Lost in the fog

Third attempt for the win! After two meager attempts the last two years, I finally managed. Like most things that isn't a five minute job one day, it takes some structure and discipline to get done, even if it's a casual hobby thing. The list of character/system spread Runequest Glorantha (4) Vampire: the Masquerade 5e (4) Mutant: Hindenburg (4) Mörk Borg (4) Old School Essentials - Classic Fantasy (4) Alien RPG (4) Coriolis (4) Mothership RPG (1) Drakar och Demoner (1) Mutant: Undergångens Arvtagere (1)   Takeaways from creating 31 characters in a month Book formating/editing means so much. When you make a character, having all the info easily accessible gives you an immediate impression of how figuring out the game will be. Coriolis and M:UA have lots of information spread out across the whole book, but is really bad at giving page numbers and in M:UA's case create rules dependencies you find out when you make the character, and then not provide them. Then compare that wi...

 First M:UA Character This game, as far as I understand it, is based on the age old Swedish game Mutant. But is a prequel when it comes to time? And Mutant: Year Zero was based on the setting and published later, but is set before as a prequel. While Mutant: Hindenburg that I made characters for earlier in the challenge, is set after the metaplot/campaign of M:UA. I made my head spin writing that... I did read this book years ago, as it was reprinted as part of a Mutant: Year Zero kickstarter of some form (maybe even the Hindenburg one). And I remembered it as some kind of BRP/Runequest system offshoot. But I never got to play it, or even made a character. And as Mutant is my favorite setting/game as per now, I felt it as a fitting final character to do for this challenge. As per legal obligation to create a doctor that does not shy away from fisticuffs, and see how well that works out in the system. The game offers some options on how to create characters. I choose to roll charact...

 First Drakar och Demoner character Also known as Dragonbane in English. As I have the Swedish version that's the term language I will use. I played some DoD in my youth, when the game was released in Norwegian and someone had picked it up because they wanted to be rebels and not play D&D in Norwegian. Or something. The only thing I remember from that was that we were like 10 players, and it was a mix of Runequest and D&D. And it had ducks. So about as much practical experience that I had with Runequest. But the game has ducks, so I will make an angry duck. The rest is details. I will also make a note of not having actually read the rules book, so this will be a blind character creation. 1. Choose Släkte  Anka aka Duck. The book art is glorious! 2. Note Släktesformåga Vresig Simfötter So the being angry part is actually hard coded into the ducks, I just thought my memory was the player being an old Donald Duck :D 3. Choose Yrke Krigare 4. Choose age Ung. 5. Choose or r...

 Fourth Coriolis Character Rounding out the exploration/colonist group. With the explorer/colonist... 1. Choose Background Priviligerad førstkommen from Mira. 2. Choose Concept Explorator - Spejare. 3. Calculate Anseende 6. Background (6) + Concept (0). 4. Choose name and appearance Name: Sabah Appearance: Skyddsglasögon, fodrad kaftan 5. Allocate points to Grunnegenskaper Styrka: 2 Kyla: 4 Skärpa: 5 Känsla: 2  And there goes the last chance at having someone with good Anseende and good people skills... :) 6. Calculate Kroppspoeng and Stresspoeng Kroppspoeng: 6 Stresspoeng: 7 7. Allocate points to Ferdigheter Allmenne Kraftprov Manipulera Närkamp Rörlighet Skjutvapen (2) Smyga  (2) Spaning (3) Överlevnad (3) Kvalifiserede Befäl Datadjinn (1) Horisontens kultur Medikurgi Mystiska krafter Pilot Teknologi Vetenskap (1)  Covered some of the wits-based skills that wasn't covered already. Will be locked into increasing stuff like Vetenskap, Datadjinn and Medikurgi I would ...

