Character Creation: Ephemeris

We all are ephemera, if you think about it. But are we ephemeris? 

The Game: Ephemeris
The Publisher: Nomadic Delirium Press
Degree of Familiarity: None. I got the game out of a bundle a long time ago, and it's close to the top of the list for games I haven't done yet. I need to update that list, actually.
Books Required: Just the one, and a "vivid imagination."

So, Ephemeris is a science fiction RPG about (hang on) "galactic trade and galactic conquest." It seems to be (at a glance) very much a traditional RPG, but it also has a section about what hyperspace does to your mind, which I think is interesting. Let's peruse and see if a character suggests itself.

Oh, wait, random chargen. OK, then. I start out determining Attributes, rolling 2d6 10 times and ditching the two lowest rolls. Just a moment.

11 7 9 4 10
10 12 10 12 4

Thank you, entropy. OK, so I ditch the 4s. Now what? I place the other ones as I see fit. My Attributes are:

Intelligence
Common Sense
Charisma
Sanity
Strength
Agility
Endurance

What's Common Sense? Oh, it's common sense. The game tells you what skills work off of what Attributes, which I like. I think I want a high Intelligence, because I'm liking the idea of playing a scientist. I'll structure my Attributes thusly:

Intelligence: 12
Common Sense: 7
Charisma: 10
Sanity: 9
Strength: 11
Agility: 12
Endurance: 10

This makes me much more physically badass than a scientist is normally depicted as being, but this being the Far Future I figure everyone's in good health and genetically modified and shit. What's next?

Oh, do I want to play an alien? I don't know. Let's look at the racial descriptors.

OK, so we've got dinosaurs with four arms, horrible nipple-breathing creatures, big spider-crab things, people (with an absolutely horrible cheesecake picture - really, guys?), sentient gas encased in crystal and giant slug-snails. Um. I think I'll stay human, though I do give the game credit for making alien races actually alien. (I just don't want to play one.)

Oh, god, this game has levels and classes. Yawn. Anyway, I guess I should choose a class. Bandit, no. Cyber Wizard, are you fucking kidding? Diplomat...eh. Explorer...hmm. Maybe. Nanist. Well, now. Nanists are healers, and they heal user nanobots that they can transfer to others. They are seen as religious figures. GET IT? THEY'RE CLERICS.

Jesus. This is just D&D in space, isn't it? Right down to level progression.

Fuckit. Let's keep going. Oh, wait, Scientist is a class. Last two are Soldier and Trader. Eh. So it's either Nanist or Scientist. I have to admit Nanist sounds pretty cool. Why not, we'll do that.

What's next? Skills, I guess. I start with one point each in some skills, which I would love to just c/p but I can't because this fucking pdf has it disabled. Blargh. Anyway, Medicine, Genetics, Cybernetics, Computerse, Nanotech, Science: Exobiology all get a free point. In addition to that, I get 12 points to split up amongst skills plus another 4 for my Intelligence modifier. So that's 16. Can't go over 3 points into any one Skill.

Computerse 2
Cybernetics 2
Decipher 2
Encryption 2
Fitness 1
Gather Information 2
Genetics 1
Hide 1
Medicine 3
Nanotech 4
Science: Exobiology 1
Stealth 1

Have I mentioned how much I hate granular skill systems? 'Cause it's a lot.

Now there's a big list of gear with how much gold credits it costs. Yawn. I hate shopping. I get a computer system for free because I'm a Nanist, but I can't be arsed right now. I wanna get to spells transferences for my cleric Nanist.

OK, so I have to program a certain number of nanos every day to do the things I want. Which means I have to fucking memorize spells. What the shit, guys? You took all the lamest things about D&D, made them IN SPAAAAAACE, put three pieces of art with it and called it a new game? FUCK YOU.

