Random Characters

A board to post ideas and stuff. Rules proposals, half-finished characters, or just random chatter.
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Joshua
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Random Characters

Post by Joshua »

I'll likely move this over to the PC and NPC group once we start... Also, experimenting with different starting stat characters. BTW, feel free to post characters here, or to steal anything posted for PC ideas. If they're plot related I'll put a note. (Lorelei is one who I might need to test as proof of concept...)
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Joshua
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Re: Random Characters

Post by Joshua »

She-kek Marsh
Archetype: Newcomer (Fisherman)
Motivation: Mystery

Body: 4, Dexterity: 2, Strength: 3, Charisma: 1, Intelligence: 2, Willpower: 3
Size: 0, Move: 5, Perception: 5, Initiative: 4, Defense: 6 (Active: 2, Passive: 4), Stun: 4, Health: 7, Sanity: 4

Archery: 1 (3), Brawl: 2 (5), Con: 0 (1), Empathy: 2 (4), Intimidation: 4 (5), Medicine: 1 (3), *Pilot: Nautical: 1 (3), Stealth: 5 (7), Streetwise: 4 (5), Survival: 2 (4)

Talent: Bloodline Marsh (Swim speed, can hold breath for 8 minutes)
Resources: Contacts (Criminals) 0, Rank (Little Innsmouth) 0

Flaws: Disfigured (Innsmouth Look)

She-kek bides her time, waiting for a chance to strike back at the Mi-Go who abducted her from her home. Until that happens, she wishes nothing more than to fish in the small stocked pond in the agricultural district. It's not the same as the ocean, a place she will never see again. She's almost 45 now, and starting the change into a Deep One. She expects to die when it finishes, as she will no longer be able to tolerate the land. As part of the change, she has rejected her human name, going instead by She-kek.

Pitiable, she has contacts with the criminals of Innsmouth. Anyone willing to look past her 'other' heritage will find a useful source of information. And if she ever had the chance to strike back against the Mi-Go, she would love to rip one of them apart before she dies.

Group: Little Innsmouth. Skills: Intimidation, Pilot (Nautical), Stealth or Survival; Resources: Contacts and Rank
______________________________
*: Pilot Nautical is likely higher than this, but it's not going to come up in game, and I'm not spending more XP on it.
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Joshua
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Re: Random Characters

Post by Joshua »

Karl the Broken
Archetype: Inventor
Motivation: Truth

Body: 2, Dexterity: 2, Strength 2, Charisma 2, Intelligence 4, Willpower 3

Size: 0, Move: 4, Perception: 7, Initiative: 6, Defense: 4 (Active: 2, Passive: 2), Stun: 2, Health: 5, Sanity: 5

Skills:
Alienism: 2 (6) (Metaphysics), Craft: Electronics 5 (9), Firearms: 2 (4), Focus: 0 (3), Elder Lore: Artifacts 0* (4), Medicine: 1 (5), Science: Physics 5 (9), Streetwise: 0 (2)

Talents: Weird Science (Physics)

Flaws: Disfigured (Fungal Bloom)

Resources:
Rank: Mi-Go Survivors 0
Artifact 0 (Extra Sense Radio (+2), Exhaustion (1 non-lethal) (-1))
Karl has a fungal bloom sticking out of his head, just behind and underneath his left ear. When not wrapped in tin-foil it picks up radio waves. This is distinctly painful for him to tune in and out, eventually leading to him passing out or bleeding from his nose. Thankfully, it doesn't seem to be fatal, and he can, if need be, cut the bloom off. It'll regrow in a day.

