Character Creation Challenge 2022

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I own five parsecs and some related stuff from a bundle or something but have hardly looked at them. Maybe I'll break it out this month.
 
I own five parsecs and some related stuff from a bundle or something but have hardly looked at them. Maybe I'll break it out this month.
The bundle is first ed which is perfectly useable; the new edition largely adds polish and some background info. Nice, but not essential.
 
Well, I'm way behind, but I wanted to get it on the fun, so today I'll be making a character for The Pocket Fantasy RPG. As far as I can tell, there's nothing to calculate mechanically when creating a character in this system. You just pick a race and class and you're good to go. So, I bring you Bob Badoinkadoink, the human thief! Bob gets 2 Heroic Rerolls per session for being human.

Bob Badoinkadoink, human thief
HP 6
Combat Skill d6-1
Abilities: Nimble, Flank, Backstab.

That was incredibly quick & easy!

Bob is a thief because his parents were shitty people who never taught him that stealing is wrong. He adventures primarily as a means of finding neat stuff to steal. His favorite food is lamb stew.
 
Lucked into another super-easy one for character # 2. Turns out Dungeons: A Solo Adventure Game is also a "just pick stuff and go" game, except it uses race-as-class, so there's only one thing to pick!

Sarayana Semolina, Mage

Combat Dice: 1
Armor: 3+
Wounds: 4
Magic Dice: 2
Speed: 2
Gear: Staff
Special rules: Can cast spells

Looks like there are only 4 spells: Arcane Arrow, Protective Aura, Battle Strength, and Healing Hands. All Mages can attempt all spells; some are just harder to cast than others.

Hmm... rulebook says Mages have inherent magic and learn to harness by training with a Mage Order. So I guess I'll invent Sarayana's Mage Order: The Order of the Crimson Cricket. The Order of the Crimson Cricket has their primary temple in the grasslands to the west, which is where Sarayana studied. The Order's primary belief is that humans/humanoids should live in harmony with nature.

Now that Sarayana is a moderately skilled Mage, she has set out southward to adventure. She wears deep crimson robes in honor of her order. She's brave and inquisitive, but also a bit naive.
 
Not a whole lot of time today, so another micro rpg it is.

Day 10: Lasers and Feelings
Lieutenant Skip Corrigan
Intrepid Explorer
Number: 3
Goal: Find new worlds

Ship: Exploration vessel CSS Raptor: Fast, Nimble, Fuel Hog

Process
Not much to it really. Pick a style (intrepid), role (explorer), name and a number from 2-5. This number is used for all resolution rolls. When rolling for tasks based on logic or reason (lasers) you want to roll lower than your number on a D6. When rolling for tasks based on rapport or passion (feelings) you want to roll over. Spock probably had a number of 5, McCoy a 2, and Kirk somewhere in between. Then the group picks two positive traits (fast, nimble) and one negative trait (fuel hog) for their starship. After that, it's time to explore the final frontier.
 
Day 10, Character... less than 10, but that may change soon. I just spun up two campaigns (one Planescape via Pathfinder 1e, 1 Swords of the Serpentine). In both groups, half of the prospective players were missing from the session 0 chargen, and I don't want to take the time to make PCs in another sessions, so I have to spin up a bunch of ready-to-play PCs.

Here's the first one for the Planescape Pathfinder session, a Fetchling (aka shadowfolk) Wizard.

Zatherin Dushaw
Female fetchling conjurer 3 (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2 123, Planar Adventures 21)
LN Medium outsider (native)
Hero Points 1
Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +0
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 13, touch 13, flat-footed 10 (+3 Dex)
hp 21 (3d6+7)
Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +3
Defensive Abilities shadow blending; Resist cold 5, electricity 5
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee dagger +1 (1d4/19-20) or
. . quarterstaff +1 (1d6)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 3rd; concentration +7)
. . 1/day—disguise self
Arcane School Spell-Like Abilities (CL 3rd; concentration +8)
. . 6/day—acid dart (1d6+1 acid)
Wizard Spell-Like Abilities (CL 3rd; concentration +8)
. . Constant—endure elements
Conjurer (Worldseeker) Spells Prepared (CL 3rd; concentration +8)
. . 2nd—acid arrow, detect thoughts (DC 15), summon monster II
. . 1st—ioun strike (DC 14), mage armor, protection from chaos, summon monster I
. . 0 (at will)—detect magic, light, mage hand, message
. . Opposition Schools Enchantment, Necromancy
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 11, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 17, Wis 10, Cha 15
Base Atk +1; CMB +1; CMD 14
Feats Improved Initiative, Spell Focus (conjuration)
Traits focused mind, tireless logic
Skills Appraise +7, Knowledge (arcana) +8, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +7, Knowledge (history) +7, Knowledge (local) +7, Knowledge (planes) +13, Knowledge (religion) +8, Linguistics +9, Spellcraft +9, Stealth +5; Racial Modifiers +2 Knowledge (planes), +2 Stealth
Languages Auran, Celestial, Common, Draconic, Dwarven, Infernal, Terran
SQ arcane bond (familiar), hero points, summoner's charm (1 round)
Combat Gear potion of cure moderate wounds, scroll of align weapon, charm person, disguise self, expeditious retreat, faerie fire, fox's cunning, communal protection from chaos, resist energy, sleep; Other Gear dagger, quarterstaff, bedroll, belt pouch, ink, inkpen, masterwork backpack[APG], mess kit[UE], soap, spell component pouch, trail rations (5), waterskin, wizard starting spellbook, 1,243 gp, 9 sp, 5 cp
--------------------
Special Abilities
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Acid Dart (1d6+1 acid, 6/day) (Sp) As a standard action, ranged touch deals acid dam vs. foe in 30 ft.
Arcane Familiar Nearby You gain the Alertness feat while your familiar is within arm's reach.
Conjuration The conjurer focuses on the study of summoning monsters and magic alike to bend to his will.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white only).
Deliver Touch Spells Through Familiar (Su) Your familiar can deliver touch spells for you.
Empathic Link with Familiar (Su) You have an empathic link with your Arcane Familiar.
Enchantment You must spend 2 slots to cast spells from the Enchantment school.
Energy Resistance, Cold (5) You have the specified Energy Resistance against Cold attacks.
Energy Resistance, Electricity (5) You have the specified Energy Resistance against Electricity attacks.
Hero Points Hero Points can be spent at any time to grant a variety of bonuses.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in dim light, distinguishing color and detail.
Necromancy You must spend 2 slots to cast spells from the Necromancy school.
Shadow Blending (50% miss chance) (Su) Miss chance in dim light increases to 50%. This does not grant total concealment.
Share Spells with Familiar Can cast spells with a target of "You" on the familiar with a range of touch.
Spell Focus (Conjuration) Spells from one school of magic have +1 to their save DC.
Summoner's Charm (+1 rds) (Su) Increase duration of summoning spells by 1/2 level (permanent at 20).
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Faction: Fraternity of Oder (Guvners)

Philosophy: Everything has laws; most are dark. Learn the laws of the multiverse and you can rule it.

Roleplaying archetype: The Sage
"If knowledge is power, then knowing everything is the key."
 
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Next up, for character # 3, it's another super-lightweight game, Dimension Destruction.

Step 1: roll for name: Sofia. There's no chart for last names, so I'm just going to declare her Sofia Jackson.

Step 1b: roll three more names and write them in your journal. These are important people in your life: Anna, Reagan, and Jaxson. Except I hate that spelling, so I'm changing it to Jackson. Which means one of the important people in my character's life has a given name that's the same as her surname, haha.

Step 2: Roll a d12 on the Traits table. I rolled a 4, which yields 2 Flaws and 1 Virtue.

Step 2b: Roll d100 for specific Flaws & Virtues.
  • Flaw: Alcoholic
  • Flaw: Cowardly
  • Virtue: Meticulous
Step 3: Roll for abilities.
  • Physical: + 0
  • Mental: -1
  • Social: +1
And stuff related to rolling for abilities yields your character's age, which, in Sofia's case, is 37.

Step 4: Roll d12 for career: HR Manager.

Huh, well, that was a more interesting and involved character creation process than I expected from a 2-page game! Unfortunately, everything being randomly rolled yielded a character who sounds rather unpleasant & I don't think I'd like to be around. Cowardly, alcoholic HR Manager who is less than smart? No thanks!
 
On to character # 4, using The Wasteland Hack Special Edition. As is probably evident from the title, this game is based on The Black Hack.

You can choose or roll for your background. I'm going to roll for it: Wasteland Born (+1 to CON).

As a Wasteland Born, I get starting gear of a melee weapon, 2 bottles of water, bandages, and basic Wasteland Armor.

Next, roll for stats.

STR 10
DEX 8
CON 13 (rolled 12, + 1 from Wasteland Born)
INT 11
WIS 16
CHA 7

Next step is choose a class, and I choose Driver, which gives me +1 when Driving.

After that, it's choose two perks. I'll go with Offensive Driving (gain +1 when attacking with vehicle) and Radiation Tolerance (gain +1 to Radiation Resistance).

Characters start with 50 new dollars, so that's what I've got.

Characters start with Hit Points equal to their CON, and Wasteland Born can add +d4 to that, so I end up with 17 HP.

Dang, I guess this dude needs a name. I'll call him Charlie White. He's been in the Wasteland all his life and has no time for your nonsense. Decked out in second-hand military field clothing. Likes penguins, although he's never seen one.
 
Here's the next pregen for my Pathfinder Planescape game...

