------------------------------- ATC2 - A Galaxy Full of Stars: Character Generation ------------------------------- ATC2 will be using a base of BESM 2nd Edition rules. If in doubt, refer to this sheet. If further in doubt, consult Yu or Cham. Basic Character Info: ********************* Character types: Human, Twenty-Four, cyborg, Sleythin, Resurgent Bug Character ages: Human - 15 to 55 Twenty-Four - 15 to 24 Sleythin - 30 to 85 Bug - 25 to ? CP: 34 SP: 30 General Concept Stuff: ********************** There is only one thing *required* for every character - you must have the ability to survive in hard vacuum. You can do this several ways: you might own an exo or HEX, even if it's nothing more than a glorified spacesuit; you might own a spaceship with a very light excursion exo; or you might have a Twenty-Four power allowing you to not feel temperature, and not need air. Maybe you even are rich enough to just rent an exo when you feel like it. Characters are not limited in concept, except that you should not make a loner, or a person so tied to an area they cannot leave it. Characters should, however, be currently located (living in, visiting, passing through) Red New York. This is easy, as the annual festival is occurring there this week. Called "Sangria-Beltane", this is THE yearly festival. Like Carnival, Mardis Gras, and Halloween combined, it occurs during the week before Mars' "May Day" (The day exactly between the spring solstice and the summer equinox) with the festival culminating on that day. Unfortunately, since the Gregorian calendar doesn't quite work with Mars' natural solstices and equinoxes, the date changes literally every year. This year, it takes place from September 5th to 11th. The 11th is May Day. The festival is huge, and is the best damn bacchanalia on either of the two planets and on any of the colonies - people from as far out as Io come to get drunk, laid, and/or blasted. Which is not to say that the only thing to experience is vice. Street markets are erected, ripe with the fruits of the cultural reawakening; talks and panels are scheduled on all manner of topics; and the big attraction is the Masquerade - on May-Day Eve, Walpurgisnacht, people apply all sorts of masks and disguises and costumes, and crowd the streets with revelry till quite literally dawn. This is where your character should be at the start of the campaign. We will be running intro sessions. Stats: ****** No more than 18 CP spent in stats, and no individual stat over 7. Sleythin, being aliens, have different stat averages than humans: B: 6 average (No higher than 9) M: 4 average (No higher than 7) S: 2 average (No higher than 5) Both Shock Value and Psyche will be used. - Shock Value = (Health Points / 5) More info on page 73 of the BESM 2e book (Not Revised) - Psyche = (Mind + Soul) / 2 More info at http://www.silveragesentinels.com/pdfs/BESM_revisions.pdf Attributes / Defects: ********************* Characters recieve free: One level of the "Lifestyle" normal attribute. You may "sell" this attribute back for two CP, if you wish. This section is a bit long, but it covers all the disallowed stuff and all the stuff we've taken from other places and made up ourselves. Normal Attributes ----------------- Disallowed ----> * Flunkies Imported/New/Altered ---> * Kensei, Gun Bunny, Wang-Fu, etc are collected into one Attribute called Combat Technique. (1 CP/level) - Similar skills like Precise Stroke/Deadeye become one skill. - Any and all Kensei/Gun Bunny/Wang-Fu/etc. skills found elsewhere can be presented to the GMs for per-skill approval. * Contacts (1 CP/level) [from Otherworld] The character knows folks. They're not Servants or Flunkies; they're friends or acquaintances who are willing to do the PC a favor. This almost always takes the form of information; they can steer the PCs at bargains, share knowledge, and other help. They will, on occasion, help in terms of lodging or minor equipment, but never in combat or life-threatening situations. Levels in Contacts are often paired with levels of the Favors defect. - Effects: 2 minor contacts or one major contact per level. * Combat Mastery has been split into two attributes: Attack and Defense Combat Mastery. (ACM: 2 CP/level, DCM: 1 CP/level) - Attack adds +1 ACV/level, Defence adds +1 DCV/level. * Defensive Fighter (1 