Chuck Dee

Bridgers is a game I created for the 24 Hour RPG contest on RPG Geek. It's my only entry that has placed in the top 3. The game is set in the forgotten city of Hriskalt- a sprawling metropolis split into wards that are patchwork places out of reality. No one knows why they are there, and no one seems to care. The truth of the city is known only to a few- that this city on the edge of this reality and the next serves as a buttress between worlds- and for a scant few hours each night, they both spill over into each other. The PCs number in those that know this truth- they are known as Bridgers. They try to save the city in spite of the fact that those that govern the city view them as threats.

Part 1: Envisioning the Character

I see the character as a huge hulking brute- whose mind and speed belie his size. Even though he's intelligent, he is a brute, and knows it, and doesn't care. But finding out that there was some reason for his existence and something larger that he is a part of is softening his worldview.

His name is Sige Tull, and he is human, 6'5” tall, carrying 260# of pure muscle. He works as a bouncer at The Broken Corner, an inn in on of the more medieval areas. He is a violent and brutish as his visage would indicate, but unlike many thugs, he's very aware of how anti-social his actions are, and has no dissonance that he is not a good man. Indeed, the intelligence behind that brutish exterior allows him to gain advantage on many that take him at face value. He is very loyal to those that gain his trust, and true to his word once given- which is why he doesn't give it often.

Part 2: Building the Character

The character has 5 Spheres which govern different ways of getting things done. I distribute 3, 2, 2, 1, and 0 between them.

Brutal: 3 Insightful: 2 Bold: 0 Precise: 1 Swift: 2

There are 7 Actions that a character can use to drive the story. The character will have 2 strong and 2 weak actions.

I decide Sige has strong Moving and Fighting and weak Driving and Making. He is frighteningly agile for his size, but his hands are not nimble, and most conveyances are too small for him.

Next, I distribute 3 points between Expertise and Awakening. Expertise is how good they are normally, and Awakening indicates how well they use the supernatural power given to them during the time when magic floods the city.

Sige has Awakening: 2 and Expertise: 1

For the last part of creating the character, I describe him using 5 tags that will indicate important things about the character.

Sige Tull is a Monstrously Huge man that works as a Bouncer. He has a good gauge of situations, and is swift to violence. Though he is a rough sort, he has a code of honor.

Part 3: Final Character and Conclusions

Name: Sige Tull

Background: Sige Tull is not someone you'd want to meet in an alleyway. At 6'5” tall, carrying 260# of pure muscle with dark hair, a scar that starts above his left eyebrow and goes down to his right cheek bisecting his face, and a nose that has been broken too often, he looks a brutish thug, and he is. But unlike many thugs, he's very aware of how anti-social his actions are, and has no dissonance that he is not a good man. Indeed, the intelligence behind that brutish exterior allows him to gain advantage on many that take him at face value. He is very loyal to those that gain his trust, and true to his word once given- which is why he doesn't give it often. He works as a bouncer at The Broken Corner, an inn in on of the more medieval areas.

Spheres

Brutal: 3 Insightful: 2 Bold: 0 Precise: 1 Swift: 2

Actions

Enduring: Normal Fighting: Strong Knowing: Normal Making: Weak Moving: Strong Driving: Weak Talking: Normal Sneaking: Normal

Expertise: 1 Awakening: 2

Tags: Sige Tull is a Monstrously Huge man that works as a Bouncer. He has a good gauge of situations, and is swift to violence. Though he is a rough sort, he has a code of honor.

#rpg, #tabletop

I skipped this last year, and am late getting a start, but I'm going to do this for as long as it's fun. I haven't had much in the way of creative fire lately, and I'm hoping that this will spur it. For that reason, I'm starting with games that I designed or wrote for, and going on from there. Hopefully creating a character for these games will help me get back to one or more of them!

As before, the format I'll try to stick to is: Part 1: Visualize the character and background, Part 2: Walk through the character creation steps to give a feel for how you make the character, and then Part 3: Show the final result, and evaluate if it embodies the concept that I visualized.

First Up: Bridgers

Discuss...

by Chuck Dee Characters property of Disney

“It was harder than I'd thought.”

