Character Creation

Whether this is your first LARP or your millionth, the first step to playing Sporebound is to create a protagonist through which you will experience the world and tell a collaborative story with your friends. As you play the game, you will act out your character as they brave the challenges of the Blight and fight the power. You decide the shape of your character’s actions, and how they are shaped by the world.

You don’t need to be familiar with the entire history of Sporebound to make a character (chances are, your character won’t know much more than you!), but you should read any documents your Storyteller provides on the setting and game you will play in. Try to make a character that is in tune with the setting and game your Storytelling team is trying to play.

Get an idea of who your character is and, if possible, come up with a one or two line summary of who they are. Some things to keep in mind as you develop your concept is…

  • Sporebound is an 80s psychedelic punk game. Be larger than life, value aesthetic over substance, and be willing to punch fascists in the face.
  • Your character agreed to join the Mycos in the war against the Blight. This means they had something important enough to fight for.
  • The game is, by default, set in the 80s. This is an era before humanity was terminally online, when cellphones were rare and the size of a brick, and trickle down economics is in full swing.

Heavy topics and Sporebound
Racism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, and other forms of bigotry are wrong. However, we live in a world where those things exist and sweeping all of that under the rug lets the people who do those things off too easily. More importantly, sometimes surviving ugly things are a part of a culture’s lived experience, and denying that part of their story does a disservice to them.

No Player Character is to portray a concept that perpetuates hate based on race, gender, sexual orientation, or real world religion. Any time these types of topics come up on screen, they are to be treated as the evil and buffoonery they are, and not in a positive light. If, even with that, a situation makes you uncomfortable, notify your Storytellers immediately so they can adjust what they are doing.

Your character begins with two Anchors. These are their mortal connections that ground the Sporebound in reality. They offer emotional and practical support to your character, and expect the same in return. Anchors can be used to gain Narrative Benefits (favors and items) and heal. They are also what allow you to use your powers, called Germs, more effectively.

One of your starting Anchors will be a Group Anchor. This is a specific group of people or locally based subculture your Sporebound considers themselves to be a part of. In general, it is better to be as specific as possible about what group of people your Anchor is. A Sporebound must embody the aesthetic of their Group Anchor(s). If it is not obvious through costuming and behavior, anyone can ask you what your Group Anchors are.

The other of your starting Anchors will be an Individual Anchor. This is a person in your Sporebound’s life who is important to them and provides both emotional and practical support. This person does not need to “fit in” with your Group Anchor or be a part of the same culture.

For each Anchor, decide whether your Anchor has the Affluent or Underdog tag. This represents their place in the social hierarchy. Your storyteller will provide a list of categories available in their chronicle. Select which category best first your Anchor. If your Anchor could be a part of multiple categories, you need to pick one. Include a name for your Anchors, and a short description of who they are in relation to your character.

For the Philadelphia game

  • Your options for Affluent Anchor Categories are Business, High Society, Organized Crime, and Media.
  • Your options for Underdog Anchor Categories are Blue Collar, Riff-raff (Illegal jobs, Unemployed, Incarcerated), Culture (Artists/Performers), Students, Non-profit, and Activists.

Characters in Sporebound have four Attributes, each of which is tied to a suit: Body (♦), Mind (♣), Finesse (♠) and Charisma (♥). Assign the following numbers to your attributes: 3, 4, 5 and 6. You will have the opportunity to raise and lower Attributes. Attributes can never go higher than 10, or lower than 2.

Your character is going to be Trained in four different skills. Performing a mundane task you aren’t trained in costs more cards for less effect, compared to doing something you are trained in.

At creation, you select four skills to be trained in from the following list: Academics, Athletics, Bureaucracy, Crafts, Electronics, Empathy, Inconspicuous, Larceny, Presence, Stealth, Streetwise, Subterfuge.

