Rolling for race, I'm a Half Orc, and following on that my racial traits are that I'm large like my Orcish parent (Size and Toughness +1) and that my mixed background makes me strong against magic (Arcane Resistance). I'm female, with yellow blond hair, brown eyes, and a single flaw thus far: my terrible breath which will penalize my Charisma.
Rolling to see my age, I'm nearing retirement, and so pay for my many many rolls on the following charts (3 Childhood rolls, 3 Adolescent rolls, and 8 (!!!) Career rolls) with a reduced pace and physical traits because I'm old.
Family Ties: Beatings and Blessings
My family was in the religion business, specifically that of the local Sea God. This nets me 2 dice to spread across Boating, Swimming, and knowing Religion. I'll save that choice for later. My family arrived in this (apparently coastal) part of the world 9 generations ago, escaping the Old Country for some crime. This seems like a theme, as my father is currently serving a sentence for a minor crime whilst my mother is alive and well. I'm pretty much okay with this as my father had a habit of beating me for no reason, while Momsicle always treated me fairly.
The same cannot be said for my siblings. My oldest brother was a bully, physically (I learned it from you, dad! I learned it from you!), but that's okay because he died when I was a teenager. My elder sister died when we were young in a house fire, and my surviving older brother still views me as a protector and expects me to come bail him out when things get rough, which is ironic considering some things we will learn later. We had a younger brother, but he was punished by being sold into slavery and I don't know if he's still alive.
So let's check the math: My abusive father is jail, my saint of a mother is still doing the Sea God's work in our farmland village, and my generation of orclets has a nasty habit of dying, sometimes in fires, and getting sold into fucking slavery. No wonder my ailing brother looks to me to bail him out, this shit is real. Upside? My family is accepted in the community, so I'm guessing there's not a huge anti-Half-Orc racial bias along the coast.
Childhood and Adolescence: Survivor: Savage Edition
Now getting to some specifics: My childhood was rocky, and I don't mean about the siblings burning part. A childhood rivalry has blossomed into a full on Enemy, a human pirate who is a rising threat (Seasoned Wild Card with 6 crew members around him at all times). He promised himself that because of our shared childhood he would ruin my family. I was spoiled (as one of the few survivors, why not) and to date I'm still Mean because of my tantrum-fueled youth. I'm still overly chatty and can't keep secrets (Big Mouth) and a dare gone wrong has left me Cautious for life.
Putting this in perspective, I'll combine what I know with an interpretation: As kids, I palled around with some local human kids, but our shenanigans got out of hand when I talked too big for myself. My family home burned, but most of us survived. I'll bet a sibling or friend of the pirate died in the fire and he's still pissed about that. I'm comfortable deciding that it's the pirate who put my dad in jail by framing him or provoking him over something.
My teen years found me an agile little rapscallion (+1 Agility), saw the death of my oldest brother (the bully), and had me standing up for myself and sorting out my ego issues (+1 Spirit). Other than the death of my brother, none of this much informs my interpretation of the character, but the spirit bonus will come in handy when we consider my profession. Now, I could roll on the occupation chart, but my family's religious ties means I can just flat out pick the Novitiate Priest career path and guarantee myself an Arcane Background (and since I've got a Spirit bonus and the Arcane Resistance, that's not bad). So, I'll be a Sea Cleric like my folks, since they're not so bad once you get over the housefires and beatings.
Profession: The Sea (and my Career) Calls to Me!
Being a SeaPriest gives me a stat package that does not emphasize Smarts, and gives me further bonuses to Boating, Religion, and Swimming. With the two dice in Swimming here, I spend my childhood skill selection on the Boating and Knowledge rather than be a kick-ass swimmer. I get an automatic power from the Sea God (Elemental Protection) and roll up Armor as my second power. Not bad, but very Support Role.
Next, we roll up the eight events that define my life prior to becoming an adventurer. First up, I went down the path of the Paladin, smiting bad guys here and there in my coastal village. Not only does my brother think of me as a protector, but everyone around me does too. The mechanical bonuses here are physical (sadly, they will be removed by my advancing age, but hey), combat oriented skills, and gives me a permanent bonus to toughness against evil and a bonus to smiting bad guys. Nice opening move, actually.
