Character Creation: Coven & Crucible

Huh. Must be the season of the witch. 

The Game: Coven & Crucible
The Publisher: 13th Moon Games
Degree of Familiarity: Many things about it seem familiar, but no, haven't played it
Books Required: Just the one

I don't know if I'd actually run this game; the system seems deceptively simple (roll 2d12, try to roll under a difficulty) but the more I read the book the more confused I became. Like, there's "degrees" and "formula" and "level of success" and "math", and it's all very janky. The system reminds me of OWoD, not so much in the specifics (as that's a dice pool system and this really isn't), but just in some of the ways it's presented. 

Also, as long as I'm bitching, we could have used an editor for clarity. Lots of passive voice and some funny typos (the GM in this game is the "Storyteller," further cementing the OWoD connection, but there's one place where they're called the "DM" and I thought, "whoops, I know where you started!"). 

But there's also a lot I like about this game. I like the setting - in very brief, it's the modern world but magic is real and an accepted part of society. There are witch hunters, but they're crazy terrorists because hating "magic" is like hating "cooking." Magic is depicted as a skill that anyone can do, if they're willing to put the time in, and most people who want to use it will pay someone else to do it for them. 

There's also a lot of John Wick in here (that's actually one of the stated inspirations) - witches have their own currency called "Pentacles" that don't have a fixed value so much as carrying more or less weight depending on who's spending them. There's a chain of witch-only hotels called the Continental Crucible where violence is prohibited. If you wanted to sum the game up as "what if John Wick but find/replace 'assassin' with 'witch'" you'd be in the right ball park. 

The game was created by a married couple and their daughter - the wife did the setting/world building, the husband did the mechanics, and the daughter did the art (which I have to say is really dope, so hats off to Art Goblin Charlotte. They did a revised version recently and I didn't back it (I rarely back new editions of games I haven't played), but actually I think I might have to grab a copy at some point, especially if I can find more info about the mechanics.

My point here is that the inspiration and setting foundation of the game are solid, and, in reading it, I can see how to run it. That's actually a big deal, because I read so many RPGs, and a lot of them I read and think "eh" or "I could make this fun for the right group, but it would be a lot of work." This actually pokes at my brain a little more, and not just because I'm an ex-Wiccan myself. So let's make a witch!

I don't have a concept handy, so let's find a theme song. Just a moment. And the randomness gods have given me..."Killing Boys" by Halsey!

I really like this song, for multiple reasons. First, it samples Jennifer's Body, so like, good start. It's a song about revenge, but unlike similar songs ("Before He Cheats," f'rex), it seems to refer to the old adage that someone seeking revenge should dig two graves. So I don't think I want to make a character who is after revenge, how about someone who got their revenge and now gets to live with it? 

So, my character is Devin Dowling (not a superhero, despite the alliteration). His little sister Denise was killed by a drunk driver when he was 17 (she was 13), and the guy got out after doing 3 years (so Devin was 20). Devin wound up at the same coffee house as the guy one winter evening - this was after Devin had already done quite a bit of therapy and tried to let go of the anger he was facing. The guy (let's call him Ben) was chatting with some friends, and one of them asked the terms of his parole. And Ben said, "oh, I'm not allowed to drink."

It was the way he said "drink." It wasn't "I'm not allowed to drink, because I killed someone while drunk and that's understandable" or "I'm not allowed to drink and that sucks because I miss it", the tone was more "I'm not allowed to drink and that is an imposition." And Devin lost any progress he'd made, and went after revenge. 

He tried to hire a witch to hex the fucker, and he couldn't find one who would. Hexing people is ethically shaky at the best of times, and there are laws about it in any case. So Devin started studying magic to do it himself. He did, got his revenge (I'll get more specific after I figure out what exactly Devin can accomplish, magically speaking), and now he's got that hanging over his head. And he's still angry. 

Whew, that's bleak. Now for Attributes! I start with 3 in each of them (Will, Body, Agility, Magic, or "WBAM" for short. "Wa-Bam," maybe?) and then I get 7 points to split up. I think Devin has put a lot of time into learning magic, so let's max it out (the max is 7, so that's 4 of my points). And then I'll put two points into Body and one into Will, leaving Agility at 3. 

