In Mouse Guard, the descriptors are things that go against their duty, but can still be used in some adventure situations, in really easy-to-see ways. I think a good one for Firefly would be “keep your head down.” Which I guess is pretty similar to “know your place,” but I like it because it brings up the situations right away. Do you stick to the plan (and not risk your Nature), or blow your cover and do what’s right?
Here’s a few thoughts:
An “all in” Human Nature - what a ‘person’ instinctly does/is to survive:
- Loyal to our own (this looks different in the core vs. the border)
- Scrounge (likewise)
- Keep your head down (ditto)
I came up with that list by (a) thinking of times when Mal acts in some way that everyone objects to (leaving Simon and River behind at the start of Serenty or tying their dead friends to the front of the ship, conversely: doing something stupidly heroic) and (b) thinking of the opposite of a Reaver.
Reaver Nature:
- Destroy/turn was isn’t me.
- Take everything.
- Attack.
If you wanted to break out the ‘humans’…
Alliance Nature:
- Law-abiding (addressing all issues related to taking orders, following the rules, conformity, or enforcing same)
- Know your role
- Do your business
Eh. Something like that. I’m strictly focusing on how an alliance person survives, at the core of it.
Border worlds Nature then becomes:
- Loyal to me and mine
- Scrounge
- Keep your head down
The ‘rank’ in Mouse Guard would switch to ‘experience’ in a Firefly game. Instead of tenderpaw, guard mouse, patrol guard, etc, you’d have… I dunno…
- Just off the farm
- Skilled tyro (Simon, Kaylee, Wash, Jayne - each with a skill they’ve focused on)
- Skilled (Zoe, Book)
- Veteran (Mal, who’s kinda good at most things, Inara, likewise)
… and you restrict the Guard Captain and Matriarch in the same way that they are in MG.
In games of Firefly I’ve run in the past, using a number of systems River isn’t a PC as much as a quality affecting certain scenes. “She’s not Gifted… she’s a Gift.”