Eclipse Phase: A trip to Renewal, Recruitment Options

[Jimson]

“Hey everyone, we have a first timer”, so said some lady the first (and only) time I took the city bus to work.

I have been posting my intentions to try out GMing Eclipse Phase via PbP in the “Eclipse Phase RPG: Scouting for interest!” thread. So here we go.

Players will begin on Phelan’s Recourse (Saturn)

Eclipse Phase p.105
PHELAN’S RECOURSE
Phelan’s Recourse (usually just called "Phelan’s" by inhabitants) is the largest nomadic settlement in the system, with a population estimated around 250,000. Phelan’s is a swarm of some 10,000 small craft and tin can habitat modules that orbits Saturn along a highly elliptical path somewhat inclined to the plane of the ecliptic. The swarm’s orbit is calculated to maximize the number of encounters with near moons and stations, providing a six to eight hour window in which craft can leave the swarm for trade. Phelan’s Recourse passes through the rings once a month, allowing craft to resupply with water and volatiles.

Phelan’s accepts all comers. One could meet just about anyone here, from the government in exile of East Timor to Hasidim from Brooklyn. The core of the swarm is the Stills, a fusion-illuminated grain farm and distillery operated by an allegedly reformed gang of Irish travelers who conned their way off Earth a few weeks before the Fall and escaped to the outer system. The Stills produce Phelan’s Ma, the most sought-after whiskey in the system, and Phelan’s Da, possibly the worst beer ever made. Despite the Phelans’ protestations of legitimacy, the criminal element is heavily represented here. The swarm represents an important link in red and gray market supply chains.

I’m pretty flexible on characters, and as long as its by the normal creation rules I should be ok with it. A brief background/description of the character would be appreciated.

Umm…is there anything else I’m forgetting for the time being?

[Combat Mage]

I'd really like to have a try at this game.

I will put up a character during the next 2-3 days.

He will very likely have a Fury Morph, stem from a group of isolates and sympathize with the anarchists.

[crizh]

In progress

Some of this is shamelessly ripped off but apparently from sources that nobody at Posthuman has ever read so I should be safe....

The concept is an Argonaut spacer with a Tetrad mind who specializes in Programming and Nano-fabrication. She's a bit cracked and a wild individualist, she was killed coming from the outer system into Saturn and suffers from memory loss and severe mental alterations that occurred before she left the Kuiper Belt. She is an excellent Psycho-surgeon and dabbles a little in sculpture.

Markov

[ Spoiler ]

The probe slowly gathered speed as it began it's long journey. The exhaust from it's massive fusion engine was shrouded by a tail of streamers designed to reduce the probe's signature and to recycle the light the hot gases emitted as power for the probe's many on board systems.

For several days it barely seemed to move but as it dived below the plane of the ecliptic it rapidly shrank to a barely visible dot of light which also disappeared after a week or so when the main engine swung away from Markov. It continued to accelerate inexorably as it slowly curved back up towards Saturn.

Periodically big chunks of the converted proto-comet flaked off under the enormous stress and were quickly left behind in the darkness. Eventually it was pointed almost exactly at Saturn and the giant engine cuts out.

The universe seemed to hold it's breath for what seemed like an age whilst the speck in the dark grew to a spark and then a light and finally the familiar winking eye of the ringed giant. An inflection point is reached as Saturn's huge gravity takes hold and suddenly it is rushing towards the tiny lump of dark rock, filling the whole sky with terrifying rapidity.

In the blink of an eye it is over, a journey that began nearly two months previously, the Hill sphere is pierced and in under an hour Saturn is reached, the proto-comet surrenders to enormous tidal forces by splitting into two unequal parts. The larger slides past the former Deity in under ten seconds and is fired up out of the ecliptic like a baseball from a batting machine. The smaller piece ploughs through the upper atmosphere and bursts out the other side, glowing like a coal, into an orbit that will cause it to drift into one of the many coloured rings as so many millions of it's predecessors have done over the aeons.

