Character Creation: The Sprawl

Hey, holy cats, a character for a game I've actually played.

The Game: The Sprawl
The Publisher: Ardens Ludere 
Degree of Familiarity: I played about four or five sessions some years back, it was pretty cool
Books Required: Just the one

The Sprawl is a cyberpunk PbtA game, with a focus, if I remember right, on jobs/missions, much like Headspace or Leverage (or, yeah, Shadowrun). So let's get to it!

Step 0 is Define Corporations. Everyone in the game would make up a corp, which of course would be sources of jobs and eventually try to kill us. Normally I skip steps like this, but I'll actually do it this time because I might need a corp during chargen. I want a water distribution company. Fresh, potable water has become a hot commodity in the future (as opposed to now, right?), and Oshun LLC is there to provide. Oshun LLC was founded in West Africa (it's actually named after the Yoruba river orisha, but of course most Westerners just pronounce it "ocean" and called it a day), and has grown to oversee water distribution in every major country.

Cool! So, now I choose a playbook. I think last time I played the Driver and focused on drones. I'm a little torn this time. I was kinda thinking Pusher, but they're really driven by their vision and that doesn't sound interesting to me today. I think I'll go with Soldier, since it's about planning and executing missions, and that's always fun.

Step Two, name and describe the character. His name is Gbenga (most people call him "Ben"). One choice from each of the "look" columns gives me: searching eyes, scarred face, muscular body,  utility wear, and black skin.

As for mannerisms and affectations and suchlike, Ben is from West Africa (born in Nigeria). He worked for OshunCorp as a security chief, and was caught in an explosion during one of their water-making operations, losing his hearing entirely and scarring up his face pretty badly. Ben still flinches at explosions, and hates to use them on his jobs - too unpredictable, too much chance for collateral damage.

Next up, stats. I get 2, 1, 1, 0, 0, -1 to split up between Edge, Style, Meat, Mind, Synth, and Cool. Well, I think Style is not Ben's strong point, so that gets the -1. Edge and Mind can get 0s, Meat and Synth get 1, and that leaves Cool with a 2. Sounds good.

Cyberwear. I want cybercoms, allowing me to monitoring communications and give orders in the field. I pick two tags, and I'll take +encrypted and +jamming.

I got these because of the explosion, which makes them prosthetic. Now, the cost. I'll say Ben saved up and bought the comms, but they're +damaging. Sometimes there's a signal jam that causes feedback that manifests as trigeminal pain that nearly incapacitates him.

Moves! I get to choose one from the list (in addition to the two standard), and I'll take steady presence. I can help a teammate by giving them a pep talk in a stressful situation, and since I see Ben as constantly in communication with his team, that'd be useful.

Gear! I pick two weapons; I'll take a heavy pistol and some flashbangs. Yes, those are technically explosive, but they're nonlethal and I kinda like the idea of Ben giving them to his team so they stay far away from him. And then two other things; I'll take armored clothing and Trauma Derms (so I can do some first aid).

Contacts! I just need to think about the kinds of places Ben might know people. Well, he knows folks in private security (Oshun hires out all the time) and water smugglers (Ben knew the groups likely to give him trouble).

Directives! I pick two of these. Well, Prudent obvious (I mark XP when I resolve a charged situation without violence). And then...hmm. I'm gonna take Financial. Ben has some scruples, but he's in this for the dollahs.

And normally I'd do Links, but that really requires a group, so I'm gonna skip it.

That's it, then. Time to cook some duck!