Character Name -[Whether this
is a major character from the books (with personality kept the same,
but situation modified for game), minor character from the books
(usually with major modifications in all respects), or wholely new
character]- Character description, including background, personality,
and current goals.
Race: The characters race stat, given as a name rather than
a number.
Psychlims: If any, the psychological limitations of the character.
Most characters do not have psychlims, so this entry is usually
omitted.
Arrival: Method of arrival, as well as other relevant gamestart
information.
Plots: Things the character is up to, described either in the
character description above or in the plots list. Plots that everyone
has (like survivial) are left out.
Items: Important items that the character has at the beginning
of game.
Abilities: Important abilities, including (in parentheses) the
character's level of skill (Low, Average, High), and any other notes
about the abilities.
Arthur Dent -[Major]-
He is one of two remaining survivors of the Earth when it is
demolished by the Vogons to make way for a Hyperspace Bypass. He was
rescued from the Earth by his friend Ford Prefect, who revealed
himself to be from a small planet somewhere in the vicinity of
Betelgeuse, and not from Guilford after all. He and Ford hitched a
ride aboard one of the Vogon constructor ships, but were then found
and thrown out into space. They were then rescued by the Heart of
Gold where they met Zaphod, Trillian, and Marvin. Through various
adventures (summarized here)
they found their way onto the black ship, and leave in an escape
capsule which randomly deposits them here.
Arthur is a remarkably unremarkable Earthman who has been thrown into rather remarkable circumstances, going directly from one adventurous crisis to the next without even time to stop for a nice cup of tea. He is still wearing the bathrobe he was wearing when Ford rescued him from the Earth only a few days (subjectively) ago. He is very worried about Zaphod and Trillian (nobody worries about Marvin) since their escape capsule looked to be damaged as Arthur and Ford left. He is also very upset by Earth's entry in the Guide, which currently reads "Harmless" and wants it to be far more extensive (well beyond the revised entry that Ford thinks he can get past the editors, which reads "Mostly Harmless"). He is somewhat curious about the Ultimate Question, but is certainly not willing to die over it.
Race: Golgafrinchan (unless Ark is diverted, in which case he
becomes pure Earthling)
Arrival: Escape Capsule, begins at gunpoint of Number Two
Plots: Finding Lost Friends, Finding the Question, Revising Earth's entry
in the Guide
Items: Bathrobe, Revised Earth entry for Guide
Abilities: Luck (can ask a GM for a "lucky break" a few times in game),
First Aid
Ford Prefect -[Major]-
Ford is a field-researcher for the Guide who became stranded on the
Earth after going there to research a story. The Earth is so far from
the space-lanes that his electronic thumb was unable to flag down
another ride until the Vogons came to demolish the Earth, five years
after Ford arrived. While on the Earth, Ford made friends with Arthur
Dent, and thus decided to take Arthur with him when he fled the Earth,
beginning on the adventures summarized here.
Ford is an easygoing, quick-thinking hitchhiker. One might well say, "Hey, sass that hoopy Ford Prefect. Now there's a frood who really knows where his towel is." (A towel is, of course, one of the most useful items in the universe.) He is very late on his submission deadline due to being delayed on the Earth, and thus will be in a lot of trouble whenever he returns to the Guide offices. Turning in his Submission to Zarniwhoop here in the distant past is a good solution to that problem.
Race: Betelgeuse
Arrival: Escape Capsule, begins at gunpoint of Number Two
Plots: Finding Lost Friends, Finding the Question, Making Guide Submissions
Items: Towel, Guide, Electronic Thumb (can flag down passing ships, but
not in-game due to distance from space-lanes), Guide Submissions,
Rubber Band (wrapped around submissions)
Abilities: Programming (Average)
Zaphod Beeblebrox -[Major]-
Zaphod was galactic president (a position designed, unbeknownst to its
occupants, to draw attention away from power rather than to weild it)
before he stole the Heart of Gold in order to go to the ancient planet
Magrathea (part of the adventures of the five main characters summarized here).
Actually the real reason that he stole it was to find the Ruler of the Universe. Zaphod was part of a group with Zarniwhoop, Roosta, and others who wished to do this, but his memories were erased so that he would pass the psychological exams for becoming president. Yesterday, he came to himself in a dream and told himself to find Zarniwhoop. He also told himself some parameters to enter into the improbability drive. They were meant to move the HoG into Zarniwhoop's simulated universe, but due to the nature of that simulation, they actually did nothing other than inform Zarniwhoop of Zaphod's werereabouts in time and space.
