Character Creation: A Far-Off Land

Tumultuous storm outside; hopefully that means more raspberries. Anyway:

The Game: A Far-Off Land

The Publisher: Bennett-Burks Design

Degree of Familiarity: None with this particular game; pretty familiar with Fate games

Books Required: A Far-Off Land and the Fate Core

 

A Far-Off Land is an interesting game. The premise isn't anything we haven't seen before, at least the broad strokes of it - there's a mundane world and a magical world (The Cage and the Far-Off Land, respectively), and the PCs are "Fated," characters who can travel between them using "rabbit holes." Where it gets interesting is that there are dragons in the Cage, and they were created to eat magic (the history here is that magic was kinda getting out of control so the gods made the dragons to eat the excess, and that backfired).

As characters use magic in the Cage, locales can accumulate stress and consequences, just like characters, and if it gets too bad, a dragon awakens. Dragons are multi-zone creatures (kinda like the bone armors in Iron Edda, in a way). All of this is very cool...

...but it kinda gets hamstrung by a very common complaint I have about RPGs: No example. I'd really love to see an example of play with these mechanics spelled out, because in reading them I didn't have an intuitive sense of how this kind of stress generation would work at the table. The magic system, likewise, is unique to this game, and that's better explained, but I still think some illustration would have been useful.

Anyhow, let's do a character. My buddy Jerry was kind enough to give me a song: 

Not familiar with this band (Stitched-Up Heart; the song is "Warrior"). The song is catchy, though the lyrics are a tad superficial, but that's fine. The song talks about someone calling themself a warrior, but explicitly not being a hero. So maybe a reluctant fighter kind of person? Making a character for this game requires a human side and a mythic side, in fact, and it might be interesting to pair off someone who's human side is decidedly non-violent with a mythic creature that does have that capacity.

Oh, and the other thing is, Fated become Fated because some Eldritch entity chooses them. So my hypothetical reluctant warrior might be someone who thought he was a peaceful sort, but a supernatural being recognized his capacity for kicking ass.

I start with two Aspects, one Human and one Mythic. I think I'll draw a little inspiration from Neverwhere and say that my character was/is a lighting technician, working mainly in concerts and live theater. One day, he took a job at a local theater and arrived at the building three hours early (miscommunication from the director) and found a meeting of Eldritch beings happening. They recruited him as one of the Fated, his patron claiming that he would be "a great warrior, directing lightning to strike my foes." I'll say his name is Drew Conley. His Human Aspect is Cautious Lighting Tech. His Mythic Aspect is Warrior of the Storm.

My next Aspect relates to Faction. There are a bunch of Courts and so on that have differing agendas for magic, dragons, and so on, but I can just have a Patron, and I think that makes the most sense for Drew. His Patron is Kronos, a member of the Destroyers Faction. Drew doesn't sympathize with the Destroyers' agenda (which is basically wake up the dragons and let them eat the world), but he's not really versed enough in Eldritch shit yet to know the difference. His Faction Aspect is Kronos' Champion in Training.

Now I get two free Aspects. I feel like I've kind of covered the warrior/not warrior dichotomy of the character, so I think we need to flesh him out a bit. Taking a little inspiration from "Coward of the County," another story about someone who could fight but didn't want to, I'll say that Drew's father is in prison. They exchange letters and Drew visits, but their relationship mostly revolves around Drew trying to avoid his father's life choices. Aspect: I Won't Make Dad's Mistakes.

Because it's something I don't do often, I'm gonna make his car his last aspect. Drew has a 1968 Dodge Charger he's named "Rhonda." I think in play, he'd wind up using magic on the car pretty often (maybe to make it fly). Aspect: Rhonda's My Pride & Joy.

Next up, the Skill pyramid. I need to consider my Eldritch Skills, which, given that Drew's element is Air, are Athletics, Lore, Stealth, and Contacts. Oh, but I can sub one out for Shoot, which I can use for thrown attacks (like lightning), so I'll do that. I'll lose Lore, I think.

OK, cool. So now I need to decide on my Great Skill. I think I'll make it Shoot, just to play up this "natural talent" thing. For my two Goods, I'll take Crafts and Contacts (I think Drew knows people and makes friends easily). For my three Fair Skills, I'll take Athletics, Fight, and Empathy. And then for Average, I'll take Stealth, Rapport, Drive, and Physique.

Stunts! I get three for free, and one is a two-world stunt, something that has a mundane and a mythic side. I'll say that the stunt is called Dead-Eye. The mundane side is Amazing Accuracy. I get a +2 to Create an Advantage with Shoot when I throw an object to distract or change the environment. Then the mythic side is Thunderbolt; I can throw lightning to inflict 2 stress.

Other stunts! I kinda want one to reflect his expertise with lights and theatricality, but that might be too specific and not generally useful. Oh, I've got one: Dad's Friends. I get a +2 to overcome with Contacts when I call on criminals or other ne'er do wells.

For the last one...Oh, how about I take another two-world stunt? We'll call it Chariot of the Sky. Mundane version: I get a +2 to Overcome and Defend actions, but only with Rhona. Mythic: Rhonda can use rabbit holes, and while in a Far-Off Land she never runs out of gas or otherwise fails mechanically.

Cool! I'll keep my three refresh, I think. I get an extra physical stress box for my Physique skill, but just the two for mental. Other than that, I think that's all.

Drew is in his late 20s. He's kind of on the thick side (physically), wears a beard, shaves his head, and favors flannel shirts and jeans. He keeps his wallet on a chain, and always carries a multi-tool in his pocket. In Mythic form, his eyes turn blue-white and crackle with electricity, his voice carries thunder, and his clothes fade into black robes. Drew isn't sure what Kronos has in mind for him, but he's pretty sure it's going to be loud and violent.

That'll do it!