Character Creation: Labyrinths & Lycanthropes

Yay! Chargen!

The Game: Labyrinths and Lycanthropes
The Publisher: Prince of Darkness Games
Degree of Familiarity: None. Just cracked open the pdf and started reading.
Books Required: Just the one.

I got this game through the Haiti bundle a few years back (no, I'm nowhere near done with that bundle). Turns out this publisher is also responsible for a couple of the other games in the bundle, but I haven't done them yet (Piledrivers and Powerbombs and Contenders). Anyway, I started reading the intro fiction for this game:

The halfling crept nimbly through the shadows, through a darkness that managed to be both eerie and oozing. He skipped from one stony outcrop to the next, displaying incredible dexterity. A stray shaft of moonlight briefly illuminated the small humanoid as he lithely perched on a rock. His poise could only be described as erudite, or alert at a push. Until he fell off.

Reading the rest, the fiction is deliberately that bad. The game is billed as "old school D&D on vodka and Redbull." I can get behind that. It's kind of board-gamey, but really it's more like someone took newer indie games (which, as you know, I love) and applied a balls-out, beer-n-pretzels aesthetic. Looks kind of cool.

The game is played with cards, not dice (which, again, I can get with). To make a character, I need a name and a fantasy concept. I can be a human, elf, dwarf, whatever, but I can also make up a race ("lesser flan elemental wolf-cat hybrid" is listed as an example). So let's see. I think if I was picking a fantasy trope to parody, I'd want to parody the "mysterious stranger" one. Like, "lone badass." Hrm. I think that makes me human, but I think that humans are really boring. That's why I'm so mysterious. Ooooh. My character's name is...Solo. No, what, that's too derivative. Sol. Sol the Wanderer. Perfect.

I start at level 3, and I can put levels into Ninja, Mage or Fighter. I hate Ninja, but I think being sneaky is part and parcel to this guy. In fact, I think I'll just spread the levels out evenly. Oh, wait, that'll leave me with too few points. Eh.

Oh, actually, it looks like I can put my points anywhere, even if I don't have levels there. Odd. Anyway, fuck magic. I'll put two levels in Fighter, one in Ninja, and spread my 6 points (2 per level) out thusly:

Hack n Slash 1
Shoot 2
Parry 1
Sneak 1
Dash 1

I get two points of equipment that gives me a boost to whatever Skills I want. Hmm. OK, Sol has some soft, gnome-skin boots that give him +1 Sneak, and a set of cool bracers and gloves good for +1 Parry.

I pick a Motivation for going off to pillage. While the given ones are good (Vengeance, Rescue, etc.) I think I want "Destiny." Sol claims that its his destiny to kill monsters and take their stuff. This is kind of like Righteousness, but more mysterious. OOOooooOOOOh.

I get a single Gimmick for Sol. I think I'll take "Sullen and brooding," kind of like Aragorn crossed with Neo with a dash of the guy The Rock played in The Rundown.

And that's it for chargen. Reading further, you get to build your own fantasy kingdom and populate it with weirdness and monsters to kill! The example map (Exampleonia) includes such topographical features as the Yore Maw and the Forest of Gump. I'm totally running this. Holy shit.

Character Creation: Truth & Justice

And the Americ- eh.

Anyway, I've got a theme song in mind today: "Monster," by Lada Gaga.

The Game: Truth & Justice
The Publisher: Atomic Sock Monkey
Degree of Familiarity: None.
Books Required: Just the one.

"Monster" is about a woman who hooks up with a guy that turns out to be a cannibal. Well, maybe not, but definitely a hookup that gave her something she didn't expect. Whether that's "OMG SEX MAZING" or "OMG HAS THE HERP" isn't clear from the song, but I choose to go weirder. Let's get started. Well, let me back up.

Truth and Justice is a superhero game. It's pretty four-color, but it talks about other genres of the...genre.

The character creation opens with a quote from Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out for a Hero." That's pretty sweet. OK, we start with "Name." Erm. OK, why the heck not? Actually it says I don't have to do these in order, but I'll try it. Now, I don't know that I want to call him "Monster," but "Beast" is taken, and so is "Abomination." "Creature" was a contestant on Who Wants to be a Superhero, and the name doesn't convey what I want.

