Original Characters in The Adventures of Indiana Jones

Art by Rafael DeSoto

Something of an afterthought, character generation rules for The Adventures of Indiana Jones Role-Playing Game (hereinafter Adventures) were provided in the Judge's Survival Pack.  The eight steps for “generating characters for adventures” appear on a single page (with enough space left to display a sizeable publicity still of Harrison Ford).

The first step is to make a percentile roll for each of the six Attribute Ratings.  The second step involves allocating “30 points” among the Attribute Ratings; however, “no Rating can be raised higher than 70.”  In a previous post, we noted that the Attribute Ratings of the seven characters supplied with Adventures ranged from 44 to 92.  Also, each Rating was divisible by four in order to accommodate ×½ and ×¼ values for purposes for Modified Checks.  In fact, the third step is to record the Modified Columns.  “Round all fractions to the nearest even number,” the rules state.

The fourth step in generating a character involves the player choosing “what [the character's] background was before he got caught up in wild adventures.”  There are three “categories” of background.  Each background has a list of skills associated with it.  The rules use the terms “skill” and “Knowledge” interchangeably.

Characters with an Education background choose one Education skill.  Then 1d10 is rolled, modified by +1 for each ten points of Instinct the character possesses.  If the result of the roll is at least ten, the character has an undergraduate degree and another Education skill.  With an undergraduate degree, a character can attempt to attain a doctorate and a third Education skill.  Another d10 is rolled, “but only add 1 point for every 20 points of Instinct greater than 70.”  A result of at least ten is necessary to receive a doctorate.

Characters with a Soldiering background receive +10 Prowess and a percentile roll is made on the “Soldiering Knowledge list.”  There is also “a 10% chance that [the] character has an additional knowledge” chosen from the Soldiering and Real World lists.  The result of “91 – 00” when rolling on the Soldiering list reads “Choose 1 and roll again.”  Therefore, it is possible for a character with the Soldiering background to have three skills in addition to the bonus to Prowess.

The only other available background is the Real World.  This indicates “a variety of jobs.”  Characters with this background have a choice of two skills from the Real World list.

The actual choice of skills (or random determination of skills in the case of the Soldiering background) is the fifth step in generating a character.  The Education Knowledge list includes Archaeology, Medical, Photography, and Surveying.  Three other items appear on the list:  +10 Appeal, +10 Instinct, and “Any language.”  None of these options appear on the Soldiering or Real World lists.  Soldiering skills include:  Driving, Explosives, First Aid, Heavy Weapons, Karate, Mechanical, Parachuting, Piloting, and Sailing.  (Medical and First Aid are distinct Knowledges; however, First Aid is subsumed into Medical.)  The Real World can confer Driving, Entertainment, First Aid, Hotwiring, Lockpicking, Mechanical, Picking Pockets, and Sailing.   Adventures describes five Knowledges that none of the seven provided characters possess:  Explosives, Heavy Weapons, Medical, Photography, and Sailing.  Presumably, the designer (i.e., David Cook) thought that likely non-player characters would have these skills Knowledges.

The sixth step is called “Select Your Languages.”  However, “first you should decide what nationality your character is.”  A character knows his or her native language.  Additional languages – aside from those acquired as Education Knowledges – can be gained with each successful Instinct Check.  The first Check is made at ×1, the second at ×½, and any others at ×¼.  When an Instinct Check fails, no further attempts may be made.  Only languages “of the known world” may be chosen.

The seventh step regards obtaining equipment.  Each character “has a reasonable wardrobe of clothing and a place to live.”  The amount of  funds available to a character is determined by the formula:

(1d10 + # of skills + [1 per 10 points of Appeal over 70] ) × $100

After acquiring equipment, “you are ready to adventure.”  The eighth step – “Final Details” –  is evidently optional; the exact terms are, “you could do a few other things.”  These optional, other things include:  “give your character a name, decide whether it is male or female, decide what he looks like, and how old he is.”

Two of the seven provided characters have “Irrational Fears,” the mechanics of which are described on pages 40 and 41 of the rules.  The character generation rules do not address the possibility of contracting such a fear.

While it is not reasonable to expect Adventures to have a background system as extensive as that of Daredevils, three background options seems rather meager.  With the availability of skills such as Hotwiring, Lockpicking, and Picking Pockets, I can easily imagine a 'Criminal' or 'Illicit' background.  Other possible backgrounds may not be feasible given the paucity of skills, but “Your referee can create additional knowledge areas if he desires.”   If the Soldiering background offers a bonus to Prowess and the Education background offers bonuses to Instinct and Appeal, why can't other bonuses be available?  Should there be minimum Attribute Rating requirements for certain backgrounds?  Would a character with a Strength or Backbone of 01 be admitted to the military?  Would a character with an Instinct of 01 be accepted into academia?

