Character Creation

First up, here’s a character sheet.  Now, let’s get started.

Before you begin, take a moment to think about what sort of character you’d like to play.  Here are a few ideas of characters who could be running around Clorencia City:

Bruiser
Conspiracy Theorist
Detective
Etheric Engineer
Former Soldier
Gun Moll
Immigrant Worker
Secretive Mage
Scholar
Slumming or Disgraced Upper City Dweller
Urban Monster Hunter
Vigilante

Step 1: Race

Characters in Clockworks may be Human or Faeblooded. There are hundreds of variations of Faeblooded, but they are all created with the same basic rules.

(Faeblooded rules are coming next week.  For now, use the Build Your Own Fantasy Race from the Fantasy Companion, and remember that all Faeblooded are weak against iron weapons, and take an additional d6 damage from them.)

Step 2: Attributes & Skills

All characters begin with a base of d4 in every Attribute, and 5 points to assign to raising them.

Characters begin with 15 points of skills.

Pace, Parry, Toughness and Charisma are all calculated normally. Grit begins at 0 unless modified by Edges or Hindrances, and increases by 1 every Rank.

Step 3:Hindrances & Edges

Characters may begin with up to one Major Hindrance and two Minor Hindrances.

(Lots of new Edges and Hindrances coming in Character Creation part 3 or so.)

Special Rule: Big Damn Heroes

In addition to their normal Hindrances, characters may choose one additional Hindrance from the following list: Heroic, Loyal, Code of Honor, or Vow.

This Hindrance does not grant bonus points as usual.  Instead, a character who choose one of these in addition to their normal Hindrances gain any one non Legendary Edge, regardless of any rank or skill prerequisites.  You may not choose the Improved version of an edge using the Big Damn Hero rule.

Step 4: Gear

Characters begin with 500Marks which can be spent on whatever you wish.

(Note: until we get to the Official Clockworks Gear List section of things, feel free to just use the Rippers equipment chapter, leaving out Ripper Claws, and converting 1£ to 100 ?.  Alternately, use Deadlands Reloaded and double all of the prices listed there.  Note that Deadlands will still net you some significantly cheaper guns than Rippers.  Or use Runepunk’s equipment list, or maybe even Sundered Skies.  The choice is yours!)

Step 5: Finishing Touches

Take some time to round out your character.  Think about his history and personality.  How does he feel about magic, the Faeblooded, the government, technology, the other nations of Vheld?

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And there you have it!  If someone would please copy this over to the wiki, I’m sure the readership at large would appreciate it.

Next week: the races of Clockworks.  (Both of them!)

Welcome back to the Savage Worlds character creation for Clockworks.  This week, we tackle the races of Clockworks.

Race

Player characters in Clockworks can be either Human or Faeblooded.

Human
Until the last few decades, humans were the only race on Vheld.  Legends and tall tales told of horrifying beast men, walking dead, the tall and inscrutable people of the forest,  and other strangeness in ancient history; but such creatures are confined only to fiction.

Bonus Edge
All human characters start with one free Edge.

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Faeblooded
The Faeblooded are a relatively new phenomenon in Vheld. They resemble the fictional creatures of myth and fairy tale: elves, sprites, ogres, goblins, etc. There is much debate about their exact nature and origins.

Faeblooded first appeared forty years ago, and it is believed their appearance is related to the Cataclysm and the appearance of Elementalists. The exact origins of the Faeblooded are unknown, as well as the method by which a child transforms in to one.  There are now second generation Faeblooded, the children of pairings of boggins, dwarves and less savory types.  However, most Faeblooded are born to (or perhaps left for) human parents.

Faeblooded typically take on their inhuman aspects between the ages of one and five. There is much debate as to the exact nature of this transformation.  Many people believe that Faeblooded are not the same child at all, but a “changeling” or “simulacrum” left behind by other Faeblooded, who steal the actual child in the night. This is a notion that has gained incredible popular support, despite the lack of physical evidence. Some scientists and doctors believe the Faeblooded to be caused by a disease, one that is perhaps communicable by contact with them. Others theorize that the Faeblooded are the result of a metamorphosis, perhaps related to global ethereal fluctuations caused by the aftermath of the Cataclysm.  The important thing is that the Faeblooded themselves don’t know where they came from, or why.

