Game Chinwagging

As per DeJoker's opportune advice, to help ameliorate communications between players and myself, please use this thread if you have any questions about the system, campaign, or character creation.

Okay obvious questions

#1) Since it seems to so greatly affect character creation, how do we gain access to this expansive randomly-rolled generator which can be altered by each Player to suit?

#2) What exactly do you mean by mostly bells and whistles-free that is very unclear as to what is being excluded from the basic SRD versus what might be excluded from the Core Guidelines for those of us that have them.

Hey DeJoker,

Both great questions:

1) Once I have a larger core of players I will contact you to set up a time to get the character creation process rolling; it involves random numbers generated between 1 and the current cap (which I believe is just over 60,000), which when applied to a spreadsheet supply us with our base abilities. These base abilities can then be morphed to suite the player's aim for their character.

2) Essentially I am referring to contest types within the game. Since I'm not super-adept with HQ/QW at the moment, the campaign will begin with heavier usage of Simple Contests. As the game progresses and I manage to grow more contentedly familiar with the system, I will start to coalesce the SRD's selection of contest options.

I hope I have provided you with adequate answers!

Best,
Slay

I wanted to play - just for the character gen, sounds like a lotta work went into it.

My perpetually-sore eyes would suggest so, yes; alas, it was a labour of love.

Well how many rolls will need to be made ?

It depends on the individual. Some people might find that a single roll, say, a roll bringing up GENETICALLY-UPLIFTED IGUANA, has supplied them with enough creative presto down the pipeline and they don't need to roll again. Other folk might prefer a series of rolls, perhaps up to 6 or 7, to give their potential character life.

To wit, there isn't a set number of rolls as it wholly depends on the player's creative needs.

Let's do a bracketed example, just for clarity. I'll preface the example by mentioning that by 'rolling up characters' I mean this in a representative sense, for pulling up random numbers is not rolling a die, although a 60K+ sided die would be a psychic-breaking marvel, wouldn't it?

To begin, there will be two options for drawing numbers: using any kind of random number generator capable of reaching into the tens of thousands; or the player provides me with the numbers they wish to draw.

Let's use option two as an example.

Say the player wants to generate three random abilities from the spreadsheet. They give me the following numbers:

112
8093
15600

I take these numbers and cross-reference them on the spreadsheet and, hypothetically (because I don't have access to the spreadsheet at the moment - which, after all, I might eventually export as a PDF), come up with the three subsequent abilities:

PARANORMAL HIJINKS
FAILED POET
OBSESSED WITH A FAILED ROMANCE

At this point an "a-ha" moment, a Eureka!, occurs for the player and there is no more need to 'roll'. The player feels satisfied with their results and proceeds to the QuestWorlds/HeroQuest technique of character creation (which is listed in the SRD and I will slightly modify and post in a separate thread soon enough).

Interesting so hmm 1 to 60,000 .... does not seem to be handle-able by the dice roller (to bad) that is a basic dynamic and worse it crashes rather than handling it cleanly

Had to go HERE

My results for 3 rolls were : 44911 55961 34423

So I am kind of curious to see what each one of those returns in order --- that way I can also get a jump start on the character creation process since this kind creation methodology sometimes requires a bit more thought and consideration

Now lets say I get 3 results but do not like 1 or all 3 can I discard those and re-roll --- I am asking because one could roll indefinitely until one got what they wanted exactly even if they do not know what is contained within your 60,000 choices -- further I cannot imagine all combinations of those 60,000 items are going to be compatible but I could be wrong

Note in most random character generation processes there is generally some kind of limit to the rolling in order to keep someone from doing what I have stated above because often in random generators there is a grouping of results that end up just simply hands down THE BEST set of results and some players are going to go for those if they have the option to do so regardless of how many times they have to roll. I know because I have done this in the past, sat and rolled 3d6 6 times while someone watched until I got a set of 6 numbers I was happy with -- took a while but it paid off. Granted I have not done that in a long long while.

A soft limit of two individual 're-rolls' will likely be in place. Otherwise, like you aptly mentioned, this could gum up the process and take away a main point of character creation.

When I get home later this afternoon (Pacific Time) I'll send you a PM with your results.

No need to PM them Slaydunderhead I am cool with sharing the experience help others see what might happen

Instead of allowing 2 re-rolls why not just give an allotment of rolls like maybe 10 rolls and the player can do with them as they wish using all 10 or combining the ones they want to keep and discarding the rest. -- I mean that is assuming what 3 rolls per instance -- not sure how many rolls you would allow in a single character if you were to allow 5 per character (to be considered a reasonable combination of rolls) then go with 5 x 3 or 15 total rolls combine what you want disregard the rest --- if you do plan to may have an upper limit to the number of rolls a character can keep then simply take that number x 3 and have someone make that many rolls -- letting them combine and keep up to the maximum you are allowing per character and they have to discard the rest kind of thing -- this would speed things up.

