[-] A ceremonial durasteel saber, passed down for hundreds of years through your family. +1 Diplomacy.
Because it half off-sets our diplomacy penalty. As for other stats... Stewardship needs to be high, as we haven't boosted it yet, so it's still at -2. Intrigue can fall behind a bit as it's got an innate +2 boost. Martial, and Piety don't have any bonus or penalty...
Learning has a +1 and if we take the durasteel saber, Diplomacy has a -1... Which means our current stats are the following:
[-} Current Stat Totals
- [-] Diplomacy: 6 (+1 if Durasteel Saber chosen, aka total of 7)
- [-] Martial: 8
- [-] Stewardship: 6
- [-] Intrigue: 10
- [-] Learning: 9
- [-] Piety: 8
Which means I'll be voting for...
[X] Plan All Rounder
[X] A ceremonial durasteel saber, passed down for hundreds of years through your family. +1 Diplomacy.
[X} Rank your stat choices.
-[X] Diplomacy: 3
-[X] Martial: 3
-[X] Stewardship: 6
-[X] Intrigue: 1
-[X] Learning: 1
-[X] Piety: 1
[X] Plan All Rounder
[X] A ceremonial durasteel saber, passed down for hundreds of years through your family. +1 Diplomacy.
[X} Rank your stat choices.
-[X] Diplomacy: 3
-[X] Martial: 3
-[X] Stewardship: 6
-[X] Intrigue: 1
-[X] Learning: 1
-[X] Piety: 1
Okay... Quick Question @inquisition ... I just looked at the incomplete Character Sheet for our character, and it's got all the base stats at 9... Yet you said in the last vote that adding 6 to a stat would bring it up to 14... Which means the base is 8...
You just deciding to confuse us by rolling the default +1 into each stat before the vote's over, or is there something funny going on?... Oh, and you also forgot to add the -2 to diplomacy on the incomplete character sheet.
Okay... Quick Question @inquisition ... I just looked at the incomplete Character Sheet for our character, and it's got all the base stats at 9... Yet you said in the last vote that adding 6 to a stat would bring it up to 14... Which means the base is 8...
You just deciding to confuse us by rolling the default +1 into each stat before the vote's over, or is there something funny going on?... Oh, and you also forgot to add the -2 to diplomacy on the incomplete character sheet.
[X] Plan Something More Offensive
[X] An energy blade, custom-fitted for you and perfectly balanced. +1 Martial.
[X} Rank your stat choices.
-[X] Diplomacy: 3
-[X] Martial: 6
-[X] Stewardship: 1
-[X] Intrigue: 1
-[X] Learning: 3
-[X] Piety: 1
[X] An energy blade, custom-fitted for you and perfectly balanced. +1 Martial.
[X] Rank your stat choices.
- [x] Diplomacy: 3
- [x] Martial: 3
- [x] Stewardship: 6
- [x] Intrigue: 1
- [x] Learning: 1
- [x] Piety: 1
My Reasoning:
None of the major plans focus on Stewardship, and I feel we'll need that almost above all the others, to make our lands/territories strong and thriving to compete against...well, everybody else.
Martial gets the 3 plus the bonus of an energy sword because we'll need to fight for what is ours on the other side, plus having an energy blade will be VERY useful in the event of possible assassinations.
[X] A ceremonial durasteel saber, passed down for hundreds of years through your family. +1 Diplomacy. -[X] Diplomacy: 3 -[X] Martial: 3 -[X] Stewardship: 6 -[X] Intrigue: 1 -[X] Learning: 1 -[X] Piety: 1
[X] A ceremonial durasteel saber, passed down for hundreds of years through your family. +1 Diplomacy. -[X] Diplomacy: 3 -[X] Martial: 3 -[X] Stewardship: 6 -[X] Intrigue: 1 -[X] Learning: 1 -[X] Piety: 1
[X] Plan All Rounder
[X] A ceremonial durasteel saber, passed down for hundreds of years through your family. +1 Diplomacy.
