Voron the Manager

[LaGouache]

In progress

Name : Voron Forr
Gender: Male
Species : Twi'lek

Race XP : 100 XP
Race Ability : +1 Charm; Arid/Hot Environments
Brawn: 1 Agility: 2 Intellect: 2 Cunning: 2 Willpower: 2 Presence: 3

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Career : Colonist
+1 Charm; +1 Knowledge (Education); +1 Knowledge (Lore); +1 Negociation

Specialization : Entrepreneur
+1 Knowledge (Core Rim); +1 Negociation

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Motivation

Desire Knowledge;
The character wants to learn things and acquire deep musical knowledges from across the galaxy and the historical periods

Fear Poverty;
The character has a fear of running out of money.

Strength Analytical;
The character tries to get a strong understanding of situations and have an alytical mind to find solutions.

Flaw Money;
Having a fear of running out of money, he is highly influenced by money.

Background
Voron's birth name was Azow'podul. He has been raised on Coruscant during the Republic Era. Showing musical talents he was sent to Music Academy where he studied Water Organ along with Musical History and Musical Theory. He was beginning his classical performer concert career when the Empire overthrew the Republic.
With this new regime, non-Human species were ostracized and non-Human arts discouraged, putting a stop to his career. No one would program his recitals anymore and, as a non-Human he was pushed to the sidelines to live on the edge of the Empire.
He now tries to make a living from his musical skills and knowledge, in the fringe, but does not depsair to once again get a decent life from the only thing he knows how to do.

Azow'podul fled the Empire influence of the Core World and started working for a Hutt lord's private orchestra as a Red Ball Jett Organ player. Despite the humiliations from Shorlioc the Hutt, his employer, and the mediocrity of the music he had to play, the wages allowed him to eat and the Hutt guaranteed him anonymity and security.
As the political situation settled in the galaxy, Azow'podul wanted to change life and get back in the Core Worlds, in the hope he could get rid of the vulgarity of the daily life in the palace. He negociated his freedom with the Hutt's staff officer. Shorlioc's aide-de-camp saw the opportunity to recruit a new spice mule. He allowed Azow'podul to leave in exchange of some "services". He would have to transport spice cargisons for Shorlioc. His first mission was to get to Ryloth and hide a cargison of spice in his organ to deliver it to Corellia on a slaver frigate.
"The imperial slaver, Magnis, is a ... friend ... of us", told the criminal to Azow'podul, "he will get you through the Empire lines. You will have to pretend you are a Twi'lek slave. The slaver will drop you in the former senate quarter of Coronet City. From there you will get to a cantina in the black market area. Magnis will provide you with the transport, the instructions and some fake identity."
"And this is it, I am free to go ?" asked Azow'podul
"As long ad you do what we expect from you ...", said the criminal, with a grin.

The next day, Azow packed to Ryloth with his instrument. Shorlioc arranged the travel on a scoundrel's ship to an underground spice refinery to load the cargison in the organ and then to drop him in the desert where he got picked by Magnis the slaver.
"We'll be in Corellia in no time", said Magnis, "just shut your alien mouth and stay quiet and everything will be allright. We'll get your instrument in the storage. Once we get to Corellia, if anyone looking official asks you anything just say you're a performer, in Twi'leki. You do speak Twi'leki do you ?"
"Well, I was raised on Coruscant, I haven't spoken it in years ... " replied Azow.
"Screw you Shorlioc !! Why can't he get me decent workforce !!" said Magnis before leaving.

When they arrived on Corellia, Magnis droped Azow in a back alley, where a Cargo Speeder and a pilot was waiting for them.
"You have to go in the black market area", Magnis said, "Zul will get you there with your instrument. There is an audition, you must say to the security guy at the door of the cantina that you are there to participate. That will get you inside. I hope you can play something, or your cover won't last long ... While you are there you must locate the head of the security and say you're here from Magnis, he will get you in the reserve and take what you have for them."
"What should I do after that ?" Asked Azow
"After ? that's not my problem. I have everything you need to start your life with a new identity. Now, you are Voron Forr, you never worked for Shorlioc, the rest is none of my business"
"I am free to go then ?"
"Free ???" laughed Magnis "You are a funny one !! I don't know if anyone can be free from Shorlioc. One day or another, he will appear again in your life, and not for the good... he never appears for the good .."

Magnis left Azow to Zul who took him to the cantina.

The cantina was a poor slum but it emanated some old school vibes from the place and the people around it, which pleased Azow, although he could not explain. He got his way inside and was immediately brought to the stage.

"What is your name" asked a charismatic young man in the room
"... Azow, I am here for the audition"
"We are listening"

Azowwas not prepared to perform right away, he played the only thing that came to his mind at the moment, some old Hutt dance he used to play at Shorlioc's. After his performance, the charismatic guy came to the stage.

