Character Creation: Broken Shield

 Broken Earth, Broken Rooms...ah, here we are. 

The Game: Broken Shield
The Publisher: Broken Shield Productions
Degree of Familiarity: None
Books Required: Just the one

Well, you can't say they're not ambitious.

I wish them the best of luck. The first edition of the game was published in 2013 (or at least that's when it was added to DTRPG), the 2nd Edition came out in 2019, and the only reasons I've seen it is because it got included in some bundle or other. I will say this, the support for the game seems pretty impressive - fillable sheets, an app (though I don't know if it's still working and I ain't gonna download it to check). 

The game itself? It's...busy. It's far-future sci-fi but also there are gods and superpowers and cybertech and fuck me, the layout of the book is chaotic. 

A typical example

It looks like all the color-coding and so forth is deliberate - there's a whole section on the semiotics of it - but it's hard to keep track of and the book is 300+ pages, which makes me think that at least some of it is overwritten. And, indeed, the game largely failed to hook me. 

But rules are rules, and there are some interesting ideas being kicked around, so let's do this.

Step One: Choose Breed & Culture. I can be human or a human sub-species. Hell, I dunno. The section on these doesn't exactly pass the Chupp test. Check it out.

That's cool and all, but...why do I play one? What's the difference between this and a human in terms of at-the-table experience? What does being a Gethan imply about my character? All of this information is in the text, but it's not easily surmised, and the result is that all of the "breeds" of character look kind of similar (apart from Hulks, which are big brutish guys, but I still don't know why they'd be fun to play in context). 

See, this is the problem with making a whole intellectual property suite and including an RPG in it. An RPG isn't the same thing as a novel or a movie, and what you need to pitch one isn't the same as what you need to pitch the other. But anyway. I'm gonna make a Gethan character because why not. Does that mean anything as far as "culture" goes? No, it looks like they have their own culture. Cool, that narrows things a bit.

Step Two: Spend Talent Points on Build Sheet. One thing this game has going for it: it has a "build sheet" that does the math of chargen for you, and then a "play sheet" that you'd actually use in play. I like that, though it's busy as hell. 

Well, I guess I'd better think a little about who my little Gethan is. There are societal factions, of course, but they're not explain well (or rather, each one has a fucking chapter that I couldn't be bothered to wade through), so I better make an arbitrary decision about what my hypothetical campaign would be about. Fuck it, let's assume I'm in the Agency, so I'm in federal law enforcement. Since I'm attractive and kind of neurotic, we'll assume I'm a field agent. Getting kind of Patrick Bateman vibes, here, though perhaps without so much murder and rat torture. 

With that in mind, let's go for social infiltration and combat as skill sets, shall we? I...don't see a scale, here, so I'm not sure what would be considered average. Let's just wing it.

Physical should get some attention, so let's put three points there. Smarts should probably get something, I'll put a point in there. Resources allows me to buy things, and I feel like it's the right vibe, so I'll put a whopping four points in there (maybe lower later if I need the points). Wyld is related to use superpowers and I don't think I'm taking those, so I'll leave it at 1, I guess. Divinity is about calling upon one's deity and feel wholly out of step for the tone of this game, but whatever. I'll put one into it, why not.

Killer is about combat, so hell yeah, let's pump 3 into that. Cloak is subterfuge and stealth, which seems important, so I'll put 3 there, too. Sandman is evidence tracking and investigation, so I need some, but I'll just put 1 here (not what my guy does). Weaver is hacking/net related stuff, so 1 is good. Mouth is social skills, which I want to be high, so let's put in 4. And then Vapour is vehicle stuff, I'll leave that at 1. 

I've spent 21 so far. Is that too much? NO CLUE. Let's buy some Specializations! 

Seems like Athletics is good (usually is). Control also seems relevant, and Influence definitely is. I'll put 2 into Melee and one into Con. That leaves me with 4 to buy Edges.

I'll buy Zero, making me immune to Echo powers (I like the idea of just shrugging off fire that some miscreant creates). I'll take Dirty Fighter, giving me a bonus to use improvised weapons. I'll take Seduction, giving me a +4 to do just that. And then over on the Sliverware side of things, I'll take Beautifier. 

That's all 30 points, though I could take Traits to give me more if I wanted. I'll take Bloodthirsty, that seems appropriate. That's the only one I can take, though, since being Gethan already gives me a bunch. I'll put those points into Persuade and Intimidate, one each.

Step Three: Fill in the Play Sheet. Done.

Step Four: Languages. I'm fluent in Standard and Gethan, and that's it because I've got no points in Knowledge.

Step Five: Starting Rank and Career. Already decided on Agency, and I'm a G1 Junior Agent. Gotta have some room to grow!

Step Six: Details n' stuff. My character is male, 23, and the intersection of his social class (Middle) and his Resources skill puts him living Uptown. 

Step Seven: Starting Equipment. Christ, I don't know. Is it easy to find? No, not really. Screw it.

Step Eight: Pledged Disciple. What god I worship. See, this feels really weird. I guess my guy is a devotee of Cai-Shen, Lord of Commerce and Trade. Greed is good, baby. But there's no slot on the sheet for this, so I guess it's not important.

OK, cool! So! Perry-5 is a Gethan clone, now working as a field agent for the, erm, Agency. He's got perfectly coifed brown hair, blue eyes, and cheekbones you could cut glass with. He enjoys looking around a room and thinking "I could kill you with [innocuous object]," and it's annoying that he so rarely gets assigned to do that kind of thing. Presently it's mostly been seducing important people and getting them talking in the afterglow, and like, he's pretty good at that, too. 

That'll do it! Not terribly enamored of this game. The graphic design is too busy, though there are some things about the sheet and the different slots I like. But an example of chargen - like, all the way through - would have been good.