Captain and Ship

Summary:

A place to discus our beloved Ship and our sturdy Captain.

Captain and Ship

kedamono 08 Jan 2014 23:42

Copied from the Wiki page:

1. Overall, what is the ship like? Is it old and unsafe? New with hidden problems? Cobbled together from scavenged parts? Big and cavernous? Small and cramped?
2. What is the major problem with the ship? Slow and lumbering? Temperamental hyperdrive? Annoying computer? Cargo bay doors occasionally malfunction?
3. What is the ship's hidden strength? Nooks and crannies for contraband? Able to withstand punishment? Oversized power plant? Hidden weapons pods? Sporty paint job?
4. What sort of person is the Captain? Male, female, or other? Why did they end up commanding a Class D?
5. What is the Captain's Trouble? Secret past? Bad marriage? In debt to the mob? Terminal disease?
6. What is the Captain's command style? Draconian? Military? Lackadaisical? Disorganized? Professional?

Thoughts? Let the discussion commence!

Re: Captain and Ship

kedamono 09 Jan 2014 00:12

So here's my initial thoughts:

Ship:

• True to form, this ship is out of date. Class D spans centuries, with many different vessels claiming this classification. So this one is about a century old and uses parts that can only be found in the scrapyard or manufactured at great expense.
• She's got gravplate problem, so when you enter a room, look for the hastily sketched arrow indicating which way is down.
• Sometime in the recent past, someone with more money than sense updated her drive unit so that it's contemporary and very propellant efficient. She's now a long haul vessel, capable of visiting many planets before you top off the tanks.

Captain:

• The captain is also a century old, it's a robot. At one time, it was a messbot, but thanks to upgrades, new cognitive units, and bright shiny… if somewhat used… positronic brain, it is now a sentient being, a true AI. It has served and mastered this ship since it's keel was laid. It considers the ship to be its own.
• Because it stores most of its knowledge within the Ship's databanks, it really can't leave the ship without becoming dumb as a fencepost.
• The Captain's command style is, well, passive-aggressive. It will try to compute the best course of action, and then through a hundred PowerPoint slides, convey that information to the crew. It never gives a direct order, but instead suggests a course of action.

Well these are my thoughts, what do the rest of you think. Come up with your own list!

Last edited on 09 Jan 2014 00:13 by kedamono Show more

Re: Captain and Ship

Shosuro Kando 09 Jan 2014 20:10

[REMOVES HAT OF GM AUTHORITY AND PLACES IT IN BOX. CLOSES BOX. SLIPS BOX UNDER DESK.]

Here are some thoughts I had. They're just thoughts. They aren't written with any authority or GM voice or anything.

SHIP:

• It's a bit like the Nostromo - a small, cramped, uncomfortable, aging ship with big, fat, gigantic engines that enable it to tow stuff like a tugboat pulling a string of barges.
• Creepy vibe - the ship is somehow just a bit creepy. Really it isn't anything you would notice typically - but when there is something loose on the ship and everyone's life is in danger, for some reason everyone seems to think that the best thing to do is split up and then wander into tight corridors and large rooms full of dangling chains that drip water.
• Ship's cat - the ship has a cat. What, you don't think that's enough of a benefit?

CAPTAIN

• The Captain is a veteran of the Bulldogs - this is his fifth five-year contract. He knows company policy inside and out, and most importantly knows when to obey it and when to ignore it.
• Violently isolationist - the Captain really just wants to be left alone. He's tired of watching his crews die horribly to meet a profit margin, he's tired of the weight of command. Really he would just prefer it if the current crew went about their business and left him alone - and he is more than happy to enforce that preference at gunpoint if necessary.
• Never leave a sentient behind - while the Captain doesn't want to interact with the crew, that doesn't mean he is entirely disinterested in their fate. If they get into trouble he will move heaven and earth to get them out… as long as he can do it without actually having to talk to them, interact with them, or actually look at them if at all possible.

Re: Captain and Ship

Anemone 09 Jan 2014 21:18

I thought' I'd answer the original question before I read anyone else's comments (sort of voting blind), then look for common ideas.

1. Overall, what is the ship like? Is it old and unsafe? New with hidden problems? Cobbled together from scavenged parts? Big and cavernous? Small and cramped?

I like a ship with quirks because it means that if anybody wants to play a mechanic or engineer, there's plenty to do. It also means that your home base is tricky and presents surprises; on the other hand, most of the time it shouldn't be a death trap. Serenity, the TARDIS, and the Millenium Falcon all gave us examples of somewhat recalcitrant vintage vehicles that will outperform others in the same class if they are treated with love and care; by contrast, the Entreprise in all versions was always a shiny marvel that was tricky precisely because it was at the bleeding edge of technology.

