This took place on WebRPG, with the group I've just started there.
[]: And since all of you have already gone in together to purchase the ship you should probably figure out your goals and come to some sort of understanding.
[Amy]: I suggest we form a corporation. Decisions are made via vote. [Amy]: Profits spent 1/3 on the ship and group resources, the rest split between us.
[]: What about you xavier? Care to incorporate?
[Xavier]: sounds good to me [Xavier]: i am just a mercenary aslong as i get payed it is fine for me
[]: Do you guys want to have her buy in? []: Or just be on a hire basis?
[Amy]: I'm ok with buying in, what about the rest of you?
[Xavier]: buying in is good i guess =)
[Michael]: I think itd be better if she had stakes
[]: Frankly, I love the idea of incorporating.
[Amy]: Well, it makes sense given the environment. [Amy]: In theory you could spend more than the 2500 per point to buy more shares.
[]: Yes indeed. []: Shares help with another problem. []: What if someone wants to pull out of the corporation?
[Michael]: Well the charter should issue a time period before that becomes possible [Michael]: so we can aquire some liquid assets
[]: You could simply split profits too, and allow reinvestment to be purely a share basis.
[Xavier]: yeah we should have to have a contract
[]: Fantastic []: Votes could be by share
[Amy]: I assume we do have a contract, but we don't really hive the time to write one out.
[Michael]: we can make a few major points, though
[]: But some basics would be good and over time we can figure out more []: Someone wanting to withdraw could be bought out. []: Naturally they cant force a buy out, so they'd have to wait for funds to become available []: and they'd still own part of it, and part of profits earned, until they were
[Amy]: Alright, I have 32 shares, Xavier 39, Loren ??, Michael ??
[]: so 2500 creds equals one share
[Michael]: What about using some of our leftover money to buy shares?
[Amy]: I'm wondering if the contract should include a clause stipulating in actual participation... i.e. if the player doesn't show up, he doesn't get paid :-)
[Amy]: That should be possible.
[]: But he did finance resources used.
[Xavier]: yeah [Xavier]: that is true eli
[]: You decide, but its still their investment at risk. Probably payment should be based on both investment and participation.
[Amy]: In fact, if we can buy shares, we don't need to worry about splitting the money between group and party.
[]: You could have dividends []: Okay, Michaels in for 40
[Amy]: Yes, you should be able to do so. 1 character point buys you 3 shares, straight across. [Amy]: 40! [Amy]: Ok, so how much can Loren buy in for?
[]: So we've got 100 thousand for Michael, which is 40 shares []: How much for you two. I'm keeping track
[Amy]: 32 here
[Xavier]: hehe 39 shares here =P
[]: Loren will contribute 20 shares worth []: 50 k from her
[Amy]: thats 327500 total!
[]: so you're how far in debt? Just 30k or so right?
[Amy]: yeah, not bad
[]: Okay
[Xavier]: debt?
[]: I'll probably put a thing up on the page about this later, and whats been agreed upon so far.
[Michael]: I can put it in [Michael]: I'd rather us not be in debt
[]: You sure?
[Xavier]: how far indebt?
[Michael]: unless you'd rather I not have so many shares, troupe
[]: Its a relatively small amount
[Amy]: Yeah to buy a Cubeship and lander takes... 357510 [Amy]: which is 30010 left
[Michael]: mike might get a big head with too many shares...
[]: True []: Voting blocks and stuff could get interesting. I love it.
[Amy]: Anyone want to buy shares :-)
[Michael]: hostile takeover...
[]: wouldn't work right now
[Michael]: Want me to buy the rest, Amy?
[]: no public shares
[Amy]: Let's assume we're friends to begin, makes things easier.
[]: of course
[Amy]: If you can afford it.
[]: You could stipulate the greatest number of shares makes captain []: but you might not want to
[Amy]: Well, we vote with shares to make decisions.
[Michael]: I'll buy in for the last 30k [Michael]: ship activities could be separate
[Amy]: Ok, thats 12 more shares for you.
[Michael]: as per expertise
[Amy]: The person who is most qualified at the time will probably be making the decisions.
[Amy]: During combat, the navy pilot says what :-)
[]: Record shares on your character sheets
[Amy]: This rocks :-) If we get rich we could buy more ships and crew, and start an actual corporation with multiple ships
[]: Lorens character sheet is up on the website []: Shes in the example character section
[Amy]: Ok
[Michael]: ahh aspirations
[Michael]: a scientist, a merc, and a flyboy?
