Character Creation/Rules

[Supercape]

Supercape, I don't mind Claudius being Germanicus 's slave, but he does not have a big tolerance for incompetence and holds his reputation high, so you might expect to occasional near-fatal public beating.

Absolutely fine with that. Cladius is a beaten and traumatised victim. He is a complete loser.

[andyw666]

Hi there, I was thinking of playing a humble Legionnaire of Gallic heritage. I'll post something shortly...

Actually, he shall be Auxiliary Cavalry.

Cavalry: A mounted warrior, a specialized type of auxiliary soldier.
Skills: Drive, Republic (substituted for Empire), Ride, Status, Tactics, Track, and two weapon skills of your choice.
Money: 1D3 x 50 sesterii, plus armor, weapons, and horse


Cheers

Andy

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4838986/
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4838987/
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4838988/
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4841010/


Name: Decius Lupus
Age: 45
Sex: M
Occupation: Cavalry
Current Residence: Rome
Birthplace: Gaul
Home Era: 40 BC

Characteristics:
STR: 14

CON: 10
SIZ: 14
DEX: 15
APP: 6
INT: 11 (Idea - 55%)
POW: 7 (Luck - 35%)
EDU: 17 (Know - 85%) [+2 for age]

Sanity: 35
Phobias/Mental Disorders:
Maximum Sanity: 99
Hit Points: 12
Magic Points: 7
Damage Bonus: +1d4

Background:
Lupus' Gallic tribe had surrendered to Rome many year ago. As a free but foreign child (his birth name was Vercingetorix), Lupus soon enough realised the benefit of becoming a Citizen of the mighty Republic. All but born in the saddle, as soon as he was old enough, Lupus enlisted in the Auxiliary Cavalry Exploratores. Upon earning his citizenship, he adopted the new Roman name Decius Lupus. Having spent years now as a scout, messenger and more regular Cavalryman, Lupus has no illusions about the hazards of his chosen profession but realises he has become quite adept at it, and does not wish to leave. He is nonetheless very cautious in all activities. Although superstitious by background and occupation, Lupus has recently become interested in Stoic philosophy.

Lupus is rather bearish in appearance, tall and muscular, with greying red Gallic hair, a tanned complexion from years in the field, and a stunningly ugly face, covered in many scars and with a very broken nose.

Skills:

(Non-default skills BOLD, Professional Skills ITALICS, Hobbies preceded by a DOT. Checked skills followed by a *)
Accounting (10%):
Animal Training (10%):
Art (05%):
Bargain (05%):
Civics (10%):
Climb (40%):
Conceal (15%):
Craft (05%):
Cthulhu Mythos (00%):
.Dodge (DEX x 2 30%): 40%
Drive (20%): 40%
Fast Talk (05%):
First AId (30%):
.Hide (10%): 40%
History (20%):
Insight (05%):
Jump (25%):
Library Use (25%):
Listen (25%):
Medicine (05%):
Natural World (10%):
.Navigate (10%): 20%
Occult (05%):
.Other Kingdoms (Gaul) (01%): 11%
Own Kingdom (20%):
.Other Language (Gallic) (01%): 31%
Own Language: Latin (EDU X 5): 85%
Persuade (15%):
PIlot Boat (01%):
Potions (01%):
Repair/Devise (20%):
Republic(25%): 50%
Ride Horse (05%): 70%
Religion(01%):
Sneak (10%):
.Spot Hidden (25%): 35%
Status (15%): 40%
Swim (25%):
Tactics (25%): 50%
Throw (25%):
Track (10%): 75%

Hand-to-Hand:
Fist/Punch (50%):
Grapple (25%):
Head Butt (10%):
Kick (25%):
Knife (25%):
Burning Torch (10%):
Sword (Long) (20%): 75%
Bow (15%): 75%
.Shield (Medium) (15%): 25%


Equipment:
Horse
Long Sword (1d8)
Bow (1d8)
Medium Shield
Leather and Scale Armour (6 pt)
100 sesterii

Sunt milites veteres, sunt milites audaces. Non sunt milites veteres atque audaces.
(There are old soldiers, and there are bold soldiers. There are no old, bold soldiers.)

[DrPeterson]

I've reconstructed the numbers, but the prose won't be there before tonight.

[DrPeterson]

Supercape, I added a bit of background as to why Germanicus would want to keep a wretch like Claudius around.
See if you like it

[Supercape]

Good for me. A complex relationship!

[Mr. Handy]

Nice! I also remembered that Germanicus is related to Cicero from your previous writeup (they sure the name Tullius), but it isn't mentioned here. I'll have to double-check the math over the weekend, as I don't have time tonight.