I lean towards older and temperemental with lots of retrofits. I definitely like a ship with lots of nooks and crannies for surprises, stowaways, contraband, etc.

2. What is the major problem with the ship? Slow and lumbering? Temperamental hyperdrive? Annoying computer? Cargo bay doors occasionally malfunction?

I was thinking fast under full power, but slow to accelerate and decelerate, making it an important decision to commit to a course. Inconveniently-configured cargo space is also interesting, making transport of large quantites of material or personnel an excercise in space-Tetris.

3. What is the ship's hidden strength? Nooks and crannies for contraband? Able to withstand punishment? Oversized power plant? Hidden weapons pods? Sporty paint job?

I've already spoken in favour of nooks and crannies, and high acceleration under full power. I also like the idea of a surprisingly advanced sensor suite, which would cause the ship to all sorts of missions where we have to listen quietly to suspicious chatter or perform deep-scans of odd alien technology remnants.

4. What sort of person is the Captain? Male, female, or other? Why did they end up commanding a Class D?

I'd like a captain who either (A) hates our guts, or (B) has an overactive sense what Bulldogs' duty entails, because in either case it will mean placing us in a lot of dangerous situations. I'll vote for a stick-in-the-mud by-the-book career officer, a Templar maybe, who has just arrived on board recently and replaced our beloved easy-going former captain after she was killed. The new captain is out to shake this crew of slackers and turn us into military personnel or cannon fodder. Everybody clean up their uniforms!

5. What is the Captain's Trouble? Secret past? Bad marriage? In debt to the mob? Terminal disease?

The captain has mysterious trouble with Templari religious authorities; they refer to her/him as a heretic.

6. What is the Captain's command style? Draconian? Military? Lackadaisical? Disorganized? Professional?

Everything ship-shape and by-the-book — at least, that's what it looks like to us slackers. But in a bar on Central Point, I heard a group of mid-level Templar Navy officers call him/her a slob…

Re: Captain and Ship

Shosuro Kando 09 Jan 2014 22:03

The captain has mysterious trouble with Templari religious authorities; they refer to her/him as a heretic.

Usually screaming at the top of their lungs while they try to incinerate him with man-portable flamers. ^_^

Re: Captain and Ship

Anemone 09 Jan 2014 21:21

Hey, ship-wise I think all three visions so far are very compatible. I do like the temperamental gravplates because this can be both nvoked and compelled as an aspect. Captain-wise, we differ more, I'll wait until other people chime in to see if I can suggest some synthesis.

Re: Captain and Ship

Bremerjen 10 Jan 2014 02:03

I have been pondering the questions list, mostly because what struck me is this all really boils down to what kind of game setting do you want and what do you want to do as a group.

So, as a focus, I like the idea of an old ship with a few tricks up its sleeve. It allows for cliffhanger moments, usually tends to make more sense for player characters since I don't think ANY game I played in had the player characters come in rich. Also, as Sophie pointed out, it gives more leeway for players to have "ship things to do" if that is what they want.

For exactly what sort of "problem" the ship has, I really don't have a preference one way or the other. All of the ideas sounded fine to me. Pick one or a couple and all is good.

For the captain, I like the idea of them being an antagonist as opposed to a buddy, just because that helps drive mishaps…er adventures. I prefer an "organic life form" as opposed to a droid - doesn't have to be human, but shouldn't just be a brain in a jar. As far as what specifically is antagonistic about the captain, I am good with the by-the-book Templar. That is a fast way to get the players bound together in "loves Captain/hates Captain" camps, adding more story hooks.

I worry with a vague "passive-aggressive" command structure, it will be a while before we as players can work with this relationship. The "by-the-book boss" is an archetype we are all very familiar with, and one usually tends to have very strong feelings about one way or the other. A general passive-aggressive captain makes this sort of strong reaction more difficult, and therefore I think the captain will end up being something that is simply ignored or bypassed entirely. The captain basically becomes an unimportant part of the story. Now, if the passive-aggressiveness is very focused, say, specifically about the crew or aliens or certain jobs or the company, etc, then it might have enough definition to make the character a real part of the story. If any of that makes sense…..

Oh, and I really don't care what gender the captain is.

Anyways, that is my two cents for right now.

Re: Captain and Ship

kedamono 18 Jan 2014 06:58

I like everything I've seen so far, but it looks like the consensus is a Captain who is more antagonist than not. I like that, so don't worry too much about my suggestions. Anymore thoughts?