Character Creation: Holler

FOR THE ELEVENTH GAME OF XMAS, TWENTY-TWENTY-FOUR,
ELEVEN HOLLERS A-HOLLIN',
TEN NAHUALES COOKIN',
NINE FIGHTERS POSIN'
EIGHT HITLERS BLEEDIN'
SEVEN FAIRIES TRAILIN'
SIX GOBLINS GOBBLIN'
UGH, FINE, GAME OF THRONES,
FOUR NESTING BIRDS
THREE VELVET GENS,
TWO SONGBIRDS,
AND BARD THE RPG!

The Game: Holler
The Publisher: Pinnacle Entertainment Group
Degree of Familiarity: Haven't played this, but I know the system
Books Required: Holler and SWADE, which sounds like a law firm

Holler is, like Old Gods of Appalachia, a horror RPG set in, well, Appalachia. Holler has a perhaps narrower focus - some time ago, industry (in the form of the Big Boys) came to the holler, cut it off from the rest of the world, and has set about blighting the land. Characters are people who don't work for the Big Boys and can rebel. (What's funny is that I've been replaying Far Cry 6, which is also set in the midst of a revolution.) 

I think this would be a lot of fun to run, and I've got a couple of players with roots in Appalachia, so I may have to give it a spin at some point. 

In any case! Character creation starts the way SWADE normally does, with race, but the only option is human, so that was easy. Looking over the archetypes, I read about Gougers, people who take part in bare-knuckle fighting wherein the winner mutilates the loser, often by gouging out an eye, hence the name. 

So: My character's name is Old Bray Noblit ("Bray" was a family name, and when he was born his papa was convinced he looked just like an old man so here we are). Bray got into a lot of fights as a youngster because his little brother Carl Lee was...well, a little different. So Bray wound up defending his honor, got good at taking a punch and throwing one, and got into gouging, lost an eye, took a few more, and then suddenly it's years later and the Big Boys moved in. They recruited Carl Lee because he's good with numbers and logistics, and now he's basically a willing slave to them - Carl Lee bought into the company rhetoric because he's the kind of fool who believes what people tell him.

Old Bray is not that kind of fool, and he's not going to work for the company anyhow. In fact, after seeing his brother get sucked in, his father die in the mines, and his mother die of a broken heart, why, he knows whose eyes he wants next. 

Right, on to Attributes! Oh, no, wait, Hindrances! Well, I know I want One Eye. I'll take Fatalistic (a Holler take on Death Wish); Bray is pretty sure he's gonna die trying to free his brother. And, likewise, I'll take Vengeful as a minor Hindrance (it's not that Bray wouldn't do illegal things to avenge his family, but like, what is there to do? I feel like either Vengeful or Fatalistic would be Major if he didn't have both of them, if that makes sense). 

OK, now Attributes. I know I want decent Strength and Vigor, but because of the way the system works Agility needs to be decent as well. Let's put Strength and Vigor to d8 and leave Agility at d6 (which of course means Smarts and Spirit are at d4, but that's OK). 

Skills! I get the usual d4 in the core skills plus 12 more. Obviously I want Fighting at d8 minimum. I'll actually put it up to d10, which costs 6 of my 12 points. I'll put Athletics up to d6, and buy Survival at d6 (which costs extra because it's linked to Smarts). I've spent 10 points, 2 left. Well, I feel like I should have some Intimidation, so I'll put that in at d4, and I'll use the last point to buy Repair at d4. 

I'll use my free Edge to buy Gouger, obviously. And then I have the four points left from Hindrances. I'll also take Iron Jaw; that +2 to soak is pretty good. I'll put the other two into Skills - one into Taunt and one into Thievery.

I get some ratty clothes and three Common items (this game, unlike most Savage Worlds games, doesn't have me spending money). Maybe a shovel, some rope, and a deck of cards.

Characters in Holler all have a Grudge against the Big Boys, but I think we covered it - Old Bray hates the company because they brainwashed his brother. His Goal is to get his brother back and make him see what the company really is.

Bray is a big guy - six foot, over 200 pounds, muscular but a bit of a belly. He's in his early 30s. He wears and eye patch out of courtesy - he lost that eye in a gouging match, and it is an ugly wound (but it fits under the patch, so he doesn't have the Ugly Hindrance). He's got his mama's black hair and his papa's blue eyes (well, eye). When he fights, he takes off the patch and rolls up his sleeves. He doesn't usually take eyes anymore - if he wins a fight he'll rip a guy's lip in half. It'll heal if he takes care of it. 

That'll do it!