Steamfunkateers

by Balogun Ojetade

  Philosopher/Scholar: These characters like old, rare books and wax poetic about the classics; they often talk too much about things no one cares about or prefer books to people. Most are highly intelligent experts in their chosen field, which often puts more emphasis on the humanities than on the natural sciences, but this is not an absolute rule. Whatever their field, they are always striving to learn more. Some may even be quiet, smart and seemingly physically unimposing, but with formidable physical and practical skills, or possess huge muscles and hard-hitting fists, but a very bright brain.

  Intrinsic Skills: Contacts; Resources; Scholarship

  Reformer: They could be suffragettes or seeking to get rid of child labor or protesting imperialism, the revolutionary fighting colonialists in West Africa, or the abolitionist helping slaves to flee North to freedom. They are working to make the world a better place, often loudly and not always peacefully and without scandal. Reformers are always underdogs, fighting through guerrilla warfare and by raising the rabble of the people. Though Reformers are often former enslaved Africans, many Reformers are from a wealthy background who take a hands-on approach to helping the poor and helpless.

  Intrinsic Skills: Contacts; Provoke; Rapport

  Socialite/Lady/Gentleman: Often based on Victorian aristocracy, they can often embody the refinement and social norms we associate with the upper class of that era. Many times they serve as patrons for the scholars, adventurers, and inventors. Many have perfect etiquette, never speaking out of turn, their voices but an ephemeral whisper. They are clothed in fine dresses and soft gloves who hold silk fans... made of sharpened blades, or walking canes… with swords hidden in the shaft. In short, beware the proper ones.

  Intrinsic Skills: Business; Contacts; Resources

  Street Sparrow/Scrappy Survivor: These are the street urchins, your pickpockets and beggars. Hungry and dirty, they do what they need to do to survive. They may actually have a home or family, but the situation there may be so bad that living on the streets is preferable, or they're out stealing for their family's sake. Many are distinctively tough people of significant caliber, often in a less-than-legal profession, with a cynical view towards life and a practical view towards combat. Some are actually happy and even proud of their dark and troubled lives, believing that their trial by fire makes them superior. This may make them cocky, but they usually have the savvy and muscle to back up their arrogance.

  Intrinsic Skills: Burglary; Deceive; Stealth

  YOU can also create new archetypes, building your character from the bottom up. If you can imagine it, you can play it.

  When you choose an archetype, it informs the set of special abilities that give your character abilities, skills and talents beyond those of normal humans—various ways to “break the rules,” if you will—and a set of triggers that determine how you earn experience for character advancement.

  Think of your archetype as an area of focus and preference, but not a unique skill set. The Hunter/Fighter has special abilities related to combat, but that doesn’t mean they’re “the fighter” of the game. Any character can learn to skillfully engage in combat.

  This is why we call them “archetypes” rather than “character classes.” You’re selecting the set of initial Type of Actions and special abilities that your character has access to—but you’re not defining their immutable essence or true nature. Your character will grow and change over time; who they become is part of the fun of playing the game.

  Your archetype choice also represents how the other characters see you. If someone solves their problems through communication with the ancestors, people say they’re an “Occultist.” If they’re a smooth talker, sharp dresser and shrewd manipulator, people would call them a “Dandy.” Part of your character’s reputation is reflected by their archetype choice.

  Once you’ve chosen your archetype, follow the steps below to complete your character:

  Your Character’s Descriptors

  Each character starts with 6 descriptors. All descriptors should be evocative in what they tell about the character and not too broad in application. These consist of:

  3 Trademarks: Positive and useful in nature, these descriptors cover important or noteworthy features of a character. They might define some important background detail, a physical or mental trait, affiliation with a political group, or some training they have had. Trademarks are broad statements about a specific element of their character’s background, personality or capabilities. In some situations they might be a drawback and act as a Flaw, but usually they are an asset. Examples are Sharp Dresser, Born Liar, Drives Like a Maniac, Stank Breath and Apple Dapple Cinnamon-Baked Complexion.

  1 Flaw: Negative in nature, this descriptor provides interesting complications for the character. Usually, Flaws are a drawback and source of Vigor points, but occasionally a Flaw might help in a conflict. Examples are Alcoholic, Bitter Sibling Rivalry, Intolerant of Hoodoo Practitioners, Hunted by the Law, or Sucker for a Pretty Face.

  2 Relationships: One relationship should be positive and one should be negative; clearly indicate the object of the relationship and its nature. Other player characters are ideal characters to hold a relationship with. Relationships are likely to change more frequently than other descriptors due to the often fluid nature of interpersonal affairs. Examples are Caledonia Is My Loving Wife, Pig Teats Johnson Took My Land and Will Pay, and Michelle’s My Best Friend.

  Note that your flaw shouldn’t be easy to solve. If it was, your character would have done that already, and that’s not interesting. But nor should it paralyze the character completely. If the flaw is constantly interfering with the character’s day-to-day life, s/he’s going to spend all his or her time dealing with it rather than other matters at hand. You shouldn’t have to deal with your flaw at every turn—unless that’s the core of one particular adventure in the story and even then, that’s just one adventure.