[Amy]: me 32 Xav 39 Mike 52 Loren 20
[Amy]: I'm a doctor and MOD designer.
[]: Lorens a surveyor
[Michael]: smells like science to me
[Amy]: You betcha [Amy]: Oh, I can handle myself in a fight, too :-)
[]: Whats the name of the corporation that built your ship and where is it located?
[Amy]: That, I haven't come up with. I'd assume it would be NC-based.
[]: Probably located on the moon Incondat then. []: Airless moon of a gas giant in the system. []: Industrial center
[Amy]: Make money. Explore. Have fun. Make MODS. [Amy]: Contributing to humanities surival is no bad thing either. [Amy]: Hey... what should we name our corporation?
[Michael]: Intergalatic Trade Cartel... [Michael]: cube corp was cool
[]: Lets role play this
[Amy]: Well, that was the name of the Cubeships makers.
[Michael]: (any chance we can name the ship as well?)
[Amy]: So it's taken. [Amy]: Of course!
[Michael]: great
[]: This is already fun for me.
[Michael]: me too [Michael]: lol
[Amy]: You bet :-) []: Silent is a good name for Xavier
[Xavier]: yep [Xavier]: =)
[Michael]: I was thinking the same thing
[]: He's the quiet killer.
[Amy]: Umm... all I can think of is something like "Explore, Inc." which is a little cheesy
[]: You guys go to bars in character?
[Amy]: Oh sure.
[Michael]: oh yes
[]: You're somewhere on Incondat, near the ships construction site. []: Its in the final phase of construction and your corporation needs to get its plans straight.
v Xavier looks around
Amy is a statuesque woman. Black hair frames her face, and firey tattoos surround her almond-shaped amber eyes. She currently wears a one-piece gray shipsuit, over which she wears a leather jacket.
[]: How about the Pressure Drop Tavern, seated on one of the cliff overlooking one of Incondats endless maria.
[Amy]: (Sounds fine. How many G's?)
[]: (a quarter or so)
[Amy]: (Whoo! Boing!)
[]: (.34 standard)
[Xavier]: Xavier has an average build for a person his size, he dresses in Urban Ops Cammoflauged clothig when in battle conditions and dresses in black clothing when in casual situations.
Michael is a dark haired man, hunched over his a drink... a clear liquid in a cylindrical cup.
[]: The see through plastic windows surround the tavern and you can see the ship coming together a few hundred feet down on the plain.
[Amy]: (Alright, so we're all seated around a table in the corner...) Xavier looks ar everyone else
[Michael]: "It's been quite a while since I've been behind the controls of a ship..." He muses mostly to himself.
[]: The ship will be completed by morning and you need to figure out what comes next[]: (and maybe name the ship)
[Amy]: "Yeah, should be fun! Can anyone think of a good name for our corporation, or the ship? I'm not good with names."
[]: Loren sips her drink. "Hmm..."
[Michael]: "The navy names ships after great men... or places... The Alexander... The Missouri..." [Michael]: "I don't believe that fits our... style."
[Amy]: "Yeah... they're all gone now..." [Amy]: "Explore, Inc.? Not bad, but not good."
Xavier grins "What about Dice Exploratory Corp"
[Michael]: "This is the Enigma, Girard here." He makes a mock radio sound.
[Loren]: "Its not really an enigma to us though."
[Amy]: "Huh? Dice? Why dice?"
[Loren]: "Is the ship really that much of a gamble?"
Xavier grins and Points to the Ship "It looks like a di"
Loren laughs
Michael makes another mock radio noise. "Chhh, This is the hunk of metal that cost us everything we own, Girard here."
[Loren]: "So do the planned modules."
[Michael]: "I like Enigma to that."
[Loren]: "Ships are named after ideas and function sometimes..." [Loren]: "Or phenomena..."
[Amy]: "How about Vision? We plan to see the universe with it after all."
[Michael]: 'Hmm... [Michael]: "Or... Prosperity."
[Amy]: "Hey, that's good too."
[Loren]: "Visions not the right word. Clarity or something like that sounds better. Prosperity's nice."
Michael grins... "Hmmm..." [Michael]: "We can call it...
Xavier silently stares at the taable top
[Amy]: "Hmm, wish I had a thesaurus..."
