Chapter 2 - Character Creation

=Character Creation=

The character creation system is quite a bit different than most other RPG's out there. It does contain stats and skills and various other things but it is also largely tailored to be able to be played on forums and other mediums where dice rolling comes down an extreme act of faith is needed to progress in any meaningful way. The system is largely diceless save for some dice that need to be rolled for modifiers. These rolls will be explained in their place and are largely superfluous save to add a bit of chance to the system as it stands.

This chapter will explain statistics, the character creation process, skills, and various other things necessary to get your superhero created and jumping into action as soon as possible.

Statistics
As mentioned above, the statistics have been simplified and merely suggest a general level of ability for the character. This is so that the players can concentrate more on the story itself rather than immersing themselves into modifiers and exactly what number their strength is, etc.

Strength
Strength, as it appears is pretty self-explanatory. It is the ability to lift, push, and manipulate pure weight. This determines how much weight you can maneuver, how much force you can exert on something and the overall damage that your hand to hand attacks inflict.

Bonuses/Penalties: For every level of Strength above Average your character receives a +1 to damage. For each level below average your character receives a 1 to damage

Agility
Agility is a measure of how lithe and nimble your body is. It is the ability to move the body with coordination, skill and fine manipulation. As such, this stat is also used to determine balance the ability to dodge.

Bonuses/Penalties: For every level of Agility above average you receive a +1 to dodge and strike. For every level below Average you receive a -1 penalty.

Reflexes
Reflexes is another rather self-explanatory attribute. It signifies the time it takes the body to positively respond to what the other senses perceive. Unlike the other statistics this attribute goes up to 10, and for every point taken in it, it reduces the amount of time it takes your character to react by 1/10 of a second. This attribute is important for determining who acts first in a round as well as several other factors.

Bonuses/Penalties: For every level that you take in Reflexes you receive +1 attack per round. Additionally for every level that your reflexes are better than your opponents, you may take one of your actions before your opponent...

Fighting Ability
Fighting ability is used for several different things. Not only is it the ability to attack, but also the ability to block and dodge, when coupled with other attributes. It is the ability to use the body and/or melee weapons as a weapon with skill, grace, and proficiency.

Bonuses/Penalties: For every level above Student, your unarmed strikes inflict +1 damage added to your Strength total, in addition to +1 strike added to your Agility. For every level below Average, you receive a -1 to your unarmed Strike and Damage.

Accuracy
Accuracy is the ability to hit your target with ranged weapons. These include bows, and even thrown objects. This is a broad attribute that has many purposes under its influences.

Bonuses/Penalties: For every level above Average you receive a +1 to strike with ranged weapons, including Bows, Crossbows, and thrown weapons including darts, Shurikens and improvised weapons such as rocks.

Endurance
Endurance is another multi-faceted attribute. It is not only the ability to withstand damage but also the amount of time that you can maintain peak exertion before fatigue impairs your performance.

Bonuses/Penalties: For every level above average you receive a +1 bonus to hit points. You also may subtract 1 damage taken from strikes when you are unarmored.

Intelligence
Intelligence is a pretty self explanatory Attribute. It is the mind’s ability to process information in a rational and relevant manner.

Bonuses/Penalties: There are several to this attribute. For each point you may take one more rank in Skills and Proficiencies. I.e., if your intelligence is merely Slow, you may only take one level in a skill, however, if it is average you may take up to 3 levels in a skill. This will become more self explanatory when the appropriate section comes up. Also, for every level above average, you receive a +1 bonus to controlling a magical effect.

Awareness
Awareness is something of a “catch-all” category. It describes your ability to perceive things as they happen around you. This not only describes how sharp your normal senses are, but at upper levels indicates an almost 6th sense as your senses are so sharp that you can almost perceive the trigger being pulled before the person even knows he’s going to do it.

Bonuses/Penalties: For every level above Normal you receive a +1 bonus to Initiative. For every level below Normal you receive a -1 Penalty to Initiative.

Appearance
Appearance is the ability to not only appear attractive to the other sex (or same sex if you go that way.), but also offers a description of your personal neatness in all that you do. It’s more of a widespread appearance than just physical.

Bonuses/Penalties: For every level above Normal you receive a +1 bonus to reactions from strangers and NPC’s. For every level below Normal you receive a -1 Penalty. While this seems to favor the pretty people, it’s the true way of the world and who am I to sugarcoat anything.

Subterfuge
Subterfuge is the ability to hide your intentions from others as well as being able to use stealth, cunning and trickery to achieve your goals. This also covers your ability to gather information through such means as manipulation, seduction, or whatever shadowy means you care to take. This also describes your ability to find things hidden by Subterfuge.

