I've done this where it seemed appropriate. If, over the course of the campaign, a spy-type character has become a knight, then it made sense to give him a knight keyword. He did undergo the training for it. I'm not allowing them to select additional keywords unless their characters have done something to justify it. I think I have a firm grasp on their keyword situation.
> So what I'd charge for a conversion would be 1 AE Level to start
> a keyword at 13. At first glance this seems like it's subject to
> abuse. But the idea here is that we're converting extant
> characters. So I don't see a player adding on an extra Sailor
> keyword at 13, without it being part of the concept, or otherwise
> appropriate. Again, as I mentioned, for generating a character
> from scratch, I'd probably charge a premium of 5 AE Levels or
> something to break into a new keyword. Maybe.
I see. For most of the characters, with histories firmly established in the campaign, the same number and type of additional keywords are actually very similar. Each has expanded to justify one additional Occupational Keyword, and one additional Homeland Keyword. One of the characters has picked up a very odd additional Keyword...for which I will charge him. It's a powerful one with a strong impact in many areas. I'll probably charge him 5 AE as if it were from scratch.
A new character coming in is being built from scratch. Your guidelines above should work very well.
> To support what others have said, you don't have to spend
> everything all at once. That is, I personally consider all
> chargen "as you go" style. If a player puts something down on the
> character sheet, I consider that a "suggestion" of what the
> character probably has. But until it's used in play, I consider
> all such expenditures notional, and allow the resources
> that went into buying them to be rearranged at will. Once an
> ability is used, even then I'd allow a player to change it if I
> really can see that they've found out that it's a mistake. The
> pool is good for this style, IMO, because instead of tweaking
> indefinitely, the player has limited resources which, again, give
> structure to his choices, and can also give closure to
> the generation process at some point when all the points are
> permenantly spent.
I've always been lenient in this regard. I've always allowed players to tweak and alter their characters throughout the first several sessions, as they become familiar with both their character and the system. I'll do the same here. The longer we've been going, though, the greater the justification I'll need to allow it. Usually, after we've been playing for awhile (a year or so), I'll allow a partywide 'tweak' for minor adjustments and streamlining, if necessary. Usually it hasn't been needed.
> Note that the Saga System suggests that a character get one
> keyword level per year or so. I think that this is about right
> for a character who lives in relatively peaceful, unadventurous
> times. That is, it works fine for "between adventures" which is
> what the Saga System was designed for. One reason that I'm
> advocating far more levels than this is that you've indicated that
> these characters have had years of adventuring, and not
> sitting about practicing a profession or the like. As such, I think
> that the years would produce far more AE than the one per year.
I've been a bit conservative in this area. Partly to ease into the characters and system, and partly because their downtime was often not very strenuous. It largely consisted of them working on individual projects and goals with no real time pressure. (Although one character was deeply involved in political maneuverings to bring about a new Knightly Order. He'll get a bit of a bonus in that area.)
> I've had whole first level RM parties wiped out by a single
> ferret. Thank goodness for HQ.
Heh. I nearly took out several members of a 2nd level RM party with a mountain goat. Then a snake. Who said camping was easy...:D
One other reason I'm keeping the points a bit lower is that everyone in the party is effectively immortal (or at least very-long lived). Despite their ages, retirement is not a looming issue.
Thanks for all the input. I think my last big project is to work out exactly how to approach Wizardly-type magic in HeroQuest. I've got some ideas from previous threads, but I'm just now getting to it on my 'Campaign Preparation Checklist'...heh...saving the best for last...
Tom B.
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