Cold:Rules/Character Creation

Aspects

Each character will have up to five aspects that describe them. We'll be writing a bunch of possibilities, but if you don't like enough of them, you can start with just a high concept and a trouble aspect.

Here is an example of the aspect writing process.

High Concept

This aspect is the main concept of the character, e.g. Playboy Paladin, Punk Rock Ninja, Self-made Alchemist Wizard Apprentice.

Trouble

This aspect is something that causes you problems. It can be internal or external, e.g. Lovesick Alcoholic or Disregarded and Ignored.

Relationship to Cthonic Power

This aspect represents how you relate (or not) with Cthonic power. It could be scientific, personal, etc.

Relationship to The Enemy

This aspect represents how you relate (or not) to The Enemy. This could be Russia, The Vatican, or something else.

Free Aspect

This can be anything you want!

Skills

A note about skills and conflict resolution—don't pour everything into attacking skills. Having a balanced mix will be important because not everything will be resolved by fighting.

Each character begins the campaign with +4, +3, +3, +2, +2, +2, +1, +1, +1, +1 that can be assigned to skills. (You'll note that this is pyramid-shaped.)

• Academics based on Lore (Knowledge and education.)
• Athletics (fitness and movement)
• Bureaucracy
  • This is knowledge of the workings of large, impersonal, hierarchical institutions such as government agencies, corporations, and the military. It is used to overcome obstacles and create advantages related to knowing the organization's rules, policies, and protocols, dealing with red-tape, and winning at office politics.
• Burglary (stealing things and getting into off-limits places.)
• Combat (the same as Fight from *Fate Core*, but includes guns.)
• Contacts (knowing and making connections with people)
• Diplomacy
  • Diplomacy combines Empathy and Rapport from *Fate Core*. You might use this when negotiating a good bargain, convincing someone to do you a favor, or identifying how favorably someone feels about you while employing honest, above-board tactics. Diplomacy cannot be used to attack, but you can use it to defend against attempts to trick you or harm your reputation, especially those using Manipulate.
• Engineer
  • Engineer is similar to Crafts from Fate Core, allowing you to work effectively with machinery. Using Engineer requires an appropriate set of tools.
• Investigate (Deliberate, careful study and puzzling out mysteries. Use this to piece together clues or reconstruct a crime scene.)
• Lore (Knowledge as it pertains to the Cthonic powers)
• Manipulate
  • Manipulate combines Deceive and Provoke from Fate Core. Use it to get what you want from people, without any scruples getting in your way.
• Physique (raw strength and endurance)
• Resources (general level of material wealth and ability to apply it)
• Stealth (allows you to avoid detection)
• Will (mental fortitude)

Stunts

1. Read this primer on stunts, ignoring that it talks about approaches and not skills.
2. [Optional] More reading about stunts. Fate Core talks about Stunts, Advanced rubrics for stunts.
3. Each player gets 3 free stunts
4. Each player gets 3 points of Refresh. Refresh is the number of Fate points you start a session with in the game. You may spend up to 2 points of Refresh on stunts (cost of 1 point per stunt). If you are new to Fate, it is recommended that you not spend Refresh. (You'll be able to purchase new stunts with refresh between every session.)
5. At the end, your character will have between 3-5 stunts, with most characters having 3.

What are stunts?

Stunts are analogous to Feats in d20 games. They are a circumstantial boon for your character. Unlike Feats in other systems, Stunts are completely custom-written by the player for their character.

How do I write a stunt?

Here is a great breakdown of what stunts can do. Don't worry if you aren't comfortable writing up your stunts. It takes a little experience to get them just right. Randy will help you out.

Cthonic Influence

See pages 58-68 of Fate of Cthulhu. PDF will be provided.

Miscellany

If there is something you want your character to do, talk about it with Randy. There are many ways that we can build out something for your character.