Character and group discussion - This is where you can post character concepts for the group build

A total of nine personal was sent to land on mars while another ten are on the transport ship placed in orbit. All player characters will be created from the 9 personal that touched down on the surface of mars near the ruins. The total number of classes sent to the surface. 4 warriors 3 experts 2 psychics Intro text to work with: In the year 2016, a raw stream from a rover was released by accident and the media exploded on the fact that there was, recorded for the first time, an alien ruin seen on that stream. After exhausting all means of remote exploration with the rovers on the ground, a privately own Corporation steps up and privately funds a manned mission to Mars. In four short years the first manned spaceship, the “Hermes” was ready for it's maiden flight. During the construction of the ship, Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, better known as SpaceX, privately hired a group of adventurous people to take a trip to Mars with the understanding that it might be a one way trip.

Hey everyone! I tend to create characters that fill the role of whatever the group needs, and since I don't have any prior experience with this system I am entirely open to playing any of the three classes (though the Pyschic does sound pretty fun). Does anyone have any ideas on what kind of character they're going to make?

I was thinking of playing an expert, I'll have to see what skills are in the book but computers/robotics is my preference.

I was also thinking expert, but along the lines of a scientist/biologist. Someone to science things, with science, as well as maybe poke alien ruins and technology, if there is any.

It looks like two want to play techies and a third a psychic. I am totally on board with playing the BSF.

I have no problem playing a warrior type.  Looking at a Commando type ("Get in the chopper"-Arnold)  Maybe taking Combat/Unarmed, with Culture/Traveller.  Still trying to work through the PHB.   

All you have to read is from pg 9 to pg 32 for character generation since the setting in the book is not being used, your equipment is being issued, there will be no need of starship designs (all action is planet bound), etc....

Okay, looking, I'm thinking a definite academic type/scholarly person, who's done some papers on what alien culture and such would be like. I think maybe a focus on science and tech skills, but I'd gladly let Paul take the tech skills if he prefers though, and I could keep science and academic-type skills, and maybe face skills and make Neil Degrasse Tys  a more 'celebrity' scientist, with more research and academic focus, instead of practical things. just the things off the top of my head,of course. Commando Arnold Schwarzenegger on Mars would be pretty cool, I must say. I like it! Also, side note, if I do this, could I take culture/alien purely as a 'theoretical,' thing, like an anthropologist, maybe?

B said: Also, side note, if I do this, could I take culture/alien purely as a 'theoretical,' thing, like an anthropologist, maybe? Sure, you can be one of those fringe scientist aka crackpot until proven correct (Daniel Jackson of Stargate).

I always wanted to be a crackpot. My dreams are coming true.

Ajax was brought up in the military tradition. His father was an NCO in the Greek army, as was his grandfather, and his father before that... dating back to when they won their glorious freedom from the Ottomans. After a few years of service, Ajax became disillusioned with the bureaucracy and low pay. Ajax felt that if he was to risk his neck for the government's resources, then he ought to get some resources for himself. Seeking adventure and riches, he joined DynCorp as a private military contractor and never looked back. For the past 10 years, Ajax has fought in nearly every major conflict on the globe. After hearing about the Mar's mission, Ajax eagerly applied to SpaceX, hoping for an opportunity to explore a new world and bring back what riches can be found in the ruins of red planet of Ares.

Conan, you can start drawing up a list of equipment, you think Ajax would think will be needed. Weapons, ammo, various gear used in military situations. Like I said, you all are not purchasing your equipment but it is issued but I never said you wouldn't have say in the gear. You all have say on your gear as it is going to be what your characters will be relying on. You just don't have to worry about the price, just the weight and size.

@Conan...Love Ajax.....one of the best ski mountains in America.....oh you were talking character.....sorry  carry on!

Dr. Jamison Somnerset, known in many science circles as a bit of an, 'eccentric.' Which is a good way to say he's a little obsessive, self absorbed, and all in all a bit paranoid. He began as a researcher in biology, then anthropology, then astronomy, then theoretical xeno-anthropology, with a dash of theoretical xenobiology. Not the most well respected, considering both his fields of specialty and general personality. He's been the laughing stock of the scientific world, although has featured in many TV documentaries about alien life, and his theories tend to begrudgingly accepted as, 'reasonable,' if a bit 'out there.' He most likely would have faded into obscurity, if it wasn't for the discovery on Mars. With the news of the signs of xeno ruins, Dr. Somnerset immediately signed up for the SpaceX mission, giving a feel of legitimacy to the expedition. Well, as much legitimacy as he could give.  Nevertheless, someone with at least some theories on xeno-life as well as some medical knowledge can only help.

