Black Cat
Magister
Let's play Space 1889: Started by Black Cat, completed by Crooked Bee
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction
2. It begins!
3. Jack the Ripper and von Schmelling's report
4. Shiny! Also, boom!
5. New York to San Francisco
6. Beware of the Germans
7. The fate of Atlantis
8. Build me a flyer!
9. Mars and a vashkt Geerman conshkpiracy
10. Let's kill some Germans on Venus!
11. German HQ: A Tale of Infiltration
12. The Unseen God of the Worm Cult
13. Whisperdeath, or, Catching up with Thomas Edison
14. A Sad Tale of Professor Tereshkova and an Ether Propeller
15. All's well that ends... well?
Released back in 1990, Space 1889 is a computer adaptation of the pen and paper role playing game, and general setting, of the same name. Since I started playing weird oldfag games my brother, his friends, and my own friends both from school and from my P&P club do recomend me I have tried to get into this game several times, for it is kind of awesome as far as all of them are concerned. I have failed every time, however, given the visuals have not aged well and, let's be straight about this, they suck a whole lot. And swallow, too. With a straw.
So, like, every now and then I try to get into the game, because all I have heard about it is kind of so totally cool. So I do read the quite cool manual, set up a party, start the game... and then leave when my eyes start wanting to die. Not any more, however. This time I have decided to actually play the damn thing(ie) up to the end, or at least up to the game handing my tail back to me with a quite formal apology.
To make it even more interesting, however, and since I have somewhat noticed I have much more fun with the blind, or almost blind, Let's Play thingies than with the ones about games I already know quite well, I will be making a blind Let's Play of this. And given I have been wanting to try one of those party based Let's Play thingies I will be creating only the first character on the party, our glorious leader and main character, and it will be up to you to create the rest, one per each of you, so it will be your fault if our party lacks what it would take not to suck. Likewise, if during the game I come across a point where it is not clear what should I be doing next it will be up to you, that being those of you in my party, to choose what to do next, and to bear the burden of my untimely failure.
So during this first update we will do nothing but actually go about the character creation system and stuffies, so you will have a vague idea of what you can pick and what you can choose. Then I will show you how all of this work by creating my failure of a totally LARPed main character, and then it will be up to you to save me from myself.
But first let's quote the manual introduction to the game and setting, so you know what are we getting into.
So this is kind of like Arcanum, only with steampunk aetherships going to mars and neither magick nor dwarves. And what's the game about, you ask? Your guess is as good as mine, at least beyond the few first couple of hours or so and what is said about it on the manual.
The Age of Decadence release date? In any case, character creation works as follow.
First you must choose a gender. Then you must choose a name, at most twelve characters long. Then the game will randomly generate your score on the six basic attributes, those being Strenght, Intellect, Agility, Charisma, Endurance, and Social Level. The value will range from 1, you suck, to 6, you are awesome. Then you must pick your face, and then your career, which is kind of your class. Some of them are only for girls while others are only for guys. Guys can never enter female only careers, but girls actually can enter male only ones based on their agility and intellect, in which case they are actually passing as males.
Your social level also means the social class you belong to, according to the following list: One is working class, two is tradesman, three is middle class, four is gentry, five is wealthy gentry, and six is aristocracy.
Then you have twenty four skills, related to the already mentioned attributes. In Strenght there is Fisticuffs (whose initial value is Strenght minus one), Throwing (whose initial value is half Strenght), Close Combat, and Trimsman.
In Agility there is Stealth (whose initial value is Agility minus one), Marksmanship, Mechanics, and Crime.
In Endurance there is Wilderness Travel (whose initial value is Endurance minus one), Fieldcraft, Tracking, and Swimming.
In Intellect there is Observation (intellect minus one), Engineering, Science, and Gunnery.
In Charisma there is Eloquence (again, Charisma minus one), Theatrics, Bargaining, and Linguistics.
And, finally, Social Level includes Riding (again, social level minus one), Piloting, Leadership, and Medicine.
