This is the seventh and last entry detailing the crew from the Serenity one-shot I ran last weekend. Given that I intend to make use of the same characters for future one-shots, it seems wise to give some more thought to how the characters should be constructed, and perhaps make some adjustments. Additionally, of course, if the characters are useful to others, that is a plus.
One of the more interesting aspects of the Serenity RPG is that it treats the ship itself as a character, specifically as an NPC. This is an interesting approach, but it seems entirely appropriate - in the TV series, Serenity herself certainly has her quirks and characteristics. In addition, to a very large extent Mal Reynolds is what Han Solo would have been had he never met Luke - in which case, Serenity is a counterpart to the Millennium Falcon, another ship noted for her character. (Indeed, the lack of that character is something of a weakness of the various Star Wars RPGs over the years.)
In the one-shot, Betty was simply treated as a Firefly-class vessel. The reason for this was that I named the one-shot before I fixed on using the crew from "Alien Resurrection". Having named it "Firefly: Furiously Fast" for alliterative purposes, it then didn't make sense for the ship not to be of that class. And since the ship wasn't really used in the course of the session anyway, it wasn't worth bothering with.
Thus, unlike the other characters in the series, Betty is presented here not as a modified version of the character that was used, but rather as a new-built creation. That said, she is pretty much a slightly-modified Firefly anyway - given that she fills basically the same role as Serenity, and given that the stats of the Firefly are pretty much what is needed, there seemed little point in making major changes. I've named Betty an Auriga-class Mid-Bulk Transport. As far as I can tell (certainly, without rewatching "Alien Resurrection" again), the actual class of the vessel isn't stated anywhere, and so needed to be assigned. "Auriga" was the name of the facility where the aliens were cloned, which is as good a name as any.
It's perhaps worth noting that Betty, like Serenity, isn't really anything special. Indeed, both ships appear to be much more like the Millennium Falcon as originally conceived - they're much more of the "piece of junk" persuasion than the "ship of legend" that the Falcon has become. If, as the Serenity RPG says, there are some designs that just become iconic for their era by virtue of them just working, then the Auriga would join the Firefly, the YT-1300, and the Ford Transit in that exalted bracket.
Betty: Modified Auriga Class Mid-Bulk Transport
Dimensions (LxBxH): 191 x 128 x 53 feet
Tonnage: 2,400 tons
Speed Class: 4 cruise / 6 hard-burn
Crew Quarters: Two double, four single cabins
Fuel Capacity: 60 tons (600 hours)
Cargo Capacity/Maximum Deck Load: 600 tons in hold #1
Price: Not available for sale. Estimated approx. 2,880 credits.
Attributes
Agility d8
Strength d6
Vitality d6
Alertness d2
Intelligence d2
Willpower d4
Life Points 10
Initiative d8+d2
Skills
Aeriel Transport Operations / Auriga d2
Covert d4
Perception d2
Space Transport Operations / Auriga d2
Weapons and Equipment
Escape pods (8): Once upon a time, Betty was fitted with a shuttle, suitable for ferrying the crew wherever they needed to go. Somewhere along the line, this was lost, and Elgyn has never found a compatible replacement. In the interim, he has fitted eight single-person escape pods, good for makin' planetfall and very little else. Each contains enough food and water to provide nutrition for one day.
Hover Mule: This is a single, fairly standard hover mule, big enough to seat four in what passes for comfort. It's pretty damn ugly, having been put together by Vriess from the parts of several donor craft, but he swears it's that little bit faster for it. It's also equipped with accessibility options programmed into the controls, allowing hands-only operation.
Traits
Healthy as a Horse (minor asset): Despite her age, Betty is fundamentally sound, and can shake off damage and stresses that would total a lesser vessel.
Loved (major asset): Every owner of this ship has come to love her, and has regretted her loss. That love was reflected in the best of maintenance, and she has rewarded that with unusual longevity.
Everybody Has One (minor complication): Although a rare sight nowadays, the Auriga class was once common as muck. As such, pretty much anybody can find the details of the ship in a few moments checkin' on the Cortex.
Seen Better Days (major complication): Betty is an old, old ship. Some might say a classic. But being more than 40 years old, and in near-continuous service in all that time, she's most definitely a bit creaky at the knees.
Complexity: Low
Maintenance Costs: 480 credits per month
Roleplaying Notes
"This piece of gosa is even older than I am!"
If the Firefly class is the iconic ship design of the current era of mercantalism, then the Auriga-class would be the standard-bearer for an earlier age. You don't see many of them around these days, but half a century ago they were near-ubiquitous in the spacelanes. Through a combination of design and excellent build quality, the Bernard-Lingotti Corporation managed to capture lightning in a bottle. Between five slightly different official models, and any number of knock-off designs, more than 200,000 Auriga-class vessels were commissioned before the line was finally superseded.
Betty started her operational service as a fairly standard 05-model Auriga class, outfitted for cargo lifting. However, even from the outset she was maintained with exceptional care, thus explaining why she remains in active service even so long after her first registration.
Over the decades, Betty has been reconfigured and repurposed several times. Somewhere along the line, her entire engine assembly was removed and replaced with the integrated systems and power plant from a Firefly-class vessel, a modification that vastly extended her operational lifespan, but one that is itself showing its age. At least one owner was of a sufficiently larcenous bent as to have all manner of hidey-holes fitted for the concealment of small, high-value (and probably illegal) cargoes. And Vriess has gone to some lengths to further advance the ship's systems, installing some highly illegal transponder-foiling software, as well as accessibility controls allowing a pilot to fly the ship without the use of his legs.
Betty's service in the Unification War was, regrettably, rather unedifying. Her previous owner was a Browncoat sympathiser, and took to running weapons and materiel. He was promptly captured by the Alliance, tried as a war criminal, and shot. Betty spent the rest of the war locked in an impound, before being auctioned off. Thus, she made her way into the hands of Frank Elgyn. 'Course, whether her new use is any better than smuggling weapons is a matter of some debate...
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