Character Generation

Use this thread to roll up your characters. Not TOO many mechanics to manage, a blank character sheet example is below.

In general:
Come up with some key character concept items (flaws, aptitudes, reason for being, etc).
roll 3d2. Assign each result to an attribute (Brawn, Agility, Mind)
roll 1d8+2. The result is the number of skill points you can assign to freely definable skills. Hash them out in this thread.

This first one will be set in more-or-less Earth around our current time.

---

Character Sheet
Character Name:


-- Resources --
Current Health: 100/100
Current Sanity: 100/100
Current Nutrition: 100/100
Current Encumbrance: 0/2


-- Attributes --
Brawn:
Agility:
Mind:


-- Skills --
[Name of Skill] - [points]


-- Worn --
Head - Nothing - 0 Protection
Torso - Tattered Shirt - 0 Protection
Legs - Tattered Pants - 0 Protection
Feet - Nothing - 0 Protection
Hands - Nothing - 0 Protection
Waist - Nothing - 0 Protection


-- Weapons --
Example: Spear (DD: d6, Quality 2)


-- Equipment --
Example: Axe (7/10 Quality)

Attribute Rolls

Edit 1: Brawn - 1
Agility - 2
Mind - 2

Edit 2: Brawn - 1 or 2
Agility - 2
Mind - 1 or 2
Brawn and Mind will be decided once I determine the background of the character.

Skill Points

How would I do the skill points? Rules say to consult the GM.

Basically, come up with some things your person would be skilled with. You can invest 1-3 points in each thing up to a total of 7 points.

For example: Computers (Programming) - 2, Cake Baking - 1, Swimming - 1, Underwater Basket Weaving - 3

Gotcha. I love the choices for examples by the way. But, what role do these skills play?

In the linked rules in the other thread:
So if you were to be attempting to swim across, say, a small lake/large pond. I may ask you to roll Brawn check with a target of 70. You say "OK, I will roll 1d100+1d10. I have 1 skill point in swimming, so my target is 65"

not sure why that doesn't work right, ah well. In this case, the first check was 76 + 8, so 84. You succeed at swimming across the pond, and you do it quicker than you expected!

Spectacular. I am thinking of making an military special forces type of background, if it is okay.

That's fine. :)

I have the basic's done for Martin Peterson. I gave him the rank of Lt. Commander just to show that he has quite some experience in the U.S. Navy; if disagree with this ranking, feel free to say so and we can discuss a viable rank. I was curious on what we would do for weapons/equipment to begin with or if we even begin with any.

Nope, you'll be starting with nothing. Barely even clothes.

Sounds good. Aha. I'll get to typing up a background about him.

Extra link to rules here.

We'll start with just the two of you and see how it goes.

So were we on an airplane or something? Real world people? No fantasy-type abilities? If I'm just some sort of joe-blow you wouldn't expect to last in a survival situation, it's not going to ruin your game is it?

Nope! The benefit being a super survivor offers over a normal person isn't so large as to be insurmountable.

For right now, yes, real world people, no super fantasy stuff. The plan is to develop those kinds of things, once the base resolution method plays out and such.

I don't want to be a super soldier, but I'd like to have at least a minimal chance of survival, so I don't want to be enormously overweight with asthma. I haven't been very successful roleplaying a middle-aged man, so I might want to try something different. Or maybe I want to see if I can get it right this time. I'll have to think on it.

:)

Maybe modeled after Jim from The Office. Relatively decent shape and it gives me an excuse to be a total smart-ass.

I like it!

As for setting, you guys won't necessarily know why you are where you are to start. You just awaken on an island with nothing, save for your tattered rag top/bottom.

So I roll 3d2 for attributes and a 1d8+2 for skill points.

Lets go:

Brawn: 1
Agility: 1
Mind: 2

I've never been a bottom, but hey! It's roleplaying, right?

Already getting a start on the smartassery.

Bwahaha, and yes on the rolls.

Okay, as for skills, I'm still thinking on it. I don't know how serious of a tone you're shooting for, so I'm going to preface this by saying, I'm going to respect your game, but I might have some different ideas on how to go about it.

For example, I'm thinking of a skill I'm going to call "The Bugs Bunny Skill Check."

