In preparation for this year's Christmas Game, I'm going through the process of converting the crew of Betty from the Serenity system to Firefly. In effect, this actually means rebuilding the characters from the ground up, but that's okay. Nonetheless, it may be worth comparing to the previous version.
As I discussed in my earlier post, it is my intent to build these characters by first working out the three most important things about the characters, and using that to select Distinctions. Further, as a rough rule of thumb, I intend to select two of these from the depiction of the characters in "Alien: Resurrection", and add a third to better suit the character's use in home games.
The most obvious aspect of Vriess' character is his disability - the character is in a wheelchair. Unfortunately, I found in the "Firefly: Furiously Fast" one-shot that this could lead to a player focussing on what the character couldn't do, rather than what he could. However, I'm hopeful that this will actually not be the case in the Firefly RPG - the character is assigned the "Invalid" Distinction, which is a clear fit, and also has his chair listed as a Signature Asset. Hopefully, this will turn a seeming weakness into a strength, without totally negating a key part of the character.
The other Distinctions for the character are the obvious "Ship's Mechanic" role, and "Steely Reserves" - Vriess has had a knock, but he's a tough one.
John Vriess: Engineer
Attributes
Mental d10
Physical d8
Social d6
Skills
Craft d4
Drive d6
Fight d4
Fix (Engines) d12
Fly (Transports) d6
Focus d8
Influence d6
Know (Art) d6
Labour d4
Move d4
Notice d6
Operate (Machinery) d10
Perform d4
Shoot d6
Sneak d4
Survive d6
Throw d4
Treat d4
Trick d4
Distinctions
Ship's Mechanic
A ship's a living thing, no matter what they say. You can feel when she's sick, and she makes you proud when she's well.
Miracle Worker: If you replace your Fix Skill with a d4 for your next roll, gain a Big Damn Hero Die equal to that Skill's normal die rating if your roll is successful.
Steely Reserves
People think you're a pushover. They're always a mite surprised when you don't bend.
Not Today: When you take a Complication to stay in a fight, you can spend 1 PP to double an appropriate Attribute in your next roll.
Invalid
You can't get much of anywhere without somebody's help.
Signature Assets
The Chair: d8
Vriess has been working on his chair for years, constantly modifying and refitting. Part mechanised transport and part concealed arsenal, it is practically designed to foil a weapons scanner.
Roleplaying Notes
To hear Vriess tell it, he was born in battle at Serenity Valley. He was serving with the Browncoats when a stray bit of shrapnel hit him in the lower back. In that instant, the man he had been was killed, and the man he is today was born.
His reticence to talk about his life prior to this moment has led others to conclude that he doesn't like to talk about his injury, but the truth is quite different. To his way of thinkin', there's no point in dwelling on the past and on what was lost. He reckons he's already survived the very worst the 'Verse can throw at a man, and so he can live without fear. He's actually quite cheerful about it.
After the war, Vriess spent a lot of time in a Veteran's hospital, where he came to profoundly hate doctors, but more especially that breed to beautiful young woman who will come and 'cheer' patients with their sympathy. Bad enough that he was disabled, without them inflicting new torment on him by looking at him as a cripple, instead of as a man.
Eventually, he had had enough, and he fled the hospital, only to find a new hell outside. Nobody had any time for injured vets, especially an injured vet from the 'wrong' side. Work was nigh-impossible to find, and starvation beckoned until an old foe, Frank Elgyn, crossed his path. Elgyn was puttin' together a crew for his ship, and he needed a good mechanic. Although they had been on opposite sides in the war, he knew ability trumped sentiment, and so a deal was struck. And in the years since, the two have forged a strong, if quiet, friendship.
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