If it were Xmas-themed, it'd be "Wrapland." Yeah, that's all I got.
The Game: Warpland
The Publisher: Exalted Funeral
Degree of Familiarity: None
Books Required: Just the one
Warpland is a sword-and-sandals kind of game; basically the sky has a big hole in it, there are nations and tribes and so forth, and it's one of those games like Into the Odd where there are a bunch of random tables and some setting info but never any discussion about how the game might actually work. Which, again, I personally don't really need, but it always baffles me a little that there's no hand-holding at all. I guess the assumption is that you either come to this hobby through D&D or someone teaches you?
Well, anyway, let's make a Warplander or whatever. (And to be clear: I think this game is pretty cool, and there's a story starter that I saw in a table that I liked so much that I jotted it down for a future one-shot.)
There's a table with backgrounds, and since I don't have a concept I shall roll a d20 there. I roll 11, which is "You were imprisoned for years in the dungeons of Citadel." Well, that's a start. Let's check out the book and see what it says about Citadel.
OK, so Citadel is the first city of this world, meaning it's big, it's crowded, and there's a lot going on. Sounds like getting locked up in a dungeon wouldn't be hard. I'm gonna say my guy got caught up in a sweep after a bar fight and just never let out, and he was never really told why - guards tended to just punch him if he tried to ask for help. Eventually a new sergeant-at-arms was appointed, he ran an audit of the dungeon, and no one could figure out what my dude was doing there, so they let him go.
(Have I been doing "mysterious background, even to me" characters of late? I guess it was just the In Dark Alleys one.)
Anyway, now I pick a Personality Flaw and a Proverb. A Personality Flaw is basically a trouble Aspect; it's something I have to resist. A Proverb is words the character lives by. Let's say his Personality Flaw is Hot-Tempered, and his Proverb is "You are not free if chains exist."
I now get 8 points to split up into four Attributes. They each start at 5, which is considered "poor." Average is 7, so I can be Average across the board, but eh. Let's leave Lore at 5, put Wits to 6, put Agility up to 8, and put Might up to 9.
Oh, wait, if I do that I don't get any Skills. But looking at them, they're all professional things, so it kinda fits not having any. OK, moving on, skipping Skills, what's next?
Roll on the Background Table...wait, that's how I started. Well, OK, I don't suspect the order is important. I get d6 x 10 copper (roll...40).
I could roll to be a mutant, but I think I'll skip it - my guy was in the dungeon, he just got out, and now he's looking to put as much distance as possible between him and Citadel.
His name is Oort. Oort is big, thick, muscular but his skin is gray and patchy. Most of his teeth have rotted away (too many years with no good nutrition, and he's wearing tattered skins and a pair of boots he stole (they're too small, but y'know, they were free). Next item on the list is to get a dagger or maybe just a nice, sharp stick, but he doesn't want to tempt fate by stealing something else if he can avoid it.
I figure Oort would be pretty self-motivated, but if somebody needs muscle he could sell his services. He's looking to get the hell away and become a hermit or an ascetic or something.
And that'll do it!
