I haven't played an RPG yet and I'm not at all interested in number crunching and rule reading. I'm more interested in story and character development. But to be able to play I must have stats. So I would love your help creating stats for a character based on:
Raymond Reddington (Blacklist ) & Sam Axe ( Burn Notice )
I haven't picked a proper Star Wars sounding name yet so for now we'll just call him:
" Red Axe "
Edited by Mychal'elI'd like to help you, but I'm afraid I'm not at all familiar with either of those characters.
A friendly word: this system is rules-light compared to many others, but a solid grasp of the rules is required for you to be a productive member of an RPG and not a hindrance or burden to the rest of your group. Perhaps you didn't mean it this way, but saying that you can't be bothered to read the rules (I'm paraphrasing) is a poor way to start a request for assistance.
First piece of advice would be Red is a very advanced/experienced character so temper expectations with the reality of being a starting PC in a RPG, which means squishy and not overwhelmingly consistent. That being said Red can be any spec for himself personally that would provide some combat with some social, probably Smuggler Career is the best bet there. The thing that makes him stand out though is his limitless contact network, which looking in Endless Vigil will give you an idea of how they work and can be developed mechanically. Dunno the other IP.
9 hours ago, SFC Snuffy said:I'd like to help you, but I'm afraid I'm not at all familiar with either of those characters.
- What do you envision as the character's focus? What are his capabilities? What are his weaknesses?
- What species do you like, dislike, or envision as representing the character?
- Is he strong? Agile? Smart? Cunning? Strong-willed? Charismatic?
- What "flavor" of the Star Wars setting will you be playing ( Edge of the Empire, Age of Rebellion, Force & Destiny , Custom/Hybrid)? This will help inform your decisions about Class and Specialization(s).
A friendly word: this system is rules-light compared to many others, but a solid grasp of the rules is required for you to be a productive member of an RPG and not a hindrance or burden to the rest of your group. Perhaps you didn't mean it this way, but saying that you can't be bothered to read the rules (I'm paraphrasing) is a poor way to start a request for assistance.
Sorry, what I meant to say is that I have always had a problem with numbers, they make me anxious, b ut I do love reading. I just really like the idea of roll playing, but I'm not super excited for the roll playing. My ideal GM would be C-3P0.
So my 'Red Axe' character would be a former high ranking Imperial intelligence officer turned criminal informant to the highest bidder. Basically a high profile con-man with 'frienemies' literally everywhere. Maybe a Thrawn/Lando combo? Probably Human but I'm open to suggestions.
Incredibly Smart, Cunning, & Charismatic. Not Strong or Agile. Im not sure what you mean by Strong-Willed. He seems fickle & flighty to most, but he actually is extremely patient and can out bluff anyone.
For this character I plan on doing as little combat as possible. He knows how, he just prefers to let others do that for him.
Edge of the Empire/ Age of Rebellion hybrid maybe? No Force powers for him but I'm not opposed to using all three sources.
Edited by Mychal'el7 hours ago, 2P51 said:First piece of advice would be Red is a very advanced/experienced character so temper expectations with the reality of being a starting PC in a RPG, which means squishy and not overwhelmingly consistent. That being said Red can be any spec for himself personally that would provide some combat with some social, probably Smuggler Career is the best bet there. The thing that makes him stand out though is his limitless contact network, which looking in Endless Vigil will give you an idea of how they work and can be developed mechanically. Dunno the other IP.
Tell me if this would work:
Imagine Raymond Reddington at his most vulnerable which would put him somewhere close to where Sam Axe is most of the time. Of course Red would have put himself in that position in an effort to make a much bigger play later. Where as Sam would have just hit some really bad luck and now he's just making the most of it.
So I'm thinking an equal mix of the two characters at the point where they have fallen into what seems like square one. Now he's trying to get back what he lost piece by piece.
You should look at Age of Rebellion Careers, Diplomat and Commander (and spy), read the talent list, which sounds most like those talents fits the idea of your character, and work with that (Primary stats, secondary stats), then look at species which fits it, if that is what you want.
4 hours ago, Mychal'el said:So my 'Red Axe' character would be a former high ranking Imperial intelligence officer turned criminal informant to the highest bidder. Basically a high profile con-man with 'frienemies' literally everywhere. Maybe a Thrawn/Lando combo? Probably Human but I'm open to suggestions.
