A friend of mine in a Discord server shared a challenge involving making an RPG character every day during the month of January and I wanted to give it a shot.
I want to try my hand at emulating at existing characters for the first week of the challenge.
The first character concept I have in mind is for Ironsworn: Starforged. Characters in this game are super easy to make. The game's cultural touchtones include Star Wars: The Mandalorian. I wanted to make Din Djarin, the titular Mandalorian.
The next part is picking Assets. In addition to his Command Vehicle, the Razor Crest, Din gets three Assets. I'm choosing to represent Din after he abandons gig work, as he effectively loses his bounty hunter guild credentials when he chooses to save The Child instead of terminating him.
Assets:
Armored
If you wear your finely crafted set of personal armor,
If you wear your finely crafted set of personal armor,
■ When you Face Danger, React Under Fire, or Clash against physical attacks or impact, you may put trust in your armor’s strength.
If you do, preset your action die to 4. On a strong hit with a match, take +2 momentum as you build confidence, make an impression on your foes, or improve your position.
□ You add an important new piece to your set
of armor, or upgrade its materials. As above,
but preset your action die to 5 instead of 4.
□ When you must Endure Harm, you may
instead let your armor take the hit. If you do,
roll your action die. On a 4 or greater, ignore
the harm. On a 1-3, ignore the harm but
your armor is now broken; you must Repair
and spend 5 repair points to bring it back to
working condition.
Bannersworn (Mandalorians)
■ You are bound to a clan, faction, or creed.
When you Swear an Iron Vow in service to this ideology, reroll any dice. On a hit, mark 1 tick on your bonds legacy track.
□ When you or an ally Sojourn and score a
strong hit with a match, you may envision
meeting someone of the same ideology. If
you Make a Connection with them and score
a hit, mark 1 tick on your bonds legacy track.
When you Forge a Bond with anyone of your
ideology, make the legacy reward one rank
higher (1 extra box if already epic).
□ When you make a progress move in direct
service to your ideology, you may reroll one
challenge die. If you then score a strong
hit with a match, mark 1 tick on your bonds
legacy track.
Weapon Master
■ You are a walking armory, with a weapon
for every occassion. When you Enter the
Fray in personal combat, add +1 and take +1
momentum on a hit. Once per fight, when
you Gain Ground by switching weapons or
changing tactics, take an automatic strong hit.
□ When you Strike using a personal weapon
which has limited ammo or a single-use
mode, add +1 and mark progress on a hit.
Then, Sacrifice Resources (-1). If you score
a strong hit on this attack and immediately
Take Decisive Action, you may retain the
value of one challenge die from your Strike
action instead of rolling that die
□ When you Secure an Advantage by suiting
up and gathering your gear for a perilous
encounter or mission, you may roll +supply.
If you do, take +2 momentum on a hit.
Arguably, Bannersworn is the weakest of the Assets tied to this character, and something like Vestige might be better suited (reflecting the dying way of life of the Mandalorians). Still, I think this is a competent reflection of Din. I won't get into the more complicated parts of character generation (Bonds, Vows, etc). Even though those aren't that complicated, that ties more into worldbuilding than character generation and everyone knows the Star Wars world.
The second character concept that I had in mind is normally something that I don't think about playing: a silly Isekai Dungeons and Dragons character. If you're unaware, an Isekai character is one from anime or manga that is transported to a world/reality that they aren't from and has to survive.
But my character idea is tied to a very specific, absolutely dunked-on movie from the 1990s:
I'll be making the main character in Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition. I'm assuming that Calvin is a bit of a nerd, given how bad he is at baseball. Later on in the movie, he does achieve a semblance of competency in knightly activities, but he mostly uses his wits and knowledge from the future/other dimension to his advantage.
How to Play
Calvin Fuller
Human
Lawful Good Eloquence Bard 3
Custom Background: Isekai
The rationale here is that Calvin has almost definitely read Dungeons and Dragons handbooks and fiction, giving him a knowledge edge. He's also portrayed as extremely likable in the movies. I chose Eloqeunce as the Bard College because Calvin talks his way out of trouble for most of the movie, and because Bard seems like a good class to capture the nature of a person from another time and plane.