[X} Rank your stat choices.
-[X] Diplomacy: 3
-[X] Martial: 3
-[X] Stewardship: 6
-[X] Intrigue: 1
-[X] Learning: 1
-[X] Piety: 1
Your schooling was, by your own request, as balanced as possible. You had always been a voracious learner, but time and your own burnout had made it impossible to truly excel in any of your studies rather than simply succeed. In a moment that somewhat stung your pride when you were a girl, you overheard your tutor explaining to your mother that you were "the epitome of academic indecisiveness and mediocrity."
More than once, you've wondered if those unkind words had something to do with your "banishment."
In any case, you understand most of what's put in front of you. You likely won't be able to offer any major tactical insights, but you'll certainly be able to keep pace with your officers.
The 'pad confirms what you'd already known - this force is much too large to be a pirate hunt. At most, you would expect a destroyer and a couple of frigate screens. Instead, you have been given a light cruiser - Varyag - as a flagship, as well as the destroyers Konstantin Vasilyevsky, Natalia Arlovskaya, Oleg Volgin, and Katyusha Golubeva. The frigates Verniy and Gangut make up your scouting force. Finally, you have a troop carrier rounding out your little fleet, carrying a full battalion of Marines.
You nod. "Have we got any idea what we'll be running into?"
Chekhov takes the datapad back and pulls up another file. "Some weeks ago, the Okhrana infiltrated the Volchansk pirate cabal."
Ah, the Okhrana - the quintessential villainous secret police-slash-intelligence agency. You definitely hear distaste in Chekhov's voice - you wonder if it was for military reasons (the spooks and the Navy were often fierce competitors) or for more… personal ones.
Electing not to press the matter, you quickly read the intelligence report from the agent on the scene - the pirate anchorage in Volchansk is a single unarmed station protected by three ancient cutters with nothing more than a light mass driver each. The closest thing to an actual threat, according to the report, is the converted freighter that has been outfitted with a single outdated torpedo launcher.
All of this is perfectly fine for intimidating civilian ships into surrender, but taking on actual warships with those rickety excuses for hulls would be suicide. Pirates, even here out in the Periphery, are generally savvy enough not to make that mistake. So, as a result, the biggest problem you'll likely face is whether your flotilla can knock out their shields within twenty minutes of sensor contact. If so, they can be captured or destroyed at will. If not, then they will jump to FTL and finding them again will be an exercise in futility.
You think it'd be a safe bet to say Commodore Chekhov has come to that conclusion too, so you don't mention it. Instead, you say, "What are our options?"
Chekhov nods, the ghost of a smile touching his lips. He prefers your input, you decide - at least one person does. "Well, there are three possibilities for approaching this. The first one that comes to mind is a direct microjump without recon - we'll have no real idea what might've changed since we got the last intel packet from our man on the ground, but it will give us the chance to hit them before they can spool up their drives or raise their shields."
"A bit risky," you note. "We won't have time to properly calculate firing solutions, and we run the risk of getting flanked."
"Under normal circumstances, Ladyship, I'd agree." Chekhov clasps his hands behind his back. "The alternative, of course, is to send in the frigates. We'd nomwhat we were dealing with… but so would they."
[ ] Make a microjump within firing range of the station. Surprise should be total, and you'll catch them with their pants down, but you'll also be flying in blind and may run the risk of being flanked if your intel is out of date.
[ ] Send the frigates in. They can relay accurate information to your cruiser, even if it'll immediately alert the enemy and give them time to spool up their drives and flee.
[ ] Middle ground - send in a probe. Its smaller profile and weaker sensor suite means that it will be more innocuous, but far less effective. You'll have only thermal sensor readings, and the pirates will be on alert.
As you ponder the problem, you hear footsteps behind you. A hand reaches out and firmly grasps your shoulder. You don't react, even as Commodore Chekhov raises an eyebrow at the newcomer. You give a thin smile. Without even looking, you know who it is.
