Ms. Television's Character Creation Challenge

[mstelevisionccc]

I ran across a flat out pro MRA propaganda channel “masquerading’ itself as a comedy channel, and it is the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen.

Watch yourself out there, people.

[sticksandsharks]

some traditional ink pieces I’ve made for MCM and TB. I’ve been really burnt out the last couple months, but working on traditional art has felt good!

[mstelevisionccc]

It’s almost that time of year again! We hit the wall last year and didn’t quite make it all the way… well, maybe not even half way, but this is a new year, and we’re going to try again!

This time, a little less ambitious. We will be doing 3 games a week. That means we are going to hit 12 games, with an extra one because we have a very short week one. We’ll hit up some old favorites, and visit some new games.

I love exploring fictional worlds, and hope you’ll come along with me!

[mstelevisionccc]

Character Fail 8: Spirit of 77.

One of the things this challenge is exposing me to is some things that I am discovering about myself. I am, for example, am discovering some games that I hate making characters in. Now, I am not saying I hate those games. I love Marvel Superheroes, for example, and with the right Game Master, I probably will love Spirit of '77. However, I look at the Spirit of '77, and I just don't feel it today. Now it might just be that I am feeling a bit under it, and that I just can't today, but this game has always felt off to me. It's words that it uses feels like it's before the 70''s, and while the inspiration sounds spot on, I don't think this game does anything that Shadow of the Century doesn't do better.

I had gotten Spirit of '77 because it was one of those games that a Facebook Friend (You know the kind) got really into it, and I was curious and eventually picked it up. I've not really touched it since, and I am not sure if that is to my detriment or not. Spirit of '77 was the first PBTA game that I played that separated the Playbook into two different parts. A Role, and a Story. So you could be the Charisma character with the Kung Fu Grip, or you could be a Rocker that was juiced up with Weird Science, and so on... and it's fine. It's got some goofy concepts in there, and their supplemental adventures seem interesting. It's just.. Boring to me.

That's what it is. Between presentation and language that puts me off (Booper and Honeypot are not words I would use or encourage, and Booper is so 60's it hurts), I just can't get into it. Which is fine! Not every game is for everyone, and there just doesn't feel like there is enough in this game to make me want to dive into it.

Now, I could just go ahead and throw two sheets of characters together, say I am running this today, and just go with it. It's easy enough. I just don't have the will at this time to do so. I don't have anything good to say, and while I can present a character and I could sit down at the table and play it, I think that's not really part of the exercise of the Challenge. I should present you with something I am excited to play, and a game that is engaging and wants you to play it.

So, we are going to call today a failure. It's not a big deal. I could make a character for a game I am more passionate about. I do think that it''s probably just better for me to walk away for a little bit and we'll find something to be passionate about, and we'll tack it on as an extra game at the end.

Tomorrow we'll do Blades in the Dark, and maybe we'll shake up the list by removing the games that I know I don't like, but that is still in my inventory. It might be time to clean up the Game Manual folder.

[mstelevisionccc]

Character 7 : Changeling the Lost 2nd Edition

Changeling is an odd game series. The first game series, Changeling the Dreaming is about a lot of different things. Loss of Wonder, and the soulcrushingness of adulthood, the forever marching forward of the industrial machine, and the death of imagination, and of various cultures of fairies along the way. It also had weird nobility, strong Seelie/Unseelie court influences and while they touched on other cultures, it was clumsy and not very well done at times. Still, there was  lot to like about that game, and it has a large fan base. It is more beloved than at the time I was running it, I would have ever believed.

So when Chronicles of Darkness, what would become the New World of Darkness said they were bringing back Changeling, I was surprised, and a little repetitious about it. While it was really hard to screw up Vampire, the Werewolf the Forsaken was absolutely jarring in it's theme change, and while Mage was an interesting theme change, it too was a lot different from what came before. I was concerned that whatever came next for Changeling was going to be radical and even more divergent than those brands had been. While I was right, I would not be able to tell the joy that I had when I saw what they had done.

Changeling the Lost is a game of abuse survivors, at it's core. You, a human, was stolen from the world that you knew and was taken to the Hedge by a Master, who then began to feed of your emotional states. You were changed, forced to serve a role that they needed, and then, when you were changed enough, you managed to escape and get yourself free. However, time is not as linear in the Hedge as it is in the real world. You might have just been gone for a day. You might have been gone for a decade in the real world. The amount of time you experienced is going to be radically different, and there is a bit of shock when you get back.

Depending on your Master's will, you might have even just been completely replaced, a Fetch, a bit of enchanted trash, left in your place. It's been doing things in your absence, taking up your stolen life, and it just might have been better for everyone that it did.

It's a game of uneasy alliances, personal power struggles, and broken promises, and the fear that Them and their Hunters are going to come and find you, and the Hobgoblins that don't belong to anyone that will come and gobble you up when you are asleep. It's a Fairy Tale as a Nightmare, and it was the best thing that they ever could have done for Changeling. I love this game, and I so wish to play it more.

So, Step One in Character Creation is Character Concept. You want to boil down your concept into a small phrase. I think my character was a teen when they were snatched, in a bad place, having put themselves in there in the first place, and things went wrong and sideways, and their Master appeared, and offered them safety, and they grabbed the opportunity, and they were whisked away. They spent their time in Arcadia as a objective. Something to be rescued from the next monster or mob or panic that gripped the populace. Eventually, you just got to realize that you can't wait to be rescued, and you got to rescue yourself, but that's never as easy as it seems, and it made the Master really mad.

I think we'll go with the concept Perpetual Searcher. They are always on the look out for other lost, and is looking for ways to make them do for themselves.

The next step is to give myself 3 Asperations. These are things that I want to accomplish in a game. Two of them should be quick to accomplish, and one of them should take some time to finish. Two of them should be Fey Related, and One of them should be mortal related.  I think that I'm going to go for some low hanging fruit. I want our character to dive into the Hedge, looking for others that are trying to get out, and help provide an escape. The other short term is that I want my character to be the Date Safety Buddy. You know, the friend that gives in a call to make sure that things are fine and safe, and if they're not, finds a way to get the buddy out of the date. I think the last thing I want the character to do is that he has aspirations of some kind, and he needs the Duke of the Court's favor to get something big done. I've not decided what that big thing is yet, but I can decide that later. For now, it's enough of a framework to build up upon.