The other man was silent, letting his subject drift into the memories. He was very anxious – of course, he would have to be after all this time chasing his white whale. He had been told how courageous his father was, but other than that, the fact that he was an ordinary man thrust into extraordinary circumstances and had more than risen to the occasion, and that he looked like him and had a lot of the same qualities, no one would tell him much about Philip J. Colson other than he loved Captain America. So yeah, sitting in front of Cap was a big deal.

But impatience would get him nowhere. He'd learned that on too many other stories. These things had to play out in the subject's timing. Looking at the man in front of him, you'd never guess his age. Though older and more worn, there was something about him that still made him seem- vital. But you could also sometimes see the tiredness. His wife had dies many years before, and what it had taken to stay away, he couldn't imagine. But that was just one of the things that he was here to find out.

“One of my best friends told me,” he continued suddenly, “that I should get myself a life. They'd pushed me towards this one woman, and she was amazing.”

He looked down, pausing again.

“But she just reminded me of what I'd lost,” he said with a sigh as he shook his head. He looked up. “It also felt just... wrong. For her as much as me. And she deserved so much more.”

“You know Tony, right?” He shook his head, ruefully. “What am I saying – of course you know him. But did you ever get to meet him? Or even Morgan – she reminds me so much of him that it's painful at times. But the way he was around her.”

He paused again, a wistful smile on his face. “That was something to see, especially for those of us that knew him. I once said that he couldn't make the hard choice if it came down to it.”

He paused, looking back up at me. “She changed him. For the better. And I realized that I wanted that. And seeing her after all those years, when we went back to take the Stone...”

As he paused, I annotated my notes. Finally. The Infinity Stone. Peggy Carter. I underlined that last, the end of a long journey seemingly within reach.

”... I realized just how much I'd lost and I'd never be able to move on, no matter what. It was selfish, I realize, but I knew I was going to do it long before I did. Why else was that the last stone I took back?” He shrugged, smiling. “I wasn't totally sure until I saw the look on her face...”

“It was hard. The lying, the hiding. There were still wrongs to be righted. Still fights to fight. But my time was done, and I was fighting a totally different fight. Against my instincts. When we were together, all was right with the world. But she had her life, and she was important.”

“So, I spent a lot of time in my makeshift gym. Repeating the same cycle as I had the first time I came out of the ice.” He shook his head ruefully. “Those poor bags.”

“But it didn't really hit me until one night,” he said, descending into his thoughts again. “Peggy was gone- I never asked her where, and that was one part of her life that we didn't share. I realized only after how that was, not being able to talk about current affairs...” He dropped into silence again, a frown on his face, then continued his original thought.

“Peggy was gone. I'd decided that I didn't want to cook, so went out to some new diner- I had to vary my routine a bit; I didn't know what I'd do as the tech became better, but that was a thought for a later date.”

“I heard a pained groan as I passed an alleyway, and old instincts took over- I dashed in, finding a Black man struggling to get to his feet. I rushed to his side, memories of many alleyways that I'd been beat up in rushing back. As I helped him to his feet, underneath the pain, I saw that look- the one that you get after a time of seeing the horrors of war. In that moment, I thought of Sam.

I asked him if he was ok, and tried to find out what happened. I'll never forget that exchange.

---

“Just a case of right place, wrong color,” he said ruefully. Then he guardedly added, “Sir.”

I thought he'd seen something that would make him think of rank, then it hit me. “None of that,” I said. “You sure you're ok?”

“Nothing I haven't seen before or won't see again,” he shrugged.

“You want to grab a coffee?” I asked, feeling something stir in me. “I was just going to grab a bite, and don't feel like eating alone.”

He saw something in my eyes, and lightly touched my shoulder. I looked around at him already shaking his head. “I 'preciate it. Really, man, I do. But, no. Just the way things are.”

“But they shouldn't be,” I said indignantly. “It's what we fought for.”

“Shouldn't be,” he agreed. “But is,” he emphasized. “Don't you get it? I could have fought those guys. But the next man that they took it out on might not have been able to. There's times and places to fight. And times and places to stand.” I saw the anger on his face. Saw him slowly put it back to a dark place that held many such memories.

“But that reverend that spoke on the Mall had it right. You gotta do it in the right way. Play your part in it. And if we go in there right now, that's not a part.” He shook his head again. I've never seen a shake of the head show so much pain.

