So, you have picked a race to play, and also have an idea for a class right? Next comes all the rest of the little things we need to figure out to complete your character.
Back Story
Spend some time and generate as much of a back story as you can. Make up a city or town, or village... call it what you want. Name your parents - if you know them or had any - and come up with names of sisters, brothers, enemies, and anything else you can think of. Do not come up with a back story that is too extravagant.
For example; "My name is Jonas Valhalla, my father was a half god and my mother the daughter of the king of Rundlehorn. When I was 13, my powers came to existence and showed itself to me and the world. Many feared me and in time they learned that fear was well placed. By the time I was 15 I had destroyed thousands in combat when our kingdom went to war with others who sought to take our lands. I am a prince and should be treated as such. During one encounter I was scratched by a werewolf and now, when the moon turns full... I too become a werewolf. I have total control of this mind and body when I transform but I cannot communicate. Due to my werewolf form, I cannot be harmed except by silver or magic weapons and any damage I take in my canine form is gone when I revert to my normal self"
As you can see from above, the player took far too many liberties and is making their character a very powerful being right out of the gates. Not only will I, the GM, hate this but so too will your fellow players. We want to begin with level 1 "beginner" knowledge, abilities and such. You are all not average beings though. Far from it. You are heroes and although you may not know it yet (your character won't), in time your character will become skilled, advance, get better, learn more and through treasure, experience and teamwork, you will all find yourself eventually becoming that all powerful hero you want to become. Let it happen organically. Start humbly and enjoy the journey towards getting more and more powerful.
From your backstory, you can now start to construct your character by rolling some dice, applying the results and matching them up based on your image of what your character can do and how you want them to evolve. You are laying down the base layer of "paint" on a blank canvas right now. This back story of yours also gives the GM idea's for future plot hooks and storylines that can make the game so much more immersive for you. The back story could well be the most important thing you do for your enjoyment of your game.
So, let's get on with it... let's roll some dice and apply the results to your stats on your character sheet.
Rune Marked
When you were born, you were rune marked. How did your family react? Your community? Did they know or find out? These can be great things to add into your characters back story. Design your rune marking as you see fit. Place it on your body as you like and make it no more than the size of silver dollar. 3" tops. If you place it somewhere visible like your hand, neck, face... this could cause you trouble potentially in some places or with people you meet but perhaps you want that drama to exist for your character in the game and that is totally fine.
Now, pick one of your Abilities and one of your skills and add +2 to them both. This is what your rune marking has gifted you. A bonus.
Health Points
First thing up... Your Health Points (often called "Hit Points"). Health points are a more or less universal method to indicate how much life your character has. How healthy, how durable they are. Think of real life of the huge muscle bound NFL linebacker compared to the skinny little computer programmer. One is tougher, more able to take a beating... the other, not so much. But then... maybe the skinny guy can run a marathon and the linebacker can only run a block so perhaps the skinny guy has decent health too. To break all that stuff down, we use Strength, Dexterity and Constitution to further define those details. For now.. let's just figure out how much damage you can take before you fall down hurt, winded or passed out.
All characters start out with a base HP based on their racial toughness. This number can be found on the page for your race but also below.
First thing up... Your Health Points (often called "Hit Points"). Health points are a more or less universal method to indicate how much life your character has. How healthy, how durable they are. Think of real life of the huge muscle bound NFL linebacker compared to the skinny little computer programmer. One is tougher, more able to take a beating... the other, not so much. But then... maybe the skinny guy can run a marathon and the linebacker can only run a block so perhaps the skinny guy has decent health too. To break all that stuff down, we use Strength, Dexterity and Constitution to further define those details. For now.. let's just figure out how much damage you can take before you fall down hurt, winded or passed out.
All characters start out with a base HP based on their racial toughness. This number can be found on the page for your race but also below.
