PBF: Orbital: Reticular Observation Node Lamba-11

Any ideas for a name? What about a word each? If you are happy with that I’ll suggest ‘Reticular’

Tomorrow night I am working, but will return as soon as I can with the aspects - elements of the environment and atmosphere that we will all pick one from to characterise, and take the role of in relevant situations.

Apologies for the delay - real life got in the way (in a positive way).

So before we choose characters, we need to choose an aspect to inhabit each as well.

In Orbital, the setting is split into six thematic parts, or Aspects. We’ll share
responsibility for them over the course of the game. But at the moment we will pick one each and breathe some life into it. When appropriate we should play that aspect as a character, and when another aspect is called for in a player’s scene, another player will take control of and define the new aspect.

The Aspects are:

• The Interstellar War. An all-consuming conflict, burning across the stars.
• The Station Itself. The systems, mundane and uncanny, keeping us alive.
• The Markets. The ways we trade for resources on this station.
• The Scum and Villainy. The smugglers, gangsters & thieves haunting our station.
• The Unaffiliated. The families, workers & refugees making up our diverse society
• The Lambent Strand. A glowing thread, weaving every life together into a great
tapestry.

Pick 1 and let me know, then I can share the relevant description.

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I think The Interstellar War for me please.

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Here you are: I am not quite sure how this will work by forum but essentially once defined this becomes a shared character sheet that initially you will have responsibility for, but which can swap as the game goes on. What will remain is the characterisations that you choose.

Moves are the defined actions the Aspect can make in the context of another player’s scene (the roleplaying bit!).

The Interstellar War.
An all-consuming conflict, burning across the stars.

[A stylised image of arrow shaped battleships flying toward each other on a screen.
Windows and pop-ups speckle the screen, like a commander watching a battle unfold
on the screen.]

Pick up when someone deals with soldiers, officers or spies, or discovers the war is
closer than they thought. Trade away when it’s your character’s turn to do the same.

INTRODUCTION

A conflict without end.
The two powers have been at war longer than most can remember. It began with
ideological differences and border disputes but quickly escalated to a galaxy-wide
schism. Now we live amid open, near-inescapable galactic warfare. Almost every
planet, asteroid and construct in the galaxy has allied, willingly or otherwise, with one
of the sides. The fact that our station has remained neutral is a miracle, one that
requires constant vigilance and, sometimes, desperate action.

CREATION

NAME THE TWO SIDES

the union, the federation, the truth, the empire, the rebellion, the principality, the
republic, the coordinators, the host, the feast.

CHOOSE TWO DIFFERENCES

the colours they wear, the language they speak, their colonial excuses, their
interpretation of the texts, their views on tradition, their vision of the future.

MOVES

ASPECT MOVES

• Introduce a soldier in dire need of assistance.
• Mark someone with the ire of a senior officer.
• Force someone to pick a side, literally or otherwise.
• Pull a weapon on someone.
• Make something, or someone, collateral damage.

Resources.

Consider as you play.

• How do we keep the war from devouring us?
• Who on the station would profit from the war?
• What humanity lingers in the common soldier?

LISTS

SOLDIER NAMES
mallard, tucker, connor, hardshell, blue, o’neal, rax, hicks, strom, cassius, echo.

SOLDIER TRAITS
single-minded focus, an unblemished record, a life reduced to vengeance, a
misguided path to redemption, a broken spirit, a desire to escape, love back home.

SERVICE RANKS
cadet, private, ensign, corporal, sergeant, officer, captain, major, colonel, admiral

MILITARY DETAILS
a ceremonial pistol, a medal of repute, nationalist slogans, whispered callsigns,
clanking boots, broken transmissions, blinking explosives, a waiting fleet.

NOTES

(Scribbs has stolen all my first choices so far. I use stolen very loosely.)

Unaffiliated please.

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I am happy to change my pick if Ross had his heart set on plotting the clash of interplanetary civilisations…

It’s fine. I normally scan and pick a few and then wait to see what else is picked.

