John and I made characters today. You can watch his video and then come back for my take on it.

A simple system for a simple mind today. I’m at a whiskey tasting and I’m trying to get this published quickly before I start drinking.

My character today is a caravan trader named Mau.

The Character

Mau is a merchant and physician, having worked off his indenture as a servant to the caravan doctor. He has known his friend from Vance, a merchant princess, for most of his life. When she approached him about running goods between Vance and Anger, he jumped at the chance.

If it wasn’t for the notorious bandit, Bori, it would be there easiest job ever. That bastard has robbed him more times than he can count.

The Experience

Other than some indexing issues in the book (that I hear is corrected in the next addition) it’s a pretty simple and easy process to make a character. Seems like a fun world to play a game in.

Off to taste whiskey!

Spheres of Magic is an alternate look at magic in D&D. Instead of spell slots and a spell list based on a class, you choose Spheres of Magic, each with their own base abilities and talents. These basic abilities always have a version that can be done for free. You can spent spell points to augment those abilities in various ways. As you increase in power, you gain access to more talents and spheres, giving you more options as a spell caster.

Although I own their books for Magic (and the more recent Spheres of Might for martial characters), they also publish all of their material for free on their wiki and on Drivethru RPG. They have versions for PF1, 3.5, and now 5E. I own all three.

I will explain some of this as I show the character for today, a Warforged Outlander who has escaped from his makers. As is their way, he is simply named Ward.

Character Sheet: Page 1 and Page 2

The Character

Ward has wandered far since his escape and before. He was created to deal with simple threats around his maker’s home. His destructive blasts and protective wards were useful in stopping things like animals or bandits that wandered into the compound. He was as happy as he could be, knowing no other life.

Until he realized he was a slave. When he had seen something outside through the gate one day, he attempted to follow and was hit with a shock by one of the makers. He was threatened and hurt, and suddenly became afraid of the makers. The next chance he got, he broke through the gate, and fought his way to safety. In the escape, he was damaged and now his magic hurts him if he augments a spell when he casts it, so he has to resist the urge to let it solve all his problems.

They were not ready for his escape that day and chased him for months until Ward finally lost them. Now, he wanders the lands, no other goal than to help free anyone that has been enslaved and to avoid the old masters until he is strong enough to come back and overthrow them.

The Experience

TLDR; I love this magic system, especially in 5E. Its the core D&D rules with the ability to create a very distinct spell caster, if you want. Have fun!

TL Part:

I had the concept of a warforged mage that was forced to fight for his makers. He escaped – how to be determined in game – and is a wandering wizard who acts like Robin Hood. That changed through character creation as I was making choices about talents and class and such.

He ended as an Incanter, the generic “sphere caster” class for a pure caster. I took the Outlander Background and choose the Kineticist as his Tradition. This choice changed the way I could cast spells profoundly. Kineticists were born with the ability to harness and channel destructive energy from within. It moves your Key Casting Ability (usually Int, Wis or Cha for caster) to Constitution because now, to use a spell point, you have to spend the same amount in HP (reducing your maximum) and roll 1d6 every turn until you roll a 6 before you can spend them again at all.

You also get the boons of Fortified Casting and Overcharge. The first is why you get to use Con and Overcharge lets you take a level of exhaustion (as part of casting) to increase your proficiency bonus by one for the next casting you do.

You see how neat that is? Ward has to be played differently, because he can kill himself by casting spells!

If you want the same feel as the normal casters, they have the a Traditional Magic tradition that simulates it, but still uses sphere effects. You can even create a tradition of your own, as they created a system to help you make it. And it can exist along side the standard spell system without any difficulty.

This is the reason I like the system, as I like personal magic use and this can create very unique spellcasters. It is a wonderful GMs tool as well, if you want to limit the ways of casting magic to only a few types, and have completely different traditions for groups that they meet on the way. You could create Avatar-style Benders with this system fairly easy with Mental Focus and Somatic Casting x2. Now you need a high level of discipline and skill in the martial arts to cast a spell. Then just choose Elementalist or Incanter, depending on your take.

The system does require knowing a decent amount about it (what the spheres/talents are and how they interact with each other) to make a good character, so I recommend you use the Quick Builds on your first go at it. After you have played it, you can see how things might fit together more and can rebuild or create another character.

That is what I do with my PCs after the first few sessions: just fix any of those synergy-related mistakes you made when you didn’t know how to play and let’s get back to the fun! I really hate video games make you earn a respec unless I get one for free. Being penalized for not knowing the system is a huge turnoff in games for me. If I want to play a certain character, I want them optimized for that. Not the same as min-maxing, just making sure that the cool things I want to do are supported by the stats on the sheet. I am OK with losing something else on the sheet to get the character I want, but I DO want a respec before the campaign gets set in, you know?

Alright. I am tired. I will let you go now. Have fun!

This is another co-creating with John Wick. This might be more fun than anything I could write. Feel free to come back when you are done and see what I remembered from filming.

