I've got some obscure RPGs in my collection, but this one's pretty weird.
The Game: Chi-Chian: The Roleplaying Game
The Publisher: Aetherco, but you pretty much have to get a copy from Amazon or eBay
Degree of Familiarity: None.
Books Required: Just the one.
Chi-Chian is an RPG based on the comics and webseries of the same name, all created by a dude called Voltaire. He created the character first and everything pretty much spiraled out from there, and that's fine. The setting of the game is bananas - it's very goth and very Japanese (maybe; at least it's written by a guy who's got a thing for Japan). The title character wears a suit made of tiny wriggly worms that can reform themselves into different shapes, the left breast is a telescope while the right is a receiver, and so forth. The Manhattan setting of the game is now a Japanese prefecture after it seceded from the American Union and then there was a war between New York and New Jersey. There are giant bugs, and the different layers of Manhattan (vertical layers) require you to think increasingly nice thoughts in order to ascend, but you can buy a K-buffer that fools that barriers.
It's a lot more nuts than I'm describing, but all I want to do is make a character. You want to experience the bananas, go watch the webseries, it's all on Voltaire's site.
Character creation has 5 easy steps. Step One is, predictably, concept. Oy.
Well, I like the wormtrains. These are literally giant worms that serve as railroads; their interior is a massive cavity that allows for comfortable seating (like I said, bananas). I think I want my character to work with the wormtrains in some way. They don't need conductors as such, because they rely on instinct, so I'll have my character be a wrangler - if a wormtrain jumps its track, my guy, Ozzie, goes out and finds it and tries to lure it back. Ozzie (full name: Ozymandias Welker) is in his early 40s, tall, heavyset, steady and patient. He moved to Manhattan after his wife left him (which might mean he snuck across the border from New Jersey), and put his background in bio-mechanics and growing mealworms for food to use. He never liked eating mealworms, anyway.
I need to describe five emotional moments or memories, so let's do that:
- Marrying his wife, Felicia. It was a small ceremony; neither of them has much in the way of family. The best part was watching her struggle with the veil - not that she was struggling, but just that she looked very human in that moment.
- The day Felicia left him. She'd been distant for some time, and it wasn't exactly a surprise, but they had always worked through the rough patches before. Ozzie sat in his shower for nearly a full hour after he read the note, staring at his feet and the water going down the drain.
- Arriving in Manhattan. Ozzie's an illegal immigrant, but he wanted to disappear and not leave any traces behind in Jersey. He bribed some folks to make it across and wound up in the Delta plane, and eventually got his job.
- The first time he coaxed a wormtrain back onto its track. The wormtrains are strange and mighty creatures, and they nearly destroyed the city once. Ozzie feels a sense of reverence and respect for them, but also some pity, as their lives are wholly the product of human tampering.
- The first time he ascended to Alpha plane, and then went to leave, he was warned that he might not be able to return (that is, his thoughts might not be pure enough). The nature of the world is that everything feeds on something, and humans add social predation on top of that. It's hardly fair to hold people to such a standard.
So far, so good. Step Two is to spend Chi Points. I get 120 of them. I start out buying up stats; there are 8 of them and they start at 0, but they have to be bought to 1 (so it would have been smarter to start them at one and start players with 112 points, but whatever).
Supposedly 3 is average, and I can't start higher than 5 in a given stat. I think Ozzie needs to have decent Mettle, Health, Virtue, and Charm. Supposing I put all four of those at 4? That would cost me 40 points. If I then wanted to put Willpower and Tech at 3, that'd cost me 12 more (52 spent), and that leaves Brains and Guile. I think 3 Brains, 2 Guile (9 more, for a total of 61 spent). That leaves me 59 points. I don't know if that's good or not, so on we go.
Status is next. Status is pretty complex; there are 7 factors to consider: Sex (I'm not female, so that costs me 0); Race (I'm not Japanese, but I'm not a mixture of races, which is a fucking stupid way to phrase this, but whatever, it costs me 3); K-Seg Plane of Residence (Gamma, I think, which costs 0); Career (I think "important job", so that costs 2); Family (Outcasts; he's an illegal, so that's -2); Reputation (Good, I guess? 3 Chi); and Appearance (Homely, -1 Chi). That's 5 Chi altogether, and gives me an overall Status of -2.
And now, Capabilities. These are skills and powers that I can buy (with my remaining 54 points). Let's see. OK, there are a few I like (they're mostly Skill-related because I don't see Ozzie as having any weird powers), but a lot of the ones I like key off Guile, so I'm gonna spend 3 points to bump that to 3 first. I have 51 points.
I want Scrounge (lets me find stuff in the ruins). That's 3 per level, I'll take 2, that means I've spent 6 (45 remaining). Stealth, always useful, 2 levels costs 6, down to 36. Streetwise, one level costs 5, down to 31. Tongues lets me communicate with other organisms, and I kinda want to be a wormtrain whisperer, so that's 10 points (down to 21).
I need to think about gear and money, too, dammit. I'll spend 5 on a x100 modifier, meaning every point I put in to actual money nets me 100 monies. That takes me to 16. I'll put 10 into money, but I need to spend 500 on an exxo (basically a hazmat suit) right away, so that's down to 500. 6 Chi remaining; I think I'll just dump those into my Chi pool.
Last thing is Tragic Flaws. I have to have at least 2, and my low Status counts (my low Guile would have, too, if I hadn't raised it). So I need one more. "From New Jersey" is actually listed as a social Flaw, so that's pretty much perfect.
And that's it! Ozzie is ready to go worm wranglin'.
