Big Eyes, Small Mouth from the late, great Guardians of Order is really an awesome system that thanks to the vagaries of the game industry and the currency market was sadly driven into the ground. Thankfully I was able to score a copy of the Revised Second Edition and what is perhaps the best example of concentrated awesome ever put on paper, S. John Ross's trad-anime-fantasy setting, Uresia: Grave of Heaven. That's where I'll be starting with this character.
Uresia is a staunchly humanist setting--the gods are honestly dead--and as tempted as I am to write up a happy, bouncy slime (oh, thank you, Mr. Ross, for these), I'm going to go with a plain, ordinary human. In fact, I'm going to go with that standard fantasy trope, the peasant adventurer.
Martin Furrough was born in the sleepy hamlet of Rogan's Heath in the Rindenland in 1374. He grew up listening to his father's stories of the war against evil Koval and dreamed of one day picking up a sword and venturing out into the wider world to vanquish evil. Unfortunately, his first 16 years were spent on the farm, the only battles being waged against pests in the field and vermin in the barn.
Then, last spring, an unusual thing happened. A party of adventurers passed through Rogan's Heath, spilling gold as carelessly as their sour plum wine. One of the visitors, a large man with dented armor and a very respectable mustache, decided to get rather fresh with Mathilda, one of the inkeepers' daughters and the girl that Martin had been too nervous to ask out for nearly a year. His resolve hardened by the sight of the man pawing at the object of his affection, Martin challenged the stranger to a fistfight in the street outside. Laughing, the man accepted and the two stepped outside.
Martin was soundly defeated, but when the dust cleared, the man helped Martin up and offered him a place in his adventuring company. Surprised and still a little dazed from the fight, Martin accepted. He hasn't been home since that day, but he has seen incredible things and learned very quickly the skills one needs to survive danger.
Uresia suggests 35 or 40 points for basic characters, so I'll build Martin on 35. He's a little on the inexperienced side. I'll also be using the optional skills system, so Martin will have 20 points for that.
We begin with Stats. As the name of the system (Tri-Stat) would indicate, BESM has three Stats: Body, Mind, and Soul. These cover all physical, mental, and spiritual/social actions, respectively. A 4 in any Stat represents adult human average. Martin is very fit, rather agile, and definitely strong, so I'll place his Body at 7. He is fairly average mentally, so I'll put Mind at 4. Finally, he is headstrong and determined, so I'll give him a Spirit of 6. That uses 17 of my 35 points. The remainder can be spent on Attributes.
Attributes are the advantages of BESM, and just about everything special your character can do can be defined with various Attributes. Martin doesn't have much in the way of supernatural power, but he will have some special qualities about him. He is moderately attractive (Appearance 1). He has trained with veteran adventurers and mastered various weapons and combat techniques (Combat Mastery 2, Extra Attacks 1, and Massive Damage 1). He can take quite a beating (Damn Healthy! 3). He has thick skin, able to turn some modest blows (Hidden Light Armor 2). He has picked up some equipment in his travels (Personal Gear 1). He has signed on as an agent of the Loreseekers of Sindra (Organizational Ties 1).
Next, I can choose Defects, which give me points back, but taking a look at that section, none of them really jump out at me. And that's fine; Tri-Stat tends to make Defects really limiting for very few points back.
Finally, I get to choose 20 points in skills. In BESM, skills cost different amounts depending on what genre you're playing in. Uresia is very firmly in the "Medieval Fantasy" genre, so I use that price scheme. Every skill I buy gets a specialization for free; I can buy more if I want. I buy one level each in Melee Attack and Melee Defense and specialize in Swords for both. That's 10 points gone. I buy one level of Riding (Horse) for 3 points. I take a level each in Wilderness Survival (Forest) and Wilderness Tracking (Forest) for 6 points. Finally, I take a level in Cooking (Home) for 1 point.
Now I get to calculate various derived traits. My Attack Combat Value is the average of my three stats, rounded down, so I have an ACV of 5, but I add my levels of Combat Mastery for a total of 7. My Defense Combat Value is 2 less than this, or 5. I have Health Points equal to (Body + Soul) x 5, plus 10 for each level of Damn Healthy!, for a total of 95. Finally, I have Energy Points equal to (Mind + Soul) x 5, or 50.
Now all I need is some equipment. BESM isn't too anal about gear; my one level of Personal Gear gives me one major item, four minor ones, and as many mundane items as I'd like. Looking at equipment lists, I'll take a suit of plate armor (major), a longsword (minor), a shield (minor), a set of full camping gear (minor), a potion of might (minor), and some assorted cooking supplies suitable for cooking in camp (mundane).
And there we have it! Martin Furrough, novice peasant adventurer, ready to cut a swatch of legend across Heaven's Grave.
Martin Furrough
35 points
Body 7, Mind 4, Spirit 6
ACV 7; DCV 5
HP 95; EP 50
Attributes: Appearance 1; Combat Mastery 2; Damn Healthy! 3; Extra Attacks 1; Light Armor 2 (Hidden; stops 2 points of damage); Massive Damage 1; Organizational Ties (Sindran Loreseekers) 1; Personal Gear 1
Skills: Cooking (Home) 1, Melee Attack (Swords) 1, Melee Defense (Swords) 1, Riding (Horse) 1, Wilderness Survival (Forest) 1, Wilderness Tracking (Forest) 1
Gear: plate armor (Light Armor Level 4, Partial, stops 10 points of damage), longsword (10 damage), shield, set of full camping gear, potion of might (Super-Strength Level 1, whole body, 1 minute), assorted camp cooking supplies.
