Re: [All Systems] Process of Character Creation Examples
I justed posted a recap of a session of Dread over in that other forum, so this is still fresh in mind. Plus I have the character sheet right next to the computer here. The questions (in bold) were provided by the GM, the answers are mine. And that's all you need to do to create a character!
Quote:
You were a foreman at this mine six months ago when the men started to disappear, why have you chosen to cross the picket lines now?
The company has offered me a chance at a steady paycheck again if I can help get the mine up and running again.
What have you been doing these past six months to make ends meet?
I have been working at a stockboy at a local Woolworth's.
What irrational fear almost kept you from working as a miner?
Acute claustrophobia--though I managed to overcome it a while back through the power of hypnosis!
What have you snuck back to the mine that you dont want the others to find out about?
A small steel flask filled with cheap whiskey.
Before becoming a miner you showed promise as an amateur at what sport?
I was a tackle for an amateur Ohio football team.
When was the closest you have come to death and how has that changed you?
Last year, one of the shafts collapsed just as I was leaving it. We lost a lot of good men that day, and I have sinced turned to drink to cope.
When you have to make the tough choices at work, where do you turn for your strength?
I used to have my faith to hold on to, but now I drink.
You are never caught without your trusty what?
I have an old Bowie knife tucked into my boot.
What part of your appearance are you particularly proud of?
My glossy black moustache.
What is your name?
Darryl Turner.
In case you are wondering, the Bowie knife and the ability to tackle folks helped within the game, while the claustrophobia hindered a bit.
Re: [All Systems] Process of Character Creation Examples
On reflection, I feel I may not have illustrated the true magnificence of Classic Traveller chargen, so I'm going to roll up another character. In fact, I'm going to roll one to death: I'm not going to stop until the character is dead or refused re-enlistment and I'm not going to accept being invalided out - dead is dead.
Classic Traveller
UPP: 795889 (the character is dextrous, sickly, a little smarter and better educated than average, and not quite gentry, B being the minimum Social Level for aristocrats).
Name: Daki Ishiim (a Vilani name). (I actually have an Excel spreadsheet set up to generate Vilani names using the phonetic frequencies from the JTAS but Vilani names can more-or-less just be made up, as you can imagine.)
Enlistment: Daki attempts enlistment in the Navy, needing me to roll 8+ on 2D and having a +1 modifier for high Intelligence. I roll a 6, which fails even with the modifier. I roll 1D for the draft and get a 5, indicating the Merchant Navy.
Career: Daki needs a 5+ (on 2D) to survive her first Term and gets a +2 modifier for high Intelligence. I roll 9 (with the modifier). She is not eligible for a Commission during her first Term since she was drafted into the Merchant Navy. She is eligible for two Skills. I roll twice on the Advanced Education Table for characters with high Education Levels and get Engineering-1 and Navigation-1. Now, twenty-two years old, Daki needs a 4+ (on 2D) to re-enlist and I roll an 8.
Daki Survives (9) her second Term and needs a 4+ to be Commissioned, with a +1 modifier for high Intelligence. I roll an 8 (with the modifier) and she gets her Commission. Daki is now Fourth Officer on her ship. She needs a 10+ to be Promoted but I roll a 7. For Daki’s one Skill acquired for being in her second Term, I roll on the Personal Development Table, getting +1 Strength, and for her one Skill acquired for getting a Commission, on the Advanced Education Table for high Education characters, getting Pilot-1. Twenty-six years old, Daki is now 895889, Fourth Officer, Engineering-1, Navigation-1, Pilot-1. I roll a 6 for re-enlistment.
Daki Survives (11) her third Term and needs a 10+ to be Promoted. I roll another 7. She gets Medical-1 from the Advanced Education Table and I roll a 10 for re-enlistment.
Daki Survives (7) her fourth Term and is passed over for Promotion (5). She gets Electronics-1 from the Service Skills Table. Now thirty-four years old, she begins the descent into old age: she needs an 8+ to avoid losing a point of Strength (I roll 11), a 7+ to avoid losing a point of Dexterity (I roll 8) and an 8+ to avoid losing a point of Endurance (I roll 7). She is now 894889, Fourth Officer, Electronics-1, Engineering-1, Navigation-1, Pilot-1. She re-enlists (6).
Daki Survives (11) her fifth Term and is passed over for Promotion (8). She gets Bribery-1 from the Personal Development Table. Rolling for ageing, she loses another point of Endurance, changing her UPP to 893889. She re-enlists (10).
