Help me populate a dying space colony

[The Weapon]

Re: Help me populate a dying space colony

 

Alvin Chin, guide and wannabe bodyguard/mercenary.

 

Alvin is 12 years old, thoughly streetwise and an excellent guide for strangers in Omicron. If you want wine, women, song or just not to get cheated or robbed, he's your guy when you're new. Ask anyone. He makes a good living helping out spacers would don't want to walk down the wrong corridor and supports his mother and younger sister.

 

But what he really wants to be is a hardcore mercenary, a lethal bodyguard whose clients always survive, a cold-eyed killer. He has some skills in that direction, but he is still a 12 year old boy, with the strength, coordination, maturity and experience of one. If there was a war against other 12 year old boys he'd certainly be worth hiring since he's formidable for his age. He is willing to hire on to any enterprise as a merc, bodyguard or other hardcore gunslinger, which will probably get him killed the first time someone takes him up on it. Trying to dissaude him only makes him angry, he resents being weaker than the violent thugs that plague the station and wishes he was someone they feared. Other than that he's fairly rational, intelligent and experience in life on the station.

[Lawnmower Boy]

Re: Help me populate a dying space colony

 

Oh. Wasn't looking to see you again. Go see the Sons, like I said?

Hunh. Nah, you don't wanna do that. The barkeep likes me. Yeah, hard to believe. Also, my tab's kinda big. You don't believe that? Trust me, not everyone will drink the "applejack" he tries to sell in time to stop it turning. I seen folk who'll drink coolant turn it down. So, yeah, I pay for it on tab. And he don't want to eat my tab when I eat your lead. Capice?

 

That's better. How'd it go? Wow. That is quite the dog bite. See it's healing up good. Who'd you go see? Doc Maverick, hunh. I'll bet you got some questions. Smart people always do. Around here, people learn not to be smart after a while. But maybe you're not planning to stay that long.

 

Heh. Life's what happens when you've got other plans, they say. So, yeah, the name isn't real. I remember some spacer went to him for edema, Doc introduced himself as "Doctor Brett Maverick," and the spacer just said, "really?" And the Doc just stared. Spacer passed away that night.

 

No. That's why you've got to learn not to be smart if you're around here too long. We ain't got more than two-three doctors, and the Doc is the only one that actually helps. If you've got the money. If you haven't crossed him. Otherwise....

 

Oh, calm down. Honest. If he croaked everyone who came to him with a shifty story... And like I said, he's good. Way too good to be on this craphole. So I think most people figure that part of his deal is access to disposable people. If you've got money, you ain't disposable. If you are disposable... maybe the Doc can do something for you that doesn't involve dropping the sunside hatch. There's work on the docks, if you're young and pretty. Or maybe I should say that there's better work on the docks if you're young and pretty.

 

And the Doc, they say, can make you young and pretty. For a while. After that? Heh. Why should I know? You could always go ask the Sons of Gideon.

 

Barkeep! Barkeep! He's trying to kill me!

[Steve]

Re: Help me populate a dying space colony

 

Grace has a companion named Jun, a muscular young man a few years younger than her and maybe about an inch or two shorter than her who looks to be of Japanese or Korean descent. The two have a relationship that seems to be part mentor-student and part something more intimate. His fighting style of boxing is very similar to hers, and the two of them can sometimes be seen sparring together in deserted warehouse areas.

[Markdoc]

Re: Help me populate a dying space colony

 

Rainsford Zaroff made his fortune in media and since then has sampled pretty much all the delights the worlds have to offer: and he's bored with them all. His heavily modified body shows no signs of seven decades of heavily-indulged debauchery. It's also been modified to allow him to pursue the one hobby that still thrills him - hunting. Most of all, hunting the one thing that still offers him a challenge - desperate, armed humans. Omicron Eridani provides him plenty of raw material. He selects a victim, observes them and when he's ready, sends them them a message - and if necessary, to get them moving, a non-lethal warning (beartrap in the bathroom, severed head of a loved one in the fridge, that sort of thing). After that, the chase is on.