Dwarven - Base HP is 16
Human - Base HP is 14
Half-Elven - Base HP is 13
Half-Orc - Base HP is 15
Halfling - Base HP is 10
Elven - Base HP is 12
Goliath - Base HP is 17
Gnome - Base HP is 11
Next, figure out your ability scores below. Once you have Constitution... multiply that by 3, add it to your Racial HP above. Also, once you have your Strength sorted out... add that as well to your Racial HP. This will be your total HP score.
Next, figure out your ability scores below. Once you have Constitution... multiply that by 3, add it to your Racial HP above. Also, once you have your Strength sorted out... add that as well to your Racial HP. This will be your total HP score.
Ability Scores
An ability score is what defines you at your current age as a character. A culmination of all your life's experiences that have created your reflexes, your strength, your health, your intelligence, your charm and skills with people, spirituality, senses and your instincts.
Roll a D20 eight times and toss out the two lowest results. Of the remainder, apply the scores to your ability stats. Refer to the chart below to see what your result translates to:
An ability score is what defines you at your current age as a character. A culmination of all your life's experiences that have created your reflexes, your strength, your health, your intelligence, your charm and skills with people, spirituality, senses and your instincts.
Roll a D20 eight times and toss out the two lowest results. Of the remainder, apply the scores to your ability stats. Refer to the chart below to see what your result translates to:
Roll result = Stat score
18-20 = +4
16,17 = +3
13-15 = +2
9-12 = +1
6-8 = 0
4,5 = -1
1-3 = -2
ABILITIES
STRENGTH: Measures your physical power. Those who deal damage through weapon use will want this to be high as you will add your Strength score to your damage rolls to deal extra damage. Does not apply to shooting arrows.
DEXTERITY: Measures your agility, reflexes, body or hand/eye coordination. This stat will affect your attempts to hit a target as your dexterity dictates accuracy/skill with your weapon use. It will get added to your attempts to hit a target especially true if using ranged weapons.
CONSTITUTION: Measures your health, stamina, vitality, durability. This stat will drive up your health points. Whatever you end up with here... multiply it by 3 and add that to your your HP's.
INTELLIGENCE: Measures your mind power, ability to reason, knowledge, problem solving. Magic users who learn their art through study will utilize this ability score a great deal. This number will indicate how many spells you have memorized and can cast immediately on your turn. All other spells take more time and you will have to wait until it's your turn again to cast them. When resisting magical attacks on you, you will add this number to your roll.
WISDOM: Measures perception, awareness, spirituality. Magic users who harness their power through mystical ways such as a deity or the Earth and have it channeled through them as a conduit will utilize this ability score lots. A monk will multiply this stat x 3 to find out how many Ki points they have. A cleric or other caster who is channeling magic from an outside source will use this stat to pray to their deity once per day and if a 12 or higher is rolled... they are heard which often leads to a learned spell or ability boon given to them as appreciation for their fealty. When resisting spiritual magic attacks on you, you will add this number to your roll.
CHARISMA: Measures charm, influence, skill with people, appearance and intimidation.
After you have thought through this and figured out what area's you wish to be strong in... apply those 6 points you rolled to your abilities. It might look like this after you are done:
Example:
STRENGTH: +3 (= +3 points added to your damage rolls when using hand to hand combat)
DEXTERITY: +2 (= +2 added to your attempt rolls to hit a target)
CONSTITUTION: +3 (= multiply by 3 = 9 extra HP's, add your racial base HP's which are found on your races page and also below, and add your strength stat = total HP's. Summerized: Con x3 + race HP base + Str = HP's)
INTELLIGENCE: +1 (= have memorized 1 spell which can be cast right now. Multiply x3 = how much Mana you have.)
WISDOM: 0
CHARISMA: +1
This example would be a good setup for a Fighter type, perhaps a Ranger or maybe even a Sneaky thief type perhaps. Thieves' tend to need more Dexterity than Strength but hey... maybe you want a tough and brawling type of sneak. Your choice.
