Swords of the Serpentine - Kumisbir Beyyenay, nasty business impersonated

Onto the fourth and last member of the mercenary gang: Kumisbir Beyyenay.

He was found as a child, crawling alone across the prairie of Votavni. The tribe that found him first thought that his family might have been victims of an ambush. The trackers never found anything, though – the trail the toddler had left was surprisingly long, but just vanished at one point. The kid was taken in and raised as one of the tribe’s children. Over time, the nearly inevitable happened – strange things around Kumisbir, prophecies told, and it became clear the child was touched by the gods. Fast forward a few years, and you could see teenage Kumsibir legging it as fast as possible to escape a life he didn’t want. But he still loved his tribe, and to this day he has not told anyone about the prophecies, or what was planned for him. Kumsibir has become an infamous mercenary, far away from home. That was several decades ago.

What would a band of misfits be without a strange older sorcerer? So, here he is, Quiet, Curmudgeonly, Wily, Cowardly, and above all Loyal companion of Vera, Henrique, and Hieronimo. Well, and Coba, though he hasn’t quite figured that mystery out yet – see Vera’s entry for more on that. He is the one companion who has some residual nagging feelings when he interacts with their new friend, though. 

For him, best in life are:

• A warm, soft meal.
• Striking an enemy from behind.
• A night under the open sky, ideally with song and wine.

He has 12 Morale and 6 Health. His Investigative Abilities are Servility 1, Taunt 2, Corruption 4, Forgotten Lore 2, Leechcraft 1, and Prophecy 2. As for his General Abilities, he makes do with Bind Wounds 4, Preparedness 8, Stealth 4, and Sorcery 12. His Allies are Outlanders and Mercenaries (each at 1), but he also doesn’t like people from Votavni (Outlanders -1). 

He learned his Sorcery in his youth, and his sphere from them is still Life. He has grown, of a sort, since then, and learned to manipulate Curses, Weapons, and - mostly due to an ill-conceived bet with a minor god of war - Hair. Since that weird event he has learned that it is hilarious to strangle enemies with their own beards, so there is that. 

Iconic features that make him very recognizable are:

• A badly bent back.
• Talismans, colorful bands, herbs, and tinctures. All for show.
• A few yellow teeth, the ones who remain.
• A piercing gaze filled with scorn, and some tiny spark of mischief,
• A rusty dagger.

And he also has a sheet.

And with that, the challenge has been met.

Swords of the Serpentine - Hieronimo Magnotta, lucky mercenary leader

Coming near the end of the challenge, and I still have a party to finish – Vera and Henri still need two companions. Time to wrap up the challenge by wrapping up the Swords of the Serpentine band of mercenaries. Today, let us look at their unofficial leader Hieronimo Magnotta.

Hieronimo is a child of the city, the son of a far too large and far too poor family who saw the writing on the wall pretty early. He took careful note when his older siblings already entered lives of working for a pittance for those who own the city, and for a while, Hieronimo had done the same. He had a knack for working as a guard. And then he discovered a knack for letting people into his boss's house, taking a cut of the results, and then leaving the city as fast as he could. He had lined up a place as a sailor on a boat leaving the city in the morning. Sadly, his luck had run out, and he nearly ended up as merchandise when that boat was captured by pirates. But then he was lucky again, and the pirates decided to recruit all able men to fill gaps in their ranks. 

The next few years continued in the same vein – bad luck, then a longer streak of amazing luck, cut short by bad luck… Hieronimo slowly got a reputation, along with an illustrious series of careers. Pirate, then prisoner, then soldier, then barman, beggar, thief, smuggler, merchant, bandit, and then finally mercenary – Hieronimo has stopped expecting stability, accept that his luck was as crazy as people said, and decided to roll the dice. Every day. Any time he isn’t sure about something, he looks to something to give him a sign. Often dice, cards, or a throw of a coin. 

Hieronimo carries 40 years of changing luck on his body, in the shape of deep scars. He likes to dress comfortably, and while an enemy's flaming saber made sure that his smile would never really be all that beautiful again, he has a knack for making people trust him.

Let me stat him up.

He is Adaptable, Capricious, but also Loyal and Outspoken. Most importantly, his mind is always on the money. For him, best in life are:

• Getting paid with little effort.
• Enemies failing to predict what I’ll do.
• A warm, soft bed.

His Health and Morale are 10 and 8, respectively. For Investigative Abilities, he has Charm 2, Command 1, Trustworthy 2, Ridiculous Luck 5 (!), and Tactics of Death 2. His General Abilities are Athletics 4, Burglary 2, Preparedness 4, Stealth 4, Sway 8, and Warfare 8. He has friends among the Mercenaries and Mercanti (1 each), but the City Watch is less enamored with his shenanigans (-1).

And that leaves the gear:

• A flowing red cape made from velvet, stitched dozens of times.
• A jaunty leather cap with a 'griffons' feather.
• Two blunt wooden sticks, harden but notched, stained with the blood of many.
• A wineskin, filled with the best red he could afford that day.
• Coins, cards, and dice.

And what would this entry be without a sheet? 

Crescendo of Violence - Christopher Campos, Suit with a conscience

 And now the last PC for Crescendo of Violence – the Suit: What do we know about them so far?  They like to hear Chen play, and go out of their way to do so. When Naida had to run and hide from Hallmacken-Reuther’s goons, the suit arranged a safehouse, and presumably some other help. Finally, when Selena was fired from the force, the Suit helped her out in an unknown way. Quite the basis, onward to answering the questions.

Christopher Campos is not from Neo York originally. A mid-level manager for the Nova-Pulsar Security security megacorp, he came to Neo York from the countryside following his dream to become a police officer. Maybe even something cooler, like a homicide detective. He passed initial training with great but not stellar grades. Then he lasted nearly 12 years, becoming more and more disillusioned. At one point he also became corrupt, though as these things go he was still harmless – he would look the other way from time to time if he could still somehow reconcile it with his morals. Still, it became harder and harder both to stay just lightly stained instead of full-blown dirty, with no major transgressions on his conscience and to look into the mirror each morning. 

Then he had the “accident”. He never quite figured out who sold out to whom, but the hovercar he and his partner Julie took to get back to the precinct after interrogating some witnesses malfunctioned. Julie didn’t survive, and Chris spent several weeks while the doctors rebuilt him. When he came back he only poked into the accident a little, and immediately was stone-walled. A higher-ranking official told him in private to take the hint and drop it. And several cases Julie and Chris had worked on had ended with perps walking free. As I said, he has no idea who paid off whom. Disgusted, angry, and secretly afraid, Chris left the force. Luckily NPS was hiring. And they saw potential, and Christ did rise to a cushy management job fairly fast. However, his unwillingness to do absolutely everything for profit has led to him being pushed to the side. At the moment he still has his job, but there is a question of how long.

Chris is on the taller side, broad-shouldered, with very obvious cybernetics. His legs are rarely visible, but when they are their skin is dark grey metal, the same as his arms. His eyes are metallic brown orbs with small pupils, with a small NPS logo – he replaced his government-issue cyberwear a short while ago. The accident left him a bit keen on "perfecting" his body. When in the wrong situation, his eyes turn fully grey to hide where his focus lies. His face shows small scars and lines of contact wiring. No matter if on the job or off, he likes to wear dark grey suits with colorful ties. His black hair is shortly cropped on the left side, and the right side is bald. When outside he wears hats, always well coordinated with his coats and suits. And more often than not he has an attaché case at his side, which if we are honest is more affectation than anything in these days of paperless offices.

In his capacity as NPS manager, he has hurt a lot of people. Former employees who lost their jobs due to his judgment, budget cuts, or in some cases political maneuvering – the world of management can be a bit rough. That said, this is rare – Chris usually prides himself on loyalty not only to the job but also to the people he is responsible for. Though these days there aren’t many of those left. Then there are criminals and the relatives of victims when NPS forces decided to play rough. Again, not as common for Chris as other people in a similar position, but they exist. And then there were some customers at Chen’s place that decided to misbehave, and Chris helped the bouncer Jeanne. One of them, a man called Louis, sent some threatening emails later. So far Chris has not paid attention to the threats.

Chris doesn’t like criminals. It is in the nature of NPS business that they sometimes are clients, but NPS will not engage in criminal behavior, not on Chris’ watch. He also learned a while ago that the world is a bit murky, and always had a bit of a soft spot for small-time criminals anyway. He does have a bit of an issue with the Petralia crime family – he suspects they were the ones who arranged the ‘accident’, though he has no proof. Chris believes that in the end, money is what destroys Neo York. At heart, he sees that money corrupts and that the powerful can buy off whoever they have issues with. 

Now on to stats – he is a Cyborg, which means he has a flat 2 points in each Path. But he also gets 30 points of Cyberwear, instead of the 15 max other characters can have. He also is a Suit. The reason he is on the outs is that he is not willing to go all the way, morals are damned, for profit. He gets a +1 on Clever (the other choice was Cautious). His Credit Rating is 4D10. His Special Ability is that he may spend a Reserve to gain +1d10 on tests made to overcome, leverage, or manipulate corporate interests, policies, or activities.

Next, Talents. From the Suit list I choose Status Rank I, meaning he adds +1D10 anytime pull with NPS would help. None of the other three (Family Money, Gambler, Corporate Star) fit, so I decide to choose two from the general list. Cold Reading seems like something he might have learned in his career, and it adds +1D10 anytime he tries to read someone. Finally, I give him Danger Sense – if he gets ambushed, he can spend some Momentum to still act immediately. 

And then there are three questions about the other PCs:

• Who do you know from the old days, before you worked for a corp? What do they think of your current occupation?
• Who bailed you out of a jam you got into when attempting to get ahead at work? What was the jam?
• Who have you bent the rules for at work? Why? What happens if it’s found out?

Chris has known Chen the longest and has been a regular at the club for a while. Chen isn’t the biggest fan of corpos, but has developed a grudging respect for Chris. Partially since he isn’t as arrogant as most of his ilk, and was willing to help defuse problems with customers once or twice. He also makes a point of not bringing business friends there, only people he knows would fit the vibe.