[Michael]: "The Aspiration." [Michael]: "Or, Aspirations..."
Michael wrinkles his nose...
Loren says, "Come on Xavier. You spent so much on something like this and it finally happens...its not a time to mope."
[Michael]: "No... Aspirations here..." [Michael]: "Doesn't sound right... need something regal."
[Amy]: "Well, I can second Prosperity if no one thinks of anything better. But I like the Vision thing too."
[Loren]: "Apiration sounds like perspiration."
Michael snickers.
Xavier grins "The Indepenance"
[Michael]: "Or the Visionary, as opposed to Vision."
[Amy]: "Sounds like some old warship."
[Amy]: "Visionary is nice."
[Loren]: "No modern ones that I can think of though." [Loren]: "Though it is a defiant name."
Michael nods at Amy. "What do you think, Xavier?"
Xavier looks up "The Visionary?" Xavier ponders for a few
Michael clinks his glass against Xavier's. "Has a nice ring to it."
Amy pulls up an online thesaurus on her laptop...
Xavier grins and swallows his drink "Sound good"
[Michael]: "And of course... we could call our company, Visions, INC..."
[Amy]: "We all like Visionary? I'll vote for that."
[Michael]: "Loren is being too quiet..."
[Amy]: "I like Visionary, Inc. too."
[Michael]: "I don't think she likes it..."
Xavier grins
[Loren]: "Hmm..." [Loren]: "Its good. Though I'd call the corporation Vision instead of visions. Sounds better."
[Michael]: "Vision, Incorporated.
[Loren]: "It sounds like we're hallucinating if we call it Visions."
[Xavier]: "Sounds good"
Amy does a search to see if Vision, Inc. is taken as a corporation name.
[Michael]: "Flagship... The Visionary..." [Michael]: "Well then, are we decided?"
[Loren]: "Maybe we should name ships after types of things which provide visions..."
[Amy]: "Great! The Visionary, and Vision, Inc."
[Loren]: "Like the Oracle, or the Prophet."
Xavier smiles for a few seconds
[Michael]: "Or the Poppy Seed?"
[Amy]: "Hmm, those are nice too."
[Loren]: "I meant meaningful visions of course."
[Michael]: "Visionary means the same thing as Prophet, no?"
[Loren]: "Basically."
[Amy]: "Well, almost."
[Michael]: "Prophet gives almost an ancient religious theme... where Visionary can be... well... commercial."
[Loren]: "True."
[Amy]: "Yeah, I agree with that. I'd prefer to go non-religious."
[Loren]: "I'll back the Visionary, and Vision, incorporated."
[Amy]: "Ok, it's set then. Now to register the name."
Michael raises up his glass.
[Amy]: "Anyone here good with this business stuff?"
Loren shakes her head.
[Michael]: "I can spend creds."
[Loren]: "The shipyard can register the ship with the navy and rescue organizations at completion."
Amy nods [Amy]: "That makes it easier."
[Loren]: "We can set the ship to identify itself as such too."
Xavier silently listens to the people talk
[Loren]: "Now to topic two. What is the Visionary going to do to make profits for Vision, Inc in the near future?"
[Loren]: "Tomorrow we're mobile."
Michael twists his mouth.
[Amy]: "Well, exploration primarily of course. But I've no problem carrying some cargo when it's on our way."
[Michael]: "We could always move... narcotics."
[Amy]: "Nah, I don't like that stuff. I'd prefer to stay on the up-and-up. It's easier to build a good reputation that way anyway."
[Loren]: "Nobody'd look down on it but the Kentaurans. They look way down on it though. Dangerous business without contacts I don't have." [Loren]: "I'm thinking of what we're planning on doing with the ship tomorrow."
[Michael]: "Maybe next time around."
[Amy]: "Yeah. Besides, I like the idea of "going where no man has gone before" Exploration is fun!"
[Xavier]: "You guys can haul what ever you want, i don't care"
[Loren]: "We don't have anything to haul, yet."
[Amy]: "Well, we should pull up a list of star systems to explore. Then set out..."
Loren leans forward. "Give me some search criteria."
Michael drums his fingers across the tabletop.
[Amy]: "We'll need to contact some shipping companies. We can carry cargo if there are any colonies in that direction."
[Michael]: "Well we don't want to go too far out, not yet."
[Loren]: "We'll have to go a ways to explore." [Loren]: "Most of whats within forty light years has been charted."
