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| screenshot from PDF version |
I seem to have lost some time here, and it's pretty clear I'm not going to make it to 31 any time soon. But I still want to post the characters I started working on before I lost focus, so today I have a trio of adventurers for Broken Compass, the game of action-film treasure hunters set at the end of the last century. Lara Croft, the Mummy series, Romancing the Stone, that kind of thing. I want to subvert the premise a little, however. The default doesn't necessarily assume your PCs are amoral, greed- or glory- driven tomb raiders, but that's certainly the ballpark the game plays in. Instead, I'm creating a UNESCO Antiquities Recovery Team, specialists sent in to stop looters and ensure heritage treasures stay in their home countries. Only, you know, with death traps and gunplay and car chases and so forth. Also, the action-film vibe inspired me to do some casting with real-life actors, which is a first for me in this challenge.
Character generation in Broken Compass is actually pretty simple--it wasn't the complexity that stopped me in my tracks, though I always find working from a PDF kind of a hassle. The first mechanical step, which can help you form a concept if you haven't got one going in, is to select two Tags. Tags are career-type descriptors that bundle a primary and a secondary field of endeavor together with a set of skills and a specialty (or Expertise). Two Tags per character will let me cover a pretty wide set of bases for a team of three. The game provides eighteen Tags to choose from, though there's a lot of overlap.
I begin by playing mix-and-match to see what feels good together while covering the bases I want to make sure I've got. I know I want an actual archaeologist, so I start my list with "Professor." I want a driver or pilot; "Daredevil" and "Pilot" seem like the best tags for that. I'd like the "Medic" role covered. Social skills will be important, so "Playboy" or "Cheater" ought to be in the mix. Violence skills seem pretty well distributed, but if I want to specialize "Soldier" "Gunslinger" "Hunter" and "Action Hero" all fit that slot well. "Techie" also has a lot of potential and I want that to stay an option, also I want someone who can disarm deathtraps and bust locks, so "Thief" comes into the pool (though I suppose "Techie" might be able to carry a lot of that).
As I play with those pieces, the violence specialties end up dropping out of the mix, and these are the combos I come up with:
Professor and Techie
Medic and Playboy
Pilot and Thief
Each tag has a primary field and, if both your tags share the same primary, a secondary field. And we run into that issue immediately, since both Professor and Techie share Knowledge as their primary. The secondaries are Society and Wild, respectively, and now I'm faced with a choice of emphasis. I think I'll leave the social skills to Doctor Sexy* and take Wild as my Techie field.
The primaries for Playboy and Medic are Society and Knowledge, so the secondaries aren't relevant (though both are Action, in case you were wondering). Which doubles us up on Knowledge--I hope that's not going to hurt the team at the end of the day.
Finally, our larcenous wheelman has Guts (pilot) and Crime (thief) as primaries. Hopefully that will make up for some of our violence deficit. If not, we'll have some optional skill slots available before we're through
Next, we'll note the Skills that come with each pair of Tags. On the character sheet Fields and Skills are represented as sets of three open diamonds, which you fill in as you add fields and skills. Characters begin with two of the diamonds filled in each Field and the first diamond filled in for each Skill. Each diamond filled represents a die in your pool for relevant thing-doing rolls (in addiiton to any situational modifiers, which might add or subtract dice from the pool). Everything maxes out at three diamonds, hence the existence of secondary Tags to prevent Field overlap.
Our techie archaeologist's Skill list includes Leadership, Culture, First Aid, Tech, Eloquence, Observation, Alert and Stealth from the Professor tag; then Fight, Drive, Shoot, Culture, Tech, Survival, Tough and Dexterity from the Techie tag. Overlaps (Culture, Tech) let me fill in two diamonds to max out the skill.
Doctor Sexy's list on the Medic side includes Leadership, Cool, Culture, First Aid, Eloquence, Observation, Survival and Dexterity (that's a lot of overlap with Professor; I probably should have checked into that before I committed). From Playboy they get Leadership, Stunt, Drive, Charm, Eloquence, Observation, Dexterity and Stealth.
