Getting Started

"You all got on this boat for different reasons, but you all came to the same place."


The 'Verse

The year is 2519. Over a year has passed since the Miranda broadwave. The galaxy is on the brink of war. Meanwhile, you are in a jail cell.

Here's a few things to get you acclimated:

• Timeline
• Prologue I
• Prologue II

Character Generation

Before you can start playing, I'm going to need a few things from you: A detailed character background, a completed character sheet, and your selection of PB (actor). Your character background should contain an explanation of why they're in a Persephone jail cell: Breaking curfew, mistaken identity, looting, etc.

For your character sheet, you will be starting with the following stats:

• 48 Attribute Points -- These buy your assets, complications, and baseline attributes like intelligence.
• 68 Skill Points -- These buy your skills like athletics, artistry, or piloting.
• 500 Credits worth of equipment -- This money is use-it-or-lose-it. Any money not spent is forfeit, save five credits for pocket change. You may not choose illegal gear.
  
• 1 item of NewTech x2. -- Again, this item cannot be illegal.
  

I don't know about you guys, but I've yet to see a Serenity character sheet that doesn't suck ass, so send me all of the above in a Word file. It doesn't have to be pretty, just readable. Oh, and use a calculator to double-check your math before sending it to me. The way Attribute and Skill points tabulate is fracked up beyond all common sense, so mind you pay attention to what you're doing.

And, as the character generation process for this rule set isn't the most intuitive, so I highly recommend completing your character sheet in this order:

1. Pick Your Assets and Complications (Traits): You must have at least one asset and one complication. You may have no more than four of each. See page 41.

Example: Reaver is a mercenary who just got out of the lockup after gettin' pinched on his last job. After finding Jesus in prison, he's decided to go straight. Or... well... on second thought, he really only knows how to steal and kill people, so maybe Reaver will settle for not cutting the ears off his victims anymore. Jesus will understand.

Reaver takes the following traits:

Branded [Minor] - He's a bad, bad man.
Memorable [Minor] - In his youth, Reaver filled his teeth down to points, to bolster his fearsome reputation.
Ugly as Sin [Major] - Let's just say, people were calling him Reaver before he filed his teeth.
Steady Calm [Major] - After the things he's seen, not much else can get to him.
Tough as Nails [Minor] - He's more of a ambulatory landmass than a human being.
Religiosity [Minor] - Jesus saves. Everyone else takes damage.
Mean Left Hook [Minor] - Dude doesn't need brass knuckles to ruin your pretty little face.

The complications add 8 points to the pool [2 + 2 + 4], and the assets subtract 10 [4 + 2 + 2 + 2]. This subtracts a total of two from our Attribute pool of 48, leaving Reaver with 46 points.

2. Pick Your Attributes: Minimum attribute is d4, and maximum is d12 at character generation. Point cost is equal to the number on the die. IE, a d6 costs 6 Attribute Points. Keep in mind that the average yokel has d6 across all their attribute points. Anything higher than that makes you special.

Example: Reaver has 46 points to spend on his attributes.

Agility: d4
Strength: d12
Vitality: d10
Alertness: d6
Intelligence: d6
Willpower: d8

Total: 46

From these numbers we know that Reaver isn't as dumb as Jayne, but he's no rocket scientist either. He could crush a man with his bare hands, but he's probably not going to be able to dodge the bottle hurled at his head. And he's very hard to kill.


3. Calculate Your Derived Attributes: Vitality + Willpower = Life Points. Agility + Alertness = Initiative.

Example: Reaver's stats...

Initiative: d10 [d4 Agility + d6 Alertness]
Life Points: 20 [d10 Vitality + d8 Willpower + 2 from Tough As Nails minor attribute]


4. Choose Your Skills: Keep in mind, you can go up to a d6 in a general skill (like athletics), but if you want to get a higher die rating, you'll have to pick a specialty (swimming). This makes the math here really funny. Let's say your character is a Companion. Naturally she's going to have a d6 in Performance, if you know what I mean. And, because of course you never stop practicing when you're a Companion, she'll need to have a d10 specialty in stringed instruments so she can play the dulcimer. The total point cost for this is 10: 6 for the d6 general specialty, and 4 to add the additional two dice levels on stringed instruments.

