31 Days of Character Creation #4 – Over the Edge 3rd Edition

Today’s game is Over the Edge 3rd Edition, a very evocative premade setting & game. I was a big fan of the 2nd edition and supported the Kickstarter for this one years ago. I have yet to play it though, so I thought to add to this character creation marathon. Here’s the game as as described on its official website:

Over the Edge is the classic RPG of counter-culture conspiracy, weird science, and urban danger. For its third edition, the game comes roaring back in a completely reimagined relaunch by its original creator. Everything old gets a new take. Nothing is a retread. Every conspiracy, every neighborhood, every major gamemaster-character is portrayed with a new spin. It’s not “25 years later.” Everything on the Island is reborn to surprise new and existing players alike.

At the heart of Over the Edge third edition are the nine districts of the Edge, each with a unique flavor, colorful characters, memorable locales, and a mélange of bizarrity ruled over by a patchwork of cabals openly tolerated or empowered by the all-powerful anarchic State. Behind this public face of the city, however, there is a secret world of conspiratorial factions, strange fringe abilities, cutting-edge technology, and cross-reality incursions.

The result is a crazed sandbox setting which is infinitely receptive to whatever offbeat and outlandish ideas the players and gamemaster choose to pour into it. Over the Edge adds a final dash of madness with the “GM’s Secret Bag of Tricks,” a dozen fringe concepts and a gaggle of colorful characters, each of which can completely transform your version of the Edge or serve as the nucleus around which your entire campaign will form.

Francisco “Frank” Lambert is from Quebec originally. He had a rough childhood & adolescence which got him involved in drugs and crime. This is what led to his involvement with The Celestial Spire Syndicate (CSS). They think reality is a spiral staircase leading to enlightenment, and every action either ascends or descends one step. The ultimate goal is to “reach the apex” and become one with the cosmos. Their leader, Orbitus LaCroix, is a former architect who claims they glimpsed the spiral during a near-death experience in the late 1980s. LaCroix demands that his followers obsessively document their daily actions, judging each as a step up or down.

To keep The CSS funded, LaCroix has gone into the drug trade and few places are more lucrative (or dangerous) in this regard than the island of Al Amarja. Lambert has been sent as a mule. He claims to be a devoted believer, determined to ascend the staircase, but his growing dependence on Communion makes that difficult.

Even more troublesome are local gang (or cult?) The Cut-Ups, a very loosely organized group that have been causing problems for Lambert finding his connection to get the drugs and money flowing. LaCroix has suggested through his daily emails that Lambert should try to infiltrate the Cut-Ups to discovered their true game. That is proving harder than expected.

This character sheet is fairly simple – one page and not lots of stats, so all you need is the image below to play as them.