Broken Contract Character and Crew Creation Rules

One of the things that narrative wargamers want is the ability to create their own characters so that they can develop their own storylines and rivalries. We want to encourage this sort of game play and engagement so a while back I had created and posted very basic character creation rules. A lot has transpired since then and it was time to update them to make the most of all the cards available to you now. While revisiting character creation I thought it was about time I added a point system to allow for the "matched play" that a lot of wargamers are used to. This is a very open system but it still creates a functional structure for gamers of all stripes. It is still in the playtesting stages so feedback is welcomed and encouraged! -Nick

Creating Characters and Assembling a Crew

Every Broken Contract Supplement comes with Characters to play, but you might want to create your own story lines, scenarios, and Characters. Creating your own Characters can be very rewarding and is very easy in Broken Contract.

Choose a Character Type and Faction
Characters can be Adults, Children, Teens, Brute Gen-Mods or Light Drones. Adults are likely going to be the basis of your crew. Adults are going to give you the best range of Stats and Abilities, but Children and Teens can make for great storylines and give room for development. After you select what type of Character you want to develop you are going to need to choose a faction such as Black Squadron Security or the Breakers.

Adults
Adults compose the vast majority of the population of the FerrumSky mines. Though life can be brutally short on Hathor, the type of back breaking labor of the mines is best performed or overseen by adults. Every Adult Character starts with these Average Human Stats:

Core - Actions: 3 /Move: 3 /Wounds: 3
Combat - Shoot: 5 /Melee: 5 /Strength: 5 /Agility: 5 /Recovery: 5
Brain - Intellect: 5 /Perceive: 5 /Psyche: 5 /Lead: 5 /Dealing: 5
Points: 10

All Adults may take two upgrades for 1 point each.

Security Officer Training: Black Squadron Adults may take one additional upgrade for a total of three upgrades for 1 point each. They may replace any one of those upgrades with Melee -1 to reflect their Security Officer Training. This reflects their better living conditions and training as compared to other adults.

Children and Teens
The FerrumSky mines are a brutal place and child labor is rampant. Though most of the children flee in terror when hostilities erupt, from time to time they get pulled into the action out of loyalty or indoctrination. The numbers in parenthesis are for Teens who are obviously more of a threat than their younger counterparts.

Core - Actions: 3/ Move: 2 (3)/ Wounds: 2 (3)
Combat - Shoot: 6/ Melee: 5/ Strength: 6/ Agility: 6/ Recovery: 5
Brain - Intellect: 6/ Perceive: 6/ Psyche: 6 /Lead: 6 /Dealing: 6
Points: 1 (3)

The Children of FerrumSky may take two upgrades for 1 point each. Teens may take four upgrades for 1 point each.

Brute Gen-Mods
Black Squadron Security and Breakers both use Brute Gen-Mods. Brute Gen-Mods are humans who have had their genetics altered to amplify their size and strength. These hulking behemoths can be used as laborers of immense power, essentially machines made of flesh and bone. When used for crowd control by Black Squadron, they can be a terrifying tool of suppression.

Core - Actions: 3/ Move: 3/ Wounds: 3
Combat - Shoot: 5/ Melee: 4/ Strength: 4/ Agility: 5/ Recovery: 5
Brain- Intellect: 5/ Perceive: 5/ Psyche: 5/ Lead: 5/ Dealing: 5
Points: 14

To create a Brute Gen-Mod you may take a single upgrade from the deck for 1 point. You also receive the Gen-Mod, Lifter, and Massive Ability Cards which are already included in the points cost. Black Squadron Brute Gen-Mods do not have the same Limiters imposed upon them and may instead take three upgrades instead of the usual one, for 1 point each.

Note: All Brute Gen-Mods must choose: Gen-Mod Apparatus as an additional piece of Equipment for 1 point.

Light Drones
All manner of drones flit about the FerrumSky mines performing various tasks. For now we are only going to deal with the two most common Light Drones: Speaker Drones and Surveillance Drones, which may not be customized. They may only be purchased by the Black Squadron and they are 8 points each.

Upgrade Your Character
To upgrade your Character you will use your Initiative Deck and Chart below. Make sure to include numbers 1-12, two Re-Roll cards, and an Extra Action card.

1: Shoot -1

2: Melee -1 (Children & Brute Gen-Mods: Move +1 instead)

3: Strength -1 (Brute Gen-Mods: Move +1 instead)

4: Agility -1

5: Intellect -1

6: Perceive -1

7: Psyche -1

8: Lead -1 (Brute Gen-Mods: Actions +1 instead)

9: Dealing -1

10: Recovery -1 (Children: Actions +1 instead)


11: Draw an Ability Card from all of your Ability Cards. If you have the Gen-Mod or Massive cards, remove them from the Ability Deck.

12: Draw an Ability Card from all of your Ability Cards. If you have the Gen-Mod or Massive cards, remove them from the Ability Deck.

Re-Roll: Drawing the Re-Roll Card allows you to set the Re-Roll Card aside, draw your upgrades as normal and then use the Re-Roll to Re-Draw an upgrade to replace one you do not want.

Extra Action: Discard this card and draw two additional cards from the deck. This will increase the points of the Character by +1.

Weapons and Equipment
You may now purchase any equipment that you like from your available Equipment Cards. Each Equipment Card is 1 point the first time you select it. If you duplicate the item in on your Character or in your Crew it costs an additional point every time you duplicate it.

Example: A single Rock Hammer is 1 point. If you take a second Rock Hammer in your crew, the second one is 2 points. If you take a third Rock Hamer in your crew, the third Rock Hammer is 3 points.

Standard Issue Exceptions: Every Black Squadron Security officer has access to a Shock Baton and Restraints. These are always 1 point unless they are taking two on a single Character. Any Breaker may take a Shovel for 1 point.

Assembling a Crew
Inevitably, some people are going to want to build their own custom crew, complete with their own back stories and unique personalities in order to face off against their friends. A good introductory game size would be 50 points per side, which would be about 3-4 models each. Scaling up to 75 points per side would be a logical next step. Playing larger games is possible, but would require a custom Initiative Deck once there are more than 12 Characters in the game.

Crew Leaders: You may choose to have someone designated to lead your crew. This Character may take 1 additional upgrade for 1 point. They may replace the upgrade drawn with Leadership -1 if they like.

Mixing Factions
Playing a pure Faction is not required. Breakers can be ragtag mobs that could include a Black Squadron Security officer who couldn’t stomach their job anymore, and a Black Squadron crew can include Loyalist miners who see the Breakers as a nuisance disrupting the social order of the mines. The important thing is assembling a crew with personality, not one that simply takes all of the most effective elements in the game to create the ultimate competitive fighting force.

The Social Contract: Most of the design decisions in Broken Contract were made to heighten the spirit of adventure and narrative story telling. That is the baseline of what Broken Contract is; a game that tells a story of high adventure. If how you prefer to play miniature games deviates from that baseline, you should discuss it with your opponent(s) first. Sometimes dice or circumstances don’t go your way, and you don’t end up with a good game. That can happen with any game involving chance. However, if your opponent is not having fun because you’ve manipulated the rules to guarantee that your force will smash face while your opponent feels powerless against you, you’ve broken the Social Contract. The easiest way you can break that Social Contract is when you assemble your crew. Don’t be that person.

Here it is in PDF form;
Broken Contract Character and Crew Creation PDF

Do you need the rest of the rules to the game? You can find them here:

Broken Contract Beta Rules

Thanks for reading.
-Nick