Character Creation: Mythic d6

I have a kind of mixed relationship with generic or setting-agnostic systems, but- oh, hang on.

The Game: Mythic d6
The Publisher: Khepera Publishing 
Degree of Familiarity: None
Books Required: Just the Mythic d6 core, for today

Anyway, as I was saying: generic systems. Some of them I really like (Fate), some of them I could do without (GURPS). I like the concept very much, but I sometimes find it at odds with the design principle that the system should reflect gameplay and genre. As such, Mythic d6 does something I really appreciate and lays its cards firmly on the table, positing that most RPGs are really superhero RPGs with some different seasonings.

And while I don't necessarily agree, my disagreement really comes down to splitting hairs. Much of the time, characters in RPGs are over-the-top, mythical, powerful beings whose morality or agenda becomes an indelible imprint for the whole setting. Sounds pretty supers-ish to me (and, not for nothing, but there's a reason that folks call Vampire "superheroes with fangs").

In any case, the Mythic d6 system is a system meant for supers action games, and on an initial read it looks pretty much solid. And, I gotta say, if you're going to do a generic system, this core book does it right - we've got a fully fleshed-out setting that showcases the game's strengths, which also makes making a character a little easier.

To wit, our setting is Project: Mythic, and it's best summed up as a mix of Hellboy, various Lovecraftian things, and a bit of Bronze-Age Superheroics. Supers all have the same origin; during WWII, a super-soldier serum gave superpowers to a few folks, but mostly it killed the subjects (and even the people it did work on died of cancer later). Now, a fellow named Daniel Okeke has replicated the formula and tampered with various food and drug products, meaning that anyone might spontaneously manifest powers. Characters work for the Institute, or rather, one particular chapter of it (which players design and build in a manner that reminds me of what we did in Chill and therefore makes me happy).

Anyway! Making a character! The book says that Power Level 3 is the default for the setting, so I'll go with that. That gives me 125 creation points and a max of 15 total levels in Powers.

Just for reference

So, our first step is to agree upon a Power level, but that's done. Now I have to pick an Archetype, which requires I have some sense of the character. This song has been in my head lately:

Particularly the line "I break loops and trample shit while I stomp/a mudhole in that ass, 'cause I'm straight out the swamp." (It's a good line and I appreciate the PE reference.) "Ruckus" is actually a pretty good name for superhero, but it's been done, so I'll think of something else.

I like the idea of a swamp-rat becoming a superhero, though, so I'll say my character is from southern Florida. He grew up poor and in a big family that didn't really care much about school (he went, but sporadically and only until sixth grade, after which he was technically home-schooled, but that really didn't mean much). The world got weird, Shallowings started appearing and creatures started coming out of the swamp, and my character (let's called him Junior for now) developed super-powers after his mom started selling essential oils. Fortunately, the concentrations of the super-serum in the oils were low enough that they didn't have any noticeable effects on his family, but Junior, well. He can bring the ruckus.

So what Archetype works for Junior? I'm thinking either Protector or Outsider, and I think given Junior's background Outsider works best. That means I can read situations well and I get bonuses to PER-based skills, and that I add to the GM's Aggravation pool when I trust authority without checking all the facts (meaning that Junior joining the Institute probably was a fraught thing).

On to Attributes! 4 points buys me 1D, and then I can split 1D into 3 Pips (much like...several other games, actually). I have six Attributes to worry about, and 2D is about average. Anything over 5D is superhuman.

Well, I think I want Junior to have some level of superhuman physique, so I'd like Coordination and, um, Physique to be on the high end. They don't necessarily have to be superhuman, though. Supposing I put them both at 4D? That'll eat a lot of points (32, to be exact), but that'll much him pretty tough. I don't think Knowledge needs to be high, so let's keep it at 1D (36 spent). Perception shouldn't be low, I'll put it at 2D (44 spent), and Presence should be at least decent (3D; 56 spent). Reflexes...wait, how's that difference from Coordination? Oh, that's more gross motor/nimbleness kind of thing. OK. Well, I'm gonna bust Coordination down to 3D and take Reflexes at 4D, which means I've spent...68 points. And then I'd like some pips, I think. I'll spent 8 points and buy 6 pips, and put +2 into Reflexes and Physique, and +1 into Perception, Coordination, and Knowledge (he doesn't know much, but he knows some stuff).

