Weird game situation, this.
The Game: H. P. Lovecraft Preparatory Academy
The Publisher: Third Eye Games
Degree of Familiarity: None
Books Required: Just the one...this time!
So, the weird bit is that this game is published in three different systems: PDQ, Savage Worlds, and Pip. I got one in hard copy through the Kickstarter (I chose the PDQ version, for reasons I don't remember), and I have the other two in PDF. My usual rule is that different editions or versions of a game all merit their own character, because system changes a game, but before I started reading the game I was kinda waffling. I dunno, game about prep school kids going to a school inspired by the Mythos? Like, sure, but I have Candycreeps and so on, and Lovecraft-stuff is done to death.
But the book is actually really good and fun to read. I have some niggles, but they're mostly the self-referential tone that the introduction takes. A pretty good example is that the opening fiction is titled "Obligatory Opening Fiction," and I skipped right by that, because if it's just the obligatory stuff why bother? (Speaking as someone who's written plenty of such fiction.) But then I wound up reading the interstitial chapter-header fiction and it was actually fun, and a really good depiction of the game and what might happen.
Anyway, the game looks fun, so I'm gonna make characters for all three versions (but not today, one at a time), starting with the PDQ version.
Step one is a concept. I want to make a character inspired by one of my favorite Futurama episodes, "Fry Am the Egg Man." The basic idea here is that the character is wholly in love with his extremely dangerous, kinda corrosive pet. I'm gonna call his concept "blinded by puppy love."
Step two is to choose a class, and I already know I want to be a Summoner since that'll give me access to a horrific pet creature. That means the Summoning Skill is an Ability for me, but all other Disturbing Skills (witchcraft, mutation, and so on) are just lore. That is, I can learn about them, but I can't do them.
Speaking of skills, moving briskly along to step three! Skills get letter grades in this game, and I get one A, four Bs, two Ds (one of which has to be starred and is the thing I really suck at and can't ever get better), and everything else gets a C. My Disturbing Skill doesn't count here, this is just Mundane Skills.
Well, right away I know I want my D with the star to go in Trash Talk. My character doesn't have a mean thing to say about anyone and never will. I think his other D can go in Delinquent, for similar reasons, but he could in theory learn to sneak a little better.
Clearly Empathy needs to get a higher grade, and I'm thinking Family might get a B (which would give the character more resources). I think Phys Ed, too, just because I don't want him to be a little scrawny nerd - he's actually pretty sporty. He just loves his "dog." I'll put a B in Phys. Ed, a B in Scouts, and a B in Family. Only question is whether to put the A in Empathy or something else. I think I will, actually. His other B I'll put in First Aid. He seems like the sort of kid who might have taken a CPR class. I also get a B in Hobby.
Next up, Specializations! Some Skills required Specializations, and if I have a B, I get two (an A would give me four, but Empathy is not such a skill). Actually, Hobby is the only such Skill I have, so I need two there. I'll take Animal Husbandry (his family raises chickens and...I dunno, maybe goats) and Nature Photography.
(Occurs to me that the last character I made was into weird animals, too. Guess I'm spending a lot of my time with my dogs. They're pretty weird.)
I get a C in Eldritch Lore and Summoning, and now I get to design my Servitor. Fortunately there's a sheet for that, too! I'll say that my character found his little buddy as an egg in one of the chicken coops. It clearly wasn't a chicken egg (those don't tend to be green and kinda scaly), so he hatched it and discovered it was...a thing. Who knows! But he loves it and it loves him.
Appearance: It moves like a quadruped, and is about the size of a dog, but it skitters up walls like a lizard. Scaly, paws with too many toes, dripping, mildly corrosive, whip-like tail, circular mouth like a lamprey.
There's a chart with personality traits, but I kinda want "affectionate." I'll roll for another. "Shy." AW! Perfect!
Another chart with syllables to give it a Lovecrafty-sounding name. Its name is M'ellurdy'orra. My character just calls it "Mel" or "Melly."
And now I need to build Mel's traits. Oh, wait, it can't be bigger than a cat since I've only got a C in Summoning. Well, Mel's young yet. He gets three Skills at B and then one Minor Power. For his Skills, I'll give him Lurk and Scuttle, and then I think I gotta give him Rend to give the acid some teeth (and possibly his teeth some acid).
For the Minor Power...oh, man, there are a few. I think I gotta go with Wall-Crawler, though, so Mel can actually do the skitter-up-walls thing.
Cool, that's it for Mel, now back to his "owner!" Next step is Motivation, and I think my guy really wants to Learn What Mel Really Is (that seems like a fact worth knowing...). That's actually probably why he's at this school, instead of at a vocational school or something.
Sanity starts at 9, cool, cool. Movement is 7 (5 + Phys Ed mod, which is +2). Initiative mod is 0. 3 Merit points to start, $300 in starting allowance, and I'm a First Year (7th Grade). Dorm...hmm. If I were running this I'd probably let the group choose, but since it's just me I'll roll it. Barker Hall! Yeah, I'm slowly going nuts.
Next two steps are for Bunkie and Mentor, and I'm gonna skip those because they're optional. Name...He feels like a Buckley to me. Chester Buckley, his parents call him Chet. He hates his first name and prefers it when folks call him Buck.
Last thing is figuring what he packed (no weapons, not that Buck would do that). I think he's brought his camera, a flashlight (what do you mean you're not allowed to go into the woods after dark?), binoculars, and field notebooks (he gets them in packs of 12 because he fills them up, he loses them, Mel eats them, etc.).
Buck is 13. He's on the tall side of average, he's got dirty blond hair that gets all fluffy after he washes it. He had a zillion freckles as a kid, but they're fading. He's got brown eyes, he's very enthusiastic about everything and everyone, and he's completely convinced that Mel will warm up to people if they just give him a chance (Mel has "warmed up" to Buck, and frequently curls up on his tummy, with the result that all of his shirts have a discolored, threadbare circle on the front).
That's it!
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