Character Generation

Assets and Shortcomings

Your job as a player is to come up with an interesting character. In Jade Princess you have to do more than that- you have to come up with your character’s race and culture as well. In case that sounds too daunting, just think how often a new alien race appears in Star Trek. If they can come up with one an episode or so, how hard can it be?

The GM’s job is to describe what happens when your character does things. He has to come up with interesting stories and plots and resolve conflicts between your character and the people he meets. To help the GM (and you) keep track of things, you need a game system.

The game system describes your character in terms of the assets and shortcomings he has. An asset is something that helps your character; a shortcoming is something that might trip him up some day. An example of an asset is “Imperial Favour” - the character has caught the eye of the Jade Emperor and has been marked out as having special promise. An example shortcoming could be “Technologically Challenged”- your character’s culture never really developed technology by themselves, so they are reliant on buying high-tech items from others.

As you can see, each asset or shortcoming has a name and a description. The name is just a convenient tag. The important thing is the description, and the whole job of character generation is to come up with these descriptions.

Unlike most roleplaying games, Jade Princess doesn’t have long lists of ready-made assets and shortcomings for you. The whole idea is that you have to come up with your own to design your own alien race- and you shouldn’t be shackled by list of the game designer’s ideas.

That said, there are a few assets that any character aiming to marry the Jade Princess must have in some measure. Your first job is to come up with descriptions of those.

Name

Every character has to have a name that the others can call you by. Of course, what the name means is up to you. If you are from a hive organism, your name might mean number 112545 wasp. If you are the only survivor of the holy wars which destroyed your planet, you might be known just by the name of your race.

Appearance

When somebody meets your character, what do they see? What do they hear? What do they smell? What makes others aware of your presence? If you are an eldritch ethereal J’Dyn, they don’t see anything at all, they just feel a cold draft like someone has walked over their grave and the distant echoes of mocking laughter.

Communication

In order to stand any chance of marrying the Princess, your character is going to have to be able to communicate with others. How does he do that? What do the others notice that they can translate into the meaning your character is trying to convey? Humans speak, but the Klarth step into the fifth dimension and make their bodies cohabit the same space as yours then trace their words directly onto your flesh- from the inside.

Clout

The Jade Emperor isn’t going to let just anyone marry his daughter. To get as far as being invited to this first party with her, there must be something special about your character.

If you want to be really dippy, you can write down 100 for clout, 20 for fragrant grease, 20 for Imperial Favour now and worry about all the rest later. Think about a few ideas but don’t feel you have to commit anything to paper yet. Nothing gets graven in stone until it comes up in play.

Snack Attack...

Now go and have a cup of coffee and a snack while the develop-at-start types do their thing. You can worry about all the rest later- just think about what makes you so special while you’re snacking.

If there’s more than one of you in that position, go off into the kitchen and introduce yourselves. You are at a magnificent party thrown for the Jade Princess and you’re meeting each other for the first time. Tell the other players what they see and hear and smell as you first meet. Then tell them how your character introduces himself. Then gossip. Probably you’ll have to make up all sorts of details about your character in response to what the others are talking about:

“How did you get here?”

“By Tri’ingian yacht, and the service was awful! Can you believe that they insisted on killing the blue toads before serving them? I ask you!”

If you are still sat at the table and what’s going on in the kitchen sounds more interesting, you can always go and join them whenever you’re ready. If you need much more idea about your character before you can join in, stay put.

If you like you can rough out some ideas about what that is- maybe your race make the best administrators in known space, or maybe they are the richest, or maybe they’ve just bribed the First Minister to get you an invite. Whatever you do, don’t tell the other players. Remember, those noisy idiots in the kitchen complaining that they couldn’t find a decent sized mudpool to rehydrate in are your rival suitors. You don’t want those inbred upper class fools to know that your character come from a humble- but very rich- race of itinerant traders, now do you?