 Third Coriolis Character Once a party is started it must be finished... 1. Choose Background  Zenit Stationär from Coriolis in the Kua system. 2. Choose Concept Pilot - Förare. 3. Calculate Anseende 4. Stationär (4) + Concept (0). 4. Choose name and appearance Name: Dunyana. Appearance: Stålgrå ögon, mörkgrön kaftan. 5. Allocate points to Grunnegenskaper Styrka: 3 Kyla: 5 Skärpa: 3 Känsla:3  Looking at the concept skills and thinking about spreading out character competency a bit. 6. Calculate Kroppspoeng and Stresspoeng Kroppspoeng:8 Stresspoeng: 6   7. Allocate points to Ferdigheter Allmenne Kraftprov (1) Manipulera Närkamp Rörlighet (1) Skjutvapen (2) Smyga Spaning Överlevnad (2) Kvalifiserede Befäl Datadjinn Horisontens kultur Medikurgi (1) Mystiska krafter Pilot (3) Teknologi Vetenskap  A bit spread out, not sure the value of having 4 dice in things, compared to starting with stuff with 6+ dice in and then spend xp on new stuff. 8. Randomize Icons and and ...

 Second Coriolis Character So the last one burned me a bit on the game, but I still want to see what a group would look like. Second thought is that I should look over the ship crew position skills when I allocate skill points, as the remaining positions all require a skill you have to be trained in to even use. Third thought is that if I GM this I might prefer to keep the game on a stranded colony or something, same with Alien, to avoid all the ship stuff. Traveller has more appealing space stuff to me, but that game is made for accountants so might not apply to other people. 1. Choose Background Xinghur Humanit from Coriolis (stationär upbringing) in the Kua system. 2. Choose concept Skeppsarbetare - Stuvare. 3. Calculate Anseende 1. 4 base, minus 2 for Humanit, minus 1 for Concept. 4. Choose name and appearance Name: Hameed. [The concepts does have some name suggestions, didn't see that for first.] Appearance: Sweaty face, tattooed arms.  5. Allocate points to Grunnegenskap...

 First Coriolis character Third Year Zero Engine game... I have an addiction. This is also a science fiction game like Alien, but has it's own ways of doing stuff. A bit wiser after forgetting that Alien didn't use damage from pushing, I also read up on some rules from Coriolis. There is no ability damage from pushing here either, and no general ability damage from attacks -  but rather physical and mental health trackers. So having a 2 in something is not that bad in this game either. As a thing one has to do in this game not related, you are supposed to make a group concept (that gives you a group talent, among other things) that gives you some tips on what  to take as careers for your characters. I am not going to go through the group decision hoops, but as a general concept the party will be an exploration/colonist group. After the challenge is done, I am thinking maybe play around with all these group things that games has. Like for example work out this group concep...

 Fourth Alien RPG character Just rounding out the party... 1. Choose your career Roughneck 2. Spend points on your attributes Strength: 5 Agility: 3 Wits: 2 Empathy: 4 Guess it's a mirror of how I make the medics.. 3. Spend points on your skills Heavy Machinery: 2 Close Combat: 3 Stamina: 2 Ranged Combat: 0 Mobility: 0 Piloting: 0 Observation: 0 Survival: 0 Comtech: 0 Command: 1 Manipulation: 1 Medical Aid: 1  Can do all the Strength skills and do some social skills, most likely union related. 4. Choose your career talent The Long Haul. Means one can push a lot, use this and then be more sparse. Or just hold onto a time where a panic would be horrible. 5. Choose your name Kip Tranter. 6. Decide on your appearance Filthy boots that clomp when you walk. 7. Decide on your personal agenda Downtime matters. If you can grab a can of Aspen beer (or even Souta Dry, though only if you're desperate) and some time alone, you're happy. 8. Choose your buddy and rival None picked. 9. Pic...

Third Alien RPG Character More speedy scifi character creation. 1. Choose your career Pilot. Aka the most important character in the group. 2. Spend points on your attributes Strength: 3 Agility: 5 Wits: 4 Empathy: 2  Under the assumption that there isn't actually any attribute damage.   3. Spend points on your skills Heavy Machinery: 0 Close Combat: 0 Stamina: 0 Ranged Combat: 3 Mobility: 1 Piloting: 3 Observation: 1 Survival: 0 Comtech: 2 Command: 0 Manipulation: 0 Medical Aid:0 4. Choose your career talent Reckless The other two options were just way too niche. 5. Choose your name Fiona O'Neill. 6. Decide on your appearance Chews gum. Was that from Aliens? I need to rewatch that... 7. Decide on your personal agenda You're a loner, always happier when you can do a task without relying on others. 8. Choose your buddy and rival None chosen. 9. Pick your gear and signature item Signature Items: Pilot Shades M4A3 service pistol MK.50 compression suit $600.   10. Roll for ca...

