Pax Britannica

System: Homegrown Diceless
Deltagere: 4-6 spillere

Af

Foromtale

“Huzza for the Queen! Huzza for Old England!”
Jules Verne

Well Lord M’s team has done a splendid job of collecting the various shards from across the world completing every operation with “a certain degree of secrecy and tact”. So there shouldn’t be anything to worry about, right? All that needs to be done now is to put them together and ‘turn it on’…somehow. It just requires one final mission that will bring lasting security to the Empire. Sounds simple enough!

Huzzah!

It is the year 1872 and Britain is riding high with its technology and industry delivering advances in military prowess as well as for the economy. The power of steam, advances in clockwork and creation of difference engines have delivered not just economic changes but also social and environmental ones too, even resulting in flight. But there is no room for complacency though as other countries and empires seek opportunities to advance their various causes usually at the cost of others.

For various reasons which are unique to each character, you are working for the Government, in particular Viscount Lord Melbourne (nephew of the Queen’s first PM). You have been chosen because of your exceptional if not unique abilities and prowess which Lord M, as he is affectionately referred to, puts to use when awkward complications arise.

Characters:

Characters are truly exceptional shadow dwellers that can be found in the fictional literature based in that period, or alternatively from your own imagination. So the first step is to come up with a Concept. Examples include:
* Intrepid explorer (e.g. Journey to the Centre of the Earth)
* Invisible man
* Mad scientist (actually they prefer Enlightened Engineer)
* Sorcerer
* Wolfman
* Resurrected
* Experimental super-soldier
* Master/Mistress of disguise
* Part machine (e.g. Lady Mechanika)
* Amateur detective
* Hunter

The second step covers the Attributes. These add some depth to your character’s concept by providing a bit more detail on their strength and possible weakness. Initially choose one primary attribute out of:
* Strong – lifting, hitting
* Dextrous – pickpocketing, piano playing
* Agile – unnecessary backflips to get past security
* Tough – getting punched, getting shot and shrugging it off
* Untiring – you just keep going
* Intelligent – mathematics, chess, mad science
* Quick-witted – improvised combat, macguyvering, fast-talk
* Strong-willed – hypnosis, sorcery or resisting the same

If you think of a different primary attribute that fits your character’s concept better, that’s fine too.

If you wish, you can choose to give your character a second attribute but it will need balancing with a weakness, so for example you might be Dextrous and Agile at the cost of being Fragile (anti-Tough).

The third step covers Skills the character has developed over the years. You have 20 points to spread amongst the skills which you deem appropriate for your character. A skill level of 1 means the character has a reasonable grounding in the skill or subject, a level of 3 would represents a professional level for which someone could earn a living from, and a score of 5 would represent someone who would be recognised as a true expert in the field. Skills are capped to a level of 5.

You can also select up to five ‘0’ level skills – these represent skills your character has somehow picked up, whether it maybe through causal interest, hobbies, and the like, and means you have a better understanding in these skills than someone who is totally unskilled.

Skills can offset differences in attributes and even overturn the results of contested actions, or be the tie-breaker in very close contests. Skills can be defined fairly broadly in scope. For example, the skill ‘Pistols’ would cover the firing of all types of pistols and the knowledge to load and maintain such weapons.

The fourth step is coming up with a Reason as to why your character is working for Lord M:
* Are you a Loyal and Patriotic subject?
* The money’s too good to say no?
* They know where the bodies are buried and you’d rather not be buried there yourself?
* They control the supply of the drug that fuels you?
* Something else?

Finally all that remains is a Description of your character including some background, perhaps with one or two past heroic deeds. It doesn’t have to be too long but just long enough to give a feel for the character.

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