So here it is, RocketFans, the entire second Chapter of the upcoming The Black Desert Role-Playing Game!
CHAPTER II:
CHARACTER GENERATION
Now that we've discussed the basic mechanics of The Black Desert Role-Playing Game, we can begin to put that information to use by making a Character.
BASICS
The Player Character is the persona through which you will play the game. It combines the fictitious background of a part in a play or film with the freedom of expression found in an on-line avatar. The major difference between these two examples is that Player Characters are restrained somewhat by their statistics; the skills they know and the amount of dice in their Dice Pools. This is where the Character Sheet comes in.
About the Character Sheet
The Black Desert uses a custom-made character sheet that reflects both the unique look of the setting and the uniqueness of the BD6 rules system. In addition, the Character Sheet is designed so that the most important and often-used statistics are displayed prominently in an easy-to-find format.
LAYOUT
The Character Sheet is divided into three sections. To the left is Priority Datablock, which contains all of the most important Dice Pools a Player will use during a typical game. In the center are the Attributes and Skills, and to the right is the Character's Biographical Datablock, which has a Character portrait and other role-playing information.
Priority Datablock: The Priority Datablock holds all the information that a Player will need to use in combat, as well as their Character's equipment, money, and Progress Points. The information is organized into several easy-to-read displays designed to save time and make finding the right stats go quickly and smoothly.
We will look at each display in order.
NAME: At the very top of the Character Sheet is space for the Character's name.
DEF: The ovular display at the top left of the Character Sheet is the Defense Display. This is where all of the Dice Pools used to either avoid or absorb damage are located. It is divided into three sections:
D: This stands for Dodge Dice. It is the Dice Pool made up of the Character's Agility Attribute and Dodge Skill, plus any bonuses from Skill Combinations.
S: This area is for a Character's Stamina Dice. The Stamina skill is usually paired with the Strength Attribute in this Die Pool, and is used to reduce the amount of damage a Character receives from a successful hit.
A: Armor Dice is the last entry in the Defense Display. This Dice Pool is the combination of a Character's Stamina Dice Pool and any additional Die Bonus granted by armor or protective clothing.
DICE: The center of the display is for the Character's Attack Dice. This is a Character's Agility Attribute and their preferred ranged weapon Skill.
S/M/L: The ring around the Attack Dice field has areas for recording the range values for the Character's weapon of choice. Range is measured in Squares. One square equals 1.5 meters.
DMG: The field at the bottom of the display is for recording the Damage Dice for the Character's weapon.
Next to the Ranged Combat Display is the Melee Combat Display. It is for recording the Character's Dice Pools in close combat.
DICE: Like the Ranged Display, the center of this display is for recording a Character's Attack Dice in Melee Combat. If the Character lacks a Melee Combat Skill, then their Brawl Skill will go here. If a Character has neither, then their Strength Attribute goes in the Attack Dice field.
U/A: The two top fields are for recording a Character's Unarmed and Armed Combat Dice Pools. It is recommended that the Agility/Brawl Dice Pool be put in the Unarmed field, while the Strength/Brawl Dice Pool go in the center. If a Character has a special unarmed combat Skill, such as Freebrawl, it should go in the unarmed field. The armed field is for recording a Character's skill with a melee weapon.
DMG: Both the Armed and Unarmed Combat Dice Pools have their own fields for recording Damage Dice.
Range: This means Damage Range; the amount of damage that a character can take before they drop down a Damage Level. The value for a Character's Damage Range is their Strength/Stamina Dice Pool X 4.
DAMAGE LEVEL: The four fields in the center of the Damage Tracker are check boxes for recording a Character's Damage Level. When a Character's damage equals or exceeds their Damage Range, they drop a Damage Level. The Damage Levels move from left to right, and are Stunned, Injured, Wounded and Critical. A more detailed explanation of the effects of each Damage Level is in Chapter 4: Conflict and Combat.
CURRENT DAMAGE: This field is for a Character's current amount of damage. Every time a Character takes damage, it is added to this field. Once the amount of Current Damage exceeds the Character's Range, they fall a Damage Level and the Current Damage value resets to zero.
