Character Creation: World of Tales from the Crypt

Guess what, boils and ghouls! It's time once again to delve into the frightful process of scareacter creation! With a few strokes of a pen (or a sword, an an ax - whatever works!) we can create a pitiful protagonist to fold, spindle, and mutilate! And I'm not just talking about the character sheet!

OK, I'm not going to try and do this whole thing as the Cryptkeeper.

The Game: The World of Tales From the Crypt
The Publisher: West End Games
Degree of Familiarity: None with the game, watched the show and the movies
Books Required: Tales from the Crypt and the Masterbook core

Much like The World of Species, this game is a Masterbook setting. I admit that I wasn't hopeful about it when I started reading. I don't know why (probably because of when the game was made?), but I was expecting a fairly generic horror game. Instead, though, the game really embraces the episodic format of the show, and provides a framework for jumping from setting to setting. Basically the PCs all got the Cryptkeeper's attention and he's got them trapped in his manor, putting them in "shells" to amuse himself and have them run mysterious errands. Death might or might not be permanent, and you might even be able to escape, someday.

Also, characters are assumed to have some kind of flaw, which is entirely appropriate to the source material. Protagonists in Tales from the Crypt (and the EC horror comics that inspired it) weren't usually good people, and even the ones who were tended to be profoundly unlucky. I think this game could actually be a lot of fun. 

With all of that in mind, let's do a character! I had a kind of half-formed concept. I want to make a character who killed someone in a roundabout way, maybe by sabotaging a car or something, but who has no stomach for violence or blood. Actually, yeah, I got it. 

My character's name is Walt Creighton. He works as a mechanic in a mom n' pop garage (perhaps in the town of Gainesford, which is the included setting in the book). His boss is - rather, was - a highly unpleasant bully named Chris "Beef" Wellington. Beef's dad hired Walt, but then died and left the place to his son, and Beef couldn't fire Walt - he's too good of a mechanic and he likes tormenting him too much. Walt, for his part, is a bit of a milquetoast, shies away from conflict, and gets sick or faints at the sight of blood. What he is good at, however, is his job, and one day after Beef ripped off a bandage on Walt's hand just to gross him out, Walt decided he'd had enough. He sabotaged Beef's car the next day, said car crashed into a telephone pole, and now Beef's widow, whom Walt has always had a stammering crush on, owns the shop. Everything's coming up Walt.

(Except, of course, that Walt's going to find himself a pawn of the Cryptkeeper, so, y'know, them's the brakes! Hehehehehehe!) Ahem.

That's good for concept, on we go to Attributes. I get 68 points to split between the 8 attributes, which are Agility, Dexterity, Endurance, Strength, Intellect, Mind, Confidence, and Charisma. (Note that if I were playing Walt in a Tales From the Crypt campaign, his physical attributes would change as he jumps from shell to shell.)

Well, I know that Dexterity, Intellect, and Mind should be Walt's strengths, while Strength and Confidence should be lower than average. Everything else can be pretty much on par, I guess (I think it's interesting that the system splits Confidence and Charisma; likeability is the latter, but strength of personality is the former, making it quite possible for Walt to be trustworthy and "nice" while still being kinda spineless). 

Agility 7
Dexterity 11
Endurance 7
Strength 6
Intellect 11
Mind 12
Confidence 6
Charisma 7

This means my Toughness is 8, and I've got 5 Life Points. I get 23 skill points, which I use to buy skill adds. So let's allocate skills thusly:

Stealth 3
Dodge 3
Lock Picking 1
Vehicle Piloting (Car/Truck) 3
Vehicle Piloting (Motorcycle) 3
Deduction 2
Perception 3
Navigation 1
Vehicle Mechanic (Car/Truck) 3
Specialization: Sabotage 2

And now, Advantages and Compensations. These are arranged in tiers, and I get 3 Column I, 2 Column II, and one Column III, and a matching set of Compensations (flaws, y'know). I already have my Column III Compensation, though; in this game everyone has Enemy (The Cryptkeeper). Let's do Compensations first, since I know more or less what I want. I'll take a Quirk (CII): "Faints/vomits at the sight of blood," and another Quirk (CII) "Hatred of bullies." For the CIs, I'll take Prejudice (Walt is an obvious easy target and he attracts dickheads), Employed (this is kind of cheap since we're not likely to be in-setting where Walt works, but whatever, a bunch of the sample characters have it), and Handicap (Asthma, affects Endurance). 

And now the useful stuff! For my CIs, I'll take Skill Bonus (Vehicle Piloting and Vehicle Mechanic), Equipment (Walt always seems able to find tools), and Skill Adds (I'll take Science/Mechanical). 

For the CIIs, I'll take Additional Skills (and bump Science up to 3), and Trademark Specialization (Sabotage is now +3). 

For my CIII, I'll take Additional Attribute Point and bump up Dexterity. 

And that's everything! Description time! Walt is short and skinny. Like most mechanics, he's constantly greasy, but he's cleaner than most because he wears eye protection coveralls and generally tries to keep from getting too grimy (which Beef used to make fun of, before his unfortunate jaunt around Dead Man's Curve!). He has thinning brown hair and dull gray eyes, and he flosses diligently. 

