Older than Old School

Character creation in Atlantean Exodus using the Perennial RPG system is “older-than-old-school”. 

But how can this be?

Because it uses principles older than the relatively recent invention or rediscovery of RPGs. 

While it is true that some principles and mechanics of D&D drew from a wealth of earlier literature that shaped the hobby, some of these game mechanics and principles in the literature were novel. And there are universal principles that preexist this literature that can more authentically represent a world, even a fantasy world. 

I should add that I am taking into account that it isn’t wise to “throw the baby out with the bathwater”. Where principles that are universal are already found in old school RPGs, they should be retained. And even some novel mechanics may show their value and are worth keeping.

Among these older, universal principles, I will offer some detail of two used in the Perennial RPG: the Law of Three and the Law of Seven. In terms of character creation, three factors of one kind and seven factors of another kind represent and affect the process of character capabilities and development.

The Law of Three

Three factors relate to groupings of character functions and capacities called, to use a familiar term “Abilities”. 

Abilities are grouped according to three “brain systems”:

• Intellectual
• Emotional
• Physical

Those familiar with the writings of Gurdjieff will recognize these three categories.

These categories are here further sub-divided into:

• Perception and Reason
• Intuition and Drive
• Agility and Strength

That’s six abilities. So why not just use the old school Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma? 

First, I’ll define the abilities I’m using.

• Perception measures the capacity to sense and process incoming information about the world.
• Reason measures the capacity to coordinate mental functions such as logic, memory, computation, language, etc.
• Intuition measures the capacity to gain knowledge or conviction without resorting to the intellect.
• Drive measures the capacity for motivating yourself and others.
• Agility measures the capacity for physical coordination.
• Strength measures the capacity for physical exertion, force, and endurance.

The old school abilities have three physical (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution), one intellectual (Intelligence), and two emotional (Wisdom and Charisma) measures of categories of functions. 

Perception, when compared to the old school, peels off an ability that was relegated to a skill derived from Wisdom in later editions of the game, Perception really deserved its own category. And Perception is much more suggestive than Wisdom for the ability that spiritist and hunters would use.

Reason is a name-change to bring it more in line with the material from which I’ve drawn the system.

Intuition neutralizes an aspect of the old school ability Wisdom that never seemed for me to fit, because wicked characters could have high Wisdom. A wicked man is not a wise man. Cunning, perhaps, but not wise.

Drive also feels to me like a better fit than Charisma, to represent the emotional capacity to motivate oneself and others. Many people are driven but not charismatic. Many people can drive others, but are also are not charismatic.

Agility is also just a name-change. In the source material, this would be the “moving” half of the “moving-instinctive center”, governing voluntary bodily processes.

Strength does an adequate job representing physical ability and resilience, no Constitution necessary, and balances the physical abilities. In the source materials, this is the “instinctive” half of the “moving-instinctive center”, governing involuntary bodily processes.

The Law of Seven

Next, we have the process by which the capacities of these abilities is acquired, mechanically represented by the 6d6 roll +1d6 choice, as shown in an example roll previously.

Besides determining the measure of a character’s abilities, as shown previously, this roll also suggests a character’s background. Each die color represents a specific stage or factor for how the character developed into who they are.

These stages are outlined in the source material:

“According to this principle, the duration of being-existence and also the whole of the contents of their common presences are in general acquired from the results arising from the following seven actualizations surrounding them, namely, from:

(1) Heredity in general

(2) Conditions and environment at the moment of conception

(3) The combination of the radiations of all the planets of their solar system during their formation in the womb of their productress

(4) The degree of being-manifestation of their producers during the period they are attaining the age of responsible being

(5) The quality of being-existence of beings similar to themselves around them

(6) The quality of what are called the ‘Teleokrimalnichnian’ thought-waves formed in the atmosphere surrounding them also during their period of attaining the age of majority—that is, the sincerely manifested good wishes and actions on the part of what are called the ‘beings-of-the-same-blood,’ and finally,

(7) The quality of what are called the being-egoplastikoori of the given being himself, that is his being-efforts for the transubstantiation in himself of all the data for obtaining objective Reason.”

Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson, pages 438-9.

This takes some translation, but in game terms, mechanically speaking, this is represented in the seven-colored dice used at character creation: red (R), orange (O), yellow (Y), green (G), blue (B), indigo (I), violet (V).

1. R: Heredity
2. O: Conception
3. Y: Gestation
4. G: Parents
5. B: Peers
6. I: Relatives
7. V: Personal Choice

From the previous example roll:

• 3 (Intuition) for Heredity (red) suggests that their ancestors were perhaps from a priestly class.
• 6 (Strength) for Conception (orange) suggests conditions with your parents at conception favored your physical side. Was your father a soldier? Did your mother perform manual labor? So what happened to your priestly lineage?
• 6 (Strength) for Gestation (yellow) suggests that particularly martial celestial influences were at work during your mother’s pregnancy.
• 2 (Reason) for Parents (green) suggests they raised you with an eye towards improving your mind. Did they teach you to read and write? Did they hire tutors?
• 5 (Agility) for Peers (blue) suggests the friends you grew up with liked to move, perhaps climbing trees, sneaking around, playing games of archery, or some other skillful activity.
• 1 (Perception) for Relatives (indigo) suggests that your relatives taught you to sense the world around you more keenly. Were they hunters?
• 6 (Strength) for Personal (violet) suggests you decided to follow a path towards physical strength, likely receiving training as a solider.

No need for dwell upon complicated backstories; there it is in broad strokes.

These seven aspects will also tie in to caravan relations, not discussed here.

Derived Abilities

The six abilities are naturally weighted in certain ways to represent other useful character information.

Hit Points

For example, the total of the 7d6 dice roll is the starting number of hit points, the vital energy that keeps a character alive.

Thus, characters with higher physical abilities will usually have more hit points than those with emotional and intellectual abilities.

Maybe I should call them Vitality Points and break from convention? I don’t know. Sometimes familiar conventions are useful when they don’t differ mechanically.

Fortune Points

The “spread” of different abilities from the roll also determines the starting Fortune Points of a character. The narrower the spread, the less Fortune Points (you make your own luck); the broader the spread, the more Fortune Points (you’re going to need all the luck you can get).

Other Stuff

There is other character information that this one dice roll determines (for example, average duration of life barring unforeseen circumstances).

Fast and Random Character Creation

Why So Random?

Character creation is random to better represent the world of Atlantean Exodus. You don’t get to decide who your ancestors and parents were, what your upbringing and education were like, and so on. The exception is when you reach responsible age and your personal choice enters into the process of making your character who they are.

Additionally, some of this randomness can be addressed for future generations of player characters by aiding the caravan in what it would need to direct character development, by helping the caravan acquire or retain things like true astrology, special training and education, and so on.

Why So Fast?

Character creation needs to be fast because the world of Atlantean Exodus is a dangerous place. Characters are going to die. Bringing a new character from the caravan needs to be quick and easy so that players aren’t sidelined in the middle of a session.

Also because characters are going to have downtime while they train or engage in other pursuits that don’t translate into a good roleplaying experience. You need to bring new characters in during your character’s downtime.

And because it makes it easier for the GM to roll up an NPC on the spot, or several NPCs very quickly as needed.

I’ve watched my group’s players pick up this system of character creation very quickly. They’ll often idly scoop up and throw a handful of dice, and say, “That would make a good soldier,” or “I just rolled a decent magician.”