Antente sample character

I decided that I will post an example/sample character for each of the races as I write them up. Currently GURPS 4th is my game of choice, so that is what I will be writing them up for (after rolling them randomly using SAFUG (for fun)).

So, here is an Antente character.

I rolled Zepherine up using my SAFUG system and then converted her to GURPS (I find it more fun to roll NPC’s randomly and then create the backstory for their attributes). I also used the old Central Casting: Heroes of Legend book to generate her background (again, I like being surprised as the GM). The lower Speed and the Ham-Fisted disad were taken to simulate the fact that her whole body agility is greater than her fine motor skills (per the SAFUG rolls).

Zepherine was born into a very poor family, the third of ten children. Her father, Henri, made a bare living as a wood cutter, clearing land for other poor farmers. By the time she was five she had started helping out and by the time she was a teen she was at home in the woods and supplementing the family income by poaching in the royal game reserves.

When she was 12 she began selling poached venison to a local crime boss who was so impressed with her avarice and pluck that he introduced her to a criminal colleague by the name of Jacque Un Oeil. Jacque was a smuggler and sometime pirate who operated in the main port of Mandelemer. She worked for Jacque on a pirate ship for a year, sailing all along the coast and looting foreign merchant ships.

When traveling home to show off how well she was doing to her siblings and parents she was arrested for her association with a known pirate and being a probable smuggler. After several weeks of fairly mild torture she still did not confess anything and her situation came to the attention of the Comtesse Fanchette DuBois who owned the land that Zepherine had grown up on. She admired the girl’s willpower and loyalty to her bosses and decided that she would be a useful pawn in the daily intrigues that bubbled around Reine Anais XIII’s court.

Comtesse DuBois who was 76 was surprised that she enjoyed the company of Zepherine, who she was pleased to learn was intelligent and perceptive. Thus began an unusual friendship that continues to this day. The Comtesse taught Zepherine to comport herself amongst aristocrats (somewhat) and also instructed her in theology. When Zepherine was 16 she was given a ring bearing the Comtesse’s seal and a letter explaining that she was to be treated as a landowner. Even though this is largely symbolic, Zepherine is extremely proud of her semi-landed status and is extremely careful of the letter and ring.

During her continued exploits as a low-level pirate she met and befriended a Treori (think faun) circus performer named Short-horn the Juggler. She and Short-horn spent a lot of time carousing and getting into small scale adventures while she traveled with the circus. She and Short-horn remain friends and try to get in contact whenever possible.

Zepherine is impulsive, greedy and somewhat thoughtless, but has a good heart when you get past her tough exterior. She is not a stand-up fighter and prefers ambushing and then taking prisoners when possible. She spends her money as fast as she makes it and always seems to be broke. She would make a viable PC, but her lack of real armor could make it tough in a combat heavy campaign.

Zepherine la Puce (the Flea)
20 year old Antente female

ST : 10 HP: 10 Speed: 6.00 [-5]

DX: 14 [80] Will: 13 [10] Move: 6

IQ: 11 [20] Per: 13 [10] Height & Weight: 5’7” 130 lbs.

HT: 11 [10] FP: 11 SM: 0

Dodge: 9 Parry: 10

Social Background
TL: 3 [0]
Cultural Familiarities: Antente (Native) [0].
Languages: Ahngli (Accented/None) [2]; Lan (Broken/None) [1]; Wansi (Native/None) [0].
The Ahngli she learned from her Treori friend and Lan is a sort of lingua franca in seafaring regions.

Advantages [29]

Ally (Short-horn the Juggler) (75% of starting points) (6 or less) [2], Appearance (Beautiful) [12], Patrons (Comtesse Fanchette DuBois) (6 or less; Special Abilities: extensive social or political power) [8], Status (+1) (Gadget/Can Be Stolen: Thief must win a Quick Contest of DX or ST) [4]

Disadvantages [-60]

Duty (Comtesse DuBois) (6 or less (quite rarely)) [-2], Greed (12 or less) [-15], Ham-Fisted (-1) [-5], Impulsiveness (12 or less) [-10], Overconfidence (15 or less) [-2], Selfish (15 or less) [-2], Sense of Duty (Comtesse DuBois) (Individual) [-2], Sense of Duty (Short-horn the Juggler) (Individual) [-2], Social Stigma (Criminal Record) [-5], Wealth (Poor) [-15]

Quirks [-3]

Easily Frustrated [-1], Proud (of status) [-1], Romantic [-1], Shows off with her foreign cutlass [-1]

Skills [59]