The Bugs Bunny Skill Check: The ability to talk oneself into, and then out of, trouble. Sometimes characterized as letting your mouth write a check your ass can't cash. That is not an entirely accurate description, however, since everyone has that ability. Where The Bugs Bunny Skill Check differs is that, if you find yourself in a troubling situation, you have an uncanny ability to use humor, sarcasm, wit, and your opponent's dull-wittedness against them to extricate yourself from said situation. For examples, see virtually any '40s Bugs Bunny short.

I can attest that this is a real ability. I perfected it throughout grade school and high school by virtue of being a skinny nerd with a big mouth who also happened to be best friends with the biggest kid in school.

Go with it! As for tone, the setting will be serious (you're fighting for survival after all). That said, people address and handle that kind of stress in different ways. Some with stone-cold seriousness others with frivolity and levity.

So we have no clue as to why we are where we are. There was no apocalyptic event that happened or anything that happened to us? We just wake up and find out that we are stranded while being half naked?

Not that you are aware of as of yet. You may come to remember more as the game goes on. :)

Apparently I stopped getting email alerts right around the time I posted The Bugs Bunny check. I was about to head for bed and figured I'd check in, just in case. As for the tone, the character's tone is going to be decidedly non-serious. I meant the tone of the game itself, as in, was calling it the Bugs Bunny Check more silliness than you wanted.

I'll work on some more skills tomorrow. Maybe something along the lines of being able to tell the bond weight of paper at 50 paces (just kidding).

By the way, have you thought about asking anyone from The Orc Wars to fill out the roster?

I hadn't yet. No real reason I hadn't, just haven't put it up yet. :)

More on the Bugs Bunny Skill Check (BBSC): I'll leave it to you (unless you tell me otherwise) to decide how encompassing you want to make this. I was looking at it as sort of equivalent to a mashup of 5e Wisdom and Charisma checks. Sort of part Insight, part Perception, a bit of Persuasion, Deception, and Performance mixed in, with a large dollop of smartassery gluing it all together.

I'm not saying it is exactly all these skills, just parts of each. For example, he might be a terrible liar, but if he's feeding you a bunch of nonsense to make a fool out of you, the Deception level is through the roof. He might sing like a catfish drowning in mud, but if he's telling a joke, his Performance has you riveted. He might not be able to convince a woman in a doorway in Amsterdam's red light district to sleep with him, but if he's trying to convince you he didn't really mean for that to sound like you're a goddamn moron, his Persuasion has you eating out of his palm.

But let's not kid ourselves. He does just fine with the ladies. Or men. I haven't decided yet. Actually, I had decided by default until I wrote that. Now I'm contemplating it.

hahah, all of that is perfectly fine. If I were to polish it up into a "somber" skill, it'd end up being something like Schmoozing or Doubletalk. Basically, being an epic used car salesman.

I figured I'd go for a 3 in BBSC. That leaves me another 6. I was trying to think up some mundane, but possibly useful, skills.

Maybe a 2 in Advanced Computer Data Entry. You know, one of those office guys who know just enough to be dangerous. Less hacker, more noodler. Good at hiding unauthorized software on his work computer and masking his browser history. Wouldn't know a nested heuristic from an infinite if-then loop, but he can figure out how to run just about any software or download a tasty virus.

Then I was thinking about some more traditional stuff. He works out at the Y, so a 1 in swimming.

I'm kind of drawing a blank on anything else. Like, what would a regular guy have as skills you would list in an RPG? Skilled in office pranks? Could possibly translate into something with traps?

I mean, he can drive a car and balance his checkbook, but are those considered skills you would put a number to? It seems like even a score of 1 would mean he's a bit above the average person in that skill. Figuring out the stats on Joe Average is turning out to be more difficult than I imagined!

Mental Math could be used to give you a boost on estimating quantities needed for stuff or collected or whatever.
Does he know how to cook more than using a microwave? Basic Food Prep could give you a boost to try preparing unknown foods over a campfire. Rube Goldberg could give you points from that office prank line of thought. Boost chances of ridiculous contraptions working.

I suppose if microwave is your baseline, we could go for a 1 in Cooking or Food Prep. Sure, a 1 in Mental Math. That leaves 1 more.