STRENGTH: Measures your physical power. Those who deal damage through weapon use will want this to be high as you will add your Strength score to your damage rolls to deal extra damage. Does not apply to shooting arrows.
DEXTERITY: Measures your agility, reflexes, body or hand/eye coordination. This stat will affect your attempts to hit a target as your dexterity dictates accuracy/skill with your weapon use. It will get added to your attempts to hit a target especially true if using ranged weapons.
CONSTITUTION: Measures your health, stamina, vitality, durability. This stat will drive up your health points. Whatever you end up with here... multiply it by 3 and add that to your your HP's.
INTELLIGENCE: Measures your mind power, ability to reason, knowledge, problem solving. Magic users who learn their art through study will utilize this ability score a great deal. This number will indicate how many spells you have memorized and can cast immediately on your turn. All other spells take more time and you will have to wait until it's your turn again to cast them. When resisting magical attacks on you, you will add this number to your roll.
WISDOM: Measures perception, awareness, spirituality. Magic users who harness their power through mystical ways such as a deity or the Earth and have it channeled through them as a conduit will utilize this ability score lots. A monk will multiply this stat x 3 to find out how many Ki points they have. A cleric or other caster who is channeling magic from an outside source will use this stat to pray to their deity once per day and if a 12 or higher is rolled... they are heard which often leads to a learned spell or ability boon given to them as appreciation for their fealty. When resisting spiritual magic attacks on you, you will add this number to your roll.
CHARISMA: Measures charm, influence, skill with people, appearance and intimidation.
After you have thought through this and figured out what area's you wish to be strong in... apply those 6 points you rolled to your abilities. It might look like this after you are done:
Example:
STRENGTH: +3 (= +3 points added to your damage rolls when using hand to hand combat)
DEXTERITY: +2 (= +2 added to your attempt rolls to hit a target)
CONSTITUTION: +3 (= multiply by 3 = 9 extra HP's, add your racial base HP's which are found on your races page and also below, and add your strength stat = total HP's. Summerized: Con x3 + race HP base + Str = HP's)
INTELLIGENCE: +1 (= have memorized 1 spell which can be cast right now. Multiply x3 = how much Mana you have.)
WISDOM: 0
CHARISMA: +1
This example would be a good setup for a Fighter type, perhaps a Ranger or maybe even a Sneaky thief type perhaps. Thieves' tend to need more Dexterity than Strength but hey... maybe you want a tough and brawling type of sneak. Your choice.
Armor Class
For simplicity's sake, we will use three base types of armor:
LIGHT
MEDIUM
HEAVY
Each Armor type offers a layer of protection but it also offers some hindrances. For example, light armor is great for someone who wishes to be silent and because it is light, it does not hinder your dexterity nor require great strength to wear. Meanwhile, Heavy armor is quite the opposite. It is noisy, heavy and requires greater strength to wear effectively yet offers much more protection. Let's break it down so you can choose which you choose to wear:
Light Armor: You must have a minimum Strength of 2 to wear this armor. You gain +2 to your AC and EvC. It weighs approximately 25 lbs and is worth 40 gp to replace.
HEAVY
Each Armor type offers a layer of protection but it also offers some hindrances. For example, light armor is great for someone who wishes to be silent and because it is light, it does not hinder your dexterity nor require great strength to wear. Meanwhile, Heavy armor is quite the opposite. It is noisy, heavy and requires greater strength to wear effectively yet offers much more protection. Let's break it down so you can choose which you choose to wear:
Light Armor: You must have a minimum Strength of 2 to wear this armor. You gain +2 to your AC and EvC. It weighs approximately 25 lbs and is worth 40 gp to replace.
Medium Armor: You must have a minimum Strength of 3 to wear this armor. You gain +3 to your AC and EvC. It weighs approximately 40 lbs and is worth 80 - 120 gp to replace. You suffer penalties to stealth related checks of - 1, and climbing and swimming -2. You can wear this armor for a full 12 to 16 hours before the weight of it starts to sap you of your strength and you will exhaust unless you are Dwarven, Half-orc, Goliath or a very large human in which case, you can easily wear it for days.