Your Clade is determined by which of the Mycos chose to bond with you. Select one of the following at creation:

  • Treehuggers are bonded to Mycellium. Mycellium most often manifests as the fungal material that connects plants together and allows them to talk. They are most often associated with animals and people close to nature, as well as the Mind Attribute (♣). Treehuggers work to preserve natural spaces, and facilitate connections and communications within and between communities.
  • Dumpster Divers are bonded to Penicillium. Penicillium is most commonly found in food mold. They are concerned with the natural death, decomposition, and rebirth of the natural world. They heal the sick, and lay low things that have outlived their usefulness. They are associated with healers, the homeless and overlooked portions of society, as well as the Finesse Attribute (♠).
  • Shroomheads are bonded to Psilocybinia. Psilocybinia is most commonly found in hallucinogenics. They are concerned with empathy and expression. They promote artists and creativity. They are associated with artists of all kinds, as well as the Charisma Attribute (♥).

None of the Mycos seem to be associated with the Body Attribute (♦)

Note: At this time, it is not possible to select a Bloom in your Clade. Rules for Blooms will be added at a later time and can be joined through roleplay.

Germs are the supernatural powers that blossom within a Sporebound. Germs are always assigned to an Anchor, the means by which you channel that power while in this world.

At creation, based on your Clade, you gain one of the following Resource Germs:

  • Treehuggers gain Mycosian Intuition
  • Dumpster Divers gain Mycosian Senses
  • Shroomheads gain Mycosian Empathy

Assign this Resource Germ to one of your starting Anchors.

Then select another Resource Germ you do not already possess:

  • Mycosian Intuition
  • Mycosian Senses
  • Mycosian Empathy
  • Mycosian Strength

Assign this second resource Germ to your other starting Anchor.

Gain your Clade’s Signature Germ, one of their Royal Germs, and one of their Active Germs. Gain two Germs from any Clade or the General Germs — these cannot be a different Clade's Resource or Signature Germs.

Chose one of the Germs you chose that belong to your Clade to become Cultured.

Assign each Germ other than your Signature Germ to one of your Anchors. Your Resource Germs must be assigned to different Anchors.

See Germs for details on Germs and how they function.

You enter the game with a hand of cards. A standard PC starting hand will contain ten cards. First, for each of your Attributes, put in a card that matches that number and suit.

Then, if you have:

  • Mycosian Intuition, add a 4♣
  • Mycosian Senses, add a 4♠
  • Mycosian Empathy, add a 4♥
  • Mycosian Strength, add a 4♦

Then you choose one of each Face Card: an Ace, a Jack, a Queen, and a King. This is additional supernatural fuel, directly from the Mycos. We recommend picking your Face Card Suits based on the thing you want your character to be good at more often, or based on powers you want to use more often. They fuel your Royal powers and, when used without Royal Powers, count as 8s.

You may select which Suits they are, and change your choice during Downtime.

At this time, you should also record your HP (10, unless you have a Germ that says otherwise) and submit your character sheet to your storyteller team.

Your Storyteller will allow a certain number of Improvements based on the number of games that have been run. In Philadelphia, you have 0 Improvements on game one, and will gain 2 Improvements for every game that has been run after that. You gain these Improvements even if you did not attend the game, or did not have a character at that time. Only half of your Improvements, rounded down, may be spent to learn Germs. You may spend 20 VXP to earn an additional Improvement. This may be done once, plus an additional time for every year the game has been run.

Improvements

  • Select one numbered Card in your Hand. You may increase its value by 1. Select another Card in your hand. You may decrease its value by 1. You may not raise an Attribute above 10, or to less than 2. Both the increase and the decrease are optional.
  • Select one Skill to become Trained in.
  • Learn one Germ. If you wish to learn a Germ that isn’t from your Clade or one of the Unassociated Germs, you need a story justification. This involves someone with that Germ teaching you, and being able to cite to the Mycos something you have done in the past month that advances that Mycos’ agenda. Teaching doesn’t cost the teacher anything.
Why is lowering an Attribute an Improvement?
The Mycos inherently uplift the underdog in a fight. While bigger numbers will pass tests out of combat more often, lower numbers are faster in combat. Initiative goes from the lowest numbered played card to the highest. In universe, this is your character honing their fighting instinct at the expense of neglecting your other talents. If you don’t care about combat, you shouldn’t lower your attributes, which is why it is optional.