Actually, I like the simplicity of "Monster." He sounds like he should be a villain, but instead he's a product of his time - "monster" is slang for something that's aggressive and kind of awesome (used, perhaps, in the same context as "like a boss"). Monster is a case of arrested development - he's a man who never really moved beyond being a boy, never had to, but now he has powers that make him very uncomfortable.

Oh, and that brings us to Background. Convenient. OK, Monster was born Alexander Jason Zanbridge (he went by "A.J." as a boy, then "Xander" in middle school, then "Zane" in high school and on). He was always cocky and a little immature, but he had a winning smile and he was generally a nice, if aggressive, kid. He discovered skateboarding and got good at it, but gave it up in high school because the other skater kids all smoked, drank and "did drugs" (bit of weed, big deal) and he knew his overprotective parents would kill him.

He graduated in the top third of his class, pretty unremarkable, but when he went to college he joined a service fraternity and blossomed a bit. Again, he was generally a good and conscientious kid, maybe a little pushy.

He went on a date with a girl named Anita one night, and they were smooching under the statue of the lion on campus when she began getting aggressive. Not believing his luck (he knew she liked him, but not this much) he broke off the kiss to pull a condom out of his pocket, and saw her face - she was terrified. He stopped and tried to talk her down, and she said that she didn't know what came over her - her lust had become need for a moment.

Zane wrote this off as weird, but it happened again, and again...every date. He finally realized that he was doing it - his desires were somehow getting forced on his dates. He never actually followed through (because he could always tell there was something wrong). Eventually, he learned to control it. He has a limited form of mind control based on emotion. As he practiced, he learned he could change his own mental responses, too, giving himself bursts of adrenaline and making himself smarter and more confident for short periods of time. He decided that he would never use his powers on other people unless it was life or death, but that his ability to, as his friend Paul put it, "rock out like a monster!" was enough to merit a costume.

OK, Motivation! This actually has rules, so it's important. Monster is motivated partially by thrills, but mostly because he's afraid of his own powers. I'll phrase that as, "giving the monster some direction."

Qualities! I pick a package, here. Huh-huh. A Quality is a "word or phrase representing broad non-super skill or field of knowledge." OK. I think Monster hasn't hit any Master-level Qualities yet. Let's take package C; 2 Expert, 1 Good and 1 Poor (that's a Weakness). For one Expert, I'll take "College Student." For the other, I'll take "Predatory Charm." Monster is attractive, and there's an edge to it, because of the nature of his powers. For Good, I'll take "Capoeria Student." Monster's always been agile and good at dance, and he's studying a martial art form that makes use of that. For his Weakness, I'll take "Afraid of his own power."

Origin! At first, I kind of liked the idea that the powers just showed up, and who knows from where? But as I think about it, I'd rather make it something that Monster can find out about it. And, heck, let's include an urban legend. He went to a fishbowl party once with some skater friends. Mixed in with the bowl of pills were five weird purple pills. No one's sure how they got there. The other four people who ate them are all also superpowered, but none of them have Monster's sense of control or ethics. They should be his enemies, obviously. That means his Origin is "Accidental Exposure" or something.

Powers! Ooh, more packages. Well, I need at least two powers. Let's look at the list. I know I want Mind Control, but with a Limitation. Probably low ranked. I need a way to sum up the boosts of adrenaline he gets. I dunno, it seems like I could put all this under a Meta-Power. Meta-Powers are much like Green Lantern's ring or Storm's weather powers - a group of related powers all under one aegis. They're technically only available with GM permission, but y'know. Ain't got one.

So I'll call this power the "Monster Brain Boost," and say that in Monster's comics so far, it's let him do the following:

• Jump 20' straight up.
  
• Overturn a car.
  
• Solve a Rubik's Cube in seconds.
  
• Charm the pants off a professor (literally, but note he doesn't use his powers on others).
  
• Backflip and parkour like a boss.
  
• Drive through traffic at 100 mph flawlessly.