Heavy Armor: You must have a minimum Strength of 4 to wear this armor. You gain +4 to your AC and EvC. It weighs approximately 100 to 160 lbs and is worth 200 gp or more to replace. You suffer penalties to stealth related checks of -2, and climbing and swimming -4. You can wear this armor for a full 6 to 8 hours before the weight of it starts to sap you of your strength and you will exhaust unless you are Dwarven, Half-orc, Goliath or a very large human in which case, you can wear it for 24 hours max. It is also very laborious to climb into and out of and you will require assistance to do so. Wearing heavy armor in a city, town or village will draw a great deal of attention. Something you need to consider depending on what kind of first impression you want to make.
Shield:
A wooden shield gives you the following extra AC and EvC:
Small: +1
Medium: +2, Requires 2 strength, -1 to swim checks
Large: +3, Requires 3 strength, -2 to swim checks
An Iron and oaken shield gives you the following extra AC and EvC:
Small: +2, Requires 2 strength, -1 to swim checks
Medium: +3, Requires 3 strength, -2 to swim checks
Large: +4, Requires 4 strength, -3 to swim checks
*At any time, you can choose to sacrifice your shield, it will be fully destroyed and all damage taken will be soaked by it instead of you taking any damage.
EvC, what is it?
You will have noticed it mentioned a few times above. This stands for "Evasion Class". When in combat, you need to know what your Armor Class is and what your Evasion Class is. Your Evasion Class represents your ability to dodge and avoid being struck. Your Armor Class represents How much damage you can withstand.
This is how it works: Below is an example of the range that can be rolled by an opponent. If they roll under you EvC, they miss. If they roll higher than your AC, they hit for full damage. If they roll in-between your EvC and AC... you take half damage (rounded down).
Example:
Enemies Roll Result
1 The enemy misses
2 The enemy misses
3 The enemy misses
4 The enemy misses
5 The enemy misses
6 The enemy misses
7 The enemy misses
--------------------------
8 EvC = 8 You take half damage
9 You take half damage
10 You take half damage
11 You take half damage
12 You take half damage
13 You take half damage
14 You take half damage
15 You take half damage
16 AC = 16
----------------------------
17 You take full damage
18 You take full damage
19 You take full damage
20+ You take full damage
How to calculate your EvC and your AC:
Evasion Class
Light armor: Race AC + Dexterity + Armor's AC (2)
Medium armor: Race AC + 2 + Armor's AC (3)
Heavy armor: Race AC + Armor's AC (4)
Armor Class
Light armor: Race AC + Strength + Constitution + Armor's AC (2)
Medium armor: Race AC + Strength + Constitution + Armor's AC (3)
Heavy armor: Race AC + Strength + Constitution + Armor's AC (4)
Race AC
Dwarven - Base AC is 7
Human - Base AC is 5
Half-Elven - Base AC is 4
Half-Orc - Base AC is 6
Halfling - Base AC is 2
Elven - Base AC is 3
Goliath - Base AC is 8
Gnome - Base AC is 1
SKILLS
Skills are a sub-section to ability scores. They further decide your specialties as a being. Below are a list of skills to put no more than 3 points on each. To exceed a score of 3, you will need to do so from any race, size, magical items or other boons that will increase them which will arrive through game play. You have 20 points to apply to them. During game time you will be asked often to do a skill check. You will then decide which skill and ability score to add to your check. For example... you want to see what it was that killed someone so it might be a MEDICINE + INTELLIGENCE check. Or, how about doing first aid surgery on someone injured badly? It might be a MEDICINE + DEXTERITY check. Between you and the GM... this needs to be decided and then you roll, add the two score's together and add try to beat the challenge rating given to you by the GM.
*Do not apply points to Knowledge. Spend 6 points on the sub-categories under it instead. Nothing can go over 3 as you do so.
