OK, actually, it's Adventure Conqueror King System, which is abbreviated ACKS and thus pronounced "axe." I guess I could also have with "Acks", as in the noises that these dudes make:
The Game: Adventurer Conqueror King System
The Publisher: Autarch
Degree of Familiarity: None
Books Required: Just the one
I'm actually not sure why I own this game. Not because of the controversy surrounding its author (controversy, like talk, is cheap), but because it's really not my cup of tea. It's very much in the OSR mold, aka the "the games that came out in 1974 and are basically glorified war games are the only good ones", and that's totally not what I get into. But here we are.
Reading the book, it reminds me very much of early D&D, which I suppose is the point. A couple of knobs have been tweaked, and there's an emphasis on Law vs. Chaos in the alignment, rather than good vs. evil. Also an emphasis on becoming badass enough to become a warlord or a king or whatever, which I kind of like; some attention to the endgame of a campaign is nice. But anyway, let's do this.
First off, I roll 3d6 six times for my Attributes (I appreciate that the book doesn't tell me to conceptualize first). I get:
STR 15
INT 13
WIS 11
DEX 17
CON 8 (oof)
CHA 9
Now I choose a class. Each class has a prime requisite Attribute, so obviously I want to play to my strengths and pick a class that relies on Strength or Dexterity. Shouldn't be hard. Ooh, elven nightblades have Dexterity as their prime. I like that, that sounds cool. Reading their write-up, they're basically assassins with some magic sprinkled on top; starting at 2nd level they can cast some spells. Doesn't help my 1st level ass, but that's fine. I get a few nifty abilities (I can spot hidden doors easily, bonus to initiative in the woods, that kind of thing), and I get a bunch of thief abilities (hide in shadows, climb walls, etc.).
Next I'm meant to note that I have zero XP, but there doesn't seem to be a slot on the sheet. Weird. Oh, wait, no, it's on the second page. That's fine.
Hit points: I roll a d6, add my CON bonus (which is -1, ugh), and that gives me...2 hit points. Holy shit, I'm probably not long for this world.
Attack throws and saving throws, that's easy, just copy them off the chart. And now, Proficiencies! Hey, I get to choose something! I Adventuring as a starting, um, adventurer, and then one from a class list and one from the general list. Now I gotta think about concept a little.
Well, nightblades are supposed to be subtle and stealthy, and my dude is going to fold like a sheet of crepe paper if anything hits him, so I better lean in to that. For my nightblade Proficiency, I'll take Weapon Finesse (letting me use my Dex bonus instead of Strength when attacking with a one-handed weapon). For the general one, I'll take Lip Reading (weird, I know, but the idea is to hide and spy on people, and then stab them, I guess).
I have (roll dice) 110 gold, so I guess I should buy some shit. Leather armor is 20, so that's fine. A hand axe is 4gp, a crossbow is 30, and a case with 20 bolts is 2, so that's 56 spent. I'd buy adventuring gear, too, but y'know I don't like shopping in games, so I think I'll call it there.
For alignment, I think I'll go with Lawful. Sure, an assassin and spy might seem obviously Chaotic, but I like a challenge. I think my nightblade recognizes that killing is inherently un-lawful, but in some cases, allowing someone to live leads to greater instances of chaos down the road. A controlled burn is better than a forest fire, that kind of thing.
Like most elves, he's tall, pointed ears, pale and somber. He's not as beautiful as most elves, but in his case that means he's just kind of bland-looking - still pretty, but not memorable. His eyes are violet, his hair is grey (but like, cobweb grey, not grey because of aging). He cleans his armor meticulously, and has shaved down his axe and crossbow so that they're perfectly balanced. His name is Luos Nobe Ebonsoul (yes, it's a palindrome, might as well go all-out).