I forgot to get a picture of the character sheet on this one. 🙁

The Character

Invictus the Mighty came from the city in the mists and for 1270 years old, he doesn’t look a day over 900. You can’t not notice his sculpted hair that is braided into his knee-length beard. Where does the hair stop and the beard begin? No one knows.

His only goal is looking to be a capital-H-Hero, and so he takes risks to make sure he will be. So naturally, he hangs around with a Spy that is trying to save the world. Why? Doesn’t matter, as long as they remember him as a Hero.

The Experience

It was a simple system that I think I might use some of to start any roleplaying game. You can collaborate some cool backstories with it and I had fun in character creation. That can’t be said for a lot of games.

Still feeling a little low today, but I managed to get this one done. Had several appointments that I had to keep, but I got this done.

This game is also by Free League (Twilight 2000,Mutant Zero), so I guess its safe to say I am a fan? Anyway, I chose to use the Legends and Adventures book, which has a more life path oriented character creation. About halfway through, I realized I was making Willow Ufgood. lol.

I named my Halfling Sorcerer Brollo Bright, as I like alliteration. Fight me.

Character Sheet

The Character

Brollo grew up as a the Baker’s son and learned all about the process as her apprentice. When he was younger, the village Elders approached his parents to share that he had the Sorcerer’s Mark and was destined to be a great one. Brollo began training with the Sorcerers at once, but still made sure he did his work at the store. He did not want to let his mother do all the work alone.

Eventually, his mother suggested he leave to make his fortune. She had saved a map that his absent father had left her to buried treasure he had left behind in his adventuring days. Brollo found and dug it up to find quite a few silver’s worth of jewels and coins. This was enough to outfit himself to do something bigger.

As the magic he had learned required him to be in mountains or caves (Path of the Stone), he headed out to the nearby mountains to seek out adventure.

The Experience

This system is, as more modern ones are, severely lacking in the solo character generation area. There are several cool random events to help tie the players together, in addition to writing relationships with each other. I would have worked that part into this write-up, but alas, I was alone today. I mean, finding your adventuring party while plundering the same old ruins sounds like a fun way to meet!

I am feeling a little low today, so I decided on something easier for me to make.

Today’s character is One of Five (known as Juan to most people). He is a liberated Borg. I made the character with this online character creator made by Modiphious, the maker of the game.

Character Sheet

The Character

Juan was raised on a frontier colony of artists and philosophers. He tended to not be interested in the art and culture until the day the Borg came. Everything he knew was taken from him, and because they were not warriors, they were quickly assimilated. Many years went by until a Federation starship attacked and disabled his Cube. He was liberated from the collective and through rehabilitation, remembered who he was before the Borg.

He joined Star Fleet and went to the academy to become a Security officer, intent on destroying the Borg. Over time, he learned that it was more important to protect his new family, than it was to focus on a pointless vendetta. He eventually became the First Officer on a ship that he now calls home.

If Star Fleet felt he was worth it, then he would dedicate his new life to helping others get that chance as well. He would liberate everyone he could, Borg or not.

The Experience

This is a simple system to make a character, although you need to think about your values carefully. They have a mechanical effect in the game and it is a significant one.

Other than that, I was mostly looking for an easy completion to this challenge today, as I am not well. I feel a bit better completing it, however, so there you are.

I forgot to actually post this yesterday. Oops.

My kickstarter arrived recently for this game, so I made a character and see what it looks like. Also, I had a buddy (John Wick) participate, as he is still waiting on his copy to arrive. Feel free to watch that video and watch the process.

My character is James “Jimmy” Bachman, who met his best buddy Oscar Turner )john’s character) in college.

Character Sheet

The Character

James and Oscar lived within a mile of each other and never met until College. They met in orientation, where they happened to be in line together. They both decided to go into the CIA; Oscar went into intelligence and James gravitated to Sniper. From there they were inseparable until James dropped out to head into the military – one of his other colleague thought it would be a good idea.

After a term of that, he decided he missed his buddy and went back to the Agency to work with Oscar again. A few years after that, War broke out and the BTO (Bachman-Turner Overdrive) did their best to survive. They had the skills, but they were in war torn Europe now, with nothing but their backpacks, a few firearms and bicycles. Oscar felt they could make it home somehow, and Oscar was the only one James could trust.

So here they are on bicycles or on foot, working their way back to the USA. They had no idea what they would find their, but that wasn’t going to stop them. They were going Home.

The Experience

I really like this creation system overall. It has some issues, but it was a fun process and I created a neat character from the life path system they provide.

The one negative is the indexing. They reference a few things that they had not yet shown you how to handle and no page reference to do there. The life path process assumes you already know how to make skill rolls, but it is not explained how until after character creation in the book.

Also, they have everyone roll for War breaking out and aging separately, and it created quite a disparity in age when war broke out. So, we just started about halfway through rolling one die for them and applying the result to both of us. It seemed to work well for us. Small flaws, and not enough to make me dislike the process, but they existed.

I do like that they made sure every character has Range Combat skill regardless of your life path. It is the first required skill you take when you enter the military – which every character does before its over – so you won’t be unable to shoot a gun when the time comes. In this game, that is important.

