gorgonarcher

[gorgonarcher]

9th Game part 2 - Daggerheart (Full Release)

Expanding on Tula's Tankiness

This entry will get some edited in additions later, I got tired and didn't want to risk tumblr swallowing the draft... and yeah, I know I should write these on a word processor first. Remember that as I start is a bit difficult.

What is this?

My blogger site has a section called "Character Creation and the Gorgon Archer" where I examine the character creation systems of different TTRPGs by trying to create a character to match the concept of a gorgon archer.

Why a gorgon archer?

I like gorgons.

Gorgons are a creature type not often pre-built for you.

I like gorgons.

The more advanced martial skills are the more complex they are.

I like gorgons.

Even a small amount of magic or supernatural ability can be complex.

Ahem... committing to the bit... I like gorgons.

All together, (barring the running joke), this does create a concept that will test the flexibility of a character creation system.

Some caveats.

Some game settings are less easy to justify the existence of a gorgon. In these cases, I will treat the term "gorgon" as a epitet that other people use to refer to them.

Some games will have much less focus on combat and in this case I will downplay the archery aspect.

The priority will be: Reptilian humanoid (1st), snake/tentacle hair (2nd), poison (3rd), snake lower-body (4th), petrification (5th) - yes, I know it may seem odd to place signature power as lowest priority, but I'm accounting for reputations and/or the idea that such is a rare ability for the group.

For characters whose status as a gorgon is an epitet, I'll assume skills and personalities that could get someone described as a "gorgon."

[gorgonarcher]

9th Game pt2 - Daggerheart (Full Release)

Okay, so I made a gorgon archer for Daggerheart a while back in version 1 of the playtest cycle. Now, since I recently received the full release core set, I figured it might be worth doing a new one.

I'm going with the same overall worldbuilding lore I used in the first character, namely the existence of a past goddess that has fallen into a non-responsive state which is the origin of the gorgons. See the link above for expanded lore. This is also similar to the natural and corrupted versions of gorgons I used in the Fantasy AGE build I did just prior to this one.

This is going to go in a bit of a different direction, from my original Daggerheart build. For one thing, I'm going to make this one a rogue rather than a ranger, and for another, this book has rules for mixed ancestry that will make for an interesting way to veer into a semi-unique ancestry.

An interesting thing here is that while the game encourages you to think about what kind of character you want to play, it does not consider "Concept" as one of the steps. Instead it starts right away with picking a class. Here are the steps of the finished portion of the game:

Step 1: Choose your Class

Step 2: Choose your Heritage

Step 3: Assign Character Traits

Step 4: Record additional character information

Step 5: Choose your starting equipment

Step 6: Create your background

Step 7: Create your experiences

Step 8: Choose your domain cards

Step 9: Create your connections

Step 1 - Choose Your Class

As I said earlier, we're making a Rogue. So, next we pick a sub class, and that's a choice between The Nightwalker as a sort of shadowdancer equivalent and The Syndicate as a person who has a large network of contacts. Now I just made a gorgon archer that was heavy into social stuff and contacts, so I'm going to go with the Nightwalker in this case.

Interestingly, each class has their own specialized character sheet, but also there is a generic character sheet as well. At current moment, I don't think there's a particular reason I have to use either the generic or the specific class character sheets, but the text assumes you have them. This is reasonable, but as someone who has been using word processors over character sheets for around 30 years now, I get antsy when I feel like I'm being told to use a sheet.

This is entirely an issue on my side and not really something a developer should have to account for.

In any case, this step is broken into substeps beyond just choosing a sub-class. All told this step is broken down into:

Pick a class

Pick a subclass

Grab the appropriate character sheet, character guide, and subclass card.

Record your level (1)

Record character details: name, pronouns, any bits of appearance you already have in mind.

Record class features (unless you do have the appropriate character sheet, in which case they're already there for you.)

So that the third and last bits here are interesting as the third assumes you have the character sheet and the last acknowledges that you might not have the character sheet.

One thing to note about the heavy insistence on using their character sheet is that they have created a clever little physical aid which points out what the different bits of information are used for in the game. They call it their sidecar, and of course the various boxes don't line up if you don't use their character sheet. So, it's basically a tutorial tool for a new player.

So, this is what we got for the Rogue:

Tatalia Rathis (yes, I've been playing Might and Magic 7) - She/Her

Domains

Midnight - Shadows, secrecy, and other such things.

Grace - Charisma, storytelling, deception, and performances.

Starting Evasion: 12

Starting Hit Points: 6

Class Items: Choice of a forgery tools or a grappling hook. (I'm choosing the grappling hook)

Hope Feature: Rogue's Dodge

Class Features:

Cloaked

Sneak Attack

And Nightwalker gets us the following features:

Spellcast Trait: Finesse (both Rogues have this)

Foundation Feature: Shadow Stepper

Step 2 - Choose your Heritage

This is a combination of your physical heritage and your upbringing and this is where I'm going to be using mechanics that weren't available when I did the character at beta.

So with mixed ancestries there's two steps:

Determine the combination: which two ancestries are you choosing?

Choose features.

Each ancestry has two features and you'll choose the top feature of one and the bottom feature of another. So you can't just choose both top or both bottom features. Also, in determining the mix you determine what you're called. This could be "goblin-orc", "goblin with orc heritage", or a unique name such as "toothling."

What's fun about this is that they have created an easy way to homebrew new ancestries by mixing and matching elements of existing ones. And, yes, you can say this is due to mixed blood, but you can also say you're just an unusual heritage that is its own thing. And we're kinda doing the latter with our gorgons.

So, the bottom feature I'm certain of and that's the Dreadful Visage of the Infernis, the demon-touched/blooded people of the setting. The name pretty much says everything about why I'm picking it to represent a gorgon of all things.

Now, the top feature I have a couple of thoughts on and by the time I've written this far have "narrowed it down" (pinch of salt) to the following:

Representing scaly skin:

Drakona - Scales

Dwarf - Thick Skin

Galapa - Shell

Giant - Endurance

Representing agility and reflexes:

Elf - Quick Reactions

Goblin - Surefooted

Katari - Feline Instincts

Representing mobility

Faun - Caprine Leap

Simiah - Natural Climber

Okay. I don't often do these gorgon archers as the cinematic type of gorgon you see in Clash of the Titans where the character is a snake from the waist down. I also much more rarely do the thing where the gorgon has wings as in the actual myths, but that's not going to happen here either. Anyway, with a snake-from-waist-on style of gorgon, the idea of mobility seems the most important. So, I'm going to look at Faun and Simiah to represent this sort of gorgon.

I'm going to go with the Faun's ability and fluffing it, or "flavoring" it as Daggerheart says, as a the agility of the snake body allowing her to pass small obstacles and scale heights with ease. She's not usually jumping (though snakes can do that too) but is more flowing across in that characteristic way snakes have.

As a further note, the character I made in beta was very much humanoid with two legs and all. So either this is a re-written world-lore or ... and I like this option better ... there is a wide variety of gorgons out there. Some with thicker scales, some with quicker reactions, and some with the snake-tail bodies. Heck, perhaps the Dread Visage is also not a universal trait.

Now, with that done, we have to choose our Community, which is basically the upbringing of our character. The character I made for beta was very much a wandering, nomadic sort searching for answers and avoiding people that think she'd make a good sacrifice in some nefarious ritual. So for this new character, we're going to pick someone who's remained mostly in one area.

So the options are as follows:

Highborne - elegance, opulence, and prestige

Loreborne - academic and political acumen

Orderborne - a focus on discipline and faith

Ridgeborne - harsh rocky environments

Seaborne - coastlines, islands, lakefronts, or river people

Slyborne - criminal underworld

Underborne - physical underworld, subterranean upbringing

Wanderborne - nomadic and lots of traveling

Wildborne - dwelling deep in a forest

I'm ruling out Highborne, Loreborne, Orderborne, Slyborne, Underborne, and Wanderborne right off the bat. I don't want her to be an explicit criminal, I did wandering before, and I also don't want her part of any sort of privilege or high authority. And the physical underground just isn't interesting to me. That said, the idea of a noble going rogue and breaking away from their family is interesting.

Moving on, the two I'm most interested in are Ridgeborne and Wildborne. Both of these lean into decisions we've already made with the ancestry and class. With Ridgeborne giving more ability to deal with difficult terrain and Wildborne giving some stealth features.

I also can't lie and say the Seaborne's thing about sensing the ebb and flow of life isn't interesting.

However, I'm going with the Ridgeborne and giving it some overlap a bit with the ranger from the prior Daggerheart character I made.

The book mentions languages, but in the sense that there's not a big focus on them, leaving it up to the individual tables if they want to make a list of different languages to track or not.

Step 3 - Assign Character Traits

The game has six core stats given along side a trio of verbs to give people an idea of what each trait applies to. These are:

Agility - Sprint, Leap, Maneuver

Strength - Lift, Smash, Grapple

Finesse - Control, Hide, Tinker

Instinct - Perceive, Sense, Navigate

Presence - Charm, Perform, Deceive

Knowledge - Recall, Analyze, Comprehend

As a note, I relieved and happy to see that "Constitution" and "Stamina" don't make an appearance. There's a few games that make those traits dynamic and interesting, Fantasy AGE for example ties Constitution to several activities, but for the most part, these stats just sort of sit there and provide boosts to HP.

When I read "core six stats" I will admit to an inward groan expecting renamed D&D Ability Scores. So, this is a pleasant shift. It's been long enough since I did the beta-test version that I'm not entirely clear on whether or not this was the case back then... I'm guessing it was and... okay, I went back to the other sheet and confirmed it was indeed this way back then. Still, the kudos is worth repeating.

Okay, now, we need to distribute some trait modifiers across these stats. We have set array of: +2, +1, +1, 0, 0, and -1. Checking, I see that longbows and shortbows are associated with Agility, which as we see above is also associated with movement, so that's going to be my primary association. Finesse as the Rogue's spellcasting trait and Instinct; in relation to the idea of a survivalist in rocky, mountainous area; come next. So... now it comes to which I'm the least interested in to get the -1. And I think it's going to be Strength, which is a bit predictable, agreed, but it seems to fit the most.

That gives us:

Agility +2

Strength -1

Finesse +1

Instinct +1

Presence +0

Knowledge +0

Step 4 - Additional Character Information

We covered some of this in part 1, actually. This is starting traits and includes the following:

Evasion: 12

Hit Points: 6

Stress: 6

Hope: 2

Step 5 - Choose your starting equipment

The game has us choose:

A choice of weapons: one 2H primary weapon or one 1H primary weapon and one 1H secondary weapon.

One armor

Other starting items, one of which I mentioned in Step 1

The recommended choice for a rogue is a dagger with a paired secondary dagger. But we're going to go with the shortbow which is a two-handed weapon. This does mean that they don't have a melee weapon, but I cross checked the suggested weapon sets of the ranger and it shows just the shortbow without another weapon.

Given the flexible ranges used, that's likely going to work out fine. In a lot of games, like Fabula Ultima or Monster of the Week, I wouldn't even really worry about that at all. It's just the heavy association with D&D the developers of this game have that make me suspicious about having a character with just a ranged weapon.

As to armor, there's four varieties at first level: Gambeson Armor, Leather Armor, Chainmail Armor, and Full Plate Mail Armor.

Chain Mail reduces Evasion while Plate Mail reduces Evasion and Agility. So both of those are out. It comes to a choice between Gambeson and Leather. D&D brain says "well, clearly leather is just better than padded" but that's not the case here. The Gambeson provides a bonus to Evasion while Leather does not. Both provide an Armor score of 3 while Leather has a slightly better damage threshold.

Now, to explain, characters have a small amount of Hit Points which only get marked off when an attack surpasses a character's damage thresholds. This feels like they designed this to still have the fun of rolling lots of dice, but still keep hit point accounting to a low amount. Armor Score can be spent to reduce the severity of an incoming attack so perhaps you'll only take stress rather than actual hit point damage. Meanwhile, Evasion is how you actually avoid being hit.

I'm going with the Gambeson, both because I like gambesons and because I like the increased evasion.

Side note, I am unsure why I've been capitalizing the names of types of armor. Eh... whatever, not important.

We now look at other starting items which for a rogue, according to the guide we get:

a torch

50 feet of rope

basic supplies

"a handful of gold"

A choice between a Minor Health or Minor Stamina Potion

A choice between a set of forgery tools or a grappling hook

I'm going with the Minor Stamina potion to clear Stress and just bank on the idea of avoiding getting hit.

Step 6 - Create your Background

Now we have to answer some story prompts that on first glance rubbed me the wrong way because they make certain assumptions about a person playing a rogue. However, the textbook makes clear that these are placeholder prompts and can be replaced if you wish. So, I'm going to tweak this a bit by stating the original question and revamping it to a different take.

What did you get caught doing that got you exiled from your home community?

Tatalia is not an exile from her community, but her community itself has been pushed into the mountains in order to survive as the pleasant farmlands they used to live in have been fought over repeatedly in the past few generation by two or three different nations that simply ignored the people already living there. It wasn't there farmlands and homesteads being trampled, so they didn't care.

You used to have a different life, but you've tried to leave it behind. Who from your past is still chasing you?

This assumes a criminal background again. I'm going to go with it partially and say that she did end up with a group of fellows that have been harassing the forces of all the people that use their homeland as a battleground. They were named as bandits and the group was scattered. Distinctive as she is, it was easy for some description of her to get out. So there's probably some low-key bounties from one or more nations on her even though she wasn't skilled enough to be one one the major thorns. She's just recognizable and maybe she knows where the others are.

Who from your past were you most sad to say goodbye to?

I'm going to say that she was very close with her mother and a younger brother, though her father has been dead for ten years. Her mother had tried to talk her out of getting involved with the resistance trying to poke the invaders in their ancestral lands, just be focused on making a living out of the game they could hunt and food they could grow on the mountain. That conversation ended in a bitter fashion and Tatalia is a bit to ashamed to make it easy to go back and face her mother.

Step 7 - Create Your Experiences

This step is the most Fate like of the set so far as experiences are short phrases describing achievements, descriptions, and other traits which translate into something that gives the character guidance moving forward. I'm very fond of Fate Aspects and have already dealt with two versions of that system here, one rather recently. So I've linked those discussions so you can go see the discussion of Aspects there.

In this case, I'm going with the following two experiences:

Always Keeping an Eye Out

Everyone deserves respect

This covers her watchfulness as well as her snake-hair and her bitterness at how her people have been shoved aside from where they used to live and her response to it being one of wanting to protect other people's lives from abuse. In fact, Keeping an Eye Out is double edged in that she is always looking for ways to help but is also capable of sustaining a grudge.

Each of these is given a value of +2. She will be able to spend some of her hope in order to add that number to a roll.

You might start to feel like your Experiences no longer match your character, or else didn't give the flavor you expected. In this case, they can easily be changed simply by working with the GM to rework those elements.

Step 8 - Choose your Domain Cards

This is where we start getting into your character's signature gameplay abilities. The stuff that's beyond the basic elements every person with your class, ancestry, and upbringing have. Each character has two domains each of which have 3 first level powers for a total of 6 and we choose two of those.

Oddly, despite putting her Presence at 0, I'm going to give Tatalia two cards that are somewhat charisma flavored. They would still use her Finesse as the Spellcasting trait, however.These powers are:

Uncanny Disguise

Enrapture

In both cases, I assume that there is a bit of magic going on. I'm going to assume the disguise even lets her hide her snake-tail appearance for a bit... similar to how naga function now in Legend of Five Rings. And Enrapture is a short duration magical charm as well.

Step 9 - Create Your Connections

These are links between yourself and your teammates, something that is increasingly becoming standard to build at session 0 instead of having everybody just happen to be on hand for the initiating event.

I'm going to edit these in later as it is currently getting late and I am already operating on low sleep. Similarly, I will likely edit in a level up theory-crafting later, as there's some interesting mechanics in play here. I'll also try to get some photos of the cards later to paste here. And I'll probably create a party as well.

For now, here's the Compilation

Tatalia Rathis - 1st Level Gorgon Rogue

Gorgon (Faun/Infernis)

Ridgeborne

Rogue: Nightwalker

Traits:

Serpentine (Caprine Leap) - Faun

Dread Visage - Infernis

Steady - Ridgeborne

Cloaked - Rogue

Sneak Attack - Rogue

Shadow Stepper - Nightwalker

Stats

Agility +2

Strength -1

Finesse +1 (Spellcasting Trait)

Instinct +1

Presence +0

Knowledge +0

Proficiency: 1

Damage and Health

Minor Threshold: 6

Major Threshold: 12

Hit Points: 6

Stress: 6

Defense

Armor: Gambeson

Evasion: 13 (12 base, +1 for Gambeson)

Armor Score: 3 (Gambeson)

Experiences

Always keeping an eye out +2

Everyone deserves respect +2

Weapon

Shortbow - Agility, Far, d6+3 Physical, 2-handed

Domain Cards

Grace: Enrapture

Midnight: Uncanny Disguise

Returning to Part 9 - Connections

Okay, editing in connections, first of all, I want to note that making a random set of characters is kinda easy due to the way these cards work. Simply shuffle the cards and deal them out. Boom, instant random character.

So let's get to that and make 3 party members for Tatalia. I'm ruling out the origin cards I used for Tatalia. So no Faun, Infernis, Ridgeborn, or Rogue. I'll also redraw if I get two of the same class.

I did have to re-draw once because I got both types of bard, but the end result is:

Goblin Loreborne Wordsmith (Bard) - Named Dale Bracada

Human Wildborne Wayfinder (Ranger) - Named Deyja Eofel

Giant Seaborne Stalwart (Guardian) - Named Tula Barrow

This is a mix of pretty standard archetypes with one outlyer in the form of the Goblin bard, who I choose to imagine is some sort of storyteller such as the one played by John Hurt in Jim Henson's Storyteller. I'm going to go ahead and pull their Domain cards too, randomizing that as well, though I'm going to leave off the Enrapture card so that it's unique to Tatalia.

Dale Bracada - Inspiring Words and the Book of Ava (Book of Ava has three spells: Power Push, Tava's Armor, and Ice Spike)

Deyja Eofel - Untouchable and Gifted Tracker

Tula Barrow - Whirlwind and Forceful Push

As for weapons:

Dale is going to get a Scepter magic weapon and a small dagger in their off hand. As well as a Gambeson.

Deyja is going to get a Battleaxe and Leather Armor

Tula Barrow is going to get a Cutlass and a Round Shield with Chain Mail.

So, let's get to the connections Tatalia has to the other three.

What did I recently convince you to do that got us both in trouble? Tatalia convinced Tula to help her raid an enemy caravan to free some captives. And now Tula's also been noticed by the invading authorities.

What have I learned about you that I keep a secret? Tatalia has recently learned that Deyja is a deserter from one of the invading armies, but she keeps it secret to avoid getting him in trouble.

Who do you know from your past and how have they influenced your feelings about me? Dale has encountered and spoken to the captain of a military patrol who made regular trips to the mountain villages to keep a thumb on Tatalia's people and it's made Dale feel a bit of pity for Tatalia. Unwanted pity.

Now I'm going to update this and then start editing again to do the theoretical leveling in a bit after I read the process a bit more thoroughly.

Level Ups

So, leveling is based on milestones and as you level up you increase two things: your level and your tier.

Tier 1 - Just first level

Tier 2 - Levels 2-4

Tier 3 - Levels 5-7

Tier 4 - Levels 8-10

Each tier increases Proficiency, adds a new Experience, and unmarks any Stat that was improved so you can improve them again.

So, some things here. The game is only 10 levels. At each tier you get some specific improvements and at each level you get a new card and are able to choose between various improvements. There's a limited number of times each option can be taken. They are as follows:

Improve two stats +1, can be taken 3 times, can't apply to the same stats more than once

Improve Hit Points +1, can be taken twice.

Improve Stress +1, can be taken twice.

Improve two Experiences +1, can be taken once.

Choose an additional Domain card, can be taken once.

Improve Evasion +1, can be taken once.

And at tiers 3 and 4, these other options:

Take a subclass specialization option, can be taken once, prevents multiclass this tier.

Improve Proficiency +1, can be taken once - counts as two options

Multiclass, can be taken once - counts as two options, prevents specializtion this tier. Can't multiclass more than once at all.

