Character Creation: Unsung

GenCon ate the last of my summer and now I'm back at work, and I didn't get as far ahead as I'd like, but I'm caught up, so that's nice. My plan is to keep to one character a week and use holidays and days off to try and get ahead, and then maybe jump ahead during Xmas break in December.

But for now, here's a game that was in a bundle a long time ago. I've opened the PDF before but never quite managed to make the character.

The Game: Unsung
The Publisher: Ivanhoe Unbound
Degree of Familiarity: None
Books Required: Just the one.

Unsung is an RPG about people who have to uphold moral codes but are put in tough moral predicaments. It references the Forge a lot and mentions other games that I enjoy, like Sorcerer, and reading it, it looks like there's some interesting stuff going on. The game doesn't have a default setting, and though it promises sample settings later in the book, those "sample settings" are more like "genres." The examples of play in the book (and thank you very much for those) focus on a SWAT team, and the game seems to have the most love for cops. One of the alternatives is criminals, though; you can play members of a crime family. I kinda like that, actually. I'm in the mood for something dark.

To wit, here's my theme song ("Hell & You", Amigo the Devil):

It's a song about loving someone even though the relationship is harsh and the world is dirty. I like that. Let's have a look at chargen!

We start with Concept. My character's name is Jimmy White. Jimmy grew up in the roughest part of the city and his older brother got wrapped up in drugs and the dealing of said drugs. Jimmy's parents tried to shield him, but he looked up to his brother and his brother didn't really do much to try and keep Jimmy from all the violence, and Jimmy's parents were killed in a home invasion from a rival gang.

That's all ancient history. Jimmy and his brother (Paul) took care of that. Paul is upstate doing 8 years for manslaughter, and Jimmy is part of the gang. They pull heists, run protection, run some drugs, stuff like that. Jimmy is making his bones and paying his dues.

Jimmy is also in love, and it's weird, because Jimmy's in love with a guy. I mean, it's not weird (Jimmy doesn't much care what kind of sex you're into), but it's weird for Jimmy because he's always thought of himself as straight. But this guy, Miles, he lives in the same neighborhood, and he's definitely at least familiar with the Life, and Jimmy knows he shoots up sometimes. Jimmy and Miles spend a lot of nights together, and they don't talk much, because Jimmy doesn't know how to be a boyfriend to a guy. He just knows that being with Miles feels right, and he's not sure what that means for him or how he's gonna tell Paul.

OK, good start. Now we do Traits & Descriptors. There are 5 traits (well, 6, but I don't have to buy the sixth one). I get 55 points to spend, but I think they start at 1. Higher is better and max is 19. Also, each one gets a descriptor (kinda like an Aspect).

Starting with Savvy, which represents education and knowledge. Jimmy hasn't been to school since 8th grade. I'll give him "Learned from his Brother" as the descriptor and put 10 points in.

Sense: Mental quickness and perception. I want this to be better. "Sharp as a Whip" is the descriptor, and I'll put 13 points in, which takes me to 14. I've spent 23.

Guts: Ability to deal with gross or stressful stuff. "In the Life Since Age 12", and I'll put 10 points in.

Meat: All the physical shit. I picture Jimmy as being quick, but not beefy. Hmm. I also have 18 points left. I think we'll put 10 here, and make the descriptor "Lean & Hungry."

Responsibility: Basically my ethical compass. I only have 8 points left, so that's where they go. "Family First" is my Descriptor.

And then there's Instinct. It starts equal to 20 - Responsibility, so since my Responsibility is 9, my Instinct is 11. Descriptors here are supposed to be what the character is like when out of control, so I'll say "Looks for a Leader." Jimmy isn't self-directed at the best of times, and if shit goes down he's a follower.

I'd start a session with one Gift Point and I don't start with any Retirement Points, so...I'm done, I guess. Wow. That was easy.