"This is ... unsettling. I can't remember having heard anything like that. It reminds me of some Hutt space music, but with convoluted expressivity and Core Worlds classical harmonies. This is without a doubt unique. Where do you come from ?"
Azow was unable to answer anything, afraid to reveal why he got there. The charismatic guy saw that the question was disturbing Azow but was so impressed by the performance he cut short the conversation.
"Well, that was indiscreet of me" he said, amused "My name his Zannel, I am forming a band to join me in my next tour. You do have a peculiar style, I love that. Would you be interested to join me ?"
They talked for minutes that felt like seconds and felt they had a mutual musical understanding that would make them have great times performing.

After the audition, Azow was delivering his cargison to the security officer in the reserve when Zannel entered in the room. Chocked at first, Voron explained him the plain truth : his youth in Coruscant, his years working for Shorlioc's, the opportunity to leave doing the mule job, ...
"Well" said Zannel "I see you had some hard times ... that's another reason to follow me. We are going to Nubia, that's a great place to disappear amongst the dense cities there..." "By the way, you should change your name. What do you think of ... Voron ?"


Obligation
Betrayal (10)
Zannel and Voron developped a professional friendship. Zannel was impressed by the musical depth of Voron and Voron was captivated by Zannel's presence. When Zannel left the band, Voron felt it like a Betrayal.

Servitude (10)
Voron owes a life debt to Shorlioc the Hutt. Shorlioc let him go from his service but this is not free ... and it seems like the debt can never be paid.

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XP
Base (100)
Obligation (10)
Bonus (30)

XP Spent
Intelligence 3 (-30)
Intelligence 4 (-40)
Presence 4 (-40)
Sound Investments (-5)
Rapid Recovery (-5)
Sound Investments (-10)
Wheel and Deal (-10)

Total XP : 140 ; XP Spent : 140 ; Available XP : 0

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Current Stats:
Attributes:
Brawn: 1 | Agility: 2 | Intellect: 4 | Cunning: 2 | Willpower: 2 | Presence: 4

WT: 10 (Base) + 1 (Brawn) = 11| ST: 11 (Base) + 2 (Willpower) = 13
Skills:

Charm (Pr)	2
Negociation (Pr)	2
Knowledge (Education) (Int)	2
Knowledge (Lore) (Int)	1
Leadership (Pr)	0
Knowledge (Core Worlds) (Int)	0
Streetwise (Cun)	0
Deception (Cun)	0
Knowledge (Underworld)	0
Discipline (Will)	0

Talents:

Arid/Hot Environments
When making skill checks, Twi'leks may remove [setback] imposed due to arid or hot environmental conditions.

Sound Investments; Rank 2
At the start of each session, gain 100 credits for each rank of Sound Investments.

Rapid Recovery; Rank 1
When recovering strain af­ter an encounter, recover 1 additional strain per rank of Rapid Recovery

Wheel and Deal; Rank 1
When selling goods legally, gain 10% more credits per rank of Wheel and Deal.


Gear:
Holdout Blaster | Ranged (Light) | Damage (5) | Crit (4) | Range (Short) | Encumbrance (1) | Hard Points (1) | Price (200) | Rarity (4)
Performer's Attire | Defence (0) | Soak (0) | Price (50) | Encumbrance (0) | Hard Points (0) | Rarity (4) | Add [boost] to checks to perform or attract attention.

Red Ball Organ
Earbud Comlink

[SavageBob]

This is an interesting concept, similar to the Archaeologist @DeepSpacer proposed and the Analyst @Boutrose Saba-Norr has considered. I think both of them have decided to go with other ideas, so a Scholar might work to play the role of someone with a deep level of knowledge about music.

So a couple of questions: Why Scholar rather than Analyst or Archaeologist? And why Drall? Is it simply for the 4 in Intellect? This character as is seems almost too hyper-specialized in Intellect, so I worry about all those 1s and 2s in stats leaving you with little to do in many encounters. Unless Drall is compelling to you for narrative reasons, it might be worth taking a standard 222231 species perhaps.

[DeepSpacer]

This is without adding in the 90XP, correct? He could be quite varied. Any secondary ability?
Drall, maybe, playing a saxophone?

[LaGouache]

I changed to a bith with 3 in Intelligence and 3 in perception. Changed specialization to Politico.
I aim to have a character knowledge oriented with secondary presence skills for performance (Charm, Leadership)

[SavageBob]

OK, just note that Boutrose will be playing a Leadership-focused character, and DeepSpacer will be playing a Charm-focused character, so there is now more overlap than before. What's the core of your concept? To Know Things or to Sway People? If it's knowledge, I wonder if Scholar, Analyst, or Archaeologist might be better. Maybe Entrepreneur or Quartermaster if you want to be a money-and-knowledge guy.

