Character Creation: Exquisite Replicas

Are we replicas? Yes, but we are exquisite replicas!

The Game: Exquisite Replicas
The publisher: Abstract Nova
Degree of familiarity: None. Just read it yesterday-ish.
Books required: Just my pdf. 

Thinking about it, I believe what I'd do with this game is smush it together with Don't Rest Your Head and Shattered Dreams. But that's a post for another time.

Right, so the first thing I do is prioritize traits. I can put Physical, Mental, Advantages or Occupations first. The game flat-out tells you that combat and other criminal skills are a good idea. Guess I'd better think of a concept.

OK, my guy is a screw-up. Dropped out of high school at 16, started running with a bad crowd, got drunk one night and plowed his car into someone's house. No fatalities, but a little kid was injured (though not seriously - fuck, what's everyone grousing about?) and so my character (Horace Deakins, he goes by "Deak," and do not call him "Horace") went to jail, briefly. Got out, went to work at his Dad's sporting goods store. It wasn't work he enjoyed, but he'd decided that jail sucked and the best way to stay out would be not to break the law anymore.

So there he was, working at the store, when he saw this old homeless guy loitering outside and scaring away customers and being old and smelly and stuff. So Deak went out to shake him down, but the guy grabbed him and coughed in his face and told him The Truth. And though Deak felt like he should punch the dude out, he didn't, and went back inside.

And weirdly, one baseball bat on the rack was glowing red. Deak grabbed it. Wasn't sure why.

He found out why a few nights later, when he saw the shadowy, blind Boogeymen stalking one of the girls on his block. He beat the Boogeyman to nothing, but the girl ran away. And the cops...Deak ran. He ran back to the store and found the old man (Zeke) waiting for him. Deak grabbed a hockey mask from his dad's store and vanished into Anonymous, totally unsure he wants this, but knowing that losing his freedom is something he just can't accept again.

Plus...what he did was stupid. What these things are doing is wrong.

OK, that's better. Now, prioritization. I'll put Advantages first, Physical second, Occupation third and Mental last.

Guess I'll tackle these in the order in which they're presented in the book.

Physical: I start with a 1 in all of my Physical traits (which are Coordination, Agility, Strength and Endurance), I can go as high as 5, and I have 7 points to spread around. Deak could have decent scores all around, but I only have so many points. I'll put two into Strength, two into Coordination, one into Agility and the other two into Endurance.

Mental: Same drill; here it's Knowledge, Intelligence, Awareness and Will. I get 3 whole points to blow here. Two into Awareness, the other into Will. Prison sharpened him up some, but he's still not very bright.

Occupations. OK, like Aletheia, this is weird. There's no skill list, you just figure you have the skills that go with your occupation(s). Occupations that are more important or more useful cost more. I have 5 points to spend, and "gang member/street thug" is a four-star occupation. It's also the closest to Deak's skill set that I can get (I mean, I could make up "ex-con" or something, but same diff), so I'll blow four of my points on that, and the other one to bump it to rank 2.

Advantages: And, finally, these things. I get 9 points to throw around. I can spend these on Aptitudes, Extracurricular Skills (that is, skills outside my Occupation) or Weaponry (replicated objects that work as weapons; replicas work better against replicas).

Well, I know I want Weaponry to represent my bat. That's only one point, so that's easy. I'll buy an Extracurricular Skill in Bludgeoning, and buy it up to four. And, heck, I figure Deak's dad made him do all the boring paperwork and inventory, so I'll take Administration and Computers both at 2 (neither are really within my skill set as a thug).

Now, I do Psychological States. These are kind of reminiscent of the madness tracks in Unknown Armies. We've got three: Violence, Paranoia and Immorality. I set them where I think it's appropriate to my character. All have advantages (being Violent makes it easier to, y'know, hurt things), but if they get too high, I go nuts and am no longer a PC. These go 1 to 5, and they all have to be at least 1.

For Paranoia, I'll just set it at 1. Deak knows that reality is being replaced by aliens, and he's suspicious, but he hasn't quite grokked that these creatures could have replaced anyone, and that includes cute puppies or, y'know, his own family.

For Violence, I'll put it at 4. He'll kill doppelgangers, and he'll injure people, but he's not a psycho (yet) and he's not really interested in harming people severely. That'll change.

And, finally, Immorality. This is a slippery stat and I don't much like it, because it concerns whether you're willing to lie and steal. Seems like a lot of concepts crammed into one place. Deak, for instance, I see as being willing to steal, but not to betray his family. I'll set this at 3, I guess, enough that I could take what I need.

I average my Psychological States, rounding down, to determine Mental Instability, so 2. If it hits 5, I'm KAH-RAZY and out of the game. I also start with an Impairment, at rank 2 (equal to Mental Instability). I take Impulsiveness. Deak goes off half-cocked; that's always been an issue for him.

I start with 2 Tragedy Points (I'll get more for role-playing my Impulsiveness) and 20 damage points. Easy-peasy.

I get 5 points to spend on Trivial Skills. These are hobbies and things that probably won't save my life, but add flavor to the character. Hmm. I think Deak's probably some kind of sports fan, but I hate playing characters that have skill-sets that I don't. I couldn't even fake talking about sports without rolling my eyes ("Yeah, that roided-up gorilla is totally worth all that money he's getting."). Instead, let's stick with what I know.

Deak's good at Video Games (2 points), and he plays the drums (something else I couldn't fake, but I can simulate with dice easily enough), also at 2. He shared a cell with a dude who was good with cards, so he's got Card Tricks at 1, as well.

Equipment, which is basically whatever Deak has. He's got the standard-issue black suit (let's hear it for Goodwill), a hockey mask, his replicated baseball bat, a little bit of cash and a pair of work boots. Beyond that, he's just one of the crowd, ready to crack some Othersider skull.