Legend of the Elements: The Mean Streets of Greycliff

Tonight was Legend, on we go.

After clearing out the mess at the Temple of the Seven Rings, the characters head for the big city of Greycliff to find Master Sel. Sel is one of the instructors from the Temple, and a close friend of Master Diaf, the instructor who was murdered. They know the Master Sel is an aficionado of tea and puzzles, so they figure they can find them at a tea house. 

Arriving in Greycliff, though, the characters learn that there are lots of tea houses in the city. They stop into a bar to get a drink and maybe see if anyone has seen the Master, and they stumble out of said bar a few hours later, a little poorer and very drunk. 

Wandering down the street laughing at each other, they talk about needing to find a place to stay. Ember mentions that she drank all her money, so only Gerde and Khatun have any coin - they need to find someplace cheap. A man with a staff with a fire on the end of it walks up and says that his cousin runs an inn, and he'd be happy to show them. Khatun opines that he'd better not murder them; the man says of course he won't. If he did that, they couldn't stay at his cousin's inn (this makes sense to Khatun, which is perhaps indicative of the problem).

They follow him through the city and down a dark alley. Halfway down, he turns and says that while he's not going to murder them, he is going to rob them. He swings his staff and fire leaps out, illuminating the alley and the two toughs standing behind the characters. 

Gerde says that if he was trying to impress them with his fireshaping, it needs work. The man says he'll take that under advisement, but they'd better hand over their money. Khatun tries to extinguish his staff with water, but is too drunk to concentrate and the water just splashes harmlessly to the ground. One of the other toughs puts her in a headlock. Gerde, always ready for a donnybrook, lunges at the man with the staff. The man deftly knocks her to the ground and presses the staff against her neck. Ember calls up fire, but the man catches it and hurls it back, blinding her. Feng, noting that the third tough has a sword, tries to touch it and bend it, but the man is too fast - he smacks Feng's hand away and puts the blade to his neck, again demanding money. (Seriously, all four of them failed their rolls. It was awesome.)

Khatun agrees to give them money and tosses some coins to the ground, telling them that this is why people don't trust each other. The leader prods Gerde with his staff and demands her money, which she reluctantly gives up. They try to shake Ember and Feng down, but Feng says he has only wisdom to offer. They ask him what wisdom he has, and he says "monkey steals the peach!" and punches the guy in the nuts. He doubles over in pain, but the other one (the one that was grappling Khatun), socks him in the face and drops him. Feng gets up and the guy takes another swing, but Gerde gets up and takes the blow for him. Ember runs in blind, screaming and flailing, and the guy with the staff tells his boys to head out - they've got all they're getting.

Khatun, though, isn't letting this go. She focuses and ices the alley over. Two of the toughs manage to slide out, but the leader can't find his footing. Gerde calls rocks to her feet so she can skate, and zips over to grab her money back and knock the dude on his ass. He surrenders and melts the ice so he can stand up, and the characters (still drunk) ask him if he actually does know anywhere to stay. He tells them that there are a number of cheap flophouses on the next block - dangerous places, but clearly they can handle themselves. They part ways with perhaps some tense mutual respect.

The next morning, the characters wake up with bad hangovers and hazy memories of renting rooms. They head down the block to a tea house run by a woman named Wae, and over breakfast, ask her if she knows Master Sel. She says she does; he came in once for tea, but she hasn't seen him since. 

Gerde, noting that the characters are very low on coin, asks Wae if there's any way they could earn some money while they're here. Wae says that there's a gang of toughs that mugs people, usually travelers, and the characters point to Feng's black eye and say that they've met. Wae says that if the characters can stop the gang, by whatever means, she'll be happy to cover their room and meals while they're here. Of course, that isn't going to be easy. Folks have sworn out complaints against the gang before, and it never goes anywhere. 

The characters decide that they'll go and talk to a constable, maybe find out what they'd have to do to get staff-guy and his gang arrested. They walk around the city for a while, and eventually wander into a nicer area. They approach a man in a uniform standing on a corner and explain their situation, and he tells them they can come to the constable station and swear out a complaint once the "excitement" is over. They ask what he means, and he tells them that a man accused of some pretty heinous crimes is due to be charged in the city square. The characters look around, and indeed, a crowd is gathering. They decide to stay and watch.

The accused is brought through the streets on a cart, bound in chains. Khatun recognizes his tattoos and clothes. He's from the Steppe, not her tribe, but one she knows. She realizes, too, that whether or not he did what he's accused of, the crowd sure thinks he did - they're howling for blood. She hears someone say "Drown him like he drowned the horses!"

The charges are read: murder, destruction of property, improper use of the shaping arts, assault. He's asked if he refutes or accepts the charges, and he remains silent. Khatun figures he might not understand the language, or his tribe might not practice criminal justice this way. She offers her services as a translator, but the guard she speaks to is busy holding back the crowd and tells her to come to the jail later. 