“That's looking for a fight,” he said, a bone tiredness evident in his voice. He was silent for a long moment, then said, in a quiet, still voice. “Sometimes, it takes more to just do nothing when you know its the right thing to do. Bide your time. support others fighting the fight in the right way. “

---

“I thought of Peggy in that moment. And how I'd been. And was ashamed,” he said, a weight in his voice I'd not heard before that. He looked at me, shame in his eyes. “I'd come back, and had so much because of it. But I'd not really left it behind. Not really laid it down. Not until that moment.”

“My wife,” he continued. “She understood so much. Carried so much. And my own experiences in the future had kept me from being the support system that she needed. Listening. Taking care of the kids and being an example for them, and a good father and husband.”

“That the fight I chose. And I fought it gladly, ignoring those instincts to be on the front lines, in favor of a more important battle.”

Discuss...

#rpg #gaming #writing #characteraday

Final Character

Character

Name: Damien Kinnear Background: Freelancer Faction: Extropian Motivations: Thrill-Seeking, Independence, and Self-Reliance High Concept: Talented Troubleshooter with a penchant for getting in trouble Trouble: It's Hard to let go of the Past Aspect: Uncanny knowledge of human behavior Aspect: I Have Learned to Adapt Refresh: 2

Background

Damien grew up in what passed for a middle class- his parents were corporate wage slaves for a Martian hypercorp, and had him as a perfunctory act. They made enough that he grew up with a series of nannies, going to perfectly good schools, living in a perfectly good middle-class apartment. It was a good life, but he didn't particularly like it. He always felt something was missing, and when he was shuttled from school to home, looked down into the city with more than a little longing.

He soon found out that the life he'd seen wasn't necessarily as clean as he'd thought, for one day when he came home, all of that had been ripped away, and he found out that the life of a corporate climber was only as secure as your last delivery. At the time, he didn't know what happened to cast him down out of the towers of the affluent, but later, he found out that his father had attached his star to what seemed like a high profile project that he could land easily, but it turned out to be a sinking ship. His father was terminated because of the project's failure, and his source didn't leave it to any imagination that it was anything but literal. His mother was a casualty also, and they found themselves living on the dole in the dirty streets.

His mother resented the fall, and having to eke out a life, and was always trying to find her way back into the company- or really any company. Damien, on the other hand, found out how to negotiate his new life, and put what he'd learned to use, networking and doing favors. First small ones- running a package, checking a drop point- but later more serious courier jobs. Though he never let his mother know, he nurtured his former contacts among the kids, and made it known that he was able to get them things that weren't necessarily available at their ages in the arcologies. Through this, he found he had a talent for reading people and finding people- it was a lot deeper than the things that he found for them; he was able to figure out what they actually needed and prey on these desires. This led to a more hands on role- their illicit desires would get them into situations, and Damien was just the person they needed to make the problem go away.

When he was able to leave, he parlayed the favors he had received into a way to get his certification as an investigator. He didn't want to be a cop- it was too restrictive. But an investigator- or more like a troubleshooter- it wasn't too far from his hustle on the streets. He found that he was able to find things that others overlooked or missed, constructing narratives that led to results for his clients, finding people that didn't want to be found, and removing 'obstacles' for his clients, cleanly and quietly.

But when working for one client, you always run the risk of raising the ire of another, and so it was he found himself persona non-grata. He left the Martian soil he'd called home for the belts, taking odd jobs in order to make the hop from one dive to another. In some ways it was another fall from grace, and in others it was freeing. Being able to explore the various stations in the belt, gaining berth where ever he could- it was that same thrill he'd enjoyed when first exploring the city where he'd spent his life. And he found, more than the money from the jobs, it was the risk and intellectual challenge that spurred him on.

Phase One: Your Introduction to the Life

After falling to the streets of the arcology, Damien scrabbled to find his way in his new environment with little support from his mother. He made contacts with his old friends- children were less likely to abandon their friends because of things that happened in the world if the parents didn't know about it. It was especially useful that Damien could get them experiences they didn't know. It was precarious running interference between corp kids and criminal gangs, but Damien new how to walk that edge, especially because he was gifted in reading people. He grew from a fixer into a troubleshooter naturally, as the situations that he led his friends into required someone to quietly get them out of them.

