# Character Creation Challenge 2024: Day 17 - Tiny Frontiers: Revised :: K'ttk, Invex Explorer tags: #thoughts/CharacterCreationChallenge/2024 #game/rpg/tiny-frontiers-revised > [!quote] [[Character Creation Challenge 2024]] > > ![[Character Creation Challenge Image.png]] I have a *lot* of science fiction RPGs. That probably doesn't come as a shock unless you're familiar with the history of tabletop RPGs and the brutal dominance of the fantasy genre in the industry. Taken as a percentage of all games created, **[[Dungeons and Dragons|D&D]]** and [Fantasy Heartbreaker](https://rpgmuseum.fandom.com/wiki/Fantasy_heartbreaker) derivatives thereof have probably killed more trees than weevils.^[That is, they've used a lot of paper, not that they've competed to see which they could kill more of, trees or weevils. Weirdo.] That's not to say that science fiction-based games haven't been popular, they're just harder to come by and tend to have an even greater diversity of design then you find elsewhere. Plus you can have cybernetics, giant worms, spaceships, and psychic powers all hanging out together. The side effect is sometimes those books get really huge because they feel like they need complex, detailed rules to cover every possible outcome. We're going to challenge that assumption. Today we create a character for **[[Tiny Frontiers Revised|Tiny Frontiers: Revised]]**. ![[Tiny Frontiers Revised (cover).jpg]] ## Chargen Slim, sleek, a little bit petite, as might be expected in a package this small. Pick a few things, answer some questions, then get on with playing. All characters are Explorers, individuals who have decided to go out into the cosmos, find out what's going on, do a little trading, throw a few lasers, possibly terrify few people. You know how it is when you go Exploring. ### Character I'm going to invert my preferred method of creating a character as I've done a few times during the **CCC** and instead of coming up with a concept and then trying to build the character – I'm going to assemble the character and then reverse justify a background. Why? Because, in a weird way, it just makes more sense, especially if you're replicating the feeling of someone coming new to a game and not having a real solid idea of what's possible. First you describe what you can do and then you figure out what you've done. So where do we start? Picking a Heritage. #### Heritage There's a surprisingly broad selection of Heritage options in this text. Humans, of course. Genetically engineered super soldiers. Cyborg robots. Cute goblin-like thieves. Charmander. I feel like going a different direction, however. Something classically science-fiction, particularly pulp-inspired science-fiction, but not the species you often see as the protagonist. ![[Tiny Frontiers Invex.jpg|400]] Oh yes, we are going to be the insectoids. Almost every multi-species space wargame has at least one race of hard-to-kill insect people, generally who want to kill everyone else which makes the fact that they are hard to kill a little bit awkward. Usually that comes with being part of a hive mind, a reference to real world eusocial insects. That's not the case here. We do get a couple of free heritage traits just for being bugs: a hard chitinous outer shell which means we crunch really well and the ability to camouflage ourselves and not be seen, which might be better explained by everyone simply being grossed out by the giant bug and not wanting to look at it. Regardless, that's where we start. Now we need… #### Traits Traits in TFR are as strange mash up of what gets referred to as Perks and Skills in other systems. Some of them are just a way to get Advantage^[An extra die to roll on tests.] on things related to an occupation or field of study. Some of them are weird powers. What looks interesting? We get three. > - **Detective:** *I always get my man, woman, or alien.* When searching for clues as to an identity, whereabouts, or motives, you gain Advantage. > - **Survivalist:** *These berries are safe to eat… I think.* You gain Advantage when Testing to forage for food, find water, seek shelter, or create shelter in the wild. > - **Xenotech Expert:** *Did you try reading the manual first?* You have spent years learning the tricks, traps, uses, and language of various Xenotech from dead civilizations. You gain Advantage to identify the primary function of any piece of Xenotech you find, and you can always activate complex Xenotech without training. (See Xenotech, page 16.) I think I have an idea for a concept coming together. It was triggered by thinking about the fact that we are an Explorer. The Invex are known to be hardy mercenaries and deep space explorers – what if I just lean into that? This is a guy that spends almost all of his time out on the rim of known space. He's a treasure hunter, a researcher, a wreck diver, a survivor who has to look after his own interests first and foremost. Imagine Han Solo and Lara Croft got together, had a baby, and it was a 6 1/2 foot tall cockroach. His job is not always so glamorous as spending six months living in a lean-to on a barely recognizable planet, covered in mud and eating whatever he could scrounge. No, there's also the six months effectively living in a library, looking for leads, chasing down old ship logs, and barely passing a conversation with someone who's not a library hologram the whole time. Which is the way he likes it. This is all starting to come together. Which is good, because we need to pick … #### Equipment To kick that off, we have to choose a Weapon Group to be proficient in. There are only four to worry