Monday, July 21, 2014

Karl Anglesmith (Final)

Once more into the breach and all that nonsense. We're here today to build Karl Anglesmith. Here's the draft version of Karl. As always, we'll establish that we're building him at 250 points and up to 75 points worth of disadvantages. We'll also start with his racial template. 

Elduman Descended Uncout
1 point
Secondary Characteristic Ranges: SM 0 (4’ 6” - 6’ 6”’)
Advantages: Extended Lifespan 1 [1]
Special: Elduman Descended Uncout may buy abilities designated as exotic and supernatural, as long as they apply psionic modifiers to them. The GM has final say in determining what may be bought as a psionic ability.

So there we go. Nice and easy. Karl just lives longer than a regular Uncout. Since he's part Elduman, we can see from the special option there that he can take some advantages as psionic abilities if he likes. 

Karl Anglesmith
274 (254) points
Owes 4 character points on Signature Gear (Father's Gun is Permanent)
23 year old Elduman Descended Uncout
6' 6" 190 lbs. 

Points From Characteristics: 99
ST: 10 [0]
DX: 11 [20]
IQ: 12 [40]
HT: 11 [10]
HP: 13 [6]
Will: 12 [0]
Per: 13 [0]
FP: 11 [0]
Basic Speed: 5.5 [0]
Dodge: 8
Basic Move: 5 [0]
Build: Average [0]
Size Modifier: 0
Appearance: Average [0]
Technology Level: 5 [20]
Cultural Familiarity The Beast Lands (native), Haven [2]
Languages: Uncout (native), Asosan (accented) [4], Blacktongue (accented) [4], Goebleen (accented) [4], Malstern (accented) [4], Mork (accented) [4], Serevish (accented) [4], Vyanvish (accented) [0], Wretchtongue (accented) [2]
Wealth: Dead broke [-25]

So that's pretty much how it looks. Karl is from The Beast Lands, so his TL starts at 1 and he had to buy that up to 5 for a chunk of change, and he knows like a billion languages too, so that's kind of expensive. He's dead broke because like the other three fuckheads, he refuses to grow up and get a job. He also pays 2 points for his cultural familiarity with Haven, rather than 1 point, because a Bronze Age hunter gatherer society is way different from an Industrial Revolution era pirate nation. 

Points From Advantages: 75
Allies: Redshirts (25% points, Always Around x4, 6 - 10 x4) [24]
Ally: Santos (75% points, Always Around x4) [12]
Magery 0 [5]
Magery 2 (Radically Unstable: Stabilization Roll -10%, Can't Use FP -10%, Extravagant Rituals 1 -10%) [14]
Reliable Sorcery [20]

So we have Redshirts and Santos as we did last time. Looking at it this time, you'll see that I didn't include the Signature Gear like I did last time. This is because Karl right started out with what he thought was his fathers gun, a .36 revolver. Then during play he recovered the real version of the gun and the pocket watch. He wouldn't have paid points to gain them during character creation or play time. I've also separated Magery 0 from higher levels of Magery because the cost is different and you can't modify it. I've also gone with the idea that Karl has enchanted his firearm so he can channel spells with it instead of saying he can't cast spells without it. I've also factored in the new mandatory modifiers for sorcerers and included the Uncout specific one. You'll also note that I've included Reliable Sorcery on there to indicate Karl has worked to stabilize his spells. So when Karl casts a spell, his base misfire in The Known World is 14, but in Orcunraytrel it just remains at 16, rather than increasing to 17. Currently we will need 4 points worth of physical disadvantages to cover Karl's sorcerous crap. 

Points From Perks: 1
Weapon Bond (His Father's Gun) [1]

Just like Eran has a bond with his master debating optimized Sereth long rifle, Karl has a bond with his father's gun. Good for him. 

Points From Disadvantages: -34
Chummy (Chummy) [-5]
Code of Honor (Pirate's) [-5]
Missing Digit x2 (Finger) [-4]
Social Stigma (Second Class Citizen) [-5]
Weirdness Magnet [-15]

So Karl still likes people and still reacts well to them and doesn't like being alone off on his own, he still has a pirate's code of honor. I've added in Missing Digit (Finger) once for each hand to act as 4 points of fleshwarped disadvantages for Karl because of his webbed fingers. This means that he operates at -1 DX with his hands. I've also added in the Social Stigma (Second Class Citizen) from the sorcerer template. This means that every NPC he meets that realizes he's a sorcerer (not hard with the webbed fingers) reacts at a -1. I should also mention that even though he has Second Class Citizen and not the Monster version of the Social Stigma disadvantage, people will still react to him as if he had Social Stigma (Monster) if it is appropriate (The New Empire). 

Points From Quirks: -3
Dreamer [-1]
Nosy [-1]
Responsive [-1]

I've got three quirks here that weren't here before. Dreamer means that sometimes when Karl wants to work on a project like building a bunch of special ammo in preparation for going and doing a thing or doing some specialized research, he ends up getting distracted thinking about how he'll go do that thing instead of actually doing it. He's also a little nosy, he likes to know things and ask people questions about things, and sometimes people don't like that. He also has Responsive, which just means that he's generally inclined to go help people if they ask him. 