Phase Two: A Recent Incident

When his last transport- a long hauler- docked here, he had the feeling from his interactions with the captain and from bits and pieces of his interaction with the crew that he needed to skip. They had been more and more desperate for work, shuttling items from a few different way stations, and he'd happily stayed on for a while to let the heat from his prior job die down. His instincts proved right- he found out the ship was interdicted for smuggling a bit after he got off.

But that left him between jobs, so he hung out around the bars and the security station, finally catching wind of a private gig to find the kid of one of the workers in the kiosk on the station. Low paying, but there wasn't too much area on a station this size. He found the kid all right- dead. And that put him in the sights of the local cools. He negotiated the space between the parents and the cops, solving their case for them. The parents refused to pay, but there was a bit of scratch from the police for his help.

Phase Three: Entanglements

Since I'm making Damien alone for now, this one is a rough sketch of a theoretical entanglement with an investigation into another PC dirtside on one of the moons of Jupiter.

Phase Four: Complications

Again roughing out Damien being on the opposite side of a pursuit of a missing person that one of the other PCs had been tasked to retrieve.

Ego

Approaches

Bold: +2 Brutal: +0 Insightful: +3 Precise: +1 Swift: +1

Skills

Physical Skills

Athletics: 1 Ballistic Weapons: 2 Discipline: 1 Drive: 1 Endurance: 1 Infiltrate: 2 Notice: 2 Scrounging: 1 Sense Trouble: 2 Somatics: 1 Stability: 1 Tracking: 1 Unarmed Combat: 2 Zero-G Ops: 1

Academic Skills

Business: 1 Criminology: 1 Economics: 1 History: 1 Human Terrain: 1 Law: 1 Linguistics: 2 Psychology: 1 Research: 1

Interpersonal Skills

Charm: 1 High Society: 1 Flattery: 1 Interrogation: 1 Intimidation: 1 Kinesics: 2 Negotiation: 1 Protocol, Criminal: 1 Protocol, Law Enforcement: 1 Reassurance: 1 Streetwise: 1 Tradecraft: 1

Technical Skills

Data Analysis: 1 Electronic Surveillance: 1 Evidence Collection: 1 Forensics: 1 Imaging: 1 Interfacing: 1 InfoSec: 1 Kinetics: 1 Pathology: 1 Sensors: 1 Surveillance: 1 Traffic Analysis: 1

Stunts

By My Hand, Set the World in Motion: Through a combination of speed, dexterity, and uncanny timing, you always have a path forward. In a static environment, this means that you are capable of crazy parkour-like movement to get almost anywhere that could be physically accessed. In a more fluid environment you are impossible to pin down or fence in, as you’ll always find the gap. Mental Blueprint: You’re highly skilled at visualizing the whole of a target based on just a part of it. When casing a location, you receive a +2 on Infiltration rolls to create an advantage. I Can See Through You: Smaller parts of a larger truth can contain a blueprint of the whole – and as someone unnaturally in tune with all kinesics, you are adept at pulling the larger truth out of a single individual. Gain +2 on kinesics rolls to read body language and see through attempts at deceit.

Morph

Type: Biomorph, Flat, Augmented Aspects: 100% pure old-fashioned home-grown, Black market augments Traits: Essential Biomorph Traits (Cortical Stack, Mesh Inserts) Stunts: Stealth, Reflex Boosters Durability: Good (+3) Stress Boxes: 4 Refresh Cost: 1

Stats

Body: +0 Acuity: +2 Celerity: +1

Muse

When his Mesh was implanted and his Muse installed, it gave him a sense of security. It was someone he could depend on, in a world where he could depend on no one. He named his mesh Zara, and it speaks in a feminine voice.

Reseach: 1 InfoSec: 1

Networks

• @-rep: 4
• c-rep: 2
• e-rep: 0
• f-rep: 0
• g-rep: 4
• i-rep: 0
• r-rep: 0
• x-rep: 0

Discuss...

#rpg #gaming #writing #characteraday

Time for the build!

Name: Damien Kinnear

Character Concept

The first step is to select a character archetype. Looking at the different ones, I can go with Social > Investigator or Combat > Ego Hunter. The latter appears more in line with what I was thinking, so Ego Hunter it is. I make note of the skill notes – Enforcer, Investigator, Fighter, Forensic Specialist. Sounds like my guy.

