Character Creation: Baker Street

This mustn't register on an emotional level.

The Game: Baker Street
The Publisher: Fearlight Games 
Degree of Familiarity: I played it once at Origins a few years ago, and I've run and played a lot of investigative games
Books Required: Just the one.

 

So, in the game setting, it's 1891 or so, and Sherlock Holmes has disappeared over Reichenbach Falls (at the end of "The Final Problem"), and is presumed dead, along with his nemesis Professor Moriarty. But, of course, the cases are still pouring into his office on Baker Street, and Watson isn't going to investigate them, as he's got moping to do. Enter the PCs - folks from all over London who are, for whatever reason, willing to moonlight as consulting detectives.

It's a nice easy setup to get your brain around if you've read any Doyle or seen any Sherlock-related films, and character creation seems likewise simple. So let's do this!

Step One: Select a Profession. Profession guides choice of skills and social status, which is important in this game. I'd kind of like to play someone of a medical bent, just because Victorian medicine is bananas ("Cocaine, then!"). I think, though, that rather than play a doctor I'll play an apothecary, mostly because I'm amused by Tom Wilkinson in Shakespeare in Love drunkenly saying "I am to play the apothecary!"

So that gives me Commerce, Medicine, Observation, Reason, Science as Professional Skills. Groovy. Status 3, middle class. On we go!

Step Two: Spend Some Damn Points. I get 30 points to buy more Skills, Specialties, and Item Characteristics.

Hrm. Well, a few demerits for this: Item Characteristics aren't well explained, and we're never told how much they cost or what the limits are (more specifically, can I take a shop as an item?), so I think I'll skip it rather than give myself a headache. What about Specialties? OK, those cost 2 points. Groovy.

Well, I shall up my Medicine, Observation, and Science to 4 (which costs me 12 points). Area Knowledge, I think (3 points). Perception makes sense (3 points). Street Smarts, definitely (7 points, because I want it at 4), and I'll Specialize it in Professional Crime (27 points spent). I'll take Strength as a Skill, and that's 30 points.

Starting to see this guy take shape. Obviously he has a criminal past, though how deep he was in remains to be seen. I picture him as beefy, bald, red-faced, and generally cheerful. Probably married with a couple of kids who mind the shop for him. I think "apothecary" was his dad's trade, too, and it's his no-good brother who nearly got everyone in trouble by being a criminal.

Step Three: Characteristics. I get six in total: two personal, two professional, and two negative. These are very much like Aspects, except that they don't need to be equally helpful and detrimental because there are specifically negative ones. I will say, though, that the difference between personal and professional is never really spelled out, and some of them seem like they could overlap easily.

Well, for Personal, I'll take "Family Man" and "Never Forgets a Face." For Professional, I'll take "Medicine Dispenser" and "Neighborhood Institution." And for Negative, I'll take "Can't Stand the Sight of Blood" (my guy is strong, but he's not a fighter) and "Shameful Criminal Past."

Step Four: The Rest of It, Wot? A few last questions and so on:

•  What is the investigator's name? Basil Stokes.
• Where did the investigator grow up? I'm not familiar with London geography, so I'll just say "London" and say that his particular neighborhood is pretty rough-and-tumble. Most folks are lower class; he's middle by dint of his family history and his profession as much as anything. 
• What languages does he speak/read/write? English, and most of his reading and writing is rote. His kids read better than he does.
• How old is the investigator? 42 and still spry, thank you.
• Does the character know any of the other investigators? n/a
• Go fucking shopping if you want. I don't, thanks. I'll assume Basil has access to some fun drugs, but he doesn't carry weapons.

Basil is married to a lovely, stout woman named Mary, and he has four kids - Edna (18), Basil Jr. (17), Victor (14) and Little Belle (8). They all work the shop when they're not in school; Edna's engaged to be married to a very nice bloke that Basil suspects is running in the same circles as his no-good brother Arthur, but he has no proof and doesn't want to break Edna's heart. (There's your hook, GM.)

And that's it!