So I’ve been looking through the Preview Materials so far, and I’m super excited to play this game. The custom “class” based on careers and origin is really great, and opens up the opportunity for basically every character to be unique.
But simply theorizing wasn’t enough for me. I went and made a character.
Name: Iain Farholder
Origin/Careers: Galactic Scoundrel Technocrat
Archetype: Starhacker.
Stats: Physique -1, Mettle +1, Expertise +1, Influence 0, Interface +2.
Skills: Sneak Attack, Program, Upload, Weightless
Loadout: Custom Comm-Enabled EVA suit, dubbed his “Hacksuit” (Class 2 Attire, Simple, Sealed, Comms), Computer Kit, Polymer/Ceramic Holdout Pistol (Class 1 Pistol, One-Handed, Adjacent/Close, Concealed), and a Spacer Outfit (Class 0 Attire, Simple)
Rooms: Advanced Computer Core, Boosted Signal Array
Descriptions: Energetic, Slick, Smug
Backstory: Iain grew up on an Old Terran space station, SS-N31A, known by most as Nursery Station, or simply the Nursery. Named for the giant nebula to its galactic north, overwhelming most of the view in that direction, the station was once the farthest outpost of the Terran Intergalactic Empire, a final fuel and repair depot for the colony ships that routinely passed the border of settled space. As the years passed and more and more worlds beyond were colonized, the station became a major trade hub, extending the central shaft and adding two more docking rings, with accompanying living space, hydroponics bays, and mercantile concourses. Even greenhorn spacers, new to the frontier regions, knew that the Nursery was the gateway to the Fringe.
Everything changed when a crew of Jump Scouts found a stable Jump Lane directly to a planet deeper into the frontier–one that cut anything from hours to days off of the trip from the heart of the Empire to the Fringe. Commerce through the station dried up within a few Standard Years, and all but the most stubborn of the station’s inhabitants left in search of a better, more profitable port.
By the time Iain was born, thousands of years later, the Old Terran Empire was more legend than memory, the Nursery one of the few remaining relics that proved it had existed at all. Over the millennia, the station’s proximity to the major Jump Lanes combined with its near-derelict status turned it into one of the Fringe’s busiest shadow ports. Smugglers, pirates, and disreputable beings of every variety use the Nursery as a frequent port of call, and one in the market for illicit goods can find almost anything there.
Iain’s family, the Farholders, are descendants of the station’s original crew (or so they tell everyone–most of the records from that time were lost ages ago). He grew up around the Scum of the Galaxy, maintaining and repairing the Nursery’s ancient systems. A few upgrades were made over time, but much of the station’s underlying technology is still usable, if venerable. The station still gets by on rotational gravity, its power plants insufficient to power the artificial gravity generators that are now ubiquitous throughout the galaxy. The engines and drivers of this system are always going down, leaving entire sections of the station in Zero-G until they can be repaired. Most of the smugglers consider this the cost of doing business; the locals consider it part of the Nursery’s rustic charm.
Accordingly, Iain learned to be comfortable in an EVA suit almost as soon as he could walk. He demonstrated an early aptitude for computer equipment, and was soon an indispensable member of the station’s IT crew. From hanging out with the smugglers and thieves in his off time, he managed to learn how to better exploit the systems he repaired, and quickly became quite the accomplished hacker, stealing credits and information from the various small-time denizens and frequenters of the station, selling what he could on the Dark SectorNet for a tidy profit.
Eventually, he realized that he could make a better living if he took his services out into the stars (some growing heat from a few notable–and violent–station regulars was also a factor in his decision). He shipped aboard a smuggling vessel and made a trade of stealing and consequently brokering information. He recently parted ways with his previous crew under less-than-friendly circumstances, and is looking for another captain who might benefit from, his services.
Edit: Forgot Descriptions