Anyway. As a 1st-level cleric Nanist...what the fuck. OK, it looks like I get 2+ Int modifier (or 6, altogether) for "nano packets", and then 3 transferences. I have no idea what that means and there aren't any examples. Hang on, lemme figure this out. As I recall as a cleric, I could prep three spells a day, but I could choose from any from level 1? Or maybe within my god's purview or something? But then what are nano packets for?

Fuckit. I'm picking three level-one transferences so I can be done. I pick...Enhancement 1 (let's me boost a roll right before I make it), Harm 1 (I add my Int bonus to a touch attack) and Sleep (the basic Sleep spell).

I picture this guy kind of as a spy, someone who learned to use Nanos to transport information or secrets across the universe to...someone. But the nanos wiped his memory of his mission and most of his training, so now he's having to rebuild it, slowly, and seek out the people who did this to him (kind of a Total Recall sort of thing). The problem is that everyone he talks to that knows about it winds up dead, or lies through his teeth. He just wants the truth, and so he's bumbling his way through the universe, looking for one honest man. He calls himself "Diogenes," or just "Gene" if you're pressed for time.

Oh, and I just now noticed humans get 4 extra Skill points, so I put them in various places. Can't be arsed. Nor can I be arsed to do gear, because I don't care that much.

Seriously, guys, you are aware that all RPGs don't have to follow the mess of rules and board-game mentality that is D&D, right? Oy. Glad it's done.

Character Creation: Atomic Highway

You don't need headlights on the atomic highway, because it glows. Also you're probably dead.

The Game: Atomic Highway
The Publisher: Radioactive Ape Designs
Degree of Familiarity: None.
Books Required: Just the one.

I picked this game up at a con some years back, read it on a trip at one point, and I feel like making a character tonight and I recall this being fairly straightforward.

OK, so, Atomic Highway is a Road Warrior-inspired RPG complete with mutants, warring over gas, bartertowns, and so on. One thing I like right up front: The book tells me that the chargen rules create "highly competent individuals," which I like.

Character Concept. OK. Well, I enjoy playing Borderlands, which has a kind of Mad Max feel even if it's not strictly post-apocalyptic. So can I make a sniper/hunter like Mordecai? Bet I can. My concept is meant to be pretty brief right now, so I'll sum it up as "slightly insane sniper."

Assign Attribute Points. Moving right along. I get 18 points to split between seven Attributes, no more than 5 in any one. Let's look 'em up. It looks like Nimbleness and Senses are what I want high, so I'll put 4 in each. That leaves me 7 left, with six Attributes. Hmm. Lots of 1s. Does that fuck me? Doesn't seem to. Fine, I'll put 1s in everything except Understanding.

Calculate Health. (Muscle + Tenacity + Toughness) x 2 = 6. I'm kind of weak, I guess.

Record Natural Skills. I get Athletics, Brawl, Melee, Notice, Persuade, Shoot and Stealth at 1, just because you pretty much need those for this game. Thumbs up, Colin!

Select and Record Rearing. Huh-huh. Ooh, I get a template. Hang on. I'll take 'Steader. My character's family were homesteaders, trying to farm tubers and other hardy foods far from any kind of civilizations. My character grew up malnourished, but lean and sharp-eyed. I get some free Skills:

Ride 1, Heal 1, Melee 1, Notice 1, Shoot 1, Zoofinity 1

Select and Record Pursuit. My job, basically. Bounty Hunter is tempting, but then, so is Wastelander. I kind of need to figure this out a little. OK, so he was on the homestead with his family, why'd he leave? Place was wiped out by a blight. Killed the crops, the livestock, and most of the hands. He went to a bartertown looking for working and hooked up with a bounty hunter named Mug. Mug taught him about the trade, but mostly she liked him because he could hang back and shoot people if they didn't come quietly. Mug took a round in the face last year, and my guy (he just calls himself "Simple Simon") is on his own, now.

Right, anyway. Bounty Hunter gives me:
Athletics 1, Brawl 1, Criminal 1, Heal 1, Melee 1, Notice 1, Shoot 2, Stealth 1, Survive 1. I get a fully loaded rifle, a knife and two primitive melee weapons of choice. I get gloves, boots, pants, shirt, a jacket and a scarf. I get a lighter, 3 sets of manacles, a waterskin and 50' of rope.