Some Final Notes on Daredevils

In many games, at the beginning of a combat round, players are required to declare what their characters will do during that round – a “statement of intent.”  Such is the case with Daredevils; however, it's called “selecting an Option.”  Daredevils handles this process in an interesting way.

In Daredevils, combat occurs in a “scale of play known as Detailed Action Time.”  Turns (actually, “Detailed Turns”) represent periods of time that are six seconds long.  Each “turn is broken down into four Phases:  Declaration Phase, two Action Phases, and Bookkeeping Phase.”  During the 'Declaration Phase,' each player selects an Option for his or her character that indicates the character's scope of activity for the two Action Phases of the turn.

There are only six Options; however, each Option is associated with four to eight “types” of Action.  Some Actions are associated with more than one Option.  A character can perform the same Action on both Action Phases of a turn or can perform different Actions, as long as those Actions are associated with the chosen Option.  For instance, the “Fire Weapon” Option allows the following Actions:  Shoot, Ready Weapon, Adopt Stance, Alter Position, and Short Move.

During the Declaration Phase, players indicate their choice of Option simultaneously.  This is done by “writing it down” or – here is what I think is the interesting part – “placing a six-sided die with the number of the Option on the top face.”  All Actions are assumed to be executed simultaneously.  However, “To lessen confusion, the Gamemaster may wish to have the character's [sic] Actions resolved in order of highest Deftness.”

The six Daredevils 'Options' are:  Movement, Observe/Command, Engage in Combat, Fire Weapon, Perform Function, and Operate Vehicle.  Specific 'Actions' don't need to be declared, but players are committing characters to general courses of action.  A character can attack, but the target need not be declared until it's time to resolve actions.  All Options have Actions that allow characters to move (other than Operate Vehicle – which implies movement anyway).  So, in case of emergencies, there's always the option to bail.

I think this method offers a nice middle-ground between rigid and detailed statements of intent (which can be difficult to record and keep track of) and free-wheeling action (which can provide undue advantage by allowing players to 'react' to circumstances that should not yet be known to characters).  Speaking of undue advantage, the Declaration Phase seems to apply only to the players; the Gamemaster does not reveal 'Options' upon which non-player characters will engage.  To be 'fair,' a Gamemaster can arrange dice for NPCs to be revealed when the players reveal their Options.  This might be bothersome with multiple NPCs adopting different Options, but a GM could identify NPCs on a piece of paper and assign dice behind a screen.

If I were to adapt this system to a fantasy-genre game, I would have as Options:  (1) Cast Spell, (2) Movement, (3) Engage in Combat, (4) Fire Weapon, (5) Handle Mount/Operate Vehicle, and (6) Anything Else.  Of course, one could accommodate more 'Options' – or define specific actions instead – by employing a d8 or a d10.  (I think that more than ten choices would tend to be unwieldy.)

Anyway, before we bid adieu to Daredevils, I provide below the table of “Random Locations For Action” as presented on page 56 of the rulebook.  It's obviously geared toward a pulp-era urban environment, but what more could you ask for?

Creating a Daredevils Character (part II)

Last week, we left Danny Sweet when he was considering a new career in 1925.  However, before proceeding, I should calculate Danny's Cash, Income and Material Benefits from prior careers.

He was an 'Athlete/Sportsman' for eight years.  So, for Cash, I roll 1d100 and add 8.  On the 'Reaction Table,' I obtain a value of -2.  This means Danny is in debt for $20.  For Income, the same process is applied (1d100 + years; check Reaction Table).  Again, I obtain a negative value; Danny does not receive a continuing Income from his years as a boxer and barnstormer.  As for 'Material Benefits,' there is a fixed 18% chance than Danny will receive 2d3 Attribute points.  This does not come to pass.  The military offers no continuing Income or Material Benefits, but Danny gets $60.

What to do now?  Well, I'm getting a Tales of the Gold Monkey vibe (I mean more so than usual).  Whether due to mounting debts, a failed romance, or simple wanderlust, I have Danny set out for the South Pacific.  The 'Explorer' career seems to be the best fit for what I have in mind.  There are no Requirements.  I roll an 8 in determining the length of this career term, so Danny is an Explorer for the rest of his pre-adventure career.  For Automatic Skills, Danny gets one Foreign Language and one Culture Skill.  So, Danny learns French after all.  As for Culture, I choose Polynesian.  For the seven remaining years of the career, I select from the Available Skills:  Navigation (this is Danny's second Navigation), Survival (twice), Rifle, and a score in Foreign Language – Tahitian.  Lastly, I choose 2d3 more points for Attributes.  For Cash, I roll 1d100 and consult the Reaction Table.  With a -4 result, Danny is $1,000 in debt (really only $960 considering the Cash from his other careers.  For Income, however, the rules states to roll 1d6, add the number of years, and multiply by $50.  With a roll of two, that's an Income of $500.  This is supposed to “represent dividends, royalties, business profits or whatever the player and Gamemaster agree on.”  With regard to Material Benefits, Danny has a 10% chance of obtaining a pistol; he doesn't get it.

