Character Information

[thumbprince]

-Characters are constructed using Night's Black Agents rules with the following abilities added: Sanity (4 points free), Cthulhu Mythos (1 point free, no more available at start; consider starting Sanity accordingly!), Geology. Physics, Theology. Here is a sheet incorporating these changes.
-Characters start with a total of 20 points combined for Network and Cover, with a minimum of 1 point in each. Your starting cover ID is worth 5 free points.
-Use the Drives, Pillars of Sanity & Sources of Stability as described in Trail of Cthulhu. The latter can be a Symbol or Safety in addition to a Solace.
-You cannot use Trust with another agent unless you reveal something true about your character to that agent.

[tormsen]

How many investigative build points?

[thumbprince]

Minimum of 24, given the additional abilities.

[Mr. Handy]

I don't know how character creation in Night's Black Agents/Trail of Cthulhu works, let alone how to build a character well. I'm not really familiar with the rules. Most of the skills look self-explanatory, but some could use clarification. Are there any Quick Start rules or anything similar that show how to create a character?

[tormsen]

I haven't been able to find any quickstart rules online. Indeed, the amount of stuff I felt I would need to explain with character generation was what made me put off starting my own NBA game.

Here is my basic understanding of it:

1) Pick one or more backgrounds. If you don't have the books, I wouldn't worry about these, they're actually optional.
2) Choose investigative abilities. 24 points to spend + 1 free point in Streetwise and Tradecraft.
3) Choose general abilities. 70 points to spend + 4 points free in Health, Stability and Sanity + 1 point in Cthulhu Mythos + 20 free points split between Cover and Network. Choose one skill as your Military Occupational Specialty (MOS): this skill can be used for an automatic success once per session.
4) Build out the personality and dossier.

I think just ask for clarification for any skills, thumbprince would have both NBA and ToC, and so do I.

[tormsen]

OK, he is my character creation attempt. Is there anything amiss?



Agent Name: Luka Horvat
Background: Cuckoo (Deep Cover Agent)
Drive: Adventure
Former Patron: CIA (Delta Green Friendly since 1986)
DG Identity: PROTEUS
Pillars of Sanity: Family Always Being There, Innate Goodness of Mankind
Sources of Stability:
* Symbol: A photo of his family taken when he was 12, in happier times.
* Solace: Ex-(?)lover, Mossad agent Aura Meir

Investigative Abilities
Bullshit Detector 3
Cryptography 3
Flattery 2
Flirting 1
Forgery 3
High Society 1
Languages 3
Reassurance: 2
Streetwise 2 (includes the 1 free point)
Tradecraft 3 (includes the 1 free point)
Urban Survival 2

General Abilities

Athletics 3
Cover 15
Cthulhu Mythos 1
* Disguise 12 (MOS ability)
Filch 3
Gambling 2
Hand-to-Hand 8
Health 9
Infiltration 8
Network 5
Piloting 2
Preparedness 7
Sanity 7
Stability 7
Sense Trouble 6
Shooting 8

Description:

Luka and Branko were Croatian-Americans, twin boys of a couple that moved to the states at the end of the Second World War. They say there is a connection between identical twins, and in his youth, Luka felt just such a connection with his younger (by 2 minutes) brother. They played together, watched the same cartoons, read the same comic books. It was high school when things began to change. While Luka became popular, Branko became increasingly isolated and ostracized, uncomfortable in his own skin. It wasn’t just that Luka was handsome or athletic, it was his ability to be a social chameleon, equally comfortable with the jocks, the drama club, the nerds. He was able to engage and interact with any group as if he were a member of the group, and was universally popular. Luka created his own identity by becoming everything to everyone, and reveled in it, while his brother became a no-one, paranoid and distant. Branko blamed his problems on everyone else, developing a conspiratorial mindset that eventually led to anti-semitism and racism, egged on by the rants of their grandfather, who fought for the Fascist Ustasha in the war.