Zaphod is an egomaniac, and also happens to have two heads and three arms (one artificial, grown recently). He is also one of the most famous poeple in the universe, which feeds his ego rather effectively. He's always looking for schemes to gain wealth and fame (though he doesn't care much about power), though he is also a coward, and thus can't execute the more dangerous plans. Immortality would be just the thing for him, and he's heard of Wowbagger.
Race: Betelgeuse
Arrival: Heart of Gold
Plots: Finding the Ruler, Becoming Immortal (mempacket), Finding lost
Friends
Items: Kill-O-Zap Gun, Passcard (all HoG doors)
Abilities: Piloting (Average), Engineering (Low)
Tricia McMillan (Trillian) -[Major]-
Trillian is the other survivor of the Earth. She left six months
earlier than Arthur after meeting Zaphod when he was visiting Earth
and attended a fancy-dress party in Islington. "With a degree in
Maths and another in Astrophysics, it was either that or back to the
doll queue on Monday." She has been hanging around with Zaphod ever
since and through the adventures in the book summarized here, though she has
no interest in a romantic relationship with him (not that he hasn't
been trying).
She is attractive and devastatingly intelligent. She's very interested in learning experiences and adventures, and not particularly attached to the companions that she shares them with. She does, however, care for the well-being of her friends, and it was she who was the motivating factor in going to look for Arthur and Ford. She would be an ideal companion for Wowbagger, and would be very interested in immortality as a chance to experience more of the universe.
Race: Golgafrinchan (unless Ark is diverted, in which case he
becomes pure Earthling)
Arrival: Heart of Gold
Plots: Finding Lost Friends, Becoming Immortal (if chosen by Wowbagger)
Items: Mouse food (forces Mice to come out of hiding),
Passcard (all HoG doors)
Abilities: Navigation (High), Piloting (High), Physics (High), First Aid
Marvin -[Major]-
Marvin was a prototype of the Cirius Cybernetics Corporation's GPP
(Genuine People Personalities) features. Unfortunately, the
personality he ended up with is chronically depressed. Key among his
problems is that he has a "brain the size of a planet" and is thus
monumentally bored with everything. He also has "this terrible pain
in all the diodes down his left side", which he has had for all of the
now millions of years of his existance. He slouches about and usually
does what he's told, but he doesn't enjoy it, and he makes that known
to anyone within earshot.
Race: Robot
Psychlims: Depressed, Unhelpful (won't help with anything unless asked)
Arrival: Heart of Gold
Plots: None in specific. Marvin isn't excited by anything, really.
Items: None
Abilities: All technical skills (High), Brain Scan (for question),
DNA Scan (determine race, with full information about the meaning of number)
Eddie -[Minor]-
Another product of GPP technology, Eddie is constantly cheerful, to
the point of becoming less helpful at times. He is the shipboard
computer for the Heart of Gold, his cheerful voice always accompanied
by the tickertape of his printer.
At the beginning of game, the Heart of Gold colocated with the B Ark, and specifically the Heart of Gold computer colocated with the B Ark computer core, and thus Eddie has replaced the B Ark's computer. This results both in the significant problems aboard the B Ark due to the lack of its computer, and to the inability of the HoG to leave until Eddie is downloaded back into it. In the meantime, though, Eddie can explore the new system, travelling from terminal to terminal, helping whoever he happens to meet, and playing with systems as he feels appropriate.
Eddie is likely to be considered an NPC part, with no real plot and with limitations for the purpose of smooth running of the game.
Race: Artificial Intelligence
Psychlims: Cheerful, Easily Distracted (wanders off topic unless
forced back on), Follow any order (even if later told not to), Unhelpful
(will not use skills unless asked)
Arrival: Heart of Gold (is resident in the Ark's computer system, though)
Plots: None
Items: None
Abilities: He's the computer, Race scan (no information on meaning of
numbers)
Zarniwhoop -[Minor]-
Zarniwhoop is the chief editor of the Guide, working in their main
offices on Ursa Minor Beta. He is a megalomaniac, wanting to control
everything. He is also the leader of a group of people attempting to
find and influence the ruler of the universe. Immortality would also
be big on Zarniwhoop's list of priorities, but since he never really
pays much attention to the Guide he edits, he hasn't heard of
Wowbagger.