The crowd intensifies, and Gerde sends out a vibration to hopefully get their attention. All it does is freak them out further, and cries of "he's an earthshaper, too!" go up. Gerde yells that she caused the tremor and that the guy is already imprisoned, and this kind of mob justice is not becoming. The crowd listens and demures, and the man is taken to jail to await trial. Ember asks around and learns that the man allegedly destroyed a stable by causing the river to flood, killing three stable hands and seven horses, and badly injuring one of the people who housed her horses there.

The characters split up. Feng and Ember go to the constable station to swear out a complaint, and Gerde and Khatun go to the jail. Khatun is admitted to see the prisoner, but Gerde is not. She sits and meditates on Master Sel, and realizes that if he's a spiritshaper, he's probably keeping a finger on the pulse of the city's spiritscape. Feng might be able to contact him that way.

Khatun is taken into the jail, made to relinquish her waterskin, and let into the man's cell. She speaks to him in the language of the Steppe tribes, and he greets her. He says that his name is Thunas, and he was part of a caravan that stopped in Greycliff. He decided to stay, and took work at the stables by the Big Dog River - as a horseman and a watershaper, he was very useful there.

One day, though, he saw a stable collapse into the river. He said it looked to him like the sand just flowed into the river, taking the building with it. He froze in fear, but then saw a woman floating in the water and bleeding, and he used his watershaping powers to bring her to shore. He was arrested the next day, accused of causing a flood, and supposedly someone saw him do it. He doesn't speak the language very well, and in his culture, the accused isn't meant to speak until the trial, where the elders listen. Khatun points out that's not how it works here. She says she's help him, and speaks to the guard, and tells him that Thunas is innocent. The guard, of course, says that everyone claims that, and that if she wants to come to his trial and present evidence on his behalf, she's welcome to do that.

Meanwhile, across the street, Feng and Ember talk to the constable they spoke to earlier. They swear out a complaint against Miko (the guy with the staff), but the constable says that while this has happened before, Miko is clever and slippery enough to avoid capture until the complainant leaves town. Ember asks if they can just bring him in themselves, and the constable says that if they do that, they can arrest Miko. Another constable grabs the complaint and says he'll make sure it gets filed correctly, but notes to Ember that Miko seems to have friends that help him avoid the law. 

The characters reconvene and head back to the tea house, and Gerde tells Feng her idea, which he accepts. They have dinner and ask Wae about Thunas and the woman who was injured. She tells them the woman's name is Onil, and that she's convalescing at her home, poor dear. Thunas apparently hit her with a club. Khatun, of course, says that Thunas is innocent, but Wae isn't interested in arguing. She's happy to hear the characters have sworn out a complaint - now they just need to find Miko and his gang. 

Feng asks permission to summon a spirit, and Wae lets him use the back room. He calls up a tea-spirit and asks it to find Master Sel and have them find the characters at their convenience. As the characters are having their after-dinner tea, Master Sel enters and sits with them.

They tell Master Sel about what happened at the Temple, and about the death of their friend, Master Diaf. Sel expresses regret for leaving the Temple, and states their intent to go back and help the place heal. They ask if Feng will be coming back, but Feng says he has some things to finish here, first. 

Master Sel leaves, and the characters decide that tomorrow morning, they'll go to the Big Dog River and survey the scene of the crime. Given that they've sworn out a complaint against Miko, they're probably on his radar, so hopefully he'll find them.

Masks: Walk the Line, Issue One

A new arc in the Masks game! On we go! 

The heroes meet up in the park at the end of the day, near sunset (Charlie brings cookies!). They talk about the strange goings-on in Halcyon City. To wit, Charlie has noticed that many of his classmates have looked harried and pale, like they're not sleeping, and his nemesis Sol has been absent from school all week. Selena tells them that apparently people all over the city have been dreaming about death - dead loved ones, their own deaths, and other spooky things - but the other folks in the Jade Eagle line told her this is more mystical thing, and some mask with a more mystical bent (like Moonlight) should probably handle it. 

As they're talking they hear chirping and birdsong from a nearby tree. They look up and see a flock of nightingales, which is weird (not normally a flocking bird). But then all the birds fly off and head straight for them! Pyre instinctively turns to air, and Selena and Charlie just kind of duck, but the birds head straight for Charlie...but vanish before reaching them. 

The heroes are very confused, but of course it's not lost on them that "Nightingale" is the hero name of Charlie's missing aunt. Charlie slips up into the tree and looks around, and sees something moving in the leaves above. It shows itself - a small, humanoid creature with blue-black skin and a small extra set of arms. It sniffs around the branches, and sniffs at Charlie, and then leaps over his head and lands on the ground.

Charlie yells for Selena to watch out for it, but the creature continues sniffing around and then drops to all fours (sixes?) and starts running toward a playground. Pyre springs into action and slams the creature between two metal fists, but it turns to smoke and flows out of the grip. Selena ducks behind a tree and becomes Jade Eagle, and then flies over and lands in front of the thing. She blasts the ground in front of it with her eye-beams, and then yells to the kids on the playground to go and find their parents. Most of them do, but a couple stand still, frozen in fear. 