Basically, he can't do much beyond human maximums, but he can be pretty badass when he needs to. But I'll put Limitations on it. I'll say that he can only produce one effect at a time, because the power requires focus. I'll also say that he crashes quickly. He needs the equivalent of one full meal (1000 calories or so) after, say, 10 minutes of steady power use or he gets dizzy and suffers a penalty.

OK, I'm fine with those two powers. But I don't want Mind Control higher than Average. So I'll take package J (1 Expert Power and 2 Average). I'll take Brain Boost at Expert, Mind Control at Average (Limitations: Only affects biological targets, requires touch, only creates strong emotion responses). For the last power, I'll take Regeneration. Monster can heal quickly, but I'll say it suffers the same food-based limitation as his Brain Boost.

Stunts! These are specific applications of my powers. I think that my Brain Boost needs one. Monster figured out an attack he calls "Working the Room." He can make an attack on everyone in the room by rolling, leaping and striking as he moves. He uses his Brain Boost to amp his fighting skill, see. Costing one Hero Point, that makes it pretty badass.

Hero Point Pool! 5/10, because that's what everyone gets.

Codename is covered - he's called Monster.

Uniform! Monster wears black pants, and a long-sleeved shirt with tawny brown and black pattern on the sleeves and chest. He has a belt that he can whip off and use as a weapon if he needs to, and black, comfy shoes that he can jump around in. He wears a tan cowl with a black outline around the eyes, but that keeps his lips and chin visible (some of his best features).

And that about does it, actually. Maybe Monster goes to the same college as Grimoire?

Character Creation: Interface Zero

Another cyberpunk sort of game? Sure, why not.

The Game: Interface Zero
The Publisher: Gun Metal Games, formerly Reality Deviant Publications
Degree of Familiarity: Some with True20, none with the game itself.
Books Required: The Interface Zero book (or pdf, in my case) and the True20 book.

We start out with a lengthy timeline, explaining all of the rises and falls in governments and technology that led us "here" (which is 2088). There's some good stuff in here, but as is typical for these sorts of chapters, it's hard for me to keep track of what's then and what's now. OK, so China invades Russia, but what are the nations looking like today? Hopefully there's a map.

Anyway, character creation starts off with 20 questions, though not literally. Basically it just asks us to conceptualize. OK, let's do that.

I'm never crazy about cyberpunk settings, really. But there are some aspects of this game I do like. I like the notion of floating city/states, and I like that you can play a rover (someone from there). I like that the web is called the Deep, and there's ocean metaphor all through it.

Heck, let's play someone who does "Deep archaeology" - basically Indiana Jones of the future Net. He goes looking for stuff online that's been lost, locked behind security doors never meant to be opened. He doesn't go after government secrets or the like, because that way lies madness. He's in it for the money, not trying to further the cause of personal freedom or any of that shit.

I picture the guy as most effective in the Virtual space. I might take a "sidekick" edge or something to give him a bodyguard. He's thin, but not unhealthy (he's happy to genesplice to make up for his shortcomings). Physically average, mentally proficient, socially kind of gruff, but endearing enough and professional. His name is Savir McMahon (his mother was Indian, and while she wasn't a traditionalist on most matters, she'd always wanted to name her son "Savir"; his father, an Englishman, was fine with that). Savir is, obviously, half Indian. His features favor his father, but his skin tone and hair come from his mother - dark skin, black, thick hair, brown eyes.

Online, he's known as "Severe." Mostly that's from people misspelling his name, but he tries to remain dour and hyper-focused and professional, just to give himself some badass cred.

OK, good start. Now, on to Basic Mechanics. I get 6 points to distribute between my basic abilities, which start at 0 (True20, you'll recall, does away with the useless, arbitrary "12 means you get +1" of d20 and just uses the bonuses). Well, I know I want Savir to be smart and wise, so I'll put +2 into Intelligence and Wisdom right off the bat. I'll put +1 into Charisma and the other +1 into Dexterity.

For Background, I'll say that Savir was born in Mu, but grew up with his father doing salvage runs on derelict ships and sunken cities (like New Orleans). I take Rover as my Background. That gets me Endurance and Uncanny Dodge as bonus feats, Climb and Swim as bonus skills, and some favored feats that don't matter as much right now.