Heh, I just came up with another good one. Forget the mental math, I want to go for a 2 in Pizza Driver Navigation Syndrome (PDNS).

There's a little-known, but totally real, physical effect on the brain where a section of it grows bigger. It's shared by taxi drivers and pizza deliverers. I bet Apex has it, driving for FedEx. Pretty much anyone who navigates the streets for a living. After a certain amount of time, the constant navigating of streets enlarges the section of the brain responsible for spacial recognition, recognizing landmarks, knowing north from south. I haven't delivered a pizza in years, but give me a day driving in an unfamiliar city and I'll know how to get around better than most of the people who live there.

So, it looks like the final tally is:

3 - Bugs Bunny Skill Check
2 - Advanced Computer Data Entry
2 - Pizza Driver Navigation Syndrome
1 - Swimming
1 - Food Prep

I like it!

I'm enjoying an episode of Maverick before bed, so I'll submit a character sheet tomorrow.

Ok...couple character ideas. We shall see what the dice tell me and I will make a decision.

There's the stat roll jackpot!

Nice Maskcot!

Ok, So here is what I've got so far...

Joro aka: Jorogumo aka: Tiffany Mason

Stats:
Brawn: 2
Agility: 2
Mind: 2

Skills:
Cosplay Crafting: 2
Self-Defense Training: 2
Forager: 1
Feminine Wiles: 1
Foreign Languages: 1

Joro is a 23 year old American college student majoring in Communications. She wants to travel the world and see everything. She currently reads and speaks 4 languages; English, German, Mandarin and Japanese, and is working on Spanish and French. She thinks she wants to work at the UN as a translator, possibly the US Federal Government working foreign affairs or something. For now she is content to just enjoy her life as a college student, going to classes and parties on the weekend. Her hobbies include crafting cosplay props and costumes, and she has developed a good number of skills. She takes a self-defense course because she was attacked walking from the library to her dorm her freshman year. She wasn't hurt badly because another group of students happened by before her assailant really got started. Her father is a real outdoors type and has taught her a thing or two about finding food in the wild. She doesn't use the skill often, but it makes for and interesting talking point at parties.

At least that was what she was doing before...


This is the image I am using as her character portrait. I understand there is more equipment picture than what she will start with, but it invokes the feel of the character to me.

As for skills...Cosplay Crafting is knowing how to put things together, it includes things like sewing & saudering, or any other skill that might apply to light assembly work. She isn't a welder, she just knows a little bit for costuming, but it could help keep her from winding up naked. Self-Defense seems self explanatory...she knows how to fight off an attacker, but isn't really great at lethal combat. Self-defense usually means escaping to stay alive, not killing your opponent. Foraging is knowing what plants are edible and where they might more likely exist. Feminine Wiles is seduction and persuasion using her charm...and sometimes her looks. Foreign Languages I thought made an interesting skill and character trait. She know tons of languages, at least in passing. Depending on where and what is going on it may or may now be useful. If the GM thinks it won't be useful I can switch it out.

I like it! I wasn't initially planning on anything with foreign languages, but why not! It's a survival game. You never know when you'll run across an asian market as your sole food source ;).

With the three of you, I'll go ahead and get the initial gameplay bit started up sometime today

Martin Peterson was created to give the group a combat survivalist. Navy SEAL was just the background I chose to give him the skills that he has, it does not play the role of considering him a 'super soldier.' Also, the photo I used to present what he looks like is somewhat inaccurate due to him not having his full military uniform. I had just used what I call the latest photo that was taken of him.

Not much can be said about Lieutenant Commander Peterson other than he had planned out a different life compared to other people he knew. Growing up with just his mother, Marty had aspired to become a Navy SEAL. And that he did. He went through the tough and grueling pain of hell week and the rest of BUD/S to earn his trident. After officially becoming a SEAL, he underwent many top secret missions; such as intel gathering, reconnaissance, hostage rescue, etc. He picked up all of his skills during his time in the Navy due to the fact that he was trained to be 'invincible.' His whole life seemed perfect to him, until he was hit with an unexpected change.

If you guys could submit both Martin and Joro as characters "officially", we'll get this thing rolling.