Character Creation Challenge Day 29 – Nobilis

The Game

Nobilis, created by R. Sean Borgstrom is a great big, pretty involved setting. The world is a much vaster place than most people ever get to see. ‘Reality’ as it is known to mortals is an illusion crafted to keep people sane and hides a grand animistic near multiverse that hangs on the World Tree Yggdrasil. At the top of the Tree hangs Heaven while Hell is at the bottom. Every aspect of reality has an animistic spirit that is attached to it, an Imperator. These Imperators are busy however, fighting a war against beings from outside of reality that want to bring Creation down. This war happens mostly in the Spirit World, apart from the world of mortals, so in order to keep their affairs going, the Imperators break off a portion of their divine essence and use it to empower a mortal being to be a Nobilis, a Power that has direct influence over that portion of reality. These Nobles then group together in celestial families and have their games of intrigue and attempt to keep reality going as it probably should.

The Music

‘Legion’ by VNV Nation.

The Character

Tara was surprised at the ennoblement that she received; granted that’s hardly a surprise in itself as the process is not something known to the general population of humanity. What was really surprising to her was that such a shy and retiring girl would be chosen to be the Power of Nightmare, something that to her mind would take someone much more forward. Still, she has taken to the role and is slowly coming into her own as she continues with the process of shepherding the proper night terrors to the correct places.

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NAME: Tara

ATTRIBUTES:

            Aspect: 1

            Domain: 3

            Realm: 1

            Spirit: 2

GIFTS: Invisibility, Unblemished Guise (3)

BONDS: Michael Thorne (4)

            UPenn Sleep Center (5)

            Desire to grow more confident (3)

            Philadelphia (2)

            Love of Dark Alleyways (6)

Character Creation Challenge Day 28 – SLA Industries

The Game

SLA Industries from Nightfall Games is a dark cyberpunk setting placed in what is called the ‘World of Progress’. Centered on the vast megalopolis of Mort City, the players work for the monolithic SLA Industries as Operatives. Contracts come in for the Operatives to do, jobs that are needed in the city – usually violent ones that are necessary to keep the peace. Of equal import to doing the job is making sure that you look good doing it. You never know who might be watching the carnage and picking up a sponsorship deal can be very lucrative in this world.

The Music

‘Earth Died Screaming’ as Tom Waits shows up again. Herky-jerky and apocalyptic, I’m not entirely sure where to go at first as it feels like a song for the world itself rather than a character.

The Character

Rudy has always been an odd one, and it’s been a hot question amongst other Operatives about why it was that he had been hired. Quirky is a mild way to put things, as Rudy has been known to hum disconcertingly during ‘enhanced interrogation’ and occasionally goes into his theories about how and why the world will and should end. Efficacy is a watchword amongst SLA Industries Operatives, however, and Rudy is effective.

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NAME: Rudy    RACE: Human

STATS:

            Strength: 5      Dexterity: 5     Diagnose: 8     Concentration: 8         Charisma: 6

            Physique: 6      Knowledge: 8  Flux: 0              Cool: 9

SKILLS:

            Literacy: 6, Detect: 6, SLA Info: 3, Rival Company 2, Streetwise: 7, Unarmed Combat: 1, Blade (1 Handed): 3, Sleight: 4, Pistol: 4, Interview: 5, Persuasion: 5, Tactics: 5, Leadership: 4, Torture: 6, Bribery: 5, Forensics: 6, Intimidation: 5, Drive (Civilian): 4, Photography: 4, Music: 4, Killan (Language): 2, Wraith (Language): 1

ADVANTAGES/DISADVANTAGES:

            Financial Savings 3, Vehicle 5, Paranoia 3

Character Creation Challenge Day 27 – Underworld

The Game

Underworld from Synister Creative Systems posits that the subway systems of the world, especially that of New York City, are in fact laid out in runic patterns that utilize small amounts of the passengers’ essence to refuel the magical Radiance that can be found deep underground. Using this Radiance allows for people lost between the cracks of society to partake in magical rituals and weird technological advancements using the castoffs of the upper world. Down in the UnderWorld, legends and monsters stalk the subway platforms and the city’s tunnels. The payers are part of this hidden world (I’ve noticed that there’s a lot of ‘taking part in hidden worlds’ going on in the games that I’ve chosen, oh well) that exists in the underside of the city, the places that people don’t really pay much attention to.