Below the Damage Tracker is a collection of entries that record more of a Character's important information.
They are as follows:
PP: To the right of the Damage Tracker is the field for recording a Character's Progress Points. Progress Points will explained in more detail in later Chapters.
LSU: Life-Support Units is an arbitrary rate of exchange used in The Black Desert whether your Character uses Dollars, Euros, Yen or simple barter, it can all equate into LSUs.
Move: This is the number of squares that Character can move in a single round under normal conditions.
Gear: This is where a Player can record their Character's equipment and other supplies. Not all items may fit in this area, but the most important should.
Augments: This field is where any cybernetic, biological, or nanological augmentations can be recorded. The bonuses from these Augmentations should be factored into the Character's other values, and the space provided used for referencing the page number it's full entry can be found on.
Weapons: A list of the Character's weapons are recorded in this field. The combat statistics need not be repeated here; rather, the weapons cost should be included for any maintenance and repair Skill Checks.
Attributes and Skills: The next section of The Black Desert Character Sheet is for the Character's Attributes and Skills. Most of the information relateing to these entries was covered in Chapter I: Basics Attributes and Skills, so only the briefest of entries will be provided.
ATTRIBUTES: The Attribute Display is the largest of the fields for data on the Character Sheet. It is divided into three categories:
PHYS: These are the two physical Attributes
STR: The Strength Attribute
AGL: The Agility Attribute
NEURO: These are the two Neurological Attributes
KNO: The Knowledge Attribute
TEC: The Technical Attribute
PSYCH: These are the two Psychological Attributes
SEN: The Sensory Attribute
SOC: The Social Attribute
SKILLS: The Black Desert is a skill-heavy system; the Skill block takes up the bulk of the Character Sheet. There is room for 30 General and Focused Skills in the Skill block. It is recommended that Focused Skills be written under the General Skills they derive from, though this is not necessary. Players may feel free to write their skills in any order they desire, for ease of play. Because the Attributes and Skills are independent of one another, there is no underlying organization for the Skills in the Skills block, other than alphabetical.
POPULAR COMBINATIONS: Players will discover that certain combinations of Attributes, Skills and Combined Skills will be used more often than others. These popular combinations may be recorded in this field.
Biographical Datablock: The last section of the Character Sheet's layout, located in the right-side column, is the where a Character's non-essential, information is recorded. Most of the notes dealing with the Character's personality and appearance are located here.
IMAGE: The empty field in the top right of the Character Sheet is for an image of the Character. This may be sketched in or added to the Character Sheet via a program such as Photoshop or GIMP.
PLAYER: This is a space for the Player's name.
AGE: Your Character's age. Details relating to a Character's age modifiers for Attributes can be found in Chapter 3: Species.
HEIGHT: The Character's height in centimeters. Details about the average height ranges for different species can be found in Chapter 3.
MASS: Your Character's mass in kilograms. Details about the average mass ranges for different species can also be found in Chapter 3.
SPECIES TRAITS: Some species receive special bonuses or penalties to certain Attributes and Skills. These details are found in Chapter 3.
PERSONALITY: This is a space where the player can jot down a few notes about what makes their Character tick. There is only enough room for broad stokes provided; further details may be recorded elsewhere.
A QUOTE: This is a brief space for a Player to record a quote that sums up their Character.
It should be obvious that there is only so much space provided on the Character Sheet for information and statistics. In the appendices, there is a second page for the Character Sheet provided. This second page has additional space for equipment, any owned vehicles or spacecraft, and any role-playing notes a Player wishes to record.
As stated above, the appendices also have special “combat cards” for each weapon listed in Chapter V: Weapons and Gear. These cards may be kept in collectible card sleeves for ease of use.
I am going to go live with this sometime next week, so it would be a great help if if could get comments and criticisms about the Sheet. Thanks in advance!
...Got a request to make the "Current" entry on the Damage Tracker larger.
ReplyDeleteDamage Tracker Modified.
ReplyDeleteRange Combat Display modified.
ReplyDelete