And those are all of the skills. Also, everyone gets General Skill Points, which are used to raise any skill you want. If the corresponding attribute is 5 or 6 the cost on general skill points is halved, so each general skill point raises the skill by two. If the corresponding attribute is 3 or 4 each level costs one general skill point, and if the corresponding attribute is 1 or 2 the cost is doubled, each level costing two general skill points. Also, no skill can have a level higher than it's corresponding attribute, though they can be raised beyond such level by Careers. Also, no character can have a Close Combat skill higher than one above the level given to her or him by the careers.
Each character can pick up to two careers. Each Career has either a series of prerequisites or no prerequisite at all. As I explained before, male only careers can be had by girls under certain circumstances but not the other way around. Also, the Master Criminal career can only be had as a second career. Other Criminal Careers may be had as first career, but if you do the only careers you may then choose as Second Careers are other criminal careers or the army, actor, or adventuress career. A career, basicaly, gives you skill points, usually seven or so. Also, you can pick twice the same career (once as your first, once as your second) if you do want. Some of the careers have different values based on your social level, too.
Apart from those the game's pretty cool in that it allows you to create your own careers, though I believe it to be more of a way to add new careers from the pen and paper game than to munchkin your way to victory, given you can really do munchkin your way to victory that way. Therefore, we will not be using such vile tools of corruption.
Finally, the game will calculate your starting wealth in pounds sterling based on a lot of different thingies. Whatever. The important part is that if you are either a Merchant, Adventuress, or Criminal the computer will multiply your starting fortune by an additional 10 and if your character's second career is Master Criminal then it will be multiplied by an additional 50. Also, characters with a Social Level of 5 or 6 will receive an annual income equal to their initial fortune, paid in twelve equal monthly installments. Characters in the Foreign Office and the Colonial Office receive a salary of 40 pounds sterling a month. This money all goes to the party's account.
Now I will show you how all of this works by creating our glorious leader. I will be making her a combination of Dilettante Traveler and Adventuress, therefore I will need to reroll her attributes until her Social Level is of at least five, her Intellect is of at least four, and her Charisma is of at least five. However, my LARPer side considers anything below a Social Level of Six to be well below me, so I will reroll her until she's a well bred lady in addition to everything else. And, yes, we will have to roll and re-roll our attributes, so please keep that in mind before deciding you want your characters to have all sixes or something.
This is the first thing we see upon choosing to create a new character.
I pick the first option. The first prompt ask me whether the character will be a male or a female. The second prompt ask me her name, Miss Faith. Then we start rolling. The game, naturally, decides to show me how much does it hate me.
Screw you, game. After a while, however, I manage to get an actual result I can kind of like. Slightly, but it will have to do. Next we pick a face: There are only five for each gender and they all look like people you don't want to come across in a dark alley.
Next I pick her two careers, Adventuress and Dilettante Traveler. I was stupid: I should have picked Adventuress and Master Criminal to get my initial funds through the roof, but I did not notice it until later, and there's no undo option. If you don't like what you did you have to start it all again, including the rolls.
Then the game tells me I have 2.0 general skill points. Remember buying skill points on attributes we have five or six costs us only half a point, while it costs us an entire point to buy a skill point on an attribute with a value of three or four. And, if we had an attribute with only one or two it would take all of our points to raise a single skill by a single point.
I raise Leadership by two, Markmanship by one, and Theatrics by one.
And that's it. Our glorious leader is ready to go where no cat, regardless of hue, has gone before! Now we need four volunteers before being able to start the game, though more are also welcome as I will be going about this in a pseudo Iron, uhm, Gal manner, which means if Miss Faith, our legendary heroine, kicks the bucket I will be reloading, but if other character dies horribly and painfully I will be adding a new recruit in his or her place instead. At least as far as I remember there was no revival on this game.
Oh, and I almost forgot. Those are the five faces for male characters.
So that's it. Let's see how this goes.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction
2. It begins!
3. Jack the Ripper and von Schmelling's report
4. Shiny! Also, boom!
5. New York to San Francisco
6. Beware of the Germans
7. The fate of Atlantis
8. Build me a flyer!
9. Mars and a vashkt Geerman conshkpiracy
10. Let's kill some Germans on Venus!
11. German HQ: A Tale of Infiltration
12. The Unseen God of the Worm Cult
13. Whisperdeath, or, Catching up with Thomas Edison
14. A Sad Tale of Professor Tereshkova and an Ether Propeller
15. All's well that ends... well?
Released back in 1990, Space 1889 is a computer adaptation of the pen and paper role playing game, and general setting, of the same name. Since I started playing weird oldfag games my brother, his friends, and my own friends both from school and from my P&P club do recomend me I have tried to get into this game several times, for it is kind of awesome as far as all of them are concerned. I have failed every time, however, given the visuals have not aged well and, let's be straight about this, they suck a whole lot. And swallow, too. With a straw.
