Steel Skies [Recruitment/OOC]

[kizkiz]

Chicka-chicka-waaa?

When did the captain get arrested? I'd assumed my character was starting as the cook on the captains ship, at least that's how I wrote the background...but I guess it could be slightly before the captain re-acquired his ship? I'm confused.

 

[Trucken]

So, we're waiting on the final sheet. I am going to ask real quick if any of your characters would have previously been a part of Captain Kraken's crew before his arrest or did you desire to have your character recruited? For those who were previously on his crew prior, they'll be planning a simple rescue. They will also have to go into hiding so they can regroup and plot to steal a...*smirks* Noble ship. That's going to be interesting.

Mine was not a part of the earlier crew and is to be recruited.

Um, got nothin' more right now. Carry on.

 

[heartofcourage]

I would say that Zhou knows the captain. Sure. She could be on his crew.

 

[kittenofdeath]

Woo Woo, Character's doneski, sorry it took so long but work has been kicking my little ass for a minimum of 12 hours a day.

Name: Mack
Rank: Helmsman
Age: 25
Gender: Male
Race: Human.
Height: 5'10
Hair Colour: Dirty Blonde
Eye Colour: Green
Physical Description:
You look at Mack next to Rackham, Toad or Paz and he'll look pale, scrawny and underfed, but in the absence of such unfair comparisons he does actually have a decent build, he eats enough to put some pounds on, and while he avoids as much hard work as he can he still gets dragged in to doing enough of the stuff to keep him lean and turn all that delicious food Toad cooks up in to muscle. He’s still pretty damn pale though, its going to take one hell of a lot of sun to undo the damage so many years indoors did.
Visual Description: http://syblatortue.deviantart.com/art/Timeskip-Sanji-181059227
Sexuality: Straight
Religious: Really doesn’t care
Personality:
At a glance of his life Mack is lazy, flippant, and laid back, but a more in depth look paints a different picture. Sure he's lazy and avoids hard work, but if you ask him for help he will, he'll just bitch a little while he does, and yeah he treats most things like a joke but its all in good fun, when you're staring death in the eyes and he makes a witty quip about how his corpse is going to look, that’s just how he copes with stress.

Mack does have his good qualities as well, he's always happy to learn something new, or teach it to someone else, and while he does do his best to get all the stoic hard asses on the ship to laugh once in a while he knows when to back off. He does have the interesting duality of giving up easily but never giving in though, on something unimportant, boring or involving hard labor, Mack will take the first spot of trouble as a sign to stop and give up on it, but on something important, or just something he has decided he wants to succeed at, he has all the determination of a starving hound fighting for a meal, he'll stare down the devil himself for that chunk of meat if he thinks its worth it.

What Mack doesn’t have the time for though is mindless brutes, violence and bloodshed is unavoidable in this line of work, and a lot of problems around are often settled with a quick threat or challenge. But when someone’s first port of call is violence, rather than diplomacy, subterfuge or at least intimidation, then they aren’t worth associating with as far as Mack is concerned, and when it becomes unavoidable he will frequently find himself on the opposition to them when given the chance.

Superstition: None, superstition is for fools, Mack works on facts. Not to say that peoples superstitions aren’t true or useful to know, but he wont believe them until they're proven.
Likes: Expensive cheese, doing nothing, jokes, reading, smoking
Dislikes: Work, entitled people, needless violence
Character Ons: Witty teases, a booty he can grab a hold of, and bathing together
Character Offs: Piss and scat stuff, a person is not a toilet.

Background:
Saltwater runs in Macks veins, his father was a sailor, his grandfather and great grandfather were sailors, for as far back as the line goes his family made their living at sea, every one of them joining the royal navy and serving their country, and as far as his parents were concerned Macks fate of kicking around with royal seamen was sealed. This was a plan that young Mack took to with gusto, after all his father was a sailor and what bigger hero can a son aspire to than his father? He studied, and trained whenever he could, taking in every iota of knowledge there was to be had about the great blue sea from every source he could find, books, old sailors willing to teach in exchange for a drink, anything.

By the time he left boyhood Mack knew more of nautical theory than most sailors twice his age, he could draw a map of the known world from memory and to scale, he could tell you the average travel time for every journey any ship was ever going to make and where the most efficient places were to restock. As far as book learning went, he was a prodigy, he had the type of mind that gets a man earmarked for greatness had it been born to anyone in a more noble or wealthy position, but it was not, it was within the mind of little old Mack the poor, low born kid of a bakers assistant and a bottom of the ladder sailor, it was a mind that was going to be wasted.

