It is good game design to put character creation after the introduction, and we find that is how it is done in MRPG. Mythic offers two types of character creation. The first is a freeform style, structured, but not restricted, with which you could make any type of character you can imagine. This is good for people who are playing solo and have a strong idea what it is they want to make.
The second option is a point based system for designing new characters within the restrictions of the points available. As the demonstration in the book (pgs. 19 and 23) shows you can make the same character with each system, just one has more built in restriction due to point availability.
The appeal to the freeform character creation is that you get exactly what you want, which would appeal to people soloing that don't have to worry over much about having characters that are fair and balanced to the other players in the group.
The appeal to the point buy is that every character in the group will be dealt the same hand, points wise, but still have a huge potential to make characters that approach their character concept. For the solo player who is not especially comfortable doing things freeform, the point by character creation offers nice guide rails to help in character design.
Enough of my pontification; lets actually look at what is in the book.
The first paragraph sums up the process in short paragraph so well that there is no way I could do it better, so lets have a look at it.
"Whichever creation method you choose, a Mythic
character is composed of the same basic parts. There are
five sections to a Mythic character: Summary, Attributes,
Abilities, Strengths/Weaknesses, and Notes." pg.14
Summary
In this first step you give an outline of the character you want to build. It will act as your guiding blueprint for all of the following steps. It doesn't need to be long or complicated. If you have played games like Fate this step will be familiar.
The books example is of a suave spy.
“People take notice when
Nathan Silver enters a room. His aristocratic features and
sharp, intelligent eyes draw attention. He is a man of
many talents and those talents are often sought by
governments from around the world. Although he doesn’t
like getting his hands dirty, Nathan is deceptively adept
at hand-to-hand combat and a crack shot with a pistol.” pg. 14
This four sentence paragraph encapsulates most of the important details of the character. It is more detailed than the "High Concept" you find in Fate, but it serves a similar purpose in that it gives in a small amount of space a clear snap shot of the character to come.
Attributes
The next step it to assign Attributes.
"These are fundamental statistics that
tell how strong, how smart and how fast your character is. Attributes are not learned, they are more like innate abilities, although they can change over time."(pg. 14).
The default list of Attributes are: Strength, Agility, Reflex, IQ, Intuition, Willpower, and Toughness. The book is quick to point out that this list can be modified.
"In a magical setting, they may add a spirit attribute. Or, in a more
social genre, they may add charisma or appearance. The
atmosphere of the adventure you are playing will
determine whether you need additional attributes,..." pg. 15
Here is the first hint that this strongly a DYI game, but its list of default Attributes, gives a strong start to determining a character, and we will stick to them for now. (Though we may tinker with them when we do the character creation demo in a future blog post).
Most of the Attributes are exactly what they sound like, but lets go through them anyway just so we all can stay on the same page.
- Strength
- a measure of raw physical strength
- Agility
- how capable the character is on their feet. Balance, dodging, etc.
- Reflex
- a measure of reaction time.
- IQ
- A measure of cognitive ability, but not a knowledge base.
- Intuition
- Awareness of things in the surroundings, and perhaps a hunch for things going on that cannot be seen.
- Willpower
- Mental strength, and associated with learning other abilities
- Toughness
- The ability to withstand hardship. It is a composite ability that falls between Strength and Willpower. (In a point based game Toughness doesn't require point investment if take at baseline).
Determining Attribute Ranks
In a freeform game you would simply set each Attribute at the appropriate level based on the information in your character Summary. In a point based game it is a bit more involved and we will cover that soon.
Abilities
"If attributes are a character’s innate, personal
resources, then abilities are additional talents that the
character has developed. Usually, abilities take the form
of skills. However, abilities can also be powers and
supernatural capabilities. Abilities, essentially, is a list of
what the character can do." pg.15
While every character has the same Attributes, Abilities set one character in a setting off from the rest. These can be a broad as "Social Skills" or as narrow as "Walther PPK handgun" Again, in the freeform game reflect back on the summary and pick Abilities that fit with it. Make sure you are not over lapping with Attributes. If you are playing a vampire and decide all vampires have Superhuman Strength, that would be shown in your Strength Attribute, as even humans have a Strength Score, but if you have a mesmerizing gaze, that is not covered in Attributes, and thus would be an Ability.