Bonuses/Penalties: For every level above Normal you receive a +1 bonus to hiding yourself or objects, lying, sneaking or other acts of cunning, manipulation or trickery. For matters of personal interaction, this bonus can be cumulative with the Appearance bonus.

Luck
Luck can basically be broken down into just as the name states. If your character is lucky, he’ll have a high score in this attribute, if not then his luck will be low.

Bonuses/Penalties: For every level above Normal you may add a +1 modifier to an area  of that round. IE, if you have a Luck of 8, and you have 5 actions in a given round, then you may place a total of 5 points to actions through the round, but not 5 points per action. For example, in action 1 you could add a +1 to strike and +1 to damage, add nothing for action 2 or 3 add +1 to parry for action 4 and +1 to damage for action 5. or you can simply expend it all on one action. It’s up to you how you spend it.

Chi
Chi is the spiritual force that permeates everything in the universe. Monks and martial artists draw upon this mystical force to increase their abilities or to find spiritual harmony. To have a high Chi rating means that the monk can perform some truly incredible maneuvers

Bonuses/Penalties: For every level above 1 the martial artist can perform stronger feats. Martial Arts and Chi will be more fully explained in a later chapter. The system for it is a little long to be explained in a simple Bonuses/Penalties box.

Skills
Keeping with the streamlined aspect of this RPG system, there won’t be tens of specific skills that you have to pour through to get the ones that fit your character best. There will be several broad areas of skill to choose from, and it will be up to you to fill in the specifics to fit your character concept the best.

Also this skill system varies from others in that you will be in total control of the direction that your skills take you. For each level that you take in a particular aspect of a skill you will be given a choice of which modifiers you will implement per category. For instance, If you take the category Weapon Proficiency and choose Broadsword as your weapon, you are given the option of taking a +1 to damage, a +1 to Strike, or a +1 to Parry per level. Also please note that your Intelligence dictates how many levels you will be able to take in a skill area. For instance, if your intelligence is Slow, you may only take one skill level in Weapon Proficiency – Broadsword. However if it is Average you may take up to 3 levels in it. It allows for a greater variety of characters given a smaller skill base.

Also, unlike other skill systems, you don’t receive a penalty for trying something that you’re not skilled at. I may not be able to defuse a bomb, but I can try to cut the blue wire to do so. I may succeed or I may blow myself up. I have just as much of a chance as anyone else. For using something you’re not familiar with, you receive a +/- modifier of 0.

Weapon Proficiency: This is skill in the use of your weapon of choice. This can be either a melee weapon, or a ranged weapon. Modifier Choices: +1 Damage, +1 Parry, +1 Strike.

Craftsmanship: This is your ability to build something. Whether it’s something like Fletching, boat building, jewelry, armorer, etc. You can build something of your choice. Modifier Choices: +1 Build/Repair, +1 Modify, +1 Identify, +1 Quality

Thievery: This is basic skills in rogue activities. Things such as moving in shadows, pick pocketing, or impersonating someone. You’re good at being a thief. Modifier Choices: +1 Steal, +1 Hide, +1 Pick Lock

Arts: You’re good at some form of Art. Things like Acting, sculpting, or even spinning a good tale are examples of choices for this category. Modifier Choices: +1 Captivate Audience, -1 Creation Time, +1 Quality. Powercraft: This is your ability to shape the energy of the world into a focused result. Control and understanding of your powers is reflected and modified by this skill. Modifier Choices: +1 Control, +1 Damage, -1 Drain (Drain will be explained in the Powers chapter.) Fighting Style: This is more of a specific type of fighting that your character specializes in. Good examples in this skill are Sword and Shield Style, Two Weapon Fighting, Unarmed Fighting, etc. The modifier only applies when you’re using your particular style. Modifier Choices: +1 Strike, +1 Damage, +1 Parry.

Character Creation Nuances
This section probably should have been placed higher on the agenda, but I got kind of carried away and it ended up here. Character creation is such a simple process that this will be a short section. Each character starts off with each of his attributes at 1. While this is a dismal number, and a sad state for a hero to be in, you are allotted thirty points at Character creation to place between your attributes. You are also given 5 points initially to put into skills. While this will leave you with a basically underpowered hero, or most will believe so anyway, it is offset by the fact that you can gain attributes rather easily as you complete missions. Please note that skills can only be gained as you gain Character Levels. Here is a quick breakdown of the creation process:

'''1. Choose your Super's background and Archetype. Name, a bit of history and such is great at this point'''

Pick 1 of the Archetypes if you choose to, from the section below

'''2. Assign your 30 points between your 12 attributes. Remember that each of your attributes starts at 1.'''

