Post by mortambo on Jun 18, 2016 20:05:21 GMT -6
Character creation starts with a concept for your character. It could be modeled after a character from a favorite novel or movie, or it could be based around some specific thing that you want to be able to do (like break boards with your head, turn into a wolf, blow things up, etc.). Just like you did with the game’s issues earlier, you’re going to take your ideas and turn them into the two central aspects for your character—high concept and trouble.
Player characters should be exceptional and interesting. They could very easily find success in less exciting situations than those that come their way in play. You must figure out why your character is going to keep getting involved in these more dangerous things. If you don’t, the GM is under no obligation to go out of her way to make the game work for you—she’ll be too busy with other players who made characters that have a reason to participate.
High Concept:
Your high concept is a phrase that sums up what your character is about—who he is and what he does. It’s an aspect, one of the first and most important ones for your character.
Think of this aspect like your job, your role in life, or your calling—it’s what you’re good at, but it’s also a duty you have to deal with, and it’s constantly filled with problems of its own. That is to say, it comes with some good and some bad. There are a few different directions you can take this:
These aren’t the only ways to play with your high concept, but they’ll get you started. But don’t stress out over it—the worst thing you can do is make it into too big of a deal. You’ll come up with four other aspects after this one—you don’t have to get it all nailed right now.
The golden rule of making aspects in character creation: you can always change it later. If you’re struggling to make an aspect, write out the idea in as many words as you need to, in order to get it down on paper in the first place. If a specific phrase pops up after you write it down, great! If not, maybe someone else at the table can help you come up with an aspect. And if you’re still stuck, leave it for now—you’ll have plenty of time during play to refine it.
High concepts can have overlap among the characters, as long as you have something to distinguish how your character is different from the others. If high concepts must be similar among all the characters, such as if the GM pitches an all-swordsmen story, it’s crucial that the troubles differ.
Trouble:
In addition to a high concept, every character has some sort of trouble aspect that’s a part of his life and story. If your high concept is what or who your character is, your trouble is the answer to a simple question: what complicates your character’s existence?
Trouble brings chaos into a character’s life and drives him into interesting situations. Trouble aspects are broken up into two types: personal struggles and problematic relationships.
Personal struggles are about your darker side or impulses that are hard to control. If it’s something that your character might be tempted to do or unconsciously do at the worst possible moment, it’s this sort of trouble.
Examples: Anger Management Issues, Sucker for a Pretty Face,The Bottle Calls to Me.
Problematic relationships are about people or organizations that make your life hard. It could be a group of people who hate your guts and want you to suffer, folks you work for that don’t make your job easy, or even your family or friends that too often get caught in the crossfire.
Examples: Family Man, Debt to the Mob, The Scar Triad Wants Me Dead.
Your trouble shouldn’t be easy to solve. If it was, your character would have done that already, and that’s not interesting. But nor should it paralyze the character completely. If the trouble is constantly interfering with the character’s day-to-day life, he’s going to spend all his time dealing with it rather than other matters at hand. You shouldn’t have to deal with your trouble at every turn—unless that’s the core of one particular adventure in the story (and even then, that’s just one adventure).
Troubles also shouldn’t be directly related to your high concept—if you have Lead Detective, saying your trouble is The Criminal Underworld Hates Me is a dull trouble, because it is already assumed with your high concept. (Of course, you can turn that up a notch to make it personal, like Don Giovanni Personally Hates Me, to make it work.)
GMs, when players join your story make sure you know what they expect to happen because of their trouble. Players, you might want to write a short description explaining what you expect your trouble to bring you.
Also, don't forget that troubles can be good things! Just like other Aspects they can be invoked. Maybe if you have Terrible Drunk you can get smashed at party and cause a distraction for someone else to steal something. If you have Don Giovanni Hates Me, you can invoke it to find people that want to take him down. So while generally it will be compelled against you, it can be a positive as well with a little creative thinking.
Other Aspects:
Other than that you usually get 3 more Aspects. In the Core Rules, you make these with other people which of course you can do here. If you and another player decide you share an aspect then by all means create a mutual bond. You can also fill these in with whatever you want, or leave them blank and fill them out in play. These other aspects also change drastically depending on the setting being used, so check the specific rules for your game!
Skills:
Skills are something else that changes from setting to setting. The Core Rules have you assign a total of ten skills to different slots in a pyramid.
As you add skills you must maintain this pyramid type structure. So before you can raise something from Average to Fair, you must buy another Average skill, for instance.
This may change from setting to setting as well.
Stunts and Refresh:
Fate Core characters start with 3 Refresh and 3 Stunts. More about choosing these abilities and what they do can be found on their posts.
Stress and Consequences:
After choosing your stunts and setting your starting refresh you just need to record your Stress and Consequences and you are ready to play!
Player characters should be exceptional and interesting. They could very easily find success in less exciting situations than those that come their way in play. You must figure out why your character is going to keep getting involved in these more dangerous things. If you don’t, the GM is under no obligation to go out of her way to make the game work for you—she’ll be too busy with other players who made characters that have a reason to participate.