 

Zaroff talks a great deal about "sporting chances" but doesn't like to take too many himself: he gives himself all the advantages that he can, in terms of equipment. In the end, though, the hunt has to be his, and he wants it to be thrilling - he doesn't employ assassins and he doesn't select victims who are too weak to actually make a fight (or a flight) of it. He's a sadist, but not in the usual sense. He kills without physical torture, but to really generate the thrill of the chase, his victim has to pose a challenge, so he will often toy with them a little at first, so that the "game" does not end too soon. He's also not a coward: several times, victims have almost turned the tables, but he's never backed away from a hunt - to do so would rob the whole game of any point. That can happen because he likes to confront his victims at the end: there's no challenge and little fun to blowing someone's brains out with a rifle from a couple of klicks away, when they don't even know that they are in danger.

 

In personality, he's totally amoral, and often less than good company: he's good looking, well traveled, cultured, and something of an epicure, but totally self-obsessed. As long as you like to discuss his favourite topic - himself and his success, he can be charming. Otherwise, he soon loses interest and becomes sarcastic or even rude. He can be led into rants about the rule of the strong, darwinian selection and the rights of the ubermensch, which might suggest a less than balanced mind under the facade.

 

The obvious use for Zaroff is as a hidden, dangerous adversary, either targeting a PC (his pre-hunt intel would have had to badly wrong somehow for that to work against most PCs, though) or when an NPC turns to them for help. Alternatively, less squeamish PCs might learn his secret - hearing him taunt a victim before the finish of a hunt, for example - and decide to try and turn him onto one of their enemies.

 

cheers, Mark

[Badger]

Re: Help me populate a dying space colony

 

Rainsford Zaroff made his fortune in media and since then has sampled pretty much all the delights the worlds have to offer: and he's bored with them all. His heavily modified body shows no signs of seven decades of heavily-indulged debauchery. It's also been modified to allow him to pursue the one hobby that still thrills him - hunting. Most of all, hunting the one thing that still offers him a challenge - desperate, armed humans. Omicron Eridani provides him plenty of raw material. He selects a victim, observes them and when he's ready, sends them them a message - and if necessary, to get them moving, a non-lethal warning (beartrap in the bathroom, severed head of a loved one in the fridge, that sort of thing). After that, the chase is on.

 

Zaroff talks a great deal about "sporting chances" but doesn't like to take too many himself: he gives himself all the advantages that he can, in terms of equipment. In the end, though, the hunt has to be his, and he wants it to be thrilling - he doesn't employ assassins and he doesn't select victims who are too weak to actually make a fight (or a flight) of it. He's a sadist, but not in the usual sense. He kills without physical torture, but to really generate the thrill of the chase, his victim has to pose a challenge, so he will often toy with them a little at first, so that the "game" does not end too soon. He's also not a coward: several times, victims have almost turned the tables, but he's never backed away from a hunt - to do so would rob the whole game of any point. That can happen because he likes to confront his victims at the end: there's no challenge and little fun to blowing someone's brains out with a rifle from a couple of klicks away, when they don't even know that they are in danger.

 

In personality, he's totally amoral, and often less than good company: he's good looking, well traveled, cultured, and something of an epicure, but totally self-obsessed. As long as you like to discuss his favourite topic - himself and his success, he can be charming. Otherwise, he soon loses interest and becomes sarcastic or even rude. He can be led into rants about the rule of the strong, darwinian selection and the rights of the ubermensch, which might suggest a less than balanced mind under the facade.

 

The obvious use for Zaroff is as a hidden, dangerous adversary, either targeting a PC (his pre-hunt intel would have had to badly wrong somehow for that to work against most PCs, though) or when an NPC turns to them for help. Alternatively, less squeamish PCs might learn his secret - hearing him taunt a victim before the finish of a hunt, for example - and decide to try and turn him onto one of their enemies.

 

cheers, Mark

 

Hmm, the name and description sounds awfully close to a villain in a story I read in school back in the day.

[Lucius]

Re: Help me populate a dying space colony

 

Welcome to life on a space station - EVERYTHING is recycled

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Sometimes I even recycle palindromedary taglines

[Badger]

Re: Help me populate a dying space colony

 

Ok, I had a wierd dream last week, Western themed, but this seems close to the story of a couple of characters I met in the dream(or whatever you might call meeting people in a dream. I dont know but whatever. Obviously changed for proper setting.)

 

 

Very little is know about Billy and Lilliah O'Neill, aside from rumors. Not even if those are their real names. They've worked as guns-for-hire on occasion. However, their pasts are kept secret for good reason.......

