Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Magic, Inc: Personnel Files

One of the two things I’m taking to Origins Games on Demand is Magic, Inc.: slacker office workers in a supernatural corporation trying to keep their jobs. I posted some departments from it a couple of weeks ago. I've done a f2f playtest with character playbooks and special decks. It went off well and I spotted a few things to tweak. For example, everyone picked Magick as part of their Training & Experience. So I’ll make that a default and add in another pick. Below are some notes on the system and the selections for three of the sample roles: Financial, Reception, and Drone. I’ll talk about Keys & the Personality Profile in another post. Strength & Flaw picks generate special cards which get added to the character’s deck.

SKILLS
  • ACCOUNTING: Math, business, and number…stuff.
  • AUDIT: Research, investigation, and locating stolen lunches.
  • AVOIDANCE: Fleeing, dodging things, and ducking out early.
  • GRIND: Willpower, data entry, and overtime.
  • IT: Information technology, computers, and floating down here.
  • LABWORK: Science, procedures, and domestic chemistry.
  • LIES: Deception and budget assessment.
  • OFFICE POLITICS: Knowing Magic, Inc
  • PILFER: Petty theft, carry-in scavenging, and lockpicking.
  • REPAIR: Mechanics, turning on and off, and general fixes.
  • ROUGHHOUSE: Fightin’ n such.
  • SCARE: Causing terror, intimidation, or popping up unexpectedly.
  • SCHMOOZE: Charm, awkward insertions, and talking yourself up.
  • SPORTS: Athletics and exercise. Includes fantasy football.
  • TRIVIA: Lore, miscellaneous information, and “well, actually”.

CONFLICTS
There are three kinds of damage all measured on a single track, called Suffering:
  • Wounds: Physical damage from faceslaps, fireballs, or falling photocopiers.
  • Attention: Getting noticed and marked for HR review. Possibly hit with a promotion to a position where you actually have to work.
  • Stress: Being yelled at.

CHARACTER CREATION
  1. Pick title. This serves as an Aspect.
  2. Choose Name.
  3. Identify your Demographics
  4. Assign 12 checks to skills.
  5. Pick three from Training & Experience
  6. Pick three from Personality Profile
  7. Pick Two Strengths
  8. Pick One Flaw
  9. Describe the dirt you have on the character to your left

Role: FINANCES
DEMOGRAPHICS (PICK ONE EACH FROM A & B)
A                                             B
Demonic                             Airbender
Mind-Wiped                        Animated Doll
Mirror Universe                  Cat-Person
Mundane                            Human
Psychic                               Luchadore
Variable                              Scarecrow

TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE (PICK THREE)
  • Accountant: You have an acute eye for accounts. You can easily pick out patterns and problems in a ludicrously short time.
  • Armor of Fear: You can use Scare (Social) as a defense, but only until the first time you’re dealt suffering. You make opponents hesitate, but when someone shows them you’re only…human(?) your advantage vanishes.
  • Bad Temper: You do +1 damage when you Yell at Someone.
  • Gold Star: You begin with another title you can invoke for an effect. You also start with +1 fate points.
  • Mentor: You have a mentor or patron with access to special knowledge. Once per session you may freely invoke your mentor as an aspect in appropriate situations (to represent insight, advice gained from contacting them).
  • Magicks: You have a Supernatural Talent. Choose an Aspect for it and two actions it can be used for (Overcome, Create Advantage, Discover, Defend, Attack).

PERSONALITY PROFILE (PICK THREE)
  • Key of the Commander: You love being in charge. Gain a point when you come up with a plan and giveorders to make it happen.
  • Key of Procedures: Things have rules. People are supposed to stick to the rules. That’s how things should work. Gain a point when you try to correct someone’s violation of a rule.
  • Key of Reputation: You’ll make a name for yourself! Gain a point when you brag in in the wrong place to enhance your reputation.
  • Key of Soft Touch: You are, at heart, kind and gentle. Gain a point when you show kindness or mercy.
  • Key of the Traveler: You love talking about travelling & seeing sights. Gain a point when you drop an offhanded brag about your travels and how it connects to the present situation.
  • Key of the Unrequited: You fall into love and infatuation easily and deeply. Gain a point when you fixate on a new person.

