session 0 - Character creation

Here you can discuss what sort of character you'd like to play. Share ideas and discuss what tropes you'd like to explore.

I recommend that we first get an idea of the town before you finalize your character. That way, you can connect your character to an NPC or feature in the town.

Once you have the basics of your character sketched out, think about how you’re related to the other characters. Everyone should introduce their character.

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When we feel ready, each character should answer one question about how they feel about every other character. At that time, I will post three lists of questions: for positive, negative, and neutral relations.

Everyone should decide for each other character if they feel positive, negative, or neutral. Then, roll 1d20 for each other character. Answer the question that comes up. These questions are about how you feel about another character. It might be based on false assumptions.

Check out rules, Tropes and character sheet in the Rules post.

moving character conversation here, from the town building thread.

So, we determined that we should be aged between 11 and 13, in middle school, and that we all go to the same school, the Ulysses S. Grant Public High School, home of the Gators (we've been moved in to share that facility as the middle school was decrepit and moldy).

For my character, I am thinking of the Funny Sidekick trope.

Ben Bolton (aka Benbo) is a chubby kid everyone made fun of since he can remember, on account of his weight. Academically mediocre, and unable to impress his peers with anything sporty or requiring physical effort, Ben has played the comedy card, channelling his innate sense of humor into non-stop jokes and endless voice impressions, for the amusement of his audience. So he manages to get by being funny... most of the time.

He would idolize one of the other PCs (to be determined), admiring him/her and secretly wanting to be like them.

His two Strengths would be Protective (Add +3 to rolls when defending one of your friends) and Treasure Hunter (May spend 1 Adversity Token to find a useful item in your surroundings) - as well as the Teen age group free Rebellious (Add +3 to rolls to persuade or resist persuasion from Kids. Add +3 to rolls to resist persuasion from Adults).

His Flaw would be Clumsy (and possibly Greedy for food).

His Fear would be school bullies.

His Knack is definitley wisecracking.

He would have an Orange bike (Each time you succeed at a check, an ally of your choice receives one Adversity Token) kitted with Trading Cards mounted to vibrate against the wheels' spokes (You get +1 to checks if you are attempting to distract others)

[ +- ] Funny Sidekick Trope

How does that sound, folks?

I'm going to go with an 'Adventurous Scout' as my character's trope. Got a rough sketch in mind, but still needs some work.

Thinking Popular kid, but might swap around a little to be a little more physical, so sporty cheerleader(wannabe) popular kid. Does 11-13 count as child or teen? I was assuming child bracket? or is it borderline that we could go with either?

@Dr_B
I love him! And I love the art you picked (AIed?) for him. I can really see him joking around and being like the fun, relaxed guy in the group that people tend to like. @spinningdice
Yeah, I'd say it's somewhere between kid and teen.
Some people are still a kid at 13, others already act as a teen on 12 or maybe even 11.
So feel free to pick.
Also, tropes are blue prints. If you have a trope you like, but would mix around a few stats, that is perfectly fine.

And here is our stoic scout, someone who is in dire need of a friend like Benbo ;)

Ethan Pryce is a quiet and reserved young boy who struggles with social anxiety, often feeling overwhelmed in large group activities. He loves to spend a lot of his free time outdoors, finding solace in the scenic beauty of nature. He knows the way to a few serene, secluded spots, and he'll happily hike with you there - as long as you don't talk too much along the way. While he is an introvert who often prefers to keep to the sidelines, he does enjoy the company of a few close friends he feels comfortable around. He found that catching a movie together, riding their bikes around town, or just hanging out in someone's basement, could all be fun, with the right group of people.

His strengths would be Skilled at Scoutcraft (has practical outdoor skills and knowledge used in scouting, including camping, hiking, knot-tying, first aid, fire-building, and navigation), and Cool Under Pressure (May spend 1 Adversity Token to take half of your die’s value instead of rolling on a Snap Decision). His strong sense of ethics makes him unlikely to listen to anyone other than his inner compass (Rebellious Strength, and Dogmatic flaw).

His Fear would be Social Anxiety
His Knack would be Sketching - he's a talented sketch artist who captures lifelike illustrations of wildlife and natural scenes in his notebook.

Stats: Brains 1d20, Grit 1d12, Brawn 1d10, Fight 1d8, Flight 1d6, Charm 1d4

ha! looks like Ethan is a strong candidate to become Benbo's hero... he's awesome, knows all this nature stuff... knows lots of secret spots, and... I mean, have you seen how he draws?!?
glad you like the concept - yes, I'm afraid his portrait is AI. I learned that if I add a "realistic watercolor" at the end of image prompts, they work much better for me...

As for the trading cards, absolutely it could be MtG! not an expert, but I know what huge phenomenon it was!

Leaning more into sport than popular in the end. I tend to work out concepts alongside rules... I'll work out a picture later, and probably re-write to make more sense as I can't make words do what I want at the moment...

