Character Creation: Part 1
It’s Only for the Time Being!
In this episode, we get our first introduction to the system just as you would as a player, in character creation. Character creation for Mavericks starts with a tarot-style spread of cards and creative interpretations based on the suits and values dealt. In this episode, we make it through the first three cards and lear about the core of these characters.
The Game
This Game was played using the Mavericks system. An RPG using a deck of cards to tell the story and put fate in the hands of the players. It’s a story-forward roleplaying experience that encourages the players and dealer to work together to create the story. Check out the System Reference Document on Itch.io
https://the-indecisionist.itch.io/mavericks
The Cast
Stella Cheeks is @stellacheeks on Instagram and Bluesky. Check out her other podcasts, Not Your Demographic, X-Treks, and Spooky Thirties.
Sara Moore is @pixiesandpins on all social media channels and at Pixies and Pins.com. You can also check out her Sarah’s Table livestreams on twitch @pixiesandpins.
Omar Burgos is @Taleweaver Check out his work on the Tale of D20s TTRPG channel. More information at https://ataleofd20s.com/
Ben Banks is @Dj_blindian on Instagram and Soundcloud
I’m Ansel Burch and you can find me @TheIndecisionist on all of the meta properties and on Bluesky.
———
Special thanks to Cameron Evesque Davis for the song you’re hearing now and at the beginning of the podcast. Find her work on Soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/cameronevesquedavis
This show is an Indecisionist Production. Go to Indecisionist.com to find more of my work including my monthly gaming event, TTRPG Pickup Con, and my other time travel podcast, Time 2 Party.
As you travel at one second per second, take some time out for these intrepid adventurers. They may be in trouble, but only for the time being.
Episode Transcript
Ansel Burch 0:06
I welcome adventurers from across time and space. Five creators have been brought together from across the internet for one purpose and one purpose alone, to travel through time and have a good time doing it. When big changes happen to the timeline, the change attracts other time travelers like gravity, they won't be able to move past it until they fix whatever was messed up. So our heroes are stuck together, but only for the time being. You
Ansel, thank you all for joining us here at for the time being, this is the first ever episode of our podcast, and I am so excited that you chose to download this episode today. I am Ansel Burch the indecisionist, and I will be your game master the dealer for this very exciting project. I am thrilled to be presenting this to you, not only because it's an amazing story, not only because I'm so excited about the incredible creators that have come together to tell the story, but also because this is a game that I designed myself, and I hope that you love it. This game is full of opportunity and chances to make big choices and big impacts. Fate is literally in your hands with every flip of the card, and I hope that you can see that potential as you listen to this game played by these incredible players. If you would like to get a copy of this game yourself. You can find it@h.io I am at the decisionist there, and without too much more ado or any more gilding of the lily, I present to you the character creation process. This is going to be four parts, and this is part one. We will deal our first two cards, and you'll hear all four players as they build their characters. Enjoy. Do you have a deck of cards?
Ben Banks 2:29
I do. I'm holding them right here. Do they need to be
Sarah Moore 2:31
shuffled? Yes,
Ansel Burch 2:33
you will want jokers. Yes. Jokers, yes. First up is Ben banks. Perfect. Okay, um, that's the, that's the prep you needed to do, I mean, and a marker, I guess. So. Do you have an idea of the kind of character that you want to bring?
Ben Banks 2:48
Yeah, I do. I was kind of thinking like a Dirty Harry, kind of, like, tough as nails, okay, by the book, not too far from retirement, too old for this shit. Kind of,
Ansel Burch 3:04
kind of vibe. How about you? Omar Burgos,
Omar Burgos 3:10
oh, I want to be an anthro morphic cat person from ancient Egypt. Worshiped in his time, but then was buried, and then a time capsule, kind of, or like a portal came that saved him from being, you know, trapped. And he's very snarky, very lame. He was a pharaoh, so witty, and just just as what you think a cat would be if they were personified as a human? Yeah?
Ansel Burch 3:37
So a cat, yeah.
