Character Creation: Osiris

Argh.

The Game: Osiris
The Publisher: Epidemic Books
Degree of Familiarity: None, and yet, such a strong sense of deja vu while reading it
Books Required: Just the one

I really need to limit myself to one or two of these types of games a month, and definitely not do them so close together. I legitimately could not separate this game and Solipstry in my head once I'd read them both. They're basically the same game: They're the homebrew of someone who played D&D, and only D&D, and decided "I'm gonna fix this whole RPG thing" without ever looking at what RPGs are besides D&D. That's a little like deciding "I'm gonna make up a new language that fixes this thing that 'English' has going on." 

To wit: 

Will they, now?

It's just a basic-ass D&D setup. Oh, wait, the improvements that are totally new and origi-

I don't object to any of those design goals. What I object to is the use of comparatives. Not "simple combat mechanics," but simpler. Not a magic system that interlocks elements and lets you build effects (which is normally something I'd be into), but a greatly improved one. All of these can be read as included an unstated "than D&D", and it just makes me tired. 

Also there are no sample settings in this game, so making a character is gonna be a fuckin' treat. What'd I do for GURPS? Oh, I didn't do a "pure" GURPS character, I used a sourcebook. Interestingly, that character was 13 years ago, almost to the day. Well, whatever, I'm not gonna get maudlin now.

You know what, since this game is so clearly aping D&D, I'll just make an "adventurer" and keep things as generic as I need to. I think I'll make the big, burly, oafish but kindhearted sidekick to the main character. His name is Bert. Bert is from a farming village, and tagged along with his buddy Galen, Samwise style, after Galen left on a quest. 

So, stats. There's 8 of them, and we start with 4 points in each category (each category has 2 stats). And then we shift points between categories. Well, I'm gonna strip two points away from Mental and one point from Emotional and put 'em into Physical, but Spiritual can stay where it is. Then we apply the score in the category to both stats, so I wind up with:

Strength 7, Fitness 7, Intellect 2, Wit 2, Magnetism 4, Connection 4, Clarity 3, Depth 3

And now I can "skew" these points by lowering one half of a pair to raise another. Actually I thin I'm gonna take those other two points out of Mental and leave Intellect and Wit at 1, and put them into Physical so Strength and Fitness can both be 8. I'll move two points from Magnetism into Connection, and move two from Clarity into Depth. 

My race is hoo-man, so I don't get any modifiers, so that's easy. 16 Wound, 13 Stamina, 8 Mana, hopefully those don't change. Melee attack is 9, Ranged is 2 (lol), Magical is n/a because I don't use magic; my Spiritual stats aren't high enough. 9 Reflex, 7 Will. 

Field Skills! I start with the linked stat, and then I get [age in years] more points to throw around. Let's say Bert is 18. Oh, and I can't put more than 4 points into any one skill, and I need to sacrifice a point to unlock any skill that requires special training (like Pilot, which is unlikely to be part of a fantasy setting). 

Well, Animal Affinity seems a very Bert thing, so I'll put 3 points there and bump it to 9 (3 + my Connection). 2 into Climb gives me 13 left. 2 into Hide, 2 into Intimidate, 1 into Jump, 3 into Ride Animal. 5 left. 2 into Swim and 3 into Tracking, and that's that.

Trade Skills! Oh, this'll be quick. I add the base stat to some, 10 + base stat to some, and my age to exactly one of them (since I have an Intellect of 1). Let's check the list. I'll add my age to Farmer, making it by far my best Trade skill at 34 (other than Common Language, which 56 so I'm somehow literate; must be Galen's doing). 

I don't get powers (none at chargen), and I don't have spells to worry about. Reputation can start above 0 if the character's backstory demands it, but mine doesn't - he's just a big dude who followed his best friend out of the village one night. 

As far as equipment, Bert has a bit ol' staff with a knobby end; call it a club. He's wearing his simple farmer's clothes and his leather slippers, and that's it, son. He is very lorge, and looks fat (and in fairness he kinda is) but mostly it's muscle with a protective layer of blubber and he's very strong. He's got shaggy brown hair and a button nose, and blue eyes stuck in a kind of "huh?" sort of expression. Bert is out of his depth, but he loves Galen, so whatever's coming Bert's ready to bonk it.