Step Two is selecting Attributes. This is still done in a traditional World of Darkness way. There are three categories, and I prioritize the categories, and then I distribute the points amongst them. i feel that this is a character that is about the Overthinking end of things. So I am going to choose Mental, Social, and Physical as my priorities.

Physically, I'm absolutely dead average human, nothing exceptional,  we're just dropping one point into each. Mentally, I'm better than average in my wits and Resolve, but nothing too exceptional. Socially, I just don't manage to manipulate anyone. Just naturally people just read my face and know what I am thinking. That said, I have remarkable composure. I have been put in dangerous situations so many  times that threatening them doesn't phase him, trying to appeal to their vices doesn't shake their will. Curse them, love them, they'll keep their emotions locked down.

Skills are also divided up into the Same Categories, and this time around, we are going with Physical, Social, and then Mental. I think the big thing here is that our character was already a bit of a troublemaker, so a bit of Larceny and being sneaky just got better while they were stuck with their Master's escapades. They probably also picked up a sword or axe or two while in frustration. They had a bit of time being in social situations, and spent time negotiating (and failing) with the innumerous Hobgoblins that kept kidnapping them.

Now, we get to choose 3 specialties. These help define our character, and gives a bonus with your skill, but you can choose any of your skills to specialize in.  So, I figure being captured all the time means that my character learned how to open doors cleverly, so Lockpicking is one. Even though they are bad at manipulating people, you still gotta talk ogres and giants out from eating you for dinner, so Fast-Talking seems good. I also figure that they spent a lot of timing calming down dogs back even before they were snatched, so I take a specialization in that. These might not be the wisest choices, but they'll do.

Our next step is to Become a Lost. We now choose our Seeming. You choose one based on how things went in Arcadia, how you escaped it, and how you approach things now. The big benefit you get from this step is an extra Attribute point. I can shore up my weakness a little, and choose one that will let me change my manipulation, or I can take one that let me enhance my strength, and take either Composure or Resolve to improve. I also think about what my Master did to me when I was with them, constantly being thrown into danger again and again just so They could have a prize to win. Beast, Elemental, and Fairest tend to fit that category. I can't help the idea of a Fairest, though, one of the "Pretty" changelings. We'll go with that. That will let me put a point in a "power" attribute, which I will put in Presence.

Now, while a Seeming is the thing you have been transformed into, a Kith is the purpose of that shape. At the moment, there are only 12 in the book, and the supplement that will greatly expand upon this is still in editing, and should be released soon. However, that doesn't mean we can't invent one, and that process is pretty simple. Each Kith is made of two parts, a Blessing bonus that allows you to add three success to a role in a very specific set of circumstances, and an ability that ties into the theme of the Kith.

We know the Character's role by her Master was like a Damsel or a Prize. Something to be found over and over again, in the hands of something else, to be reclaimed. So, for our Skill portion, let's have When the Kith uses Pursuasion to convince someone to take them in, they get 3 extra successes. For our Tickery, I thnk that if the Changeling can stare into another persons eye, and spend a glamor, they can have a contest with Presence + Wyrd vs Composure + Supernatural Tolerance. If you succeed, the target gains the Wanton condition. If you critically succeed, you also learn what they most desire.

We’ll call our Kith Prizecatch, as I’m bad at names.

Next thing we select is our Mein. Our Mein is our fairy appearance, what we look like to those that have been enchanted and can see the fairy. I think my character has been tinted orange and golds, and has a very honey scent that comes off of them. Their hair looks curly blond from a distance, but you get close, and see it's actually little sides of hexagons all tangled into each other. They have these deep dark amber eyes.

We're over halfway done! (whew!) The next step is to choose your court. This is a philosophy choice on how your character now copes with the world. It's imperfect, and there is a lot of choices, and they don't necessarily fit where I want this character to go. However, Winter seems close. It's about Sadness and depression, and I think that it kinda fits our character. They don't want to really be noticed. They are trying hard to help others not be noticed either. It's a contradiction to their nature, because they were shaped to be desired, to be taken and kept, and I find that potentially interesting.

Needle and Thread are a replacement in this system for Virtues and Vice. A needle is how they deal with the challenges and people in their lives, and Threads are their ulterior motives that keep them grounded. Needle is tricky, but Thread is very easy for this character. This character wants real friends, and to be one. They have been in a false relationship for so long, and people keep pretending to want to be near them, but it's never about the real them. They desire friendship deeply, as they know too often how fake it is.

As far as Needle goes, I am torn between Commander and Counselor. Does my character find themselves wanting to be in charge, or do they want to be the person behind the person who gets to have the glory? Does my character want glory? Ultimately, I decide that Commander fits how i want to play this character more.

Next, you get to choose your Touchstone. A Touchstone is a person, place, or thing, that helps you keep grounded into the World, and helps you keep your Clarity, your vision on what is real and what is an illusion. I think we are going to go with my Roommate. They are into all that New Age Spiritualism stuff, and they don't always understand what I am going on about, but they accept a lot of it, and they occasionally dance across dangerous things at times, both mundane and other risky things, and while their attempts at magic are quaint, occasionally they steer at things that are a little dangerous, and they just tend to help each other out.

Contracts are your powers in the game, and you start with number of them. You get 4 Common or Goblin Contracts (Goblin Contracts are powers that come with a price), and 2 Royal Contracts. All the Royal Contracrts, and Half the common ones must come from your Favored Regilia and Courts. As a Fairest, I start with the Crown, and I get to choose one more, and decide to take Jewels, as I feel that matches what we've established or my character. I decide on Hostile Takeover (An ability that lets a Home treat me like I belong there), Summon Loyal Servant (Which allows me to create a small servitor that will perform simple tasks), Nevertread (Pass without Trace for you D&D Nerds), and Ice Queen's Call (Summons a blizard in a small area), For my Royal ones, I'll take The Royal Court (Which prevents violence during a  meeting or a social gathering), and Field of Regret (Summons ghosts that  deal damage and saps willpower)

I now get to spend 10 points on Merits. I decide to spend one on Mantle, so I can be officially a member of the Winter Court. I spend 5 to increase my Wyrd to 2 so my magic can be a bit more powerful. I decide that being able to speak another language is useful, and Russian is common enough where I live at the moment, where I decide to take that. Character probably is doing odd jobs to help keep up the money to have a roommate, so I decide Resources of a level 1 is reasonable. Finally, I decide Striking Looks is just.. one of those things I want too. So I'll take that as well.