For role, it's pretty obvious I'm a Hacker. I get 6 skills, plus Climb and Swim. I take Computers, Gather Information, Knowledge (Deep), Notice, Research and Stealth. Factoring in my bonuses, that's:

Computer +6
Climb +4
Gather Information +5
Knowledge (Deep) +6
Notice +6
Research +6
Stealth +5
Swim +4

OK, feats. Now, it says in the True20 book that you get feats based on your role, but the number of feats isn't listed in the Interface Zero book. Mind, I'm not fully versed in reading True20, so maybe there's some way to determine this that anyone who knows any incarnation of d20 knows, but seriously, argh. Hang on, let me do a little reverse engineering. Oh, wait, you get 4 as a level one character. Why would it have been so hard to say that in the Interface Zero chargen section? Argh.

Anyway, I pick Skill Training (+4 Skill Ranks), and then put two into Diplomacy and two in Languages. Then, for my next feat, I grab Etiquette (never need to make a Diplomacy check to avoid faux pas in social situations). I'll take Firearms Training, and finally I'll take Upgrade.

And, holy crap, they want us to make rolls during chargen to afford shit. How stupid. No. I know I want some tricked out hacking gear, though. So I'll just assume I can have the basics - clothes, gun, bedroll, 50' of rope and that kind of bullshit - and go shopping for my TAP (nano-computer dealie in my brain). I can use my Upgrade points to buy an Advanced TAP, and I think we'll call it a day there. I got dinner to cook.

Oh, wait, gotta do Languages. OK, I speak 5 languages. English (native), Portuguese, Mandarin, Arabic, Swahili. Basically the trade languages of the 2088 world.

Also, Virtue/Vice. Weird, not in the pocket player's guide. But just personality traits, anyway. Savir's Virtue is Fair. He's in it for the money, but he cuts a square deal. His Vice is Greedy. He is in it for the money, after all.

Right, good enough!

Character Creation: Little Fears - Nightmare Edition

I'd say "let's make a kid," but that means something else.

The Game: Little Fears: Nightmare Edition
The Publisher: FunSized Games
Degree of Familiarity: None with this edition, some with Little Fears, and a considerable amount with child-based horror games.
Books Required: Just the one.

Oh, and Michelle is right here along with me. Expect character cross-contamination. :)

Anyway, Little Fears and World of Darkness: Innocents share a lot of themes and so on, but, y'know, they're both about playing kids in a horror setting. One big difference is that in Little Fears, kids can do magic and even give monsters weaknesses simply by Belief.

So, the first step is concept. Michelle and I decided that our characters are 8. We were in the same second grade classroom last year, but this year we're getting split up. This is a big deal for my character because he likes Rachel's freckles.

Strictly speaking, he has a crush, but he doesn't really see it that way. He just gets all fluttery when he gets to sit next to Rachel in class. (My character's name is Hunter.) He wants to be in her class, or have her back in his with Ms. Williams.

I could pick a Concept from the list, but eh. I think I have a sense of Hunter. Let's do Abilities!

I get my age in points (8), and I get a free point in each one, so I put an extra into each one, and then a third point in Think, Speak and Care.

For my Good Quality, I say "I can Fight well when Rachel is in trouble." For the Bad, "It's hard for me to Speak when adults raise their voices."

My Belief is 5, because it's 13-age, my Wits is 7 (Think + 4). My Spirit starts at 10.

Now, Qualities! I get one main one at +2, and then two related ones at +3, and then my choice of two +1 or one +2. So for the main one, I take "I am the teacher's pet." For the relateds, then, I'll take "My teacher trusts me" and "I know the school inside and out."

And then for my other Qualities, I take "I'm good at roller blading" and "I have an honest face." I picture Hunter as a pretty serious kids.

Then I get two negative Qualities (the book says three, but the sheet and the example indicate otherwise). I take "I don't get jokes" - Hunter doesn't have much of a sense of humor. And then I also take "I have asthma." Makes sense for Hunter.

7 Health (Care + 4). And then on to Stuff!

I get 5 points of Stuff, which then has effects. I take a valentine from Rachel (two points) which lets me always find her, and reduces damage from Monsters by one (bolstered by the power of awkward crushes). I take my awesome roller blades (+1 Move, duh). I take my inhaler (+1 Think, as using it gives me time to collect my thoughts). And finally I have an unsharpened pencil that Ms. Williams gave me. When I carry it, I'm braver (monsters have -1 Scare).