Luka went on to university on a scholarship for acting, while Branko fell into alcohol and drug abuse, and eventually with white supremacist militia groups. Luka joined the CIA as a deep cover agent, and was respected and a little feared for his ability to shift between personas effortlessly. He studied European languages obsessively, and was equally capable of playing the role of an IRA bagman, an East German border guard, an Italian communist, or whatever the mission required. It was on one such mission that he encountered Delta Green.

He has had a bad run of luck recently. After eight years of service, he has been burned out of the CIA. His last mission (infiltrating a West-East Germany currency scam as a West German investor), was successful, so he has no idea why he has suddenly been cut out. He has also received word from his family, that his brother has left the US with a group of neo-Nazis to join the 'Croatian Defence Forces' paramilitary group. Then he gets a message from Delta Green, requesting assistance in Yugoslavia. Things appear to be coming together, and Luka doesn't know where they are leading. But he has a hundred different masks he can use to guide his way.

[tormsen]

I had some time today, so I finished the abilities list I started writing for the game I was going to start. This is taken from the appendices of the Night's Black Agents book. It is missing the Trail of Cthulhu skills thumbprince mentioned (Sanity, Cthulhu Mythos , Geology. Physics, Theology) but I think they are self-explanatory.

Investigative Abilities

Accounting Academic
You can spot embezzlement and fraud, track payments or conceal them.
Archaeology Academic
You excavate and study structures and artifacts of historical cultures and civilizations.
Architecture Academic
You know how buildings and infrastructure are designed and constructed.
Art History Academic
You're an expert on works of art and craft from an aesthetic and technical point of view.
Astronomy Technical
You study celestial objects, including the stars and the planets.
Bullshit Detector Interpersonal
You can sometimes tell if people are trying to decieve you.
Bureaucracy Interpersonal
You can get past officials, find whistleblowers, access official records.
Chemistry Technical
You can identify and synthesize compounds and understand their properties.
Cop Talk Interpersonal
You can gain cooperation from the police, imply you are in law enforcement and get minor offenses overlooked.
Criminology Academic
You study crimes, and the methods for solving crimes, from laboratory techniques to psychological profiling.
Cryptography Technical
You're an expert in the making and breaking of codes in any language you can read.
Data Recovery Technical
You use computer and electronic technology to retrieve and enhance seemingly inaccessible information or imagery on hard drives and other media.
Diagnosis Academic
You diagnose human diseases, injuries, poisonings and physical frailties. At a rating of 2 or more, you have a medical license.
Electronic Surveillance Technical
You're adept at the use of sound and video recording equipment to gather intelligence.
Flattery Interpersonal
You're good at getting people to help you by complimenting them, as subtly or blatantly as they prefer.
Flirting Interpersonal
You're adept at winning cooperation from people who find you sexually attractive.
Forensic Pathology Technical
You study crime scenes and perform autopsies to determine cause and circumstances of death.
Forgery Technical
You fake things such as credentials, handwriting or art.
High Society Interpersonal
You know how to hang with the rich and famous, and how to chat them up without getting security called.
History Academic
You know history, with an emphasis on its political, military, economic and technological developments.
Human Terrain Academic
You understand areas, structures, organizations, cultures, people, of a region.
Interrogation Interpersonal
You can extract information from people in your control.
Intimidation Interpersonal
You can extract information through implied or actual threats or physical or mental domination.
Languages Academic
You are verbally fluent and literate in a number of languages, Rating 1=2, 2=5, 3=9, 4=13, etc.
Law Academic
You know the criminal and civil laws of your home jurisdiction well, and are broadly acquainted with foreign legal systems.
Military Science Academic
You understand military history, strategy, tactics, and the weapons, technologies, and engineering techniques of the battlefield.
Negotiation Interpersonal
You are the expert at making deals with others, convincing them that the best arrangement for you is also the best for them.
Notice Technical
This is the generic ability for spotting a hidden clue, general situational awareness, or noticing a non-threatening visual anomaly.
Occult Studies Academic
You're an expert in the historical study of magic, superstition, and sorcery from the Stone Age to the present.
Outdoor Survival Technical
You have lived and worked outdoors and in the wild, during a rural upbringing or extensive military service "in country".
Pharmacy Technical
You are able to identify and compound drugs and medicine.
Photography Technical
You're proficient in the use of cameras, including still, motion-picture, digital and video photography.
Reassurance Interpersonal
You get people to do what you want by putting them at ease.
Research Academic
You know how to find factual information from books, records, official sources, and the Internet.
Streetwise Interpersonal
You know how to behave in the criminal underworld.
Tradecraft Technical
You know how to utilize the techniques of conventional espionage agents, and how to talk to them if you must hold a meet.
Traffic Analysis Technical
You know how to boil down a mass of data- raw signals intel, phone records, surveillance tapes- and extract patterns.
Urban Survival Academic
You are familiar with working and living in cities, especially their seamier underbelly.