All that remains is for me to name the character, and decide on how they are presenting. I think I will call them Amber, and they've become Genderfluid over their Durance. They'll switch between how they present depending on the situation.

This has taken a long time, and I am pretty sure I have drifted off my Concept by the end, so I hope that this has made some sort of sense to you. I do love this game dearly, and if you want to check it out more, here is the Website. : http://theonyxpath.com/category/worlds/chroniclesofdarkness/changelingthelost/

Name : Amber       Court: Winter              Concept : Perpetual Searcher Seeming : Fairest   Needle : Commander Kith: Prizecatch       Thread:Friendship

Asperations

1) Dive into the Hedge 2) Get the Duke's Favor 3) Be the Date Safety Buddy

Attributes

Intelligence 2  Strength 2      Presence 3 wits 3              Dexterity 2      Manipulation 1 Resolve 3       Stanima 2      Composure 4

Skills

Academics 1    Athletics 3                        Animal Ken (Calming)1 Computer         Brawl                                Empathy 2 Craft                 Drive                                Expression Investigation 1   Firearms                         Intimidation Medicine            Larceny (Lock Picking)3 Persuasion (Fast Talking)2 Occult                Stealth 3                          Socialize 2 Politics 1            Survival 1                         Streetwise Science             Weaponry 1                     Subterfuge

Clarity 11 ... 7: (Maximum Clarity) 6: 5: Roomie Hedge Witch ... 1

Wyrd : 2

Health 7 Speed 9 Willpower 7 Initiative : 6 Defense: 5

Contracts: Favored Regilia: Crown & Jewels Hostile Takeover Summon Loyal Servant Nevertread Ice Queen's Call The Royal Court Field of Regret

Merits : Wyrd +1 (5) Mantle 1 (Winter Court) Language (1) Russian Resources 1 Striking Looks (2)

[mstelevisionccc]

Character 6: TORG Eternity

Back when I was still in High School, me and a bunch of fellow nerds played a lot of games, and one day, a friend of mine brought out this huge stack of books and went "Hey, why don't we play this?", and we grabbed some character sheets, did a bunch of different things, and created characters for a two year run of TORG.

TORG (The Other Roleplaying Game, as it mentions in an appendix somewhere) is a game of Reality Conflict. You play a Storm Knight, a defender of Core Earth, that can survive the Reality Storms that have engulfed conquered territories of Earth, which is being invaded by the High Lords of other Realities, through the abilities of their Darkness Devices, to suck the Possibilities from Earth in order to become the most powerful being in the universe. However, Earth has powerful heroes, and in one reality, they won.

In TORG Eternity, that history hasn't happened. Time has rewound. Some of the Invading Realities, called Cosms, have succeeded in their initial pushes. Some of them have changed from what they had originally been (Mainly as a nod to attitudes of the past that are not in alignment to today's values). Overall, this is the game where your Modern Day heroes go and fight Orc Invasions, deal with a Cyberangel called upon by the Pope, fight Superheroes, and survive attacks from Things that Have Been Buried over and over again. All in the hopes of instilling hope to the people, and reclaiming the land back for Earth.

TORG is a fantastic game, where depending on what reality you are in, things do or do not work, where your hand of cards can have long term effects on the storytelling and the game, and where you can have an adventure do almost anything you want. It's a really deep RPG, with a lot of supplements, and if you can find a Drama Deck to buy to play with, it's a fantastic game.

So, for today's character, we're going to make a Core Earther. Just a person like you or me, that comes from a place an awful lot like the reality we see surrounding us right now. However, I still got a bit of Deadland Noir creeping through me, so I think I'm going to play a Lay Priest, here. I think we are going to New Orleans, and we're going to find ourselves a Practitioner of Voodum that has gotten just a little boost from the Earth Cosm to become a Storm Knight, and all that faith healing and guidance, well, maybe they'll be a little more real for her, now that the world needs her.

So, Let us make our Character. I think we are going to play Meht Williams, a woman of a mixed heritage that embraces the religion that raised from the Triangle Trade and the lost beliefs that found a new form and root in the Americas, that couldn't even be killed.

So, as default, I'm Human, cause Core Earth, kinda unique if you weren't human. I'm also from Core Earth, so that's simple. At this time, we also put down the Axioms, the World Rules that control our world down. Those will be Magic 9, Social 23, Spirit 10, and Tech 23. Know that this is pretty well developed technology and we believe in such things as democracy and courts of laws, but our connection to the divine is a bit weak, and it takes a lot of effort in order to summon any kind of magic in this realm.

Every Character starts their session with Possibility Tokens. These tokens are used to change your fate, adding onto roles, reducing damage, or to impose your reality upon a scene. Just know that Possibility Tokens are neat and you don't necessarily want to run out of them.

Now, you start to assign your Attributes. There are 5 in the game, Strength, Dexterity, Mind, Spirit (Resolve, self confidence, so on), and Strength. You have 40 points to spend amongst them, and none can be lower than 5, and none of them can be higher than 13.

Spirit is very important to Faith users, so I'll be favoring that stat. I also feel that being able to sway people with words is also going to be an important ability, so I'm going to increase her charisma up a bit. We'll drop the other attributes down to human average, and we are happy.

Next, you get to select your skills. You get 16 points, and at least one of those points must be spent in Reality, the skill that let's you survive going between realms. Also, being a Faith worker, Faith is pretty important, and we're going to make that our tag skill at +3. A tag Skill is an old term used for a skill that is maxed out at the start. Otherwise, we have a smattering of skills. I know how to talk to people, and how to rile them up. I have a little education, and I've learned how to handle myself in a firefight, because people are always looking for trouble in Meht's neighborhood.

