Building on my previous Life Path Method character generated by War Stories: A World War 2 RPG by G.I. Garcia for Firelock Games (2022), today we meet Anna Vinke, a Dutch resistance fighter and PC Buddy of Albert Miller. I am generating Anna using the Archetype Method of character generation which War Stories describes as, “the fast, simple way that provides less choice and very little background information, while the Life Path takes a little more time, provides more options, and generates a more developed background.”
The Archetype Method in War Stories is a 15-step process that starts on page 23 of the core rulebook. Here goes!
Step 1 – Choose your Archetype. Resistance Fighter (template on page 27).
Step 2 – Choose your Nationality. Dutch. Player can also choose a second Language; using the Results of Study table in the Life Path section gives Anna “Basic English.”
Step 3 – Service Branch by Archetype. Resistance has no service branches.
Step 4 – Determine Attributes. Key Attribute for Partisan is Agility or Intelligence. I decide Anna is the “smart one” between Albert and herself so her Key Attribute will be Intelligence. Attributes selected are STRENGTH 3 / AGILITY 3 / INTELLIGENCE 5 / EMPATHY 4.
Step 5 – Determine Endurance. Average STR + EMP, rounded up, +1 for Gritty Realism equals 5.
Step 6 – Determine Skills. Survival 3, Close Combat 2, Persuasion 2, Ranged Combat 1, Medical Aid 1, Insight 1.
Step 7 – Choose Specializations and Talents. Born to Lie, Street Smart, One Eye Open.
Step 8 – Character Flaw. Obsessive.
Step 9 – Character Virtue. Dedicated.
Step 10 – Buddy. Albert!
Step 11 – How met PC’s? See Albert’s backstory.
Step 12 – Appearance. “Grimy and in need of a long soak.”
Step 13 – Name. Anna Vinke.
Step 14 – Rank. Partisans have no rank.
Step 15 – Gear. Luger P08 pistol, Garrote (Bonus +0, Availability 1, Weight Tiny, Range E, Damage +0, Qualities Strangle), Locket with parent’s photo.
Total time needed to generate a character in War Stories using the Archetype Method is less than 15 minutes. Part of the speed in this case is because the character is building off the deeper character development already done for Albert.
It is somewhat unlikely that Albert and Anna are the only members of their resistance cell. Other members will be generated as needed using the rules for Background Characters in War Stories.
Next: Developing the campaign Area of Operations (AO).
Feature image “New York: Given her demeanour as a 14-year-old, nobody could have guessed [Freddie Oversteegen] was a member of the Dutch resistance. But when this girl in braids would pedal down the streets of Haarlem in North Holland, firearms camouflaged in a basket, Nazi officials rarely stopped to question her.” Courtesy Free Press Journal India.
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