27 Oct 2014

Test Drive - Firefly - Frankie Jones

Bit of a cheat here.  I've already created a character - Tanya - using the Firefly RPG.  This time around, I want to try creating a character that comes out of the setting instead of being one imposed upon it.  Best way to do that is to create a veteran of the Unification War.  Presenting Francesca "Frankie" Jones, former Browncoat gunship pilot.  She was a hotshot during the war, but lost her nerve somewhere along the way.
Name: Francesca "Frankie" Jones
Background: Hot shot pilot turned cold
Next step in character creation is setting the attributes.  The three stats start at a d8 each, but one can be raised if another is lowered.  Frankie will leave the attributes as they are.

Attributes:
Mental: d8        Physical: d8        Social: d8
With the attributes set, now comes the Distinctions.  Distinctions reflect the character, either in what they do, who they are, or where they come from.  I've already mentioned that Frankie is a pilot, so the Ship's Pilot distinction is ideal.  To reflect Frankie's lost cool, I'll add A Little Nervous.  That leaves one more to find.  Two possibilities exist, Decorated and Shadows of the War.  Decorated means that Frankie was given a medal, and has a distinction trigger that gives her a Guilt complication.  Shadows of the War is written with the idea of being a guerilla fighter, but does have the Nightmares trigger.  Both triggers work for Frankie, but Decorated suits her a little better.  Frankie was a hotshot, but she was effective and was awarded at least one medal by the Browncoat brass.

Speaking of Distinction Triggers . . ..  Along with the standard "Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a d4 instead of a d8," that every Distinction gets, Frankie gets two more.  She'll take Born Behind the Wheel for Ship's Pilot.  Just because Frankie has lost her nerve doesn't mean she's lost her skills.  Even if she has become rusty, she flew fighters.  A transport isn't as reactive as a fighter; Frankie would lose the edge with a vessel that wallows.  The other trigger she takes is Guilt for Decorated.  There's a story why Frankie lost her nerve, but she isn't ready to talk about it.
Distinctions:
 Ship's Pilot: d8
   Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a d4 instead of a d8
   Born Behind the Wheel: Spend 1PP to step up or double Engines for next roll.

 A Little Nervous: d8
   Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a d4 instead of a d8

 Decorated: d8
   Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a d4 instead of a d8
   Guilt: Create a Guilt d8 Complication when details of the event come back to haunt.  Gain 1 PP.
Whatever Frankie did still haunts her.  She might not want to talk about it, but some details are needed so that she can feel guilty.  Fighter pilots are usually on the front lines.  Key to any ground action is a supply chain.  Combining the two, Frankie was ordered to disrupt an Alliance supply convoy which had escorts.  After destroying several transports and one escort - hence, medal - she spied another ship with an escort.  Turned out, the ship wasn't carrying cargo, but refugees.  Command exonerated her, but the mistake still weighs heavily on Frankie.

Skills are initially based on Distinctions.  Each one has three skills associated with it.  Ship's Pilot has Fly, naturally, Notice, Operate.  A Little Nervous provides Focus, Know, and Survive.  Decorated adds Fight, Influence, and Shoot.  Alas, none of the Distinctions had any skill in common.  All the aforementioned skills get bumped to d6, though.  Frankie can shoot a pistol if she needs to.  She just prefers not to, not anymore.  After the initial stepping up, Frankie gets nine points to use to improve skills.  Skills from Distinctions cost one point to improve, others cost two.  First skill to be raised is Fly; Frankie is a pilot.  She spends two points to raise the skill to d10.  Next skill is Operate, raised to a d8 for one point.  Frankie spends a point each on Focus and Notice, stepping both up to d8.  With the remaining four points, she steps up Drive and Fix each to d6.

Frankie now has five more points to spend, this time on skill specialties and on Signature Assets.  She gets a free specialty for Know because she has it at a d6; Frankie takes Ship Specifications.  One point gets spent to add the Ship's Weapons specialty to Shoot.  Frankie has let her skills grow rusty.  Frankie takes Sensors as a specialty for Operate for a second point.  She spends two more points on a Signature Asset, one point to create and one point to step it up to a d8.  The Asset is defined as the Browncoat Distinguished Flying, as I completely make up the award.  It's the medal she received for disrupting the convoy.  Frankie keeps the medal as a reminder of her mistake.  That leaves one last point.  Frankie uses it to get a specialty for Fly - Gunships.  She may never use it, but it fits the character.
Skills:
 Craft        d4
 Drive        d6
 Fight        d6
 Fix        d6
 Fly        d10 (Gunships)
 Focus        d8
 Influence    d6
 Know        d6 (Ship Specifications)
 Labour        d4
 Move        d4
 Notice        d8
 Operate    d8 (Sensors)
 Perform    d4
 Shoot        d6 (Ship's Weapons)
 Sneak        d4
 Survive        d6
 Throw        d4
 Treat        d4
 Trick        d4

Signature Assets:
 Browncoat Distinguished Flying Star: d8
Thus, Frankie.  The full sheet is below.  Frankie is very much a veteran who is now either looking for work on a transport or is working on one, avoiding key battlefields and just trying to keep from being noticed.  I may have use for her in the future, but she's available if anyone wants to give her a shot.  Let me know how it works out.

Name: Francesca "Frankie" Jones
Background: Hot shot pilot turned cold

Attributes:
Mental: d8        Physical: d8        Social: d8

Skills:
 Craft        d4
 Drive        d6
 Fight        d6
 Fix        d6
 Fly        d10 (Gunships)
 Focus        d8
 Influence    d6
 Know        d6 (Ship Specifications)
 Labour        d4
 Move        d4
 Notice        d8
 Operate    d8 (Sensors)
 Perform    d4
 Shoot        d6 (Ship's Weapons)
 Sneak        d4
 Survive        d6
 Throw        d4
 Treat        d4
 Trick        d4

Distinctions:
 Ship's Pilot: d8
   Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a d4 instead of a d8
   Born Behind the Wheel: Spend 1PP to step up or double Engines for next roll.

 A Little Nervous: d8
   Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a d4 instead of a d8

 Decorated: d8
   Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a d4 instead of a d8
   Guilt: Create a Guilt d8 Complication when details of the event come back to haunt.  Gain 1 PP.

Signature Assets:
 Browncoat Distinguished Flying Star: d8

No comments:

Post a Comment