Choose Your Character

Characters in the world of Black Powder and Brimstone

So the character creation stage of any RPG is extremely important as I’m sure you know. You need a role to play at the table hah. More loosy goosy systems like Fate and Mork Borg have you able to create a character potentially within minutes with minimal fuss, maths and dice rolling. This compared to the oceans of text present in some systems is fantastic as for one you can get a new player into the game super quickly, and with such a short time creating a character I find players take more risks and really lean into a game’s tone of live fast and die as spectacularly as possible.

Now this may seem a little cold hearted, but if anything I find that relieves stress at the table and has players making bolder and more creative decisions rather than making sure every aspect of a session is to their advantage. You should be playing to get into trouble and cause a ruckus after all, not be a background character to another narrative.

 

So there are five classes in Black Powder and Brimstone. Each one is indicative of a style of character I could see existing in this world. And for every class there are three subclasses, so fifteen in total. I’m going to be going over each class in this post, but not each subclass, as you will have to get the game to find out what those are. 

So firstly is the Mercenary Deserter.

This is the pure fighter warrior class that is good with big armor and big weapons. The kind of character that takes the front of the marching order and is a cynical professional. 

With each character I wanted to have a random table for you to get a glimpse of a backstory that you can take or leave as a way of making this character your own. For the Mercenary Deserter I wanted to focus on trauma, something you saw that haunts your dreams. Also the fact that you are a deserter could come up in a storyline and give you all sorts of complications that you will have to deal with. 

Next we have the Bounty Hunter.

With this class i was inspired by The Witcher and the antihero’s of the old west. A hunter for coin that lives for the thrill of the chase. With the random character trait I wanted to focus on childhood memories, the wound or event that made the character what they are. These are a little more abstract than the Mercenary Deserter but are more for the player to interpret.

Now one of the more special characters. 

The Witch. 

The witch character type is one that is very close to my heart, and encompasses a lot of what I want to achieve with the tone of the game.  So firstly, Magic is Rare and Dangerous, not just to others but to the wielder as well. As such those that practice magic are persecuted by the church, and if you use magic in front of the wrong people, you will have to deal with the Inquisition. 

Secondly, magic, especially magic in the realms of folk horror is inherently a feminine trait. The witch of the woods, as depicted here is a powerful and esoteric presence. As such I decided to make the decision to make magic rare and special, so only witches can use magic, and only women can be witches. So no wizards, warlocks or natural philosophers. Obviously once you have the book, any game you make is yours, I dont have the time or the power to bash your door down and dictate the rules as written, but know this was a design decision I took a lot of time working on and it wasn't just an off the cuff decision for brownie points online. 

To fit the theme of the Witch being at once powerful, but also hounded, the random character traits are all about your witch running from something, you can't just be comfortable, something is out to get you, and it will catch you sooner or later. 

Next we have the Opportunist.

My take on the Rogue archetype. 

Opportunists are morally gray bastards that want one thing and one thing only, to get filthy rich or die trying. These are highly driven characters that have a clear want, something they are after. That’s why the random character aspects are all about solidifying these wants so you have a clear motivation. The Adventurer as shown here is a kind of swashbuckling Indiana Jones type character. The kind to delve into ancient tombs and cursed cities for the chance at that big payday. It's something that a lot of players gravitate towards, stealing everything that’s not nailed down just in case you can either use it or flog it for a few coins later to make your life just a bit easier. And hay, a war’s on, you best seize this opportunity or someone else will. 

The idea of the class aspect is to be more athletic than the Mercenary or the Bounty Hunter. Where the player uses feats of dexterity or talking bullshit to create their own advantages rather than brute forcing their way through a tricky situation. 

Lastly we have the Practitioner. 

I went back and forth a lot about this character type, initially I was thinking of not having a Paladin/ religious character in the game at all. But seeing as faith and religion is such a large part of the world, the war itself is a religious conflict inspired by the European Wars of Religion, especially the 30 Years War, that it felt wrong not to include a paladin type class. 

Now I’m sure you are thinking “then what's the point? If only the Witch can cast magic?”. 

Well the way I figured it, these practitioners of faith can perform more earthly miracles than the full fat power of Witch magic. But that doesn't mean they aren't useful in a pinch. For example the VOwe of war, shown here a sort of warrior Monk/ Nun is inspired by the Knights Hospitaller in their defense of Malta against the Ottoman Empire. A fantastic episode of Lions Led by Donkeys is linked for you to listen to. 

Where the Knights would fight on way past physical exhaustion to defend the island. With some knights so injured they demanded to be strapped to chairs so they could keep swinging at invaders as they went through the doors. That sort of indomitable spirit is what I wanted to get across with the Vow of War at least. 

As for the random character trait, I often find characters of faith are more or less defined by that faith in modern media. If you are a monk or a Nun that's all you are, no ambitions or inner monologue. So i thought to give a good heft of spice if you want to play a practitioner you should have a secret, one you may or may not share with the table (but should do with the GM hah). 

That way no matter how you roll play the character, you and the table know there is something else beneath the surface, that you hold something within you that is not as it seems. 

So there we have the characters, I may add more, but that will likely come with the expansions I have brewing in the back of my mind and won't even touch until much, much later. 

Now something you may have noticed about all the characters so far is they are kinda, well, hot. Not gonna lie about it or try to make excuses. At the end of the day the advantage of making your own project is you can do what you want without anyone telling you no. So I decided not to have everyone as battered and grimy as in Mordheim or other grim dark worlds and lean into the “Slut at the ren fair” look. I feel also with the world of the game, it's so bleak and horrific and nasty you may as well look cool in your imagination, something a lot of cyberpunk games lean into as a way of not making the world so nasty that you have to lean into parody and absurdism to not give everyone at the table a real case of the blues. 

As for the project, it's coming along, only two pages left to illustrate and myself and my wife (who is the inspiration of the Woods Witch) are going to go over the spelling with a fine tooth comb so that my dyslexia is not on full show. 

Let me know which character you think you would want to play first?

And obviously this kind of project lives or dies on its audience, so please share this blog with anyone who you think would be interested in the game. I am out there promoting this blog and the Prelaunch Page as much as I can before the kickstarter preview page goes live, but a lot of places understandebly dont like self promotion. So I humbly ask you to get the word out so we can make this project truly great together.

Cheers

B