Chuubo’s Marvelous Wish-Granting Engine

Preview #6

One of the things I wanted to do with Fortitude: by the Docks of Big Lake was make it an

absolute snap to create cool, setting-grounded characters. In particular, cool, setting-grounded

characters of your own design.

I wanted to show you what you’ll be getting along those lines!

Plus, I wanted to be able to casually mention shop foxes without you thinking that they’re

foxes who live in shops or surprisingly attractive people who work in shops.

Presented, thus:

The character generation process for “the shop fox,” one of the rarer character types in a

Fortitude game.

Incidentally, this is just how I laid it out, so layout could change a lot of the presentation

details; and the picture I used isn’t technically related to Chuubo’s Marvelous Wish-Granting

Engine at all —

That’s actually Temajia, from my webcomic Chibi-Ex. ^_^

The Shop Fox (or “Tenko”)

Art by Miranda Harrell

Campaign:

Academics Skill: Typically Good

Sports Skill: Typically Excellent

Favorite Foods: Tenko love deep-fried tofu (on its own, in soup, or used as a rice pouch), red beans

and red-bean sweets, and sake. They have a love-hate relationship with pickled snails — they’ll

wrinkle their nose after each one, but a few minutes later they’ll eat another, and then another! They

also like fish-cake and “spider”-cake, apples, blackberries, licorice, and lollipops.

Blood Type: O- Tenko are universal donors, though their blood feels “heavy” in a human’s veins.

Animal: Fox

Age: the standard Tenko PC is the campaign default age (15, though the HG may play through ages

5-14 at an accelerated pace).

Genres: Gothic, Urban Fantasy

(Before playing A Fortitude Tenko in any other genre,

please make sure you have a strong genre-appropriate concept.)

Step 1: The Story of Your Family

So here’s the deal!

The “Tenko,” or shop foxes, are families with some fox-spirit ancestors. You have fox ears

on top of your head and a kind of exotic, glamorous reputation — it’s kind of like being the kid

of a celebrity on Earth, and being forced to wear a sign on your head all the time that announces

it. You get a lot of attention, most of it reasonably positive, but it’s also kind of a pain!

There are about 150 Tenko in Town, mostly concentrated in the Shopping District —

running stores and small businesses and the like. There are seven of you in Fortitude: two small

families and a drifter.

So here’s what I figure your usual story is: you’re a kid about the campaign default age.

Your parents have a little shop in Fortitude. One of them works pretty hard every day to

keep the shop going. The other mostly lounges about on a cushion in the back room and smokes

a long pipe, but has magic, brains, and courage to face the big crises.

You might have a brother or sister. They’re probably older.

As for you, you help out!

Right?

Step 1a: Right!

The one who works hard every day is my

. . . Dad

. . . Mom

and the other one, who lounges around in the back room,

. . . is naturally frail

. . . is incredibly spoiled

. . . has to look as lazy as possible, even if they’re not, as a condition (a “Bond”) of

their powerful magic.

I have family over in the shopping district

. . . but I don’t visit very often.

. . . but we’re estranged.

. . . and I write letters to them every day!

or . . .

Step 1b: That Isn’t Right at All!

That is not what my family is like. That is not what I am like! Some of the discrepancies include:

. . . I’m not their kid. I’m just staying with them.

. . . I only have one parent. The other is dead.

. . . A shop? As if.

o My family is incredibly wealthy.

o At my family dojo I study the ninja arts.

o My parents are teachers.

o I will make our restaurant famous with my culinary genius!

o We can’t afford to be that public.

o I’m just here because the lake air is good for my weak lungs.

. . . I’m not here with my family. I’m an emancipated fox.

. . . I’m not here with my family. I’m an adult.

o It’s my shop (or whatever.)

o I’m looking for whatever work I can find.

o I’m retired.

o I’m having a little fun before settling down in the family business.

something else?

Step 2: Choose your Name

All right then! That settled, your parents are:

Fāng and Hitomi Kanda — a family of no great import or wealth; and you are

o Kaho Kanda, or “KK,” a girl

o Emily Kanda, a girl

o Jordan Kanda, a girl

o Case Kanda, or “CK,” a girl or boy

o Hideki Kanda, a boy

o Seth Kanda, a boy

o Digory Kanda, or “Digger,” a boy

o something else?