Artifact 1 (Generally: Skill at 4 (+2), Talent (+2), Increased Attribute x2 (+4), Reduced Attribute: -1 Will (-2), -1 Int (-2), Flaw (-2), Toxic (*))
So, Karl has been learning about metaphysics. And it turns out that there's a frequency for the collective unconscious. Or maybe it's the dreams of the old ones, still, it's knowledge on tap.
With a properly made antenna, he can jam it into the fungal bloom on his head and pick up how to perform many actions. While this doesn't deal damage to him, if someone else tried to use the device, they'd need to stab the antenna into the correct portion of their brain, dealing at least one lethal damage.
Some common configurations: (He has to build them separately, and they're not very durable. Also, as a starting character, he's still researching them.)
  • Athropology 6, Jack of All trades, +1 Dex, -1 Int, -1 Will, Aloof
  • Brawl 6, Lethal Blow, +1 Str, +1 Dex, -2 Int, -1 Will, Impulsive
  • Connoisseur 4, Total Recall, +1 Int, -1 Will, Condescending
  • Gambling 4, Lucky, +1 Dex, +1 Cha, -1 Int, -1 Will, Unlucky
  • Investigation 8, -1 Will, Timid
Karl is... special. A native of Lastfell, he vanished when he was 20 and reappeared six months later, with a strange fungal bloom in his head. He's since dedicated his life to figuring out what happened and how to make the Mi-Go pay.

Group: Mi-Go Survivors: Skills: Alienism, Elder Lore*, Investigation, Science; Resources: Rank, (Artifact or Patron)
__________________________________________
*: Elder Lore from a group is an idea I'm kicking around... at level 0 it does not cause sanity loss.
misfit
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Re: Random Characters

Post by misfit »

I'm putting my character here first because there are a couple of details I may want to tweak so people are welcome to comment.

Miles McKinnon

Archetype: Everyman
Motivation: Duty

Body: 3, Dexterity: 2, Strength: 3, Charisma: 2, Intelligence: 4, Willpower: 2

Size: 0, Move: 5, Perception: 6, Initiative: 6, Defense: 5, Stun: 5, Health: 5, Sanity: 4

Skills:
Bureaucracy: 2 (6), Craft: 5 (11)*, Expedition: 1 (5) (Navigation), Firearms: 2 (4), Melee: 5 (8), Science: Engineering: 1 (5), Streetwise: 2 (4)

Talents: Well Educated (Craft)

Flaw: Weirdness Magnet

Resources:
Artifact - Level 0. Omni-toolkit: Skill Mastery: Crafts (+2 Enhancements) , Limitations: Increased Weight +100% (Str 2, –2 Enhancements)* * Weighs five pounds.
Rank - Level 0. (need a name here

Miles is a naturally gifted repairman...and that omni-toolkit helps too. He works for the city repair any city property that needs it: sunlamps, trains, etc. Despite the name of his talent, he is lacking in formal education and having learned more hands-on and School of Hard Knocks. He hasn't picked up Weird Science yet so he's incapable to working on the tok'l metal parts of an engine, but he can fix anything it that attaches to/drives. His Engineering is more practical than theoretical.

He had a pretty rough and tumble childhood and he's very good at more than one use for a heavy wrench. He's spent a lot of time in lower class areas so he has Streetwise.

The Expedition skill covers too things: experience with organizing a work crew (personnel, materials, etc.) and his knowledge of the city (hence the specialty).

I'm still fleshing out backstory, but wanted to get something up. Once I get things more finalized I'll be posting in the "real" thread. Again, I need a name for his employer that sounds appropriate to the setting.

If anyone has any thoughts on any aspect of the character please let me know.
Wyvern
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Re: Random Characters

Post by Wyvern »

Hm. That's... not a bad idea, actually. I'll post what I've got, too.

My first thought on Miles is that, if you can come up with any reasonable justification, you should seriously consider taking int up to 5 at the cost of taking one of his stats at 2 down to 1. Int 4 -> 5 after character creation costs 25xp, while a stat from 1 to 2 is 10xp. That extra 15xp difference is an entire talent's worth. (For example, my character's backstory includes a nasty wasting disease that killed her mentor and that she's still recovering from, which justifies her low starting body/strength - and gives a good excuse for buying those stats up relatively quickly.)

