So far, I like what I'm seeing about the pilots and ships. My initial impression was that each ship/pilot was a weak combination of some guy + some ship, however the pilot profiles released so far in the Kickstarter have shown that to be a premature assessment. So far we've got:
- Neo-Elf assassin sisters, one silent, the other boisterous, piloting a super-stealth ship
- A brutal and scarred Sulph-Orc bounty hunter with a lingering sense of loyalty to his War-Prince, piloting a converted spacedragon claw
- A Techno-Dwarf demolitions expert who's constantly searching for the perfect kaboom, piloting a bomber
- A rakish Metahuman gambler, con artist, and gun-runner, piloting a customized racing frigate named after his discarded fiancee
- A War Spectre who seems to be a pretty good guy, piloting a symbiotic living space creature
- A barely-holding-it-together Sulph-Orc, piloting a ship cobbled together from pieces of other ships
- A competent but joyless Metahuman commander, piloting a competent and modern corvette
- A cruel and chaotic War Spectre, piloting an enslaved living space creature
As long as the actual cards serve to reinforce these personalities, then consider me satisfied. I know GSF isn't supposed to just be SotM in space, but I think one of the main strengths of SotM is the strong personalities conveyed by each hero card and deck. That's a strength I'd like to see carried over into GSF. When I play the Dwarf Demolitionist, I want it to feel distinctly different than when I play the Neo-Elf Assassin Sisters. I'm still a little worried that once I start grabbing Sector cards from the same pool as everyone else, that personal feeling will be diluted, but I'm willing to be convinced that won't happen.
One additional thought, of all the characters/ships shown so far, these are what I would consider the weakest spots out of a relatively strong lineup in terms of characterization:
- I love the Bomber Dwarf, though I get no particular special feelings about his ship, which is described as "a classically styled bomber". Is there anything special about it that would make a player think, "ooh, that one's for me"?
- For Khorijin, the barely-holding-it-together Sulph-Orc, his ship seems to have more personality than he does. Apparently he's just the most recent guy to sit in the captain's chair? Or is the entire crew of Bad News Bears/Orcs really the characters and not just the captain? Because that might have legs, characterization-wise.
- Who wants to play a competent but joyless commander character? Especially one piloting a competent and modern corvette. I read and re-read that section looking for the Awesome, but came away empty (except the fact that she jacks into her ship to drive it, but presumably so does the Metahuman gambler). Where's the hook for this one?