So, we know get to choose our perks. We get two, and they kinda define what we can do. Of course, being a practitioner, we will take Miracles, so that we can cast some spells. This allows us to start with Ward Enemy, and then 2 others. We'll get back to this in a second.

The other perk I'm going to take is Storyteller. Telling a tale grants free possibility energy after someone has spent a Glory card, which you can spend freely amongst the group. It's a huge boon, and it's part of the magic of the setting, really.

So, I also start with two others Miracles that I can call upon. I think one of them should be Banish, because what good Voodoo doctor can't spook away a pesky spirit or two? That leaves me with a more difficult choice. Healing is one of those universal "Parties need this Miracle" that I probably should take, but there is also Commune with Spirits, and being able to talk and call upon the Loa for advice is just something I should be able to do. After the first part of an adventure, I should be able to pick up another level of Miracles, and that'll get me a few more Miracles, so it's not like i'll be without forever.... but I think that Healing is going to be really important to get to that point. Even so, don't think I won't be without Commune with Spirits for long.

The last real steps in the process are to Equip them. I get $1,000 in money to spend on carried equipment. The Delphi Council (The secret society that is organizing Earth's Defense against the invasion) would likely provide our character with at least a Kevlar vest, a .38 revolver. They're not the strongest weapons around, but Meht didn't start life as a soldier, and even being a Storm Knight, I doubt that they'd give her any serious hardware, and she might not want to have it, anyway. Other things she has collected amongst her possessions is a Mobile Phone, and a first aid kit, A holy symbol, and some binoculars so she can se a bit.

So, so equipped, and with a desperate need to get to all corners of the world to prevent further invasions of the world, Meht Williams is ready to go out and save the world and call upon the faith where ever the storms take her.

Charisma 10 Dexterity 7 Mind 7 Spirit 10 Strength 6

Movement 21

Dodge 2 (9) Faith 3 (13) First Aid 2 (9) Fire Combat : 1 (8) Language : French 1 Language : Spanish 1 Persuasion : 2 (12) Reality 1 (11) Scholar: 1 (8) Taunt 1 (11) Willpower 1 (11)

Perks : Miracles, Storyteller

Miracles : Ward Enemy, Banish, Healing

.38 Revolver (100) Kevlar Vest (250) Amo Belt (50) Mobile Phone (300) Holy Symbol First Aid Kit Binoculars If you want to see more of this game, you can find it here. https://ulisses-us.com/games/torgeternity/

[mstelevisionccc]

Character 5 : Deadland Noir

Today, I was to do Marvel Superheroes, the FASERIP game. but can I be frank? There is a lot of nostalgia attached to the game, and the best part of the game in the day was taking roster characters, and playing the published superheroes as characters. The actual character creation rules are... stupidly random, and not necessarily much fun, and while i generated a High Tech character that was immune to disease and could detect energy, and shape rock.... it's just so random, and while sure, one can make this look like something, it's just strange and random, and who would make a superhero this weird?

So, I'm just not going to that. Instead, I got more games than I'll ever get a chance and run, and we're going to dive into Deadland Noir.

Deadland Noir takes place after the Original Deadlands. The civil war fizzled to a halt, and then the Great War happened, followed up by the Great Famine, and things are just hard all around in 1935, and your character is just trying to get by in New Orleans.

So, I start thinking. Segregated New Orleans. There is a lot of choices to be made here. I mean, Jazz has it's roots deep in New Orleans, and being a down on your luck Sax Players has a lot of appeal. However, there is the river, and being a man who lost his boat when the fish and the crawdads ran dry that one year, well... that is the direction I am thinking of aiming. I am going to run a Boatman who is down on his luck, and short one boat. Can hardly call him a man anymore, but he's got the skill. Just needs a little but of luck.

Going to call him Braxton Vert.

To start with, you need to buy your Attributes. I figure our man down on his luck isn't the most educated. He's got the knowledge to get him by, but not much else. Meanwhile, lifting game and fighting the river current has made him a absolute brick of a man. We're going to buy up everything except smarts from a d4, and we'll make Strength a d8.

Now we come to skills. For sure, he''s going to be a Boater, so we'll grab that, and make sure he has a good die size for that for a starting character. d8. Figure he knows how to swim, and he survived in the Great War, so he'll pick up some points in Swimming and Shooting at a D6. The rest of the points will get your basic proficiency in Fighting, Survival, Notice, and Persuasion.

Now we come to Hindrances. Everyone in Deadland Noir is just plum Poor, so everyone gets the Poverty Hindrance, and you don't get any points for it. In addition, you can take some more Hindrances. 2 Minor and 1 Major. This allows you to buy Edges and increase your Attributes and Skills, or maybe just get some more equipment.

I think I like Shamed a lot. I think that people knew he had a boat at one time, and during a time where the mighty Mississippi overflew, he refused to help people out on his boat, for reasons that he doesn't completely disclose. Some souls were probably lost due to his inaction, but those that lived through it remember him, and no one pities his loss of his boat after that.

I think that during the time he was in the Great War, he was in the trenches, and suffered from a Mustard Gas attack, that still follows him to this day. I think that will give him Ailin' for that. I think he copes with that by smoking a pack a day, so let's also give him the Smoking Habit.

Even so, he's a good Sailor, and people know it. He knows people down at the Dockworks Unions, and he can always ask around there for information or small favors. With the leftover points from Hinderances, I'll raise Shooting and Notice a die each. I'm not a tricky gunslinger, but at least I'm experienced.

Time for equipment. I figure he mustered out of the Military being able to hold onto his trusty Bolt Action rifle. Outside of a Flashlight, he's not got much in the way of anything.

I figure he still lives Riverside, in a home that just isn't much of anything, not even a river view. Just a bunch of warehouses between him and the river. When he's not working, he's hanging out at the riverside tavern, and contemplating what went wrong with his life. He's looking for a way to get a new boat, make up for lost time. Might be willing to do some extra work that is a little shady to get that chance, provided it isn't hurting anyone living.

He's seen things, and while the stories of the Walking Dead are for the most part just so much toilet paper, maybe he can be convinced to take up arms against them.

