Character Creation

Introduction

In CRISIS!, you play a superhero, a supervillain, or even just someone with great skills and abilities. You might have super strength, the ability to turn objects into something else, or the ability to control a certain animal. If you can think of it (and it's not on the banned powers list), then you can probably play it. If you can't figure out how to make a character that has the powers you want, email the GMs.

You can think of your character as having two parts. The mechanics (i.e. your purchased Skills, Tropes, and Powers) define what mechanical effects your character can achieve during the game. The flavour (i.e. your character's backstory, the description of their powers, their appearance, their goals) will guide how your character acts during the game, and how your actions actually play out. Generally, if a flavour element of your character is not supported by mechanics, it will neither help nor hinder you during the game. For example, if your backstory says that you have an elaborate underground lair, but you have not taken the “Hideout” Trope, then you are not going to gain any meaningful advantage to working in your underground lair compared to working anywhere else. If you take the “Hideout” Trope, then you will be able to effectively use the tools in your hideout during your actions (e.g. you'll have a much easier time keeping SCIENCE! projects secret, you'll have an advantage against anyone who tries to attack you in the hideout, etc.).

For the flavour, read the various “setting” pages of the wiki, and work out what you want to play. Once you have done that, come back here, and work your way through this page to define the mechanics. Some players prefer to work the other way around, defining a character mechanically and then working out how they fit in the setting.

Summary

  • Choose an Origin and a Manifestation for your Powers. These broadly define how you got your Powers, and what your Powers are, respectively.
  • You have 4 points which must be spent on Skills and 8 points which may be spent on Skills or Powers.
  • You may not raise any Skill or Power above level 3 at Character Generation.
  • You must describe what your Powers are.
  • You have 2 points to spend on positive Tropes. You may gain up to 6 more points by taking negative Tropes (gaining 1 point for a -1 Trope, 2 for a -2 Trope, etc.).
  • Raising a Skill or Power to Level 5 during later advancement costs 2 points as opposed to the normal 1.

Origins and Manifestations

(see Origins and Manifestations)

Note: If you do not spend any points on Powers at Character Generation, then you are not required to choose an Origin or Manifestation. You can choose one when you gain Powers if this occurs later (though you will not normally have the “Innate” Origin).

Origins and Manifestations very broadly define the flavour of your Powers. Neither has any major mechanical effect, but some Tropes are associated more with certain Origins or Manifestations.

Origins summarise how you obtained the Powers. Were you born with them, or are they simply a property of your species/construction (Innate)? Did you develop them yourself through science, study of mystic arts, or training (Developed)? Or were you given them by a magical artefact, someone else experimenting on you, or a strange accident (Granted)?

Manifestations broadly summarise the main way in which your Powers manifest. Do they come from fundamentally different genetics (mutants, aliens, genetic experiments), technology (cyborgs, AI, gadget users, robot suits, just having a bigger gun), or are they basically just magic (wizards, gods, alien technology which is so strange it could never be understood, pact with a demon).

Skills and Powers

(see Skills and Powers)

Your character's Skills and Powers define what they can do, and how well they can do it. Often, Powers alone will only help so much, and should be combined with Skills to be effective. For example, a character with Combat 0 and Toughness 3 will hit really hard, but does not have enough awareness in a fight for their blows to actually connect against a character with Combat 3.

At character generation, you may buy any Skill or Power up to level 3. You have 4 points which must be spent on Skills, and 8 points which may be split between Skills and Powers. This means that if you wish to play a person with no Powers, it is entirely possible.

When you choose your Powers, you should also define what those Powers actually are. For example, a Sensory power could let you hear quieter noises than anyone else, see through walls, or detect radioactive material. Whatever flavour you choose for your Powers, Powers of the same level will be roughly equally matched (though the flavour of the powers will affect where the power can be used, and how the GMs judge your plans and the plans of those working against you).

After you submit your character, we will give you a description of how your Powers will be affected by future advancement. This will generally just make your power stronger and/or give you better control over it, rather than allowing you to do new things entirely. New Powers can be obtained during play, but advancement points must be spent for them to be usable.

Tropes

(see Tropes)

Tropes are various aspects of your character, their current situation, and their associates which will help or hinder you in achieving your goals. When buying Tropes, you have 2 points with which to buy positive Tropes, and may buy a further 6 points of positive Tropes by offsetting them with negative Tropes. You can have as many (non-contradictory) 0 point Tropes as you want. If you wish, you may take further negative Tropes, but you will not receive any bonus for this. (For those that have played games prior to Crisis and Paradiso, a 2 point Trope is intended to be roughly equivalent to a quirk in other games).

If you need any help choosing Tropes, or have an idea for a property of your character which does not seem to be covered by the standard Tropes, then get in touch with the GMs and we will help you work something out.

Flavour and Finishing Touches

Your character needs a name. If they have a separate superhero identity, they will need a superhero name and a real name. This is almost always the hardest part of character generation. Since the scope of characters in this game covers the entire world, alternate timelines, other dimensions, aliens, and AI constructs, we can't even give you a naming convention to help. Please also tell us which name you want your character to be publicly known as.

Your character may be a member of one of the organisations. This is entirely optional, organisations will have tasks for their members, but there will always be plenty to do even if you are not a member of an organisation. You may be a member of more than one organisation, but this will likely result in conflicting interests.

Write a background for your character. This doesn't have to be very long (a paragraph is fine), but it should cover some or all of the following:

  • Where (and When) are you from?
  • What cause do you use your Powers for?
  • How did you get your Powers?
  • How do your Tropes fit into your life?

Tell us your goals at the start of the game, this helps us to make sure that events relevant to you will occur in-game.

Write a public biography. This should be a few lines summarising what other people know about your character.

Submitting your character

Please email gm@crisis.chaosdeathfish.com with your completed character. You may wish to copy and paste the structure below to ensure you don't miss anything. We also have a character generator for your convenience, kindly provided by our society president Tom Lear.

Super Name:

Real Name (if different):

Make sure to note which name you wish to be known by on the wiki

Skills:

  • Combat:
  • Expression:
  • Investigation:
  • SCIENCE!:
  • Stealth:
  • Strategy:

Powers:

(Insert description of first power here)

Origin:

Manifestation:

  • Power levels

(Insert description of second power here - if applicable)

Origin:

Manifestation:

  • Power levels

(Add further powers in the same way, if you have them)

Tropes (with cost):

Organisations:

Background:

Public Bio:

character_creation.txt · Last modified: 2015/04/06 22:23 by gm_cameron
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