Saskia Zubova, Pirate Captain

Burning Empires Burning Empires Character Burner
1

Dunno if this is a kosher use of this forum. If not, I apologize. I just spent a while doing this and am pretty proud of and happy with it and figured I’d share it here, too:

So I made up a character for a Skype game of Burning Empires I’m going to start (possibly in July) with Daniel, Rachael, Rachel, and Tom. It’s a high tech-index world called the Archipelago, a series of orbital satellites that hovers over the nobility-only pleasure-world of Eden in the Carsigurian Matriarchy. The Archipelago is ruled by a totalitarian democracy (called The Syndicate). Saskia was born in the dirty streets of the Archipelago, was a smuggler by the age of 14, captured, and as punishment was pressed into service on a leaky privateer boat. She hates the government of the Archipelago but loves its people and enjoys violating the laws while operating under a letter of marque from the Syndicate.

Saskia Zubova, Captain of the Bitch Goddess and leader of the Harpy’s Talons privateer crew

Lifepaths: Born to the Streets, Smuggler, Yeoman, Sense Rigger, Pilot, Navigator, First Officer, Ship’s Captain

Beliefs:

Later
Later
Later
Later

Instincts:

Later
Later
Later

Age: 40
Gender: Female
Stock: Human
Homeworld: The Archipelago

Stats: Will: 5, Perception: 6, Agility: 5, Speed: 3, Power: 3, Forte: 3

Attributes: Steel: 7 (hesitation 1), Circles: 3, Resources: 7

Physical Tolerances: Superficial: H2, Injured: H3, Maimed: H7, Mortal Wound: H9

Traits: Aloof ©, Cool-Headed (Dt, p. 253), Hazed ©, Human (Dt), Illegal Crucis (Dt, p. 262), Life Under a Different Code (Dt, 3 pts., p. 264), Light Sleeper (Dt, p. 264), Matriarchal ©, Orphan (Dt, p. 268), Owner-Aboard (Dt, p. 269), Privateer (Dt, p. 270), Undeterred (Dt, pp. 275-276), Well-Known (Dt., p. 277)

Skills: Captain-wise (p. 223): 3, Close Combat (pp. 226-227): 3, Command (p. 227): 6, Crew (p. 227): 2, Crew-wise (p. 223): 3, Embargo-wise (p. 223): 3, Falsehood (p. 231): 3, Hammer-wise (p. 223): 3, Helm (p. 233): 3, Interrogation (p. 234): 3, Navigation (p. 237): 3, Persuasion (p. 238): 6, Pilot (p. 239): 6, Regulation-wise (p. 223: 3, Sensors (p. 241): 5, Ship Management (p. 241): 3, Ship-wise (p. 223): 3, Smuggling (p. 242): 4, Spacefarer-wise (p. 223): 3, System-wise (p. 223): 3, Tactics (p. 244): 6, Trade Route-wise (p. 223): 3, Void-wise (p. 223): 3

Technology: The Bitch Goddess (Hammer Patrol Craft): Capacity: 8 crew, passengers, cargo; Profile: 3; Integrity: 8; Control: +1 Ob; Signals: Automation 4; Sensors: Automation 5; Ordinance: Artillery (1); Vehicular Speed: Space 8; Security: Manned; Structural Tolerances: Surface, H14. Breach, V5. Damaged, S10. Destroyed, S12. (p. 556)

Hammer device: Looks like a Mercator, forces Observation and Sensors tests to detect at +3 Ob

Hammer device: Maneuverable, +1 Pilot die

Sidearm

Affiliations and Reputations:

  • The Harpy’s Talons—a privateer crew charged with reconning and sometimes engaging threats to the Archipelago, 1D
  • Leader of the Harpy’s Talons and Captain of the Bitch Goddess—2D reputation

Relationships:

  • Rhianda Vellux: First Officer of the Bitch Goddess and leader of its marines, childhood friend
  • Haewon Daiko: Vaylen agent, complicated
  • Anwar Daiko: Uneasy alliance as defenders of the Archipelago

Artha:

1 fate, 1 persona point

2

That’s all nice, but really what’s most interesting are the BITs, and Beliefs and Instincts are missing so far. :slight_smile:

3

Yeah, I know. I’ll get them soon and when I do, post them here.

4

Well, I am a little jealous of 8 lifepaths g

5

Well, it is a FoN. I don’t know if I’ll be playing her in the end. The GM didn’t squawk though.

6

Yeah, 8 is a lot, but my guy has 8 as well. I asked Daniel about LP limits and he said aim for 6-8. When I sent him Winter’s info, we had this amusing exchange:

Me: This isn’t set in stone. Let me know if you want me to weaken him a bit…you know, if he intimidates you.
Daniel: I am SO going to kick you ass for saying that!

So I think he’s fine with it. :slight_smile: What really keeps the power on these guys in check is the standard starting exponent cap of 6. That means they can be good at a lot of different things, but there’s still plenty of room for failures. Plus, they start out with less artha.

Are you having second thoughts abouts playing Saskia? Is there something you don’t like about her or a sort of character that you’d prefer?

7

No, no second thoughts. I love her. It’s just that Daniel keeps talking about how these FoNs aren’t necessarily PCs. I thought that was a decision we’d make later or something.

