A good heist film is about the characters, not just how they overcome obstacles. Our heist game tackles both of these elements with character traits. These are an individual’s talents, abilities, and idiosyncrasies. You’ll pick them for your avatar (the player character), and the game procedurally generates them for your team members.
Traits include broad archetypes like Mastermind or Demonologist, talents like Animal Whisperer or Intuitive, training such as Combat Trained or Literate, and aspects of personality like Charismatic, Resolute, or Bloodthirsty. Unlike my previous games (King of Dragon Pass or Six Ages) which have both skills and personality traits, in Thousand Hells traits cover everything about a character, and feed into the tactical narrative game. And unlike games like Wildermyth, which gives traits a numeric rating, you either have one or not.
Character creation involves picking an archetype, two helpful traits, and one that’s usually a character flaw. You’ll then recruit a team, asking questions or relying on your experience to learn their traits. As with most job interviews, you won’t learn all about someone until you spend time working with them. A team member may reveal something about themself in hell.
You can at least expect that a Sailor won’t have Fear of Water, and nobody will be both Callous and Empathetic. Stories about such conflicted characters are outside the scope of the game. The game does try to pick traits that will be relevant for the quest, both when presenting choices for the player character, and when creating a pool of candidates for your team. Fear of Darkness is a lot more relevant if, like Gilgamesh, you have to travel through thick darkness.
In the tactical narrative game, character traits form the basis of the actions you use to try to resolve a situation. A Warrior is going to be handy in a fight, but unfortunately may fall back on that trait in a social situation (that is, you may draw it from the bag). Then again, occasionally a troublesome trait will be just right. (For more about the tactical narrative, check out Devlog #2 .)
An important use for traits is dialog. The specific line — or whether they speak at all — is often determined by a character’s traits. A Literate character might be able to read a temple inscription, a Learned character could tell you what writing system is used, while an Irreverent character might comment on lazy priests. This is similar to how advice works in King of Dragon Pass or Six Ages, where more skilled characters give you more information. Here’s an example in response to “you hear a disquieting skitter, as a mass of creatures might make,” with possible lines and a standard response if no other trait matches:
Those are spiders. I can’t be around spiders.
I can deal with earthly beasts, and the underworld creatures that mimic them.
Skittering creatures sound like something I can fight.
Skittering creatures? Sounds like a combat situation.
Another way traits help give advice is when one of your team members gives you information on the mythology of the underworld you’re visiting. The game will pick someone with the most appropriate traits.
Once in a while a character’s traits can get them into trouble, but that’s probably best discovered by playing.
Thousand Hells uses traits to bring its characters to life, both what they say and what they do, with one system handling the personalities and abilities that make them unique.
-David