Maldrek the Seeker
Male tiefling investigator (portal seeker) 3 (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Class Guide 30, Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 264, Planar Adventures 18)
NG Medium outsider (native)
Hero Points 1
Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +7 (+11 to hear conversation or find concealed object)
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 16, touch 14, flat-footed 12 (+2 armor, +4 Dex)
hp 21 (3d8+3)
Fort +1, Ref +7, Will +5; +2 vs. teleportation effects or imprisonment
Defensive Abilities trap sense +1; Resist cold 5, electricity 5, fire 5
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee dagger +2 (1d4/19-20) or
. . mwk short sword +3 (1d6/19-20)
Ranged mwk shortbow +7 (1d6/×3)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 3rd; concentration +4)
. . 1/day—darkness
Investigator (Portal Seeker) Extracts Prepared (CL 3rd; concentration +7)
. . 1st—cure light wounds, disguise self, shield, urban grace[ARG]
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 10, Dex 18, Con 10, Int 18, Wis 15, Cha 12
Base Atk +2; CMB +2; CMD 16
Feats Careful Sneak[UI], Deceitful
Traits possessed, reactionary
Skills Acrobatics +10, Bluff +11, Diplomacy +5, Disguise +9, Escape Artist +8, Heal +6, Knowledge (local) +8, Knowledge (nobility) +8, Knowledge (planes) +8, Linguistics +8, Perception +7 (+11 to hear conversation or find concealed object), Sense Motive +8, Sleight of Hand +9, Spellcraft +8, Stealth +12, Use Magic Device +7; Racial Modifiers +2 Bluff, +2 Stealth
Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Draconic, Elven, Goblin, Halfling
SQ alchemy (alchemy crafting +3), hero points, hunt portal, inspiration (5/day), investigator talent (canny observer[APG]), keen recollection, portal lore, resist teleportation +2
Other Gear mwk leather armor, arrows (40), dagger, mwk short sword, mwk shortbow, handy haversack, alchemy crafting kit[APG], belt pouch, flint and steel, ink, inkpen, investigator starting formula book, masterwork backpack[APG], mess kit[UE], soap, torch (10), trail rations (5), waterskin, 107 gp, 4 sp, 5 cp
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Alchemy +3 (Su) +3 to Craft (Alchemy) to create alchemical items, can Id potions by touch.
Canny Observer (Ex) +4 Perception to overhear conversations or find concealed or secret objects.
Careful Sneak Use Stealth slowly without penalty from most armor
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white only).
Energy Resistance, Cold (5) You have the specified Energy Resistance against Cold attacks.
Energy Resistance, Electricity (5) You have the specified Energy Resistance against Electricity attacks.
Energy Resistance, Fire (5) You have the specified Energy Resistance against Fire attacks.
Hero Points Hero Points can be spent at any time to grant a variety of bonuses.
Hunt Portal (Sp) Concentrate to detect portals in 60 ft. using Knowledge (planes), pinpoint after 3 rds.
Inspiration (+1d6, 5/day) (Ex) Use 1 point, +1d6 to trained skill or ability check. Use 2 points, to add to attack or save.
Keen Recollection At 3rd level, an investigator can attempt all Knowledge skill checks untrained.
Portal Lore (Ex) Can use knowledge (planes) to learn information about a portal they have detected.
Resist Teleportation +2 (Ex) Bonus on saving throws against teleportation efffects or imprisonment.
Trap Sense +1 (Ex) +1 bonus on reflex saves and AC against traps.
--------------------
Faction: Believers of the Source (Godsmen)

Philosophy: All life springs from the same divine source, ascending and descending in form as it is tested.

Roleplaying archetype: Acheiver
"How can I improve myself today?"
 
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Day 10:

Dr. Midnight -
(systemless modern-day supers character)

Lewis Allen (born in January of 1930) is the son of a prominent New York historian. His father’s name and Harvard pedigree led him in turn to Cambridge, and he graduated from MIT with an electrical engineering degree. Allen went into the burgeoning field of computers, working for Control Data Corporation for many years before returning to New England to join DEC in the late Seventies for the VAX/VMS project. His last post was as project director of the VAX 9000 Aquarius before DEC’s downturn started in the early Nineties. Selling his DEC stock for a great deal of money before it was too late, he settled into comfortable, secluded retirement in a suburb of Boston and dropped out of the public eye.

That’s the official bio.

Lewis slowly became aware that he was superhuman in the Seventies, as he realized he wasn’t aging past 30; he hadn’t before thought his night vision and rapid healing were anything overwhelmingly out of the ordinary. As his biological age increased, he took to cosmetics and other tricks to “age” himself. Switching jobs to DEC (and homes from Michigan to Massachusetts) was a deliberate attempt to duck uncomfortable questions, and his “retirement” another one. He maintains a computer consultancy under an faked identity, which accords him reasonable access to electronics parts, sold his house to said identity, lives under it, and figures on killing off his nonagenarian birth persona pretty soon.

With several million dollars with which to play, Lewis has indulged his streak of liberal politics. A fellow traveler from the counterculture Sixties, he’s anti-war, anti-Republican, anti-whaling, a PETA supporter, a global warming activist, a BLM activist ... you name it, he’s probably dabbled in it. From an early age, he liked comic books, his favorite being Dr. Midnite, and decided to become a costumed adventurer to more directly fight for his causes. He took up hapkido to become a skilled fighter, and met his future wife Elizabeth at the dojang. (She’s a civilian biochemist for USAMRIID out of the Army’s Watertown biohazard facility, specifically on countermeasures for biological warfare. Beyond that, she’s expert in investigation, all manner of biological sciences, and like Lewis an expert hapkido practitioner. She’s around 30, and married Lewis a couple years ago.)

Among his activities is an ongoing pirate radio program, “Calling Dr. Midnight.” He sets up rogue transmitters playing burst tapes (sometimes piggybacking off of other equipment) that generally reach throughout metro Boston which push his environmental message as well as play a mix of eclectic tunes (two hours, looped) and identify his costumed activities. The transmissions last for up to several hours while the FCC tries to track them down and shut down the equipment. Elizabeth has wondered whether he’d get more traction with YouTube videos, but he’s convinced he’d be more easily tracked down over the computer.

Powers:

1) He’s unaging. He has no idea (and Elizabeth is researching) whether he’s genuinely undying or whether he’s just going to keel over in five years or so; the issue preys upon him a bit. As part and parcel, he regenerates, if quite slowly.

2) He sees far into the UV range and thus has near-perfect night vision.

3) Shadow Powers: He “melts into shadow,” becoming invisible as long as he’s completely in shadow. He can also project a “wave of shadow.” This has the appearance of spikes of darkness, and looks rather like he’s throwing several blades of shadow at once. The effect is chillingly cold (and chills the area, come to that) and does stunning damage to living beings. The wave is intangible and does no damage to inanimate or solid objects, though it passes through thin physical barriers; a riot shield or body armor won’t block it, for example. He needs to wave his hand or arm to do this, and can’t do it immobile.

Since he’s only discovered what he can do by trial and error, or through his wife’s researches, he may have other powers as yet undiscovered. (Cue XP.)

Abilities:

1) He is an expert in electronics, and a skilled programmer and hacker.

2) He is a 5th dan hapkido master and skilled with tonfa and other hand-to-hand low-tech weapons.

3) He is generally skilled in disguise and specializes in aging disguise. He’s also pretty knowledgeable in illegal documentation, and with it getting harder to manufacture such identities, has created a dozen for both himself and Elizabeth, over a wide stretch of birth dates.

Personality: He’s fairly reserved in person. He deliberately eased off friendships in the 1980s, and Elizabeth is the only person he really trusts. In consequence, he’s a pretty lonely guy, and clings to Elizabeth as his life line. By contrast, he tends to swashbuckling in disguise, between his costumed adventures and his pirate radio antics. He’s also paranoid about being “discovered.” He believes that the government will wire him up like a lab rat if they find out about him, and has nightmares about being eviscerated on a lab table.

I wanna read this comic book series!

Love the details, set-up, and style!

Cheers,

TGIDragonfly
 
And the last of the 3rd level pregens for my Pathfinder Planescape game. I am planning on running Dead Gods, which has the players play a second party, so I'll be making 8th level characters later, but this is the last one I need for next session.