Next we go with origin Freelancer. I could go Underclass, but Freelancer is more of where I want to pull from. For Faction, I'll go with Extropian, and for Motivations, I'll choose, Thrill-Seeking, Independence, and Self-Reliance. He learned from his parents' plight to never put his fate in another's hand, but be the one that they depend on. And for some reason, he's attracted to the adrenaline rush of living on the edge.

Zarathustra Phases

These are similar to Fate Core, except there are 4 instead of 3. The other interesting thing – no Aspects come out of this, unlike in Fate Core.

Phase One: Your Introduction to the Life

I already detailed this in his background, but his introduction was through scrabbling to find his way in the streets, while negotiating his way around the pervasive criminal element and staying as peripheral to it as possible.

Phase Two: A Recent Incident

Recently, he's been going from berth to berth, ending up on stations in the Black. I want to emphasize that his life has been anything but stable.

When his last transport- a long hauler- docked here, he had the feeling from his interactions with the captain and from bits and pieces of his interaction with the crew that he needed to skip. They had been more and more desperate for work, shuttling items from a few different way stations, and he'd happily stayed on for a while to let the heat from his prior job die down. His instincts proved right- he found out the ship was interdicted for smuggling a bit after he got off.

But that left him between jobs, so he hung out around the bars and the security station, finally catching wind of a private gig to find the kid of one of the workers in the kiosk on the station. Low paying, but there wasn't too much area on a station this size. He found the kid all right- dead. And that put him in the sights of the local cools. He negotiated the space between the parents and the cops, solving their case for them. The parents refused to pay, but there was a bit of scratch from the police for his help.

Phase Three: Entanglements

Since I'm making Damien alone for now, this one is a rough sketch of a theoretical entanglement with an investigation into another PC dirtside on one of the moons of Jupiter.

Phase Four: Complications

Again roughing out Damien being on the opposite side of a pursuit of a missing person that one of the other PCs had been tasked to retrieve.

Making Ego Aspects

In this phase of character creation, we go through the normal High Concept and Trouble, and add two aspects instead of three.

His high concept is that he is a Talented Troubleshooter with a penchant for getting in trouble. His trouble relates to his knack for making enemies, i.e. It's Hard To Let Go of the Past. He knows how to read people, giving him Uncanny knowledge of human behavior, and because of the difficult circumstances of his upbringing, I Have Learned to Adapt

Approaches

As an Ego Hunter, he is of course primarily Insightful at +2, and his knack for getting in the middle of things makes him Bold at +2. He's not Brutal at all, having more finesse, so I put the 0 in that one, leaving Precise and Swift at +1.

Bold: +2 Brutal: +0 Insightful: +3 Precise: +1 Swift: +1

Skills

I think there will be 5 players, so that leaves us each with 54 build points.

Physical Skills

Athletics: 1 Ballistic Weapons: 2 Discipline: 1 Drive: 1 Endurance: 1 Infiltrate: 2 Notice: 2 Scrounging: 1 Sense Trouble: 2 Somatics: 1 Stability: 1 Tracking: 1 Unarmed Combat: 2 Zero-G Ops: 1

Total Physical Skills: 20

Academic Skills

Business: 1 Criminology: 1 Economics: 1 History: 1 Human Terrain: 1 Law: 1 Linguistics: 2 Psychology: 1 Research: 1

Total Academic Skills: 10

Interpersonal Skills

Charm: 1 High Society: 1 Flattery: 1 Interrogation: 1 Intimidation: 1 Kinesics: 2 Negotiation: 1 Protocol, Criminal: 1 Protocol, Law Enforcement: 1 Reassurance: 1 Streetwise: 1 Tradecraft: 1

Total Interpersonal Skills: 13

Technical Skills

Data Analysis: 1 Electronic Surveillance: 1 Evidence Collection: 1 Forensics: 1 Imaging: 1 Interfacing: 1 InfoSec: 1 Kinetics: 1 Pathology: 1 Sensors: 1 Surveillance: 1 Traffic Analysis: 1

Total Technical Skills: 12

Create Your Muse

Muse

When his Mesh was implanted and his Muse installed, it gave him a sense of security. It was someone he could depend on, in a world where he could depend on no one. He named his mesh Zara, and it speaks in a feminine voice.

