Pregenerated Characters

The five characters on the following pages are the crew of the Ember Drift. They are ready to play. Hand one to each player at the table, give them five minutes to read it, and begin.

Each character fills a distinct role on the crew. Together they cover the skills a group will need across Dead Drop at Harrowspan: technical problem-solving, navigation and piloting, combat and gunnery, social and information work, and medicine and reconnaissance. No role is essential to the exclusion of others, but the crew works best when its members lean into their strengths and cover each other's gaps.

For the GM: the five characters are written to fit the adventure without requiring any player to have read it. Their backgrounds are suggestive rather than exhaustive, leaving room for players to interpret and improvise. A player can pick up any of these sheets without preparation and have enough to start playing.

For players: you do not need to understand every rule on your sheet before the game begins. Read your character description, know your two or three highest skills, and ask the GM when you want to try something. The numbers will make sense as you use them.

How to Read Your Sheet

Characteristics are your raw aptitudes, rated 1 to 5. When you make a check, you roll a number of dice equal to the combined total of the relevant characteristic and skill.

Skills show only those rated above 0. A skill at 0 is not listed; you still roll but use only the characteristic dice.

Pool entries show the calculation: Characteristic + Skill = total dice. Those dice are a mix of Ability Dice (d8s) and Mastery Dice (d12s) as described in the rules; your GM will help you assemble the pool.

Wounds are boxes of physical harm. When they fill, you are in serious trouble. Your Wound capacity is 10 + Might.

Strain are boxes of mental and physical stress. When they fill, you must rest or take consequences. Your Strain capacity is 10 + Willpower.

Resistance reduces incoming damage. It equals half your Might (rounded up), plus any armor bonus.

Davan Kel

Human Engineer — The one who keeps the Ember Drift alive

Davan Kel is a broad-shouldered man in his early forties, perpetually squinting into something that needs fixing. He talks to machines more than to people, not because he dislikes people, but because machines respond predictably. He bought a partial stake in the Ember Drift three years ago because it was the first thing he had ever owned a share of, and he intends to keep it running until the hull gives out. Whatever that takes.

Pronouns: he/him

Characteristics

Wounds and Strain

Wounds: 13 boxes (10 + MIG 3) — ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Strain: 13 boxes (10 + WIL 3) — ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Resistance: 2 (half MIG 3, rounded up) + armor

Skills (rated skills only)

Initiative — On Watch: SAV 2 + Perception 2 = 4 dice

Initiative — Surprised: WIL 3 + Readiness 0 = 3 dice

Species Package

Human: No biological adjustments. Familiar infrastructure and flexible cultural access.

• Familiar Infrastructure: Davan never needs special accommodations for standard gear, ship stations, medical scanners, or pressure suits. In most ports, he can source replacement parts without special paperwork.
• Cultural Adaptability: Once per session, when in a human-majority port or institution, Davan may add 1 Boon Die to one social, legal, or logistical check by explaining which shared custom, credential, or habit he is drawing on.

Talents

Tinkerer (Tier 1): Davan may attempt improvised repairs using scavenged or mismatched components without the normal difficulty increase for improper materials. If he has at least one hour and any plausible source of parts, he can attempt it.

Jury Rig (Tier 1): Once per scene, Davan may spend 1 Strain to immediately stabilize a failing ship system as a free action, buying the crew one additional round before the system fails or the damage cascades. The system still needs proper repair afterward.

Stress Engineer (Tier 2): When Davan makes a Craft check to repair, bypass, or modify a system during active combat or a crisis scene, he removes 1 Bane Die from that check caused by time pressure, noise, danger, or distraction.