As for Naida, Chris did bend the rules for her. Naida knew Chris from a few occasions where both companies were hired to establish security protocols for clients, often for special events. When Naida ran after learning that her boss's boss was connected to the Petralia family, she randomly encountered Chris. Not knowing what was happening, he decided to help his acquaintance when some thugs tried to abduct her. Then he greased some palms to make the bodies vanish, and once he heard the whole story he arranged for the safe house, for some people to look away, and for some ‘evidence’ pointing at the Triads having a hand in things. The last bit he never told Naida, and he also kept it a secret that he hopes to use her for his own ends. 

This means Selena once bailed him out of a jam when he attempted to get ahead at work. Rather recently a competitor within NPS, Samantha Pritchard tried to trap Chris’ department by having them sign on for the wrong job – the job was to provide security for the transport of some valuables, but the competitor hired a freelance hacker to help make it look like the job was far less dangerous than it actually was. The idea was that Chris would allocate far too little manpower, the job would fail, people would die, the client would be angry, and Chris’ head would roll. Selena randomly heard about that plot while investigating the rival manager on behalf of her wife – she recorded the conversation with the hacker. Selena still owed Chris - when she started thinking about leaving the force her boss, who was one of the few friends Chris still had at his old job, set her up to have a chat with him. Chris was not only the one who more or less made her realize how much she hated the job but also sent some clients her way when she started out. So when she realized what she had recorded, she told him and handed him the evidence. Samantha is now out of a job, and Chris is safe. For now.

As for equipment, I think he would be a bit better armed, and then there is all the cyberwear. And maybe even a Genemod or two. For general equipment, it’ll be the usual, though as Chen did he also gets a Personal Fireaura – he is a manager at a security company, after all. He owns a Heavy Shotgun (kept in his car), and a highly illegal SMG. His cybernetics are a Skinpouch (a compartment inside his body, I will say his right cyber leg, in which he usually keeps the SMG), Cyberarms (+1 Violence), Cyberlegs (+1 Fast),  EYEnet Implants with Recorder, and Subdermal Armor. Finally, he has the Genemod Adrenaline Refinment, which allows him to use up Reserves to gain Momentum.

And that will be Chris.

Crescendo of Violence- Chen Xinyi Seward, synth jazzer

Chen Xinyi Seward will be the musician within the Crescendo of Violence party. We already know that they ran into Selena when the latter was on a case. A divorce case, in which the client was the spouse of the lover Chen had at the time. From the creation of Naida we know that she hacked Chen to help Selena with her case. Chen and Selena later bonded over a shared love of comedy holo movies. I can work with that. I am sure the game will ask us to add complications to that later.

Now, let’s go through the establishing questions to see who they are first. For the list of questions, see the post on Naida. Chen grew up in Neo York, in Avondale Skypark. That area of the city has penthouses and skyscrapers, floating above Old York, the parts of old New York that are still in use. Ass Park, sorry, Avondale is where the super-rich live. The Sewards are a clan deeply embedded in the businesses of the city, mostly trading, but also some investments in construction. Chen is in their late 30s, and they haven’t talked to their family in years. A bit of a black sheep, they ditched the family to become a synth jazz musician. They own part of a small club where they get on stage from time to time. Their penchant for low-class music and lifestyle is a big embarrassment to the family, and their mother Alicia never really forgave them. Chen doesn’t know it, but both their mother and their brother Li sometimes attend the club, safely disguised. Their father Bo Liang hasn’t seen them since they left, but he has made it a point to send electronic messages from time to time to keep a door open. Their parents are both hurt by the rejection, but also unwilling to ignore social protocol and make the first step. There is also the issue that rivals of the family might target Chen at some point. Business life can be rough, and the Seward family has business associates in Italian mob circles.

In addition, Chen has cut a rather large path through the hearts of the jazz community. They are very charismatic, value being interesting over any other qualities, and get bored by conquests easily. As such, there is a string of people who are not that happy with them anymore. As a result, they do have a mixed reputation – good, maybe great musician, but also a magnet for drama. Dependable, until they suddenly are not. Then again Chen is a loyal friend, and times with them are never boring. And Chen recently realized that they hear a lot of interesting … things… where they are, and sometimes thinks about using some of that information for monetary gain.

Physically, Chen reminds many people of a whippet hound. A sleek figure, greyish hair, relaxed demeanor until something happens that needs quick action. Like the solo part right now. And everything is done with determination and elegance. They do like to wear pastel-colored suits, with large shoulder polsters. Their hair is shaved on the sides, and long on top. Their right arm is artificial, and the skin is transparent green, to allow anyone to see the actuators working inside. Some of the electronics in there also blink in various colors.

If they would be asked, Chen would opine that the problem with Neo York is that the powerful have been out of touch with everyone else for longer than they have been alive. Nothing wrong with being rich, but the same is true for being poor. And if rich people would not lock themselves away from life, they might use some of their power to everyone’s benefit. They learned this in boarding school, where they started associating more with the kids of the teachers and the building staff than their classmates. They also watch the criminals that come into the club and thinks they are either people who have no options or – sometimes- people who found ways to power where the more socially accepted venues are locked to them. The upper class keeps everyone out they do not like, and social climbers naturally will find other means of climbing. Less controlled means.

Let’s look at Chen’s stats. Gen-G sounds tempting but would be bad with a cyberarm. But they are a bit rebellious. Ah well, let’s go with Gen-G. Their paths are Cautious 1, Clever 3, Dramatic 4, Empathetic 3, Fast 3, Resolute 2, Sneaky 2, and Violent 3. Her Profession is Musician. The selection for reasons why they are on the outs includes the ‘they are not’ option. Great! This means Chen is somewhat famous, which I think is ok. I will add a point to Fast from the Professions as well, raising it to 4. Their Cred Rating is 3D10. Not sure that is enough for part ownership of a club, but eh’, who cares. Their Special Ability is that they can gain access to any social scene by spending Reserve. 

Talent-wise I will choose Fame and Contacts from their Profession list, which seem to fit well. Fame is ranked, and they have the first rank, meaning when rolling to impress someone they add a die. Contacts means they know people in an organization or district – let’s say their contacts are in New Beale, the district filled with clubs, nightspots, hangouts, and the like. They also have a single, somewhat loyal contact. Easy. Geoffrey Barnard, co-owner of the Lingering Dream club. As the third Talent I take Neo-Native, meaning Chen has spent more time than most getting to know Neo York. They know all the cool spots. Mechanically, that means that they get to take more downtime actions – game sessions are split into three acts, plus intro and outro, and downtime actions are specific actions taken during some of these phases. Chen just finds what they need a lot quicker, and gets more done as a result.

For equipment - Chen has some Genemods, a Bioknife, which I interpret as hidden claws, and an eLung, which allows them to hold their breath a lot longer. Cyberwear will be Cyberarms, which adds +1 to Fast, but also subtracts a Reserve, meaning the maximum is now 4. Since being hacked they have kept a Personal Fireaura (think better firewall for their personal connections). Add a ballistic vest, and a shotgun kept somewhere in the club, and that part is done.

For finishing touches, there are some questions to answer – The Suit likes to hear Chen play, and goes out of their way to do so. When new musical ideas arrive, Chen often bounces them off Nadia to see what works. And Selena has a knack for keeping Chen grounded a bit, and keeping them more honest.

And that is Chen. 

 

Crescendo of Violence - Naida Mathis, freelance hacker

Well, I think Selena needs some friends and partners in … maybe not crime, but adventure? In any case, let’s make Naida Mathis, a hacker, and Selena’s drinking buddy.

This time I will spell out the questions the game asks at the start, to be a bit more transparent.

WHERE ARE YOU FROM?

Mmmhh… how about Naida is originally from Baltimore, but that city was coupled and made part of Neo York when she was a child. Yep, cities float slightly above the ground on large repulsor things in this world. The city of Neo York holds the patents on those, as well as the cool ‘we promise it’s not magic’ environment-friendly and super-efficient power generators. As a result of that, and the fact that old New York was flooded in parts when the sea level rose, it expanded to become Neo York. And a lot of city councils decided to just pack the parts of their city that float and attach it to Neo York. Anyway, Naida is the child of middle-class parents from Baltimore.

WHAT’S YOUR LOOK?

Tall, with short braids, dark-skinned and broad-shouldered, one thing people tend to remember is Naida’s very high but melodic voice. Her wardrobe isn’t complicated – she prefers simple dresses, occasionally suits or even t-shirts and pants. She prefers warm earth tones. There is one weird detail – she has a pink glowLite tattoo of a daisy in her left palm.

HOW DO YOU EARN YOUR SCRATCH?

Until recently Naida worked in the security development section of Initech, a subsidiary of Global Omnitech that produces personal computing operating systems. She was fired when she hacked into the account of her boss's boss and found a file indicating that Initech sells exploits to certain organized crime interests. She did not manage to keep the data, but so far she has kept her life. 

WHO HAVE YOU HURT?

No one, really. Not seriously, anyway. A few broken hearts, but nothing too serious.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT CRIME?

She doesn’t hold a lot of illusions. Crime is a fact in the city. Best to steer clear when possible, though. As a hacker that is, of course, not always possible if one wants to make a living.

WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS CITY?

It is too big. Even with modern computing solutions, there is just far too much to organize. No wonder the infrastructure keeps getting worse, and private interests use these holes in the system to screw over the common folk. Private police forces, private fire departments, private sewer services  - why?

WHAT HOLDS YOU BACK?

At this moment it is probably that she learned not to rock the boat too much. A long history of strict parental discipline has seen to that.

WHO HAS IT OUT FOR YOU?

Klaus Hallmacken-Reuther. He is the one she hacked a few weeks back. And she is fairly certain he isn’t done with just getting her fired.

