PBF: Orbital: Reticular Observation Node Lamba-11

Role-playing games Play by Post
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The Unaffiliated.

The families, workers & refugees who make up our diverse society.

[A collection of small postcards with various figures on them, all in a stylised form.
They are laid out neatly and all seem to be in uniform of sort.]

Pick up when someone is dealing with their friends and neighbours, or when new
people arrive on the station. Trade away when it’s your character’s turn to do the
same.

INTRODUCTION

A sanctuary, a statement, a home.

Like a flame to parchment, the war consumes utterly as it burns. In its wake it leaves
scorched cities, ashen fields and broken people. Our home is a refuge from the raging
conflict, and for all our differences we are united in rebuking the war. Whether you
have fled a ruined world, an oppressive regime or something worse, we will welcome
you with open arms. As our reputation grows, though, we can’t help but stress over
tallies and charts as we consider the limits of our hospitality.

CREATION

NAME AN UPCOMING EVENT

The great census.

CHOOSE A NAMING SYSTEM

Seven Sisters, Paddington, Clapham junction. Lots of names from old earth, linked by the long painted lines in the corridors.

MOVES

ASPECT MOVES

• Introduce a new arrival with a difficult history.
• Bring someone’s past to reckoning.
• Ask for help with a problem that can’t be solved alone.
• Gather disgruntled residents in protest, peaceful or violent.
• Receive more refugees than we can comfortably accommodate.

Resources.

Consider as you play.
• How do we combine our cultures to make something unique?
• How do we govern ourselves, and who is in charge?
• How can we make our growth sustainable for all?

LISTS

STATIONER NAMES
marta cook, janus iver, irfan gerber, azaliya biaggi, terezia contreras, ruslan ellis,
natalia einar, orval roosevelt, bedwyr budai, eli fairburn, rashmi roth.

STATIONER ORIGINS
born here, fled a war-torn planet, military deserter, seeking better work, rejoining their
family, snuck aboard a freighter, seeking something spiritual, following academic
curiosity, can’t remember, ran out of fuel, just passing through.

WALKS OF LIFE
a religious leader who carries a pistol, a chef eager to share their cooking, a talented
painter held back by insecurities, a baby left with a hand-written note, a parent to
eleven or twelve rowdy children, a mournful soul with a covered face, a grouch with a
love of straight lines, a passionate reader with shelves of ideas, a banjo player who
sits on the corner, a celebrity operating incognito

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42

I wanted a number in the title, so I’m happy with the name.

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43

I would like to pick The Heart please.

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More on the heart.

Otto Fulcrum is, a man? Or perhaps a very, very old android.

There’s a tale he was forged by Hephaestus himself as a vessel for the god to walk the earth of our ancestors.

Of course, when Otto hears these stories he laughs, in that weird way he laughs, that reminds you of a typewriting machine.

He is the proprietor of the Skull and Roses an abandoned cinema where games of cardboard and dice are played, often by those with great power. It seems an oasis of calm, where all can lower their guard. This is not gambling, it is entertainment. Many a ceasefire has been brokered in its red velvet seats.

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45

Thanks both - I take it from these that you have the playbooks and dont need them put in the thread. If you would rather they were in the thread then let me know. We are almost able to start.

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Yep. I have the playbook.

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I have the playbook too, so no worries there.

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48

I choose the Signal

The Signal.
A compelling individual looking to create political change on the station.
[A stylised collection of floppydiscs, pens, microphones, megaphones, books, notes,
and pictures of people.]

Ged Prothankan (he/him) is more often known as GPK. He is a human of mixed planets, born on the wrong side of the ports. His sharp jawline is alluring, but scarred with marks that may indicate a past of servitude, or something else. He always looks scruffy though, but its actions that inspire, not looks. That said, his endless cologne bottle ensures he always smells amazing but indescribable - even his vintage army jacket smells sweetly.

Ged is never without his two key tools - his portable recorder and holoprojector which he uses to take evidence and talk to people about his goal - to host a peace summit on RON 11 and bring an end to the Interstellar War.

GPK’s biggest problem is his lack of influence. So he is always keen to pinpoint the movers and shakers, in particular administrators, financiers and journalists who he can bring to his cause. His biggest advantage is his flawless logic, which he can impart with his enchanting speaking skills. It’s a rare talent which could be dangerous, if allowed to influence at too high a level in society, at least to those who are currently in power.