CP/level, 1 level only) [from Sky Pirates] This attribute indicates that the character has spent more time training in defense than offense. - Switch base ACV and DCV. The switch goes into effect BEFORE any ACM/DCM changes. * Aura of Smooth (1 CP/level, 1 level only) [from Sky Pirates] The character is very good at maintaining a cool, calm, affable demeanor, and in using this to their advantage. - Characters get a -2 bonus to social interaction skills involving deception, bargaining, and attempts to use Art of Distraction. * Lifestyle (2 CP/level) This attribute is meant to simulate earnings, a job, and all the little amenities you pick up as part of a, well, lifestyle. It also implies a general bank account balance. It is unique in that it has a 0th level, which you get by selling back your given level of Lifestyle. Note that if you wish, you can "live beneath your means" - take a high level, and live as if you had a lower level. This will increase your savings and spending money by about x2 for each level you live beneath. - Credits, monetary units, are abbreviated as "cr". - Level 0: You have no permanent residence. You might live in a box on the street, or pay for very cheap hotels per week. Accounts: Less than 1000cr. Spending money: 100cr per month. Level 1: You have a one-bedroom apartment and modest furnishings. Accounts: Between 1000cr and 5000cr. Spending money: 500cr per month. Level 2: You have a multi-bedroom apartment and more tasteful furnishings (no more wire-spool for a table!) Accounts: Between 5000cr and 10,000cr. Spending money: 1000cr per month. Level 3: You have a small house and decent furnishings. You have no yard to speak of. Accounts: Between 10,000cr and 50,000cr. Spending money: 5000cr per month. Level 4: You own a moderately large house and a yard with trees in it. Accounts: Between 50,000cr and 100,000cr. Spending money: 10,000cr per month. Level 5: You own a rather large house and probably a decent chunk of land. Your furnishings are likely top-class. Accounts: Between 100,000cr and 500,000cr. Spending money: 50,000cr per month. Level 6: You own a mansion, a corresponding estate, and all the trimmings and trappings contained therein (fine art, etc). Spending money: 100,000cr per month. * Mental Toughnening (1 CP/level) This attribute offers you a resistance to "Freaking Out" above what your Mind and Soul would usually indicate. - Each level adds 1 to your Psyche. Normal Defects -------------- Disallowed ---> * Red Tape Imported/New/Altered ---> * Inept Combat has been split into two defects: Inept Attack and Defense. (-1 CP/level) - Attack subtracts -1 ACV/level, Defence subtracts -1 DCV/level. * -Ism [from Otherworld] The character is a member of an ethnic, racial, philosophical, religious, or other minority that makes them less acceptable to common socitey. They are generally treated differently than other people and may also bring trouble to their friends and relatives. However, in the company of like people, -Isms can occasionally be a benefit. The standard BESM -ism is Ageism, which works exactly as it's presented in the 2nd ed book. +1 BP - The -ism is a minor thing. Feuding families, minor political disputes, and similar things which can cause trouble but usually not violence. Modern American racism would fit into this category, more or less. +2 penalty to interaction-related rolls with appropriate bigots. +2 BP - The -ism is a major issue. Think Southern racism in the segregation era, or major conflicts like the Irish religious terrorism. Characters must be careful with what they reveal or they might be in danger. The roll penalty increases to +4. * Favors [from Otherworld] The flip side of Contacts. A character that owes Favors has his 'marker' in the possession of some major NPC creditor. Unlike Owned By A (Noun), the character is not expected to follow orders from the people they owe on a daily basis, but if that marker is called in, the character is expected to perform the required service within reason at the earliest convenience. The repercussions of not doing so... could be mild, or quite severe, depending on the creditor. Favors will not be allowed without at least a good background description of the creditor and the favor. Favors does not represent monetary debt; that is better represented by Owned By A (Noun). +1 BP - The character owes an NPC either a handful of easy favors or favors where the consequence for ignorance is slight, or a major, difficult favor which is either difficult or carries serious consequences. +2 BP - The character owes either a number of major favors to one creditor, or a single major favor to a handful of creditors. Special Attributes ------------------ Special Attributes/Defects are all forbidden in ATC2. That said, there are four exceptions. 