Character Creation Discussion

[Aavarius]

Speaking of which, does the Karma attribute affect the Luck saving throw's value?

[Arcticus]

1 hour ago, Aavarius said:

Speaking of which, does the Karma attribute affect the Luck saving throw's value?

It does not, mostly because all the other saving throws have your choice of 2 attributes, but there would only be one for Luck, so if you get a bad roll it could have a strong effect.

[Inash]

Well. Gonna give the rules a read and maybe try.

[Laird_Thorne]

I’ve been looking for a reason to crack open the CWN book. I’ve heard good things about Worlds Without Numbers, and CWN scratches that CP/SR itch too. :)

Now I need to find my Seattle book for inspiration… lol

[Cairo]

@Arcticus I'm guessing this is the case, but best to double check since it's not mentioned in the READ ME:

Luck stat does not qualify for the "+1 Any Stat" option in Growth tables, right?

[Jedaii]

Some questions:

• Magic: the Mirage spell didn't seem to have a committed time so would that be "for the duration"? Could the Dispel spell be used to banish summoned spirits? The description of Mage Effort suggests it's recovered after a good night's rest, but under the individual commitment times, it suggests ME recovers after the spell ends - which is it? 🤔
• Under Pharmaceuticals there's "Medical Prescription" - is it possible in this setting to get anti-toxins over the counter?
• In order to grab a target during combat do I use the Punch skill? What about for tripping a target? Do blows to sensitive areas (e.g. the throat or genitals) cause any extra damage/condition?

[Arcticus]

9 hours ago, Cairo said:

@Arcticus I'm guessing this is the case, but best to double check since it's not mentioned in the READ ME:

Luck stat does not qualify for the "+1 Any Stat" option in Growth tables, right?

Correct.

7 hours ago, Jedaii said:

Some questions:

• Magic: the Mirage spell didn't seem to have a committed time so would that be "for the duration"? Could the Dispel spell be used to banish summoned spirits? The description of Mage Effort suggests it's recovered after a good night's rest, but under the individual commitment times, it suggests ME recovers after the spell ends - which is it? 🤔
• Under Pharmaceuticals there's "Medical Prescription" - is it possible in this setting to get anti-toxins over the counter?
• In order to grab a target during combat do I use the Punch skill? What about for tripping a target? Do blows to sensitive areas (e.g. the throat or genitals) cause any extra damage/condition?

Magic:

• The Mirage spell requires Scene commitment (there's a handy table on pg. 234).
• Dispel cannot be used to banish summoned spirits because A) it specifies it only functions against spell effects and not standing magical effects created by items and other methods, and B) summoners must commit effort for the day and make a check to banish an opposing spirit.
• For Mage Effort all effort regardless of type used refreshes the next morning after 8 hrs of uninterrupted sleep, not unlike Vancian casters in DnD and PF. If you commit effort for the day, you don't get it back until the next day after you've rested. So if you use all your effort on spells that require committing for the day (typically the more powerful spells), you effectively can't cast until the day. If you commit effort for the scene or duration, you do get it back after the spell/scene is over. There are 15 spells that have effort commitment of Day and another 3 that have Day commitment for increased effect, so you'll burn through the effort quicker than you think.

Pharmaceuticals:

• Regarding anti-toxins, at least in CWN there doesn't appear to be any specific anti-toxin compounds. I would assume they would be considered part of any first-aid kits/checks made, but I will have to look through the SR books to see if they are prevalent and easily available as I don't rightly recall off the top of my head. So, answer pending on more research.

Punch/Grappling:

• On pg. 36, there are rules for shoving and grappling. You make an unarmed attack that does no damage and if you hit, you roll an opposed Str/Punch or Str/Exert. You may choose to knock a grappled opponent prone. By RAW, you can't "trip" people, but I suppose it would depend on the narrative as to whether I'd allow it or not
• No, there aren't any called shots in CWN.

Edited September 11 by Arcticus (see edit history)

[Jedaii]

9 minutes ago, Arcticus said:

Correct.

Magic:

• The Mirage spell requires Scene commitment (there's a handy table on pg. 234).
• Dispel cannot be used to banish summoned spirits because A) it specifies it only functions against spell effects and not standing magical effects created by items and other methods, and B) summoners must commit effort for the day and make a check to banish an opposing spirit.
• For Mage Effort all effort regardless of type used refreshes the next morning after 8 hrs of uninterrupted sleep, not unlike Vancian casters in DnD and PF. If you commit effort for the day, you don't get it back until the next day after you've rested. So if you use all your effort on spells that require committing for the day (typically the more powerful spells), you can't effectively can't cast until the day. If you commit effort effort for the scene or duration, you do get it back after the spell/scene is over. There are 15 spells that have effort commitment of Day and another 3 that have Day commitment for increased effect, so you'll burn through the effort quicker than you think.