General Abilities

Athletics
Running, throwing, jumping, dodging, and climbing etc. Less than 8 and your Hit Threshold is 3, otherwise 4.
Conceal
You can hide things from view and conceal them from search.
Cover
This ability represents your stash of cover identities. Assign some points each as required.
Digital Intrusion
You can enter secure databases without formal access, and read, download, alter, or delete data and records therein.
Disguise
You can alter your appearance, posture and voice to be unrecognizable.
Driving
You're a skill defensive driver, capable of wringing high performance out of even the most incalcitrant vehicle.
Explosive Devices
You're an expert in bombs and booby traps.
Filch
Pick pockets, plant, hide or steal objects.
Gambling
You are conversant with the rules and etiquette of all forms of gambling, from Texas hold'em and roulette to horse racing and numbers rackets.
Hand-to-Hand
You can hold your own in unarmed combat, whether you wish to kill, knock out, restrain or evade your opponents.
Infiltration
You're good at placing yourself inside places you have no right to be.
Mechanics
You're good at building, repairing, operating and disabling mechanical, electrical and electronic devices.
Medic
You can perform first aid on sick or injured individuals.
Network
This ability represents your network of professional contacts. Assign each one points.
Piloting
You can pilot small boats and single-engine light aircraft with professional aplomb and serene confidence.
Preparedness
Allows you to have minor bits of gear to suit the situation.
Sense Trouble
Spot danger- only one player makes the attempt each time.
Shooting
You are adept with personal firearms, including their field stripping, repair, and identification.
Shrink
You can provide comfort, perspective, and solace to the mentally troubled. Spend 1 point to restore 2 points of Stability.
Surveillance
You're good at watching and following targets without revealing your presence.
Weapons
You are skilled in the use of personal hand weapons such as knives, swords, or flexible batons.
Health
Your ability to sustain injuries/ a measure of the narrative plausibility of you not being damaged by an attack
Stability
Your Stability rating indicates your resistance to mental trauma and psychic attack, along with general willpower and self-possession.

[thumbprince]

1) Pick one or more backgrounds. If you don't have the books, I wouldn't worry about these, they're actually optional.
2) Choose investigative abilities. 24 points to spend + 1 free point in Streetwise and Tradecraft.
3) Choose general abilities. 70 points to spend + 4 points free in Health, Stability and Sanity + 1 point in Cthulhu Mythos + 20 free points split between Cover and Network. Choose one skill as your Military Occupational Specialty (MOS): this skill can be used for an automatic success once per session.
4) Build out the personality and dossier.

I think just ask for clarification for any skills, thumbprince would have both NBA and ToC, and so do I.

1a) Here is a list of backgrounds. You do not need one, but they do help focus your character.
Analyst: You put it all together.
Asset Handler: You use people in the field.
Bagman: You handle the money.
Bang-and-Burner: You blow it up.
Black Bagger: You break and enter.
Cleaner: You erase your traces.
Cobbler: You provide papers.
Cuckoo: You pretend you’re someone else.
Hacker: You crack it.
Investigator: You figure it out.
Medic: You heal yours; you work on theirs.
Mule: You get it across the border.
Muscle: You hit it.
Watcher: You keep eyes on target.
Wet Worker: You kill it.
Wheel Artist: You drive it.
Wire Rat: You build it.

