Character Creation

This section will guide you through creating your own character step by step. There are a number of decisions that you’ll be asked to make, and some choices will be mechanically better than others. As you gain familiarity with the rules, you’ll be able to create more powerful characters with more synergy. This is intended, and deliberately rewards system mastery. Another option is to pick options based on archetypical tropes, this is also fine! The game tries to make sure that the archetypes are viable (but maybe not optimal).

If creating your own character isn’t your thing or you want inspiration, check out the pre-built characters. I’ve also included a worked demonstration.

Character Creation Steps

Adventuring is a profession, and all Characters have undergone extensive training to become 1st level. They can clean and sharpen weapons, set up camp, cook meals, ride mounts, perform first aid, know the value of coins, trade goods, treasure, and identify common magical effects and monsters.

  1. Generate Attributes. For each of the five Attributes (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom), assign them a score of 3d6 in order. So your first 3d6 is your Strength, your second is your Dexterity, and so on.

  2. Choose a character concept. Discuss what your role will be in the team. A well-rounded party needs a way to deal with melee enemies, a way to deal with ranged or flying enemies, a way to deal with mundane security measures (guards, locked doors, traps), a way to deal with magical security measures, and a way to keep everyone healthy when things go south. A team of a melee-focused Warrior, Sneak-focused Expert, utility-focued High Mage, and Partial Warrior/Healer is well-rounded, but part of the fun is trying out other compositions.

  3. Raise an Attribute to 14. With your role on the team in mind, choose an Attribute to raise to 14.

  4. Record Skills. There are 9 Skills: Exert, Heal, Know, Magic, Notice, Sneak, Brawl, Shoot, and Stab. Record the name of each skill and write -1 next to it, to represent an initial lack of training.

  5. Starting Improvements. Make a total of 4 Improvements to your Skills or Attributes. To improve an Attribute, raise it by 1 to a max of 18. To improve a Skill, raise its level by 1 to a max of 1. All skills start at level -1. A single Attribute or Skill can be improved multiple times. Brawl, Shoot, and Stab are primarily used for making Attack Rolls. All skills are used for making Skill Checks.

  6. Choose a Class. Pick either a full Class or combine two Partial Classes. Warriors are great at combat, Experts are great at Skill Checks, and Mages have specialized powers or spells.

  7. Choose Feats. Each Class gets a different starting amount of Feats at first level, detailed in the class’ “Feats” column. Some Feats, like Alert grant a Bonus Skill. Raise that skill by one level to a maximum of level 1. If that skill is already level 1, make a free Improvement.

  8. Record Attribute Modifiers. Each Attribute has a Modifier, ranging from -2 to +2 based on its score. This modifier is added to Skill Checks, Attack Rolls, Damage rolls, Shock damage, and Saving Throws.

  9. Generate Maximum Hit Points. Each Class gets different amount of Hit Points (HP) at first level according to their HP Progression. Roll based on your class, add your CON, and +2 if you chose the Die Hard Feat.

  10. Record Attack Bonus. Your character has a certain degree of basic combat competence based on their class. This bonus increases as you advance in character levels and is added to your attack roll. A new character’s attack bonus is usually +0, though Warriors start with a +1 attack bonus.

  11. Record Derived Statistics. Record your Physical (exhaustion, poison, etc), Evasion (explosions, traps, etc), and Mental (mind control, tests of will, etc) Saving Throws.
    • Your Physical score is 15 minus the highest of your STR and CON.
    • Your Evasion score is 15 minus the highest of your INT and DEX.
    • Your Mental score is 15 minus the highest of your INT and WIS.
    • Record your maximum System Strain, which is equal to your Constitution.

  12. Choose Starting Gear. Gain 3d6 x 10 gold to spend on gear (ignoring Equipment Availability), noting thier Encumbrance and whether they are Readied or Stowed. You may carry Readied equipment equal to half your Strength rounded down. You may carry Stowed equipment equal to your Strength. Other party members may be willing to Stow gear for you.