Points From Racial Template: 1
Extended Lifespan 1 [1]

Yup. Karl's racial template is super boring. Everyone else has all these cool advantages and disadvantages and stuff. Karl is fucking white bread. 

Points From Skills: 50
Armoury (IQ+2/A, TL 5 Small Arms) - 15 [8]
Crewman (IQ+0/E, TL 5 Seamanship) - 13 [1]
Diplomacy (IQ-1/H) - 12 [2]
Fast-Draw (DX+0/E, Ammo) - 11 [1]
Fast-Draw (DX+0/E, Pistol) - 11 [1]
First Aid (IQ+0/E, TL 5) - 13 [1]
Guns (DX+1/E, TL 5 Pistols) - 12 [2]
Innate Attack (DX+3/E, Projectile) - 14 [8]
Lockpicking (IQ+0/A, TL 5) - 13 [2]
Machinist (IQ+1/A, TL 5) - 14 [4]
Naturalist (IQ-1/H) - 12 [2]
Occultism (IQ+1/A) - 13 [4]
Stealth (DX+0/A) - 11 [2]
Thaumatology (IQ+1/VH) [12]

Blah blah, skills and stuff. Pretty similar to what has come before. I've added in First Aid because Pathfinder Karl has some ranks in Heal and I've replaced Survival with Naturalist, which represents practical knowledge of the wilderness and I figure that he might have some of that since he grew up in The Beast Lands and stuff. Innate Attack is the attack skill for spells. In GURPS you have to target your...er...target when you throw lightning bolts at them, and to do that you use the Innate Attack skill. 

Points From Techniques: 2
Careful Caster: Healing College (Default+1/H) [2]

This is a technique from one of the recent blog posts. This means that when Karl incurs a penalty to his reliability check due to the amount of energy he pours into a spell, he automatically reduces that penalty by 1. Adding the two points for this technique into the tally of his sorcerous crap doesn't move us into needing another point of disadvantage for his warped body. 

Points From Spells: 62
Air: Purify Air (Will+Magery-2/H) - 14 [1]
Air: Create Air (Will+Magery-2/H) - 14 [1]
Air: Shape Air (Will+Magery-2/H) - 14 [1]
Air: No Smell (Will+Magery-2/H) - 14 [1]
Air: Air Vision (Will+Magery-2/H) - 14 [1]
Air: Walk on Air (Will+Magery-1/H) - 15 [2]
Air: Lightning (Will+Magery+0/H) - 16 [4]
Earth: Seek Earth (Will+Magery-2/H) - 14 [1]
Earth: Shape Earth (Will+Magery-1/H) - 15 [2]
Earth: Earth to Stone (Will+Magery-1/H) - 15 [2]
Enchantment: Enchant (Will+Magery-1/H) - 15 [2]
Enchantment: Golem (Will+Magery-2/VH) - 14 [1]
Enchantment: Staff (Will+Magery-1/H) - 15 [2]
Enchantment: Powerstone (Will+Magery-1) - 15 [2]
Fire: Ignite Fire (Will+Magery-2) - 14 [1]
Fire: Create Fire (Will+Magery-2/H) - 14 [1]
Fire: Shape Fire (Will+Magery-2/H) - 14 [1]
Fire: Fireball (Will+Magery-1/H) - 15 [2]
Fire: Explosive Fireball (Will+Magery+0/H) - 16 [4]
Healing: Lend Energy (Will+Magery-1/H) - 15 [2]
Healing: Lend Vitality (Will+Magery-1/H) - 15 [2]
Healing: Minor Healing (Will+Magery-1/H) - 15 [2]
Healing: Major Healing (Will+Magery+0/VH) - 16 [8]
Illusion and Creation: Simple Illusion (Will+Magery-2/H) - 14 [1]
Illusion and Creation: Illusion Disguise (Will+Magery-2/H) - 14 [1]
Light: Light (Will+Magery-2/H) - 14 [1]
Light: Continual Light (Will+Magery-2/H) - 14 [1]
Light: Night Vision (Will+Magery-2/H) - 14 [1]
Light: Dark Vision (Will+Magery-2 /H) -14 [1]
Making and Breaking: Inspired Creation (Will+Magery-1/VH) - 15 [4]
Mind Control: Keen Vision (Will+Magery-2/H) - 14 [1]
Protection and Warning: Armor (Will+Magery-2/H) - 14 [1]
Protection and Warning: Block (Will+Magery-1/H) - 15 [2]
Protection and Warning: Shield (Will+Magery-2/H) - 14 [1]
Sound: Sound (Will+Magery-2/H) - 14 [1]

This version of Karl has a lot more spells. He can heal and protect and golem and throw fireballs and lightning. We're now up to 103 points of sorcerous stuff though, and we've only spent 4 points on disadvantages, so now we need six more points of disadvantages. 

