All right Game Fans, we’re back to finish up our character building for Call of Cthulhu
We’ve Rolled our Attributes, generated our statistics, picked a profession, and assigned our skill points. We’re coming in on the home stretch but we’re at one the most important parts of constructing a character, building the Backstory. Let’s take a look at Building a Backstory, Call of Cthulhu style. Call of Cthulhu gives you a lot of leeway for building a backstory, and they offer a variety of tables to help inspire you. We’re going to use that narrative tool for building a backstory, to give you folks at home an idea of how the tables works.
Using the tables is a means of helping you jumpstart your imagination. If you’ve gotten to this point and can’t quite think of how your character fits into the world around him, that’s okay. The tables are here to help you generate ideas and sculpt your character’s background into what you want him or her to be. Let’s start at the beginning and work our way out from there.
Personal Description:
Looking at the attributes we have, we have a character with slightly above average strength and constitution and slightly below average size.. Combined with an above average Appearance, we have some starting points for an appearance. The keyword that i am selecting from the list on page 53 is Elegant. So let’s see what this turns out like.
“Henry is a shorter man, standing about 5’8” tall. He’s got short black hair and green eyes. Elegantly dressed, Henry is always dressed in a 3 piece suit and favors pin stripes over solid colors. He walks with a slight limp (a holdover from his adventures during World War I) and carries a elegant mahogany cane.”
Beliefs:
After a long stint doing some things he can’t talk about during World War I, Henry has come to the conclusion that he is where he is supposed to be. Whatever happens is supposed to happen, and he accepts the world as it is. Fate has been determined, and its up to people to accept it.
Significant People:
Jack, his friend from World War I. They survived some harrowing experiences throughout the war, and he wouldn’t have gotten through it with Jack. Jack’s come on hard times after the War and Henry takes it upon himself to see that his friend is taken care of.
Significant Locations:
The Library of Congress: Henry has relocated to D.C. after the war, and spends a majority of his time in the Library of Congress when he isn’t teaching at the University of Virginia. He has fallen in love with the vast collection of books in those archives.
Memento: (Key Backstory Connection)
Henry and Jack were in Germany during WWI, and while they were exploring a site, they found an icon belonging to an unknown faith. He’s spent years trying to figure out what it’s for, what it represents, and any other details about it. It remains a mystery.
Traits:
Loyalty is a key defining trait for Henry. He lives and dies by his loyalty to his friends, and once he gives his word, it is his bond. Henry’s loyalty is unshakable once given, and some folks have taken advantage of this in the past.
Birthplace: London, England
Gender: Male
Name: Henry Reed
The last step of the character creation process is equipping the investigator, and we’ll do that and fill out what looks like a character sheet next time. A quick recap, for those playing along at home.
Strength (Rolled 11) 55
Constitution (Rolled 13) 65
Size (Rolled 9) 45
Dexterity (Rolled 11) 55
Appearance (Rolled 13) 65
Intelligence (Rolled 15) 75
Power (Rolled 14) 70
Education (Rolled 14) 70
Luck (Rolled 16) 80
Skills:
Appraise 65%
Art/Craft (Fine Art) 45%
Brawling 65%
Charm 45%
History 75%
Library Use 70%
Other Language 71%
Spot Hidden 25%
Credit Rating 70%
Details:
Name: Henry Reed
Age 31
Birthplace: London, England
Gender: Male
HP 11
Damage Bonus: -
Build: +0
Appearance:
“Henry is a shorter man, standing about 5’8” tall. He’s got short black hair and green eyes. Elegantly dressed, Henry is always dressed in a 3 piece suit and favors pin stripes over solid colors. He walks with a slight limp (a holdover from his adventures during World War I) and carries a elegant mahogany cane.”
Beliefs:
After a long stint doing some things he can’t talk about during World War I, Henry has come to the conclusion that he is where he is supposed to be. Whatever happens is supposed to happen, and he accepts the world as it is. Fate has been determined, and its up to people to accept it.
Significant People:
Jack, his friend from World War I. They survived some harrowing experiences throughout the war, and he wouldn’t have gotten through it with Jack. Jack’s come on hard times after the War and Henry takes it upon himself to see that his friend is taken care of.
Significant Locations:
The Library of Congress: Henry has relocated to D.C. after the war, and spends a majority of his time in the Library of Congress when he isn’t teaching at the University of Virginia. He has fallen in love with the vast collection of books in those archives.
Memento: (Key Backstory Connection)
Henry and Jack were in Germany during WWI, and while they were exploring a site, they found an icon belonging to an unknown faith. He’s spent years trying to figure out what it’s for, what it represents, and any other details about it. It remains a mystery.
Traits:
Loyalty is a key defining trait for Henry. He lives and dies by his loyalty to his friends, and once he gives his word, it is his bond. Henry’s loyalty is unshakable once given, and some folks have taken advantage of this in the past.
Backstory:
We have a character who was asked to do something that he can’t talk about by the Government during the 1st world war. He and his companion Jack (a possible PC) were operating behind enemy lines during the war doing something. While there, they found the mysterious Icon that Jack has spent his post war career studying and researching. He’s an associate faculty member at the University of Virginia and authenticates rare pieces of art from around the world.
We’ll finish up next time with equpment, Game On, Game Fans.
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