Origin-wise Naida is Gen-G, a human being modified shortly after inception. Her parents always wanted their offspring to excel, so they went into debt to make it happen. This means he has a rating of 1 in each path but then gets to spend 13 points among them. No path can be higher than 4 at this step.  Let’s do Cautious 3, Clever 4, Dramatic 2, Empathetic 2, Fast 3, Resolute 2, Sneaky 4, and Violent 1. Beyond that, Gen-G can take twice as many Genemods (i.e. post-childhood modifications) than other people, but any Cyberwear taken reduces their Reserves maximum.

Naida is a hacker. We already determined why she is on the outs. She does get a Path bonus to Clever or Sneaky, and I go with Sneaky. This pushes it up to 5D10, which is the maximum total.  Her Cred Rating is 2D10. For Talents I first go with Educated I. Educated is a ranked talent that adds 1D10 per rank to tests in academic pursuits. Then I also choose Safehouse - a small haven that the suit established for her as a present, but also to get her to do some hacking later. The safehouse does multiple things. Hackers have the special ability they can hack. Yep. 

Now to look at her history with the other three PCs. I’ll count the suit as the one who brought her some gear when she needed it (the safe house). When she paid them back with some illicit digital intrusion to find dirt on their business rival, she was found. Selena was the one who managed to get her out of that one – the target hadn’t called the police, but some local ruffians. And Selena made them back off. Naida has hacked the musician before, I think when she helped Selena with the divorce case. That the musician was so gracious about the whole thing is the reason that Naida and Selena like hanging out in their bar.

Naida’s third talent will be Large. I just love the image of her and tiny Selena having a drink. And Selena sometimes knocks heads together while shy Naida looks on. Large gives +1D10 when being large would be helpful.

Equipment-wise she has a Stun Gun and the usual base equipment. I will also give her one Genmod, Sinewsteel. This means her muscles have been reinforced to be stronger, and in her case, I think she wanted to be faster (+1D10 to Fast). Other gen mods will have to wait.

And that is Naida. 

Crescendo of Violence - Selena Martina Dwight, Private Eye

Which system do I feel like using today? I know – Crescendo of Violence! The game came out last year, published by Osprey and designed by Alan Bahr of Tiny D6 fame. Crescendo of Violence is not cyberpunk! No, seriously, it quite correctly points out that while it shares some tropes, it does not fit the genre. Crescendo of Violence is neo-noir, crossed with heroic bloodshed. The world it presents is a tad more optimistic than the typical Cyberpunk world, mostly due to some Deus Ex Machinae making it more bearable than for example Night City. By the way, the Deus Ex Machina is in one case quite literal, an advanced AI that did not quite take over the world, but does make sure megacorporations are not running the show and that clones etc. have human rights. Imagine a world with flying cars, rain, 1920s-like couture, synth-Jazz, organized crime, and so on and so forth. And violence, and bloodshed. The system itself is interesting, and I haven’t been able to bring it to the table yet. It makes use of meta-currencies, lots of character-specific abilities, and a simple dice mechanic that already by itself suggests a high likelihood of success in most cases.

I will make a four PC party.

All PCs in Crescendo of Violence are “exceptional individuals, capable of making an impact on the world around them”. Creation starts with a bunch of questions to form a concept. Mmhhh… Selena Martina Dwight is a young private eye. She had joined the police force of Neo York straight out of College, but less than a year after training ended she was already fed up with the corruption and decided to make it on her own. A very tall, slender woman born and bred in the city she prefers to wear current couture. She can’t afford to, but at least that is the idea. Instead, she opts to keep her long red hair under a neon-green plait trilby, with a matching dark green coat. These are often combined with white or light grey blouses, and pants of changing colors. Sometimes quite literally. Her eyes are obviously cybernetic, and present a solid dark blue to the world, with no discernible features. She mostly earns her money with divorce cases, and the odd case to prove that some manager has secrets that allow their company to fire them. It’s not fun, but it is a living. She thinks. So far it was mostly small stuff, and she hopes to build a reputation for solid work. Then bigger cases will come, right? She is worried that the trajectory seems to go the other way, though.

Due to her job, she has left a string of people behind who have reason to not like her all that much. Both cheating spouses, and unemployed people who quite recently had cushy jobs, those are the main ones. Then there is Jackson Grindford, a genetically modified member of the upper crust – Selena has been involved in a case that sent his wife Elena to jail, on possession and manslaughter charges. Jackson is not known as especially irascible, but he has taken the time at one of the court dates to impress on Selena that payback will come. Still, Elena was guilty, the pay was good, and Selena would do it again in a heartbeat. You see, while she isn’t too fuzzed about the small stuff, she does feel that crime itself is a big pox on society. She feels bad for small-time thieves, drug dealers, and the like – even in modern society some people have no real options. If she is honest there have been some episodes recently she isn't too proud of, and she can't really judge people for these things anymore. But manslaughter? Wholesale drug distribution? Political corruption? That’ll be a hard pass. Especially the rich getting their way in politics due to their ability to grease the right palms, and in ways not easily seen is in her mind the biggest issue Neo York society faces. 

That answers all the questions. Nice approach, I like it! Next, I choose her Origin, which mostly means choosing if she is a baseline human, or has some of a variety of modifications. I think I like that she is a Clone, a human grown for a specific purpose. In her case policing. She was a bit of an industrial accident, not obedient enough. 

Clone means her eight Paths, which are the traits used for rolling, are all set at 2 to start with. In short, when rolling the number indicates the amount of D10 to take. Highest die counts and has to match or exceed the target number. As a Clone, she gets to increase two paths to 4 and one to 3, which shows what her model was supposed to be good at. She gets Clever and Resolute at 4, and Violent at 3. Clones also get to choose one path to mark as special; any dice rolling a “1” when rolling this path is rolled again, and no matter the circumstances the minimum dice rolled for this path are two. I will postpone the choice for now.

Now for her Profession, and here Investigator is the clear choice. First I need to answer the question of why she is an outsider, i.e. not with the police anymore, from three general concepts. I think I like the idea that the Grindford case happened when she was on the force – she was a low-level copper who saw the wrong thing. And then refused to forget it. Her supervisor Geena Fisher had her back, but shortly after the court case vanished. Selena took the hint.

Then she gets to increase either the Empathetic or Resolute path by 1, and I go with Empathetic. Her Credit Rating is 1. This is rolled to purchase stuff, and, well, she is poor. Now I choose two out of a list of Profession-specific Talents. I go with Hard to Kill (+1 Resolute when resisting damage) and Maverick (if someone suggests that she does something risky, foolish, or dramatic, she has to spend a point of the Reserve currency to not do it, but she gets 6 Reserve instead of 5 at the start of a session). As an Investigator, she also has a Special Ability that allows her to spend Reserve to get additional dice on any roll to gather information, etc. This should work well.

There are three more questions that would tie her to other PCs. I assume there will be a hacker, a musician, and a suit. The hacker is her drinking buddy, the two hang out after work sometimes. Especially when things were rougher than normal. The suit helped her out when she was fired from the force. How I will determine later. That means she ran into the musician in the course of a case. I think she was following the spouse of a client; the spouse and the musician had an affair. Selena and the musician still get along - the affair wasn't too serious, and the two PCs bonded over a common love for romantic comedy holo movies.

Now I get to choose a third Talent for her, from the full list. I did mention that Selena is tiny, so taking Small seems appropriate – when she rolls any test where being small would be good, she adds +1 die to the roll, but also rolls -1d10 on all Resolute tests - avoiding harm gets a bit harder. Ouch. This reminds me that I haven’t decided on her special path for being a clone, and, well, Resolute seems like a great choice all of a sudden.

Finally, she gets some gear. There is a basic set (an in-ear phone, AR glasses, a small wrist interface to interface with computers when the need arises, and the basic gear needed in her job. She will have a suitable place to live ‘in line with her credit rating’ (har har). Beyond that, her starting gear depends on what the GM will allow. She has EYEnet implants, base-models without any modifications. Essentially cybereyes as described above, with no cool features (yet). To make things worse hers are low quality, meaning they can cause problems under strain. She does not need the AR glasses anymore, though. Beyond that, she has a Light Pistol, a Knife, and a Shotgun, but will leave the latter at home, usually. At the moment she does not wear armor, which did go to the pawn shop recently. She has not been gene modded. 

And that is Selena. 

 

One-Page Bayhem - John F. Rogers, racer

Day 25. Let’s go for something super complicated. One Page Bayhem.

Ok, I am kidding. This is a one-page RPG that aims to parody Michael Bay movies. It has character creation, but also plot generation, explosion generation, and so on. In this game, “The players are a band of good guys working on behalf of some other good guys to fight the bad guys that hate them. It’s a job they should really have nothing to do with because they are unqualified. “ Can do!

Our character will be an extremely patriotic American since all characters for this game need to be extremely patriotic Americans. Then I roll 3d6 and find out that they are a Racer (Character roll), who can be described as Ripped (Description roll), and their motive is America (Motive roll). The latter means that being American is the entirety of their being. Let’s call him John F. Rogers. The F. stands for Freedom. Stars and Stripes car and uniform, boots, cowboy hat, the works.

And we are done, time to blow some stuff up!

 

The Midnight Editions - The Sutcliffe family

Let’s look at some more 24XX style games, but maybe with a different focus. How about The Midnight Editions? According to the developer ‘The Midnight Editions stems from the thought, “I wonder if I could make Bridgerton or Jane Austen’s work into an FKR game.’  TME will be a series of situations, with one currently available – ‘Society Papers’. The focus here is on a family, and how societal norms and obligations can collide with the relationships between family members. It cites Downton Abbey as an inspiration.

For this one, we will need a family. Single characters will obviously be tricky. How about I make four of them in this post?

Each PC belongs to an Archetype and has a Passion, an Obligation, and a Vice. Skills are not packaged; instead, four skills are advanced, supposedly one for each element. The connection is not pre-determined in the game. There is also no skill list.

