Nuts and Bolts.
The Imagister 2 Character Design System.
The changes in system between the first and second games are here.Each character in Imagister is represented by five stats.
Note: Actual skill with magic is dependent on the character's affinity with the force not with any of the stats above.
Alternatively if you spent sometime travelling then you could also work in languages and a basic understanding of foreign lands. Basically your skills are up to you, the longer you spend in your background doing something the better you are at it now. But be warned, over filling you background will allow you to do all things, badly.
Of course if you want something that will make a huge difference to your character then you have to spend toy points.
Toy Points are the way to customise your character. They are a measure of getting all the fun toys that you might want but the GMs won't just let you write into your background. Things like membership of guilds and influence in organisations, ownership, special items, allies, and skills above and beyond anything that anyone has seen before.
Toy points are worked out with the GMs but here are some ideas of what you can expect to buy:
Some things go together, e.g. buying the right to be guild mistress would also confer status, influence and riches upon the character. The amount that they would want would be factored into the toy cost.
Examples:Nuttah Mc Fred wants to have his own guild. He decides on a background and a reason for the guild to exist and so the Guild of the Terminally Berserk is formed. This is a guild on the fourth tier and is fairly popular with the mercenaries that hang around down there. However due to the high turnover rate regular dues are a problem so the guild is quite poor. So Nuttah gets contacts with the more extreme mercenaries, a bit of cash and some status within the city. Cost: 5 points.
Jim the Rich wants to run his own trading empire. He decides that he has shops in several nearby cities, as well as New Taeorn in which he owns a stake. He himself is not that famous but is extremely rich and influential and can pull strings if he needs to. Cost: 8 points.
Toy points can be used to purchase unusual tricks and enhance existing skills as well.
Example:
Savage Tracy Sword Queen of Shananana wants to begin the game with a very
funky sword and some odd techniques learnt during her travels to the wild
kingdoms of the south. The sword is an extremely well balanced and
a beautiful piece of work that is razor sharp. Basically it works good and
hurts lots. Cost 1 point. The skills she learnt are to place herself into
a wild frenzy making her viscous and deadly in combat as a red mist clouds
her vision and her blade begins to dance in strange patterns that others
will find difficult to deal with. Cost: 1-3 points depending on the kind
of benefit she wants to get in combat.
Rotating Bill wants to be able to turn his head through 360 degrees. We suggest he takes lots affinity with the body force.
Sample spending of 10 points:
Jemridol the Dark Knight of Wraithguant desires the trappings and status of
one of the Dark Knights. In other words the player wants lots of black plate
armour, funky weapons and a big horse. Cost: 1 point as the items are all of
good quality and another 1 point as he is part of the mercenary group. He
also wants to start with above average cash. Cost: 1 point. He can afford
repairs and stuff but nothing dramatic. The Dark Knights are a feared
mercenary group and so the reputation cost might be 1 point or 2 if
Jemridol wants to be famous as an individual, which he does. Jemridol
wants to have an unusual contact. He wants to have a friend in the first
tier who can supply him with a reason to be up there and invite him to
cool parties. Cost: 1 point as his friend is useful but not that useful
as he is little more than a bored son of a merchant house with little
real influence. Still he throws good parties. Jemridol also wants to be an
affiliate of the Guild of the Terminally Berserk. Basically membership but
nothing special. Cost: 1 point. Finally Jemridol wants to be able to swing
his mighty cleaver with devastating skill. Training in the monastery of
the Dark Knights has made him almost immune to pain and given him numerous
dirty tricks above and beyond the usual skills learnt by the Dark Knights.
Cost 3 points, as Jemridol wants lots and lots of tricks and doesn't like
pain.