Deciding Clout Costs

You start with 100 points of clout. These points can be used to buy various assets. Three are special: Fragrant Grease, Spying and Imperial Favour. They are described below. For other assets, the GM will decide how many points of clout it costs in each case. Here are some guidelines.

0 point

 A description that isn’t really positive or negative, just informative.

1 point

The asset is interesting, has a fun description that makes sense and doesn’t make the character the best at anything, but is obviously something that’ll help him.

3 points

The asset is powerful, or makes the character best at what he does. Use this if the asset is a bit dull or is a bit of a stretch from the description.

5 points

The asset is really powerful and will clearly have a big effect on game balance.

10 points

Illogical, absurd, contradicts the description or is just plain stupid. This should be restricted to powers that are just tacked on for powergaming reasons.

Special: Current best plus at least 3 points

The asset makes the character the best at something that someone else is currently best at: you have to beat them by at least three points; you are quite free to put in more if you like. That makes it harder for them to beat you in the long run. The rule for being best is first come first served, but if two players come up with the same idea at about the same time, the GM will hold an auction for who gets to start as the best.

The GM will have to decide when to insist that a point be charged for something; in principle he could probably charge for everything as there’s always some way to use everything to your advantage. Our suggestion is that points should only be charged during character generation for things that give an obvious advantage. Clout costs should always be set pleasantly low to start with.

This is because the GM can demand AT ANY TIME (including during play)  that a player allocate points of clout to determine things in his favour. This mechanism is important to ensure that there is some sort of game balance. Nobody can think through all the implications of everything, and if an asset that you though was harmless turns out to massively unbalancing the GM must insist that the player sacrifice some clout to have things his own way. The interesting thing is that the GM will only be able to decide this in the context of the unique game that you are playing -because the creativity of the players makes the balance of every game different.

For example, suppose that you have a character who is ethereal and has no physical body. Sounds OK, so the GM charges you a single point to start with. Then someone shoots you with a blaster. Are you affected? Maybe or maybe not, because before the game started you didn’t know that people would be using blasters. (They could all have used swords or psionics for all you knew).

Now we see the game balance question. If yours is the only ethereal character while the others are all vulnerable to being shot, it has quite a big effect on game play, so if you want your character to be immune you’ll have to spend more points. Another two would probably be appropriate. On the other hand, if most of the characters were ethereal and only NPC guards used blasters, it isn’t such a big deal, so maybe one more would be more appropriate. (At this point the GM would probably require that the other players spend the same if their characters are going to be invulnerable too). If everyone is a mystic psychic with supernatural shields you needn’t spend any more points.

The determination of the cost should reflect the GM’s reaction when the player suggests it. “But I’m ethereal, so it seems reasonable that a physical effect like a blaster bolt just passes through me” sounds perfectly logical given the description: a few points can clearly buy the asset of being immune to blaster fire. “I’m really big and tough like a Klingon so I think I can just shrug off power bolts whenever I feel like it” sounds a bit less reasonable- if the player really insists on being immune, the GM will charge a lot of points. A much more reasonable statement would be “resistant to blaster fire” which isn’t the same thing at all- a big blaster could overcome the resistance. This is much more in keeping with the description and should cost a lot less.

If you haven’t got any clout to spend, or you decide not to spend them, you won’t be able to rely on the asset in future. Even if this blaster wasn’t big enough to really hurt you, the next one might be...

If you’re going to have to spend points to fully define the effects of your assets as play goes on, you’re going to need some points left over. These points represent what you (and the rest of the universe) don’t know about how your character interacts with the rest of the universe- it is shrouded in mystery.

Mystery

Very few characters are completely known before play starts. As a result, all players start with a certain amount of mystery. Mystery points are just like clout points that you haven’t spent yet. Everybody, even the most develop-at-start players, get 20 free points of mystery when play starts. If you didn’t spend all your clout at the start, those get carried over into mystery as well.

Mystery points can be spent at any time- they are just a nice name for clout points that you haven’t spent yet. Usually, you’ll need to spend them when a new situation comes up, like your character getting shot by a blaster bolt for the first time in the above example.