  13. Record Weapon Statistics. For each weapon (or special Art) you attack with, record its properties.

  14. Record Armor Class. Record the Armor Class (AC) of the armor you normally wear. AC is modified by DEX. For example, a character wearing plate armor with a DEX of +2 has 18 AC.

  15. Mages Choose Starting Spells. High Mages, Elementalists, and Necromancers begin play knowing Spells based on their Arcane Tradition. These spells are chosen from any spell list available to them. Full Mages choose 4 starting spells, and Partial Mages choose 2. A new full High Mage, for example, would pick four first-level spells from the High Magic spell list, while a new partial Elementalist could pick two spells total from either the High Magic or Elementalist spell list.

  16. Mages Record Effort. All Mages start with a pool of Effort specific to their class. Refer to your chosen Arcane Tradition section for how to calculate it. For example, an Elementalist refers to Elementalist Arts.

  17. Mages Choose Starting Arts. All Mages select Arts based on their Arcane Tradition. Refer to your chosen tradition for specific details. For example, a Duelist refers to Duelist Arts.

  18. Record Level and XP. Characters start at Level 1 with 0 XP, and need 1500 XP to advance.

  19. Create Descriptive Details. Imagine an appearance, brief history, personality, mannerisms, and motivations for your character. Bear in mind that your character will be going on adventures and will be part of a team. Endeavor to create a character that wants to go on adventures, and wants to be part of a team.

Pre-Built Characters

Cleric

We want to make sure we have enough DEX to not decrease our AC, and plan on wearing heavy armor. We’re able melee combatants, so we want to have good Strength for bonuses to hit and damage.

We take Gifted Chirurgeon mostly for the improved odds at fixing Fraility. We take Die Hard because we’re frequently the only ones invested into healing others and if we die there’s no one to help us. Die Hard makes sure that we live so long as the fight is won.

As we level up, we can look at picking up Close Combatant so that we can leave the fray to pick up wounded comrades.

Defensive Fighter

We prioritize DEX over STR because each point of AC is more valuable than the last. Close Combatant makes us immune to Shock (otherwise we need to be scared of maces), and lets us feel comfortable surrounded by hoards of enemies, which is exactly where we’ll want to be to maximize the benefit of Whirlwind Assault.

Our equipment is set up for traversal. We have rope to get up and down, a crowbar and pickaxe to get us through stuff, and torches to light the way.

As we level up, we keep doing more and more shock damage due to Killing Blow. We’ll want to pick up Armsmaster, the second level of Whirlwind Assault, and Valiant Defender.

Offensive Fighter

We prioritize STR over DEX because our aim is to kill stuff before we get hit back. We have enough Shock damage to kill most 1 HD creatures on a miss, and get to attack twice a turn if we do.

As we level up, we’ll want to pick up Armsmaster for the additional damage, Alert if no one else has it, and Shocking Assault for even more damage.

Magic User

We grab Impervious Defense to give us some much needed AC, and look at taking it again at level 2 to negate a hit and give us time to flee.

We want to have decent Shoot because we’re definitely not on the front lines, and can cast a very limited number of spells per adventure, so we want to make the other 95% of our turns better. In this vein, we can look at picking up Deadeye.

Thief

We want to be able to Notice hidden stuff, and use Sneak to it’s fullest (disabling traps, stealing things, picking locks). We pick up Deadeye to make us effective in a fight, and it synergizes well with the additional Improvements we get as we level up.

Our kit is chosen to be able to interact with objects from a distance. Fish hooks and string to tug on stuff from afar, string+magnet to reel in distant metal things (like keys), 10ft pole for prodding, mirrors to look in places you couldn’t otherwise.

We throw in some iron spikes because they tend to be very useful for disabling traps - hammering a spike into a trap’s mechanism tends to work a lot.