So, like, every now and then I try to get into the game, because all I have heard about it is kind of so totally cool. So I do read the quite cool manual, set up a party, start the game... and then leave when my eyes start wanting to die. Not any more, however. This time I have decided to actually play the damn thing(ie) up to the end, or at least up to the game handing my tail back to me with a quite formal apology.
To make it even more interesting, however, and since I have somewhat noticed I have much more fun with the blind, or almost blind, Let's Play thingies than with the ones about games I already know quite well, I will be making a blind Let's Play of this. And given I have been wanting to try one of those party based Let's Play thingies I will be creating only the first character on the party, our glorious leader and main character, and it will be up to you to create the rest, one per each of you, so it will be your fault if our party lacks what it would take not to suck. Likewise, if during the game I come across a point where it is not clear what should I be doing next it will be up to you, that being those of you in my party, to choose what to do next, and to bear the burden of my untimely failure.
So during this first update we will do nothing but actually go about the character creation system and stuffies, so you will have a vague idea of what you can pick and what you can choose. Then I will show you how all of this work by creating my failure of a totally LARPed main character, and then it will be up to you to save me from myself.
But first let's quote the manual introduction to the game and setting, so you know what are we getting into.
Welcome to the world of Space 1889, a world filled with scientific wonders, strange civilizations, international intrigue, and, of course, adventure. This computer adventure is based on the pen and pencil science fiction role playing game of the same name. It is a highly unique concept because, despite the fact that Space 1889 deals primarily with outer space exploration, it is set in the 19th century, at the height of Victorian colonial expansion.
How is this possible?
The 19th century saw the birth of science fiction, and the works of the early masters of this genre, H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, and Arthur Conan Doyle still have tremendous appeal. Their speculations about inteq)lanetary travel and alien civilizations were based on sound principles of science as it was then understood. Since then, we have discovered that principles such as those proposing the existence of “luminiferous ether,” — at that time widely accepted — have no real foundation in fact.
But what if they did? What if instead of quantum mechanics and relativity, there was only “the ether”? And what if the fertile, brilliant mind of a young inventor named Thomas Edison discovered the method to travel through the ether and explore the secrets of our solar system? The answer to that question is what this game is all about.
So this is kind of like Arcanum, only with steampunk aetherships going to mars and neither magick nor dwarves. And what's the game about, you ask? Your guess is as good as mine, at least beyond the few first couple of hours or so and what is said about it on the manual.
In Space 1889, you will create five characters, male or female, from among six attributes and 24 skills (see Characters and Character Generation). After your characters are generated you will be asked to choose the leader of your group. The introductory sequence of the game will be centered around that character.
The scenario begins at a reception in a London museum, where an exhibit of recently discovered Egyptian artifacts is about to be presented. Archaeological expeditions in Egypt are often occuring. Several tombs have been discovered, but the tomb of King Tutankhamen, rumored to be filled with priceless objects, remains hidden in the desert sands. Every notable in the fields of anthropology and archaeology are at this gala, black tie affair. Wealthy, upper class members of The World of Space 1889 society are also present. You (your lead character) have been invited to the exhibit opening, as well. Upon arriving at the museum you are surprised, and happy, to see four friends (the other members of your party) who worked with you on archaeological expeditions in the past. The joyous reunion sparks reminiscent stories of adventure and excitement It has been several years since you worked together, but the comradeship still exists.
Later in the evening, you overhear a conversation between two men. They are discussing a proposed expedition to the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. Apparently, the location of King Tut’s tomb has been discovered. One of the men is holding a report outlining the proposed expedition, to be funded and carried out by the Germans. After their discussion the two men leave the reception. You present the idea of undertaking a journey to Egypt in search of Tut’s hidden treasures. Your friends eagerly accept. Whether it’s the excitement of viewing the Egyptian artifacts in the museum, or the need for excitement and intrigue, your group of adventurers is back in business.