Customize! I get 4 points to buy Skills, but apparently I can't go over 4 in a Skill. So I'm at my max for Shoot. I'll pump a point into Stealth, a point into Zoofinity, a point into Scavenge and a point into Intimidate.

Personalize! I've gotten into Simon's backstory a bit, but I need to customize his gear (no, really, it's in the book). His clothes are a pastiche of stuff he's stolen from people he's shot or brought in - brown leather gloves, black leather jacket, dingy white scarf (Mug made that for him), cargo pants with pockets for extra shells, denim shirt (no, really), a lighter with an eagle on it, a waterskin. The boots are about the only things he has left from the homestead - ragged, layer leather, made from the first cow he ever slaughtered.

Simon probably would have been happy hunting and homesteading, but he's good with bounty hunting, too. He uses black hunting rifle that he found rusting when he was a boy, took apart, cleaned, put back together and got working (I'm not getting into makes and models because eh). His knife is one that he found and his dad re-handled with horn from one of their cattle. And then I get two more primitive weapons. Hmm. I'll take a light ax, because I can throw it. He used that ax to kill the guy that killed Mug - he couldn't take a shot at the guy because his rifle jammed up. And I'll take a bullwhip - useful if I want to entangle, but not kill.

And I think that'll do it.

Character Creation: Sorcerer

"Sorcerer" is one of those words I rarely spell correctly on the first try. I keep wanting to put another "o" in it. 

The Game: Sorcerer
The Publisher: Adept Press, but that seems to be defunct
Degree of Familiarity: None. I read it on our trip to Kentucky and it kind of screamed "Run me!"
Books Required: Just the core.

So, in this game you play someone who called up and bound a demon because he really wants something. There's not really a lot of required commonality between demons; that is, the game invites you to consider the overarching mythology if you want (fallen angels? evil spirits?) but the effect is much the same. I have an idea for what I'd do if I ran this, and I'm thinking that after Snowblind finishes I may see if that group wants to give this a try.

But anyway. Making a character starts with some kind of concept. I know that I want a demon bound into my very flesh, but before I get to the demon, let's start with the need. What did my character need so badly that he called a demon into his body?

My character's name is Jacob Marley. Yep, just like in the story. His parents just liked the name "Jacob", and they weren't big literature people. Jacob (Jay, please) loved to read, and watched A Christmas Carol in class when he was in grade school. Some of the kids teased, but Jay was just taken with the idea of being in chains, forever, not because of some specific sin but because of not being nice enough. He tried to be nice from then on out.

It didn't work. He didn't have great examples. His dad was a drunk, and he wasn't exactly abusive, but he wasn't above smacking Jay around a bit when he'd had too many. Mom was no slouch, either, and she smoked too much and spoke sharply and wasn't always happy to have a kid around. Jay did well in school up until 8th grade, and then he started running with the wrong crowd. He learned to draw in high school - he'd always been arty, but now he really learned to do it well - and took first place and a scholarship in an art show. His parents didn't show up, and never filled out the paperwork he needed to claim the prize. He missed his shot.

Jay never forgave them for that, and he moved out when he was 18. He played in a band for a while, drank a lot, worked menial jobs, got in fights and got tattoos. He hooked up with a girl whose father ran a tattoo parlor and learned to ink from him. The girl - Trina - died of a heroin overdose when she was 20, and her father took Jay in (they'd always gotten along). He taught Jay the business, and Jay felt like maybe this was OK. He was Cratchett to Scrooge, after Scrooge had the big shakeup. Maybe he wouldn't have to be in chains forever.

And then his mentor, Mr. C (close as they are, that's what Jay calls him) developed lung cancer. And Jay spent a full week in a medical library, reading everything he could, even in the stacks with the books that no one's touched in years, trying to find something, anything, to save the one person left on Earth he really loved. He found something, a name and a symbol, and late one night he inked it into his skin.