Second, having seen a bit more of his character, I'd suggest a relatively utilitarian organization - something like "Birbax County Municipal Services" - with the understanding that this is one organization out of many, and increased levels of rank may include promotions to more prestigious branches of the city's services.
[+] In-progress stuff for my character
Arada Kin
Archetype: Tea Master
Motivation: Hope
Flaws: Secret, Merciful, and possibly also Weirdness Magnet

Kin is a japanese-american newcomer, kidnapped from earth and dropped into Lastfell at a relatively young age; she remembers bits of earth - including some genuine martial arts training - but most of her life is here. After some time on the streets she was adopted by Belinda Wynn, and trained in the art of tea-making and - perhaps even more importantly - listening. (I'm planning on eventually picking up Weird Science, with a focus on making interesting teas, but... not there yet. For now, her tea master training is mostly in the form of assorted social skills, including Empathy and Alienism.)
Unfortunately, Belinda is recently deceased - murdered, though via a wasting disease rather than anything easily identified as murder. But her will left the tea house to Kin.

body: 1
dexterity: 3
strength: 1
charisma: 6
intelligence: 3
willpower: 2

Skills: rating(level)
3(0) academics (philosophy) - int
8(5) alienism - int (dealing with madness / mad people)
3(0) anthropology - int
3(0) art (poetry) - int
6(5) athletics - str
2(1) martial arts - str
3(0) connoisseur - int
4(1) craft (chemistry) - int
6(0) diplomacy - cha
8(5) empathy - int
3(0) gambling - int
4(1) investigation - int
3(0) medicine - int
1(0) melee - str (specifically kendo, though she can't afford to buy the specialization yet.)
6(0) performance - cha
4(1) science (chemistry) - int
4(1) stealth - dex

Charismatic talent
Refuge 0: (the tea house)
Artifact 0: Shapeshifting; specifically, she has a patch of golden scales (thinking along her lower back) - and can expand that across her body, granting significant physical advantages. The actual stat modifiers and effects are still highly provisional, but currently it's: +1 body, +2 str, +2 passive defense (armor), +1 perception, a dagger-spined (manticore-like) tail (essentially free throwing knives - a 1L weapon with a 10' range), -4 charisma, and 1 nonlethal & 1 sanity damage when it wears off after a scene (her shapeshifting is exhausting both physically and mentally). Still considering possible flaws to attach to it; leaning towards adding something like 'easily distracted' as a sort of flip side to the perception bonus.
This is her secret, though, depending on how long you've known her it may not be -much- of a secret; she made use of it much more freely before Belinda took her in. Still, the high(er) society types who occasionally turn up at the tea-house would be suitably horrified.
misfit
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Re: Random Characters

Post by misfit »

Let's see if I can address the previous post and a conversation I have with Joshua in one shot.

First, Wyvern thank you for the input. I understand the logic there, and honestly I already used it a bit during creation. I took one stat at 1 and used the starting xp to make it a 2 rather than spending more to raised a 2 to a 3.

Long ago, when I was first cutting my teeth on role-playing I read Champions a LOT. (I didn't get to play it a lot but I read it a lot). In the early editions they really stressed the importance of the character concept and choosing powers and skills that fit the concept rather than just what sounds cool. That really stuck with me over the years. Since I use a lot of Intelligence based skills having a 5 instead of a 4 makes a lot of sense in terms of game mechanics. In terms of the person, I do see him as a genius (even if he doesn't think he is) but I don't see him as super-genius. Similarly, I'm not sure it fits to have any of the stats at 1 until I can earn 10 xp to raise it up. I suppose I could be recovering from a work-related injury, but... I will give it more thought though.