As with attributes, you can have no more than a d12 skill specialty at character generation. See pages 55 - 67.

Example: Reaver's mostly brawn, but he's got some brains as well. He has 68 points to spend.

Athletics: d6
Weight Lifting: d8
Covert: d6
Discipline: d4
Influence: d6
Intimidation: d12
Guns: d6
Pistols: d8
Shotguns: d10
Melee Weapon Combat: d6
Knives: d8
Clubs: d8
Perception: d4
Survival: d2
Unarmed Combat: d6
Brawling: d10.


5. Equipment! You have 500 credits. You may not buy any illegal items. (They're marked with an I on the charts in the book.) Any money you don't spend, you will lose, save for five credits in pocket money. Any illegal goods you had on you at the time of your arrest would have been confiscated, and unscrupulous lawmen would have filched any cash you had about you. Don't worry, though. I'm sure you'll have access to all manner of unpleasant folks later in the game who would be happy to sell you black market goods.

Remember: You also have to buy clothes and other essentials that aren't necessarily listed in the book. Keep in mind that one credit is worth roughly $25. Don't forget to carry some pairs of clean underwear, because your character will at some point be in an accident...

Example: Reaver's hobbies include stabbing, stealing, shooting, and prayer.

Knife, Combat [x4] = 6.4
Knife, Utility [x4] = 3.2
Pistol = 18
Shotgun = 50
Shotgun, sawed-off = 50
Commpack, Long Range [x2] = 75.6
Surveyor's Box = 230
"Sticky" Scrapper's Gel [20 yards] = 4
Change of clothes - Summer weight [x5] = 20
Change of clothes - Winter weight [x5] = 20
Combat Boots = 4
Personal Hygene Kit (soap, toothbrush, etc.) = 2
Bible= 1
Teeth guards [x2] = 8 (to keep his pointy teeth from tearing his mouth apart in his sleep)
Winter Coat - Black Wool = 3
Electronic Diary = 4

Total cost = 499.2
Pocket money = 0.8 Credits
Dollar equivalency = ~ $20


6. NewTech. As mentioned before, you get a NewTech [Cost x2] item of your choice. This means you may pick a non-illegal item (within reason), and make it just a little bit more awesome with the addition of technology. This item must have an interesting backstory. After all, you're hard-on-you-luck and stuck in the ass-end of the galaxy--yet you have some sweet piece of tech. There's got to be a story there.

Here's how it will work. On your character background, relate the background of your NewTech Item, and a rough description of A) The base object it's based on, and B) How the item is better. If I deem the object fits in the bounds of a x2 cost item (as opposed to x5 cost or so), I'll get back to you with a description of the object in terms of game mechanics.

Example1: After the first big heist Reaver ever worked--bank job, heavy security, 6 dead in the process--his employer tried to stiff Reaver out of his fair share. That weren't right. Reaver's keen sense of right and wrong eventually resolved the situation: He went home with his employer's favorite gun and a new ear for his collection..

Repeater Pistol - At first glance, it could easily be confused for a normal pistol, but for the added bulge on the underside of the barrel. The technology is a bit outdated--the newer models are more accurate--but the autofire still works. If the player gets a direct hit on a target and turns autofire on, each subsequent bullet will be computer-guided to its target. Add +2 step to the attack dice for all bullets aimed at a target that was just hit. Because the bullets are also electronic, they cost 3 times what normal ammunition runs, and may not be available on backwater worlds.

Example 2: Lloyd Garrison cannot think of his time working at Blue Sun without getting angry: Twenty years of hard work with the company, only to be escorted from the building one Tuesday for stealing from the company. They hadn't even given Lloyd the chance to defend himself from the accusation. It wasn't fair. Lloyd had covered his tracks so well. Someone must have ratted him out.

Pinch - A portable electromagnetic pulse generator. It six inches, cubed, and will knock out all electronic devices within a fifty foot radius. It's one-use only, until it is recharged by a sufficient power source for one day. Although Lloyd stole his pinch, it's perfectly legal for a private citizen to own one for use in scientific study. Use of a pinch to disrupt or destroy electronic devices, however, is highly illegal.

Example 3: Dester was not the most beautiful companion in her house. Nor was she the most talented, or charming, or witty. Still, even a lesser companion is more lovely and pleasing company that the screeching harpies rich men sometimes chose for marriage. As such, Dester never lacked for wealthy admirers, who often liked to bring extravagant and useless gifts.

