USR Wednesdays: Creating Specialisms

One of the keys to USR's streamlined system is its use of Specialisms (another is the simple dice mechanic). It's the same concept as found in a lot of rules light RPGs, like the cliches of Risus, the qualities of Cartoon Action Hour and the aspects of Fate. Specialisms represent skills, supernatural powers, personality traits and occasionally gear and character types, though in USR, races and classes are more often archetypes (as they are in Domino Writing-style USR).

What is a Specialism? As USR 2.0 puts it, "Specialisms are the things that make your character stand out from the rest. They give your character an edge at a specific task, making them more likely to succeed." They explain what a character can do, or how he or she does it, in a way that's appropriate to the setting.

What a character can do: Most often, Specialisms are skills, like lock picking, computers or sneaking (or hand-to-hand fighting, if you're using combat Specialisms). It can also stand for special talents, like magic or a super power like eye beams.

How he or she does it: Specialisms can also be personality traits that not only help define a character's background for role playing purposes, but can also be put to use as abilities. Think of the inspiring leader, the intimidating muscle man, or the even more intimidating loner with a creepy smile.

Appropriate to the setting: Since so much of rules light RPGs like USR rely on tropes and stereotypes familiar to fantasy and science fiction fans, most players probably start the game with a general idea of what fits the setting. But it's easy to be too broad: a sorcerer may not be specific enough; try a fire wizard or an illusionist instead. Likewise, think about Specialisms that won't be available all the time: a wise mentor is a great support for a hero — but Obi-Wan and Merlin aren't supposed to be part of every adventure, they're only supposed to lend a helping hand now and again.

Can your character do this?

Characters that gain levels in USR can either gain new Specialisms or improve their existing ones. In a classic adventuring party, each character has a role (healer, tank, etc.), so improving the existing Specialisms is more fitting. Adding a new Specialism should show how the character has made a major life change — finding a powerful magical item, taking on a whole new set of responsibilities, and so on.

Specialisms and similar characteristics are one of the defining elements of a rules light RPG: the game isn't "weighed down" by pages and pages of skills and abilities! But it can be hard to figure out just what Specialisms really are without a guideline, one like this:

Specialisms are what a character can do, or how he or she does it, in a way that's appropriate to the setting.

What Specialisms does your game have?

(image: Guillaume Riesen)

USR: Archetypes: Modern-Day Heroes

Last time we looked at the classic fantasy races and classes. Now let’s move into modern-day action and adventure settings. Everyone’s human (usually), but the range of skills heroes need to succeed is bigger. These archetypes cover a lot of ground; a sneak, for example, can represent a James Bond-style spy, a Jason Bourne-style secret agent, or even a Jake Gittes-style private eye.

Or these dudes. (image: YouTube)

Diplomat

Primary Stat: Ego

Suggested Specialisms: Charm, Negotiate, Language, Leadership, Etiquette

Suggested Equipment: none

Entertainer

Primary Stat: Ego

Suggested Specialisms: Art (music, oratory, writing, etc.), Charisma, Athletics, Hundreds (Possibly Millions) Of Fans, Target Of Paparazzi

Suggested Equipment: Musical instrument

Gadgeteer

Primary Stat: Wits

Suggested Specialisms: Repair, Invent, Hacking, Works Best Alone, Focused On The Task At Hand

Suggested Equipment: Miscellaneous Gadgets, Tools

Pilot

Primary Stat: Action

Suggested Specialisms: Driving, Flying, Repair, Adrenaline Junkie, Team Player

Suggested Equipment: Vehicle (if there’s more than one character with a vehicle in the party, maybe they have one big vehicle, like a space cruiser)

Researcher

Primary Stat: Wits

Suggested Specialisms: Knowledge (in one topic), Dedication, Bravery, Support Of A University or a Military Organization

Suggested Equipment: Computer, Library Of Books

Sneak

Primary Stat: Action

Suggested Specialisms: Move Silently, Sleight Of Hand, Hacking, Disguise, Hide, Spot Clues

Suggested Equipment: Lock Pick (possibly an electronic one)

Soldier

Primary Stat: Action

Suggested Specialisms: Endurance, Intimidate, Leadership, Toughness, Military Tactics

Suggested Equipment: Guns, Knives

Which archetypes are best for the modern world?

USR: Archetypes - Meet the Big Four

In USR, concepts like class and race are found in the form of archetypes, suggestions for ways to simulate character types long-time roleplayers are familiar with. In Halberd, the predecessor to Tequindria, a lot of the classic fantasy archetypes made an appearance. 

Archetypes aren’t a requirement, just a tool to help you visualize your character better. Every USR setting will probably have its own archetypes (Tequindra does). They’re a good way to get a feel for the kind of characters that would appear in that setting, even if your character stands out as someone different. 

Archetypes for elves, wizards and fighters can be found below.
Source: Wizards of the Coast originally, I think.

Since I’m using my Domino Writing-style version of USR, I’m going to make a few changes to better fit my version of the game. Here’s how they break down:

Primary Stat: This is the stat (Action, Wits, Ego) that should be assigned the d10, or d12 if using superhero rules. It’s not a requirement, but emphasizing that stat is the quickest way to simulate most familiar character types. That said, a really buff wizard (with a d10 in Action) would be a unique take on the spellcaster! Some archetypes have a primary stat of “Any” — the archetype doesn’t call for any specific stat to be favored. Just take your pick, like in the normal rules.