Equipment

• Multitool (Light Melee): A heavy-handled diagnostic and cutting tool that does the job in a pinch. Damage 4, Melee, Qualities: Utility (counts as a full toolkit for improvised repairs).
• Work Coveralls: Reinforced industrial clothing with tool pockets and integrated knee and elbow padding. Armor +1 (Resistance total: 3).
• Engineer's Kit: Diagnostic scanner, patch compound, bypass cables, sealant foam, a full set of manual and power tools rated for ship-scale work.
• Personal Communicator: Short and medium range, standard encryption.
• Emergency Rations (3 days)
• Credits: 900

Background

Davan grew up on Kerath Station, a mid-ring industrial colony in Funtari space where the work was steel fabrication and the culture was shift length and debt management. He learned engines before he could read contract law, which he has regretted at intervals ever since. A corporate logistics firm hired him young, worked him long, and then shed its fringe operations during a restructuring that left him holding a maintenance debt he did not incur. He took the buy-in on the Ember Drift from a Dhoran salvager who wanted out. He has never discussed the debt with the crew and does not intend to.

Playing Davan

Davan is the crew's safety margin. When something breaks, when the ship's systems start cascading, when someone needs a bypass improvised in three minutes, he is the answer. Reach for his skills whenever the job involves the Ember Drift itself: repairs under fire, diagnosing what is wrong before it kills everyone, coaxing more out of the engines than they should give.

In social scenes, Davan is not useless but he is not the right tool. He will say the honest thing at the wrong moment. Let the face characters take lead and use Davan as someone who notices practical details others miss: that the cargo hold was repressurized recently, that the docking collar shows scorch marks, that a relay terminal has been accessed in the last twelve hours.

Senna Vael

Ilyari Pilot — The one who gets them out

Senna Vael does not talk much during transit, but she talks constantly during maneuvers: terse, precise narration of what she is doing and what the ship is about to experience. Crew who have flown with her long enough learn to read her tone rather than her words. Calm narration means routine. Clipped narration means she is working. Silence means everyone should brace. She grew up inside Irnan Directorate space and she understands the Irnan system from the inside, which gives her respect for its competence and no illusions about what it costs.

Pronouns: she/her

Characteristics

Wounds and Strain

Wounds: 12 boxes (10 + MIG 2) — ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Strain: 12 boxes (10 + WIL 2) — ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Resistance: 1 (half MIG 2) + armor

Skills (rated skills only)

Initiative — On Watch: SAV 2 + Perception 2 = 4 dice

Initiative — Surprised: WIL 2 + Readiness 0 = 2 dice

Species Package

Ilyari: Fine-boned and precise, built for analysis and careful manipulation. Fragile under load.

• Analytical Memory: Add 1 Boon Die when recalling technical details, comparing records, reconstructing timelines, identifying contradictions, or recognizing a previously observed pattern. Senna remembers every corridor she has flown.
• Fine Manipulation: Add 1 Boon Die to delicate repair, interface, or control work where careful hands matter more than force. At the pilot's station this applies to precision adjustments under pressure.
• Interface Discipline: Once per scene, when coordinating with a ship computer, navigation AI, or expert system within its intended function, remove 1 Bane Die or add 1 Boon Die if no Bane Dice are present.
• Light Frame: Add 1 Bane Die to checks relying on raw lifting, resisting crushing force, absorbing blunt impact, or prolonged heavy labor without proper equipment.
• Fitted Gear: In poorly fitted heavy armor or pressure suits, add 1 Bane Die to prolonged physical checks. Senna's flight suit fits correctly.

Talents

Evasive Instinct (Tier 1): When Senna makes a Pilot check to evade an attack, pursue a target, or break a weapons lock, she may add 1 Boon Die to the check. She may use this talent once per encounter without cost; additional uses in the same encounter cost 1 Strain each.

Slipstream Reader (Tier 2): Senna adds 1 Boon Die to Astrogation checks made to calculate a transit, locate a corridor seam, or navigate a poorly charted approach. Her Ilyari Analytical Memory and this talent stack in situations where she is recalling a route she has flown before.

Reaction Pilot (Tier 2): Once per round during ship combat, Senna may change the Ember Drift's facing or open/close distance by one range band as a free action, without spending the ship's maneuver. This represents her reading the situation half a second before it becomes obvious. She may not use this free action and spend the ship's regular maneuver for the same purpose in the same round.