The Music

‘Maternal Heart’, a track off of the Silent Hill 3 Soundtrack by Akira Yamaoka.

The Character

Lost Charlie doesn’t remember their life before coming to the UnderWorld of New York. That loss itches at their brain like a persistent sore. What they soon realized, living down below, was that no matter what, they cannot seem to die. It’s possible that dismemberment would offer a permanent death, but Charlie hasn’t had the desire to test that theory out. Instead, they have devoted themselves to maintaining a repository of information, piles of books and files in a space dug out from the boiler room of an old public library that has fallen on hard times. Some of the books that go missing from that library make it into Lost Charlie’s hands, and they acquire lost tomes from other places that are forgotten by the world above.

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NAME: Lost Charlie     BREED: Nomad           GUILD: Librarian

DEFINING TRAITS: Perceptive, Knowledgeable, Shrewd

SKILLS –           PRIMARY: Lore, Contacts (UnderWorld), Contacts (UpWorld), Savvy

                        SECONDARY: Negotiation, Scrounging

RADIANCE LEVEL: 0

MAGIC CHARM: Forget-me-Knots

Character Creation Challenge Day 26 – CJ Carella’s Witchcraft

The Game

C.J. Carella’s WitchCraft from Eden Studios puts the players in a world of magic and dark secrets. Among the shadows of the modern occult world are the Gifted, those able to manipulate the secret energies of the world in different fashions – magick, psychic abilities, communing with the dead. These Gifted have been seen as prophets, magicians, seers, and less savory things throughout history, but they’ve mostly managed to keep to the sidelines and unnoticed. That may no longer be possible as the world is starting to enter a transitional phase in the cycle. More and more Gifted are being born in the world, and the actions of the creatures that prey upon humanity are multiplying as well. More and more unnatural phenomena are being experienced in the world and it may well be that we are seeing the dawning of a new age, or the end of it all. The Gifted, with their powers, may be what save the world – if they are enough.

The Music

‘Further On (Up the Road)’ by Bruce Springsteen. This gets me in the mood for something rough and tumble, almost like the earlier seasons of Supernatural.

The Character

Alyx Watson has never caught the thing responsible for the death of her wife, but that hasn’t stopped her from hunting it. Time was that she could be happy with her simpler life amongst the small co-op that she had helped to establish with Jo and the rest of the Coven, but then the creature that she has come to know as the Red Stalker came in the night and nearly wiped the Coven out entirely. Alyx and a couple of others had managed to drive it off, but not before it claimed the life of most of the Coven, Jo included. Now Alyx roams the country, helping where she can and looking for the thing that has managed to stay one step ahead so far.

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NAME: Alyx Watson    ASSOCIATION: Wicce

ATTRIBUTES:

Strength: 3                  Intelligence: 3             Life Points: 34

Dexterity: 4                 Perception: 3               Endurance Points: 35

Constitution: 3 Willpower: 4               Speed: 14

                                                                        Essence Pool: 20

SKILLS:

Brawling: 3, Climbing: 2, Intimidation: 3, Guns (Handgun): 3, Lock Picking: 3, Notice: 4, Occult Knowledge: 2, Ritual (Wicce): 3, Stealth: 3, Streetwise: 4, Surveillance: 4, Driving (Car): 3, Dodge: 2

QUALITIES: Gift, Acute Hearing, Contacts (5), Situational Awareness, Essence Channeling (3)

DRAWBACKS: Adversary (2), Honorable, Obsession (Catch the Red Stalker), Nightmares (Death of Jo)

POWERS: Affect Psyche 2, Insight 1, Soulfire 2

Character Creation Challenge Day 25 – King Arthur Pendragon

The Game

King Arthur Pendragon from Chaosiumdraws inspiration from the classical Arthurian stories like Le Morte d’Arthur. Going into a world of high chivalry and romance, the players create characters that go out into feudal England and enact great deeds of adventure and derring-do. Baked into the game are rules to take into account the passage of time, and characters age and die while their heirs take up the mantle and carry on their adventures.

