Character Generation

[tormsen]

Ok, here is my rough guide to character generation for Unknown Armies. Atlas Games very kindly has the full character generation rules up on it's website in pdf format, so for more details check it out here: http://www.atlas-games.com/pdf_storage/ua2_preview.pdf


Name: Your PCs name.
Summary: Brief biography for your PC.

Trigger Event: A weird encounter in your past that exposed you to the unexplainable and uncanny. "What is the strangest thing you've ever experienced?"
Description: What you look like.
Personality: Basically, how you portray yourself to other people. The main books gives examples such as iconic personalities (The Good Cop, etc), zodiac personalities, or personalities cribbed from pop culture.
Obsession: What you living for, and what gives your life meaning. Ex: toughness, antiques, surviving at all costs, religion, etc.

Wound Points: How much damage you can take. This is equal to your Body stat.

Passions:
Each PC has 3 passions, those things that really push your buttons deep in your reptile brain, and ultimately guide all your so-called rational decisions.
Fear is the thing your PC is most afraid of.
Rage is what angers you more than anything else.
Your Noble passion is your PC at his or her best, their most kind etc..

These passions can allow you to flip rolls (for example, turning a roll of 91 into a 19, if it is better for you), so choose intelligent ones and choose with care.

Stats:
Each PC has 4 stats, those being: Body, Speed, Mind and Soul.
Body represents how healthy, strong and generally fit you are.
Speed represents how physically quick and responsive you are.
Mind represents how quickly you think, how well you examine ideas, and how mentally tough you are.
Soul covers emotions, nonverbal skills, social interaction, and magick.

You have 220 points to divide between the 4 stats. None can be below 30 or above 70.
Once that is done, add a descriptor beside each stat explaining why it is that way. For example Mind 70 (lightning fast calculator) or Soul 60 (Hidden depths) or Body 30 (puny) etc.

Skills:
Skills are percentile listings representing what your PC can do. You have a number of points equal to your stat to place into the skills for the stat, as well as certain skills gained at a free percentage and the rest you make up on your own.

Body: General Athletics 15%; Struggle 15%
Speed: Dodge 15%; Drive 15%
Mind: General Education 15%; Notice 15%
Soul: Charm 15%; Lie 15%

That’s what you get for free. The rest of the skills are pretty much up for you to decide, as there is no specific skill list, though examples are given in the pdf. I have the right of veto on ridiculous skills, but I will mostly leave it at your discretion. You can name your skills whatever you like, and even rename your free skills if you want.

Lastly, a PC has their obsession skill, which is tied to the obsession chosen earlier. With this skill you flip all rolls for it, making it easier to succeed with. This skill should be bolded.

Possessions:
The stuff you own. Be reasonable, and have it make sense with your character.

Example Sheet:

Name:

Summary:

Description:

Personality:

Obsession:

Wound Points:

Passions
Fear:
Rage:
Noble:

Stats
Body:
Speed:
Mind:
Soul:

Skills
Body Skills:
Speed Skills:
Mind Skills:
Soul Skills:

Possessions:

Experience:
Total: 0
Unspent: 0
Spent: 0

Madness Meter:
Violence: 0 Hardened, 0 Failed
Unnatural: 0 Hardened, 0 Failed
Helplessness: 0 Hardened, 0 Failed
Isolation: 0 Hardened, 0 Failed
Self: 0 Hardened, 0 Failed

[Mr. Handy]

Name: Assistant District Attorney Christine van Pelt

Summary: From an early age, Christine has always been good at convincing others of her point of view. The star of her high school debate team, Christine continued her education through college and law school at Harvard with the intention of becoming a lawyer. After she graduated, she quickly got a job working for the District Attorney's office. While attorneys in private practice got better pay, Christine liked her work due to her desire to put criminals away and protect society from them, rather than trying to get them acquitted as her opposite numbers did representing them or raking in the cash by filing lawsuits. Now in her mid-thirties, Christine is having a very successful career with hopes of becoming District Attorney when the current DA retires.

Trigger Event: Chrstine's strangest case involved a woman who had been killed by a hit and run driver. Christine had gone to the morgue to examine the body. While viewing it alone, the dead woman sat bolt upright and rattled off a short series of letters and numbers before collapsing again. Thinking the woman might have been mistakenly declared dead, Christine tried to help her, but she had no pulse, was as cold as ice, and rigor mortis had set in. She did, however, deduce that the sequence the dead woman had spoken might have been a license plate number. She had the police run the plate, which led them to a car with a dent in its front consistent with a collision. When the police approached the owner of the car, he broke down and confessed, admitting that he had been driving drunk and panicked when he had hit the woman.

