Vendetta: Character Generation

"Hey, mister! You can't look neat when your shoes are beat! You got the time, I got the shine, it's only a nickel and a dime. Yeah, sit down right there. So, you want to know what it takes to make it in the big bad city? You've come to the right place."

"The first thing rules is to know your strengths and weaknesses. In this biz you got to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, and don't mess with Mr In-Between, know what I'm saying? You wouldn't be here if you didn't got a talent, but the way I see it even real bigshots have their blindspots."

Stats

There are 10 stats in VENDETTA, each of which has a value between 0 (very bad) and 5 (very good). Characters are encouraged to distribute the following values between their stats: 5,4,4,3,3,2,2,1,1,0. The GMs are open to characters wishing to deviate from this norm, but no character may have more than one stat at 5, more than one stat at 0, or a stat of 5 without a balancing stat of 0. For example, two other suitable stat distributions would be 4,4,4,3,3,2,2,1,1,1 and 4,3,3,3,3,2,2,2,2,1. Please try to make your stats derive naturally from your character description/background - but remember that two characters with the same mechanical stat can have completely different rationales behind their power, based on the way they describe themselves to us...

"So, lemme see. You look like the sort of tough guy could be handy in a fight, and there's no shortage of people hiring muscle these days. The real question is, are you the kind who likes dishing it out, or the kind who takes it on the nose and keeps coming back for more?"

[M]uscle/[T]ough/[Q]uick

A measure of your characters physical fitness. This could be taken to mean muscles, stamina, resistance to disease and the like.

Used for: Anything which boils down to raw physicality. Lifting heavy things, running long distances, feats of acrobatics and the like.
Personifications: Mob heavies, Athletes, Manual workers, Boxers and so on will all be strong on Body.
Specialisations: Strong, Quick, Agile, Tough.

Value	Description
0	You are a physical wreck. Either pick a major health problem, or expect to come down with minor conditions whenever the GMs feel like it.
1	Low-average, people who think for a living.
2	High-average, people who have a job which involves moving about.
3	Good, is quite capable of getting up after losing a fight/competently dodging an attack.
4	Very Good, quite capable of getting up after being hit by/diving out of the way of a speeding car.
5	A veritable Moose Malloy, champion marathon runner, or olympic gymnast.

[P]sycho

Offensive combat. Knowing how to drop someone as quickly as possible with a weapon, a piece of furniture, or simply your bare hands. Also reflects your psychological ability to kill.

Used for: Combat. Also to a degree combat like life or death situations.
Personification: Mobsters, Cops, Vigilantes, Private Eyes.
Specialisation: Are you a fighter or a killer is a question which everyone will have to answer. Further specialisations would include fighting style (boxing, martial arts) or a favored weapon.

Value	Description
0	An inability, either physical or pscyhological to kill or resort to violence
1	They know it is possible to hit somebody, and which end of a gun goes bang. Able to order executions.
2	Can actually fight reasonably in a corner, can use a gun as well as most normal Americans. Needed to commit cold blooded murder.
3	Probably trained to some degee, or with a fair bit of on the job experience
4	A real professional, hired thug, assassin, soldiers etc.
5	Near unbeatable in your chosen form of combat, still vulnerable to a well planned ambush though.

"Sound a bit too dangerous for a refined gentleman like you, huh? Boy you chose the wrong city to move to. Okay, perhaps you're more suited to hobnobbing with the highlives after all. There are two ways to be a real mover and shaker in the Harbor: you can play the fame game, get a real powerful rep, be seen in all the right places, everyone wants to get close to you, to shake you by the hand or maybe if you get unlucky to stab you in the back. Or else you can just show cash up front. Cash works too."

[B]igshot

Bigshot is an equal parts measure of respect, fame, and reputation. It's the weight your voice carries.

Used for: Everything and nothing, depending on your point of view. Getting to speak to the right people, and perhaps more importantly, having them listen to what you say.
Personification: Politicos, Film Stars, Respected Mob Leaders, High Ranking officials and the like should all be strong in bigshot.
Specialisations: The area of society you want your influence to be most felt in. Criminal, Political Economic, Popular (for Movie Stars and the beloved of the media).

Value	Description
0	Either your own mother had disowned you and refuses to answer the door to you because your reputation is so bad, or your a bum who no one would care for if they died.
1	Interesting Scum
2	Just above mediocrity
3	Noted and respected
4	Powerful
5	"The very biggest of cheeses"

[D]ough/[L]ettuce/[R]hino

Money, mazuma, moolah - Silver Harbor has more names for this stuff than the Esquimaux have for snow.

Used for: Makes the world go round. What more do you want to know? It's the Depression, Money is a serious motivational force, people want it, few people have it.
Personification: Priveledged dilettantes, Sucessfull mobsters and comparitively Sucessfull businessmen.
Specialisations: You need to speak to a GM about how your income is derived, it's quantity and it's legality, or have a look at dough system.

Value	Description
0	Debts, really huge debts, probably not to very nice people, find a job before it's time to pay up.
1	Enough to live on
2	Enough to live comfortably on
3	Enough to live well on
4	Enough to live in luxury on
5	Just below the highest wealth strata in present day america

"Okay, okay, I get it, you've just come off the boat, you're not planning to run for mayor just yet. Let's see then - what are you like with people? I gotta warn you - if you don't have anyone watching your back in this town you're meat on a slab. So go out there and make some friends, whydontcha?"

[N]umbers

Mooks, Goons, people who work for you. They could be a mob, bodyguards or simply your staff.

Used For: Being in more than one place at once. Expanding your power. Followers have a thousand uses, We're sure you can think of some.
Personification: Mob leaders, Racketeers, organised second amendment fanatics and the like.
Specialization: Like Dough, numbers as it's own system, speak to a GM about what you want your numbers to be, or look at the Numbers System.

