Missive #15: Generating a Campaign (Roma Bellico)

Howdy all,

I thought it would be fun to develop an Oblivion Campaign using the awesome adventure generator and a little imagination. To begin with I decided to generate a place for the new cell and I generated Southern Europe.  Italy immediately came to mind.  This was followed by Rome.  Why?  I love Rome.  I love Roman history, and by setting the new cell in Rome I believe that I would have no dearth of ideas.  Now, where in Rome and why?

After some thought I decided the cell would be a front for an eclectic book collector and seller.  I snooped around the internet and found http://www.italyguides.it/us/roma/rome/trastevere/trastevere.htm

The Trastevere area sounds like a perfect place to have this live-in shop.  I picture it as a two story building, the top floor containing four small bedrooms and a living area with kitchen and bathroom.  The bottom floor is a small library of rare and ancient books and texts. Outside is a medieval sort of close buildings all two to three stories high, narrow cobbled-stone streets, and lovely people.  The owner/operator of the store is a local Roman by the name of Nora Valente.  She is also the controller of the cell.  I went to an Italian surname website and chose the name Valente because it just sounds cool to me!

So before we get too far into our new Roma Bellico campaign I thought I should generate Nora as an NPC.  I decided that Nora was a Veteran Oblivion agent so her basic stats from the book are:

Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d6, Strength d8, Vigor d8

Skills: Boating d4, Climbing d4, Driving d6, Fighting d8, Healing d4,

Intimidation d4, Investigation d4, Notice d6, Persuasion d4, Repair d4, Shooting

d8, Stealth d6, Streetwise d6, Tradecraft d8

Charisma: 0;  Pace: 6;  Parry: 7;  Toughness: 8/9 (1/2)

Hindrances: Obligations (Major: Agency)

Edges: Block, Brawny, Combat Reflexes, Marksman, Quick, Unarmed Combat (Basic)

Languages: Native + 3

Gear & Equipment: 9mm pistol, 2 clips of ammo, comlink, the suit (+1/+2)

Now to personalize Nora. I decided that she has been around for a while and has been ‘tainted’ by her experiences, so checking the Tainted Human Veteran chart it states she should have 2 Hindrances, 3 Edges, 2 Minor Taints, and 1 Major Taint.  So for the Hindrances I rolled the percentile dice three times and checked the table.  I rolled  a 5, 77, and 98.  So she is Anemic, Overconfident, and Major (Obligations).  She already is Obligated to the Agency so I added Anemic and Overconfident to her stats.  I like the Anemic as I’m thinking she survived some sort of poison gas and is suffering long term effects of the attack. (Backstory stuff is always good).

Now for the Edges. I rolled 11, 84, and 75.  Checking the chart I generated Great Luck, Typewriter, and Beast Bond. Hmm…Beast Bond…easy, she has two pet Dobermans.  Gladiator and Flower, two highly trained companion animals.  Nice touch.

Okay, now for the fun stuff.  Two minor taints.  I roll 71 and 10.  Checking the chart I see she has Razor Claws that are retractable doing Str d8+d4 each.  The 10 raises her Smarts die to a d8.

For the Major taint I roll a 48.  COOL!  She can turn Ethereal once per day for 1d12 rounds.  Gotta be a great back story somewhere to explain that.

So here is our Controller:

Nora Valente (WC)

Veteran Oblivion Agent

Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d8, Spirit d6, Strength d8, Vigor d8

Skills: Boating d4, Climbing d4, Driving d6, Fighting d8, Healing d4,

Intimidation d4, Investigation d4, Notice d6, Persuasion d4, Repair d4, Shooting

d8, Stealth d6, Streetwise d6, Tradecraft d8

Charisma: 0;  Pace: 6;  Parry: 7;  Toughness: 8/9 (1/2)

Hindrances: Obligations (Major: Agency), Amemic, Overconfident

Edges: Beast Bond, Block, Brawny, Combat Reflexes, Great Luck, Marksman, Quick, Typewriter, Unarmed Combat (Basic)

Languages: Italian, French, English, Greek, Interlingua

Gear & Equipment: 9mm pistol, 2 clips of ammo, comlink, the suit (+1/+2)

Taints:  Razor Claws (Str+d4 each), Ethereal 1/day for 1d12 rounds (Spirit roll)

Notes:  Deep pockets (Rich), 5 Resource Points available, Permanent Perk: Cover Identity (Real name unrevealed at this time)-a Roman collector and seller of rare and unusual books.

Next time, we start the cell.

Till the next Monday Mister E Missive, Stay Geeked!  Be proud!  Shoot first ( Han did!) Game on!