Characters / Flying Circus

A list of playbooks and other characters from Flying Circus.

Backgrounds

Flying Circus centers its playbooks around "Backgrounds," which provide the framework for developing the Player Characters' pre-game life and the features they start off with.

The Farmers

Farmers are the most straight-forward background, most suited for the classical heroes of High Fantasy. Almost every element of their playbook is a Shout-Out to Luke Skywalker from Star Wars.

• Armor-Piercing Response: With One in a Million, not only can a perfect hit be physical, but such a "hit" can be verbal, allowing A Farmer to hit other characters with the exact right statement.
• Deceptive Legacy: A Farmer has a Destiny Special Move, which triggers if it's revealed narratively that the pilot had a secret legacy. With this Move, the player can either switch to The Scion playbook or the Farmer can reject their heritage in exchange for XP.
• Expy: All of the Personal Moves are allusions to Luke Skywalker. In the core rulebook, the artwork for the Farmers are two people who vaguely resemble Luke and Princess Leia.
• Farm Boy/Gal: It's in the name.
• Instant Expert: In homage to Luke Skywalker' fast Jedi training, a Farmer has several moves that allow them to access Mastery moves sooner than other playbooks, such as Here Goes Nothing and Trust Your Instincts.

The Soldiers

Soldiers are the most lethal background, more specialized for violence than any other playbook, but struggles with dealing with the world outside of violence.

• Blue Blood: One of their Temperaments is this verbatim, with the implication that they've inherited the role as the offspring of an aristocratic officer.
• Fake Ultimate Hero: The "Blowhard" Temperament has the Soldier have +4 in Keen and Calm, but -3 in Hard and Daring, with the description saying "...and that’s why I’m history’s greatest soldier."
• I Just Shot Marvin in the Face: While a success with the move Trigger Discipline does boost the move Press the Issue, rolling a miss results in pulling the trigger, even if that isn't the player's intention.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: While many of the playbooks already incorporate trauma into their backstories, the Soldier in particular is inclined to enter the story already shell-shocked. For example, their starting move, Stiff Upper Lip, impairs their ability to Get Real.
• Stiff Upper Lip: The Soldier's starting move is called Stiff Upper Lip but ends up being more of a Deconstruction, making them aloof and emotionally distant from their fellow pilots. Once the Soldier Burns Out enough, then they lose the move as they learn that maybe expressing their emotions is a good thing.

The Fishers

The Fishers are a background of supernatural fish people who practice blood worship toward the Deep Ones and are often confused why the other humans are creeped out by that. They allegorically concern the "queer reclamation of the monstrous."

• Blue-and-Orange Morality: The Fishers worship of their gods gives them a fatalistic outlook on life, and their worship ceremonies are looked on with fear by inlanders. However, they're not necessarily more "evil" for their beliefs - see "Dark Is Not Evil" below.
• Dark Is Not Evil: While The Fisher may worship dark master and use their own blood in rituals, none of this make them more or less evil than the other humans.
• Expy: Are stated to be one to the Deep Ones, complete with one of the possible starting towns for a Fisher being called Innsmund, while also acting as a Foil to the anti-race mixing/religious intolerance metaphor the original Deep Ones presented. Basically, comparing the Deep Ones and Fishers the way people compare types of Orcs would have the Deep Ones being Type 1 Always Chaotic Evil monsters, and the Fishers being Type 2 WarCraft-style beings (not necessarily in the Proud Warrior Race sense, but in the "not automatically fitting human preconceptions and bigotry" sense).
• Fantastic Racism: Fishers endure bad reactions from inlanders and apostates who witness their practices or alienness, as mechanized through the starting move Creep.
• Fish People: They aren't called Fishers without a reason, their gray skin and gills being the surface of their oceanic features.
• Scary Dogmatic Aliens: Are certainly perceived as such by "inlanders", although this is has more to do with them leaping to conclusions out of a paranoid fear of their rituals than any proof that the Fishers are more or less evil than they are.

The Survivors

Survivors are hardcore survivalists who have escaped the poison-filled cities. They allegorize the "transgender person escaping an unwelcoming or abusive situation" which happens to be literally toxic.

