Cauldron Character Creation

Character Creation: Cauldron Capes
You bought your powers rather than triggering naturally.

Procedure:

-Pick a random trigger. This is your "defining moment" - the most traumatic, life-altering event in your life. But you didn't trigger. You don't have that potential.

-In character, choose a level of Risk (1-6) and two of the following: a PRT classification for your power, unusually flexible powers, unusually strong effects, long or short range combat, helping yourself or your allies, appearing frightening/nonthreatening/impressive, and whether it is Manton-limited or not.

-Design, OOC, the shard or collection of shards in your character's Vial. This could be almost any science-fiction technobabble, but do bear in mind that results are varied - they might just give you the technical understanding to recreate some of your shard's capabilities, or the ability to apply it's effects to yourself, or whatever.

-Now, roll your Risk level twice (for example, someone who chose a Risk of 3 would roll 2d3.) One determines your number of Advantages, one determines your number of Flaws. Choose (IC) whether these are Power or Life flaws/perks - this represents you spending money for a more reliable, effective Vial. Characters with more than two Power Flaws are Case 53's, and should roll once on the Case 53 Advantage/Disadvantage chart.

-Bearing in mind the character's chosen Vial, and their personality and hangups (as indicated by their defining moment), the group should work together to design an appropriate power. The player should remain silent during this time.

-Roll 1d20-Risk to determine mutations (see "Determining Mutations", below.)

-Roll to determine the character's Advantages and Disadvatages, as  determined during the Risk stage. Adjust the character's abilities and backstory as necessary.

-Assign Attributes, Skills, cape name etc. to the character.

[[insert "Cauldron Advantages/Disadvantages" chart from the rulebook here]]

Determining Mutations
Roll 1d6 times, noting the body parts on the list:
0 or less: reroll twice
1: Head
2: Shoulder
3: Torso
4: Arm
5: Hand
6: Leg
7: Extra limb (tail, wing)*
8: Foot
9: Skin
10: Eye
11: Hair
12: Mouth
13: Nose
14: Brain (thinking)
15: Brain (emotion)
16 or more: none

For each body part rolled, roll 1d4, add [5 - Risk] and +2 per time it was rolled, if it was rolled multiple times.  Changes can encompass adjacent body parts.

1-2: Negligible, easily hidden change. Can include spots on skin can be covered up with makeup, spines on head can be covered with hat or longer hair.

3-4: Moderate change, hideable, but not easily - may require time to cover up, expense, or cover-up may only be possible with very heavy clothing (and thus be circumstantial).  Might include skin that’s purple from head to toe, fish-like fins at places where bone is close to skin, horns.

5-6: Severe change.  Not hideable without a combination of time, expense, and some distance from people.  Might include grotesque hunchback, crustacean-like plating on body, or perpetually glowing body.  Very possible that functionality of body changes, typically horizontally (gain some lose some) or for the worse.

7+: Horrific change.  Not hideable, changes are noticeable from 1 city block away without difficulty.  Body parts may well be alien in nature (tentacles, forearms arms three times the usual length with claws in place of hands), assume a permanent breaker state, or more.  Loss of normal human functioning is likely, depending on the parts in question (may be unable to speak, require different diet, etc).

Other parties determine nature of changes given the power & vial involved.