Mass Effect: Hired Guns

A Doctor, ummm... shit I had this stuff written down... oh ye, here it is. Doctor, Technician, Cargo Manager person, Liason(Sweet-Talker), Navigator, maybe a Science Guy. I mean these are just possible things, but a Doctor is really needed. Maybe a Navigator. A Vorcha pilot might be able to pilot but considering they are worms, I doubt they can navigate.

Captain, negotiator, and/or medic are the talents we really need thus far.

It looks like someone might have to make a second character at some point.

Actually, if we reason that I, having had merc experience, might be fairly good at talking my way through things. Negotiating for contracts, trying to get past racial prejudices... It's not the best explanation, but it's something.

We still need someone to captain most of all. As a ragtag band of bandits, mercenaries, reputable businessmen, Ruffians, we probably won't be able to fill all roles, and that's just part of the adventure.

At the moment, we have two crew who regenerate their health/can just say "I had a spare", we probably don't even need a good medic. There's always omni-gel.

And roles we don't have also qualifies as handy-dandy plot hooks.

Balufire wrote:

A Vorcha pilot might be able to pilot but considering they are worms, I doubt they can navigate.

Hey, no, what? That's like saying humans are lemurs, on grounds that their hands are similar. Loosely speaking. The actual list of shipside roles is nice.

Kla's got this helm thing locked down, or close enough, pending some miraculous competence in electronic warfare. If you need a lookout or burglar, maybe it can even be of extravehicular help. (Maybe. I didn't think of that when writing up Skills.)

Don't suppose we can coax an asari captain outta you, Lieo? To prime the powder keg and all.

Otherwise, can we really make being captainless into a plot hook? Maybe the last one died.

Beginning in medias res of an attack on us where in the brutal and efficient Hanar captain dies would be a great way to start things. Someone would need to step up naturally.

Navigation can probably be handled by on-board VI systems if the Vorcha can't handle it, too.

I believe you meant Medi-gel, James, but that's also a good point. Just slap some of that in the wound.

Asari captain may not roll over well with Ji's character, given his history. She'll likely play out as an infiltrator with some medical training. Smooth talking and sneaky. A failed huntress that neglected the practice of her bionic powers.

But if there's no other choice then I guess I'll cave.

Hey, just because I've had bad experiences doesn't mean I'm going to not sign on for credits. Besides, I've got a krogan if an asari gets uppity.

Well no one is forcing you to do anything.

Ooh, yes. Power transition sounds interesting. As does that captain.

At least let the vorcha strand everyone once or twice (over the course of the last few years) before ponying up the credits for mechanical assistance. In case we need a plot hook later, I mean. Or let the VI strand everyone. Even better.

Indeed, it's your decision as to whether the char concept feels right, Lieo.

I wonder how an Elcor captain would play out. Then again, they probably wouldn't be quick-witted enough.

The Hanar captain idea is probably what we're going to do at this point; that sounds like a good idea to me. Then we can just sort out if one of us naturally ends up in a leadership position. That way nobody's pressured to make a character destined for leadership.

I still don't see any of us making good or even moderately helpful captains. But it is a much better plan than forcing someone to be the captain.

At least we aren't rushing to make the biggest baddest leaders ever.

Yes, a whole ship of Captains would be quite boring.

Well obviously. As would a ship full of engineers, or fighters, or phone hygienists.

But just think of the civilizations they'll found when they inevitably crash onto a habitable planet and displace the natives!

References aside, I could see 'working below decks on an interstellar cruise liner' as a reasonable engineer-heavy premise.

Well, we could work something out like an unofficial but mostly agreed upon leader. Nobody is reeaaally the captain, but everyone just seems to accept that this one guy/gal makes most/all of the calls.

That's essentially what would happen. We'd probably bicker, one of us would step up and suggest somewhere to go, then we go. Then roll credits.

1. Bicker.
2. Throw darts at galaxy map.
3. ???
4. Profit!

I have her description down. I'm sorry for working so slowly, I'm studying everything as I go along.

Name: T'ella "Ella" Phori
Species: Asari
Age: 201
Gender: Mono-gender; feminine
Biotic: Yes.
Description: At 5'9", 139 lbs, and 36C, Ella has a standard curvature seen in most asari maidens, though her muscles are noticeably much finer toned than others of her kind. Her complexion is healthy as she lacks few scars with the exception of a small one stretching an inch below her left eye. Thin black markings are drawn across her brows and outline her eyes on her ashy blue skin, with little contrast between her skin and her deep ocean blue irises. Her scalp crests appear generally standard, giving her a round head but curl off at the end, adding an elegant touch. A small nose and half-full lips gives her the cute appearance of innocence which betrays her brash nature, and conflicts with a pronounce jaw line. Her body is adorned with a skin tight suit of light onyx armor sparing the helmet, which does a good job of making her body type more pronounced. A belt is done loosely around her waist to carry certain equipment. Equipped with her is an omni-tool (which is used mostly as a scanner, for communications, and as a weapon that can be utilized), and a harpy line pistol.

