Character Creation: Cavaliers of Mars

 Hey, let's see if I can do this game without having panic attacks the rest of the day. That'll be a fun game.

The Game: Cavaliers of Mars
The Publisher: Onyx Path Publishing
Degree of Familiarity: None
Books Required: Just the one

Total accident that this follows Blood Red Sands, which has some of the same inspiration. Cavaliers is "a game of adventure on a dying world." It's arranged like a Savage Worlds book in a lot of ways; a bit of setting up front, character creation, and then the meat of the setting with an emphasis on plot points for use in play. Which is cool and all.

The system looks interesting and deliberately designed, which is always a plus. Reminds me a little of Marvel Heroic, actually. The opening chapter is written in character and it's readable and interesting, which is hard to pull off (it's also short, which is good). I don't know that it's memorable, sadly, because a day later I can't really recall much about it other than the basic conceit. The later setting chapter have some more depth and spice to them, though.

Well, let's make a character and see what happens. My amiga Amanda gave me this song for a character theme ("Trouble," The New Respects):

Actually, if Mars is a dying world, then this song works pretty well. It's a plea for trouble to leave the singer alone, but she also points out that she's tried to live right and it hasn't seemed to work, because shit keeps piling up and is it all really worth it? There's a kind of "normal person pushed to the edge" vibe that I kind of like, there.

Character creation fits entirely on one page - two with an example - although of course there's a lot of context missing. I need to pick an Origin from one of five possibilities: Court, Street, Bazaar, Caravans, or Dust Towns. I think I'll go Dust Towns; from the song I'm getting a kind of wasteland vibe. No place on the sheet for Origin, cool, cool. 

Anyway, I need to name my hometown, but it's not clear whether I'm literally making one up or picking one, and it's not like there's a list. Oh, wait, there's a bit on this in about 20 pages (a "see p. 41" would have been useful, here). OK, there is, in fact, not a list of Dust Towns, but we do get some info on them and I'm making one up. I also pick a question from a list of six to answer, but I think I'll roll for it, actually. "Bandits raided your town in the middle of the night, killing several elders. How did you help the town?" I think my character drove off the bandit's mounts, leaving them stranded as the sun rose. The townspeople caught them and hanged them, but of course that didn't bring the elders back. 

Given that, I'll say that our town is in the northwestern bit of the Cimmerian plains, because I like the description of it and the idea of a fungus that grows on the dead. The Dust Town I'm from is called Stench (the fungus seeps into the water and makes it smell and taste awful; it's not harmful, but it's no fun. You get used to it).

That's Origin, then. Now I pick a Career. Well, I think Laborer makes the most sense, right off the bat. No place to list Careers on the sheet, cool, cool. Oh, no, wait, Careers are Traits, so they can listed there. So is Origin, and it starts at a d6, but the line telling you to rate your Origin as d6 is easy to miss. Right, got it, this is quite a bit like a Cortex game. Oy. I start with a d6 there. I think specifically, he was raised as a farmer (fungus, obvs, growing variants of the corpse-eating shit that are edible). 

Next, I define a relationship with a friend, a lover, or a possession. Hmm. I'll say he's got a whistle he stole from the bandits. It's too high-pitched for people to hear, but many animals seem to respond. The whistle is a d6 at the moment. 

Second Career! Or I could bump Laborer to d8. Hmm. I think Scavenger, actually. That's a d6 for now.

Another Relationship. This one is meant to be to another player's character, but of course it's just me, so I'll say that there's another scavenger out there in the wastes named Siris. Siris and I are rivals, but we'd never do anything violent or truly mean to each other, and we trade goods sometimes. That relationship is a d6 as well.

Third Career, or I can step up one of first two. I'll step up Scavenger to d8, I like the way that's heading.

OK, now I step up any two previous traits (or one trait up twice). OK, I'll bump Laborer up to d8 and Origin up to d8. 

And then I name a Trouble. Is this also a Trait? No other slot for it. Doesn't seem to be, there's no die assigned to it. Ah, well, there's a notes section. I think my guy's Trouble is that he's Losing Faith in People. He grew up in a small town where folks had to rely on each other, but everyone was so gung-ho to see those bandits die. Maybe people are just all bloodthirsty assholes, at the end of the day?

Motivations and Methods! These are basically your main stats. Interesting to do them at the end of chargen, but kinda makes sense, really - background first, with mechanical weight, and then the "core" stuff (mechanically speaking). Anyway, the Motivations are For Love, For Honor, and For Self, while Methods are With Cunning, With Force, and With Grace. I get a d6, d8, and d10 to split between each set. 

Well, I think that For Honor is his d10, at least for now. For Love and For Self...I think I'll put them at d6 and d8, respectively. Love and friendship isn't his big motive, and it's getting weaker.

Methods: Well, Cunning is clearly the d10, and then I think I'll put Grace at d8 and Force at d6. 

Paths! These give me XP. No spot for them on the sheet (jeez, this is not especially well-designed). Well, anyway, I'll take Path of Lamentation (I get XP when I commemorate something lost) and the Path of Bloody Knives (I get XP when I kill shit). I think that's enough conflict between paths that it shows off his inner conflict of wanting to be useful but becoming more misanthropic (lord, this would be hard to play, I hate misanthropy). 

Talents! I get four, two of which have to be from my Careers. Well, I'll take Scrapper (I can bop somebody good with a hammer) and...hmm. I think I'll take Friends in Low Places. It wasn't my initial thought, but I think I like this guy kind of slowly falling in with criminals, and letting that accelerate his slide towards disliking people on principle (or not!). 

And then two more, which can come from any list. I'll take Taste of Poison (I'm from Stench, after all), which allows me to identify poisons. I'll take Blade Carrier, too (I always have a weapon or useful item on me).

Just a name and a description, then! His name Yain. Lean, black hair that falls in his eyes, perpetually bored or annoyed expression, but every now and then you can catch him smiling at people (parents and children, couples, other expressions of the good side of humanity). He has no love at all for bandits and pirates - stealing from the dead is fine, they don't need it, but stealing from the living is just a slower way to murder. Yain is 100% anti-murder...but that position is softening (note the Path he's on). 

And that'll do it.