Adyel
Female elan swashbuckler (azatariel) 3 (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Class Guide 56, Planar Adventures 10)
CG Medium humanoid (aberrant)
Hero Points 1
Init +5; Senses Perception +5
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Defense
--------------------
AC 18, touch 14, flat-footed 14 (+4 armor, +3 Dex, +1 dodge)
hp 26 (3d10+4)
Fort +2, Ref +6, Will +2; +0 bonus vs. spells of the transmutation school., +3 bonus vs. mind-affecting effects
Defensive Abilities elysian conviction
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Offense
--------------------
Speed 40 ft.; battle dance
Melee mwk rapier +8 (1d6+1/18-20)
Ranged mwk light crossbow +7 (1d8/19-20)
Special Attacks deeds (bralani's swiftness, derring-do, dodging panache, kip-up, opportune parry and riposte, swashbuckler initiative, whimsical riposte), panache (3)
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 13, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 13, Wis 12, Cha 17
Base Atk +3; CMB +4; CMD 18
Feats Dodge, Weapon Focus (rapier), Wild Talent
Traits child of the temple, dedicated defender
Skills Acrobatics +9 (+13 to jump), Bluff +7 (6 vs non-elans.), Climb +5, Diplomacy +7 (6 vs non-elans.), Disguise +3 (+3 to appear as original race., 2 vs non-elans.), Escape Artist +9, Intimidate +7 (6 vs non-elans.), Knowledge (local) +6, Knowledge (religion) +6, Perception +5, Sense Motive +5, Sleight of Hand +7
Languages Common, Elven
SQ active energy type, hero points, repletion, resilience, resistance, swashbuckler finesse
Other Gear mithral chain shirt, crossbow bolts (10), mwk light crossbow, mwk rapier, backpack, bedroll, belt pouch, flint and steel, mess kit[UE], soap, torch (10), trail rations (5), waterskin, 1,235 gp, 9 sp
--------------------
Special Abilities
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Battle Dance (Ex) Increase speed in light armor if unencumbered.
Deeds
Elysian Conviction (Su)
While have 1 panache, add Cha mod to saves vs. mind-affecting effects.
Hero Points Hero Points can be spent at any time to grant a variety of bonuses.
Panache (Ex) Gain a pool of points that are spent to fuel deeds, regained on light/piercing crit/killing blow.
Repletion (Su) Spend 1 power point to go without food or drink for 24 hours.
Resilience (Su) Spend 1 or more power points to reduce damage.
Resistance (Su) Spend 1 power point to gain +4 bonus to saves.
Swashbuckler Finesse Use Dex for att with light/1-hand pierce wep. Use Cha instead of Int for combat feat pre-reqs.
Wild Talent (3/Power Points) You are a psionic character and gain 2 power points.
--------------------
Faction: Transcendent Order (Ciphers)

Philosophy: Action without thought is the purest response. Train body and mind to act in harmony, and the spirit becomes one with the multiverse.

Role-playing archetype: Hair-trigger
"Action, reaction. Why think about it?"
 
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Name: Command Cranium (Sgt. Christopher Fanning)
Drive: Responsibility

Might: Exceptional Human
Agility: Exceptional Human
Toughness: Spectacular Human
Intellect: Spectacular Human
Knowledge: Exceptional Human
Resolve: Spectacular Planetary

Powers:
Telepathy: Commander Cranium can scan minds, communicate with others, and dig out information with Spectacular Superhuman Ability

Telekinesis: Commander Cranium can erect telekinetic force barriers, fire force bolts, fly and manipulate objects with Spectacular Superhuman ability.

History: Sgt. Christopher Fanning, was a highly skilled special forces intelligence analyst, his nickname of course came for his indomitable willfulness, and ability to plan utilizing intelligence information.

When an entire team went missing, Sgt. Fanning worked relentlessly to locate the team and bring them home. Eventually his work put him up against an incredibly powerful wizard working at cross purposes to his own. When the wizard (deceased) crossed minds with Sgt. Fanning, the result awakened the latent psychic powers he possessed and ended up with the enemy wizard dying of a burst blood vessel in their brain.

Now in the private sector, and retired from service, Sgt. Fanning works to turn his skills against civilian threats to peace, including crime. Sgt. Fanning has a strong moral center and strong urge for justice and equality for everyone, as he swore an oath in the service he has not forgotten.
 

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#10 The One Ring 2e.
I've never read 1e so I have only AiME to compare it to. Both are great on flavor, far better than any other lotr game. I like the journey and council rules but haven't dug into them enough to really distinguish the version in the two games. AiME is very low magic, TOR is lower; a few auto-successes on skills and magical weapons is about it. I like the skill organization - 6 categories of skills, in each category one for each of the 3 ability scores. I'm a bit disappointed that race determines the majority of your character. I like how you hits wear you down regardless of armor but armor makes serious wounds less likely.

Dwarves are one of the few races who can afford the best armor and dwarves ignore half the load of armor so I opted to tank him out even though he's a scholar - in the rules everyone is decent at combat and you have to really pay (in skill points) to get much better at start. With his high endurance and good armor, he's more likely to fall to depression and fatalism than physical blows.

With his coat of mail and axe, Hepti looks like a warrior out of legend. Though he can fight, Hepti is really a crafter and lorekeeper. He decided to wear such fine mail on his travels to show off his uncle's work and to remind the world of the great skills of the dwarves. Hepti has not lefte the Blue Mountains in quite a while. Aspects of his work depend on a rare material, not found locally. His source has dried up for over a year and he is worried that his variety ofcraft may soon pass into history. He decides to track down the source and has gotten as far as Bree.

1641862606893.png
 
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I wanna read this comic book series!

Love the details, set-up, and style!

Cheers,

TGIDragonfly

Heh, another cheat on my part, really. My wife and I were looking to play together -- something we hadn't had a chance to do since we both stopped LARPing together in 2002 -- and we looked into Some Guy Advertising For Players on the then-active Bostongamers Yahoo group in 2006. He was pitching a low-level gritty supers game ... helpful, because Amanda's not keen on the supers genre, feeling that she couldn't possibly play the sort who'd lock the Joker in Arkham Asylum only to break out and kill more people, and then do it over and over again expecting happy results. Utterly unfamiliar with the system, we both did up system-agnostic long character writeups, so he could walk us through creation and a trial combat in person.

It was an utter disaster. He wanted to start the group with fewer points than a normal minimum character, and so we had effectively Golden Age super-normal level guys whose speed would've been dealing with bank robbers and suchlike. (Amanda's character's powers were "chemical vision" and immunity to chemical, radiation and metabolic hazards.) And he threw flying battlebots against us. Which, of course, trashed us. Never mind that he couldn't shake himself clear of using system jargon to explain everything, even with us explaining over and over that he needed to find layman's terms for things until we knew what that meant, or that sub-normal characters in the system had strikingly poor odds to accomplish tasks (Amanda's highly intelligent medical doctor character failed seven straight First Aid rolls). We were fuming on the train ride home, I wrote a letter expressing out concerns, he replied that such was the opposition he planned on having us face and that he was standing pat on how many points we were allowed, and I replied with a never-mind-then.

So that writeup's been gathering dust in my hard drives for 15+ years, alas ... I expect I could do the character up with Champions or GURPS Supers easily enough.
 
Heh, another cheat on my part, really. My wife and I were looking to play together -- something we hadn't had a chance to do since we both stopped LARPing together in 2002 -- and we looked into Some Guy Advertising For Players on the then-active Bostongamers Yahoo group in 2006. He was pitching a low-level gritty supers game ... helpful, because Amanda's not keen on the supers genre, feeling that she couldn't possibly play the sort who'd lock the Joker in Arkham Asylum only to break out and kill more people, and then do it over and over again expecting happy results. Utterly unfamiliar with the system, we both did up system-agnostic long character writeups, so he could walk us through creation and a trial combat in person.

It was an utter disaster. He wanted to start the group with fewer points than a normal minimum character, and so we had effectively Golden Age super-normal level guys whose speed would've been dealing with bank robbers and suchlike. (Amanda's character's powers were "chemical vision" and immunity to chemical, radiation and metabolic hazards.) And he threw flying battlebots against us. Which, of course, trashed us. Never mind that he couldn't shake himself clear of using system jargon to explain everything, even with us explaining over and over that he needed to find layman's terms for things until we knew what that meant, or that sub-normal characters in the system had strikingly poor odds to accomplish tasks (Amanda's highly intelligent medical doctor character failed seven straight First Aid rolls). We were fuming on the train ride home, I wrote a letter expressing out concerns, he replied that such was the opposition he planned on having us face and that he was standing pat on how many points we were allowed, and I replied with a never-mind-then.

So that writeup's been gathering dust in my hard drives for 15+ years, alas ... I expect I could do the character up with Champions or GURPS Supers easily enough.

Yowzers! What a painfully frustrating experience! I'm glad you brought the 'ole doc out into the light for this project! :smile:

Cheers,

TGIDragonfly
 
Day 10

So, I'm exhausted after my first day back at work after getting better from COVID and have very little energy for character creation. Consequently, I decided to open my hard drive, go to the first RPG that I've purchased but never played, and follow whatever steps they give me for character generation. At the top of my list is AFG or Adventure Fantasy Game. Honestly, I don't remember when, why, or specifically how I picked this up, but here's seeing what it's all about.

Character generation is five steps: 1) roll Stats, 2) pick a Way, 3) choose Accomplishments, 4) get Equipment, and 5) roll Hits. (It even says that picking a name and developing some personality is nice, but optional.) Anyway, seems simple enough. Here goes:

Aftan Charaka

Level
: 1
Tier: 1
Hits: 4

STATS:
  • Physique: 11
  • Craft: 11
  • Spirit: 8 (random events tend to hit him)
WAY OF MAGIC (1)
  • Spells: Unveil Arcana, Apprentices Delight (0), Tumbleclicks (1)
  • Mana: 1
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
  • Track down the automaton that killed his master / learn the secret knowledge it stole
EQUIPMENT
  • Set of humble clothes, a pair of cheap sandals, and a hat
  • Long walking staff
  • Belt
  • Hatchet
  • Shoulder bag containing (blanket, wooden cup, 7 days rations consisting of hard biscuits and cheese)
  • Bundle wrapped in waterproof waxed cloth containing (three torches, tinder and flint, a pair of warm and fluffy socks)
  • Grimoire
  • Mana vessel (Level 1)
  • Talisman (Level 6)
  • Talisman (Level 4)
  • Talisman (Level 4)
  • Talisman (Level 6)
  • 2 Thaler coins

BACKGROUND
Hey! By the rules this is optional! And I already gave you a name, which is also optional according to RAW! So there! I imagine that Aftan inhabits a fantasy setting, but that his brand of wizardry is more like weird, pulpy science than anything else. The master he was apprenticed to created a Frankenstein's monster-style automaton that went berserk and killed the master before running off. Aftan is now after it, kinda to avenge his master (who wasn't really a nice guy), kinda to protect people from harm (because that sounds altruistic), but mostly because it escaped with some knowledge that he wants.

