Welcome to Stat Sheets, a feature where some of our more gaming inclined Mutants indulge in the pastime of statting out characters from our favorite movies and TV shows using our preferred tabletop role-playing game systems.

For our debut installment, we’ll be featuring the title characters from William Goldman’s greatest screenplay that isn’t The Princess Bride, the Western buddy tragicomedy Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. I, Sitting Duck, will be presenting them in Savage Worlds, while Drake will be using Fate.

Now any non-gaming types reading might find it all a bit confusing, and even some of you gamers might need a quick overview of an unfamiliar system. So here are summaries to give you an idea of what all those terms and numbers mean.

In Savage Worlds, Attributes and Skills (collectively referred to as Traits) are ranked as die types ranging from four-siders to twelve-siders (with d6 being considered average). Whenever a Trait check is called for, one die of the Trait’s type is rolled, with players and important NPCs also rolling a d6 (known as the Wild Die) alongside it and taking the higher result. Hindrances represent a character’s physical and mental foibles. Many come with a game mechanic disadvantage, while others are purely a role-playing tool. Playing one’s Hindrances in a way that inconveniences the party results in the GM awarding bennies, which can be spent on Trait rerolls and other game mechanic benefits. Edges provides specific game mechanic benefits but often require certain minimum Traits and prior Edges to select. Finally, there are the three Derived Statistics of Pace (how much distance the character can cover in a round, starts at six), Parry (how difficult the character is to hit in hand-to-hand combat, calculated from the Fighting Skill), and Toughness (how resilient the character is in taking damage, calculated from the Vigor Attribute). All three can be modified by possessing certain Hindrances, Edges, and Racial Abilities.

Robert Leroy Parker aka Butch Cassidy

• Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d10, Spirit d8, Strength d6, Vigor d6
• Skills: Athletics d6, Common Knowledge d8, Fighting d4, Gambling d4, Intimidation d6, Notice d8, Persuasion d10, Repair d4, Riding d8, Shooting d4, Stealth d6, Survival d6, Taunt d8, Thievery d6
• Hindrances: Greedy (minor), Pacifist (minor), Poverty, Wanted (major)
• Edges: Charismatic, Common Bond, Dodge, Retort, Streetwise, Strong Willed
• Pace: 6 Parry: 4 Toughness: 5

Harry Longbaugh aka The Sundance Kid

• Attributes: Agility d10, Smarts d6, Spirit d8, Strength d8, Vigor d8
• Skills: Athletics d6, Common Knowledge d6, Fighting d8, Gambling d10, Intimidation d10, Language (Spanish) d4, Notice d8, Persuasion d4, Riding d8, Shooting d12, Stealth d6, Survival d6, Taunt d8
  Hindrances: Can’t Swim, Greedy (minor), Loyal, Mean, Wanted (major)
• Edges: Block, Dodge, Free Runner, Quick, Improved Rapid Fire, Steady Hands, Strong Willed
• Pace: 6 Parry: 7 Toughness: 6

In Fate, a character generally has five aspects that sum up who they are. The aspects can be invoked at the cost of a Fate Point to aid a character is some way. They can be invoked to add +2 to a roll, re-roll the dice pool entirely, or be used to declare some type of story detail that might be advantageous in play.

And note that Fate Points are the game’s metacurrency. Characters generally start with three each game session, but can earn more in play, usually by something unfortunate happening due to their aspects. Like having the Pinkertons unexpectedly show up.

Skills are rated here at +1 through +4, but can go higher in some games. The bonuses that skills provide are added to the dice rolls made to accomplish things. For example, the skills shown for Butch indicate that he would get a +2 to any athletic endeavor, thanks to the rating of his Athletics skill. Sundance, on the other hand, lacks that skill entirely, which makes him very reticent to jump into a fast-moving river…

The dice themselves are six-sided cube dice, but two faces have a plus sigh (+) on them, two have a minus sign (-) and two are blank. The pluses each add one to a roll, the minuses each subtract one, and the blanks add nothing. This means your dice roll will vary from -4 to +4 before adding in the skill rating, or any bonuses from aspects.

Stunts are the special things a character can do. Sometimes they add bonuses, much like an aspect, but only in special circumstances and usually without the cost of a Fate Point. At other times, they allow a skill to be used a certain way, or for one skill to replace another in a special circumstance.

Stress is generally divided into two types: Physical and Mental. This represents how long you can stay in a fight, or in a debate or argument, or in any other situation that might cause stress. They are not Hit Points! They look similar from the outside, but stress in and of itself is not damaging, and in fact recovers after each scene. If enough stress is taken, however, then a character may be forced to endure consequences, which are more debilitating. If you take more stress than you have stress boxes, you are Taken Out, which doesn’t mean dead. It often means left for dead, imprisoned, or maybe hung up on an X-shaped cross as the vultures circle overhead.

Fate characters have four actions which cover everything they can do. They can Attack and Defend, which are pretty self-explanatory. They can also Overcome, which is basically attempting to succeed with a given skill at a given task. Concealing oneself in the dark with Stealth, for example, or using a vehicle skill to weave through traffic at high speed. The fourth action, Create an Advantage, allows a character to create a situational aspect that they can then use to aid themselves or their teammates. This is a particularly nifty action that can really help to drive the game.