B, you can start drawing up a list of equipment, you think Somnerset would think will be needed. Computers, research equipment, and various gear used in his profession. Like I said, you all are not purchasing your equipment but it is issued but I never said you wouldn't have say in the gear. You all have say on your gear as it is going to be what your characters will be relying on. You just don't have to worry about the price, just the weight and size.

If approved, I will give more detail as needed.  Character Name: Timothy Malek Age: 26 class: expert technician background, adventuring expert..I think of my character as a mercenary scientist adventurer type who has to do fieldwork tech often, as well as stints in a shop or lab.   background skills: Culture/World, Exosuit, any two Tech skills except Maltech or Psitech. adventuring expert Skills: Any six skills, at least four of which must be Expert class skills. equipment desired: Powered armor (or second choice assault suit) [counts as my vacc suit], stun baton, void carbine, backpack, glowbugs, grapnel launcher, low light goggles, navcomp, pressure tent, rations, solar recharger, survival kit, lazarus patch, instapanel (2), metatool, 4-6 type A power cells, toolkits, argus web, holo unit, grav harness.compad, dataslab.also desired are 2 retractable waldos (smaller prosthetic limbs below my real arms, and can be used in my power armor suit through slots in the armor.)(dont know if this counts as more than one prosthetic, or as the body arsenal array).  and some type of Moon Buggy.

Finished with Character.   Warrior/Commando Dana 'Bud' Nichols Age:32 Background: Combat/Unarmed, Stealth, Tactics Idea: Think of Bud as an elite on Earth special forces guru.  Bored of the same ol' stuff.  Wants something new and different.  Check Bio/Character sheet for more. Equipment:  Standard Tech3, Woven body armor, shield, great sword, combat shotgun, semi-auto pistol.  Exploration gear: Backpack, binoculars, ammunition, glow bugs, survival kit.

Paul S. said: If approved, I will give more detail as needed.  Character Name: Timothy Malek Age: 26 class: expert technician background, adventuring expert..I think of my character as a mercenary scientist adventurer type who has to do fieldwork tech often, as well as stints in a shop or lab.   background skills: Culture/World, Exosuit , any two Tech skills except Maltech or Psitech. adventuring expert Skills: Any six skills, at least four of which must be Expert class skills. equipment desired: Powered armor (or second choice assault suit) [counts as my vacc suit], stun baton, void carbine, backpack , glowbugs, grapnel launcher, low light goggles , navcomp, pressure tent, rations, solar recharger, survival kit , lazarus patch, instapanel (2), metatool, 4-6 type A power cells, toolkits , argus web, holo unit, grav harness. compad , dataslab.also desired are 2 retractable waldos (smaller prosthetic limbs below my real arms, and can be used in my power armor suit through slots in the armor.)(dont know if this counts as more than one prosthetic, or as the body arsenal array).  and some type of Moon Buggy. There is no power armor or truly scifi gear like a holo unit or grav harness . This is based in real life about to step into the cinematic. Everything your character has starts out grounded in real tech (you've listed tech 4 stuff. That does not exist except what I listed in the rules thread. Please read and understand. The following limitations or changes apply Tech level is 3 or less . Anything that has “world” in it refers to Earth and their countries. Yes you can be from differing countries but all characters need to read, write, and speak English, even if it is a 2nd or 3rd language. Starting equipment : This will be issued to you by the corporation that is funding this mission. As it is not a gov't funded venture, there are restrictions. No WMDs. The group before the game starts will have to sit down and hash out their supply list. If something is needed but not listed, there is a chance it might have been sent. No replacing prime requisites with a 14. Background packages : Most of the background packages will not make sense nor be applicable to the game. If you choose a background that is not truly applicable, you better make sure your background has a very good reason to have you on this mission. A peasant has no reason to be on a mission to mars. A soldier or a technician would. A retired or a wannabe politician could be worked into it if one is creative enough. Skills : Again, like the background packages, the skills have to be appropriate to the time frame, tech level, and general theme. Anything based on Alien, Psitech, Biotech, or anything to far advance is purely assumptive or not allowed . Class packages Experts class : have a couple class packages that are not needed nor useful. There is no following class packages: Preceptor Adept or Xenoarchaeologist (can be modified to a standard Archaeologist if wished). Psychics class : This is a undeveloped and not understood properly. There is no formal training. There is no following class package: Academy graduate or Healer. Warrior class : have a couple class packages that do not exist due to the setting. There is no following class packages: Exchange Enforcer, Space Marine, or Templar. Psionics There are certain psionic disciplines that do not exist at the start of the game. They are the following: Teleportation Equipment : The current state of the art equipment is tech level 3 . The following tech 4 equipment is allowed as issued equipment. Exploration Gear : Solar recharger, Vacc freshener, and Vacc suit Tools and Medicine : Medkit, Powercells A & B, Toolkits (tech level 3) Personal Acc : Compad (advanced tech cellphone/tablet) Remember that you are to get a group inventory together. Nothing is issued individually. This is a group mission and the sooner you all understand that the more likely the group will live to return to Earth (if that is the plan).