There's some stuff in AFG that seems interesting. Any of you know more about this system than I do?

All the best,

TGIDragonfly
 
Day 10: Rider, Independence Games
(This is another Cepheus Engine variant, with an Old West theme)

Luther Karlsen
Army 3/Vagabond 1/Stagecoacher 2, Age 39

Strength 10
Dexterity 11
Endurance 7
Intelligence 8
Education 3
Charisma 7

Background: Midwestern Farmer (Native Language: English, Language (Swedish) 2)

Skills: Animals (Farm)-1, Animals (Riding)-2, Athletics (Endurance)-1, Carouse-0, Drive (Stagecoach)-1, Gun Combat (RIfle)-1, Gun Combat (Revolver)-1, Language (Swedish)-2, Melee (Bladed)-1, Navigation-2, Persuade-0, Recon-2, Stealth-0, Streetwise-1, Survival (Plains)-0

Gear: Cavalry Saber, Smith & Wesson Schofield Revolver with 2 Speedloaders and 100 Rounds, Winchester Model 1873 Rifle with 100 Rounds, Gun Belt with Holster, Rifle Scabbard, 2 Cartridge Bags, Leather Duster, Average Set of Clothing, Boots, Average Saddle, American Quarter Horse ("Gustav"), $152.75

Contacts: Mary Fontaine, General Store Owner and Former Flame

Backstory: Luther grew up on a farm in the American Midwest to parents who had immigrated from Sweden. The Civil War started during his late teenage years, and when he was of age, he enlisted in the Army and was assigned to a Cavalry regiment due to his prior experience with horses and riding from his parents' farm. He served with distinction, and was eventually commissioned as a Lieutenant. He remained in the Army for some time after the war as well, and was posted at various forts in the West, but never achieved a higher rank, and was later discharged after becoming injured during a riding accident. After he recovered, he spent several years wandering and taking odd jobs where he could, before finding longer-term employment with a stagecoach company as a driver. He found this work to be a good fit for his skills and experience with riding and overland travel (plus, his skill with weapons helped on multiple occasions). During this time, he met Mary Fontaine, a widowed owner of a general store who became an on-again, off-again paramour. Recently, he parted ways with the stagecoach line over a pay dispute, and is thinking about settling down with Mary. He just wants to earn a bit more money first, and fortunately, there are plenty of ways in the West to do that.
 
Day 10

So, I'm exhausted after my first day back at work after getting better from COVID and have very little energy for character creation. Consequently, I decided to open my hard drive, go to the first RPG that I've purchased but never played, and follow whatever steps they give me for character generation. At the top of my list is AFG or Adventure Fantasy Game. Honestly, I don't remember when, why, or specifically how I picked this up, but here's seeing what it's all about.
I'd never heard of this game but its Pay what you Want on Drivethrurpg so I'm browsing it now.
 
Day 10

Okay, here's a character from an upcoming product I'm releasing in the near-ish future (still have some work and testing to do before it's ready. It's a fantasy rules set using my 4C Expanded rules as its base. This is one of the template characters you will be able to use straight out of the book, the Blade Magus (think Witcher).

Name: Yarran Nightwielder
Race: Elf
Class: Warrior Mage
Template: Blade Magus
Height: 5' 2"
Weight: 145 lbs
Age: 327

Melee:20Health:80SpellsEnergy TypeLevelRank
Agility:20Fate:36Combat AwarenessSelf140
Strength:30Renown:20AnchorSelf250
Stamina:10Melee Damage:12
Intellect:20 (30)Init. Mod.:+3
Vision:6 (10)Armor Value:10
Ego:10MEL:120
SkillsTraitLevelRank
Arcane LoreIntellect140
ArcheryAgility240 (50)
Blunt WeaponsMelee240
DodgeAgility240
Edged WeaponsMelee350 (75)
RidingAgility130
Spell CraftIntellect250
StealthAgility240

Racial Abilities
Elves Receive +1 Row Steps to Intellect and Vision Trait values at character creation​
Night Vision 2 Sectors (60 yards)​
+1 RS to attacks with long swords and any bow​
Immune to charm based magic​

Weapons
WeaponTypeRangeDamage
Long SwordSlashing-Str +10 (40)
Long BowPiercing7 Sectors10
DaggerPiercing/Slashing1 SectorStr +6 (36) / 6

Equipment
Chain Mail Suit (AV 10)​
Standard Adventurer's Pack (50 feet of rope, 12 candles, flint and steel, a waterskin and a bedroll)​
Treasure
50 Gold Pieces​

Yarran Nightwielder was born into the Golnyrri Clan in the mythical Elven city of Stassi Daar. The Golnyrri have produced some of the most powerful Blade Magi known in the world of Miggadu. The Blade Magi serve to protect the city of Stassi Daar and most importantly, the temple of the Great Mother. Most Blade Magi never set foot very far beyond the edges of the Forest of Keltre, but Yarran has received divine inspiration to seek out the fabled Blade of Endyarrys, an enchanted long sword said to have been forged by the father of his clan in the first days of the elves. Rumors tell that the blade is held by Umruke, the orcish chieftain of the Stone Coyote clan in the foothills of the eastern slopes of the Dragon's Tail Mountains. Yarran has set out toward the Hills of Jarund, one of the first of many dangerous locales on his quest for his ancestral blade.

The Blade Magi is a mixed class of Warrior and Mage. They spend a lot of time learning to fight with conventional weaponry, but they also receive special arcane training in casting spells while weaving magical sigils with specially forged and enchanted swords known as Spell Cleavers. A Blade Magus cannot cast a spell without their sword, though they can fight with almost any normal blade. The Spell Cleaver is special to the Blade Magus, but he or she can take up a different blade if it was created to replace a lost or destroyed weapon, or if the newer blade grants the Magus more power. A Spell Cleaver acts in a similar fashion as a wand or staff in that it can be charged with an amount of the Magus' personal Magical Energy Level (MEL) that can be used to cover the cost of the spells being cast. The Magus must charge the weapon each night by meditating with it for at least two hours during the rest period. A blade can be enchanted to hold any number of charges, and most weapons will have at least 50 to 100. Yarran's current Spell Cleaver has a capacity of 100 charges.
 
OK, so I decided to try a character for a very obscure game I've owned but never done much with, Dream Along With Me, that I purchased from a Wild Hunt or Alarums & Excursions contributor. Not really knowing the game, I have no idea how effective this character is but I wanted to try out a spell caster.

Cees the Mage

Attributes

Strength 15
Constitution 12 (was 4)
Dexterity 14
Agility 14
Intelligence* 19 (several rolls)
Will 13
Talent* 23 (was 12 after several rolls then took Very High Characteristic and rolled 4-6 on 1d6 3 times)
Power* 14 (1st roll)
Age 22
Attribute Pts 16
Soc Level 8 Villager - 70 Blacksmith 3 sp/day, starting money 180 sp
Size 12
Frame 17
Height 142 + 15 + 2 * 12 = 181 cm
Weight 38 + 12 + 17 = 67 kg
Rel STR 14 + 15 - 67 / 5 = 16
Tac Move 181 / 20 + 16 / 4 = 13
Exhaustion (16 + 12 + 13) / 4 = 10
Pain Level 67 / 10 + 13 / 4 = 10
Incapacitation (67 + 12) / 4 = 20
Crit Dmg Lvl 3 + (12 + 17 + (12 + 15) / 2 ) / 20 = 5

Assigned initial re-rolls to INT, TAL, and POW. Used post-reroll on CON.

Background


I need to write two paragraphs for age plus describe the Oath of Revenge from below… It is about the man who stole away Cees’s love interest.

I'm not writing this because this character isn't grounded in a campaign which obviously would factor into the background.

