Character Creation: New Fire

Finally getting around to this one.

The Game: New Fire: Temikamatl Book of Dreams
The Publisher: Jason Caminsky 
Degree of Familiarity: None. Just read it.
Books Required: Just the one.

 

I backed this game on Kickstarter a long time ago, and it's been sitting on my shelves ever since, because although it sounded like an interesting idea (Aztec/Mayan/Incan inspired fantasy-ish RPG), it's not something that my groups would necessarily get into. But, I finally pulled it out and read it, and...well, I was pretty much correct.

Doing an RPG about a culture that's not your own is always a difficult proposition, and regardless of how you handle it, you're not going to make everyone happy. I think this book handles it about as well as you can - consultants are listed and were obviously, uh, consulted, but is that enough? I don't have to make that judgement, I'm just here for the chargen.

So, the history chapter of this book is nicely readable and I like the folklore. I do find it interesting that chargen is buried after (hang on) nearly 200 pages of setting info. But, let's check this out.

Character creation proceeds in five stages, relating to the "Five Suns" (the Empire has been ruled by five gods creating five different suns over time, which is interesting but I don't know that it relates specifically to chargen). The first stage is concepty sorts of things, which proceeds in a list of questions, which is fine. I'm not gonna answer all of them, I don't think. Normally I do lists of questions like this in an actual list, but because of the concept I have, I'm gonna just do it in text.

So, I want to make Nawal Sorcerer. Everybody has a Nawal, a kind of animal spirit that represents your instincts. Sorcerers, though, can physically turn into the animal of their Nawal, and can learn to steal or lure other people's Nawals and become those, too. I'm taking inspiration for my character from Adam Young, the Antichrist in Good Omens, for being a kid born to a destiny that he doesn't really know about or want.

My character is now 20, and he's nomadic, like a lot of Nawal Sorcerers. His family is from Popokatetlan, and were members of the ruling class (which meant, in that city, that they're master crafters). My character...needs a name, hang on. There is not a list of names in this book. C'mon.

OK, he was named Cualli ("good") at birth. He was the third child of seven in his family, and grew up with his siblings and cousins and so forth. Everyone was encouraged to find a way to make something - one of his brothers was skilled at working with feathers, one of his sisters expert at working with thin metal. Cualli liked working with skin, fangs, and the bodies of dead creatures. Frankly, his family found it a little creepy. And then somewhere along the line, Cualli became a Nawal Sorcerer, and it all seemed to make more sense.

They didn't cast him out, but there was definitely a sense of disappointment from his family and fear from other nobles. So Cualli left the city and struck out on his own, shedding his skin for the first time, taking the name "Ohtli" ("road"). Like his Nawal, he's generally content to be left alone, but can strike with venom if disturbed. (Just occurred to me that this is the second character I've made with a serpent affinity; third if you count this one.)

Ohtli is lean and sinewy. His hair is long because he doesn't have a good way to cut it on the road, but when he comes to a new Kalpuli (city-state kind of thing), he quickly adopts the mannerisms and culture of the area. He stays until the skin no longer fits, and then moves on.

I think that's conceptually a good start, let's move on to step two. Stats! There are ten, and then I get an eleventh because I'm a Nawal. They all start at 1, except Nawal which starts at 3. I get 20 "Day Energy" points (I have no idea why a special name is required) to spend on these, and it's not one-for-one. You have to pay the cost incrementally, so going from 1 to 3 costs 5. OK, how does this system work? OK, you roll d10s, total 3, and try to beat a TN, but it's not about success or failure so much as narrative control.

Well, I want some points in Deception and Divination, and it's definitely in-concept to take some in Craft. Taking those three to 3 would cost 15, leaving me 5. I feel like Agility should be a little higher, so I'll spend 2 to bump that, and two more to bump Lore. That leaves me 1. I could take a second Nawal at 1, I suppose. I'll take Deer; I like the idea of a non-predatory one, and I can see him hiding in deer-form to observe a place before joining it.

Step three is Themes, and they're a lot like Aspects from Fate. There are 10 categories that I don't have to follow, but hey, if you're gonna write 'em on the character sheet...

• Red Sun: This is passion, something that Ohtli cannot stay neutral about. I think we'll call this "Don't Touch Me." Ohtli doesn't necessarily dislike contact, but it's got to be on his terms.
• Green Sun: Stuff that I own. It can even be magical! Ooh, I want a Nawal Cloak. It started as a snake-fang necklace, and then when he gained the Deer Nawal, he skinned a deer and made its hide into a cloak and worked the fangs into the clasp. As he gets more Nawals, he'll include them, too.
• Blue Sun: A corporation from Firefly...no, hang on. Source of strength, what gives me the will to carry on. Ooh, I got it. I Can Shed This Skin. No matter how bad things get, Ohtli knows that he can just take it off and move on. 
• White Sun: Reputation and Demeanor, how others see me. The Handsome Reflection. Ohtli is personable and seemingly kind when need be, but what he really is is whatever he needs to be to fit in. 
• Gold Sun: Community. Aw. The effect my community has had on me, specifically from the one I grew up in (so Popokeltlan). Just to continue the tragedy, we'll say All Love is Conditional. 
• Birth: Ran out of suns, I guess. This is the horoscope, the destiny I was born under. There's not a list, sadly. I will say that his theme here is The Serpent, just to keep it nice and simple.
• Childhood: The effect of my family and my upbringing; seems a little redundant with some of the others, but whatevs. What Can You Create? - because everyone was expected to become a crafter.
• School: Exceptional Ability. Something that I'm uniquely good (or bad!) at. Oh, sure. Silent as a Whisper; Ohtli was really good at sneaking around.
• Day: Core Character Concept. Should we...have started with this? High Concept Aspect, basically. Sure. Nawal Serpent Outcast. 
• Night: Disadvantage, so Trouble Aspect. Guys. Just make a Fate game next time. Even the Serpent Needs Warmth. Ohtli figures he doesn't need anyone, but that's simply not true.

That's that, then. Next up: Destinies. I choose three, and I have to share one with other players, but I don't have any of those, so hey. OK, so these are just goals, and the group has to have one in common, which I really like. But since it's just me, Ohtli's destinies are: "Find someone I can trust with my real name," "Add a powerful Nawal to my cloak", and "Return to Popoketlan as a new man."

And that's it!