Omar Burgos 3:38
So just a cat. What
Ansel Burch 3:40
are you thinking? Stella cheeks, do
Speaker 1 3:43
you know the comic character Adam strange from DC? I do like the idea of being able to travel through time but not being able to control it, but also always having a having a set place where I always return to where I'm like, I'm back or whatever. Hey. How long has it been? And it sounds like there's nobody doing like, spacey person, so I could do
Ansel Burch 4:05
like, not yet, spacey person. Spacey is very good, yeah. So,
Stella Cheeks 4:09
so maybe I'm, I'm, maybe I could be an alien or something from a different planet, and then Earth, Earth is my ran so like I'm from, we can come up with whatever planet we can make that up. But then I get pulled to Earth, and then I'm, like, forging a lifestyle there, but I don't know when I get pulled to Earth. Yeah, I like that. And then, you know, you have to have a medieval person be like, ah, what the fuck? And I'm like, I'm an alien.
Ansel Burch 4:39
What is What is your deal? Well, I've got a couple and last but not least, Sarah Moore, what are you thinking about for your character?
Sarah Moore 4:49
I think she's an actress. We had talked about the possibility like having it be like a 30s, 40s equivalent, but that it is in a full, hollow earth realm. Like, in her place, you can go inside the earth and, like, be an expedition or kind of a thing. And I think she was hired, if we can make this work. I think she was hired because she's a pretty face, but she also is, like, tough enough to survive it. Do you think
Ansel Burch 5:17
she's like, the hot girl that they put in the expedition movie to sell the expedition. You do think that I like this very much, the the idea that they have, in order to pay for the expedition, they've hired this hot chick who can also Ansel,
Sarah Moore 5:32
yeah. I mean, I think she is often underestimated, because people just see her as the hot chick, but like, she also is literally foraging through the jungle for food. And, like, when
Ansel Burch 5:43
people give Bear Grills shit for like, oh yeah, he sleeps in a hotel sometimes, yeah? Well, he also drinks his own piss and eats scorpions, right?
Sarah Moore 5:53
Because he has, well, but like, when he has the opportunity, he's gonna be in a real bed. Yeah? Me
Ansel Burch 5:59
too, as it turns out, with him on that, yes, yeah, I like it. Okay, that's a very cool inclination. So go ahead and start by lay one card out on the table, face down, and then four cards, one at each corner. This is going to feel kind of like a Tarot Spread. We are about to turn over the most important card in your deck. Whatever this card is, it is going to be the most important card in your deck. This is your card. So go ahead and flip that over.
Ben Banks 6:34
The four of hearts.
Ansel Burch 6:35
Four of hearts. Okay, that's man. I love it when they're low cards. This is your card. This card is a center of your character's being. There's something about this card that just core to who you are. Maybe that's the four. Maybe you see yourself as being sort of a low value card, or low value part of your cast. Maybe it's the heart symbolizing that you are maybe part of a community that looks to a higher being or owes yourself to a higher cause, like maybe the force or the law or justice. Those are all reasonable. This includes like warlocks, priests, clerics, paladins, all those sorts of folks, anybody who's kind of looking to something above them for their calling. That's where hearts generally represent. But the important thing is that this is your card, so go ahead and mark that on your tracking sheet. Mechanically, whenever you draw this card out of the pack, you are going to succeed dramatically. This is your crit success, okay,
Ben Banks 7:45
four of heartaches. Yeah, I know I feel that like, because, as you were saying, to a higher power, I think, like to justice, and then I think the lower number is, like, as he's gone through his career, he like, kind of focuses, not focuses, but, like, believes in it less, just because he's seen it fail. He's seen it fall apart. He's seen, you know, even if you got the bad guy, they had enough money to get out they, you know, rearrange some things. And so, yeah, he's, I think that would be representing of the low number four of just like he was once beholden to justice, but he's seen it fail. It's hurt him. It's hurt others, kind
Ansel Burch 8:25
of, like, all right, like, so it's the waning of that importance team. That's I love it. That's cool. That's really cool. But I think when, when this card comes up in gameplay that gives you the opportunity to have that be something that reminds you of justice, or makes you think of justice or or maybe how justice has failed, like, maybe this is the reason that you succeed is because you're like, fuck it. Justice has to be me right now, yeah, Burch, the guy, or whatever. Yeah, yeah, I like that. There's that's that's got some legs, the two of diamonds. Two of diamonds, okay, this is actually really cool. Diamonds generally represent the wealthy merchants, artisans, people who take materials that have been crafted and then they refine that material into something that is more artistic. So, you know, weavers, jewelers, tailors, those sorts of folk, as well as merchants and the upper class. That's, that's the sort of general vibe we get from diamonds, usually now being a two, maybe that's indicative of you being, you know, a kitty cat, but you know it could. It could also mean something about like, where you stand in your social structure. So what do you think you get from a two of diamonds? What does that say to you, about your, about your, your your Regent among cats?
