Character Creation: Barbarians Vs.

[insert barbarous scream here]

The Game: Barbarians Versus
The Publisher: Precis Intermedia
Degree of Familiarity: None, but it looks fun, simple and intriguing.
Books Required: Just this PDF thingie, evidently. 

 
You played a crazed barbarian fighting lizard-man aliens. When you roll a 10, you have to grunt or shout a battle cry.

Yeah, I can get behind this.

Step One: Choose Your Barbarian Name. There's a helpful list, but eh. I want a name that follows the phrase, "Run! Run for your lives! Here comes ______________!"

Hmm. Ru'ak. I like apostrophes. "Run! Here comes Ru'ak!" Yeah, that works.

Step Two: Choose clan. Actually, it's less "choose" and more "make up." Barbarians are descended of divinity and can therefore gain a bonus die when they take some special action, once per session.

Ru'ak is of the Bleeding Tree Clan. His clan's legendry states that his ancestor chased a malevolent demon to the ends of the earth. To escape the barbarian, the demon turned itself into a tree, and the barbarian still beat it until it bled. Today, the Bleeding Tree Clan is known as the clan you do not want to piss off. Not because they're all mighty warriors (barbarians are, in general) but because once a Bleeding Tree marks you, he'll follow you until the ends of the earth. The clan is also known for their skill in forestry and woodworking. Once per day, a member of the clan invoke their clan founder's tenacity and gain a bonus die to any action.

Step Three: Attributes, Abilities and Items.

OK, I get 20 points for Attributes, and then 20 to split between Abilities and Items. Let's roll. Attributes first.

Smash is my ability to break, smash and lift. Throw is my ability to throw, Feet is how fast and nimble I am, Craftiness helps me make traps, and Contemplating is making us of the large thing between my ears ("Oh, your nose."). Amusingly, the book advises I raise these "as much as possible." Which means what, author, don't leave any points unspent?

Anyway, I start with 1 in all of them. I'll pump 6 into Smash and 7 into Craftiness, because as a Bleeding Tree I'm good with wood (huh-huh). My remaining 7 I'll split evenly, with the extra point going to Throw.

Abilities are nifty little feat-like things, and they cost 5 points each. I'll take Double Down; if I attack at a penalty with Smash, I also damage a random enemy. I'll rename that effect to "Deadly Shrapnel". I'll also take Double Damage; Bleeding Tree barbarians train by beating trees until either the tree falls or the barbarian does (I'll call that "Tree-Breaking Strike").

That's 10 points gone; I'll use the other 10 for items. I can only have one 5-point item, since those are legendary. I'll buy one - the Demon-Tree Club. Obviously, it's a club made from the tree that my illustrious ancestor beat down. It cackles maniacally when I use it to bust heads. I'll two a 2-point chopping ax (can't beat them down all the time), a set of shaping tools (1 point) and a length of rope (2 points).

Step Four: Guts and Grit. Guts indicates how much damage I take before I croak. It's Smash + Throw + Craftiness x2, or 38. Grit is reserves of luck and fortitude, and it's Feet + Contemplating, or 6 in my case.

Step Five: What Your Barbarian Bleeds For. I pick three things that really get Ru'ak's blood pumping, besides killing aliens and bringing honor and glory to his clan. These can be people, events or causes, whatever.

Well, Ru'ak loves the forests, but hates the trees. It's a quandary, to be sure. He'll fight for his forests, because it's going to be his mighty hands that make the fucking trees bleed.

Ru'ak has an enemy - Mlar the Silent. A barbarian from a rival clan, Mlar doesn't run when he sees Ru'ak coming. He doesn't do anything but stand and stare. Ru'ak suspects he might be deaf, but hates him all the same.

And, finally, Ru'ak loves his Mama. He even has the rune for "Mom" tattoo/etched/scarred on his mighty biceps. His Mama can snap a stout branch just by looking at it, man.

Step Six: What Your Barbarian Whimpers For. Well, no one's perfect.

Ru'ak is afraid of bugs. Bees especially. They move so fast! You can't smash them!

Also, he's terrified of open water. Little streams are OK, and even swimming holes, but don't ask Ru'ak to get on a boat. There are bugs in that water.

Last, Ru'ak can't abide flattery. Rather, he's highly susceptible to it. He gets the -2 penalty when someone tries to butter him up.

Step Seven: War Cry.

Pretty obvious, right? Hmm. This merits some consideration.

"Timber!" is an obvious one, maybe too obvious. "Fuck the trees!" isn't bad, but let's try and keep it PG rated.

"For Blood and Splinters!" There we go. 

Character Creation: Vox

Always makes me think of Twelfth Night. "You must allow for vox!" 

The Game: Vox
The Publisher: æthereal forge
Degree of Familiarity: None, really. I've read the book and I ran a lot of Wraith back in the day.
Books Required: Just the core. 