Faeblooded are often distrusted, and will typically band together for protection and companionship.

Powerful Attribute
All Faeblooded begin with one Attribute at d8 instead of d4. This Attribute can be raised to d12+2.

Weakness (Iron)
All Faeblooded are weak against iron.  Fortunately for them, this weakness does not also apply to iron alloys such as steel.  Unfortunately, traditional iron weapons designed specifically to harm the Faeblooded have become increasingly common.

Faeblooded take an additional 1d6 damage from iron weapons.  Additionally, such wounds are harder to soak: requiring a success and a raise or two raises to soak each wound.  Faeblooded can not cross a barrier made of pure iron, even if it’s just an iron bar lying on the floor crossing a doorway.

Unique
In addition to these common features, all Faeblooded must choose two benefits from the Fae Boons list, as well as two weaknesses from the Fae Banes list, below:

Fae Boons

• Aquatic: cannot drown in water, aquatic pace equal to your Swimming die type, begin with d6 Swimming.
• Beast Master: animal affinity and a beast companion, per the Edge.
• Claws: Strength +d4 claws
• Fae Beauty: +2 Charisma
• Fleet Footed: base Pace of 8, running die of d10, per the Edge.
• Immunity: to heat or cold, per the Monstrous Ability
• Large: +1 Size
• Low Light Vision: ignore dark light penalties, per the Monstrous Ability
• Maw: Strength +d6 damage bite
• Magical Apptitude: begins with 5 bonus Mana
• Shape Change: may choose one small animal. Can change once per hour per the spell.  Spirit roll to activate.
• Sneaky: +2 to all Stealth rolls, does not leave footprints.
• Tinker: may use Repair to build or fix items in 1/2 the time if working after midnight, 1/4 on a raise.
• Tough: +1 Toughness
• Woodsman: +2 to Stealth, Survival, and Tracking in the wilderness, per the Edge.

Fae Banes

• Dehydration: the character must immerse herself in water one hour out of every 24. If they do not, they suffer one Fatigue level each day until Incapacitated, the next day they will perish.
• Folk Weakness: the character has a traditional Fae weakness or peculiarity. Examples include being repelled by certain herbs, being unable to refuse an offering of food or drink, being unable to cast magic without a certain item, or being Oathbound to anyone who takes possession of a certain item.
• Frail: -1 Toughness.
• Oathbound: if the character gives his word he is bound to it, and suffers 1 Fatigue level every day he goes back on an oath until he becomes Incapacitated or makes things right.
• Shadowed: suffers a -1 penalty to all rolls in daylight.
• Small: –1 Size, per the Hindrance.
• Slow: Pace 4, running die of d4.
• Ugly: -2 Charisma, per the Hindrance.
• Weak Attribute: one Attribute (not the character’s Powerful Attribute) costs double to raise during character creation, and requires two level ups to raise with experience.
• Weakness: choose one additional substance or damage type, the character suffers the same effects as he does to Iron.  Example weaknesses include fire, cold, silver, gold, wood.

Banes and Boons stack with Edges and Hindrances, meaning you can make an elven princess with both Fae Beauty and Attractive, or a diminutive goblin with both Small and the Small Hindrance.

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There are also a number of Faeblooded only edges, which typically kick in at Veteran rank and will be detailed in a later post.

If you haven’t guessed yet: Ophelia has Aquatic, Fae Beauty, Dehydration, and Folk Weakness.  Toby has Large, Tough, Slow, and Ugly.

Note that the Faeblooded rules aren’t set in stone.  One advantage we have here is we can spend the next year or two adding to and refining the mechanics.  If you have any suggestions, or anything that comes up in actual play, post it in the talk page on the Wiki or here.  In the final book, I’d love to have a sidebar featuring a dozen or so Folk Weaknesses, for example.