Pygmy Panda - Not all biotech has a practical purpose. Among society's higher echelons, minituration isn't just for electronics. The pygmy panda is a genetically engineered to be the size of a house cat. Otherwise, it is exactly like a normal panda. It sits around all day, eating shoots and leaves. Dester would kill and eat the damn thing if it wouldn't offend one of her most regular clients.

Example 4: In a strange way, witnessing that murder had been the best thing to ever happen to Zhang Qing. Things had never been the same after the war. The Alliance had given her a discharge and a modest pension after she had taken the shrapnel blast that left her left arm numb and useless, but not enough to live on. Zhang's only real skill is putting bullets in people, and she couldn't even do that anymore. But then the son of the planetary governor decided to murder a prostitute in the same switchback alley Zhang used to sleep in. In exchange for a new identity and a fresh start on another world, Zhang was more than happy to testify.

Facial Reconstruction - A substantial rebuild of someone's face. Skin tone lightened/darkened, features shifted, eye color changed. More than mundane plastic surgery, nominal use of some nanotechnology has permanently altered aspects of your character's features. After this treatment, you will be unrecognizable to any person knew you before your transformation. Note that this surgery does not change your voice, mannerisms, or birth marks, so it is still possible you might give yourself away to someone who knew you intimately.

7. Journal: This one is optional. Should you choose, you may have your character keep a journal of some kind. If so, contact me, and I'll help you set up a blog for your character. For those of you who were in the older Signal, you know the drill. RP between game sessions is also encouraged, and transcripts should be posted here. (I'll add you all as authors to this blog.)

RPs and/or journal entries which are substantial and add to the development of your character will be rewarded with a plot point for use in the next game session, with a maximum of three points between sessions. This isn't a limit on the number of journal entries or RPs--just the points you can earn from them.

Example: "I've fallen into rough times of late. Rougher times, I should say..."



That's it. I'm glad you're back, guys. I missed you.

Prologue, Part II

"Did some time in the lock up--but less than you claim."


You've been down on your luck before. You suppose you should be used to it by now--and, admittedly, you've gotten out of worse situations. But after three days in this rancid Persephone jail cell, the available options are limited.

It wasn't much, the charge against you, but it was enough to land you here until you or someone you know can cough up the credits to pay off the fine. Two more days, and the local cops won't wait any longer. They'll sell you to the first one willing to pay off your tab, and that means indentured servitude--a day for every credit owed. You do the math in your head. Two thousand credits... Well, that added up to a very long time. And you sure as the sun rises didn't have the kind of coin to bail yourself out.

Outside, the chants of the crowds were still loud enough to be heard in your jail cell, although you could no longer make out the words. You didn't need to. Half were about freedom, and the other half unity. The occasional punctuations of gunfire, however, could belong to either side. The protests had already raged for days, with no end in sight. The lawmen here could not even pretend to cope. It was all they could do to arrest troublemakers--or people standing near likely troublemakers--on sight.

You saw them come through by the dozen, each already rushed through a perfunctory trial, convicted of disturbing the peace, and dumped in a jail cell until they could pay their fine. Each day, dozens of the people arrested before you walked out in handcuffs, led by a contingent of Alliances federals, who were buying indentured labor in bulk. Two more days, and that would be you.

And from the other side to the wall, from the street outside your cell, you hear the unmistakable sound of repeater blasts and the screams of a crowd...

A Brief History of the 'Verse

"The wheel never stops turnin'."
"That only matters to the people on the rim..."


2506 – June

The Union of Allied Planets begins a campaign to unite all of humanity under one central government. Words are exchanged… then bullets.


2506 – 2511

War.


2511 – 15 August

Independent forces officially surrender at the Battle of Serenity Valley, although fighting on the ground continues for weeks later.


2511 – 20 September

The Unification War officially ends in Alliance victory.


2511 – 2518

A mysterious group of violent criminals called Reavers terrorize shipping lanes and remote settlements in the Burnham Quadrant.


2518 - 30 September

The majority of the Alliance fleet in the Burnham Quadrant disappears. Rumors circulate that the Independents have gathered a new fleet for a second war. Other reports indicate an organized reaver armada was responsible. The Alliance offers no official explanation.