Special Attributes

15 Very High Characteristic (Talent) (12 was a bit low for a spell caster)
2 Light Sleeper
3 Extra Magic Resistant
4 Natural Detect Magic
1 Extra Money + 20 sp
-2 Vegetarian
-2 Unrequited Love
-2 Will not Kill
-3 Oath of Revenge

Skills

Training Points 60 + 66 = 126

SkillDifficultyCostTotal Skill Points SpentLevel
Spellcasting8 + 4 = 1212Unranked
General Magic66 + 12 + 18 + 4 = 40523
Light Magic4 - 1 + 25571 (total 4)
Illumination1 + 23531 (total 5)
Darkness1 + 23561 (total 5)
Blur11 + 2 + 2 = 5612 (total 6)
Body Magic4 - 13 + 6 + 4 = 13742 (total 5)
Heal11 + 2 + 2 = 5792 (total 7)
Sleep of Health1 + 23821 (total 6)
Close Wounds1 + 23851 (total 6)
Metamagic4 - 13 + 6 + 4 = 13982 (total 5)
Detect Spell1 + 231011 (total 6)
Detect Enchantment11 + 2 + 2 = 51062 (total 7)
Disrupt Enchantment11 + 2 + 3 + 2 = 81143 (total 8)
Counter Magic1 + 231171 (total 6)
Staff3 + 251221
Wilderness Living221241
Riding2 + 131271
Singer111281
Native Language3

Money and Gear

200 sp
------
60 Hard Leather (armor doesn’t seem to affect spell casting but this is the best armor he can remotely afford)
5 Quarterstaff
30 Personal Camping Gear
5 Flint and Tinder Box
4 Traveller’s Rations for 4 days
10 Work Clothing
80 2 Extra Skill Point
-------
194 total spent
-------
6 sp Cash
 
Bah, so I'm anticipating only by a few minutes for ... Day 11:

Lord Morvathis, Evil! High! Priest!
(character made with TFT)

ST 10
DX 12
IQ 14

Talents:
Ax/Mace, Literacy, Priest, Courtly Graces, Theologian, Tactics

Spells: Curse, 3-Hex Fire

Morvathis is a High Priest in one of those classic Evuuul! cults, a nasty god that requires sacrifice by throwing screaming victims into volcanoes after much torture (but will settle for a bonfire if no volcanoes are conveniently handy). The neighboring Evuuul! Empire has invaded the local domain of good, honor, truth and all those other classic Hollywood/LG virtues. Morvathis is the chaplain of the military force, and tasked with imposing the worship of his god on the locals; he has a modest warchest at his disposal, as well as a cowed acolyte and a half-dozen soldiers under his personal orders. Officially, he’s under the orders of the commander of the invading force. For all practical purposes, though, he operates independently, although he’s smart enough not to work at cross-purposes with the army without a damn good reason.

So much for the cliches.

Handsome, blond, young, with twinkling deep blue eyes, Morvathis has an easy, kind manner, dresses neatly and cleanly in bright cheerful colors, doesn’t stand on ceremony (“Please. That ‘Lord’ thing is so pompous, don’t you think? ‘Morvathis’ is fine.”), and doesn’t get bent out of shape by people disagreeing with him or dissing his god. He is a dedicated and faithful servant of his faith, and will not shrink for a moment to carry out his duties as he sees fit – including torturing people for necessary information and burning screaming victims alive – but he sees no reason to get nasty about it. The following would be representative dialogue:

“Well, sir, you ARE going to be sacrificed to Lady Kulshedra ... mmm, an hour or so, yes. But here – Sadric, put a cushion under the fellow’s head, that stone slab is rough – may I have my servant fetch you some tea? And I have discretion as to the disposal of your remains ... do you have next of kin who would appreciate them? My servant can take down any last messages you care to dictate – dear me, my mother would give me the back of her hand for speaking so, of course I cannot relay THOSE as your last words! Come, let us be civil, at the least!”

Beyond that, he is a practiced tactician, and will use his men sensibly and well. This little province is not the hill he plans to die on, and he’ll retreat in good order if need be. Nor is he going to go out of his way to get revenge on people who foil his Evuuul! plans ... not unless there’s the aforementioned damn good reason to do so. Cruelty is a tool, not the rationale.
 
Day 11: Forbidden Lands

Name: Koranna
Kin: Half-elf
Profession: Sorcerer
Age: 21
Reputation: 0

Pride: Nothing scares you, as you have seen the world behind the veil.
Dark Secret: Your yearning for more magical power is stronger than anything else.

Attributes:
-------------------
Strength: 2
Agility: 3
Wits: 6
Empathy: 4

Skills:
-------------------
Healing(empathy) 1
Lore(wits) 3
Insight(wits) 2
Manipulation(empathy) 1
Melee(strength) 1

Talents:
-------------------
Psychic Power 1
Path of Signs 1
Herbalist 1

Coin: 3sp
Gear: Knife, Sleeping Fur
Resources: Food D6, Water D8
Appearance: I often 'cast' actors as my characters in my head to picture them, and for Koranna I keep envisioning Danielle Panabaker for the part. So, yeah, she's pretty cute. Which in my reality means you better sleep with one eye open when she's around.


Forbidden Lands is the first game in the challenge that I have never actually played nor run (yet). It presents like an old school sandbox, but uses the Year Zero Engine. Character creation proved simple enough. You start by selecting your race, called kin in this game. I was tempted to go with "wolfkin", who are exactly what they sound like, but rolled the dice and landed on half elf instead using the table in the Legends & Adventurers supplement. Other race options are human, elf, dwarf, halfling, orc and goblin. Initially I planned to roll for everything using Legends & Adventurers but abandoned that after the first roll, deciding instead that I knew exactly how I wanted to build this character. So for profession I chose Sorcerer. Next I rolled her age, which isn't someting the book has you do, but I decided that doing 17 + 2d6 would be interesting and rolled really low, making her 21 years old. She's young, which means that she gets 15 points to spend on attributes and 8 points to spend on skills and 1 point for talents. In Forbidden Lands, the older you are, the fewer points you get for attributes, but the more points you gain for skills & talents. The spread isn't enough to make a huge different in any direction, but it's an interesting mechanical choice to make. You can see above exactly how those points got spent. The only thing to note is that you get a "kin talent" and a "profession talent" in addition to the points allocated for general talents. Koranna's talents make spell casting easier, and gives her access to the magical discipline of "Symbolism", which uses runes, sigils and such at rank 1. Both Pride and Dark Secret would ordinarily be something I made up, but for the challenge I used entries from the book.

Her motivation roll in Mythic = "imprison" + "reality". This made me laugh out loud. The more sorcerous knowledge she gains, the more her ambitions grow, and one day the known world will kneel before her as its new master. Or so the ego-maniacal plan goes. She'll need to be both patient and cautious, for such ambitions could get her killed.

She's technically complete and ready for play. I had planned to generate a bit of a background for her, but it's 4am for me and I'm finally out of steam. So I think I'll let her loose into her world right here, and will discover more about her if I ever get her to a real game.
 
Day 11 and Mini Six.

William Fox

Might 2D
Agility 2D

Dodge 4D
Pistol 3D
Wit 4D
Charm 4D

Diplomacy 5D
Persuasion 5D

Perk - Perceptive
Equipment - Flintlock Pistol 3D+2

William is the quartermaster aboard the pirate ship, The Pillager. He was a noble onboard a prize and was persuaded to join the crew, he actually enjoys it now, rather than the boring life he would have been subjected to in Tobago. He is very persuasive and good at holding the crew together, which is just as well as the captain is a drunkard. He's not very good in combat, preferring to avoid it at all costs if possible and work from range, due to his position the men don't mind. He's great at picking up small clues on the crew, which he uses to keep the ship on an even keel.
 
Day 11: D6 Adventure

Calista Hartwell is a hard hitting reporter. She made her name exposing corruption in city politics, but she’s since then also spent time in several war zones as well as Washington DC. Her assignments often put her in danger, whether from political retaliation or bullets. And the latest story she’s stumbled upon promises to be her biggest yet.

Name: Calista Hartwell
Occupation: Correspondent
Species: Human
Age: 29
Gender: Female
Height: 5’7’’
Weight: 130 lbs
Physical Description: Calista has wavy brown hair, green eyes and tan skin. She looks equally at home on the red carpet, in the newsroom or dodging bullets in a Middle Eastern warzone.

Reflexes 2D+2
acrobatics
brawling
climbing
contortion
dodge 3D
flying
jumping
melee combat
riding
sneak 3D

Coordination 2D
lockpicking 2D+2
marksmanship 2D+1
missile weapons
piloting 3D
sleight of hand
throwing

Physique 2D+1
lifting
running 3D
stamina
swimming

Presence 3D
animal handling
charm 3D+2
command
con
disguise
intimidation
persuasion 4D
willpower 3D+1

Knowledge 4D
business
demolitions
forgery
languages 4D+2
medicine
navigation
scholar
security
tech

Perception 4D
artist
gambling
hide
investigation
know-how
repair
search 4D+2
streetwise 4D+1
survival
tracking

Extranormal 0D

Fate Points 1

Character Points 5

Funds 4D

Move 10

Advantages
contacts (R1), has a number of casual friends in politics
equipment (R2), a friend allows Calista to use her personal airplane any weekend she likes
fame (R1), well known for her well-researched tracts

Disadvantages
advantage flaw: contacts (R1), Calista’s contacts insist she exchange details on her activities for their expertise
employed (R1), Calista has to periodically publish articles in order to keep her fame
devotion (R1), Calista feels a great need to make sure the truth comes out
quirk (R2), Calista is almost compulsively honest

Equipment
Radio, flashlight, backpack, spare clothes, personal kit, camera, journal, and pens, smartphone.

Process
Well, this one was easy. I thought about not using the templates, but the correspondent one seemed perfect for my idea, so I went with it. I distributed her skill dice freely though, putting points mainly in skills I thought would help her get the story. Since she's compulsively honest, I didn't put as much into the subterfuge skills as I could have. Also, the improvement to the pilot skill was mainly because of her ability to borrow an airplane on any weekend.
 
For character # 5, I'm going to use Tiny Living Dead from the Tiny D6 line. Looks like the extent of the setting info in the book is, "There are zombies." That's fine, I prefer making up my own stuff to learning published setting lore. For the source of zombies, I'm going to go with the Night of the Living Dead style, "something vague to do with radiation that gets no further explanation."

Name your survivor and give them a little bit of backstory, including a Family Trade.