Reseach: 1 InfoSec: 1

Morph

I want him to still be in his natal sleeve, but with upgrades to it. I take a look at the Ghost Sleeve, and take some of the upgrades for the Flat sleeve, paying the price of the Ghost.

Type: Biomorph, Flat, Augmented Aspects: 100% pure old-fashioned home-grown, Black market augments Traits: Essential Biomorph Traits (Cortical Stack, Mesh Inserts) Stunts: Stealth, Reflex Boosters Durability: Good (+3) Stress Boxes: 4 Refresh Cost: 1

As a natal morph, he gets 3 points to spend, and spends them as follows:

Body: +0 Acuity: +2 Celerity: +1

Stunts

1 Refresh is spent on the Morph, leaving 5. I spend 3 on Ego Stunts, reflecting the fact that he is an agile infiltrator.

By My Hand, Set the World in Motion: Through a combination of speed, dexterity, and uncanny timing, you always have a path forward. In a static environment, this means that you are capable of crazy parkour-like movement to get almost anywhere that could be physically accessed. In a more fluid environment you are impossible to pin down or fence in, as you’ll always find the gap. Mental Blueprint: You’re highly skilled at visualizing the whole of a target based on just a part of it. When casing a location, you receive a +2 on Infiltration rolls to create an advantage. I Can See Through You: Smaller parts of a larger truth can contain a blueprint of the whole – and as someone unnaturally in tune with all kinesics, you are adept at pulling the larger truth out of a single individual. Gain +2 on kinesics rolls to read body language and see through attempts at deceit.

This leaves him with 2 Refresh.

Networks

• @-rep: 4
• c-rep: 2
• e-rep: 0
• f-rep: 0
• g-rep: 4
• i-rep: 0
• r-rep: 0
• x-rep: 0

And with that, Damien is done.

–> On to Day 3

#rpg #gaming #writing #characteraday

It's been a while since I did one of these- I started working on that hack I was referring to for my campaign, and wanted my next entry to be a character for that hack of Fate, Eclipse Phase, and Gumshoe. I'm taking my Eclipse Phase Character, and remaking him in the Penumbral Shadow hack rules I created.

Character Idea

Name: Damien Kinnear

Background

Damien grew up in what passed for a middle class- his parents were corporate wage slaves for a Martian hypercorp, and had him as a perfunctory act. They made enough that he grew up with a series of nannies, going to perfectly good schools, living in a perfectly good middle-class apartment. It was a good life, but he didn't particularly like it. He always felt something was missing, and when he was shuttled from school to home, looked down into the city with more than a little longing.

He soon found out that the life he'd seen wasn't necessarily as clean as he'd thought, for one day when he came home, all of that had been ripped away, and he found out that the life of a corporate climber was only as secure as your last delivery. At the time, he didn't know what happened to cast him down out of the towers of the affluent, but later, he found out that his father had attached his star to what seemed like a high profile project that he could land easily, but it turned out to be a sinking ship. His father was terminated because of the project's failure, and his source didn't leave it to any imagination that it was anything but literal. His mother was a casualty also, and they found themselves living on the dole in the dirty streets.

His mother resented the fall, and having to eke out a life, and was always trying to find her way back into the company- or really any company. Damien, on the other hand, found out how to negotiate his new life, and put what he'd learned to use, networking and doing favors. First small ones- running a package, checking a drop point- but later more serious courier jobs. Though he never let his mother know, he nurtured his former contacts among the kids, and made it known that he was able to get them things that weren't necessarily available at their ages in the arcologies. Through this, he found he had a talent for reading people and finding people- it was a lot deeper than the things that he found for them; he was able to figure out what they actually needed and prey on these desires.

When he was able to leave, he parlayed the favors he had received into a way to get his certification as an investigator. He didn't want to be a cop- it was too restrictive. But an investigator- or more like a troubleshooter- it wasn't too far from his hustle on the streets. He found that he was able to find things that others overlooked or missed, constructing narratives that led to results for his clients, finding people that didn't want to be found, and removing 'obstacles' for his clients, cleanly and quietly.