I'm not likely to multiclass here, but we'll see. As to Proficiency, this also goes up at each tier. So you have the following:

Tier 1 - Proficiency 1

Tier 2 - Proficiency 2

Tier 3 - Proficiency 3

Tier 4 - Proficiency 4

So, you can get up to a Proficiency +6 if you take both the options to do so at Tier 3 and 4. Each point of proficiency increases the number of damage dice rolled when you make a weapon attack.

Now, I really like this system because there are more advancement options than you have ability to select and that makes the build an interesting approach. Also, one of my gripes with D&D is that it's very cookie cutter and a lot of levels with a lot of classes you don't make decisions, you just right stuff down.

Okay, on to the Leveling.

Tatalia Rathis - Tier 2

Level 2

Basic improvements

Tier 2 - +1 Proficiency

Tier 2 - a new experience: Your friend in the shadows

New Domain Card - Shadowbind

All Damage Thresholds increase by 1 since they are based on level.

The shadowbind allows her to cause several people to be restrained and it feels like something that can be easily reworked as a petrifying gaze.

For the optional improvements I'm taking the following:

Improve two stats: +1 Finesse and +1 Presence

Take another Domain card: Grace - Tell No Lies

Level 3

New Domain Card: Chokehold

Damage Thresholds increase

Chokehold feels like something appropriate to a sneaky gorgon rogue who is snake from the waist down.

Gain +1 to two Experiences, "Everyone Deserves Respect" and "Your Friend in the Shadows"

Permanently gain +1 Stress

Level 4

New Domain Card: Stealth Expertise

Damage Thresholds increase

And now she has 6 Domain cards, and her Loadout is limited to 5 cards, so she's always going to have one in her "Vault" for now, but that number will increase.

Gain +1 to two stats: +1 Agility and +1 Knowledge

Permanently gain +1 Evasion

Gear

One neat thing is that the game does organize weapons and such into tiers, so I am going to grab some improved tier armor and weapons for her as she levels, assuming she'll find appropriate tier gear before the end of that tier. In her case I'm going with the following:

Finehair Bow - Very Far, Agility, s6+5 physical, two-handed, Reliable: +1 attack

Tyris Soft Armor - 8/18, Armor 5, Quiet: +2 to move silently

I'm less certain about the other random loot that can be found.

Tatalia Rathis - 4th Level Gorgon Rogue

Gorgon (Faun/Infernis)

Ridgeborne

Rogue: Nightwalker

Traits:

Serpentine (Caprine Leap) - Faun

Dread Visage - Infernis

Steady - Ridgeborne

Cloaked - Rogue

Sneak Attack - Rogue

Shadow Stepper - Nightwalker

Stats

Agility +3

Strength -1

Finesse +2 (Spellcasting Trait)

Instinct +1

Presence +1

Knowledge +1

Proficiency: 2

Damage and Health

Minor Threshold: 12

Major Threshold: 22

Hit Points: 6

Stress: 7

Defense

Armor: Tyris Soft Armor

Evasion: 13

Armor Score: 5 (Tyris Soft Armor)

Bonus: Quiet, +2 to moving silently

Experiences

Always keeping an eye out +2

Everyone deserves respect +3

Your friend in the shadows +3

Weapon

Finehair Bow- Agility, Very Far, d6+5 Physical, 2-handed, Reliable +1 Attack

Domain Cards

Grace: Enrapture, Tell No Lies,

Midnight: Uncanny Disguise, Shadowbind, Chokehold, Stealth Expertise

Typical Loadout: Tell No Lies, Uncanny Disguise, Shadowbind, Stealth Expertise, Chokehold

Typical Vault: Enrapture

Tatalia Rathis - Tier 3

Level 5

Tier 3 - +1 Proficiency

Tier 3 - New Experience: Justice, one arrow at a time

Tier 3 - Clear marked stats

Level 5 - Domain card: Invisibility

Invisibility feels very useful to a sneaky rogue. Note that it is a level 3 card, but the level 5 cards didn't feel really like what I wanted.

I'm also going to immediately improve her Proficiency by +1 using both her options this level.

Level 6

Domain Card: Share the Burden

Share the Burden just feels appropriate to someone who is trying to help people around her.

Improve two stats +1 Agility, +1 Instinct

Gain the Specialization Nightwalker trait

Level 7

Domain Card: Midnight Touched

This means she is encouraged to have 4 Midnight cards in her Loadout, at least while this card is there, because otherwise it does nothing. Every Domain has one of these "Touched" cards that give passive benefits as long as you lean into that domain.

Permanently gain +1 Evasion

Improve two stats +1 Finesse, +1 Presence

And for Gear I'm sticking with her Tier 2 weapons for now, I like their secondary effects.

Tatalia Rathis - 7th Level Gorgon Rogue

Gorgon (Faun/Infernis)

Ridgeborne

Rogue: Nightwalker

Traits:

Serpentine (Caprine Leap) - Faun

Dread Visage - Infernis

Steady - Ridgeborne

Cloaked - Rogue

Sneak Attack - Rogue

Shadow Stepper - Nightwalker Foundation

Dark Cloud - Nightwalker Specialization

Adrenaline - Nightwalker Specialization

Stats

Agility +4

Strength -1

Finesse +3 (Spellcasting Trait)

Instinct +2

Presence +2

Knowledge +1

Proficiency: 4

Damage and Health

Minor Threshold: 15

Major Threshold: 25

Hit Points: 6

Stress: 7

Defense

Armor: Tyris Soft Armor

Evasion: 14

Armor Score: 5 (Tyris Soft Armor)

Bonus: Quiet, +2 to moving silently

Experiences

Always keeping an eye out +2

Everyone deserves respect +3

Your friend in the shadows +3

Justice, one arrow at a time +2

Weapon

Finehair Bow- Agility, Very Far, d6+5 Physical, 2-handed, Reliable +1 Attack

Domain Cards

Grace: Enrapture, Tell No Lies, Invisibility, Share the Burden

Midnight: Uncanny Disguise, Shadowbind, Chokehold, Stealth Expertise, Midnight-Touched

Tactical:

Loadout: Invisibility, Midnight Touched, Shadowbind, Stealth Expertise, Chokehold

Vault: Enrapture, Share the Burden, Tell No Lies, Uncanny Disguise

Social Infiltration

Loadout: Enrapture, Uncanny Disguise, Tell No Lies, Stealth Expertise, Shadowbind

Vault: Chokehold, Midnight Touched, Share the Burden, Invisibility

Survival

Loadout: Share the Burden, Midninght Touched, Stealth Expertise, Shadowbind, Uncanny Disguise

Vault: Enrapture, Tell No Lies, Invisibility, Chokehold

Tatalia Rathis - Tier 4

Level 8

Tier 4 - +1 Proficiency

Tier 4 - New Experience: Darkness, kind and secret

Tier 4 - Clear marked stats

Level 8 - Domain Card: Shadowhunter

This is going to aim for being in the dark quite often. And for the level options. I'm once again going straight for the Proficiency boost.

Level 9

Domain Card: Night Terror

Night Terror affecting people that can see her to horrify them definitely feels like a gorgon thing.

Extra Domain Card: Master of The Craft, immediately add to Everyone Deserves Respect and Darkness, Kind and Secret

Give a +1 to two stats: Finesse and Instinct

Master of The Craft is an interesting case. It permanently increases the bonuses of one of your Expereinces by +3 or two of them by +2, I chose the +2. Then the card just sits in your Vault, forever, never takes up space in your Loadout.

The Blade domain has a similar card called Vitality that does the same thing, where you choose two out +1 Stress, +1 Hit Points, and Increased Damage Thresholds.

I really like this design space. Yes, you're giving up an option for an active power at that point, but you're trading it out for a permanent boost that you don't need to put in your Loadout.

As a note, on scanning through the cards, these are the only two cards that work like this, which is interesting.

Level 10

Domain Card: Eclipse

Yeah, I definitely like Eclipse for this character.

Permanently give +1 Evasion

Nightwalker Mastery trait

And for gear, let's look at Tier 4 stuff and I'll bring her to the Dunamis Silkchain and the Aantari Bow.

Tatalia Rathis - 10th Level Gorgon Rogue

Gorgon (Faun/Infernis)

Ridgeborne

Rogue: Nightwalker

Traits:

Serpentine (Caprine Leap) - Faun

Dread Visage - Infernis

Steady - Ridgeborne

Cloaked - Rogue

Sneak Attack - Rogue

Shadow Stepper - Nightwalker Foundation

Dark Cloud - Nightwalker Specialization

Adrenaline - Nightwalker Specialization

Fleeting Shadow - Nightwalker Mastery

Vanishing Act - Nightwalker Mastery

Stats

Agility +4

Strength -1

Finesse +4 (Spellcasting Trait)

Instinct +3

Presence +2

Knowledge +1

Proficiency: 6

Damage and Health

Minor Threshold: 15

Major Threshold: 25

Hit Points: 6

Stress: 7

Defense

Armor: Dunamis Silkchain

Evasion: 16 (17 with Shadowhunter)

Armor Score: 5 (Tyris Soft Armor)

Bonus: Timeslowing, Mark Armor to add 1d4 to Evasion against incoming attack.

Experiences

Always keeping an eye out +2

Everyone deserves respect +5

Your friend in the shadows +3

Justice, one arrow at a time +2

Darkness, kind and secret +4

Weapon

Aantari Bow- Finesse, Far, d6+11 Physical, 2-handed, Reliable +1 Attack

Domain Cards

Grace: Enrapture, Tell No Lies, Invisibility, Share the Burden, Master of The Craft

Midnight: Uncanny Disguise, Shadowbind, Chokehold, Stealth Expertise, Midnight-Touched, Shadowhunter, Night Terror, Eclipse

Tactical:

Loadout: Invisibility, Midnight Touched, Shadowbind, Stealth Expertise, Shadowhunter

Vault: Enrapture, Share the Burden, Tell No Lies, Uncanny Disguise, Master of The Craft

Social Infiltration

Loadout: Enrapture, Uncanny Disguise, Tell No Lies, Stealth Expertise, Shadowbind

Vault: Chokehold, Midnight Touched, Share the Burden, Invisibility, Master of The Craft

Survival

Loadout: Share the Burden, Midninght Touched, Stealth Expertise, Shadowbind, Uncanny Disguise

Vault: Enrapture, Tell No Lies, Invisibility, Chokehold, Master of The Craft

Assault

Loadout: Midnight Touched, Shadow Hunter, Eclipse, Night Terror, Shadowbind

Vault: Enrapture, Share the Burden, Tell No Lies, Uncanny Disguise, Invisibility, Stealth Expertise, Chokehold, Master of The Craft

Okay... some definite things I love about this. Making this as an option means the last level is much easier to set up as a story capper as compared to the capstones in a lot of level-based games. The flexibility is going to make for a lot of variety. I very much could have chosen not to lean heavily into Nightwalker and focused on basic stuff. I could also have leaned more heavily into increasing Stress and possibly boosting Hit Points. And I was definitely invested in doing high damage given I took both proficiency boosts available to her.

What about her Party

I'm going to go ahead and level up her party using random chance to account for the unexpected directions a campaign would go and also to make sure it doesn't take long to do. Just going to note the choices. I'm choosing Domain Cards, but for improvements I'm mixing choosing and rolling. And I'm not naming experiences so just a bare bones summary.

Dale Bracada

Level 2 - Book of Vargas, Extra Domain Card: Troublemaker, +1 Stress

Level 3 - Hypnotic Shimmer, Improve Presence and Knowledge

Level 4 - Book of Exota, +1 Stress

Level 5 - Thought Delver, Improve Presence and Instinct, +1 to two experiences.

Level 6 - Teleport, +1 Hit Point, Extra Domain: Book of Sitil

Level 7 - Endless Charisma, +1 Stress, Upgarded Wordsmith

Level 8 - Astral Projection, Improve Presence and Knowledge, +1 Stress

Level 9 - Copycat, Extra Domain Card: Safe Haven, +1 Stress

Level 10 - Notorious, Wordsmith Mastery, +1 Hit Points

Summary:

Grace: Inspiring Words, Hypnotic Shimmer, Thought Delver, Endless Charisma, Astral Projection, Copycat, Notorious

Codex: Book of Ava, Book of Vargas, Book of Exota, Teleport, Book of Sitil, Safe Haven

Stress: 11

Hit Points 7

Master Wordsmith

+3 Presence, +2 Knowledge, +1 Instinct

Deyja Eofel

Level 2 - Natural Familiar, +1 to two Experiences, Extra Domain: Strategic Approach

Level 3 - Tactician, +1 Hit Point, +1 Stress

Level 4 - Healing Field, Improve Agility and Strength, +1 Hit Point

Level 5 - Wild Fortress, Multiclass: Druid (Warden of Renewal)

Level 6 - Recovery, Extra Domain: Rune Ward, Improve Strength and Instinct

Level 7 - Wild Surge, +1 Stress, +1 Evasion

Level 8 - Rejuvenation Barrier, Wayfinder Specialization, Improve Agility and Finesse

Level 9 - Splintering Blow, Extra Domain: Premonition, +1 Stress

Level 10 - Deathrun, +1 Evasion, Improve Strength and Instinct

Summary:

Arcana: Rune Ward, Premonition

Bone: Untouchable, Tactician, Recovery, Splintering Blow, Deathrun

Sage: Gifted Tracker, Natural Familiar, Healing Field, Wild Fortress, Wild Surge, Rejuvenation Barrier

Stress: 10

Hit Points: 8

Evasion: 14

Wayfinder Specialization

Warden of Renewal Foundation

Two +3 Experiences

+3 Strength, +2 Agility, +2 Instinct, +1 Finesse

Tula Barrow

Level 2 - A Soldiers Bond, Extra Domain: Bold Presence, +1 Hit Point

Level 3 - Critical Inspiration, Improve Strength and Presence, +1 Hit Point

Level 4 - Fortified Armor, Improve Knowledge and Instinct, +1 Stress

Level 5, Armorer, Extra Domain: Rousing Strike, Improve Strength and Presence

Level 6 - Vitality (Damage Thresholds and Stress), +1 Hit Point, Improve Knowledge and Instinct

Level 7 - Valor Touched, +1 Hit Point, Stalwart Specialization

Level 8 - Battle Cry, Extra Domain: Rise Up, Improve Strength and Presence

Level 9 - Hold the Line, Stalwart Specialization, +1 Hit Point

Level 10 - Unbreakable, +1 Hit Point, +1 Stress

Summary

Blade: Whirlwind, A Soldier's Bond, Fortified Armor, Vitality, Battle Cry

Valor: Forceful Push, Bold Presence, Armorer, Rousing Strike, Rise Up, Valor Touched, Hold the Line, Unbreakable

Stress: 10

Hit Points: 14

Stalwart Specialization

Stalwart Mastery

+3 Strength, +3 Presence, +2 Knowledge, +2 Instinct

All in all, I like the flexibility, both the tactical flexibility of shifting loadout and the build flexibility so that you don't feel that one guardian or rogue is the same as every other one.

[gorgonarcher]

Kaelcia Skyscale's Party

Yeah, I'll go ahead and stat these out, but just the 1st Level and 20th Level versions. I'm also not going to delve into Goals and Ties for this. I'm marking primary Abilities in Bold Italics.

As a note, going through this, my general thought is in line with my impressions for Kaelcia in that the upper levels feel a bit anticlimatic, but that isn't the fault of giving too many talents and specializations, but more a common trait of this style of game with only a few exceptions here and there. I definitely appreciative the increased flexibility.

Also, I did this while pushing deeper into sleep deprivation, so hopefully nothing is a bit off.

Wulfram Hayward - 1st Level Mage

He rolled two Ability bonuses (Communication and Dexterity). Note, I'm now noting the game defaults to letting you choose two benefits but Ability bonuses counting as both picks. However, you can choose to roll twice instead and that can get you two Ability bonuses,

Origin

Ancestry: Halfling

Background: Scribe (Middle Class)

Abilities

Accuracy 2

Communication 2

Constitution 1

Dexterity 3 (Stealth)

Fighting 1

Intelligence 3 (Writing)

Perception 0

Strength 0

Willpower 3

Traits

Health: 23

Magic Points: 17

Defense: 13

Speed: 11

Armor Rating: 0

Language: Common, Halfling

Weapon Groups: Brawling, Staves

Intrepid, Frightened causes reduced penalties.

Class Features

Arcane Blast

Arcane Device (Scroll in a bone case)

Magic Training

Stunts

All basic Stunts

Healing Power (1+ SP) - Part of the Healing Arcana

Specializations

Novice Arcane Scholar

Talents

Novice Chirurgy

Magic Talents

Novice Divination

Novice Healing

Spells

Divination: Forewarning, Sentinel

Enchantment: Identify Enchantments (gained from Arcane Scholar)

Healing: Balm, Cure

Gear

Quarterstaff

Arcane Device: Intricate Bone Scroll Case with enchanted Scroll

Backpack

Waterskin

Traveler's garb

Bedroll

Blanket

Flint and Steel

5 units of Incense

5 sticks of Chalk

Lantern

8 Candles

8 silver pieces

Naesala Keyzeiros - 1st Level Rogue

Rolled a Focus (Hearing) and an Ability (Accuracy)

Origin

Ancestry: Elf

Background: Sailor (Lower Class)

Abilities

Accuracy 3

Communication 2

Constitution 2

Dexterity 2 (Sailing)

Fighting 0

Intelligence 1 (Natural Lore)

Perception 2 (Hearing)

Strength 1

Willpower 1

Traits

Health: 30

Defense: 12

Speed: 14

Armor Rating: 3 (Light Leather)

Dark Sight: 20 yards

Language: Common, Elven

Weapon Groups: Black Powder, Light Blades, Staves

Class Features

Pinpoint Attack

Rogue's Armor

Rogue's Speed

Stunts

All basic Stunts

Specializations

Novice Spy

Talents

Novice Thievery (Perception (Searching))

Gear

Light Leather Armor

Pistol

Dagger

Lockpicks

Bedroll

Powder and Shot (10 shots)

6 silver

Ettioc Macebearer - 1st Level Warrior

Note: I originally only rolled 3 weapon groups when Ettioc needed four. I'm not correcting the original post due to the mistake of posting it to the wrong blog first making editing a pain.

I rolled one Ability bonus (Communication) and one focus (Running)

Origin

Ancestry: Goblin

Background: Squire (High Class)

Abilities

Accuracy 0

Communication 1 (Investigation)

Constitution 3 (Running)

Dexterity 2

Fighting 3

Intelligence 1 (Heraldry)

Perception 1

Strength 2

Willpower 1

Traits

Health: 38

Defense: 12 (14 with Medium Shield)

Speed: 12 (9 with Heavy Mail)

Armor Rating: 7 (Heavy Mail)

Dark Sight: 20 yards

Language: Common, Goblin

Weapon Groups: Axes, Brawling, Slings, Staves

Stunts

All basic Stunts

Specializations

Novice Champion

Talents

Novice Unarmed Style

Novice Weapon and Shield

Novice Armor Training

Gear

Heavy Mail

Morningstar

Throwing axe

Hunting Sling

20 lead sling bullets

Medium Shield

Fishing Cord (50 yards)

Fishing Tackle

Compass

10 silver

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wulfram Hayward - 20th Level Mage

He rolled two Ability bonuses (Communication and Dexterity). Note, I'm now noting the game defaults to letting you choose two benefits but Ability bonuses counting as both picks. However, you can choose to roll twice instead and that can get you two Ability bonuses,

Origin

Ancestry: Halfling

Background: Scribe (Middle Class)

Abilities

Accuracy 3 (Arcane Blast)

Communication 4 (Investigation)

Constitution 3 (Stamina, Tolerance)

Dexterity 5 (Calligraphy, Crafting, Stealth)

Fighting 3 (Quarterstaff)

Intelligence 5 (Air Arcana, Arcane Lore, Cultural Lore, Divination Arcana, Fate Arcana, Healing, Healing Arcana, Historical Lore, Writing)

Perception 1 (Searching)

Strength 2 (Climbing, Jumping)

Willpower 6 (Faith, Self-Discipline)

Traits

Health: 102

Magic Points: 155

Defense: 17

Speed: 12

Armor Rating: 0

Language: Common, Halfling

Weapon Groups: Brawling, Staves

Intrepid, Frightened causes reduced penalties.