Danny has accumulated 5d3 additional points to allocate among his Attributes.  Unfortunately, the scores for his Skills are calculated before his Attributes are improved.  (This is bogus, but the rules are clear on this point.)  The score for a Skill is determined by adding together a specific combination of Attributes and Talents.  In the Advanced Character Set-Up rules, whenever a Skill is 'taken' more than once, the “Governing Attribute” is added to the score.  (The “Governing Attribute” is the first Attribute listed in the Skill's calculation formula.)

Danny's Skills are as follows:

American Culture – an automatic Skill (Wit + Esthetic + Communicative) = 15
American History (Wit + Natural + Scientific) (×2 due to background) = 30
English (Wit + Communicative + Esthetic) (×2 due to background) = 30
Brawling (Strength + Deftness + Combative) (+ Strength) = 55
Pilot (Deftness + Wit + Mechanical) (+ Deftness ×3) = 71
Navigation (Wit + Natural + Scientific) (+ Wit) = 25
Pistol (Deftness + Wit + Combative) = 35
Mechanic (Deftness + Wit + Mechanical) = 26
Foreign Language – French (Wit + Communicative + Esthetic) = 15
Polynesian Culture (Wit + Esthetic + Communicative) = 15
Survival (Health + Wit + Natural) (+ Health) = 44
Rifle (Deftness + Wit + Combative) = 35
Foreign Language – Tahitian (Wit + Communicative + Esthetic) = 15

I roll 5d3 for Danny's additional Attribute points and obtain 10 points.  I put five into Will, three into Wit, and two into Speed. The final ratings are:

Wit = 13 (AST = 6; CST = 4)
Will = 15 (AST = 7; CST = 5)
Strength = 15 (AST = 7; CST = 5)
Deftness = 15 (AST = 7; CST = 5)
Speed = 12 (AST = 6; CST = 4)
Health = 15 (AST = 7; CST = 5)

AST means 'Attribute Saving Throw' and CST means 'Critical Saving Throw.'  For a Saving Throw to be successful, the indicated number or less must be rolled on a d20.

Danny's Combat Dodge Ability (CDA) is 2.5.  CDA equals half of the sum of a character's Deftness Group Number (3) and his Speed Group Number (2).

Danny's Damage Resistance Total (DRT) is 29.  DRT equals a character's Health plus half of Strength and half of Will.

Lastly, Danny's Encumbrance Capacity (ENC CAP) is 12 kg.  ENC CAP equals 7 plus a character's Strength AST.  The rules say that 'Lifting Capacity' is ENC CAP × 4.  This is certainly an error because 'Fully Encumbered' is also ENC CAP × 4, but the penalties are less severe.  My guess is that 'Lifting Capacity' should be ENC CAP × 8.

Other than “Acquire any gear or equipment that is desired and available,” only three steps remain in 'Advanced Character Set-Up.'  First:

Integrate this information into a plausable [sic] extrapolation of the character's current situation, financial status, standing in the community, etc.  Work out his basic personality if you have not already done so.

The last two steps are “Inform the Gamemaster that you are ready to play” and “Role play your character.”  How many games have been delayed or forsaken because the Gamemaster didn't realize a character was ready to play?  Is this really necessary?  On the other hand, the instruction to “Role play your character” would be useful to certain players if only taken to heart.

Curiously, the 'Advanced Character Set-Up' has one less step than regular 'Character Set-Up.'

Creating a Daredevils Character (Part I)

The first step in creating a Daredevils character is to distribute “75 points among the Attributes.”  In my opinion, the first step should be to roll on the Character Background Table since the results of this roll have a bearing on career choices.  I roll '13' on 1d100; not a good omen (or a lucky roll).  This result represents (among other things) a 'poor' education.  My nascent character gets an initial score in the American History and American Culture skill; he – I assume the masculine gender – also has “Double initial score in English Language.”  (By comparison, someone with 'excellent' education would have “Quadruple initial score.”)  Before determining Attributes, I shall establish the length of his pre-adventure career.  The result of 4d10 gives me 18; somewhat less than the average roll of 22 years.  Anyway, rolling 1d6 generates the number two.  I add this to fourteen to find out that the character began his pre-adventure career at age 16.  My guy will begin play when he is 34 years old (16 + 18).  Assuming a campaign start date of 1933, he was born in 1899.

