Stealing the Show!

Hi all

I played my first game of 7TV2e a little while ago and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it!  I was persuaded to use the system by some fellow bloggers and their enthusiasm for the game which showed in their reviews and batreps featuring the system.  I needed a gaming system for my TMNT collection and this seemed to fit the bill completely - lots of action, plot twists and general cartooniness (not sure that's a word...) 

In order to play the game though i had to first decide the stats, characteristics and skills of each of the "actors".  now i'm pretty sure that there will be disagreements and discussion around my choices and thats just perfect as i want to know if you think i'm on the right track or heading back into the cutting room for an edit.....

Firstly i had to think about the nature of each of the characters, their strengths and weaknesses, personalities and presence in "the show" and try to match that to a particular character from the 7TV2e game as a basis.  I would then tweak the profiles, skills and star qualities to get the best match to my thoughts.  to this end I looked at a lot of the backstories of each of the characters in the TMNT comics (i prefer the original comics written by Laird and Eastman) and I have added this background previously to my posts reviewing the models in order to share the rich setting of the turtle universe.

Right with that in mind I looked at the Turtles faction first, now this gave me a lot to think about. If i was to make each of the turtles a star in their own right the game would be massively slanted and unbalanced, so they would have to be co-stars.  This fit better as the turtles strength is the fact they work as a team.  In fact every time they try to fight Shredder one-on-one they get their shells battered. I also decided to drop the points cost from 6 to 5 ratings each so would need to adjust their profiles accordingly, i did this so they could be fielded as a 20 ratings unit for certain episodes. I also decided that they should all have Spy - to reflect their ninja training, Hard to reflect the protection granted them by their shells and Martial Arts to reflect their combat skills.  Having decided this I then looked at each individually to see where they fit in best.  

Starting with the field leader of the turtles - Leonardo.  Leo is a very pragmatic, down to earth, loyal and brave warrior. Trained in the use of the katana and wakizashi (duel swords) he is a very proficient fighter and totally dependable, which sometimes drives his brothers a little crazy! For 7TV2e then, I decided to start him off as a Dependable Deputy, mostly for his "Take Charge" star quality.  His special effects were nearly all changed to become - Aware, Brave, Hard and Spy.  Profile wise the only change he had was a drop in the "Body" stat to 3 from 4 purely as a cost to bring him to ratings 5 (I'm pretty sure i've got the costings wrong as i'm just using the beta test pdf and not the published game, plus i just don't care that much...) His stat line then reads

Ratings     Fight     Shoot     Defence     Mind     Body     Spirit

5                4             4           9                   3          3             3

Next up is Michaelangelo. Mikey is the joker of the pack, constantly goofing off and larking about much to the consternation of his sensei - Master Splinter.  Splinter knows that Mikey has got the most natural ability of all of the turtles but never quite lives up to his potential due to his laid back attitude. Mikey has totally adopted the stereotypical surfer type approach to life including surfer catch phrases and an almost pathological obsession with pizza... For the game I went with Angel of Justice as a base.  His Star Quality of Roundhouse was perfect and i kept the skills Dodge and Follow Up before adding the obligatory Hard and Spy to round him out. His stat line had the spirit dropped from 4 to 3 and is the same as his more straightlaced brother Leo.

Ratings     Fight     Shoot     Defence     Mind     Body     Spirit

5                4             4           9                   3          3             3

Onto Donatello, my fave turtle as I was growing up - geeky and awkward, not as gifted martially but more than made up for it with his scientific mind.  Donny although still formidable in combat is happier when he's wielding a keyboard rather than his trademark Bo staff.  For him then Crazy Inventor just seemed about right!  Star Quality - Cobble Together to reflect his technological prowess. Special Effects of Gadget (of course) and Repair (yes) as well as Hard and Spy.  In order to downgrade his cost I lost his photonic spanner and replaced it with the obligatory shuriken.  I also dropped his shoot to 3 and bumped his fight to 4. His stat line then is

Ratings     Fight     Shoot     Defence     Mind     Body     Spirit

5                4             3           9                   4          3             3

So that leaves Raphael.  Raph is not the most clinical fighter and ranks below Mikey and Leo in pure skill, instead he relies more on brutality and passion than finesse, battering his opponents to the ground with pile driving blows and whirring Sai.  Raph is also nearly permanently angry, his sense of exclusion from society and hatred for what he perceives as acts of injustice leave him bubbling just below the surface.  Although Mikey and Donny like to tease their brother because of his stern nature, they try not to push him too hard in case he explodes!  that said Raph is fanatically loyal to his brothers and often puts himself at incredible risk to protect them.  For the game it had to be Strong-arm as a base for Raphael.  The only tweak i needed to make was to replace lucky with Spy as he is already ratings 5.  He has the Star Quality Beat Back, Special Effects - Hard, Block, Spy and Mighty Blow

Ratings     Fight     Shoot     Defence     Mind     Body     Spirit

5                5             4           9                   2          4             3

So where does that leave the rest of the cast?  

Master Splinter had to be cast as a Star - really I hear the gasps! yes really, after all he trained the turtles, he also kicks ass at the highest of levels.  In the literature, Master Splinter was revealed to be a champion of the Battle Nexus, a multi-dimensional-spanning contest where the greatest combatants of various dimensions come together to fight each other for the title of Battle Nexus Champion. That rat can rock n'roll with the best and in nearly all confrontations with Shredder has beaten him to at the least a draw, only losing with interference by outside influences. So yes he is a star,  with that I chose Action Hero but he did receive the most tweaks so it's almost impossible to totally categorise him as this....  Star Quality is Burst of Action, Special Effects - Leader (1), Dodge, Hide and Spy (no shell = no Hard!)

Ratings     Fight     Shoot     Defence     Mind     Body     Spirit

10               5             4            10               4          4             5

April O'Neil and Casey Jones are left and they have been used as Extras.  April O'Neil is the plucky Computer Programmer/Journalist/Antique Dealer and heroine of the genre.  Later on in the universe she starts to beef up and receives some training from Splinter but in my game she starts as a Technician.  Her stat line stays the same but she exchanges Repair for Brave (to reflect her penchant for not backing down in the face of danger, even though she often gets into more trouble...)

Ratings     Fight     Shoot     Defence     Mind     Body     Spirit

1                 2            2            8                  3          2             2

Casey Jones is, during the day a superintendent of a building (like a an oddjob repair man) but at night he is a psychotic vigilante! his backstory shows a lad who grew up watching vigilante TV shows following a brutal attack on himself and his father.  This has left him a little unhinged, but he strikes up an unlikely friendship with Raphael and eventually the rest of the turtles which given the brutality of his attacks is sometimes a mystery.  I started with Survivalist for Casey and really didn't tweak him at all, except to get rid of his hunting equipment and replace it with two handed weapons to represent his hocky stick and bag of bats!  Special Effect - Hide, Loner, Sure Footed, Repair and Unique. His stat line is

Ratings     Fight     Shoot     Defence     Mind     Body     Spirit
4                4             4           8                  3          4             4

so there you have it, the Turtles Faction.  Next time the Foot Clan.

enjoy
dGG