The creature snarls at the heroes, and then rips off its own ear (ew) and flings it at Jade Eagle. It splatters on her shoulder and immediately becomes frigid to the touch. Pyre tries to hose it off by turning his arm to water, but it just dissipates like smoke and then reforms. As they're puzzling over this, one of the kids from the playground walks up. Her eyes are the same pale yellow that the creature's were, and she says in a voice clearly not her own: "Ghostheart is watching you." Her eyes return to normal and she asks for Jade Eagle's autograph. 

The heroes head back to Moonlight's base so they can dig into his aunt's archives and figure out who "Ghostheart" is and how to get rid of this gunk. Moonlight finds notes on Ghostheart; Nightingale was never sure if Ghostheart was a man or woman (or both, or neither), but did learn that they were primarily concerned with minding the barrier between "the living and the dead." They apparently have the power to summon monsters and ghosts up from nowhere, and to come and go at will. Moonlight theorizes that they can probably summon, or at least contact, Ghostheart through the goop on Jade Eagle's shoulder, since that's apparently letting them watch her. Jade Eagle kind of pokes the stuff and asks Ghostheart to show themself, and the goop begins to emit black smoke, which eventually resolves into Ghostheart. 

Moonlight, a little taken aback at Ghostheart's good looks, glances away and blushes, but keeps himself together. The heroes ask Ghostheart what's going on, and they say that something is trying the barrier between Living and Dead, and it's aiming at Moonlight. They're not sure why or what, and they don't much care. They have a solution to the problem - kill Moonlight and put him firmly into the Dead. The heroes, of course, aren't very cool with that, and ask Ghostheart for some time to figure it out. They also ask about Nightingale, and Ghostheart reveals that Nightingale came to them some time back, asking for a way to alter someone's destiny (probably Moonlight's). Ghostheart wasn't able to help her - not the kind of thing they do - but was able to send her to someone who probably could. Ghostheart then summons some smoke and changes it into a ball of black glass, and tells the heroes that if they want to talk to "her" (the one they sent Nightingale to), all they have to do is break this. 

Ghostheart vanishes, and the heroes talk about their next move. They decide that they need to figure out where Sol is, since her intertwined destiny with Moonlight might make this whole thing complicated. Plus, they don't know if she's involved, or if she's all right. Pyre and Jade Eagle decide to go to Sol's house (of course Moonlight knows where she lives, it's only fair) and Moonlight stays behind at the base to talk to whoever it is that Ghostheart referred Nightingale to. 

Moonlight smashes the orb, and a woman in blue appears from the shards. 

The woman (who doesn't introduce herself, and Moonlight doesn't ask) makes it clear that she'll be happy to return Nightingale, or send Moonlight to her, or whatever he'd like...but there'll be a price involved. Moonlight settles for just knowing where Nightingale is, and the woman takes a little piece of his soul (that is, marks the doom track). She then informs him that Nightingale is in the Place Between, and that she sent her there. Originally Nightingale had asked her to change Moonlight's destiny, but the price was apparently too high, so she simply sent Nightingale to someplace that she could help...in theory. Moonlight doesn't wish to bargain further, but the woman gives him a ring with a black stone in it, telling him that she'd be happy to help further.

Meanwhile, Pyre and Jade Eagle arrive at the apartment building where Sol lives. Jade Eagle changes back into Selena, and Pyre exerts a great deal of effort to change his body to look human. They knock on the door and tell Sol's mother that they there to give her homework, since she's been absent all week. Her mother lets them in and sends them down the hall to Sol's door (Tandy's door, really), but warns them to be careful. She's sick, after all. 

They knock on Tandy's door and mention that Charlie sent them, and Tandy opens up enough to peek out. Selena can see that her room is disheveled and messy, and that she looks awful - she clearly hasn't eaten or slept. They talk and Selena tries to get Tandy to explain what's going on, but she's not making a lot of sense, and she doesn't want to come with them. She closes the door, and the two heroes head back to base.

The trio reconvenes and discusses what they've learned. This is, unfortunately, a little out of their wheelhouse, so they start thinking about other heroes they know who are more on the magical side of things. They remember Clothos, and just as Jade Eagle mentions her, there's a knock at the door. Moonlight lets Clothos in ("Any cookies left?"), and she tells them that Nightingale is in the Place Between, a liminal space that exists as a barrier between all extremes - life and death, light and dark, good and evil. She's attempting to reach Moonlight, but to what end, Clothos isn't sure. The characters ask how they can get to her, and Clothos says that the Place Between is a place, that is, somewhere you can go, if you know how. Pyre notes that his ship is capable of inter-dimensional travel, and the heroes prepare to embark on a very strange journey...
 

Character Creation: Guild of Shadows

Time for sneaky skullduggery.

The Game: Guild of Shadows
The Publisher: SPQR Games
Degree of Familiarity: None with this game in particular, but I've played and run plenty of Savage Worlds
Books Required: Guild of Shadows and SWADE

Guild of Shadows is a fantasy game (seems to be low- or no-magic, but I haven't read all of it) in which all of the PCs are thieves, rogues, and general scalawags belonging to the Thieves' Guild. It was published around the same time as Blades in the Dark, which is perhaps unfortunate, because the games are similar in premise but Blades is far superior.

