CharGen Example (Part Two)
Step Three: Career
We now have 16 CP left, and must take the module representing the character´s MechWarrior training and initial Trial of Position.
Clan MechWarrior Training
Cost: 6 CP (Freeborn only) / 10 CP (Trueborn only)
Time: 2 years
Prerequisites: Freeborn Sibko or Trueborn Sibko late childhood module; not washed out
Survival Rolls: REF/DEX 8+, REF/DEX 10+, REF/DEX 12+
Fixed Skills: Piloting/Mech 1, Gunnery/Mech 1, Career/Soldier 1
Fixed Traits: Compulsion/Clan Honor (-1)
Positive Traits: Combat Sense, Custom Vehicle, Equipped, Prosthetics, Pain Resistance, Reputation, Thick-Skinned, Toughness, Vehicle
Negative Traits: Combat Paralysis, Compulsion, Enemy, Lost Limb, Reputation, Unattractive, Unlucky
Special: Upon failing a survival roll, do not take subsequent survival rolls
Special: After passing first survival roll, may choose not to take subsequent survival rolls
Special: Character washed out of warrior training if all survival rolls fail, loses any Rank trait and -2 SOC
Special: Gain +1 Rank and +1 SOC per passed survival roll; maximum SOC at this stage is 8 for Freeborn and 10 for Trueborn
Special: Unless washed out, character must take Tour of Duty module next
Skill Rolls: 5 (Freeborn only) / 8 (Trueborn only)
1d6 Personal Career Education
1 +1 STR Piloting/Mech Medical
2 +1 BOD Piloting/Mech Interest/Remembrance
3 +1 REF Gunnery/Mech Computers
4 +1 WIL Gunnery/Mech Sensor Ops
5 Carousing Athletics Tactics
6 Career/Soldier Small Arms +1 EDU
Paying 6 CP for this module, we have 10 CP left over.
Fixed skills and traits give the character one rank each in Piloting and Gunnery for ´Mechs, and raise Career/Soldier from rank 0 to rank 1 as well as Compulsion/Clan Honor from 1 to 2 points.
The survival roll is a combined REF and DEX roll, meaning the lower of the two modifiers applies; however for our character, both modifiers are +1.
The first roll is a 7, which the +1 modifier increases to 8 - just enough to pass, with no MoS. I could stop now, but the character would probably too driven and ambitious to just quit, so I roll again… a natural 12, increased to 13, and thus an MoS of 3. Bouyed by that success, I take the third roll… a roll of 11, or 12 with the modifier - again, just enough to pass.
Our heroic freeborn is thus not just a member of the warrior caste now - they have gain three ranks, and are now a Star Captain. This also increases their SOC by 3 points, to a total of 6.
Due to the total MoS of 3, I can pick 3 ranks´ worth of positive traits. With such a successful Trial of Position, a 3 point Reputation/Excellence trait seems appropriate. (Even trueborn would have to grudgingly respect that sort of achievement.)
The character receives any skills on the Career table they do not have yet at rank 0; for this character, that means only the Small Arms skill. As a freeborn, they also get 5 skill rolls; I make one roll on the Personal table, 3 on the Career table and 1 on the Education table.
I roll a 4 on the Personal table (+1 WIL, new total 12), 2, 6 and 4 on the Career table (+1 rank each for Piloting/Mech, Gunnery/Mech and Small Arms) and a 6 on the Education table (+1 EDU, new total 7).
The character is now 18 years old, and looks like this:
STR 7, BOD 11, REF 10, DEX 9, INT 8, WIL 12, CHA 5, EDU 7, SOC 6, Edge 2
Skills: Piloting/Mech 2, Gunnery/Mech 2, Small Arms 1, Melee/Unarmed 1, Career/Soldier 1, Protocol/Clan Jade Falcon 0, Career/Agriculture 0, Perception 0
Traits: Combat Sense, Tech Empathy, Toughness, Impatient, Compulsion/Arrogance (-1), /Distrust Inner Sphere (-1), Hate Steel Vipers (-1), Jade Falcon Pride (-1), Clan Honor (-2) and Hate Trueborn (-2), Reputation/Excellence (3), Rank/Star Captain (4)
The next step, as mandated by the module, is the Tour of Duty career.
