Step 8. Modify the character to accommodate any special conditions encountered during play (as required)

These rules only apply if your character is a subject to illness, injury, a disability (which can be identified at character creation to allow a gain of two more hero points) or if your character has been the victim of a transformative event (the bite of a werewolf, loss of a limb, scientific experimentation, or physical re-engineering etc.).  If these rules do not apply to your character at this point in time then your character is complete.

Illness and injury

Wounds heal at a rate of one point per day unless they are piercing wounds (from blades or projectiles). Piercing wounds heal at a rate of one point per week.

Example (Healing standard wounds)

Jake Stead

Jake was beaten severely and received five standard wounds. He  heals one of his wounds each day. On the sixth day after the fight, Jake is fully recovered.

Example (Healing piercing wounds)

Malefice, Mistress of the Mystic Arts)

Malefice has 6 wound points. In a fight she is stabbed twice rendering her unconscious. She takes all 6 points of damage before her friends rescue her.

She adds a dot of piercing wounds for each time she was stabbed and records the remaining four wounds as standard wounds.

Malefice will recover from the 4 (6 standard wounds minus 2 piercing wounds) standard wounds she received in 4 days. The remaining two piercing wounds (one for each dot of piercing wounds she received) will take a further week to recover from each.

Rub out each standard wound dot as it is recovered daily first. Then rub out the remaining dots (with their corresponding piercing dots) as each is recovered with the passing of each subsequent week of game time.

If subject to an illness the player’s character will generally recover after one to five days of rest.  Roll 1d6 for the number of days.  A 6 indicates that the player will not recover without treatment during that five day period.  Where treatment is required, the player rolls 1d6 to determine its effectiveness. A roll of 1 to 5 indicates the treatment works.  A 6 indicates that a permanent weakness has resulted. If the character fails to find treatment within the five days they die from the illness.

A permanent weakness might include a limp, partial paralysis, a recurring fever, loss of memory or any of a number of other disabilities that your GM might invent.

Insanity

Insanity may or may not be a feature of the stories your characters participate in.  Sanity is  represented by your character’s essence score.  Serious shocks can reduce your sanity and leave your character suffering from phobias of various sorts.  Some shocks (or the cumulative effect of a series of shocks) can be so great as to drive the character over the edge into suicide, psychopathy, sociopathy, or other forms of serious madness.

When characters encounter a shock sufficient to require a sanity roll they roll 2d10 + their essence.  If the result is higher than or equal to 12 they survive the shock intact.  If they fail they now roll 1d6 to determine the strength of the shock.  A 1-5 results in a phobia while a 6 results in a severe problem.  Hero points cannot be used to adjust sanity rolls.  Roll on the Phobia table to determine a phobia or use the Psychopathology table if a more severe problem is called for.  Re-roll identical results. If three phobias have been collected the player must roll for a severe condition and replace the oldest phobia with it.

Players may choose, at character creation, to sacrifice essence (taking on a phobia for each point sacrificed) in order to gain extra hero points (2 hero points for every point of essence sacrificed).

A player reduced to zero essence is incurably insane (and probably catatonic).  Such a character will be transferred to a mental institution and will no longer be available for play.

Phobias and serious mental illnesses are invented by the GM as required and usually relate to the conditions surrounding the shock that applied to the character (eg. A shock that occurred in a dark tunnel might result in a phobia regarding enclosed spaces or a fear of the dark etc.).  Serious mental conditions arise as means of escaping the triggering condition. Suicide, Multiple personality disorder where a protective personality is developed, memory loss/amnesia, and even catatonia are examples of conditions that might arise.

Examples (Sanity Loss)

Jake Stead

Jake Stead is afraid of small spaces after an experience in the great war.  He pays a point of essence to gain a two hero-point benefit from this phobia but must role play the effects of this phobia whenever faced with small enclosed spaces (spaces in which he is required to stoop or turn sideways to fit into etc.).

James Mitchell

Investigative reporter, James Mitchell, returns to his family home to find all his family members have been torn apart.  In the center of the ruin is a tentacled beast covered in hooks and beaks feeding on the remains.  The shock is immense and James rolls his sanity (2d10 + essence).  He fails and loses 1 essence point.  The GM decides the shock is severe and asks for a d6 consequence roll.  James rolls a 5 (saving him from a severe condition).  The GM decides he now has an uncontrollable fear of tentacles.  James runs screaming into the night.

The Blue Wren

An Occult Librarian, known only as the Blue Wren, is present during a ritual of summoning that calls forth a monstrous entity from another dimension.  This being is so alien that it drives many of the participants insane.  She rolls her sanity (2d10 + essence) and fails.  Due to a number of previous encounters she only had one essence point left which she has now lost.  She rolls a 6 on a consequence roll indicating a resulting severe condition.  The GM decides she has gone suicidally insane and she hands her character sheet over.

Bad Things (transforming events)

Bad things can happen to your character; things far worse than injury and illness (though they happen as well).  These bad things include, but are not limited to, being mutated by a mad scientist, turned into a vampire or zombie, bitten by a werewolf, killed and raised as a spectre, transformed into a ghoul, changeling, or promethean , or rebuilt as a cyborg.   Bad things don’t necessarily mean the end of your character, however.  If you want, you can continue on and try to maintain what remains of your humanity.  Who knows there may even be a cure out there somewhere that can help reverse the effects your character suffers?

Such events have results that share two characteristics in common; they require the maintenance of an animating principle and imply a potential loss of humanity.  The strength of the animating principle makes it possible for the character to continue in the transformed state without breaking down and is measured by Essence.  The strength of the capacity of the character to retain his or her humanity/essential personality in the transformed state is measured by Resistance.

Advantages

Transformed characters gain new skills (in keeping with their condition) that have as many dots in them as the character has in initial essence or resistance points (whichever is higher).  The player may invent any skills they wish to add these points to so long as they conform to the nature of the transformation. For example, if the player is mutated and develops gills it would be appropriate for the player to develop the ability to breath under water, or filter poison gases out of the atmosphere.  More traditional transformations may, but do not have to, embrace more traditional powers (such as a vampire’s ability to turn into a bat).  Claws and teeth may grant new attacks during combat etc.  A cyborg may gain the ability to lift heavy objects or do extra damage.

Disadvantages

Transformations have a generally negative effect on how the world sees a character (either in terms of trust or attractiveness) and the character must accept a -2 penalty to their persuasion skill.

Essence and Resistance can be lost.  Each month (or individual adventure whichever comes soonest) the player must make an essence AND resistance roll (2d10 + (the stat/2 rounded up)).

A successful essence roll indicates that the animating principle (keeping the character mobile) has not faded.  A failure reduces essence by one (along with any mental skills the player may have) and indicates they are beginning to fade – their ectoplasm is running out, or the electrical bonds holding them together are starting to break down, or the virus that infects and animates them is starting to break down.

Each point of essence or resistance that is lost is recorded under penalty points on your character sheet.  These should be deducted from every skill roll made thereafter.

If essence reaches zero the character is unable to continue play having faded, fallen into torpor, or physically disintegrated.

A successful resistance roll indicates that the character does not lose possession of their faculties and personality as a result of the transformation.  A failure reduces resistance by one (along with any manual skills employed by the character) and indicates the character is beginning to lose touch with their underlying humanity.  A failure indicates that the character runs amok for 24 hours.  During this time the character is unaware of what they have been doing (though the GM knows).

If resistance reaches zero the character is no more than a beast, unable to assert any control over their base drives.

Dealing with injury

The nature of the transformation alters the way players recover from injury.  Living creatures recover as normal.

Mechanical beings are repaired rather than healed.  Assuming the presence of sufficient tools and time, ordinary bashing damage is repaired at 1 point per hour while piercing damage is repaired at 1 point per four hours spent.

Mechanical beings have no magical skill.  Any previously held magic ceases to operate. The points spent on magical abilities are returned to the character to be spent on non-mystical skills and they are thereafter considered to belong to the adventurer or academic speciality.

Mechanical and undead beings are immune to illness.

Creatures which are dead must spend essence to heal.  A point of essence returns an undead character to full wounds.  However, the essence cost is permanent.

Mutation (mutant)

A character can be turned into a mutant (by being captured and experimented on by a Mad Scientist or through exposure to dangerous radiation etc.)  If this happens they will be subject to a number of (usually random) physical alterations. A character may have up to 3 mutations (made up by the GM or picked from a list such as the one below).

Example

James Mitchell

James Mitchell is captured by a mad scientist and subjected to a mutating energy beam.  The GM rolls 1d6 getting a 5 and dividing the result by 2 rounding up to determine how many mutations James is subject to (in this case 3).  He decides James develops multiple eyes on his face and body, a set of gills, and (1d6/2 rounded up or 3) tentacles which grow out of his back.  His freakish appearance gives him a -2 penalty to any attempts at persuasion or social interaction.

Rather than lose the character at this point, James decides to play on.  He has four points of essence and invents the following skills in line with his new condition. He adds a tentacle attack skill at one dot and can now add an extra (clubbing) tentacle attack to a combat phase.  He adds a breathe underwater skill at one dot also.  Finally he adds a two dot bonus to perception (for his multiple eyes).

Mechanization (cyborg)

A character may (either through capture by an insane gadgeteer or simply because they have been damaged beyond normal endurance) be subject to mechanization.  Mechanical parts are grafted onto the body as functional replacement parts etc.  It is even possible that the entire body (apart from the brain) may be replaced. Mechanization is always physically intrusive (making the character appear less human).  Generally speaking a human body can handle three significant simultaneous modifications at most.  Where the character seeks out a replacement limb (etc) they can control what replacements occur.  However, if they are captured and altered by an outside agency the changes are up to the GM.  Elements of mechanisation might include…

It is possible to add extra arms and extra legs to a full body replacement if so desired (so that it still technically adds up to three changes).

Example

Beth-Nalain

The mystic Beth-Nalain is captured by an insane clockmaker who succeeds in turning her into a clockwork cyborg.  The GM randomly determines that she will undergo three modifications.  When Beth-Nalain wakes up after the surgery she no longer has any mystical abilities, her legs have been replaced with clockwork as has her skull and both her heart and lungs.  Her appearance is now very frightening.  She has 4 essence points chooses to give herself the following new skills; frightening visage (which, after discussion with the GM, freezes opponents in place for a round and on a critical success consequence roll causes them to break and run away) enhanced speed, immunity to poison, and extra processing (which after discussion with the GM allows a second roll whenever an academic skill is required – she can choose the best of the two results).

Undeath

Disembodiment (ghost)

Having been killed it is sometimes possible to bring a character back as a ghost.  Ghosts are usually raised for a purpose.  It takes a successful resistance roll to defy that purpose or stay behind once the purpose has been accomplished.

Ghosts are generally visible as a glowing translucent memory of their original form.  Movement is achieved by gliding.  Ghosts are unable to touch, taste, smell, or otherwise handle real world objects.

Example

Elias Fergusson

Elias was trying to prevent the evil Mordric from raising an evil King to recover a lost treasure.  He succeeded in thwarting the plot but died in the process. Mordric, having survived, and, being a vindictive sort, decides to raise and enslave Elias as a ghost.  Elias has 4 essence points and invents the following skills for himself in ghostly form; pass through solid objects (one dot), turn invisible (one dot), possess living entity (one dot), and drain life (one dot, which on discussion with his GM allows him to drain 3 wounds of life each attack phase).  The possess living entity skill suggests Mordric may get more than he bargained for by raising Elias.

Reanimation (zombie)

A character may find themselves brought back from the dead to inhabit their own corpse.  This may be the result of mad science, voodoo rituals, or a zombie virus etc.  Generally, zombies are raised for a purpose.  Viral zombies may exist only to kill and eat, but the traditional zombie is a slave.   To assert a zombie’s independence over its primal urges (or its master’s orders) it must make a successful resistance roll at creation.  Zombies are subject to putrefaction up to the point at which they are raised (after which they do not decompose) but retain any physical wounds  (not wound points) and scars received prior to and at the time of death.  They do not need to eat, breathe, or sleep.  They do not get tired or bleed.  New wounds received, however, will not heal either (except at the cost of essence – see above).

Example

Samantha Hughes

Samantha was shot three times in the chest by her enemies before the vodoun found her and raised her to her new zombie state.  She has 4 resistance points and decides to invent 4 zombie skills for herself; hide in shadows (one dot), enhanced strength (one dot, which after consultation with the GM adds one point to all bashing damage), induce fear (one dot, which causes opponents to freeze in terror or run away on a failed consequence roll), and read death and decay (one dot, which allows the zombie to “see” the events associated with a place of death or decay).  The bullet wounds in her chest remain after her resurrection but are easily hidden beneath her clothing).  She was raised quickly so, while a little green in pallor, does not appear too rotted.