Kimberly Watson (aka Kimmy) is slim, fit and pretty, a bit of tomboy growing up she's shifted as she's hit her teens finding a new joy in clothes and makeup and a need to fit in with her elite peers, though she still loves to run, swim and making the cheer team seems like a way to keep status and enjoy the challenge of it.

For all that she enjoys her newfound status, it often all feels like an act, and she often has to get away and just, run, climb, ride a bike.

Her strengths are Cool under Pressure and Quick Healing, along with her teenage Rebellious, her major flaw is Impatience the reason her academic skills are less than stellar, she should be studying, but she'd rather be moving...

Her Fear is Claustrophobia, she hates feeling trapped or in small spaces.
Her Knack is Racing, running, swimming or cycling the thrill of competition brings out the best in her.

Kimmy's bike is Green, with pedal powered lights.

Stats: Flight 1d20, Brawn 1d12, Charm 1d10, Fight 1d8, Grit 1d6, Brains 1d4

Abigail Longwaters, Mysterious Transfer.

Abigail joined the school at the beginning of the year, but kept mostly to herself. She draws odd things, disturbing things. With her awkward features, braces, long straight chestnut hair, and pale complexion, she had an aura of being unapproachable. When someone does, they're shocked with entrails and exploding eyeballs, lovingly rendered in ballpoint pen.

Strength: Gross (Can pop any joint koudly at will, usually shoulders)
Strength: Unassuming
Strength: Rebellious
Flaw: Picky
Fear: Dogs
Knack: magic, i.e., misdirection-type tricks
Bike: White, milk crate
Backpack: A leather courier bag, filled with small tools, survival gear, magic paraphernalia, and girly stuff

Why is being new and mysterious so much fun for you? She likes the power, the control. She's in charge of her own reputation.

Which rumor about you hurts the most? The rumor about her father being abusive and that's why she came here with her mother, is troubling. The truth isn't as exciting, but somehow just as hurtful.

Motivations: (forthcoming)

Stars: Fight 1d20, Flight 1d12, Brains 1d10, Grit 1d8, Brawn 1d6, Charm 1d4

I think I'm going to go for a cross between Prom Royalty and Popular kid.

I swapped fight and flight as he didn't seem like much of a fighter to me. I hope the knack makes sense. If it doesn't I'm happy to come up with something else.

Zane Brooks has been blessed with many qualities. His family is wealthy, he's good-looking and charming and he has an easy-going and affable nature.

He's glided through school purely on his looks and has never really had to work for his success. He enjoys being the centre of attention, mostly because that's what he's used to. He assumes everybody likes him, because, what's not to like?

Because of the way everyone treats him, he's absorbed that and many would see him as quite self-centered.

As well as being Wealthy and good-looking Zane seems to be Lucky. Things always seem to just fall in his lap. Although he wouldn't admit it to anyone Zane biggest fear is Responsibility. He'd much rather follow someone else's lead than take responsibility for an action that he took.

If he has a knack, it would have to be for knowing things about people around town. Unsurprisingly, people tell Zane things. Surprisingly, he listens and tends to remember.

Stats: Charm D20, Grit D12, Flight D10, Fight D8, Brains D6, Brawn D4
Strengths: Lucky, Wealthy
Flaws: Capricious
Fear: Responsibility
Knack: For knowing things about people.
Bike: Red, Ten speeder
Backpack: Sunglasses, hair gell, a walkman.

Q1: What benefits have you gained from having such a high place in the school’s social hierarchy?
Q2: How did it feel the first time you heard someone say that you’re "beautiful but terrible"?

@Dr_B, Are you interested in a bonded action between Ben and Zane?

I was thinking that Standup Comedians might be fun, with the two having a Martin and Lewis schtick that they've been doing for a while. I feel like Zane would be a good straight man.

Also open to any other suggestions for bonded actions for Zane.

This gang will be awesome, folks!

Love the Standup Comedians bonded action, Benbo would be in his element, playing a Jerry Lewis-like sidekick.

@Delirium, I was thinking it'd be good to have Ethan & Kimmy having been friends when Kimmy was in her tomboy phase - and still on a wavelength when she lets herself be.
For a Bond Friends Cant could just be from having hung out from being small a collection of nonsense words and personal anecdotes that make sense to no-one else. Or Tough Cookies if you'd rather think our growing apart has led to a bit of rivalry and neither of us like showing weakness in front of the other, or Best Frenemies for similar reasons, but neither character seems like they're boastful enough for that? Happy to go with other suggestions though.

Character sheets for those who need them

I like where this is going. Looks like a good team and I notice a nice balance in as well characters as mechanics (every stat seems to be covered at least once by either a D20 or D12)


Benbo
Sheet seems in order. I did add the +1s based on your age group.
And you made me realize that I hadn't put up a bike's section in the sheet. Fixed that now.
(and that card I posted as a joke would be the value of a card by now)

Ethan
Character seems fine to me. Scoutcraft is something that would work as a Skilled At__
Your knack is sketching. I can imagine that Abigail will pick something similar? That is not a problem, just pointing it out :) And I can imagine very different art styles there... :)
I can imagine Ethan has been in the woods or near the lake often?

