Character Creation: Accursed

Tempus fugit. I was thinking the other day that I should do a Savage Worlds character, and then I thought, "nah, it's only been like a few weeks." Actually, the last one I did was RunePunk in late December, so that's my perception of time for ya.

Anyway.

The Game: Accursed
The Publisher: Melior Via
Degree of Familiarity: None with this game in particular, but lots with Savage Worlds and more than a little with games in which you play monsters
Books Required: Probably Accursed and a Savage Worlds core, and I think the Horror Companion, which I'm pretty sure I have kicking about somewhere

 

I have to say, reading the setting chapter of this book is a little strange. Like, it's normal to take inspiration from real-world cultures, but here we've got a lot of creatures taken from real-world mythologies (Baba Yaga, f'rex) and names that are pretty darned reminiscent of human cultures (Nikolai Yeltsev of Steppengrad). Also there's the Sakurada Shogunate, which is described as "exotic." I dunno, I kind of feel like if you're going to grab that much from human cultures, just set the damn game on Earth. If you're going to go full-fantasy, make some shit up.

(But then, I haven't read the whole book, so I have to allow for the possibility that we're doing a Dark City-ish twist and it was Earth all the time. I'll have a look as I'm doing the character.)

Anyway, in Accursed there's a war going on called the Bane War. The evil witches (Baba Yaga included) sometimes take people and curse them, turning them into supernatural creatures to use as troops, but some of those creatures break free and become the PCs. The thrust of the game looks like a pretty standard fantasy game (i.e., go investigate shit that looks interesting), but with a "you're also a monster" spin to it, which has the potential to be pretty cool.

And I have to say, the art is pretty rad. (Show you what I mean in a minute.) Let's make an Accursed!

The first thing I do is choose a Witchbreed. The section of the book that introduces them says that there are six, but there are in fact eight.

Let's see. Kinda torn between dhampir (half-vampire) and shade. I think I'll do shade. They're pretty ghost-like, and I like ghosts. Here's the picture; like I said, I think it's pretty cool.

OK, cool. So, Shades are (or were, in my case) servants of Hecate, the Witch Queen. Looks like they're semi-solid, probably for "game balance" purposes so they can still get stabbed, but they're harder to hit and vulnerable to salt. I'll write in my racial bonuses real quick.

Should think about concept a little. The write-up for Shades says that Hecate turned a lot of people from the Outlands into Shades. Reading the section on the Outlands, there are three kind of sub-nations, one of which is called Riverspring. I think my guy is from Riverspring - I kinda want to do a riff on a spectral rider but I don't know if that's possible. There's a Beast Master Edge that lets you have an animal companion, but I don't know if "ghost horse" fits into that.

OK, you know what, fuck it. You get gear based on what it's reasonable to have, and I say my character has a goddamn spectral horse. It's not any different than a riding horse, except that it's a ghost. I'll see if I can find a Hindrance or an Edge to better represent it.

Anyway, my character was a scout from Riversong. He had a home and a family and everything, but he was a strong rider and was often called upon to carry messages and suchlike. And then Hecate came to town, killed everyone and my guy almost got away to get help. Almost.

All right, got my Witchbreed and a basic concept. Let's do Attributes! I pay double for Strength because I'm a ghosty-ghost. I'll leave Strength at d4 and bump Agility to d8. That was easy.

Skills! They're not listed on the damn sheet, but they are handily collected in a sidebar in the book, which is nice because there are some changes ("Subterfuge", f'rex, covers both Stealth and Lockpicking). I get the usual 15 points.

Well, I know I want Ride to be hella good, so I'll jack that up to d8. I get a free d6 in Subterfuge, so I'll spend one more and put it to d8. I'll take Athletics (again, a combo of Climbing and Swimming) at d6, Tracking d6, Fighting at d6, Shooting at d8, Notice d4, and Guts d4.

As usual, the books says to do derived traits next, but it also says that the order of these steps isn't important as long as they all get down, so that's something, I guess. Anyway, on to Edges and Hindrances!

I'll take a Vulnerability. Going along with my "spectral rider" concept, I want to be repelled or damaged by something native to my homeland. I'm gonna say fresh water; my horse can't cross streams and if splashed with water I start to dissolve. I'll take that as a Major Hindrance. I'll take Illiterate as a Minor (don't see this guy as being very well schooled), and I'll take Stubborn.

Cool! I'll spend two of my Hindrance points to buy the Steady Hands Edge (I take a reduced penalty for "unsteady platform," like shooting from horseback). I'll spend the other two and buy a d6 in Survival. For Gear, I'll say I have my spectral horse (Ticka), a flintlock pistol, and a musket.

My Shade looks much like he did in life - tall, stocky, wearing brown leathers, a dirty white shirt, and well-worn boots. His eyes are jet black and he's vaguely translucent, but that's what you get when you're a Shade. He looks a lot stronger - physically - than he is, but he's still fast and capable of riding hard. His horse, Ticka, is pure white and snorts smoke when she's annoyed. My Shade's name is Rollo (RAH-lo).