User:Average/Creating Your Character

To create your character you must choose various traits and roll for others. If you have pre-made backgrounds, you can also choose among them. See the Table of Contents to jump to a given sections. Some of this is waiting to be polished.

Race

Nine primary races, each with their own appearance and conferring a slight, different advantage on a given trait along with their minor (subordinate) trait, if known. If players are typecast to their race, they get the PER listed. On the trait[s] with the advantage, it's value can go as high as 20 (conferred by DM--higher if Epic tier) if you are typecast in the race:

• aryan: strong (+STR, -PTY) and acts on strength, not mind. PER:19, Action slots: 6; Innate ability: assess metal quality
• dwarf: hardy (+CON, -ASM), moves at 3/4 speed (SPEED: 5) but can make up for it by putting faith in a god, PER:13, Action slots: 5; Innate: can detect where earth (rock) has been tampered with through subtle cues that aren't natural
• faerûni (formerly "human"): noted for their intelligence, equanimity (+INT, -PER), resourcefulness when it comes to handling the elements, PER:15, Action slots: 6; Innate: natural language ability
• al qadim: desert nomads, quiet and perceptive (+PER, -INT). PER:15, Action slots 6; Innate: can detect magic
• elf: noted for emotional perceptivity (+WIS, -CON), gains more ability as alignment goes to greater good, PER:17; Innate: magic resistance
• afrikan: dark skin, otherwise same as faerûni, but very different aesthetic (+CHR,-SPEED). Spells are different, for example. Few remain. PER:13 or 14; Innate: ability to assess character alignment/intentions
• færy: noted for tiny size (roughly 4" tall) and speediness (+SPEED: 7, -STR). PER:14, Action slots: 7. Innately sees magic, but cannot reason about it. Can fly.
• dragonborn: noted for their fierceness and ability to be almost unnoticeable (+ASM, -MANA). Their words derive from the dragon realm. PER:14; natural resistant to fire.
• feywild: feral race, highly perceptive, +PER, -ASM; PER:20; 6 quanta; Innate: detects items of interest underground, can stack abilities (STR:34) if multiclasses by sacrificing a different stat.

Please leave other races to NPCs. Similarly, you might not want to use humanoid characters as NPCs to be slaughtered. Even animal types (including wolves or others in the beastiary) should be treated carefully.

If the DM doesn't award ability modifier for your race, you still get equipment suited to it as an alternative.

Background

Your background is tied to two things (unless you create one through another method): date that you create your character and the initial dice rolls you have when rolling for your stats.

Note the date and time that you start creating your character. The real world month and day maps to ten different months in game time (take the last digit of (month * 30 + day)), each with different characteristics (month of the Unicorn, ...?)

When you roll for your ability scores (below), roll in the order of your character sheet and write down the results of the rolls. These are your birth stats. When you re-order your dice to create your character and its starting order, you then have the beginnings of the path of how your character grew up: from the start abilities to the current abilities. So, for example, if your first roll is a 7 (STR), but you re-order it to be 14, then you have a story to imagine about how you came to be a scrawny kid to a respectable brut. Maybe you worked in your fathers field hauling a hay cart to the market each week, for example. OR perhaps your INT roll was a 16 and you re-ordered the dice to a 12, because you had a run-in with a Red Wizard of Thay who told you you were stupid and unfit for civilization. Another example, you had a ASM score of 12, but moved it to 4 and explained that your fingers finger off in a knife fight when you were 12. DEX might be move up because you trained as a sword fighter or because you grew up on a farm where you got to roam freely for many years. It might go down because you lost a love when you were a teenager and haven't found anyone to replace her/him. High CON is affiliated with good breeding within civilization, or high adventures if not. It may go down because the magistrates thought you were a thief and always picking on you. CHR may go high because you grew up in a wealthy family or had secret knowledge imparted to you when very young. It can also go up because you learned to survive on the street through negotiation.

You get the picture...

Class

There are ten classes formed around one predominate ability/trait (listed in parenthesis). They can multiclass to combine these dominant traits. If players don't know what class they want to be, they can be wild and experiment. They don't level, but DO gain HP and XP. Players are supposed to get more principled as they progress in their class. The fighting class starts out as a barbarian, without principles, to become a fighter, then a warrior. Without principles, there is a limit to power without becoming severely distorted, just as in life. So that's why each class has a Tier Path -- a title and ability change as they gain levels, making their character more definitive.