Is there a reason you kept Beliefs undone for Caius? Is it something we’re holding off on?

8

Ah, okay. Well obviously none of the Vaylen-side FoNs are PCs. They’re all his. Only one of the human-side FoNs has to be a PC, but all of them can be. They all were in the last game I played. I’d imagine that it’s pretty common.

I’ve been holding back on Beliefs because it’s so much better to do them together - so we can riff off of each other rather than exist in a vacuum. Our PCs all start out knowing each other, and whether or not they like each other, they should matter in some way, and thus exist in each other’s Beliefs (at least in part - generally speaking, we should all have at least one Belief that includes another PC). I may write a couple but keep them flexible. I’ve also been kind of holding back because we don’t even know what sort of character Tom is going to play, and that could change things. He’d better get back from vacation soon!

9

BUMP! Just trying to bump the ghost comments into the open.

10

Ghost comments are waiting on BITs. If you look in the Wheel of Life (which is, incidentally, the traditional place to request comments on burned-up characters) you’ll see that most comments are about BITs.

Did you have questions about the mechanics of character burning or about how to optimize this character or about other options you thought about? If so, ask them! It’s really hard to look at a burned character with no BITs and tell the difference between a decision you made because it fit the concept and a decision you made because you didn’t think about or know of the alternatives. You need to tell us what you’re uncertain about.

One thing that I noticed is that you have a Hammer Patrol Craft, which requires the Hammer Lord trait to purchase.

11

Yeah, I should be able to have the instincts done soon but the beliefs are probably going to wait until the 4th FoN is made (except for maybe the 4th one, the one from her trait). Also, there are Ts, but I understand they’re not the most interesting parts of BITs.

And no, I don’t have any real questions per se, other than a desire to share something I’m excited about.

The Hammer craft thing, the GM ok’ed it because of her Privateer trait and work.

PS: If an admin wants to move this to the correct board, that’d be great!

12

Heh - I meant the posts that had already been made but weren’t showing up as new. That happens on occasion with this forum. Not sure what causes it, or if there’s a technical term for it, but if someone makes an additional comment, it seems to knock the previous post into view. Anyway, back to Saskia…

13

So since Saskia has a Trait that gives her a fourth Belief that is in stark contrast to the culture she’s in, I wrote that one up. I also did her Instincts, and her second-in-command. If anyone has suggestions on tweaks, I’d love to hear them.

Special Belief:

The Syndicate is a democracy without liberty; I have to end its tyranny without causing the Archipelago to fall into chaos.

Instincts:

  1. If someone’s going to attack me, talk them out of it.
  2. Never miss an opportunity to slag off The Syndicate.
  3. Never suffer a bully to live.

–

Rhianda Velluxa, First Officer of the Bitch Goddess and leader of its marines

Lifepaths: Born to the Streets, Smuggler, Soldier, Breaker, Sergeant, Criminal

Beliefs:

  1. The Syndicate destroys lives; I have to help Saskia bring it down.
  2. Funmi Yar’Adua is my heart’s desire; I must win her for myself.
  3. Anwar Daiko is my hero and Saskia Zubova is the closest I have to family; I have to heal the rift between them to save the Archipelago.

Instincts:

  1. Intimidate before a fight breaks out
  2. Always secure the Bitch Goddess
  3. Always be there when Saskia needs me

Age: 35
Gender: Female
Stock: Human
Homeworld: The Archipelago

Stats: Will: 4, Perception: 4, Agility: 6, Speed: 3, Power: 3 (5 in Anvil), Forte: 5 (6 in Anvil)

Attributes: Steel: 7 (hesitation 1), Circles: 2, Resources: 3

Physical Tolerances: Superficial: H3 (H8), Injured: H5 (H11), Maimed: H8 (H13), Mortal Wound: H10 (H15)

Traits: Anvil Trained (Dt, p. 249), Cool-Headed (Dt, p. 257), Family (Dt, p. 258), FUGAZI ©, Homme Dur (C-O, p. 261), Matriarchal ©, Oddly Likeable ©, Orphan ©, Vig (Dt, p. 276)

Skills: Assault Weapons (p. 225): 4, Black Market-wise (p. 223): 2, Close Combat (p. 226): 4, Command (p. 227): 4, Hidden Compartment-wise (p. 223): 3, Intimidation (p. 235): 4, Persuasion (p. 238): 3, Security (p. 241): 4, Security Rigging (p. 241): 4, Smuggling (p. 242): 4, Soldiering (p. 242): 2, Streetwise (p. 243): 4, Tactics (p. 244): 4

Technology: Anvil Armor (+2 Power, +1 Forte), Assault Weapon, Combat Knife, Security Breaking Kit (+1D Security Rigging), Sidearm

Affiliations and Reputations:

* The Harpy's Talons—a privateer crew charged with reconning and sometimes engaging threats to the Archipelago, 1D
* Marine Captain of the Harpy's Talons and First Officer of the Bitch Goddess—1D reputation

Relationships:

  1. Saskia Zubova: Captain and lifelong friend
  2. Funmi Yar’Adua: In love with her
  3. Anwar Daiko: Served as an Anvil officer sergeant under her command