Yo-ho-ho and a Bottle of Rum!

[Kevin Scrivner]

Name: Long John Silver Cyborg

 

Val Char Cost

15* STR 5

15 DEX 15

15 CON 10

15 BODY 10

18 INT 8

15 EGO 10

25 PRE 15

10 COM

8 PD 5

8 ED 5

3 SPD 5

6 REC

30 END

31 STUN

 

*25 STR with Cyborg Arm

 

Characteristic Rolls: STR: 12-/14-, DEX: 12-, CON: 12-, INT: 13-, EGO: 12-, PER: 13-

Run: 6", Swim: 0", Jump: 3", Lift: 800 kg

 

Cost Powers END/Roll

 

30 "Cyborg Weapons," Multipower

3 u - "Bulkhead-Buster Missile," RKA 3D6, +1/2 adv AP, +1/2 adv Explosion, -2 limit 1 Charge

3 u - "Switchblade Cutlass," 2D6 HKA (3D6 with STR), 3 END

3 u - "Holdout Pistol," RKA 2D6 Energy, +1/2 adv AP, +1/4 adv 32 Charges, -1 limit OAF Laser Pistol

3 u - "Shield," +6 DCV vs. All Attacks

20 "Cyborg Arm," +10 STR, +1/2 adv 0 END, -1/2 limit Only With Mechanical Arm, plus Stretching 2", +1/2 0END, -1/4 limit Arm Only, -1/4 limit No Non-Combat Stretching

"Cyborg Eye"

10 +2 Levels With All Ranged Combat

6 +4 Telescopic Vision

5 UV Vision

3 Talent: Absolute Range Sense

 

Cost Skills, Talents, Perks Roll

 

3 Acting 14-

2 AK: Space Lanes 11-

3 Conversation 14-

3 Combat Piloting 12- (Sci Fi and Space Vehicles)

3 Climbing 12-

3 Interrogation 14-

2 KS: Pirate Community 11-

3 Oratory 14-

3 Persuasion 14-

3 PS: Cook 13- (INT-based)

3 PS: Pirate 13- (INT-based)

3 Sleight of Hand 12-

3 Streetwise 14-

3 Survival 13- (Space)

3 Systems Operation 13-

3 Tactics 13-

2 TF: Science Fiction and Space Vehicles

2 WF: Common Melee Weapons

2 WF: Energy Weapons

1 WF: Shipboard Weapons

6 +2 Levels with Cutlass

4 Talent: Zero-G Training

 

100+ Disadvantages

 

20 Normal Characteristics Maximums

5 Age 40+

20 Psychological Limitation: Greedy, very common, strong

15 Psychological Limitation: Ruthless, commong, strong

15 Distinctive Features: Cyborg, Spacer, not concealable

15 Physical Limitation: Bulky Cybernetic Implants (800 kg mass, can't swim), All the Time, Slightly

10 Social Limitation 8-: Former Pirate, severe consequences if discovered, not limiting among spaceport underworld culture

10 Extreme Reputation 11-: Captain Flint's First Mate, known only to spaceport scum

10 Watched 11-: Spacer Underworld, more powerful

10 Watched 11-: Spaceport Authority, more powerful

5 Unluck 1D6

 

OCV: 5 (7 with Cutlass, Ranged Combat); DCV: 5 (11 with Shield); ECV: 5; Mental Def.: 0; Phases: 4, 8, 12

PD/rPD: 8/0 ; ED/rED: 8/0

 

Costs: Char.: 88 Disad.: 135

Powers: + 149 Base: + 100

Exp.: + 2

Total: = 237 Total: = 237

 

Source: "Treasure Planet," Walt Disney Productions, 2003

 

Background:

 

Disney's "Treasure Planet" is arguably a crime against literature. The movie's high-tech update of Long John Silver, however, presents interesting role-playing possibilities. Like his 18th-century Earth counterpart, the futuristic Silver is the crippled former first mate of the notorious pirate Captain Flint. He was content to run a disreputable dockside tavern on the planet Montressor until he learned that Flint's lost treasure may yet be recovered. Now he'll do anything to get a crack at it and will gleefully dispatch anyone who stands in his way.

 

Silver is a born leader, able to motivate at crew by fear, flattery, or personal heroism, depending on the needs of the moment. He's a smooth talker talented at inventing plausible lies on the spot or persuading people who should know better to trust him. Although perfectly willing to employ violence and murder when necessary, Silver prefers to gain his objectives by stealth and cunning. It saves effort in the long run, he believes. Always out for No. 1, Silver will abandon or betray his confederates or even attempt to ingratiate himself with player-characters if events turn against him.

 

Powers and Abilities:

 

Long John Silver is a semi-retired space pirate with the appropriate combat and vehicle skills. His greatest skills are with his flattering, lying tongue. It has kept him out of prison or worse while simultaneously persuading the spaceport underworld that he's still one of them. Note that he lacks Navigation skill; he'll tend to keep player-characters alive as long as one of them can guide him home from his latest outrage.