Tour of Duty (Clans)
Cost: 10 CP
Time: 3 years
Prerequisite: any Clan warrior training, not washed out
Survival Rolls: BOD 6+, REF/DEX 7+, WIL 8+ (all characters), SOC/CHA 8+ (officers only)
Fixed Traits: 2 TP of positive traits, 1 TP of negative traits
Positive Traits: Combat Sense, Connections, Custom Vehicle, Equipped, Prosthetic, Pain Resistance, Patient, Rank, Reputation, Thick-Skinned, Toughness, Vehicle
Negative Traits: Combat Paralysis, Compulsion, Dark Secret, Enemy, Impatient, Lost Limb, Reputation, Thin-Skinned, Unattractive, Unlucky
Special: Must leave Warrior caste if total MoF exceeds total MoS by 8 or more
Special: Trueborn are eligible for Bloodname Trial module if total MoS exceeds total MoF by 8 or more
Skill Rolls: 6
1d6 Personal Career (MechWarrior) Education
1 +1 STR Piloting/Mech Medical
2 +1 BOD Piloting/Mech Interest/Remembrance
3 +1 REF Gunnery/Mech Computers
4 +1 WIL Gunnery/Mech Sensor Ops
5 Carousing Leadership Tactics
6 Career/Soldier Small Arms +1 EDU
Paying for this module takes all the remaining CP, meaning that CharGen is finished after taking this module.
For this module, the character receives 2 TP of positive traits and 1 TP of negative traits. I decide to give them 2 points of Vehicle and -1 point of Enemy/Trueborn Officer.
The character has to make 4 survival rolls during this module - BOD 6+, REF/DEX 7+, WIL 8 and SOC/CHA 8+. Taking into account the relevant ability scores, the modifiers for those rolls are +2, +1, +2 and -1 respectively.
I roll 7, 5, 5 and 4 - a less than stellar set of rolls. With the modifiers, that´s a 9, 6, 7 and 3, meaning the character passes the first survival roll with a MoS of 2, and fails the others with an MoF of 1, 1 and 5 respectively, for a total MoF of 7. That is not nearly enough to be forced to leave the Warrior caste, but after the spectacular Trial of Position, it is something of a letdown (for the character themselves as well, presumably).
Based on which rolls succeeded and which failed, I decide that the character, following lackluster performance during combat, had the blame for a failed trial laid at their feet by a superior officer - presumably the trueborn officer from their Enemy trait.
With 2 positive trait points and 7 negative trait points to distribute, I give the character 2 more points of Vehicle, increase the Enemy/Trueborn Officer trait by 3 points (to 4 points total), and give them 2 points each of Reputation/Insubordinate (spread by their trueborn superior) and Handicap (reflecting nerve damage to one hand as a consequence of combat injuries).
The character receives all skills on the Career table that they do not have yet - only Leadership - at rank 0.
That leaves the skill rolls to be determined - 6 rolls in total for this module. I decide that this time, I will make 2 rolls on each table.
I roll 5 and 6 (Carousing and Career/Soldier) on the Personal table, 2 and 3 (Piloting/Mech and Gunnery/Mech) on the Career table, and 3 and 4 (Computers and Sensor Ops) on the Education table.
At the end of CharGen, the character is 21 years old, and looks like this:
STR 7, BOD 11, REF 10, DEX 9, INT 8, WIL 12, CHA 5, EDU 7, SOC 6, Edge 2
Skills: Piloting/Mech 3, Gunnery/Mech 3, Career/Soldier 2, Small Arms 1, Melee/Unarmed 1, Carousing 1, Computers 1, Sensor Ops 1, Protocol/Clan Jade Falcon 0, Career/Agriculture 0, Perception 0, Leadership 0
Traits: Combat Sense, Tech Empathy, Toughness, Impatient, Compulsion/Arrogance (-1), /Distrust Inner Sphere (-1), Hate Steel Vipers (-1), Jade Falcon Pride (-1), Clan Honor (-2) and Hate Trueborn (-2), Reputation/Excellence (2), Reputation/Insubordinate (-2), Rank/Star Captain (4), Vehicle (4), Enemy/Trueborn Officer (-4), Handicap/Nerve Damage Left Hand (-2)
*****
So… what did I learn?
I think the CharGen rules work, overall. Plus, they are much faster than AToW CharGen rules. I´ve had to make the modules up as I go long, and summarize everything I do for this post, and by my estimate still took less time than AToW CharGen by modules. If all the modules already exist and I only take the notes I need for the CharGen itself, I can probably create an adventuring party in the time it takes to generate a single AToW character.
Two changes that I´d make to the previously established rules are:
Firstly, I´ll allow the purchase of “incomplete” traits - that is, spending fewer TP than the value of a trait with a fixed TP. A negative trait is in effect as soon as 1 TP is spent on it, while a positive trait only takes effect if the full TP value is spent. This makes it possible to buy more expensive positive traits like Sixth Sense bit by bit; it allow taking an “incomplete” negative trait as a potential sink for further negative TP incurred later on - if the character acquires, say, 1 TP of Gremlins early in their life, that´s a place to put further negative TP later on without having to take another negative TP.
Secondly, I´ll do away with explicit trait lists for modules, and let players choose positive and negative traits freely - with GM approval, of course. Some modules will still have one or more fixed traits, though - such as various Clan warrior caste modules, as seen above, giving the character fixed points of Compulsion/Clan Honor.