The Secret Origin of Kkumi

So in keeping with diving into Icons, let's go ahead and take random character generation out for a spin...

Phase 1 - Origin

Phase 1 has us rolling for our character's origin...

So rolling 2d6 I got an 8, which means my character has a gimmick.

Phase 2 - Attributes

So for Phase 2 I roll 2d6 and look up on a table for my Prowess, Coordination, Strength, Intellect, Awareness and Willpower.

Attribute	Roll	Adjective	Level
Prowess	10	Great	6
Coordination	6	Fair	4
Strength	6	Fair	4
Intellect	10	Great	6
Awareness	11	Incredible	7
Willpower	9	Great	6

Some extremely impressive mental stats and  pretty bad-ass fighter as well. I can swap any 2 attributes and I can also bump up any mental attribute by 2 but I'm going to hold off for now and see what else I get.

It should be noted that my Awareness of 7 (Incredible) counts as a superpower when it comes to determining Determination (the Icons equivalent of Fate Points). If I bump up Intellect or Willpower those go to superpower levels as well...

Phase 3 - Powers

First, we'll roll 2d6 and see how many powers my character has.

With a roll of 6 my character has 3 powers. 

For my first power I rolled a 3, indicating a Mental power. That seems a little bit odd for a gimmick but let us see what we get. If worst comes to worse I can always drop this power to get an extra in another power.

I rolled a 2, 2 giving me Dream Control. This gives me the ability to control my own dreams but to also enter the dreams of another. Rolling for my level I get an 8, corresponding to a 5 (Good). The Icons supplement Great Power lists as possible extra powers Astral Projection, Illusion, and Telepathy. Also I can buy with extras Dream Travel (a pocket dimension) and Sleep (putting someone to sleep). To get an extra you typically need to give up another power but you can also possibly get one by reducing your Determination.  We'll hold off any decisions for now.

For my second power, I roll an 11 which is indicative of a Sensory power.

Rolling a 1, 5 that gives me Super-Senses. Rolling a 5 for my level gives me a Level of 4 (or Fair). Each rank in super-senses gives you a choice of an additional sense, an enhanced sense, or an extended sense. 

For our third power, a 7 gives me an Offensive power, which I was actually hoping for. 

We've rolled a 1, 1, an Affliction. Hmm, that's odd. Per the rules, Affliction works like a disease or toxin, requiring a Prowess test to affect the target. So a character who can enter dreams and can poison them at a touch, possibly putting someone to sleep. Hello Morpheus... 

Rolling a 5 for the level that gives us a 4 (Fair). 

I actually like this set of powers. We'll leave Dream Control as it is. I'm picturing a sort of a mask, maybe a bit like that of Morpheus. It gives our hero the ability to enter dreams and enhances his already impressive Awareness. I'm also going to make that the ability that I improve, bringing it up to a 9 or Fantastic. With some experience I'm going to want to add improvements like telepathy or the ability to put someone instantly to sleep.

As far as my senses go... I want to emphasize a creature of the night. When wearing his mask he has radar sense and ultralight vision. We'll also give him a +1 to the ultralight vision and extend its range by 1. He is a creature of the night. 

We've also got a prowess to give someone an Affliction. It's not a claw or anything as it doesn't do any slashing damage or strength-based damage.  Right now I'm picturing an extremely short-ranged dust - kind of like Morpheus' sand. 

Phase 4 - Specialties

Rolling a 7, I have 2 specialties. Icons suggests choosing them so we'll take a look. Given I don't have much in the way of protection, I'm going to take Occult to fit in with a mystical origin I'm picturing. I'm torn between sleight of hand and martial arts but given I've got a decent Prowess we'll go with sleight of hand, indicating he perhaps was not always living on the straight and narrow.

Phase 5 - Description

So, who is our hero? He is Alexander Castro, born in Puerto Rico and moved with his parents to New York City as a teenager so his parents could get work supporting the homefront in World War 2.  Involved in a number of petty crimes in his youth, his parents and teachers despaired of him never using his great mental gifts. He eventually got his life together and joined the military. The campaign I'm working on is set around the year 1957 so I'm picturing him having served in the Korean War.

Plagued by nightmares after the war he returned to South Korea. He eventually found his way to an offshoot group of Korean Shamanism and was diagnosed with shinbyong, or possession by a spirit. He was inducted as a shaman and was later the sole survivor of an attack by a nightmare cult. His dying mentor passed on to him the dreaming mask of the group and told to take it back to his home, away from the nightmare cult. In honor of them he named himself Kkumi, from the Korean "khum" for "dream".

Having settled back in Manhattan he now works as a social worker helping fight the specter of juvenile delinquency by day and fights crime at night. Alexander is somewhat pale, with short-cropped blond hair and icy blue eyes.

Phase 6 - Qualities

We need three qualities for Kkum. I added a nightmare cult which seems fodder for some possibilities. I also made him a bit of a delinquent once upon a time. So we'll go with:

• Protector of dreams (he both wants to keep people safe so they can fulfill their dreams and can also keep people safe in their own literal dreams).
• Past keeps catching up to me (with some time in the late 1940s on the wrong side of the law, the effects of that life return to bite him. And we can sneak other things from his past in - nightmare cults, old army buddies - basically he seems to collect unlikely meetings, for good or for ill)
• Always the odd man out (he spent time embedded in Korean culture though is an American, he identifies both with his native Puerto Rican culture and that of New York City).

Wrapping things up he has a Stamina of 10, from adding his Willpower and Strength. Including his high Awareness, Alexander has four powers, giving him a starting Determination of 2.

With that, I think we have a character ready to go. Doing a little googling I think I found a neat mask to perhaps use for him...