Lost in Dreams II (OCC)

[the_matrix_walker]

Originally Posted by TGLS

Well, he was born 2008-09-15, so that puts him at 14 years, 4 months.

Peter missed out on being the youngest Eagle Scout, now he's been usurped as the youngest dream-jumper!

[ericthered]

I look forward to a sheet.

It seems people tend to make similar characters to each other demographically. We had one phase were we had a lot of young adult women with darker skin.

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by ericthered

It seems people tend to make similar characters to each other demographically.

Probably lurking on IC threads and getting inspired.

Originally Posted by ericthered

I look forward to a sheet.

OK, 85% done the diary, put together a provisional character sheet. Left myself 22 points to move around as needed.

Name: Julian Hayden
Race: Human

Attributes [80]
ST 7 [-15]
DX 12 [40]
IQ 13 [60]
HT 12 [20]

HP 7
Will 8 [-25]
Per 13
FP 12

Basic Lift 4.45 kg
Damage 1d-3/1d-2
Basic Speed 6
Basic Move 6
Ground Move 6
Water Move 1

Social Background
TL: 8 [0]
Cultural Familiarities: Western (Native) [0].
Languages: English (Native) [0]; Spanish (Broken/None) [1].

Advantages [19]
Appearance (Handsome) (Androgynous) [12]
Pitiable [5]
Signature Gear (Diary) (1) [1]

Perks [6]
Attribute Substitution (Dreaming based on IQ) [1]
↓ Flavour Perks
→ One-Task Wonder (Bike Towing Modification) [1]
→ One-Task Wonder (Scratch Programming) [1]
→ Rehearsed Role (Unabused Kid) [1]
→ Social Studies Dabbler [1]
→ STEM Dabbler [1]

Disadvantages [-58]
Enemy (Wyatt Beatty, Missing Persons, Etc.) (Medium-sized group (6-20 people)) (9 or less; Hunter; Meaningless Off-World) [-8]
Light Sleeper [-5]
Low Self-Image [-10]
Miserliness (15 or less) [-5]
Pacifism (Reluctant Killer) [-5]
Panic Attacks (Mild) [-5]
Sense of Duty (Friends, People who are nice to him) (Large Group) [-10]
Skinny [-5]
Social Stigma (Minor) [-5]

Quirks [-5]
_Cancel 1 [1]
Always sees the best in people unless definitively proven wrong. [-1]
Bad estimator of skill. Tends to overstate the abilities of others, especially when he is more capable than them. [-1]
Feels responsible when bad things happen to his friends and acquaintances [-1]
Mood and self-worth is heavily dependent on the opinions of others [-1]
Often so desperate for personal relationships that he overlooks abusive behavior from his "friends" [-1]
Stressed out when his more feminine attributes are highlighted [-1]

Skills [46]
↓ Flavour Skills
→ Area Knowledge (Rattan) IQ/E - IQ+0 13 [1]
→ Games (Swimming Competition) IQ/E - IQ+0 13 [1]
→ Hobby Skill (Modern Musicals) IQ/E - IQ+0 13 [1]
→ Literature IQ/H - IQ-2 11 [1]
→ Scuba/TL8 (Rebreather) IQ/E - IQ+0 13 [1]
→ ↓ Social Studies Dabbler - Each skill (except civics) gets +2 to default from Social Studies Dabbler
  → Geography/TL8 (Physical/Earthlike) IQ/H - IQ-4 9 [0]
  → Geography/TL8 (Political) IQ/H - IQ-4 9 [0]
  → History (Bay Islands) IQ/H - IQ-4 9 [0]
  → History (British Colonial) IQ/H - IQ-4 9 [0]
  → Hobby Skill (Civics) IQ/E - IQ-4 9 [0]
→ ↓ STEM Dabbler Social Studies Dabbler - Each skill gets +2 to default from STEM Dabbler
  → Biology/TL8 (Earthlike) IQ/VH - IQ-4 9 [0]
  → Chemistry/TL8 IQ/H - IQ-4 9 [0]
  → Mathematics/TL8 (Applied) IQ/H - IQ-4 9 [0]
  → Physics/TL8 IQ/VH - IQ-4 9 [0]

