Crew for Five Parsecs from Home

    My crew for games of 'Five Parsecs from Home', a Sci-Fi adventure wargaming set of rules

After reading many blog entries and message board posts about the Sci-Fi solo/co-op game, Five Parsecs from Home, I ordered the rulebook sometime last year. I read through it and was intrigued, but was busy with other stuff. So, I never got around to painting anything up for it or giving it a go. Now that I am retired (which enabled me to chip away at the projects considered "more urgent"), perhaps it is time to officially give the game a try. Step one of that, of course, is painting up some figures for my crew! Doesn't step one always involve painting things (unless it involves buying things...!)?

    My hope is I can convert these Sci-Fi rules into a campaign I can run for the Sunday night gang

The ostensible reason for purchasing the rules was to convert it from a solo game to something we could play as a running campaign on Sunday evenings. Each player could control a couple members of what would have to be a much larger crew, of course. Nothing wrong with that, though, as the tabletop fights with these rules are supposed to be fairly fast and fluid. We have played Galactic Heroes, from Wiley Games, and enjoyed them. However, Five Parsecs' strength is supposed to be how it threads everything together into a fun and interesting campaign narrative. Players make choices between games that affect what happens. They gain skills, improve their perhaps impoverished financial situation, gain clients, make enemies, and so on. The best idea to develop something like that for my friends is to test out a solo campaign myself, first. And now that I am retired, I should have time to do that!

The five figures that I chose as my starting crew were sourced from almost as many different places. Two, the captain Alistair Valentine and Cephvarx Hul, are from the Wiley Games line of 3D printed figures. Alistair is "Allister" and Cephvarx is "Varx Blaxx." The Wiley line is fairly tall, but I've found it is hefty and strong enough that you don't have to worry about limbs or weapons snapping like other 3D printed figures. Gunny MacBride is a Reaper plastic figures, aka IMEF Nick Stone. Doc Mecrosus is a listed as a Bounty Hunter from Battle Valor Games and their post-apocalyptic line. Finally, observant readers of my blog will recognize SAS B61 as a retro-looking 3-D printed robot from Thingiverse printed by my friend Joe.

    Every needs a captain: Alistair Valentine is mine, and he's on a mission to recoup his lost 'nest egg'

As of writing this blog post, I have not "rolled up" these characters with the extensive background creation system in Five Parsecs. However, here's what I am thinking. The captain, Alistair Valentine, is a former commercial star pilot who put in his decades of service with the company. In a cost-cutting move, the bean counters in the corporation have found a way to cheat him out of his retirement pension. Unable to kick back and enjoy his old age in a pleasant, touristy star system, Alistair is thrown back into working for himself. It takes most of his savings to purchase his ship, and he's looking to make money quick and hopefully get to that retirement goal.

    I used a retro-looking robot 3D print for SAS B61 (same model as in my post-apoc games)

Alistair pulled a few favors with colleagues to get his trusty security droid, SAS B61 retired from company service and have it sold to him for use as his personal bodyguard. Doubtless, the life of a hardscrabble star pilot will involve dangers, and the droid has proved dependable and a surprisingly humorous companion over the years. As a prank, decades ago a friend in the IT department had a comedy program inserted into SAS B61's system. Now, the droid starts every conversation off with a joke from his extensive library. It has learned to analyze human conversations and what provokes laughter, so is attempting its best to be a witty companion.

    The captain's old college buddy had retired from the military & volunteered to accompany his old pal

Alistair's college friend, Gunny MacBride was also retiring from his career in the military when Alistair was forced from the starliner's rolls. Very sympathetic to his old friend's situation, he has volunteered to go along and watch Alistair's back on these potentially dangerous adventures. Gunny's military experience and familiarity with weapons will likely be useful in keeping Alistair and his crew alive. 

    I really liked this 3D print from Wiley Games and immediately drafted him into my Five Parsecs crew

When word got out that Alistair was looking for a crew, one of the first applications he received was from Cephvarx Hul. The tall, purple-skinned alien comes from a race known for their engineering skills. Alistair had flown routes in their system for decades, and had met many of them over the years. Perhaps it is a sign of respect, or perhaps Cephvarx Hul needed to change his career, but the alien was very persistent and would not relent contacting him and following up until Alistair agreed to hire him. He signed on for what Alistair would consider a very low salary for someone of Cephvarx Hul's skills. The captain was intrigued and a little worried that he might be a plant for someone with nefarious plans, so had asked Gunny to keep an eye on the alien and monitor his actions and communications whenever possible.

    I have been waiting for an opportunity to use this post-apocalyptic plague doctor figure for years

The final member of the crew was the medic, Doc Mecrosus. The first thing anyone notices about the doctor is his sealed, beak-like mask which he wears over his head. He will explain through speakers hidden along the mask that he suffers from an extreme sensitivity to viruses and other airborne organisms. The mask filters all of these out and delivers scrubbed air to his mouth and nose. His dark outfit covers every inch of his body and is also designed to shield his skin from any germs or organisms that might overcome his fragile immune system. Many shake their head at the irony of someone with his condition going into the medical field, but Doc Mecrosus explains that the more he knows about the diseases that could overwhelm his system and kill him, the better prepared he is to deal with it. He also has a peculiar way of looking at life he encounters. Since so much of his energy is devoted to eliminating microscopic organisms, he feels little compunction with killing larger ones, as well. An avid hunter, Doc Mecrosus is no pacifist, and as such, Alistair felt he'd be a great one to take along. Not only would he help the crew stay healthy, he also had the ability to keep the safe!

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 64
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 95