[Amy]: "I agree, Mike. We should be cautious. But not overly so. After all, we're getting paid to go places no one else has gone."
[Michael]: "Well then, I say we hit one of the bases on the outlands... see if they need anything..."
[Loren]: "Whose bases?" [Loren]: "Kentauran?"
[Michael]: "if they do, we got a job... if they don't, we head out into the unknown..." [Michael]: "Gotta start somewhere."
[Loren]: (Kent space is a bubble next to NC on one side, Sandling home world is on the opposite side.)
Xavier downs his drink and slams the glass on the table
[Michael]: (Do we have NC outposts and colonies on the edge of OUR space?)
[Loren]: (NC maintains no colonies, it only extends control over Incondat) [Loren]: (Just this one system.) [Loren]: (There are human settlements elsewhere though. But they are self ruled and small) Loren looks at Xavier, surprised
[Michael]: "Xavier... I hope you can keep me... you know..."
[Loren]: "I think our cargo carrying capacities a little limited right now. We don't have any real cargo room yet."
Michael leans over and whispers something to Xavier across the table.
Loren seems a bit embarassed and pretends not to notice.
Xavier nods to Michael Xavier whispers to Michael
[Amy]: "We should visit Sol-like stars within 100 light years, that inferometry observations have revealed contain Earth-mass planets in the habitable zone."
[Loren]: "We don't have any mass distribution information at our disposal." [Loren]: "The best way would probably be to avoid double star systems once we're out far enough-"
[Amy]: "No? Then we'll have to do it the hard way. Just the Sol-like stars then I guess."
[Loren]: "And skip between stars of a sufficient age to have developed planets"
Xavier grins and leands back against the seat Listening to the corporation people talk
[Amy]: "Yeah. You know more about that than I do, Loren."
[Loren]: "Is that the plan?"
Michael nods his acquiesence.
[Loren]: "We'll have to skip through some known systems to get out far enough, but once out there we can jump around new systems."
[Amy]: "Yeah. Is there a way to see if any of those habited systems need cargo shipped to them?"
[Loren]: "Only by going there. Or finding someone who just returned. But I was thinking of heading out to the unknown the fastest way."
[Michael]: "Their imports aren't listed on the data nets...?"
[Loren]: "Heading straight rimward and avoiding Kentauran space."
[Michael]: "But I agree, I think we get out there as fast as we can."
[Amy]: "I guess it depends how profitable cargo runs are." [Loren]: "There's data about what they need, to be found. But I don't have any money to invest in a cargo."
[Michael]: "And try to lie low while as long as we can." [Michael]: "Less cargo we're less likely to attract pirates..."
[Amy]: "Oh, we wouldnt' be able to invest in cargo. We'd just be paid to transport it. Space truckers!"
[Xavier]: "And i will guard our money makers" *Grins*
[Amy]: "We'll have to buy a bottle of champaign, of course!"
[Michael]: "Hah!"
[Loren]: "Going to christen it?"
[Amy]: "Of course!"
Xavier grins
[Loren]: (Okay. The ships ready the next morning and you're ferried up to it in orbit and the ferry returns to the shipyard)
Amy brings the aforementioned bottle, and all her gear.
Michael has a couple of duffle bags with him, but doesn't seem to own much.
[Loren]: (You can see Incondat as a giant whitish sphere beneath you, appearing more than a foot in diameter from this distance. The gas giant Altia appears even larger.)
Xavier carries his gear
[Loren]: (you stand inside the airlock)
Amy excitedly enters the ship, exploring [Amy]: (I never wrote up a floor plan :-)
[Loren]: (care to describe a little about the interior?)
Xavier enters the ship and walks around looking for the living quarters
[Loren]: (six rooms right?)
Michael takes a deep breath. "I want to see the bridge."
[Amy]: (Lets see what I can make up on the fly...)
[Loren]: (go)
[Amy]: (3 stories... 6 staterooms and bridge on top)
[Loren]: (plus a few more stories of drive and fuel tanks)
[Amy]: (middle storey containing labs, and sickbay) [Amy]: (bottom conaining cargo, and gym)
[Loren]: (labs and sick bay are not really equipped yet) [Loren]: (labs has screens for sensor analysis and Lorens basic gear)
[Amy]: (Last entire 15 meters of the 30 meter ship are drives and fuel, also engineering is stuffed in there I imagine)
[Loren]: "How are we going to christen it?"