The reason that even the develop-at-start players need some mystery is that they cannot fully define their character until all the assets of all the characters (including NPC’s!) are decided. There’s no sense at all in the GM charging lots of points for someone to be the best sword master in the galaxy if he turns out to be the only character who is capable of any sort of physical combat at all. This doesn’t stop you describing your character in great detail before play starts- it just means that the character point costs for all your assets can’t be finalised until the other characters have been generated too.

Shortcomings

The flipside of assets is shortcomings. Sometimes the GM will pull up short and realise that, given the character’s description, there is NO WAY that you’ll be able to do what you’re trying to do. For example, our ethereal friend who is immune to blaster bolts needs to press the launch button on a lifepod to rescue the princess before the starliner blows up. But he’s ethereal- how can he push the button?

At this point the GM must challenge the player whether or not he wants to accept the shortcoming. If you decide that it’s OK, all well and good. The GM may even offer you a few extra clout points as a consolation prize if the shortcoming is a nasty one. In the above example, we’ve just established that your character can’t affect physical objects: that’s got to be worth a point to console the poor chap.

If you decide that the shortcoming doesn’t fit with your idea of the character or will just make playing it less fun, you can decline to take it and pay some clout points instead. You have to come up with a reason why the shortcoming doesn’t apply to you- maybe the ethereal character can solidify a bit of itself for just long enough to push the button. That’s got to cost you at least a point, and should be noted as an asset with a suitable description. If you decided that your character is psychic and can telekinetically affect physical objects, you’re getting an asset that is far more powerful because it’s really a free lunch- the shortcoming really isn’t going to affect you much. You still retain all the advantages of being ethereal, but none of the drawbacks. That’s got to cost you- five points would probably be suitable.

The Fragrant Grease Asset

Fragrant Grease is a Chinese term for bribe money. In Jade Princess, your character has a certain amount of weight it can throw around in each session: a certain amount of money to splurge, a certain amount of luck, a certain amount of bullying that it can do to the servants before they complain, a certain amount of technological R&D that your scientists have done to prepare little surprises and so on. All of this is governed by your character’s Fragrant Grease asset. Everybody starts with 20 points of fragrant grease. One point of clout buys you one extra point in your Fragrant Grease asset.

In each game session you will be dealt a hand of playing cards by the GM which can be spent to make sure your character gets its own way. The value of your Fragrant Grease asset determines the minimum value of cards that you will be dealt at the start of each session. The GM will deal you cards until your hand has a total value (adding up all the numbers of the cards, 2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 with Jack, Queen and King counting as 10 and Ace as 11) at least equal to your fragrant grease asset.

You’ll spend these cards through the session to influence fate and fortune in your favour. The cards come back at the start of the next session, so spending fragrant grease isn’t like spending clout points- fragrant grease comes back. Clout is only gained by moving up the social ladder; fragrant grease just needs a bit of time so you can call your banker or whatever.

If there is a big time gap during a session or a new scenario starts in mid session, the GM may decide that everybody gets to renew their fragrant grease and deals new hands.

The GM may also reward characters with extra fragrant grease cards during the session: for example, impressing the local prefect would probably be worth an extra card of fragrant grease. These extra cards always disappear at the end of the session- next time you start afresh with your fragrant grease rating as before. If the gain is more substantial, you’ll get some extra clout points as a reward instead.

The GM will also reward particularly entertaining play with  extra cards of fragrant grease. If everyone around the table is helpless with laughter (or sobered and thoughtful) because of one player’s roleplaying, they deserve a card of fragrant grease. Do your best to be that player- it’s great to entertain your friends as well as have your own fun!

Resolving Actions: Using  Assets

Some of your other assets provide assistance in specific areas. For example, you might have an asset that makes you popular with serving maids. There are three ways you can call on those assets in play to help your character gets its own way.

Logic

The first way is just let events take their natural course. The GM will just decide what happens, based on what he knows about the logic of the situation. If you’re popular with serving maids, you should have no trouble finding and chatting to Little Sparrow, the maid of the Duchess of Ch’in.

