Publish or Perish

Character Example

Phases!

When you add your aspects, please include an example of how that aspect could be tagged and compelled.

Example:

• Aspect - Lead Foot
• Tagged to drive fast
• Compelled by getting pulled over for speeding

Phase 1: Background

This phase covers the character’s youth, from birth to age 14, but in a more abstract sense also covers the core concept for the character as a “normal person”. While youth may be a time of adventure and excitement, it is also the time when we are most shaped by our family and environs. This phase is an opportunity to reflect the character’s family and upbringing. When describing events in this phase, consider answers to the following questions:

• What were the family’s circumstances like? Rich? Poor? Scholarly? Isolated? Pious? Political?
• How big is the family?
• How well does the character get along with his family?
• What nation is the character from? What region?
• How was the character educated?
• What were the character’s friends like? Did the character get into much trouble?

Player Rules

• Write down a brief summary of the events of the phase.
• Write down two aspects that are in some way tied into the events of the phase, or the character’s national, familial, or cultural upbringing.

Phase 2: War

Phase two is World War I, or as it’s called in the 1920s, The Great War. While the characters may technically have been too young to serve, they may have done so anyway; as exceptional individuals, it would not have been hard for them to fake their age. Because we’re talking about pulp heroes here, while they may have spent some time in the trenches, it’s more likely that they spent most of their time on top secret missions for elite soldiers, spies, researchers or pilots. Alternatively, they may have spent their time in other parts of the world, dealing with the end of colonialism, or exploring the mysterious East.

This is the time when the characters start coming into their own, and begin realizing their true potential.

Some questions to consider during this period:

• Did your character fight in the war? For whom? Where? In what capacity?
• Were you a member of any secret units? Did you meet any of the other characters there?
• Who was your patron? What happened to him or her?

Player Rules

• Write down a brief summary of the events of the phase. Include the name and fate of your mentor.
• Write down two aspects that are in some way tied into the events of the phase.

Phases 3 & 4: Article

Already, the Apocrypha has published some very captivating articles in the past year. Whether the article actually captured your involvement in it or not, each investigator developed in some way during the events of the article. The articles to choose from are:

• The one where the diner owner was cursing commuters so they would commit suicide infront of their competitors...
• The one where the missing kids had become cats...
• The one where the guy entered the dreamlands...
• The one where the creatures were harvesting brains in duluth and the brain-bugs were opening portals...
• The one where the monster in the sewer had a box...

(something else?)

Player Rules

• Write down a brief summary of your role in the article (including the name, if possible.)
• Write down two aspects (per phase) that are in some way tied into the events of the phase.

Phase 5: Future Edition

Phase five is the start character’s next adventure, starring him or her! Each player needs to come up with a title for the article starring his character.

Then, each player needs to think up a seeds of the story to go with his title. The story doesn’t need to have a lot of detail – in fact, it should be no more detailed than the blurb on the beginning of the article.

Player Rules

• Write down the title and first paragraph blurb (a couple sentences at most) for the article.
• Write down two aspects that are in some way tied into the events that you can pridect will happen during the adventure.

Skills

Once all players have mapped out their phases and chosen their aspects, it’s time to pick skills. Each player gets to choose skills as shown here. Any skill the character does not explicitly take defaults to Mediocre.

Stunts

Each player selects five stunts for his character. These are likely to be stunts that are associated with the character’s most highly-ranked skills, but there is no restriction in that regard. In a number of cases, it may be fine to take a stunt that’s tied to a skill that the player has left at the default, if the GM agrees to it.