 

Silver's unusual abilities derive from his cyborg implants. His arm encases what must be the galaxy's most sophisticated food processing system as well as a cutlass blade, an explosive charge useful for breeching merchant cargo holds, and a concealed laser pistol that bears an uncanny resemblance to an ancient flintlock weapon. He can also use the arm's bulk to ward off ranged and hand-to-hand attacks. The arm has robotic if not superhuman strength and can be extended up to 12 feet away (an ability he uses sparingly since it tends to throw him off balance). The electronic eye functions as a low-light targeting scope and grants him extra accuracy with ranged weapons.

 

Disadvantages:

 

Were his former career to be known, Silver could easily face imprisonment or execution. His criminal exploits put in good with his low-life comrades, however, although they keep a wary eye on him in case he should attempt to recover Flint's treasure without them. Finding "the loot of a thousand worlds" is Silver's primary motivation; he'll cheerfully sacrifice his pals to get one step closer to the treasure, all the while persuading them that he's their best buddy and sole means of evading the law. While useful, his cyborg limbs weigh him down mightily. He would be hard for one or even two companions to carry should he become incapacitated, and he'd sink like a rock if he ever encountered a terrestrial sea.

 

Height: cm ( 6' 5"), Weight: 800 kg ( lbs), Sex: Male, Race: Human Cyborg

 

Appearance:

 

John Silver is a large, obese, middle-aged man who lost limbs and sensory organs on his right side during his pirating days. These were replaced by cybernetic implants. His mechanical leg and ear are largely concealed by the bandanas and baggy 18th-century style pantaloons he routinely wears. His electronic eye, however, glares eerily from his face, and his cyborg arm is a bulky monstrosity that reaches almost to his calves. When not sweating in the galley of his spaceport tavern, Silver wears a long black greatcoat over his blouse and pantaloons and a tricorner hat atop the bandana. His choice of clothing and salty-dog language should scream "Pirate!" to anyone familiar with Robert Louis Stevenson's classic "Treasure Island" or even with old adventure movies. Unfortunately, movies are obsolete in Silver's futuristic environment and the space-age Jim Hawkins is a delinquent teen failing high school, so he probably never read the book.

 

The Legacy and Crew:

 

Silver's starship is a soft-science vehicle guaranteed to drive Terran Empire engineers crazy. A Montressor-built merchant vessel with a single laser battery, Legacy resembles a levitating 18th-century sailing ship with thrusters where the rudder should be. It requires a crew to furl and unfurl the sails but these are energy sponges that absorb sunlight to power the ship's engines. Artificial gravity keeps the crew safe on deck but the ship apparently lacks inertial dampeners; G-forces generated by launch can toss crewmen overboard. To avoid this, crewmen often work at the end of long tethers fastened to the deck. Legacy's systems presumably include life support, although in John Silver's universe space may consist of breathable "ether."

 

Legacy is manned by eight to ten of Captain Flint's former shipmates. These are a collection of B-movie space aliens ranging from a dimunitive squid-like helmsman to a spider-like quartermaster to an eight-foot master gunner who is all teeth and claws.

====

Hero System write-up by Kevin Scrivner

[Kevin Scrivner]

Oops!

 

Forgot to mention that Legacy has a 12-foot unarmed jolly boat stowed on the underside of the bow. It's a miniature version of the main ship with a single solar sail.

[Aroooo]

First, I'm going to steal this

 

Second, I'll have to post my (in progress) write-up of the Legacy soon.

 

Third, the legacy has 2 jolly boats.

 

Fourth, accourding to some of the Treasure Planet forum based RPG's out there, the etherium is breathable.

 

Aroooo

[Monolith]

Having just returned from Disney World myself, I am definately going to have to steal this too. Thanks!

[Kevin Scrivner]

Avast! That's why I posted 'im, by thunder.

 

I thought about trying to write up Silver's pet, Morph, but it hurt my brain. We're talking about a parakeet-sized blob with the ultimate in shape shifting ability.

 

I would like to see a write-up of the Legacy. Based on the dimensions of ships in the old ICE "Pirates!" supplement, the hull would be somewhere between 60 and 80 feet long, 25 to 40 feet wide, and up to 10 feet deep. Depending on size, sailing ships could be managed by crews as small as 6 or be packed with as many as 300 bloodthirsty pirates. Since Legacy is a fantasy ship you could fudge quite a bit but I thought this might give you a place to start.

 

I think it would be a hoot to have Terran Empire or Trek HERO adventurers overhauled by Silver and crew. Sheer disbelief would probably enable the pirates to board them.

[BobGreenwade]

By interesting coincidence, I just watched Treasure Planet on DVD this past weekend.

 

Overall this looks good. I don't recall the "cannot swim" problem ever being mentioned in the film, though; is this just extrapolation?

[Kevin Scrivner]

Originally posted by BobGreenwade

By interesting coincidence, I just watched Treasure Planet on DVD this past weekend.

 

Overall this looks good. I don't recall the "cannot swim" problem ever being mentioned in the film, though; is this just extrapolation?

