Euclid Brash

Missing a bunch of names of important people and still subject to change, but here's the current draft of Euclid's background. Dayzdark (talk)

Euclid Brash was born in 65 BBY (current campaign opens in 8 BBY). Beginning in 45 BBY, he became a small spacecraft test pilot for the Republic during a period when the program had captured public imagination. Euclid soon became the face of the Republic’s experimental space flight program and was featured widely in everything from documentaries on the program to recruitment vids to feature films where he played characters very similar to himself. In these last, he was widely known to perform all his own stunts, many of which still claim the lives of those who attempt to recreate them. His signature ship in these vids was the Parallax, described as the fastest stunt fighter in the galaxy (a somewhat exaggerated moniker, but not that far from the truth). He was a heroic pilot, a scientist, and heartthrob. It was a time of peace – or at least as peaceful as the Core ever really got during the Republic – and he saw no real combat during his 15 years of service in the Republic’s military.

Following his retirement in 30 BBY, Euclid settled on a prosperous Core world and raised a family. He served as a consultant on several civilian and military projects. His eldest son was a young adult at the start of the Clone Wars in 22 BBY and joined the Republic military. The galaxy was a much more violent place than it had been when Euclid was young, and his son was killed in action. Euclid’s life took a downward turn after that. He stopped taking on consulting work and withdrew from public life. His wife divorced him in 20 BBY, and his other children were soon estranged. Euclid spent more and more time tinkering with his personal labor of love – an improved version of the Parallax, which he assembled from scratch partially from his memory of the original (which he knew down to the smallest bolt) and partially through the application of decades of knowledge of shipcraft.

The Clone Wars had made Euclid question the values of the Republic for the first time in his life. The tragedy didn’t help, but the sudden cultural shift from scientific curiosity to all-consuming war made him feel a stranger in a galaxy where he had once been a role model for a generation of scientists and pilots (and a guest lecturer at the Republic Futures Program for young people). When the Empire rose from the bitter ashes of the Clone Wars, Euclid threw up his hands in disgust and turned his back on all of it.

By 18 BBY, the Parallax was spaceworthy, and Euclid found himself drawn to the stars once more. He was more interested in sightseeing than in wild hijinks, but he found himself embroiled in local problems now and again – although seldom ones requiring violent solutions (but certainly not never!). He never took payment for these, since his pension was more than enough to sustain his rambling lifestyle. Five years ago (13 BBY), the Galactic Senate, acting under the leadership of Emperor Palpatine, drastically cut pensions for retired Republic officers. It was done in the name of unavoidable belt-tightening, but it’s no secret to anyone that the Empire had grown increasingly greedy for resources to sustain its massive military build-up – one that makes no sense given that the Clone Wars ended several years previously.

In addition to serving as a painful reminder of why he quietly despised the Empire that had parasitized his beloved Republic, the sudden loss of income forced Euclid to find other ways to sustain himself. He started taking on work as a courier, carrying small packages between Core worlds. As the Holonet became increasingly regulated (and monitored by Imperial intelligence), Euclid also found himself carrying private messages. Although he was discreet, Euclid noticed the gradual shift in his clientele from respectable folks sending gifts (and sexy holovids of themselves) to friends and lovers across the stars to people with shifty eyes who insisted on anonymity and delivery to dead drops.

This latter work paid better, and while Euclid suspected his nervous clients might be engaged in enterprises of a less-than-legal nature, he took it all the same. He did modify his flight helmet to include a tiny hidden compartment where he hid any datachips he thought might cause trouble if he was found with them. Because the helmet includes some electronics related to its heads-up display, the datachip is virtually undetectable shy of completely disassembling the helmet, which Euclid always kept tucked under his arm while his ship was being searched. He also built a less well-hidden compartment in his cockpit where he hid a decoy datachip – usually a salacious holovid from an attractive young human woman to her unnamed lover in another system. Over the next five years, the decoy was discovered several times (and confiscated more than once), but no one found Euclid’s secret hiding place.

Immediately before the events of the game begin, Euclid was delivering a datachip to a dead drop on the planet where the current Rebel cell is operating. He had no idea that he was carrying an Alliance message from an undercover agent on a Core world. When he arrived, he was hailed by an Imperial destroyer and ordered to dock for inspection.

From here, there are a couple of ways events could have unfolded, depending on:


 * What he was carrying
 * Whether the Imperials found it
 * How soon after his arrival the Rebel strike force took over the destroyer to liberate their captured compatriots
 * And whether Euclid was in the brig or being treated as a guest.
 * Whether the Rebels recognized Euclid
 * And whether this made them more or less likely to trust him (given that his likeness and old footage of him are still used in Imperial propaganda)
 * Or whether they regard him as a potential propaganda weapon for the Rebellion.
 * Whether they recognize the Parallax
 * And the ship’s condition at the time
 * And whether they regarded the Parallax as a potential military asset, propaganda tool, or both.
 * As well as how Euclid felt about all this.

In short, his access to the Parallax could be curtailed of necessity (badly damaged, for example, or too recognizable for the first mission) or because the Rebellion was using it as leverage to ensure Euclid’s cooperation and good behavior. And Euclid could be a somewhat unwilling rebel or one long since radicalized but now given a real opportunity to fight back. And his cargo could be what triggers the first mission, something that hints at a larger issue on the horizon, or a veritable footnote beyond its bringing him into the Rebellion.

Other characters' histories and reasons for becoming involved could also influence all this. If five of the other six characters show up with a secret message of an urgent nature to kick off the campaign, I ain't gonna bring in a sixth, you know?

= Mechanics =

Two competing builds have emerged for this character. Let's call them I've Still Got It and I'm Too Old for This Shit. I can go either way on these, the final choice of builds likely hinging on what others will be bringing to the table.

I've Still Got It
Human Ace (Rigger)

Brawn 2, Agi 3, Int 4, Cun 2, Will 2, Pre 2

Astrogation 1, Mechanics 2, Piloting (Space) 2, Gunnery 2, Ranged - Light 1, Knowledge (Core Worlds) 1, Knowledge (Underworld) 1, Warfare 1

Talents: Underworld Contacts, Grit, Gearhead

This is a tightly focused build that reflects that maybe his reflexes aren't as quick as they used to be, but he's still one of the finest pilots in the galaxy. I'll be fantastic at piloting, ship combat, and mechanics, great at generally Knowing Things, and good at Agility Stuff. Going to fall down in an espionage-focused game, however, and that high Intellect won't stand out much if lots of other folks have high Int, too.

I'm Too Old for This Shit
Human Ace (Rigger) + Smuggler (Scoundrel)

Brawn 2, Agi 2, Int 3, Cun 3, Will 2, Pre 3

Charm 1, Cool 1, Deception 2, Mechanics 2, Piloting (Space) 2, Ranged - Light 1, Knowledge (Underworld) 1

This is a more well-rounded build that reflects the slings and arrows of the last couple decades of his life. He still thinks of himself as a pilot, but he's been forced to do some things he's not proud of just to survive. It assumes that I might have to make a Piloting check now and again (and Piloting 3 is probably one of my first post-chargen buys), but that it's not a thing I roll constantly. Outside of my piloting role, it makes me a good secondary character for a lot of things and is much more suited to an infiltration and espionage game.