Whew. There. Let's do Scores. I get 10 points to divvy up between Stamina, Will and Lore. I see Jay as being in good, but not great, shape, so I put 3 in Stamina. I'll put 5 in Will, and that leaves 2 in Lore (he's smart, but hasn't had time to learn much yet).

I get a descriptor for each one, so for Stamina I'll put "Tireless." It's simple, but it describe what I see as his defining physical trait - he can work and focus for a long time without giving in. For Will, I'll take "School of Hard Knocks" - he's been kicked around a lot and it's toughened him. And for Lore, I'll take "Student of the Forbidden Science." He's learned what he's learned from old books, not a teacher.

Humanity starts at 5, since that's the higher of Stamina or Will, but I think it can change during chargen, so I don't write it yet.

Cover is, basically, my day job. I'm a Tattoo Artist. I'll say that goes off of Will, rather than Stamina.

Price is what's happened to me since binding with a demon. I'll say that the demon has made me Jittery; I take a -1 to rolls involving fine motor control (which is awesome for a tattoo artist, I'm sure).

I have a Tell-tale, something that marks me as a sorcerer. I want this to be tattoo related. Jay has intricate lettering tattooed on his chest, arms and back. It changes color ever so slightly, especially if his demon is active.

Now, Jay starts with one demon bound to him. We've established where it came from. I don't ever get to see the character sheets of other demons I'd summon, but I'm actually just going to write in my demon's stats on my sheet so I only have to scan in one paper. So I flip the next chapter to do this demon.

My demon is called (well, Jay calls it) Skin. It's a Parasite demon, because it lives in Jay's flesh. It's Telltale is that sometimes a face appears under Jay's skin. I think it needs the following abilities: Armor, Boost, Fast, Hint and Vitality. That gives it a Lore of 5. Its Stamina can be 2, I think it's pretty weak on its own. It's Will is Lore + 1 (in this case, since Lore is higher), or 6. Power is equal to Will (6).

It has a Need (which I have to give it to keep it strong) and Desire (which I should indulge occasionally, or else it'll disobey me). Skin's Need is pain. It likes Jay's pain best, and that means more and more elaborate tattoos, but it can be satisfied for a while soaking up the pain from a client (especially if Jay goes a little too fast or hard just to make it hurt more). Its Desire is Sensation. It Needs pain, but it likes feeling. Hot, cold, sex, water, whatever. Jay just has be to experiencing something tactile, the more naked the better.

And then the Kicker! The Kicker is what's happening right now, an opportunity or a way to get Jay going right out of the gate (yes, much like the "What Just Happened?" question in Don't Rest Your Head or curse the darkness, both of which owe something to Sorcerer). Jay's Kicker...hmm. He's at the tattoo shop and about to lock up and go to the hospital to visit Mr. C, when a girl walks in, rolls up her sleeve and points to a tattoo on her arm - "When did you give me this?" Jay figures she might have been drunk when she got it (it happens), and it definitely looks like his work - but he's never seen her before in his life.

And I think that'll do it.

Character Creation: Contenders

I coulda been, etc. 

The Game: Contenders
The Publisher: Prince of Darkness Games
Degree of Familiarity: None. Just read the pdf.
Books Required: Just the pdf.

This game is about boxing, as opposed to The Squared Circle or Piledrivers and Powerbombs, which are about wrestling. Contenders bills itself as a gain about hope, pain and sweat and blood. The emulation here seems to be boxing films, which is interesting, as those don't lend themselves well to group play, I'd think. Would this be a one-on-one game, like Beast Hunters? Hard to say without reading further, so I'll do that real quick (the game's only about 45 pages long).

OK, so, the game has shades of Fiasco and other scene-based games like Blowback and Ganakagok. You make your Contender, and then you can do training scenes, connection scenes, promotion scenes. Resolution system is based on cards, not dice (of which I approve, of course). So it looks like a goodly amount of this is buildup to the fight, which is fine, since that's very much in genre.

