Jackals

Time to inaugurate a new type of article on this blog. The [Let's Create a Character] posts present the character creation process for a given game or system, using one of my former characters as a basis. The idea is to check to what extent the presented system manages to restitute the character as it was originally intended.

We start right away with Jackals, a game by John-Matthew DeFoggi for **Osprey Games, **which offers us a fantastical Bronze Age in the Zaharet, a region largely inspired by Canaan. The atmosphere, on the other hand, leans towards Sword & Sorcery. You play "Jackals", outcasts roaming the territory in search of glory and adventure. Having enjoyed Osprey Games's small original productions since my discovery of Paleomythic, I expected good things from Jackals. My review will come later: in the meantime, let us test the flexibility of the character creation system.

Amennekht son of Mâakhourérè

#false[Amennekht's export from premDAT](/content/images/2021/05/image-1.png [Amennekht's export from premDAT])

Amennekht comes from the game Oikouménè, a historical role-playing game by the Coget brothers, which takes us on a tour of the peoples of the Mediterranean in 271 B.C. The character went through the whole first campaign officially offered for the game, while the latter was halfway through its journey towards professional publication at Les Ludopathes. The young man is a patriotic, conservative Egyptian, who considers the Lagids barely more tolerable than the Persians who invaded his Nation decades ago. Hard to prove him wrong, but his penchant for an idealized Egypt clearly constitutes a flaw that a role-playing system could represent. Enlisted in the army, he suffers a setback at the hands of brigands better organized than his unit, then begins his wild adventure alongside the other PCs. His primary motivation is to provide for his family, who have counted on him since the death of his father.

Oikouménè offered a choice between a "blessed by the Gods" character (strong characteristics, few skills) or an "experienced character" (many skills, weak characteristics). Being young, Amennekht belongs to the first category. A courageous, charismatic and rather cunning military leader, he benefits from a satisfying warrior training.

Creation process

Jackals offers an 8-step character creation that mixes background and technical data.

Concept

Amennekht ultimately adapts rather well to the Jackals universe: the people of **Gerwa **is directly inspired by Middle Kingdom Egypt, and its citizens revere their glorious past. Amennekht would therefore be a military, traditionalist Ger, a "Servant of the Eight" (the living gods of the Ger) and more particularly of Henutmehut. He recently fell into an ambush at the northern borders of the territory. Left for dead, he is taken in by a group of Jackals far away from his own lands, and will probably find himself embroiled in adventures that far exceed his personal concerns. His dilemma: if he does not return to his superiors quickly, his frail little brother will have to take up arms in his stead to preserve the family domain.

Culture

The choice of culture flows naturally from the concept: Ger, which allows Amennekht to shoot a bow, heal, know a few scraps of the world's mysterious past and... lie better. Indeed, Jackals starts from the premise that the Ger are a bit shifty, which fits the proud Amennekht rather poorly. Nothing too bad: this base bonus will not make him a master of manipulation.

Each culture also offers three powers, of which only one can be chosen by the character. Amennekht will thus be a "Servant of a Rigid Order", which grants him various bonuses when he acts in accordance with his hierarchical position or when he questions his culture. An introspective type, then.

Ritualist

The "spellcasters" of Jackals are called "ritualists", because they use a magic intimately tied to their cultural traditions. Amennekht simply does not use magic.

Attributes

In Jackals, characters are defined by their scores in strength, agility, vitality, courage, wisdom and devotion (for ritualists). Wishing to further emphasize the "sterile" side of Amennekht's patriotism, I ignore wisdom to invest the maximum in courage. The remaining points are evenly distributed among the other characteristics, knowing that devotion is not rated for non-ritualists: should the character ever educate himself in magic, he would start with an average value. Should I have gone for a ritualist? The question remains open.

Skills

The skills of Jackals are divided into different categories: common, defensive, martial, scholarly, urban and magical. The character's characteristics define the number of points to assign to each category, although transfers are possible at an unfavorable cost.

Amennekht thus equips himself with a considerable score in Influence (to command, but also to persuade, as in Oikouménè), in Perception, in Willpower, in Melee Combat, in (ancestral) Culture and, while we are at it, in stealth. Overall, the character matches his original Oikouménè version, even though his stealth score exceeds my expectations.

Traits

Traits and talents allow the character to be given more depth, while granting a few circumstantial mechanical bonuses. Non-ritualist characters start with four traits - two general, two cultural. Amennekht thus ends up as "Bearer of the Eye of Chium" (he will never again be caught off guard !), "Solemn Face" (he is a young man whose seriousness can be frightening), "Warrior Caste" (he wields the Kopesh with talent) and "Tomb Guardian" (he detects hidden things more easily).

Questions

Second-to-last step of a Jackal's creation, the game asks us a handful of essential questions, which lead to skill improvements freely granted by the GM:

• Why become a Jackal? Left for dead in an ambush, Amennekht regained consciousness very far from the borders of Gerwa and found himself enlisted in a troupe of Jackals.
• What makes him hesitate on his path? If Amennekht ultimately enjoys his Jackal life, the potentially disastrous repercussions for his family urge him to return home as quickly as possible.
• Who helped Amennekht at the start of his adventure? Narantsetseg, a venerable Trauj huntress on her way to Ameena Noami (the Luathi capital of the Zaharet, the playing field of Jackals). She found him on the road after the raiders' attack and put him back on his feet.
• The worst possible fate for Amennekht? To die, for real, in the Zaharet without ever returning to his native land. In that scenario, the only hope for his family would be for his frail little brother to take over his military charge, but everything indicates he would not manage it.
• The first challenge Amennekht faced as a Jackal? The hierarchy of Gerwa ensures that every Ger knows what is expected of him and what he must do for his peers. In the Zaharet, in contact with other cultures, Amennekht discovered that everything is traded and negotiated - including water for the thirsty, or shelter for those who want to sleep. Amennekht is still shocked by this loose structure that opens the way to abuse - abuse which would obviously be unthinkable in Gerwa, he thinks.
• *What would Amennekht give his life for? *In this order, from the most intimate and specific to the most general: for his family, for Gerwa, to preserve the Order.
• *What could push Amennekht to leave his Jackal life? *Knowing that it is the only way to preserve his family and the family territory. He does not envision his mother and brother living in the Zaharet.
• *The most important between Power and Wisdom? *Amennekht openly favors wisdom, like any good Ger. In truth, his actions show he perhaps values power more, and his capacity to influence people.

Equipment

In accordance with the instructions, Amennekht starts with an equipment pack including leather armor, a one-handed weapon (Kopesh, inevitably), a shield, a bow and a dagger, as well as travel necessities and a few shekels, the currency of the Zaharet.

Conclusion

And here we are with an Amennekht adapted to Jackals. You can find the character sheet below. All in all, I am satisfied with the adaptation, since the main traits of the Oikouménè character are ultimately rather well reflected in Jackals.

The least one can say is that character creation in Jackals is quite classic. I note the emphasis on the character's social and cultural origin, very similar to Oikouménè once again. You do not start the game without knowing where our character comes from, what he learned during his childhood and what his vision of the Zaharet is. Beyond that, creation is fast and well structured, all the more so as it benefits from sufficient examples. On the "flexibility" front (types of characters to play), the game very clearly pushes you to portray adventuring types, but since this is a theme of the game, it is hard to hold it against it. It is a pity, on the other hand, that the questions of the seventh step do not lead to "narrativist" mechanical bonuses that players could call upon during play: in a traditional role-playing game, the purely "background" elements of a character are always forgotten too quickly. Blending mechanics and narration constitutes an excellent way to encourage players to bring forward the history of their creations.