You could then start get an export that puts your values into a specified format that you could simply copy/paste into its own thread and arrange it for easy look up, streamlining the process even more -- just some thoughts

Thanks for all the advice, DeJoker. Noted. I think for the most part the inherent elasticity of the system will stymie most of the hiccups associated with an undesirable ability dump: words can be tweaked, concepts adjusted, almost everything is malleable by the player's imagination. For now, we'll play it by ear.

Here are your results:

JASON THE RENEGADE
A FLAGON OF OGRE'S BLOOD
UNWANTED POWER

Now, keep in mind that the abstract nature of QW/HQ abilities allow for anything to be an ability. You could, as a quick and rough example, use a band's name or film name as an ability, such as MEGADETH, or BEING THERE. These abilities could represent any number of things, and their meanings can be explored before the game begins (in a short descriptive paragraph or something) or during the campaign.

Anywho, I bring the abstract nature up because I noticed one of your abilities (JASON THE RENEGADE) could have quite a few connotations.

Okay that makes for an interesting starting point but I think I would like to see two more as such I rolled : 11277 58236

Here you are:

A DIRECTED WEAPONS MASTER
MIND YOU, HE IS INSANE...

This definitely looks interesting. I'm rolling three numbers on a RNG site. Let me know what my results are and I'll think about how to make a character from them...

52119 16759 51727

I'm a big fan of totally random - I'd take three rolls and deal with what may come.

Before I proceed: do you want your results in a PM or does it matter to you that they are posted here for all the other players to see?

Doesn't matter to me. We can do it here in public

That being said -- if anyone would like to interject their thoughts on those 5 items I received I am more than happy to hear them sometimes things I would never have thought of myself can come out of this that makes for an even better character.

The most interesting one out of yours in my opinion is the flagon of ogre blood. Could mean you're an alchemist. You could be some sort of witchery like character and drinking ogre blood gives you extra strength. Or it's not literal and you're part ogre yourself...

bowlofspinach

A CRYPT THING
ANIMAL POWER SELECTION
VERTIGO

Interesting... I'll have to think about that. Not sure what to make with Vertigo but I like the other ones already

Perhaps you can cause Vertigo ? And thanks for those ideas

I think I'll also take two more numbers.
The RNG says: 30201, 27871

I already have a general idea in mind for my character but I'm curious to see where a bit more might lead me.

For those unfamiliar with QuestWorlds/HeroQuest character creation, please read the SRD here.

Also, Shawn Carpenter on his site That's How I Roll has a terrific sampling of character creation in QW/HQ.

If you're comfortable moving forward with your character generation, follow the steps below. I'll start a separate thread in the very near future with the character creation guidelines firmly writ out, as well as a basic character sheet template:

1. Character Concept (intrinsically this will double as your 'Occupation' keyword)
2. Record Campaign-Specified Keywords for Free. I'm still tooling with one or two free Keywords, so bear with me.
3. Choose 10 more Abilities, which can be Keywords or Breakouts.
4. Assign Ability Ratings
• First tack on a 17 to your Character Concept
• Assign one more 17 to another Keyword.
• Assign 13 to all remaining Keywords.
• Assign +1 to all Breakouts.
5. Spend 20 Points to Shape Your Character.
• 20 points to spend to increase any Abilities (Keywords and Breakouts)
• Each point you spend increases a Rating by one point. You can’t spend more than 10 points on any one Ability.
6. Choose a minimum of three Complications, with their Ratings represented by your three highest Ability scores.
7. Conceive of a name and short backstory.


There will be a few modulates to suit the campaign, as in additional character sheet items to be filled and renaming of extant portions of QW/HQ character sheets, but for now this should suffice!

Postscript:

Very raw albeit good to give you a rough idea what the character sheet template will include:


Name
Resident Universe
Distinguishing Features


Manifest Points (Hero Points)


Abilities






Extraordinary Abilities




Complications




Factoids
TBD. Likely to represent little known facts about your character. These could also lead to future Abilities as your character progresses.

bowlofspinach

30201 = NOT A KILLER
27871 = HOME IN THE DEEP FOREST

Currently reading through the rules and the Character Creation guide. I'll try to make and submit a PC tomorrow.

A basic idea I came up with based on my random results is this:

---

The character originates from a fantasy world to which he has been sent as a servant of that realm's god of death. His objective is to guide the souls of those destined to die into the afterlife. As those souls may resist, he has been blessed with the gift to be able to take on aspects of various animals, as well as limited death magic, useful to weaken his enemies (and potentially create/command undead?), which allow him to fight those who resist his guidance.
In his home world, he lives far from civilization in the wilderness, as he is not often welcomed with open arms among the living, who misunderstand his intentions and view him as a murderer. In fact, he only kills those who are destined for death and therefore in his eyes already dead.
Outside of his own universe, his link to his master might be cut off, forcing him to deal with the uncertainty of not having any guidance. He allies himself with others so he can find his way back to his own world. In the meantime, he will fulfill his duties as best he can, attempting to identify and kill individuals that are destined to die while making sure others live until their time has come.