Zarniwhoop created a simulated universe in his office computer so that he could research stories in the day and still go to parties at night. The simulated universe is also meant as a safe meeting place for Zaphod after he has stolen the HoG which the group needs to reach the ruler. Zarniwhoop has noticed that Zaphod has entered the simulated universe, and thus is going in to meet with Zaphod and tell him to come to Ursa Minor with the HoG. Unbeknownst to Zarniwhoop, the computer decided that the only way to simulate the universe was to use the real one, and thus Zarnowhoop and Roosta is actually being projected into the past to where Zaphod is.
Race: Ursa Minor
Arrival: Simulation
Plots: Finding the Ruler, Collecting Guide submissions
Items: Stun Gun
Abilities: Race Scan (checking Simulation data, gives only vague
information on meaning of number)
Roosta -[Minor]-
Roosta is a hitchhiker, guide researcher, and Zarniwhoop's right-hand
man. He's less interested in power than he is in adventure, fun, and
the good life, but he goes along with Zarniwhoop as long as he pays
the bills. Roosta and Ford were personal friends and went hitchhiking
together in the old days, and thus Roosta would like to see Ford come
out of this situation alive, and ideally capable of rejoining Roosta
for further adventures.
Roosta would be very interested in becoming immortal, and has read enough of the Guide to recognize Wowbagger's name once he hears it. He may also decide to try to help Zarniwhoop become immortal to gain his favor in future.
Race: Ursa Minor
Arrival: Simulation
Plots: Finding the Ruler, Becoming Immortal (mempacket)
Items: Towel, Liquid Lunch, Guide
Abilities: First Aid, Lockpicking (Average)
The Captain -[Minor]-
Completely incompetent, he was chosen for this mission due to the
unlikelyhood that he would notice that anything was wrong until too
late. He has spent the last five years in the bath (which he
installed in the bridge because he thought it would be relaxing)
because he forgot a towel and is too embarassed to ask for one. He'll
do his best to make things run smoothly if he can, but has an uphill
fight ahead of him.
Race: Golgafrinchan
Psychlims: Can't get out of bath without a towel.
Arrival: Crew (bridge)
Plots: Form Successful Colony (requires planet, not being taken over,
etc.)
Items: Soap, Rubber Duck (with mechanical squeak circuit), Passcard
(all Ark doors), Communicator (inoperative)
Abilities: Navigation (Low)
Number One -[Minor]-
He wasn't actually "Number One" of the Illuminati on Golgafrincham,
but he arranged for this position because he liked its suggestion of
the position he hoped to have on the new colony. He was, in fact was
about as highly though of in the Illuminati on Golgafrincham as were
the rest of the inhabitants of the B Ark, and they sent him away as
much to get rid of him as to let him rule a new colony (which is why
they never told him about the ship's being programmed to crash). He
doesn't actually know who his agent is, but has been assured by the
Illuminati that his agent knows the proper codephrase to contact him.
He is powerhungry and also egotistical, believing himself to be the enlightened ruler that the new colony needs. Of course, he wants to rule through a pupped potentate, and thus has no desire to unseat the Captain of the Ark. He was an infiltration agent (he thought he was one of the best) back on Golgafrincham, and still has some of the tech toys he got from Q-branch, like his single-shot disguized Kill-O-Zap gun. He thinks Immortality would be just the thing to ensure that his rulership lasts forever, and read about Wowbagger in the Illuminati archives back on Golgafrincham.
Race: Golgafrinchan
Arrival: Crew (bridge)
Plots: Illuminati, Becoming Immortal (mempacket)
Items: Communicator (inoperative), passcard (all Ark doors), Kill-O-Zap Gun
(disguised as pen, single-use)
Abilities: Piloting (Low), Engineering (Low)
Number Two -[Minor]-
He was a combat specialist for SHIELD back on Golgafrincham, and his
focus on combat over the intellectual shows. He's a major order and
organization freak, and obsesses about military discipline and
procedure. The military position on the ship was the logical one for
him to take, as it allowed him to keep order and gave him authority
over most of the others on the ship. He is paranoid and fully
believes that nearly everyone in the world is up to no good, though he
also believes in justice, and thus won't kill anyone without a fair
trial (or, on this ship, the Captain's judgement), unless it's in
self-defense.