  Flaws also shouldn’t be directly related to your Archetype—if you have Occult Investigator as an Archetype, saying your flaw is Vampires Hate Me is a dull flaw, because we already assume that with your concept. Of course, you can turn that up a notch to make it personal, like The Vampire King of New Orleans Wants to Kill Me and Take My Wife, to make it work.

  Before you go any further, talk with the GM about your character’s flaw. Make sure you’re both on the same page in terms of what it means. Both of you may want to find one way this descriptor might be invoked or snagged to make sure you’re both seeing the same things—or to give each other ideas. The GM should come away from this conversation knowing what you want out of your flaw.

  Choose One Close Friend and One Rival

  Choose a non-player character (“NPC”) who is a close relationship—a good friend, a lover, a family relation, etc. Then choose another NPC who’s your rival or enemy. NPCs are like the supporting actors in a movie or TV show. They are controlled and played by the GM.

  You can create your close friend and rival’s character sheets and fully develop them or just write a few paragraphs describing them and your relationship to them.

  Record Your Name, Alias, & Look

  Choose a name for your character. If your character uses an alias or nickname, make a note of it. Record a few evocative words that describe your character’s look.

  Choose your Skills (see Skills and Feats)

  Finally, Choose Your Special Ability (see Special Abilities)

  Review Your Details

  Take a look at the details of your character.

  Now, purchase equipment you want, or feel your character will need in order to survive and/or succeed.

  That’s it! Your character is ready for play. When you start the first session, the GM will ask you some questions about who you are, your outlook, or some past events. If you don’t know the answers, make some up. Or ask the other players for ideas.

  DESCRIPTORS

  As stated earlier, a descriptor is a phrase that describes something unique or noteworthy
about whatever it’s attached to. They’re the primary way you spend and gain Vigor, and they influence the story by providing an opportunity for a character to get a bonus, complicating a character’s life, or adding to another character’s roll or passive opposition.

  Types of Descriptors

  Steamfunkateers has three other kinds of descriptors besides the Character Descriptors given above:

  Game Descriptors

  Situation Descriptors

  Conditions

  These descriptors mainly differ from one another in terms of what they’re attached to and how long they last.

  Game Descriptors

  Game descriptors are permanent fixtures of the game, hence the name. While they might change over time, they’re never going to go away. These are the current or impending issues intrinsic to your adventure or campaign (a campaign is a series of adventures played by you, your fellow players and your GM).

  Game Descriptors describe problems or threats that exist in the world, which are going to be the basis for your game’s story.

  Everyone can invoke, snag, or get the upper hand on a game descriptor at any time; they’re always there and available for anyone’s use.

  Situation Descriptors

  A situation descriptor is temporary, intended to last only for a single scene or until it no longer makes sense (but no longer than a session, at most). Situation descriptors can be attached to the environment the scene takes place in—which affects everybody in the scene—but you can also attach them to specific characters by targeting them when you get the upper hand.

  Situation descriptors describe significant circumstances the characters are dealing with in a scene. Situation Descriptors include:

  Physical descriptors of the environment—Dense Underbrush, Obscuring Snowdrifts, Sweltering Savannah.

  Positioning or placement—Sniper’s Perch, In the Trees, Backyard.

  Immediate obstacles—Burning Barn, Tricky Lock, Yawning Chasm.

  Contextual details that are likely to come into play—Disgruntled Townsfolk, Docked Joseon Turtle Ships, Loud Machinery.

  Sudden changes in a character’s status—Sand in the Eyes, Disarmed, Cornered, Covered in Glue-Slime.

  Who can use a situation descriptor depends a lot on narrative context—sometimes it’ll be very clear, and sometimes you’ll need to justify how you’re using the descriptor to make sense based on what’s happening in the scene. GMs are the final arbiter on what descriptors are valid.

  Sometimes situation descriptors become obstacles that characters need to surmount. Other times they give you justification to provide active opposition against someone else’s action.

  Conditions

  A condition is more permanent than a situation descriptor, but not quite as permanent as a character descriptor. They’re a special kind of descriptor you take in order to avoid getting incapacitated or killed in a conflict, and they describe lasting injuries or problems that you take away from a conflict—Dislocated Knee, Bloody Nose, Social Pariah.

  Conditions are a great way to handle injuries, emotional scarring, and other persistent damage within the fiction of your game.

  Conditions stick around for a variable length of time, and have varying levels of severity:

  There are three kinds of conditions:

  Fleeting: Goes away when you get a chance to catch your breath and calm down.

  Sticky: Remains until a specific event happens.

  Lasting: These stick around for a while and require someone to surmount a level-2 obstacle with some type of Healing skill or special ability before you can start to recover from them.

  You suffer from a condition when the GM says you suffer from a condition—usually as a result of your narrative situation.

  Once you’re suffering from a condition, that condition is a descriptor on your character sheet like any other. You can invoke them to gain Vigor, and they can be compelled against you. When you take a condition, someone else can invoke it against you for free one time.