Skills are a sub-section to ability scores. They further decide your specialties as a being. Below are a list of skills to put no more than 3 points on each. To exceed a score of 3, you will need to do so from any race, size, magical items or other boons that will increase them which will arrive through game play. You have 20 points to apply to them. During game time you will be asked often to do a skill check. You will then decide which skill and ability score to add to your check. For example... you want to see what it was that killed someone so it might be a MEDICINE + INTELLIGENCE check. Or, how about doing first aid surgery on someone injured badly? It might be a MEDICINE + DEXTERITY check. Between you and the GM... this needs to be decided and then you roll, add the two score's together and add try to beat the challenge rating given to you by the GM.
*Do not apply points to Knowledge. Spend 6 points on the sub-categories under it instead. Nothing can go over 3 as you do so.
ANIMAL HANDLE - Care for, Feed, Train, Calm animal
BLUFF - Deceive, mislead, convince, trick, spread false rumors
CLIMB - Scale sheer, slippery surface, cling to or avoid being knocked off
CLIMB - Scale sheer, slippery surface, cling to or avoid being knocked off
DECEPTION - Lie, convince, pull the wool over someone's eyes
DISABLE DEVICE - Identify details of device, disarm trap, open lock, solve mechanical puzzle
DISGUISE - Create convincing look you are after on either you or someone else
DRIVE - Control a cart, wagon, chariot
ESCAPE ARTIST - Escape bonds, Slip through small spaces
FIRST AID /MEDICINE - Tend to injured, bandage, patch, stabilize, surgery
DISABLE DEVICE - Identify details of device, disarm trap, open lock, solve mechanical puzzle
DISGUISE - Create convincing look you are after on either you or someone else
DRIVE - Control a cart, wagon, chariot
ESCAPE ARTIST - Escape bonds, Slip through small spaces
FIRST AID /MEDICINE - Tend to injured, bandage, patch, stabilize, surgery
GATHER RUMORS - Obtain information
INTIMIDATE - Influence through various means
INTIMIDATE - Influence through various means
KNOWLEDGE - Pick from below, spend 6 points on them and none exceed 3 points:
- ARCANA - Knowledge of magic, identify, lore of, runes, etc
- DUNGEONEERING - Tunnels, caverns, subterranean flora/fauna, etc
- FOLKLORE - Customs of the area, legends, traditions, etc
- FORBIDDEN LORE - The occult, weird and forbidden, cults, evil deities, etc
- HERALDRY - Lineages, crests, families of note, court behaviour
- HISTORY - Similar to Folklore only so much more information
- NATURE - Terrain, plants, animals, weather
- RELIGION - Deities, practices, traditions
- SCIENCES - Astronomy, math, biology, chemistry
- WARFARE - Weaponry, tactics
LISTEN - Eavesdrop, hear subtle sounds, notice changes through sound
PERFORM - Amuse, entertain, act with various end goals in mind
PERSUADE - Influence, convince, change mind
PROFESSION - Choose a trade like Armorer, Fisherman, Hunter, etc
RIDE - Control mount in a challenging situation
SEARCH - Find clues, spot traps, secret doors, clues of previous passage, etc
SENSE MOTIVE - Divine someone's true motive, intentions, detect lies, recognize fakery/deception
SLEIGHT OF HAND - Palm object, pick pocket, put something on someone, slide knife into hand unnoticed to gain surprise attack
SNEAK - Move silently, hide, perform an act in secrecy, slip past someone, sneak up on someone
SPOT - See an ambush ahead, find traps, notice someone hiding in shadows, find secret doors
SURVIVAL - Hunting, Navigate outdoors, make shelter, start fire, find food/water, forage
SWIM - Stay afloat, move in, avoid drowning
TRACK - Find traces of prey you seek
TUMBLE - Dive, roll, somersault, flip
USE ROPE - Manipulate/tie, make knots, untie, bind, secure, climb/descend
LUCK
We are all born lucky but for some... that luck gets tested earlier than others. For you... being hero types after all... you all have the same luck to begin with. 1 point to be exact. During game play, you will have opportunities to obtain more. At any time in the game, you can cash in a luck point (permanently) to either re-roll or force the GM to make a re-roll. This can literally save your life. Save them for those clutch moments. Trust me. If you wish, you can give Luck points to another player.
