Concept to creation: Atma characters

“If you’re interested in how an Atma character deck is designed, this one’s for you!”

— Kevin

goal

Why use a deck? Because we like cards. They’re portable, affordable, and put a spotlight on art. We begin most game designs assuming we’ll prefer cards to other media.

In Atma, we’re also trying to encapsulate the breadth and depth of an RPG character without requiring lots of rules, notes, and other tracking mechanics. A deck let us incorporate some randomness while still making it really easy for new players to build and understand a character. Just lay some cards out — done!

A character in play uses just 4 cards for both gameplay and lore.

What makes a good deck? It should be…

• Unique. It provides a new playstyle and feel that other decks don’t replicate. It also lets players explore a fantasy, background, origin, or story that isn’t captured elsewhere.

• Cohesive. The cards and narrative beats gel together and amplify one another. Cards pair and combo together. Each card should make the most sense in this deck — not another character’s.

• Surprising. There should be cards you wouldn’t expect at first glance. Don’t just explore the obvious aspects of a character archetype; add beats that a player wouldn’t create on their own.

• Balanced. Combat in Atma can be rare. Cards need to remain fun when diplomacy and subterfuge overshadow swords.

• Impactful. Most cards will only be used once or twice in a two hour game. Don’t waste time on minor abilities. When a card takes effect, it should matter.

How do we build one? Matthew and I (Kevin) approach deck design slowly and holistically. A year before making Atma, we already had more than a full Season’s worth of character concepts fleshed out. Here are the rough steps we go through, from first idea to final deck:

1: Origin

We start with a map. Roleplaying games are for everyone, and we knew we wanted a diverse cast of characters in a near-future world much like our own.

Before we started working on Season I, we had about 16 character concepts spread across the globe. By the time we Kickstarted it, we’d already placed pins on the map to account for two additional Seasons of characters!

Not shown: dozens of other pins.

There’s one detail here that we’re improving for future seasons: cultural consultants. While we want to incorporate diversity, Matthew and I have a very singular experience that makes us ill-equipped to honestly portray a lot of the characters we want to make. I wasn’t sure how to handle this in Season I, but the answer can be seen all across the gaming industry. We’ve begun reaching out to find consultants who can help us do better on our upcoming content.

2: archetype

Separately, we come up with a list of archetypes we want to explore. These can be anything that would inform a gameplay experience: “werewolf,” “fire bender,” “fireman,” “banker,” and “completely noncombat person” are all archetypes.

The archetype brainstorming document.

Archetypes can inspire us to create a character from scratch (werewolf), or be mixed into a character that just needs more definition and depth (banker). They should excite us as creators, and hopefully excite players as they’re uncovered.

3: Season

If you’re making your own Atma character, you may not care about this!

I mentioned that we work very far ahead. That includes figuring out the right mix of characters (origins, archetypes, etc.) to showcase within a single 12-character Season. We make games for fun, but they’re still products; we put a lot of thought into ensuring a balanced spread within each release. Our goal is always to maximize the chance that a player will find something they enjoy in the box.

The Season I, Act I box showing which characters are included.

4: backstory

We do the preceding steps for a pile of characters at once (typically 12-14, for spares and cameos). Once the pile is stable, we start assigning biographies to them.

This is when we name characters, glue origins to archetypes, and start deciding what their narrative arc will be. We want characters to have pasts as well as foreshadow their futures. We come up with momentous events that have shaped their philosophy, powers, even their physical form. We create unresolved issues and mysteries for them to pursue. Most importantly, we figure out why they are adrift, roaming the Restless Zones. Atma characters are many things, but they’re not sedentary.

Leonid’s initial links.

We also link characters together. To do this, I literally run a python script for each character to generate 5-8 random pairings with others. These serve as writing prompts: why have two characters encountered each other? Story threads emerge, sometimes spinning off into larger plots that shape the Restless Zones or Atma’s world itself.

Because we work so far ahead, we don’t limit links to character’s we’re currently making. Future characters, character ideas, and even NPCs can pop up.

5: Art

This is when we begin drawing character prototypes. They need a unique silhouette, as well as some indication of their narrative and how they’ll play. Backstory heavily informs the art, especially as we move into little details like Indra’s totem or Yasmin’s rose.

Links to past, present, and future characters get sprinkled throughout the art.

6: Beats

We also settle on the distinct narrative beats that a character’s cards will hit. This pulls in their backstory, origin, links to other characters, overarching plots, and especially their surprising or unexpected depths.

