Sunday 9 June 2013

2) Character Roles

Roles and Careers

Each character plays a certain role in the game, whether it be that of the the leader, the heavy, the face-man, the brains or whatever. One easy way to define a role is as a professional career, such as doctor, lawyer, journalist, technician, police officer, soldier, dealer, conman, thief or any number of others.

Starting skills
Each role has a set of ten core skills. Each character gets 40 points to spend on the ten Core Skills for their role/career. The player does not have to point points into every skill on their character's Core Skills list.
Each character also gets 20 points to spend on skills outside that list (called General Skills), reflecting their education and experiences outside their career (and allowing players to pick up the useful skills like driving and swimming that their character will need just to get by). They can choose to be a Jack-of-all-trades with many skills at a low or average level, or a specialist with a few skills at a high level, or some balance of both.
The first 40 skill points can only be spent on the ten Core Skills for the character's role, and the additional 20 points can only be spent on General Skills outside the role's core list.
Roles are specific to the game setting and can be created ad hoc by the GM. A Wild West game will have roles such as Cowboy, Indian Brave, Gunfighter, Lawman, Prospector, Mountain Man, Tenderfoot, Floozy and so on. A Cyberpunk game will have roles like Razorboy/girl, Deck Jockey, Dealer, Enforcer, Road Warrior etc.

Sample generic character roles

These roles are suited to a present-day setting and are mostly rather mundane, with the exception of the 'Martial Artist'. They are included here to give GMs and Players and idea of where to start when creating new roles. More setting-specific role will be included in the supplements for Lead and Chrome.

Academic
Credibility/Swindle
Expert (choose field)
General Education
Journalism/Writing
Languages: (choose one)
Public Speaking
Research
Science, Physical: (choose one)
Science, Social: (choose one)
Teaching

Athlete
Acrobatics
Athletics
Climbing
Endurance
Leadership
Martial Arts: (choose one)
Sport: choose one
Strongman/Weightlifting
Swimming
Throw

Con-Artist
Awareness
Counterfeiting/Forgery
Credibility/Swindle
Dodge/Escape
Fast-Talk
Insight
Intimidation
Public Speaking
Streetwise
Wit

Doctor
Credibility/Swindle
First Aid
General Education
Insight
Interview
Medicine: (choose one)
Research
Science, Physical: Pharmacy
Science, physical: (choose from Biology or Chemistry)
Surgery

Gambler

Awareness
Credibility/Swindle
Etiquette
Firearms: Handgun
Gambling
Insight
Pick Pocket/Sleight of Hand
Poker face
Stage Magic: Cardsharp
Streetwise

Gangster/Thug
Awareness
Commerce/Trading
Concealment/Evasion
Firearms: choose one
Intimidation
Local Knowledge
Martial Arts: Streetfighting
Melee: Small Blade
Streetwise
Tail

Journalist
Awareness
Credibility/Swindle
Fast-Talk
General Education
Insight
Interview
Journalism/Writing
Photography and Film
Public Speaking
Research

Lawyer
Awareness
Credibility/Swindle
Etiquette
Expert (choose field)
General Education
Insight
Interrogation
Law
Public Speaking
Research

Martial Artist
Acrobatics
Archery: (choose one)
Athletics
Climb
Dodge/Escape
Martial Arts: (choose one)
Melee: (choose one)
Sneak
Teaching
Throw

Pilot
Awareness
Communications/Signals
General Education
Leadership
Mechanic/Technician: Aviation
Navigation/Map-Reading
Pilot: (choose one)
Science, Physical: Meteorology
Weapon Systems: Guided Missiles
Weapon Systems: Gunnery

Police Officer
Athletics
Awareness
Firearms: (choose one)
Interrogation
Intimidation
Insight
Law
Local Knowledge
Martial Arts: (choose one)
Tail

Private Detective
Awareness
Credibility/Swindle
Firearms: (choose one)
Intimidation
Insight
Law
Research
Sneak
Streetwise
Tail

Sailor
Communications/Signals
Diving: (choose one)
Mechanic/Technician: Maritime
Navigation
Seamanship: (choose two)
Science, Physical: Meteorology
Survival
Swimming
Weapon Systems: (choose one)

Soldier
Athletics
Awareness
Firearms: (choose two)
Leadership
Martial Arts: (choose one)
Melee: (choose one)
Parachuting
Survival
Weaponsmith

Mechanic/Technician
Computer Programming
Electronic Security
Expert (choose field)
General Education
Hacking
Local Knowledge
Pick Lock
Mechanic/Technician: (choose two)
Weaponsmith

Thief
Awareness
Climbing
Concealment/Evasion
Fast-Talk
Dodge/Escape
Electronic Security
Pick Lock
Pick Pocket/Sleight of Hand
Sneak

Streetwise

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