Obsidian Reign Characters

Character Creation

You are a normal human teenager with responsibilities who can transform into a magical panther with the power to protect humanity.

Normal Human

First create your base human character. Use the standard rules except at described below.

First select a character archetype that represents the kind of character you want to play.

With your archetype in mind, select attributes and skills.

• 4 attribute points
• 10 skill points, see below for setting specific skills.
• 2 minor hinderances
• 2 advancements

Finally, fill out your character with the powers from your sapphire bond and your titan form.

Skills

Obsidian Reign takes place in 1911, long before computers or other advanced technology. The Electronics and Hacking skills are unknown in this setting.

The only Arcane Background available is Focus, and is available to every PC.

Hinderances

Characters of Obsidian Reign have a sapphire bond that gives them many advantages, powers, and hinderances. To maintain balance players may select only 2 additional minor hindrances for their character. Many major hindrances can be represented as a minor hindrance by taking them as a Quirk.

You may not select any hindrance that would make it too difficult to cooperate with others.

Advancements

You may select any edges from the lists for common advancements, those for your archetype, and those listed here.

• Attractive (Vigor d6)
  • Very Attractive
• Connections
• Rich
  • Filthy Rich

Equipment

We won't be tracking currency; your equipment will depend on the social class of your family, as determined by your traits.

Laborer (poverty)

pocket money = $0.10

Your family is employed by professionals and merchants to do hard labor: porters, miners, dock workers, servants, lumberjacks, factory workers, etc. You are the first of your family to attend secondary school. Your family lives in a boarding house and can barely afford food and school supplies, you wear worn, second hand clothes. When you are not in school you probably work in a factory or some other menial job to help support your family.

Professional (default)

pocket money = $1

Your parents are skilled professionals of a craft or service in the employ of a local merchant and you live in a small house or a "flat" near where they work. Your family has sufficient income for food and clothing with enough for an occasional celebration but they don't own any property and have very few durable goods beyond their professional tools. In addition to school you may have an apprenticeship that requires most of your time.

Merchant (rich)

pocket money = $5

Your family owns a factory, business, ships, or other property and make their living by managing that property. You live in a house and eat well with easy access to basic goods and clothing. You are far better off than most of the people in Eureka and have some time to for extra schooling, an apprenticeship, or other productive activities.

Aristocrat (filthy rich)

pocket money = $20

Your family is one of the oldest landowners in the city with great wealth and responsibility to all citizens. You live in a mansion on an estate and the only one of your siblings to go to a public secondary school. Every aristocrat is expected to follow a strict code of ethics to be polite and gracious to all citizens. Your aristocratic family doesn't care what you do, as long as you don't disgrace the family name.

Titan Form

Next, create your titan form. Titans are large panthers with softly-glowing fur. The titan form is obviously a supernatural creature designed to fight other supernatural creatures. A titan is magical creature, it does not bleed or have internal organs.

All titan forms have the following traits

• +2 Toughness.
• Weakness to iron (-2 toughness/resistance).
• Natural Weapons: teeth (Str +d6) & claws (Str +d6)
• Animal Form: -4 with tools, mundane equipment
• Doesn't breath, eat, sleep, or age, and immune to mundane poison and disease.
• No extra damage from called shots; but can still be crippled.
• Cannot be healed with mundane methods.

And traits that affect both human and titan forms.

• Transformation: Focus roll and 1 turn to transform into a titan.
• Regeneration (heal 1 wound/day). Titan and human forms share the same wound levels.
• Secret Identity: If the bad guys knew you were a titan, your family would be in danger.
• Vow: You are sworn to protect human life, destroy evil, and encourage peace and cooperation. (This comes from your Sapphire bond, breaking this vow will break the bond.)
• +1 benny

Archetypes and Advancements

As you gain experience your titan form becomes stronger. Advancements can be use to:

• Gain one power/ability for your archetype or the common advancement table below.
• Gain one attribute increase, up to d10.
• Gain two skill increases to skills below the linked attribute.
• Gain one skill increase to a skill at or above the linked attribute.

Unless described below, all advancements are edges from the core book.

• Skill and attribute increases apply to both human and titan forms.
• Italic traits can only be used in titan form.
• Advancements with an asterisk* are unique to Obsidian Reign and are described below.
• Advancements with a (+plus) have additional requirements listed in parentheses.
• All abilities that require a focus roll also cause you to glow softly, indicating an obvious use of supernatural power to anybody paying attention. The power description indicates if it requires a focus roll.

Common Advancements

These advancements are applicable to every archetype.

Common Advancements

Novice	Seasoned	Veteran
Brave	Combat Reflexes
Brawny	Counterattack
Luck	Were Form*
Brawler
Hard to Kill
Nerves of Steel
Thief (+Poverty)
Streetwise
Strong Will
Champion
Danger Sense
Healer

Average-Joe

The special thing about an average-joe is that they aren't all that different from everybody else. They go to school, hang out with friends, and all the other typical teenager things. These are some of the best titans because they can adapt to changing situations. They may not be as powerful as others, but they can succeed at anything.