SANITY
We all have various levels of sanity which is our ability to not lose our minds under stressful situations or terrifying moments. Roll a d4 to see how much Sanity you have. Fingers crossed it's high. Now and then the GM might ask you to roll a sanity check. Apply this number to your roll and hope to meet or exceed the challenge rating the GM provides. Failing it will mean (depending on how badly you fail by) you might just be getting scared to perhaps full on losing your mind and cannot do anything but curl up in a ball asking for mommy over and over again. Oh the drama!
- ARCANA - Knowledge of magic, identify, lore of, runes, etc
- DUNGEONEERING - Tunnels, caverns, subterranean flora/fauna, etc
- FOLKLORE - Customs of the area, legends, traditions, etc
- FORBIDDEN LORE - The occult, weird and forbidden, cults, evil deities, etc
- HERALDRY - Lineages, crests, families of note, court behaviour
- HISTORY - Similar to Folklore only so much more information
- NATURE - Terrain, plants, animals, weather
- RELIGION - Deities, practices, traditions
- SCIENCES - Astronomy, math, biology, chemistry
- WARFARE - Weaponry, tactics
LISTEN - Eavesdrop, hear subtle sounds, notice changes through sound
PERFORM - Amuse, entertain, act with various end goals in mind
PERSUADE - Influence, convince, change mind
PROFESSION - Choose a trade like Armorer, Fisherman, Hunter, etc
RIDE - Control mount in a challenging situation
SEARCH - Find clues, spot traps, secret doors, clues of previous passage, etc
SENSE MOTIVE - Divine someone's true motive, intentions, detect lies, recognize fakery/deception
SLEIGHT OF HAND - Palm object, pick pocket, put something on someone, slide knife into hand unnoticed to gain surprise attack
SNEAK - Move silently, hide, perform an act in secrecy, slip past someone, sneak up on someone
SPOT - See an ambush ahead, find traps, notice someone hiding in shadows, find secret doors
SURVIVAL - Hunting, Navigate outdoors, make shelter, start fire, find food/water, forage
SWIM - Stay afloat, move in, avoid drowning
TRACK - Find traces of prey you seek
TUMBLE - Dive, roll, somersault, flip
USE ROPE - Manipulate/tie, make knots, untie, bind, secure, climb/descend
LUCK
We are all born lucky but for some... that luck gets tested earlier than others. For you... being hero types after all... you all have the same luck to begin with. 1 point to be exact. During game play, you will have opportunities to obtain more. At any time in the game, you can cash in a luck point (permanently) to either re-roll or force the GM to make a re-roll. This can literally save your life. Save them for those clutch moments. Trust me. If you wish, you can give Luck points to another player.
SANITY
We all have various levels of sanity which is our ability to not lose our minds under stressful situations or terrifying moments. Roll a d4 to see how much Sanity you have. Fingers crossed it's high. Now and then the GM might ask you to roll a sanity check. Apply this number to your roll and hope to meet or exceed the challenge rating the GM provides. Failing it will mean (depending on how badly you fail by) you might just be getting scared to perhaps full on losing your mind and cannot do anything but curl up in a ball asking for mommy over and over again. Oh the drama!
STARTING WEALTH
To calculate how much wealth you have at the beginning, roll as follows:
Copper pieces: 1D20
Silver pieces: 1D12
Gold pieces: 1D8
Platinum pieces: 1D4
Currency conversion:
10 cp = 1 sp
10 sp = 1 gp
10 gp = 1 pp
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