Let's go steal a...chargen, I guess.
The Game: Leverage
The Publisher: Margaret Weis Productions
Degree of Familiarity: Hell, I'm not even caught up on the show. It's awesome, though. I've played some Serenity, but that's about as familiar as I am with the game.
Books Required: Just the one.
Second step is to consider your background. OK. My character had a fairly normal upbringing, except that he had amazingly acute allergies and asthma, and wasn't really able to run around outside. As such, he spent a lot of time playing video games, and that really became his great passion. He invented an MMORPG called Rooftops, which had probably the most advanced character-control-movement system ever for a game of its type, in which you jumped across rooftops all parkour style (yes, I'm going back to the parkour well, fuck you, it's my birthday). Anyway, the game became amazingly popular, and my character was approached to be lead animator on another game. His non-compete clause didn't allow it, though, and he dutifully refused their offer...only to see the boss' son, who didn't officially work for the company and had no such contract, take the job and use my character's work (which the company technically owned).
He quit and crashed their servers in spite, but word got out that he did it, and now the Internet kind of hates him. He's legally changed his name and everything, but he took away the lesson: powers corrupts, and the corrupt are often short-sighted and stupid. His name (now) is Oscar Kimball.
OK, sounds good. So now, we assign primary role. I think it's obvious he's a Hacker.
Next, we assign secondary role. That's what I'm second-best at doing. One of the things I like about this book is that they give you interpretations of each of the primary/secondary pairings, so a Mastermind/Hitter is a "Field General."
So what is Oscar good at? He's a programmer, and I think he's kind of sheltered, so Grifter isn't a good pick. He was pretty sickly for most of his young life, but you know I love parkour, and there's a temptation to make Thief his secondary for the acrobatics. Not Hitter, though; I like him sheltered and violence isn't his thing. Yeah, let's say Thief.
Assign Attributes is next. I think I'll do the Versatile spread, which is a d10, four d8s, and a d6.
I'll put the d10 into Intelligence. Just makes sense. I'll put the d6 into Vitality. Everything else gets a d8.
Choose one Distinction. Sure. A Distinction is just an asset kind of thing, based on how others see you. I take "Sheltered Upbringing."
Now, at this point we'd usually play through "The Recruitment Job" and finish the sheets, but we don't have time and there's only two of us, so we'll just pick the rest of the stuff. I get two d4s and a d6 to fill out my Roles, so I put the d6 into Mastermind (he can plan, it's just not what he's good at) and the d4s into Hitter (he thinks violence should be cooler than it is) and Grifter (most of his social interaction has happened online, which will fuck anyone up).
I get two more Distinctions, so I'll add 256 Toothpicks (he can count with almost savant-like skill) and From the Internet (should be self-explanatory).
Specialties! I get two, based on Roles. I take Graphic Design (Hacker) and Parkour (Thief).
Talents! I get two, and at least one has to be a Hacker Talent. I could make one up, but eh. I'll take Over the Shoulder Hacker (I can look over someone's shoulder as they log in and then do it later) and Perfect Timing. I'd like Aerialist, but I think that'll be something to aspire to.
Finally, I do a description. Oscar is tall, thin, and pale. He's got black tattoos on his forearms and shoulders and back, and he dyes his hair pink, green or blue when he's not on a con. He's always got a sci-fi novel in his pocket, and he speaks in 'net code.
That does leave the question of how Oscar hooked up with Alexandra Roarke (Michelle's character). She probably found him because she needed a hacker for her first Job (clearing her brother's name), and Oscar, frankly, is a softie for that kind of justice.
