Characters
Updated 2017-12-30
The underlying system is the old New Jerusalem roll-under-skill, then cribbed from Runequest II, now informed by RQ’s modern, generic descendant Basic Roleplaying (BRP) and a nod to the BRP-based Dark Streets for 18th Century London.
Attributes
Roll 4d6, pick 3, for each of these in turn – you can count a roll four 6s as a 19, four 1s are 4.
(I’m assuming player characters are already a bit tougher, better stat-ed, than the average person, who starts with 3d6)
| Attribute | Domain | |
|---|---|---|
| Strength | Str | effective muscle |
| Intelligence | Int | focus’d thought; analysis; problem solving |
| Willpower | Pow | force of will; ‘luck’ |
| Constitution | Con | health; resilience |
| Dexterity | Dex | coordination; speed; nimbleness |
| Charisma | Cha | Attractiveness; authority; influence |
| Size | Siz | a rollup of height and weight |
From these make some derived attributes:
Hit Points
Hit points = (Constitution + Size) ÷ 2 [round UP]
Major wound level = Hit Points ÷ 2
— A character taking damage of half or more of their hit points in a single attack has taken a Major Wound; there will be extra consequences compared to losing half their hit points incrementally.
Damage Bonus
Add/subtract the Damage Bonus dice to any directly self-powered damage rolls inflicted with close combat or (halved) to hand thrown weapons. Does not apply to guns, crossbow, mechanical or more esoteric violence.
| Strength + Size |
Damage Bonus |
|---|---|
| 2–12 | -d6 |
| 13–16 | -d4 |
| 17–24 | none |
| 25–32 | +d4 |
| 33–40 | +d6 |
| 41–56 | +2d6 |
| 56–72 | +3d6 |
| each 16… | +1d6 |
(The higher ranges are included purely for reference…)
Description
- Name : What you answer to
- Nation : “An Englishman, by George!” is the default. Lesser nations are available.
- Gender : How you present. Male is the 18th Century default.
- Height & Weight : how the Size attribute is apportioned.
- Appearance : at first glance: colouration, attitude, quality and style of dress, etc.
- Age : pick an age: probably 20 to early 30s: 18 + 2d6 if you would rather roll.
If you want something out of the ordinary to have an effect in-game, consider to take an Aspect.
Aspects & Skills
- Aspects : describe important things about a character: their life, experience, what drives them, what is important to them, their history.
- Skills : are the character’s ability to do stuff; what sort of stuff tends to be defined by the Aspects.
You can take up to FOUR Aspects and for Skills roll TEN d10s for ‘previous experience’. Distribute the ten individual die results amongst your character’s Skills. You can assign most of the ten results on a single skill to the limit that you can’t improve if the skill passes 100%, or spread them around as you see fit.
For examples and discussion of how Aspects and Skills interact see the Aspects page.
For a list of skills see the Skills page.