Character Creation: The Secret World

It's funny, because I just picked a Savage Worlds game to do something fairly quick today and stumbled upon something that goes much deeper, which is very much in keeping with the game itself.

The Game: The Secret World
The Publisher: Star Anvil Studios
Degree of Familiarity: None with this game in particular, but the system and the vibe are pretty familiar 
Books Required: The Secret World and some version of SWADE

The Secret World is or was an MMORPG that I never heard of, that these folks licensed and turned into an actual RPG. Basically, you're playing someone recruited by the "Bees," a secret society composed of people from other secret societies, fighting against evil entities called "the Dreaming Ones" that are ending the world. It shares some similarities with Chill, Conspiracy X, and maybe Covenant (and, just to have one that doesn't start with "C", Witchcraft). It looks pretty cool, actually, and I may have to give it a closer read at some point.

Anyway, in The Secret World, characters are members of one of three secret societies: the Illuminati, the Templars, or the Dragon. I gotta say that the Dragon is the most interesting to me because it'd be the hardest to make a character fit into a group. The Dragon is all about chaos; the thinking being that when things are too calm that's when evil can slide in. I think it would be fun to make a character with some very sophomoric views of chaos and how it's necessary for diversity of thought and evolution, much like you see folks who don't think it through talking about how they think revolution would be a good idea. I don't know that I'd really want to play this character in a group because I think they might be a little insufferable, but for my purposes today I think it's fine.

OK, so, let's flesh out the concept a little more. My guy's name is Karl Wilberg, Austrian-born chaotician (yes, like Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic Park, I was just rewatching it). Karl believes that chaos is a good thing, depending on what you want, and since the world is literally ending, letting things settle is just going to allow the people who want to quietly fuck up the world do it without oversight or opposition. 

That's not a bad concept, which moves me along to Archetype (chargen in this game is slightly different than standard SWADE). I think I want Karl to be a Magus.

Right, next step, Hindrances! I can take the stand 4 "points", so let's do that. I'll take Unstable Magic (if I get Backlash, everyone around me gets Shaken). Karl seems like the sort of fella who'd have a Death Wish, so I'll take that one. Ruthless sounds about right, too; it's not that Karl is ambitious per se, but he's kind of nihilistic. 

Over to Attributes. I get a d4 in everything and then 3 more points. I think I'll just raise Agility, Strength, and Vigor to d6 and call it good. Oh, wait, no, I'll spend two of my "points" from Hindrances and put Smarts at d8.

Skills! I get the spread in the box, d4 in my other Core Skills, and 9 more points to throw around. Well, I want a d8 in Academics, so that's 3 right there. I feel like some combat would be good? Maybe just a d4 of Shooting? I'll bump Notice and Athletics to d6. That's what, 6 spent, 3 left. I'll spend 2 to jack Common Knowledge to d8, and then I'll spend the last one on a point of Research.

Derived statistics Edges because those derived thingies should go last! I think I want Chaos Magic Specialist; whenever I use a Chaos Magic power I get a point of Armor. 

Gear, but I don't much care about that. I do have two points remaining, though. I feel like Karl probably knows a bit about Gambling, so I'll put a d4 there, and then I'll take Driving at d4, too.

Derived traits now. Karl has no Fighting so his Parry is 2. His Toughness is 5, his Pace is 6, and this game has a special Trait called Destiny which is broken down into Shadow and Luminance, but as they both start at 0 it doesn't much matter for my purposes.

Karl looks pretty buttoned-up, dresses somewhat conservatively, wears glasses (but mild prescription, he can see without them, hence no Hindrance). But the Buzzing tells him to introduce a bit of chaos into the world sometimes, and he doesn't argue. I think he can generally contain himself when on mission with other Bees, but that's mostly because he knows when a group of Bees are involved chaos isn't far behind anyway.