It was a lot more fun with someone else — which is a common theme in character creation — so if you want to play it, I recommend you make characters as a group. It takes a little longer, as you might need to wait for someone to make some choices on skills and where their career is going to go.

I had completely forgotten until this morning (and after I already started a character in another game) that I was going to be making a character tonight for the 7th Sea game we had planned. doh!

So, I am using the character from there, a Montaigne Sorcerer by the name of René Jean-Luc Lievremont.

The Character

René was the son of a farmer who lost his mind when René first Pulled. He sent René to a Sorcerer to be “trained” but he knew it was to get rid of him. His father did not want a Sorcerer in the family – some sort of superstition. It didn’t matter, as René went anyway and learned the basics of the Art. Eventually, he left to pursue Fortune and Glorious Fame to work its way back to his father’s ears. He took his dad’s musket, as a reminder of why he left. René loves to hit people with it or throw it at things, imagining its his dad. He rarely fires it anymore.

René is a thief, but one who doesn’t like the risks that normally come with it. Second Story work is for the amateur; Privateering was the way to go. He hooked up with a Captain who valued his talents, became the Quartermaster on a ship called – no shit – the Otter Nonsense. There is no doubt that this is an Omen for the future that René might get rich, but it will definitely cost him his sanity.

Still, there are worse places to be than being followed and fired upon by a Vodacce Galleon because he has their daughter on board. The daughter who he found at sea in a dinghy clutching a note, along with a dead Knight of the Rose and Cross. Said dinghy was floating next to a flaming ship that would not allow itself to extinguish, regardless of the sand and water used. Oh, and she doesn’t remember anything and she’s a Fate Witch.

So, yeah. The flaming ship was sunk, the daughter was picked up and the Otter Nonsense carried on its way. A little drama — and fire — later, he found himself here, pursued by the family because he want to help this girl.

The Character Sheet

The Experience

There was more to the story of René, but that is the overview of what happened to him. The rest of the crew had some fun experiences along the way. One was even in love with the villain and let her shoot him in the chest! Pretty cool.

Swashbuckling was definitely had, and I had fun. The experience was enjoyable and I think the character will be fun to play should we play again.

But, I built a generalist in a game that kinda works best with specialties. I have a lot of options, but without hero points being spent, I don’t have a lot of dice to roll. I built a sidekick and a plot twist, but I DO think its fun to be called René and I love his backstory, I just decided. I have always loved the French. 🙂

If I play again, I am playing a duelist, or an Knight of the Rose and Cross. I think I would enjoy that much more in this game.

I am mostly following John Wick’s 31 day Challenge, but today I decided to do a different game. Fantasy Age is the Generic System that was first the Dragon Age RPG, which was featured on Tabletop.

I enjoy this system, although it has some flaws, but I have not made a character for me – I was always the GM. I decided on a gnomish mage who is so obsessed with forbidden knowledge, that he sometimes forgets all else. Tik Kelbon, is his name.

The Character

Tik Kelbon could not sit still once he learned of the existence of the Soul Arcana, spells that can manipulate one’s very essence. Perhaps raise the dead or even moving the soul to another body or object! Not that he wanted to such things, but imaging how it would help the world.

He had off towards the deep desert, where the Tome of the Soul was rumoured to be found. He had provisions enough for a long trip on his horse, and water for some time. He had his crew together at the Inn of the Rat on the edge of the dunes. Once they were rested for the night, they would set out.

Now the task of getting there and getting the Tome without the others knowing what he sought. They might not want anyone to have that knowledge. Well. he’s gotten this far without anyone knowing; he can make it the rest of the way. He will know soon enough.

Character Sheet

The Experience

Fantasy AGE is an interesting system. I watched the tabletop episode while I made this character to get in the mood. The system is simple, although the book is not organized very well. I had to jump about a bit to get the character made. They had a list to make it helpful, but there was a bit of searching to get the details. Still, I got it done.

Borrowed the book for this one, as I couldn’t find it. Day 5 will be out shortly, once I finish it. Almost caught up!

The Character

Yangus tries to forget before he was Freed from the facility he was brought up in. As a Maine Coon, he was a big cat, and those cages weren’t designed for him, and now he avoids small enclosed spaces. His mutations weren’t so obvious that he couldn’t pass as a cat, unless you got a close look at his paws, as they were closer to human hands than cat. He can talk some, but he has a thick Cat accent.
He has been running from place to place ever since he escaped, one step ahead of organization for a few years now, but they do seem to have some way to track him that he can’t figure out. He got the low-jack chip out of his head after breaking into a doctor’s office for some tools, but they still track him down if he stays in one place for more than about a month. So, every few weeks, Yangus ventures off into the wilderness to find the next town. Not the best life, but at least he is free.

Page One and Page Two

The Experience

Playing a mutant cat with psionics and a partial human appearance is just the kind of experience I enjoy. I was thinking of Rocket Raccoon as I made him, and I think it helped the process. Most of what is on the sheet is randomly rolled, as you did in the 80s, but I think it would be a fun character to play once connected with a group. With the caveat, that I would likely want to use another system, as Palladium isn’t ideal.