Character Generation

Since I'm using a diceless variant of Guardians of Order's TriStat system (as seen in The Authority and Silver Age Sentinels RPGs), I'll be doing the actual number crunching for all characters myself. In order to get the PC you want, you just need to describe what you want to be able to do, and I'll work the numbers to allow that.

Questions, Questions

Concept

Start out with a general archetype or idea.

Examples

Jack wants to play a knight - not just a knight, but the greatest knight ever, like one of the characters from Arthurian myth. He decides to model his knight loosely on Lancelot from Arthurian legend. The basic elements are: a knight who is repsected and significant, but not royalty. The Lancelot character should be a mighty warrior, but tragically flawed.

Jeroen decides to play a strongman, someone like Hercules. He's tough, strong and does what he thinks is right, regardless of authority figures.

Jenny is psyched about playing a sorceress. She wants to play someone with access to a wide array for mysical power, who has studied for countless years to learn the secrets of the universe.

Power

There are two broad categories to specify stat-ish things; "stats", "attributes".

Stats

There are three stats; Body, Mind and Soul. They're very broad, and not without reason. If you want to be extremely strong, that's more an attribute (aka "power") than a high Body stat.

Body
Body is "normal" strength, endurance, dexterity, etc.
Mind
Mind is smarts, wisdom, etc.
Soul
Soul is integrity, willpower, drive and the like.
Give a general term to describe where you see your character for these.

Attributes

Attributes cover the "powers" of the character. They come in two kinds; specific, always available powers that I'm going to call "static" powers, and broader, more general powers called "Dynamic Powers". A Static Power is something like "Armour", "Superstrength", or "Firebreath" - a power that is always available and has a specific effect.

A Dynamic Power is something more broad, that has a wide range of applications, like "Wizardry", "Feats of Strength" or "Divine Miracles". While you can do anything with a Dynamic Power that you can do with a static one, you can only have so many effects going on at once with a Dynamic Power, and you have specifically "turn on" a dynamic effect. So while a Dynamic Power could grant Armour, for example, if the PC was using her Dynamic Power for something else, she'd be unprotected when the Heirarch's assasin stabs her in the back with a poisoned dagger. Every character should have at least one of these to allow them the freedom to pull wild stunts.

If that section made no sense, feel free to ignore it and just loosely describe the powers you want. That means trusting me a to juggle things a bit more, but not too much more.

Skills

I'm taking the Amber DRPG approach to skills - it's just assumed that PCs have whatever is appropriate. Combat skills are covered by Attributes.

Examples

Jack describes his knight as having the following:

Body
High; he's in top physical condition - strong, tough, and as graceful as a dancer.
Mind
Average; not dumb, but more a man of action than wisdom.
Soul
High; he's resolute and pious, with an iron will.
  • High combat skills in general; he's a great warrior
  • Peerless with a sword; he's the best swordsman living or dead.
  • A magical sword
  • A Dynamic Power to cover wild combat stunts; this covers things like blocking arrows with his sword or walking on spearpoints as needed
  • Low-level divine intervention; as a holy warrior, Jack's knight occasionally gets a helping hand from Above.

Jeroen's breaks down his muscle man this way;

Body
Good - he's not exactly graceful, but he's in great shape.
Mind
Average - he's studied, but he's too impulsive to think things through most of the time.
Soul
Above average - he just doesn't give up.
  • Really strong
  • Really tough; not indestructable, but tough, as well as fast healing. He takes a licking and keeps on ticking.
  • Good fighter, especially bare-handed.
  • Able to perform miscellaneous Feats of Stength; this covers stuff like using his muscular lungs to yell loud enough to cause an avalanche, pushing his strength even higher, or stomping his feet to cause an earthquake. This would be a Dynamic Power.
  • He's a demi-god, so he doesn't age, can go days without sleep or food, and never gets sick. He's also mind-blowingly handsome.

For her sorceress, Jenny puts down;

Body
Avaerage - she's not that concerned with the physical, but she's not weak or sickly either.
Mind
High - she's studied her whole life to get where she is.
Soul
Very high - she's reached an enlightened level of consciousness.
  • Because she's mage-born, she has better than usual senses; highly aware, see in the dark, as well as detecting magical auras.
  • She has surpassed normal mortality - she doesn't age any more
  • She has a familiar - a white raven of unusual intelligence. She can see through its eyes, and communicate with it over great distances.
  • She's the most powerful sorceress in the world - she has Sorcery as a Dynamic Power that lets her create a very wide range of effects. Jenny also wants the ability to make some effects "nearly permanent" - Jenny likes the idea of being able to do things like turn a man into a frog until he's kissed by a princess, or turning monsters to stone until thier castle is raised above the clouds.
  • Jenny also wants to have her character's True Name be important. She wants to be vulnerable to magic that uses her True Name, because it sounds more interesting that way.

Background

You should be able to answer the standard "Vorlon" questions.

  1. Who are you?
  2. What do you want?
  3. Why are you here?
  4. Who do you love?
  5. Who do you hate?

When the game starts, each PC will be expected to give a brief explanation of where he/she is, and a brief description of the part of the world he/she is in. This is to give other PCs a chance to toss in story points to link themselves into the story.

Sample Character Ideas

The Paladin (Lancelot)

A noble knight with amazing combat skills; the greatest swordsman of the age. Pious and honourable to a fault. Possible plot twists: in love with a woman he cannot have (like his Queen); sworn fealty to a King who is weak, evil, or just incompetant. The Knight wins all the King's battles for him, but the King doesn't hold to the same high ideals as the Knight - in the long run, will the Knight hold to his sworn word to serve, or will he disobey to serve higher ideals?

The Wizard (Merlin)

A puissant magician. Though natural ability and long study, this PC is the mightiest wizard in the world. Hooks: is there an established wizardly society, with schools and the like? What's the Wizard's relationship with the establishment? What about secular politics? How do nearby kingdoms feel about having a powerful wizard as a neighbour?

The Artificer

A gadget maker and engineer in a pre-steam society, the Artificer makes fantastic things out of clockwork, exotic power sources and mystical materials. He or she has one or more clockwork robots at the ready, and a host of bizarre machines and tools. Possible hooks: a tyrant has a hold on the PC's daughter/wife/husband/etc., and forces him/her to build terrible war machines, which the tyrant uses to wage war on other nations. Or; the Artificer is a one man Rennaissance/Industrial Revolution, pushing the rush of technology at break-neck speeds, causing massive social upheaval as three hundred years of change are compressed into a decade or so.

The Strongman (Hercules)

The strongest man (or woman) ever. He/she could be a Herculean demi-god, a giant's child, or someone with dragon's blood. Possible hooks: a roving adventurer who wanders the world fighting armies and rescuing troubled villages; or, a soft-hearted brute who lets him/her-self be bullied into action by smarter, meaner compatriots (Do you want me to send you back to where you were? Unemployed? In GREENLAND?!?)

The Angel

An agent of some great, divine power. Beautiful and winged. Why is s/he here on the mortal plane? Was the Angel sent here on a mission? Does s/he intend to fulfill that mission? Is s/he a fallen angel? Lots of juicy questions here.

The Green Man

The Spirit of the Forest. The Green Knight, Jack o' the Shadows, the Old Man of the Woods. Humanity is moving into His Woods, cutting and burning. People are turning from the Old Gods. His power comes from the Wild, and could be tied to the seasons. Is this guy a vengeful Luddite, out to smash mills and foundries? Or is he more the type to try to persuade people to live things his way? Does he use his powers to drop forests into the middle of cleared farmland, or to give his hard-working buddies a fantastic harvest this year? Does he get along with society at all, or is he a hermit type?

The King of Kings (Ozymandias)

Rather than supernatural might or deadly skills at arms, this supreme regent is simply a peerless leader of men - already ruler of a kingdom, complete with a significant army, his or her real power comes from the ability to lead that kingdom, to inspire love, respect and fear in those around him/her. It's likely that this character is going to seek to expand his or her empire, conquering nations either by force or by charisma. The questions come in determining motivation and personality: is the character a tyrant, or a benevolent ruler trying to unite a chaotic world (think the King of Qin in Hero)? Is she/he driven by power lust, or more noble ideals?

Other Ideas

Some other ideas which might spark the imagination;