Sensor-nets, tweaked by such an unnaturally fast object ploughing through the system, were swift to spot the emergency beacon that began broadcasting as the darkening cinder began to cool. Automated rescue bots performed a graceful slow motion ballet for over an hour.

Eventually the lump of cometary rock was dragged aboard an atmospheric skimmer and medical personnel began to examine this strange visitor. Some tiny change, perhaps atmosphere or temperature triggers a tiny sensor. The rock starts to boil and steam, tiny streams of dust flow from newly apparent cracks in it's surface as nanites dissect it from within to reveal some sort of exotic survival bubble.

Medics cautiously approach, querying medical sensors whose interfaces start to appear in the mesh. An iris opens and the arm and shoulder, dripping with acceleration gel, of a vac-suit flop into view. A head rises and the arm opens the suit's visor to reveal a red-haired human female.

'G'day mates, name's Rebel, I don't feel too good.'

And then she died.

Rebel

[ Spoiler ]

Her memory was badly damaged and the emergency pod had little useful data. The best the Plurality could determine she was hitching a lift on an unusual proto-comet being shipped in-system for research. AGI modelling suggested that combined failures of both navigation and propulsion could have caused the strap on booster to drive the comet through the wrong system at twice it's intended speed. No definite conclusions could be reached and a week later what appeared to be a catastrophic engine failure tore the remains of the proto-comet to pieces.

Her morph spent a month in the tank and her Ego spent a month in and out of an old busted up clank working off her debt to the Plurality.

Rebel Elizabeth Mudlark was apparently a crackerjack Wet-programmer and a wizard at programming nano-fabricators so she did not have any trouble building up a decent Rep but all her skills were worthless in recovering the massive chunks of her identity she had lost. She knew her name and knew that she was a spacer that grew up in the Kuiper Belt but nothing else, not even fragments.

She combed through her own Ego with all the Psychosurgical tools at her disposal and came up blank. The memories weren't damaged, they were just gone.

She did learn a lot about herself though. Her neural tree had been altered by someone even more skilled than herself. Her mental make-up was unique, her mind fragmented into four parts, a Tetrad, four distinct personalities each with their own voice and awareness but all part of the same whole. She could see vague shapes in her mental structures that meant something but she didn't know what. She did know that she was blocked from altering them, in fact she seemed to be unusually resistant to divergence. None of her forks ever displayed any desire to change it's core personality. They got twitchy after four hours without a merge and after a week they were verging on mono-mania.

Whenever her mind wandered her hands were busy making little knick-knacks. She sculpted all sorts of strange stuff which almost always folded or twisted or opened to reveal some sort of useful tool or piece of equipment. Sometimes they didn't do anything until three or four were slotted together in the correct configuration and then suddenly they merged to form some highly complex device.

She has a theory that she has forgotten many things about psychosurgery and nano-fabrication but that the skills remain somehow as an emergent harmonic pattern floating in the gaps in her Ego. She has kept such ridiculous speculation to herself.

She has fitted right into Titanian culture. Her Rep has rocketed in various fields, she's the go-to gal if you need your Ego tweaked or Mental Trauma eased. She has released dozens of blueprints into the Open Source community under her moniker Rebel. Advanced Protean Swarms that whip up General Hives, Neutrino Transceivers, Multi-channel Qubit Reservoirs, Ego Bridges or Healing Vats that all bear her iconic swooping 'R' logo.

A number of unsigned designs that might be useful for darkcasting operations have built her a solid Rep amongst less salubrious elements and her Psychosurgical skills have drawn attention from the Pax Familiae. While she could make use of the favours this earns her she rarely does. She has no idea of how to deal with people of that persuasion and fears opening a door she can never shut. Any dealings she has with such groups are through forks she has amped with implanted skills and courage.

Her involvement with Firewall is recent. She was contracted to repair a number of badly fractured Egos that had suffered sanity shattering mental traumas. Her limited success in recovering crucial data led to her recruitment as an Agent. She mostly performs after action psychosurgery on more hands on Agents. Infomorphs are Ego-cast to her, treated in accelerated simulspace and ego-cast back to their home habitats ready to return to operational status.

