Character a Day 2021: Altered Carbon
#characteraday, #rpg, #tabletop
Step 1: Choose a Character Archetype
I've already said that I wanted an ex-military, though all things considered, I could choose a criminal. I go with military.
This gives me the following:
Sleeve: synthetic, mid-range sleeve Wealth lv 1 Requisition ¼ Gain 1d10 Ego (+8) Protectorate Military as a Network Traits: Combat is common, Business and Society is Anomaly. All others Uncommon.
I choose a package, though I plan to play around with it- just a starting to see where I stand.
Infiltrator
Kit: Directed Energy Weapon (1 tech), Tool Kit – Stealth, Survival (+1), Another Tool Kit (2 tech), Flak Coat (2 tech)
Traits: Energy Weaponry – Basic Training, Martial Arts – Basic Training, Evasion – Concealment.
Sleeve Attributes
Strength Athletics d8, Melee Combat d8, Brawl d8, Toughness d12, Endurance d10
Perception Detection d10, Search d10, Directed Energy Weapons d8, Stealth d10, Firearms d6, Throw d12
Stack Attributes
Empathy Diplomacy d12, Expression d12, Read Person d12
Willpower Composure d8, Discipline d8, Intimidation d10
Acuity Data Analysis d12, Mechanics d12, Data Engineering d12, Navigation d10, Digital Networking d12, Pilot d10, Investigation d10, Survival d10
Intelligence Bureaucracy d12, History d12, Cultures d12, Science d12, Engineering d12, Medicine d12, Geography d12
I can tweak the levels – switch 3 skills by 1 level, or 1 skill by 2 levels
I'm choosing to switch Read Person d12 –> d10, Stealth d10 –> d8, and Investigation d10 –> d8.
Then I check out my attributes.
Sleeve: Strength 35/55 (+3), Perception 30/45 (+3)
Stack: Empathy 30/50 (+3), Will 30/50 (+3), Acuity 30/50 (+3), Intelligence 30/50 (+3)
DHF Age – I'm choosing 67, which seems a good time for him to have time in the military- if he went in at 18, then that gives him 49 years in the military before he was put on ice.
This starts to get to the point that annoys me- they use a lot of icons to represent stats rather than just abbreviations. These icons are not necessarily the most readable in small form on the page. It's not as big a deal here, I realize, as all stat bonuses are based off of the tens digit in the stat- so all are +3.
At 67, I get
35 Stack Points + 3 = 38 30 Ego Points + 3 = 33 2 Influence + 3 = 5 4d6 on Baggage table with 1 roll – 15 = Mistaken Identity. As a result of cross-sleeving or by some happenstance, the sleeve a character occupies is someone with an extensive list of enemies. They will either be victims of the sleeve’s past corporate espionage, or they will be rival gang members or criminals.
That's pretty doable. I'm going to spend 8 stack points to increase Will (4d4) and Acuity (4d4)– Will is now 40, and Acuity is 41. I'm going to spend 2 Stack points on Strength, adding 6, bringing the final total to 41. My stack points are now 28, but increasing Acuity brings it back up to 29. That seems strange, but it does say it in the rules- I just can't use it again to increase stats.
As far as age of the sleeve, I'm going with 39.
The sleeve has the capability for 4 tech points. Usually you split them with the group, but as this is just an example character, I'll use them- Military Neurochem, Combat Neurochem, Carbon-Fiber Skeleton, and Oni Implant.
On to Traits. From the package, I get Energy Weapons, Martial Arts, and Concealment, but looking at Concealment, I don't see this guy having that. I'm going to change it to Urban – Streetwise. Also looking at the tech, I'm switching to Small Arms – Basic Training.
Moving on to equipment, I take what is offered, adding only a blade (concealed, monomolecular), and changing out Directed Energy Weapon (2 tech) for the same in Small arms, picking up a Steyr M9-A1.