Johnny Ash, age 19, was raised in the tiny town of Clifton, Virginia, population 180, located about an hour southwest of Washington, D.C. His father worked on pollution policies for the federal government, and his mother taught marksmanship. She could handle most any type of firearm, but was especially proficient with, and especially liked, rifles. She occasionally alluded to a past of doing shady things on behalf the government to worse-than-shady people, but for as long as Johnny can remember, his mom's job has been teaching marksmanship to civilians for recreational target shooting. Thus Johnny's family trade is Shootist. Johnny lost contact with both of his parents during the first week of the Zombie outbreak. He thinks they're probably both dead, but still holds onto a sliver of hope that he may find them still alive.

Define your character's look, outfit, and personal situation.

Johnny is tall and very skinny, weighing in at only 140 lbs at 6'2". He has found that lightweight clothing is best for running from zombies, so he typically wears a track suit and running shoes. He didn't much like running prior to the zombie outbreak, but now he finds it very useful. Johnny is the type who gets along pretty well with everyone, but isn't really close with anyone. He didn't really have a social circle prior to the outbreak, but he's learning to care for others in the band of survivors he fell in with.

Start with 6 Hit Points, and select 3 Traits from the list. I select:
  • Born Fighter. This lets me immediately take 1 turn (2 Actions) when combat starts, before Initiative is rolled.
  • Eidetic Memory. This give me better odds to recall information.
  • Marksman. Increase odds of hitting with a ranged weapon.
Select a weapon group to be proficient with: Ranged.
And a specific weapon to master: bolt-action rifle.

Take one specific weapon, ideally one your character has mastered: bolt-action rifle, which Johnny calls Betsy. My RL knowledge of guns is minimal, which is why I'm not specifying make/model/caliber/etc.

Characters have a driving principle, called a Belief. Johnny's is "The zombie outbreak will end, and then the world will get better."

The more free-form elements of character creation in this system made me really dig into who this guy is. That was fun, and now I want to play him!
 
Day 11 Liminal

Name: Dennis "Den" Gill
Drive: To get the buzz back
Age: 62
Focus: Magician Skill Cap: 4

Physical Skills: Awareness 2, Stealth 1, Vehicles 1
Mental Skills: Education 1, Lore 4 (Speciality: Practical Magic)
Social Skills: Charm 1, Streetwise 2, Taunt 3 (Speciality: Provoke)

Traits: Countermagic, Magic (Geomancy), Magic (Wards)

Endurance: 4

Will: 8

Knife d6+1

Background: Den Gill, ace face with a killer smile and a suit to match. The enfant terrible of the magic scene, thumbing his nose at those stuffed shirts in their cloaks with their books full of Latin. A charming bastard, hopping from spell to spell almost as frequently as he hops from bed to bed.

But that was the eighties. It's 2022 and Den has a smoker's cough, three divorces and two adult kids he hasn't spoken to in over a decade. He still knows how to do mage, but the thrill left years ago and was replaced with the early signs of alcoholism.

He's joined the crew to prove the old Den isn't completely dead, that he can still keep up with the kids, that he's still relevant. The hardest person to convince is going to be himself.
 
For character #6, I'll be using Rats in the Walls: A Roleplaying Game of Cosmic Horror, by Kobayashi. This game's default setting is the 1920s-1930s and it's designed for adventures that are Lovecraft-esque, but don't use the actual Lovecraft mythos. For the record, I've never read any Lovecraft, but I have played a few of the mythos-derived board games and seen the 2019 film version of Color Out of Space with Nicolas Cage.

Character creation looks pretty simple. Choose a profession: Lumberjack. As such, I automatically succeed on mundane tasks related to Lumberjacking.

A character has 5 attributes, and 5 points to distribute amongst them. I'll go with a spread that I think could reflect a Lumberjack:

Brawn: 2
Dexterity: 1
Violence: 0
Wits: 0
Willpower: 2

Next are secondary attributes:

Hit Points: 14 (10 + Brawn, +2 more from being a Lumberjack)
Sanity: 12 (10 plus Willpower)

Next, you choose a Reputation for your character. I choose Well-Travelled, which has the effects, "You never get lost as long as you're above ground. You learn new languages quite fast."

After that, you pick two items from the gear list. Trying to stick with things a Lumberjack could reasonably be assumed to have, I'll go with rope (15 m) and rucksack.

The section on weapons is worded unclearly, in that it provides a list, but doesn't say whether or not you start with a weapon. If you do, I'll take hatchet, once again because Lumberjack.

The next-to-last step is choose a name. My Lumberjack is a big, burly Swedish immigrant (I'm assuming a game set in the U.S., at least initially), so I will name him Hans Eriksson.

Finally, you choose languages. As a Swedish immigrant, it's logical that Hans would know both Swedish and English. Since Hans has the Well-Travelled Reputation, if the GM would allow it, I would take French as well.
 
For character #7, I'll be using Tactical Waifu. The game's description, verbatim from DTRPG is, "It's a hack of Lasers & Feelings, but with anime girl operators. There is no excuse for this."

Step 1 is "choose a generic personality for your character using dumb anime tropes. Tsundere, Yandere, Dojikko, ...etc."

I watch a little bit of anime, but not enough to know what any of those terms mean, so I'll just go with a trope from Western media: the nerd girl who everyone somehow fails to notice is hot until she takes off her glasses and lets her hair down.

Step 2 is choose an unnatural hair color. Midnight blue.

Step 3 is choose your number, with a high number being better at Tactical things and a low number being better at Waifu things. I choose the number 2.

Step 4 is give your character a name befitting a Japanese schoolgirl. I'll take Yukio for a given name, after the character from Wolverine comics, and Fukushima for a surname, because I had a classmate with that name and it's fun to say.

Next step is character goal: choose one from the list or create your own. To keep things simple, I'll choose one from the list, specifically "See the World."

Then the group of players is supposed to choose two attractive traits and one failing for the cute male classmate we're trying to save. Since I'm the only player, I'll do it myself: Well-Spoken, Musically Talented, and Clumsy.

Finally, it's time to create a crisis by rolling 4d6:

Communist Rebels want to kill the Class President, which will crash the economy.

Heck, I've played in, and have come up with, dumber plots, so sure, that sounds fine.

Part of me is very attracted to ultra-light systems like this. Another part wonders if there's really enough game there. I guess the only way to find out is to play. :smile:
 
#11 Doctor Who
This marks a transition from British games to SF games with one that is both.
I had a campaign planned but have never gotten to play Doctor Who. I like how it tries shape the action away from straight up combat - the doctor faces enemies that totally outclass him in that department.

I have an earlier version of the game (Tennant). I looked at updating the character with the newer version I got in a Bundle of Holding but the Traits changed enough that I decided it would take effort and left her as is.

Cassie started as an NPC and might be poorly balanced as a PC. I screwed around trying to poor every possible psychic trait on one character, which required taking the inexperienced trait with makes her attribute and skill totals low. The original idea was someone able to know so much that everyone simultaneously wanted to use her and were afraid of her. I called her The Girl Who Saw Everything.

With all the pdfs of products including all the doctor books from bundles, I may never make a character again - I can just grab any major character and use their stats.


1641949898639.png
 
Character number 8 will use the Quick Character Creation option from Dead Reign RPG Preview, a zombie game published by Palladium. I don't own the full rules.

This is my first time attempting to make a character for any Palladium game, and I'm already running into the issue I've often read about of details being explained unclearly, or not at all. Nevertheless, I will proceed. And it should be fairly easy, since it looks like I can pretty much roll for everything. First it says to roll for one of the categories below, but it doesn't say what to roll. But the results are percentages, so I'll go with 1d100.

Got a 39%, which makes me Charismatic and suggests one of the following OCCs: Shepherd of the Damned, Soldier, or Survivor. I'll choose Shepherd of the Damned, just because it sounds awesome. I have no idea what it actually does yet. I know from reading about other Palladium games that OCC means "occupational character class," but it doesn't actually say that in this mini-book.

Now I'm rolling for Alignment. Got 86%, which yields Anarchist. The book says you should probably just let a player choose their character's sex, but I'm rolling for everything else, so I'll roll for this, too: 92% means female. Age is 43%, which means 22-29 years old. I guess I'll choose a specific number from that range, and pick 27, hoping I go out like a rock star. Physical build is 44%, which yields, "Built; muscular and chiseled." I feel like I've got enough to go on to name my character now. Readers, meet Jazmine Paprika!

Next thing to roll for is height, and I got 21%, which yields "Short, under 5'8." Which makes me laugh because there's just one chart, not one for men and one for women, and 5'8" is pretty tall for an American woman! Per the CDC, in 2018, the average height for an American adult woman was 5'4".

Rolling for birth order, I get 3%, which means first-born. It doesn't specify first-born of how many, though. Rolled 96% on Environment Growing Up, which means I'm from a small to medium sized city. Just for fun, I'll make her hometown Kansas City, Missouri.

Now we come to one of the more interesting charts, Survivor Family Loss. I got 19%, which means "Lost everyone. Doesn't believe she has any family left; last in the line. Feels great loss."

On to the Relationship to Teammates chart, where you're supposed to roll for each character in the player group. I'm not going to make a full party, but I will declare that there are 3 other teammates in the group, Abby, Bob, and Charlie. Relationship to Abby is 58%, "Fellow survivor and that's good enough for them." Relationship to Bob is 45%, which means friend. Finally, relationship to Charlie is 83%, which means my character finds Charlie "a bit annoying, but tolerable." BTW, on this chart, results of 0-10% = sibling and 11-20% = cousin or other relative. I would have laughed if I had rolled one of those results, since the previous table said my character lost everyone.