Omar Burgos 9:59
I was. It's kind of like, almost like a metaphor. My character would be very, I wouldn't say greedy, but just shiny things attract them, as cats are. And it's kind of like, just like that, that cat's eye, that Tiger's eye, kind of because eyes are probably going to be, maybe diamond shaped, more than cat shape, just to show his love of jewels and gems. I mean, it was a pharaoh, so I like
Ansel Burch 10:28
that. Yeah, do you think the two tells you anything?
Omar Burgos 10:35
Perhaps there is another. He's made one of two cats. Oh,
Ansel Burch 10:40
I hadn't thought about that, but I like it. That's cool. Do you have maybe a rival out there somewhere?
Omar Burgos 10:49
Or I did, because normally, ferals don't get buried when they're alive, so perhaps another cat, feline of mine, wish to take the throne, and and possibly pretended or made a way that may look like I was dead so I can get mummified and all that. And when I kind of woke up, I like emote style, yeah, I got portaled away. But yes, I do have a grudge against another feline. Three of spades.
Ansel Burch 11:21
Three of spades. That is an amazing card to get for this. Generally speaking, when we look at spades, we think about those who fight. So we could be talking about warriors, Gladiators, soldiers. We could also be talking about lawyers, politicians, people who like argue as of mains of of their daily life. So that's kind of a direction you could go with spades, if you felt so minded. The other thing you might look at is that three, you know, maybe, maybe that tells us something about, like, how high or low into that cast you were, you began, you know, if, if we wanted to sort of read it off the off the standards, right, we could say, oh, well, yeah, you were born, maybe into a military family, but not of great import. You could also go a lot of other directions with that. So that being said, what does the three spades say to you? Or do you need more? Because we can also look up cartomancy for it. I
Sarah Moore 12:26
think maybe, okay, I don't
Ansel Burch 12:31
know bad answers.
Sarah Moore 12:33
But like, I think, like, her dad was really hot, pretty high ranking military Okay, and so she grew up. I think she's an only child, and I think he probably wanted a boy, and I think so he taught her how to do all the things that he would have passed on to a military man in the family. And then she was like, but I like being pretty. And he was like, at least know how to shoot someone. And she was like, God, fine. Okay. So, like, I think, yeah, I think she, like, has that background, but she took it in almost like the Captain America route, right? Oh, okay, where she's, like, the she's, she can be the face of of stuff, and they don't let her fight. Because why would they? Yeah, three
Stella Cheeks 13:29
of diamonds that, I think has you're staying on it.
Ansel Burch 13:34
That's auspicious. What 10 year old? It's really gross.
Well, you're gonna
mark on it, so I can only improve it. The general guidance for diamonds is to think of them as sort of the merchant and artisan class of any given society. So they're gonna take goods and refine them. They're not making, they're not weaving, they're not blacksmithing, they're tailoring. They might also be merchants or traders, generally. Moneyed individuals are what we think of with the diamonds, okay, uh, being a low value diamond might tell you something, though, like where, where you fit within that, that level of your people, you can also go a different direction, if you want, with the three of diamonds. My
Stella Cheeks 14:28
instinct right now of hearing that and then also it being low value, and then thinking about the like mechanics of space is maybe like I have, like a wealthy family or whatever, um, but I, instead of doing what you said, you're like, it's like the it's the tailors instead of the blacksmiths. Mate, like, maybe, like, I want to be more of like a tinkerer, instead of
Ansel Burch 14:57
what the like to work with. Yeah, yeah. I like that. I like that. So I'm like,
Stella Cheeks 15:02
No, Mom, I want to do this. Not that I wanted. I want to create little. I don't know. I don't know what the word is. I want to tinker instead of do big. I don't know what the opposite of tinkering is, or the like, more, you know, I mean,
Ansel Burch 15:19
like, I guess, if you're thinking like clockwork, rather than, like, making toys for children, yeah, like, the level of complexity is different, if, if you just feel called to the simpler, more homely, you know, or, like,
Stella Cheeks 15:35
I like doing it, just to do it and I don't want to sell it type deal. I like that more too, because, like, I should probably theoretically know how, like, my space suit or whatever the fuck works. We'll get there. I'm sure. I
Ansel Burch 15:47
don't think they're mutually exclusive. You know, maybe you make ballast sets or, you know, jewelry or something. That doesn't mean you don't know how your spaceship works, or your space suit or your helmet, or what your ray gun or whatever,
Stella Cheeks 16:01
or whatever. Yeah, I like the idea of, like, I have all the skills that my family has, but I don't want to, like, sell or do anything. I'm just like, Nah, I just like to take stuff apart.