Agility d6 Smarts d4 Spirit d6 Stength d8 Vigor d6

Boating d8 Fighting d4 Shooting d8 Swimming d6 Survival d4 Notice d6 Persuasion d4

Charisma : +0 Pace : 6" Parry : 3 Touchness : 5

Hinderences: Shamed (Abandonded people in Flood) Major Ailing (Minor) Habit: Smoking (Minor) Connections : Dock Union

Bolt Axtion Rifle (45) Box of 100 Bullets (4) Flashlight (1)

[mstelevisionccc]

Character 4: Epyllion

So, Kickstarter was still mostly new. I mean, it was a few years old, but I never delved deepy into it, but I kept my on new games coming out every now and then, and at one point, I cam across a game with a picture of a Dragon. So, why not, I took a look, and what I discovered claimed my heart and stroked my nostalgia button at the same time. See, back when 2nd Edition D&D was dying, they released a supplement called Council of Wyrms. It's a game where you played a dragon, and did dragon things over the long course of a game, and it was very D&D in it's way it treated Dragons. For those wondering where Half Dragons came from, they came from that game.

That, however, is not the game we are talking about today. Today, we are talking about that kickstarter, which was named Epyllion. It's a Powered by the Apocalypse game about Baby Dragons who set forward to save the world from the Darkness because old dragons are fuddy duddies and are unflexible in their ways, and the younger you are, the more potential you have. It's part My Little Pony, Part Lord of the Rings (And honestly, I think it's a healthy dash of The Never Ending Story, too). It's a fun game where I have learned a lot about what other people think that dragons are. I've not had a chance to play in a game yet, but I have played several games, and each time, it has been a blast.

So, in this game, Character Creation is pretty simple. You have a bunch of Playbooks, which are your basic set up for your character. You make several choices from them, and then you get to determine the connections you have with other players. Also, there is this big map that is blank which you place in the middle of the play area, and at the start of the game, everyone gets to draw something on the map, and that becomes part of the game. So that's what we'll be covering today.

So, you're starting Dragon is a Raw Scaled Drake. You're not a Hatchling, those are younger and are more vulnerable, but you are a long ways off from becoming an Elder Dragon. Being so young, you get access to all the kinds of magic in Dagonia, which is Void, Liberty, Stone, Spirit, and Storm. As you get older, you are going to lose access to these spheres of magic, one at a time, until you are only associated with one. You'll be really strong with that one, but you will lose your ability to call upon any of the other magics. This isn't a choice that I make now, but it's something that I feel is important to know about dragons, so I mention it here.

So I could pretend I am going to choose a playbook that is a challenge, or play the Playbook that isn't like me at all, but let's all face it, if I can talk to the  Animals, I'm going to talk to the Animals. So I am going to play the Nature Adept.

The Nature Adept is comfortable in the wilds, and can talk to the Animals of Dragonia. You live in that place between the World of Dragons, and the World of the Wild.  So, for sure, a thing I wanna be.

So, you start by choosing a name. Now, you can make up your own, but there is a list of names, and I'm going to take Toverinn, as it sounds pretty homey, and it sounds *great* if someone wants to whine it at you. I'm taking that one.

Next, you select one or more colors that you are. This is where you should lean into the mechanics of the game, as each character should have a set of tokens that they pass out to give to other players called Friendship Gems, and that lets you manipulate things and help people out. I'm going to choose the Viridian hued stones for my character, so I am for sure Green!

Then, you get to choose your looks. This has no game affects, but you want to look your best! So I am going to have Antlers, and have a furry textured body, with a Beak for a mouth, and a Maned Tail. I'm going to have webbed feet like a duck, and a knobby body that's all lumpy and soft, like a badly fluffed pillow.

The next step is to choose your stats. You have three Stats. Charm, Courage, and Cunning. (Social, Physical, Mental). As a Nature Adept, I get +1 in Charm, and a -1 in Courage and zero in Cunning. I think that I want to be more clever than just a 0, so I decide to take +1 in Cunning.

Next, I choose the House that my Dragon comes from. I can choose either Myndoth, the House of Oak, which tells me I must be ninja like, or infiltrate a location, or I can choose Tessith, which tells me to restore a a symbol or sanctuary in the wild. I don't like the spy stuff, so I am going to choose Tessith as my house.

Next, you get to choose a Virtue. Virtues are important because they allow you to reward other players with Gems when they do things that fall in line with your virtue. As a Nature Adept, I get to choose between Honor and Independence. I think I'm going to choose Honor, as I see protecting the land and being best buddies with it, and keeping my word much more important than just doing whatever I want. I''m a responsible Drake!

Now, I get two powers. The first one is the one I must take, which is Wild Speech. Wild Speech allows me to understand and communicate with the Animals of the land, and allows me to Study Them, Insist that they accept my help, or mislead or trick them, as if they were dragons.

It should be noted that Animals in this world are very much like the ones in Avatar. They are a bunch of different animals kinda squished together. So you're never going to run into a Lion. You'll run into, say, a Litter, A Lion-Otter. Or you'll run into an AntLion, an Ant with the Main of a Lion and a Roar. A Lion as a Lion is a Monster, and it goes against the nature of Dragonia, and it's a very dangerous thing.

Now, that I have that power, I get to choose one more. I think I'm going to take the "Help Me" power, and choose Spirit Guide. It gives me a small spirit that offers me aid and council. I can ask it for advice, and that becomes a bit of a weighted event, because no where does it say it gives *good* advice. Just that the advice is helpful if I follow it, gving me a bonus if i succeed.

The last part is when we talk about how our characters relate to other characters, and this gives everyone their starting Friendship gems. For example, You, the reader, was a voice of reason in our Clutch when dealing with older dragons. You were asked to prevent the Hatchlings from running our and into the Chamber of the Glass Watches, and you did your best. You couldn't stop one of the  Hatchlings from sneaking in, but you caught it, and put it back with the others, even though it had managed to grab one of the Watches. You managed to convince it to let it go, and I was very impressed. I'm giving you a Friendship Gem because you showed Honor!

The very last thing is a bit of World Building. I am going to choose a place just south of a mountain on the map, and I'm going to say that that's where the Grove of the Unigrif is, a fierce creature with one horn and mighty wings, and it is said that as long as one flies over  the skies, then the flowers in the Groove will continue to bloom, and that's good! Because the flowers, if brewed in tea, can heal all kinds of stuff!