[LaGouache]

I was interested in Entrepreneur for this build but since we have no money, I supposed it may be kind of useless to start with.
But I love the idea of Entrepreneur.

[SavageBob]

Well, you may not have a lot of money now, but there's always room to grow! Entrepreneur would make you the negotiator for the group, and you could get lots of ranks in Knowledge (Education) if you wanted to specialize in entertainment law and contracts. Vergence is making a promoter-type character, but it seems he's more focused on public-relations, so it could work.

Another possibility is Politico, but focused on the Coercion side of the tree (Scathing Tirade). No one in the party yet specializes in Coercion. A Politico/Enforcer would make a good roadie, actually.

[LaGouache]

Ok, Entrepreneur is a nice idea, I'll try that and update the concept.

[LaGouache]

Ok, made an update of the character.
Made him an Entrepreneur with high Int (for knowledge) and presence (for negociation/charm)

[SavageBob]

OK, interesting concept! Mechanically, everything looks fine. I do have a few questions about the character, though:

First, is this an older character? You say he grew up in the Republic era, and he was an adult when the Republic fell. That would make him middle-aged or older now, at least in his late 30s or early 40s. That's fine, but I just wanted to confirm.

As for the Empire discouraging the arts, I think it's more appropriate to say that they have supported and bolstered the Human high arts. So for a Twi'lek to try to be a concert performer is difficult, but it's because he's a non-human, not because he is a musician.

I'd like to see you find a more Star Wars-y instrument for him rather than the earth instrument of saxophone. Maybe he plays a slitherhorn or a traz?

I'd like you to come up with a narrative reason for Sound Investments. The talent is fine, but what do we say in the narrative when your talent triggers? What exactly are the investments?

Finally, I wanted to make sure you realized that @DeepSpacer will also be playing a Twi'lek with Presence 4. I'm hoping it won't make a difference; the talents of the Entrepreneur are very different form the talents of his character, the Charmer. ( @Boutrose Saba-Norr is also playing a high-Presence character.) If you stick with Twi'lek, it might make sense for you two to figure out whether your characters know each other somehow (perhaps even siblings?). But if it's just the Twi'lek stats that you like, you might also consider Pantoran, as the stats are very similar -- and they get a free rank in Negotiation, which is handy for an Entrepreneur.

[DeepSpacer]

Considering a male Twi'lek, eh? Maybe my character's crazy ex-boyfriend? Ha-ha! She hates him, but he has credits, so that's her 'Flaw'. Like many musical groups, the animosity between fellow members runs deep.

Yes, Charmer is a Smuggler Career. Significantly different skills and talents.

One does not need a Presence-3 Species just to get a 4. You can get ANY species with a 2 and spend 30+40 (70) to get that 4 and let the 3 stand in whatever attribute it stands in. Sometimes that gets overlooked as people compose lists of Presence-3-only species.

I could also consider a human female performing artist. Just gotta find a good PIC. It's just that Twi'leks are more Star Warsy. The two extra non-career skills are always very useful.

[Boutrose Saba-Norr]

Yea look at me; I started as presence one and now I’m the most charismatic chiss in the galaxy.
It’s the low brooding melancholy that makes guy irresistible.

[SavageBob]

Considering a male Twi'lek, eh? Maybe my character's crazy ex-boyfriend? Ha-ha! She hates him, but he has credits, so that's her 'Flaw'. Like many musical groups, the animosity between fellow members runs deep.

Isn't this what happened with No Doubt? The ex's idea could work. You could even be divorced spouses (Sonny and Cher?).

I could also consider a human female performing artist. Just gotta find a good PIC. It's just that Twi'leks are more Star Warsy. The two extra non-career skills are always very useful.

At this time, I'm leaning into the fact that you're all non-human as I draft up your departed lead performer. He or she is Human and got picked up by a label, but the rest of you were left behind. It's unclear whether it was anti-alien prejudice, but it'll be up to each of you to have your characters react as they would react to the distinction. That said, if you decide to switch to a Human, DS, I can work it in.

[SavageBob]

Another point for Gouache: At first, your group will have to rely on an NPC as your agent. This person will get you gigs, and you'll meet them in the first adventure. I'm designing the character now. You might think about how Voron feels about this. Does he want to learn from this person? Does he want to become independent from this agent and become the group's agent instead? These can be mid-term goals for your character.

Second, we should make sure Voron's role and @Vergence's character's role are distinguished. I think it should be fine: Voron is the business person, while Vergence's Clawdite is the PR person. Voron handles contracts and finances and also performs, while the promoter handles advertising, word of mouth, and works the crowd behind the scenes. There shouldn't be a problem, but I wanted us to delineate how the two characters will be able to coexist within the group.

