Creating Pre-Gen Characters

[trevlix]

I often create pre-gen characters for one-shots and convention scenarios. The more I've done it, the more i've come to realize this is an art unto itself.

Since they are only going are probably only going to be used in 1 scenario by the player once (assuming one-shot or convention), they have to be "strong" enough to last the entire scenario, yet interesting enough for anyone to play.

I was curious if anyone has any particular way they create pre-gens or tips they would like to share. Or are there any little quirks you always give one of the PCs? For example, in all my scenarios, one of the PCs is always from Battle Creek, MI.

[A42]

I do a couple of non-standard things when creating my pre-gens for con games, etc.

1. I use the "roll the dice" feature in Byakhee or Metacreator and then tweak the numbers (move them around, add or subtract one here and there) until I get something that looks good. I always set EDU based on the character I'm creating, regardless of what the dice tell me. I give most characters a fairly high APP as it makes them feel better and doesn't have much impact on the game.

2. I completely ignore Professional vs. Personal Interest skills. I just treat the whole pool of points as one. When allocating points to skills I try to paint a picture of what that person's life was like up to that point. If I'm working on somebody who grew up on a farm I'll allocate some points to Shotgun and/or Rifle as well as outdoorsy things like Track, Swim, Ride, etc.

3. Everyone gets a few extra points in Dodge, just because.

4. Every character (even extras that might not get played) gets the following:

• A photo, usually a movie star from the appropriate period. Sometimes they're sports stars instead. In one case I used a picture of a semi-famous scientist because he looked the part.
• A backstory including relationships to other PCs or NPCs.
• Some notes on their history, personality, etc.
• Info about any paranormal experiences they've had.
• A "Some People You Know" sheet with info about the other PCs.

My goal is to give the player a good feel for the personality of the character. It doesn't always work -- some players ignore it, some don't bother to read it -- but it pays off often enough to make it worthwhile.

[red_bus]

My goal is to give the player a good feel for the personality of the character. It doesn't always work -- some players ignore it, some don't bother to read it -- but it pays off often enough to make it worthwhile.

Ditto to this. The more background the more the player will (one hopes) care about the character which has just been pushed into their hands, the more they are likely to wet themselves when they hear that the cellar door slams shut behind them when...

One tip is to link skills to background. e.g. Young Betsy McGibbon has a high knife/cleaver skill - from long summers spent helping out in her uncle's butchers shop. She also has sausage making at 65%

[squashua]

Don't over complicate the background though, or hide infor,mation or assume nuances or every last iota are read.

Many a time I've been to a convention where a major clue hidden in the pre-generated character background(s) goes missing.

[Gaffer]

I approach pre-gens much like A42 (whose characters I've had the good fortune to play), only moreso perhaps. My reasons are the same as his.

I allocate points for attributes from a pool of about 95, which is a bit above average values, and I'll add some extra points for EDU or APP if the character background needs it. Then I allocate skills so that each character gets the same number of better-than-base skills with the highest around 60% (added to the base) with the rest descending so that there's two 50%+, three 40%+, four 30%+, etc. Academic skills prompted by EDU may be higher. All skill levels are motivated in my mind by the characters background.

Then I write a (hopefully) entertaining second-person ("You") background for the character, often in an appropriate voice/dialect/vocabulery. This usually has a couple of quirks and/or secrets to aid in characterization. I try to include a characteristic phrase or two in the character's voice/idiom. There's always a photo, which appears on a nameplate so that everyone can remember the other characters' names and approximate ages (and sex when playing cross-gender).

I usually add a bit of information about the other characters they know before the action begins, setting out relationships and background.

It's important that the relationship and background details match up. In one event my daughter and I played, our characters were engaged and had had previous dealings with the occult, including wiping out a nest of vampires -- or so my background indicated. It neglected to mention that her character suffered total amnesia about those events. So when I kept saying (as we uncovered more and more mythos madness), "Well, we've faced worse before, eh Amanda?" She kept giving me these strange looks and vague agreement, until I "killed" the disembodied brain, making some similar comment at which point she said, "I don't know what you're talking about! Are you insane?" It wasn't until after the game that I found out about the amnesia -- she thought my character was a lunatic.

