So, Conan, swords and sorcery. We are on even number posts, so this character is a woman. Let's go.
Step One: Homeland. Conan is all about the Hyborian Age of the Howard stories, so the first step is to determine which of the Hyborian kingdoms and lands you character is from. Rolling 2d20, I get a 19--Argos, which is a Greece-expy. Argos gives my character a Talent--Sea Raider, which reduces the difficulty of Sailing and swimming tests in home waters by one. I also speak the "Argossean" language.
Step Two: Attributes. Conan has seven attributes--Agility, Awareness (i.e. perception), Brawn, Coordination, Intelligence, Personality, and Willpower. All attributes start at 7, and are modified by two "attribute aspects." Rolling randomly, I get a 3 ("Acute and Aware") and 15 ("Dexterous")--I think I'm heading toward some kind of spy/thief/scout type.
Each attribute aspect provides two "mandatory attributes," and between the two aspects, one attribute gets boosted by +3, one by +1, and the rest by +2. So, "Acute and Aware" has Awareness and Intelligence, and "Dexterous" has Agility and Coordination. I'm going to make Awareness my +3 and Intelligence my +1, leaving Agility and Coordination at +2. Each aspect also provides two optional attributes, and one of those gets a +1. "Acute and Aware" has Agility and Coordination, and "Dexterous" has Brawn and Willpower. I'm going to go with Agility for the first and Willpower for the second. This results in the following ability scores:
- Agility-10; Awareness-10; Brawn-7; Coordination-9; Intelligence-8; Personality-7; Willpower-8.
Step Three: Caste. Caste provided two Talents, a +1 Expertise and Focus to a Skill (Expertise is the normal skill level, Focus is the number you have to roll under [low rolls are good in 2d20] to get a bonus success), a starting social standing, and determines which table you roll on for the next step.
I rolled a 6, for "Farmer." That gives me the Homesteader (reduce the Difficulty of Survival checks in Argos by one) and Subject (when in Argos, reduce the Upkeep [i.e. the money I have to pay in between adventures] by one) Talents. I also get +1/+1 to the Animal Handling Skill. Finally, I get a Social Standing of 1.
Step Four: Story. As a Farmer, I roll on the Farmer Stories table for what happened to my young farm girl in her earlier years. I rolled a 14 for "Meager Soup and Angry Eyes"--basically things were lousy, life in the village was tense and unpleasant, I made enemies by poaching/stealing extra food. Pretty good reason to leave and become an adventurer, I think.
This also provides a Trait, in this case "Traitor," which can be used as a key to recover Fortune Points.
Step Five: Archetype. This is basically the loose equivalent of character class. I rolled a 19, and got "witch/shaman." Hmmm, maybe the villagers got mad because I turned to "forbidden techniques" to feed my family, or were jealous of my powers. I like that.
Archetype provides a +2/+2 in a "career skill" (Persuade in this case), a Career Talent for that skill (Force of Presence--one extra die of damage on mental attacks, which is a big (and cool) part of Conan), +1/+1 to four other skills (Alchemy, Counsel, Healing, and Lore), +1/+1 to two of three pre-selected skills (I'll go with Sorcery and Thievery, as opposed to more Animal Handling), and a bunch of gear (a knife, a leather jacket, an alchemist bag, a healer bag, a library, and a horse or donkey). Taking all of that together, my skills are now:
- Thievery-+1/+1, Alchemy +1/+1, Healing +1/+1, Lore +1/+1, Animal Handling +1/+1, Counsel +1/+1, Persuade +2/+2, Sorcery +1/+1
Step Six: Nature. Nature is your core personality type. I rolled a 1, for "Cautious," which fits in with what I thinking about with her so far--it's not paranoia if her neighbors really are out to get her.
Cautious provides +1 to Willpower, +1/+1 to Lore, Parry, and Stealth, +1/+1 to two others (I'll go Animal Handling and Sailing, as opposed to Athletics), and a Talent with one of the above Skills. I'm going to go with the "Living Shadow" talent for Stealth, that grants bonus Momentum (a currency generated by successful tests) on Stealth tests when trying to remain unseen.
Attributes and Skills are now:
- Agility-10; Awareness-10; Brawn-7; Coordination-9; Intelligence-8; Personality-7; Willpower-9.
- Stealth +1/+1, Thievery-+1/+1, Parry +1/+1, Sailing +1/+1, Alchemy +1/+1, Healing +1/+1, Lore +2/+2, Animal Handling +2/+2, Counsel +1/+1, Persuade +2/+2, Sorcery +1/+1
Step Seven: Education. The name here is pretty self-explanatory--how you learned what you learned. I rolled a 10, for "Family Footsteps." Witch-ing is a familiar affair, and I learned what I learned from mom, before the village turned on us (and killed mom? Maybe).
Family Footsteps provide +1/+1 to Discipline, Resistance, and my career skill (Persaude). It also provides +1/+1 to two of three Skills (here I'll do Society and Survival, as opposed to more Animal Handling). I also get a Talent for one of those Skills, and I'm going to go for Courageous for Discipline, which lets me re-roll one die on a Discipline test, and gives me one point of Courage Soak (basically mental armor). Since I am going to be dealing with magic and stuff, having that Soak seems useful. I also get a family trinket, and I will go with a necklace with a wooden charm carved by my mother.