1) Characters with exosuits, HEXes, or lots of mechanical gizmos may take OBM to simulate them. You can use OBM to purchase (almost) any other special attribute. OBM restrictions and the limits on the capabilities of exos and HEXes can be found in < OBM.txt > 2) Twenty-Fours may purchase Special Attributes, but at different prices than the book. Twenty-Four pricing and restrictions can be found in < Twenty-Four.txt > 3) Cybernetics is simulated with the Cybernetics attribute. - Cybernetics is 4 CP/level, and each level gives you 8 OBM Pts to spend. - Naturally, what you can spend the OBM Points on is limited by a little common sense. - Things like PDAs in your eye, etc are Features. - TSM Headjacks come at no CP cost. 4) Splicing can provide you with two Special Attributes. - Features, at regular book pricing. - Natural Weapons, also at regular book pricing. * There are a few "universal" modifications to the Weapon Attack attribute. - Autofire counts as three Attributes. - Accurate is -2 each time it is taken. - New Attribute: Knockback A Knockback attack is particularly powerful, not necessarily in sheer damage, but in effect. The character hit by a Knockback attack must make a Body roll at -4 or be knocked back one meter for every 5 damage the attack does. The body check for this attribute recieves a +1 penalty for each 15 damage of the attack. - New Attribute: Counterattack This attack may be used to counter an incoming attack. Make a roll using DCV and Attack skill. If it defeats the incoming attack, you have successfully counterattacked, and damage the opponent with your counterattack. Counterattack counts as 2 attributes if you can use it only while on Full Defense, and 4 attributes if you can use it any time you are attacked. Note: This attribute will NOT allow a defense roll while on Full Attack. Special Defects --------------- Special Defect allowances are handled in the respective documents for OBM and Twenty-Fours. No special attributes are allowed otherwise. Skills ****** ATC2 will use the Cyberpunk skillset. We will be using the RSP-style combat skills, with some modifications for ranged weapons. Archery, Unarmed Combat, and Thrown Weapons are unchanged. Mecha Melee applies to HEXes only - exos are similar enough that they use normal combat skills. Improvisational weaponry is being handled in the way it's being used. If, for example, a character wants to pistol-whip somebody, it would fall under One- handed Bashing (Pistol). The changed combat skills are as follows, with some common specializations: **Melee** (4 SP/level) One-handed Pierce (Dagger, Shiv) One-handed Bash (Club, Two-By-Four, Nightstick) One-handed Edged (Knife, Energy-edged Blade) One-handed Flexible (Whip, Chain) Two-handed Pierce (HF Lance) Two-handed Bash (Staff, Large Club, Power-Hammer) Two-handed Edged (Scythe, HF Blade) Two-handed Flexible (Flail, FuNoodle) Mecha Melee (Any melee weapon) **Ranged** (5 SP/level) One-handed Light (Energy Pistol, Handgun < .40) One-handed Heavy (Maser, MiniGauss, Handgun > .40) Two-handed Light (Energy Rifle, Sniper Rifle) Two-handed Heavy (Railgun, Gauss Rifle, Assault Rifle) Mecha Light (Energy Weapons, Light Cannons) Mecha Heavy (Photon Cannon, Mini-missiles) Mecha Indirect (Missiles, Mortars, Launchers) **Defense** (5 SP/level) We are using a modification of the Otherworld system of defense. There are three defense skills, Dodge, Block, and Soak. Dodge is just that - dodging or avoiding an attack. Block is using a weapon to block (the specialty applies to the weapon you are using, not the one you are defending against). Soak is an attempt to either halve or completely eliminate the damage from an attack. You can use any one defense skill against any attack, but depending on what you're trying to defend against, it might not work so well (Block vs. Acid, for instance). In addition, you