Equipment

• Light Sidearm (Ranged): Compact Ilyari-manufacture semi-automatic. Damage 5, Ranged, Short/Medium range, Qualities: Concealable.
• Flight Suit (Light Armor): Fitted Ilyari-style flight suit with impact liners, pressure-rated seams, and an integrated low-profile helmet socket. Armor +1 (Resistance total: 2). Does not trigger Fitted Gear penalty.
• Navigation Tablet: Extended-range astrogation device with current corridor charts for the Meridian Verge, star charts, and Harrowspan approach data pre-loaded.
• Personal Communicator: Short and medium range, standard encryption.
• Emergency Rations (3 days)
• Credits: 900

Background

Senna grew up in Tessavar, a mid-tier Irnan administrative world known for orderly transit schedules and correct paperwork. She studied navigation at a Directorate technical institute and flew Irnan civilian corridor routes for four years before something changed her calculation. She does not volunteer what it was. What she will say, if pressed, is that she saw how the Directorate's order functioned in practice for people who did not fit its assumptions, and decided she would rather work a ship she trusted than a system she could not. She found the Ember Drift through a posting board in Meridian Port and has been at the helm for eighteen months.

Playing Senna

Senna is the crew's way out. Her primary job in ship combat is keeping the Ember Drift alive and putting it where the gunner needs it. The Evasive Instinct and Reaction Pilot talents give her real tactical options: she can break weapons locks, deny arcs, and change the engagement geometry in ways that matter.

In port scenes, Senna is quietly observant. Her Perception and Analytical Memory mean she notices things: inconsistencies in what people say, whether the docking schedule has been altered, the Irnan cutter docked a bay over with its transponder lit wrong. Let her be the one who notices. When Inspector Oll appears, Senna's Irnan background gives her useful context: she understands Directorate procedure, which means she knows exactly when it is being bent.

Yessica Morn

Felina Gunner — The one who ends the argument

Yessica Morn is quiet in the way that expensive equipment is quiet: composed, maintained, and capable of producing a very large result on very short notice. She does not perform threat. She does not need to. She has been on six ships in eight years, and if you ask her why she keeps moving, she will tell you that she has not found one yet that was worth stopping for. She is reconsidering the Ember Drift.

Pronouns: she/her

Characteristics

Wounds and Strain

Wounds: 14 boxes (10 + MIG 4) — ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Strain: 13 boxes (10 + WIL 3) — ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Resistance: 2 (half MIG 4) + armor

Skills (rated skills only)

Initiative — On Watch: SAV 2 + Perception 1 = 3 dice

Initiative — Surprised: WIL 3 + Readiness 3 = 6 dice

Species Package

Felina: Lean, muscular, digitigrade predator biped. Built for bursts, threat detection, and controlled aggression.

• Low-Light Eyes: Remove 1 Bane Die from Perception, navigation, or combat checks caused by dim light, shadowed interiors, or low-light conditions.
• Predator Reflexes: Add 1 Boon Die to Readiness, Perception, or initiative-adjacent checks made to detect ambushes, track sudden movement, read stalking threats, or register imminent violence.
• Balanced Motion: Add 1 Boon Die to climbing, leaping, narrow footing, silent movement, or recovering from slips where tail balance and digitigrade stance matter.
• Burst Movement: Once per encounter, suffer 1 Strain to add 1 Boon Die to a movement, chase, or positioning check, or to justify a sudden repositioning Maneuver when the path is physically possible.
• High Metabolism: During food shortage, exhaustion, poor sleep, or extended deprivation, add 1 Bane Die to endurance, recovery, or patience checks until needs are addressed.

Talents

Fire Control (Tier 1): When Yessica operates a ship's weapon system, she may add 1 Boon Die to the Gunnery check if she spent the previous round holding position at the fire control station without taking other actions. She has learned to read the firing window before it opens.