Your adventure begins as your party leaves the museum reception in semh of the elusive man who has the report outlining the proposed German expedition. Before anything else, you have to get that report.
So begins an epic journey that will carry you across the world: from the scorching deserts of Egypt to the mysteries of the Far East. Your adventures may also lead you to the mysterious realm of outer space, where you will travel to the dark caverns of the moon, the deserts of Mars, the swamps of Venus and the lush valleys of Mercury’s Twilight Zone in search of the answer to the greatest mystery of all time.
The Age of Decadence release date? In any case, character creation works as follow.
First you must choose a gender. Then you must choose a name, at most twelve characters long. Then the game will randomly generate your score on the six basic attributes, those being Strenght, Intellect, Agility, Charisma, Endurance, and Social Level. The value will range from 1, you suck, to 6, you are awesome. Then you must pick your face, and then your career, which is kind of your class. Some of them are only for girls while others are only for guys. Guys can never enter female only careers, but girls actually can enter male only ones based on their agility and intellect, in which case they are actually passing as males.
Your social level also means the social class you belong to, according to the following list: One is working class, two is tradesman, three is middle class, four is gentry, five is wealthy gentry, and six is aristocracy.
Then you have twenty four skills, related to the already mentioned attributes. In Strenght there is Fisticuffs (whose initial value is Strenght minus one), Throwing (whose initial value is half Strenght), Close Combat, and Trimsman.
Fisticuffs is the ability to hit an opponent with fist or foot and cause pain or injury, and also the ability to hold and restrain an opponent or, conversely, to struggle free
from an opponent’s grasp. Fisticuffs skill would be used in any situation where a character attempts to subdue or silence an opponent with a blow, wrestle someone to the ground, or fight off an attacker.
Throwing is the ability to hurl objects accurately. As a weapons skill this is used as the equivalent of Marksmanship with any thrown weapon (spear, knife, hatchet etc.). It is also used to determine success when hurling grappling hooks, heavy lines, rocks, grenades, etc.
The Close Combat skill defines a character’s ability to keep his head in situations of mortal danger and use a weapon effectively. The primary emphasis of close combat is on bashing weapons, edged weapons, or pole arms. Whenever a character attempts to use any weapon in close combat, whether a fii or melee weapon, the Close Combat skill is used to determine success.
The Trimsman skill is the ability to maintain a liftwood vessel in proper, level trim. Liftwood vessels are supported by many individual liftwood panels, arranged much like Venetian blinds, which provide varying amounts of lift depending on their angle toward the surface of the planet. The exacting task of maintaining trim requires almost constant adjustment of the individual panels. The focus of the Trimsman skill is on cloudships or interplanetary ether flyers.
In Agility there is Stealth (whose initial value is Agility minus one), Marksmanship, Mechanics, and Crime.
Stealth is the ability to move silently and avoid detection. This skill is used to determine the character’s ability to sneak upon guards, creep past enemy outposts or sleeping animals, lurk in shadows and dark alleys, etc.
Marksmanship indicates the character’s ability to hit a distant target with a firearm or bow. The emphasis of the Marksmanship skill is on pistols, rifles (including carbines and shotguns), and bows.
Mechanics represents the ability to construct, operate, and repair machines. The prime emphasis is on steam engines, electrical devices, or skill with precision machinery.
The Crime skill covers a familiarity with one or more of a variety of illegal practices. The primary emphasis is on forgery, lockpicking, and pickpocketing.
In Endurance there is Wilderness Travel (whose initial value is Endurance minus one), Fieldcraft, Tracking, and Swimming.
Wilderness Travel is the ability to travel across uncharted and hostile country — an essential skill for explorers and adventurers. The primary emphasis is on mountaineering, foraging, and map making.
Fieldcraft is the ability to judge the lay of the ground and use its potential to the fullest. Fieldcraft skill determines the ability of a character to move silently through the woods, use the lay of the land to move un&r cover and unobserved, and take up covered positions with good fields of fire in combat.
Tracking is the ability to detect and follow the trail of a man or an animal. This is particularly important for hunters, but is also useful if pursuing a fleeing enemy.