I mean, I shouldn't say that. I haven't actually played Guild, but I ran the heck out of Blades, and I know Savage Worlds pretty well. It just seems to me that the idea of playing characters that have similar niches requires some other method of niche protection, which Blades gives you through playbooks (and thus abilities that you and only you can easily access). Guild, though, is Savage Worlds, meaning theoretically any character can access any Edge, and the niches and the protection thereof are a matter for the players. Likewise, while the city of Duskwall was compelling and immersive, yet had enough blank space to leave some room for the players to be creative, whereas Guild's city of Kurstwahl feels like a D&D setting with a greater emphasis on politics and thief-stuff.

And again, I might be totally unfair, here, because I haven't played it. Actually, my group almost did, at one point (I think we wound up playing East Texas University instead). The concern that the players cited was that everyone playing thieves felt kinda one-note. I should note, too, that Kurstwahl is meant to be dropped into a campaign, so probably this should feel like a supplement to a SWADE fantasy game.

Anyway, for all of that, there's stuff about the game I like. I like the notion of a band of rogues doing their dastardly shit in a fantasy city, and I'm interested to see how Savage Worlds, which is kinda built on action and combat, would handle a game where combat isn't the go-to. 

Well, this character ain't gonna make itself, so on we go. 

First thing is to pick an archetype. This isn't strictly necessary; all an "archetype" is, basically, is a template for one of several kinds of scoundrel-type person (oh, and look at that, this concept pops up in the SWADE book. I should really read that more carefully at some point). I could just build a character normally. But actually, I kind of like the Pickpocket archetype. I really enjoy sleight of hand and feats of manual dexterity (as evidenced by my love of the totally-impractical knife-throwing warrior in movies), so I think I'll start with that archetype and see if I want to tweak anything.

So far, so good. Four more Skill points. Well, I think Persuasion is probably a good idea, at least a little, so I'll put a d4 there. Lockpicking, um, yeah, but again, not strictly speaking his forte, so d4. See, there's not actually a Sleight of Hand skill, so making a pickpocket is actually sort of tricky in-concept. What skill would you use to pick a pocket? STEALTH! OK, then. (Thanks, SWADE book!) I'll spend my two remaining points to bump Stealth up to a d10. 

Hindrances, then. I like that the archetype doesn't pick those for me. Let's see. Any in the Guild book that I love? 

Well, Branded is fun. I'll take it as a Minor and say he's got a brand on his left palm (typical for pickpockets). He can cover it with a glove or bandage, but if he gets caught, they'll know where to look. I also kinda like Poor Liar, just because I think it's amusing that he's fine with misdirection and stealing from people, but he stammers and sweats if he has to con them. Minor, though, I think. Maybe. Let's see what else I want. Ooh, actually, I'll take Illiterate and then bump Poor Liar up to Major.

OK, cool. Now I get a free Edge because I'm hooman. Any in Guild that I love? Well, Artful Dodger is actually pretty cool and leans into the concept I was thinking of, so sure, we'll do that (which also frees up four more Skill points, but I'll do that momentarily). 

Right, now I have four points that I can use to buy skills or another Edge or whatever (plus four more free points in skills). I see this character as having grown up on the streets - he's actually kind of like Oliver Twist if Dr. Brownlow had never found him (I mean, a thief, not dead). He learned from a non-Guild pickpocket, from whom he's since become estranged (because my guy joined the Guild). I think that my character still knows where they are, though, so I'll take the Connections Edge and say I can call on him and his buds for help if I really need to.

I'll spend two more points to bump my Agility to d10, which means I get a Skill point back (I guess? Actually I don't know for sure, and I just spent what must have been 10 minutes trying to figure it out, but it's not in the book that I can find and tooling around RPG forums is bad for my mental health, so fuck it, I get the point back). Five skill points, then. I'll bump Persuasion up to d6 (since I use it for my Connections Edge), and I'll bump Throwing up to d8. Two more points. How about we take Tracking at a d6? Cool. 

Derived traits, here at the end, where they belong. Pace is 6, Parry is 4, Toughness is 5. Do I care enough to spend money for gear? I think I do not. Let's say he has a couple of throwing knives, but small enough that he can conceal them. Street clothes, but pouches and folds sewn into the inside of his clothes so he can hide shit he steals quickly. 

So: Gregor the Hand grew up on the streets of Kurstwahl, and was taken in by Cato, a former Guild pickpocket and con artist. Cato doesn't talk about his time in the Guild (Gregor is one of the few among his gang that even knew he was a member at all), and hates them with a passion. Gregor tried to share that hatred, but didn't really have anything to connect it to. And then one day, Gregor got pinched cutting someone's purse. Initially he was going to have his left hand severed, but someone whispered to the magistrate and the sentence was downgraded to a brand. Gregor learned that the guy who spoke up was a Guild member who called in a favor to spare the young man having his fucking hand cut off, and Gregor decided, after some very difficult conversations with Cato, to join the Guild.