---

Let me know what you think of that idea. It was what came to my mind with those keywords but if that doesn't fit the game mechanics or what you have in mind for this game, I already have a basic idea in mind for how I could rearrange the aspects into something different.

You might add in that Vertigo as a disorienting affect (in addition to or instead of the Death Magic) that he can inflict upon his targets to facilitate his ability to strike them down more easily should they be of the mind to resist.

Another thought what if instead of taking on the aspect of animals he has the power to control them and then instead of creating/command undead he simply commands living animals.

I also got the thought what if part of his powers is to actually identify folks that are destined/marked to have died but have not as of yet as you are the tool for that aka a Reaper and you could almost take on the more Crypt like aspect of a reaper ;)

These are just thoughts and musings

Yeah, the Vertigo was supposed to be an application of this.
Hm, that doesn't fit the theme as well but I'll think about it.
Yes, that's the idea! Might not have come across well in the text.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll think about it, especially the animal thing

Okay what if instead of controlling animals indirectly -- he has the power to possess an animal -- and while possessing an animal he can control others of that same type or species or ....

Hm, interesting thought

bowlofspinach - No cunctation on your part! Very thorough. I like your story-webbing. Nicely done. My only asterisk clumps loosely next to, "He allies himself with others so he can find his way back to his own world," if only because I am working on meshing prologue with campaign introduction and working out, storywise, how I wish to press narratively forward. But this might still fit.

Once players have been set, characters fleshed-out, I think I'll have a thread designated for either one or both of the following: story prologue and character prologues.

I like what's shaping up!

Sure, just trying to get a link to why I'm traveling with the other PCs but I'm flexible.

For now, because I remain undecided, imagine that you have not 'traveled' yet.

I don't mind being out in the open.

oldschoolfool

Here are three 'rolls':

26117 = UNMAGICAL
1180 = QUIXOTIC BANDIT
20836 = DOOMED BY AN ANCIENT RITUAL

Oh boy, gonna have to meditate on this one!

Not sure about the quixotic bandit but "unmagical" could be taken to mean "antimagical", which in turn could be related to the reason why you're doomed by an ancient ritual...

Okay I had to look that one up myself so sharing what it means:

Quixotic
1) Exceedingly idealistic; unrealistic and impractical
2) Foolishly impractical especially in the pursuit of ideals

Capricious, Unpredictable

Capricious
Governed by Caprice

Caprice
1) A sudden, impulsive, and seemingly unmotivated notion or action
2) A sudden usually unpredictable condition, change, or series of changes
3) A disposition to do things impulsively


I am Robin Hoodie and I robbeth from hmmm... that guy over there
and I giveth to hmmm... that dog over there

Take your time :)

Okay, I’ve been thinking and I came up with a different interpretation of my traits. Not sure which one I’ll end up using but I like this new idea...

---

The character is a treasure hunter from a fantasy world, always exploring crypts and dungeons looking for riches and magical artifacts. In one of those crypts, she encountered the evil spirit of a deceased powerful shaman and got possessed by it. Despite the two of them having vastly different personalities and them not getting along too well because of it, they have formed a partnership. While the spirit is decidedly evil and does not value the lives of others, the treasure hunter is not a killer and has to fight against the whisperings of the evil spirit. The shaman supports the treasure hunter’s efforts with his animal-based abilities which complement the roguish talents of the treasure hunter well. In exchange, the shaman’s spirit is no longer bound to his tomb and can travel outside with its new host. They prefer to stay out of cities where someone might notice this connection and therefore usually live in forests or other wild areas.
Constantly having two competing voices in her head often causes sudden and powerful bursts of nausea and vertigo, but overall, this symbiosis has proved very beneficial for both parties involved.

Again, exceptional work. Nicely involved.

Well I'm a little unsure of myself here, but if I understand correctly, I give you a few numbers, in my case I followed the above examples and went with three. My three numbers are 42969 10928 40944 and then we'll see what I get, yes? Seems fun to me.

That's the methodology, Butcherbird.

Here are your results:

42969 = GUR OF THE LION PEOPLE
10928 = YOU HAVE ESCAPED A LIFE OF CRIME
40944 = THE TEMPLE OF ARTEMIS

Interesting. I'll have to try and think on that.

Take your time :)

I've decided to go with my second idea, by the way. I think that will be more fun to play

Works for me, bowlofspinach.

Has anyone else settled on a character concept yet?

yes-ish ;) just have to render it like you did

Hmm Slaydunderhead still here ??