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I’ll be doing a livestream show tonight while I work on tomorrow’s comic! The stream starts at 6 pm central.

http://www.livestream.com/clockworks

See you guys tomorrow when our heroes come to face to mask with our new villain. Lots of news and stuff to post on Friday as well.

The character creation series continues next Wednesday with new Hindrances and probably part 1 of new Edges.

First up, I’m still sick.  Hence the very late blog post.

There will be a comic of some sort tomorrow, it might not be very long or good though.

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Character Creation continues.  Here are some new Hindrances.  Some of them have appeared in other books before, and some will get trimmed out before Clockworks: the Sourcebook comes out, but that will wait for when I’m not sick.

Hindrances

Bad Reputation (Minor)
Nefarious deeds have been attributed to your character. Whether or not he actually committed them is irrelevant – everyone believes he did. Your character suffers a -2 penalty to his Charisma. Needless to say, this penalty could become a bonus when dealing with certain individuals or groups.

Big Mouth (Minor)
Your character has an almost impossible time keeping a secret. If you learn any secrets or gossip during the course of the game, you will invariably share them with friends, strangers and the occasional Iron Guardsman.

Crybaby (Major)
Your character is a wimp – he can’t even sustain the most minor of wounds without crying like a little girl! Subtract one from your hero’s Toughness to reflect his low threshold of pain. In addition, anyone attempting to intimidate or persuade your character through violent suggestion or by means of actual physical torture may add +2 to his Intimidate or Persuade roll.

Illiterate (Major)
Your character is completely unable to read. Literacy is common in the Great Republic, but some people from uncivilized nations or poor neighborhoods still can not read.

Your character sign his name, but that’s about it. He doesn’t know numbers either, so his friends may cut him out of his fair share of wealth and riches. Illiterates can’t read or write in any language; by the way, no matter how many they actually speak.

Innocent (Major)
Your character just isn’t very experienced. He hasn’t seen the harsh, horrible side of life, and simply isn’t prepared for it. He begins with a -1 Grit, and suffers -1 on all Smarts and Spirit rolls to resist Intimidation, Persuasion, and Taunt.

Lying Eyes (Minor)
Lies just don’t come naturally to you. That sounds like a good thing, but often causes problems when dealing with more disreputable types. Subtract 4 from any Persuasion rolls where lies—even little white ones—must be told.

Obsessive (Minor)
There is something your hero wants more than anything else in the world – wealth, fame, the entire collection of Sir Whilom Bloodborne’s adventures, a romantic relationship with his brother’s fiancée; it doesn’t matter. Whatever the source of his obsession he will not pass up an opportunity to achieve it. Anytime your hero is confronted with a chance to indulge his obsession he must pass a Spirit test at -2 if he wishes to act otherwise.

Prejudiced (Minor)
Your character dislikes a certain group of people based on their gender, nationality, beliefs, sexual orientation, or whatever. You tend to treat those you’re prejudiced against (and their sympathizers) harshly, and suffer a -4 modifier to your Charisma score in regards to these people.

I’m With Him (Major)
Not every character is cut out for the heroic lifestyle. The character lacks what it takes to be a true hero and chooses to play second fiddle and stay out of the limelight. Characters with this Hindrance are still Wild Cards.

Your character may not begin the game with any Combat Edges or allocate any skill points into Fighting, Shooting, or Throwing during character generation.

Whole bunch of stuff I’ve been meaning to write about, but now finally have the time to do so.  Enjoy!

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I

Based on a random bit of joking during the Livestream last week, the lovely and talented Larry Wentzel created a series of Steampunk Rap Artist character sketches.

See more on his Deviant Art page.

You know, I doubt rap music actually exists in the Great Republic (the kids of today are rocking out to the steam guitar, much to the annoyance of their elders), I might have these guys show up in the background next time I do a crowd shot.

