At Jupiter (after Session 5c.12, 14 October 2012/“1 to 3 April 2195 A.D./C.E. or 1 T.G.E.”)

Fellow role-players, I hope that you enjoyed Session 12 of the “Vortex” telecom space opera. I thought we had some great scenes, from “Orion” wielding his plasma sword as “Srinu” steered their underwater sled around ice to evade Ru’ulok pursuit, to “Jax” and company taking the “Gryphon” into the Europan ocean, and “Chris” finally getting to use his Salvorain trident (Damage +6, Range 2) on a tentacled horror!

Please note that each of your Player Characters should now have the following:

• Aspects: 7 — High Concept, Foibles, Starting Out, Sidetracked, Guest Star, Motivation, Adventuring
• Skill points: 28 total, with a pyramid of one or two Great ( +4, apex), two or more at Good ( +3), three or more at Fair ( +2), and four or more at Average ( +1). Remember that you can also rearrange existing skills.
• Refresh: 10 — I recommend no more than six stunts, which would leave 4 Fate points to use per session.

You should be able to find options in Starblazer Adventures, Mindjammer, and Bulldogs, as well as other FATE-based games, such as Legends of Anglerre or Dresden Files. Please update your records on the Obsidian Portal wiki and let me know about any questions or changes.

As I put together my notes from our game, here’s a list of some Non-Player Characters that you may find helpful.

• Max(ine): female Terran human “fixer,” onetime handler of former spy and engineer Hector Chavez [Beruk A.]
• Alejandro Merton: male Jovian human, held in Tarterus Prison for the serial murder of 12 people, possibly connected to the Harbingers of the Righteous Order of Submission (see also below)
• Ribber: disembodied Jovian “Synth” (Artificial Intelligence) driven insane after surviving a mining accident on Io that left strangely mangled bodies; possibly also connected to the Zurmiz Krott
• Annamaria Balzana: female L-5 human, special operative and onetime rival of Hector and Max now at Jupiter
• Darcy: male Martian felinoid “Synth” (“Uplifted” or bioengineered humanoid tiger), boyfriend of former wrestler Jasmine [Sara F.] and crew member aboard the Gryphon
• Sal: male Martian? former trainer of Jasmine
• Olun Gor: male Martian Garth (“Uplifted” gorilla) in the Synth Liberation Front on Mars, asked Jasmine for help retrieving three comrades from the United Ecumenical Movement’s temples on Phobos, but Andrei Dyashenko, Meson, and Zara turned out to be held for atavism treatments
• Tabitha Hanahi: female Jovian felinoid (lynx-like) Synth, associate of Jasmine met at the “Barbed Ring” in Elysium, the orbital capital of the Jovian Commonwealth ; flirted with Darcy
• Shortwave and Quickfin: Jovian Delphines (“Uplifted” cetaceans) referred to Jasmine by Tabitha; left note for rendezvous at Liberation Plaza in Elysium arranging to meet at clock tower at midnight local time
• Asdann Fre’vel: female Gustrall (antlered, orange-furred, raptor-like alien) guard at the Hadriaca Paterna terraforming plant on Mars, friend of sniper Chris McKee [Josh C.]
• Lt. Brock Ellis: male Jovian human, former colleague of “Agent Prometheus” at Black Box Security Co.; Chris planning to meet at “Tazer’s Tavern” in Port Edillon
• Unnamed maintenance robot: watched Jasmine and Chris at Liberation Plaza in Elysium during abortive meeting with Delphines
• Unnamed human woman: watched Jasmine and “Agent Prometheus” at Liberation Plaza
• Cassandra: female Terran human, wealthy (and unwanted) fan of pilot Jax [Robin H.]
• Will Kleparn: male Saturnian human, infamous pirate and captain of the Silver Sail ; associate of Jax at the “Floating Cove” on the moon Ganymede
• Bonnie Kawagura: female L-5 human, friend of Cassandra and Jax in the Jovian system
• Fr. Dante Quinn: male Terran human, Orthodox Roman Catholic priest met by alien wanderer Orion Starchaser [Geoff C.] at U.E.M. temples on Phobos
• Angirosa: male Jovian “near-human,” crew member and psi aboard the Satan’s Strumpet , communicated with Orion
• Sister Sudra Owens: female Belter human, U.E.M. chaplain at the Jovian Commonwealth
• Zurmiz Krott/Harbingers of the Righteous Order of Submission: biomechanical probes of the Zarkonian Armada, emit nanites and can induce cannibalistic madness in Terrans, as the crews of the Blackbird , Appomattox , and Gryphon learned; subject of study results collected by Dr. Srinu Pahul [Byron V.O.]
• Jim Delaney [Robert A.S.]-male Terran “near-human” technomantic gambler; left on Mars
• MEGAN (Medical Emergency and Group Assistance Synthetic Nurse)-sexy robot aide to Dr. Pahul in the Gryphon ’s sickbay/biolab
• PEPE (Personal Executive Prototype, Version E)-non-sentient robotic butler of Dr. Pahul aboard the Gryphon
• Lt.Cmdr. Hiroshi Mbenge: male Jovian human, Union of Solar Nations officer aboard the U.S.V. Larabie, to be contacted by Srinu and Chris
• Sarbonne: Trinoid (trilateral amphibious alien) xenobiologist at Cassini University in Elysium near Jupiter, to be contacted by Dr. Pahul about the Zurmiz Krott research
• Garvin Cho and Melissa Jones: Terran humans, doctors at the Crimson Cloud Hospital near Jupiter
• Unnamed Ru’ulok (heavy-gravity reptilian alien) pirates: four killed after pursuing Orion and Srinu on sleds on Europa
• Europan kraken: tentacled life form in the ocean of Jupiter’s moon
• Murchem: Encegulan (slug-like alien) slaver, captain of the Round Hole; went down with the ship

Vehicles: The Gryphon, Slipstream, and

• Sea Cloud : yacht of Maria Chan, whose maneuver (slower-than-light) drives were swapped with those of the Gryphon at the Utopia Planitia shipyards near Mars
• Satan’s Strumpet: pirate ship of Capt. Vijay Bhaghwandra; driven off on approach to Jupiter
• Repulse: light frigate of the Jovian Defense Force
• U.S.V. Cheetah: Union of Solar Nations Navy frigate near Jupiter, affiliated with the “George S. Patton” battle group
• Faithful Starlight: Terran slower-than-light (STL) generation colony ship with religious zealot passengers, headed in the direction of Zarkonian intrusions
• Nova Aquarius: Terran STL colony ship headed toward Zarkonian space, crewed by megacorp employees after first interplanetary war
• Firebrand: Terran STL ship headed toward Zarkonian armada, crewed by a mix of colonists, including scientists; Hector recommended going to this one first
• underwater sled (and scuba gear) rented by “Srinu” and “Orion” from Port Reagan on Europa
• The Round Hole: space vessel/submarine with Ru’ulok and Encegulan crew, disabled on Europa by the Gryphon
• U.S.V. Larabie, Interplanetary Patrol corvette commanded by Capt. Boris Agnovis and based out of Port Edillon (see also Lt.Cmdr. Hiroshi Mbenge above)