The closest thing to a void carbine is a rocket launcher or bazooki type of weapon. Ammo is caseless and can be fired in vacuum or a thin atmosphere. This game is on Mars not space or somewhere else there is expected to be zero g enviroment. If fact I've already written up the first post and you all will be starting out on the planet after drop off.

So, a quick idea of what kind of gear Somnerset thinks they'd need:  *Climbing Gear, maybe?  *Thermal Flares, always a good idea. *Vac Suits and refreshers, of course *Medkit, Somnerset has no faith in these brutish gun men to not get themselves hurt. *Some kind of transport, I didn't see anything in book that fits, but it seems like something we may be able to bring, maybe? *Compads Some less useful things, and more, 'I'ma scientist, trust me on this,' stuff: *Books. On everything. Medical and anatomy textbooks, books on anthropology, books on theoretical xeno anatomy,(he might've writen it, but whatever) books on martian atmosphere, etc. I'd imagine he'd have to keep most of them in their base/tent, as that sounds like a lot of textbooks. *Lab equipment to analyze biological stuff. Once again, super heavy, probably need to be kept in the tent. *More medical equipment. We're on Mars, exploring alien ruins. There's probably some kind of dangerous bacteria in them, and then it'll infect someone, then Somnerset would get to name a new disease. Exciti-I mean, terrible. Most of the stuff at the end there, there isn't really  anything in the rulebook about, but I'd figure would exist and Somnerset would want to drag along. No idea if all of it is truly necessary, (the books are more to give a reason as to why Somnerset knows off the top of his head random tidbits of info, so not really  needed,)  but hey. Lemme know if anyone else can think of anything.

I like where Somnerset is going with this.

B said: *Some kind of transport, I didn't see anything in book that fits, but it seems like something we may be able to bring, maybe? I have that covered. B said: Some less useful things, and more, 'I'ma scientist, trust me on this,' stuff: *Books. On everything. Medical and anatomy textbooks, books on anthropology, books on theoretical xeno anatomy,(he might've writen it, but whatever) books on martian atmosphere, etc. I'd imagine he'd have to keep most of them in their base/tent, as that sounds like a lot of textbooks. It would be all digitally preloaded to save space and weight. B said: *Lab equipment to analyze biological stuff. Once again, super heavy, probably need to be kept in the tent. *More medical equipment. We're on Mars, exploring alien ruins. There's probably some kind of dangerous bacteria in them, and then it'll infect someone, then Somnerset would get to name a new disease. Exciti-I mean, terrible. There are going to be two types of Lab equipment. Small portable lab equipment that allows you to uses your expert/science skills and the big permanently placed stuff that is at the Base. The same with most of the medical equipment also.

...oh yeah...e-books are a thing....

Is it possible to dual class an expert and psychic? I'm thinking a character who can operate the ground transport, cook, do camp type stuff and is also a Shaman...

Will the crew be allowed to bring along a small amount of personal gear? Say 5 pounds or so?

Olaf The Stout said: Is it possible to dual class an expert and psychic? I'm thinking a character who can operate the ground transport, cook, do camp type stuff and is also a Shaman... No Olaf The Stout said: Will the crew be allowed to bring along a small amount of personal gear? Say 5 pounds or so? personal gear is allowed. stuff that a civilian would have is fine.

Damn, I have an awesome concept for a Shaman it's just explaining why he's in the crew that's got me stuck.

Olaf, saw that you filled out the sheet but not the bio tab. Need that filled out (look at the others for an idea) so that everyone can see each others background.

All I did was make some rolls...

Um, what sheet?

Daniel Twofeathers was added to the Mars expedition to use his Shamanic "powers" to investigate Native American looking petroglyphs that rumours claim were found by a robotic rover.

Hey everyone, I'm gonna be the newbie in the group and gonna work on getting caught up to where everyone is at. My character will either be loved or hated, but should be kinda fun ;)

Welcome aboard Pers!

Hey Pat, my character sheet is up in the room, let me know if everything looks fine. When you have time though, I'm enjoying watching for now. 

Persephone said: Hey Pat, my character sheet is up in the room, let me know if everything looks fine. When you have time though, I'm enjoying watching for now.  Character looks fine mechanics wise. If everyone is ok with the character's bio and such, good to go then.

Go Phone Go!!!