Incredibly Smart, Cunning, & Charismatic. Not Strong or Agile. Im not sure what you mean by Strong-Willed. He seems fickle & flighty to most, but he actually is extremely patient and can out bluff anyone.
For this character I plan on doing as little combat as possible. He knows how, he just prefers to let others do that for him.
As you describe the character now, I suspect you could make him work with the Smuggler career. (The career is misnamed; it should be the Scoundrel career, probably.) Your home specialization might be Charmer (for that Lando schmooze), or perhaps Scoundrel.
You may want to take a second specialization if you really want to represent the character's ISB past. Personally, I'd just leave this to the narrative and not worry about having precise skills or talents for it, but here are some ideas if you think that training still plays heavily into his role within the party.
First, I agree with Paris Teta that you might want to look to Commander, Diplomat, or Spy. Commander has some possible specializations: Commodore (for capital ship commanders), Instructor (for a trainer), or Strategist (for a big-picture guy) might work. Thrawn was probably a Strategist, but it's not exactly an ISB role as far as I understand it.
The Spy career book isn't out, but the three specializations in that career may also fit for his ISB background: Infiltrator (for a sneak-in-and-kill-people kinda guy), Slicer (for a tech-focused hacker), or Scout (for a field reconnaissance type).
But for a social/sneak-focused character, you may actually get the most use out the Diplomat career. You could look to Advocate or Propagandist (both of which involve gaining and using information on your enemies against them, so very in keeping with your ISB-turned-informant angle). Then there's Analyst, which is another Thrawn-y specialization, as it makes you a master of information retrieval and analysis that you then can use to benefit your buddies.
TL;DR: At his heart, is this character more Lando? Then go with Smuggler (probably Charmer). Is he more Thrawn? Then go with one of the other options above (maybe Commander (Strategist) or Diplomat (Propagandist)). THEN branch out into another of the specializations I've mentioned to round your character out.
Edited by SavageBob1 hour ago, SavageBob said:
As you describe the character now, I suspect you could make him work with the Smuggler career. (The career is misnamed; it should be the Scoundrel career, probably.) Your home specialization might be Charmer (for that Lando schmooze), or perhaps Scoundrel.
You may want to take a second specialization if you really want to represent the character's ISB past. Personally, I'd just leave this to the narrative and not worry about having precise skills or talents for it, but here are some ideas if you think that training still plays heavily into his role within the party.
First, I agree with Paris Teta that you might want to look to Commander, Diplomat, or Spy. Commander has some possible specializations: Commodore (for capital ship commanders), Instructor (for a trainer), or Strategist (for a big-picture guy) might work. Thrawn was probably a Strategist, but it's not exactly an ISB role as far as I understand it.
The Spy career book isn't out, but the three specializations in that career may also fit for his ISB background: Infiltrator (for a sneak-in-and-kill-people kinda guy), Slicer (for a tech-focused hacker), or Scout (for a field reconnaissance type).
But for a social/sneak-focused character, you may actually get the most use out the Diplomat career. You could look to Advocate or Propagandist (both of which involve gaining and using information on your enemies against them, so very in keeping with your ISB-turned-informant angle). Then there's Analyst, which is another Thrawn-y specialization, as it makes you a master of information retrieval and analysis that you then can use to benefit your buddies.
TL;DR: At his heart, is this character more Lando? Then go with Smuggler (probably Charmer). Is he more Thrawn? Then go with one of the other options above (maybe Commander (Strategist) or Diplomat (Propagandist)). THEN branch out into another of the specializations I've mentioned to round your character out.
I haven't looked at the skills yet but by the way you describe them I think I'll go:
Ex Commander/Strategist for ISB turned Smuggler/Charmer, then round out his skills with Analyst & Propagandist
Smuggling works for him as people pay him to make them disappear all the time
It's hard to create Characters for this game that have any history. It's like they want you to start with an infant
3 hours ago, Mychal'el said:I haven't looked at the skills yet but by the way you describe them I think I'll go:
Ex Commander/Strategist for ISB turned Smuggler/Charmer, then round out his skills with Analyst & Propagandist
Smuggling works for him as people pay him to make them disappear all the time
It's hard to create Characters for this game that have any history. It's like they want you to start with an infant
Well, to be fair, this is a beginning character. The system lets you make up any background you want, but if the GM doesn't give the XP to back things up, you have to start on the modest side of things. Then you can set your goals for how you want to grow the character. In your case, you might say that the character is out of practice in certain areas that he used to be good at to narratively justify the fact that you want him to have this really cool background, but he still has to start at the same level of XP as the other party members.