Xavier finds a room and claims it throws his gear inside
[Amy]: (I'll have brought my basic gear for the labs too, and my doctor's tools for the sickbay. should be adequate) [Amy]: "Lets try out the lander! We can drop the bottle out the airlock."
[Loren]: (describe what you do)
[Amy]: (Airlocks would be on bottom storey, in cargo) [Amy]: "Well, the lander should be out that airlock" (points, there are 4)
[Loren]: "Are we going to throw it against the nose, or drop it and ram it with the Visionary?"
[Amy]: "Who wants to pilot? I'm no pilot myself."
[Loren]: "Nor me."
[Loren]: "Michael? Michael?"
[Michael]: 'Yeah yeah....yeah."
[Loren]: "Oh. Lets go."
Xavier walks to where the other last were heading
[Amy]: "We can use the maneuvering thrusters to take us toward the ship gently, and release."
Loren climbs into the lander through the joined airlocks.
Michael hops into the lander...
Amy takes her pressure suit with her as she climbs into the lander.
Loren takes a seat in the bridge area and looks out the screen eagerly.
Amy belts into a seat
Michael scurries into the pilot's chair.
[Amy]: "Wow, it's that new car smell!"
Michael grips his hands around the controls, getting a feel for them. (Loren whispered to Michael): manual controls are backups, the usual way is through interface.
[Michael]: "Buckle yourself in, Merc..." Michael engages the interface.
Xavier sits and buckles in
[Amy]: "Give us a view! There are no windows after all." Michael powers up systems...
[Loren]: (Michael plugs the wire into his data port and his senses become the ships sensors)
Michael plugs the ships controls into his data port. Michael effectively merges with ship sensors. Michael takes us out.
Xavier closes his eyes and tilts his head back
Michael slowly brings the lander to within meters of The Visionary...
[Amy]: (With simulated windows, the Visionary appears as a large grey cube with beveled edges [Amy]: "Here, I'll put the bottle in the airlock."
Xavier looks at the ship
Amy makes sure the airlock reads as safe, and opens the inner door, placing the bottle inside. Amy then closes the airlock
[Michael]: "Shall I dock us?"
(Loren whispered to Amy): If you're going to vent gas to shoot the bottle out, you'll have to increase the pressure past normal to get the speed.
[Amy]: "No, just use the maneuving jets to shove the bottle into the ship."
[Michael]: "Old tradition."
[Amy]: "Make sure you have alot of room, wouldn't want to crash."
Michael uses the jets to propel the bottle into the side of The Visionary.
Loren claps
Amy opens the outer doors on the airlock at the correct time.
Xavier smiles
Michael gently manuevers the lander around The Visionary...
[Loren]: "We are now in business. I've got a course planned."
Amy cheers as the bottle hits.
[Amy]: "I don't know if that's how it's supposed to be done, but it sure was fun!"
Xavier grins
Loren]: "Xavier, I think you're what they mean by 'silent partner.'"
Xavier grins
[Xavier]: "I just do my job"
[Amy]: "Alright, lets dock this lander and get moving."
[Xavier]: "And talk is cheap"
[Amy]: "We should take it easy for a while, and make sure all systems test out."
[Loren]: "Michael, I'll go with you to the bridge and we can get the alderson drive online and get out of here."
Michael brings the lander underneath the cube.
[Xavier]: "i am going to my room and unpack my shit"
Michael begins docking procedure. [Michael]: "Docking now..."
[Loren]: "Just remember to strap in or lay down for the jump. Disorientations severe."
Amy nods
[Xavier]: "yeah"
[Loren]: (The jump renders computers and people temporarily nonfunctional at the other end)
[Michael]: "Docking complete."
[Amy]: "Sound a jump alarm so we know."
Xavier undtraps and heads to the Visionary
[Loren]: (Okay. Loren gives you the coordinates Michael)
Michael heads with Loren towards the bridge.
Amy heads up to her room, finding one she likes and laying claim. [Amy]: (oh yeah, I suppose kitchens, living area, and bathrooms would also be on top story)
Xavier enters his room and starts unpacking
Michael programs the coordinates into the in ship navigation system.
[Loren]: "Six light years to the Lus system."
Amy calls up a tactical display on the screen in her room, watching as she unpacks.
[Michael]: "We'll be there before you know it, Loren..."