Random thoughts about the characters in Firefly

[nobby-w]

I have a random observation about the characters in Firefly. Joss Whedon has stated that it's based on a campaign done in a 'major science-fiction system' that he played during the 1980s. Given that there are quite a few Traveller-isms scattered throughout the episodes, it's often theorised that the game in question was Traveller, although he's never confirmed this publically.

However, I noticed the other day that some of the characters could have been based on characters from a Traveller campaign, for example:

• Jayne, the criminal thug (Other)
• Kaylee, the engineer with low education.
• Simon, the doctor with high social standing.
• Wash, the pilot with no real combat skills.
• A couple of army types.

Not sure if this has been noted before, although I don't think I've ever seen this commented anywhere.

That's all.

 

[Kilgs]

My recollection is that it was based off Traveller. He also played Star Frontiers though...

And lookie here... someone found some references:

Scroll Down For Specific Possible References

Interesting catch...

Note that the leaked shooting script uses the double L spelling.

 

[nobby-w]

My recollection is that it was based off Traveller. He also played Star Frontiers though...

And lookie here... someone found some references:

Scroll Down For Specific Possible References

Interesting catch...

I'm pretty sure I've seen that before, and a few other online postings here and there that also speculate about it. The other day I had a little epiphany that several of the characters could be viewed through the lens of CT's character generation system, and had prominent aspects that could have been generated that way.

 

[Spinward Scout]

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You'll notice the first commenter is CotI's Admin - Aramis.

 

[kilemall]

Absolutely no question its Traveller. I think the man is reticent due to potential IP and lawsuit issues.

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

I have a random observation about the characters in Firefly. Joss Whedon has stated that it's based on a campaign done in a 'major science-fiction system' that he played during the 1980s. Given that there are quite a few Traveller-isms scattered throughout the episodes, it's often theorised that the game in question was Traveller, although he's never confirmed this publically.

Firefly and Traveller are both very niche. Does it matter where either may have come from? I just enjoy both, and not question their origins.

 

[Enoki]

The Firefly characters certainly fit in Traveller, but that said they as a group probably wouldn't do well within the game unless they intended to operate largely as criminals or pirates.

You have Jayne who's only use is as a weapons man and thug.

Captain Reynolds has no real ship skills. He can pilot, but just. He has no particular other skills in that area to bring to the table. His is reasonably skilled as a soldier and with weapons. This is useful for firefights and criminal activity.

Inara has good social skills (streetwise, maybe liaison) but is largely useless outside of that. As a courtesan she can generate limited funds.

The Tiams, River and Simon are a mixed pair.

Simon is an excellent doctor and would be very valuable patching the crew up after each firefight.

River on the other hand is a throw of the dice. Half the time she's a major liability in being an insane squirrel who is wanted by every government body there is, the other half the time she's an insane killing machine. Then there's that she'd be a psionic. That could be an additional negative a lot of places.

Shepard Book is another unknown. He usually doesn't exhibit any really useful Traveller skills, but you get hints he has some. He's mostly just a passenger in terms of Traveller.

Wash is useful as the pilot, but not much beyond that.

Zoe, his wife is a decent soldier and weapons person, but that duplicates Jayne and Reynolds.

Kaylee is adequate as the ship's engineer and not much else.

So, on the whole they can fight, but the ship is unarmed so it adds little to their combat capacity. Economically, they haven't got any real positives going for them. So, unless they can find a merc ticket or the like, they're pretty much going to resort to unsavory activities to make money. That's likely to result in casualties if the other party can fight back. That's just how Traveller tends to be for combat.

If the ship were armed to the teeth they probably could practice piracy, but it isn't. That makes for lots of combat action and firefights, but that's likely in terms of a Traveller game to make the crew more like lucky, broke, survivors than a group that can succeed.

 

[aramis]

Extra combattants is not duplication unless their other skills all match.

Zoë is also the dem tech.
Jayne, for what little it's use, is competent at social engineering of the violent forms (ie: Intimidation). He's also EVA qualified. And seems to be medic-0.


Mal has leadership - an important skill, and is actually a competent pilot. Wash, however, is a seriously good (3+) pilot AND a navigator, whose courses save fuel and time - less an issue thanks to the transit drive (which is the jump equivalent)...

Book's a 5-7 term special operator with a a term or so of preacher. He's got a bunch of weird skills. Leadership, Liaison 2+, damned good with a gun (at least 2), Medic at least 1, Steward 1, JoaT, tactics...

 

[nobby-w]

The Firefly characters certainly fit in Traveller, but that said they as a group probably wouldn't do well within the game unless they intended to operate largely as criminals or pirates.
[ . . . ]

It was really just an observation that at least some of the characters have salient features that could have originated from the Traveller character generation system. The actual characters from the script could very well have been loosely based on somebody's character but could also have evolved significantly or simply been made up ab initio for the script.