The Music

‘Southern Cross’ by Crosby, Stills, and Nash throws a bit of a twist into things. With a very nautical feeling to the song that might need some looking into.

The Character

Karadog never felt much loyalty to his family, all of that was for the liege lord Carantec le Tallec. His other great passion was the sea, and the exploration that going over the horizon promised. While his father pressed him to follow in his footsteps and apprentice to a knight, and Karadog obeyed, he managed to shrewdly find the great seafarer Gurloes the Stout. Gurloes welcomed the boy into his service and has been sponsoring him throughout his career, teaching him the ways of the sea as well as those of knighthood. Karadog, when he’s honest, prefers the one over the other.

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NAME: Karadog          HOMELAND: Brittany             CULTURE: Cymric

FATHER’S NAME: Ewen           FATHER’S CLASS: Squire          SON NUMBER: 3

LIEGE LORD: Carantec le Tallec (Gurloes the Stout)              CURRENT CLASS: Squire

AGE: 21           YEAR BORN: 979

PERSONALITY TRAITS:

            Chaste/Lustful: 19/1                                       Generous/Selfish: 10/10

            Energetic/Lazy: 11/9                                       Honest/Deceitful: 14/6

            Forgiving/Vengeful: 17/3                                Just/Arbitrary: 13/7

            Merciful/Cruel: 16/4                                      Modest/Proud: 19/1

            Pious/Worldly: 6/14                                        Temperate/Indulgent: 16/4

            Trusting/Suspicious: 9/11                               Valorous/Cowardly: 13/7

STATISTICS:

            Size: 12            Dex: 16            Strength: 16    Constitution: 15           Appearance: 14

            Total HP: 27

SKILLS:

Awareness 8, Boat 10, Courtesy 8, Cymric custom 8, Dance 2, First Aid 10, Folklore 5, Game 4, Hawking 1, Heraldry 3, Intrigue 9, Irish Custom 2, Joust 3, Orate 2, Play 2, Recognize 5, Roman Custom 3, Saxon Custom 1, Sing 2, Speak Cymric 10, Speak Irish 1, Speak Latin 1, Stewardship 2, Swim 5, Track 5, Worship 2, Battle 6, Lance (horse) 3, Ride 6, Sword 10, Greatspear 8, Spear 8

PASSIONS

Loyalty (Liege) 18

Love (family) 7

Character Creation Challenge Day 24 – Changeling: the Dreaming

The Game

Changeling: the Dreaming from White Wolf Studios is probably one of the lighter of their World of Darkness games. The characters are changelings, faerie souls that have been set inside the bodies of humans in order to survive the weight of a force called Banality. Banality is the grey boredom of the world, a world without dreams and aspirations, or excitement, or anything beyond the next paycheck and dreary meal. Changelings embody the Dreaming, the spark of creativity and excitement that drives human endeavor in the arts and sciences. Trying to balance the human world and the faerie, changelings walk a line of what might seem to be make believe, sparking human imaginations and dreams in the hopes of keeping away the ever growing threat of Winter.

Take a read here if you want to know more and more eloquently.

The Music

‘Smoke on the Water’ by Deep Purple has one of those iconic riffs. There’s an edge to the music as well, a darkness there that might contrast with the lightness of Changeling itself.

The Character

Steel-Eyed Dan is something of a legend in the music hall circles of the Eastern Seaboard. No one is exactly sure where he came from, or what attracts him to a particular venue, but it’s said that when he gets started on his guitar there’s precious little that will stop the kids from tearing the joint apart in their celebrations. When Grifter’s Bone and Steel-Eyed Dan roll into town, the clubs at once fear and hope for his arrival at their doorstep to play a “quick song or two”. Sure the cleanup from the night will be hell on the next shift, but the money and reputation made from the epic party will seal that club as the hip place to be for the next month at least.

