Character: Dinosaur Hunter Medic

Probably never ever in stock again.

To help me better understand the limits that I am imposiving as I set up my campaign, I've decided to put some character examples together to see if I can get a satisfying build out of my slightly tighter than normal point constraints. I started with a medic/potion maker because they feel like expensive characters to build, so they are the type of people to make or break my point caps. Take it or leave it, let's take a look then.

Stats

This is mostly an exercise in mechanics, so, as much as I would generally advise against it in other situations, I've skimped on backstory and motivation and all that, but I still hope to tell a bit of a story. First off, 50 points are spent on the mandatory minimum package I detailed before. That leaves us with 75/-50 to play with.

Attributes

I get a level of IQ and HT. IQ because doctors use it a lot; HT because playing with The Last Gasp and doing wilderness survival makes it h-cking valuable. The tight point budget makes me want to stop here.

Advantages

To augment the healing ability, I give the character 3 levels of Healer Talent. Because of the expensive gear a doctor needs to be effective, I give the character Wealthy to afford it all. This comes with a free level of Status, but for now, that's neither here nor there. Finally, end with Quick Gadgeteer (Specialized, Pharmacy, -50%) to give this character the ability to make medicines more easily in the field.

Disadvantages

To give a tiny boost, and characterize the character a bit, I gave them:

• Cowardice - They are a doctor, not a hardened fighter
• Debt 10 - Medical School
• Compulsive Spending - They likes flashing cash.

Besides that, I sell back an FP and 0.25 Basic speed from the level of HT. I also notice that it might be a small waste of a point to require them to take first aid since they will likely have the physician skill. So I decide that selling any of the "mandatory" skills back counts against the disadvantage limit as well. So -34 points in disadvantages, well within the -50 limit, and kinda tells the story of someone who works hard so they can play hard, and doesn't really like fighting. Why is this person working in a dangerous frontier town then? Maybe it was the easiest way to get a lot of money really fast, and the benefits outweigh the risks?

Skills

Now, besides the mandatory skills, Broadsword for a melee weapon, Guns (Rifle) for a ranged weapon, Teamster (Magnigatus) (a made up species similar to the real Toxodon), and Housekeeping, unsurprisingly, the rest of the character's skills are medical.

• Diagnosis
• Pharmacy
• Physician
• Surgery

This takes advantage of the Healer talent, and lets the character be useful for making and applying curatives.

Equipment

The doctor carries their stuff in a small backpack. This includes an alchemy lab for potions, a doctor's bag, a surgical kit, their sword, and a rifle. The rifle's stats are based on the Hall M1819, .54 Flintlock, a TL5 gun, but in this custom TL3+2 setting, guns have a lower malf. rate, as if the gun is based on TL3 principles the diverged slightly. So we have a weapon with a Malf. of 14, and the primary method of combat for a coward. Due to being wealthy, the character has a lot of leftover cash for other things I couldn't think of, and probably a decently furnished home in the colony owing to his status and the 20/80 rule.

Thoughts

The characters good skills are just barely scratching at what would be considered professional level. They are not a one-man army or fantastically powerful, but I think they might be able to do the job passably. I think the Quick Gadgeteer advantage might not be necessary, and that would free up quite a few points for some more IQ or healer talent. Perhaps more Survival or veterinary skills would help too if it becomes required that a doctor would need to look over steeds and beasts of burden. A full version of the character sheet can be found here. One thing I've accomplished, definitely, is that the character is definitely not overpowered.