  Naming a Condition

  Here are some guidelines for choosing what to name a condition:

  Mild conditions don’t require immediate medical attention. They hurt, and they may present an inconvenience, but they aren’t going to force you into a lot of bed rest. On the mental side, mild conditions express things like small social gaffes or changes in your surface emotions. Examples: Black Eye, Bruised Hand, Winded, Flustered, Cranky, Temporarily Blinded.

  Moderate conditions represent fairly serious impairments that require dedicated effort toward recovery (including medical attention). On the mental side, they express things like damage to your reputation or emotional problems that you can’t just shrug off with an apology and a good night’s sleep. Examples: Deep Cut, First Degree Burn, Exhausted, Drunk, Terrified.

  Severe conditions go straight to the infirmary—they’re extremely nasty and prevent you from doing a lot of things, and will lay you out for a while. On the mental side, they express things like serious trauma or relationship-changing harm. Examples: Second-Degree Burn, Compound Fracture, Guts Hanging Out, Crippling Shame, Trauma-Induced Phobia.

  Recovering from a Condition

  Recovering from a condition requires two things—succeeding at an action that allows you to justify recovery, and then waiting an appropriate amount of game time for that recovery to take place.

  The action in question is a surmount action; the impediment is the condition that you took. If it’s a physical injury, then the action is some kind of medical treatment or first aid. For mental conditions, the action may involve therapy, counseling, or simply a night out with friends.

  Keep in mind that the circumstances have to be appropriately free of distraction and tension for you to make this roll in the first place—you’re not going to clean and bandage a nasty cut while automatons are tromping through the alleyways looking for you. GMs, you’ve got the final judgment call.

  If you succeed at the recovery action, or someone else succeeds on a recovery action for you, you get to rename the condition descriptor to show that it’s in recovery. So, for example, Broken Leg could become Stuck in a Cast, Scandalized could become Damage Control, and so on.

  Whether you change the condition’s name or not—and sometimes it might not make sense to do so—mark it so that you and the GM remember that recovery has started.

  Then, you just have to wait the time, which depends on whether the condition is fleeting, sticky, or lasting.

  For a fleeting condition, you only have to wait one whole scene after the recovery action, and then you can remove the descriptor and clear the slot.

  For a sticky condition, you have to wait one whole session after the recovery action (which means if you do the recovery action in the middle of a session, you should recover sometime in the middle of the next session).

  For a lasting condition, you have to wait one whole adventure after the recovery action.

  Because of their negative phrasing, you’re likely to get snagged a lot when you have them, and anyone who can justifiably benefit from the condition can invoke it or get the upper hand on it.

  When suffering Mild conditions, you take a -1d penalty to your dice pool.

  When suffering Moderate conditions, you take a -2d penalty to your dice pool.

  When suffering Severe conditions, you take a -3d penalty to your dice pool.

  Determining Severity and Duration of Conditions

  If you suffer a condition, the player that defeated you—or the GM if you were defeated by an NPC—determines the duration and severity of the Condition by rolling a die twice, as follows:

  First Roll:

  1-2: Sticky

  3-4: Lasting

  5-6: Fleeting

  Second Roll:

  1-2: Severe

  3-4: Moderate

  5-6: Mild

  Importance

  Your collection of game and character descriptors tells you what you need to focus on during your game. Think of them
as a message from yourself to yourself, a set of flags waving you toward the path with the most fun.

  GMs, when you make scenarios for Steamfunkateers, you’re going to use those descriptors, and the connections between descriptors, to generate the problems your PCs are going to solve. Players, your descriptors are the reason why your PC stands out from every other character that might have similar skills—lots of Steamfunkateers characters might have a high Melee skill, but only Ray-Ray is A Member of the Black Dispatches. When his path as a Black spy for the Union comes into play, or the Black Dispatches take action, it gives the game a personal touch that it wouldn’t have had otherwise.

  The game descriptors do something similar on a larger scale—they tell us why we care about playing this particular game in the first place, what makes it concrete and appealing to us.

  Situation descriptors make the moment-to-moment interactions of play interesting by adding color and depth to what might otherwise be a boring scene. A fight in a saloon is generic by nature—it could be any saloon, anywhere. But when you add the descriptor Huge ‘Brown Derby Inn’ Statue to the scene, and people bring it into play, it becomes “that fight we were in at the Brown Derby Inn, when I smashed that guy’s head into the statue.” The unique details add interest and investment.

  Descriptors & Roleplaying

  Finally, descriptors have a passive use that you can draw on in almost every instance of play. Players, you can use them as a guide to roleplaying your character. This may seem self-evident, but we figured we’d call it out anyway—the descriptors on your character sheet are true of your character at all times, not just when they’re invoked or snagged.

  Think of your collection of descriptors as an oracle—like the casting of lots in African cultures, or a tarot die spread. They give you a big picture of what your character’s about, and they can reveal interesting implications if you read between the lines. If you’re wondering what your character might do in a certain situation, look at your descriptors. What do they say about your character’s personality, goals, and desires? Are there any clues in what your descriptors say that might suggest a course of action? Once you find that suggestion, go for it.