Uber or Goober
By Cape Rust
Now that we have hit the character creation landing zone, let’s ask what we will use as the party template. What kind of characters are we going to make? Will those characters be Uber or Goober? It is important to figure out what roles, if any, need to be filled before we start making our characters.
Dungeons & Dragons set the stage for what some call the “party template.” This consisted of a fighter, a healer, a thief and a spell caster. With the introduction of the 4th edition, they stuck with the party template but modified it to roles like controller and skirmisher. What ever you want to call it, having certain characters in the party that bring in a diversified skill set can make things much easier. Part of this decision is left up to the GM. My current GM Josh, aka “The Evil Gazebo GM,” will let us know that if we are missing, say, a healer, he will provide one for us. It might cost us, but healing will be there in some form. At other times, my group has been told you are going to need at least a healer and a few folks who can do some serious damage. In the latter example, the players still have choices on the fighting side. They can play one of many classes designed to deal out damage. As a GM, I have used the need for a party template to encourage my players to try a new class or at least to put a few dots in a skill they don’t normally look at.
Some games lend themselves to creating certain types of characters, while in others it doesn’t really matter. There are generally no new ideas when it comes to character creation. You might have never seen it, (like my idea of having all of the characters meet in a tavern and get approached by a mysterious stranger idea from my last article…) but it has been done. I often look to history, literature, and Hollywood to get character ideas. Here is the catch to using those sources: don’t steal the entire idea, just take some aspects from the character. Let’s take an iconic character like Indiana Jones. He is, in fact, a he, a history professor, an archeologist, wears a fedora and a leather jacket, uses a whip, a pistol, has a bit of a sordid past, can read some accent languages, has daddy issues, and hates snakes. There is quite a bit more to Dr. Jones than my little list but this gives us a good baseline.
Now that we have our baseline, let’s build our new character for a Steampunk-themed game. Let’s drop the daddy issues right away because it has been overdone. Sordid past is an easy choice, but it adds quite a bit of flavor to this character. Let’s see… whips and guns. Sounds kinky! Actually, looking at Steampunk setting, there will be plenty of guns, but because Steampunk is based on overcomplicating simple items, the whip is starting to look really cool. Indiana Jones is a professor of archeology. Let’s keep the professor part but change archaeology to steam technology… no, that would kind of make this character lean towards mad scientist (which might be what you want to play). This might be a good time to contact the person who is running the game to find out what academic discipline might work well in the game. This gives the Game Master some tools to work with and might create a great story arc. So, after a bit of discussion, the GM suggests that a professor of Military Science would fit best into this game. Cool! That could play well into that sordid past, is cool, and allows the character to maintain the ability to go out into the “field”. Indiana has some trademark clothing, but instead of the fedora or leather jacket, let’s go for a pair of boots. Because I’m from Texas, we will say they are a pair of cowboy boots worn by his grandfather and father. Because this is Steampunk, they might have a special quality, or they could just be made from the skin of an exotic or rare animal that the character’s grandfather shot. Finally, the fear of snakes is a good bit to flesh out the character and some game systems will give you bonuses or advantages for being afraid of something. I played a troll in Shadowrun who was deathly afraid of children and it was hilarious! Of course, the guy running the game made me pay for that choice. We had to neutralize a group of bad guys who had taken over a preschool in one of the arcologoies. Then to rub it in, he made the main villain a little girl and for the record, she was creepy as hell. For this example why don’t we make our hero afraid of airships. Zeppelins, Blimps or Bi-planes. If it flies, he hates them.
So from our favorite fedora clad adventurer we have created a playable character who most people would have a hard time associating with Dr. Jones. I like using this approach because it lets me steal some good ideas without creating a clone. So here we have this great idea for a character, but how do we roll him. How many points does he get?
This is where we get Uber or Goober! Most of the time, the rolling or point allocation is up to the GM, but it is always fun to discuss this with the group. If you are going to run a high powered game, it is always better for the player to give them more points to spend on stats or more dice to roll. Some people choose the type of character they are going to play based on their stats. I have been in and run games where the characters started out as either children or totally normal people. These types of games always seem to be more fun right after you have just finished a year long campaign where you killed a few gods then ascended yourself. As a GM, the amount of points you allocate to your players says quite a bit about the type of game you are going to run and just how heroic you want the characters. GMs, when it comes time to figure out how players will roll or how many build points they will get, remember the rule of fun. If giving the players an extra feat or a few extra build points makes them happy, do it! If you can’t adjust your game to keep things interesting, you might want to step back and let someone else run the next game.
Determine if there needs to be a party template or at least a few roles that need to be filled, develop character concepts, and finally, choose how powerful the characters are going to be, take all of this information, and incorporate it into your adventure. As a GM, character creation has given me some of my best ideas. I’m already thinking of a story about our cowboy boot wearing, whip wielding, afraid of aircraft, professor’s grandfather!