Unmasked: Five Sample Characters

I’m running three different Cypher System games this month, as I mentioned in this post on my Cypher System cheat sheet. Both Fall of the Gods and Predation have excellent pre-gens in their quick-starts. Unmasked does not, but that gave me the opportunity to dive into the character creation process. I asked the players to pick their descriptors and class. I also had them outline the kinds of powers they’d like and I hunted down fitting foci. You can see the results below.

Unmasked characters have two parts: their teen selves and their “Mask” selves. It’s a great concept, with a tug-of-war or split happening between those. In a few cases I stuck took parts from some of the class themes in the Cypher core book to make the players’ concepts work. These are all Tier 1 Effort 1 characters, but I gave them two extra abilities because we’re only playing four sessions. You can watch the video for Session One here. You can also find my revised Cypher 1P Cheat here.

Darlene Szabo is a CREATIVE TEEN

MIGHT 6

SPEED 7

INTELLECT 9

TEEN SKILLS

• Collage (Intellect Trained)
• Puzzle-solving (Intellect Trained)
• Learning new things (Intellect Trained)
• Pleasant Social Interactions (Intellect Inability)
• Plus three teen skills

MASK: Babylon Pi is a NEW WAVE CHANGER who WANTS TO BE ADORED

MIGHT 11

SPEED 11

INTELLECT 15 Edge 1

Power Shifts: 1 Shift Sonic Blast (7d); 1 Shift Attacks; 1 Shift Sound Control

MASK SKILLS

• Music (Intellect Trained)
• Speculative Thinking (Intellect Trained)
• Fitting In (Intellect Inability)

ABILITIES

• Class Basics (Light weapons no penalty, Prodigy Sight, Use Momentos)
• Encouragement (1 Intellect Point)
• Liberace (1 Intellect) Unmasked General Ability
• Original: Teen Only; from Creative.
• Sonic Blast (1 Intellect Point)
• Sound Control (2 Intellect) Note to get what the player wanted I made up this in as the ability to perform minor sound illusions. Enabler.
• Spin Identity (2+ Intellect Points)
• Stink Eye (1 Intellect Point)
• Terrifying Presence (2+ Intellect)

Anthony Rivas is a LAWFUL TEEN

MIGHT 6

SPEED 7

INTELLECT 7

TEEN SKILLS

• Non-combat tasks when upholding the law (Intellect Trained)
• Knowing laws (Intellect Trained)
• Revelation prophecy (Intellect Trained)
• Dungeons and Dragons (Intellect Trained)
• Skateboarding (Intellect Trained)
• Breaking the law (Intellect Inability)

MASK: Abraxas is a MYSTERIOUS CHANGER who CONSORTS WITH THE DEAD  

MIGHT 10

SPEED 10

INTELLECT 14 Edge 1

Power Shifts: 1 Shift Unliving Vigor (additional recovery roll); 1 Shift Fast (see skills); 1 Shift Necromantic Attacks (see skills)   

MASK SKILLS

• Stealth (Intellect Trained)
• Resisting questioning (Intellect Trained)
• Initiative (Speed Power Shift)
• Speed defense (Fast) (Speed Power Shift)
• Necromantic Attacks (Speed Power Shift)
• Gaining Trust (Intellect Inability)

ABILITIES

• Class Basics (Light weapons no penalty, Prodigy Sight, Use Momentos)
• Aggression (2 Intellect Points)
• Confounding
• Death Touch (1 Intellect Point)
• Entangling Force (1+ Intellect Point)
• Premonition (2 Intellect Points)
• Seek Them Out (1 Intellect Point) Unmasked General Ability
• Speaker for the Dead (2 Intellect Points)

Shawn Jefferson is a GUARDED TEEN

MIGHT 6

SPEED 6

INTELLECT 10

TEEN SKILLS

• Intellect Defense (Intellect Trained)
• Discerning Truth (Intellect Trained)
• Pinball Wizard (Speed Trained)
• Scrounging/Dumpster Diving (Intellect Trained)
• Plus a teen skill
• Deception or Persuasion (Intellect Inability)

MASK: Bulldog is a BRASH SMASHER who ABIDES IN STONE  

MIGHT 22 Edge 2

SPEED 10

INTELLECT 9

Power Shifts: 1 Shift Armor (total 2); 1 Shift all Strength tasks; 1 Shift Punch Damage (+3d)

MASK SKILLS

• Initiative (Speed Trained)
• Overcoming Fear or Intimidation (Intellect Trained)
• Punching (Might Trained)
• (physical skill: run, climb,etc) (Might Trained)
• (physical skill: run, climb,etc) (Might Trained)

ABILITIES

• Class Basics (All weapons no penalty, Prodigy Sight, Use Momentos)
• Bash (1 Might Point)
• Golem Body
• Golem Healing
• No Need for Weapons
• Where Did That Come From? (2 Might Points) Unmasked General Ability

Eric Pinkard is a METAL-HEAD TEEN

MIGHT 10

SPEED 7

INTELLECT 6

TEEN SKILLS

• Mechanical repair (Intellect Trained)
• Drinking (Intellect Trained)
• Makeup Application (Intellect Trained)
• Applying Band-Aids (Intellect Trained)
• Blend in or Conceal Identity (Intellect Trained)

MASK: Warlock is a LUCKY THINKER who TRAVELS BACK FROM THE FUTURE

MIGHT 10

SPEED 9

INTELLECT 15 Edge 1

Power Shifts: 1 Shift Interfacing with Technology (see skills); 1 Shift perfect organism (resistance poison, suffocation, etc); 1 Shift attacks

MASK SKILLS

• Interfacing with Tech (Intellect Power Shift)

ABILITIES

• Class Basics (Light weapons without penalty, Prodigy Sight, Use Momentos)
• Advantage
• Far Step (2 Intellect Points)
• I'll Waste You: Teen Only; from Metal Head
• Luck Pool
• Onslaught (1 Intellect Points)
• Scramble Machine (2 Intellect Points)
• Shatter (2 Intellect Points)
• That's Heavy (3 Might Points)

Sofia Di Maio is a KIND TEEN

MIGHT 6

SPEED 8

INTELLECT 8

TEEN SKILLS

• Pleasant Social Interactions (Intellect Trained)
• Discerning People's Dispositions (Intellect Trained)
• Plus three teen skills
• Detecting Falsehoods  (Intellect Trained)

MASK: Laser Flip is a SWIFT MOVER who MOVES LIKE THE WIND

MIGHT 13 Edge 1

SPEED 18 Edge 1

INTELLECT 8

Power Shifts: 1 Shift Unarmed damage; 1 Shift Dexterity (-1 movement, acrobatics, dexterity, and Speed defense); 1 Shift Reaction Speed (initiative and Speed defense). See skills.

MASK SKILLS

• Balancing (Speed Trained)
• Initiative (Speed Power Shift)
• Movement, Acrobatics, Dexterity (Speed Power Shift)
• Speed Defense (Speed Power Shift x2)

ABILITIES

• Class Basics (Light and medium weapons without penalty, Prodigy Sight, Use Momentos)
• Block (3 Speed Points)
• Danger Sense (1 Speed Point)
• Fleet of Foot
• Karma: Teen Only: from Kind
• No Need for Weapons
• Opportunist
• Running Speed