[ ] Felix, the Cheerful Nobleman
[ ] Kiyoko, the Loyal Soldier
[ ] Bashir, the Enigmatic Exile
[ ] Tatiana, the Bloodstained Painter
[ ] Vassili, the Dedicated Scientist
__
Here we have an important choice for the rest of the campaign - your first Hero Unit, and more importantly, the one person you can count on to support your endeavors almost 100% of the time. They are meant to be the Hideyoshi to your Nobunaga, a close companion you can count on unless you really fuck up.
With that in mind, I think it also might be a good idea to explain the "personal relationship" system. If you look at the Relationship stats for all six of the potential Heroes, there are two values - one normal, one in parentheses. The first scale goes from 1 to 10, and there are no barriers to its movement. If, for example, you punch a person in the face, you might lose five relationship points. If you go to either extreme, 1 or 10, you can go no higher or lower.
The second value, the one in parentheses, is arguably more important - it essentially shows how important you are to this person, and how loyal/disloyal they are. This is tied to your regular 1-10 relationship stat, which can increase or decrease it. This value can go from -5 to 5.
To explain better, I'll use an example. Let's say we have a person with a stat of 5(0). This indicates that this person is essentially completely neutral to us on a personal level. They are in the middle of their personal relationship stat (the 5), and have no particular lasting issues or commonalities with you (the 0).
Say you do a few favors for them; they are somewhat grateful, and your personal relationship stat increases. Let's say you earn a total of 6, technically surpassing the limit of 10. What then? Well, you make a roll on a d6. If it succeeds (which I will address later), your Loyalty stat goes up 1. As you have "advanced" to another level, your Personal stat resets to a neutral 5. As a result, your stats become 5(1) with this person. They now feel that you are slightly more trustworthy as an individual, and you can count on them for more things.
On the other hand, let's say you were working against them, and you managed to hit a Personal stat of 1. Once again, you roll a die; if you succeed, that means you have gone down a level to 5(-1); this now means that they find yoususpicious, not enough to discourage mutually beneficial arrangements.
A "success" on the die depends on your Loyalty level. The deeper you go into a relationship with someone, the harder it is to reverse it. As a result, the target number is one more than your intended level. Let's say you have a loyalty of 0, and reach either extreme; that means that your target number is 2, meaning you have to get a 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 on your die to go up or down a level. On the other hand, if you're at Level 4 trying to reach Level 5, you have to score a 6 to increase it. Getting back to 0 is an automatic success if you're at Level 1.
One thing to mention: after 2 years, wherever your Personal stat is, it will start to decay at a rate of 1 point per year back to its neutral value, which is 5. Loyalty, whether Positive or Negative, does not decay.
Personal Combat Skill: 6 (6) Attraction Opinion: 15 (9+5+1)
Relationship: 5(5) - Undying Loyalty
Bio: Felix Petrovich Yusopov, better known as the son of the Duke Pyotr Yusopov of Dnieper, is a charming, handsome young man of 23 years, skilled in the twin arts of drinking and seducing. Despite your differences, the two of you have been fast friends since you were children playing in your mother's court on Novy Moskva. Felix, despite his initial idleness at the cusp of adulthood, has made a real attempt to shape up and become a productive member of the Rurikovich court, undergoing diplomatic training in the civil service school on his homeworld.
He proved to be brilliant in his classes, but lazy in his studies, which didn't get him a nice position with the court's foreign ministry, and has instead left him somewhat idle, slowly going stir-crazy. Recognizing this, you brought him along with you on this expedition, hoping against hope that he'd be of some use. He seems happy to join you, in any case, and he does have the uncanny ability to brighten up anyone's day.
