I'm currently working up a new way to determine a character's form and origin.
Here's some basics:
A character has a form, an origin, and a backstory.
The form for a character is the actual body type, race, or physical structure of the hero. These include:
- Human
- Alien (Asgardians, Baluurians, intelligent animals, etc.)
- Demihuman (centaurs, fauns, etc)
- Exotic (stuff like gaseous, energy, psychic construct, etc)
After the form is determined, an origin is next:
- Altered
- Mutant
- Cybernetic
- Normal
- High-Tech/Gadgets
- Mystical
- Artificial Life/Robot (androids, robots, etc.)
So, given this system, you could have a mutant faun, an alien cyborg, a normal member of an alien race, a centaur magic-wielder, an Atlantean altered by cosmic rays, etc.
The backstory is what was Origins in the UPB
- Natal
- Maturity
- Self Achievement
- Endowment
- Technical Mishap
- Technical Procedure
- Creation
- Biological Exposure
- Chemical Exposure
- Energy Exposure
- Rebirth
I have sub-tables to make for several categories, but this is just the beginning.
So, why do this? I've been annoyed for years by the straight-line random rolling of Marvel characters. Yes, many people like to model their characters, but just as many enjoy random rolling. I believe this system will help create a wider variety of playable characters.
Imagine random rolling an alien cyborg. You determine it's an Asgardian. An Asgardian Cyborg! What's the story there? Or how about a mutant merhuman? Maybe a magic-wielding vegetable being or an altered robot that was struck by mystical lightning (energy exposure) and is now sentient.
What about a mutant robot? Maybe an experimental nano-sauce was accidentally used as lubricant an this altered the very make-up of the robot's circuitry turning it into a one-of-a-kind being.
Also, I would standardize the column used for rolling stats. There would be less variety than the UPB, and no character would ever....ever, roll on column 2! Why mineral life and surgical composites roll on column 2, but gaseous rolls on column 5 (and other weirdness) is beyond me!
I like the Basic Set approach with everyone rolling on the same table. I can modify that based on the desired power of the world/campaign. For instance, included a "low-power option" in the JMCC that rolls everything on column 3 (max of RM). If you include column 6 (from the Dragon magazine article
Heroes of the streets arise!), you can tailor your campaign to have up Ex, Rm, In, Am, or Mn, as max starting random ranks (plus possible bonuses, of course).
Thoughts?