Right, now on to the questionnaire side of things.

• My best friend is... Rachel. No question.
  
• The one grown-up I can trust is... Ms. Williams. She might not always believe the weird stories, but she doesn't shut me down, either.
  
• Once I lost... my homework folder.
  
• It was special because... it had all the stickers and notes from my teacher from the whole year.
  
• The one place monsters can't get me is... the bench outside the movie theater (because cops drive by a lot).
  
• The one thing monsters can't touch is... my textbooks (because they belong to the school).
  
• I don't go near... the high school.
  
• ...because... big kids don't look out when they're driving.
  
• My biggest fear is... Rachel and I growing apart (even at this age, Hunter has friends that he used to be close to and now isn't).
  
• The thing I like least about myself is... I tattle on other kids sometimes.
  
• The thing that always gets me into trouble is... I try to help kids with their work when I should be doing mine.
  
• When I get scared I... reach out and start pushing at what's scaring me.
• My family: Hunter lives with his parents and his little brother, Taylor (5 years old). Taylor just started kindergarten and is reading already. Hunter didn't start reading well until the middle of first grade. They don't have any pets because his mom is allergic to animals, but they might get a dog if they can find one that's hyper-allergic or something.
• And finally, a secret. Normally this gets written on a scrap of paper and only the GM sees it, but since I haven't got a GM, I'll just put it here: Hunter lost Rachel's necklace. He picked it up after gym class and thought he'd give it to her later as a joke (making her think she lost it)...and then he really lost it. He's never told her and he's completely mortified about it.

Character Creation: Corporation

 So, a dystopian sci-fi game, then? 

The Game: Corporation
The Publisher: Brutal Games, by way of Mongoose.
Degree of Familiarity: None. I've read it. No one's running it at Origins. Or ever has, AFAIK.
Books Required: Just the core.

I bought this game because it kind of looked slick. The premise - corporations have taken over and the characters work for them doing espionage things - is fine with me, and the system doesn't look too silly. It looks, honestly, like a traditional RPG in the mold of Shadowrun, so I really don't get the website calling it some kind of "gaming revolution." But what do I know.

Anyway, the game looks playable, though it could've used another pass through an editor. Oh, and something else that bugged me: It mentions that the stuff in italics is descriptive, in-character stuff and can be skipped. Well...why put it in? Cut it and drop the book's price point, then. Or write fluff text that's awesome and enhances the game. Anyway.

OK, I'm an Agent. I'm "superior to normal humans." Sounds good. I get a sub-vocal communicator that allows me to mutter inaudibly but still talk to agents up to 300 km away. Neato. I also get an ID chip, which allows me to easily authenticate my identity when necessary. I get an AI chip that grants me skills, drugs that improve my performance (and let me regrow limbs, without even menacing Spider-Man!), and so on and on. Here we go, character creation, section 01.

There's a bit about being Division Leader, but let's assume I'm not.

Step One: Select a Corporation. There are five choices. I can be an Asian gangster, an African telepath, a Eurasian capitalist, a Japanese warrior or a Western soldier (I'm simplifying a lot). OK, Comoros sounds interesting to me. They're the Indo-African folks who specialize in telepathy and are dedicated to freedom. Their section talks a lot about personal choice and responsibility, and about using psi-blades over guns, and that sounds kind of cool.

Well, I'm still not sure exactly what I want to do, but Comoros is my choice, I think. I get +10 TE at character creation, whatever that means. I get increased telepathic regeneration, free Telepath Training, and I can burn HP for TE. Um, OK. Also my "sector" is Culture & Entertainment. Sure?

Step Two: Concept and Profession.. The book asks me to consider my profession, because my Professional Skill needs to be high-rated, and this skill should determine my profession (the book says it better than that, but I'm tired). There's a handy list of concepts and a list of inspirational materials. Hmm.