Gregor remains vigilant for...whatever the hell Cato was so angry about to show up, but so far, everyone's a thief. Gregor's been around thieves most of his life; there's camaraderie, but not trust. There's respect, but not love. That's how things are. 

Gregor is in his late teens. He's pretty short, very skinny, and never quite got the hang of lying. He blushes, stammers, and sweats when he tries, and he prefers to just run away if he gets noticed. 

That'll do it!

Character Creation: Noirlandia

Been looking forward to this game.

The Game: Noirlandia
The Publisher: Make Big Things Games
Degree of Familiarity: None yet!
Books Required: Just the one

Noirlandia is one of those dirty hippie indie games with no GM. Not only does it use index cards, but it wants a corkboard as well, because the whole point of the game is to solve a murder. It's calling itself noir when it's really closer to hard-boiled, but "Hardboiledlandia" doesn't exactly flow, and pedantry never solves anything anyway.

The first thing we'd do in a group is to create the city, but it's just me. Fortunately, there's a free download on that site with nine quickstarts, so picking one that looks cool, I wind up with Luck Harvest. The city of Santa Fria is where they bottle Luck at the LUCKY4U plant.

So, the city and its districts are already established, so all I have to do is make a character. Normally the way this works is that we'd draw N+1 cards from a deck (where N=the number of players) and roll N+1 dice, and use the tables to generate roles and drives, and then all claim one. The quickstart includes some sample characters, but I'm just gonna draw a card and roll a die and "claim" that character. I draw and 8 of spades and roll a 3, which gives me "cop/deputy of the Outskirts" and a drive of "Tell No Lie." Cool. Let's see what the Outskirts are like in this city.

So, kinda rural, suggesting my character might be a ranger, rather than a city cop. Ooh, the victim, Al Strickland, lived in the Sands himself. Well, that's nice. The suspicion is that he was dealing bootleg Luck. So, let's say that my character, Braxton Motts (please just call me "Motts") was on Strickland's payroll. Strickland slipped him a bit of cash to look the other way, but for all that, my cop doesn't know exactly what Strickland was up to. Motts insisted on that, actually, because he has a thing about lying. If you don't lie, no one can catch you in a lie, no matter how lucky they are. 

Motts is in his 40s, and he likes where he lives and hates going into Santa Fria proper. He can't not, of course, partly because sometimes you just need to go buy shit, and partially because LUCKY4U is buying up land out in the Sands. He's trying to save up and move out of town, but it's slow going (partially because he won't drink Luck). 

Last thing is to set my stats. One get set to...um, "black square," two are neutral, one get a white square (which is good). I'll set Rep to overlooked, Heart to Quiet (those are the neutrals), Body to vigorous (that's the white), and Mind to conflicted (that's the black). 

And that'll do it, actually. That was easy.

Movie #588: Real Genius

Real Genius is a sci-fi comedy starring Val Kilmer, Gabe Jarret, William Atherton, Jonathan Gries, Michelle Meyrink, and Robert Prescott. 

15-year-old genius Mitch (Jarret) is accepted into college on the recommendation of brilliant celebrity physicist Jerry Hathaway (Atheron), ostensibly because he's just that smart, but actually because Hathaway hopes that Mitch can solve the "power problem" he's having. See, the CIA wants a laser powerful enough to kill a person from space, and Jerry's job is supplying said laser, but his team (fronted by genius slacker Chris Knight (Kilmer)) has stalled out.

Mitch does his best, but the pressure starts to get to him and Knight, figuring he's just about done here, has more or less checked out and tries to get him to loosen up and party. The closest Mitch comes is nerding out with the strange, hyperkinetic girl from down the hall, Jordan (Meyrink), but Hathaway's evil, jealous toady Kent (Prescott) goes out of his way to humiliate and make trouble for Mitch. Knight and Mitch wind up helping each other - Mitch does indeed loosen up, but also motivates Knight to finish the project once Hathaway withdraws support. 

Anyway, the whole thing winds up a kind of last-minute caper when the lads figure out that the laser is meant as a weapon (doy), and they have to destroy it and...fill Jerry's house with popcorn. 

This all sounds very strange, but the movie is actually a lot more coherent than some other 80s sci-fi/comedies (looking at you, Weird Science). Kilmer is still young and pretty, Atherton is at his slimy best, and I enjoy Jonathan Gries as the mysterious Hollyfeld, the former big-genius-on-campus who cracked entirely when he learned he was making weapons. I kinda find Jarret boring as Mitch, honestly, although he gets more fun to watch after his character is allowed to, like, smile, but even then he's just kind of bland. 

Some problematic content, mostly revolving around Mitch's age and his relationship with Jordan (who is said to be 19). On screen, they read very much as peers, but still. Actually, all of the subplots involving women are a little strange: Jordan/Mitch is one, but then there's Sherry (Patty D'Arbanville), who has no other role in the movie but to seduce the smartest dudes in the country (so she's, what, a...genius groupie?). 