High Concept:
Your high concept is a phrase that sums up what your character is about—who he is and what he does. It’s an aspect, one of the first and most important ones for your character.
Think of this aspect like your job, your role in life, or your calling—it’s what you’re good at, but it’s also a duty you have to deal with, and it’s constantly filled with problems of its own. That is to say, it comes with some good and some bad. There are a few different directions you can take this:
- You could take the idea of “like your job” literally: Lead Detective, Knight of the Round, Low-level Thug.
- You could throw on an adjective or other descriptor to further define the idea: Despicable Regent of Riverton, Reluctant Lead Detective, Ambitious Low-level Thug.
- You could mash two jobs or roles together that most people would find odd: Wizard Private Eye, Singing Knight of the Round Table, Monster-slaying Accountant.
- You could play off of an important relationship to your family or an organization you’re deeply involved with (especially if the family or organization are well-connected or well-known): Black Sheep of the Thompson Family, Low-level Thug for the Syndicate, Scar Triad’s Patsy in Riverton.
These aren’t the only ways to play with your high concept, but they’ll get you started. But don’t stress out over it—the worst thing you can do is make it into too big of a deal. You’ll come up with four other aspects after this one—you don’t have to get it all nailed right now.
The golden rule of making aspects in character creation: you can always change it later. If you’re struggling to make an aspect, write out the idea in as many words as you need to, in order to get it down on paper in the first place. If a specific phrase pops up after you write it down, great! If not, maybe someone else at the table can help you come up with an aspect. And if you’re still stuck, leave it for now—you’ll have plenty of time during play to refine it.
High concepts can have overlap among the characters, as long as you have something to distinguish how your character is different from the others. If high concepts must be similar among all the characters, such as if the GM pitches an all-swordsmen story, it’s crucial that the troubles differ.
Trouble:
In addition to a high concept, every character has some sort of trouble aspect that’s a part of his life and story. If your high concept is what or who your character is, your trouble is the answer to a simple question: what complicates your character’s existence?
Trouble brings chaos into a character’s life and drives him into interesting situations. Trouble aspects are broken up into two types: personal struggles and problematic relationships.
Personal struggles are about your darker side or impulses that are hard to control. If it’s something that your character might be tempted to do or unconsciously do at the worst possible moment, it’s this sort of trouble.
Examples: Anger Management Issues, Sucker for a Pretty Face,The Bottle Calls to Me.
Problematic relationships are about people or organizations that make your life hard. It could be a group of people who hate your guts and want you to suffer, folks you work for that don’t make your job easy, or even your family or friends that too often get caught in the crossfire.
Examples: Family Man, Debt to the Mob, The Scar Triad Wants Me Dead.
Your trouble shouldn’t be easy to solve. If it was, your character would have done that already, and that’s not interesting. But nor should it paralyze the character completely. If the trouble is constantly interfering with the character’s day-to-day life, he’s going to spend all his time dealing with it rather than other matters at hand. You shouldn’t have to deal with your trouble at every turn—unless that’s the core of one particular adventure in the story (and even then, that’s just one adventure).
Troubles also shouldn’t be directly related to your high concept—if you have Lead Detective, saying your trouble is The Criminal Underworld Hates Me is a dull trouble, because it is already assumed with your high concept. (Of course, you can turn that up a notch to make it personal, like Don Giovanni Personally Hates Me, to make it work.)
GMs, when players join your story make sure you know what they expect to happen because of their trouble. Players, you might want to write a short description explaining what you expect your trouble to bring you.
Also, don't forget that troubles can be good things! Just like other Aspects they can be invoked. Maybe if you have Terrible Drunk you can get smashed at party and cause a distraction for someone else to steal something. If you have Don Giovanni Hates Me, you can invoke it to find people that want to take him down. So while generally it will be compelled against you, it can be a positive as well with a little creative thinking.
Other Aspects:
Other than that you usually get 3 more Aspects. In the Core Rules, you make these with other people which of course you can do here. If you and another player decide you share an aspect then by all means create a mutual bond. You can also fill these in with whatever you want, or leave them blank and fill them out in play. These other aspects also change drastically depending on the setting being used, so check the specific rules for your game!
Skills:
Skills are something else that changes from setting to setting. The Core Rules have you assign a total of ten skills to different slots in a pyramid.
Great (+4) | |||
Good (+3) | Good (+3) | ||
Fair (+2) | Fair (+2) | Fair (+2) | |
Average (+1) | Average (+1) | Average (+1) | Average (+1) |
As you add skills you must maintain this pyramid type structure. So before you can raise something from Average to Fair, you must buy another Average skill, for instance.
This may change from setting to setting as well.
Stunts and Refresh:
Fate Core characters start with 3 Refresh and 3 Stunts. More about choosing these abilities and what they do can be found on their posts.
Stress and Consequences:
After choosing your stunts and setting your starting refresh you just need to record your Stress and Consequences and you are ready to play!