Next up, we have Special Aptitude Bonus. In a nice bit of synergy, I rolled 99%, which means my Special Aptitude is Charismatic/Charmer. "+1d4+2 to M.A., this character is especially likeable and affable." I have no idea what M.A. is.

Backing up to first table, where I rolled the Charismatic result, it gives a package of stats, so let's get those.

IQ 1d6+11 = 13.
ME 1d6+9 = 10. Man, I'm rolling like shit so far for these!
MA 1d6+18 = 21. And I think I maybe add my Special Aptitude Bonus to that, so I end up with 24. Still rolling like shit!
PS 1d4+10 = 12. The trend continues!
PP 1d4+10 = 13
PE 1d6+8 = 12. Finally, a pretty decent roll!
PB 1d6+14 = 16.
Spd 1d6+9 = 15. My only excellent roll in this set!

There is no explanation in this document of what the initialisms for these stats stand for, or what the stats are used for. So I basically have no idea the relevance of the rolls I just made.

Dead Reign RPG Preview lives up to it's name- It's just bits of pieces of the full game. I still have no idea what a Shepherd of the Damned does, because none of the OCC information is included in this document. So one can't really use this document as a quick-start, unless one is fine with just making up a bunch of the rules. But, like a good movie preview, it has gotten me pretty interested in the world & wanting to know more. So it wasn't an effective quick-start (and to be fair, it is entitled Preview, not Quick-Start), but it was effective advertising. I'm not in the market for another zombie game, but if I was, I would probably consider Dead Reign. I've often read about Palladium that their games are fun underneath all the wonkiness and poor explanations, and that does seem to be the case here.
 
Time for character number 9! From Conspiracist: The Game THEY Didn't Want You to Play! The exclamation point is part of the title, BTW, and not an E-Rocker addition. In this 20-page game, you play as low-level henchmen of the Illuminati.

First step is to choose a race. There are only two options, Human or Reptilian. Reptilians can disguise themselves as human. They get a bonus to senses and a penalty to social interactions. That sounds more fun than being human. I choose Reptilian! I think my Reptilian doesn't quite get humans, so for his "human name," he chose Hoonry Junsun.

Second step is to choose two Specialties. There are two columns of words, and you choose one from the left column and one from the right column to make a specialty. I choose Scientific Fear-Mongering and Crowdsourced Sabotage.

Third step is choose an Occupation. I choose Hacker, which gives me Digital Sneaking as a bonus Specialty.

Final step is to choose a Motivation. I choose Loyalty. My Reptilian family has always been Loyal to the Illuminati, although we've always been bottom-level cogs in the Illuminati machine, and I want to keep up the family tradition.

That's it, done. I'm ready to play!
 
Day 11

Still in this! We'll see how things go next week when I start teaching night classes at the local university. Anyway, today I'm making a Numenera character. I'd played The Strange about 4 years ago but never owned the book or got past the first session of play. I recently picked up Numenera, however, and have started a short campaign to see how I like it. I haven't, however, made any characters. That's for my players to do. So, here goes my first one.

qEkaGlt.jpg


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Unfortunately, many of these characters that I'm posting are made through free association as I go through the book. I'm not even reading the abilities for games that I'm unfamiliar with; I'm just picking the first one that my eyes land on as I skim the page. I just don't have the time or energy to be more thoughtful right now, but it's fun going through giving these systems a first pass.
 
Day 11: Rules Cyclopedia Basic D&D, TSR/Wizards of the Coast

Name: Lorian of the Righteous Sun
Class: Cleric
Alignment: Lawful
Level: 1

Strength: 10
Intelligence: 13 (+1 bonus)
Wisdom: 16 (+2 bonus)
Dexterity: 7 (-1 penalty)
Constitution: 12
Charisma: 10

Hit Points: 4
Armor Class: 3 (Plate Mail 2, Shield -1, Dex Penalty +1)
Experience Points: 0
Experience Point Bonus: +10%
THAC0: 19

Saving Throws
Death Ray/Poison: 11
Magic Wands: 12
Paralysis/Turn to Stone: 14
Dragon Breath: 16
Rod/Staff/Spell: 15 (13 vs spells)

Languages: Common, Lawful, Elvish
Weapon Proficiencies: Mace: Basic, Sling: Basic
General Skills: Bravery, Ceremony (Righteous Sun), Detect Deception, Healing, Knowledge (Religion)
Class Abilities: Turn Undead (Skeleton 7, Zombie 9, Ghoul 11)

Gear: Plate Mail, Shield, Mace, Sling with 30 Sling Stones, Holy Symbol of the Righteous Sun, Backpack, Middle-Class Clothing, Boots, Long Cloak, Belt Pouch, 50' Rope, Mirror, 1 Week of Iron Rations, 2 Waterskins, 21 gp, 5 sp

Backstory: Lorian is a newly-anointed acolyte of the Righteous Sun, a church militant devoted to driving evil from the land in all its forms. Despite being of low rank, he is already well known in the order for his sound judgment and keen insight into human (and demi-human) behavior. He is also known for being a bit on the clumsy side, though nobody says this to his face. He has learned the Elvish tongue as part of his religious studies, and could probably have made a fine apprentice wizard if he had not chosen the church, but he wanted a life that would let him serve on the front line of combat, rather than having to be protected by those stronger than him. Lorian is eager to prove his bravery; hopefully it will not lead to his ruin.
 
Day 11

Another one of my 1st edition AD&D characters currently hacking his way through Castle Greyhawk. He's a specialty priest of Celestian fresh on the trail of adventure. He's survived three sessions so far, so maybe he'll hang around for a while.

Name: Valoric Neumathsen
Race: Human
Alignment: Neutral Good
Class: Cleric / Specialty Priest of Celestian
Level: 1

AC: 5
HP: 7

Str: 14
Int: 11
Wis: 16
Dex: 12
Con: 13
Cha: 7

Languages: Common, Alignment, Orc, Elf

Weapons
Short Sword​
Quarterstaff​

Equipment
Chainmail Armor​
Backpack​
Starry Robes of Celestian​
Holy Symbol​
Hooded Lantern​
50' Rope​
3 Flasks of Oil​
Small Belt Pouch​
Tinder Box / Flint & Steel​
2 Weeks Iron Rations​
Spells
Cure Light Wounds​
Bless​
Sanctuary​
Specialty Spell: Feather Fall​
Valoric and his Elven mage friend Ba'jee Buus have recently tied their fates with that of a haughty Dwarven warrior with a pair of human hirelings who are the sole survivors from the first two expeditions and a human warrior and his four fresh men at arms who have joined the party at the same time.

So far we've explored the surface ruins. Fought a group of kobolds who were trying to pilfer our cart we'd left at our base camp, burned down a house filled with zombies, and killed a couple of giant spiders in the ruins of the castle stables. We've found some loot and are heading back to the City of Greyhawk, hopefully to level up and get some more supplies for another run. Good times!
 
Day #11
Shatterzone

NameMurray VanDerWal
Height6'3"
Weight220 lbs
Age67
SexMale
ATTRIBUTESACTIONS
Agility8Maneuver8
Dexterity8
Endurance7
Strength6
Intellect8Trick8
Mind8
Confidence10Intimidation
Charisma10Taunt12
Toughness7
Life Points5
Skills and Specialization
Skill AddSpecializationAddAttribute ValueSkill Value
Charm21012
Persuasion31013
Taunt21012
Con21012
Interrogation21012
Linguistics2810
Perception3811
Business2810
Psychology2810
AdvantagesCompensations
Contacts4Elder4
Culture3Enemy3
Wealth3Reputation2

Murray was a fairly celebrated career diplomat. That is until he was caught taking a bribe during a negotiation. Some say the scandal played a part in the Presidents failed re-election campaign. He's still seen as a competent negotiator and diplomat but he wont be holding any office of prestige anytime soon.


* Shatterzone has a fairly simple character generation. This was nice and if the system plays as well as character generation I could see using it.
 
Day 12:

This was a character of mine in a GURPS campaign ... and indeed, the most recent time I got to be a PC. (Nearly eight years ago now, damnit.) It was a near-future, gritty, somewhat dystopian setting in a giant arcology, and my guy was a private detective who was a former police sergeant and jumped-up former gangbanger. You'll note that the character has no skill in firearms, which is deliberate: 4th edition firearms rules make my head hurt, three other characters were happily diving down the Gun Fu rathole, and I figured that I'd (a) come up with someone who could take down foes non-lethally, and (b) avoid making my head hurt.

A couple other explanations. The Extra Attack is bought down, with the proviso that in order to execute it, it HAS to be a left hand strike followed up by a right-side kick. The Trademark involves "reading over foes" -- what this involved was that I'd recite some religious verse (from just about any faith under the sun) over any enemy I took down, and leaving a card with the verse on the fallen body. To that end, I had a sheet with about twenty different examples -- from the Q'uran to the Bible to the Book of the Dead to the Book of Mormon and so forth -- and rotated through them. Baffled the hell out of the other players, but what the heck, right? (grins)

The background is a page we were asked to submit. The character is from the starting point, at 150 pts.

Nighthawk (GURPS character)

ST 11, DX 13, IQ 12, HT 11 Speed/Move 6

Advantages: Courtesy Rank+2/ex-Vigile sergeant, Extra Attack/Karate LH/R kick sequence, High Pain Threshold, Luck, Muay Thai, Striking ST+1.

