Character creation is really easy for Unknown Armies. Really. A guide for making a normal human PC follows:
Name: Your PCs name.
Summary: Brief biography for your PC and what you do for a living.
Something Shady about your past: An incident in your past that could be detrimental if brought to light.
Description: What you look like
Personality: Basic personality
Obsession: This is THE driving force behind your PC. What drives your life, what’s the goal that makes you, well, you? For examples, a PC could be obsessed with being really tough, antiques, surviving at all costs, their religion etc. This is a VERY important part of your PC since it gives you your obsession skill.
Wound Points: How much damage you can take. This is equal to your Body stat.
Each PC has 3 passions, representing irrational or unpredictable part of you. Fear is the thing your PC is most afraid of. Rage is what angers you more than anything else and your Noble passion is your PC at his or her best, their most kind etc. These passions can allow you to flip rolls also, so choose intelligent ones and choose with care.
Now the hard part of the PC is done.
Each PC has 4 stats, those being: Body, Speed, Mind and Soul. The first two are self explanatory, mind is how fast you learn things and notice stuff, while soul covers the non-logical things like friendship, magick and charming others.
You have 220 points to divide between the 4 stats. None can be below 30 or above 70. See the Other stuff section for exceptions if you are a werewolf or vampire.
Once that is done, add a descriptor beside each stat explaining why it is that way. For example Mind 70 (lightning fast calculator) or Soul 60 (Hidden depths) or Body 30 (puny) etc.
Skills are percentile listings representing what your PC can do. You have a number of points equal to your stat to place into the skills for the stat, as well as certain skills gained at a free percentage and the rest you make up on your own. You can also change the given ones to something else as long as the GM approves. To whit:
Body: General Athletics 15%; Struggle 15%
Speed: Dodge 15%; Drive 15%
Mind: General Education 15%; Notice 15%
Soul: Charm 15%; Lie 15%
That’s what you get for free. Now, say you had a Body of 50. You decide your PC is going to have been a professional dancer, so you put turn your general athletics into a dancing skill and add 10, for Dancing 25%. You leave struggle as it is since you’re not a fighting type and have 40 points left. You decide to be a looker and give yourself Awe Inspiring Build at 30% with a really inhumanly beautiful body. With only 10%, you decide to take make up Ignore Pain at 10% since dancers don’t exactly have easy jobs.
Lastly, a PC has their obsession skill. With this skill you flip all rolls for it, making it easier to succeed with. It should be linked directly to your PCs obsession in a believable way. If your PC has magick, that skill becomes their obsession.
The stuff you own.
For examples of PCs, look at the pc section itself.
Oh, I also add a Madness rating to the sheets, but that doesn’t have to concern you. Really :)
Lastly, combat in this game is quick and brutal. You have been warned.
Summary:
Description:
Something Shady About Past:
Personality:
Obsession:
Wound Points:
Total: 0
Unspent: 0
Spent: 0
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