Out of the box, you won't be able to do everything you seem to want to do. You're going to have to decide what this character's role in the party is going to be right now, at this precise point in his life, and then go from there.
From what you describe, I'd START the character as Smuggler/Charmer, and then maybe buy the second spec. Commander/Strategist offers you some cool stuff, but note that many of that spec's coolest tricks only work in Mass Combat situations; depending on the type of game you'll be joining, you may not get the most bang for your buck out of that type of character. I'd suggest Diplomat/Advocate or Propagandist as better for synergizing with Charmer. With Charmer plus one of those, you'd be a very powerful Face-type character for your group.
Edited by SavageBob4 hours ago, Mychal'el said:I haven't looked at the skills yet but by the way you describe them I think I'll go:
Ex Commander/Strategist for ISB turned Smuggler/Charmer, then round out his skills with Analyst & Propagandist
Smuggling works for him as people pay him to make them disappear all the time
It's hard to create Characters for this game that have any history. It's like they want you to start with an infant
Not if your GM wants more advanced PCs and uses the Knight level play rules.
2 hours ago, SavageBob said:Well, to be fair, this is a beginning character. The system lets you make up any background you want, but if the GM doesn't give the XP to back things up, you have to start on the modest side of things. Then you can set your goals for how you want to grow the character. In your case, you might say that the character is out of practice in certain areas that he used to be good at to narratively justify the fact that you want him to have this really cool background, but he still has to start at the same level of XP as the other party members.
Out of the box, you won't be able to do everything you seem to want to do. You're going to have to decide what this character's role in the party is going to be right now, at this precise point in his life, and then go from there.
From what you describe, I'd START the character as Smuggler/Charmer, and then maybe buy the second spec. Commander/Strategist offers you some cool stuff, but note that many of that spec's coolest tricks only work in Mass Combat situations; depending on the type of game you'll be joining, you may not get the most bang for your buck out of that type of character. I'd suggest Diplomat/Advocate or Propagandist as better for synergizing with Charmer. With Charmer plus one of those, you'd be a very powerful Face-type character for your group.
Thank you! That's exactly the advice I need!
I read elsewhere that basically your career/first spec should reflect your character's background, and all the other specializations you add from then on reflect what your character becomes. Which makes sense to me, and I would prefer a system like that but sometimes game mechanics get in the way of narrative and force you work the system so you can avoid being frustrated. That's what I mean by ' roll playing' which is not ideal for me.
As far as the precise point in life part, I'm beginning to think of XP as days spent in school or at a job. So if I want to play as a brilliantly skilled 50 year old man I need to start him out as a 5 year old and run thousands of campaigns. I'm exaggerating of course but am I right? Otherwise I'd be starting off as a 50 year old who was mooching off his parents his whole life until they died and left him their debt and so he's forced to learn to make his own food and shower himself. He might as well have just woken up from a 45 year coma.
A 50 year old starter character could've lived a "normal" life before becoming a galaxy-hopping adventurer. Or maybe he was a merc all his life, but is either out of practice from taking too many easy guard jobs at the ***-end of the galaxy, or just recovered from a bad screw-up and has to rebuild his muscles and reflexes after two years of rehab. Sure, you have to somehow justify how the fifty year old doesn't start as a badass, but it really isn't THAT difficult to do.
For example, me and a good friend want to play a character duo in an Age game eventually - retired clone trooper and a self-aware B1 unit. A clone trooper would be an old man during an Age game, so he's rusty and getting back into the swing of things while getting used to just not being able to run a marathon like before, while the B1 is already as a starting character far superior to the actual B1 units from the war, but still has to actually improve his own programming and hardware so he doesn't fall apart.
3 hours ago, Mychal'el said:Thank you! That's exactly the advice I need!
I read elsewhere that basically your career/first spec should reflect your character's background, and all the other specializations you add from then on reflect what your character becomes. Which makes sense to me, and I would prefer a system like that but sometimes game mechanics get in the way of narrative and force you work the system so you can avoid being frustrated. That's what I mean by ' roll playing' which is not ideal for me.