Reanimation (promethean)

Promethean Reanimation (typified by Frankenstein’s monster) occurs where the character has been turned into a recombined and animated corpse (the brain having been preserved while a number of body parts have been stitched together from a variety of sources, possibly with some mechanisation thrown in for good measure).  Changes wrought at reconstruction might include minor mechanical combined with major biological replacement parts such as…

Example

Andrew Steele

After being captured by the Technomaster, Andrew Steele awakes naked upon an operating table, energy surging through his body.  Looking down at himself he sees scars, stitches, and unfamiliar musculature.  This isn’t his body anymore.  In fact it appears to be an amalgam of body parts taken from diverse owners.  His left hand doesn’t even look human… perhaps clockwork.

Andrew’s player adjusts his character to fit the new reality in which he finds himself.  He has four essence points and invents some new abilities to use in his promethean state; enhanced strength, channel lightning (an area effect doing 4 points of damage, but only available for use 3 times a day), feline sight (he decides the Technomaster gave him cat’s eyes), and sense living creatures.

Andrew immediately tries to break free of his constraints.  He wishes to be revenged upon the monster who did this to him!

Vampirism (vampire)

Characters who have been subject to a vampire bite or turning may or may not have all the features of traditional vampires.  Regardless, vampires have a hunger that can only be met by feeding on the living. The GM will decide whether  or not this is a traditional blood thirst (who knows, the hunger may alternatively be for life force or mental energy?), how sparkly or otherwise they are, and whether they can handle sunlight etc.

Example

Richard Renfrew

While on a midnight mission in London, super spy Richard Renfrew, was set upon in an alley by thugs and left to die.  When he awoke he had a wound in his throat and an aversion to daylight.  After three days with a high fever he awakes to find himself suffering from an almost unbearable thirst for blood.  He is a vampire.

Richard’s player adjusts his character sheet accordingly and with four resistance points to spend takes exsanguination and turn/sire new vampire as skills, while also taking summon/control rats and wall crawling (one dot in each).

Lycanthropy (werewolf)

Lycanthropes transform into predatory bipedal animals (wolves, bears, foxes, mountain lions etc) at the full moon.  While the details of the Lycanthrope’s condition is left to the GM, some things are typical. They gain fur, teeth, claws, and a tail.  They are usually vulnerable to silver (which acts as a poison).  Wounds from normal weapons do damage but are regenerated during the day.  A  Lycanthrope cannot be killed in their transformed body unless by silver.  A transformed lycanthrope can only be killed by silver but turns back into an unconscious human when damaged (by normal weapons) to the full wounds points available.  If the human form is killed the Lycanthrope is permanently dead.

Example

Sarah (Six-gun Sarah) Henley

It had almost been a month since Six-gun Sarah Henley had fought off the wolves outside Duke Von Hohendorf’s chateau.  She had only received a small bite, but today the old wound is hurting a good deal and she feels very tired.  As the moon rises above her the pain in the wound begins to spread forcing her to her knees.  She can feel the change coming on even as she tries to resist it.  Fur sprouts, she falls to all fours, her jaw elongates and her joints reform themselves.  Before she fully realises what is happening to her, the change ias complete.  Sarah is a werewolf.

Sarah’s player adjusts her character sheet to reflect her new condition and records “Infectious Bite” as one of her skills.  She has three points remaining to spend and buys night vision, tracking/stalking and silent movement.

Necrophagy (ghoul)

Characters infected with Necrophagy (by having been fed dead human meat) undergo a number of physical changes.  They become gaunt and wasted with pointed ears, sharp teeth, and an inability to eat anything that isn’t carrion.  They are particularly drawn to dead human bodies as sustenance.  If essence reaches zero the character loses what remains of his/her humanity, hands their character sheet over to the GM, and becomes a monster dwelling in one of the ghoul colonies to be found beneath cemeteries.

Example

Angela Astbury

Socialite, Angela Astbury thinks there was something terribly wrong with the meal served at Lance Scarborough’s dinner table last night.  She has been feeling extremely unwell all day.  When she looks in the mirror her face appears withered, her hair is falling out, and she appears to be wasting away even as she watches.  She was fed infected, dead, human meat and has been turned into a  ghoul.

Angela’s player takes a few moments to adjust her character sheet and buy some new skills (in this case, enhanced strength, claws, night vision, and tunnelling) before deciding what her next move will be.

NEXT TIME: Chapter 4 (Part 1) – Getting things done – character actions and playing the game, especially general actions and skill ranks.

This chapter of the Host Your Own Old Time Radio Drama RPG and all associated content (except where acknowledged) is © copyright weirdworldstudios.com and Philip Craig Robotham 1997 and may not be reproduced or distributed without the written permission of the author.

HYOOTRD Roleplaying Game – Players’ Guide

• Chapter 1 – What is Roleplaying?
• Chapter 2 – Preparation for Play (What you’ll need and an introduction to the World of Radio Adventure)
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 1 – Introduction and Character sheet
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 2 – Specialities, Archetypes, Base Attributes and Derived Attributes
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 3 – Character background and history
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 4 – Character skills and equipment (including weapons, vehicles, and specialist gear)
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 5 – Special items and abilities (including gadgeteering, weird science, and magic)
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 6 – Special conditions effecting characters (including illness and injury, insanity, mutation, mechanization, undeath, disembodiment, reanimation, , vampirism, lycanthropy, and necrophagy)
• Chapter 4 – Getting Things Done – Part 1 – Skill types and skill ranks
• Chapter 4 – Getting Things Done – Part 2 – Consequence tests, perception, contests, special skills and abilities, hero points and skill advancement
• Chapter 5 – Combat – Part 1 – Melee and ranged combat, combat actions, the combat board, and a combat cheat sheet
• Chapter 5 – Combat – Part 2 – Print and play components
• Chapter 5 – Combat – Part 3 – Physical combat (melee and ranged combat) example
• Chapter 5 – Combat – Part 4 – Magical combat example
• Chapter 5 – Combat – Part 5 – Vehicular combat example, injury, and recovery
• Chapter 6 – Chases – Part 1 – Chases and chase actions
• Chapter 6 – Chases – Part 2 – Chase example
• Chapter 7 – Death-traps, hazards, and puzzles
• Chapter 8 – Victory and death – Heroic deaths, cheating the odds, plot devices, experience and advancement

The post Creating a Character – Chapter 3 (Part 6) – HYOOTRD RPG Players’ Guide appeared first on Host Your Own Old Time Radio Drama.

Step 7. Modify the character to accommodate special items and abilities (as required)

The following rules really only apply if your character has the capacity to invent special items; scientific effects, enchanted items, or spells and potions etc.  If this does not apply to your character then skip to Step 8.

If you are a mystic, weird scientist, or gadgeteer you have invention points equal to your willpower that can be applied to the creation of unique effects.  In the case of mystics the effects are created by magic.  In the case of weird scientists and gadgeteers the effects are created by mechanical or scientific inventions.

Whether inventing gadgets, weird science effects, or magical spells, your character is generally trying to attempt a limited number of things.  It’s really only the methodology (or flavour) that is different.  A sorcerer might wish to blast someone with a bolt of electricity via a spell.  The gadgeteer may use a gizmo or ray gun to do it, while a weird scientist might use a serum, glove or some other thing to achieve the same effect.  The interesting thing to note is that while the means are different the effect accomplished is in each case the same.

Note:  It is extremely important that you balance the positive effects you can achieve with limitations.  It is too easy to create super-powers that destroy the balance of the game.  In order to maintain the enjoyment of the game for all participants you must be willing to submit to the GM’s veto and potential in-game changes to your abilities if the GM feels the ability as initially developed is too powerful.

Effect Types

These are all simply suggestions to help you define the effects you want to create.  The basic suggested effect types are as follows…

Create

Create is the most outright magical of effects.  It implies making something from nothing.  As such it should always be very difficult to accomplish.

Create [object, element, or individual] from nothing at [location] and [time] with [attribute(s)] for [duration]

A mystic might invent a spell that creates water from nothing.  This spell might affect a particular location and time (instantly in a glass jar for example), have particular attributes (such as being pure, holy, or poisonous), and may include a duration (such as lasting for an hour before vanishing, or being permanent).

A weird scientist might invent a machine, worn like a hat, that creates whatever the user is thinking about.  This machine might be solar powered and only work at noon on cloudless days, it might only create things that are smaller than a bread-box, and the objects might dissolve into nothing 45 minutes after creation.

Alter

An Alter effect is significantly easier to accomplish than a create effect.  It takes something and modifies it in some significant way (by adding to it, subtracting from it, or transforming it completely).

Alter the shape of [object, element, or individual] at [location] and [time] for [duration]

Alter [object, element, or individual] adding [attribute] at [location] and [time] for [duration]

Alter [object, element, or individual] subtracting [attribute] at [location] and [time] for [duration]

Transform [object, element, or individual] into [object, element, or individual] at [location] and [time] for [duration]

A mystic might invent a spell to turn a person into a toad for a 24 hour period.

A weird scientist might invent a mutation ray that mutates someone so that they grow permanent extra arms (but the victim will only survive for six months).

A gadgeteer might invent a laser scalpal that can cut through any known element (but it requires a stable electricity supply and can only be used in large cities).

Reveal

A reveal effect is concerned with learning things which are currently unknown.

Reveal [information] about [object, element, or individual, or event] at [location] and [time]

Query [object, element, or individual] about [object, element, or individual, or event] at [location] and [time]

A mystic might have a silver bowl of scrying that lets them look into distant locations once a week or the ability to summon spirits to reveal hidden information (but only in exchange for some kind of payment).

A gadgeteer might invent a wrist watch that uses radar to detect flying aircraft and missiles or an undead detector that picks up the absence of body heat – but the gizmos may only work for half an hour of continuous use before requiring replacement batteries.

A weird scientist might invent a camera that can see into the past at a particular location (but only half an hour into the past).

Control/influence

A control/influence effect is concerned with trying to bend objects and entities to your will.

Cause [object, element, or individual] to [action] a(n) [object, element, or individual] at [location] and [time] for [duration] using [object, element, or individual]

A mystic might invent a possession spell that allows them to take over another person’s body (long enough to complete a single simple action).

A weird scientist might invent a mind controlling device to force others to do their bidding (but it might burn out the victim’s mind if used more than once.

A gadgeteer might invent a remote control robot to follow simple instructions and act as his/her valet that requires the regular replacement of very expensive components (say bi-monthly).

Attack

Anything intended to hurt, harm, or destroy another person or thing is an attack effect.

Harm [object, element, individual, or attribute] with [object, or element] at [location] and [time] for [duration]

A firebolt spell employed by a mystic would be a good example of this.  As a side effect the character may be exhausted and forced to rest after any combat situation in which it is used.

A gadgeteer might invent a flame thrower that is good for five bursts before it runs out of juice.

A weird scientist might invent an invisible combustion ray that causes anything it sweeps over to burst into flames.  Each use makes the item increasingly unstable (2 in 6 chance it will explode in each use past the first).

Defend

Anything you invent that is intended to protect, heal, or repair someone or something is a defend effect.

Protect [object, element, individual, or attribute] with [object, or element] at [location] and [time] for [duration]

Heal/Repair [object, element, individual, or attribute] with [object, or element] at [location] and [time] for [duration]

A mystic might invent a shielding spell (perhaps a mystical circle) that prevents solid objects from penetrating to anything held within.  This may be possible once per day.

A gadgeteer might invent powered armor to move around in (that may require two weeks to charge up after a day’s use).

A weird scientist might invent a force-field that repels all living things (but emits a radiation that causes one to two wounds of damage whenever it is used).

Transport

Anything you invent that allows you to move from place to place is a transport effect.

Move [object, element, or individual] from [location] to [location] at [time] for [duration]

A weird scientist might invent a teleportation cabinet (that can only teleport small non-organic objects).

A gadgeteer might invent a jet pack (with a maximum ceiling height of a mere 50 feet).

A mystic might create a spell that opens a mystical portal between locations (but it can only be used one way).

As far as your character sheet is concerned you list your invented spells, gadgets, and gizmos as skills and apply dots to them as per any other skills you are required to use.  It is important to note their drawbacks clearly however, as (without balancing hindrances) these effects can quickly upset the balance of the game.  You will need to negotiate them carefully with your GM and be aware that they may need to be given substantial limitations and drawbacks to enable them to fit in the game world.    You also need to be aware that a number of “special” drawbacks  apply to the mystic, gadgeteer, and weird scientist (to balance the advantages provided by access to these effects.

Limitations placed on effects

If you are having trouble thinking about the limitations to place on your effects, you might consider using the following tables.

For each effect in use roll 1d10 to determine the limits placed on its use.

For each effect/gadget created,  roll 1d10 to determine what side effect occurs when it fails.  A significant failure (rolling 6 on a consequence check) results in a side effect).

These effects are also limited by the number of dots allocated to them.

Line of sight rule

Range rule (if a ranged effect)

Area effect rule (if an area effect)

Critical Failure

An unmodified roll of 2 on 2d10 when trying to apply an effect results in a critical failure in the application of the effect (not to be confused with a critical failure in the consequence roll above).  This results in the destruction and loss of the effect or the gadget which creates it (except in the case of the gadgeteer who can rebuild the gadget).

