In a Time of Heroes

Elements

An alien princess asking for asylum

Smuggled goods of rare fortune, small enough to slip in a pocket

An ancient temple defiled by a swarm of insect-bots, sent by a disillusioned adherent

A galaxy on the cusp of open war

Additional Elements

A neutral space station around a neutral planet on neither side of the war, orbiting the planet containing the temple, whose own neutrality, perhaps temporary, has kept the planet neutral.

Characters

The alien princess (Chris)

A smuggler (David)

A customs officer (Katie)

The disillusioned adherent (Rob)

Player Characters

[Chris] Kid Quasar, the Pipsqueak Princess a diminutive alien princess from a species that is not normally so small

• Covertly d8
• Directly d6
• For myself d6
• For others d10
• With love d12
• With violence d4
• Everyone loves me, through tone of voice and physical appearance people want to aid me, but it requires people to see and hear me
  • PCs: With love
  • NPCs: Self-protection
  • Far-reaching: can affect anyone who can see and hear her
  • Its die is a d8
• It's in Kid Quasar's best interests to...
  • befriend an insect bot and have it become her trusted steed
  • have the Temple Master declare for her people in the galactic war

[David] Ken Cooper, a human smuggler with a non-hidden heart of gold

• Covertly d12
• Directly d4
• For myself d6
• For others d8
• With love d10
• With violence d6
• Technopathy, technology obeys me like a close friend thanks to my psionic gifts
  • PCs: For others
  • NPCs: Action
  • Unique: there are no other technopaths in the galaxy
  • Its die is a d8
• It's in Ken Cooper's best interests to...
  • prevent the war he sees coming, which he sees Kid Quasar as the best way to do
  • keep his technopathy from becoming public knowledge

[Katie] Anka Tripper, a customs officer, a blobby frog-person, no-nonsense, naturally gifted at detecting lies, cranky, with a sticky tongue

• Covertly d8
• Directly d12
• For myself d10
• For others d6
• With love d4
• With violence d6
• I can eat anything, if my tongue can reach it and it can fit in my mouth, I can eat it
  • PCs: Directly
  • NPCs: Action
  • Potent: Its die is a d10
• It's in Anka Tripper's best interests to...
  • get the promotion by solving/catching a high profile case
  • preserve the neutrality to prevent the war

[Rob] Isk, the Maimed and Rebuilt the disillusioned adherent, insectoid brought back from death with forbidden tech and filled with his children

• Covertly d6
• Directly d12
• For myself d10
• For others d6
• With love d4
• With violence d8
• Unleash children, by entering into a harmonizing trance to connect with one's swarm of insect bots to assault and assail
  • PCs: With violence
  • NPCs: Action
  • Far-reaching: his children can travel throughout his local area
  • Its die is a d8
• It's in Isk's best interests to...
  • stop the princess from entering the temple of the Noble Mantis
  • harmonize with the Technopath

Non-Player Characters

Snivil Gabbuh, the Temple Master, influential within the religion, but neutral within this conflict

• Action d6, d4
• Maneuvering d10, d6
• Self-protection d12, d8
• It's in Snivil Gabbuh's best interests to...
  • preserve the independence of the Temple of the Noble Mantis

Nameless Guard, who has a crush

• Action d12, d8
• Maneuvering d10, d6
• Self-protection d6, d4

Owe List

1. [David] Ken Cooper
2. [Chris] Kid Quasar, the Pipsqueak Princess
3. [Rob] Isk, the Maimed and Rebuilt
4. [Chris] Kid Quasar, the Pipsqueak Princess
5. [Chris] Kid Quasar, the Pipsqueak Princess

Oracles

Space Opera Oracle

1. A galaxy on the cusp of open war
2. An interplanetary cold war, threatening to turn hot in an instant
3. A runaway experiment, with strange, inexplicable powers
4. An ancient weapon of mass destruction, left behind by a forgotten race
5. An eccentric inventor, on the run from a dangerous corporate empire
6. A distress signal, with no apparent source
7. A small community of Christians, humans and alien converts, on the aliens' home planet
8. A blue skinned orphan fleeing an arranged marriage to her elderly tutor
9. Smuggled goods of rare fortune, small enough to slip in a pocket
10. An alien princess asking for asylum
11. A young fertile planet with a newly awakened consciousness
12. The rotting hulk of a spaceship, flagship of the old empire, found at the end of a beacon
13. A gunship sold at the end of war into private hands
14. A daring young explorer, fresh from her stint at the academy, eager to prove herself and taking on all comers
15. A sassy spelunker looking for an alien god's heart in the depths of a planet made up entirely of millions of space ship derelicts that have accreted over time
16. A crew of rogues, led by a former war hero
17. A young doctor, throwing away a promising career over a deadly secret
18. A smuggler of dubious repute, only interested in a quick payday
19. An expert assassin, laying low after a botched job
20. The universally famous monarch, hiding as a citizen of no consequence
21. A brilliant scientist, racing against time to find a cure for her affliction
22. The galactic savior-child stolen by pirates who want a planet as ransom
23. A stranded alien, trying to get back to its own people
24. A military AI, trying to override its destructive programming
25. The first settlers on a newly terraformed frontier world
26. A group of freedom-fighters, waging a desperate war against a tyrannical government
27. A secret technology, unearthed by an archaeologist on the homeworld of a long-dead race
28. A cryptic warning, left behind by an extinct alien race
29. The last survivor of a brutal attack, by a previously unknown race
30. A young woman, selected via lottery by an alien power
31. A wayward traveler, hopping between the stars after his homeworld was destroyed
32. An accidental immortal, bored with life, who has become obsessed with carrying out some mundane task
33. A group of alien scientists, trying to recover their lost data, possibly by vivisection
34. An ancient temple defiled by a swarm of insect-bots, sent by a disillusioned adherent
35. The first interspecies child is born
36. A colony of refugees in an asteroid belt