Class Features

Arcane Blast (24 yard range)

Arcane Device (Scroll in a bone case)

Magic Training

Weapon Focus adds to Damage

Spend MP for damage bonus on spells

Add stunt die to damage with Arcane Blast

Stunts

All basic Stunts

Examine (1-3 SP)

Healing Power (1+ SP) - Part of the Healing Arcana

Extra Information (2 SP) - When using a Lore focus

Magic Shield (2 SP) - Reduced cost basic spell stunt

Complex Arcana (3 SP)

Omen (3 SP)

Mystic Insight (5 SP)

Epic Mage (Spell)

Specializations

Master Arcane Scholar

Master Miracle Worker

Expert Elementalist (Air)

Talents

Master Chirurgy

Master Arcane Training

Expert Lore

Magic Talents

Expert Divination

Master Healing

Expert Fate

Master Air

Spells

Air: Voices on the Wind, Wind Net, Wall of Mist, Winds of Flight

Divination: Forewarning, Sentinel, Ill Omens, Scrying

Enchantment: Identify Enchantments (gained from Arcane Scholar)

Fate: Puppets of Fate, Agents of Fate, Strings of Fate

Healing: Balm, Cure, Revival, Healing Aura, Regenerate, Rejuvenate Body

Enchantment: Identify Enchantments (gained from Arcane Scholar)

Minor Arcana: Arcane Candle, Arcane Mantle, Mage's Flint

Gear

Quarterstaff

Arcane Device: Intricate Bone Scroll Case with enchanted Scroll

Backpack

Waterskin

Traveler's garb

Bedroll

Blanket

Flint and Steel

5 units of Incense

5 sticks of Chalk

Lantern

8 Candles

8 silver pieces

Naesala Keyzeiros - 20th Level Rogue

Rolled a Focus (Hearing) and an Ability (Accuracy)

Origin

Ancestry: Elf

Background: Sailor (Lower Class)

Abilities

Accuracy 5 (Black Powder, Light Blades)

Communication 5 (Deception, Gambling)

Constitution 4 (Stamina, Tolerance)

Dexterity 5 (Acrobatics, Legerdemain, Lock Picking, Sailing, Stealth, Traps)

Fighting 0

Intelligence 3 (Evaluation, Heraldry, Military Lore, Natural Lore, Thieves Lore)

Perception 3 (Hearing, Searching)

Strength 2 (Climbing)

Willpower 5 (Courage, Self-Discipline)

Traits

Health: 140

Defense: 18

Speed: 17

Armor Rating: 3 (Light Leather)

Dark Sight: 20 yards

Language: Common, Elven

Weapon Groups: Black Powder, Light Blades, Staves

Class Features

Pinpoint Attack (Add Stunt die to damage in addition)

Rogue's Armor

Rogue's Speed

Take Aim

Weapon focus added to damage

Stunning Attack

Lethality

Slippery

Epic Rogue (Exploration)

Stunts

All basic Stunts

Counter (1 SP)

Efficiency (1 SP) - Reduced cost basic social stunt

Hidden Message (1 SP) - Reduced cost basic social stunt

Taunt (1 SP) - Reduced cost basic social stunt

Misdirect (1+ SP)

Snatch (2 SP)

Cover Your Tracks (2 SP) - Reduced cost basic exploration stunt*

Sabotage (4 SP) - Reduced cost basic exploration stunt

Get Away (5 SP)

Steady Hand (5 SP)

Cover your tracks was both a Rogue stunt choice and was reduced by the Spy Specialization, hence being reduced from 4 to 2.

Specializations

Master Spy

Master Mariner and Pirate

Master Mage Hunter

Mariner and Pirate selections

Novice Mariner

Expert Pirate

Master Mariner

Talents

Master Thievery (Dexterity (Lock Picking), Dexterity (Traps), Perception (Searching))

Master Carousing

Master Elven Secrets

Master Intrigue (Deception)

Gear

Light Leather Armor

Pistol

Dagger

Lockpicks

Bedroll

Powder and Shot (10 shots)

6 silver

Ettioc Macebearer - 20th Level Warrior

Note: I originally only rolled 3 weapon groups when Ettioc needed four. I'm not correcting the original post due to the mistake of posting it to the wrong blog first making editing a pain.

I rolled one Ability bonus (Communication) and one focus (Running)

Origin

Ancestry: Goblin

Background: Squire (High Class)

Abilities

Accuracy 3 (Brawling, Slings)

Communication 2 (Etiquette, Investigation, Leadership, Performance)

Constitution 5 (Running, Stamina, Tolerance)

Dexterity 5 (Initiative)

Fighting 5 (Axes, Bludgeons, Staves)

Intelligence 2 (Heraldry, Military Lore)

Perception 2

Strength 5 (Climbing, Intimidation, Jumping, Might)

Willpower 4 (Courage, Morale)

Traits

Health: 161

Defense: 18 (22 with Medium Shield and Heavy Armor)

Speed: 15 (10 with Heavy Plate)

Armor Rating: 4 (14 with Heavy Plate)

Dark Sight: 20 yards

Language: Common, Goblin

Weapon Groups: Axes, Bows, Bludgeons, Brawling, Heavy Blades, Slings, Staves

Class Features

Improved Armor Rating (3)

Weapon Focus added to damage

Expert Strike

Quick Strike

Add stunt die to damage

Epic Warrior (Combat)

Stunts

All basic Stunts

Knock Prone (1 SP) - Reduced cost basic combat stunt

Block (1-3 SP)

Defensive Stance (2 SP) - While using a shield

Exemplify (2 SP)

Improved Disarm (2 SP)

Threaten (2 SP)

Crushing Blow (3 SP) - Reduced cost basic combat stunt

Unbalance (3 SP)

Swiftness (4 SP) - Reduced cost basic exploration stunt

Storm of Strikes (5 SP)

Specializations

Master Champion

Novice Aristocrat (Leadership)

Master Guardian

Talents

Novice Unarmed Style

Master Weapon and Shield

Master Armor Training

Master Command

Master Mighty Thews

Master Great Endurance

Gear

Heavy Mail

Morningstar

Throwing axe

Hunting Sling

20 lead sling bullets

Medium Shield

Fishing Cord (50 yards)

Fishing Tackle

Compass

10 silver

[gorgonarcher]

Reposting to account for the edit.

This is why I get annoyed when I notice I posted a long post with graphics to the wrong blog... it makes it hard to make corrections.

I went ahead and theory-crafted the rest of the party.

25th Game - Fantasy AGE 2nd Edition

(Note, I posted this to the wrong blog at first... oops, you can find a link to my Gorgon Archer blog on my pinned table of contents post)

So, I've done an AGE game in the past here with Modern AGE, which itself used a bit from Cthulhu Awakens. Fantasy AGE isn't the original game in the line, that would be Dragon Age TTRPG, but it is the first to take the engine in its own direction.

They've recently put on an update to Fantasy AGE, most of it is still compatible with 1st Edition, but they've had a few changes that are interesting. I really should do Cthulhu Awakens, because that game does a lot of interesting things with the basic assumptions. Anyway, I'm not going too deep into the differences between 1st edition and 2nd edition, but I will be using a 1st edition option called "Blooded" for producing characters with some influence from monsters in their ancestry. I've been assured this is no problem and fits in well with the balance of 2nd edition.

Fantasy AGE 2nd ed includes at least one concept from Modern AGE, levels adding to Defense directly. Aside from that though, there are significant differences in character creation from Fantasy AGE and Modern AGE.

Things in common:

Both use Talents and Specializations which are split into three ranks of accomplishment.

Both use the same set of nine Abilities.

Both use Ability Focuses in place of skills.

Both use Social Class and Backgrounds as a character creation element.

Where they differ:

Fantasy AGE 2e uses Classes Modern AGE doesn't unless you're using optional rules in the Companion. Modern AGE has Professions, but they're a character creation only thing and don't have near the impact as Classes do.

Fantasy AGE does not have a Drive like in Modern AGE.

Fantasy AGE 2e uses Ancestries where as Modern AGE only has that as an optional rule in the Companion called "People".

Fantasy AGE 2e's Ability Focuses improve from +2 to +3 automatically at level 11, with the option to bring them to +1 if you spend an extra Ability Focus resource on that Focus.

Fantasy AGE 2e provides a lot more chances to get Specializations than Modern AGE.

Fantasy AGE 2e has Class-specific Stunts.

Aside from the last three things, this is mostly the same set of differences between Fantasy AGE 1e and Modern AGE. The increased access to Talents feels a bit like what goes on with Cthulhu Awakens.

As a note, another change from Fantasy AGE 1e to 2e is that there are now four classes instead of three: Envoy, Mage, Rogue, and Warrior. Envoy is the new class.

Other than that, there is still a 9 step process but with some differences:

1: Concept

2: Abilities

3: Ancestry

4: Social Class and Background

5: Class

6: Equipment

7: Calculate Defense and Speed

8: Name

9: Goals and Ties

We've already got our concept in mind, a gorgon archer, anything more detailed will come later on as we move through the steps.

Step Two - Abilities

In 1st edition, the default method for determining Abilities was to roll for them. There was an optional method to buy them up. Now that has reverse, with the default being to have Abilities all start at 0 and then spend 13 advances to increase them up to a max of 3. The rolling method allows for a max of 4 if you roll an 18, but also allows for hitting -1 or even -2. I'm going to stick to the default and spend 13 advances.

The nine Abilities are as follows:

Accuracy - Skill with handling ranged combat and finesse weapons.

Communication - Ability to interact with people. Includes both friendly and unfriendly interactions.

Constitution - Physical resilience. Helps determine hit points.

Dexterity - Agility, flexibility, and things like sleight of hand, stealth, and acrobatics.

Fighting - Skill with fighting in melee.

Intelligence - Logic, memory, and knowledge.

Perception - Awareness of the world around you.

Strength - Physical strength and feats such as climbing and lifting weights.

Willpower - Courage, self-discipline, faith. In addition this ability determines how many magic points casters get.

With that said, I'm going to hold off on finishing up this section until I've hit some of the later options and firmed up details on the concept.

Step Three - Ancestry

2nd Edition has a few Ancestries that are relatively new to the game. Some of them appeared in supplements to the 1st edition version of the game. Each Ancestry provides the following:

An option chosen from two Ability Focuses.

Whether or not they have Dark Sight or not.

Base Speed

Languages.

A chart the player will roll on twice to get additional benefits

It has basically the same Mixed-Ancestry rules as we saw in 1st Edition: Choose which ancestry is the dominant one, get those basic benefits. Then instead of rolling twice on the same chart, they roll once on each Chart. The game notes that Mixed Ancestry can be either a person raised in a culture unusual for the Ancesty, such a human raised by goblins, or a case of biological parents from two different Ancestries.

Mixed Ancestry also has you choose which of your Ancestries you count as for the purpose of Talent or Stunt prerequisites. I have some issues with this approach and would much rather allow the player to take from both sets of Talents and such. It feels a bit icky to make someone of mixed heritages choose which of their ancestries is their primary.

Regardless, this is a case where I'm going to dip into a 1st Edition supplemental option. Namely, the Blooded. Because if there is an official way to get something more specifically gorgon, I'll take it. Also, Green Ronin (the publisher) has said most of 1st Edition is compatible and the community has agreed this option is definitely in that category. I will note that a lot of the 2e benefit charts have special abilities for each ancestry that were not present on the 1st edition charts. So the chance of getting a special power out of the Blooded benefit charts is now a bit more even with the core ancestries.

One thing different though, 1st edition Ancestries gave a base +1 bonus to one of your character's abilities. 2nd edition Ancestries don't do that, so I'm going to remove that from the base traits of Blooded. However, there is still the likelihood of rolling a bonus to an ability on the benefit chart.

As to the benefit chart, this is what the Blooded have:

The stat block I'm definitely using the 2nd Edition Medusa stat block, which is given the alternate name of "Gorgon". I do wish they'd made "Gorgon" the default name rather than Medusa. Note, SP=Stunt Points.

The game doesn't specify, but I'm going to approach this as if you can't get the same benefit twice.

So, first, I'm going to choose an Ability Focus and I'm going to avoid Weapon Focuses since no Ancestries give those in the base bonuses.

That leaves: Stealth, Stamina, Intimidation, Seeing, and Historical Lore.

I'm going with Seeing because the benefit of having multiple sets of eyes from the snake hair is often something I often represent as a bonus to perception checks.

Speed is a base 10 + Dexterity (minus armor penalty if applicable)

Languages will be Common and

Now, to fill out the chart....

Instead of the Highest ability being at 2, I'm putting it at 7-8. I believe it was at 2 before because the base, unrolled traits would give it a +1 in 1st edition, so I'm tweaking to adjust for 2e's ancestries.

2: +1 Accuracy +1

3-4: Perception (Smelling) - Scent is another snake thing.

5: Strength (Intimidation)

6: Weapon Group: Bows or Accuracy (Bows) if the class gives it.

7-8: Constitution +1

9: Constitution (Stamina)

10-11: Petrifying Gaze, but reducing the damage to 1d6+1 to account for the Penetrating nature of it and bring it somewhat in line with the Draak ability to breath fire for 2d6 damage.

12: Perception +1

For rolls, I get a 4 and an 11. Huh... Perception (Smelling) and Petrifying Gaze. And yes I rolled that. Was actually hoping for an Ability bonus.

I'm assuming that she represents a non-monstrous gorgon rather than a blend of gorgon and something else. So the monstrous varieties are corrupted in some way rather than naturally occurring species. Toward that end, I'm going to assume she tries to keep her petrifying gaze a secret when she can. My guess is it would be a trait associated with the corrupted gorgons and likely to get her badly looked at.

Step Four - Social Class and Background

This is also decided by die rolls and mostly determines some roleplaying bits and a single ability focus. It also heavily impacts starting wealth.

You roll 1d6 for Social class:

1: Outsider

2-3: Lower Class

4-5: Middle Class

6: Upper Class

And then you roll another 1d6 for one of the 6 presented backgrounds for each social class. For our character, the rolls are: 4 and 4... which after I set ahead of time which color die is which and rolled them together makes me feel a little silly.

That's Middle Class from a Merchant background.

Merchant provides either Communication (Bargaining) or Communication (Deception). I was going with Bargaining first, but instead I think a history of trying to conceal her gaze ability leans toward Deception.

Step Five - Determine Class

Okay, I'm wanting to lean into the Merchant background thing and towards that I just want to check one thing... and yep, the Envoy does get the opportunity to choose "Bows" as a weapon group. However, Accuracy is a "Secondary" ability for the Envoy so this would be an unusual approach.

You know what... I also want to play with the new class. Envoy it is. I mean, how often can I possibly have done Charisma-types in this Gorgon Archer blog?

Anyway, with that decided time to go back to do the Abilities.

Step Two, Redux - Abilities

All right, so we have 13 points to spread between nine Abilities. I'm going to list them as priorities for concept.

Communication

Accuracy

Intelligence, Willpower, Perception, Dexterity

Constitution

Strength (all bows have a minimum of Strength 1)

Fighting

So, with that said, and including focuses we've already gotten:

Accuracy 2

Communication 3 (Deception)

Constitution 1

Dexterity 2

Fighting 0

Intelligence 2

Perception 1 (Seeing, Smelling)

Strength 1

Willpower 1

Step Five, the Return - Determine Class

Okay, back to class. The Envoy gets the character the following:

Primary Abilities: Communication, Fighting, Intelligence, Willpower

Secondary Abilities: Accuracy, Constitution, Dexterity, Perception, Strength

Starting Health: 25 + Constitution + 1d6 (4)

Three Weapon Groups: Bows, Brawling, Light Blades (all of these use Accuracy as their attack stat)

Then we have the level 1 Class Powers:

Coordinate - You have the ability to give Stunt Points to allies

Dazzle - You can dazzle opponents with Charisma to improve your Defense.

Social Chameleon - You have a second Background and social class, and thus an extra ability focus. One is the society you were born to, the other is the society you integrated into.

Starting Specialization from the following list: Arcane Disciple, Aristocrat, Bard, Champion, Crime Lord, Diplomat, Heritage (Divine, Fey, or Infernal), Knight, Mariner/Pirate, Marked, Mystic Navigator, Spy, Skald.

Two Talents from the list: Animal Training, Carousing, Command, Contacts, Inspire, Intrigue, Linguistics, Lore, Oratory, Performance.

Social Chameleon says you choose the second class and background, but I'm going to roll for it, just for fun. However, I will re-roll if I get middle class again. Also, "Merchant" I'm saying is where she's ended up rather than where she was born. The result is a 2 and a 2, so she was born a laborer and ended up a merchant. The second focus she's getting out of this is a choice of Constitution (Stamina) or Strength (Might). I'm going with Stamina. The power indicates that when determining wealth, you use the higher of the two classes. So she'll have Middle Class starting wealth.

For specialization... I'm going to go with Marked, a person who has magical tattoos.

For her two Talents, I going to choose: Contacts and Linguistics.

She gets her Specialization and Talents at Novice rank which means:

Novice Marked Specialization: Choose one Mark. I'm choosing the Mark of War, allowing her to stow a two-handed weapon (like a bow) in a mark on her body. It will be the mark of serpent-tailed gorgon using a bow (she has legs, btw)

Novice Contacts Talent: The ability to make contacts out of NPCs you just barely met.

Novice Linguistics Talent: A third language, I'm going to say Goblin.

And that is her class.

Step 6 - Choose Equipment

We get some things automatically:

Backpack and waterskin

Traveler's Garb

As an Envoy, light leather armor and one weapon, it's going to be a longbow.

Due to taking a longbow, she also gets a quiver of 20 arrows.

And she has some starting wealth. As Middle Class she starts with 50+3d6 silver pieces. The roll is a 15, so 65 silver pieces.

With that, she's going to get herself the following:

Short Sword, Light Blades Group, 1d6+1, Min Str -1. 14 silver

Spyglass, 15 silver

Bedroll, 10 silver

Silk Rope, 10 silver

Lantern, 5 silver

Mirror (hand, metal), 3 silver

And that leaves 8 silver left over.

Step 7 - Calculate Defense and Speed

Light Armor gives her an Armor Rating of 3, which reduces the damage of incoming attacks by 3. But this is different from Defense.

Defense is 10 + Dexterity + a shield bonus, if you have one... which our character does not.

So her Defense is 12.

Speed is based on your ancestry and we already saw that as 10 + Dexterity. Light Leather Armor does not have an armor penalty.

So her Speed is 12.

Step 8 - Name

I'm going to go ahead and turn to Fantasy Name Generator for this as they have a gorgon name generator. A lot of those are somewhat unpronounceable, but I did see the name Kaelcia and I like that. And for a surname, I'm going to say Skyscale

So, her name is Kaelcia Skyscale.

Step 9 - Goals and Ties

For goals, you choose a mix of any number of short and long term goals to describe your character's motivations. And for ties, we create a bit of history with the other characters... and for that, I need to create some other characters. To avoid a whole other character trait, I'm going to roll some random traits for three other characters, one of each of the other three classes:

Wulfram Hayward. Mage: Halfling Scribe (Middle Class), Specialization: Arcane Scholar. Talent: Chirurgy. Arcana: Divination, Healing.

Naesala Keyzeiros, Rogue: Elf Sailor (Lower Class), Black Powder weapons, Specialization: Spy, Talent: Thievery

Ettioc Macebearer, Warrior: Goblin Squire (Upper Class), Weapon Groups: Dueling, Slings, Staves. Specialization: Champion. Talents: Unarmed Style, Weapon and Shield, Armor Training.

I'm going to say the following:

Long-Term: Discover would caused some of her people to be corrupted and become terrifying monsters.

Long-Term: Purify herself.

Short-Term: Establish contacts where she travels.

Short-Term: Turn a local profit.

Short-Term: Give back to the people when she can.

For ties, I'm going to say the following:

Ettioc was the patron that originally invested in her and allowed her rise to being a merchant.

Naesala decided travelign with Kaelcia was a great cover.

Wulfram is an arcane historian that she approached about info on the corrupted gorgons.

And thus we have the following completed character.

