Character Creation and Game Discussion

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Dec 2, 2015 8:39 am
Hello! Welcome to the Mistborn AG! First step is character creation, and really this should be done together. Your characters will form a thieving crew, and so it will be important that you're skills and abilities don't overlap (think of heist films, where each character has a role/job to perform/play).

Unless you have a very good story idea/reason I'm going to preemptively prohibit Kandra characters, admit at most 1 Terris character and tentatively prohibit Mistborn (you can, of course, still play Mistings; but no two Mistings of the same type). If you're new to the setting and all of those terms make no sense, worry not, I hope to start writing up setting primers soon. Here is the rulebook's recommend process of character creation:

Step 1: Start with the Crew: First, you and other players need to visualize the Crew — why they’re together, what causes they have in common, and what they hope to achieve as a team.

Common Cause: Vengeance
Primary Target: The Nobility
Method: Whatever Works

Step 2: Devise a Concept: Next, turn your attention to the concept for your personal character. Rough out an idea of what he or she is like and where he or she fits into the world and the Crew.

Ahsas (Disenfranchised Obligator)
foolsmask (Sly Con-Woman)
spaceseeker19
Remnant (Disgruntled Factory Worker)
njohn858

Step 3: Answer 10 Important Questions: Concept in hand, answer a series of questions that are common to every Hero. These will help you define core details about your character: his or her most important beliefs, history, personal- ity, skills, powers (if any), and other reasons he or she is special.

Step 4: Define Your Strengths: Armed with the answers from Step 3, prioritize your character’s strength in three different areas: Attributes, Standings, and Powers. Choosing between these strengths determines your abilities and the number of points you can assign to them.

Step 5: Fill in the Details: The technical part of your character is done and you can now apply the last little details that make him or her unique: name, race, Resiliences, and starting Props.
Dec 2, 2015 1:13 pm
Step 1: Start with the Crew

As a group (myself included) we need to answer these questions:

1. What is your Crew's Common Cause?
Every Crew starts with a cause — a common aspiration that binds the team together. Is the Crew a band of thieves seeking fame and glory, or mercenaries in service to a noble house? Maybe they’re rebels hoping to liberate the skaa from the Lord Ruler...

I want to run a game about a band of thieves, so that partially answers this question - but if you're a group of thieves, what drives you?

2. What is your Crew's Primary Target?
Crews often choose a particular individual, organization, or establishment as the target for their actions. Who is the most common victim of your schemes: a particular noble, the army, the Steel Ministry, Allomancers, other crews, a social norm, or something else?

3. What is your Crew's Preferred Method?
With your Crew’s cause and target in mind, think about how you prefer to operate. Do you tend to wage open warfare or use deception? Do your methods focus on theft, sabotage, diplomacy, confidence schemes, or do you employ a varied approach? Your Crew’s method can help everyone tailor their characters’ skills and specialties, and also illuminate how they can best coordinate concepts and character choices.
Dec 2, 2015 2:33 pm
1. Thievery sounds good to me.
2. I kinda like the idea of trying to undermine a particular noble house. Perhaps they caused some bad blood at some point in time and we're seeking revenge? Another idea is that we could be a bit more altruistic. Emulate Robin Hood's MO or be trying to bring the classes together by taking the houses down one by one - and whatever house we're targeting is the first. I'm not set on any of this...just throwing out ideas.
3. I'll let someone else throw out a response to #3 to better facilitate a collaborative Crew Creation.
Dec 2, 2015 2:45 pm
Well, I have a few thoughts. First in my mind is the fact we are playing in an established setting with a story that happens. If we are playing in that world we are automatically limited by the overall plot of the books. In a Star Wars game unless you are playing as Han, Luke and Leia, you aren't going to be blowing up the Death Star and getting a medal. You might be the guys that steal the plans or who make a secret attack while the heroes have the big bad guy distracted, but you won't be the main heroes. So I would put out there that we should not have "overthrow the Emporer" as our Cause because that is the focus of the novels' plot.

So I am more in favor of "Money & Power" or "Vendetta against X". "Money & Power" being an open ended story that could go on forever, with new targets and acquisitions being needed after each successful job. "Vendetta against X" puts someone in the crosshairs and gives us a big bad to target. It's like "Overthrow the Emporer" but on a smaller scale. We each Coke up with a Reason to hate one particular NPC and our goal is to take them down, but they are to high up for us to just break into a mansion and kill. We need to work our way up to their level for a true take-down
Dec 2, 2015 2:48 pm
From my point of view (I'm not up on the book series lore mind you).

1.) For Thievery Crew would we be like Leverage? Not that I don't want to be the Leverage but this probably isn't the game for it... or is it?

I guess it would depend on if we're well off or not for the common cause, stealing from the rich who are not cool and getting a better life for ourselves would be different than being well off and ruining those that got rich through certain ways we don't like (Human Trafficking for example) or deem appropriate.

