Notes on Hillfolk Char Gen

War rages across the Galaxy. Both the brutal Galactic Empire and the desperate Rebel Alliance reel in the face of terrible losses. A tabletop RPG campaign set after the Battle of Yavin. Star Wars: Edge of the Empire (Fantasy Flight Games)

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nemarsde
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Notes on Hillfolk Char Gen

Post by nemarsde »

Robin D. Law's Hillfolk RPG by Pelgrane Press, who also publish 13th Age.

It uses the DramaSystem for its "Game of Iron Age Drama", and we played through the Creating Characters chapter on 20/10/18 as a fun way of generating an ensemble of player characters, after playing the Age of Rebellion Beginner Game.

The DramaSystem SRD is available here for free download under the Creative Commons and Open Gaming Licence, although its harder to read than Hillfolk with less examples.

We post our notes from the session below.

http://www.leanerminds.com/forums/viewt ... p=459#p456 nemarsde
http://www.leanerminds.com/forums/viewt ... p=459#p457 pchan
http://www.leanerminds.com/forums/viewt ... p=459#p458 Gypsy
http://www.leanerminds.com/forums/viewt ... p=459#p459 rossi720
nemarsde
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Nem's Scrappy Mind Map

Post by nemarsde »

Here's what I've got. Since all official materials are allowed, I've stayed within the confines of Edge of the Empire Careers, but got wide with the Specialisations (and Species).

Version 1

Here's another, preserving unique Careers, but using Force & Destiny for Cho, since Rossi720 wants to play around with the Force.

Version 2
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nemarsde
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pchan's Notes

Post by nemarsde »

# Character & Party Discussion 2018-10-20

[My] notes on the Hillfolk-based party creation process.

# Character Details

Name: Dane Hellion
Role: Scout/Explorer
Role within the group: scouting/information gathering, survival, guide, pilot

## Relationship
With:
Description:

## Dramatic Poles
Natural tension within the character, that gives us built-in conflict?

Wants company, as his job is mostly done alone, but wary of such company due to having been burnt before.


## Bonds
(want something from someone else in group; why won't they give that to you?)
With:
Type:

Sample questions:
Should this character be:

- a strong combatant (bounty hunter)
- able to handle a starship (explorer)
- the face of the group (colonist, explorer)
- "I know that" guy (colonist, explorer)
- sneaky rogue type (smugglers, bounty hunters)
- consummate support person (colonist, technician)



# The Group

## Characters

[nemarsde]: Merta (m) - Thief - steal things for group or kill things for group
[Gypsy]: Reeva Coulin (f) - Bounty Hunter - fighting for the group or finding things for the group
[slill]: Lisana (f) - Entertainer - liaison and deception
[steveh]: Zak (m) - Veteran - older saner head, been there done that, mentor
[rossi720]: Cho (f) - Assassin - infiltration and talking
[pchan]: Dane Hellion (m) - Scout/Explorer - information gathering, survival, guide, pilot

## Relationships
Merta knows Dane as they are a long-time partner in shenanigans.
Dane knows Lisana as she's a work contact and information-gathering.
Zak knows Cho as a former target; for some reason, Cho didn't complete the contract.
Reeva knows Zak as he's her dad.
Cho knows Reeva through her dad, Zak. (Some talk about there possibly being a foster-mother-daughter relationship there?)
Lisana knows Merta who tried to rob her but failed.
Reeva knows Lisana because they're lovers.
Dane knows Cho because Dane covertly observed Cho complete a contract and kill someone that Dane was observing as part of an information gathering contract.. Despite this, Dane fulfilled his information contract.

## What the character wants from the group
Merta wants protection.
Zak wants to impart knowledge, to leave a legacy.
Lisana wants confidence, validation, reassurance.
Reeva wants support, doesn't want to be alone.
Dane wants company, camaraderie.
Cho wants acceptance.

## Dramatic Poles
Cho: wanting to do the right thing vs. needing the power to keep those he cares about secure. Morals vs. Expediency/Pragmatism
Lisana: being very good at her job vs,. not believing that she's good at it. Imposter Syndrome.
Zak: living/trapped in the past vs. living in the future. Reminiscence/nostalgia/guilt vs. Legacy/future.
Reeva: supporting the system vs. an increasing disillusionment with the system. The Job vs. The Morality of the Job.
Dane: wanting company vs. being wary, having been burnt in the past.
Merta: being a parasitic wretch vs. believing that he's a righteous man. Deluded, morally bankrupt, but doesn't believe it.

## Bonds
### Zak => Merta

Zak wants Merta to change his parasitic nature to match his righteous self-image, to validate his belief that he can change him.

Merta isn't going to give it to him as it means admitting (to himself, at least) that he is deluded.

### Reeva => Dane

Reeva wants information from Dane that only he knows about her mother.

Dane won't give it to her because the conditions aren't right for that information to come out.

### Dane => Zak

Dane wants Zak to apologise for massacring his family/friends/tribe/etc. (to be decided/expanded upon) and an explanation for why it happened.