Daki Survives (10) her sixth Term and is passed over for Promotion (8). She gets +1 Dexterity from the Personal Development Table and loses a point of Dexterity and a point of Endurance from ageing. Her UPP is now 892889. She re-enlists (11).
Daki Survives (8) her seventh Term and is passed over for Promotion (3) again. She gets Bribery from the Personal Development Table again and loses a point of Strength, a point of Dexterity and a point of Endurance from ageing. She is now 781889, Fourth Officer, Bribery-2, Electronics-1, Engineering-1, Navigation-1, Pilot-1. The roll for re-enlistment is not a 12, so she is forced to retire.
Mustering Out: Daki gets 8 Mustering Out rolls. I roll three times (the maximum allowed) on the Cash Table, for a total of Cr56,000, and five times on the Benefits Table, for Gun four times and +1 Education once. I take the three extra ‘Gun’ results as Skill with the Gun received (I choose a Rifle).
__________________
'For GOD the father Almighty plays upon the HARP of stupendous magnitude and melody./For innumerable Angels fly out at every touch and his tune is a work of creation./For at that time malignity ceases and the devils themselves are at peace.' - Christopher Smart Jubilate Agno (Fragment B Part 2)
Last edited by Spikey; 09-19-2006 at 12:55 PM..
Reason: Age.
Re: [All Systems] Process of Character Creation Examples
Buffy: The Vampire Slayer
Concept: While a lot of people look at the Slayers, robots, and werewolves, it's the high school setting that I think makes Buffy unique. I mean what could be more horrific than high school? So I rather like making playable characters who fit into that mold. My concept will be Rebel Without a Clue - a rebellious teen that gets into trouble a lot. Now he's discovered that his town is full of monsters and fights alongside this girl that calls herself a Slayer. I'll name him Ricky Michaels.
Character Type: While Ricky's certainly been in a brawl or two, he doesn't have any supernatural powers nor has he been extensively trained in combat. What I'm really going for is a character that thinks he's a tough guy, then discovers there are truly nasty, dangerous things around that he isn't prepared to handle. As such, Ricky is a White Hat.
Attributes: Ricky gets 15 points for attributes. He's strong and fairly quick, and has his reputation as a tough guy. He's not too smart, hard to get that way when you're too cool to study, but he gets by. As such, I arrange his attributes like so
Strength: 4
Dex: 3
Con: 3
Int: 1
Per: 2
Will: 2
QUalities and Drawbacks: These are selected from a list, with justification after. As a White Hat Ricky gets 10 points in Qualities and can take up to 10 points in Drawbacks, which can be used on Qualities or Skills.
Qualities
Attractiveness (2) - Girls love that rebel vibe
Hard to Kill (5) - Tough guy!
Natural Toughness (2) - Told you he was tough!
Nerves of Steel (3) - Not afraid of anything!
Resistance, Pain (3) - Don't be a wuss.
Situational Awareness (2) - Keep your eyes open
Drawbacks
Addiction, Smoking (1) - All the bad kids smoke
Mental Problems (Cruelty, mild) (1) - A bit of a bully
Reckless (2) - Act first, think later
Teenager (2) - Gets carded a lot
Resources -2 (4) - Wrong side of the tracks
This gives him 10 points in Drawbacks and 17 points in Qualities. He spends 7 of his Drawback points to pay for his QUalities, leaving 3 left over for skills.
Skills: Ricky gets 15 points for skills, and has 3 left over from his Drawbacks for a total of 18. He's a hoodlum that's done some skulking around, and has been in plenty of fights. He lives in a rough neighborhood and has learned to keep his eyes open. His bullying has taught him how to intimidate people, and he's had to learn to fix stuff when it breaks; his family just can't go and buy new stuff all the tiem. He spends his points as follows:
To finish him off, calculate his Life Points: (Str + Con)x4 + 10 + hard to kill levels x3 = 7x4 + 10 + 5(3) = 28+10+15=53 And as a White Hat he starts off with 20 Drama Points. Optionally, pick an actor to portray the character and you're ready to fight some vampires.
Re: [All Systems] Process of Character Creation Examples
The Classic Traveller ones took about five minutes each, if that, and got me:
A young man, dead broke, just got out of a dangerous career with only a shotgun and some piloting experience to show for his trouble. Strong, handy in a fight but thick as two short planks.
