I recently obtained a copy of the Beta for Atlantis: The Second Age released by Khepera Publishing via its KS: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1269000670/atlantis-the-second-age-rpg/. The Beta can be obtained now by anyone here: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/120423/Atlantis-the-Second-Age, though it will soon be making its way to print with further editing and art.

I am a big Sword & Sorcery fan. Though I have found a number of decent S&S RPGs (Stormbringer and Barbarians of Lemuria), I have not found one that I am entirely happy with. Personally, I want something that has a system and setting that oozes S&S but is also flexible enough to do the classic novels of the 30s and 70s, the savage comics of the 70s and the gonzo movies of the 80s.

Originally, I did not know much about Atlantis' predecessor Bard Games' Arcanum except that it was well received. And though I did look at Morrigan's 2005 release (where the title "Atlantis" was adopted), I passed over it as the S&S vibe was buried under the D&D remnants.

The latest version of Atlantis has been tightly focused on the S&S genre which makes Atlantis really stand out. It also sees the Omni system, which has been used for Talislanta and Hellas, streamlined for ease of play. The end result is a solid RPG, using a stripped down and skill based d20 style ruleset, that is flexible enough to cover a wide range of high adventure in an antediluvian setting.

In any case, to highlight how cool I find this RPG is I have decided to make a PC for it here. Please feel free to contribute to the choice made as we go. The RPG does use a Life Path system with random events, so who knows where we end up

OVERVIEW

As listed on page 19, PC Creation consists of the following steps:

Step One: Choose a Race
Step Two: Choose a Culture
Step Three: Choose a Profession
Step Four: Walk Life Paths
Step Five: Other Details

STEP ONE: CHOOSE A RACE

The races available in Atlantis: The Second Age are:

Each race is described in more detail on the pages that follow.
• Ahl-At-Rab - Saurian race
• Andamen - Animal hybrids (Jackal, Wolf, Jaguar, Bird, Lions, Minotaur and Triton)
• Atlanteans - Highly evolved human-like race
• Humans
• Jinn - Fey Elder race
• Lemurians - Highly intelligent apes
• Nethermen - Devolved human slave race

From this list, the refocusing of Atlantis as an RPG becomes clear in that the standard Tolkien options, which did exist in previous iterations, have been removed. The above races were in those previous iterations as well, but a few were in the Bestiary.

You are left with plenty of options (each Andamen option is treated as a separate race) whilst not going beyond what may be unusual in a S&S RPG. Some are very weird and exotic like the mercurial and immortal Jinn, whilst others look brutal and savage like the cannibalistic Nethermen (you get power from eating people).

I am happy to go with any option. They all look great and have two or so pages devoted to them. My preferences would be for Lemurians (apes with ancient high technology) or possibly a Jaguar Andaman or Balam (being an homage to Guin from the Guin Saga).

So, my love of Guin from the Guin Saga won out, along with a desire for simplicity in my first effort. So, Balam it is.

Andaman were races created by Atlantean magic in a previous age, but they proved uncontrollable and have since developed into their separate races. They are humanoid but all have animalistic features. They also take double damage from silver, given their supernatural origin.

Race: Balam (Jaguar Man)

That makes my starting Attributes:
INT +0 PER +0 WIL +0 CHA +0 MR -2
STR +1 DEX +1 CON +1 SPD +2 CR +2
HP 18

All round physical badass and not great at magic. Got it.

There is a paragraph on physical description and another on personality. Then comes to the racial abilities:

Natural Weapons: Bite DR 3, Claws DR3 (armor piercing).
Climber: Add twice their DEX (minimum of +2) to the Athletics rolls to climb.
Cat Prowess: Leap a number of meters into the air equal to their STR + SPD and subtract DEX in meters (minimum of 2m) from falling damage.
Night Vision: Half penalties for darkness and add triple his PER (minimum of +3) to Perception rolls.

Wow. All cool stuff and some pretty powerful stuff too. The ability to make mighty leaping clawing attacks at night, check. Strangely, these Andaman racial abilities are pretty straightforward compared to some of the options out there.

STEP TWO: CHOOSE A CULTURE

At this step, there are 102 cultural options! These are grouped by continent. So, I guess the next step is to choose a counterpart place on our Earth as a guide. I am tempted to choose Atlantis itself or Europa, though the sunken continent of Antilla could be fun.