So let's make my fighter. Fighters have to start poor. My fighter was a kid who was pretty smart when he was a boy, and then he was in a car accident when he was 10. He suffered a traumatic brain injury, and while he's make a good recovery, he's lost much of his functionality as far as book-smarts goes. He was, like, a merit scholar before and just boxed for a hobby. Now his folks are divorced and his mother won't do more than exchanged frosty phone calls with him. He's trying to go the distance with this boxing thing. His name is Isaiah "Ice" Colon (that's /kəlon/, by the way).

Good start. Now I do a Connection. Isaiah's mother doesn't speak to him much, but his dad, Diego Colon, is in it for the long haul. Diego acts as Ice's manager and promoter, helps him train, and so on. But Diego smoked heavily from age 13, and his lungs are getting bad. My Hope for Diego is that I make enough money to get him some quality medical care. My Fear is that he'll die before we can reconcile with Mom.

I get one point each in Hope, Pain, Cash and Rep, and I get 2 more points to throw around. I'll put one point into Cash (it represents time and energy as well as actual money) and one into Hope.

Now I get 6 points to split between my In-Ring stats, which are Cover, Power, Technique and Conditioning.

Well, I see Isaiah as a smart fighter, and I figure he works himself to death because he wants to make up for his dad's ill health somehow. So I'll put three into Conditioning, two into Technique, one into Cover and leave Power where it is.

Wow. And...that's it. This is actually pretty cool. I'd considering running this with a group that was into it.

Character Creation: Haven: City of Violence

This game always makes me think of the closing credits song in the movie "Dragnet."

The Game: Haven: City of Violence
The Publisher: LPJ Design, but the site is down
Degree of Familiarity: Not much. I've read about half the book, but I'm not enthused to read the rest so I'm just gonna make the character and call it a day.
Books Required: Just the core, though Strunk and White wouldn't hurt.

OK, so, I picked this up at Origins in the cheap bin. I pick up a lot of games that way. They're not always, or even usually, good. This one, I like the premise. It's supposed to be an action/spy movie emulator in the mean streets of Haven. The problem is that the inspiration list reads like a list of every movie in which anyone ever fired a gun, ever. Payback is on the list, so is Grosse Point Blank. Those movies, while both violent, are very different in tone. So what are we emulating, here? Or, again, is the only keyword "violence?"

And then there's the writing. Here, lemme quote a sample: "The single most important part of playing any role-playing game and Haven: City of Violence is, no exception to this, is to create a believable character." That's a direct quote. That style of writing (that is, sloppy) is endemic.

But beyond that, the game is just boring. It's a traditional RPG (skill list, attributes, top-heavy combat system) hung on a really wide-open genre. The city itself has some detail to it, but it tries to shoehorn in too much, and it doesn't have a gimmick to hang its hat on.

Anyway. Let's do up a character. "Choosing a Character Prototype and adding your own touches can easily start your first character. Real leaders, however, make their own destiny and Haven offers an in-depth Character Creation system that lets you build your own personalized character from scratch." Sigh.

Oh! Oh! One more thing. The dude running the game in Haven? Called the Game Operation Director. Yeah. G.O.D.

Anyway, Step 1 (because I'm not going to just choose a Prototype and tweak it) is...Start with a pool of 100 CPs (Character Points). Um, OK. I've got a pool of 100 CPs.

What I don't have is a character sheet, because the author didn't think to include one. LPJ Designs, where Creative Ideas and Business Innovations meet! I found a homemade that someone did up. So there's that. On to Step 2 - Create Primary Attributes and Secondary Abilities. Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you don't have any Secondary Attributes or Primary Abilities, does that not make sense?

Anyway, there are six Primary Abilities. I buy them one for one with CPs. I don't have any idea how much is an appropriate amount to spend on these (9 to 15 is average, but that's a pretty wide range). Looking ahead, I buy skills and Benefits with CPs, but I can get some back with Drawbacks. This is actually much like Chill.