Further Fleshwarped Disadvantages: -6
Cannot Float [-1]
Skinny [-5]

Boom. Karl is kept sorcerously skinny and he can't float. This puts us at like 244 character points. I don't particularly feel like weeding through spells again and adding more of them and whatnot, so I'm just going to leave it as is. 

Points From Special Crap Accrued During Play: 24
Ally: Gob (100% points, around fairly often: 9 or less x1) [1]
Andorian's Boon: +1 IQ [20]
Andorian's Boon: +1 Will [5]
Independent Income 5 [5]
Reputation: Defended the Warrens From the Warren Hunters (+3 reaction modifier, affects large class of people: Goebleen x1/2, recognized all the time x1) [8]
Duty: Assist Keroen Skathos (almost all the time, moderately hazardous) [-15]

Most of this is pretty familiar at this point. Karl's Reputation bonus with the Goebleen is one point higher than everyone else's because he's closer to Gob and the Goebleen than Donovan and Eran. His boon from Andorian is also there, just some IQ and Will bumps. So that's what Karl looks like. Let's move onto his gear.

Karl's Father's Gun (Fine Quality .36 Revolver)
TL: 
Damage: 2d+1 p
Accuracy: 3
Range: 120/1300
Weight: 2.5/.24
RoF: 1 
Shots: 6(3i) 
ST: 10* 
Bulk: -2 
Recoil: 3
Cost:  (Base $275
LC: 3
Enchantments: Accuracy +1 (250 energy), Puissance +1 (250 energy), Staff (30 Energy)

Karl's dad's gun, yeah. Assuming it's made out of steel and factoring in The Known World's misfire chance and the fact that this gun has been around for over two decades and was used by a crazy pirate fuck. Those are some super seriously long odds when you're checking to see if the unreliability level is going down every month. So here's what I'm willing to do, and this is purely 100% concession to players liking their shit. There is no in world mechanic for this. It is again 100% rules and is never to be mentioned in character or referenced. I will allow the purchase of the Signature Gear advantage to make an enchanted item permanent. It will be purchased based on the cost of the item. The price of enchanted items is listed as $33 per point of energy, meaning Karl's dad's gun would cost $17,490. So with the campaign's overall TL being 5 and starting wealth being 5,000 (assuming you're not dead broke), Signature Gear costs 1 point per $2,500, so to completely prevent Karl's dad's gun from being unstable it would cost 7 character points. Again, this is an option that exists outside of the background material. Mention it once in character, imply, allude, sarcastically comment, and it's gone. So we'll add Signature Gear 7 (Father's Gun is Permanent) [7] to Karl, even though he only has 3 character points left. We'll just say he owes 4 and has to pay them off before he buys anything else. This variant of Signature Gear does not protect gear the way the normal version does, it only protects against enchanted item unreliability. If you lose it or it gets broken, sorry about your luck. Unless of course you bought it with Signature Gear in the first place.

Karl also has a ring with a Deflect +2 enchantment on it, add +2 to all his defenses. He also has a ring enchanted with Monk's Banquet so as long as it can eat up 6 energy per day from the environment, he doesn't need to eat or drink. Both of these items are from Orcunraytrel so they're ok as far as exploding when used.

Karl Anglesmith everybody.

Edit After The Fact: Eric had a few thoughts about Karl that were fairly smart, considering he actually plays the character. So we're going to modify Karl slightly. The first thing he wanted to do was add Language Talent for 10 points, which brings his total up to 284/264. Language Talent reduces the cost of languages though, so we end up saving 12 character points on languages with a net reduction of 2 points (272/252). He also thought Code of Honor (Soldier's) [-10] fit Karl better than a pirate code, and I agree (267/247). He also felt it appropriate for Karl to have Overconfident, and I agree to a certain extent. Overconfident means that any time I feel Karl is being too cautious, I can make him roll a self-control check and force him to go ahead as if he is fully confident he can handle things. However, Karl is generally concerned about the well being of his allies and friends, so I'm going to make the self-control roll a 12 or less, meaning the disadvantage is only worth -5 (262/242). Karl also learned Nel (Accented) when Eric decoded my little letter substitution code in the RPs (264/242). Eric also decided he wanted Karl to have the Selfless disadvantage. This means that any time anyone asked for help or needed help or money or whatever, Karl would make a self-control roll to put his own needs (including survival) above those of others. I used the Responsive quirk to represent Karl's general nature as a good guy, so we remove that first (265/243). Now Karl is a nice guy, but he isn't stupid or suicidal, so we again only make the self-control roll a 12, meaning the disadvantage is only worth another -5 points (260/238). This means we now have 12 points of stuff to buy for Karl. I'm not going to muck about with it, but buying more spells seems reasonable to me, which would require another physical mutation quirk or whatever, so it would really be 13 more points of stuff. Regardless, Karl would end up being built with 250 points and be something like a 277 point character. 

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