Writing a roleplaying game is slow work for me. Yet, it’s made harder by the tough choices to be made. With this in mind, I would like to hear your views on something important: character creation.
How would it be best to go about creating a character in Alpha?
My initial thoughts were to utilise two options: a template system for new players, and a life-path system for more experienced players. Yet, how those systems might work is really as much down to my player’s preferences as mine. After all, the systems need to support the kind of story-telling that we want to do together.
Templates
Templates are simple archetypal characters, pre-generated to a large degree, which can then be customised (with names, background, and story) by the player. An example might be a Soldier, or a Doctor, or a Priest. The advantage of templates is that they give people quick access to the game. The downside is that some players feel that characters can easily become two-dimensional.
Should we utilise templates? Is there an alternate for quick access to the game? What would you suggest?
Life-Paths
A life-path system generates a character by increments, telling a story as the player interacts with the system. Starting with birth, and working through key stages of life, each character is sketched out and accumulates abilities and skills. This naturally generates a background and story for the character step-by-step. The advantage of such a system is that it can promote story and background, not just stats and min-maxing the rules. The downside is that it is both time-consuming and not to everyone’s taste.
Should we utilise life-paths? If so, how can we make them slick and not too plodding? Can we offer short-cuts for those who want more variety without taking quite so long? What would you suggest?
YOUR COMMENTS COUNT
Really, I would like to know your views. Shaping this game is as much about those who will play it as it is about my own preferences. Please, come and add a comment.
Game on!
Wotcha,
I do like the use of both character building ideas – Templates and Life-paths have good and bad points, but I think there is a way both systems could run in the same set of rules.
Take Templates for starters – if you want to build a soldier, you could take blocks of 5 years of training and working as a soldier – allowing you to select skills and abilities, in return for years working at that career. Quick to build, and gets you to the gaming table to play with not much fuss.
As for the life path (My favourite of the two), chance and selective choice gives you the option to build a indepth character – apart from time consuming, the character created could have issues with their career path that may create a ‘broken’ character – but such actions could create a memorable PC that is great to play, and in some ways unique.
I would have a Life path setup, with all the random madness that encompasses, but with the option to shortcut blocks of time with basic templates, that offer a average of skills, compared to the life path, that could offer vast skill bonuses, but with possible penalties as well.
So, for instance, the soldier – to build the early years, you roll up the stats, and build each year (or period of life (Baby, Toddler, School, college, uni, etc), until the you reach the age of work, and then continue with the random rolls based on what the PC will be doing (in this case, fighting – so soldier training, sent to work in a war, etc), until they arrive at the age they want to run the character at.
At any stage, the player could skip the next age group (Or 5 years of work) by picking a safer template option – which should still have the element of risk – maybe a 1 in 100 chance of a negative outcome (and a 1 in 100 chance of a more positive outcome as well), but not as great as the life path route.
Under the full random life path – with splits selected by the player (so he goes to uni, or straight into work), he can alter the outcome somewhat, but most is done with dice rolls, maybe influenced by the characters stats (perhaps a Lucky character – or a more charismatic character will get ahead at uni, but a stronger, harder character will do better at a military roll).
And the benefit of running the full life path, with all it’s chances is that you could create a mutated genius, a child star (Exiting uni with 3 degrees at the age of 14!), or a more extreme character, that templates could not create.
Ian.
Could anyone be in any path becouse if you have a ten year old solder it aould make a very dramatic tale
you could give poeple special abiletys for example I’ve got the idea of a charecters blood lust keeping him into the fight after nasty injurys but after the fight he’s liable to faint.
Just wanted to feed back that I have been quite intrigued by this idea of mixing templates and Life Paths. Rev’s suggestion is, I think, a good one.
One of the cool things about working with Dark Reich to start with is that I can also build a specific set of Life Paths and templates suited to that setting. One of the things I noticed is that there are some really exciting events that can be tied into the character creation process from the setting. A solid example would be WWI: where was your character during the Great War?
Watch this space, but we could be onto something here.
With response to postbrett, that is definately possible. I’ve come across many child prodigies in my roleplaying experiences. For example, a ten year old boy who can design the very latest in technology, or a thirteen year old girl who is better at assassination than many who’ve spent decades in the profession. And the bloodlust idea you’re referring to is basically a Berserker state, I too have played Berserker characters, and I’ve found that while they’re fun to play, they generally have a very short life expectancy.