Characters I've Played: TJ

TJ is a character I've come back to a few times over.  Like some other characters I've played (funny how it's happened), she started out as a character for a zombie horror game that didn't last terribly long.  But when Sunday Game Group was discussing having regular roleplaying for the first time (which was maybe 4 or 5 years ago, now!) we discussed starting off with the Cortex System from Margret Weis Productions using the Supernatural setting.  So TJ seemed like a natural fit for an update into Evil Hat's Fate Core.

So a first thing to throw out there is that TJ is what's generally called a "crossplay" character.  I've actually seen the topic of "is it possible for guys to play girls in RPGs?" come up quite a bit lately, so I feel like it's important to acknowledge the discussion.  Personally, I've never seen much of an issue.  The characters I play aren't me and as a writer I tend to make characters based on what fits the story I want to tell.  So in this instance, TJ just fit.  Do I play her as a woman would play her?  I have no idea, to be honest.  But I try and keep in mind that TJ should be a complete person with opinions and feelings.

That means that TJ has a sexual orientation (which is bisexual) and standards as to what she wants in that orientation.  I have the list of what she likes in my head and I can use that list to go back an assess things from her viewpoint.  Which, I think, is the value of roleplaying to me.  I know what I'd do, or would like to do, in a lot of life situations.  It's far more interesting to see if I can build a story for someone else and carry that to outcomes.  It's a test of my writing/creating skills and a test of my ability to create logical reasonings for things.  In that sense playing a girl, for me, isn't really all that different from playing a Tauren.

So that all said, a bit of story about TJ.  TJ was born in the Portland, Oregon and was a gearhead from a young age.  She has a number of tattoos, which reflect successful missions as a hunter.  She is strong but still has a figure rather than an overly-muscled frame and she cares deeply about people and the environment, but is fairly apolitical.  There's a couple of secret bits of information about here that I'll try to hint at here, but not reveal.

TJ's original system was D20 Modern, then she rolled over into Cortex, and then from there we did manage to briefly continue our Supernatural game in the version of Fate used in Strands of Fate.  As a reminder, I'll be going over TJ's High Concept, her Trouble, 3 Phase Aspects, her Skills, and her Stunts.

TJ's High Concept is an easy one for me, because it was the first set of words I came up with when I was first creating her.  She's a biker, a girl, she's got tattoos, and she hunts the supernatural.  All that rolls together well.
High Concept: Tattooed Biker and Huntress

TJ's Trouble is similarly fairly straightforward.  She's a striking woman, with all the tattoos.  She's not gorgeous or hideous, but she's fit and has strong features.  She dresses in a tomboy fashion and doesn't do "meek and demure."  Add to that a loud motorcycle and a penchant for baseball bats and shotguns and she's pretty hard not to notice.
Trouble:  Hard to Forget

The first phase aspect is usually the background for my characters.  In the Supernatural setting I like to make this about what made them a Hunter.  For TJ, this goes back to when she was visiting a friend in Santa Cruz and an angry ghost decided to crash their party.  It turned out the ghost was haunting the locket TJ's friend had picked up at an antique store and assumed the girl had gotten the locket from the ghosts' husband, who'd cheated on the ghost so many years ago.  TJ stopped the ghost by destroying the locket, making a pretty clear aspect.
Phase One (Background): Ghost Lock-down

The second phase is a situation in which the characters form some of their initial connections.  One of the main characters that TJ has had repeated adventures with is named Jane, who is a bookish, smaller, quiet hunter, which serves as a good foil for big, loud TJ.  We've never quite fleshed out their first meeting, but it's been hinted at that TJ saved Jane from some monster and Jane saved TJ from the cops.  TJ also showed a penchant for breaking down the obstacles in her way.
Phase Two (Jane Guest Star): Break Stuff

Third phase, like second, should be another guest starring situation.  I don't know that at this point any of the characters I've played with in the past fit particularly strongly for this slot, so I'll leave it open for the day we play again and I need to fill in.  A key feature of TJ's persona is the fact that she uses her tattoos to record her hunts, so it's an easy choice to make this aspect about that.
Phase Three: Stories in Ink


Skills wise, TJ is fairly straightforward.  Her key ability would probably be fight, as that's where she makes her living.  Beneath that would be the drive skill (for her motorcycle) and the craft skill for her mechanical inclination.  Following that would be physique (because she's got the ability for a lot of stamina), athletics (because she works out regularly), and shoot (because it's her other key mode of combat).  Filling out her skills would be rapport, empathy, notice, and contacts.