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NAME: Steel-Eyed Dan           KITH: Satyr                  SEEMING: Grump

COURT: Unseelie                    LEGACIES: Rake/Wayfarer

ATTRIBUTES

Strength: 2                  Charisma: 4                 Perception: 2

Dexterity: 4                 Manipulation: 3          Intelligence: 1

Stamina: 3                   Appearance: 3             Wits: 3

ABILITIES

Alertness: 3, Athletics: 2, Empathy: 3, Expression: 4, Kenning: 2, Crafts: 1, Etiquette: 3, Performance: 4, Stealth: 2, Enigmas: 1, Gremayre: 1, Investigation: 1, Law: 1, Politics: 1

BACKGROUNDS: Retinue: 2, Contacts: 3, Resources: 3,

ARTS: Pyretics: 2, Chicanery: 1

REALMS: Prop: 3, Scene: 2, Actor: 3, Fae: 1

WILLPOWER: 5            GLAMOUR: 4               BANALITY: 3

Character Creation Challenge Day 23 – Eclipse Phase

Yesterday got away from me, so I’m going to be doubling up on the character creation challenge today, doing two characters in this post and the next.

The Game

Eclipse Phase from Posthuman Studios bills itself as a transhumanist game of conspiracy horror. Sometime in the future, humanity cracks the Technological Singularity – Artificial Intelligences whose intelligence and capabilities exponentially grow to the point that they far outstrip human capabilities. It nearly destroys humanity. The TITANS, as these godlike AIs are known, proceed to attack humanity throughout the solar system, especially Earth, and at the point of near total victory, they vanish. Transhumanity is left reeling with Earth a quarantined wreck and the rest of the Solar System divided into various habitats and enclaves. A division arises between the corporate backed, hypercapitalist, inner system centered on Mars and the more autonomist outer system beyond the asteroid belt, with a fascist government arising through much of the Jupiter system of moons that seems to serve almost as a buffer between the two.

Transhumanity – not only the beings that we would call human but the various uplifted species as well as those that chose different bodies for their own use – stands at a brink at this point. The Fall, as the loss of Earth and the attacks of the TITANS is called, nearly wiped them out and there are any number of existential threats that could serve to finish the job. Ito this is an organization known as Firewall, who take it upon themselves to stop another Fall from occurring. Criminal organizations run through the system, trading illicit goods and information. A cold war has been brewing between the Inner and Outer Solar System. And through artifacts known as the Pandora Gates, people are starting to take their first steps outside the Solar System itself.

The Music

‘Be Aggressive’ by Faith No More. It’s got a sporty rhythm and a cheer in there, but the lyrics are something else. Looking at it, this feels like someone who might be trying to get away from things, maybe trying a bit too hard.

The Character

Da5id grew up in the lap of a luxury many would never even conceive, but he wasn’t satisfied with any of it. Coddled and groomed to be the next corporate bigwig, he rebelled hard into space. Cutting ties with his family, Da5id ran to the outer system and hooked up with an anarchist commune out in the fringes of the Saturn system. There, he found a rougher, hardscrabble life that made him feel more at peace than the comfort that he had been surrounded with. Hunted by his family, Da5id sought out protection and found it in the auspices of Firewall, who have seen the usefulness his old contacts and skills could have.

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NAME: Da5id              MOTIVATIONS: +Anarchism, -Hypercapitalism, -Boredom

LANGUAGES: English, Cantonese, Hindi        

BACKGROUND: Hyperelite     FACTION: Anarchists

MORPH: Sylph (Striking Looks Trait)  EGO TRAITS: Contact (c-net, g-net)

APTITUDES:

COG: 15           INT: 15             REF: 15                        SAV: 25            SOM: 15          WIL: 20

SKILLS

Athletics 45, Deceive 80, Fray 35, Free Fall 45, Guns 45, Infiltrate 55, Kinesics 80, Perceive 35, Persuade 80, Provoke 50