That's 76 spent, I have 49 remaining. Hope that's enough to do some cool shit. Attributes are pricey. Skills are cheaper; 1 point per 1D and I can't go over 3D at chargen anyway. OK, then. Let's do this:

Piloting 1D
Ranged Fighting 2D
Technical 2D
Intuition 1D
Know-How 2D
Athletics 3D
Resistance 2D
Movement 2D
Willpower 2D
Evasion 2D
Fighting 3D
Sneak 2D

That's 24 points. Do I wish to buy any Specializations? They're hella useful but they're pricey, so I think I'll skip it. I've got 25 points remaining.

I can buy Advantages, which give me bumps to certain kinds of rolls X times per session (where "X" depends on how many points I pay). I want to do Powers first, though. Oh, I guess I'll do Disadvantages, because it's not the usual setup of "take flaws, get points." Everyone has Disadvantages, and they give you rewards when they come up in play, rather than points up front.

Well, Disadvantages fall into three categories: Relationships (labeled as "Personal" on the character sheet, boo, bad proofreading), Internal, and External (oh, this looks familiar). My Relationship one should be my family. They are, as Morbo says, belligerent and numerous, they don't trust the Institute, and a lot of them are a little too chatty about Junior working for the government. I'll put 2D there.

For Internal, I need a personality quirk or something. Hrm. I don't want Junior to be hot-tempered or addicted or something like that; it's a little too on the nose. Honest to fault, maybe? Yeah, I can live with that. No head for lies, at all. 2D there. And then finally, for External, I'll say Junior is uneducated. That's just 1D so it's not as big a deal, but it comes up.

Finally, Powers! Still got 25 points, and um, I should really think about what I want Junior's powers to be like. I like his powers being swamp-themed, actually (but without him being Swamp Thing). If I wanted to boost Physique to superhuman levels, that'd require 8 more points to take it to 6D (6D+2, actually), and then I'd get a special ability...like Thunder Stomp, hell yes. OK, 8 points there leaves me with 17. I kinda like Animal Mimicry, but it's 6 points per level and I could only afford 2 levels at this point. Could I take a Flaw to reduce the cost? I could; being able to mimic only one kind of animal is worth -2, but is "swamp animals" specific enough? I'm gonna say yes, because one of the examples of a limitation is "mammals," and that's actually hella broad. That drops my cost to 4 per level, which means I can spend 16 points and take 4 levels, and I still have 1 character point left over. I'll use it to buy another die in Intuition.

That's all me points! My Physique Damage Bonus is 6, because I'm super-strong. My Base Damage Value is 2. My Passive Defense Value is 2. I start with 5 Hero Points...oh, wait, no, that's how many I can spend at once. I start with 6.

Stress Points, I actually need to roll some dice. I roll Physique, count the successes (4), which gives me 20 Stress Points, add 20, I have 40. 3D in Wealth. Equipment, I don't see the need to pick anything special.

I do, however, need a name and age. Let's say Junior is 19. The heroes in this game aren't explicitly young folks, but for Junior I think it's appropriate. His full name is Aaron Michael Bledsoe, Jr., but of course his family mostly calls him Junior (except when mom's mad). His hero name, however, is Swamp Rat. One of his teammates tried to get him to consider "Wetlands" or "the Blue Heron" or something like that, but Junior knows who the fuck he is.

Swamp Rat isn't tall (none of the Bledsoe kids really are), but he's stocky. He's got brown hair in a buzz cut and he wears overalls, a big ol' white shirt (I mean, it was white), and goes barefoot when he's doing hero stuff. He's still got a bunch of freckles on his nose and cheeks, and he's missing one of his front teeth (knocked out in a brawl with his brothers, thanks very much). He speaks with a thick Florida drawl and has a languid, honest manner about him, but he's also unfailingly polite ("don't have nothing nice to say, you ain't trying hard enough," his dad used to tell him).

That'll do it!