can take 2 Soak Defenses in one round (per normal defense, so if you have 2 defenses per round you can take 4 Soak defenses). You can only take two Soak, not mix and match. Defense: Dodge (Personal, HEX) Defense: Block (Any weapon) Defense: Soak (Personal, HEX) **Exo and HEX Skills** You will notice the specialties for the defense skills include options for HEXes, but not for exos. There is a reason for this. Exos, being light and quick and mentally controlled, do not require a skill to maneuver around. However, personal skills (like Acrobatics or the Personal specialization) will be required instead. HEXes, on the other hand, are manually controlled, and require separate specialties for dodging or soaking. For specialty moves using HEX, the skill "piloting" with a specialty for HEX will be used. **Linguistics** There are four main languages at use in the game. These are Earthese, Marsal, Spacer, and Sleythin. Earthese and Marsal are similar to each other, enough so that someone speaking one could understand the other, but if they were to discuss something complicated, they would be at a +2 to understand anything. The same holds true of Marsal and Spacer. It is impossible for someone speaking Earthese to understand Spacer, or vice versa. Sleythin is a very different language, and only native speakers or people educated in it can understand it. A lot of the old Earth languages do still exist, especially in Red South Africa, but they are never used very often. **Added Skills** * Area Knowledge. Spec: Any Area. (4/level) Knowledge of geography and people of an area. The more narrow the spec, the more specific the knowledge. * Etiquette. Specs: Lower, Middle, Upper Class. (3/level) How to be unoffensive. * Foreign Culture. Specs: Any Culture. (3/level) Knowledge of history, religion, ethics, and lifestyle of a foreign culture. * Street Sense. (4/level) Specs: (Region) Gang Activity, (Region) Influential Individuals, (Region) Territorial Divisions. Knowledge of street activity within a particular region or city. Backgrounds & Character Art/Themes ********************************** We will be offering up to 2 BP for a well-written background. "Well-written" means a good picture of the character, both physically and mentally, with an interesting story and lots of plot hooks for the GMs to play with. We do plan on doing a plot arc for each character, so plot hooks are a must. Using your background to flesh out and provide reasons for attributes and defects is another plus, and we'll be looking for it. If you can get a piece of character art completed, we will offer 1 BP for that as well, though not if you have already gotten 2 BP from your background. We also suggest each character have a theme (though you can pick this after the first few sessions if you need to). Additional Rules Changes ************************ For Twenty-Fours with telepathic powers, we will be using the TriStat dX version of Mind Combat. The combat mechanics are exactly the same as BESM 2e Revised, but implanting suggestions or thoughts into a submissive mind requires a successful Social Sciences(Psychology) rolls. As for healing, Characters recover their Body stat in HP per day (double with proper medical attention, halved without resting). Energy is recovered much like body, but at the rate of Soul + Mind (halved without resting. It naturally tends to recover faster than HP, but there's no skill to improve it). The Recurring Nightmares defect affects the rate you heal. At level one, the character must make a soul roll for each night of rest. If the roll fails, the nightmare occurs, and the character doesn't rest, halving his or her HP/EP recovery. At level two, the character doesn't get to roll, and the nightmare occurs automatically. Final Notes *********** - Make a character you'll have fun playing. Don't play the dark, angsty, tortured bishounen if you're going to hate the role. - Don't make a combat twink. While combat _will_ occur, it will be much rarer than actual interaction, and your character will get very bored with nothing to shoot. - If you've got an idea you're not sure about, run it by Yu or Cham first, and we can offer suggestions or preliminary rulings. - Also ask if you've just got a random question. - We will begin accepting characters on August 1st, and end on Sept 1st.