I think my guy was a teacher before he was an Agent. He was teaching in some shitty little school in eastern Africa, and the UIG (the United International Government, the bad guys) rolled up and basically flattened the area. He got out, and got most of his kids out, but a lot of their parents were killed. He never did find out why the UIG wanted that particular town destroyed, but Comoros offered him a job working against the UIG and helping people in a different way. He hated to leave behind his old job, but he had to admit - he was too angry to be around kids anymore. And he hates the UIG for that.

So that's what he did before, what does he do now? I see "Defense Telepath" (it's misspelled as "Defence," but that's OK, I saw "mile" misspelled as "kilometre" earlier in the book). I like that - he'll be a good telepath, but he doesn't want to knock people down so much as build other people up.

The book gives me some interesting character building exercises, and since I haven't done a character like this in a while, I shall use them. First off: How would the character act in the following situations?

• In a violent crowded bar where the character has his drink spilled by an outlaw. Probably not much of a reaction, especially if overreacting would result in violence. It's not worth it. Now, if the thug in question were UIG or a sympathizer, then he might get a bit more aggressive.
  
• When being reprimanded by the Missions Officer for a disastrous mission. He'd sit there and listen to the criticism, and provided it's accurate, accept responsibility. And then he'd ask, "Are you ready to figure out how to fix these problems?"
  
• After completing a successful mission and given a large paycheck (misspelled as "cheque"). He'd send much of the money back home to help out with the smaller towns and "his" orphans. And probably go out drinking or whoring. Only human.
  
• When in the thick of action with his favorite equipment and plenty of enemies. I suspect he's more interesting in incapacitating and interrogating than straight-up killing. But failing that, he tries to make sure it goes surgically rather than pear-shaped. Chaos costs lives (and makes him flash back).

There's another questions section, too!

• Why does the Corporation employ him? Good telepathic skills, but also good at teaching and relating information. You can learn a skill from a chip, yeah, but there's still a lot of practical application for a good instructor.
  
• Does he have any family? None living. His mother died a few years before he moved to the small town for the teacher job, and his father was killed in the war.
  
• Does he fully support the Corporation? Yep.
  
• What is his operational method? I'd have to see the telepathy powers first.
  
• How did he become a professional? Covered above, I think.
  
• How does he dress? Comfortably and casually. He's tried rocking hot suits, but they never seem to look right on him.
  
• How does he deal with authority? Quietly. He's used to just accepting what the boss-man tells him, so he follows orders well.
  
• Who does he hate and why? UIG, for reasons I think I've covered.
  
• Does he have a grudge against a particular faction or Corporation? Not yet, though money-uber-alles pisses him off. People don't realize that convenience here tends to cost lives there.
  
• Who does he love and why? His students. They became his family, and he feels responsible for them, even though he's far away and he's too triggery to take his old job back.
  
• Where does he live? He stays in a Corporate Accommodation when he's on mission, but he tends to rent cheap rooms in poorer areas when he's on furlough.
  
• What does he do for fun? Cooks, reads, does crosswords and other puzzles. He used to farm and garden, too, but that's harder to arrange.
  
• Why did he join the Corporation? Did he have a choice? Sure. He joined up because they were his best chance at revenge and improving people's lives. He still thinks that's true.
  
• Does he have strong ethics? Yes. He's heavily invested in personal responsibility and in teaching the young. He believes the only true knowledge is what you earn.
  
• What is his price for corruption? I'd need to hear the offer. No one accepts an offer for straight-up corruption. "Hey, I'll give you a grand to become corrupt!"
  
• Superficial good looks are cheap - Is he attractive? I think that he's ordinary looking and he finds that something of an advantage. If this is a movie, he's played by Chiwetel Ejiofor.
  
• Does he have any pet hates or bad habits? Oh, probably. He's drawn to help - or just talk to - kids, and that's something that could get used against him. He also tends to lecture if you don't stop him.

OK, geez! Enough with the characterization! On to Step Three: Assigning Stats!

I get 49 points for 7 stats. 7 is average (for agents). So let's see:

Strength 5
Endurance 5
Agility 6
Reflexes 7
Perception 9
Intelligence 8
Presence 9

Stage 4: Extra Features. Derived traits. Yay!