 

Back in the the war nearly 15 years ago now, Billy was a soldier. A very good soldier. An expert in many weapons. He was especially great with knives and long-range rifles. Well, after the war, now obsolete, there wasnt much for him and he became a drifter (with one of his war buddies).

 

They eventually ended up in one of the outer colonies. As luck would have it the sheriff had been killed off, and there was an opening. Billy became sheriff, his friend the deputy. Billy got married (his friend was already married to someone off-colony, which will play into the story later.

 

Unfortunately, with marriage came frustration. Although good in war and lawkeeping, Billy was a novice in societal concerns. And he had the misfortune of marrying a might ambitious and conniving lady. She was willing to do whatever it took to be at the top of galatic society. Billy was happy being a sheriff in a dinky little colony in the middle of nowhere.

 

Well, after near 2 years after his wedding (one that his friend advised against) a gang came to town to rob and plunder. Sheriff and deputy confronted them. A gun-battle ensued where the outnumbered lawmen surprisingly won killing off the entire gang. Unfortunately, Billy's friend was also killed.

 

Billy took it hard. And he took and a leave to go personally tell his friend's wife what happened. Billy's wife? She took advantage of him being away from the colony to cement her alliance with her new lover (the colony admin.). By the time, he got back his wife had gotten him framed for his own friend's murder. Claiming he had brought in the gang in exchange for part of the loot (ironically she had brought them in). Regardless, the colonist put him in his own jail.

 

Well, this was where Lilliah comes in. Not exactly a respectable lady in the colony (if you get my meaning). She helped him escape, in exchange for going with him. They succeeded, though not without Billy's wife making a big stink about the (bleep) who helped her cheating husband escape (ironic, given her goings on, but such are tragic tales)

 

And well, they landed here, eventually. (good place to hide under the circumstances) Billy has taught her some about weapons, so she has become proficient enough in the matter. The toll of being essentially discarded twice in life has made him guarded and quiet. Lilliah despite her past is fairly cheerful and talkative(sometimes annoyingly so). And seems to have found a knack of keeping him from getting too down about things. For his part he is extremely protective of his 2nd wife. Along the way, he found an abandoned German shepherd puppy who is now grown and named Stonewall after an Old Earth general he read about once. The dog is loyal to the couple, and can be trouble in a scrape for the enemy.

 

Course, his former wife's new husband the former admin. has now got into the galactic political scene, so it may be possible with her vindictiveness they could eventually be in danger of discovery.

 

Note: Wouldnt be a good idea to reveal the background too soon, of course.

[Xavier Onassiss]

Re: Help me populate a dying space colony

 

Excellent ideas all around, thank you all so very much! Next weekend the PCs return to Omicron Station, and I think they might encounter a few of these folks. (If I get time to write 'em up!) This is an ongoing campaign, with the colony being a recurring adventure setting, so if you have any other character ideas, please post them here.

[Martin2]

Re: Help me populate a dying space colony

 

A bit late.

 

You want something, be it be information or equipment talkto Paddy Smith. He seems to have fingersin a lot of pies and knows a person for anything. He is tall, blond, blue eyed and seriouslygood looking! He dresses like a wild westcowboy with Stetson and six shooter (actually has 8 rounds) and If your female youare guaranteed a good deal but expect to become madly in love with him. Women seem to lose all control. They know his reputation but they don’t seemto care when he is near them!

[Lawnmower Boy]

Re: Help me populate a dying space colony

 

Ain't gonna talk until we're both civilised-like, with a glass in front of us. Barkeep! Two of your best applejack, on my tab!

[smack.] Ah, that's better! What's the matter? Not used to the air over here? Another sip'll help it go down. Heh.

 

So, yeah. I know the guy. Called himself Murdock. Probably looked the name up on the Complete Site of Spy Names. Yeah. Fancied himself that, anyway. Little young and handsome to be Mr. Secret Agent. Gotta blend, you wanna do that work. So I sent him to some friends of mine. Weren't nice, but I didn't want any share of his attention, you know what I mean?

 

But turns out he was a little more resourceful than I gave him credit for. So I sent him to someone even meaner. And I hear he got clear of that, too.