Fairly self-explanatory. All of the 12 attributes listed above start at 1. You have Thirty (30) points to split between those 12 attributes.

3. Determine your Hit Points (Endurance + Strength x Level)

Your Hit Points are determined by adding your Endurance and your strength together and then multiplying the result by your current level. It's that simple.

4. Select your starting Powers (2 points)

At character creation you get two (2) points to put into powers. As your power level can't exceed your character level that will be two, one point powers at character creation. Adjust your stats as needed due to the new powers and make notes of damage and such.

5. Select your beginning skills (5 points to spend)

Select 5 points in skills to allocate to your character. Keep in mind that your skill total can't exceed your Intelligence score.

6. Discuss any equipment your character may have.

For those who take Armor, Personal Weapon, or Technology you'll need to make notes on your current equipment, weapons, armor and gadgets that you selected through power selection.

Levels and Life
As was stated earlier, there are no experience charts, no real designated escalating numbers to achieve to attain more abilities or life. That’s mainly because experience is awarded for each mission that you complete. How does this differ from every other RPG out in the world? Here’s the fun part. You can “level up” at any time really. Instead of referring to experience charts you spend your experience points to attain greater abilities. For every 100 experience that you save up, you can advance one level. Now please note that I said save up. You must have that many points saved in order to gain that level. That’s not simply attaining that number, but having that many unspent points. So if you have the 100 you need and decide to increase your Agility, you’ll have to wait until you have 100 again to gain a level. This is best described as the character turning his combined experiences into enlightenment. He’s contemplated over his past missions and sees himself as a better and more accomplished person for it. What are the benefits of gaining levels if you can boost your attributes and hence your abilities at any time? Well, your life is dependent upon how experienced your character is. Your life is calculated by adding your Endurance and Strength, multiplied by your current level. (Endurance + Strength x Level) There are other things that can add to your life. Armor, Bonuses for High attributes, etc. But those, again, will be discussed in coming sections.

The other prime advantage to gaining levels is that, for each level you attain you get one skill point. This can be used to increase an existing skill, if possible, or to gain a new one. This makes it much more worth it to save up those points for higher levels as only in that way will your character become more skillful.

Finally you gain 2 Power points per level. Your Power level ceiling is dependent upon your level as well. So if your Super is level 3, his powers can't rise above 3 until you level up again.

Increasing your abilities
So you’ve gotten yourself some experience and have no idea where to put it. Well this section is just the thing you need then. Below is a table of the costs of the various upgrades that you can buy through experience.


 * = Current Rating

Archetypes
There are no classes per se in this game. Generally one hero is the same as another save for the difference of powers. There would be no point in having classes such as Warrior, Tank, Mage, or the like. Instead the game divides heroes by their background or origin. Many heroes fall into several Archetypes and you're to pick one at character creation. Each Archetype will have a bit of an advantage that comes with a bit of a disadvantage. One has to offset the other of course. So while you won't be picking classes with weapon proficiency and armor restrictions You will be picking something along the lines of The Inventor, The Billionaire, The Sorcerer Supreme and the like to give your character a bit of a basis to work from.

The Inventor
Description - The Inventor is a genius, pure and simple. They've dedicated their lives to the pursuit of greater enlightenment through technology. The gadgeteer that makes amazing devices in their lab, the iron man that makes suits of powered armor to fight crime, the mad mechaniste that built the army of droids to aid them. All of these concepts fit under the Archetype of The Inventor. While they've dedicated their lives to science, their powers lie more in their intelligence and their ability to make almost anything out of almost anything.

Lifestyle - Middle Class. All of these parts and the failures costs money and time. This is reflected in your lifestyle.

Advantages: Able to raise your Craftsmanship skill +2 above your Intelligence.

Disadvantage: Your inventions have a chance of failure due to damage or spectacular failure. As your powers will most likely be based off of your technology that leaves your technological powers unable to be used until they're repaired.

The Billionaire
Description: The Billionaire is your basic rich kid with more money than anything else. Most likely born into the money, the Billionaire relies more on what his cash can buy him than an abundance of super powers. He can buy most anything he needs to play the role of the hero but at the end of the day he goes home to his mansion and enjoys the good life.

Lifestyle: Filthy Rich. He can afford almost anything and for a little more money he could probably even get it quickly.

Advantages: High Lifestyle

Disadvantages: -1 Power Point at character creation.

