Today we’ll take a look at building a character with Paths. I’m going to focus on a character idea from early playtesting, Katashi the ‘Diplomat’. Katashi is not at all what most people think of when they think Diplomat. I decided that he is a special-problem-solver for the Emperor, tasked with resolving peace between Lords who are likely to go to battle. Instead of being directly dispatched to courts to soothe offended pride, Katashi takes a more direct, hands on approach to ensuring peace. This can be anything from bribing a Lord’s counsel to advise that war is too costly, to manipulating bandit raids on the borders that will keep a province from feeling comfortable declaring war on their neighbors. I liked this concept because it gave my character reasons to go almost anywhere in the game world. He would have something to pursue for his own goals, as well as useful abilities to contribute to the party. It also lets me play a non-combat focused character without having to be all talky and social (which I suck at).

Although we have a Diplomat Path internally, I’m going to make Katashi with just the Paths currently in the Introductory Rules. I was immediately drawn to Merchant, who has a lot of skills for making deals. Even if the Merchant is generally seen as dealing with money and goods, I picture Katashi as using the same principles, but with promises and information.

Discipline, Intelligence, Perception and Resolve all fit perfectly with my concept of Katashi, and Wisdom is useful, though Katashi would find himself hesitant to rely on hunches and ‘gut instincts’. Appraise will let him size up political situations, while Bargaining and Deception fulfill his more standard Diplomatic skillset requirements. He doesn’t have Etiquette yet, which means he would struggle in more traditional court settings.

At this point, I decide to find ways to make him not have to get into those court politics. I’m going to take a page from Garak from Deep Space Nine, a character I’ve always really enjoyed. Garak basically manipulated Star Fleet command by getting it’s junior officers to make his arguments for him. In this case, Katashi is going to need a cover, a way to make contacts and move around without raising suspicion. Since I have already taken some Merchant skills, I decide to go along that route. Katashi will be a traveling peddler, so he’ll need something worth selling. I put 40 Potential into Craft: Figurines (and note to myself that we need to include a good discount option for people who want crafting in our playtest options). Figurines are a really good trade skill. He could pick up a piece of wood and whittle cheap trinkets for children when there’s nothing else available, or he could craft the finest jade animals for nobility. 40 Potential is a lot, especially for a skill that’s essentially a cover, but I think I will make the figurines part of his character. Perhaps it’s his way of feeling better after his jobs are done. In a world where he may have to do ugly things in the name of peace, he finds some redemption in creating beauty as well. I now have +3 to Craft Roll, and choose to base it on Perception (he builds subtractively, by observing animals in real life and recreating them). Since I already have 15 Potential in Perception from my Merchant Path, I decide it’s probably best to take the Path a second time. Almost everything in the Path is directly useful to my concept, and the discount covers the things I don’t want. I note down double the benefits on my character sheet, and that I’ve spent a total of 240 Potential between the Paths and my Craft skill.

Taking the Path twice has given me 30 Potential in Perception, Bargaining, and Profession: Merchant. Since 40 Potential gives me a +3 to checks instead of a +2, I decide that Perception and Bargaining are very important, and spend 10 Potential on each, increasing them to 40. I now have +3 to Perception Checks, and a total of +6 to my Craft Skill. Katashi should be able to make figures he can sell almost anywhere. And with Bargaining and his Profession: Merchant Skill, he’s likely to make a good profit. I have spent a total of 260 Potential.

Now that Katashi’s cover is well established, it’s time to get back to his true goal of ‘black ops for peace’. Diplomacy will be important, even if Katashi doesn’t spend time in court, so I put 20 Potential there for a +2 modifier, leaving me 20 points remaining. I think it’s important to invest in Katashi’s Intelligence, so I spend my last 20 to raise it to 40, giving it a +3 Modifier.

In total, my spent Potential has resulted in the following Attributes  and Skills

All in all, I’m pretty happy with Katashi’s Abilities. He’s definitely an able spy and manipulator, though not in the traditional sense, made from the Merchant Path (which provides him a great cover, as well a decent source of income!). As he gains Potential during play, I’ll probably want to put some points in Etiquette (there may be times he has to bite the bullet and make direct appearances) and Investigation (he can’t always pay others for information). I may also want to invest a little in Animal Handling so that he can study animals closer for his figurine references without scaring them away.

We hope that when you design your characters, you feel free to use the Paths and Katas as a guide, and as tools to help you, not something restrictive based on their names. For example, any noble, intelligent warrior can take the Samurai Path, even if the character isn’t actually a Samurai. You could also build a very good Samurai without taking the Samurai Path at all. If you wanted to play a peasant that rose to be a Samurai, you could base your character on on the Peasant Path and add some combat skills. Perhaps this character still lacks the court charms and struggles with their reading and writing lessons, but they are an undoubted leader on the battlefield, and a trusted agent of their Lord, who overlooks their struggles with social graces.