Well, I don't need to get heavy into concept yet, but one of the (very) few things I find interesting about this game is that there's a secondary stat called Counter Measures. It's basically deactivating security and traps and things. I think it'd be interesting to play a character who was good at that, so I'll set my Agility and Intelligence high (because Counter Measures is based on those).

My primary Attributes are:

Strength 8
Will 15
Agility 18
Stamina 10
Intelligence 20
Perception 15

Total: 86

OK, now Secondary things. These are averages of the primaries, so we get:

Influence 15
Movement Value 9
Accuracy 17
Fighting Value 14
Subterfuge 18
Counter Measures 19
Concussive Health 33
Lethal Health 11

That was easy. I'm not only badass at Counter Measures, but I'm a good shot and (if I'm reading the numbers right) good at fighting, too. Well, it is a CITY OF VIOLENCE!

Step 3 - Skills. I get 7 skills (it's based on Intelligence), and they add a +1 to relevant rolls. I can also spend CPs to buy levels in skills, which add more of a bonus. Hrm. There don't seem to be any combat skills, which, with as granular as this skill list is (Accounting, Agriculture, etc.) is probably good.

OK, so I'll take the following:

Bureaucratic
Computers
Demolitions
Electrical Engineering
Law Enforcement
Physics
Streetwise

My attributes are pretty good, so I think I'll leave it as a +1 for all of these for now.

Languages: I get my native language + 4, because my Intelligence is high and all smart people are multi-lingual (duh). I take Spanish, Russian, Dutch and Hungarian. Oh, and by the way, the list of languages includes the following:

English
English - United Kingdom
English - Australian

OK, first of all, as different as British, Australian and American English are, people from these disparate lands can absolutely communicate, possibly with some effort, but by no means with the same difficulty as, say, an American and a Czech (just randomly picked one). Second, did you notice how American English is apparently the standard, and thus needs no further explanation? Telling, I think.

Anyway. Benefits. They cost CPs, while Drawbacks bestow them. I have 14 at present. I want Eagle Eyes (there's a flavor quote before each of these, and the one for Eagle Eyes is, and I'm not making this up, "I see you!!!!!"). I want Eidetic Memory. These cost 2 points each. Well, the book says they cost -2, which should give me four, but I know what the author means. I'll take Marksman, which is only 1. Holy shit, Nondescript is 6 points. And there's no game effect. It's just "people don't remember what you look like." Um, no.

Wow, I'm going to buying more Skills, I think. Let's look over Drawbacks, though I'm well within my points. There's one called Personal Constraint, which is meant to be behavioral. Here's another quote: "This type of drawback, should not be too specific, including your character cannot attack people wearing the color red on a Saturday during a lunar eclipse." Oy.

I will take it, though. My character doesn't kill good cops, and he assumes all cops are good unless they demonstrate that they're bent. This "costs" +1, which again...eh, screw it. I'll also take Traumatic Flashback. I have an idea about this.

Now, Special Abilities. Um, OK. I'll take Detect Flaw (I can sense weak points) and Sixth Sense (spider sense, basically). That eats 10 points. I have 3 points remaining. I'll go back and buy up Demolitions to Master (2 points) and Physics to Expect (1 point). Oh, and I grab some random numbers and figure out my language totals. I wind up speaking Russian and Hungarian fluently, Dutch and Spanish somewhat less fluently. Interestingly, it's possible to not speak your native language fluently under this system (your score is 10 + 1d10, but 12 is fluent).

Step 4 - Get money, buy shit. No thanks. Yawn. I have guns and shit, I'm sure.

Step 5 - Concept and shit. OK. Ivan Koltay was born to a Russian mother and a Hungarian father in a crappy section of Haven. Ivan, like his father, was brilliant and technical minded. He grew up hearing stories about the Russian police, though, and what fuckers they were, and his parents were big fans of American police officers and how the system worked in favor of the accused. Ivan went to college and got a degree in Physics, but then went to academy.