So, that's my character for Epyllion, the game about young dragons. As I said, I adore this game, and I hope you might enjoy it too. You can check it out here. https://magpiegames.com/pages/epyllion

[mstelevisionccc]

Character 3 : Golden Sky Stories

Back in 2020,  I was in a deep funk. You had people running around with guns wandering around, and you had people protesting police brutality, and everything was on a bubbling simmer and heading to an 11, and at the time, I just had started running two separate Cyberpunk style games, and neither of them were speaking to me at that point. I desperately needed something that was light, and happy, and most importantly, was a game where things was solved without violence, because I only needed to hop on a bus to get all the violence I could stand.

There is a very short list of games that fall under that category. Golden Sky Stories is one of them.

Golden Sky Stories is about small town problems that are solved by spirits that want to be helpful and make friends. You play Henge, animals that can take the shape of humans, and your job is to help people save themselves. You do this through being a friend and by caring for the well being of others. It is a very *positive* game, with slice of life situations, and it's a game I have yet to play or run, but I so do want to do so.

Your Henge character can be many ages, but their human form is young. probably no older than 17, or Big Brother/Sister kind of approach. Most problems that you deal with are also things that deal with young people problems, so this is normal.

So, creating a character in Golden Sky Stories is easy. You choose one of six animal types (Fox, Raccoon dog, Cat, Dog, Rabbit, or Bird), and choose up to three weaknesses from it's power chart. You spend points on the four Attributes (Hnge, Animal, Adult, and Child), and then you describe what they look like as a human. Then you name them, and you are ready to play!

So, let's make a someone who wants to make the place better! However, I can't decide! I wanna play them all. Fortunately there are six, so I can just roll a die. So, rolling a die, I get a 6! So I'm going to play a bird.

Birds big strength is that they can fly! and they can help others fly as well. Being a Bird gives you some things. The most important thing is that if you are a bird, you don't surprise people! Surprising people makes it harder to do things, and people will want to run away from you. You also can fly and make other people fly. You also can control the wind, and spread rumors about town (They can't be hurtful rumors, and they can't be outright lies.). You also can spend a whole lot of dream to make yourself closer to another person by giving them a hug with your feathery wings.

So, on to the exciting part! For every Weakness you take, you get a matching power to use, also. So you can take a lot of weaknesses, and gain a lot of stuff to do, or you can be conservative, and only take a little. Where is the fun in that, though? Let's take 3!

There are six Weaknesses listed, and I really like the idea of Delicate and Chatter. Chatter means I can't really keep a secret. If you ask me something, I'm just going to spill it. I just can't help myself. Delicate means that I am a klutz. I can't do things well while I am on the ground, and unless I have wings, I can''t make any checks for Physical Activities. This leaves one left, and it's a hard decision. I think I am going to go with Eyeball. Basically, there is a pattern that is popular that act like a Scarecrow, and if I get exposed to one, I get panicked by it!

This gives me a few new powers, though. I get flock, which means i can summon a bunch of birds to help me out. This probably is useful, but it will be surprising when I use it, so I might not want to use if often. I gain Listen Up, which allows me to communicate with people who are not even in a scene, and help comfort them from far away. I also have Tranquility, which allows me to embrace people and help them quiet their mind so they recover from things faster. Overall, I think these are all good things!

So, now it is time to decide what I am good at. Given that I am delicate, let's totally buy into not being physical. I really am a klutz, and since Animal is all about doing Physical things, I think I'm going to take that at 1. Henge is all about Special Powers and knowledge of the spiritual, so I probably want this as a 2. That leaves me with Adult and Child, and this is tough. I basically can make one three, and both seem important. With Adult, I can read other people's emotions. With Child, I can express emotions really well. Both seem so important to being a bird! I think I'm going to take Adult at 2, and Child at 3, as I think that the character would embrace being loud and expressing themselves while still being mindful that people's feelings can get hurt.

Using the Google Translate, I decide to name my Character Hokori, or Dirt. I like dust and sand baths, and I like being close to the ground, where all the interesting stuff is happening, even if I am really bad at being on the ground. I figure that they are like those sparrows you always see around school yards, snagging food when no one is looking, and running away with the crumbs. It's the place where you can get the good dirt on people, too. I think Hokori is a busy body that sticks their nose into everything, and tries to be helpful and supportive, but has a real hard time just trying to keep up. Hokori is a shirt and shorts type of person, as no body would trust the klutz into not falling in the mud, and ruining their nice clothes. I think that people are just not sure if Hokori is a boy or a girl, and that is just fine with Hokori, as they have enough going on without that kind of worry.

Now, Character Creation is done, but there are still more details to cover. Everthing is powered by Wonder and Feelings. You get those by Creations. You start with a connection between you and the Town at a level 2, and with each player, to on or two points. You spend Wonder to use your powers and to change into a Human, and you use your Feelings to succeed when you might have otherwise failed, or to reduce the chance for you to Surprise someone.

I someday hope to see Hokori or this game in action, and I do look forward to getting the rest of the supplements someday.

Name:Hokori True Form : Bird Age : Appears 12

Powers: Little Bird (0) Wings (2) Wind Song (4) Gifts of Wings (8) Rumors (10) Down Pillow (12)

Weakness : Eyeball    -- Flock (14) : Additional Power Delicate  -- Tranquility (6) Chatter -- Listen Up (4)

Henge 2 Animal 1 Adult 2 Child 3

[mstelevisionccc]

Character 2 : Teens in Space

So, a while ago, I had a chance to play Kids on Bikes, which is this game's predecessors. It's a little fun weird game that is inspired by ET and Goonies, and other kid media stuff. I wasn't sure I liked the game, but I was looking for alternative Sci-Fi games at the time, because I was deeply unsatisfied with Stars without Numbers, and when this game came around, I decided I needed to at least check it out. What I found was something that was not quite the same experience.

Teens in Space presents a couple of different faces, and they feel like they conflict with each other. When building yours ship, they ask if you want to play it up as serious or silly, and the system tries really hard to present both aspects in character choices, but it still tends to lean heavier into the Dark Militant Fantasy angle. A lot of the art in the book is influenced by the Clone Wars and Rebels series, and it's easy to tell. Still, when you get to the alien races, there are a lot of interesting choices!