Advancements

Novice	Seasoned	Veteran
Alertness	Block	Alter Destiny*
Elan		Kugelblitz*
Quick
Extraction
Steady Hands
Jack-of-all-trades
Scavenger

Class-clown

Class-clowns enjoy bringing other people joy. Sometimes they are silly, sometimes ironic or depressive but always with the goal of making whatever situation they are in more enjoyable for the people around them. As a titan the class-clown supports their team and plays pranks on the enemy.

Advancements

Novice	Seasoned	Veteran
Charismatic	Frenzy	Jinx*
Feint	Killer Instinct	Teleport*
Bolster	Rabble Rouser
Humiliate	Malfunction*
Provoke
Retort
Work the Room

Creepy-kid

The creepy-kid is into tarot cards, astrology, and other weird occult stuff. They seem to know things that other kids find spooky and scary. They often have few, if any, friends but they don't care because they Know Things.

Advancements

Novice	Seasoned	Veteran
Arcane Resistance	No Mercy	Duplication*
Elan	Entangle*	Illusion*
Scholar, Occult
Object Reading*

Heart-throb

Every school class has that one boy or girl more popular and charming than the rest. This heart-throb is friendly and diplomatic, able to lead others to success. They are charismatic leaders, inspiring and encouraging allies to victory.

Advancements

Novice	Seasoned	Veteran
Charismatic	Encourage*	Motivate*
Bolster		Rejuvenate*
Common Bond
Reliable
Retort
Work the Room

Lone-wolf

Mavericks, freaks, punks, and misfits who feel like they don't fit in with the rest of the class. They have thick skin, a strong personality, and a pursuit that most of their class would consider too strange. The lone-wolf excels at creative tactics, flanking and surprising the enemy, and getting out of danger before others see it coming.

Advancements

Novice	Seasoned	Veteran
Fleet-Footed	Dodge	Obscure*
Quick	Level Headed
Calculating	Killer Instinct
Feint	No Mercy
Specialization*	Cat Eyes*

Meat-head

A meat-head is a sports jock with a well trained body and strong sense of teamwork. Meat-heads work best in a group to be stronger and better than they would be alone. They bring power to the team, shield their friends from danger, and bringing the beat-down to the enemy.

Advancements

Novice	Seasoned	Veteran
Brute	Block	Testudo*
Extraction	Bruiser	Hardy*
Iron Jaw
Common Bond
Provoke
Reliable

Smarty-pants

The smarty-pants loves to learn; they read the encyclopedia for fun, study historical events, and can tell you how Ohm's law explains light bulbs. Smarty-pants tend to be less powerful titans, but they more than make up for it with their deep understanding of the world.

Advancements

Novice	Seasoned	Veteran
Alertness		Hand Beans* (+Were Form)
Calculating		Genius*
Investigator
Jack-of-all-trades
Mr. Fixit

Tree-hugger

Teenagers often find themselves searching for meaning and purpose. Some find their purpose in the plants and animals outside the city. Tree-huggers have a connection to nature and animals. They are excellent hunters and survivalists.

Advancements

Novice	Seasoned	Veteran
Berserk	Frenzy	Chameleon*
Fleet-Footed	Bruiser	Tracking*
Free Runner	Animal Voice*	Cats Grace*
Steady Hands
Woodsman
Beast Master
Beast Bond

Power Descriptions

After Image (Focus)

You can create an illusionary duplicate of a stationary object. When you move an object you can take an illusion of the object, or leave an illusion behind in place of the object. The illusion is solid but fragile and otherwise indistinguishable from the original. The illusion shatters if damaged or used as a tool or weapon.

Alter Destiny (Focus)

One person you can see gains +2 or -2 to all actions until the end of their next turn. You decide if it is a bonus or penalty and you can specify a specific kind of action (trait roll) if desired. Each raise increases the modifier by +/-1.

Animal Voice

You can communicate with animals. Animals do not speak human language but they can communicate in sensory and emotional impressions. Most animals will be friendly and willing to communicate.

Cats Eyes

You can see in the dark and hear a mouse sneeze. This does not give a bonus to Notice, but it negates all penalties to Notice rolls and your sight is powerful enough to recognize a person half a mile away.

Cats Grace (Focus)

You can move over any surface, from soft snow to sheer cliffs, leaving behind only faintly glowing footsteps. You can walk on any surface up to an 80 degree slope and crawl on sheer walls, but ceilings and overhangs are too steep for you.

Charge (Focus)

You can charge into another person or object with a run action. The person or object hit is knocked back (1d6 hexes - size) and is distracted until their next turn. If they are knocked into something they both take damage (1d6 + 1 per hex). A person can dodge the charge with Athletics, and if they do then you charge at least two hexes past them, up to your full run distance.

Divination (Focus)

By handling and concentrating on an object you can detect impressions from the recent past of that object. You can detect the motivations of somebody who recently used the object, how long the object has been in its current state, if the object was used for violence or stealth, etc. This information comes as sensory information: visions, smells, emotions, etc. from the perspective of the object.