Controlled Burst (Tier 2): When Yessica makes a Ranged or Unarmed attack that generates 2 or more Boon symbols on the roll, she may spend those Boons to add 1 additional hit against a second target within Short range of the first, using the same roll result. This represents her instinctive threat prioritization.

Boarding Ready (Tier 1): In close-quarters combat aboard ships, stations, or other confined spaces, Yessica ignores the first Bane Die on attack checks caused by restricted movement, poor footing, low ceilings, or confined corridors. She fights better when the walls are close.

Equipment

• Combat Rifle (Ranged): A medium-weight ranged weapon in good repair. Damage 8, Ranged, Short/Medium/Long range, Qualities: Reliable.
• Vibro-blade (Light Melee): A compact vibrating-edge weapon worn on the thigh. Damage 5, Melee, Qualities: Pierce 1 (reduce target's Resistance by 1 before damage).
• Light Combat Armor: Felina-fitted panels over a mesh undersuit, designed for mobility rather than coverage. Armor +2, does not impose movement penalties. (Resistance total: 4.)
• Personal Communicator: Short and medium range, standard encryption.
• Emergency Rations (3 days) — Yessica carries protein-appropriate supplements. Note her High Metabolism if rations run short.
• Credits: 900

Background

Yessica grew up in a Shoiyan port city where Felina communities were large enough to be visible and small enough to be expendable when the economy contracted. She shipped out at seventeen on a security contract, found she was better at it than expected, and has been selling that skill ever since. She does not have enemies exactly, but she has history with two or three employers that means she does not transit through certain systems without checking who else is in port. The Ember Drift is small enough that nobody is watching it, which she values more than she usually admits.

Playing Yessica

In ship combat, Yessica is the crew's primary weapon. The Fire Control talent rewards patience: if the pilot can hold position for a round, Yessica's next shot has a real advantage. On boarding actions and in station confrontations, she is the person whose presence changes what the other side thinks is possible. Her Predator Reflexes and Readiness give her one of the best Surprised initiative pools on the crew: when something goes wrong fast, she is already responding.

Yessica is not much for conversation but she is observant. Her Low-Light Eyes and Predator Reflexes make her genuinely useful in any scene where threat awareness matters. She will notice things before they become problems. The player should feel free to say "Yessica notices something is wrong" without knowing exactly what; let the GM confirm the detail.

Corin Ash

Dhoran Face — The one who talks first

Corin Ash wears good clothes, carries a name that may not be original, and has the particular stillness of someone who has learned to let other people fill silence. They are patient, professionally warm, and difficult to read. The crew trusts them because they have never once let the crew down in a social situation, and because the one time someone asked directly about their past, they gave a detailed and entirely plausible answer that explained nothing at all.

Pronouns: they/them

Characteristics

Wounds and Strain

Wounds: 13 boxes (10 + MIG 3) — ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Strain: 12 boxes (10 + WIL 2) — ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Resistance: 2 (half MIG 3, rounded up)

Skills (rated skills only)

Initiative — On Watch: SAV 4 + Perception 2 = 6 dice

Initiative — Surprised: WIL 2 + Readiness 0 = 2 dice

Species Package

Dhoran: Dense high-gravity humanoid with broad frame, formidable endurance, and physical presence that reads in a room before they open their mouth.

• Dense Frame: Add 1 Boon Die to lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling, bracing, resisting forced movement, or holding a physical position under sustained effort.
• Impact Tolerance: Once per encounter, after Resistance is applied, reduce Wounds suffered from falling, collision, blunt impact, or forced movement by 1.
• Hard to Shift: Add 1 Boon Die to opposed checks made to resist being knocked prone, dragged, shoved, or physically displaced.
• Slow Acceleration: Add 1 Bane Die to checks requiring sudden acceleration, delicate footwork, tight-space agility, or quick changes of direction.
• Heavy Requirements: Dhoran suits, seats, ladders, and support gear must be properly rated. Improvised or under-rated equipment may add 1 Bane Die or fail under stress.