Here are the basic classes, their Underling -> Hero -> Paragon -> Legendary tier names, their dominant (ability|feature set name) and basic description:

• Barbarian- > Fighter -> Warrior -> Legend (STR|feats): as they fight, gains skills from the genetic memory of fighters who established them long ago.
• Decider -> Negotiator -> Leader -> Ambassador (CON|): build abilities through initiative in out-of-band in-game interaction. They gain a special feat: INSIGHT as they take party initiative and build trust in the community, allowing them to take the best path forward, conferred by the DM at their discretion by looking ahead at their campaign. Level each time they go towards higher-level risks, giving them further insight. Has insignia that represents their power.
• Apprentice -> Magician -> Wizard -> Mage (INT|spells): Casts spells. Receives higher-level spells from guild which they can join (unless they take the time to craft them by themself).
• Rogue -> Builder -> Trader -> Craftsman/Craftswoman (DEX|gifts): gathers tools, finer and better tools for working and fixing anything. Levels by amount they can sell their skills or wares.
• Acolyte -> Healer -> Cleric -> Lightbearer (PTY|aura): power from their connection to the divine, they don't cast spells directly, but rather, can channel their mana into others or apply it to receive answers to questions.
• Bard/Page -> Magistrate -> Lord/Countess -> Queen/King (CHR|law): Power from loyalties from their (racial) kind and desire for order. Makes laws, creates flags, builds cities. No skills or spells, but as they level, they receive property and get authority in which they can order villagers, detain any other NPCs or other misbehaving (e.g. chaotic) members as long as they want. Must be lawful, otherwise can be stripped of all XP and/or possessions acquired.
• Scout -> Ranger -> Explorer -> Navigator (PER|depth of character): For those who are more tuned to explore and understand, loyal to self, XXX rather than fight. As they level, their inner peace increases, they owe no one anything. They add memory and backup support to the party. Their feat is that they can detect or avoid falling into traps before they get hurt (unless trap is set by a higher-level character)--if they're not rushing themselves.
• Windmaker/Waterbender/Earthmover/Firehandler -> Zymurgist/Chemist/Cook -> Alchemist -> Druids (ASM|experience): power from nature, assembling potions. Druids don't cast spells, but they can employ scrolls. Their use of magic is somatic.
• Sprite -> Treefriend -> Herbalist -> Tree-Elder (MANA|abilties): can call on the elements to do whatever s/they want. Makes herb bundles that can restore health. As they gain levels they can ask the elements to do more complex and heavy maneuvers, like a skill but not based on experience from players past. At level 40 they could create a tree sapling.
• wild (***): The "tourist" class: No feature sets, doesn't level, but gains XP, which is convertible if user switches to a existing class and isn't multiclass. Good for færies and those who aren't sure.

This provides an extremely well-rounded and nicely differentiated set of classes. A party worthy of mastering power will have a fighter, magic-user, healer, and a druid. Each gaining XP from different kinds of interaction (ability to fight, use magic appropriately, healing others, and the right application of the elements). A party wishing to master civilization will have leaders, magistrates, herbalists, and explorers, getting their XP from (leadership, mastering laws, providing useful provisions, and knowledge the realm). A DM can decide to make a Feral race and use the wild class to experiment. See the wild page for data. Wild is also for players who do not confine themselves to a particular playing style. If a player multiclasses Wild when multiclassing, they get to stack as many abilities as they have multiclassed (up to the level they attained), and have half-ability on all earned skills/spells. They remain unemcumbered by labels.

There are two ways to combine classes to make specializations: at character creation and sequentially. The first kind is called class-stacking and you have to earn all the XP for all classes XXXyou gain more HP depending on how well you integrate the classes. The second is called multi-classing and you have to have the gold to keep your XP (and acquired skills) when you change your class later. If you want to get the skills of higher levels from your old class you have to gain the XP. XXX How to compensate for class-stacking vis. ability rolls?