And then fate intervened, in that bitter sweet way it always does, one day when his father ship was coming back in to port Mack was waiting on the pier, eager to hear all the riveting tails of his adventures on the high seas. Sailor after sailor walked down the ramp, each one averting their eyes from the small boy and hurrying past to their own loved ones, to hold them a little tighter than they would have if the little bond haired reminder of their mortality that was Mack hadn’t been waiting for them at the end of the ramp. By the time the captain was walking down, Mack felt sick and didn’t know why, he was just staring at the ground, fighting back the urge to cry, until the light was eclipsed by the hulking form of the captain standing before him.

The captain knelt down and hugged the boy, the boy cried.

It turns out that during a rather routine boarding and inspection of a suspicious vessel, which apparently was transporting illegal goods, Macks father had died, valiantly pushing the captain out of the way of a bullet and catching the lead for his trouble. With his dieing breath Macks father had begged the captain to help his son, it was his dream to get in to the royal academy and serve as an officer on a ship, he knew his boy had the skills, all he needed was the money to get in.

Just a fate closed the door on his fathers life, it opened a door for Mack, the captain was an honourable man, and had friends in the academy administration, so the normal cost was mostly waved. The next time the ship left port Mack went with it, saying goodbye to all he knew, his mother, his friends, everything.

The entry exam was a joke to Mack, he scored perfect, it was almost like the test was designed for people who hadn’t been obsessing over the subject matter for the past three years or something. Needless to say it was a grade that got him in, but made him no friends, to be beaten out by some lowborn, penniless nobody was a blow to the pride of everyone who had gotten in by right of their name, their money or their family legacy, so making friends in Macks new life was an uphill battle.

In his studies he was an exemplar, having few if any attachments with anyone else there helped, but his natural glee at the prospect of something new to learn was more than enough to motivate him in to keeping well at the head of his class. He learned so much there, astronomy, mathmatics, history, it taught him everything he needed to know about how to be a proper officer of the fleet, and while he managed to still claw his way to the top rungs of the physical classes as well, including sword fighting by the end of it (being the odd one out that everyone wants to beat makes you get good fast) it was his mind that couldn’t be beaten.

But in his last year fate decided that it was time to change its mind. During a combat lesson one of the more vocal of his haters took things a little too far, while they were all getting ready he made a remark about Macks parentage, as usual Mack laughed it off and quipped back. Then the rich bastard drew a sword, who would have guessed that saying that the man paying his tuition was a fat rat of a man, and that his mother had turned to the servants for comfort 9 months prior to his birth would set him off like that. In retrospect it probably held a little grain of truth to get a reaction like that.

And it was then that Mack learned the importance of wearing proper hand protection, turns out not having it can turn a simple disarming manoeuvre in to a dethumbing manoeuvre, whoops. Normally this would be on the rich kids head, he drew first, but Mack didn’t have a rich father of good pedigree up in arms over the event, so Mack was lucky to only be expelled from the academy, since the father was arguing for the noose.

The knowledge that things could be worse did little to ease Macks mind though, here he was, having spent his entire life working hard to be the best he could be, now broke on the streets with nothing to show for it. Fuck hard work, and fuck the academy, the navy too, fuck them, fuck them all with a broken and splinter covered oar. Mack left and never looked back, signing on to the first ship he found that would take him, it was hard going at first, and the pay was shit, but it got him further away from the miserable hole that was the academy.

For about a year he did roughly the same thing, switching ships every port in the attempt to loose himself, not that you can get lost when you can recite the name of every port you’ve ever been to in order, but with enough alcohol and distance he was hopeful he could pull it off. It wasn’t until one random night, long after he left the academy that he ever told the story of what happened to him to anyone, he cant really remember much of the night, but at some point he somehow ended up drinking with a white haired older guy with a fancy eyepatch who coaxed the story out of him over quite a few tankards of beer.

The next morning he found himself passed out in the crew cabins of an unfamiliar ship, it hadn’t set sail, but there was still a panicked moment where he though he had been press ganged. Turns out the men he had been drinking with the last night were a captain and some of his crew, who had convinced his drunken self that their ship was a better choice than the little merchant cutter he had been serving on. This captain Kraken was a decent sort, gave him the option to change his mind, but Mack didn’t take it, turns out his talking about his past hadn’t fallen on deaf ears the night before, the ships last Helmsman had died recently and while they had a replacement already, they weren’t really standing up to the task, so Mack was offered a shot at it as well as the option to walk away.

