Character Creation: ACE Agents!

The Game: ACE Agents!
The Publisher: Stellar Games, now long defunct
Degree of Familiarity: Never played this particular game, but I've played and run other games using the same system
Books Required: Just the one

 
ACE Agents takes the basic premise behind GI Joe (the 80s cartoon/toy line/franchise) and jacks up the satire and the absurdity. ACE (Alpha Commandos Echelon) was slated to be a top-secret tech-terrorism security force, but then in a wacky mixup their existence got leaked to the press while a military scholarship got labeled Top Secret (and has since been given to dogs). ACE was defunded, but hired a publicist and now makes all its money off lucrative media tie-in, meanwhile that agents are encouraged to be flashy and marketable - one might almost say "toyetic."

ACE struggles against PYTHON, their archnemesis, an evil organization bent on world domination or something. Truthfully, they only differ from ACE in their stated motives (and that they don't make money off their action figures, but who are they gonna sue? They're criminals), but the general feeling is that ACE and PYTHON are a perfect counter-balance to each other's screwy antics.

(I note with some amusement that this is exactly the conclusion that the Cheat Commandos reached in 2 Part Episode: Part 2.)

Anyway, let's make an ACE Agent!

I'm to roll 4d10 for each of the eight basic abilities, so let's see what we get:

Strength 18
Dexterity 27
Fitness 19
Intellect 31
Will 16
Perception 8 (jeez)
Attractiveness 16
Public Relations 22

OK, well, that's an interesting spread. I'm quick and hella smart, but I'm pretty weak-willed and I probably run into walls. Next up is Survival Points, which is Fitness + Public Relations, or 41 in my case. Consciousness Points is Will + Public Relations, or 38. I have a spot for neither on this character sheet, however, which is weird.

Anyway, next up is Hand to Hand damage, also not on the sheet...oh, wait, it's on the back. Fine, I ain't printing that, though, it's combatty stuff. My HTH is 2 or 20, depending if I'm doing SP or CP (ah, 90s game design).

Right, now for skills. I get 25 1d10 rolls to place in Skills, 5 of which have to be placed in Combat Skills, and the other 20 can go anywhere. Think I'll use random.org for this part. All right, done, now I need to choose Skills, which means I should think a little about concept.

Well, my agent is obviously no great shakes as far as rough-and-tumble shit goes, but his Intellect is pretty beefy. DEX actually isn't bad, so I can do ranged combat if I throw some rolls in there. So let's say my character's code name is Laser Pointer. He's a former office jockey who, like Arthur before him, decided that adventure wasn't going to find him in the world of number-crunching and filing, and so applied to join ACE. As it turns out, though, he's got a real knack for marksmanship, and likes factoring tech into being long-distance lethal (not close up, because he really doesn't like the sight of blood or the feeling of being punched).

So I'll put a total of 33 into Rifle, putting my score to 60 (I add the basic ability to the rolls for a total). I'll put 15 into Pistol, too, for a total of 42 there. And then the other Skills...good lord, there are too many. Well, I want Business, so I'll put 9 there for a total of 40. Computer Operation, sure, 10 points, 41. Communications sounds useful, 10 points, 41. Electronics sounds good, I'll put 19 points in for a total of 46. Security Systems, 4 points, 35 (that's far too low, but I'm running out of points). Stealth, 9 points, 36. Bicycles, 8 points, 35. Two more rolls left (9 and 9). I'll put them into Information (Bureaucracy) and Mathematics, respectively.

And now I just need to do the profile kind of thing. So! Lester Bean was a bean counter (that joke never gets old). Had the "Hang In There!" kitten poster and the "I Hate Mondays" mug and everything, and then one day ACE and PYTHON had a rollicking laser battle outside his building and he was just fascinated, mostly by how inefficient and sloppy their shooting was. He's since learned that hitting a target under pressure is a little harder, but he's getting better at hitting things from very, very far away, preferably using a laser scope.

Lester is tall, thin, and wheezy. His hair is thinning and he wears thick glasses, a silvery jumpsuit, and some cool laser projectors on his wrists (they don't do anything but make dots, but they're useful for calling attention to something or blinding enemy pilots).

Oh, now that I finish this, I realize I should have named him Reynold.