Character Creation question

character-creation

#1

Quick rules question: I just purchased Heroes of the Hammer and noticed some of the builds with negative stats. I know some other games allow you to take a hit on one stat to let you raise another stat higher than normal. However, upon reviewing the rules of character creation in Core second edition, I didn’t see a reference to this possibility. Am I missing it?


The Joy of Bad Stats
#2

You’re not missing it. The general philosophy is that negative stats are not included at character creation because it’s a limbic brain hit, and it sucks to roll and have to subtract. So, you’re not going to find it in the core rules.

That being said, we have occasionally had characters in the ICRPG universe with a negative stat here or there. Matt Shaker’s character, Roland, lost a point of Int permanently during a session after gazing into an infinite abyss (taking him to negative one). Thereafter, he rolled a natural one, effectively a zero, and from that point on we called that “rolling a Shaker.”

It does happen from time to time. I recommend it occurring during the game as in the example above (as an expression of events that have taken a toll on a character), or at least very sparingly during character creation if you are considering adopting it. If negative stats are included in the heroes of the hammer, it is probably as a reflection of something terrible in that character’s past. But that’s my two cents on the topic. If that is something you want to do, and it makes sense for you and your players, go for it.


#3

Another question regarding Heroes of the Hammer: I am looking to play Harnor the Black (archer, page 18). I am having difficulty tracking down the descriptions of all the loot with this pre-gen. Is there another resource I should be referencing other than Core or Worlds? (eg. Caltrop Kit, Ring of True Shots, Bow Sight?)


#4

At my table, we have adopted a GM’s discretion policy whereby a player creating a new character can—with gamemaster approval—get an extra (seventh) build point for stat bonuses by taking a single -1 modifier in a chosen dump stat; this usually only comes into play for one-shots, when players are striving for either tightly focused mechanical advantages or heavily themed character builds. So far it has worked out pretty well, and the battle royale scenarios have been just a little bit more mayhem-filled…