Mack took the chance, he had spent long enough wallowing in self pity, this was his shot at an actual future, how could he not take it? After all, it was a good ship, with a nice captain, and he got his own room as part of the deal, it had been over a year since he had a room to himself, if there was a downside he couldn’t see one. Hell, if he didn’t choose a nice ship like this to settle down on and kept jumping from boat to boat he would do something stupid and join up with a pirate crew without realising it, that would be awkward.

And fuck if it wasn’t, damn, Mack managed to beat all the odds, dodge all the clues and remain oblivious all the way up to when he was told to steer towards a lone ship on the horizon and someone flew the colours. The crew still joke about the long string of foul language he spouted at that moment, followed by the question 'Why didn’t anyone tell me we were bloody pirates?!' It was quite the sight to see the entire deck turn their heads to look at him in shock before bursting in to laughter.

That hiccup in his new life as a pirate aside, he took to it rather well, he was generally at the wheel when violence happened, so he got to skip out on most of that, sure he still had to stab the occasional poor sod and fire off a pistol every now and again but he was for the most part, relatively safe in his task. As far as meshing with the crew went, at first he thought it was going to go horribly, like back in the academy, everyone felt they were a comedian with how they made jokes about him not being told about something, but here a flippant quip brought laughter rather than anger. Before long he had slipped in to a nice groove with the crew as the happy helmsman and navigator, good for a drink and a laugh any time, just don’t ask him to help you with anything remotely looking like hard work.

Weapon(s):
Swords:
Mack is well trained in swordplay, above the level you would get from the average pirate or marine, but is by no great shakes a master. His skills get a bump up in a standard one on one duel, where his exceptional technique can come in to play, start throwing to many opponents at him and he cant keep his defense up at attack though. When presented the option he generally opts for a two sword combo, thanks to his training he can use either hand equally well, and often switches up to keep opponents on their toes. Plus, Mack has the annoying tendency to loose the damned things, so having a few spares on had is never a bad plan.

Pistols:
Gunplay is more of a hope for Mack than a skill, when working the wheel he cant exactly move much, which is somewhat important for proper sword fighting, so a good quick shot in a general direction before getting back to steering the ship is a common tactic for him. That said, pack enough hopes and dreams in to a shot and luck will do the rest, and Mack is a lucky bastard when it comes to pulling the trigger.


Skills:
Navigation: There are very few tricks and even less flashy ones when it comes to nautical navigation, Mack knows them all, even without a map or compass he could plot a course to any location known to man. Even in uncharted waters he as an uncanny ability to tell just by looking where the water is too shallow or rocky, and can generally predict weather before it happens, though the weather trick is far less reliable.

Piloting: Mack is a hell of a helmsman, within a day he had the little quirks of the ship down and could compensate perfectly, and his knowledge of what other ships are capable of give his a great ability to predict their movements and limits.

Smartass: Pick a topic that requires brainpower, Mack probably knows something about it, not necessarily enough to do anything, and sometimes just enough to get in to trouble, but as far as sounding like he knows what he's saying he's a master.

Lucky: Not in the traditional sense, he's got just as much chance in a gambling den as anyone else, Macks luck manifests as the 'interesting life' variety, good or bad the odds cant be trusted when it comes to Mack.

 

[sodalitas]

'Why didn’t anyone tell me we were bloody pirates?!'

Ha! Nicely done.

 

[HotCider]

kizkiz: The captain being arrested is the opening plot for this game. If Toad started as the cook and he was the cook before the captain's arrest, then he still is the cook. He should be a part of the group to try and save him from his hanging.

The captain, stayed behind to make sure those who were still alive were able to escape the ship, but he stayed behind because that's what a captain does. Thus, his capture. Also, it gave the crew more time to escape. So they can either choose to let him hang or plot to rescue him.

So here is a list of those who have "officially" said they were either on the ship before the captain's arrest (a veteran) or they need to be recruited (a recruit).

Veterans
Zhou

Recruit
Gideon

I need more people to answer this question before we start. We're waiting on one more profile still but in the meantime, we can discuss the whole rescue scenario. It's going to be a hanging. They're going to try and hang him and I figured that someone will be watching from a far and shoot the rope so that instead of him being choked to death, he falls through the hatch. Underneath the execution stage is a group of rescuers with a knife to cut his bindings and they already know their escape route. Expect many guards to give chase lol.