Swimming is the ability to avoid drowning without use of flotation devices.
In Intellect there is Observation (intellect minus one), Engineering, Science, and Gunnery.
Observation is the ability to notice things. This skill defines the ability of a detective to notice clues or items out of place, the ability of a soldier to notice an enemy
ambush or signs of enemy movement, the ability of a scientist to notice an unusual rock formation or the skeleton of an extinct animal, etc.
Engineering is the ability to design and supervise the building of structures. The primary emphasis is on structural engineering (bridges, roads, dams, and buildings), naval architecture (the design of nautical and aerial vessels), explosives (the use of dynamite and gunpowder to move earth and rock or destroy structures), or earthworks (the construction of military fortifications).
The Science skill covers a familiarity with the basic laws of science and the body of scientific knowledge. Primary emphasis is on Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geology, Amhaeology, or Astronomy.
Gunnery is the ability to man and direct the fire of large wqmns including muzzleloading cannons (such as the Martians use), breech-loading cannons (of the modem European type), machineguns (including rotating cannons of the Hotchkiss type), and exotic weapons such as the Smutts Discharger.
In Charisma there is Eloquence (again, Charisma minus one), Theatrics, Bargaining, and Linguistics.
Eloquence is the ability to convince non-player characters (WCS) to go along with your ideas. This is particularly important when trying to convince a financier to fund an
expedition, or a bureaucrat to issue a special permit.
Theatrics is the ability to play a role convincingly is covered by Theatrics skill. This skill defines the ability of a character to fool WCs when impersonating someone else, or the ability to tell convincing lies. It is also used when preparing a successful disguise.
Bargaining is the ability to effectively negotiate. This determines the ability of a character to get the best possible price when buying or selling an item, the ability of
diplomatic personnel to negotiate with foreign officials, etc.
Linguistics is the ability to learn, understand, read and speak foreign languages.
And, finally, Social Level includes Riding (again, social level minus one), Piloting, Leadership, and Medicine.
Riding skill is the ability to control animals while riding them. This skill’s primary emphasis is on riding the terrestrial horse, the Martian gashant and flying skrill, or the Venusian pacyosaurus.
Piloting is the ability to steer a vessel. While a skill level of 1 or greater is sufficient to operate a vessel, higher skill levels are useful in avoiding crashes in hazardous
situations. Higher skill levels are also necessary to attempt and survive difficult maneuvers. Primary emphasis is on aerial flyers, Martian cloudships, Zeppelins, interplanetary ether flyers, nautical sailing vessels, and desert vessels.
Leadership is the ability to project a forceful, commanding presence. This skill is used to determine a character’s success in rallying demoralized troops, recruiting followers from WCS, facing down brigands or thugs, and so forth.
A knowledge of medicine and the ability to administer care to wounded and ill characters is covered by this skill. Medicine skill determines the chance of successful recovery by a patient and the length of time that a specific recovery will take.
And those are all of the skills. Also, everyone gets General Skill Points, which are used to raise any skill you want. If the corresponding attribute is 5 or 6 the cost on general skill points is halved, so each general skill point raises the skill by two. If the corresponding attribute is 3 or 4 each level costs one general skill point, and if the corresponding attribute is 1 or 2 the cost is doubled, each level costing two general skill points. Also, no skill can have a level higher than it's corresponding attribute, though they can be raised beyond such level by Careers. Also, no character can have a Close Combat skill higher than one above the level given to her or him by the careers.
Each character can pick up to two careers. Each Career has either a series of prerequisites or no prerequisite at all. As I explained before, male only careers can be had by girls under certain circumstances but not the other way around. Also, the Master Criminal career can only be had as a second career. Other Criminal Careers may be had as first career, but if you do the only careers you may then choose as Second Careers are other criminal careers or the army, actor, or adventuress career. A career, basicaly, gives you skill points, usually seven or so. Also, you can pick twice the same career (once as your first, once as your second) if you do want. Some of the careers have different values based on your social level, too.
1. GOVERNMENT CAREERS
Army
Male only. No prerequisite.
Social Level 1: Private soldier, any branch — Close Combat 1, Swimming 1, Marksmanship 1, Bargaining 1.
Social Level 2: Noncommissioned officer — Close Combat 1, Swimming 1, Marksmanship 1, Leademhip 1.