Kaelcia Skyscale - 1st Level Envoy

Origin

Ancestry: Blooded (Gorgon)

Original Background: Laborer (Lower Class)

Current Background: Merchant (Middle Class)

Abilities

Accuracy 2

Communication 3 (Deception)

Constitution 1 (Stamina)

Dexterity 2

Fighting 0

Intelligence 2

Perception 1 (Seeing, Smelling)

Strength 1

Willpower 1

Traits

Health 30

Defense: 12 (14 with Dazzle)

Speed: 12

Armor Rating: 3 (Light Leather)

Dark Sight: 20 yards

Language: Common, Serpentine, Goblin

Weapon Groups: Bows, Brawling, and Light Blades

Class Features

Coordinate

Dazzle (+2 Defense)

Social Chameleon

Stunts

All basic Stunts

Petrifying Gaze (2 SP)

Specializations and Talents

Novice Marked

Novice Contacts

Novice Linguistics

Marks: Mark of War (stash weapon in extradimensional pocket)

Gear

Light Leather Armor, (AR: 3)

Long Bow, 20 Arrows

Spyglass

Bedroll

Silk Rope

Lantern

Hand Mirror (metal)

8 Silver Pieces

Goals

Long-Term: Discover would caused some of her people to be corrupted and become terrifying monsters.

Long-Term: Purify herself.

Short-Term: Establish contacts where she travels.

Short-Term: Turn a local profit.

Short-Term: Give back to the people when she can.

Ties

Ettioc (Goblin Warrior) was the patron that originally invested in her and allowed her rise to being a merchant.

Naesala (Elf Rogue) decided traveling with Kaelcia was a great cover.

Wulfram (Halfling Mage) is an arcane historian that she approached about info on the corrupted gorgons.

I plan to do an advancement on this character, but I'll edit that in later... and I'll do it full to 20th level because I've heard commentary that there's not enough variety of Specializations and Talents to fit all the options you get and I want to see. But for now, I need to take a break.

Okay, time to level things up

First, let's establish some things. A theorycraft like this cannot replace an actual campaign as you will encounter things in gameplay that change up your ideas of what sound good. Also, I do not have a particularly good way to simulate rewards outside of leveling such as wealth, gear, social contacts (important to an Envoy), achievement of goals, or character interaction.

Also, let's summarize some things here.

Kaelcia's Primary Abilities: Communication, Fighting, Intelligence, and Willpower

Kaelcia's Secondary Abilities: Accuracy, Constitution, Dexterity, Perception, Strength

Health increases as follows:

From levels 2-10, Kaelcia gains 1d6+Con Health

From levels 11-20, Kaelcia gains only her Constitution each level.

Even-Numbered Levels provide the following:

One Ability Advancement to a Primary ability.

One Stunt Advancement. At levels 6, 12, and 18 these can be from any class.

One Talent Advancement.

One Ability Focus to a Primary ability

Odd-Numbered Levels provide the following:

One Ability Advancement to a Secondary ability

One Specialization Advancement. Specialization advancements can be spent on regular Talents if desired with some restrictions.

One Ability Focus to a Secondary ability

Levels 4,8, and 12

Gain one Ability Focus of your choice.

Then we have the following individual improvements:

Level 4 - Pick up the Doubletalk class feature.

Level 6 - Gain +1 Defense and Add Weapon Focus to damage.

Level 8 - Pick up the Stunning Repartee class feature.

Level 11 - Gain +1 Defense, Dazzle improves, Focuses improve to +3, ability to double focus

Level 16 - Gain +1 Defense, May add Stunt die to damage against some enemies.

Level 20 - Pick up the Epic Envoy class capstone

Ability Advancements

These get more expensive as the ability gets higher.

Ability up to 5, 1 advance equals +1

Ability from 6-8, 2 advances equal +1

Ability 9 or higher, 3 advances equal +1

So you can get superhuman in one stat at a cost of being average to decent in everything else, or you can be strong in several stats.

Stunts

Stunt points are generated sometimes when you roll dice. This game uses 3d6+Ability+Focus (if you have it) to test success. One of your dice is designated the stunt die, it will be a different color. If you roll doubles on a successful test, you also generate stunt points equal to whatever you rolled on the stunt die.

You can also take a special "Stunt Attack" that deals no damage itself but automatically generates at least 2 stunt points and these will be added on top of any stunt points generated by rolling doubles.

Kaelcia's Levels 2-5

Level 2

+1 Willpower

For the Stunt Advancement, she chooses the Envoy option to make a basic social Stunt cheaper and chooses "Crowd Appeal", making it cost 1 SP per extra target rather than 2 SP.

For the Talent Advancement, she takes the Archery Talent at Novice level.

She takes the Communication (Etiquette) focus

She rolls a 2 and gains 3 Health.

Level 3

+1 Perception

Picks up the Novice Diplomat Specialization (She meets the requirements) and for the two focuses the Novice rank affects she chooses Communication (Etiquette) and Intelligence (Cultural Lore), so she'll pick up the second one in a moment.

She takes Accuracy (Bows)

This time she gains 4 Health.

Level 4

+1 Communication

For the Stunt, she picks up "Rouse", it costs 5 SP so it won't happen often, but it's a chance to get someone from 0 Health back into the fight... as long as they're not unconscious.

For the Talent Advancement, she improves Contacts to Expert. This makes it easier to get favors from Contacts.

She takes the Intelligence (Cultural Lore) focus

She also takes the Communication (Bargaining) focus as her Envoy level 4 bonus focus.

She gains the Doubletalk feature. A once per social encounter chance to reduce the cost of a Stunt and possibly even get a free use of a stunt.

And this time, she gains 7 Health.

Level 5

+1 Constitution (this improves her Health retroactively)

Advance Marked Specialization to Expert and gains the "Spidermark" option to walk on walls. In her case, her left arm is marked to appear as a tree branch with a serpent climbing up it.

The Dexterity (Stealth) focus.

Rolled a 4, so gains 6 Health, plus 4 more due to Constitution improving for a total of 10.

Kaelcia Skyscale - 5th Level Envoy

Origin

Ancestry: Blooded (Gorgon)

Original Background: Laborer (Lower Class)

Current Background: Merchant (Middle Class)

Abilities

Accuracy 2 (Bows)

Communication 4 (Bargaining, Deception, Etiquette)

Constitution 2 (Stamina)

Dexterity 2 (Stealth)

Fighting 0

Intelligence 2 (Cultural Lore)

Perception 2 (Seeing, Smelling)

Strength 1

Willpower 2

Traits

Health 54

Defense: 12 (14 with Dazzle)

Speed: 12

Armor Rating: 3 (Light Leather)

Dark Sight: 20 yards

Language: Common, Serpentine, Goblin

Weapon Groups: Bows, Brawling, and Light Blades

Class Features

Coordinate

Dazzle (+2 Defense)

Social Chameleon

Doubletalk

Stunts

All basic Stunts

Petrifying Gaze (2+ SP)

Reduced cost stunts: Crowd Appeal (1+ SP)

Rouse (5 SP)

Specializations

Expert Marked

Novice Diplomat (Communication (Etiquette) and Intelligence (Cultural Lore))

Marks

Mark of War, snake-tailed woman wielding stowed weapon on her back.

Spidermark, right arm sleeve stylized as a tree branch with a python climbing up it.

Talents

Expert Contacts

Novice Linguistics (Goblin)

Novice Archery

Gear

Light Leather Armor, (AR: 3)

Long Bow, 20 Arrows

Spyglass

Bedroll

Silk Rope

Lantern

Hand Mirror (metal)

8 Silver Pieces

Goals

Long-Term: Discover would caused some of her people to be corrupted and become terrifying monsters.

Long-Term: Purify herself.

Short-Term: Establish contacts where she travels.

Short-Term: Turn a local profit.

Short-Term: Give back to the people when she can.

Ties

Ettioc (Goblin Warrior) was the patron that originally invested in her and allowed her rise to being a merchant.

Naesala (Elf Rogue) decided traveling with Kaelcia was a great cover.

Wulfram (Halfling Mage) is an arcane historian that she approached about info on the corrupted gorgons.

Kaelcia's Levels 6-10

Level 6

This level, her Stunt can be from any Class list.

+1 Communication

She'll pick up the "Evade" stunt from the Rogue list to allow her to move away from attackers.

She'll take the Inspire talent at Novice level.

Intelligence (Evaluation) focus

+1 Defense

Weapon Focus is added to damage

Gains 4 HP

Level 7

+1 Accuracy

Diplomat advances to Expert

Accuracy (Light Blades) focus

Gain 3 HP, she's rolling badly.

Level 8

+1 Willpower

Her stunt will be "And Another Thing" which is an exploration or social stunt that lets her follow up a test with a free action doing something else.

Advance Archery to Expert

Communication (Persuasion) focus

Dexterity (Calligraphy) focus for the free level 8 focus

Stunning Repartee

Gain 6 HP

Level 9

+1 Perception

Marked advances to Master, Warding Mark (Cobra on her throat and chest). Also gains 2 innate armor rating that stacks with worn armor (all Master Marked get that)

Getting the Dexterity (Acrobatics) focus

Gains 8 HP

Level 10

+1 Communication, not planning to do much of this, but making her very charismatic.

"Create Opportunity" is her new stunt, which is another expensive one that can give an ally a free attack.

Advance Linguistics to Expert, gain Sylvan as a language. She can also now imitate specific dialects.

Pick up Willpower (Courage) as a focus

Huh, another 8 HP, the dice are compensating for earlier rolls.

Kaelcia Skyscale - 10th Level Envoy

Origin

Ancestry: Blooded (Gorgon)

Original Background: Laborer (Lower Class)

Current Background: Merchant (Middle Class)

Abilities

Accuracy 3 (Bows, Light Blades))

Communication 5* (Bargaining, Deception, Etiquette, Persuasion)

Constitution 2 (Stamina)

Dexterity 2 (Acrobatics, Calligraphy, Stealth)

Fighting 0

Intelligence 2 (Cultural Lore, Evaluation)

Perception 3 (Seeing, Smelling)

Strength 1

Willpower 3 (Courage)

Traits

Health 83

Defense: 13 (15 with Dazzle)

Speed: 12

Armor Rating: 5 (2 Innate + 3 Light Leather)

Dark Sight: 20 yards

Language: Common, Serpentine, Goblin, Sylvan

Weapon Groups: Bows, Brawling, and Light Blades

Class Features

Coordinate

Dazzle (+2 Defense)

Social Chameleon

Doubletalk

Stunning Repartee

Stunts

All basic Stunts

Crowd Appeal (1+ SP) - Reduced cost basic Stunt

And Another Thing (2 SP)

Evade (2 SP)

Petrifying Gaze (2+ SP)

Create Opportunity (5 SP)

Rouse (5 SP)

Specializations

Master Marked (+2 innate Armor Rating)

Expert Diplomat (Communication (Etiquette) and Intelligence (Historical Lore))

Marks

Mark of War, snake-tailed woman wielding stowed weapon on her back. (Stow one 2H weapon, two 1H weapon, OR, one 1H weapon and a shield)

Spidermark, right arm sleeve stylized as a tree branch with a python climbing up it. (Climb Walls)

Warding Mark, a rearing cobra defensive but not aggressive, the hood and head are her throat, the rest is over her chest.

Talents

Expert Contacts

Expert Linguistics (Goblin, Sylvan)

Expert Archery

Novice Inspire

Gear

Light Leather Armor, (AR: 3)

Long Bow, 20 Arrows

Spyglass

Bedroll

Silk Rope

Lantern

Hand Mirror (metal)

8 Silver Pieces

Goals

Long-Term: Discover would caused some of her people to be corrupted and become terrifying monsters.

Long-Term: Purify herself.

Short-Term: Establish contacts where she travels.

Short-Term: Turn a local profit.

Short-Term: Give back to the people when she can.

Ties

Ettioc (Goblin Warrior) was the patron that originally invested in her and allowed her rise to being a merchant.

Naesala (Elf Rogue) decided traveling with Kaelcia was a great cover.

Wulfram (Halfling Mage) is an arcane historian that she approached about info on the corrupted gorgons.

Kaelcia's Levels 11-15

Level 11

She stops rolling for Health at this point.

+1 Accuracy

Diplomat Specialization to Master

Double focus Accuracy (Bows) focus

Focuses improve to +3 and can be doubled to get to +4.

+1 Defense

Dazzle improves

+2 Health

Level 12

Her stunt choice this level can be from any list.

+1 Communication

For her Stunt, she takes the Warrior option to reduce a combat stunt's cost and chooses "Pierce Armor"

Archery Talent advances to Master

Take Communication (Seduction), I'm actually imagining this comes from an SO teaching her how to flirt.

Strength (Jumping) as her free level 12 Focus

+2 Health

Level 13

+1 Accuracy

I'm taking the option to advance a Talent. For levels 8-15, when you take this option, you can't take a new talent. You have to advance a Novice talent to Expert. So, I'm advancing the Inspire Talent.

And, a bit late, but Perception (Empathy) as a focus.

+2 Health

Level 14

+1 Intelligence

For the stunt, she is going to reduce the cost of the "Sway" stunt

Taking the Observation talent at Novice level and matching it with Empathy.

Taking the Intelligence (Historical Lore) focus

+2 Health

EDIT: I originally took the Intrigue talent to here but realized that would overlap a bit much with the spy rogue, so have reworked this.

Level 15

+1 Constitution

Improves the Observation talent to Expert instead of a new specialization and matching the second Focus to Seeing.

Taking the Dexterity (Initiative) focus

+17 Health, 3 for this level, +14 for raising Constitution

Kaelcia Skyscale - 15th Level Envoy

Origin

Ancestry: Blooded (Gorgon)

Original Background: Laborer (Lower Class)

Current Background: Merchant (Middle Class)

Abilities

Accuracy 5 (Bows*, Light Blades))

Communication 6 (Bargaining, Deception, Etiquette, Persuasion, Seduction)

Constitution 3 (Stamina)

Dexterity 2 (Acrobatics, Calligraphy, Initiative, Stealth)

Fighting 0

Intelligence 3 (Cultural Lore, Evaluation, Historical Lore)

Perception 3 (Empathy, Seeing, Smelling)

Strength 1 (Jumping)

Willpower 3 (Courage)

Traits

Health 108

Defense: 14 (17 with Dazzle)

Speed: 12

Armor Rating: 5 (2 Innate + 3 Light Leather)

Dark Sight: 20 yards

Language: Common, Serpentine, Goblin, Sylvan

Weapon Groups: Bows, Brawling, and Light Blades

Class Features

Coordinate

Dazzle (+3 Defense)

Social Chameleon

Doubletalk

Stunning Repartee

Stunts

All basic Stunts

Pierce Armor (1 SP) - Reduced cost basic Stunt

Crowd Appeal (1+ SP) - Reduced cost basic Stunt

And Another Thing (2 SP)

Evade (2 SP)

Lightning Attack (2 SP) - Reduced by Master Archery

Petrifying Gaze (2+ SP)

Sway (3 SP) - Reduced cost basic Stunt

Create Opportunity (5 SP)

Rouse (5 SP)

Specializations

Master Marked (+2 innate Armor Rating)

Master Diplomat (Communication (Etiquette) and Intelligence (Cultural Lore))

Marks

Mark of War, snake-tailed woman wielding stowed weapon on her back. (Stow one 2H weapon, two 1H weapon, OR, one 1H weapon and a shield)

Spidermark, right arm sleeve stylized as a tree branch with a python climbing up it. (Climb Walls)

Warding Mark, a rearing cobra defensive but not aggressive, the hood and head are her throat, the rest is over her chest.

Talents

Expert Contacts

Expert Linguistics (Goblin, Sylvan)

Master Archery

Expert Inspire

Expert Observation (Empathy, Seeing)

Gear

Light Leather Armor, (AR: 3)

Long Bow, 20 Arrows

Spyglass

Bedroll

Silk Rope

Lantern

Hand Mirror (metal)

8 Silver Pieces

Goals

Long-Term: Discover would caused some of her people to be corrupted and become terrifying monsters.

Long-Term: Purify herself.

Short-Term: Establish contacts where she travels.

Short-Term: Turn a local profit.

Short-Term: Give back to the people when she can.

Ties

Ettioc (Goblin Warrior) was the patron that originally invested in her and allowed her rise to being a merchant.

Naesala (Elf Rogue) decided traveling with Kaelcia was a great cover.

Wulfram (Halfling Mage) is an arcane historian that she approached about info on the corrupted gorgons.

Kaelcia's Levels 16-20

Level 16

+1 Communication

She's taking the "Encourage" stunt which improves on her Coordinate ability.

Advancing the Contacts talent to Master

Taking Willpower (Self-Discipline) as the focus.

+1 Defense

Stunt die can sometimes add to damage

+3 HP

Level 17

+1 Dexterity

Improving the Inspire talent to Master instead of taking a Specialization. At 16-20, she has to advance Expert talents to Master, when she takes this option, she can't add a new talent or improve a Novice one.

I'm going to take the Strength (Intimidation) focus

+3 HP

Level 18

This level, the stunt can be from any list.

+1 Communication

I'm taking another Warrior option and taking the "Dual Strike" stunt.

I'm advancing Linguistics to Master. She gets Dwarven and Orcish as languages and now speaks Goblin with a native accent.

She's taking the Communication (Investigation) focus.

+3 HP

Level 19

+1 Dexterity

Improving the Observation talent to Master

Adding the Dexterity (Crafting) focus

+3 HP

Level 20

+1 Willpower

She is taking "The Good Word" Envoy stunt

Taking the Oratory talent at Novice

Taking Intelligence (Arcane Lore)

Epic Envoy, I'm choosing Combat stunts because she has a number of expensive Combat stunts and this would make them more reliable to show up. Plus she has ways to increase generated Stunt Points in other cases through her Talents.

+3 HP

Kaelcia Skyscale - 20th Level Envoy

Origin

Ancestry: Blooded (Gorgon)

Original Background: Laborer (Lower Class)

Current Background: Merchant (Middle Class)

Abilities

Accuracy 5 (Bows*, Light Blades))

Communication 7 (Bargaining, Deception, Etiquette, Investigation, Persuasion, Seduction)

Constitution 3 (Stamina)

Dexterity 4 (Acrobatics, Calligraphy, Crafting, Initiative, Stealth)

Fighting 0

Intelligence 3 (Arcane Lore, Cultural Lore, Evaluation, Historical Lore)

Perception 3 (Empathy, Seeing, Smelling)

Strength 1 (Intimidation, Jumping)

Willpower 4 (Courage, Self-Discipline)

Traits

Health 123

Defense: 17 (20 with Dazzle)

Speed: 14

Armor Rating: 5 (2 Innate + 3 Light Leather)

Dark Sight: 20 yards

Language: Common, Serpentine, Goblin (Native), Sylvan, Dwarven, Orcish

Weapon Groups: Bows, Brawling, and Light Blades

Class Features

Coordinate

Dazzle (+3 Defense)

Social Chameleon

Doubletalk

Stunning Repartee

Add Stunt die to damage when Communication is higher than target Willpower

Stunts

All basic Stunts

Pierce Armor (1 SP) - Reduced cost basic Stunt

Crowd Appeal (1+ SP) - Reduced cost basic Stunt

Encourage (1+ SP)

And Another Thing (2 SP)

Evade (2 SP)

Lightning Attack (2 SP) - Reduced by Master Archery

Petrifying Gaze (2+ SP)

The Good Word (3 SP)

Ready For Action (3 SP) - Reduced by Master Observation only when using Perception (Empathy) or Perception (Seeing)

Sway (3 SP) - Reduced cost basic Stunt

Dual Strike (4 SP)

Create Opportunity (5 SP)

Rouse (5 SP)

Specializations

Master Marked (+2 innate Armor Rating)

Master Diplomat (Communication (Etiquette) and Intelligence (Cultural Lore))

Marks

Mark of War, snake-tailed woman wielding stowed weapon on her back. (Stow one 2H weapon, two 1H weapon, OR, one 1H weapon and a shield)

Spidermark, right arm sleeve stylized as a tree branch with a python climbing up it. (Climb Walls)

Warding Mark, a rearing cobra defensive but not aggressive, the hood and head are her throat, the rest is over her chest.

Talents

Master Contacts

Master Linguistics (Goblin, Sylvan, Dwarven, Orcish)

Master Archery

Master Inspire

Master Observation (Empathy, Seeing)

Novice Oratory

Gear

Light Leather Armor, (AR: 3)

Long Bow, 20 Arrows

Spyglass

Bedroll

Silk Rope

Lantern

Hand Mirror (metal)

8 Silver Pieces

Goals

Long-Term: Discover would caused some of her people to be corrupted and become terrifying monsters.

Long-Term: Purify herself.

Short-Term: Establish contacts where she travels.

Short-Term: Turn a local profit.

