Pen and Paper RPGs: Character Creation

On my last update I talked about Pen and paper games. Seeing as since then these have basically taken over my free time, I thought I would revisit this topic, so here is a description of how a character for vampire: The Masquerade from Old World of Darkness is designed and fleshed out, starting with the core concept and moving through the process until we are left with a complete character. For this I will be using a character I recently made for a game as an example.

The ankh, symbol of the Camarilla

The first step is to consider what sort of game you are playing. In this case it is an interesting format: A large, persistent chronicle focusing on political and social machinations in a single city. It especially focuses on a certain political organization of vampires called the "Camarilla." A full explanation of this group would be too long to fit in this blog, but to sum up: They are the closest thing to "good guys" the vampire world has. They try to not be inhuman monsters, though they have varying degrees of success in this endeavor.

With this in mind, you can build a core concept for the character. This is largely down to personal taste, and what sources of inspiration you draw from. Anything from films and books, to music and drawings, can serve as inspiration, and it doesnt even necessarily have to be directly related to the theme of the game, in this case Vampires.

My Inspiration was in the form of this Magic: The Gathering Card

A close up of the artwork from the card. I love how evocative this is: both artistic and cultured, and horrific and monstrous

This image gave me a concept, one that can be summed up in two words, the name of the card: Blood Artist. What is more vampiric than to paint using the very thing all vampires desire? It just so happens that there is a specific type of vampire in this games setting called the Toreador, who are a clan of artists and performers. Happily, the game I was joining had a shortage of Toreador and needed more, so everything was set for this character to be accepted in.

After establishing my concept, and ensuring that it would be accepted into the game in question, the next step was to begin building the character. As I mentioned in my previous post, the storyteller system rates all things between 1 and 5, and the character creation rules give a wide range of attributes and skills, ranging from the mundane to the supernatural. I took a lot of points in Etiquette and Expression, representing his cultured nature, and a few points in melee and dexterity. After all, he would need be be good with a knife!

The final step was to fill out a backstory. I went for a somewhat typical story, he was an artist who was turned into a vampire and began painting in blood. I also threw in a connection to a friends character who was established in my setting, he had a fairly wealthy character and so he agreed to be my artists Patron.

All in all, the character creation system used in the storyteller system is very slick, allowing you to rate your character between 1 and 5 in a very wide variety of skills to fully flesh out his or her personality and nature.

Crusader Kings 2: Murder, Scheming and Conquest Simulator

Crusader Kings 2 is a game by Paradox Development Studio, the same people who made Europa Universalis and Magicka. It is a Medieval Feudalism Simulator set in Europe in the late 800s to mid 1400s.

In the game you play as one of the Noble Houses of Europe. The aim is to maintain and grow your houses power in Europe, by claiming and taking land, sucking up to your Liege Lord to be gifted titles, and even declaring a revolution to declare your independence or put yourself on the throne.

Gameplay is mostly menu-based, as you navigate through screens showing the statistics and relative power of the various Houses and Lords of Europe. From here you can scheme and plot, killing key targets, enforcing claims on land, and doing any number of other things for the good of your house.

The simulation has impressive depth, nearly everything you could possibly think of can be done, and the satisfaction you got for murdering your lieges son and heir, only for all his titles to fall into your lap, is unparalleled.

Speaking of murder, you wind up having to do some quite morally grey, or even downright dark, things to survive. From murdering the King of Frances pregnant wife before an heir can be produced, to building a powerbase on a pile of bodies as you murder your way through the heirs of a kingdom you are 20th in line to the throne for, if you don't find yourself doing something you are uncomfortable with you are doing it wrong. This, of course, accurately represents the politics of the time.

All in all, it is an excellent game. There is even a multiplayer option, so you can scheme with and against your friends.