about: *Light Melee, Heavy Melee, Light Ranged, and Heavy Ranged*. Each of the types has a list of example weapons but I get the feeling this is the kind of game it's not hugely important that you choose something specific from the list or else everything falls apart. Our buggy friend is going to be proficient with *Light Melee*, because you can't afford to fuck around when you're out in the deep dark, can't necessarily get back to civilization easily or quickly, and ammunition doesn't exactly drop off the nasty beasts which are attacking every night. Maybe at some point in the future he will expand into Heavy Ranged – but for now, light and fast. Having chosen that, we have to pick one specific type of weapon to have Mastered, which we also happen to get for free if we want one. I'm going to pick the *rapier*. Yes, a relatively long, narrow piece of metal thick enough to be sturdy with a modified basket hilt to protect the hand. Some things are timeless. Plus the idea of a giant cockroach fencing just pleases me. We'll be taking one of those for free, of course. We start with standard armor or clothing In our case – it ain't much. I'm going to say that the Invex culture we hail from doesn't actually wear clothing but instead has their carapace painted in order to express individual cues, clan/hive hierarchy, and other complex social issues which no one outside of Invex culture would know or care about – so we don't bother. That doesn't matter because no one gets any mechanical advantage from their starting armor/clothing in the game. Being naked is no hindrance! We also kickoff with 10 GalCreds and and an Explorer's Kit. What, you may rightly ask, is in the Explorers Kit? > The Explorer’s Kit includes the following items: > - foil sleeping bag > - lighter > - belt pouch > - fanny pack > - electric lantern with 72 hours of charge > - water purification pills > - 50 feet of strong cord > - 7 days of nutrition pills > - and a plastic poncho. You know, that's actually a pretty good starter pack of things you might need out in the wild. I have no objections. Here's where it gets tricky. #### Name and Family Trade *"About time we got around to actually building some kind of back story. How dare you butcher the mechanics of this text so hard!"* But this is *literally* where it comes up in the actual character generation section of the book! And it's the first place where we start to see the game open up into a beautiful flower of player agency, because there is no list of trades, nor is there a fixed background. You have to come up with it. And I'm okay with that. **Name:** K'ttk (it's very clicky) **Family Trait:** > You might think it's hard growing up in a family of five. What if you had 500 brothers and sisters, living in a gigantic subterranean high-tech termite hill? Knowing from the first years of your life that you are entirely replaceable, a cog in the great machine of the world, expected to fulfill the destiny appointed to you and not that of your own choosing? > > In fairness, almost no one on his home world wanted those things. When you evolve from eusocial insects, it's rare to have an instinctive desire to establish individuality and express the desire for something which is not your place in the hive. No one forces you, of course. They wouldn't dream of it. That's part of the problem. > > By birth, he was intended to be just another **Logistic Laborer**, another set of limbs to move things about, another (admittedly well honed) mind to figure out when things needed to be delivered and where they needed to be delivered to, a cog in the machine – but an important cog. > > He wanted no part of that. And no one wanted to stand in his way when he decided to leave the planet on one of those logistically loaded starships his family had spent generations working to load and unload efficiently – that one and thousands just like it. > > They didn't miss him, just like they never missed any of the few who left the home world of their own free will to go and see what else was out in the cosmos. The hive can never grow if all the members stay at home, after all. Now we need one last thing, a Belief, a guiding force, a singular idea. **Belief:** *"Everything that is is worth knowing."* And that's it. That's character generation. But I'm not satisfied. After all, I am firmly of the belief that **[[Traveller]]** is one of the greatest concepts for an RPG ever created. It has a built-in motivation for all of the protagonists to act and keep acting because nothing is as motivating as being in horrible debt. So we are going to create a starship using the rules in this game – because I want one, frankly. That's it. I want one. ### Starship There's only two steps here – but they are big steps. But let's get the assumptions out of the way. Effectively, we treat Starships just like characters. They have Systems instead of Traits. Easy. Solid. Ships have fuel but you don't necessarily have to buy it – most ships have renewable energy sources, it just takes time to rebuild. Great, that makes things a lot easier to deal with out in the deep black. So let's go. #### Chassis There are only three chassis classes to choose from: Striker (effectively lightweight fighters), Scouts, Cruisers, and Carriers. As much as I would love to pilot a Carrier around as my choice of exploratory starship, it's hard to justify so we'll just take a Scout. ![[Tiny Frontiers Scout.jpg]] The important thing is to note here are the built-in Chassis System which gives us an extra system – but I'm going to be honest. It doesn't make any sense as described. *"One extra system"* as compared to *what?