Social Level 3,4: Officer, native regiment or technical branch — Leadership 2, Marksmanship 1, Close Combat 1.
Social Level 5,6: Officer, fashionable infantry or cavalry regiment — Leadership 2, Marksmanship 1, Close Combat 1, Linguistics 1, Riding 1, Eloquence 1.
Navy
Male only. No prerequisite.
Soc 1: ordinary seaman — Swimming 1, Gunnery 1, Mechanics 1, Close Combat 1, Marksmanship 1,
Trimsman 1, Riding 1.
Social Level 2: Petty Officer — Swimming 1, Gunnery 1, Mechanics 1, Leadership 1, Close Combat 1, Marksmanship 1, Piloting 1.
Social Level 3,4: Engineering officer — Leadership 1, Mechanics 2, Science 1, Close Combat 1, Marksmanship 1, Piloting 1.
Social Level 5,6: Line offker — Leadership 2, Close Combat 1, Piloting 1, Observation 1, Gunnery 2.
Agent of the Foreign Office
Prerequisite: Intellect 4+.
Linguistics 2, Crime 2, Theatrics 2, Observation 1.
Diplomat of the Foreign Office
Male Only. Prerequisites: Social Level 3+, Intellect 4+.
Bargaining 2, Linguistics 3, Eloquence 1, Observation 1.
Colonial Office
Male only. Prerequisite: Social Level 4+,
Bargaining 1, Linguistics 2, Eloquence 1, Observation 1, Theatrics 1, Marksmanship 1.
2. EXOTIC CAREERS
Big Game Hunter
Prerequisites: Agility 4+, Endurance 5+.
Wilderness Travel 1, Fieldcraft 1 Tracking 2, Marksmanship 2, Linguist!~s 1.
Explorer
Prerequisites: Endurance 5+, Strenght 2+.
Wilderness Travel 2, FieldCraft 1, Marksmanship 1, Linguistics 2, Leadership 1, Swimming 1.
Dilettante Traveler
Prerequisite: Social Level 5+.
Linguistics 3, Pilot 1, Science 1, Wilderness Travel 1, Marksmanship 1, Swimming 1.
Adventuress
Female only. Prerequisites: Intellect 4+, Charisma 5+.
Close Combat 1, Marksmanship 1, Linguistics 2, Theatrics 2, Eloquence 1, Crime 1, Leadership 1.
Reporter
Prerequisites: Intellect 4+, Charisma 4+.
Observation 1, Theatrics 2, Eloquence 1, Linguistics 2, Wilderness Travel 1.
3. SERVICE CAREERS
Actor
Prerequisites: Social Level 4-, Charisma 5+.
Theatrics 3, Eloquence 1, Linguistics 2, Leadership 1.
Personal Servant
Prerequisites: Social Level 3-, Charisma 4+.
Close Combat 1, Linguistics 2, Bargaining 1, Medicine 1, Riding 1, Obsewation 1.
Tutor/Governess
Prerequisites: Social Level 2/3/4, Intellect 5+.
Science 2, Linguistics 2, Eloquence 1, Theatrics 1, Leadership 1, Medicine 1.
Groundskeeper
Prerequisites: Social Level 3-, Endurance 4+.
Marksmanship 1, Wilderness Travel 1, Tracking 2, Fieldcraft 3.
4. MERCANTILE CAREERS
Inventor
Prerequisites: Intellect 4+, Agility 3+.
Science 2, Engineering 2, Mechanics 2.
Merchant
Prerequisites: Social Level 4-, Charisma 4+.
Bargaining 3, Eloquence 1, Linguistics 1, Leadership 2.
Mechanic
Prerequisites: Social Level 3-, Agility 4+.
Mechanics 3, Engineering 1, Science 1, Observation 1, Bargaining 1.
Engineer
Prerequisites: Social Level 4-, Intellect 4+.
Engineering 2, Mechanics 2, Science 1, Observation 1.
Seaman
Prerequisites: Social Level 3-, Strenght 3+.
Fisticuffs 1, Throwing 1, Swimming 1, Linguistics 2, Piloting 1, Observation 1.
5. PROFESSIONAL CAREERS
Detective
Prerequisites: Social Level 3+, Intellect 5+.