↓ Regular Skills
→ Acting IQ/A - IQ+0 13 [2]
→ Bicycling DX/E - DX+0 12 [1]
→ Breath Control HT/H - HT+0 12 [4]
→ Carousing HT/E - HT+0 12 [1]
→ Cartography/TL8 IQ/A - IQ-1 12 [1]
→ Climbing DX/A - DX-1 11 [1]
→ Computer Operation/TL8 IQ/E - IQ+0 13 [1]
→ Diplomacy IQ/H - IQ-1 12 [2]
→ Dreaming (Memory) IQ/A - IQ-1 12 [1]
→ Fast-Talk IQ/A - IQ-1 12 [1]
→ Filch DX/A - DX+0 12 [2]
→ Gardening IQ/E - IQ+0 13 [1]
→ Gesture IQ/E - IQ+0 13 [1]
→ Housekeeping IQ/E - IQ+0 13 [1]
→ Knife DX/E - DX+0 12 [1]
→ Linguistics (Language Learning) IQ/A - IQ-1 12 [1]
→ Lockpicking/TL8 IQ/A - IQ-1 12 [1]
→ Merchant IQ/A - IQ-1 12 [1]
→ Observation Per/A - Per-1 12 [1]
→ Pickpocket DX/H - DX-1 11 [2]
→ Research/TL8 IQ/A - IQ-1 12 [1]
→ Savoir-Faire (Servant) IQ/E - IQ+1 14 [2]
→ Stealth DX/A - DX+1 13 [4]
→ Streetwise IQ/A - IQ-1 12 [1]
→ Swimming HT/E - HT+2 14 [4]
→ Urban Survival Per/A - Per-1 12 [1]
→ Writing IQ/A - IQ-1 12 [1]

Stats [80] Ads [19] Disads [-58] Quirks [-5] Skills [46] = Total [88]

Some notes:
→ I have no idea what to put for wealth so I just ignored it
→ I came up with one too many quirks so I'm going to ask for input as to which I should cut
→ I may have over-evened the skills a little
→ Hobby Skills (Civics) reflects civics classes in schools. The default was so generous I didn't bother with a dabbler for it.
→ I recall you mentioned Dreaming (Memory) variant in the other thread.
→ Linguistics (Language Learning) is carving off the "Roll to quadruple self-taught language rate" from the rest of the skill (recognizing languages, academics, etc.)

[ericthered]

ok, a few thoughts:


Dreaming (Memory) is a specialty of dreaming. I normally don't allow the dreaming skill on starting characters, but with the memory specialization its a bit different. However... you still would have a default at -2, and Dreaming(control) needs to be based on will.



Will is really low. I mean really low. Could you explain that? One of the character building guidelines is having well rounded attributes. ST is probably fine.



The enemies are barely relevant. At most a quirk.


Light sleeper will make dreaming more difficult. That's not telling you its wrong, just saying you will get less benefit from your dream abilities.



Could you define/describe scratch programming?


Linguistics with only a single point in spoken spainish is odd... I would have expected more. Unless its a commentary on language education systems...


What quirk is "Cancel_1"?


where does Savoir-Faire (Servant) come from? How did he learn that?


he has knife but not brawling or wrestling... that feels unlikely. Surely this kid knows his way around a scrape.

[TGLS]

What quirk is "_Cancel 1"?

Point accounting thing. I came up with 6 quirks and I put a "quirk" worth +1 to keep all the quirks down to -5.

The enemies are barely relevant. At most a quirk.

Acknowledged, will adjust.

Could you define/describe scratch programming?

Scratch is this toy programming language that they use to teach basic concepts. It's drag and drop with blocks and stuff. I would have used dabbler here but Computer Programming has no default.

Will is really low. I mean really low. Could you explain that? One of the character building guidelines is having well rounded attributes. ST is probably fine.

Well it's partially an artifact of when I was building the character with split Per/Will, and partially to reflect the fact that Julian's biddable, fearful, and a bit of a nervous wreck.

Dreaming (Memory) is a specialty of dreaming. I normally don't allow the dreaming skill on starting characters, but with the memory specialization its a bit different. However... you still would have a default at -2, and Dreaming(control) needs to be based on will.

So drop the attribute substitution for Memory of just a "for your attention"? Saw the problem, attribute substitution was generic Dreaming, not specific.

Light sleeper will make dreaming more difficult. That's not telling you its wrong, just saying you will get less benefit from your dream abilities.

Acknowledged. I might drop it; I only put it in because I kept putting in scenes where Julian wakes up in early morning.

Linguistics with only a single point in spoken Spanish is odd... I would have expected more. Unless its a commentary on language education systems...

It actually isn't anything like that. In the story, he doesn't take a second language in class, he picks up the language from other day labourers he works with. I felt that he picked up a foreign language too fast with too little contact. I still wanted another language for color. I wanted something to represent "faster language learning", and Linguistics (Learning Only) seemed like reasonable hack.

he has knife but not brawling or wrestling... that feels unlikely. Surely this kid knows his way around a scrape.

This is kind an artifact of "well he stabbed a shark once, so that's one point easy." I was a bit hesitant to add brawling, mostly because "get beat up" is not a skill. I think I can fit in a vignette to justify brawling.

where does Savoir-Faire (Servant) come from? How did he learn that?

Well, part of the reason why it's there is because I thought putting "Professional Skill (Waiter)" was a slippery slope to several professional skills. The other part's because during for three weeks in August 2021 he had a job at a woman's house as a server during her parties in the evening.

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by TGLS

Point accounting thing. I came up with 6 quirks and I put a "quirk" worth +1 to keep all the quirks down to -5.

Got it.