Class-stacking builds depth of character and has more complex requirements to level and you get more fab. Multi-classing builds breadth and requires more XP and you get more power.

As an example, since the level requirements are different between fighter classes and magistrate classes, you can do class-stacking combine the tiers of Fighter + Magistrate and create a tier path like so: Squire -> Knight -> Noble. For a multiclass example, lets say you want to combine the healing ability of the Cleric with the perceptivity of the Explorer. Now you've made a Friar -> Priest -> Monk. You will have to get nearly double the XP to level, by both exploring the realms and healing people, but you gain the abilities of both classes as you go.

Since level approximately follows age, a person can start at a level that is approximately their own (real-life) age. They have to figure out what their hidden, "natural" class is (a 30yo might be a level 30 mage, as most people interested in the game tend to be introverts and develop the ideas in their head about fighting) and can specify what other lessor classes they hold (perhaps that 30yo is also a level 5 rogue).

Alternatively ("sequentially"), they can start with one class and then switch to a different class later, becoming re-born as a double-class. They keep the skills/spells developed in their old class but drop their LVL as if starting for the first time. They lose access to their prior high-level skills/spells until they reach the level necessary in their new class. Once they get to the same level as they were at their old class, they then need to earn the sum of BOTH XP amounts to level and gain skills/spells of the prior class(es).

You can multiclass up to four times (Feral-Wild can do it five, gaining up to quintuple the ability on their chosen ability stat). There’s no need to develop other complex types (Bard, Warlock, Sorcerer, Paladin, etc.) -- they can all be incorporated by multi-classing these eight types, choosing the right alignment, and integrating gender. Smart DMs can think of novel and unique skills/spells/gifts/feats for different combinations of classes.

See multiclassing for class name ideas.

Class	Stat	XP advancement	money-making	group relationships
Warrior	STR	kills (HP*100)+mana remaining/10	by-product of battle	builds armies
Leader	CON	by territory held	currency in/salary?	the city itself, guides by example
Craftslan	DEX	higher-priced EQ	selling of goods at higher prices than acquired	actual craft guilds, pays 10% to magistrate
Wizard/Witch	INT	Effective Mana Used	selling scrolls	guilds of secrets, collective mana
Clerics	PTY	HP healed	donations	monasteries, builds power
Magistrate	CHR	population size	taxation from population	must report in heirarchy and obey above
Explorer	PER	territory eXPlored	sell of pelts or other found curiosities	makes maps
Herbalist	ASM	mana turned into life, offerings	selling herbal bundles, amulets	protective of younger life-makings
Druid	ASM	offerings from others from creations	selling potions	none known

Alignment and Purpose

Characters can build an alignment from age 0, or start with one given based on their backstory. Otherwise, most would start out as neutral aligned, and then their behaviors would move them away from that in some direction. Players generally dont' know the value of their alignment, but at any time can ask the DM if it is more negative or positive, if they wish. So that, a character may get a negative alignement for killing a good-aligned bear, and then they have to guage what their behavior FIXMEXXX All characters have some alignment: good, evil,or neutral. Further, they start with some purpose: chaotic or lawful. NPCs can be any of these, but are generally seen as evil or chaotic, even though they may be fighting for another order (i.e. lawful towards their aims, misguided or not).

Unless the game universe is set up incorrectly, all players should be good or neutral. Chaotic alignments are for destroying an existing order. It is the purpose of this version of D&D to make an order sufficiently rich that no character needs (nor wants) to be evil and chaotic. Depending on how a player relates to the universe, they could be chaotic, seeking to destroy the order of things, or lawful, seeking to advance the order of things. Some classes are always lawful, because they play a role in maintaining order in the game universe.

XXXFIX: [Alignment]] (and purpose for that matter) is not a permanent position and is a factor of what deeds you have done. A number symbolized your position and is accumulated by negative or positive valenced XP. That alignment can swtich, depending on your behaviors. This number is kept secret from the players, although the valence can be communicated. Players can choose campaigns that enhance their alignment. The final alignment of campaigns themselves may be concealed, such that players may go try defeating a dragon, for example, only to find that they've turned into negative (evil) aligned characters.

