Party First – Building a Character

This week, world designer, Will Lentz, walks us through creating a character for Party First. Here, we’ll walk through the steps as they’re presented in the core rule book.

  • Plan – Think a little bit about what sort of character you would like to play. Are they muscled and aggressive or sly and cunning? A true believer in the Party or an opportunistic rebel? Don’t forget to give your character a name!

So first up, we’re going to sketch out the broad idea of a character and we’ll drill down more specifically as we go. Some times I like to start with a name and then build from there. With a bit of browsing on the internet, I found a list of last names with their meaning, and settled on one I like, Sokolov, which means “bird of prey.” This gives me the idea of a character who is fast, light, nimble, and likes to strike quickly, darting in and out of situations. I like alliteration as well, so we’ll go with the given name of Sophia. Sophia Sokolov. I like it.

  • Class – Select a class for your character and note your specialties and bonuses. Keep in mind that each class may be selected only once! For example, once a player has selected The Bratva, no other player may select that class.

Next, we’ll select a class. Thinking of this character darting in and out of situations, I can’t help but think of a thief, pickpocket, or cat burglar type of character. This very quickly points to the Bratva class, which covers the criminal element of the USRA. This may range from the truly malevolent to the mysteriously independent, but all operate outside the law.

Sophia gains a number of things from this class selection, but notable at the moment is the class specific method of gaining the Party Point resource. In this case, Sophia will be able to gain a Party Point when she breaks the law for the greater good.

Additionally, she gains two class specific abilities. One which can be used once during the game, and one that can be used multiple times.

The Brotherhood: Once per game you may spend 1 Party Point at the beginning of a Round. Until the end of the Round, each character may use their Personal Skill in place of the Party Skill for all Conflicts.

Fight the System: When another character uses their Personal Skill, spend one Party Point to add one point to Morale.

  • Attributes – Each character starts with 2 points in all Attributes along with the bonuses from their class. Additionally, players may allocate an additional 2 Attribute points however they would like.

Now we get to start customizing more. Our four attributes are Vigor, Comprehension, Presence, and Discipline. Vigor represents a character’s physical strength and vitality. Comprehension represents a character’s mental acuity. Presence represents a character’s social standing. Discipline represents a character’s emotional fortitude.

Since each character starts with 2 points in each and our chosen class adds some additional starting points on top of that, Sophia currently has Vigor: 3, Comprehension: 3, Presence: 2 and Discipline: 2.

With the two additional points to spend as I see fit, I’ll add one each to Vigor to really emphasize her speed and physical prowess and one to Comprehension to emphasize her her devious, calculating nature. This leaves Sophia with Vigor: 4, Comprehension: 4, Presence: 2, and Discipline: 2.

  • Skills – Each character starts with 0 points in all Skills along with the bonuses from their class. Additionally, players may allocate an additional 10 Skill points however they would like.
Sofia Sokolov

Next up with Skills, we can really work on differentiating our character. Characters have 12 total skills to choose from with their class providing some starting points. With those accounted for, Sophia will start with Aim: 0, Athletics: 0, Coerce: 1, Drive: 1, Hide: 1, Investigation: 0, Knowledge: 0, Melee: 1, Mysticism: 0, Socialize: 0, Steal: 1, and Technology: 0.

Here, more of her strengths and weaknesses as a character start to make themselves known. As an expert thief, she cares very little for the supernatural so we can safely skip adding any points to Mysticism. As well, she cares little about scientific advancement and research, so we will also skip Knowledge and Technology. Finally, I want to focus more on the stealthy aspects of the criminal underworld, so we’ll pass on Aim as we don’t really want Sophia involved in a firefight.

On the positive end of the scale, however, there are several skills that we actively want to pursue. First up is Steal, which should be her strongest skill. We’ll add three additional points to it on top of the starting point that the Bratva class provides. Next, we’ll add two points to Hide and three to Athletics to represent the manner in which she quickly and stealthily darts in and out of her jobs, nimbly evading capture. With the final two points out of our ten, we’re going to drop a single point into Investigation to represent the planning that goes into making sure a theft goes off without a hitch and a single point into Socialize since she does occasionally have to bluff her way through a difficult situation with officials, guards, or the public.

This leaves Sophia Sokolov with the following skills: Aim: 0, Athletics: 3, Coerce: 1, Drive: 1, Hide: 3, Investigation: 1, Knowledge: 0 , Melee: 1, Mysticism: 0, Socialize: 1, Steal: 4, Technology: 0.

  • Advantages – Each character starts with two Advantages. One is dictated by the character’s class. The second Advantage may be selected from the full list.

The Advantage provided by the Bratva class, Master Thief, is absolutely perfect for Sophia.

Master Thief: Spend a Party Point to pick a lock, palm an item, or pick a pocket without rolling a Conflict.

When deciding on the second Advantage, I debated about Cover Identity as a way to show how Sophia is able to keep a respectable face in society while going about her nightly activities, but Quick on Your Feet also looks tempting as a way to reinforce her physical prowess. In the end, let’s opt to reinforce one particular theme for this character.

Quick on Your Feet: When determining initiative in a Conflict, you may spend a Party Point to go first (even before Adversaries).

  • Pools – Each character starts with Health and Sanity pools as dictated by their class. Players may allocate an additional 5 points however they would like between their Health and Sanity.

Sophia starts with 6 Health and 4 Sanity thanks to her class. While I do want to play up some level of hardbitten mental strength as well to reflect her Comprehension and the hard lifestyle she leads, I do want the focus to remain on her physical prowess, so we’ll add two points to her Health and 3 to her sanity, leaving her with an 8 Health and 7 Sanity split.

  • Each character starts with 1 Party Point.
  • Each player has access to a shared pool of Morale Points equal to the number of characters in the group.

There’s not much to do for these two steps except to note the starting values so that we have some resources to start the game with.

Finally, lets flesh Sophia out with a short biography that adds a little twist to what she cares about in the world:

True Party loyalty should run in Sophia Sokolov’s blood. As the daughter of both a lifetime Party administrator and a high ranking research scientist, she has been expected all her life to fulfill her dutiful role to Party and state. And yet, somehow, the USRA has not inspired such dedication in her. Perhaps it’s a quirk of fate or genetics, but it’s certainly not the fault of her devoted parents.

No, her parents did everything they could to raise her to be the child they wanted. And now, they do everything they can to cover for their wayward and headstrong child. While they think she should be looking for a husband, she instead shears her hair. While she should be home in bed, she’s instead out late at night. They try to ignore what this means. They try to make excuses and deflect, hoping that others won’t notice.

So far, Sophia isn’t listening to them. She’s in the flush of her youth and not eager to listen to the advice of those around her. Except for her newfound friends. They’ve taught her a lot and even inducted her into their brotherhood. So what if people question why she has so much? The point is that she has it and they don’t.

Thanks for following along! You can download a sample of Sophia’s Character Sheet here.

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