Character Creation: Before the Storm

The title of this game puts this song in my head.

The Game: Before the Storm
The Publisher: Pelgrane Press, in the collection Seven Wonders 
Degree of Familiarity: None, but I've played games like it
Books Required: Just the one, and a deck of cards

Before the Storm is a lot like Fall of Magic, in that there's a specific setting and situation to the game, and the players create characters that fill a particular role and then roleplay out the specifics. To wit, we're on the eve of the invasion by the Stormsworn, and only the Sword, a prophesied weapon, has a chance of saving the remaining kingom. The PCs are the heroes that recovered the Sword. For the most part, that's the givens, and everything else happens in play (though some of it chosen from menus).

I like this kind of game, and weirdly I think it's got some replay value. Ganakagok is another example - the game is focused enough on telling a particular kind of story that it's easy to slip into the groove once you've played it once.

Anyway, there is a chargen system, so I'm gonna do a character, though some of the juicier parts rely on other players so I'm either gonna make some shit up or skip those.

So first up, I deal myself 8 cards, for which I shall use the card dealer over at random.org. I get this:

Now I use those cards and "buy" answers to four traits: rank, what people know me as, what I'm passionate about, and what I value. Although actually, face cards can be used to make up something or as wild cards, so I can basically pick anything I want from the lists. Neat.

OK, I'm gonna say I rank among the common soldiers (discarding the king of hearts, though I could just as easily use my 8). Next is many know me as, for which I shall use my jack of hearts and make something up: "the only survivor of a lost regiment." I am passionate about...hmm. I think Faith. I think that a lot of other things - honor, patriotism, hope - got burned away when my guy was out in the hinterlands watching his comrades die, and all he could hold on to was his faith. I think that the god in question for him is probably a god of soldiers, not war - it'd be interesting if there were two gods, one for generals and one for the actual soldiers. (I'm using my queen of spades here, not that it matters much.)

Finally, I value Sacrifice (I'll use my last jack to add that one, since it's not on the list). He feels that he was spared in that battle to die in this one, and that this willingness to die in service to his country and faith is what gives him meaning. What's interesting is that in play, another player would know a secret that puts lie to that in some way.

So now I have five questions to answer (they're not actually all questions, but whatevs):

My name is Jovren.

My kingdom is... So, this is either Andor (the place that's already been wiped out by the Stormsworn), Iriya (where we are now), or somewhere else. I'll say that Jovren is from Andor.

My history is: I was a common infantry soldier of Andor on a scouting mission that ended in disaster and death. I fled into the night when my comrades were attacked and killed, and it became obvious we couldn't win.

I must strive for victory tomorrow because my god and my fallen comrades demand it.

I believe strongly that the god of soldiers will not abandon us in our hour of need.

Now, at this point I would normally disagree with another character's deeply held belief, and I would specify that I know a secret about another character's value, but again, this is all stuff that would require a group. So I think I shall leave those out, because I feel like Jovren is pretty well-defined.

Jovren is an old soldier, but that means he's still pretty young. His face is scarred and he's always sweating from wearing his armor too long, but he doesn't want to risk getting caught out without it. His hair might once have been red, but it's gone gray at the temples and there's a big bald patch down the middle where someone hit him with a sword once.

That'll do it! I like the sad games.