 

No, not trusting at all. I gave him solid info. Not the best info, mind. He's after that something bioscience-y, and Honest Injun, the Venus Drug they peddle down on the docks is all's I know about. I just didn't send him to people who'd probably just, y'know, sell him a sample. He can find them on his own, and not drag me into it.

 

Yeah, yeah, tip of the iceberg, I know. The whole thing with the "Venus Drug" could be nothing but a side-effect of something way scarier. Look. I don't care. Frankly, if it brings money into Omicron, more power to 'em.

 

Yeah, I admit, the money that Murdock is throwing around comes from off-colony, too. Maybe I shouldn't be trying to get him killed. But he seems to be able to take care of himself. And I don't like it. We've already got Solar Express poking around. Personally, I say, just sell Solar Express what it wants and let's see the back of 'em. Last thing we want is multiple covert ops teams running around fragile habitats looking for whatever-the-frack-whoever-is-monkeying-with.

[Lucius]

Re: Help me populate a dying space colony

 

Congratulations, you figured it out. We work for Zaroff sometimes. So do a lot of of folks in the North Cyl. No point denying it, and what are you gonna do, tell the marshall?

 

All we do is stay out of the way and put up some barriers like you saw, to try to keep his quarry inside the hunting ground he selected. We get some medicine, food, a little cash to pay that Krugan fellow to keep the machines running. We also don't worry about him making trouble for us. Trouble like Zaroff we don't need. But we won't hurt you, and you won't gain anything if you try to hurt us. Here, have some food. If you don't trust it, I'll eat first, but if you know how Zaroff thinks, you know he'd kill us if we tried to poison you.

 

You can run that way and find Zaroff's personal skimmer, but if you think he left it open and untrapped you're a fool. You can run that way and try for the Gideonites but who knows what they'll do. You can head this way and look for that old wizard Barnaby, he's supposed to be up that way these days and he calls Zaroff an "exemplar of scum and villainy" so you can probably count on his help. Can you ride? We have horses.

 

Why shouldn't we help you? We're too many for you to take on and you're too dangerous for us to want to tangle with. We don't like Zaroff, and he knows exactly how much we've agreed to help him and he knows we helped his victims before - probably counts on us to keep the game interesting for him.

 

Besides, sooner or later one of you IS going to kill Zaroff. And probably get at least a bit of his outrageous fortune. Last thing we want is to be your enemy, and we'd like to be your friend, know what I mean? My name's Hays and the farm is the Hays Farm.

 

No, we won't let you hide here. He'll be along sooner rather than later and you need to be gone when he gets here. Whichever way you go, you should probably go another way first and circle around. Look around at my folks, they're terrified. Zaroff shows up, you know at least one of us is going to tell him which way you went.

 

I hope you do kill the bastard. Good luck. You'll need it.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The most dangerous palindromedary

[Badger]

Re: Help me populate a dying space colony

 

I may be doing a little retreading of characters myself here.

 

"Shinzu Harris? Yeah, he is the bouncer at The Broken Bottle. But you really dont want to mess with the guy"

 

"Oh, you see he has crazy strength. Dont know how he got it, for sure. Heard he was some guinea pig in one of the military's experiments. But, know one really knows"

 

"Listen, I said you dont want to mess with him. He's gotten into fights with whole gangs and won without a scratch. People go airborne. He picks things no one else can lift and throws them around. Even the Gideonites steer the hell away from him. Hot temper. Zaroff wants him, but Zaroff has no flipping idea how to catch him. And there is this one guy that lives on the station Harris cant stand the guy....wants to kill him. Everytime he sees him, he goes after the guy. Lucky that guy is quicker, and gets away"

 

"Just believe me when you see the guy, RUN!"

 

 

I just had to model a character after Shizuo Heiwajima from the Durarara anime

 

[Badger]

Re: Help me populate a dying space colony

 

"oh you want to know who the guy, the bouncer keeps going after? Sorry about that. Isaac Oliver is the guy's name. Skinny guy. An Information broker. Probably the best. Knows everything, about everything you might need to know here. He does have a habit of manipulation, though, so be careful. Might be why the bouncer doesnt like him, come to think of it."

 

 

And I guess you couldnt have a Shizuo Heiwajima without a Izaya Orihara

 

[Lawnmower Boy]

Re: Help me populate a dying space colony

 

[Cough.] Run into some hayseeds, I see. No, don't worry. You'll get your horse back in a minute. Dear me. Language. I haven't heard the like in years, although admittedly, the living Prophet normally doesn't.