STRENGTHS (PICK TWO)
  • Executive Material
  • Idealist
  • Leader
  • Prepared

FLAWS (PICK ONE)
  • Confrontational
  • Gullible
  • Obsessive
  • Uncoordinated

Role: RECEPTION
DEMOGRAPHICS (PICK ONE EACH FROM A & B)
A                                             B
Celebrity                             Deep One
Demi                                   Gremlin
Enchanted                          Human
Mundane                            Vampire
Paroled                              Werewolf
Prince(ss)                           Zombie

TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE (PICK THREE)
  • Eavesdropper: On a successful Audit test to create an advantage or discover via eavesdropping, you can ask one additional question or create one additional aspect (though this doesn’t give you an extra free invocation).
  • Heard it Before: You take one less Suffering when someone Yells at You.
  • Know the Lingo: You’re excellent at talking with a particular group (name it now or later). You get a +1 any time you try to negotiate or chum up with them.
  • Name Tags: When you meet someone new, you can spend a fate point to declare you’ve met them under a different name & identity. Create an aspect to represent your cover story, and you can use Lies for any social checks when interacting with that person.
  • Rumormonger: You gain +1 to create an advantage when you plant vicious rumors about someone else.
  • Magicks: You have a Supernatural Talent. Choose an Aspect for it and two actions it can be used for (Overcome, Create Advantage, Discover, Defend, Attack).

PERSONALITY PROFILE (PICK THREE)
  • Key of the Bad Break-Up: Your significant other left, truly and finally. Gain a point when you make a connection between something in a scene and your ex.
  • Key of the Bruiser: You enjoy overpowering others. Gain a point every time you defeat someone solo.
  • Key of Curiosity: Gain a point whenever you your curiosity sidetracks you or gets you into trouble.
  • Key of the Impostor: You are in often disguise. Gain a point when you perform well enough to fool someone with it.
  • Key of the Matchmaker: You like seeing romantic pairings work, though perhaps not your own. Gain a point when you try to set up two (or more) persons (or things).
  • Key of the Watercooler: You like rumors & hearsay. Gain a point when you spread gossip about someone you shouldn’t.

STRENGTHS (PICK TWO)
  • Lucky
  • Quick Thinker
  • Recycler
  • Studious

FLAWS (PICK ONE)
  • Guilty
  • Needy
  • Self-Absorbed
  • Unfocused

Role: DRONE
DEMOGRAPHICS (PICK ONE EACH FROM A & B)
A                                             B
Ancient                               Angel
Enlightened                        Doppelganger
Foreign Exchange              Elf
Glowing                              Frankenstein
Half-Blood                          Ghost
Mundane                            Human

TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE (PICK THREE)
  • Alarmist: You’ve run into enough traps and alarms to gain an instinct for avoiding them. You gain +1 to checks to spot and notice them.
  • Duck and Cover: You take one less damage when someone Points You Out.
  • Giant-Killer: You do +1d damage in conflicts with opponent much larger or important than you.
  • Voice of Reason: You’re adept at stepping into a bad situation and dialing it down to something more reasonable (or dial up into more crazy). So long as you are not the direct reason someone is upset, your attempts to calm or incite gain a +1 bonus.
  • Without a Trace: By spending a fate point, you can move through cubicle farms and leave no trace. You can also rifle colleagues’ desks and leave them the way you found them.
  • Magicks: You have a Supernatural Talent. Choose an Aspect for it and two actions it can be used for (Overcome, Create Advantage, Discover, Defend, Attack).

PERSONALITY PROFILE (PICK THREE)
  • Key of Klepto: Other people have nicer things. Gain a point when you riskily steal someone’s stuff or score a big payoff.
  • Key of Martyrdom: You thrive on suffering. Gain a point every time you take on someone else’s workload.
  • Key of the Nice Girl: Gain a point when you do something nice because that’s what’s expected of you.
  • Key of Panic: The pressure’s on. Gain a point every time you take a condition card.
  • Key of the Prudent: You avoid combat like the plague. Gain a point when you flee a potentially dangerous situation.
  • Key of the Twice Shy: You’ve learned to avoid blame, and credit. Gain a point when you pin your success on someone else.

STRENGTHS (PICK TWO)
  • Ambitious
  • Bargainer
  • Model Employee
  • Tester

FLAWS (PICK ONE)
  • Careless
  • Cursed
  • Passive-Aggressive
  • Troublemaker


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