Zak won't because he can't remember the incident, though he suspects he might have as it was something he might have done. He might offer a general conditional apology, but Dane won't accept that as there is no admission of guilt in such an apology, and thus not genuine.

This implies that for this bond to resolve, Zak will have to remember the incident first.

### Merta => Lisana

Merta wants to bed Lisana.

Lisana won't give it to him because she's stringing him along?

### Cho => Merta

Cho sees Merta as being completely hypocritical, morally bankrupt and fatally deluded. He wants Merta to give her an excuse to kill him.

Merta obviously doesn't want to give the excuse!

There was a follow-up discussion that this might be a running gag, after every time Merta messes up, he'll have to proffer a new excuse not to be killed on the spot by Cho when she asks him.

### Lisana => Cho

Lisana wants **Cho** specifically to kill someone specific in revenge for something. It has to be Cho because the victim has to see Lisana's face before being dispatched. (Presumably, there are precious few shapechanging assassins that Lisana isn't likely to find another one.)

Cho doesn't want to do it because she feels it wouldn't help Lisana to move past whatever traumatic event triggered this wish.
nemarsde
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Gypsy's Notes

Post by nemarsde »

My notes were hand written but pertaining to Reeva go as follows:

Female, Reeva Coulin
Bounty hunter
Has an intimate relationship with Lisana
Zak is her dad
Cho has a motherly concern for Reeva
Use to group – combat, finding people, maybe secondary pilot/infiltator
Need from group – feels too alone/isolated, wants support
Conflict pole – morality of the job vies with sympathies of some victims
Bond – Dane knows something about her mother and she needs to know what it is. He says the conditions are not right yet for him to tell her.
nemarsde
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rossi720's Notes

Post by nemarsde »

Here's the scrappy notes I took on the day, with some further thinkings in square brackets throughout.

Roles:

Muerta - Thief
Reeva - Bounty hunter, combat/investigation
Lisana - Entertainer, liason/deception
Zak - Veteran, mentor
Cho - Assassin, shapeshifting infiltrator
Dane - Scout/explorer

[Happy to be one of the team's combat bunnies, but could just as happily prioritise the infiltration side of things. After all, assassins only need to fight when they mess up, right?]

Relationships:

Muerta knows Dane because they're long-time partners in crime
Dane knows Lisana through work
Zak knows Cho because he was once a target
Reeva knows Zak because Zak's her dad
Cho knows Reeva because she's been looking out for her, kind've a foster mother
Lisana knows Muerta because he tried to fleece her and failed
Reeva knows Lisana because they're lovers
Dane knows Cho because they met on a job, when Cho killed someone he was spying on

[Speculation: Maybe Cho met Reeva first, through work, and became fond of her? Young, talented, still kinda idealistic, it'd be a shame to crush that. Might explain why Cho wouldn't go all out at fulfilling the contract on Zak.]

Wants/needs from the group:

Muerta wants protection
Zak wants to leave a legacy
Lisana wants validation and reassurance
Reeva wants support, to not feel alone
Dane wants camaraderie
Cho wants acceptance

[Cho's worn a lot of faces, met a lot of people, but has precious few long-term friends who actually know even facets of the real Cho.]

Dramatic Poles:

Cho - power-hungry, wants to keep those he/she cares about secure, vs trying to do the right thing. security/expediency vs ethics
Lisana - fame/ambitions vs self-doubt, imposter syndrome
Zak - hope, passing on his wisdom vs guilt over the things he's done to get here
Reeva - doing her job vs sympathy for her targets; professionalism vs disillusionment with the system
Dane - wanting company vs distrustful, wary
Muerta - being a parasitic wretch vs his self-righteous delusions

[In Jedi terms, I'd reckon Cho veers heavily toward the Dark Side of the force, but for all the right reasons - emotional attachments, wanting to protect yourself and those you care about, always needing more power/money/influence to keep that security. Will do awful things for those they care about, yet occasionally risk everything to do the right thing.]

Bonds / tensions:

Zak wants validation from Muerta that he can change someone for the better.
But Muerta can't admit he's got a problem.
Reeva wants information about her mother than only Dane knows.
But Dane won't tell her "because the conditions aren't yet right."
Dane wants an apology and explanation from Zak for a massacre.
But Zak doesn't remember it clearly enough for it to be an honest answer.
Muerta wants to bed Lisana.
But Lisana's more keen to string him along, has other uses for him in mind.
Cho's just waiting for Muerta to give him/her an excuse to kill him, as he's plainly a deluded scumbag.
But Muerta keeps talking his way out of it. Potential running gag.
Lisana wants Cho to kill someone while wearing her face.
But Cho won't because that won't do Lisana any good.

[Cho might think Lisana needs to move past all that bitterness, grow as a person, etc. Or she might think Lisana needs to grow a pair (Cho can with concentration, after all) and serve the revenge herself. Both could be great boosters for self-confidence, after all!]
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