A Continent of Banalities

It's the LAST DAY of the challenge! I'll miss it. This is a character for the German rpg Heist. It is more GTA than Ocean's 11. I am still learning the system. Werner grew up in the Hausbruch neighborhood of Hamburg, and never really liked school. There was a lot of that going around, and some kids relieved the boredom by bullying young Werner. He was neither thin-skinned nor particularly violent, but he got into many fights and finished all of them. That got him thrown out on his ear. Werner got a job with a demolition company and, through one of the older guys, a membership in a boxing studio. His rise as a pugilist was slow and steady, but somewhere down the line it became his job. Werner won several fights simply by keeping standing. He wasn’t a knock-out punch kind of fighter, but he never went down. In the end that was what sealed his fate. After simply forgetting about a sparring match, and noticing an occasional tremor in his arms, Werner went to see a doctor. This ...

  Today's character is based on a poem and an illustration. It delights and mystifies me. I also think it would be good as a crossover thrash song. We're back to using KillSector by the way. It's very fun. BOJ What a mystery is Boj! Some people believe that the teetering pug-monster is the literal lap dog of their religion’s king of the underworld/ personification of evil. A small but vocal group of esoteric revolutionaries claim that Boj is an aggregate thought-form, created by the resentment and rage of wage-slaves everywhere. As evidence they point out that “Boj” is “job” spelled backward.  Whatever Boj’s true nature, it always appears to take part in FunWar. It has been shot, crushed, pulse-beamed, teleported into the Rudyard Theta Lava Surge Barrier, suplexed by MechMeister Mike, and even nuked.  Boj has never won, but it always shows up to the next FunWar, crackling like the wig of a judge.  Player Character Vitals 480 HP / 20 EVA / 8 SPD / 0 HAND Reach / 0 / N...

 “Senestra! Don’t talk to me about the woman. Her insolence alone is grounds for expulsion from our ranks. Her ill-considered use of Archive funds is criminal! ”. Councilwoman Demen “She seems very good at what she does. She also seems to be out to prove herself, which can be a dangerous thing. Trying to perform to an audience not present often leads to a fall.” Ollivander Shade “If more librarians were like her, the Archive would be a better institution. If ALL the librarians were like her, there’d be a civil war every other day. Hehe”. Astron Sweete “I have seen her face down a contubernium of Archive guards AND my mother. Yllian has the heart of a lion”. Arviaa Fernadorm “Senestra still hasn’t returned “The Chasm in Symbolism and Fact”, and it hasn’t even been copied. I despair of ever seeing it safe on its shelf”. Senior Librarian Kospol Name: Yllian Senestra Role: The Paragon Die: D4 Hearts: 4 Stars: 4 Class: The Haunted Librarian Aspect: Sorcery Drive: To seek out and create ...

 Two Mazes characters! A bravo and a bugbear.  To: Senior Librarian Jakobus Tavs, Reader for the Council of Librarians From: Field Loremistress Yllian Senestra Re: Arviaa Fernadorn 20th Westaway, 91 PC With the last members of our expedition safely arrived, we are all but ready to set forth. The inclinometers are difficult to store safely, and we are still working on a satisfactory solution.  Arviaa Fernadorm and her companion arrived today. The young Ms. Fernadorm has certainly grown since last I saw her at the Council autumn fete. She has, she informs me at every opportunity, taken an interest in swordplay. This is clearly no passing fancy, as Mr. Wollf has sparred with her twice, declaring her style “impressive”.  The somewhat shy young woman I knew seems to have gone through quite a transformation, and Ms. Fernadorm is, in fact, the very embodiment of the city ‘bravo’ who enters into brawls or even duels at the drop of a wine-cup. I have privately let her know th...

To: Senior Librarian Jakobus Tavs, Reader for the Council of Librarians From: Field Loremistress Yllian Senestra Re: Astron Sweete 17th Westaway, 91 PC Honored council members, I have a confession to make. I have required a specialist of my own. I am talking about Astron Sweete, itinerant folklorist and explorer. Astron Sweete, gentleman vagabond. Astron Sweete, whom you banished from our capital and our ranks. I am sure this will anger some of you, but I see my first duty as being to knowledge, and my second to this expedition. The sitting council, all respect due to it, is a third. My apologies.  Astron arrived today, and he is much as You remember him. Wrinkles have added to wrinkles on his face, but he is the same clear-sighted and enthusiastic man he was ten years ago, as much as that is possible. The scar from Councilwoman Estra’s cane has faded, but not disappeared.  Astron entertained us all with myths and folklore learned from the northside Slopers. Even Mr. Shade lis...

To: Senior Librarian Jakobus Tavs, Reader for the Council of Librarians From: Field Loremistress Yllian Senestra Re: Wulff Castor 15th Westaway, 91 PC Twice the esteemed maze expert Ollivander Shade has woken the camp by screaming in his sleep. My tent is adjacent to his, and I often hear his frantic mumblings about “eyes in the vents” and “the churning hunger”. When I question him, he grows uncharacteristically taciturn. We all have our ghosts, but I fear that his might cause an avalanche.  Yesterday the security detail arrived. Castor Wollf, an old man. Even in his armor I cannot help but think him delicate. I have spoken with him, and age has come with experience. Mr. Wolf strikes me as alert and quick of mind. He is intellectually curious, something which often recedes with age. I do however feel a nagging concern about Mr. Wolf’s physical resilience.  Mr. Wollf has, by way of introduction, told me tales about guarding caravans against brigands and pit-beasts, and about be...

