Character 10 - Atomic Robo RPG

 Welcome back, readers! Today's character is for one of my favorite variations of my favorite systems: the Atomic Robo RPG. ARRPG uses a modification of the Fate core system that makes character creation even easier and, in my opinion, more fun. If you're unfamiliar with the setting, Atomic Robo is based on the comic book series by writer Brian Clevinger and artist Scott Wegener. Set in a world of super science, the book follows the (mis)adventures of Robo Tesla, the self aware, indestructible robotic creation of Nikola Tesla and his teams of Action Scientists. It's a cross between a superhero comic, Ghostbusters and G.I. Joe. If you haven't read it yet, I recommend picking it up.

Character Creation

So there are two methods of making characters in the ARRPG, the first is the E-Z No Math Character Creation method that lets you make a regular degular action scientist or business guy or whatever. There's also the Weird Character creation option that lets you make a robot or mutant or jetpack pilot or something. That can be super fun, but I think we'll go with the E-Z method for this character. In addition to being easier, sometimes playing a regular guy in over their head can be fun! So let's get to it, shall we?

Step 1 - Character Concept

So in addition to being the basic concept of your character (as it says right there on the label), in ARRPG this is also an Aspect. Aspects in Fate games are things that are always true about your character or an object or situation and can be invoked by spending a Fate Point for a bonus on a roll in a relevant situation or compelled in a (usually) negative fashion to give you a Fate Point to spend later. For instance if your character has the Aspect "Dour Dwarven Fighter" then you can Invoke that aspect if you're dealing with something related to Dwarves or Fighting or it can be compelled if you're in a social situation in which you need to open up and be gregarious. 

But we're not playing a Dour Dwarven Fighter, though that probably wouldn't be the oddest employee of Tesladyne. No, we'll be playing Kit Powell, Enthusiastic Tesladyne Intern. So that's our character name and Concept Aspect down. So "Enthusiastic Tesladyne Intern" can be invoked any time working for Tesladyne might be important (or compelled if that's a negative) or if a problem can be overcome with sheer enthusiasm. I can see it being compelled if the person or group has something against Tesladyne or if having a chipper college student in your face would make things worse.

Step 2 - Modes

Unlike the core Fate system which has a bunch of individual skills or the Fate Accelerated system that has a handful of approaches, the ARRPG uses Modes. For non Weird characters, you choose three modes from the list of four and rank them from Good (+3) to Fair (+2) to Average (+1) and all the skills associated with that Mode gain the bonus based on the Mode's rank. Right, that's easy enough. The four choices are: Action, Banter, Intrigue, and Science.

So let's decide what Kit doesn't have first. Well, technically any character can attempt to do any skill, they just start with the ones in the Mode they didn't choose at +0 to the roll. So anyway, of the four I think "Intrigue" is the one that makes the least amount of sense for our Enthusiastic Intern. He's not really the Breaking and Entering type, in my mind.

Right, so that leaves Action, Banter and Science. He's an Intern so I want to keep Science fairly low, he's still learning. Banter should be his highest Mode so that puts Action squarely in the middle. So we write those down on the character sheet, in order and then fill in the skills associated with the Modes beneath them. You'll note that a couple of the skills appear in two of the Modes. When that happens, you just bump them up one rank in the highest level Mode in which they appear. For example: Provoke appears in both Banter (+3) and Action (+2) modes. It gets bumped up to +4 in Banter and erased from Action for ease of record keeping.

Step 3 - Aspects

So in addition to the Concept Aspect we've already picked, we'll need to add an Aspect for each Mode that refines how we embody those Modes. So your Action Mode Aspect could be something like "Two Fisted Scientist" or "Not in the face!" Ideally it will be something fun and easy to both invoke and compel. The Fate Point economy is the engine that moves the game along so you want to be spending and receiving them regularly.

So for Banter, I want our little intern to be a charismatic character so I'll go with an Aspect that reflects that: "I Can Talk My Way Into Anywhere - And Sometimes Back Out Again!" I can invoke this aspect when I need to Provoke some guards or doormen into letting me into a restricted area through sheer chutzpah and it can be compelled when I get in over my head and find that I can't readily talk my way back out.

For Action I'll go with something a little more practical, "I was an Eagle Scout!" This will let me invoke the aspect any time I can arguably use a skill a Boy Scout might have picked up over the years, be it archery, knot tying, animal husbandry or whatever. That last one is more likely to come up as a Science skill but Aspects are things that are Always True so even though this is the Action Mode Aspect it can always be applicable.

Then for Science I'll pick the aspect "Back Off Man, I'm A Scientist!" Because I love Ghostbusters and I will quote it any time I can. Also, fun Chigg fact, I have used a modified version of the ARRPG to run Ghostbusters. It's stupidly easy to do. 

Finally, in addition to the Mode Aspects we have the Omega Aspect. This can be anything you want that makes your character more interesting. It could be a motivation (I Have To Clear My Name) or a reputation (World's Greatest Foosball Player) or a recurring nemesis (Doctor Hampstead Must Pay) or really anything that makes sense to you for your character. For Kit I'll pick "Ooh, What's That?" to reflect his insatiable curiosity. It'll be very easy to compel and fun to invoke.

Step 4 - Stunts

In addition to Modes and Aspects, each ARRPG character has 5 stunts. These are special situational things that give you a bonus to specific rolls. So you can't take "I'm great at science!" and get a bonus to every science roll you make, but you could take "Theoretically I'm a Physicist" to get a bonus to theoretical physics rolls. You can pick these at character creation or make them up in play as they would be useful.

I'll pick a couple now, just for funs. Kit always carries his "Handy Dandy Pocket Knife" which gives him a +1 to Combat and does weapon:1 damage when he attacks someone with it. In addition, Kit has a lot of "Online Friends" who follow his Tesladyne TikTok (do not tell the boss about the Tesladyne TikTok) so any time he's in a new place, he can roll Contacts against a +4 difficulty to create an aspect representing a fan in the area. Finally, for character creation, Kit carries a "Portable Chemistry Set" that he can use to get a +1 to overcome or create an advantage with the Chemistry skill.

Step 5 - Stress Boxes

Finally we fill in our stress boxes. Characters in Fate games generally don't have hit points in the traditional sense. Instead they have Stress Boxes and Consequences they can fill in to absorb damage, be it physical or mental. The number of stress boxes you have depends on your Athletics or Physique for physical stress boxes and Provoke or Will for mental stress boxes. So we fill in a third box for physical and all five for mental. Kit is a hardy boy!

And that's it, character creation is quick and easy in most Fate games and Atomic Robo is no exception. You can find Kit's character sheet here and I'll see you tomorrow for more Character Creation Challenge!