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[TopHat]

Submission has been edited. Perhaps still slightly on the no-parole side, though, so I'm more than happy to make further changes.

[IcyTea31]

I'll make a sketch. Concept is the diplomancer archetype with a dash of manipulative yet loveable rogue and a bit of Jack the Ripper.

Spoiler: Fluff (click to show/hide)

Name: V'ralis (alias "Blue Shadow")
Race: Rtalis
Crime: Forgery, Fraud, Larceny (Grand), Trespassing

Appearance: V'ralis is on the smaller side for a Rtalis, but the most striking feature is their face, which seems to shift between what those versed in Rtalis body language would describe as a confident smirk and a perfect pokerface, when they're not talking to someone they're trying to deceive. Their skin seems quite muted compared to others, most likely as a result of lifetime of practice in hiding emotions. With such an untrustworthy outlook, it's almost strange they could fool so many people...unless this is the look they show when they're trying to be honest. Food for thought.

When in a gaseous atmosphere, V'ralis wears a sophisticated vehicle, which looks like a six-limbed ovoid filled with water, but is surprisingly agile and dexterous. It is equipped with a nice suite of civilian-grade technology including several days' worth of life support, a speech synthesizer to speak other languages, a small database of common knowledge and even a music player. It seems to be unarmed, but the limbs look to be dexterous enough to pull a trigger...

Backstory:
A somewhat long time ago, a large amount of valuables disappeared from a privately-owned vault in Rtalis space. No locks had been broken, the security records were gone as well, and the guards couldn't remember seeing anything but vague blue flashes. This mystery received fairly minor attention, until a similar incident happened elsewhere. The same story: valuables gone without a single trace beyond those same blue flashes. Then it happened again. And again. The media erupted. The phantom thief, now dubbed Blue Shadow, gained the attention of amateur detectives and crime novelists alike, and even seemed to notice the fame, if the numerous left messages signed by them are to be believed (though most or all of them are probably hoaxes). Blue Shadow was a legend.

Law enforcement wasn't quite as happy about a mysterious criminal slipping through every crack. With so little evidence, it might as well have been magic. Strange theories were entertained, ranging from teleportation to Mindweaving to the thief being of an unknown species that can pass through solid matter, but nothing seemed to stick. Even the profilers couldn't make sense of the seemingly random pattern of targets; the criminal seemed to specifically choose unexpected targets. Some copycat criminals were caught, but a real heist always happened afterwards. Blue Shadow was uncatchable.

One day, however, a crashed vehicle was found near a still-hot crime scene, its cargo compartments full of stolen goods and the pilot injured and unconscious. Promptly arrested, the pilot, named V'ralis, at first claimed almost believable ignorance, but later caved under questioning and confessed. Their statements were taken with a grain of salt, but included such detailed descriptions of the crimes that they had to be genuine. Blue Shadow was a mere mortal. Or were they?

It's uncertain why V'ralis confessed to what could well be called perfect crimes. Even their life story before the crime spree has discrepancies, as they tell it differently each time and several documents are suspect, but two events are common among several versions: V'ralis was born to a wealthy family with connections in the Academy, and they were a prodigal student in the field of psychology under a tutor who may or may not have been a Mindweaver themself. The identities of both the family and the tutor are uncertain. Blue Shadow is still a mystery.

It's believed V'ralis' motives for the crimes were the thrill and the fame rather than the monetary gain. As a living legend and confirmed Mindweaver, they made a deal with the Academy: rather than let their talents rot in prison, V'ralis will join the Ithica's journey and send regular reports detailing the use of Mindweaving in the field in exchange for publishing said reports after a period of time to "keep the story going". This is a highly non-standard (and rather suspicious) arrangement, but V'ralis is a very non-standard person. Blue Shadow is still around.

