Texas: Character Generation

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Overview

1) Select your Aptitude

2) Choose your Shtick

3) Select your Finesse

4) Create the character!

Select your Aptitude

This bit is simple enough - you need to decide where your character's natural aptitudes lie.

There are three Aptitudes: Physical, Mental and Social.

Your character gets to be good at one of these. Pick one and record it on your character sheet.

In game terms, your Aptitude sets how many poker chips you start each conflict with.

For example if you want to play someone who is very physically adept you'd pick Physical as your Aptitude.

Choose your Shtick

Your Shtick is the one thing which you're very good at. Generally a Shtick is a career description or a one-word summary of what your character is.

In game terms, you draw 1 extra card during conflicts if you are working within your Shtick.

There's no way of listing every shtick available - you're limited only be your imagination and the GM's say-so. The list below should give you some ideas though:

• Barefist brawler - Most people can swing their fists, but you are in a different league. You're almost always the last one standing in a barfight. You've beaten professional boxers at their own game. You gain 1 extra card in tests of unarmed fighting of any sort. At the GM's discretion you might also gain the bonus card with tests of physical prowess or of courage or intimidation.

• Cowboy - You've driven cattle across the breadth of America. You're a natural outdoorsman, you're good with a rope or lariat and you have a natural empathy for horses. Few can ride as well as you, or as hardy in the wild as you. Note that while you're probably physically quite fit (taking Physical as your top aptitude makes sense) you're not a professional fighter or shooter.

• Ex-infantryman - You've stood in rifle-lines and faced down the enemy across corpse-strewn battlefields. You have the combined qualities self-discipline, ability to command and tactical wisdom that make a good soldier. While you're no pistolero fighting noon showdowns, you're deadly if you have a rifle, adequate cover, and ideally a squad of buddies backing you up.

• Gunslinger - You're a pistol-toting gunfighter, deadly accurate and cool under pressure. You gain 1 extra card in gunfights, high noon showdowns, and just plain murdering people with your gun. At the GM's discretion you might also gain the 1 extra card in other circumstances, such as keeping your cool when being intimidated, recognising types of firearms, and other gunslinger-like activities.

• Huckster - You're a smooth-talking hustler with fast hands and fast words. You can cheat your way to winning almost every gambling match, and talk your way out of trouble if you get caught. Failing all else, you can sell a little snake-oil, filch from pockets or pick the locks of the jail cells you get thrown in.

• Indian Angry Brave - You are athletic, fast and skilled with traditional weaponry. You're likely deadlier with a hatchet then most men are with a gun.

• Indian Wise Man - You may be old, but you are wise in the ways of the prairie. Whether dispensing sage advice, leading the tribe, brewing medicine or patching up the braves' wounds you show the sagacity of experience at every turn.

• Oriental Boxer - You're a long way from home, thanks to slave work on the railroads, but you bust your way free with nothing but your bare hands and martial arts knowledge. Few are as a deadly as you in unarmed combat.

• Preacher - Fire and brimstone are the tools of your trade, and when you're in the pulpit few can deny your charisma. As a man of the cloth you've become an expert at reading people and (guiltily) using your force of presence to get your own way.

• Saloon Gal - You've worked as a "lady of negotiable affection" for a little while, and you've learnt the tricks of your trade. You're purtier than most, for sure, and you can get people to open up in all sorts of ways. You gain 1 extra card in tests of seduction, sweet-talking, calming angry clients and influencing the johns. at the GM's discretion you might also gain the bonus card when you drinking someone under the table, performing homebrew abortions, or carrying out other saloon-gal type activities.

• Sawbones - A good surgeon is a precious commodity on the frontier, and you're definitely that. You've got a little medical knowledge, but your real skill lies with more physical work: you gain the extra card when you're amputating, bonesetting, digging out bullets, excising tumours and otherwise working with a blade to heal rather than harm.

Whatever you pick, bear in mind that this will determine a great deal about the role your character will play in the story, as well as telling the GM what sort of game you want to play. Characters will tend to win most contests that relate to their shtick, even if they are at a disadvantage aptitude-wise.

For a good story, it makes sense for players to cover a good range of shticks. A group that consists of five gunslingers might be great for shooting the hell out of mainstreet, but not much else.

Part of the implied social contract of this game is that the GM will allow you to shine in at least a few scenes - after all it'd make a poor movie if a writer and director cast someone to be their "barefist brawler" then shot nothing but gunfight scenes.

It's also worth bearing in mind synergy when you make your character: simply put its worth having an aptitude that matches your shtick. So if, for example, you want to be a snake-oil selling hustler, you probably want a social or mental aptitude, depending on your style. In contrast, it'd be an odd cowboy who isn't working with a physical aptitude.

Select Your Finesse

Your Finesse Trait is both a personality trait and a "cheat" that you can use in the game.

Your choice of Finesse should primarily be roleplaying based - it tells the GM and the other players what sort of personality they should expect to see. Try not to worry too much about the maths - probability analysis will likely tell you some traits are much stronger or weaker than others. Just go with what you want to play!

Likewise, the list isn't limited to whats here. Feel free to collaborate with the GM to create and add new traits.

As with shticks, its probably best to try to get a nice range of finesses across the group, if only to make the story more interesting.

• Arrogant - You believe you can win under any circumstances, and are truly surprised when this turns out not to be the case. Once per conflict, after hands have been dealt (and looked at) but before the flop you can choose to place your cards face up in front of you. You can then immediately throw in up to three extra chips into the pot, which every one else in the contest is forced to match. The round then proceeds as normal, but your hand remains in clear view of everyone else.