Great(+4): Fight

Good(+3): Drive, Craft

Fair(+2): Physique, Athletics, Shoot

Average(+1): Rapport, Empathy, Notice, Contacts

In terms of stunts, TJ uses them to fill in a bit of her weak areas.  She has a strength with shotguns, but relative inexperience with other guns, so I give her a shoot stunt that boosts her shotgun skills.  I've called this "Buckshot Blast" in the past and I'll stick with that here.  Similarly, TJ isn't a great investigator, but sometimes can make leaps of insight that get her where she needs to be.  I'll make a stunt in this case that plays off her empathy to take on a trapping of investigation.  This, I think, should be called "Seeing the Pattern."  Finally, TJ is fairly intimidating and can get what she wants out of people using her looks or her brawn.  Both of these fit in with physique, so I'll give her an ability to use physique to intimidate or charm over rapport.  I'll call this "Woman of Note."
Stunts
Buckshot Blast
Seeing the Pattern
Woman of Note

So that's TJ.  Feels good to update her though she's less out of date than others I might do in this series.  Hopefully another chance to play her will come up soon.

Previous in this series: Thorren

Games I love: Fluxx

Fluxx by Looney Labs is, I think, an increasingly well known card game with a growing number of expansions and spinoffs.  While I've played Zombie Fluxx, Cthulhu Fluxx, Star Fluxx, and Monty Python Fluxx, I have a strong soft spot for the original game and first spinoff EcoFluxx.

In Fluxx, the rules are ever changing, including the conditions for victory.  There are five main types of cards: Rules, Actions, Keepers, Goals, and Creepers.  The game starts with players having a hand of 3 cards and a basic rule in play: draw one, play one.  When yellow Rules cards enter a player's hand, they can play them to change the rules, which can result in things such as larger hand size, more cards drawn or played, or limits on Keepers on the table.  Keepers, the green cards, are generally the key to winning and are objects or concepts such as Earth, War, Cake, Trees, or Party.  Goals, colored pink, typically ask for two Keepers within a theme, such as Earth and Peace for the Goal "World Peace."  Blue Action cards let you do something, such as "swap hands with another player" or "draw two play one."  Creepers are colored black and generally block a player's chance at victory; to be perfectly honest, I generally play without them because my group started playing Fluxx far enough back that they didn't exist for most of our experience with the game, but they definitely add another layer of complexity.

The game is relatively simple in that context, but because players are constantly changing the goals and rules, it can be hard to keep up.  Which, I think, is a big part of the value of Fluxx in all its varieties.  It teaches players to be flexible, and to think strategically about when they play their cards, because what might be a great hand one turn might be lackluster the next.  Games of Fluxx sometimes take as little as two minutes or as long as two hours.  Fluxx adapts well to both small and large numbers of players, especially when combining two or more sets, as I regularly do with Fluxx and EcoFluxx.  Even better, Fluxx is easy to transport, quick to set up, and simple to learn, making it great for trips and new groups.  All these things add up to create one of the mainstays of my game collection that I can play with pretty much anyone.

Games I Love: Bang!

It's a pretty simple explanation why I like Bang!(click the British flag in the corner for English!) It's because Bang! is a spaghetti western turned card game where draw can mean pulling a card or shooting someone from across the table.  The game itself has a fairly easy learning curve, though it definitely helps to play with someone who has played before.