There are a lot of quoteable lines (mostly Kilmer's) and a few truly funny moments, but the movie never really "peaks," if that makes sense. It stays pretty one-level, even when the tension is supposed to rising at the end, and there are three freaking montages.

This is a movie that I think would be ripe for a remake, honestly, especially given that we are killing people with robot planes. Cast Donald Glover as Chris Knight for a start.

My Grade: B
Rewatch Value: Medium-high

Next up: Reality Bites

Character Creation: Honour

Dogs are snoozing and I think I'm done playing Man of Medan for the day, so what the heck.

The Game: Honour
The Publisher: Nine Dragons RPG Ltd
Degree of Familiarity: None. I wrote a little bit for the 2nd edition of the game, but I kinda doubt the stuff I wrote will get used, given the state of things
Books Required: Just the one

Honour is an urban fantasy type game, I think with some wuxia/kung fu type aspects. It's set on the world of Pangu, a kind of sister-world to Earth (the game loves multiple realities and talks about them a lot), wherein we get continents like Afryka and countries like the United States of Amerrika. Oddly, Canada is still just Canada. 

I read the opening couple of chapters, which talks about Pangu and how it was created (there was a Giant, and some Demons), but honestly it kinda slid out of my brain. Part of that is because holy god, this book needs an editing pass and someone needs to explain the concept of "active voice" to them, but the backstory also just isn't all that interesting. Now, mind, it's perfectly possible that it's not interesting to me, and between one thing and another I've read a lot of urban fantasy RPGs over the years, so they do kind of run together unless the writing is grabby and the themes are interesting. But anyway, let's jump to chargen. 

OK, first thing is that the GM would set the "Meta-Reality Level," which determines how over-the-top and wahoo the game's going to be. I have no GM, of course, so I'll pick one. I definitely don't want Gritty Reality, because reality is plenty gritty enough right now, thanks anyway. The other two are Cinematic Escapism and Myths & Legends. I think I'll go with the former; I'm fine with a kind of minimal-but-still-there approach to superpowers and magic. 

I have no idea what any of that means, of course. Moving along!

OK, so we've got three sets of stats (Physical, Mental, Emotional), broken up into three aspects (Strength, Grace, Resilience). I kinda like just having "Physical Grace" and "Mental Grace" rather than "Dexterity" and "Wits." Seems easier to keep straight without a damn thesaurus. 

Ah, I see. A "dH" is a d12, but you read 11 as "Yin" and 12 as "Yang." "Select two results" means "keep two dice," and it looks like higher is better, so why wouldn't you just keep the higher dice? Ah, well, looks like I need some d12s. Do I even have three? Ha, I do. Ok, then. I need 9 3dH rolls: 

• 2, 9, 11
• 5, 6, 7
• 7, 9, 10
• 10, 9, 12 (!)
• 1, 3, 10
• 3, 5, 12
• 8, 9, 10
• 5, 5, 8
• 6, 8, 11

OK, so two Yins and two Yangs, and my totals are: 20, 13, 19, 19, 13, 8, 19, 13, 14, plus two Flaws and two Fortes. I can assign these anywhere I want, so I suppose I should think about concept a little bit. 

Well, like I said, I've been replaying Man of Medan of late. I kinda want to play someone like Fliss, a boat captain who's trying to pay off said boat without going under (figuratively speaking). I could also grab inspiration from Jason Statham's character in The Meg, which is a movie I love with no shame whatsoever. So: My dude is burned out, broke, probably drunk at least some of the time, operates as a guide and sometime smuggler on his small-but-functional boat in the waters around Heung Gong island. 

Oh, wait, this game has a lifepath kind of thing going on! Well, shit! How about I just start doing that and assign my stats once I have a better handle on what my dude has done with his life? (Same with Fortes and Flaws.)

OK, Pathways start at age 17, and progress in "terms," at the end of each of which there's a "what happened during this term" roll. Um...oh, thank the maker, there's an example. Hang on. 

All right, this is easier than it looks. Basically every term is 3 years, and you get an increasingly number of Skills for every term you advance in a given profession, which makes sense. There are legal and illegal career options, but I'm sorry to see that "Smuggler" is not among the criminal options, so I'll have to improvise. I don't want to start with an illegal one, though. I'll start by taking Business Owner. Rank One is "Tenant Shopkeeper." I'll put my skills...oh, wait, one of the professional skills here is "Drive Specialized Vehicle." Perfect! 

I'll say that my character started out running the guide/transport service and broke bad later. So, skills:

Drive Specialized Vehicle (boat) 1
Quick Buck 1
Knowledge (Local Lore) 1

Cool. That puts me up to age 20, and (although the example character skips this bit), I need to roll on the "end of term" table. A steady term, three decent years, add a skill level. Cool, I shall add it to Drive. Oh, and, I need Physical Resistance and Emotional Grace of 13 or better, but only one of my stats is lower than 13, so that's fine. 

