Character Creation: Rust & Redemption

Figure we're about due for an apocalypse.

The Game: Rust & Redemption
The Publisher: Monte Cook Games
Degree of Familiarity: Getting more conversant with the Cypher system all the time, and I'm pretty hip to post-apocalypse settings
Books Required: Rust & Redemption and the Cypher System core

This is one of these genre sourcebooks for Cypher, like The Stars are Fire and We Are All Made Here. As with those other books, it presents an examination of the genre (in this case post-apocalypse) and gives us some assumptions of how that genre works, what set pieces you might see, different permutations, and rules for how it would work at the table. As usual, I read this book and I think "I could totally run this", which is the sign of a well-done game book.

(Side note: I lurk on the RPG reddit a lot and I often see people bag on the Cypher system and I don't get it. I find it actually pretty intuitive and it works just fine at the table; been running Tidal Blades for a few months now and it's been a lot of fun. But whatever, people are strange.)

There's a convenient setting detailed in the book called The Radio Quiet Zone. Basically, internet and wifi technology was a little more advanced in this world, the Y2K bug was a real problem - maybe? Actually the problem was that the government sent out AI "Fixkits" the morning of Y2K and they all gained sentience. Each one decided it was going to be the only one of its kind, and a bunch of different apocalypses kind of cascaded. Now it's 20 years later, the Quiet Zone is a community with its own stuff going on, including some people who fell into a coma on the night it all went down and are just starting to wake up and some psionic folks and so on.

I didn't get too far into the weeds on the particulars of this setting, because I kinda came up with a concept as I was reading it. There are bands of raiders that sometimes hit the Quiet Zone and the outlying farms. I'm gonna make someone who was part of a raiding party, and then turned over a new leaf. Let's call him Lenny McGrath.

I already know Lenny's focus, that'll be Raids (it's in the R&R book). I think I'll keep it simple and say his type is fighter. But what of descriptor? If focus didn't change when he gave up his old life, descriptor probably did. Ooh, let's take Hopeful (also from the R&R book).

So, Lenny was about 15 when the apocalypse happened, meaning he was in high school. He was at a New Year's Eve party with some buds when the shit went down, and a lot of people died in the ensuing weeks. But Lenny and his friends helped each other through trauma, helped each other survive, and gradually they got down to the Quiet Zone. But by that time, membership in the gang had changed, some of his friends had died, some new folks had joined, and it had become a matter of what you could take rather than what you could find. 

And then they were getting ready to raid a farm, and another band of raiders found them first. They had guns, but these guys had bigger ones and weren't interested in new members. They shot Lenny's group (including Lenny) and dumped him on the side of the road, assuming he'd died off. The kids of the farmer they'd been planning on raiding came along the next morning and found him bleeding, took him back to the farm, and patched him up. It took a while for Lenny to recover, but after he did, he felt...good? Like, watching people die was nothing new, but seeing kindness to strangers was really uncommon. It's given Lenny a lot to think about.

Right, good, on we go! As a fighter ("warrior," actually, but whatever) I get 10 Might, 10 Speed, and 8 Intellect, and then 6 more points to throw around. I'm gonna just distribute them evenly, leaving me with 12, 12, 10.

I get Edge 1 in either Might or Speed. I think Might makes right more sense. Two cyphers at a time, sure. Practiced with all types of weapons, sure. And then I get four warrior abilities. Let's see now.

Well, Improved Edge is not a bad idea, so I can take a point in Speed Edge. Maybe it's just been because I've been replaying XCOM-2 lately, but I think Overwatch is a good idea. I'll take Physical Skills and be trained in running and climbing. And then as much as I like Swipe, I think Trained Without Armor is more realistic for Lenny.

Cool, so, over to Hopeful. I get +4 to Intellect, holy shit. I'm trained in Intellect Defense. I can shrug off disappointment, meaning that I get a free level of Effort when I try something (noncombat) after I fail (which usually means that I break even, since it normally requires that I apply Effort to try again, but that's still pretty good). 

But, nothing's all sunshine and roses. I'm hindered in Might Defense (oof) and in all movement tasks (double oof). Let's assume that's a result of getting shot.

And, focus! I get a tattoo that identifies me as a raider, probably something that my boys and I got in the years following the collapse. Let's say it's a Spartan symbol (the "Spartans" was our mascot in high school) on my right shoulder. 

I get Ignore the Pain and Wilderness Life, which are...? I ignore impaired and treat debilitated as if it were impaired, that's cool. And then Wilderness Life means I'm trained in two of a few skills. Hmm. I could take swimming and break even. Nah, I'll take identifying plants and creatures, and navigation.

And that's it, kids. Lenny is now about 35. He's got blue eyes and brown hair, but he buzzes his head whenever he can. The Spartan tat is his only one (he got sick after he got it; might have been the ink, but he's not taking chances). He's muscular, but he's lost some weight and muscle mass since getting shot and he gets winded easily. He looks like a meathead, but Lenny was actually a straight-A student in high school and he's pretty sharp, it's just that his education stopped at 15 and everything else has been, shall we say, practical.