Kimmy
Sounds like a good character design. Fast, athletic.
Take your time writing up the design to find the words to do what you want to do and find/google/AI some art.
Getting that characters right is what works now in this stage.

Abigail
I love the character idea.
Unassuming is a strenght, as is skilled at. I am guessing you meant the strenghts to be Gross (the art pieces?), Unassuming and either Rebellious or Quick Healing?
You can also pick a fear and a knack. Based on your character I'd guess the knack could be drawing. There'd be some overlap with Ethan there, but that shouldn't be a problem.
Also... The truth isn't as exciting, but somehow just as hurtful. that makes me really wonder what it'd be.

Zane
Swapping stats is perfectly fine, as is blending in two Tropes. Popular and Prom are tropes that are close together I'd guess.
The knack seems to work. Is it something like gossipping? Or actually know things about people?



Bonded actions
I now realize that a party of 5 has a flaw with Bonded Actions.
If two sets of people bond, one would be left out.
Storywise it'd actually make sense that this could be Abigail.
Thinking how to fix that though.


Questions
I shall leave you all to think up the suggested bonds.
Then later in the weekend I'll put up the relationship questions.
After that I think we'd be ready to actually dive into the game.


Detours
KoB often has adventure and horror themes in it's setting.
If anyone is uncomfortable with anything, please mention it in the road signals.
Otherwise it might accidentally pop up in game.

This is the making of a great gang!

@spinningdice, I like the idea that they were closer once, when Kimmy was in her tomboy phase, but that he has since grown distant from her once she started blossoming into a young woman. He has sketches of her in his notebook that he would rather die before showing her. Tough Cookies seems the most fitting, if only because her presence would inspire him to overcome adversity. I can see Friends Cant working too.

@ClaCle The nearby woods and the lake seem like locations he visited with his scout troop. He does love venturing further afield on his own; the scouts hike well-trodden trails closer to Prudence, which isn't very exciting. He probably knows a few secret spots he discovered while traveling the woods alone or with his close friends.

@Delirium, I like that and agree on Tough Cookies

@clacle Updated the above. I think it works for Abigail to be the left out of the bond pairings. She isn't a loner, per se, just doesn't have the length of history.

Also, strength is spelled -GTH not -GHT. I struggle(d) with that, too. Ima change that on my sheet, haha.

Others: for the consent sheet, everything is on the table for Abigail.

I'm fairly easy consent-wise, though I'll flag up if anything does make me uncomfortable.

Fine with most things, maybe no child abuse/torture (but I'm sure the story wouldn't go that way) ?

Meh, I hate trying to find/generate a pictures, but I guess that one will do for now.

that pic of Kimberly is great!

Gossipping I think. Or rather people tend to gossip at Zane, because he's a good listener. He doesn't gossip himself.

I like it. But you could of course always update it if you find something you like more later on.

The character sheets all seem fine to me. One last step remains to flesh out the characters and then I'd plan to post an opening post to get the adventures kicked off.

This last step is designed to learn new, interesting things about each other's and your own character.

I'd like everyone to answer one question for each other character.
Decide if your relationship with them is possitive, negative or if you don't know them very well.
Then roll 1D20 on the list below and answer the question. (Unckeck the reroll aces box).

Your answers are how your character feels about something. Especially with negative or unknown relationships, this might not always be true. But it is what your character feels or thinks for a certain character. A good example of this is what Qralloq already wrote about Abigail.
The rumor about her father being abusive and that's why she came here with her mother, is troubling. The truth isn't as exciting, but somehow just as hurtful.
You might answer a questing, thinking certain things about her father. But that doesn't mean that it is actually true.

Maybe just like there are those who enjoy his jokes and funny voices, there are also many that find them awful? Oh no, here comes that cringe factory...

Or, despite the comic relief he provides, he is still a pretty unpopular person to have around, one that would drop your hard-earned street cred instantly.I can't be seen hanging out with that loser...

I've messed a little with Zane.

I thought has a knack for getting information from people is a little more on point for the game. It's clearer when it can be invoked (when he's trying to get information from someone).

Also, his flaw is now Self-centred. That just felt more in line with the character.

I've worked out the relationships. Let me know if any don't suit.

I love all releationships. There are some interesting ones two work on with for sure.

@dunderklumpen
You can do it either way you like.
Zane could have a knack for getting information from people, like convincing them to share information, or just let them tell. That'd be Charm related.
Or Zane could have a knack for knowing random facts about people. That'd be brain related.

I agree the first one is easier to invoke.

I think we're all set now though. I shall post up the first post of the game.