Review: Vigilante City (Chargen Examples)

I did everything in the order the book explained: (1) rolled and assigned attributes, (2) determined hit points and saving throws, (3) rolled twice on the background table, (4) chose a class, (5) determined starting possessions, (6) wrote down combat stats (here I made a single deviation: by the book, attack bonuses are noted before equipment is finalised).

For the first character I knew I wanted to make a Knight Nurse (because of the badass name), so I looked up the requirements (12+ in both INT and WIS), and assigned my attributes accordingly.

As a Knight Nurse I get +2 to Courage saves, as well as a bunch of skills (Combat Training, First Aid +2, Knowledge - Local Geography, Piloting: Basic, Street Survival, and two skills of my choice) and some other traits (−2 for all attacks, +1 AC, and the Mend Wounds and Into the Fray abilities). I also gain +1 INT and WIS and −1 STR and SUR. Then I note my starting gear and roll on the money chart.

The Skills section starts by saying everyone gets 4 other skills unless they have a skill pack or their class says otherwise. Knight Nurse says I already have 2 skills of my choice, so I assume I don't get 4 further skills beyond that (I ended up picking Street Smart and Subterfuge).

I almost forgot about it, as it's only mentioned in the gear chapter that all vigilantes start with a 12-slot belt. It takes up 2 Encumbrance slots (of which I have 8 as my STR is 8), and some of my other items can be stored there, which is a godsend. However, I had to discard several items from my pre-packaged medic kit as it didn't have enough slots to store all my medi-packs).

The process took roughly 40 minutes. I didn't deliberate much on my choices; I went with my gut feelings. However, flipping back and forth, getting the details of equipment, and figuring out some perceived contradictions took time.

Knight Nurse, level 1

STR 8 −1
INT 14 +1 (speaks 1 extra language)
WIS 16 +2 (gains +1 XP per session)
DEX 13 +1
CON 10
CHA 14 +1
SUR 11

HP 4
AC 13 (+1 DEX, +1 class, +1 padded armour)
Melee −3 (−1 STR, -2 class)
Ranged −1 (+1 DEX, −2 class)
Initiative +1 (+1 DEX)
Move 12 (9 swimming)

Courage 10
Critical 14
Death 14
Magic 6
Mental 10
Poison 12

Background

• A parent is doing life in prison; I'm sworn to prove their innocence (+2 Knowledge - Law)
• Mom was a prostitute killed by her pimp (+1 attack and damage vs. pimps and people mistreating women)
• Parents were paramedics (1500 money; +1 First Aid)

Skills

• Combat Training (able to use light armour and light melee weapons)
• First Aid (+3 from ranks, +2 from WIS, and +1 from my background)
• Knowledge - Local Geography (+1 from INT)
• Piloting: Basic (+1 from DEX)
• Street Survival (+2 from WIS) scavenge useful items in urban environs; use basic firearms and light melee weapons; create traps
• Street Smart (+2 from WIS) track down info, drugs, and items
• Subterfuge (+2 from WIS) disguise, espionage, forgery, lock picking, lying, spying, tracking; +2 against people trying to deceive me
• Knowledge - Law (at +1 bonus from ranks and further +1 from INT)

Special

• Access to an ambulance
• You may Mend Wounds during combat. You may do this 1 time per day equal to your level + your WIS modifier (3 for me).
• Into the Fray: If you are going to aid an injured target you may re-roll your Initiative (adding your WIS & DEX bonus to the roll), gain +d6 Move and gain Advantage on all First Aid checks for 2 minutes.

Gear (6 slots; unencumbered)

• 1500 money
• Padded, Light (+1 AC) the class description didn't specify whether it was Padded, Light or Padded, Heavy; both count as Light armour, but I went with the cheaper one
• Moderate Clothes/ Uniform
• nightstick (1d4 damage)
• pepper spray (poison save or stunned for 2 rounds)

Utility Belt (12 slots used out of 12)

• First Aid Kit, Advanced (takes up 2 slots)
• Water Bottle × 2 (12 oz. each)
• Medi-Poison Pack
• 5 × Medi-Pack I (each pack is usable 1d4+1 times and heals 2d6 hp)
• blanket
• knife

For my second character, I decided to make something sturdier, and I settled on Dark Avenger. They require a STR score of 12 or higher, so I arranged my attributes accordingly.

Dark Avengers get +2 Mental save (because they are unwavering). Their starting skills are Combat Training, one Fighting skill, Interrogation +2, Intimidation +1, Street Smarts, and 2 other skills. They also have +1 STR and DEX and −1 CHA and SUR.

Unfortunately, I didn't create my second character right after the first, so I had to spend some time getting familiar with the book yet again. Still, I think it took about 30 minutes to make the character from scratch, which is not that bad. A handful of the items in the burglar's kit that I eventually settled on for this character weren't listed in the equipment section, so that required some judgement calls.

Dark Avenger, level 1

STR 17 +2
INT 10
WIS 12
DEX 16 +2
CON 15 +1
CHA 4 −2
SUR 12

HP 4 (I rolled rather poorly again)
AC 13 (+2 DEX, +1 armour)
Melee +2 (+2 STR)
Ranged +2 (+2 DEX)
Initiative +2 (+2 DEX)
Move 12 (9 swimming)

Courage 9
Critical 12
Death 9
Magic 10
Mental 11
Poison 12

Background

• Always been drawn to fighting but have maintained a sense of fairness. (+2 VIG Points) a very interesting trait for a raging avenger, but it's workable
• A corporation cheated my parents out of their housing when I was young. Hatred of mega-corporations. (+2 to melee damage and −2 to social interactions with large corporate people)
• Lives in the sewers under the city (+1 to Street Survival and 4d6 money) goes really well with the previous background element

Skills

• Combat Training (able to use light armour and light melee weapons)
• Fighting: Brawling (+1 attack with punches/kicks, +1 vs. Intimidation, and +1 Toughness)
• Interrogation (+2 STR, +2 class)
• Intimidation (+1 class)
• Street Smart track down info, drugs, and items
• Street Survival (from background)
• Athletics: Basic (+1 CON, DEX, and STR)
• Parkour (+2 DEX) advantage on climbing and jumping

Gear (6 slots; unencumbered)

• 23 money
• club (light melee, 1d6)
• screwdriver (light melee, 1d4)
• Padded, Light (+1 AC) the class description didn't specify whether it was Padded, Light or Padded, Heavy; both count as Light armour, but I went with the cheaper one
• Moderate Clothes/Uniform

Utility Belt (12 or maybe 13 slots used out of 12)

• backpack
• 100’ rope (2 slots)
• shuko
• crowbar
• climbing pads (maybe 2 slots?)
• grappling hook
• gloves
• mask
• glass cutters
• lockpicks (+2 Lock picking)
• knife