Character creation discussion thread

Hey guys, this will be where we'll discuss about character creation.

I'll be putting down the skills I have thought up for this game:
(Note: please refer to the character creation info thread. I'll not be updating this list)

Physique: (refer to SRD)

Will: (refer to SRD)

Spirit: gives energy stress slots per rating, and determines how strong you are at casting spells and your affinity to being passionate. (looks to be imbalanced, will update)

Experience: gives more refresh and shows how experienced you are in your preferred skills. (will change)

Computer: how knowledgable you are of computers and electronics

Machinery: how knowledgeable you are of machines and creating basic tools

Symbology: how knowledgeable you are of symbols and discerning patterns

Medicinal: how good you are at healing and knowledge of how the body functions

Rapport: (refer to SRD)

Burglary: (refer to SRD)

Control: similar to Drive skill in SRD, but can also be used in spell casting

Stealth: (refer to SRD)

Deceive: (refer to SRD)

Creative: your chances of getting new ideas from present knowledge

Fight: (refer to SRD)

Shooting: (refer to SRD)


(This list may change. And also further info about each skill, especially spell casting will be explained.)

You'll also start with 15 points to distribute to each skill. Maximum is +5 for one skill.

(Also this may change before the game starts. But for now, I'll be generous as I also want to make the encounters challenging and also make the characters to be like considerably formidable.)

Can you make up a chart like they have here for what actions are available for each skill?

Could you explain the difference between Pityful and Deceptive? I feel like Deceptive sort of covers what Pityful can do plus all the other stuff it does, but you might have an outlook on things that justifies splitting the skill.

Secondly, if Toughness is filling in for Physique (in that it provides extra physical stress and I imagine defends against attacks), is there a fill in for Will? Will typically does what physique does, but for the mind...mental fortitude and all that. Spirit seems like a good choice, but it doesn't specifically say.

For the above reasons, and ones we haven't thought of yet, I'd recommend using the default skills and modifying as necessary, rather than trying to create a whole set of skills from scratch. Up to you of course, but I think you'll have better success that way

Oh...I missed Resolve earlier...sorry..

but on the topic of what skills to use...I don't mind a little creative changes. For example, in this setting, Computers could easily replace Lore since we are in an advanced society that likely has some form of Internet that most people have access too. But that skill might also cover electronic infiltration...hacking. So some changes make sense.

Well, that's what I mean by "As necessary". I do think having a Computers skill would make sense for the setting, but "melee" instead of fight and "ranged" instead of shoot, for example, don't seem like a meaningful change from the default list

Okay! Give me a bit to come up with a character. Diplomats, right?

Skill list:
X: yes, O: no
Skill Overcome | | Create an Advantage | | Attack | | Defend
Athletics X X O X
Burglary X X O O
Creative X X O O
Machinery X X O O
Deceive X X O X
Control X X O X
Medicinal X X O O
Fight X X X X
Investigate X X O O
Computer X X O O
Notice X X O X
Physique X X O X
Psychology X X X X
Rapport X X O X
Spirit X X O X
Shoot X X X O
Stealth X X O X
Will X X O X

Edit: empathy is changed to psychology
(note: may be subject to change)

@DocR: Diplomats, warriors, doctors, investigators or anything in between

Extras:
Channeler: You use Spirit to cast spells. Pick a value equal or lesser than your level, and that will cost 1 energy stress. If you pick a higher value than your level, it will cost 1 stress per extra level. Then you roll for Control, and your opponent will defend against the attack. If your opponent fails to defend, then they take the amount of stress equal to the value that you chose. If your resulting Control is less than the value you pick, then you can choose to either release it or restrain it. Releasing will cause bad things to happen to the environment and Restraining will cause you to take the difference in physical stress damage.

Sorceror: Similar to Channeler, except that if you rolled Control to be higher than your value, then you get to inflict more stress. You also get an extra stunt that is related to spell casting. However, your

Elementalist: Similar to Channeler, except that if you choose half of your Spirit level rounded down, you will not take energy stress. However, if you choose a value that is higher, then you will take stress per level. Also, if you fail in your Control Attack, it will only be a Release result.


Edit: changed mental stress to energy stress, which will be a stress track given by for Spirit.
(Note! I'll not be editing this further. We may use this as some ideas for spell casting, as the mechanics can be modified.)

