Chapter Two: Creating A Character








     When you play Gun Slingers you should create a gun slinger who fits your
ideas of what such a character should be.  You can also watch such a character 
grow in skills and experience over a number of adventures.

     First, it is important to know what constitutes a character in the game.  
There are two major description groupings: Characteristics and Skills.

     The measures of a character's physical and psychological being are call 
his characteristics.  Each character is measured in five areas: Strength, 
Agility, Concentration, Intelligence, and Charisma.  These ares have values 
ranging from 1 to 15, with 1 being very poor and 15 being exceptional.  These 
values are used throughout play either in combination with Skill Bonuses (see 
below and also Chapter 3) or by themselves to determine a character's Roll 
Modifier of successfully doing any task.

Characteristics

Strength (abbreviated STR): The character's ability to lift heavy weights and 
exert himself physically for extended periods of time.  It is a general 
indication of his overall physical condition.

Agility (abbreviated AGI): The character's hand-to-eye coordination and his 
aptitude in manipulating small objects.  It also measures the control he is 
able to maintain over the actions of his entire body while moving.

Concentration (abbreviated CON): The character's mental ability to control his
bodily reactions to such things as pain, abuse, attacks (whether verbal or 
physical), and stress.  It is also a general measure of discipline.

Intelligence (abbreviated INT): The measure not only of the character's IQ 
and education but also of his ability to reason deductively.

Charisma (abbreviated CHA): The measure of you character's appearance and 
ability to influence others.

Skills

     While characteristics define a character's make-up, what makes 
characters perform as gun slingers are their skills.  Before selecting skills 
for your character, skim through the available skills listed in Chapter 3.  
You will then have a better idea of what you character will be able to do, and 
the explanation of each skill will affect your choices for you character.

     Skills are measure by Skill Bonuses, ranging from 1 to 15.  A character 
with a low Skill Bonus is not as adept with that skill as one with a high 
Skill Bonus.  The lowest Skill Bonus is 1 and the highest is 15.  New Skills 
can be bought and Skill Bonuses raised by the expenditure of Skill Points.


     When you create a new character, you will be given a number of Generation
Points by the GM, which you will use to select your character's characteristic 
values.  The number of Generation Points is 40.

     Once you have created your character with the Generation Points you will 
be given 1,000 Skill Points to spend on Skills and Skill Bonuses.  After this 
your character will go on various adventures and will be giving more Skill 
Points which you can use to improve your character by raising his 
characteristic values, increasing Skill Bonuses, or obtaining new skills.  
Chapter 6 explains the use of Skill Points.

     Now assign the 40 generation points to your five characteristics.  All
characteristics start out at 1.  Assign to 40 generation points, moving them 
around until you have the character you want.  Once you have finished this, 
add up your Strength, Agility, and Concentration and put the figure in the box 
labeled "Damage Points".  This is the amount of damage your character can take 
before falling unconscious.  Your character will die if his damage is more 
than his damage points plus his Concentration.

     Then spend the Skill points you have on Skills and Skill Bonuses.  New 
skills cost 100 Skill Points and Skill Bonuses cost 10 times the Skill Bonus 
desired.  Each Skill Bonus must be bought in succession.  New Skills start out 
at a Skill Bonus of 1.

     Once this is done, choose a race for you character.  Available races are:
American, Indian, Half-Indian, Mexican, and Half-Mexican.  Each race has its 
strong points and weak points.

Indians: Indians know their native language only (which makes communicating 
with the other characters very difficult).  Indians also receive Indian 
Customs and Archery at Skill Bonus 1 free.  They also get a +2 Bonus to 
Tracking, Perception, Indian Customs, Archery, and Horse Riding.  Also, they 
get a -1 Penalty to all Skills requiring Intelligence.

Half-Indians:  Half-Indians are the same as Indians except that they also 
know English, and they only get a +1 to the skills listed above for Indians.

Mexicans:  Mexicans know Spanish only.  Mexicans also receive Agriculture and
Cow Hand at Skill Bonus 1 free.  They also get a +2 bonus to Agriculture, Cow 
Hand, Survival, Swimming, and Black Smith.  Also, they get a -1 Penalty to all 
Skills requiring Intelligence.

Half-Mexicans:  Half Mexicans are the same as Mexicans except that they also
know English, and they only get a +1 to the skills listed above for Mexicans.


     After you have chosen a race, refer to the Skill Formula chart in Chapter 
3 to figure up the roll modifiers for your skills.  Then record the final 
product on to your character record sheet.  After this is done, make up your 
height, weight, age, and background.  When this is done the GM will give you 
money to spend on equipment. Americans get $200, Mexicans and Half-Mexicans 
get $180, and Indians and Half-Indians get $160.  Refer to Chapter 7 and 8 for 
costs on weapons and equipment.  When this is done you are ready to play.