2.) This depends on what we're all working on for our 'common cause' we'd be working towards goals I take it.

3.) I don't think open warfare would be the best of ideas for a band of thieves but maybe as a misdirect... I figure the tricks of the trade used would depend on the situation we'd probably do our fair share of stacking out a mark or location for a job and do our homework.
Dec 2, 2015 2:51 pm
foolsmask -- with respect to your first point, my plan is to set the game in a city in one of the outer Dominances. I thought that, by avoiding Luthadel - which is the main city where the Lord Ruler lives, and the city in which most of the books take place - it would be much easier to 'carve our own story in the world' and feel less 'restrained' by the lore and events established by the books.
Dec 2, 2015 5:51 pm
Man after doing some reading we're not really Thieves... we're revolutionaries (that will be successful). But mostly we're stealing stuff to make things happen?
Dec 2, 2015 5:59 pm
It's been a long time since reading the original trilogy, but I think I remember mentions of other uprisings that had been attempted. And there's the constant warring between Houses, so it seems ripe to do some insidious rabble-rousing.
Dec 2, 2015 6:20 pm
The story in the first book is about a thieving crew that becomes revolutionaries (because the leader wanted to incite a revolution; not really a spoiler, that's clear from about chapter 3). Of course, *this* game doesn't have to be about revolutionaries. You could just be thieves - mostly what I liked was the social dynamic of a thieving crew (it's a group of people, with distinct but complimentary skills that work together to achieve something none of them could do alone). That's what I'd like from the group - a crew basically (I may have over imposed suggesting you should be thieves - but then again, thievery is a nice fit for the setting. High fantasy heists stealing valuable goods from rich, all powerful magic nobles... all the while avoiding the attention of the unfathomably powerful steel ministry!)

Your common cause may be anything from wealth to revolution... and it may be your goal requires you to dip a bit into both (if you seek revenge, for example, you may first need to finance yourselves). If you want to be revolutionaries that's definitely within the scope :)

I've implied so far that you'd be a group of mostly Skaa, but it's possible too for you to be a bunch of disgruntled nobles (who are perhaps sympathetic to the plight of the Skaa, and have had enough of the slavery and oppression... and have taken it upon yourselves to topple the empire - or maybe just topple the top noble family in your city so that you can covertly improve conditions for the Skaa without drawing the ire of the Steel Ministry).

So, there's some more ideas.
Dec 2, 2015 8:25 pm
I think I have the general idea for a character that I submitted. As long as we don't have the rest of the crew being Nobles I think he'll fit just fine. What our common cause it probably depends on what were are and what we do though.
Dec 2, 2015 8:55 pm
Candi says:
foolsmask -- with respect to your first point, my plan is to set the game in a city in one of the outer Dominances. I thought that, by avoiding Luthadel - which is the main city where the Lord Ruler lives, and the city in which most of the books take place - it would be much easier to 'carve our own story in the world' and feel less 'restrained' by the lore and events established by the books.
That is exactly what I meant. We shouldn't set ourselves up to take down the Emporer, the books tell that story. We should do something else, and being in another city helps.

I still like the idea of having a "big bad" to take down. I am unsure of how the cities are run (it's been a while since I read that part of the book) but I remember it being like classic feudalism, in that someone is at the top and they have to watch out for the nobles under them who are trying to knock them off and the Emporers secret agents trying to ferret out disloyal nobles. I kind of like the idea of having our cause be something like "Take down the current noble family so that a better one can take over. And be there to keep the next family in line." So Justice? If it has to be boiled down to a single word.
Dec 3, 2015 1:02 am
For the crew's target, I enjoy the idea of taking down our own version of the Big Bad, whether that be an individual, or a particular dynasty. It provides a target around which to focus the group's efforts.

If we go that route, it lends itself somewhat more to revenge or political motivations, although money could be an intermediate goal on the path.

As for methods, I feel a varied approach would be most interesting. Schemes that involve multiple aspects can allow players to shine in their respective roles.
Dec 3, 2015 7:40 am
Are there Factions supported by different noble houses, or perhaps major houses and minor houses that support them? I don't know anything about the setting, but I like njohn's idea that we each have complementary vendettas - our own reasons for wanting to get back at them - and it seems like having multiple targets that are allied with one another would make a campaign fit together really nicely.

We all want resources of some kind - money, magic, whatever - but that's secondary to the primary motivation, what makes it particularly sweet: bringing down the faction/houses that did us wrong. Perhaps our families/tribes/towns were eliminated as part of a policy of the houses in City X in the Outer Dominancy in which we find our story set, and we need resources to survive and also bring down those responsible.