After all, I don’t think Luke would have made it through that last scene in Star Wars without creating an I’m Using the Force! aspect and invoking it for all it was worth.

Robert LeRoy Parker AKA Butch Cassidy

ASPECTS

• The Last of the Wild West Outlaws
• Hunted by the Pinkertons
• Leader of the Wild Bunch
• Polite & Nonviolent
• Always Plan Ahead

SKILLS

• Great (+4): Rapport
• Good (+3): Burglary, Deceive
• Fair (+2): Athletics, Notice, Ride
• Average (+1): Contacts, Empathy, Stealth, Will

STUNTS

• Always a Way Out. +2 on Burglary rolls made to create an advantage whenever you’re trying to escape from a location.
• Sucker Punch. You can use Deceive in place of Fight when you’re in melee combat against a single opponent.
• Famous Outlaw. You can use Burglary in place of Contacts whenever you’re dealing specifically with other outlaws.

Harry Longabaugh AKA The Sundance Kid

ASPECTS

• Fastest Gun in the West
• Wherever I Go, Trouble Follows
• My Heart Belongs to Etta
• …But My Loyalty is to Butch
• I’m Better When I Move

SKILLS

• Great (+4): Shoot
• Good (+3): Provoke, Will
• Fair (+2): Notice, Ride, Stealth
• Average (+1): Burglary, Deceive, Fight, Physique

STUNTS

• Quickdraw. You can use Shoot instead of Notice to determine turn order in any physical conflict where shooting quickly would be useful.
• “That’s the Sundance Kid!” +2 to Provoke rolls made to overcome a target with intimidation, as long as they’ve heard of you and are aware of your reputation. They resist with Will.
• Fan the Hammer. You can fire off shots quickly, and at multiple targets. Divide your Shoot total among up to three targets, who each defend normally.

Let’s take the famous knife fight scene from the movie as a quick example of a conflict in Fate. Butch is desperately trying to talk himself out of trouble here, not wanting to use Shoot or Fight. He lacks both, so he’d be rolling his dice with a +0 bonus. So he initially rolls his Rapport, in general a winning strategy thanks to his rating of Great (+4), but it fails this time around. Maybe Butch rolled badly, maybe the difficulty is just too high because the gang are siding with Harvey, but whatever it is, Butch is going to have to fight.

For Harvey, we’ll just give him a quick character writeup. Since this is his only appearance in the movie there’s no need to make him anything other than a minor NPC, so we’ll give him a single aspect and a pair of skills at Fair (+2).

Harvey Logan

• Giant of a man
• Fair (+2): Fight and Shoot
• Stress: O O

That’s it. That’s all Harvey needs. Now Butch can use his Fair (+2) Athletics to try to avoid getting killed, because that skill can be used to defend against physical attacks, and that gives him a decent chance to survive for a few rounds at least. He’ll still be rolling a +0 to hit Harvey, however, so sooner or later he’s going to be in trouble. And let’s face it, Butch isn’t looking for a fair fight. So that’s when he says, “No, not yet. Not until me and Harvey get the rules straightened out.” Butch has no intention of setting down any rules. He’s using Deceive and his Sucker Punch stunt.

Even as Harvey says, “Rules? In a knife fight? No rules!,” Butch describes his action of suddenly just hauling off and kicking Harvey in the family jewels. Butch rolls his four dice and they come up with a positive sign (+), a minus (-) and two blank sides. That gives him a total of a +0 for his roll, which he adds to his Deceive to get a total of +3. Meanwhile, Harvey’s dice roll two minuses (- -), a single plus (+) and a blank side. Not great for Harvey, as that total of -1 adds to his Fight of +2 for a measly total of +1.

Subtracting Harvey’s +1 from Butch’s +3 leaves Butch doing a total of 2 stress. As it stands, that’s enough to fill Harvey’s two stress boxes, but not enough to take him out of the conflict. Butch needs to do at least one additional stress to put Harvey away, so he tells the GM “I think I’ve learned more than my share of dirty tricks as The Last of the Wild West Outlaws!” He invokes that aspect, spends a Fate Point and adds +2 to his roll for a new total of +5!

Note that the GM could spend a Fate Point of his own here to invoke Harvey’s Giant of a Man aspect for a bonus, but he decides to save those for later. Besides, this is a big moment for Butch, and in Fate the GM is there to facilitate the characters being awesome, not get in their way.

Subtracting Harvey’s +1 from Butch’s +5 leaves the attack doing 4 stress to poor Harvey. Harvey’s taken more stress than he has stress boxes to fill, so he is down and out. Butch’s player describes the incident: “With Harvey down in the dirt after the kick, I get the 1-2-3-Go from Sundance and nail him with the biggest punch I can throw, knocking him clean out. I then reunite with my gang as they fall back in line and heap much-deserved praise upon me.”

In Fate, as in the film, the scene exists to give Butch a cool moment. Harvey could have been given more skills, higher ratings and more stress boxes, but he’s only meant as a bump in the road for Butch. The fight has forced Butch to use a Fate Point, however, so he may well be looking at opportunities to get it back, which means his aspects might come into play again soon, just not in a beneficial way. After all, Fate characters may be tough, but they live exciting lives!

Want to now more about Fate? The rulebooks (and much more) are in print, and also available online for free at: fate-srd.com