Not long after, I aided a servant of my god and was rewarded with a Connection to an elemental who can be persuaded to save my butt. Weirdly, it's an earth elemental. Maybe he's on loan to the water god? Not long afterward, I made accusations of blasphemy against a local elven bounty hunter. He didn't take it well, which is bad because he's an established dude (Veteran Wild Card) and has a posse of 23 other bounty hunters who agree that killing off my family sounds like a good idea. Maybe dad's safe in jail for now, but my brother's attachment to me as a security blanket is a good effing idea now.
After pissing off the Bounty Hunters Guild, I held up my end of the social contract by attending a local dance, and during the course of the night managed to personally offend a Legendary bard who swore that he would kill me for embarassing him. Yikes. Not long after, Poisedagon heard my fervent pleas that breathing water and sprouting spiritual armor might not be enough and granted me Stun as a new power. 'Drown' or 'Head Asplode' would have been cooler, but Stun will work in a pinch.
Apparently this lone, vengeful bard was kind of dick to other folks in and around his profession, because I find myself with a band of 5 Entertainers who now act as my retinue and sidekicks. This social season also saw me back in the civil event gigs, and I cleverly avoided dances and won a boat race, scoring me an extra die in my Boating skill. After gaining followers and showing the town what a childhood of SeaGodness does for a sailor, I'm taking my show on the road. It might also keep my ever-growing Rogue's Gallery from killing the last of my family. These adventures abroad have taught me more about my Faith, as well as needed survival skills and how to work with people better. This way I won't have to eat my minstrels.
Somehow I've managed to piss off almost every man I've ever related to, since we have two physically abusive family members, an angry pirate, an elven bounty hunting hardass, and a rogue bard. Weird.
Summary
As a system, I like the Fantasy Toolkit Character Generator. I like that the rolls usually impact your character in some meaningful way. the traits on this page actually reflect the big points in her life, and for that I support the system. I rarely build a caster in Savage Worlds with a d12 in their prime skill, but there you go. Considering how rough things have been for her so far in her long Half-Orc life, her steadfast faith in her water god has made her a pillar in her own family and her community, despite her penchant for making enemies. As a strong-willed orcish woman with terrible social skills, I'm not altogether surprised that she makes a huge negative impression on people around her, but I've not gotten the feeling that it's born out of malice. She's just been dealt a bad hand and has taken to sailing and casting miracles to escape that.
I would definitely use this system again, and would also play this character. Double plusgood for SW FCG TK.
Plothooka the Wandering Paladin of Poisedagon (and her Roving Ravers) Agility d8 Spirit d8 Smarts d4 Strength d6 Vigor d6 Skills Boating d10 Faith d12 Fighting d6 Guts d6 Kno (Arcana) d4 Kno (Religion) d6 Persuasion d6 (+2 with Earth Elemental) Survival d6 Swimming d6 Edges: Arcane Background (Miracles), Arcane Resistance (Armor 2 vs. magic, +2 to resist magic effects), Champion (+2 damage and Toughness vs. supernatural evil), Size +1, Followers (5 Entertainers) Powers: Armor, Environmental Protection, Stun Hindrances: Bad Breath (-1 Charisma), Big Mouth, Cautious, Mean Pace: 5 Parry: 5 Toughness: 6 (8 against evil/magic, 10 against evil magic) Charisma: -3
Generation Gap Ranking: Would I use this system/generator again? Well if it weren't Savage Worlds... Who am I kidding? I love SW, and this generator is very lifepath-y. You get a clear picture of the character, and I love that. Very usable. It would even give the uneven power level of, you know, actual literary parties where not everyone is maximized to their teeth and evenly scaled in terms of power.
Would I play this character? More questionable. She's a crotchety old witch with minor helpful spells and a predilection for sailing. Characterful, but really more of an NPC. How many parties wish they'd brought along their hyper-religious, nautical grandmother? Probably not.
No comments:
Post a Comment