Talents

Quick Read (Tier 1): Before making a social skill check, Corin may observe the target for a moment and ask the GM one question: "What does this person most want right now?" or "What does this person most fear?" The GM answers honestly. Corin may use this talent once per scene per new NPC.

Silver Words (Tier 1): When Corin succeeds on a Negotiation or Charm check, they may spend 2 Boon symbols to leave the target with a positive impression that persists beyond the scene: the NPC will not work against the crew without additional cause, and the GM notes this for future sessions.

Controlled Presence (Tier 1): Corin's physical density is a social tool. Once per scene, when they deliberately stand their ground, take up space, or make their size felt during a social encounter, they may add 1 Boon Die to an Intimidation or Negotiation check. This works because Corin does not need to say anything threatening: they simply stop moving and let people recalculate.

Equipment

• Concealed Small Arm (Ranged): A compact sidearm kept in a tailored interior holster. Damage 4, Ranged, Short range, Qualities: Concealable (requires a Perception check to spot when worn correctly).
• Respectable Coat: A well-made outer coat in a dark neutral color. Not armor. It adds 1 Boon Die to social checks in formal or semi-formal situations where appearance signals status. Removes 1 Boon Die from Perception checks to notice the concealed small arm.
• Encrypted Comm Device: A modified personal communicator with a second frequency band and better-than-standard encryption. Short, medium, and long range.
• Personal Communicator: Backup unit, short and medium range, standard encryption.
• Emergency Rations (3 days)
• Credits: 900

Background

Corin has worked under three different names in two different powers over the past decade. They are not a criminal in any active sense: no outstanding warrants, no open debts, no contracts they have broken with violence. They simply departed a situation in a city they do not name, took a name that suited the work better, and rebuilt from there. They are good at what they do. They like the crew. They are quietly uncertain whether they deserve to. The right question, asked at the right moment, would open something, but they have not found anyone willing to ask it right yet.

Playing Corin

Corin handles first contact. When the crew meets someone new — Inspector Oll, station staff, Sev, anyone with information — Corin should be the one in front. Quick Read gives them real intelligence before a roll: knowing what someone wants or fears makes the social encounter much more tractable. The Silver Words talent rewards building relationships across the adventure rather than just getting past gatekeepers.

In a confrontation, Corin is not helpless: their Perception pool is strong, they can read a room for danger, and the Dhoran species package means they are physically durable if a situation goes wrong. Controlled Presence can end a tense standoff without a shot. But their initiative pool when surprised is weak — keep Corin in situations where the crew controls the ground before a confrontation starts.

Rhi

Ssarathi Medic and Scout — The one who notices

Rhi does not introduce themselves with a last name. On ships where people ask, they say the coil-name system does not translate and leave it there. They are tall and still in the particular Ssarathi way: not watchful in any visible sense, just present in a room the way a warm radiator is present. They became a field medic because a coil-hall they traveled through needed one and they were the person there. They stayed a medic because it turned out they were built for it: patient, precise, and capable of holding someone together under conditions that would break most people's concentration entirely.

Pronouns: they/them

Characteristics

Wounds and Strain

Wounds: 12 boxes (10 + MIG 2) — ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Strain: 13 boxes (10 + WIL 3) — ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Resistance: 1 (half MIG 2, rounded up) + armor

Skills (rated skills only)

Initiative — On Watch: SAV 4 + Perception 4 = 8 dice

Initiative — Surprised: WIL 3 + Readiness 2 = 5 dice

Species Package

Ssarathi: Tall serpentine person with scaled skin, slit pupils, and a powerful tail. No legs. Moves through controlled muscular undulation. Thermally aware in ways that most species are not.

