Howdy! Here's a rowdy group of NPCs for you to drop into your Firefly campaign-- a pirate crew, whose modus operandi is to troll the lesser-traveled spacelanes, looking for easy prey, and then to pretend to be Reavers as they barrel down upon their intended target. Victims usually receive a 'wave just before the pirate ship closes with their own, identifying their pursuers as members of a "great and illustrious Reaver clan" and warning them to surrender or "face being Reaved in the barbarous manner of our ancestors." This pirate crew is capable of shocking brutality, but their approach also requires that some survivors make it back to port to spread the word about Reaver pirates. While they're certainly a superstitious lot, note that none of these individuals actually believes in ridiculous nonsense like the existence of Reavers.
Captain Bhi-Ming Quan
Attributes
Mental D10
Physical D8
Social D6
Skills
Fight D10 (Sword)
Fly D8
Focus D8
Influence D6
Labor D8
Move D10 (Leaping)
Shoot D8
Throw D8 (Knife)
Distinctions
Pirate Captain. D8
I want that ship taken intact. Its cargo belongs to us.
* Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a D4 instead of a D8.
* Ship Encyclopedia. When you make a plan that revolves around the layout of a ship, spend 1 PP to create a D8 Asset based upon your knowledge of the ship's layout and schematics.
Crude. D8
You're a little gorram rough around the edges.
* Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a D4 instead of a D8.
Temper. D8
Some say you're a mite testy when you're courtin' bad news. Truth is, you're a mite testy all the time.
* Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a D4 instead of a D8.
* Anger Issues. Gain 1 PP when you make a bad decision on account of the chip on your shoulder or your short fuse gets you in trouble.
Signature Asset: Samurai Sword D8
Once a minor gangster in a second-rate Triad, Bhi-Ming Quan realized that he could chart his own destiny out in the Black without having to pay overhead to the Triad bosses. He's got a good racket going, pretending to be a ridiculous space bogeyman in order to terrorize his victims, and he's not about to let anyone else cut into his action. Captain Quan has convinced himself that he'd make a suitable match for his beautiful adviser, Han-Shei, with whom he is completely infatuated. His biggest concern is that it's hard for his crew to go planetside to enjoy the fruit of their ill-gotten gains when both they and their ship both look like dime-novel Reaver scavengers.
Han-Shei
Attributes
Mental D8
Physical D6
Social D10
Skills
Fight D6 (Unarmed)
Focus D8 (Willpower)
Fly D6
Influence D10 (Seduction) (Blackmail)
Know D8
Notice D6 (Personality Traits)
Perform D6
Shoot D6
Treat D10
Distinctions
Goodwill Ambassador. D8
You're the best candidate to send to a parlay before the bullets start flyin'.
* Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a D4 instead of a D8.
* Talking Points. If an ally or associate fails a roll involving their Social attribute in your presence, step up or double your Attribute on your next die roll.
Former Companion. D8
You trained to be a Companion, but left that life to follow your own path.
* Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a D4 instead of a D8.
* Old habits die hard. Step up a Complication to step up or double Social for all Influence, Notice, and Perform rolls for a scene.
Wudang Style. D8
Also known as practical Tai Chi, being able to be dangerous without a weapon in your hands is pretty dang practical.
* Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a D4 instead of a D8.
On the surface, Han-Shei seems little more than the object of Bhi-Ming Quan's rather limited romantic imagination, but the truth is a bit more... complicated. She's quite willing to allow her captain to take credit for the crew's occasional successes, and she's even willing to tolerate his romantic fantasies, but only when doing so furthers her own goals and objectives. In reality, Han-Shei is the glue that holds this pirate band together, continually manipulating its members and playing them off against one another in order to get what she wants. Most of the crew, and even Captain Quan, would be shocked to see the share of their loot that Han-Shei has quietly amassed.
Lin Jiao
Attributes
Mental D8
Physical D8
Social D8
Skills
Drive D8
Fight D8
Focus D6 (Stakeout)
Move D10 (Run)
Notice D8
Shoot D10 (Rifle)
Sneak D10
Distinctions
Bean Pole. D8
You are proper skinny, you are.
* Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a D4 instead of a D8.
Sharpshooter. D8
See that tin can? The one on the fence-post, at the far end of that pasture? There' s a bug on it. I'm gonna shoot off its wings.
* Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a D4 instead of a D8.
* Center Mass. Spend 1 PP to step up a Complication that you inflict with gunfire.
* Trick Shot. When an opponent is holding an Asset in their hands, make them raise the stakes against a roll including your Shoot skill to avoid having that Asset removed from their pool for their next Action.
Yee-Haw!!! D8
If a plan don't include explosions, jumping off of a building, and laughing while the law chases you, it ain't a plan worth doing.
* Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a D4 instead of a D8.
* Double Down. Double the largest die in your pool before you roll. Step up a Complication to that die type or create one equal to that die type.