He expects to become the new Gauntlet (leader of SHIELD) on the colony, and doesn't know that the other SHIELD agent doesn't expect so.
Race: Golgafrinchan
Arrival: Crew (freezer bay, with Arthur and Ford at gunpoint)
Plots: SHIELD
Items: Kill-O-Zap Gun, Communicator (inoperative), passcard (all Ark doors)
Abilities: High Combat Stats
Ship's Cook -[New]-
A brainwashed SWORD agent, the brainwashing process wasn't quite
complete before he left Golgafrincham, and thus he is rather confused.
He currently will follow any direct orders from anyone, including
being ordered to answer questions truthfully (though he won't have to
answer truthfully if not explicitly ordered to). He is only forced to
obey those orders for 10 minutes, though, before his screwed up mind
loses its train of thought. If his commander identifies himself via a
codephrase, though, he will follow that commander's orders with no
such time limitation, and those orders will be able to override any
other orders.
Race: Golgafrinchan
Psychlims: Follows _all_ direct orders
Arrival: Crew
Plots: SWORD
Items: Communicator (inoperative), passcard (low-security Ark doors),
Kill-O-Zap Gun (disguised as meat thermometer, single shot)
Abilities: First Aid, Programming (Low)
Ship's Handyman (Pinky) -[New]-
Though he's a hyperintelligent pandimensional being, Pinky's
projection into this dimension didn't come out quite right, and thus
he appears rather more dimwitted than one would expect. He has some
rather interesting speech patterns, and tends to blab things he's not
supposed to talk about, since his mouth simply picks up what he's
thinking without much of a filter in between. On the plus side, he
has a very keen sense of smell which allows him to tell the difference
between different races. Pinky wants to see the Earth be safe from
interference so that the Mouse experiment there will continue
undisturbed.
Race: Mouse (or in suit, mixed Mouse/Robot)
Psychlims: Must say the following once per hour: Narf, Poit, Egad,
Must mention at least once secret he knows to someone who doesn't at least
once per hour (calling Brain by name, for instance, counts)
Arrival: Crew
Plots: Mice
Items: Communicator (inoperative), passcard (low-security Ark doors),
Mouse suit
Abilities: Engineering (Low), Programming (Low), Race scan (no information
on meaning of number, but knows value of true Earthling), Mouse Abilities
outside of suit (hide in holes, bypass doors through air-vents, etc) but
cannot carry anything
Agrajag -[Minor]-
The B Ark's janitor (Cleanliness Engineer). A character who is
reincarnated repeatedly but always seems to be killed because of
Arthur Dent. Pregame death, killed by the escape capsule (it fell on
him). Agrajag is a pregame death, meaning that no player need play
him.
Race: Golgafrinchan
Arrival: Crew (freezer bay, dead)
Plots: N/A
Items: Soap, mop, bucket, passcard (all Ark doors),
Communicator (inoperative)
Abilities: N/A
Cryo 1 -[New]-
He plans to be the new Warlock (leader of SWORD) for the Golgafrinchan
colony. He was an ambitious SWORD membe on Golgafrincham, who was
sent off with the B Ark largely to keep his ambition from being a
danger to the real Warlock. He wants to build his brainwashing device
and brainwash the Captain of the ship so that he can be assured of
influence in the new colony. He has the codephrase to identify
himself to his brainwashed agent, who doesn't currently know his
identity. He too has heard of Wowbagger, and things immortality would
make a great addition to his role as Warlock.
He is undercover here as a hairdresser, with his brainwasher disguised as a hairdryer. He also has a concealable weapon disguised as a curling iron.
Race: Golgafrinchan
Arrival: Cryo
Plots: SWORD, Becoming Immortal (mempacket)
Items: Brainwasher Casing, Kill-O-Zap Gun (disguised as curling iron,
single-shot)
Abilities: Engineering (Average)
Cryo 2 -[New]-
He is number 6, a brand new Illuminati recruit grabbed from among the
masses, given his mission and told to deliver the OMCL casing to the
new Number One. He has a codephrase to identify himself to Number One
as his agent. He doesn't really understand the Illuminati, but he
thinks it's a neat idea, and will do his best to do a good job.
He is undercover here as a TV producer, with his OMCL satellite disguised as a camera.
