Personalities and Backgrounds
Super heroes are often recognized by the powers or abilities they have. However, their deeper traits are what make them interesting characters. We wanted your custom characters and the "known" heroes to have this depth as well, so we implemented backstory and personality as part of characters in Sentinels of Freedom. These two types of traits provide a variety of unique boosts and challenges when playing Sentinels of Freedom.
The background determines where your hero came from before becoming a hero. This includes options like Law Enforcement, Upper Class, Medical, and Exile. In Sentinels of Freedom, your backstory will influence how a character reacts to the unchanging aspects of the game - such as the mission type or kind of environment. Characters pull from past experiences to potentially enhance their capabilities in these situations.
Personality is your general demeanor, how you react under pressure, and even how your presence affects other heroes. Is your hero Stoic, Analytical, or even Impulsive? This can come as a boost or hinderance depending on the circumstances. The impact of your personality is constantly changing as the battlefield also changes.
Our original design involved players choosing a single backstory and personality when defining their character. Thanks to the support of the Kickstarter, we are going to be pushing the personality component much further by allowing players to choose two different personality types. Since the effects of personalities are more than stat boosts, they have to be carefully crafted and balanced for the whole of the campaign in order to feel like they are an important part of every character. The design team will be redesigning all the boosts and hindrances to allow for more creative combinations without having a negative play experience. These dual personalities will provide more opportunities for the uniqueness of your character to come out.
Using these personalities, we can help create a character that actively reacts to the battlefield around them. For example, a hero with the "Lone Wolf" personality trait may have a boost that increases starting action points (AP) when no party members are nearby and hindrance that removes the ability to bank AP when two other party members are at close range. Finally, the "Lone Wolf" trait may also reduce the character's chance of activating support actions assisting other heroes.
If our "Lone Wolf" had the law enforcement background, the mission and environment could bring out additional traits. For missions in a city environment, the character might have an increased vigilance activation chance, allowing them to react more to enemy actions. Objectives such as "Rescue the Hostage" could benefit from this background choice as well. In this situation, the hostage's movable distance could be increased allowing for faster extraction.
Now with the second personality option, an additional set of interactions is possible, more opportunities for your character to shine during critical moments in future missions!
Background and personalities bring out unique moments where a character can excel or have a greater challenge. Together, they create a more meaningful character and gaming experience.