Signature Asset: Sturn-Hammer 4400 sniper rifle D8
Tall and spindly, Lin Jiao is also a dead shot with a rifle. He generally stays close to Captain Quan and Han-Shei, keeping his own sneering thoughts to himself as he leans casually upon his long rifle. None of the other crew trust him, but he isn't exactly distrusted, either-- it's more like no one understands his motives, and that's unsettling among a band of cutthroat pirates.
"The Reaver"
Attributes
Mental D4
Physical D10
Social D4
Skills
Fight D10
Focus D8 (Staring)
Influence D10 (Terrifying)
Labor D6
Move D6
Notice D6
Trick D8
Distinctions
Mute. D8
You never had much use for words, anyway.
* Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a D4 instead of a D8.
Morbid and Creepifying. D8
People say you're a sociopath, when you've simply outgrown morality.
* Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a D4 instead of a D8.
Giant Unstoppable Monster-Man. D8
What the...??? Run. Now.
* Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a D4 instead of a D8.
* Arms like tree-trunks. Spend 1 PP to step up a Complication that you just inflicted when fighting with your bare hands.
* Rhino charge. Whenever an opponent fails to raise the stakes against your Fight skill, spend 1 PP to make an adjacent opponent attempt to raise the stakes against a second Fight attack
The hulking brute called "the Reaver" by Captain Quan's crew looks exactly like a monster from a tale told to frighten children. A wild shock of matted, tangled hair spills down the Reaver's misshapen head to cover much of his gnarled and twisted frame, which is itself covered with scars, warts, and festering boils. The Reaver enjoys playing his part by frightening and intimidating others during boarding actions, and only occasionally goes on bloody rampages when he gets himself too worked up (in such cases, only the lovely Han-Shei seems capable of calming him). Still, in some ways, the Reaver is a pitiful creature with the mind of a child, understanding little of what happens around him and ill-suited for life among a band of cutthroats.
Ji Fan
Attributes
Mental D10
Physical D6
Social D8
Skills
Craft D10 (Replacement Parts)
Fix D10 (Engines)
Know D8 (Naval Engineering)
Move D6
Operate D10 (Shipboard Computers)
Shoot D6
Sneak D8 (Lurking)
Distinctions
Saboteur. D8
Sabotage ain't just about breakin' things. It's about breakin' them at the right time.
* Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a D4 instead of a D8.
* Two Steps Ahead. When you reveal that you've already put sabotage into motion, spend 1PP to create a Sabotage D8 Asset.
Salvager. D8
Folk leave all sorts of valuable hulks and crates floatin' around, waitin' for you to just swoop in and liberate them. Finders keepers.
* Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a D4 instead of a D8.
* Spare Parts. Spend 1 PP to turn a gear or equipment-based Asset into two new Assets. Step back the die rating of the original Asset to determine the die rating of the new Assets.
Scavenger. D8
It's everyone for themselves in the Black.
* Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a D4 instead of a D8.
* Saboteur. Step up your Fix die whenyou use a part that you took from a ship without the owner's knowledge.
* Scavenger's Eye. Spend 1 PP when searching a pile of abandoned parts to find a nearly working version of the part you've been looking for
Signature Asset: Magnification goggles D8
Ji Fan spends most of his time in his workshop in the Kongbu's aft power plant, trying to make himself as unobtrusive as possible. As ship's mechanic, he's the one truly indispensable member of his crew, a mechanical wizard who keeps an impossibly outdated and neglected wreck of a ship space-worthy. Once a prize has been taken, Ji Fan emerges from hiding long enough to walk through the captured vessel, selecting parts and equipment which the Kongbu needs. Ji Fan knows that Han-Shei is the real leader of his band of pirates, and he sees that her influence over "the Reaver" makes her position almost unassailable, so the old man bides his time working quietly behind the scenes and waiting for his circumstances to change. Ji Fan knows that Han-Shei has been stealing from the crew, and he knows that Captain Quan would be lost without her, and he also suspects that Lin Jiao would eagerly step into the Captain's role if he had the support of a majority of the crew... something that Lin Jiao could never obtain without the support of the ship's only mechanic.
The Yejian Kongbu ("Night Terror")
Attributes and Skills: Engines D10, Hull D8, Systems D6, Crew D6
Distinctions
Sunburst-Class Light Transport D8
The Sunburst-Class Light Transport is a small bulk hauler, easily recognizable by its squat bow and large forward cargo pylons, with a massive aft power plant set upon three gigantic rear thrusters. Few of these vessels were still in service by the start of the Unification War, and fewer still saw the war's end.
* Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a D4 instead of a D8.
* Look at that thing go! Spend 1 PP to step down your ship's Hull rating for the rest of the scene to double your Engine rating for an Action.
Coming Apart at the Seams D8
Some folk don't care much about taking care of their boat.
* Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a D4 instead of a D8.
* Uncontained Core. Take a Dangerous Radiation D8 Complication to step up or double Engines for an Action.
Spiky Bits D8
Scared yet? Yor ship looks like somethin' fierce, with all sorts of jagged scrap metal, rods, and junk attached to the hull's exterior.
* Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a D4 instead of a D8.
Grapplers D8
Shuttles D8
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