Got it! Thank you. I'll begin work on a character idea, and propose it here. Sound good?

@DocR: Sure! Oh, and also you could be a spell caster.

What is a "level" in this context? Your rank in Spirit?

Is there a list of spells, or do you mean we choose what we want to do and you will tell us the level of that effect?

When you say "If you pick a higher level than yours, it will cost 1 stress per level." does that mean 1 stress per level above your level, or just straight up 1 stress per level? I could see it going either way. The latter making over reaching dangerous, but viable in an emergency.

@foolsmask: Yes, "your level" means your rating for Spirit.

You can make up your spells/stunts yourself and we'll discuss it, or I can make up examples for you.

I was intending to mean the former. So that means if your Spirit is +2, and you pick +4, you will gain 3 energy stress from that.

Also btw, I'm editing things along the way. So if it's too annoying, let me know.

Nope, not annoying. Building your own universe takes time. Those answers are great.

I have a character concept ready. She's not complete, but there's more than enough to start with. Shall I post it here, in this thread?

High concept: I.T.A.R.I - Integrated Transportation Artificial Rational Intelligence
Trouble: Restricted by the rules of my paranoid creators

I.T.A.R.I, or Itari, is a ship board AI designed to replace pilots especially for long, subluminal flights. The rest of the aspects will flesh out his personality. I haven't really decided what it'll be. His trouble basically reflects that he's basically bound by the three laws of robotics on hyper steroids. In addition to the normal stuff about not killing humans or allowing humans to come to harm, he has prohibitions against duplicating (inherently, if there's more than one copy active, one of copies at random must sleep. Itari can switch which instance is active, but only one can be arrive at a time), against obtaining more than a certain percent of his base computing power, a restriction to obey the agents of the local government, even if those agents are corrupt. There are a bunch more laws that not even Itari fully understands, making this aspect very compellable. Basically the gm is at liberty to make up any dumb rule, the more specific and annoying the better, as a pretext for preventing Itari from doing... Whatever Itari is trying to do

I'm seeing the character being the main ship pilot, taking a hologram avatar if he needs to discuss something with the crew, or inhabiting a robot body if he needs to leave the ship to go somewhere without a computer to support him. I could see him inhabiting various robot bodies with different physical skills, so I might request a stunt or extra to handle that.

Itari's top skills will likely be computers and machinery

Yes.

I'm thinking about having a mechanic where you roll 2 skills in one action. Is that ok with you guys?

Update: I've changed my mind

Is it that you need to pass both rolls to succeed, or just one of them?

I'm thinking like a roll to hit and roll for damage kind of thing

I'm not crazy about the idea, just because I feel like the way combat works in fate works well already

Well, typically in Fate the idea is to keep things simple. Normally an attack roll that succeeds has it's degree of success be the damage it does. So if I punch a dude and get a total of +6 between my Fight and the dice, and he gets a +4...he takes 2 stress. If I get a +4 and he gets a -2...he takes 6 stress. It makes it simple and rewards spending your points in a way that matters.

This is opposed to what I consider "traditional gaming" systems. With my fighter in D&D I might roll an 18 to hit, but if the AC of the monster is only a 12...then all the numbers between 13 and 19 don't really mean much other than a success. When I roll the damage, I might have a 18(+4) Strength, I might be using a Greatsword that does a 1d10 damage. I could get a 10 and do 14 damage on a hit...or I could do 5 damage. So a great success on the attack could end up being a glancing blow because of the damage die.

That being said, Fate is all about customizing the rules to get the flavor you want out of the game. If you feel there is a reson to change things up, go for it.

Another aspect of this topic to keep in mind is how much stress any given character may have. A basic PC has 4 stress and three Consequences to mitigate that stress with. So they can take a grand total of 16 stress before they have real issues. If your damage approaches half of that total on a regular basis then the game will be deadly. NPCs usually have less stress than PCs unless they are the big bad guy all the PCs are ganging up on. This isn't a bad thing per se...but something to be mindful of when making alterations.

I have seen versions of Fate that do away with Stress and just give HP...I'm unable to specifically name one at this moment...but they do exist and it can work. The one I remember playing allowed a player to take a consequence to heal up after a scene. Like...a character in a fight could realize they "sprained their ankle" and recover 2hp, but they walked with a limp so running and moving got harder. The idea was the adrenaline from the fight kept them from realizing the ankle was injured until after things calmed down. My character had somewhere in the range of 12 to 16 hp if I remember correctly.