 (aaa! i'm behind!) To: Senior Librarian Jakobus Tavs, Reader for the Council of Librarians From: Field Loremistress Yllian Senestra Re: Ollivander Shade 11th Westaway, 91 Post Calamity Among my many duties is giving my “frank and forthright assessment” of the specialists and security staff the Council has seen fit to send me. In order to fit this task in between my scholarly work and checking cargo manifest, I have decided to assess these traveling companions as they arrive. Ollivander Shade arrived at dusk on 10th Westaway. I suppose that it is to his credit that no one took notice of him as he entered camp. This is doubly surprising as he favors an ancient blue uniform, complete with high collar, silver epaulets, and a faded pink cockade on the chest. He cuts quite the dashing figure. I found him as he was trying on the sand suits, having opened the crate with uncanny silence. I was in the middle of cursing him for a thief, when he shoved his letter of introduction in my face. M...

 A demi-god character for ARC Doom.  Sehrbaz is chained at the bottom of the ocean, but he is nothing if not irrepressible. Whenever there is a great feast, children set some food aside, in case Sehrbaz makes an appearance and brings them wonders. Once the world was a drab place, gray and with little joy. The only god who took interest in humanity was Trickster. Perhaps the other gods had grown weary of Trickster, and that was why he delighted himself with pulling cruel jokes on humanity. Once he tricked a young fool into letting himself be buried in the earth. That way he would sprout and grow offspring like fruit, Trickster claimed. Sehrbaz was the one who found the fool, weeping through mouthfuls of dirt. “If Trickster is here” Sehrbaz mused “who is guarding his house and riches?” He convinced some children to dress themselves in leaves and go pretend that they were the buried fools' offspring. While they distracted Trickster it was easy for Sehrbaz to sneak up to Trickster...

Here is Jacob, a second character for Strange Endeavors, my horror lifepath rpg, based on Cepheus and Enoch's Wake. If you are interested in how the character is made, I go through the process below.  Jacob Severn grew up on a horse ranch outside of Marshalltown, Iowa. It was not a booming business, but his parents had the money to send him to college. Jacob did well, even if studying finance sometimes took a backseat to socializing in the frat. That was where Jacob met  Sean LeFevre from Spokane. The two are friends until this day, even if the relationship has seen some strain lately.  Jacob failed to even start a career in finance, despite going quite well in college. Biding his time he took a job at a carpenter specializing in “bespoke stable solutions”. He was a fast learner, and could see himself working with his hands like this for the rest of his life. Then the company had to downsize, and he fell for the old first in - first out.  Severely pissed off at life,...

  Aah! I'm running slightly behind, and I didn't make another lifepath character. Here is a tough out of work utility worker for Hard City instead. It's a noir game, and the standard setting is the US in 1946. I've decided to make a character for the 90s instead. You like a challenge. Maybe a bit too much, but it never seems that way at the time. It just feels good to put everything on the line and pull it off. You’ve fixed power lines in the aftermath of a hurricane, strung new phase wires to a pole top transformer as a rainstorm broke out, welded in a crawlspace while trading insults with the volatile and armed homeowner. It’s a cliché, but it makes you feel alive. That last one got you fired though. Turns out this guy with his gun and six teeth to his name could turn on a dime and be an absolute Karen on the phone to the boss. Turned out they knew each other from high school. Fuck ‘em. Link to character sheet:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pa-vb8Npd2Jcm0n9Q68NyFF...

Today I’m making the first character for Strange Endeavors, a hack of Cepheus and Enoch’s Wake I've made. Traveller(ish) life path but for horror/conspiracy games. I'll go into how character creation works with this system.  For the first character I’m using the “Straight on into the Darkness” method, which is fast and gives you a young character with a solid hook.  Step one is rolling 2d6 for each of the four stats. Endurance: Your character's physical ability to continue despite injury and exhaustion. Serves as hit points in action scenes. I roll a 6. A bit low, but not tragically so. Luck: Intuition and good fortune. I roll a whopping 11! Resources: A combination of standing and cash-on-hand. I roll 10. I’m starting to see this character as a silver-spoony kind of person. Willpower: Your self-possession, self-control, and your ability to control arcane energies. Certain psychic attacks or energies damage Willpower. A 6.  Step two is picking a starting Boon. I choose ba...

The last A Crucible For Silver character (for now). Ravidi Ashbrewer Background: Mendicant Class: Hierophant (1) I was chosen for holy toil from my first breath. We were poor in material things, but rich in spirit. As an infant my mother bathed me in a sacred river, and I emerged free from sin. As such it is my lot to beg my way through life and spread the holy word to the furthest reaches of the world.  No home or family can be mine, for the whole world is my home, and every person my family. And those that truly love me in return give me the meager provisions I require. Like this stew.  At times like these I recall the words of Blessed Ronkor Seven Barrels: “I take the shape of the vessel into which I’m poured. Pour me only into the crystal of Spirit and I shall co… what? In answer to your question, captain, no I can't gather firewood. These hands are cleansed by the Most High! Now I must perform my postprandial meditation…  STR 11 DEX 11 WIL 14 HP 3 Defense +1d4 (armor...