No problem!
I'm not sure I'd agree with the advice you got about the Career being your background and the Spec being your current focus, though. I'd say pick the career that gives you the career skills you want your character to have access to now, the ones that are most relevant to your vision of the character
at this point in time
(not in the past, but possibly down the line a bit).
Do you need access to the Smuggler's Coordination, Deception, Knowledge (Underworld), Perception, Piloting (Space), Skulduggery, Streetwise, and Vigilance? Or do you need access to the Diplomat's Charm, Deception, Knowledge (Core Worlds), Knowledge (Lore), Knowledge (Outer Rim), Knowledge (Xenology), Leadership and Negotiation?
Also consider the different Signature Abilities you'll have access to. These are not accessible until well into a campaign, but it's something that is tied to your career. So, far in the future, do you want your character to be able to miraculously escape combat unscathed, or be very lucky (Smuggler Signature Abilities)? Or to be able to miraculously turn a combat encounter into a social encounter, or to occasionally gain unprecedented insight into the motives and emotions of people he encounters (Diplomat Signature Abilities)?
At the end of the day, it comes down to flavor. Is your character more at home in the seedy side of the galaxy? Then go Smuggler/Charmer. Or is he more at home in bureaucracy and a data center doing analysis? Then go Diplomat/Advocate or Propagandist. Starting with one won't stop you from also doing the other; it's just a question of your emphasis at the very early stages of your adventures.
5 hours ago, SavageBob said:No problem!
Do you need access to the Smuggler's Coordination, Deception, Knowledge (Underworld), Perception, Piloting (Space), Skulduggery, Streetwise, and Vigilance? Or do you need access to the Diplomat's Charm, Deception, Knowledge (Core Worlds), Knowledge (Lore), Knowledge (Outer Rim), Knowledge (Xenology), Leadership and Negotiation?
Also consider the different Signature Abilities you'll have access to. These are not accessible until well into a campaign, but it's something that is tied to your career. So, far in the future, do you want your character to be able to miraculously escape combat unscathed, or be very lucky (Smuggler Signature Abilities)? Or to be able to miraculously turn a combat encounter into a social encounter, or to occasionally gain unprecedented insight into the motives and emotions of people he encounters (Diplomat Signature Abilities)?
At the end of the day, it comes down to flavor. Is your character more at home in the seedy side of the galaxy? Then go Smuggler/Charmer. Or is he more at home in bureaucracy and a data center doing analysis? Then go Diplomat/Advocate or Propagandist. Starting with one won't stop you from also doing the other; it's just a question of your emphasis at the very early stages of your adventures.
So I'd say the Smuggler's Knowledge (Underworld), Perception, Skulduggery, Streetwise, and Vigilance fit the profile.
But the Diplomat's Charm, Deception, Knowledge (Core Worlds), Knowledge (Lore), Knowledge (Outer Rim), Knowledge (Xenology), Leadership and Negotiation fits the profile also, which happens to be all inclusive.
Also, being able to miraculously turn a combat encounter into a social encounter, or to occasionally gain unprecedented insight into the motives and emotions of people he encounters (Diplomat Signature Abilities) is a perfect fit!
But at the end of the day my character is more at home in the seedy side of the galaxy. So should I still go Smuggler/Charmer?
To me it seems like your character has equal reasons for both careers, so I'd go for one of the oldest tricks in the book - flip a coin!
4 hours ago, Silim said:To me it seems like your character has equal reasons for both careers, so I'd go for one of the oldest tricks in the book - flip a coin!
Ahh... Gambler, then!
If you just want a couple Smuggler skills, choose a rank each in Skulduggery and Streetwise (or Underworld) as your picks for being Human, and role-play the rest.
11 hours ago, SavageBob said:Then go Diplomat/Advocate or Propagandist.
One of these would be my pick for this character, because of the myriad awesome talents that would help realize the concept.
Right. My comments shouldn't be taken to imply that if you take the Smuggler career you can NEVER get some of the Diplomat's career skills. You just have to pay a small tax to take ranks in them, or you have to add them to your career-skill list via specializations. Note that Charmer will give you some of the Diplomat's career skills that the base Smuggler doesn't get.
