Character Creation: Phantasm

Finally done sorting through all the games I got in the BLM-related bundles on DTRPG (stop talking in letters). This game was not one of them, of course, but the point is the list on the project is about 90 games longer. On we go!

The Game: Phantasm (2010)
The Publisher: End Transmission Games, now more or less defunct
Degree of Familiarity: None
Books Required: Just the one

Phantasm (2010) is an odd duck. It looks like it's a licensed property, what with the silver sphere with jagged bits coming out on the front of the book, but the introduction assures us that no, it's not, though it does take "inspiration" from the Phantasm films. It certainly does; the "bestiary" section includes monsters taken directly from the films and others of the genre.

Speaking of genre, Phantasm calls itself a "grindhouse" RPG, and then goes on to helpfully explain how it's defining the word "grindhouse." Turns out that the actual origin of the term as it relates to movies has more to do with how single-screen theaters exhibited and priced their movies than the content of said movies, but the RPG lays out its own definition of "grindhouse horror." It also gives examples, in various genres, of what it is and is not (that is, if it's a comic it's Preacher, not Sandman), and that's helpful.

Without playing the game, it's hard to know how it feels at the table, but reading it, I get vibes of some of the old World of Darkness properties, maybe All Flesh Must be Eaten (or maybe Army of Darkness). Core system uses d6s and you want low rolls, which always feels a little counter-intuitive to me unless you're talking about percentile systems. That's just my gut feeling, though, of course. One number's as good as another as long as characters aren't flopping all over themselves failing rolls, which is just frustrating.

Anydangway, let's make a character. The first thing I need to choose is a "badass tier." That is, am I a normal badass, an uber badass, or a superhuman badass? Each tier gives some examples from cinema, and I enjoyed the fact that Ash Williams from the Evil Dead franchise shows up under all of them, depending on what movie we're talking about (Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, Army of Darkness, respectively).

Well, I don't have a particular concept in mind, so I'll just keep things simple and go normal badass today. That effectively means I'm a normal dude stuck in a horrific, bloody situation, which makes for good horror stories. I think I'll make a baker (my son made some eclairs the other day because he was bored, so patisserie is on my mind). I'll name him Robin Cady; everyone calls him RC.

RC is a pastry chef and works at a little shop owned by a wonderfully eccentric French lady who, if we're being honest, probably dies in the first or second reel of this film. He's not a combat master or anything. He's meticulous and handy with various sharp implements, but more for cutting up dough than zombies. Needs must, though.

OK, first thing, numbers-wise, is Attributes. The game assures us that while "other games" have lots, Phantasm only has four, and specifically mentions that it doesn't include any representation of charisma, attractiveness, or wisdom. (I see the reasoning here and it makes sense, though I do wonder why it was necessary to tell us all this. Actually, that's an issue I have with a lot of this book - a lot of looking down its nose or unfavorable comparison to other RPGs. Feels a little tacky.)

Anyway, Strength, Speed, Wits, Will. I feel like RC could be more or less average across the board. Actually, if I split my 20 points evenly, I'd have 5 in each one, which is a little above average. I think I'm OK with that.

Next, derived traits. Normally I'd grumble about these not being at the end, but I don't think there's a way to raise Attributes in chargen. If there is, I'll grumble later. Health is 30, KO Threshold is 10, Death Threshold is 0, Defense is 6, Initiative is 1d6+5, and Faith is 0 (all of these are set based on my Attributes and my tier; if I were an Uber Badass I'd have higher scores).

Skills! Skills aren't quite binary (either have 'em or you don't), but close. They come in various levels (Apprentice, Expert, Master - not dissimilar to Chill, actually, but less number crunching) and I get 5 points, equal to my Wits, to buy them.

Well, Cooking is on the list, so I'll dump three of my five points to take that at expert. Ugh, these Skills aren't alphabetized, c'mon now. Hmm. If this were a movie, I think "baker makes acid out of kitchen chemicals" is the kind of nonsense we'd see, so I'll take Chemistry at Apprentice. One point left, let's indulge my love of thrown weapons and put it in...um, Thrown Weapons.

Oh, heck! And then I get another five Skills that I'm Trained in, which isn't as good as Apprentice but is better than Unskilled. Groovy. I'll take Demolitions (same rational as Chemistry), Stealth, Drive, First Aid, and Awareness.

Finally, I get 3 Techniques. I'll take In the Face! (allows me to aim for the head with a thrown weapon) and Dodge (lets me, um, dodge more better).

That's basically it. Equipment is a thing, but it's determined by your skills (you have the stuff you'd need for what you do), so probably some baking supplies and some knives, depending on where the action starts.

I picture Robin as a tall, lanky kind of guy, dark but greying hair. Black apron covered in flour (pastry chefs are usually in white; RC thinks it makes you look too clean), strangely skinny for his profession. Probably played by C. Thomas Howell in the movie. Definitely doesn't survive the movie; he's the sort of character who would be turned into a Deadite or something in the third act.

And that's it!