[Vergence]

First, great character build; your character concept looks a lot of fun to play! Glad to see you've jumped into the game
Second, I'm not personally worried about overlap because starting out everybody tries to promote their music (in their own unique ways). I'll just have a title, be mechanically better at it, and able to promote while the band is practicing or peforming (flyers or working the crowd off stage etc). If there is something in particular we believe will be a crossover, just let me know. My character's personality isn't overly territorial about getting the band famous.

[LaGouache]

I changed the instrument.
Twi'lek is mostly because I like the species and seemed more Entrepreneur than Bith that I planned initialy. Pantoran is nice regarding the stat, but they don't have the fringer image to me that Twi'lek can have.
I don't think that having two Twi'lek in the band may imply that they are related, there are a lot of Twi'lek in the Outer Rim and in the arts.

I see Voron as a musical scholar and entrepreneur, he is classically trained and have strong stats for knowledge check, which can be used to provide support to the group when musical knowledge / musical theory is involved. His presence/negociation and the entrepreneur tree allow him to also be involved in the management/sales/law tasks and also be useful to buy things for the band at the best price, ...

[SavageBob]

OK, now just be careful because @ThreeBFour also has chosen the Red Ball Jet Organ for his character! (Great minds think alike.) Is there another instrument that might work?

As for being related to @DeepSpacer's character, it's not necessary, but I do want all of you to know each other from the past, so think about how you joined this band in the first place. It's possible it was all random, but it may be more satisfying from a storytelling standpoint if the ties among characters are deeper than "we all used to work together."

At any rate, let me review your character in the next day or two. We can decide on details about how the band got together in the general discussion forum.

[LaGouache]

OK, now just be careful because @ThreeBFour also has chosen the Red Ball Jet Organ for his character! (Great minds think alike.) Is there another instrument that might work?

sorry, I choose a replacement for saxophone too fast
Let's pick Double Jocimer ?

[ThreeBFour]

OK, now just be careful because @ThreeBFour also has chosen the Red Ball Jet Organ for his character! (Great minds think alike.) Is there another instrument that might work?

As for being related to @DeepSpacer's character, it's not necessary, but I do want all of you to know each other from the past, so think about how you joined this band in the first place. It's possible it was all random, but it may be more satisfying from a storytelling standpoint if the ties among characters are deeper than "we all used to work together."

At any rate, let me review your character in the next day or two. We can decide on details about how the band got together in the general discussion forum.

That was changed to the Valachord, remember the picture on FFG.

[SavageBob]

Ah, that's right. So feel free to take the Red Ball Organ, LaGouache.

[Boutrose Saba-Norr]

I need to check out these instruments, also @LaGouache I put in my character background that he joined the group after rousing the crowd to heckle their previous precutionist off stage. Huy liked the band but thought their drummer was shit and he could be better, so after the drummer left in a fit guy stepped in. I’m assuming you were all already together at that point lol, that is if bob lets me keep this in.

[SavageBob]

Stats look good. Please list all of your career skills, even if you don't have points in them. This will make character advancement easier down the road.

Backstory: We need some more details here, along with some corrections. The Empire hasn't ostracized and discouraged the arts, but they have done this for non-Humans. You should indicate that Voron is being blacklisted because of his species. We also need to establish how you joined the band and what your relationship was to the lead singer who has departed. Perhaps you joined up after an audition, and you were excited that Redbeam seemed to accept you despite your species, but then he left and confirmed the prejudice you've felt all along?

Obligation: Please indicate that this is Obligation 20 (10 starting, +10 for extra XP). As part of the business starting resource, you get a musical instrument (basic quality). If you want to start with something better, you'll need to choose Obligation for credits instead of for XP. You can certainly keep the Debt Obligation as you have it listed now, but you won't have access to the double jocimer, since that would require more starting credits. Perhaps it was destroyed—but the black marketeer still wants you to pay him back?

Gear: Any thought about what gear you'll start with? Again, you get an earbud comlink and a basic musical instrument as part of the startup costs of the business, so if you want the debt to represent the double jocimer, perhaps it was a high-quality instrument you have lost or it was stolen. (This is good, as it gives me some narrative hooks to work with—getting the instrument back can be an adventure reward!)

[LaGouache]

The double jocimer being stolen is good I can definitely add that. It can even have been stolen by the men of the black marketeer himself by the way.

[SavageBob]

Hey, @LaGouache, I need to clarify Obligation. You have 20 Obligation, but it can be split into multiple sources. We still need to know how you joined the band and what your relationship was to the lead singer before he left. I'd like to see you tie at least 5 of your Obligation to the band's breakup. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

[LaGouache]

@SavageBob I finally got time to work on the story. Let me know if anything should be changed.