Generating a player character for Kuro

So I decided to roll up a character for Kuro the other night. For those who don't know Kuro, this is a cyberpunk RPG that was published by Cubicle 7, but now seems to have dropped off the radar a little, although it still seems to be receiving a degree of support from Cubicle 7. Kuro combines a number of themes I find particularly interesting, including the aforesaid near-future dystopian environment, an East Asian flavour and horror. It makes for an excellent package.

I do have some reservations about elements of the Kuro metaplot, as do others, but there's nothing to stop you from simply excising these altogether and stopping it from feeling too over the top, like Shadowrun or Victoriana. Some of that I feel is left to the individual GM and gaming group - you can take it or leave it, like having curry sauce on your katsu.

In this case I wanted to see whether I could come up with a player character that would match a miniature I own, one of the Marvel Heroclix, which I think is perfect for a game of Kuro.

Odori - street level scout

I started Odori by rolling for her core attributes and came up with:

Dexterity 3, Strength 1, Stamina 2, Reflexes 1, Intelligence 1, Perception 3, Charisma 3, Willpower 3

Odori is dexterous but her reflexes leave a lot to be desired. Using the above attributes there are a number of derived attributes which can then be calculated.

Hit points end up as 35, with a serious wound threshold of 12. Her defence score is 14 (not sure how good that is - only playing will tell), while her reaction bonus is 3. Like some other cyberpunk games I've played, there is also emphasis on actions per turn, but in this case Odori only gets 1. She can move 3 metres per action. On paper she looks a little under powered, but remember this is meant to be a horror game too - characters are not intended to be combat monsters like in Shadowrun.

Odori

I'm still rolling randomly for all this, but in reality you can chop and change quite a bit of the above to get the character you are after. I'm just sufficiently old school to like random character generation systems. I also come up with a random age (32), which means Odori was born back in 2014. Her kaiso (social status) is rolled as 1, so she is technically unemployed and making about 100k yen per month from benefits and some criminal activities.

I allocate her skill points between core skills (25 points) and specialties (20 points). This is much easier than Shadowrun or SLA Industries, in that you simply allocate the points. Specialties add bonuses to rolls.

Example: I take Melee Weapons 3, then add Swords +2, Daggers +1. I've spent six points, three from my core skill pool, three from the specialisation pool.

Other skills are as follows: Throwing Weapons 2 (Shuriken +1), Hand to Hand 2 (Martial Arts +2), Social Sciences 1 (Law +1), Athletics 3 (Climbing +2, Jumping +1, Running +1), Communications 2, Deception 3 (Lockpicking +1, Sleight of Hand +1, Sneaking +1), Drive 1, Survival 2 (Urban +1), Surveillance Systems 2 (Alarms +2, Intrusion +1), Microphotonics 1 (Data Hacking +1), Hardware 1.

There are a lot of skills in Kuro, so you need to come at it with a character concept, and then try to support that with your skill spend. You won't have enough points to be a jack of all trades. In this case I aimed for a streetwise B&E specialist who can also hold her own in a knife fight.

I add 2 points from my pools to Odori's contacts, going with Organised Crime 1 and Street 1. You have to specify these in more detail, so decide on Kuze Jun, a bainin Korean smuggler, and a social worker of some kind who works with street people.

I have a limit to the sort of equipment that Odori can own at campaign start so opt for something that matches my concept - always important to stay on target with character concept. She is armed with two wakizashi (Japanese short swords), four shuriken, and wears an Edge suit which gives her 5 protection (think of an advanced protective all in one used by speed freaks and motorcyclists).

Odori also owns a Rage & Bone guitar and a signed Shiro Bunshikawa t-shirt plus code clothes which will evince a positive reaction with other Sotoroku fans (this is a popular Tokyo underground band). She also has 10 doses of nIris drops (used to screen eyes from holographic advertising databases - 1 hour/dose) and a NeoPet talking cat (a synthetic robotic cat that can also speak, although not an advanced intelligence).

Kaiso acts as a curb on how much equipment a character can afford and also what sort of kit it is - some equipment is restricted according to your kaiso. For example, you can't have an android servant if you have less than kaiso 2, and even these are fairly basic types.

So there we have it, my first Kuro character. The process is pretty painless and you seem to end up with a fairly well-rounded character. The equipment list is not too over-powering and helps to inject a little more colour into what the PCs own. It is important to stay focused on your character concept, otherwise you can get lost in all the skills and technology, which some find overpowering in this sort of game.

Odori is ideal as a street level investigator and infiltration expert, also handy in a knife fight. I may return to Kuro in the future with another character.