Firefly Turn 1 - The Market

 Turn 1 - Goods and services available.

THE MARKET

Location: Meridian

Type: Ship Upgrade Cost: $600

Reaver-Flage: Ship may move into a sector occupied by a Reaver ship. Discard after losing any crew to the Reavers.

Type: One time use Cost: $100

Fruity Oaty Bar: Eat to either (a) add +1 to any test result or (b) remove disgruntled from the owner

Type: One time use Cost: $500

Heist Intel: On your turn, use to look at the next three misbehave events. Return them in any order of your choice or discard all of them.

Location: Regina

Type: Character Equipment Cost: $1,000

Kaylee’s Re-programmer: + 2 Tech, Hacking Rig

Type: Character Cost $300

Bridget: Grifter, Companion, Deceptive: If Yolanda or Saffron are hired by anyone, remove Bridget from your crew, Negotiate: 2, Tech: 1

Type: Ship Upgrade Cost: $600

Sky Hook: Requires Pilot to use. Counts as Transport when attached to ship. After completing a crime job load one contraband.

Location: Percephone

Type: Character Cost: $200

Enforcer: Merc. Intimidating: +1 negotiate when carrying a firearm. Fight: 1

Type: Character Equipment Cost: $1,000

Kaylee’s Fluffy Pink Dress: + 1 Negotiate, Fancy Duds, When buying from suppliers, you may buy up to three items (instead of the normal two limit)

Type: Character Equipment Cost: $1,000

A Very Nice Hat: +1 negotiate, Fancy Duds, when dealing with agents, you may consider up to four jobs (instead of the normal three)

Location: Silverhold

Type: Character Equipment Cost: $1,800

Burgess’s Laser: +3 fight, firearm, explosive. Requires Tech: 1 to carry this weapon

Type: Character Cost: $300

Jayne: Merc, Public Relations: May carry 3 equipment, Big Damn Heroes: When you proceed with misbehaving gain $100. Wanted. Fight: 2

Type: Character Cost: $300

Saffron: Grifter, Companion, Deceptive: If Bridget or Yolanda are hired remove Saffron from your crew. Negotiate: 2, Tech: 2

Location: Beaumonde

Type: Character Equipment Cost: $1,000

Inara’s Guild Papers: +2 Negotiate, Companion

Type: Character Cost: $200

Barkeep: Grifter, Good Times: Giving your crew shore leave at trade ports is free, Wanted, Fight: 1 Negotiate: 1

Type: One time use Cost: $500

Labour Contract Space Bazaar: From any location, you may use a buy action to hire one crew from the Space Bazaar

Location: Osiris Shipworks

Type: Ship Upgrade Cost: $800

Electronic Defence Suite: Rivals boarding your ship may not use Tech skill for boarding tests. Spend 1 fuel to evade Reaver Cutter. Ignore the effects of either the Reaver Cutter Nav or Contact Event

Type: One time use Cost: $300

Med Foam: Use to count as having made a successful Medic Check (crewmember does not die)

Type: One time use and Character Equipment Cost: $300

Nav Charts: Alliance Space: +1 Tech, one time use to look at the next 5 sector events in Alliance Space. Reorder the events in any way that you want.

Location: Space Bazaar

Type: One time use Cost: $400

Improvised Hacking Rig: Either (a) use to count as a hacking rig or (b) use to add +1 Tech to a tech test

Type: Character Equipment Cost: $1,000

‘Bona Fide’ credentials: +1 Negotiate, Fake ID

Type: Character Cost: $100

Gun Hand: Merc, Expendable: When killed, discard instead of removing from play, Fight: 1

Firefly - Turn 1 - 3 Job Chioces

 Firefly Board Game

Turn 1 - 3 Player : Ivor.

Captain: Jubal Early. Age 24. Profession: Pilot Hire Cost: Free

Abilities: Bounty Hunter: +2 Fight when Attacking in Showdowns. May carry 2 gear.

Skills: Fight = 1, Tech = 1, Negotiate = 1.

Gear: Nothing.

Background : Jubal grew up on the mix of stations that make up Amnon Duul, ferrying cargo from station to station. Good at bargaining for jobs. Got into scraps with other cargo haulers. Studied the tech of what he was hauling to gain inside information of what was going to be the next big thing to be a hit with the punters.

Siblings: Sister - Grace Early, Works in Amnon Duul, Hab 4 Medbay.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ship Name: Yun Qi Warrant: None Outstanding.