Hit Points = Strength + Endurance + 20 = 30
Rank and Level are 1.
Telepathic Energy is Presence + Perception + Intelligence + 10 + 10 (because I'm Comoros) = 46.
Move Speed = Strength + Endurance + Agility = 16.
Internal AI = 1.
I speak Swahili, Hindi and one other language of my choice - how about English.

Stage 5: Assign Skills.

Seriously? Derived traits in the middle again? WTF?

Anyway, I get 1 at level 8, 1 at 7, 1 at 6, 3 each at 5, 4, 3, 2, and 4 at 1. I get to pick a skill to be my Professional Skill. I can't critically fail it and if I roll 00, it's a critical success. It has to be at least 7 and ties in with my concept. OK.

Oh, whoops. I take Telepathics with my Skills, too. So can Telepathics be a Professional Skill? I don't see anything to indicate that it can't. OK, then. I'll take:

Shield 8
Telekinesis 7
Observation 6
Psychology 5
Attitude 5
Lying and Acting 5
Science 4
Street Culture 4
Corporation Knowledge 4
Crime 3
Arts and Culture 3
Stealth 3
Light Firearms 2
Close Combat 2
Assault 2
Jump 1
Athletics 1
Computers & AI 1
Business 1

Stage 6: Trainings.

Specialist areas of expertise. I get "Telepath" for free, and I get two at chargen. Let's see. Well, I want Command, and I have the Presence for it. That adds my rank to any social situation which the GM deems appropriate. And then I'll take Telepathic Adept, giving me 20 more TE.

Stage 7: Licenses.

License to do all kinds of normally non-legal shit. Well, I don't think I get a free Telepathics License - let's check. Nope. So I have to buy that. That costs...Oy. If I want to be able to use all of my powers, I have to burn all of my license points. Actually, that's fine. I think there's others I'd want, but I think this guy would want to be legal and aboveboard with his powers.

Stage 8: Equipment. Oy. I get 6000 monies to buy shit, but y'know I hate doing this stuff. If I were actually going to play, I would, but I think we'll call it for now.

Oh, I need a name. This fella's name is Ahmed Maazouzi, though English-speaking agents call him "Maz," which is fine.

Right, good to go!

Character Creation: The Seventh Seal

There's at least seven, right?

No, not what I mean. Though doing a mashup between this game and, like, Blue Planet or something might be interesting. Anyway:

The Game: The Seventh Seal
The Publisher: Creative Illusions, now defunct, if what once was their website is any indication (it's all Asian lettering spam, I can't tell what language).
Degree of Familiarity: None.
Books Required: Just the one, I guess.

I bought this game at Origins a few years back for all of five bucks, made a copy of the character sheet at Office Max (since you can't find one online, since the company folded), and forgot about it. I want to get it off my list, so here we are. That also means that I don't remember reading it, so I'll be doing that as we go.

The game is billed as a "Roleplaying Game of Prophetic Revelations", a modern occult game taking inspiration from the Revelation of John and other Christian mythology. I have to say, the book's introduction is very well-written, and very tactful. It's clear that the company didn't want to court the nutcase demo (like Christian nutcases roleplay anyway), and the feeling I get reading it is that someone considered Christian occultism a fun setting, albeit one that some people actually believe in.

Anyway, characters are called Sentinels, and they go through a process called "Anointing." Let's see.

The first couple of chapters set up our setting. Basically, the End Times are coming soon, the forces of Legion are...well, Legion. Sentinels get visitations and angelic visions and shit like. It's not bad stuff, and it's pretty tight (unlike White Wolf's setting chapters, which range from well-written but long to Scion). Anyway, getting to Chapter Three, we find the first step: Concept.

Concept is just meant to be a quick summary, but that requires me to think of a character who's going to wind up having visions. Hmm. OK, my character is a rad tech at a hospital who's suffered headaches and dizzy spells all his life. He's never considered that they might have a non-physical cause, but now as a Sentinel he believes they were attempts by the angels to tell him. And he wonders what opportunities and messages he's missed. His name is Thomas Daughtry.

I see Thomas as really big. He's, like, 6 and a half feet, strongly built, not especially graceful but he's learned to be gentle. Good start. What's next?