Traits:
Attractive: Felix has the traditional dashing good looks of a Yusopov scion and the charming personality to match. He has attracted the attentions of men and women, and often returns them - he has a reputation as a fantastic lover, and while he is no fighter, sometimes charming the right person is more important than the most glorious battlefield victory. (+2 Diplomacy, +5 Attraction Opinion)
Hedonist: Felix has an unfortunate addiction to the "finer" things in life. While this might make him slightly fun to be around at parties, it is also expensive - and he might eventually run the risk of becoming too inebriated at the wrong time, or taking the wrong courtier to bed. (+1 Diplomacy, +1 Attraction Opinion, -2 Stewardship)
Kind: Felix is a genuinely amicable and pleasant fellow, rarely with a mean word to say to another and always willing to offer a shoulder to cry on. It may leave him vulnerable to the machinations of a more underhanded individual, and gives him a distaste for the skullduggery that often characterizes the nobility, but damned if he isn't likable for it. (+2 Diplomacy, -2 Intrigue)
Subject of the Rurikovich: +2 to Martial and Intrigue, -2 to Diplomacy and Stewardship
Personal Combat Skill: 23 (16+5+1) Attraction Opinion: 3
Relationship: 5(5) - Undying Loyalty
Bio: Ōkami Kiyoko was born simply Kiyoko, a poor peasant in the wintry tundra of Chiyoda's northern hemisphere (in Yamato lands, only those of noble or middling birth are allowed to have "family names.") She joined the Yamato armies at the age of 16 as an ashigaru, showing surprising talent for tactical and strategic thinking and a proclivity for leadership. She performed incredibly well for nearly five years, rising rapidly through the ranks to earn a commission (and, subsequently, a family name), as well as being decorated for bravery (even losing an arm in combat with a band of Periphery pirates).
Still, however, she was resented by the noble officers who now had to acknowledge this jumped-up foot soldier as an equal. After five years of service, one finally acted against her. He framed her for embezzlement and corruption, leading to her discharge and banishment from Yamato lands. For two years, she wandered the Empire, doing odd jobs and listlessly moving from one mercenary outfit to another.
You found Kiyoko drowning her sorrows in a bar on Novy Moskva four years ago - after having defeated the entire place's patronage in a twelve-on-one fight. Impressed after hearing her story, you asked your mother to have her hired on the spot as one of your personal guards, and she fast became your most diligent and loyal protector, and your closest personal friend.
Traits:
Disciplined: Kiyoko's iron will has been forged by her time in the Yamato army. While she no longer serves the will of the Tenno, she carries her ramrod ideals and posture with her wherever she goes. (+2 Martial, -2 Intrigue)
Prosthetic Arm: Kiyoko lost her arm in combat at a young age, and she has been fitted with a mechanical replacement that enhances her strength - but as she was not a noble when it was given, it is of rough construction and makes her injury very obvious. (+2 Martial, +5 Personal Combat Skill)
Subject of the Yamato: Kiyoko was born on Chiyoda, and still retains the quirks and traits of life there. (+2 to martial and learning; Base personal combat skill is ¾ of your Martial rather than ½; -2 to intrigue and diplomacy)
Wroth: Despite her iron discipline, Kiyoko's anger burns hot. If provoked, she will fly into a rage, and very little can pull her back to a calm state before she burns out. (+1 Martial, +1 Personal Combat Skill, -2 Diplomacy)
Personal Combat Skill: 3 Attraction Opinion: 11 (6+5)
Relationship: 5(5) - Undying Loyalty
Bio: Bashir ibn Saddam al-Mufti was born to the ruling clan of Al-Mufti, and as such grew up in a court of bureaucrats, administrators, bankers, and clerks - hardly the most exciting upbringing. He was the son of then-Crown Prince Saddam, himself a rather unassuming fellow for the heir to a Great House, which made him the most likely Sultan once his grandfather and father both died.
Ten years ago, Bashir's uncle Mehmed - the younger heir, and thus not the heir to the throne - betrayed his older brother. The Sultan died of natural causes, and Bashir's father was kidnapped by his sibling's forces and quietly executed. Bashir's mother, seeing the coup quickly succeed and the pruning of her family's branch, quickly fled to the court of Tsarina Ekaterina, long a rival of the Al-Mufti clan.