For a character like Xiomeri in Season II, we began with a list of traits we wanted to embody, then explored how to distribute them among her cards. Big things to keep in mind are:

• Uniqueness. Make sure that you sell each moment well on a single card, rather than diluting it across multiples. This increases variance across multiple playthroughs, and makes the character feel richer than they would with only a single gimmick.

• Narrative. Each move should build out of some aspect of the character, and convey it to the player. Sketching out the lore, or “chapter,” that will accompany this move and expand upon it usually occurs here.

7: stats

It’s time to actually make cards!

The reason we do so much prep work is simple: making cards is hard. You have to deconflict with other characters as well as other cards in the deck. Planning characters out makes it easier to choose the right starting move.

Season I character stats.

The first thing a character gets is a spread of stats. We plan out character stats by Season, usually as soon as we have a rough idea of character backstories. By default, characters receive a unique triplet of a +2 stat, a +1 stat, and a -1 stat. We have a huge spreadsheet to deconflict these.

Our secondary goal is to keep stats “balanced” both within, and across, Seasons. For example, Season I has less calm than other stats. What’s wrong with that? Well, players like rolling big numbers, and each stat encourages particular playstyles. If we skew too hard in one direction, we reduce the number of viable ways players can engage with a scenario.

Stats do change over time, although it can cause a math headache to keep things balanced. This often occurs after playtesting reveals an issue. For example, in Season I we assumed that it was important for a character to have a +2 stat “total” (the sum of all 5 stats). However, we learned that this isn’t enough. A character like Laterne benefits from an additional +1, and can easily ignore her -2 calm. Vestadt has more +1 stats than usual, but lacks a +2 — a huge penalty when you just need one move to succeed.

Three characters with +2 stat totals but different spreads.

8. Starting move

Starting moves are the most important in the game. They must epitomize the character, stay distinct from others, be useful in most scenes and situations, and remain fun across many games.

Rainpetal’s starting move.

Because fights are often infrequent, a starting move focused on combat is difficult to execute well. The Season I character Rainpetal is fulfilling a gunner archetype — but her starting move wasn’t working well until we shifted the focus from “bullets” to “small objects.” It still captures her archetype, but in play it gets used far more frequently for utility than violence.

8: Moves & super moves

All that’s left is the other 7 cards!

Moves are similar to starting moves, but usually easier to create. There’s more text available (starting moves sacrifice text for character art), and there’s slightly less need for the move to be useful in every situation. It’s still wise not to have many moves exclusive to combat; if you draw them in Scene 1, and no fights break out, you’re stuck with just your starting move.

Moves can deliver on a character’s archetype.

We build moves based on the beats defined earlier. This helps us create a diverse set of moves and keep them distinct. We also make sure to have at least one hobby move — something that offers an unexpected insight into the character. These moves are hard to come up with (since they don’t flow organically from the origin and archetype) but are among the most fun in play.

Super moves push one aspect of the character to its fullest extent.

Super moves have unique tradeoffs. Because they arrive in the final scene, they’re often only used once. They must have an immediate and huge impact on the narrative. It’s especially important that super moves be distinct from each other, as they have an outsized influence on character replay value.

A character’s first one or two super moves often flow naturally from their backstory and archetype, but it can be remarkably difficult to come up with a third.

9: Chapters

The final piece is story.

Atma characters, like any RPG character, are not just the sum of their archetype, their origin, and their special abilities. They are individuals with histories, likes, hobbies, sadness, and potential. They’re starting points for players to build upon. To embody this, every card in a character deck features a short chapter on the back, featuring some tidbit or anecdote related to the move on the front of the card.

Veteran players may not need any of this, and that’s okay. It’s there to use or discard as needed. For new players especially, having a toolkit of past experiences laid out can help you think of your character as more than just a game piece, and teach you to expand them in turn.

Chapters relate to, and expand upon, their card’s gameplay.

These chapters are just as important as art or gameplay. They’re a tool for players to use during play, which means they require the same care, attention, and playtesting as other components.

10: Playtest

With the last chapter written, you’re ready to watch the character in action. As you accumulate feedback, it helps to start picking cards or card combinations you haven’t seen yet. Check for overly broad or narrow cards that need attention. Verify that a character’s stats are well suited to the typical actions they take. See if the lore, art, or gameplay text is confusing players.

Then do it all again!