REPUTATION: @-net: 30, c-net: 25, g-net: 25, i-net: 25

POOLS: Insight: 1, Moxie: 3, Vigor: 1, Flex: 2

Character Creation Challenge Day 22 – In Nomine

The Game

In Nomine from Steve Jackson Games is an English translation and adaptation of a French game, In Nomine Satanis/Magna Veritas. The game takes place in a cold war between Heaven and Hell, with the players taking the roles of the angels and demons on the front lines of the war. Trying to carry out the orders that they may be given by their superiors, the characters may also have their own agendas that they want to fulfill – agendas that may not go along with the jobs that they are ‘supposed’ to do. Intrigue plays out in the different factions of the celestial and infernal hosts and sometimes the servitors wonder if they picked the right side in it all, or if they even had a choice in side in the first place.

The Music

‘Shelf Life’ from Seven Mary Three has been a song that always played in my head after coming home from a long day of work. It’s got that feel of someone who’s trying to make things happen and not sure that they’re on the right track.

The Character

Bambadjan had always looked at them as being an angel, despite what the others said about them. The snickering of the Balseraphs and the snide comments from the Lilim made little difference to the mind of the Habbalah punisher, they knew what they were. Serving Malphas, the Prince of Factions, Bambadjan felt that they were very good at their job, which was to their mind finding those people less than fully engaged in their cause and making them doubt.

Recently, in the last generation, Bambadjan has been growing tired of the endless lies and betrayals. They’ve become disillusioned with the entire war between Heaven and Hell, seeing the servitors of both sides as simply playing out for their own individual advantages. They’re prepared to call the whole thing a wash and – well, not defect exactly. Their unsure what it is that they will do, but there has to be something better than this endless dance.

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NAME: Bambadjan

BAND: Habbalah         PRINCE: Malphas

FORCES:          Corporeal: 3                Ethereal: 4                  Celestial: 2

CHARACTERISTICS

Strength: 4      Agility: 8

Intelligence: 7 Precision: 9

Will: 4              Perception: 4

ATTUNMENT: Habbalah of Factions – May make a person take an unwavering stand on their opinions for four minutes, anyone who disagrees will suffer a violent, possibly physical, response.

RESOURCES: Celestial Song of Charm/3, Ethereal Song of Charm/3, Corporeal Song of Tongues/3, Role (Journalist)/3, Skill (Fast Talk)/4, Skill (Detect Lies)/4, Skill (Lying)/3, Status/3, Corporeal Vessel (Mark Shields)/4

Character Creation Challenge Day 21 – Mutants and Masterminds 3ed

The Game

Mutants and Masterminds from Green Ronin Publishing is a superhero roleplaying system that uses a d20 as its primary device. I say system rather than setting as there really isn’t a setting for the game, it’s set up so that the game master and players create their setting and put in the character that would be populating the world. In this case, I will probably be going with a ‘generic’ superhero world, full of comicy good guys and baddies and all of that good stuff.

The Music

‘Satellite’ by Nine Inch Nails makes this a little less cut and dried, black and white, comic book than my initial thoughts had been. Rather, things are going to be a little greyer perhaps.

The Character

The techno-vigilante known only as Grid has made a living of sorts playing a sort of digital Robin Hood. They’ve been highly wanted by the US government alone for several high-profile attacks on wealthy industrialists that left them hemorrhaging money that quickly went to various charitable causes around the country. Several other nations are looking for the mysterious individual, though given the nature of the crimes it’s up in the air whether they want to arrest Grid or hire them to do their cyber security.  

Grid, of course, makes this hard for those authorities trying to find them. Being able to transform into electricity and communicate directly with machine systems can make digital intrusion comically easy, as well as keeping it very simple to leave little trace of their comings and goings.