And to give a picture to go with the PC:

Spoiler

Stop it. You're nearly convincing me to get it. I've ummed and arred over the beta version, which is available real cheap. At this point, i would like it, but can't really see when i'd get to play it.

Looks interesting, anyhow.

I've got the PDF, the complexities of some of the magic make me wince though.

Quote from: Silverlion;702340I've got the PDF, the complexities of some of the magic make me wince though.

The system seems almost identical to the previous iterations of the same system in Atlantis, Talislanta and Hellas, though I am not an expert. Effectively, all magic is still a skill roll, like any other roll.

Quote from: One Horse Town;702333Stop it. You're nearly convincing me to get it. I've ummed and arred over the beta version, which is available real cheap. At this point, i would like it, but can't really see when i'd get to play it.

Looks interesting, anyhow.

I haven't even got to the good stuff yet.

I have decided to go with Galacea as the culture, effectively northern Spain. It is a place where Fire and Air spirits battle as volcanoes and storms, and monsters roam. It is also just north of Tharshesh, where a great starting city Tartessos, and across the water from Atlantis.

One criticism of the rulebook is that though it contains a history of the setting, a chapter on Atlantis, and a summary of the continents, it lacks setting detail on a cultural level. This will make getting the setting book Geographica pretty much a must (fortunately, its due to be KSed itself shortly).

Anyway, my culture gives me +1 DEX and the following skills:

Deception +3, Evade +2, Handicraft (player’s choice) +1, Sleight of Hand +1, Speak Language (Alban) +10, Stealth +2, Weapon (melee or thrown) +1

That leaves me with the following stat block:

Race: Balam (Jaguar Man)
Culture: Galacea
INT +0 PER +0 WIL +0 CHA +0 MR -2
STR +1 DEX +2 CON +1 SPD +2 CR +2
HP 18
Skills: Deception +3, Evade +2, Handicraft (alchemy) +1, Sleight of Hand +1, Speak Language (Alban) +10, Stealth +2, Weapon (thrown) +1
Abilities: Natural Weapons, Climber, Cat Prowess, Night Vision

Next up: Choose Profession. There are 16 professions. These are pretty loose and don't really act like Classes. They are more a bundle of starting skills and abilities.

The choices are:
Slayers: Scout, Solider, Warrior, Pirate/Brigand
Takers: Assassin, Burglar, Swindler, Thug
Shapers: Sorcerer, Martial Wizard, Charlatan, Shaman
Teachers: Emissary, Priest, Saint, Scholar

Scout? Warrior? Emissary?

STEP THREE: CHOOSE A PROFESSION

I think I will try out the Pirate/Brigand. Though still a warrior, he is also a traveller. I could go Scout but despite the racial abilities favouring stealth, I see him being more upfront.

Pirate gets me +1 CR, +1 WR (Wealth from all that booty!), and Second Wind Talent (once per day, when HP are 5 or below, I may recover HP equal to 5 + 3xCON)

I get the following skills:

Athletics +2, Evade +8, Influence +2, Investigate/Search +2, Language(Atlantean) +3, Navigation +3, Parry +4, Pilot (seacraft) +2, Profession
(criminal) +10 , Unarmed Fighting +3, Weapon (melee) +10, Weapon (thrown) +4

I also get Light Cuirass (PR2), Sword (DR10), Dagger (Acc+2, DR6, Fast, Quick), Horse and Travellers Gear.

That gets me:

Race: Balam (Jaguar Man)
Culture: Galacea
Profession: Pirate
INT +0 PER +0 WIL +0 CHA +0 MR -2
STR +1 DEX +2 CON +1 SPD +2 CR +3
HP 18
Skills: Athletics +2, Deception +3, Evade +10, Handicraft (alchemy) +1, Influence +2, Investigate/Search +2, Language (Atlantean) +3, Language (Alban) +10, Navigation +3, Parry +4, Pilot (seacraft) +2, Profession (criminal) +10 , Sleight of Hand +1, Stealth +2, Unarmed Fighting +3, Weapon (melee) +10, Weapon (thrown) +5
Abilities: Natural Weapons, Climber, Cat Prowess, Night Vision, Second Wind
WR +1
Equipment: Light Cuirass (PR2), Sword (DR10), Dagger (Acc+2, DR6, Fast, Quick), Horse and Travellers Gear

Next up: Walk Life Paths. I am going to take a break here, but this section looks great. I get to make a bunch of choices and randomly generate (or choose if you are averse to random) various events in the PCs background. This give minor bonuses.