Logo: A running Coyote in red.

Class: Firefly Series III

Special: None

Crew: 6 Hired: 0.

Cargo: 8 cargo, 4 stash. (Available: 4 cargo and 4 stash)

Upgrade slots: 3 (Currently empty).

Drive Core: Radion Accelerator Mark I: 1 fuel to initiate full burn.

Max Burn Range: 5

Ship Cost: $7,800.

Cargo

2 Parts (Cargo 1)

6 Fuel (Cargo 3)

Current Location: Higgins Harvest.

Last Port: New Kasmir (Food Containers).

Maintenance Log :

Flight Certificate: In Order.

Grav Plates: Passed.

Sensors : Passed.

Air Pressure Test. Passed.

Drive: No radiation leakage.

Nav Comp: Calibrated and up to date.

Transponder Code : Newhall F.III. Mkr.455 E443392 .

Ship’s Log: Wiped.

Ownership - Jubal Early.

In Debt to Niska $12,000.00

Paid Back $0.00.

Funds $3,200.00.

Current Client: -

Pending Jobs: -

Ships Log

Harvest, Red Sun

Magistrate Higgins is the final word of law on Higgins' Moon, a small moon that is a primary export of high-quality mud, used for clay and in ceramic substances with numerous applications. He treats his workers, known as "Mudders", harshly, almost as slaves, and hands out strict punishment to any who crossed him.

Desperate for funds you take up some Mud work for $200. Your available funds increase to $3,200.

You take the opportunity to approach Magistrate Higgins looking for more taxing and rewarding work.

You can choose up to two of the following jobs:

• Mud Run Muir

• Mud Pipeline Liann Jiun

• Mud Pipeline Albion

Mud Run Muir Requires: N/A

Agent: Magistrate Higgns Type: Shipping / Legal

Pick Up: Harvest, Red Sun Details: Load 5 Cargo, Use 1 additional fuel to burn

Drop off: Muir, Blue Sun Details: Deliver 5 Cargo, Reward is $3000

Transport bonus + $500

Mud Pipeline Liann Jiun Requires: N/A

Agent: Magistrate Higgns Type: Smuggling / Illegal

Pick Up: Harvest, Red Sun Details: Load 3 Contraband, Use 1 additional fuel to burn

Drop off: Liann Jiun, White Sun Details: Misbehave to deliver 3 Contraband,

Reward is $2800, Grifter bonus + $500

Mud Pipeline Albion Requires: N/A

Agent: Magistrate Higgns Type: Smuggling / Illegal

Pick Up: Harvest, Red Sun Details: Load 3 Contraband, Use 1 additional fuel to burn

Drop off: Albion, White Sun Details: Misbehave to deliver 3 Contraband,

Reward is $2800, Grifter bonus + $500

I pick the first two Jobs.

Ivor Cogdell

Firefly Board Game - Character Choice

Hi Everybody, 

                      My GM Richard is starting a Firefox Board game and here is my starting character stats. I have yet to hire crew or get a job. For the rules and general information on how to play, there are a few playing demo videos on Youtube.

 Turn 0. - Edit 2d                                                                        Player : Ivor.

Captain: Jubal Early.  Age 24. Profession: Pilot Hire Cost: Free 

Abilities: Bounty Hunter: +2 Fight when Attacking in Showdowns. 

Gear - 2 Slots: Carrying Nothing yet.

Skills: Fight = 1, Tech = 1, Negotiate = 1.

Background : Jubal grew up on the mix of stations that make up Amnon Duul, ferrying cargo from station to station. Good at bargaining for jobs. Got into scraps with other cargo haulers.  Studied the tech of what he was hauling to gain inside information of what was going to be the next big thing to be a hit with the punters.

Siblings: Sister - Grace Early, Works in Amnon Duul, Hab 4 Medbay.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ship Name: Yun Qi Class: Firefly Series III       Warrant: None Outstanding.

Logo:  A running Coyote in red. Ownership - Jubal Early.

Drive Core: Radion Accelerator Mark I: 1 fuel to initiate full burn.  

Max Burn Range: 5 

Upgrade slots: 3 (Currently empty).

Crew Berths: 6 Hired: 0.

Cargo Hold - 8 cargo, 4 stash. 

2 Parts worth a total of $600. (Takes up 1 Cargo Slot).

6 Fuel worth a total of $600.  (Takes up 3 Cargo Slots).

Maintenance Log :

Flight Certificate: In Order.

Grav Plates: Passed.