• Coil Body: Add 1 Boon Die to climbing, balance, bracing, squeezing through suitable tight spaces, resisting being knocked prone, or holding a position with the tail.
• Constricting Strength: Add 1 Boon Die to grapples, restraints, and controlled holds when Rhi can bring their full body into play.
• Thermal Sense: Add 1 Boon Die to Perception, Survival, medical triage, or tracking checks where heat traces, body warmth, active machinery, or temperature differences are meaningful. Rhi can detect recent warm-blooded presence in a space, notice injuries through heat irregularity, and identify active machinery from thermal output.
• Unsuitable Terrain: Add 1 Bane Die to fast movement across abrasive, jagged, freezing, or poorly textured surfaces without appropriate gear.
• Adapted Stations: In vehicles, ships, armor, or workstations built for legged humanoids without adaptation, add 1 Bane Die to prolonged operation. The Ember Drift's medical alcove has been configured for Rhi specifically; this penalty does not apply there.

Talents

Field Stabilization (Tier 1): Once per scene, Rhi may spend 1 Strain to immediately stop a crewmate's Bleeding condition or prevent a Critical Injury from worsening, as an action. This does not heal Wounds but it keeps someone alive. Rhi can do this in active combat, while under fire, in any condition they can physically reach the patient.

Quiet Approach (Tier 1): Rhi adds 1 Boon Die to Stealth checks made in interior spaces: corridors, cargo holds, stations, ship interiors, or any enclosed environment. Their method of movement — silent, low-vibration, able to press against walls and ceilings with their tail — is naturally suited to built environments. This does not stack with any situational penalty that removes this advantage.

Diagnostic Eye (Tier 2): Rhi's Thermal Sense and medical training combine into something difficult to deceive. Once per scene, Rhi may observe a person for a moment and ask the GM: "Is this person injured, ill, frightened, or lying about their physical state?" The GM answers honestly based on what Rhi's thermal sense and observational training would register. This is not mind-reading: it reveals physical and physiological cues, not thoughts.

Equipment

• Medical Kit: A full field kit rated for multi-species emergency care, including pharmaceutical supplies, surgical tools, diagnostic scanner, wound sealant, injectable stimulants, and emergency defibrillation equipment. Enough for three serious cases before resupply is needed.
• Concealed Mesh Armor: A light reinforced undersuit that reads as clothing in most circumstances. Armor +1, Qualities: Concealable (requires a Perception check to identify as armor). (Resistance total: 2.)
• Quiet Sidearm (Ranged): A short-range compact pistol with an integral suppressor. Damage 4, Ranged, Short range only, Qualities: Suppressed (Stealth checks to remain undetected after firing are 1 difficulty lower).
• Personal Communicator: Short and medium range, standard encryption.
• Emergency Rations (3 days)
• Credits: 400

Background

Rhi traveled pilgrimage routes through Jaziri-adjacent space for the first twelve years of their adult life, part of a network of Ssarathi healers attached to route-shrine communities. They left the network quietly and without drama after a disagreement they describe only as "a question of obligation." They found ships because ships need medics, and medics with Ssarathi thermal sense are genuinely more capable in field diagnosis than most alternatives. They do not miss the pilgrim network exactly. They miss knowing what they were for.

Playing Rhi

Rhi is the crew's eyes and the crew's healer. Their Perception pool (8 dice) is the strongest on the crew by a significant margin, and their Thermal Sense adds Boon Dice to detection checks where heat matters: recent human presence in a cargo hold, someone hiding behind a cold bulkhead with a raised heart rate, the warm ghost of a power source that should be off. Let Rhi notice things.

In medical situations, Field Stabilization is the ability that keeps the crew alive: if someone is going down fast, Rhi can stop the bleeding in the middle of a firefight. Diagnostic Eye is useful in social scenes, not just medical ones: Rhi may not be the crew's face, but they know when someone is lying in their body rather than their words.

Rhi's Stealth pool makes them the crew's quiet option for reconnaissance. When someone needs to move through Harrowspan station unobserved, or get to Maren's office without being seen, Rhi is the right choice.

Crew Quick Reference

Shared crew resource: the Ember Drift is everyone's ship. All five characters have a stake in it surviving.