Character Creation: Eat the Reich

FOR THE EIGHTH GAME OF XMAS, TWENTY-TWENTY-FOUR,
EIGHT HITLERS BLEEDING,
SEVEN FAIRIES TRAILING,
SIX GOBLINS GOBBLIN'
OH, FINE, GAME OF THRONES,
FOUR NESTING BIRDS,
THREE VELVET GENS,
TWO SONGBIRDS,
AND BARD THE RPG!

The Game: Eat the Reich
The Publisher: Rowan, Rook and Decard
Degree of Familiarity: None
Books Required: Just the one

Eat the Reich is one of those games with a hyper-specific premise, a system that fully commits to it, and that eschews the traditional "romp around and do whatever you want" paradigm of game play. In that way it's a little like Nest (another of my 12 Games of (this) Xmas). The game play itself reminds me a bit of Blades in the Dark, kinda-sorta - actually I think it shares more DNA with hollowpoint, which I have run, but it's been a long time. 

But in any case: You're playing a squad of vampires who have been dropped into occupied Paris in 1943 with the express goal of drinking all of Hitler's blood. The book itself is a work of art, with the bright colors and the funky layouts, but it's also fucking readable, well-edited, and I didn't feel like I was completely missing things without an example of play but LO AND BEHOLD there are examples of play.

(This creator also gave us Spire, which I keep meaning to run.)

Anyway, the game doesn't assume that you're going to make your own vampires, but gives you six pre-gens. I was all set to exclude this game from the project, but on the back endpapers there are in fact rules for making a character, so like, I'm gonna use 'em, because I like this game and I want to play it. There's no character sheet, though, alas.

My vampire is called "the Parisian." He was quite enjoying a long nap in the catacombs under Paris when the fucking Nazis rolled in, woke him up, and generally made a mess of things. He doesn't remember exactly when he went to sleep but he was very surprised to discover this is not the first but the second World War - wasn't there some big conflict when he went to sleep? But back then the Brits were fighting against us? Whatever, he's annoyed at being woken up and so he approaches killing Nazis with very intense "goddammit I was having the most wonderful dream" energy.

So, stats. Our stats are Brawl, Con, Fix, Search, Shoot, Sneak, and Terrify. I get one at 4, two at 3, three at 2, and the last one gets 1.

Well, I know I want the Parisian's 1 to be in Fix - he has no idea how much modern machines work. His 2s can go into Shoot (he knows the general principle behind guns but he's not great with them), Search (he is generally impatient), and Con (he may have been a sexy smooth creature of the night at one point but he really can't be arsed nowanights). His 3s can go into Terrify and Brawl, and that leaves the 4 in Sneak (he's very used to going unnoticed). 

Next we get three or four items. What kinds of things would he be carrying with him? I think thematically the Parisian ties into the notion of vampires as witnesses to history, so I'd want gear to be, well, historical. So let's give him an "antique sword" (and give it the bonus "+just sharpened"), and "WWI greatcoat" (mark to ignore injury or being Downed, coat is discarded). Let's say that he's also got "digging tools" (taken from the Germans who broke into his tomb - mistakes were made), and give them "+excavation."

I get three abilities. One's Special, one's "spend 1 Blood," and one I get to make up (really, I'm making it all up). What does "Special" mean again? Oh, right, I can spend a critical (a 6 on a d6) to activate them. The mechanics on all this is pretty simple, so I should probably start by thinking about what I'd want the Parisian's abilities to be. 

Well, like I said, it's in-concept for him to have a long memory and to be able to draw benefit from that, so I'll give him an ability called "I Know This Place: Spend 1 Blood to reroll 1s on an action by exploiting historical secrets." (Normally 1s are discarded.)

I want something combat-related, obviously, so I'll give him "Let Me Sleep: When fighting enemies armed with guns or explosives, SPECIAL: Lower enemy Attack rating by 1."

And, finally, how about "The City's Lifeblood: When near French civilians, SPECIAL: Gain 3 Blood." (Note: The game talks about how much collateral damage is OK, and so this could be interpreted either as the Parisian literally munching French civilians or just draining the "soul" of the citizenry in some non-fatal way, depending on the sensibilities of the table.)

I get three Advances, which are unlocks I get for drinking the blood of really powerful enemies. Let's take:

I'm Everywhere: Spend 1 Blood to appear from a nearby shadow (+catacombs).

Quiet of the Grave: SPECIAL: mute all sound in the scene for the next round. 

Arise: Spend 1 Blood to summon up ghostly French warriors (+ancient graves). 

I get three Injuries, which are expressed mechanically in different ways. The first box doesn't have a mechanical effect, but the second one does. 

So: Dazed --> Exhausted (Reduce Brawl by 2, increase Search by 2 as he's looking for a place to go to ground). Seen --> Exposed (can't use Specials). Burned --> Immolated (Challenge ratings +1). 

And, finally, I get a Last Stand, which is just a brief description of how the Parisian goes bananas if he finally dies. In his case, I think it's "The Evil Awakened (8d6)". 

And that's it! I picture the Parisian as wearing his WWI greatcoat, and underneath a robe or monk's outfit or something - maybe it's a funeral shroud. The Parisian has been asleep too long to remember how he was turned or his mortal life, and maybe that's a good thing. 

The Parisian

Stats: Brawl 3, Con 2, Fix 1, Search 2, Shoot 2, Sneak 4, Terrify 3
Equipment: Antique sword (+just sharpened), WWI Greatcoat (mark to ignore Injury or being Downed, discard greatcoat), digging tools (+excavation)
Abilities: I Know This Place: Spend 1 Blood to reroll 1s on an action; Let Me Sleep: When fighting enemies with guns or explosives, SPECIAL: Reduce Threat rating by 3; The City's Lifeblood: When near French civilians, SPECIAL: Gain 3 Blood.
Advances: I'm Everywhere: Spend 1 Blood to appear from a nearby shadow (+catacombs); Quiet of the Grave: SPECIAL: Mute all sound in the scene for one round; Arise: Spend 1 Blood to summon up ghostly French warriors (+ancient graves).
Injuries: Dazed --> Exhausted (Reduce Brawl by 2, increase Search by 2). Seen --> Exposed (can't use Specials). Burned --> Immolated (Challenge ratings +1).
Last Stand: The Evil Awakened (8d6)