Race: Golgafrinchan
Arrival: Cryo
Plots: Illuminati
Items: Orbital Mind-Control Laser Casing
Abilities: Programming (Average)
Cryo 3 -[New]-
An ace telephone sanitizer, he takes his calling in life
metaphorically, to clean up the world. Thus, as well as learning to
clean all manner of machinery he joined SHIELD. He was actually a
rather competent agent, and they probably wouldn't have sent him away
on the B Ark if he wasn't so damned annoyingly enthusiastic all the
time.
He expects to become the new Gauntlet (leader of SHIELD) on the colony, and doesn't know that the other SHIELD agent doesn't expect so.
Race: Golgafrinchan
Arrival: Cryo
Plots: SHIELD
Items: Truthing Device Casing
Abilities: Telephone Sanitizer (can clean machines to allow them to be
fixed, requires soap, water, and a towel or mop)
The Brain -[New]-
Unlike Pinky, Brain actually displays the genius that a
hyperintelligent pandimensional being should. He would, in fact,
probably make a decent companion for Wowbagger, if Wowbagger can get
over the fact that Brain is a mouse. Brain is rather high on himself,
and would be very interested in becoming immortal. He wants to learn
the answer to the ultimate question for himself, and doesn't really
care much whether anyone else gains benefit from it. He might even be
willing to kill Arthur or Trillian for their brain if he can get away
with it.
Race: Mouse (or in suit, mixed Mouse/Robot)
Arrival: Cryo
Plots: Mice, Becoming Immortal (mempacket)
Items: Mouse suit
Abilities: Engineering (High), Navigation (High), Physics (High), Mouse
Abilities outside of suit (hide in holes, bypass doors through air-vents, etc)
but cannot carry anything
Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged -[Minor]-
Wowbagger became immortal as a result of an accident involving a
particle accelerator, a liquid lunch, and a pair of rubber-bands, and
is thus one of the Galaxy's few truly immortal beings. He is not only
infinitely long lived, but also extremely difficult to kill. Unlike
naturally immortal beings who are also born with the means to deal
with that immortality (who Wowbagger considers a bunch of serene
bastards) Wowbagger has become very bored and restless in his million
years of life.
To pass the time, Wowbagger has decided that he will insult the universe, one being at a time, in alphabetical order. With the size of the universe and the rate of new births it is, of course, an impossible task, but at least it keeps him busy. The next being on his list is Arthur Phillip Dent, and thus Wowbagger has come here (thanks to the millions of years of data in his computer which allow it to calculate the proper probabilities to determine where to go next).
Though nobody has ever been able to duplicate the accident that made Wowbagger immortal, he has over the millenia toyed with the idea, and has finally put in the effort necessary to duplicate it. He now has a blueprint which, given the right materials and skills, would allow the process to be duplicated for someone else. He has thus come up with the idea of finding a companion with which to share his eternity. He wants someone intelligent and interesting enough to be worth spending that long with, so he must choose carefully. He'd also prefer a female, since he hasn't ever really been able to have what he would now deem a "long term" romantic relationship, but he hasn't made that a requirement.
Race: Antarean
Arrival: Wowbagger's Ship
Plots: Insult Arthur Dent, Find Companion
Items: Rubber Band
Abilities: Immortality, Hard to Kill, Navigation (High), Physics (High),
Piloting (Average), First Aid
Crickett Robots (multiple) -[Minor]-
The Crickett Robots were created by the people of the planet Crickett,
a race of rather nice individuals who happen to have the flaw of being
psychotically xenophobic. The planet Crickett was imprisoned in a
field of slowed (virtually stopped) time after the end of a long and
bloody war which the rest of the Galaxy only barely won, and the key
was broken in to many pieces which were sent to random points in time,
space, and parallel universes. One of them turned out to be the heart
of the infinite improbability driven, and thus the single ship of
Crickett robots which was not imprisoned is now coming to retreive it
in the hopes of freeing their masters.
Almost certainly NPC parts, the robots exist primarily to add a few unpredictable events to the game, and to make it more difficult to leave via the Heart of Gold. Unless stopped, they will steal the engine core of the HoG, making it unable to function. They will also explore the rest of the ship, observing its occupants for the purpose of reporting to their masters back on Crickett.
Race: Robot
Psychlims: Carry out purpose ignoring others unless they interfere
Arrival: Crickett Ship (arrives with a sound like many people saying "Whop")
Plots: Remove core of HoG engines
Items: Bat (weapon/grenade-launcher), Stun Gun
Abilities: Engineering (high)