Finally, Getaway Man's Pilot list includes Stunt, Cool, Drive, Shoot, Tech, Charm, Alert, and Dexterity; their Thief list has Stunt, Drive, Tech, Eloquence, Observation, Alert, Dexterity and Stealth.
Each character will also get to fill in two Skill diamonds with wild-card choices; these can be anything as long as your total in any one skill doesn't exceed three. Professor Potsherd boosts Leadership to 3 (can't have Dr Sexy outshining the actual leader of the team) and fills in a second diamond for Scout under the Wild field. Dr. Sexy raises Fight from 1 to 2 and Charm from 2 to 3. Getaway Man has nothing but default under Wild and opts to boost both Scout and Tough to two diamonds. That leaves us able to lay on some hurt in a pinch, though nobody really qualifies as a specialist there.
Our next step is to give three Expertises to each character: one from each Tag, and a third wild-card. An Expertise allows for a reroll if you fail in a situation covered by the Expertise. These are moistly self-defined, though the book provides several examples. Professor Potsherd takes Archaeology as the Professorial option and Information Technology for Techie--a pioneer in imaging and data analysis for archaeological sites and finds, with a side order of hacking when needed. As a third we take Orienteering in case the group gets lost; can't rely on Getaway Man for all our navigational needs. Dr. Sexy takes an expertise in Medicine to justify that MD degree, another in Seduction for his playboy reputation, and for a third we take Support (defined roughly as "helping other people with thing-doing") from the Wingman/woman list. Our sticky-fingered pilot opts for Lockpicking (within which I'm going to include safecracking, since it's not listed separately) as a criminal specialty, Off-Road Vehicles as a Piloting specialty, and Sabotage as a wild card.
The next step is to issue each adventurer with one Luck Coin, which they can spend when they fail a roll against a Danger (deathtrap, natural hazard, etc.). Luck Points refresh once characters return to safety and can rest.
Now it's time to start fleshing out our heroes' personalities. I wanted all three characters to come from what the archaeology and museum fields call "source countries," i.e., places where there are a lot of archaeological resources that have been exported--ok, usually looted--to places that got a lead on producing archeologists and archeological museums, which generally means countries that were imperial powers in the 19th and 20th centuries. And somewhere around this point is where the casting comes in; I saw actors' faces for these characters before I came anywhere near to coming up with names or other details. So my Professor and team leader became Sandra Oh, my Pilot became John Leguizamo, and the role of Dr. Sexy went to none other than Idris Elba.**
So let's pick up with the character-generation mechanics again. Personal data in Broken Compass consists of a name, three places you're connected to, and a motto, plus a shorthand characterization, derived from your Tags, of what it is you do. I want to start with Places I Call Home, which comprises a Heritage (your roots), a Homeland (where you grew up), and a Workplace (your current home base). I'm going to base my Antiquities Recovery Team at UNESCO's headquarters in Paris, so that'll be everybody's Workplace. Korea is a perfectly suitable source country for my purposes, so we'll recruit the Professor from South Korea and a Korean heritage. Our playboy Doctor can come from West Africa (like Elba's own parents): a Ghanaian of Akan ethnicity. And although John Leguizamo is from Colombia I decide to root my driver in Mexico both by heritage and by upbringing.
Those decisions give me leads on names, which I put together with a little help from Wikipedia. Our Archaeologist will be Professor Baek Na-ri; our Medic will be Dr. Kwesi Boateng, and our driver will be Arturo Ruiz.
Between "I Am" and "Places I call Home" on the character sheet is the line prompt: "Call Me If You Need A," which is where you explain what you do. Prof. Baek is a Tech-Savvy Archaeologist; Mr. Ruiz is a Safecracker with a Land Rover, and Dr. Boateng is a Sexxxy Doctor.
That brings us to Words to Live By. In the section for generating characters randomly, there's a selection of samples, none of which quite fit the characters I've developed here. None of these people are going to be highly-nuanced characterizations; they're action heroes whose personalities can be organized around one or two key points. Prof. Baek is the careful planner who gets testy when things go awry; Dr. Boateng the easygoing, confident charmer who rolls with the setbacks; and 'Turo Ruiz is an adrenaline junkie who's most comfortable flying by the seat of his pants. Now, to turn those into mottoes:
Baek: "Don't pick it up before you know where you're going to put it down."