Chadwick and Genevieve Hashimoto — a family of minor note; and you are

o Christine Hashimoto, a girl

o Marie Hashimoto, a girl

o Isadora Hashimoto, a girl

o Alex Hashimoto, a boy or girl

o Kenji Hashimoto, a boy

o Cousin Oda Kazuakira, a boy who is staying with them

o Cousin Lucie Homura, a girl who is staying with them

o something else?

Vincent and Megumi Sūn — an old fox family; and you are

o Teokritos Sūn, a boy

o Piros Sūn, a boy

o Tadashi Sūn, a boy

o Rikal Sūn, a boy

o Lavinia Sūn, a girl

o Leukothea Sūn, a girl

o Hellisent Sūn, a girl

o something else?

Liu Julian and Ionela Zhāng — a well-established fox family; and you are

o Juan Zhāng, a boy

o Zhāng Wěi, a boy

o Vulponidas Zhāng, a boy

o Camelia Zhāng, a girl

o Acetaminophen Zhāng, or “Zeto” — it’s a terrible name for a boy or a girl.

o Leelo Australia Zhāng, a girl

o Isako Sakura Zhāng, a girl

o something else?

something else?

and you are?

(Optional) Step 3: Choose your Shop

Does your family actually have a shop?

What is it?

. . . Master of Antiquities, a store selling mysterious curios, bric-a-brac, and oddments?

. . . Bric-a-Brac, selling candied popcorn and party supplies?

. . . Fox Tea, selling milk tea and various snacks (and a lunchtime oden on Sundays)?

. . . the Rock Lord’s Dream, a used book store?

. . . Interchange, importing rare weapons and books from Soma Village?

. . . [Last Name] Apothecaries, e.g. Kanda Apothecaries, selling herbs and extracts?

. . . [Last Name] Hardware, e.g. Hashimoto Hardware, selling tools and the like?

. . . Bramble Rose’s, a diner and catering company?

. . . Great Wheel of Karma, a bicycle store?

. . . A Far and a Sunless Land, a vaguely upscale goth fashion store?1

. . . Brookman’s, a favor exchange, accounting, and time capsule rental facility that

predates your family’s proprietorship?

something else?

1 This would be more appropriate in the Shopping District, of course, but it certainly stands out more here . . .

Step 4: Choose your Skills

The next step is figuring out what you’re good at — what you know how to do.

For a young shop fox, I’d recommend—

Help Out in a Shop 2. You’re good at inventory, cleaning, customer service, &c.

Lithe and Nimble 2. You can get up to high places or wriggle through small

holes.

Hobby (your choice) 1. You’re familiar with something else.

And two abilities with special rules:

Tenko Magic (Perception) 2. You’re good at illusions and divination.

Superior Grace 1. You’re unnaturally elegant.

Does that look right to you?

. . . yes!

. . . mostly! Instead of illusion/divination magic, I want

o Fire and Lightning magic, for summoning fox-fire and blasting people

o Transformation magic, for turning into a fox and back

. . . mostly! I don’t think “Help Out in a Shop” fits — how about

o being incredibly rich, and having Spend Vast Family Wealth instead?

o being a ninja, and having the Skill Be a Ninja instead?

o replacing “Help Out” with some reasonable but still pretty cool Skill like

Awesome Gourmet Chef?

Cryptographic Genius?

Medical Training?

Practical and Level-Headed?

o something else?

. . . it looks mostly right! I’m going to fiddle around with the exact point expenditures,

though, maybe see if I can get a Skill to 3 so I’m a little more competent.

. . . not at all! I’m totally ditching all of this and picking my own 8 points of mundane abilities.

Step 5: Choose your Bond

The world is full of stories about the shop foxes. “They can’t resist deep-fried tofu,” people say.

“They keep their lives in special magical pearls. They fly around the sky at night as magical sky-

foxes. They can talk to the moon and play dice with the sun.”