An Gallic auxiliary cavalryman is good, and he may know Germanicus from his own days in the Legions. This could have led to him becoming Germanicus's client. One thing to note is that Tactics has a base skill of 25% for you because it's one of your occupational skills (it's 01% when it's a hobby skill) from your Legionary training.

[DrPeterson]

Ah yes, I knew I'd forgotten something

Added it to the text.

[Mr. Handy]

I also remember that Germanicus was part of the conquest of Gaul, where he served under the overall command of Julius Caesar. His character sheet adds up, and he's ready to start.

Caella has overspent by 20 points. She gets 320 occupational skill points and 170 hobby skill points, for a total of 490 points. However, she has 510 points spent on skills. You can either make her ten years older (thus giving her an extra 20 occupational skill points, as well as +5 to Know and Own Language) and shift ten points from hobby skills into occupational skills, or you can reduce her skills by a total of 20 points. You've spent 330 points on your occupational skills, so 10 of them were hobby points and up to ten of the points you deduct may come from your occupational skills. The rest would have to come from your other skills.

Andy, do you need any help creating your character?

I haven't heard from johnson41996 or Vladd yet, and neither of them has logged in for some time. If I need to, I can start the scenario without them, and they can always jump in a little later if they return. TheVaultTech has signed up for this game too.

This weekend I should be able to put the completed character sheets in the Character Sheets thread.

[andyw666]

Hi there Mr Handy, OK, the character is ready to be checked over. Sorry for the delay.

I'm more than happy for any suggested connection between Lupus and the other PCs.

Cheers,

Andy

[aine]

I've reduced knife by 10%, occupational, and status and civics by 5% each, hobbies.

[TheVaultTech]

Hi, I'm working on a sheet but I probably won't have it until tomorrow or even the day after.
I'm on a mobile device that loses 2% a minute when plugged in and not turned off.
I just hope I don't end up with a character exactly like someone else's.

*Edit: This shouldn't be a problem later, just getting everything together is slow.

[Mr. Handy]

No problem, I probably won't be ready to start the new players off in a thread just yet anyway, so there's no rush and you can take your time.

I've reduced knife by 10%, occupational, and status and civics by 5% each, hobbies.

I think Other Language was substituted for Knife as an occupational skill. I'll allow this, but you might not want to lower your Knife skill now that you've invested some points into it. If you prefer, you could just drop 5 points from each language instead.

Hi there Mr Handy, OK, the character is ready to be checked over. Sorry for the delay.

I'm more than happy for any suggested connection between Lupus and the other PCs.

Cheers,

Andy

Great character, and he's all ready to go! The only issue was that his Knife skill is listed as 45%, which is probably copied and pasted from another character sheet and simply not erased. That would overspend by 20 points, so you probably didn't mean to put points into it considering that it isn't bolded. If you do want to keep the 45% in Knife, you'll need to lower one or more other hobby skills by a total of 20 points. It could still be useful, even though the long sword does more damage and you're more skilled with it. It's illegal to carry weapons on the streets of Rome, but just about everybody carried a small concealable knife anyway.

Lupus might have served under Germanicus during the conquest of the rest of Gaul and his campaign in Germania, and he could have later become his client.

[aine]

Okay, I've dropped the languages to 41 and knife's back up to 45.

[andyw666]

Oops! Quite right, the knife skill isn't meant to be there, I shall get rid of it right now (was indeed a copy/paste error).

More than happy for Lupus to have campaigned under Germanicus back in the day, and to have subsequently become his client.

Cheers,

Andy

[Grognardsw]

Hello all, I'm looking forward to joining the campaign. I've heard of Invictus but have never played CoC in Roman times. I'm a fan of that time period though, and have enjoyed Steven Saylor's Roman historical mystery novels with Gordianus the Finder (as well as the Spartacus TV series.)

Anyway, I'm working on a character. A former gladiator who won his freedom and works for his lanista in a various capacities: bodyguard, enforcer, trainer, and still occasional gladiator in the arena. He was a former Gaellic druid who on his 21st birthday his tribe was attacked and he was enslaved. Over the years he trained, fought, won his freedom. In that time he lost his old religion, his family and friends are gone, and he's decided to stay in Rome.

Possible relationship among characters: His lanista is a good friend of Lucius, who has sponsored the ludus and some of Aricus’ past fights. When Lucius needs muscle he knows where to go.

