S
Snowflake
Guest
And when I say Firefly-esque I lean more on the side of 'quirky characters in a banged up ship' rather than a straight up Sci-Fi Western.
The focus of the story is the Crew and their illegal/quasi-illegal activities as they fulfill their personal goals, settle vendettas and deal with each other. The Crew is made up of competent proactive folk with their fair share of flaws and complications. Half of the fun is in their interpersonal relationships during Space Travel and the other half in over the top action sequences or cunning stealthy heists. The Galaxy(or system, its up for debate) their inhabit is an imperfect place much like they themselves are. Closer to the official governing body its the Political and Economic corruption and further away it's Moral corruption. The Crew is not there to fix everyone's problems, they are there to make a quick buck and punish those who get in their way, to settle debts with those that hurt and betrayed them once, to carve out a name for themselves in the turbulent void of space.
The characters are expected to squabble over many things aboard the Ship, on the job however they do what they do best and push it all aside for the sake of the job. They are not fledgling criminals who can't do anything right. Whatever it is that are supposed to do in the Crew they do it well. A crack-shot outlaw rarely misses shots and never gets caught by beat cops, a cat burglar opens locks and moves without being seen, a science officer does wondrous 'techno-sorcery' when given a proper terminal to work on. They're not THE Best in their fields but dammit they are great at their jobs.
Their ship is a clunker, a beat/used up piece of discontinued trash. It's their home, it's sentimental and it is as much of a character as any one of them is. It gets underestimated often, it's a clunker so it is often overlooked or not considered much of a threat, but the same goes for the characters. If their ship is a transport then you can bet your ass it is one of the fastest smuggling ships out there loaded with space to hide cargo in. Or on the other hand if it is a battle cruiser then expect it to be among the best ones for hit and run/smash and grab piracy. It is as much of an extension of the crew as their wit will allow it. Sure occasionally something breaks, but nothing a competent engineer can't fix.
So the Crew is competent and the Ship is not half bad either, but where is the tension, where is the risk? Well they're piss poor for one. Don't expect them to be walking around in power armours, driving tanks or doing strafing runs in their many fighter drones. They are just as squishy as the next person, when left alone that is. The Crew is only as strong as it's cohesion(or maybe adhesion?). Together they stand, divided they fall. That 'cool guy' in the corner standing in the shadows will not last half as long as the crew. Someone will simply shot him in the back while he's under the impression that the corner he is in cannot be simply blown up from the other side.
What do you say? Wanna go rob a space train? Or maybe steal a Grav-Tank? Or take down a MegaCorp that ruined your family business? I guess that would be the last thing, the plot/story would be crafted from character's goals and vendettas as well as reactions to the way they handle those. Taking a sandbox-y approach allows you to choose what are going to be the particular themes and moods of the next mission. One might be an all guns blazing mercenary job, another a heist and the next some form of a social event power play.
The focus of the story is the Crew and their illegal/quasi-illegal activities as they fulfill their personal goals, settle vendettas and deal with each other. The Crew is made up of competent proactive folk with their fair share of flaws and complications. Half of the fun is in their interpersonal relationships during Space Travel and the other half in over the top action sequences or cunning stealthy heists. The Galaxy(or system, its up for debate) their inhabit is an imperfect place much like they themselves are. Closer to the official governing body its the Political and Economic corruption and further away it's Moral corruption. The Crew is not there to fix everyone's problems, they are there to make a quick buck and punish those who get in their way, to settle debts with those that hurt and betrayed them once, to carve out a name for themselves in the turbulent void of space.
The characters are expected to squabble over many things aboard the Ship, on the job however they do what they do best and push it all aside for the sake of the job. They are not fledgling criminals who can't do anything right. Whatever it is that are supposed to do in the Crew they do it well. A crack-shot outlaw rarely misses shots and never gets caught by beat cops, a cat burglar opens locks and moves without being seen, a science officer does wondrous 'techno-sorcery' when given a proper terminal to work on. They're not THE Best in their fields but dammit they are great at their jobs.
Their ship is a clunker, a beat/used up piece of discontinued trash. It's their home, it's sentimental and it is as much of a character as any one of them is. It gets underestimated often, it's a clunker so it is often overlooked or not considered much of a threat, but the same goes for the characters. If their ship is a transport then you can bet your ass it is one of the fastest smuggling ships out there loaded with space to hide cargo in. Or on the other hand if it is a battle cruiser then expect it to be among the best ones for hit and run/smash and grab piracy. It is as much of an extension of the crew as their wit will allow it. Sure occasionally something breaks, but nothing a competent engineer can't fix.
So the Crew is competent and the Ship is not half bad either, but where is the tension, where is the risk? Well they're piss poor for one. Don't expect them to be walking around in power armours, driving tanks or doing strafing runs in their many fighter drones. They are just as squishy as the next person, when left alone that is. The Crew is only as strong as it's cohesion(or maybe adhesion?). Together they stand, divided they fall. That 'cool guy' in the corner standing in the shadows will not last half as long as the crew. Someone will simply shot him in the back while he's under the impression that the corner he is in cannot be simply blown up from the other side.
What do you say? Wanna go rob a space train? Or maybe steal a Grav-Tank? Or take down a MegaCorp that ruined your family business? I guess that would be the last thing, the plot/story would be crafted from character's goals and vendettas as well as reactions to the way they handle those. Taking a sandbox-y approach allows you to choose what are going to be the particular themes and moods of the next mission. One might be an all guns blazing mercenary job, another a heist and the next some form of a social event power play.
