GROUP CONCEPT
The group concept is the central reason that you are all traveling together. It's not meant to limit character options; just meant as a convenient in-game explanation for why you all choose to be a crew.
Free Traders
Commerce is what greases the wheels of the Third Horizon, and the hub of trade in the region is the space station Coriolis. The free traders are the entrepreneurs and innovators of the Horizon, embracers of the new order – with a few exceptions. Tariffs, tolls, and bureaucrats looking to make a quick buck abusing the trade system are all things despised by any free trader. As Free Traders, you will portal jump between the different systems of the Third Horizon, hauling everything from goats on ice or farm machinery to candied Kabra bugs and illegal Vulcan carbines. In small freighters or enormous bulk haulers, you travel silent routes in an ocean of cold starlight. Slipping past corrupt toll collectors, blockade ships and corsairs is all part of your thrilling lives.
The Free Traders group concept can also be used for:
◆ Smugglers carrying illegal cargo to the highest bidder.
◆ Bulk haulers on lonely routes with heavy loads.
◆ Couriers delivering valuable information.
Mercenaries
Not all can enjoy the peace and prosperity of the new era. Old wounds fester in the dark, and the absence of peace means plenty of job opportunities for people like you: Mercenaries. As such, you are often both feared and scorned, yet valuable pawns in the power plays of the factions. Mercenaries can be anything from Legionnaires to hired guns for the Consortium. Typical jobs for you would be crushing rebels on Uharu-9, hunting corsairs in the Border Space, or toppling Dabaran pashas.
The Mercenaries group concept can also be used for:
◆ Corsairs plundering careless free traders on lonely routes.
◆ Rebels fighting to free their people from oppression.
◆ Tactical teams performing whatever military operations the factions might require.
Explorers
The Horizon is full of mysteries to uncover. You are truth seekers who refuse to settle for the Bulletin’s oversimplified version of reality. It’s all there, if you just scratch the surface a little. Explorers not only delve into the past, they also push beyond the frontiers of the Horizon – as colonists, curious anthropologists or traveling journalists. As Explorers, you dig through the frozen ruins on Surha, the remnants of the Portal Builders in the jungles of Kua, or search for forgotten colonies along the Enau Arm.
The Explorers group concept can also be used for:
◆ Prospectors seeking valuable minerals in dangerous asteroid belts.
◆ Colonists valiantly claiming new settlements for the peoples of the Horizon.
◆ Correspondents reporting the news no one else dares to.
Agents
Birr (money) and Legionnaires are not always the best tools for a faction – sometimes, more subtle means are required. This is where the Agent cells come in. Typical jobs for a group of Agents might be infiltrating Dabaran courts, assassinating dignitaries, tracking down lost relatives, or just keeping the scum on Coriolis in check.
The Agents group concept can also be used for:
◆ Judicators keeping the Coriolis station free from criminals.
◆ Assassins making sure that troublemakers disappear.
◆ Detectives for hire.
Pilgrims
The Pilgrimage is an important rite for everyone in the Horizon, and for some it is their calling. Other pilgrims travel for different reasons than to visit the holy sites: looking for work, searching for wisdom, or spreading joy to the Horizon as traveling circuses. Lastly, there are the nomads of the Horizon. They usually remain in one system or one sector, but sometimes they also travel through the dangerous portal fields. Regardless of why you travel, your lives will be hard and painful. Getting to visit the Dome of the Icons on Coriolis, the Leaning Prayer Tower on Algol, Mira’s Icon City, or the temple city of Lotus on Dabaran is achieved only by the truly dedicated.
The Pilgrims group concept can also be used for:
◆ "Hands" – traveling workers taking jobs where they are to be found.
◆ Traveling circuses made up of entertainers and performers.
◆ Space nomads, perpetually trudging the starry void.
GROUP TALENTS
Your group gets to choose one talent connected to your group concept. All the PCs can use this talent. It can be used individually by every PC unless explicitly stated otherwise.
Free Traders
A NOSE FOR BIRR
When trading, you get a +2 to manipulation. One use per session for the whole group (not once per PC).
EVERYTHING IS FOR SALE
You have a knack for finding the most corrupt public servants, toll officers or guards, and always get a +2 to manipulation when you are bribing someone.
QUICKEST ROUTE
You find the quickest route. Travel takes half the amount of time (page 138), or one encounter along the way may be ignored. The GM gets 1 DP per use. One use per journey.
MERCENARIES
ASSAULT
You get a +2 to ranged combat, but only when everyone in the group attacks the same target in the same turn.
CHARGE
You get a +2 to melee combat, but only when everyone in the group, in the same turn, also spends at least one fast action (1 AP) on movement. The bonus lasts one turn only.
SITUATIONAL AWARENESS
You always know your surroundings, and get a +2 to observation when testing it to discover an ambush.
Agents
A FRIEND IN EVERY PORT
You can find a useful contact in a new place. The contact can protect you, lend you gear, or vouch for you with the local rulers. The GM gets 1 DP per use. One use per session for the whole group (not once per PC).
ASSASSIN’S GUILD
You can test infiltration instead of melee combat when you make a melee combat attack against an enemy who isn’t aware of you.
DANCERS OF AHLAM
You can test dexterity instead of manipulation when trying to make a good impression.
Explorers
SEASONED TRAVELERS
You can test manipulation instead of culture to understand a group’s customs.
SURVIVORS
You can get out of a dangerous situation somehow connected to nature, such as a brushfire or explosive decompression. The whole group escapes the danger. The GM gets 1 DP per use. One use per session for the whole group (not once per PC).
TRUTH SEEKERS
You can find important information or get a clue from the GM without rolling dice. The information must be important enough to enable you to overcome a minor obstacle or a challenge in the scenario. The GM gets 1 DP per use. One use per session for the whole group (not once per PC).
Pilgrims
LAST LAUGH
You can get yourselves out of a pinch using your knack for entertainment. The GM gets 1 DP per use. One use per session for the whole group (not once per PC).
MERCY OF THE ICONS
When you are in a tight spot, the Icons will hear you. This means that you can cancel the effects of Darkness Points that have just been spent by the GM (Chapter 3). One use per session for the whole group (not once per PC).
ONE LAST BIRR
You can make a living out of your craft or performances. Test dexterity instead of manipulation to find basic subsistence (food, drink, repairs – no new gear) when in a new place.