Fragrant Grease

The second way is to activate that asset with a fragrant grease card. Use this when the outcome of the action is really really important to your character’s plans. So long as logic doesn’t totally forbid it, your character will get his own way. For example, if you are popular with serving maids, you could persuade Little Sparrow to steal a shawl from her mistress’ wardrobe. The higher the value of the card you play, the more you can twist events to your own ends. If you play a two, Little Sparrow will probably insist on you doing her a favour in return. If you play an Ace, Little Sparrow will probably be a willing conspirator for the rest of the session. Whatever happens, the effect is going to be favourable to your character in some way.

Trust To Luck

The third way is where the outcome is really important to your character but you don’t have- or don’t want to spend- any fragrant grease cards. Then you have to trust to luck and turn over the top card of the deck. If it is high, it is good for you. If it is low, it could be very bad. Six is kinda so-so. Remember that there are more cards above six (7-8-9-10-J-Q-K-A) than below (2-3-4-5) so the odds are in your favour. To follow our example a bit more, if you trusted to luck and turned over an Ace, Little Sparrow would willingly steal the shawl for you. If you got a two, she’d agree but then run and tell her mistress all about it.

As a rough rule of thumb, trusting to luck should not be as beneficial as spending fragrant grease- unless the character is the best at what it does. If you want to get a feel for how much worse, subtract 6 from the value of the card, so an Ace randomly drawn is only as good as if you’d spent a five from your fragrant grease. The exception is when the character is using an asset that defines it as being the best at something- then a random card is treated just as if the character had played a fragrant grease card.  

Opposing Assets

Quite often, characters will butt heads with someone who has an opposing attribute. How do you decide whether the stellar hypnotist can overcome the willpower of the implacable and unstoppable great Kwang?

Under normal circumstances the GM will simply rule on what happens, based on various factors. If the outcome is really important to your character’s plans, you can influence the outcome with fragrant grease. If only one character spends fragrant grease to win, he wins. If both spend fragrant grease, the higher card wins. A draw represents a titanic struggle that has to continue to a second round whilst spectators look on in awe. Again, in this second round, either, neither or both can choose to spend more fragrant grease, and so it goes on.

Remember that a character who is the best at what he does can turn over the top card of the deck as if you’d played one of your fragrant grease cards- an option not open to mere also-rans. (This is why being the best at what you do costs more clout). Look at it from the other chap’s perspective: getting into a standup fight with someone who gets free cards could be very taxing!

There are two other assets which are sufficiently universal as to merit their own section: spying and Imperial Favour.

The Spying Asset

Spying (or Information or Learning or Wisdom or Hacking or The Great Library of Ch’in or whatever)

This is defined as an asset that gives the character access to lots of information that a normal person wouldn’t have. It will most often be used like any other asset as described above, but there are a few “metagame” aspects that need explaining.

A character who activates his asset with fragrant grease can listen in to private conversations between other characters. For example, if two players have gone off into the corner to discuss a plot, someone can activate their spying asset to eavesdrop. If one of the characters being spied upon has an asset that can stop such eavesdropping, treat it as described in Opposing Assets above. The GM has to rule according to the situation whether or not the people being eavesdropped upon noticed.

Beware The Best Spy!

Remember he gets to turn over the top card of the deck for fragrant grease to gather information whenever he feels like it. The other thing that the best spy can do is to look at everyone’s character sheet before play officially begins. Since develop-in-play players won’t have much written down at this point, they get a bit of an advantage. The disadvantage is that the clout costs for best-at-what-you-do are done on a first come first served basis, so the develop-at-start players get a head start here- and it’s only logical that the best are also the most renowned.

After play officially begins (which is when the GM first deals out everybody’s hand of fragrant grease cards) the spy can try to find out more information on specific things by the usual means but can no longer look at character sheets.