* The Striker is listed as having the exact same number of other systems. The Cruiser and the Carrier have one and two more other systems available respectively. I'm going to assume that it means that I can have one extra other system of any type of my choice on the Scout, but this could be clearer. #### Other Systems We have one sensor, two defense, two weapons, one movement, and one wildcard system to choose from. I wonder what would be appropriate? | System Type | System | | ---- | ---- | | Sensor | **Long-Range Scanners:** Sensitive scanners that can detect enemy Starships from lightyears away. <br><br>*Passive:* When you Search, you Test with Advantage. | | Weapon | **Rapid Fire Lasers:** A massive burst of multiple lasers.<br><br>*Action:* Perform an Attack Test with Disadvantage. If the first attack misses, no other attacks can be made. If the attack hits, you may make an extra Attack Test<br>with Disadvantage (with the same benefit), to a limit of 3 Attack Tests. | | | **Devastation Cannon:** A large, powerful, and destructive cannon, often outlawed in civilized systems. <br><br>*Action:* Make an Attack Test that deals 3 damage. | | Defense | **Mining Shields:** Shields designed to hold up against a barrage of heavy space debris cover your Starship.<br><br>*Passive:* If you are attacked by a Test that makes multiple rolls, reduce the total damage taken after all rolls by 1 (minimum 1). | | | **Repair Drones:** Robots assist in repair tasks. <br><br>*Action:* Spend 3 Fuel. Restore 2 Structure to either your Starship or an adjacent Starship. | | | **Reinforced Materials:** Massively sturdy and dense metals make up your Starship’s chassis. <br><br>*Passive:* Permanently increase your Starship’s Structure by 4. | | Movement | **Stealth Engines:** Engines that have no detectable exhaust. <br><br>*Action:* Spend 2 Fuel. You may Test to Hide without taking an action this turn. | I decided to sink our extra system slot into additional defense with *reinforced materials*, pumping up the Structure by 4. This is a ship truly and completely intended to be able to engage in long-distance, deep space exploration, artifact discovery, and long-term survival. *Long-range scanners* are absolutely required, not just for starships but for interesting things on planets. *Rapid fire lasers* dump a lot of energy into a target quickly and efficiently, going for the multiple hits – and the *devastation cannon* we just don't talk about in polite company. Sometimes you need a weapon that might be able to crack a small moon. *Mining shields* come in handy when you're doing a bit of prospecting out in the asteroid fields and also when you might be running through ancient minefields looking for a piece of xenotech. Or even more modern minefields. *Repair drones* come in handy after you've gone through said minefields because no one's luck lasts forever. This is also why you get a hull upgrade; planning for bad luck. And finally, *stealth engines* mean that hopefully you will never have to worry about luck. Slide in, slide out, nobody knows nothin'. I like this plan. It's a good plan. There it is, in all of its glory. We are done. Now – where are those sheets? ## Character Sheet ![[Kttk, Invex Explorer (sheet).jpg]] ![[Kttk, Invex Explorer.jpg]] **Issuance** (Scout-Class Ship) ![[The Issuance, Invex Scout.jpg]] **Structure:** 12 **Fuel:** 8 **Crew:** 110 **Chassis System:** Adaptable Build | System Type | System | | ---- | ---- | | Sensor | **Long-Range Scanners:** Sensitive scanners that can detect enemy Starships from lightyears away. <br><br>*Passive:* When you Search, you Test with Advantage. | | Weapon | **Rapid Fire Lasers:** A massive burst of multiple lasers.<br><br>*Action:* Perform an Attack Test with Disadvantage. If the first attack misses, no other attacks can be made. If the attack hits, you may make an extra Attack Test<br>with Disadvantage (with the same benefit), to a limit of 3 Attack Tests. | | | **Devastation Cannon:** A large, powerful, and destructive cannon, often outlawed in civilized systems. <br><br>*Action:* Make an Attack Test that deals 3 damage. | | Defense | **Mining Shields:** Shields designed to hold up against a barrage of heavy space debris cover your Starship.<br><br>*Passive:* If you are attacked by a Test that makes multiple rolls, reduce the total damage taken after all rolls by 1 (minimum 1). | | | **Repair Drones:** Robots assist in repair tasks. <br><br>*Action:* Spend 3 Fuel. Restore 2 Structure to either your Starship or an adjacent Starship. | | | **Reinforced Materials:** Massively sturdy and dense metals make up your Starship’s chassis. <br><br>*Passive:* Permanently increase your Starship’s Structure by 4. | | Movement | **Stealth Engines:** Engines that have no detectable exhaust. <br><br>*Action:* Spend 2 Fuel. You may Test to Hide without taking an action this turn. | ## Exunt There we have it! A pity there wasn't an official ship sheet, but I think we pulled something together. If you're looking for a lightweight, almost retro-feeling sci-fi RPG, this will do the job nicely. The combat system may not be as detailed as you want, though the Close/Near/Far range management system may be quite enough for almost every purpose. Just enough tactical flavor to make maneuver a worthwhile opportunity. There's not quite enough mechanics to really run **Traveller** in the classic sense. There's no rules for carrying cargo… But they wouldn't be hard to build. You could do a lot worse. If you're interested, go check it out. There's so much cargo stacked up in the bay. I've got to go. Out!