Well, kinda lost my lead a little, but I'm still ahead of my once-a-week schedule for characters, and I should still be able to get ahead this summer. So!
The Game: Remnants
The Publisher: Outrider Studios
Degree of Familiarity: None, really. I've read it.
Books Required: Just the one.
Remnants is from the same company that put out Edge, but I don't know if the systems mesh. They're very different genres. Remnants is post-apocalyptic sci-fi, in which big ol' mechs survive said apocalypse and are now super-weapons in an otherwise technologically regressed world. See, these mechs are self-repairing (and self-arming, evidently), and they even help heal their pilots. Once they "bond" with a pilot, they adjust to that pilot's preferences and develop over time. If the pilot dies, they revert to factory settings, as it were, until someone else comes along.
The thinking is that you'd play in a small group (4 players max), because more mechs (or "Ishin", as they're called in-setting) would be unrealistic in the fiction. I actually find the game kind of compelling; I don't know how the system would work at the table, but I could see running this.
Anyway, let's make a pilot (Ishinari) and a mech!
I start with the pilot. The first thing I'm asked to do is build a group, but of course I don't have one. The book does mention, though, that it works perfectly well with one player and a GM, and while that's not my preferred way to play, it's OK as far this chargen goes.
So I actually have a concept, kinda. I want to play a young tribesman, one who's just entered adulthood as his people reckon it. He's got a heavy burden on his shoulders, though, because as part of his manhood ritual, he uncovered an Ishin and joined with it. I shall refrain from naming him as of yet because I want to figure out where he's from and then get phonologically nerdy on the naming process. (Step Two is actually name, but the books notes that a lot of people have trouble with that so it's early in the process just to get you thinking about it.)
Step Three, however, is Building a Background, so let's do that! Here's what I've got in mind so far: The "manhood" (really "adulthood," since there's no particular reason to get gender-specific with this) ritual requires a number of tasks and tests, depending on a child's proclivities, training, and interests, but the last thing is always the same. The child goes to the Trapped Ishin, an ancient mech under a boulder. It's been there for eight centuries, and the boulder was braced atop a butte. The tribe couldn't get to it, so instead, throwing a projectile at the boulder at the end of the ritual became a tradition. It might initially have been a metaphor for knowing your limits or recognizing that no matter how good you are at something, you're not strong enough to move mountains, but over time the mythology evolved and gained a kind of King Arthur, only-the-chosen-one-can-do-it.
And then my character, a pretty normal fellow in other respects, managed to hit the boulder in just the right way and sent it toppling into the ravine. The Ishin was free. The young man was the chosen one. He got in and let the Ishin adapt to him, and now he acts as his people's protector.
Internally, he wavers between "yeah, duh, I'm the chosen one, I'm so badass" to "I am a total imposter and this ends with me dying in a fiery explosion". He's a mid-teen (people in this setting stop aging at 40 anyway), and his appearance needs to wait until I figure out where he's from.
Actually, let's go ahead and do that. OK, reading through the different civilizations, I think Canyon Tribes makes the most sense; that would give my character concept the topography it needs. Canyon folks farm, and some of them are "river-runners" that trade with other tribes and villages. My character, like most Canyon-folk, is tall and slim, with fair hair and light gray eyes, and tanned skin (since like most of his tribe, he works outdoors).
There are a bunch more background questions, and I've already answered a few of them. I'll answer a few more, though, just to get a better bearing on this guy.
- Who are your parents, and where are they now? My father (Cere) is a farmer, while my mother (Xill) is a river-runner. She tried to stay around after I was born, but she just couldn't leave the river behind. I see her every year or so when she passes through; she was there when I got the mech.
- Brothers or sisters? None that I know of, but it's not impossible.
- What do you want most right now? To control this Ishin. It's got so much potential, so many things it could do if I could just figure out which buttons to press.
- What are your long-term goals? No more war between the Canyon Tribes. The river connects us all, that should be our point of commonality.
Anywho, on to stats! There are only three (Body, Mind, Spirit), and they start at 0, and I get one point to put in one. I can, however, lower one to raise another, so for instance I could put Body at -1 to put Spirit at +1.
I think what I'll do is put Body at +1, Mind at -1, and Spirit at +1. Sayr feels like he's still growing up, and isn't very learned yet.
Skills! I get 10 points to throw around, plus a free point in Athletics or Sail for my Canyon heritage. Athletics, I think? Actually, no, Sail; we'll say mom taught me that. I do want Athletics, though. Ooh, I want Throwing (figure on an atl-atl or something like that). Better take a point or two in Awareness, too. Any other must-haves? I want Dodge and Melee. Probably should take Stealth and Survival. Wait, that'll give me like a 1 in everything. Maybe that's appropriate? Let's break up points thusly:
Sail 1 (free)
Athletics 2
Awareness 1
Throwing 2
Dodge 2
Melee 1
Stealth 1
Survival 1
I can take Advantages and Disadvantages, but there aren't really any I want. Likewise, there's a system for gear and money, but I can't be arsed (basically: I start with a weapon and some light armor, so I figure I have an atl-atl and some hide armor that I wear if I'm not in my Ishin).
Speaking of the Ishin, that's next! I start off with my Situational Awareness trait (SA), which is 1 (sum of my three stats). I have three Ishin Skills, Assault, Strike, and Motion. The assumption is that I have 1 in each and then get one more point, so I'll put the extra point into Strike (long-ranged attacks).
OK, then I have a basic suite of traits, but I can trade a few of them off. I start with 5 Armor and 3 Speed, but I'm gonna shift that so it's 4 and 4 (I want to be a little faster). Same thing with Strike vs. Assault damage; I'll shift it one to make me more dangerous at range.
I get a bunch of Traits standard, and then I get to pick one more. I can't pick an Upgrade at creation, so it has to be a Drone or a Power. I think I'll take Motion Tracker as my Trait; I get a bonus to avoid incoming ranged attacks.
And then I get a Speciality, so this is what this particular Ishin was made for. I'll say this is a lighter model, made for surgical strikes. I'll take the Precision Specialty (I get a bonus to called shots).
I fill in my derived traits, and now I just need a quick description of my Ishin. I'll say it's about 8 feet tall - a little smaller than most - but it's fast and light on its feet. It's got a bow-like apparatus that folds out of its arm, and Sayr is still fussing around with the controls, but he thinks there's an advanced range and targeting system that he hasn't figured out how to access yet (read: if I were playing this guy I'd be working towards sniper skills). The Ishin is gray metal, but it's painted tan and red and black, almost camouflaged into the canyon walls at times.
And I think that's it, actually!
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