Character Creation: Tachyon Squadron

I'm a little cooked, but I'm OK!

The Game: Tachyon Squadron
The Publisher: Evil Hat Publishing
Degree of Familiarity: Never played this, but it's Fate Core and I know that pretty well
Books Required: Tachyon Squadron & Fate Core

Dogfights between multiple spaceships is something that looks really cool in a movie, but it's hard to emulate in an RPG. This game presents a very nice system for it, though (leastways I think it is; you never really know until you play it at the table). 

You play a member of the titular squadron, working for the space good-guys against the space bad-guys. As with most things Fate, though, you don't have to make it real black and white as far as the morality goes. You want to delve into the military industrial complex of the Draconis System (that's the PCs' team), that's not a huge problem. The real meat of the game is the space zappy fights, and I think that the system does a good job of avoiding one of the main problem in RPG combat - that is, it's not so much "dramatic combat followed by decisive victory" as "plink, plink, plink, plink, dead."

So! Let's us make a pilot. I want my pilot to be a nepo baby (I fuckin' hate that term, but whatevs). He's the son of a politically powerful bigwig in the Draconis System, and his dad pulled some strings and got him admitted to a training program for fighter pilots, figuring he'd scrub out. My pilot isn't much of a marksman, see - his hands shake when he's firing his ship's weapons. His callsign, in fact, is "Broadside", as "you couldn't hit the broad side of a barn." (His real name is Stephen Kapoor.)

Thing is, though, that though Broadside isn't terrific at weapons systems, he's a damn skilled pilot. He might not get many kills himself, but he's fantastic at pushing other spacecraft into his mates' line of fire, so while they might bust his chops about his aim, they also know that he'll be there to get them out of scrapes. 

OK, good conceptual start. High Concept needs to reflect that I'm a fighter pilot and the character's general deal, so let's call it Nepo Kid With Surprising Pilot Chops. Wordier than I usually like, but I think it's good. 

Next, instead of the usual Trouble Aspect, we have a double-sided Decompression Aspect. Blowing off steam is important in this game, and every character has both unhealthy and healthy ways to do that. For Broadside, I think he did some hell-raising when he was a kid (Daddy always covered it up), so his unhealthy side is going to be Breakin' Stuff; he gets together with some buds, has some drinks, and they go out to break some windows or whatever. Healthier nights, however, just include the "hanging with buds" thing - Broadside is the kind of guy who really wants someone else to suggest the activity. Let's say he's Down for Whatever. 

The next two Aspects are meant to be relationship Aspects with two other PCs, but y'know. So let's say that Broadside is On Your Six, and Willing to Take the Blame (either of these could be narrowed down to be about a particular comrade pretty easily). And then I have one freeform Aspect; let's call it Life of Privilege. 

Skills! Tachyon Squadron uses the same Skill pyramid as Fate Core, but uses different Skills. So, let's see.

Obviously I want my Great skill to be Pilot. Tactics is important, too, so I'll make that Good. I'll make Rapport his other Good Skill. I'll put Technology, Notice, and Empathy at Fair, and then Athletics, Discipline, Investigate, and Provoke at Average. 

Stunts! I get two personal stunts and one gear stunt, but I can actually take as many gear stunts as I want (they don't cost Refresh). I know I want to take a stunt allowing me to attack with Pilot so I don't totally suck at shooting, so let's phrase it thus:

One With the Ship: Use Pilot to attack if target has another ship on its tail. 

Simple enough. I also want a stunt representing his ability to react and adapt in a dogfight, so I'll call it:

Got You Now, Sucker: +2 to Create an Advantage with Tactics immediately following a successful attack from the target.  

For my gear stunt, I think Dad pulled some strings and got me a personal deflector screen. 

Now, do I wish to spend a refresh and get another stunt? I think I'm good. It's tempting to give him a stunt representing calling in a favor from Dad, though...yeah, why not. 

Do You Know Who My Father Is?: +2 to Create an Advantage with Provoke within the military or political bureaucracy. 

And that's pretty much it! I see Stephen as a young, thin man of Indian or southeast Asian descent (I just rewatched Pig the other night and I picture Alex Wolff playing him, maybe). He's got brown, soulful eyes, dark hair, and a slight build. He can shift between measured and competent and drunk trust fund asshole pretty easily, which I think would be a pretty big part of his arc were I to actually play him.