Given the comfortability and practical uses of her armor, she doesn't generally kick it back and relax in her more standard clothing. She scoffs at the idea of traditional asari threads, especially the robes and cloaks often worn by matriarchs. When she kicks back and relaxes, it is usually done in a casual spacer outfit. A thick, bulky, and sleeveless vest wraps around her unzipped, providing padding on top of a tight fitting black shirt, which is as well sleeveless and reveals a small portion of her mid rim. A thick black leather belt secures a pair of pants to her body, which in itself is somewhat tight, but loose and comfortable around joints as to provide unrestricted movement. On her feet, she wears thick boots that are good for kicking a person if they piss her of. She has very little accessories beyond that, as she sees them as trivial, but she does have fingerless gloves, which serves some, albeit little, practical purpose.

Racial dispositions: She's usually somewhat bitter around other asaris due to not being allowed a huntress and childhood conflicts, and doesn't care too much about humans since their men sometimes tend to have a sexist nature.

History: Ella was born as an exceptionally gifted biotic, this was something that many Matrons and Matriarchs could see. But as she grew up expressing little to no interest in developing her biotic abilities, she was commonly looked upon as a failure when she refused to uphold tradition and hone her gifts. This adds insult to injury as she was also born a pure blood - the daughter of two asaris, which too, is looked down upon. This being the case, she faced adversity throughout her childhood, generally amongst her peers. This had her develop an aggressive social response and defense mechanism, being more expressive through her actions than her words.

This of course has its pros and cons. Her brazen nature defied normal social standards and tradition, as she tended to follow the path of greater resistance as her disdain for her community grew. She was no longer interested in satisfying those around her and rather she chose to follow whichever path she wanted and what satisfied her. She failed in conventional wisdom and cultural smarts - but she had a sharp wit and good understanding of basic sociology, granting her a different kind of wisdom on how to deal with others and twist them around to get what she wanted. She was also more physically developed than other asari her age, being more active in athletic activities. But she did receive her education and handled it well, but her end decision led her to a career path where she would do less with it.

She aspired to asarian military. Of course, they had no conventional military, so she had to look among the units within several communities. She started training as a huntress, no specialization within a particular unit. She spent 30 whole years studying the martial arts as is the standard routine, and he excelled in all the physical requirements needed to be a huntress. Unfortunately, despite her natural talent for biotics, she lacked refinement due to her neglect of practice. She was discouraged, but proceeded to try her luck in different units. Her first choice was the Serrice Guard, famed for defeating the Blood Pack with only five commandos leading the unit. Unfortunately, despite her greatest efforts, she failed to enlist in the Guard. Naturally, she felt angry and confused. After all, she devoted much of her time training to become a huntress and appeared more capable than the others - but her biotics let them down. Following the trend of following the path of greater resistance, she made an irregular choice. She promised herself that instead of practicing her biotics, she was make her way purely on her own skill, strength and dexterity.

Refusing to serve upon a cruiser, she tried one last option: the Armali Sniper Unit. She did pretty well, too. Her physical aptitude had already met the requirements without training, and biotics weren't as necessary at long ranges. She had quite the sharp eye from her previous efforts at training. However, the requirements were strict. Your hit percentage had to have been greater than 95, and unfortunately, Ella was two points shy.

Furious with her consistent failures she fled her home on a space-bound mercenary ship captained by a Hanar, where hopefully her skills would be appreciated. She's been on that ship for a while, and excelled in operations that included infiltration, assassinations, spy work, and information retrieval. Her experiences has left her with a take-no-bullshit attitude and a little bad at taking orders from others, but she proves useful enough. She's still sore about living as a mercenary and not as a huntress, so she'll probably try to knock your teeth down your throat if you make a snide remark about it or ask far too many questions about it.

Personality: Generally grumpy, bitter, and acts as though she has better things to do. Though usually she sits around and drinks until she has stuff to do, making comments on the situations at hand and this laughs as she thinks back on them (even though nobody else usually does). Despite that, she is very level-headed while on a job and can be something that resembles caring once she develops bonds with her crewmates. She can behave voluptuously when it amuses her or is required to get what she wants if it can't be gotten by threatening them, otherwise she tends to abstain from sexual and romantic activities. Her training to be a huntress has left her surprisingly good when it came to giving orders but is also a source of some of her bitterness. It has also given her an idea on how to a treat a cut, scrape, burn or bullet wound but she isn't really trained at it and is fairly unreliable when it comes to healing. She has a deep, inner fear when it comes to failure and she deals with it poorly. She's also very prideful and gets angry when her abilities are called into question. She refuses to use her biotics.

Marketable Skills: Pointing and shooting, close-combat, giving orders, sneaking, manipulating her targets, things of that nature. She's also good at drinking alcohol and playing poker. She particularly enjoys giving the Quarian gunman some semblance of hope before stealing the victory away from under his mask (though she's probably cheating).

Acceptamundo!

Balu, seeing your sheet's done, you're accepted too. I think we've got a party at this point. I just need to work some stuff out on my end, and we'll be good to go.

Oh yeah... I forgot about that. *shakes head* Sorry, school lately, killin my short term memory.

So with excessive use of my tendency to hate my own work, and need to keep revising concept...

There's a good chance I'll use my weekend off work to type up a human doctory person so we don't have three assorted meatheads of meatheaditude. It'll diversify the group a bit.