Scratch is this toy programming language that they use to teach basic concepts. It's drag and drop with blocks and stuff. I would have used dabbler here but Computer Programming has no default.

Ahah! makes sense.

Well it's partially an artifact of when I was building the character with split Per/Will, and partially to reflect the fact that Julian's biddable, fearful, and a bit of a nervous wreck.

I appreciate that, but you do need to have a fairly robust and "heroic" character with a fair bit of agency.

So drop the attribute substitution for Memory of just a "for your attention"? Saw the problem, attribute substitution was generic Dreaming, not specific.

Well, that depends on how high dreaming ends up, which depends on Will. I get that you want the ability to steer the visions without steering the worlds, at least at first. I'm just not 100% sure how to do that. Maybe a quirk giving incompetence at world steering, at least at first? Let me know if you have any ideas.

Acknowledged. I might drop it; I only put it in because I kept putting in scenes where Julian wakes up in early morning.

Waking up early when it makes sense doesn't necessarily mean light sleeper. It could mean good per or less sleep.

It actually isn't anything like that. In the story, he doesn't take a second language in class, he picks up the language from other day labourers he works with. I felt that he picked up a foreign language too fast with too little contact. I still wanted another language for color. I wanted something to represent "faster language learning", and Linguistics (Learning Only) seemed like reasonable hack.

K

This is kind an artifact of "well he stabbed a shark once, so that's one point easy." I was a bit hesitant to add brawling, mostly because "get beat up" is not a skill. I think I can fit in a vignette to justify brawling.

I suspect that even if he looses most of his fights and doesn't start them, he knows a bit more than the average american.

Well, part of the reason why it's there is because I thought putting "Professional Skill (Waiter)" was a slippery slope to several professional skills. The other part's because during for three weeks in August 2021 he had a job at a woman's house as a server during her parties in the evening.

Ok, that makes sense.

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by ericthered

I appreciate that, but you do need to have a fairly robust and "heroic" character with a fair bit of agency.

OK, so how low are you willing to let me go? Would 10 be enough? Because that would be really easy to do.

I kind of found it hard to come up with appropriate disadvantages to reflect trauma; Chronic Depression is too harsh, Guilt Complex is Chronic Depression with extra steps, especially with an expansive Sense of Duty and random abandonment, and Nightmares would probably have fallout.

Originally Posted by ericthered

I suspect that even if he looses most of his fights and doesn't start them, he knows a bit more than the average american.

Well I really hate putting only the one point in Brawling, but sure.

Originally Posted by ericthered

Waking up early when it makes sense doesn't necessarily mean light sleeper. It could mean good per or less sleep.

Noted. I figure I can get away without it anyway.

Originally Posted by ericthered

Well, that depends on how high dreaming ends up, which depends on Will. I get that you want the ability to steer the visions without steering the worlds, at least at first.

I think there might be a disconnect here; I don't actually want to have control over the visions, just the ability to be good at remembering them (the fact that it pulled his chestnuts out of the fire repeatedly is besides the point). If that's not a skill in this game, then I'll just cut them.

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by TGLS

OK, so how low are you willing to let me go? Would 10 be enough? Because that would be really easy to do.

10 is probably enough.

I kind of found it hard to come up with appropriate disadvantages to reflect trauma; Chronic Depression is too harsh, Guilt Complex is Chronic Depression with extra steps, especially with an expansive Sense of Duty and random abandonment, and Nightmares would probably have fallout.

I can see that. I suppose they don't call it trauma for nothing.



Wow chronic depression is harsh.

Well I really hate putting only the one point in Brawling, but sure.

I forgot about that rule! you can go without brawling.

I think there might be a disconnect here; I don't actually want to have control over the visions, just the ability to be good at remembering them (the fact that it pulled his chestnuts out of the fire repeatedly is besides the point). If that's not a skill in this game, then I'll just cut them.

Ok, that's basically automatic in this game. You don't need to spend points on it.

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by ericthered

I can see that. I suppose they don't call it trauma for nothing.

Yeah. Nightmares usually works well as narrative short hand and has mildish effects, but where sleeping is central to the game and it also becomes permission to hose me... It's not as attractive.

Originally Posted by ericthered

Wow chronic depression is harsh.

Especially if you go with "Rolling SCR often is usually bad roleplaying". Then it's as bad as No Initiative.

Originally Posted by ericthered

I forgot about that rule! you can go without brawling.

Well I finally managed to make it fit and now I don't know what to do with the extra point; would it be OK to take it a "free" point to add to whatever unarmed skill I end up getting a natural point in?

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by TGLS

Yeah. Nightmares usually works well as narrative short hand and has mildish effects, but where sleeping is central to the game and it also becomes permission to hose me... It's not as attractive.

So one of the longer running characters actually had nightmares: Tereza. I think she eventually bought it off. She's also the character who gained the most control over her abilities.

Well I finally managed to make it fit and now I don't know what to do with the extra point; would it be OK to take it a "free" point to add to whatever unarmed skill I end up getting a natural point in?

That works.