In Part 1, we introduced the Dust Runner, a patchwork atmospheric smuggling skiff making illegal runs across the rugged world of Perseverance. We met its captain, Sandra "Lark" Vance, and her daredevil pilot, Jace “Burn” Halloran. Today, we’ll finish the crew—and talk about how to use them as a player troupe in QuestWorlds.

✨ Mira Vos – Character Creation

🧭 Step 1: Prose Description

Mira Vos used to wear a corporate badge and a clean jumpsuit, managing tech infrastructure for Perseverance Minerals. Now she hides grease-streaked under a welding mask aboard a smuggler’s skiff, one step ahead of bounty teams. She’s a ship mechanic and tech expert, and the classified firmware she stole is still buried in her implants. Mira talks to machines like they’re people and rigs cargo holds to fool any scanner this side of the Divide. She knows every bypass trick the corporations use—because she helped design half of them. And if something breaks mid-run, give her five minutes and a crowbar.

🧩 Step 2: Extracted Keywords and Breakout Abilities

(Only from prose text)

Keywords

1. Ship Mechanic and Tech Expert

   • Talks to machines like they’re people (+5)
   • Rigs cargo holds to fool any scanner (+5)
   • Give her five minutes and a crowbar (+5)

2. Used to Wear a Corporate Badge and a Clean Jumpsuit

   • Managing tech infrastructure (+5)
   • Classified firmware she stole is still in her implants (+5)
   • Knows every bypass trick the corporations use (+5)

⚠️ Step 3: Flaw (from prose)

• One Step Ahead of Bounty Teams – Hunted and constantly evading capture.

🎲 Step 4: Assign Base Ratings (Before Spending Improvement Points)

🛠️ Step 5: Spend 20 Improvement Points

✅ Final Character Sheet: Mira Vos

Keywords & Abilities

• Ship Mechanic and Tech Expert (5M)

  • Talks to machines like they’re people (+5)
  • Rigs cargo holds to fool any scanner (+5)
  • Give her five minutes and a crowbar (+5)

• Used to Wear a Corporate Badge and a Clean Jumpsuit (5M)

  • Managing tech infrastructure (+5)
  • Classified firmware she stole is still in her implants (+5)
  • Knows every bypass trick the corporations use (+5)

Flaw

• One Step Ahead of Bounty Teams (15)

✨ “Grim” Navarro – Character Creation

🧭 Step 1: Prose Description

“Grim” Navarro doesn’t say much. He doesn’t need to. The way he carries himself—the old bounty hunter coat, the twitch of his fingers near the grip of his revolver—is enough. He used to track bounties through the badlands, before he found it simpler to run contraband through the same trails. He knows every gulch and pass in the western ranges, and how to vanish when things go sideways. The crew calls him “Grim” because he doesn’t laugh, and because the last guy who crossed him didn’t walk away. Out here, you survive by being dangerous, or by being forgotten. Grim chose dangerous.

🧩 Step 2: Extracted Keywords and Breakout Abilities

Keywords

1. Used to Track Bounties Through the Badlands (primary)

   • Old bounty hunter coat (+5)
   • Twitch of his fingers near the grip of his revolver (+5)

2. Runs Contraband Through the Same Trails

   • Knows every gulch and pass (+5)
   • How to vanish when things go sideways (+5)

3. Grim (distinguishing characteristic & flaw)

   • Doesn’t laugh (+5)
   • The last guy who crossed him didn’t walk away (+5)
   • Dangerous (+5)

⚠️ Flaw

• Grim (15) – His name is his flaw: feared, hardened, closed-off, dangerous.

🎲 Step 4: Base Ratings (Before Improvement)

🛠️ Step 5: Spend 20 Improvement Points

✅ Final Character Sheet: “Grim” Navarro

Keywords & Abilities

• Used to Track Bounties Through the Badlands (5M)

  • Old bounty hunter coat (+5)
  • Twitch of his fingers near the grip of his revolver (+5)

• Runs Contraband Through the Same Trails (15)

  • Knows every gulch and pass (+5)
  • How to vanish when things go sideways (+5)

• Grim (20) (also his flaw)

  • Doesn’t laugh (+5)
  • The last guy who crossed him didn’t walk away (+5)
  • Dangerous (+5)

Flaw

• Grim (20) (repeated for clarity)

👥 What Is Troupe-Style Character Creation?

While QuestWorlds doesn’t use the exact term “troupe-style,” the idea is baked into the system: players can create a closely connected cast—a crew, a band, a circle, a family—designed to share the spotlight.

Key Features:

• Built Together: Characters are made as a group, with interlocking concepts, shared goals, or overlapping backstories.
• Shared Premise: A troupe supports a clear theme, like smugglers on the run or dissenters evading the reach of the Commonwealth.
• Rotating Focus: Scenes can zoom in on one character or follow the group as a whole.
• Flexible Roles: Depending on the story, players might each control one PC or trade off characters across arcs.

The Dust Runner crew is designed as such a troupe. Whether you use them as ready-made PCs for a quick campaign, a supporting cast that appears throughout your story, a rival group for your PCs or even as a template to build your own crew using the same structure, they’re here to bring mobility, moral gray areas, and drama to the table.

Want to steal their ship for your campaign? Go for it. Just remember: she’s fragile, temperamental, and probably tagged by at least two factions.

That wraps up the Dust Runner crew. If you use them in a session or build on this troupe, I’d love to hear about it. Leave a comment or reach out Bluesky or X!