Gadgeteering

A gadgeteer is an inventor of machines and effects based on existing technology.  The gadgeteer can’t do the impossible but can design and enhance existing things.  A gadgeteer could design and build a personal airship for one passenger, or build a two way radio into a wristwatch.  Both of these ideas involve the modification of existing technology.  A gadgeteer could not, however, invent a means to look into the aether to communicate with ghosts of the long departed, or invent a time machine – these are the province of weird science (see weird science below). And while they can create effects based on existing technology they cannot base their effects on weird science technology.

For non-trivial gadgeteering tasks the character must first identify the underlying technology to be modified (eg. gas baloon, watch etc) and then add features to it.

Gadgeteers have a couple of special skills besides the gadgets themselves.  They have a “Gadgeteering on-the-fly skill” that they can spend points on. This allows them to throw together something at short notice from bits and pieces that are lying around.  They also have a repair skill which they can use to attempt to repair anything (even weird science items) so long as they worked at some point in time and their activity is merely maintenance.

Gadgeteering is not weird science.  A gadgeteer cannot invent the impossible in the way a weird scientist can.  Gadgeteers invent things that exist and function in the real world, just early (historically speaking) and with a twist.  “But how is that fun or special”, you ask?  The answer is simple.  Gadgeteers build these things and tweak them in unique ways.  A gadgeteer may not be able to construct a matter transporter but, it is quite possible to design and build a radar (not invented until the second world war) that fits in a wristwatch in the early 1930s (real world device + twist).  Likewise nuclear fusion, television, lasers, jetpacks etc.

Because gadgets have far less potential to unbalance the game you might not even need to apply drawbacks to them (negotiate this with your GM).

When you design a gadget it must be

• familiar yet different.
• something that exists today (with non-real world improvements) eg. radar (that fits in a wristwatch).
• something that exists today (with 1930s style limitations) eg. a computer (using valve technology and extremely limited memory).

Gadgets can have up to three abilities.  You can produce up to 5 copies (six items in total) of any gadget depending on the abilities it has.

1 ability – 5 copies.

2 abilities – 3 copies

3 abilities – 1 copy.

The abilities of gadgets are open ended (like skills) and have their own skill points (see subskills and manoeuvres, above) attached to their use.

The failure of a gadget during play requires a consequence roll.  A roll of 6 on 1d6 results in the permanent destruction of the gadget, otherwise the gadget can no longer be used until repaired (an investment of d6 hours of uninterrupted work).

A character can create as many gadget effects as they have points in willpower.  These inventions can be designed before play begins, or the player may create the effects during play as need arises, or a combination of pre-designed and on-the-fly inventions can be brought into play.

Gadgeteering (Example)

At character creation, Marcus’ character, Professor Watchspring, has 4 willpower points giving him 4 invention points to put into inventions.  He decides to create two general and one specialised gadget.

He decides he wants a combination watch, compass, and sextent (a sort of 1930s GPS) to enable him to always know where he is (cost 1 point).  He also wants a clockwork, mechanical lockpick (cost one point), and (after talking it over with his GM) a point to point televisual communicator (1930s Skype) to stay in touch with team members (cost 2 points).

Weird Science

Weird science achieves the impossible.  While it is possible to MacGuyver a hot air balloon from scraps found in the rubble of an earthquake using standard science or gadgeteering skills (see gadgeteering above), a machine that can look into the aether and allow communication with ghosts requires weird science.

The genius involved in weird science is different to real-world scientific genius in the following ways…

Weird science genius is more than brilliance/cleverness.  It is the capacity to do that which cannot be replicated by ordinary scientific means.  It is the capacity to create a miracle and capture it in a test-tube, to teach a machine to think and create great art, or to fire a pebble at a speed far in excess of the speed of light.  Science might not sensibly be able to create these effects – in fact any attempts to study a weird science effect by scientific means causes it to degrade and cease to operate – but a “scientist” with the “spark” of genius can accomplish the impossible.

The underlying mechanisms by which weird science effects are achieved may not be fully understood even by those who create them.

The only thing necessary to create such an effect is the self-belief of the genius and the “spark” or inspiration necessary to realise the impossible.  The weird scientist must also have a weird explanation for why the effect is obtained.

For example the genius might develop an antigravity device on the basis of some kind of hyper-geometrical mathematics.  He or she may theorise that the mathematical equations temporarily enslave inter-dimensional creatures and extend their existence into our space to carry the objects from one point to another in defiance of gravity. Whether this is true or not in terms of plain physics, it takes on reality when applied by the genius.  Having formed the hypothesis and created the effect, the genius must thereafter ensure that sufficient energy is in play to keep the dimensional intruders bound during the process and banish them back to where they came from once the effect has been achieved.

Alternatively the genius might settle on a different hypothesis for why the device works.  He or she may theorise that the effect of gravity is in fact due to the thinness of the air when cool and that heating the air makes it solid enough to be manipulated into carrying objects around.  Having created a working antigravity device on this basis the genius must thereafter believe to his or her dying day in the essential solidity of heated air and that this is what allows things to fly.

The theory by virtue of its proximity to the spark of genius brings the effect into being regardless of its plausibility so long as there is a catalyst available to activate it (a catalyst being a machine, serum, potion, gizmo etc.).

Needless to say, the laws of real-world physics have a tendency to break down in the presence of Weird Science.  The inventor of the anti-gravity device discussed above may create anomalous effects whenever he comes in contact with machines that bring his theory into conflict with real world physics.  For example, real-world aircraft may simply not work in his presence (requiring large amounts of heat to be present before they will fly).  And, as already noted, the application of “real-world” scientific study to a “weird science” effect causes the effect to degrade and collapse.

By its nature Weird Science is prone to this sort of conflict. It is important that “weird scientists” keep a clear record of their hypotheses.  Should they develop a hypothesis, while creating an effect, that contradicts or conflicts with a prior hypothesis the results can be dire indeed (to the point where the very fabric of reality is threatened).

There is also a risk involved in opening oneself up to the “spark of genius” in the first place.  The flash of insight that leads to the creation of a weird science effect may expose the “scientist” to “things which man was never meant to know”.  Exposure to such knowledge results in an immediate and permanent loss of essence.  When inventing a new effect the hero must make a successful resistance roll to avoid such exposure.  Hero points cannot be used to modify this roll.

Every time a weird science effect is used such exposure is risked.  A 1 on a consequence roll (1d6) will result in a permanent essence loss.

A character can create as many weird science effects as they have points in willpower.  These inventions can be designed before play begins, or the player may create the effects during play as need arises, or a combination of pre-designed and on-the-fly inventions can be brought into play.

A role of 2 on 2d10 when operating the catalyst will result in its destruction.  All weird science effects are unique and cannot be replicated once destroyed.

Example Weird Science Components

Below you will find a bunch of example machines and weird science components to use in the development of your effects;

Creating a Weird Science Effect (Example)

As an example let’s say that Dr Moreau has decided to raise the intelligence of a group of wild-animals to function as servants in his mansion.  He combines effects in the Independence category and Transformation category to create the effect of enhanced intelligence and basically bipedal motor functions.  Being a convinced Phrenologist, he theorises that the intelligence and physical superiority of human beings is largely due to the arrangement of bumps upon the human skull.  He engages in surgery in which he reshapes the bumps and crevices of his animal subjects’ heads in order to reconfigure them for optimal physical and mental development.  He must be careful neither to overdevelop nor underdevelop the shaping of their skulls in order to get the effects he is seeking.  3 months after the surgery is complete the previously “dumb” creature is capable of learning language, walking on its hind legs, performing unusual fine motor skills, and fulfilling the duties of a household servant.

Because of the nature of his theory regarding the link between intelligence and skull shape he will be able to create a number of other effects through the catalyst of his skull surgery – personality alterations, the realignment of criminal tendencies etc.

Rather than an invention, Dr Moreau creates the “phrenological surgery” skill.

Having invented the skill, it costs nothing beyond a successful skill roll for Dr Moreau to employ it to create the weird science effect he has been seeking (or apply it creatively to new circumstances).  He will, however, require suitable medical equipment and facilities to accomplish the effect.

The drawback he selects is that the subjects of his surgery now age unnaturally quickly and will die within 1 to 3 years.

Magic

All magical effects require a title.  This title should be made up of the originator’s name (usually the individual from whom it was learned) plus an adjective plus a description of the effect (Eg. “Sumak Singh’s astounding flame-burst” or “Madam Z’amora’s incredible hidden knowledge revealer”).  If you already have 5 or more learned effects you can name any new effects after yourself (on the understanding that your mastery is such as to allow you to invent rather than learn your own effects).

You may only master magical effects if you have a Mystic specialty and may only master as many effects as you have points of essence.  When you invent a new effect for your character it is assumed you have known how to perform it since before you began adventuring but have not activated it until the present.  Each time you create a new effect (NB. Initial creation is not the same as in-game use of a created effect) you need to roll your willpower to avoid being exposed to malevolent cosmic forces.  Such exposure permanently reduces your essence by one point.  Failed attempts at effect creation also result in exposure to malevolent cosmic forces (with the same accompanying cost in essence).

You will need (in consultation with your GM) to invent the process by which the effect is accomplished (reading the spell from a book, performing a ritual, drinking a potion, using up the charge in a wand etc.).

Example

Let us suppose that Marcus the Magnificent is a psychic.  He has an essence of 4 and so can create four effects.

The first effect he wishes to create is mind reading.  He decides that the technique was learned from the oriental master of mystery, Hwang Lee and is called “Hwang Lee’s confounding thief of thoughts”

It is a reveal effect. It is accomplished through mental effort and requires an arcane symbol to be inscribed upon the floor or wall (in this case a Chinese pictogram).  The ability is very time consuming to use (requiring one hour per dot of ability applied).  This effect cannot be applied during combat (unless the space has been prepared earlier) and initially requires physical contact to be effective.  The revelation will answer once (and only one) specific question held in the caster’s mind.

The next effect he wishes to create is mind control.  He decided that the technique was learned from an insane stage magician he once defeated named Mephisto the Great and is called “Mephisto’s terrifying enslavement”.

It is a control/influence effect.

It is accomplished by reading an incantation from Mephisto’s journal (taken from the magician when he was defeated).  The effect is powered by life energy trapped in Mephisto’s journal (which is written on human skin cut from his victims).  It allows the caster to command a single action.  The victim may not do anything else until the action is accomplished.

The next effect he wishes to create is a mental barrier against harm.  He decides that the technique was learned from his old master Hwang Lee and is called “Hwang Lee’s astounding invisible wall”.

It is a defend effect.

The protection is provided by a potion that is very complicated to prepare and mix up (requiring 1d10 days of prep).  It also requires a crystal bottle that cracks if the attempted use fails and takes (1d10 days to replace).

Lastly he wishes to be able to engage in telekenesis .  He decides that the technique was learned from a powerful western psychic of his acquaintance and is called “Emily Binford’s extraordinary immaterial transportation”.

It is a transport effect.

It requires a wand and is activated by a drop of blood. A failure causes the wand to break requiring 1d10 days to repair. It can only effect objects that can be carried comfortably in a normal person’s arms.

Bibliography

Some of the ideas used in this section of the chapter originate in the following works

• Genius the Transgression, a story telling game by Kyle Marquis that explores Mad Science (far deeper than my approach and an excellent resource in its own right)
  https://sites.google.com/site/moochava/genius
• Kellri’s weird science and random gadgets (a great little pdf containing random tables for creating weird science gadgets and effects – sadly this is now a dead link but I still want to give it credit for being such a useful tool).
  http://kellri.blogspot.com.au/2008/12/weird-science-random-gadgets-strange.html
• David Chart’s Ars Magica is one of the most interesting magic systems I’ve ever seen and was very inspirational with regard to the rules designed for play here.
  http://www.atlas-games.com/arm5/

NEXT TIME: Part 6 – The final step in Character Creation – Modify your character for any exceptional effects they may have undergone or encountered.

This chapter of the Host Your Own Old Time Radio Drama RPG and all associated content (except where acknowledged) is © copyright weirdworldstudios.com and Philip Craig Robotham 1997 and may not be reproduced or distributed without the written permission of the author.