2a) A rating of 1 in an Investigative Ability is enough to show competency. Anything more than 3 is probably overkill.

3a) A rating of 8 in a General Ability gives you a special perk.

Another option is to start with the pregens here. We can modify them if the basic gist is acceptable.

[tormsen]

Do I need to add known associates, languages, etc or can that be undefined at the start?

[thumbprince]

Do I need to add known associates, languages, etc or can that be undefined at the start?

The more left undefined, the better. As far as languages are concerned, French, Russian and Serbo-Croatian will be useful from the start.

[Mr. Handy]

Thanks! I don't have time tonight to create a character. I'll try to do it as soon as I can, but it may need to wait until the weekend.

[Priest]

Don't know if this is any help, but there is a character creation tool for Trail of Cthulhu http://www.pelgranepress.com/blackbook/login.php it may be of some help for NBA.

[Mr. Handy]

I have a PDF of the Trail of Cthulhu Player's Guide that I got as part of a bundle on DriveThruRPG years ago, which was very useful. I think I got everything right, but please let me know if there are any corrections needed.



Agent Name: Dr. Olivia Carpenter
Background: Medic
Drive: In the Blood
Former Patron: CDC (DG friendly since 1992)
Pillars of Sanity:
God Bless America
While There's Life, There's Hope
It Takes More Than That To Kill Us Carpenters
Sources of Stablitiy:
* Solace: Dr. Oliver Carpenter, grandfather, former British SAS
* Solace: Claire Deveraux-Carpenter, grandmother, former French Resistance
* Symbol: Necklace in the shape of a caduceus, a gift from her father when she graduated from medical school
* Safety: Olivia's house in Baltimore

Investigative Abilities
Accounting 1
Bullshit Detector 2
Bureaucracy 1
Chemistry 2
Diagnosis 3
Flattery 1
Flirting 2
Forensic Pathology 2
High Society 1
Human Terrain 1
Languages 2
Pharmacy 3
Reassurance 2
Research 1
Streetwise 1 (free)
Tradecraft 1 (free)

General Abilities
Athletics 8
Cover 8 (free)
Cthulhu Mythos 1 (free)
Disguise 4
Driving 4
Hand-to-Hand 3
Heatlh 12
Infiltration 4
* Medic 10 (MOS ability)
Network 12 (free)
Preparedness 3
Sanity 9
Shooting 5
Shrink 8
Stability 12

Description: Dr. Olivia Carpenter was born in London in 1967. Her parents had met, fallen in love, and gotten married while attending university there in the Swinging Sixties. Her father, Archie Carpenter, is the second son of Dr. Oliver Carpenter, who had interrupted his medical studies during World War Two to enlist. One of the first members of the newly formed SAS in 1941, Oliver was his unit's medic and served with distinction throughout the war, having many daring exploits in a variety of operations. He parachuted into Normandy in the early hours of D-Day, June 6, 1944, but was separated from his group and twisted his ankle due to a bad landing. Luckily, he met Claire Deveraux, a French Resistance fighter, who sheltered him from the Germans until he could recover and rejoin his unit. Claire conceived his first son, Lionel, that evening. After V-E day, Oliver returned to Normandy to reunite with Claire, and was delighted to discover that they had a son. He married her immediately and brought her back to London to start their family. Olivia's mother, Vivian Danforth, is an American who was studying in London when she met Archie. After they graduated, they moved to her native Baltimore. Olivia, who was named after Oliver, visited her grandparents whenever she could and was always eager to hear their exciting war stories. There were some things they didn't tell her that they said were still secret, but she got enough hints to know that there were some odd occurrences in her family's background, and Oliver had referred to a bizarre incident in which his sister Irene, an ambulance driver, had been involved in 1941. Indeed, members of the Carpenter family had been mixed up in unusual events going back at least a century.