Disadvantages: Addiction/tobacco, Chronicler, Code of Honor (Professional), Disciplines of Faith, Disowned, Enemy (unknown), Language: Chinese (Accented, spoken only), Slow Riser, SOD: close friends, Struggling Wealth, Trademark (reading over foes)

Skills: Acting-11; Administration-11; Carousing-12; Connisseur/tobacco-11; Criminology-12; Electronics Ops (Security, TL 9)-12; First Aid-12; Gambling-11; Games/Muay Thai-11; Interrogation-11; Intimidation-13; Karate-17; Law/Police-10; Meditation-10; Savoir-Faire/Police-12; Search-13; Shadowing-12; Stealth-12; Streetwise-13; Teaching-12.

Quirks: Not remotely materialistic, Pipe smoker, Laconic, Will only reluctantly answer to "John" Nighthawk and prefers the mononym.

I wanna feel sunlight on my face,
I see the dust cloud disappear without a trace,
I wanna take shelter from the poison rain -
Where the streets have no name.


Nighthawk grew up on the streets of the arcology. He imagined no other life, wanted no other life ... and until quite recently, knew no other life.

His House held the provincial legal monopoly and was very well-off, but from his earliest memories, street life fascinated him. Over and over again, he’d wander away from the private chariots and the parties to wander about, seeing the sights, tasting the foods, feeling the pavement beneath his feet. The clashes with his family increased – especially since the expensive education thrust upon him seemed to be going to waste – until after a shouting match he walked out of the glittering luxury home of his family, the marble of the foyer clattering metallically under his heels.

He was two months shy of seventeen years old.

I will remember you,
Your silhouette will charge the view -
Of distant atmosphere ...


Teenage boys in roughneck neighborhoods – and of course even a shining arcology has them – don’t often last long, but he had some money, and he’d learned how to act and how to present himself. The one training from his old life he’d appreciated was martial arts, to which he’d taken with a feral intensity which dismayed the teachers with their pristine dojos, immaculate gis and colored belts, and it served him well in more than one alley and vacant lot. Like so much detritus, his old name was left behind, and a street handle was all that remained: Nighthawk. He never recalled why he chose it, whether from a half-forgotten book or a vid title, but he’d answer to nothing else from then forward, seeking to be a shadow against the sky, flying through the darkness.

He watched, and he learned, and survived ... and when the carefully doled out money was finally exhausted, kept on surviving. Possessions and the trappings of wealth were cages, he decided ... they weighed you down, choked off your freedom of action, sucked away your resources, made you think you needed to defend them when it was beyond your ability to do so and safer to retreat. He didn’t then – and avoided thereafter – accumulate much more than he could carry.

From that district of the teeming city, it often seemed that youngsters had only three futures: to get out altogether, to turn criminal or to join the Vigiles.

Nighthawk picked the third option.
 
Day 12: Call of Cthulhu

Name: Samuel Woods
Occupation: Archaeologist
Age: 36
Credit rating: 30

Luck: 55
Damage Bonus: +0
Build: 0

Hit points: 12
Move: 8

Who plays him in the movie: Clark Gable

Attributes:
RatingHalfFifth
Strength603012
Constitution653213
Size603012
Dexterity30156
Appearance40208
Intelligence653213
Power40208
Education854217

Skills:
BaselineSkill Rating
Appraise545
Archaeology166
History545
Language(Ancient Greek)141
Library Use2060
Spot Hidden2555
Mechanical Repair1040
Science(geology)151
Firearms(Rifle)2555
First Aid3040
Persuade1040
Survival1045


Description: Rugged, with a worn appearance that comes from a lifetime in the sun, making him look older than he really is. He's deeply anti-religious and is troubled by how readily modern people still fall into the "God trap".

He has a wife he's drifted away from over time, and together they have a daughter that means the world to him. He knows the strained relationship with her mother hurts her, but doesn't know how to repair what's been broken. While his family sometimes comes to the exotic locales of his dig sites, more often than not his wife and daughter are home where time and distance only ever seem to do more harm.

Of his personal possessions, his old Henry lever-action rifle is is favorite, and he never leaves on dig without it and an ample supply of ammunition. These he mostly uses for target practice, but one never knows when an opportunity to go hunting might arise.

No rundown for character creation today. Firstly because I assume people know how CoC works. Secondly because I actually made him yesterday and my stupid computer did an update/restart overnight, losing my notes in the process. Just another reminder why all my other machines run Linux /grumble
 
Last edited:
#12 Classic Traveller
I was hugely into MegaTraveller at one point. But those books are hard to get to at the moment so I went with classic traveller, which is largely the same. There are a few little differences in versions which I can't remember - I used Facsimile Traveller which is based on the 1981 print.

Traveller was either the first or almost the first to be skill based. But it's most memorable feature is the lifepath career generation, which often invokes strong feelings in one direction or the other. It partially comes down to how much randomness vs control you like. In Traveller, not only your stats but your career and skills are largely random. In this version, you get 2 skills in the first term and some careers give you a freebie so you should start with a minimum of 2-3 skills. That isn't bad but you could find yourself next to characters with 8-10 skills. If you have a particular character in mind or worry about balance, this might not be the game for you. It also comes down to how much of a dick your gm is and whether they will let you start over a few times or tweak a roll to get what you want. The only tweaking I did was to take the optional rule that survival failure meant kicked out.

I personally love lifepath systems if they are good at getting random results to help you tell a story. Classic, book 1 is the most barebones of the life paths with much fancier options in later books and in Mega Traveller. These also tend to make stronger characters and I remember routinely butting against the limit on the number of skills.

The layout is a bit odd where you have to jump around a bit. All non-weapon equipment is also in a different book. I cut them some slack for being low budget and having to do layout without computers.

I made one character fully fleshed out but then made four more without equipment purchases. Because of lifepath generation.


Marine, Captain Bob Bixby, age 30
7A7569
Cutlass 1, revolver 1, laser carbine 2, grav car 1, gambling 1, mechanical 1
Cutlass, revolver, laser carbine & battery pack and electronic sights, cloth armor,
Mechanical tool set, long range communicator, hand computer
26,500 Cr, member of TAS

For mediocre stats, I got good career rolls. The navy is for fops and eggheads so he went marines. Managed to get a commission, which was hard with these stats. I opted out after 3 terms as he was unlikely to get promoted and aging effects were about to kick in. I wanted a fancy gun but he wouldn’t get the attack bonus with a laser rifle so I took carbine. I grabbed a computer and communicator as he’d be used to communicating with ships in orbit.


Merchant, Steebo Vansen, age 24
647789
Grav vehicle 1, navigation 1, 1000 cr.

He’s not a physical guy so tried to get in space through the merchants. He’s nothing special but his parents have some contacts and got him a decent education. There was an incident and someone had to get fired so the new guy got it. Now, he drives an air cab and his parents are very disappointed.
Failed a survival role 2nd term and I decided that meant kicked out with no gain for the term. When you get screwed in chargen, this is what it looks like.


Scout, Lady Etarine, age 28
A769BB
Pilot 1, Vacc suit 1, Medical 1, JoT 1
30,000 credits and Scout Ship

For a smart upperclass teen, the navy is the best place to gain connections. Things happened; she failed enlistment and wound up in the Scouts. Things were going ok until there was a jump drive failure that left her stranded for a year. It probably wasn’t her fault but after it could have been and the down time left her disconnected from the service. She was asked to consider leaving so she took the hint. Still, her social class got her a great severance package including the loan of a ship.
I had high hopes for her with those stats but she wound up in Scouts, which is hard to survive without high endurance. Again, I decided survival failure meant kicked out. Still, the mustering out rolls were heavenly.


Army Captain Liz Besda, age 22
7B8828
Rifle 2, dagger 1, air raft 1, smg 1
Rifle, 5000 Cr.

Liz is alright but has a reading disability. The army thought her ability to point a gun trumped that and quickly commissioned, then promoted her. A local war ended and units were disbanded, which left Liz without a job
This is a stereotypical army career, with easy commission, easy promotion, short career. In one term, due to promotions and automatically acquired skills, she got 5 skills and and a dex boost.


Other, “Commander” Calloway, age 30
767C83
Forgery 2, Computer 1, Cutlass 1
60,000 Cr.
I decided to make an ‘Other’ career character and got a low class character good at forgery. Coming from a low social class, I decided they love to forge documents that allow them to move among upper society.
 
Day #11
Shatterzone

NameMurray VanDerWal
Height6'3"
Weight220 lbs
Age67
SexMale
ATTRIBUTESACTIONS
Agility8Maneuver8
Dexterity8
Endurance7
Strength6
Intellect8Trick8
Mind8
Confidence10Intimidation
Charisma10Taunt12
Toughness7
Life Points5
Skills and Specialization
SkillAddSpecializationAddAttribute ValueSkill Value
Charm21012
Persuasion31013
Taunt21012
Con21012
Interrogation21012
Linguistics2810
Perception3811
Business2810
Psychology2810
AdvantagesCompensations
Contacts4Elder4
Culture3Enemy3
Wealth3Reputation2

Murray was a fairly celebrated career diplomat. That is until he was caught taking a bribe during a negotiation. Some say the scandal played a part in the Presidents failed re-election campaign. He's still seen as a competent negotiator and diplomat but he wont be holding any office of prestige anytime soon.


* Shatterzone has a fairly simple character generation. This was nice and if the system plays as well as character generation I could see using it.
I think I have the box set down in the basement. I bought it because it was similar to TORG and I really liked that game. The Shatterzone setting didn't click as well with my players (stuck on d6 Star Wars) so we never got around to playing it. Now I want to go dig this out and give it another read through.
 
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