HYOOTRD Roleplaying Game – Players’ Guide

• Chapter 1 – What is Roleplaying?
• Chapter 2 – Preparation for Play (What you’ll need and an introduction to the World of Radio Adventure)
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 1 – Introduction and Character sheet
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 2 – Specialities, Archetypes, Base Attributes and Derived Attributes
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 3 – Character background and history
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 4 – Character skills and equipment (including weapons, vehicles, and specialist gear)
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 5 – Special items and abilities (including gadgeteering, weird science, and magic)
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 6 – Special conditions effecting characters (including illness and injury, insanity, mutation, mechanization, undeath, disembodiment, reanimation, , vampirism, lycanthropy, and necrophagy)
• Chapter 4 – Getting Things Done – Part 1 – Skill types and skill ranks
• Chapter 4 – Getting Things Done – Part 2 – Consequence tests, perception, contests, special skills and abilities, hero points and skill advancement
• Chapter 5 – Combat – Part 1 – Melee and ranged combat, combat actions, the combat board, and a combat cheat sheet
• Chapter 5 – Combat – Part 2 – Print and play components
• Chapter 5 – Combat – Part 3 – Physical combat (melee and ranged combat) example
• Chapter 5 – Combat – Part 4 – Magical combat example
• Chapter 5 – Combat – Part 5 – Vehicular combat example, injury, and recovery
• Chapter 6 – Chases – Part 1 – Chases and chase actions
• Chapter 6 – Chases – Part 2 – Chase example
• Chapter 7 – Death-traps, hazards, and puzzles
• Chapter 8 – Victory and death – Heroic deaths, cheating the odds, plot devices, experience and advancement

The post Creating a Character – Chapter 3 (Part 5) – HYOOTRD RPG Players’ Guide appeared first on Host Your Own Old Time Radio Drama.

Step 5. Create skills and assign skill points

If you have  completed the questionnaire above you will have already identified a minimum of 6 skills for your character (drawn from their life experiences).  If you didn’t complete the questionnaire you will need to invent your skills now.  This is easy.  Just invent a minimum of six skills that you think directly relate to your archetype.  For example a cowboy archetype might have skills such as ride horse, lasso, six guns, tracker, and find water.  A linguist might have speak new language, read new language, write new language, research, decipher code, and encryption.  A psychic might have telekenisis, mesmerism, telepathy, lie detection, cheat at cards, and confuse.

There is no upper limit on the number of skills that can be created (though more than ten would seem a little excessive) so long as they can legitimately be connected to your archetype.

Record the skills from your questionnaire (or that you have invented on the fly) on your character sheet  in order from most important/useful to least important/useful.

If you have selected a Mystical Speciality you may spend 7 + willpower points improving your skills. You must also apply your total willpower points to your essence and set your resistance to 0. Mystics do not have a resistance trait.

If you have selected an Adventurer Speciality you may spend 7 + strength points improving your skills. You must also apply strength points to your resistance and set your essence to 0. Adventurers do not have an essence trait.

If you have selected an Academic Speciality you may spend EITHER 7 + strength OR 7 + willpower points purchasing Academic skills. You must set both your essence and your resistance to 0.

Give 3 points to the most important skill, and 2 points each to the two next most important skills. Add a single point to each of the remaining skills until all points are spent.

You can usually assume you have an unlimited number of general skills (like running, brawling, etc.) at 1 point whether specified on your character sheet or not. More specialised skills (such as piloting a plane, manoeuvring a submersible, speaking a foreign language etc) will need to be listed on your sheet or purchased. The exact nature of what constitutes a generic or specialised skill is left to the discretion of the GM.

There is no dodge skill to allow  players to dodge during combat in this game and players should not attempt to create one.   Attempts to get out of the way are built into the dice roll and no modifiers apply.  A dodge skill does exist for the purposes of navigating obstacles during a chase etc.

No skill at character creation may be increased beyond four points initially.

Example (Skills and points)

Jake Stead (Gavin’s character)

Jake Stead has a strength of 4.  This gives him a total of 11 points to spend.  His skills brawling, shooting, mechanical repair, boating, lock-picking, safe-cracking, bypassing alarms, acrobatics, and sneaking.

Malefice, Mistress of the Mystical Arts (Beth’s character)

Malefice has a willpower of 4.  This gives her a total of 11 points to spend. Her skills include cold-reading, stage magic and illusions, occult knowledge, mind reading, hypnosis, and the binding of spirits.

Dr Herbivore (Michael’s character)

Dr Herbivore has a willpower and strength of 3 each.  This gives him a total of 10 points to spend. His skills include hiding in plain sight, establishing and using social contacts, impressing people, encryption, deciphering ancient languages, chemistry, and swordsmanship.

The exact nature of the skills needs to be approved by the GM as well as how they work.  With a system of skill invention that is so free-form, skills need to be approved to prevent them from throwing off the balance of the game.   Players need to also be aware that some modification of the skill may be required in-game to prevent the invented skills from giving players an undue advantage.

Generic Skills

Also available to characters are a set of generic skills. These skills are used by characters to attempt actions.

General skills can be purchased right away.  Characters add their strength and willpower to determine the number of points available to them for spending on generic skills.

Generic skills include bluff, catch, climb, drive vehicle (untrained – max additional points 1), firearm (untrained – max additional points 1), first aid, hand to hand (untrained – max additional points 1), hide, bludgeon (untrained – max additional points 1), jump, lift/carry/crush/bend, perception, persuade, ride (untrained – max additional points 1), run, search, sneak, throw, and swim.

A few skills are marked “untrained”. The generic skills so marked give players the opportunity to use firearms etc. without having been trained in their use.  A player with the firearms (untrained) skill can pick up an unfamiliar weapon and fire it (but would not be able to field strip and maintain it).  Likewise bludgeon (untrained) allows a player to pick up a tree branch etc. and attack someone effectively but will not allow them to do much more.  Skills identified as “untrained” can only be increased by one point and no more.  They cannot be advanced further in the game without becoming an archetype skill (see advancement). If you wish to give an untrained skill a higher level of competency it needs to become one of your archetype skills.

The x’s beside the general skills indicate that character’s already have 1 point assigned to them in each skill by default. For each spending point available the character may add one dot to a skill.

Radio heroes are assumed to be capable of almost anything so you can add any generic skill at 1 point to your list at any time.  Skills that are more specific, however should be handled as Archetype skills.

Examples (General Skills)

Jake Stead (Gavin’s character)

Jake has 4 strength and 3 willpower giving him 7 more points to spend on general skills.  He spends 2 each on bluff and perception, and 1 each on climb, jump, and swim.

Malefice, Mistress of the Mystic Arts (Beth’s character)

Malefice has 3 strength and 4 willpower giving her 7 points to spend on general skills.  She spends 2 each on bluff, perception, and persuade, and 1 point on first aid.

Dr Herbivore (Michael’s character)

Dr Herbivore has 3 strength and 3 willpower giving him 6 points to spend on general skills.  He spends 2 each on sneak and run, and adds one each to hand-to-hand and drive vehicle.

Once skill points have been distributed initial character generation is complete.

Subskills and Maneauvers

If you have an archetype skill that you think would allow for special sub-skills (signature moves in combat or special stunts in driving or piloting a plane etc.) You can permanently spend a hero point to buy three signature actions.  These actions are mostly flavour but you can add one skill point to each and use them during play.

For example, if you are a martial artist with a Kung Fu skill of 3 points you could spend 1 hero point to create three signature moves/ subskills that each have the same points as the master skill (kung fu) plus one (or 4 points).  You can then give them interesting names such as…

“Tiger’s claw” (a slashing blow that does 3 points of piercing damage).

“Feet of the whirlwind” (a flurry of blows that do 2 points of clubbing damage rather than the ususal 1).

and “Destructive Boulder Blow” (that lets you smash any non-living item if your attack is targeted).

You will need to negotiate the benefit of the move with your GM.

Alternatively you might invent a number of signature moves for driving…

“Tilt” (drive on two wheels as easily as four, in order to fit in narrow spaces)

“Jump” (jump the vehicle over pits etc.)

and “Reverse” (drive a vehicle backwards with as much speed and skill as forwards).

See “Using Signature Moves” in the next chapter.

Step 6. Equip the character

General equipment

There is no need to spend points to obtain general gear.  Generally speaking, your character can be assumed to be carrying any easily obtained items that would fit with their character archetype.  Record the main items (anything specific that you wish to keep track of) but you can assume the presence of common items such as matches, torches, passports etc.  For equipment ideas take a look at the worldbook.  You will also want to look at special items (below) if you have a character archetype that creates things (gadgeteer, artificer, inventor, alchemist etc).  Note that items like Geiger counters or other specialist equipment do need to be purchased (as do area weapons, armor, and vehicles).

Many items are very similar in terms of their statistics and effect.  This means that they have no effective differences in game terms and are more a matter of flavour (allowing them to be customized to your character without greatly effecting play).

Weapons

Weapons are of five types…

With one exception (see below) it costs you nothing to equip yourself with weapons.

A whip is a form of club as is a baseball bat with nails sticking out of it and do the same amount of damage.

A knife is a blade, as is a chainsaw and they likewise do the same damage.

A blow gun does the same damage as a sub-machine gun.

To purchase an area weapon as equipment you must permanently sacrifice one Hero Point.

At one level this may seem unrealistic (and it is) but, in the cinematic world of radio-adventure, it does allow you to select highly flavoursome gear that is customized to your character without being disadvantaged as a result.

Armor

Likewise armor is either strong (taking 6 points of damage before being rendered useless) or  medium (taking 4 points of damage) or weak (taking 2 points of damage).  These strengths are relative and allow a significant amount of flavourful description.  A mechanical battlesuit is strong armor and so is a medieval suit of armor.  A flack jacket is medium armor, as is hanging sheets of metal about your neck and wearing a Ned Kelly mask.  Weak armor might encompass anything from padding through to a helmet and gauntlets (that provide minor amounts of protection).  Area weapons render all armor weak.

Armor costs one hero point for each increasing type from weak, through medium and heavy armor.  This is a permanent loss to your maximum hero points to be calculated and recorded before play.

Because armor takes damage of its own you will want to record how many wound points it has.  Armor can be repaired between adventures.  While it can be regularly damaged to the point of ineffectiveness, it is almost never lost.

Vehicles

The ownership of a vehicle costs one hero point per level (above person powered) that is obtained. Vehicles are similarly simplified into types based on speed from fastest to slowest and speed within the types (fast, medium, slow)

A slow rocket is still faster than a fast aircraft etc. but vehicles of the same type are considered of the same speed for the purposes of play.  As a result a rickshaw and a bicycle are both considered medium person powered vehicles.  A surrey drawn by a single horse is considered a slow horse drawn wagon while a stage coach with a team of six horses is considered fast.  A train is considered fast or slow depending on whether it is steam driven etc.  A race car is faster than a Packard which is faster than a Model T.  Since these matters are relative the GM will determine their relative value during chases etc.

Armor (as applied to vehicles) effect the speed and wounds of the vehicle.  All vehicles have a base armor rating or base wounds.

Vehicles of different types have different base armor values.. Bicycles, motorcycles, jet-skies, motorised sleds, etc. 5 armor points.

Cars motor boats, vans, jeeps, etc. 10 armor points.

Lorries, caravans, barges, tugboats, light aircraft, etc. 15 armor points.

Long haul trucks, tanks, military patrol boats, heavy aircraft, and rockets, etc. 20 armor points

Heavy armor reduces the speed two ranks but adds six to the wounds.  Medium armor reduces the speed one rank and adds four to the wounds.  Light armor reduces speed by one rank and adds two to wounds.

A slow rocket with heavy armor is therefore slower than a medium aircraft and can keep pace with slow aircraft.

To Armor a vehicle will require you to spend one additional hero point per rank of armor you wish the vehicle to have.

Please note that spending hero points to purchase armor reduces the maximum level of your hero points permanently.

Make sure you record your hero point expenditure and the wound rating of any vehicle you purchase.  If your vehicle is destroyed you may be able to receive hero points equal to its creation-value that you can spend to replace it or use as standard hero points in future.  Repairs can be undertaken between adventures.

Example (Owning a car)

If your character begins with six hero points and you decide he/she owns a medium-armored race-car, your character’s hero points are reduced to 2 (2 points to buy the car and two points to add medium armor) and cannot be increased above two while the car is in your possession.  The car itself has 14 wounds and is of medium speed (assuming it was of fast speed to begin with).

Specialist Gear

Specialist gear is that which is not obviously part of a character’s ordinary equipment.  A chemist might have a portable chemistry lab, but a journalist probably does not.

Players may add specialist gear (gear normally considered outside their field of expertise) to the character sheet by permanently spending hero points during this step.

For every point spent they may add 1 item of specialist gear.

Examples

Jake Stead (Gear)

Jake Stead still owns his childhood slingshot, a fast motorcycle, two nickel plated automatics, a set of lock picks, and a locket which holds pictures of his parents.  All of these items are available at no cost except the motorcycle.  A fast motorcycle costs a permanent reduction in Jake’s available hero points by two.  The motorcycle has a standard 7 wound points.

Dr Herbivore (Gear)

Dr Herbivore still owns his first telescope, a bound collection of the works of Plato and Aristotle, a portable chemistry lab, a portable language library, a sword-cane and his PhD certification.

Malefice (Gear)

Malefice owns a mystic talisman she received from her Grandmother (just jewelery without any powers of its own), a protective bracelet she received from Volara, a crystal ball, tarot cards, knives, and poisons.  The talisman received from Volara counts as weak armor and costs Malefice one hero point. It does allow her to absorb two extra wounds of damage in combat.