So, first two roles:

Rope shooter: (who will volunteer for this role)

Rope cutter:

When they're escaping, if a character that needs recruiting wants to haphazardly run into the group in their escape or aid their escape (by possibly giving them a place to hideout in), then this would be that recruit's chance.

 

[KattDclaw]

I'm fine with being a part of the crew already. Makes it easier imo.

 

[kizkiz]

I'll be a Veteran as well.

I can be the rope cutter. The Shutka has a range of 60 feet on land and is very concealable. Plus I can draw attention with some mist and hide out in the water.

The only other options are Mack or Zhou, but flintlock pistols have an effective range of 30 feet and would be loud and very noticeable. At least if Toad misses once or twice, all hell wouldn't break loose..assuming they didn't tie the noose to snap the neck instantly. But I'm sure they went for the slow death, suffocation route. More suffering, yar!

 

[sodalitas]

Veteran

 

[HotCider]

Updated!

Veterans
Zhou
Paz
Mack
Rudyard
Vallice

Recruit
Gideon

Rope shooter: Vallice

Rope cutter:

I'll wait for Trucken to get back to me on his plans for Gideon. I still think his current place of residence that hopefully isn't a cardboard box could be a nice hole-up sight. Regardless, they could probably do a B&E. They're pirates after all.

I will say though that your place's booze will be officially gone if Brandt gets to them.

 

[kizkiz]

I signed up for Rope Shooter. I don't think you want a giant toad hopping along behind you under neath the gallows. I'll fire a few bolts at the rope from afar.

 

[HotCider]

I'll be a Veteran as well.

I can be the rope cutter. The Shutka has a range of 60 feet on land and is very concealable. Plus I can draw attention with some mist and hide out in the water.

The only other options are Mack or Zhou, but flintlock pistols have an effective range of 30 feet and would be loud and very noticeable. At least if Toad misses once or twice, all hell wouldn't break loose..assuming they didn't tie the noose to snap the neck instantly. But I'm sure they went for the slow death, suffocation route. More suffering, yar!

I'll change it.

 

[HotCider]

My RPG friends, I give you the IC to Steel Skies. You are welcome to have your characters do whatever just don't forget their main mission. *coughsavemecoughs* Here you go!

Steel Skies IC

 

[JawnKarTurr]

Greetings...

An interesting setting and I have to tell you I must read more of it, but would you be interested in simple deck hand for your vessel?

 

[HotCider]

We'll see how your character sheet looks. I was waiting on another character sheet but because that writer hasn't gotten back to me, I decided to go ahead and start the game. But yeah, if you send me a concept that I find interesting, I might consider. I did say that I wasn't going to make this game too big.

 

[JawnKarTurr]

Fair enough sir...I will give it a read through and if you have space I think it could be fun.

 

[JawnKarTurr]

Well I read your material and liked it a lot. I'd very much like to explore and find adventure and perhaps profit. If a slot does become available I'd enjoy being the Boatswain. A role a friend filled in real life during his service. He always said it gave him unique opportunities on board ship.

 

[HotCider]

Well I read your material and liked it a lot. I'd very much like to explore and find adventure and perhaps profit. If a slot does become available I'd enjoy being the Boatswain. A role a friend filled in real life during his service. He always said it gave him unique opportunities on board ship.

Just send me a CS in PM.

 

[HotCider]

I added Hangmen's Square to the IC page under NPCs & Places.

 

[HotCider]

For those who are posting frequently, you can chill a bit. We still have some players who still need to post their introductions. I don't want you guys to grow bored and feel obligated to keep posting back and forth.

Also, I love our Engineer lmao.

I also liked the description you used to describe Vallice making several attempts to climb the wall, Kiz. Nobody saw that.

 

[kizkiz]

Random conversation around the bar table is a great way to kill time and develop characters...and no one has posted on Five Things Go Wrong, so I don't mind carrying on talking crazy toad talk.

 

[KattDclaw]

Some of us are ponderously slow and playing catch-up (catsup?).

Also heads up, Trucken is having PC issues and probably won't get up and running for at least a week.

 

[HotCider]

That's why you never buy a Black Friday laptop.

 

[KattDclaw]

That's why you never buy a Black Friday laptop.

I think he bought it from a guy in a van down by the river.

 

[heartofcourage]

I'm getting the feeling that Mack has pissed Zhou off in the past as well. A relationship that went sour? Or maybe she simply doesn't like his face.