I like that multi-target approach, as it sets us up for the possibility at least of getting back through different types of theft: retrieving sensitive information, planting incriminating evidence, stealing prized possessions, playing with the minds of somewhat unstable people to push them into insanity, provoking action that results in either revolt from below or reprisal from above, etc.

Here's some ideas for types of crew (again, not system- or setting-specific):
* the traps guy (setting/disarming)
* the stealth/sneak guy
* the persuader/fast talk guy
* the illusionist/counterfeiter
* the master of disguise
* the muscle (for feats of strength, defense)
* the getaway guy
* the heavy artillery guy (either mechanically, through weapons skill, or through magic)
Dec 3, 2015 8:00 am
@foolsmask - your summary of how a city is 'run' is spot on.

There are major and minor noble houses - one house will 'be on top' in a given city. There's constant 'warring' between noble houses as well, as they jockey for power. Mixed into that are representatives of the Steel Ministry. Obligators 'observing' all binding contracts, agreements and arrangements, and there may even been an Inquisitor about ferreting out Skaa Allomancers (as Skaa aren't supposed to be Allomancers) and traitors amongst the nobility.

I'm gathering a general tone of:

Common Cause: Vengeance
Primary Target: The Nobility
Method: Whatever Works
Dec 3, 2015 9:20 am
Given that, you should each come up with a concept for your character. I'll post the 10 questions referenced in step three in a few hours.
Dec 3, 2015 12:58 pm
I've been toying with the idea of a Soother Obligator who has had a crisis of faith and no longer believes in the Lord Ruler. Alternatively, the character may end up being someone who has managed to infiltrate the Obligators with a silver tongue and very judicious use of Soothing.

The key concepts that I'm looking for are a character who uses mental Allomancy, a silver tongue, and knowledge of trade and financial law to mingle with nobles and gather information needed to select targets and pull off heists.
Dec 3, 2015 1:08 pm
Here are some sample concepts from the book, although two of you, at least, are already well on your way - this may help those not familiar with the setting. Notes in italics clarify some of the terminology:

- Idealistic young nobleman (or woman)
- Captain of the house guard (every noble house has a house guard)
- Former Steel Ministry functionary
- Newly-Snapped Mistborn Noble down on his (or her) luck ('Snapping' is when an individuals latent allomantic powers become known to them. Typically, powers only manifest once an individual has had a sufficiently bad experience - such as a near-death experience)
- Laborer pushed over the brink
- Indentured Allomancer
- Escaped plantation worker
- Veteran hazekiller (hazekillers are people who do not have allomantic powers, but are trained and skilled at fighting allomancers)
- Notorious con-man (or woman)
- Rebel skaa soldier
- Ambitious skaa merchant
- Wizened elder
- Skaa performer
Dec 3, 2015 1:17 pm
The 10 Questions (every player needs to post answers to these questions; you can do so with paragraphs - but you will need to summarize them as a short, succinct word or phrase for your character sheet. These answers will influence your actual statistics allocations, and your traits will influence how you role play your character and how you roll!)

1. Why did you join the crew? (This will become your "Drive" trait)
2. How did you live before you joined the crew? (This will become your "Profession" trait)
3. What special skill do you bring to the crew? (This will become your "Speciality" trait)
4. What is your most distinctive feature? (This will become your "Feature" trait)
5. How do other people describe your personality? (This will become your "Personality" trait)

Each of the next 3 questions will be accompanied by a degree - Strong, Average and Weak. You must use each degree once (so one question will be "Strong", one will be "Average", and one will be "Weak").

6. Do you have any special powers (like Allomancy or Feruchemy)?
- Strong (Mistborn - all metals, or Keeper - feruchemical powers)
- Average (Misting - 1 Allomantic Metal)
- Weak (no powers)

7. Are you especially fit, smart or charismatic?
- Strong (exceptional in 2 or more areas)
- Average (exceptional in 1 area)
- Weak (exception in no areas)

8. Are you well-off, or do you struggle to get by?
- Strong (abundance of two or more of resources, influence and spirit)
- Average (abundance of one of these)
- Weak (abundance of none of these)

9. What is the worst thing that has ever happened to you? (this will become your "Tragedy")
10. What do you believe is your ultimate purpose? (this will become your "Destiny")
Dec 3, 2015 2:15 pm
I kind of want to play a Con-woman Rioter who can infiltrate a society party or a second story window. Kind of a Selena Kyle/Catwoman. If Ahsas plays the Disenfranchised Obligator, it could lead to an interesting dynamic.
Dec 3, 2015 6:51 pm
My concept is of a "traps" guy: someone mechanically gifted, who is adept at creating and subverting/deactivating contraptions. Before I answer the questions with that concept in mind, I want a sanity check: is that character concept workable in this setting? I don't have a sense of how much mechanisms are used on Scadrial, and whether they generally are or aren't imbued with Metallic Arts powers. If the idea is not a workable one, I'll come up with another.
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