Vitals
HP: 21 at level 3
Initiative: +2
Speed: 30
Proficiency Bonus: +2
Unarmored AC: 12
Armored AC: 14 (Studded Leather)
Weapon/Armor Proficiencies: Light Armor, Simple weapons, hand crossbows, longswords, rapiers, shortswords
Save Proficiencies: Dexterity, Charisma
Skill Proficiencies: Persuasion, Athletics, History, Arcana, Religion
Tool Proficiencies: Drums, Cook's Utensils, Smith's Tools, Woodcarver's Tools (I subbed musical instruments for tools here, and throughout the movie you see Calvin cook and use the blacksmith to make some anachronistic items), Dragonchess
Languages: Common, Elvish (He's read a lot of Tolkien)
Feature: Sore Thumb (Custom)
You're not from this world, and people quickly take note of it. Some take pity on you, thinking you to be some sort of stranded foreigner; while others seek to take advantage of you, scamming and robbing you at every turn. On a rare occasion, a great scholar or other learned person will notice you for exactly what you are, seeking as much knowledge on your home dimension as possible.
Attacks:
Longsword +1 Damage 1d8/1d10
Shortsword +4 Damage 1d6
Class Features:
Spellcasting - I am going to go ahead and list the spells chosen here:
Cantrips: Minor Illusion (like the Sony Discman), and Light
Cantrips: Minor Illusion (like the Sony Discman), and Light
1st Level Spells: Charm Person, Comprehend Languages, Dissonant Whispers
2nd Level Spells: Suggestion
Bardic Inspiration - Standard Feature
Jack of All Trades - Adding half your Proficiency rounded down to non-proficient skills is a great feature for a character who can summon up knowledge about the world that they are in.
Song of Rest - Standard Feature
Expertise - I chose to double Persuasion and History here, as in the movie we see Calvin is somewhat knowledgable about the past, and can talk his way out of just about anything.
Silver Tongue: Starting at 3rd level, you are a master at saying the right thing at the right time. When you make a Charisma (Persuasion) or Charisma (Deception) check, you can treat a d20 roll of 9 or lower as a 10.
Unsettling Words: Also at 3rd level, you can spin words laced with magic that unsettle a creature and cause it to doubt itself. As a bonus action, you can expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration and choose one creature you can see within 60 feet of you. Roll the Bardic Inspiration die. The creature must subtract the number rolled from the next saving throw it makes before the start of your next turn.
How to Play
Calvin is a fun-loving kid who is uncertain of himself thrust into a situation where he is completely and totally out of place. He uses his knowledge of the Dungeons and Dragons universe to make the best out of his situation, and always tries to get as much information as he can about something before taking action.
He tries to reason with the unreasonable people of the time/setting, and when that doesn't work he has honeyed magic words to help him achieve what he wants to do.
My third character concept (and to finally catch me up on the challenge) is for Delta Green, a horror investigative RPG. Admittedly, this is a character that I have previously built but haven't had the opportunity to play yet. The character, Agent CORY is based on Cory Lambert from Wind River.
Agent CORY is a US Fish and Wildlife Service employee, a Federal Wildlife Officer who helps an FBI Agent look into the murder of an indigenous woman on Wind River Indian Preservation in Wyoming.
This character generation is a bit more straightforward than 5th Edition DnD, which is one of the things that I love about Delta Green. Take the character and add some elements of the occult to their backstory (in this case, the murdered indigenous woman was taken by a cult). By the end of that story, Cory is definitely Adapted to Violence (I won't spoil the ending, it's a fantastic movie and highly encourage that you watch it. Go on, I'll wait.
Normally, I would advocate just taking the Federal Agent profession and using that as a base, but Cory Lambert doesn't work like a fed; he's more of a wildlife tracker, a professional outdoorsman. For this, I moved skill points around the Federal Agent package to where I go what I wanted from it. From there, add 8x20 bonus skill points.
STATS
STR 12 CON 12 DEX 11 INT 13 POW 13 CHA 8
HP 12 WP 13 SAN 55 BP 52
MOTIVATIONS AND DISORDERS
M: Make it home alive
M: Quiet professionalism
M: Nothing can hide from me
M: No rest without work
M: A ranch of my own"
Adapted to Violence
SKILLS
Alertness 40
Athletics 50
Bureaucracy 40
Drive 60
Firearms 70
First Aid 30
Forensics 50
Law 30
Melee Weapons 50
Navigate 50
Occult 30
Persuade 40
Ride 60
Science (Biology) 70
Stealth 50
Survival 80
Unarmed Combat 60
Special Training in All Terrain Vehicles (including Snowmobiles)
Weapons (thanks, IMFDB):
Ruger Super Hawk - Heavy Pistol 1d12 damage
Remington 700 - Heavy Rifle 1d12+2 damage, 5AP telescopic sight for double range when using the Aim action
Marlin Model 1895SBL - Light Rifle with heavier rounds - 1d12+3 with 0 AP damage, telescoping sight for double range when using the Aim action
Cory is quiet and makes connections in his head. If he suspects danger, he doesn't tell anyone about it, instead putting others into the danger zone while providing backup from far away. Cory is also incredibly patient, as all hunters should be.
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