Bashir arrived in your court a sullen and heartbroken young man, who had a funny accent and wasn't particularly interested in parties, debauchery, or fun. Still, he became one of your best friends, as he needed someone to latch on to in these dire hours and you took a liking to this pale, scrawny boy and the way his mind twisted and turned.
Having expressed an interest in this mission, you were granted permission to bring him along - after all, what problems could one young genius cause?
Traits:
Aloof: Bashir's combination of tragic backstory, sharp wit, and exotically foreign birth ensnare the attentions of the court, even as he rejects these advances in favor of his work. (+2 Stewardship, +5 Attraction Opinion)
Obsessive: Bashir feels the ceaseless need to ensure that everything has a place, and is in that place. His mind is a constant whirlwind of ledgers, charts, and lists, checked and rechecked endlessly. It may make him a more effective administrator, sometimes, but it doesn't do wonders for other pursuits. (+1 Stewardship, +1 to all rolls pertaining to economics, -2 Learning)
Scholar: Bashir has always been an incredibly diligent student, impressing his tutors when he was a boy and his contemporaries as an adult. (+1 Stewardship, +1 Learning, -2 Martial)
Subject of the Al-Mufti: Bashir is a former scion of the Al-Mufti dynasty, and still retains the quirks and traits of life there. (+2 to Diplomacy and Stewardship, -2 to Martial and Learning)
Personal Combat Skill: 6 Attraction Opinion: 11 (6+5)
Relationship: 5(5) - Undying Loyalty
Bio: Tatiana Chernova was born to a middle-class family on Kyiv, and almost immediately became enamored with artistry. She devoured books on painting, artistry, and art history, and was eventually accepted to the incredibly prestigious University of the Artisans in Seine, learning her craft among the Massarde.
However, her life took a turn when she was nineteen - her skills as a painter notwithstanding, she had also attracted the attentions of certain people in the Okhrana, who needed a reliable infiltrator in the Seine universities to feed information to them on a certain important student. After being hastily trained in the arts of espionage and spying, Tatiana found it easy to seduce and feign a relationship with this student, pumping him for enormous amounts of credible information before absconding with her art degree and the contents of his hard drive.
You met Tatiana a year later, and she was almost addicted to intelligence work. She was assigned as an Okhrana shadow for a tour of Novy Moskva, and she regaled you with tales of her exploits across the lands of Rurik. The very same day, she foiled an assassination plot on your mother and you, and the rest was history.
Now Major Chernova, Tatiana has had herself reassigned to the Volchansk mission - partly to keep an eye on her best friend, and partly because she had… something to tell you she couldn't discuss in the capital.
Traits:
Black Widow: Marianne embodies the noir appeal of the "Lady in Red," and the subtle danger she radiates has tempted many an unsuspecting man (or woman) into her parlor… (+2 Intrigue, +5 Attraction Opinion)
Okhrana Agent: Thanks to the efforts of the Okhrana, the Tsarina's secret police, this young former artiste has been transformed into one of the deadliest tools in House Rurikovich's arsenal. (+2 Intrigue, -2 Piety)
Paranoid: After so long in the intelligence business, Tatiana fears that knives and their wielders lurk around every corner. Only she can be trusted, safe in her own skull. This caution may be useful in the intelligence world, but… it isn't exactly endearing. (+1 Intrigue, +1 to all rolls to defend against Intrigue, -2 Diplomacy)
Subject of the Rurikovich: (+2 to Martial and Intrigue, -2 to Diplomacy and Stewardship)
Personal Combat Skill: 10 (5+5) Attraction Opinion: 5 (5)
Relationship: 5(5) - Undying Loyalty
Bio: Vassili Nazarov was always a boy who liked getting his hands dirty. When he was a six-year-old child playing in the vast cornfields of Norilsk's equatorial regions, he would catch and "discover" the small animals who lurked in the soil. He would catalog animals for study in his own little notebook, naming tham and presenting his findings to his father, who, as luck would have it, had been named Norilsk's Minister for the Sciences a year before and now actively encouraged his son's curiosity.