Your character establishes what your character can and can not do, while their hand limits how much they can do. At the top of your character sheet, it will list your name, your character’s name, your Clade (type of Mycos you are bonded to), and your Bloom (the subgroup your character is associated with). Underneath that, it will list several traits.

HP, or Health Points, is a measure of how damaged your character is relative to how much damage they can take. It is often represented by two numbers separated by a slash. The first number is how much HP your character currently has, while the number after the Slash is your character’s maximum HP. You begin each game at full HP. Damage subtracts from HP, to a minimum of 0. At 0 HP your character is incapacitated, unable to take actions. They are still conscious and able to talk, unless you or your attacker don’t want the character to be. See Damage and Regeneration for more information on how HP works.

These are the innate traits of your character. They measure how good your character is in a particular area. Mechanically, they determine what cards are in your Hand.

Body

Your character’s physical vigor and resilience. Characters with higher Body are stronger, and tend to engage in physical activity longer.

Your character’s mental adaptability and recall. Characters with higher Mind are able to better observe their surroundings, solve puzzles, and process large amounts of data.

Your character’s dexterity and ability to act unobtrusively. Characters with a high Finesse are able to act unobserved more easily and perform more impressive feats of balance and coordination.

Your character’s ability to empathize with and express themselves. Characters with a high Charisma are able to effectively lead others, see other points of view, and convince others to go along with them.

Number Meaning
2 Significantly below average, an area your character struggles
3 Below average, an area your character often needs help with
4 Average
5 Above average, an area your character is often independent in
6 Excellent, an area your character is renowned for
7 Peak human ability
8 Beyond human ability, supernaturally good
9 Even among supernaturals, your character is known as one of the best
10 Godlike. Literally cannot fail unless opposed by another character

This lists what areas of mundane activity your character is trained to perform efficiently.

How good your character is with “book smarts,” like math or history.

Your character’s ability to use their physical body to move around and interact with the world.

How good your character is at interacting with systems and institutions. This includes navigating red tape, and processing a lot of paperwork very quickly.

Craft is actually a collection of related skills that dictate how good your character is at building a particular type of thing. Examples include art, automotive, weapons, or chemicals.

Your character’s ability to see circumstances from another person’s viewpoint. Empathy is used to get a sense of what another person thinks about a situation.

Your character’s ability to interact with and repair electronic devices, including computers. This skill also governs phone lines and similar wired technology.

Your character’s ability to hide in plain sight and otherwise blend in with social groups.

Your character’s ability to examine their surroundings or research a topic in a way where they can deduce things about the world.

Your character’s ability to steal and bypass security systems.

Your character’s ability to convince someone else to do something, or to express themselves in some performative way.

Your character’s ability to move and act unnoticed.

Your character’s knowledge of the local area, local people, and customs.

Your character’s ability to guide others into reaching false conclusions, especially by lying.

Your character’s ability to hunt, track, and survive off of the land, without modern infrastructure. This is also the skill used to interact with animals.

This lists, by suit, every card in your character’s hand at the beginning of the game. Add one card for each of your attributes (so if your Body is 5, you include a 5 of Diamonds). Add any additional cards supplied by your powers. In addition to what is listed here, you begin the game with one of each face card (Ace, Jack, Queen, King) and they may be of any suit.

Player Name: Character Name:

Clade: Bloom:
HP: __/10

Attributes

Body (♦):
Finesse (♠):

Mind (♣):
Charisma (♥):

Skills: Academics, Athletics, Bureaucracy, Crafts, Empathy, Electronics, Inconspicuous, Investigate, Larceny, Presence, Stealth, Streetwise,Subterfuge, Survival

Hand:

(♦):
(♠):
(♣):
(♥):

Title: Name Here
Description and Mechanics Here.

Anchor Name:
Description:
Type: Tag: Category:

  • Germ 1:
  • Germ 2:
  • Germ 3:

Anchor Name:
Description:
Type: Tag: Category:

  • Germ 1:
  • Germ 2:
  • Germ 3:

Anchor Name:
Description:
Type: Tag: Category:

  • Germ 1:
  • Germ 2:
  • Germ 3: