Character Creation: Alethia

Seven dogs is a lot of dogs. 

The Game: Aletheia
The publisher: Abstract Nova
Degree of familiarity: None. Matt sent me a copy for chargen purposes, so here we go.
Books required: Just my pdf. 

 
So, the basic idea here is the we belong to a group called the Seven Dogs Society, dedicated to investigating weird shit and solving the higher mysteries of the universe. But there's some fascinating history, here, too: Terrence Chastain, acting on orders from a truly exceptional man named Jericho Usher, formed the group using members of seven families, whose genealogies Usher mapped out to 2012...even though Usher himself vanished from sight in the 1970s. This is the third iteration of the Society, as it happens - the first one vanished, the second one all got shot in the head (except Chastain).

So, having read the history chapter and skimmed the chapter talking about the Society's headquarters in Alaska (looks awesome, but I want to get to the chargen), let's see what we've got.

The first thing I'm asked to do is conceptualize the character. Since we're in Alaska, and I enjoyed Insomnia, I want to make a character who wasn't born there (in the movie, a character says that you're either here because you're born here or you're running from something). So he's running from something. I think he's here because killed a man. The guy approached him on the street, while he was out walking with his girlfriend, and demanded money. Things got heated, and my character beat him to death. He was eventually acquitted on grounds of self-defense, but his lawyer played the race card pretty heavily (he's white, the guy who accosted him was black). My character felt ashamed, and couldn't go back to his life - yes, he'd been defending himself, but he'd killed someone, and that keeps him up nights. Finally, he packed a single duffel bag, put his dog into his car, and drove north, finally winding up in Seven Dogs.

My character, before the incident, was a security guard. He fancied himself pretty good at reading people, so why didn't he see that the man was a threat before the fight started? He keeps himself up nights thinking about that, too.

The character is now 28, and originally from, let's say, Columbus, OH, because it's a place I know. His name is Peter Bodine.

Motivation and Agenda. Peter was approached by Terrence Chastain after he'd lived in Seven Dogs for only a few months. Chastain showed him the genealogy of his family, and how his grand-uncle had been one of the original members, and then his cousin had wound up shot dead in the jungle in the second incarnation. None of that really influence Peter, but what did scare him was how he wound up in Seven Dogs. There are lots of towns in Alaska, and he picked Seven Dogs, he thought, because he liked the name. But to wind up on the doorstep of the secret society that he, out of seven families, was permitted to join? Too weird. He joined up, because that by itself was enough to show him that something was weird.

As for Agenda, Peter's not a scholar. He's not an investigator. He wants answers as to what happened that night, and now he's got a new worry - maybe something supernatural was happening with that guy. Maybe he was a monster or something. Maybe this society can absolve Peter of some of the guilt he feels.

(Side note: If I were running the game, Peter doesn't get off that easy. It was just as it is, he killed the dude because adrenaline kicked in and he hit him once too many times. Maybe something supernatural happened, but it was peripheral to the act itself. But anyway.)

So, Attributes. I get 8 points to spread among four Attributes. 2 is average. Peter is in shape, and he works hard to stay that way, so I want Fitness to be 3. Awareness has been heightened since his incident, so we'll put that 3, too. That leaves 2 points for Personality and Reason, and I can't go lower than 1, so there you have it.

Descriptors. I like this mechanic. I get to add an adjective to each Attribute, explaining how Peter is fit or whatever. So: for Fitness, I think Peter works hard to stay in fighting trim, even though he never wants to fight again. "Fighting Trim" sounds good, actually. For Awareness, Peter pays attention, so I'll label this one "Vigilant." For Personality, Peter's withdrawn and guarded, but as long as he's not doing the talking, he's OK. "Attentive." And, finally, for Logic, Peter better at seeing small details than the big picture. He's got a good memory, but he needs time to put it all together. "Hindsight."

Occupations. What my job was before I wound up here, and what level of experience I had. I can have more than one Occupation, if I can stretch my 5 points.

OK, "law enforcement officer" is a 4-star Occupation, but Peter wasn't a cop, so I'm going to take "Security Guard" and bust it down to a 2-star. He was pretty good at it, so I'll take it Professional. That eats 3 of my points. Since he's been out in Seven Dogs, he's been making money doing odd jobs, so I'll also take Handyman (one star) and upgrade to Professional (2 points, and that's all 5).

Extracurricular Skills. OK, now, this gets a little confusing. You get skills based on your Occupation(s), but which skills you get aren't set in stone or anything. It's based on logic and GM's discretion. Part of me is OK with that. Another part worries that this makes things a little too arbitrary. The other thing is, I guess you get your skills at the level of the Occupation, but that could be a little clearer.

Anyway, I've got no points left, so I don't get any Extracurricular Skills. But let's look at my Occupations and see what's appropriate. I'll take Athletics, Fighting, Investigation, Outdoors, Stealth and Repair (which I just made up) to represent my skills from my Occupations. I get a free Fighting Skill at Rookie, but since I already have that, I get to choose a new one. I'll take Computer.

Hobbies. I'm asked to pick a few Hobbies for Peter. No special mechanical advantage, here, just for flavor and to give me an idea of how to play him. I'll take Hiking (loves to walk), Wildlife (always carries binoculars and a field guide) and Hockey (in Alaska, it's probably state law).

Supplemental Points. I have to use these to buy Powers, but I can buy other stuff, too. I get 15. Let's do the Power, first, since I have to have one.

I don't see Peter as especially in tune with the psychic stuff in the world. I love Deja Visite, which means that I instinctively know the lay of the land anyplace I go. I'll blow 3 points and take that.

For my other 12 points, I spend four to raise Reason to 2. I'll spend two to buy Medicine at Rookie. Down to six. I'll spend 1 on a Descriptor for Fitness - Outdoorsman. I'll spend one more for another Awareness Descriptor - Sudden Changes. That leaves 4 points. Guess I'll pick up Shooting at Professional; he's gotten good at it since moving out here to God's nowhere.

Will starts equal to the star ratings of my Powers, which is 1. Suck.

And that's all. Peter is complete, and ready to go adventuring with the other six Dogs.

This game looks keen. I'd be interested to play it sometime.