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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Davies" data-source="post: 8477707" data-attributes="member: 30538">The UCP Praxis<img src="https://photos.smugmug.com/My-First-Gallery/i-KtHkGTq/0/bfaffb00/M/18SHM02_Roger_03-M.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />In a different reality, the United Coalition of Planets is the premiere presence in their universe uniting over a thousand planets across a multitude of star systems. It encourages peaceful dealings and communication across the stars. But the Coalition are not naïve, and know they must also be prepared for conflict. Toward that end they designed the Alpha Class starships for both exploration and confrontation, placing the UCP Praxis, flagship of their fleet, under the command of Captain Jonathan Trent, a middle aged humanoid with a distinguished record in both tactics and diplomacy. They gave him the best crew of science officers, medical staff, and engineers to keep the ship running smooth. Its zero-point drives would run nearly forever producing all the energy it would need and the onboard replicators can keep them in whatever physical matter they need, be it parts or food and sundries for the crew. They would be prepared for anything.Or so they imagined. Such faith in their preparations was sorely tested when the ship was sucked into a wormhole created by a collapsing star, and emerged into a completely different reality, and in the midst of a battle of titans! At first the crew thought the scale of their sensors had been knocked out of alignment as planet-sized ships filled with skyscrapers of men rained destruction down on each other. The energy outputs were astronomical by their reckoning and enough to threaten even the quantum-reinforced hull of the Praxis. They would later learn that, apparently, their native universe was built on a mere fraction of the scale of this one. Buildings were planet-sized and people were formidable even without spaceships, apparently, some of them possessing strange powers.The Praxis identified the aggressors in the conflict and offered aid to the defenders, a group known as the Last Men Standing, and aligned with their noble cause for that battle and for the subsequent two years while they sussed out their place in this dimension. Following their original and over-riding mission parameters they vowed to help with whatever galactic peace-keeping they can manage and otherwise keep on the lookout for ways the Praxis could use to get back to their home dimension. The Lasters knew of a place with heroes and advanced science that could potentially help the Praxis on their quest to get home. Captain Trent and his crew are hopeful, and so joined the mission to the strange planet called Earth.After the Vagabonds arrived on Earth, and went through a number of confusing adventures, the Powerhouse organization finally lived up to their promise to assist the Praxis to return to their dimension, sending Minuteman and the Warpwitch inside the ship along with the other members of the team while la Donna Universale and assistants from the Morrison Institute worked on the outside. After uncovering a conspiracy among several members of the crew, led by its Science Officer, the group were able to open a portal back to what Warpwitch turned "the Worlds of a Thousand Tiny Stars". Unfortunately, that was when the crew learned another physical difference between their original universe and the one in which they had been stranded -- the former experienced a much swifter passage of time than the latter, and in the two years since their arrival, nearly two hundred years had passed there.Their hopes of returning home, and Science Officer Blurt's ambitions of conquest, have both been stymied by this revelation. While it has been proposed that the ship could return to their original reality and then travel back in time, time travel is not nearly as easy or safe a process in their reality as it is in this one. Just what their next step should be remains unclear. For now, the treacherous Blurt has been demoted and is being kept under careful watch in a cell in the ship's brig, but his technical advice is still sought from time to time. (And the trauma of realizing that they are lost not just in space but time as well has persuaded certain members of the crew to heed his counsel on what they should do next.)Nevertheless, the Praxis, under Captain Trent's command, remains committed to its original mission of exploring whatever reality they are in, learning all that is learnable and keeping the peace wherever they might find themselves. While refusing to act as the Vagabonds' leader, and preferring to have the decisions made by consensus, the Captain frequently finds himself guiding the team nonetheless, and is well-respected by the members of the Powerhouse ... who are thus extremely concerned about the prospect that he might be replaced if his ship ever suffers serious damage. Or for other reasons.The UCP Praxis -- PL 8Abilities:STR -4 | STA -- | AGL 0 | DEX 0 | FGT 0 | INT 4 | AWE 6 | PRE 2Powers:Crew Backups: Impervious Will 8, Limited to mental effects - 4 pointsDamage Control Systems: Regeneration 2 - 2 pointsImpulse Engines: Continuous Flight 1 (4 MPH), Subtle - 4 pointsMicrodimensional Origins: Permanent Shrinking 8 (Strength -2, Dodge +4, Parry +4, Stealth +8, Intimidation -4), Innate - 9 pointsSelf-Contained Reinforced Hull: Immunity 30 (Fortitude); Protection 8 - 38 pointsSensor Array: Variable 1, Limited to senses - 6 pointsShip's Systems: Array (20 points)<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Cloaking Field: Concealment 10 (all senses) - 20 points</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Holographic Projectors: Illusion 6 (auditory, visual) - 1 point</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Phaser Banks: Linked Line Area Damage 5; Linked Line Area Affects Objects Weaken Toughness 5 - 1 point</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Proton Torpedo: Ranged Damage 9, Homing - 1 point</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Sublight Engines: Enhanced Flight 4 (60 MPH); Movement 1 (space travel); Extended Only Teleport 5 (30 miles) - 1 point</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Tractor Beam: Move Objects 9, Precise - 1 point</li> </ul>Universal Translator: Comprehend Languages 3 (speak, read, understand); Comprehend Machines 2 (speak, understand) - 15 pointsAdvantages:Eidetic Memory, Equipment, Evasion 2, Fearless 2, Jack-of-all-trades, Prone Fighting, Speed of Thought, Technomancer.Equipment:Commlink, GPS, Video Recorder, Computer.Skills:Acrobatics 5 (+5), Deception 4 (+6), Expertise: Dimensional 1 (+5), Expertise: Galactic 3 (+7), Expertise: Science 4 (+8), Insight 3 (+9), Perception 5 (+11), Persuasion 6 (+8), Ranged Attack: Systems 7 (+7), Stealth 2 (+10), Technology 8 (+12).Offense:Initiative +4Unarmed +0 (Close Damage -4)Proton Torpedo +7 (Ranged Damage 9)Phaser Banks -- (Line Area Damage 5 and Weaken Toughness 5)Defense:Dodge 8, Parry 8, Fortitude Immune, Toughness 8, Will 8Totals:Abilities 10 + Powers 103 + Advantages 10 + Skills 24 + Defenses 10 = 158 pointsOffensive PL: 8Defensive PL: 8Resistance PL: 8Skill PL: 7Complications:Exploration--Motivation. Divided Crew. Mistaken Identity (often seen as a drone or robot rather than a ship.) No Manipulators. Unfamiliar with Earth Culture.Note: Traveling inside the Praxis and meeting its crew requires a Dimensional Travel effect and life support, as the atmosphere within is toxic to all life from the universe of the World Too Far. Theoretically, a Dimensional Travel effect could allow members of the crew to leave the ship, but they would have a permanent and innate Shrinking 18 effect (which is growth when compared to their natural size) and require life support to survive.Characters created by Flynnarrel.</blockquote>

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