Wednesday 1 April 2015

Character Creation

All this stuff about characters. All these stat blocks. No mention of how to make one.

Ok, so let's fix that.

[Edit, December 1st 2015: some of the specifics here have changed as the game's been written. The general gist is the same]
 
Making your player character has six steps.

1. Choose a Culture
2. Choose a Social Class
3. Choose or Take a Fate
4. Assign Extra Points
5. Take Relationships
6. Divide Up Suits

Step by step, then.

1. Choose a Culture
Characters in Chariot belong to one of five cultures. We've talked about these in varying amounts.

Lemurian:
Esoteric Forebears. Prehuman herdsmen of the great reptiles.
Add 3 points to Animal.
You may belong to one of the following social classes: Mystic, Noble, Outcast or Slave.

Rmoahal:
The First People. Blue skinned giants, who yet long for freedom.
Add 3 points to Body
You may belong to one of the following social classes: Mystic, Nomad, Outcast, Proletarian or Slave.

Tlavatli:
The Second People. Scions of the pirate kingdoms, who trust none except their own.
Add 3 points to People.
You may belong to one of the following social classes: Citizen, Outcast, Priest, Soldier, or Slave.

Atlanteans:
The Third People. An imperial people whose science transforms the world.
Add 3 points to City.
You may belong to one of the following social classes: Citizen, Noble, Priest, Proletarian, Soldier, or Slave.

Muvian:
The Fourth People. A people used to fighting who hold all things in common.
Add 3 points to Will.
You may belong to one of the following social classes: Citizen, Noble, Priest, Proletarian, or Soldier.

2. Choose a Social Class
This is the class in which you have lived your adult life. Different classes exist in different cultures, because of the way these cultures develop, where they live, how they work.

Citizen
These are owners of property. They usually have the right to vote, or the right to a trial.
Add 3 points to City and 3 to Hands.
Citizens are found among Atlanteans, Muvians and Tlavatlis.

Mystic
The caste of seers, healers, prophets.
Add 3 points to Psychic and 3 to Hands.
Mystics are found among Lemurians and Rmoahals.

Noble
The ruling classes.
Add 3 points to People and 3 to Will.
Nobles are found among Lemurians, Tlavatlis, Atlanteans and Muvians.

Outcast
Those forced to live outside their tribal groups.
Add 3 points to Body and 3 to Wilds.
Outcasts are found among Lemurians, Rmoahals and Tlavatlis.

Priest
The priestly, educated classes of the Tlavatlis, Atlanteans and Muvians, among whom the magic power of the urban nations is centralised.
Tlavatli priests add 3 points to People and 3 to Psychic. 
Muvian priests add 3 points to Psychic and 3 to Will. 
Atlantean priests add 3 points to Machines and 3 to Psychic.

Proletarian
The urban poor, disenfranchised and often the first to die in war and famine, but also in whom the strength of nations lies.
Add 3 points to Body and 3 to City.
Proletarians are found among Rmoahals, Atlanteans and Muvians.

Soldier
The military castes of the nations, heavily concentrated in these latter days among those who ride the mighty chariots of land, sea and sky.
Add 3 points to Body and 3 to Machines.
Soldiers are found among Atlanteans, Tlavatlis and Muvians.

Slave
You either are or have been a slave.
Add 3 points to Body and 3 to Hands.
The only culture who never allow themselves to be taken as slaves are the Muvians.

3. Choose or Take a Fate.
Your Fate defines who you are, your magical correspondences, and how you're going to die.

Remove the Major Arcana from the Tarot pack and shuffle them. Draw a card at random. Pick the Fate it corresponds to.

The Fool at the Edge of the Precipice
(0. The Fool, 21. The World)
The dissenter, the quixotic.
Add 1 point to all attributes.

The Adept with the Key of Forever
(1. The Magician, 19. The Sun)
The ideal magician.
Add 3 points to each of Psychic, People and Will.

The Priest of an Unknown God
(2. The High Priestess, 5. The Hierophant)
The harbinger of a new relationship between human and divine.
Add 3 points to each of Psychic, Hands and Will.

The Leader of the Final People
(3. The Empress, 4. The Emperor)
The one chosen to lead their people into salvation, evolution or doom.
Add 3 points to each of Animal, People, and Will.

The Lover of the World
(6. The Lovers, 18. The Moon)
The bringer of reconciliation.
Add 3 points to each of People, Animal and Hands.

The Invincible Charioteer
(7. The Chariot, 11. Strength)
The one who will bring victory, if not see it.
Add 3 points to each of Body, Animal and Machines.

The Diviner of the Truth
(8. Justice, 20. Judgement)
The judge, the one who weighs the balance.
Add 3 points to People, City and Psychic.
 
The Lonely Wayfinder
(9. The Hermit, 14. Temperance)
The one who shows the way to safety and stays behind to put out the fires.
Add 3 points to City, Wilds and Hands.

The Sacrificial Giver
(12. The Hanged Man, 17. The Star)
The one who bears the pain for others.
Add 3 points to Animal, People and Psychic.

The Reaper
(13. Death, 10. The Wheel)
The one who brings the way things are to a graceful end.
Add 3 points to Body, Psychic and Will.

The Lighter of the Fires
(15. The Devil, 16. The Tower Struck By Lightning)
The herald of destruction and chaos. The one who laughs in the fires.
Add 3 points to People, Body and Machines.

4. Assign Extra Points
Add 1 point to each of any three attributes.

5. Divide up Suits
Divide 20 points between the four suits, making sure that no one suit has fewer than two points in it, and no suit begins with more than ten points.

6. Take Relationships
Remove the 16 Court Cards from the pack. Shuffle them and draw three. Note them. Don't name them now.

Improving Attributes
After each adventure, you have the option of improving one Attribute by one point, by spending a number of points from your Suits equal to the new attribute score.

That's it. In the final version there will be a full write up, especially of the Fates, but aside from a discussion of magic, I've got little to add to the game system now apart from stat blocks and examples.

I'd appreciate feedback and questions. The game may change I'm playtesting, but I'm feeling like this is Chariot.