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NAME: Grid

ATTRIBUTES:

Strength – 0    Agility – 1        Fighting – 4     Awareness – 5

Stamina – 0     Dexterity – 3   Intellect – 10   Presence – 0

SKILLS:

Technology – 10, Stealth – 6, Investigation – 6

ADVANTAGES:

Beginner’s Luck, Eidetic Memory, Second Chance, Equipment 4, Improvised Tools, Well-Informed

POWERS:

Electrical Form (Ranged Damage 3, Flight 8, Immunity 2, Insubstantial 3, Teleport 15 [easy, extended, electrical medium])

Machine Talker (Comprehend 2)

DEFENSES:

Dodge – 6        Toughness – 2 Fortitude – 0   Parry – 4         Will – 5

Character Creation Challenge Day 20 – Rogue Trader

The Game

Rogue Trader, from Fantasy Flight Games is set in Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40000 universe. In this dark future, humanity has spread out through the galaxy and established an Imperium with the God Emperor of Mankind at the head. Beset on all sides by enemies, the Imperium carries on the best way that it apparently knows how, with war, brutality, and a religious mania that would make the Spanish Inquisition happy. In this grim setting, the players take on the role of a Rogue Trader and their crew, commanding a starship with a crew in the thousands on a voyage of exploration and discovery, as well as one to expand the Imperium’s borders and gain great profit. It’s a bit like a dark reflection of Star Trek, almost the mirror universe version of things. Like Star Trek Adventures, the characters are assumed to be the senior crew of the ship that they are exploring in, and take on different roles on that ship, like the chief navigator or communications (both of which are handled through psychic mutations that the Imperium is a little uncomfortable with dogmatically, but which have their perceived uses). With the characters already starting out rather wealthy (money is not individually tracked), the goal is to explore and get even wealthier. All for the glory of Humanity!

The Music

Into this comes the folksy, sad ‘Tomorrow is a Long Time’ by Bob Dylan. A bit of a step away from what I imagine the ‘normal’ soundtrack of Rogue Trader would be like (something approaching Game of Thrones probably).

In the case of this character, there feels like wanderlust and regret for what had to be left behind.

The Character

Marcella was happy growing up on the Hive World of Archelius. Life among the spires of the mega city Primus was sheltered for her as a child of the Imperial Creed. She kept her time to those holy places and learned the words of the God Emperor and his saints as best as she could. Among those teachings was the reluctantly-gained truth that she could not remain on the planet, she had been groomed for the stars as part of Humanity’s great expansions, promised in service to the Rogue Trader House Plautisius. The world of Archelius looked so small as she was taken away in the House’s recruitment shuttle. All of the people that she knew had been left behind and facing her was a vast and unknowable galaxy as she was put in to serve aboard the Righteous Endeavor.

Life aboard the ship was rough at first, and ill-fortune seemed to sweep through her deck before the ship was rightly out of port. Through the trials and tribulations she endured, seeing first-hand some of the extremes that those less fortunate than her had been forced to in order to survive. Much of the gloss of the Emperor’s Words has been rubbed away as she has seen the realities of life in the void. Her faith remains strong, especially in the pursuit of the wealth that has been promised to those worthy of it, something that she strives to be.

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NAME: Marcella

PROFESSION: Void Master

CHARACTERISTICS:     WS: 25, BS: 44, S: 28, T: 30, Agi: 40, Int: 31, Per: 41, Will: 38, Fel: 38

SKILLS: Speak Language (Archelius Primus Hive Dialect), Common Lore (Imperial Navy), Common Lore (War), Forbidden Lore (Xenos), Navigation (Stellar), Pilot (Space Craft), Pilot (Flyers), Scholastic Lore (Astromancy), Speak Language (Low Gothic), Awareness, Scrutiny

SPECIAL QUALITIES: Accustomed to Crowds (treat crowds as regular terrain), Hivebound (-10 to Survival, -5 to Int tests when out of a ‘proper habitat’), Wary (+1 to Initiative)

TALENTS: Unshakeable Faith, Light Sleeper, Nerves of Steel, Hardy, Pistol Weapon Training (Universal), Melee Weapon Training (Universal), Sound Constitution

WOUNDS: 11               FATE POINTS: 3

EQUIPMENT: Best-crafted mono-sword, Common-crafted bolt pistol, Guard flak armor, Micro-bead, void suit, blessed ship’s token, rebreather, Imperial Navy uniform, 2 bottles of amasec, pict-recorder, vox caster