His brains pretty much meant he could pick his path, and he chose bomb squad. His parents weren't thrilled, but the technical aspects of the job thrilled him. And then his unit got offered a bribe - the local Russian mob was going to bomb a building, and the bomb squad's job was to make sure the bomb went off after the building was cleared. All the other guys went along with it, and Ivan, unwilling to turn all his buddies in and kind of touched that the mob went to such pains to clear the building first, agreed. Just this once.

He found the bomb, got the building cleared, and pretended he couldn't disarm it in time (he totally could have; it wasn't sophisticated). Watching the building from outside, he saw a face in a window. A woman, maybe his age, screaming for help...and then the building came down. No one else saw it. Ivan still has nightmares about that day, and he couldn't face his squadmates again...but neither could he turn them in.

He quit the force, and found a crappy apartment across town, in the Mexican district (he speaks a little Spanish, and he dated a Dutch girl for a while and went home with her to visit family. He joined the force around then and there's actually a large enough Dutch section of town that he was able to keep the language). He sells his services to the Russian mob, the Hungarian mob, the Mexican gangs, whatever. He designs bombs, helps the bad guys hack past security, things like that. As far as he's concerned, the system works just like it does all over the world. Everyone is for sale.

Character Creation: Summerland

No, no one did an RPG based on this song. It's a post-apocalyptic game in which, overnight, a huge forest covers most of the world. Most people feel a pull called the Call, which drags them into the forest where they are (presumably) eaten by monsters. Some folks are immune, but it's because they're psychologically damaged enough to make it through the Sea of Leaves (which I think is a cool title). They're called drifters.

This looks like fun! Let's do a character.

The Game: Summerland
The Publisher: Fire Ruby Studios, but they don't seem to have a web page.
Degree of Familiarity: Just reading it now.
Books Required: Just the one.

The book recommends that the group figure out their themes and tone of the game - are we doing horror? Hope for humanity? Survivalist? I will, as usual, go with the example of play provided. In that, hope-horror-magic is the order of theme, while survivalist-action-investigation is the style of play. I can get behind that.

OK, so, Step One is Imagine your character. Basically, concept first. Keen. My character is in his 40s, balding, five-o-clock shadow at 10 in the morning, but going salt-and-pepper. Used to be pretty large, has become pretty lean in the aftermath of the world ending. Missing his ring and pinky fingers on his ring hand, and favors his right leg. Not sure why yet, some kind of accident.

I picture him in jeans, a vest jacket, and a silver teardrop necklace on a leather cord. His ears are both pierced, but he doesn't wear earrings anymore (since the Event, metal makes him itch). His name is George Swinton.

Let's move on to Qualities. I get 20 points to split between four of them, with 5 being average (bravo, guys). I figure Finesse will be lower for George; he's fit, but not really fast or dextrous due to his injuries. I'll put Finesse at 3, Mind at 7, Body at 4 and Empathy at 6.

Tags. Each Quality has descriptors attached. If you've been reading, you know I like these; Slasher Flick does something similar. I get two per Quality, and one of them has to be negative. So I'll put "lame" under Body, since George walks with a limp. I'll also put "tireless" there - he moves slow, but he can go forever.

Oh, wait, no, I get one Tag per Quality, except my highest (Mind) gets two. OK. I'll leave "tireless," because I want a negative Tag under Finesse. I'll put "lame" there - George is slow. Those are both descriptive tag. I'll put "good memory" and "horticulturist" under Mind - one's descriptive, the other is specialized skill. And finally, under Empathy I'll put "kind."

They each get a value equal to half the Quality, rounded down.

Trauma: Drifters are psychologically scarred, and obviously the accident was important to George. Maybe it wasn't an accident? I don't know, and actually I don't have to figure it out now - it comes out in play (again, I like this). I just note "the accident" for now. My Trauma and Stress both start at 5, and go down in play. The goal is to get to 0 Trauma.