 

A more appropriate response would be, "Thank you." My followers have driven off the dogs. They have a certain connection, you see. The Sons of Gideon are the dogs of God, and dogs... well, they're the dogs of God, too. So you won't have to worry about your mount being run out once you leave here, and if you're a good rider, you should make it to Barnabas before Zaroff catches you, and you should be safe. Zaroff doesn't always get his man, and he knows when to cut his losses. If you can keep your mouth shut. Reputations, you know.

 

In the mean time, we have a moment to talk about ....things. Are you really a Solar Express man? You don't look the part, but there's no-one else nosing around here openly. Covertly, that's another matter.

 

Yes, I know about him. And I know what you've been hearing. Maybe I even have an idea what you're looking for. In the years before we left Terra, the Sons served God's will in aeternum by serving bad men in the day. And I know what we're supposed to have taken with us when we left that service so precipitately. No one ever cared about that before, back when the Camp was up and running back on Terra. Now, these rumours say that we're all that's left of the Camp. And that's crazy. Crazier than they say I am. [Cough.]

 

No, no. Obviously you can't look. God set His Vessels apart by their sex for a reason. Only the Living Prophet, his Stake Presidents, and bishops can cross the Veil into the Woman's House. You don't have the air of a Stake President about you, and I know you're not a Prophet. You could become a bishop, but, frankly, we don't have that time, and it would take certain commitments on your part. You'll have to take my word for it.

 

Of course my word is good. I'm the Living Prophet. [Hack. Spit.]. No! I don't have to listen to your threats. The Lord of Hosts is bringing the curtains down on this little play of His, and there's nothing your precious company can do about it. Go run out your game, and, if you live, remember this: God is on our side.

[Manic Typist]

Re: Help me populate a dying space colony

 

Interesting. Not sure what that last bit is about....

[Lawnmower Boy]

Re: Help me populate a dying space colony

 

Here's my take on it. This is Xavier's playground and we've been invited to contribute characters. It is, however, a small colony in terms of population, resources, and technological opportunities. We can't invent technology or aliens, or introduce major setting elements.

What we do know is that there is Something Mysterious going on involving a girl of mysterious origins, and that Solar Express is pursuing that mysterious something. What that might be is Xavier's call, again. My contribution is that there are investigators sniffing around, and that they've come to the attention of various seedy lowlifes.

 

All the lowlifes would love to know what SEC is after. And, if Xavier wants to play it that way, might have some idea about what it is. Beyond that, my bar informant is gleefully directing any informants who come to him straight into the hornet's nest for the sheer joy of making trouble.

 

The crazed, dying cult leader doesn't really know what he wants, other than for the world to end while he's still alive to enjoy it. It's common sense that his two Stakes Presidents have ambitions about extracting SEC money for the use of Gideonite resources. That said, if they are hiding something that SEC wants (Xavier's call, obviously), it's obviously a little more complicated. Because it is Xavier's setting, all that The Camp can possibly be is a nickname for whatever Xavier decides it to be. My basic notion is that the Gideonites used to be suicide bombers for a state-sponsored terrorist agency. But since I've no idea if there were such things on Xavier's Terra, I'm obviously not going to flesh that out.

 

I can't speak for Lucius's characters, but I took the liberty of making Zaroff's latest victim --the guy who ran into the Hayes-- into one of the two sketchy investigators nosing about the place. I honestly don't know much about the guy. He might be anything on the spectrum from a hapless victim to a James Retief. I'm left broadly implying that Zaroff might be a hitman to some extent, and it strikes me that it's Markdoc's (and Xavier's) call how that all plays out.

[Xavier Onassiss]

Re: Help me populate a dying space colony

 

Heh.

 

While the above may not track 100% with what I'm doing in my campaign, Omicron Colony is big enough that it could all very well be going on at the same time, and I might use it at some point. There are lots of apocalyptic cults in the Terracide setting; some of the "we told you so" variety, and others who consider the destruction of Terra "a good start." There's always room for one more.