The first part of creating a game is to Create a Ship. This is something that the party talks about, and during this part, you talk about the kind of adventures you are going to have, and how some of the things look in the game. As I am the only player at the moment, I'm just going to make some arbitrary choices.

I imagine that our crew is out doing a sight seeing tour of the galaxy. They are young, they got an allowance, and they are unsupervised. How could things go wrong? As such, it's not necessarily a serious game. They might get involved in local troubles, and they might get in over their heads, but it's not like they are saving the galaxy or anything on purpose. They're just trying to see something cool, meet interesting new life forms, and form bonds.

At this point, every person gets to add a little bit to the Ship that is basically their part of the ship, and help make the experience special. I decide that maybe we should have some EVA Suits, so we can go out and repair the ship or visit other ships.

There is an extensive ship creation section which I'm going to skip now, and just say that we are flying a Scout Ship, a small and maneuverable ship with good sensor ranges that can get into trouble by being just in the wrong place.  We are going to say what makes it special is that it can go between systems without a Jump Gate, a mode of transit that is more common in the worlds. It's riskier as it doesn't work through entanglement, but it let's you get places without having to go through traffic checks.

The game then asks you basic questions for the campaign. How much space is explored (We're going to say it's a fairly developed galaxy), and how much of it has been seen by the ship (Maybe a good 1/3rd? All the local stuff, for sure), and what conflicts has it been in (Let's say that it was stuck in a Megacorp war, where it was looking for rogue shipments and mercenary bands, at one time).

Then it asks how the teens got ahold of the ship. I always like the default answer that one of the kids' parents are either rich or they just happen to have a ship in the hanger that they don't use much, and they kids go take a Joyride in it. I don't see why I should make it any different here. Then the question of how well maintained it is comes up.

It then asks the questions of What is Well Maintained on the Ship, and what is basically falling apart. So, obviously, the Jump Drive is in tip top shape. It is experimental, and it's finicky, and if you have one, you just dote on it, because it's a rare drive, right? I figure that the thing that is not holding together well is the Galley. It's old equipment, the hydroponifier just doesn't get as warm as it should as quickly as it should, and no one makes food that fits it's receptacle anymore. Cooking is just a chore.

... I honestly might say the Artificial Gravity, but no. Food is important, especially when you're a teen. I'm keeping that one.

Then it asks about the story that everyone has heard about this ship. Let's say that it was the ship that discovered the Pulsar Dyson Network around Pyrocor-C, which pushed the whole galaxy forward into a new age of prosperity. (I mean, it's no Kessel Run, but it'll do)

Then we are finally asked to name the ship. I think we can call it Nonu Shirase (After a Japanese Antarctic Explorer, because why not?).

With that all out of the way, you then get to build your character. You select your Species and Character Trope, answer a few questions about you and your crew, and then select some improvements.

Here is where there is a lot of fun, and you have a lot of choices for Aliens that go from tropey to weird. Today I am choosing to play a Bug.

I am going to play a Cimexean Explorer named Th'tin. Cimexeans are this Hive Mind Bug Race that looks a little like a cross between a Ant and a grasshopper. They got 4-8 eyes, and they all belong to a Hivemind, which has all the tasks organized by a Hiveleader. I think that Th'Tin is being a bit rebellious, and is leaving to get away from the Hivemind, because they are tired of being told to do things all the time, and just wants space to be who they are. They hate the expectations Hive life expects out of you. Furthermore, they are tired of being public all the time, and knowing what everyone else is feeling. It has gotten gross lately, and they just are not sure why it changed.

So the Trope you chose gives you your base dice for your abilities in the game, and those abilities are Brains, Brawn, Charm, Fight, Flight, and Grit. Each one of these abilities is given a dice to roll, and begin an Explorer, it gives my highest dice in Grit and my lowest one in Charm. The character is better at being willful and dodgy and thinking things out than they are at fighting or being strong, and for sure, he's not that good with talking to people.

It also asks a few questions, like How did it feel when you made your first discovery, and what made me go out to explore, and what advice did the Taskmaster give before I left. I figure that Th'tin was spurred to explore to basically try to get out of chores, and during that time, they ran into ... I don't know... Tasty Fruit that people hadn't discovered yet. The Taskmaster gave the advice to talk to people, and don't be afraid to ask for help, even if you don't get it, because others can not know what you are thinking, and that's not as good a thing as you think it is.

So the next step is that you need to invent a Fatal Flaw. This gives you chances to earn Adversity Tokens, which allows you to cheat the system when rolling dice. Here is where I might be asking advice from my fellow players. Part of me just wants to be Reluctant to ask fro help. Like, a stubborn one that wants to get things done alone, but that doesn't seem like a good team player kind of flaw. So I think the Fatal Flaw should be Susceptible to Temptation. Offer him something that he thinks is cool or something he wants will make him make bad decisions, and I think that is something that is more friendly to a group game.

The next part is about talking about the crew and how they got together, and I think I'm going to skip that part for now. I'd need other players, really. This basically is the step where you bond with the crew, and you describe a few problems that are between the players, and establish a rumor about the universe, and define your first adventure. Very typical stuff.

Last step is that you get to spend some Improvement Points to add some definition to your character and make them a little different. Whatever points you don't spend on your character, you can spend on the ship.

So, I think we'll start with buying High Flier. Hey, I got wings and can fly! I'm a bug!

I'll also take Scanner, as it lets me learn about Pressure Gauges, which are the timers of this game. When they max out, things happen, and this lets you know how much time is left to do things, roughly. I think it's a useful ability, because it lets us know what the GM really wants us to do.

I also will take Tough, because the Explorer is all about Grit, and just losing seems to be something that doesn't bother this Cimexean that much.

With 5 points left over, I decide to add a few more things to the ship. I think we'll go ahead and make the ship a little bit more tougher, like I am, and add a d6 to shields, and we'll give it a Rover, because what is cooler than one cool ship that can go around? A cool ship with a cool car.

So... That's it. That's the character. There is some rough rules for equipment, but I am not sure where to find the rules to say what you start with, so I'm skipping the issue for now. Here we are.