Sensors : Passed.

Air Pressure Test. Passed.

Drive: No radiation leakage

Nav Comp: Calibrated and up to date.

Transponder Code :  Newhall F.III. Mkr.455 E443392 .

Security: Active.

Weapons: Classified.

Ship’s Log:  Wiped. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Last Port: New Kasmir (Food Containers).

Current Location: Higgins Harvest.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Finances.

In Debt to Niska $12,000.00            Paid Back $0.00.        Funds $3,000.00.

Status:

Current Client: -    None                   Current Job -

                                                        Pending Jobs: -

                                                        Job Offers - 

Enemies - None.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No doubt it will get expanded as we go hither and yon. I do intend to add to the ship's log as we go about the star systems. Not sure how much info comes under copyright.

In no way do I intend to infringe the Copyright © and Registered ® Trade Mark™ of Firefox.

Regards all,

Ivor Cogdell

Thoughts On - Hobby Shopping - Updated

 Hi Everybody,

                      I have been pondering spending in the hobby at the moment, as I have been earning a wage for the last 6 months, after a two-year gap of employment. There are some great products out there, but I have a problem justifying the expense of it.

 Hardback rule sets have come in at £20 - £30 pounds, with fantastic artwork. But the problem is, we have a major crisis coming down the road at us all, with food and energy bills going up and that's just what we know about at the moment.

 There is usually .pdf files of games and rules available, which is great, but without a tablet, you are usually looking at a large outlay of ink to do it justice, which does not come cheap. (I don't think I have turned my printer on this year, as I was on my last cartridge.)

                      So the question is, "Do I spend on the hobby, now or later, go down the PDF route (with or without printing the files out), or use what I have until things calm down if they ever do."

In case you are wondering what my shopping list might be, Edition three of Five Parsecs from Home in hardback (Modiphious Press) .D100 Solo Adventures, Ironsworn Starforged, not to mention some sort of upgrade for my 12-year-old, long-suffering PC.

Do let me know if you have a similar situation in the comments and what your goody list is at the moment.

Regards all,

Ivor Cogdell

P.S. I do have the second edition of Five Parsecs From Home, which I have had for a while. I have been waiting to get some more figures and terrain, thanks to the generosity of the author, Ivan Sorensen.

P.P.S. 15 October 2022 - I have upgraded to a SATA 2 SSD, it was delayed by the postal strike, plus the events described in the post "Disaster" (3 Nov 2022"), so it has not been fitted yet. I plan to do a clean install of Windows 10 on it. 

3rd November 2022 - I was made redundant at the end of last month, so that pretty much limits me to free stuff on Drive through RPG until my fortunes do an upturn. Please do comment though if you see something I should add to my wish list.

7th November - I spotted a 10" Samsung Tablet in a second-hand shop. "Not too expensive", I thought, "at £38 GBP. Once home, I found out why. I could not get a secure connection to the net. The "Play Store" was out of date and would not load. Edge, Chrome, Safari and Firefox browsers would not load. I could not download any PDF reader/editors, which is what I had planned to use it for mainly. Needless to say, it went back to the shop the next day.

 A sales assistant asked, "Were you not told it was sub-standard when you bought it ?" 

"No", I replied, thinking "Otherwise I would not have bought it, you idiot".

I am proud to say, I gave better service to my customers when I worked in retail. But, at least I did get my money back.

Ivor Cogdell

Thoughts on - Shows 1

 Hi Everyone,

       I was looking forward to going to a couple of the wargame shows this year, Alumwell in Wolverhampton and Barrage in Stafford. Both, i see are now cancelled, unfortunately. Are there any shows going ahead that I can get to by public transport from Birmingham UK ? (Salute- London, I would imagine, would be one, but not sure what travel times involved on the tube.)

         I saw one in the Walsall area, but it was to far away from the bus lanes. The Birmingham games expo is still on as far as I know, but I don't  think there is any wargaming apart from board games. Please correct me if I am wrong on that point, as I have never been to one, yet.

Regards all,

Ivor Cogdell

Thoughts On - Eco Warriors 2

 Hi Everyone,

                     I have my Green hat on again. I was chatting with one of my mates regarding the Pro's and Con's of protesting, leaving the legal argument aside. This had been prompted by a protest group demonstrating outside oil terminals recently. My friend stated that most of the protestors would be only there for the sake of protesting and causing disruption, regardless of what the actual issue was. As he put it, they belonged to "Rent-A-Mob".