It’s mostly just stuff people say —

But as long as your fox-spirit ancestors still look out for you, and the magic of the foxes

clings to you, some of it will be true.

You can pick one Bond to fuel your magic — one fairy-tale rule about you that’s actually

true. One weakness, flaw, peeve, or problem, or one source of supernatural Skill. A Bond can’t

give you new powers from scratch, but both kinds (the weaknesses and the perks) can make your

existing Skills and abilities stronger!

Pick your favorite option! I’ve marked the most useful options with a †.

. . . Bond†: I am not always in complete control of myself around deep-fried tofu.

Mmmm!

. . . Bond†: People are really weird about the tail and ears sometimes.

. . . Bond†: I'll always repay a favor.

. . . Bond†: I can see right through your lies.

. . . Bond: I can wriggle through the tiniest cracks.

. . . Bond: Dogs terrify me.

. . . Bond: I must maintain an appearance of indolent uselessness.

. . . Bond: I can never admit to anything outright.

. . . Bond: It takes a lot of concentration to hide my tail when disguised as a human.

. . . Bond: If I'm separated for too long from my special magical pearl I'll die.

. . . Bond: My ears are really sensitive — loud sounds can hurt, and grabbing them is a

submission hold!

. . . something else?

Particularly disreputable Tenko may have a Bond like:

. . . Bond: What is property to me? I take what I want and live where I choose.

. . . Bond: I'm addicted to playing with human minds and hearts.

Tenko with Bonds like that are sometimes known as "Yako" (field foxes/evil foxes) or

"Jackasses" (evil donkeys).

Step 6: Choose your Affliction

Then there’s something even more magical — an Affliction.

You’re not just an ordinary shop fox. You’ve been touched by destiny, by miracle, or by

some wild power; or perhaps your fox-spirit ancestor is particularly fond of you, and particularly

powerful, and his or her magic clings to you still.

Pick your favorite option! I’ve marked the most useful options with a †.

. . . Affliction†: I’ll always repay a favor.

. . . Affliction†: My eyes see through illusions.

. . . Affliction†: I can hear distant voices on the wind.

. . . Affliction†: I’ve always got some money in my pocket.

. . . Affliction: I’m pretty lucky.

. . . Affliction: I fly around the sky at night as a magical sky-fox.

. . . Affliction: I can talk to the spirits of the sky.

. . . Affliction: I terrify the wicked.

. . . Affliction: If I touch noses with a fox, I turn into a fox. If I touch noses with a

human or a Tenko, I turn back!

. . . something else?

Step 7: Connections

Connections are basically a measure of how well you know and get somebody. They’re also a

measure of how good you are at living somewhere or with someone.

You’ll always have a couple of starting Connections —

The Best Friend 2. There’s something likable about this person.

Arcadia 1. You know where to find stuff in Town’s shopping

district.

Tenko and Youkai 1. You have shared experiences and culture with Town’s

tenko and youkai.

These are free and essentially fixed, but you can discard them if you like or override them by

earning a higher-level Connection “Perk” to the relevant character or family as a quest reward.

Speaking of Perks:

Talk to the players of the other characters, either now or after the couple of sessions. If

someone agrees that you should be close to or comfortable with their PC, you can get a free level

1 Connection Perk to their character!

Step 8: Continue with the Main Character Generation Process!

Congratulations, Shop Fox! You’ve now defined the shop foxiest elements of your character.

Time for some campaign-specific details!

If you’re playing in a kind of generic Fortitude campaign, where there’s no special details

and you don’t have any miraculous powers to start, you should finish out with the “final

touches” for that campaign on pg. XX —

choosing your basic quest;

choosing your bonus XP emotion;

choosing 1-2 more starting quests.

In an informal miraculous campaign you’ll want to talk to the HG about whether you can start

with any miraculous powers and whether you get any bonus MP and Divine Health Levels. In an

official campaign, you can move on instead to any final character generation details for that

campaign, instead — for instance, the “character creation (part 2)” in Fortitude: the Glass-

Maker’s Dragon, which’ll give you a pair of Perks and talk a little bit about when your next 4

MP and Divine Health Levels will grow in.