Ok, how about we start with the Head of the Family (Archetype), Lord Royce Leander Sutcliffe? Lord Sutcliffe’s Passion is Politics, he just likes the social interplay and strategic mindset of it all. And he likes winning. As for his Obligation? The Sutcliffe family is in a bit of a scandal in their hometown of Doncaster. Lord Sutcliffe’s wife recently absconded with an American! While he would love to nurse his wounds in private, he has to restore the family name, and, of course, his own. Stiff Upper lip, and all that. His Imperfection is that he is rather irascible, and the whole deal with his wife Sophie has made that worse. As a result, he is not always as even-keeled as the situation, his status, and his Obligation demand.

Lord Royce Leander Sutcliffe has Decorum D8 (Head of Family), Politics D8 (Passion), Talk of the Town D8 (Obligation), and Fisticuffs D8 (Impercetion).

Now let us look at Marjorie Danielle Sutcliffe, his daughter. Marjorie isn’t married yet, which is as she wants it to be (Archetype Unmarried Child). You see, her Passion is for women’s rights. A free spirit herself, she does not want to follow the path society demands of her. Her Obligation is to find a suitor, ideally one of higher status, which has become all the more pressing due to current affairs. Finally, her imperfection is one she shares with her father – she is very easily enraged.

Marjorie Danielle Sutcliffe, Smile and Pretend D8 (Unmarried Child), Speak with Passion D8 (Passion), Manipulate D8 (Obligation), and Scream with Passion D8 (Imperfection).

Then there is Chester Royce Sutcliffe, Eldest Child (Archetype). He is married to Zara Sutcliffe, nee Dolloway. His Passion is very simple – it is Mary, the oldest maid of the household. His Obligation is to get an heir, and his Imperfection is that he never really figured out how to play the politics of his class. He and his wife are currently still living with Lord Sutcliffe, a state of affairs that should change soonish. But at the moment the family needs to stick together.

Chester Royce Sutcliffe, Sucking Up D8 (Eldest Child), Sneaking Around D8 (Passion), Doting Husband D8 (Obligation), and Blunt D8 (Imperfection).

And finally, I will create Anna Cecily Sutcliffe, the eight-year-old late-born child (Archetype: Minor) of Lord and Lady Sutcliffe. Her Passion is for making her older siblings laugh at inopportune times. Her Obligation is to learn and fit in. And her Imperfection is incurable curiosity. She sees and hears a lot of things she shouldn’t. Among them is the rumor that Lord Royce might not be her dad.

Anna Cecily Sutcliffe, Adorable D8 (Archetype: Minor), Silly Pranks D8 (Passion), Precocious D8 (Obligation), Far Too Observant D8 (Imperfection).

And that will be the Sutcliffe family. 

1400: Sneak - The Lucky Viper, Hawk

Another day, another character. Today I will continue with 24XX style games, this time it’ll be 1400: Sneak (https://unknowndungeon.itch.io/1400-sneak). 1400: Sneak follows the approach of the 2400 games. Based on the blurb and the generation tables I would say this is a Blades in the Dark-esque game but in a more classical fantasy world. Cat-folk, dragons, mages… yeah, more D&D-like fantasy, less magical, and with a dark twist. For this one, I will make the character, but also roll a mission for them.

First to choose a role. Let’s go with Hawk. This means the character has Lookout, Tracker, and Disarm Traps at D8. In addition, he, like all PCs in this one gets Sneak at D8 Finally, I can choose two more skills from a list that get an increase by one step. I like Melee Weapons (making it D8), and Read People (also D8). I start to think the PC, who I will call Thervo Rumono, is a taciturn Dark Elf. Sharp eyes on display in a haughty face. But he has a soft spot for street kids, and always carries tiny gifts for 

Next are Flashbacks, a rule specific to this game. They work pretty much like in Blades in the Dark - small flashback narrations to establish facts to avoid endless planning sessions. Most characters get one per job, but the Hawk gets two. Then I get to choose an alias or can roll it on a table. Let’s roll. ‘The Lucky Viper’ - yeah, that’ll do.

This game uses Gear rules. Thervo, sorry, The Lucky Viper gets a cloak, and 3GP to buy things with. Each item costs 1GP. I will take a rapier, a garotte, and a rope. Finally, I get to roll or choose a vice and contact. I roll and learn that The Lucky Viper likes his gambling, and knows an otherworldly mage-scholar and weapon enchantress called Thibela. For color let us assume “otherworldy” means literally from another world. Stranded here, and known to The Lucky Viper from his dark elf past.

Done!

The Lucky Viper, Hawk

(Thervo Rumono)

Two Flashbacks

• Lookout D8
• Tracker D8
• Disarm Traps D8
• Sneak D8
• Melee Weapons D8
• Read People D8

Cloak, Rapier, Garotte, Rope, 0GP

Vice: Gambling

Contact: Thibela, otherworldly mage-scholar and weapon enchantress

 

2400: The Venusian Job - Winona Winters, "bored socialite"?

For this entry, and maybe one or two more, I want to highlight a great system that I discovered and ran a few times in 2022 - 24XX style games. The framework was designed by Jason Tocci, and is available here. The games are simple, usually three pages plus cover, of which commonly one deals with rules and the remaining two provide random generations tables that double in describing a specific, often very narrow setting. The 2400 suit contains several inter-compatible games, all together describing a kind of far distant Sci-Fi universe. Other people have picked up the framework, likely also due to Mr. Tocci providing a very cool SRD that doubles as design files for getting the same layout easily. By now there are more than a hundred variants available. I strongly recommend looking at them - many of the best games of this type remind me of poetry, RPG systems condensed to the maximum, with worldbuilding kind of hiding in the cracks, and also reduced to the essential bits. I like them a lot!

A helpful fact when deciding if one might want to look at the games might be that they tend to be very cheap, and many follow the example of 2400 and come with a lot of community copies for those who cannot or do not want to pay (yet). This is an approach I like a lot, especially since I met people online quite often for whom the typical RPG product presents a rather large investment. Still, I feel those like myself who are more fortunate would do well to pay the few bucks (often 2 to 5 dollars) developers ask for.

Here, I want to make a character for one of the games from the 2400 suite that started it all. Let’s go with The Venusian Job. I recommend getting the collection (also available on DTRPG if preferred). The Venusian Job is a bit unusual in that it dedicates a page to a simple map. You see, the PCs will try to rob a casino! The blurb establishes that the Aphrodite casino has a vault storing millions in valuables from the guests; it sits above the Venusian clouds, and based on the map is part of a beanstalk space elevator. Or a similar megastructure at least. I have played this one a few times, and it always comes with wild shenanigans and a lot of fun action. Highly recommended. Let’s look at the core mechanic, then make a character.

The basic dice roll means the player picks up a D6 and rolls. The die is replaced with a D4 when hindered, and a higher die if they have a corresponding skill. They roll a 1 or 2, bad things happen. A 3 or 4 means success with complications. And 6+ means full success. Done. For the Venusian Job, Character Generation starts with choosing a moniker, which also means choosing a package of skills. Let’s go with a Wildcard, which means I get to choose two skills at d8 and one at d10. And to choose them during play, when I think they might be relevant. This is the type of character that would be presented as a ‘problem solver’ or maybe '?' in many heist movies, the one the audience and most of the crew aren’t sure why they are there. Each moniker also comes with a general suggestion for a Surprise. This is specific to TVJ; Surprises are brief, vague statements of plot twists. They can be torn up to make them happen in play, or instead to automatically roll a 12 on a roll. Each moniker gets one type, plus a generic one. Wildcards get two generic ones in addition to the standard one, for three total. Let’s go with ‘A code bomb I placed earlier triggers a general alarm’, ‘We bought the guard earlier’, and ‘That is me in disguise’. Finally, I choose a kit to bring along, and I go with Subtle. This means I have a good disguise and can declare having one concealed item during play, like a keycard or bug.

To flesh the character out a bit I will call them Winona Winthorpe, who on first look seems like a bored socialite who obviously places a large importance on an athletic and appealing appearance. But this is obviously only a mask, and not even most of the crew know what they actually do…

Done. No sheet for this one, but have a summary:

“Winona Winthorpe”

• One skill at D8
• Another skill at D8
• One skill at D10

Subtle kit

• ‘A code bomb I placed earlier triggers a general alarm’
• ‘We bought the guard earlier’
• ‘That is me in disguise’.

 

Cuticorium - Softwing, who really only wants to have a family

Next up is another palate cleanser, something soft - Cuticorium. It is described by the developer as ‘A microcosm TTRPG of insects and intrigue. Explore the mysterious bug city of the Cuticorium, orchestrate plots for supremacy, and uncover the secrets of the outside world.’ I have played it before, and it is a very fun game using a variant of PbtA.

The eponymous Cuticorium is an area around a tree in which insects gain awareness. And they have built a society, at the heart of which is the ‘Crystal’, the mysterious glowing stone that seems responsible. Another feature of the area is that violence against other bugs is impossible. Predators tend to try to lure other insects outside the Crystal’s range - anyone leaving maintains awareness for a short while, enough to feast and return. Another problem tends to be birds, mice, and the like. And then there are politics, with an ant hive and a bee hive in the area, a university, and so on and so forth.

All of that out of the way, time to get hopping, so to speak. The game doesn’t use playbooks. Instead, players design their insect and choose from a list of Features that provide moves. What to play? How about an Io Moth, Automeris io? They are cute little critters, with a wingspan of maybe 6 to 9 cm. I want big, feathery antennae, so it is a male. Let us call him Softwing.

Softwing will arrive at the start of the first session and will develop a Desire that drives him. How about Softwing wants to build the dream life - Mate, a few caterpillars, enough space and wealth to ensure food supply and moderate safety? Really someone with achievable dreams. He also has a Secret - his egg was deposited on a showy partridge pea plant, together with several siblings. His mother was a bit careless. And, well, he outate the others and was the only one to survive. He barely remembers that, of course, but it still is a real downside to having thoughts. And memories. 