Short-Term: Give back to the people when she can.

Ties

Ettioc (Goblin Warrior) was the patron that originally invested in her and allowed her rise to being a merchant.

Naesala (Elf Rogue) decided traveling with Kaelcia was a great cover.

Wulfram (Halfling Mage) is an arcane historian that she approached about info on the corrupted gorgons.

----------

Okay, so, I don't agree with the complaint that it didn't have enough variety to justify the increased number of Talents and Specializations, but I can see where it's coming from.

I didn't feel like adding any other specialization in here, but that's mostly because I completed the first two before adding a third. That firmed up an image in my head as to what this character was that didn't fit the existing specializations. If I had taken three Specializations to Novice right off the bat, it would have fit in quite easily. I do wish the Sharpshooter specialization had been available, but I can see why they want to keep that with Rogues.

My main complaint is the same complaint I have with most level based games where the later levels always feel a bit anti-climatic and a bit uninteresting. This is a complaint I have with D&D as well. Pathfinder 2e has managed to make interesting, story-completing capstones, but most games that work in this design space fail to reach the proper balance of making the end of a character's story both dramatic and mechanically interesting.

These are powers that a character is only going to use a handful of times, so they need to be exceptional.

In the Envoy's case, the Epic Envoy increasing the number of Stunt points you get in one category of action has the capacity to do that because stunts can do a lot. But this did leave me with picking up a Novice talent at the end. Depending on the end of the story,

Overall, it's fairly interesting and I like the changes from 1st edition so far. Would still like to play the game a bit more.

[gorgonarcher]

25th Game - Fantasy AGE 2nd Edition

Bonus: Kaelcia Skyscale's Party

What is this?

My blogger site has a section called "Character Creation and the Gorgon Archer" where I examine the character creation systems of different TTRPGs by trying to create a character to match the concept of a gorgon archer.

Why a gorgon archer?

I like gorgons.

Gorgons are a creature type not often pre-built for you.

I like gorgons.

The more advanced martial skills are the more complex they are.

I like gorgons.

Even a small amount of magic or supernatural ability can be complex.

Ahem... committing to the bit... I like gorgons.

All together, (barring the running joke), this does create a concept that will test the flexibility of a character creation system.

Some caveats.

Some game settings are less easy to justify the existence of a gorgon. In these cases, I will treat the term "gorgon" as a epitet that other people use to refer to them.

Some games will have much less focus on combat and in this case I will downplay the archery aspect.

The priority will be: Reptilian humanoid (1st), snake/tentacle hair (2nd), poison (3rd), snake lower-body (4th), petrification (5th) - yes, I know it may seem odd to place signature power as lowest priority, but I'm accounting for reputations and/or the idea that such is a rare ability for the group.

For characters whose status as a gorgon is an epitet, I'll assume skills and personalities that could get someone described as a "gorgon."

[gorgonarcher]

24th Game - #iHunt

What is this?

My blogger site has a section called "Character Creation and the Gorgon Archer" where I examine the character creation systems of different TTRPGs by trying to create a character to match the concept of a gorgon archer.

Why a gorgon archer?

I like gorgons.

Gorgons are a creature type not often pre-built for you.

I like gorgons.

The more advanced martial skills are the more complex they are.

I like gorgons.

Even a small amount of magic or supernatural ability can be complex.

Ahem... committing to the bit... I like gorgons.

All together, (barring the running joke), this does create a concept that will test the flexibility of a character creation system.

Some caveats.

Some game settings are less easy to justify the existence of a gorgon. In these cases, I will treat the term "gorgon" as a epitet that other people use to refer to them.

Some games will have much less focus on combat and in this case I will downplay the archery aspect.

The priority will be: Reptilian humanoid (1st), snake/tentacle hair (2nd), poison (3rd), snake lower-body (4th), petrification (5th) - yes, I know it may seem odd to place signature power as lowest priority, but I'm accounting for reputations and/or the idea that such is a rare ability for the group.

For characters whose status as a gorgon is an epitet, I'll assume skills and personalities that could get someone described as a "gorgon."

[gorgonarcher]

24th Game - #iHunt

So, this game by Olivia Hill has been floating around my orbit for a while now, enough so that it was one of the inspirations for a the team playbooks I created for Monster of the Week's Slayer's Survival Kit supplement. Recently I picked it up and have decided to make a new gorgon archer build.

The premise of the RPG #iHunt is, as the cover art says, killing monsters in the gig economy. Your characters are freelance monster hunters who accept paychecks in exchange for killing dangerous monsters. As the game makes clear several times over, the real enemy of the setting is capitalism. The characters are expected to come out on top of the physical monsters, the arrogant wizards, rampaging werewolves, and other such things, but they're always on the backfoot for paying their bills and try to get ahead in the insane expectations of modern day society.

Another thing I like about this game is that it expressly says several times that, sure there are good monsters, but these aren't (usually) the ones that get contracts put on their heads and listed on a lap for freelance killers who are all desperate enough for survival that they risk their life for a month's bills.

So, absolutely, this game assumes that your characters are human hunters... though to be fair, hunters are their own kind of monster... so it is not intended to be about non-human characters. But here's the thing it is based in Fate Core.

Wait, you say? Fate Core as a horror game? Well, first of all, it's certainly possible because I've done it, but it requires twisting a lot of dials away from the defaults. Zones tend to be smaller, consequences tended to be weighted heavier than rewards, compels are more severe, things like that. However, this game doesn't go that way, because the game assumes you're going to beat the monsters. This means it keeps to the pulpy defaults of Fate Core. But it does twist a few dials here and there.

So let's look at how this game twists the dial a bit in character creation.

Base Refresh - 5, this is on the high side, but I tend to approve of that. Especially since they encourage spending refresh in exchange for stunts similar to how the Dresden Files RPG works.

There are 6 Aspects instead of 5. The High Concept, the Drama, Vision Board, Day Job, and two others without specific labels. Drama is essentially the same as Trouble from standard Fate Core, but you shouldn't dismiss the value in just changing a word in Fate. "Drama" is much more specific than "Trouble" and implies something more emotional.

There's a completely different set of skills which I will get into later. Where as the skills in default Fate Core are pretty discrete focuses on certain abilities whereas in iHunt the skills are more focused on dramatic or cinematic applications of ability. Instead of a skill for shooting, there is a skill for striking out of ambush and a skill for trading shots. And both of those skills can apply to things other than gunfire. #iHunt does use the Skill Ladder.

Another thing the game has is "Kinks" which are packages of four stunts which revolve around certain archetypes like hunters that focus on knowledge versus those that focus on tech or organizing people.

Stress has two tracks: mental and physical. You start with three boxes and gain more by raising your skill in the Athlete (physical) and Survivor (mental) skills. Three boxes again leans toward a stronger, more capable hero than default Fate Core, which starts at two stress boxes. Consequence levels include Mild, Moderate, and Severe and appear to be shared across both types of stress.

Now, another thing this game does: Killer Tracks.

This is a variant of the normal way to handle Aspects where the idea is that you pick an album or CD that was formative in your character's upbringing and choose tracks from it to associate it with your character's aspects.

I really do love this and have seen it before, back when I was doing the second playtest for Divine Blood's 1st edition (God I need to get to work on the 2nd edition) one of the players decided all of her Oread's aspects were going to be Daft Punk song titles like Stronger, Faster, Harder, Better and so on.

Unfortunately, I have issues with this method for two reasons:

First, the basis of the blog is "gorgon archer" and there are precious few songs that really fit into that idea.

Second... I just don't interact with music in that way. I don't associate music with albums. I barely associate music with artists or even song titles. I'll associate music with movies, TV shows, and lyrics first and foremost. When I was a kid in the 80s I made mixtapes, who didn't, but I would have like the John Williams Jaws theme on the same tape with Uptown Girl, Enter the Sandman, and The Entertainer. Basically, I've always interacted with music the Spotify does... well... if someone put their whole like list on shuffle.

But, that said... I really want to do this. So, what I'm going to do is have my aspects be a mix of song lyrics and song titles. They're not all going to be from the same album, and probably not all within the same set of years either. Some of the deepest I've felt about particular songs has come in my 30s and 40s. So I don't particularly buy the formative year-music thing. Of course, I'm neurodivergent, so I really shouldn't take how my brain interacts with things as the standard.

Finally, I'm going to address something in the book:

Can I play a Monster? To which Olivia Hill says:

Though I'd also like to take a moment to vent a bit about one of the lesser of my RPG regular annoyances, because with that first sentence alone Olivia Hill is, in my estimation, leagues above Kenneth Hite who wrote the following in Nights Black Agents: "If it were up to me, nobody would ever get to play the good vampire ever again in any medium. It is, sadly, not up to me."

With the premise of this game, I was expecting this question not to be addressed at all and when I saw it was given its own section on page 6, I had braced myself for more outright shutdown. But instead I get an outright positive and "I'm working on it."

As a note, there are supplements to this game out there, but I'll have to work my way up to getting those.

In this case, I'm going to be building this gorgon as a more human-scale "monster". So her abilities are going to be within the scale of humans and thus other hunters. I likely won't have the petrification stare, for one thing. This isn't the only time I've done gorgons who are close to baseline human with minimal or no supernatural features aside from having a head full of snakes (which I usually stat as an bonus to perception). That said, I've also allowed for epithet gorgons.

And actually, I think I can run this as a "human right now, but with gorgon ancestry waiting to wake up" sort of thing, likely give her a skin condition ("what do you mean scales, that's just psoriasis" ... which is a pain, btw, I suffer from a mild form of it occasionally). Sort of like the backstory of my original gorgon character from City of Heroes: Terra Black aka Medusae, but the awakening hasn't happened yet and thus won't be a traumatic teen experience such as what Terra had. Or my playtest Changeling, Persia... boy did I create a lot of characters with traumatic identity shattering revelations hitting them in their teens. It's almost like I've struggled with identity things into my 40s and it thus impacted a lot of my game design and fiction writing.

Anyway, I think I've covered a lot of this... so let's move on to the character creation. I'm going to avoid going deep into the concepts of Fate and just re-link the blog-entry on the Fate Core build here again.

Step 1 - Basics

This is basically what I've already covered so far. The character is a human who knows a bit about archery and is on her way to being a gorgon.

Now, as to the gorgon thing, my typical explanation is one of the two:

Alexander was a conquering asshole who snatched up a bunch of people as slaves, some of whom were descended from gorgons, and his conquests dragged them with him all the way to India, and now there are occasional people throughout Africa, Asia, and Europe who will emerge as gorgons.

Perseus didn't actually kill Medusa. She, Andromeda, and Perseus had a mutual thing all three were mortal and just died of old age. Stheno and Euryale are still poking around. History erased Medusa and reduced Andromeda to a damsel because history is not kind to women. Their ancestors are poking around and some emerge as gorgons.

Which doesn't really matter and there might also be an entirely different reason. So, I'm not going to really get to deep into that. I'm going to say that she comes from an outdoorsy family and has done bow-hunting and archery competitions. She's attending college with an eye toward a career in Forestry or Fish and Game. She hasn't decided whether what flavor of that she's aiming at though, veterinary sciences, environmental science, law enforcement, she's still working all that out. And then she ran across the whole monster thing.

Step 2 - Aspects

Okay. So let's get into the this here.

High Concept: You're a snake, you're a snake...

Drama: ...I can see it in your face.

This is the chorus from Snakes by PVRIS for the Arcane soundtrack. The song is about someone telling off a person who has wronged the singer, and I tempted doing the whole thing as the high concept, but it's kind of unwieldy as a single Aspect, plus, the accusatory nature of the song carries with it a good idea for the sort of drama that can develop.

So, on the one hand, we have "you're a snake, you're a snake" as high concept which would imply the character is cunning and wise, perhaps with a trait of guardianship from how some cultures (included Greek myth) view serpents. And on the other we have "...I can see it in your face." carrying with it the implications of the song as a whole and implying people don't trust her for one reason or another.

And also, the whole song implies her future status as a gorgon with both the snake features and the treatment as a monster. And also maybe hints at some current small patches of a "skin condition" that totally aren't snake scales, that's silly.

Vision Board: Broken Wings

Okay, the Vision Board is "the thing your character is always striving for. It is their best argument for getting out of bed every day." And I was struggling with this, because a lot of my song choices are general emotional vibes for characters who've had a good life and often very angry songs relating to some wrong the character has suffered for my various brooding characters. In the end, I went with Broken Wings by Mr. Mister which seems odd as a statement of hopes and dreams and implies she's had a bad life and... well... to be honest... we're talking life under capitalism here, so yeah. So her goal is to rise above her troubles and become what she was truly meant to be.

Side note: Medusa and her sisters had wings in some versions of the story.

Day Job: High School Never Ends

And for this I'm focusing on her life as a college student with the 2006 song High School Never Ends by Bowling For Soup. This goes along with the whole thing of her trying to get through life and pull out of the mire while all around her she just sees a cycle of never-ending cliques and gossip. The implication of a college day job is interesting, because this is also part of her bills and the reason she'd need money and would likely come along with a few part time jobs alongside the hunting gig.

And now we're coming to the final too, unspecified Aspects.

Hit Me With Your Best Shot

You Don't Know Me

In this case, I went with Hit Me With Your Best Shot by Pat Benatar and to hit upon her archery skills and how she's willing to fight, but also... I had something of an epiphany after choosing Pat Benatar and it feels to me like virtually all of these songs I've picked up could be framed as someone else talking to this character:

Snakes Is accusatory and also contains the metaphor of "you're a snake" which could be twisted to be literal. In either case, it's someone else talking to her.

Broken Wings is the singer trying to encourage someone to believe in themselves and get past a tragedy to recover and reach their truest potential. To not give up hope.

High School Never Ends is someone else preaching to her about how nothing ever changes and it's all bullshit.

Hit Me With Your Best Shot is someone calling her out and challenging her with the attitude that she doesn't have what it takes.

With all that, I decided to take You Don't Know Me by Art of Dying because I wanted to do another thing of someone addressing her rather than her addressing the world. And this casual dismissal of the opposition and assertion that "you don't know me" along with "I'm a knife, I'm a rope" and other descriptors of violence and anger could easily represent the way monsters come at her aggressively as just another human.

I kind of like this aesthetic, because in game play, I can work toward changing Aspects away from what other people shout at her and on towards songs that are her voice. Make the story arc, literally about her pushing away from the voices of what other people say she is into the stating her own voice of what she is.

God, I love Fate.

Step 3 - Skill Sets and Stunts

Now, I'm not a big fan of the ladder and when I develop in Fate it is surefire the first thing I drop. It used to very heavily mess with my suspension of disbelief and how I understood skills and knowledge acquisition to work, especially since several of the default skills aren't skills.

Eventually, I came to an understanding that Fate skills aren't actually about what skills you have (that's what Aspects are for) but how you most often interact with the narrative. My key example here is with Bones from Star Trek in that he is definitely a top tier doctor, but as far as the show is concerned his medical skills don't usually imapct the story. So he wouldn't have a high rating in whatever skill is used for medical skill even though he does have high skills. But what he does have a high rank in is what the default game calls Provoke... because Bones' normal narrative role is to call people out when they're being unethical or trying to get around some moral point.

Later epiphany or not, my earlier experiences with the Ladder still leave a lingering bad taste in my mouth as a developer, but I'm able to play with it these days without having immersion issues and I can respect what it was trying to do. In other words... it no longer gives me a headache.

Anyway, something #iHunt does is that instead of having "Skills" it has "Skill Sets" representing different methods of approaching things. Assassin and Fighter can both be about shooting, but Assassin is more about sniping than gunfights. In any case, characters in #iHunt get:

one skill at +4

two skills at +3

three skills at +2

four skills at +1

We then get two stunts of our choice from the skill sets we chose and the option of taking a Kink. We will be taking a Kink, but I'll put that in it's own step.

Now, the skill set list for #iHunt is as follows (mostly using the book's own words):

Academic - Scholars, researchers, intellectuals. Libraries and books.

Assassin - Someone who kills from a place of advantage. Poison and snipers.

Athlete - Physicality, jock, sports type, traceur, etc. A person who knows how the body works.

Fighter - A scrapper, brawler, or warrior. This is the skill for engaging in a struggle.

Grifter - Operator, politician, con artist. You understand words and people and how to play them.

Guerrilla - A strategist, insurrectionist, urban tactician. You know how to even the odds.

Hacker - A techy, tinkerer, and saboteur. The internet cowboy, samurai of the modern age. Hack the planet.

Influencer - You are a creature born and bred to the world of image and know how to wield it.

Investigator - A detective, sleuth, skeptic, and busybody. Straight out of Cabot Cove with "just one more thing".

Maker - You build stuff. You're an engineer, designer, and crafter. If it doesn't exist, you change that.

Medic - You know about how to fix the body and make people feel better.

Occultist - You know the stories, the folklore, the legends, you're a witch in the coven, or a hermetic in the sanctum.

Organizer - You know how to get people together and keep things in order. You're a leader.

Professional - You have a job and you are good at that job. You're an expert tradesperson or specialist.

Socialite - The debutante, life of the party, the person who knows how to fit in and walk through a crowd unnoticed.

Social Worker - A counselor, therapist, you're a shoulder to lean on and able to help people deal with their stress.

Spy - You know about secrets. How to keep them, how to pass them along, how to be unseen.

Survivor - You know how to get around things and live through them. Life comes at you and you keep moving.

Now, for this so far unnamed character, lets see:

Survivor +4

Assassin +3, Fighter +3

Athlete +2, Investigator +2, Spy +2

Medic +1, Occultist +1, Academic +1, Maker +1

The Aspects I had were all about people yelling at her and thrusting their impression or wishes on her, well-intentioned or otherwise. I think to live through that, she has to have a good strong survival instinct. So I put Survivor on top.

Assassin and Fighter I put next because I believe her primary experience with Archery is as a hunter. So she's used to that quiet shot from hiding to take down prey in one shot. But also I get the feeling that she doesn't back down from a fight when it comes to that.

Athlete, Investigator, and Spy are all about the physicality, stealth, and tracking of being a hunter.

Medic is another aspect of someone who spent a lot of time out in the wild growing up. Meanwhile Occultist is because ... those rural folks know things y'all. Perhaps they don't have an encyclopedic knowledge like a full occult scholar, but she knows a few key things. Academic is to address her current status as a college student, even if she's a bit lost in the direction she wants to go. And Maker feels like another thing that comes with self-sufficiency and going out camping or hunting on the regular growing up.

I considered Guerilla, but decided it's focus on organizing people didn't really fit in with the direction things are going. This has left the character very, very ill-equipped for dealing with people. Which again fits in with someone who hasn't yet found their voice and instead is trying to fit her sense of identity into the space between the words other people use to address her.

For Stunts, I'm going with one from Assassin and one from Survivor:

KILL SHOT: Against a completely defenseless or unaware target, take +2 on your Assassin attack actions.

NUMB: Monsters affect minds and hearts, based on how they expect a person’s mind and heart to work. You’re broken. Normally that’s a hindrance. But against monsters’ mind and emotion influencing abilities, you can defend with Survivor or take +2 if you could already use Survivor.

Numb feeds into the idea that she's very much letting other people define her even if she's outwardly rebellious. Her own voice is lost in the shouts, platitudes, lectures, and sighs that come out of her enemies, friends, and families mouths when she tries to talk to anybody. And Kill Shot is just a very hunter thing to take.

Step 4 - What's your Kink?

The core book comes with four "kinks". Per the game, a kink is a "formalized way to describe how you get an edge on monsters when hunting" there's a lot of cross over. Evileenas might still know how to hunt or hack a computer and the 66 are still likely to be able to get in someone's face and throw down.

These aren't classes because they don't encompass all your skill sets and they aren't playbooks because they don't tell your core story. These are more fluid and nebulous than such things.

The four kinks are:

Evileena - A hunter whose main edge is knowledge.

Knight - A hunter whose main edge is battle.

Phooey - A hunter whose main edge is tech.

The 66 - A hunter whose main edge is people.

Now. We are going to go with The Knight and it's not because their flavor quote is just the most bad-ass of things, but just... look at it:

Okay, so the Kink comes with several parts:

A nickname, in this case Knight

A starting text description

At Your Best - a selection of three short narrative paragraphs describer broad sub-groups of the overall Kink.

Growing Up - A selection of three short backstories on how you learned all this.

At Your Worst - A list of common short-comings for people like you.

