Would anyone be willing to write up a Girl Genius character in SWADE for me?

[Puck Goodfellow]

I'm just getting into the SWADE rules and am getting used to them. I'm also not... great... at memorizing rule sets. My next campaign that I'm running in Savage Worlds is going to be a Space: 1889 using the SWADE rules. My wife wants to play as Agatha Heterodyne from https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php Girl Genius. I've been working on it.

However, I've got another 5e campaign that I've got to start soon. A curse of Strahd campaign I'm going to be playing in. Then my wife is running a Magical Kitties (system by Atlas, the people who make Gloom) campaign that I'm playing in too. Also, I'm trying to figure out how to use Fantasy Grounds as a Campaign Manager (I don't need it as a VTT). So I'm very very very busy when it comes to RPG stuff right now.

I was wondering if anyone would be willing to do a little of the work for me? If they could write up Agatha Heterodyne as a SWADE character for me I would really appreciate it. I'm thinking right after Agatha and Krosp escape Castle Wulfenbach is exactly right for a Novice level character. Lol, I know that I'm asking a lot, but I was hoping someone would find it as a fun exercise.

[Deskepticon]

Welcome!

Per the Forum Rules (#3 specifically), conversions of copyright material are not allowed to be posted on this board. That being said, generalizations of character tropes are okay.

Mad-Scientist Lady
Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d10, Spirit d8, Strength d4, Vigor d4
Skills: Academics d4, Athletics d6, Common Knowledge d6, Electronics d4, Fighting d6, Notice d6, Persuasion d6, Repair d6, Shooting d4, Stealth d4, Weird Science d8
Pace: 6,Parry: 5, Toughness: 4
Hindrances: Bad Eyes (Minor---wears glasses), Curious (Major), Secret (Minor---something hidden in her past)
Edges: Arcane Background (Weird Science)
Powers: (pick any 2) Power Points: 15

How's this?

[Puck Goodfellow]

Welcome!

Per the Forum Rules (#3 specifically), conversions of copyright material are not allowed to be posted on this board. That being said, generalizations of character tropes are okay.

*facepalms* It's always the specifics that get you. Thank you for bringing that rule to my attention. I've been using Message Boards and Forums since the days of Fidonet in the 90s. You'd think that after all that time I'd remember that while most of the rules in Forums are boilerplate. Most sites have their own variations.

Thank you, that looks perfect. I'm sure that my wife will love playing Agnes Oscillation. Who is on the run from her would be fiancee Enkidu Berlinstream.

How does Smarts relate to real world intelligence? I was thinking of giving... Agnes a d12. Since she is definitely genius level.

[Sitting Duck]

For one of her starting powers, I would go with summon ally to reflect her dingbots.

[lunchmoney]

How does Smarts relate to real world intelligence? I was thinking of giving... Agnes a d12. Since she is definitely genius level.

D6 is considered human average, so we can equate that to 100 IQ (most humans falling between 85 and 115).
Ergo D4 is below average - to remain playable I would suggest 70-85 - and D8 is above average (I would suggest around 140 IQ). 160 IQ is considered genius level and I would put that in D10 bracket, with D12 being supra level intelligence, possibly limited to just a few 1000 humans on Earth.

This is just my estimation, it might have been clarified elsewhere.

[ValhallaGH]

"Genius", when it was still a technical term, started at IQ 140. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IQ_classification

[lunchmoney]

Quick Google and used first result. This isn't an exact science.

[ValhallaGH]

D6 is considered human average, so we can equate that to 100 IQ (most humans falling between 85 and 115).

Equating die types to IQ is a bad practice, period.
First, because IQ is a dodgy metric, with a solidly racist foundation, a strong Euro-centric bias, and overwhelming favoritism of formal education. Like the cubit, it is a bad way to measure the things it claims to measure.
Second, because Smarts can change over the course of a campaign. A character can go from Smarts d4 to Smarts d12 as they move from Novice to Heroic rank; and a Legendary character go from d4 to d12+2 in just ten advances. By contrast, what IQ claims to represent is a fixed potential - an upper limit of that individual's ability.
Third, because Smarts rolls can Ace. I've had Smarts d4 characters (some of them Clueless) roll 20+ to know about some obscure and technical subject. At some unspecified prior point, the characters had investigated, learned about, and retained detailed and complex information about a subject that came up in campaign. Be that the nature and recovery of traumatic brain injuries, the theology of a minor goddess, the theory and engineering underlying matter-transporter technology, or 15th century Chinese painters.
Fourth, because the scale doesn't stop at Smarts d12. Thanks to the Expert, Professional, and Master edges, Smarts d12+2 is available, with a d10 Wild Die. That's success on 99.167% of unpenalized rolls.
Fifth, because the Wild Die further muddies intellectual performance and measurement.

Personally, I conceive of Smarts as a character's habitual mental focus. Smarts d4 says that the character rarely thinks about topics - they can, they just don't bother to. Smarts d12 implies that the character thinks deeply about nearly all topics - possibly too deeply.

[Deskepticon]

Thank you, that looks perfect.

Why, thank you!
In case you want to switch things around a bit, I put 2 bonus points (those gained from taking Hindrances) into improving her Smarts, and the other 2 into skills.

How does Smarts relate to real world intelligence? I was thinking of giving... Agnes a d12. Since she is definitely genius level.

Smarts is basically a measure of the character's retained knowledge and their ability to recall it quickly and correctly. I agree with ValhallaGH that it probably shouldn't be used to measure IQ, or place the character on some type of "intelligence scale." A low Smarts can easily represent a "genius" that is consistently scatterbrained, or someone who has trouble recalling the information they KNOW is in their head.

Agnes doesn't need a d12 Smarts at the beginning of the game for a couple reasons: 1) that would bite into resources that are better spent elsewhere, and 2) it won't serve any real mechanical advantage to do so. Attribute die values serve two functions in SWADE: they determine the growth of linked skills, and they are used to resist Tests and similar effects. In Agnes's case, no skill can be raise above d10 yet, and the probability difference on success between a d10 and d12 is only 2.5%.

In short, the only reason Agnes might want a d12 Smarts is if she is going to raise multiple Smarts-based skills to d12. Otherwise, d10 is likely more than enough (mechanically speaking) and it still represents someone with explosive critical thinking skills.

[lunchmoney]

Equating die types to IQ is a bad practice, period.

I never said it was good idea. The OP asked if D12 was equivalent to genius level intelligence, I offered a way to decide that.

[lunchmoney]

For what it's worth, Smarts, as per the rulebook, is raw intelligence (IQ) and reasoning etc.

[Deskepticon]

Just take the 'L' buddy.

I kid, I kid!

It's true that Smarts represents IQ, but the refutation was about assigning that a die type. A character with d6 Smarts might theoretically have a 155 IQ, but just has a tendency to ponder too long. (And, yes, I know IQ tests measure speed as well as accuracy; It's why I said 'theoretically.') The lower die type represents the difference between knowing the right answer and knowing it when it counts.