 

Voices in my head! I like the game and its wonky presentation (you have to turn it upside down and read from the back to get the GM stuff). I like the writing, for the most part (see below). The concept is just that you've got a voice (at least one) in your head, and that this eventually leads to superpowers. The voices are characters that anyone can pick up, so you might play my Vox in one scene, and then someone else's in another.

I'm oversimplifying, here, because the game actually has some cool moody stuff going on, and some of the scenarios they present sound fun. One thing I don't like is that the game gets a little...well, up its own ass a bit. I have decided that I really don't like it when RPGs bag on other RPGs. I know, I know, White Wolf is (or was) really bad about this kind of thing, but they don't really do it anymore because somewhere along the way they realized that this is something people do for fun, and my fun might not be your fun, and that's cool. Vox tries to be very innovative and creative and other words ending in "ive", but I'd need to play it with the right people to know if it works out that way.

In the meanwhile, let's us just make a character. The "character sheet" is an index card, so I'm not going to bother with it, since I haven't got any index cards handy.

Well, making a character means making a Persona and a Voice. Let's assume this game is modern day and all.

Name. Always weird to start with names. My character's name is Maximilian Lloyd. He likes to be called "Maximilian," but most folks call him "Max," because really who has time for "Maximilian"?

Description. This includes Physique and Personality. Both are 10 word or so descriptors.

Physique: Tall, somewhat plump white man in his 40s, embarrassing comb-over.
Personality: Lives in his own head, polite, soft-spoken.

Now, skipping ahead to the Personality chapter, we have this neat little psuedo-Meyers-Briggs thing going. Max, I think, is more a seer than a doer (Intuitive), a feeler than that a thinker (sYmpath), a perceiver rather than a judger (Anarch) and, though his behavior belies it, an extrovert (Cenobite). That makes his little abbreviation thing SYAC, which is identified as a Crusader. I think that might fit, Max just hasn't found a cause he likes, or a reason to come out of his own world. Hell, in his own world he probably is a crusader.

Moving along. Core Elements.

Past: This represents where Max is coming from at the start of the game. I think Max's past will be Bus Driver, just because the obvious choice would be "Office Milquetoast" or something.

Defining Quality: This how Max defines himself, meaning self-perception is what's important here, I think. I'm tempted to say "Walter Mitty," but I don't think that gives enough clues as to what kind of conflict I'd want for Max. Instead I'll say "Would-Be Hero." Max is the hero of his own story.

Motivation: Or maybe "Would-Be Hero" works better here? Nah. I think "Be Loved and Admired" is really the motive. He's not a hero for the sake of the work, he wants the credit.

Quirk: You don't ever roll Quirks, they're just bits of fun for your character. The book recommends that this might be a flaw or something the Persona always gets wrong, so I'll take "Mumbles When Talking to Women" as Max's Quirk.

Next, Additional Qualities. All of the above (except the Quirk) are Good ranked, and I have an extra Good rank I can use to buy another Quality or pump one of those up to Expert. I think I'll pump "Would-Be Hero" to Expert; Max is really bottled up in his own fantasies, but that can actually help him avoid harm.

Training Points. I get none. So why make this a step at all?

Voice. And the process begins anew!

Max's Voice is his own reflection, making it a Vox Imago. It refers to itself as "Maximilian", always, and dammit, folks would make time to use that name for him.

Description. Same drill.

Physique: Tall, fit white man in his 40s, shaved head.
Personality: Outspoken, clear and strong voice, always knows the right thing to say.

The Personality here is a little different, obviously. Maximilian is a Doer rather than Seer. He's still a feeler (sYmpath), but is a judger rather than a perceiver. Still definitely an extrovert. That makes him DYKR, or a Bodyguard. Sounds good.

Core Qualities: Voices only get Past, Motivation and Quirk.

Past: Secret Agent
Motivation: Save the World
Quirk: Can Seduce Any Woman

I get an Additional Quality, so I'll take an extra Quality: Karate Expert. All the things that Max finds awesome, that's Maximilian.

So that's all, actually. Like I said, I don't have a character sheet, so here ya go:

Persona: Max Lloyd
Physique: Tall, somewhat plump white man in his 40s, embarrassing combover.
Personality: Lives in his own head, polite, soft-spoken; SYAC
Core Elements:

• Past: Good [+2] Bus Driver
  
• Defining Quality: Expert [+4] Would-Be Hero
  
• Motivation: Good [+2] Be Loved and Admired
  
• Quirk: Mumbles when he talks to women
  

Other Qualities: None.
Voice: Maximilian

Voice: Maximilian
Type: Vox Imago
Physique: Tall, fit white man in his 40s, shaved head.
Personality: Outspoken, clear and strong voice, always knows the right thing to say; DYKR.
Core Elements:

• Past: Good [+2] Secret Agent
  
• Motivation: Good [+2] Save the World
  
• Quirk: Can Seduce Any Woman
  

Other Traits: Good [+2] Karate Expert
Persona: Max Lloyd