NEXT TIME: Part 5 – Special Skills (Gadgeteering, Weird Science, and Magic).

This chapter of the Host Your Own Old Time Radio Drama RPG and all associated content (except where acknowledged) is © copyright weirdworldstudios.com and Philip Craig Robotham 1997 and may not be reproduced or distributed without the written permission of the author.

HYOOTRD Roleplaying Game – Players’ Guide

• Chapter 1 – What is Roleplaying?
• Chapter 2 – Preparation for Play (What you’ll need and an introduction to the World of Radio Adventure)
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 1 – Introduction and Character sheet
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 2 – Specialities, Archetypes, Base Attributes and Derived Attributes
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 3 – Character background and history
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 4 – Character skills and equipment (including weapons, vehicles, and specialist gear)
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 5 – Special items and abilities (including gadgeteering, weird science, and magic)
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 6 – Special conditions effecting characters (including illness and injury, insanity, mutation, mechanization, undeath, disembodiment, reanimation, , vampirism, lycanthropy, and necrophagy)
• Chapter 4 – Getting Things Done – Part 1 – Skill types and skill ranks
• Chapter 4 – Getting Things Done – Part 2 – Consequence tests, perception, contests, special skills and abilities, hero points and skill advancement
• Chapter 5 – Combat – Part 1 – Melee and ranged combat, combat actions, the combat board, and a combat cheat sheet
• Chapter 5 – Combat – Part 2 – Print and play components
• Chapter 5 – Combat – Part 3 – Physical combat (melee and ranged combat) example
• Chapter 5 – Combat – Part 4 – Magical combat example
• Chapter 5 – Combat – Part 5 – Vehicular combat example, injury, and recovery
• Chapter 6 – Chases – Part 1 – Chases and chase actions
• Chapter 6 – Chases – Part 2 – Chase example
• Chapter 7 – Death-traps, hazards, and puzzles
• Chapter 8 – Victory and death – Heroic deaths, cheating the odds, plot devices, experience and advancement

The post Creating a Character – Chapter 3 (Part 4) – HYOOTRD RPG Players’ Guide appeared first on Host Your Own Old Time Radio Drama.

Step 4. Fill out the background for your character

Here’s where you create the back-story for your character; their name, upbringing, personal history, etc. Some players find this the most rewarding and fun part of character creation. Others find it a daunting task. If you don’t feel up to writing your own character background we’ve provided a handy questionnaire¹ to help you out. Regardless of whether you use the questionnaire or not (and we recommend using it because it will be a great help to your GM in creating adventures that tie into your history) you should complete the very first and the last two questions.

The first question, of course, asks you to supply your character’s name.

The last two questions ask you to supply some information regarding how you know the characters belonging to the players on your left and right. These two questions are especially important as they establish the connection you have with the other members of your team and give you a reason to jump into game play without a lot of tedious “let’s meet each other” roleplaying.

Name

 

 

Appearance

(A cross between two actors, characters from radio, characters from film, characters from television, characters from fiction, or characters from comic books).

 

 

 

Clothes and physical quirks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Family background and childhood

Describe your family background and childhood. Who were your parents? Where were you born? How were you raised etc.?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*A skill you were born with

 

A trait you inherited from your father

 

A trait you inherited from your mother

 

A trait shaped by your environment

 

*A unique possession acquired

 

 

 

 Teenage years

Describe your teenage years. Who were your friends? What was your schooling like? What were your interests and work experience (if any) etc. ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Two skills you developed as a result of personal interests

 

 

 

Two traits you discovered during adolescence

 

 

 

Two traits formed in your peer group

 

 

 

*A unique possession acquired

 

Adulthood

Describe your adult life. What is your vocation? Who are your peers? Do you have a family of your own etc.?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Three vocational skills you learned

 

 

 

 

 

Two traits you developed on the job

 

 

 

One trait that grew out of your first adult encounter with tragedy

 

One trait that describes your view of romance

 

One trait that defines your view of authority

 

*Important possessions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Additional Details

Dark Secret or Hidden Weakness

 

 

 

 

 

Romantic Past

 

 

 

 

 

Proudest Moment

 

 

 

 

 

Greatest Regret

 

 

 

 

 

Best Qualities

 

 

 

 

 

Worst Qualities

 

 

 

 

 

Favorite things

 

 

 

 

 

Dislikes

 

 

 

 

 

Most cherished principles:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Most cherished possessions:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most cherished people:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nemesis (and the reason for the enmity):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Allies :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Social Goals:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Professional Goals:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Romantic Goals:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Motivation for adventuring:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Title of your most recent adventure: [Name] and/in [Adventure Title] eg. "Jake Stead in the Lost Idol of Shamballa" or "Jake Stead and the Fabled City of Mu"

 

Guest appearance in the back story or a recent adventure of the player on your left (in which you saved his/her life): [Character’s Name] and/in [Adventure Title] eg. "Dr Herbivore and the Seven Pillars of Hercules"

 

Guest appearance in the back story or a recent adventure of the player on your right (in which you helped save the world): : [Character’s Name] and/in [Adventure Title] eg. "The Mysterious Maleficent and Banquo’s Ghost"

 

The questionnaire above can be used as the basis for developing the characters’ skills.

Transfer the six skills you invented in the questionnaire (identified with a red star *) to the skill list on your character sheet. You can also transfer the important possession you have created (identified by a green star * ) to the space on your character sheet headed equipment.

Examples (background)

Jake Stead (Gavin’s character)

Jake Stead is your typical lantern jawed hero. He has a small scar over his right eye (picked up in a knife fight in Cairo, Egypt and dresses in attire fitting for a desert expedition. His sturdy boots, cream jeans, shirt and flight jacket are topped with twin pistols in a shoulder rig and a pair of crossed ammunition bandoliers.

Jake was raised on a Mid-western farm, among the stalks of corn, and developed an early love of the outdoors and the water. He was very active, something of a scrapper, and excelled in sports while being no slouch in school. As a teen he was increasingly called upon to work the farm and ran about with a group of friends exploring the countryside and getting up to good natured mischief. He also enjoyed many hours boating on a nearby lake and working on a motorcycle he rebuilt almost from scratch. He was the object of a local girl’s unrequited attention. Her name was Sally Wicks and, though at the time, other interests held his attention, Jake still remembers her and she still carries a torch. He occasionally wonders about settling down with her after his adventuring days are through.

When the war came he lied about his age and enlisted, getting exposure to the wide world. He was assigned to a special unit engaged in infiltration and assassination (something he keeps very quiet about) and learned some unusual skills associated with breaking and entering.

On one assignment he was trapped in a narrow tunnel for nearly eight hours and has developed a distinct dislike for dark, enclosed spaces. On another occasion he was captured and tortured by Heinrich Von Traupt, a sadistic prison commandant. Stead organised the successful escape of the entire camp, humiliating Von Traupt and earning him Von Traupt’s eternal enmity.

His finest hour occurred when his team infiltrated the harbour of Diet and allowed the allied landing there to take place successfully. Unfortunately, while engaged in the war effort overseas, both his parents were killed in a car accident and he regrets not being there to this day.

After the war he kept up with the doings of his old unit and is fiercely loyal to them. He has military contacts all over the world. He also keeps a distant eye on Sally Wicks. He is not a glory hound and takes pride in describing himself as a working man. Having seen the devastation created by the war and having been exposed to the grave threats that exist to the peace and well-being of ordinary people, his keen sense of duty pushes him to help fight evil and injustice wherever it is found.

Those who know him best describe him as compassionate, brave, a lover of nature, independent, a leader, loyal, interdependent, with a keen eye for detail and a strong sense of regret regarding past failures. He is seen as a charming but uncommitted rogue around the ladies, and a respecter of legitimate authority.

He is skilled in brawling, shooting, mechanical repair, boating, lock-picking, safe-cracking, bypassing alarms, acrobatics, and sneaking.

He still owns his childhood slingshot, a fast motorcycle, two nickel plated automatics, a set of lock picks, and a locket which holds pictures of his parents.

Jake Stead appeared recently in “Jake Stead and the Undead Marksman”, “Dr Herbivore and the Crystal Claws” (in which he helped save the world from an insane sorcerer who wished to release an ancient plague), and “The Mysterious Malefice and the Temple of Shakti” (where he saved Malefice from being sacrificed on the altar of Shakti).

Dr Francoise Herbivore (Michael’s character)

Dr Francoise Herbivore is small, stooped, bow-chested, and, aside from his wild prematurely gray hair, so average in appearance that he is easily ignored and forgotten. He is generally found in a brown suit, wearing a bow tie, no hat, a walking cane, pens poking out of his pockets, brown shoes, and a bundle of books under one arm.

His early years were spent in Paris as the son of a successful diplomat (his mother) and an equally unsuccessful writer (his father). He loved books and study but hated sports and physical exertion of any kind. An avid reader of fiction in his early years, he came to abandon this pursuit when he came to realise the lack of success enjoyed by his father. Driven by a deep need to be seen as successful he quickly came to despise his father, considering him an embarrassment who wasted his life as a “scribbler”. He remains close to his mother however.

At the outbreak of the war he returned with his family to Washington where he made many useful political connections. He entered university early and read classics. He became especially competent at ancient languages, chemistry, and encryption. He earned his doctorate in linguistics.

While he was studying, a colleague committed suicide in the belief that Herbivore had stolen his research. No theft had occurred and the young man’s theories were fundamentally flawed, but the mud stuck. The university hushed it up and Herbivore regretted never having the chance to expose the man for the idiot that he was.

It was also during this time that he met his nemesis, Professor Richard Halvard. Halvard was working on some ethically questionable research that threatened to pre-empt the findings of some of Herbivore’s own studies. He turned Halvard in, out of professional jealousy more than anything else, and earned himself a lifelong enemy.

Dr Herbivore has many acquaintances, and can be quite charming, but has few friends. He is gregarious when he chooses to be, but can also be extremely abrasive. He has little time for women, those in authority, his scientific rivals, or those he deems stupid (so almost everyone). He plays the social game well (needing to attract benefactors and donors for his research) and is almost comically determined to achieve a Nobel Prize. He is motivated by an almost pathological need for the acclaim of others (his participation in adventuring is simply one more way to achieve fame and notoriety). He cherishes curiosity above all other traits and is committed to the discovery and extension of knowledge regardless of the cost. As laudable as these traits are, he is also ruthless, proud, and impatient.

Those who know him well see him as curious, intelligent, ruthless, logical, quick thinking, studious, private, charming, unemotional, and disdainful of the opposite sex and authority figures.

He is skilled at hiding in plain sight, establishing and using social contacts, impressing people, encryption, deciphering ancient languages, chemistry, and swordsmanship.

He still owns his first telescope, a bound collection of the works of Plato and Aristotle, a portable chemistry lab, a portable language library, a sword-cane and his PhD certification.

Dr Herbivore appeared recently in “Dr Herbivore and the Glass Sarcophagus”, “Jake Stead and the Lake of Fire” (where he helped save Stead from a group of natives intent on throwing him into a volcano), and “The Mysterious Malefice and the Idol of many hands” (wherein his ability to decrypt ancient languages helped him to disarm an ancient doomsday device, saving the world).

Malefice, Mistress of the Mystic Arts (Beth’s character)

Malefice, Mistress of the Mystic Arts looks like a cross between a gypsy fortune teller and a turkish belly dancer. She is tall, lithe, and very beautiful, wearing a silken gown displaying a bare midriff, a veil that highlights her beautiful eyes and hints at her full red lips, and silken slippers. Throughout the folds in her robe are numerous knives and poisons in case of trouble.

She was raised among gypsies and travelers, seeing large portions of the world before the age of four. Her mother was a fortune teller and her father a knife thrower. At an early age she discovered a remarkable ability to read people and assisted with her mother’s performances.

A headstrong girl with a taste for adventure, she ran away at sixteen and lived on the streets of Vienna (performing magic for children and telling fortunes). There she very nearly became the victim of a street prostitution gang run by Carlotta DeVries. Carlotta’s son tried to kidnap her in a back alley but made the mistake of attempting to rape her first. She filetted him neatly (a memory she keeps hidden) earning the eternal hatred of Carlotta.

Things might have gone badly still if it weren’t for a circus owner who found her and smuggled her out of the city. To earn her keep she began work as a sideshow magician and came into the orbit of Volara (an elderly lady and true magician who taught and trained her). Her proudest moment was the first time she performed a feat of genuine magic.

While travelling with the circus she had the opportunity to fall in love with a young trapeze artist. Unfortunately the war broke out and interrupted her training and her love. Her paramour signed up as a soldier and was killed somewhere in France. She and the rest of the circus were separated during the bombardment of one of the cities in which they were touring. She survived until the war’s end by scrabbling for bread among the ruins. After the war she went searching for Volara but, with so many displaced people to search amongst, she never found her and has always regretted this failure. Instead she began adventuring, attempting to help the many orphans and displaced people of the times.

