Great White Games/Pinnacle Entertainment Group

[DGMiller]

Hey everyone! Getting ready to start a new SW game in a few weeks and I want to do something a little different with character creation. It's going to be a modern horror game (don't want to give out to much more in case any of my players are reading, but I will say they will be starting on a cruise ship...) and I want the players to start character creation by coming up with the non-statistical side of their characters first.

I want things like the character's career/profession, family/attachments, and other things about who they are to come before their skills and attributes.

I also plan on using the Values inspired by FATE and written out by Emiricol, but I'm also looking for something else...

I'm looking to create or find a series of simple questions, no more than 20, to accomplish this task. Things like:

What is your name?
What is your career/job? Did you have any previous careers other than your current one?
Describe your immediate family.

That is about where I'm stuck. I don't want it to be too long, but I want to get the essentials to drive character reactions/development when the stuff hits the fan. I also don't want the questions to be so esoteric as to be useless.

I am open to suggestions. Most of the character surveys I have are either 100+ questions and/or geared towards fantasy gaming.

Also, for frame of reference, I have about 30 years GMing experience but only about 3 months of experience with Savage Worlds. My background is D20 with a minor in World of Darkness (and a liberal dusting of "indie" rpg's) and a specialization in horror gaming, if any of that matters.

I'm trying to help my players "get inside" the characters, as I am not telling them anything about the game other than:
1. Modern sci-fi/horror (H/T to Jordan Peacock)
2. The characters are "average Joe Normals."
3. They're starting on a cruise ship.

Your assistance and suggestions are greatly appreciated!

[mongo]

Hi,

I always ask for a written character background from my players. I try to use these backgrounds not only to understand the character, but also to help flesh out the campaign world.

I ask the players to explain their PC's Hindrances, Edges, and high Skills. Hopefully, their mechanical build makes sense with the campaign world background.

I also ask for a Friend, a Foe, and a Location. These things tie the character to the game world, and I will use them at some point.

I usually provide one Friend or Foe that they are required to know. This helps give all of the PCs a reason to be together for the first adventure.

Finally, I ask for character goals. These are also things that will be used during the campaign. This puts the PCs in the drivers seat. Hopefully, they will be self motivated to find adventure.

Here is a copy and paste of part of the document I send to the players about character creation. It's customized for the upcoming Day After Ragnarok campaign that we will soon be undertaking.

***
Written Character Background

Feel free to pick any type of background you wish. You might be a Viking warrior trapped in ice for 1,000 years. You've recently been unfrozen and your journeys have led you to Indianapolis. You could be a Native American medicine man from the Miami nation near scenic Peru, Indiana.

Remember that World War Two was being fought just over three years ago. You might be a veteran of the Big One. Maybe you were a German POW who has gained his freedom. Now, you're a stranger in a strange land.

In addition to any biographical information, your character background should explain the Hindrances, Edges, and Skills that your character has. For example, if you have the Berserk and Assassin Edges, you should explain why your character has such an unusual combo. If English is not your native language, then explain when/where/how you learned it.

Your background must mention one Friend: a man named Sam Smith. Sam is a teamster who has led several convoys on runs throughout the Poisoned Lands. Sam unfortunately dies in the opening scene of the campaign, so don't get too attached to him.

Your background needs to name one more Friend.

Your background needs to name one Foe. This is DAR so be creative.

Your background needs to mention one location.

Your background needs to list three character goals.
***

mongo

[Wibbs]

Based on your hints I beleive I just happen to be running the same campaign as you.

Advice I would offer...
- Specify that all PCs are passengers and cannot be crew on the ship. I did not do this, and ran into significant difficulties in the first 3 or 4 weeks trying to get the group to stay together.
- Make it clear that PCs are allowed to have other dependents/family on the boat with them. The reason this needs spelling out is that I believe a lot of gamers make the assumption that they can't thinking the rules/GM won't be able to handle it. In fact, this particular campaign encourages it.
- As players will take a while to get used to their characters, it might not be necessary to have decided everything right at the start. Give them the space to feel their way a little with specific details if they need it.
- If you have a group that you think this will work with, try taking breathers and asking them to describe what their characters are thinking at suitable points.

Wibbs

[Slugsabi]

Positive life defining moment
Negative life defining moment
Personal strengths
Personal weakness
Goals: immediate, medium (3-5 yr) and life time

Should be enough to go by methinks and should suggest a degree of skills, edges and hinderences.

Good luck with the game, I intend to run that post The Flood and like your idea of character generation.

[DGMiller]

Thanks Mongo! I usually offer some benefit to the players for posting their backgrounds on the campaign website. Some of these questions give me some ideas. I'm just looking for something simpler for them... easy questions about who they are. Just the essentials.

Thanks Wibbs! I believe I am going to be running the same thing you're running. You've been a huge help already without knowing it. Your suggestions are exactly what I'm going for. I am just looking for the questions that will give me those things right from the beginning. I'm thinking of a question like "Why did you choose to go on a cruise/What are you celebrating? Who did you bring with you?" Something along those lines.

[DGMiller]

[Snate56]

There are times when I can ramble on for pages about my character but when required to come up with something on the spot I draw a complete blank! So keep it simple.
Also, when encouraging people to make up loved ones to include and you as GM know they are going to be thrust into dire straights think about how tough their decisions are going to be. I have known people who have stopped playing because a situation struck a little too close to home.
Enough hand-wringing, good luck with your game!



SteveN
_________________
"We've got a blind date with destiny... and it looks like she's ordered the lobster." <The Shoveller>

[DGMiller]

[Snate56]

Yeah, I remember that! I was trying to remember where I'd seen it.



SteveN
_________________
"We've got a blind date with destiny... and it looks like she's ordered the lobster." <The Shoveller>

[The Stray]

I have a "Ten-Minute Background" that I use for my games. It goes like this:

Step 1: Write 5 things about your character's background. These can be sentences or paragraphs as you like. 5 is a minimum--you can always expand.

Step 2: Write down 2 Character Goals. One should be short term, one should be long term.

Step 3: Write down 2 secrets about your character. One is a secret your character knows, one is a secret about your character which he doesn't know. The GM may add a third secret.

Step 4: Write down 3 relationships your character has. 2 of these people are friendly (or at least willing to provide aid from time to time). 1 of these people is hostile: an enemy, a rival, etc.

Step 5: Miscellaneous. This is where you put down any campaign-specific questions you have. For instance, I use this as the Worst Nightmare question when playing Deadlands. If nothing campaign-specific works, then this can be additional facts about the character that didn't' fit anywhere else.
_________________
When the Cat's a Stray, the Mice will Pray

[DGMiller]

Very nice, Stray!

[The Stray]

Thanks. It's one of those things that served me well. I based it on the Minimus RPG system by Ad Astra Games, which uses this as the basis of it's character gen system. I adapted it into something workable for any RPG.
_________________
When the Cat's a Stray, the Mice will Pray