A pirate broadwave hits the Cortex, proving the “ecological” disaster on Miranda was man-made. Riots break out on the boarder planets as politicians on the core worlds demand a parliamentary investigation into the incident.


2518 – Late November

A small band of former Independents and sympathizers begin to conduct hit-and-run raids on Alliance positions in the border worlds. The recently weakened Alliance fleet struggles unsuccessfully to quash the rebels.

Reaver activity all but disappears. The only reported attacks are against Firefly class vessels.


2519 – 3 March

The Parliamentary Investigative Commission issues its report on Miranda, concluding the event was the result of a handful of rogue government elements acting without the knowledge of Parliament.

Protests on the border worlds grow more frequent and more violent.


2519 – 5 October

New Kashmir announces its intention to secede from the Anglo-Sino Alliance.


2519 – 11 October

The Alliance violently suppresses the New Kashmir rebellion, first through ground forces and finally through planetary bombardment. The invasion cost the Alliance thousands of troops and one interstellar cruiser, but the civilian cost was truly devastating; early estimates placed the death toll in the hundreds of thousands. The brutality of the counteroffensive draws harsh backlash across the system.


2519 – 1 November

A vote of no confidence removes Prime Minister Shintaro from power. Parliament elects one of its members, Richard Wilkins, as her successor.


2519 – 29 November

Unappeased by the change in leadership, five more worlds announce their intention to break with the Alliance. The new central government makes no move to stop them. Military forces withdraw from the area.


2519 – December

Prime Minister Wilkins announces the Alliance will withdraw from the Burnham Quadrant beginning in the new year.


Now

All told, this hasn't been your best day ever...

Crew Manifest

"They're good folk.... Well, that one's sort of horrifying."


Lucy Hanover, Bounty Hunter: Sigourney Weaver (Li)
Ira Hayes, Pilot: [PB TBD] (Chris)
Cylus Spunt, Mechanic: [Christopher Walken] (Mr. E)
Avery White, Medic: [Kat Von D] (Lav)
Phineas “Fin” Bishop, Poo Head: [Giovanni Ribisi] (Brian)


Character Name, Profession: [PB] (Player Name)

Prologue, Part I

"Half of writing history is hiding the truth. "


October 10, 2518
11 Days after the Miranda broadwave

David Roth knew from the moment he woke up that he was going to have a bad day, and nothing that came later refuted the idea. The transport’s complimentary breakfast was cold, flavorless, and slightly chewy. The cab from the landing docks was hot and sticky, with an aroma of mildew. Roth’s stomach amused itself during the long ride by cramping painfully at regular intervals while the cab crawled through the traffic. Whether his discomfort was from the stale meal or his own dread was anyone’s guess.

Yet these nuisances did little to dull his horror at arriving late. Roth scrambled along the corridors of the monolithic compound as fast as his escorts’ would allow, wallowing in the certain shame that would haunt him for eternity. Late, to this of all meetings. Already he could hear the shrill voice of his mother, circa thirty years ago, abolishing him for his sin—tardiness, which was nearly on par with murder. The rational portion of his brain—what was left of it—kindly reminded Roth that his attitude had no bearing in reality, that the situation was not his fault, and everything was not as bad as he thought.

Then he went and made the situation worse by walking into the room with his shoes on. In his defense, the room was nothing like Roth expected. The walls appeared to be made of thick paper, more suited to a fine teahouse than a government building. A granite Buddha occupied the far corner, surrounded with ornamental plants. A small shrine sat adjacent against the wall, but was obviously erected for decoration rather than worship. A low table, round and no more than a foot off the ground, took up most of the room. Cushions surrounded the table’s perimeter, all occupied with stern and unhappy individuals dressed in everything from business suits and military uniforms to kimonos and saris. No one wore shoes.

No one acknowledged Roth’s presence as he shuffled out of his loafers and hunted for an empty cushion. Meanwhile, the meeting continued as if nothing more significant than a fly had entered the room.

“… eight cruisers, three hundred and forty nine fighters destroyed, five cruisers damaged, and one thousand and twenty eight men dead is not a ‘fiasco.’ It a goddamn disaster!” This, in Mandarin, from a red-faced man. Metals and pins covered so much of the surface of his chest that it was difficult to tell there was a military uniform under it all.