The Trinity (my stats). Twelve aspects in three categories, Body, Mind and Spirit. They all start at one. We prioritize (sounds familiar) into Primary, Secondary and Tertiary. I get 8 points in Primary, 4 in Secondary and 3 in Tertiary. Hmm.

Well, for Thomas, I think Body needs to be Primary. I allocate points thusly:

Agility 2
Attractiveness (boo. Minus points for making this a stat) 2
Might 3
Vigor 5

Big, strong, tough, not especially graceful.

Spirit can be Secondary.

Aura 2
Faith 1
Inspiration 3
Soul 2

And finally, Mind:

Logic 2
Reason 2
Senses 1
Willpower 2

Moving along to Background. This is occupational stuff. I already know I want Thomas to be a rad tech, someone who performs MRIs and the like. I pick (or make up) a Background Template for Thomas. Well, there's one for Ambulance Paramedic, and the Proficiencies seem to make sense. They are: Human Perception, Medicine, Research, Sciences and Teaching. I think I'll swap out Electronics for Teaching, though. I get 14 points to divvy up.

Human Perception 2
Medicine 2
Research 3
Sciences 3
Electronics 4

I get a free Specialization in Electronics, so I take Medical Equipment.

There. And now, Celestial Order. I pick an Archangel who's my CO in God's Army. I think Raphael makes the most sense. The headaches and the visions could work with Uriel, but the Raphaelites have this focus on personal honesty and self-awareness that I like. So there ya go. I get a free point of Vigor (holy cats, I'm vigorous), Shepherd's Path and Heal, whatever those mean. I get Prophetic Revelations as well. Oh, actually I get two points in Divinities, and I have to take one in Heal. I'll keep one in Heal and take one in Illumine, which gives me the power of Empathy (I can look at people and know their emotions and stuff).

I total my Insight, which is Vigor + Willpower + Soul (10, for now).

Grace is ability to fight off demonic Taint, I suppose. It starts equal to my Faith, or 1. Oy. I'm not real graceful, like I said.

And now, Finishing Touches (again, sounds White-Wolfy). First is a bunch of questions, but I think I'll do Merits & Flaws Benefits and Detriments before that, actually. They have to balance out, and I can take up to six. Let's do Detriments first.

I think I'll take Fragile Will. Thomas is susceptible to suggestion and other mental powers. That's 3 points.

There's an Atheist Detriment, but the way it's phrased actually makes sense. I rather like this game.

I like Corrupted Loved one, but how am I going to tie it in with those headaches? Hmm. Well. I think I'll take Headaches as a Detriment and just use the system from Allergy - when the headaches crop up, I take a -2 to all dice pools until they go away.

Now, six points in Benefits. I'll take Mechanically Inclined, just because I'm not, and it'd be fun to play. That's 3 points. I'll take Apartment, since I apparently have to live somewhere. And because my concept is coming into focus more, I'll take Snitch. And now, the 20 questions bit.

Thomas Daughtry grew up in Chicago, and was a decent student but a better athlete. After high school, though, he stopped playing football - it wasn't that he didn't like it, but his teammates who were serious about it never did anything else. Thomas knew that he didn't want to do it for a living (high salary aside), and knocked about for a few years doing odd jobs. Then he scraped some money together and went to school to be a rad tech.

Thomas grew up Lutheran, though his family wasn't especially devout. He had an aunt who was extremely fervent, and used to pray over Thomas when he got his headaches. At least, he thought she was praying. When he turned 28 or so and Raphael Anointed Thomas, he learned the truth. Aunt Emma was a demon, or corrupted by one, or something. She's still in there somewhere, but the thing controlling her or tempting her or whatever, was suppressing Thomas' Divine gifts. That might be the source of the headaches, indeed.

Aunt Emma is still evil, but she gives Thomas information now and then, in return for him not pointing any other Sentinels her way. He knows that this is wrong, but he can't quite reconcile himself to the notion of killing or exorcising his aunt.

Thomas is a devoted Bears fan, but he's not rabid about it. He gets along with people easily and his happy to work on their cars and electronics for the price of a good pizza. Deep down, he wonders how many of the ailments he sees in his day job are caused - or exacerbated - by Legion. There's just no way to know.