Ansel Burch 16:12
Yeah, it's just fun. We already have enough money. Yeah. I like that. That's a cool, that's a cool, like, center motivation to have given yourself off the bat, which also, like,
Stella Cheeks 16:29
gives it like a curiosity too, of like, wherever we land in time. I can be like, ooh, want to play?
Ansel Burch 16:37
Yeah. Do I want to take stuff apart?
Stella Cheeks 16:39
Take stuff apart.
Ansel Burch 16:43
I also, I like the idea that you might not fully understand the difference between, like, people and their machines at first, like, oh, I want to that thing I want to take apart. That is a guy
Stella Cheeks 16:56
you cannot take that apart legally. I think that they weirdly go together the like, I just want to take stuff apart, slash, see how it works. Oh, no, I'm in a problem. I have to see how it works and fix it. Makes sense to me, that's a, a to b. To me,
Ansel Burch 17:15
we've marked that card. We've made an association. Let's continue onward. Now I want you to go to the top left card and flip that one over. This is going to reveal your nature now, your nature card, as well as the other four here in this next phase, these are all going to get the same mark, the background mark,
Omar Burgos 17:39
yep, I see that. And the card that I got was the five of diamonds.
Ansel Burch 17:45
Oh, okay, keeping it, keeping it in the in the suit. Something about this tells us about the nature of your character, who you truly are at heart when you when you lay aside the artifice of who you pretend to be in front of other people. So I think it's interesting that it's in the same suit. That's really cool. Maybe, maybe who you truly are isn't so distant from your outer artifice. I suppose we'll see when we get to your demeanor. But yeah, what do you think this tells us about your character?
Omar Burgos 18:20
Oh, my character basically is honest to a fault, in the sense that what you see is what you get. He is a witty, snarky, very greedy, like, maybe I wouldn't say avarice, but yeah, he would be willing to bend the rules, or kind of, you know, like twist things around in order to get what he wants. And he definitely shows that with his very proud demeanor. And he loves opulence, everything, everything is opulent, and he wants to be basically pampered as he deserves. So in the first we saw that he had the his card. It was the two of diamonds. And now you know that even deep down inside, he is a cat that likes shiny things, and we'll do whatever he can to get it, probably lacking in the morals, or, I should say, lacking empathy. And it could be something that he develops over time, that he learns, but deep down, yeah, he's not very empathic.
Ansel Burch 19:37
I like this very much, and this means that when you draw that card, maybe this is an encouragement from the deck to lean into that element of your character, that selfishness or that lack of empathy in that moment.
Ben Banks 19:52
Okay, that is top left. That is queen of spades.
Ansel Burch 19:55
Queen spades. Okay, so nice, high value card and spades. Uh. Um generally represent those who fight or argue as a either a matter of course or a matter of profession. So you think of like soldiers or guardsmen or lawyers or debaters or politicians. You know those who get into conflict more readily, those who fight, if you wanted to put it in the again, back into the medieval houses. And I like the idea that that maybe, maybe that high value, because this is your nature. Maybe that's something that is is more important if we're thinking of the four as something that's waning, maybe this queen is waxing for you.
Ben Banks 20:41
Yeah, and I think you said, like, they're who they're chill. I think when, like, push, push, come to shove, he really does still hold on to that justice and truth and doing the right thing, but he kind of, he has kind of waned. But when, like, when the chips are down and, like, It's do or die, he is like, okay, you know, there is a right and wrong thing to do, and I do need to fight for the for the weak and for the right side,
Ansel Burch 21:05
yeah, and he's got, he's got that fight in him, yeah? I think that's cool.
Sarah Moore 21:09
So now I have a jack of space. Okay,
Ansel Burch 21:12
so this is your nature. This is this should tell you something about who you truly are at heart. When you lay aside the trappings of the world and the pretenses of expectation you see yourself in this way. And I mean, kind of what you were talking about before, fucking here, fucking badass fighter, yeah, you come. You come. Take me on if you want you, yeah,
Sarah Moore 21:38
bring it you want to. You're not as scary as the Yeti I saw last week.