 

Our next game session is tomorrow. Captain Iris and Talitha will be temporarily out of the picture for a few months of game-time; the PC's question the Commodore and ransack the data files they stole from his spacecraft, then return to Omicron Station to find out what the heck is going on, which turns out to be... too good to be true!

[Badger]

Re: Help me populate a dying space colony

 

Darren Kupchak is secretly The Butcher of Grettum VIII a serial killer from that colony known to have 19 killings. When they authorities (finally, in Darren's opinion) got close, he fled the planet, and eventually settled here.

 

And yes, he has started up again. Darren has gotten it in his head, that he and Zaroff are in some kind of "game". Whatever Zaroff might feel or not, Darren thinks they are "friendly rivals".

 

Of course, Zaroff might consider "The Butcher of Grettum VIII" a perfect quarry.

 

Like his name suggest "The Butcher" MO is to chop up his victims like a butcher might in his shop.

[Badger]

Re: Help me populate a dying space colony

 

Tebbetts, the bounty hunter, is here for a bounty. Who that bounty, is a mystery to evryone else.

[AlHazred]

Re: Help me populate a dying space colony

 

You might get some mileage out of certain Jack Vance stories -- they're chock full of quirky, outrageously self-interested individuals who would fit right in in Omicron Eridani. I recommend "Coup de Grace" (murder on a space station), "The Dogtown Tourist Agency" (another hive of scum and villainy), and the Demon Princes series, every book of which is chock full of unsavory individuals.

[Folded]

Re: Help me populate a dying space colony

 

Hey mister, got any creds, mister? Copper, gold, Venus, anything, mister? I'll tell you the story of the Monster for that belt buckle ya got, mister!

 

Really? The whole thing? Nobody ever gave me nothin' like this for the Monster story before. Cool!

 

Okay, so, there's this guy, only he can't be a guy, right, who lives on the outside of the hull, mister!! Really an' truly he does, mister, outside in the light an' the rads an' everything, mister! Only nobody's ever actually seen him, right? They just find these little hutches, they call 'em, mister, where he musta lived, cause it stinks inside like you'd think it would if'n someone lived in such a little place with no suit, ya know, mister? Just hard plastic sheets 'poxied down an' hooked into the water an' air and 'lectrics an' everything, mister! Really an' truly, guy livin' on the hull, mister! An' everyone knows that when someone goes missin' on the station, it's the Monster took 'em, mister, took 'em outside and let 'em breathe the vac and sail off an' no-one ever sees 'em again, mister! It's true, I tell ya!

[Christopher]

Re: Help me populate a dying space colony

 

We can't invent technology or aliens' date=' or introduce major setting elements.[/quote']

I know it's not entirely the same, but how about intentional genetic/cybernetic augmentation. Shadowrun has some notice that genetic/biotech/cybernetic ingineering allows something for almost any fetish.

 

You can conceiveable make a cat girl with some artificial/vat-grown fur and inobvious cybernetic cat ears/cat tail.

[Xavier Onassiss]

Re: Help me populate a dying space colony

 

I know it's not entirely the same, but how about intentional genetic/cybernetic augmentation. Shadowrun has some notice that genetic/biotech/cybernetic ingineering allows something for almost any fetish.

 

You can conceiveable make a cat girl with some artificial/vat-grown fur and inobvious cybernetic cat ears/cat tail.

 

There are a few different genetic upgrades, including a few with DNA from other species, but they aren't "furries" as such. Voluntary cybernetic implants are rare, as they tend to need maintenance/repairs at inconvenient times and places, such as when the user is light-years away from the nearest properly equipped cyber-clinic.

 

"Fetish" wear is usually of the virtual kind, accomplished with augmented reality overlays; anyone viewing the "wearer" sees whatever the overlay is programmed to depict. In places where everyone uses A/R on a constant basis, most people have multiple overlays; business, casual, evening, and others according to personal taste. Actual clothing? Who knows? Someone would have to do the unthinkable, turn off their A/R interface and use the eyes they were born with to look at the real world!

[Manic Typist]

Re: Help me populate a dying space colony

 

It would be quite interesting if the overlays could be programmed to depict different outfits to different people at the same time....

[Xavier Onassiss]

Re: Help me populate a dying space colony

 

It would be quite interesting if the overlays could be programmed to depict different outfits to different people at the same time....

 

Actually, I see no reason why that wouldn't work, and yes, it would be interesting.