The profits from her activities have allowed her to pursue her own long term goals. Her repaired Morph has been substantially augmented and she uses it to explore the alterations to her own Ego. She can easily be running six or more Forks simultaneously which are constantly being re-merged back into each other. The old battered clank that the Plurality lent her has been purchased outright. It's limited intellect makes alterations to her own Ego substantially easier to perform and she occasionally uses it with exceptionally resistant patients. She also has a couple of flats in hibernation for emergency use.

----

Meanwhile in the depths of space, one hundred million clicks from the ecliptic, dozens of anonymous chunks of proto-comet are slowly transforming under the direction of millions of pre-programmed nanites.

Stats

[ Spoiler ]

Background: Original Spacer
Faction: Argonaut


Primary Morph: Remade

CODE

COG COO INT REF SAV SOM WIL MOX
30  10  25  10  15  20  40  1

CODE

INI SPD LUC TT  IR  DUR WT  DR
70   1  80  16  160  45  9  68

Active Skills:

Hardware (Electronics) 55, Hardware (Robotics) 55, Infosec 55, Interfacing 55, Networking (Autonomists) 85, Networking (Scientists) 85, Programming 100, Psychosurgery [Accelerated] 85

Knowledge Skills:

Academics (Nanotechnology) 70, Academics (Psychology) 70, Art (Sculpture)[Hidden Nano] 65, Profession (Psychotherapy) 70

Language Skills:

English (Native) 95, Cantonese 65, Spanish 65, French 65, Others (the 30 next most common) 26


Reputation:

@-Rep 80, F-Rep 30, G-Rep 80, I-Rep 30, R-Rep 80


Traits:

Ego: Psi Defence II, Expert (Programming), Exceptional Aptitude (WIL), Edited Memories, Modified Behaviour III

Morph (Case): Addiction (XP feed) III


Implants:

Remade: Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Cortical Stack, Emergency Farcaster, Direction Sense, Echolocation, Enhanced Hearing, Enhanced Smell, Enhanced Vision, Eidetic Memory, Hyper Linguist, Math Boost, (3x) Multiple Personalities, Bioweave Armor (light), Circadian Regulation, Clean Metabolism, Enhanced Respiration, Gills, Grip Pads, Hibernation, Skin Pocket, Temperature Tolerance, Toxin Filters, Vacuum Sealing, Anti-Glare, Electrical Sense, Radiation Sense, T-Ray Emitter, Access Jacks, Ghostrider Module, Mnemonic Augmentation, Medichines, Nanophage, Oracle, Respirocytes, Skillware, Skinlink, Wrist-Mounted Tools, Bodysculpting

Case: Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Cortical Stack, Mnemonic Augmentation

Flats: Cortical Stack, Hibernation, Skin Pocket, Mnemonic Augmentation, Medichines


Gear:

(2x) Miniature Radio Farcaster, (2x) Portable QE Comm, (5x) Specialized Hive (Guardians, (4x) Proteans: General Hive, Neutrino Transceiver, Ego-bridge, Large Qbit Reservoir), Blueprint: Spec' Hive, Blueprint: QE comm, Blueprint: Farcaster, Simulspace Subscription, Skillsoft: Palming

Remade Morph, Case Morph, (2x) Flat Morph

[BlackHat]

Umm…is there anything else I’m forgetting for the time being?

You'll probably want to post the timeframe that you'll be recruiting characters, and how many (I think you said 3-4 in the other thread).

[Sixgun_Sage]

I've got an ex-soldier turned anarcho-capitalist "security expert" and gunsmith that is fond of Fury Morphs as a sleeve, has a pet smart monkey named Mojo, and talks to his guns.....

[Abschalten]

My character concept is named "Xen," an Infolife Argonaut: a Muse-turned-fully sentient AI by her previous owner, who mysteriously vanished right after he completed her programming. She is aware that she used to be "just" a hobbled "helper" AI and that she now has free will, but is new to it. She's trying to become more "human," whatever that means now, while searching for the one that gave her her freedom.