Duplication (Focus)

You create three illusionary duplicates of yourself that act as if they were you. They are identical to you and an opponent will not know which image is the real titan. When attacking you get a gang-up bonus. You can also control your illusions to act without you, they can not cause damage but they can distract an opponent.

Encourage (Focus)

Support an individual in their next action, adding any successes and raises from your focus roll as successes to their roll.

Entrapment (Focus)

After successfully grappling an opponent you may move away and leave a duplicate of yourself behind to continue the grapple. If the opponent breaks free of the hold then your duplicate vanishes. The duplicate has the same traits as you for the purpose of maintaining the grapple.

Genius

Free reroll on all Smarts linked skills. Yeah, you probably know everything about everything. People hate that.

Hardy

A second shaken result doesn't cause a wound; the attacker must get a raise on the damage roll to cause a wound even if you are already shaken.

Illusion (Focus)

You can create an After Image of an object in motion, even a living creature. You can control the motion of the object but you are distracted while doing so. Otherwise the object will continue whatever it was doing until interrupted, then vanish. The original object remains, as with After Image. The focus roll is at -1 per size above 0 (human). After Image can now be used on stationary objects without transforming into a titan.

Inspire (Focus)

Support a group of allies in their next action, adding any successes from your focus roll to their roll.

Jinx(Focus)

Like Sabotage but when the object fails it will fail catastrophically, breaking apart into chunks and components. The focus roll is at -1 per size above 0 (human). Jinx can cause the failure to happen immediately, without waiting for the mechanism to be used.

Kugelblitz (Focus)

Your titan shoots lasers from its eyes. This is a ranged attack with a range of 10/20/40. It does 2d6 damage to mundane creatures and 2d6+3 damage to supernaturally evil creatures.

Mic Drop (Focus)

You disappear in a flash of light and puff of smoke and reappear up to Pace hexes away. If you appear next to an opponent you have The Drop on them until their next turn. You must be able to walk/run/climb to the new location but you do not travel through that distance.

Motivate (Focus)

Motivate a group of people (small blast) to be more friendly or aggressive, calm or fearful, etc. You do not control the group, only motivate them to behave in some way. More raises enhances the effect and/or the number of people affected. This power can be resisted with Spirit (-1 per raise).

Obscure (Focus)

A dense mist seeps out of the ground and covers the area (large blast template). The fog is thick and obscures everything more than a few feet away. Any attempt to target something in the fog is at -2 (and another -1 per raise). Sapphire titans can see each other clearly and the fog is a only a mist, they do not have any penalties.

Power Bite

Your titan jaws are supernaturally strong. You teeth count as a heavy weapon; it can tear through steel, and crush stones. Your bit attack ignores all mundane armor and has AP 2 vs supernatural armor.

Rejuvenate (Focus)

Speak encouraging words and send glowing power into another creature to heal and rejuvenate it. Heal a wound or condition for each success or raise. You must touch the individual and it must be done less than 24 hours after the wound was inflicted. This only works once per injury and can not restore lost limbs or organs.

Malfunction(Focus)

Touch a machine or mechanical system to cause it to fail subtly. The failure isn't obvious until the machine is used, then it will fail and won't function until repaired. If the machine is already working it malfunctions immediately.

Sense Evil (Focus)

When you close your eyes and concentrate you can detect supernatural evil nearby. You can detect the direction and strength of the of evil but not its source, unless it is less than a few meters away. This does not detect mundane evil intentions, only evil supernatural creatures.

Specialization

You are an expect at a specific activity. You get +2 when performing that activity, regardless of the trait roll used. Examples: Football, Archery, Chess, Steam Engines, Geology, Runescript, etc. This is the skill that sets you apart from other students.

Stealth (Focus)

You glow briefly then blend into the background, becoming nearly invisible. You can move your full Pace without becoming visible. Any attack or action that changes the world around you dispels the illusion.

Testudo (Focus)

Assume an aggressive stance and stare down your foes. You glow with a hard light that taunts your foes into attacking you. As long as you don't break your stance all damage done to you is reduced by 1 level and you can make a free Focus role to soak the rest. While in your stance you may take no more than one action and may not move from your position.

Tool User

Your titan has hands and feet and can use Smarts based skills in humanoid titan form. Your claws can extend out of your hands when you create a fist but are usually fully retracted.

Tracking (Focus)

You have a supernatural sense of your environment, on par with Aragorn and Sherlock Holmes. You can detect if water is safe to drink by smelling it, how tall somebody was by their footsteps, how many people are on a boat by the shape of its waves, what kind of animal bled on the floor, and more. You can also use your ability to obfuscate your own movements and actions from other investigators. With this power you may use Focus instead of Notice or other skill used to investigate or obscure your environment.

Were Form

Your titan is able to assume the form of a bipedal cat with arms. You still have paws instead of hands and feet but you can now use tools and mundane equipment with a -2 penalty instead of -4. You can transform into either animal or were form.