“We haven’t released those figures to the public yet, so in the eyes of the press, it’s a fiasco,” said a prim woman in a business suit.

“We’ll have to, Laurel,” said a second man, also in uniform. “Those soldiers had families and those ships will be missed. We could sweep one ship under the rug, but this is going to come out one way or another.”

Roth found his cushion, and then hesitated. He hadn’t announced himself, but interrupting might be the greater error. Was his supposed to bow, shake hands, or kowtow? He settled for awkwardly squeezing into the open seat, accidentally elbowing a Member of Parliament in the process. He murmured an apology in English, which he instantly second-guessed. Every word he heard since he had landed on Sihnon had been in Chinese. Did they consider English poor form here?

Roth glanced around the room, realizing to his dismay that he did not know a single person in the room, yet recognized every one of them. He may not get out of the lab often, but he did watch the news attentively. He just walked into a cabinet meeting. Late, no less.

“It already has come out, after a fashion,” said a woman Roth recognized Sandra Clarke, press secretary to the Prime Minister. “Ships are past due back to their bases and letters aren’t being written home. We’ve got so-called experts on the news outlets speculating that the Independents gathered a fleet and launched an attack on a military outpost, and people are repeating it all like it’s fact. Right now it’s only on the level of speculation and rumors, but we can hardly expect it to stay that way indefinitely.”

“And what the hell do you expect we should tell them?” snapped the red-faced general, whose face resembled nothing so much as a swollen pimple about to pop.

A new voice spoke up. “Encourage the rumors, quietly.”

The general deflated instantly. “What?”

The table was round, but there was no doubt who was sitting at its head. Shintaro would have been equally suited to Shakespearean theatre as to leadership, Roth thought. She had the presence for it, and that presence was lapping at room in gentle, but insistent waves, commanding attention. He had heard that the Prime Minister was a Companion before entering politics, and Roth did not doubt it.

“Encourage the rumors.” Shintaro rested her hands on the silk lap of her kimono. “The public needs an explanation for the missing fleet. They will have it, whether we provide one or not. The public can’t afford the truth. News that the Reavers can attack in fleets would cause panic and speculation that they’re organizing for a more massive attack. If, on the other hand, it was the Independents, then our men and women died heroes, fighting off an insurrection, instead of fighting to cover up a secret. Those soldiers deserve better than to have their names sullied by someone else’s mess.”

“You want me to lie?” asked Press Secretary Clarke.

“Not explicitly,” replied Shintaro, serenely. “Lies can be refuted, as I think the past few weeks have aptly demonstrated. Keep refusing to comment, but do so in such a way that the proper rumor-mongers feel they are on the right track.”

“That won’t take much,” the man next to Roth commented darkly. It was the MP he had elbowed earlier. Roth searched for his name. Preston, that was it. “The Independent Party’s been chomping at the bit ever since Miranda. Hell, I’m inclined to believe the rumors.”

“The Independents would need money and resources to raise a standing army again,” said the general, “of which they have neither.”

“Yet,” someone at the table muttered. No one owned up to the comment, but several heads nodded.

“There’s a lot of minor corporations that aren’t happy about all the business they’ve lost since we’ve started granting Blue Sun all those exclusive contracts on the border worlds,” said MP Preston. “I think more than a few of them wouldn’t mind discreetly funding rebels if they thought it meant reclaiming some market share. And that’s not even getting to Wilkins.”

“He doesn’t have enough backers for a vote of no confidence,” said a woman in a sari.

“He might find them,” Preston shot back. “God knows, the public wants someone’s head on a platter. Parliament can risk the public’s wrath on Election Day, or serve them up a worthy sacrifice.”

Shintaro held up a hand for silence. “We have other problems, which is why I’ve taken the liberty of inviting our guest here with us today. This is Dr. David Roth, head of special projects for the Osiris branch of Blue Sun.”

Roth immediately missed his anonymity as two dozen hostile eyes turned their focus to him. He cleared his throat. “I have to say I was, uh, puzzled by the summons. I don’t know what else I could really add to all this…” He gestured weakly to indicate the table, but it came off as more of a flail for help. He realized too late he had spoken in English again.

“You’re head of the division that produced…” Shintaro flipped through some papers before her, looking up the name. “…River Tam.”