Close Combat 1, Science 2, Crime 2, Theatrics 1, Tracking 2, Medicine 1.
Doctor
Prerequisites: Social Level 3/4, Intellect 4+.
Science 2, Medicine 3, Observation 1, Linguistics 1.
Scientist
Prerequisites: Social Level 4+, Intellect 5+.
Science 3, Engineering 1, Observation 1, Linguistics 2.
6. CRIMINAL CAREERS
Master Criminal
Second career only. Prerequisites: Intellect 6.
Crime 2, Science 1, Close Combat 1, Markmanship 1, Teatrics 1, Linguistics 1, Leadership 2, Medicine 1.
Poacher
Prerequisites: Social Level 3-, Agility 4+.
Markmanship 1, Close Combat 1, Fieldcraft 2, Tracking 2, Crime 1.
Smuggler
Prerequisites: Endurance 4+, Agility 4+.
Close Combat 1, Piloting 1, Crime 2, Linguistics 1, Bargaining 1, Swimming 1.
Thief
Prerequisites: Social Level 3-, Agility 5+.
Close COmbat 1, Stealth 1, Crime 2, Theatrics 2, Eloquence 1.
Anarchist
Prerequisites: Social Level 3-, Agility 5+.
Crime 2, Close Combat 1, Eloquence 1, Engineering 1, Theatrics 1, Linguistics 1.
Apart from those the game's pretty cool in that it allows you to create your own careers, though I believe it to be more of a way to add new careers from the pen and paper game than to munchkin your way to victory, given you can really do munchkin your way to victory that way. Therefore, we will not be using such vile tools of corruption.
Finally, the game will calculate your starting wealth in pounds sterling based on a lot of different thingies. Whatever. The important part is that if you are either a Merchant, Adventuress, or Criminal the computer will multiply your starting fortune by an additional 10 and if your character's second career is Master Criminal then it will be multiplied by an additional 50. Also, characters with a Social Level of 5 or 6 will receive an annual income equal to their initial fortune, paid in twelve equal monthly installments. Characters in the Foreign Office and the Colonial Office receive a salary of 40 pounds sterling a month. This money all goes to the party's account.
Now I will show you how all of this works by creating our glorious leader. I will be making her a combination of Dilettante Traveler and Adventuress, therefore I will need to reroll her attributes until her Social Level is of at least five, her Intellect is of at least four, and her Charisma is of at least five. However, my LARPer side considers anything below a Social Level of Six to be well below me, so I will reroll her until she's a well bred lady in addition to everything else. And, yes, we will have to roll and re-roll our attributes, so please keep that in mind before deciding you want your characters to have all sixes or something.
This is the first thing we see upon choosing to create a new character.
I pick the first option. The first prompt ask me whether the character will be a male or a female. The second prompt ask me her name, Miss Faith. Then we start rolling. The game, naturally, decides to show me how much does it hate me.
Screw you, game. After a while, however, I manage to get an actual result I can kind of like. Slightly, but it will have to do. Next we pick a face: There are only five for each gender and they all look like people you don't want to come across in a dark alley.
Next I pick her two careers, Adventuress and Dilettante Traveler. I was stupid: I should have picked Adventuress and Master Criminal to get my initial funds through the roof, but I did not notice it until later, and there's no undo option. If you don't like what you did you have to start it all again, including the rolls.
Then the game tells me I have 2.0 general skill points. Remember buying skill points on attributes we have five or six costs us only half a point, while it costs us an entire point to buy a skill point on an attribute with a value of three or four. And, if we had an attribute with only one or two it would take all of our points to raise a single skill by a single point.
I raise Leadership by two, Markmanship by one, and Theatrics by one.
And that's it. Our glorious leader is ready to go where no cat, regardless of hue, has gone before! Now we need four volunteers before being able to start the game, though more are also welcome as I will be going about this in a pseudo Iron, uhm, Gal manner, which means if Miss Faith, our legendary heroine, kicks the bucket I will be reloading, but if other character dies horribly and painfully I will be adding a new recruit in his or her place instead. At least as far as I remember there was no revival on this game.
Oh, and I almost forgot. Those are the five faces for male characters.
So that's it. Let's see how this goes.
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