There has been an adventure brewing in my mind for some time now that has gone through more than a few different iterations over the years. The crew of The Blasted Mynock has always been front and center as the protagonists of this adventure, but I was never quite able to get them to gel as a crew. Over the last few weeks I have been tweaking, discarding, and working on new ideas for the crew. I’m happy to say that they have reached their final, playable form, and over the next few weeks you will be meeting the crew for use in your own games if you wish. This week we meet the two humans of the crew – Jago Derritch and “Ronto Breaker.”
Jago Derritch
Species: Human
Career: Hired Gun
Specialization: Mercenary Soldier
Obligation: Frontier Justice
Jago watched the village he called his home razed to the ground and his wife and unborn child murdered by a vengeful criminal element with Black Sun backing. He thirsts to bring them to justice for what they’ve done. And if he has to be the one to deliver that justice, so be it.
Motivation: Family
The memory of Jago’s wife is what keeps him moving through the day. Focusing on his pain seems to help him see the pain that the rest of the galaxy is in as well. The crew of The Blasted Mynock has also become a second family to him, their struggles and victories becoming part of his as well.
Characteristics
Brawn 3
Agility 3
Intellect 2
Cunning 2
Willpower 3
Presence 2
Wound Threshold: 13
Strain Threshold: 13
Soak Value: 4
M/R Defense: 0|0
Skills: Coercion 1, Cool 1, Discipline 2, Leadership 2, Melee 1, Piloting (Planetary) 1, Ranged (Heavy) 2, Ranged (Light) 1, Vigilance 2
Talents:
Command 1 – Jago adds 1 Boost Die to his Leadership checks. Allies affected by his Leadership skill add 1 Boost Die to Discipline checks to Discipline checks for the next 24 hours.
Second Wind 2 – Once per encounter, Jago may recover 2 strain as an incidental.
Abilities:
Field Commander – Jago can make an Average Leadership check as an action. 2 allies may suffer 1 strain to perform 1 free maneuver
Sidestep 1 – Once per round as a maneuver Jago may suffer 1 strain to increase the difficulty of ranged attacks once until his next turn
Equipment: OK-98 blaster carbine w/ forearm grip and bantha’s eye laser sight (Ranged [Heavy]; Damage 9; Critical 3; Range [Medium]; stun setting, decrease the difficulty of Ranged [Heavy] checks with the weapon while engaged to an additional 1 Difficulty instead of 2 Difficulty, add 1 automatic advantage to attack rolls), wrist mounted SE-14R light repeating blaster pistol (Ranged [Light]; Damage 6; Critical 3; Range [Medium]; auto-fire, stun setting), vibroknife (Melee; Damage 3; Critical 2, Range [Engaged]; Pierce 2, Vicious 1), heavy clothing (+1 soak value), handheld comlink, 3 stimpacks, extra reloads, utility belt
Background: Jago Derritch was the leader of a small mercenary unit during the Clone Wars. Haunted by some of the things the war forced him to do, he turned away from military life after the war and moved to a small mining town on an out-of-the-way planet in the Outer Rim. Unfortunately for him, the mine proved to be highly contested between the owner and a local outlaw gang. He was able to rally the town to drive the gang out of the area, earning their thanks and a place for himself among the community. He found some measure of peace in that small community, even falling in love and marrying a local woman. Things got even better when he found out he was going to be a father.
But peace wasn’t meant to be his. The gang returned with the backing of the Black Sun crime syndicate, exacting their vengeance. His community burned to the ground around him, and his wife was murdered in front of his eyes. Reesa found him cradling her body in his arms and convinced him that they needed to leave. They escaped on a ship that her brother had procured and slipped away before the Black Sun’s occupying force could arrive. Since then the three of them have become a small family born of a shared tragic experience, supporting each other as best they can. Reesa and Jago managed to raise enough capital to buy a new ship with which they could focus on their respective ventures. The crew has doubled since they bought the ship, but Jago’s focus on finding the people who took his peace from him and destroying them remains steadfast.
“Ronto Breaker”
Species: Human
Career: Hired Gun
Specialization: Marauder
Obligation: Criminal
“Ronto” was forced to work for the Black Sun for a number of years after failing to throw a match. He spent his time bodyguarding the officer, making himself accessory to any number of crimes along the way, earning a record that gives him no small amount of trouble with various law enforcement agencies across the galaxy.
Motivation: Comrades
“Ronto” knows all too well the danger he has brought to his shipmates by joining with them. They, however, have accepted him without question (well, without too many questions) about what he used to do.
Characteristics
Brawn 4
Agility 2
Intellect 2
Cunning 2
Willpower 3
Presence 2
Wound Threshold: 18
Strain Threshold: 12
Soak Value: 6
M/R Defense: 0|0
Skills: Athletics 2, Brawl 3, Coercion 2, Melee 1, Resilience 2, Streetwise 1, Underworld 1
Talents:
Feral Strength 2 – Ronto adds 2 additional to successful Melee and Brawl checks*
Toughened 2 – Increase Ronto’s Wound Threshold by 4*
Abilities:
Equipment: blast knuckles (Brawl; Damage 8; Critical 4; Range [Engaged]; Inaccurate 1, each successful hit deals Ronto 1 strain damage), charge suit (+2 soak value, if an attacker generates Despair on an attack roll, he is dealt 8 strain damage; if the attack generates 2 threat, the attacker is disoriented for 1 round; Ronto counts as wearing shock gloves when the suit is on [Brawl; Damage 4; Critical 5; Range {Engaged}; Stun 3]), handheld comlink, 4 stimpacks
*Already figured into stat block
Background: The crew of The Blasted Mynock truthfully doesn’t know that much about “Ronto Breaker,” but they haven’t had much cause to ask. Actions typically speak louder than words, and “Ronto’s” actions practically shout a hatred for Black Sun. The enemy of my enemy is my friend – and in this case they all have a very common, very powerful enemy, which makes for equally powerful friendships.
They do know that he was a former shockboxer, and that he no longer does that. In fact, his career came crashing down when he failed to throw a match against the nephew of a Black Sun vigo. The kid had absolutely no business in the ring and he wound up with a broken neck for his trouble. The vigo was furious, but instead of killing “Ronto” in retribution, he forced the former shockboxer to work for him as hired muscle, earning him a criminal record as the years went by.
He finally saw his chance for escape and retribution with Jago, Reesa, and the crew of The Blasted Mynock. There had been a contract issued for the crew due to some offense given to the same vigo that “Ronto” had been working for, and he was dispatched with the kill-team. He figured that this group was his best chance for escape from his own problems. He broke a couple of necks and helped the crew get back to their ship on the promise that he would be given safe passage off world for doing so. And he simply never left, formally joining the crew as bodyguard and personal security for the Jorman siblings. He’s gained the death mark the rest of the them share for “betraying” Black Sun, but he would rather die fighting them than live as one of them.
Ben Erickson
