another funny little game
from gargoyle13
another funny little game
from gargoyle13
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Places to Go... ...People to Eat |
Moving In Welcome to all New Residents of Pumpkin Town! How do you make a Character? Well, as you may have guessed, the most important thing is to have a gimmick. As you can see, the residents of Pumpkin Town are all pretty unique and you should make every effort to be unique too. This doesnt mean you can't have two of the same sort of monsters in town. (Auntie Hex is obviously a wicked witch archetype but that doesnt mean you couldnt be a witch too). The main thing you want to avoid is redundancy within your own group of players (I think two witches in the same group wouldnt necessarily be as fun as having one witch and one seductive enchantress- the key is diversity). This is actually more of a guideline than a rule. If two or more players want to play the same kind of archetype you should by all means feel free to do so. Cool. When do I get powers? You might be in the wrong game. We'll get to any special halloween abilities later on. For now, choose or make up a good Halloween Archetype for your character. If you can't think of any good original archetypes off hand I have a fun little list I've been putting together. Feel free to choose or roll randomly. Feel free to combine concepts. The most important thing about making a Pumpkin Town character is to maintain the whimsy feel of Pumpkin Town. Pumpkin Town Archetypes
Picked an Archetype? Good. You can even modify it a little if you feel up to it. The next step is just as easy. Select a Name Now- names are important. And this is one of those situations that you'll get the chance to pick a somewhat silly or clever name and have it be totally appropiate. Try not to pick obvious book names (like 'Dracula' or something) or weenie names like 'Soul Assassin' or something similarly dumbass. Pumpkin Town is not like that. Be whimsical. Get into the feel of it. Go watch the Nightmare before Christmas or read Dorrie the Witch or something for inspiration. Youv'e already been to Pumpkin Town.. just think about it. Character Concept This is actually the most important part. It can be a lot of fun too. Just sit down and write a paragraph or two about your character. Write about what type of person he or she (or it) is. Don't kill yourself, just write a short piece. Try not to focus on any aspect (combat, for example) too much. My only advice here is don't waste too much time on agonizing over the painstaking details. Pumpkin Town is meant to set up rather fast. just pick something and go. You'll get to make alterations later. Example: I pick the Lonely Hunchback archetype, and decide on the tender name of Oliver. Oliver Hunchback. That sounds good. Now I decide about Oliver. Oliver Hunchback lives in the bell tower above the abandoned church with a nobody to talk to but a few bats and a gargoyle or two. . He is somewhat oafish, so he often spends a lot of time trying to talk to the statues and bats in the church who cannot respond. He loves to play the flute on eerie summer nights and some of the ghosts in the graveyard think he's quite good at that. Although horribly deformed, he is superhumanly strong and can climb up and down the walls of the church with ease. Oliver also spends a lot of time swinging like Tarzan from the rotting ropes in the bell-tower. In general, he is the type of person who pities the misfits and those who are unlucky in life because he's an unlucky misfit himself. He is inclined towards the qualities of mercy, tenderness and unfulfilled romance. Traits (This is where we start using Mike Mearls' PERPS rpg system, available free at Adept Games. If you feel like you want to use a different RPG system, here is where we diverge.) That took me about 2 minutes. easy. Now just go through your paragraph and spend 4 points worth of positive traits and 2 points negative ones. Note that Traits are different than Skills. Traits define what kind of person the character is. Skills simply define what the character knows. You will get skills too. If it seems complicated or unclear try plugging your proposed trait into the following sentence. "My character is a(n) __________ person." If you can do that, you've got a trait. For Oliver we have: Positive: Strong +1, Acrobatic +1, Merciful +1, Romantic +1 Negative: Oafish -1, Unlucky -1 Although I've assigned +1 to 4 different traits, you could just as easily choose two traits at +2, (or two at +1 and one at +2). Any combination is ok. There is no set list of traits. Please be creative. Skills Skills are just as easy. Just go back and look at your little paragraph again. If no immediate skills jump to mind just think of something that the character would probably know. Maybe there are hints of something your character may have learned. Now, for each proposed skill or idea you have write a complete sentence and assign a point value of between +1 and +4. You have a total of ten points to spend. Spend em' all. Oliver has learned to play the flute on lonely summer nights. (+2) Oliver knows the way through the Creepy Catacombs and even knows a few of the less savory residents who lurk there. (+1) Oliver Hunchback is not a violent guy, but he'll beat you down like a circus monkey if he see's you hurt one of his friends. (+2) Oliver is extra sneaky walking around his Abandoned Church. (+1) Oliver can talk to bats. (+1) Oliver knows the proper etiquette for getting along with ghosts. (+1) Oliver can climb ropes like nobody's business (+2) Optionals Why complicate things? Why not! Zero(0) Level Skills: You may also assign up to 3 'zero-level' skills. Do them the same as your other skills ( write a sentence) and assign a zero value. These represent skills that your character has some familiarity with but don't warrant any real expertise. Negative Skills: You can optionally spend up to 3 points on negative skills. Negative skills represent something your character especially sucks at. This is a true test of roleplaying maturity. You certainly dont have to choose any negative skills, and even if you take negative skills you dont get any compensation or extra points of any kind. (This is not Merits and Flaws). The GM may optionally assign you some negative skills if she feels like it. Thats cool too. What do you get for all the fuss? A more interesting character. I realize this wont appeal to everyone. Specialization: You may optionally spend up to 2 extra points on your character to 'specialize' in one of the skills you have already chosen. The kickback is that you have to compensate. Specialization means you have attention focused on one aspect of your skill, and other aspects are reduced. Choosing a specialization means you have an extra +1 (or +2) in a certain aspect of your skill. You must also choose an aspect of your skill which you have no expertise of. BeezleBubba Specializes in his ability to use magic (+2), saying he is especially good at Making Potions (+3) However he has no knowledge of Curses (+0). GMs: Don't let players abuse this one. Hit Points Finally assign hit points. Gm's should initially let players assign their own hitpoints. (I call this the 'trust' policy). If anyone gets ridiculous, the GM should feel free to change it for them. If there's any confusion or anguish, remind the players that this isnt a combat game. Hit Points Description 1-5 a small child, a little bat or cat 6-10 a small to average person or mortal 11-15 a large or well built mortal or supernatural 16-20 an obese or massive person, or a big massive monster The player Hitpoint scale doesnt go any higher. If you think it needs to, you're doing it wrong. NPCs and certain adversaries could conceivably be higher, tougher. |