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.