OK. BTW, I haven't played Fate before but I know it's sort of simple and is intended for customisation. Thanks for your feedback.

If you'll indulge me, let me describe how conflicts usually works in fate, and why I like it

The first thing is the word conflict, rather than combat. Fate use the same rules for conflict whether it's a tense business negotiation or two knights hacking each other up with swords. The important part of a conflict is that each side has something they want and the other side opposes it. This is really important to note because that means that you can't really think of taking stress in fate like taking damage in another rpg. You can take stress from just talking, or from the fear of a haunted house, or really anything, not just getting hit by a sword. Stress in fate is more of a pacing mechanism than anything. Having lots of stress really means no more or less then you're close to being taken out of the conflict.

This might seem like it's unrealistic, that a cutting word might have the same effect as a cutting blade, but it's actually really freeing. Fate is about telling stories and the system allows you to tell stories like the time you taunted the ogre, dodging his blows and enraging him until he stumbles and goes over the cliff, as easily as telling the story of the time you hacked off the ogre's head with your broadsword. The mechanics are the same, you deal stress to the ogre until it can't take any more stress and is taken out, but as a player you're able to describe how that happens in the way you want.

Things get even more interesting when you add the create advantage action to the mix. Maybe I'm not strong enough to defeat an ogre blow for blow, but I can trip him, throw sand in his eyes, disarm him, stay in his blind spot, all actions designed to make the conflict as uneven in my favour as possible, and then strike him down with a lucky blow he doesn't see coming. This is handled mechanically by creating advantages, and then invoking them for +2 each on my attack roll. Of course the ogre will be trying to do the same thing, ripping up trees to use as a club, or picking up the rock I was trying to hide and ambush from and throw it at me. This creates an intense narrative of attack and counterattack, until finally one side must give up. A neat thing with aspects too is that they don't necessarily need to go away at the end of a scene. You can have a scene where you totally get your ass kicked, but the whole time you're needling your opponent, getting them you question their plan, their self worth. Next time you fight you'll have a huge advantage against them.

This is without even thinking about consequences. One of the big realizations I had when learning to push/gm fate is that while consequences are the result of some kind of attack, they don't necessarily need to be the realistic consequence of being hit by that attack. That is to say, even if the ogre rolls his fight, and taps a bunch of aspects, and I roll miserably to dodge, the consequence I take doesn't need to be the same consequence as getting hit in the chest by a giant tree swung by an ogre (though it certainly could be). I could also take a consequence like "extreme fear of death". Consequences are just what you take away from the fight, and how it will affect your character going forward. This can include wounds, but it's not limited to that. It can be mental consequences, or social consequences ("Grog the unstoppable wet himself and fled in face of the ogre, I guess he's not unstoppable after all")

Ah, thanks for sharing your experience! It seems like I shouldn't worry too much about homebrewing mechanics before the game. I've decided if any of you want to be able to cast spells(or perhaps some ability I havent thought of yet), then we'll talk more about it as we go through character creation.

Yeah, I would focus more on the World building, like factions and characters, rather than mechanics. It's less important what dice you roll to do magic at this stage than what limitations magic has and what the existence of magic means for the universe

Okay, so let me tell you about Xóchitl Atlacamani, a Scholarly Investigator who'd Rather Be Doing Magic.

Xóchitl Atlacamani [SO-cheel at-lah-CAH-mah-knee] comes from a wealthy family on a technologically-advanced world. She's crazy intelligent, which has been somewhat to her detriment, as her parents pressed her incessantly to excel in some intellectual field or other, surrounding her with academics as soon as she could speak. And she has excelled; today, she is highly regarded as a thorough researcher, astute investigator, and quick-thinking innovator.

But that's not what Xóchitl wants, and it never, never was.

As soon as it was evident that she was bright and full of promise, it was also plain to see that Xóchitl had a knack for sorcery. In some societies, this is to be lauded; in hers, it's an embarrassment of sorts, as sorcery -at least, the way it works for her- is an art, depending wholly upon the sorcerer's emotional state, propensity for creativity, and -- and raw feeling. In a society that values intellectual and physical pursuits above all, the role of the artist is seen as a lower endeavor better suited to transients and eccentrics, necessary to culture but not respected much at all.