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II

The Clockworks Avatar Gallery is now live.  They’re the perfect size for Wordpress or Livejournal or most forums.  You’ll need to crop them down a bit for Twitter.

Be sure to point anyone to the comic when they ask where your awesome user icon came from.

If you’re going to use one of the avatars for your Wordpress Gravatar, please check that none of the regular commenters here are using the same picture, to avoid confusion.

(The other images on the Downloads page are temporarily off line.  They’ll be back soon.)

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III

After the minor reveal in yesterday’s comic and blurb about Clorencia  City in the comments, I figured I’d post something here, so someone can go update the Wiki.

Clorencia (City)

Clorencia City is the capital of the Great Republic of Roumion, and the greatest metropolis in the world.  Clorencia has a population of 15.7 million people, with 1.6 million more living in the surrounding area.

Clorencia City is unique among all of the cities of Vheld in that it is made up of 11 levels.  In 174 NDE construction on the second level began, allowing the royal family and government to move up from Old Clorencia.  Soon, other wealthy citizens of the Clorencia Empire followed suit, and in time the second level completely covered the first.  The third level was built in 33 NDE.  The fourth level was built soon after the New Dawn Revolution; and with the advent of ether technology, especially electromagnetic negativity, the city has reached ever upward.

Today, the 11 levels of the city reach from the mines and ruins of the first level, up through working class areas such as the 5th level, to the modern and wealthy heights of the 11th level.   It is the city’s unique construction and shape that have earned it the nickname “the Black Mountain”

The Great Machine is at the center of Clorencia City, stretching up from through all 11 levels.  Actually tens of thousands of devices, the Great Machine supplies power, plumbing, and communications throughout the city.

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III

Character Creation (finally!) Continues!

Background Edges

Arcane Background (Elemental Magic)
Prerequisites: Spirit d6
Arcane Skill: Each element uses it’s own skill. Characters begin with either Air, Earth, Fire, or Water.  All elmental magic skills are based off Spirit.
The magic of Laun is based on manipulating and controlling the four elements. Elemental Mages begin the game with a d4 skill in their chosen element, which may be raised normally.  New elements can only be learned once a Rank, and even then it is not easy.

Elemental Mages do not pick a limited number of spells they can cast, instead characters with this edge can cast any spell allowed by their element and rank.

(Full details on magic coming eventually.  If you’ve got 50 Fathoms, feel free to use that spell list.)

Arcane Background (Weird Science)
Prerequisites: Smarts d6
Arcane Skill: Weird Science (Smarts)
Weird Science covers the creation and use of strange and powerful devices. The time of Clockworks is one of discovery and invention, and strange new devices are being built every day. Characters with Weird Science are masters at steam powered, clockwork and Etheric devices, often retooling them or creating strange new inventions.

A character need not be a mad scientist himself to take Weird Science.  Characters with this edge could easily be using experimental devices created by another ether technician or cutting edge inventor.

Combat Edges

Dirty Fighter
Requirements: Seasoned
There is no honor among thieves, and Vheld has more than its fair share of unscrupulous bastards. Those with this Edge will do anything to win a fight. This character is particularly deceitful in combat and good at tricks. He adds +2 to all Trick maneuver rolls.

Improved Dirty Fighter
Requirements: Seasoned, Dirty Fighter

This character is extremely skilled in tactical deceit. By describing the trick and spending a benny, he may automatically get the Drop on any single opponent.

Guardian
Requirements: Novice, Agility d8, Fighting d6, Notice d6+
This character might be a professional bodyguard or just intensely devoted, but in either case he can jump in front of attacks intended for another. A character with this Edge must declare whom he is guarding at the beginning of any combat. As long as the guardian stays within 1” of the chosen person, any attack aimed at that person is automatically rolled against the guardian instead. A guardian can switch charges during a battle, but doing so requires an action as the guardian re–focuses his attention.

The character receives a benny each time he takes a wound (not Shaken) while defending another character (Extra or Wild Card.).

