Character Creation: After the War

This makes two this week, if we don't count Sunday as the beginning of a new week, I suppose.

The Game: After the War
The Publisher: Genesis of Legend Publishing 
Degree of Familiarity: Not much. I played it at Metatopia some years back, though I don't know how close that version is to the published one. I've played Spark, which is kinda the base game engine
Books Required: Just the one.

 

After the War (I came back to New York, a-after the war...dammit, every time) is a sci-fi game about people moving on from the horror of war. Said war involves a memetic virus called the Song, and a counter-measure to that malicious earworm that turns people into monsters. Anyway, here we all are on Polvo, a little planet where people (and aliens) are trying to start over. I should mention that one of the races you can play is the Ursa, who are indeed bear-like, and they arrange themselves into quads, I think only because it allows a "four bears" pun.

Anyway, character creation. This consists of six Traits, two Beliefs, and a name. Simple enough.

My first Trait is my Origin, which can be Terran, Martian, Belter, or Alien. Let's see. I don't want to play an Alien, I don't think. I've been interested in more street-level, hardscrabble stories of late, so I'll go with Belter. I was raised in the asteroid belt, aboard a ship, and grew up in zero-G. Next step is one of the options, which in this context means what my background as a Belter really is. I'm drawn to either Transporters or Wanderers, either people who delivered stuff and correspondence or folks who were out in space searching for their own meaning. I'll go with the latter and just lean into the sadness today, why not.

Next, War Story, basically which phase of the war I was involved with. I want Overture, so my character was right there at the beginning. I like the idea of him being one of the people saying "hey, this is going to be a problem" and no one really listening because, like, whatever, he's a Belter, they're always saying crazy stuff. For my option here, I'll take Bashton's Children. I was on the USS Endeavour when it was overrun by the Song, and held out and escaped with a dozen other folks. I figure that his experience navigating zero-G might have come in handy for prepping an escape pod or something sci-fi like that, but I also think he doesn't talk it up. After all, any Belter knows how to do that shit in their sleep.

Next up, Profession. I definitely like Builder, and for the option, I'll take Salvager. It's not that he wants to live off-planet again, but working in low orbit feels familiar, and that's nice when everything else has been yanked away or ground to dust.

And now, Beliefs. I need two. They're meant to be philosophical and controversial, things that my character agrees with but could in theory change. Let's think.

My character is from the Belt, and he was used to getting looked down on and ignored because of his position. At some point he wound up on the Endeavour, and I think that applying for that gig was a matter of real risk for him, so it was a big validation when he got it. Getting out of battle with the Song alive should have been another validation, but I think he's got a lot of survivor's guilt bound up in that moment, which makes it interesting that he chose a pretty dangerous job one Polvo. I'm gonna say that his first Belief is People Are Only Honest in a Crisis; when things are dangerous, people show who they really are. For the second one, I'll say We Owe the Dead Nothing. Once you're gone, you're gone. Get rid of the body after stripping anything of value out. No graves, no funerals, remember the dead on your own time.

Last thing is a name, and a little title to go with it. I'll say his name is Art Cullenden, the Bone-Picker. Art is in his 40s, balding, with wide blue eyes and a weird resting face (almost looks like a sneer). He's got multiple Belter tattoos on his arms, and he's missing his left little finger (salvage accident). He's muscular and fit, and is accustomed to training because if you're strong in zero-G, you're really strong, and if you're strong in high gravity, at least you can walk. He always carries a tool kit and a sturdy leather bag in case he finds something worth taking.

And that's it!