When you come right down to it, a Smuggler/Charmer is just a really social character who oozes bravado and charisma. A Diplomat/Advocate or Propagandist is a person who uses information for his allies or against his enemies. Both have the same end effect: to influence social encounters. It's just their approaches that differ. Pick the one that matches your concept best, then take the other as a secondary spec. Done!
2 hours ago, Edgehawk said:Ahh... Gambler, then!
If you just want a couple Smuggler skills, choose a rank each in Skulduggery and Streetwise (or Underworld) as your picks for being Human, and role-play the rest.
One of these would be my pick for this character, because of the myriad awesome talents that would help realize the concept.
I personally don't like gambling. This character does, but not me.
Diplomat sounds like the most efficient/cheaper option yeah?
2 hours ago, SavageBob said:Right. My comments shouldn't be taken to imply that if you take the Smuggler career you can NEVER get some of the Diplomat's career skills. You just have to pay a small tax to take ranks in them, or you have to add them to your career-skill list via specializations. Note that Charmer will give you some of the Diplomat's career skills that the base Smuggler doesn't get.
When you come right down to it, a Smuggler/Charmer is just a really social character who oozes bravado and charisma. A Diplomat/Advocate or Propagandist is a person who uses information for his allies or against his enemies. Both have the same end effect: to influence social encounters. It's just their approaches that differ. Pick the one that matches your concept best, then take the other as a secondary spec. Done!
My character oozes bravado and charisma and uses information for his allies or against his enemies.
I just found a great resource. What about the Agitator ?
The Diplomat/Agitator skills:
Or
The Smuggler/Charmer skills:
4 minutes ago, Mychal'el said:I personally don't like gambling. This character does, but not me.
I was really just responding to the roll- the-dice comment in the previous reply.
7 minutes ago, Mychal'el said:
I just found a great resource. What about the Agitator ?
That could also be a viable option, and the other Diplomat specs would still be in-career.
48 minutes ago, Edgehawk said:I was really just responding to the roll- the-dice comment in the previous reply.
That could also be a viable option, and the other Diplomat specs would still be in-career.
I know, I was trying to say that I don't like leaving my character creation to chance.
So I could get all the same skills that fit the Character either way but:
If I choose the Smuggler/Charmer then I'd have to buy:
But if I choose the Diplomat/Agitator I would only have to buy:
3 hours ago, Mychal'el said:I just found a great resource. What about the Agitator ?
That could also work. Just keep in mind that the Agitator is more of an in-your-face, crowd manipulator. He goes out into the streets and riles up the populace. It just depends on how your want your character to work: As a schmoozer (Charmer)? As a behind-the-scenes manipulator of information (Agitator or Propagandist)? Or as a streetwise rabble rouser (Agitator)?
And don't worry too much about career skills. Career ranks are cheap, even for out-of-career skills, at least for your first rank or two. Don't get too hung up on this. There are no bad choices here.
On 6/17/2017 at 0:09 PM, Mychal'el said:help creating stats for a character based on:
Raymond Reddington (Blacklist ) & Sam Axe ( Burn Notice )
" Red Axe "
If I was just basing this character off of starting skills I would pick
Human with Charm & Deception
Diplomat/Agitator
27 minutes ago, SavageBob said:That could also work. Just keep in mind that the Agitator is more of an in-your-face, crowd manipulator. He goes out into the streets and riles up the populace. It just depends on how your want your character to work: As a schmoozer (Charmer)? As a behind-the-scenes manipulator of information (Analyst or Propagandist)? Or as a streetwise rabble rouser (Agitator)?
And don't worry too much about career skills. Career ranks are cheap, even for out-of-career skills, at least for your first rank or two. Don't get too hung up on this. There are no bad choices here.
But the character is definitely not a "rabble rouser"
He's a behind-the-scenes schmoozer, contact manipulator, & information broker. He's is loyal to himself, not the Empire, not the Rebels, not anybody. He makes them think they are using him as a contact when really he's using them for his own plans.
Edited by Mychal'elYou should look a little more on the talents, if you need a non career skill, you can still buy them, they just cost 5 xp each time you do.
1 hour ago, Paris Teta said:You should look a little more on the talents, if you need a non career skill, you can still buy them, they just cost 5 xp each time you do.
So after looking at talents I am very confused by what many of them are talking about, but it seems like Propagandist is the winner followed by Charmer , then Agitator .
Edited by Mychal'el