Lately a researcher at the premiere university of her home system, Xóchitl became aware of the alien incursions into this dimension, and the calls for volunteers at The Orb. She saw this as an opportunity to break free of the mold she's lived in since childhood, and to offer her services as a sorcerer and weaver of cosmic forces. So she applied.

And the powers that be reviewed her qualifications.

...and they quickly decided that Xóchitl Atlacamani would be invaluable as a field researcher, investigator, and quick-thinking innovator.

Well, at least she's out from within the stacks and cubicles and offices and conference rooms, and face to face with action and the opportunity to put her soul into something. She's practiced bits of sorcerous knowledge throughout her life, and is eager to put it to use...if she can convince anyone that she's able.

Xóchitl Atlacamani (who just so happens to resemble the late-20th Century Spanish singer Pepa Villalba) is a human female, 29 years old, originally from the planet Torreón in the Tlatelolco system. Culturally, her homeworld resembles Earth's Mexican and Spanish societies, and for sake of convenience, is pretty much that, but with supercomputers and flying cars and stuff. She's a little bit irritable, if only because she's been shoved into unwanted roles all her life. Professional pride won't let her slack off on her duties as a researcher, but given the opportunity to get sorcerous, she will leap at the chance at almost any cost.

...almost.

I think we might not completely follow the phase trio part of character creation, as I imagine that the characters will meet each other once they are aboard the Galactic Orb and gone through the introductions for New Comers.

That's fine. Should we fill in all of our aspects during character creation, or later during play?

I also finally figured out my character. I will be playing Princess Purra Fatelight of the planet Vapora IV. She is the second daughter of the royal family. Her younger brother, Prince Dathan, is the heir to the throne, and her older sister, Princess Vanora, is engaged to the heir of Vapora II, Prince Horhorn, and will serve as Steward of Vapora IV until Dathan is old enough to take the throne. So Purra has been sent as a diplomat to serve the greater cause of the United Worlds Project. To some on her planet, this is seen as an insult, sending a member of one of the royal families to mingle with aliens demeans her they say. But Purra has no throne to sit upon, so she is more than happy to represent her people among the start.

She is incredibly naive about life in space and far to trusting of strangers. Until you have proven to her face you are untrustworthy, she will take what you say at face value. That will be her trouble. She was raised in a closed off environment, away from the cloak and dagger court intrigues. It will probably get her killed one day.

Her people have a strange society built up mostly around their special gift. The Soul Wave. It manifests as a colorful translucent aura that a Vaporan can shape at will, but only stretches out to about three meters. Two or more Vaporans can touch auras allowing telepathic and empathic communication. Non-Vaporans must have some portion of their body enveloped in the aura unless they have some other natural telepathic ability.

More amazing however is the Soul Wave's ability to alter reality in small ways according to the Vaporan's will. Nothing beyond the reach of the Soul Wave can be affected, and the size limit is roughly equivalent to what the what a Vaporan might hold in their hand. That is unless several Vaporans come together to achieve a goal. The more Vaporans there are, the greater the reach and scope of their ability. Ten Vaporans could construct a building in a matter of hours if sufficient materials and a unified design are agreed upon.

When Purra enlisted in the United Worlds Project, her father granted her a great gift. She got a S.W.O.R.D. The Soul Wave Omega Reinforcement Device amplifies the power of a single Vaporan tenfold. Purra can't stretch her Wave all that far, but does have the increased capacity to alter reality to her will within that range. She can make doors or dismantle a weapon with a moment's concentration. The S.W.O.R.D. is surgically implanted in her chest. Removing it would require major surgery. It is an amazing, one-of-a-kind device that seems to blend magic and technology in ways unheard of before.

Because of the Soul Wave ability, the Vaporans are a somewhat xenophobic race. The Vapora system experienced years of extreme solar activity that forced them to reach out to nearby alien races for help. They got what they needed but the aliens were not prepared for the Soul Wave. Some objected to having their minds read any time a Vapoan got within arms reach, others say their ability to alter reality as an affront to their own beliefs. Some were just jealous. Violence erupted and all aliens were ejected from the Vapora system for a decade. Eventually, the people of Vapora IV agreed to allow alien species to land on their planet and trade, but Vapora II maintains a strict no-alien policy. This works since the two planets orbit the system's sun at a similar pace. Vapora IV monitors all system traffic and keeps outsiders from getting to Vapora II.

