But Matt, you might say, didn't you just do a Savage Worlds game a few days ago? Well, yes, I did (it was Freedom Squadron), but sometimes if I don't have a particular idea about what game to do I'll have a friend choose one randomly, and GUS HAS SPOKEN so here we go.
The Game: Kaiser's Gate
The Publisher: Battlefield Press
Degree of Familiarity: None with this, plenty with Savage Worlds
Books Required: Kaiser's Gate and some version of Savage Worlds. It's written for Deluxe Edition, but I might just do what I usually do and spot-convert to SWADE (not like it's hard)
Kaiser's Gate is an alt-history game; the "alt" part starts in 1908. The Tunguska Blast opens portals to Faerie, which allows magic to seep into the world. People all over the world start being able to use magic, but people from less technologically advanced (or maybe less industrial?) civilizations tend to be better at it. This has the effect of letting indigenous and oppressed people the world over rise up and kick out colonizers, so in the space of a decade, Native Americans take over a lot of the Southwest, voudou practitioners in New Orleans establish a Free State, and so on and on the world over.
The book goes through basically 1908-1920 and explains the alt-history. The Great War happens, but there are dragons involved. The US doesn't really get involved in Europe because Mexico actually does invade (with Germany's help) and takes over a lot of the western half of the country, and the USA hadn't really learned to use magic tactically. But then Tesla rocks up with lightning-powered sleds, which General Patton takes a liking to...there's a lot going on, and I'll say this, the alt-history presented is pretty cool and involves enough real-world history to be familiar (I found myself thinking of The King's Man a lot while reading it).
The only real complaint I have is that there's not much advice for the GM. Like, could I run a game set in this world? Absolutely. But I wish the book had spent a little less time giving us pages and pages of gear and monsters, and a few pages talking about running the game, what the implications are for setting a game in the different eras of the war, and suchlike (I actually thought it might be one of the SW projects with a separate Player's Guide and GM's Guide, but no dice).
WITH THAT SAID, let's make a character. I will arbitrarily choose the pre-war era, because there's a reference to "magic crime" that I enjoyed. The description is someone casting a sleep spell on everyone in a bank and cleaning the place out, and I think it'd be interesting to make a character who's a thief, con artist, swindler-type who has a knack for magic. (This might be a little close in concept to the Deadlands Noir character I made some years back, but eh. Devil's in the details.)
So: Cecil Lepley is from Kansas City, but moved around a lot when he was young because his father kept getting chased out of places. His mother died when he was a baby, dad was a grifter, and cheerfully used young Cecil as a prop in his scams. But he also explained a couple of things to Cecil that Cecil has never forgotten: You never take a man's last dollar, it's bad luck. You never take part in a scam that doesn't feel right. Trust your gut. And you never, never take someone's money by violence. Money and goods aren't worth bloodshed.
Cecil's father violated these rules when Cecil was 16, and took part in a bank robbery. He and his two accomplices were shot dead trying to escape. Why did his father suddenly abandon his principles? Cecil has no idea, and it still bothers him. (That's a pretty good hook for the GM, I think.)
OK, good start. Starting with the usual 5 points for Attributes, I believe I shall leave Strength at d4 and boost Spirit to d8. I'm probably going to want to raise Agility, too? Eh, I'll burn that bridge when I get to it.
Skills! Assuming a SWADE conversion, I get the usual d4s in the Core Skills and then 12 more points to throw around. So: First thing's first, I want Cecil to be a Spellbinder so I'll put a d6 into Spellbinding (Kaiser's Gate uses different magic rules; basically there's no linked Attribute to the Spellbinding Skill so I could put it higher, but I want Cecil to be capable but not savant). I'll bump Athletics to d6, I'll bump Persuasion to d8. I'll take Thievery at d6, bump Common Knowledge to d6, bump Notice to d6, where's that put me? 9 out of 12. Oh, wait, Gambling d6, and then I'll use the last one to bump Stealth to d6.
Hindrances! I know I want Pacifist. I'll take it at Minor, though. I want Cecil to be able to fight back if he needs to. I think Wanted makes sense, but let's assume Cecil hasn't gotten caught up in anything too serious yet, and keep it Minor. And then let's make my life hard and take Phobia (Major) - Gunshots. Gunshots make Cecil flash back to his dad getting killed. Cecil was (reluctantly) acting as lookout in a cafe across the street, but the Feds showed up so fast there was nothing he could have done.
Edges n' shit! I get one free Edge on account of being human and I know I want to use that for Arcane Background: Spellbinding. And here we run into a bit of a snag; I have to take a Spellbinding tradition, which limits me to 9 spells (three Novice, three Seasoned, three Veteran), and presents me with an Obligation. But do any of them really fit Cecil? Not really. So let's make one up!
Let's say Cecil spent a few nights in jail about a month after his father was killed (the authorities never tied him to that incident, obviously). The guy he was locked up with told him about magic - how to use it, how it follows rules, and how it's really not hard if you practice. That guy taught Cecil a couple of tricks and how to pay homage to a spirit or a god or something (it kinda went over Cecil's head), but the most important thing is if you make a promise to "magic", you keep it. That kind of obligation was fresh in Cecil's head.
We'll call it Thief Magic. Cecil's Obligation is his father's code: Never take a man's last dollar. Never steal using violence. Never take part in a scam that doesn't feel right. (That's really three obligations, but it's really the middle one that would have a game impact.) As for spells, let's say the three Novice ones Cecil can use are Darksight, Confuse, and Empathy.
Cool, now I have 4 "points" to throw around. Let's take the Charismatic Edge (free reroll with Persuasion), and actually I think the Strong-Willed Edge makes sense, too (+2 to resist Spirit- and Smarts-based rolls).
Cecil is now in his mid-20s, which would have put him born around, what, 1885, depending on when this is set. He's got sandy blonde hair and almost no facial hair (the guys in Dad's crew used to call him "Peach Fuzz" but they're all dead now), and his mother's soft brown eyes. Cecil has a suit that he keeps folded up in a valise and that he uses on grifts, but it's getting out of fashion now and he's going to have to get a new one soon. He likes his, though - it belonged to his father.
That'll do it!