 Second Alien RPG Character After the first one, I looked up more options. The archtypes the game has is not that different from archtypes in other YZE games. They only have some different dressing to them. So these Alien characters might end up eerily similiar to the Hindenburg characters :) 1. Choose your career Medic. Not having a character with some kind of healing capability in a game where people get knocked out all the time is no good. 2. Spend points on your attributes Strength: 4 Agility: 3 Wits: 3 Empathy: 4 With every Alien RPG character having 14 points to set out, all my spreads will be one 5 three 3s, or two 4s and two 3s. This is a bit dull maybe? But better to me that the Hindenburg doctor that would need 3 different high stats to function well with the close combat medic. 3. Spend points on your skills Heavy Machinery: 0 Close Combat: 1 Stamina: 1 Ranged Combat: 0 Mobility: 2 Piloting: 0 Observation: 2 Survival: 0 Comtech: 0 Command: 1 Manipulation: 0 Medical Aid: ...

 First Alien RPG character While Mutant: Year Zero is my main Free League love, Alien RPG and Coriolis may be join second. So here we go, let's start making some characters for those. I will make this Alien character with campaign play in mind. Cinematic play seems more relevant and interesting for playing this game, but campaign is better for people that don't like the conflicting interest/pvp risk of the cinematic mode. And cinematic mode tends to get the premade adventures with characters already made so a bit pointless  to have the player make those anyway. 1. Choose your career. Colonial Marshal. Being the sheriff on some colony has such a wild west vibe to it, I can't pass on it. 2. Spend point on your attributes 14 points spread out, 2 min 4 max (except Key Attribute). Strength: 3 Agility: 3 Wits: 5 Empathy: 3 See Mutant: Hindenburg character creation for my hesitancy to take a 2 to get a 4. 3. Spend points on your skills 10 Points to spread out. 3 max for career ski...

 Fourth Vampire: The Masquerade 5e Character I wasn't sure I would make more, but let's complete a coterie then... 1. Core Concept The weakest of all possible ideas for a character - one that is different from the others in the coterie. There's a Gangrel (mostly physical), Brujah (mostly physical) and a Tremere (mostly brains). So a socialite would be nice. Some kind of clubber, a rich man's son or daughter who spends all the cash on social life and status. And only wants the nice things (which includes people). And tried to catch the wrong person one time... Do female, call the character Ayla. I guess this will be another stereotype. I'm horrible at stereotypes in Vampire it seems... 2. Clan and Sire  Clan Toreador, Aisha the Sire. 3. Attributes One attribute starts at 4, three at 3, four at 2 and one at 1. The social attributes are the ones I typically see as the Toreador sphere. As the idea of checking Disciplines for what Attributes are going to get used for the...

 Fourth Runequest Glorantha character of the 2024 Challenge [Fifth Overall] This will be the last RQG character of the challenge. Actually have a full group, never would have expected I would have the stamina to make 4 of these for one challenge... Fundamentals/Concept Continuation of the "not do duplicates" plan the others followed. So cannot come from Sartar, Esrolia, Grazelands or Prax. Cults cannot be Humakt, Ernalda, Yelm and Orlanth. Occupations cannot be Farmer, Healer, Light Cavalry nor Heavy Cavalry. Step 1: Homeland Next on the list of homelands is Lunar Tarsh. Not entirely sure the rest of the group would be happy to have one? Gives the following Passions: Love (Family): 60% Loyalty (City): 60% Loyalty (Red Emperor): 60%   Step 2: Family History To balance this out a bit, mother and grandmother favored family. Parents were scribes. 1561: Grandmother born. 1582: Mother born. Grandmother was present at the Battle of Grizzly Peak, survived. Grandmother then was part o...

 Fourth OSE character of the challenge Backup to the third character. 1. Roll Ability Scores Take the set not chosen by the third character, which was: Strength: 9 Intelligence: 10 Wisdom: 9 Dexterity: 5 Constitution: 5 Charisma:12   2. Choose a Class Cleric (again). Let's face it, the stats for this character is shit. Has a fair chance at just being thrown under the bus if there is something really dangerous somewhere, and would volunteer to always go first.   3. Adjust Ability Scores None. While I could lower CHA, it wouldn't lead to anything extra from WIS.   4. Note Ability Scores Strength: 9 [Melee: None | Open Doors: 1-in-6] Intelligence: 10 [Spoken Languages: Native | Literate] Wisdom: 9 [Magic Saves: None | No XP Bonus] Dexterity: 5 [AC: -2 | Missile: -1 | Initative: -1] Constitution: 5 [Hit Points: -2] Charisma:12 [None]  -2 HP and -2 AC, yeah no. 5. Note Attack Values  THAC0 19 [0].   6. Note Saving Throws and Class Abilities Saving Throws D:...