[kelvingreen]

I bang out a number of characters in Byakhee, usually twice as many as players I'll have at the table, or alternatively one for each of the occupations in the core book. I tend to leave background to the players; they'll probably have a better idea why Betsy Craddock has 45% in Listen than I will. I do often give each of them a very short (hundred words or so) supernatural episode in their past, to give them a reason for investigating the Mythos, and I also like to give each character a connection to at least one of the others, even if it's something like "You've never met Ajax Arnold before, but you know you don't trust him".

EDIT: Oh, and as Gaffer says, it's useful to have at least some of the characters' skills be relevant to the scenario. I tend to run in a fairly improvisational way, so I work the skill use in as it comes up, but in the past, I've also built characters to match the adventure, as well as written adventures to match the characters' skills.

[Gaffer]

One thing I forgot to mention explicitly, although it's implied in my comments and A42's. Make the characters interesting.

My worst con event memories as a player are scenarios in which I was essentially U.S. Marshall #3 or Soldier #6 -- characters who were basically extras in the story with nothing to differentiate them as persons.

Conversely, one of my best memories are of an event that the GM hadn't had a chance to read thoroughly ahead of time and was missing the ending! But the characters were so unique and well-expressed that everyone still had a good time.

Also, I try to make sure that the characters have all the necessary skills to "solve" the story -- not necessarily to understand what's happening, but to move the story forward (as I concieve it, at least). Since I tend to isolate my investigators, this is even more important. And I try to ensure that every character will have a skill to enable her/him to take the spotlight at some point (again, as I expect things to develop).

[malcojones]

For a Con slot a page of text background is probably more than enough. I like to build in some past with the other investigators to initiate some intrigue. I've overburdened one or two characters before now but giving players something to work with does usually give good results.

The other extreme I've had was being given about six lines of stats on a quarter of a page and a name (admittedly that of a children's TV character I was nostalgically familiar with). I had a blast with this game and system and realised that the chief advantage of CoC is merely familiarity. Don't think I'll manage to reach such minimalism myself though.

The happy medium is what experienced con gamers are advocating here. I've had the pleasure of looking over some of Gaffer's materials and because of the 'you' address and sample dialogue you're basically in character before you've finished your half page of text. Alliances and grudges are all built in and you're off.

Best, malcojones

[Pookie]

For The Complete Masks of Nyarlathotep Companion I asked what each pre-generated investigator was doing before his involvement in the Mythos began. I considered what each did during the Great War, and I used the Personal Interest Points on a second and separate career if necessary. I also tried to make each character interesting, sometimes giving them a signature tag or ability that makes them a little different.

Further, I gave some of them skills that would not necessarily relevant to the campaign.

[DrummerDave]

Most of my pre-gens are like above, although I usually don't actually fill out a lengthy background, unless I'm really trying to provide some continuity between the characters and the story.

One thing I do is provide a one or two-word neuroses or other light phobia, something to give an overall picture of the PC's mental state at the time, but give the player room to actually run with it. Something like "unstable" or "obsessive" or even "prone to kleptomania."

Otherwise, using Byhakee and photos, honing in on skills necessary for the scenario but giving some breathing room for characterization by the player is key for me.

So what he said.

[Mi-Go]

Creating characters for your players is a good idea if your players like that sort of thing. For a lot of players one of the most enjoyable parts of playing is creating their character so I wouldn't rob anyone of that experience unless they agree.

Anywho, if you are about to do it anyway. I think the best advice is to consider not only the characters as individuals, but as a group. Make sure that the characters really are different from each other. There's nothing worse than handing out characters and three of them are professors with basically the same skills. The characters should "own" certain skills, not in the sense that they are experts, but in the sense that they are the one who are supposed to deal with a particular situation. Having one guy be the bookworm, another the charmer, and a third the muscle is much more fun. This way you can design particular scenes where the different characters may shine.

Also, another thing is of course to embed the characters into the plot. Since you can design the characters you can have them to participate in the background story and already be associated with important characters.

A final thing, its more of a warning really. DON'T make them to complicated. Your players are not actors in a play. They should have the opportunity to mold the characters to their likings.