Since her former owner was an Argonaut, she took up the cause in his honor, and looks for data and information that she can pass onto the scientific community in order to advance transhuman progress. He was also a member of Firewall, and since she was with him every moment and helped filter his communications, she was aware of his secret. In fact it was in her desperation to find the man that created her that caused her to reach out to Firewall using his old access codes. Since she was privvy to all of the information that he'd had access to, they recruited her as well into their cause.

She's ridiculously good at computer skills, programming, and finding information on the Mesh, but pretty horrid at social skills being as she spent most of her life being a digital helper. She is also very good at Psychosurgery, being that she is aware of what it took to make her into a full ego. She can fire a gun to protect herself but she's not a hardened soldier by any stretch of the imagination. She prefers synthmorphs that have a synthetic mask on them in order to appear human.

[BlackHat]

The concept I am leaning towards would be a async Gatecrasher ("touched" by something on the other side?), based loosely on the Xenoarcheologist sample character. His psi abilities would manifest as a rewiring of his mind to allow for incredible mathematical and linguistic potential (and some slight telepathy). He would excel at a number of things that are unlikely to come up (like xenolinguistics, and xenobiology, etc), but still sounds like an interesting character to play, and would have some useful skills that could be put to use in a number of other situations. Sheet and bio to come - but like I said, Monday at the earliest.

[Grinder]

My concept:

I'm going with a re-instantiated guy (born in 1950s black guy who spent his time in Vietnam and law enforcement) who is now a member of the Ultimate faction (hence his synthmorph: a slitheroid with additional arms). During his years as infomoprh after the Fall he got more and more into the idea that human life as we knew it is in-efficient and too short-lived. Yeah. Something along that line. Spent his time in a mercenary unit, equipped with a cheap synth moph, until he had earned enough money to buy his Slitheroid morph.

[pragma]

Interested in playing a scum async who is, entirely unwillingly, a technical mastermind. Scumborn and scumbred he was entirely interested in living the life of a space hipster to the fullest. Much to his dismay, he discovered that he had a knack for science, mathematics and computation. In spite of his best efforts to quash his talent, it kept expressing itself to the point that he's become suspicious of his own potential.

He makes his living repairing bits and pieces of the scum fleet while actively trying to hide the fact that he can and striving to live the of a starving artist and party animal. The unnatural mental abilities that make his work easier are hidden even more jealously.

Of course, firewall's discovery that he could be a useful member of society gave them tremendous leverage over him. All they'd need to do was tell people he was useful and the party would end forever. He grudgingly attempts to save humanity, but often thinks this all amounts to "polishing brass on the titanic before the buffet tables get flooded."

In short: Scumborn Scum Async Technologist with a Bouncer morph and a lazy streak a mile wide.

Stats to come when I figure out how to make them.

[Jimson]

You'll probably want to post the timeframe that you'll be recruiting characters, and how many (I think you said 3-4 in the other thread).

Right! How about 2 weeks from today for character submissions. Then I'll go through them and pick out 3-4 for the game.

So far the concepts are looking good. Haven't had much time to read through them all thoroughly yet. If anyone has any questions for me, feel free to ask.

[Jimson]

Hi crizh. I'm still learning the rules, but just a few questions about some of your stats.

Stats

[ Spoiler ]

Background: Original Spacer
Faction: Argonaut


Primary Morph: Remade

CODE

COG COO INT REF SAV SOM WIL MOX
30  10  25  10  15  20  40  1

CODE

INI SPD LUC TT  IR  DUR WT  DR
70   1  80  16  160  45  9  68

Active Skills:

Hardware (Electronics) 55, Hardware (Robotics) 55, Infosec 55, Interfacing 55, Networking (Autonomists) 85, Networking (Scientists) 85, Programming 100, Psychosurgery [Accelerated] 85

Knowledge Skills:

Academics (Nanotechnology) 90, Academics (Psychology) 90, Art (Sculpture)[Hidden Nano] 85, Profession (Psychotherapy) 85


Reputation:

@-Rep 80, F-Rep 30, G-Rep 80, I-Rep 30, R-Rep 80


Traits:

Ego: Psi Defence II, Expert (Programming), Exceptional Aptitude (WIL), Edited Memories, Modified Behaviour III

Morph (Case): Addiction (XP feed) III


Implants:

Remade: Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Cortical Stack, Emergency Farcaster, Direction Sense, Echolocation, Enhanced Hearing, Enhanced Smell, Enhanced Vision, Eidetic Memory, Hyper Linguist, Math Boost, (3x) Multiple Personalities, Bioweave Armor (light), Circadian Regulation, Clean Metabolism, Enhanced Respiration, Gills, Grip Pads, Hibernation, Skin Pocket, Temperature Tolerance, Toxin Filters, Vacuum Sealing, Anti-Glare, Electrical Sense, Radiation Sense, T-Ray Emitter, Access Jacks, Ghostrider Module, Mnemonic Augmentation, Medichines, Nanophage, Oracle, Respirocytes, Skillware, Skinlink, Wrist-Mounted Tools, Bodysculpting

Case: Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Cortical Stack, Mnemonic Augmentation

Flats: Cortical Stack, Hibernation, Skin Pocket, Mnemonic Augmentation, Medichines


Gear:

(2x) Miniature Radio Farcaster, (2x) Portable QE Comm, (5x) Specialized Hive (Guardians, (4x) Proteans: General Hive, Neutrino Transceiver, Ego-bridge, Large Qbit Reservoir), Blueprint: Spec' Hive, Blueprint: QE comm, Blueprint: Farcaster, Simulspace Subscription, Skillsoft: Palming

Remade Morph, Case Morph, (2x) Flat Morph

I noticed a few of your skills are all 85 or more. Did these get bumped over the 80 skill limit from your Attribute bonus from your Remade morph? Even with this, are you still allowed to exceed the 80 skill point max stated on p. 136? Also, noticed you had your Programming (w/Expert (Programming)) up to 100. The most you can have in a skill is 99. If you spent the CP for that last point, you now have them back.

As for your additional two morphs, where will those be stored? Just curious. So far, looking good.

Maybe for future character postings, perhaps having the format of the EP Character Sheet (Base, Morph Bonus, Total) for skills might make things a bit easier. For example, Fray 75 + 10 = 85

[crizh]

Yeah, Morph bonuses apply to skills after you've bought them so you start with Base Aptitude plus background/faction mods and can then buy up to 80. Morph mod's will shift that up or down appropriately.

You're right about the Programming skill it is limited to 99, the spreadsheet doesn't catch that and I wasn't paying attention.

The two Flats have Hibernation so they can be stored easily, I haven't given much thought as to where. I shall get right on with designing my evil base.....

[Jimson]

Perfect. Thanks!

Also, unless I missed it, I did not see Rebel's three personal motivations. Just something to think about.

[horvagab]

Would an Octomorph Master Thief by the name of Pazuzu would be out of place? Maybe I'll think of something else, but Octomorph's just reek of Awesome (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Jimson]

As long as it's by the rules, I will most likely be ok with it. Octomorph's are in the rules, so party on.

[crizh]

Perfect. Thanks!

Also, unless I missed it, I did not see Rebel's three personal motivations. Just something to think about.

I've got Immortality, Open Source and Nano-ecology jotted down somewhere...

I haven't done languages yet either. I've gotten a bit distracted inventing new and cool stunts with Forking....

Elizabeth Charm Mudlark

[ Spoiler ]

Charm is one of several Elizabeth Mudlark LP's (limited personalities). Conceived as a method of dealing with criminal elements she is an Alpha Fork that is regularly patched with a number of Beta Forks using a process Rebel calls Back Forking. Several Beta Forks of Charm were Psychosurgically altered to possess useful skills like Networking (Criminal) and then merged back into each other to create a skills template which is kept in cold storage. Every morning Rebel creates an Alpha Fork of Charm and overlays the skills template onto it, this usually involves memory loss and some stress to the Alpha Fork. Rebel then Merges this Alpha Fork back into Charm to create a seamless personality that, after a couple of hours meditating in simulspace, has a great many useful skills for dealing with the criminal underground.