Area Knowledge (Coast of Bradelemar) IQ/E – IQ+0 11 [1], Area Knowledge (Local woodlands) IQ/E – IQ+2 13 [4], Armoury/TL3 (Bowyer/Fletcher) IQ/A – IQ+0 11 [2], Axe/Mace DX/A – DX+0 14 [2], Bow DX/A – DX+0 14 [2], Brawling DX/E – DX+2 16 [4], Carousing HT/E – HT+1 12 [2], Climbing DX/A – DX+0 14 [2], Fast-Talk IQ/A – IQ+1 12 [4], Holdout IQ/A – IQ-1 10 [1], Knife DX/E – DX+2 16 [4], Knot-Tying DX/E – DX-3 11 [1], includes: -3 from ‘Ham-Fisted’, Naturalist (Domibia) IQ/H – IQ-1 10 [2], Navigation/TL3 (Land) IQ/A – IQ+0 11 [2], Professional Skill (Wood Cutter) IQ/E – IQ+1 12 [2], Running HT/A – HT+0 11 [2], Savoir-Faire (High Society) IQ/E – IQ+0 11 [1], Seamanship/TL3 IQ/E – IQ+1 12 [2], Shortsword DX/A – DX+0 14 [2], Stealth DX/A – DX+1 15 [4], Streetwise IQ/A – IQ+1 12 [4], Survival (Woodlands) Per/A – Per+1 14 [4], Theology (Riante) IQ/H – IQ-2 9 [1], Thrown Weapon (Knife) DX/E – DX+0 14 [1], Urban Survival Per/A – Per+0 13 [2], Wrestling DX/A – DX+0 14 [2]

Stats [125] Ads [29] Disads [-60] Quirks [-3] Skills [59] = Total [150]

Hand Weapons

1 Cutlass $500 Wgt:2
Swing Dam:1d cut Reach:1 Parry:10 ST:8
Thrust Dam:1d-1 imp Reach:1 Parry:10 ST:8
Hilt punch Dam:1d-2 cr Reach:C Parry:11 ST: Skill: Brawling

1 Dagger $20 Wgt:.25
Dam:1d-3 imp Reach:C Parry:10 ST:5

1 Hatchet $40 Wgt:2
Dam:1d cut Reach:1 Parry:10 ST:8

1 Small Knife $30 Wgt:.5
Swing Dam:1d-3 cut Reach:C, 1 Parry:10 ST:5
Thrust Dam:1d-3 imp Reach:C Parry:10 ST:5

Ranged Weapons

1 Dagger Dam:1d-3 imp Acc:0 Range:5 / 10
RoF:1 Shots:T(1) ST:5 Bulk:-1 Rcl:- $20 Wgt:.25

1 Hatchet Dam:1d cut Acc:1 Range:15 / 25
RoF:1 Shots:T(1) ST:8 Bulk:-2 Rcl:- $40 Wgt:2

1 Short Bow (ST 10) Dam:1d-2 imp Acc:1 Range:150 / 200
RoF:1 Shots:1(2) ST:7† Bulk:-6 Rcl:- $50 Wgt:1.5 Notes:[3]

1 Small Knife Dam:1d-3 imp Acc:0 Range:5 / 10
RoF:1 Shots:T(1) ST:5 Bulk:-1 Rcl:- $30 Wgt:.5

Armor & Possessions

10 Arrow $20 Wgt:1 Location: Quiver
1 Boots, Light Leather $50 Wgt:1.5 Location: Feet
1 Leather, Light (Torso) $180 Wgt:3.3 Location: Torso
1 Ordinary Clothes (Status +0) $120 Wgt:2 Location: Body
1 Shoulder Quiver $30 Wgt:1.5 Location: Shoulder

Body types

This is just a quickie post to touch on racial body types (Ectomorph, Mesomorph or “medium”), which I call Light, Medium and Heavy (I am fairly certain that this idea was used in Stormbringer way back in the day).

Effects of Body Type
Light: Max STR = SIZ+1
Medium: Max STR = SIZ+3
Heavy: Max STR = SIZ+5

Any STR over the max must be “paid” for with and equal amount of DEX, AGL, SPD or HLT.
If rolled STR is over the max, you may lower it and add a like amount to any of the above attributes.

In this way the character’s body type limits their Strength. Even if this seems too fiddly for use, it is still worth knowing what the usual body type of a particular race is.

Use a percentage roll to determine the individual’s body type.
For instance, the Antente have the following distribution:
Body Type:
1-75 Light
76-99 Medium
00 Heavy

My first racial write-up

Ok, before we get started, I want to explain my use of the term “race”. I realize that it is no longer really used in anthropological texts, however, each of the races on Domibia were literally created by their god or goddess about 1000 years prior to the current setting of the game. So, in addition to the dictionary definition “a group of tribes or peoples forming an ethnic lineage” there is also a real “differentness” to each of the races even though many can interbreed with no difficulty. I also have different attribute modifiers for female and male members of certain races where sexual dimorphism is more noticeable. This can be ignored if you don’t feel it necessary, but it should be at least used for NPC’s.