But when working for one client, you always run the risk of raising the ire of another, and so it was he found himself persona non-grata. He left the Martian soil he'd called home for the belts, taking odd jobs in order to make the hop from one dive to another. In some ways it was another fall from grace, and in others it was freeing. Being able to explore the various stations in the belt, gaining berth where ever he could- it was that same thrill he'd enjoyed when first exploring the city where he'd spent his life. And he found, more than the money from the jobs, it was the risk and intellectual challenge that spurred him on.

–> On To Day 2

#rpg #gaming #writing #characteraday

TL;DR

This is definitely a hail back to older ages, and some things I discarded even then. I suppose the fast character creation is a nod to the funnel that the characters have to go through- why waste time on a character that probably won't survive. But it's a lot different than the qualities I look for in a character creation system.

On to the system itself, since I'd never seen it- the dice chain is a novel idea, at least on paper. Basically, you have the dice ordered from smallest to largest, and though there are modifiers, when they become high enough, you promote to the next die in the chain. So if I was rolling a d20 to attack, and had enough modifiers, I'd roll a d24 instead. That brings me to the problem- I had a hard time telling the difference between some of the dice, so I think it would get to be a bit much in play.

But even more to deal with- the tables. There are tables for everything. That's an exaggeration, but not by much. I really don't know how you'd deal with that in play. I guess a good screen would help, but with so many spells having tables, there's no way to fit them all on a screen.

Reading a bit more about the funnel, I'm not sure there's a way to solo it. I'm also not sure that I'd ever actually run it, though I might play in it. The material is awesome, but not so sure about the system.

Final Build

Name: Alin Bexley

Strength: 11 (+0) Agility: 14 (+1) Ref: +1 Stamina: 13 (+1) Fort: +1 Personality: 15 (+1) Will: +1 Intelligence: 17 (+2) Languages: Common, Dwarven, Elven Luck: 14 (+1) Bountiful Harvest: Hit Points

Hit Points: 4 Wealth: 38 Copper Experience: 0 XP Occupation: Outlaw (Shortsword, Leather Armor) Alignment: Neutral Equipment: Flint & Steel

Discuss...

#rpg #gaming #writing #characteraday

Name, race, and gender are three of the things I can pick... but I'll generate them randomly, coming up with Alin Bexley, Human Female. I'm not generating a background for a character that is possibly throw away.

Step 1: Generate Stats

Going oldschool- 3d6 in order of stat. And I see that this character will definitely be a sacrifice to the funnel, as all of the character's luck went into the stats.

Strength: 11 (+0) Agility: 14 (+1) Stamina: 13 (+1) Personality: 15 (+1) Intelligence: 17 (+2) Luck: 14 (+1)

Step 2: Roll on Luck Table

Luck roll – d30 –> 25 = Bountiful Harvest: Hit Points

I think this means that she gets to add her Stamina bonus to her hit points each level, but I don't see it explained anywhere.

Step 3: Other Stats

Hitpoints – 1d3 –> 3 + 1 = 4. Wealth – 5d12 –> 38 cp Occupation – d100 –> 82 = Outlaw. That gives me a shortsword and leather armor. Random Item – d24 –> 8 = Flint & Steel Alignment – Neutral (Again a pick, but might as well go for the middle) Languages – Common +2 more (Int mod). Dwarven and Elven

Step 4: Record Saves

Ref +1, Fort +1, Will +1

–> On to Day 3

#rpg #gaming #writing #characteraday

Introduction

I just picked up Dungeon Crawl Classics as an add-on for the Empire of the East Kickstarter. I've never played it, but heard a lot about it, so considering that I wanted to get Empire of the East for background information, along with Lankhmar, I figured I might as well get the base game too.

From first glance, it's a lot different than other games that I've played- a lot of it is random. And not just in a 'roll your stats and class' kind of random way- but a 'default character creation is to create many characters and send them through a funnel' kind of way.

This one, I think is going to be a bit different because of that- I'm going into this not knowing what the end character will look like. I'm just going to create a character for the funnel, and see how it turns out.

I have an idea if I like the game, I might run some for myself solo just to see how it turns out.

–> On to Day Two

#rpg #gaming #writing #characteraday

TL;DR

The character turned out exactly the way that I'd envisioned him. However, this is one of those cases where you revisit an older game that you played when you were younger, and realize why it's on the shelf. It definitely has some serious 90s aesthetics in the crunch. However, I will say that you can't put all of these in the same box; the section on description, personality traits, and story hooks were additions that really help flesh out the character and put him into the world he inhabits.