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

grand prix, wingleton, redline, the solstice, life day, armstice day, gold week, the long
night, lavender phase, the feast of st. lazare, loudfest, union.

CHOOSE A NAMING SYSTEM

streets named after our founders, sequential hab-codes, like old earth suburbs,
coloured sections, towns from our homeworlds, haphazard and unplanned.

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

NOTES

And I’ll choose:

The Scum and Villainy.

The smugglers, gangsters & thieves who haunt our station.

[A line of wanted posters, showing a mix of alien and humanoid figures. Little boxes
with no readable text point to various parts of the figures, as if pointing out things to
watch out for.]

Pick up when someone visits the seedier parts of the station, witnesses a shady deal,
or when things are too quiet. Trade away when it’s your character’s turn to do the
same.

INTRODUCTION

Like moths to a flame.

This is pretty much the only populated place in the galaxy that’s not an active war
zone, a nightmarish police-state or a desperate, destitute backwater. The problem is,
this unique situation makes us a haven for unsavoury characters—the sort found in
every shady port, seedy bar and dingy alley in the galaxy. There is an implicit
agreement, written in sly nods and stolen glances, that they live with us as equals.

Let’s just hope they don’t decide to change the terms.

CREATION

NAME THE TWO MAJOR GANGS

Vega’s Boys and the orchard syndicate.

CHOOSE THEIR REPUTATIONS

Vega’s Boys are canny. the orchard syndicate are weird.

MOVES

ASPECT MOVES

• Introduce an outlaw with ideas above their station.
• Entangle a resident with a criminal obligation.
• Offer something rare or illicit at a ruinously high price.
• Threaten a resident’s life or livelihood with violence.
• Seize a vital asset with swift force.

Resources.

Consider as you play.
• How does criminal activity strengthen the station?
• What lines will we not permit them to cross?
• Which parts of the station are considered safest?

LISTS

SCOUNDREL NAMES
djin darendo, rake gillard, verse keen, zed zakkil, reina roja, mas dangon, greedar,
soonta, sly dente, calo, galdo, bug, vinca, jynne, rogos, feevo, krussk, gorok.

SCOUNDREL TRAITS
a heart of gold, a messy past, a duplicitous smile, some bad debt, a love in chains, a
strict code, bound as brothers, biding their time, the best in the galaxy, a weaver of
the strand, desperate to prove themselves, desperate to get out.

CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES
contract killings, organised fights, ‘protection’, blackmail, smuggling, slavery, thievery,
drugs, hacking, forgery.

UNDERWORLD DETAILS
broken glass, makeshift emblems, hastily-sprayed tags, a heated disagreement, a
single shot in the dark.

Notes

Once you have finalised those, time to choose a character.

Each of us will choose one role. Let me know.

THE CHARACTERS

[A stylised image of figures working on a spaceship. Most are humanoid but some
are alien or robots. Everything is busy but a little beaten up and broken.]
People get ready.

A PARTICULAR SET OF SKILLS

Everyone creates a Character in Orbital. Using a Character role as a template,
you’ll create a unique Station resident. Whether some sort of official, a beloved
linchpin or a necessary nuisance, they are integral to the community and have
agency to make significant change.

Choose from the following Character roles, each with unique choices to make during
creation and Moves to use in play:

• The Source. A resourceful individual with the connections to get what you need.
• The Heart. A hospitable individual with their own venue, serving the community.
• The Wrench. A pragmatic individual burdened by duty, ready to pass the torch.
• The Signal. A compelling individual looking to create political change.
• The Monitor. A prudent individual, quietly observing the populace.
• The Shadow. A concealed individual, working towards a secret mission.

The Interstellar War.

The Divine Host of the Stars (commonly the Host). The Followers of the Creed and the Disciples of the Host were coloured sashes according to which level of the faith they have been attained. First circle Primes wear red, the lowly Ninth Circle initiates wear green.

The League of Eylaulm (or just the League).
A collection of different powers that joined together against the growing power and dominion of the Host, all signatories of the accord signed at the planet of Eylaulm. The League is comprised of many discrete cultures and races, with evident friction between individual members. Measures such as an agreed common language, UniBasic, and widespread provision of translators are one step to attempt to retain unity and common cause.