As for Features? He has large, feathery Antennae, meaning he has a special move to notice things other insects cannot, at least not easily. He can usually run in time when others mean him harm, and can more easily explore a new location. And he has Wings, meaning he can fly, evade more easily, and discover and claim new locations with ease. Beyond these, there are several basic moves, and I have to choose one of those as Softwings Panic Move, the thing he does when losing his mind. I think he defaults to Comforting another insect. 

Softwing has no possessions to speak of, but he does have some Webs. Webs are a measure of how well you know a location, another creature, or even yourself. Many movers interact with them. Softwing starts with 3 out of a maximum of 5 Webs on himself, and one Web on the location where he will start the game. I will go with Climb of the Burning Sun, which is at the very top of the Cuticorium. 

And that is Softwing.

 

BYTE - Yanson Briggs, Starship Mechanic

Now for a bit of a challenge - an RPG that is voluminous, uses a rule system so far unknown to me, and might be on the crunchy side (I think) - BYTE RPG.

BYTE is a generic system using its own rules, based solely on D8. As such it has my interest. Sadly, the PDF has been gathering dust on my hard drive, time to pick it up. I will not have the time to read the whole thing, so I am sure I will make some mistakes. Still, maybe I can try to make a character in it - blue-collar SciFi seems easy enough. BYTE comes with a number of tech levels to settle on, ten to be precise. Then it suggests names for seven settings in different tech levels, which I assume serve as examples of how to differentiate for example a zombie apocalypse setting and a fantasy cold war one when both have tech level 7. Our choice would fit Tech Level 9 -  “the far-away era of space-faring civilizations”.

Before I do anything else I should look at the basic rolls to get an idea of how the system works. As I said, I do not have the time to read all 440 pages of the PDF, but the basic roll should be a good start. Dice pools of D8s, counting as 0 to 7, maximum of five dice in a pool, any bonus can be divided among dice as the player sees fit (exceptions exist). That last bit is interesting. Attribute rolls use a number of dice equal to the attribute (maximum of five dice, though attributes can be higher in rare cases), and the lowest die must be below or equal to the attribute. A 0 always succeeds, two or more 0s are a critical success, and only sevens means a critical failure. The GM can declare such tests hard tests, then only a 0 counts as a success.

Skill tests work similarly, with the number of dice equal to an attribute, but the target number the skill value. Ok, all of that is easy enough.

On to make a character. First I am supposed to choose Ancestry; for this type of setting, I think assuming humans-only fits best. I did note some extra rule about human-only settings - leaving off ancestry requirements on some later steps - but I am sure I will see that once there. Yanson Briggs will be human. Now a few general characteristics: Yanson is 41, below average height, stocky, shave bald, with a thin red beard. Round head and strong hands, with a few small scars - Yanson is a starship mechanic, and that work can lead to minor injuries. Major ones if one is careless and unlucky at once. He is an agnostic and works on the freighters of Kirkland Industries Unlimited. He has a friend called Antonia Meiners, a fellow mechanic whom he has known for nearly a decade. Antonia is a few years older than him, and actually has a knack for showing him a new trick or two from time to time. On his current crew, there is one person he deeply dislikes - Christian Grittner, the first mate and a major pain in the ass. Finally, Yanson has a secret - he has sabotaged the ship on their last journey out to force a longer stop in the docks. He just needed some reprieve from the job, some time longer on ol’ mother Earth. It did work, but his bad conscience has been plaguing him the whole first part of the trip.

Humans start with 8 Character Points, a native language (let’s call it Standard), and one bonus Background Point. They can also spend a Background Point to get a single Advantage, but only if they have no Attributes above 2. Next to choose which of four Weaknesses apply, and I get points to spend for each one. Yanson is vindictive (Wrath), stubborn (Pride), and selfish (Greed). Not bad. That gives me four Character Points and one Background Point. Weaknesses are roleplaying hints, but the GM can ask for tests related to them. Then on to Attributes, which start at 1. There are four, and they can be increased for Character Points, with increasing costs for higher ratings. Let’s see… twelve points means Yanson can get Vigor 3, Dexterity 2, Wits 3, and Presence 2. He might be a bit of an ass, but he is also pretty competent. For the two Attributes he has at three, he also gets Advantages. He has Resilient for Vigor and Inventive for Wits. These Advantages are roleplay-related, but might also be ‘rules-related’, I assume how will become clear later. No Attributes at 1 means no Disadvantages. 

Now on to Skills, and here the selection is limited by the tech level. Skills might be limited further by setting-specific concerns. The skills are all grouped by associated Attribute, and each Attribute score provides a number of skill points to divide among skills in the respective group. Skill points can be shifted to other groups but at a 2:1 rate. Yanson also gets 1 bonus skill point due to his Weaknesses, his choice of where. Up to a rank of three, skills are raised 1:1 up to 3 by investing, above that it becomes 2:1. This is also where I think I will make a lot of mistakes from a gaming perspective - skill points also give Abilities later. Huh. Let’s ignore that for now, and distribute points. Four each in the Dexterity and Presence groups, and Five in each of the other two. In Vigor, he has Athletics 1, Craft 2, Martial Arts (think punching, not art) 1, and Melee Weapons 1. In Dexterity, he gets Dodge 2, Driving 1, and Piloting 1. The Wits Group has Engineering 3, Perception 1, and Technology 2. Finally, Presence connects to Charm 1, Deception 1, Intimidation 1, and Leadership 1. 

And now we come to the ominous Abilities. Apparently, all skills have them, and if a character fulfills the respective conditions, he can get the Ability. Conditions can be Ancestry or having a specific Advantage. Each skill point unlocks one Ability of choice. I will not go through the whole list here, but I will note that I like that the Abilities are very suitable for characterization. For example, Yanson has Nimble under Athletics, which fits his need to often climb into small areas at weird angles. For the most part, the Abilities provide rolls for specific situations. There also seem to be a lot of special rules - to give an example, Engineering is always rolled as a hard test, except if the PC has an Engineering Advantage fitting whatever is being worked in. It seems rather complicated, more so than I usually like. 

On to the finishing touches - we need to choose a culture, which we would have to create for our setting. Each culture would come with four skills, one in each group. Of these, we’d choose one, and if that skill is at rank 2 it gets the Ability Cultural Specialization, meaning the player can discard a die that shows a result other than a 7 to lower another die by one when rolling the skill. Let’s assume we have an Earth culture, and Earthers are known for their Technology Skill. Done. Oh, and Settings can forgo culture as a thing, then a PC can just choose any skill with a rating of two to have this ability. Yanson gets Standard as the base language but can start with up to three additional ones due to his Wits. How about English, Japanese, and Yoruba? Then we get to spend our 2 Background Points and learn that for the most part, those are heavily setting dependent. We can in theory get a second Culture Skill, or add one Advantage to one Attribute of score 2, but everything else we’d need to make up. Let me glance at the section on settings.

Background Points are used for things like Superpowers, Mutations, Spells, Divine Favours, getting more money, and so on and so forth. Huh. You know what, I will say he spends one point on Dexterity -> Agile, and the other to make Craft a Cultural Specialization. Starting Money is rolled, again with heavy dependency on the setting. Honestly, for the kind of campaign, I have in mind it doesn’t matter that much. Let’s take the suggested standard (1d6 x 1000 USD), but rename it to credits and divide it by 10 - 300 credits, works for me. Each Background Point spent would multiply by 10, by the way. And yes, the game offers guidance on settings needing money or not, at first glance. 

And that is it! Find the sheet here.

KULT: Divinity Lost - Sandra Carrington, ambitious administrative assistant

For the final installment of KULT: Secrets of a Boarding School I will make the Careerist.

Content Warnings: Curses.

When Sandra Carrington was hired at the prestigious Lennard K. Carstairs Boarding School she couldn’t believe her luck - the younger daughter of a blue-collar family of nine, her life had so far been one of always getting the short straw. With only minimum education and some work experience as a secretary in a marketing firm in Burlington, she had sent the application away on a whim. And then the interview happened. And now she is the personal assistant to the vice principal. And this will only be the first step. Sandra is determined to climb as far as she can, by any means necessary. She has experienced poverty.

The player has decided to leave her Dark Secret with the GM. To keep you clued in, I make it Cursed - she doesn’t know it, but she had a brush with … something … while here, and that had consequences (Dark Secret: Cursed). Her past has left her (Disadvantage: Greedy), and at the school, she found herself constantly at odds with the assistant to the principal, Heddy Norma Fletcher. Heddy should work with her, but instead, the two have been sabotaging each other as much as possible (Disadvantage: Rival). At this moment the rivalry is a consequence of the curse, but other, harsher Disadvantages might come later. Meanwhile, Sandra wants to succeed (Advantage: At any Cost), and is quite adept at using people to achieve her goals (Advantage: Puppeteer). She is unashamed about being an (Advantage: Opportunist).

Attribute-wise, she has Willpower 2, Reflexes 1, and Fortitude 0, as well as Reason -1, Intuition 1, Perception 0, Coolness 2, Violence 1, Charisma 3, and Soul -2. Sandra is tallish at 174 cm, with long red hair, and a very forward figure that she rather adeptly displays without being obvious about it. Her clothing is always professional but appealing. Her mouth smiles a lot, but her eyes rarely do. She specifically spent time training herself to make her voice sound more appealing, and it has become silky smooth with a hint of invitation.

Since her arrival in spring, Sandra has fallen head over heels for Coach Linnard (+2 Relation). Sadly, she is unlikely to act on it - her sights are set a good deal higher. And he seems fond of whatshername, the lady who runs housekeeping. Still, there is a pesky feeling that comes over her whenever she sees him. And when he comes by to say hello, she feels herself melt inside. Laura has started being very uncomfortable around Sandra since she sometimes sees a noose appear around the other woman’s neck. This is a sign of the curse. (+0 Relation). She tends to avoid Sandra, not sure how to approach the subject. Mr. Braithwaite stops by quite often on his way to see principal Nesbitt (+0 Relation). The two seem to be friends or something.