Editor: If you are stumped to describe Abilities, pick up nearly any base RPG game book, and check out its character options, most games have more than any one character could ever use.
Abilities should be tantamount to skills or powers that a character can call on at any time. If it is more of a knack that enhances or a shortcoming that hinders an Attribute or Ability that would be a "Strength" or "Weakness" which we will get to soon.
Hidden Abilities
Hidden Abilities are used to fill in the gaps that you didn't consider at character creation, but make sense in the context of the character Summary.
"The most fundamental rule about a Mythic character
is that the character summary encapsulates the essence of
that character. If it seems apparent from that summary
that the character should possess a particular ability, then
the character probably does possess it, and at the most
logical rank. Conversely, if it seems likely that the
character does not possess a particular rank, or does so at
a low rank, then that should also be the case." pg.16
Hidden Abilities are primarily a tool for freeform characters, that start more as an advanced character mark up, than a fully formed character. In that context it makes sense that a hidden ability may come out of the woodworks.
"Strengths and weaknesses: everyone has them, even
you and me. You better believe characters have them to,
and then some!" pg. 16
Strengths and Weaknesses could be thought of as the extras that truly make your character unique.
A Strength gives a bonus or special quality to a character. A Weakness gives a penalty or some other sort of hinderance. They are separated from Abilities because they have niche application.
In a freeform game, pick Strengths and Weaknesses that help shape the character more in line with the summary. (Though there is no rule that says a freeform character has to have Weaknesses, I encourage you to go ahead and take some if they help to realize the character’s summary theme. Also it is fun to play a flawed character).
In a point buy game, Strengths start with a cost of 5 build points for a simple 1 category shift. Likewise a 1 shift Weakness is worth 5 extra build points, which will come in handy when we do our point buy character example.
Strengths and Weaknesses can also be tricks or ticks that don’t model to an Ability. For instance, if you always know the direction of the magnetic pole that is not an Ability, because it requires no roll. Flipping that around, if you simply cannot register the color blue, that also doesn't map to an Ability, but it could lead to some trouble.
Cost of Strengths and Weaknesses, for point buy characters, are set by potency and frequency, but that will be made clearer during our point buy example.
For excellent examples of Strengths of Weakness check out pgs. 17 and 18 (especially 18 which gives genre specific example).
Hidden Strengths and Weakness
Just as there maybe Hidden Abilities for a growing freeform character, so there maybe Strengths and Weakness that don't show themselves until game is under way. Again, refer back to the character Summary before committing to pick these up. They should build your character towards the realization, not just add cool abilities. With that said your summary maybe hiding some very cool abilities.
Point buy characters need to pick up all their Strengths and Weakness during creation, or wait for an opportunity to pick them up during play (more on that in the in the Character Advancement Chapter).
Notes
Notes make up the last section on character creation. This where you put details that aren't covered above. Character appearance, thoughts, goals, philosophy, a touch of history, or people they know could all be details to fill notes. You should also used this section when you need to add a detail from your on going game, such as the loss of a finger when trying to get an industrial elevator to work, or a couple details about that sweet girl from the pub you plan to marry if you can ever get rid of your stupid boss and his stupid cursed ring.
Everyone needs favors
Favor points, recorded in Notes, are a meta currency that allows points to be spent to improve roll results.
"Characters start out with 50 favor points, and may
gain more at the end of each scene (see Chapter 7).
When a question is asked on the Fate Chart, the player
may spend up to 25 favor points to change the result of
the percentile roll used to answer that question, on a point-by-point
basis" pg.20-21
Each scene in which there is some progress towards a goal. These are awarded between 10-25 at the end of a scene and the scale is determined by how accomplished the scene was.
This, like with most meta currency systems, allow the Player a bit of narrative control. This is important in a game that can rocket off into the unexpected at any point. These points are applied after the Fate Chart check.
"Now, don’t say we didn’t do you any favors." pg. 21
Now that we know the parts and how they work, in the next update we will make a character, using the point buy system. If I do my job right, you should be able to figure out how you would do this freeform along the way.
Future home to Link to Chapter 3
