In just a couple of weeks from writing this, I’ll be boarding a plane and taking off for a much needed weekend getaway. My Thursday night online gaming group has decided to go in on a cabin rental for a weekend and finally get in some face to face gaming. And for this weekend, I’m finally putting to paper an adventure idea that I’ve had kicking around my brain for a long time for Green Ronin’s The Expanse. And to do that, I need a crew that can brave the infinite vastness of space. And so I’ve started that process and decided to share one of them with you – Alessandra Galitzine:
Background: A socialite and heiress to a vast family fortune born and raised on Earth, you were always something of the black sheep of the family. It never sat right with you that you should be spared a life of just existing on Basic Assistance or even worse – eking out a meager existence on what you could scrape together out in the Belt just by virtue of who you were born to. It was winning a lottery that you never agreed to play in the first place.
And so, at an early age you swore that you were going to use your considerable wealth and influence to do something to help uplift the entire solar system. You just didn’t know what that looked like yet. You spent as much of your free time as you could learning about the various issues facing the combined peoples of the solar system – Earth, Mars, the Belt, and beyond.
And then Eros happened, and you knew that you couldn’t just sit around anymore. Tensions between the various military and political powers were so thick that you could cut them with a knife. It was past time for you to take some kind of direct action. And so you dumped as much of your inheritance as you could into an account that only your could access, and together with your chief of security jumped a private shuttle to Luna, and from there to Tycho. Your plan was simple – use your funds to secure recording equipment and finance a ship that would let you travel the system, interview anyone that would talk to you, and use your clout back on Earth to get those stories to the political elite of Earth and remind them that they weren’t so different.
Of course, life on the float isn’t easy, nor is it simple. And there are those that thrive on preying upon the naivete of a rich Earth girl with more drive and vision than sense. You’ve had to take on a number of jobs that are unrelated to your big picture just to keep your ship sealed against the vacuum, water in your tanks, and food in your belly. And you’ve had to make compromises on some of those jobs that still don’t sit right with you. But you’ve also made some friends up here as well – though the truest of them is still the man who fled Earth with you.
Personality: You always look for the best in anything, be a person, place, or situation – there’s always something that can be found to redeem it. And despite some hard early lessons dulling the luster, you still haven’t lost that shine. You’re completely honest in your desire to make the system a better place for everyone, and you’re going to do what you can to make that happen, even if others don’t believe that your cause is worthwhile in any capacity. And you truly enjoy meeting new people and learning about them, and you’ve learned to use your interpersonal skills in surprising ways since leaving Earth.
Roleplaying Tips: You know what you want and you go for it. Others might call you too ambitious, but you need to leave your mark. Unfortunately this sometimes leads you to getting tunnel vision in looking for the “bright side” of a situation that you can sell as a story back to Earth and lose sight of the actual job. Some may call you “obsessed” because of it. They just don’t know what you’re truly capable of.
Ben Erickson
