Character Creation: All for One

Like many folks who were young in the 90s, any mention of the Musketeers or "all for one" makes me think of a) Tim Curry and b) this song.

The Game: All for One: Régime Diabolique
The Publisher: Triple Ace Games
Degree of Familiarity: None with this game, some with the underlying system
Books Required: Just the one

All For One is, as the name might imply, an RPG set during 17th Century France when the Musketeers were swashing their buckles all over the place. In the setting, demons are alive and well and living in various people in the higher echelons of the Church and the nobility (I mean, duh), and so you're playing a Musketeer who's not only, like, a Musketeer, but one who is or soon will be dealing with supernatural shit. 

All for One uses Ubiquity, same system as Hollow Earth Expedition and Desolation. It's notable in that it's a dice pool system where the number of sides on the dice don't matter, since you're just looking for evens. Also, you can "take the average" rather than rolling - that is, say you've got eight dice in your pool. You can roll them and get anywhere from zero to eight successes, or take the average (four successes) and, if that beats the roll's Difficulty, you're good to go. I remember the system going pretty smoothly in play once the players figure that out, and also how to use Style points. 

Anywhichway, let's make a Musketeer. 

First step, we pick an Archetype. Mind, an Archetype is nothing more than a loose concept for the character, and it doesn't mean a thing mechanically. I had an idea about making a horse trainer, though, and that's still rattling around in my head. Yeah, I'll say my character, Rémy (I'll give him a last name later), comes from a family of soldiers and horse trainers, and so serving the King is tradition. Of course, he's the first of the family to join the Musketeers since, um, it's 1636 and the Guard was just formed like 14 years ago.

Well, anyway, I guess "solider" is the closest Archetype in the ones listed, though again, I could just as easily write "horse trainer" and call it a day.

Step Two: Motivation. Why does Rémy do what he does? I think it's somewhere between Duty and Family Tradition. Let's call it Duty.

Step Three: Attributes! I get 15 points, they're assigned one-for-one (not all for one), and there are 6 of 'em. Let's see. Clearly Rémy needs a decent Charisma since that's what gets paired with Animal Handling, and I'm thinking Body should be fairly decent, too. I'll put 4 each into those, leaving me 7 more. Wait, that's maybe too much. How about 3 into Charisma and 4 into Body. That gives me 8 remaining, which means the other four Attributes are at 2, which is average. I think that's OK, I can probably make up any deficits with Skills. 

Step Four: Secondary Attributes. Size is 0 (human-sized), Move is Strength + Dexterity, or 4 in my case. Perception is Intelligence + Willpower (also 4), Passive Defense is 4, Active Defense is 2 (kinda better off just getting hit and hoping for the best), Stun is 4, and Health is Body + Willpower + Size, or 6. 

Step Five: Skillz. I get 15 points, also one-for-one (and all for love), and I can't go higher than five levels at chargen. I can, however, purchase specializations, which I probably will. Oh, and, I get level 0 in Firearms, Melee, Ride, and one other Skill of my choice. Level 0 just means I've had some training, so I can use the base Attribute to use the Skill in question rather than taking a penalty. Buying a 0-level up to 1 point costs half a point (out of my 15), so that's nice, it's a little price break on these Skills. I'll say my fourth 0-level is Animal Handling, then.

OK! I want to put 4 into Animal Handling with a Specialization in Horses (no place on the sheet to write Specializations, boo, bad sheet design). That's actually only 4 points, because I pay half a point to go from 0 to 1, three points to get to 4, and then another half point for the Specialization. 11 points left!

Well, clearly Ride needs to be good, so I'll put 3.5 points there for a rating of 4. I'll put half a point into Firearms for a rating of 1 (not Rémy's strong point), which means I've spent 7. I'll buy Archery up to 2 and take a Specialization in Nets (not sure why that's under Archery but whatever). 9.5. I'll spend 3 into Athletics; pricey but worth it. 12.5 spent. How about 1 into Medicine and .5 for a Veterinary Specialization, which takes me to 15 spent.

Talents and Resources! I get Followers and Rank at level 0 for free, and then I can pick a Talent or a Resource. I suspect I will want a Talent. There are a few dealing with riding, but most of them are combat-related and I don't think Rémy necessarily has a lot of direct experience stabbing people from horses (frankly if he did his Melee would be higher). So I'll take Evasive Rider, which allows me to use my Ride rating as Defense in certain conditions.

Flaw! I can take a Flaw if I wish, and I do. I'll take Aloof, which gives me a -2 to social situations with people. I think that Rémy isn't distant or cold per se; he likes people just fine. He's just better with horses. 

And, finally, I get 15 experience to spend. Hmm. I kinda feel like I should have some more Skills? I'll put six points into buying 2 points of Survival. I'll spend six more and buy two points of Brawl, and then I have 3 remaining, so I'll buy a Specialization in Brawl (Grappling). 

That's all the numbers, now for the finishing touchés (as they say in French).

OK, then. Rémy Fournier is a recent recruit to the Musketeers. He's skilled with horses, an expert rider and horse trainer, and can perform some basic medical treatments on a wounded horse (that is, shoot them) if need be. He's got chestnut hair and rosy cheeks, but he's losing his boyish looks and getting more rugged day by day (some of it is that his facial hair is coming in darker). Rémy takes his duty as a Musketeer very seriously, and hopes that one day the King will ride one of his horses - that would be something special! 

I think I'd start playing Rémy with him having no real knowledge of the supernatural just so he can freak the fuck out when demons arrive, but I also think he'd rise to the occasion of leading scared or wounded troops on a desperate ride to safety later on. 

Et voila.