Gods and Dragons, at least the one's who are ancient, don't align themselves on the axis of good and evil. No, they are "meta" characters. In their wisdom, they know advancing the state of the populace and developing virtue enhances them. They have done the petty work that the average person considers their life. Gods advance it by building virtue irrelevant to whether you choose good or evil, for they have the wisdom to use either one. If you choose evil for example, they may expoit the desire and get you create some great machine, knowing that your demise is probably inevitable. Aligning with a god may grant you luck (rare, as they think from the context of eternity and don't wish create wars) or gifts of equipment and meetups.

Dragons, on the other hand, are there with the wisdom of the gods tucked away inside themselves. They're not there to contemplate or to advance the land, but to protect the virtue that has been created -- even when they are chaotic. For the most part, they don't talk, and one has to forge a long relationship with them to form the proper context in which to understand the actions of the dragon and become it`s ally. Only then, will they teach via the complexity of their decisions, which without explanation, you have to instead deduce -- given your prior knowledge of their survival through eons. Perhaps you will even forge enough of a relationship to mount such a grand lizard.

One exception to this is the Bright Black Dragon, who learned to speak the common tongue so to impart some of the wisdom of the dragon realm. But good luck getting any, because part of that wisdom is simply to be silent. I am Cedric the Bard and I tell you from experience.

Appearance and Gender

Appearance is not something as arbitrary as players sometimes thought. Appearance comes from several factors: age, race, gender, alignment, truth, experience, and mana. Characters who know the truth of their world (its history, geography, and gods) will simply be more beautiful, as they have a strong foundation in which their body is made. Those who know truth but are evil-aligned will be twisted and ugly, as they keep it to themselves and hide it from others. More experience affects the depth of these effects. Mana can affect it by adding composure.

Gender can be male or female. Wild classes can be neutral up to the point of an in-game character needing to know or asking, at which point choose or roll a die and select female if the roll is even. Gender can play a major role in class Tier Paths as power-ups can be tailored quite specifically for gender. Consider for example, the PER/ASM specialization. For males, it's a Zymurgist/Druid, but for females they are Faeries/Herbalists, similar but one can imagine different power-ups. For wild classes, select gender at the first tier upgrade or upon needing to know (either in-game or because someone asked).

Age is interesting and affects Hit-Point score. Age modifies appearance based on the other aspects, like race and alignment. It increases with game hours (2 hour of player time about a 1 month in-game age). Height is gained by accumulation of native language, specifically the capture of new morphemes (except for faery-race) and is affected by race. This is mostly because of the base morphemes which define a race; dwarven, for example, is about half the linguistic sophistication of human so they are short and stocky. Elven is generally even more sophisticated than human, hence they are taller. Weight-gain based on relationship to alignment, experience, and truth. But you can simplify this by using standard rules. Players age with the amount and quality of game-time, but approximately 1 month with every 2 hours of game-play. Elves can age at twice this amount and Fearies don't need to age at all.

Abilities

The eight core abilities and their descriptions:

• STRength: Using the body, has ability to carry and move heavy objects. +STR: Adventuring far and coming back with a significant victory (requires some luck), otherwise habitual, healthy exercise or highly-respected work. -STR: semi-permanent injuries and mishandling of weaponry, if fighter. If 0, player has no ability to lift him/herself or anything. (Generally , ability increases with age up until mastery of physical world.)
• CONstitution: From strong genes, has ability to recover from damage. +CON: Eating meat of animals who are stronger than you and being in favor with the gods, otherwise taking a back seat and following others slowly restores or increase. -CON: thinking for oneself in group situations. If 0, player has no ability to weather a hit or handle harsh conditions. (Generally increases with age, if ancestry favorable.)
• INTtelligence: Sound mind makes ability to assemble concepts. +INT: Potions specific to the purpose, otherwise broad study of arcana and experiencing some success. -INT: Loss of focus on the abstract (like obsessing with small details) can cause permanent damage. If 0: no ability to understand language or make conclusions. (Increases with age as more knowledge is assimilated/integrated.)
• DEXterity: Through flexibility and body-awareness, has ability to maneuver around physical complexity. +DEX: limberness trait (Rogue), otherwise, hard work towards higher goals enhances. -DEX: Being wrong on predictions or imagination that goes wrong. If 0: bumps into things, slurred tongue. (Increases as awareness of movement in the physical world increases.)
• WISdom (WIS/PTY): Piety. Developed through dedication or divine connection, gives power to allies. This is the source of their wisdom, but not it`s value. +PTY: Sacrificing something you value gives quick gains, otherwise fervent prayer enhances. -PTY: Losing alignment (aka “Indirection”). If 0: no ability to learn. (Derives from successes of devotion to higher purposes.)
• CHaRm/Sophistry: Also "Sophistry". Through appearance or use of language and tone, can be persuasive. +CHR: Volunteering enhances. -CHR: Annoying the townspeople, making poor choices. If 0: can’t speak language. (Increases with taking risks.)
• PERceptivity: Through senses, can be tuned into environment. Generally, fixed by race. +PER: Climbing large mountains (hi-altitude), otherwise meditation in very high-quality settings enhances. -PER: Rowdiness or triviality. If 0: can’t see, smell, or hear, loses fine sense of touch, taste. Max amount for player or NPC is 20. (Related to intensity of interactions with physical environment.)
• ASseMblage: Through focus and intention, can create new value from lesser elements. +ASM: Praying to God if feral-wild or creating great alchemical objects if Druid (Circles of Tor/Stonehenge, for example), otherwise committed fruitarian diet (whole and raw fruits, nuts, grains). -ASM: Mishandling of Water/Air/Earth/Fire elementals causes damage. If 0: loses ability with their appendages, fumbles all objects. (Increases with practice.)

These two also:

• Hit points (HP): How much your body is able to stand abuse before it fails. Generally, dependent on Race and derived from Constitution, but increases with Age to some plateau and remains constant.
• Mana: (formerly SPEED and SPELL SLOTS): Life force. Recharges and gets expended much like HP, however, you don't get to see how much you have--it is a hidden variable tracked by the DM. It is Mana that recharges HP, not the other way around. Try to expend too much energy, and you lose HP. As you move forward in purpose, eat well, drink energy potions, have restorative sleep, this gains. As you fight, cast spells, or move mountains, you lose it. You expend double when fighting or running. Wizards use it to charge up their spells. Druids store it to move mountains. (For wizards) As long as they can see the effect of their spells and aren't mentally impaired, it recharges within the next round. Characters, generally have fixed amounts, though for some races it is not readily available and used for keeping their constitution. This figure recharges when expended, if character condition is good (or connection to the gods) and adds to your ability to heal (HP).
• time-slots: Most races get 6 -- that amounts to 30 feet of movement each round OR enough perception to search a small (5x5x6 foot) room diligently OR enough to have a full battle round (defensive & offensive moves + bonus). Faeries get 7-8, depending on their PTY score.

Players who choose to be specialists roll d20s allowing more variance towards the extremes in their ability scores (may wish to re-roll on 1, 2, 19, and 20s). Those who generalize (highly multiclassed characters) will roll 3d6s and have a distribution closer to the mean (average: 10.5). If you use the special PER values, then either roll only 7 times or roll 8 as normal and dealing with the last die: the player can choose the lower die and get death saving-throws or choose the higher and get none. XXXfigure this out.

Here's how to do character background using your die rolls: roll your 1d20 or 3d8 eight times and record the order. Place them in the order on the game sheet (for v6, it's PER then ASM). Then re-order the dice according to the class you wish. The original order is your "birth order". You get to fill in the background story of how you got from the original birth order to your starting character build. That is, what series of events allowed the transformation and development of your character?

See Character Generation.

Equipment

Different races and classes have different equipment needs and predilections. The main tool for the Drawf, for example, is the hammer, but if it chooses to be a Cleric, this is rather unwieldy. So there should be here a table/matrix for the various combinations:

• Aryan + Fighter = Viking
• Aryan + Wizard = Rune-reader
• Aryan + Cleric = Minstrel
• Aryan + Naturist = Feral Wizard
• Dwarf + Leader =
• Dwarf + Craftslan = Master Craftslan
• Dwarf + Alchemist = wizards equipment
• Dwarf +
• Elf + Fighter
• Elf + Wizard

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Now, onto Playing...