Grit d20 Flight d12 Brain d10 Brawn d8+1 Fight d6 Charm d4

Name: Th'Tic Pronouns : They/Them Species : Cimexean Trope : Explorer Fatal Flaw : Susceptible to Temptation

Bonuses Hive Mind Improvement (2 IP) Drawback: If issued a command by a hiveleader, they must make a grit check of 10 in order to refuse.

Ship Improvements : Sheilds D6 2 EVA Suits Rover

Personal Improvements : High Flier Scanner Tough Get a copy of your own here : https://renegadegamestudios.com/teens-in-space/

[mstelevisionccc]

Character 1: Fantasy Hero

When I was a little kid, when my parents were running the game conventions, we occasionally would visit a game club that dominated a nearby City Hall every weekend, and occasionally, they would hold raffles and sales and would sell old games out to raise money to keep the club going, and during one of these runs, I was gifted a copy of Fantasy Hero, which I was fascinated with, because it allowed you to do magic different than D&D. You could make whatever spell you wanted, and it would do whatever you wanted, and it could be cast in many different ways, and I was fascinated. I never had a chance to play it, but I would make characters with it for days. I don't know if any of them had been any good, and I've played the big daddy of Fantasy Hero (Champions)

It also was one of those games where you got to define the Fantasy you were playing. You weren't stuck with the D&D default, you could do whatever novelization or world that you could find, and model your game after that.

So, I am going to take this random figure that happens to be on my table today, and we're going to make an adventurer today. I got this Leonoid character on my table, that is armed with a Spear and a Shield. Let's go ahead and make her, and figure out what she is.

(You can get your own copy of the model here to print for your own (https://www.myminifactory.com/object/3d-print-female-leonin-warrior-with-spear-sword-and-shield-presupported-186096))

As luck would have it, there is a Package for Lion People inside the rules, and we're going to use that for the base of the character, to move things along. We are going to dance around with the numbers a bit so that I can hit the point costs and play with the times where I will need to change things.

I also am not going to spend a lot of time crafting a character, here. Barbarian seems to work here. Warrior from another land, uses armor differently, thinks differently. Barbarian works well, and has the math already done. We'll plug it in.

After Disadvantages, I start getting an idea of who this character is. She is escorting a runaway Royal Child, who she has no choice but to obey, and has a deep wanderlust. She is being chased by the King of her people, the father of the child, who just wants the child to return home. Or more precisely, the child is being hunted, she is just in the way because she can't order the child to do anything. Between that, and the Gnolls that gets her heckles raised, she keeps finding herself in a pickle.

We're going to name the character Komal, Order of the Kori.

With some points left over, I decide that the thing I really want is a Magic Item. It takes a few moments to think of one, but I think about things you would fear in the Savanna and in war, and it occurs to me being able to be protected from a wildfire or to walk through a burning building with a likelihood of not being harmed would be a valuable boon, so I create the Necklace of Fire Suppression. It requires a bit of concentration, it's a difficult magic to tame and call upon, even when it's in an item, but it may serve well in surprising times.

So, in the end, this is what we end up with.

5 Str 15 24 Dex 18 20 Con 20 16 Body 13 -1 Int 9 -1 Ego 9 2 Pre 12 0 Com 10

0 PD 3 0 ED 4 2 Speed 3  Phase 4, 8, 12 0 Rec 7 0 End 40 0 Stun 30

OCV 6  DCV 6 (8/10)

Attacks : Spear  3d6 KA

Defenses (Leather Plates & Sheild) PD 8 ED 9

Movement 8" Swim 2" H. Leap 3" V. Leap 5"

Powers & Equipment 0 Medium Spear 0 Ring Leather (Boiled Leather) 0 Wooden Shield 4 Running +2" 2 Leaping +2" 5 Nightvision 2 +1 to Smell/Taste Group Per/Rolls 8 Claws : HKA 1/2d6 reduced penetration 5 Tail, Extral Limb, Inherent, Limited Manipulation 24 Necklace of Fire Supression - Change Enviroment -12 Damage (Fire) Reduced Endrance (0 End + 1/2) (105 Active Points) OAF (-1) Independent (-2) Concertration (1/2 DC) (-1/2) (Real Cost 24)

Skills and Perks 4 CS - +2 OCV with Spear 10 CS - +2 DCV Vs with HTH Combat Attacks 2 KS Human Kingdoms 2 KS Flora and Fauna 2 Survival (Savannah) 4 WF: Common Melee Weapons, Common Missle Weapons 3 Acrobatics 12- 3 Tactics 10-

Limitation -15 Dependent NPC (Normal, Frequent, DNPC has useful non-combat position or skills) -20 Enrage (In Presence of Gnolls, Uncommon, 11- Recover 11-) -20 SL: Must Obey Royal Orders -20 -5 Unluck -10 Hunted (By King, Mildly Punish, Occasionally (8-=))

Total Cost = 145-70=75

[mstelevisionccc]

Introduction

So, John Wick does this thing, and it’s the Second Year that they are doing it.  They are calling it the Character Creation Challenge, where they will go through a different system each day during December, and make a new Character for a new RPG system. This year, I’m going to try to do the same.This will take a couple of different forms, but we are starting today! I got a list of games I’m going through, and we’ll do one for each of them! So, the List 1 Fantasy Hero 2 Teens in Space 3 Golden Sky Stories 4 Epyllion 5 Marvel Superheroes 6 Torg Eternity 7 Changeling the Lost 2E 8 Spirit of '77 9 Blades in the Dark 10 Alien 11: Fate: Grimore 12 Scum and Villiany 13 Savage Worlds : Big Apple Sewer Samurai 14 Thirsty Sword Lesbians 15 Torg Eternity 16 Monarchies of Mao 17 Trinity Coninuum : Aeon 18 Carirn RPG 19 Fate; Shadow of the Century 20 Stars without Number 21 The Strange 22 Starfinder 23 D6 Fantasy 24 Agaist the Dark Master 25 High Plains Samurai 26 OVA 27 Sentinel Comics 28 Myriad Song 29 Star Trek Adventures 30 Age of Steel 31 Age of Sigmar : Soulbound I rarely complete tasks like these, but let’s see how far I can get!