Back In Black: GURPS Firefly, Kaylee the Mechanic

[omorka]

Although right at the moment what I really want to do is start writing up GURPS Ur-Quan Masters for the StarCon II races, I'm promising myself that I won't start that until I finish one of the two working projects.

So, onward:

Kaywinnit Lee Frye:

ST 10 (0 pts)
DX 13 (60 pts)
IQ 12 (40 pts)
HT 11 (10 pts)

Advantages: Appearance/Cute (4 pts), Machine Empathy (5 pts), Talent: Grease Monkey, 3 levels (30 pts)

Disadvantages: Combat Paralysis (-15 pts), Truthfulness (-5 pts)

Languages: English (Native, free), Mandarin (Accented, 4 pts)

Quirks: Naive (-1 pt), Perkier than humanly possible (-1 pt), Talks about ships and vehicles as if they were alive (-1 pt), Wears clothing with brightly colored floral patterns under overalls (-1)

Skills: Animal Handling - 11 (1 pt), Artist/Drawing - 11 (2 pts), Carousing - 12 (2 pts), Computer Hacking - 10 (2 pts), Computer Operation - 14 (4 pts), Computer Programming - 12 (4 pts), Crewman/Spacer - 14 (4 pts), Diplomacy - 12 (4 pts), Driving/Wheeled Vehicle - 13 (2 pts), Electrician - 16 (4 pts), Electronics Operation/Communications - 12 (2 pts), Electronics Repair/Communications - 15 (2 pts), Electronics Repair/Computers - 15 (2 pts), Electronics Repair/Sensors - 16 (4 pts), Engineer/Spaceships - 15 (4 pts), Environment Suit/Vacc Suit - 13 (2 pts), Games/Cards - 11 (1 pt), Guns/Pistol - 13 (1 pt), Machinist - 13 (4 pts), Mechanic/Aerospace - 17 (8 pts), Mechanic/GravLev Vehicle - 16 (4 pts), Mechanic/Low-Performance Spacecraft - 15 (2 pts), Mechanic/High-Performance Spacecraft - 18 (12 pts), Mechanic/Wheeled Vehicle - 16 (4 pts), Merchant - 12 (2 pts), Piloting/Aerospace - 13 (2 pts), Piloting/High-Performance Spacecraft - 13 (2 pts), Riding/Horse - 12 (1 pt), Scrounging - 13 (2 pts), Sex Appeal - 11 (2 pts)

Total: 221 pts



Comments: I expect Kaylee to point out the lowest of the crew, although not by much (she's not trailing Wash by that many points); she's the youngest and least experienced. It would be possible to turn her naivete into a true disad rather than a quirk; it would also be possible to give her some sort of resistance to depression to turn her perkiness into a true advantage. (I'm reluctant to do the second without making the perkiness an Odious Personal Habit, though, as I certainly find it such!) I'm not 100% sure the Grease Monkey talent should only be 10 points/level - it's broad enough that it might be properly 15 points/level, which would up her point total to 236, one point higher than Wash. That seems wrong, though. Her Guns skill is too high, but I can't lower it without lowering her DX.


Edit: added the fashion quirk.

Comments

[fionnghal.livejournal.com]

Kaylee is my favorite character on that show. I guess I identify with her being as geeky that I am. ;)

[omorka.livejournal.com]

I don't identify with any particular character, or perhaps it would be better to say that to the extent that I identify with any of them, I identify with Inarra, Simon, and River by turns. Kaylee's very competent, and I respect that, but she's someone who needs to be protected and she's way too comfortable with that. For me, that makes it hard for me to take her seriously; it isn't until the "fuck that, I want to live" moment in Serenity that I'm grudgingly willing to say she's strong enough for Simon.

[memeslayer.livejournal.com]

It would be possible to turn her naivete into a true disad rather than a quirk; it would also be possible to give her some sort of resistance to depression to turn her perkiness into a true advantage. (I'm reluctant to do the second without making the perkiness an Odious Personal Habit, though, as I certainly find it such!)

I like these better as quirks, if you're going to list them -- both seem quite mild. Her perkiness is not particularly consistent (she doesn't show it when she's working, upset, scared, etc.), and none of the crew seem to find it annoying (I think this is really a quirk for you :-p). Simon needs to be the real naive character (though that shouldn't extend to the core worlds), so I think he should get the full disad. Maybe "freezes up in the face of hopelessness" would be better for Kaylee, although we've only seen her do it once or twice.

[omorka.livejournal.com]

Simon is Gullible and out of his element rather than naive per se - he's a trauma surgeon; he knows what the world can do to people - and he will indeed get the full disad when we get to the Tams. And I'm pretty sure Zoe and Mal mention Kaylee's perkiness in a "doesn't she ever get tired of that?" way, and River gives her a couple of serious eye-rolls, although they probably don't find it as tiresome as I do, yes. :-)

[omorka.livejournal.com]

I was wrong, it was Jayne, not Zoe:

JAYNE: Captain, can you stop her from bein' cheerful, please?

MAL: I don't believe there is a power in the 'verse that can stop Kaylee from being cheerful. Sometimes you just wanna duct tape her mouth and dump her in the hold for a month.

Occurs in the pilot episode. (Guess what I've been doing while I've been sick?)

[quantumduck.livejournal.com]

I'd give her the extra grease monkey points. She has a relationship with machinery that allows her to think about it in extreme detail while having sex (albeit apparently not particularly good sex). She also shows deep empathy with hardware, which seems to assist her in diagnostics and repairs.

I could see making an argument for lower DX.

Also: don't forget her terrible taste in dresses.

[omorka.livejournal.com]

The issue is whether having three levels of Grease Monkey should cost more, not whether she has the right number of levels. (Almost no one has more than three levels of any Talent in GURPS.) I'm still not sure, but the roughly equivalent Talents seem to be 10 pts/level, so I'm sticking with it for the moment.

I gave her Machine Empathy as a separate advantage; I'm not sure whether you're arguing that it should be part of Grease Monkey (which isn't consistent with the way GURPS treats Animal Empathy and the Animal Friend Talent) or that she somehow deserves more points in that somehow (most of the Empathies aren't leveled advantages).

I was debating whether or not to make her "fashion sense" a Quirk. I guess you're another vote in favor.