• Cool Mask: Their background comes with suggested options for the Survivor's mask, such as whether it's military, civilian, or improvised.
• Determinator: Survivors are resilient overall, especially if they have the Tough It Out move, which allows a pilot to never pass out from Injury. The move’s name implies that the pilot can stay conscious indefinitely from either willpower or supernatural force. (Keep note that even with this Move, the Injury’s penalties keep on increasing, and the Move does not protect planes from crashing.)
• Escape Artist: On a full hit, the move Cornered Animal allows a pilot to bail from a scene instantly with no way to stop them. As the roll is triggered by looking for the exit, it accompanies the Survivor's Baggage of needing "to find the exits of every room."
• Go Mad from the Isolation: One of the reasons a Survivor has for leaving their city (besides the obvious) is feeling "too lonely", and one of their Temperaments, Feral, says that "You’ve sorta forgotten how to be."
• No Social Skills: The starting move Masked puts disadvantage on the moves Get Real or Press the Issue whenever the Survivor is wearing their mask. This penalty represents how their reliance on their mask has impaired their social skills, and can only be overcome once the Survivor develops the ability to take off their mask and keep it off.
• Post Apocalyptic Gasmask: The gas mask is the Survivor's signature Asset, and it's mandatory to the Background. Whether it's military-grade, civilian, or improvised, the gas mask happens to also be more advantageous than the ones other pilots can procure.
• Shy Finger-Twiddling: A Baggage option for Survivors is "A habit of hand-wringing when nervous," which can manifest as finger twiddling, amongst other nervous habits.
• Socially Awkward Hero: On one hand, the Survivor can choose from the start several heroic abilities, from being able to bail from situations to never passing out from Injury. On the other hand, they gain Stress when they have to socialize.

The Skyborn

The Skyborn originate from a culture of people who live in the sky. They are the Fantasy Counterpart Culture to Europe's nomadic cultures, especially the Romani, along with modern-day India.

• Pirate Parrot: One of the Skyborn's possible Assets is a "a pet bird, who knows a few words," which could be the setting's equivalent to the bird.
• Intrepid Merchant: One of the Skyborn Temperaments is a Trader, and one of the assets is owning a small trade balloon, complete with a crew of 4.
• Roguish Romani: Considering the Skyborn are essentially Romani Sky Pirates, there is a bit of this at play (with the Trickster Temperament being close to evoking this). That said, besides a handful of flavor text implying a slightly roguish attitude of Skyborn, they aren't necessarily "more" roguish than their fellow pilots (who are encouraged by the manual to be lager-guzzling, tavern-trashing, sex-crazed degenerates).
• Sky Pirates: Their artwork and Move descriptions draw from a swashbuckling aesthetic, which interplays with the Skyborn's life on airships.
• Sky Romani: Are the universe's equivalent to the Romani, with them being Sky Pirates to reflect their nomadic nature in a world without roads, and representing their status as immigrants to Germany and other European nations during the emulated time period.

The Believers

Believers are fanatics. They thrive on radicalism and their adherence to an ideology informs how they (mis)interact with outsiders.

• Badass Bookworm: A Believer can take the "Intellectual" Temperament, and a description of what they look like says that "(Their) Hands (are) equally at home with pistol or pen."
• Bomb Throwing Anarchist: A possible belief for Believers to have is “Abolish all hierarchy," and the art has one of the believers in a paramilitary uniform with a Red/Black Flag Armband who looks ripped out of the Commune of France, Union of Britain, or Combined Syndicates of America
• Church Militant: Believers can be this, with special mention to members of the in-universe equivalent to Protestantism basically launching their own version of the Reformation. However, it's also possible for Believers to not be part of a religious group (or to outright hate religion), while being just as-charged over their political ideology of choice.
• Cult Defector: The Believer can be the member of a cult and choose background elements that suggest that they're drifting away from their ideology, which could result in the Believer disavowing their roots in play.
• The Fundamentalist: Their entire concept incentives fundamentalist behavior (even if their belief isn't in a religion, but a political ideology), with their Idealist starting Move encouraging them to Break Trust or suffer hardship so to not break their Convictions, even when it's advantageous to do otherwise.
• Glorious Leader: A commonality of Believers is having a capital-L Leader, whether as a political firebrand rallying like-minded ideologues or a religious figurehead who holds sway over their followers - two options for a Believer's baggage include a framed picture of or a book written by the Leader.
• Red Armband of Leadership: One of the clothing options for a Believer is an armband designating the faith/ideology they support. Truth in Television, as many European political parties had their members and supporters wear armbands, and it was only when Those Wacky Nazis came into power that the subsequent association with them caused the practice to fall out of style.
• Strawman Political: If a Believer is motivated by political ideology over faith, they will certainly push that ideology (or at least the degree on which they insist others follow that ideology) to its extremes.

The Scions

Scions are the heirs to the powerful, or what are left of the powerful after the War. They revolve over privilege and power, affording them many resources even as it alienates them from their "lessers."