So far, the character lacks a good education and has fewer years than average with which to acquire skills.  I roll 1d100 on the Physical Aspect Chart and get '79.'  This means 'above average' height and weight (5'11" – 6'2"; 77 – 86 kg).  (Why did they use imperial height but metric weight?)  I imagine the character attempting to lift himself out from his 'poor' background by physical means.  I say he tries to be a boxer and distribute points among Attributes appropriately.

I assign 15 points each to Strength, Deftness, and Health for purposes of optimization.  (With a value of 15, the character has a 1d10 'Effect Die' with regard to that Attribute.  With a value of 14, the 'Effect Die' would be 1d6.)  The remaining Attributes – Wit, Will, and Speed – get 10 points each; this is considered the low end of average.  By now, the character deserves a name; I'll call him Danny Sweet.

Now I turn my attention to the psychological profile and obtain the following base values for Danny's Talents:  Charismatic 0; Combative 0; Communicative 0; Esthetic 0; Mechanical 0; Natural +1; Scientific 0.  A roll of 2d6 results in 5; this added to twenty gives Danny 25 points to distribute among the Talents.  Because he is a boxer, I assign ten points to Combative.  It's possible to leave a Talent's value at zero, but that's not how I roll.  I give one point each to the remaining five Talents at zero.  There are ten points left.  I assign four to Charismatic, three to Communicative, and the last three to Natural.  Danny's final Talent values are:  Charismatic 5; Combative 10; Communicative 4; Esthetic 1; Mechanical 1; Natural 4; Scientific 1.

Danny's first career period begins in 1915.  I want him to be a boxer so the appropriate career is 'Athlete/Sportsman.'  At Danny's age there are no requirements for entering this career.  A roll of 8 on 2d6 means this first career period will last eight years.  In the first year of a new career, a character learns whatever 'Automatic Skills' associated with the career.  Athlete is one of the two careers which doesn't have an Automatic Skill, which is bogus.  This means Danny will spend a year gaining no benefits other than financial.  The following year, I select Brawling from the list of Available Skills because this is the Daredevils Skill most akin to boxing.  For the third year, Danny takes 1d3 more Attribute points, but these won't be added until later in the character creation process.

Because of the Great War, Danny can interrupt his Athlete career and join the military.  Even if he didn't choose to enlist, he could be drafted.  Danny opts to enlist.  The requirements for the Military career are (1) a “Health Attribute Saving Throw” and (2) no criminal record.  Well, Danny doesn't have a criminal record.  His Health is 15.  This means I must roll 7 or less on 1d20 to succeed with the Saving Throw.  I manage to roll a 5.  “The Infantry is assumed to be the branch of service unless he makes the Requirements of one of the other branches.”  Danny might as well try to get into one of the other branches.  The Air Corps requires a Deftness Saving Throw.  With a Deftness of 15, he needs a 7 or less.  I roll a 4, which I wasn't expecting.  Danny's in the Air Corps!  The Automatic Skills for the Air Corps are Pilot and Navigation.

According to page 19:

All player characters are assumed to be officer material. They start as Non-commissioned officers and may make one roll per year for promotion... Under wartime conditions, the character may make an additional roll during the first year in service.

The required percentile roll is Wit + Will + Combative + years in the 'College' career, so Danny has a 30% chance.  For the first year, I roll '01' and '89.'  For the second year, a roll '09.'  (The War lasts two years.)  In total, two promotions!  Instead of Danny Sweet, boxer, we have Lt. Daniel F. Sweet, war hero.  It's not the pre-adventure career I had planned on, but it will do.  Anyway, each promotion entitles a character to an additional initial score in a Skill; so Danny takes Pistol and Mechanic from the list of Available Skills for the Air Corps.  For the second and final year of the War, Danny takes Pilot again.  If Danny succeeds in a Wit Saving Throw, he gets French Language as a Skill.  Danny's Wit is 10, so the Saving Throw is 5 or less on 1d20.  I roll a 14 and Danny doesn't pick up a language.

In 1920, Danny resumes his pre-War career, Athlete/Sportsman.  He has five more years in this career term.  Danny could continue as a boxer, but there are other options.  In this career, almost all 'Practical' Skills are available, including – now that the War is over – Pilot.  I suppose Danny could be a 'Sportsman' in terms of a stunt pilot or barnstormer.  If he's going to be a barnstormer, he ought to take two more 'years' of Pilot.  I'd like for Danny to take Mechanic again, but that's a 'Task' Skill, not a 'Practical' Skill.  So for the final three years of this career term, he takes Brawling for the second time and 2d3 points for Attributes.