• Cautious - You bide your time and wait your moment, taking no unnecessary risks. It seems to work. Once per conflict you can make a "cautious fold". You can only do this if you have so far put no chips into the pot apart from your ante. When you make a "cautious fold", you fold your hand and can take one chip from the pot back into your pool.

• Desperate - When the chips are down and everything is on the line, you are at your best. Once per conflict after opting to go "all in" you can activate this finesse, immediately drawing another card into your hand. Once you've drawn that card you're committed - you can't take back your bet.

• Domineering - You believe other people should follow your lead, because you're normally right. At the start of a conflict other participants in the combat can choose to give you any number of chips. This is not obligatory in any way, and you can't use in-game mechanics (such as a social conflict) to force a player (or the GM) to have their character pass you chips.

• Exultant - You just love winning, and you feel far more confident when things are going your way. Once per conflict, at the start of a round where you have the most chips out of any participant you can gain +2 chips. You cannot use this finesse on the first round of the conflict.

• Faith-driven - You believe in a higher power, and when things are bad that gives you the hope and self belief to keep going. At the end of a round when you have zero chips, you regain one chip. You can only gain this benefit once per conflict, however.

• Fiery - The best defence is a good offence. You are naturally aggressive, pushing to get your way and damn the consequences. Once per conflict, at the start of any round and before cards have been dealt, you can activate this finesse to force everyone (including yourself) to throw in one extra chip into the ante pot.

• Obsessed - You're the best at what you do - that's all there is to you. At the start of any conflict where you are able to use your Shtick, you gain +2 chips.

• Perceptive - You are quiet and watchful, expert on reading other people. Once per conflict, after hands have been dealt (and looked at) but before the flop you can choose to activate this finesse. When you do so pick one other player. That player must immediately show you (and just you) one of the cards in his hand.

• Proud - You know your weaknesses but refuse to admit to them. At the start of a conflict, if you have less chips than all other participants you immediately gain enough extra chips to take you to the same number as the next lowest participant.

• Self-sacrificing - You are a martyr to any cause that will take you. At the start of a conflict you can choose to give any number of chips to another participant in the combat.

• Stubborn - You get knocked down, and you get back up again: no-ones gonna keep you down. Once per conflict, at the start of a round where you have the least chips out of any participant you can gain +2 chips. You cannot use this finesse on the first round of the conflict.

• Wild card - You take mad, stupid risks - but somehow come out on top. Once per conflict immediately after your hand has been dealt to you, you can opt to not look at your cards and instead place them face down in front of you. If you do so you are immediately dealt an additional card (also face down). You cannot look at these cards during this round of betting.

Create the Character!

Alright, so we now have three descriptors - rnough for a character sheet in one line. For example:

He's a GUNSLINGER with an aptitude for PHYSICAL things, known for being CAUTIOUS.

Easy, right?

The next step is to add a little more meat to the above line - turn it into a paragraph.

Things you may or may not want to include:

• A Name: Not actually as essential as you might think - after all, Clint Eastwood got away with playing The Man With No Name three times. On the other hand, if you have a whole posse with no name it gets kind of silly, so a nickname can be handy, even if its just "stranger" or "traveller". You can get a lot of characterisation out of a name though - consider the difference between John Oak and Joshua Worthington III, and the sort of characters that might have these names.

• A description: This can be as florid or as short as you like, but its nice to have enough details that the other players can paint a mental picture. Remember that this is a spaghetti western, so most protagonists are rough and dirty looking (like Clint Eastwood) rather than being white hats with clean shaven chins (like John Wayne). On the other hand, a little contrast can be good, so if you want your character to be a greenhorn from out east with a dapper suit, shiny ivory-handled guns that have never been fired and a twinkle in his eye, then go for it!

• Some history: Don't go overboard here - its not that sort of game. As a rule of thumb, add history only if it makes your character more interesting or gives the GM nice plot hooks. For example, we're deadly interested if your Sioux brave had his tribe massacred by Mexican bandidos (fundamental knowledge of real life political geography is not mandatory) but its less useful to know that your huckster once won a bridge tournament in mississipi - unless of course he cheated and has an angry debtee on his tail.

• A goal: In Spaghetti Westerns, the protagonists don't normally start with much motivation, and their goals settle on them during the movie. This isn't obligatory though, and its a rare GM that doesn't appreciate having his story-writing workload shared. If he knows what your character's motivations are, its much easier for him to make you feel engaged with the story.

So here's the expanded version of the above character paragraph. Note that the keywords are still in bold, for ease of reference:

He was a mousy haired fellow, nothing impressive to look at, but "Holster-stuck Joe" was famous across several states. His nickname came about on account of the fact that his smokewagons were rarely drawn: it was meant to be an insult, but Joe took to liking it. It was his CAUTIOUS nature - he'd seen too many of his friends and family be shot down when they were too hasty to fight, and he'd learnt to be a man of peace. What others didn't know was that when Joe backed down from a fight, he was saving his opponent's life, not his own. After all, Joe was probably the fastest GUNSLINGER in all Texas, a man who had the ability (though not the inclination) to solve all problems in a quick and PHYSICAL fashion. He rode into town looking to not use his guns, and looking to get away both from all the young guns that followed him all the time, meaning to challenge him and all the lawmen blaming him for the actions of his old gang. He figured if he could outrun his rep, he could find peace. He figured wrong.

And that's a wrap!