There are four roles to play in Bang!: the sheriff, the renegade, the deputy, and the outlaw.  In a given game, there will be only one sheriff and one renegade (except in certain expansions), but the number of deputies and outlaws will increase with the number of players.  Generally the outlaws will be the largest group, at least equaling the sheriff and deputies.  The sheriff is the only player whose role is revealed openly (with a big shiny badge!), and that player's job is to shoot the outlaws and renegade. The deputies are meant to help in this job, but as they're not always known to the sheriff, a lot of bluffing and "false deputizing" can be involved here.  The renegade wants everyone dead; they can only win if the sheriff dies and the outlaws are also dead.  The outlaws simply want the sheriff dead and anyone else is just collateral.  Players also get to choose from a random set of two options for their character, each of which has a special ability.

Players start with a set number of life points and those life points also determine their starting hand size.  The sheriff starts play, drawing two cards and playing as many as they choose.  They can only shoot people within the range of their gun (using a Bang! card, from which the game gets it's name), beer heals them, and other various objects and items can enhance the special skills of each character.  The mystery and bluffing that goes on in Bang! is what really makes the game shine.  Much bantering and yelling has ensued in every game I've played, with players actively commenting on the actions of one another and trying to convince the sheriff of their roles.

I've played Bang! with family members as young as 9 (she won her first game!) and it's an game we play now and again at my gaming group.  Bang! is easy to transport, quick to set up, fairly simple to learn, and because you play against players who can bluff and because each character has special powers, it can be challenging and complex despite how simple it is.  It's a great game that can be played over and over because each session can be completely different than the last.

Games I Love: Get Bit!

In Get Bit! You play a robot (or in the newer version, a pirate) swimming for your life to escape a robot (or pirate) munching shark. To do this you have to bluff or luck your way into playing different and higher value cards than your opponents.  It's a relatively simple game, but that's part of the appeal in my mind.

Get Bit! is quick to pick up and play because the rules are intuitive for the most part.  Play a higher card?  You're farther from the shark.  Closest to the shark?  You get bitten.  Get bitten?  Lose a limb.  Lose all your limbs?  Sink to the bottom of the ocean and lose the game.  The only potentially confusing rule is what to do when two players play the same card.  Those players don't move positions except to be next to one another.  That means that players should hope to avoid matching the cards of other players, because a match at the wrong time could be potentially disastrous.

While there's not so many cards that card-counting is impossible, but there's still a degree of bluffing involved.  Similarly, there's a degree of strategy in deciding if you should allow yourself to get bitten.  While it's theoretically possible to survive a game without getting bitten, it's unlikely and grows ever more unlikely the more players are involved in the game.  Generally it seems better strategy to choose carefully when you take your bites so that you can play your cards at the most opportune moments.

It's notable that a pseudo prequel to Get Bit! called Walk the Plank! which is just about to finish a Kickstarter campaign (26 hours as this is being written). While the rules are different and neither needs the other to be played, it's pretty cool that Walk the Plank! and Get Bit! can link together.

Games I Love: Agricola

When I think of Agricola the thing that immediately comes to mind is the phrase "farming is hard!" It's a common refrain from my gaming group when we play, but it hasn't stopped us from trying to master the art of boardgame farming.

In Agricola players take on the role of farmers in the middle ages, attempting to plant their fields, raise their livestock, feed their families, upgrade their homes, and become successful by taking on any number of occupations. Sound like a lot? It is. Which is why "farming is hard." And the more players added to the game, the harder it gets as people vie for the same resources and upgrades.

That might make Agricola sound unfun, but it's really a huge part of what makes it excellent. The game is deep. So deep, in fact, that in the two years we've been playing it, no one member of my gaming group has ever seen all the occupations or improvements which are dealt out to each player at the start of the game. This means there's almost always something new to look at and half the way to succeed at Agricola is to get a little lucky and find a good way to make your various occupations and improvements synergise so that you're reaping huge benefits.

The game itself is good looking and the wood tokens, whether they're the old versions (circles and blocks) or the new (person or animal shaped), feel right to the spirit of the game.  Similarly, the boards and cards are beautiful but simple, fitting in well with the time period of the game.  There's no dice rolling in Agricola, making the game far more about timing and playing the odds and against the other players than about round to round luck.  Agricola is definitely an excellently made game and I think it should be a welcome addition to any gaming table.