Not all of the cast need to have been characters from the campaign - Inira or River Tam, for example, couldn't really have been generated through any of the character generation systems in the published traveller material.¹ If they started out life as somebody's actual character they've evolved out of all recognition. It's also worth noting that the total complement of 9 would be a very large party for a Traveller game so it seems likely that some of the characters could have been based on NPCs or simply made up to fill something needed for a story arc in the script.
____________
¹ Maybe you could have bodged Inira into one of the S4 careers but there's never been any courtesan or equivalent skills in any official CT publications. I guess it's possible that it could have been house ruled. River Tam is a teenage girl, which is literally impossible to generate with any CT career path except Barbarian or Belter from S4.

 

[aramis]

It was really just an observation that at least some of the characters have salient features that could have originated from the Traveller character generation system. The actual characters from the script could very well have been loosely based on somebody's character but could also have evolved significantly or simply been made up ab initio for the script.

On this, I agree.

¹ Maybe you could have bodged Inira into one of the S4 careers but there's never been any courtesan or equivalent skills in any official CT publications. I guess it's possible that it could have been house ruled. River Tam is a teenage girl, which is literally impossible to generate with any CT career path except Barbarian or Belter from S4.

Inara can be done easily as an Other or as a merchant. All the needed skills are in merchant.

Simon is an S4 Doctor, no question.

River seems to be a commando who had psionics training. Easily generated with AM Zhodani... She seems to be a Zhodani Commando. Who got hit with an Overlay machine.

Which makes a very interesting alternate use of the materials. Except that AM Zhodani is too late. So, she's probably built using the Zhodani rules in Adv 0. Which means she failed to enroll in something, wound up in the army or marines, and then (as a GM special) got Psi Training. (She seems more an NPC...)

 

[nobby-w]

[ . . . ]
Inara can be done easily as an Other or as a merchant. All the needed skills are in merchant.

You could take a rather liberal definition of Steward, I suppose, but her core skill/mcguffin of 'upmarket sex worker' is not supported in the RAW - at least not in any CT publication I've seen. While I could see a horny net geek coming up with Inara as a concept for a character,¹ I can't see the character happening through CT character generation without at least a bit of houseruling going on.²

River Tam is too young to have served even a single term, which is an impossibility in any of the CT character generation systems. The A0 Zhodani rules (and I have read A0) really only specify that they get psi testing. I think it's a stretch to say that she could have been generated through the RAW in any published CT material. She could have been based on an NPC in a game or simply made up for the script.

Again, 9 core characters in the cast is rather a lot for a Traveller party. It seems most likely that some of the characters in the TV series didn't start out as player characters in the campaign - either based on NPCs or created specifically for the TV series.
______________
¹ Yes, yes, I'll be in my bunk ^*rimshot*
2 Not that it would be the first time that had happened in the grand history of Traveller.

 

[mike wightman]

Belter and Barbarian start at age 14 so there is precedent for starting young. Psi Guinea pig fits the bill.

There is no requirement to go through character generation terms in LBB:1 or S:4, you could start at age 18 with zero terms served, 14 if you have a barbarian or belter background. This has been suggested a few times for players who want a character with a high psi rating.

River Tam 797989 age 18, 0 terms, psi 11 awareness, telepathy

 

[Spenser TR]

Going with Inara for a moment, consulting the skill list in The Traveller Book…

She’s a competent shuttle pilot, seen in several eps.

She’s had weapons training on Sihnon, using a bow in a combat situation on Miranda and giving Mal ( basic ) pointers on sword use on Persephone.

I’d also say she has Admin skill, based on her knowledge of laws and systems of regulation.

 

[SanDragon]

Mal, Zoe, Wash, Simon, River, Book, Kaylee, Inara…


Eight! There are eight characters! Unless the ship counts as number nine.

Oopsie. Jayne. Nine.

 

[aramis]

You could take a rather liberal definition of Steward, I suppose, but her core skill/mcguffin of 'upmarket sex worker' is not supported in the RAW - at least not in any CT publication I've seen. While I could see a horny net geek coming up with Inara as a concept for a character,¹ I can't see the character happening through CT character generation without at least a bit of houseruling going on.²

River Tam is too young to have served even a single term, which is an impossibility in any of the CT character generation systems. The A0 Zhodani rules (and I have read A0) really only specify that they get psi testing. I think it's a stretch to say that she could have been generated through the RAW in any published CT material. She could have been based on an NPC in a game or simply made up for the script.