Monsters? - A small list of what your opinions about monsters are.

When you work with others - This is about how you cooperate with other hunters. It's not about stereotypes or opinions but just how you've found best lets you fit in with others.

In Your Kit - A list of stunts unique to your Kink, somewhat more powerful than the normal stunt. You start with the first and may gain the others as you move on. Each Kink calls this kit a different thing: Evileena's Lore, Knight's Arsenal, Phooey's Cache, and The 66's Street Knowledge.

You are encouraged to tweak these to your liking or even make them up. Aside from the Kit these are all narrative and help to shape your character's personality and approach, so feel free to be flexible.

So, let's fill out our unnamed gorgon archer here.

At Your Best has three sub-groups:

An Operative who uses their environment as an extension of themselves and their weaponry.

A Hitter who has turned their body into a highly tuned and effective weapon.

A Player who knows how to work with people and engage with small squad tactics.

Our gorgon here isn't great with people and she's not up close and personal. So she is an Operative.

Growing Up's suggested seeds include:

Formal training.

Military.

Natural talent.

I'm going to go with Formal Training. She learned from her family. Her father, her older siblings, her aunts, and her mother.

At Your Worst has three suggested options:

You ignore the flesh. You forget you have to live in your body.

You're only happy when you're high. Whether drugs or adrenaline.

You're not suicidal per se, but kind of waiting to die.

Given the direction I've taken so far with all her aspects being about what other people have to say about what she is or should be, the Numb stunt, and my statement that she's aiming toward forestry but that might just because she's riding expectations... I'm going with that last one.

She hasn't really learned to live... yet.

For the Monsters? section there are three approaches:

"Fuck 'em, I need rent."

"No one is going to get hurt by this fucker again."

"I don't make it personal or get invested."

I think instead, I'm going to do a tweak.

"Someone needs to do it and I have bills to pay."

And I do like the basic approach the default Knight has to the other kinks, though, I'd basically adjust "You just don't hang out with them after." at the end of the Phooey section to "You try not to burden them with your presence outside a hunt." just for all three in general.

Hey... I may have found myself again.

For the Knight's Arsenal, we automatically get the first stunt which is:

The Best Defense

The basic Knight stunt teaches you that the best defense is a good offense. Since you’re a badass Knight, you’re liable to do something fucking menacing and hit some motherfucker really hard. When you get a good attack action roll, you can spend a fate point to “seal in” that roll. Resolve the attack like normal, but jot down the total you got, after all invokes and skills and everything are added in.

At any time in the same game session when you’re making a defend action, you can opt to “spend” that saved up roll, and use it instead of your defend action. You can do this after your roll, just like with an invoke. But it replaces the roll result instead of adding to it.

The remaining three include:

Situational Awareness - Improved ability to deal with environmental Aspects and creating an advantage.

Pain Don't Hurt - Ability to turn pain into an advantage.

Team Spirit - Improved ability for team-members to use advantages you created or declare "aha I planned that"

Step Five - Final Touches

So now we're going to wrap it up with stress boxes, consequences, and Refresh.

First, I'm going to spend one Refresh to get a bonus stunt and choose the Occultist Stunt of "Specialist" with it applying to Folk Lore. That sounds a bit broad, but it is pretty specific. She's not going to be able to apply it to understanding full on spell-casting, religious rituals, deep lore on specific monsters or anything like that. What she will have deep knowledge of is that body of lore that comes to farmers and rural folk who live on the borders of civilization and the wild. Perhaps there'll be a few signs she knows or a few basic ways to protect yourself.

For Stress we have the following:

Physical Stress: 5

Mental Stress: 7

This is because she starts at 3 in each, Athlete of +1/+2 gives an additional two to Physical for a total of 5 and Survivor gives a total of four additional boxes because she gets two at +1/+2 and another two at +3/+4.

And she has the Mild, Moderate, and Severe consequence.

Now we come to name and some physical description. Turning to FantasyNameGenerators.com and going through a few spins on the African-American name generator, I got to Juelle Burton and immediately got a chuckle in comparing that name to Jack Burton from Big Trouble in Little China. Not that I think she's at all the same sort of character as Jack, a sidekick who thinks he's the main character, but it still gave me a chuckle. So I'm going with that.

(seriously, Fantasy Name Generator is a great resource. I'm a bit so-so on trusting it's "real name" generators, but they feel good enough for an AU Earth or a not!Earth setting.)

I figure she's about 5'8", 135lbs, bi-racial with light brown skin. She has a clear skin condition (not scales) that's been getting worse since she started high school, but is still only in patches. Other than that, she's got a build that advertises she's spent most of her life doing physical things. Lots of small scars from doing work around a farm, camping, or hunting lodge depending on which family member she was helping. Stuff you wouldn't notice immediately, probably her nose is a bit misshapen in a way that feels off but you're not sure why right off. Probably she broke it once.

Her hair is long, tangled, and uncommonly animated. But it's not snakes... yet.

And now to sum it all up.

Juelle Burton

5'8" bi-racial rural-kid following expectations and trying to find her voice. Skin-condition (certainly not scales), signs of growing up doing lots of physical and manual labor.

High Concept: You're a snake, you're a snake...

Drama: ...I can see it in your face.

Vision Board: Broken Dreams

Day Job: High School Never Ends

Hit Me With Your Best Shot

You Don't Know Me

Skill Sets

Survivor +4

Assassin +3, Fighter +3

Athlete +2, Investigator +2, Spy +2

Medic +1, Occultist +1, Academic +1, Maker +1

Stunts

Kill Shot (Assassin)

Numb (Survivor)

Specialist: Folk Lore (Occultist)

Kink: Knight

Operative

Trained by family

Not suicidal per se, but sort of waiting for life to begin or end.

Monsters: "Someone needs to do it and I need to pay bills."

Other hunters: "I try to get out of their way when they don't need me."

Knight's Arsenal

The Best Defense

Other Traits

Refresh 4

Physical Stress: OOOOO

Mental Stress: OOOOOOO

Mild Consequence:

Moderate Consequence:

Severe Consequence:

[gorgonarcher]

23rd Game - Broken Compass

What is this?

My blogger site has a section called "Character Creation and the Gorgon Archer" where I examine the character creation systems of different TTRPGs by trying to create a character to match the concept of a gorgon archer.

Why a gorgon archer?

I like gorgons.

Gorgons are a creature type not often pre-built for you.

I like gorgons.

The more advanced martial skills are the more complex they are.

I like gorgons.

Even a small amount of magic or supernatural ability can be complex.

Ahem... committing to the bit... I like gorgons.

All together, (barring the running joke), this does create a concept that will test the flexibility of a character creation system.

Some caveats.

Some game settings are less easy to justify the existence of a gorgon. In these cases, I will treat the term "gorgon" as a epitet that other people use to refer to them.

Some games will have much less focus on combat and in this case I will downplay the archery aspect.

The priority will be: Reptilian humanoid (1st), snake/tentacle hair (2nd), poison (3rd), snake lower-body (4th), petrification (5th) - yes, I know it may seem odd to place signature power as lowest priority, but I'm accounting for reputations and/or the idea that such is a rare ability for the group.

For characters whose status as a gorgon is an epitet, I'll assume skills and personalities that could get someone described as a "gorgon."

[gorgonarcher]

23rd Game - Broken Compass

Broken Compass is a tabletop RPG that aims to recreate the adventure classics along the lines of The Mummy, Indiana Jones, Uncharted, and Tomb Raider. I've seen it off and on in the local gaming store and haven't had the cash to pick it up until recently. It also doesn't have a PDF equivalent. I only had the most basic ideas of what the game was like because it was shrink-wrapped, I believe to stop the included pencil from falling out. Part of that my reluctance to pick it up was very much the fact that I was buying it almost sight unseen.

Game play is fairly simple with you rolling a number of dice between 2 and 9 dependent on your skills and any advantages or disadvantages in the situation Then trying to get one or more dice to land on the same number.

The game certainly assumes baseline human characters with a definitive allowance for supernatural stuff happening in the dark places of the world. The core book focuses on the time period of 1999 in the same vein as Uncharted or Tomb Raider. The Golden Age expansion would focus on the 1930s.

Now, I could make this character as an epithet with a nickname, but the source material has a few examples of a lead character being definitively supernatural. I can point to the third Mummy movie right off the top of my head. So, I'm going with the idea of a literal gorgon who just keeps her snakes under a headwrap of some kind for most of the movie until a dramatic reveal.

The steps of making a character are as follows:

1: Choose 2 Tags - this sets your basic character archetype

2: Fill in the diamonds - basically setting your skills

3: Mark your expertise - Areas with a special competency

4: Mark one luck coin - A currency affect the game.

5: Note down your personal data

6: Note down your gear

So let's get on with this.

Step 1 - Choose 2 Tags

Tags are character archetypes and each character will choose two which will come with a set of skills and one Expertise. It is possible to choose the same tag twice, in which case you are a True adventurer. For example, you're not just an Action Hero, you're a True Action Hero. This would mean you (usually) get one fewer starting Expertise, the exception being those tags that have an option of two Expertises to choose from like Thief. On the bright side, True Adventurers start with 1 extra Luck Coin.

For our character here, I'm going to choose Spy and Thief. I'm going with an idea along the lines of the character Lin from Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, the Medjai from the first two movies, and the knights from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in that she mainly seeks to prevent certain things from getting out into the world. So she breaks into museums and personal collections to recover artifacts or trace rumors of people poking into places they shouldn't be.

This moves us on to filling in diamonds.

Step 2 - Fill in the Diamonds

There are six Fields in this game which are broad categories of skills and action types. Each field has three associated skills. Every character starts with 2 Diamonds in each Field and 1 Diamond in each skill. The maximum diamonds you can have in a Field or Skill is 3. Each Tag gives you one Field (with a Backup Field listed in parentheses) and a list of associated skills.

If you have the same Skill repeated twice you get two Diamonds there. If you have the dame Field twice, instead you defer to the Backup Fields each Tag has and choose one of those.

For Spy and Thief we have the following Fields:

Spy: Crime (Sociey)

Thief: Crime (Knowledge)

This means we do have to defer to our Background Fields since both Tags give the same primary Field. So let's think this through, do we want our gorgon archer to be more comfortable with Society or with Knowledge? I have an idea that's going to come up in a moment here and both tags fit that idea. As a gorgon hiding what she is, she definitely would be on the fringes of society but have access to ancient knowledge. But she may also be trained to blend in on those societal fringes. I'm actually going to lean into the Knowledge here. She fits on the fringes, and she's better at manipulating society than most, but she has gaps in her knowledge. The sort of thing that comes from emulating a facsimile but not getting to actually interact with people long-term.

Now, we get the following Skills:

Leadership

Cool

Shoot

Charm

Eloquence x2

Observation x2

Alert x2

Stealth x2

Stunt

Drive

Tech

Dexterity

And then we get two more diamonds that we can use to personalize the character. In this case, Fight is tempting for that martial artist thing, but instead, I'm giving her Survival and First Aid. She's capable of going off the grid when she needs to.

For reference, the base number of dice rolled for any action is the number of diamonds in the relevant Field plus the number of diamonds in the relevant Skill. So, if our character is expected to roll for Eloquence, she'll be rolling 5 dice before adding any Advantages or subtracting any Disadvantages.

Step 3 - Mark Your Expertises

Each tag comes with one Expertise (or a choice of two) and then we get a third Expertise on top of that to personalize the character with our own flavor. Expertises allow an adventurer to reroll any dice that weren't part of a success once on an action that is relevant to the expertise.

In this case we start with the following:

Spy: Espionage

Thief: Lock-picking or Pickpocket

I'm choosing Lock-picking.

For our third Expertise we can draw from the list associated with each Tag or make our own and they provide some examples, including Archery and we're choosing that one.

Step 4 - Mark One Luck Coin

This isn't really a creation step, just a note that you start the game with 1 Luck. Luck can be used to:

Save yourself from Certain Death when you are Out of Luck.

Achieve an Extreme Success without rolling dice.

Remove or avoid a Bad Feeling.

Keep hold of 1 item.

Save a Vehicle from destruction.

Get a Clue you didn't find.

If you use a Luck Coin, you flip it, Tails, you do the thing and get to keep the Luck Coin. Heads and you do the thing, but you have to hand over the Luck Coin to the Fortune Master.

Step 5 - Note Down Your Personal Data

In this case we need to choose a name, a heritage, a homeland, and a workplace, and then a few words to live by.

In this case, for her name I'm going with Khina Sarpedon. Her surname relates to one of the supposed dwelling places of the mythical Gorgons and the first name is Khina. My assumption is that the gorgon people were carried eastward along with Alexander's army and from there the bloodline has spread in traces through much of Eurasia and Africa, but they are by no means a common people.

This does seem to obviously set her homeland as Pakistan, but hey, this is 1999, people have moved around all over the place. I'm going to say that she's from Chicago, just to put her (theoretically) closer to my places I know (I've been in the Chicago airport...). Her heritage is Pakistani. And I think she mostly works out of Turkey. Her family has been trying to chase down ancient relics, mostly just cultural, that Alexander's soldiers and generals took as treasure and scattered across the world, right along with Khina's ancestors. Some of these, though, they're potentially dangerous.

For her motto: "Duty before honor, Lives before Duty." She understands that some of the stuff she's tracking down is potentially dangerous and needs to be sealed away, even if she's never herself seen that too often, but she is going to put the lives of the innocent people around her ahead of the mission.

Step 6 - Note Down Your Gear

She get the choice of a bag, backpack, or just our pockets. I'm going with a bag to have some capability to carry things but not stand out as hard as a backpack. Then we get three useful items. Technically, a bow and quiver are two items, but the feels kinda meh, so I'm including them as a single choice. She has enough arrows to be the equivalent of two "Mags" of ammo, which is how the game tracks ammo.

Surveillance Gear

Collapsible Bow and Quiver.

Lock-Picks

The (Not Quiet Hidden) Step 7 - Young, Old, and True

I mentioned True adventurers above as a result of when you choose the same Tag twice instead of two different Tags. But there's also two other options you can take.

One of these is a Young Adventurer, which is a kid between 12 and 16. These adventurers are less experienced and start with one fewer Expertise, but they also start with a Good Feeling of "I feel Young". Feelings normally provide an Advantage (each advantage adds 1 die to a maximum of 9 dice) but in this case it doesn't provide any Advantage but does help sometimes avoid Bad Feelings and it refreshes at the start of each adventure.

The other is Old Adventurer. These adventurers have been around the block a few times and are starting to feel their age. An Old Adventurer gets a 4th Expertise and 1 Scar or Experience, but they also have a permanent Bad Feeling called which is "I feel Old" which they can never get rid of. This feeling doesn't cause Disadvantage itself (each Disadvantage removes 1 die to a minimum of 2 dice) but does mean you already have one Bad Feeling, which means you're only three bad feelings away from being A Wreck, which is a Disadvantage that affects EVERYTHING instead of only specific things.

Khina doesn't look it, because she's nigh-ageless, but she's an Old Adventurer, having been kicking around for 130 years. Instead of back pains and fatigue issues, her "Old" feeling comes with the fatigue of forever living on the edge of society and never actually being able to interact as deeply as she wants to. I'm not one who enjoys the idea of immortality being instantly a bad horrible fate, so instead, I'm focusing on the fatigue of secrecy. She cares about people, but it's starting to feel rote and tired.

For her extra Expertise, I'm choosing Gorgon and I'm giving her an Experience instead of a Scar, as someone who has lived through two world wars and a cold one, I'm giving her the Experience "I know evil when I smell it." Experiences provide Advantages when they apply.

So... what would the Expertise "Gorgon" apply to? That seems like something we should define. And I'm going to say it applies when performing an action involving poisons (treating or applying), flexibility, and the general resilience of an ageless body. That's pretty broad, yes. It's certainly more broad than Archery or Lockpicking, but I feel like Espionage is even broader in application.

Khina Sarpedon

I was born in Chicago to Pakistani parents and I have an office on the outlaying edges of Bursa (fourth-largest city of Turkey.)

Call me when you need an Old Spy Thief

Action 2

Fight 1

Leadership 2

Stunt 2

Guts 2

Cool 2

Drive 2

Shoot 2

Knowledge 3

Culture 1

First Aid 2

Tech 2

Society 2

Charm 2

Eloquence 3

Observation 3

Wild 2

Scout 1

Survival 2

Tough 1

Crime 3

Alert 3

Dexterity 2

Stealth 3

I feel Old.

Expertises: Archery, Espionage, Gorgon, and Lock-Picking

Gear: Bag, Collapsible Bow, Quiver of 2 Mags of arrows, Surveillance Gear, Lock-Picks.

The game encourages not going too deep into the backstory, so I'll leave it there.

[gorgonarcher]

22nd Game - Fabula Ultima

What is this?

My blogger site has a section called "Character Creation and the Gorgon Archer" where I examine the character creation systems of different TTRPGs by trying to create a character to match the concept of a gorgon archer.

Why a gorgon archer?

I like gorgons.

Gorgons are a creature type not often pre-built for you.

I like gorgons.

The more advanced martial skills are the more complex they are.

I like gorgons.

Even a small amount of magic or supernatural ability can be complex.

Ahem... committing to the bit... I like gorgons.

All together, (barring the running joke), this does create a concept that will test the flexibility of a character creation system.

Some caveats.

Some game settings are less easy to justify the existence of a gorgon. In these cases, I will treat the term "gorgon" as a epitet that other people use to refer to them.

Some games will have much less focus on combat and in this case I will downplay the archery aspect.

The priority will be: Reptilian humanoid (1st), snake/tentacle hair (2nd), poison (3rd), snake lower-body (4th), petrification (5th) - yes, I know it may seem odd to place signature power as lowest priority, but I'm accounting for reputations and/or the idea that such is a rare ability for the group.

For characters whose status as a gorgon is an epitet, I'll assume skills and personalities that could get someone described as a "gorgon."

[gorgonarcher]

22nd Game - Fabula Ultima

Fabula Ultima is a recent game by NEED Games that is designed as a call back to JRPGs like Final Fantasy, Phantasy Star, Octopath Traveler, Golden Sun, and other such things. The mechanics are built along the way battles work in those games and the character creation system not only assumes that you'll be multiclassing, it requires it. But we'll get into that.

There are two full expansions, referred to as "Atlases" for High Fantasy and Techno Fantasy as well as a few other free supplements here and there, such as the one with the Necromancer class.

I'm going to use at least some stuff from Techno Fantasy when making this character. I might use some bits from High Fantasy but I'm not certain yet. But for now, let's get into it.

Press Start

The game comes right out and says that while the process of creating a new world and character has the steps in a specific order in the book, because they need to be, but you can do them in whatever order you want. I'm going to mostly follow the steps in order just for the sake of hitting everything.

The first thing that you are supposed to do in a new game is create the world as a group together. I'm going to summarize that process and go straight to creating a character after that.

So, what we have is a world that mixes sci-fi, magic, and medieval fantasy. Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, and the Phantasy Star series with its space-craft. Most specifically, we're going to have mecha and our gorgon archer is going to be a mecha pilot. I'm assuming there's small pockets of civilization and vast tracks of wilderness. There is a large empire that is pushing forward to conquer what it can. There's a handful of other major countries here there, but it's mostly a individual settlements around a single villager or castle. Or a medium to big city independent from other powers.

Beyond the empire, there is of course a major supernatural threat, either using the empire, or being summoned by the empire who hopes to make use of it in their bid for conquest. Perhaps there's a demon whose soul has been trapped in an ancient computer for ages and it's trying to use this chance to be reunited with its body.

We would normally move into talking about what sort of group our characters are, but I think I'll set that aside.

So, with the basics of the world decided, let's move on to the character herself.

Step 1 - Identity

This is a short sentence describing what your character is like. Some examples from the book include:

Royal Knight

Battle Priestess of the Old Faith

Elderly Amnesiac Sorcerer

Freedom-Fighting Brawler

Tormented Veteran

For this case, our identity is going to include the fact that she's a gorgon and a mecha pilot. I also want to put a bit of motivation into it. So I think I'll go with Mercenary Gorgon Pilot Seeking Purpose

Step 2 - Theme

There are several suggested themes as follows:

Ambition

Anger

Belonging

Doubt

Duty

Guilt

Hope

Justice

Mercy

Vengeance

The two that stick out to me are Belonging and Duty. Mostly because she feels a lack of the two and searching for that sort of feeling. I'm going to choose Belonging. She is searching for purpose and while she doesn't feel she belongs right now, she wants to find a place she does. She may not be precisely conscious or aware of this desire. Right now, I suspect that she's currently just in a rut of going through the motions of being a traveling mercenary.

