Play Testing Begins

I'm ready to roll up a character... characters don't have a 'class' per se. They start with a lineage (where they came from - maybe a species, but it might be something else)... then you focus your character as you go. I like the idea that character creation in Sentinels is something of a game within a game, so I'm trying to replicate that here with the swords and planets vibe...

1. Roll for Lineage. The first step is to determine what talents are possessed by the species that is your ancestry. You are basically creating a species as you go… there is no ‘default’ species. There are Terrans, but they have been exposed to cosmic radiation that has caused any number of changes, so all bets are off. I start by rolling 1d6 to see how ‘close’ I am to human; I roll 1. This guy is identical to a human; he is a Terran, albeit one who may have been exposed to radiation. I roll 4 traits; I roll 18, 10, 88, 57. These (for now) are elemental resistance (cold), regenerate 1 hp per round; poison breath; emotion control. I’m thinking that he was a Terran who was part of a cryo project to equip terrans for mining work on Banquo’s Maw. This would mean that he would have a reason to find a junker, and to be on the moon in the first place. That’s a win. His power even lets him ‘cool’ the emotions of those around him. This will be a limitation of his emotion control power; he can only de-escalate heightened emotions. 

2. Roll for limitations. There is a 2 in 6 chance of a limitation. I already took one to one of my abilities, but I roll 1. I select susceptible to heat damage, since it makes the most sense. Any time he suffers heat damage, he sustains an additional +1d6 damage.

3. Roll for attributes. Now I’m ready to decide on my attributes. I roll 2d6 for each, rerolling 1s, and get: 6, 8, 8, 10, 7, 6. Nothing too great, but it’s fine.

I know that the 10 is going to improve (it will be the favored attribute), so it will be pretty good. While CON makes the most sense, it is the least fun… I’m thinking either DEX or INT, but CHA would be okay too. I am curious what a random roll would give me (but I’m not locking in to it), and I get INT. Hmmm. So he’s a thinker more than a fighter. That’s okay. Scientist. Explorer. Okay. INT it is. I’m starting to think of him as a kinder version of Mr. Freeze. Like if Mr. Freeze was a Vulcan. I’m going with low WIS because he is quite practical and has little patience for such things as yoga or vegan dieting. That poison breath is actually frost breath, of course. I think this guy is actually bio-engineered and not actually a terran at all.

STR 7 (-); INT 11 (+2); WIS 6 (-); DEX 8 (+1); CON 8 (+1); CHA 6 (-)

4. Roll for starting credits. I roll 80 starting credits. He takes a blast pistol (30 credits), a starter pack (20 credits), and a stun rod (10 credits). He has 20 credits remaining.

5. For talents, I get to start with three. I will take science (specialize in cryogenics), mechanic, and fortitude (+5 hit points). I know that he will need pilot, but I can wait until level 2 for that. 

6. Stats: I start with 2d6+1 hit points (roll 11), +7 Feat, Move 4 (I am changing up movement rules to get them to work in meters and km; so 3 is number of meters he can travel in one action while doing other things with no penalty; 5x this is his run speed in one round doing nothing else; this is also the km he can walk in an hour at a comfortable pace). Blast weapons are relatively cheap, but they are relatively weak and are only good at short ranges. 

My character is ready to go...     

Cryos Panek, Genetically-Engineered Proto-Terran Frost Trader

AC 12; HD 2d6+6 (16 hit points); FEAT +7; Move 3; Blast Pistol (+2/2d6/5) or Stun Rod (+1/Feat or stunned for 1d6 rounds)

STR 7 (-); INT 11 (+2); WIS 6 (-); 

DEX 8 (+1); CON 8 (+1); CHA 6 (-)

Talents: Science (cryogenics), mechanic, fortitude

Cold breath (once per turn, 3 meter cloud; 2d6+1 damage); Cold resistance (1d6 less damage from cold); Empathy Control, ‘cool’ (10 meters); Regenerate 1 hp per round 

Limitation: Heat susceptibility (+1d6 damage from heat) 

Next time we talk about bots and junkers!