points.<br/><br/>The merchant skill, however, is raised several levels at once. He must pay for every step independently. Raising it from 0 to 1 costs 1 experience point. From 1 to 2 another 2. And finally from 2 to 3 costs 3 points. So altogether, he pays another 6 experience points for raising his merchant skill from 0 to 3. <br/></div></div></div></div><br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Combat details</div><div class="spoiler_body">The attacker rolls (dexterity+combat skill) to hit the target. This can be modified by range, visibility or other adverse conditions. If at least one success is scored and the defender is aware of the attack, he may try to avoid it. The defender rolls (dexterity+defensive skill) and any of his successes reduces the attacker’s successes by one. The defender may opt to drop to the ground, duck behind cover or retreat (in close combat) for one extra success, provided he isn’t already down.<br/><br/>If any attacker successes are left over, the target is hit. Guns deal damage according to their type and ammunition. Fists and muscle powered weapons deal damage based on the wielder’s strength. Subtract the target’s armor from the damage. If any remains, the target is wounded. The location depends on the number of leftover successes the attacker scored.<br/><br/>1 success is a glancing hit. Half damage is inflicted.<br/>2 successes is a hit to a random limb. Full damage is inflicted, but discard any damage in excess of 10.<br/>3 successes is a hit to the body. Full damage is inflicted.<br/>4 successes is a hit to the vitals. Triple damage is inflicted.<br/>5 successes or more is a hit to the head. Ten times the damage is inflicted. Also, most armor available on the frontier is weaker on the head, if it is armored at all.<br/><br/>The human body is tough. You can take up to (Stamina x20) points in injuries before you die. However, getting shot or stabbed is serious business. Every full 10 points of damage you take reduce the number of dice you get to roll for ALL your rolls by 1. <br/><br/>Also, a SINGLE attack inflicting more than 20 points of damage will need immediate medical treatment or you will take further damage due to internal bleeding.<br/><br/>Some weapons (fists, sap, sonic blaster, taser) are classified as non-lethal. The damage they inflict is only temporary and lasts only for a day or two. Except for bleeding, all other rules for injuries apply, though and taking combined lethal and nonlethal damage over (Stamina x 20) will knock a fighter unconscious.<br/><br/>Restraining weapons (bola, net, glue-gun) and similarly inflict ‘phantom’ injuries by hampering their foes. These work like injuries, however armor does not protect (though shields do) and the pain tolerance skill cannot nullify the penalties incurred through them. ‘Healing’ this damage however is quickly accomplished by cutting away the restraining weapon. This takes a roll on (brawl or melee+dex) if you have a cutting implement in your hand and every success reduces the ‘damage’ by 10. If you have not, you can try to wiggle free or otherwise remove them with a roll on (petty crime+dex) but each success removes only 5 points of ‘damage’. Note that the victim herself incurs ‘wound’ penalties as normal and this will eventually render any escape attempt impossible. Bystanders can help by attempting the same rolls without penalties. <br/></div></div><br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Combat example</div><div class="spoiler_body">Joss gets ambushed by a claim-jumper. <br/><br/>The outlaw shoots with a pistol, rolling 5 dice (dex3+gunslinger2) and scores 2 successes. Joss is surprised and thus cannot dodge the attack. He is hit in the arm. The attacker’s heavy pistol deals 15 points of damage, but the hit is on a limb so Joss only takes 10 points of injury as the bullet blows clean through. Joss has a stamina of 4, so he can take up to 80 points of damage and is in no immediate danger of dying. He is wounded, however and would have to reduce all his dice pools by one but his pain tolerance lets him ignore up to a 2-dice wound penalty.  <br/><br/>Of course, he whips out his own pistol and shoots right back! <br/><br/>Joss has gunslinger 3 and a dexterity of 3, so he rolls 6 dice for his counterattack, scoring 3 successes. The outlaw is aware of the attack and so has a chance to dodge, rolling dexterity+dodge  for 2 successes. Joss is left with one success which is just a glancing hit, inflicting half damage. <br/><br/></div></div></div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Equipment guidelines</div><div class="spoiler_body">Generally speaking, gear should not be the focus of the game. This is about tough, skilled characters making a life out there on the frontier, not about high-tech tools and robots stealing the show. It may not be entirely realistic but in the Verse, your skills are far more important than you equipment. A rustbucket with an ace pilot can outfly a military fighter and a gutsy gunslinger can best a soldier wearing alliance battle armor and an assault rifle!<br/>Therefore, keep your list of possessions short. They are more an extension of your personality, like your favorite gun or your childhood cuddle toy.<br/><br/>For most jobs, average equipment available on the frontier is required to make a roll without bonuses or penalties. Core-type equipment will add a dice or two and bad or no equipment at all may subtract up to two dice.<br/><br/>As a guideline, pistols deal around 10 points of damage per shot, more if they are larger or high-tech. A blow with your fist does (Strength) damage. A melee weapon will do (Strength+X), where X depends on the size and type of the weapon (1 for something very small and improvised, 6 for a sword). <br/><br/>Core-tech can be significantly better but many items are either restricted or prohibitively expensive. More importantly, it is usually hard to impossible to service such technology on the fringe of the system. Without regular maintenance by trained specialists with high-tech tools, such fancy toys tend to break down. <br/><br/>Pick what you like, as long as it is not too big or too valuable. However, I am the final arbiter on what gear you can have and what its performance will be.<br/></div></div>