Actual Play: Firefly "Old War Horses" Captain Ramsey Zook

Captain Ramsey Ásmundur Zook

Attributes: 
Mental: d8_______________Physical: d8______________Social: d8 

Skills: 
Craft d4___________________Drive d4_________________**Fight d8
Fix d4_____________________*Fly d8___________________*Focus d6
**Influence d10_(leadership)__Know d6_(the Verse)_______Labor d4 
Move d4__________________Notice d4________________Operate d4
Perform d4________________*Shoot d10_______________Sneak d4 
*Survive d6________________Throw d4________________Treat d4 
*Trick d12 (the Sting)

Distinctions: 
Brothers d8 
[x] Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a d4 instead of a d8 
[_] Squabblin': Gain a PP when you spend a scene arguing with your brother instead of the task at hand
[_] Thick as Thieves: When you share a scene with your brother, you may share Plot Points with one another 
(Skills: Fight, Influence, Trick) 

Veteran of the Unification War d8 
[x] Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a d4 instead of a d8 
[x] Fightin' Type: Spend 1 PP to step up or double your Shoot or Fight when you're outnumbered 
[_] War Stories: When you create an Asset or take a Complication related to a wartime flashback, step it up 
(Skills: Fight, Shoot, Survive) 

Ship's Captain d8 
[x] Gain 1 Plot Point when you roll a d4 instead of a d8 
[_] Protect the Crew: When a Crewmember in the same scene as you acquires a Complication, spend 1 PP to take it away and step it back 
[x] Lead the Crew: When one of your crew directly follows one of your orders, spend 1 PP and give the Crewmember an Asset equal to your Influence die rating
(Skills: Fly, Focus, Influence) 

Signature Assets:
Ning Po (ship) d8




There are two very important Zooks on Ita, General Samuel Zook and his identical twin brother, General Ramsey Zook. Like the US Civil War, many families were split over the issue of Unification. Samuel fought for the Alliance and Ramsey fought for the Independents. On many occasions, they fought in the same battle but on opposite sides, including the Battle of Serenity Valley. The war damaged their relationship in many ways, but family is still family and Ramsey refused to surrender to anyone but his brother in the last days. This caused quite a stir in the Alliance, especially when Samuel took it upon himself to insist that the Independents be brought fully into the Alliance, as full members.

So vocal was Samuel on this that it lead to the military silencing him the only way they knew–by ordering him to garrison Ita. They knew it was putative and he knew that they knew, but he followed orders. When he arrived on Ita, it had the worst discipline and the worst problems of any command. His previous troops were easy compared to the issues he faced. And Alliance Command kept sending him more, emptying out the losers and malcontents from each group to send to Ita, to keep him busy.

And Samuel kept busy. He built up the command, instilling in the (in many ways) non–conventional troopers a pride and esprit d'corps that was totally lacking before. It took some time to adjust to garrison life but he found that allowing wives and girlfriends, then family members to join the garrison lead to a more stable society. One that he could order easier. Several years went by and more people came, including his future wife, a relative of one of his sergeants.

Since they were on the fringes of the ’Verse and on the fringes of the Alliance military, they usually got not only the dregs of the service but the dregs of the equipment and supplies. Alliance Command made sure the satellites were well supported but the troops that maintained them were less important. So, with their own pay to spend, the troops needed a link to the rest of the ’Verse, a go–between to get them what they needed. Then Ramsey showed up. 

And everything changed.

So one day Ramsey Zook showed up. The years of separation between the brothers Zook had been hard on both of them. As children, Samuel was the serious one and Ramsey was the daredevil comedian. Not much had changed since the end of the Unification War. Ramsey was living life to the fullest, runnin’ guns, smuggling all sorts of illegal contraband in his freighter, just one step ahead of the law and the Syndicate. In fact, Ramsey was all set to rob the Alliance Boneyard on Ita of some pretty good stuff. How was he to know that his twin brother was in command?

When Ramsey found out the situation that Samuel was in, as well as the resources in men and material at his command (forgetting for a moment that the material was supposed to be guarded, not used or sold), he came up with a clever plan!

The first part was actually convincing Samuel to go in on it. That was actually easy. Samuel’s troops had needs, Ramsey had the means and both brothers could spend more time together. Ramsey would operate as an acquiring agent for the 479th Mule, Gravedigging and Support Unit. They would keep his ship in good repair, he’d have a safe base to retreat to (as well as armed satellite defenses) and all he had to do was get them what they needed.

The beauty of it all was that the Alliance would not mess too much with them, because Ramsey could pretend to be Samuel if necessary, working “undercover” or some such nonsense. As long as he wasn’t caught robbing a bank in broad daylight while gunning down nuns and spinster aunts, no–one would be the wiser. Sure, that could lead to some trouble, but a few cosmetic changes to his finger prints and he’d be Samuel. And Samuel had an excellent cover, too. How could those prints have gotten there?

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3x3s

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3 friends: 
● Fiona Webb Ryan, a Companion. A friend from old times. Currently working on Bernadette but hears things from time to time. 
● Jim O’Dowd, drug dealer and all around low–life. He’s a bad, bad man but just sometimes he’s got a heart of gold. 
● Corporal Jeet, mechanic, 479th Mule, Gravedigger and Support Unit. A fine mechanic, Zook and Jeet share a common dislike of Major Varvara. 

● Oribi Conwaebe, another Companion/Friend from old times. Inheritor of the Sweeney Inn. 

A settlement tucked away on a remote planet in the outer worlds. The doors are always open to weary, *trusted* travelers of all kinds. "Warm food in the day, warm company in the evening, warm bed in the night. That's all a soul needs to be happy." Mamma Conwaebe used to say. Other places in the 'verse might have done better in one part, maybe two, but no place gets the respect of this one for doing this well in all three. When Mamma passed away, "Ribi" kept the same principles. Welcoming to all, but especially so to some, (so long as you're trusted) Ribi makes sure you're taken care of. Protected by obscurity, confidence, as well as suspiciously high end tech(cloaking or mobility or some-such) Sweeney Inn is a great respite to rest your weary "feet".

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3 contacts: 

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● Sally Clements, CEO Xian Banking Corporation. Zook saved her life a few years ago during a heist. They’ve kept in close contact ever since. 
● Mr. Tanaka, corporate spy, assassin and Cortex ghost. This mysterious man seems to have taken a liking to Zook for some unknown reason. 
● Yau Nim–Fu, underworld sub–boss. Zook provided him with info on an attempt on his life. He’s honor bound to repay the debt. 

● The notorious Underworld Client. Offers jobs of a certain *high-paying* variety.

Pretty much always has a job for any crew willing to jump through all the *hyper encrypted, authority dodging, virtually untraceable* hoops of contacting him. No one knows if its one person or several, No one knows how he evades the law, No one knows who he is, or even his real name. No one even knows if it is indeed a "he". They only know how to contact him. And they only know they name he goes by. The mysterious, the notorious, the unsearchable, the legendary, Mr. SNIPS.

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3 enemies:

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● Ranjit Mallick, underworld sub–boss. Zook foiled a legitimate hit on Nim–Fu and he’s very upset about it. Very upset. 
● Rose Hall-Smith, ship dealer. She feels that Zook didn’t pay for the Ning Po and she means to get it back, one way or the other. 
● Major Varvara, XO 479th Mule, Gravedigger and Support Unit. While personally loyal to General Zook, Varvara feels that Ramsey is taking the General for a ride, to ruin and dishonor.