Monster Hunter
Prerequisites: Fighting or Shooting d8, Guts d6, Knowledge (creature lore) d6, Tracking d6
Many strange creatures haunt the wilds of Vheld, and a few brave men and women make a living hunting these monsters. Some monster hunters travel the world as big game hunters, always in search of the biggest kill. Others are more localized, defending a certain area or town from insurgent monstrosities.

Monster Hunters gain +2 to hit any creature they’ve previously fought or studied in the field, as well as +2 to any Guts, Tracking, or Knowledge (creature lore) rolls vs. creatures they’ve previously fought.

Peasant Lore
Requirements: Novice, Outsider or Knowledge (Folklore d8+)
This hero has studied the local folklore and superstitions of the country folk of Irone, the Vori Islands, or elsewhere.

When fighting a supernatural creature, the hero can recall a tale about the beast. With a successful Smarts roll (–2), the hero remembers one Special Ability of that monster.

Whack!
Requirements: Seasoned, Engineer
The character can attempt to make an instant Repair roll at -2, by kicking a malfunctioning device or hitting it on the side etc. If the roll fails, the object must be repaired normally.

Improved Whack!
Requirements: Veteran, Whack!, Throwing d6+
The character can attempt to throw a wrench or other object to knock a malfunctioning device back into shape. This works as Whack! but the character can attempt the repair from up to 12″ away. In addition to the repair roll, the character must make a Throwing roll, with the standard penalties for range.

(Clockworks:the Game uses many, many more edges taken from other Savage Settings, but I figured I’d only paste here the ones that are new or our heroes have.)

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See you on Thursday, for another new comic!

Before we get to the gaming stuff, a few quick news items and links.

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I did a guest post  for Wrathofzombie’s gaming blog.  He asked me to talk about how Clockworks came to be and some of the influences and where it’s going, etc.  Read it here.

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Tomorrow’s comic kicks off the next big plot arc.  I’ll be doing a fairly lengthy livestream tonight, probably starting around 7 or 8 Eastern.  Keep an eye on Twitter or Facebook to know once it’s begun.

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Today’s Chainmail Bikini is one of my favorites.  That is all.

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Alright, gamer geekery!  We’ve finished character creation for the most part, although if you make a mage or weird scientist you’ll have to just use the normal rules for now.  It’s time to outfit your characters with some tools of the trade!

Gear

Money

The official currency of The Great Republic of Roumion is the Mark (Mk). Paper currency exists in 1, 10, 50, and 100 M denominations. Coins denoting ½ Mk, ¼ Mk and 1/10 Mk are also used.  All prices  in the Great Republic are rounded to the nearest 1/10 Mk.

Characters begin the game with 500 Marks, which can be increased by spending a Hindrance point or by purchasing the Rich, Filthy Rich or Noble Edges per usual. (Noble characters would come from other nations, such as Bralholme or Paravo.)

Melee Weapons

Firearms

Other Ranged Weapons

Note that in urban areas such as Clorencia, it is a crime to carry the vast majority of these weapons without the proper status applied to your ID papers.  In rural areas, restrictions are more lax.

(I really hope we can just copy these tables over to the Wiki without having to worry about the formatting.  Fingers crossed.)

Next week – armor and other equipment, then some notes!

The wait is finally over!  Just in time for Halloween, we present the first Clockworks adventure: the Gentleman Caller.

Clockworks Presents: The Gentleman Caller

Sample PCs

The Gentleman Caller is a steampunk mystery/horror story, set in Clorencia City.  It’s a free adventure for Savage Worlds, and can play out over one to two nights of gaming.  It includes 5 pregen PCs, a complete adventure, and what is hopefully a very nasty encounter at the end.

This is version 0.75.  I’m going to add some artwork and fancier formatting, probably edit a few things and expand a few sections based on player feedback, then re-release it as version 1.0.  When?  I’m not sure, a few weeks, a month or so maybe.

EDIT: Updated the links to the version 1.0, for anyone who comes across this older blog post.  The above links are to the latest version of the adventure, complete with cool pictures.  Enjoy.

