TWANG.
The Game: Era: Lyres
The Publisher: Shades of Vengeance
Degree of Familiarity: None with this; I ran Era: Kaiju once
Books Required: Just the one
So...weird game, this. Era games are basically a fairly simple d10 dice pool system, and for the most part they're basic simulationist games, most attention given combat, with some specific systems depending on the game you're playing. Fine. But this game assumes you're playing folks in a fantasy/Medieval sort of setting who aren't adventurers, but rather people lying about being adventurers (hence, "lyres," because you're telling stories and trying to convince people you're cooler than you are).
And like...that's actually kind of a cool idea. Now, how would you do that mechanically? I can see using a Once Upon a Time kind of approach where you're limited in the story elements you're allowed to use. I can see playing out the adventurers you're lying about, sort of like Prince of Persia? (Like, the time travel mechanic framed as a character telling a story and revising what he's said.) But this game is basically just a straight-up RPG, with some advice about "if you're describing a fight, roll the fight stats." I don't know, it's a cool idea, but it could really use some mechanical love.
So it's not likely to be a game I'd run, but let's make a character!
Step One: Pick a Backstory. I don't have any particular ideas, so let's go to The Weird for help. "Used to have a serious gambling addiction, now deeply in debt." That's pedestrian, but I like it for this game. Let's name him Sigeric Brown.
So, Sigeric was a gambler who got in way over his head, and was about to have his legs broken but convinced the guys he owed money to that he had access to a lot of lost treasure, he just needed to drum up some support and build a party to go get it! He still owes a lot of money, and he's very much stringing the thugs he owes along. That's going to come back to bite him.
I'm actually supposed to come up with three things about him, so 1) gambler in debt, 2) he faints at the sight of blood, and 3) he whittles small chunks of wood into crude monsters/dragons/pigs/whatever.
Step Two: Choose a Quirk. This is something that would prevent me from actually being an adventurer. Ooh, really, fainting at the sight of blood works, so I'll move that here.
Step Three: Attributes & Skills. Three of my Attributes get set at 4, the rest are 2. Well, I think for Sigeric, our good ones need to be Charisma, Stamina, and Dexterity, I think.
Whole bunch of Skills, and I get to pick 5 to have a rating of 3. Let's see now. Commercial (haggling and stuff) and Persuasion, obviously. Larceny and Stealth, I think, too. And then for the 5th, we'll take Survival, he probably had to live out in the woods while running from creditors.
Step Four: Derived Traits.
Notoriety is set based on backstory. Sadly it's probably not 0; let's set it at 2.
Size is 5 (Sigeric is short, but not child-sized). Encumbrance is Strength + Stamina (6). Speed is Strength + Size + Dexterity (9). Initiative is Willpower + Wits (4). Defense is the lower of Dexterity or Wits, so 2. Health/Pain is Stamina + Size, or 9.
Last step would be Equipment, but eh. I think I'll skip it.
So: Sigeric Brown is about 35, short, thin, brown hair, nose is crooked because it's been broken more than once. He carries a whittling knife and glove (because he likes to whittle but can't handle nicking himself), and while he's polite and personable, he will 100% steal your purse. He owes, he owes, y'see.
