Starting at a higher level?

[gamefreak180]

I know other rpgs have guidelines for making more experienced characters. What pursuit number would you recommend? And would the same go for starting with an advanced pursuit as well?

[EnternalVoid]

I don't think this translates as well into TTB because ranks in pursuits do not directly translate into experience.  Personally I always saw starting with a more advance set of characters as a mechanism to skip the lower levels of leveling characters up *IE skip the killing rats and punk goblins stage and go to the meatier course*.  As TTB is less dungeon crawl/Epic adventure that can drag out and more story telling with an ending in sight, I don't think this works so well.  You can compensate as the Fatemaster but it means knowing what will be a challenge and how to challenge the stronger Fated.

If you wanted to start with stronger starting Fated I would instead look to Aspects and skills instead as the core with maybe so many ranks to throw into pursuits *2 or 3 that can be concentrated or spread out*.  Like starting with +1 or +2 points they can put into their Aspects and a set number of Experience points to spend from the get go.  the problem with this is unless you have guidelines people are just going to dumb it into the skills they want the strongest, aiming for high AV on attacks or higher Df and Wp.  They are unlikely to be rounded characters unless you put limitations on them.

[gamefreak180]

What are your thoughts on starting with advanced pursuits (like Grave marshals or torikage)?

[Le gob]

1 hour ago, gamefreak180 said:

What are your thoughts on starting with advanced pursuits (like Grave marshals or torikage)?

If you have a good reason in game, an adavanced carreer can be joined pretty early, so no need to start with it.

[gamefreak180]

Ok cool definitely some good info to think about from the both of you.

[spooky_squirrel]

On top of @Le gob's remark: the prerequisites for the advanced pursuits aren't as strenuous to meet as something like Prestige Classes in d20 Star Wars. You can actually build a starting character that's most of (if not all) the way there as a Fated player, and as long as the Fatemaster is on board get the rest of the way there within a session or two. The hardest part isn't actually meeting the character sheet prerequisites, but the in-game justification (to be a Showgirl at the Star Theatre you have to be invited and pass an audition, to be a Demolitions Expert, you've got to blow stuff up).

 

With regards to starting with several steps on the Pursuit already completed, @EnternalVoid covered the mechanics of why other systems do that (skip the rats in the basement).
I would add to it that the Fated crew loses out on the value of growing in their own direction (with the way experience is awarded and skills advanced). If you're wanting to run something more high powered: they can still start at 0-level (Pursuit), but you can grant them an additional point or two for fine tuning characters after creation. TTB not being a mob-grind or Epic dungeon crawl means that there's no reason to bother with the rats in the basement beyond Session 0: introduction to TTB combat system. You can get your Fated crew lined up to deal with a Miner Strike in the Northlands, Gremlin smuggling 'shine nuisance in the slums, corrupt Guild Guards shaking people down, or even minor Nephilim incursions threatening Contract Towns--from just their creation. That's what the prologue of a session is for (and why with the exception of the first session of a newly created character Pursuit is chosen after the prologue): to set player expectations. Someone who started their Fated career as a Drudge might become Invested if they get brutally mauled during a session and "saved" by the Steamfitters Union, but they also might become a Guard, Merc, or Tinkerer if the campaign is going in a direction that supports that.

The way the rank system is set up, you can adjust difficulty on the fly by bumping the Rank and Station of the mobs that your Fated run into. A Minion (5) has some tricks up its sleeve that will make encounters harder, but the same exact stats and skills on a Peon (4) are considerably easier to deal with (not just because of changing the AV, but also by limiting what that Fatemaster character can do outside of tactical actions). This lets you introduce different potential hostiles scaled for the Fated. The corrupt Guild Guards might be out of practice on shooting and fighting because they're so used to using their patrol time to shake people down (in story justification for being easier to fight against), as well as not used to people standing up to them (in story justification for being easier to use non-combat abilities against them). Those Miners in the Northlands might be on a hunger strike or striking because of illness and injury, making them not nearly as resilient and prepared for a full-fledge fight.
With these mechanics in play for TTB, you can avoid bog-standard "you all meet in the tavern and are asked to deal with { a rat problem in the basement, goblin raids on the village, etc. }" that dungeon-crawling systems seem to revolve around for starting characters.