2 | Character Creation
Creating a Free Rad is quick, simple and can even be done at random, to explore characters you wouldn’t otherwise play.
1. Choose your approaches
Characters in RADS are distinguished by the approaches they prefer when facing challenges. There are three approaches: forceful, quick, and careful.
Assign one as your best approach, one as an average approach and one as your worst approach, or roll 1d6 twice to assign your best and worst approach at random, re-rolling duplicates (1–2 for forceful, 3–4 for quick, 5–6 for careful).
When you test your best approach, you roll 2d10; for your average approach, 2d8; for your worst approach, 2d6.
2. Choose a day job
Select from law enforcement, driver, bureaucrat, medic, tradesman, performer, criminal, journalist, or roll 1d8 to assign at random. Note the talents you gain.
3. Choose a gift
Select a gift from warding, illusion, wildspeech, compulsion and divination, or roll 1d6 to assign at random, re-rolling on a 6. Note the Powers you gain.
4. Choose a combat speciality
Select from brutal, tough, alert, strategic, speedy and unconventional, or roll 1d6 to assign at random.
5. Choose two tactical moves
Select from advance, delay, aid, sabotage, quicken, slow, flurry, savage, counter and protect, or roll 2d10 to assign at random, re-rolling duplicates.
6. Write them up
Put your character’s details into a character sheet. Your character is able to move 6 spaces—or 8 if you took the ‘speedy’ combat speciality—and has 24 Energy. The last thing you’ll need is a name and your character’s story.
The resulting FR will look a bit like this:
| Name | George Tiller |
|---|---|
| Energy | 24 |
| Movement | 6 spaces |
| Approaches |
Forceful: 2d8 Quick: 2d6 Careful: 2d10 |
| Day job | Medic (talents: triage, CPR) |
| Powers | warding (alarm, sanctify, repel) |
| Combat Speciality | tough |
| Tactical Moves | protect, slow |
| Story | George is a firefighter who became a Rad after an explosion at a government lab—a secret DNA research facility—exposed him to gamma radiation and hydroquinone. He’s known by all as a sensible and caring man, but doesn’t hesitate to resort to force when those he cares about are in trouble. |
What makes a good Free Rad?
Free Rads come from diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. Feel free to create a rich other life for your character, bearing in mind the following:
- Physically, being a Free Rad means your character is a competent and capable investigator who is willing and able to fight when necessary.
- In terms of relationships, you and your fellow players’ characters are part of the same cell of the Free Rads, and should know one another at least professionally and be committed to working together. Your character have whatever personality you like as long as this does not conflict with working alongside the rest of your cell to complete your missions.
- Morally, no matter their background, all Free Rads have committed to protecting the innocent, minimising damage, suppressing awareness of demons’ existence and ultimately seeking to banish them from the world for good.
Are there any characters you can't play?
RADS is an engine for cooperative storytelling which is designed to help you create a certain kind of story. The above passage describes the kinds of characters who suit those kinds of story. Conversely, three character concepts in particular just don’t fit well into the intended genres of this system:
- Pacifists or weaklings who can't or won't engage in a physical fight.
- lone wolves or loose cannons who refuse to play by the rules or work with others.
- contrarians and conspiracists who think that civilians aren’t worth protecting, that demons shouldn’t be kept hidden, that “the government is right” or that “the Free Rads are the true demons”.
These kinds of characters tend to hold up the plot and cause conflict with other characters in the group, which can quickly spill out into the real world and leave other players at the table bored, upset or annoyed.
If you really want to play a character like this, seek the blessing of your GR and the rest of the table first, and caveat ludio.