Suggested Specialisms: Several common skills, abilities or powers characters of the archetype usually have. You don’t have to take all three, or even any, of your specialisms from this list, but it’s a good starting point. In Domino Writing-style USR, a character’s combat skills are represented with their gear, so combat specialisms won’t be common. For example, an archer will have a Bow weapon rather than a Ranged Attack or Archery specialism. Also, Domino Writing-style USR doesn’t assign Specialisms to stats; you’ll have to do that yourself. I just represented supernatural powers as a Specialism, since USR has several different magic systems, which are worth looking at in another blog post.

Suggested Equipment: This includes weapons and armor, though you’ll have to decide on their value (Light/Medium/Heavy), depending on how you picture your character, and how many Combat Gear points you have available. It also includes signature tools of the trade, such as a spellbook or thief’s tools. It doesn’t include money; assume your character has enough “pocket change” or credit for any ordinary purchase, unless the GM says something different, of course. It also doesn’t include everything a character would be carrying (ordinary clothes, a bedroll, etc.), just the stuff that makes the character a hero.

Here’s a few examples, the classic “Big 4” races and classes, with a lot borrowed from Halberd.

Dwarf

Primary Stat: Action

Suggested Specialisms: Mining, Brewing, Tough, Leadership, Appraise Valuables, Forge Weapons and Armor

Suggested Equipment: Battle Axe or War Hammer, Armor, Repair Tools, Mug of Ale

Elf

Primary Stat: Wits

Suggested Specialisms: Woods Lore, Magic Knowledge, Aloof, Move Silently, Alluring

Suggested Equipment: Long Bow, Cloak of Invisibility

Human

Primary Stat: Any

Suggested Specialisms: Blacksmithing, Inventing, Leadership, Persuasion, Trying New Things, Sailing, Riding, Driving

Suggested Equipment: none

Halfling

Primary Stat: Ego

Suggested Specialisms: Sneak, Hide, Charm, Bargain, Singing

Suggested Equipment: Short Sword, Food

Cleric

Primary Stat: Wits

Suggested Specialisms: Healing, Religion, Nature, Charisma, Inspiration

Suggested Equipment: Holy Symbol, Mace, Armor

Fighter

Primary Stat: Action

Suggested Specialisms: Athletics, Strong, Military Tactics, Leadership, Intimidation, Riding

Suggested Equipment: Sword, Shield, Armor, Dagger, Crossbow

Rogue

Primary Stat: Action

Suggested Specialisms: Sneak, Climb, Escape, Disarm Trap, Pick Lock, Disguise, Charming

Suggested Equipment: Dagger, Thief’s Tools, Poison Vial

Wizard

Primary Stat: Wits

Suggested Specialisms: Spell-casting, Identify Magic Item, Monster Lore, History, Create Magical Item, Research

Suggested Equipment: Staff, Spellbook, Dagger

This is a starting point; there will be more archetypes to come, as we build up the range of settings available for USR.

Which archetypes have you created?

New Games

As promised, I've updated a few of my older games, albeit with not a lot of playtesting. So, if you play them, let me know how they work. They're on my website.

Monsters Menace Monopoly: This takes the traditional game and adds giant monsters and hordes. Send your giant lizard and your ninja clan to conquer St. James Place and the Water Works. I'll update the abilities of player tokens as Hasbro updates the pieces that Monopoly comes with. The goal was to create a game using a minimum of outside material that was a lot more fun than actual Monopoly. Paper money is a pain to keep track of, and all those little plastic houses and hotels just demand that someone wander through and crush them.

Plastic Attack: I walk past the action figure sections in the toy store and FLGS; what's the point, any figure you buy just sits there. Miniatures can at least be used in gaming. I do have rules for different sizes of figure in my Very Simple Generic Miniatures Game document. But Plastic Attack is quicker, more of a convention game. Plus, the figures don't even have to be the same scale — it really is about as all-encompassing as a game can be.

I Am In A Book!

Now I have my second published RPG credit. The first was years ago, in what Seraphim Games called Super Agents (and what I called Agents and Assassins) for the FASERIP revision 4C, where I adapted the superhero rules for secret agent-types. There was some of that in Marvel Super Heroes, the game that FASERIP is based on (pre-Watcher Nick Fury, SHIELD in general), but I tried to be more broad and cover everyone from Buffy to Bond, and to fix a few of the rules in 4C that didn't work.

Like this, but I didn't have vehicle rules.

This time, I'm the winner of the create-a-character contest for Spectrum Games' Cartoon Action Hour Season 3. Specifically for Warriors Of The Cosmos, the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe homage setting book. I created Bubblor, a gum-themed hero, as in, "the action figure would have had a scratch-n-sniff patch on its chest that smells like baseball card bubble gum." It's a classic piece of 1980s childhood nostalgia (I had plenty of those pink planks) and a gimmick that isn't otherwise in the Cartoon Action Hour game.

They were almost always broken. And they tasted awful.

Of course, there are plenty of my games on my website, and that's where I'll be putting out more content in the future. But it's fun to see a few things out in "the wild." If you're playing 4C, or Cartoon Action Hour, or Microlite 20, or USR, or any of my other games, let me know what you think! I'm always interested in feedback.