[Grognardsw]

Aricus Callidus Gladio (Aricus "Clever Sword")



Age: 39
Sex: Male
Occupation: Ex-Gladiator and Free Servant of Lanista Proculus Lartius Valens
Current Residence: Rome
Birthplace: Gaelic Britain 
Home Era: 40 BC

Characteristics:
STR: 12
CON: 12
SIZ: 16
DEX: 12
APP: 9
INT: 13 (Idea - 65)
POW: 11 (Luck - 55)
EDU: 15 (Know - 75) 

Max Sanity: 55
Current Sanity: 54 (saw serpent man for a flash)
Phobias/Mental Disorders: None yet
Maximum Sanity: 99 
Hit Points: 14
Magic Points: 11
Damage Bonus: +1d4

Appearance:


Personality:

Over the years Aricus has had his Gaelic spirit beaten out of him and is today a cynical realist. He still often feels the outsider but secretly enjoys the gladatorial and Roman lifestyle. He recalls his early years as a druidic shaman-in-training with some bitterness, though he retains a secret belief in the power of (and ultimate unknowability) of the Earth gods and spirits. Because his tribe was largely slaughtered or enslaved, he has no motivation to return home. Over the years he has become accustomed to Rome and its culture, trying to make the best of the fate dealt him. 

He has friends among free citizens and slave gladiators. The latter are difficult to maintain since Aricus became a free man, but working for his former lanista, Proculus Lartius Valens, and inside the ludus (gladiator school) affords him chance to interact with these friends.

Background:

A former gladiator who won his freedom and works for his lanista, Proculus Lartius Valens, in a various capacities: bodyguard, enforcer, trainer, and still occasional gladiator in the arena. He was a former Gaellic druid who turned 21 when his tribe was attacked and he was enslaved. Over the years he trained, fought, won his freedom. In that time he lost his old religion, his family and friends are gone, and he's decided to stay in Rome.
 
Skills

(Professional Skills in Bold, Hobbies preceded by a DOT. Checked skills followed by a *)

Accounting (10%):
Animal Handling (10%):
Art (05%):
Bargain (05%):
Civics (10%): 
Climb (40%): 70%
Conceal (15%): 25%
Craft (05%):
Cthulhu Mythos (00%):
.Dodge (DEX x 2): 60%
Drive (20%):
Fast Talk (05%):
First Aid (30%):  70%
Hide (10%):
History (20%):
Insight (05%):  60%
Jump (25%):
Library Use (25%): 
Listen (25%):
Medicine (05%): 
Natural World (10%):
Navigate (10%):
Occult (05%):  
Own Kingdom (20%):
Own Language (Latin): 75 (Edu. x5)
Persuade (15%):
Pilot Boat (01%):
Potions (01%): 
Religion (01%):                                                
Repair/Devise (20%):
Republic (25%): 
Ride Horse (05%):
Science (01%): 
Sneak (10%): 50%
Spot Hidden (25%):
Status (15%): 
Swim (25%):
Throw (10%): 50%                                                
Track (10%):

Hand-to-Hand:

Fist/Punch (50%): 75%
.Grapple (25%): 65%
Head Butt (10%):
.Kick (25%): 40%
.Knife (25%): 37%  (1d4 damage)                                                       
Gladius (15%):  75%  (1d6+1 damage)
.Shield, medium (15%) 42% (HP: 25, deflect missile)


Equipment:

Gladius, dagger, leather and ring armor (AC 5, Light burden, 2 rounds to put on), medium shield, clothes, sack, druidic totem stone

Money:   300 Sesterii
Annual income: 1,700 sestertii

Dice Rolls

Spoiler:

I used the Unseen Servant dice roller, which is a robust roller hosted by that PbP site. Here is a link to my archive of rolls:
http://www.unseenservant.com/default.as ... ts&pc=2980

[CrackheadC.]

Hey Grognard, good to have you aboard.

[DrPeterson]

It seems we've got quite the Gallic connection here

Welcome aboard, Grognard!

[Grognardsw]

Thanks guys!

[Mr. Handy]

Welcome aboard, Grognard! I've also watched the Spartacus TV series, as well as Rome (which is also an influence on this game).

I'm sorry it took so long to review your character. There are just a few corrections that need to be made:

• You rolled EDU 13, so in order to get it up to 15, you need to be 20 years older than your EDU+6, which is 19. Thus, your character should be 39 (unless you want to drop your EDU by a point).
• You have 300 occupational skill points, but you've only spent at most 235 of them on your occupational skills, assuming you chose Grapple and Gladius. Those skills are Climb, Conceal, First Aid, FIst/Punch OR Grapple (not both, but you can use hobby points to boost the other one), Insight, Sneak, Throw, and one weapon skill of your choice.
• You have 130 hobby skill points, but you've spent 215 on non-occupational skills. Some of them you probably treated as occupational. If you deduct 65 points from hobby skills and move them to occupational skills, you'll still have overspent by 20 points.

Once you readjust your character, I think we'll be ready to start.