Unknown Speaker 21:43
You're like,
Sarah Moore 21:47
yeah, that's, I think that's
Ansel Burch 21:48
very cool. Yeah. I think that that leans right into where you want it to be, yes. So the backstory mark is the one you want to make, and that's going to be the mark we do on the next few cool this will increase the face value of this card by six, meaning that? Well, yeah, so that Jack is now one of the highest cards in this game. Cool. That will be an unstoppable card when you come upon it and it's all down to you. Probably
Sarah Moore 22:14
never, I'll never find it quite in spirit, perfect.
Stella Cheeks 22:21
All right, I got the eight of spades.
Ansel Burch 22:25
Okay, again, feel free to reject this. But spades generally refers to people who are fighters or arguers by trade or habit. So we think of like Gladiators, warriors, soldiers, lawyers, debaters, politicians, you know, folks who get into conflict as a first instinct. Okay,
Stella Cheeks 22:50
so that's my my nature.
Omar Burgos 22:55
Yes,
Ansel Burch 22:58
and again, feel free to like, I think that kind of flies in the face of who you of your like, better nature that you're talking about this, this, like, person who just wants to take stuff apart and doesn't care about money, yeah. So it might be worth looking for an alternate thought on that. I mean, it's a it's an eight, so whatever it is, it's sort of like a slightly above average. Let me see, is there a cartomancy for the eight of spades?
Stella Cheeks 23:28
I mean, like debater,
Ansel Burch 23:33
actually, yeah, that could be, what if you're, if you want to lean into the like local, either debater or a politician. Maybe you're like a, you know, somebody who stand maybe you're like an Atticus Finch style character.
Stella Cheeks 23:48
That seems like too much pressure, but it is, I don't know, like
Ansel Burch 23:56
ooh, in cartomancy, the aid of spades is the card of sickness that could, I don't know what that means for you. I don't
Stella Cheeks 24:04
know that could be interesting. That could be like some incurable disease. I have some space disease,
Ansel Burch 24:11
disappointment, broken hearts, karmic debts, obligations. Well, the duty to self and others
Stella Cheeks 24:17
broken well, okay, duty to self and others and like the debater thing. I think that goes in, you know, not to totally, like, rip off DC or whatever, but that does kind of go into that, like, reluctant hero thing, right? Nothing wrong. Like, I cannot control when I am pulled into somebody else's drama, which feels really relatable in my life right now. I cannot control what I'm being pulled into other people's drama, but I can. I have to control how I react and how I participate. And I feel like probably in this world, like, not this world, like Earth, but like this world. A capital W in a world, yeah. Maybe being like, I could see somebody who is being flown like, flung throughout time against their will, being like, very proactive once they land, like, all right, I gotta fix whatever this is so I can go back home or whatever, you know what I mean, which also goes to the like, I like to take stuff apart, thing like, Okay, well, what's the fucking problem this time? I'll figure it out. I you know. So maybe it's more of just like, instead of like fighting. It's like a willingness to, like, jump into quote, unquote battle, whatever that battle is,
Ansel Burch 25:40
which also to lean into another character, I know you have a great affinity for that feels very quirky. And yeah, as well, the sort of like, well, guess I gotta outsmart this computer. Now, yeah,
Stella Cheeks 25:52
like, I didn't put this dumb computer on my ship, but it is taking over my ship.
Ansel Burch 25:57
Your whole religion is based around a computer. How does this keep happening. All right,
Stella Cheeks 26:04
yes, I kind of like that interpretation.
Ansel Burch 26:06
Stella cheeks is at Stella cheeks on Instagram and blue sky. Sarah Moore is at pixies and pins on all of the social media channels, and at pixies and pins.com you can also check out her Sarah's table live streams on Twitch at pixies and pins. Omar Burgos is at tail Weaver. Check out his work on the tale of D 20s. TTRPG channel. More information at a tale of D twenties.com, Ben banks is at DJ underscore. Blendian on Instagram and SoundCloud. I'm Ansel Burch, and you can find me at the indecisionist on all of the meta properties and on blue sky special. Thanks to Cameron evesque Davis for the song you're hearing now and at the beginning of the podcast, this has been an indecisionist production. Go to indecisionist.com to find more of our work, including my monthly gaming event, TTRPG pickup con and my other time travel podcast, time to party as you travel at one second per second, take some time out for these intrepid adventurers. They may be in trouble, but only for the time being. You