What exciting surprises does destiny have in store for Danny?  What should he do next?  What would YOU do if you were Danny and I wasn't making all of the decisions?

Special Powers in Daredevils

The third section of the Daredevils rule book is called 'Optional Systems.'  (The first section is 'The Characters' and the second is 'The Game.')  Optional rules appear throughout the book, but the 'Optional Systems' section is reserved for rules that don't appear elsewhere.

There are rules that cover 'Gimmicks' – I would call them gadgets.  “Gimmicks are technological devices, usually ahead of their time, that are used by Daredevils on their adventures.”  The rules cover how player characters can create Gimmicks, provided they possess appropriate skills.  A Task Value is determined for any (potential) Gimmick in part by multiplying Value Factor by Weight Factor.  Value Factor is generated by assigning numbers to one or more of seven classifiers (e.g., reduction in size, change appearance) coded 'A' through 'G.'  (Yawn.)  Surprisingly, there are no rules regarding the monetary cost of developing a Gimmick, just the time involved.  Ten Gimmick examples are listed, including genre appropriate devices like mercy bullets and a grappling cane.

Luck Points share some of the functions of Hero Points in RuneQuest; however, I don't think that Hero Points were extant in the then current edition of RuneQuest.  Before an adventure, a player rolls dice to determine how many Luck Points his or her character has.  For short adventures, 1D6 is rolled; for longer adventures, 2D6.  As an alternative, the Gamemaster can roll and record Luck Points so that players are unaware of how much luck their characters have.  Luck Points can be used to “[r]eroll any one die roll” (1 point), reduce the effect of non-fatal critical damage upon a character (2 points), or prevent an effect that would cause the death of a character (5 points).

Special Powers represent abilities beyond those of normal men.  Characters generated via the 'advanced' method can obtain ten 'purchase' points for each “Preadventure career” year spent.  Two options are provided for 'basic' characters.  In the first method, the player rolls 1D100; the result is the number of 'purchase' points available for Special Powers.  Also, the difference of the result from 100 is divided by five; this is the number of additional points that may be applied to the character's Attributes.  In the second method, the player rolls 1D100 and consults the 'Randomly Acquired Special Powers' table.

The most likely result on the 'Randomly Acquired Special Powers' table permits the player to roll once on the 'Nature of Powers' table.  Other results allow the player to roll twice or three times on the 'Nature of Powers' table.  Some results preclude a roll on the 'Nature of Powers' table, but grant five or ten additional points to allocate among the character's Attributes.

Three paragraphs discuss the possibilities of player characters gaining Special Powers “in the course of play.”  In brief, such possibilities should be uncertain, difficult, and require a long amount of time.

The most likely result on the 'Nature of Powers' table is “Talent Ability” and the second most likely result is “Talent Power.”  There is a 57% chance of obtaining one of these results.  For Ability or Power, the particular Talent is determined randomly.  In a 'basic' game where talents are not used, 2D10 are rolled to determine a value for the “Talent.”  If the purchase method is in use, a Talent Ability costs five points and a Talent Power costs ten.  (The Ability and the Power for a given Talent can be purchased together for twelve points.)  An Ability or Power reflects a given Talent's sphere...usually.  The Esthetic Talent Power is essentially the same as 'Danger Sense,' a non-Talent power.  (The Esthetic Talent Ability allows a character “to evaluate the worth of an artwork.”)  The Natural Talent Ability gives a character “an innate sense of direction” and the 'Power' provides “a natural empathy with beasts.”

Examples of other Powers include Escape Artist (10 points), Heightened Senses (10 points each), Hypnosis (10 points), and Invisibility (30 points).  'Cat' Ability (15 points) gives a character “a heightened kinesthetic sense,” which allows the character to take less damage from falls, climb more easily, walk tightropes with no chance of falling, etc.  Spirit Power (15 points) allows a character to achieve any of three effects:  increase the value of a Skill, increase the value of an Attribute, or “reduce the immediate effects of wounds or injury.”  Each effect is temporary (lasting one 'Detailed Action sequence') and requires a successful roll (based on the character's Will Attribute).

Careers in Daredevils

In creating a Daredevils character, the player determines the character's age (4d10 + 12 = years).  Each year equals a Development Point.  Each Development Point can be used in one of three ways:

(a) obtain an initial score in a Skill.
(b) increase a Skill's score by 2d6. (“The values for a score in a Skill range from 0 to 100.”)
(c) increase Attribute scores by 1d3.

This is a viable process, but bland when compared to the “advanced” character generation rules.