                     I agreed that the "Any protest will do" attitude was not a good basis for protesting, but stated that some may be there for that reason, but that there would still be the vast majority of people who did care about the actual issues involved and whose voices should be heard and their views considered, none the less. He did give way on the vague possibility, but I don't think my argument gave him any misgivings.

         Another friend mentioned the problems that we face going along this route. I reminded him that these green activists are fighting for HIS future along with everybody else’s. I asked him "What would you prefer in your senior moments, to be relaxing in the back garden on a nice summer’s day, sipping a cool drink in hand, or coughing and spilling the warm drink all over your trousers, peering through smog and heat haze".

    There is a very good Podcast authored by The Guardian newspaper in the UK, entitled "Carbon Bombs". This gives an insight into what the energy companies are planning, against what they say they are doing. Have a listen. Then start worrying and do something to help the situation.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2022/may/18/the-carbon-bombs-set-to-blow-up-the-worlds-climate-pledges

To our Green Warriors out there, please keep plugging away, don't give up heart. Your voices and actions DO COUNT FOR A GEAT DEAL. You will prove to history that at least some of us had heard the alarm bells ringing and were trying to do something about it before it was too late. I personally think it is already too late, but we have got to mitigate the problems as much as we can.

Have you been on a protest march ? Would you go on another one ? How were you treated ?

I would like to read your comments below.

Regards to all,

Ivor Cogdell.

 

Thoughts On - Ukraine and Russia - Updated 06/09/2022

 Hello Everybody,                                                                                                         20 March 2022.

                                            

                          I am doing this post in case some of our Russian comrades have managed to get onto the net and found themselves on my blog. Thank you for reading this and I would like to confirm that you are most welcome. I do want to add my tiny voice to the great shout that is echoing around the world, demanding that Vladimir Putin stop this totally unjust war against the citizens of Ukraine. Despite what you were told on your totally gagged and castrated news service, (did you notice the dissenting voices were going silent, one by one), they were not going to attack Russia in any way, shape or form. As you will hear from the lips of your own conscripted soldiers that do come back home to you, once this war is over. Sadly, that will not be all of them that left your country.

                           To the Warrior Men and Women of Ukraine, we Salute your Courage and valour. Your qualities are a beacon against oppression. The World is sharing your anger and pain at this foul crime you have endured. All despots should know and be sure of, that there will be a reckoning for their actions.

                           We hear on our news that there are over three million refugees that have fled the conflict and many more who would love to go. The Russian forces are shelling the "Safe Haven" corridors, turning them into death traps. They have to follow the cowardly orders of their commanders, bombing residential blocks, maternity hospitals, theatres and schools that were public shelters. The Russian forces had shelled and taken control of The Chernobyl Nuclear Plant and attacked other Nuclear plants in the south, but they have now being forced back from this facility. Whole communities lie in smoking ruins in the east of the country. Food stocks are unable to reach the ports, the sea routes are mined.

                          To the brave protesters of Russia. Thank you, too for your courage. You stood up for what was right and just, despite the possible cost to yourselves. We salute you too. We know that that your actions would have been joined by many more, but for circumstances beyond their control.

                         We in the West do not blame the Russian people for this gross and unwarranted act of Barbarity against Ukraine and its people, but your cowardly leader and his cronies, who have gotten rich by siphoning away your saving into their own pockets, who seems to be stuck in the past with hopes of greatness. He has achieved Infamy around the world. He is becoming a second Hitler. Sadly, it is you who will suffer in his place, as the world turns its back on Russia and its elite, you will feel its everyday effects. There is less choice in the shops. Less money to spend. Fewer places to go. That, at least, you know is true. It is happening now. It will get worse.

                         Hopefully, one day we can be reunited in peace again.

Ivor Cogdell

UK 

P.S. It's now the 6th September 2022 and the war has still not ended. Putin has weathered the sanctions and has let some of the grain shipments get through the blockade and out of the ports. He is now stopping the NORD 2 gas supplies to Germany, (They blame maintenance over an oil leak for the stoppage.) 

 Nuclear Inspectors have been allowed to visit the nuclear power plant, currently, outside electrical supplies have been cut off, but it is on internal power. 

Energy bills all over the world are soaring out of control. Companies have seen prices triple, with the hope of a new Conservative leader riding to the rescue

Macdonalds have returned to Russia under a new name, they were bought out by a Russian Billionaire. I suppose they were cutting their losses. No doubt the shareholders were happy. I just hope the workers got their jobs back.