Character Creation: a/state

I got my copy of the 2nd edition of this game in the mail recently and then realized I'd never done a character for the first edition, so here we go!

The Game: a/state
The Publisher: Contested Ground Studios
Degree of Familiarity: None
Books Required: Just the one

a/state is a dystopian/sci-fi/horror kind of thing, set in The City a thousand years after supernatural reality distortion and fire raining from the sky. The themes of the game deal with haves vs. have-nots and the weirdness in just trying to survive in The City.

It's a pretty cool setting, richly detailed and well-imagined, but it's very much one of those games that you'd need the players to read it and the book is kind of hard to read. Light print, small text, I dunno. There's a lot I like about it, but I don't think I'd run this version (2nd Ed, however, is Forged in the Dark, so that might be a little more accessible). 

ANYWAY. It's a percentile-roll-low kind of thingie, and you know I like those, so let's get to it. I don't have a pdf, unfortunately, so I can't screencap, so I'll have to flip around in my book like it's the 90s or some shit.

Step One: Concept. This game is serious about it, frontloading the 20 questions and then encouraging you to fill in the mechanical bits around the concept. I'll do that! Here are the questions:

• Name, age, sex. Let's call him Wain Brass (dunno, just kinda like the sound of it). Wain is 45, putting him on the older end of things for a PC, I'm sure. He's male, obvs.
• What part of The City was the character born in? I don't have a good sense of that, so let's just look at the chapter and throw a metaphorical dart. Fogwarren, I dig it. Fogwarren gets its name from the thick layer of smog in the area, and if you go into the deeper layers you get Shifted monsters and an utter refusal of anyone with a badge to venture. 
• What social class were the character's parents? Let's say lower working class, able to scrape together enough money to have a place to live but never able to stop working. Both parents worked themselves into the grave before they were 50. 
• What were the character's parents' occupations? Both worked at Crossbar Terminus. Mom was a cleaner, dad was a "track rat". 
• What was family life like? The Brass family lived pretty low in Fogwarren (rents are cheaper the further from the light you get), but not quite the lowest level where you're likely to be eaten by a grue (or whatever). There was always the ever-present threat that they'd lose the apartment, though, and have to move down. That meant that every decision, including things like "tell mom you have a toothache" was looked at through that lens. But mom and dad loved the kids, and while Wain didn't know it growing up, many's the night they went hungry so the kids could eat.
  
• Siblings? Older sister (True), older brother (Xavier), younger brother (Beron). True still lives in the same apartment with Beron, Xavier was running with a gang but seems to have straightened himself out.
• Why did your character eventually leave home? Wain shared an apartment with several other Fogwarren toughs and they tried to scrape together enough money to move to a different burgh, but it never worked out. Wain had plans, but they were never specific (or entirely realistic). 
• What kinds of things did the character learn as a child? Frugality, how to keep your head on a swivel, never investigate a weird noise from below you, and how to pay more attention to your ears than your eyes, since the fog plays tricks.
• What does your character look like? Wain is bald and wears cheap metal piercings in his ears, nose, and lips. He's a little paunchier than he'd like (cheap food is fattening even when it's not nourishing), and his teeth aren't great. He wears a pair of his dad's old glasses for reading. 
• Notable physical strengths/weakness. I think Wain is perceptive and used to going without food or rest, but the life he's led is starting to take a toll on his body.
• What does your character do for a living? I think it'd be cool if he acts as a kind of crossing guard in heavily Shifted-trafficked areas, making sure people can get to safe places (train stations and so on), since the cops won't do it. Probably he's on the council's payroll.
• What kind of training has your character had? Someone on the council probably trained him in fighting Shifted and keep people safe, but otherwise his education has been from the school of hard knocks.
• What are your character's main goals in life? Wain feels like if he was going to get married and have his own family, it would have happened by now. He's always wanted to provide for a family, but he's never really had the chance. That's probably still a goal. Beyond that, he wants to be able to retire and spend at least the last year of his life not working every day.
• What motivates the character? Wain grew up poor but he grew up protected, and he knows he can't feed and clothe other people in Fogwarren but he can at least keep the Shifted from killing them.
• Are there any traits the character respects/dislikes in people? Wain cannot abide wastefulness. Spending money on luxury is one thing - he would if he could - but spending on something that you're not even going to use is just wrong. Wain does respect kindness and self-sacrifice. 
• Does the character have any close friends/dependents? Wain lives alone, but he visits his sister and younger brother frequently. They don't see Xavier often, but he comes around every once in a while. He's chummy with a couple of people on the council, but they aren't exactly friends.

Advantages & Disadvantages! Doing these kinds of traits up front isn't something you see much, but it does kinda make sense. Age is one, and in Wain's case I lose 40 points from Attributes but gain 50 to Skills. 

I think he should have a contact representing the fact that he works for the council, so that's 10AP or SP. I think that's the only one I want, though. 

Origin! This is how I grew up. Drudge, I think. I get +10 Strength, and I can put points into Unarmed Combat, Mechanics, Machinist, Electrician, Folklore, and any Trades skill (I get 40 points to split thusly, but I can't go over 20 in any one). I'll put 20 into Folklore, 10 into Unarmed Combat, 10 into Electrician. 

Upbringing! Oh, no, wait, this is how I grew up. I'll take Poor, and I get 40 more points in different Skills. 20 in Foraging, 10 First Aid, 10 Negotiation. 

Attributes! I have 320 points (plus 10 in Strength), they're one-for-one up to 70. Let's see here. 

I feel like Health doesn't need to be terribly high, but Awareness does, and probably Personality shouldn't be low. Let's put Agility at 40, Dexterity at 40, Health at 30, Strength at 40 (30 + 10), Awareness at 50, Intelligence at 40, Personality at 50, Willpower at 40. 

Skills! Looking over the list and spending my 540 points (550 minus 10 for Contact Advantage), and including the 80 points from my origin and upbringing, I get:

Folklore 28 (I get a bonus of 20% of my Int)
Unarmed Combat 50
Electrician 10
Foraging 40
First Aid 20
Negotiation 10
Longarm 50 (Shotgun 20)
Pistol 40
Armed Combat 30
Common (Spoken) 50
Common (read/write) 20
Climbing 30
Persuasion 40
Hide 30
Shadow 40
Sneak 40
Orienteering 50
Tracking 40

That'll do it for Skills. Derived traits! Reaction is the average of Agility, Awareness, and Intelligence (43), Resilience is Health/10 (3), Punch damage is Str/20, Kick damage is Str/15 (2), and Encumbrance is Str/2. 

Possessions-wise, Wain needs a shotgun and if I could afford it, I'd give him a pistol as well. Definitely some kind of shiny sash or badge he could flash to let people know he'll protect them. Maybe a pair of goggles just to act as eye protection. But I ain't shopping, because I gotta go make dinner, so I think that'll do 'er!