So, the new Skills are:
- Stealth +1/+1, Survival +1/+1, Thievery-+1/+1, Resistance +1/+1, Parry +1/+1, Sailing +1/+1, Alchemy +1/+1, Healing +1/+1, Lore +2/+2, Animal Handling +2/+2, Counsel +1/+1, Persuade +3/+3, Society +1/+1, Discipline +1/+1, Sorcery +1/+1
Step Eight: War Story. War Story is an encounter with danger or conflict that set your adventurer on her way. I rolled an 11 for "Shipwrecked." Maybe we were trying to flee our village and their bigotry, and our boat ran aground--geez, our lady can't catch a break. Anyway, that adds +1/+1 to Athletics and Sailing, giving a skill list of:
- Stealth +1/+1, Survival +1/+1, Thievery +1/+1, Athletics +1/+1, Resistance +1/+1, Parry +1/+1, Sailing +2/+2, Alchemy +1/+1, Healing +1/+1, Lore +2/+2, Animal Handling +2/+2, Counsel +1/+1, Persuade +3/+3, Society +1/+1, Discipline +1/+1, Sorcery +1/+1
Step Nine: Finishing Touches. First, you get to add two points to attributes. I'm tempted to put both in Personality to really help my Persuade (which is tied to Personality), but I think I am going to go with 1 in Personality and 1 for Intelligence to help out with Alchemy and Healing. This results in:
- Agility-10; Awareness-10; Brawn-7; Coordination-9; Intelligence-9; Personality-8; Willpower-9.
You also get three points to Skills. I would think she needs at least one weapon skill, but I have a way around that, so I'm going to go with +1/+1 to Acrobatics to give some defense against ranged attacks. I could go all-in on Sorcery and trade in a bunch of those talents for spells, but I think instead I'm going to be a "white witch" and focus on Alchemy, I'm going to add the other two to Alchemy. Final skills:
- Acrobatics +1/+1, Stealth +1/+1, Survival +1/+1, Thievery +1/+1, Athletics +1/+1, Resistance +1/+1, Parry +1/+1, Sailing +2/+2, Alchemy +3/+3, Healing +1/+1, Lore +2/+2, Animal Handling +2/+2, Counsel +1/+1, Persuade +3/+3, Society +1/+1, Discipline +1/+1, Sorcery +1/+1.
I get a bonus talent, and I am going to go with Alchemist, which lets me re-roll one d20 on every Alchemist test, and lets me use Alchemy as the attack skill when using alchemical weapons. Bombs away!
Finally, I get a bonus language (I'll go with Aquilonian, Conan's once and future kingdom). I also get a personal belonging (17--a necklace of animal teeth and bones), a garment (9--"furs and pelts with threads of a quality befitting your station"), two weapons ("a broad-headed axe. . . ripped from the hand of a brigand you slew" and "a whip . . .decorated with polished stones").
Step Ten: Final Calculations. Vigor and Resolve are sort of like physical and mental HP, respectively. Vigor is Brawn+Resistance (for 8); Resolve is Willpower+Discipline (for 10). My starting Gold is equal to Personality+Society (for 9).
I also get a Melee damage bonus of 0 (because my Brawn is less than 9), a Ranged damage bonus of 2 dice (for an Awareness of 10) and a Mental damage bonus of 0 (for the 8 Personality).
Now I need a name, an age, and a personality, and an appearance. Since she is from the Greece-equivalent, I think I am going to go with Cassandra, a name I have always liked. I think Cassandra is young, but has seen some shit, so I'll go with 20. Looks-wise, I'm going to go Greek-inspired, very dark hair and eyes, on the short side (maybe 5'2" or so), with long hair that often covers her face to make her look a little mysterious.
Personality-wise, Cassandra is basically good-hearted, but is also a hustler, and a suspicious person as a result of her rough early experiences. She's a charmer, or wants to be, but is a little too eager and too blunt to be a full-on con artist. Despite her propensity for schemes, she really does know a ton about herbs and potions and charms, and has a wicked aim with her more damaging concoctions.
Final Cassandra Character Sheet
Name: Cassandra
Age: 20
Appearance: Dark, long hair (often in her face), dark eyes, short
Personality: Suspicious, charming but intense, a hustler
Archetype: Witch
Homeland: Argos
Trait: Traitor
Agility: 10, Acrobatics +1/+1, Stealth +1/+1
Awareness: 10, Survival +1/+1, Thievery +1/+1
Brawn: 7, Athletics +1/+1, Resistance +1/+1
Coordination: 9, Parry +1/+1, Sailing +2/+2
Intelligence: 9, Alchemy +3/+3, Healing +1/+1, Lore +2/+2
Personality: 8, Animal Handling +2/+2, Counsel +1/+1, Persuade +3/+3, Society +1/+1
Willpower: 9, Discipline +1/+1, Sorcery +1/+1
Talents: Sea Raider, Homesteader, Subject, Force of Presence, Living Shadow, Courageous, Alchemist
Languages: Argossean, Aquilonia
Vigor: 8
Resolve: 10
Soak: Armor 1 (Leather Jacket; Torso/Arms), Courage 1
Bonus Damage: Melee 0, Ranged 2, Mental 0
Fortune Points: 3
Gold: 9
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