 

Yep. He needed the disadvantage points and John Silver's cyborg limbs are big and mechanical enough that I figured they'd be pretty heavy, especially if the servo-motors weren't working for some reason. If the power went out, Silver might be stuck having the haul around a motorcycle's worth of weight with his two biological limbs. If he were injured or knocked unconscious, his comrades would be have to carry the robotics plus Silver's 280-300 pounds of biological weight. Since he sails the stars rather than the seas, John Silver isn't likely to drown. However, he'd sink like a heavy safe in water or mud if he encountered them dirtside.

 

Sound plausible?

[BobGreenwade]

You might consider the -1/4 level of the Restrainable Limitation instead. A simple Heavy Physical Limitation (plus, I think, selling off both basic inches of Swimming in exchange for an inch of Knockback Resistance) would work out the mass problem.

[Kevin Scrivner]

Originally posted by Aroooo

I'll have to post my (in progress) write-up of the Legacy soon.

 

Aroooo

 

I'm still looking forward to that write-up.

[Hermit]

Darn curious, but...

 

Interesting to find this thread. See, I have a group of players who is reluctant to give Sci fi RPG a chance, but the one who is most reluctant loves Pirates. It occured to me, if I ran a TE game with the PCs essentially playing the part of interersteller pirates (obviously, we'd skip the buckles on the shoes and hats ) she might go for it.

 

If anyone has some experience running Sci Fi piracy games, I'd be happy to hear how it worked out.

[Xandarr]

Re: Yo-ho-ho and a Bottle of Rum!

 

Originally posted by Kevin Scrivner

Name: Long John Silver Cyborg

30 "Cyborg Weapons," Multipower

3 u - "Bulkhead-Buster Missile," RKA 3D6, +1/2 adv AP, +1/2 adv Explosion, -2 limit 1 Charge

3 u - "Switchblade Cutlass," 2D6 HKA (3D6 with STR), 3 END

3 u - "Holdout Pistol," RKA 2D6 Energy, +1/2 adv AP, +1/4 adv 32 Charges, -1 limit OAF Laser Pistol

3 u - "Shield," +6 DCV vs. All Attacks

 

I hate to be the fly in the ointment, but your multipower is built incorrectly. The maximum power in any of the slots can only be 30 points. As written, you have all the REAL costs at 30. I used to do this too when I first learned the game. You'll have to bump up the points on the pool to make this legal. The missile by itself is 90 active points, which is going to cost you at least 60 more points on the character. You might shave a few ponits by putting a -1/2 limitation (requires obvious focus) on the pool, bringing it down to 60 real.

 

Also, this character won't be able to use his shield and sword at the same time in it's current incarnation unless you raise the pool to at least 60 points. Putting DCV skill levels is also a no-no unless you have GM approval.

 

Just picking nits,

Steve

[Kevin Scrivner]

Gasp! Long John Silver CHEATED! I'm not entirely surprised. The scurvy knave!

 

The inability to use his arm as a shield and wield his cutlass simultaneously was intentional. Didn't want to make him invincible. He'd be an almost supervillain battling Star HERO normals, after all. And since he's an NPC he has the GM's approval to use the DCV levels. Heh, being the villain means never having to say you're sorry.

[Kevin Scrivner]

Re: Darn curious, but...

 

Originally posted by Hermit

Interesting to find this thread. See, I have a group of players who is reluctant to give Sci fi RPG a chance, but the one who is most reluctant loves Pirates. It occured to me, if I ran a TE game with the PCs essentially playing the part of interersteller pirates (obviously, we'd skip the buckles on the shoes and hats ) she might go for it.

 

If anyone has some experience running Sci Fi piracy games, I'd be happy to hear how it worked out.

 

If you can locate some classic Traveller materials, that game had scads of material on space piracy. In latter editions, piracy was one of the starting professions, and the Journal of the Traveller's Aid Society (later Challenge magazine) was packed with scenarios and suggestions.

 

Basically, piracy in space follows the same principles as piracy in the Carribean. You have to have cargo worth stealing, loose enough law enforcement and communication that the pirates can get away with their raids a good percentage of the time, and a place to sell the loot at a profit. Pirates require safe ports where they can recover, repair their vessels, recruit new rovers, and fence the goods. A region of space where the borders are in dispute and you have several factions vying for power without the strength to made good their claims is ideal. The space trade route(s) passes through this area -- there's fuel, its the shortest route, the only jump point is nearby -- there are inhabited worlds to steal from and sell to, and there are uninhabited worlds to hide in or bury treasure at. If your PCs have letters of marque from one of the factions involved, justifying their depradations with patriotism, so much the better. Maybe one faction really is worse than the others, and the PCs' raids are actually helping to promote freedom and order for the galaxy (the Captain Blood model). Or they could just be greedy rascals (the Long John Silver model). Or your PCs could be honest merchants and/or explorers who run afoul of a band of cutthroats. There are several ways to tackle this.

 

I think it was Ben Bova who wrote the novel "Privateer" -- a hard science look at space piracy in lunar orbit. Personally, I think the space opera approach is more fun but it can work both ways.

[Hermit]

Thanks, Kevin.