Description: Christine is about 5' 4" and weighs 120 pounds. Though she has a small frame, she keeps in good physical condition and gets plenty of exercise. She has curly, shoulder-length blonde hair and is quite attractive.



Personality: Virgo

Obsession: Law and Order

Wound Points: 40

Passions
Fear: (Helplessness) Drowning
Rage: Criminal Scumbags
Noble: Justice

Stats
Body: 40 (slight)
Speed: 50 (lithe)
Mind: 60 (clever)
Soul: 70 (empathic)

Skills
Body Skills: General Athletics 30%, Struggle 15%, Work Without Rest 25%
Speed Skills: Dodge 30%, Drive 20%, Initiative 25%, Spray Mace 30%
Mind Skills: Conceal 15%, Law (replaces General Education) 55%, Notice 35%
Soul Skills: Charm 35%, Lying 15%, Persuasion 50%

Possessions:
Ford sedan
Laptop computer
Smartphone
Mace
Notebook and pens/pencils
Briefcase

The car contains:
Spare tire
Tool kit (includes a jack)
Jumper cables
Vehicle registration
Maps
Flashlight

Experience:
Total: 0
Unspent: 0
Spent: 0

Madness Meter:
Violence: 0 Hardened, 0 Failed
Unnatural: 1 Hardened, 0 Failed
Helplessness: 0 Hardened, 1 Failed
Isolation: 0 Hardened, 0 Failed
Self: 0 Hardened, 0 Failed

[tormsen]

Great! She looks good.

[Priest]

Name: Mathew Scade



Trigger Event:
During a visit to the crypt of an old abandoned church. Mathew, had unearthed an old rotting piece of parchment upon which the remains of an obscure pattern could still be seen. He was later to discover that such designs or sigils were called ‘witch signs’ and were frequently found throughout New England. While staring at the faded image Mathew saw the faded lines suddenly lit by an unearthly fire so bright that its light illuminated the dark chamber. As swiftly as the lines of fire had appeared so they vanished. Within moments all that Mathew held was a piece of old rotting parchment inscribed with a faint image. What the occurrence had meant, and what the sigil signified Mathew never ascertained but it was enough, it had opened a yearning mind to possibilities.

Summary:
Born a sickly child with a unerring ability to catch any illness going. Doted on by his widowed Mother, who in her desire to protect her son from the evils of the world made sure that he always had sufficient supplies of medicines from inhalers to various pills, Mathew was never going to be an active member of society. However he used his enforced abstinence from physical pursuits to assemble a vast collection of literature on his favoured subject of Magic. Formulaic or practical, black or white, classic or contemporary it made little difference to a burgeoning fascination. During his periods of solitary confinement, for medical reasons his Mother had explained, Mathew, amassed a considerable library of the esoteric. A library that included ancient treaties, decaying papyruses and three color comic books. None of which had any practical use outside of the imagination of Mathew Scade, but then who is to say that magic has any reality outside of imagination.

Description:
Tall, probably around six four in bare feet. Painfully thin with glasses. Has a penchant for black clothing which combined with his height frame and pale complexion has gained him a much admiration in Goth circles. Of course fashion has no interest for him.

Personality:
Outside Agitator

Obsession:
The pursuit of magic and the proof that it is real

Wound Points:
30

Passions
Fear: Spiders, big hairy spiders.
Rage: Ignorant, muscle bound fools destroying books.
Noble: Defend societies rejects

Stats
Body: 30 (Sickly)
Speed: 50 (Average)
Mind: 70 (Alert)
Soul: 70 (emphatic)

Skills
Body Skills: General Athletics 15%; Struggle 30%, Climb 15%
Speed Skills: Dodge 30%; Drive 30%, Initative 30%, Squirrelly Reflexes 25%
Mind Skills: General Education 50%; Notice 15%, Occult 35%
Soul Skills: Charm 20%; Lie 40%, Hunches 40%

Possessions:
Old Buick
Pack of Tarot cards Alistair Crowley pattern.
Fountain Pen and Notebook.
Cell phone
Small pen knife on key ring with house keys.
In Car:
Various pieces of paper.
Car tools
3’ of nylon rope

Experience:
Total: 0
Unspent: 0
Spent: 0

Madness Meter:
Violence: 0 Hardened, 0 Failed
Unnatural: 0 Hardened, 0 Failed
Helplessness: 0 Hardened, 0 Failed
Isolation: 0 Hardened, 0 Failed
Self: 0 Hardened, 0 Failed

[tormsen]

Mathew looks interesting, awesome.

The way this adventure is structured, it's not going to be possible for new characters to join up in the midst of the action. So I'll give a bit more of a grace period for people to join up, and then begin proceedings.

[DrPeterson]

You should put up an OOC topic, where we can comment on how cool and weird this campaign is