That partially responds to the conversation as well. Also, in the previous forum games that Joshua ran he tended to give a little extra xp for good role-playing/advancing stories in interesting ways. Given time, that will offset any advantages from min/maxing. Eventually you end up in the same place, just one path is more interesting from the narrative perspective.
Wyvern
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Re: Random Characters

Post by Wyvern »

Fair enough; sounds like you've considered already. I hadn't noticed that you'd already done that with some of your XP; mine ended up going entirely into skills as I wanted a bit more breadth of expertise than I could get otherwise (and, again, a conversation with Josh factored in there - my very first take on Kin didn't have any skill above a 3; the current version that buys three skills up to 5 was a revision.)

Edit: I'll also note that, from an aesthetic point of view, I really do not like game systems that do this sort of flat cost at creation, scaling cost after, thing. I'd be much happier with a pile of XP to spend as I like, and Kin's sheet would look rather different if the system wasn't designed in a way that promoted min-maxing.

Speaking of - any feedback on Kin?
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Joshua
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Re: Random Characters

Post by Joshua »

I do like her more as the stealth character rather than the brawler... just for what nitch she fits. As a reminder, the game is likely to be more on investigation.

There's a few questions, like her age, which might be important. She can kinda work as a teen, but I don't think that's what you were going for.

I do appreciate that you have a reason her attributes are skewed, and one that gave me some plot hooks in addition.

Finally, a few technical bits...
Martial Arts is a specialized skill, it needs a style (probably want to compare to carbone, if you two are linked).
Alienism... Normally you'd want either psychology (to understand madness and how insane people react) or psychotherapy (to treat madness / sanity loss). As a different specialty, "Madness" would likely require the person you are talking to have a level of permanent insanity. So, you wouldn't get the bonus to treat people who lost sanity, but had not had a madness inflicted... was that what you were intending?
Wyvern
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Re: Random Characters

Post by Wyvern »

Age: Yeah, aiming for young adult - over 20, though probably not by much. Thinking she arrived in Lastfell somewhere around age 8-10 or so.

Martial arts type: Yup, planning on matching whichever type Carbone's character goes with; most recent I've heard there is "probably Aikido or Tai Chi."

Alienism: Unless I'm misreading, this isn't a skill that needs a specialization? (Edit: Oh, the paranthetical note. No, that's just a reminder to myself of 'what on earth is this skill?')
Wyvern
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Re: Random Characters

Post by Wyvern »

A few more comments on Miles:

Artifact zero allows for a total of +1 enhancement; I'd assume that buying a half-step of skill bonus is legal*, which would mean that tool kit could give you a +3 rather than just a +2. Or it could give some other small bonus - perhaps you've arranged all the tools in a layer of coat pockets, such that wearing the thing grants a point of armor.
* This isn't explicitly written out - but the rules do include a "this listing of available enhancements/flaws should not be considered exhaustive, add whatever makes sense to your GM."

You'd said you spent xp to buy a skill from 1 to 2 already, but Miles' starting stats total to 15. Either you haven't spent XP here, or you've got one more stat point to play with.

His secondary stats don't all track, and I don't think these can be bought up with XP? Perhaps I just missed something somewhere, though.
Defense is body + dex. Plus armor, I suppose, if he's got actual armored clothing? Might not be a bad thing for a veteran engineer to have, when tok'l engines can explode...
Stun is just body.
Health is body + will.

Skills aren't quite right either. Two skills at 5, three skills at 2, two skills at 1? Given that you get 15 points + four skills at zero + option to buy more skills with XP, you're missing something somewhere.
Edit: I missed the specialization; that looks like it makes the numbers work out.
Some other skills you might consider acquiring:
Con, probably at level zero. So you can explain to your boss that this is a five hour job, because the rats gnawed through the supports and you need to replace those - and then you get it done in three and spend the other two hours trying to track down whatever monster your boss would've found less believable than "rats".
Gambling, probably at level zero. A bit of entertainment in your free time... and perhaps a source of funds if you're careful not to let people know you're counting cards.
Intimidation. A good work hammer isn't always -just- for hitting things.
Medicine. He wouldn't have formal training, but some practical experience at patching up injuries seems it'd go well with his line of work.
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