First, Upbringing (Civilised, Rural or Savage), Childhood Encounter, Family Status.

Next, Life Paths. You can take up to 5 and each takes a number of years determining your PCs age.

The choices are divided into callings: High Adventure, Mage, Priest, Rogue, Sailor, Scholar, and Warrior.

One observation I will make here is regarding Talents. The Omni system has previously had big list of Talents (pretty much 3e Feats). Masses of them. However, Atlantis has reversed this considerably. In Atlantis, there is now just 20 Talents. 4 tied to each Profession group (one per Profession) and 4 general ones covering non-Profession based bonuses like extra HP, wealth,nobility etc.

Though you do lose some customisation, the result is that the game is strongly focussed on skills. Talents provide some base level niche protection like a class ability but nothing more. The whole concept of "you don't have feat X, so you can't do X" seems to be gone.

Also, the game is quite a bit simpler and straightforward. PC stat blocks are clean and making NPCs is now a breeze with only Ability Level, HP, DR/PR needed for any mook.

STEP FOUR: WALK LIFE PATHS

Just to prove I didn't cheat, my rolls are here: http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4269807/ and http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4269818/

Upbringing: I went Savage, seeing the PC as having been brought up in the wilds of Galacea.

8 - Parents were tribal Shaman. Gain +1 Lore (player’s choice).

I have chosen Lore (Tactics). I am going with the idea that the PC, despite being a strong warrior, was brought up by his shamanic parents to be a warlord hero of their people. They taught him civilised ideas of warfare in order to counter the savagery of the monsters that terrorised them.

Childhood Event: 19/6 - Was instrumental in stopping a coup.

Interesting. Maybe after his people became secure, his parents sought to go back to their tribal ways. However, having been established in power he was loathe to give it up.

Family Status: 6 - Family is well loved by the people and has many allies.

That seems to make sense too. If his family were shamans and concerned about the welfare of their people, being favoured makes sense. Also the ally element suits the fact they taught him civilised learning. Maybe they have allies in the city of Tartessos, such as a merchant family.

Looking at Life Paths, I am considering Warrior, Scholar and Sailor to represent the various parts of his life. I note that there used to be a Noble Path, which would have been better than Scholar, but let's see where it gets us.

Warrior: 7/8/5 - 4 years, Battle, Killed the Formorian chieftain, Nungo, during the Beast War. Gain +4 Renown.
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4269827/ and http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4269828/

Formorian? Sounds like the leader of the monsters his parents taught him to defeat.

Scholar: 16/1/ - 2 years, Tragedy, You publicly fail at an important task resulting in the death of a player character’s loved one. Lose 4 Renown.
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4269830/ and http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4269831/

Hahaha. I am thinking that failing to give up power and then murdering his parents constitutes losing all the renown he gained from beating the tribal enemies

Now at 24 years:

Sailor: 18/14/14 - 2 years, Great Fortune, Met and befriended a Nubian Prince. He offers you the hand of his sister!
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4269858/ and http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4269861/

Interesting. I think that the PC's parents allies were a Nubian merchant family, who were actually looking to establish stability in the region for profit. When the PC refused to give up power to his people (shaming himself), these allies stepped in and offered him wealth and a ship so they could take advantage of his talents elsewhere.

Despite the whole thing being of the Nubian merchant families making, the PC is oddly indebted to them, and now bound in marriage.

The Renown awards cancel out, but PC gets Weapon (thrown) +1, Lore (tactics) +1 and Pilot (seacraft) +1.

He is 26 years old.

Race: Balam (Jaguar Man)
Culture: Galacea
Profession: Pirate
Age: 26 years
INT +0 PER +0 WIL +0 CHA +0 MR -2
STR +1 DEX +2 CON +1 SPD +2 CR +3
HP 18
Skills: Athletics +2, Deception +3, Evade +10, Handicraft (alchemy) +1, Influence +2, Investigate/Search +2, Language (Atlantean) +3, Language (Alban) +10, Lore (tactics) +2, Navigation +3, Parry +4, Pilot (seacraft) +3, Profession (criminal) +10 , Sleight of Hand +1, Stealth +2, Unarmed Fighting +3, Weapon (melee) +10, Weapon (thrown) +6
Abilities: Natural Weapons, Climber, Cat Prowess, Night Vision, Second Wind
WR +1
Equipment: Light Cuirass (PR2), Sword (DR10), Dagger (Acc+2, DR6, Fast, Quick), Horse and Travellers Gear