Stuff: I get a couple of possessions that define George. This is in addition to clothes and camping gear, which I'm assumed to have. George has that teardrop necklace around his neck, which is special to him for some reason. He also has a pill bottle with five Vicodin in it. He doesn't take them, but he knows he could if his leg ever got really bad. I also decide that George was a carpenter/landscaper until the injury, and he left his community because he felt ashamed of his injuries and that he couldn't do his job anymore.

And that's it! That was easy. I may have to run this game, this looks cool.

Character Creation: Slipstream

I feel like making a character, and Savage Worlds characters are quick.

The Game: Slipstream
The Publisher: Pinnacle Entertainment Group
Degree of Familiarity: Pretty familiar with Savage Worlds, but I've only read this game.
Books Required: The core the Slipstream book.

Well, as usual for a Savage Worlds game, we begin with Race. There are lots of playable races, a few of which are fully detailed, but then there's a whole section on making your own race. I'm tempted to do that, but I'm also tempted by the slug people, just because, seriously, wtf.

OK, I hate to admit this, but you know why I'm going with the slug aliens? Because they can release a foul stench that uses the burst template, and that's fun. Oy. So, race is Septosian (oh, and all of these races slipped into this part of the universe through a black hole or something. The Septosians originally inhabited the twin worlds Andee and Hopp. That's in the book).

As a Septosian, I get All Thumbs (boo), Rubbery (+1 Toughness), Squelchy (-2 to Stealth and +4 to track me because I leave a trail of slime), Stench (the aforementioned horrible smell) and Tentacles (my arms are stretchy).

OK, so now I need some kind of concept. Well, Michelle mentions the slugs in Flushed Away (here) and now the idea of a Septosian bard, incorporating the squelchy noises of his own squishy body as percussion, is in my head and won't fucking leave. FINE. That's what we're doing.

Septosians have names in the burpy, slurpy style of their language, so my guy's name is Plep. Plep is fascinated by music, especially music of other races, and he's interested in learning to play various instruments and sing in different styles. Being a slug actually helps that, because his vocal apparatus is squishy and malleable, meaning he's a good mimic. Mostly he just wants to bring the gift of music to those downtrodden by Queen Anathraxa. I suspect he'd need a good, hard kick in the motivation during the first session, but he'd be receptive.

Right, Attributes. Agility is important, as is Spirit, for me. So I'll take:

Agility d8
Strength d4
Spirit d8
Smarts d4
Vigor d6

Now, Skills. I get 15 points. I want:

Gambling d4
Guts d4
Knowledge (Music) d8
Notice d6
Fighting d4
Persuasion d8
Streetwise d4
Taunt d8

Good start. I see a lot of taunt to get Shaken results in his future.

Skipping Derived traits because duh, they should go at the end, I need to do Edges. Now, if I take the Heroic Hindrance in addition to any others I take, I get a free Edge for which I can ignore Rank. Um, yes. For my free Edge, I'll take Charismatic.

Now, more Hindrances? Yes, probably. I want Curious for my Major Hindrance. For my minors, I'll take Loyal and Pacifist. Seems he's a nice slug.

So that gives me four points. I'll burn 2 and put my Smarts up to d6, and burn the other two on Skills, I think. I'll put Guts up to d8, and buy Shooting at d6.

Oh, right, and then I get an Edge. There are a few I like, but I'll take Luck. I think he'll need it.

And now Derived Traits. Pace is 6, Parry is 4, Toughness is 6 (because I'm Rubbery) and Charisma is +2.

I get 500 Slips (moneys). I'll buy "leather" armor (it's not really leather), a ray gun (turns everyone into a guy named Ray), a bubble helmet, and that'll do it. That leaves me 230 Slips left.

And that'll do it! I figure Plep always carries a few varieties of musical instrument, stuff that's small and portable. If he had quarters on a ship, they'd need to be soundproofed.