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(Can I ignore some of the prompts entirely?)

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A good question. I think so! Go ahead and lets see what happens!

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A little more detail on the Scum and villainy.

Vega’s Boys

The Boys are led by Roofe. Don’t ask what happened to Vega, it was just business. And possibly a long time ago.

Roofe and her boys live in the margins, but they are always there - at least in the warrens of our Orbital. They watch, and they trade. Whatever you want, as long as it is a low rent, second or third hand, probably unreliable and almost definitely illegal (in some way) version.

If they were to align with a faction in the war it would be with the League but the Boys would not recognise that, though Roofe might. They are more drawn to the League due to its nature. As a loose union of many different races, the League is exactly what the boys need - watching and trading in the intersections at the very heart of the alliance.

Obviously, whilst there is money to be made, entanglement with Vega’s Boys almost always leads to complications.

the orchard syndicate

The syndicate get their name from the district where they are based, the Orchard - one of the original hydroponics in the Orbital. Now left to the needs of the syndicate, the Orchard is a strange, derelict but magical place. Not all magic is good.

The syndicate themselves are a bit more difficult to understand. Alien, long lived, embedded in the Station since before memory - and as far as understood not documented anywhere else in charted space - the syndicate thrive in and depend on the Orchard for nourishment and life. The ancient, rickety hydroponic systems have been abrogated to keep them alive. And so they are needy. Their plant like biology has simple needs, but their deep ancient consciousness imagines long and Machiavellian plans. These plans almost always use pawns from the orchard addled that flock to the syndicate, and definitely always cross the plans or interests of others - factions, communities, gangs or the Orbital itself.

What they offer is something people travel from across the planets for. Their glands distill and exude concoctions, drugs and wondrous experiences, of variously defined legality on variously defined planets and legislatures. Some of these effects have toppled empires, whilst others have ensured wealth, removed barriers to true love, or ensured top prize in the biannual Mezzo level horticultural show for the best coriander.

So there are two elements that define the wondrous garden of the orchard syndicate. Firstly a sensory experience that defies description whether legal or illegal, moral or immoral. People travel light years to take part, and to gain from it. And second, twisted, long running plots and plans from unknowable, rooted alien brains which appear - at least to those of us who are observers - to be solely designed to keep the systems of the Orchard running and continuing to nourish the member(s) of the syndicate themselves.

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So next step is to choose a character as set out above.

And if you have a word you want to add to the station name, add it. The weirder the better, I’d think.

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(I’m on a long car journey today, so will fill in my gaps.)

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No problems - a relaxed pace will make this manageable!

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Station name thoughts
Reticular Observation Node Lamba-11.

I’m just throwing things at it really, although it strikes me there’s an opportunity to get some acronym for a colloquial name?

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Happy to have anything and change mine! I have just called it the orbital so far!

RON 11 is good though!

I think I’d like to select The Wrench as my character role.

Harbour Master is a old position, a title and responsibility from ages past that has never gone away. The safe navigation of vessels into the docking bays of the Orbital, and the enforcement of the port Regulations is their duty, entrenched in traditions archaic in nature.

Considering the autonomous electronic docking systems that guide and monitor vessel traffic, there has arguably been no need for role on this station, or any other, for many a year. Yet there is always a Harbour Master, watching the vessels come and go, keeping meticulous logs of who berths, when they depart, passengers dropped off, and cargo transferred. No one’s quite sure why of the need, with digital logs automatically generated, but tend to accept the quirky role as part of the scenery. Rumour has it the Port Authority office has large tomes of handwritten logs dating back to before the station became what it is.

Einar the Old is the current Harbour Master. He has a staff of none, just himself in the Master’s Office at the Docks. He knows the time is coming to pass on his mantle to another, but has yet to find a suitable apprentice. He peers through a observation window, making a note of the next inbound ship, and goes to scratch another record into his log.

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