Step 3 - Origin

I'm going to say that this character is a remnant of an order of warrior gorgons from a country that was shattered some years ago and now she, and perhaps a few others, are scattered around doing what they can to keep their mecha in operating condition. She was likely quite young when the country fell and even now is still relatively young (at least for a gorgon). Maybe the equivalent of early 30s or late 20s. She was likely a rookie in the final battles.

Let's go to Fantasy Name Generator and generate a random Greek town name and get: The Fallen Kingdom of Iasipolis (and I seriously doubt that's proper Greek).

Step 4 - Classes

So, this is an interesting design choice. In most games, a class is a full-on archetype encompassing a complete character concept. In Fabula Ultima, classes are more like skill-sets which you combine together to form what would be a class in other games. Each level in a Class lets you take 1 skill from that Class. At level 10, you are considered to have "Mastered" that class and can no longer level up in it.

To be clear, each class has more than 10 possible skills that can be selected. So, no to examples of a mastered class are going to be exactly the same. Though some of the more simple classes only have 12 or 13 possible skills and others might get into the range of 20 possible selections.

As another note, you can only ever have a maximum of three unmastered classes active at one time and the game maxes out at level 50 with the idea that you would gain a level every other session. This means a max level character will have between 5 and 7 classes. Either 5 Mastered classes or 3-4 Mastered classes and 2-3 non-mastered classes.

But for now, we'll start with the first five levels we get at character creation. We need to split these between either two or three classes and I'm choosing three. And arranging them as follows:

Pilot 2 - Personal Vehicle 2

Spiritist 1 - Spiritual Magic 1 (Torpor)

Sharpshooter 2 - Ranged Weapon Mastery 1, Barrage

Each of these classes also comes with a benefit the character gets the first time they take a level in it.

Spiritist grants the character a permanent increase of 5 Mind Points and the ability to do Rituals.

Sharpshooter grants the character a permanent increase of 5 Hit Points and the ability to equip martial ranged weapons and martial shields.

Pilot grants another permanent increase of 5 Hit Points and the ability to equip martial melee weapons and martial ranged weapons.

Now, breaking down the skills I chose. Spiritual Magic gives the character 1 spell for each level, and I chose Torpor which applies either the Weak or Slow status effects and is somewhat close to a gorgon paralysis. In this case, I'm assuming her magic is part of her nature as a gorgon.

Ranged Combat Mastery simply adds a bonus to accuracy based on the Skill Level. So RCM 1 equals a +1 bonus to ranged attack accuracy. Barrage allows you to spend Mind Points in order to attack multiple enemies in one action. Barrage doesn't have levels, it's a one-time purpose.

Personal Vehicle is a little more complex and requires us to design her vehicle. Level one has us choose a Frame and three modules. Each level after that adds two more modules.

There are three possible Frames:

Steed - small vehicles like motorcycles, fighter craft, or even magical mounts.

Exoskeleton - power suits for the most part

Mecha - pilotable robots

Modules can be weapon modules, armor modules, and support modules. The different frames can have one or two weapon modules active, one armor module, and any number of support modules. Not that you can have more than two weapon modules, but not all of them can be active.

I know I'm going to have Mecha as a frame and for my five modules I'm choosing the following:

Flexible Plating as an Armor Module

Bow Weapon Module

Shield Weapon Module - designed as a beefier left arm

Rapid Interface Support Module - letting her get in and out easily

Turbo Support Module - giving bonuses to speed and agility tests

Step 5 - Attributes

Now we are going to assign dice to the character's Attributes. There are three general arrangements of dice:

Jack of all Trades - d8, d8, d8, d8

Average - d10, d8, d8, d6

Specialized - d10, d10, d6, d6

I'm going with the Average arrangements, because there are three Attributes I want decent stats in.

Dexterity d10

Insight d8

Willpower d8

Might d6

Step 6 - Figured Characteristics

This is where we record the starting Hit Points and the like.

Hit Points is equal to your current level plus your Might die times 5.

Mind Points is equal to your current level plus your your Willpower die times 5.

Once you take into account the starting benefits from her classes, that comes to:

Hit Points = 30 (d6 Might x5) + 10 (Pilot and Sharpshooter) + 5 (Level) = Total 45

Mind Points = 40 (d8 Might x5) +5 (Spiritist) + 5 = 50

Crisis is half the maximum Hit Points, rounded down. Thus 22. This is a stat that determines when a lot of effects trigger.

Inventory Points are used to simulate reaching into your pack and producing potions, grenades, and the like. The base Maximum Inventory Points is 6 and we don't have any class benefits to increase that, so that's simple.

Then we have three more stats:

Defense is your current Dexterity die: 10

Magic Defense is your current Insight die: 8

Initiative modifier starts at 0 and we don't have any thing that modifies that yet.

Step 7 - Equipment

A character has a budget of 500 zenit (the currency of the game) to determine their starting gear. At this point, I have to point out the very neat equipment lists and their classic pixel-art style icons.

I'm going to start by giving her armor from the basic set, a Combat Tunic for 150 zenit. It's a pretty good way to represent a pilot suit. She can't equip martial armor and most of the other basic armor gives a negative initiative penalty so I'll stick with this and it gives her:

Combat Tunic - Dex die +1 (11), Ins die +1 (9), Initiative +0

That leaves 350 zenit. I'm going to give her a Runic Shield, described as a reinforced sleeve on her left arm, similar to her mecha's shield and some throwing daggers for when she's not in her mecha. Which results in the following.

Weapons have a list of two Attributes that are used when you attack with them. All tests are like this. Sometimes, you'll end up rolling the same attribute twice, but mostly you'll add two different attributes. They also have a damage rating equal to the High Roll of the two dice plus another number.

Runic Sleeve(Shield) - +2 Def, +2 Magic Defense

Throwing Daggers - Dex + Ins, HR+4

That leaves 50 zenit and then we roll 2d6 x10 to add to that for savings. I rolled a 10 so that is 100, for a total of 150 zenit to start with.

Going back to her Mecha, her armor and weapons provide the following:

Flexible Plating: Defense = Dex+2 (12), Magic Defense = Ins+1 (9)

Bow Weapon Module = Dex + Ins +1, HR+12

Shield = +2 Def, +2 Magic Defense

Step 8 - Name and Pronouns

For her name, I'm going to choose Xanthe and her pronouns will be She/Her.

The total package for this starting character, including the bonuses from her skills and such will be as follows:

Xanthe - Level 5

Identity - Wandering Gorgon Pilot Seeking Purpose

Theme - Belonging, seeking it

Origin - The Fallen Kingdom of Iasipolis

Attributes

Dexterity d10

Insight d8

Might d6

Willpower d8

Personal Stats

Hit Points: 45; Crisis: 22

Mind Points: 50

Inventory Points: 6

Defense 13 (Combat Tunic + Shield)

Magic Defense 11 (Combat Tunic + Shield)

Initiative Modifier: +0

Classes

Pilot 2 (Personal Vehicle 2)

Sharpshooter 2 (Ranged Weapon Mastery 1, Barrage)

Spiritist 1 (Spiritual Magic 1)

Spells

Spiritism Spells - Torpor

Gear

Combat Tunic (Dex+1, Ins+1, +0)

Throwing Daggers (Dex+Ins, Dam: HR+4)

Runic Sleeve (Shield) - Def +2, Magic Defense +2

Personal Vehicle - The Atalanta

Frame: Mecha

Flexible Plating

Bow Module - Dex+Ins+2, Dam: HR+12 (Ranged Weapon Mastery)

Shield Module

Turbo Module +2 to opposed checks involving speed and rapid maneuvers

Rapid Interface Module - When you enter this personal vehicle on your turn during a conflict, you may immediately perform an additional action.

Defense: 14 (Flexible Plating + Shield Module)

Magic Defense: 11 (Flexible Plating + Shield Module)

Initiative Modifier +0

Leveling Up

I referred to this above. So here we go, something I didn't mention above was that when you Master a class, not only do you get a 10th skill from that class, but you also get a Heroic Skill, some of which are associated with specific classes, and some of which are generally available.

In addition, along the line, you'll end up finding improved gear both for herself and her mecha. I'm going to theorize what the level 50 version of Xante (a name I swear I've used before).

Let's see, first of all, I think she will end up mastering 5 classes and that will include the 3 she started with. So let's start with each of those. I'll do the Heroic Skills once I've leveled up all of her classes. There are also some other benefits you get as you level, and I'll get to those as well once I got all the basic skills worked out. Of course, this isn't how it would work in a game, so this will be a bit off, but it's what we got.

We're going to go from the least complicated to the most complicated:

Sharpshooter 10

Ranged Weapon Mastery 4 (+4 accuracy with ranged attacks)

Barrage (add multiattack)

Crossfire (interrupt ranged attacks)

Warning Shot 3

Hawkeye 1

Warning Shot lets you inflict status effects or drain Mind Points instead of dealing damage with a shot. Hawkeye gives you a chance to set up a shot, but it seems less in character for her given she seems more along the lines of acrobatics and hit and run, so I only gave her one rank of it.

Spiritist 10

Spiritual Magic 6

Healing Power 2

Support Magic

Ritual Spiritism

Spells

Torpor

Barrier

Aura

Heal

Cleanse

Soul Weapon

Pilot 10

Personal Vehicle 5

Heart of the Engine 3

Compression Tech

Flexible Configuration 1

I'll design the rare modules she picked up later on when we do the gear that she'll pick up along the way as well.

Now, for the new classes she'd pick up. I'm going to lean into the agility and acrobatics by picking up Rogue and Entropist. I considered Orator, but decided to lean into the inspiring heroic speeches, but I instead decided to lean into the heroic speed-fighter. I also considered Fury for more damage, but decided to go with more magic.

Rogue 10

Dodge 3 - Bonus to Defense as long as she has no shield or martial armor. (so she's going to drop the shields now)

High Speed 3 - Bonus action at start of combat

Soul Steal 2 - recover Inventory Points from common enemies and special treasures from powerful ones

Cheap Shot 2 - take advantage of people with status effects

This also comes with a +2 Inventory Points

Entropist

Stolen Time 4

Ritual Entropism

Absorb MP 2

Entropic Magic 3

This also comes with a bonus +5 Mind Points and access to Rituals... but she already had that.

Spells

Stop

Acceleration

Anomaly

And now, the Heroic Skills, she mastered 5 Classes so she gets 5 Heroic Skills. I'm going for the following:

Steel Witch - benefits when casting spells in a vehicle

Bullet Time - gain benefits of both Dodge and Stolen Time at once

Perfect Aim - Choose two options from Warning Shot instead of one

Vanish - Disappear after an attack

Arcane Soldier - Attack and Cast spells

And at level 20 and 40, she can increase a stat. I'm going to increase her Dex to d12 (the maximum) and her Insight to d10. This focuses on her defense.

So... now, the difficult part, because this is very subjective. Creating rare equipment.

She's going to have 11 moduies for The Atalanta. And then she's going to have her own gear for outside the mecha which will include:

Armor

One or two weapons, probably a two-handed bow

One Accessory

So... that's... a lot. Let's start with the vehicle.

Euryale Bow - Bow Module, Dex+Ins+1, HR+12, Omni-Defense

Scaled Plating - Dex+2, Ins+1, Initiative +4

Snake Wand - Arcane Module, Dex+WLP+1, HR+8, Undead and Construct Hunter

Hermetic Turbo - +2 to opposed check with speed and rapid maneuvers, Immune to Slow

Magistatic module

Aerial Module

Advanced Targeting Module

Counterstrike

Anti-Element Earth

Sensor

Rapid Interface

And now, for her personal gear

Pilot's Crash Suit - as per Combat Tunic but also Immune to Slow and +4 Initiative

Yoichi (this is one of the example pieces of gear)

Hanya Mask (another example piece of gear)

Xanthe - Level 50

Identity - Wandering Gorgon Pilot Seeking Purpose

Theme - Belonging, seeking it

Origin - The Fallen Kingdom of Iasipolis

Attributes

Dexterity d12

Insight d10

Might d6

Willpower d8

Personal Stats

Hit Points: 90; Crisis: 45

Mind Points: 100

Inventory Points: 8

Defense 16 (Pilot's Crash Suit + Dodge)

Magic Defense 11 (Pilot's Crash Suit)

Initiative Modifier: +4 (Pilot's Crash Suit)

Immune to Slow

Classes

Pilot 10 (Personal Vehicle 5, Heart of the Engine 3, Flexible Configuration 1, Compression Tech)

Sharpshooter 10 (Ranged Weapon Mastery 4, Barrage, Warning Shot 3, Hawkeye 1, Crossfire)

Spiritist 10 (Spiritual Magic 6, Support Magic, Healing Power 2, Ritual Spiritualism)

Entropist 10 (Stolen Time 4, Absorb MP 2, Entropic Magic 3, Ritual Entropism)

Rogue 10 (Dodge 3, High Speed 3, Soul Steal 2, Cheap Shot 2)

Spells

Spiritism: Torpor, Heal, Barrier, Cleanse, Soul Weapon, Aura

Entropic: Acceleration, Stop, Anomaly

Heroic Skills

Steel Witch - benefits when casting spells in a vehicle

Bullet Time - gain benefits of both Dodge and Stolen Time at once

Perfect Aim - Choose two options from Warning Shot instead of one

Vanish - Disappear after an attack

Arcane Soldier - Get a free attack on a single target and then immediately cast a Spell on that target.

Gear

Pilot's Crash Suit (Dex+1, Ins+1, +4 Initiative, Immune to Slow)

Yoichi (Dex+Dex+5, Dam: HR+8 Air, Two-Handed, Immune to Shaken)

Hanya Mask (Damage she deals to shaken creatures ignores Resistances)

Personal Vehicle - The Atalanta

Frame: Mecha

Scaled Plating, Dex+2, Ins+1, Initiative +4

Euryale Bow Module - Dex+Dex+7, Dam: HR+12 (Ranged Weapon Mastery 4, Advanced Targeting Module)

Snake Wand Module - Dex+WLP+3, HR+8 Deal 5 Extra Damage to Undead and Constructs

Hermetic Turbo Module +2 to opposed checks involving speed and rapid maneuvers, Immune to Slow

Rapid Interface Module - When you enter this personal vehicle on your turn during a conflict, you may immediately perform an additional action.

Magistatic module - After you pay the MP cost of an Arcanum, spell, or verse, if you are driving this personal vehicle and have an arcane weapon equipped, you recover 5 Mind Points, or 10 Mind Points if the cost was equal to or higher than 30 MP

Aerial Module - You can fly, various rules associated.

Advanced Targeting Module - +2 Accuracy to attacks and Offensive magic checks

Counterstrike - Respond to taking a ranged target strike

Anti-Element Earth - Resistant to Earth damage

Sensor - +2 to Open checks to analyze creatures and areas

Mecha Stats

Defense: 16 (Scaled Plating + Dodge)

Magic Defense: 11 (Scaled Plating)

Initiative Modifier +4

[gorgonarcher]

21st Game - Vampire the Masquerade 5e

What is this?

My blogger site has a section called "Character Creation and the Gorgon Archer" where I examine the character creation systems of different TTRPGs by trying to create a character to match the concept of a gorgon archer.

Why a gorgon archer?

I like gorgons.

Gorgons are a creature type not often pre-built for you.

I like gorgons.

The more advanced martial skills are the more complex they are.

I like gorgons.

Even a small amount of magic or supernatural ability can be complex.

Ahem... committing to the bit... I like gorgons.

All together, (barring the running joke), this does create a concept that will test the flexibility of a character creation system.

Some caveats.

Some game settings are less easy to justify the existence of a gorgon. In these cases, I will treat the term "gorgon" as a epitet that other people use to refer to them.

Some games will have much less focus on combat and in this case I will downplay the archery aspect.

The priority will be: Reptilian humanoid (1st), snake/tentacle hair (2nd), poison (3rd), snake lower-body (4th), petrification (5th) - yes, I know it may seem odd to place signature power as lowest priority, but I'm accounting for reputations and/or the idea that such is a rare ability for the group.

For characters whose status as a gorgon is an epitet, I'll assume skills and personalities that could get someone described as a "gorgon."

[gorgonarcher]

21st Game - Vampire the Masquerade 5e

Vampire the Masquerade at this point is one of the more well-known roleplaying games of the past 30 years and has been used to engage in some very interesting explorations of personal horror, gothic punk, and the issue of surviving the impact of your progenitors' sins... and alongside this, it is a goofy game where you play edgy vampires and pretend to take it seriously.

Honestly though, the amount of times that humor coincides with effective explorations of difficult topics is amazing.

The one major downside to the game is that the company that produces it (which is currently Paradox Entertainment, though I've also seen Renegade is involved) ... is not the best. I wouldn't say they've reached WOTC levels yet, but that is such a low bar to meet.

So, without getting into that. In Vampire the Masquerade you play vampires.

Clearly.

So, how exactly do we plan to get a gorgon archer in a game about vampires?

Wellllll....

That's where the Followers of Set, now known as The Ministry, comes in.

This is a clan of smooth-talking vampires that often profess a faith that revolves around pushing boundaries and transgressing against what most people consider to be clear moral standards. A lot of them very much believe that it is healthy to engage in corruption and explore the bounds of what is or is not allowed. At their best they can be guides on examining the true limits of one's existence and reality. At their worst, they are manipulators and fork-tongued liars.

And sometimes they are literally fork-tongued as they are often associated with snakes and able to take on the form of snakes. So, here we go.

Step One: Core Concept

So, I'm going to let this mostly build as we go along, but we know the concept already: Gorgon Archer.

Step Two: Attributes

There are nine Attributes split into

Physical: Strength, Dexterity, Stamina

Social: Charisma, Manipulation, Composure

Mental: Intellect, Wits, Resolve

For these we have points to assign such that we will have:

One Attribute at 4

One Attribute at 1

Three Attributes at 3

Four Attributes at 2

For this, I'm going to assign her best stat to Charisma and their worst stat to Strength. Then putting the threes into Dexterity, Manipulation, and Composure.

Physical

Strength 1

Dexterity 3

Stamina 2

Social

Charisma 4

Manipulation 3

Composure 3

Mental

Intellect 2

Wits 2

Resolve 2

Step Three - Skills

There's two methods of selecting skills. One of those is to choose one of three arrangements of ratings and the other is to break it up a bit more and do something like a life-path thing and that's what we're going to do.

So first, we choose Professional Skills. For this we choose two skills at 3 and two at 2. I'm assuming she was an action movie actor and for that I'm going with the following set up:

Athletics 3 (Archery)

Performance 3 (Action Hero)

Persuasion 2

Awareness 2

Then from there we go to Life Event skills where we get one event giving a 3 rank skill and one giving a 2 rank skill.

Insight 3 - Saw through a crooked agent

Occult 2 - Started digging into mystical stuff

Then we get to Leisure skills which is three skills at rank 1.

Drive 1

Firearms 1

Brawl 1

And then we choose between the following:

Specialist: One skill at rank 4

Generalist: Two skills at rank 2, and four at rank 1

I generally go to Generalist and I'm doing that here.

Animal Ken 2

Subterfuge 2

Stealth 1

Streetwise 1

Craft 1 (Sewing)

Academics 1 (History)

Step Four - Beliefs

So, now we set between one and three Convictions to set what our character believes in. I'm going to dip a bit into some occult stuff which I know only a little bit about based on documentaries seen at least 10-15 years ago.

Do What Thou Wilt

Push them Over the Edge

Give them a Safe Landing

And for each of these we should choose a "Touchstone" a mortal associated with that conviction that helps her anchor herself to humanity. None of these people likely know she's a vampire at the moment.

One of her touchstones is a yoga instructor she met on a movie. They were her initial guide into the occult world and as much as she's a supernatural creature, they still know more about occult history.

The second touchstone is an event coordinator known for arranging absolutely wild parties. They used to work for the gorgon's agent before she uncovered their fraud, and she's stayed on to work for the gorgon doing roughly the same thing.

The final touchstone is a medical professional that she keeps on hand in order to make sure nobody at one of her parties imbibes so far that they destroy themselves. She's all about pushing boundaries, but it's pointless if they die before they can learn anything from it.