Again, 9 core characters in the cast is rather a lot for a Traveller party. It seems most likely that some of the characters in the TV series didn't start out as player characters in the campaign - either based on NPCs or created specifically for the TV series.
______________
¹ Yes, yes, I'll be in my bunk ^*rimshot*
2 Not that it would be the first time that had happened in the grand history of Traveller.

What Inara does is a combination of Steward, Liaison, and Carousing.

CT belters start at 14, as do Barbarians.

 

[ffilz]

You could take a rather liberal definition of Steward, I suppose, but her core skill/mcguffin of 'upmarket sex worker' is not supported in the RAW - at least not in any CT publication I've seen. While I could see a horny net geek coming up with Inara as a concept for a character,¹ I can't see the character happening through CT character generation without at least a bit of houseruling going on.²

River Tam is too young to have served even a single term, which is an impossibility in any of the CT character generation systems. The A0 Zhodani rules (and I have read A0) really only specify that they get psi testing. I think it's a stretch to say that she could have been generated through the RAW in any published CT material. She could have been based on an NPC in a game or simply made up for the script.

Again, 9 core characters in the cast is rather a lot for a Traveller party. It seems most likely that some of the characters in the TV series didn't start out as player characters in the campaign - either based on NPCs or created specifically for the TV series.

As mentioned, reading the rules carefully, you don't actually have to serve any terms...

I've had/seen plenty of Traveller campaigns with 9 or more PCs.

The characters in Firefly need not all be inspired by a single gaming crew. The show might have been written with a larger crew just to make for better episodic writing where it helps to have a good set of recurring characters.

Frank

 

[nobby-w]

[ . . . ]
Inara can be done easily as an Other or as a merchant. All the needed skills are in merchant.

What Inara does is a combination of Steward, Liaison, and Carousing.

I don't think I'm going to comment on this beyond being pretty sure that the campaign in question predates the publication of Book 7. Again, you could certainly bodge Inara onto the character generation system with a bit of house ruling or at least house interpretation, but she's a stretch to fit into the RAW.

CT belters start at 14, as do Barbarians.

Technically correct - River Tam, 1 term Belter?, 1 term Barbarian?

[ . . . ]
There is no requirement to go through character generation terms in LBB:1 or S:4, you could start at age 18 with zero terms served, 14 if you have a barbarian or belter background. This has been suggested a few times for players who want a character with a high psi rating.

River Tam 797989 age 18, 0 terms, psi 11 awareness, telepathy

I have to admit that seems at odds with the draft rules in book 1 but I can't be bothered going through it to see if there really is a loophole to that effect. You're the canon monger. Change my mind.

We've comfortably escaped the realm of 'characters someone might actually roll up to play in a real Traveller game' and into 'things that might be technically possible if you can get the DM to buy into a specific interpretation of the rules.' I think it's more likely that River Tam was either based on an NPC that the DM made up or a character just made up for the TV series.

 

[mike wightman]

Here it is :

In order to acquire some experience, it is possible to enlist in a service.
Enlistment: A character may choose one of the six services (Navy, Marines,
Army, Scouts, Merchants, and Other), and attempt to enlist.

Now as far as my understanding of the English language goes 'it is possible' and 'may' also mean that you may choose not to enlist. A mandatory attempt at enlistment would replace the word 'may' with the word 'must'. It is a fudge and a half but I have seen it suggested before, I haven't personally had anyone ever want to start as a teenager with no skills or experience.

The draft follows a failed enlistment attempt, if you don't attempt to enlist in the first place you can not be drafted.

 

[Chris Barlow]

You could take a rather liberal definition of Steward, I suppose, but her core skill/mcguffin of 'upmarket sex worker' is not supported in the RAW - at least not in any CT publication I've seen. While I could see a horny net geek coming up with Inara as a concept for a character,¹ I can't see the character happening through CT character generation without at least a bit of houseruling going on.²

River Tam is too young to have served even a single term, which is an impossibility in any of the CT character generation systems. The A0 Zhodani rules (and I have read A0) really only specify that they get psi testing. I think it's a stretch to say that she could have been generated through the RAW in any published CT material. She could have been based on an NPC in a game or simply made up for the script.

Again, 9 core characters in the cast is rather a lot for a Traveller party. It seems most likely that some of the characters in the TV series didn't start out as player characters in the campaign - either based on NPCs or created specifically for the TV series.
______________
¹ Yes, yes, I'll be in my bunk ^*rimshot*
2 Not that it would be the first time that had happened in the grand history of Traveller.

True in CT there would be no way to generate a "'upmarket sex worker'. However in Mongoose Traveller Spica Publications Career Book 2. There is the Companion career, assignment Geisha/Courtesan, which would fit the bill.

 

[HanleyTucks]

Great! So how about the characters in The Expanse?