Boateng: "You'll catch more flies with honey than you will with vinegar."
Ruiz: "Unless you're living on the edge, you're not really living."
At this point, gear seems almost like an afterthought, but we still need it, and it's the next step in character creation. In addition to whatever the team might buy or be issued for a specific mission, each adventurer can start with a Bag (like a shoulder bag) or a Backpack for carrying gear, as well as three Useful Items that they habitually keep with them. (The main distinction between a Bag and a Backpack is accessibility; it's easier to reach things in your Bag, and easier still if you can keep an item in your Pockets.)
Prof. Baek usually carries basic archaeological tools, a compass, and a broad-brimmed hat.
Dr. Boateng usually carries a digital camera, a lighter (the suave man's icebreaker!), and a first-aid kit.
Mr. Ruiz usually carries a toolbox, a set of lockpicks, and a semiautomatic pistol.
For specific missions, as I note above, they'll add to these lists as needed. Likewise for vehicles; although 'Turo loves his off-roading, sometimes a boat or a plane will be the most appropriate way to get someplace, and we'll handle that on a case-by-case basis.
OK, so let's do some statblocks:
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| Screenshot from Umma via IMDB.com |
I am Professor Baek Na-ri. Call me if you need a tech-savvy archaeologist.
Places I call home: Korea (heritage), South Korea (homeland), and Paris (workplace).
Words I live by: "Don't pick it up before you know where you're going to put it down."
Fields (Skills):
Action 2 (Fight 2, Leadership 3, Stunt 1)
Guts 2 (Cool 1, Drive 2, Shoot 2)
Knowledge 3 (Culture 3, First Aid 2, Tech 3)
Society 2 (Charm 1, Eloquence 2, Observation 2)
Wild 3 (Scout 2, Survival 2, Tough 2)
Crime 2 (Alert 2, Dexterity 2, Stealth 2)
Expertises: Archaeology, Information Technology, Orienteering
Habitual Gear: Backpack, Archaeological Tools, Compass, Broad-brimmed Hat
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| Screenshot from Beast via IMDB.com |
I am Doctor Kwesi Boateng. Call me if you need a sexxxy doctor.
Places I call home: Akan (heritage), Ghana (homeland), and Paris (workplace).
Words I live by: "You'll catch more flies with honey than you will with vinegar."
Fields (Skills):
Action 2 (Fight 2, Leadership 3, Stunt 2)
Guts 2 (Cool 2, Drive 2, Shoot 1)
Knowledge 3 (Culture 2, First Aid 2, Tech 1)
Society 3 (Charm 3, Eloquence 3, Observation 3)
Wild 2 (Scout 1, Survival 2, Tough 1)
Crime 2 (Alert 1, Dexterity 3, Stealth 2)
Expertises: Medicine, Seduction, Support
Habitual Gear: Bag, First Aid Kit, Lighter, Digital Camera
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| Screenshot from Land of the Dead via IMDB.com |
I am Arturo Ruiz. Call me if you need a safecracker with a Land Rover.
Places I call home: Mexico (heritage), Mexico (homeland), and Paris (workplace)
Words I live by: "If you're not living on the edge, you're not really living."
Fields (Skills):
Action 2 (Fight 1, Leadership 1, Stunt 3)
Guts 3 (Cool 2, Drive 3, Shoot 2)
Knowledge 2 (Culture 1, First Aid 1, Tech 3)
Society 2 (Charm 2, Eloquence 2, Observation 2)
Wild 2 (Scout 2, Survival 1, Tough 2)
Crime 3 (Alert 3, Dexterity 3, Stealth 2)
Expertises: Lockpicking, Off-Road Vehicles, Sabotage
Habitual Gear: Backpack, Toolbox, Lockpicks, Pistol
*Credit to the Supernatural writers' room.
**I was surprisingly unable to find a photo of Idris Elba in a lab coat via Internet search. Apparently he hasn't played a lot of doctors.
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