Beyond this Sandra misses her older brother Tony a lot (+2), and dislikes Diana Harold, head of housekeeping (+1). Not that she’d admit the latter to herself. The vice principal Sheldon Monroe is an ok boss, but just a stepping stone (+0). Finally, I feel I should point out that it is a matter of time until Sandra realizes that she is just a year or two older than the older students and that many of them come from rather wealthy backgrounds.

And that is Sandra done.

Note: I decided to spare you my musings on the GM side of things. This was surprisingly enough not too streamlined, which I feared when everything comes out of one mind. Still, I feel there are some obvious hooks for engaging stories in there and will leave it to the reader to decide on their own what will happen.

KULT: Divinity Lost - Gerald Linnard, haunted coach

Day three of populating the party for the boarding school horror campaign in KULT.

Content Warnings: War, Violence to Teenagers, Ghosts

Today we will look at the Veteran. Gerald Linnard has seen combat. It is something he will never forget. His life had started a lot more promising - an athletic star with a free ticket to Berkeley, where he found his passion for Geography and History. Then 75000 north Korean soldiers crossed the 38th parallel, and shortly after Gerald volunteered. The less said about his time there the better. But to this day he is sometimes visited by the ghost of the Korean boy he killed. Not that there weren’t others. Just this one wasn’t armed. It was an honest mistake, but it quite literally did not stop haunting him. And with time, other ghosts came along (Dark Secret: Visitations).

While he never really talks about it, the war was the formative experience of his life. He learned discipline, to never feel totally safe, and where his limits are. And what happens when he breaks them. And when he ended up in a MASH, he re-learned compassion. Still, he is (Disadvantage: Haunted - this adds the move to make it actually happen to the Dark Secret) by more than the experience, and still has large empty areas in the corridors of his mind (Disadvantage: Repressed Memories). He has learned to trust his (Advantage: Instincts) when dealing with people, and this turned out to be a bit of a boon when teaching. Pretty inured to pain, he is (Advantage: Hardened), and often impresses the students with his ability to push beyond their limits. Another holdover from that time is that he is an avid (Advantage: Hunter).

His Attributes are Willpower 2, Reflexes 0, and Fortitude 1, as well as Reason 0, Intuition 1, Perception 3, Coolness 1, Violence 2, Charisma -1, and Soul -2. He is not a tall man (167 cm), but stocky, with black hair that is graying prematurely. Lantern jaw, and a serious expression fortified by a scar that runs from the right corner of his mouth into his collar. He wears gloves most of the time since he has a lot of scarring on his palms. Usually, he wears blue suits, swapping them for athletic wear when appropriate. His voice is deep and booming, easily carrying across a tennis field.

As established, Fitzroy and Gerald have been friends since their days in Berkeley (+1 Relation). A few weeks ago he had an …episode… when the ghosts came back. You see, they leave him alone from time to time. In any case, they came back, and he drank himself numb that day. As someone not prone to drinking he didn’t do too well, got drunk far too fast and far too early, and things could have gone badly if The Careerist wouldn’t have seen him. In a rare moment of empathy, she made sure to get him to his rooms safely, and that no one learned of his little mishap. She never asked for anything in return. He thinks highly of her and has the habit of checking in with her from time to time (+1 Relation). Laura has seen him crying when some memories came back, but left him alone and didn’t judge (+0).

As for NPCs, Gerald has become rather sweet on the head of housekeeping, Diana Harold (+2). They have been carefully dating for a while - he has his …issues, and she is a widow. Still, he has thought about popping the question. The principal Martin Nesbitt is someone he talks to from time to time. Pleasant enough fellow, if a bit too out of touch with modern life (+0). Finally, he does get along with the groundskeeper Jack Thompson. They share a passion for hunting, and will sometimes go out together (+1).

And that is Gerald done.

KULT: Divinity Lost - Fitzroy Braithwaite, brainy teacher

Now, PC2 in our little KULT boarding school.

CONTENT WARNINGS: Violence against teenagers

Fitzroy Braithwaite is a teacher of English literature and biology. He is an Academic, in terms of archetypes. He was hired last year, months after his goddaughter and niece Clarice vanished without a trace. She was a student here, you know? And now no one can remember her. No one but Fitzroy. (Dark Secret: Strange Disappearance)

Last year he made no progress in finding out what happened and had indeed started to think that he was delusional, when he ran across Laura, at night, when fetching a snack from the kitchen. He realized the condition she was in, at least in general. Specifics he learned when he spent some time, increasingly eager to learn more. As shaken as she was at the time she doesn’t remember most of the conversation, as he learned with some subtle probing later. He was ready to believe her story, and since then he has been invigorated in his search. Obsessed, really (Disadvantage: Obsession). One issue is that some of the things Laura told him during that night in the kitchen have given him (Disadvantage: Nightmares). Fitzroy was educated in Berkley (Advantage: Elite Education), and still is in contact with many of his school friends (Advantage: Academic Network). When in school he joined the fencing team, and he has kept up the habit of training regularly (Advantage: Elite Sport [Fencing]).

His Attributes are Willpower 1, Reflexes 2, and Fortitude 0, as well as Reason 3, Intuition -1, Perception 2, Coolness 0, Violence 1, Charisma 1, and Soul -2. A very tall man at 190cm, he is razor thin, and always dressed in what might as well be a uniform - tweed, elbow patches, glasses, the works. All of that goes well with his grey hair. Weirdly also with his easy smile.

As for Relationships, I will say Laura counts as the one ‘he hired for an experiment’, which means Relation +0. The Careerist he once met at a conference, well before they both worked here (Relation +0). Finally, the Veteran also went to Berkeley at the same time, and they have remained friends since then (+1 Relation in both directions).

As for NPCs, he cares deeply for his sister Trudy (+2), and his remaining nephew Carl (+1). The principal, Martin Nesbitt, is someone he sometimes has a chat with (+0).

And that will be The Academic.

KULT: Divinity Lost - Laura Keane, broken cook

Time to reach for one of my other staples - KULT: Divinity Lost. Already presented by one character last year, in the interim I have played in a bunch of games, ran a bunch of games, and consider it one of my go-to games. For those who do not know, KULT is a very harsh horror game. While nothing will be described explicitly here, there are still 

Content Warnings: MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES, DEATH

Similar to other PbtA games (yes, I know it is debatable if KULT is PbtA or not) the typical character generation in KULT assumes that the party will sit together and create both the PCs and the basics of the story at the same time. Other approaches are of course possible, but I will go with this one. And this year we will make a party of four. Since the creation is rather interwoven, I will split it all across four posts. If tempted enough I might add some GM thoughts at the end.

First to consider a time and location. I am watching The Rig as I do this, and the idea of some remote location appeals to me. But not an oil rig. How about a boarding school, maybe in the US? Maybe somewhere in the Adirondacks, remote, a small town close by. A private school, for rich college kids, founded maybe two decades ago, with ambitions to become an elite institution. Uniforms, school spirit, all that. At least officially. Semi-officially the kids are mostly "problem cases". The ones who did not fit in, maybe are violent, and whose parents have enough money and clout to make the issue go away. But not enough to do so while keeping their kid in a more prestigious school. Time-wise I like the late 1960s, and maybe mid-January. How about late January 1966, putting it right before one of the worst winter storms that the region has seen up to today? The storm isn’t in sight yet, the kids have returned from Christmas and settled in again, and everything is covered in snow. The closest town is Keene, east of Adirondack Park, and twenty minutes by car away from the school. Twenty minutes then the weather is ideal, that is. Who had the brilliant idea to put a boarding school here? Well, I would say that is one of the small things the GM might decide later. And that is already more precise than needed for the moment as regards the school, I’d say.

Next, players choose their archetypes, essentially playbooks here. In my experience this is intimately tied into the following step, the Dark Secrets. All PCs have one, and there needs to be a discussion if any are connected. By the time players ironed these out they usually have a good idea of their characters, and which playbook to take.

Mmhhh…. I'd like to have one Broken there. If only to show a different way to do the playbook than last year's Irene. Something really, really bad has happened to them and left a deep mark. She will be the cook, recently broken, and keeping whatever her problems are barely under control. Then I’d say an Academic is a given, teacher of literature and biology. As a bit of a twist a Veteran, who I picture as someone who had been in Korea, came back badly wounded, and now is the resident coach. Also responsible for teaching geography and history. Finally, a Careerist.

As for the Dark Secrets, I think I will decide that the players for the most part want to be independent, leaving it to the GM to pick up the shards. For simplicities sake, this means I can keep most of the character generation separate. For today, let us look at our Broken.

I would say Laura Keane had a rather bad year in 1965. You see, she died during the first day of summer break, the time students head home (Dark Secret: Returned from the Other Side). She doesn’t remember when and how. She only remembers that it happened. That she saw … images… of the afterlife. Of hell. And that when she came back,  she woke up in her room at the school and it was several days later. She felt incredibly cold. Slowly, warmth returned to her body, as if she could feel her soul seep back into it. The experience left her shaken, as did the realization that no one had missed her (Disadvantage: Broken [obligatory]). Afraid that no one would believe her she attempted to cope by herself, and in the end got addicted to something easy to come by - alcohol (Disadvantage: Drug Addict). Sometimes she can perceive the other side, in fleeting and often terrifying moments that she hopes are just her mind acting up (Advantage: Enhanced Awareness). Worse, as much as she tries covering her condition up with booze sometimes it seeps through. She has learned to let people see, partially also in the hope someone might pick up on it and help. But people only become uncomfortable when they talk to her for too long, and she is even more lonely than she was before; sometimes they ... snap .... for a short while (Advantage: Contagious Insanity). On the plus side, she has become unusually aware of people and situations and is rarely surprised by normal events anymore (Advantage: Sixth Sense).

