Thread by @Arr_Roo

As promised I want to talk about the system for Chronicles of the Spacejammer: Enoch's Wake, focusing on character creation.

As always, the thread ends with a capybara (this time a miniature giant space capybara).🧵

#zinequest3

kickstarter.com/projects/r-roo…

https://twitter.com/Arr_Roo/status/1353903503811424256

But first, let's look at this wonderful B&W cover by @blue_troller one more time. 👇

I've gotten myself this lovely coupe of planter's punch, so let's start... 👇

As you might have heard through the Itch grapevine, the first issue of Chronicles of the Spacejammer (36 Freebooters) came out last year as a supplement for Troika!
r-rook.itch.io/90s-space-troi… 👇

But as Barrow Keep was winding down, and people kept asking about Spacejammer, I decided I wanted to with a system I could use to make Spacejammer a stand-alone game. So I looked back to the earliest days of 2d6...

traveller-srd.com
👇

While Traveller's known for inventing the idea of character creation as a mini-game w/ lifepaths and press-your-luck mechanics, Jared's WSCAOS had gotten me to look at the rest of its system.

(Fun fact: @infinite_mao will be the Spacejammer editor!)👇s-jared.itch.io/whats-so-cool-…

It's a 40 yo game, but a lot about Traveller feels like it was written four years ago:
- Simple 2d6 rolls against a static difficulty
- A lack of hit points with fights directly damaging your stats, creating a snowballing failure system
- And... 👇

- Modularity and openness, giving each table a sense
- Table control over how the system was applied

Spacejammer will still support play with Troika, but it's not going to be the only option for play.

But back to Character Creation👇

Like Traveller, Spacejammer begins with a name, an ancestry (human, minotaur, star spawn, an automaton, an elf, or some other ancestry entirely), and your six Characteristics: Strength, Dexterity, Endurance, Intelligence, Education, and Social Status.👇

If you've played this D&D game that some of you have heard of, this part will feel familiar. You'll roll them in order on 2d6, but this time you'll keep track of your dice rolls (not the total).

You'll also roll 2d6 as your Wildcards.👇

But now you can move 4 of those d6 from the Characteristic where you rolled them to a Characteristic where you want them.

You can keep up to 3d6 in any one Characteristic and every Characteristic must have 1d6 in it. These four can include the dice you rolled as Wildcards too.👇

Once you've settled your Characteristics, you can spend your 1-3 Wildcard dice. These can go toward magical ability, wild magical talents, skills you learned at home, or some innate talent like shapeshifting or natural weapons.👇

Since Ancestry is just a descriptor of what your character looks like and where your character comes from, the Wildcard dice are what helps make your character's background in the Comet Cities special. The higher the number on the Wildcard dice, the stronger those abilities.👇

This is where the lifepath system begins. Traveller was the original lifepath system. @pangalactic did his own walkthrough of the classic system. 👇

https://twitter.com/pangalactic/status/1349491347112275969

And around that time, I looked at some of the expanded rules that were coming out in the Traveller supplements. 👇

https://twitter.com/Arr_Roo/status/1350209515812225028

In Enoch's Wake, your lifepath fleshes out both your character and the world of the Comet Cities. You might train your wild talents at The Secret Collegium, further your education at The High Academy, or work for a criminal boss, Starspawn senator, or immortal aristocrat.👇

Each time you re-enlist, you'll roll to see what kinds of training and duties you're assigned and see if you survive without mishaps (like injury, treachery, or debt).

Each re-enlistment presses your luck and shapes your character in ways you might not expect.👇

For instance, signing on to work for a member of Enoch's undead aristocracy is a test of your social status: the aristocrats like to employ people who may one day owe them favors, but the job you get with them is better (and easier to survive) if you're better educated.👇

When you're done pressing your luck (or your character has reached age 30), you're ready to begin. You'll roll to see what you're bringing with you (silver, magic, special items, or maybe even your own ship), ready to start some new adventures with a crew in the comet cities.👇

So that's how character creation works. Thanks for sticking with it, follow to back (kickstarter.com/projects/r-roo…), and please enjoy this miniature giant space capybara.

@threadreaderapp unroll