Malefice has a soft spot for the weak and vulnerable (especially children for whom she loves nothing more than to stage a magic show) and is fiercely loyal to the Romany people. Circus folk and gypsies are her special allies and she knows most of the travelling bands in Europe. She is also fiercely independent, and disdainful of men – feeling none have yet proved themselves her equal. Between adventures she dreams of performing before the crowned heads of Europe (or at least those who are left).

Those who know her best describe her as fearless, having a mischievous sense of humour, empathetic, secretive, charming, cautious, opportunistic with regard to male attention, suspicious of authority, cunning, self-confident, and manipulative. She is close to no-one, determined to never allow herself to undergo the pain she suffered over her young man’s loss again. The ruin of Europe (which she experienced first-hand) taught her the need for people to protect the innocent and the fragile peace. She believes in kindness to all (especially children and the weak) but is suspicious by nature and expresses an open hatred of authority figures. She is fearless and has a strong moral compass but is unwilling to open herself up to others. Her skills include knife throwing, and poison use.

She owns a mystic talisman she received from her Grandmother, a protective bracelet she received from Volara, a crystal ball, tarot cards, knives, and poisons.

Malefice is skilled at cold-reading, stage magic and illusions, occult knowledge, mind reading, hypnosis, and the binding of spirits.

She appeared most recently in “The Mysterious Malefice and the Vision of Death”, “Jake Stead and the Hobgoblin of Bremen” (where her magical skills were used to shut down a portal to a hostile dimension and, so, save the world); and “Dr Herbivore and the Mysterious Monkey Caper” where she saved Herbivore’s life when an assassin sent some apes into his room to strangle him in his sleep.

As you can see, by creating a deep background for your character, you supply the GM with a great deal of material around which to build stories; enemies to combat, prized possessions to threaten, important people to endanger etc. All of these elements will make your game richer and provide the GM with opportunities to give your character time in the spotlight.

¹ The inspiration for this questionnaire was drawn from the fantastic Castle Falkenstien role playing game by R. Talsorian Games (a must own game if you love high fantasy and steampunk Victoriana).

NEXT TIME: Part 4 – Defining your skills and customizing your character’s gear.

This chapter of the Host Your Own Old Time Radio Drama RPG and all associated content (except where acknowledged) is © copyright weirdworldstudios.com and Philip Craig Robotham 1997 and may not be reproduced or distributed without the written permission of the author.

HYOOTRD Roleplaying Game – Players’ Guide

• Chapter 1 – What is Roleplaying?
• Chapter 2 – Preparation for Play (What you’ll need and an introduction to the World of Radio Adventure)
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 1 – Introduction and Character sheet
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 2 – Specialities, Archetypes, Base Attributes and Derived Attributes
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 3 – Character background and history
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 4 – Character skills and equipment (including weapons, vehicles, and specialist gear)
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 5 – Special items and abilities (including gadgeteering, weird science, and magic)
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 6 – Special conditions effecting characters (including illness and injury, insanity, mutation, mechanization, undeath, disembodiment, reanimation, , vampirism, lycanthropy, and necrophagy)
• Chapter 4 – Getting Things Done – Part 1 – Skill types and skill ranks
• Chapter 4 – Getting Things Done – Part 2 – Consequence tests, perception, contests, special skills and abilities, hero points and skill advancement
• Chapter 5 – Combat – Part 1 – Melee and ranged combat, combat actions, the combat board, and a combat cheat sheet
• Chapter 5 – Combat – Part 2 – Print and play components
• Chapter 5 – Combat – Part 3 – Physical combat (melee and ranged combat) example
• Chapter 5 – Combat – Part 4 – Magical combat example
• Chapter 5 – Combat – Part 5 – Vehicular combat example, injury, and recovery
• Chapter 6 – Chases – Part 1 – Chases and chase actions
• Chapter 6 – Chases – Part 2 – Chase example
• Chapter 7 – Death-traps, hazards, and puzzles
• Chapter 8 – Victory and death – Heroic deaths, cheating the odds, plot devices, experience and advancement

The post Creating a Character – Chapter 3 (Part 3) – HYOOTRD RPG Players’ Guide appeared first on Host Your Own Old Time Radio Drama.

Steps in character Creation

Step 1. Choose a speciality

To begin creating a character for the game you will need to develop a character concept.  The heroes of the age of radio tended to be of three broad types;

• Adventurer,
• Mystic,
• or Academic.

There are some clear points of overlap between them, but, by and large, they remain a helpful starting point for character development.

An adventurer lives by his or her brawn.  They are action oriented and settle things with guns, fists, and bravery.  Adventurers include Tarzan, the Green Hornet, and the Lone Ranger.

A mystic employs various forms of magic, hypnotism, and illusion.  They are less action oriented, preferring the powers of the mind over the powers of the body.  Mystics include Chandu the Magician, Olga Mesmer, and the Shadow.

An Academic, like the name implies is a science hero, using learning to overcome evil.  They employ deductive reasoning and specialist expertise to astonishing effect.  Academics include Professor Challenger, Violet Ray, and Phineas Fogg.

Deciding on a speciality often comes down to a matter of emphasis.  Dr Henry Jones Jr (otherwise known as Indiana Jones) is clearly an Academic (being an Archaeology professor by profession) but more properly fits the Adventurer category (solving most problems with his fists).  Discuss your selection with your GM if you are uncertain quite which one to pick and negotiate the solution.  If it makes it easier, think of a character from film, radio, or fiction on whom to model your own.

When you have decided on your speciality record it on your character sheet under Archetype (see the form below).

Examples (Specialities)

Gavin thinks he’d like to create a character along the lines of Indiana Jones; an archaeologist who is handy with a gun.  Talking it over with his GM they decide the concept he is looking for is more adventurer than academic and record his speciality as Adventurer.

Michael wants to try a more bookish character; a detective and medical doctor.  Michael’s character is definitely leaning more towards the academic end of the spectrum and the speciality is recorded as Academic.

Beth wants to play a character similar to Mandrake the Magician with skills in ancient languages.  In this case the speciality is clearly that of a mystic and is recorded as such (though a case might have been made for a character who was more of an academic – researching the mysteries of ancient languages and magic).

Step 2. Choose an archetype

Here’s where you flesh out your character concept, narrowing down the role they will take on.

Having chosen a speciality you need to choose or invent an Archetype from within that speciality.

Adventurer Speciality

Includes the archetypes…
Doctor, Pilot, Mercenary/ Legionnaire/ Soldier, Noble Savage, Cowboy, Masked Avenger, Explorer, Gentleman/ woman thief, Detective etc.

Academic Speciality

Includes the archetypes…
Reporter, Priest, Nun, Dilettante, Archaeologist or other Academic, Science Hero, Gadgeteer, Linguist etc.

Mystic Speciality

Includes the archetypes…
Medium, Magician, Hypnotist, Psychic, Martial Artist, Sorcerer, Gypsy etc.

There are a huge range of archetypes to pick and those above are just suggestions.  Think of them as possible occupations you can choose and you won’t go far wrong.  If you have settled on an Adventurer speciality but would like your character to be a two fisted mechanical engineer,  that’s fine.  Don’t let it bother you that it is not listed here. Talk it through with your GM and record it under Archetype on your character sheet.

Examples (Archetypes)

Gavin wants to stick with the Indiana Jones theme and chooses to make his adventurer an Archaeologist.  He records Archaeologist on his character sheet under the label Archetype.

Michael is trying to figure out whether to make his character a private detective or a doctor.  He decides he will make the character primarily a doctor who has detective skills.  He records Doctor under the label Archetype on the character sheet.

Beth decides she wants to affect people’s minds with illusions.  As such she wants the power of a hypnotist (or, more in the flavour of the thirties, a mesmerist).  She records Mesmerist under the label Archetype on her character sheet.

Step 3. Assign attributes and derived scores

Base Attributes

The game system is very simple and essentially based on two statistics; strength and willpower.

Strength sums up a character’s physical attributes such as health and vitality, physical strength and stamina, coordination and dexterity, as well as speed etc.

Willpower sums up a character’s personality attributes such as intelligence, personal charisma, ability to argue with and influence others, determination, and academic ability etc.

Strength and willpower are referred to as base attributes or skills. From these attributes we derive all other statistics in the game.

Your initial strength and willpower are determined by your speciality selections.

Colour in the number of dots corresponding to the result on the character’s record sheet for both strength and willpower.

Examples (Strength and Willpower)

Gavin has chosen an Adventurer Speciality.  As such he receives four dots of strength and three dots of willpower.

In Michael’s case, having chosen an academic he receives three dots of each attribute (note he also receives an extra four hero points – see Hero points below).

Beth is a Mystic so she receives 3 dots of strength and four dots of willpower.

Derived Attributes

The two remaining statistics (resistance and essence) are equal to strength and willpower respectively. These attributes will be explained in detail later (see special conditions below).  Essence is a measure of a character’s humanity and sanity, while resistance is a measure of a character’s resistance to disease and magical control.

Wounds

Wounds indicate the amount of damage a character can take before becoming unconscious during combat. The number of wounds a character can take is equal to four times their strength.  Leave dots empty but place a vertical line after the dot equivalent to the number of wounds your character can take.

Example (Wounds)

In the case of Gavin, he has a strength of 4, giving him 16 (4 strength multiplied by 4) wound points.

Michael has a strength of 3, giving him 12 (3 strength multiplied by 4) wound points.

Beth also has a strength of 3, giving her 12 (3 strength multiplied by 4) wound points as well.

Piercing wounds are allocated during combat and should be ignored at this point.

Hero Points

Initially players have Hero Points equal to their strength + willpower which can be spent raising (or lowering) their dice results (more on this later).  Again, leave the dots empty and place a vertical line after the dot equivalent to the number of hero points the character can spend.

Example (Hero Points)

In the case of Gavin, he would have 4 (strength) + 3 (willpower) = 7 hero points.

Michael has 3 (strength) + 3 (willpower)  + 4 (bonus hero points) = 10 hero points (academics get 4 bonus hero points).

Beth has 3 (strength) + 4 (willpower) = 7 hero points.

Hero Points can be spent to reroll the dice or can be added to a roll at one per point.

Hero points are spent and never replaced.

New hero points are earned through roleplaying (especially through roleplaying negative consequences) at 1 per cover earned (again more on this later when we discuss character advancement).

Skills which have 9 dots in them cannot use hero-points.

NEXT TIME: Part 3 – Building your character background.

This chapter of the Host Your Own Old Time Radio Drama RPG and all associated content (except where acknowledged) is © copyright weirdworldstudios.com and Philip Craig Robotham 1997 and may not be reproduced or distributed without the written permission of the author.

HYOOTRD Roleplaying Game – Players’ Guide

• Chapter 1 – What is Roleplaying?
• Chapter 2 – Preparation for Play (What you’ll need and an introduction to the World of Radio Adventure)
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 1 – Introduction and Character sheet
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 2 – Specialities, Archetypes, Base Attributes and Derived Attributes
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 3 – Character background and history
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 4 – Character skills and equipment (including weapons, vehicles, and specialist gear)
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 5 – Special items and abilities (including gadgeteering, weird science, and magic)
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 6 – Special conditions effecting characters (including illness and injury, insanity, mutation, mechanization, undeath, disembodiment, reanimation, , vampirism, lycanthropy, and necrophagy)
• Chapter 4 – Getting Things Done – Part 1 – Skill types and skill ranks
• Chapter 4 – Getting Things Done – Part 2 – Consequence tests, perception, contests, special skills and abilities, hero points and skill advancement
• Chapter 5 – Combat – Part 1 – Melee and ranged combat, combat actions, the combat board, and a combat cheat sheet
• Chapter 5 – Combat – Part 2 – Print and play components
• Chapter 5 – Combat – Part 3 – Physical combat (melee and ranged combat) example
• Chapter 5 – Combat – Part 4 – Magical combat example
• Chapter 5 – Combat – Part 5 – Vehicular combat example, injury, and recovery
• Chapter 6 – Chases – Part 1 – Chases and chase actions
• Chapter 6 – Chases – Part 2 – Chase example
• Chapter 7 – Death-traps, hazards, and puzzles
• Chapter 8 – Victory and death – Heroic deaths, cheating the odds, plot devices, experience and advancement

The post Creating a Character – Chapter 3 (Part 2) – HYOOTRD RPG Players’ Guide appeared first on Host Your Own Old Time Radio Drama.

This chapter takes you step by step through the process of creating a character that you can then use to represent you in the game.  It helps you devise a character concept, derive some basic numbers to describe your character, invent your character’s skills and abilities, define your background or history, and equip your character.

The quick-start method allows you to invent a quick character in under ten minutes.

The longer campaign method allows you to develop a much more fully rounded character if you choose.

Neither method is preferred.  In the former you “discover” your character during play.  In the latter, you provide your GM with lots of background to help tie you into the game.

