Stephen Seagull

	Stephen Seagull
Stephen earns 4 for every title received. Stephen earns 2 for every alien he fights.
Skills:
1	Chef
2	Solid
3	Opportunist
4	Shooter
5	Apprentice
6	Creative
Position on title lists:
#4	Commander
#9	NERON Administrator
#4	Communications Officer

Stephen was a bellboy on an interplanetary train, then a slave in a Mexican cobalt mine, a senator in the Chili Con Latte coalition, a space mercenary, a private federal tax collector, money launderer, kidnapper of young girls, Boxylium miner, SDF military chef, and condemned to death. His trip takes him to Xyloph-17 where he is accidentally cryogenized after escaping detention, and shipped aboard the Daedalus.

How to play

Stephen has an interesting mix of abilities. He possesses one of the strongest skills in the game, as well as some of the weakest. Because of this, he has a reputation of being the lethal joke character aboard the Daedalus. Gameplay can vary greatly depending on your skillset, especially with Apprentice, and because of this flexibility you should always consider which Mage Books there are before taking your picks. Otherwise Stephen is often played as a generalist, helping the part of the ship that is currently burning the hottest.

Stephen is high on the lists for the Commander and Communications Officer titles, so you should be prepared to assume these roles. In fact, He has a personal (also roleplay) interest in gaining these titles through his objective and possible Opportunist boosts, so he should keep a sharp eye out for mushy behaviour from all who precede him in those positions.

Stephen's other, less known field of expertise are Expeditions. His second personal objective is to fight aliens, and his skillset of Solid, Chef and Shooter is just what he needs to carry the necessary heavy kitchen and combat equipment to Icarus Bay, join missions to planets with lots of alien encouters, fight them for Glory and then collect/freeze any Alien Steaks they might yield.

In that regard, he is somewhat at odds with any Diplomat - particularly Janice, who shares his goal of visiting creature-rich planets, but wants to do so peacefully. If she is not a Diplomat, however, she can be a great ally in shifting the crew's mind towards exploration, and building of helpful blueprints like the Thermosensor.

Bronze

Chef: Stephen's first signature skill. You will *not* be able to use this at the beginning of the ship, as the crew will be afraid of Fungal Kitchen traps. And there will always be a respective Mage Book in Xyloph, so if you have alternatives, you might plan on getting it that way later. Once you are cleared, you can save 4 a day by preparing meals. It also (and maybe more importantly) allows you to freeze the steaks you get from expeditions into rations before they spoil.

Solid: A mediocre but versatile skill, it does have its uses for Stephen - ferrying the Microwave and Superfreezer to Icarus Bay without penalty goes a long way in preparing successful expeditions. Allows you to wield the Old Faithful effectively, if you're lucky enough to get one. Also allows you to punch people harder if you have no weapon at hand, and move people (like Ian) out of rooms.

Opportunist: Incredibly situational; 11 crew members will have to die so that you can reap the full rewards of this skill, which are 5 for every time you get a new Title (for a total of, you guessed it, 15). This is an obvious sink skill that exists to block the way to Stephen's higher calling.

Shooter: If you manage to become a Pilot, this skill means you're a second Roland. Other than that, this skill improves your chances in combat and allows you to help with Hunters via the Turrets. Considering your personal objectives, you are likely to carry weapons anyway, so it is a good Bronze alternative to Chef or Solid. (Also, it brings you that much closer to your true self as a badass!)

Apprentice: This skill is the reason you've spent on Stephen. It allows you to copy ANY skill from another crew member, even an inactive player! Useful to fill the void of inactive comrades, as well as pick up interesting unique skills for a doubled bonus (example: a total of 7 Cameras from copying Paranoid).

Creative: While this skill is very powerful, the power comes from synergy with other skills. So if you ever become a Level 6 Bronze Stephen, please please PLEASE consider buying Gold Mode so you can become the culinary deity that the ship needs. (Also you would probably get murdered because everybody thinks you are a Gold/Silver Mush posing as a Bronze.)

Silver

Chef / Solid: This cheap combo gets a special mention because you can now carry the freezer to the Icarus Bay yourself and start freezing meat. And you do not need Shooter if your fists can do the killing!

Apprentice / Shooter: Pilot is a common skill that you can usually learn from someone else... and one can never have enough fighter pilots to shoot Hunters. Another option is to add Botanist (or even Survivalist) to become the expedition king!

Apprentice / Creative: You can still take Pilot with this combination, but you get more utility from Technician. It really shines when repairing hard-to-fix equipment like the Gravity Simulator.