For Attributes, she has Willpower 0, Reflexes 1, and Fortitude 2, as well as Reason -1, Intuition 1, Perception 0, Coolness 2, Violence 1, Charisma -2, and Soul 3. She is 1.70m tall, with broad shoulders, longish brown hair, and a plain face with haunted eyes. Usually, she wears a cook's uniform at work. In her private time, she dresses in simple grey dresses or white blouses with dark skirts and grey cardigans. Instinctually she wears colors of twilight, of hiding.

The final step would be to determine her relationships with both other players and some NPCs. While it might be clever to wait, I will do those now. Think of it as pushing in certain directions for the yet-to-come PCs. The relationships to PCs are chosen via a list of connection types. Let’s see…

I think the Veteran has noticed that she has become rather dark in her demeanor, and is trying to get her back to her feet again (+1 Relation). She is angry at the Careerist; she doesn’t remember specifics, but she is sure the Careerist was involved in her death. Somehow. (+1 Relation) The Academic was the first person she saw when she came out of her room after her ordeal. He found her, wandering the halls in her nightgown, shivering, delusional. He helped her that evening and never told anyone. She isn’t sure what she’d have done if he hadn’t spent a lot of time that day to make her feel safe. (...was with you when you were broken, +1 Relation)

Finally, for the three NPCs:

Tony the delivery driver is sweet on her, though she isn’t interested (neutral, +0 Relation)

Martha, the assistant cook, is a constant pain in the ass. Lazy and stubborn, the two will fight from time to time. It has become an old habit over years of shared work (meaningful, +1 Relation).

Finally, we have Larry, her cat, found on the street a week after her ordeal (vital, +2 Relation).

And that is Laura Keane.

9 Lives to Valhalla - Cottontail, fearsome warrior

And now for something entirely different: 9 Lives to Valhalla!

To quote the Kickstarter page of this delightful game, “9 Lives to Valhalla is a frenetic, gleefully ultraviolent new ttrpg from Gem Room Games about death metal Viking cats earning their seat in Valhalla through glorious violence and death (all 9 of them)!”

If that doesn’t sound great I don’t know what does! The conceit in this game is that the reign of man has ended a long time ago, and now the beasts are in charge. But there are still those who long for the leash, and cats are their sworn enemies. Onward to glorious death(s), in the name of the gods of the Panthera pantheon!

As an important aside, the developers note that “Something worthy of consideration is the historical context surrounding Norse mythology, and its misuse by fascists and other truly despicable people. This is not a game for those people.” Amen to that!

Anyway, onward to creating Cottontail, fearless warrior and bane of all those who would trespass against the Panthera! Cottontail is black, with a small white tuft at the end of his tail. A fierce scar connects his left ear and eye. Loud and boisterous, he has seen a lot of fights. And lived to talk about them. He is tall, a bit fat, I mean muscular, and strong. The quiet approach is not so much for him, and patience is not a virtue in his eyes. From his past, he has a hated nemesis - Fluffybuns, traitor to the worshippers of the Panthera. Fluffybuns and Cottontail guarded a grove dedicated to Leo. Cottontail trusted the younger Fluffybuns, and went to have a quick nap - a food binge left him a tad sleepy. But Fluffybuns betrayed everyone, and let a bunch of filthy poodles in to defile the place and steal anything not nailed down. Cottontail swore to track the poodles and Fluffybuns down, and make them pay!

Cats have four attributes, ranked in dice sizes. Anytime they have to roll, they pick up the dice of the two most fitting attributes, and try to top the roll of two dice Death (i.e. the GM) makes. The higher roll wins. Small details: anytime a die is rolled, something has to die. And if the two rolls match, both sides die in glorious conflict. Luckily, cats have nine lives. As a follower of Leo, Cottontail gets to distribute a D4, a D6, a D8, and a D10, and ends up with Brutality D10, Viciousness D6, Cunning D4, and Ferocity D8.

Now to choose a weapon style Cottontail has mastered. He can use others, but they are likely to break in his mighty paws. He wields Great Weapons, which by default use Brutality and Ferocity. He wields a giant double-headed axe. In addition, Cottontail has been blessed by the Panthera, and I think the Blessing of the Gifted Breath of Mankind’s Babe would work well. This means once per game he gets to give a command to dogs, and they have to obey.

And with that, we are done!

Swords of the Serpentine - Custódio Collini, messenger

And then I woke up with a new idea and made it a character. Meet Custódio Collini, trusted messenger to the rich and powerful in Eversink. Yes, Swords of the Serpentine again.

You see, the social demands placed on members of the Mercanti, the administration, and especially the noble houses mean a constant flow of missives across the city. The more wealthy ones, and for the most part the administration, employ a lot of messengers for that kind of thing. Still, there are those who cannot easily afford such an ongoing expenditure, especially among the ancient noble families which have fallen on harder timers. And even those who can find themselves from time to time in a situation where some letter or small item needs to get somewhere quickly, but all messengers are already away. In such cases, freelancers pick up the slack. They hang around the places where demand is highest, and some of them are organized in small gangs. Custódio is not in such a gang. 

Custódio is a loner, a freelance messenger who specializes in serving the needs of the ancient noble families. While most messengers are active on foot, Custódio is one of the rarer messengers who bring missives through the city in their gondola. And what makes Custódio truly unique is that he has figured out the means by which to open the wax seals on letters quickly and usually without leaving a trace. And even better, given the right tools and a few minutes he can make some … adjustments … to the pages. Tools that he has in the closed back of his gondola. Custódio is a member of one of the local thieves' guilds, the ‘Silent Lackeys’. 

Due to his diligent work the Silent Lackeys have grown in size and wealth, miraculously finding just the right times to break into specific mansions, or by selling some political information to the highest bidders. So far, no one has figured out their secret. But if anyone in power would, Custódio's life would get very interesting very, very fast.

He is a young man, tanned and muscular, respectful and polite. He carries his sand-coloured hair in a long braid and usually wears a non-descript servant's uniform when working. He is Precise and Methodical, Circumspect in all his dealings. Not liking to depend on others he is largely Self-Reliant. Nonetheless, his easy manner makes him very Likeable.

His three favourite things in life are:

• Perfect forgery without leaving a trace
• Wind in his hair, and the soft murmur of water in a canal
• Screwing over the rich and powerful

He has Morale 8 and Health 10, the stats of someone living the good life in the more or less fresh air.

For Social Abilities, he has Charm 1, Liar’s Tell 1, Trustworthy 1, and Servility 2. He specializes in conning the powerful, after all. As regards Professional Abilities, he has City’s Secrets 1, Scurrilous Rumours 2, and Skulduggery 4. Master forger, remember?

As for General Abilities, he has Athletics and Preparedness at 8, Warfare and Stealth at 4, and Bind Wounds, Burglary, and Sway at 2. He isn’t a fighter, but he does a lot of physical work and quite literally survives by being very circumspect at all times. The rest are things he picked up in his sordid youth and from his only slightly less sordid companions.

His Allies and Enemies are the Thieves’ Guilds 1, and Ancient Nobility at both 1 and -1. As with most characters, I assume his list of enemies will only grow.

His gear:

• A small and sturdy transport gondola with a closed compartment
• All the tools a real letter forger needs
• Sardine sandwiches, his favourite
• A small, nasty dagger, with a jagged edge, well hidden inside his puffy shirt
• A worn servants uniform, puffy, blatant, and hiding a surprising amount of thieves' tools

And that is Custódio. Here the sheet.

Swords of the Serpentine - Henrique, religious mercenary

Ok, after this palate-cleanser, time to return to putting more mercenaries into games. Let us go back to Swords of the Serpentine!

Henrique is the youngest member of the team, a smallish but muscular man with short brown hair who might be in the middle of his twenties. Born and orphaned at a young age in The Tangle in Eversink he is the one who suggested moving here after a disastrous employment two years ago. As a boy, Henrique was a member of a street gang and learned parts of his trade then and there. In the end, he realized that there is no future in the gangs, and went to a mercenary crew to learn the ropes. A big reason for this was that Henrique started hearing the voices of long-dead gang members. Gangs rarely have the means or even the willingness to pay for funerary statues. One, the ghost of a girl called Paoletta, was far more insistent than the others, for reasons unknown to Henrique. A part of his first pay went into a statue for her. The haunting had left an impression on Henrique, and he learned to keep listening carefully to the whispers of the deceased. 

By now he is a veteran of the mercenary companies, in part due to a long engagement of one troupe he was with as guards for merchant's vessels. That one ended when a pirate vessel hunted them down and sank the ship after robbing it blind. Leaving all merchants and the few wounded mercenaries on board. Henrique survived by the skin of his teeth, mostly due to the help of one of the dead sailors who pointed him to a bubble of air in the wreck. Two days later a ship passed by, and the wreck, only a few meters under the ocean surface, was spotted. The first person Henrique saw when rescued was an old acquaintance, Coba.

Since then, he has been a loyal friend and companion to the other mercenaries in their merry band. And large parts of his pay still go towards funerary status.

His favorite things in life are:

…putting a soul to rest

…a warm bed in a safe room

…the company of people he can trust with his life

He is boyish and friendly, patient when necessary, but decisive at times. He often trusts his intuition.

Ability-wise I went with Intimidation, Felonious Intent, Servility, Trustworthy, and Skulduggery at 1, for fairly obvious reasons. His natural gift is Spirit Sight 2, and the ghosts whispering to him at all times mean that he also has City Secrets and Prophecy 1. And yes, his Spot Frailty and Tactics of Death at 1 are also more due to advice and warnings from beyond.

He is very athletic (8), a passable burglar (4), and due to rare hints from the other side often brings along stuff that he would not have thought of himself (Preparedness 2). Youth on the streets taught him the value of being quiet (Stealth 8), and the last few years honed his willingness to hurt others (Warfare 8). Never mistake his friendly, boyish attitude for naivete or an unwillingness to cause harm if called upon.