Value	Description
0	You work for someone else, expect the occaisional urgent task to occupy your time.
1	Followers aren't out of the question, but you've got none right now
2	A small retinue.
3	A slightly larger retinue.
4	A serious mob.
5	An almost-but-not-quite private army.

[C]onnections

It's not what you know, it's who you know. Everyone needs allies, and this stat gives them to you.

Used For: Having friends is always useful. It's about making your presence felt outside of your direct sphere of influence. Having people lookout for you, and expect you to return the favor.
Personification: Information Gatherers, Fixers, the Politically ambitious and the like.
Specialiations: Like Bigshot, Connections can be specialized by social area, Criminal, Politial, Street, etc.

Above 0 each point in connections gives you one named NPC contact, in addition, the higher your connections, the more important/influential/usefull they will be.

Value	Description
0	Somebody is out for your blood. You have an enemy
1	You may have friends, but none of them are very useful.
2	One ally of reasonable usefulness.
3	Two allies with some clout.
4	Three allies who may prove invaluable.
5	Four allies, in high places.

"Or you could get into the information game, like me. If you know the right places to look you can dig up all sorts of tasty bits of information, makes you really popular all of a sudden. You don't think all those people are in line just because I give the best shoeshine in town, do ya? "Course, some people are allergic to private eyes and journalists rooting through their underwear drawer, so they take appropriate measures to ensure that no-one can find anything incriminating, or at least nothing that will stick. I tell ya, it's getting so a honest snoop can't hardly make a decent living any more."

[W]ire

Information, who you know, and what you know about them. This is the stat that covers both the passive and active gathering of information.

Used For: Finding stuff out, Both by active investigation and passive filtering of rumours. Information is a valuable currency in Silver Harbor, but one which has got more than one person killed.
Personification: Information Brokers, Private Eyes, Cops, Journalists and the like are all likely to well versed in Wire.
Specialization: Wire, like contacts is specialized by area of society.

Value	Description
0	"we were at war with Germany?"
1	You hear about the big events.
2	You hear a fair few rumours.
3	You can find out which ones are rumours
4	You have several fingers on the pulse of the city
5	You are the pulse of the city

[H]ustle

Information concealing and general deviousness. Hustle slows down people with Wire, and keeps you from looking *too* incriminated when they finally catch up with you. This also allows you to spread lies, false rumours and counter stories.

The stat of lies, half-truths and insinuations is always good to have onside, especially if you plan to be involved in anything remotely criminal (i.e. you've turned up to the right game).

Used For: Lying, Cheating, Deceiving, Concealing the truth, obscuring it and twisting it.
Personification: Lawyers, Politicos, Journalists.
Specialization: Concealing your own activities, False Rumour, Slander, Public Speaking.

Value	Description
0	Your life is an open book.
1	You can conceal unimportant actions
2	People rarely know the whole story
3	People rarely know any of the story
4	People don't even know there's a book
5	Your life is an open book, you choose what is written in it.

"Well, I think I've covered all the bases... if you wanted me to go into more detail you should've parted with more than a five-spot. Just a couple more words of advice: be good at what you do, and if you can't be good, be lucky. See you around..."

[K]nowhow

Any sort of skills or talents you like, though Knowhow cannot replicate the advantages of other stats.

Used For: Doing whatever you do. If you are a getaway driver, then driving. If you're an artist then art, it will be different for virtually every character.
Personification: The Best in the Business. High Knowhow characters will be the first approached if someone is looking for a particular skill.
Specialization: Any one of the possible occupations and derived skill sets

Value	Description
0	Totally incompetent, not necessarily a learning disability, just a lack of any useful skills whatsoever. Would go far in middle management
1	What you do, you do well enough
2	What you do, you do well.
3	What you do, you do very well, what you don't do, you could have a stab at
4	An expert in their chosen field.
5	A master in the field.

[F]ortune

Some people like the GMs to treat their characters well. Some sick individuals like the GMs to treat their characters very, very badly. Which are you?

Used for: Not used per se, Fortune is an unknowable force that seems, for some reason, to be on your side. Some people get lucky breaks, they have a high fortune.
Personification: Cinematic Heroes. If you plan a lot of dangerous devil-may-care schemes, this is the stat for you.
Specialization: Maybe your always in the right place at the right time, or your poker hand is four jacks at the critical moment, counting on such things however is garunteed to end your luck.

Value	Description
0	Maybe its because you lied when you were 17. To you, murphys law is superior to all others, possibly even the laws of physics.
1	Things go badly for you, but you haven't been hit by lightning, yet
2	If you leave your car unattended for 5 minutes, you probably won't get a ticket.
3	Things go your way more often than not. GMs will be nice to you within reason
4	Things go well for you most of the time. Random serendipitous events occur occasionally
5	The GMs will go out of their way to be nice to you, you will breeze through virtually all dangerous situations by sheer twists of fate. Mind you, fate is a fickle mistress...

Background

Last but not least, we want a write-up from you that will tie all your stats together in a realistic and interesting way, and give us plenty of ideas for how we can challenge and entertain you next term.

It's up to you really, but to set you thinking on the right lines here are three questions you can optionally ask yourself:

What is your character's Dream? What are you hoping to be able to achieve before the game is out?

Does your character have a Secret? Something that you'd really rather wasn't common knowledge to the rest of the players, at least not initially?

Why is your character in Joe's, whilst it is open to all, it is far from being to everyones taste. people not directly associated with the criminal scene should have a reason for turning up, and a desire to mix with the type of people you are likely to find in Joe's.