“Advanced character set-up” in Daredevils incorporates careers.  Of course, Traveller did it first, but at the time (1982) career options in Traveller were (in my opinion) limited and disappointing.  A character could serve in the military, the scouts, or the merchants.  Everything else – the 'Other' career – was considered “unproductive” and consisted of “some trades, ne'er-do-wells, and the shady realm of the underworld.”  Also tiresome was that fact that Traveller characters – in the course of being generated – could die or suffer a career ending injury.

The possible careers in Daredevils are:  Academia, Athlete/Sportsman, Big Game Hunter, Bon Vivant/Dilitante (sic), Business, College, Crime, Explorer, Law Enforcement, Military, Politician, Soldier of Fortune, Working Life, and Writer/Journalist.  (If the optional 'gimmick' rules are in play, Inventor is a possible career.)  In Daredevils, a player character can have multiple careers.  A player rolls 4d10 to determine the number of 'career years' for his or her character.  Once a career is chosen (and assuming the character meets the career requirements), 2d6 are rolled to determine the number of years spent in said career.  Once the 'term' ends, the character can enter a different career or take another term in the same career.  In the first year of a new career, the character acquires any Automatic Skills that the career provides.  For each subsequent year:  the character may learn one of the career's Available Skills, improve a previously learned Skill (provided it is listed among the career's Automatic or Available Skills), or increase Attribute scores by 1d3.

Daredevils characters created with the “advanced” rules are deprived of the twelve Development Points that “basic” characters receive.  Also, the Skill choices of “advanced” characters are constrained by what a given career allows.  However, some careers provide more than one Automatic Skill.  Also, much like 'mustering out' benefits in Traveller, careers offer the potential of cash, income, and material benefits.  For instance, the material benefits for the 'Crime' career are:  “Pistol (15%); Lockpicks (15%); Thompson sub-machine gun (5%); Car (5%).”  So, if a character engages in two 'terms' of the Crime career, that character has two 15% chances to obtain a pistol.  (I would have had it so that chance increases based upon the number of years spent in the career, but I would have limited eligibility for particular items to those characters with an appropriate Skill.)  By the way, a character who participates in the Crime career is not necessarily a criminal.  According to page 15, such a character...

...moves in circles outside the law but, assuming he is a hero, does not actually break it (without cause).  He operates on the fringes of the criminal world, in espionage, etc.

However, characters in the Crime career run the risk of “acquiring a criminal record whether it is deserved or not.”

Perhaps the most interesting feature of the “advanced” method is that actual history can have an effect upon characters' pre-adventure careers.  When the Great War begins, characters can interrupt their current careers and enlist (or possibly be drafted).  Crime career characters get more cash during Prohibition.  The crash of '29 can cause Politicians to be kicked out of office and characters in the Business career can incur a huge debt.  This requires careful tracking of a character's history.  The 4d10 result is subtracted from the year of the campaign to determine when a character begins his or her first career.  (The character is 14 + 1d6 years old at this point.)

It would require a great deal of work to implement, but imagine a fantasy role-playing game with a Daredevils style career system integrated into a campaign history.  “What side was your warrior on during the War of the Night Kings?”  “Since you were a spellcaster during the Conclave of the Blue Warlocks, there might be ramifications for your spell book...” “You were caught during your time as a thief; if you fumble a Luck roll, you lose a hand as part of your punishment.”  “Wyvern Riding is a Skill only available to the Amazon and Ranger careers.”

Psychological Profile

Daredevils' rules have a reputation for being cumbersome, which I consider to be unfair – for the most part.  Daredevils represents a refinement of Charrette and Hume's Aftermath!, published by FGU the year prior to Daredevils.  I readily concede that “cumbersome” is an understatement for Aftermath! (it consists of 223 pages spread among three books) but Daredevils (contained within 64 pages) lists some rules as “Advanced” and others as “Optional.”  By disregarding Advanced and Optional rules, one finds the 'baseline' Daredevils game to be rather straight-forward (with a noteworthy exception being the 'damage' rules).

There are six Attributes in Daredevils:  Wit, Will, Strength, Deftness, Speed, and Health. Players determine Attribute scores by allocating from a pool of 75 points.  (Although not unique among role-playing games, non-random Attribute determination was unusual when Daredevils was first published.)  For humans, Attribute values range from 1 to 40, with a score of 10-15 being 'average.'  Attributes can be increased during character generation.  During play, Attributes can be directly improved via training; an Attribute can also be improved as a result of improving the value of a skill associated with the Attribute.  (e.g., The 'Pistol' skill is primarily associated with Deftness; a sufficient increase the skill's value can raise a character's Deftness score.)  Contrary to the declarations of others, Attribute scores in excess of 40 cannot be attained through “training and experience.”  As page 4 of the rule book clearly indicates, “A rating greater than 40 is not possible for a human without mechanical, chemical or supernatural aid.”