Spoiler: Crunch (click to show/hide)

Science: 1
-Biological Sciences
-Physical Sciences
-Astronomical Sciences
-Computer Sciences
Piloting: -2
-Small Crafts
-Large Crafts
Engineering: -1
-Electronics
-Mechanics
-Technician
Ranged Weapons*: 0
-Personal
-Emplacements
Melee Weapons*: 0
Agility: 0
-Athletics
-Acrobatics
-Dodging
-Stealth
Social: 3
-Culture
-Business
-Insight
-Diplomacy
Skullduggery: 4
-Deception
-Intimidation
-Sleight of Hand
-Security
Mindweaver: 5

15 Defense / 5 Armor
20 Augury / 0 Actuation

[WillowLuman]

Submission has been edited. Perhaps still slightly on the no-parole side, though, so I'm more than happy to make further changes.

Nah, that works.

Note that SolFed doesn't do life sentences, due to certain prisoners not being susceptible to old age. You could wrack up a sentence of centuries but it's hardly fair (or cost effective) to lock up an android "till he drops dead." Of course, for many organics wracking up a centuries-long sentence would be functionally the same as a life sentence.

[Kashyyk]

What are SolFed's laws regarding Artificial Intelligence? Do they get all the rights of an organic, or are they considered to be tools with a personality?

[IcyTea31]

What's the naming convention for Rtalis?

[WillowLuman]

What are SolFed's laws regarding Artificial Intelligence? Do they get all the rights of an organic, or are they considered to be tools with a personality?

Depends on if they're sapient or not. But there's politics about it. You'll find both shipboard computers doing their job without complaints, despite being sentient, and free-roaming AI.

What's the naming convention for Rtalis?

They tend to go for mononyms. Some examples are: R'malos, Atlos, Kavr'kis, T'lmetl, J'vetis, Kamlotl

I'm going to get that lore doc up after Ludum Dare is over

[WillowLuman]

I've made the doc, right now it provides additional information on Rtalis: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eZIdFoofkCcn20qbdtjbiAP9tZDUvpo_Ucy95N_hjEw/edit?usp=sharing

IcyTea, I like your sketch so far. I should note that the Rtalis "Academy" is closer to this than being an actual school though.

[IcyTea31]

Second draft of backstory written.

[WillowLuman]

Sounds good! Also, looks like all folks have been editing their submissions rather than reposting, so I have missed some updates. Gonna go take a look at those now.

[WillowLuman]

-snip-

Question is, why is he in SolFed space jail? This seems like a planetary level conflict.

-snip-

Wat

-snip-

Discussed elsewhere, still seems alright. You may want to link that writeup you sent me to here though.

DivideByZero, are you still working on another character idea, or would you like to go with the one you posted the sketch for earlier?

[_DivideByZero_]

DivideByZero, are you still working on another character idea, or would you like to go with the one you posted the sketch for earlier?

The stats for the sketch and general concept I'm sticking with, though there's one element I was briefly toying with the idea of including (Having an AI in a cell phone. It can't hack or really do... much. It just a companion.)

[IcyTea31]

I'm considering raising my character's Mindweaver skill from 4 to 5 (and reducing Social skill from 4 to 3). How huge an improvement (and reduction) would this be? In other words, what do these numbers actually mean in these sketches?

[WillowLuman]

These numbers will be the basis from which I create the final stats for your character. There may be adjustments based on your background, and situational bonuses or features. Purely mechanically, a 5 in a skill category means you get +5 to skill checks in that category, plus more for skills you're proficient in.

Mindweave gets a tad more complicated, but a 5 would make Mindweaving the primary focus of your character's skillset. A skill rank 1 Augur would be giving suggestions and minorly messing with perceptions, while a skill rank 5 Augur could do things like hypnotize a crowd of people at once or weave large perception filters.

Your character's backstory would be well within a 4, but 5 would make sense as well, given how few mistakes were made in that crime spree (at least in terms of Mindweaving: piloting is another story )

[IcyTea31]

It's been over a month since the last post. Is the game cancelled? I'd hope not, considering how interesting and thought-out the setting seems to be.

[WillowLuman]

It's not dead. I think I thought there'd be more character concepts, but at this point it's probably best to just move on to statting everyone out. As long as we have at least 5 workable concepts. I'll get to it when I return from class.