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Tuesday, January 11, 2022

2022 Character Creation Challenge 11) Reign

 On day 11 we reach for 11d10. Seems appropriate


 This is super simple. Reign has one of the best character creation methods out there – roll 11d10, look for sets, and compare those sets to the tables for major life training. Then find any orphan dice on one of three other tables for different events. Sort them in the order they occurred, write down what you get from them in terms of attributes and skills. Done. 

For example, my 11d10 produced 2x1, 3, 6, 4x8, 9 and 2x10

This means Lowly Beggar (2x1), Military Commander (4x8), and Noble Byblow (2x10), along with three life events that I'll pick as Someone Got Spurned (3), Vengeance Quest (6) and Gnostic Event (9). There are a mess of ways you could sequence these, but I went with 

Song Pak, a noble byblow of the Dindavarian court (2x10) was trained in the ways of the court (+1 COMMAND, +1 Sword, +2 Graces, +1 Status, +1 Wealth)…

But not in the ways of love. He fell hard for one of the women of the court and thinking his impressive beauty would see him through he pursued her (Beauty (3), Lie +1, Plead +1). When she settled on someone else, he was devastated, taking it as a blow to his honor and he swore to win true love (Mission: Find True Love).

He was alas so young and stupid that he assumed she was his only true love and he spent years mastering the sword to win her back, or at worst, challenge her romantic choice so she would be freed after his death. (+2 Sword, 2 steps in the Path of the Razor Heart, the Dindavarian Sword Style). 

Fortunately, his father stepped in before Song did something truly stupid and shipped him off to officer's school, where he excelled – seeing victory in the army as a way to prove himself to his true love! – and saw several promotions over several years. He learned tactics, strategy, and how to inspire men in battle. (+1 COMMAND, +1 Fight, +1 Ride, +3 Tactics, +2 Inspire, +2 Parry, +1 Endurance, +1 Sight, +1 Direction, +2 Strategy, +1 Lie)

His last battlefield was one against the Truil Tribesmen, where something supernatural happened – he has never discussed it (and I won't nail it down until I talk to the GM) but while it was a victory for Dindavara, it left Song shaken, and possessed of knowledge he'd rather not have (Lore +2, Eerie +2, Sorcery +1; I'm also adding 2 Truil school spells, because it's a by-campaign question whether there's a cost associated with them.) 

Song Pak mustered out, went home, carefully packed everything of value he owned at his father's house, and started a year's long pilgrimage around Dindavara's holiest sites. He ate, wore, and carried only what he was given in an effort to understand what he learned, and along the way learned many other things (+1 SENSE, +2 Plead, +1 Run, +1 Dodge, +1 Sight). Now that he has finally integrated what happened to him, he is ready to rejoin society. He's also realized, finally, that the girl of his youth is not, and never was his True Love. That search continues -as does the realization that so much of his life has been pursuing his family's approval, Craving he will never get rid of. 

Song Pak starts play with 

Status 1 (it's not much, but it's a start)
Wealth 1 (likewise; as long as he has low standard, he'll never starve, he can haggle to get better things, or make one larger purchase)
Beauty 3 (Any Fascinate or Graces roll has a minimum Height of 7)

BODY 2 (Endurance 3, Fight 3, Parry 4, Run 3)
SENSE 3 (Direction 4, Eerie 5, Sight 5)
CHARM 2 (Graces 5, Lie 5, Plead 5)
COORDINATION 2 (Dodge 3, Ride 3, Weapon – Sword 5)
COMMAND 4 (Inspire 6)
KNOWLEDGE 2 (Native Language 2+MD, Lore 4, Strategy 4, Tactics 5)

Path of the Razor Heart: with his Sword skill he can
* Pure Commencement: drawing takes no time
* Single Intent: when making a single attack, hits do 1 Shock to target torso regardless of other effects

Now, there's a bunch of other stuff you can do in Reign when it comes to forming Companies, which are the heart of the games design, but with just one player I'm going to leave this here. Song can easily move into politics, back into military affairs, or even become part of a wizard's circle. The GM has a big honking chain in Song's need for his family's approval to point him at adventure hooks, and Song's lifelong quest for true love might, or might not dovetail with those. Eventually a plot where it will work to his family advantage for him to woo someone who might be his true love will give him no end of advantages. 


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