Character Creation: In The SSOS

This took me a minute to suss out, but it's not that complex actually. 

Universal Ball Anthology contains two games. One is In the SSOS, a "sandbox" game where you're playing lizard people doing crimes, and Yep, That's Me, which is really more of a party game in a lot of ways. You create a character in a ridiculous situation and start with the "Yep, that's me" freeze frame and then try to work your way towards that moment in play. 

Now, I'm not interested in the first one particularly. It looks fine, it's just that weird Choose Your Own Adventure style of game - reminds me of Secrets of the Vibrant Isle except it's not meant as a solo game. Yep, That's Me is very much my speed, as far as the setup, because I love portraying "future" moments in my games and then working towards them with the players, even if the players don't quite get what's happening. I ran a game when the rules revisions for Chronicles of Darkness were under development (those revisions initially include in The God-Machine Chronicle) with a lot of time-travel and alternate universe shenanigans that drew heavily on that notion.

BUT ANYWAY I guess this book really contains two games, so maybe I'll just make a character for both back to back, how 'bout. Today we'll do In the SSOS, tomorrow I'll do Yep, That's Me, and then I'll do something more trad-ish on Friday, maybe.

The Game: In the SSOS
The Publisher: Universal Ball Anthology, I guess
Degree of Familiarity: None
Books Required: Just the one. Just the first 2/3rds of one, really

So the premise is that the world of Adobe has been ravaged by a space-monster and the inhabitants have turned to crime to survive. The patron of our team, one Jem Dreamweaver, has fallen ill and needs a new heart, and believes we can get her through the NI-YIGHT! 

Adobians are lizard-like creatures, based on the artwork in the book (for the NPCs), they're bipedal and of varying body shapes. Chargen starts with picking a class, so I think I shall take inspiration from the noble Gila Monster and pick "The Muscle". 

The size change thing is weird but OK.

I get a fourth Ability, which can be anything other than a weapon. I don't know if "weapon" in this context" means "something combat related" or if it literally means a weapon. But how about we have an Ability called "Lummox" and say I get a +2 to break down barriers? (Don't know if that's how Abilities work, but one of the nice things about making zines instead of actual full games is that you don't have really think too hard about the mechanics.)

What's next? Oh, just to underline my point a little, the next thing is "alignment", but the book literally tells us to "search online for an alignment chart". Jelvis Crackers. Really? It's so important that it's a step in chargen but it's not important enough to PUT IN THE BOOK? 

Fine, my guy's alignment is "Lawful Lunkhead." His name is Helod Snout. Before the apocalypse Helod was a construction worker; he broke stuff what needed breaking and lifted stuff what needed lifting. He knew his place, and that was good, but now his "place" is to break stuff that don't need breaking and lift stuff that he shouldn't be allowed to lift, and it's all very confusing. I think his catchphrase is "huh?"

Health points! Assuming I were one of 4 players, I'd get 25 HP, and then I can add or subtract 5 based on whether the character is strong or weak, which is just...odd. I'm adding 5, obvs. 

Stats! I have four (Strength, Charisma, Wisdom, Dexterity). Each starts with 10 and I get 5 to divide up, but then they become D&D style modifiers. Ugh. Well, I'm gonna lower Wisdom to 6 and bump Strength to 14, and then put all 5 of my points into Strength, so my stats look like this:

Strength 19 (+4)
Charisma 10 (0)
Dexterity 10 (0)
Wisdom 6 (-2)

Inventory: I get 5-6 slots, whatever that means. There's a list, let's pick some shit. I get a walkie-talkie automatically, and then I'll take chewing gum, duct tape, rope, and a pair of sunglasses. 

And that's it! I think Helod is a chonky lizard with black and pink scales and a perpetually confused look. He tends to forget that his sunglasses are on his forehead. Huh?

Name: Helod Snout
Stats: Strength +4, Charisma 0, Dexterity 0, Wisdom -2
Abilities: Intimidation, Flex, Resize, Lummox
Alignment: Lawful Lunkhead
Stuff: Walkie-talkie, chewing gum, duct tape, rope, sunglasses