Gold

Level 5 Stephen should drop Opportunist. Level 6 Stephen can also drop Solid to make room for Creative. It's also possible to drop Chef and regain it once the Mage Book is obtained from Xyloph, which should happen before everyone gets hungry if Paola is doing her job. That way you have five out of your six skills (or four and one of anyone else's, for that matter).

Mush

Stephen has no traits that would make him specifically dangerous as a Mush, besides his extra damage and ability to move/shoot Ian with Solid or Shooter. However, as a generalist, he is expected to go everywhere and also do the Dirty jobs like loading fuel, which makes him very flexible.

The fact that he is rather high up in the list for becoming Commander (especially in seasons without Chao) means that he may find himself with some of the abilities of Mush Jin Su.

And when copying other characters' skills with Apprentice, of course, he may also acquire some of their mushy characteristics.

• Interesting options include Wrestler, Crazy Eye, Sneak and Politician.

Useful tips

• Food is as valuable a resource as fuel and oxygen, and should only be eaten for good reasons (speeding up comms or antimush research, pilots refilling in mid-flight, or emergencies). Keep an eye on your stock, and do not cook rations until you know people will eat them before they spoil after Cycle 8.
• On the other hand, everyone who has not yet eaten will start to starve around the end of day 4 / beginning of day 5. So Mush situation allowing, you should be prepared to cook a number of rations early in those days and, ideally, drop them in Central Corridor 3 at a time.
• If you do worry that your stash of food has been infected, invite Chun to eat the first ration, as crewmembers will always pick up the spored item first. Also, (refreezing and) cooking that ration will remove any potential spores.
• While his glory description mentions "cooking", he gains the glory while fighting.

Biography

3107 

Born on Earth.

3124 

A failure in his studies, young Stephen found a job as a bellboy in an interplanetary train running from Earth-Mars.

3127 

Following the trains being boarded by space mercenaries, the train routes are destroyed. Stephen and part of the crew are handcuffed and taken to Venus to be sold as slaves. Stephen begins his life as a slave on Earth, in a Mexican cobalt mine

3129 

Men from Chili Con Latte, a separatist mexican movement, invade the mine and liberate Stephen. He joins the movement and as part of their militia, helps liberate thousands of slaves.

3132 

Stephen is elected to senator in the mexican Chili Con Latte coalition. He is very proud of his new social stature and uses it to embezzle millions of credits.

3136 

Stephen is forced to hurriedly quit his position in order to evade a warrant. He sets out for Australia but following an explosion in his car, he decides to live on Mars IV. Finally, thanks to the fall of the Baer tower in which Stephen had set up home, he is forced to take stock of his situation, so in order to escape the police and his enemies within the coalition, he must disappear from public life.

3139 

After knocking around the bars of Venus for several years, Stephen puts his own crew of private space mercenaries together. He looks for legal contracts, but times are hard. Nonetheless he manages to make ends meet thanks to a clever tax system used on commercial orbiting stations.

3144 

Police searches intensify around Venus, and Stephen's crew head back to Mars where they ran delivery details.

3146 

After helping Paola Rinaldo, the daughter of a billionaire, flee to Mars, Stephen is imprisoned for corrupting a minor. He is sent to an orbital platform in Ross154 to mine heavy Boxylium in the Confolens IV belt.

3149 

Following the panic caused by the bourgeois revolution of the 17th of May, Stephen managed to extricate himself from the detention centre. He sneaks aboard a repatriation convoy and returns to Encelade.

3151 

As part of a batallion headed for Tau-Ceti, Stephen narrowly avoids the dirty war, thanks to a particularly disturbed officer who placed him in a detention cell after being served a simple mushroom tart...

3152 

Stephen is charged in Encelade. He doesn't really understand the charges put forward by his superiors. They seem to have failed to reach agreement on whether or not there has been some "spongic genocide". A strong smell of mold dominates the hearing room.

3153 

The same day as his public execution, Stephen is narrowly saved by a commando who had been trained by two former elite SDF agents. The commando mistakes Stephen for an eminent scientist, specializing in Mushrooms. Stephen, whose talents as a chef never got that much praise before, is flattered. They take him to the orbital station Xyloph-17 which is in orbit around Jupiter. Once there, Stephen is exposed by the team of the Daedalus and placed in detention.

3154 

While several SDF batallions seem to want to take over the laboratory, Stephen takes advantage of the widespread confusion to leave the quarantine zone. He manages to sneak aboard a large exploration-class vessel but he is pursued by an armed group. He finally finds sanctuary in a large capsule which turns out to be extremely comfortable, if a bit cold...