“Well, I was in the department at the time, but that was run by someone else until—” Roth chewed over his next words, trying not to say what he was thinking. “Until he died tragically a few weeks ago. I’m his replacement. I’m sure all of this was in the report your operative filed.”

The shift in mood around the table made Roth wonder if he was somehow the brunt of a joke he wasn’t aware of. Shintaro continued seamlessly. “It was in the report. What I’m interested is how your department managed to produce the single biggest leak of state secrets in Alliance history, and more importantly, how you suggest we prevent a repeat of the situation.”

Roth stared into his hands. “Without examining the subject, I can’t tell you what happened. What I can tell you is that we installed numerous programs and safeguards into River Tam, not all of which we were able to finish. Your operative, knowing full well she was unstable, activated the… Well, the best analogy is to say he pushed the panic button.”

“And that would be…?” asked Preston.

“It’s a self-destruct program,” Roth replied, “designed to dissolve whatever barriers we constructed to keep her stable, so she would dissolve into manic depressive episode, eventually ending in her death. Which obviously didn’t happen, but as I said before, we hadn’t finished the program. All of which I told your operative before he stole the codes and used them against our warnings. You can hardly blame Blue Sun for anything that happened as a result.”

“Want to bet?” muttered the general, as he chewed antacids he’d produced from an inner pocket of his coat.

“What General Takeshita wants to know,” Shintaro began with a pointed glare in the general’s direction, “is what we can expect next.”

Roth sighed. “As best I can tell from what you gave me, your operative stirred up all the fragmented bits of her brain, which brought an otherwise dormant memory—Miranda—to the surface. It could be that this is an isolated event, or it could be that she’s stabilized somehow. Once again, without examining her, I can’t tell you for sure. I can tell you from experience that her instability is directly related to the amount of stress she’s under. Pushing her to the limit again could result in more… unpleasant revelations rising to the surface.”

“You’re saying we should leave her alone?” asked Shintaro.

“I’m saying... every attempt to capture River on either our end or yours has ended in disaster. Blue Sun is on the edge of shutting down the project in its entirety. While the conditioning protocols work on nearly all our subjects, the subsequent psychological side effects make them too unstable for practical use. River Tam will never be useful to us if we reacquire her.” Roth took another look around the room, suddenly puzzled. “You know, I’m somewhat surprised I’m the only one here consulting on this. I would have thought the operative would have been here to add his own… erm… expertise.”

“He wasn’t able to make it,” said Preston.

“How come?”

Shintaro fished out a folder of black and white photographs, which she pushed in Roth’s direction. “He fell on his sword.”

Hiatus

The semester is coming to an end, and schedules all around are going wonky. So, as of now I'm putting the game on haitus until we can figure out a new time of all of us to meet for the game. Please post the times you're available to play, if you're still interested in playing.

You started it!

Who: Mansi and Lester
Where: Engine room
What: Making up? It's fuzzy.
How: There was kissing.

Men!

Who: Mansi and Lester
Where: Mansi's bunk
When: Right after her fight with Eli
What: There was tea. And there was Lester kind of, sort of sticking up for Eli.

Eli has inside information

Who: Eli and Mansi
Where: Exercise Room mostly
When: Evening
What: The job they're forced to do
How: Yelling

The Game that Wouldn't Die

There's been some... let's say renewed interest in The Signal. I had already been thinking about it for a while, and then some folks that shall go unnamed came to me with their own ideas, so I'm going to run it by you guys. I'm thinking of reopening The Signal on a very limited basis, with a revamped version of the crew of Ghost. So far we already have these people signed on:

Myself as Kaede
Emi as Fy
Wolfe as Jacob
Eric as Cooper Goddamn-Whedon Haliphax.
Lav as a yet-to-be-named mechanic.
Scott as a yet-to-be-named medic/doctor person.
Sky. Sort of, maybe.

Are any of the rest of you interested in getting in on this?

P.S. I should add that this is by invitation only. No one new will be added to the game unless I know them personally, or another player vouches for them.

