Character Creation
From Namelesscity
Current revision as of 21:40, 8 July 2007
The below article is intended to offer a median guideline for building characters within the universe of Argos. The article makes references to both mechanical aspects and properties owned by a variety of companies. This article is in no way a challenge to these companies' copyrights - it is provided non-profit guidelines for character generation.
And as for you players looking for hard numbers: sorry, but
Contents |
D20/Open Gaming License
D20 (Dungeons and Dragons)
OGL (D20 Modern)
Unisystem (Eden Studios)
Depending on if the game is a cinematic game or a realistic game, characters will be build somewhat differently. The primary connection is that characters should be built typically very weak; even those who have inklings into the supernatural should either have little prowess or just be showing their talents.
Cinematic Unisystem
The primary difference here is skill points. Younger, less experienced characters should be built as White Hats (also known as Primitive Screwheads if one is instead using the Army of Darkness rulebook). While these are technically the weakest templates, they also have the highest Drama-Point total. Thematically, this works well - most Argos characters spend their first few adventures barely getting by on the skin of their teeth, and even the more experienced ones seem to have the Devil's luck.
For slightly more experienced characters, one should instead use the Investigator template found in the Angel RPG. This template's main difference is it's high skill-point count; characters are no tougher or better off, but they do have an advantage in the fact that they know more and are more talented. For those who only have the Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Army of Darkness rulebooks, simply take the White Hat or Primitive Screwhead creation rules and give out an additional ten skill points.
Characters are allowed magic, as described in The Magic Box. However, Directors should be exceptionally picky on what they allow players to have, and only allow perhaps one or two starting spells for characters. Unless the theme of the game is magic-heavy, there really should only be one or two "magic characters" to a cast - magic in Argos is a dangerous and strange thing, little known and hard to comprehend.
Occupational Advantages, such as Con or Police Officer, are encouraged. Supernatural ones, such as Demon Hunter and Lycanthrope should be met with close scrutiny; however, if the player does have a good reason, one in the cast might add an interesting dynamic to the situation. Unless you're running some form of crossover, characters should not be Slayers or Chosen Ones - this is simply too much power for the default gritty, low-magic setting of Argos.
Realistic Unisystem
Without Drama Points, a Unisystem game in Argos becomes an exceptionally dark and gritty affair. Characters are barely better than average, and possess maybe the scantest of powers. Either life is a dark, horrifying affair, or these characters are merely beginning on the road to greatness.
Thankfully, both Armageddon and Conspiracy X 2.0 have templates that fit this perfectly; both the Pre-Heroic and the Beginning Gifted (also known as Neo-Talented) templates. For players who own only All Flesh Must Be Eaten, a simple conversion is to use the Norm template, then award an additional attribute point for the Pre-Heroic character. Norms who wish to become Neo-Talented should gain the additional attribute point, and trade in five skill points for metaphysics points. Regardless of origin template, any Realistic Unisystem character gains an additional five advantage points.
On the upside, any form of metaphysics are allowed, as long as the cost can be met. Religious miracles, psychic powers, magical spells, and even martial techniques are all within the scope of Argos, assuming that they are not too over the top. Again, the Director has the final say-so on what is cool and what isn't.