Final Build

Name: Takeshita Yoshimi Occupation: Ronin Metrozone: Shogunate

Background

Takeshita was a loyal servant, and he was loyal for loyalties sake. Not because he was a great warrior, though he was. Not because his family was pre-eminent in the Toro clan, though it was. Not because his own star was on the rise after a glorious death bringing down a plot by the Kobara clan, though it was apparent. Only on his second incarnation, his name was spoken in tones with the great samurai of old, and he was stationed far above his age. But then it all came tumbling down. Not because of anything he'd done. It turns out that even though he was too high profile a target, his father was not. He knows that his father's shame was manufactured, but it was within his Overlord's right to force his father to commit seppuku, plunging his own blade into his karma chip- bringing real and lasting death. Takeshita was supposed to do the same, and in going to the great void, it would have restored his family's honor. But the Overlord instead came for his family, not allowing him to do so. Takeshita fought back, but in the end was captured, along with his mother, sister, and brother. The Emperor himself stepped in, sparing Takeshita of a dishonorable death in favor of banishment and Ronin status. But he would not overturn the ruling, and so his family and all of his father's wealth was taken by the Overlord. On that day, Takeshita found out that his loyalty had its limits, and vowed to tear down all that he'd helped to build up.

Physical Description

Wiry, with a runner's build, Tak is graceful in motion. He's tall by Shogunate standards, standing at 180cm, and weighs 70 kg, with every inch of his upper torso and arms tattooed in a gorgeous painting of a tiger stalking through a fantastical background. He keeps his black hair messy- he used to keep it perfectly coiffed, but since his queue was cut at his banishment, he hasn't worried overmuch about it. With his glittering black eyes, he'd be handsome if his features weren't so haunted. He was allowed to keep his armor, so he is well kitted for a Ronin, though he's painted it muted colors as he's not allowed to fly Toro colors, though his mask still bears the image a proud tiger, betraying his origins.

Personality Traits

He borders on obsession with three tasks: finding out how and by who his father was betrayed, finding and freeing his family, and taking down the corrupt overlord that he knows had something to do with his fall. He's still unsure of the Emperor, and teeters between cursing and thanking him for the burden that lies on his shoulders. He seems serene, and holds a tight rein on his emotions, but when stirred out of that, the emotions that simmer beneath the surface become like a raging fire, burning any that come close. Because of this, he walks the line between suicidal and determined, depending on how heavy the burden lays on his shoulders. In those few times he finds peace, he is introspective and gracious, but soon enough, the memory returns to ruin any semblance of a normal life he might reach for.

Story Hooks

There is the obvious of the corrupt overlord, finding his family, and finding out how his father was betrayed. Less obvious is why the Emperor spared him and those few friends sympathetic to his fall. There is also the House of Tremontaine in Hydra- during his height, he was the cause of their fall when he foiled an incursion of their experimentation in the badlands. They've not been able to directly strike at him because of the simmering cold war between the City-States. However, he's not under the protection of the Shogunate anymore, so is at risk.

Characteristics

DX ST IN PW MR CC LF +3 +1 0 0 5 100 15

Advantages

Ambidextrous, Karmachip (Disabled), Lightsleep, Charismatic

Disadvantages

Ronin, Samurai Code of Honor: Total, Obsession: Hatred of Katsunosuki Hiraka, Hunted: House Tremontaine

Skills

Acrobatics +2, Blade +3, Climbing +2, Dodge +3, Driving (Skimmer, Wheeled) +1, Forceblade +4, Martial Arts +3, Quick Draw (Force Blade, Blade) +4, Handgun +3, Ride (Horse) +3, Stealth +1, Swimming +1, Awareness +2, City Lore (Shogunate) +1, Courtier +2, Intimindate +1, Leadership +1, Lore (Tactics) +2, Navigator +1, Survival +1

Special Abilities

Way of the Tiger –> Techniques: Tiger Strike +1, Tiger Spring +2, Tiger Claw +1, Claw Swipe +1 –> Bugei: Tiger Roar, Blazing Tiger Spring

Equipment

Medium Ceramic Armor (AR:6) 2 Force Blades Blaster Pistol Heavy Horse with Dermal Armor (AR:1)

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