GPK is most at home sitting in a bar, any bar, shoulder to shoulder with the people in the slums of the Orbital and most likely in Region 17 Angstrom. It is there he is most at home, listening, recording, and debating. He is trusted by those he has influenced, and inspiring to those he talks to. He is positive that he has the right aim and it is just a matter of time until he brings peace to the galaxy.

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The next part of the process is:

INTRODUCTIONS

Once you’ve all created Characters, use your completed character profile to
introduce them to the table.

Ask questions about each other’s Characters, and look for potential areas of overlap
where it makes sense for them to know each other.

BONDS

Now you’ve all been introduced, let’s make some connections.

First, take turns choosing one bond question to ask the player to your left. Your
answers might be quick and clear or you may talk them through with the other
players.

So we should probably start that bit now.

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I have two questions on the introductions:

To Otto (@RossM ) - is the Skull and Roses a place that would welcome GPK or not want him around?

To Einar (@Scribbs ) - what can the Port Authority Office tell me about the origins of the war?

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And for bonds it says ask the player on your left. So lets say me to RossM to Scribbs. So for my bond to @RossM "how did i capture your attention yesterday?

[I’ll be at UKGE tomorrow to Sunday and will respond if/when i can, but as I said a relaxed pace is more than fine and probably necessary. My flurry of activity is due to me taking advantage of the day off!]

[And once we are done this bit and named minor characters, i’ll try and find a way to do a map of the station]

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Does GPK play games, on boards? If yes, then yes, if no, then no.

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Yes, but not for pleasure just for the conversation that can be had on the edges.

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Then he is accepted as one of their own.

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The records in the Port Authority show the ebb and flow of the war across the galaxy. There are periodic influxes of new arrivals coming on all manner of vessels to the station, their occupation stated as ‘refugee’. Their point of origin shows the shifting of the frontline in the conflict, and the worlds that have become battlegrounds.

Occasionally few vessels of the League or the Hosts’ navy have docked for repairs or refuel. There’s less data recorded for these, as military types are cagey about providing point of origin and onward destination information. Einar tends to make notes based on what can be gleaned from sailors on shore leave or work parties, as he loathes to see these fields left blank.

As to the origin of the war, not much can be divined, except parsing the dates of refugee arrival to see when the conflict ignited.

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Bond question for GPK - how did we end up eating our lunches together?

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That’s easy. Most revolutions start in the docks, amongst the teamsters and stevedores, the dispossesed and the rootless.

GPK would wander the docks seeking to convert, but in place of his imagined crockpot of boiling revolution he found only disillusionment, vested interest and busted android emotion circuits.

He met Einar after a particularly fruitless day, kicking his heels and dangling his legs over the main dock’s edge and staring past the force fields to the unblinking galaxy beyond. GPK talked; Einar just listened, unmoved but unjudging, before offering half of his cricket and mayo sandwich and a swig of syntfish chowder. They have sat together many days since as GPK blathers and Einar listens. GPK will always find a more and more exotic thing to bring to eat and share with Einar. Einar appears to remain unperturbed, even when eating the most outlandish concoctions the Kitchen Spar can provide.

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(Weirdly similar)

Whilst overseeing a delivery of Brandy, you come to attention whilst trying to convince a group of immigrants to your cause. They seemed perfect, displaced by the war, clearly from an Agrarian background and unfamiliar with the tech around them.

But strangely they did not speak to you, or to anyone at all.

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59

[We now just have the bond question from RossM to Scribbs to get answered, then we can move on to] the last two stages:

RESIDENTS

Next, you’ll each create two Minor Characters to fill the Station with life. Choose two
residents from your sheet, announcing them to the table. The provided descriptions
are brief, so you’ll probably want to explain who they are and how you’re connected.
It can be fun to combine residents with other players too, so your “beautiful spacer I
told everything to” might be another player’s “perfect employee that I just can’t
stand”.

Record your resident’s names and pronouns on the Station sheet.

INSIGHTS

Finally, have a look through your list of Insights. You’ll use one of these to connect
your Character to one of the Threats facing the Station.

Consider which looks most interesting, but don’t choose yet—it’ll come up when
you’re making your opening scenes in the first round of play

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My two residents are:

Gadfly Lumberstein is my most loyal (sometimes fanatical) supporter. For her, it’s not about the violence, it’s all about the zealotry.

Inkjet Mackay is the administrator of the Kitchen Zone and the pissy bureaucrat trying to shut me down. He has gotten wise to GPK’s petty thefts, and sees apprehending the felon as the route to his own advancement out of the stink of the Kitchen.

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