 Third OSE character of the challenge Time for a second set of characters. Hopefully some characters not Magic-Users this time...    1. Roll Ability Scores Set 1 Strength: 9 Intelligence: 10 Wisdom: 9 Dexterity: 5 Constitution: 5 Charisma:12 Set 2 Strength: 6 Intelligence: 13 Wisdom: 11 Dexterity: 9 Constitution: 13 Charisma: 6 Both of these are somewhat iffy with some low scores. But the second obviously has some 13s so would be the main. 2. Choose a Class Cleric. A bit of an obvious magic-user, but a party of just magic-users would not be the best. 3. Adjust Ability Scores Reduce INT by 4 to increase WIS by 2. Gives some bonus XP and everything that helps against magic is good, no? 4. Note Ability Scores Strength: 6 [Melee: -1 | Open Doors: 1-in-6] Intelligence: 9 [Spoken Languages: Native | Literate] Wisdom: 13 [Magic Saves: +1 | 5% XP Bonus] Dexterity: 9 [No Modifiers] Constitution: 13 [Hit Point: +1] Charisma: 6 [NPC Reactions: -1 | Max Retainers: 3 | Loyalty: 6] ...

 Second OSE character of the challenge I laid out how I would do OSE character creation in a game I ran, so I will continue with that way. This means making a "backup" for the previous character. 1. Roll Ability Scores Since this was the backup character, I'll have to use the unused set from the previous chargen. Which was: Strength: 8 Intelligence: 13 Wisdom: 11 Dexterity: 12 Constitution: 12 Charisma: 14 Nothing wrong with the stats. 2. Choose a Class Magic-User. As a backup character, don't see why I shouldn't. Slightly different stat array, could be a talky wizard even. Not sure how fun it would be to die as a magic-user and then do another one right after but eh. 3. Adjust Ability Scores To get anything out of adjusting, would have to use 6 points from other stats to get to 16 INT. While I could technically reduce WIS, DEX and CON to get that 16 INT without losing any modifiers, still... Not being sure how often ability scores get tested in the game, I am not...

 First OSE character of the Challenge I bought pretty much the entire line of Old School Essentials (bare the sold out boxes) during the OGL panic last year. It's still near the top of my list of games I want to try, so will make an honest attempt to run (or worm my way into a game as a player) this year. But it's been a while since I made characters for actual old D&D and not retooled OSR games like Mörk Borg and Mothership. I was considering doing this fast and dirty without much input about things like I did with Mörk Borg, but since there's some choice involved here based on previous actions I'll do a more thorough post. As an aside, I am using the Classic Fantasy ruleset and not the Advanced Fantasy ruleset for this. If making 4 of this is fun, I might do an Advanced Fantasy batch too.   1. Roll Ability Scores The game is based on rolling 3d6 in order of stats (so you can't choose where things go). Something I have used for similiar games in the past after ...

 Third Vampire: The Masquerade 5e Character Let's give this another shot then. So far creating Vampire characters has somehow killed more and more of my interest in the game, so we will just have to see if I can cure myself by doing it more? Yeah, sounds like the candy paradox... 1. Core Concept Besides the Brujah, the other Clan I am mostly drawn towards if I were to play is Tremere. And there are two things I think about when it comes to Tremere; sorcery and hierarchy structure from hell. So going heavy on occultism and a stickler for tradition, routine and systems is the baseline thing here. Still using Istanbul/Constantinople as a baseline setting, that I still need work on. Name is Nikolaos. 2. Clan and Sire Clan Tremere, Alexandros the Sire. 3. Attributes One attribute starts at 4, three at 3, four at 2 and one at 1. The mental attributes are the ones I see as typical Treme stuff. A brief look at the Blood Sorcery part of the discipline chapter, lists Strength as an Attribute...