The concept of 'Talents' is covered in Daredevils' Advanced rules.  There are seven Talents:

Charismatic:  Leadership and the ability to influence people.

Combative:  “Aggressiveness, the 'will to win,' and raw fighting ability.”

Communicative:  Aptitude with languages and ability to express ideas.

Esthetic:  Ability to appreciate and create/perform works of art.

Mechanical:  Technological aptitude.

Natural:  “Affinity for the the natural environment.”

Scientific:  Logical thinking.

I like the notion of Talents to represent certain aspects of characters, but I think the implementation of Talents in Daredevils is a bit off.  For instance, the rules insist that the Wit Attribute is not a matter of intelligence.  “The native 'intelligence' of a character depends on that of the player.”  Wit is instead “Perception ability” and capacity for learning.  I appreciate the idea of character intelligence being player intelligence, but it seems that concept goes out the window if the 'Scientific' Talent is used.  Also, the Will Attribute “includes the character's drive and determination.”  This would seem to overlap substantially with the “will to win” ascribed to the Combative Talent.

Talents – if the rule is in use – help determine skill values.  For instance, the Mechanical Talent contributes to the 'Lockpicking' skill value and the Natural Talent is applied to the 'History' skill value (for reasons I have yet to appreciate).  Talents can also be used to represent a character's unskilled ability; if character without the Lockpicking skill tries to pick a lock, his or her Mechanical Talent could be used to gauge success.

Although Attributes in Daredevils are not determined randomly, Talents – to some extent – are.  The initial values of a character's Talents are considered as his or her “psychological profile.”  For each Talent, 1d10 is rolled and the “Psychological Profile Table” on page 5 is consulted.  The result is a number from –2 to +3.  Although a single die is used, the probability distribution is not flat, a result of 0 is three-times more likely than one of the extreme results.  Then the result of 2d6 added to 20 determines how many points the player may allocate among the Talents.  The maximum value for a Talent is 20 and the minimum is –2.  (Talent scores may not be reduced below their initial values.)  Once the points are allocated, the “psychological profile” is meaningless.  Why not just have every Talent start at zero and let players distribute thirty points?  For a “psychological profile” with greater impact, each character could have 'favored' and 'unfavored' Talents – perhaps randomly determined, perhaps not.  During character generation, 'favored' Talents could be easier to improve (e.g., a points-to-value ratio of 2:3) while 'unfavored' Talents could be more expensive (e.g., three points spent only increases value by two).

Here, I just threw together a table no one will ever use!  You're welcome!

Meet the Daredevils

The Daredevil Adventures book includes six 'sample player characters' to be used when a new player is introduced to a pre-existing campaign or – as was the case with your humble host and his pals – when players “wish to play immediately.”  Although “[o]nly very broad sketches are given as to characterization” and “[n]o information as to background is given,” the sample characters are clearly based upon certain characters from fiction.  Subtlety was not a consideration when fashioning these knockoffs...er, 'homages.'

Mike Mattock

Take Sam Spade but name a different digging tool and apply alliteration.  The result is Mike Mattock, “a private investigator of the 'hard-boiled' school.”  Mike is first on this list by virtue of having the best illustration; the fact that he was played by your humble host did not factor into this decision.  He is the smartest of the sample characters.  “Often surly and short with men, he will fall all over himself with a dame.”  His Pistol and Driving skills are at maximum value.

Paddy Dugan

The inspiration for Paddy was none other than Marvel Comics' “Dum Dum” Dugan even though the Marvel character did not begin his adventuring career until WWII.  “A big-boned, tall lad who likes a good brawl.”  In fact, his Brawling skill has the highest possible score.  Dugan has the highest Health attribute among the sample characters and he is almost as strong as Grendith (see below).  “He is loyal to his friends and makes an excellent companion either in a tight spot or celebrating victory later.”

John 'Indiana Slim' Ford

They didn't even bother to come up with a different state for this dude.  “When 'off-duty,' he appears as a simple museum curator but, when in the thick of things, he is a hard-as-nails tough guy.”  Of course, he has a whip and his Whip skill cannot be exceeded (neither can his Swimming skill).  “Ford is a tough adventurer who is as much in love with danger as he is with the rewards of the game.”

Dominic Fortunato

Fortunato is a ringer for Howard Chaykin's Dominic Fortune.  (Personally, I have a preference for Chaykin's earlier version of the character – The Scorpion, alias Moro Frost.)  “He is, by his own admission, an adventurer who is 'only in it for the money.'”  Fortunato is the fastest of the sample characters.  Also, his 'Deftness' (manual dexterity) is on par with that of 'Indiana Ford' and is slightly less than that of Grendith (see next).  “He is persistent if not overly sharp.”