Olivia knew when she was very young that she wanted to be a doctor like her grandfather. While she loves his and Claire's tales and is also a fan of spy thrillers, she didn't actually intend to become a secret agent. She studied hard and got her medical degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1992, after which she went to work for the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. She was soon recruited by her superior to go to Bosnia-Herzegovina for a special assignment that she was assured was important to America's security. After receiving training, she was sent into Srebrenica in 1993 as part of Doctors Without Borders, where she expects to meet her contact.

[thumbprince]

Both characters look good; Priest, did you want to make one of should we begin?

[tormsen]

Maybe PM the others who mentioned interest in the threads. But I am up to start, others can join late after all

[tutunaku]

Austin Scrivenor
Drive: Ambition
Patron: Foreign Service, Department of State
Pillars of Sanity
Long and Noble lineage
Everybody has a price
Humanity is Master of its domain

Sources of Stability
Symbol: Mother's Heirloom Cameo
Solace: Viveka Foitl, current paramour
Safety: secret apartment in Graz

Investigative Abilities
Academic:
Accounting 2
Art History 1
Cthulhu Mythos 1
History 1
Languages 2
Law 2

Interpersonal:
Bullshit Detector 1
Bureaucracy 2
Flattery 3
Flirting 2
High Society 3
Negotiation 2
Reassurance 2
Streetwise 1
Tradecraft 1

Technical:
Notice 1

General Abilities
Athletics 8
Conceal 4
Cover 10
Disguise 8
Filch 5
Gambling 3
Health 10
Network 16
Pilot 5
Sanity 9
Sense Trouble 8
Shooting 3
Stability 12

[thumbprince]

I'm happy with this trio & will start over the weekend.

Some of the areas that are conspicuously thin include Architecture, Cryptography, Outdoor Survival, Photography, Traffic Analysis, and Urban Survival.

tormsen, you probably don't need 4 points in languages as that represents over a dozen tongues. We also have a seriously flirty party, if anyone wants to adjust things. It's not necessary, as you all have plenty of Network points for Contacts. You also should design a Cover ID worth 5 free points of Cover representing your DG identity.

[tutunaku]

I'm happy with this trio & will start over the weekend.

Some of the areas that are conspicuously thin include Architecture, Cryptography, Outdoor Survival, Photography, Traffic Analysis, and Urban Survival.

tormsen, you probably don't need 4 points in languages as that represents over a dozen tongues. We also have a seriously flirty party, if anyone wants to adjust things. It's not necessary, as you all have plenty of Network points for Contacts. You also should design a Cover ID worth 5 free points of Cover representing your DG identity.

I'll adjust mine.

[tutunaku]

Austin Scrivenor
Drive: Ambition
Patron: Foreign Service, Department of State
Pillars of Sanity
Long and Noble lineage
Everybody has a price
Humanity is Master of its domain

Sources of Stability
Symbol: Mother's Heirloom Cameo
Solace: Viveka Foitl, current paramour
Safety: secret apartment in Graz

Investigative Abilities
Academic:
Accounting 2
Architecture 1
Art History 1
Cthulhu Mythos 1
History 1
Languages 2
Law 2

Interpersonal:
Bullshit Detector 1
Bureaucracy 2
Flattery 3
High Society 3
Negotiation 2
Reassurance 2
Streetwise 1
Tradecraft 1

Technical:
Cryptography 1
Notice 1

General Abilities
Athletics 8
Conceal 4
Cover 10
Disguise 8
Filch 5
Gambling 3
Health 10
Network 16 (MOS)
Pilot 5
Sanity 9
Sense Trouble 8
Shooting 3
Stability 12

tutunaku
Layman


Posts: 9
Joined: Wed May 15, 2013 3:02 pm

[tormsen]

tormsen, you probably don't need 4 points in languages as that represents over a dozen tongues. We also have a seriously flirty party, if anyone wants to adjust things. It's not necessary, as you all have plenty of Network points for Contacts. You also should design a Cover ID worth 5 free points of Cover representing your DG identity.

The languages reflect the character's history as a chameleon working all over Europe, he can impersonate people from dozens of different nations and cultures if he needs to. I will adjust other elements.