Purra wants to repair the damaged reputation of the Vaporan people and bring them out of their isolationist shell. She has an explorer's soul and a strong desire to see all the wonders of the universe that it cares to show her. She hopes that working for the Unified Worlds Project will give her that opportunity, or at least the opportunity to serve her people is some capacity.

Neat! All your characters are suitable for my setting. Now, you may fill up your character sheet and submit it and I'll take a look, or you can post your aspects first: High Concept and Trouble. As for stunts, if you have an idea, you could list them with a description, if not then we'll fill it during play.

BTW, foolsmask, I've seen your submitted character. I think you should change the skill list to the one I posted in the character creation info thread. Or maybe you believe that using the default list is better, then I may consider doing that.

Also, I'm wondering, would you guys like to roleplay when you first enter the ship, or would you like to jump straight to when you are summoned for mission briefing?

For my part I think I prefer getting right into the action. I'll try to have a character sheet tonight

Submitted. I'm requesting one stunt, which I'm calling mechanical versatility. Basically I can spend a fate point to possess a robot and gain a +2 bonus to a skill that makes sense for that robot to possess. If I take the stunt more than once, I can spend additional fate points to gain bonuses to additional skills, if it would make sense that that robot would possess those skills

Do'h!....no I had the SRD open just for reference while I worked out my plans. i will switch them now.

@naelick: Alright, I'll start soon and place you guys on a deployed ship to the mission. Also, I think that stunt is more powerful than normal, as its a perpetual skill improvement. I'll have it changed so that you will move around your skill ratings when you use the stunt to possess a robot. I'll give a limit, say 5 points to move around.

Sounds great!

Here was my reasoning for costs. A stunt on its own can give me a +2 in a specific circumstance, without spending a fate point. A fate point, without spending a stunt, can improve any roll by +2 (with a justifying aspect). So what I could have done without a stunt is just invoke my high concept and say, well, I'm possessing a robot, the robot should be able to do X well, so I have a +2 to X. What the stunt does is let me specify X up front, and avoid spending the fate point every time. There's a risk reward factor since I don't know which skill will be useful when I possess the robot. I could waste 3 fate points and not roll those skills at all, or roll each once and be on par with how fate points work anyways.

I'm not opposed to your suggestion, however. Is using your stunt free, or does it cost a fate point to use? I just reassign any 5 of my skill points when I possess a robot? How does the skill pyramid apply?

Oh, my bad, I'm still understanding the rules. OK, you might use your aspect(and spend a fate) to increase a roll by +2, or use a stunt that will increase a skill by +2. I was previously suggesting using a stunt with spending a fate to reassign 5 skill points. BTW, I allow assigning 20 skill points in character creation.

Ok I will take a stunt that lets me reassign 5 skill points. My bad on the skill assignment, I missed where you said 20. I'll add some more points

OKAY! Last couple'a days've been busy, but tonight, I should be able to submit my character.

As for when to start things, I'm a fan of en media res, thus am totally A-OK with jumping right into the action. I think I can play Xóchitl well enough during story beats and so on.

Ummm...I'm gonna need a skill like Investigation, or Lore/Academics, or somesuch, please.

@DocR: there is already Investigation, and Sciences, Computers, Medicinal, or Machinery would be somewhat what you want.

BTW, I still don't see your character submitted, DocR.

Sorry if this is annoying guys, but I'll have to discuss about your character sheets. BTW I've decided to change my previous limit of 20 points to 15 points. Itari need to reassign the points for it to be 15 points total(you currently can add 2 more as you deducted 2 from spirit.) And Purra, you should use the skill list I gave, thank you for understanding(btw you don't have to follow the skill pyramid, but you can still if you wish.)

Hi guys, so I'm thinking that conflicts turns will be players having first come first serve sort of basis in their turn order, with the enemies going next, then any allies. Is that ok?

Also, I would like to know what mechanics of spell casting each of you prefer. If not, then I'll stick with the basic use of Spirit skill rolling and the shifts will determine damage.