Skills! There are nine Skills, I start with 4 points in each one and I can split up 13 points betwixt them. The maximum is 13, so if I want to be really specialized I could pump 9 freaking points into one Skill (but I do not think I wish to do that). 

Let's just take these one at a time. Academics, I'm inclined to leave at 4, but I might put a point or two into it. Magical (there's an Attribute called "Magic" and a Skill called "Magical", no way that gets confusing at the table) should get some points, so how about we put 3 into it for now? Strategic includes sub-skills (that's next) involving planning and executive function, and actually that's something Devin should have some ability for, so let's put 3 points there, too (6 spent, 7 remaining). 

Artistic and Martial can start at 4. Technical might be something Devin is good at...Athletics I'd normally raise, but I see Devin as not the most physical of guys. I'll put 2 into Technical for now.

That leaves Social and Underworld with 5 points remaining. I'll put them all into Underworld; Devin has spent a lot of time learning to do shady shit. 

And now, sub-skills. Each Skill has seven of these, meaning that there's 63 of the fuckers. Fortunately, they're all pretty intuitive, although that's a lot, it's not nearly the most ridiculously granular I've seen. I get 63 points to throw around, but I don't start with any points in anything. I also don't seem to be capped by the controlling Skill, so that's nice. My max here is 7, so if I wanted to be really shit-hot at 9 sub-skills, I could. 

Right, well, let's just list the ones I think Devin should have some ability in:

Lore
Hexing
Occult
Summoning? 
Awareness
Espionage*
Intelligence Analysis*
Investigation*
Tactics*
Ranged
Traps
Stealth
Deceit
Forced Entry**
Larceny**
Lock-Picking**

*There seems to be considerable overlap between these sub-skills.

** These too. 

Well, I could put 3 into each of those and have 15 points remaining. Do I wish to do that? Sure, let's do that. Using my remaining 15 points, I shall bump Hexing to 7 (11 remaining), Stealth to 5 (9 remaining), Occult to 5 (7 remaining), Awareness to 6 (3 remaining), Lock-Picking to 4 (2 remaining) and Investigation to 5. 

Traits! These are basically Merits & Flaws without the Flaws; there's some mention of some of these applying negative modifiers but it all seems to be in service to the player. So I get 7 points' worth. Let's see. 

Definitely not Common Sense (I note, with some amusement, that it's basically the same as the Merit of the same name in OWoD, which we always used to joke was underpriced at 1 point). Let's take Criminal Mind at 2 points, Devin has spent the last few years thinking about how to crime at someone. Similarly, I think Contacts makes sense - Devin has been looking to find someone to hex this guy for a while and I'm sure would have talked to some people. Each instance of the Contacts trait gives me a bonus to rolls with a given group (meaning I could level 2 with Vampires but level 3 with one of the witch Houses). Let's take level 1 with House Strega, and level 1 with Vampires. That leaves me 3 points. 

Let's just put the last 3 into Single-Minded (which gives me a bonus on almost any action as long as it's focused, but makes me shit at multi-tasking). 

Derived stats! 

Health is 13 + (Body x 2), or 23 for me. Base Initiative is Will + Agility (7). Potion Tolerance is 7 (I can drink 7 potions in an hour before suffering "negative effects"). Alcoholic Beverage Tolerance (no, seriously, it's a thing, though I'm not sure why)...I can have 5 strong drinks in an hour before negative effects. 

Speed is (Body + Agility + Athletics)2, or 22. Sprint is Body + Endurance, so 5. Magic Resistance is Magic + Magical (see?) + Endurance, or 14. I get 2d12 Pentacles (roll...14). And that's it! (I ain't filling out the back of the sheet, it's a bunch of stuff that would be useful in play but not for chargen.)

Devin is just shy of 6' tall, very skinny, maybe a touch of asthma. He's got his sister's name and dates (birthdate - death date) tattooed on his right arm in red ink. He's got blond hair and green eyes, and he never stops moving his hands when he's talking. 

The big question - did he kill Ben? I think he didn't, I think he made him drunk by hexing him and had him arrested for parole violation. And again, it didn't help.