Characters that start with massive Trauma and Hardening?

[StripelessTiger]

So I just finished Book 2 - Travels, and I noticed that several of the pre-made characters have excessive Trauma and quite a few of them even start with Hardening points. The core book does not make mention of starting with Hardening. Even though I have been able to achieve character builds with over 10 Trauma (meaning they start with a Syndrome), I was wondering if that has anything to do with the Hardening they start with?

I did not see any Disadvantages or Setbacks related to this. My thought is that the related data is out of one of the future books. My question is how to handle players that start with a Syndrome?

It would be really hard to resist a Sanity check if you started with a character on the verge of a crises and had no Hardening since it boosts the Mental Resistance roll at certain levels.

Could you roll a die for each point past 5 and if they get a 10, you count that as a Hardening Point?

In addition to this, it is quite possible to have a character starts with a 6 in a Way due to Strengthening, but I have also noticed several builds that follow the 15 point rule and have literally assigned 6 as the starting stat. Is this legal? I thought they had a minimum of 1 and maximum to 5 unless modified by a Mental Illness?

[Ocule]

The premade characters in travels i believe are primarily NPCs with a long history. If i remember correctly they are much stronger than anything right out of character creation.

[StripelessTiger]

The premade characters in travels i believe are primarily NPCs with a long history. If i remember correctly they are much stronger than anything right out of character creation.

After I reread that section, I realize that they are called "Figures" and while the book states they can be used as NPCs and PCs, not very many of them follow standard creation rules.

But this does beg the question, should standard characters with a lot of initial Trauma start with Hardening? If you had a player that began the game with a Syndrome and 6 in a stat, that means anytime they fail a Mental Resistance roll they would trigger a Crises.

Without the benefit of having Hardening, it would be very difficult to resist a Sanity check, and would take much longer to build up, since it only occurs on a natural 10. The character might go mad before you have a chance to have seen enough horrific events to build up some resistance.

It might be very easy to have an Advantage for something like 20XP that provides 2 points of Hardening, since it is somewhat akin to Trauma in that it will eventually result in Empty Fortress.

[Clovis]

Well, you must remember that a Character with 6 or more Trauma points at creation is a Character with a severe unbalance between Instinct and Consciousness, or who has taken the Trauma or Phobia Disadvantage; someone who, to begin with, isn't a model of mental soundness! Therefore, it makes sense that they would have a lot of Trauma points, but not necessarily Hardening.

The Hardening Advantage could be a good possibility if you want to give your Players the possibility of starting with Hardening points.

[StripelessTiger]

Well, you must remember that a Character with 6 or more Trauma points at creation is a Character with a severe unbalance between Instinct and Consciousness, or who has taken the Trauma or Phobia Disadvantage; someone who, to begin with, isn't a model of mental soundness! Therefore, it makes sense that they would have a lot of Trauma points, but not necessarily Hardening.

The Hardening Advantage could be a good possibility if you want to give your Players the possibility of starting with Hardening points.

While this is true, their prior experiences beyond the Orientation would have resulted in Trauma that could have potentially instilled a Hardening of the psyche.

I feel like taking the Trauma disadvantage 3 times for an easy 30 extra points would be kind of a waste to have to spend it on a Hardening advantage, but as you say, it might be useful for mentally unstable individuals whose Ways are aligned severely one-sided at the start.

That being said, Trauma from the Setbacks is what can really put the character over the edge based on what order you build them in, since they happen to be random. I like the idea of keeping them randomized since it forces characters into playing the roles, and also because some have seemingly no negative stat disadvantages and are an easy way to cheat the system.

If you are particularly heinous about bending the character creation rules, you could assign stats such that you have 6+6 and 1+1 for an Orientation of 12-2=10. Stack on 3 from the Trauma disadvantages, and another couple from Setbacks (Tragic Love, Violence) then you have a total of 15 to begin with. Yikes! No idea why you would want to, but its possible.

It could be useful for building a madness-driven NPC/Figure, someone who has seen some serious ****.

I feel like if I did assign Hardening to start, it could be based on the player character's background. I also considered amending the Setback chart so that it allows for a bonus to not just a Domain, but things like a Hardening point, or a Defense or Speed point (since the starting XP cost for these is 10) limit to one of course. Sort of makes the detriment a little more useful than just boosting a skill. It would represent an older character's prior life making him a stronger person, not just more skilled.

Thoughts?

[Clovis]

While this is true, their prior experiences beyond the Orientation would have resulted in Trauma that could have potentially instilled a Hardening of the psyche.

Well, the basic premise of a Character at creation is that they have so far had a relatively peaceful life (I insist on "relatively"), hence the absence of Hardening points, and why they start with basic Skills, not going above a maximum of 6.

If you are particularly heinous about bending the character creation rules, you could assign stats such that you have 6+6 and 1+1 for an Orientation of 12-2=10. Stack on 3 from the Trauma disadvantages, and another couple from Setbacks (Tragic Love, Violence) then you have a total of 15 to begin with. Yikes! No idea why you would want to, but its possible.

Actually, a Way can't be higher than 5 at creation. However, the maximum is as follows:
- Maximum Instinct / Consciousness unbalance: +8
- Maximum from Setbacks (3 times "Bad luck" then 6 times "Tragic love" or "Violence"): +6
- "Trauma" Disadvantage x 3: +3
- "Phobia" Disadvantage: +1

8+6+3+1 = 18! Now that's someone with issues...

I feel like if I did assign Hardening to start, it could be based on the player character's background. I also considered amending the Setback chart so that it allows for a bonus to not just a Domain, but things like a Hardening point, or a Defense or Speed point (since the starting XP cost for these is 10) limit to one of course. Sort of makes the detriment a little more useful than just boosting a skill. It would represent an older character's prior life making him a stronger person, not just more skilled.

Thoughts?

As with all homemade rules, it's up to you whether you implement them or not, according to the atmosphere you want to set for the game, and what you want to make available to you and your Players. I personally would stick to Domain points for simplicity's sake, but if you want to extend the +1 to Speed, Defense, and Hardening, that's a valid possibility in my book.

[StripelessTiger]

...the maximum is as follows:
- Maximum Instinct / Consciousness unbalance: +8
- Maximum from Setbacks (3 times "Bad luck" then 6 times "Tragic love" or "Violence"): +6
- "Trauma" Disadvantage x 3: +3
- "Phobia" Disadvantage: +1

8+6+3+1 = 18! Now that's someone with issues...

Holy geez!