Step Five - Embrace

And now we bring in the vampire stuff. We're going to assume she's a rather new vampire at about 12th Generation as one of The Ministry. That gives us the following:

Blood Potency 1

Humanity 7

One Setite Discipline at 2 - Protean

One Setite Discipline at 1 - Presence

And now we are going to choose predator type and I'm thinking she's an Osiris, someone who gathers a cult of humans around them whom they can feed from easily. That provides:

A free Occult or Performance specialty, we're going to go with Occult since we already have a Performance one

One dot of Presence (if she were Tremere, Blood Sorcery would be an option)

Three dots between Herd and Fame (Herd 2, Fame 1)

Two dots between Enemy and Mythic Flaws (Mythic Flaws 2: Stigmata and Folkloric Block: Invite to a Dwelling)

Then we get 7 dots of Advantages:

Looks 2 (Beautiful)

Haven 4 (Size 1, Privacy 1, Security 1, Luxury)

Fame +1

We should also choose an Ambition, I think we were supposed to start with a mortal ambition and then do a vampire version of that. I'm not entirely sure where I skipped over that. But I think her Ambition is honestly to lead her followers into enlightenment.

So now I'm going to choose some Discipline powers.

Protean: Eyes of the Night, Weight of the Feather

Presence: Eyes of the Serpent, Awe

Oralia Balea - Faded Star

Clan: The Ministry

Generation: 12th

Concept: Gorgon Archer, Action Hero turned Cult Leader

Ambition: Lead followers to enlightenment

Desire: Embodiment of Sensation

Predator Type: Osiris

Physical

Strength 1

Dexterity 3

Stamina 2

Social

Charisma 4

Manipulation 3

Composure 3

Mental

Intellect 2

Wits 2

Resolve 2

Traits

Blood Potency 1

Willpower 5

Health 5

Skills

Academics 1 (History)

Animal Ken 2

Athletics 3 (Archery)

Awareness 2

Brawl 1

Craft 1 (Sewing)

Drive 1

Firearms 1

Insight 3

Occult 2 (Thelema)

Performance 3 (Action Hero)

Persuasion 2

Stealth 1

Streetwise 1

Subterfuge 2

Convictions

Do What Thou Wilt

Push them Over the Edge

Give them a Safe Landing

Touchstones

One of her touchstones is a yoga instructor she met on a movie. They were her initial guide into the occult world and as much as she's a supernatural creature, they still know more about occult history.

The second touchstone is an event coordinator known for arranging absolutely wild parties. They used to work for the gorgon's agent before she uncovered their fraud, and she's stayed on to work for the gorgon doing roughly the same thing.

The final touchstone is a medical professional that she keeps on hand in order to make sure nobody at one of her parties imbibes so far that they destroy themselves. She's all about pushing boundaries, but it's pointless if they die before they can learn anything from it.

Disciplines

Protean 2: Eyes of the Night, Weight of the Feather

Presence 2: Awe, Eyes of the Serpent

Advantages

Herd 2 (Sanguine Resonance)

Fame 2

Looks 2

Haven (Size 1, Privacy 1, Security 1, Luxury)

[gorgonarcher]

20th Game - Monster of the Week

What is this?

My blogger site has a section called "Character Creation and the Gorgon Archer" where I examine the character creation systems of different TTRPGs by trying to create a character to match the concept of a gorgon archer.

Why a gorgon archer?

I like gorgons.

Gorgons are a creature type not often pre-built for you.

I like gorgons.

The more advanced martial skills are the more complex they are.

I like gorgons.

Even a small amount of magic or supernatural ability can be complex.

Ahem... committing to the bit... I like gorgons.

All together, (barring the running joke), this does create a concept that will test the flexibility of a character creation system.

Some caveats.

Some game settings are less easy to justify the existence of a gorgon. In these cases, I will treat the term "gorgon" as a epitet that other people use to refer to them.

Some games will have much less focus on combat and in this case I will downplay the archery aspect.

The priority will be: Reptilian humanoid (1st), snake/tentacle hair (2nd), poison (3rd), snake lower-body (4th), petrification (5th) - yes, I know it may seem odd to place signature power as lowest priority, but I'm accounting for reputations and/or the idea that such is a rare ability for the group.

For characters whose status as a gorgon is an epitet, I'll assume skills and personalities that could get someone described as a "gorgon."

[gorgonarcher]

20th Game - Monster of the Week

So... you may have noticed from my general gaming page here, that I'm pretty into Monster of the Week. In fact it is one of the four games I call my "home games" meaning that I will always play it if I have reasonable chance to do so. So, why haven't I done Monster of the Week before now?

(to be honest, I flat out explained this in an earlier post but let's pretend I haven't)

Well the answer is that I was waiting for something. And while the thing I was waiting for hasn't exactly happened, something good enough for me to go ahead with things has happened.

And that... is THIS:

(yes, that's a link, click it to get to the preview on Drivethru)

So normally for this blog, I am dealing with games that don't have official rules for playing a gorgon. And this is deliberate because part of the reason I chose this particular concept is because it ain't going to be something commonly written for. Some games already allow to build your own concept, like Fate or Hero System, for example. And Monster of the Week is definitely one of those games.

But in this case... there are official rules for it now... but that's because I'm a co-author on these supplements. In fact you can see my teenaged gorgon right there on the cover.

So... in terms of this blog, that may be kinda cheating. But hey, big win for me.

Anyway, my teen gorgon is Persia Mason who've gotten to play all of once. And she ended up in the hospital at the end of that game. However, Persia, cool as she is, is not an archer... so we're not making her. But here she is in art by AbrahamDHR anyway, because she's cool.

So, we're making a fresh character. I tend to do that anyway for this game.

Now, I did just consider that we could bring Persia in if I also used the one Team Playbook they released: Coven and assume they're all gorgons... but Persia's thing is she's alone in being a gorgon and is trying to figure things out as best she can. So I think I will do a coven of gorgons, but they'll all be new characters rather than bring Persia into it.

(Also, I still want to PLAY Persia someday, so I don't want to nail down her story)

Now, just like with Apocalypse World and Thirsty Sword Lesbians, the steps of making a character depend on which playbook you choose for your hunter. So that's the first thing we're going to do and, in fact, we're going to choose a Team Playbook first.

Team Playbook

Team playbooks are an optional addition to Monster of the Week that came with Codex of Worlds. They add a lot of value to the game, but aren't something that has latched itself in as a new necessity for every game.

If you're taking a team playbook you're committing to a particular theme and feeling to your game. In the case of the Coven, you're portraying a powerful group of supernatural creatures that have made a conscious decision to fight evil, both as warriors and hunters, and as an example that monsters can stop being evil if they choose to.

Coven is designed so the entire group can choose to be the same type of critter, like say a group of witches or, you know, gorgons. And it leans toward higher powered game play.

Now, for a Team Playbook we usually have four steps, but for the Coven we have an extra one:

Style - this determines how the Team Playbook gains experience to advance and some general themes.

Coven Nature - How are covens linked together.

Team Enemy - Who is the main nemesis of the Coven?

Team Ally - What is an ally that they are already close to?

Team Move - What move do they share as part of the Coven?

Team Assets - Like gear, but for the whole team. Headquarters, vehicles and the like.

So, let's choose this for our Coven here.

Style

I'm going simple here. We're going with "Superheroes with Fangs". These people are here to fight evil, pure and simple. At the end of each session we ask the question "Did we hold true to our oath?" and if the answer is "Yes" the Team Playbook gets an experience. If the answer is "Yes, and it came up a lot" the Team playbook gets two experience.

That means we need an oath. And for that I'm going with:

"Always choose the good."

I almost went with "Choose the good when you can" but felt that wasn't declarative or oath-like enough. In this case, if they don't choose the good, then they have not held true to the oath.

Coven Nature

I am going to say that they are a coven of serpentine folk and I'm going to say that they are recruited by initiation. They don't take in just any serpent folk.

And then there's Mark of Kinship which is where each hunter in the Coven can choose powers and downsides from either the Monstrous, Changeling, Spooky, or Hex.

The Coven assumes everyone wants to be similar so, we could give every hunter in this Coven the exact same Monstrous traits. But... instead... lets do that a per-hunter basis. We'll have one gorgon and two other snake folk.

Team Enemy

This is one of the things that definitely hammers home a theme fairly heavily as most of the time in a core game you're not going to have a specific enemy reaching out to ruin your lives or whom you are trying to face. There are six sample enemies we can choose from, but I think I'll make up a new one here.

The Society of the Dragon is a cult that has supported tyrants and occultists down through the ages. They have been both the dragon and the dragon slayer, which ever will serve their goal to obtain power better.

Team Ally

This provides the team a friend whom they are close with and will help them out in their efforts. This can be a group or an individual. As with Team Enemies there are a series of example allies and I think I will actually take one of those here.

The Coven has a Circle of Mortal Friends who can help them interact with human society, but whom will always be coming to them for help with supernatural issues.

Team Move

In this case, I think I will chose the top move, Bound in Blood. This means that no matter where members of the Coven are in relation to each other, they can always choose to suffer 1-Harm to use the Help Out move with another member of the Coven.

Team Assets

For this, we get two points of Assets. Some of the assets cost two points to unlock, some cost one. For the start, we're going to go with two simple ones: Headquarters and Sanctuaries. The Coven has a stronghold and each member has their own private space within it.

Hunter Playbooks

I usually build hunter teams of four, but I'm building three in this case, and I'm only doing deep dive discussion of the gorgons, the others I'll just post the final write-up.

The Gorgon

Now, let's start with the gorgon herself and I'm going to take the easy route here and just have her as The Exile, because the Exile has a bow as an option. She has come into the present from the deep past and is still getting used to the modern day.

Before we get into the meat of her playbook, we're going to finish out her Mark of Kinship from the Coven and she is going to choose a Monstrous Curse and Natural Attack. Her curse will be "Inimical" so if she loses control, she could hurt the people around her and her Natural Attack will be "Deadly Gaze" for 1-Harm Close Petrification. And yes, both Petrification and Inimical are new options. And yes, they're in the free preview.

Now... playbooks don't really give you a set order to steps but we are going to do the following for each one.

Create a Look and Name

Choose Moves

Choose Ratings

Choose Gear

Choose specific Extras for that Playbook

Choose Histories

I'm going to choose to do Look and Name last, because I want to make sure I have a feel for the character before I choose it. I vacillate on that. Like Persia, her look and name came first, had her whole concept down pretty pat, but in this case, I want a bit more than just gorgon archer before I name her.

So, in that case:

Gear

I almost never choose Gear first, it's almost always one of the last things I pick, but... I already know most of what I'm going to bring. And that is:

Ancient Armour (1-armour)

Travel kit

Bow (2-harm close/1-harm far)

Martial Arts (your unarmed attacks do 1-harm)

Axe (2-harm hand messy)

I'm also going to say that she has a keepsake amulet from her grandparents. There's a secret to it, but she's not been able to discover it, nor has she had the heart to risk harming it in trying to find out.

Moves

When I don't have a full handle on a personality or concept, I start with Moves before moving on to Ratings, and that's what I'm going to do here. The number of moves hunters get varies from playbook to playbook. Every hunter gets all of the basic moves used by all hunters, one Weird basic move of their choice (usually Use Magic, but can be one of the alternates), and then a selection of moves from their playbook, usually 2-3.

Exiles get two of their playbook moves.

For this character, I'm going to take "Traditional Remedies" and "Hearty Constitution". Part of this is because gorgon blood is renowned for curative properties. So she can use small amounts of her blood to heal people (not enough to deal Harm). I considered taking "Warrior" which would mean taking less Harm when using or fighting against old-fashioned hand weapons (including unarmed and most monster attacks) but as she's going to be an archer, I decided to go with the Constitution, meaning she never suffers from normal illnesses and is resistant to magical ones. I could have also taken "Confused" to highlight how she doesn't fit in with modern society, but decided not to in the start, she could still take it later however.

I should also choose a basic Weird Move, and toward that end... I'm going with Trust Your Gut and say she has some mild prophetic abilities that can guide her to where she needs to be in a pinch.

Ratings

Exiles stand-out from other playbooks in that they have stronger rating tracks than a most other playbooks. And this is probably why they only choose two of their playbook moves instead of three like many other playbooks. The stronger ratings are a move themselves. Most playbooks have one +2, two +1s, a +0, and a -1, though many have an option for two +2s, two -1s, and one +0. Exile is one of the occasional playbooks that can start with a +3 if they want to.

Each playbook has a five different rating-lines you can pick from and Exile's while stronger than average, still fit that mold. Each of the Ratings deals with a narrative tendency or personality trait. So having good Tough doesn't necessarily mean you're hugely strong and buff (though that is pretty usual). What it does mean is that you are predisposed and well-suited to combat or protecting people. Likewise, a low Sharp doesn't especially mean you're stupid so much as it means you're unobservant or distracted.

The Ratings are:

Charm - everything to do with talking to people, whether diplomacy, deception, intimidation, or flattery.

Cool - teamwork, keeping your head, dealing with hazards, pulling of amazing feats.

Sharp - observation, memory, putting things together and noticing patterns.

Tough - protecting people, fighting things, dealing with danger from other beings

Weird - dealing with the unusual and supernatural, how you stand out from the norm

Now, for our gorgon here, she is a warrior and all of the Exile ratings have at least +1 in Tough, so no matter what, she's going to be a reliable warrior, and I think I'm going to go for a little higher than that and also some good ability with keeping her cool and dealing with hazards.

The stat line I'm choosing is the following one:

Charm -1

Cool +2

Sharp +1

Tough +2

Weird +0

So, she's not especially weird (aside from being a gorgon) and she has some difficulty with Charm (I'm going to put that aside to cultural differences between her and modern folk... and having snakes for hair). But she is very good at fighting and teamwork and not too shabby at observation and tactics.

Origin - The Exile Extra

Not all playbooks have an extra, but some do and Exile is one of those. For the Exile, this is used to explain what time period the hunter originally hails from and how she came to this time and place.

I'm going to say she is from Egypt approximately 20 to 25 years before Cleopatra came to reign as Pharoah (roughly 75 BC). This is in the time after Alexander conquered it. She followed her nemesis into the modern age and said nemesis is a Norse trader who is secretly a dragon. A descendant of Fafnir. The last time she confronted him, she had come close to defeating him before the coward managed a spell to banish her into the future. He is now a strong member of the Society of the Dragon and is aware she has reappeared.

Look and Name

For her name, I'm going to go with the name Pherusa of Egypt. And I'm going to say that she is a Ptolemaic Egyptian, someone descended from people that settled there after Alexander conquered. She's a tall woman, of about 5'11" who leans more toward her Egyptian heritage than her Greek and came to this time in a simple warriors tunic and armor. She has slick, white and black scaled snakes for hair but I'm going to say the rest of her body is human.

Histories

Before I write up the histories for her, I'm going to quickly build her team members. Be back up to this section in a moment.

Okay, so here is what I am going to take for Pherusa's histories with the other two:

Iskra had a message for Pherusa when she appeared in the modern day, carried with her from the ancient times to now. Pherusa suspects Iskra has been wanting to recruit her into the Coven for a long time.

Pherusa immediately liked Mariah upon meeting her and has been doing what she can to help the young serpent deal with her nature.

And that brings us to the final completed character and Team Playbooks

Circle of Scales - The Coven

Style: Superheroes with Fangs. Oath: Always choose the good.

Team Enemy: Society of the Dragon, a cult of power-hungry humans and serpent-folk.

Team Ally: A Circle of Mortal Friends, common folk who know about the cult.

Team Moves: Bound in Blood

Team Assets: Headquarters, Sanctuaries

Pherusa - The Exile

Look: A tall Egyptian woman with signs of Greek heritage. She has beautiful black and white serpents for hair. She prefers loose clothing like t-shirts and breezy pants, similar to the tunics and breeches she wore in the ancient past. She has a set of Egyptian armor that would have been simple and unextraordinary in her days.

Charm -1

Cool +2

Sharp +1

Tough +2

Weird +0

Mark of Kinship: Deadly Gaze (1-Harm, Close, Petrifying), Inimical

Basic Weird Move: Trust Your Gut

Origin: From Ptolemaic Kingdom, 75 BC, was banished by a spell cast by a dragon descendant of Fafnir who hides as a Norse trader/businessman and is now a member of the Society of the Dragon.

Moves: Hearty Constitution, Traditional Remedies

Gear:

Egyptian Armor: 1-Armour

Traveling Kit ("hey very accurate LARP kit, cool!" "thanks... I think")

Bow (2-harm close/1-harm far)

Martial Arts (Unarmed attacks do 1-harm)

Axe (2-harm hand messy)

Amulet keepsake from her grandparents

Histories

Iskra had a message for Pherusa when she appeared in the modern day, carried with her from the ancient times to now. Pherusa suspects Iskra has been wanting to recruit her into the Coven for a long time.

Pherusa immediately liked Mariah upon meeting her and has been doing what she can to help the young serpent deal with her nature.

Iskra - The Expert

Look: Mostly humanoid with serpentine eyes and occasional scaled patches. By far the oldest of the three though she seems to be in her early twenties or late teens. While she's not one for directly casting magic, she is good at rituals and has life-time of instinct to fallback on. She has an uncanny knack to divine objectives and opportunities from the world around her.

Charm -1

Cool +0

Sharp +2

Tough -1

Weird +2

Mark of Kinship: Immortal, Vulnerability: Cold

Basic Weird Move: Tradecraft

Moves: The Woman with the Plan, Often Right

Haven:

Lore Library

Protection Spells

Magical Laboratory

Gear:

Magical Dagger (2-harm, hand, holy)

Blessed Knife (2-harm, hand, magic)

Juju Bag (1-harm, far, magic)

Histories

Mariah is Iskra's student, she is helping the snake woman explore her nature and find out what she is while teaching her to control her magical abilities.

Pherusa and Iskra were both taught by Chiron, the legendary centaur. Though Pherusa's instruction came in dreams since the centaur had already been placed in the stars by then and Iskra knew him when he had flesh.

Mariah Patel - The Changeling

Look: Most of the time she appears to be a normal human woman of blended ancestry in her mid-twenties. But she is able to change into a woman with the lower body of a snake. In fact that does appear to be her true form. She has the least experience with this supernatural stuff and the group isn't sure exactly what she is. She helps out where she can. Of the three, she is the one that has more blatant sorcerous abilities and the others are helping her out with it.

Charm +2

Cool +1

Sharp +1

Tough -1

Weird +0

Mark of Kinship: Shapeshifting, Forced Change: Emotional Distress

Basic Weird Move: Use Magic

Unknown Heritage: Erratic Power, Unearned Reputation, Hygenic Need

Moves: Glamour, Faerie Gossip, Renewal

Gear:

Van

Sport Club: Tennis Racket (2-harm, hand, innocuous, messy), somehow it never seems to break.

Letters from home

A smartphone

Histories

Mariah suspects that Iskra knows more than she's saying about what her true nature is.

Mariah is deeply attracted to Pherusa but has been hesitant to speak up about her feelings.

[gorgonarcher]

I love this piece. I've seen it pop up now and again for years now and have a copy in my inspirations folder. I just wish I knew the original artist.

Medusa

[gorgonarcher]

19th Game - Apocalypse World

What is this?

My blogger site has a section called "Character Creation and the Gorgon Archer" where I examine the character creation systems of different TTRPGs by trying to create a character to match the concept of a gorgon archer.

Why a gorgon archer?

I like gorgons.

Gorgons are a creature type not often pre-built for you.

I like gorgons.

The more advanced martial skills are the more complex they are.

I like gorgons.

Even a small amount of magic or supernatural ability can be complex.

Ahem... committing to the bit... I like gorgons.

All together, (barring the running joke), this does create a concept that will test the flexibility of a character creation system.

Some caveats.

Some game settings are less easy to justify the existence of a gorgon. In these cases, I will treat the term "gorgon" as a epitet that other people use to refer to them.

Some games will have much less focus on combat and in this case I will downplay the archery aspect.

The priority will be: Reptilian humanoid (1st), snake/tentacle hair (2nd), poison (3rd), snake lower-body (4th), petrification (5th) - yes, I know it may seem odd to place signature power as lowest priority, but I'm accounting for reputations and/or the idea that such is a rare ability for the group.

For characters whose status as a gorgon is an epitet, I'll assume skills and personalities that could get someone described as a "gorgon."