The Sorcerer Supreme
Description: Through the continued and sometimes dramatic experimentation of Dr. Phlux and the Ironbound Facility there have been some dimensional and mystical anomalies in the area. More so than a mutation or an evolution the Sorcerer Supreme has developed traditionally Magical abilities. Similar to the Wizards and mages of games and movies, the Sorcerer Supreme is a master of the mystical and the magical. While lacking artifacts and other magical items, their body has absorbed the dimensional energies and allowed them to project magic in several forms.

Lifestyle: Varies. While the Lifestyle is ultimately up to decisions, the default Lifestyle for the Sorcerer Supreme would be Middle Class.

Advantages: The Spell energy that the Sorcerer Supreme uses to power his abilities causes his Powers to cost 1 xp less to upgrade.

Disadvantages: The same magical energy that the Sorcerer Supreme uses to cast his spells is much more unstable than the other Supers powers. Failure comes at the level of the Power +2. Magical power comes at a high price.

The Super Soldier
Description: Always jealous like a child who wants the toy that you're playing with, the military has tried to breed its own form of Super. Through intense genetic manipulation and advanced training the Military has bred its own form of Super that can go toe to toe with Ironbound's natural Supers. The Super Soldier ultimately owes their allegiance to the military and the world second. Basically owning the Super Soldier, the military has let the grand experiment continue as they monitor and give orders to the Super Soldier out in the wild.

Lifestyle: Middle Class. The Military buys their equipment, their living quarters, buys their food and pays their bills. Substantial purchases will need to be granted by the Military.

Advantages: The Military has the Super Soldier's back. They provide equipment, quarters, training, and a modest Lifestyle.

Disadvantages: The Military owns you and wants to have a large amount of control over the Super Soldier. They'll need to report in and follow the orders of their handlers when orders are given. They're essentially, bought, paid for, and driven by the military.

The Bionic Man
Description: Whether it was through a horrible accident or by choice the Bionic Man has had some or most of their body replaced with mechanical parts. These parts can be as obvious or discreet as desired. The amazing technology and medical wonders of Dr. Phlux and the Ironbound Facility are able to save lives that would normally be lost. These parts can be used to install weapons, sensors, or various other uses. You truly are the Millenium Man of Ironbound City.

Lifestyle: Middle Class

Advantages: A variety of gadgets can be installed to cover a huge range of necessities. Sensor arrays, strength, speed, armor can be enhanced. The Bionic Man can truly be the swiss army hero.

Disadvantages: The Bionic Man can't upgrade their powers during the session. Upgrading for the Bionic Man entail having the old equipment either replaced or upgraded and that takes time, facilities, and an experienced technician. The cost is the same but the Bionic Man can only use Experience points to upgrade powers between sessions.

The Super's Super
Description: There are Supers wandering the world now thanks to the incidental, or not, results of decades of experimentation in myriad fields. The Super's Super shines even above them. A true Titan among Gods. The Super's Super is faster, stronger, smarter, or tougher than other Supers but he pays for it in spades. Due to the circumstances that gave them their powers there is also a substance that the Super's Super may or may not know about that could depower him without warning. The brightest candle can be snuffed by the smallest wind and the Super's Super burns the brightest of them all.

Lifestyle: Middle Class.

Advantages and Disadvantages: The Super's Super gets additional points at character creation. They get points proportional to how common their Weakness is. The chart below dictates how many points they get.

The Monk
Description: The Master of combat, the Monk has studied for years in the perfection of their arts. The instabilities that are prominent in Ironbound City have caused the Monk's martial training to be empowered by the flow of Chi that has been brought to the surface by the decades of experimentation. Though the Chi flows through the Monk is one of the few people who may be able to tap into it with any kind of expertise or ability. The Monk's years of dedication, meditation, patience and training have focused his talents to take advantage of the Chi in the area. Perhaps one of the finest fighters in the City, the Monk's mastery of combat makes him dangerous.

Lifestyle: Low. The Monk doesn't need much and asks for even less. The perfection of body and mind require that he lives on only what he needs to survive.

Advantages: Monks can put one more point in one of their attributes. They are also able to take full advantage of Chi, able to gain the bonuses as if they had two more points in Chi at character creation. They also can take advantage of the Martial Arts and Combo systems presented later.

Disadvantages: The Monk lives by a code of physical and mental perfection. They must live by this code or lose their connection to their chi. Living the life of poverty with vows that may restrict their behavior is how the monk keeps his body and mind pure and able to direct the flow of Chi around and through him.

The Everyday Hero
This is your average Super on the field. There's no great advantage other than their powers, but they have no real disadvantages either.

Lifestyle: Middle Class

Advantages: None

Disadvantages: None