The League of Adventure Seekers

The radio serials of the 30s and 40s often had as their focus the lone hero (though exceptions did exist).  Role playing, by contrast, usually involves a team and doesn’t lend itself well to solo play.  In order to bridge this potential issue we have invented the League of Adventure Seekers.  The League is a voluntary association of heroes that has arisen to fight global threats.  It’s president, the enigmatic Miriam Ribbensberg (an adventurer and aviatrix in her own right), aided by her psychic sister, enlists the aid of members of the league in thwarting new threats to the peace and safety of the world.  Through the agency of Miriam it is possible to bring together a team of heroes to play through adventures without the sometimes cumbersome need to roleplay the group’s first introduction to one another and come up with reasons why such obvious lone-wolves would cooperate together.

The Code of the Radio Hero

As noted in chapter 2, radio heroes have faith in progress.  Things are getting better, progress is being made.  The future is brighter than the present.

In the world of radio adventure the government can be trusted and officials (in our own country – especially law enforcement officials) are worthy of respect (unless we have been invaded).
Morality is black and white. There is always a right thing to do and a wrong thing to do. The choice will be obvious, even if the price is not fully known. Having committed to their ideals, radio heroes live with the consequences.

Moral lapses have grave social consequences.  Wanton destruction; personal infidelities; the breaking of one’s word – all these result in social ostracism.

Radio heroes always fight fair. If the other side uses non-lethal force, we can’t use lethal force. If the other side uses knives or swords, we can’t use guns. If the other side uses pistols and small-calibre weapons, we can’t use submachine guns, and so on. Or, if we do use them, we can’t aim them at the enemy.  Lack of fairness in fighting results in the erosion of public trust until the “cheater” is seen as a pariah or, worse, a villain.

No problem is so great it can’t be fixed by heroically kicking in a door or pressing random buttons.

Hero smarts ALWAYS trump brawn.  Brawn ALWAYS trumps everything else (including villain smarts).

No villain is so far gone that they cannot be redeemed (unless they are clearly non-human and weird looking).

Enemies are to be respected even in defeat.

Optimism ALWAYS triumphs over cynicism.

The Code of the League of Adventure Seekers

On entering the League of Adventure Seekers, all heroes are asked to swear the following oath (unashamedly lifted from the pages of Doc Savage).

Let me strive, every moment of my life, to make myself better and better, to the best of my ability, that all may profit by it.

Let me think of the right, and lend all my assistance to those who need it, with no regard for anything but justice.

Let me take what comes with a smile, without loss of courage.

Let me be considerate of my country, of my fellow citizens and my associates in everything I say and do.

Let me do right to all, and wrong no man.

The story so far (Introducing our Characters)

Dramatis Personae

Dr Herbivore (Professor of Archaeology)

Jake Stead (Adventurer)

Malefice, Mistress of the Mystic Arts (Magician)

Episode 1

They stood before the door to the office of the President of the League of Adventure Seekers.  As junior members of the League none of them had so far been given cause to visit this particular section of the club, up the stairs and at the back.  They felt a little like school children brought to stand before the door of the head-master. “A great honor”, Farrington had said.  “It’s not many as young as you who get to go on up”.

“Go on up” was a colloquial expression within the League that signified an interview with the reclusive and little known Miss Miriam Ribbensberg, current President.  Such meetings were known to be an invitation to high adventure, but often at great risk to the participants.

As she stood at the door Malefice eyed her two companions.  Jake Stead was tall broad and ruggedly handsome.  She rolled her eyes slightly; these heroic types often seemed cut from the same dull cloth.  Still, she knew him quite well, and he had saved her life during that business involving the ivory claw hammer.  As for her other companion, he was as unprepossessing as Stead was ostentatious.  Dr Herbivore, professor of archaeology, had an almost uncanny ability to fade into the background.  One almost had to force oneself to notice him.  He was small, thin, slightly stooped, and sporting an enormous walrus moustache.  She had grown to respect the formidable intellect behind the self-deprecating manner.  He had recently saved the world from a doomsday device she had been completely unable to fathom.  She had assisted him briefly during the episode, saving his life twice.

Malefice allowed a brief smile to play across her lips. Here she was, engaging in a bit of sardonic internal mockery of her companions appearance and affectations while giving little thought to her own.  The irony wasn’t lost on her.  Malefice, Mistress of the Mystic Arts, complete with silken robes and veil!  Of all of them she was the most outlandish… and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

While adventuring didn’t necessarily require theatricality (Lord knows Herbivore was evidence enough of that) she had found that the theatrical props and mystique often aided her in accomplishing her goals.

The door opened and Miriam Ribbensberg, dressed in the flight uniform she never seemed to be without, invited the three of them in.

“Welcome”, she said.  “I’m so pleased you agreed to attend this meeting” .

“It’s an honour Miss Ribbensberg”, broke in Stead. “We’d hardly decline such an opportunity would we?”  His mid-western drawl seemed overly loud in the confines of the president’s office.

“That’s very kind of you, Mr Stead.  But it is often the case that those who respond to my invitations  face great danger soon afterward.”

“You mean that Nairobi business, don’t you?” said Malefice.

“That’s right.  The threat was averted but we lost the whole team.”  The pain in Miriam’s voice was unmistakeable.

“It was not your fault Miss Ribbensberg”, piped up Herbivore, suddenly reminding everyone of his presence once again.  “All of us who join the League are aware of the risks.  It is willingness to put our lives on the line in the service of peace and justice that forms the common bond between all of us”.

“Thank you Lucius.  I’m pleased you think so.”

Miriam Ribbensberg took a moment to look each of them over.  She appeared to be weighing them up with a practiced eye.

“Yes”, she mused.  “I think you will do for this job.  Please come in and sit down.”

The group took their places in some chairs placed around a low table.  The men waited while the women were seated first.

“Old world charm?” laughed Miriam.

Stead looked slightly embarrassed but Dr Herbivore took it in his stride.  “Of course, mademoiselle.  There is no excuse for bad manners”.

“Indeed” she replied, favouring him with a dazzling smile.  “But we have business to discuss.  It has come to the League’s attention that Franco Gionelli of the Gionelli Crime Family in Star City is smuggling in a dangerous biological agent.  It is our belief that if he is not stopped, this agent will be released into the general populace and from there may come to threaten the globe.”

“But how do you know this?” asked Malefice.

“My dear, you are aware, as a mistress of the mystic arts, that there are many things in this world that are beyond explanation?  Things and abilities that defy analysis?”

“Of course.”

“Then let me entrust you with one of the great secrets of our organisation.  Since I was a child my sister has had visions.  She is mute and does not speak, but I have always heard her voice in my mind.  Her visions, though fragmentary and often confusing, always come true.  She is the reason the League has been so effective at heading off threats to the world.  Without her warnings, the world might have been destroyed many times over.”

“I see”  said Malefice.  “And her visions somehow involve us?”

“In a way. ” Miriam paused for a moment. “You have been brought together because we have need of your skills.  My sister has seen that the solving of this mystery will require the expertise of someone who can brawl and deal with security, someone with an understanding of basic chemistry and biology, and someone who understands the varied pathways of the esoteric and magical.    It is my job to try and create the best match between the skills we have on hand and the threats that arise.  You are currently our best hope”.

The little group sat in silence for a few moments.

“We won’t let you down, Miss Ribbensberg” said Stead in a strangely subdued voice.

“I know you won’t” she replied.

(To be continued…)

Character Sheet

Name:
 Place of Birth:
 Current Residence
 Experience Points
 Archetype
 Specialisation
 Strength (d10/2)raised            OOOOO
 Willpower (d10/2)raised           OOOOO
 Resistance (Strength)             OOOOO
 Essence (Willpower)               OOOOO
 Invention Points (Willpower)      OOOOO
 Initial Skill points (7 + highest base attribute)
 Hero Points ((Strength + Willpower)/2)raised
 Wounds (Strength x 4)            OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO
 Piercing Wounds                  OOOOO OOOOO
 Penalty Points (lost Essence)

Skills
 xxxOO    OOOOO
 xxOOO    OOOOO
 xxOOO    OOOOO
 xOOOO    OOOOO
 xOOOO    OOOOO
 xOOOO    OOOOO
 xOOOO    OOOOO
 xOOOO    OOOOO

General Skills
 xOOOO    OOOOO Bluff
 x              Brawl (untrained)
 xOOOO    OOOOO Catch
 xOOOO    OOOOO Climb
 xOOOO    OOOOO Drive vehicle
 xOOOO    OOOOO First Aid
 xOOOO    OOOOO Hide
 x              Jump (untrained)
 xOOOO    OOOOO Lift/carry/crush/bend
 x              Melee (untrained)
 xOOOO    OOOOO Perception
 xOOOO    OOOOO Persuade
 x              Ranged (untrained)
 x              Ride (untrained)
 xOOOO    OOOOO Run
 xOOOO    OOOOO Search
 xOOOO    OOOOO Sneak
 xOOOO    OOOOO Throw
 xOOOO    OOOOO Swim

Spells, Subskills, & Gadgets
 xOOOO    OOOOO
 xOOOO    OOOOO
 xOOOO    OOOOO
 xOOOO    OOOOO
 xOOOO    OOOOO
 xOOOO    OOOOO
 xOOOO    OOOOO
 xOOOO    OOOOO

Gear (items in your possession)

Don’t miss part 2 of this chapter where we begin taking you through the steps of completing the character sheet.

This chapter of the Host Your Own Old Time Radio Drama RPG and all associated content (except where acknowledged) is © copyright weirdworldstudios.com and Philip Craig Robotham 1997 and may not be reproduced or distributed without the written permission of the author.

HYOOTRD Roleplaying Game – Players’ Guide

• Chapter 1 – What is Roleplaying?
• Chapter 2 – Preparation for Play (What you’ll need and an introduction to the World of Radio Adventure)
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 1 – Introduction and Character sheet
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 2 – Specialities, Archetypes, Base Attributes and Derived Attributes
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 3 – Character background and history
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 4 – Character skills and equipment (including weapons, vehicles, and specialist gear)
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 5 – Special items and abilities (including gadgeteering, weird science, and magic)
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 6 – Special conditions effecting characters (including illness and injury, insanity, mutation, mechanization, undeath, disembodiment, reanimation, , vampirism, lycanthropy, and necrophagy)
• Chapter 4 – Getting Things Done – Part 1 – Skill types and skill ranks
• Chapter 4 – Getting Things Done – Part 2 – Consequence tests, perception, contests, special skills and abilities, hero points and skill advancement
• Chapter 5 – Combat – Part 1 – Melee and ranged combat, combat actions, the combat board, and a combat cheat sheet
• Chapter 5 – Combat – Part 2 – Print and play components
• Chapter 5 – Combat – Part 3 – Physical combat (melee and ranged combat) example
• Chapter 5 – Combat – Part 4 – Magical combat example
• Chapter 5 – Combat – Part 5 – Vehicular combat example, injury, and recovery
• Chapter 6 – Chases – Part 1 – Chases and chase actions
• Chapter 6 – Chases – Part 2 – Chase example
• Chapter 7 – Death-traps, hazards, and puzzles
• Chapter 8 – Victory and death – Heroic deaths, cheating the odds, plot devices, experience and advancement

The post Creating a Character – Chapter 3 (Part 1) – HYOOTRD RPG Players’ Guide appeared first on Host Your Own Old Time Radio Drama.

In order to play this game you’ll require some special gear; a pencil, a 6 sided dice (referred to throughout the rules as 1d6 for short), and two 10 sided dice (referred to as 2d10) .  Head down to the bottom of this page if you woudl like to prepare some spinners to use in place of dice.  You’ll also require a character sheet (see p. 84).  The GM will require some further equipment (discussed in part two of this volume).  Dice are easily obtained from the internet or your local gaming hobby store (or you could cut out and assemble the spinners on the next page).

As a player you will need to create a character.  All the instructions for accomplishing this are contained in this Player’s Guide.  In this volume you will learn how to generate your character, the skills your character will use, and the way to engage in actions within the game world (fighting, driving, building gadgets, casting spells, etc).

This book and its companions

If you are the game master (GM) you will, like the players, need to understand these rules, but you will also need to be familiar with the GM’s guide in volume 2 of this book.  Players can be forgiven for wanting to learn all they can about the game, but will enjoy things more if they leave volumes 2 and 3 of this series unread.

Volume 2 is a GM’s guide providing advice and special rules for the design and running of your own custom made games, as well as numerous example games you can play straight away.

Volume 3 is a world book providing setting information and plot-hooks to help the GM understand the world (including villains, locations of interest, monsters, information about equipment and vehicles, even world history.

What is radio adventure?

Radio adventure (as the name implies) aims to recreate the fun of the over-the-top radio serials that reached the height of their popularity during the 1930s and 1940s.  In those shows daring and suspenseful stories of mystery and magic were recounted.  They were an outgrowth of (and sometimes interchangeable with) the dime novels published in the United States from the 1880s onward.  The story-telling range of these programs was extremely diverse (including romance, western, science fiction, supernatural detective, true crime, etc.).  They are best remembered, however, for their wild flights of fancy and heroic adventurers.