Gear that reflects who he is:

• A small collection of writs for funerary statues underway
• A sampling of daggers, knuckledusters, small swords
• The constant susurrus of ghostly whispers in his ears
• Eyes that have seen far too much, and ears that have heard even more
• Dozens of funerary statues all over the place that he sometimes visits

And he has a sheet.

 

Tiny Tavern - Iton, priest of Oriri

Time for the last PC, and to wrap up the Next Level Games creation. I feel like doing something non-standard, and maybe more game-connected. How about we borrow a Heritage from some other Tiny D6 game, and adapt it for Tiny Taverns? I opt for Tiny Dungeon Glitterbug. Glitterbugs are sentient beetles, around 3’ tall, with rainbow-colored elytra that can be used to distract people.

Iton is a priest of Orire, who has come to the casino as part of a pilgrimage. He has braved dangerous caverns, brigands, and monsters, just to join the little group and bring the casino back to fame and wealth. He wants it to be a less-than-humble temple, fitting the glamorous life Orire promises those who trust in her gentle guidance. Since Iton has a custom Heritage, I will follow the path outlined in A La Carte to create it, using Tiny Dungeon for guidance. One of his Heritage Traits will be Flutterflight (borrowed from the Pixie Heritage), which means he can fly, albeit a bit slowly. There is no good replacement for Tiny Dungeon’s Rainbow Shell Trait, but I think it would work well enough to just port it one on one for the other Heritage Trait. Then I get to choose three optional traits, one of which I can take now. I think Scrappy works well since a beetle should be tougher than expected. This is a Trait that Panguri can take, and so I am sure it will work well.

For his personal two Traits I will choose Dungeoneer, meaning Iton will never be lost when exploring such places, and Galvanizing - when in a populated area, Iton can test to find help, like a bodyguard or an extra pair of hands. For his Proficiencies, I choose Priest of Orire, Gambler, and Stick Fighting - as a solitary wanderer Iton has learned to defend himself.

His Belief is ‘Always trust in Orire’s invisible guidance.’ Iton is a bit small for a Glitterbug, let’s say 2.5’. His multicolored shell is a bit damaged from his travels, and he still hasn’t found time to molt. His right antenna has been cut in half. His eyes are deep emerald green. He continues shifts in place, and can never quite stand still. He is a quiet one, who sounds grave when he speaks. 

1. Which one of the other player characters is your closest friend? Why do you consider them to be your bestie?
2. How did you end up working or living at the Tavern? What is your biggest responsibility there?
3. What always puts you in a Good Mood? What always ruins your day?

Mmhh.. I think he has started to trust Holly (Like, 1). Zele, however, dislikes him - he freaks her out a bit, and if she is honest she does not like the newcomer intruding into her quiet life. Especially since he seems insistent on shaking things up, which she takes as criticism of what she and Holly have been doing so far. Gryneret freaks him out a little, but he doesn’t like to show it. If he knew their real identity he would be ashamed; alas, he does not (Rival, Secret, 1). Finally, he has spent the last leg of his travel here accompanying Bonanidas, and he has developed a deep affection for her (Love, Secret, 1). That one he does not quite admit to himself.

As for why he is here, I think that is clear. Besides being the head priest, he is also the dealer at the card games. He always is in a good mood when many games happen since each bet is a prayer to Oriri. When someone gets angry due to a loss it ruins his own mood - it is sad to see people not see the lessons the goddess wants to impart.

To finish the tavern, I would now ask the players to draw a map of the place. And to remember to leave some empty areas for potential expansion. But by myself that is a bit boring, so let's not do that. And there are some basic stats to calculate - Reputation and Size will be 2, which is standard. Safety 0 sounds about right, and less-than-average demand of 1. Finally, typically a business of this size and reputation would generate an Income of 4, but this one is failing. Let's make it 2 - the place is very hard to reach, decreasing Demand, and so on.

Find the tavern sheet here, and Iton here. 

Tiny Taverns - Zele, Next Level Games' bouncer

Next up at Next Level Game is a full-time cook, and occasional bouncer. I think a former adventurer, maybe some kind of fighter? First, let’s roll on the guest table for the Heritage, since I do not want to decide on this one. I roll a five, giving me a choice between a Panguri (catperson), and a Pooka (rabbit person, kind of). I like the second one more. Zele will be a bit unusual for a Pooka; less focused on mechanical tinkering, and more interested in testing new flavors. 

For Traits, Zele is like all Pooka Spry, and beyond that she is Sniffy. The two mean that she is nimble, hard to surprise, and has an extraordinary sense of smell. Seems perfect. For her non-Heritage Traits, I think Customer Service works, which allows her to talk potentially violent customers down, as does Foodie. The latter gives her a near-perfect palate, meaning she is really good at making exceptional food. For her Proficiencies, I go with Cooking and Mastery in Security. Security is a bit special in that it is a weapon proficiency. Tiny Taverns treats combat differently from other Tiny D6 games, essentially turning it into a simple task. Which does fit the theme very well, I’d say. The bottom line is that Zele existing will not turn this into a dungeon crawler.

For her Belief, I like ‘People who prefer quarreling to a good brie cannot be trusted.’ With 4' she is unusually tall for a Pooka. She is very buff as well and has abrupt, no-nonsense behavior. She does mellow a lot when smelling, let alone eating great food.

1. Which one of the other player characters is your closest friend? Why do you consider them to be your bestie?
2. How did you end up working or living at the Tavern? What is your biggest responsibility there?
3. What always puts you in a Good Mood? What always ruins your day?

Hmmm… I think Zele sees Holly as her closest friend. Holly will be the one to come to Zele for help from time to time when customers become unruly. I also think the two will work together a lot on food production, and while Holly does not share dietary needs, I can see her being extra friendly to Zele for being considerate and appreciative of Holly’s efforts. However, I do not want this to be reciprocated - in a three-player game I want to avoid two PCs being too cozy with each other, and I can see Holly see Zele as a bit of competition - she gets called in when Holly mismanaged a guest, and while Holly sees the need for cooked food, she still finds it vaguely creepy. So, she secretly sees Zele as Rival (1).

I think Zele arrived here when her adventuring party failed. She had joined them in the search for fortune and glory, as well as tasty food - the dungeon was known for especially “great mushrooms”. Which sadly turned out to be mushroom men who did not like the idea of someone hunting for mushrooms to cook. Zele was split from the rest of the party and luckily stumbled across the entrance to Next Level Games. It took her some time to recover, and by the time she did the exit home was gone. So she decided to make the best of the situation. First, she took over the kitchen, and a bit later her talents for violence came in rather handy. 

Creating a dish that is up to her own high standards always puts her in a Good Mood. She hates it when her duties as a bouncer mean a dish gets ruined.

For Relationships, Holly is clearly liked (2). I think Grant spies on Zele since she is a former adventurer, and therefore clearly cannot be trusted. Dzambeg has a crush on her, he has a thing for small, dominant women. As a consequence, I think Zele dislikes him (Nemesis 1), but in the interest of business keeps that secret. Finally, I think Zele actually likes Yogam, since they are an excellent listener. They also do their work, and never complain - an ideal companion as far as Zele is concerned (Like, 1).

 And here is her sheet.

Tiny Taverns - Holly, Concierge of Next Level Games

Now, let us look at who the PCs in Next Level Games will be. As said before, I want three of them. Mmhh… what kind of PCs do I want?

There is a new Heritage in A La Carte that I like. Let us assume the area the casino is in is well-lit, by crystal veins embedded in the rock floors. The light is good enough to allow the owners to keep a garden. The front part is for decoration purposes, and the back is for food production. Times have been hard, and buying food is not always possible due to the absence of merchants. In the garden lives a Bloam, a garden nymph. They are plants that have taken on the aspects of their gardeners. Let us assume. This one is called Holly. As a Bloam she has the trait plantlike, and mimics another heritage, taking one of that heritage’s Traits. Mmhhh… Holly, weirdly enough, started life as a lily and was raised by the Firbolg gardener who was here a generation ago. Firbolg are frost giants, more or less. Holly has Giant Strength, despite her willowy shape. Then again she is 8' tall, so there is that.

Holly is Fruitful; she can produce flowers and an intoxicating sap at a whim. And during what passes for Winter here, she can guard the dreams of present people (Trait Flower Child, giving her the Dreamwatch winter spell). Beyond that, she gets two more traits. I see her as Curious, which should be self-explanatory. Finally, she is Unflappable. No matter what happens, and what people do, she is very hard to flap.

Next, Holly gets two Proficiencies. The obvious one is Gardening. And I would like to add something else - Holly might very well be Concierge during operating hours. I like that! I could choose to elevate one of the two to mastery, or I can add a third one. I opt for the latter - she is proficient at Gambling.

Now for a Belief, a sentence that summarises her approach to life. I like ‘A little bit of chaos makes life interesting’, which I think fits a being raised in a garden that belongs to a temple of Orire. While at it, I determine she is not only tall and willowy, but has long white “hair”, pale green skin, small lily buds, and flowers all over her body, and usually wears a grey suit when interacting with guests. I will skip the Belongings section since I find it less than useful in Tiny Taverns. And there will be three questions at the end.

1. Which one of the other player characters is your closest friend? Why do you consider them to be your bestie?
2. How did you end up working or living at the Tavern? What is your biggest responsibility there?
3. What always puts you in a Good Mood? What always ruins your day?

The first I will skip it for now for obvious reasons. The second has already been answered. For the last one, I think Holly is in a Good Mood if there is a bit of chaos, but she still feels on top of it. Things not-quite-going wrong, that kind of thing. If that state tips over into catastrophe, her mood plummets.

To round out the character, I will also give her two Relationships, which might be supplemented once the other PCs exist. The obvious first choice will be Gryneret; Holly has been here long enough that she has figured out their secret identity. I assume she is in adoration of this angelic being but keeps it secret as much as possible. And it should be a strong relationship, let’s give it a 2 (maximum would be 3). The second one will be Grant, which Holly just plain likes to hang out with (Like, 1).

And that will be Holly.

The next two posts will deal with the other two PCs and the finishing up of the place.