Character Creation: Amaranthine

This game always makes me think of this song by Enya, just because of the title.

The Game: Amaranthine
The Publisher: Machine Age Productions
Degree of Familiarity: None
Books Required: Just the one

Amaranthine is a game in which you play folks who reincarnate a lot. The thrust of the game seems to be about the relationships that these characters have with each other and how they play out this time versus previous times, along with the usual RPG conceits of "interesting stuff happens". I have to admit that I didn't finish reading it, though I'd initially planned to. The first couple of chapters were interesting, and the opening fiction was actually pretty compelling, and then we hit the rules chapter and I just got really bored. I don't know if that's because it was later at night and I'd already taken my meds or if the system just isn't terribly well explained, but it's a shame, because up until then the game was poking my "run me" gland (ew) a little.

Ah, well, let's make a character and see what it looks like in the cold (actually very hot and humid) light of day (actually quite dim since it's storming like whoa).

We start off with Determine Your Legacy. This is expressed through a sentence; the sample of chargen (thank you) is "Kevin will always know war." The Legacy is meant to include some variation on "always" or "never," representing the character's journey through different lifetimes and how they play out. This also means I should think of a name. I think I'll call him "Jude."

Jude is always adrift. Kinda like that. It implies a rootless sort of existence, but not necessarily by choice. It might also mean that Jude has, in past lives, wound up shipwrecked more than once. Ooh, maybe in a previous life he was a lost Cosmonaut.

Anyway, next step is Determine Facts. This actually kinda requires a group, and then I'm meant to come up with four facts about each other character. Normally I'd skip this kind of thing in the chargen exercise, since I ain't got no one else, but I do kinda want to do it because it's a pretty important part of the process, it looks like. So I'll use Kevin, the sample character, since he's the protagonist of the opening and interstitial fiction and I think I know enough about it.

Well, Kevin's whole deal is that he always knows war, as mentioned. I'll say, therefore, I've always died before you. (There's a double meaning there; could be that I've always been dead before he has, or that I've died in front of him, either's good.) I once helped you escape. Sounds like a potentially good story there. I sometimes missed you. Simple, but I like it - implies that their paths don't always knowingly cross. Finally, I never understood you. Jude watches Kevin fall back into conflict again and again, and he just doesn't get it.

Traits! Our three Traits are Aggression, Perseverance, and Creativity. They each start at 1 and I have five more points to spend. I don't see Jude as especially Aggressive, so I'll leave that at one. Creativity can be 3, and Perseverance can be 4 - Jude's the kind of person who can survive being stuck on a life raft for months.

And now some Derived Traits. Each of these are the average of the two of the Traits. There are four on the sheet, but the book only describes three (it omits Eclipse). Weird. Oh, wait, it's detailed later in the book. Seems like it should at least be mentioned here, but since it's not, I shall ignore it for now. Anyway, Will is 3, Tenacity is 2, and Integrity is 2.

Competencies. These are...weird. Basically, they're useful traits, and I think that where the system kicks in you can risk them to some benefit, but that's about the point my eyes started glazing over so I don't remember the particulars. In any case, I get ten ranks of them, there's three different types, I have to have at least one rank of each, and each rank bumps one up through Basic, Intermediate, and Master. Hokay.

So, we've got Influences, Exceptions, and Aptitudes. Influences are pretty easy to understand, they're other people over whom the character has some influence. This does require I think about Jude's life in this incarnation a tad, though.

Well, let's say Jude is a drifter, but unlike previous lives, has no connection to the sea (or didn't, until recently, since if he knows Kevin he's in Venice Beach, I guess). Jude therefore can have Influence: Truckers, maybe? Or, ooh, how about Influence: US Marshals. I'll say he saved the life of a Marshal who was tracking down a fugitive through a hobo village. Nothing violent; the Marshal was about to walk off a cliff (this was out in the Southwest somewhere) and Jude grabbed him before he fell. They stay in contact.

Hmm. Now, according to the rules, a national group would be a Master-level Influence. Sure, why not. That's deeper than I was initially thinking, but if the level is dependent on the scope of the contact's ability, rather than the depth of the relationship, that's fine.

Exceptions, then. These I don't really get. They're meant to be "how the character is different from the average person," and the examples read like Aspects, but then there's a sidebar that talks about a character having her son as an Exception.

Well, I'm gonna say that Jude is Up for Anything (Basic) and that he Never Gets Lost (Intermediate). That means I've spent 6 points, so I'll put the other four in Aptitudes. Those are skill sets or occupations. "Serial Killer" is in the examples. Huh. Well, I don't think I want that for Jude, but how about "Drifter?" Or "Long-Haul Trucker?" Yeah, I like that better, that's a bit more focused.

One more. "Outdoorsman," I think, makes some sense. Intermediate in both, and that's that step done.

Approach. This is basically how the character views immortality, and it's divided into three pairs, which is somewhat confusing as you only get one. This also bumps up a Primary Trait by two, which means it raises the associated Derived Traits. Let's see. The three groups are Humanity, Memory, and Void. Jude definitely ain't the first. How about Memory? Nope, those don't thrill me. Void? The Solemn Approaches? Looking good.

Hmm, Eclipse Walkers don't shy away from magic even when it's dangerous, while Intemerate pretty much abstain as much as they can. I think the former is more in character for Jude, given that he's up for anything and doesn't swim against the stream so much as endure the rapids. That puts my Creativity up to 5, which bumps up Intensity and Will. It also gives me a couple of Maneuvers, but I don't see anyplace on the sheet to write them (boo). Oh, and, the other Approaches all include a physical shift (Intemerate, f'rex, tend to lose pigment someplace), but that's not listed for Eclipse Walkers. Alas.

Anamnesis and Dominion. These are traits that deal with how well Jude can wield memories of past lives, and how well he can wield the weird "spared by a quirk of fate" thing that the Amaranthine have going on. I feel like he could be more or less even, so I'll put four in Anamnesis and three in Dominion.

Magic! Back to ranks again. Four types of magic: Legerdemain (tricks), Sorcery (more impressive spells), Enchantment, and Thaumaturgy. I only get three ranks, and if I wanted to take Thaumaturgy I'd have to dump them all there, and that doesn't feel real appropriate for Jude. I do like Sorcery, though, so I'm gonna take Storms, Flight, and Identify, all at Basic. I can summon up fog, fly a little bit, and know facts about a target, which is always useful.

And that's it, actually. I'll say that Jude is in his early 30s. He wears jeans, thrift store t-shirts, and an old Navy pea coat he bought at an auction on fine Fall morning (just felt right; if I were playing this character there'd be a message from a past self sewn into the lining that he'll find when he needs it). He's got a bit of a tummy (too much driving and snacking), and his hair is thinning a bit. He wears a beard that needs trimming, and he drums his fingers when he's nervous, but his eyes are always calm.

That'll do it, I think.