Pharmaceuticals:

• Regarding anti-toxins, at least in CWN there doesn't appear to be any specific anti-toxin compounds. I would assume they would be considered part of any first-aid kits/checks made, but I will have to look through the SR books to see if they are prevalent and easily available as I don't rightly recall off the top of my head. So, answer pending on more research.

Punch/Grappling:

• On pg. 36, there are rules for shoving and grappling. You make an unarmed attack that does no damage and if you hit, you roll an opposed Str/Punch or Str/Exert. You may choose to knock a grappled opponent prone. By RAW, you can't "trip" people, but I suppose it would depend on the narrative as to whether I'd allow it or not
• No, there aren't any called shots in CWN.

Thanks for the quick response 👍

[CraterShip]

Very interested, I will definitely see about rolling up a character for this one. I do have a couple questions (hopefully I didn't miss them being asked somewhere else already).

Since this is Brown-Business Suit, do we want to stay away from the more street-level (i.e. gang member) type background? Something like the listed James Bond or similar action movie seems to usually have a bit more control and flair than the standard street-ganger.

I have never used any of the XYZ-without-number games, will that be a hindrance to the application?

As for character idea, I will want to look through what has been posted so far and see if there is a spot that needs filling / would be most helpful to the group. Before I do that, my initial idea would be something like a close range wetwork (assassin or B&E expert) type.

[Chimi]

 

3 minutes ago, CraterShip said:

Very interested, I will definitely see about rolling up a character for this one. I do have a couple questions (hopefully I didn't miss them being asked somewhere else already).

Since this is Brown-Business Suit, do we want to stay away from the more street-level (i.e. gang member) type background? Something like the listed James Bond or similar action movie seems to usually have a bit more control and flair than the standard street-ganger.

I have never used any of the XYZ-without-number games, will that be a hindrance to the application?

As for character idea, I will want to look through what has been posted so far and see if there is a spot that needs filling / would be most helpful to the group. Before I do that, my initial idea would be something like a close range wetwork (assassin or B&E expert) type.

I think anyone can fit with Brown Business Suit, even gangers. They'd just be think who kinda stepped up from the gangs, got a skill, and became known for being reasonably reliable.

For BBS of that type, think maybe Cowboy Bebop and Ocean's Eleven. Spike was a gangster who rose to ranks before skipping out. The bomb guy and the driver brothers in O11 could easily have come up from petty crime backgrounds.

[CraterShip]

4 minutes ago, Chimi said:

 

I think anyone can fit with Brown Business Suit, even gangers. They'd just be think who kinda stepped up from the gangs, got a skill, and became known for being reasonably reliable.

For BBS of that type, think maybe Cowboy Bebop and Ocean's Eleven. Spike was a gangster who rose to ranks before skipping out. The bomb guy and the driver brothers in O11 could easily have come up from petty crime backgrounds.

Good call, I can see either of those as being perfect. Thanks!

[Cairo]

A Nuyen for your thoughts since we're not in a hurry:

Let's say you did what I did and rolled a purely random character because you love discovery. Let's call them "Harry" and say they're a Corper + Pop Idol. Let's also assume for the sake of conversation that everyone's fun is different and there's no wrong way to interpret that combination - I'm curious about the range of thinking here.

Would you do a more strict interpretation of the Pop Idol (musician, journalist, etc) through the lens of a Corper (faceless cog) and say they were an investigative corpo journalist known well enough by their pen name but not so much their face.

..or would you prefer a much looser interpretation where you maximize both aspects even if it treads on other options to some degree. For example Pop Idol means they're a musician (even though they don't have the Performer background), and Corper means they participated in the building and served as the face of a record label (even though Corper says they were a faceless cog).

..or something else?

[Inash]

Sounds like a corporate managed boy/girl band member to me.

[Cairo]

1 hour ago, Inash said:

Sounds like a corporate managed boy/girl band member to me.

So basically more like being the product, rather than managing it?

[Inash]

Yes. That would be how I see being a corporate cog while still being a public figure/face. From some random article about boy bands "Boy bands are strictly marketing ploys; a formula is stuck to, sounds are created and there remains no trace of expression to be found. It’s an approach that produces wildly popular, often viral singles. The drawback is that those singles rarely have any staying power past three years or so, as they aggressively utilize the flavor-of-the-month mindset. In this “creative” process, the album is an afterthought."