Charm is a familiar and well liked personality on Phelan's Recourse due to all of her personality elements having been roaring drunk at the time of their creation. She is occasionally let loose on the Realized world in one of the Flats that rebel keeps for emergencies. Havoc often ensues.

[Aria]

Sadly KxU has put a hold on his EP game...I've sorted a themed background for a couple of concepts which I'll try and narrow to one if you have space...I'm thinking of a Neotenic Hacker, a former AGI who wants to experience what it's like to be 'human'

A

[Jimson]

crizh, liking the character (and the depth you are putting into her...it is a her, right? Or should I use "they/them"?), but I'm starting to get a little confused. The "base" character is Elizabeth Mudlark, but also has alternate identities as Charm, Rebel, and Markov? Also, your stats look great, but wondering if you were planning on throwing any points in there in case She gets into any combat/stuff-hits-the-fan situations (Fray, for example).

Aria, feel free to put a character together. I plan on picking 3-4 come July 29th. If someone needs a little more time, then it could get pushed out a little. So far, I've only seen concepts, and the one concept w/stats from crizh.

It is sad KxU had something come up. Gotta love real life getting in the way of gaming.

[crizh]

Markov is a habitat in the Kuiper Belt.

I'm not really sure how to go with the multiple personalities thing. I was just going to feel my way around how you wanted things to develop as GM.

One option is to be running several identical forks that might have different packages of tweaks but are otherwise the same mind.

The other more complex option is to have several completely distinct Egos with their own aptitudes, skills and 'character' that trade control of the Morph depending on which one is best suited to the situation at hand. I could do that by reassigning all the points spent on aptitudes, skills and traits to create a number of alternate Egos. It's a lot of work and it might not be to your taste.

I'm easy either way.

Charm is designed as a kind of thought experiment.

[Jimson]

I may need to do some more reading up on forks. I'm thinking more along the lines of your first option. Just a suggestion, but maybe take a few points from your higher stats and use them for skills associated with Charm (i.e. Criminal networking, and such...don't have my PDF available right now). When Elizabeth users the Charm fork, those skills come into play more than your your other ones. So one ego, but when she's forked into one of the other morph's, the Chram personality kicks in.

[Combat Mage]

I'll have to bow out of this one. While the game looks very exciting and I'd love to play I just can't seem to find the time and energy to properly read up on the setting and rules enough to create a good fleshed-out character that does the game justice.

I'll still follow this thread as a spectator. Have fun with it.

[Jimson]

Thanks for the interest Combat Mage. I'm still learning the system and setting. I have a feeling this will be a learning experience for all. Hopefully as time goes, a few others will be running some EP games.

[BlackHat]

Back from vacation, and eager to get something together in the next day or two (have to catch up on work most of today, unfortunately).

One question I had was if you had a particular game type or theme in mind (are we working for Firewall, which is the default assumption, etc)?

[Jimson]

Welcome back from vacation.

Yes, it will be the "default campaign" (p. 22). So...something comes up and you'll be brought in by Firewall. If its ok with people, to make things easier, it will be assumed players will already be aware of firewall and been recruited to be a sentinel. It will save sometime on getting started and players can put points into Firewall Rep and networking.

[EDIT]
As for theme...nothing quite yet is coming to mind, but then again, once the ball starts rolling, lots of ideas start coming to me. I would suggest characters be somewhat able to handle there own combat, either with equipment (armor, weapons) or stats (Fray, combat skills, or high attributes to default in the skill).

I do have a lot of ideas on what to do right now...just not sure how far I want to take it. Guess we'll roll with the punches.

[Xahn Borealis]

I'm thinking of a Lost nanotechnologist/genehacker. Female in both ego and morph and is actually in favour of the the experiment that created her, to the point of wanting to try again. To this end, she will be in contact with a small network of scientists willing to continue the research. Think the Lunar Ego Hunter with opposite motivations. Stat'ed by tonight.