Name that Planet

And now for this week's contest. For this you will not need excellent Googling skills or a comprehensive knowledge of any particular subject. For this contest, you just need to come up with a good name. At the moment, the crew is on Kamchatka, and they've made plans to go to Hemmingway next. Your task, should you choose to accept it, is to come up with a good name for the next world the crew visits. Here's what you know about it: It's a moon, orbiting a gas giant, and it looks like this:


You can choose to name the moon only, or the moon along with the gas giant, or name the moon, the gas giant, and the other two moons in the picture if you've got a theme going (Curly, Larry, Moe, Shimp?). Good sources for names could be mythology (Persephone), literature (Ariel), places (New Melbourne), cool-sounding words (Shadow), cool-sounding words in other languages (Jiangyin), or stuff you just made up (Londinum, Beaumonde, Silverhold).

The person to come up with the spiffiest name(s) will get 5 AP and bragging rights. You can submit as many names as you want, so long as they don't suck.

P.S. I should add that the final decision as to the winning name will be made by someone that's not me, so this shouldn't be a mind-reading contest to intuit the sort of name I would like. Really. Have fun.

Transcripts

Hi guys,

I've been slack with the transcript posting, and for that I apologise. I can't really save transcripts on my computer for several reasons so I'm going to ask any of you that have transcripts to please email them to me. You don't have to have all; I know one or two of you have been absent once or twice. Whatever you have will be shiny, however.

IM me if you don't have my email address.

Lav

Low Standards

Who: John and Dix
Where: Cockpit, galley
When: Evening, presumably
What: John makes his move
Why: Dix has girl parts
How: Lousy pick up lines and booze

Another Contest

Someone complained that the last contest was too biased in favor of Signal alumni, so in response to that, I present you with contest #2. I found the following image while reading the newspaper today, and was a bit surprised and amused:



Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to correctly identify what this image could possibly have to do with the game. The winner get 5 AP. The winner cannot be Lav.

A Contest! (and Incentive to Check Broadwave)

As I mentioned before, we're using the same planetary guide from the Signal for this game, which means it's cluttered with dozens of piss-ant little planets and moons I made up as part of minor plot points or as groundwork for storylines I never got to. Kamchatka is one such world that I created as a bit of backstory, but never got around to using. Until now.

So, I'm going to have a spectacularly egocentric contest/scavenger hunt, inspired by one a.m. insomnia. The first person to correctly identify how Kamchatka came up in the Signal will get five free advancement points for their character. In the highly likely event no one gets it, the prize will go to the person with the closest guess. If no one is close, then the prize will go to the most amusing guess/comment to this post.

If this goes over well, I'll try to have more contests as the game goes on, as I think of stupid ways for you to compete.

Happy Hunting.


UPDATE: Check the comments below.

Sleeping Arrangments

Something I forgot to work out last session: Where is Jimmy sleeping? The current bunk assignments are thus:





Captain Timmothy Eli Weiss: Bunk C
Mansi Reynolds, Firstmate: Bunk B
John Runner, Merc: Bunk G
Jimmy Kraken, Pilot: Bunk G
Bianca Reynolds, Medic: Passenger Dorm A
Lester Boothe, Mechanic: Bunk F
Dix, Passenger: Passenger Dorm G
Edvard Melsen/Damon Akechi, Passengers: Passenger Dorm H

EDITED: To include Dix, Edvard, and Damon. Perma-post is Here.

Serenity Paper Model

The most awesome link I have seen this day, week, month, and very possibly year:

Make Your Own Serenity Paper Model Ship.

Thoughts On Eli

Who: Mansi and Lester
When: Day
Where: Cockpit
What: Lester works on the console and insults Eli. Mansi rises to the captain's defense.

Placeholder

Who: Lester and Orchid
When: Early enough that if Eli found out, he'd be pissed
Where: Cockpit
What: Orchid mines for information.

Bad News and a Poll

This Sunday's Serenity session in canceled. I'm sorry for the short notice, but Eric cannot make this game due to circumstances outside his control, and there is no way to run this game productively without Eli. Rather than waste your time with a frivolous side quest I pulled out of my ass, we'll just continue this next week. I'm sorry for the inconvenience.


While you're enjoying your week off from Serenity, feel free to partake of some RPs. And while you're at it, I want your feedback on something. The Signal had a name, and FFSPT did as well for those of you that remember that far back. Should this campaign have a name as well, or should we keep calling it "The Serenity game"? If we want to give it a name, I need suggestions. Post them here.