Earlier in the week my game group got together for an All For One character generation test run. The system is smooth and I really like it. All For One uses a simple point buy generation system. First you pick an Archetype, then a Motivation, then purchase six Primary Attributes which generate six Secondary Attributes, then purchase Skills, then pick one Talent or Resource and finally a flaw if you want one. With the basic character now created the final steps are spending some Starting Experience Points to reflect the characters past and the Finishing Touches (name, history, appearance, background, and so on).
Both the Archetype and Motivation go a long way to defining who the character is. They are broad enough to allow for player input, but give a great deal of guidance right off the bat and help the rest of generation flow. Buying six Primary Attributes with only 15 points might not seem like a lot, but a rating of 2 in this game is human average, so at worst, each character will be above average in half of their attributes. Because the six Secondary Attributes are calculated off the Primary Attributes, the same principle applies. 15 points in skills is a little tricky as several skills have Specializations that also have to be purchased, so 15 points might not go as far as one might think. But Skills are linked to Attributes thus increasing their die pools.
Talents work much like Feats in this game. They give some in game bonus that is unavailable without that Talent. Some are strictly die pools bonuses, some grant the ability to use different Attributes for rolls, some remove restrictions, and some simply let you do something that you otherwise cannot do. None are particularly grand and all they really do is add flavor and a little bit of an edge to the character.
Resources are used in All For One instead of money. And it is the character's decision to purchase what resource level they want for their character. For an old school D&D gamer, this is quite the change! Gold and magic items (or credits and gear or whatever) are not the object in this game at all. The Adventure is what All for One is about. In this game, if you want something and have the Resource level high enough to get it, it's yours. If not, then you have no one to blame but yourself!
I really like games that have flaws as characteristics. It adds something to a character to not be perfect. While Archetype and Motivation define a lot about a character, the flaw makes them fun to play. In All for One, flaws are optional. All they do is add flavor. Oh, and the opportunity to earn Style Points. Style Points add to your die pool. The die pool is how many dice you roll to determine if you are successful or not in what you are doing. Style points also reduce damage or boost talents. All in all, they are what makes your character better or luckier than the average shmuck off the street.
Generating these character was more of a learning exercise than anything else. No one in the group has played in a Ubiquity system before and the GM wanted to see what character generation was like. Following my running theme for the Blog, I think this was an excellent exercise. Putting it simply, a character generated for the first time in a new rule system doesn't have the same chance of being a truly great character as one generated after a player has some level experience. Next up will be a actual test game where we take the rules out for a spin using pre-generated characters.
Till then, keep rolling my friends!
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