Now, twenty years later, little has changed. The scrape-kneed little boy has grown up into a scrape-kneed young man, who has his nose usually buried in dirt, a book, or a microscope. His father, now a peer and the Lord Minister for the Sciences in the Tsarina's court, got him into a prestigious university for biology, and he followed his dream all the way to a doctorate.
You met him during one of your solitary nights in the Rurikovich Winter Palace years ago, unable to lull yourself to sleep as usual; he was reading under the dim lamp of his wristcom, similarly unable to sleep at all, and instead taking to his studies to while the time away. Your own studies suffering, you requested his aid, and became fast friends tied together by your common problems of insomnia.
Traits:
Adventurer: While Vasily has no military training, that doesn't mean he is a slouch when it comes to combat. Years of supervising digs in the chaotic Periphery with his father have given him a decent ability to fight. (+2 Learning, +5 Personal Combat Skill)
Eager: Vasily is always straining to find the next artifact, the next piece of an unending puzzle. He has become notorious among your circle for his impatience. (+2 Learning, -2 Stewardship)
Insomniac: Whether it's a physical condition or caused by the stress of his station, Vasily has severe trouble falling asleep. He lies awake in bed, his mind churning, and only medication can reliably put him to sleep. As problematic as this is, his sleepless nights do give him time to learn. (+1 Learning, +1 to all rolls that involve personal study, -2 Martial)
Subject of the Rurikovich: (+2 to Martial and Intrigue, -2 to Diplomacy and Stewardship)
[X] Make a microjump within firing range of the station. Surprise should be total, and you'll catch them with their pants down, but you'll also be flying in blind and may run the risk of being flanked if your intel is out of date.
[X] Kiyoko, the Loyal Soldier
If it's a trap we can hit them hard and early enough (Hopefully) to even the odds. if it isn't, the enemy will be needing brown pants. I'm not worried about mines as they are beyond impractical in spacebattle against FTL capable ships
I figure the Loyal soldier that came from nothing is a good aide for our eventual attacks. Besides, she's a possible bodyguard as well.
[X] Make a microjump within firing range of the station. Surprise should be total, and you'll catch them with their pants down, but you'll also be flying in blind and may run the risk of being flanked if your intel is out of date.
Because what the fuck are a bunch of pirates gonna do to us?
[X] Felix, the Cheerful Nobleman
Because I really like his character picture, and he does most of what I want out of a hero unit.
Having a undying loyal spymaster is very useful since while having the other positions be possible traitors will suck it won't be as bad as having the person in charge of our safety betray us.
[X] Make a microjump within firing range of the station. Surprise should be total, and you'll catch them with their pants down, but you'll also be flying in blind and may run the risk of being flanked if your intel is out of date.
[X] Bashir, the Enigmatic Exile
This guy has a really interesting story I'd like to explore more
I'm unsure of who to vote for, other than either the Loyal Soldier or the Shadowy Painter...
Loyal Soldier means we basically never have to worry about our bodyguards turning on us, and helps offset our reduced Martial. On the other hand, the Shadowy Painter basically means we don't have any problems with our Spymaster/mistress...
Screw it, roll the die.
Oh, and @inquisition Two things...
1. Did you mean Shadowy Painter or Bloodstained Painter?
2. Huh, didn't realise that it was you who snagged my suggestion about Loyalty Scales from the Quest ideas thread...
Edit: Loyal Soldier it is! [X] Middle ground - send in a probe. Its smaller profile and weaker sensor suite means that it will be more innocuous, but far less effective. You'll have only thermal sensor readings, and the pirates will be on alert.
[X] Kiyoko, the Loyal Soldier