A retired merchant spacer who served for twenty-eight years on a merchant vessel without receiving one promotion, quite well off, knows her way around a ship, handy with a rifle and knows who to bribe at a port. Pretty capable all-round but a bit frail for a forty-six-year-old.
I do like Classic Traveller.
__________________
'For GOD the father Almighty plays upon the HARP of stupendous magnitude and melody./For innumerable Angels fly out at every touch and his tune is a work of creation./For at that time malignity ceases and the devils themselves are at peace.' - Christopher Smart Jubilate Agno (Fragment B Part 2)
Re: [All Systems] Process of Character Creation Examples
Spirit of the Century
Dr. Miles "Doc" Spartan
Man of Science. Man of Action.
1. Think about your character concept.
I want to play a really cool Doc Savage style character that uses his superior knowledge of all things science to help him in his battles with dastardly foes.
2. Make up a cool pulp name for your character.
Doc Spartan.
3. Go through the phases in order, picking two aspects each phase.
Phase 1: Background
Doc Spartan was born in New York City to affluent, educated parents. Throughout his childhood, Doc Spartan was driven to excell in all things he tried, including his education and sports. Anything less than 100% effort was seen as a faliure in his eyes, regardless of outcome.
Aspects: Silver Spoon; "Nothing less than one hundred percent!"
Phase 2: War
Doc Spartan enlisted as soon as he could. Doc spent his time overseas as part of a special combat unit behind enemy lines where his technical knowledge and tenacity helped keep him and his unit in fighting shape. After the sergeant in charge of the unit died saving Doc from an explosion, leadership fell to him. He kept the unit operating and fearlessly led every charge, earning him much distinction.
Aspects: Leave no man behind; Always lead the charge
Phase 3: Novel
Doc Spartan and the Enigma Horde!
Doc Spartan has to team up with Timmy Two-Step and Ferok to stop Dr. Methuselah from mathemagically opening the gateway to the dimension Enigma, filled with beasts of choas, uncontrolable by anyone...Except for a Master of Mathematical Reality!
Aspects: "We'll meet again Methuselah!", "This one may be too big for me..."
Phase 4: Guest Star
Timmy Two-Step vs. the Clockwork Carnival!
Timmy Two-Step enlists the help of Doc Spartan to save their companion Ferok, from the Clockwork Carnival, mechanical circus of misery!
Aspects: "A wrench for every cog. A knuckle sandwich for every thug."; "I can have it running like clockwork."
Phase 5: Guest Star
Ferok - Lord of the Jungle in...Conquest of Dino Island!
Dino Island has been conquered by none other than Tyranasaurus Hex, master of all stone-age magicks. Ferok, with the help of Doc Spartan and Timmy Two-Step have to fight the mind controlled denizens of Dino Island, and take back Ferok's rightful place on the Dino Island Throne!
Aspects: "Two fists is enough to handle this."; Enduring as stone
Character creation is normally done in a group, so I am pretending that two other players created the characters:
Timothy Smythe, better known as Timmy Two-Step
Broadway heart-throb with a heart of gold and fists of steel.
Ferok - Lord of the Jungle
Powerful of body, powerful of heart, and possesing an uncanny relationship to the animal kingdom within which he was raised.
__________________ ExCrusader.com: My game wiki where I throw up all my random ideas. DarrenBrewster.com: That place I wished I was disciplined enough to blog at.
Re: [All Systems] Process of Character Creation Examples
Talislanta, 4th edition. Tal character creation is archetype based, so I flip through the book and check out the options. I like playing fast-talking rogueish types who live by their wits, and Tal offers quite a few of those. I decide on the Sarista Gypsy, becuase it offers a little bit of everything.
Flipping to the Sarista cultural write-up, I read that they travel in nomadic extended-family bands, and are "renowned for their talents as folk healers, fortune tellers, and performers--or as mountebanks, charlatans, and tricksters, depending on your point of view." Perfect. I decide my character will be female, and after looking over the example names, I call her Mirien.