• Blue Blood
• Conspicuous Consumption: Although a Scion can spend the Estate Wealth to get out of any jam, the fact the money has to come from *somewhere* results in an according drop in the level of their Estate Wealth. Even moreso, the book makes it clear that the only way a Scion can cough up that much cash at the drop of a hat is due to shaking it out of a LOT of their subjects, which, if done too often, causes said subjects to fight back.
• Fake Aristocrat: The "Charlatan" Temperament (as well as a Baggage option saying "You aren't in full control of the state." and "You're not as noble as you pretend to be.") can have a Scion being not a "real" noble (with the Charlatan's flavor text having them say they were adopted).
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: The move I'm Too Good For This allows the Scion to spend Estate Wealth to turn any Move's miss to a full success, even if the GM has to retroactively change the fiction to make the effect make sense. The Scion's money is that rule breaking.
• Spare to the Throne: One Baggage option is that "someone else stands to inherit," making the Scion the spare of their family's estate.
• Torches and Pitchforks: A Scion can end up causing this, either becuase the let their Estate Wealth fall into -3, or because they didn't keep up their end of the bargain in incorporating a new town.
• Video Game Caring Potential: A Scion can reinvest their earnings back into their Estate (by either 15 Thaler, goods equivalent to the cost, or a pro-bono mission for the Estate), raising their Wealth level accordingly.
• Video Game Cruelty Punishment: If a Scion drops their Estate Wealth to -3 (by either neglecting care or overtaxing), a peasant revolt is kicked off.

The Workers

The Workers are the adults amongst a group of youths and come with a host of responsibilities to uphold.

• Family Man: If the Worker chooses "a number of small children" as a Dependent, he can be a father who's working at the Flying Circus so they can provide for their children back home.
• Instant Expert: Like the Farmer, the Worker can learn other Playbook moves with the Open Mind skill.
• Punch-Clock Hero: The playbook is inclined so that at least initially, the Worker is only piloting for the Flying Circus to provide for their Dependents back home. That can change as the game continues.
• Team Dad: The core rulebook literally uses the words "Team Dad" and remarks that the Worker can also be a real dad...or daddy. Also counts as Team Mom if the Worker is female.
• Wise Beyond Their Years: Is the reason they still serve as a Team Dad or Team Mom to the other pilots, even when they themselves are in their youth (or even younger than their fellow pilots) - it's explained as the duties of working for their dependents has forced them to "grow up" much faster than the more free-wheeling and irresponsible types who usually make up pilots.
• Working-Class Hero: Even more so than the Farmer, the Worker originates from the industrial working class and fuels their heroism from a combination of providing for the family and elbow grease.

The Students

Students are grad students from the remaining universities using their piloting careers to work on their discentation. They are intelligent, if myopic.

• A Degree in Useless: Averted - barring the mandatory "crippling debt" Baggage, any Student degree can be potentially useful. While Engineering and Biology and Medicine are self-explanatory, an Arts & Literature degree can help create master-level paintings and books, Politics & Law lets a Student write airtight work contracts (useful if the quest giver tries to go back on their initial deal), and Clinical Psychology can add bonuses to any social rolls.
• Badass Bookworm: The badassery is expected as with any other playbook, with their specialty in badassery being their intellect and booksmarts.
• Insufferable Genius: The Student can be played as the smart but insufferable academic of the company. Their Researcher stat line is subtitled "Well, actually..." Even more so, the Student establishes their starting Trust by asking an obscure worldbuilding question to the other characters. Those who get it wrong are deemed "clearly an idiot" by the playbook's text.
• Mad Scientist: A way to play Students, with the various degrees sometimes slipping into Mad Artist, Mad Doctor, or "Mad POLITICAL Scientist".
• Starving Student: Mandatory with the Student background is the "crippling debt" Baggage. Even in a fantasy world, college students struggle with school loans.

The Witches

Witches are the spellcasters of the backgrounds, wielding magic and embracing the Wild. They derive their real-life roots from mystical femininity and second-wave separatism.

• Cast from Hit Points: If a Witch uses Blood Magic, it inflicts 1 Injury on a Success, 2 on a Partial Success, and 3 on a Miss - the player can ask the GM to give them something else, but the GM MUST make it WORSE than the injuries.
• Elemental Powers: The bread-and-butter of a Witch's magic, with it divided into "Six Natures" - Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Iron and Blood.
• Expy: Not to the blatant extent of the Farmers, but the art for the witches shows one in very similar attire to Kiki - a girl in blue dress, with a brown knapsack and a red hairbow, complete with a broomstick.
• Does Not Like Men: A way to play a Witch, as one of the options for establishing Trust is to trust everyone EXCEPT the men.
• Flying Broomstick: The move As the Crow Flies allows the Witch to imbue an object with the power of flight, which could be a broomstick.
• Ludd Was Right: Something most Witches believe in (especially after the various DoomsdayDevices made by said technology blew up the world and painfully scarred The Wild (and made some of it go on the warpath with humanity), and their other option for establishing trust - the Witch asks every other player what they put their faith in - if they answer that they believe in some sort of technology (like their plane, their gun, science itself, etc.), the Witch will NOT trust them, and trust everybody who puts their faith in someone else.
• One-Gender Race: Played With - While the backstory for Witches is written with this in mind (with the manual saying witches have some of their ideas in "Political Lesbianism", i.e. separating women from male society altogether), the creators say the player shouldn't limit witches to cis-women if they don't want to.
• Token Wizard: While a group can technically have more than one Witch pilot, the Witch is the only playbook in the core set to have spell-casting straight out the gate.

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