A Call For Player Characters!

[JohnK]

Hello, folks,

As suggested by Nel over in the French section of the forums, I would like to put in a call to the English community of Esteren gamers here.

I would like to request that players and Game Leaders alike post up the player characters that they have created for the game, in as much detail (but the more, the better) as they like. The idea here is to show (potential) players of the game what kinds of characters can be played by players, and perhaps give players suggestions and ideas for what they can create in the world of Esteren for the game. These should be characters that players would be able to play "out of the box", and should not have any secrets that Game Leaders would not want other players to know about.

So please, post up any player characters that you might have created here in the thread devoted to that subject. I'll be posting up the first couple of player characters that I've created for testing out the game system when I have a bit of time to do so, but for now...

Thanks, in advance.

[kjetilkverndokken]

I will hit you with a legion of NPC's etc as soon as I am finished with the book

[JohnK]

Hullo, Kjetil..

Can I just call you Kjet?

I will hit you with a legion of NPC's etc as soon as I am finished with the book

Well, as suggested by the Subject that I've used here and the rules of the forums as explained to me over in the French forums when I started the subject there, non-player characters (meaning characters who are not designed as player characters, and whom Game Leaders can use as villains and others to encounter the player characters) need to be submitted and discussed in the Secrets of Esteren/Secrets d'Esteren section of the forums.

Nel suggested that I launch a new topic in the French forums (which I did) and now here in the English forums, where players and Game Leaders alike can post up player characters created using the rules found in the book starting on page 200 that could be used by players in anyone's campaign for the game.

For those who read/write French well, you can find the thread about player characters at the link:

http://www.esteren.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=694

Anyway, that just means please be careful everyone with the type of characters that you post.

[kjetilkverndokken]

Hm any NPC that gets picked up and played by a Player is a PC. So for this purpose they are a legion of stats and free background for who ever wants to play them

[JohnK]

Hullo, folks,

I thought I would start the ball rolling here, and post up one of the player characters that I created as a test of the character creation system. We all like Varigals, right? So, here's one:

*****
REYALDINE
Female, 25 years old, Talkéride, Varigal, Rural, Commoner

WAYS:
Combativeness: 2
Creativity: 1
Empathy: 4
Reason: 5
Conviction: 3

SKILLS
Close Combat 4
Erudition 4
Feats 3
Natural Environment 3
Perception 3 (+1 bonus for Good Sight)
Relation 2
Shooting and Throwing 3 (+1 bonus for Good Sight)
Stealth 1
Travel 5

ADVANTAGES: Good Health, Good Sight
DISADVANTAGES: Phobia (Mountain Passes), Poor Hearing
SETBACK: Rumour (Was possessed by a Feond)

SANITY
Conscience: 8
Instinct: 3
Mental Resistance: 8
Hardening: 0
Orientation: Rational
Trauma: 6

COMBAT
Attack, Close: 6
Attack, Ranged: 5
Defense: 10
Speed: 6
Potential: 1
Health: 20
Stamina: 9
Survival Points: 3

History
Reyaldine was born in a rural town, the daughter of a middle-class family that provided her and her siblings (two brothers, one sister) with all that they could want. The life of a rural townsperson never appealed to her, however, and she was always befriending the varigals that passed through the town, wanting to learn more about the lifestyle they lead, but none would ever talk to her or help her. The frustrated Reyaldine went out into the woods surrounding the town alone, and taught herself the rudiments of wilderness lore, though she received a bit of help from a woodsman and a herbalist who took pity on her, and showed her some of the ropes.

When she turned sixteen, a Varigal by the name of Elenda approached her, and told her that she had potential. Reyaldine was thrilled to be accepted into the ranks of the varigals, and she vowed to do her best. Her excellent health and good vision capabilities stood her in good stead in her new role, but she was found to be cautious and not much of a risk-taker, and thus it was felt that her use to those in varigal circles might be limited. Reyaldine more than made up for this in several respects, but she learned the hard way that the work of a varigal can be risky indeed. During an expedition she led through a mountain pass, Reyaldine had the misfortune of fighting a Feond that literally took off her ear and part of the hearing tissues, thus resulting in her hearing being sub-standard. She managed to fight off the creature, but her behaviour over the next few years led to rumours circulating that she had been possessed by the creature and that it was still influencing her behaviour.

Continuing her work as a varigal, she found herself in one of the villages on the Gwidre/Tao-Kaer border, and has found herself taking a liking to a young woodcrafter, Cheral, who lives in the village. While her minor deafness (she doesn't treat it as being all that serious due to her capable vision) is a bit of a handicap, it has made her more cautious over the last few years, something that has not been lost on other varigals, and Elenda.

Personality
Character Traits: Cautious, Narrow-Minded
Latent Disorder: Mysticism
Reyaldine is intelligent and in tune with people and nature, but she is at a loss of what to do with her life and how to apply her talents effectively. She tends to be very cautious by nature, not taking risks in what she does and situations that she leads others into, but at the same time, has a narrow-minded view that borders on stubbornness, and is resistant to trying new things.

EQUIPMENT
30 Azure Daols
Dagger (Damage 1)
Short sword (Damage 2)
Bow (Damage 2, range 20 yds)
Arrows (2 dozen)
Studded leather tunic (Protection 2)
*****

So, what do folks think? Comments and thoughts are more than welcome.

[iznurda]

Well I think it's a good character with an interesting story but phobia (Mountain Passes) ? Peninsula is mainly mountainous, it must be very difficult to live his function under this defect. I like this kind of character, but it's very hard to play with ^^

iz

[JohnK]

Hullo, Iz,

Well I think it's a good character with an interesting story but phobia (Mountain Passes) ? Peninsula is mainly mountainous, it must be very difficult to live his function under this defect. I like this kind of character, but it's very hard to play with ^^

Thanks for your kind comments, Iz. Yes, I know... I did that deliberately, and based the reasoning on the incident that occurred in the mountain pass and the attack of the feond. As you said, the character would be difficult to play, but that's one of the things I love about Shadows of Esteren, that the game doesn't take the easy way out with stuff like this. I would play the character myself, changing her to a him, if I ever got the chance to play in a game of SoE. I like this kind of challenge!

The one thing I wasn't sure how to write up was the bit about the Trauma of 6. As per the game rules, when Trauma exceeds 5, the Disorder is supposed to manifest itself, yes? Any thoughts on that aspect of the character?

[Dragoslav]

John, would you mind posting a breakdown of where the character's skill points come from? (which are from the profession, which you bought with XP, etc.)

I have a couple character ideas I don't mind posting, so I'll post them here when I have time to write up the summary.

[JohnK]

Hullo, Dragoslav,

John, would you mind posting a breakdown of where the character's skill points come from? (which are from the profession, which you bought with XP, etc.)

As a matter of fact, it's funny you should ask this question. I posted Reyaldine up on my blog in a much more detailed creation post with all the information that you've asked for. You can check out the blog post in question here:

http://jkahane.livejournal.com/777231.html

Hope that helps.

I have a couple character ideas I don't mind posting, so I'll post them here when I have time to write up the summary.

That would be lovely. I look forward to seeing them posted up here.

I also have a few other player characters that I've created, and will post them up here as well. And I have to say that once my players in the Friday and Sunday gaming groups finish their player characters, I'll see if they'll allow me to post them up here.

[Dragoslav]

Interesting write-up! Thanks.

One comment: In the detailed write-up, you say that you picked Mimicry for the character's disorder, but in the summary you listed Mysticism.