So, that said, here is my first racial write-up.

I decided to start off with one of the less difficult races to sort of get my toes wet with how I want to present this.

The Antente

The Antenté are a culture devoted to beauty and entertainment. Unfortunately only the aristocracy has the time and money available to fully enjoy this way of life.

Society is highly stratified, with only a small chance of upward mobility. At the top are the nobility who are a hereditary class and who own the bulk of the land and money. There is a small middle class, which is made up of civil servants, skilled artisans, athletes, artists and merchants. Members of the middle class can live quite comfortably; but theirs is not a hereditary position. This simply means that the mayor of a small town will not pass this title on to his son. The bulk of the population is farmers, with craftsmen and small business owners making up the rest of the population.

Their diety is named Rianté
Their language is called Wansi and the analog is archaic French.

What does that even mean, you may ask. As I mentioned earlier, I am not up to the task of creating dozens of fictional languages so I use analogs so that players and GM’s have a guide to naming characters and NPC’s. In the case of “archaic French” just use slightly more flowery language of the type you would use for English aristocracy during the 1700’s (and assume it is in French/Wansi).

They average 5’7″ & 130 lbs. They have fair to olive skin and tend to be fair-haired. Their eyes are light or dark depending on skin tone. Olive skinned individuals usually have dark eyes, while light skinned individuals have green or bluish eyes.

Here are their attributes in SAFUG to use as a benchmark:

STR   10
SIZ     11  1d4+1d3+7
HLT   10
AGL  10
DEX  10
SPD  10
INT    10
ESS  10
SAN  10
PER  10
WILL 10
LUCK 10
EDU    5  1d6+2
APP   12  +1d4
CHA   10

SIZ tells us that they have an average SIZ of 11 which puts them in the range for 5’7″ and 130 lbs.
The Education attribute is biased towards modern characters (like the attribute of the same name in Call of Cthulhu). The lower than normal EDU is more a representation of a lack of interest in intellectual pursuits than in a lack of brainpower. Since many important skills, such as architecture and medicine, require education, those who are inclined towards such professions are well paid by the aristocracy.
The Antenté are genetically more likely to be attractive (by human standards) than the norm because their deity prefers attractive people.

In GURPS there isn’t a large amount that needs to be done. All four attributes (ST, DX, IQ & HT) are all default human 10’s, as are the secondary characteristics. So in GURPS terms here is what we have

Antenté               

Advantages: Attractive [4]

Disadvantages: Illiterate [-3]

For a grand total of 1 point for the racial package.

For Savage Worlds it is a little more involved.
Being Illiterate is a Minor Hindrance, that is fairly straightforward. The Attractive Edge seems like it represents a more attractive person than just the bump of +2 (average on the SAFUG +1d4). So I am not sure that I would grant every member of the race the Attractive Edge. Then again, if you wanted to play a plainer Antenté you could simply forgo the Edge and use the point elsewhere.

Enter SAFUG

Since my goal here is to work on redefining the racial write-ups for Domibia, it would help to have a benchmark system that all others could be based off of.

Enter SAFUG (Some All F**ked Up Game). This was my own hyper-detailed amalgam of GURPS and Runequest that I ran for a while before realizing it was too difficult to make up NPC’s using it. There are 16 attributes and 11 skill categories (based off averages of several attributes). Now, I am not advocating using SAFUG to run a game, but what it is useful for is that it makes a dandy benchmark system. There are many attributes so granularity can be fine-tuned for the system that you are using. The SAFUG attributes are base 3d6 ala Runequest or D20, with the human norm being 10 and 3 & 18 being the extremes. In GURPS 10 is still average, but the extremes are closer to the norm (a 15 ST in GURPS is an extremely strong character, while a 15 STR in RQ is just a strong guy).
Anyways..

I am going to be using my original SAFUG attributes for the different races as benchmarks for my redoing of their stats.
There are:
Strength, Size and Health
Agility, Dexterity and Speed
Intellect, Essence and Sanity
Perception, Willpower and Luck
Education, Appearance and Charisma
As I said, the default roll for each is 3d6 with racial modifiers for each given as additional dice or a different roll (such as the SIZ in my example being rolled with 2d4+15). I tried creating believable and realistic (realistic for a fantasy game) modifiers for the different races.Below is an example of a SAFUG template. In this case for a feral version of the Arayje (these would be the abandoned members of their people who no longer even remember that their race built the ruins that they still protect).
The Advantages and Disadvantages are pretty standard GURPS

Anyways, I will be using SAFUG as a benchmark system and I thought I should introduce it as such.