Next term! I think we'll say that my boaty guy got drawn into a bad crowd at 20, and take Confidence Trickster (requiring Mental Strength 16, Mental Grace 14, and Emotional Grace 16, for the record - still no problem). And now there's the question. Since this is the first time I've taken this career pathway, does that mean I start at term 1 (three skills, three points) or does it advance to term two? Based on the character creation summary, it seems like I'd reset to term one, making terms career-specific. That is not very well explained (see, this is what I mean about needing an editor). 

Anyway, Confidence Trickster gives me three more skills and three more points, so I shall take Draw Others In and Knowledge (Crime) at 1, and bump Quick buck up to 2, since it appears on this list as well. As such, my skills are now:  

Drive Specialized Vehicle (boat) 2
Quick Buck 2
Knowledge (Local Lore) 1
Knowledge (Crime) 1
Draw Others In 1 

Another roll on the ol' "end of term" table gets me another skill point, which I shall put into Knowledge (Crime), methinks. For my next term, I'll continue on up the Confidence Trickster ladder, meaning I add three more skills and get to throw six points around, but only on the Confidence Trickster skills. As such, my skills are now: 

Drive Specialized Vehicle (boat) 2
Quick Buck 2
Knowledge (Local Lore) 1
Knowledge (Crime) 3
Draw Others In 2
Fast Talk 2
Persuade 0
Collect Gossip 1

My end of term roll nets me...ooh, two skill levels! One in Persuade, one in Collect Gossip, thanks. Next term, I'll keep on where I am (at the end of this term, I'm 29). That's the third term in Confidence Trickster, fourth overall, and it means I add three more skills and nine points (but, again, only for the Con Trickster skills). 

Drive Specialized Vehicle (boat) 2
Quick Buck 2
Knowledge (Local Lore) 1
Knowledge (Crime) 3
Draw Others In 4
Fast Talk 5
Persuade 1
Collect Gossip 3
Disguise 0
Knowledge (Local History) 2
Duck Questions 1

"Duck Questions" is a general skill, but at third term I can pick two professional skills and one general. Also, the general skills make no goddamn sense. "Brew Tea" and "Cook Chili" are general skills, but "Argue" isn't? Oh, are we being funny with our game design? Hoody-hoo. 

Anyway. Next term. I shall take a second term of...oh, hang on, forgot to roll. Two more skill levels! I'll add them two Persuade and Duck Questions (quack!). Next term, I think my guy went legit for a few years (police were breathing down his next after a pretty successful little score), so I'll go back to Business Owner and take that at term 2, and then I get six points. Skills, then: 

Drive Specialized Vehicle (boat) 5
Quick Buck 2
Knowledge (Local Lore) 2
Iron Will 1
Leverage Existing Resources 0
Vision 1
Knowledge (Crime) 3
Draw Others In 4
Fast Talk 5
Persuade 1
Collect Gossip 3
Disguise 0
Knowledge (Local History) 2
Duck Questions 1

This makes me 32. Rolling for end of term, I get...12! Nice! All my Aspects go up by two points! That's pretty baller! 

You know, I think I'll quit while I'm ahead. Not as crusty as I'd imagined him, but he's on a high note right now, and that's fun. Gotta add up these skills n' shit, though. Goddamnit, "Pilot Boat" is a general skill. You know what, these skills are so goddamn stupid (seriously, "Notice Local Change?" "Play Poker?" What do we gain from this level of granularity?), I'm gonna leave this as-is. 

I have to figure out modifiers for my aspects, yet, but everything else is just description and background, so I think I'm in the home stretch (these skills, my fucking lord. I thought Chill 2nd was bad). But first, I have to roll on another table, because there's "That One Thing." It's meant to be something that sets the character apart, and it's based upon whether you have Charmed or Demon blood (your choice!), but in practice unless you roll 11 or 12, it's just a stat boost. Let's see! 4, which gets me +1 Emotional Resilience, because I'm pretty sure this guy's got demon blood. 

Oh, right, gotta assign my aspects. Hang on. I think Mental needs to be good since most of my skills are there. I also get to add 2 to all of them, so I'll assign them thusly:

Physical Strength 10
Physical Grace 15
Physical Resilience 16
Mental Strength 21
Mental Grace 22
Mental Resilience 21
Emotional Strength 21
Emotional Grace 15
Emotional Resilience 16

Name, description, fortes and flaws. OK, here we go. 

Folks in the city and by the docks just called him Chuanzhang ("Skipper"); he doesn't use his real name if he can help it. He's only 32, but he looks older (lots of time on the water plus lots of missed meals and booze). He's skinny, no two ways about it, but he's an easy talker and sharp as a tack. Don't play go with him, or chess, or poker, or any other game of skill unless you don't mind losing, and for the love of god don't play him for money. 

Skipper always smells like fish and salt, and he doesn't bathe often. He stays out of polite society (he knows what he is), and although he's friendly and chatty, he's highly guarded. Folks know he inherited the boat from his father when he was still a teen, they know he's been running tours and cargo for years, and they know that a few years back, something happened that set him up pretty good. Money's running out, though, meaning Skipper is going to be looking for a job soon...

Fortes: Incisive, Charismatic. Flaws: Opportunistic, Devious.

That'll do it! Thank goodness I never had to run this, my players would have killed me.