Some thoughts:

Man, that took much longer than I thought!

My hat is off to all of you who write RPG adventures/books professionally.  It is much, much more work than just running a game.  (When I ran the first playtest of the Gentleman Caller, I literally had about 10 lines of notes for the entire adventure.  The full module is 13 pages, not counting the pregen characters.)

If you guys have any questions about the city or the characters that you need answered to run the adventure, don’t hesitate to ask.  If you find any errors, feel free to point them out to me.

After you’ve played The Gentleman Caller, I absolutely encourage you to post on the comments here to let us know how the game went, what you tweaked, if the characters survived, etc etc.

I think for the next adventure, I’m going to do something much, much shorter.  I’m thinking a One Sheet style adventure.  Perhaps a follow up to this one starring the same characters out in the wilderness somewhere attempting to bring back some strange beast.  Any requests for parts of the world you’d like to see?

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I will probably start a livestream later this morning to do comic #40.  I think reading the Gentleman, you’ll see why I didn’t have time to finish writing/editing this adventure AND get the comic done on Thursday.  (Not to mention dealing with my car window.)

Later guys, see you later today for the comic!

The more final version of the Gentleman Caller adventure is now available!  This free Savage Worlds adventure is 16 pages of steampunk mystery and horror.  It will take your heroes from the heights of the 8th and 9th level of Clorencia City to the depths of the 2nd, in search of a mysterious and dangerous killer.

The Gentleman Caller

Pregen Player Characters

Even if you’re not planning on running the adventure, it’s worth a read I think for the glimpses of parts of the city we’ve yet to see in the comic.

I know at least two groups have played through the adventure already, and I’d love to hear Actual Play stories for anyone else who runs or plays it.  This is not only the first Clockworks adventure, but the first adventure I’ve created for an outside audience.

Thanks again to Jeb Boyt for his work as co-author, to Daniela Droke for editing, to my friends for being the first playtest group, and for everyone who gave feedback on the first version of the adventure.

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So what’s next for Clockworks: the Savage Setting?  I’d like to do two more free adventures.  The first one will be set in the Bronze Gardens, and would be an intro adventure to the setting, and be a bit closer in tone to the comic than the Gentleman Caller.  The second freebie will be a one sheet monster hunt, for either the Dept. of Unusual Biology PCs, or the Bronze Gardens characters.

After that, I think the plan will be to apply to be a licensee, and see if I can start putting out professional quality products and charge you guys for them.  I’ll still do a few one sheets now and then, and any adventures released for free now will always be available for free.

Mike/Wrath of Zombie will be running a Clockworks game for his group, a playtest campaign beginning with the Gentleman Caller and then branching out to other adventures of his devising.  I figured now would be a good time to ramble on a bit about running games in the setting, for his benefit and for the rest of you.

This will be a bit random and a bit off the top of my head, and not particularly short.  You’ve been warned.

Tone

One of my goals for Clockworks is that it’s a big setting, with room for damn near everything.  This applies to the tone as well.  Adventures set in Vheld can range from high flying adventure to grim social commentary.  Heck, if you can pull both off at the same time go for it.  You know your players better than I do, and you’ll probably tell as they make characters and play a few adventures what they gravitate towards, and if they’re more interested in action, horror, drama, comedy, romance, etc.

The comic is perhaps a bit more humorous than the game it’s based on was, but we do end up with a lot of laughter at the table.  (Spoiler Free Gamer Story: in the last session, in the middle of lots of big serious stuff happening, one of the PCs pretended not to speak Clorencian, to fool an interrogating official.  The whole scene was hilarious, and in like 4 years will make a great comic.)

Some locales lend themselves to different tones more than others.  There’s less bloody combat on the 9th level of Clorencia City than down in the slums or out in the wastelands of Irone, more political wrangling.  (Of course, for true Machiavellian politics, you’d want to set a game in Paravo – but we won’t get a good look at Paravo for a year or two in the comic…)

More rambling behind the cut.

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