Crescendo of Violence - Character Creation

Set in Neo York, 2093, Crescendo of Violence is a cinematic, action-packed, neon-noir roleplaying game. Its player characters are exceptional individuals who exist on the fringes of society. We talked to author Alan Bahr about the character creation process…

Character creation is the gateway to any roleplaying game, and Crescendo of Violence is no exception! Character creation focuses on understanding how your character ended up in Neo York, what drives them, and why they stick their neck out when they do.

Throughout the character creation process, Crescendo of Violence asks you to answer questions about your character to help guide you, as well as define what makes you tick in the game.

First, you’ll have to define your origin. As this is neon-noir, you have some pretty scifi options! The vast majority of Neo York’s population are naturals, unaltered humans that are rapidly becoming obsolete. Otherwise, you may have been created for a particular purpose: either a bioroid, machines made to appear human, or a clone, a flesh and blood being. Your last option is to be one of the modified humans that live in Neo York, whether technologically altered as a cyborg, or genetically modified (post birth) as a gen-g. Each of these have their own benefits and drawbacks, of course: bioroids, for example, start with selected boosted stats, but are unable to use their experience to raise them later on.

Next, you’ll choose a profession, which depicts how you make your living on the neon streets of Neo York. You might be a criminal, a suit, a veteran, a hacker, a holo-star, an investigator, or a musician (this is a jazz noir after all!) Each of these grants you some benefits to your stats, a cred rating based on your earnings, some talents and a profession-specific special ability. They will also prompt you to answer three questions that define your place in the world and relationships to your other characters. Additionally, you’ll have to define why you are on the outs, and working in the sort of low-life noir situation you are in!

Together, your origin and profession will help to define the level of your Paths, the attributes that tell you how many d10s to roll when you try to solve problems, and any setting-related information you want!

The last thing to do is pick some equipment to round out your character. Everyone in Neo York has basic gear (dumboxes, earlinks, AR glasses or implants, and basic professional gear including weapons and armour), and you are no exception. You may also start with some snazzy cybernetics or genemods depending on your origin. Be careful though: the natural and technological don’t tend to play nice together, so you may not want to mix them. During downtime you can take the SHOP action to acquire new gear, and get new items or implants to aid you.

After this step, your character is ready to hit the mean streets of Neo York!

There’s a lot more that goes into a Crescendo of Violence character, including determining how you’ll use the Act-specific “campaign actions”, that allow you to interact with the world on a larger and more cinematic scale (guidance and actions that allow you to skip or montage various bits of the story), but we’ll let you find that out when you get the book...

Crescendo of Violence releases end of September. Pre-order your copy today!