The Imperial Favour Asset

Imperial Favour is, at the end of the day, the asset that everybody is trying to be best at. The one who finishes up top of the heap gets to marry the Princess. Of course, the princess herself gets some say in the matter: her good opinion alone is probably worth an extra 20 points of clout towards your Imperial Favour asset. However, there are many other factors that can influence your Imperial Favour. The ministers and bureaucrats who advise the emperor have a say, and if you are really unpopular with the general populace it will count against you.

For this reason, Imperial Favour is a never-ending sink of clout points. The more you put in, the better your chances of coming out on top, but always remember that your actions modify the raw points upwards or downwards by a large amount. The number on your character sheet is how many point you’ve put into gaining Imperial Favour- it is NOT your actual Imperial Favour asset value!

The rule here is that you can never know exactly what your own Imperial Favour standing is. You can find out vaguely what other people’s are by normal spying activities described above, but be aware that Imperial Favour is a fickle thing that changes from one day to the next. Even the best spy in the empire can never be sure  how he really stands in the eyes of his emperor.

All you know is how many points you’ve pumped into it, and how others treat you. Nobody really knows for sure who has the best Imperial Favour because not even the Jade Princess knows her father’s mind completely. But most people will sense the way the wind is blowing and react to you accordingly. Don’t neglect to curry Imperial Favour at every opportunity!

Everybody starts with twenty points of Imperial Favour except the Jade Princess, who starts with 50. You can buy more with clout points: 1 point of clout gets you 1 point of Imperial favour. If your Imperial Favour ever drops below zero you’ll no longer be invited to social events and will have to find stealthy ways of gaining admittance. If it ever (heaven forbid) drops to below -100, the Jade Emperor will order your execution.

If You Can’t Stand The Heat, Get Out Of The Kitchen

By now, some of the players may be getting a bit bored in the kitchen having run out of things to talk about. When this happens, the GM should bring them back in and explain the rules about assets, fragrant grease, spying and Imperial Favour. They may already have a few more ideas- scribble them down. Tell them that they only need to decide on something finally when it comes up in play.

Since the GM is unlikely to be charging them more than a few points for assets at this stage, it doesn’t matter if they want to renegotiate some points later. The only rule is that if ever they want to contradict something that has gone before, they are in effect overcoming a shortcoming and need to follow those procedures.

For example, if our ethereal friend has decided that it is just too awkward not be to able to affect anything physical ever, he may come up with some new development for his character to get over this. Make sure he comes up with some sort of description for what has changed- maybe his people have developed a six-dimensional science of manipulating matter so he now has a ethereal telekinesis ray, or maybe he’s meditated long and hard to develop the mental discipline needed to solidify himself for brief periods.

Similarly, if the blaster-wielding maniac wants to be able to affect the ethereal character, he’s going to have to spend clout on developing a new super-ray weapon which can disrupt creatures which inhabit higher dimensions. If the ethereal character wants to remain immune, he must pay at least one point of clout because his asset has just become even more valuable. In general, it should cost three points to overcome the current status quo and only one point to maintain it. If the action is hotly contested, treat it as an opposed assets contest (above) with the winner defining the new status quo. The 3/1 points of permanent clout can be considered the “entry fees” into that opposed asset contest- fragrant grease, logic and luck will determine whether or not the investment pays off.

Now you have to determine who is the best spy. This is a coveted position, because he’s going to get a copy of everyone’s starting character sheets. The GM will run this as an auction-style bidding for the position of best spy. Whoever stumps up the most clout wins.

Now decide on the characters’ starting Imperial Favour. Everybody can put extra clout points towards their Imperial Favour. This is done by sealed bids- but the best spy gets to look at everybody’s bids before putting his in. Then the GM reveals all the bids openly. This is the last time that anyone gets to know their own Imperial Favour rating, and lets everyone start off knowing roughly who stands where.

Now play starts officially and you can deal the first hand of fragrant grease cards. Everybody has to decide how many extra clout points to put into their fragrant grease asset at this point.

Now carry all the unspent clout points over into mystery and start the game proper.