Earl Grendith

Replace the “ndith” in Grendith with “ystoke” and – viola – Tarzan.  In fact, the Captain Ersatz Tarzan in Philip José Farmer's A Feast Unknown is called “Lord Grandrith.”  Among the sample characters, he has the highest scores in Will, Strength, and Deftness.  In terms of Speed, he is just behind Fortunato.  “He is only at home in the wilderness” and there he “will wear only the lightest clothing.”  Grendith has the following skills at their highest possible value:  Knife, Brawling, Throwing, Tracking, Hunting, and Stealth.

Eagle Renwick

Last (and possibly least) we have Eagle Renwick who is based on the character of Col. John “Renny” Renwick, one of Doc Savage's five aides.  Like the 'real' Renwick, he is a civil engineer, but the Daredevils write-up emphasizes his abilities as a pilot.  “A very tall man of somewhat gangling appearance.  He is of a taciturn disposition, but will really enjoy himself in a good fight.”  He's not 'maxed out' on any of his skills and none of his attributes rank among the highest of his fellow sample characters.

Sample characters – in any game – provide a useful perspective as to how the game's designer envisioned player characters.  Of course, it is through their characters that players 'experience' a game.  Therefore, sample characters provide a window into the player experience that the creator intends.  With the characters above, Charrette and Hume show that Daredevils can accommodate a PC party that includes the likes of Tarzan, Sam Spade, Indiana Jones, and a couple of Marvel Comics C-listers (D-listers?).  Some people will like the concept and some won't.  If you don't like the concept, Daredevils can be played in a more subdued manner, but the game allows for – if not encourages – a diverse, flamboyant combination.

Action and Adventure in the Two-Fisted Thirties

When I was a young lad in the early 80's, a game master friend of mine tried to recruit me into a Daredevils campaign he wanted to run.  In my youthful ignorance, I had a limited appreciation of the past.  Stuff from a half-century ago was supposed to be interesting?  As far as I was concerned, 'pulp' was a gradient of orange juice.  Why play this if we could play D&D or Champions?

“It's like Raiders of the Lost Ark,” he finally said with a tinge of exasperation in his voice.

With that, I was sold.  Neither D&D nor Champions could hold a candle to Raiders.  It turns out that some of my fondest memories of role-playing come from that campaign.  I didn't know what I was doing half the time, but it didn't matter.  It was like Raiders.  More importantly, it was fun. 

Daredevils was published by Fantasy Games Unlimited in 1982.  I think it must be the first role-playing game to embrace 'pulp' adventure as a genre.  (I categorize Gangster! and Gangbusters as historical semi-simulations of the “gangster” heyday rather than pulp adventure.)  The game and several adventure books are available as PDFs from RPGNow, but the original box set and publications are still available direct from the FGU website.  Daredevils was designed by Bob Charrette and Paul Hume, the team that had created two earlier FGU games, Aftermath! and Bushido.

It seems that Charrette was responsible for the illustrations, including the box cover (shown above).  (The cover of the actual rule book is a black & white version.)  While Charrette is competent as an illustrator, the cover is somewhat lackluster.  The primary subject is a drably-colored man who seems to be glancing toward his waiter.  One would hope that the cover of a pulp genre RPG would be somewhat more enticing – like the covers of the actual pulps.  The bottom portion of the cover is more appropriate:  an airship and autogyro among assorted pulp 'personalities' (including a rather spare Doc Savage poser in the bottom-left corner).  Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the cover is the Asian dude front-and-center; props to Charrette for being politically correct before that term was in vogue.  Of course, it may have been an intentional counterbalance to the nefarious Fu Sung, an evil Asian mastermind stereotype.  Fu Sung's presence is felt in two of the four adventures in the aptly named Daredevil Adventures booklet (included with the box set).  Yes, the stereotype is racist but, once in a while, can't we have an evil mastermind who happens to be Asian?  Don't get me wrong, I am a firm believer in equal opportunity evil masterminds and I would never suggest that Asians have a predilection toward evil mastermindedness.  However, in terms of style, some of the best evil masterminds – of course, I am speaking only about fiction – are Asian.  Must I feel guilty about occasionally including one in a campaign?

Aside from the rule book (64 pages) and Daredevil Adventures (32 pages), the box set includes three dice, 2d20 and 1d6.  Of course, this is old school, so the icosahedrons are numbered 0 – 9 twice.  Also included are a master character sheet (suitable) for copying and a gamemaster 'screen.'  One side of the screen reproduces various charts and tables from the rules.  The other side presents (1) a nice world map detailing “Political Boundaries in 1930” and (2) a “Quick Reference Table” by which a person can determine the day of the week of any date in the 1930's.  Below, I provide this table for use by my cherished readers.