Below are some of the more readily acknowledged features (or tropes) of radio adventure.

Heroes are larger than life

In radio adventures the heroes are larger than life.  They run faster, hit harder, think quicker, and are all-round more effective than ordinary human beings.  They tend to be polymaths, adept at everything to which they turn their attention.  Alternatively, if they are specialists, they number among the greatest in their fields.  Above all they are admirable and worthy of emulation – heroes to the world.

The pace can never be too fast

Radio dramas are action oriented and race from start to finish with minimal interruption.  Action is around every corner and where there is a lull you can bet it’s only a brief chance to catch your breath before the heroes are interrupted by another group of ninjas kicking down their door ( or thugs, monsters, etc. ).

Optimism and action are rewarded

Heroes are upbeat.  They believe in progress and the basic goodness of people and institutions.  This optimism is rarely misplaced.  Likewise action is always the best policy.  Long periods of planning and reflection are never more effective than kicking down the door and charging in guns blazing.

Hero deaths are exceptional

Heroes never die in the radio serials from which they came.  In a roleplaying game however, death is an ever-present reality.  It should, however, be a rare occurrence, and when it occurs your character will always be able to engage in one last heroic action aimed at thwarting the bad guy or advancing the cause of goodness.

Villains are colourful (and bad)

Villains are always undeniably bad.  Shades of grey should actively be avoided (which is not to say that the villain can’t be a sympathetic character). They always have quirks and twists that make them stand out from the crowd and, as such, villains should always be memorable, potentially redeemable, and committed to an unequivocally evil purpose.

Capture is common

Capture is common, if not downright desirable in some instances.  Captured characters always have a chance to escape from sinister, yet somehow flawed, death traps.  Getting captured may be the best way to uncover the villain’s final target etc. Being captured is an occupational hazard and rarely a bad thing.

Weird Science works and gadgets abound

Weird science works.  It does so in a manner that is neither consistent nor repeatable, but it does work.  This means that the incredible shrinking ray is a feasible invention and can exist in the campaign alongside interstellar spacecraft, rocket packs, cloning, revivification devices, etc.  The sky is the limit.

That said, weird science is not real science.  The results can never be replicated and usually have a twisted objective or methodology.

Gadgets, however, have a basis in real science (even if that basis is a currently discredited theory such as that of the luminiferous ether).  If a campaign calls for replicable gadgets they must be used consistently.

Historical reality is subverted, modified, or heightened according to need.

If the drama requires it, then it is permissible to have the Nazis attempt an invasion of the United States five years before the real war occurred.  The great depression may never have happened.  Human beings can establish a moon base in 1935.  Historical reality always gives way to story.  Just be careful to make sure that modifications to history, once made, remain an ongoing part of your universe.

Things that go bump in the night exist and never leave any evidence behind

Ghosts, monsters, aliens, vampires, ghouls etc. all exist.  Unfortunately, they never leave any evidence of their presence behind (or the government comes along and confiscates it, or it is mysteriously destroyed).  As a result only a handful of people are aware of, or willing to admit to, the presence of the unexplained.

Sorcery is dangerous

Magic can have a major destabilising effect on a radio inspired game or story.  As a result, magic, while existing, is either very weak or is very dangerous to use, or requires the expenditure of absurd amounts of wealth or extremely precious resources, or requires activity that the heroes couldn’t countenance (such as the sacrifice of three virgins).

Genres are mashed

Radio drama is among the few places where it is perfectly acceptable to mash together multiple diverse genres.  If you want to have a supernatural detective cowboy riding dinosaurs in space you can.

Monsters and Aliens are usually unique

While plenty of traditional monsters (such as vampires and werewolves etc.) appear in radio drama, more often than not, unique, unheard of creatures are invented.  Radio Serials were one place in which creativity really came to the fore.

Bizarre Crimes and Mystery are required

No radio drama would be complete without a bizarre crime;.  the more bizarre the better.  The object of the crime may be strange, or its method, or its timing, or the apparent perpetrator, or perhaps even the reason behind it.  Whatever the oddity, the crime and ensuing mystery will stand out from the crowd.  It certainly won’t be any pedestrian bank heist.

Planets have Breathable Atmospheres

Oft times an adventure will take its characters off-world.  When this happens, the atmosphere will usually be breathable and the inhabitants, unless monsters, will share a means of communication with humanity.

Action is cinematic

The action is always cinematic.  Guns don’t run out of bullets (except for dramatic effect).  Chandeliers are always capable of holding the character’s weight. Leaping through a window will not result in lacerations.  The action is always heightened for greater entertainment.

Settings and Locations are exotic

Radio adventure was deliberately escapist.  It took the listener to sections of the world (or even the universe) that they would otherwise never experience; the Gobi desert, the Potala Lassa in Tibet, the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica, the bowels of the earth, the surface of an alien planet, or the depths of the sea.

Maps still have blank areas

As much as the world of radio drama is one of progress towards utopia, there is still plenty of mystery in the world.  There are lots of places as yet unexplored and what lies within these places is still unknown.

Lost Worlds are discovered and lost again

Lost worlds, dinosaurs, cavemen, ancient civilisations left undisturbed into the present – all of these can and are discovered in radio adventures… usually in those blank portions of the map discussed above.

Chases add excitement

Exciting chases through exotic cities, or out of cities being swallowed by the sands, or up through a sinking ship etc. are a staple of radio adventure stories.  Racing against time (and other obstacles) has always added an extra dimension of fun to these tales.

Cliff-hangers are employed shamelessly

The serial cliff-hanger was pretty much invented for radio drama.  Ending on a cliff-hanger was both exciting and a very effective marketing tool to keep people coming back.  In fact, so prevalent was the cliff-hanger that many listeners would complain at those times when a story came to a definite conclusion.

Death-traps are rarely deadly

Villains are always coming up with new and overly elaborate means of doing away with the heroes.  Fortunately for the heroes, death-traps always seem to have a fatal flaw that allows them to be subverted and often turned against the villains themselves.

Flexibility

Above all else, radio drama was flexible and diverse.  If none of the above tropes appeal to you then don’t use them.

The “Feel” of the 1930s-1940s Radio Era is emphasised

This is all a matter of flavour.  The feel is enhanced when you include the cars, the planes, the fashions, the weapons, and the slang of the era (see Vol. 3 – Worldbook).

Examples (Radio Era Heroes)

True greats of the radio adventure era included hardboiled detectives such as Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe; mystery men such as the Avenger and the Shadow; heroes like the the Green Hornet and the Lone Ranger; sci-fi greats like Dimension X and X Minus 1; and of course chillers like Lights Out and the Inner Sanctum.

The stories which were heard on radio often mirrored and in turn inspired stories that appeared in the pulp magazines (extremely popular and cheaply produced fiction magazines) of the time.

Pulp magazines include such titles as Doc Savage (by Kenneth Robeson), The Shadow (by Walter Gibson), The Spider (by Norville Page), G8 and his battle aces (by Robert Hogan), Weird Tales (particularly those by Seabury Quinn), Planet Stories, and many, many others.

Playing it “Old Time”

Human heroes (yet larger than life)

Even though modern super-heroes have their roots in pulp novels and radio heroics, they are not the same thing.  The majority of radio heroes were first and foremost human beings.  They were larger than life in that they were smarter, faster, stronger, etc. than their compatriots, but this did not result in super-powers.  They were simply at the peak of human capacity.

Radio heroes are also, first and foremost, Heroes.  Those used to playing roleplaying games in more modern settings, where angst-ridden anti-heroes are the norm, will need to adjust their thinking to encompass a world in which heroes are genuinely heroic and good guys are good with a capital “G”.  The experience of play will be a lot less fun if this feature of radio adventure is not enthusiastically embraced.

Optimism is key

Optimism, even in the face of cyclopian monstrosities invading from another world, is an essential part of the world of radio drama.  While keeping games challenging, it is always possible to save the day.

The dark underbelly of the times

The days of radio drama (particularly between the wars) had a different sensibility to that of modern society.  People were more optimistic, the First World War had been survived and the second (while on it’s way) was still largely believed an impossibility.  Authority was mostly trusted and, if you happened to be rich, white, and male, life was good.  BUT, society was also overtly racist, poverty was rampant, nationalist violence was on the rise, women were second class citizens, rich industrialists felt no compunction about bringing in the police to break the heads of depression era workers, etc.  Some of these things could be seen in the radio broadcasts of the day (particularly the racism and sexism), but others were carefully hidden.  The ravages of the depression, for instance, were kept off the airwaves for the most part in order to maintain public optimism.

The world of radio adventure that we envisage, however, is an idealised one full of fictional adventure, mystery, and magic, not one in which we seek to emulate and faithfully recreate the times.  As such, we recommend you don’t attempt to simulate the racism, sexism, etc., of the era.  The dark side of the times might be explored in game, but heroic characters should never reflect the negative and offensive aspects of their culture.  Being good with a capital “G” means overcoming the typical prejudices of surrounding society.  If the game is to be enjoyed by everyone participating in it, then it is important that no-one is marginalised, mistreated, or offended in the interests of a misguided attempt at “historical accuracy”.

A final word on magic

As noted earlier, magic can easily throw off the balance of a radio adventure game.  Sorcery in particular can quickly render a game unplayable.  For this reason the following suggestions should be followed.

Mystical powers should be relatively weak but highly useful – e.g. Telekinesis should allow a player to manipulate and move small objects along line of sight (and not crush buildings or break metal chains at a range of 20 miles).

Improvements in skills should emphasise range and finesse rather than raw power – e.g. improvements in Telekinesis might include the ability to manipulate objects from further away, without line of site (in the next room), or with special nimbleness (picking a lock).

The ability to crush the villain’s weapon of doom from a continent away is likely to unbalance things somewhat.

A good rule of thumb is that the initial skill should have the limitations typical of a human equivalent. Telekinesis as a power should not be able to carry more than a normal human could carry in their arms and should not be able to do so further or faster than a normal person could carry such a load.  This would preclude the skill from being used to crush a metal box, hurl a ball bearing through the air at the speed of a bullet, or carry a giant trailer full of loot around behind the party.

Winning and losing

Roleplaying games are not about winning and losing.  Instead they are about participating in a fun and engaging story.  But, as has been noted, characters can die.  To ameliorate this somewhat, we have devised our ruleset in such a way that even death is heroic.  Should your character die you will always have the chance to go out achieving one last heroic action.  Who knows, your character’s death may be the event that ultimately saves the day.

Bibliography

This chapter is written, in large part, using the excellent insights of

Brian Misiaszek’s 1994 The Pulp Avengers article (http://www.fantasylibrary.com/lounge/pulpavengers.htm)

and

Mike Bourke and Blair Ramage’s 2011 Reinventing Pulp For Roleplaying articles (http://www.campaignmastery.com/blog/blat-zot-pow-rules-of-genre/)

This chapter of the Host Your Own Old Time Radio Drama RPG and all associated content (except where acknowledged) is © copyright weirdworldstudios.com and Philip Craig Robotham 1997 and may not be reproduced or distributed without the written permission of the author.

HYOOTRD Roleplaying Game – Players’ Guide

• Chapter 1 – What is Roleplaying?
• Chapter 2 – Preparation for Play (What you’ll need and an introduction to the World of Radio Adventure)
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 1 – Introduction and Character sheet
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 2 – Specialities, Archetypes, Base Attributes and Derived Attributes
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 3 – Character background and history
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 4 – Character skills and equipment (including weapons, vehicles, and specialist gear)
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 5 – Special items and abilities (including gadgeteering, weird science, and magic)
• Chapter 3 – Creating a Character – Part 6 – Special conditions effecting characters (including illness and injury, insanity, mutation, mechanization, undeath, disembodiment, reanimation, , vampirism, lycanthropy, and necrophagy)
• Chapter 4 – Getting Things Done – Part 1 – Skill types and skill ranks
• Chapter 4 – Getting Things Done – Part 2 – Consequence tests, perception, contests, special skills and abilities, hero points and skill advancement
• Chapter 5 – Combat – Part 1 – Melee and ranged combat, combat actions, the combat board, and a combat cheat sheet
• Chapter 5 – Combat – Part 2 – Print and play components
• Chapter 5 – Combat – Part 3 – Physical combat (melee and ranged combat) example
• Chapter 5 – Combat – Part 4 – Magical combat example
• Chapter 5 – Combat – Part 5 – Vehicular combat example, injury, and recovery
• Chapter 6 – Chases – Part 1 – Chases and chase actions
• Chapter 6 – Chases – Part 2 – Chase example
• Chapter 7 – Death-traps, hazards, and puzzles
• Chapter 8 – Victory and death – Heroic deaths, cheating the odds, plot devices, experience and advancement

The post Preparation for Play – Chapter 2 – HYOOTRD RPG Players’ Guide appeared first on Host Your Own Old Time Radio Drama.