Going back to the archetype, I record the attributes, skills, special abilities, and starting equipment. I'm going to take these each in turn, to avoid confusion. The Sarista Gypsy's starting attributes are:
I can add up to 2 points to these ratings, provided I subtract an equal amount. I choose to add +1 to INT (quick-witted) and subtract -1 from STR, figuring Mirien is smaller than average. I also add +1 to PER, so she can see trouble coming, and subtract -1 from WIL, so she'll get into it anyway. I then add Mirien's CON rating (0) to her hitpoints. Final attributes look like this:
STR -1
DEX +2
CON 0
SPD +1
PER +2
CHA +2
WIL -1
INT +2
CR +3
MR +2
HP 20
Now for skills. The Sarista Gypsy's skill list looks like this:
Witchcraft (2 modes of choice) +1
Dagger +2
Weapon (choice) +2
Legerdemain +6
Deception +5
Stealth +3
Herb Lore +4
Guide (Silvanus) +7
Streetwise +7
Thieving Skills (2 of choice) +5
Performing Skills (2 of choice) +5
Ride +2
Languages:
Low Talislan, native
Sarisa, native
Witchcraft is a magical Order, so I reference the magic chapter. It tells me that Witchcraft is believed to be the oldest form of magic in Talislanta. It is based upon the Law of Association, which states that "like breeds like," and that all things are connected. It relys heavily on physical components, which are used to draw and exploit connections, if only on a metaphorical level. A witch can break a handful of twigs to symbolize the breaking of bones when she casts a destructive spell, for example. I also learn that the advantages of Witchcraft are subtlety (there's no conjuring of impressive energy displays while casting magic) and range (a witch who draws a strong connection to a target, usually by having a piece of it or one of its possessions, can cast spells as if she was touching it). Its limitation is capriciousness: whenever a natural 13 is rolled on a spellcasting check, the spell automatically fails.
4th edition Talislanta uses a freeform magic system, based on Modes. To cast a spell, you first determine the effect of the spell, then figure out what Mode it falls under. Anything else is a special effect. For example, the dread Necromacer Rodinn is very angry with the rogue magician Crystabal. He casts a spell that summons a twisted imp, who flys toward the unlucky rogue, tears at his flesh with its talons, and then disappears back into the nether realms. This is an example of an Attack Mode spell, because its only effect is to deal damage to a target. Had the imp remained, whether to continue to harry Crystabal or to perform some other service for Rodinn, then it would be a Summon Mode spell. With that in mind, I see that the available Modes are: Alter, Attack, Conjure, Defend, Enchantment, Heal, Illusion, Influence, Move, Reveal, Summon, Transform, and Ward. Furthermore, as a witch I am forbidden to learn Conjure, gain a +2 bonus to all uses of Heal, Reveal, and Ward, and take a -3 penalty to all uses of Attack. Since my starting skill level is only +1, I decide to play to my strengths and take Reveal and Ward as my starting Modes.
To finish out skill selection, I take the duelling sword (rapier) as my weapon of choice, gambling and locks for my theiving skills, and acrobatics and oratory for my performance skills. I also get a cultures skill relevant to my background (since the Sarista don't settle in any one place for long, this would be Nomadic) at +7 and two common or language skills at +3 (for languages, this is the "fluent" level). I choose Haggle and Climbing.
The Sarista Gypsy has no special abilities, so I skip that.
Finally, I record equipment. The Sarista Gypsy starts with: Colorful garments, including cape, beret, sash, tight-fitting hose, high boots of soft hide, ear bangles; dagger, one weapon of choice (I choose a dueling sword, to go with my skill), pouch with thieves' tools, performing equipment (in my case, juggler's pins, ribbons, and so on), greymane mount, and 40 gold lumens in assorted currencies. I decide not to spend any of my starting money.
All finished! My final character stats look like this:
Name: Mirien
Archetype: Sarista Gypsy
Attributes:
STR -1
DEX +2
CON 0
SPD +1
PER +2
CHA +2
WIL -1
INT +2
CR +3
MR +2
HP 20
Re: [All Systems] Process of Character Creation Examples
Quote:
Originally Posted by Niall
What really would interest me (as it is a deal-braker when chosing a system) is how long those different character creations took you guys.
It took me twenty minutes, but most of that was just typing the stuff out. To whip up nothing but raw character stats, without the explanation, I can do in ten minutes for a 100+ xp character.
Now, I might do a Shadowrun 4e character, and that's a good bit longer. Nothing like point-juggling to slow up chargen.
Re: [All Systems] Process of Character Creation Examples
Quote:
Originally Posted by Niall
What really would interest me (as it is a deal-braker when chosing a system) is how long those different character creations took you guys.
Mine took me a couple of days, and still working, but that's because I'm taking my time thinking about it.
A Wushu character can be done in as long as it takes you to write out three Traits and a Weakness. You don't even need to flip through the rules or anything like that.
Linear Mode
